Accents06-16-05

25th Annual Phonathon underway

Curt Betebenner, Missouri Southern Foundation, says the 25th Annual Phonathon at Missouri Southern has hit the ground running. Student callers began contacting alumni and friends of Missouri Southern as a part of the Phonathon earlier this month. The early response to the letter to MSSU employees, authored by faculty chairperson, Jim Jackson, Biology, has been good.

"To date we have 31 pledges totaling $3,225," Curt says. " With the continued support of our faculty and staff we hope to surpass last year's effort which provided 61 pledges totaling $7,275," he adds.

Faculty and staff members elect to use the Pay Roll Deduction plan or they can make a gift on-line at www.mssu.edu. To make an on-line gift select Alumni/Foundation and click "On-line Gift Form" to make a pledge and payment using a credit card.

"We express our thanks to everyone who has supported Southern by making gifts to our students and assisted our programs and departments," Curt comments.

Children’s play Jolly Roger this weekend

Southern Theatre will present the play Jolly Roger at 2:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Feb, 24-25, in Taylor Performing Arts Center.

Pam Claussen directs this ocean bound tale for children by Wayne and Shane Mitchell and Erin Dagon. For years, the cowardly hero, Captain Cleverly, has evaded capture by the dreaded pirate Jolly Roger by sailing directly behind him.

Now, Jolly Roger, King of the Pirates and Scourge of the Seven Seas, has found Cleverly and is coming aboard his ship, The Albatross. With mistaken identities, sword fights, and a surprise ending, these pirates will shiver your timbers.

Ticket costs for the play are $1 for adults and .50 cents for children age 12 and under. No free passes can be accepted. For reservations call (417) 625-3190. For theatre production information call (417) 625-9393.

For a cast list, see www.mssu.edu/news/jollyroger07.htm.

Outstanding Graduate nominations due

Reminder to Faculty: Today, Friday, Feb. 23 is the deadline for the 2007 Outstanding Graduate nominations. Faculty members may obtain information and nomination forms by calling ext. 9355.

The Outstanding Graduate will receive special recognition for his/her accomplishments at the annual Honors Convocation this spring.

Today's Brown Bag

Betsy Griffin, Academic Affairs, reminds faculty/staff about the Brown Bag lunch for today, Friday, Feb.23. Phil Wise, Music, will oversee a presentation by the Jazz Quartet he directs.

The Brown Bag will be held from 12:10 - 12:50 p.m. in the Keystone Room on the 3rd floor of the BSC. Pick up your free lunch at the mini-buffet outside the room. Lunch is provided courtesy of Academic Affairs and Sodexho.

All faculty/staff are welcome to attend.

Board Holds Tuition Increase to Inflation Rate

The Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors voted at its meeting last week to hold an increase in tuition to the rate of inflation. The MSSU Board approved to a 3.8 percent increase in tuition for the 2007-2008 academic year.

The present rate of $130 per semester hour will increase to $135 per semester hour.

Even with the increase, Missouri Southern offers the lowest tuition rate of any four-year state university in Missouri. Part of the increase will help cover the cost of an increase in minimum wage.

President Dr. Julio León told members of the Board that the increase will allow the University to help meet expenses while continuing to keep costs to students as affordable as possible.

The Student Senate representative to the Board, Eric Norris, told the Board that the Campus Activities Board (CAB) will bring the band “Cross Canadian Ragweed” to Missouri Southern on April 18. He said the concert will be presented outside near the MSSU football stadium.

Legacy Day tomorrow on campus

Legacies of alumni will receive the opportunity tomorrow to find out what Missouri Southern is all about at this year’s annual "Legacy Day."

A legacy is a kid lucky enough to have one or even two relatives that attended or graduated from MSSU. Registration will begin at 2:30 p.m. A collection of interactive classes will follow from 3-5 p.m. Feb. 24.

These classes will be taught by Missouri Southern’s teacher education majors in Taylor Hall. The classes will allow each legacy to bring home a little piece of MSSU.

