Recent K-State news
From K-State:
In today’s news from K-State for Tuesday, April 14, 2009:
1) RESEARCH: K-State Senior From Eudora Researches Physics Of Liquid Surfaces (Hometown interest for EUDORA)
2) MANHATTAN interest/ TIMELY:Symposium On Engaging, Energizing And Empowering Communities Through Leadership In Action To Be April 20 At K-State
3) SALINA interest/ TIMELY: NASA Traveling Exhibit To Be Part Of K-State At Salina’s Open House
4) More Than 40 Undergraduate Students Receive K-State Cancer Research Awards (Hometown interest for CHANUTE; CLYDE; DERBY; DODGE CITY; EMPORIA; GARDEN CITY; GODDARD; HALSTEAD; HORTON; LEAWOOD; MANHATTAN; MOUNT HOPE; MURDOCK; OLATHE; OVERLAND PARK; SHAWNEE; STAFFORD; TOPEKA; WAKEENEY; and
WESTWOOD)5) SALINA interest/ TIMELY: K-State At Salina Receives Glass Cockpit Learning Equipment From Garmin Ltd. (Hometown interest for OLATHE and
SALINA)
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1) Sources: Frank Male, frmale@k-state.edu; and Bruce Law, 785-532-1618, bmlaw@k-state.edu Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
Video available. Access at
http://www.k-state.edu/media/webzine/research/index.html
News release prepared by: Kristin Hodges, 785-532-6415, khodges2@k-state.eduK-STATE SENIOR FROM EUDORA RESEARCHES PHYSICS OF LIQUID SURFACES
MANHATTAN — The physics of liquid surfaces plays an important role in many biological processes - though it is not well understood. One Kansas State University student’s research is increasing this subject knowledge.
Frank Male, senior in physics and political science from Eudora, has worked since a freshman with Bruce Law, professor of physics at K-State. Male is researching the behavior of liquids in microfluidic channels.
Microfluidic devices, which are the size of a credit card, are chemical factories on a chip; micron-size channels, which are smaller than the width of a human hair, are etched into the surface of these devices and liquid is propelled along these channels, Law said.
“Where two different liquid streams meet, chemical reactions can occur,” Law said. “For example, scientists are trying to make devices that can analyze your blood in the doctor’s office, rather than having the blood sent off for analysis.”
Law said liquid motion along micron-sized channels, and how this depends upon channel shape and the liquid propensity for the solid walls, is not well understood.
Male is studying liquid filaments in triangular channels. Law said under certain conditions, these liquid filaments are unstable and break up into droplets, as opposed to the behavior of liquid filaments in rectangular channels, which are always stable.
“The liquid filament breakup could be a desirable effect if one is trying to create uniform droplet micro-reactors, or, an undesirable effect if one wants a uniform liquid filament,” Law said. “A scientific understanding of this behavior will help propel this field forward.”
In addition, Male has been collaborating with Martin Brinkmann, scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Goettingen, Germany, to use computer modeling of the liquid flow in triangular channels to gain a theoretical understanding of this liquid instability from liquid filaments to liquid droplets. Once completed, these computer models will be compared with actual experiments.
Male’s research is funded by a National Science Foundation grant, which stipulates that students conduct part of their research at the German institute. He has spent three summers in Germany, including the year that the World Cup was in Berlin where Male said he saw “many angry soccer fans.”
He plans to return to the institute this summer.Male compares his combination of political science and physics studies to successful figures with a similar background.
“I like to bring it back to Ben Franklin, because he’s the most prominent example I can think of,” Male said. “He was fairly involved in political science, obviously, and he also was a great inventor.”
Male’s interest in physics began in grade school when his mother went back to college to earn a teaching degree.
“She would bring home her astronomy and chemistry textbooks, and I’d just read through those things like they were nothing,” he said. “I was so excited.”
He plans to pursue a doctorate in physics and either work for a small high-technology firm or a physics research laboratory.
“I would like to go into a small high-tech firm - the type that is looking for more of a Renaissance man instead of a straight research buff,” Male said, “I’m hardly a Renaissance man, but I try to come up as close as possible.”
Male also plays the guitar, is training for a marathon and writes opinion and news articles for the K-State Collegian.
“The Collegian is about my only political science outlet, so every once in a while I can sneak something about physics in there,” he said.
He is a member of the Smith Scholarship House, where he has served as recruiting chair. He also is a member of the Arts and Sciences College Council and College Republicans, and has judged elementary school science fairs for K-State’s Women in Engineering and Science Program.
A 2005 graduate of Eudora High School, he is the son of Frank and Kallie Male, Eudora.
