University of Central Arkansas

Ronald R. Hoy, the David and Dorothy Merksamer Professor in Biology at Cornell University, tonight at 6:30 p.m. will present the third annual Burgess Lecture in the Doyne Health Sciences Auditorium at UCA.

The title of Hoy's lecture is "Rhythm and Mode in the Acoustic Signals of Animals and Humans: Speculation on the Origins of Speech and Music." He will present several case studies of acoustic communication in various animals to illustrate how common features underlie vocal communication of all animals, including humans. From the study of animal communication sounds, Hoy will try to trace the origins of human speech and music.

UCA's Jewel E. Moore Nature Reserve this Saturday will host "Spring into Action: A Walk in the Nature Reserve," featuring trail walks guided by UCA biologists.

UCA students recently participated in a two-week trial of conservation program called "Who Needs Trays" at the Christian Cafeteria on campus.

The fourth annual UCA Film Festival will begin tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. in Stanley Russ Hall room 103 on the UCA campus.

The festival, which is free to the public, is jointly sponsored by UCA's Department of Mass Communication and Theatre and the UCA Film Club, and it includes three categories: Music Video, Documentary and Narrative.

"This year is looking to be one of the best years for our festival," said Joe Dull, assistant professor of digital filmmaking and co-coordinator with Bruce Hutchinson of this year's festival. "We've got a very talented group of students with a creative drive that is an inspiration to see."

Erica Hlebinsky, a communications supervisor with the UCA Police Department, recently received the Law Enforcement Hero award from the American Red Cross in Faulkner County for saving the life of a Conway man through her training as a dispatcher.

The UCA Honors College today will host James L. “Skip” Rutherford for a presentation entitled "The Presidential Primaries and the Press" at 3 p.m. in McAlister Hall room 302.

St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre brings its new production of Carmen to UCA's Reynolds Performance Hall tomorrow night for one performance only.

Lee Schwager, of UCA's Health and Wellness division, has been selected as the 2008 UCA Employee of the Year.

Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of writing at UCA, recently did a poetry reading from his book "Age of the Demon Tools" at the 2008 &Now Conference (a festival of innovative art and literature) at Chapman University in Orange, Cal. He has also been invited by the Ozark Writers and Poets Collective to read from various works in Fayetteville on June 24. His essay "Necrophelia" (regarding his publishing and editing experience with the literary journal Exquisite Corpse) will be featured in an upcoming issue of 3 AM Magazine.

UCA recently welcomed Thomas Lasiter of Little Rock to its Foundation Board of Directors.

Lasiter, a 1966 graduate of UCA, is president of the Doyle Rogers Company, a private real estate development, investments, banking and brokerage firm with offices in Little Rock and Batesville. Lasiter is also on the board of directors of Metropolitan National Bank and serves on the directors loan committee and as chairman of the audit committee.

UCA's Student Activities Board will present country music star Chris Cagle this Thursday, April 24 at 8 p.m. in the Farris Center on UCA's campus.

The concert also will feature special guest Tyler Hilton. Tickets are $15 for UCA students and $25 for the general public, and they can be purchased by calling 501-450-3265 or visiting www.uca.edu/tickets.

Kim McCullough, Barbara Clancy and Allison Vetter won the 2008 UCA faculty awards announced last week.

The UCA Debate Team recently concluded its 2007-08 competition season with excellent outings at the University of Arkansas at Monticello “Last Call” tournament and at the International Public Debate Association national tournament held at Lee College in Baytown, Texas.

The UCA Honors College is now the home of the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC). The organization, affiliated with the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), represents honors programs and colleges in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Formerly housed at Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee, the move to UCA accompanies the election of Rick Scott as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of SRHC, with a term of office that extends to 2011.

Scott is Director of the UCA Honors College and is a member of the Board of Directors of the NCHC. The UCA Honors College also hosts the SRHC website, featuring an online community of honors participants throughout the South.

