SHSU
Update For Week Of March 9
Campus To Close One Day For
Spring Break
Sam Houston State University staff members will join faculty
and students on Spring Break with offices closing on Friday
(March 14).
Spring Break is March 10-14 for all faculty and students.
Residence Halls closed at 6 p.m. on March 7 and will reopen
at 2 p.m. on March 16.
Classes will resume March 17.
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Biology Grant Purchases
New Analyzing Equipment
Students in the biological sciences and digital forensics
departments have a new way to study DNA sequences thanks to
a $102,000 grant from Beckman-Coulter, Inc.
The biological sciences department used the one-time grant
to purchase the GenomeLab CEQ genetic analyzer for half price,
according to Chris Randle, assistant professor of biology
and the grant’s principal investigator.
“It's a great machine. It provides users with DNA sequences,
but also can be used for DNA fingerprinting methods (fragment
analysis),” Randle said. “This kind of flexibility
is important for a small but active department, as we have
a number of applications for which we need such a machine.”
The genetic analyzer will be used in studies of the specialties
of many of SHSU’s faculty members, including biomedical
science, in microbiology and molecular biology; evolutionary
biology, in such areas as fish, micromoths and parasitic plants;
and even with the forensics program, Randle said.
Because SHSU previously outsourced to commercial services,
having the equipment on campus will “greatly speed up
the rate at which data can be gathered and decrease the price,”
he said.
“Further, we currently have four teaching labs that
will use the genetic analyzer, providing our undergraduates
with access to state-of-the-art technology,” he said.
“One nice thing about the machine is that it can process
eight samples simultaneously which will allow all kinds of
high throughput applications.”
The machine, which was recently installed and is located in
Lee Drain Building Room 135, should be producing real data
within the next week or two.
Co-principal investigators for the grant included faculty
members Sibyl Bucheli, Paula Deaton, Anne Gaillard and Todd
Primm.
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Students Perfect Match
For Psychology Internships
All seven of SHSU’s clinical psychology doctoral students
applying for internships have been matched with top tier entities
this year.
After this year’s “Match Day” (Feb. 22),
SHSU was notified that its students will be headed all over
North America to complete their year-long clinical internship
as a final requirement for their degree, according to Mary
Alice Conroy, SHSU’s director of clinical training.
“The most impressive thing about this internship match
comes in comparison to doctoral programs throughout the country,”
she said. “The years 2007 and 2008 were the worst years
in history for successful internship matches, with national
match rates of 75 percent and 79 percent respectively.
“In both years, 100 percent of SHSU internship applicants
matched with APA (American Psychological Association) accredited
sites,” she said.
Clinical internships around the country are very competitive,
with candidates typically applying a year in advance, Conroy
said.
Candidates must apply and are then invited to come for interviews
at the various internship sites, which then cull the interviewees
down to their top candidates and submit rank order lists to
the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship
Centers.
“Candidates also submit rank order lists of their preferred
sites, and on ‘Match Day’ each year students are
notified if they have successfully matched with an internship,”
Conroy said.
Among this year’s matches were: the University of Massachusetts
Medical Center in Worcester; the British Columbia Mental Health
and Addictions Services; the U. S. Medical Center for Federal
Prisoners in Springfield, Mo.; Mendota Mental Health Institute
in Madison, Wis.; the Federal Medical Center in Rochester,
Minn.; Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; and Western
State Hospital in Tacoma, Wash.
“The psychology program faculty was especially excited
by the quality and reputation of the sites selecting our students,”
Conroy said. “Five of the seven were internships where
SHSU students had not been before.”
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Professor’s Book
On Poet Gets Published
A book written by one of SHSU’s foreign language professors
that examines the “language poetry” of Uruguayan
poet Eduardo Espina was recently published by Editorial Aldus,
a Mexican publishing company.
“Poesía Del Lenguaje: De T. S. Eliot A Eduardo
Espina,” written in Spanish by SHSU professor Enrique
Mallen, will be formally presented at a book signing in Houston
this semester.
The book analyzes Espina’s style in relation to "language
poetry" in general. "Language poetry" not only
implies the poetic value of language but also refers to an
avant garde literary group that emerged in the United States
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mallen said.
“I argue that, in both instances, there is a concentration
on the structure of language which is determined by a shared
interest in the creative value of linguistic representation,”
he said. “That is, the writing of these poets goes beyond
pure representation, having as its final goal a deeper perception
which is closely linked to language.”
To do so, he traces the “genealogy of this time of ‘language-oriented’
poetry,” in a similar manner as Charles Altieri, who
has examined the poetics of such authors as T. S. Eliot, William
Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound and Wallace Stevens, according
to Mallen.
“Their poems revalue complexity, making their self-conscious
inaccessibility and difficulty part of their fascination and
seduction,” Mallen said. “Espina's autoreferential
poetry advocates a slower, more attentive reading, a reading
that highlights the particularities of language, while simultaneously
extending its limits. Attention is forced onto the poem as
a created object, as a thing in itself, an opaque element
to be looked ‘at’ rather than ‘through.’”
