SHSU
Update For Week Of Oct. 14
Center To Screen
Students For Depression
Depression can affect students in many ways, including their
personal lives and their academic careers, according to William
Metcalfe, director of SHSU’s Counseling Center.
“When a person is depressed or anxious, they tend to
miss class more often, they have problems concentrating, they
aren’t able to retain information as well; they just
overall are not performing as well in the classroom,”
Metcalfe said. “It also tends to affect their interpersonal
relationships. They feel that people don’t want to be
around them, so they might tend to isolate themselves even
more, which tends to make them more depressed.”
To educate students about the illness and how to treat it,
the center will host a depression screening for SHSU students
on Wednesday (Oct. 17).
The free assessment, which requires students to fill out a
brief questionnaire, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 pm. in
the Counseling Center, located in Lee Drain Building’s
north annex.
After students fill out the questionnaire, counselors will
meet with them individually to tally up responses and give
feedback, a process not expected to take more than 10-15 minutes,
according to Metcalfe.
For those who seem to experience a large number of symptoms
associated with depression or anxiety, the counselor will
discuss those issues and inquire as to whether the student
would like to set up an appointment with a counselor on campus
or receive a referral for an off-campus counselor. Services
offered at SHSU’s Counseling Center are free for students.
Symptoms of depression and anxiety include changes in appetite,
sleep patterns or energy levels, losing interest in things,
and feeling sad, blue or having crying spells.
The center will also hand out literature about depression
and how to deal with a family member who may be depressed.
Depression and anxiety are the two most common diagnoses made
at SHSU’s Counseling Center, which is typical of most
university counseling centers, and both are treatable, Metcalfe
said.
The screenings are confidential, and students do not have
to make an appointment to participate.
For more information, call 936.294.1720.
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Speaker To Discuss Houston’s
Port Authority
Robert Morgan, Jr., trade development manager for the Port
of Houston Authority, will discuss the industry on Wednesday
(Oct. 17).
“Port of Houston Authority: Texas' Gateway to the World,”
part of the College of Business Administration’s “Global
Business Lecture Series,” will be held from 11 a.m.
to 12:15 p.m. in Smith-Hutson Business Building Room 186.
As trade development manager for customer service with the
Port of Houston Authority, Morgan directs international business,
marketing, management and sales for nine marine terminals.
A Donaldsonville, La., native, Morgan holds a number of degrees,
including undergraduate degrees in accounting, from Southern
University in Baton Rouge, and in data processing, from Panama
Canal College in the Republic of Panama; a Master of Business
Administration in management, from National University in
San Diego, Calif.; and a Master of Science in transportation
from Texas Southern University.
He is also a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, where
he completed the Joint Staff Officer course from the National
Defense University in Norfolk, Va.
Serving on active duty in the United States Navy, Morgan also
held various top-level management and leadership assignments
worldwide.
For more information on the lecture, call the management
and marketing department at 936.294.1256.
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Opera Workshop To Perform
Italian Comedy
The SHSU Opera Workshop will present a black comedy revolving
around the disinheritance of the relatives of the rich Buoso
Donati in Giacomo Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi”
on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 19-20).
The last part of Puccini’s “Il Trittico”
(“The Trilogy”) will be sung in Italian, with
English surtitles, at 7:30 p.m. on both days in the Recital
Hall.
In the opera, Donati has just passed away, and all of the
action takes place at his deathbed, according to Dawn M. Padula,
assistant professor of music and director of the Opera Workshop.
“The relatives reluctantly call upon the services of
Gianni Schicchi, a known charlatan, in the hopes of changing
the will (illegally) and gaining back their inheritance,”
she said. “As one can imagine, the plot is full of many
interesting twists and turns.”
The production will be presented in full costume, set in the
1920s, and with set pieces donated by the theatre and dance
department.
In addition, the production is “double-cast,”
meaning each night will showcase a different cast of performers,
according to Padula.
“Double-casting gives more School of Music students
the opportunity to learn and perform these roles,” she
said. “In that regard, patrons are encouraged to come
to both nights of performances so that they can see both casts’
interpretation of the roles.”
