October 2010

New chair brings ‘millennial thinking’ to council of trustees

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Joshua Young, a 2004 Slippery Rock University graduate, is making political hay on his name. He’s captured the “youngest commissioner” ever elected in Pennsylvania’s Caln Township title and now he’s the “youngest chairman” of the Slippery Rock University Council of Trustees.

PASSHE Chancellor Cavanaugh plans SRU visit

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – John Cavanaugh, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, will visit the Slippery Rock University campus to meet and talk with students, faculty, staff and administrators about campus issues, programs and services.

Good News: Fall mums brighten campus

Mum’s is not the word when it comes to fall beauty – more than 100 fall mums have planted campuswide to complement the autumn brilliance. Beverly Weidenholf, a planning and facilities staff member, took the lead in planting the rows of mums.

Good News: SRU place-kicker C.J. Bahr gets nod for Fred Mitchell Award

CHICAGO, Ill. –C.J. Bahr, a Slippery Rock University senior from Boalsburg, is among a group of eight NCAA Division II football placekickers spotlighted last week by the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award selection committee.

Good News: ’89 Rock graduate earns Thurgood Marshall Award

Ken Wilcox, a 1989 Slippery Rock University graduate, has received the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Founders Award for his leadership, educational advocacy and diversity promotion. The non-profit organization provides scholarships and advocacy to students attending historically black colleges and universities.

Good News: SRU art professor earns praise for Erie display

Heather Hertel, assistant professor of art, has earned glowing praise from Go Erie, the online newsletter based in Erie, which recently described her work saying, “creations of art is as much a physiological exercise as an intellectual and emotional one.”

Good News: Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra features SRU talent

It will clearly be “Slippery Rock University Night” Oct. 16 when the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra performs at Upper St. Clair High School.

Good News: Retired SRU library professor provides history for celebration

McINTYRE – When Pennsylvania’s McIntyre celebrated its centennial last summer, Susan Ferrandiz, a retired assistant professor from Slippery Rock University’s Bailey Library, was in the thick of it.

‘The Crucible’ opens 2010 SRU theatre season

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – More than 30 Slippery Rock University students will open the fall theatre season with a student production of “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller’s dramatization of the Salem, Mass., witch trials. Performances will be at 8 p.m. today and Sunday-Wednesday with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, at SRU’s Miller Auditorium.

SRU international students prepare homeland foods

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – More than 70 international students at Slippery Rock University are pulling out family recipes, traditional clothing from their homeland and their entertainment skills and customs to present Slippery Rock University’s 36th annual International Dinner Nov. 13.

SRU’s Old Stone House hosts ‘Halloween Meets History’

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University’s historic Old Stone House will again host its “Spooky Stories” Halloween festivities, with thrills and chills for visitors of all ages.

SRU Volleyball honors breast cancer survivors Oct. 15

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women’s volleyball team will pay tribute to breast cancer survivors as part of the team’s fifth annual “Dig for the Cure” match to benefit breast cancer awareness Oct. 15 against Gannon University. The match is at 7 p.m. in Morrow Field House.

McCormick calls student engagement ‘lens on student learning’

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa - Alexander McCormick, director of the National Survey of Student Engagement, an assessment program used by Slippery Rock University, told faculty and staff that “student engagement is a lens on student learning” as part of his hour-long Professional Development Day address.

Good News: Rock junior Sarah Lynch earns PSAC singles runner-up honor

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. –Sarah Lynch, a Slippery Rock University junior from Gibsonia, claimed runner-up honors Sunday in the singles division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Individual Championships women's tennis competition hosted by Shippensburg University.

Good News: ’94 Rock graduate earns Rising Star of Safety award

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Rebecca Cranford, a 1994 Slippery Rock University graduate, has been named a Rising Star of Safety by the National Safety Council, which provides health and safety training resources to companies. Cranford is the environment, health and safety manager at the Alcoa in Cleveland, Ohio.

Good News: SRU helps lead PASSHE to 2010-11 record enrollment

This year’s record enrollment at Slippery Rock University, the 11th record year in a row, helped lead the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to its highest enrollment ever – 119,513.

SRU AmeriCorps plans ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ screening

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University’s AmeriCorps program, in conjunction with the University’s Summer Book Program, will screen the award-winning “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at 8 p.m., Oct. 28, in the University Union. The entry free is one, non-perishable food item.

SRU launches campus climate survey

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - An online community survey seeking faculty, staff and student responses as a means of establishing the baseline for campus climates related to the working, living and learning environment at Slippery Rock University kicks off Sunday.

SRU's posts strong NSSE numbers

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University students consistently rate their experience at the University higher than do students attending peer institutions, according to the latest report from the National Survey of Student Engagement.

Diversity commission sets plans

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Educational programs, discussion groups, book readings and monthly luncheons are just a few of the activities the Slippery Rock University President's Commission on Race and Ethnic Diversity has planned for fall.

SRU trustees honor staff, name facilities, hear from faculty at meeting

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University Council of Trustees honored Bruce Russell, retired dean of the College of Business, Information and Social Sciences, for his distinguished service, renamed two buildings and heard presentations from faculty and staff as part of their meeting last Friday.

SRU dishes up food careers

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University will take a bite out of the slumping economy Monday when it hosts a career day for an industry that leaders say has never been more promising - culinary arts. SRU has invited students, recent graduates and administrators from culinary institutes in Pittsburgh and across the region and state to visit its award-winning Boozel Dining Hall to learn about career opportunities in the "new" institutional food-service industry.

