Southeastern students awarded scholarships from SCOAR Four Southeastern Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment (OSH&E) students received
the 2017 SCOAR (Southeastern Construction Owners and Associates Roundtable) Safety
Professional scholarships. Preston Chaney of Walker, Emily Cothern of Covington, Alan Williamson of Hammond,
and Daniel Cuevas of Ponchatoula each received $2,500. The scholarships were presented
at the recent SCOAR meeting in Florida. Lu Yuan, interim head of the Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology,
said seniors Chaney and Cothern were nominated by faculty as the top two candidates
for the 2017 Outstanding Graduating Senior Award. Juniors Williamson and Cuevas were
nominated because of their high GPAs and may receive offers for internships with SCOAR
when they enter their senior year of study in the fall. “I think that these four OSH&E students deserve these scholarships, especially
with their excellent academic performance,” Yuan said. “The scholarships will help
them to continue excelling in their current and future endeavors.” SCOAR fosters innovative and breakthrough thinking on issues related to industrial
construction to improve business performance. Membership is comprised of industrial
owners, EPC companies, engineers, general and specialty contractors, labor and material
suppliers, as well as service suppliers, educators, and consultants.
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Exhibit coming to a close The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies exhibit “History Revealed Through Rare
Books and Documents: The Emergence of Printing, Bookbinding, and the Challenges of
Wartime Publishing,” will conclude its run on July 7. The exhibit, which details the emergence of printing and the evolution of the
publishing process, includes numerous rare books and documents from the center’s holdings
and the collections of regional print enthusiasts. The exhibit is open to visitors
during the center’s regular operating hours. A new exhibit highlighting the centrality of strawberry farming to regional development
will replace the current exhibit in August.
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Southeastern Channel students win Mark of Excellence Awards Southeastern students at the Southeastern Channel won four 2016 Mark of Excellence
Awards at the recent annual Society of Professional Journalists Region 12 conference
in Knoxville, Tenn. Former Southeastern Channel student television news anchor-reporter Tyler Waggenspack
of Baton Rouge won three Mark of Excellence Awards, including one first-place award,
while Maria Goddard of New Orleans won a second-place finalist award. The awards honor
the best of collegiate journalism during a calendar year. SPJ’s Region 12 consists
of all universities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. Waggenspack graduated from Southeastern in 2016, receiving his degree in the
electronic media concentration of the Department of Languages and Communication. He’s
currently a news anchor-reporter for KCWY-TV News 13 (NBC) in Casper, Wyo. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for my training at the Southeastern
Channel,” Waggenspack said. “The hands-on experience and opportunities to apply my
learning skills definitely gave me a real world experience. My professors saw my potential
and pushed me to strive for excellence.” Waggenspack won first-place honors in the Television General News Reporting category
for his story “Strawberry Fest Financial Impact” that he produced for the channel’s
newscast “Northshore News.” The story focused on local strawberry farmers who make
a living on their crops from sales at the state’s largest festival and how those sales
also bolster the local economy. His videography for the story also brought home a
finalist award in the Television News and Feature Photography category. He won second-place finalist recognition in the same category for his package
“Florida Parishes Juvenile Center” detailing the consequences of a St. Tammany detention
center closing if an upcoming property tax didn’t pass, resulting in juveniles moving
to other centers or returning to the streets. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for my training at the Southeastern
Channel,” Waggenspack said. “The hands-on experience and opportunities to apply my
learning skills definitely gave me a real world experience. My professors saw my potential
and pushed me to strive for excellence.” Goddard won her finalist award in the Television Feature Reporting category for
her feature “Lucky the Horse” produced for “Northshore News.” The story covers the
rescue of Lucky, an abandoned and emaciated horse found in a ditch, and its dramatic
recovery at a Slidell equine rescue center. Goddard also recently won first place for the same story in the College News
Feature Story category at the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters
College Journalism Awards in Jackson, Miss. Earlier she also won fourth-place Best
of South recognition at SEJC as “Best Television News Feature Reporter.” “We’re excited that our students continue to win top honors against all of the
largest universities in the region,” said Southeastern Channel General Manager Rick
Settoon. “It’s gratifying to see Tyler and Maria become such good broadcast journalists
and rightfully honored by such a prestigious journalism society. They create strong,
impactful stories for their audience and use great creativity in shooting and reporting
them.” Judged by professionals in other parts of the country, the Mark of Excellence
Awards honor the best in student journalism. Judges choose only those entries they
feel are outstanding work. The Southeastern Channel has won over 300 awards in the past 14 years, including
15 awards and 56 nominations from the Emmys. The channel can be seen on Charter 199
in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany and Livingston parishes. The live 24/7 webcast and video
on demand can be seen at www.southeastern.edu/tv, and on mobile devices at www.southeastern.edu/tv/live.
 MARK OF EXCELLENCE WINNER- Southeastern student Tyler Waggenspack of Baton Rouge recently won three Mark of
Excellence Awards, including a first-place honor for Television General News Reporting,
given by the Society of Professional Journalists. Waggenspack produced his honored
stories for the Southeastern Channel’s national award-winning student newscast “Northshore
News.” Waggenspack, who graduated in 2016, now works as an anchor-reporter at KCWY-TV
News 13 (NBC) in Casper, Wyoming. Not pictured is SPJ finalist Maria Goddard of New
Orleans.
