Dr. Betsy Cochran won NSU's Faculty Excellence in Advising Award. This is the top award for a faculty advisor at NSU. Congratulations Dr. Cochran.

Stephen Gandy, an incoming Scholars' student won The News-Star’s 2009 Buddy Blair Award. Stephen was the 2009 Sterlington valedictorian and two-time all-state first baseman. Congratulations Stephen!

Peter Pindjak, Scholars' 2009, won the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Fellowship. Peter will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the Fall to work on a masters degree in Public and International Affairs focusing on Security and Intelligence Studies. Congratulations Peter!

Paul Shelton, a Scholars' student and current President of both the NSU Student Alumni Association and NSU Speech and Debate, has been selected to represent the state of Louisiana at the second annual Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship Student Congress held June 20-27, 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky. Paul is the second Scholars' student to attend the event. Congratulation Paul and have a great time!

Justin Robinson is the 2009 winner of the Dr. Fraser Snowden Award in Philosophy. This honor is awarded for the best essay on a topic in philosophy or religious studies. Congratulations Justin!

Dr Holly Stave, Professor of English in Scholars', won the Mildred Hart Bailey Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. This is the second year in a row that a Scholars' professor has been an award winner.

Robert Abernathy and Beth Ann Pryor were both awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Undergraduate Research Award at the 2008 NSU Research Day. Robert Abernathy's senior thesis is entitled "Ancestry and Legacy of an Artistic Myth." Beth Anne Pryor's senior thesis is entitled "Special Purpose Entities: A Concept of the Past?"

Sara Mayeux was elected president of Sigma Alpha Iota. Josh Nuss was elected president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia

Scholars' Students Krysta Engel and Roxanne Boyd were both chosen for the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network (LBRN) program. This program is hosted by LSU and lasts for two months in the summer. Congratulations Krysta and Roxanne!

The following Students have been named to the Student Alumni Association Executive Board (SAAE) for the 2009-2010 Academic Year: President: Paul Shelton (Scholars' Student) Main Campus Membership Relations Co-Chairs: Lynda Hammett (Scholars' Student) and Josh Russell Satellite Campus Membership Relations Co-Chairs: Anesha Roberson Traditions/Historian: Kasey Benoit Special Events Chair: Christian Leblanc (Scholars' Student) Leadership Chair: Ginny Mills (Scholars' Student) These students were chosen by the Director of Alumni and Development and the Assistant Director of Alumni and Development. We will be posting pictures on the website and on the facebook group later this week.

Dr. Mike Cundall, Assistant Director of Scholars, won a $30,000 mentoring grant from the ULS Serves group and the Louisiana Department of Education. This grant involves developing on-campus tutoring programs for NSU Tutors working with at-risk high school students.

Seniors Lauren Michel, Stacy Meyers and Willum LaFayette presented on a service learning project from their senior colloquium on Friday March 27th. They presented with Dr. Mike Cundall who team teaches the colloquium with Dr. jean D'Amato.

The senior class of Scholars is hosting a public seminar on Green Living and Local Organics on Saturday March 7th. This is a single day free to the public seminar. The theme is one directly from the senior colloquium class topic on food. There are 6 guest speakers scheduled to present.

Christian Marks-Soccer, Brittany Culotta-Cross-Country, Sara Sadler-Soccer, Cameron Mehl-Cross-Country and Yaser Elqutub-Football, Scholars' students, all achieved Honor Roll in the Southland Conference for their academic achievements.

Staci Holloway, a junior in the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University, has been selected to study at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome this spring. Holloway, a liberal arts major with a concentration in foreign language from West Monroe, will leave for Rome in late January and study there the entire spring semester.

Stephanie LaGrone and Cody Bourque were in the right place at the right time to likely save the life of a fellow student. LaGrone saw a fellow student fall while in the restroom. She then got Borque, whom she knew knew CPR and they performed CPR until University Police arrived on scene. The student is expected to fully recover.

