 Weekly News for Faculty, Staff and Friends of the Worcester State College Community |
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Worcester State College and Worcester
Worcester State College Faculty and Students Book Drive a Success Thanks to WSC Community Mother's Day Grams Offered by WSC Chorale on May 10 "Every Nose Needs a Home" Benefit for Sterling Animal Shelter Faculty, please remind your students...
Peter Bradley
(Biology) attended the 48th Northeast Algal Symposium over the
weekend of April 17-19 held at the University Hotel and
Stephanie Chalupka
(Nursing) co-authored the paper
Procedure trays: A call to action for sharps safety.
The paper reports the results of her research collaboration with the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
In the
United States each year, an estimated 380,000 to 800,000 healthcare workers
based in hospitals are injured by sharps including needles and scalpels. In
Massachusetts hospitals, more than 3,000 sharps injuries per year are reported
to the Massachusetts Sharps Injury Surveillance System.
Sharps
injuries are associated with the transmission of at least 30 blood borne
pathogens, among them—hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and HIV-present the
greatest concerns.
Chalupka and her colleagues examined the use of equipment that lacked engineered
safety features as a risk factor for sharps injuries.
Chalupka's research in sharps injury was funded by a grant from the National
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. The paper was published in the
journal
Nursing 2009. Professors Bruce Cohen, Aldo Garcia Guevara, and Peter Holloran of WSC’s History Department all chaired panels at the New England Historical Association’s (NEHA) Spring 2009 Conference held April 25, 2009, at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Cohen was also re-elected Treasurer of NEHA. The WSC Computer Science programming team (Ian Bollinger, Andrew Gallant and Brian Tinger) took the third place in the programming competition sponsored by the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Northeastern Region at Plattsburgh, New York. The competition was held as part of the annual April conference of the consortium. There were 27 teams competing from all over the northeastern region. Dr. Aparna Mahadev is the programming team coach. Congratulations to the students on their achievement. Allison Dunn (Physical and Earth Sciences)had her paper, Landscape heterogeneity, soil climate, and carbon exchange in a boreal black spruce forest, published in the journal Ecological Applications. Roberta Kyle's (Graduate and Continuing Education) poem “My Mother’s Hands” was recently published in the Single Mothers By Choice, Spring 2009 (Issue 108) publication. Stephen A. Morreale (Criminal Justice) presented at two seminars for Police Mid-managers and First Line Supervisors at Roger Williams University. The Mid-managers seminar was attended by lieutenants and captains of police agencies at the state, county, local and college/university agencies throughout New England. The First-line supervisor seminar attracts newly promoted corporals and sergeants from state, county, and college/university policing agencies throughout New England. The series is sponsored by the Justice Systems Research and Training Institute, in conjunction with the New England Chiefs of Police Association. Amaryllis Siniossoglou
(Visual and Performing Arts)
was invited to exhibit her prints during
the Panorama of Greek Printmaking,
at
Technopolis in Athens, Greece. A catalogue was published for the event. At the invitation of US Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), Henry Theriault (Philosophy) was the keynote speaker at the United States Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues’ Armenian Genocide Observance. The program was held on Capitol Hill, in the Cannon Caucus Room, the evening of April 22, 2009. Other speakers included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). On April 17, Professor Theriault presented
“The Challenge of Denial for Post-Genocide
Reconciliation and Justice” as part of the University of Massachusetts –
Boston’s “Remembering Rwanda 1994-2009: Genocide and Its Aftermath”
symposium. On April 20, Professor Theriault was a featured speaker on the
“Subjects & Citizens: (Un)even Relations Among Turks, Kurds, and
Armenians” panel held at Bentley University and sponsored by the Bentley Global
Studies Department.
Worcester State College Faculty and Students present Exciting Display of Scholarship
The event was a vibrant one, buzzing
with questions and conversations. Barbara Zang, who steered the planning
for the event noted that many attendees remarked on the “energy” at the event.
“It was great because it was a bit of a role reversal for the students,” she
explained. “After being used to being students in class, now they were the
experts explaining their work.” Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs
Maureen Shamgochian agreed. “You could feel the students’ excitement,” she said,
“they presented as professionals and experts in their field.”
The students and faculty put months
of work into the presentations and fielded a variety of questions from
inquisitive on-lookers. A steady stream of attendees talked with
presenters for over two hours.
Christine Becerra, a senior majoring
in psychology, said her work studying stress in students was a real eye-opener.
