Julie Frechette (Communication) published the article, "'Becoming the Media:' Experiential Learning through Media Criticism and Political Activism During the National Presidential Elections" in the New England Faculty Development Consortium publication, The Exchange (Vol. 19, 1). By describing how to harness and transform the energy that comes from political participation during national presidential election cycles, the author describes how today's students can become directly engaged in the election process through participatory means that include dialog and debate, informed voting, and making a difference in the world through the democratic process.

Eihab Jaber (Chemistry) gave the opening keynote address at this year's Compact for Faculty Diversity's Institute in Tampa, Fla, October 23-26 for the Southern Regional Education Board. This Institute is hailed as the largest annual gathering in the United States of racial/ethnic minority doctoral scholars. The event has been recently featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Click here to read the article.

Rodney Oudan (Business Administration and Economics) has published his second book titled a Handbook of New Product Development. In this new book Professor Oudan describes the new product development process and has argued why a thorough understanding of the new product development process together with an understanding of the market is necessary in strategic marketing planning. This book provides an explanation of the steps involved for successfully developing new products and how it is a significant factor for the potential of new product success. Professor Oudan draws mainly from his professional experience and shows how this application works in practice. The intent is to help the reader establish proper methods and approaches to new product development. Also, the importance of implementing the stages to assess the viability of new products before launching costs has been incurred. The book is publish by Lumina Press of Florida and is available at bookstores nationwide

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AROUND CAMPUS

Office of Public Relations and Marketing Launches
New Online Calendar and Submission Form

Over the summer the Office of Public Relations and Marketing contracted with Trumba, a website calendar software company, to bring an exciting new online calendar system to the Worcester State College website. The calendar launched this month at www.worcester.edu/calendar.

The new online calendar system will highlight all WSC related events taking place on and off campus that are open to the public and to the WSC community, including all athletic games and the academic calendar.

User Friendly Tools: The calendar has many user friendly tools including print capabilities, forwarding to colleagues and friends, daily emails, RSS feed, text messaging, and the ability to add any event to your Outlook calendar or personal email calendars such as MSN, Google, Yahoo and others.

Online Calendar Event Submission Form: Another great feature of the calendar system is an online calendar event submission form. Anyone on campus who would like to have their event on the calendar and featured in the WSC e-news calendar must fill out this form. The submission form is live and ready to use. Please note that the Office of Public and Relations will no longer accept email requests or event flyers to post your event. Please use this easy form and your event will be sent to the calendar moderator for approval. The event submission form can be found at www.worcester.edu/calendarform

Please also note that the event submission form does NOT make room/food/equipment reservations for your event. It just submits your event information for publication on the WSC web site and WSC e-news online newsletter.

Publicizing Your Event is Easy: Notify the Office of Public Relations and Marketing at 508-929-8018 as soon as you have scheduled an event, even if all the details are not finalized. The earlier we know about your event, the more effectively we can promote it. Once your event details are finalized fill out the online calendar form.

Upcoming events can be seen on the college's homepage as well as at the community system login page https://community.worcester.edu.

If you experience any difficulties with the form or have questions, please call the Office of Public Relations and Marketing at 508-929-8727

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Center for Teaching and Learning
Launches Online Journal

The Center for Teaching and Learning at Worcester State College introduces the inaugural issue of Currents in Teaching and Learning, which was released on October 31. This new peer-reviewed electronic journal, published semiannually, aims to improve teaching and learning in higher education through the exploration of issues and challenges facing teachers today, the sharing of practice-based teaching reports and longer theoretical, conceptual, or research articles, and the exchange of ideas between teacher-scholars across the disciplines. Each issue will also include announcements of work-in-progress, requests for collaborators, book reviews, and a review of featured teaching and learning websites.

The inaugural issue of Currents features contributions from Education, Psychology, English, Composition, Communication Media, and Interdisciplinary Studies, reflecting the commitment of its editor and advisory board to a non-specialized, jargon-free publication with appeal to a wide range of readers. Several of the featured essays are collaborative efforts, and topics include transparent teaching, emotional labor, mentoring first-year students, and the pedagogical advantages of generational theory. The teaching reports highlight the importance for teachers to engage with new media, and explore how these new media are transforming the ways in which faculty teach and students learn.