Cameron Mehl, a Scholars' junior, ran the Dallas White Rock Marathon on 12-14/08 in a time of 3:08:50. This time qualified him to run in the annual Boston Marathon on Patriot's Day. Great Job Cameron

Dr. Massimo D. Bezoari, Professor of Chemistry in the LA Scholars’ College, is the principal author and investigator on a grant that was awarded to NSU by the National Science Foundation. The proposal is entitled “Collaborative Enhancement of Undergraduate Science Education Through Inquiry-Based GCMS Experiments.” Dr. Priscilla Kilcrease (Office of Institutional Research and Sponsored Programs) said that the $199,912 award is the “second largest ever obtained at NSU from the National Science Foundation.” The proposal describes the acquisition of a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GCMS), a state-of-the-art instrument that will become the focal point of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. The instrument will promote innovative pedagogy in the undergraduate science laboratory courses, using a guided inquiry approach. The proposal also describes novel experiments in forensic chemistry, clinical chemistry and biochemistry, organic chemistry, and analytical/environmental chemistry that will be added to the chemistry laboratory curriculum. In addition, some new experiments will involve students in service-learning projects relating to the analysis and monitoring of surface waters in northern Louisiana, and the occurrence of pesticides in the environment and in grocery foods. Students and faculty at NSU, BPCC, and SUSLA will participate in the project. Dr. Bezoari stated that students will gain invaluable experiences in using the instrument throughout their chemistry lab courses, as well as in research projects that can result in publications in scientific journals and presentations at national science meetings.. “Such experiences will be of immense benefit to our graduates who pursue internships and careers in science, medicine, and industry.” Dr. Betsy Cochran (Professor of Mathematics and Ecology in the LA Scholars’ College) is a collaborating author/investigator in the project.

Dr. Cundall won a service learning grant to help produce the public lecture "Local Organics and Healthful Living." The grant of $4000 was granted by the University of Louisiana System from the Learn and Serve America division of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The seminar will be held at the on the NSU campus in Morrison Hall on 3-7/09. The lecture series "Green Foods: Local Organics and Healthful Living" is about locally produced foods, organic foods and healthful eating choices to help inform residents about the health benefits and local availability of organic foods. The lecture is an outreach project for seniors from the Louisiana Scholars' College. And will feature experts who will discuss the availability of local organic products through venues such as the Cane River Green Market. The seminar will feature local organic producers and have food available made from locally raised meat and produce.

Last fall, the NSU Speech and Debate team won the Tarrant County College novice tournament debate championship and brought home a total of 4 trophies. This year, NSU went back for more and put on an amazing performance. With only seven students entered into competition, NSU brought home a total of 12 trophies from TCC on Sept. 27, including a 2nd straight debate championship as well as their first overall tournament championship. NSU had three debate teams competing in the tournament. Two of those teams, Brion James & Thomas Bolton (record: 4-0) and Joshua Nuss & Coty Verdin (record: 3-1), broke to finals and guaranteed NSU 1st and 2nd place trophies and a 2nd straight TCC debate title. Joshua Nuss & Coty Verdin won first place at the NSU speech and debate competitions. Also, NSU's debaters did something they had never done before: they had the four highest ranked individual debaters of the tournament. Thomas Bolton took 1st, with Brion James, Karaski Melvin, and Coty Verdin taking 2nd through 4th respectively. Paul Shelton, the team President, said that to him having the top 4 speakers "is our biggest accomplishment ever in debate because it is so incredibly difficult to do. We've won a debate championship before, yet until this weekend we had only one 2nd place speaker trophy. Our novice debaters did an amazing job at this tournament." NSU also had three competitors competing in individual events: Paul Shelton and Joshua Nuss competed in After Dinner Speaking and Thomas Bolton was in Persuasive Speaking. Both Shelton and Bolton placed 1st while Nuss finished 2nd in ADS; these are NSU's only Individual Event (I.E.) trophies since Shelton placed 4th in Impromptu Speaking at Tarrant County last year. These three I.E. trophies gave NSU a total of 10 individual trophies for the tournament. NSU's final two trophies were the debate championship and overall championship trophies. The team currently plans to compete in three more tournaments this fall. They also plan to set the date of the championship public debate for soon after Fall Break and will announce as soon as possible.

