Vol. 27 No. 28 - April 11, 2023

Thomas Schodl has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2023-2024 academic school year.
 
A junior biochemistry and molecular biology major from St. Louis, Schodl is the first Truman student in 10 years to be selected for this scholarship.
 
“I am honored and grateful to have been selected as a Goldwater Scholar. This award will help fund my education next year and allow me to focus on graduate school applications,” Schodl said. “It still has not sunk in how big of a deal this is, but I am happy that I had the support of Truman and Washington University faculty while writing this application. I could not have done it without their support.”
 
The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering in America. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation awards one- and two-year scholarships that cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. Since its first award in 1989, the foundation crossed the 10,000 threshold this year, naming its 10,283rd scholar.
 
Out of the 1,267 recipients nominated by 427 institutions for the 2023 competition, the foundation awarded 413 scholarships. When added to the 70 sophomores from the 2022 competition, the foundation will support a total of 483 scholars this year. The foundation is able to support this number of scholarships because of a collaboration with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Program and additional support from Congress.
 
Schodl received a one-year scholarship, the maximum award for a junior. After their time at Truman, they plan to attend graduate school for a Ph.D. in biochemistry.

For a small fee anyone interested can meet and play with adoptable animals from the humane society. All proceeds will go directly to the Adair County Humane Society, which is a no-kill shelter. The funds raised assist with a variety of expenses including medical bills and food for the animals.

Puppy Love for Tally was started in honor of a deceased sister, Tally Stevens, who passed away in a car accident. The philanthropy was established to always remember Stevens' life and family. She had a strong passion for animals, which is why Truman’s chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha established this philanthropy in conjunction with the humane society.

The second concert in SAB’s spring concert series will feature Dehd at 5 p.m. April 14 on the quad.

Dehd is an American three-piece indie rock band from Chicago. The band consists of members Emily Kempf, Jason Balla and Eric McGrady. Their sound is characterized by reverb-heavy guitar, drumming and unique vocals, such as drawls, yelping and the use of counter-melody.

Admission is free and tickets are not required. The rain site is the Student Union Building Georgian Room. The final concert in the series will take place at 5 p.m. April 28 on the quad featuring country music artist Chase Bryant.

 
University President Sue Thomas welcomed Zac Burden, assistant director of Residence Life, for a recent an installment of “Tea Time with Sue.”
 
Burden came to Truman as a student in 1999 and has been a fixture on campus and in the community ever since. After earning a degree in history, he started his career in Residence Life – including a 15-year stint as the director of Missouri Hall – while working toward a Master of Arts in Education degree he completed in 2009. Connecting with his education as a social studies teacher, Burden is well known for his campus tours that often include a deep dive into University history and lore. Outside of Truman, he is active in a number of civic organizations and has twice been elected to the Kirksville City Council.
 

The Truman Media Network won multiple awards at the Missouri College Media Association annual conference and the Missouri Broadcast Educators Association annual conference, April 1.

“It’s an honor to learn from so many media professionals in our area,” said Genevieve Tlustos, editor-in-chief of The Index. “It was a great experience, and I’m very proud of our staff and all the work they have put in over the last year.”

“I’m so proud of all the work that the Truman Media students have put in this year,” said Lukas Pierce, KTRM-FM station manager. “We couldn’t do any of this without the hard work and teamwork of everyone involved.”

Four TMN staff members attended the conference on Southeast Missouri State University’s campus in Cape Giradeau. At the conference, incoming Index Editor-in-Chief Sydney Ellison was elected vice president of MCMA. TMN is advised by Communication department professors David Price and Don Krause.

Missouri College Media Association award winners:
First Place
•    Sports Colum – Steven Findley Jr., “Athletes transferring is good for Truman”
•    Entertainment review – Joey Dougherty, ““Blonde” is a bleak, exhausting vehicle for actor de Armas’s career-best”
•    Photo Page – Matt Frank and Oliver Malone, “Students celebrate at Oktoberfest”

Second Place
•    Website – Daniel Harper, Truman Media Network
•    Advertising Design – Rebekah Nelson, Newsie Ad
•    Editorial Writing – Index Editorial Board, “Where are the precautions?”