Padula also is the musical director, stage director and producer
of the one-act opera, which includes accompaniment by piano
professor Ilonka Rus, assistant conductor and graduate student
Landon Gilmore, and director of choirs Allen Hightower.
Tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for non-SHSU students and senior
citizens; and free for SHSU faculty, staff and students with
an ID.
For more information, call the School
of Music at 936.294.1360.
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Department To Shake Up Theatre
Center With ‘Quake’
The department of theatre and dance will “explore
the geography of the human heart” with its production
of Melanie Marnich’s “Quake” on Wednesday
through Saturday (Oct. 17-20).
Show times are at 8 p.m. each evening, with a 2 p.m. Saturday
matinee, in the University Theatre Center’s Showcase
Theatre.
Lucy is on a cross-country mission, looking for the love of
her life, a journey that takes her across the American landscape,
through life-changing relationships in which time and emotion
pass in a warped instant.
When her quest becomes intertwined with that of a quirky astrophysicist
turned serial killer, the landscape changes once again, as
they cross state lines and fault lines, exploring the geography
of the human heart.
“Quake” stars Amy Burn as Lucy and Ashtyn Sonner
as the serial killer, as well as Jordan O’Hara Smith
as Dr. Psychiatrist/Clerk/Attendant/Bridesmaid, John Muller
as Brian/Angel/Nice man/Drilled guy, Mike Sims as Man/Cooper/Pilot
and Calvin Hudson as Roger/Jock/Guy/Janitor.
The play is directed by senior theatre major Christie DeBacker,
and designers include theatre faculty member Eric Marsh (lights),
senior theatre major Craig Brossman (set) and junior theatre
major Bich Do (costumes).
The stage manager is theatre major Sara Hodgin and the technical
director is Larry Routh.
“Quake” is SHSU’s participating entry in
the 2007-2008 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Tickets are $8 for general admission.
The show contains adult content, and children under the age
of three will not be admitted.
For more information or to reserve tickets, call the UTC Box
Office at 936.294.1339.
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Doctoral Student Wins $500
Higher One Prize
Second-year criminal justice doctoral student Kyung Yon
Jhi has been declared the winner of Higher One’s “12
Weeks of Summer” Sweepstakes - a $500 prize.
The contest, which ran from May 29 through Aug. 20, awarded
$100 to a different winner each week during the time period,
as well as one $500 grand-prize winner.
Both $100 and the $500 winners were selected from a pool of
people that included students from more than 60 colleges and
universities around the county, according to Kari Zella, Bearkat
OneCard Services staff assistant.
Jhi entered the contest in May when he received an e-mail
from Higher One inviting him to register for the “12
Weeks of Summer” promotion.
Once registered, each signature-based purchase made with the
Bearkat OneCard resulted in another entry to win.
Jhi, who said it is “very convenient” to use his
Bearkat OneCard to purchase things around campus, was very
excited to hear that he had won the grand prize of $500, Zella
said.
“I think I will have some fun with my family,”
Jhi said. “Perhaps have a party.”
Promotions such as this one happen “all the time”
through Higher One, Zella said.
To participate, students should visit their OneAccount profile
and verify their e-mail address, where promotional information
is sent.
The current promotion, which runs through Oct. 15, is the
Campus Cash Sweepstakes, for which each signature purchase
counts as an entry to win $5,000.
To register, visit www.bearkatone.com.
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University Gifts, Participation
Increase in 2007
Figures released by the Office of University Advancement
for the fiscal year ending in August show strong five-year
increases in the number of Sam Houston State University donors,
total dollars and overall participation percentages.
In 2007, 6,136 donors provided $8,044,878, a five-year increase
of 72 percent in number of donors and 256 percent in the amount
raised.
Even with an increase of 60 percent in the number of prospects,
the overall participation percentage increased from 7.57 percent
to 8.18 percent in that period.
“These are encouraging figures and indications that
our advancement efforts are paying off,” said Frank
Holmes, vice president for University Advancement. “They
are due to the commitment to this effort by President Jim
Gaertner, a growing love for and appreciation of this university
by our alumni and friends and the hard work by our advancement
staff.”
Before Gaertner made fund-raising an emphasis of his administration
when he took office in 2002, the number of donors was 1,600
and the amount raised averaged $2.4 million annually for the
previous five years, said Holmes.
