SamWeb
My Sam
E-mail
SHSU Update For Week Of March 17
- ‘Real Talk’ To Share Corporate Opportunities
- Contest To ‘Ignite The Night’ For Anti-Sexual Violence
- Teacher Job Fair Attracts Almost 100 Schools, Agencies
- SHSU, Mississippi State To Tee Off For Heritage Cup
- Coach To Highlight Athletic ‘Journey’
- Multilingual Readings To Celebrate Women’s Month
- Students To Use ‘Force’ To Demonstrate Brass Instruments
- Duo To Showcase Bassoon, Percussion For Performance
- LEMIT Trains Peer Counselors For Law Enforcement
- Submit Update Items Here
‘Real Talk’ To Share Corporate Opportunities
Two security experts from private industry will discuss criminal justice career options in corporate America and government institutions during “Real Talk with CJ” on Thursday (March 21).
Ron Plesco, managing director of KPMG's Advisory Risk Consulting Services, and Charles Andrews, director of security and investigations at First Data Corp.—USA Telecheck, will speak at 2 p.m. in the Criminal Justice Center’s Killinger Auditorium.
Plesco is a nationally known information security and privacy attorney with experience in information assurances/privacy, identity management, computer crime and emerging cyber threats, and technology solutions.
He is the chief executive officer and co-founder of the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, which brings together law enforcement and intelligence entities, private companies and academia to collaborate and develop intel on cybercrime. During his four-year tenure, intel developed by the alliance led to more than 400 worldwide cybercrime arrests and prevented more than $1 billion in fraud.
Plesco also founded and served as the director of the SRA (SRX) privacy/information assurance division, where he led the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Border Security, the Transportation Security Administration Secure Flight Program, and the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office contracts.
He also served as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge’s director of public safety policy and was the chair for the cyber attacks committee for the PA Homeland Security Council after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
Plesco has appeared on the “CBS Evening News,” CNBC and “60 Minutes” and was named the winner of Security Magazine’s “Most Influential People in Securities” in 2010.
Andrews, a certified protection professional and 1985 SHSU graduate, works with thousands of law enforcement agencies and loss prevention personnel in the investigation of fraud cases involving checks and financial transactions for FDC-Telecheck, the world’s largest third-party financial payment company based in Houston.
After successful careers as a police officer in Colorado and Texas, where he attained the position of police chief, he joined the Dow Chemical Company to learn more about running a business and got a second degree in chemical processing. He later finished his Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering in security executive management at the University of Houston-Downtown.
Andrews’s background has included roles as the law enforcement adviser to the FOX television show “COPS” and being selected internationally on the 1996 Olympic Security Team in Atlanta, Ga.
Contest To ‘Ignite The Night’ For Anti-Sexual Violence
Every two minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted, victimizing approximately 207,754 each year, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
Eighty percent of those victims are under the age of 30, and 54 percent will not be reported to the police.
The SHSU Counseling Center is asking Bearkats and Huntsville community members to consider those statistics with an art and poetry contest in honor of their second annual “Ignite the Night” anti-sexual violence program.
Submissions will be accepted through 5 p.m. on March 28 for pieces related to sexual violence or abuse.
“If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence or abuse and you are a student, faculty or staff member here at SHSU, or from the Huntsville community, you are eligible to enter,” said Maryam Ilahi, counseling center psychologist.
Selected submissions will be displayed in the Lowman Student Center Atrium from April 3-10, and winners will receive a free “Ignite the Night” T-shirt. Poets also may choose to read their work at the “Ignite the Night” program on April 10, or, in the event of requested anonymity, can have their work read for them.
All submissions will be returned after the event.
Submissions should be sent to: Maryam Ilahi, by e-mail at mai005@shsu.edu or by campus mail to Box 2059, Huntsville, Texas, 77341. Those submitting materials are requested to include your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and whether you are a student, faculty or staff member at SHSU or a community member.
“Ignite the Night” was created last year to promote awareness about and honor survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence on campus and in the broader Huntsville community.
The event, which will include a rally on the SHSU campus, will be on April 10 from 6-8 p.m.
For more information, contact Ilahi at 936.294.1720.
Teacher Job Fair Attracts Almost 100 Schools, Agencies
More than 90 schools and school districts will be talking to potential educators on Wednesday (March 20) during the Spring Teacher Job Fair.
The fair will be held from 9 a.m. to noon in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Representatives from districts across the state, as well as a few private schools, will visit with students or alumni who may be interested in a position.
In addition to school districts, agencies such as ChildCare Careers, the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston Catholic Schools Office, GetCap Head Start, and several Education Service Center Regions are scheduled to be available to discuss other employment possibilities.
