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academics

Above, Tera Reed, an art graduate student with a painting concentration shows off her work to visitors.

Katie Bowers struts her stuff in the Green is the New Black fashion show in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom on April 1.

Natalia Rex

Zackary Fields

16 Academics

A glimpse of Alex Jaeger’s intel-ligence showed at 18 months of age.

First, it was getting out of the crib – only a regular bed with bed rails would do. Next, it was numbers. The clock face caught his attention every time the family went to the Tokyo train station.

It was in kindergarten that Alex’s intelligence was validated. He scored above the 98.2 percen-tile in reading and above the 99.9 percentile in math on the Stanford-Binet test.

The scores didn’t lie.“… ‘This kid is different. This

kid is different,’” Alex’s kinder-garten teacher, Lori North, kept saying to the school psychologist.

And she was right. Now, at 11, Alex is enrolled as a freshman at Pitt State taking a full-course load that includes biology and chemis-try lectures and labs, piano, choir and calculus.

And it all started in kindergar-ten, where his outstanding test results placed him in the gifted program.

In third grade, Alex’s father, Wesley, saw a change that needed to be made.

“I went to pick him up at school and while the rest of the class was running around, yell-ing and screaming, he was quietly sitting at his desk reading,” he said. “I made the decision then he wasn’t getting what he needed in the public school system, so we withdrew him and enrolled him in home school.”

With the help of the A Beka homeschooling materials, Wesley helped Alex finish grades four through 12 in three and a-half years.

Alex’s success has a simple answer.

“I just try and do my best,” Alex said.

Day after day, he continues to test his intelligence and its speed.

“For him, he wants to learn a concept quickly … He wanted to know it in the first five minutes and if he didn’t, it would be a major crisis,” Wesley said. “He would sit there and push himself until, ‘Hah, I got it!’ OK, then, next concept.”

His uniqueness has caused some flurry of attention at PSU.

Alex says he tries to keep fo-cused.

“I try to not let it bother me,” he said.

Ideas of “A kid should be a kid” and socialization problems are likely to spring up when thinking of an 11-year-old attending col-lege.

Alex goes to activities like ka-rate three nights a week or piano workshops that include kids his own age.

Therefore, Wesley doesn’t see a problem.

“It’s difficult to (guess) what public educators want from socialization because they say they’ll miss out on high school. Like smoking and drinking and other perverted activities? When he could be finished with college while his chronological-age coun-terparts are experiencing teenage pregnancies and drinking and the drama of high school,” he said. “Drama in high school does noth-ing for you in life.”

Wesley says there is a balance, though, to raising a gifted child. He says a parent has to evaluate the child’s mental age and chrono-

logical age and raise him or her between the two, but still honor and respect the child’s mental capabilities and childhood.

Wesley says it takes a certain type of giving energy to feed that type of intelligence.

“Just like anything else, you have to put the time and sacrifice into it, otherwise it withers away and who knows what happens after that,” he said.

Alex’s intelligence certainly won’t disappear anytime soon. The undeclared freshman says he doesn’t know what he wants to take next semester yet, but he has his sights set on graduating with two degrees. One in piano and one that is science-related.

When Alex isn’t doing home-work, he plays with Legos, watch-es videos on YouTube, plays video games or reads – Michael Crichton books being his favorite.

“At first it was just a college reading list, and then I read ‘Juras-sic Park,’ and I liked it,” he said.

Wesley says a master’s and a doctorate degree are a possibility for Alex since he’ll be too young to work once he graduates.

For the time being, Melinda Roelfs, director of admissions and Alex’s adviser, says having Alex attend Pitt State is just as new for them as it is for him.

“It’s interesting, certainly an experience I don’t think most of us have had yet, both in terms of Alex and his parents and also those of us here at Pittsburg State,” she said. “It’s just one of those things, that again, was new to us and we didn’t have a lot of experience to draw from, but I think things are going well.”

11-year-old Alex Jaeger attends the university as the youngest studentby Mandy Toepfer

he’s smarter than a 5th grader

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17Youngest Student on Campus

Hunter Peterson

11-year-old Alex Jaeger enrolled as a full-time freshman for the spring semester. Although he’s taking college-level courses, Jaeger still makes time for playing with Legos and reading Michael Crichton books.

