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SHSU Update For Week Of Feb. 13, 2011
- ROTC To Host Annual Blood Drive For Troops
- Expert To Discuss Police Accountability For Beto Lecture
- UNT Professor To Present Work on Cilium, The Brain
- Psychology Professor To Give Grassroots Lecture
- Exchange Students To Showcase Chinese Films
- Student-Run Journal Accepting Submissions
- Applications Being Accepted For Rural Intern Program
- Thesis Concert To ‘Connect’ Dances, Real Issues
- Competition Challenges SHSU To Recycle
- Trumpet, Music Therapy Concerts Scheduled For Week
- Student Group To Host Fifth ‘Living Expo’
- Conference To Educate On Diversity-Related Issues
- Planetarium To Show The ‘Expanded View’
- Readings To Explore Love Multi-Culturally
- Send Update Items Here
ROTC To Host Annual Blood Drive For Troops
The SHSU Army ROTC Bearkat Battalion will share the “gift of life” with troops in Afghanistan and Iraq through a blood drive on Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 15-16).
The drive, open to both the Bearkat and Huntsville communities, will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday at the Health and Kinesiology Center Basketball Court and from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday on the first floor of Academic Building III.
“This blood drive is an opportunity for people to actually support the troops,” said 2nd Lt. Patrick Nguyen, Bearkat Battalion gold bar recruiter. “If the Armed Service Blood Program does not collect enough blood, the military must pay for it from civilian agencies such as the Red Cross, assuming they have blood available, in order to provide it for the troops.”
All donations, collected by the Robertson Blood Center from Fort Hood, will be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan for the Armed Services Blood Program by the end of the week.
Donors must bring a valid picture identification, weigh at least 110 pounds and should be in general good health, without any cold or flu symptoms.
For more information, call the military science department at 936.294.1306.
Expert To Discuss Police Accountability For Beto Lecture
Samuel Walker, a nationally recognized expert on policing, criminal justice policy and civil liberties, will present "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Recent Developments in Police Accountability" on Tuesday (Feb. 15).
The Beto Chair Lecture will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom.
Walker, a Professor Emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is the author of 13 books and dozens of articles in prestigious publications.
Perhaps best known for his work on police accountability, Walker’s books include “Driving While Female,” a definitive history of the American Civil Liberties Union, and his most recent book, “The New World of Police Accountability.”
Published in 2005, “The New World of Police Accountability” examines the most important recent developments in the field and “best practices,” that have been incorporated in Justice Department Consent Decrees over the Los Angeles, Cincinnati and other police departments.
Walker’s most recent articles also address issues such as federal pattern or practice litigation; developments in New Orleans; early intervention systems; citizen oversight of the police; police accountability in organizations; mediation of citizen complaints: race, ethnicity and criminal justice; sustaining police reforms; and internal benchmarking for racial profiling.
Walker recently won the W.E.B. Dubois Award from the Western Society of Criminology for his contributions to the field in the areas of race and ethnicity. During his career, he also has won a $1 million Congressional grant for a Police Professionalism Initiative, fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute, the National ACLU Tribute to Civil Libertarians Award, “Faculty of the Year” at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from Ohio State University.
Walker received his doctorate in American history from Ohio State University in 1973 and began teaching at the University of Omaha in 1974.
As a student, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement, serving as a volunteer in the historic Mississippi “Freedom Summer” in 1964 to register black voters in the state. One of his fellow activists was Andrew Goodman, who along with Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney, was murdered at the beginning of the project by the Ku Klux Klan.
The Beto Chair Lecture Series, established in 1979, brings top scholars from the field of criminology and criminal justice to Sam Houston State University.
For more information, contact Beth Kuhles, College of Criminal Justice public relations officer, at 936.294.4425.
UNT Professor To Present Work on Cilium, The Brain
Jannon Fuchs, a professor in the University of North Texas’ biological sciences department, will discuss her research on the impact cilium has on the brain on Thursday (Feb. 17).
The Biological Sciences Department Seminar Series lecture, “Genesis of the Brain: Cilia & Stem Cells,” will begin at 4 p.m. in Lee Drain Building Room 214.