Currents in Teaching and Learning can be viewed at www.worcester.edu/currents. We invite your participation and hope you both enjoy and benefit from the current and future issues. To contact us by email, please write to currents@worcester.edu.

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Visual and Performing Arts Department
Hosts Opening Night for Faculty Art Exhibition

On October 30, the Visual and Performing Arts Department celebrated the first Worcester State College faculty art show in the gallery space in the Ghosh Center. The gallery will be open to the public Tuesdays-Fridays from 2-5 p.m. (or by appointment) until December 10. Some works of art in the gallery are for sale. Pictured: (right) Charlie Oroszko, associate vice president of Student Affairs/dean of students looks at one of many works of art on display in the gallery space.

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Barbara Pilon Poetry Contest Winners

Congratulations to this year's winners of the Pilon Poetry Contest: 1st place: senior Jacqueline Morrill (left) 2nd place: junior Steven Smyth (right) and 3rd place: senior Alicia Denning (center). Honorable Mention: Douglass Sullivan (not pictured).

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Students Hold Forums to Discuss 2008 Election

Worcester State College students hosted three forums to discuss issues surrounding the 2008 election. The Student Senate and the Urban Studies department co-sponsored two panel discussions on the three Massachusetts ballot questions and on the 2008 presidential race.

In addition, Worcester State College students taking a course in Media Criticism held a public forum on informed voting in the exhibit area of the campus student center. Students also had the opportunity register to vote at two voter registration drives on campus.

Pictured: (left to right) WSC Professor Aldo Guevara, and WSC alumni Jim Knowlton of the Worcester Republican City Committee, Worcester City Councilor Bill Eddy, and WSC Trustee John Brissette '88.

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Got Food? IUI to Launch "Ending Hunger" Initiative

Worcester State College invites all of its members and the local community to help end hunger in our community. On November 18 at 10:00 a.m. in the Student Center Blue Lounge, members of the Got Food? panel will address how to end hunger in Worcester. Congressman James McGovern will open the panel discussion via video. Invited panelists include Christa Drew, director of the Hunger Free and Healthy Initiative in Worcester, Jean McMurray, executive director of the Worcester County Food Bank, Katherine Shocas, director of special projects at UMass Memorial, and Ken Crater of Brigham Hill Community Farm.

The panel will be immediately followed by an empty bowl event to be held both in the Exhibit Area and the Blue Lounge of the Student Center, with soup donated by Chartwells. Bowls of soup are purchased ($5.00 for students, $10.00 for faculty and staff) and participants get to keep the bowl. In addition students have organized a raffle with prizes ranging from sports tickets to gift certificates to local restaurants. Raffle tickets are included in the price of the bowl, but will also be sold separately.

The idea behind this project is to remember the many in our world and our community who do not have enough to eat. In preparation for the event the Worcester State College campus is being blanketed with hunger facts. Students from the Human Needs and Social Policy class will make presentations in over seventy classes in the week prior to the event. All the proceeds from the raffle and the bowls will benefit Worcester County Food Bank, Brigham Hill Community Farm and the Worcester Food Policy Council.

On November 13, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the Student Center Exhibit Area, students will be making place mats, table decorations and posters in preparation for the event. At this event the Intergenerational Urban Institute will launch its Commonwealth Corps," which consists of twelve members ages 18-85 who will work during the year on a variety of projects to help end hunger in the community, including food stamp outreach to elders, volunteer development for Brigham Hill Community Farm, development of hunger curriculum for urban schools, and a hunger website. Commonwealth Corps is a new initiative of Governor Deval Patrick to involve people of all ages in service. Worcester State College is honored to be among the first recipients of this grant.

On display in the student center building will be a portion of Worcester Historical Museums Got Food? exhibit. The entire campus and the local community are invited to participate in this event.

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Alumni, Students and Families Enjoy Weekend
of Homecoming Festivities

Countless students, families and friends participated in Homecoming festivities over the weekend. In addition to the game, children's activities, psychic performance and tailgating attracted hundreds of revelers.

