SHSU
Update For Week Of Nov. 28
Tree Of Light To Celebrate Holidays On Dec. 1
Faculty, staff and students will celebrate the spirit of
the holiday season with the 84th annual Tree of Light on
Wednesday
(Dec. 1).
The tree-lighting ceremony will be held from 6-7 p.m. in
the Academic Building 1 Mall Area.
University president James F. Gaertner and vice president
for Student Services Thelma J. Douglass will speak at the
event,
the Orange Pride dance team and Soul Lifters Gospel Choir
will perform and hot chocolate and cookies will be served.
In addition, the Office of Student Activities will collect
canned goods at the ceremony for a drive to benefit the Good
Shepherd Mission.
For more information, call Student Activities at 936.294.3861.
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Death
Penalty Speaker To Kick Of Coffey Series
Sister Helen Prejean,
author of “Dead Man Walking: An Eye Witness Account
of the Death Penalty in the U.S.,” will discuss the death penalty and
its abolition on Thursday (Dec. 2) as the inaugural presentation for the Joan
Coffey
Lecture Series.
The presentation will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Olson Auditorium, or Room
220, of Academic Building 4 and will be followed by a reception and book-signing.
The lecture series was founded in honor of Joan Coffey, a beloved professor
in the university’s history department who died in 2003 after a long
battle with cancer.
“
Dead Man Walking: An Eye Witness Account of the Death Penalty in the U.S.” was
on the New York Times best selling list for 31 weeks and was nominated for
a Pulitzer Prize. The book has been translated into 12 languages and has been
made
into an opera by the San Francisco Opera Company with Terrance McNally as librettist
and Jake Heggie as composer. The opera premiered on Oct. 7, 2000.
The book was also made into a motion picture and was written and directed by
Tim Robbins. Susan Sarandon received best actress in 1996 at the Academy Awards
for her portrayal of Sister Helen in the movie.
Prejean has received many awards, been featured in many newspapers and magazines,
and been interviewed on many television and radio programs about the death
penalty.
She is honorary chairperson of Hands Off Cain, an international group based
in Rome that works for abolition of the death penalty and is a member of Amnesty
International and the U.S. National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,
where
she served as a board member for 10 years.
Presently, Prejean is working on a book for Random House Publishers on two
possibly innocent men on death row titled “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness
Account of Wrongful Executions,” scheduled to come out in January 2005.
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SHSU
History Book: A Perfect Christmas Gift
Topping Christmas gift lists this year for many Bearkats--both
what they plan to give and what they hope to receive--is
Sam Houston State University's
highly-acclaimed
and one-of-a-kind history-- "Sam Houston State University: An Institutional
Memory, 1879-2004."
The coffee-table-sized volume by Ty Cashion, with design by Tom Seifert,
is on sale through the SHSU Alumni Relations Office at $49.95.
A deluxe leather-bound edition, autographed by Cashion, SHSU President
James F. Gaertner, and distinguished alumnus Dan Rather, who wrote the
introduction,
is expected to be available soon.
"
Everything I've heard has been nothing but accolades," said Paul Ruffin,
director of the Texas Review Press, which published the book. "Everyone
is thrilled with Ty's writing, and with Tom's design and layout."
The book was written as part of Sam Houston State University's 125th
Anniversary observance, which is under way throughout 2004.
Copies of the book may be picked up at the Alumni Relations office just
west of the Old Main Memorial, or they can be shipped for $5 additional
cost.
Scott Stuckey, director of alumni relations, said that approximately
300 copies of the book have already been sold.
To place an order, call 936.294.1841 or 1.800.283.7478.
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Film Maker To
Talk To Communications Students
Frank Q. Dobbs, who developed a film-making career from
a hobby in which he and his friends made western movies while
students at Sam
Houston State,
returns to speak to journalism and radio/television classes Nov. 30
and Dec. 1.
Dobbs has won several dozen national and international honors for
his film and television production work, including the coveted
Emmy Award more than
once.
Dobbs began work shortly after his 1961 graduation as editor of the Conroe
Daily Courier; then served as an officer in the U. S. Army. He returned
to Houston to work for Channel 2, filming the documentary "Passage to Prudhoe" that
won the National Press Photographer's "Newsfilm Camerman of the Year" award.
"
Tell It Like It Is," a first hand report on life in a big city ghetto,
won an Emmy, as did a one-hour special report on reality vs. Hollywood myth,
co-produced by Dobbs, entitled "A. K. A. Billy the Kid."
He produced and co-wrote "Gone to Texas," a three hour CBS-TV
biographical drama that won the Western Heritage Award and several additional
honors.