Crystal Mallett, a Scholars' College graduate and an English teacher at Pineville High School, was one of 11 teachers chosen nationwide as a Kappa Delta Pi Teacher of Honor. Mallett has been recognized by Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education as one of their first Teacher of Honor recipients.

Dr. Keith Dromm published "Wittgenstein on Rules and Nature," London: Continuum Books, 2008. This book offers an original reading of Wittgenstein's views on such topics as radical scepticism, the first- and third-person asymmetry of mental talk, Cartesianism, and rule-following.

Dr. Richard Bach Jensen presented a paper entitled "THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST ANARCHIST TERRORISM, 1880-1914/1930s" at a conference entitled "What Can and Cannot Be Learned From History about Terrorism A Dialogue between Historians and Social Scientists," in Arlington Virginia, June 15-16, 2007. The conference was organized by Prof. David C. Rapoport, professor emeritus at UCLA and an internationally recognized authority on terrorism and sponsored by the Human Factors Division, Science and Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security and brings together leading historians and social scientists from universities in the United States, Britain, and Egypt.

Nick Reves, (Humanities and Social Thought, '07 BA) was selected out of over 3300 applications to receive one of 150 State Department Scholarships to study a critically needed language.

Robin Williams (Scientific Inquiry, '09) was awarded an internship with the PRIDE Program to do Diabetes Research at the University of Hawaii.

Elizabeth Maxwell, (Theater, '08 BA) is directing "Go Jump in the Lake," a story of a young boy named Ferdinand, a skunk named Bartholomew, and a dragon named Jennifer who learn to appreciate their own uniqueness and defend themselves with non-violence.

Lauren Michel was chosen as one of six summer interns at the Center for Women and Government in Baton Rouge.

Sophomores Ginny Mills and Josh Fage were awarded Emerging Scholars Scholarships by the National office of Phi Kappa Phi. This award recognizes excellence for students at institutions with a Phi Kappa Phi chapter who have completed less than 60 cr. hours and who have maintained a high GPA. Ginny Mills is from Monroe, LA and is majoring in Scientific Inquiry. Josh Fage is from Lafayette, LA and is majoring in Scientific Inquiry.

Check out the story about David Ford in the NSU News!

Dr. Keith Dromm, Associate Professor of Philosophy, wrote a chapter for the book, The Philosophy of The X-Files, edited by Dean Kowalski (University Press of Kentucky, 2007). The title of his chapter is "I Want To Believe: William James and The X-Files." Dr. Dromm and the other contributors to this book use the television series The X-Files to explain and illuminate various issues in philosophy.

Dr. Massimo D. Bezoari, Associate Professor of Chemistry in the LA. Scholars' College, and Jennifer Foret (former undergraduate at Huntingdon College) are coauthors of a paper entitled: "Analysis of Volatile Constituents of Perfumes by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry." The paper discusses the constituents of a wide range of perfumes, and indicates a relationship between compound volatilities and odors. It was published recently in the peer-reviewed Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research 2007, vol 6 (3), pp. 143-148.

Paul Shelton (LSC '10) and Nicole Grissom (NSU '09) won First Place in Parliamentary Debate at the Newbie Novice Debate Tournament in Hurst, TX, Sept. 28-9th. In addition, Paul won 4th place in Impromptu Debate and the NSU Team took First Place overall in Debate. Congratulations to Paul and to the other Scholars' students who competed-Jessica Hollier, Thomas Bolton, and Toni Menard!! Congratulations also to Dr. Jon Croghan, advisor for the NSU Debate Team.

