Hoping to raise $300,000 this year for its Alumni Fund for Scholarships, the University recently began a spring phonathon. Donations will go into the University’s general scholarship fund to benefit all students eligible for scholarships.

Eastern students are calling alumni on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m. In addition to soliciting donations, the students are verifying information on the graduates and updating them on campus news and events.

“Alumni are responding generously,” said Amanda Slusher, director of EKU’s Annual Fund, after the first two nights of calls. “This is a way for our alumni to impact students’ lives in a very real way and a great way for them to show their support to Eastern and help us in our quest to become a university of national distinction.”

Slusher pointed out that if the goal of $300,000 is reached, the Commonwealth of Kentucky will match that amount.

“Alumni support can open doors for students that might otherwise remain closed,” Slusher said. “Nearly 70 percent of our students are first-generation college students, many of whom could not afford higher education without financial assistance.”

For more information, call Amanda Slusher at 622-8668.

David Johnson, a junior political science major and Madison County native, worked with State Reps. Lonnie Napier, Harry Moberly and Don Pasley in getting a resolution introduced in the General Assembly on Jan. 15 that would rename the stretch of U.S. 421 from its split with US 25 near the Army depot to the intersection with KY 1016 east of Berea.

“Every day on my way to classes, I pass the battlefield and Mt. Zion Church, which served as a hospital during the battle, and I think that nothing much stands in remembrance of the Battle of Richmond,” Johnson said. “We must remember what happened and recognize those who fought in the war for what they considered a just cause.

“I want to keep the rich history of Madison County alive,” added Johnson, a 2001 graduate of Madison Southern High School. “This battle was important because it determined whether or not Richmond would be under Confederate or Union control, and it helped to shape the Madison County that we know today.”

Johnson, a political activist who has met three U.S. presidents and worked on several political campaigns, said: “Many young adults do not think that legislators care about them or what they believe in, but they are wrong. People actually have the chance to make a difference in their community, state or overseas.”

Johnson hopes the legislation, now in committee, will pass in time for a Civil War re-enactment in August at the Herndon Estate.

A “War and Peace” juried show, coinciding with the University’s year-long Chautauqua series on the subject, will explore the dual themes through a wide range of media. The show, which will continue through March 6, is sponsored by the Chautauqua Lecture Series and the Department of Art and Design.

Also running through March 6 will be the New Metals Invitational, a national exhibition of contemporary metal art that explores concept, process and material. The exhibitors are Janna Gregonis of New York; Susie Ganch and Jeffery Clancey of California; Stacey Lane and Suzanne Pugh of North Carolina; Lindsay Rais of Pennsylvania; L. John Andrew of Wisconsin; and Dennis Meade and Jeanne Beaver of Kentucky.

The opening reception for both exhibits will be 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17.

All Giles Gallery events are free and open to the public. For Gallery hours, call 859-622-8135.

International students who find themselves in need of emergency financial assistance to get through the school year may apply for the grant through any Rotary Club in District 6740, which sponsors the scholarship.

Mustapha Bojang, a sophomore biochemistry major from The Gambia, received his award in the Fall 2003 semester, after his sponsor’s business assets in the Ivory Coast were seized in a civil war. Sanjita Thapa-Chheetri, a junior statistics major from Nepal, received the award this spring, following her father’s illness.

The play, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, is a satire of big business in the 1960s. J. Pierpont Finch, a lowly custodian, climbs the corporate ladder to become a top executive and meets every kind of “company man” (and his future wife) along the way.

Tickets for the joint production will be available at the Gifford Theatre Box Office Feb. 17-28. Student and senior citizen tickets are $6 and adult tickets, $8. The box office will be open noon-4 p.m. weekdays. To reserve tickets, call 622-1323.

Steffen Wilson
Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of the Honors Program

How long have you been in this position?
I have been on the Psychology Department faculty for seven years and the associate director of the Honors Program for almost a year.

If you weren’t doing this job, what would you like to be doing?
Either working for a college or university in one of a variety of appealing administrative roles, or if I were not working, doing a considerable amount of charitable/community service work through my church and hosting lots of play dates.

