SHSU
Update For Week Of Dec. 10
Alumnus Named Contracts, Grants
Director
 |
| Alumnus Mike Chavarria began work as
director for Contracts and Grants on Nov. 27. |
For SHSU alumnus Mike Chavarria, the opportunity to come
back and work for his alma mater was “exciting.”
Chavarria, who was named director for Contracts and Grants,
said he is “ecstatic” about taking over the position,
which was vacant for over a year and a half, on Nov. 27.
“The driving force was school pride; I went to school
here, so the opportunity to come back to serve the campus
and the faculty really appealed to me,” he said.
As director for the office, Chavarria essentially serves as
the liaison between the SHSU faculty member and the agency
from which he/she receives a grant, handling the accounting
side for research projects, he said.
A Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Research Administrator,
which is a new designation being offered to people in research
administration, Chavarria has done this kind of work for the
past 15 years.
Previously, he worked at various positions for the Texas Engineering
Experiment Station, where he was the regional research administration
liaison for five years immediately before coming to SHSU;
the University of Texas at Austin, where he became manager
of contracts and grants; and for the Employees Retirement
System as an auditor.
He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting
from SHSU in 1988.
Back to top
December Dance Graduates
To Reach ‘The Final Stretch’
Student choreographers will present their own dances during
the Fall Senior Studio on Tuesday and Wednesday (Dec. 12-13)
at 7:30 p.m. in the Academic Building III Dance Theater.
“The Final Stretch: A Senior Showcase,” will feature
works by December graduating seniors Rebecca Arana, Jessica
Brewer, Marissa Marquardson, Jessalyn Pratka and Meredith
Wetmore.
Other student works, consisting of both Spring 2007 graduating
seniors as well as junior dance students, will also be presented
during the event.
The student-produced concert is the culmination of the five
semester choreography series at SHSU, according to assistant
professor of dance Melissa Wynn, who directs the senior studio
choreography class.
“In their prerequisite choreography courses, these dance
majors extensively studied the skill and craft of creating
dances,” Wynn said. “In this senior level course
the students now have the opportunity to not only realize
their own choreographic visions, but also the chance to see
their work fully produced with lighting, sets, costumes, other
dancers, and any other ideas they would like to see incorporated
into their work.”
The class operates as a group, organizing all aspects of the
production, ranging from auditioning dancers, developing and
teaching the dance, to designing programs and publicity materials,
organizing photo shoots, working with lighting design and
running backstage crew.
The strongest dances in the concert will be under consideration
by the dance faculty to be taken to the Southeast Regional
American College Dance Festival.
Selected choreography will travel to Texas Christian University
in the spring and will be presented among the other “best
dances” of universities from throughout the region,
Wynn said.
Tickets are $5, and each evening will include different works.
Seating is limited, and reservations can be made by calling
the Dance Box Office at 936.294.3988.
Back to top
Hall ‘Reinvents
Peabody Sisters’ In New Book
 |
The first book to examine the literary works of three “remarkable”
sisters and co-edited by SHSU associate professor of English
Julie Hall was recently published by the University of Iowa
Press.
“Reinventing the Peabody Sisters,” a collection
of essays about the writings of the three women, is available
online for $39.95 at Amazon.com,
BarnesandNoble.com
and through the University
of Iowa Press Web site.
The 294-page book is comprised of 15 essays written by Hall,
her co-editors Monika Elbert from Montclair State University
and Katharine Rodier from Marshall University, and 12 other
authors, including a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
“All three of the sisters in this family were remarkable,”
Hall said. “They were at the center of 19th Century
culture of that day.”
The three sisters include Elizabeth, the “most prolific”
and well-known writer who also wrote the most; Mary, who wrote
a three-volume biography of her husband, Horace Mann, after
his death and co-authored books with Elizabeth; and Sophia,
who published one book, edited all of her husband Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s notebooks after his death and was also a
life-long writer of letters and journals that serve as “an
amazing archival record from her days,” Hall said.
While there have been biographies of the sisters’ lives,
including one that became a Pulitzer Prize finalist, “there
has been no collection that focuses on their literary work
or no collection that brings together scholarly assessments
of their work” until now, she said.
“Through engaging, wide-ranging essays, ‘Reinventing
the Peabody Sisters’ analyzes the dynamic familial and
intellectual nexus of three women who continuously reinvented
themselves,” said Patricia Dunlavy Valenti, author of
“Sophia Peabody Hawthorne: A Life,” in a review.
“This book provides marvelous insights into the origins
and the impact of mid-19th Century American art, philosophy,
literature, education, and reform movements—a must-read
for the student of these disciplines.”
Back to top
Fall Semester Wraps Up
As the fall semester winds down, students and faculty are
preparing for final examinations and a holiday break.
Finals will be held from Monday (Dec. 11) through Thursday
(Dec. 14), from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. A complete exam schedule
can be found at http://www.shsu.edu/students/finalexam.html.
Residence halls will close at noon on Friday (Dec. 15), with
commencement ceremonies being held on Saturday (Dec. 16) at
10 a.m. in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum for the Colleges
of Arts and Sciences, Criminal Justice and Humanities and
Social Sciences and at 2 p.m. for the Colleges of Education
and Business Administration.
Staff members will receive a week-long break as the university
will close in recognition of Christmas and New Year’s
Day from Dec. 25-29 and on Jan. 1.
Residence halls will reopen on Jan. 7 at 11 a.m. for the spring
semester, which will officially begin on Jan. 10, the first
class day.
Spring registration will be open Jan. 8-9 and late registration
will be held Jan. 10.
Back to top
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.
Back to top
- END -
SHSU Media Contacts: Frank
Krystyniak, Julia May,
Jennifer Gauntt
Dec. 10, 2006
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
|