Fuchs’ lab has found “that in the developing mouse, neuronal stem cells have primary cilia that act as antennae to receive proliferation signals,” she said.
“Almost every neuron has a primary cilium, which is a hair-like organelle that extends from the neuron's cell body,” Fuchs said. “If cilia are absent, the brain fails to develop.
“(In my seminar lecture) I will also describe our observations on cilia in the adult hippocampus, which is exceptional in that it continues to generate new neurons throughout adulthood,” she said. “The understanding of how this tiny organelle works will help scientist optimize stem cells for repairing brain damage.”
Fuchs has taught at UNT since 1988, earning the title of full professor in 2000.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Chicago, her master’s degree in psychology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her doctorate in neurosciences from the University of California at San Diego (La Jolla).
For more information, contact Madhu Choudhary, assistant professor of biological sciences, at 936.294.4850.
Psychology Professor To Give Grassroots Lecture
Jorge Varela, an assistant professor of psychology at SHSU, will share experiences from his life and career during the Grassroots speaker series on Wednesday (Feb. 16).
The question-and-answer format presentation, during which Varela will be “interviewed” by Blake Whittaker, a freshman SHSU Elite program participant, will begin at 5 p.m. in College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building Room C070.
“He will be asking me about my personal background, academic background and career prior to SHSU, my current work at SHSU, and finally thoughts on leadership,” Varela said. “The whole format is less formal than some other invited presentations around campus, and the audience will be encouraged to ask questions.”
Varela joined the faculty at SHSU in August 2008, after serving as a mental health flight commander/clinic director at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
His research interests include cultural and linguistic (Spanish) diversity issues in forensic psychology, particularly forensic assessment, as well as in law enforcement psychology and military psychology.
Varela earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and his master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Alabama. He completed his clinical psychology residence at the Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
A meet-and-greet with refreshments will follow the discussion in the Student Advising and Mentoring Center, located in CHSS Building Suite 170.
“Grassroots: A Series of Conversations on Leadership in a Diverse Community” was created in April 2003 to promote career aspirations and academic achievements of SHSU’s minority students.
The lecture is sponsored by the academic support programs of the Student Advising and Mentoring Center; the Elliott T. Bowers Honors Program; the International Hispanic Association; Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.; the NAACP; the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program; Student Success Initiatives Office; and Women United.
For more information, contact Bernice Strauss, SAM Center director of academic support programs, at 936.294.4455 or sam_bss@shsu.edu.
Exchange Students To Showcase Chinese Films
The College of Criminal Justice’s international policing cooperation cohort from Zhejiang Police College in Hangzhou, China, will share aspects of their culture with the Bearkat and Huntsville communities through their “Night in China Town” film festival beginning Tuesday (Feb. 15).
The six-week festival will present movies on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 7 p.m. in Academic Building IV Room 220.
The first film, on Feb. 15, will be “Green Snake,” a romance and action movie about two snake spirits that become human and learn about love and suffering. The Thursday (Feb. 17) presentation will be “Farewell, My Concubine,” a story about an opera artist’s pursuit, which serves as a stage to present the Chinese philosophy of devotion.
"Your country and SHSU has offered us a very good opportunity to study in the Criminal Justice College," said Shu Cang, one of the exchange students. "We are not only learning the knowledge (about criminal justice in America), but also (about) the American culture.
"At the same time, we find many of our classmates are interested in China and the Chinese culture, but they don't know it very well because they can't get much information about it," she said. "So we decided to introduce something about China, and movies are easy to understand and enjoyable."
Other showings include “New Dragon Inn,” on Feb. 22; “Mountain Patrol,” on Feb. 24; “Wild China,” on March 1; “Beijing Bicycle,” on March 3; “Shower,” on March 8; “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman,” on March 10; “The Equation of Love and Death,” on March 22; and “Dream Weaver: Beijing 2008,” on March 24.
"We hope the community can experience some Chinese culture in these movies," Cang said. "Because the Chinese culture is really different from this in the U.S."
All showings are free, and small gifts will be handed out.
For more information, contact Cang at sxc025@shsu.edu or 936.661.6254.
