SHSU
Update For Week Of Sept. 11
Congressman To Give Students Social Security Lesson
SHSU and U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands)
will teach students the basics of social security with a
forum specifically
geared to younger workers and college students on Monday
(Sept. 12), at 10 a.m. in the Smith-Hutson Building New Auditorium.
Since February, Brady has hosted over 25 community-wide Social
Security workshops to answer constituents’ questions
about Social Security’s financial outlook and proposals
for fixing the cash-strapped program once and for all.
Last year, the non-partisan Social Security trustees estimated
that in a little over 10 years, the Social Security trust
fund would begin taking in less payroll tax revenue than
it needs
to pay retiree benefits.
About the time today’s 20-30-“somethings” retire
in the year 2042, the trust fund will be empty and the program
will have only annual payroll taxes to pay benefits.
Possible solutions currently proposed include personal savings
accounts, comprehensive retirement reform, progressive indexing
for Social Security benefits, various tax increases and adjustments
to the retirement age.
This forum will also include a question and answer session.
For more information, call Brady’s office at 936.441.5700.
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Presentation To Honor Three Former Deans Sept. 14
The Dean of Students’ Office will host a presentation
in tribute of three former SHSU deans on Wednesday (Sept.
14), at 3 p.m. in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.
Sidney Detlefsen, associate dean of Student Life from 1968-1980,
William R. Powell, associate dean of Student Life from 1972-1987,
and M.C. "Mac" Sutton, dean of Student Life from
1971-1988, will be honored for their services and contributions
to the university and the office in which they worked.
A reception will follow the presentation, and all friends
and colleagues are invited to attend.
Those who wish to attend should RSVP by Monday (Sept. 12)
to 936.294.1784.
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OIP
To Welcome International Students With Picnic
Faculty, staff and administrators are invited to welcome
those who are attending SHSU from all over the world as the
Office
of International Programs will host its annual International
Students’ Welcome Picnic on Sunday (Sept. 11).
The picnic will be held from 1-5 p.m. at Huntsville State
Park’s Raven
Lodge, at the end of the park entrance road.
“
The event is held to welcome new international students to the campus and introduce
them to current international students,” said OIP coordinator of operations
and international student adviser Donna Rogers. “President (James F.)
Gaertner will attend to give a few words of welcome.”
The event will include such activities as volleyball, Frisbee golf, horseshoes,
bicycling, nature walks, canoeing, swimming, horseback riding, and a fajita
buffet from El Chico will be provided. Equipment for the activities will be
provided
by the Department of Recreational Sports.
Those who wish to attend should tell the gate clerk that they are with the
SHSU picnic to receive free admission.
The event is co-hosted, with food provided, by the Office of Multicultural
and International Student Services.
The Huntsville State Park is located six miles southwest of Huntsville, off
Interstate 45, on Park Road 40, from Exit 109.
For more information, or to RSVP, e-mail oip@shsu.edu or call Dustin at 936.294.4734
or Tina at 936.294.3892.
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COBA To Honor Its Hart
The College of Business Administration
will host a retirement reception for Sara Hart on Sept. 22,
from 2-4 p.m. in Austin
Hall.
Hart began her career at SHSU in 1965, teaching a niche
course in office administration.
Witnessing COBA grow from a department with a few courses to the college
it has become, Hart developed courses in the discipline, publishing her research
in
40 journals, and serving as a consultant and presenter in over 48 workshops.
In addition, she has served both the university and community through various
committee work, such as Sam Houston’s 200th Birthday Bicentennial Celebration
committee, overseeing Martin Anisman’s inauguration and investiture
receptions for Bobby K. Marks and James F. Gaertner, and supporting the American
Heart
Association, the American Diabetes Association and the historical Wynne Home
restoration.
Special remarks will be made during the reception at 3 p.m.
For more information, call COBA at 936.294.1254.
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NGL To Send Faculty Through ‘Information
Portal’
The Newton Gresham Library will take faculty and staff through
the “Information
Portal” on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 13-14), from 2-4 p.m. both
days in NGL Room 155.
The come-and-go, fair-type event will include tables with information
on the different types of databases offered by the library and services
offered,
as
well as librarian demonstrations of how to use certain databases.
“
Librarians will be showing Hyperion, where we have historical pictures and things
on campus where they are in the database now, they’ve been catalogued and
they will show how that works; Refworks, a new database, takes a student paper
and can search references for the paper, shows how to do notations; and the virtual
reference desk, where a student can be online with the library and ask a librarian
to join them while they’re searching for references for their papers,” said
Jackie Conrad, NGL business manager.
In addition, packets with information on copyright, services and prices
for things such as the copy room will also be provided.
The event is open to all faculty and administrators.
“
We want the professors to come, so then they can share it with their students
and advise their students to come to the library,” Conrad said.
“
In-flight snacks” will also be provided.
For more information, call 936.294.1630.
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Horticulture Student Wins Research
Award
Sam Houston State senior agricultural sciences student William
Patrick Spencer was recently selected as the winner of the
2005 Undergraduate
Poster Presentation
of the Year by the American Society of Horticultural Scientist.
