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NEWS:

Author and Award-winning Journalist,
Christian Parenti, to speak at WSU


Libya Rebel to Return to WSU to Speak
About Overthrow of Maummar Gaddafi


Celebration Highlights
Student Achievements

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NOTEWORTHY:

Stephen A. Morreale (Criminal Justice) recently presented and facilitated sessions on Leadership at the Senior Leadership Seminar held in Stoneham, Mass. On March 28, 2012, the Northeast Middlesex Law Enforcement Council (NEMLAC) sponsored the training delivered by Roger Williams University, Justice System Training Council. Twenty-two lieutenants and captains and a police chief designee were in attendance from the Peabody, Andover, North Andover, Natick, Reading, North Reading, Tewksbury, Billerica, Tyngsborough, Dracut, Belmont, Stoneham and Pepperell Police Departments. The focus was on organizational change, leadership, planning, coaching and customer service.



Heather Treseler's (English) essay, "Dreaming in Color," appears this month in Elizabeth Bishop in the Twenty-First Century: Reading the New Editions, an edited collection with the University of Virginia Press. In this essay, Treseler presents a set of letter-poems that she found in Bishop's archive in which the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, who was born here in Worcester, addresses her psychoanalyst and the ghost of her late mother. Treseler shows how these previously unpublished poems lend new meaning to Bishop's famous poem "One Art" and how the practice of letter-writing shaped Bishop's poetic process. Treseler has also won a three-week fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a nationally competitive residency for writers, composers, and visual artists. During the fellowship, Treseler will work on a collection of poems.



Karl R. Wurst (Computer Science) was Head Judge for the New England Regional Botball Robotics Competition on March 24, 2012 at UMass Lowell, overseeing 8 judges who judged more than 100 matches. Twenty-two teams of high-school and middle-school students participated in the competition, demonstrating their fully-autonomous robot teams, entirely built and programmed by the students. Worcester State University was listed as a sponsor of the competition.



Congratulations to Jeff Siegrist '12, who received an Honorable Mention (Manuscript) at the Worcester County Poetry Association college competition on Sunday, April 1. The Worcester County Poetry Association inaugurated the College Poetry Competition in 2008 to encourage and recognize the next generation of poets. The finalists are nominated by faculty and administrators at colleges in Worcester County. Jeff's faculty sponsor was Jonathan Blake (English).



Congratulations to Brandon Slack, Daniel Hartz and Jason Voas who were recently honored at a joint ceremony for Army and Air Force ROTC cadets at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on April 3. Jason received the Sergeant York Award, which recognizes the cadet who has made a significant contribution to the battalion through unselfish giving of their time and effort. Daniel received the Association of the U.S. Army Minuteman Chapter Award, which is given to an outstanding Military Science senior cadet who personifies the ideals of the Association of the US Army. Brandon received the American Legion Scholastic Excellence Award, which recognizes a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior cadet at each unit for scholastic achievement. To be eligible, a cadet must rank in the upper 10% of their graduating class and in the upper 25% of their Aerospace Studies/Military Science class, must demonstrate outstanding military leadership qualities, and must actively participate in constructive student activities such as student organizations and sports.

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AROUND CAMPUS:

First WSU Student Participates in the
National Student Exchange Program
By Chelsea Tougas '12

Stephanie Pietal '12, Worcester State University's first student to participate in the National Student Exchange Program and a natural science major, said she chose to study at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque this semester "to experience living in a different part of the country" and the Southwest's beautiful landscape firsthand.

Stephanie is concentrating on general electives -- music theory, music appreciation, the history of New Mexico and biology -- at UNM since she finished all of her major courses at WSU last semester. She is also participating in activities that relate to her major and enjoying many new experiences. "I joined the Mountaineering Club and have been out hiking just about every weekend!" she said.

Stephanie is rooming with other exchange students as well. "Being an exchange student might feel a little lonely at times, but I live with roommates who I get along with really well, so I've been having a lot of fun!" she said. "I think one semester is the perfect amount of time to get a taste of another environment."

WSU is one of 181 institutions in the United States and Canada that belong to the National Student Exchange.

If you are interested in learning more so you can encourage your students to participate, please contact Katey Palumbo at kpalumbo2@worcester.edu. For further information on the National Student Exchange Program, please visit www.nse.org.


Combat to Campus Conference, Fri., April 13

Worcester State University will host a day-long symposium, "Combat to Conference: Supporting the diverse psychosocial needs of veterans in higher education settings," on Friday, April 13, from 9 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. in the Student Center Blue Lounge. The conference is co-sponsored by the WSU Counseling Services Office, Veterans' Committee and Riverside Trauma Center.

The conference is designed for college/university counseling center staff, disability coordinators, other higher education student service personnel, faculty members, and anyone else looking to better understand and respond to the specific psychosocial needs of combat veterans as they return to higher education.

Topics that will be covered include: Making the adjustment from warrior to civilian; Suicide prevention outreach services for veterans; Traumatic brain injury and learning; How to engage with veterans who have post traumatic stress injury and help them to thrive in the educational setting; and Addressing addictions with veterans.

Funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Suicide Prevention Program and the generous contribution of space from Worcester State University makes this symposium available at a minimal cost of $25 to attendees. Pre-registration is required. For further information, please contact BSuttle@riversidecc.org.

CEUs pending for Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Licensed Marriage and Family Counselors. Five (5) hours continuing education will be available for Psychologists and Nurses.

Riverside Community Care is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor education for psychologists. Riverside Community Care maintains responsibility for this program and its content.


Photo of the Week

The beauty of Spring is blooming on the trees around campus.
Photo by Erika Anderson '13.


Civil War Commemoration: The Story
of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment

Join the History Department as they continue their multi-year commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War with this unique look at the 54th Regiment on Thursday April 12 at 2 p.m. in the Sullivan Eager Auditorium. The 54th Regiment was the first Northern black regiment to fight in the Civil War. Through their bravery in action, the 54th paved the way for more than 180,000 African Americans to serve and fight in the Union Army, helping to secure victory and the end of slavery in the United States.

This program will be jointly led by Boston African American National Historic Site Park Ranger Ryan McNabb and Sergeant Emmett Bell-Sykes, President of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Company A.

The History Department cordially invites area schools, Worcester community members, university students, faculty, staff and the general public to share in their commemoration of the U.S. Civil War.

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RESEARCH:

Graduate Nursing Student Selected
as 2012-2013 Paul Ambrose Scholar

Mary Collaro, a graduate student in the Master of Science in Nursing (Community & Public Health Nursing) program, has been selected as a 2012-2013 Paul Ambrose Scholar. The Paul Ambrose Scholars Program is sponsored by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Through the Paul Ambrose Scholars Program, Mary has received a grant to conduct research on the WSU campus regarding mental health education to compare and contrast the effectiveness of education and tool utilization (a reference magnet), relating to depression and suicide in students. Mary is a very active member of the WSU community. She has served as a peer mentor in the First Year Experience and is currently vice president of the Active Minds chapter at WSU. Active Minds is a nationwide organization dedicated to increasing awareness of mental health issues and reducing its stigma on college campuses.

As part of her participation in the Paul Ambrose Scholars Program, Mary will travel to Washington, D.C., in June to attend a leadership symposium that provides skills-based training by leaders in public health. Past speakers have included Surgeons General, public health officials, industry experts, and veteran public health practitioners. Through her year as a Paul Ambrose Fellow, Mary will implement her grant-funded research at WSU.

This is an exceptionally competitive program and what makes Mary's achievement even more remarkable is that the Dr. Lillian R. Goodman Department of Nursing already has one Paul Ambrose Fellow, Bet Wong, in the Master of Science in Nursing (Community & Public Health Nursing) program. This is a highly unusual occurrence.


WSU Faculty and Students Present in D.C.

Left to right: WSU students Helen Shuster and Amanda Johnson with Dr. Maureen E. Power at the American Society on Aging Conference, March 31, 2012.

Dr. Maureen Power (Urban Studies, IUI) and students Helen Shuster and Amanda Johnson presented a workshop at the 2012 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging (ASA), March 31 in Washington, D.C. The ASA Conference, with more than 3,000 attendees, is recognized as a showcase for programs and projects that can be replicated, as well as a forum for policy discussion and advocacy. It is a prime source of information on new research findings in aging. ASA is the largest gathering of a diverse, multidisciplinary community of professionals from the fields of aging, healthcare and education, along with business leaders from across the United States.

The workshop was titled "Got Food? The Intergenerational HOT (Hunger Outreach Team) team approach to SNAP outreach with Elders." The workshop established the importance of SNAP (Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program), formerly known as Food Stamps, in putting food on elders' tables and money into the local economy. Despite increased benefits and the elimination of the assets test for income eligible elders, there is low elder enrollment in SNAP, resulting in less food on their tables and less money in local economies.

This session highlighted the role of the Intergenerational HOT team at Worcester State University, as a replicable intergenerational model that not only provides outreach and individual application assistance to elders,
but also offers training and up-to-date information to councils on aging and resident services coordinators. Higher elder participation in SNAP can ease the financial strain of many elders who think it is for "poor people," not them. The team also shared their outreach efforts to enroll eligible students on the WSU campus.

This unique opportunity to share the success of the WSU Hunger Outreach Team was well received by participants. As a result of this presentation, the HOT team approach will be noted in "best practices" for "SNAP Expansion,"
a report currently being developed by Ann Bookman at the Heller School at Brandeis University, who thought the HOT approach was terrific.