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2) Source: Chandra Ruthstrom, 785-532-6868, chandra@k-state.edu News release prepared by: Caitlin Arnold, cearn@k-state.eduSYMPOSIUM ON ENGAGING, ENERGIZING AND EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES THROUGH LEADERSHIP IN ACTION TO BE APRIL 20 AT K-STATE
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University’s Center for Community Engagement and Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development will host the symposium
E3: Engaging, Energizing and Empowering Communities Through Leadership in Action from 1-4:30 p.m. Monday, April 20.The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will be in the K-State Student Union’s Flint Hills, Sunflower and Cottonwood rooms. Its objectives include enhancing and encouraging university engagement and community development efforts; demonstrating and sharing lessons learned about using leadership to leverage initiatives; and stimulating thinking about future engagements initiatives.
The symposium will feature a keynote address by Kansas Senate majority leader Derek Schmidt, Independence; reports from participants across Kansas with the Rural Engagement and Action Leadership Project, or REAL; and K-State faculty and staff who are leading engagement efforts.
Fred Cholick, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of K-State Research and Extension, will open the symposium, with Schmidt’s keynote address to follow.
Next will be a series of breakout sessions featuring REAL Project participants and K-State faculty and staff. REAL participants launched several programs in mid-May 2008 aimed at helping Kansas leaders identify and solve key issues in their home communities.
Following the panel presentations, participants and the audience will take part in facilitated dialog regarding leadership and engagement in Kansas communities. Panel presentations will include discussions on the redevelopment of Greensburg, youth entrepreneurship, promoting increased levels of collaboration in civility to energy conservation and environmental leadership programs.
More information on the symposium is available at http://www.k-state.edu/cecd and more information about REAL Project participants is available at http://getrealks.org
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3) Source: Heather Wagoner, 785-826-2917, hwagoner@k-state.edu News release prepared by Natalie Blair, 785-826-2642, nblair@k-state.eduNASA TRAVELING EXHIBIT TO BE PART OF K-STATE AT SALINA’S OPEN HOUSE
SALINA — As part of All-University Open House activities at Kansas State University at Salina, visitors will be able to touch a 3-billion-year-old moon rock, see the progress of the International Space Station, learn about NASA’s next major program, Constellation, and discover why NASA is going back to the moon.
Open house at K-State at Salina will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 18.
It is free and everyone is welcome.The space-related events are all part of the NASA Johnson Space Center Driven to Explore exhibit, a traveling display about NASA and space exploration, which will be in the south parking lot. The exhibit is wheelchair accessible.
Also at K-State at Salina’s open house, visitors can use a student-built cannon for target practice, learn about aerobatics from pilot and performer Wayne Handley at 10 a.m., witness a Wildcat flyover at noon, eat Purple Pride ice cream, and calculate how long it will take them to become a millionaire.
Visitors also can learn about unmanned aerial vehicles, get up close and personal with K-State’s fleet of aircraft, check out a Life Star EMS helicopter and a Blackhawk Dustoff, see if concrete canoes can float, and use the university’s flight simulators to take a jet for a spin. They also can make their own souvenir using K-State’s plastic injection molder.
In addition, the Wildcat Breakfast Fly-In from 8-11 a.m. will be a chance to meet K-State pilots and mechanics of the past, present and future.
A full listing of K-State All-University Open House events is available at http://consider.k-state.edu/openhouse
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4) Source: Marcia Locke, 785-532-6705, marcia@k-state.edu Web site: http://cancer.k-state.edu/ Photos available: Contact media@k-state.edu or call 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.eduMORE THAN 40 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS RECEIVE K-STATE CANCER RESEARCH AWARDS
MANHATTAN — More than 40 undergraduate students at Kansas State University will receive funding for cancer research from K-State’s Terry C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research.
The cancer research award program was created to promote undergraduate participation in laboratory research and to encourage students to consider careers in research and medicine.
“We are helping train the next generation of cancer researchers and medical workers,” said Rob Denell, director of the Terry C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research and a university distinguished professor of biology.
The award program, which is open to K-State undergraduate students interested in working in cancer-relevant laboratories, provides $1,000 stipends to as many as 50 students a year and $1,000 to their faculty mentors for research expenses. Awards will be presented to the students at a banquet Friday, April 17.
Students applied for the awards in the fall by co-writing research proposals with faculty mentors affiliated with the cancer center. The winners conduct the research in the mentors’ laboratories during the spring semester.
“These students work closely with faculty on real research projects and some will undoubtedly go on to be top scientists and physicians,” Denell said.
