Today@Sam Article

SHSU Update For Week Of Dec. 5

Dec. 5, 2016
SHSU Media Contact: Lane Fortenberry



Profs Plan Out-Of-This-World Study Abroad Trip

This summer, Sam Houston State University students will be plunged into an astronomical, out-of-this-world experience with professors Renee James and Scott Miller, who will take up to 25 students to Australia and Wyoming for a study abroad-like program throughout July and August.

“We will have a unique opportunity on Aug. 21 to see a total eclipse of the sun in Wyoming,” James said. “This is really a must-see event that should be on everyone’s bucket list. For a few brief moments, it will be like night during the day.”

To get students ready for such confusion, James said they’ll spend two weeks in Australia at the end of July, where they’ll see stars they’ve never seen before and even see stars they recognize, but upside down.

The trip will be more than just looking up at the sky, though.

“We’ll visit ancient aboriginal rock carvings depicting astronomical events. We’ll get guest lectures from experts from various universities, and even have observing sessions with an astronomical sketch artist who will help us learn what to look for through a telescope,” James said. “We’ll take a few days to head to the Blue Mountains, which have been shaped by millions of years of erosion, and then out to Parkes, where we’ll see a 64-meter radio telescope in action. And we’ll get to pet koalas.”

Students who attend can receive up to eight hours of academic credit for two core astronomy classes, Physics 1403, “Stars and Galaxies,” and Physics 1404, “Solar System Astronomy.”

“The best part of the class portion is the variability in the classroom,” James said. “We’ll have classes outside sometimes, or in an apartment north of Sydney, or at night, or on a train riding through the mountains, and we’ll get to experience what we’re discussing.”

Interested students should visit the “Bucket List” page on the International Programs website.

Students who apply to attend the study abroad trip must pay a $300 non-refundable deposit by the end of winter break. In the event that the class is canceled, refunds will be given.

Attendees also will be responsible for paying tuition for the course or courses, plus $3,950, which will cover airfare to both Australia and Wyoming, ground transportation, meals, and entry fees to all the various sites.

According to James, the Office of International Programs offers scholarships to cover around $650 for students with a GPA above 3.0. The scholarship application is due Feb. 1 and is available through the OIP website.

James said the department needs student commitment as soon as possible, as they aren’t able to make deposits until they know how many students will attend.

For more information, contact James at phy_crj@shsu.edu or Miller at stm009@shsu.edu.


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Graduating Artists To Display Works In Final Exhibit

The Gaddis Geeslin Gallery in the Sam Houston State University Department of Art is featuring the works of 23 graduating seniors through Friday (Dec. 9).

The Studio Art, Photography, and Animation Senior Show is a capstone experience for students completing Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in studio art, photography and animation.

SeniorShow16The exhibition will showcase pieces in a variety of media, including several works created by each student that represent a sampling of their larger body of work. 

This fall, the range of student work includes video, ceramics, photography, painting, sculpture, animation and drawing.

A closing reception will be held immediately following the commencement ceremony on Friday, starting at 10:30 a.m. in the Gaddis Geeslin Gallery. Light refreshments will be served. 

Fall graduating seniors include BFA in studio art candidates Jack Delaney, Avery Kelley, Lillie Muyskens, Nicole Portillo, Rubi Ramirez, and Goldie White; BA in studio art candidates Samuel Wagner and Brandyn Humphries; and BFA in photography candidates Shelby Coleman, Sarah Salinas and Wismary Vazquez. 

BFA in animation candidates whose work also will be on display include Kasey Carboni, Fabiana De Lill Parez, Elizabeth Gonzalez, David Jacobs, Ana Portillo, Shelby Tedder, Sarah Thiim, Connor Tones, Chad Wadle, Jazzlyn Weaver, David Wilkinson, and Noure Zein. 

The Gaddis Geeslin Gallery, located at 1028 21st St., is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Gaddis Geeslin Gallery technician Max Manning at 936.294.3102.


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Drive Collects Over 1K Pounds Of Food drive

The Sam Houston State University Staff Council and Faculty Senate celebrated the season of giving by collecting more than 1,050 pounds of food for the Rita B. Huff Animal Shelter and the SHSU Food Pantry.

During the seventh annual People and Pets Food Drive on Nov. 30, 35 volunteers from the two organizations doubled the amount of food collected last year, according to Megan Foley, co-chair of the Staff Council events committee.

