Week of April 12 - 18, 2004
Welcome to the Tower Topics E-newsletter for faculty, staff and students at Western.
Missouri Western State College, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 816-271- 4200
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White House Chief Interpreter Discusses Diplomatic Experiences
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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:
Jenny Pawlowski
Staff Advisers:
Kristy Hill and Diane Holtz
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"Teke-In-A-Box" Helps Those in Need |
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| The first-ever “Teke-In-A-Box” philanthropic event to raise money for area food distribution centers was held from 10 am. April 5 for over 48 hours. Fraternity volunteers including Josh Wilson '02, pictured above, lived in makeshift cardboard homes outside the St. Joseph Hy-Vee grocery in shifts ranging from two to five hours. They accepted monetary donations as well as canned goods and other nonperishable food items for Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater St. Joseph and St. Joseph’s Open Door Food Kitchen. Above left, Rachel Riggert '03, development and volunteer coordinator for the Second Harvest Food Bank assists with the philanthropic event. | |
In celebration of "Pardigras" Spring Fest 2004, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) is hosting several activities for Western students including MTV's Campus Invasion Tour 7 p.m. April 13 at the Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph.
The tour includes performances by three bands: Hoobastank, Lostprophets and IMA Robot. Tickets are free to current Western students and may be picked up in the Nelle Blum Student Union, room 210 by 4:30 p.m. April 13. The community can purchase tickets for $20 at the Civic Arena with cash, check or credit card.
"I’m really excited about this concert," said Valerie Lee, Campus Activities Board president. "We wanted to do something different that would include not only the college, but the community as well." Lee said a campus survey last fall revealed that students wanted the Campus Activities Board to bring this type of entertainment to the area.
MTV’s Choose or Lose 2004 campaign will be traveling with the Campus Invasion Tour, registering voters and offering literature aimed to raise political awareness.
MTV will be on campus from 12 - 3 p.m. that day for a daytime expo in the Nelle Blum Student Union north parking lot. Representatives will be handing out Rock the Vote packets and promotional materials to students and giving away t-shirts.
The MTV Campus Invasion Tour began in middle March and is scheduled to invade over 17 campuses nationwide before concluding in late April. Western is the only campus in Missouri hosting the event. Hoobastank will be touring to support their second album, "The Reason," which came out Dec. 9. Lostprophets, whose single "Last Train Home" has climbed rock radio charts, are supporting their second disc, "Start Something," which was released Feb. 3. Ima Robot will be touring behind their self-titled debut, which hit shelves Sept. 16.
Other events of Spring Fest 2004 are as follows:
- April 12: Saturday Night Live Comedian Jeff Richards, 7 p.m., PE arena
- April 14: And 1 Basketball team vs. Western students, 7 p.m., PE arena
- April 15: Laser Tag Maze, SU parking lot
- April 15: Drive-in showing "Gothika," 9 p.m., SU parking lot
- April 16: Pardigras Dance, 8 p.m. - midnight, Kemper Recital Hall
- April 17: Bourbon Street
For more information, visit www.missouriwestern.edu/cab or call the CAB office at 4410.
White House Chief Interpreter Discusses Diplomatic Experiences
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| White House Chief Interpreter Stephanie Van Reigersberg stands with former United States President George Bush. Van Reigersberg has worked closely with Presidents Richard Nixon through George W. Bush, along with their vice presidents and secretaries of state. |
Stephanie Van Reigersberg, chief interpreter of the White House and State Department, will present "Language and Culture on the Front Lines of Diplomacy: Interpreting with a Capital ‘I,’" at 7 p.m. April 22 in the Leah Spratt Multipurpose Classroom Building Kemper Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the community.
In her presentation, Van Reigersberg will provide a firsthand account of the importance of language, including nonverbal cues, in different cultural settings throughout several presidencies. Stories and pictures of her diplomatic experiences will be included in her presentation.
She will informally meet with students at a brown bag lunch the following day.
Van Reigersberg is the main White House diplomatic interpreter in French and Spanish. She has worked for the White House and State Department for over three decades and has been responsible for organizing summit and ministerial meetings such as the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Council in Seattle, the Middle East peace conference in Madrid, Spain, and the labor summit in Detroit. In addition, she manages a contract base of approximately 1,500 interpreters and a core staff of 22 interpreters, representing the primary world languages. She has received the Superior Honor Award for her work related to the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Mariel boat lift and the Panama Canal negotiations.
