President's Gala Concert

The first annual President's Gala Concert will "Celebrate the Greatest Generation" at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23 in Taylor Performing Arts Center on the MSSU campus.

The benefit concert, which will feature the rich tenor voice of MSSU President Bruce W. Speck, will raise funds to support the Missouri Southern Music Department and the President's Foundation Fund.

Tickets are now available at the MSSU Ticket Office in the Bookstore. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and senior citizens (60 or older). Tickets also will be available in the Music Department office on the MSSU campus and at Ernie Williamson Music (925 S. Range Line).

The program will feature several vocal and instrumental ensembles from the Music Department and Dr. Speck will be a featured performer in many of those numbers. Selections will include classics such as Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Moonlight Serenade, America the Beautiful, Londonderry Air, A Mighty Fortress is our God, Smack Dab in the Middle, a medley of Yankee Doodle Dandy, You're A Grand Old Flag, God Bless America and many more.

The program of the concert is available at http://www.mssu.edu/president/presidents-benefit-concert-prog08.pdf.

Final nights for Southern Theatre's Gas

Southern Theatre's play Gas will have its concluding nights at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 - 18 in the Bud Walton Theatre. 
           
James Lile, Theatre, directs the expressionist play, written by Georg Kaiser.   

Admission is free to students, faculty, staff; $3 for adults; $1 for senior citizens and high school students.        

Georg Kaiser was one of the most influential of the playwrights who pioneered expressionism in Germany at the time of World War I. Ethan Mordden defines expressionism as “forms of composition and stagecraft through which the wishes, fears, and obsessions of the human psyche are made audible and visible.”        

German author Jana Hensel to Speak Oct. 22-23

Jana Hensel

German author Jana Hensel will speak on campus next Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 22 - 23. The campus community is invited. Admission is free.

• Hensel will present “The World is Our Oyster: Love and Friendship After the Wall” at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22 in W. Robert Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall.

Hensel will read excerpts from her book After the Wall and discuss how the division and reunification of East and West Germany influenced her past and future relationships with friends and family.

• At 6:30 that evening, she will present “That Warm, Fuzzy Feeling of Togetherness: On Growing Up in the GDR” also in W. Robert Corley Auditorium.

Hensel will read excerpts from her book After the Wall addressing experiences unique to her East German childhood, including her perceptions of the West and of West Germans, her participation in school and social activities, and her transition into West German culture after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

• Hensel will present “The Most Important Thing Is to Win: Competition in East Germany” at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 23 in W. Robert Corley Auditorium.

She will read excerpts from her book After the Wall highlighting how the role of physical education and competitive sports was representative of East German culture in the years prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

A book signing is planned for 1 - 1:50 p.m. in the MSSU Bookstore. Those who wish to do so may come to the bookstore during that time to meet Jana Hensel and have her sign a copy of her book.

Jana Hensel was born in Leipzig, Germany, and studied literature in Berlin, Marseille and Paris. Her book, After the Wall: Confessions of an East German Childhood and the Life That Came Next, (originally published in German under the title Zonenkinder) was a major bestseller in Germany. The book recounts her childhood growing up in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the changes that took place after the Berlin Wall fell when she was thirteen years old.

Her latest book, written with Elisabeth Raether, is titled Neue deutsche Mädchen (New German Girls) and was released in April 2008. Hensel currently works as a freelance journalist and author and lives in Berlin.

1974 comedy-romance next in German Film Festival

The German Film Festival will present the film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Angst essen Seele auf) at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 21 in Cornell Auditorium in Plaster Hall at Missouri Southern State University.

Admission is free. The public is invited to attend.

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, this moving romance between an aging floor washer and an inarticulate Arab mechanic is a perverse comedy and biting drama of racial prejudice.

The 1974 film was awarded the International Critics Prize at Cannes and described by critic Archer Winston as “the surprise of the century.”

Love appointed student representative to Board

Ivy Love

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has appointed Ivy Love, senior French and Spanish major from Greenfield, as the new student representative to the Board of Governors at Missouri Southern State University. 
          
Love is a recipient of Missouri Bright Flight and MSSU Evans scholarships.  She was admitted to the Missouri Southern Honors program in 2006 and has repeatedly been named to the Deans’ List at the University.       

She served as president of the Russian Club (2007-08) and vice president of the Russian Club (2006-07), secretary to the MSSU Student Senate (2007-08) and Peer Mentor in the MSSU Honors Program (2007-08).        

She chaired the Student Senate Community Outreach Committee (2007-08).

Love is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, the Epsilon Mu Sigma Honor Society and Southern Ambassadors.

Love will serve a term extending to Dec. 31, 2009.

