·SIUE Alumni Association To Host Holiday Reception
·Civil Engineering Students Participate In St.
Louis Riverfront Charrette
·Arts & Issues Continues
Its Season With The Boys Of The Lough
·Civil Engineering Department Hosts Regional Conference
·Fourth In Cosmopolitan Iran: A Speaker And Film
Series At SIUE
·Changes
·CDC Director Receives Regional Award
·SIUE Political Science Student Named Lincoln
Laureate
·B. Ahrens Named Employee Of The Month For November
·Holiday Show Continues SfC’s 20th Season At
SIUE
·Gorky's Look At Early 1900s Soviet Life To Be Staged
Dec. 3-14
·Charter Cable To Feature SIUE Basketball's First
D-I Competition
·SIUE Athletics, St. Louis Sports Leader 590 "The
Fan" Announce Partnership
·Wine For Water Benefit For South Africa, Celebrate
SIUE Nursing
·SIUE Accounting Graduate Student Wins National Award
·Students to Take a Look at the Engineering Field
·Instructor Both Warns and Challenges Students
·More Literacy Methodology To Be Interwoven Into
Classes
·37th Annual SIUE Holiday Crafts Fair Set For
Dec. 3-4
·Collective Bargaining Scholarship Awarded
·Jazz Alumni, Students To Perform With SIUE Jazz
Bands
·SIUE Madrigal Dinner Set For Dec. 4; Heralding
The Holidays
·SIUE Wind Symphony, Concert Band To Perform Dec.
9
·Entrepreneurship Center At SIUE Seeks College
Students For Summit
·Construction Scholarship Honors Pioneer & SIUE
Grad Ralph Korte
·Election Day: SIUE Nursing Student On Oprah As
First-Time Voter
·SIUE Dance In Concert 2008 Offers Varied, Creative
Movement On Stage
·ASHP President To Address SIUE School of Pharmacy Students
·SIUE Pharmacy Associate Professor To Speak At Diabetes
Symposium
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) More than 1,500 alumni of Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville, who live in the Springfield area, will have a chance to re-connect
with former classmates and also meet SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift at the
Dec. 9 holiday reception sponsored by the SIUE Alumni Association at the Illinois
Executive Mansion, 410 E. Jackson St., Springfield. The reception, scheduled
from 6-9 p.m. that Tuesday, will be hosted by Alumni Association staff and other
University officials who will share the latest news from SIUE. Appetizers and
cocktails will be served.
The Illinois Executive Mansion has served as the official residence of Illinois’
Governors and their families since Gov. Joel Matteson took up residence there
in 1855. The Illinois Executive Mansion is one of the oldest historic residences
in the state. Seven Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, have been received
at the Illinois Executive Mansion. Three levels are open to the public including
four formal parlors; a state dining room; ballroom; four bedrooms, including
the Lincoln bedroom; and a library handcrafted from Native American black walnut.
Tickets are $30 for SIUE Alumni Association members; $35 for non-members. Registrations are due by Friday, Nov. 28. Tickets may be purchased online by visiting the Web site: www.siue.edu/alumni and navigate to the reception page, or by calling (618) 650-2762, or by e-mail: kabenne@siue.edu. Business attire is recommended for the event.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Five SIUE civil engineering students joined some 45 other students—representing architecture, urban design, art, and traffic engineering disciplines from Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Illinois, Drury University, Saint Louis University and Missouri University of Science & Technology—in a design charrette earlier this month to propose re-design options for the Thomas Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the surrounding downtown St. Louis riverfront area..
A charrette (a collaborative session of designers working toward a solution to a proposed project) took place at the downtown St. Louis Mansion House complex overlooking the Memorial grounds. Teams of students offered strategies and design scenarios for proposed change to the grounds, which include the St. Louis Gateway Arch. During the charrette, students were exposed to a collaborative work environment, addressing a complex set of urban issues simultaneously. Students learned about negotiation and integration of multiple forces that often affect the decision-making process, and how to become productive generators of design.
The final designs were unveiled in a Nov. 9 presentation; posters of the designs are being exhibited at the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, 911 Washington Ave., in downtown St. Louis. In January the designs will become part of an exhibit in Wash. U’s Steinberg Gallery alongside a curated show highlighting Eero Saarinen and his original proposal for the Gateway Arch. Architect Fred Powers, of Powers Bowersox Associates of St. Louis, coordinated the project. The National Park Service has agreed to alterations in its general management plan. The Park Service also announced a national design competition to generate ideas to revitalize the St. Louis riverfront memorial.
Click here for a photo from the charrette
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Bringing their traditional sounds home to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for the holidays, the Boys of the Lough return to SIUE at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, with A Celtic Christmas—continuing the nearly 25 year old tradition of the University’s Arts & Issues series. The Boys’ show is a celebration in music and song of the vital Celtic traditions of midwinter from the Atlantic lands of Northern Europe and North America.
They’ll be performing in Meridian Ballroom. The official media sponsor
for the A&I series is the Edwardsville Intelligencer, while
the series official hotel sponsor is Hampton Inn and Suites. Grant Andree, coordinator
of the series, has gathered an impressive season of great performers and interesting
speakers for 2008-09. “The warmth and spirit of the holidays comes through
when the Boys of the Lough perform their traditional melodies and exciting instrumentation,”
Andree said.