Cancer research award winners include:
Melissa Taylor, senior in nutritional sciences, Chanute; Anna Rogers, sophomore in microbiology, Clyde; Chris Jones, junior in biochemistry, chemistry and microbiology, and Kacey Provenzano, senior in nutritional sciences, both from Derby; Emma Del Real, senior in biology, and Olga Martinez, senior in biology, both from Dodge City; Aareon Mike Harreld, senior in mathematics and psychology, Emporia.
From Garden City: Jorge Mendoza, senior in biology; Nidia Ortega, junior in life sciences; and Vanessa Reyes, senior in biology.
Garret Seiler, sophomore in biology, Goddard.
From Greater Kansas City: William Poulson, senior in biology, and Andrew Weber, senior in biology, both from Leawood; Ryan Gallagher, junior in microbiology, Amy Hurt, senior in chemistry, and Jared Wilmoth, senior in biochemistry and chemistry, all from Olathe; Paul Basel, senior in biochemistry, Jacqueline Johnson, senior in chemistry, Emilie Miller, senior in chemistry, and Hailey Petersen, senior in microbiology, all from Overland Park; Kyle Crow, senior in biology, Shawnee; and Derek Low, senior in biochemistry, Westwood.
Corey Wells, sophomore in chemical engineering, Halstead; Colette Robinson, sophomore in chemistry, Horton.
From Manhattan: Elizabeth Blaesi, senior in biochemistry and chemistry; Joseph Bloomfield, senior in biology; Ryan Hill, senior in biochemistry; Diana Hylton, senior in microbiology and nutritional sciences; Melanie Katz, senior in biochemistry; Kevin Lentz, senior in political science; Kelsey Pearson, senior in biochemistry; Jeanne Pierzynski, senior in psychology and biochemistry; Xiaoyu Su, junior in biology; and Daniel Unruh, junior in food science and industry.
Rachel Nichols, sophomore in biology, Mount Hope; John Hirt, senior in biology and secondary education, Murdock; Erica Volker, senior in geography, Stafford; Nicole Wayant, senior in geography and mathematics, Topeka; and Stacy Lee Littlechild, sophomore in biology, Wakeeney.
From out of state: A. Scott McCall, senior in biochemistry, Parker, Colo.; Tara Kalivoda, senior in chemistry, Medina, Minn.; and Nicole Delimont, senior in public health nutrition, North Bend, Ore.
The Terry C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research is committed to furthering the understanding of cancer by funding basic cancer research and supporting higher education, training and public outreach. It also provides other undergraduate scholarships, as well as awards to graduate and postdoctoral students and faculty to support their cancer research and training. The center’s programs are funded through private gifts.
More information about the center is available at http://www.cancer.k-state.edu or by calling 785-532-6705.
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5) Source: Dennis Kuhlman, 785-826-2601, dkuhlman@k-state.eduK-STATE AT SALINA RECEIVES GLASS COCKPIT LEARNING EQUIPMENT FROM GARMIN LTD.
SALINA — Kansas State University at Salina’s department of aviation has received advanced glass cockpit avionics equipment from Garmin Ltd. that will help avionics maintenance students learn to work on modern electronic navigation and communication radios.
Garmin, based in Olathe, has donated a number of GNS530 and GNS430 integrated navigation/communication/Global Positioning System units to K-State at Salina.
“This gift from our industry partners at Garmin reinforces K-State at Salina’s commitment to provide students with a heavy emphasis on glass panel avionics, and Garmin is a leader in this technology,” said Dennis Kuhlman, dean of K-State at Salina. “Our faculty and staff extend thanks to the people of Garmin for this gift.”
Both the GNS530 and GNS430 feature glass cockpit moving map displays that depict real-time aircraft progress in relation to airports, surface terrain, radio beacons and other features pilots need to establish their position and navigate from airport to airport. The Garmin gift also includes aviation communication radios that pilots use to communicate with air traffic controllers.
Hardware and installation equipment for the GNS530 and GNS430 avionics units were also part of the donation, as well as operating manuals and navigation database software.
K-State at Salina’s aviation fleet includes a high number of glass panel technically advanced aircraft so that Garmin G1000 glass panel accelerated training can be offered. This training allows students to train for both private and instrument pilot certificates simultaneously so they can reach their goals more quickly.
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Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/dhsw7rIn today’s news from K-State for Wednesday, April 15, 2009:
1) RESEARCH: Research Earns K-State Students Honors At Two Special Forums (Hometown interest for ANDALE, MANHATTAN and OLATHE)
2) K-State’s Presidential Award Recognizes Six For Excellence In Teaching, Advising And Adminstration (Hometown interest for MANHATTAN and SALINA)
3) K-State’s Academic Quadrathlon Team Wins Regional Competition; Qualifies For National Collegiate Beef Quiz Bowl (Hometown interest for CHANUTE and CLAY CENTER)
4) Second Wind Program Breathes New Life Into Former K-State Athlete’s Education
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1) News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, bbohn@k-state.eduRESEARCH EARNS K-STATE STUDENTS HONORS AT TWO SPECIAL FORUMS
MANHATTAN — Research presentations and posters earned several Kansas State University students honors at the recent K-State Research Forum and at the annual Capitol Graduate Research Forum in Topeka.