In four hours, 436 pounds of food were collected for the SHSU Food Pantry and 614 pounds were collected for Rita B. Huff.

“We are overjoyed with appreciation to the SHSU community for the generous donations this year,” Foley said. “Special thanks to the Department of Forensic Science, Residence Life and Building and Landscape Services for donation amounts totaling over 200 pounds each.”

Through the People and Pets Food Drive, departments are encouraged to come together to support the community with some friendly competition. The department that donates the largest amount of food items—this year, the forensic science department, which contributed 258 pounds—is treated to a special muffin breakfast.

For more information on the Good Shepard Mission and Rita B. Huff Animal Shelter, visit their websites at thegsmission.org or ritabhuff.org. To learn more about the SHSU Food Pantry, contact Candice Hanner at 936.294.2231.


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SHSU Sorority Member Raises $2,000 For SAAFE House

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, Mary Kay, Inc., and Alpha Chi Omega sorority partnered to help raise awareness of dating abuse and domestic violence on college campuses across the United States through its annual social media contest.

AxoMaryKayCheck16Sam Houston State University sophomore and Alpha Chi Omega member Julianna Bone placed second in the national contest and will make a $2,000 donation to Huntsville’s SAAFE House to help local survivors of abuse.

Alpha Chi Omega chapters across the nation posted pictures depicting the sorority’s commitment to raising awareness for the epidemic and then encouraged the community to vote on their favorite pictures. The posts with the most votes received monetary prizes.

“I was overjoyed when Julianna’s photo won second place in the social media contest,” said the sorority’s adviser Gloria Buchanan. “Being able to win money for the SAAFE House in Huntsville and see them benefit from the donation is very rewarding.” 

In addition, as part of Mary Kay’s “Don’t Look Away” campaign, which works to educate young people on recognizing the signs of domestic abuse, the two organizations gave more than 20,000 women at 143 universities nationwide resources that provided warning signs of an abusive relationship and where to seek help.


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Roberts Named State Bar Course DirectorGene-Headshot

Gene Roberts, director of Student Legal and Mediation Services, has been selected as the course director for the State Bar of Texas’s 2017 Alternative Dispute Resolution Continuing Legal Education seminar. Roberts was also course director for the highly-successful 2016 seminar.

As course director, Roberts is responsible for assembling a group of ADR professionals to guide the development of the course, as well as acting as the presiding officer at the seminar.

“A diverse group of professionals representing ADR practitioners from across the state will educate attorneys, mediators, and arbitrators on the latest legal developments in these areas,” Roberts said. “Our speakers include academics and practioners, including a former president of the State Bar of Texas, a senior district judge, and past chairs of the State Bar’s ADR Section.”

The seminar will cover a variety of topics, including an arbitration law update, how to properly use the mediation/arbitration hybrid process, a mock arbitration panel, a legislative update, and an ADR “masters roundtable.”

Michael McIlwrath, the global chief litigation counsel for GE Oil & Gas in Florence, Italy, will deliver a special luncheon presentation on in-house perspectives on international dispute resolution.

“The SHSU community has provided me with the unique ability to combine academic and practical platforms,” Roberts said. “At SLMS, we provide legal and mediation services to our students to help them resolve conflicts so that they can focus on academics and improve retention.

“It’s a great honor to be selected by one’s peers for any professional opportunity, especially the entrustment of a premier training opportunity for attorneys across the state. With this course, we’re providing cutting-edge training and looking at dispute resolution from a variety of different perspectives,” Roberts said.


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Student Affairs Announce T-shirt Contest WinnerNavaLuceroTshirt400

To help with awareness of their recent name change, the Division of Student Affairs conducted a T-shirt design contest, which ran from Oct. 18 to Nov. 15.

The winner of a $250 gift certificate to the SHSU University Bookstore is Lucero Nava, freshman communication studies student, who designed the winning T-shirt for the contest.

Nava’s design received 49.61 percent of the student vote among the three finalists.

SHSU students will receive the shirt during fall 2017 events.

The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs would like to thank all of the participants who submitted their designs for the contest.


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Channel 7 To Air November Rodeo Footage

From now until the end of next week, students and faculty will be able to relive parts of the Sam Houston State University Rodeo Team’s November competition, courtesy of the university’s television station, Cable Channel 7.