UCA senior Kyla Bailey will be the featured vocal soloist at the Conway Symphony Orchestra's family concert, "The Symphony All Around You," tomorrow at 2 p.m. at UCA's Reynolds Performance Hall.

Children and youth of all ages will enjoy this concert, under the direction of Israel Getzov, UCA music professor and director of orchestras. Presented in an educational and entertaining format, the one-hour performance features action shots of the musicians with video close-ups of the instruments, bringing the action from the stage to the entire audience.

"We're going to get inside the pieces, look at the different instruments, break down the melodies, and see how it all comes together to create the story of the music," Getzov said.

Refreshments will follow the performance at a reception hosted by Penny Pockets, kids club mascot of concert sponsor First Security Bank. Children will also have the opportunity to "meet" the instruments after the show. Tickets for the family concert are $5 for all seats, and are available at the door or by calling the box office at (501) 450-3265.

Baridon Hall, UCA's Office of International Programs, Short-Denney Residential College, Satellite Minton, and Hendrix College will join to present the second annual World Fest Event at UCA tomorrow from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free, and all participants will be eligible to win free prizes, including two iPods. Free food, multi-cultural games, prizes and activities for kids also will be available.

A portion of all funds generated from World Fest t-shirt sales will benefit the Bethlehem House.

The first annual Power of Purple 5K held recently at UCA attracted 90 runners and raised $1,400 for the American Cancer Society.

Winners in the Men's Division were Kevin Lemley (17:57), David McCormick (19:45) and Chris Yancey (21:15); and the winners in the Women's Division were Amy Porter (23:18), Donna Stephens (25:24) and Sara Benfer (26:04). Full resules are available at www.ArkansasRunner.com.

Sigma Kappa received an award for "Most Participation," Delta Sigma Theta was recognized for "Best Team Cancer Banner," and Sigma Kappa won again for "Most Team Spirit."

The race was sponsored by Textbook Brokers, Ad Graphics, and the Bear Den.

Chauncey Holloman, a sophomore business administration major at UCA, is one of six undergraduate finalists in the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup undergraduate business plan competition.

The winners of the competition will be announced during an awards luncheon today at 11:30 a.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

The competition is designed to encourage students from colleges and universities throughout Arkansas to act on their ideas and talents in order to produce tomorrow's businesses.

Chauncey’s business plan is Renaizzance Clothing, an apparel company that creates products with a trendy, urban flare. She has already won $1,000 in the preliminary round.

The Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup will award more than $100,000 in cash prizes during the 2008 competition.

Prizes in the graduate and undergraduate divisions include: first place, $20,000 divided among the team members and $1,000 for the team's faculty advisor(s); second place, $10,000 to be divided among the team members, and $1,000 for the team's faculty advisor(s); and third place, $5,000 to be divided among the team members, and $1,000 to the faculty advisor.

UCA recently became the first four-year higher education institution in Arkansas to qualify as a Better Business Bureau Community Member.

"The University of Central Arkansas interacts with businesses just as we do," said Janet Robb, President/CEO of the BBB of Arkansas. "We are proud to announce the University of Central Arkansas as the first four-year on-campus institution to become a BBB Community Member. We look forward to working together to educate and protect our citizens from dishonest and harmful marketplace behavior."

The Better Business Bureau is a statewide nonprofit business association of approximately 3200 member businesses that support self-regulation of advertising and issues of general business ethics and policies in the marketplace. The BBB collects marketplace information on companies and evaluates businesses against standards that clearly speak to the character and competence of an organization. All BBB accredited businesses have agreed to abide by the BBB Standards for Trust that consist of a comprehensive set of policies, procedures and best practices designed to help businesses and the public deal with each other fairly and honestly.

Rusty Lemorande, a Hollywood writer and director who produced the films Yentl, Caddyshack and Captain Eo, will visit UCA today to give presentations in front of three classes in UCA's Digital Filmmaking program.

