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Week of March 10-23, 2008 Welcome to the Tower Topics E-newsletter for faculty, staff and students at Western. |
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Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 816-271- 4200 |
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Click any link for these stories: Western Names Williams Athletic Director Foundation Board Members Honored Western Hosts Children's Book Author Lost & Found: If you have lost any items, please come to SU 228 to claim them. You may be required to describe the item. Click on
Guidelines for Tower Topics: Tower Topics submissions should state time, date, place, sponsor, title of event, name of speaker's and admission fees. Send complete information to the Public Relations and Marketing office (Leah Spratt Hall, Room 106). The deadline for all entries is 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, for the next week's issue. Tower Topics will be online weekly during the fall and spring semester. For more information call 271-5651. Student Editor:
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Western Names Williams Athletic Director Western President Dr. James Scanlon named David Williams as the school’s next director of athletics March 7. “Dave is recognized as a national leader in NCAA Division II athletics administration,” said Dr. Scanlon. “I am confident he will lead Griffon athletics to academic and athletic success with integrity. We welcome Dave and his family to St. Joseph.” “I’m happy to join the Western family,” Williams said. “The community and the campus understand the importance of an athletic department that reflects the mission and values of the university.” Williams has been athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside since 2001, after serving as assistant athletic director, head men’s golf coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at the school. Prior to that, he was an assistant men’s basketball coach at North Dakota State University and Augustana College (Ill.). His leadership ability was recognized by his peers in 2006, when he was elected president of the Division II Athletic Directors Association, a position he still holds. Western and UW-Parkside are similar in a number of ways, Williams said. Like Western, UW-Parkside is an NCAA Division II institution. Both schools have about 5,000 students with similar nontraditional and minority student numbers. Both are regional universities located near major metropolitan areas, and both are committed to community engagement. “We’ve likely had similar successes and similar challenges,” Williams said. “My experience at Parkside has prepared me well for Western.” While the universities are very similar, Williams believes Western has more to offer athletically. UW-Parkside does not offer football, and Williams said he misses the energy that a football program brings to campus at the start of each academic year. Williams said he also appreciates the geographic proximity of the schools in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). “The fact that the schools are grouped so closely together allows rivalries to develop,” Williams said. Williams believes the athletic department should help student-athletes excel academically, socially and athletically. During his time at UW-Parkside, the grade point average, retention rate and graduation rate for student-athletes have all far surpassed those of the general student body. The Rangers have also enjoyed athletic success during Williams’ tenure. Thirteen of UW-Parkside’s 15 sports have qualified for NCAA post-season competition, and the school has won 12 Great Lakes Valley Conference championships. More than 80 candidates applied for the vacancy created by the resignation of Mark Linder in August 2007. A screening committee evaluated each qualified applicant on a number of criteria, including collegiate athletics administrative experience, management style and philosophy, NCAA compliance history, character, community involvement, demonstrable fundraising success and a record of developing competitive athletic programs with strong academic achievement for student-athletes. They invited three finalists to campus, including Williams, and then reported each candidate’s perceived strengths and weaknesses to Dr. Scanlon, who made the decision in consultation with incoming President Dr. Robert Vartabedian. “The committee was very impressed with the quality of the candidates,” said Dan Nicoson, vice president for university advancement and chair of the screening committee. “We have said all along that Western is one of the premiere Division II athletic director positions in the nation, and the fact that we attracted so many good candidates, especially someone of Dave’s caliber, bears that out.” Williams earned a master’s degree in educational administration from North Dakota State University in 1995 and a bachelor’s degree in education from Augustana College (Ill.) in 1991. He and his wife, Suzanne, have three children: Cooper, 9, Carter, 7, and Caden, 2. He will begin his duties at Western on May 1, 2008 or before. |
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Dancing, practicing sports skills, running under a rainbow parachute, and plenty of laughter and hugs are all part of Dr. Betty Block’s Adapted PE Methods class when it hosts adults from United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) in the Looney arena every Tuesday. “This is fun. I’m out here having a good time and they are having a blast,” said physical education major Tommy Bone as he and fellow student Rachel Ricklefs demonstrated dance steps to the group while music from Grease rocked the gym. Each Tuesday, the class offers physical education instruction to 20 adults from UCP, whose disabilities range from developmentally delayed, to physically and mentally handicapped. On Thursdays, Western students teach 30 physically and mentally handicapped children from the Helen Davis State School in St. Joseph. Dr. Block said the classes benefit both her students and their guests. Western students learn how they need to adapt their teaching methods for handicapped people, and the adults and children from UCP and Helen Davis gain benefits from not only the PE instruction, but from the socialization with the students. Dr. Block said her students are responsible for planning the activities for each class and figuring out how to adapt their lessons. “We were all scared at first; we didn’t know what to expect,” said Ricklefs, a PE and health and wellness major. “Now it’s amazing. I look forward to class, it’s great.” “Every person is different,” said PE major Sarah Watkins. “You have to figure out what they are interested in and how to get them motivated and active.” Ricklefs agreed. “And when they find something they like, their smile gets bigger and bigger.” |
