Happy Administrative Professionals
Day
President Randy Moffett has invited all Southeastern secretaries to
join him for an Administrative Professionals Day coffee on Wednesday,
April 25, at 9 a.m. in the Alumni Center.
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Colleges plan annual honors convocations
Southeastern's colleges will host their honors convocations this
week to recognize outstanding students, including recipients of
distinguished academic awards and a number of scholarships provided
by generous donors.
The honors convocation schedule includes:
 Division
of General Studies - Tuesday, April 24, 2 p.m., University Center,
room 133
College
of Business -- Tuesday, April 24, at 7 p.m., Student Union Theater.
(Reception follows.)
College
of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences - Wednesday, April 25, 2
p.m., Vonnie Borden Theatre
College
of Science and Technology - Wednesday, April 25, 5 p.m., Fayard
Hall, room 107.
College
of Education and Human Development - Thursday, April 26, 11 a.m.,
Cate Teacher Education Center Kiva
College
of Nursing and Health Sciences - Thursday, April 26, 7 p.m., Student
Union ballroom. (Reception at 6:30 p.m.)
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 Sympathy
extended to Virginia Tech family
President Randy Moffett expressed the university's concern and
sympathy for the faculty, staff and students at Virginia Tech at
a memorial service conducted on the campus on April 18.
Moffett's remarks are reproduced below:
I want to thank you for attending
this solemn occasion. This memorial service is a small but, we hope,
meaningful way for the Southeastern family to express our care and
concern for the Virginia Tech family.
As a university family, we at Southeastern
share a certain kinship with the students, faculty, and staff of
Virginia Tech University. The tragedy that occurred there Monday
morning could happen on any campus. Those students were simply going
about their business … attending class, studying for tests
… chatting with friends. No one, no one would have anticipated
something this horrendous happening on that day.
But it did happen. And we are all
left with a feeling of emptiness while trying to fathom such senseless
violence that seemingly was directed at innocent people.
I am sure those at Virginia Tech have
been asking themselves, "Why me? Why us?" The truth is
no one can truly comprehend a deranged act of this nature. Harold
Kushner, the rabbi who wrote the book When Bad Things Happen
to Good People, struggled with this eternal question. He came
to the understanding and acceptance that, unfortunately, bad things
DO happen to all people … it is part of the human experience.
We can certainly empathize and sympathize
with the Virginia Tech family. It wasn't that long ago that we were
faced with our own crisis of monumental proportions. When Hurricane
Katrina hit, we saw the outpouring of sympathy, prayers and help
that came from all corners of the world. And we saw the positive
impact that can be derived from the love and concern of others.
And that is what we must do …
extend our sympathy and our prayers to serve as a source of strength
for our friends and colleagues at Virginia Tech. Today, we join
others across this nation who are grieving for the Virginia Tech
family. Knowing that many others are joined with them during this
time of incredible pain will support them as they move through the
long, slow grieving process.
We can all learn from any event, even
one such as this. As students and faculty, we need to be aware and
cognizant of what is going on with our fellow students and friends.
If someone is troubled or suffering in some way, talk to them, and
urge them to get professional help that is readily available for
them.
We in administration learn from this
as well. We are re-examining our crisis plans and communications
methods to determine how we can better communicate within our own
Southeastern family when emergencies develop.
In closing, I ask you to pray that
the families and friends of those who died in this tragedy find
comfort and solace in knowing that they are not alone in their suffering.
Pray for your fellow students remaining at Virginia Tech. Virginia
Tech prides itself on its "Hokie spirit." Like you, those
students are strong and resilient. They will never forget this moment
in their lives, but they will recover. Keep them in your thoughts
and prayers.
Again, thank you for sharing this
occasion with us this afternoon.
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KSLU holds video game fundraiser for Virginia
Tech
Southeastern's public radio station 90.9 KSLU will hold a video
game fundraiser in the Southeastern Student Union to raise funds
for Virginia Tech's Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.
KSLU's "Guitar Hero Challenge"
will be held April 24-25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will test
players' skills of the popular video game as they emulate playing
lead guitar in a rock band.
For a $3 donation players will select
a song and difficulty level in an attempt to win a variety of prizes
including a pair of tickets to this year's New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival.
All of the proceeds collected will
go to the families of the Virginia Tech victims through the Hokie
Spirit Memorial Fund.