“The SHSU Spring Teacher Job Fair provides students an excellent opportunity to network with and find employment with school districts throughout Texas and neighboring states,” said Mitch Parker, Career Services marketing and events coordinator. “The interest in the quality teachers that Sam Houston produces is evident through registration for this year’s event, is the highest it’s been in several years with 97 agencies in attendance.”
Students who are registered on Jobs for Kats can get a jumpstart on finding a job or internship by logging on, at myinterfase.com/shsu/student, to find a complete list of participating agencies, as well as descriptions of positions being sought.
Participants are encouraged to bring copies of résumés and dress professionally.
For more information, contact Career Services at 936.294.1713 or careerservices@shsu.edu.
SHSU, Mississippi State To Tee Off For Heritage Cup
Sam Houston State University’s PGA Golf Management Program will take a swing at reclaiming the “Heritage Cup” as part of an annual competition against Mississippi State University on Saturday and Sunday (March 23-24).
The Ryder Cup-style competition will pairs players from among teams of 12 golfers, who will participate in rounds of four-ball, alternate shot and singles-style match play for a total of 22 matches over the weekend, with each match being assigned a one-point value, according to Rich Ballinger, director for SHSU’s PGA Golf Management Program and golf operations.
“The director of the program at Mississippi State Jeff Adkerson and I are good friends so I asked him a few years ago if he would like to do an annual Ryder Cup-style event with us, and he really liked the idea and it took off from there,” Ballinger said.
“Mississippi State is the defending champion and needs 11 of the 22 points to retain the Heritage Cup,” he said.
SHSU’s Heritage Cup team will include seniors Scott Archer, Drew Milburn and Michael Skiba; sophomores Hunter Abbott, Dustin Bitter, Justin Orsak and Sean Speed; and freshmen Chris Hendrickson, Branden Rachunek and Garret Smith. The remaining two spots on each team are filled each school’s the program director and internship coordinator.
SHSU’s PGA program will host the event this year, which alternates every year between the two schools.
“This event is a highlight of the year for all students who participate and is highly anticipated all year long,” Ballinger said. “It is an event that gives PGA Golf Management students an opportunity to not only represent their school but another event for this university to compete in and win.”
The event is open for attendance to all PGA golf management students, as well as to the general public.
“A goal of this event is to gather as many spectators as possible to come out and support the 2013 SHSU Heritage Cup Team and with enough support, hopefully bring home the coveted Heritage Cup,” Ballinger said.
Coach To Highlight Athletic ‘Journey’
SHSU’s head football coach Willie Fritz will discuss his reputation for “turning programs around” on Tuesday (March 19) as part of the Honors 3332 Journeys Seminar.
His presentation will begin at 5 p.m. in the Smith-Hutson Building's Haney Auditorium, in Room 186.
Fritz will also share with students “how you go about changing the culture of the program” and his “plan to win,” discussing the full implementation of the plan, including things such as recruiting and physical and mental development, he said.
Fritz has had plenty of experience in all of those things, having taken over three losing programs and turning them into winning teams.
When Fritz became SHSU’s head coach in 2010, the team had gone 25-28 with its previous coach. Since then, he has coached the team to the Football Championship Subdivision’s only undefeated regular season and to back-to-back national championship appearances.
From 1997-2009, Fritz served as the head football coach at the University of Central Missouri, where he became the “winningest” coach with a 97-47 record.
From 1993-1996, he was the head football coach at Blinn College, where he transformed the program from a 5-24-1 team in its three previous seasons, to a 39-5-1 record and two national junior college championships, in 1994 and 1996.
Before his coaching career, Fritz served as a graduate assistant for the Bearkat squads that went 16-6 in 1984-85 and won the 1985 Gulf Star Conference championship. He went on to become the secondary and special teams coach for the Bearkats in 1991 and 1992, helping lead Sam Houston to a Southland Conference championship.
He was named as NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Region Five “Co-Coach of the Year” by the American Football Coaches Association this January.
His lecture, sponsored by the Elliott T. Bowers Honors College, is part of a class designed to show students what characteristics lead to success.
The event is open to the public.
For more information, contact instructor Patrick Lewis at 936.294.3397.
Multilingual Readings To Celebrate Women’s Month
The foreign languages department and friends will celebrate women writers from all over the world during the readings of multilingual poetry and prose by women on Thursday (March 21).
The reading will begin at noon on the third floor landing of Academic Building IV.
Among the featured readers are English department chair Helena Halmari, reading in Finnish; and foreign languages professors James Frankki, reading in German, and Shengxia Ma and Lingling Yang, reading in Chinese. Other faculty and students will read in Spanish and other languages.
Following the faculty- and student-led readings, Mexican American writer Sarah Cortez will share some excerpts from her latest books.
“The literary accomplishments of more than half of humankind, women, have only recently—basically the second half of the 20th century—been consistently included in the canon and/or made available as a rule,” said foreign languages department chair Debra Andrist.