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"American Writer" High School Writing Conference |
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| Almost 225 students from 14 area high schools gathered for the annual High School Writing Day March 6. Students attended two workshops from a choice of 13, had lunch on campus and participated in an open mic reading. Dr. Bob Bergland, associate professor of journalism, conducted a Convergent Journalism workshop, where participants compiled a digital composition of the day's events. Right, Western students Ryan Bradley and Chris Shove conducted one of the workshops. | ||||||||
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Foundation Board Members Honored Two members of Western’s Foundation Board of Directors, Loah Stallard and Esther George, were recently recognized in two Kansas City publications. Stallard was recognized in the February issue of Ingram’s Magazine as a “Hero in Health Care.” For more than 25 years, Stallard was executive director of the Social Welfare Board in St. Joseph, a free health clinic that serves citizens of limited income that are without health insurance and not covered by government programs. Now, she’s a health educator for the WISEWOMAN Program, a service of the clinic for women over the age of 40 that provides one-on-one counseling on nutrition, exercise and tobacco cessation as well as screening and education to reduce the risk of diseases and strokes. George, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, was recognized in the Kansas City Business magazine as one of Kansas City’s “Most Influential Women.” George, a 1980 graduate of Western, is responsible for the supervision and regulation of the 10th Federal District’s 175 state-chartered member banks, nearly 1,000 bank and financial holding companies and the bank’s discount window and risk management functions. |
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Western Hosts Children's Book Author Mike Thaler, author of “Teacher from the Black Lagoon” and more than 180 other children’s books, will make a public appearance at 7 p.m. March 13 at Western’s Downtown University Center, 515 N. 6th St. Thaler’s appearance is presented by the St. Joseph Area Literacy Coalition. There is no admission charge. Thaler, known as “America’s Riddle King” and “The Court Jester of Children’s Literature,” has written more than 40 riddle books. His “Black Lagoon” series of picture books now numbers 20 volumes. He also created the character “Letterman” for the PBS series “The Electric Company.” Thaler believes that storytelling and riddles are powerful tools in stimulating children’s awareness of language and its creative use. He will visit local elementary schools March 12 and 13 to meet with students, read, draw and teach writing and riddling. Sponsors for the St. Joseph Area Literacy Coalition’s annual author visit include Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., Commerce Bank, Friends of the Rolling Hills Consolidated Library, Friends of the St. Joseph Public Library, Hy-Vee, the Kiwanis Club of St. Joseph, the Northwest Missouri Council of the International Reading Association, the Prairie Lands Writing Project, the St. Joseph Community Teachers Association, the St. Joseph News-Press, Weyerhaeuser and the Women’s Press Club. For more information about Thaler’s visit, contact Deborah Ellsworth, director of Pass the Power adult literacy program, at 4113. |
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Women's Basketball
Baseball
Softball
Tennis
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Book Sale The annual Spring Library Book Sale starts early this year, March 11. It will continue through the end of the semester. Several departments have withdrawn titles from their collections to be replaced with newer titles and editions. Subjects include: social work, nursing, government and history. Items will be added to the book sale as departments continue to update their collections. Be sure to check our web site each week for updates on added items! Employee Lunch Join the faculty and staff beach party anytime from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 12 for good food and good company on the first floor of Eder Hall. There will also be games and door prizes. First and second prize will be given for the Best Beach Wear Contest! Free Tiki Taxi rides across campus. Bring a meat dish, salad, veggie, chips and/or dip/salsa or dessert - it doesn't even have to be homemade! Contact Judy Chambers, graduate records coordinator, at 4589 for more information. CME Education Movie CME presents “If These Walls Could Talk” movie and discussion at 7 p.m. March 20 in the Junior College Room. This movie addresses several issues often associated with women (abortion, women's rights to reproduction, etc.). The CME, along with WAC, is making an effort to show educational and thought-provoking movies that will include an opportunity for discussion. We are making this effort in response to requests by students that we provide some movies with educational content. If you would like to encourage your students to attend please let us know. We are able to take attendance. If you have particular questions you would like us