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SHSU Update For Week Of Nov. 28, 2010
- TV Reporter To ‘Mingle’ At SHSU
- Ninetieth Tree Ceremony To Light Up Plaza
- Museum To Celebrate ‘Houston Family Christmas’
- Opera Workshop To Tour Italy’s ‘Most Beloved’
- Museum To Present Christmas Comedy For Movie Night
- ‘The Kat’ Drives Community For Holiday Giving
- Local School Benefits From Department’s Refurbishing Program
- SHSU’s HUB Program Tops System For Expenditures
- Send Update Items Here
TV Reporter To ‘Mingle’ At SHSU
Award-winning journalist Melanie Lawson will share her story of success as a reporter with Houston’s ABC Channel 13 (KTRK) on Tuesday (Nov. 30) for “The Kat’s Meow: Mingling with the Media.”
Sponsored by the SHSU public relations firm Priority One, the event will be held from 6-8 p.m. in Dan Rather Building Room 125.
Lawson’s career with Channel 13 has taken her all over the world and has earned her numerous awards for her reporting, including an Emmy Award for her coverage of President Bill Clinton's visit to South Africa as the only local reporter in the nation to make that trip.
She covers city, state and national elections and has interviewed a wide range of notables, including three U.S. Presidents, Henry Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, poet Maya Angelou, Grammy Award winner Destiny's Child, former heavyweight champion boxer George Foreman, director Spike Lee, legendary journalist Barbara Walters, evangelists Joel and Victoria Osteen, and actors Lily Tomlin, Shirley McLaine and Denzel Washington.
She began her career with Channel 13 as a general assignments reporter before being promoted to co-anchor of Live at 5 and Eyewitness News at 11 a.m. She also hosts a weekly Community Affairs program called "Crossroads," focusing on issues and events around the city.
Refreshments will be served during the free event, which is open to the public. A question-and-answer segment will be allotted at the end of Lawson’s discussion.
Under the direction of Warner Endowed Chair of journalism and former White House spokesperson Peter Roussel, the on-campus Priority One team is staffed by students who seek a career in public relations. The group provides on-campus departments, organizations and others with public relations services.
Their Kat’s Meow series has included notable media personalities David Strickland, of Channel 13, and Lana Hughes, of KTRH Radio.
For more information about Priority One events or services e-mail priority1pr@gmail.com.
Ninetieth Tree Ceremony To Light Up Plaza
SHSU will kick off the holiday season on campus with a 38-foot tree during the 90th annual Tree of Light Ceremony on Wednesday (Dec. 1).
The festivities, which will begin at 6 p.m. in Bearkat Plaza, will include remarks by university president Dana Gibson, performances by the Orange Pride dance team and university choir, and holiday snacks. In addition, 99.7 FM K-Star Country will broadcast live from the event.
“The Tree of Light Ceremony is really a program at the ‘heart’ of what Sam Houston State University is all about, bringing Bearkats together,” said Brandon Cooper, assistant director for Student Activities. “As we celebrate the 90th year of tradition this year, we are still amazed at the support and turnout we receive for this program. It just grows every year.”
To share the holiday spirit with those in need, the Student Activities Department will collect canned goods during the event for a drive that will benefit an area organization.
Student Activities will also feature the history of the event during an exhibit in the Lowman Student Center Art Gallery Monday (Nov. 29) through Friday (Dec. 3).
"The Tree of Light is the university's oldest and most cherished tradition," said Student Activities associate director Angie Taylor. "This tree-lighting ceremony is also a time of giving and reminds students and the university community what the holiday season is all about."
For more information, call Student Activities at 936.294.3861.
Museum To Celebrate ‘Houston Family Christmas’
The Sam Houston Memorial Museum will step back in time to explore the holiday season as Gen. Sam Houston did on Saturday (Dec. 4).
“A Houston Family Christmas,” a full day of activities for all members of the family, will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Sam Houston Memorial Museum Grounds.
The day will include photos with Santa; punch and cookies; and tours of the Houstons’ Woodland Home and other historic houses.
“The purpose of the Houston Family Christmas is to welcome the Huntsville Community to the museum, to step back in time to the 19th century, and enjoy the holidays of a simpler time,” said Megan Buro, museum marketing coordinator.