At the K-State Research Forum, graduate students presented research in the agricultural sciences, biological sciences, engineering and physical sciences, and social sciences/humanities/education, as well as poster presentations. Undergraduate students competed in a special undergraduate research category.
The Capitol Graduate Research Forum is opportunity for select graduate students from K-State, the University of Kansas, KU Medical Center and Wichita State University to showcase their research through poster presentations to the interested public, state legislators and state officials. Two K-State students earned $500 awards from Kansas BIO for their posters.
Students earning honors at the K-State Research Forum and students earning Kansas BIO awards at the Capitol Graduate Research Forum included:
Kristin Veith, graduate student in food science and industry, Andale, third place in posters, K-State Research Forum.
From Manhattan: Tyler Axman, senior in food science and industry, second place in undergraduate research, K-State Research Forum; Li Du, graduate student in chemical engineering, first place in engineering and physical sciences, K-State Research Forum; Ahmed abd el Fattah, graduate student in civil engineering, second place in engineering and physical sciences; Alison Federow, graduate student in microbiology, first place in biological sciences, K-State Research Forum; John Patton, graduate student in pathobiology, second place in biological sciences, K-State Research Forum; Melissa Pickett, graduate student in grain science, third place in agricultural sciences, K-State Research Forum; Alexander Price, graduate student in chemistry, first place in posters, K-State Research Forum; Disha Ruppayna, graduate student in psychology, third place in social sciences/humanities/education, K-State Research Forum; Thiliani Samarakoon, graduate student in chemistry, received a $500 Kans!
as BIO award at the Capitol Graduate Research Forum; Tyler Selbe, graduate student in chemical engineering, third place in engineering and physical sciences, K-State Research Forum; Juhyan Yoo, graduate student in grain science, received a $500 Kansas BIO award at the Capitol Graduate Research Forum.Pamela Wittman, senior in kinesiology, Olathe, first place in undergraduate research, K-State Research Forum.
From out of state:
Nigel Harper, graduate student in food science and animal science, Hagerstown, Ind., second place in agricultural sciences, K-State Research Forum; Brett Fritz, senior in animal sciences and industry, Paullina, Iowa, third place in undergraduate research, K-State Research Forum; Jason Nickell, graduate student in pathobiology, Plattsburg, Mo.; third place in biological sciences, K-State Research Forum; Jonathan Propheter, graduate student in agronomy, St. Joseph, Mo., first place in agricultural sciences, K-State Research Forum; Dave Brown, graduate student in economics, Sutton, Neb., second place in social sciences/humanities/education, K-State Research Forum; Carrita Hightower, graduate student in human nutrition, Memphis, Tenn., second place in posters, Kansas Research Forum; and Cossette Armstrong, graduate student in apparel and textiles, Nashville, Tenn., first place in social sciences/humanities/education, K-State Research Forum.
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2) Sources: Joseph Arata, 785-532-4935, joea@k-state.edu; Leslie Hannah, 785-826-2928, ldhannah@k-state.edu; Hyun Seung Jin, 785-532-3959, hsjin@k-state.edu; Charles Martin, 785-532-3416, cwmgeog@k-state.edu; William Meredith, 785-532-1472, meredith@k-state.edu; and Timothy Rarick, trarick@k-state.edu News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.eduK-STATE’S PRESIDENTIAL AWARD RECOGNIZES SIX FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING, ADVISING AND ADMINSTRATION
MANHATTAN — Six Kansas State University faculty members are receiving a 2009 Presidential Award for their compassion, dedication and creativity as teachers, advisers or administrators.
Receiving the Presidential Awards for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence are Joseph Arata, assistant professor of agricultural economics; Leslie Hannah, assistant professor of English at K-State at Salina; Hyun Seung Jin, associate professor of journalism and mass communications; and Timothy Rarick, a graduate teaching assistant in family studies and human services.
The Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising is going to Charles Martin, associate professor of geography, and William Meredith, director of the School of Family Studies and Human Services, will receive the Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head.
The awards, which include a $2,500 honorarium and plaque, are sponsored by the K-State president’s office and Curtin Property Co., a real estate development firm with offices in Manhattan and Kansas City. The awards are coordinated by the Kansas State University Foundation.