The legacies are invited to help cheer on the home team at the double-header basketball game against the Missouri Western Griffons. The women will tip off at 5:30 p.m. and the men will tip off at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, please contact Elisa Bryant, Alumni Association, at (417) 625-3068.

Contemporary Film Series continues

The Contemporary Film Series will continue this semester as a Friday night continuing education class. To enroll, simply come to the next film and pay the tuition of $10 per person.

Nick Kyle, Art, says the film for tonight, Friday, Feb. 23, is Water (India, 2005; 117 min.) This film, the third (and final?)installment in director Deepa Mehta’s “elemental” series that began with Fire and Earth, both of which were shown in our series.

A sensitive, disturbing and extremely controversial film, Water tells the story of Chuyla, an Indian girl married and widowed at age eight, who is sent to live in a home where other Indian widows live in penitence, set against the background of Gandhi’s growing influence as India approaches independence.

The films are presented on DVD format at Cornell Auditorium in Plaster Hall.

Come walk the red carpet at Spiva Library

Join in the celebration for the 79th Annual Academy Awards this Sunday, Feb. 25.

The Road to the Oscars 2007 begins at 7 p.m. with the Awards Ceremony starting at 7:30 p.m.

Watch the Oscars in the Coffee Shop area of the library on the BIG screen. Enjoy refreshments, cast your own ballots and win prizes. There is no cost to attend.

If you would like to reserve an entire table please RSVP to Amber Carr, Library, at carr-a@mssu.edu or call 625-9335.

Debaters compete in MAFA State Championships

The Missouri Southern Speech and Debate Squad competed in the Annual Missouri Association of Forensics Activities (MAFA) Missouri State Championships Feb. 16-18 in Liberty, Mo.

A total of 17 Lincoln-Douglas (LD) tournament debaters from 11 colleges and universities from Missouri took part.

At the tournament, sophomores David Reed of Cassville, Whitney Hart of Lamar and Matthew C. Snyder of Neosho all qualified for elimination rounds.

Top-seeded and undefeated David Reed and Whitney Hart lost in the quarter-final rounds. Snyder went all the way to the final and won the MAFA state title for LD debate on a 2-1 decision. Additionally, Hart placed second and Snyder placed third for debate individual speaker awards.

MAFA elected Kelly Larson, MSSU Forensics Director, as the group’s vice president for the 2007-2008 competition year. Larson will assume the MAFA Presidency in the fall of 2008.

The team is traveling next week to Topeka, Kan. to compete in the Washburn University Spring Classic.

SOBA forms chapter of Business Honor Society

The Robert W. Plaster School of Business Administration (SOBA) has established the Lambda Gamma Chapter of Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business Administration.

Carla Stalling Huntington, Marketing/Management, says a formal induction ceremony is planned for April 29..

Delta Mu Delta is the International Honor Society for business programs accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) at the baccalaureate/graduate level. It was founded in 1913 through a collaborative effort by Harvard University, Yale University, and New York University.

To be inducted into Delta Mu Delta, students must major in Business and graduate in the top 20 percent of their class.

Membership in Delta Mu Delta Honor Society is the highest national recognition a business student can earn. The Society has an affiliation with ACBSP, which is the accrediting body for The Robert W. Plaster School of Business Administration.

For more information on Delta Mu Delta, visit http://www.deltamudelta.org/.

Region 6 History Day March 2 at MSSU

The Social Science Department of Missouri Southern State University will host Missouri Region 6 History Day at MSSU on Friday, March 2.

Students from area high schools, junior high schools, and middle schools have been invited to enter. Winners from the district contest, one of nine in Missouri, will have the opportunity to compete in Missouri State History Day on April 14 at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Winners from the state competition may go on to the National History Day contest in June at College Park, Maryland.

For more information, contact Paul Teverow, History at ext. 3114. For more information, including a list of participating schools, visit www.mssu.edu/news/historyday_region6_spring07.htm.