“The Boys appeared on our Arts & Issues stage in 2002, transporting
audience members back to a time when the only protection against the cold, wind
and snow was music and storytelling,” Andree said. “The Boys infuse
that kind of coziness in their program. We’re elated to have them back.”
The first of the full-time professional Celtic ensembles to appear on the international
scene, the Boys of the Lough now occupy a unique position of respect in the
world of traditional music. They have completed more than 70 tours of North
America and have celebrated more than 40 years together as a band. This Christmas
concert is part of an 11-city tour that begins with a Nov. 29 appearance in
Cincinnati on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison
Keillor. With lively jigs, reels, waltzes and tunes primarily played on fiddle,
chromatic accordion, flute, tin whistle, guitar, concertina and mandolin, the
Boys of the Lough sing their ballads and folk songs in sean nós
(old style) without accompaniment and occasionally in Irish Gaelic.
This holiday tour also sees the launch of the Boys’ new album, Midwinter
Live, with live performances from the holiday tour. Selected album tracks
may be heard at www.boysofthelough.com.
The CD will be available at the Dec. 10 SIUE concert. Two previous albums by
the group have garnered Grammy Awards.
Remaining events in the Arts & Issues series (all appearing in SIUE’s
Meridian Ballroom) include: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin
who will speak about “Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln,” at
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5; a National Geographic Society presentation, along
with NPR’s Neal Conan as narrator, “First Person: Stories from the
Edge of the World,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20; Nashville singer-songwriter
Peter Mayer and Company, “Beyond Abbey Road,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, March
20; and drummer, bandleader and composer T.S. Monk with his jazz sextet, 7:30
p.m. Saturday, April 25.
For additional information about the series, call Grant Andree, (618) 650-2626; tickets are available through the Web site: artsandissues.com and by calling the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774.
EDITORS: The 2008-09 Arts & Issues photos suitable for print are available at www.siue.edu/ARTS_ISSUES/PHOTOS/PhotoIndex.htm.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Civil Engineering hosted the 13th Annual Mid-America Environmental Engineering Conference recently. Approximately 40 environmental engineering faculty and students attended from SIUE, Missouri University of Science and Technology, SIUC, the University of Missouri Columbia, and Washington University in St. Louis.
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) sponsored the event. Gary Moore of MSD opened the conference with an overview of MSD’s initiatives to protect local waterways. Graduate students from each university presented their research, which included work of regional and national importance in such areas as remediation of contaminated sites and wastewater treatment.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The fourth event in a speaker series about the Middle East will take place starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19 in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Meridian Ballroom in the Morris University Center.
Hossein Omoumi, the Maseeh professor in Persian performing arts from the University of California Irvine, will present Classical Persian Music Structures as part of Cosmopolitan Iran: A Speaker and Film Series.
"Iran is a living and dynamic cosmopolitan community, reflecting multiple spheres of influence for which no single voice can speak," said Lucian Stone, assistant professor of philosophy at SIUE. "The scheduled series of speakers and films will explore the Iranian polyvocal community through cultural outlets, such as music, literature, religion, poetry, art and film, wherein contemporary social issues are addressed." Stone is one of the series organizers.
Future events in the series include:
• Film Screening: The Runner, a film by Amir Naderi, on Tuesday, Feb. 3,
in the Multipurpose Room at Evergreen Hall;
• The World is My Home: On the Poetics of Cosmopolitanism, featuring Hamid
Dabashi, the Hagop Kevorkian professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature
at Columbia University, on Thursday, Feb. 5, in the Conference Center, on the
second floor of SIUE's Morris University Center (MUC);
• Film Screening: Offside, a film by Jafar Panahi with an introduction
by Farshad Aminian-Tankei, a Kurdish-Iranian American filmmaker and assistant
professor in the department of communication and philosophy at Florida Gulf
Coast University, on Wednesday, March 18, in the Multipurpose Room at Evergreen
Hall;
• "What Would You Like to Become?" Answers from Iranian School
Children, again featuring Aminian-Tankei, on Thursday, March 19 in Lovejoy Library's
Abbott Auditorium;
• Film Screening: The Willow Tree, a film by Majid Majidi, with an introduction
by Stone, on Tuesday, April 7, in the Multipurpose Room at Evergreen Hall;
• From Cloistered to Cosmopolitan: Women's Representation in Iranian Cinema,
presented by Hamid Naficy, the John Evans Chair of Communications in the Department
of Radio/Film/ Television at Northwestern University, on Wednesday, April 8,
in Abbott Auditorium;
• Cosmopolitan Iran, Remembrance and the Future: An Open Forum, presented
by Professor Lucian Stone, on Wednesday, April 29, in the Conference Center,
on the second floor of the MUC.
For more information, visit the series Web page: www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/philosophy/cosmopolitan_iran.shtml, or contact Stone by telephone, (618) 650-2246, or by e-mail: lustone@siue.edu.
Personnel
Retirement
Jean A. Paterson, director of the Career Development Center (CDC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, has been named the 2008 E. Sam Sovilla Educator of the Year by the Midwest Cooperative Education and Internship Association [MCEIA]. Paterson accepted the honor earlier this year at the annual MCEIA Conference at the Atheneum Hotel and Suites in Detroit. The award is given to a professional who:
The MCEIA Awards and Recognition Committee, the Board of Governors, and the
organization as a whole congratulated Paterson on a commendable accomplishment.