The weekend also featured the Presidents Brunch on Saturday, Scholarship Donors Brunch and Senior Capping on Sunday. More than 150 attended the Presidents Brunch, where more than $175 was raised from a raffle for the newly created Student Emergency Fund. This is designed to help students who face a crisis and cannot use traditional forms of financial aid, said Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Sibyl Brownlee.

More than 250 students, families, faculty and staff attended the annual Scholarship Donors and Recipients Bruch. The event gives donors the opportunity to meet the students who are benefitting from their scholarships.

WSC alum Jim Polito delivered the keynote address at the Senior Capping event Sunday afternoon, which closed the weekends activities.

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Students to Perform Production of Lysistrata

Sex strike. For over 2400 years Aristophanes hilarious, anti-war comedy has been known for those two words: sex strike. Worcester State Theatre will be presenting the classic satire, Lysistrata, November 13-16 at Worcester State College.

Lysistrata will be performed at 8:00 PM Thursday through Saturday, November 13, 14, and 15 and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 16, in Sullivan Auditorium. Tickets are $6 for students and $12 general admission. They are available at the Student Center Information Desk or at the door.

The war in Greece has been dragging on and the women are fed up: their men are always away, their sons are dying and there is no end in sight. Lysistrata, a determined Athenian woman and exceptional strategist, organizes the woman on all sides to stop the war with the only means they have at their disposal: a sex strike. And it just might work, if the women can keep their own urges in check.

The Worcester State Theatre Up Close production in a lively translation/adaptation by Jeffery Henderson, with additional text by Adam Zahler, includes seventeen student actors. It is directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Adam Zahler with scenic design by Assistant Professor of Theatre John Howell Hood, costume design by Adjunct Professor of Theatre Susan Johnson-Hood, and lighting design by Christopher Fournier. Professor Kyle Martin composes original music and choreography is by Worcester State College student, Derek Sylvester.

Worcester State Theatre Up Close is the production wing of the Theatre program at Worcester State College. Part of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, Worcester State Theatre Up Close performs in an intimate setting created by altering the stage of Sullivan Auditorium to include both performance and audience.

Lysistrata contains adult themes and adult language.

For more information on Lysistrata call the Worcester State Theatre Up Close Info line at 508-929-8843.

Pictured: Kyle Maxwell (the Magistrate) and Emily Chestna (Lysistrata).

Cast:

Lysistrata = Emily Chestna
Calonice = Rebecca Belmont
Myrrhine = Danielle St. Amand
Greek Women = Laura McGill, Sarah Nydam, Trang Le
Leader Old Women Chorus = Lynn Ranahan
Chorus of Old Women = Emily Kiesiner, Kelly Sheen, Lora Newman, Trang Le
Magistrate = Kyle Maxwell
Rod = Johnny Sanderski, Jr.
Lampito/Spartan Ambassador = Robert Anderson
Leader Old Mens Chorus = Ryan Purcell
Mens Chorus/Soldiers/Etc.= Jon Blanton, Mike DAlessandro, Declan Murphy

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RESEARCH

Professor Brings Unique Opportunity of Book Arts
and a Printmaking Studio to WSC Students
Barbara Zang, Ph.D.

Denmark. Bulgaria. Greece. Switzerland.
France. Lithuania.

These are the countries where Amaryllis Siniossoglou (Visual and Performing Arts) exhibited work in juried art shows as a result of her 2007-2008 mini-grant, Digital Art, Digital Printmaking, Book Arts.

In all, she participated in 28 exhibitions in the United States and abroad in 2007 and 2008, winning special awards for her work in Bulgaria and Lithuania.

The mini-grant enabled her to buy supplies---inks, special papers, cloth, photopolymer plates---that she used in her own work and experimented with for possible use with her students.

Its such a treat to be able to buy different materials, different brands and see how they react, she said.

The mini-grant totally supported the creation of some of the books she exhibited.

I tried a different linen, a more expensive one, for two books, she said. This material reacts totally differently than the cheaper version.

Trained in traditional bookbinding in her native Greece, Siniossoglou says that book arts, or books made by artists, may or may not be bound.