"It only seemed fitting to donate
the proceeds to Virginia Tech" said KSLU Underwriting and Development
Representative Chad Pierce. "We strive to do all we can to
help our local community. But the families up there are going through
so much, we wanted to extend a helping hand to them as well."
For more information contact Chad
Pierce at 985-549-2330 or cpierce@selu.edu.
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 Strawberry
Jubilee: everybody had a 'berry' good time
The spring weather was lovely and the juicy red Tangipahoa Parish
strawberries were plentiful at the Campus Activities Board's annual
Strawberry Jubilee last Wednesday, April 18.
While just about everybody enjoyed
the strawberries, some enthusiastic students (top left) ate more
than others -- to say the least! -- as they competed in the annual
strawberry eating contest.
( Left) Miss Southeastern Kristen Hilliard
was on hand to make the first ceremonial slice of the traditional
centerpiece of the festival, the giant strawberry cake.
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Nursing students host 'mock fatality' Wednesday
at Stadium
Senior nursing students will host a mock fatality presentation
as their "capstone" project Wednesday, April 25, from
9-11 a.m. in Strawberry Stadium.
The goal of the project, presented
by Dr. Catherine Holland's Nursing Lab 488 students, is to reach
as many area high school seniors and juniors as possible with the
message of drinking and driving consequences. Seniors and juniors
from Independence, Loranger and St. Thomas Aquinas high schools
will attend. The presentation will be taped and distributed to Hammond
and Ponchatoula high schools for a viewing at a later date.
Members of a senior drama class will
play the roles of "victims, parents and bystanders." Local
dignitaries will also be in attendance.
Nursing students participating are
Ashley Adams, Destrehan; Candece Kilbride, Hammond; Jade Migliore,
Montz; Jenna Barois, Buras and Belle Chasse; Laura Reeves, Ponchatoula
and Metairie; Shannon Vogt, Slidell; Angela Gottschalk,Covington;
and Christine Ragas, Independence.
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 Kenyan
author Ngugi is special Southeastern guest May 3
Internationally known Kenyan author and activist Ngugi wa Thiong'o
will present readings from his seventh novel, Wizard of the Crow,
at 6:30 p.m., May 3 at Vonnie Borden Theatre.
Ngugi's visit to Southeastern is sponsored
by the Southeastern Writng Center. His presentation, which is free
and open to the public, will be preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.
in the lobby of D Vickers Hall and will be followed by a booksigining.
Copies of his books will be available at the Southeastern bookstore
and at the presentation.
Ngugi is currently the Distinguished
Professor of English and Comparative Literature and director of the
International Center for Writing and Translation at the University
of California, Irvine. "Wizard of the Crow" is his seventh
novel and his first new work in nearly two decades of exile from his
homeland. He has been the recipient of many honors including the 2001
Nonino International Prize for Literature, election as an Honorary
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and seven honorary
doctorates.
Born in Kenya in 1938, Ngugi lived through
the Mau Mau War of Independence, the central historical episode in
the making of modern Kenya. He burst onto the literary scene in East
Africa with the performance of his first major play, "The Black
Hermit," at the National Theatre in Kampala, Uganda, in 1962.
In 1964, he published his first novel, "Weep Not, Child,"
to critical acclaim.
The year 1977 marked the publication
of "Petals of Blood," which painted a harsh and unsparing
picture of life in neo-colonial Kenya. The same year Ngugi's controversial
play, "Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want)," written
with Ngugi wa Mirii, was performed in an open air theatre in Limuru.
For being sharply critical of the inequalities
and injustices of Kenyan society, championing the cause of ordinary
Kenyans, and committed to communicating with them in the languages
of their daily lives, in late 1977 Ngugi was arrested and imprisoned
without charge in a maximum security prison. There he wrote the novel
"Devil on the Cross" on toilet paper.
An international uproar -- including
protests by James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, along with Amnesty International
naming Ngugi a Prisoner of Conscience -- secured his release a year
later. He was barred by the state from teaching, but resumed his writing
and activities in the theater, continuing to criticize the Moi dictatorship.
After imprisonment, Ngugi abandoned
using English as the primary language of his work in favor of Gikuyu,
his native tongue.
While Ngugi was in Britain for the launching
of "Devil on the Cross," he learned about the Moi regime's
plans to arrest and imprison him without trial, or worse, eliminate
him. This forced him into exile, first in Britain during the 1980s
and then the United States after 1989.
