Spotlight

In the Spotlight: April 11, 2014

Kudos to these faculty, staff and students

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  • Janet Crum, Cline Library’s head of Library Technology Services, had an article, titled “Emerging Roles Means New Opportunities,” published in the Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries. The journal’s editorial board also voted Crum’s article as one of the best two papers published in 2013.
  • LAMUN 2014NAU took 50 members of its Model United Nations to the UCLA Model United Nations conference last weekend, where they debated a range of issues and topics. Ten students, pictured left to right, won awards at the conference: Spencer Troth, Connor Mullins, John Murphy, John Kelly, Nicholaus Schlegel, Claire Bergstresser, Caitlin Rynn, Sydney Cheifitz, Andrew Shepherd and Jeremy Arnaud.
  • Four NAU-Yuma social work students won an award for the best co-authored student paper from the Western Social Science Association. Tim Arviso, Claudia Chavez, Veronica Nichols and Valerie Turpin were honored for their paper, titled “Friendly Visiting: A Community Change Project with Homebound Elderly,” which they presented at the association’s annual meeting in Albuquerque last week. Several other NAU students also presented papers at the conference, including eight graduate students in the Applied Communication program and three seniors majoring in communication studies:
    • David Pearson presented “On the Fringe of Theology: Radical Presentations of Mormonism” and “What Roles do Mormon Women Play: An Analysis of the Experiences of Mormon Women.”
    • Ashley Garcia and Caitlyn Rogers presented “The Theoretical Culture of Poverty: Counteracting ‘The American Nightmare’ with Positive Discourse.” Garcia also presented “The Status of Crisis Communication Research.” Rogers also presented with Genevieve Burns and Robert Moreno “Finding One’s Voice in the Public Speaking Course.”
    • Kayla McMinimy presented “Using Communication Theories and Strategies to Persuade Lawmakers to Support Medicaid Expansion in Arizona.”
    • Katherine Kurpierz and Giovanna Fotino presented “’Helping Granny Cross the Street’: How Stereotypes of Seniors Keep Them in Poverty.” Fotino also presented “Escaping the Ivory Tower: Undergraduate Student Mothering in Academia.”
    • Amanda Brand presented “Constructing Cyber Social Criticism: Value, Privilege and Critique in Internet Memes.”
    • Rachael Anderson presented “Communication and Authority: An Analytical Comparison of Identity, Power and Communication in Law Enforcement.”
    • Rayanne Kruse presented “Growing Green: The Green Movement Influence on Children’s Picture Books.”
  • Ricardo Guthrie, assistant professor and director of Ethnic Studies, presented a paper, “The Real Ghosts in the Machine: Afrofuturism and the Haunting of Racial Space,” at the National Council for Black Studies’ 38th annual conference, held in Miami March 5-8. The paper examines “Afro-futurist” responses to documentary and science fiction films which depict urban America as sites of decay and degradation—reflecting racial fears projected onto futurist landscapes. The paper will be considered for a volume on “Afrofuturism 2.0,” a compilation of theoretical and conceptual analyses of race in the future.
  • Amy Horn posterAmy Horn, photography lecturer for the School of Communication, has a solo exhibit through June 2 at Brandy’s Restaurant, 1500 E. Cedar Avenue in Flagstaff. “Delicate Details” includes 33 photographs of everyday details from her travels as an instructor and volunteer for the Friends of Arizona Highways Photo Workshop organization. Guests can meet Horn at the restaurant from noon to 2 p.m. April 12 and May 3.
  • Jon Reyhner, professor of bilingual multicultural education, contributed material to the historical American Indian education timeline for a group of articles published in Education Week. The collection received a first prize and a third prize from the Education Writers Association.
  • Suman Sirimulla, lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is part of a team of investigators awarded a $25,000 Proof-of-Concept Grant for Collaborative Research. The grant, from the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation, will support the design and development of therapeutics to mitigate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in patients, with the primary focus being United States military personnel.
  • During mid-March, a delegation from NAU went to visit a new partner—the first in western China—Xinjiang Agricultural University, in the city of Urumqi. This is the furthest west province known for its key role as part of the Silk Road and an important Muslim ethnic region reflecting the Uighur population. NAU President John Haeger had hosted XAU’s vice president, Gao Fashui, as part of a delegation to visit NAU last fall, and upon their invitation, a group from NAU went to visit them and sign an agreement to explore consideration of dual degrees in business administration and engineering as well as faculty training programs. Members of the NAU delegation included Harvey Charles, Liz Grobsmith, Paul Jagodzinski, Daniel Palm and Feng (Bruce) Wang. In addition, the group traveled to meet with partners in Shanghai, Beijing, Weihai and Chongqing. Charles, vice provost for International Education, was a presenter at an international conference of the China Service Center for Scholarly Exchange.
  • Four undergraduate students have been awarded the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, which offers $15,000 to encourage talented science, technology, engineering and math majors to earn a teaching credential and commit to teach in high-need school districts. Alexis Cottrell, Rebecca Hutchison, Sierra Rothlisberg and Allison Steinken received the award and will participate in an induction program after they graduate for support during their first years of teaching to promote retention.