Lemorande is from the Midwest, where he studied film in college and graduate school. From there he went on to Hollywood, where he has worked for nearly 30 years. Today he will talk about his initial start and adventures within the Hollywood system as a recent film school graduate in the late 1970s, and his current perceptions -- as a continuing film student and part-time film teacher -- on the world's often obsessive love affair with Hollywood and Hollywood films.

He will speak on "Professional Issues in Producing" at 9:25 a.m. in SRH 112, "Screenwriting" at 10:50 a.m. in SRH 108, and "An Old School Film Fanatic on the New School Fanaticism with Film" at 7 p.m. in SRH 103.

The thirty-seventh annual Academic Honors Convocation will be held this Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall. UCA President Lu Hardin and Provost Keith Atkinson will recognize scholastic achievement and this year's Outstanding University Students. A reception in the Brewer-Hegeman Center will follow the convocation.

Sharon Priest, the former Arkansas Secretary of State, will donate her papers to the UCA Archives at a ceremony today at 2 p.m. in the Mirror Room of McAlister Hall on the UCA campus.

Priest was the first woman elected to the office of Secretary of State in Arkansas. She served two terms as Secretary of State, from 1994 to 2002. Previously she held several leadership positions in the City of Little Rock, including mayor, vice-mayor and director. She currently serves as executive director of the Little Rock Downtown Partnership.

UCA's College of Business this week is hosting the 2008 Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) North American Mobility Consortium meeting. International guests include professors from the Universidad de Colima in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico; the Universite de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada; and the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. They are touring the campus and community, talking with prospective students and faculty, and planning projects and activities for next year.

"We're excited to have the opportunity to host this year's Consortium meeting so our members from Mexico and Canada can experience the unique learning environment at UCA," said Rebecca Gatlin-Watts, FIPSE Coordinator. "Our FIPSE grants have created a strong bond between the faculty and students at Consortium universities. The College of Business and the College of Liberal Arts at UCA work together to increase mobility, multicultural understanding, and foreign language skills for students and faculty."

The goal of the Consortium is to prepare students to succeed in international business by promoting multicultural awareness, foreign language skills, and international business exposure.

UCA President Lu Hardin has appointed a committee to guide UCA through its application for continuing accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Because institutional accreditation is vital to any university, and because the self-study involves all parts of the institution, the committee directing the self-study will be a critically important team. The self-study process will be coordinated by Jonathan Glenn, with the support of the Self-Study Steering Committee members, selected to represent the campus in academic affairs, general administration, financial services, and student services:

Kim Hoffman (Academic Affairs)
Art Lichtenstein (Academic Affairs)
Cheryl Lyons (Financial Services)
Larry James (General Administration)
Brad Teague (General Administration)
Ernie Ness (Student Services)

The work of the Steering Committee will be supported and represented by six task forces, by work in departments and offices across the campus, and by existing representative bodies (the senates, for example, and the SGA). Many members of the campus community will be asked to be part of the self-study process, and Hardin encourages everyone on campus to demonstrate their commitment to this effort through their active involvement.

As the process unfolds, information about the self-study and the Higher Learning Commission accreditation process will be posted to the web at http://www.uca.edu/panda/hlc2010. If you have further questions about the steering committee or the self-study process, please e-mail Jonathan Glenn or any member of the steering committee.

The Arkansas College Personnel Association (ArCPA) tomorrow will host its annual Spring Drive In at UCA's Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center. The theme for the Spring Drive In is "Retaining and Graduating the Millennial Generation," and the program will feature concurrent programs and two keynote speakers: Jerry Pattengale and Shane Broadway.