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18 Academics

Shuffling to class just like any other student, Lola Ide has an upper hand in learn-ing from teachers. Ide holds points of views both different and similar from most of those around her. As Pitt State’s oldest stu-dent, Ide can draw on her experiences to offer insights not available in any textbook or lecture. “I do get called on by teach-ers on occasion, especially in history classes,” Ide said. “It’s fun to give real-life examples to help relate lessons more easily, but at the same time it does get frustrating recalling different stories at a moment’s notice.” It took a family reunion and a little scheming from her chil-dren to give Ide the extra push of enthusiasm she needed to return to the college life. “They took me on a tour of my old college at the reunion and we ran into the registrar, who remembered me. I was convinced by both her and my family to start taking classes again. The new opportunities in education and financial aid and grants were just too invit-ing to turn down,” Ide said. Ide originally started school in 1941 with the intention of majoring in speech and drama. These days at Pittsburg, she’s shooting for a major in general studies with an emphasis in psychology. “I primarily looked into attending here because of the location. I live in town, so it would make sense,” Ide said. “And I’m glad that I did. I

haven’t had one bad experi-ence. Everyone here has been wonderful.” Ide says the biggest differ-ence between then and now is the lesser formality among students; she mentioned how differently students and teach-ers dress, speak and interact in general than from her former school days. “Even when I hear about unmarried people living together I still am a little shocked,” Ide said. “The in-formality in relationships is something new and is taking me quite awhile to get used to.” Ide expects to graduate in 2012, saying that it feels great to have the end in sight. While reminiscing, Ide says her most memorable moment yet at Pittsburg was two years ago when she and another student were contrasted in another Kanza story. Ide at 85 was the oldest student en-rolled, and the other was the youngest at 16. Last summer, the two finally met in their two classes together, psychol-ogy and social psychology. Reflecting on her academic journey, Ide had one bit of advice for students, young women especially: Finish your education while you’re still young because opportuni-ties are much easier to come by, and never be afraid to try something new or unexpected. “Because, well, you never know what you could be miss-ing out on until it’s too late,” she said.

ldest student offers perspective on learning

The oldest student on campus during the fall semester, Ide, 86, from Pittsburg, wears a crown, wig and a boa during Kanza Yourself in November.

by Shiloh Hilton

lessons from historyO

photos by Jim Quist

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19Oldest Student on Campus

Ide stops to speak with students at the Indian Student Association’s henna booth in the Oval dur-ing the fall semester.

86-year-old Lola Ide takes notes as Sean Lauderdale lectures in her abnormal psychology class surrounded by many students a fourth her age.

Ide is enrolled in two courses during the fall semester. After her second class on the second floor of Hughes Hall, she rides the elevator to the first floor, and leaves the building to go home.

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20 Academics

Curriculum and Instruction Department: Front, June Taylor, Jeanette Stengel, Julie Samuels, Susan Knell, Alice Sagehorn, Kathy Spillman, Pam Sells, Carolyn Fehrenbach and Trinity Davis. Back, Tatiana Sildus, Ray Willard, Tracey Mussa, Marilyn Dishman-Horst, Kent Runyan, Kenny McDougle, Dale May, Jeanette Hurrelbrink, Frank Miller and Howard Smith.

Abby Wolfe, nursing, has her makeup airbrushed for the “Green is the New Black” fashion show presented by the Fashion Merchandising Association.

photos by Zackary Fields

Models pass time between hair and makeup by texting in the Overman Student Center before the fash-ion show April 1.

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21Fashion Week

Communication Department: Sitting, Alicia Mason, Mike Gullett, Shirley Drew, Joey Pogue, Mark Arbuckle, Oliver Shao and Debbie Sullins. Standing, Cynthia Allan, Megan Westhoff, Troy Comeau, Leo Hudson, Gil Cooper and Erica Edwards.

Student models rushed around backstage before the show trying to find their assigned dresses, necklaces, shoes and courage before stepping out onto the runway.

The lights dimmed and a projector flicked on and displayed images programmed to music. The chattering crowd grew silent and the show began.

This was the moment model Katie Bowers says she was anxious about.

“It was nervous in the beginning, but then I just wanted to have fun on stage,” Bowers, freshman in communication, said.

The “Green is the New Black”-themed fashion show was part of the Fashion Merchandising Association’s eco-conscious fashion week at PSU.

Members of the organization sponsored this first-ever fashion week to raise green awareness on campus in a new way.

Sasha Ball, instructor in fashion merchandising, says the students combined this idea with their skills to put on the show.

“The students were excited because they had a bigger vision for this show than some have had in the past,” Ball said. “They wanted to make it feel like a professional fashion show.”