A native of St. Joseph, Van Reigersberg is the daughter of the late Simon and Monya Rositzky. She attended Central High School and graduated from Swarthmore College, Penn.
The lecture is presented through the Chautauqua Lecture Series. For more information, contact Dr. John Tapia, professor of speech, at (816) 271-4503 or tapia@missouriwestern.edu.
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| Western hosts numerous special programs held on campus throughout the year, including the annual barbershop quartet week. The program usually brings over 700 visitors to campus (above right). As part of the many activities throughout the week, participants are able perform in the Western courtyard, pictured above left. |
Over 15,000 people took advantage of the conferences and special programs that were held at Western in 2003. From church groups and sports camps to family reunions and other events, the conferences and special programs bring people from all ages around the nation.
Sue Meadows, coordinator of conferences and special programs, said that this exposure to the college is a way to show visitors the benefits of Western. Hosting these special events brings "an awareness of the many things Western has to offer prospective students or their parents," Meadows said.
According to Meadows, there is no typical conference or special program. These special events can range from one-day seminars to 10-day conferences. Some of the events are hosted by specific Western departments and taught by Western faculty, while others are hosted by outside organizations. Meadows said that many of the groups that visit Western are repeat clients. One such group is Harmony College, which will be visiting Western for its 29th year this summer.
Harmony College, or the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, is an organization with chapters worldwide. For one week each summer, Harmony College faculty members visit Western to teach topics such as arranging, physics of sound, theory of barbershop and vocal pedagogy. According to Meadows, there are usually close to 700 attendees ranging from teenagers up to those over 70.
"Every evening after class, the students gather in the Western dining room for ice cream and singing," Meadows said. "On Wednesday evening, dinner is served in the courtyard of the housing complex and first-year students compete in a vocal contest. This is a tradition that started about 29 years ago."
Another popular special program Western offers is a weeklong forensic class in conjunction with the Southern Institute of Forensics. This class examines the latest forensic techniques for law enforcement and death investigators and provides students with the opportunity to analyze an actual forensic anthropology case. The instructors of the class are college professors and anthropologists, one of whom has appeared on the Discovery Channel. The next opportunity to enroll in this class will be in May. Students may enroll for noncredit or credit options.
Although the hosts of the conferences and special programs must pay for use of Western’s facilities, Meadows believes that this is not the only benefit Western receives. Through these events, Western is able to build a positive reputation with outside organizations.
"When groups leave the college feeling that they have been treated well and (have had) their needs met, they will remember Western as a customer-oriented facility," Meadows said.
In order for groups to feel that way, Meadows relies on the help from departments on campus.
"Planning, planning and more planning is the key to a successful conference," Meadows said. "The cooperation of departments on campus, such as maintenance, IMC (Instructional Media Center) and campus food services, enables us to provide a satisfactory venue for our clients."
Student workers are also hired to work in the residence halls and as conference assistants during the summer months.
"Our goal is to fill the residence halls from June to August," Meadows said.
For more information about the conferences and special programs, contact Meadows at 4115 or meadows@missouriwestern.edu.
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Jimmy Dick, ceremonial drummer and cultural program coordinator for the Native Canadian Center in Toronto, will speak on "Native American and Canadian Rights, Cultural Issues and Spirituality" from 12:30-2 p.m. on April 13 in the Leah Spratt Multipurpose Classroom Building Kemper Recital Hall. The lecture is free and open to the community. The event is co-sponsored by Co-curricular Activities Programming; the English, foreign language and journalism department; and the Center for Multicultural Education. For more information, contact Mark Hamilton at (816) 271-4169, (816) 271-4577 or hamilmb@missouriwestern.edu.
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Historian of science Dr. David Wilson will lecture on “The Real Copernican Revolution: History Philosophy, Science, and Rene Descartes” at 2 p.m. April 15 in the Evan R. Agenstein Science and Math Building, room 308. The event is free and open to the community and is sponsored by the Co-Curricular Events Program. For more information, contact Dr. Gerald Zweerink, professor of chemistry, at 4470 or zweerink@missouriwestern.edu.