The one-hour show consists of competition coverage and interviews with contestants from the event. According to broadcast professor Mel Strait, students put the entire production together.

“Students shot all the video, which included the competitive events like calf roping and bareback riding, the interviews with rodeo competitors, parents and fans as well as officials and university people in attendance,” Strait said. “This was a cooperative venture with both the mass communication students and the agricultural communication students.”

The idea to film the competition began last year, and Strait said that because it was such good experience for his students that the project recurred this year.

“We shot the big anniversary rodeo last year, and it went well,” he said. “It offered an opportunity for a type of production we don’t often get. The rodeo club allows us to pretty much shoot whatever we want and we are able to do interviews, as well as shoot video of the competition events.”

The rodeo competition was on Nov. 12 of this year; the footage from the event will air Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at noon on Channel 7.


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SHSU Parent Relations Office Receives Two Awards

Sam Houston State University’s Parent Relations Office received two awards from the 2016 Association of Higher Education Parent/Family Chelsea Smith400Program Professionals National Conference, which took place Nov. 14-16 in Boulder, Colo.

A total of 166 institutions participated in the conference.

Parent Relations received the “Powerful Partnership Award,” which recognizes outstanding partnerships and gathers information about effective relationships that exist across institutional lines. It’s also a way to showcase how the group positively impacts parents and families.

The award reflects the partnership between SHSU Parent Relations, the Parents’ Association and Alumni Association.

“We negotiated a deal in 2014 to dissolve the Parents’ Association’s third party membership and come under the umbrella of Parent Relations,” said Chelsea Smith, associate dean of students for parent relations and special programs. “Then Parent Relations got together with the Alumni Association and came up with an arrangement to dissolve their parent membership and add their benefits to ours.”

The partnership eliminated the confusion for parents wanting to get involved and made the process much easier.

“Receiving the award is such a good thing for the department because we have worked so long to create something that parents could benefit from,” Smith said. “To be able to partner with the Alumni Association has made all the difference in the world.

“It puts the spotlight on us and allows us to be a leader in the parent relations and family programming world. It highlights the efforts it took to get to where we are today with the Parents Association. It’s a huge deal that we were able to win this award,” she said.

Parent Relations also received the “Excellence in Publication-Video Award,” which recognizes institutions that developed outstanding materials that contribute to the field of parent and family engagement.

The marketing video can be viewed here.


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Volleyball Donates Books To Huntsville IntermediateVolleyballBooks500

Bump, set, give back!

The Sam Houston State University’s volleyball team donated more than 300 books on Dec. 1 to Huntsville Intermediate School after a semester-long book-drive.
 
The team selected a book drive as a means of giving back to the community because they wanted to take a different approach to volunteer service while still being able to make a difference in the community, according to graduate student and Athletics promotion team member Marissa Maas.
 
The volleyball team asked game attendees to bring a wide range of books for children, specifically for the fifth and sixth grade levels, to be collected in drop-off boxes located at home games throughout the season, according to Maas.
 
“This was a great way for them to give back during the season without putting a lot of stress on the team,” Maas said. “The faculty and staff of Huntsville Intermediate were gracious and extremely thankful for all the books donated.”


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Send Experts, Story Ideas Here

Are you an expert in a topic might be of interest to reporters? Or even a unique topic? Would you like to have your research interests highlighted or discuss your expertise with reporters seeking interviewees?

The university Communications Office is collecting information and story ideas for its ongoing projects, including the online SHSU Experts Guide, the SHSU home page and Today@Sam. 

The SHSU Experts Guide was established as a resource for the media, who turn to university experts lists for potential interviewees for news stories. Faculty who are interested in being a part of the university's database of experts can submit their biographical and personal information, as well as their areas of expertise, through the Experts Guide Submission Form available online at shsu.edu/dept/marketing/experts/submit-info.html.

Other story ideas, both news and features on faculty or student research and accomplishments can be sent to today@sam.edu or jenniferg@shsu.edu. For news stories, please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.

All information, including news story ideas and update items for Today@Sam, should be sent a minimum of a week in advance of the event in order to make necessary contacts and write a story. Feature story ideas for the SHSU home page ("sliders") should be sent a minimum of two months in advance. 

To see a full list of the Today@Sam submission guidelines, or to access submission forms for news and feature stories or hometown releases, visit shsu.edu/~pin_www/guidelines.html.

For more information, call 936.294.1836.


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