Ball says students and the fashion merchandising industry want to set the record straight: clothing can be just as environmentally friendly as other items.

“A lot of times our industry gets thought

of as frivolous, and of not having a big impact,” Ball said. “We want to change that perception.”

She says consumers can go green by owning an organic cotton shirt or adding a reused vintage piece to an outfit.

The fashion show presented ways these items could be put together, showing the audience how to incorporate the green theme.

James Smith, one of the seven students who worked on the fashion week committee, says the show was well-received.

“(For it) being the first time, it went really well,” Smith, sophomore in commercial graphics and family and consumer sciences, said. “There was a great turnout and response from the community in general. I hope we made people interested in buying green-made products.”

Because of the great response, he says he’s already started planning for next year’s show.

“...We’ve been thinking about a circus theme with green products still tying into it,” he said.

Not only did the fashion show educate an audience about the impact environmentally friendly clothes can have, it also strengthened bonds between all the members who made the event possible.

“It was awesome and it got us all closer together and I would do it again next year,” Bowers said. “It made me want to join FMA and become more involved.”

Crista Hooven thanks the audience after her mini show following the FMA fashion show.

by Monica Hart

rganization proves clothes can affect the environmentO

Janae Bloom poses at the end of the runway during the Green is the New Black fashion show.

reduce, reuse, re-wear

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22 Academics

Larry Jump is exactly where he wants to be, right in this room where he feels at home. Several employees hustle and bustle amid the constant hum of computers. Paper samples, graphic-arts tools, ready-to-go job orders of every color and size dot this room’s landscape. Wall clocks ring the room as constant reminders of deadlines to be met. Welcome to Jump’s Printing and De-sign Services Department in Whitesitt Hall, a department that touches every building on the university campus with signs, plaques, banners and posters. “Quality is everything, people know our name around here, we have standards that are always met,” said Jump, the uni-versity’s graphic designer specialist. Jump attended Pitt State after graduat-ing from high school, but says that life just happens to get in the way when you least expect it. From there, Jump attended Labette County Community College, graduating with an associate’s degree in commercial graphics. Moving back to his hometown of Pittsburg is what Jump says helped him get the position. After working in Baxter Springs as a designer, creating mainly billboards and ads for 14 years, Jump

says he read an advertisement in the local paper for a position with the school. “The job chose me,” he said. “I knew even then it would be a huge opportunity. Plus having more than a decade of experi-ence couldn’t hurt.” Jump says his favorite part of the job is problem solving, that he can come up with a solution to nearly any situation. “I make friends with just about every-one I come into contact with here, and if I let them down with poor quality of work I wouldn’t know what to do,” Jump said. “I take pride in what I do, and if my name’s on something, I expect excel-lence.” Jump reminisced about a few of his most memorable designs and projects. Those include the 100-person Twister mat for alumni, a life-size Gus handmade out of plywood, a cleverly engineered balloon-drop for the Crimson and Gold Ballroom and his hand-engraved sign that hangs over the entrance to Gorilla Village. “My favorite pieces on campus by far are the bronze gorilla heads that are posted outside of the physical plant,” Jump said, “because they were my idea, and I wasn’t commissioned to do them.” He affectionately calls them his “mark” on the campus. “They are what I’ve been able to give back to PSU,” he said. “And I know that they’ll be there long after I’m gone.”

by Shiloh Hilton

lum makes his mark on campusA campus graphic designer

History Department left to right, Judith Shaw, Sarah Tosh, John Daley, Jonathan Dresner, Kirsten Lawson and Brittany Guardia.

Family and Consumer Science Department: Seated, Sasha Johnson, Holly Page, Amber Tankersley, Katie Swezey and Denise Bertoncino. Standing, Duane Whitbeck, Kari Cronister and Cris Elliot.

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23Larry Jump

Larry Jump, Pittsburg State University graphic designer, works on a project in his office in the Quick Print lab. Jump graduated from PSU and has been working in the lab for more than 17 years as the graphics and designer specialist.

Shalin Patel

Art Department: Front, Jolene Robinson, Craig Fuchs, Portico Bowman and Susan Nakao. Back, Marjorie Schick, Rhona Shand, James Oliver, Malcolm Kucharski and Li-Lin Tseng.

Modern Languages & Literatures Department: Front, Myriam Krepps and Judy Berry-Bravo. Back, Bert Patrick, Kathy Dyer, Monte McFerron and Jaime Crus-Ortiz.