What did you do before coming to EKU?
I was a graduate student at the University of Georgia. Prior to that I worked for a year as a research assistant in a lab at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Tell me about your family.
My husband's name is Mark Wilson. We have been married for almost 7 years, and we have a daughter named Mary who is 19 months old.

What are your hobbies and interests?
I enjoy running and aerobics, flower gardening, and spending time with my family.

What book would you recommend to others?
Ruth Reichl's “Tender at the Bone” It is an interesting and well-written autobiography of the editor of “Gourmet” magazine and it includes a number of great recipes.

If you could travel back in time to any place or occasion, what would it be?
To the mid-1940s to see my house during its early years and my neighborhood as it was being developed.

What is your favorite website?
Google!

What is in your CD player at home right now?
ABC Sing Along by Fisher-Price.

What one thing would people be surprised to know about you?
I have been to Zimbabwe and Zambia, where I whitewater rafted down the Zambezi River. My raft capsized, and I had to go through a wave on my own in the water. As I did this, I looked up at walls of water that were so tall they blocked out the sun. It was very scary at the time, but now it is very cool in retrospect!

What is the most important thing your department has done in the past year to move the University forward?
I am very fortunate to work with two outstanding and collegial units at this University.

Over the past year, the Psychology Department has maintained our focus on students, we have produced our first comprehensive undergraduate student handbook, and we have continued to involve both undergraduate and graduate students in both faculty- and student-initiated research projects. Our Psychology Clinic, which is located in the Cammack Building, has continued to fulfill its missions of training students and serving the community by providing low-cost mental health services. The Psychology Department has also continued to support the Honors Program by providing faculty to teach Honors courses (which are open to all students on campus), and by supporting faculty who have served as mentors for Honors Program Senior Thesis projects.

Over the past year, the Honors Program has continued to attract a large number of highly qualified students. We have continued to provide challenging classroom experiences, and we have had a very successful Senior Thesis season. We have continued to lead the nation in the number (and we believe the quality!) of student presenters at the National Collegiate Honors Conference and in the number of students who complete the Senior Thesis. We have also taken large groups of students and faculty to several additional state and regional conferences to make research presentations.

At the Undergraduate Presentations Showcase each April, undergraduate students at EKU have the opportunity to share their work, in a conference-type atmosphere, with other students, faculty, administrators, relatives and friends. Posters displaying projects such as original artwork, short stories and poems, and summaries of empirical research fill Walnut Hall during Scholars’ Weekend. Highlighting student-faculty collaborative projects is a way to celebrate what we at EKU value most in academe: the accomplishments of our students and the efforts of everyone who has helped them along the way. All undergraduate students are invited to participate in this unique opportunity. The third annual UP Showcase will be held Friday, April 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Abstracts of work are due by March 19. For more information contact rose.perrine@eku.edu.

EKU received three awards in Admissions Marketing Report Magazine’s 19th annual admissions advertising competition.

EKU, competing among institutions of 10,000-19,999 students, won a silver award in the Newspaper Advertising Series, topped only by Duke University’s gold medal.

Eastern also won Merit Awards for its alumni magazine and television advertising. In each case, only two institutions received Merit Awards, the only awards given other than Gold, Silver and Bronze.

“These honors reflect the combined creative work that took place between the Division of Public Relations and Marketing, the Office of the President, and the Divisions of Enrollment Management, Media Resources, Alumni Relations and Development,” said Marc Whitt, associate vice president for public relations and marketing. “These honors clearly demonstrate how integrated efforts can move an institution’s marketing efforts forward.”

Allameh, Joy. “Celebrating Differences to Treasure and Teach,” Southeast Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (SETESOL) Conference in New Orleans, September 2003.

Allameh, Joy. “Empowering Teachers for Teaching Tolerance,” Kentucky Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KYTESOL) Conference in Louisville, November 2003.

Allameh, Joy. “Introduction to the EKU English Language Instruction Program (EELI): An Intensive English Program,” 21st Century Foreign Language Teaching and Research (2002), pgs. 138-140.

Larkin, Laurie, et al. “Physiologic Screening Test for Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating Among Female Collegiate Athletes,” Journal of Athletic Training, Vol. 38, No. 4 (December 2003), pgs. 286-297.