From su-infocus at southwestern.edu Thu Jan 10 15:21:55 2008 From: su-infocus at southwestern.edu (su-infocus@southwestern.edu) Date: Thu Jan 10 15:23:42 2008 Subject: [InFocus] In Focus 1/11/08 Message-ID: <47868C73.4020600@southwestern.edu> IN FOCUS: January 11, 2008 * TOP NEWS * *CALENDAR* SOUTHWESTERN RESEARCHER PARTICIPATING IN PROJECT THAT WILL HELP LEARN MORE ABOUT EARLY HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE *CAMPUS CALENDAR * To view upcoming events at Southwestern by day, week or month, click here . A Southwestern University astronomy professor is participating in a project that could add to our knowledge about the early history of the universe. The project involves the study of "intergalactic medium" -- clouds of gas that are located between the galaxies in the universe. Because these clouds contain primordial material from the beginning of the universe, studying them can provide important clues about the early history of the universe, including galaxy formation. But it is not easy to study the intergalactic medium. Although the clouds may be hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of light years across, they are of such low density that they cannot be observed directly. The only way to "see" them is to study how light from more distant galaxies is absorbed as it passes through them. The absorption is revealed in the spectrum, or "light signature," of the more distant galaxy. By studying spectra, astronomers can deduce information about the physical properties of clouds, such as density, thickness, temperature, composition and motion. "Studying these clouds requires sophisticated computer models of how light interacts with the gas in intergalactic space," says Mark Bottorff, an assistant professor of physics at Southwestern. Bottorff is working on a project to develop these sophisticated computer models. The project is funded by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI), which is operated for NASA and headquartered at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The institute oversees all programming related to the Hubble Space Telescope. Read the rest of the story here . EVENTS AUSTIN CIVIC ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM AT SOUTHWESTERN JAN. 19 The Sarofim School of Fine Arts is presenting a performance by the Austin Civic Orchestra on Saturday, Jan. 19. The orchestra will perform its Winter Concert, titled "Fifth Avenue." Internationally renowned pianist Anton Nel will perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor," on a program that also includes the 5th Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich and Johannes Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater. Tickets are $10 at the door. MEDIA COVERAGE The December issue of /University Business/ featured Southwestern's staff mentor program as one of "30 Smart Business Ideas." That same edition of /University Business/ also featured Southwestern's master plan in a story about campus architecture. Read the issue online here . The /Houston Chronicle/ ran a feature story on Romi Burks' chocolate class. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and later ran in several other papers across the state, including the /Austin American-Statesman/, the/ San Antonio Express News/, the /Laredo Morning Times/ and the /Midland Reporter Telegram/. Read the story here . Following Benazir Bhutto's assassination, several local media outlets noted the fact that she had spoken at Southwestern in 2005. Read the story from the /Austin American-Statesman/ here . The /Williamson County Sun/ ran a story about auditions for the upcoming production of "Fiddler on the Roof." NOTABLES *Fay Guarraci*, assistant professor of psychology, has had a paper accepted for publication in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. The paper is titled "Intracranial Infusions of Amphetamine into the Medial Preoptic Area but not the Nucleus Accumbens Affect Paced Mating Behavior in Female Rats." Several students from Southwestern and St. Edward's University collaborated with her on the paper, along with a faculty member from St. Edward's. *Ben Pierce*, professor of biology and holder of the Lillian Nelson Pratt Chair, authored a new 3rd edition of Genetics: A Conceptual Approach, a college-level textbook in genetics published in December by W. H. Freeman and Company. Previous editions of the book have been used at more than 270 colleges and universities and have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. /Have a submission for "Notables"? Send it to infocus@southwestern.edu. / -- Katy Boose Editorial Coordinator Southwestern University 1001 E. University Ave. Georgetown, TX 78626 512-863-1487 boosek@southwestern.edu www.southwestern.