In a career that spans 27 years in higher education, they said, Paterson has
excelled in all of the criteria. For 22 of those years, she has been in co-operative
education or career services at SIUE.
SIUE Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Scott Belobrajdic, says he’s
not seen a finer planner. “Whether she is guiding the day to day activities
of the CDC or shaping one of the six commencement ceremonies she oversees each
year at SIUE,” Belobrajdic said, “Jean brings together individuals
from all facets of the university to plan and conduct first class operations.
Those planning skills are no doubt driven by an incredible pride in her profession,
in her institution and the quality of service she and her colleagues deliver
to each and every student.”
Paterson is known as a visionary and committed professional, Belobrajdic pointed
out. “Her passion and dedication are inspirational to many of those around
her. Her attention to detail keeps all of us on our toes and keeps the important
work of the SIUE Career Development Center in front of all.”
The MCEIA is a non-profit organization of employers, educators, and interested individuals and/or groups from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin which seeks to promote an understanding of the significance and value of cooperative education, internships, and other experiential learning; strengthen the functioning of those elements; and, provide a source of information to all interested persons.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Political Science major Lindsey L. Lester-Brutscher was named Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's 2008 Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
Lester-Brutscher recently was honored with 43 other students at the annual Lincoln Academy medallion ceremony in Springfield. Each year, a student from each of Illinois' four-year public universities is chosen to represent his or her institution. The students receive a Student Laureate Medallion, a $150 honorarium and a certificate of achievement.
An O'Fallon resident, Lester-Brutscher-who already has bachelor's and master's degrees in Russian Area Studies-decided to pursue a bachelor's in Political Science after retiring from the Navy after 21 years of service.
Upon her retirement in 2003, she taught General Equivalency Diploma and U.S. citizenship test preparation classes at a community college, as well as Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps courses at an area high school.
Her teaching experiences inspired her to return to the classroom to earn a degree that would allow her to teach social sciences to at-risk youth. She is pursuing the coursework and certification needed to teach elementary and secondary education classes in the state of Illinois.
Lester-Brutscher, who was awarded the 2007-2008 Non-Traditional Student Award by SIUE's Student Government, will graduate in spring 2009. She currently is maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.
Chancellor of The Lincoln Academy John B. Simon said, "These students have exhibited a personal commitment to excel as seen by their remarkable academic accomplishments. But just as important, these students serve as role models to other Illinois students, as well as their own family and friends. With hard-working, dedicated individuals such as these, Illinois and the rest of the nation can look forward to a bright and prosperous future."
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit and nonpartisan organization that was founded in 1964 to honor the state's most distinguished citizens. The group is directed by a board of regents with members appointed by the governor.
Click here for a photo of Lester-Brutscher, flanked by Chancellor of The Lincoln Academy John B. Simon, left, and Luanne Peters, Deputy Governor of Illinois.
Click here for the photo
Congratulations: Beverly Ahrens, administrative clerk for the Office of Clinical Experience, Certification and Advisement (OCECA) in the School of Education, is the November recipient of the Employee Recognition Award. In the photo she is flanked by Richard Walker, assistant vice chancellor for Administration and a member of the recognition selection committee, who presented the honor, and Bette Bergeron, dean of the School. Ahrens was nominated for the award by OCECA Director Gretchen Fricke (second from right). At far right is Gregory J. Conroy, director of SIUE Public Affairs and also a member of the recognition selection committee. In addition to the plaque she is holding, Ahrens was awarded a $25 gift certificate to the SIUE Bookstore, two complimentary lunch coupons to the University Restaurant and a parking space close to her office for 30 days. (SIUE Photo by Denise Macdonald)
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) A Season for the Child, the annual series of live
theater performances for the entire family brought to you by the Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville Friends of Theater and Dance (FOTAD) and TheBANK
of Edwardsville, continues its 20th season with two showings of Hans Christian
Andersen’s The Little Fir Tree on Saturday, Dec. 6. This delightful
musical, performed by the Imaginary Theater Co., the traveling arm of the Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis, plays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. that Saturday at the theater
in SIUE’s Katherine Dunham Hall. Every year, FOTAD adds a second performance
for the holiday show to give parents more options during the busy season.
With a lesson about helping those unfortunate during the holidays, The Little
Fir Tree is a musical adaptation of the popular fairytale about the little
tree who spends her days alone in a meadow, hoping for a friend. Just when she
is beginning to think her day will never come, the fir tree is chosen to help
a sick little boy celebrate Christmas. Year after year the fir tree returns
to the boy, and the friends learn that with time, hope and faith, miracles really
do happen.
FOTAD is a support group for the SIUE Department of Theater and Dance and uses
the proceeds from SfC to help fund merit awards for talented SIUE theater
and dance students. Each year, the organization awards some $5,000 in merit
scholarships to qualified students. In addition, FOTAD awards another $5,000
each year for freshman scholarships, travel stipends and other support for the
department. In addition, FOTAD also sponsors a Trivia Night in January (set
for Jan. 17). All proceeds from FOTAD events help the scholarship fund.
SfC features professional theater troupes staging musical adaptations of various children’s stories, using interactive techniques that not only delight children and parents, but also provide a learning experience. Remaining shows in the 2008-09 season include:
• The Three Little Pigs, 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24—Piwacket
Theater for Children will present an original musical adaptation of this familiar
mid-19th Century British fairytale, adapted here with catchy songs, colorful
costumes, and magical props.