His next Gikuyu novel, "Matigari,"
was published in 1986. Thinking that the novel's main character was
a real person, the Moi regime issued an arrest warrant; on learning
that the character was fictional, it had the novel "arrested"
and banned instead.
Ngugi's novels and nonfiction works
have been translated into more than 30 languages and include "A
Grain of Wheat," "The River Between," "Decolonising
the Mind," and "Moving the Center," among others.
In 2004, when Ngugi and his wife Njeeri
visited Kenya after 22 years in exile, they were attacked by four
robbers and narrowly escaped with their lives. They continue to live
in Irvine, Calif., but have spoken out against the violence and have
returned to Kenya to give evidence.
For additional information, about Ngugi's
campus visit, contact the Southeastern writing Center at (985) 549-2076
or writing@selu.edu or Director Jayetta Slawson at (985) 549-5024.
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 President
Randy Moffett, right, signs an agreement linking the university and
the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation in a partnership
designed to foster the development of initiatives to aid the growing
Louisiana Hispanic business community. Looking on is USHCC Foundation
Chairman Massey Villarreal and, back, left, Southeastern Provost John
Crain and USHCC Foundation President Frank Lopez.
Southeastern signs agreement with national Hispanic group
Southeastern and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC)
Foundation have signed an agreement designed to foster the development
of programs and initiatives to aid the region's growing Hispanic business
community.
It is the first such agreement between
a Louisiana university and the USHCC and is a recognition of the increasing
need for training within the Hispanic business community, said Aristides
Baraya, director of Southeastern's Latin American Business Initiative
in the College of Business.
"This partnership represents a
great opportunity for us to expand our relationships with the Hispanic
business community and chambers of commerce while enhancing the general
economic development of the region," said Southeastern President
Randy Moffett. "The demographics and population shifts of the
area following Hurricane Katrina require initiatives such as this
for southeast Louisiana to thrive."
A key focus of the program is the creation
of the Latino Virtual National Business and Training Institute. The
institute will develop electronic learning tools and other business-related
training resources that will be offered to chambers of commerce and
other organizations throughout the nation.
Other elements in the initiative include:
the development of student internship programs centered on business,
communication and technology training;
the establishment of a satellite video production studio in Washington,
DC, that will focus on developing a dynamic set of educational video
programs;
the creation of five business incubator centers throughout Louisiana
to provide space and technology infrastructure resources for emerging
businesses.
"We are proud to partner with Southeastern
on this initiative," said USHCC Foundation Chairman Massey Villarreal.
"This partnership will enable us to provide the Latino business
community with the proper resources to excel and prosper."
"Hispanic entrepreneurs are key
players in the U.S. economy, and I am delighted to partner with our
friends at Southeastern to create and implement programs which will
positively enhance the Hispanic business community," said Frank
Lopez, USHCC Foundation president and CEO.
The Hispanic community in Louisiana
is now estimated to be more than 200,000 with most living in south
Louisiana. Last year Southeastern joined with other agencies and organizations
to form the Hispanic Business Resources and Technology Center located
at Roosevelt Middle School in Kenner. The center provides business
seminars and workshops, tutoring and mentoring services for 9th -
12th graders, English language training, and general social services.
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Head Start/Early Head Start applications being
accepted
Southeastern Head Start and Early Head Start are now accepting
applications for the 2007-2008 school year.
The programs offer educational and social
services to children who are three or four years old before Sept.
30, 2007 (Pre-kindergarten Head Start) and infants and toddlers ages
six weeks to three years old (Early Head Start).
Located since 1999 in a complex at 125
W. Tornado Drive, the preschool has room for 117 preschoolers, and
24 infants and toddlers.
"Anyone can apply for the programs
regardless of their income, however priority points are given to low
income families and Southeastern students and faculty," said
Director Tammy Earles. "Children with disabilities or special
needs also receive priority points and may be considered even if the
family's income exceeds the federal guidelines."
Income guidelines are outlined by the
federal Department of Health and Human Services and are based on family
size and gross annual income.
Earles said the program particularly
has vacancies for four-year-old children this year.
Appointments are necessary to complete the computer-based application
process. For an appointment, call Southeastern Head Start at (985)
549-5948/5949.
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Lion's Roar wins four LPA awards
The staff of The Lion's Roar brought home four awards
from the Louisiana Press Association Convention held in New Orleans
on April 14.