Biophysics Lecture on Detection
of Alzheimer's Disease

The Department of Physical and Earth Sciences will host a biophysics lecture with Dr. Izabela Stroe, assistant professor of Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, on the detection of Alzheimer's disease on Wednesday, April 11, at 10.30 a.m. in the Ghosh Science and Technology Building, Room 418. Dr. Stroe will describe her research on early detection of Alzheimer's disease. She will discuss the Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy technique, and present data demonstrating its usefulness for detecting small protein oligomers that trigger Alzheimer's disease. For a technical abstract of the talk or other information, contact Sudha Swaminathan at swaminathan@worcester.edu or ext. 8605.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS:


SGA Earth Day Neighborhood Clean-up
The Student Government Association will be sponsoring a Neighborhood Clean Up on Saturday, April 21 from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. starting outside of the Student Center. This event will provide an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to work together to clean and beautify part of our campus and neighborhood.

Prizes will be given for the top three groups who provide the most volunteers and volunteer hours. This is a great way for your organization/team/group to help out the campus and also to win money! Prize money will be awarded as follows:

1st place - $300
2nd place - $175
3rd place - $75

Drinks will be provided for all participants. Refreshments will be provided following the event. Please register with the Student Center/Student Activities Office by Wednesday, April 18. Staff and faculty can also volunteer by calling ext. 8073. For more information, please contact Tim Sullivan at ext. 8073 or email at tsullivan@worcester.edu. Work gloves and tools will be provided. Thanks in advance for your participation and we look forward to seeing you there! Rain Date: Saturday, April 28th

Faculty Assistance for Family Weekend 2012
The Family Weekend Committee is looking for faculty who would be interested in teaching a class for Family Weekend in September. The classes are scheduled for Saturday, September 22 from Noon to 2 p.m. We are looking for interactive classroom sessions that are a good reflection of academic life at the university that students and their family members may wish to attend. Classes would be limited to 50-minute sessions. If you are interested in teaching a class or would like more information on Family Weekend, please email Kristie McNamara at kristie.mcnamara@worcester.edu.
Submissions for classes are due by April 23.

Hear To Your Full Potential -- Info Session and Screenings
The WSU Speech-Language-Hearing Center invites you to attend an information session on hearing, hearing loss and hearing aids. We are proud to now offer advanced hearing rehabilitation, including dispensing of hearing aids and communication therapy. Please join us for a short information session in the Ghosh Science and Technology Center, Room 118, followed by complimentary hearing screenings. Light refreshments to be served.

Worcester Windows Opening Reception
Please join us at the Opening Reception at the Hanover Theater on Thursday April 12 from 5-7 p.m. for this cycle of the Worcester Windows Program. This cycle of art in downtown Worcester windows is curated by two WSU alums, Howard McGinn '83 and Anne LaPrade-Seuthe '83, assisted by WSU Gallery intern, Bethany Strothers '12. Renowned local artist Terri Priest will have her work on view in the Hanover Theater windows and she will give a brief talk about her work. Art work by over 39 local and regional artists in a variety of media will be on display in storefronts around the Worcester Common. This cycle will be on view until August 1s. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Contact Catherine Wilcox Titus at cwilcoxtitus@worcester.edu for more information.

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WSU IN THE NEWS:

Worcester's Janet Lyons named Outstanding
First-Year Principal in Rhode Island
TelegramTowns.com 4/7/12
A Worcester resident, Ms. Lyons earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Worcester State College, a master's degree in educational technology from Lesley University and a master's degree in education in leadership and administration from Worcester State College.


Foxborough's Grueter Honored For Worcester State Track
Foxborough Patch 4/6/12
Worcester State junior Brittany Grueter (Foxboro) has been selected MASCAC Women Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week for her standout distance performance this past weekend.


David Ruggiero helps Worcester State snap losing streak
Telegram & Gazette 4/6/12
Freshman David Ruggiero went 5 for 6 with two doubles and three runs to help the visiting Lancers (5-16) snap an eight-game losing streak by topping the Corsairs (11-8).


Moore Named to Worcester State
University Nursing Advisory Board
The Millbury Sutton Chronicle 4/5/12
Senator Michael O. Moore (D- Millbury), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, was appointed to the Advisory Board for the Dr. Lillian R. Goodman Department of Nursing at Worcester State University.


Worcester State Explores the
Challenges of Urban Education
GoLocalWorcester.com 4/5/12
Worcester State University is hosting a day-long conference on subjects pertaining to urban education today. WSU's Center for Community Media and "Esperanza y Su Exito" are co-sponsoring the event, which is titled "?Navigating the Gap: Crises in Urban Education."


Bow People
Concord Monitor 4/5/12
Todd Leach earned Worcester State University's 27th Annual Distinguished Alumni award, the highest non-degree recognition the university bestows, for his contributions to the education field and the community.


Film Screening, Panel on Rape During Genocide at WSU
Armenian Weekly 4/4/12
On Wed., April 18, the Worcester "Aram" Chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), with the Worcester State University (WSU) Philosophy Department, will sponsor the showing of "Grandma's Tattoos," a documentary by Suzanne Khardalian.


Two Minutes with...Patrick Hare
Worcester Magazine 4/4/12
Patrick Hare of Leominster has accomplished a lot more than many other 22-year-olds have. As an undergraduate senior at Worcester State University (WSU), he has already had the valuable experience of working with Congressman Jim McGovern and State Representative John Mahoney.

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