| Date 3-24-06
IDS
Helping Hurricane Katrina Evacuees with Disabilities
Hattiesburg—Katrina Aid Today (KAT), a project of the Institute
for Disability Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi,
is offering recovery assistance to Hurricane Katrina evacuees with
disabilities and their families. Katrina Aid Today provides information
on resources; needs assessments; recovery planning; FEMA and SBA
assistance; employment service/housing/advocacy/legal services referrals;
school transition; and other unmet needs. For assistance, call 1.866.249.3848
or 1.888.671.0051 (TTY) if you live in southern Mississippi or call
1.866.883.4474 if you live in central or north Mississippi. KAT
is administered by the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
IDS
to host Early Intervention Conference in Hattiesburg April 27-29
Hattiesburg—The Institute for Disability Studies at the University
of Southern Mississippi will be hosting the Fourth Annual Mississippi
Early Intervention Conference at the Hattiesburg Lake Terrace Convention
Center from April 27 to April 29. The conference is co-sponsored
by the Mississippi Department of Health, the Mississippi Department
of Education, and the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
Nationally
recognized speakers will present an exciting mix of policy and practices
for supporting young children with special needs and their families.
Participants will have opportunities to explore recommended best
practices, learn about new research, network with other professionals,
and experience creative, fun approaches to early intervention and
education. Families, program developers, social workers, physicians,
therapists, faculty members and others will greatly benefit from
this annual event.
For more information,
visit www.usm.edu/ids or call 1.888.671.0051.
War
and Society Lecture Set for March 30 at Southern Miss
Hattiesburg—The Center for the Study of War and Society at the University
of Southern Mississippi continues its inaugural War and Society
lecture series with a presentation at 6 p.m., March 30 at Gonzales
Auditorium (Liberal Arts Building, Room 108) on the Hattiesburg
campus. The theme for this year is the interaction of war and civilians.
Southern Miss professor of history Michael Neiberg, Ph.D., will
speak on “A War without Civilians: The Impact of War on European
Non-Combatants in World War I.” Neiberg is a new addition to the
Department of History's War and Society emphasis, coming to Southern
Miss from the United States Air Force Academy. He is a prolific
author and his works include Soldier's Daily Lives, 1789-1918
(Greenwood Press, forthcoming), Fighting the Great War: A Global
History (Harvard University Press, 2005), Warfare and Society
in Europe, 1898 to the Present (Routledge, 2005), and Making
Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of the American Military Service
(Harvard University Press, 2000). Admission is free. For more information
about the lecture series, contact 601.266.4497.
Annual
Student Show Opens at Southern Miss Museum of Art
Karnes-Sullivan Gallery to be dedicated
Hattiesburg—The Museum of Art at the University of Southern Mississippi
will present its Annual Student Show March 30-April 22 and invites
the public to its awards reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on April 6,
honoring the next generation of visual artists. Also, a special
dedication of the Karnes-Sullivan Gallery will be held at 5:30 p.m.
The gallery will be named in honor of long-time Southern Miss Museum
supporters Dr. M. Ray Karnes of Hattiesburg and John J. Sullivan
of New Orleans.
The exhibit
includes a selection of artworks created by more than 250 art and
design majors in various media, including graphic design, interior
design, photography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, ceramics,
and drawing.
Awards in several
categories will be announced at 4:30 p.m. during the opening reception.
Allen Jenkins of Gulfport, president of Powerlines Advertising and
Design, Inc., and Michelle Acuff of Jackson, visiting assistant
professor at Millsaps College, will serve as jurors.
For more than
40 years, the Department of Art and Design at Southern Miss has
held an annual exhibition showcasing the talents of its students.
The show has long been an integral and much anticipated component
of the visual arts curriculum in the department.
“Exhibitions
that were once held in classrooms under the direction of Walter
Lok evolved in the mid-1970s to that of more formal displays in
the C.W. Woods Gallery,” said Mark Rigsby, director of the museum.
Since the incorporation
the Museum of Art at Southern Miss in 1997, the annual student show
has become one of the most significant displays of emerging artistic
talent in the Southeast.
The museum is
located in the Fine Arts Building at the southwest corner of the
campus. The hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m-5 p.m., and Saturday,
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. School
and community group tours are welcome. For more information, call
601.266.5200, visit the Web at www.usm.edu/arts or contact Angela
Kilcrease at 601.266.4988.
