 PARENT ORIENTATION is Aug. 15-17, 2008!
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NEWS FROM SU FOR PARENTS
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News from SU for Parents (Vol. 10 No. 5)
March 13, 2008
An Electronic Newsletter for Southwestern Parents
News from SU for Parents is an electronic newsletter produced by the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations. As a parent of an entering Southwestern student, you will automatically receive this publication. Should you have questions, please contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 800-960-6363 or parents@southwestern.edu.
FEATURED STORY
2008 Roy and Margaret Shilling Lecturer Announced
The 2008 Roy and Margaret Shilling lecturer, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, will speak on "The New American Story," including "Nine Questions to Ask Before Voting for President," Monday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater at Southwestern University. Bradley will provide insights as to why he thinks politics is stuck and idealism is not dead. A Princeton graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Bradley served three terms in the U.S. Senate. In the course of his wide-ranging career, Bradley played professional basketball for the New York Knicks, received an Olympic Gold Medal in basketball, authored four books, and currently serves as a visiting professor at Stanford, Notre Dame and the University of Maryland. Lecture seating is limited.
PARENT NEWS
Encourage Your Student to Register His/Her Emergency Contact Information
In February 2008, Southwestern University initiated an Emergency Notification System (ENS) designed to quickly notify members of the campus community in the event of an emergency situation. The system will only be used for emergency notifications. Notifications are sent via multiple communication channels including SMS text messaging, e-mail and voice-mail. Multiple phone numbers and addresses per person may be stored in the system.
The University is vitally concerned with the safety of its students. As a part of our efforts to partner with parents for student success, we ask that you encourage your student to register with the ENS. To date, the students have been slow to respond and we have established a policy that requires students to provide their ENS information before they will be allowed to register for fall classes.
It only takes a couple of minutes to complete the process which may be done from any computer with an Internet connection. Students log into the Southwestern portal at 'my.southwestern.edu,' click on the Web Advisor tab, select "Students" on the displayed page, and then click on "Contact Notification."
In all cases, there is no need to enter University phone numbers or e-mail addresses. This information will be automatically included for all faculty, staff and on-campus students. Students should enter a mobile phone number, one alternate number and one alternate e-mail address. The University will test the ENS system in late March.
Additional information in the form of FAQs may be found at:
Emergency Notification System FAQ
Text Messaging Notification FAQ
Questions about the ENS form may be directed to Bob Paver, associate vice president for information technology, at 512-863-1676 or paver@southwestern.edu.
Career Services News for Parents
Is your student graduating this year? If so, click here to learn more about how you can encourage your student to make use of Career Services' resources.
Classes Without Quizzes Readings
During her Classes Without Quizzes' session at Family Days, Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton offered a list of suggested readings to her "students." At Southwestern, Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton serves as associate professor of English, Paideia(R) Professor, director of the Debby Ellis Writing Center and chair of the Humanities Division. In an effort to continue this lifelong learning opportunity, the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations shares this list of readings with all members of the parent community. View Piedmont-Marton's list of recommended readings online.
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS
King Creativity Symposium Scheduled for March 31
In 2000, W. Joseph "Joey" King '93 donated $500,000 to Southwestern University to establish and endow the King Creativity Fund, which annually supports "innovative and visionary projects" of enrolled students. Click here to review the 2007-2008 recipients. This year, the King Creativity Banquet speaker is Texas journalist Tim Madigan. The symposium and dinner is scheduled for Monday, March 31, 2008. Click here for more information.
Spring Break Service Trips Take Students Across the Country
Senior Sarah Salinas first participated in Destination: Service as a first-year student in 2005. This year, she will be participating as a student leader, accompanying a group of nine students to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, to work with Cornerstone Ministries. Salinas is one of 49 students from Southwestern University who will be traveling to five different locations for spring break volunteer work March 14-20. This is the 13th consecutive year that students are participating in the volunteer program known as Destination: Service. Click here to read more.
Morehouse Exchange Student Promotes Diversity
Jeremy Battle, a student of Morehouse College, is the first student to take advantage of the student exchange component of the Engaged Diversity project, which is sponsored by the Mellon Foundation. Morehouse and Southwestern are participants in this program, along with Dillard University in New Orleans, Huston-Tillotson University in Austin and Rhodes College in Memphis. Battle has already given back to the Southwestern community. He performed a powerful vocal solo at the Martin Luther King Community Dinner in January and is forming a contemporary gospel choir for students, faculty and staff members. And, he is building connections between Southwestern and Morehouse by doing an independent study project that involves political science, sociology and economics faculty members from the two schools. Click here to read more.
Pirate Athletics
Have you checked out the Pirate Athletics Web site lately? If not, visit www.southwesternpirates.com for the latest news. Also, check out the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Web site for conference updates.
- Men's Baseball: Texas Wesleyan University (TWU) got the best of the men's baseball team Saturday, March 8, as the Pirates lost both ends of a doubleheader with TWU by scores of 15-4 and 16-9 in Georgetown, Texas. On the season, the Pirates are now 7-9 while Texas Wesleyan improves to 11-7.
- Men's Basketball: Matt Caplan '08 was named as an honorable mention All-SCAC selection for the 2007-2008 season.
- Women's Basketball: Natasha Azizi '09 was selected to the All-SCAC Third Team and Beth Thomas '08 was an Honorable Mention selection for the women's basketball team as the teams were announced Saturday, March 1 at the SCAC conference tournament.
