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SHSU Update For Week Of Aug. 25
- SHSU Groups Deliver ‘Much-Needed’ Food To Local Mission
- Student-Made Films To Be Presented In Huntsville Square
- Exhibit To Show Audiences How It’s Done
- Carrettin To Open Concert Season With Viola Duet
- Library Workshops Provide Research Aid
- Center Helps Create ‘Journalist Survival Guide’
- Brock Named To Southwest Conference Hall Of Fame
- Museum Sponsors Fourth Annual Amateur Photo Contest
- Today@Sam Seeks Fall Calendar Info
- Submit Update Items Here
SHSU Groups Deliver ‘Much-Needed’ Food To Local Mission
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| SAA President Bryan Leturia collects donations at Passport to Sam. —Submitted photo |
Sam Houston State University’s Student Alumni Association and Leadership Initiatives department recently worked together to help those in need in the Huntsville community.
More than 260 non-perishable food items were delivered to Huntsville’s Good Shepherd Mission at the end of last month after SAA president Bryan Leturia organized a food drive for the organization with the help of SHSU’s Leadership Initiatives.
Teaming with Enrollment Management’s Passport to Sam, an orientation program organized by Leadership Initiatives and geared toward introducing new students to resources and involvement opportunities, the SAA and Leadership Initiatives challenged the student organizations and university departments who regularly attend Passport to Sam to bring in items that would help fill the mission’s shelves.
“The Good Shepherd Mission was incredibly grateful for the donations. I’ve volunteered in the GSM pantry in the past, and this was definitely the emptiest I’ve ever seen their shelves,” said Meredith Conrey, program coordinator for SHSU’s Center for Leadership and Service. “They were definitely in need and were thankful for the support from the SHSU community.”
From SHSU’s perspective, Conrey said helping local entities such as the GSM is part of the university’s overall mission and they were happy with the results of the two-day food drive.
“Giving back in our local community helps all of us live out the university’s motto, ‘The measure of a Life is its Service,’” Conrey said. “Helping others allows our students, faculty, and staff to recognize the importance of life-long active citizenship and the need to promote positive social change within our community.
“SHSU is full of caring, giving individuals, and it’s always great to see them meet the needs of others through acts of service,” she said.
Student-Made Films To Be Presented In Huntsville Square
Sam Houston State University student filmmakers will bring Cannes to Huntsville when they share with the Bearkat and Huntsville communities the works that were screened for international audiences over the summer on Friday (Aug. 30).
The mass communication department will present “Sam Houston Short Films,” showcasing four films that will highlight a meet-and-greet event beginning at 6 p.m. at the Old Town Theatre, in the Huntsville downtown square.
“Earlier this year, students from SHSU traveled to the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera, participated in internships and screened their accepted films for industry professionals in the Cannes Short Film Corner,” said Tom Garrett, associate professor of mass communication. "They met with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and the international film business.
“To kick off the new semester, the Old Town Theater is going to screen their films and other films from the mass communication department and Raven Films. Students also will discuss their experiences at the festival,” he said.
The lineup includes theatre major Peter Ton’s suspense-genre film “Eumenides,” about a man who awakens to find his family missing and the series of events that brings him to the truth; and mass communication major Chase Parker’s “Left Behind,” the story of the 24 hours preceding a school shooting.
Alumnus Gerald Morris will present his award-winning “Crackerjack,” a Deep South-set tale of a young couple whose lives are turned upside down after an encounter with a psychopath; and mass comm major Jonathan Kinsey will showcase his “Illumenate,” an “inspiring look into the creative, and often unnoticed, individuals that craft the way theatrical, musical, and dance productions look and feel through the use of lighting design.”
The event is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted, benefitting the Old Town Theatre.
“Sam Houston Short Films” also will be broadcast on KSHU-TV Channel 7 later in September.
For more information, contact Garrett at tgg009@shsu.edu or 936.294.1344.
Exhibit To Show Audiences How It’s Done
The first exhibit of the fall semester in Sam Houston State University’s Gaddis Geeslin Gallery will pay homage to the country’s “DIY” culture through sculptures, painting and installations.