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.southwestern.edu/pipermail/su-infocus/attachments/20080110/bf64ab19/attachment.htm From su-infocus at southwestern.edu Thu Jan 24 16:13:08 2008 From: su-infocus at southwestern.edu (su-infocus@southwestern.edu) Date: Thu Jan 24 16:15:36 2008 Subject: [InFocus] In Focus Message-ID: <47990D74.7020103@southwestern.edu> IN FOCUS: January 25, 2008 * TOP NEWS * *CALENDAR* 2008 WRITERS VOICE SPEAKER ANNOUNCED *CAMPUS CALENDAR * To view upcoming events at Southwestern by day, week or month, click here . Iranian writer, scholar and social activist Azar Nafisi will be the 2008 speaker for the Writers Voice series sponsored by the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library at Southwestern. The 2008 Writers Voice lecture has been set for Nov. 11, 2008, in the Alma Thomas Theater. Nafisi is best known as the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, which spent two years on the New York Times Best Seller List. The book details how Nafisi met privately with a group of her women students to discuss works of literature against the back drop of Tehran in the mid-1990s. Nafisi was ousted from her teaching position at the Tehran University in 1995 for refusing to wear the mandatory Islamic veil. Today, Nafisi is a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., and teaches courses on the relation between culture and politics. She also is director of the SAIS Dialogue Project at the Foreign Policy Institute of the University's School of Advanced International Studies. "Azar Nafisi's writing is a wonderful example of the restorative impact that works of literature can have on our lives," said Lynne Brody, dean of library services. Brody said she is particularly excited about Nafisi's visit because it will offer an opportunity to open a dialogue about the role of Iran historically, politically and culturally through her work. According to Brody, "Dr. Nafisi is by all accounts a brilliant and thought-provoking speaker and teacher on literature and politics, and we expect this to be an especially exciting and rewarding year for the Writer's Voice." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOUTHWESTERN JOINS NATIONWIDE TEACH-IN ON CLIMATE CHANGE JAN. 31 Southwestern will join more than 1,500 colleges and universities nationwide in a Jan. 31 "teach-in" about global warming. The project, called "Focus The Nation," was organized by Eban Goldstein, a professor of economics at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. Organizers claim the event is the largest teach-in in U.S. history, and will reach nearly 1 million youth. "No other generation has ever had to face this kind of civilizational challenge," Goldstein says. "And we as educators would be failing if we did not prepare them with the tools to meet this challenge." The teach-in will begin the night of Jan. 30 with a live webcast produced by the National Wildlife Federation and aired by the Earth Day Network. Panelists will include Stanford climate scientist Steve Schneider; Hunter Lovins, an environmental justice leader and CEO of Natural Capitalism; and Van Jones, executive director of the Ella Baker Center in Oakland, Calif. The next day, Jan. 31, faculty members at participating universities will be asked to incorporate global warming into their lectures. Here are some examples of how faculty members at Southwestern will work the topic into their classes Jan. 30 and 31: . Math Professor Tara Saenz will talk to her Intro to Statistics course about "good" and "bad" statistics relating to global warming. . Biology Professor Ben Pierce will talk to students in his Genetics class about genetic and evolutionary responses of natural populations to climate change. . Spanish Professor Carlos D'Oro will discuss the topic of climate change in Spanish to his students. . German Professor Erika Berroth will talk to her classes about Germany's perspective on the environment. . Theater Professor John Ore will talk to students in his Lighting Design class about LED lights. . Religion Professor Katherine Baker will talk to her classes about what the Hebrew Bible says about "good stewardship of creation." To read the rest of the story, go here . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WINTER ISSUE OF SOUTHWESTERN MAGAZINE ONLINE The winter issue of Southwestern magazine is now available online at www.southwestern.edu/magazine. The issue features a variety of stories about Southwestern's current and past connections to China. Please share it with anyone who may not have received a printed copy of the magazine. EVENTS NEW YORK THEATRE TOUR MAR. 20-24 The Sarofim School of Fine Arts is offering a New York Theatre Tour March 20-24. The tour will feature theatre in New York City and includes the Tony award-winning musical, Spring Awakening. In addition, it will feature the musicals Sunday in the Park with George and South Pacific. For more information, contact Rick Roemer at 863-1548 or Allison Fannin at 863-1504 or go to the website here . MEDIA COVERAGE . The/ Austin American-Statesman/ published a commentary piece by President Jake B. Schrum on NCAA Division III athletics. Read the piece here . . The Austin American-Statesman ran a story about Biology Professor Max Taub's research on how rising CO2 levels could affect the protein content of major food crops. Read the story here . . Max Taub also was interviewed about his research on a national radio show that aired on the Progressive Radio Network. He also was interviewed by radio station KPFT in Houston. . Southwestern was mentioned in an article the/ San Antonio Express News /wrote about Bexar County students who go out of town for higher education. Read the article here . . Psychology Professor Fay Guaraci's research on caffeine and rats was mentioned recently in several media outlets, including MSNBC, /Men's Health/ and the /Dallas Morning News/. Read the/ Dallas Morning News/ mention here . NOTABLES *Joe Zavala*, assistant professor of Spanish, presented a paper titled, "A Nation without Citizens: Peru's Postcolonial Predicament" at the Chimalpahin 5th Conference on Colonial Remembering and Forgetfulness held in Mexico City. The paper evolved from his summer 2007 research in Peru that was funded by a Cullen grant. It is currently being developed into an article that will be submitted to a journal in fall 2008. The January 2008 issue of the journal Teaching Sociology includes an article co-authored by *Edward L. Kain*, professor of sociology and University Scholar in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. The article is titled "Information Literacy: The Partnership of Sociology Faculty and Social Science Librarians." *Joan Parks*, head of reference services at the Smith Library Center, worked with Kain during the early stages of his involvement with the national committee of the American Library Association. /Have a submission for "Notables"? Send it to infocus@southwestern.edu. / -- Katy Boose Editorial Coordinator Southwestern University 1001 E. University Ave. Georgetown, TX 78626 512-863-1487 boosek@southwestern.edu www.southwestern.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.southwestern.edu/pipermail/su-infocus/attachments/20080124/7910ea60/attachment.htm From su-infocus at southwestern.edu Thu Jan 31 16:13:00 2008 From: su-infocus at southwestern.edu (su-infocus@southwestern.edu) Date: Thu Jan 31 16:14:47 2008 Subject: [InFocus] In Focus Message-ID: <47A247EC.4030608@southwestern.edu> IN FOCUS: February 1, 2008 * TOP NEWS * *CALENDAR* SOUTHWESTERN RECEIVES $66,000 GRANT FROM VERIZON TO FUND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUMMER INTERN PROGRAM *CAMPUS CALENDAR * To view upcoming events at Southwestern by day, week or month, click here . Southwestern has received a $66,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to fund a summer intern program that will enable students to work with victims of domestic violence. During the summer of 2008, 10 students will work for agencies committed to addressing the epidemic of domestic violence. The students will help answer domestic violence emergency hotlines, provide care to children living at domestic violence shelters, work with law enforcement officials to provide support to victims, teach English as a second language to victims, assist agencies with grantwriting efforts, and help with public awareness campaigns such as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Agencies that students will work with include the Williamson County Children's Advocacy Center in Georgetown, LifeSteps in Georgetown and Round Rock, Services to At-Risk Runaway Youth (STARRY) in Round Rock, Hope Alliance Crisis Center in Round Rock, and SafePlace in Austin. The agencies will provide training, guidance and mentoring to the students to help them develop an understanding of their organizations as well as the issue of domestic violence