University of Central Arkansas

Tickets for the inaugural season of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, the only festival of its kind in Arkansas, will go on sale May 1 at UCA Ticket Central. According to Matt Chiorini, producing artistic director for the family-friendly festival, the top ticket price is $25, but there are significant discounts for students, children, seniors, groups of all sizes and UCA faculty and staff.

"Our mission is a populist one," Chiorini said. "Though we do have to pay the bills, it?s of vital importance to us that we offer everyone a chance to participate in what we?re certain is going to become one of our region?s finest cultural offerings."

The inaugural festival, which will run June 14-24 at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus, will include Shakespeare?s comedic classic ?A Midsummer Night?s Dream?, the five-time Tony Award-winning musical ?The Man of La Mancha? and the spoof ?The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)?.

According to Chiorini, all shows are being created by a mixture of out-of-town professional actors, local favorites and some of the finest theatre students in Arkansas. The professional actors have credits from Broadway to Hollywood and have extensive resumes featuring some of the finest theatres in the world. Among the local favorites involved are such long-time fixtures on Arkansas stages as Tucker Steinmetz, Cindy Romeo, James Alan Harris, A.J. Spiridigliozzi and UCA alumni Chad Bradford, Ian Galloway and Courtney Bennett. All productions are being performed in repertory, giving the audience a chance to see a different production almost every night; a great benefit to guests from outside Conway.

For more information on tickets, productions or schedule, visit the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre Web site at www.arkshakes.com. Subscriptions are still available for a discount on tickets there. For UCA Ticket Central, call (501) 450-3265 or 1-866-810-0012 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or visit www.uca.edu/tickets.

The UCA cheerleaders this Saturday will participate in the taping of an episode of the Nickelodeon reality show "Let's Just Play," which encourages children to lead a healthier lifestyle through exercise and a balanced diet. This particular episode, which will air later this summer, will focus on a Hurricane Katrina evacuee who moved to Little Rock.

The End of the Year Drop Off will take place all next week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. This campus-wide recycling program is designed to reduce waste produced by students moving out of university housing. Students may donate unwanted items at donation centers outside of Short, New and State Residence Halls. Donation centers will also be located outside of Stadium Park and Bear Village apartments. All students may take items from the donations centers, and leftover items will be donated to charity. Students are not required to donate items in order to take things from the donation centers. Acceptable items include clean T-Shirts, jeans, shorts, tops, undergarments, paired socks, towels, bed linens and shoes as well as functional computers, televisions, appliances and lamps. Only unopened toiletries, cleaning supplies, and food will be accepted. Unacceptable items include dirty clothing and linens and broken electronics, appliances and furniture. This project is sponsored by the UCA Student Government Association, UCA Housing, UCA Physical Plant, and UCA Police Department.

UCA reading/literacy professor Dr. Mary H. Mosley has been invited to serve three-year terms on the editorial boards of both The Reading Teacher, a monthly peer-reviewed journal of the International Reading Association, and PRTE Journal, the national journal of the Professors of Reading Teacher Educators. Mosley, who also is the director of the UCA Reading Success Center, will attend a business meeting of The Reading Teacher next month at the IRA conference in Toronto, where she is also presenting research on instructional strategies for improved reading performance.

The UCA Planetarium Show will take place next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Lewis Science Center 010. The program will include a tour of the May 2007 evening sky and flights through the universe, and it is recommended for ages 10 and up. Admission is free, and seating is limited to 60. There will be no admittance after the show begins.

UCA's College of Fine Arts and Communication has appointed Dr. Gayle Seymour as Associate Dean. Seymour joined the UCA faculty in the Department of Art in 1986 and became a Full Professor in 1998. She served as Interim Associate Dean during the current academic year and has assumed leadership of the College's public art initiatives. Seymour earned her Ph.D. in art history from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1986 and was recognized as Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1998.

UCA's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics has appointed Dr. Carl Frederickson as Associate Dean. Frederickson joined the UCA faculty in 1995 and is currently an Associate Professor of Physics. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Washington State University and did postdoctoral research in acoustics at the University of Mississippi.

UCA students will be featured on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on the ABC television network this Sunday, April 29 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. as they help renovate a home for a Murfreesboro, Ark. family. The show can be viewed in Central Arkansas on KATV Channel 7, in Northwest Arkansas on KHBS/KHOG-TV 40/29 and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT Channel 8.

The UCA volunteers got involved when former UCA football player Ben Faires told UCA Head Football Coach Clint Conque that the show needed assistance with a project for an Arkansas family. Conque assembled a group of three coaches, 22 football players, two moderators for the cheerleading team, five Purple Haze group members and the UCA Bears mascot to travel to Murfreesboro, where they enlarged a house for the Collins family.

According to ABC, Kim and Dennis Collins recently took custody of five children left orphaned when Kim's cousin was killed in a car accident. The Collins' own son, Mitchell, survived a rare form of brain cancer when he was three years old, leaving him hearing and mentally impaired. Without the financial resources to enlarge their living space, they accepted the generosity of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," led by host Ty Pennington.

UCA President Lu Hardin is offering $144,000 worth of scholarships, covering full tuition and fees, to the six Collins children, if they choose to attend UCA.

Jacob Ford is not the only UCA football player who is likely to be chosen in this weekend's NFL Draft. According to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Bob Holt, UCA wide receiver Aaron Fairooz "is projected as a sixth- or seventh-round pick after finishing his UCA career with 186 catches for 2,797 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was one of two former UCA players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, along with defensive end Jacob Ford."

UCA business law professor Roy Whitehead has accepted an invitation to serve on the Editorial Review Board of the CPA Journal, a monthly professional publication of the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants considered among the top national accounting journals. It is targeted toward practitioners and educators, and most of the Editorial Review Board members are from large New York and East Coast accounting firms. Members of the Editorial Review Board provide technical and general evaluation of the suitability of submitted manuscripts for publication and vote for the annual Max Block Award. Whitehead's three-year term begins with the June 2007 edition, and expires in May 2010.

