SIU President's Communique (1-20-2012)

Carbondale Calendars and Events Edwardsville Calendars and Events East St. Louis Calendars and Events

Weekly Communiqué (January 20, 2012)

SIUC Partners With Cristo Rey Schools
New Director Hopes to Connect Community, The Gardens at SIUE
Project Benefits SIUC Engineering Students, Caterpillar
SIU Dental Student Wins NSRG Research Award
Robbins Named First Simmons Cancer Institute Endowed Chair
SIUC’s Dolan, Greer Named to NPPA Positions
SIUE Art Auction Set for April 12 at N.O. Nelson Campus
Reynolds Scholarship Will Benefit Music Students
SIUE Cougars Take National Stage on ESPNU
Baseball Salukis Shine in the Classroom
Two Salukis Named MVC Track & Field Athletes of the Week

1. SIUC Partners With Cristo Rey Schools

SIUC recently entered into a partnership with a network of urban schools devoted to promoting higher education access and success for its students. SIUC’s new partnership with the Cristo Rey Schools Network puts the University in the select company of a small group of national university partners devoted to, as Cristo Rey’s mission statement describes it, “transform urban America one student at a time.” The partnership builds a bridge between SIUC and the five Cristo Rey schools in the Midwest. The Cristo Rey schools are Catholic schools offering a college preparatory program of study to high school students in urban communities with limited educational opportunities. Though the schools are Catholic, the students represent various faiths and cultures. The schools serve a high percentage of minority students (95 percent) and specifically those with limited financial means regardless of race or ethnicity. The network includes 24 schools in 17 states with a total of approximately 6,500 students.

[ Return to Index ]

2. New Director Hopes to Connect Community, The Gardens at SIUE

Jane Drake, the new director of The Gardens at SIUE, plans to make the bridge in The Gardens stretch well into Edwardsville and throughout the Metro East area. Drake wants to grow community awareness and involvement in the Signature Garden through outreach programming and events. She first cultivated a love of horticulture as owner/operator of a small farm in northeast Kansas. Drake graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in horticulture from Kansas State University. After relocating with her family to Edwardsville, she connected with The Gardens when she volunteered there as a graduate student. She graduated with a Master of Science in biological sciences with an emphasis in science education in 2009. After graduating from SIUE, Drake went to work at The Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Mo., where she was the education director. She was responsible for collaborating with project partners, establishing a volunteer program, assisting with Center development and grant coordination and establishing nature-based outreach programming for all ages. The Gardens at SIUE is a 35-acre public botanical garden and is recognized by the Missouri Botanical Garden as a Signature Garden. Included in The Gardens are natural areas, gardens, sculptures and a walking path. The Garden also includes The Lantern, an Asian-influenced garden pergola embraced by white pines. Near Turtle Pond, a winding path lands in a plaza surrounded by a small amphitheater, creating an intimate space for special events and contemplation.

[ Return to Index ]

3. Project Benefits SIUC Engineering Students, Caterpillar

A group of engineering students from SIUC is helping a major heavy equipment manufacturer improve its factory floor layout. The students, who are members of the Leadership Development Program at SIUC, worked with Caterpillar Inc. on its factory in Corinth, Miss. Advance Technology Services, the company that is responsible for maintenance and operations at the plant, sponsored the project. Last semester, a group of 16 aspiring engineers participated in the project, which tested not only what they learned in their engineering majors, but also how quickly they could learn and grow as a new team. The project involved reorganizing two manufacturing “cells,” or specialized areas of the factory floor where the company reconditions old engines into engines that are like-new again. The team successfully improved the company’s manufacturing efficiency and eliminated operational waste. Team members did so by employing lean manufacturing techniques studied in engineering classes at SIU Carbondale. Lean manufacturing refers to techniques that improve an organization’s efficiency.