“It made me analyze myself. I am a bit of a perfectionist.” She also said
the project prepared her for her future academic career. Becerra has
already been accepted into a graduate program where she will receive a research
assistantship. “I don’t think I would have been ready for it without the
experience I have had here at Worcester State College.” Some of the presentations included: · In the lab project, "Cancer Biology," students tested the effectiveness of a novel pharmacological therapeutic in inhibiting melanoma cancer. Their data suggests the treatment may be an effective treatment for melanoma cancer. · Students collecting core pollen samples from a Poutwater Pond in Holden discovered changes in vegetation at this site since the end of the last Ice Age.
·
A
collaborative digital archive of Worcester history from 1800 to 2000 was created
for this project making these photos and archival resources text searchable an
available on-line at
www.digitalworcester.org. · A study of public transportation in the Greater Worcester area using a GIS database shows that only 1.2 percent of person trips in the city are taken on public transit.
·
Is it possible to
turn the old Junction Machine Shop on Beacon Street in Worcester--an EPA "brownfield"--into
a thriving arts district? Students in the Urban Studies program examined
this possibility.
· What is the future of the Worcester Airport? This project examines past and current problems with the site as well as possible future uses including use as a wind energy turbine facility. · Ever wonder how "green" your household cleaners are? Tests were conducted on several readily available household cleaners to validate their "green" claims. To review an entire list of projects, click here for the program [pdf]
WSC Philosophy Professor Delivers Keynote
On April 22, Associate Professor
Henry Theriault of Worcester State’s Philosophy D The event marked the 94th
Anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, on April 24, 1915.
Within about a year, the Ottoman Turkish government, controlled by the Committee
of Union and Progress, a radical Turkish nationalist group led by Talaat Bey,
Enver Pasha, and Jemal Pasha, systematically murdered more than 1 million
Armenian children, women, and men. By 1923, the death toll had reached
roughly 1.5 million Armenians and hundreds of thousands of Assyrians and Pontian
Greeks. The U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, made
heroic efforts to save Armenians and publicize their plight to the world.
U.S. organizations raised millions of dollars for relief efforts to help the
hundreds of thousands of survivors who reached refugee camps, including a large
number of orphans. Many of Worcester’s thousands of Armenians trace their
recent family histories to this horrific event. The links of the Armenian Genocide
to the Holocaust are significant. Germany, the Ottoman Empire’s main ally
in World War I, committed military personnel and diplomatic support to the
genocide effort. Some of the German junior officers later rose to senior
positions in the Nazi regime and participated in the Holocaust. In his speech, Theriault emphasized the importance of recognizing that Assyrians and Pontian Greeks were victims of “the same genocidal machinery, often alongside Armenians.” He also praised “the many Turks, Kurds, and other Muslims who resisted the Genocide, who out of friendship and respect for justice and human life, and in keeping with the true principles of Islam, refused to carry out orders from the perpetrators to commit genocide or sheltered Armenians, often at great cost or risk to themselves.” Theriault highlighted the importance
of the struggle against denial of the Armenian Genocide. To this day, no
government of Turkey since 1915 has acknowledged what is widely recognized as
one of the major genocides of the 20th Century. Turkey’s
aggressive denial campaign includes millions of dollars for lobbying and “public
relations” propaganda and involves hundreds of diplomatic personnel and
academics in Turkey, the United States, and beyond. As a result of
attempts to install denialist professors in American universities, a number of
states have passed legislation preventing state higher education institutions
from accepting from foreign governments donations “with strings attached.” Theriault also stressed that ending denial is not enough. “Denial is, after all, merely a diversion,” said Theriault, adding that it is often difficult to see this because for so long so many Armenians and non-Armenians have made such an effort just to get the Armenian Genocide recognized by the US government and others. For Theriault, it is once denial has ended that the real challenge of resolving the Armenian Genocide issue will come. This will require meaningfully addressing the “many and deep” harms inflicted through the Genocide, which have had “a devastating impact on the victim group, with consequences that are powerful today and in fact have become stronger through time.” Theriault emphasized that his goal was not to “single out or demonize Turkey” and called on other governments and societies to recognize the genocides they have committed. This includes the United States: “Lest we recognize genocide somewhere else without, as United States citizens, facing up to our own moral challenge, so should we finally take responsibility for the US roles in the East Timor Genocide, the Guatemalan genocide of Mayans, and other cases – and most of all for our own genocidal treatment of Native Americans across the continent.” Theriault ended his remarks with a strong plea to end current genocides and other mass violence around the world today, most notably in the Darfur region of Sudan. “If we can stop this and other genocides today, there will be no need to discuss tomorrow how we are to repair the damage genocide has done in the 21st Century as we must do for the 20th and 19th and 18th and . . .” Photo submitted by Henry Theriault.