“The Curtin Property Company, and its Manhattan associates at Georgetown Apartment Homes and Westchester Park, are pleased to join with the K-State president’s office in recognizing and rewarding these highly talented educators,” said Chris Curtin, company president. “Their commitment to the pursuit of excellence is inspirational to all of us. Each award winner has contributed greatly to undergraduate success at K-State.”
“The Presidential Awards acknowledge that the creativity, dedication and excellence of its faculty members are what make a university great,” said Jon Wefald, K-State president. “We appreciate that Chris Curtin and the Curtin Property Company continue to help K-State reward such efforts.”
* Arata teaches three undergraduate courses in agricultural economics and is known to students as “Jumpin’ Joe” for his enthusiastic and comedic teaching style. As a former Wall Street economist and trader on the stock exchange, Arata relates real-world knowledge to benefit his students. “I employ a variety of active learning strategies that will engage students in current economic problems while encouraging them to employ their critical thinking skills to analyze and evaluate these problems,” Arata said. Prior to joining K-State in 1996, Arata was vice president at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets where he managed the risk level and the finance structure for commodity inventories. He has a bachelor’s in economics and mathematics from St. Peters College and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from K-State.
* Hannah is known for challenging his students to go beyond the classroom into real-world learning environments. He proactively incorporates new instructional tools, such as podcasts, into his classroom lessons. “I see teaching as a sacred duty. I try to instill a desire and devotion to becoming a lifelong learner — someone dedicated to the deliberate journey from ignorance to competence and, perhaps, even expertise,” Hannah said. Hannah received K-State at Salina’s 2008 Marchbanks Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and was a 2007 Oxford University Fellow. In addition to his teaching duties, he has been serving as assistant dean of academics at K-State at Salina since 2008. Hannah has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, both from Northeastern State University, and a Ph.D. in American/Native American literature from the University of Oklahoma.
* Jin is an expert in integrated marketing communications who teaches several advertising courses. He is noted for his ability to consistently bring his research into the classroom to create an atmosphere of learning and discovery. Jin’s teaching has been previously recognized with the 2005 Stamey Award for Teaching Excellence. He also received the President’s Faculty Development Award in 2003 and 2006, and he received a Big 12 Research Fellowship in 2002. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s in mass communications, both from Sogang University in Korea, and a doctorate in mass communications from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
* Rarick is a doctoral student in life span human development. He researches positive psychology in emerging adults, including happiness in college-age students. He currently teaches two large sections of Introduction to Human Development. To engage students, he has been known to bring his guitar to class. “I’m sure most parents would agree that it is not enough to simply give their children the facts of life with its many twists and turns. Congruently, I believe that the students who enter my classroom should do more that just memorize theories, concepts and statistics,” he said. Rarick has been a preschool teacher and musician/comic. He has a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in life span human development from K-State.
* Martin has been lead undergraduate adviser for K-State’s department of geography since 2003. “The adviser is the guiding light that illuminates the possibilities of a major, the person who points out the intellectual directions, the possible career paths, the postgraduation options. As an adviser, I am careful to act as an illuminator, not as a filter,” Martin said, adding that his primary job is to listen to those he advises. Martin also is director of K-State’s secondary major in natural resources and environmental sciences. He has a bachelor’s in geography from Dartmouth College, and a master’s and Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kansas.
* Meredith has served as director of the School of Family Studies and Human Services since 1999. Under his leadership, the school has experienced substantial growth. Its graduate student enrollment has more than doubled, a conflict resolution program and doctorate in personal finance have been added, two buildings have been constructed and the school’s research funding is at an all time high. In fiscal year 2008 alone, the school brought in $17.8 million in grants, the largest amount by any department in the history of K-State. The school also started a branch program at K-State at Salina. “An effective leader builds a positive atmosphere and an environment in which success can occur,” Meredith said. At the end of this academic year, Meredith will enter phased retirement and will work on K-State’s initiatives in China, provide leadership for the university’s faculty mentoring program and teach. Meredith has a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in marriage and family cou!
nseling, both from K-State. In addition, he has a master’s in social work and a Ph.D. in community and human resources, both from the University of Nebraska.———————————————–
3) Sources: Ernie Minton, 785-532-6148, eminton@k-state.edu; and Karol Fike, 785-532-1104, karol@k-state.edu Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
News release prepared by Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, bbohn@k-state.eduK-STATE’S ACADEMIC QUADRATHLON TEAM WINS REGIONAL COMPETITION; QUALIFIES FOR NATIONAL COLLEGIATE BEEF QUIZ BOWL
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University’s Academic Quadrathlon Team will be seeking a national title after winning first place at the regional Academic Quadrathlon competition at the Midwestern Section of the American Society of Animal Science meetings in Des Moines, Iowa, March 15-16. The team also won an on-campus quadrathlon competition against other teams from K-State earlier this year.
