Southeastern poet Alison Pelegrin to read at Hammond Regional Arts Center
Southeastern English instructor Alison Pelegrin will read from her recently published
book of poetry, Waterlines, at the Hammond Regional Art Center’s “Meet the Author” meeting on Tuesday, Oct.
18 at 5 p.m. The center is located at 217 E. Thomas Street; the event is free and open to
the public. The latest in Pelegrin’s four books of poetry, Waterlines describes the terrible power of nature as the poems underscore the beauty of Louisiana.
The book was published by LSU Press. A native of New Orleans who has undergone “countless” hurricanes, Pelegrin sees
her life as Pre-K and Post-K -- Pre-Katrina and Post-Katrina -- having seen her Northshore
home destroyed by falling trees. The homes of her mother and brother were also destroyed
or flooded, and the three families huddled together in a rental home while getting
their lives back together. She said she sympathizes with the thousands of people who have been affected
by Hurricane Matthew and recent floods. She said their lives will be changed forever
but they will get through it. Pelegrin’s book, published by LSU Press, was featured Oct. 10 on the PBS News
Hour website pbs.org/newshour/poetry/hurricane-turns-familiar-place-familiar-debris/.
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Southeastern Theatre, a symphony and art exhibit highlight Fanfare’s third week A theatre presentation, lecture, a musical concert and an art exhibit opening are
just some of the events on tap for the third week of Southeastern’s Fanfare, a month-long
celebration of the arts, humanities and social sciences. First up is Southeastern Theatre’s presentation of Distracted, a portrayal of a family dealing with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and the problems
it creates. The play will run Oct. 18-21 at 7:30 p.m. in Vonnie Borden Theatre located
in D Vickers Hall. Authored by playwright and screenwriter Lisa Loomer, who co-authored the screenplay
for the Academy Award-winning film Girl, Interrupted, the play blends comedy with a heightened sensitivity to an issue in society. The
play revolves around a married couple’s attempts to handle their nine-year-old son
who may or may not have ADD. General admission tickets are $15; $5 for seniors and non-Southeastern students;
Southeastern faculty, staff and students are admitted free with ID. For more information,
contact Southeastern Theatre at 549-2115. The Then and Now Lecture Series continues with “How Technology Changed Music”
by physicist Daniel McCarthy. Scheduled Oct. 19 at 1 p.m., the free lecture will be
held in Pottle Auditorium. Dean of the College of Science and Technology, Professor
of Physics, and Impaired Faculties guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist, McCarthy will present
a discussion of temperaments, including music, history, mathematics, philosophy, and
religion all in one lecture. The Southeastern Wind Symphony will present “Strange Humors” on Oct. 20 at Columbia
Theatre at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature the music of American composer John
Mackey. Tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for faculty/staff/seniors; and free for all
students with ID and children. Tickets are available at the Columbia/Fanfare box office,
220 E. Thomas Street, 985-543-4371. The box office is open Monday through Friday,
11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and one hour prior to Columbia performances. On Oct. 22, Southeastern’s Contemporary Art Gallery will open the Homecoming
Alumni Exhibit and present a lecture by Georgia Polkey at noon. An opening reception
will also be held that day from noon to 4 p.m. The exhibit will remain on display
through Nov. 10. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. “Georgia Polkey’s artwork is an investigation about ‘self’ and ‘body’ turned
inward. She is transfixed by the unavoidable binaries that are set-up by societal
powers—she aims to blur the lines between feminine and masculine, beauty and grotesque,
personal and public,” said Dale Newkirk, director of Southeastern’s Contemporary Art
Gallery. Polkey received her bachelor’s degree in art with a concentration in drawing
and painting from Southeastern and her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from the University
of Connecticut-Storrs.” Fanfare tickets are on sale at the Columbia/Fanfare box office, 220 E. Thomas
Street, 543-4371. The box office is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and
one hour prior to Columbia performances. For a complete schedule, contact the Columbia/Fanfare
office at 543-4366 or visit columbiatheatre.org.
ART EDUCATION– Southeastern alumna and artist Georgia Polkey is creating an art installation and
presenting a free lecture during Homecoming Week and as part of Fanfare, Southeastern’s
annual fall festival of the arts, humanities and social sciences.