The UCA Concert Choir and Chamber Choir Spring Concert takes place tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall at Snow Fine Arts Center. The choir will soon travel to Florence, Italy to participate in the celebration of UCA's Centennial, and they will perform their touring repertoire at tonight's event. Their trip is made possible by UCA's Student Government Association and individual contributions.

The UCA Department of Mathematics this Saturday will host the annual High School Mathematics Contest sponsored by the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ACTM). Over 300 high school students from junior high and senior high schools throughout Arkansas will convene on the UCA campus (Mathematics and Computer Science Building) to compete for trophies, scholarships and other prizes in one of five contests: Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry, and Calculus I. Students earned the opportunity to participate in the state contest by placing in one of fifteen regional contests throughout the state held earlier in the spring. Winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in the Centre Stage Theater of Snow Fine Arts Center. Awards will be presented by Melanie Nichols, President ACTM and Dr. Charles D. Watson, Contest Director and Associate Professor of Mathematics at UCA. Dr. Ramesh Garimella is Chair of the Department of Mathematics. For additional information, contact Dr. Charles D. Watson, 501-450-5681 or charlesw@uca.edu.

UCA music professor Paul Dickinson will premiere his composition for string quartet, entitled "Transfiguration," this Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Recital Hall at Snow Fine Arts Center. The work, commissioned through a grant from the prestigious Fromm Music Foundation, will be performed by the Quapaw Quartet.

"Jacob Ford has put himself in position to be picked in the 2007 NFL Draft this weekend," Bob Holt wrote in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Ford, who played defensive end at Central Arkansas the past two seasons, likely will have his name called by an NFL team on Sunday, when rounds four through seven are held."

"We?re hearing that he's a solid fifth-round grade," UCA Coach Clint Conque said. "But a couple of scouts I spoke with said they would not be surprised if somebody reached up into the fourth round and grabbed him there." ...

"A lot of schools could have shied away from me," Ford said. "I?m appreciative of the opportunity Holmes and UCA gave me." ...

Several Web sites devoted to the NFL Draft list Ford among the best "sleepers" available.

Copies of the Centennial edition of the Scroll, UCA's yearbook, have arrived and are available at the UCA Bookstore from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through next week. The 2007 yearbooks are free to full-time undergraduate students who paid fees in both the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007, and who can present a valid student ID. Departments, faculty, staff and alumni may purchase yearbooks for $30 each. For more information contact the Scroll at 450-5599 or Scroll@uca.edu.

The UCA Staff Senate last Thursday at the Service Recognition Reception honored Allan Roisen, Charlotte Strickland and Jan Bartley as the Employees of the Year in three separate categories. Roisen, the Instrumentation Tech II for Physics and Astronomy, won the Service Staff Award; Strickland, the Education Seminar Coordinator for the Office of University Training; won the Administrative Staff Award; and Bartley, the Administrative Assistant I for College of Business Administration, won the Administrative Support Staff Award. All three winners received $500 and a plaque.

UCA sociology faculty members and majors participated in the 28th Annual Arkansas Undergraduate Sociology and Anthropology Symposium last Friday at Hendrix College. Student presentations included: Jennifer Dainwood ("He Thinks He'll Keep Her: An evaluation of Cultivation Theory as applied to gender traditional ideals and mass media"); Sarah Larson ( "Who's to Blame? The relationship between social class and common attributions for poverty"); and Amy Whitworth, ("Cohabitation among Senior Citizens in Arkansas").

UCA's College of Liberal Arts will hold its "End-of-the-Year Celebration" this Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Conway Country Club. Four retiring faculty and staff members will be recognized, the winner of the annual Outstanding Faculty Member Award will be named, and a new scholarship and study-abroad funds honoring three of the retirees will be formally announced.

UCA music lecturer Brent Shires and piano instructor Terrie Shires will present a program of French horn music this Friday at 5:45 p.m. at the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. The recital is preparation for a performance two days later at the University of Illinois, and it is free and open to the public. Brent Shires is a founding member of Pinnacle Brass, the resident quintet at UCA, as well as a hornist in the Conway Symphony Orchestra and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

As the University of Central Arkansas moves up to NCAA Division I status and joins the Southland Athletic Conference, UCA executed a contract agreement with Head Football Coach Clint Conque to extend his tenure at least through the end of 2011.

"I was very impressed and pleased that UCA finished with an 8-3 record and in the national Top 25 during our first year competing at the Division I level," said UCA President Lu Hardin. "Coach Conque has made the transition to Division I and provided excellent leadership as we begin to compete in the Southland conference."

"I am very pleased that President Hardin and our administration has confidence in the direction the football program is headed," Conque said. "I really believe that this makes a strong statement about the stability and the long-term direction of, as well as the commitment to, our football program."

Conque has been UCA's Head Football Coach since 2000 and has compiled an 52-29 overall record for a .650 winning percentage under his leadership. Last year, during UCA's debut in Division I, the football team defeated six-time national champions Georgia Southern and notched road conference victories over Stephen F. Austin and Top-25-ranked Sam Houston State. UCA football also set the single-game attendance record last year. In 2005, Conque was named the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year and was inducted into the Nicholls State University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Under the terms of his new contract, Conque's annual salary is $114,805, although it may be increased or supplemented with private contributions or from the proceeds of private contributions designated for that purpose.

The contract also includes performance incentives. If the football team has a winning season, Conque will receive a bonus equal to the team's winning percentage multiplied by the value of his salary for one month. And while the team may be ineligible to win a conference championship as it makes the transition to Division I, if it wins the "equivalent" of a conference championship under Conque (defined as finishing with the best win-loss record in the conference), Conque will receive an additional bonus equal to one-half of his monthly salary.

The University of Central Arkansas's student newspaper, The Echo, won 27 awards at last Friday's Arkansas College Media Association awards, including First Place for General Excellence .

