SHSU Update for Week of September 26

• Ogden to Speak
• Student Wins for Airline Food Research
• Bearkat Heart Walk Team Forming
• Career Services Activities
• Parents and Children at Play
• Alumni Association Reception
• Homecoming Event Tickets on Sale
• More to Munch On
• Degree Application Deadline

Ogden to Speak

The Sam Houston chapter of the Texas Association of College Teachers is sponsoring the event, which begins with refreshments and a reception at 3 p.m.

Ogden represents 19 Central Texas counties which comprise Senate District 5. He was first elected in January 1997 and re-elected to a four-year term last November. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

Ogden currently serves on the Senate committees on Finance, Education and Veterans Affairs and Military Institutions. He is vice chairman of the subcommittee on Higher Education and chairman of the Special Finance Subcommittee on Drought Issues.

For more information, contact any of the Sam Houston State chapter officers--Frank Fair, president; Jeff Harwell, vice president; Gerald Kohers, secretary; Frieda Koeninger, treasurer; and Marie Hayden, legislative liaison.

Student Wins for Airline Food Research

Melanie Dozier won third place and a cash award for her paper "Food Safety and Quality Assurance in the Inflight Catering Industry." The first and second place papers were written by doctoral students at Texas A&M.

The area competition included Sam Houston State, Texas A&M, the University of Houston, and other Houston-area universities, and was conducted by the Houston chapter of the society. Dozier's paper also won third place in the seven-state regional level of the competition.

Dozier's paper resulted from research she conducted in the 1999 spring semester.

Since 1993 Sam Houston State graduate students from the College of Business Administration have won four firsts, six seconds, and two thirds in area competition and two seconds and two thirds in the regional contest.

Bearkat Heart Walk Team Forming

Debbie Birdwell, team captain, reports that four walkers have already signed up and at least another six are needed. If more volunteer, additional teams will be formed.

Birdwell said that in addition to walking those participating are asked to obtain donations, for which the walkers receive prizes. The prizes range from a T-shirt for participants raising between $50 and $100, to a watch for donations of $2,000 or more.

Other prizes include travel kit, cooler chair, Berber vest, jacket, travel bag, and camera.

For more information and to volunteer, contact Birdwell at 409-294-1017.

Career Services Activities

"We would suggest going to our Web-site to investigate the companies that are coming, and then reading what qualifications they are requesting," said Ann Reynolds, Career Services assistant director.

"We have made it easy for everyone, by linking company Web sites to ours. That way a student or alumnus may explore the company. If interested and they meet the criteria, they can then sign up for an interview."

Important job-hunting dates include:

Teachers Job Fair Oct. 6; Business Career Fair Oct. 28; Summer Camp and Job Fair March 8; Texas Job Fair (at the University of Houston) March 28 and Business and Government Career Fair April 19. For more information, contact Career Services at 409-294-1713, or access the Career Services Web site.

Parents and Children at Play

This is according to Rick Bruhn, professor of educational leadership and counseling at Sam Houston State University, who recently collaborated with faculty members at Appalachian State University in research on parental involvement in play therapy, or filial therapy. An article on their findings was published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.

Play therapy, provided by a therapist, has been used to treat a variety of childhood problems, including separation anxiety and speech disturbance in preschool children, children affected by alcoholism in parents or guardians, mentally retarded children, multiply handicapped children, and others.

Bruhn and the other researchers concentrated their study on the involvement of parents with students involved in Head Start programs.

They described how filial therapy provides a structured way to involve parents in treatment of their children, how it focuses on skills the parent can use to find solutions, and how it helps parents recognize their problems which may be affecting their children.

It also helps parents learn to set limits in a calm, effective way, it teaches parents to respond rather than react to children's problems, and it helps parents break ineffective communication patterns.

"Sam Houston State's graduate program in counseling trains play therapists who in turn coach parents on how to do filial therapy," said Bruhn. "It's amazing how much the parents and children enjoy filial therapy after they've learned how to do it. And the parents are pleased with the changes they see in their children."

Alumni Association Reception

The event will give SHSU employees a chance to meet Theresa Bledsoe, new alumni director, and to obtain information about the association, which is encouraging membership by Sam Houston State University employees.

Bledsoe said that the first drink will be free, and although there is no obligation to join the Alumni Association, memberships will be accepted.

Homecoming Event Tickets On Sale

The "Memories and Milestones Luncheon" for members of the Class of '49 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 15, in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom. Tickets ate $20 per person. Members of the Golden Circle Club other than 1949 are also invited to attend and renew acquaintances.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards Reception, silent auction, and dinner is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, also in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom. Tickets are $25 per person. Honorees are W. C. "Bill" Daniels, Patty Sanders Davis, Don Allen Gilbert, L. N. "Sonny" Sikes and Thomas G. "Tommy" Stone.

The Letter Association Hall of Honor luncheon is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16. Tickets are $20 per person. Honorees include Ray Burgess, Ricky Eggleston, George "Jug" Jackson, and Ken Jordan.

Tickets to all three events are available from the Office of Alumni Relations. Call 409-294-1841 or 1-800-283-7478.

More to Munch On

Upcoming dates and topics include:

September 29--What is the Meaning of Life?; October 6--Open Discussion: A Philosophy-Free-For-All on a Topic Voted on by the Group; October 13--Is Morality Relative?; October 20--Do Consequences Make an Action Right?; and October 27--Can Ethics Resolve Moral Quandries?

For more information, contact Frank Fair, philosophy program coordinator, at 409-294-1509.

Degree Application Deadline

For more information contact Teresa Thrasher, assistant registrar, at 409-294-1097.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
September 26, 1999
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu