SHSU Update for Week of April 30

• Coordinating Board Chair to Speak
• Douglass Is Fulbright Scholar
• 2000th Officer To Be Commissioned
• Students Do Showcase Home
• Music Wraps Up This Week
• Finals Kick-Off Event

Coordinating Board Chair to Speak

Two ceremonies will be held to accommodate the candidates for graduation and their guests. The first ceremony will be at 10 a.m. for the Colleges of Criminal Justice and Education and Applied Science, and the second will be at 2 p.m. for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business Administration. A record number 1,226 students have applied for degrees.

Willeford was appointed to the Coordinating Board in 1995. She is a partner and president of Pico Drilling Co., Ltd. of Breckenridge.

She is a founding member and serves on the executive committee of the Texas Book Festival. She is also a member of Leadership Austin for the Hockaday School Board of Visitors, and is on the board of directors for Helping Hand Home for Children, Friends of the Governor's Mansion.

Willeford served as co-chairman for the 1999 Texas Inauguration and is a former president of the Junior League of Austin. She has served as director of development and coordinator of the Texas State Capitol Rededication and was a member of the State Preservation Board. She is a founder and former member of the Center for Battered Women Advisory Council, and a former public and private secondary school teacher.

Willeford graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor of arts degree in English and Spanish. She currently lives in Austin.

Douglass Is Fulbright Scholar

"My interest in Germany was in studying and learning information concerning the academic system, administration for student services or student affairs, administrative roles, concerns, and practices, opportunities for partnerships with other universities, programs in higher education for students in the classroom and outside-of-the-classroom, establishment of professional affiliations, and internationalization of education," said Douglass.

"One of the goals of Sam Houston State University, to a great extent, is to enhance partnerships with the university's external communities," she said. "As a Fulbright scholar, it allows me to create opportunities for collaboration with international partners."

An early result of her trip, Douglass said, is that SHSU has been contacted by the German-American Fulbright Commission to host a Fulbright scholar in the field of International Business Studies.

Douglass, a graduate of Crockett High School, earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctorate from the University of Houston, and was named vice president for student services at Sam Houston State University in 1996.

The Fulbright Program, the United States' top international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. For 54 years Fulbright programs have exchanged nearly a quarter of a million people, including 86,000 from the United States and more than 144,000 students, scholars and professionals from other countries.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated unusual leadership potential in their fields.

2000th Officer To Be Commissioned

The scene which has been repeated at various locations around the campus during these years will replay this year at 2 p.m. in the Beto Criminal Justice Center Killinger Auditorium.

Five cadets will take an oath to defend their country against its enemies. Gold second lieutenant bars will be pinned on by a family member or friend. A non-commissioned officer chosen by the new officer will render a first salute, and the officer will hand the non-commissioned officer a silver dollar.

This spring's new officers will be Edward Chapman, Rowdy Inman, Eric Russell, Sean Theiss and Russell Turner. Eric Russell will have the honor of being the 2000th to be commissioned.

Bobby K. Marks, Sam Houston State University president, will be the guest speaker. Lt. Col. Robert M. Oates, professor of military science, will administer the oaths.

Oates reflected this week on the importance of ROTC programs such as the one at Sam Houston State in providing leaders for the U. S. Army, and good citizens when their military service obligations have been completed.

"Over 70 percent of all the second lieutenants currently serving on active duty have graduated from an ROTC program," said Oates. "These platoon leaders are playing a key role in transformation of the Army into a force that will be responsive and dominant at every point in the spectrum of operations in the 21st century. They will be preparing the most respected soldiers in the world to be persuasive in peace and invincible in war."

The ROTC program at Sam Houston State was established in 1952 and commissioned its first officers in May 1954. Initially, enrollment was mandatory for two years for all qualified male students, and the corps had its highest participation in 1962 with 1,242 members.

The program headquarters has suffered its own casualties, having been located in Austin Hall in February, 1982, when the Old Main fire destroyed over 50 percent of its current files, 90 percent of its historical files, all of the furniture, equipment, military library and numerous items of memorabilia.

Since 1986 the ROTC administrative offices, classrooms and supply rooms have been located on the second and third floors of the old men's gymnasium.

Students Do Showcase Home

The students designed the cabana and pool bath areas of the Montgomery County Performing Arts Society's 2000 Designer Showcase Home at 10355 Paradise Valley Drive in the Teaswood subdivision.

The Performing Arts Society uses the project as a fund-raiser, offering tours and a light lunch from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Students participating in the project include Keri Jaeger, Tricia Lyall, Nicole Johnson, Katie Ori, Amy Shaw, Sara Ryan, Angela Aberle, Leeanne Melhorn, Melissa Pugh, Heather Plut, and Amy Alexander Kelly.

Last year a group of SHSU interior design students participated in the renovation of the Hooper Mansion in Conroe. Both groups have received high praise for their creativity.

"Projects like this offer the best kind of practical experience," said Burleson, "and make great resume material."

The home is being offered for sale by Pecos Vaught Custom Homes, Inc., and will be shown from May 5-21. The showing's kick-off party, with the theme "A Night of Casual Elegance," is set for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday (May 4). Reservations for that event, which are $50 per person, are available by calling 936.448.6375.

Music Wraps Up This Week

The Symphonic Band, conducted by Robert Meaux, and the Wind Ensemble, conducted by Matthew McInturf with Randal Adams on trumpet, performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (May 2) in the Beto Criminal Justice Center Killinger Auditorium.

The 43-member Symphonic Band will perform music by Gustav Holst, Percy Grainger, Yariv Nachman and Jacques Offenbach.

The 51-member Wind Ensemble program includes works by Paul Duker, Joseph Turrin, Richard Strauss and Darius Milhaud.

The violin master class, with internationally acclaimed concert artist and teacher Fredell Lack, professor of violin at the University of Houston, is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday (May 2) in the Recital Hall.

Student recitals, each scheduled for the Recital Hall, include Crissie Deramee at 2 p.m. Sunday (April 30) and Ryan Wicker at 4 p.m. Sunday, and Joanna Thompson at 7:30 p.m. Monday (May 1), with an honors recital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (May 3).

Admission to the Wind Ensemble/Symphonic Band Concert and Honors Recital is $5 for non-students.

Finals Kick-Off Event

"This tradition is a fun and motivational way to support students and encourage them to study hard for finals," said Mary Ellen Sims. Anyone who would like to volunteer, or who has further questions, should contact Sims in Residence Life at 936.294.1818 by 5 p.m. Monday (May 1).

The cost of the meal is $4 for students not on the meal plan, and free for those who are.

- END -

SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
April 30, 2000
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu