SHSU
Update For Week Of Feb. 11
Foot-Soldiers To Bring
Black History To SHSU
The history department will pay homage to Black History
Month and the Civil Rights Era, while challenging popular
misconceptions about the 1950s and 60s, on Thursday (Feb.
15) through a lecture by two foot-soldiers who fought to desegregate
the public schools of Virginia.
“Defeating Massive Resistance” will be held from
4:30-6 p.m. in Academic Building IV’s Olson Auditorium.
The discussion will feature Louis Cousins and Andrew Heidelberg,
two high school students “who braved insults and threats
to tear down an entrenched system of segregation in the heart
of the South,” said Jeff Littlejohn, assistant professor
of history.
“Their stories challenge the commonly-held belief that
desegregation occurred smoothly and swiftly in the upper-South,”
Littlejohn said. “In fact, they argue just the opposite:
desegregation occurred slowly and painfully, requiring constant
legal and social agitation.”
Cousins was the first African-American student to attend Maury
High School in Norfolk, Va., in 1959, and Heidelberg was the
first African-American student to play football on a desegregated
high school team in the state in 1961.
“Heidelberg and Cousins faced many difficulties as they
desegregated the first schools in Virginia,” Littlejohn
said. “They were spit upon, cursed at, belittled, and
ostracized. And yet, they persevered through the hardships,
taking solace in their faith, family, and friends.
“We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice,”
he said.
For more information, contact Littlejohn by
e-mail or phone at 936.294.4438 or
visit the Department
of History Web site.
Back to top
Sammy Award Nominations
Sought
Nominations for the 13th annual Sammy Awards are being accepted
in the Office of Student Activities through Feb. 23.
“Sam Houston State University and Student Activities
annually hosts this event to recognize outstanding student
leaders, student organizations and student advisors,”
said Brandon Cooper, Student Activities program coordinator.
Sammy awards will be given to 18 individuals and organizations,
and approximately four will be given to graduating students
and faculty or staff members for outstanding contributions
and service to the university, which require nominations from
members of the university community at-large.
In addition, five new individual awards representing excellent
service from a student in each of the five colleges at SHSU
will be awarded, which require nominations strictly made from
members of the SHSU faculty within each student’s particular
college, according to Cooper.
The Sammys will be held on April 18 at 6 p.m. in the Lowman
Student Center Ballroom.
Nominations, which are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 23, can be picked
up and returned to Student Activities, in LSC Suite 328.
Forms are also available online.
For more information, call 936.294.3861.
Back to top
Departments To Give Opportunity
To ‘Save A Hero’
The departments of Recreational Sports and Military Science
are encouraging students, faculty and staff to “Be a
Hero, Save a Hero” during a blood drive on Monday and
Tuesday (Feb. 12-13).
On those days from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., a veterans’
hospital in Fort Knox will set up in the Lowman Student Center
Ballroom to accept donations, which will “go immediately
to Iraq and our soldiers,” said Tina De Ases, senior
assistant director of marketing, promotions and special events
for Rec. Sports.
One donation can save the lives of three soldiers, “who
spend 24/ 7 protecting our freedom,” she said.
In order to give blood, participants must bring a photo ID
and be at least 18 years of age.
In addition, donors must weigh at least 110 pounds, and not
have donated blood in the last 8 weeks or 56 days, according
to the American Red Cross Web site.
For more information, contact Maj. Chris Wooten in Military
Science at 936.294.3805 or De Ases at 936.294.3658.
Back to top
SHSU To Open Doors To Boy,
Girl Scouts
More than 450 boy and girl scouts are expected to earn merit
badges with the help of Sam Houston State University professors,
staff and administrators during the third annual Scout Saturday
at Sam on Feb. 24.
Registration for the event will be held at 8 a.m. that day
in Beto Criminal Justice Building, followed by a short opening
program at 8:30 a.m.
Merit badge instruction will be held form 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
when scouts will be able to choose from a variety of classes
to earn as many as two merit badges.
There will be 20 boy scout merit badge classes taught, including
weather, law, medicine, farm mechanics, journalism, cinematography,
animal science and citizenship in the world and in the nation,
among others.