In taking a step back, the museum will showcase the difference between modern decorations and how the Houstons would have decorated in the 1840s when they lived in Huntsville.
“Decorating is not what we think of today, and there were no Christmas trees,” Buro said. “Decorations were simple and came from the land, so the Woodland home is decorated to that time period, simplicity, using evergreens and hollies from our grounds.
“The Steamboat house does not get decorated because it is a house of mourning, since that is where Sam passed away,” she said.
In addition, spinning and weaving, blacksmithing, kick wheel pottery, woodworking, and Cherokee Indian customs demonstrations will be held throughout the event.
“Some of our staff members dress in period dress and are out on the grounds as well,” Buro said. “We will be cooking out of the kitchen, gingerbread and wassail, that visitors can sample. It’s just a great day to come out, kick off the holiday season, take a step back in time, and experience the 19th century.”
Also that day, approximately 30 vendors selling arts and crafts will be set up in the Walker Education Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the annual CWA Angel Show.
“The items are unique, handmade pieces made by talented artisans from the Huntsville area,” Buro said.
For more information, contact Buro at 936.294.3839.
Opera Workshop To Tour Italy’s ‘Most Beloved’
SHSU singers will feature scenes from Italian operas from the 1600s to present during the Opera Workshop production Friday and Saturday (Dec. 3-4).
“Viva Italia” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall.
The program will include opera scenes from Handel's “Alcina,” Mozart's “Don Giovanni,” and Verdi's “La Traviata.”
“The worship will highlight the beauty of Italy through scenes from its most beloved operas,” said Rebecca Renfro Grimes, director of the SHSU Opera Workshop.
The production includes stage direction by Grimes, music direction by Robert Hunt, lighting design by Carolyn Barton and set design by Jeffrey Lindquist.
Admission is $15 for general admission and $12 for students and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased through the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 936.294.2339 or tickets@shsu.edu.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
Museum To Present Christmas Comedy For Movie Night
The Sam Houston Memorial Museum will get patrons into the Christmas spirit with a free movie night showing of “Christmas Vacation” on Friday (Dec. 3).
"Christmas Vacation," starring Chevy Chase, will begin at 7 p.m. at the Katy and E. Don Walker, Sr., Education Center Auditorium.
The 1989 National Lampoon movie centers on Clark Griswold, who is determined to create the perfect holiday celebration, but things begin to go haywire when his family arrives.
The movie also stars Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Doris Roberts and Randy Quaid.
Popcorn and drinks will be sold at the museum store.
Admission free but is limited to the first 150 patrons, the auditorium’s capacity.
For more information, contact Megan Buro, museum marketing coordinator, at 936.294.3839.
‘The Kat’ Drives Community For Holiday Giving
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| DJs who helped collect more than 350 pounds of food for Huntsville's needy include: Brittany Moore, Jon Lopez, Taylor "Gundy" Gunderson, Colby Mullen, Emily Rooke |
SHSU’s radio station 90.5 "The Kat" KSHU recently collected more than 350 pounds of food and $300 in cash donations for Huntsville’s Good Shepherd Mission.
Radio station disc jockeys asked for food or cash donations during a two-day drive through a live remote outside of Kroger.
The 35 student participants collected the items over the course of two-hour broadcasts each day on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10.
“KSHU is a part of the Huntsville community, and we wanted to give back,” said LeeAn Muns, broadcast operations director. “We just wanted to do everything we could to help make the holiday season a little brighter for all families.
"This was important not only to the volunteer DJs but also to staff,” she said.
This is the second consecutive year that the radio station has held a drive for the Good Shepherd Mission.
“We really didn't have a goal in mind when we first started," Muns said. "We just hoped to collect something to help fill the pantries at the mission because need is so great during the holiday season at the mission.”
“Luckily, the Huntsville community came through and we were able to donate so much to such a worthy cause.”