• Windsor Live!, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 21—The Shakespeare
Festival of St. Louis will present its children’s version of the bard’s
tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor. This hilarious farce is re-created
as a contemporary reality TV competition in the mold of American Idol,
So You Think You Can Dance? and Project Runway.
For tickets, call the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774. Tickets are $5 per person, including children.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department
of Theater and Dance is extending its regular Mainstage season across campus
to the James F. Metcalf Theater to present The Lower Depths, a play by
Maxim Gorky, the celebrated Soviet playwright from the early part of the 20th
Century. The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, Dec. 3-6,
and Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12-13, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7 and 14, all
at the Metcalf.
Perhaps Gorky’s best known play, The Lower Depths is considered
a hallmark of Russian/Soviet socialist realism. Subtitled “Scenes from
Russian Life,” Gorky’s pervading theme of harsh truth vs denial
presents that backdrop against a group of memorable characters who wish nothing
more than to shut out the bleak reality of their existence. The Lower Depths
was considered the first success for the famous Soviet director Konstantin
Stanislavski who later influenced members of The Group Theater in America such
as Luther and Stella Adler, Clifford Odets and Lee Strasberg, who in turn later
influenced many actors and directors who themselves went on to become Hollywood
legends.
Tickets are $10; senior citizens, $8; SIUE faculty and staff, $6; students, $6; SIUE students with valid Cougar ID, no admission charge. For tickets, call the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774. Click on numbers at right for photos suitable for print: Photos 1 | 2 include cast members (from left) Wendy Bosick (as Victoria) of Belleville; Maggie Conroy (as Peppel) of south St. Louis; and Elizabeth Boyer (as Noel) of Marshall. SIUE Photos by Bill Brinson)
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Men's Basketball Team will take its first foray into Division I competition this weekend, and the St. Louis Metropolitan area will get to watch the action, play-by-play, thanks to Charter Communications and Comcast Southeast.
The Cougars will play at 6 p.m. Friday at the ESPN-sponsored Charleston Classic against the host institution, College of Charleston. Charter Communications will offer live coverage of the game on Charter Cable Channel 8 in Illinois and Missouri.
"This is an exciting time in the history of SIUE Athletics, and for us as an institution," said SIUE Director of Athletics Brad Hewitt. "Getting this type of coverage allows our players, our students and our university to get great exposure as we take this major step."
The Cougars highly anticipated move to Division I competition has been met with enthusiasm and support from the campus and surrounding community, Hewitt said, noting "by enabling our fans to see the game in real-time, we will just build on the support we've been so fortunate to receive and enjoy."
The Cougars again will compete at the Classic on Saturday and Sunday. Times have not yet been determined. For more information on game times, visit www.siue.edu/athletics.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Athletics hits the St. Louis airwaves with the announcement of a partnership agreement with St. Louis Sports Leaders 590 "The Fan" to air Cougar Men's Basketball games this season.
The station will broadcast Cougars games live throughout the St. Louis media market, with the first game to launch the 2008-09 season, and the partnership, taking place at 6 p.m. Friday at the ESPN-sponsored Charleston Classic against the host institution, College of Charleston. The game can be listened to online at www.kfns.com.
"We are extremely proud of the new partnership with St. Louis' sports
leader in talk radio," said SIUE Director of Athletics Brad Hewitt. "'The
Fan' gives us a broader market base as we continue with our transition to NCAA
Division I status and step forward into the Ohio Valley Conference.
"Coach (Lennox) Forrester has an extremely exciting schedule for year one
of reclassification to Division I. We're elated that we'll be able to reach
a larger audience."
Cougar Athletics will continue to use WSIE FM 88.7, a 50,000-watt station located on the SIUE campus, as its flagship station for broadcasts. SIUE Assistant to the Athletic Director for Broadcasting Joe Pott will be the play-by-play voice for Cougar basketball. SIUE basketball fans will be able to listen to the Cougars either on the radio at WSIE or KFNS or online at www.kfns.com.
"We are excited to be a part of such a big step in SIUE Athletics and in the SIUE community," said KFNS Director of Operations/Programming Chris "Hoss" Neupert. "As the heritage sports station in St. Louis, we are looking forward to being with the team from the beginning and wish the Cougars and Coach Forrester the best of luck."
The Cougars also will face off against defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin next Tuesday, as well as Big 12 standouts Missouri on Dec. 27 and Iowa State on Jan. 3. Two Missouri Valley Conference teams, Evansville and Bradley, will meet the Cougars for games on Dec. 2 and Dec. 23, respectively. The Cougars also will take on Horizon League schools Loyola on Dec. 22 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Jan. 12.
Also on the schedule, OVC school Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 31 and road Division I contests at Middle Tennessee State of the Sun Belt Conference on Dec. 7, Missouri-Kansas City of the Summit League on Dec. 28 and Lipscomb of the Atlantic Sun Conference on Dec. 9.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing will use wine to bring water to the impoverished of South Africa.
Wine for Water, a wine tasting happy hour, will take place from 4:30-6:30 p.m. tonight at the Little Grafton Winery Tasting Room and Bottle Shop, formerly Vitner's Cellar Winery, 1017 Century Drive in Edwardsville.