[ Return to Index ]

4. SIU Dental Student Wins NSRG Research Award

Jillian Rigert, a student at the SIU School of Dental Medicine, won this year’s prestigious National Student Research Group (NSRG) award for her research project related to pain management in dentistry and medicine. The award is given each year at the Hinman Student Research Symposium to one student based on that individual’s research project. The NSRG is part of the American Association for Dental Research. The 17th Hinman Student Research Symposium recently was held in Memphis, Tenn. and featured oral and poster presentations of research projects by dental students and graduate students from dental schools across the nation. A total of 90 students represented 41 dental schools in 24 states, the District of Columbia and four Canadian provinces. Rigert studied the time course of expression of the TRPA1 receptor, which has a role in pain perception following injury to dental pulp. The project was directed by Dr. Kevin C. Rowland, associate professor of physiology at the SIU School of Dental Medicine. The Symposium was sponsored by the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry and co-sponsored by the Hinman Dental Society, which holds one of the nation’s largest continuing dental education meetings in Atlanta each March. The Symposium is also supported in part by grants from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the ADEAGies Foundation, the Procter & Gamble Company and the Tennessee Dental Association Foundation. The keynote speaker at the Welcoming Banquet was Dr. David Wong, associate dean of research at the UCLA School of Dentistry and immediate past president of the American Association for Dental Research.

[ Return to Index ]

5. Robbins Named First Simmons Cancer Institute Endowed Chair

Dr. K. Thomas Robbins, professor of otolaryngology at the SIU School of Medicine and director of Simmons Cancer Institute, has been named the recipient of the Simmons Cancer Institute Endowed Chair of Excellence in Oncology at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. Simmons, Browder, Gianaris, Angelides and Barnerd LLC, and the Simmons Family Foundation established the $2 million endowment fund as part of the $10.2 million gift to SIU School of Medicine to enhance teaching and research related to cancer treatment. Dr. Robbins has been selected as the first to hold the chair because of his more than 30-year career in the field of head and neck surgical oncology and the international recognition he has earned for his work. Dr. Robbins’ research on the novel application of intra-arterial chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy, funded by the National Cancer Institute, has helped to advance the application of chemoradiation as a new standard of therapy for advanced head and neck cancer.

[ Return to Index ]

6. SIUC’s Dolan, Greer Named to NPPA Positions

Two photojournalism faculty members in SIUC’s School of Journalism will serve in positions with the nation’s leading organization for visual journalists. Mark. J. Dolan, an assistant professor, recently earned a three-year term on the board of the National Press Photographers Association. In addition, Phillip W. Greer, a photojournalist-in-residence at SIU Carbondale, received another two-year term as Region V chair for the not-for-profit organization. Established in 1946, the NPPA represents the interests of professional photojournalists, videographers, visual editors and multimedia producers and plays an active role in protecting their rights. This is the first time for Dolan on the NPPA board. In 2009, Dolan received the organization’s John Durniak Mentor Award “for his work to continually raise the bar for photojournalism education … and for being a champion for his students, setting a tough standard and building their confidence.” Greer, meanwhile, represents members in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, in addition to several countries in the West Indies, including Aruba, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and Jamaica. He first earned a two-year term in 2009.

[ Return to Index ]

7. SIUE Art Auction Set for April 12 at N.O. Nelson Campus

The 33rd Annual Art Auction, sponsored by the SIUE Friends of Art, is set for Thursday, April 12, on the N.O. Nelson campus of Lewis and Clark Community College, 601 Troy Road, Edwardsville. The auction will be conducted in the Leclaire Room of the Jay Hoffman Building on the campus. The entire L&C Edwardsville campus was home for many years to the SIUE Department of Art and Design, then known as the Wagner Complex. This year’s auction will feature original donated artwork, which may be previewed from 6 -7 p.m. when professional auctioneers Gary Niemeier and Dennis Ahrens will begin the event. Admission is free to students and those who have donated pieces for the event, as well as members of the Friends of Art. Others are asked to pay $5 at the door. Since 1979, the Friends of Art organization has assisted the department in staging this fundraiser which provides funds to bring local, national and international artists and lecturers to the SIUE campus. In addition, the Friends group annually donates money to help purchase new books, videos and films about art for SIUE’s Lovejoy Library; sponsors awards for the annual high school art exhibit and other SIUE student exhibits; and sets aside funds for a graduate scholarship. Last year, more than 140 art pieces by faculty, alumni, friends and students were available for auction, as well as nearly 50 pieces sold during the silent auction. Participants have almost as much fun bidding as winning the bid at this lively event. Food and drink will be available for purchase. For more information or directions, contact Dianne Lynch by e-mail: lynch.dianne4@gmail.com; or Andi Smith by e-mail: beyondtimbuktu@yahoo.com.

