Get ready for the Canada Semester!

Fall 2009 has officially been named the "Canada Semester" at Missouri Southern State University.

Allen Merriam, retired Communications professor at MSSU, has pointed out a number of interesting facts about the relationship between the two nations in his essay "Why Canada?"

The United States and Canada enjoy the largest trade relationship between any two nations on earth. Imports and exports in 2007 totaled nearly $566 billion, a 77% increase over 10 years earlier (2009 World Almanac). In 2007 more international visitors entered the U.S. from Canada than from any other country. Canada was the origin of the second greatest number of passenger cars imported into the U.S. Canada except for Japan. Canada provides more oil, gas, electricity, and uranium to the U.S. than any other country.

An estimated seven million U. S. jobs depend on trade with Canada, which ranks among the top 10 producers of corn, wheat, beef, and pork. Undoubtedly, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will only intensify economic interdependence among Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Canadian-U.S. border, counting land boundaries, shorelines of shared waterways (including the Great Lakes), and the Alaska-Yukon border, stretches 5,525 miles.

Although Canada is larger in terms of square miles than the U.S., only a fraction of the land is habitable or cultivable. For that reason, Canada's population is less than a tenth of that of the U.S. A whopping 90 percent of Canadians live within 300 miles of the U.S. border.

The culture of the two nations sometimes seems seamless. However, looks can be deceiving: Canadians know a great deal about the U.S. but many people in this nation falter when asked to name Canada's capital city or its Prime Minister.

Chad Stebbins, Institute of International Studies, says a variety of activities and events are planned during the theme semester. Highlights of the events scheduled include:

• Sept. 15-19: The U.S. premiere of Herman Voaden's "Emily Carr" by Southern Theatre.
  
• Sept. 21: Three presentations on the Mounties' origin and history, its scope of operations, and its unique relationship with Aboriginal peoples in Canada by a 35-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
  
• Oct. 5: A performance by Great Big Sea, a folk-rock band from Newfoundland
  
• Oct. 27-28: The Gockel International Symposium, featuring the Canadian Consul General.
  
• Nov. 12: Two presentations by the head of the Quebec government office in Chicago.
  
• Ten films shown on varying dates as part of the Canadian Film Festival

For a complete list of activities visit http://www.mssu.edu/canada/.

(Just in case you may have forgotten, Canada's capital is Ottawa and its Prime Minister is Stephen Harper.)

Welcome Week activities

The pencils are sharpened, the books are new and the semester is about to begin. A variety of "Welcome Week" activities are planned for the first days of the new semester at Missouri Southern. These include the following:

Sunday, August 23
* Campus Craze, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., Hughes Stadium

Monday, August 24
* All-Campus Picnic, 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., The Oval

Tuesday, August 25
* Drive-In Movie, Pit Parking Lot (near Kuhn Hall). Showing Angels and Demons, approx. 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, August 26
* Fall Forward, 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., The Oval

Thursday, August 27
*Hypnotist Brad Clark, 7 p.m., Corley Auditorium, Webster Hall

Friday, August 28
* Lion's ROAR, 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., The Oval
* Survivor Night, 7 - 10 p.m., Residence Hall Lawn

President Speck to make presentations

President Bruce Speck will make two presentations open to the campus community regarding the state of the University and the state of higher education in Missouri. His presentation will be offered at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, in Cornell Auditorium in Plaster Hall. All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend one of the sessions.

Dr. Speck is presenting the PowerPoint in the morning and afternoon to try to accommodate as many work schedules as possible for faculty and staff. His presentation includes an overview of accomplishments and goals of MSSU and national and state-wide challenges in higher education, as well as a discussion about trends in the economy.

Wilcoxon Health Center opens Monday

The Student Health Center has moved to its new location. It is now located in the Willcoxon Health Center, adjacent to the Biemdick Recreation Center. Medical care is available to students, faculty and staff when classes are in session during the fall, spring and summer semesters. Medical staff members are not on campus during breaks.

The Health Center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning Monday, August 24. Walk-ins are accepted, but appointments are preferred. To make an appointment, students are asked to call 417-625-9323.

Herb Waring, D.C. will be offering chiropractic services at the new student health center this fall. Dr. Waring will be available from 8 a.m. to noon on Fridays, beginning August 28. Students, staff, and faculty are welcome.  There will be a charge of $20 per visit. (No insurance will be accepted or filed for these chiropractic visits.) Call the Health Center number for an appointment.

KGCS to provide coverage of Board meeting

KGCS-TV will once again provide live coverage of the Missouri Southern Board of Governors meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, August 21. This will be the final board meeting to be held in the KGCS-TV studios, with the board scheduled to meet in its new meeting room in the Billingsly Student Center in September.

The meeting will be rebroadcast Sunday evening at 7 p.m. on KGCS, according to Judy Stiles, KGCS Manager.