They're made of glass, paper, all different materials, and they may have text or not, she said. They stimulate discussion about what a book is.

Her own work inspires assignments for her students. And vice versa.

What I do in my classes motivates me, said Siniossoglou, who is in her fourth year at the college.

Two years ago there was no printmaking studio on campus. Now, should you visit room 106 in the gym building, you'll see a scrupulously clean printmaking studio, an area with seven computers for digital arts, and a sculpture studio.

Siniossoglou led the renovation of the former storage space. She and Stacy Parker, who teaches sculpture, are responsible for the student crew that keeps the space spotless.

Creating the space to work was a first step. Department funds purchased a small printing press. Introducing students, most of whom take art classes to fulfill general education requirements, to printmaking was the next step.

I brought my own materials from home, Siniossoglou said of the first printmaking exercise she offered as an assignment in her Computer and Studio Art course two years ago. We started slowly.

And successfully. She sent 12 submissions from that class to Arches, a printmaking competition at Boston University. Nine were accepted. And three students sold their work, she said.

That printmaking assignment grew into a Computer in Studio Art II course, which combines the computer, book arts and printmaking. The mini-grant enabled Siniossoglou to purchase inks and special papers to experiment with printing on the press and computer to see how students would respond.

They loved working with these materials, she said. It all worked very well.

The printmaking studio has no ventilator, so students use non-toxic materials in the printing process. Were absolutely doing green printmaking, Siniossoglou said.

The college does not yet offer a major in art, although it will submit such a proposal to the Department of Higher Education this semester. Thus, students usually start from scratch in these courses. One challenge Siniossoglou faces is the student who announces that shes signed up for printmaking but is clueless about what this entails.

Assignments need to provide enough structure so students are not lost, she said. But if you give them too much structure, they all create the same thing. Its a balance.

It seems Siniossoglou, with her one step at a time approach to these classes, has found that balance. In the spring 2009 semester, she will offer Intermediate Printmaking for the first time as students wanted another printmaking course. Shell introduce them to the use of color in printmaking.

And come fall 2009, shell offer a course in book arts. Not many courses are offered in book arts, she said, so I may attract students from other colleges.

Its a safe bet that Siniossoglou will attract students from other colleges for such a course. Shes shown that if she creates it, they will come.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

MANDATORY SURVEY ABOUT YOUR COMMUTING HABITS

Worcester State College (WSC) and The Commonwealth of Massachusetts are both increasingly pursuing greener practices to be more environmentally responsible and more cost efficient. The Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is promoting its Rideshare initiative to reduce use of fossil fuels in transportation. To that end, they require state agencies, including colleges, to survey students and staff about their transportation habits. The survey will ask you questions about your commuting habits for the week of October 20-24. {Note: Use Internet Explorer browser.} Visit https://community.worcester.edu and click on "Staff can access the survey here."

TEST PREP WORKSHOP FOR MASSACHUSETTS TEACHER TEST
Dr. Sharon Yang and Professor Nicole Brown will be running a workshop to prepare students for the Communications and Literacy portion of the Massachusetts Teacher Test on consecutive Thursdays in November (11/6, 13, 20/08) from 3:00-4:15 p.m. The workshops will be held in Sullivan 308. Registration is required and is on a first come, first served basis in the Writing Center (Sullivan 306), from 10/20-11/4/08. This workshop will help students troubleshoot writing and mechanical problems, familiarize them with the set up of the test, and point out additional test preparation resources. For more information, contact Dr. Yang at syang@worcester.edu

WSC CHORALE UNO CHICAGO GRILL FUNDRAISER
On Tuesday, November 11, the WSC Chorale will be holding a fundraiser for their Portugal trip at the Uno Chicago Grill at Blackstone Valley Plaza in Millbury. Pick up a coupon in the Visual and Performing Arts Department and present it with your lunch or dinner bill and Uno will donate up to 20% of your check to the chorale. The coupon is valid all day on November 11 and applies to dine-in or takeout.

