|
Week of May 9 - 15, 2005 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, 271-4200 |
|||||
|
Click any link for these stories: Western Employee Retires with 32 Years of Service Two Western Students Earn National Writing Awards Lost & Found: If you have lost any items, please come to Blum Union, Room 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 speakers 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:
|
|
||||
|
Western Employee Retires with 32 Years of Service Sandra Jacobs, administrative assistant in the English, foreign languages and journalism department at Western, is retiring May 31 with 32 years of service. “I know it sounds trite, but this is like my second family, and I’m going to miss that,” she said of her coworkers in the department. “Everyone is so cooperative, supportive and encouraging, it hardly seems like work. I feel fortunate to be in a position that suited me so perfectly.” She has worked in the English, foreign language and journalism department for almost 30 years of her career. Jacobs, a Western alumnus with a bachelor of science degree in English education, said her job offered her the best of both worlds. After a six-week stint as a teacher, she realized that wasn’t her “cup of tea,” but she said she loves being in an academic environment where she doesn’t have to teach. “It’s stimulating. I love to hear what students are doing in class and what they are reading.” She said she has no special plans for retirement, except to spend more time with her husband. He retired five years ago after 32 years with Wire Rope Corporation. “It’s not what we’re going to do, it’s how we’re going to do it – with complete disregard for the clock,” Jacobs said with a laugh. She believes the 32 years at Western have gone by quickly. “It’s amazing to think how long it’s been, but then I realize that I have been here through three college presidents, five department heads and I don’t know how many students.” |
|||||
|
|||||
|
Two Western Students Earn National Writing Awards Two Missouri Western State College students in the business department earned second and fourth places in the national 2005 Student Writing Contest sponsored by the Association for Business Communication (ABC), an international association of professors who teach business communication-related courses. Adam Kling, a senior finance major from Rolla, Mo., received second place in the contest and $200 for his entry. In October, he will travel to New Orleans to attend the annual ABC convention where he will be recognized at the conference luncheon. He has also been invited to serve on a panel at the conference discussing the writing competition. Kathrin Carpenter, a junior management major from St. Joseph, Mo., placed fourth in the competition. “The Student Awards Committee was very pleased with not only the number of entries received, but also the quality of the entries received,” said Dr. Carol White, chair of the Student Awards Committee and instructor of marketing at Georgia State University. “Both our academic and business judges commented on the exceptional quality of this year’s entries.” Dr. White said the contest is held is to raise business students’ consciousness about the importance of good business writing and to recognize excellent undergraduate business student writers. “These are wonderful students,” said Carol Roever, Western’s associate professor of business. “They were willing to give up their personal time to spend time on their contest entries.” The contest, open to
undergraduate business majors, involved a mock case that required
students to create business documents. This year’s case involved a
response to a fictitious situation in which a customer received poor
service at a wallpaper and flooring company. Students were asked to write
a letter to the dissatisfied customer, a memo to employees emphasizing
the importance of customer satisfaction and a memo explaining the
strategy used in each of the other documents. The entries were judged by
an awards committee and business leaders. Last year, two Western students also placed second and fourth in the contest. Gabe Wishnie, a senior computer science major from Jefferson City, Mo., won second place and Brandon Crosser, a senior business major from St. Joseph won fourth place. |
|||||
|
A dark figure creeps stealthily through the halls searching for something. Making one turn after the next, up ramps and down stairs, he moves without a sound. Then, he finds what he is looking for – his archenemy. The sight is a blur of explosions after that. This climactic scene was part of one of the short animated stories created by students in Assistant Professor of computer science Kent Pickett’s computer graphics class, “The Art, Science and Production of Computerized Feature Animation and Gaming.” Teams of students worked together to generate short animations and then presented them to the class during their final class period on April 29. “We have come to a point where any good computer science program should have a representation in the field of animation,” Pickett said. “This is one of the major areas in the entertainment industry.” Senior Brian Parrish took the class because he has a very high respect for Mr. Pickett and knew it would be a valuable experience. “Whatever class he offers is going to be good,” Parrish said. “I got to see a small glimpse of what it took to make ‘Shrek,’ ‘The Incredibles,’ ‘Shark Tale’ and so on.” |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Monday, May 9
Tuesday, May 10
Wednesday, May 11
Thursday, May 12
Friday, May 13
Saturday, May 14
Sunday, May 15 |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
Wanted: Your want ads! You
are welcome to submit ads to the Western ADvantage each week.
|
|||||