Fruit fly research may shed light on human neurodegeneration

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Those small fruit flies that you swat away from bananas are more than a nuisance - they are allies in the search for clues to slowing human neurological disease.

Student researchers visit Ghana

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - They stayed in a village that lacked electricity until a year ago. They ate goat soup and taught in a classroom without a roof. But the insight three Slippery Rock University students gained into the lives of women in the Republic of Ghana far out weighed the lack of modern conveniences during a recent research trip there.

Let's get physical: exercise science powers national health movement

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University's department of exercise and rehabilitative sciences is powering up its version of a health initiative called "exercise is medicine." The initiative will address what professors call the epidemic of physical inactivity and will include curriculum enhancements, networking with physicians and new opportunities for SRU students to help peers and community residents improve fitness.

SRU expands 'I Can Do It, You Can Do It'

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University has received a $313,176 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration to expand its student-led "I Can Do It, You Can Do It" mentoring program for youth with disabilities. The grant will provide three specific activities to assist youth with disabilities transition from school to adult life.

Good News: May SRU graduate lands Folger Shakespeare Library docent job

Jacqueline Baird, a May Slippery Rock University English literature graduate, has been accepted into a docent program at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

Good News: SRU graduate joins international judging group

Becky Pendergast, a 1988 Slippery Rock University communication graduate and now art director for The Chronicle of Higher Education, has been named the edition coordinator for the Society of New Design’s 32nd annual competition.

Good News: U.S. Naval Academy honors ’71 Rock graduate

David Brown, a 1971 Slippery Rock University graduate, has had a squash court named after him at the U.S. Naval Academy. Brown coached squash at Navy from 1977-1998 and directed the Midshipman to a 267-117 record.

Dailey gets e-mail to aid European Union

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Become an expert and the world will beat a path to your door is proving true for Slippery Rock University's David Dailey, professor of computer science and a recognized leader in SVG - scalable vector graphics - the new rage in computer-generated graphics.

Student researchers stimulate senses

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The "Sensory Room" at the Nelson Therapeutic Activity Center in Monroeville is abuzz with new potential. Slippery Rock University therapeutic recreation majors recently helped the treatment facility implement the room, which provides health-related leisure services for individuals with intellectual disabilities, especially autism.

SRU's Tsuquiashi-Daddesio wins Minority Achievement Award

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Eva Tsuquiashi-Daddesio, Slippery Rock University dean of the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts, will be recognized tonight with a Minority Achievement Award at the 35th Annual Minority Achiever's reception sponsored by Minority Opinion/Talk Magazine.

Elementary education faculty put student teacher’s research into action

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – While Slippery Rock University student teachers working in schools throughout the region don’t wear lab coats in the classroom, they are, in fact, doing research they hope will help them become even better teachers. Their research plans are the focus of new book chapter written by Geraldine Jenny and Robert Snyder, faculty in SRU’s College of Education.

SRU’s Stephen Hawk earns 2 Grammy nods

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Two jazz category Grammy nominations and a role as featured soloist with the McKeesport Symphony Pops Orchestra are keeping Slippery Rock University’s Stephen Hawk, a professor of music, in the spotlight.

Good News: SRU graduate lands Qatar position

Mahvish Ali, a 2008 Slippery Rock University elementary education graduate, has accepted a position in Doha, Qatar, as a first-grade teacher and curriculum designer, in the newly developed Awfaz Global, an international school in Qatar.

Good News: SRU doctoral graduate leads new PT program in North Carolina

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Eric Hegedus, who received his doctorate in physical therapy from Slippery Rock University in 1991, has been named director of the proposed physical therapy program in the new school of Health Sciences at High Point University.

Good News: SRU Sax Quartet earns spot at International Sax Symposium

The Slippery Rock University Saxophone Quartet, directed by Jason Kush, an instructor of music, has been accepted to perform at the 2011 International Saxophone Symposium, hosted by the United States Navy Band at George Mason University.

University takes bite out of stress with ‘Cookie Month’ event

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – What’s your favorite cookie, chocolate chip, gingerbread or oatmeal raisin? Do you prefer your cookies soft, crunchy, hot out of the oven, with or without icing? Turns out Slippery Rock University students aren’t picky – they’re satisfied to scarf down a sugar cookie, especially one provided free by the University.

Good News: Dallas Rotary honors SRU graduate

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. James L. Williams, a 1975 Slippery Rock University graduate and former commanding general of the 4th Marine Division, will be among those honored when the Dallas Downtown Rotary hosts is sixth annual “Salute to American Veterans” Nov. 10 at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas.

Good News: Air Force names Marchand distinguished visiting professor

Richard Marchand, a Slippery Rock University professor of mathematics, has been named to an 11-month distinguished visiting professor position at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He reports in June.

Underwater cameras improve swimmers' strokes, add efficiency

SRU joins Kangwon's 40th anniversary

SRU music department celebrates October as 'Jazz Month'

Jazz Ensemble announces Oct. 14 CD release

Association names Distinguished Alumni

Hansen-Turton receives International Alumni Award

SRU's Student LIfe sponsors all-campus safety panel Oct. 5

SRU Army ROTC team takes honors

ART explores roles of women in society

SRU Orchestra, SRU Choir join forces

Ghost hunter lectures, plans SRU tour

SRU collects coats for local children