Student-Run Journal Accepting Submissions
The Sam Houston State Review, the literary journal of SHSU, will accept submissions for its 2010-11 issue through Tuesday (Feb. 15). The review publishes short stories, poetry and essays by SHSU students, alumni, faculty and staff.
“We may be shifting from a print to a digital culture, and we are only beginning to understand the ramifications of that shift, but we know that people have been telling stories and creating poetry for millennia and that won’t change,” said English assistant professor Scott Kaukonen. “The Sam Houston State Review is just one more sign that literary culture remains alive and vibrant.”
Submissions are read and evaluated by students in Kaukonen’s English 383 “Practicum in Publishing” course, comprised mostly of English majors and creative writing minors who help determine the best submissions in each genre. Those selected will be published in the review in late April.
“It’s important to submit to the Sam Houston Review if you believe you have talent as a writer,” said senior Chad Meiner. “Literary journals have played a major role in the history of literature. Many great authors and poets found their start in small publications—T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
“The Sam Houston State Review would like to be the first to publish your work and promote you as a writer,” he said.
Writers whose works are accepted for publication are also invited to read at the review’s annual release party, held at the end of the spring semester. The review also will award a $100 scholarship to the best submission as voted on by the staff.
Individual authors may submit one work of fiction and/or one essay and up to five poems, though no more than three poems will be published by any single author. The journal is also seeking artwork for the cover.
The student-run literary journal is also looking for new original artwork for the cover, by either students or local artists.
Submissions may be submitted electronically, as Microsoft Word attachments (.doc or .docx), to shsureview@yahoo.com or mailed to the SHSU Review, c/o The Department of English, PO Box 2146, 1901 University Ave., Huntsville, TX, 77341.
Prose submissions should be under 7,000 words and must be double-spaced. Individuals are allowed to submit one short story, one essay and up to five poems. They may submit in each genre.
Cover art that is submitted electronically should be sent as a .jpg or .gif. If the artwork is selected, a higher-quality image may be requested.
The SHSU Review also has its own Facebook page (SHSU Review).
For more information, contact Kaukonen, review faculty adviser, at 936.294.1407 or kaukonen@shsu.edu.
Applications Being Accepted For Rural Intern Program
Students who grew up in the city but always wondered what life is like in the “country” have the opportunity to find out first hand while gaining internship credit through the Texas Rural Internship Program, facilitated by SHSU’s Center for Rural Studies.
Students from all academic backgrounds can spend five weeks in the summer working for rural communities all over the state, working with the local government, economic development corporations, chambers of commerce, or local vendors, according to Cheryl Hudec, associate director for the Center for Rural Studies.
The center is accepting applications for this summer. The deadline to apply is March 4.
A joint initiative between the Texas Department of Agriculture and the SHSU Center for Rural Studies, the program pairs students with host families in participating rural communities, allowing them to experience life in rural Texas towns. Interns are paid and also receive college credit for participating in the program.
Students are matched with jobs based on their majors and the community’s needs.
“When students hear ‘rural internship’ they may think it means spending their summer milking cows; however, that is not the purpose of the program...but if a student wants to go to a farm, he or she can do that,” said Gene Theodori, director for the Center for Rural Studies.
Towns participating in the Texas Rural Internship Program also benefit from the program by hosting the interns, according to Hudec.
All SHSU students are eligible for the Texas Rural Internship Program.
For more information, to access the application or to learn about former rural interns’ experiences, visit www.shsu.edu/~org_crs/Education.html or contact Theodori at 936.294.4143 or glt002@shsu.edu.
Thesis Concert To ‘Connect’ Dances, Real Issues
Two graduate students in SHSU’s dance program will share their connections to the topics of cancer, the female body, diversity and personalities during their thesis concert on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18-19).
Performances for “Connect” will begin at 8 p.m. in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Theater.
Choreographed and co-directed by SHSU graduate students Amy Llanes and Jamie Zahradnik in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts Degree in dance, “Connect” will comprise original choreography inspired by two very different topics of interest and choreographic styles, according to Llanes.
Llanes, artistic director of Rednerrus Feil Dance Company and host of the Annual Huntsville Community Dance Concert, will present “alone.together,” a 30-minute work inspired by breast cancer and the female body image loosely based on conversations Llanes had with breast cancer survivors through an interviewing process.