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Exhibit To Feature Works
Of Retired Professor
Works spanning the years of retired art professor Jimmy
Barker will be on display in the Lowman Student Center Gallery
beginning Monday (Oct. 15).
Organized by students in the Museum and Gallery Practices
class, the exhibit will include drawing, painting, jewelry
and sculpture.
Barker retired this year after 37 years of teaching drawing
and jewelry in the art department. He also served as department
chair from 1984-95.
A reception for the exhibit, which will run through Oct. 26,
will be held for Barker on Oct. 25, from 5-7 p.m.
For more information, contact Michael
Henderson, assistant professor of art,
at 936.294.1318.
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Air Force’s
Clarinet Quartet To Perform
Members of the United States Air Force Band of the West’s
Clarinet Quartet will share their talent and knowledge with
the SHSU and Huntsville communities with a performance and
a masterclass on Wednesday (Oct. 17).
The performance, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Music
Building Room 202, will include a variety of pieces from the
18th through 20th centuries, including Johann Sebastian Bach's
“Solfeggietto,” Gioacchino Rossini’s “Overture
to the Barber of Seville” and George Gershwin’s
“Summertime,” among many others.
Earlier that day, the quartet will give a masterclass at 2
p.m. in Music Building Room 328. A masterclass involves guest
performers working with students by listening to them play
and giving them feedback.
The Clarinet Quartet from the United States Air Force Band
of the West, stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas,
is comprised of Eb, Bb and Bass Clarinets, according to Patricia
Card, School of Music assistant chair.
“The members of the Clarinet Quartet bring to the United
States Air Force many years of professional experience with
symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, touring shows and
today’s popular artists,” she said. “Currently
the ensemble performs for civilian and military audiences
throughout the southwestern region of the United States.”
For more information, call the School
of Music at 936.294.1360.
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Faculty Member To Present
Geological Research
John Degenhardt, assistant professor in the geography and
geology department, will present results of his summer research
on a Colorado glacier at a professional meeting Oct. 27-31.
Degenhardt’s presentation will be a part of the 119th
annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Philadelphia.
Degenhardt and two researchers from Texas A&M studied
the Gilpin Peak Rock Glacier in the San Juan Mountains near
Ouray, Colo. Ground penetrating radar and electromagnetic
induction surveys were conducted on a furrow of the glacier.
“The mixtures of rock debris and permafrost that comprise
rock glaciers are typically insulated by a one-to-two meter
thick mantle of blocky rock debris in which seasonal snow
and ice is stored,” said Degenhardt.
“This zone is referred to as the ‘active layer’
because the amount of water and ice contained within fluctuates
with variations in snowfall accumulation rates, seasonal climatic
conditions and talus accumulation rates.
“This characteristic of rock glaciers makes them especially
sensitive to climatic changes that affect alpine environments,
and thus, they may serve as principal climatological indicators,
particularly at latitudes and elevations below those of glaciers.”
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Cashion Named Historical
Association Fellow
Ty Cashion, associate professor of history at Sam Houston
State University and author of “Sam Houston State University/An
Institutional Memory: 1879-2004,” has been elected to
fellowship in the East Texas Historical Association.
According to the association, its fellows are those members
who publish East Texas history of outstanding quality and
interest. Fellowship is limited to 20 individuals at any given
time.
This past spring Cashion was elected to membership in the
Texas Institute of Letters.
While he was recognized for his books and other publications
on Texas history, Cashion has also paid his dues to the association,
serving as its president, vice president and second vice president,
as well as other assignments.
In addition to the SHSU history written for the 125th anniversary
of the university's founding, Cashion has a number of other
books, journal articles and publications, as well as book
reviews and conference presentations.
One of his most popular efforts is “Pigskin Pulpit:
A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches,”
a book he wrote in 1998 after interviewing a number of coaches,
including his father.
Cashion earned his undergraduate degree in economics from
Austin College in 1979, his master's in history from the University
of Texas at Arlington in 1989, and his doctorate in history
from Texas Christian University in 1993.
After earning his doctorate, he taught at Texas A&M Commerce
before joining the SHSU history faculty in 1999.
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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
Oct. 12, 2007
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
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