The team will look to cap its perfect season at the National Collegiate Beef Quiz Bowl. The competition is sponsored by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and will be part of the association’s annual convention and trade show, Jan. 27-30, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas.
Team members, all seniors in animal sciences and industry, are Clem Neely, Chanute; Thomas “Bain” Wilson, Locust, N.C.; Anna Pesta, Oakboro, N.C.; and Hyatt Frobose, Pemberville, Ohio.
The team’s adviser is Ernie Minton, professor of animal sciences and industry and interim associate director, research and technology transfer, for K-State Research and Extension.
The Academic Quadrathlon began at several land-grant universities in the early 1980s. The competition, for students in animal sciences and industry and related fields, includes four individual events: laboratory practicum, quiz bowl, oral presentation and written exam. The material in the events covers animal science and meat science information, with the oral presentation focusing on related topics currently in the news.
At the regional competition, K-State competed against 13 other teams and took first place overall by winning firsts in the quiz bowl, laboratory practicum and oral presentation categories, and second in written exam. The oral presentation topic was on a California proposition banning certain types of confinement housing for sows, chickens and veal calves.
At the local competition, K-State competed against 11 other teams and placed first in every category. The oral presentation topic was on country of origin labeling.
The campus competition is sponsored by Fourth and Pomeroy Associates Inc. and two K-State alumni: Jim Brown, chairman of the board of Fourth and Pomeroy and a 1959 graduate in feed science and management; and Joe Ebert, vice president and general manager of the company and a 1971 graduate in animal sciences and industry. The company owns Key Feeds, an animal feed business in Clay Center. It provides funding for the Academic Quadrathlon teams to go to the regional and national competitions and prize recognition for winners of individual events and the overall competition.
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4) Source: Melinda Sinn, 785-532-5888, sinnpio@k-state.edu Web site: http://www.dce.k-state.edu/courses/secondwindSECOND WIND PROGRAM BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO FORMER K-STATE ATHLETE’S EDUCATION
MANHATTAN — Cephus Scott only spent a year at Kansas State University — but it was a year he’ll never forget.
It was 1997 and he was a defensive back on the K-State football team, the year the Wildcats won the Fiesta Bowl.
According to Scott, it was one of the best years of his life, and it’s why he came back to K-State — online.
“I felt like I owed the place that I respected the most, the teammates that I played with, the people I met. I felt like I was cheating everyone there if I didn’t go back,” Scott said.
Scott, Galveston, Texas, lived for football while in college; so much so, that education wasn’t exactly his priority. When his football career ended, he found himself back in Galveston with a family and a decent job as a supervisor at a local mental health facility — but no college degree. The latter was something that started to get on his nerves after a while.
“I was a nursing supervisor, but that didn’t sit right with the nurses I was supervising. So, I asked for a meeting with the CEO and the board of the hospital I was working at,” Scott said. “When I went to the meeting, I wanted to express my opinions, but they acted like I should just be happy to be there because I didn’t have a degree.”
In the face of such a stinging realization, Scott contacted people at K-State’s Division of Continuing Education who could help him reach his goal of earning his degree. He learned about K-State’s Second Wind program, developed specifically with former K-State athletes in mind, to help them finish their academic work no matter where they lived.
Along the way, Scott found encouragement in unexpected places.
“At one point, Coach Snyder called me to tell me how proud he was of the work I was doing and how hard I was trying. And even though he wasn’t the football coach at the time, it was still like getting a call from the president,” Scott said. “It was one of the most thoughtful things I’ve ever gotten from K-State.”
For someone who previously had trouble making education a priority in his life, Scott took to distance learning and even surprised himself.
“For me, it was actually better than sitting in front of a professor because I could chat with my fellow students about ideas in the class,” he said.
Scott finished his degree requirements in summer 2007, earning a bachelor’s in social science with a concentration in behavioral sciences. He intended to go to commencement in December 2007, but as luck would have it, an ice storm that hit much of northeast Kansas prevented him from returning to campus.
“I had my cap and gown and everything, and I was going to walk, so it was a disappointment. But I got my degree, so I’m cool,” Scott said.
Scott is now a teacher in the Positive Approach to Student Success program at a Galveston middle school. The program is designed to provide behavioral support for students who are experiencing significant emotional and behavioral difficulties. It operates upon the belief that students with these issues benefit the most from educational experiences within the mainstream student population, rather than removing them to separate classrooms or schools.
In addition, Scott will soon be taking a proposal to the city of Galveston to fund an organization called Men of Values — a group that helps boys and young men find the role models and resources they need to become productive, respected adults.
