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SHSU Update For Week Of Oct. 2
- Firefest To ‘Light Up’ SHSU, SFA Rivalry Week
- Former Cuban President’s Daughter To Speak At SHSU
- Real Talk To ‘Weed Out Fraud In The USDA’
- Lecture To Look At Ethics In Global Corporations
- Music Professor To Give Journeys Seminar
- Lecture To Examine Hypertension Commonalities
- Open Forum To Address Cyber Security
- Theatre To Produce A ‘Comedy Of Errors’
- Exhibit To Look At Photographic ‘Simulacra’
- Ensemble, Symphonic Band To Make Fall Debut
- Association Charters Second Bus For Rivalry Game
- Center To Give Tips To ‘Young, Broke’
- Contest Winners To Be Announced During Exhibit
- SAM Center Offers Grad School Advice
- Today@Sam Submission Guidelines Change
Firefest To ‘Light Up’ SHSU, SFA Rivalry Week
SHSU students can help fire up the football team on Thursday (Oct. 6) as they prepare to take on archrival Stephen F. Austin State for the 86th Battle of the Piney Woods in Houston.
“Firefest,” the annual official pep rally, will begin at 8 p.m. in Bearkat Plaza.
The event will get warmed up with a laser light show, a few words by head football coach Willie Fritz and performances by the Bearkat Marching Band, the SHSU cheerleaders, Sammy the Bearkat and the Orange Pride dance team.
“Traditionally this program has been held at the SHSU Intramural Fields and has consisted of a pep rally, bonfire and professional fireworks display; however, due to the recent weather conditions, the bonfire and fireworks have been cancelled,” said Brandon Cooper, Student Activities department associate director. “In order to continue with this great tradition at SHSU, the pep rally will now play host to a laser/light show that will be provided by a professional audio/visual company.
"Firefest is such a spirited event and truly helps to ignite that internal flame that all Bearkats have to play and win at the Battle of the Piney Woods,” he said. “While the format has changed slightly, the program's focus is the same, to light up Texas in grand Bearkat style, and let everyone know that the Kats are on the prowl."
Bearkat football players will also be on hand during the event, which will also include free T-shirts.
Kickoff for the Battle of the Piney Woods game, presented by YP.com, is 2 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 8), at Reliant Stadium.
For more information on Firefest, contact Student Activities at 936.294.3861.
Former Cuban President’s Daughter To Speak At SHSU
Alina Fernandez, the daughter of former Cuban president Fidel Castro, will discuss her “exile’s memoir of Cuba” on Wednesday (Oct. 5).
The presentation, sponsored by SHSU’s Program Council, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.
Fernandez’s talk will center around her intimate account of growing up in Cuba, described in “Castro’s Daughter: An Exile’s Memoir of Cuba,” published in 1999.
Through her insight as one of the Cuban elite, Fernandez describes the surrounding political environment during the 1960s and ’70s, weaving in her unique sense of style and humor and revealing exciting and suspenseful anecdotes, snapshots of Cuban society, her inside scoop on Cuban politics, and a detailed view of her father.
As one of Fidel Castro's children, she had a strangely mixed upbringing; a combination of privilege and privation.
Fernandez was just a toddler when Castro overthrew the Batista government during the 1959 Cuban Revolution. She saw Fidel Castro on the television screen and then in her living room, as Castro would frequently visit her at night.
She said she would play tirelessly with him until dawn; then he would disappear for months at a time.
As Fernandez grew up and opened her eyes to the political climate in Cuba, she became rebellious, and in the ’80s became part of the political dissident movement on the island.
By 1993 she was forced to flee Cuba, which she accomplished by mastering the art of disguise. She resides in the United States today.
Hollywood is currently making a motion picture based on her life.
“Alina grew up in a convulsive Cuba, living with the ongoing threat of invasion by American troops,” said Chuck Collins, assistant director for Student Activities. “She is a witness with a unique vision, not only of her father, and how the country changed after the revolution, but of Cuba's future, and the potential for reform and a better life in Cuba."
For more information, contact Collins at 936.294.3077 or chuckcollins@shsu.edu.
Real Talk To ‘Weed Out Fraud In The USDA’
On any given day, SHSU criminal justice alumna Mary Coulter Lewis may be investigating animal-fighting rings, tracking down fraud in the food stamp program, examining illegal activities in government farm loans, or checking out issues in food safety.
For 23 years, Lewis has worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Office of Inspector General, weeding out fraud in about 300 government programs in the federal system.
