DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY 
Delta Music Institute Announces Grand Opening March 7-8 The Delta Music Institute will host a Grand Opening celebration on March 7 and 8 to showcase its new facilities inside the historic Whitfield building on the DSU campus. Several exciting events planned for the celebration will be announced within the next week. The Delta Music Institute began with a generous donation by Fred Carl of the Viking Range Corporation in 2003. The focus of the DMI is to provide students with a broad and thorough education in the technological, business, and creative areas of the music industry. As Mr. Carl explains, "When I first proposed the DMI concept, I made the point that this unique program needed and deserved its own identity, something that would clearly identify it as an area of the University that had a special purpose and mission. Delta Music Institute seemed to be the perfect name for a center within the University that had the primary purpose of bringing attention to the incredible role Delta music played in the creation of modern rock and roll and other forms of music that we now refer to as popular music."
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LaForge to Present Delta State's 12th Annual Sammy O. Cranford Memorial Lecture in History
Delta State Receives 2008 Best Practices Award
Lady Statesmen Clinch GSC West Title With 73-60 Win Over Golden Suns
JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY Visit from NASA's Stennis Space Center Director Raises JSU's Profile In an effort to strengthen ties between Jackson State University and NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, the center's new director paid a visit Feb. 18 to Jackson State's College of Engineering, Science and Technology. "We would like to see all of the universities and NASA have a real connection," said Arthur "Gene" Goldman, who selected Jackson State as his first stop on a tour of Mississippi's universities. "I think we'll be able to have a closer collaboration with where we're headed." Located north of Bay St. Louis, Miss., the Stennis Space Center is NASA's largest rocket engine test complex. Over the years, it has evolved into a multiagency, multidisciplinary center for federal, state, academic and private organizations engaged in space, oceans, environmental programs, and national defense. NASA and Jackson State University have a continuing partnership that supports research and education. The NASA-funded grants and collaborations at Jackson State involve the College of Science, Engineering and Technology and the School of Education. During Goldman's visit, he met with leaders of Jackson State's College of Engineering, Science and Technology's academic and research departments and with university President Ronald Mason Jr. Mason to talk about the growth of Jackson State's School of Engineering, which was founded in 2000, and how its new building is just the latest example of how campus construction is raising the profile of the university.
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John Lewis Guest at Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement Conference
Mississippi's Only MPH and PH.D. Accredited Public Health Program Celebrates Achievement
Mississippi e-Center Expands Online Technology Certificate Courses
Hamer Institute Offers Summer Study for Community College Teachers
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY Southeastern Think Tank Recognizes MSU With Innovator Award Mississippi State's Sustainable Energy Research Center (SERC) is being honored by a regional think tank that works to improve economic opportunities and quality of life. The non-partisan Southern Growth Policies Board recently named the university center as one of the 13 winners of its annual Innovator Awards. One award per state is presented among the 13-state organization. The MSU center formally accepts the honor June 8 during the board's annual conference in Biloxi. The center also will be highlighted in the organization's "2009 Report on the Future of the South." Associated with Mississippi State's Bagley College of Engineering and its new Energy Institute, SERC involves 50 campus researchers. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach, its scientific team is seeking innovative environmentally and economically sustainable energy sources specific to the Southeastern United States. Since being launched in 1971 by regional governors, the Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB) has worked to create and support economic development policies through partnerships among government, academic, business, and community development sectors. Currently, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is chairman of the group. In addition to Mississippi, SGPB member states include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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Lori Bruce Promoted to MSU Associate Dean of Engineering
Furniture Export Resource Office Established at MSU
MSU Uses Computer Technology to Examine, Teach about Hurricanes
Improved MSU Student Union 'Showcased' in Publication
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, & VETERINARY MEDICINE TNT Breakdown Offers Dynamic Research for MSU Honors Undergrad While scientists are unsure about TNT's long-term effect on the environment as it breaks down, Mississippi State University student Erika Knott discovered a dynamic way to practice the art of forensics through a research project on its degradation. Knott, a junior from Monroe, La., wants to be a forensic scientist for the FBI. She is majoring in biochemistry, which is teaching her to identify and isolate unknown chemical and biological samples. By using molecular-based techniques, forensic scientists also can identify individuals and perhaps solve criminal cases. "Students pursuing scientific fields need opportunities to broaden their knowledge bases and sharpen their analytical skills to develop into the professionals of tomorrow," she said. Knott searched for opportunities to enhance her education and the possibility of future employment or graduate school admission. She had heard about the undergraduate research opportunities offered through the Shackouls Honors College. MSU alumnus Bobby Shackouls and his wife, Judy, donated $10 million to establish an honors community for undergraduate research and academic excellence. Knott applied for a fellowship and was overjoyed when she received one. She used the award to participate in a comparative study of TNT degradation products conducted at a toxicology laboratory in Monroe last summer at the University of Louisiana.