The Echo also swept the First, Second and Third Place awards in the Editorial Writing category, and won First Place in News Writing and First Place in Editorial Cartoon.

It was a banner day for UCA's literary magazine, yearbook and television news as well, resulting in UCA's decisive victory in the Sweepstakes category, which tallied the number of awards won by each institution across the breadth of college media.

"The University of Central Arkansas community is very proud of the entire staff of the UCA student newspaper, The Echo," said UCA President Lu Hardin. "UCA emphasizes excellence in writing and is strongly committed to the Freedom of Information Act. For our students to win the top award in excellence for a student newspaper is a tremendous accomplishment and we applaud their efforts."

The Echo was judged across two semesters when it was edited separately by Josh Waire and Robyn Green and advised by Donna Lampkin Stephens of the Department of Mass Communication.

"It was fantastic news for UCA and a huge shock overall," Green said. "It is a testament to the quality of the department and how much potential this university has."

The Vortex, UCA's literary magazine, won nine awards, including First Place for Magazine General Excellence, as well as First Place awards for Fiction, Non-Fiction and Photography. It was edited by Jennifer Richardson and advised by Monda Strange Fason of the Department of Writing.

The 2006 edition of UCA's yearbook, The Scroll, won 18 awards, including First Place for Sports Writing and Academics Writing. It was co-edited by students Wade Miller and Tori Moss, and advised by Polly Walter in the Department of Mass Communication.

UCA News 6, led by student producer Andre Luque, won six awards, including First Place for News/Feature Reporting. Tony Brooks of the Department of Mass Communication is the faculty advisor.

Dr. Mike Martin, Bryan Massey and Bill Bandy are the 2007 recipients of UCA's 2007 Faculty Excellence Awards. Martin, a biology professor, won the Teaching Excellence Award; Massey, in UCA's Department of Art, won the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award; and Bandy won the Public Service Award for his work in UCA's Department of Physical Therapy.

Los Angeles Modern Dance Troupe DIAVOLO will perform two concerts and a master class at UCA's Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are available from $12 to $35, and tickets for UCA students are $5 with a valid UCA I.D. To purchase tickets, call UCA Ticket Central at 450-3265 or 1-866-810-0012 or visit www.uca.edu/tickets. The master class for intermediate-level dancers will take place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Reynolds Performance Hall stage. The Arkansas Dance Network (ADN), a nonprofit service organization for dancers, is managing the master class. More information is available at 450-3682 or www.ardance.org.

Diavolo's two performances conclude the 2006-07 season of UCA Public Appearances. Season ticket renewals for the 2007-08 Season are available through UCA Ticket Central at 450-3265 or 1-866-810-0012.

The UCA English Department has established a scholarship fund with the UCA Foundation to honor Becky Williams and Linda Arnold, who will retire next month from the faculty after a combined 49 years of service to UCA. The Williams/Arnold Scholarship will be presented annually to a junior English major who intends to pursue a career in education. The funds would be applied during the student's senior year. Contributions to the Williams/Arnold Scholarship Fund should be designated for that purpose through the UCA Foundation.

Three UCA students will participate in the first-ever UCA "Iron Chef" competition this Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Christian Cafeteria. Javia Jacobs, Whitney Mapes and Julie Storing will have one hour to prepare three appetizer-style dishes from ingredients provided by Aramark, which is sponsoring the event. There will be prizes for all three contenders, and their creations will be judged by Student Government Association President Haley Heath, Associate Vice President for Financial Services Paul McLendon and Vice President for Student Services Ronnie Williams.

Dr. Catherine Acre of the UCA Occupational Therapy Department was officially named a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association at its annual conference in St. Louis last weekend.

Other UCA faculty making presentations at the conference included: Dr. Letha Mosley, Ms. Elizabeth LeQuieu and LaTeasha D. Gaither (Short Course entitled "Bridging Occupation, Obesity, and Motivation from an Occupational Therapy Perspective"); Dr. Letha Mosley and Dr. Janet Jedlicka [U. North Dakota] (Short Course entitled "Case Study Analysis of Cultural Competency Training: Implications for Occupational Therapy Education"); Dr. Tina Mankey (Research paper entitled "Occupational Therapy Educators' Involvement with College Students with Disabilities"); Dr. Catherine Acre and Dr. Tina Mankey (Poster presentation entitled "Hope in Uniting Generations (HUG) as a Project-based Learning Experience"); and Dr. Marc Willey (Poster presentation entitled "The Effect of Keyboard Modifications on Wrist Position During Keyboard Use"). Also, Dr. Linda Musselman convened the 1-1/2 day meeting of the Program Directors Education Council (PRODEC).

UCA will host the 67th annual Arkansas Boys State from June 3 to 8. The week-long civics education program is organized and sponsored by the American Legion Department of Arkansas, and more information is available at www.arlegion.org.

UCA's Department of Speech-Language Pathology is well represented in the leadership of the Arkansas Speech-Language-Hearing Association, with John Lowe as President-Elect, Kim McCullough as Vice-President-Elect for Continuing Education and Linda Edwards as Treasurer. This is nothing new for the Department, as Graduate Dean Elaine McNiece and Donna Smiley both served as President of ASLHA, which is the state association for professional audiologists and speech pathologists.

UCA's Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures will welcome foreign language educators from across the state to campus for the 2007 Annual Conference of the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association, which will be held this Thursday and Friday at the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center. Faculty conducting workshops on Thursday include Sharon Wilkes, (technology); Shirley Friedman, Ivan Iglesias, and Wendy Dodge (Spanish Immersion); and Dr. Marian Brodman and Dr. Phillip Bailey (French Immersion). AFLTA President and UCA Spanish Lecturer Patricia Carlin will present a session on Friday. Dr. Todd Marshall will discuss the role of comprehensible input on Friday and Dr. Jennifer Parrack will present a talk on mentoring students with Spanish MA graduate students Laura Edwards and J-L Peterson. For more information, call 450-3168.