The Lion's Roar, edited by
Lorraine Favre, a graduate student from Baton Rouge, earned an honorable
mention in the "General Excellence" category for the second
year in a row. Judges complemented the overall design and effort
of the student staff saying, the newspaper was, "One of the
only entrants that read cover to cover like a community newspaper.
A great product and deserving of recognition."
Student newspapers from Louisiana
State University, Southern University and Loyola University earned
first, second and third place standings respectively.
Senior staff photographer Ally O'Keefe,
a graduate student from New Orleans, garnered a third place award
in the "Best General News Photo or Feature Photo" category.
Her photo of a Southeastern student accompanied a story about Freshman
Frenzy, Southeastern's version of freshman convocation.
Coordinator for the Office of Student
Publications Lee E. Lind also won awards in two categories. Lind
and student Tim Mitchell, a junior from Abita Springs, teamed up
to create a series of Valentine's Day ads which won first place
in the "Advertising Idea or Promotion" category. The ads
were designed by Lind and illustrated with artwork by Mitchell.
Lind also placed second in the advertising "Black & White
Over ½ Page" category for an ad he created for Recreational
Sports and Wellness.
"These latest awards show that
a group of dedicated students with varying backgrounds can work
together to produce a continual body of excellent work," said
Director of Student Publications Matt Tarver. "I am proud of
their accomplishments and the way our student staff works together.
Seeing how many hours our students put into the production of the
newspaper each week, it's good to know that this effort is appreciated
statewide just as the paper is valued by the students, staff and
faculty of Southeastern."
Eighty-three newspapers, publications
and college/university student newspapers submitted more than 4,400
entries for judging in this year's competition.
The Lion's Roar has received
both state and national recognition during the past several years,
including a total of 15 awards from the LPA in three years.
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PPR training for supervisors
A training program for supervisors who are required to conduct
Performance Planning and Reviews (PPRs) on classified employees
will be held on Tuesday, April 24th. The program will run from 2:00
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Offered by the Training Section of the Human Resources
Office, it will be held in the Human Resources Office Conference
room.
To register for the program contact
Jan Ortego at Jan.Ortego@selu.edu or 5771. Pre-registration and
supervisory approval are necessary for this class.
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Free seminar: 'Building Better Performance
through Employee Skill Development'
The Comprehensive Public Training Program (CPTP), a part of
the Louisiana Division of Administration, is sponsoring a free seminar
for supervisors. "Building Better Performance through Employee
Skill Development" will be held on Wednesday, April 25 in room
139 of the University Center.
The one-day class from 8:15 a.m.-3:30
p.m. highlights the fact that managers and supervisors need to ensure
that employees have both the necessary job skills and opportunities
for learning transfer. The primary purpose of this class is to share
strategies and techniques that can be used before, during and after
training to ensure support for the transfer of knowledge and skills
to improved performance on the job.
Pre-registration and supervisory approval
are necessary for attendance. For more information and registration
procedures, please contact Jan Ortego in the Training Section of
the Human Resources Office, extension 5771.
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Upcoming SBDC seminars
Upcoming seminars being sponsored by the Small Business Development
Center include:
Tuesday, April 24, Hammond, "Understanding
Financial Statements," 4-8 p.m. Cost: $20, $10 for Chamber
members. For more information or to register contact the SBDC at
985-549-3831 or sbdc@selu.edu.
Wednesday, May 2, Mandeville, "St.
Tammany West Chamber EXPO," 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Free. Stop by
and visit Southeastern SBDC's booth as well as the many other organizations
and businesses that will be onsite. For more information about exhibiting
or attending please contact the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce
at 985-893-3216 or www.sttammanychamber.org.
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Parish leadership programs affiliate with
Southeastern
Leadership St. Tammany and Leadership Tangipahoa, two non-profit
programs designed to identify and prepare potential new leaders
for service in the public and private sectors, have become affiliated
with Southeastern.
Under agreements reached between the
university and the organizations, Southeastern will assist in providing
general administrative support for the program, handling matters
such as registration, class scheduling and providing meeting locations
and speakers. The university's St. Tammany Center will coordinate
activities for Leadership St. Tammany, while the Southeast Louisiana
Business Center will coordinate Leadership Tangipahoa.
"These programs are proven success
stories and we are pleased to become affiliated with the organizations,"
said Southeastern President Randy Moffett. "These new partnerships
tie in perfectly with our mission to help lead the educational,
cultural and economic development of the region."