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Light and Shadow: Contemporary Art Gallery features sculptor Alex Crosson For its summer exhibition, the Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery presents “Alex
Crosson: The Four Pointed Triangle,” a collection from the sculptor based in Austin,
Tex. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open during the summer
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Crosson, who earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas, has
accepted a sculptor position at Tulane University. His exhibit will be on display
until Aug. 18, with the closing reception to be held Aug. 17 at noon. Interim Fine and Performing Arts Department Head, Professor of Sculpture and
Gallery Director Dale Newkirk said the pieces on display are provocative interplays
of light, shadow, wires and metal. Admirers would do well to consider that everything
they see is by design, and that the very gallery they stand in is also part of the
exhibit, he said. “How the light affects the space, their luminosity and even the different bulbs
were selected by him to affect the space within the gallery,” said Newkirk. “He changed
the lighting and configured the walls specifically for this exhibit.” Other pieces illuminated in magenta light are less stark, Newkirk added. Made
up of collected knick-knacks that would likely be discarded as trash by a less creative
mind, these arrangements are more like snapshots of specific times and places, he
said. “These are found objects that are arranged like haiku,” said Newkirk. “These
are objects that Crosson finds to be aesthetically dynamic and interesting; they’re
kind of fun.” In addition to the sculptures, Crosson also has several photographs on display.
Upon entering the exhibit, Newkirk said, visitors will be greeted by a sizeable reverse
negative of Lake Pontchartrain, though it could easily be confused for a moonscape
of some kind. Some of Crosson’s more abstract pieces are the pitch black rectangles
printed on glossy paper. “I like how raw the photographs are; even the paper is curled at the edges, and
they look like they’ve been in the back of a truck for a while instead of a studio,”
said Newkirk. “They’re reverse negatives, so the whites are blacks and the blacks
are whites. That makes them reflect all of the beautiful light patterns that make
a different kind of design on the paper. These photographs are actually, in many ways,
sculptures in and of themselves.” For more information on this exhibit and others, contact the Contemporary Art
Gallery at 549-5080.
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Southeastern safety specialist named to national accreditation commission Lu Yuan, interim head of the Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology,
has been re-appointed to a term as commission member for the ABET Applied and Natural
Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC), one of the nation’s foremost academic accrediting
bodies. Yuan, an associate professor and certified safety professional, will serve on
the 2017-2018 commission. ABET is a non-profit, private accrediting agency for programs such as computer
science, applied science, including safety and health, engineering and engineering
technology and is recognized as an official accrediting agency by the Council for
Higher Education Accreditation. As a member of the commission, Yuan will participate in scheduled commission
meetings and serve as team chairman for one or more site visits to institutions seeking
accreditation or re-accreditation. “The appointment recognizes the quality of Southeastern’s occupational safety,
health, and environment program, housed in the Department of Computer Science and
Industrial Technology, and also demonstrates the excellent reputation the program
has earned over recent years,” said Yuan. Accreditation is a voluntary process and assures a program meets the quality
standards of the professions accredited. Southeastern’s bachelor’s program in occupational
safety, health and environment – the only one of its kind in the state – has been
accredited by the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc.
since 2008.

GRANT ACCEPTED - Lu Yuan (left), interim head of the Department of Computer Science and Industrial
Technology, accepts a $1,500 donation from Connie Fabre, executive director of the
Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance (GBRIA). The grant was used for professional
development opportunities.
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Nominations sought for Charles E. Dunbar, Jr. Career Service Award Nominations are now being accepted for the 2017 Charles E. Dunbar, Jr. Career Service
Awards sponsored annually by the Louisiana Civil Service League. This is the 59th
year of the program, which has recognized over 800 classified public employees since
its inception. The Dunbar Award is the highest honor that a classified state employee can receive
for their service to the citizens of Louisiana. Recognizing the tremendous contribution
made to the state of Louisiana by classified employees, we encourage supervisors of
classified employees to nominate deserving employees for this prestigious honor. Nominees
are judged on commitment to the classified service, contributions toward workplace
improvement, personal initiative, and volunteer community service. To obtain a copy of the nomination form please contact Allison Blache in the
Human Resources Office at extension 2001 or email Allison.Blache@southeastern.edu. The form is also available online at http://www.civilservice.louisiana.gov/StateEmployees/Dunbar/Default.aspx. The Nomination Form consists of five parts, each of which must be completed.
Part I Nomination Information - not rated
Part II Commitment to the Classified Service - 10%
Part III Contributions toward Work or Workplace Improvement -40%
Part IV Personal Initiative - 40%
Part V Volunteer Community Service - 10% Please limit any narrative information to the space provided. Attachments will
not be accepted. The form should be filled out as completely as possible and returned to the Human
Resources Office, SLU 10799, by Sept. 7. It will be reviewed by the delegated appointing
authority, signed, and then submitted to the Louisiana Civil Service League by the
deadline of Sept. 15.
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