Vol. 13, No. 23 - March 3, 2009

The final presentation of the 2008-2009 Lyceum series will be the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which is set to perform at 7:30 p.m. March 17 in the Baldwin Hall Auditorium.

The music of jazz legend Duke Ellington lives on, thanks to the efforts of his grandson. Paul Mercer Ellington, conductor and musical director of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, is carrying on the musical traditions started by his grandfather almost 90 years ago.

Duke Ellington composed more than 2,000 pieces of music, including jazz classics “Take the ‘A’ Train,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing).”

Throughout his extensive career, Ellington’s bands led the forefront of music, often performing with greats such as Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett.

In his lifetime, Ellington led various bands, from his first, assembled just after World War I, until his death in 1974. At that time, his son, Mercer Ellington, who had been serving as the group’s business manager and trumpet player, took over his father’s role. Mercer Ellington encouraged his son, Paul Mercer Ellington, to eventually take over the band, which he did in the late 1990s. A talented piano player in his own right, Paul Mercer Ellington currently serves as the band’s conductor and musical director.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra has performed throughout the world, including New York, Cairo, New Delhi, London, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Lyceum tickets are free for all Truman students, faculty and staff. Due to the midterm break holiday,  students may pick up their tickets from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Student Activities Board Office in the Student Union Building, starting March 3. Faculty and staff may pick up their tickets from 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday at the information desk in the Student Union Building. General admission tickets will be on sale at Edna Campbell’s and the Truman Business Office, McClain Hall 105, starting March 10 for the costs of $7 for adults and $4 for those 18 and under.

For more information go online to http://lyceum.truman.edu.

Admissions Offices are scheduled to move over midterm break to the Ruth Towne Museum and Visitors Center at 101 East Normal.

Due to the process of physically relocating the operation to another building, the Admissions Office staff will only be available on a limited basis to assist prospective students and/or the University community March 9-10. If urgent assistance is needed during that time frame, please call 660.349.7644.

In addition to the Admissions Office, the 8,600 square foot multi-purpose facility will house the Ruth Warner Towne Museum, which will open later this year.

The facility has been financed through a combination of private gifts and University funds. The naming gift was received through a $1 million bequest from Towne in December 1999. Towne retired from Truman in 1988 as professor emeritus of history and dean emeritus of graduate studies following a 36-year teaching career at Truman.

Approximately 4,000 square feet will be devoted to the Museum. The space will also serve as an educational resource and learning environment for Truman students and professors, as well as regional school-age children.

The SERVE Center’s ninth annual BIG Event is a chance for the Truman campus to give back to the Kirksville community. This year’s event is scheduled for March 21.

After great success last year, with more than 1,000 students painting, raking and cleaning up Kirksville, the SERVE Center looks forward to this year’s event.

There will also be a few new additions to help make the ninth BIG event even bigger. This year, the SERVE Center hopes to involve faculty and staff in order to make the BIG Event a more campus-wide effort. An “after party” is also in the works to bring all the volunteers back to campus after attending their work sites.

The SERVE Center hopes that sharing experiences after the workday is over can help to create a greater sense of unity amongst the volunteers. It is also a way to thank the students, faculty and staff for participating.

Registration for the BIG Event ends March 5. Students wishing to volunteer, and community members wishing to request services, can access registration forms at http://serve.truman.edu/bigevent/index.html.

Truman students will have the opportunity to save some money on classes this summer, as University President Darrell Krueger has approved discounting tuition by 15 percent from Spring 2009 rates.

Undergraduate summer classes, both online and on-campus, will be offered at a reduced rate.  This tuition discount is designed to help students catch up, stay even or get ahead in meeting graduation requirements. 

These discounted classes are particularly beneficial for students seeking a double major, taking minors or simply wanting to accelerate their progress. 

Details on the new fee schedule are in the Summer Schedule of Classes.

The discount applies to undergraduate courses only during the regular summer session and excludes interim, graduate and study abroad courses and workshops.

Staff at University Counseling Services (UCS) will be receiving some additional training thanks to a grant from the state of Missouri.

Brian Krylowicz, director of UCS, was recently awarded a $2,800 grant from the Missouri Department of Mental Health as part of the Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative. Krylowicz said he plans to apply the grant to the current suicide prevention program, Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), by funding training for two counselors at UCS and two faculty or staff members allowing them to become certified instructors. Currently, only two staff members at UCS are trained as certified instructors of QPR.

The QPR program is designed to help educate people about what to do if  they come across someone that is suicidal and how to be more comfortable helping in these situations.

With this grant, Krylowicz said he hopes that QPR’s suicide prevention message will reach more students on campus and aid in preventing suicides of those connected to Truman.

The focus of this effort is to overcome the regularity of suicidal thoughts on college campuses. In 2008, the Missouri College Health Behavior Survey found 15.5 percent of Truman students experienced suicidal thoughts in the previous year.

Members of the Truman Forensic Union maintained a long streak of success at the Missouri Association of Forensic Activities State Championships (MAFA) Feb. 20-21 at Metropolitan Community College-Longview, in Lee’s Summit, Mo.

The weekend’s results maintain a decade-long streak of winning one or more state titles at the event. Truman won the state championship in debate sweepstakes, placed third in individual events sweepstakes and second in the overall category.

In addition to the championship in debate, junior Susan Presley of Austin, Texas captured the title in after dinner speaking, while freshman Erin Williamson of Kansas City, Mo., captured the state championship in rhetorical criticism.

In total, eight new events were qualified for the National Forensic Association National Championship Tournament in April.