UCA marketing professor Dr. Scott Markham is retiring after 31 years at UCA. He directed the Center for Management Development, taught advertising, public relations and sales classes, and inaugurated field trips to the Dallas Market Center and advertising and PR firms in Dallas, Atlanta and Little Rock. A come-and-go reception will be held today from 12 noon to 2 p.m. in Burdick 220.

Linda D. Williams, the Dean's Research Liaison at the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, will deliver a lecture this Thursday at 1:40 p.m. in room 224 of UCA's Doyne Health Sciences Center. Williams coordinates an online research collaboration database for the State of Arkansas. This depository of research and collaborative funding opportunities is intended to facilitate work between individuals, departments, colleges, institutes/centers and institutions in Arkansas and beyond. Williams' lecture is hosted by UCA's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and the Office of Sponsored Programs. Call 450-3451 for more information.

UCA's Fusion Players will present their interpretation of Macbeth and Asian theater forms tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Center Courtyard. The production is conceived, adapted, and performed by Honors Core IV: Asian Theater and is free and open to the public.

Acclaimed violinist Alexander Markov will perform with the Conway Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at UCA's Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall as part of his residency with UCA?s College of Fine Arts and Communication. Tickets for the performance are $20 for the general public, $5 for UCA faculty and staff and free to UCA students. Markov, a Gold Medal winner at the Paganini International Violin Competition, has appeared with some of the world?s greatest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, l'Orchestre de Paris, the Montreal Symphony, the BBC and Detroit Symphonies as well as the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Markov also will give a master class for UCA students and a recital with piano accompanist on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at UCA's Snow Fine Arts Recital Hall on campus. The class will be free and open to the public.

Also on Tuesday, renowned hip-hop artist Common will perform at UCA's Farris Center at 8 p.m. The concert features special guest Lupe Fiasco. Tickets are $15 for UCA students and $25 for general public. Order online at uca.edu/tickets or call 501-450-3265.

UCA President Lu Hardin is the featured guest on this weekend's edition of Talk Business, a statewide television program hosted by Roby Brock. Hardin will discuss UCA's Centennial, and Brock also interviews Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones from the UCA campus.

The episode will be broadcast on Sunday night at 10 p.m. on KLRT-Fox 16 in Central Arkansas, as well as Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on KFTA-Fox 24 in Northwest Arkansas and Monday night at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sudden Link Ch. 22 in Jonesboro.

The 36th Annual Academic Honors Convocation will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. at UCA's Reynolds Performance Hall. UCA President Lu Hardin and Provost Gabriel Esteban will recognize superior scholastic achievement and announce this year's Outstanding University Student award winners. A reception in the Brewer-Hegeman Center will follow the convocation. The public is invited to attend.

UCA's football tailgating spots will be available for purchase starting Monday at 8 a.m. The tailgating area around Estes Stadium on Bruce Street has been expanded and all sites are on a first come, first serve basis. Spots must be reserved for the entire season.

Premium spaces alongside the north stadium fence are available for $250 for the entire season (five home games). Regular spots along the remainder of Bruce Street are $100 for the season. Each spot is a parking space in size. A map showing the tailgating area and available spots is located on UCA?s athletic website at www.ucasports.com. It will be updated as spots are taken. For more information, call Lisa Cooley at 450-3219. To purchase a tailgating spot, call 450-3150.

UCA history professor Dr. SONDRA GORDY will be a presenter at the Arkansas Historical Association's (AHA) 66th annual conference, which will take place April 26-28 in Little Rock. "Not Just Black and White: The Fight for Civil Rights in Arkansas" is the theme of the conference. Gordy's presentation is titled "Twice Removed," and it relates the story of three Japanese-American boys affected not only by World War II internment camps but also by the 1957 Little Rock Central High School integration crisis and the closure of their high schools in 1958-59. Several members of the Little Rock Nine will participate on the program with Gordy, who is a member of the AHA's board of directors.

LAUREN MAXWELL of UCA's Department of Economics, Finance and Insurance & Risk Management, and Dr. SHERRI LATIMER, Title III Grant, presented ?Plugging Into Education: Using Technology In Economics Classes? on April 17 at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum in Baton Rouge, La. Their presentation concerned Maxwell?s use of the DyKnow Vision software in the classroom.

Sandra Olson, the Acquisitions Supervisor at UCA's Torreyson Library, this week was named a "Star" by ALA-APA: the Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees. Olson, who also is the ALA/LSSIRT Vice President/President Elect, was nominated for the recognition for how she "touched lives through her work in libraries."

The University of Central Arkansas on May 5 will hold commencement exercises for the 2007 Spring semester as the institution celebrates its 100th anniversary.

The activities will include three separate ceremonies at the UCA Farris Center to confer degrees. At each ceremony, UCA President Lu Hardin will deliver an address to the graduates.

James Bridges and Mary Lowe Good will receive honorary degrees, Rush Harding will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award and Conrad Stanitski will be designated Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

UCA Honors College professor Allison Wallace this weekend will discuss her recently published book, "A Keeper of Bees: Notes on Hive and Home," at the Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock. This year's festival includes nationally recognized authors like Christopher Hitchens, Nikki Giovanni and Milton Viorst.

Wallace's session is scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Cox Creative Center in Little Rock's River Market District. More information is available at www.arkansasliteraryfestival.org.

The UCA Student Government Association on Monday will hold a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. All members of the UCA community are invited to participate in the vigil, which will begin at 5 p.m. in front of the fountain at Harding Centennial Plaza.

UCA will be one of only five universities in the nation this year to host a summer conference for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. The gathering will take place July 18-20 and will include five intensive workshops on different aspects of K-12 physical education. UCA Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education chair Dr. Debbie Howell-Creswell played a key role in securing the conference for UCA.

UCA will host over 400 high school students and their teachers, parents and other family members at the annual History Day in Arkansas state competition this Saturday, April 21. Humanities scholars from UCA and other Arkansas academic institutions, museums and archival facilities will judge the presentations, and Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter will preside at the Awards Ceremony, which will take place at 3 p.m. in Ida Waldran auditorium. Students who place first and second in their respective categories will advance to the National History Day competition at the University of Maryland in June.