itself. Suzy Pukys, coordinator of civic engagement at Southwestern, said the program will benefit both students and the participating agencies. "Community partners will receive much-needed volunteer help for 10 weeks over the summer - when volunteer help traditionally dwindles - and students will gain insight and work experience around a pressing social problem," she said. To read the rest of the story, go here . EVENTS CELLIST ANDRE EMELIANOFF TO GIVE RECITAL FEB. 5 The Sarofim School of Fine Arts, Department of Music, presents cellist Andre Emelianoff in a solo recital at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the newly renovated Alma Thomas Theater of the Fine Arts Center. Emelianoff is an instructor of cello and chamber music at the Juilliard School. He will be accompanied by Kiyoshi Tamagawa, professor and chair of the Department of Music at Southwestern. For more information, contact Lacy Vain at 863-1379 or vainl@southwestern.edu. This event is free and open to the public. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GUITARIST MARKO FERI TO GIVE RECITAL FEB. 8 The Sarofim School of Fine Arts, Department of Music, presents guitarist Marko Feri in a solo recital at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8 in the newly renovated Alma Thomas Theater of the Fine Arts Center. Feri is a professor of guitar at the Glasbena Matica Marij Kogoj in Trieste, Italy and also art director of the International Guitar Festival Kras in Slovenia. MEDIA COVERAGE . The /Williamson County Sun/ ran a story about the nonprofit organization Chinese Professor Patricia Schiaffini formed to help keep the Tibetan language alive. . The /Williamson County Sun/ ran a photo essay on an evening in "The Cove." . The /Williamson County Sun/ ran a story about the groundbreaking for the Center for Lifelong Learning. . The /Williamson County Sun /ran a story about the grant Southwestern received from Verizon to fund a summer intern program related to domestic violence. NOTABLES *Cristina Acalde*, assistant professor of anthropology, and* Joe Zavala*, assistant professor of Spanish, co-authored a book titled "Visi?n del Per? de acad?micos peruanos en Estados Unidos" ("Vision of Peru by Peruvian Academics residing in the United States"). *Daniel Castro*, professor of history and chair of the Latin American Studies Program, contributed an article to the book. *Darren Aversa*, visiting assistant professor of Spanish, recently published an article titled "The Mystical Feeling: Three Instances of Aporia in Madero, el otro." *Romi Burks*, assistant professor of biology and chair of the Animal Behavior Program, has had her paper titled "Juvenile Snails, Adult Appetites: Contrasting Resource Consumption Between Two Species of Applesnails" published in the Journal of Molluscan Studies. The paper was a collaboration with student authors *Brandon B. Boland*, *Mariana Meerhoff*, *Claudia Fosalba*, *Nestor Mazzeo* and *Matthew A. Barnes*. *Dirk Early*, professor of economics, presented "A New Geographical Housing Price Index for All Areas in the United States" at one of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association sessions at the Allied Social Science Associations meetings held in New Orleans. This work was coauthored with Edgar Olsen at the University of Virginia and Paul Carrillo of George Washington University. *Mary Grace Neville*, assistant professor of business, has had an article accepted for publication titled "Using Appreciative Inquiry and Dialogical Learning to Explore Dominant Paradigms." *Hai Zheng-Olefsky*, cellist and part-time assistant professor of music, has been invited by the conservatories in Guang Zhou and Macau to perform concerts and give master classes. In addition, Zheng-Olefsky was invited to perform a concert for the Asia Society in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Club. *Kiyoshi Tamagawa* will accompany him on the Asia concert tour March 12-19. Their concert program will include premier works by Chinese composers as well as a work by the famous American composer Samuel Barber. A concert at Southwestern will be held Sat., Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater. /Have a submission for "Notables"? Send it to infocus@southwestern.edu. / -- Katy Boose Editorial Coordinator Southwestern University 1001 E. University Ave. Georgetown, TX 78626 512-863-1487 boosek@southwestern.edu www.southwestern.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.southwestern.edu/pipermail/su-infocus/attachments/20080131/4934fe0e/attachment.htm