Girl Scouts will have 14 interest patch options, including
childcare, dollars and sense, from stress to success, leadership,
just jewelry, on a high note and Girl Scouts Investigate,
among others.
Any scout in the Sam Houston Area Council can register for
the event, which is free, until Feb 19.
Scouts and their parents may bring a sack lunch or purchase
a meal and a drink for approximately $6.50.
For more information, or to sign up for classes, visit the
SHSU
Merit Badge Day Web site.
Back to top
Physics To Show
Students Spring Skies, Orion
The physics department will continue its series of planetarium
showings by giving students, faculty and staff a glimpse of
the “Spring Skies and Orion” on Friday (Feb. 16).
The series, which shows attendees which constellations, stars
and planets they can expect to see in the upcoming weeks,
will be held at 7 p.m. in the Planetarium, located in Farrington
Building Room F102.
The program, which began last semester, aims at increasing
public awareness and interest in the field of astronomy, according
to Michael Prokosch, staff aid for the physics department
and SHSU alumnus who also teaches elementary school at Lansberry
Elementary in Trinity.
“The turnout was excellent last semester, especially
the last day,” he said.
The show will last approximately one hour and will include
a tour of the winter constellations, including some observation
tips for the March 3 total lunar eclipse, and one of the department’s
prearranged movies specifically formatted for viewing on a
dome-shaped screen.
This semester's feature movie is entitled "Orion."
The Planetarium, which seats up to 29 visitors, includes
a dome that is approximately 18 feet in diameter and more
than 20 feet high in the center, Prokosch said.
“Essentially a time machine, the planetarium's projector
can show how the night sky appears to an observer at any point
in time from any place on the earth, from 100,000 years in
the past, to 100,000 years into the future,” he said.
The program also will be presented on March 9, April 13 and
May 11, at 7 p.m. on all three days. The three presentations
will essentially be the same, Prokosch said.
Admission is free, and if seating is full, a secondary show
may be given if time permits.
For more information on current show times for the Planetarium
or the Observatory, call 936.294.3664.
Back to top
Thesis Concert To Show
Students’ ‘Perspectives’
SHSU dance graduate student Melissa Diamond will give audiences
a glimpse of her “Perspectives” during her Master
of Fine Arts Thesis Concert, featuring guest artist Cheryl
Callon, Thursday and Friday (Feb. 15-16).
Curtain time is 8 p.m. on both nights in the Academic Building
III Dance Theatre.
“The concert promises to be an exciting choreographic
journey through the various permutations of emotional responses
to the color green,” Diamond said.
The concert will feature student dancers Jilianne Barzilla,
Allie DuFour, Natasha Freeman, Laura Harrell, Amber Kent,
Amy Llanes, Cindy Parker, Kristen Roberts, Callie Roberson,
Lesley Stone and Vicky Zahrndt performing pieces choreographed
by Diamond.
“In ‘Jealousy,’ a dynamic exploration using
text and music, the dancers convey jealousy as an emotion
consisting of anger and insecurity—and always involving
three people,” she said. “In ‘Tranquility,’
the sounds of wind chimes, water droplets, and the ocean waves
create a calm atmosphere reminiscent of a meditative state
as the dancers careen and flow as if on a timeless beach.”
Diamond will also present ‘A Bit of a Trip,’ which
was presented originally during the spring of 2005.
In addition, Callon’s “Impressions,” containing
a movement inspired by C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion,
the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and portraying the reactions
of the four children upon hearing the name of “Aslan,”
will also be performed.
“The concert promises to be entertaining and enlightening
evening, featuring the outstanding talent of SHSU dancers,”
Diamond said.
Tickets are $8 at the door, and early arrival is recommended,
as seating is limited.
For more information, call 936.294.3988.
Back to top
Music Faculty To Present
‘Romantic’ Concert
Music faculty members Lisa Burrell and Jay Whatley will
bring chamber music from great Romantic composers to audiences
just in time for Valentine’s Day during a concert on
Monday (Feb. 12).
The faculty music recital will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the
Recital Hall.