Pattengale currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Scholarship and Grants at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), and he speaks nationally on student success and retention. Pattengale led the development of Indiana Wesleyan University's first-year experience program centered on a new liberal arts course, "Becoming World Changers," which increased retention rates from 68 percent to 82 percent. In 2004, IWU received national recognition for these efforts through its selection as a Founding Institution in the Foundations of Excellence program of the National Policy Center (NC). Pattengale will speak specifically on retention and the millennial generation, exploring how to reach this unique generation and positively impact overall retention. He also will host a breakout session, and Drive In participants will receive a free copy of his book, "Why I Teach," which provides wisdom and guidance in helping teachers see students above their lecture notes.

Broadway represents a portion of Saline and Pulaski Counties in the Arkansas Senate, and he is serving as a member of the Senate Education Committee as well as various other committees. Previously, Broadway served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives, from 1997 to 2002. In 2001, he was elected the youngest Speaker of the House in the history of Arkansas. He is a past Chairman of the Southern Legislative Conference, and he has been chairman of the SLC's Education Committee. Broadway will speak about the legislature's current work and the potential implications for higher education, as well as the impact of the new higher education funding bills. He will also highlight how funding will be tied to retention and graduation rates.

UCA is an institutional member of the ArCPA. ArCPA is a state division of the American College Personnel Association.

The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed a UCA alumnus, Arkansas Appeals Court Judge Brian Miller, for a seat on the federal bench.

A native of Helena-West Helena, Miller graduated from UCA and earned a law degree from Vanderbilt. He has served on the appeals court since January 2007.

Miller is taking over the seat occupied by the late U.S. District Judge George Howard.

George Singleton, one of the most prominent short story writers in the country, will be an artist in residence at UCA today and tomorrow.

Singleton's recently released novel is Work Shirts for Madmen, published by Harcourt. He is also the author of four collections of short stories: These People Are Us (2001), The Half-Mammals of Dixie (2002), Why Dogs Chase Cars (2004), Drowning in Gruel (2006), and the novel, Novel (2005).

He will read from his works and take questions today at 7:30 p.m. in Stanley Russ Hall Room 103. The event is free and open to the public. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow the reading. Singleton will also conduct a master class with UCA creative writing students tomorrow.

Garry Powell, one of the faculty sponsors for the residency, wrote in the application that Singleton is "a rising star and one of the foremost exponents of Southern fiction. He is also one of the greatest literary humorists alive, a writer known for giving remarkable live readings."

Singleton, now on the faculty of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, has taught English and creative writing at both the secondary and college levels. His stories have appeared in many of the country's most prestigious magazines and literary journals, including Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, Playboy, Zoetrope, The Southern Review, The Georgia Review and Shenandoah.

The Artists in Residence program is funded through UCA's arts fee and administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication.

East Village Opera Company (EVOC) closes its spring tour with two concerts in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at UCA tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.

East Village Opera Company -- a powerhouse five-piece band, a string quartet, and two outstanding vocalists -- brings the towering emotion and timeless musicality of opera into the 21st century with its inventive, hard-hitting arrangements of opera's "greatest hits," including "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Habanera" from Carmen, and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot, arias performed at full length and in the original languages.

Tickets range from $10 to $35 and are available at UCA Ticket Central by calling toll free 1-866-810-0012. Conway residents may call (501) 450-3265. Box Office hours are 10 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday. UCA students may receive two free tickets at the Box Office, with valid I.D. Tickets are also available online at www.uca.edu/reynolds

East Village Opera Company is a presentation of UCA Public Appearances, now in its seventh full season of presenting the performing arts in Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA Campus. 2007-2008 Season sponsors include TIAA-CREF, the financial services company, and Conway Advertising & Promotion Commission. UCA Public Appearances is a division of the College of Fine Arts & Communication at the University. Its programs and concerts are supported in part by UCA student arts fees.

David Keith, guest lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication and Theatre, recently won the Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism Research Paper Contest at UALR.

Keith's paper on "Style or Substance: What Viewers Like and Dislike about the Nightly Network News" was selected the outstanding journalism research paper at UALR. The paper was the result of a survey of how people in the Little Rock area perceive the network news.