Dobbs was presented the SHSU Distinguished Alumni Award in 1989.
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Alpha
Chi Inducts 54 New Members
Fifty-four juniors and seniors have been
accepted for membership in the SHSU Texas Omicron chapter
of Alpha Chi national college honor
society
for the
fall semester.
Those recently inducted include: Amy Anderson, Jennifer Austin, Stephanie
Beall, Megan Buro, Daisy Cano, Ariana Cook, Sarah Delaunay, John
Deveau, Tara Driscoll,
Nicole Edmonson, Andrea Gauthier, Rachel Haney and Amanda Hardy.
Also, Kayce Hayes, Jennifer Herbrick, Justin Hill, Jessica Holleman,
Diana Hook, Shari Hunt, Rachel Iacobucci, Guadalupe Issac, Sheila
James, James
Jordan, Kelli Kallus, Lisa Gail Lee, Amy Lenderman, and Anela Leon-Guerrero.
Also, Alex Linder, Angela D. Maniha, Maya Mathews, Lorena Martinez,
Mandy Maxfield, Leslie Mayen, Bertha Melendres, Lia Merryman, Ashley
Millar,
Ashley Moses,
Kelsey Muller, Justin Nuckols, Brent Pfeffer, and Jessica Poe.
Finally, Ashley Robinson, Annette J. Rodriguez, Amanda Royer, Randall
Salazar, Amanda Scogins, Nancy L. Smith, Geri Stout, Charles Swan,
Zachry R. Tappan,
Jennifer Megan Tobleman, Derrica Y. Walker, Charles Williams, and
Robert Eric Zepeda.
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Rec Sports To Host Outdoor Day At State Park
The Outdoor Recreations division of the Department of Recreational
Sports will sponsor an Outdoor Day at the Huntsville State Park
on Sunday (Dec.
6), from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Events scheduled include group mountain biking, at 10:30 a.m.;
a kayaking session, at 2 p.m.; and a group trail running workshop
at
4 p.m. Bikes
and canoes will
be available for use.
The event is free, but does not include a $3 per person entry fee
to the park, which is waived with a Texas State Parks Pass.
Soft drinks and water will also be provided. For more information,
contact Marvin Seale at seale@shsu.edu or 936.294.3656.
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Douglass
To Serve On Fulbright
Committee
Thelma J. Douglass, vice president for student services
at Sam Houston State University, will serve on a 2005 Fulbright
Seminar review committee in Washington, D. C., on Dec. 10.
Douglass will assist in the selection of participants for the
Fulbright Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES)
program.
International education professionals and senior university
administrators are eligible for three-week seminars in Germany,
Japan and Korea.
Douglass was selected for the program and traveled to Germany
in the spring
of 2000.
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.
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Strauss To Speak At NTSO Meeting
The Non-Traditional Student
Organization will meet on Thursday (Dec. 9), from 11:45 a.m.
until 1:00 pm in the Lowman Student
Center third
floor atrium.
Student Advising and Mentoring Center director Bernice Strauss
will discuss “Non-Traditional
Stress Management."
“
With finals the very next week and the holidays right around the corner, this
is something many could benefit from,” said NTSO vice president John
Fennessy. “For those of you that are not familiar with
Dr. Strauss, she is a powerful speaker and a great friend
to the university
student.”
Because of a potentially large attendance at the meeting
and so Strauss will know how many packets to prepare, and
RSVP
for the
meeting is
requested, Fennessy said.
For more information, or to RSVP, e-mail roughneckbooks@hotmail.com.
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Articles
By CJ Faculty, Students Get Published
A new book on transnational
crime and international criminal justice contains articles
written by four Sam Houston State
University representatives, including
College of Criminal Justice dean Richard Ward, professor Mitchell Roth, 2003
doctoral graduate Cindy Hill, and current doctoral student Daniel Mabrey.
Ward and Mabrey’s article, “Organized Crime in Asia,” provides
a comprehensive overview of organized crime in 11 countries.
Roth’s article provides an overview of how the primary components of
the justice system have coordinated their efforts to combat transnational crime.
Hill, who is now a social policy analyst at the Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C., wrote about the problems associated with quantifying and measuring transnational
crime.
The publication, “Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice,” is
edited by University of Northern Colorado professor Phillip Reichel and is
published by Sage Publications.
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Send Update Items Here
Please send information for the SHSU Update to the Office
of Public Relations at SHSU. For electronic access to SHSU
news see the public relations Web page Today@Sam.
The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Thursday for
an item to run in the column the following week.
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- END -
SHSU Media Contacts: Frank
Krystyniak, Julia May,
Jennifer Gauntt
Nov. 28, 2004
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
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