“There is never a dull moment,” said Lewis, assistant special agent in charge of the Temple office, which covers New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. “We are a big lending-type agency. We can have fraud in any one of them…Fraud is fraud. You don’t have to know a lot about agricultural programs. It’s never the same every day.”
The 1988 graduate will discuss the department and other federal job opportunities as part of “Real Talk with CJ” series on Tuesday (Oct. 4) at 2 p.m. in the Criminal Justice Center’s CJava Café.
In her job with the USDA, Lewis supervises six agents, two in Arkansas and four in Texas. In the past, she also has served on the USDA’s emergency response team.
The Office of Inspector General is the law enforcement arm of the USDA, which covers federal programs such as food stamps, federal farm aid, animal fighting, animal and plant protection, food safety, agricultural research, the forest service, and natural resources conservation, to name a few.
The office also investigates wrongdoing by department employees for such offenses as bribery, public corruption and child pornography.
“We are not only investigating farmers and participants in our program, we investigate our employees,” Lewis said. “We are like internal affairs.”
The USDA is also vital to the health and safety of food and agriculture in this country. Lewis once supervised a case of a chicken processing plant worker who was in such a hurry to go four-wheeling that he put ink in the chillers with raw chicken. The ink adulterated the food, which caused the plant to be shut down and the meat to be destroyed, costing the business $100,000.
Another time, her office caught several USDA border inspectors in Laredo who were responsible for ensuring vegetables and flowers were fumigated to destroy incoming pests from Mexico. Not only did the agricultural workers falsify their overtime records on their inspections, the fumigation process was never done, opening up the U.S. to potentially harmful bugs.
“There is one beetle that can wipe out an entire forest,” Lewis said.
For more information on the lecture, contact Beth Kuhles, College of Criminal Justice public relations officer, at 936.294.4425 or kuhles@shsu.edu.
Lecture To Look At Ethics In Global Corporations
Mike Young, senior counsel for compliance and ethics at Anadarko Petroleum, will discuss the challenges of “Maintaining an Ethical Global Enterprise” on Thursday (Oct. 6).
The presentation, part of the College of Business Administration’s “Speaking of Ethics—2011 Speaker Series on Ethics and Social Responsibility” series, will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the Smith-Hutson Building's Mafrige Auditorium.
As senior counsel for compliance and ethics, Young oversees all of Anadarko’s compliance and ethics training and implementation. His department is responsible for developing and implementing Anadarko’s code of business conduct and ethics.
Anadarko Petroleum is among the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the world, with 2.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves at year-end 2010.
The company’s portfolio of assets encompasses premier positions in U.S. onshore resources in the Rocky Mountains region, the southern United States and the Appalachian Basin. The company also is a premier deepwater producer in the Gulf of Mexico and has production in Alaska, Algeria, and Ghana, with additional exploration opportunities in Brazil, China, Indonesia, New Zealand, and East and West Africa.
The “Speaking of Ethics—2011 Speaker Series on Ethics and Social Responsibility" lecture, sponsored by SHSU’s College of Business Administration and several other departments, is designed to show attendees “where the rubber meets the road” regarding ethics, facilitated by anecdotes that will reinforce current instruction within the college, according to John Newbold, assistant professor of management and marketing, who is helping coordinate the series.
It is sponsored by the College of Business Administration, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Career Services, Student Services, Phi Sigma Pi Honors Fraternity and the Political Science Junior Fellows.
For more information, contact Newbold at jnewbold@shsu.edu.
Music Professor To Give Journeys Seminar
SHSU director of keyboard studies Sergio Ruiz will encourage students to “be active” along their college journeys on Monday (Oct. 3).
The Honors 3332 Journeys seminar will be presented at 4 p.m. in Smith-Hutson Building Room 186.
Ruiz said his discussion will be centered around the importance of being actively engaged in work, family and community.
An associate professor of music, Ruiz has been teaching at SHSU since 2004, during which time he has helped establish the university’s first Latin arts festival, Festival Inspiración, and has been recognized with SHSU’s Faculty Excellence in Service award. He has also been recognized as the 2009 Texas Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year.
He has performed solo and chamber music concerts around the world, on Spanish-speaking radio broadcasts throughout South and Central America, and most recently in Ecuador, Columbia and México.
Ruiz studied piano in Barcelona, Spain, as well as at Rice University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Santa Clara University. His teachers include Robert Roux, Paul Schenly, and Hans Boepple.
The Journeys seminar, sponsored by the Elliott T. Bowers Honors College, is part of a new class designed to show students what characteristics lead to success.
It is open to the public.
For more information, contact course instructor Patrick Lewis at 936.294.3397.
Lecture To Examine Hypertension Commonalities
Douglas Rhoads, professor and director of the graduate program in cell and molecular biology at the University of Arkansas—Fayetteville, will present his research on "The Genetics of Pulmonary Hypertension Syndrome; Using the Chicken as a Model of a Human Disease" on Thursday (Oct. 6).
The Biological Sciences Department Seminar Series lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in Lee Drain Building Room 214.
Rhoads said his seminar will focus on the investigation of the genes, tissues, and physiology of a disease of chickens called ascites.
“Our collaborative group has determined that this form of hypertension in chickens is very similar to forms of pulmonary arterial hypertension in humans,” he said. “Not only will our work help the chicken industry reduce a disease that causes animal suffering and costs over $100 million annually, we will determine whether the chicken can be a useful medical model for a crippling human disease.”
Rhoads has been teaching at the University of Arkansas since 1990.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wichita State University and his doctorate from Kansas State University, where he also completed his post-doctoral work.
During his visit Rhoads also will be meeting with students that may be interested in opportunities in the doctoral program at the University of Arkansas.
The lecture is open to the public.
For more information, contact Madhu Choudhary, assistant professor of biological sciences, at 936.294.4850.
Open Forum To Address Cyber Security
The campus community can learn about cyber security and how it can impact their work or lives on Tuesday (Oct. 4) during an open forum at 3 p.m. in Academic Building IV’s Olson Auditorium.
Hosted by IT@Sam, the Cyber Security Awareness Open Forum will include presenters from across campus who will discuss how the campus can protect their laptops, cell phones, iPads, and desktop computers. They include Ann Holder, the SHSU copyright officer; Matt Nobles, assistant professor of criminal justice; Michael Lombard, U.S. Secret Service; David Burris, professor of computer science; Kristi Vienne, assistant vice president for Student Services and director of the Bearkat OneCard Services Office; and Jacki Brossman-Ashorn, director of the Student Money Management Center.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “cyber security involves protecting that information by preventing, detecting, and responding to attacks.”
It can also affect software and networks such as LAN and wireless, according to Norma Vazquez, IT@Sam service desk supervisor.
There are a number of reasons why being aware of these issues is important, according to Vazquez.
“Increasing awareness helps safeguard university employee and student data such as social security numbers, addresses, and other confidential information,” she said. “The community doesn’t realize that it’s a joint effort that we all take appropriate measures to safeguard our data.
“Many do not realize how much damage can be done ‘behind the scenes’ when someone has access to our network or to equipment such as lost or unsecured laptops they may contain confidential data,” she said. “It will also keep the community informed on the most common ways that someone’s identity can be stolen and of the methods that can be used to help deter ‘phishers.’”
During the forum, the community can also ask questions about their own cyber security on campus.
“We’ve had several cases where individuals have replied to e-mail asking for their personal information such as their username or password,” Vazquez said. “Additionally, scans of the network using ‘Identify Finder’ have detected credit card numbers, passwords, and social security numbers.
“Numerous laptops come in with malware which requires that we perform a re-image and downtime for the client,” she said. “Finally, we’ve had several community members voice their concerns over the complexity and frequency of passwords.”
A second forum will be held on Oct. 19 in the Smith-Hutson Building's Haney Auditorium, in Room 186.
For more information, contact Vazquez at nev001@shsu.edu or 936.294.4115.
Theatre To Produce A ‘Comedy Of Errors’
The Sam Houston State University department of theatre and dance will present one of William Shakespeare’s most well-known and often performed comedies with its production of “Comedy of Errors,” Wednesday through Saturday (Oct. 5-8).
Show times are at 8 p.m. each evening, with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee, in the University Theatre Center’s Erica Starr Theatre.
Directed by SHSU theatre professor Dave McTier, the farcical “Comedy of Errors” is the story of two sets of identical twin brothers who were separated at birth.
Set in “a not far off land,” the 90-minute play is a comedic whirlwind of mistaken identity, merry mix-ups and witty dialogue.
“Comedy of Errors” stars theatre majors Trent O’Neal, as Antipholus of Ephesus; Danny Dyer, as Antipholus of Syracuse; Will Ritchie, as Dromio of Ephesus; and Clifton Adams, as Dromio of Syracuse.
The cast also includes theatre majors Christina Brinkley, as Adriana; Kyle Scholl, as Luciana; Tanner Stogsdill, as Duke Solinus; Hunter Frederick, as Aegeon; Sean Willard, as an officer; Megan Passano, as a merchant and Aemelia; Ryan Alexander Segovia, as a merchant; Charles Michael Daniels, as Angelo; Robin Van Zandt, as Luce and a courtesan; and Lex Laas, as Pinch a servant.
Designers include Performing Arts Center faculty member Carrie Barton, lighting; senior theatre major Amy Brock, costumes; theatre faculty member Liz Freese, sets; and theatre major Ryan Brazil, sound. Senior theatre major Shelina Widner is the stage manager.
Tickets are $14 for general admission and $12 for SHSU students and senior citizens. Group rates also are available.
For more information, call the University Theatre Center Box Office at 936.294.1339.
Exhibit To Look At Photographic ‘Simulacra’
An exhibition of work by three Texas artists who find inspiration in the photographic image will be on display in the art department’s Gaddis Geeslin Gallery beginning Monday (Oct. 3).
"Simulacra," featuring the works of Ted Kincaid, Laura Lark and Shawn Smith, will be showcased in the gallery through Oct. 27. Lark will present an artist talk on Wednesday (Oct. 5), from 11 a.m. to noon in the Art Auditorium, and an exhibit reception will be on Thursday (Oct. 6), from 5-6 p.m. in the gallery.
Lark is a Houston artist who creates giant, 11-foot tall drawings of women’s faces from fashion magazines, cropping the background and reproducing the faces using a meticulous stippling process, according to exhibit curator Michael Henderson, SHSU associate professor of art.
“The women are in the act of applying makeup, and in the process observing themselves so closely that they become separated from their environment,” he said. “The images represent moments of self-reflection in which the self seems as absent as the environment. Lark creates a spectacle in the gallery from these vacant, narcissistic images.”
Smith, a sculptor who lives in Austin, investigates “the slippery intersection between the digital world and reality” in his work, according to Henderson.
“The source of his work is images of animals that he finds online,” Henderson said. “From these images, he builds his sculptures pixel by pixel. The results are works that startle the viewer by appearing to be pixilated images that exist in three dimensions.”
Kincaid, a Dallas artist who works in the photographic medium, creates digital images that “at first glance appear to be beautiful landscapes, seascapes or moon shots with surfaces that are textured from some elaborate and archival photographic process,” Henderson said.
“On closer examination, the viewer begins to question the images and wonder about their sources,” he continued. “Are these representations of reality, or composited fakes created on the artist’s computer. In many ways, Kincaid’s images are more like paintings than photographs."
Students in Henderson's “Museum and Gallery Practices” class will give a curators’ talk and tour of the exhibition on Oct. 15 at 11 a.m., discussing Henderson's concept for selecting the artists, their artworks and details about each artists’ process. The students have assisted with the installation of the exhibition as part of the course.
The Art Auditorium is located in SHSU Art Building E Room 108. The Gaddis Geeslin Gallery is located in Art Building F. It is open Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m.
For more information, contact Henderson at mhenderson@shsu.edu.
Ensemble, Symphonic Band To Make Fall Debut
The SHSU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will present their first concert of the fall on Thursday (Oct. 6), at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.
The two groups will play a wide range of music, from Renaissance to more contemporary pieces, according to Rachel Denson, conducting graduate assistant.
Among the pieces to be performed by the Symphonic Band are Clifton Williams’s “Fanfare and Allegro,” Claude Debussy’s “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair,” and Keith Brion’s arrangement of Charles Ives’s “March Intercollegiate.” The Symphonic Band is directed by Brian Gibbs.
The Wind Ensemble will perform SHSU trombone professor Henry Howey’s arrangement of Giovanni Gabrieli’s “Sonata XIX,” Paul Creston’s “Celebration Overture, op. 61,” Eric Ewazen’s “A Hymn for the Lost and the Living,” and Frank Ticheli’s “Blue Shades.”
“‘A Hymn for the Lost and the Living’ is being played as a tribute to 9/11 and will be conducted by graduate assistant, Jon Whitelock,” Denson said.
The Wind Ensemble is directed by Matthew McInturf.
Tickets are $17 for general admission and $14 for SHSU students, with their Bearkat OneCards, and senior citizens.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
Association Charters Second Bus For Rivalry Game
Due to overwhelming demand, the Sam Houston State University Alumni Association will sponsor a second charter bus to the 86th “Battle of the Piney Woods” football game in Houston on Saturday (Oct. 8).
The buses will depart from the Chemistry and Forensic Science Building parking lot, on the corner of Sam Houston Avenue and Bowers Drive, at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 and will return immediately following the game.
Once at Reliant Stadium, participants will have the opportunity to participate in all the tailgating festivities. The Alumni Association will prepare food for the first 1,000 fans to visit the alumni and university colleges tailgating area, which will be in the Blue Lot 22.