Get silly at the 10th Biennial Madrigal

Huzzah and What Ho! It is time, once again, to let thy hair down and get silly at the Madrigal Dinner Feast presented by the Music Department.

Bud Clark, (alias King Budward), of the MSSU Music Department, has proclaimed once again that all peasants are welcome to dine in the Royal Banquet Hall of Clarkshire Castle, (Bud Walton Theater) at 7 p.m., March 7-10.

To join in the merriment, call the MSSU ticket office at (417) 625-9366, no later than March 6 to reserve your seat in the Banquet Hall. There is seating for as many as 12 at a table, so bring the whole family and plan on an evening of good food and fun, and “joust” about everything else!

Author and teacher Speer Morgan is coming to Joplin as part of the Missouri Southern State University Department of English and Philosophy’s Visiting Writers Series.

Morgan will give a reading in the third floor of Billingsly Student Center on the MSSU Campus at 7 p.m., Thursday March 8. A reception will follow the reading.

He will also be giving another reading and a Q&A session at 10 a.m., Friday morning at the University Java coffee shop on the bottom floor of Spiva Library at MSSU.

Speer Morgan grew up in Fort Smith, Ark. and is the author of five novels, all set in the four state area.

His first novel was a work of historical fiction about 19th century outlaw Belle Starr. His most recent novel, The Freshour Cylinders, won an American Book Award in 1999.

He is currently teaching in Columbia, Mo. at Missouri University and is the editor of The Missouri Review. For more information, contact Joey Brown, English, at (417) 625-9708 or e-mail brown-jr@mssu.edu.

Approximately 75 education majors at Missouri Southern State University are engaging in their student teaching “professional semester” in the teacher education program. The experience is one of the requirements for graduation with a Bachelor of Science degree in education (BSE).

Keith Robertson, Teacher Education, says all of the teacher candidates will be in classrooms for twelve weeks under the supervision of a certified teacher. They must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA and a 2.5 average in their major fields; pass all sections of a comprehensive core curriculum exam covering areas such as social studies, math, language arts and other areas; receive a recommendation from a faculty member outside the teacher education program; have an ACT of 20 or higher; and write an autobiography.

Students apply for tentative admission at the beginning of their junior year and then they apply for the student teaching experience at the beginning of their senior year. The student teaching semester is the culminating experience and all course work must be completed.

One of the largest teacher education programs in the state, MSSU has a performance-based teacher education program. Candidates must demonstrate mastery of the teacher education program standards, such as well-developed lesson plans and classroom management skills.

The Missouri Southern Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert of “Music in Love … with Poetry” at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 27, at Taylor Performing Arts Center on MSSU campus.

The program will present a variety of love-based themes: the love between lovers, love between mother and child, and love between a person and his country. The orchestra will perform a Chinese work, “Theme from Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto”, arranged for orchestra by Southern Symphony Orchestra’s director Kexi Liu.

Other works on the program include music of Berlioz, Dvorak, Elgar, Kreisler, Sibelius, and J. Strauss. Joy Dworkin, English and Philosophy, will read selected poems to be read in the concert. Proceeding each piece, a selected poem will read.

Admission is free. A reception will follow the concert. . For further information, please contact the orchestra director, Kexi Liu, at (417) 625-9681 or e-mail liu-k@mssu.edu.

A taped presentation of the Feb. 13 presentation, "W.E.B. Dubois, Democracy and World War," will air on KGCS-TV as part of the MSSU Lecture Series. The program features Dominic Capeci and Jack Knight of Missouri State University faculty.

The lecture will air at 8:p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28 on KGCS-TV. "We're glad to be able to tape events of this type and present them to the community," say Judy Stiles, KGCS General Manager.

KGCS programming may be seen on UHF channel 57, Cable One Channel 7 and Mediacom Channel 77. The station is operated as a service of the Department of Communication at MSSU.