Third Place
•    Information graphic – Rebekah Nelson, “Commencement during COVID-19”
•    Editorial/Op-Ed Page – Sydney Ellison, Vol 114, Issue 5, Page 4
•    Feature Page – Rachel Becker and Rebekah Nelson, “Top 5: Tips for staying safe in the snow”

Honorable Mention

Missouri Broadcast Educators Association award winners:
First Place
•    Audio Station Promo – Steven Findley, GTA Radio
•    Multimedia Website – Truman Media Network Staff, Truman Media Network

Second Place
•    Audio Show Promo – Mark Fisher, “Mostly Charmless”
•    Audio Special Programs – Abby Richmond, “PBandJ”
•    Audio Station Promo – Mark Fisher, “Cooking with KTRM”

Third Place
•    Audio Station Promo – Annie Bensyl, heyosocialmedia
•    Audio Show Promo – Bashar Zaheer and Annie Bensyl, “Refuse Dystopia”
•    Audio Podcasts – Leighya McNeely, “Making Kirksville Home – Jumper”

Honorable Mention
•    Audio Show Promo – Abby Richmond, “Love is in the Airwaves”
•    Audio Station Promo – Mark Fisher and Emma Gottfried, KTRM Online
•    Video Feature News Story – Josie Wagner, Library Special Collections 2
•    Video Feature News Story – Josie Wagner, Library Special Collections 3

Tacos in the Hub
12-2 p.m.
April 11
Student Union Building Hub

Tabling
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
April 11
Outside of the Student Union Building

Wellness Wednesday
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
April 12
Outside of the Student Union Building

Yard Games
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
April 13
Quad

Free Coffee Vouchers and Tabling
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
April 14
Quad

For years, the “Serial Killers and Psychopaths” class was a student favorite, and now it is being reprised for a special event, April 18.

Sal Costa, professor emeritus of psychology, created the class in 1995 and taught it every semester for 27 years. The class was a perennial hit and often had a waitlist of eager students. While it can be useful for psychology majors, the class had broad appeal and touched on related topics of biology, personality traits and disorders, abnormal psychology and psychopharmacology.

Since Costa retired from teaching in 2022, “Serial Killers and Psychopaths” has not been offered. In coordination with Truman’s Psychology Club, Costa will deliver a special presentation inspired by his course. Topics discussed during the event will include the phases of serial killers and psychological profiling. Costa will also discuss some specific serial killers, from the obscure to the infamous.

The “Serial Killers and Psychopaths” special presentation will take place at 7 p.m. April 18 in the Student Union Building Activities Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Since his retirement from the classroom, Costa has continued to serve Truman in other capacities. In conjunction with Student Engagement, Enrollment Management and Marketing, he assists the Office of Admissions with scholarship review. He also works to match students with internship opportunities, and he is responsible for recruiting new faculty and staff as advisors for clubs and organizations.

In addition to the special presentation, Costa will teach the full three-credit JINS version of “Serial Killers and Psychopaths” in the fall semester.

Joe Benevento, professor of English, will read from his two new books during an event marking his four decades of service to the University.

“Benevento Says Goodbye: A Celebration of 40 Years at Truman” will begin at 2 p.m. April 15 at the Catholic Newman Center, 709 S. Davis St. Benevento will share passages from his newest works, “The Cracker Box Poems” and his novel, “My Perfect Wife, Her Perfect Son.” The latter work is a seriocomic novel about the Holy Family from the viewpoint of St. Joseph. The novel can also be purchased directly from the publisher, Histria Books. Discounted copies of the new books will be available at the event, along with free copies of his earlier works.

In addition to the readings, Benevento, who will retire at the conclusion of the semester, will perform some “songs of parting” accompanied by Greg Richter on piano, Karen Kubin on violin, and the Benevento Family Singers.

This event is free and open to all. Students, colleagues and friends from Benevento’s Truman tenure have been invited to return, and part of the festivities will include time to reminisce about his 40-year career.