“There was always someone there — family, friends, teachers, advisers — to pick me up when I fell, to turn me right when I was going left, no matter where I was in life. I felt like I should do the same,” Scott said. “I’m the first person in my family to graduate from college because of that support.”
More information about K-State’s Second Wind Program is available by contacting the K-State Division of Continuing Education at 1-800-432-8222, informationdce@k-state.edu or online at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/courses/secondwind
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In today’s news from K-State for Thursday, April 16, 2009:1) FEATURE: K-State Geologist, Collaborators Create Second Life Island To Help High School Students Learn About Earth Science Through Virtual Time Travel, Exploration (Hometown interest for JUNCTION CITY and KANSAS CITY, MO.)
2) K-State Chemical Engineering Design Team Qualifies For National Competition (Hometown interest for ASSARIA, CUMMINGS, DERBY, IOLA, MANHATTAN, McPHERSON, NORWICH and OVERLAND PARK)
3) MANHATTAN interest/ TIMELY: K-State’s Beach Museum Of Art To Highlight Women In War With Workshop, Theatrical Production April 30
4) Gurdip Singh To Head Department Of Computing And Information Sciences In K-State’s College Of Engineering
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1) Source: Iris Totten, 785-532-2251, itotten@k-state.edu Images available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415 News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.eduK-STATE GEOLOGIST, COLLABORATORS CREATE SECOND LIFE ISLAND TO HELP HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT EARTH SCIENCE THROUGH VIRTUAL TIME TRAVEL, EXPLORATION
MANHATTAN — A mysterious island that moves through time. Travelers in search of answers.
It sounds something like the science fiction television show “Lost,” but it also describes a new approach to teaching earth sciences to high school students.
Iris Totten, an associate professor of geology at Kansas State University, and Molly Davies, an associate professor of geology at University of Missouri at Kansas City, designed TerraWorld, an island in Second Life, to help students learn geology in an interactive way. It is part of the larger GeoWorlds project.
“In geology, the only way we can talk about past times is to look at the fossil record,” Totten said. “So this tool is especially useful. Through their avatars, the students can see that the biota are different and know that they’re in a different geologic time period. They may see flying pterodactyls. They can click on different organisms and bring up more information about them. They can watch videos from the Chicago Field Museum, the Discovery Channel or National Geographic.”
Totten and Davies are working with Stacey Fox, a visiting assistant professor of art at the University of Kansas. Initial parts of the project included involvement from iVersity, a company that designs virtual worlds.
Totten and collaborators received a $700,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to study the impact that TerraWorld and the coming WaterWorld have on student learning and attitudes about science. The programs are being piloted at Tolbert and Brookside charter high schools in Kansas City, Mo. In the fall, about 400 ninth-grade students at Junction City High School will start using the program.
Creating TerraWorld meant that Totten had to do in-depth research about the types of animals and plants that existed in each geologic time period. Using a computer-sculpting program, Fox brought the plants and animals to life. Totten and Davies provide the content and design, and Fox assembles the worlds.
To get the students to explore the worlds through their avatars, they complete quests and scavenger hunts. The program is paperless. If there is an assignment students need to turn in, they can put it on a note card in Second Life and drop it in a box, where it goes to the instructor’s management system on the GeoWorld’s Web site. Teachers can assess all of their student’s assignments on the Web site.
The avatars’ locations on the island are monitored, which lets the teacher see if students are exploring the worlds and will help the designers make the island more efficient.
The designers also are developing two artificial intelligence bots that will help students answer questions and help them with the scavenger hunts. The bots will be able to learn from each question they are asked and will recognize if a similar question is repeated. Totten said the bots will look like young female geologists and serve as science role models for young women.
“We talked about having Darwin, but we decided that was something we as scientists would want to see, not high school kids,” Totten said.
Totten has presented the work at Tulane University, the International Conference on Digital Game and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning, and the Education Grantmakers Conference.
She said that Second Life is being used to teach other science disciplines like genetics, by using virtual fruit flies, and chemistry, by showing lab experiments such as the Redi Experiment that are not easily done in the high school classroom.
Second Life has a special role to teach geology to students on the Great Plains, Totten said.
“Living in the Midwest, we don’t have a lot of geologic structures that show any kind of deformation,” she said. “You have two-dimensional images online, but Second Life is a great option.”
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2) Source: Megan Young, meyoung@k-state.edu Photos available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
Note to editor: K-State ChemE-Car team member Ben Clubine is a 2006 graduate of Iola High School.K-STATE CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN TEAM QUALIFIES FOR NATIONAL COMPETITION
MANHATTAN — A chemical engineering design team from Kansas State University has advanced to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ National ChemE-Car Competition by earning several honors at a recent regional competition.