After a bye in the first round and crushing Sigma Nu (3-0) in the second, Afternoon Delight faced the Stormin' Mormons in the third round of intramural soccer. Afternoon Delight fought hard and well, but the Stormin' Mormons took the victory 6-2 (it really should have been 6-3, but goals made from beyond midfield don't count--who knew?!) Congratulations on a fabulous effort by Afternoon Delight!!!

Congratulations to Meghan Lopez!!! Meghan, a Scholars' Psychology major, applied for an FBI Internship and was chosen as only one of 25 students from the state of Louisiana to be recommended for consideration for an internship with the FBI!! Stay tuned to see how the competition goes!

Scholars' College Debaters Paul Shelton, Toni Menard, and Thomas Bolton talked their way into high honors at the Red River Swing Tournament, Nov. 9-11, 2007 in Shreveport. Thomas, in his first competition in International Parliamentary Debate, earned 10th place overall. Paul and Toni teamed up in National Parliamentary Debate and took 2nd place. In addition, Paul earned 2nd place overall in the tournament. Congratulations to all the NSU/LSC Debaters and to Jon and Tammy Croghan for their great work in preparing these dynamic students!!

Scholars' College Students Eliane Spaar and Ashley Schoppe and Scholars' Faculty Dr. Keith Dromm recently presented papers at the the29th Annual Southwest Texas Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Meeting:
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The papers: Eliane Spaar: "I Love New York: A Reinvention of the Feminine" • Ashley Schoppe: "It’s the Journey that Counts: Sex and the City and Traditional Femininity"

were the first conference presentations for Eliane and Ashley.

Dr. Dromm's presentation, "Wittgenstein and Film Noir" builds on his current research. Congrats to all!

Leigh Gentry (Journalism, LSC '10)received a National Press Foundation Fellowship to attend "Next Generation 2008: An Introduction to Washington for College Journalists" in Washington, D.C. Only 18 Fellowships were given nationwide. Leigh is the News Editor for The Current Sauce. She will travel to Washington, D. C. in February to meet with other young journalists from across the country.

Paul Shelton (Humanities and Social Thought, LSC '10) received one of two Travel Scholarships awarded by the Louisiana Campus Compact to attend the Student Leadership Institute for Social Justice, sponsored by Texas Campus Compact. The Institute was lead by David Beaumont Smith, Founder & Executive Director of Mobilize.org, a nonprofit dedicated to educating, empowering and energizing young people to increase civic engagement & political participation and Dr. James Toole, President of Compass Institute and Teaching and Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota in the School of Social Work and College of Education & Human Development.

The two day meeting brought together student leaders from across Texas and Louisiana to discuss issues and strategies for engaging students in working for social justice.

Krysta Engel (Scientific Inquiry '10) was chosen as an International Student Volunteer for a summer volunteer program in New Zealand. Krysta will either assist in building projects or ecological programs during the four weeks she will spend in New Zealand this summer.

Keith Dromm, Associate Professor of Philosophy, wrote a chapter for *The Office and Philosophy*, edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski (Blackwell, 2008). His chapter, *The Hostile Office: Michael as a Sexual Harasser* uses a central character in the popular television series to help resolve a debate among philosophers over what constitutes sexual harassment.

Eliane Spaar (LSC '08) and Elizabeth (Liz) Maxwell (LSC '08) received the Phi Kappa Phi Student Research Awards at NSU's Research Day, March 20, 2008. Liz's presentation, "A New Point of View: Fresh Ideas on How and Why we Create the Art of Theatre" explores how the work of Bertolt Brecht, Augusto Boal, and Jerzy Grotowski has culminated in Anne Bogart's new, uniquely American, socially relevant theatre. Eliane's submission, "Knowing the Unknown: How the West Others the East" critiques Edward Said's notion of Orientalism from a feminist perspective. Congratulations to Liz and Eliane!