CAPP Evaluation sessions planned

The Registrar’s Office will once again be offering training regarding the Curriculum, Advising, and Program Planning (CAPP) Degree Evaluation system in LioNet. Those new to using CAPP or anyone needing a refresher will find this training beneficial when advising students for spring 2009 enrollment.

Elisabeth Leighninger, Registrar's Office, will address many of the frequently-asked questions about CAPP that have been raised during its first year of use.

The final session are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 21.

These sessions will last about one hour and will consist of a presentation and demonstration of the CAPP Degree Evaluation system. Elisabeth will stay after each presentation to answer any specific questions about CAPP and provide hands-on help.

All sessions will take place in Plaster Hall, Room 320. Due to limited seating, please RSVP to leighninger-e@mssu.edu to let her know which session you plan to attend.

Don't forget the interviews . . .

Mindy Thompson, Financial Aid, reminds all graduates with student loans that they are required to complete exit counseling/interviews prior to Dec. 13.

Teachers should remind upcoming graduates they will not be able to obtain their diploma, transcript or grades until the exit interviews are completed either online or in person.

For information, contact Financial Aid at (417) 625-9325.

Planning for retirement

Whatever your age or years of service at Missouri Southern, we all need to plan for retirement.

Be prepared for what's ahead by planning to attend this special event sponsored by the Human Resources Office.

The Mosers Retirement Planning Seminar will be held at 2:30 p.m., Oct. 21 and at 9:30 a.m., Oct. 22 in the Spiva Library Room 413.

State Employees covered by the state retirement plan prior to July 1, 2000, have the choice of retiring under the Missouri State Employees Plan (MSEP) or the Missouri State Employees Plan 2000 (MSEP 2000). The BackDROP Retirement Option will also be discussed. Come to one of the sessions above and learn the information you will need to compare the major provisions of the two retirement plans.

The morning and in the afternoon sessions will cover MSEP & MSEP 2000 Benefit Overview and Comparison. This will include a review of BackDROP Program (1 1/2 hrs in length) and Social Security and Medicare (approximately 45 minutes in length).

If you cannot attend a full morning or afternoon session, please feel free to come and go as your schedule permits.
For further information, please call Judy Wilmoth, Human Resources, at ext. 3167.

Student Teachers begin professional semesters

Forty-eight education majors 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). All of the teacher candidates will be in classrooms for ten weeks under the supervision of a certified teacher.

They must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative Grade Point Average and a 2.5 GPA in their majors; 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.

Southern's teacher education program is performance-based and one of the largest in the state. Candidates must demonstrate mastery of the teacher education program standards, such as well-developed lesson plans and classroom management skills. To a see a list of the students taking part, visit http://www.mssu.edu/news/2008/studentteachers_fall08.html.

AAUW Holiday Auction scheduled

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) invites the community to its Holiday Auction, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15 at the First Community Church, 15th & Murphy Blvd. in Joplin. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. with the auction beginning at 2 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the group's scholarship fund for MSSU.

Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments also will be available.

A wide variety of items will be sold including food items, themed baskets, Christmas items including ornaments dolls and Bearington and Boyd bears, as well as a rattan rocking chair, crystal candle sticks, Martin trombone and case, Life Style Heart Exercise Machine and other miscellaneous items. A complete Dickens Village already has a $500 bid but higher bids will be accepted.

Mary Parker, Student Support Center, says new members are always welcome. . For information, call Mary at ext. 9363.

National Friends of Libraries Week

Oct. 19-25 is National Friends of the Library week. That makes it a good time to thank the Friends of George A. Spiva Library who contribute so much of their time and expertise to significantly enhance the MSSU library's resources and services.

"I know that Spiva Library and the friends group are sources of pride in our community," says Amber Carr, Library. "I hope this week everyone will call the library to find out how they can join and support this outstanding group," she adds.

U.S. film next selection in Contemporary Series

God Grew Tired of Us (United States, 2007, 90 minutes) will be the next film in the Fall 2008 series. The film will be shown as part of the Continuing Education “Foreign Film” class.

Those who want to attend this and upcoming films will be asked to register and pay a $10 course fee to offset the cost of purchasing the films on DVD.

This American independent film is a critically acclaimed documentary about the experiences of three “Lost Boys” of the Sudan who survive the civil war in their country and resettle in the United States.  Actress Nicole Kidman serves as narrator. God Grew Tired of Us was the winner of the Grand Jury and other prizes at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film will be shown at approximately 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24 in Cornell Auditorium, Plaster Hall. A brief discussion will follow the film. For more information on the films and the class, please contact Bill Kumbier, English, by e-mailing kumbier-w@mssu.edu.