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24 Academics

Around the room, students are bent over their mice, faces hard with concen-tration, as they stuff the dead mice with cotton. Metal instruments, rulers, pliers, brushes and more lie on the tables ready to use.

This is the first time the students are skinning animals.

“I didn’t expect this at all when I joined this class,” Becky Holthouse, sophomore in biology, said. “But this is definitely bet-ter than looking at pictures or diagrams in a classroom. Here, I get to observe first-hand the organs and tissue of an animal.”

Welcome to Mammalogy – a class that specializes in assessing the characteristics of mammals.

“We look at what makes a mammal a mammal,” Steven Ford, biology profes-sor, said. “We study the hair, anatomy, mammalian skeletons, muscles, organs of the animals. We talk about evolution-ary adaptations that mammals have, and since they develop from reptiles, we dip a bit into that history.”

The class is broken into two sections.“The first five to six weeks has to do

with characteristics of animals – how mammals are similar and how they are different from other groups of animals, like reptiles or birds,” Ford said. “The second half is when we look at the mam-mals here in the Midwest, concentrating around this general area.”

There are exams and papers to write in this class, but another part is more hands-on. Students in the class build their own collection of 10 species.

“By that, I mean going out into the

field, and catching mammals, skinning them and stuffing them,” Ford said.

The students also produce another collection: the tracks and signs collection. This accounts for 15 percent of the field-work. Members of the class take photo-graphs of animal tracks or collect them directly. Sticks that beavers have gnawed on or deer antlers are examples.

In order to gather these samples and animals, students in the class receive a scientific collecting permit from the state to use for the semester.

Ford says procedures like this can’t be learned solely through taking exams and writing papers.

“The whole process of collecting and skinning isn’t something you will learn in one day and become an expert the next,” Ford said. “It’s 5 percent know-how and 95 percent practice.”

by Monica Hart

snip, empty, stuffM ammology students learnins and outs of animals

photos by Natalia Rex

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25Mammalogy

Above, Steven Ford assists biol-ogy sophomore Becky Holthouse as she empties a small white mouse of its contents in mammal-ogy class at the beginning of the spring semester.

Far left, biology students complete their assignment in stuffing field mice in the weekly mammalogy class.

Left, Johnna Foster, sophomore in biology, preps a mouse before stuffing the animal with cotton.

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26 Academics

Virginia Rider shows her student lab assistants an example on the computer.

Shalin Patel

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27Virginia Rider

Bookshelves holding thick bind-ers cover an office wall, while plaques, awards and certificates line another. However, Virginia Rider’s most recent achievement stands out from the rest.

She is the first recipient of the national Sidney A. McNairy Jr. Mentoring Award.

Rider says the honor is special to her.“(It’s) a big deal, and I’ve always felt

that mentoring students is a huge aspect for their continuation down the road,” Rider, biology professor, said.

It’s that kind of attention that counts.“The mentoring component of science

has been very important, but it’s never been recognized,” she said. “This is the first time that the National Institute of Health has actually said mentoring is something worthwhile. Because if you don’t mentor people, they never stay on track and really learn how to do science correctly, so it’s a huge component for training scientists for the future.”

Rider received the award in the sum-mer of 2008 at the National IDeA (Insti-tutional Development Awards) Sympo-sium in Washington, D.C., and McNairy himself was there to present the award.

Qualifying for the award was exten-sive. Rider submitted her resume, all of her publications and her mentoring plan, among other requirements.

Most important, of course, was her mentoring, an interaction she says some professors never grasp.

“The goal of mentoring is of course to help students become more successful, and it shocked me that nobody else has a clue what you need to do to be a proper mentor for the students,” she said. “Things like mock interviews, establish-ing timelines, what courses do they need to take, being very clear in what your expectations are and having those expec-tations met, and a lot of people never do that sort of thing.”

As part of her guidance, Rider allows students to be co-authors in research papers.

“A lot of teachers have students work in their labs, but they never let them co-author reports, regardless if they deserve it,” she said. “It’s fair to say that every-one would like to be recognized for their achievements.”

Rider’s lab assistants - Becca Bryon, Dustin Graham, Caleb Burrows, Da-vid Ramsey, Afrita Davis and transfer graduate student Guannan Xiao - say they respect and admire their teacher’s knowledge and aid when it comes to the laboratory.

For Davis, that knowledge was over-whelming in the beginning.

