Vol. 10 No. 36 - July 31, 2006

   Dr. Philip Slocum

Dr. Philip Slocum will deliver the commencement speech at 6:30 p.m., Aug. 4, on the Quadrangle. The commencement rain site is Baldwin Auditorium. About 114 undergraduate and 85 graduate students have been cleared to march during the commencement ceremonies. In addition to these graduates, Truman will have 14 golden alumni, who graduated from 1956 and earlier, participating in the ceremony. About 50 people will attend the Golden Alumni Reunion luncheon at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building Lounge (201). A reception for all graduates will follow commencement on the Quadrangle.

Slocum is professor of medicine and vice president for medical affairs and dean at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine - A. T. Still University of Health Sciences. He graduated from Northeast Missouri State University in 1973 and the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1976. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine and a fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Maine Medical Center, both in Portland, Maine. He was the first D.O. trained at Maine Medical Center and he was their first Critical Care Medicine Fellow. He holds distinguished Fellowship Titles in the American College of Chest Medicine, American College of Osteopathic Internists, and the American College of Critical Care Medicine.

Slocum taught at the University of New England from its founding in 1978 and became chair of the department of medicine and associate professor of medicine in 1982. He was recruited to the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth, Texas in 1988. He was chief of the Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine Division. He has received many distinguished teaching awards during the years.

At the University of North Texas associated hospital, Slocum was director of the Critical Care Medicine Services, associate director of Hyperbaric Medicine for Critical Care Medicine, director of the Departments of Respiratory Therapy, Sleep Medicine, Pulmonary Diagnostics, and he served on many committees.

Slocum performed research documenting the effects of directly observed therapy on treating patients infected with tuberculosis. This research resulted in an article that appeared in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Authorities in tuberculosis sited this paper as “the most significant work on tuberculosis in the last half of the 20th Century.” This research caused the World Health Organization to use directly observed therapy as the standard for treating tuberculosis worldwide.

Slocum’s research interests have shifted to medical education and to improving the access and quality of health care to rural Missourians. The Missouri Foundation for Health awarded KCOM and associate hospitals and agencies a $1 million grant to improve access and quality care to rural northeast Missourians. Slocum is the physician director of the project.

Slocum returned to Kirksville five years ago as the associate dean for academic affairs at KCOM-ATSU. In the fall of 2004 he started his current position.

         Katie Funk

Leo and Caroline Funk of Columbia, Mo., recently established an endowed scholarship with the Truman State University Foundation in honor of their granddaughter Katie Funk. Caroline is a past member of the Board of Regents.


Katie graduated from Truman in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing. She was a member of the women’s swimming team from 2002–2006. As a 13-time All American, Katie helped the women’s swimming team win the NCAA Division II national championship in each of her four years at Truman and was selected as the squad’s co-captain her senior year.

The scholarship will be used to provide a scholarship award to a member of the Truman State University women’s swimming team. In addition to being a member of the women’s swimming team, recipients of the Katie Funk Swimming Scholarship must also meet the criteria of being a student of high character who is an upperclassmen with a grade point average of 3.2 or higher. Preference will be given to students who demonstrate an excellent work ethic in practice.

Endowed scholarships are designed to be permanent and perpetual, and can be created with gifts totaling at least $10,000. If you are interested in learning more about endowed scholarship opportunities at Truman, please call the Office of Advancement at 785.4133.

The Truman State University McNair Program would like to remind everyone (especially faculty as they write up syllabi for the coming semester) of the 14th annual McNair Research Presentations to take place on Sept. 27. The McNair scholars will be presenting the results of their summer research projects. This year a number of different fields will be represented including, art, English, theater, health and exercise science, history, psychology, philosophy, religion, business and nursing. The presentations are perhaps the most varied yet in terms of subject and the degree of “interdisciplinarity,” which is very much in keeping with the liberal arts tradition at Truman.

The McNair Program would like to invite everyone to consider attending the research presentations on Sept. 27. The presentations provide examples of the some of the best of undergraduate scholarship at Truman.

The program would like to thank the Truman students, faculty and staff for all for their continued support of the program.

Faculty and staff are invited to an open session at 3 p.m. Aug. 2 in the Student Union Building Conference Room (301) where they can meet George Beshears, currently technical director in Information Technology Services at Truman.

Beshears has been recommended to succeed Tim Warren the current executive director of ITS (Warren will be leaving Truman near the end of August to become vice president of information technology at San Juan College in New Mexico. Please attend this session to learn about Beshears’ experience in the field of information technology and his views on technology needs at Truman.