The programs, which were started by
the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce and the Hammond Chamber
of Commerce, focus on recruiting emerging leaders from various segments
of the community and involving them in public affairs. Through training
sessions and individual study, participants are able to identify
their own leadership styles while incorporating different leadership
techniques.
"Leadership St. Tammany has been
successful in creating a network of informed and committed individuals
who are dedicated to the advancement of the parish," said Larry
Burch, president. "Graduates of the program have gone on to
fill leadership positions in public and private agencies and organizations.
The affiliation with Southeastern will give us additional resources
to make our program even stronger."
"We are pleased to partner with
Southeastern in helping us coordinate the activities of our program
and to continue to produce exceptional leaders that are so important
to making our parish thrive," said Ricky Masaracchia, Leadership
Tangipahoa president. "The university has the resources to
help us groom and prepare individuals who will assume the important
roles of leading our parish and communities."
The programs begin with weekend retreats
where participants learn about power, conflict, influence, and decision-making.
The retreats also include team building exercises and development
of communication skills.
The programs continue during the year
with several full-day training workshops covering a variety of topics
designed to provide participants with additional training in leadership
skills and increased knowledge of the community
Both programs are accepting applications
for their next class. Applicants are reviewed by selection committees
and are evaluated based on their personal long-term commitments
to improving the future of the parishes, their record of involvement
in community affairs, and their leadership potential.
Additional information on Leadership
St. Tammany can be obtained by calling the Southeastern St. Tammany
Center at 985- 893-6251. Individuals interested in information on
Leadership Tangipahoa should call the Southeast Louisiana Business
Center at 985-549-3831.
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 Director
James Winter and Stage Manager Lydia Caballero of Slidell take notes
as the cast of the Southeastern Theatre's production of Much Ado About
Nothing does a run-through. The show will be on stage April 24-28
at Vonnie Borden Theatre in D Vickers Hall.
Southeastern Theatre stages innovative production of 'Much Ado
About Nothing
Moving a Shakespeare play out of an Elizabethan setting is nothing
new. Theater companies do it all the time.
So, there's nothing that radical about
James Winter's idea of placing the Southeastern Theatre's production
of "Much Ado About Nothing" in 1920s New York.
And it's certainly not a new concept
for men to play the women's roles in Shakespeare. That, after all,
is how it was done in the Bard's day, when only male actors trod the
board.
But, Winter has gone one step further
- a giant one. In his April 24-28 production of one of Shakespeare's
most popular comedies, not only will men play women on the Vonnie
Borden Theater stage, but women will also play men.
"My students say I can't do anything
normal," said Winter with a grin.
In his second year on the faculty of
Southeastern's Department of Music and Dramatic Arts, Winter already
has innovative productions to his credit such as "Waiting for
Godot," "[sic]," and "4.48 Psychosis." He
has always wanted to stage "Much Ado About Nothing" in the
colorful "flapper" era of the 1920s New York.
"Almost none of Shakespeare's plays
are set in Elizabethan England anyway," he said. "So I never
quite understood that purist philosophy that we have to dress according
to Elizabethan England. There have been 50 million productions about
'Much Ado About Nothing.' The challenge is to keep it fresh and interesting.
What can we bring to it that's different while still remaining true
to his work?"
But, he admitted, he did not originally
intend this production to quite this different. "I certainly
intended to cast this play as it's written in terms of the gender
breakdown," he laughed.
"When auditions rolled around we
just didn't have the male turnout," Winter said. "I looked
at my assistant director, and I looked at my stage manager and I said,
'There's only one way to go here. We'll swap."
Although his inspiration was spawned
by necessity, Winter is finding a number of positives in the lemonade-out-of-lemons
casting decision.
"We have a tremendous amount of
female talent at this school," he said. "This is a chance
to get more of them on stage."
And, "Shakespeare crossed gender,"
he pointed out. "This play above any of his plays is really about
how one sex views the opposite sex. So, it is kind of a fun take on
it."
How does he think the public will react
to his 1920s New York, cross-gender version of "Much Ado About
Nothing"?
"The public is going to find this
play funny no matter how we split the cast," Winter said, confidently.
"It's just a funny, silly play. I chose it because I wanted to
do a Shakespeare comedy and I believe that of all of his plays, this
one has the most prose as opposed to verse, which makes it a little
bit more accessible.
