"The measure of a Life is its Service."
Three SHSU professors will discuss “what you need to know” about the Middle East on Tuesday (Nov. 10) during the Political Engagement Project Committee’s first “Hot Topics” program.
Panelists Nick Pappas, Masoud Kazemzadeh, Yasser Djazaerly and Brig. Gen. Harold Fruchtnicht will discuss the history, culture, religion, and politics of the volatile region during the interactive seminar, “The Middle East: What You Need to Know,” from 6-8 p.m. in the Academic Building IV Olson Auditorium.
“This is a great opportunity to learn more about one of the world’s most important regions in an engaging and provocative forum,” said PEP Chair Stacy Ulbig.
The speakers were chosen for their expertise on the region and their engaging, lively style, according to Ulbig.
Pappas, an associate professor of history who specializes in military and diplomatic history, will explore nation building in Afghanistan in the context of the complex ethnic, social, economic, political, and cultural milieu of Afghanistan.
Kazemzadeh, a political science associate professor who specializes in United States-Iran relations, will discuss American involvement in the Middle East under Presidents Bush and Obama.
Djazaerly, assistant professor of foreign languages who teaches Arabic, German and French, will discuss the general background of the Qatar with an emphasis on the current and future United States involvement.
Fruchtnicht served in the United States Marine Corps for 34 years before retiring in 2006. A naval aviator and trained as an attack pilot, he also served as an instructor, training student naval aviators in the TA-4 aircraft. He has served in Japan, Puerto Rico and, most recently, in Iraq.
The event will be moderated by political science department chair Rhonda Callaway.
The program is scheduled to coincide with Veterans Day activities that include the grand opening of the HEARTS Veterans Museum, campus showings of “Charlie Wilson’s War” by the American Democracy Project, and the community-wide care package drive, hosted by the Political Science Junior Fellows.
For more information, contact Mike Yawn, PEP committee member, at 936.294.1456 or mike.yawn@shsu.edu.
The Political Science Junior Fellows and more than 25 university and community organizations will celebrate Veterans Day (Nov. 11) by working to assemble more than 100 boxes to be sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Students and local citizens will pack the boxes at the Walker Education Center, while local teens will assemble the packages at the YMCA Teen Center. Both events will take place from 2-3:30 p.m.
“We wanted to do something for the troops, but we also wanted to do an event that would bring people together,” said junior fellow Daniel North. “I think it’s important for the troops to know our entire community supports their service and sacrifice.”
The drive for care-package items has brought together the university and the community, according to Mike Yawn, junior fellows adviser.
On campus, the College of Education, the Veterans Resource Center, the Registrar’s Office, the Informational Resources Department, Pam Zelbst, the Political Science Junior Fellows, and Keri Rogers’ and Maria Holmes’ SAM 136 classes sponsored thousands of items or offered other assistance to servicemen overseas.
Items donated include DVDs/CDs, gum, Nerf footballs and gummy bears.
Numerous community groups, businesses and individuals—including
Steve Black, Tamara Chasteen, Karl Davidson, Nancy Etheredge, Sharon Hill, Champe and Virginia Miller, David Moorman, and Barbara Tyson—offered sponsorships of items or other assistance, such as financial assistance for postage, stuffed animals, eye drops, bookmarks, shipping materials and educational materials, the latter being for the school children of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our soldiers built many of the schools over there,” said Champe Miller. “Now they can provide some of the books and paper that the children will need in those schools.”
The Huntsvlle-Walker County Chamber of Commerce, Walker County Fair Association, Huntsville Lions Club, Huntsville’s Promise, Beta Sigma Phi, HEARTS Veterans Museum, Walker County Lions Club, YMCA, Walker County Democrats, Walker County Republicans, Walker County Republican Women, and AFSCME also contributed needed items to American troops. Crackers, gum, liquid soap, Ziplocs, candy, hand sanitizers, Gold Bond, sanitary wipes, and razor blades were donated following special requests from soldiers.
For more information, contact Yawn at mike.yawn@shsu.edu or 936.294.1456.
Michael Markham, a neurobiology lecturer in the University of Texas at Austin’s biological sciences department, will discuss his research on "Circadian and Social Cues Regulate Ion Channel Trafficking in Electric Fish" on Thursday (Nov. 12).
The Biological Sciences Department Seminar Series lecture will be held from 4-5 p.m. in Lee Drain Building Room 214.
Markham’s research investigates the development and plasticity of excitable membranes, processes essential for the healthy functioning of numerous organ systems including the nervous system, according to his Web site.
“I am particularly interested in mechanisms of short-term plasticity, changes that occur within minutes,” he said.
“We investigate these processes in a unique and powerful model system, the electric fish,” he said. “These fish are specialists in the rapid modulation of excitable membranes and the developmental transformation of excitable cells to new phenotypes.”
Held each Thursday, the seminar series is intended for the public and addresses current research being conducted by a guest professor in a way that the general public can understand.
For more information, contact Chad Hargrave, assistant professor of biological sciences, at 936.294.1543.
The School of Music will feature original works, faculty performances and a guest conductor during three concerts beginning Monday (Nov. 9).
That day faculty musicians will perform new works composed by SHSU theory and composition professor Brian Herrington, at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall.
“All of the music explores my East Texas heritage, either through music or subject matter,” Herrington said. “A violin/guitar duet, a piece that involves washtub bass, selections from an opera based on an East Texas folk song.
“I invite people to come and hear something completely different.”
Faculty performers will include Naomi Gjevre, Randolph Lacy, Alejandro Montiel, and Dmytro Perevertailenko, “as well as some very talented student performers,” Herrington said.
On Tuesday (Nov. 10), assistant professor of bassoon Scott Phillips will take audiences “Behind the Bassoon” with works by J. S. Bach, Maurice Allard, Thomas Couvillon, and Georg Philipp Telemann at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall.
“I will be doing works for solo bassoon, and for two bassoons. You'll have to be there to see how it works,” he said. “Plus I will give some insights as to how music is made, for the curious.”
Both performances are free.
Finally, on Friday (Nov. 13), Freddy Céspedes, concertmaster with the Bolivian National Symphony Orchestra, will serve as a guest conductor for the Symphony Concert, at 7:30 p.m. at the University Heights Baptist Church.
The concert will feature three works by Silvestre Revueltas, William Schuman and Antonín Dvo?ák, the last of which will include a solo by faculty cellist Daniel Saenz.
Céspedes has been the concertmaster for the Bolivian National Symphony Orchestra for more than 30 years, appearing as concerto soloist with the ensemble. He is also a professor of violin at the Honner Academy in La Paz and formed the first youth orchestra in Bolivia in the 1970s.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for SHSU students and senior citizens and free for SHSU music students and faculty and staff members with an ID.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Bruce Erickson, Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
Nov. 6, 2009
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Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history, appeared on Book TV (C-SPAN) May 1-2, speaking about his recent book "Econoclasts: The Rebels Sparked the Supply Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity" (www.econoclasts.net).
Houston Chronicle education writer Jeannie Kever recently turned to Regents Professor of English Paul Ruffin for his views on university presses moving toward "digital books" as opposed to traditional ink-on-paper."We're fulfilling the ancient role of the university press, and that is to produce books," said Paul Ruffin, the Texas poet laureate for 2009 and director of the Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University. "I don't want to give up the book because it is an art."
Monday, May 3
Tuesday, May 4
"The measure of a Life is its Service."