BOOK DRIVE A SUCCESS THANKS TO WSC COMMUNITY Thank you to everyone who donated to the Worcester “Give A Book” drive. Over 270 books were collected this year. The goal of the city-wide book drive is to collect K-8 level books for distribution by the Worcester Public Schools to children who don’t have the means to obtain adequate books for summer reading. Collectively, seven participating colleges and the Consortium office, donated approximately 2,200 books to the cause.
MOTHER'S DAY GRAMS OFFERED BY WSC CHORALE ON May 10
Let the Worcester State College Chorale help in honoring
your mother on Mother's Day. They will
come to your location and present her with lovely a cappella songs, along with a
choice of a special gift selected with her in mind.
What a unique way of showing your love and appreciation to this wonderful
woman in your life. For a $100
donation, this is truly a memorable occasion for families to share.
For a reservation, contact Valerie at
vgoguen@worcester.edu or call:
"EVERY NOSE NEEDS A HOME" BENEFIT FOR STERLING ANIMAL SHELTER
WSCW radio station will be hosting a silent auction, concert and car wash to
support Sterling Animal Shelter. SILENT AUCTION:
May 5th and 9th from FACULTY, PLEASE REMIND YOUR STUDENTS... With finals and the
end of the semester rapidly approaching, don’t forget to remind your students to
visit the Worcester State Tutoring and Academic Success centers. The centers are
available to any student who may need extra help. Remind those who are in danger
of failing that they can always go to the centers for guidance. The centers are
open 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Fridays. The
Athletics will be hosting their All Sports Camp from July 27-31. The camp is
open to kids ages 8-13. The aim is to teach the essentials of the many sports:
baseball, football, floor hockey, basketball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee,
kickball, track, stickball, and soccer. Kids are separated into groups of their
own age. Each camper is taught the fundamentals of each sport through a series
of talks, demonstrations and drills. Games are played each morning and
afternoon. Campers leave a harder worker, with better skills, and more
confidence. All sessions are designed for individual improvement. Camp structure
allows equal time for instruction and
enjoyment. Kids have a blast! Be an activist and help reduce mental health stigma! "Stigma results in fear, mistrust, and violence against people
living with mental illnesses. Stigma prevents people from receiving needed
mental health services. Stigma is a barrier and discourages individuals from
getting the help they need due to fear of being discriminated against." -SAMHSA
Michelle McGowan (Receiving Teller, Bursar’s Office) gave birth to a baby girl, Ayana Jazlyn Jarvis on April 27, 2009. She was 5 lbs 15 oz--18 ½ inches long. Mom and baby are doing very well.
**Please
Note - Links to online articles may
WSC votes to craft an arts ally
College Town
He found his niche:
Gaw reflects on 3 decades of teaching
WSC, craft center to discuss alliance
School task force introduced: Hiring practices to be scrutinized |
Monday, May 4,
2009
THIS WEEK
Evening of Ten Minute Plays Tues., May 5
Retirement and Employee Wed., May 6 Classes End Thurs., May 7 Reading Day Fri., May 8 Exams Begin Sat., May 9
Bon Voyage/Mothers Day Thurs., May 14
Class of 2009 Nurses Fri., May 15
Graduate School Sun., May 17
Commencement
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Over 400 students, faculty, staff
and community members attended the Second Annual Celebration of Scholarship and
Creativity and annual student art show, Wednesday, April 29. “It was
wonderful to see our students so excited about their work,” said Worcester State
College President Janelle Ashley. She was struck by not only how central
the work was to their WSC career, but how much students saw it as part of their
future. “I spoke to two students who plan to go on to medical school and
another who is planning a career in law and they all strongly felt this
experience would help them meet their future goals,” said Ashley.
epartment delivered remarks as
the keynote speaker at the US Congress’s Caucus on Armenian Issues’ Armenian
Genocide Observance. Theriault was invited by the Caucus’s Co-Chairs, US
Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and US Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL).
More than a dozen Congressional leaders, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) and including Worcester’s own Congressman James McGovern (D-MA), made
remarks at the program, as did Armenian Ambassador to the United States Tatoul
Markarian. The Congressional Armenian Caucus has well over 100 members,
including Congressman McGovern, who has been an active and prominent member as
part of his broader commitment to human rights such as his effort to end today’s
genocide in Sudan. The program was held in on Capitol Hill, in the Cannon House
Office Building’s historic Caucus Room. More than 400 people from around the
United States attended the commemoration.