National Eating Disorders Week (Feb. 25-March 2) is fast approaching. The Counselors at the Student Support Center are promoting THE GREAT JEAN GIVEAWAY. Bring your old jeans (those that you keep telling yourself you are going to get thin enough to wear again) to the Student Support Center throughout the week or Billingsly on Monday, February 25th.

"Get comfortable with your genes," says Mary Parker, Student Support Center. "Eat healthy, stay healthy. One way to stay healthy is to up your fluid intake. Water needs are your body weight x .67; for a person weighing 150 lbs that would be about 100 ounces per day. Follow the food pyramid for healthy eating."

Last week for…Library Lovers’ Month

Eight ways to love your library:

* Donate a book...or a whole shelf of books, maybe even one you have written
* Donate money to your Friends of the Library group
* Honor a friend or relative with a book for the library
* Donate your time, money, and expertise to your library
* Join the Friends of George A. Spiva Library Group
* Give the gift of membership to a friend or relative

Please contact Amber Carr, Library, at ext. 9335 with any questions.

Communication access available for deaf, hard of hearing

Missouri Southern has the only public video relay telephone in the four state region. Sprint Video Relay Service (VRS) enables users who use sign language to communicate via videoconferencing with a Video Interpreter (VI) through the internet. The VI then voices/relays the signed conversation over the phone - in real time- to the hearing caller.

By using sign language over the full motion video, this allows the sign language user to fully express in his/her natural language and convey facial expression and cues to ensure nothing gets lost in the translation. This system can also be used to facilitate communication between two people who use sign language to communicate without an intermediary interpreter.

The telephone is available in Room 439 of Spiva Library. For access to the room, please see a library staff member at the AVC Government Documents desk. For general information, contact Melissa Locher, Coordinator for Disability Services.

Mapping Missouri

Spiva Library invites you to travel through time with the traveling exhibit, Mapping Missouri. This exhibit features more than 100 maps from the Missouri State Archives' collection, some of which have never been shown before.

“Drawing from such diverse examples as the land survey maps made by Antoine Soulard in St. Louis from 1796-1806, to the computer generated Lewis and Clark maps created by Jim Harlan and the University of Missouri's Geographic Resources Center in 2002, this exhibit explores the history of cartography in Missouri and the role maps have played in our everyday lives," says Amber Carr, Library.

Mapping Missouri uses stunning examples of colorful cartography to show how maps express our attitude about the world around us, illustrating such topics as the evolution of land surveying methods, the process of creating geographical inventories of natural resources, and methods of using maps to recreate events that took place long ago.”

Mapping Missouri will be on display on the main (3rd) floor of the library through March 4. The library invites everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about how Missouri became what it is today.

This traveling exhibit is made possible by:

Beverly Block, Business Administration, presented a session on dining etiquette to the Monett Chamber of Commerce at "Leadership Monett" last Tuesday evening. The Monett Chamber conducted a two-day retreat at Camp Barnabas in Purdy. The session was held in the Dining Hall at the camp. After the participants discussed proper business dining etiquette, they were served their evening meal.

An essay by Allen Merriam, Communication, on China's importance in the modern world is posted at www.mssu.edu/china.

"Collaboration Between Theatre and Nursing: Developing Standardized Patients in Nurse Practitioner Education" is the title of a presentation for the AACN 2007 Master's Education Conference in Albuquerque, NM on Feb 22. Faculty authors are Jay Fields, Theatre, and Anita Singleton, UMKC School of Nursing Joplin site. The presentation will reflect a project developed between the disciplines on the MSSU campus. Anita will present at the nursing conference.

For Sale: 1998 Nissan Frontier truck, long wide bed, 4 cyl., 5 speed, PS, AC, chrome wheels 25 MPG, drives great
price, $3750. Call Jan at ext. 9558.

For Sale: "Canon" Power Shot SD10 Digital Elph. 4.0 MegaPixels, Carrying Casem Rechargeable Battery with Charger included. $80 OBO Please make offer. Call Scott at 622-9364.