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MSU Extension Riding Therapy Program Inspires Generous Parents
MSU Emergency Veterinarians Save Dog with Shotgun Pellet in Brain
Noted Medical Entomologist Returns to MSU with New Ideas
MSU Extension Online Directory Helps Shoppers Find Farmers' Markets
MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN MUW Provost/VPAA Search in Full Swing Mississippi University for Women currently is searching for a new provost/vice president for academic affairs following the resignation of Dr. Sandra Jordan who is leaving this summer to assume the provost/VPAA position at Georgia College and State University. "We are thankful for the wonderful job Dr. Jordan has done during her tenure at MUW," said Dr. Claudia Limbert, president. "We have very big shoes to fill, but I feel that it is so important to have a new person in place when Dr. Jordan leaves us. That will allow us to sustain the creativity and the momentum that we are currently enjoying with Dr. Jordan." The provost/VPAA is the second-ranking position on campus, reports directly to the president, and is a member of the President's Cabinet. Limbert named an 18-person campus search committee in January. Chaired by Dr. Joyce Hunt, interim dean of the College of Business and Legal Studies, the committee has had its first meeting and has divided into four subcommittees (campus liaison, candidate evaluation rubric development, reference checking, and technology support) to expedite the process.
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MUW Art Students Garner Awards at Mississippi Collegiate Art
MUW Historians and Political Scientists Hit the Road
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Mississippi Valley State University Online
www.mvsu.edu/
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI UM Graduate Student Wins Prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship Sam Watson, a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Mississippi, can add yet another award to his resume as recipient of a prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. The Gates Cambridge Trust has awarded 37 new Gates Cambridge Scholarships to American students to pursue master's or doctoral degrees at the University of Cambridge in England. Watson is the first recipient from UM, and one of three from the SEC. He said winning the Gates scholarship is meaningful to him on many levels. "It means a lot to me to receive this award as an Ole Miss student," Watson said. "Several times, when recruiting high school students to Ole Miss, I have been met with skepticism about the opportunities available to students who choose a public school in the South over more prestigious institutions. I think laying the groundwork for more Ole Miss students to get the Gates Cambridge scholarship in the future is a good step, because it really shows that you can take advantage of those opportunities no matter where you come from." Watson, an Oxford native, is a graduate of UM as a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, finishing in May 2008 with a B.S. in math and physics, and a B.A. in classics. He is a Taylor Medalist, a 2006 Goldwater Scholar, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. Debra Young, associate dean of the Honors College, said the Gates Cambridge is a relatively new scholarship, but it began as one the most prestigious programs in the world.
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Ken Cyree Named Dean of Business School
'One Mississippi' Students Meet, Plan for More Social Integration on Campus
Scuba Diving: Oxford Style, Far from Open Water for the Sport
Field Station Hosts High School Envirothon with Six Teams Advancing to State Competition
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER Growing the Discovery Enterprise at UMMC For all the reasons Mississippi gets knocked on poor health, it's a veritable petri dish for researchers. "Mississippi is a living laboratory for research on many chronic diseases," said Dr. John Hall, associate vice chancellor for research at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Those include cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Hall leads the Medical Center's efforts to construct world-renowned research programs. He will be the first to say scientific research is medicine's backbone. So it stands to reason that part of UMMC's multi-year research plan is lemons-to-lemonade. Increase research in obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurosciences, and cancer, and the investigators inevitably will produce results that add to scientific knowledge and improve the lives of Mississippians. "Our major goal is to double research productivity at the University of Mississippi Medical Center," Hall said. "Many people think that means only doubling grant money, but grant money is just a part of it, just a tool to get us there."
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Conventional Care
Measuring Mississippi's Health Care Progress
UMMC Psychology Training Program Produces Top-notch Academicians
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI Theatre Students, Faculty Members Receive Regional Awards Five students and two faculty members from The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Theatre and Dance received awards last week at the 2009 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region IV in Greensboro, N.C. Southern Miss junior Shelby Cade, along with scene partner and fellow student Chris Marroy, received an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, while students Ardice Cotter of Mobile, Ala., and partner Caleb Blackwell of Magee, Miss., were finalists for the same award. Thomas Sowers, a technical theater and design major from Starkville, received honorable mention for his sound design in the Southern Miss 2008 production of "Waiting for the Parade." Greenwood native Cade, who was nominated for her October performance in "Waiting for the Parade," performed a monologue as well as two scenes with Slidell, La., native Marroy at the festival. Stephen Judd, associate professor of theater and the department's head of design, said that 495 students were nominated for the Irene Ryan award in Region IV alone, which spans nine states across the southeast. Out of the 16 finalists chosen, Southern Miss produced both a finalist and a winner. Judd also noted that Sowers placed in the top three in Region IV among 61 sound designers for the Award for Sound Design Excellence, which required a demonstration of Sower's work to professionals in the field. Professors Judd and Monica Hayes were also honored with two of the four faculty awards given at the festival.