UCA's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will host its 13th Annual Student Research Poster Symposium tomorrow from 2 to 4 p.m. on the ground floor of the Mathematics/Computer Science/Technology building. Over 66 posters will be on display, representing the work of 78 students. Refreshments will be served.

Conway's daily newspaper, the Log Cabin Democrat, in its editorial yesterday called UCA's bid to host a 2008 presidential debate "another example that UCA President Lu Hardin is dedicated to competing with the "big boys."

"If UCA can get the bid, we think it would be a great thing to expose the high quality of life and educational emphasis on Conway," the Log Cabin wrote. "It will not only be good for UCA, but a great opportunity for top students at neighboring Hendrix College and Central Baptist College, particularly those with an eye or commitment to law, politics or public service for their careers, to get a first-hand look at the nuts and bolts and realities of politics. It's also a wonderful teaching opportunity for those at the many fine secondary schools in our community. ... We may have a chance to have in our community for a few days some of the best political pundits, reporters and spin doctors in the world. Many will be staying and dining in our community and mingling with our citizens. Imagine a "Nightline" broadcast from Brewer-Hegeman with some of the best and brightest students from our three local colleges reacting to candidates and the debate. Picture the "Today" show or "Good Morning America" having segments in front of the UCA fountain. ... Whatever the outcome on the debate location, we salute Hardin for throwing UCA's hat into the ring."

The UCA?s Alumni Circle Public Art Selection Panel this month started the process of choosing the artist for the Centennial project. Dr. Gayle Seymour, chair of the UCA Public Art Committee and interim dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, said the selection panel met for the first time April 10 to discuss the 150 submissions from 32 states, many of whom are nationally known artists in contemporary American sculpture, and narrowed the submissions to 17.

?The committee is now in the process of calling references,? Seymour said ?The goal is to meet again on April 23 and determine the five finalists by the end of the month.? After the finalists are chosen, the next phase, Seymour said, would be to give each of the five a stipend and six months to develop and present a specific design proposal. The plan is to have all five come to UCA to present their designs to the university, after which the winner will be chosen.

UCA will host an all-day celebration of the Jewel Moore Nature Reserve this Saturday, April 21, highlighted by a rededication ceremony at 10 a.m. Biologists will lead tours and activities throughout the day, on topics that will include birds, insects, wildflowers, wetlands, and fire ecology. The events are free and open to the public. For more information and a full schedule, contact the UCA biology department at Dept. of Biology at 450-5919.

UCA management professor JOHN WATT recently presented a paper titled "Effect of Boredom on Underemployment, Employee Engagement, and Job Performance" at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in New York City.

UCA writing professor STEPHANIE VANDERSLICE last month debuted her new book at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in New York City. Titled "Can It Really Be Taught?: Resisting Lore in Creative Writing Pedagogy," the book is a collection of articles arguing against the myths that prevail in creative writing pedagogy, especially the myth that creative writing cannot be taught. Vanderslice co-edited the book with Dr. Kelly Ritter of Southern Connecticut State University, and contributors include a number of important voices in creative writing, including the late Wendy Bishop, Katherine Haake and Patrick Bizarro.

Vanderslice also recently contributed chapters to Graeme Harper's Teaching Creative Writing (Continuum Press), Heather Beck's Creative Writing in Higher Education (Palgrave-MacMillan), and Steve Earnshaw's The Creative Writing Handbook (Edinburgh University Press/Columbia University Press). She also wrote the foreword for Doing Creative Writing, a textbook for UK creative writing undergraduates written by Steve May, and she is currently assembling (with Kelly Ritter) a graduate textbook on teaching creative writing.

TODAY: Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe today will be the featured speaker at the "March of Diversity," an on-campus event organized by a UCA student group called Campus Dialogue with assistance from the Student Government Association. The march, which begins at 4:30 p.m. at Harding Centennial Plaza, is designed to celebrate UCA's diversity during the institution's centennial year. Before and after the march, students will hear from a broad array of speakers, including UCA President Lu Hardin.

TOMORROW: Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys football team, tomorrow will deliver a speech on the UCA campus at 12 noon at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall. A North Little Rock native, Jones had a successful career in gas and oil exploration before purchasing the Cowboys in 1989. The event is free and open to the public.

UCA student Micah Dailey is the 2007 recipient of the Mary McMillan Scholarship Award from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), making him the second UCA student in as many years to win this national award.

Dailey, who will graduate on August 10 with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, is one of ten students selected from nearly 200 physical therapy programs across the nation. He receives a $5,000 cash award and will be recognized at the APTA Annual Conference on June 29 in Denver, Colo. Dailey has maintained a 4.0 grade point average throughout PT school and his undergraduate work at UCA as well. He was selected for this award for not only his scholastic achievements but for leadership, service, and participation in research including a poster presentation at the national APTA 2007 Combined Sections Meeting and multiple mission trips such as Tsunami Relief in Thailand.

UCA political science professor GARY WEKKIN last month presented two papers at the Southwestern Political Science Association meetings in Albuquerque, N.M. The first paper, entitled "George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush: Puzzling Presidents, or the Puzzle of the Presidency?" will be published this month in a special issue of White House Studies devoted to the two Bush presidencies. The second paper, co-authored with UCA student Jared A. Stewart and UA-Fayetteville political scientists Andrew Dowdle and Leslie Piatt, was titled "Moral Values or Presidential Coattails? Did Gay Marriage Ballot Measures Boost Social Conservative Support for Republican Candidates in 2004?"

GARRY CRAIG POWELL in the UCA Department of Writing has been awarded the 2007 Eureka! Fellowship for a short-story writer by the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow, in Eureka Springs. The fellowship provides for a month-long residency at the colony. Powell also has recently had stories accepted for publication by Nimrod International and Zone 3.