LASC WALK-IN SUPPORT SESSIONS FOR COURSE APPROVAL
The Center for Teaching and Learning and LASC are sponsoring a series of Walk-in Support Sessions for LASC Course Approval. All of the walk-in support sessions will take place in the Center for Teaching and Learning - Sullivan - Room117. To see a full schedule of the sessions click here.

SAVE-THE DATE - Upcoming Workshop
MAC: Math Across the Curriculum
Wednesday, November 19, 3 - 4:15 p.m.
South Auditorium, Student Center
Details will be forthcoming.

If you have a specific LASC related topic(s) you would like addressed or are interested in leading or co-leading a workshop on a specific LASC area, please contact Bonnie Orcutt at borcutt@worcester.edu or extension 8750.

LASC WEB SITE
LASC documents and other LASC related information will be available at www.worcester.edu/teamsites/LASC/default.aspx.

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WSC IN THE NEWS

**Please Note - Links to online newspaper articles may
no longer be available after a certain period of time.**

For Shrewsbury woman, the devil's in the detail
Boston Globe (11/2/08)
Excerpt: During that time she also rolled her associate's degree toward a bachelor's in biotechnology from Worcester State College, graduating in 1999. ...

Fresolo faces Taylor challenge
Telegram & Gazette (10/31/08)
Excerpt: But Mr. Taylor, who teaches at Worcester State College, believes party politics and political agendas are counterproductive to reaching real solutions to ...

East Meets Mass
Telegram & Gazette (10/28/08)
Excerpt: Most Singapore math enthusiasts in Central Massachusetts are only about one degree of separation away from Worcester State Colleges math department, ...

Central Mass money helps fuel race
Telegram & Gazette (10/28/08)
Excerpt: Professor Frank Minasian, chairman of Worcester State Colleges Political Science Department, said some traditionally Republican areas in Massachusetts are ...

Monday, November 3, 2008

THIS WEEK
www.worcester.edu/calendar

Tues., Nov. 4

Election Day

Wed., Nov. 5

BioPhysics Talk: Tailoring the Metabolism Against Mutations
Ghosh Science Center - Room 418
9:30 - 11 a.m.

Anne Feeney Concert
Student Center, Blue Lounge
1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

Lecture w/National Award
Winning Athlete Mike Green
Student Center, Blue Lounge
7-8:30 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 7

Green Chemistry:
Promoting Sustainability through Education
Sullivan - Eager Aud. Rm 146
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Sat., Nov. 8

Football @
Westfield State College
Noon, Directions to Westfield
State College

ON GOING

Faculty Art Exhibition
Ghosh Science Center
1st Floor Art Gallery
Tues-Fri from 2-5 p.m. (or by appt.)

COMING UP
www.worcester.edu/calendar

Tues., Nov. 11

Veterans Day Holiday
No Classes, Offices Closed

Nov. 13-15

WSC Theatre UpClose
presents Lysistrata
Sullivan Auditorium
8 p.m.

Sun., Nov. 16

WSC Theatre UpClose
presents Lysistrata
Sullivan Auditorium
2 p.m.

Mon., Nov. 17

Reparations for Victims
of Apartheid
Student Center, Blue Lounge
9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

The Marijuana High and
How It Works: Cognitive
and Brain Processes
Ghosh Science Center, 102
10-11:30 a.m.

Tues., Nov. 18

Human Rights at WSC:
Past and Present
Student Center, North/South Aud.
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 19

Amnesty International's Struggle For Human Rights
Student Center, Blue Lounge
11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Thurs., Nov. 20

Clara Rodriguez presents
"Latinos on Prime-Time Television"
Student Center, North/South Aud.
11:30 a.m.

"From a Refugee Camp Experience to a New Life
in the U.S."
Student Center, Blue Lounge
11:30 a.m.

Global Poverty and Inequality as
Human Rights Issues
Ghosh Science Center, Room 102
2:15 - 4 p.m.

One Poem and...
Sullivan Building, Room 305
2:45 - 5 p.m.

Art and the Struggle for
Social Justice
Ghosh Science Center, Rm 102
6-9 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 26 to
Friday, Nov. 28

Thanksgiving Recess
No Classes

Thurs., Nov. 27

Offices Closed

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except during semester breaks.

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