The event is sponsored by the Epsilon Eta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International and will celebrate the School of Nursing's recent completion of a successful reaccreditation visit by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, which is a national accreditation agency, and raise money to support infrastructure in a village with poor access to water in South Africa.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20 for general admission; $15 for students.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Norman Wohlschlaeger of House Springs, Mo., a graduate
student in the Accountancy program at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
School of Business, is among five winners of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants (AICPA)/ Accountemps scholarship.The $2,500 scholarship is
given nationally to accounting, finance or information systems majors with a
minimum 3.0 grade point average who demonstrate leadership, academic excellence
and future career interests in accounting and business. The AICPA administers
the scholarship program and Accountemps funds it.
Wohlschlaeger, who graduated summa cum laude from Missouri Baptist University
in St. Louis with a bachelor of science in accounting and psychology as well
as minors in business administration and information systems, is a graduate
assistant for the SIUE Department of Accounting and for the associate dean of
the business division. In the future, he plans to earn a doctorate in accounting
and teach at a university.
He is a member of the Missouri Society of CPAs, AICPA, the National Society
of Accountants, the American Psychological Association, Beta Alpha Psi, and
the Alpha Chi National Honor Society. His previous awards and honors include
Eagle Scout, MSCPA LEAP Scholarship, NSA Scholarship, MBU Trustee (Full Scholarship),
Papa John’s Scholarship and a Sam Walton Scholarship.
The other AICPA scholarship winners are at Auburn, the University of North Carolina Charlotte, the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia. The application deadline for the 2009-2010 AICPA/Accountemps Student Scholarship program is April 1. The AICPA (www.aicpa.org) is the national, professional association of CPAs, with more than 350,000 members in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student affiliates, and international associates. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, non-profit organizations, as well as federal, state and local governments. The AICPA also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination.
The SIUE School of Business is among an elite 10 percent of business schools worldwide that have earned the prestigious seal of approval from the AACSB-I. Only 30 percent of business schools in the United States are accredited by the organization.
(EAST ST. LOUIS) Civil Engineering is a good career choice to consider and is one that helped build a bridge to success for one native East St. Louisian, according to Sharon Byrd, a civil engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), who is part of a new mentoring program at the SIUE East St. Louis Center (ESLC). The program, Career Education Exploration, is designed to help increase minority representation in the civil engineering industry.
About 50 students from the Upward Bound EC and Upward Bound BEMV will participate
in the program twice a month until December. Students will receive instruction
on how to build a bridge and construct a model replica, said Barbara Sams, Upward
Bound EC program director. Instructing the students are Byrd, a 1986 graduate
of the ESLC’s Upward Bound Program and Lincoln Senior High School, and
IDOT Civil Engineer Delon Coleman. “This is a chance for the students to
get a first-hand look at how the infrastructure of a community is put together,”
Ms. Sams said. “It’s also an opportunity for exploring new career
paths and scholarship funds that may become available this year.”
Byrd said she hopes that Upward Bound students and other minority students
will consider pursuing the exciting career opportunities in the field of engineering.
IDOT’s mentoring program introduces students to engineering projects that
encourage teamwork and problem solving, she said..
It was in high school when Byrd decided to become an engineer. “I mainly credit this to the Upward Bound Program at the East St. Louis Center and the excellent District 189 math and science teachers that I had from elementary school through high school,” she said. Byrd earned a bachelor of science in engineering technology at Western Illinois University in Macomb and a bachelor of science in civil engineering at SIUE.
“I faced challenges being one of the few minority females in civil engineering, but my commitment and sacrifices paid off,” Byrd said. “I know we have some talented future civil engineers among our youth today, and IDOT is excited about helping to discover them.”
(EAST ST. LOUIS) Students are under attack by many negative influences and many of them don’t even know it, says Muhammad Raqib, program director for Educational Talent Search (Cahokia/Madison), part of the East St. Louis Center's TRIO Programs. Muhammad presented the workshop: “The Negative Conditioning of Our Youth” to TRIO students this past summer.
He examined some of the messages in hip-hop and rap music, television, the
movies and internet. He pointed out that many young people know the rappers
who spew negative lyrics, which have destructive messages and language. Unfortunately,
Raqib pointed out, many youth are not as familiar with historical African Americans
who have positively contributed to the betterment of black people. Muhammad
also took a critical look at the family structure, school life and peer pressure
in the black community. When there are negative circumstances and outcomes involved,
they can interfere with the success of students, he added.
“The workshop is not designed to blame young people for the problems of the world,” Mr. Muhammad said. “Nor is it designed to expect them to be able to solve all these problems. But it was developed to help students understand what is going on around them so that they can better manage their lives, deal with problems and find solutions. “The goal,” Muhammad continued, “is to encourage students to embrace positive qualities, values, morals and education and use these things as a foundation.”
(EAST ST. LOUIS) The ability to read, write, comprehend and communicate effectively is the essential purpose of literacy, said Michael O. Afolayan, SIUE professor of Curriculum and Instruction. Literacy involves comprehension, critical thinking and analytical skills and is vital to a student’s success, he added. Therefore, Afolayan believes, literacy methodology should be incorporated in every aspect of teaching.
The professor, at the request of SIUE East St. Louis Charter School Program
Director Anthony Neal, is working with Charter School teachers to incorporate
more literacy techniques in their classrooms. He has spoken to Sherry Nelson’s
reading class and Edna Woods, social studies class. Afolayan has also enlisted
the help of the University’s PRIME (Promoting Recruiting Improvement for
Minority Educators) students to help enhance literacy efforts in the classrooms.
