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12/2/2010 Activities

Here are the faculty and staff activities for December 2, 2010.

Here are the faculty and staff activities for December 2, 2010.

Activities

Drs. Robert J. Bookmiller and Kirsten Nakjavani-Bookmiller, government & political affairs, had their article “Canada and the Human Security Network, 1998-2009—RIP?” published in the British Journal of Canadian Studies. This work was funded by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. For this project, diplomats from Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland were interviewed.

Dr. Natalia Dushkina, physics, gave a presentation, “Brief Mathematics Refresher Lesson Preceding a General Physics Course,” at the 36th annual conference of the American Mathematical Association of Two-year Colleges, November 11-14 in Boston. In addition, Dushkina gave a presentation, “How much a student learns from studying: take-home tests,” at the AAPT New Faculty Workshop Reunion, November 5, in Washington, D.C. Dushkina and Dr. Tariq Gilani, physics, gave a presentation, “The undergraduate optics course at Millersville University,” also at the AAPT Reunion.

Dr. Mehmet Goksu, physics, and Dr. John Wright industry & technology, received a $6,600 donation in photovoltaic modules from British Petroleum (BP) for alternative energy research and education. In addition, Goksu published an article with co-authors Drs. V. Aravind and J. Heard of Clarion University in the international peer-reviewed physics journal Latin American Journal of Physics Education. Their article, titled “Natural cooling of hot water: An experimental study in thermal processes,” can be accessed in full from the following link: www.journal.lapen.org.

From left to right: Schaeffer, Jenna Meyers, Labant, Jen Flick, Jackie Adams, Alex Bartlett, Shane Kishel, Steph Cornwell, Phil Griffith, Dawn Mergenthaler and Dr. Mark Previte, PCSS President.

Dr. Joseph Labant, elementary and early childhood, and Dr. Stratton (Chip) Schaeffer, wellness and sport sciences, recently co-presented and coordinated a session titled “Using Kinesthetic Activities for Including All Students in Social Studies Instruction” at the 2010 Conference for the Pennsylvania Council for the Social Studies. The event was held at the Lancaster Convention Center. The session included dances of seven different nations that were taught by undergraduate students in Labant and Schaeffer’s fall classes. Students included Jackie Adams (Mexico); Steph Cornwell (Ghana); Jenna Meyers (Israel); Alex Bartlett (Greece); Phil Griffith (Italy); Shane Kishel, Jen Flick and Schaeffer (Philippines) and Dawn Mergenthaler and Labant (France). Passport materials for session participants were created by Diane Fortney.

Dr. Todd D. Sikora, earth sciences, was recently elected to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Membership Committee. The committee considers applications for election and reelection of UCAR members and academic affiliates (Millersville University is a founding member of the academic affiliates). The committee also regularly reviews the UCAR membership criteria and procedures. In addition, Sikora recently attended the 2010 Science and Energy Research Challenge Poster Competition at Argonne National Laboratory. The competition showcased the research projects of Department of Energy-funded undergraduate students and interns at the national laboratories. Sikora was invited to attend the competition in support of Millersville graduate Travis Toth’s presentation. Toth performed an internship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory during the summer of 2010. Toth won first place in his category, environmental science.

Dr. Sepi Yalda, earth sciences, and two students, Stephen Baxter ’10 and Robert Junod ’10, both graduates from Millersville’s meteorology program, had their paper based on an undergraduate research project, titled “A climatology of the wintertime jet stream and lower troposheric temperature over the mid-latitude United States related to global atmospheric oscillations” published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. The publication costs for this manuscript were offset through a faculty publication grant. Baxter is a first-year graduate student at the University of Maryland and Junod is a second year graduate student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. They are both pursuing their master’s in atmospheric sciences.

Retired staff

Jack Cassidy

Jack Cassidy, retired faculty, recently received the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) Laureate Award at the annual ALER conference in Omaha, November 6.  The criteria included influence on other reading professionals through mentoring, teaching and other activities; and research, publications and presentations that involve collaboration with students, teachers and other professionals.Cassidy has co-authored more than 40 national publications with junior faculty including many faculty at Millersville. He has also co-authored many national publications with graduate students, many of them from Millersville. In addition, Cassidy gave two presentations in Omaha: “What’s Hot in Literacy for 2011″ and “Award Winning Teacher Preparation Programs for Teaching Reading.” On December 18, he will retire as associate dean at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Work by Tirado

Dr. Thomas C. Tirado, professor emeritus of history, has become more involved in the San Diego art scene. In addition to having been named “Outstanding Visual Artist for the San Diego Region” three years in a row, in November he was one of the featured artists of the San Diego Art Institute’s Museum of the Living Artist. The work that was chosen for exhibition is “My Pantheon.” The painting is a diptych in acrylic on two canvases measuring 40”x60.”

Concurrently, in association with the Townley Gallery of Laguna Beach, California, Tirado is exhibiting several recent works in its juried website, LagunaART.com. One of its featured works is “Red Wicker,” a triptych in acrylic measuring 36”x60.” Tirado’s artwork can be viewed at tct@usa.com or www.tctirado.com.

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