[InFocus] In Focus

[su-infocus at southwestern.edu]

 IN FOCUS: February 29, 2008
 
* TOP NEWS *
	  	*CALENDAR*
SOUTHWESTERN TO HOST ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 
MARCH 8 	  	*CAMPUS CALENDAR *

To view upcoming events at Southwestern by day, week or month, click 
here <http://www.southwestern.edu/sucalendar/main.php>.

Southwestern is hosting an "environmental summit" for high school 
students and interested community members on Saturday, March 8, from 
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the F.W. Olin Building.

Summit participants will learn about environmental issues from a variety 
of disciplines, network with students from across central Texas, and 
learn about activism opportunities and organizing techniques.

"We want to get students engaged in the environmental movement," said 
coordinator Kimberly Griffin, a sophomore at Southwestern. "The 
discussions are going to look at environmental issues through economic, 
historical and philosophical perspectives. The purpose is to try to get 
high school students talking to each other."

Griffin helped organize the summit as part of an internship project 
sponsored by the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS).

Keynote speaker for the conference will be Trevor Lovell of Public 
Citizen in Austin. Other speakers will include Laura Hobgood-Oster, 
chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Southwestern; Melissa 
Johnson, associate professor of anthropology at Southwestern; Erik 
Loomis, a visiting scholar in history at Southwestern; Sue Mennicke, 
director of intercultural learning at Southwestern; Emily Northrop, 
associate professor of economics at Southwestern; and Suzy Pukys, 
coordinator of volunteer resources and community-based learning at 
Southwestern.

To read the rest of the story, click here 
<http://www.southwestern.edu/cgi-bin/newsroom/article.cgi?id=67>.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOREHOUSE EXCHANGE STUDENT PROMOTES DIVERSITY

Jeremy Battle's experiences growing up in Brighton, Alabama, led him to 
believe in the importance and power of diversity.

Brighton, near Birmingham, is home to 3,640 residents, 89 percent of 
whom are African-American. Battle did not experience much diversity in 
high school until the summer after his junior year, when he attended a 
four-week college preparatory program at Stanford University.

" I loved it," Battle says of his experience at Stanford. "Getting out 
and seeing what the rest of the world looked like was everything I 
dreamed about as a kid."

Battle performed so well at the Stanford program that faculty members 
there urged him to continue his education at the university. He was 
accepted at Stanford and spent his first two years there before 
transferring to Morehouse College in Atlanta, which is the only all-male 
historically Black institution of high learning in America.

"I was involved with so many things at Stanford that my personal needs, 
as a kid from Brighton, were not being fulfilled," Battle says. "At 
Morehouse, I found a greater sense of confidence and a sense of optimism 
that charged me to succeed."

This spring, Battle is getting yet another experience in diversity by 
attending Southwestern as an exchange student. He 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 says he has enjoyed meeting the faculty and students at 
Southwestern. "I have been quite wowed by the hospitality and incredible 
welcoming spirit that people have here," he says.

To read the rest of this story, click here 
<http://www.southwestern.edu/cgi-bin/newsroom/article.cgi?id=65>.

EVENTS
SOUTHWESTERN SPONSORS E-RECYCLING EVENT FOR THE COMMUNITY MARCH 1

Students and staff members from Southwestern are partnering with 
Austin-based Axcess Technologies to offer a communitywide "E-recycling" 
event. Residents are invited to bring old computers, monitors, printers, 
telephones, cameras, scanners and other "e-waste." All equipment will be 
reused, recycled or refurbished in an environmentally safe way by Axcess 
Technologies. The event will take place Saturday, March 1, from 8 a.m. 
to 1 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Cullen Building at Hwy. 29 and 
Maple Street. A campus map is available here 
<http://www.southwestern.edu/tour/campus-map.pdf>.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
BESTIARY GALLERY AND RECEPTION APRIL 3

The Sarofim School of Fine Arts, Department of Art, presents an exhibit 
titled "Bestiaries" by Rudy Pozzatti. Bestiaries are books on animals, 
both real and imagined, that exemplify moral messages. The exhibit 
includes 28 lithographs and wood-cut prints from two bestiaries -- one 
by medieval writer Theobaldus titled "De Naturis Duodecim Animalium" and 
another titled "Darwin's Bestiary," which is a collaboration between 
Pozzatti and poet Philip Appleman. Pozzatti is a distinguished professor 
of fine arts emeritus at Indiana University. The exhibit will be on 
display in the Fine Arts Gallery until April 4. A reception and brief 
gallery talk by Pozzatti will be Thursday April 3, from 5-6:30 p.m. The 
exhibit is in conjunction with this year's Brown Symposium topic, 
"Umwelt: Exploring the Self-Worlds of Human and Non-Human Animals."

The exhibition and artist reception are free and open to the public.

MEDIA COVERAGE

. Laura Hobgood Oster, associate professor of religion and philosophy, 
was interviewed on "Across the Nation," a radio show on /The Catholic 
Channel/ (SIRIUS satellite station 159). She discussed whether or not 
animals have souls.

. The /Williamson County Sun/ ran a story about growth of the Pirate 
Buc$ program.

NOTABLES

*Alicia L. Moore*, associate professor of education, was invited to 
present two teacher workshop sessions as a part of the Children's 
Courtyard Professional Development University. The workshops were 
presented to Early Childhood teachers and caregivers and focused on the 
ABCs of Culturally Responsive Teaching and their importance in
educational settings.

*Bill O'Brien*, professor of physics, will have his paper, "Hassel-Free 
Energy Consumption Measurements of Electrical Devices," published in the 
May 2008 issue of /The Physics Teacher/. The paper develops classroom 
uses of a new metering device, the Kill-A-Watt, which makes it very easy 
for people to measure the energy consumed by household (and dorm-room) 
appliances. The paper elaborates on the themes developed in his 2007 
paper in /Physics Education /titled "Mining Power and Hydrocarbon 
Consciousness from the Monthly Electric Bill: A Classroom Project." This 
paper is accessible at 
http://www.southwestern.edu/academic/bwp/pdf/2006bwp-obrien.pdf.

*Ron Swain*, senior advisor to the president, participated in a Feb. 26 
forum hosted by Concordia University. The forum was titled "A Bold 
Vision: The Effect of Austin Area Colleges and Universities on Closing 
the Gap."

Four Southwestern students have been selected to receive Sumners 
Fellowships beginning in the fall of 2008. The fellowships, which are 
awarded by the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation of Dallas, are $5,000 per 
semester or a total of $10,000 per year. Students recently selected to 
receive Sumners Fellowships are *Sarah Gould*, *Emily Gutzmer*, *Heather 
Lesieur* and *Luis (Fermie) Reyes*. Students are selected for the 
fellowships based on their academic history, extracurricular activities, 
and leadership experience. In addition to assistance with tuition, 
students selected to receive Sumners Fellowships have access to other 
programs sponsored by the foundation, including a distinguished lecture 
series; a variety of public policy, leadership and civic participation 
programs; and several educational and internship opportunities in 
Washington, D.C.

 

/Have a submission for "Notables"? Send it to infocus at southwestern.edu. /

-- 
Katy Boose
Editorial Coordinator
Southwestern University
1001 E. University Ave.
Georgetown, TX 78626
512-863-1487
boosek at southwestern.edu
www.southwestern.edu

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