“Therefore, it is essential to continue to highlight such accomplishments in order that our students, and the community at large, have the opportunity to explore these accomplishments and broaden their horizons,” she said.
International Women's Day, originally called International Working Women’s Day, is commemorated on March 8 every year.
“It is a major day of global celebration of women,” Andrist said. “In different regions, the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect and appreciation towards women to a celebration for women's achievements.”
For more information, contact the foreign languages office at 936.294.1441 or andrist@shsu.edu.
Students To Use ‘Force’ To Demonstrate Brass Instruments
SHSU’s Brass Choir will emphasize “La Forza di Brass” ("The Force of Brass") on Thursday (March 21).
The concert, which will focus on modern classical works written for brass ensembles, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Gaertner Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.
“La Forza di Brass" is derived from the title of group’s opening piece, "La Forza del Destino" (“The Force of Destiny”), the overture to the opera of the same name by Verdi,” said Joseph Vranas, co-conductor for the SHSU Brass Choir.
“The concept of the concert is to demonstrate, quite literally, the force of brass,” he said. “The Brass Choir will open with Verdi's powerful overture, followed by several performances of smaller brass ensembles (quintets and quartets) all around the hall, and concluding with the ‘Plog Trumpet Concerto,’ featuring graduate trumpet student Jonathon Gregory.”
SHSU’s Brass Choir is a medium-sized ensemble that contains all of the members of the brass family, including trumpets, horns, trombones, euphoniums and tubas.
The student-run ensemble is led by Vranas and director Randy Laran, a senior music major, under the advisement of trumpet professor Randy Adams.
“This concert is a pure example of student art. This isn't a class, and we don't get school credit for rehearsing and performing; the music we play is purchased from our own pockets, and we design, organize, and play these concerts with only advice and good luck given by faculty members,” Vranas said. “If not to hear good music, attend this concert as an inspiration for what you can do as a student here at Sam Houston State University.”
Admission is free.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
Duo To Showcase Bassoon, Percussion For Performance
The Col Legno Duo will present a concert of works for the Bearkat and Huntsville communities that highlight their unique instrument combination on Monday (March 18).
The guest recital will begin at 8 p.m. in the Gaertner Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.
The Col Legno Duo, which comprises bassoonist Amy Pollard and percussionist Scott Pollard, will perform both classical and modern works during their SHSU performance, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Partita No. 1 in B Minor,” Andrew Beall’s “Song of Almah,” and Verne Reynolds’s “Fantasy-Etudes for Bassoon and Percussion.”
“This combination of instruments, the bassoon and percussion, isn't heard very often, so this is a unique opportunity to hear it. In fact, there is very little literature written for this combination of instruments, so the members of the group often arrange their own music,” said Nathan Koch, SHSU assistant professor of bassoon.
The Col Legno Duo, which takes its name from the Italian musical term meaning “with the wood,” met while they were traveling together with the University of Georgia wind ensemble on a South American tour.
The two have been performing and conducting clinics together for three years to both national and international acclaim, appearing at the Astor Piazzolla Conservatory and the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the North Carolina Day of Percussion and the International Double Reed Society convention.
Amy is currently an assistant professor of bassoon at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia and is second bassoonist with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
Scott is currently an active freelance musician throughout the southeast, performing regularly with the North Carolina Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and Virginia Symphony, and plays principal percussion/timpani with the NC Opera, Carolina Ballet, and Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle.
He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music degree from Rice University.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for senior citizens, and $5 for SHSU students.
For more information, call the School of Music at 936.294.1360.
LEMIT Trains Peer Counselors For Law Enforcement
The Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University recently trained 24 officers to serve as peer counselors for colleagues who have difficulty processing traumatic or critical incidents in the field.
The officers were trained by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, a group dedicated to providing leadership, education, training, consultation, and support services in comprehensive crisis intervention and disaster behavioral health services to emergency response professionals.
The three-day peer counselor training included an introduction to stress, crisis, and crisis intervention, as well as critical incident stress management. It also featured hands-on exercises on communications and listening skills.
“The program allows for peer support,” said Rita Watkins, LEMIT executive director. “They come out feeling that they are not alone, that someone in their group knows what’s going on and what they are feeling is normal.”
These officers, many of whom also participated in LEMIT’s inaugural Post Critical Incident Seminar, will now serve as peer counselors in future PCIS programs as well as in their own departments and areas.
The PCIS, designed to help officers deal with the aftermath of tragedies on the job, is a three-day workshop that provides education on trauma, patterns of resolution, and field-tested coping strategies to promote recovery and resilience for officers in need of assistance. The next PCIS is scheduled for June 19-21 at SHSU.
For more information on the programs, call project coordinators Dara Glotzbach at 936.294.4807 or Mikal Greer at 936.294.3756.
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.
- END -
SHSU Media Contacts: Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
March 14, 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.