"And as popular as it is,"
he added, "'Much Ado About Nothing' is not done to death like
'A Midsummer Night's Dream' or 'Romeo and Juliet' or even 'Richard
III.'"
Winter stresses that while the casting
may be unusual, the intention is not at all to spoof Shakespeare.
"This isn't guys in drag," he said. "We are staying
true to Shakespeare's story and true to the plot." He instructed
his cast, "You're going to be male actors playing women, and
female actors playing men, and that's it. You're going to play it
as true as you can."
Pulling off the cross-gender acting
has been plain hard work for the cast, requiring a tremendous amount
of vocal and physical training. "And that's all that on top of
the demands of a five act Shakespearean play, set in the 20s in New
York dialect," said Winter. "It's a lot of work for them.
They rose to the challenge, which seems to be par for the course around
here."
This unique production has also been
a challenge for its stage manager, Lydia Caballero of Slidell. In
her third semester at Southeastern, Caballero has been running the
demanding back stage operations of Winters' plays since her first
days on campus.
Originally intending to major in mass
communication with an eye toward one day becoming a theater critic,
her experience with Southeastern Theatre has redirected Caballero's
goals toward a professional stage management career. She is getting
plenty of experience in "Much Ado About Nothing," which
is larger in both scope and cast size than her previous three plays.
"I started doing theater in high
school and absolutely loved it," said Caballero, who had small
parts in plays such as "Music Man" and "The Wiz."
"I took Jim's introduction to theater class because I needed
an art elective and thought it would be fun. One day he stood up and
said he needed a stage manager and I agreed to do it, not knowing
what I had gotten myself into.
"I loved it," she said. "It's
an entirely different experience than it is being on stage."
Caballero has proven to be a natural
at what Winter calls "the most thankless job in theater."
Stage managers, he explained, "are responsible for keeping the
communication lines open between everybody, from directors and designers
all the way down the line to the actors and to actually running the
show. Once this play opens, the director's job is done and the stage
manager is the boss. She's got to know the show better than anybody,
every aspect of it."
"I'm really proud of her work,"
Winter said. "She has the tools and the ability to go out there
and do this professionally."
"What I'm asking the cast and crew
of this show to do is above and beyond the usual college level work
and I've been on them pretty hard," Winter said. "But, if
they stick with me and they trust in what I know they are capable
of, I think they're going to do some neat work on this show."
"One of my biggest kicks here at
Southeastern is that I keep raising the bar and the students keep
meeting it. I think I'll just keep on doing it until it can't get
any higher," Winter said.
Curtain time for "Much Ado About
Nothing" is 7:30 p.m. Tickets -- $10, adults, and $6, senior
citizens, faculty, staff, and non-Southeastern students -- are available
at the theater box office in D Vickers Hall. Southeastern students
are admitted free with their university I.D.
For additional information, contact
Winter at (985) 549-3546 or James.Winter@selu.edu.
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High school students compete in Science Olympiad
More than 700 high school students, teacher-coaches and parents
from 29 high schools visited campus Saturday for the annual Science
Olympiad, hosted by Southeastern for the fifth consecutive year. Left,
Science Olympiad judge Richard Longman instructs Quyen Nguyen on the
set up of her structure in the tower building competition held as
part of the Science Olympiad Saturday. The goal is for the student-built
towers to be able to withstand a prescribed weight before crumbling.
Nguyen is a student at Our Lady of Fatima School in Lafayette. Right,
Sabrina Roussel (left) and Rachel Lassig, both students at Archbishop
Blenk High School in Gretna, perform a chemical analysis on one of
the "clues" they were given in the crime busters competition
of the Science Olympiad. The Olympiad was directed by Linda Muchausen
of the Department of Chemistry and Physics.
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 Alumnus
receives national Phi Kappa Phi fellowship
Southeastern alumnus Albert J. "Snapper" Poche Jr. is
one of 60 recipients nationwide who have been awarded a fellowship
for post-graduate study by the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa
Phi.
The prestigious fellowships are awarded
on a competitive basis for first-year graduate or professional study.
Poche, a 2002 Southeastern graduate with a bachelor of science degree
in biological sciences, was the Southeastern chapter's nominee for
the national competition.
Poche plans to use the fellowship's
$5,000 award to pursue a career in community-based conservation initiatives.
The Ponchatoula native will enroll this fall in the graduate program
at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. He
resides in Chicago where he currently works for the global engineering-construction
firm CH2M Hill.