The cost is $25 per person, which does not include game ticket. Seating is limited, and reservations are requested by Oct. 5.
Kickoff for the annual Sam Houston vs. Stephen F. Austin rivalry game, presented by YP.com, is 2 p.m.
A total of 24,685 fans filled the lower bowl of Reliant Stadium for last year's game. More fans are expected for this year's game.
Approximately 26,000 tickets are available in the lower bowl, which can be purchased online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets.
For more information, or to reserve a seat, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 936. 294.1841 or go online to http://alumni.shsu.edu.
Center To Give Tips To ‘Young, Broke’
The Student Money Management Center will show those who are “young and broke in Huntsville” how to have some no cost fun with a seminar on Tuesday (Oct. 4), from 3:30-4:20 p.m. in Lowman Student Center Room 315.
Led by SMMC peer counselor Jessica Correll, a senior, the presentation will provide ways in which “students can attend concerts, go to local events and even enjoy the bar scene without going broke each month,” she said.
“We created this workshop because we felt our students should be aware that they can have fun in college without spending a ton of money,” Correll said. “Too many times students come into our office with a deficit in their checking account because they spent too much money on entertainment. They then express that they don’t want to sit at home and do nothing in order to save money.”
The workshop will provide students with the inside scoop on on-campus activities that are free and other Huntsville and area activities that are cheap, including which restaurants offer deals on certain nights, as well as giving students the tools to find deals on their own.
“One of our goals is to have the students leave the workshop with the tools and knowledge to have a fun college experience without breaking the break each month,” Correll said.
For more information, contact the SMMC at 936.294.2600 or smmc@shsu.edu.
Contest Winners To Be Announced During Exhibit
The Sam Houston Memorial Museum will showcase the works of the amateur photographers who entered their pictures into its annual contest with an exhibit beginning Monday (Oct. 3).
An opening reception will be held that day for the Sam Houston Memorial Museum’s 2011 Amateur Photo Contest from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Katy & E. Don Walker, Sr., Education Center Exhibit Gallery.
Contest winners in each of the six categories will be announced during an awards ceremony beginning at 6 p.m.
The second annual contest received double the amount of entries that were in the inaugural year, with the most amount in the “animals” category, according to Megan Buro, museum marketing coordinator.
The other categories included “Huntsville,” “Sam Houston Museum,” “floral,” “people” and “architecture.”
Prizes will be awarded for first through third places, and one “best in show” award will be given.
The exhibit will be on display through Nov. 25 and can be viewed during museum hours, which are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, contact Buro, museum marketing coordinator, at 936.294.3839 or mlb044@shsu.edu, or call the Sam Houston Memorial Museum at 936.294.1832.
SAM Center Offers Grad School Advice
The Student Advising and Mentoring Center will give students considering graduate school all of the information they need during an informational seminar on Monday (Oct. 3).
The Graduate School Information presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. in College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building Room 110.
SAM Center graduate fellow Candice Combs will present the session, which will include information on financial aid, organizing applications and the grad school timeline.
“For undergraduate students who are considering a graduate school education, this can be a great starting place for finding information and beginning the search,” Combs said. “My goal is to educate students about graduate school, assist students in effectively applying to graduate school, and clear up any confusion that is associated with graduate school.”
There will also be an additional grad school session at the University Center in The Woodlands on Oct. 29.
For more information, contact Combs at cec015@shsu.edu or call the SAM Center at 936.294.4458.
Today@Sam Submission Guidelines Change
In order to assist members of the Sam Houston State University community in publicizing events, the SHSU Communications Office (Today@Sam) is now requesting that students, faculty and staff submit information about events, accomplishments or ideas for feature stories online.
Submission criteria and guidelines, including deadlines, have now been placed online, at /guidelines.html. This information is also accessible through the “Submissions” link in the right-hand navigation on Today@Sam.
From there, those submitting ideas can access forms that will allow them to provide detailed information about their idea, as well as attach event calendars, vitas/resumes or photos, depending on the type of submission.
Ideas submitted to the SHSU Communications Office are directly utilized in several ways: as news stories, “slider” or SHSU home page stories, hometown releases, and on the Today@Sam calendar.
If your submission qualifies for distribution, we will either contact you for more detailed information, or we will edit the information using SHSU/journalistic style and forward the final release to the appropriate media.
All information is verified before release, so please provide complete, accurate and timely information. Please type all responses in appropriate upper and lower cases.
For more information, contact the Communications Office at 936.294.1836 or today@sam.edu.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
Oct. 1, 2011
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Director: TBD
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.