Samuel Byndon, an active member of PRIME and an SIUE graduate student in education, expects to help expand students’ understanding by being a mentor. Byndon told students in Nelson’s class that he struggled with grades while in college. However, after serving 18 months as a ground soldier in Baghdad, Byndon had more of an appreciation for life, knowledge and education. When he returned to college, he applied himself more diligently and graduated from Milliken University in Decatur with a bachelor’s in history and political science. “The world is rapidly changing but literacy will remain at the core of foundational instruction,” Afolayan said.
“I am pleased to work with the Charter School students and in partnership with the teachers to help ensure educational success,” he said. The professor also said he is excited about having some of his SIUE colleagues help him with literacy in the Charter School classrooms. Jennifer Bolander and Stephanie McAndrews, both assistant professors of Curriculum and Instruction; will conduct a series of workshops on incorporating literacy into subject areas for the Charter School.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The 37th Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is set for Wednesday-Thursday, Dec. 3-4, in SIUE’s Morris University Center. Vendors may rent booth space, based on a juried evaluation of arts and crafts to be exhibited and space available. Those interested in becoming a vendor should do so soon because spaces tend to be rented quickly.
Sponsored by the Morris University Center Print and Design Shop, the fair will
be open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. both days. There is no admission charge to attend
the fair and the public is invited. Items at the fair will include original
works produced by local and regional artists and crafts persons. Many types
of handmade goods will be available for purchase, including ceramics, wood,
jewelry, wool clothing and rustic furniture, among others. Selections for purchase
will include many articles suitable for holiday gifts.
For more information about obtaining booth space or about the fair itself, call Tom Ostresh in the Print and Design Shop, (618) 650-2178.
Click here for a photo of scholarship presentation
Scholar: Chelsie Lesicko of New Douglas, (center) recently received the Faculty for Collective Bargaining Scholarship for $500 from the SIUE Staff Senate. The scholarship is awarded, when funds are available, to children or grandchildren of current or retired SIUE staff who are members of a represented union under contract on campus. Attending the presentation, from left, are SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift; Jeff Lesicko, Chelsie’s father and a carpenter in Facilities Management; Donna Lesicko, an account technician in Accounts Payable and Chelsie’s mother; Chelsie, a freshman; Brian Lotz, president of the Staff Senate; Jesse Harris, co-chair of the scholarship committee and Staff Senate treasurer; and Terry Downey, faculty for collective bargaining committee member. (SIUE Photo by Denise Macdonald)
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Hugh Jones, a saxophonist and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumnus, as well as SIUE graduate students Bennett Wood and Cody Henry will be featured soloists with the SIUE Concert Jazz Band, directed by Jason Swagler, a member of the Jazz Studies faculty, and the SIUE Jazz Lab Band, directed by Jazz Studies Professor Brett Stamps, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the theater at SIUE’s Katherine Dunham Hall.
The Concert Jazz Band will showcase the music of such jazz luminaries as Count Basie, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. The Jazz Lab Band will perform pieces by Thad Jones, Basie, Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver and Freddie Hubbard.
Admission to the Nov. 18 concert at SIUE is $5; senior citizens and those under 18, $3. SIUE students with a valid Cougar ID will be admitted free, compliments of Arts-For-All. For more information, call the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Reservations are being taken now for the Eighth Annual
Renaissance Madrigal Dinner presented by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Department of Music at the Crystal Room of GC Cuisine and Cherub Gardens, 1230
University Drive on Thursday, Dec. 4. Reservation deadline is Monday, Dec. 1.
The SIUE Madrigal Singers will provide the musical and “variety” entertainment during the evening that includes a “royal Renaissance feast at which are kings, queens, dukes, duchesses, counts, countesses, and lords of lower estate, and nobles also a great number,” says the “royal conductor” Joel Knapp, director of choral activities for the department. “Everyone has great fun at the Madrigal Dinner every year,” Knapp said. “We have a lighthearted selection of activities planned as well as several madrigal pieces for the holiday season—some serious and others not so serious.
“After all, we must keep the lord of the manor and his guests in good
humor so that all may enjoy this incredible feast.”
Admission is $45 per person and includes a five-course meal and an evening of entertainment. Proceeds benefit the department’s scholarship fund. Also available or special “scholarship seats,” preferred seating priced at $90 each, which includes a $45 tax deductible donation to the SIUE Choirs. For information or to make reservations, call “the fair lady Kelly,” (618) 650-3900.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Wind Symphony and Concert Band, under the direction of SIUE Music Professors John Korak and Michael Mishra, will present a concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, in the theater at the University’s Katherine Dunham Hall. The concert will feature original works for wind band along with several transcriptions.
Included on the concert will be Roger Cichy’s Bugs, a composition
that depicts the musical personality of several species of bugs, as well as
Richard Strauss’ Allerseelen adapted for symphonic band by Albert
Oliver Davis. James Curnow’s Olympic Fanfare and Theme, written
for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, also will be presented, along with Christopher
James Salerno’s The Puckish Poltergeist.
Tickets may be purchased at SIUE’s Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774. Tickets are $5; 18 years old and under and senior citizens, $3; SIUE students, free with valid Cougar ID.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southwestern Illinois Entrepreneurship Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is calling on all interested students to attend a free summit that could change their lives.