KGCS programming may be seen over the air on channel 22, on Cable One channel 7 and Mediacom channel 77. The station operates as a service of the Department of Communication.

Inuit Art Display at Spiva Art Gallery

“Cultural Reflections: Inuit Art," will be on display Aug. 31 through Sept. 25 at the Spiva Art Gallery at Missouri Southern State University.

The exhibition includes original  prints from the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City and Inuit soapstone carvings from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Melvyn Moser of Joplin.

The Inuit artists created the work document a world of nomadic life and seasonal hunting, now altered by the modern world.  Many of the artists represented are of the last generation who lived a nomadic life before stepping into modernity.

What was once known only through oral tradition is set down visually in the unique mediums of soapstone carving and prints many of which were made from soapstone matrixes. The imagery reflects life on the land: daily existence, hunting practices, mythical beings related to their spiritual beliefs, and survival itself.

Moser, Physical Science, has collected soapstone carving for many years.

The presentation of the exhibit is part of the university’s Canada Semester,  During the semester a variety of exhibitions, lectures and other events will place an emphasis on the culture of America's neighbor to the north.

The Spiva Art Gallery display is  free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and other hours by appointment.

An opening reception for the display is planned for 4 p.m. - 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 31.

Show what Southern means to you

New and current students will soon be returning. Show them what Missouri Southern means to you by displaying one of the three, new desktop images shown below. The University Relations & Marketing office has designed three different desktop images from which you may choose.

Select from (left to right) Desktop Image# 1, Desktop Image # 2 or Desktop Image #3

Just email Michael Hailey, University Relations & Marketing, at hailey-m@mssu.edu and let him know which one you want and whether you will need it conventional size or widescreen.

Newsmakers to focus on Southern

Current and upcoming editions of the Newsmakers interview program will focus on Missouri Southern State University and the start of the new semester. The programs will air over the next few weeks on KGCS-TV.

A program airing this week and continuing into next week features MSSU President Bruce Speck. The next airing will be Sunday afternoon at 2:30 on KGCS-TV.

An interview about the new Student Recreation Center and other construction on campus will air starting next week. It features video highlights of the new buildings. The program will air Sunday evening at 9 p.m., Monday at 5:30 p.m.and 9:30 p.m. and other times throughout the week on KGCS-TV. KOAM-TV will air the program Saturday, August 29 at 5:30 a.m.

A third interview, with MSSU Campus Police Chief Ken Kennedy also begins airing next week. It may be seen Sunday at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.

KGCS programming may be seen over the air on channel 22. It also airs on Cable One channel 7, Mediacom channel 77 and other local cable systems.

Lee to present lecture on Québec Aug. 28

The lecture “Québec, the Cradle of Canada” will be presented at 10 a.m., Friday, Aug. 28 in Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall at Missouri Southern State University.

The presentation by Missouri State University professor emeritus David Lee is free and open to the public.

Canada, rarely studied in U.S. schools, is only known to many of us as a refuge for our youth during the Vietnam era and the popular song, “Blame Canada,” from South Park.

However, largely forgotten is the fact that the history of Canada begins with the French presence on this continent. This presentation will emphasize that aspect of the country, for, while the rest of Canada is oriented toward the British Commonwealth, Quebec remains largely French in temperament.

Another facet of Quebec history that often perplexes Americans, the desire of many Québécois to separate from the rest of the country, also will be covered.

Lee has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and is professor emeritus from Missouri State University, where he taught French for 25 years. He led frequent study tours to Québec, and for more than 10 years accompanied MSU students to the Université Laval for the summer French program.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT DAY Employers Sought * Showcase your organization to the MSSU Community * Connect with potential part-time employees * Meet students who will make great interns * Make sure MSSU students know about your company The answer: ATTEND MSSU’s CAREER DEVELOPMENT DAY! 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 Newly-remodeled Billingsly Student Center Registration is available at www.mssu.edu/career Hosted by Career Services, 417-625-9343

Retiree email agreement

Retiring MSSU employees are being offered the benefit of continuing their campus email accounts. Due to licensing and storage requirements the retiree email accounts have some rules that are different from active employee email accounts. It will be necessary for the retirees to agree to all these requirements in order to continue this benefit.

To see the agreement, visit emailform

Telephone books

Employees can pick up their Names and Numbers phone book in Hearnes Hall room 107 in the Registrar's office. 

Those picking up new books should discard their own old phone books. 

The Registrar's office asks that the books be picked up as soon as possible.