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Southeastern Channel student productions win national videographer awards Nine Southeastern student-produced television productions have been recognized with
2016 national Videographer Awards. The Southeastern Channel, the university’s educational access channel airing
on Charter 199, won one first-place Award of Excellence, four second-place Awards
of Distinction, and four Honorable Mentions for student-produced music videos, public
service announcements, and a short film. The students wrote, produced, directed, videotaped and edited all of the programs
for both the Channel and production courses in the Electronic Media concentration
of the Department of Languages and Communication. “We’re excited that so many of our television and film students continue to win
national honors for their outstanding work,” said Rick Settoon, Southeastern Channel
general manager. “It’s a tribute to their talent, creativity, work ethic, and high
standards of quality. It’s also a credit to the staff and faculty members who work
with them.” There were over 1,500 entries from throughout the United States and 15 other
countries in the Videographer Awards 2016 competition. The Award of Excellence is
awarded to those projects the judges deemed were written, produced, shot and edited
in an exceptional manner. The Award of Distinction is awarded for projects that exceed
industry standards. The Award of Excellence winner was the music video “Perfect,” produced and directed
by Steven Farmer of Ponchatoula. Channel programs winning the Award of Distinction were the public service announcement
“League of Losers,” produced by Mason Dauphin of Luling, along with the music videos
“No Self Control” by Ben Delbert of Covington; “Drink a Beer” by Trevor Vampran of
Prairieville; and “Spend Your Money” by Dauphin, Jordan Reid of Luling, and Jeremy
Rhodes of New Orleans. Productions winning Honorable Mention included the public service announcements
“LOPA,” produced by Dominique Brogle of Destrehan, and “The Trevor Project,” produced
by Brittany Robinson of Slidell. Also winning Honorable Mention honors were the music
video “Bad Blood,” produced by Danielle Shearer of Ponchatoula, and the short film
“The Messenger,” produced, directed, and videotaped by Reid, edited by Dauphin, and
written by Rhodes. The winning student productions will air on the Southeastern Channel this fall
in episodes of the award-winning show “Cinematheque,” featuring student short films,
music videos, and documentary shorts. The Videographer Award is considered one of the most coveted awards in the video
industry. Winners include network news operations, television and cable stations,
production companies, international advertising agencies, and student producers. The awards are judged by industry professionals in the Association of Marketing
and Communication Professionals who look for companies or individuals whose talent
exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the
industry. In the past 13 years the Southeastern Channel has won over 300 national, international
and regional awards, including 13 Emmys. Channel video on-demand programs and the
live 24/7 webcast can be seen at southeastern.edu/tv.
NATIONAL AWARD WINNERS-The Southeastern Channel won 2016 Videographer Awards for nine student productions,
including music videos, public service announcements, and a short film. Winners, seated
from left, are Steven Farmer of Ponchatoula, Jordan Reid of Luling, Mason Dauphin
of Luling, and Ben Delbert of Covington; standing, from left, are Southeastern Channel
General Manager and instructor Rick Settoon, Trevor Vampran of Prairieville, Jeremy
Rhodes of New Orleans, and Steve Zaffuto, channel operations manager and class instructor.
Not shown are Dominique Brogle of Destrehan, Brittany Robinson of Slidell, and Danielle
Shearer of Ponchatoula.
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Southeastern offers Study Abroad Fair Students at Southeastern and others curious about studying abroad should plan to
attend the university’s Study Abroad Fair on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Union mall area.
Sponsored by the Office of International Initiatives, the fair gives students
the opportunity to discover global education possibilities sponsored by the office
and several Southeastern academic departments. The short-term programs, which vary from one to three weeks in length and offer
up to six academic credit hours, are available not only to Southeastern students but
to students from other universities and the general public as well, said Lucia Harrison,
director of the Office of International Initiatives. “The fair will feature former study abroad students, as well as coordinating
staff and faculty, who will be able to answer questions and share their experiences,”
said Harrison. “Students will be able to apply for programs at the fair, or they can
apply online at southeastern.edu/studyabroad.” Study abroad programs this year include language and culture programs in France
and Spain; biology programs in France and Costa Rica; business programs in France,
Spain, Panama, and Costa Rica; and humanities and social studies programs – including
history, political science, theater, communication, sociology and criminal justice
– in England, Austria, and Cuba. The deadline to apply is Feb. 16, 2017. Spots on class rosters can be reserved
with an application and a $100 non-refundable deposit. Southeastern students can apply for one of a number of scholarships available
through the Student Government Association and other organizations. For more information contact the Office of International Initiatives at 549-2135.
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Southeastern Wind Symphony to feature music of John Mackey Southeastern’s Wind Symphony will present its fall Fanfare concert on Thursday, Oct.