"Our department is developing some outstanding scholars, and David's paper is a major contribution to those efforts," said Dr. Joseph Anderson, chair of the Department of Mass Communication and Theatre.

The contest was open to all UALR undergraduate and graduate students in all disciplines.

Keith, who also advises The Echo, the UCA student newspaper, spent 15 years at the Log Cabin Democrat as a reporter, city editor and managing editor. He previously worked for the Malvern Daily Record and The Jonesboro Sun.

Juliet Eilperin, the national environmental reporter for the Washington Post, and Andrew Light, the incoming director of the Center for Global Ethics at George Mason University, will present a seminar next Monday, April 14 at UCA.

Their seminar, entitled, "The Ethics and Politics of Climate Change: Two Perspectives on the Current Global Warming Debate," will take place on Monday, April 14 at 2:30 p.m. in Lewis Science Center room 100. It is hosted by UCA's Environmental Science Program.

Eilperin also covers politics and the 2008 presidential election for the Washington Post. She has received the Luce Scholarship, the Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowship in Science and Religion, the Western Enterprise Reporting Fellowship from Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the Study of the North American West and the Woods Hole Ocean Science Journalism Fellowship. She also delivered the inaugural Muncy Journalism and Politics lecture at the University of Kansas Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics in 2006. She is the author of the 2006 book, Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives and is currently writing her second book, on sharks, which Pantheon will publish in the spring of 2009. Eilperin serves on the board of the Washington Press Club Foundation, an organization committed to supporting women and minority journalists, and she graduated magna cum laude from Princeton with an A.B. in politics and a certificate in Latin American Studies.

Light is currently associate professor of philosophy and public affairs at the University of Washington-Seattle. He will become director of the Center for Global Ethics at George Mason University in September. He has received the Harrington Faculty Fellowship from the University of Texas-Austin, a Center fellowship at the International Center for Advanced Studies at New York University, and an Individual Scholar Award from the National Science Foundation. He has authored or edited 17 books on environmental ethics, philosophy of technology, and aesthetics, including Environmental Pragmatism and Reel Arguments: Film, Philosophy and Social Criticism. He graduated magna cum laude from Mercer University in 1989, with a triple major in philosophy, political science and history. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of California at Riverside in 1996.

The Office of Admissions is proud to announce that 84 UCA students have been selected to serve as 2008-09 UCA Ambassadors. The UCA Ambassadors are students who volunteer their time in the Admissions office by meeting with prospective UCA students in various capacities. UCA Ambassadors serve as campus tour guides, assist at Bear Facts Days, and serve at other special UCA events. The Admissions staff conducts interviews each year to select student ambassadors who are academic achievers, personable and campus leaders. This elite group of students are willing to donate their time to this organization because of their passion for UCA.

The new Ambassadors are: Aaron Killingsworth, Alicia Haflick, Amanda Hickman, Amanda Tyson, Amber Race, Andreya Reed, Angela Brooks, Angela Setliff, Anna Street, Antonia McDonald, Ashley Simons, Ashley Watts, Ashton Barnett, Austin Hudson, Bradley Mullins, Brittany Williams, Britynn Davis, Caitlin Porter, Caroline Timm, Cassie Sweeney, Chris Carter, Damon Borchert, Danielle Atwoode, Dannis Armikarina, Dean Turbeville, Debbie Oluokun, Deborah Sanders, Desiree Paulhamus, Emily Bradley, Emily Clark, Emily Hester, Haley Morgan, Hannah Abbott, Hannah Smith, Heather Bennet, Jamie Mose, Jared Matheney, Jasmine Vanhook, Jessica Bell, Jessica Goodnight, Jill Mann, JJ Holland, Jon Sumners, Jonathan Lauver, Josh Bramlett, Josh White, Julianna Smith, Julie Storing, Katy Freyaldenhoven, Kristen Burk, Kristen Qandah, Kristin Elrod, Kristin White, Krystal Lutz, Kyle Meacham, Kyle Schnebelen, Lauren Foster, Lauren Miller, Leah Jacks, Lindsey Davis, Lindsey Wright, Madeline Phillips, Maegan Thompson, Melinda Wheeler, Melissa Swint, Michael Washingon, Oliver Sobik, Rachel Whitfield, Samantha Newman, Samantha Walker, Shea Crotzer, Shirley Carr, Stephanie Long, Stephanie Sollis, Sunni Hartsfield, Suzette Thornes, Tammy Andrews, Taylor Scott, Taylor Thompson, Tazzmin Maxfield, Tobin Williamson, Tyler Young, Whitley Watson, and Whitney Raney.