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Sigma Sigma Sigma is hosting its annual Jump-A-Thon at 8 a.m. April 15 for 24 hours outside the Nelle Blum Student Union. The sorority members will jump on a trampoline for the Robbie Page Memorial, which funds play therapy for hospitalized children. They will be also have a barbeque, raffle and music. Donations will be accepted.
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Miss Missouri 2003, Amber Marie Etheridge, will address the issue of date rape in two presentations at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. April 20 in the Frank Popplewell Administration Classroom Building, room 304. As reigning Miss Missouri, Etheridge speaks out on violence against women along with rape prevention and awareness through education. A rape victim herself, she advocates open discussions about rape in order to prevent victims from feeling shame. Etheridge earned the Miss Missouri title after being chosen as Miss Northwest Missouri and is currently preparing to enter the Miss America 2005 pageant in the fall.
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French author, journalist and history scholar Jacques Julliard will speak on "The United States, France and Europe: A Conflicting Friendship" at 7 p.m. April 20 in the Leah Spratt Multipurpose Classroom Building Kemper Recital Hall. The lecture will be given in English and is free and open to the community. A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Julliard is an expert in contemporary history whose works concern the workers’ movement and the history of political cultures in France since the Revolution. For more information, contact Dr. Susan Hennessy, associate professor of French, at (816) 271-5813 or hennessy@missouriwestern.edu
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The Executive Committee of the Western Foundation recently approved $30,000 to be used for special project allocations to be awarded for academic year 2004-2005. The deadline for proposals to be submitted is April 19. A description of the allocation process and a copy of the Allocation Request Form are available at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/foundation/foundalloc.pdf If you are requesting funds for a project for which funds have been provided previously, then your "accountability report" for the previous project must be received prior to, or with, the new proposal. See the instructions for the report at the website.
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The public relations and marketing office received about 75 entries in the Gold Standard Contest from those who have discovered gold at Western. All entries were placed in a drawing for $100 -one for students and one for faculty/staff. The $100 winners were Barbara Davis, school of liberal arts and sciences, and student LaToria Norton.
Monday, April 12
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Opening Art Exhibit reception, 7 p.m., FA mixed media gallery and lobby
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Saturday Night Live comedian Jeff Richards performance, 7 p.m. PE arena
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Women's golf at Lady Panther Invitational
Tuesday, April 13
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MTV Daytime Expo, 12 - 3 p.m., SU parking lot
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MTV Campus Invasion Tour, 7 p.m., Civic Arena
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Exit Exams, 2 -5 p.m., SU 208, A201 and A202
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Women's golf at Lady Panther Invitational
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Softball vs. Truman, 2 p.m.
Wednesday, April 14
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Blood Drive, 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., SU first floor
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And 1 basketball team vs. Western students, 7 p.m., PE arena
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Conservation Lecture, 4 p.m., Missouri Department of Conservation Building conference room
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Academic Profile, 2 - 3:30 p.m., LRC 102
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Walgreens Job Information Meeting and Pizza Party, 6 p.m., SS/C 208
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Walt Disney World Information Table, 11 a.m.- 1 p.m., SU cafeteria
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Walt Disney World Presentation, 4 p.m., SS/C 208
Thursday, April 15
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Laser tag maze, 4 - 8 p.m., SU parking lot
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Drive-in showing "Gothika," 9 p.m., SU parking lot
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International Film Festival Preview, 6:30 p.m., Leah Spratt Hall, Kemper Recital Hall
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Walgreens Interviews, SS/C 202
Friday, April 16
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Pardigras dance, 8 p.m.- midnight, Leah Spratt Hall, Kemper Recital Hall
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Writing Placement Exam, 5 p.m., SS/C 210
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Baseball at Central Missouri State, 7 p.m.
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Tennis vs. NE Okalahoma at Kansas City Plaza, 2 p.m.
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Softball at Missouri Southern, 1 p.m.
Saturday, April 17
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Bourbon Street sponsored by CAB
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Sacred Service Choral Production, 8 p.m., Missouri Theater, 717 Edmond
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Baseball at Central Missouri State University, 1 p.m.
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Softball at Pittsburg State, 3 p.m.
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Ads will only be accepted by email, fax and campus mail. Please send submissions by email to publicrelations@missouriwestern.edu; to fax 4414 or by mail to Tower Topics, Institutional Advancement, Leah Spratt Hall, Room 106.