Student's Ebay internship gives "slice of life"

Joe Obeto during his Ebay Internship

You may think of Ebay as a good place to look for a good deal or sell something for a good price but Joachim “Joe” Obeto, junior Computer Information Science major from Nigeria, is using it to help move into a successful career.

Obeto spent the summer of 2008 at Ebay’s headquarters in San Jose, Calif. During this time he was responsible for maintaining and monitoring the batch operation job schedule. This included understanding product development technical details and functional job workflow in the Appworx job scheduling application.

Internship, for some people, provides an opportunity to figure out more about their career opportunities by providing a "slice of life."

“I have had some challenges. choosing my career path because Information Technology (I.T.) is such a broad field," Obeto states.

“When you think about I.T. as a field, a whole lot of things come to your mind,” he muses. “We have Database Administration, Web Administration, Development, Infrastructure, just to mention a few. So, you have to first select at least one of these and then how you will approach it.”

Joe Obeto 's boyhood home was Nigeria, in west Africa. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and, at 140 million, is the eighth most populous nation in the world.

“Several members of my family already live in the U.S.,” Obeto states. My sister is a pharmacist. She and my mother live in Orlando, Fla. My brother,works as an I.T. analyst for Dell, Inc. in Nashville."

He has several other brothers and sisters who still live in Nigeria.

Obeto says the internship helps him determine where his strengths and weaknesses. He says Ebay has given him the chance to exploring my career path.

"I have also had the opportunity to speak and meet with the Executives, Managers and Directors," he comments. "From those meetings, I got an insight into how a career in any of the aforementioned career paths will look like in future years,” he says.

Obeto says attending MSSU has provided him with “remarkable opportunities.” MSSU’s study-abroad program led to a tour of Germany, Switzerland and France in the summer of 2007.

“Then I finally scored a coveted internship with big-name technology firm at eBay,” he effuses.

Obeto says he first plans to graduate from college. That is his first priority. Then he plans to work on a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

In terms of his future career, Obeto says the sky is the limit. He says his internship led him to make one major preliminary decision that, if realized, will take him across the nation from Missouri Southern:

“I plan to relocate to Silicon Valley and pursue my career. Relocating to Silicon Valley was one of the decisions I made during my internship. Silicon Valley is the heart of technology.”

FACULTY/STAFF

The Commissioners of the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC) at their recent Board meeting, appointed Barbara Box, Nursing, to serve as a Member of the Master's and Baccalaureate Evaluation Review Panel for the fall 2008 - spring 2011 term. The Evaluation Review Panels meet twice a year to review nursing programs seeking NLNAC accreditation.

Julie Blackford and Susan Craig and Shavonne McCoy, Project Stay, accompanied fourteen students to the MKN Adult Student Leadership Conference in Kansas City Oct. 10-12. Shavonne McCoy and Susan Craig presented a workshop entitled "What's Your Marshmallow." The workshop was designed to help students identify the things that impede progress toward their personal and academic goals.

Wendy McGrane, Library, and Debbie Woodmansee, ITS, attended the Missouri Library Association Annual Conference in St. Louis, Mo. Oct. 1-3. They made a presentation entitled Campus Partnerships: Improving Service Through Collaboration which described the logistics of the ITS Help Desk operations move into the library and the collaborative activities they've initiated over the past year.

Frank A. Pishkur, Art, attended The International Ceramic Exposition at the Lubeznik Art Center in Michigan City, Indiana on Oct. 12. Curated by John D. Wilson, this exhibit of contemporary artworks featured over 40 artists ranging from England, China, France, Australia, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, the Republic of Georgia, and the United States. The artists all participated over a 20 year span in the Artists in Residence program at the Lakeside Center for the Arts in Lakeside, Mich.  

Rusty Raymond, Music, served on the adjudication panel for the Oklahoma Bandmasters Marching Band State Championships for Class 1A, 2A, and 3A. The marching championships were held in Moore, Okla. on Oct. 11.

CLASSIFIED

For Sale: Upright Amana Freezer - 16.9 cubic feet. White. Manual defrost. Purchased fall 2000. Runs great, gently used. $175. Contact Melissa at 782-4351.

For Sale: 2004 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Pickup, white, 81,500 miles. Efficient, roomy small truck with 4 doors. Excellent Toyota shape! Looks like new. $13,600. Automatic, 6 cylinder, 2 wheel drive, full bed liner, must see to appreciate. Call 659-5425 or (417) 540-3423 cell.

For Sale: Walnut coffee table, $50. Excellent condition. 70" x 18" Call 659-5425 office; 417-540-3423 cell.