UCA Theatre will present one of Shakespeare's classic comedies, Twelfth Night, on April 9, 10, and 11, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Reynolds Performance Hall. This fun-filled tale of romance, love, and marriage is hugely entertaining for all audiences.

The production is under the direction of Chris Fritzges, assistant professor of Theatre, with set design by Director of Theatre, Greg Blakey. The play is stage managed by Sinovia Mayfield of Little Rock with costume design by Shauna Meador, assistant professor of Theatre. Cast members include Erica Summers of Cabot, Taylor Galloway of Maumelle, Shannon Suit of Bonnerdale, Kyle Smiley of Rogers, Aaron Holt of Hot Springs, Aaron Stevens of Jacksonville, Matt Peoples of Carlisle, Josh Miller of Mena, Jack Walsh of Harrison, Gavin McCollum of North Little Rock, Natalie Culbreth of El Dorado, Tom McLeod, Jordy Neill, and Brian Lachowsky, all of Conway, and Aaron Kopf, Cameron Backus and Allison Benton, all of Little Rock.

Tickets are $8 each and can be purchased at UCA Ticket Central at the Reynolds Performance Hall or by calling 501-450-3265 or toll-free 866-810-0012. The general public may also purchase tickets online at www.uca.edu/tickets.

Additional information about UCA Theatre and Twelfth Night can also be obtained online at www.uca.edu/theatre.

Joe Cangelosi, professor of Marketing Research and Associate Dean at UCA, had his article, "Who is Making Lifestyle Changes Due to Preventive Health Care Information? A Demographic Analysis," will be published in Health Marketing Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2, to be printed in December. In addition, Cangelosi will attend the Writer's Colony in Eureka Springs during the month of May, with the goal of writing an academic article in the area of preventive health care.

Debra L. Burris, Assistant Professor of Physics at UCA, was a panelist for the Science Cafe LR discussion on Space Science in Arkansas. The panel was held in conjuction with the first "birthday" of the Science Cafe series in Little Rock, which meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Other panelists included Ed Wilson (Harding), Ann Wright (Hendrix) and Tillman Kennon (ASU). Panelists gave a ten-minute overview of their field of research expertise then fielded many questions from the audience. More info on Science Cafe can be found at www.sciencecafelr.com.

Adriian Gardner, Instructor in UCA's Department of Speech and Public Relations, has been selected to serve as a research paper reviewer for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) during its national conference in August. His duties will include reviewing research papers which were submitted for the AEJMC schoarly research competition. The reviewers will make comments about the strengths and weaknesses of the papers, and they will determine if the papers will be accepted, rejected or not applicable for the research competition presentations.

Dr. LuZhe Sun, a professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and one of the top cancer research scientists in the nation, recently delivered a presidential lecture at UCA as part of a student cancer research symposium.

In a lecture hall filled with UCA students, Sun discussed the importance of cancer research. "As the death rate from heart disease decreases among Americans, the death rates for those with cancer has remained fairly steady," he said. "The top forms of new cancer cases each year are prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Each year cancer kills over half a million Americans."

