The Honors College Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships will hold an informational meeting about national scholarships at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 29 in International Center 101.

The meeting is aimed to recruit students who are interested in applying for the most prestigious national scholarships, including Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, Fulbright, Rotary, and others. Freshmen and sophomores who want to apply for these scholarships when they're upperclassmen need to begin preparing for the process now. The meeting is open to all students, not just Honors College folks.

Always eager to reach students any way we can, we've posted a video about the meeting on our Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=152RG6XvfkY

Professor John Perry of the Math Department passes along this great photo of Honors College student Garrett Campbell and a math formula he wrote dubbed "Garrett's Arclength Formula."

Some cool stuff is going on in the College when our students are writing their own formulas! Garrett, by the way, is a freshman polymer science major from Daphne, Ala., and a Presidential Scholar.

Today was the day for the annual Honors College student picture with the president. Dr. Martha Saunders greeted the students, who gave her a warm round of applause for her continued and hearty support of the College and its students.

There to help organize were my two favorite graduate student workers, Kendall Yates and Patricia "Bunny" Simmons. Kendall has been with the College for two years and Bunny for one. We so hate to lose Kendall to graduation this semester, but we know she'll do well in her new profession of teaching English as a second language. Good luck, Kendall!

Honors College student Samantha Gregory, pictured here with co-star Mathew Daniel, plays the lead role of Emily Webb in the Southern Miss production of "Our Town," which premieres next week in the Martha Tatum Theatre.

Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. April 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 and at 2 p.m. April 20 and 27.

Samantha is a senior theatre major, and I hear she's simply terrific in this role. She's yet another example of Honors College students who successfully juggle multiple interests in their years in the college. As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Samantha is writing a play of her own for her senior thesis.

Editorial cartoonist Ricky Nobile of Hattiesburg, a devoted Golden Eagle supporter who attended Southern Miss, stopped by the Honors College offices today so that we could talk about his book project. Nobile, a cartoonist since 1970 who's now published in 30 Mississippi newspapers, is putting together a book of his cartoons portraying the evolution of Mississippi politics over the past four decades. He and I share a love of political cartooning and an interest in the press and the civil rights movement.

I first met Ricky when he spoke to a group of Honors College students and others at a gathering in Cook Library last year. He impressed me then not only with his talent but with his willingness to help students. I'm looking forward to seeing his book in print in the near future.

I was having my morning coffee in the local doughnut shop Saturday when Dr. Mark Miller popped in for some early-morning sustenance. He was about to begin an all-day field trip with Geography 101 students to Moss Point on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and he graciously agreed to send me pictures. Dr. Miller, one of our most enthusiastic (and enthusiastically received) profs, led the students through the marsh & swampland of the Pascagoula estuary (top photo). The students also interviewed Beverly Taite in her hairdressing shop (bottom photo).

Here's Dr. Miller's report: The Pascagoula is the largest unaltered (no dams, no levies) river system in the lower 48 states. The tour was by Benny McCoy -- local guide for ecotourists and researchers -- operating out of the new Audubon Center in Moss Point. Ms. Taite is the unofficial historian of Moss Point's Kreole neighborhood, a low-income community that is attempting to maintain its identity. Honors GHY101 students are creating oral history videos about this community and its experiences with Katrina.

Wow. This trip, like all of our active-learning trips, adds so much to our students' education. Dr. Miller, can I go along next time?

David Hollis, a 2005 graduate of the Honors College, was back on campus today to speak to our new Research Forum class. Hollis, an advertising graduate, is business development coordinator for Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg.

The Research Forum class, taught by Mass Communication and Journalism Professor Fei Xue (right), exposes sophomores to research concepts to better prepare them for writing their senior thesis. The course is a prerequisite for HON301, prospectus writing, in which Honors College students write their research proposal. Dr. Xue has brought in veteran researchers and Honors College graduates to talk about their research, and that's where David came in. He spoke to the class about his experience doing a senior thesis. (He's proudly displaying it above.)

David has had a great career since his graduation, including a stint working in Portland, Ore., for a major public relations agency.

The Sam Zeanah Band will perform at Eagle Fest on Pride Field at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12. That's Sam front and center with his bandmates.

Sam is an Honors College junior Presidential Scholar. He's certainly more musically talented than many of his peers, but he's typical of our best Honors College students in that he has wide-ranging interests. Sam says his band sounds like Neil Young & Crazy Horse and like the band Wilco. I plan to be at the concert next week to find out!

The key to the success of the Honors College is its people. With such fine, hard-working colleagues we take every opportunity to celebrate, and today was no exception. It was the birthday of Stacey Ready, our coordinator of general honors, so presents and a picture were certainly in order.

Pictured above are Paula Mathis, assistant to the dean for senior honors; Kendall Yates, Honors Forum coordinator and graduate assistant; Stacey, whose formal title is assistant to the dean for general honors; Debbie Haskin, administrative assistant; and Peggy Varnado, our national scholarship officer.

What an incredible group of colleagues. Our students, the College, and certainly I are lucky to have them! Their friendliness, competence, student-centeredness, and good nature make them a dream to work with.

One incredibly important person missed the picture (she was in class). She's Patricia "Bunny" Simmons, our second graduate assistant. She and Kendall are the most capable grad assistants on campus.

Today was Founder's Day, the 98th anniversary of Southern Miss' founding and a day we traditionally use to salute the university's best students. To our delight, many of the day's awards went to "Honors College kids," the name our students proudly give themselves.

Six of our students -- Ashley Cangelosi, Leslie Gaddis (pictured at top with President Martha Saunders), Cresean Hughes, Jaime McKercher, Owen Parker, and Hilliary Walters -- were named to the Southern Miss Hall of Fame. And Jessica Parker was named most outstanding freshman female.

All of these students are simply outstanding. These awards could not go to a nicer or more capable group of students.