Local School Benefits From Department’s Refurbishing Program
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| Li-Jen Shannon and her students, who refurbish donated computers from SHSU, recently delivered two CPUs and repaired a few problems currently in Samuel Houston Elementary's lab. SHE is the only elementary school in Huntsville to have two computer labs utilized by its teachers. Because of the partnership with SHSU, SHE students get to use computers more often during a school week. |
In 2003 assistant professor of computer science Li-Jen Shannon began a program in which students in SHSU’s computer science department would refurbish discarded university equipment and donate them to rural school districts.
School districts in Shepherd, Livingston, Big Sandy and Livingston, as well as Hull-Daisetta High School, have benefitted from the program, many of which used the computers to establish labs for their students.
After donating 21 Dell baby desktop systems to Samuel Houston Elementary School, which was used to establish a new multimedia computer lab, in 2008, SHSU computer scientists extended their program to include a “follow-up service.”
“As technology evolves in a fast speed, we all knew that the multimedia lab SHE established in 2008 would need attention to be upgraded soon,” Shannon said. “Therefore, we decided we would like to follow up and support them to make sure that the children can always enjoy the most updated technology in their school.
“SHE had been communicating with us if they needed to replace some bad components, or needed more devices,” Shannon said. “We just made a trip sending three more refurbished systems and four repaired systems to Samuel Houston Elementary School (with work being completed by the CS 234 networking class). Beside these items, 21 monitors were sent to Huntsville ISD last month.”
The program is mutually beneficial for both SHSU students, who gain computer repair experience, and HISD, with whom SHSU has established “a great partnership in supporting their needs,” Shannon said.
“The communication we had with the technology director from HISD was to extend the students' service in a wider areas, from hardware to the network services,” she said. “Since the HISD technology department is taking care of eight schools, it was great to let our students reach out, share their load, and assist their tasks.
The “follow-up” service is only offered locally because of travel and safety issues of the students who volunteer for the program.
“In the past, at the beginning of each semester, we asked the students to sign up for the volunteer work. The volunteers were either the members of SHACS (Sam Houston Association of Computer Scientists) and/or the students from CS 234 “Networking I” class,” she said. “When the job was posted and announced through emails, the students met and worked together. This is a great working experience for the students to learn, to contribute, and to work as a team.”
SHSU’s HUB Program Tops System For Expenditures
Sam Houston State University reported the utilization of more Historically Underutilized Businesses than any other schools in the Texas State University System, according to the State of Texas Comptroller’s recently-published 2010 Annual HUB Report.
According to the report 25.8 percent of SHSU’s expenditures went to HUBS, almost 10 percent higher than the state average of 15.9 percent, for the fiscal year from Sept. 1, 2009, to Aug. 31, 2010.
“The report shows how state agencies and universities fared in the administration of their respective HUB Programs,” said Bob Chapa, HUB coordinator. “HUBs are minority and women-owned businesses that have been certified through the Comptroller’s office.
“This achievement was accomplished by the diligence of all the university departments in the purchasing of office supplies, computer equipment, maintenance and repair items, office furniture, and a multitude of various products from many HUB vendors in our state,” he said. “Appreciation is also to be extended to several construction contractors in their outreach efforts to subcontract with HUBs in the building of university facilities.”
The State of Texas Comptroller published the 2010 Annual HUB Report on Oct. 15.
The university was also successful this past year in setting up three mentor/protégé relationships, bringing the total to four, according to Chapa.
These include WWW Grainger/The Burgoon Company; J. T. Vaughn Construction/McCaffety Electric Company; Steelcase, Inc./HBI Office Solutions, Inc.; and Office Depot/PDME-Hurricane Office Supplies.
“The efforts by all our university departments in obtaining 25.8 percent are greatly appreciated and continued support to HUBs is encouraged,” Chapa said.
For more information about the university’s HUB Program, contact Chapa at 936.294.4670 or rlc001@shsu.edu.
Send Update Items Here
Information for the SHSU Update can be sent to the Office of Communications 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 staff ample time to make necessary contacts and write the story.
For electronic access to SHSU news see the Communications Web page Today@Sam.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Bruce Erickson, Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
Nov. 24, 2010
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Director: Bruce Erickson
Assistant Director: Julia May
Writer: Jennifer Gauntt
Located in the 115 Administration Building
Telephone: 936.294.1836; Fax: 936.294.1834
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.
