ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Work-Based Learning
Business is booming in WSU's Office of Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning. Connie Dietz, director of the Cooperative Education Intern Program, reports that work-based learning "is a real selling point for WSU. Several parents have told me their children want to attend WSU so they can take advantage of this opportunity." Participating students (about 40 percent of applicants) intern with groups as diverse as Disney in Orlando, Fla., and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
EDUCATION
Generation G(inseng)
Preliminary results of a study using ginseng and creatine, along with weight-bearing exercise, are positive for improving strength and mood, reports Michael Rogers, assistant professor of exercise science and director of WSU's Center for Physical Activity and Aging. During the 12-week study last winter, the test group employing a combination of ginseng, creatine and exercise showed a 55 to 60 percent increase in strength, while the group using only creatine and exercise showed a 50 percent increase. Mood (defined as mental sharpness and energy) improved only in the group using ginseng.
HEALTH PROFESSIONS
The Bolivia Connection
WSU's physician assistant program now offers students the opportunity to work in an elective rotation at a clinic in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Last summer, Luke Littrell, WSU's academic coordinator for emergency services programs, and David Day, an assistant professor and assistant director of WSU's pa program, participated in a Hospitals of Hope trip to Bolivia to assess the clinical-training benefits for pa and emergency services students. The resulting Bolivia connection marks the first time clinical training outside the continental United States has been offered in the 30-year history of WSU's pa program.
LIBERAL ARTS
It's in the Bones
The art of teaching must be in his bones. Peer Moore-Jansen, WSU associate professor and anthropology department chair, has been named Kansas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Moore-Jansen received his award Nov. 21 during a ceremony in Washington, d.c. More than 420 faculty members from 308 institutions across the nation were nominated for the award. Previously recognized with WSU's Leadership in the Advancement of Teaching Award in 1998 and an Academy for Effective Teaching Award in 1999, Moore-Jansen, the university's only biological anthropologist, has taught at Wichita State since 1989.
The Cult of LBJ
You've heard Living Colour sing "The Cult of Personality" and seen films featuring cults and their diverse obsessions, but we're betting you're not familiar with the cult following that former President Lyndon B. Johnson developed. Are we right? Anthropology professor Dorothy Billings is an expert on this bizarre historical fact, and she's written a book, Cargo Cult as Theater: Political Performance in the Pacific, detailing her decades-long research into the indigenous people of the Papau, New Guinea island of New Hanover, who, in 1964 during a struggle for independence from Australia, tried to elect LBJ to their House of Assembly.
Witness
For the next few years, Margaret Dawe, associate professor of English and English department chair, will be delving into the grisly details of the Reginald and Jonathan Carr quadruple murder case. Dawe, a novelist, is writing an account of the murders and the subsequent trial. Having written two novels to date, she says she is intent on talking about "what mainstream media doesn't discuss — class in our culture."
If They Only Had a Brain
Elizabeth Behrman, professor of physics, spends a sizeable percentage of her professional time thinking about brains — or, more precisely, neural networks and quantum computing. She's working on enabling computers to act more like human brains. The benefits? For one thing, computers could then handle incomplete or damaged information, making it a rare day indeed that we humans would need to whip out our mega-abacuses.
WSU FOUNDATION
By Design: Wallace Scholars
Fifteen freshman — Tyler Beiter, Collyer Burbach, Joel Collette, Michael Duong, Timothy Harder, Tyler Higgs, Bryan Hinson, Theodore Kalthoff, Alexandros Kanelakos, Mark LeMasters, Phillip McNulty, Joshua Merry, Phillip Pankratz, Tyler Rempel, Eric Rudnick — have been awarded Wallace Scholarships for the 2002-06 academic years. Established in 1976 with an endowment from Dwayne and Velma Wallace, this engineering scholarship program has supported more than 200 students since its inception. Recipients are chosen only after attending the Wallace Invitational and completing a design project overseen by current Wallace scholars. The scholars, who each receive $15,000, are active in a variety of philanthropic organizations. Additionally, faculty adviser Brenda Gile-Leflin explains, "They mentor younger students and are involved in the selection process, in deciding who their future brothers and sisters will be." Says new Wallace scholar Burbach, "Its rewards extend far beyond the financial aspect and will no doubt make the college experience one worth remembering." For details, call Gile-Leflin, (316) 978-6301.