If you have questions about this session, please contact Richard Coughlin at 785.4038.

The Truman State University Division of Fine Arts presents

“The Good Doctor”
A comedy in two acts
by Neil Simon

8 p.m.
Aug. 3-5
James G. Severns Theatre in Ophelia Parrish

Free admission

2006 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program Symposium

Poster Presentations
1-2:30 p.m.
Aug. 2
Magruder Hall Cyber Café

Oral Presentations
8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Aug. 3
Magruder Hall 2001

The 2006 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program Symposium features research by participants in The Next STEP & Mathematical Biology Initiative.

Pickler Memorial Library

July 31-Aug. 3
7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 4   
7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 5-6   
closed

Aug. 7-11   
8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 12-13   
closed

Aug. 14-18   
8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 19   
closed

Student Recreation Center
Specific areas may be closed without advance notice for cleaning or contractor projects.

July 31-Aug. 4   
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Aug. 5-6   
closed

Aug. 7-11   
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Aug. 12-13   
closed

Aug. 14-18   
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Aug. 19-20   
closed

Do you enjoy problem-solving and helping others use technology? If so, we may be looking for you. ITS is currently looking for highly motivated individuals to join our Help Desk team. Any interested applicants must possess superior customer service skills, strong written and oral communication skills, excellent problem-solving skills, and a commitment to excellent attendance and punctuality. Due to training requirements, applicants should be planning to attend Truman for at least one more full academic year. If you are interested, please go to http://its.truman.edu/workapp and fill out the job application detailing your experience and qualifications. Applications will be screened and qualified individuals will be contacted for an interview. Contact the Help Desk for further information or questions at 785.4544.

Specific Qualifications/Requirements:

• Customer service skills.
• Ability to communicate clearly orally and in writing.
• At least intermediate technical knowledge of PC hardware and software.
• Physical ability to lift and carry equipment such as computers, monitors and printers and to transport equipment and supplies across campus.
• Ability to appropriately handle confidential information.
• Ability to work well in a team environment.
• Good work ethic – someone who is dependable, punctual, doesn’t miss work, has a positive attitude, and is a self-starter.

The next issue of the Truman Today will be a Truman Week special edition published Aug. 21 and distributed to first-year students. The Truman Today will resume weekly publication beginning Aug. 29. Submit news items for that issue by Aug. 23 to kbest@truman.edu.

Jeff Gall, associate professor of history, just had a Missouri history textbook published by Gibbs Smith Publishers. It is called “Missouri: Our Home.” It is a fourth grade textbook designed for Missouri schools. The Web site for the book is: http://www.gibbs-smith.com/textbooks/missouri/index.html.

John Ishiyama, professor of political science, and Marijke Breuning, associate professor of political science, had their article “Assessing Assessment: Examining the Assessment Plans at Seventy Political Science Departments” accepted for publication in the journal PS: Political Science and Politics.

The Board of Governors will meet at 1:30 p.m., Aug. 4, in the Student Union Building Conference Room.

Athletics is now selling season football tickets. Cost for faculty/staff is $30 and can be purchased from the http://gobulldogs.truman.edu Web site.

Athletics is looking for a public address announcer for football games. If any faculty/staff member is interested, they can contact Kevin White at 785.4276 or kwhite@truman.edu or Jerry Wollmering.

The weight room at the Student Recreation Center is expected to be closed most of the August Interim (July 31-Aug. 18) for floor replacement. Information will be posted on the Web site at http://recreation.truman.edu as the project progresses.

The faculty/staff red parking decals expire on Aug. 31. Renewal letters have been distributed to the division/department offices. Please check and verify all information on the renewal forms and return to DPS. Parking Services hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Parking Services can be contacted by telephone at 785.7400.

During the summer as part of the Summer Reading Program, Student Senate and the Residential College Program invite all members of the Truman community to read “Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and/or “Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines Markets, Power, and Politics” by Pietra Rivoli. Those who read the book are invited to join the organizations for discussion of these books at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 in the SUB Lounge (201) and/or Aug. 31. “Kite Runner” will be discussed Aug. 29 and “Travels of a T-Shirt” will be discussed Aug. 31. Both books are available at the Truman Bookstore at discounted prices. For more information on the Summer Reading Program, please consul the Summer Reading Web sie at http://summerreading.truman.edu.

Pickler Memorial Library is now accepting donations for a book sale to take place Sept. 20-22. Donations of used books, magazines, art prints and audio and video recordings will be accepted. For details visit the library’s Web site at http://library.truman.edu/booksale.htm or call 785.4038.