Vol. 13, No. 35 - July 14, 2009

Truman has been ranked among the top schools in producing Academic All-Americans during this decade, and the University’s success has helped to propel its conference to the top spot.

Among NCAA Division II institutions producing Academic All-Americans, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), Truman ranks second with 45.

Fellow conference member Pittsburg State University took the top spot with 46.

Truman and Pittsburg State each produced four honorees during the 2008-2009 academic year to maintain both schools’ placement atop the Division II standings from the previous academic year.

On the conference level, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has easily outdistanced its closest peers, with 187 total CoSIDA Academic All-America winners this decade. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is second with 109 honorees, while the Great Lakes Valley Conference had 93.

In Division II, Truman and five other MIAA schools are ranked in the top 10 for producing Academic All-America winners.

Nationally, Truman is one of only two Division II schools ranked in the top 20 for producing Academic All-America winners, coming in at tie for 12th place. The University of Notre Dame leads all schools with 84 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in the 2000s.

Of Truman’s 45 selections in the decade, 15 have been from women’s swimming as CoSIDA Academic At-Large team members. Truman has had 23 first-team selections since 2000 and 38 first-team choices since 1973.

To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must first earn first-team All-District honors following a vote of CoSIDA members in each district.

To qualify for nomination to the All-District ballot, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better, have attended the school at least two terms, be at least a sophomore in athletic eligibility and be a starter or key reserve in their respective sport.

The Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) has awarded funding to Truman to help create a smoke-free educational environment and provide services for those trying to quit smoking.

Truman received a 17-month grant worth $151,358 as part of MFH’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative, a multi-year effort to reduce tobacco use in the state through a variety of funding strategies.

The grant will support an expansion of student efforts to create smoke-free educational environments and provide cessation services for anyone wanting to quit at both Truman and A.T. Still University. Carolyn Cox, professor of health, was responsible for securing this grant for the University.

Established in 2000, MFH is the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in Missouri. MFH is in its sixth year of grant making, having issued $330 million in grants and awards to date. It is dedicated to serving the uninsured, underinsured and underserved in 84 Missouri counties and the city of St. Louis.  

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Poster Symposium will take place from 1:30-3:30 p.m. July 24 in the Student Union Building Hub.

Students from Truman, as well as Metropolitan Community College (Kansas City), St. Charles Community College and Moberly Area Community College will be presenting the results of their summer research projects.

The SURE Poster Symposium is sponsored by the Next STEP Office.

A grant from Student Initiated Learning Opportunities (SILO) is making it possible for student playwright Kyle J. Smith to debut his work at the Kansas City Fringe Festival starting July 23.

SILO is a new grant offered through the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Office. It encourages students to expand their learning opportunities beyond the classroom.

Smith, along with the assistance of fellow students Elizabeth Necka and Joanna Bess, applied for the grant during the Spring 2009 semester. They received full funding in the amount of $3,480 to premiere Smith’s play, entitled s.o.s., at the Fringe Festival.

The play, which follows the main character Ben as he looks for love, will run at the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City at the following times: 6:30 p.m. July 23; 9:30 p.m. July 24; 8 p.m. July 25; and 5:30 p.m. July 26.

The local Help Desk, Media Service and Telephone Services have all been combined to form the IT Service Center located in McClain Hall 111.

The IT Service Center provides A/V equipment checkout, operator assistance, walk-in technical support and student personal computer support.

For the 24/7 Help Desk phone support call 785.4544 or toll free at 866.520.2412. Equipment checkout and reservations can be made by calling 785.4545. For Operator assistance call 785.4000.

Additional details about the IT Service Center can be found online at http://its.truman.edu/servicecenter.

The Emerging Scholar Awards recognize outstanding rising sophomores studying at Phi Kappa Phi member institutions. Each year, Phi Kappa Phi will grant 60 awards in the amount of $250 to students who meet the following eligibility requirements:


 *   Attend an institution with a Phi Kappa Phi chapter

 *   Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.75 on a 4.0 scale

 *   Have a minimum of 30 semester hours

 *   Have earned no more than a total of 60 semester hours


For more information and instructions on how to apply, go to http://www.phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/emergingscholar.html.

Deadline for applications is July 15. Winners will be announced by Sept. 1.

Former Truman women’s tennis player Lindsy Blair has been awarded one of 58 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships given to spring-sports participants. Blair, a senior this past season, is the 14th Bulldog student-athlete since 2003 to pick up the prestigious award. The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship program awards up to 174 grants annually (87 men, 87 women) regardless of division. The awards of $7,500 apiece are given to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically in their respective sport season. Created in 1964, the program promotes and encourages postgraduate education by rewarding the Association’s most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA sports. Blair recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and is pursuing her master’s in education.

May graduate Elizabeth Bonanno, student president of Truman’s chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, received the prestigious Gabriela Mistral Award for her academic achievements as a Spanish major and her role in her chapter’s activities. The Gabriela Mistral Award is granted by Sigma Delta Pi’s national headquarters and may be presented to only one person per chapter annually. The honor is reserved for outstanding graduate or undergraduate students of Spanish who are active members of Sigma Delta Pi.

Accounting faculty members Debra Kerby, Keith Harrison, and Sandra Fleak had their article “Teaching-A Win-Win Opportunity,” accepted for publication in The CPA Journal.

Students Chelle King Porter and Kurt Warnhoff, along with Tim Walston, assistant professor of biology, attended the 17th International Caenorhabditis elegans meeting at UCLA June 24-28. King Porter, a master’s student in biology, presented a poster entitled “Effect of folic acid on cell migration during hypodermal morphogenesis.” Warnhoff, a biology student and member of the Math-Bio community, was supported by the NSF RLC grant to present a poster entitled “Segmenting early embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.”

Tim Walston, assistant professor of biology had two papers published recently in the journal Developmental Biology. They are titled: “The N- or C-terminal domains of DSH-2 can activate the C. elegans Wnt/beta-catenin asymmetry pathway” and “CWN-1 functions with DSH-2 to regulate C. elegans asymmetric neuroblast division in a beta-catenin independent Wnt pathway.” Both papers investigate the genetic mechanisms driving cell polarity and migration during embryogenesis.

The Truman women’s basketball team was recently ranked at No. 17 on the WBCA’s Academic top-25 team honor roll. Under first-year head coach Michael Smith, the Bulldog women’s squad compiled a team grade point average of 3.461 and were just three one-hundredths of a point from reaching the Division II top-10. Truman was the only squad from the MIAA to crack the top-25. The award marks the third time in five seasons that Truman has finished in the WBCA Academic top-25, following back-to-back 24th-place finishes in 2005 and 2006.