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Bankhead Granted Acceptance
Into Honorary Group
James Bankhead, director of the SHSU School of Music, has
been elected to membership in Phi Beta Mu, an international
school bandmaster fraternity.
Bankhead was inducted at the honorary organization’s
new member’s breakfast on Feb. 16 in San Antonio.
In order to be considered for membership in Phi Beta Mu, one
must have at least 10 years of successful teaching experience
and must have produced and maintained an outstanding and consistent
band program in the public schools and/or universities.
His membership was sponsored by Lowell Graham, of the University
of Texas at El Paso, Dennis Fisher, of the University of North
Texas, and Fred Velez, of Sam Houston State University.
Prior to being appointed director of SHSU’s School of
Music, Bankhead served as chair of the department of music
at California State University—Chico, and a commander/conductor
of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C.
Established in 1938, Phi Beta Mu has approximately 300 active
members in Texas, with additional chapters in most of the
50 states as well as Canada, Japan and Europe.
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McNair Scholars Present
At National Conference
Ten scholars traveled to the University of North Texas in
Denton for the 10th Annual Texas National McNair Research
Conference from Feb. 15-17.
Three scholars presented their original research in a 15-minute
symposium, including senior history major Elizabeth Jackson,
who discussed “Tracking the Skinheads: Historical Evaluation
of Skinhead Migration and Motives;” junior psychology
major Nicole Lozano, who discussed “The Effects of Knowing
a Rape Victim on Empathy and Reactions to a Victim of Rape
and Robbery;” and senior psychology major Jason Randall,
who discussed “An Investigation of the Developmental
Differences in False Memories Between Adults and Children.”
“One of the most unique aspects of the McNair program
is the opportunity to conduct a research study with the assistance
of a faculty member,” said program director Lydia Fox.
“This provides the scholars with an opportunity to develop
a mentoring relationship with a faculty member whose interests
are closely related to that of the student.”
Faculty mentors include assistant professor of history Yvonne
Davis, who works with Jackson; assistant professor of psychology
Heather Littleton, who works with Lozano; and assistant professor
of psychology Jeffery Anastasi, who works with Randall.
The McNair program is a federally-funded program that strives
to prepare students for a doctoral education, serving students
from low-income families, first-generation college students
and underrepresented minority students.
Extensive training in research methods is only one of the
benefits students achieve by becoming part of this unique
program, according to Fox.
For more information about the McNair Program, call 936.294.3279,
e-mail McNair@shsu.edu or visit the program’s Web site
at www.shsu.edu/mcnair.
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Budding Public Servants Compete
On SHSU Campus
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Burleson High School students conduct
a felony traffic stop, "arresting" SHSU criminal
justice major Ruben Carerra during the Texas Public
Service Association's state competition, held on the
SHSU campus Feb. 24-25.
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Fifteen high schools from across Texas recently visited the
SHSU campus for the Texas Public Service Association’s
state competition.
Held at the Criminal Justice Center Feb. 24-25, participants
were able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have
learned in criminal justice, law, public safety, corrections
and security.
“The competition also helps students develop self-confidence,
self-respect and respect of others through competition and
leadership training,” said SHSU undergraduate advising
coordinator Candice D. Williams. “Students learn through
demonstrating their skills in competitive events designed
by career professionals in Public Service Education.
“The state competition’s goal is to keep the legacy
of public service alive through dedication to the ideals of
integrity, loyalty, courage, honesty, compassion, to the public
they will serve,” she said. “We stress ethics
very much in these activities.”
In addition, a number of SHSU criminal justice majors volunteered
as actors and judges for the competition, including Adam Dockery,
Jo Karge, Ibukun Adepoju, Domonic Pollone, Ruben Carrera,
Nicole Juarez, Megan Barfield, Robert Sandoval, Tina Ho, Brittany
Litaker, Warren McGalliard and Heather Liner.
This is the second year the event has been hosted at SHSU.
“TPSA serves as a recruiting tool for the College of
Criminal Justice,” Williams said. “By hosting
this competition at the Criminal Justice Center it allowed
the high school students the opportunity to view the Sam Houston
campus as well as meet criminal justice students and ask them
questions about their experience and college life.”
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Send Update Items Here
Information for the SHSU Update can be sent to the Office
of Public Relations electronically at Today@Sam.edu
or to any of the media contacts listed below.
Please include the date, location and time of the event,
as well as a brief description and a contact person.
All information for news stories should be sent to the office
at least a week in advance to give the PR staff ample time
to make necessary contacts and write the story.
For electronic access to SHSU news see the Public Relations
Web page Today@Sam.
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- END -
SHSU Media Contacts: Frank
Krystyniak, Julia May,
Jennifer Gauntt
March 7, 2008
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
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