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| Durkin's "Layered Expansion (Kitchen)" (2011) is a 68-by-60-by-7-inch work that is part of her "Icing (Just like this...) series that will be on display in the Gaddis Geeslin Gallery Sept. 3 through Oct. 17. —Submitted photo |
“Icing (Just like this…),” featuring works by Josephine Durkin, will examine the “personal and cultural fascination with home improvement and beautification” through a collection that will be on display Sept. 3 through Oct. 21.
“More and more homeowners are part of the DIY movement, and countless websites, TV shows and magazines show us how to make, live, cook and eat beautifully,” Durkin said. “There’s something empowering about knowing, if you wanted to, that you could turn to YouTube, Design Star or Martha Stewart Living to get step-by-step instructions on how to wire a light fixture, stencil a room or create an ornate, multi-layered cake with homemade fondant icing.
“They break it down for you, and tell you with absolute certainty, that we can make or do these things too…‘just like this,’” she said. “We are a culture that is enticed by the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images, and the instructions that take us from ‘here’ to ‘there.’”
Playing on these ideas, Durkin’s collection relies on color and design strategies that are taught with DIY programming, “while focusing on excerpts of various processes,” such as rolling paint, stencil use or cake layering, but with a twist.
“Surfaces and objects that reference processes used in home improvement are taken out of context so that their formal, as opposed to practical, qualities can be experienced,” Durkin said. “This work acknowledges our desire for things, spaces and food to be visually seductive while emphasizing our attraction to processes that appear to be transparent and attainable.”
Durkin is currently an associate professor of art at Texas A&M University—Commerce, where she teaches 3-D design and sculpture.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from Yale University. She has also studied at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Lorenzo de Medici School of Art in Florence, Italy.
Her recent exhibitions include solo shows at the Dallas Contemporary; the Lawndale Art Center in Houston; The Front Gallery in New Orleans; the Ulrich Museum in Wichita, Kansas; and group exhibitions at Brand 10 in Fort Worth, Lohin Geduld in New York, Eyedrum in Atlanta, and the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art.
An opening reception for “Icing (Just like this…)” will be on Sept. 12, from 6-7 p.m. in the 3G.
Durkin will also discuss her work during an artist lecture and closing reception on Oct. 21, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Art Auditorium, in Art Building E Room 108.
For more information, contact Annie Strader, 3G committee chair and assistant professor of art, at 936.294.1322 or srs033@shsu.edu.
Carrettin To Open Concert Season With Viola Duet
Before the semester gets in full swing, Sam Houston State University’s director of orchestral studies will give music aficionados a taste of what is to come throughout the fall with “B3” on Tuesday (Sept. 3).
Zachary Carrettin, joined by concert pianist Mina Gajic, will highlight one of his primary instruments, the viola, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Gaertner Performing Arts Center Recital Hall.
The two will showcase Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027,” Heinrich Biber’s “Passacaglia in G Minor”and Johannes Brahms’s “Sonata in F Minor, op. 120.”
“Most people today don't know Biber's music, which was formative in the development of the violin, and therefore viola, as a virtuoso instrument,” Carrettin said. “Biber was a virtuoso violinist of the baroque, a terrific composer and chorus master.
“I have transcribed his ‘Passacaglia,’ originally for solo violin without accompaniment,” he said. "It is a meditative and cyclic piece aimed at creating a trance-like effect through its mystical transformations of the primary four notes on which the piece is based.”
Carrettin—who plays violin, baroque period violin, electric violin, viola and other instruments—said this concert is an opportunity to showcase an instrument that isn’t generally found on its own.
“Often it is the ‘middle’ voice, a texture or an accompaniment. As a solo instrument it has less of a history than does the violin,” he said. “Many concert-goers have yet to hear a viola recital, so I decided to offer one right at the start of the year.”
“I play an extraordinary viola made by Ferruccio Varagnolo in Milan, 1914; that maker died at only 31 years of age,” he continued. “I am fortunate to play this instrument and am looking forward to sharing its voice.”
The performance with Gajic—who has performed as a concerto soloist in France, Italy, Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic, China and the U.S.—is one of many collaborations Carrettin said he has scheduled for the year.