The research conducted by Spencer, who was credited as lead author
in his work with assistant professor of biology Justin Williams,
concerned “A
GIS Approach To Managing The Invasive Species Of Texas.”
He was selected out of approximately 100 undergraduates who submitted
research at the convention, the biggest involving horticulture
in the country, Williams
said.
For the project, Spencer, who will receive a scholarship in a yet-to-be
disclosed amount as award recipient, gathered information from
distribution maps, museums
and other literature about the invasive plants in Texas and put
the data into digital form. Invasive plants are those that aren’t
native to Texas but grow here anyway and sometimes become problems.
“
We created the only database for invasive plants in Texas,” Williams
said.
Their work was also incorporated into a grant project Williams
has been working on with associate professor of biology William
Lutterschmidt,
which
involves
the water quality of the Rio Grande, according to Williams.
“
We incorporated this project with that Rio Grande project as well because invasive
plants are also one of the problems that is causing us to have lower water quality.
We hired Patrick because he knows plants pretty well,” Williams
said, adding that the Rio Grande project will continue for another
two years and
that
Spencer
will continue to work with them as long as he is attending SHSU.
In addition, the two will be working with the Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center in Austin, as invasive plants, which can grow
uncontrollably
in areas, can also
be harmful to the environment, as poisonous ones can kill animals,
while others can lead to increased wildfires and create a lot of
biomass, Williams
said.
“
There are a lot of environmental issues concerning non-native plants,” he
said.
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English Student Wins Fiction Writing Contest
A piece of English graduate student Kimberly McCullough’s
family history has gained her recognition from the Texas Association
of Creative
Writing
Teachers.
McCullough’s “Memories of My Aunt Eliza” was recently selected
as the organization’s graduate student fiction award winner
for 2005.
The story, written as part of her thesis, is based on her family's
history and the history of Texas's first African-American township,
according
to Melissa Morphew, associate professor of English and McCullough’s
thesis director.
“ I am allowed to nominate one piece in each category each year for a prize,” Morphew
said. “Several of my students have won in the past against
much larger, more prestigious schools. Kim took first place over
a student
from Southern
Methodist University.”
Students from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas Christian
and Texas Tech were also entered in the competition, she said.
McCullough and Morphew will travel to San Antonio at the end
of September to attend the TACWT conference, where McCullough
will
read her prize-winning
story
and accept her prize of $100.
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‘Mystical’ Posters On
Display At Education Center
Colorful posters from the 1890s
will adorn the walls of the Katy & E.Don
Walker, Sr., Education Center Gallery through Sept. 26.
"
Mystics, Seers & Burlesque: Theatrical Posters of the Gay Nineties," an
exhibit reflecting the age of the Vaudeville and Burlesque
extravaganzas, features the famous names of the times: Alexander
the Crystal Seer,
Lily Langtry, Harry
Houdini, the Great Kellar and a cast of hundreds.
The Walker Education Center is open Tuesday through Saturday,
from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Sunday, from noon to 4:30
p.m.
For more information, contact the Sam
Houston Memorial Museum at 936.294.1832.
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PC To Throw Luau, Teach About Safety, Culture
The Program
Council will throw a Hawaiian-style party and teach the importance
of fire extinguisher safety, as well
as give
lessons on
the Hispanic culture
Tuesday through Thursday (Sept. 13-15).
On Tuesday, the Old Main Pit will be filled with Hawaiian music
and food for the PC Hawaiian Luau, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Prizes
will
be given away
and
other themed activities are planned as students hula the night
away.
On Wednesday, the Lowman Student Center Mall Area will be ablaze
for the PC Fire Extinguisher Safety Course at noon.
“
We’re going to have mock fire where students can actually practice putting
it out with the fire extinguisher,” said PC president Catie Duhon. “We’re
going to have firemen here as well.”
Duhon said the event will teach students the proper use of
a fire extinguisher for safety, as well as what to do when
fire
happens.
Finally, on Thursday, a month of events to educate students
on the Hispanic culture will kick off with a rally at noon
in the
LSC Mall
area.
Events planned for Hispanic Heritage Month include PC Movie
Night, featuring “Spanglish,” on
Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in the LSC Theater; Buenos Dias Beargatos, a breakfast program,
on Sept. 20 at 9 a.m. in the LSC Mall Area; the 2005 Bearkat Hot Sauce Competition,
on Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. in the LSC Ballroom; and Café de
Latin America, which will be held from Sept. 29 through Oct.
7 through the
Houstonian.
Also planned for the month is a week of “Remembering Selena: Queen of Tejano
Music” from Oct. 10-14, which will include a Selena trivia game on Oct.
10, at 12:30 p.m. in the LSC Mall Area, and another PC Movie Night, featuring “Selena,” on
Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the LSC Theater.
For more information on any of these events, call the Program
Council at 936.294.1763.
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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.
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- END -
SHSU Media Contacts: Frank
Krystyniak, Julia May,
Jennifer Gauntt
Sept. 11, 2005
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
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