to offer for discussion, please forward those to Tay Triggs, director of CME, at triggs@missouriwestern.edu or 4150. GPS Workshop Western will host a three-day workshop entitled “Introduction to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for Mapping and Navigation,” March 12-14. The workshop will be taught by Dr. Cary Chevalier, associate professor of biology and certified Trimble Navigation trainer. The course is designed with no prior knowledge in GPS required or expected. The workshop will train on Trimble Geo CE-XT mobile Geographic Information Systems (GIS) GPS units with Terrasync Pro software. Members of the course will use Pathfinder Office integration software and will learn to use Bluetooth wireless communication, WAAS real-time differential and Coast Guard Beacon real-time differential. For more information, contact Dr. Chevalier at 4252 or cchev@missouriwestern.edu. Planetarium Series The Western Planetarium will hold its spring series with shows entitled “More Than Meets the Eye,” “Lewis and Clark” and “Hubble Vision.” The dates are as follows:
All shows begin at 7 p.m. and last approximately 50 minutes. The seating capacity is 40 people. Tickets are $3 each which must be paid at the door. Advance reservations are required and can be made by calling 4370 or 4288. The planetarium is located in Agenstein Hall, room 105. Women's Summit The CME will host the second annual Women’s Summit from 2 to 6 p.m. on March 22 in Blum Union. The summit will begin with a light lunch with keynote address by Tay Triggs, director of CME, followed by educational sessions and a workshop. Topics include positive living, communicating with confidence, priorities for women, self-empowerment and global sisterhood. Sessions also include College 101, especially for high school girls, and a Spanish-language presentation on the benefits of a college education. Sessions and roundtable discussions will be led by Western alumni, faculty and staff and leaders from the St. Joseph community. Regular registration is from March 8 through March 21 while late registrations will be accepted on the day of the conference. To register for the Summit or for more information please contact the CME at 4150. 360Search Within a few weeks, the MWSU community will have a new and simple way to search the library’s electronic databases. The library has purchased a product, 360Search, to cross-search our electronic databases. It allows individuals to cross-search the library catalog and the majority of the electronic databases with a single search statement. For more precise searching, subject categories have been created. This resource will be particularly useful for those students unfamiliar with the numerous databases accessible through the library or who stop their searching with the first database that they search. While this new search method will allow simple searching there, will be no loss of the unique features of the individual databases to which the library subscribes. All databases will continue to exist and will be searchable individually. For further information, contact Jim Mulder or any of the Reference staff. Homecoming Steering Committee Applications Applications for the 2008 Homecoming Steering Committee are now available. Please stop by the CSE to pick one up.You must have a 2.3 cumulative GPA to join the committee, and you will earn points for your student organization in the overall Homecoming competition. If you have questions, you can contact one of the Homecoming Steering Committee Co-Chairs: Luke Herrington at lmh6331@missouriwestern.edu, and Scott Lassen at slassen@missouriwestern.edu. Call the CSE at 271-4159 for more information. Applications are due by 4 p.m. April 11. Phi Mu Recruitment Phi Mu is holding informal recruitment the whole month of March. If interested in joining, come hang out! Contact Joesey Jackson at 515-975-4664 for more information. Raped? From Victim to Survivor The NAACP will host "Raped?: From Victim to Survivor" at 5 p.m. March 19 in Blum 219. This event will include Western student, NAACP president and rape victim Jasmine Pasley speaking about her encounter, as well as rape victim and Western student Joseph Franklin. Rape Crisis Center representative and Western alumna Jenna Gilpatrick will speak about the types of rape and what to expect during a rape kit. An area attorney will speak about the legal options of rape. Lastly, Dr. Vincenza Marash, Western's women's issues counselor, will discuss the aftermath. All of the speakers will be available for question and answer. In addition, Jasmine Pasley, Joseph Franklin and Dr. Marash will be available for dialog after the program. Department of Public Safety Officer Suzan Piercy will be present to take any volunteered statements. Pastor McDonald of Hosley Chapel will also be present for anyone seeking prayer. All are welcome to attend. Men and women can both be victims of rape. Therefore, if you or someone one you know may or have been a victim of rape, please join us. Nontraditional Student Program Western will hold a program entitled, “How to Be a Successful Nontraditional Student at MWSU,” from 2 - 4 p.m. on March 19 in Eder Hall, room 208. If you are considering college as a non-traditional student but need to know more about your options for the future, wonder how to balance school, work and home, or are uneasy about taking notes and studying for tests again, this program will have the answers. The program will discuss enrolling in classes at Western, getting financial aid, finding resources and classes on campus and choosing a major. There will also be a short tour of the campus. A similar program will be held on April 17. To register or for more information, contact Ellen Kisker, director of nontraditional student services, at 4280. |
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Monday, March 10
Tuesday, March 11
Wednesday, March 12
Thursday, March 13
Friday, March 14
Monday, March 17
Tuesday, March 18
Wednesday, March 19
Thursday, March 20
Saturday, March 22
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