Poche is the third Southeastern nominee
to receive the Phi Kappa Phi fellowship. Previous recipients have
included Sean Patrick Kerrigan of Kenner in 2004, who enrolled in
medical school at Louisiana State University, and Richard David Ramsey
of Hammond in 1968, who is a professor of general business at Southeastern.
Dana Meidinger, a piano performance major from Hammond, also received
Phi Kappa Phi's "Award of Distinction" in 2002.
"We are extremely proud that Phi
Kappa Phi has selected yet another Southeastern student for this prestigious
honor," said President Randy Moffett. "Mr. Poche was an
outstanding student, well-liked and respected by both professors and
peers. This honor is a personal tribute to him as well as a testimony
to the quality of students who are making Southeastern their university
of choice."
"Phi Kappa Phi's motto is 'Let
the love of learning rule humanity,'" said Southeastern Phi Kappa
Phi President Donnie Booth, dean of the College of Nursing and Health
Sciences. "It is very gratifying to our chapter that another
of our members has been awarded this prestigious fellowship to further
their own personal love of learning."
As a Southeastern student, Poche received
the Department of Biological Sciences' "Outstanding Graduating
Senior Award," and held a President's, ExCEL Leadership and other
scholarships. He was active in organizations such as Southeastern
Orientation Leaders, Gamma Beta Phi and the Student Government Association.
He also was a research associate in
the Biological Science Department's Wetlands Restoration and Ornithology
labs, where he assisted with ecological research projects under the
direction of professors Gary Shaffer and Phil Stouffer.
"Snapper Poche conducted a master's
degree-quality study while working in my lab," Shaffer said.
He said Poche's research project, which involved planting bald cypress
at six sites on South Pass to determine the best sites for cypress
regeneration projects, "could have important management implications."
Poche said he was influenced to study
biology by his family's experience of losing their commercial fishing
livelihood in Lake Pontchartrain because of the decline of the area's
natural resources. After graduation, Poche said, "I committed
myself to serve others that may be affected by ecosystem mismanagement
and took my first step in supporting world conservation initiatives
by signing up to become a Peace Corps Volunteer."
Poche spent two years in the Philippines
where he worked for the Katala Foundation, a small nonprofit organization
devoted to the conservation of the endangered Philippine Cockatoo.
Poche said he is seeking a career in
international environmental development "as a means to better
peoples' lives in the developing world by encouraging environmental
conservation."
"I hope to make a positive impact
on the environmental state of our threatened planet," he said.
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Student achievements
Four Southeastern football players, accompanied by Coach Tyronee
Willaims, participated in the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk
on Saturday, which raised more than $22,000 for Cystic Fibrosis
research. Players were Chad Tedder, Demetrious Johnson, Tyler Unsworth,
and Kyler Tutor.
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This week in athletics
The Southeastern Louisiana softball team will welcome national
power LSU to Hammond during this week in Southeastern Athletics.
The Lady Lions (27-26, 10-16 SLC)
will welcome the sixth-ranked Lady Tigers to town for a 6 p.m. contest
on Wednesday at North Oak Park. Wednesday's contest will be broadcast
live in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM and on the Internet at
www.LionSports.net.
The Southeastern women's tennis team
(20-2, 10-0 SLC) will look to earn its third straight trip to the
NCAA Tournament, when it faces Texas-Arlington in the Southland
Conference Tournament final on Monday. The match was originally
scheduled for Sunday, but rain forced the stoppage of action early
in doubles play.
The match will resume where it left
off at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning at the UTSA Tennis Center. Should
the courts be deemed unplayable, the Lady Lions and the Lady Mavericks
will move the match indoors with an 11 a.m. start.
Fresh off its first SLC series sweep
of the season, the Southeastern baseball team (26-16, 9-9 SLC) will
attempt to continue its climb up the league ladder this week. The
Lions will head to Conway, Ark. for a three-game series with league
newcomer Central Arkansas, beginning Friday at 2 p.m. The series
continues on Saturday at 1 p.m., with Sunday's finale also set to
begin at 1 p.m. All of the weekend's games will be broadcast live
in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.
The Southeastern track and field team
will compete in its final meet prior to next month's SLC Outdoor
Championships this week. The Lions and Lady Lions will head to Beaumont,
Texas on Thursday to compete in the Ty Terrell Relays.