Southern
Miss Sax Orchestra in Concert
Hattiesburg—The Sax-Chamber Orchestra at the University of Southern
Mississippi will present its spring concert at 7:30 p.m., March
30 at Marsh Auditorium, under the direction of professor of music
Lawrence Gwozdz. The concert includes Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture
to Candide,” Arthur Frackenpohl’s “Intrada,” Karel Husa’s “Divertimento,”
and Peter Jona Korn’s “Passacaglia and Fugue.” Two special works
will be featured, the first being “Tinguely Fanfare” by Spain’s
leading modernist Cristobal Halfter. Later, the orchestra will serve
up the world premiere of the saxophone version of “Dithyramb” by
composer Stephen Suber of Southeastern Louisiana University. To
add even more variety to the concert, Gwozdz will lead the orchestra
in Johannes Brahms’ “Sixth Chorale Prelude.” The concert is free
and open to the public. For more information, call the saxophone
studio at 601.266.6934.
Southern
Miss Students Win Addy Awards
Hattiesburg—Several art students in graphic communication at the
University of Southern Mississippi won awards recently at the Mississippi
Gulf Coast 2006 ADDY Awards competition, sponsored by the American
Advertising Federation.
The American
Advertising Federation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., represents
50,000 professionals in the advertising industry. Its 130 corporate
members are advertisers, agencies and media companies that comprise
the nation's leading brands and corporations. The AAF has a national
network of advertising clubs and connects the industry with an academic
base through its college chapters.
"I was
delighted so many Southern Miss students were selected," said
DeAnna Douglas, associate professor of the Southern Miss graphic
communication program. "This is a way for them to participate
in a professional organization while still in school, and it's a
great way to learn and to make business contacts."
Southern Miss
graphic communication student winners in the competition are:
Overall
Winners:
Lindsay Phillippi of Baton Rouge with the Best of Show; Jessica
Sherman of Laurel with the Judges' Choice Award.
Gold
Awards:
Jon Cornette, Hattiesburg; Stephanie Fish, Gulfport; Mary Frierson,
Picayune; Megan Harris, Hattiesburg; Anzie LaRosa, Biloxi; Lindsay
Phillippi, Baton Rouge; Drew Rhian (2), Hattiesburg; Margarita
Rivera (3), Gautier; Samantha Smith, Brookhaven; Jessica Sherman,
Laurel; Jared Walters, Laurel; Shannon Windham, Laurel.
Silver
Awards:
Mary Frierson, Picayune; Megan Harris, Hattiesburg; Stephanie
Fish, Gulfport; Margarita Rivera, Gautier; Drew Rhian (2), Hattiesburg;
Joel Sanders, Pearl; Jared Walters (2), Laurel.
Southern
Miss Trombone Choir and Hub Bones to Perform Concert
Hattiesburg—The University of Southern Mississippi Trombone Choir
and Hub Bones jazz trombone ensemble will present a spring concert
at 7:30 p.m., April 5 at Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus.
The fifteen-member
choir program, under the direction of Dr. Bruce Tychinski, includes
Gordon Bowie’s “Festival Prelude,” followed by Overture from “Dancer
in the Dark” by Björk Guðmundsdóttir and arranged
by Southern Miss student Justin Harvison of Petal. A tribute to
Martin Luther King, “MLK,” will feature vocalist Daniel Vernon of
Hurley and trombonist Sean Dyke of Pensacola, Fla. Graduate assistant
Wess Hillman, also of Pensacola, will conduct the choir on Tiburto
Massaino’s “Canzona,” one of the oldest works written for trombone
ensemble. Other selections include Ray Premru’s “In Memoriam,” Gene
Puerling’s “One More Time Chuck Corea,” and Irv Wagner’s arrangement
of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
Hub Bones, a
group comprised of five trombones and rhythm section, will then
take the stage to perform several jazz selections, including “Yardbird
Suite,” “It’s Alright With Me,” and “Lullabye for Miss Fern.” This
concert is one many events nationwide presented as part of the International
Trombone Association’s “International Trombone Week.” For more information
on this performance or the trombone choir, contact Dr. Tychinski
at 601.266.6103 or e-mail bruce.tychinski@usm.edu.
Karnes,
Stephens Co-Edit Books
Hattiesburg—Dr. Frances A. Karnes, professor of curriculum, instruction,
and special education at the University of Southern Mississippi
and director of the university’s Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted
Studies, and Dr. Kristen Stephens, coordinator of educational outreach
and editor-in-chief, Duke University Gifted Letter, and adjunct
assistant professor at the university, have co-edited five more
books in The Practical Strategies Series published by Prufrock
Press.
These books
offer teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and other interested
persons up-to-date instructional strategies and information on a
variety of issues pertinent to the field of gifted education. Each
addresses a focused topic and is written by an expert in the field.