- Women's Soccer: Casey Grier '09 has been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-South Region team for the 2007-2008 academic year. Grier was one of 14 SCAC women's players to earn Scholar All-Region honors
- Men's and Women's Tennis: The men's and women's tennis teams traveled to Abilene, Texas, last weekend for three matches with McMurry University, Abilene Christian University and Hardin-Simmons University. The Pirate women now stand at 2-3 on the season while the men are 1-4. The Pirates play their first home match this week as they host Albion College on Thursday, March 14, with the match set to begin at 3 p.m.
- Men's and Women's Track: The men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Texas State Open Friday, March 7, with a number of Pirates recording season-best times or distances in San Marcos, Texas. The Pirates will next be hitting the track at the Tarleton Relays in Stephenville, Texas, Thursday, March 14.
LIFELONG LEARNING
Chautauqua Institution 2008 Summer Program and Group Rates
If you are looking for an enriching, relaxing experience for you and your family this summer, the Chautauqua Institution is offering a special, all-inclusive group rate for the Southwestern University community. The Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit organization that offers programs and facilities for spiritual renewal, intellectual stimulation and art appreciation. Among its amenities are accommodations at the Athenaeum Hotel, performance venues, golf, tennis, and educational and recreational facilities. Southwestern University learned about the educational offerings of Chautauqua Institution through the Institutions new director of education Sherra Haygood Babcock '70. If you attend this summer, please share your experience with the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations as we are exploring the possibility of designating a Southwestern week at Chatauqua for Summer 2009. For more information about the Chautauqua Institution and details about the 2008 program, visit http://www.ciweb.org/.
Guest Artist Exhibit
An exhibit by internationally known printmaker, Rudy Pozzatti, titled "Bestiaries," will run Wednesday, Feb. 13, until Friday, April 4, at the Fine Arts Gallery in The Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center. The collection features images from two hand-printed artist's books, "The Bestiary of Bishop Theobaldus" and "Darwin's Bestiary." Pozzatti is a distinguished professor emeritus at the Hope School of Fine Arts of Indiana University.
Southwestern to Host Texas United Methodist Historical Society Annual Meeting
The Texas United Methodist Historical Society will hold its annual meeting at Southwestern University March 28 and 29. The theme of the meeting is "The 40th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Central Jurisdiction: The Church Deals with Institutional Racism." All persons interested in the history of Methodism in Texas are welcome. Registration for the meeting is $25 and should be mailed to the Rev. John C. Johnson, 6766 Silver Saddle Rd., Fort Worth, Texas 76126. A detailed schedule and a list of lodging in Georgetown can be found at http://txmethhistory.blogspot.com/.
Guest Artists' Performances
Thad Anderson, instructor of percussion at Southwestern University and Eileen Meyer Russell, associate professor of low brass, are hosting guest artists Saturday, March 29. The concert performances include Eric Hollenbeck, percussionist, at 4:30 p.m. in the Lois Perkins Chapel, and Sotto Voce, a tuba-euphonium quartet at 7 p.m. in The Alma Thomas Theater. Both concerts are free and open to the public. High school students who play euphonium, tuba and percussion are also invited to activities during the day, which include music reading and performing and master class sessions with the artists. Students who want to participate in the day's events, which start at 10 a.m., should contact Thad Anderson (percussion) or Eileen Meyer Russell (euphonium and tuba).
The 30th Brown Symposium
The 30th Brown Symposium will be held April 3-4 in The Alma Thomas Theater, located in The Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center. This year's theme is "Umwelt: Exploring the Self-Worlds of Human and Non-Human Animals," based on an influential paper by Jakob von Uexkull (1934) who argued that to truly understand animal behavior, one must appreciate the animal's "umwelt" or self-world. Presentations by four speakers and an art exhibition will reflect on how humans can experience the self-worlds of species other than our own. This year's speakers and featured artist will be:
- Dr. Diane Ackerman, writer and poet, author of The Zookeeper's Wife and An Alchemy of Mind.
- Dr. Christopher W. Clark, Imogene Powers Johnson director of the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and senior scientist in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior.
- Dr. David Fogel, president and chief executive officer of Natural Selection, Inc.
- Dr. Michael S. Gazzaniga, professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Rudy Pozzatti, artist and distinguished professor emeritus of fine arts at Indiana University.
Online registration is open until March 21.
International Trombone Week at Southwestern
The Music Department will celebrate "International Trombone Week" with a concert Thursday, April 10, at 7 p.m. in the Lois Perkins Chapel. The concert will feature performances by Eileen Meyer Russell, associate professor of low brass, Ellsworth Peterson '55, professor emeritus of music, and a trombone choir composed of students, amateur and professional players. The concert is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in playing in the trombone choir is asked to contact Eileen Meyer Russell by e-mail or at 512-863-1732 to arrange to obtain the music, and should plan to attend the rehearsal at 5 p.m., before the concert that evening. For more information about International Trombone Week, visit http://trombone.net/itw/.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
- Spring Break - March 15-23
- Guest Artists' Performances - March 29
- King Creativity Symposium - March 31
- Brown Symposium - April 3-4
- Roy and Margaret Shilling Lecture - April 21
- Final Exams - May 5-9
- Commencement - May 10
For a full calendar of events, visit the University Calendar.
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