“Mina Gajic's piano performances are characterized by aplomb, clarity, and depth of understanding,” he said. “I have performed duo recitals with her in Europe and the U.S., and each time I am inspired by what we encounter in the music during our rehearsal process.”
Admission is free.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
Library Workshops Provide Research Aid
While many students use the library as a place to study or simply find books, the Newton Gresham Library also hosts workshops that provide students and faculty members research tools to make their studies more productive.
Students in all disciplines can learn to use research databases in a number of fields with workshops that students can schedule based on their individual schedules.
The database workshops provide hands-on introductions to electronic databases and full text sources for research, covering topics such as database selection criteria, construction of search strategies or statements, interpretation of search results and locating information found.
“From English and art to business, the librarians of Newton Gresham Library can help students learn to navigate our online subject databases through these workshops,” said Marsha Dickens, NGL associate. “Each librarian is a subject specialist who can help students learn to use the databases to do research for their paper or project.”
A list of database workshops and how to schedule an appointment for training can be found at library.shsu.edu/about/subject.html.
The library will also show students and faculty how to access its many electronic book holdings through smart tablets with two workshops, on Sept. 20 and Oct. 29, both at 11 a.m. in NGL Room 157.
Finally, faculty members can learn to use Turn-It-In, a plagiarism detection tool, during workshops on Sept. 20, at 10 a.m.; Oct. 29, at 9 a.m.; or Nov. 18, at 3:30 p.m., all in NGL Room 155.
“Our librarians are very knowledgeable and eager to help those wanting more instruction with library resources and tools,” Dickens said. “These workshops are offered every semester to provide more training for students and faculty. Students, especially, are encouraged to attend to learn research techniques for writing papers.”
Both the Ebooks and Turn-It-In workshops can also be scheduled by appointment by contacting Angela Colmenares at anc034@shsu.edu or 936.294.4782.
For more information on library workshops, or a complete list of dates and times, visit library.shsu.edu/research/guides/tours.html.
Center Helps Create ‘Journalist Survival Guide’
To be a journalist means more than just writing down a few facts for publication in a newspaper or online outlet, or even being broadcast on TV; journalists must contend with complicated issues dealing with source identities, verifying material and knowing their own rights.
International journalists face many other issues, especially when reporting on high-profile people in dangerous locations around the world. For many journalists around the world, simply staying alive is one of the largest issues they face.
To help citizens and beginner journalists around the world, Sam Houston State University’s Global Center for Journalism and Democracy worked with the Samir Kassir eyes (SKeyes) Center to create an online “Journalist Survival Guide” that is being distributed, and catching the attention of media, worldwide.
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| SHSU's Kelli Arena and Robin Johnson helped write the curriculum for two of the video lessons designed to aid citizen- and beginner-journalists around the world. The videos are available at video.sheyesmedia.org. |
The series of videos were produced by SKeyes, and curriculum for two lessons were written by Kelli Arena, executive director for the GCJD, and Robin Johnson, SHSU assistant professor of mass communications.
“The guide was intended to help citizen- and other beginner-journalists who are in countries where they cannot get training,” Arena said. “In many countries you have citizens who are trying to get news out to the world because traditional journalists can't get in.
“This project was started with Syria in mind; there is so much happening there that the world needs to know about, but it's been next to impossible to get thorough reporting out of there,” she said. “In some of these countries, journalists have not been properly trained and the press is not free.
“We felt it was a worthy cause to try to help these citizens as much as we could from a distance,” she continued. “GCJD believes that the smarter the journalists are, the better off society is.”
This project is one of several produced as a result of a partnership between the GCJD and Samir Kassir Foundation; the centers have also co-hosted international training conferences for journalists.
Since being distributed by national and international journalism organizations, universities, and independent journalists by sharing the link, the guide has been featured in the Daily Star in Lebanon and on UPI, as well as many more online entities.
The videos are available at video.skeyesmedia.org.
Brock Named To Southwest Conference Hall Of Fame
Bob Brock, head coach of the Bearkat softball team since 2002 and a Sam Houston graduate, has been named as an entrant to the re-initiated Southwest Conference Hall of Fame, which is welcoming its first class since 1995.