The Philosophy and Religion Department is hosting senior capstone presentations April 11-20 in McClain Hall 209. All sessions are open to the public. The schedule of speakers and topics is available here.

New changes to the flexible payment plan will help students stay on track with tuition and spread out their balance throughout each semester.
 
Under the flexible payment plan, tuition is billed in full and paid for in installments. The first 25% payment is due by the end of the first week of class. In the fall and spring, tuition is paid in four monthly installments of 25% each. Summer term billing can be addressed in two installments. The new plan has established due dates for each of the installment payments.
 
The flexible payment plan is available to all Truman students. Because changes have been made, students currently taking advantage of this payment option will need to re-enroll in the flexible payment plan, as well as those who would like to opt-in to the plan for the first time. Students who were previously removed from the flexible payment plan for unpaid balances now have the opportunity to start again with a clean slate.  
 
Signing up for the flexible payment plan is easy, and it can be completed beginning May 1, 2023 on TruView in just a few minutes. Details on how to sign up can be found here. Students who choose not to sign up for the flexible payment plan by Aug. 25, 2023 will automatically remain on the standard plan, which requires payment in full by the end of the first week of classes.
 
Questions about the flexible payment plan can be addressed to Student Accounts at 660.785.4074, staccts@truman.edu or in person at McClain Hall 105.

Applications for FAC fall F023 funding are open now through 12 a.m. April 14. No late applications will be accepted. Applications can be found here.

The open course list for summer can be viewed on TruView now, with registration opening March 22. Courses are available in a variety of options, including online, hybrid and in-person delivery methods. The flexibility of summer courses provides students the opportunity to have a job, take a vacation or socialize with friends back home.

With six separate terms throughout the summer, students have multiple options to fit their needs. Interim classes run May 13-27. The first round of five-week courses, as well as 10-week courses, begin May 30, while the second round of five-week courses begins July 3. An eight-week session begins June 5. The August interim runs from July 29-Aug. 12. For more information visit summer.truman.edu.

Union & Involvement Services will begin accepting room lottery requests for the fall 2023 semester from 8:30 a.m. April 3 to 5 p.m. April 12.

Recognized student organizations must be in good standing in order for requests to be processed. Any submissions received after 5 p.m. April 12 will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis once lottery requests have been processed.

Request forms and other information can be found here. Contact the Union & Involvement Services Office at union@truman.edu or 660.785.4222 for more information.

 
Elementary and middle school students interested in math and science can spend a day on the Truman campus participating in fun activities.

Truman’s chapter of Beta Beta Beta, a co-ed biology honors fraternity, will sponsor Science on Saturday, April 29. The first session, for students in first through fifth grade, will take place from 9-11 a.m. A second session, for students in sixth through eighth grade, will take place from 12:30-3 p.m.

Area students will attend classes in Magruder Hall, each lasting about 20 minutes. Session one classes this spring include: acids and bases volcano, reptiles and amphibians, and secret message writing. Among the classes in session two are: strawberry DNA extraction, lava lamps, and reptiles and amphibians.

Science on Saturday is a free event. Registration can be found at sos.truman.edu and will remain open until April 14 or until both sessions are full. Spaces are limited and registration is completed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Beta Beta Beta has sponsored Science on Saturday events for several years. More information is available online at sos.truman.edu.

Truman students from the Miller research lab in chemistry presented at the National American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 26-30. Students Hannah Zimmerman, senior biology and psychology double major, Dominic Caputa, senior physics major, and Zoe Vetter, sophomore cellular and molecular biology major, each presented a poster in the area of drug design and discovery using a variety of computational chemistry techniques. Caputa and Vetter won the award for outstanding undergraduate research poster in the computers in chemistry poster session for their poster on investigation of novel inhibitors of the cancer target enzyme APOBEC3B. This research travel was financially supported by Truman’s Chemistry Department.

Students (from left) Zoe Vetter, Dominic Caputa and Hannah Zimmerman, in front of a wall mural at the National ACS Conference.