Deadlines Extended Deadlines to access Lionet registration have been extended to better accommodate faculty and students with the registration process. Student Access Web registration (the ability to add or drop a class) for students will expire for the fall 2009 term at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28. At that time, the Alternate Registration PIN will become void and students will no longer be able to add or delete classes from their schedule through Lionet. Faculty Access Faculty who use Lionet for registration purposes will no longer have access to register students through Lionet after Friday, August 28th (the end of late registration). If a student wishes to enroll during Special Registration, staff with INB access must enroll the student. As of 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4 (at the end of the special registration and the 100% tuition refund period) faculty will not be able to drop students from classes through Lionet. Web access will expire at that time. Withdrawal Forms Students needing to withdraw from a single class or all classes (a total withdrawal) must begin using withdrawal forms as of Sept. 8.

Vaccinations free at Gardasil Clinic

Held in cooperation with the Economic Security Corporation of Southwest Missouri, the Student Health Center at MSSU is conducting a FREE Gardasil Clinic on Monday, August 31. Gardasil protects young women from 70 percent of the HPV strains that cause cervical cancer and 90 percent of the strains of HPV that cause genital warts.

The MSSU Gardasil Clinic is open to all local females between the ages of 18 and 26. All young women who attend the Gardasil Clinic at MSSU and begin their 3-shot series in 2009 are guaranteed to get the two remaining vaccinations for free in 2010.

The Free Gardasil Clinic is being held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, August 31, at the MSSU Willcoxon Health Center, which is adjacent to the Biemdiek Recreation Center. No appointment is necessary.

The National theme for Gardasil is "One Less." We want young women to be one less cancer statistic. Gardasil is a 3-shot vaccination series that prevents some forms of HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer and other infections.

By age 50, 80 percent of women currently get the virus that causes cervical cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths among women. We want young women to be "one less" cancer statistic.

More information is available from the Student Health Center at (417) 625-9323.

STAFF SENATE MEETING DATES Below are the Staff Senate meeting dates for Fall 2009. Please submit items of concern to: staffsenate@mssu.edu Sept. 9, 2009 Oct. 7, 2009 Nov. 11, 2009 Dec. 9, 2009 The meetings are in the Spiva Library, #413A. Meetings begin at 9 a.m.

WOW @ Your Library! Spiva Library is pleased to announce the new World of Wisdom (WOW) @ Your Library workshops. These workshops will be offered to the campus community on August 25 -26 and Sept. 1 - 2. Participants will be given a short demonstration of the new library web page navigation, and new databases that became available on July 1, 2009. A list of the databases is available by clicking this link: databases09. WOW @ Your Library workshops will be held in the University Java area at 1 p.m. on the 1st floor of the library. Since seating is limited, choose your date and mark your calendar now. Enjoy FREE popcorn and library merchandise, including – bookmarks, lanyards, magnets, and pens. Feel free to bring your lunch. In addition, participants will have chances to win library USB bracelet drives and free or discounted coffee coupons. For more information, contact Nancy Schiavone, Library, at schiavone-n@mssu.edu or call 625-9729. More information is also available by visiting WOW.pdf.

FACULTY/STAFF

Jeanie Cozens, Teacher Education, has been appointed to the Subcommittee on International Literacy Project Grants of the International Reading Association (IRA). The committee evaluates and recommends literacy projects in developing countries that are to be funded through IRA.

Andrea B. Hellman, Teacher Education, has received notification from the Editor and Board of Language Teaching that her doctoral thesis, The Limits of Eventual Lexical Attainment in Adult-onset Second Language Acquisition has been selected as the winner of the Christopher Brumfit PhD/Ed.D. Thesis Award 2008, sponsored by Cambridge University Press and promoted by Language Teaching: Surveys and Studies. Hellman was notified in the spring that her thesis was one of fourteen chosen for the final stage of selection out of almost fifty submissions. The thesis then went on to win the top award. For a more detailed story visit http://www.mssu.edu/news/2009/hellman_award09.html.

Chad Stebbins, Institute of International Studies, will appear on KSN's Hometown Today morning program on Monday, August 24. The program will air between 6 and 6:30 a.m. according to Lyle Burrow, Theatre, who works with the program. Chad will talk about the upcoming Canada Semester.

CLASSIFIED

Looking For: Rock Band 1 or Rock Band 2 guitar in good working order. Price negotiable. Will consider other equipment related to the game. Contact Stephen Smith at 625-9506 or 388-2128 (cell) or email smith-se@mssu.edu.

For Sale: 2200 sq. ft. lake front house for sale in Shell Knob, Mo. on Table Rock Lake. Boat dock available at King's River Marina nearby. 2 - 4 bedrooms, central heat/air. Propane heat, electric water heater and air. 2 baths, 1.5 garages, front and back decks. Newer roof, recent siding, totally remodeled and ready to move into. Includes appliances, window coverings, new carpet, walkout basement, new tile, paint, fans and fixtures. Must see to appreciate. $162,900. Call (417) 540-3423. To see pictures, e-mail gallemore-r@mssu.edu.