Sun discussed some of the top advances in cancer treatments in recent years including development of a drug called Gleevec, which treats Leukemia by stopping a cancer-producing enzyme in cells. He also talked about the characteristics that make cancer cells different than normal cells and risk factors for prostate cancer, which is one of his research interests.

"Prostate cancer is the most prevalent cancer found in men over 55 in the United States," he said. Other risk factors are race, as African-Americans are more prone to the disease; smoking; and diet. Sun said research has found that diets high in animal fat increase the risk of prostate cancer, while diets high in fresh fruits and vegetables reduce the risk.

The UCA Student Cancer Research Symposium was the brainchild of Dr. Wen Wang, assistant professor of physical therapy. She said, "It has been my passion, since I was a teen, to find out why people get cancer and why they die from it."

Wang and Sun were colleagues at UT Health Science Center and continue their collaboration today.
Wang is a physician with a doctorate in physiology and cell biology and teaches basic science courses for UCA physical therapy students. She also supervises several student researchers in studies regarding cancer treatment and prevention.

As a part of a grant Wang received from the university research council, she proposed beginning a research symposium that would bring a nationally recognized cancer researcher to campus to lecture each year.

"Dr. Wang and her colleagues in the sciences here at UCA are certainly doing their part in the search for the cure for cancer," said Neil Hattlestad, Dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences. "Their involvement of students in their work is particularly important because they are preparing the next generation of cancer researchers."

The UCA Student Cancer Research Symposium was co-hosted by the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

The UCA Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Nominating Committee has selected Anna-Kate Mayhew and Gretchen Tressler as UCA's 2008 nominees to the prestigious national graduate school scholarship competition. The Foundation will make its selections this summer.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship Program will award approximately 40 scholarships worth up to $50,000 each to seniors and recent graduates planning to attend graduate school for the first time starting in fall 2008.

For more information on the scholarship competition, visit www.jackkentcookefoundation.org.

Danny Arrigo of UCA's Mathematics department recently received the 2008 Award for Distinguished Teaching of College or University Mathematics from the Oklahoma-Arkansas Section of the Mathematical Association of America.

Each year the Section honors one member of the two-state region as the teacher of the year. In announcing the award, Joan Bell of Northeastern State University said, "All of Dr. Arrigo's letters of support spoke highly of his teaching." One of Arrigo's colleagues wrote, "Dr. Arrigo is an outstanding teacher and scholar with immense creativity and drive that has led to his broad recognition as an extremely talented and charismatic teacher."

Bell also stated that "Under Dr. Arrigo's direction, in the last eight years nearly 20 different students have made over 60 student presentations at local, regional, and national meetings, with one of his students placing first in the 2004 OK-AR Section undergraduate student paper competition."

As the section winner, Arrigo becomes the Oklahoma-Arkansas nominee for the national "Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics," sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America.

Raymond-Jean Frontain, professor of English, has been awarded a $3,000 Mellon Fellowship to support his research on playwright Terrence McNally at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Frontain expects to complete a book tentatively titled Something about Grace: The Theater of Terrence McNally.

Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of Writing, recently had his Louis-Ferdinand Céline translation "Excerpt from Normance" published in the literary journal Exquisite Corpse. He also has book reviews of Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Ed Sanders and Missy Suicide published under the pseudonym Christian Prozak in the same issue.

The Asheville HUB Alliance of Asheville, N.C. has selected the Strategic Growth Institute at the University of Central Arkansas to assess the framework of Asheville/Buncombe County's economic development organizations.

The analysis will recommend specific measures and strategies to improve the effectiveness of the area's economic development organizations and how they work together. SGI's assessment of the current situtation in Asheville/Buncombe County and analysis of national "best practices" will form the basis for recommendations. Facilitation of a consensus-driven process to further refine the recommended model and develop an implementation strategy will follow.

The Strategic Growth Institute (SGI) offers economic and community development consulting to states, cities and economic development organizations nationwide from its location at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. SGi offers a new approach that focuses on the link between community development and economic development -- success in one leads to sucess in the other.