Becoming a College Entrepreneur is the topic of the Southwestern Illinois Entrepreneurship Summit 2008 to be held from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the Le Claire Room of the N.O. Nelson Complex, 600 Troy Road in Edwardsville. The event is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Center, as well as SIUE's University Park, Lewis and Clark Community College, Southwestern Illinois College, the St. Louis RCGA, the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and other entities.
"This is for anyone who has ever wanted to start a business, but doesn't know where to go to get started," said Kristine Jarden, director of the Entrepreneurship Center. "This seminar is the perfect opportunity for college students to pursue their dream of starting their own business."
The summit will feature speaker Paul Galeski of Maverick Technologies, as well as sessions about resources available to college students hoping to start businesses; balancing college life and launching a business; idea formation and 5-minute speed mentoring sessions in which students line up to talk to certain mentors about their ideas for 5 minutes at a time and then move down the line. Students from SIUE, Southwestern Illinois College and Lewis and Clark Community College are encouraged to attend.
For more information, or to register, contact Jarden at (618) 650-2166, or, kjarden@siue.edu. Free breakfast and refreshments will be provided.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Local businessman Ralph Korte defied the odds. A self-made man and a U.S. Army Korean War veteran with an eighth-grade education, he built a successful company from the ground up.
More than 50 years after launching his company-today recognized among the nation's top 400 construction firms-Korte is being honored with a scholarship fund created in his name at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. His company established the endowed scholarship fund in construction management.
"The purpose of this gift is to honor his 50 years of service and recognize his retirement from The Korte Co.," said Susan Bowman, the controller at The Korte Co. and Korte's daughter. "He has always been a big proponent of SIUE, in general, and education and construction, and giving back to the community. This is another way of giving back. This scholarship combines all of Ralph's passions and is another way of giving back.
"The award in his name represents his 50 years of dedication and commitment to the construction industry in Southern Illinois. It is his legacy.
"He's always said that he feels his degree is what propelled his business to the next level. He attended school two nights a week for nine years to earn his bachelor's. This award will make it a little easier for someone else who otherwise would not have the chance to attend college."
Today, the Korte Co., valued at more than $300 million, has locations in Highland, St. Louis and Las Vegas.
Through the Ralph F. Korte Scholarship Endowment for Construction Management, interest earnings from the balance of the gift will be used to award a scholarship each year. The scholarships will cover the cost of tuition and provide students an opportunity to work toward obtaining a valuable degree and providing a competitive edge in the workforce.
Awards will be administered through the SIUE School of Engineering's Construction Management program and the SIUE Foundation.
"Ultimately this scholarship is to be awarded first and foremost on the basis of need," said Patrick Hundley, SIUE's vice chancellor for University Relations. "Recipients of this award should exhibit need to the point of not being able to attend college without this award."
The University's Office of Student Financial Aid and the recipient's high school counselor will determine a student's level of need. Along with need, a student must demonstrate a minimum 3.0 high school grade point average, and must maintain a 3.0 or better GPA during tenure at SIUE. The award can be renewed for a maximum of four years, at which time graduation with a degree in construction management is expected.
A strong supporter of the value of higher education, Korte obtained his GED and continued his education as a non-traditional student on nights and weekends through the SIUE School of Business, graduating with a bachelor of science in 1968.
Guided by his passion for learning and helping others, Korte was instrumental in promoting the idea for the Department of Construction Management within the SIUE School of Engineering. He believes business skills, combined with strong construction and design knowledge, are essential to creating leaders in the construction industry.
Korte has given to many community and university causes through the years. At SIUE he has supported athletics through his fundraising efforts for the current track and field and soccer stadium, known as Ralph Korte Stadium, which hosted track and field and soccer events during the 1994 Olympic Festival, as well as his support of the 35-acre tract, The Gardens at SIUE; a Missouri Botanical Garden Signature Garden featuring woodlands, water features, grasslands and sculpture. He also has served as the SIUE Foundation Board president and chairman, and is a longtime member of the board.
(CHICAGO) The Oprah Winfrey show made a call for first-time voters and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville student Sarah Fuemmeler answered. Fuemmeler, a sophomore in the School of Nursing from Bloomington, was one of many first-time voters who applied to be on the show. She was selected from among the mix and will join other first-time voters as an audience member on the Election Day show today at 4 p.m. on KSDK-TV (Ch. 5).
“Someone from the show called me based on my application and asked me to be a special audience member on the show,” Fuemmeler said. “It’s supposed to be non-partisan. I'm really passionate about the issues and originally I’d just wanted to submit some questions. I was hoping that my questions would be answered on the show.”
Fuemmeler participated in Early Bird Voting, casting her vote in the SIUE Morris University Center. “It’s going to be a fun time,” she said, noting she drove to Bloomington on Monday to meet her mother, Nancy Fruemmeler.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Edward Hollowell wrote Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap with the premise that today’s society is overrun with too much information, reminiscent of Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock of 1984. But Hollowell is concerned with today’s modern media and how we are bombarded with information by television and so many electronic gadgets.
After reading Crazy Busy, J. Calvin Jarrell, director of dance at Southern
Illinois University Edwardsville, did what any choreographer might do. He created
a dance to tell the story in movement using Hollowell’s premise. And, it
will be presented as part of Dance In Concert 2008 that opens at 7:30
p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, continuing at the same time through Saturday, Nov.