The UCA Family and Consumer Sciences Department earlier this month hosted its 20th annual Alumni Luncheon and Student Recognition Program, with 97 alumni, students and guests in attendance, including retired State Senator Stanley Russ, UCA President Lu Hardin, College of Health and Applied Sciences Dean Neil Hattlestad and Department Chair Dr. Mary Harlan.

Scholarship winners included Jessica Simpson (Georg Andersen Scholarship for Interior Design majors); Heather Runyon (Adams-Lindsey-Webb scholarship); Jennifer Main, Michal Gill and Marietta Monday (Cecily Coffelt-Bullard Scholarships); Kristina Bailey and Kristina Lane (Grace-Phelps Dupree Scholarships); Kristen Rowe (Mary Ann and Andrew Hiegel Scholarship); Ashlie Morrison, Deanna Ramsey, Megan McGinty, Kathryn Justice, Ashley Rountree, Megan Bilon, and Kandace Harter (Dr. Roy C. and Dollie Randleman Holl Scholarships); and Kyndle Steinmetz (Emily Oates Scholarship).

UCA?s Division of Academic Outreach will host its 6th Annual Administrative Professionals Day on April 25 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. This year's program is titled "Winning in a Changing World: How to Survive in the Jungle of Life," and participants will learn survival tactics to help them in their personal and professional lives. A comprehensive schedule of useful sessions and engaging speakers is planned, and Dr. Beth Higgs will deliver the keynote address. The cost to attend is $55, and for more information, contact Melanie Watson at 450-5276 or melaniesw@uca.edu.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe tomorrow will be the featured speaker at the "March of Diversity," an on-campus event organized by a UCA student group called Campus Dialogue with assistance from the Student Government Association.

The march, which begins tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. at Harding Centennial Plaza, is designed to celebrate UCA's diversity during the institution's centennial year. Before and after the march, students will hear from a broad array of speakers, including UCA President Lu Hardin.

U.S. News and World Report recently featured School Psychology in its annual "Best Careers" feature, citing the profession as one of only five with an "excellent" job market outlook, as well as a median pay of $63,029.

UCA's psychology department has trained Master's-level graduate students in school psychology for over 25 years, and that program has been nationally recognized and approved by the National Association of School Psychologists. In 2000, UCA launched a Ph.D. program in school psychology. With a highly-trained, doctoral-level faculty trained in school psychology, UCA can prepare students for this important field. More information about UCA's Department of Psychology and Counseling can be found at uca.edu/psychology.

UCA student Jenna White recently was named UCA's Outstanding Physical Education Major of the Year by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). White received her award in Baltimore last month at the Annual Convention of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Susan Payton, who received her MBA from UCA, has published a new book, "101 Entrepreneur Tips," as part of the LifeTips series, which provides readers with insightful tips and advice in a variety of fields.

"Starting a business is no easy task, but we're excited that Susan has taken on the bold initiative to create tips for aspiring entrepreneurs," said Melanie Nayer, Editor of LifeTips.com and LifeTips 101 Book Series Editor. "Susan's tips not only cover the bases of launching a business, but also provide insight and information on marketing your business, motivating your staff, and raising money to stay afloat."

Payton is Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations, an Orlando-based marketing firm she founded in 2006.

UCA students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to join the College of Fine Arts and Communication for a reception on Thursday honoring Little Rock author Phillip McMath and his latest novel, Lost Kingdoms. The event begins at 6 p.m. at That Bookstore at Mountebanq Place, located at 1107 Oak Street in downtown Conway. McMath, who is a member of the College of Fine Arts and Communication's Regional Advisory Committee, will read from his new book and sign copies afterward.

Legendary singer Gladys Knight will headline the University of Central Arkansas Centennial Gala tomorrow night at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus.

The concert begins at 8 p.m., and a handful of tickets may still be available. Tickets are $20 for UCA students and $50 for the general public, and they can be purchased through UCA Ticket Central at http://www.uca.edu/uca/tickets.php, by calling 866-810-0012, or by visiting the box office at Reynolds Hall today between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

"Raymond Frontain, English professor at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, recently published in the March-April issue of Gay and Lesbian Review a study of acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally?s works (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, the Americanized version of The Full Monty, and more)," writes Linda Caillouet in her "Paper Trails" column in today's edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "After reading it, McNally was so impressed with Frontain, he invited the professor to New York for the premiere of his play, Some Men, on the struggle for gay rights. For the premiere at the Second Stage Theater, Frontain found himself seated near legendary playwright and McNally mentor Edward Albee (Who?s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the Pulitzer Prizewinning A Delicate Balance) and across the aisle from actor Nathan Lane. Frontain has been invited back for the preview of McNally?s latest play, Deuce, starring Angela Lansbury."

UCA student Brad Klingsporn recently was named 2007 Intern of the Year by the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) for his work as an intern at the Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C. Klingsporn received the recognition, which includes a $500 cash award, at CEIA's annual conference last month in Dallas, Texas.

Klingsporn already had been presented with UCA's 2007 Intern of the Year award at the UCA Annual Internship Banquet on March 15.

University of Central Arkansas education professor Dr. Jody B. Charter will receive the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media's 2007 Outstanding Individual Achievement Award at the organization's state conference on April 23. The award is presented annually by AAIM, which seeks to improve education and the public welfare through the use of educational communications, educational technology, educational media, and audiovisual materials and methods. AAIM recognizes Charter's many career contributions that have furthered the field of education and librarianship in the state of Arkansas.

LaTonya Suber is the 2007 recipient of the Graduate Outstanding Student Award from the Department of Nursing at the University of Central Arkansas. Suber, who will graduate on May 5 with a Master of Science in Nursing, was chosen for this annual award by department faculty for her achievement of program objectives, scholarship, and professional qualities.

The UCA Centennial Picnic will take place on May 3 from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on the McAlister Hall lawn in front of Wingo Hall. The meal includes pulled pork, grilled chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and all of the trimmings. Attendees will also have the chance to "Dunk A Supervisor."