20, featuring the music of American composer John Mackey. The concert, titled “Strange Humors” and conducted by Director of Bands Glen
J. Hemberger, will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing
Arts, 220 East Thomas Street in downtown Hammond. General admission tickets can be
purchased at the door and are $10 for adults and $5 for faculty and seniors; students
of all ages with ID and children are free. For additional information on tickets,
call the Columbia Box Office at 543-4371. The concert is a featured part of Southeastern’s Fanfare, a fall festival of
the arts, humanities and social sciences. The Wind Symphony is a large, select music
ensemble comprised of the finest woodwind, brass and percussion musicians at the university. Mackey, who will be in residence for four days at Southeastern, has established
himself as one of the most prolific and often performed composers of music for wind
band, Hemberger said. A graduate of the Juilliard School with a master of music degree,
Mackey has seen his works performed at the Sydney Opera House, the Brooklyn Academy
of Music, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and throughout Italy, Japan, China, Brazil,
and other nations. “I would say he could easily be called the most popular wind band composer writing
today,” he added. “His music is fresh, distinctive, diverse, creative, and entertaining.” Among Mackey’s works to be performed are Sheltering Sky; Strange Humors, to be
conducted by marching band director Derek Stoughton and featuring faculty member Travis
Henthorn on djembe; Ringmaster’s March; and Sasparilla, a flashback to the old West
featuring graduate student Daniel Seimetz on the accordion. Also featured on the program will be Vincent Persichetti’s Symphony No. 6 for
Band, Richard Wagner’s Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral from “Lohengrin,” conducted
by graduate student Sharie Mahler of Destrehan; and Percy Grainger’s Mock Morris,
Irish Tune from County Derry, and Shepherd’s Hey, a three-piece suite conducted by
graduate student Matthew Soukup of Mandeville.
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Fiction writer Kelly Link featured in Southeastern's ‘Common Read’ program Kelly Link, a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of several volumes of short
stories, will visit Southeastern Oct. 26 as part of the university’s Common Read program. Sponsored by the Department of English and the Southeastern Writing Center, Common
Read provides students and community members the opportunity to read selected works
and then meet their contemporary author. Events that day include student presentations on the author’s work at 9:30 a.m.,
an 11 a.m. question and answer session with the author, and a 6:30 p.m. public reading
by Link followed by a book signing and reception. All events are free and open to
the public and will be held in the Student Union Theatre. Link’s latest collection of short stories, “Get in Trouble,” is her first for
adult readers in a decade and features nine new haunting stories. Known for her fertile
imagination, Link writes unconventional tales in what has been described as “magical
realism,” incorporating a sense of sly humor. Among her short story collections are “My True Love Gave to Me,” “Monstrous Affections,”
“Stranger Things Have Happened,” and “Steampunk!,” a Lotus Award finalist. Link earned her master of fine arts degree from the University of North Carolina.
She and her husband are co-editors of the literary magazine “Lady Churchill’s Rosebud
Wristlet.” “For several years now, we’ve sponsored a Common Read program, featuring a prominent,
contemporary author, and it always serves as an exciting experience for our students,”
said Department of English Head David Hanson. “By meeting and talking with an author
who they’re studying in class, students gain a rare opportunity to see deeply into
an author’s life of writing.” For more information, contact the Southeastern Department of English at 549-2100.

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Southeastern nursing students assisted after flood by University of Alabama
Morgan Mincey’s home in Denham Springs – like so many others in the Livingston Parish
area – was hit hard by the recent floods in Southeast Louisiana. A junior in nursing at Southeastern, Mincey said her family had never anticipated
a flood of this nature, especially since they did not live in a flood zone. “We definitely were not prepared for a flood; then water started flowing into
our house,” she said. “The cost to rebuild, purchase home furnishings and replacing
personal items is overwhelming. We are rebuilding and trying to put our lives back
together.” Mincey is one of two Southeastern nursing students who received a $500 disaster
fund scholarship donated by the University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing
in Tuscaloosa. The funds were raised through contributions of UA faculty and staff,
its alumni association, and the Association of Student Nurses. Also receiving assistance
through the donation is Seth Crnko of Denham Springs. “We are thankful to be able to support SLU, specifically the students of the
School of Nursing, during this time,” said Johnny R. Tice, instructor and faculty
adviser to the University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing. “While we know the
road to recovery is a long one, it’s our hope that our contribution helps make the
journey a little shorter.” “I am thankful to the University of Alabama for generously reaching out in this
time of need,” said Crnko, whose truck was severely damaged and home also flooded.
“This gift has given me reassurance that everything is going to be okay.” “The outreach to our community has been tremendous,” Mincey added. “I am thankful
to the University of Alabama for reaching out to Southeastern’s School of Nursing.
The love and support from people you don’t know are treasured.” “The University of Alabama, especially its Student Nursing Association, has shown
a true spirit of caring,” said Eileen Creel, head of the Southeastern School of Nursing.
“This act of kindness by UA’s Capstone College of Nursing was incredibly uplifting
at a difficult time for so many students and faculty. We are very appreciative.” DISASTER ASSISTANCE – Southeastern School of Nursing students Seth Crnko and Morgan Mincey, both of Denham
Springs, were recipients of $500 disaster scholarships funded by the University of
Alabama Capstone School of Nursing following the recent floods in Livingston Parish.
Pictured are, from left, Ann Carruth, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences,
Crnko, Mincey, and Eileen Creel, head of the School of Nursing.
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