The K-State ChemE-Car Team and their car, the Kansas State Beaver, earned first place in performance at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Mid-America Regional ChemE-Car Competition, April 3-5, at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
A second K-State entry, the Kansas State Chameleon, received second place in the presentation competition and earned a Process of Safety Award.
The team’s faculty adviser is Walter Walawender, professor of chemical engineering.
For the ChemE-Car competition, student teams build a small car powered by a chemical reaction that can be stopped by limiting the reaction or by a separate stopping reaction. At competitions, teams are given distances the cars must travel and a weight to be added to the cars. The teams must calibrate the amount of chemical needed to get the car to travel the specified distance.
At the Mid-America Regional, the cars had to go 65 feet. The Kansas State Beaver came within three-and-one-half feet of that distance, which earned the team first place in accuracy.
“The Kansas State Beaver is classified as a pressure car,” said Megan Young, senior in chemical engineering, Cummings, and co-captain of the K-State ChemE-Car Team. “A reaction of sodium carbonate and hydrochloric acid are mixed to produce about 70 pounds per square inch of carbon dioxide that is used to extend a piston connected to a pulley system that turns the car’s front wheels.”
The Kansas State Chameleon is a battery car and a reaction of vanadium sulfate in different oxidation states is used to power the car, Young said. “A secondary reaction similar to a glow stick is used to stop the car, which works by using a sensor to trigger the circuit board to shut off power to the motor at a certain light intensity,” she said.
The National ChemE-Car Competition will be at the national conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Nov. 18-13, in Nashville, Tenn.
Along with Young, members of the K-State ChemE-Car Team, all chemical engineering majors, include:
Mark McClure, junior, Assaria; Jordon Groskurth, junior, Derby, and team co-captain; Ben Clubine, junior, Manhattan; Katerina Voigt, junior, McPherson; Andrew Doll, junior, Norwich; and Neal Walters, junior, Overland Park.
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3) Source: Kathrine Schlageck, 785-532-7718, klwalk@k-state.edu News release prepared by: Caitlin Muret, 785-532-6415, cmuret@k-state.eduK-STATE’S BEACH MUSEUM OF ART TO HIGHLIGHT WOMEN IN WAR WITH WORKSHOP, THEATRICAL PRODUCTION APRIL 30
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University’s Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art will host a drama in history workshop and a theatrical production about the role of women in war Thursday, April 30. The events are in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition “The American Soldier: A Photographic Tribute,” on display through May 31.
Actress and historian Pippa White, of One’s Company!, will lead the day’s events.
White will teach the “Mining the Gold in History Books” workshop from 10 a.m. to noon. The workshop is for adults who are thinking about writing and who are interested in first-person narratives. White said she will guide participants in learning how to sift through the dry, boring facts in history to find the fascinating human-interest stories that are riveting, abundant and just waiting to be found and shared. The workshop is free but reservations are requested by calling 785-532-7718.
White will give a theatrical performance, “Women and War,” at 7 p.m. The performance was created specifically for the Beach Museum of Art and focuses on the role women have played in American wars. Characters to be played by White include Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott. The performance is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.
“The majority of the characters are ordinary people: war nurses, resistance fighters, spies, ambulance drivers, women pilots and, of course, several Rosie the Riveters,” White said.
White also will lead a workshop with gifted students from military families in the Manhattan-Ogden School District.
Her activities are funded in part by a grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
For more information, call the Beach Museum of Art at 785-532-7718 or drop by the museum on the southeast corner of the K-State campus at 14th Street and Anderson Avenue. Admission is free, and complimentary visitor parking is available next to the facility. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays.
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4) Source: Gurdip Singh, 785-532-7945, gurdip@k-state.edu News release prepared by Mary Rankin, 785-532-6715, mrankin@k-state.eduGURDIP SINGH TO HEAD DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES IN K-STATE’S COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
MANHATTAN — Gurdip Singh, professor, has been named head of the department of computing and information sciences at Kansas State University. He will begin his duties July 1.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Singh to our leadership team,” said John English, dean of the College of Engineering. “His strong credentials and demonstrated skills in leadership, research and teaching will serve him well in this new capacity.”
Singh joined computing and information sciences at K-State in 1991 and most recently, in addition to teaching and research, he has been serving as the graduate program director for the department.
Singh received a bachelor of technology degree in computer science from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi in 1986, and master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1989 and 1991, respectively.
His areas of research interest include model-driven design and optimization, modular design of protocols, distributed algorithms and real-time embedded systems.
“I look forward to the challenge of this new position,” Singh said, “though I know I will have big shoes to fill in following Dr. Wallentine, who has led our department so capably these past years.”
Current department head Virgil Wallentine will return to his regular duties this summer.
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