Free tickets to the event are available to UCA faculty and staff can be obtained from Amy Shier in the Human Resources Department, Terry Starnes at the Physical Plant or Georgia Younker at the Library. The event is sponsored by the President's Office and hosted by the Staff Senate.

The Oxford American magazine, based at the University of Central Arkansas, will release its first-ever Oxford American DVD in conjunction with the publication this week of The Oxford American Southern Movie Issue. The OA DVD is a "visual mix tape" featuring short films, scenes from essential Southern movies, historic footage, spectacular surprises, and much more. Special highlights include works by such directors as Craig Brewer, Ross McElwee, Joey Lauren Adams, Ray McKinnon, Phil Chambliss, and Roger Corman (along with many others). Also, UCA music instructor Kondwani Phwandaphwanda plays his song "So Blue" during the opening credits of the DVD.

Subscriptions to the magazine can be made at www.oxfordamericanmag.com. New subscribers will receive a copy of The Oxford American Southern Movie issue as their first issue. Single copy issues and back issues of the magazine are available on the website.

The UCA-produced documentary on the Arkansas Gazette, "The Old Gray Lady: Arkansas's First Newspaper," will air on AETN this Friday night at 9 p.m. The film, directed by UCA alumnus Kevin Clark, with Joseph Anderson and Donna Lampkin Stephens of the Mass Communication/Theatre department as executive producer and producer, respectively, tells the story of what was the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River when it closed Oct. 18, 1991. Academy award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen provides the voice of the newspaper.

The film, which premiered to a capacity crowd at the Clinton Presidential Center in October, was screened at the Reynolds Performance Hall last fall and showed in the Ozark Foothills FilmFest in Batesville and Little Rock last month. It has been selected for the inaugural Little Rock Film Festival later this spring. Friday's airing will be the only statewide television airing until at least the fall.

UCA psychology students Maranda Leonard, Anthony Thompson, and Brandon Wolfe recently received Regional Research Awards worth $300 from Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology for their paper entitled, "Relationship Between Political Orientation and Defensiveness." The trio found that politically liberal individuals used a level of psychological defense that directly paralleled the magnitude of a reported breach in the U.S. criminal justice system. Conservatives, in contrast, showed the same high levels of defensiveness regardless of the level of threat.

On an independent project that also examined political orientation and psychological defensiveness, April Drinkwater, M. Garrett Steele, and Katie Short won a Third Place award worth $100 dollars in the Undergraduate Research Competition sponsored by the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA). The Psi Chi and SWPA meetings were held jointly, April 5-7, in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys football team, will deliver a speech on the UCA campus next Wednesday at 12 noon at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.

A North Little Rock native, Jones had a successful career in gas and oil exploration before purchasing the Cowboys in 1989.

The event is free and open to the public.

The award-winning Oxford American magazine, based on the UCA campus, tomorrow night will host a special free screening of its first-ever Southern Movie DVD in Stanley Russ Hall, Room 103. The DVD is a "visual mix tape" of Southern movies from past to present (with lots of contributions by Arkansas filmmakers). Works by Craig Brewer, Ray McKinnon, Joey Lauren Adams, Roger Corman, Phil Chambliss, and many others are featured.

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m., but seating is limited, so please come early.

The UCA Honors College tomorrow night will host the tenth annual Livestock 2007, a benefit concert for Heifer International, at Juanita's (1300 Main Street in Little Rock). This year's event is a project of an honors seminar on "The Music Business," co-taught by concert promoter Butch Stone and Rick Scott, director of the Honors College and longtime musician and song writer. It is sponsored by the Honors Council and the UCA Student Government Association and features Josef Hedinger, Damn Bullets, Latture, and Further Down.

Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in advance through Ticket Alternative. To purchase online, go to Juanita's website at http://www.juanitas.com/ and click on "Online Ticket Sales." You may also contact Ticket Alternative directly for phone orders of advanced tickets at 1-877-725-8849.

Jessica Hambuchen is the 2007 recipient of the Department of Nursing Graduate Academic Excellence Award at the University of Central Arkansas. Hambuchen, who will receive a Master of Science in Nursing on May 5, was chosen for this honor based on her intellectual curiosity and scholarly writing. Hambuchen also has the highest cumulative grade point average in the graduate nursing program.

Dr. Hui Wu, Associate Professor in the UCA Writing Department, served as a featured speaker at the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication held last month in New York. She presented her paper, "Lost in Translation: Modern Chinese Conceptualization of Rhetoric."

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter tonight will speak at the University of Central Arkansas. Halter's lecture is presented by the UCA Honors College.

DATE: Tuesday, April 10
TIME: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: McAlister Hall, Room 302 (The Forum)

Halter took office in January. He was Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration under President Bill Clinton and held other senior White House positions. He provided economic analysis to the United States Congress, consulted for Fortune 500 companies, and served as a board member for some of the nation's most promising information technology and biotechnology companies.

Halter is a Rhodes Scholar who received a Master of Philosophy degree in Economics from Oxford University in 1986. He is a trustee emeritus of Stanford University, having served on its board of trustees for seven years and having chaired the Stanford Committee on Academic Policy.

UCA Assistant Golf Coach Jack O'Keefe was attuned to Zach Johnson's potential before the Master's golf tournament began last week, according to Louisville Courier-Journal columnist Eric Crawford.

"O'Keefe made his first visit to Augusta for a practice round Wednesday," Crawford wrote. "His eyes bloodshot from pulling an all-nighter to get there, he told me, 'Look for Zach Johnson.'" Johnson was the surprise winner of the Master's on Sunday.

UCA President Lu Hardin gave his two Master's tickets to O'Keefe and UCA Head Golf Coach Ryke Dismuke.

Read Crawford's full column here.