[ Return to Index ]

8. Reynolds Scholarship Will Benefit Music Students

Students in the SIUC School of Music can benefit from a new scholarship opportunity thanks to an endowment established in memory of a former piano technician for the school. The Larry Reynolds Memorial Scholarship is open to new and returning students studying music at SIUC. Preference will be given to graduates of Herrin High School who are incoming freshmen or current students. If no Herrin High School graduates are available, preference will be given to transfer students from John A. Logan College. The scholarship will be awarded annually. Reynolds was a beloved employee who was held in high regard in the School of Music. An avid musician himself, he sponsored music fraternities and made regular appearances in student jam sessions. His wife, Judy, and children, Paul and Julie, hope that through this scholarship he will be remembered for his commitment to music and education. For more information on the Larry Reynolds Memorial Scholarship, contact Tracee Norris at (618) 453-4563 or tnorris@siu.edu.

[ Return to Index ]

9. SIUE Cougars Take National Stage on ESPNU

SIUE’s Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball contest against Murray State will be nationally broadcast at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 by ESPNU as part of the league’s television package. The telecast marks the first nationally televised basketball game from SIUE. The game is sold out. Murray State currently is ranked in the Top 25 in both the ESPN/USA Today (No. 10) and Associated Press (No. 12) polls. When the Ohio Valley Conference announced its ESPN basketball schedule Oct. 5, there were three dates on the schedule designated as “wild card” dates, in which the game to be aired was not selected until 21 days before the contest, making sure an attractive matchup was televised, instead of having to determine the full schedule a month before the season began. ESPNU is available in the St. Louis area on all four major cable and satellite providers; Channel 409 through Charter, Channel 208 through DirecTV, Channel 141 through Dish Network and Channel 605 through AT&T Uverse. The game also is available on WSIE FM 88.7 and 590 AM The Fan KFNS with Joe Pott providing a play-by-play.

[ Return to Index ]

10. Baseball Salukis Shine in the Classroom

The SIU baseball team is proud to announce that the team combined to post a 3.229 GPA for the fall 2011 semester, one of the highest GPAs in program history. Head coach Ken Henderson said a team goal was to have a GPA of at least 3.20. In addition to the hard work of his players, Henderson gave credit to athletic department’s academic support staff, specifically Kristina Therriault and Jared Fries. Of the 32 student-athletes on the fall roster, 25 of them recorded a GPA of 3.0 or higher this past semester, and three players posted a perfect 4.0.

[ Return to Index ]

11. Two Salukis Named MVC Track & Field Athletes of the Week

Saluki throwers J.C. Lambert and Jeneva McCall were named field athletes of the week by the Missouri Valley Conference on Jan. 17. Lambert won the weight throw competition on Jan. 13 at the Saluki Open. Lambert's toss of 74-04.25 set a new Missouri Valley Conference record as well as broke his previous school record. His winning throw was also an automatic NCAA qualifying mark and ranks first in the nation. Senior Jeneva McCall extended her NCAA qualifying mark she garnered in the first meet of the season. McCall's throw of 77-11.50 in the weight throw now ranks her second all-time in SIU track history. McCall also went on to take the event title in the shot put with a throw of 55-11.00.

[ Return to Index ]

If you do not want to receive this mailing in the future, simply send a message to webadmin@siu.edu and include a request to remove your e-mail address from the President's mailing list.