Brock will be honored during the induction ceremony and luncheon on Oct. 28 at the Dallas Doubletree Hotel Campbell Center. The event is sponsored by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Brock ranks 11th among NCAA Division I active softball head coaches in total career victories with 1,047 amassed during his 28 seasons at SHSU, Texas A&M and Baylor.
Joining Brock as 2013 inductees in the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame are University of Houston track coach Tom Tellez, Rice running back Trevor Cobb, former Arkansas head football coach Frank Broyles, Texas Longhorn basketball and baseball player Jay Arnette, Texas Tech basketball player Rick Bullock, Baylor basketball and baseball standout Jerry Mallett, SMU basketball star Gene Phillips and former TCU athletic director and baseball coach Frank Windegger.
“Being included with such prestigious names from the great Southwest Conference days is indeed an honor,” Brock said. “This is really an exciting day.”
Brock served as head coach at Baylor from 1980-1981 and at Texas A&M from 1982-1996. Six times he directed teams to the College World Series, winning national titles in 1982, 1983 and 1987 and finishing as runner-up in 1984 and 1986.
In Sept. 2006, Brock was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame.
He has coached 21 All-Americans, 60 All-Regional honorees and two members on gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic Teams.
He was honored as National Softball "Coach of the Year" in 1983 and received National Softball Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1991.
Brock received his bachelor's degree in criminal justice from SHSU in 1969 and his master's degree in criminology from Central Texas University in 1978.
Museum Sponsors Fourth Annual Amateur Photo Contest
The deadline for amateur photographers to submit their work in the Sam Houston Memorial Museum’s fourth annual photography contest is approaching.
Photographers who would like to take advantage of the opportunity to get exposure for their work and compete for cash prizes have until Sept. 6 to submit their photos in some of the contest’s eight categories, including “Travel,” “Old,” “Food,” “Faces,” “Action,” “Flora and Fauna,” “New” and “Black and White.”
Prizes will include $200 for “Best in Show,” $100 for Reserve Best in Show, and $20 for first, $15 for second, and $10 for third place in each of the categories.
Submissions must be postmarked or delivered to the museum by 4 p.m. on Sept. 6.
The cost to enter is $5 per submission, and photographers may enter as many categories as they wish, but no more than two photographs per contestant per category, according to Megan Buro, museum marketing coordinator.
Entries will be judged in a private session by a panel of independent judges, and winners will be contacted by phone.
The contest is “open to anyone and everyone who is an avid amateur photographer,” Buro said.
Participating entries in the 2013 Amateur Photo Contest and the winning photographs will be displayed in the Katy and E. Don Walker Sr. Walker Education Center Exhibit Gallery from Oct. 15 to Dec. 22. Awards will be presented and participants will be recognized during the exhibit’s opening reception on Oct. 14.
Application forms, along with information about and rules for the contest, are available at the museum during business hours or online at samhoustonmemorialmuseum.com/photography-contest/.
“Any violation of the contest rules will result in disqualification, so it is important for contestants to read the rules and regulations for the contest,” Buro said.
The Sam Houston Memorial Museum is open from Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Sundays, from noon to 4:30 p.m.
For more information, contact museum exhibits curator Casey Roon at 936.294.3292 or cmr022@shsu.edu or Buro at 936.294.3839 or mlb044@shsu.edu.
Today@Sam Seeks Fall Calendar Info
The university Communications Office is now collecting information on campus events for its fall calendar pages.
Departmental calendars or events can be sent to today@sam.edu or jenniferg@shsu.edu or faxed to 294.1834. Please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.
Information collected for the Today@Sam calendar pages, at /calendars/, is used by various media outlets, as well as the Communications Office for news stories and releases.
All information, including story ideas and update items for Today@Sam, should be sent a minimum of a week in advance of the event in order to make necessary contacts and write a story.
To see a full list of the Today@Sam submission guidelines, or to access submission forms for news or feature stories, calendar submissions, or hometown releases, visit /guidelines.html.
For more information, call 936.294.1836.
Submit Update Items Here
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
Aug. 23, 2013
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Associate Director: Julia May
Manager: 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.