Topics include Independent Study for Gifted Learners; Social and
Emotional Teaching Strategies; Curriculum Compacting; Enrichment
Opportunities for Gifted Learners; Questioning Strategies for Teaching
the Gifted; Using Media and Technology With Gifted Learners; Motivating
Gifted Students; Acceleration Strategies for Teaching Gifted Learners;
Fostering Creativity in Gifted Students; Teaching Culturally Diverse
Gifted Students; Inventions and Inventing for Gifted Students; Developing
Mentorship Programs for Gifted Students; A Menu of Options for Grouping
Gifted Students; Successful Strategies for Twice Exceptional Students;
Assessment in the Classroom: The Key to Good Instruction; Working
with Gifted English Language Learners; and When Gifted Students
Underachieve: What You Can Do About It.
Mississippi
History Day Competition Held at Southern Miss
Hattiesburg—The University of Southern Mississippi’s Department of
History recently hosted National History Day in Mississippi competition
March 11 on the university’s Hattiesburg campus, with about 120
junior and senior high school students from across the state participating.
Members of the Southern Miss Department of History faculty judged
events, as did advanced students in the department’s Social Studies
Licensure Program.
National History
Day is an annual competition held in every state. First and second-place
winners are eligible to go on to the national competition in Washington,
D.C., which will be held on June 11-15.
Junior and senior
high school teachers who attended the event received a special surprise:
a gift of computers from the Canadian Embassy to the United States.
Recently-retired Ambassador Frank McKenna donated 30 slightly used
computers as a gift from the Canadian government to help schools
impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Twenty-four of the computers were
distributed to Biloxi High School, Biloxi Junior High School, Olive
Branch High School, Pascagoula High School, Madison Middle School,
and Crystal Springs Middle and High Schools.
The computers
gift was orchestrated by Southern Miss history professor Dr. Michael
Polushin. Polushin is a Canadian citizen who has been active in
organizing the “Gulf Coast Teacher Resource Initiative,” a program
that aims to produce a social studies resource center on the coast.
Two of the donated computers are being kept for use at the center,
along with two laser printers that were donated.
“Several of
our competition winners lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, as
did one of our participating teachers, Elizabeth Green from Pascagoula
High School,” said Dr. Phyllis Jestice, chair of the Southern Miss
Department of History. “When Green contacted the National History
Day headquarters to see if they could replace competition medals
that were won in last year's competition, the national office responded
with several donations for students at the school, including boxes
of clothing.”
For more information
about the Southern Miss Department of History, call 601.266.4333
or visit www.usm.edu/history/
Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute at Southern Miss Providing Free Computer,
Internet Training for Area Senior Adult Learners
Hattiesburg—Area seniors who want to know more about computers and
the World Wide Web are getting one-on-one training from members
of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute (OLLI).
Formerly the
Institute for Learning and Retirement, the OLLI was established
last year, following the acceptance of a grant the ILR applied for
from the Bernard Osher Foundation, which was founded by Maine businessman
Bernard Osher in 1997.
The OLLI provides
lifelong learning opportunities for senior adults, and the $100,000
it received from the Osher Foundation helps fund computer, printer
and Internet service, and training in independent and assisted living
nursing homes.
Joe Yore is
serving as a computer trainer at the Loyalton assisted living center
in Hattiesburg and said the primary goal of the program is not only
to help residents learn some of the basic functions of a personal
computer but to establish a new communication channel with relatives
and friends.
Assisted living
centers where the OLLI has trainers working with residents include
The Loyalton, Alden Point and Wesley Manor in Hattiesburg; Oxford
in Lumberton; and Covington Ridge in Collins.
Many of the
participants who take part in the classes are in the 70-80 age range,
and their unfamiliarity with the technology often can be intimidating,
Yore said. But practice soon brings a level of comfort with getting
online. “It’s great to see someone feel better about using a computer
once they’ve learned how,” said Yore. “Some of them say they are
too old to learn, but they’ve just got to learn not to be afraid
of it. They’re not going to break it.”
Many senior
adults start off learning about the computer by playing computer
solitaire, which gives them practice “clicking and dragging.” “Repetition
is important to maintain the skill levels,” Yore said.
After learning
the basics, participants then establish e-mail addresses and learn
to send e-mail and access mail that has been sent to them. “We’re
really interested in having them establish communication with family
members and friends who may live out of town.”
Kathy McPhail,
director of Alden Point, said she has received good feedback from
residents who have taken part in OLLI’s computer classes. “It’s
a great learning experience, and the classes have introduced computers
to a segment of people who often have limited contact with the technology,”
she said. “Some are scared of trying to learn how to use them at
first, but after a while they kind of become pros at it.”
For more information
about the OLLI, call 601.2664186 or 601.467.4756 or visit www.usm.edu/cice/ce/ilr/.
|