North Little Rock native Beth Scotter has been named the recipient of both the 2007 Department of Nursing Undergraduate Academic Excellence Award and the 2007 Department of Nursing Undergraduate Leadership Award at the University of Central Arkansas. Scotter received the Academic Excellence award based on her cumulative grade point average, which was the highest of her senior nursing class. The Leadership award is presented annually to a senior nursing student and based on leadership experience and a demonstration of potential to become a great leader within professional nursing as assessed by peers and faculty.

Fouke native Andrew Stevenson is the 2007-2008 recipient of the Clara M. Forsberg Nursing Scholarship at the University of Central Arkansas. Stevenson was selected to receive the scholarship based on his high professional standards. The Clara M. Forsberg Nursing Scholarship is made possible by an endowment established by the estate of Dr. Carl and Mrs. Clara Forsberg and is awarded to a junior or senior nursing student who is in good academic standing, demonstrates high professional standards, and is enrolled full-time in required nursing courses.

Drs. James Fletcher and Bill Bandy from the Department of Physical Therapy recently published an article titled "Unique Positioning for Using Elastic Resistance Band in Providing Strengthening Exercise to the Muscles Surrounding the Ankle" in the North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy (2007;2(1):51-54).

Ms. Margaret McGee and Dr. Nancy Reese from the Department of Physical Therapy presented their study, titled "Reliability of gait and balance measures in children with cerebral palsy," at the 2007 combined section meeting of American physical Therapy Association in Boston, Mass.

Dr. Deborah Kuster of the Art Department and three Art Education Club officers last month attended the NAEA Conference in New York, where Kuster and student Katie O'Neal presented workshops. O'Neal, a senior at UCA who will complete her student teaching this semester, also was accepted last fall to present at the state level conference.

CONWAY, ARK. -- University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin welcomed state legislative leaders to a press conference celebrating the results of the 2007 Arkansas biennial legislative session, which formally adjourned on Tuesday.

"This was a truly historic session for UCA and higher education in Arkansas," Hardin said.

Arkansas State Senate President Pro-Tempore Jack Critcher and Senate President Pro-Tempore-Elect Bob Johnson participated in the event, which was the first time both men appeared together publicly since Johnson was elected to succeed Critcher. Sen. Gilbert Baker, Rep. Robbie Wills, Faulkner County Judge Preston Scroggin and Conway Mayor Tab Townsell also attended and made remarks.

Among the highlights Hardin noted:

? UCA received the largest single-year budget increase in its history. The UCA budget for 2007-08 is over 20 percent larger than its 2006-07 allocation, increasing from $48,170,875 to $57,126,703.

? UCA received the largest percentage budget increase of any higher education institution in Arkansas.

? Sen. Gilbert Baker allocated to UCA his full share of General Improvement Funds ? a total of $558,000.

? UCA received $100,000 through an equal distribution to Arkansas higher education institutions approved by the House of Representatives.

Hardin called the session among the best ever for higher education in Arkansas, as evidenced by a 10 percent overall funding increase, an elevation of the annual family income limit for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship (over 1,200 Academic Challenge Scholarship winners come to UCA every year), an increase in the number of Arkansas Governor's Distinguished Scholarships available each year, and the creation of a new college scholarship program offering $1,000 to low-income students.

CONWAY, ARK. -- The University of Central Arkansas is among 19 candidates bidding to host a presidential or vice presidential debate in 2008, according a list released yesterday by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

"There may be no college campus in the United States better equipped to host a presidential debate than the University of Central Arkansas," UCA President Lu Hardin wrote in a letter accompanying UCA's application. "As a swing state in America's heartland, Arkansas is the perfect place to hold a presidential debate in 2008. As a growing university with a world-class event venue and broadcast facility, UCA is the perfect host." [The text of Hardin's letter is included with this release.]

In a typical presidential election year, three debates are scheduled for the presidential candidates, and the vice presidential candidates meet for one debate. Host applicants are considered for both presidential and vice presidential debates.

"With only 19 candidates for four possible debates, the odds are better than one-in-five that UCA could be selected to host a debate," Hardin said.

A debate would have a tremendous economic impact on Central Arkansas, bringing thousands of media personnel and support staff, filling hotel rooms within a fifty-mile radius of Conway and raising the international profile of UCA, Conway and Central Arkansas.

The Commission on Presidential Debates will evaluate the applications and make site visits before issuing its decisions in October 2007.

The other candidates are: Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ); Belmont University (Nashville, TN); Centre College (Danville, KY); Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana; Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY); Indiana University and the City of Bloomington's Convention and Visitor's Bureau; MERC (Portland, OR); Ohio State University, National Public Radio, and Public Broadcasting Station (Columbus, OH); State of Illinois (Lakeside Center/McCormick Place, Chicago); University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber; University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL); University of Mississippi (Oxford, MS); VisitPittsburgh; Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC); Washington State University (Spokane, WA); Washington University (St. Louis, MO); Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT); Women of the Storm (New Orleans, LA).

The University of Central Arkansas this year is celebrating its 100th anniversary. It is the fastest-growing and second-largest higher education institution in Arkansas, with over 12,000 students enrolled.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (debates.org) was established in 1987 to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners. Its primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice presidential candidates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. The organization, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation, sponsored all the presidential debates in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Lisa Christman, University College, and Dr. Sherri Latimer, Title III Grant, presented ?Plugging into Math: The Sympodium and Intermediate Algebra? on March 23 at the annual conference of the National Association for Developmental Education in Nashville, Tenn. The presentation was based upon a study of Christman?s use of the Sympodium with developmental students.

Michael Hargis, Assistant Professor of Management, will present a symposium titled ?Current research on ethical perceptions: Person, context, and interactive perspectives? at the annual conference for the Academy of Management in Philadelphia in August. Dr. Hargis also will present a paper titled ?Examining person- and context-based factors that influence perceptions of ethical transgressions" with co-author James M. LeBreton (Purdue University) at the conference.

The UCA Planetarium Show will take place this Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in Lewis Science Center 10.

The program includes a tour of the the April 2007 sky and flights through the universe. Admission is free. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Seating limited to the first sixty people. No admittance once show starts.