15, and then again at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, all in the theater at SIUE’s
Katherine Dunham Hall. “Hollowell calculates how many minutes the average
person has between age 20 and into the 80s,” Jarrel explains. “It
doesn't seem like much and we’re filling a lot of that time with talking
on cel phones or listening to MP3 players.
“We’re shutting each other out,” Jarrell noted. “With the
use of handsfree cell phones, it’s difficult to know if a person is talking
with us as we walk by or if they’re talking to someone on their cell phone.
And, with all the information coming at us on a television screen during a CNN
broadcast, for example, we’re constantly forced to re-focus our attention,
encouraging an attention-deficit culture.”
So, how do you put that all in a dance piece? “My dance is about time
running out,” Jarrell said. “It's called T-minus ... and counting,
reminiscent of a rocket launching, but here the T stands for time itself. My
six dancers are each costumed in two suits sewn together. They also each wear
a mask on their face and one on the back of their head, so you can’t tell
if they’re coming or going.” Jarrell also said the effect includes
a non-specific gender component, and it’s all done at a frenetic pace.
“It’s kind of spooky,” he said. “I didn’t really choreograph
it to be spooky but there it is.”
Kerry Shaul, long-time member of the SIUE dance faculty, will present her piece,
The Goal that Matters Most, as a study of our lives and how we make goals
for ourselves everyday. “We make goals for immediate plans and we make
long-range goals for later in our lives, and there’s the ultimate goal
for the afterlife,” Shaul said. “But we have to decide for ourselves
what is the most important goal.” In translating this idea to dance, Shaul
shows us the progression of these goals among the dancers, as they move sometimes
in unison and sometimes in contrast. “There are various types of movements
and different tempos of music,” Shaul explained.
The music, by the way, is all from the film 3:10 to Yuma. “That’s
one of the best westerns ever made and the main character in the film has a
goal—to get the prisoner to the train on time so he can collect the bounty
money which he’ll then use to save his family farm.”
SIUE student Lynn Bobzin, who won the student choreography award last year
for her piece, Glance, will present it at Dance In Concert 2008.
In addition, adjunct dance faculty member Ben Mielke will present a piece as
will guest artist Kristen Best, an SIUE dance alumna, and guest artist Holly
Seitz Marchant.
Tickets for Dance In Concert 2008 are $10; senior citizens and SIUE retirees, $8; SIUE faculty and staff, $6; students with valid ID, $6; SIUE students with valid Cougar ID, free. Discounted group rates are available. To order tickets (must be paid for when ordered), call the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774, or, toll-free, (888) 328-5168, ext. 2774.
Click here for a photo suitable for print. The photo includes part of the Dance In Concert 2008 troupe: (in front) Lynn Bobzin of New Lenox; (behind) Geoffrey Alexander of St. Louis County; (in background) Blake Ammann (with mask) of Highland, Chad Miller of Beardstown and Jannelle Richardson of Caseyville. (SIUE Photo by Bill Brinson)
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The president of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Kevin J. Colgan, will speak to students at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy during three addresses Thursday, Nov. 13.
Colgan, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy and Midwestern University, will talk to students about the importance of ASHP membership and professional advocacy at 9:45 a.m., and again at 12:30 and 3:45 p.m.
A 35,000-member national professional association, the ASHP represents pharmacists practicing in hospitals, health maintenance organizations, long-term care facilities, home care and other components of health care systems. As the only national organization of hospital and health-system pharmacists, it has a long history of improving medication use and enhancing patient safety.
"Membership in ASHP is vital for pharmacists in the health-system arena because it advocates on behalf those of us in the profession and allows us to share "best practices" in the field. Having the national president address our students reinforces the importance of advocacy, continuing education and working together as part of the health-care team, to help patients make the best use of their medications," said Lisa Lubsch, clinical assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice J. Christopher Lynch from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's School of Pharmacy will present “The Role of Pharmacists in Caring for Patients with Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease” at the 36th Annual Kilo Diabetes Symposium on Nov. 21-22 at the Hyatt Regency in St. Louis.
The conference is named for Charles Kilo, M.D., professor of pathology, immunology and medicine at Washington University’s School of Medicine. Kilo also is the chairman of the Kilo Diabetes and Vascular Research Foundation.
Lynch, a Southern Illinois native who earned a Bachelor of Science and doctorate from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, will be among 16 medical professionals from universities across the country who will speak during the symposium. He has been a pharmacist for 10 years, spending some of his time in Chicago and New Orleans.
Faculty experiences include the University of Illinois–Chicago, Tulane University Medical School and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where Dr. Lynch received the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Faculty Award. Clinical experiences include serving as the director of pharmacy services for the Diabetes Center of Excellence at Charity Hospital New Orleans. His research interests include diabetes, hypertension and women’s health.
“Lynch’s enthusiasm and dedication to patient-centered care is evident in everything he does,” said School of Pharmacy Dean Philip Medon. “His willingness to assume leadership roles in the professional community further demonstrates his commitment to the pharmacy profession. It is an honor for our School of Pharmacy to have Dr. Lynch representing the pharmacy profession at this conference, and recognizes the important impact pharmacists can have in diabetes care.
“Our students are lucky to have faculty so well versed in evolving practice roles.”
The event is a nationally recognized meeting for thought leaders to discuss diabetes care and research. The goal of the symposium is to increase knowledge about diabetes, endocrinology and vascular disease. More than 500 physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dieticians and health care providers are expected to attend.