Violinist Burrell and pianist Whatley will perform “grand,
sweeping music,” for the instruments, accompanied by
music faculty member Veronica Wilson, on viola, and Daniel
Saenz, on cello, for the final piece, according to Scott Phillips,
assistant professor of bassoon, who is in charge of programs
for the School of Music.
The program will include Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Sonata
in G Major for Piano and Violin, Op. 96,” Antonin Dvorak’s
“Four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75” and Robert Schumann’s
“Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47.”
Admission is free.
For more information, call the School
of Music at 936.294.1360.
Back to top
Warner Chair Puts SHSU
On International Airwaves
Sam Houston State University is receiving international
mention as the current home of a SHSU journalism professor
who once hired Molly Ivins and edited her copy.
Ivins is described by Warner Chair Professor Mike Blackman
as a "nationally renowned, left-leaning, populist writer
who was a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and best-selling
author."
That's what he wrote in a column for his and Ivins' former
employer, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, when he heard that
Ivins had died the evening of Jan. 31. The column was about
his experience hiring her and editing her copy.
After it was posted on the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram Web site
on
the evening of Jan. 31 (the day she died), it was picked
up by the New York Times and McClatchy newswire services
the next day.
The Star-Telegram then ran the story in its Feb. 2 edition.
Blackman said he has heard from a number of Ivins' fans from
across the country and even abroad, The British Broadcasting
Company also interviewed him for a piece on one of its Sunday
morning programs.
Back to top
Entergy Donates $1,000
To Prof
 |
| Entergy representative Stan Foley presents
a $1,000 check to accounting professor Carl Brewer on
Wednesday. |
The Entergy company has given $1,000 to an accounting professor
to allow him to attend a conference which he expects to be
a great benefit in his teaching and research.
Carl W. Brewer, associate professor in accounting, will attend
the 2007 Spring Topology and Dynamics Conference in Rolla,
Mo.
"I hope to gain insight into how to use mathematics to
describe the accounting process and the auditing process,
which are two different phenomena," Brewer said. "I
also hope to obtain information on the Moore Method of learning
mathematics from Dr. Tom Ingram."
The check was presented to Brewer and Richard Eglsaer, associate
vice president for Academic Affairs, by Entergy representative
Stan Foley.
"We greatly appreciate Entergy's support of SHSU through
their contribution to our faculty improvement process,"
Eglsaer said.
Back to top
Organization Raffling
Off V-Day Dinner
Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honors Society, is raffling
off a chance to win a Valentine’s Day dinner for two
at the Stardust Room.
Tickets can be purchased for $1 in Evans Building Room 458,
as well as in the Lowman Student Center Mall Area on Monday
(Feb. 12), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate and will be
notified on Feb. 12 to claim the prize.
All proceeds benefit the organization.
The Stardust room is located on the square in downtown Huntsville.
For more information, contact Allison
Newton, Sigma
Tau Delta public relations director.
Back to top
College To Train High School CJ
Instructors
The College of Criminal Justice will inform high school
criminal justice instructors of “Emerging Issues in
Criminal Justice” during its 2007 annual seminar Thursday
and Friday (Feb. 15-16).
The purpose of the one and a half day seminar, which has been
held since 2002, is to provide professional training directly
related to the criminal justice field and special needs, according
to Amy Proctor, High School Criminal Justice Instructors Training
coordinator.
This year, 40 instructors are expected to participate in the
seminar.
Among the topics to be covered are “Introduction to
Criminal Justice for College Freshmen,” “Mental
Illness and Criminal Justice,” “Victimology,”
“Emerging Legal Issues in Criminal Justice,” “Current
Issues in Corrections,” and “Forensic Science
and Forensic Investigation Demonstration,” among others.
Participating teachers will receive eight hours of Texas Commission
on Law Enforcement Standards and Education credit.
The Texas Occupations Code requires every peace officer to
complete 40 hours of continuing education programs once every
24 months, and those who do not comply with this requirement
may have his/her license suspended.
For more information, contact Proctor by
e-mail or phone at 936.294.3631.
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
Feb. 11, 2007
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
|