“The work will assuredly be intriguing, evocative, and above all honest, as well as offer an artistic voice to those who have struggled and suffered in the face of breast cancer,” she said.
Zahradnik will present “Portraits,” a 30-minute work “inspired by the fascinating diversity that the choreographer finds within us all,” Llanes said.
“Zahradnik has been studying Carl Jung’s personality typology theory for the past two years, while curiously exploring different personality types through movement and body language,” she said.
“Now, she converts all her research into a buoyant dance work that is charged with life and color. The work promises to take the audience on a narrative journey that delves into our differing personality portraits.”
The concert will include more than 30 SHSU dancers.
Tickets are $10 for general admission, which can be purchased through the PAC Box Office at 936.294.2339 or tickets@shsu.edu.
For more information, contact Llanes at 281.881.3198 or Zahradnik at 979.533.7111.
Competition Challenges SHSU To Recycle
SHSU Dining Services is challenging students to catch RecycleMania for a 10-week competition that will directly pit the university against archrivals Stephen F. Austin State.
“RecycleMania is a 10-week competition among more than 600 college and university recycling programs,” said Ashley Baker, sustainability coordinator for Dining Services. “For this year’s competition, we will attempt to take on SFA.
“The main goal is to recycle more pounds of recyclable material than the Lumberjacks, but we will also be trying to promote our waste reduction and recycling programs while getting the students and faculty involved,” she said.
Among the events planned for RecycleMania, which began Feb. 6 and will run through April 2, are Dorm Storm, the Recyclympics and No Impact Week.
“Dorm Storm is where volunteers will storm the residence facilities and collect residents’ recycling in order to get more people to recycle and make them aware of just how much they were throwing away in the past that could actually be recycled,” Baker said. “Hopefully by increasing recycling participation by students and staff this will lead to more people reusing and recycling.”
For more information, contact Baker at 936.294.4693 or Baker-Ashley@aramark.com.
Trumpet, Music Therapy Concerts Scheduled For Week
The SHSU School of Music will host a trumpet concert and a weekend of lectures and concerts designed to show people the benefits of music therapy beginning on Wednesday (Feb. 16).
On that day, the Trumpet Studio will show off “the lyric beauty, dazzling technique and brilliant tones of the Prince of Brass Instruments - the trumpet” in two performances in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, according to associate professor of trumpet Randy Adams.
“The Early Show,” beginning at 6 p.m., will start off with a Jazz Sonata by Alan Botschinsky, followed by the first piece ever written for a chromatic trumpet, the Haydn “Trumpet Concerto,” composed in the late 1700s.
“The Late Show,” starting at 7:30 p.m., will begin with “a flashy and romantic Romanian piece” entitled "Legend" and will also include a piece written by a former School of Music chair Fisher Tull, according to Adams.
“The recital features most of the SHSU Trumpet Studio performing solo works for trumpet and piano from a variety of different time periods and nationalities,” he said. They will be accompanied by staff pianist Mieun Lee.
Both concerts are free.
On Friday (Feb. 18), the SHSU chapter of Mu Tau Omega, the national organization for music therapy, will “spread awareness about what music therapy is to the community” with a weekend of lectures and performances, according to MTO president Nicki Wiloth.
Events will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, in the PAC Recital Hall, with two lectures by board certified music therapists: a discussion of “Music Therapy and Community Reintegration” by Renea Reesman, followed by “Peace Like a River: An Introduction to Music Therapy in Hospice Care” by Alissa Carver.
That evening, music therapy students and faculty members, as well as therapists Karen Miller and Hayoung Lim will perform the MTO Coffeehouse Concert from 7:30-10 p.m. in Music Building Room 201.
Saturday’s activities include pastries and coffee from 8:30-9 a.m., followed by three lectures: “Music Therapy with Children” by Melissa R. Shupak, “Music Therapy in a Public School District” by Diane Powell, and “The Joys of Internships” by Charlie Seaman and Kelsey Buffolano.
A closing drum circle with Linky Dickson will end the weekend’s events, beginning at 3:10 p.m. All of Saturday’s activities will be held in the PAC Recital Hall.