Debate competitors also amassed an impressive number of awards with freshman Christian Johns of Carthage, Mo., reaching the final round of Lincoln-Douglas debate, taking second. Johns and her partner, junior Sarah Backhaus of Liberty, Mo., reached semifinals of the open parliamentary debate division, as did senior Christopher Girouard of Chesterfield, Mo., and junior Mark Buchheit of Carthage, Mo. Backhaus also reached the quarterfinals of the Lincoln-Douglas division.

This concludes the invitational/qualification series of the forensics season. Students will travel next to the National Parliamentary Debate Association Championships, March 25-31, in Stockton, Calif., and the National Forensic Association Championships, April 15-21, in Springfield, Mo.

The Truman Forensic Union is open to any interested student, regardless of major. No previous experience in interscholastic or intercollegiate forensics is necessary. Students interested in competing for the 2009-2010 academic year should contact the director, Kevin Minch, at kminch@truman.edu or 785.5677.

Applications are available in the Financial Aid Office for the J. R. Popalisky Scholarship Fund of the Missouri Section of the American Water Works Association. This $1,000 scholarship opportunity is available to civil or environmental engineering or environmental science students who have an emphasis in career fields associated with water supply. Deadline for submission of this application is March 23.

The Missouri Insurance Education Foundation will award scholarships to deserving students attending Missouri colleges or universities in a program that could lead to positions in the insurance industry in Missouri. The C. Lawrence Leggett Scholarship in the amount of  $2,500 will be awarded to a junior or senior Missouri resident majoring in insurance or a related area of study in a Missouri college or university. In addition to the Leggett Scholarship, the foundation has made an additional scholarship available in the amount of $2,000. Application forms are available on their website at http://www.mief.org/. Applications are due by March 31.

The Zonta Club of St. Louis is now accepting applications for the Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship. Women pursuing undergraduate business degrees who demonstrate outstanding potential in the field are eligible to apply. The woman must be entering the third or fourth year of an undergraduate degree program. Application forms are available on the Zonta website at http://www.zonta.org. Select international programs and click on education, leadership, and youth development. Applications are due by April 3.

The Department of Public Safety will be providing a shuttle service for students to the LaPlata Amtrack station for the Chicago train.

Depart:     Meet and load at the Public Safety Building at 9 a.m. March 7.

Return:     Bus will pick up students at 7 p.m. March 15 in LaPlata and return to the Public Safety Building.

Cost:     $5 to hold a spot due no later than March 5.     

RSVP to Joyce at 785.4177 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday- Friday.

Apply for the Fall 2009 semester before March 23, either in person at the Writing Center, McClain Hall 303, or online at http://writingcenter.truman.edu/apply.

Pete Kelly, associate professor of education, will present a paper entitled “Learning Together in a Special Education PDS,” March 12 at the National Professional Development School Conference in Daytona Beach, Fla., with Beverly Peters, lecturer in special education.

John James Quinn, associate professor of political science, had his article “When You Cannot Find the Perfect Match: Using Accumulated Most Similar Design Case Studies,” accepted for publication in the “Journal of Political Science Education.”

The Substance Abuse Prevention Group will sponsor National Problem Gambling Awareness Week March 2-5. The group will be at tables throughout the week: March 3 in Magruder Hall, March 4 in McClain Hall, and March 5 in Violette Hall, with information about gambling abuse and free t-shirts will be available.

Phi Sigma Pi will sponsor TOMS Shoes information night at 6 p.m. March 3 in Violette Hall 1000. For every pair of shoes bought, TOMS Shoes donates one to children in a developing country.

The Student Activities Board’s final trivia night, “A Trip Down Route 66,” will take place at 7 p.m. March 3 in the Student Union Building Down Under. Featured categories will include “Around the World,” “Nineties Sitcoms” and many more. Free food will be available and prizes will be awarded.

Lambda Pi Eta will sponsor COMM Week. March 3 there will be a resume open hours at 7:30 p.m. in Barnett 1211. March 5 is communication trivia at 5:30 p.m. and the Chandler Monroe Oratory contest at 7 p.m. in Barnett Hall 1211. Events are open to all majors.     

The Weekly Lunch Series will continue examination of “The Role of the Classroom in College Student Persistence” at 12:30 p.m. March 4 in the Student Union Building Spanish Room. The focus will be on the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education as a motif across several chapters.

The Advertising and Public Relations Organization and Lambda Pi Eta will sponsor keynote speaker Lisa Bedian, community relations director for the City of St. Peters, Mo., at 7 p.m. March 4 in the Student Union Building Alumni Room. This event is open to all majors.

The Truman Summer 2009 Study Abroad Program in Aix, France will sponsor an informational meeting at 7:30 p.m. March 4 in the Student Union Building Room 3203. For more information contact Patrick Lobert at plobert@truman.edu or call 785.4062.

The Association of Black Collegians and The Women’s Resource Center will present “Feminine Mystique,” a program geared toward women’s issues that includes monologues and a hot topic panel at 7 p.m. March 5 in the Student Union Building Alumni Room.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) will meet at 4:30 p.m., March 6, at the University Club, 516 E. Patterson. Contact Marc Becker at marc@truman.edu or call 785.6036 for more information.

The Quincy Symphony Chorus presents “Hooray for Hollywood” with guest vocalist Margaret Carlson at 7:30 p.m. March 7 at the Salem Evangelical United Church of Christ in Quincy, Ill. Admission is free with a Truman ID.

The Center for Student Involvement is currently taking applications for work-study and scholarship student employees for the 2009-2010 school year. Students interested in working for the CSI can apply online at http://csi.truman.edu/apply/application.asp or pick up a hardcopy application in the CSI. Applications are due by 4 p.m. March 20.

Flag Project, a sexual assault prevention and awareness program, will take place at 7 p.m. March 16 in Magruder Hall 1000.