Monday,
April 23
Women's Tennis, vs. Texas-Arlington
(SLC Tournament Finals), San Antonio, Texas, 10/11 a.m.
Wednesday,
April 25
Softball, vs. LSU, North Oak Park,
6 p.m. (KSLU 90.9 FM)
Thursday,
April 26
Track and Field, at Ty Terrell Relays,
Beaumont, Texas, All Day
Friday,
April 27
Baseball, at Central Arkansas, Conway,
Ark., 2 p.m. (KSLU 90.9 FM)
Saturday,
April 28
Baseball, at Central Arkansas, Conway,
Ark., 1 p.m. (KSLU 90.9 FM)
Sunday,
April 29
Baseball, at Central Arkansas, Conway,
Ark., 1 p.m. (KSLU 90.9 FM)
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Professional activities
Alison Pelegrin (English) read from her work at the offices
of the Southern Review at LSU on March 25 in celebration
of national small press month. The following weekend she gave a
reading at the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans,
and then at Christwood Retirement Community in Covington. She has
been awarded a scholarship to attend Sewanee Writers Conference
over the summer, and in recent weeks, seven poems have been accepted
for publication in The Southern Review, Cave Wall,
and a broadside series in Wisconsin called "Poetry Jumps off
the Shelf."
C. Roy Blackwood (Cultural
Resource Management and Visual Arts) recently served as a juror
for ArtBreak, a K-12 arts celebration of visual arts, music and
literature in Shreveport, La. ArtBreak is celebrating its 24th year
with Blackwood having been invited and served 20 of those years,
more than twice as many times as any other juror.
Dr. Kathleen Campbell (Educational
Leadership and Technology) published "Louisiana Mentoring Module:
Assessing Readiness" for the Louisiana Department of Education
in Baton Rouge, La., in 2007. The co-authors are S. Southhall, KT
Campbell, S. Guidry and N. Honore'.
Dr. Rayma Harchar (Educational
Leadership and Technology) presented, "Mentor Perceptions of
Impact on Leadership Development" at the annual conference
of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and National
Council of Professors of Educational Administration in Las Vegas,
Feb. 23-25.
Dr. Fred Dembowski (Educational
Leadership and Technology) was selected as a member of the board
of editors of Mentoring and Tutoring.
Dr. Jim Walter (English), delivered
a paper March 30 during a session on Dante at the annual conference
of the Association of Core Texts and Courses in Williamsburg, Va.
Entitled "The Soft Song My Canto Sings," the paper examined
the paradox that some of Dante's most beautiful prophetic poetry
in The Divine Comedy rises out of his encounter with betrayers
in the icy bottom of hell. Dr. Walter was also moderator for a panel
discussion on "Religious Thought and Texts in Secular Institutions."
Bev Marshall (writer-in-residence)
gave a presentation at the Pop Culture Conference in Boston entitled
"I've Got A Secret: A Military Wife's Story." She also
appeared on two panels at the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival
in New Orleans.
Co-authors Dr. Barbara Schuldt
and Andree Taylor (Management), Duane Donald (Provost
Office) and Dr. Jeff Totten of McNeese State University presented
"Employment Differences Regarding the Impact of Family and
Technology Issues on Sales Careers" at the Allied Academies
International Conference in Jacksonville, Fla., in April. The paper
is published in the organization's proceedings.
Through the efforts of Drs. Bonnie
Lewis and John Boulahanis (Sociology and Criminal Justice),
director and assistant director, respectively, of the Florida Parishes
Social Science Research Center, and Dr. Kurt Corbello (Political
Science), director of the SLU Poll, Southeastern Louisiana University
is now a founding institutional member of the National Consortium
of Social Science Research Centers and Institutes. The three faculty
members were invited to be individual founding members at the first
meeting of the consortium at Duke University, Feb. 22-24, along
with top researchers from 15 other high-profile research universities,
including Duke, Ball State, George Mason University, Indiana, Mississippi
State, Northwestern University, Penn State, Stanford, UC-Irvine,
UCLA, UC-Santa Barbara, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University
of Michigan, University of North Carolina, and Washington State
University. Southeastern and the three researchers were invited
after a national search of institutions and researchers with strong
track records in social science research.
Dr. Yanyi K. Djamba (Sociology
and Criminal Justice) presented the paper "Social Theoretical
Autopsy of Katrina Displacement" at the Disaster and Migration
Conference held in Tulane University, New Orleans, La., April 12-14.
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