Robert Pittman, Executive Director of SGI, and Jennifer Tanner, Managing Director, are both nationally-recognized economic development consultants. SGI's sister organizations at UCA include the Community Development Institute and the Masters Program in Community and Economic Development. Also involved in the project, as a subcontractor to SGI, will be the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), an association of economic development organizations based in Washington, D.C.

"We are proud to be partnering with IEDC on this project," Tanner said.

The Asheville HUB Alliance's Evaluation Committee selected SGI after screening 22 proposals from nationally-recognized consulting organizations and universities. "SGI's understanding of the unique political and operating environment of community-based EDOs, and demonstrated ability to help states and localities restructure their EDO frameworks put them into the finalist group," said Dave Brown, Executive Director of the HUB. "Their professionalism and willingness to respond quickly to the Evaluation Committee's requests and value in their project approach, made SGi the winning consultant. We are also enthusiastic about SGi teaming with IEDC's Research Group and their ability to multiply each other's knowledge of best practices and benchmarking data for the benefit of this project."

Internationally-known photographer Shelby Lee Adams will be a visiting artist at UCA's Department of Art on Thursday and Friday.

Adams, who has photographed the mountain backwoods families of Appalachia for more than 25 years, will give a presentation this Thursday at 7 p.m. in McCastlain Hall Room 143 on the UCA campus and an informal talk on Friday at 10 a.m. in the Baum Gallery, also located in McCastlain.

Both presentations are free and open to the public.

Adams’ new publication, Appalachian Lives (University Press of Mississippi), focuses on families who now favor cable television, identifiable brand names and advertising logos. Adams shows Appalachian people as valiant, admirable individuals rather than mere stereotypes. Adams has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, and his work is included in many private and museum collections. He was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1978 and 1992.

For more information, contact Donna Pinckley at (501) 450-5784 or pinckley@uca.edu.

Two authors scheduled to participate in the Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock this weekend will speak at UCA on Friday morning at 9 a.m. in the Torreyson Library Conference Room (206).

Robert Leleux will speak about his new book, "Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy," a rollicking laugh-filled tale about growing up in the South; and Joshua Dagon will speak about his books "The Fallen," "Demon Tears" and "Into the Mouth of the Wolf." Students, faculty and staff are invited.

For more information contact Amos Lassen in the writing department at alassen@uca.edu.

Victor A. Puleo, Jr., CFP®, assistant professor of Insurance and Risk Management and CFP® Program Director in UCA's College of Business, recently had an article entitled "An Analysis of Curriculum Requirements among Hospitality and Tourism Management Programs in AACSB College's of Business in the U.S." accepted for publication in the Journal of Teaching for Travel and Tourism. The paper is co-authored with Nancy M. Scott, Ph. D. Candidate, College of Business Administration, University of Tennessee and John C. Crotts, Professor, Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, School of Business and Economics, College of Charleston. Scott received her MBA from UCA’s College of Business in 2007.

M. Douglas Voss, Assistant Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management in UCA's College of Business, recently published an article in Supply Chain Management Review entitled, "A Framework for Protecting Your Supply Chain." This work details a framework for use by practitioners and researchers to guide supply chain security initiatives and research by combining lessons learned from the supply chain security literature with those from the disaster management and criminal justice literature. Voss co-authored this work with David Closs, Cheri Speier, and Judith Whipple of Michigan State University.

Michael Hargis, assistant professor of management at UCA, co-authored a symposium that was recognized as one of the "Showcase Submissions" by reviewers for the 2008 Academy of Management Meeting. The manuscript, co-authored with Christian Resick of Drexel University, is entitled "Ethical Judgments of Workplace Deviance: Examining Person-Based and Contextual-Influences" and focuses on understanding the broad array of factors that influence perceptions of deviant and counterproductive behavior in the workplace, such as employee theft, abusive supervision, and inappropriate use of company resources.