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Southern Miss Photojournalism Student Named Associated Press Intern
Center for Spectator Sports Security Management to Develop Enhanced Technology for IED Response
Famed Fiction Writer to Read in Center for Writers Visitors Series
English Professor's Book Looks at Cultural, Political Impact of Vietnam War Era
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST Southern Miss Students Get Exclusive Tour of IP Casino Resort Spa Students in the tourism management degree program at The University of Southern Mississippi got an exclusive tour of the IP Casino Resort Spa on Feb. 10, where they were taken to the most exclusive areas within casino, resort, and restaurants. The group of nearly 40 students and faculty were welcomed by the casino's president and general manager Jon Lucas and vice president of marketing and player development Brad Rhines, who answered the students' questions about the casino business. Students were shown the resort's luxurious presidential suite, the casino's Asian-inspired restaurant Tien and granted special permission by the Mississippi Gaming Commission to enter the surveillance room. "The tour was very informative and very thorough," said student Brent Siebenkittel, a junior studying tourism management at both the Hattiesburg campus and Gulf Park campus in Long Beach. "All the employees had a smile on their face and made a good impression to students and potential future employees." Following the tour, students learned more about the Mississippi Gaming Commission from both the deputy directors and the director of enforcement for the commission. Deputy Director Eddie Williams explained to students the importance of keeping job options open.
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Southern Miss Gulf Coast Invites Community to Oral History Barbecue
Southern Miss Gulf Park Library to Host Poetry Readings March 5
ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY Alcorn Scientist Appointed to National Advisory Committee Dr. Girish Panicker, director of the Center for Conservation Research at Alcorn State University, has been appointed to the advisory committee of the national Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). The national OFRF's policy program addresses public policy issues that are related to the foundation's overall mission. OFRF conducts analysis of policy issues and provides education to inform the development of public policies that promote organic farming practices. The foundation sponsors research related to organic farming, disseminates research results to farmers, and educates the public and decision-makers regarding organic farming issues. Dr. Panicker, who has several years of experience in the field of organic agriculture in three continents, is among eight scientists selected to the national advisory committee. He will be representing all the 1890 land grant universities. Dr. Panicker, who earned his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University with Dr. Joseph B. Edmond award for outstanding achievement in graduate school, is a nationally certified professional agronomist (CPAg). He has several publications to his credit and is a member of many regional, national, and international agricultural societies. Dr. Panicker has conducted cover and management research on 36 horticultural crops. His organic research methods to enhance the antioxidant content of Rabbiteye blueberries have gained international recognition.
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NOPBNRCSE Presents Scholarship to Alcorn Students
College for Excellence Receives Mental Health Grant
Alcorn Professor Invited to Speak at GRSS Meeting
Mass Communications Students Win Journalism Competition
Feb. 27 - Soul and gospel singer Mavis Staples, whose contemporary sound has influenced artists from Bob Dylan to Prince, who dubbed her "the epitome of soul," brings her legendary voice to the Ford Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Mississippi for an 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $25. Learn more.
Feb. 27 - Southern Miss Music Festival will salute American composer Elliot Carter. Learn more.
March 1-30 - Mississippi State University's Student Counseling Services presents "Day of Beauty," a campaign to explain and describe "beauty" during National Women's Month. Women of all diverse backgrounds and interests are encouraged to participate. For more info, call (662) 325-2091. Learn more.
March 3 - Alcorn State will host a study abroad scholarship information session from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. in the Campus Union, Rooms 7 & 8. The session is sponsored by the Global Programs office. For more information, call (601) 877-6543 or (601) 877-2382.
March 3 - Mississippi State University's Community Action Team presents "From First Impressions to Last," a day-long seminar for community leaders from throughout the state to learn how to create better first impressions of their areas for visitors. For more info, call (662) 325-6703. Learn more.
March 4 - Southern Miss Student Health Fair will offer screenings, demonstrations, and games. Learn more.
March 5 - The MSU Extension Service's Quick Bites lunch-hour interactive video workshop features consumer protection experts at all county Extension offices during National Consumer Protection Week. Learn more.
March 5 - The Patrons of Music organization, a support group for the University of Mississippi music program, hosts its annual benefit concert at 8 p.m. in Nutt Auditorium. The "Big Band Bash" features UM music faculty, as well as guest musicians from the Oxford community. Tickets are $15. Learn more.
March 6 - Mississippi State University's Riley Center in Meridian presents the Glenn Miller Orchestra at the Historic Grand Opera House. Formed in 1937, the Glenn Miller Orchestra continues to bring its great, big band music around the world. For more info, call (601) 696-2200. Learn more.
March 6 - Southern Miss Aspire Benefit Concert will present the brightest Pine Belt talents. Learn more.
March 6-7 - UM is co-sponsoring a free public seminar on dealing with epilepsy at the North Mississippi Regional Center in Oxford. The two-day "Seizures and Epilepsy Education Program" focuses not just on the health issues of epilepsy but also on the mental and emotional challenges facing patients and families. Learn more.
March 7-8 - The Everything Garden Expo at MSU's Horse Park features experts in lawns, herbs, vegetables, landscape lighting and ornamentation, roses and container gardening. Learn more.
March 10-12 - Exhibitors and experts from across the U.S. and Canada will lead discussions at MSU's annual Greenhouse Tomato Short Course at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond. Learn more.
March 30 - Delta State University will present "Celtic Crossroads" in the Delta & Pine Land Theatre of the Bologna Performing Arts Center at 7.30 p.m. For ticket information, please call the Box Office at (662) 846-4626. Learn more.