Music Therapy Awareness Weekend events are free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Karen Cassidy at 832.766.0528, and for more information on any of the School of Music activities, call 936.294.1360.
Student Group To Host Fifth ‘Living Expo’
The Public Relations Student Society of America will introduce students to the “Hottest Places to Live in Huntsville” on Wednesday (Feb. 16) during the 5th annual Living Expo.
Booths from local apartment complexes will be set up in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during which students can receive information about the complexes and promotional bags.
“With the Living Expo, students do not have to go apartment shopping, the apartments come to them,” said Sabina Meador, PRSSA president. “This event will help students find out information about surrounding housing options here in Huntsville.”
Apartment complexes that are scheduled to participate include: Aberdeen Place/ Brookplace, Arbors of Sam Houston, Autumn Terrace, Bluebonnet, Brazos, Paper Moon, UCA, UPD, Vineyard, Forest Gate, Hillside, The Oaks, Santa Fe Trails, Cornerstone/ Woodcreek, Elks Terrace, Gateway, The Grove, Montgomery Place, Village/ Montgomery Village, Pines/ Redbud, Ridgewood, Rolling Brook/ Timbers, Summit, The Exchange, University House-Lake Road, Woodhollow, Forum at Sam Houston and The Villas.
For more information, contact Meador at sgm003@shsu.edu or 214.458.0873.
Conference To Educate On Diversity-Related Issues
More than 200 students from universities across the state are expected to be on the SHSU campus to learn about religion, ethnicity, cultural education, social issues and sexual orientation for the 7th annual Diversity Leadership Conference.
The educational event, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural and International Student Services and the SHSU Diversity Council, will be held on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18-19) in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.
The theme for this year’s conference is “True Life: I’m Going to DLC” and will feature award-winning documentary filmmaker Andrew Jenks, from MTV’s World of Jenks.
Other presentations include a speech by political pioneer Stephanie Brown and interactive workshops hosted by other student organizations.
The Diversity Council will also feature “True life: I’m diverse because...,” a compilation of students who have participated in video and photo booths set up around campus throughout the semester that gave them the opportunity to talk about their experiences with diversity.
“Our goal, of both DLC and as an organization, is to get college students to step outside their comfort zone and meet new, exciting people in a fun environment,” said Donielle Miller, MISS program coordinator.
Registration is $5 for SHSU students and $60 for non-SHSU students. The cost includes all meals, conference bag and T-shirt.
For more information, a schedule of events or to register, visit the Diversity Council website or contact Miller at 936.294.3588 or diversity@shsu.edu.
Planetarium To Show The ‘Expanded View’
The SHSU physics department will give audiences an “Expanded View” of the universe, exploring “some of the most beautiful deep space objects through the eyes of the Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes” on Friday (Feb. 18).
“Expanded View,” a planetarium series program, will begin at 7 p.m. in Farrington Building Room 102.
The show will also point out which constellations attendees can expect to see in the upcoming months, including Canis Major, Gemini, and the planet Saturn, according to Michael Prokosch, physics department staff laboratory assistant.
Admission is free.
For more information, contact Prokosch at 936.294.3664 or visit the Planetarium WikiPage at http://shsu-planetarium.wikispaces.com/.
Readings To Explore Love Multi-Culturally
The foreign languages department will celebrate Valentine’s Day while spreading their love in six different languages with a Multilingual Love Poetry Reading on Monday (Feb. 14).
Participants can hear students and faculty reading beginning at 1 p.m. outside of the Olson Auditorium in Academic Building IV.
Romantic poetry, selected by the readers, will be delivered in Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, German, French and Spanish, representing many of the languages taught at SHSU, as well as the diversity of the SHSU community, according to Debra Andrist, chair of the foreign languages department.
“The idea of the event is to celebrate Valentine’s Day multi-culturally by affording students, faculty and staff the opportunity to hear how cultures other than English-speaking celebrate love, if not the specific holiday,” she said. “It’s also an opportunity to read aloud and/or practice listening skills in target languages, not to mention broadening horizons in poetry.”
Cookies and chocolate will be served.
For more information, call the foreign languages department at 936.294.1441.
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
Feb. 11, 2011
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
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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.