“When I first met Dr. Rider, I felt like I was very insignificant, she’s a very intimidating lady at first,” Davis, senior in biology, said.

All of her assistants hope to be ac-cepted into medical schools. Before they submit their application, each student must have a letter of recommendation from a professor or two.

Dustin Graham says Rider will be one of his.

“She’s always there for students and she totally deserves her mentoring award,” Graham, senior in biology, said. “She already has made my recommenda-tion letter for me and my peers, as she knows us pretty well.”

Rider says she never would have dreamed she would be where she is today.

“If you had asked anybody who I was in high school with, they would have said I was a real playgirl,” she said. “No-body thought I would graduate from a college, let alone go to a college.”

It was her interest in science that gave her the determination to continue through college. She encourages others to find their niche too.

“... After your interest is sparked, it’s much easier to persist and pursue, but you’ve got to get that interest, or the journey will be a huge struggle,” she said.

by Monica Hart

heart of teachingM entoring students earns PSU professor prestigious award

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28 Academics

omen join typically male-dominated field

Working in Rome designing radar systems is just a day in the life of Keirsti Sweeton.

She described her two-week intern-ship in Italy as incredible. “(It was) the best experience of my life, hands down,” Sweeton, junior in mechanical engineering, said. “I was the only girl in the department, besides the secretaries, and my boss said I was easily the best designer he’s seen in four years.” Ever since she was a child, Sweeton was used to being around technology. Her father works in the plastics indus-try. “I used to go to work with him some-times and play with the computers,” she said. “And when I was 10 years old, I took apart a TV and worked on it until it was fixed. That’s where the whole thing started, I guess.”

Her drive for fixing and designing projects landed her a spot in the Disney College Program. She will be in Florida for seven months designing prototypes of rides. During that time, she will live onsite, an opportunity she says is a dream come true. “I’m the luckiest kid of them all, I get to live in Disney World,” Sweeton said.

Rebeca Book, plastics engineering instructor, says that in 1984, when she went to PSU, there were maybe only

two or three women in the entirety of the technology department. Now, 14 percent of the students study-ing at the Kansas Technology Center are female. Depending on the department, there are about one to two girls in a class. A Toshiba national research survey of 1,112 schoolgirls aged 11 to 18 revealed that 76 percent were interested in tech-nology and computers, but 43 percent would never consider pursuing a career in information technology, while 33 percent were unsure. Book sees an explanation for these statistics. “I would say you have to work harder to prove yourself or you might get singled out,” Book said. “These girls are thick-skinned, because let’s face it, this area is without a doubt male-dom-inated.” Victoria Amor, junior in manufactur-ing, agrees the environment is a little different for girls. “The boys will ignore you at first, un-til you work in a group, and then they open up,” Amor said. “I’d say it’s kinda funny because if the guys freak out, the girls are usually the calm ones that go with the flow.” They may be the minority, but nor-malcy never stopped these women from entering the industry. Currently, the director of Intel is Gen-evieve Bell. Susan Decker is the presi-dent of the worldwide Internet service

Yahoo! and Stephanie Tilenius is the general manager of eBay Mo-tors. Their salaries have reached $500,000 to $650,000 or more per year. “There are outstanding posi-tions out there for women,” Bruce Dallman, dean of technology, said. “Our biggest problem is that from an early age, women are typically not encouraged to go into the technology field. More and more, we are seeing the opportunities and are pursuing them, but the opportunities far exceed the number of women that are going down that path.” In two national studies, college men reported they studied less and socialized more than their female classmates. Men were also significantly more likely than women to say they spent at least 11 hours a week relaxing or socializing, while women were more likely to say they spent at least that much time preparing for class. More men also said they frequently came to class unprepared. “Not to brag or anything, but we are usually the first (ones) done in every group project, and it takes a while for the guys to ask for help, but that depends on if they know you or not,” Amor

by Monica Hart

deconstructing the stereotype

Chemistry Department: Front, Patricia Beck, Irene Zegar, Khamis Siam, Kristopher Mijares and Dilip Paul. Back, Bipin Shah, Bobby Winters, James McAfee and William Shirley.

Military Science Department: Front, Forrest Robertson, Don Stoner, Shirley Beer, Josh Shay and George Johnson. Back, Sam Haskins, Drew Polen, Steve Leibbrand and Eric Hollingsworth.

W

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29Women in Technology

omen join typically male-dominated fieldYahoo! and Stephanie Tilenius is the general manager of eBay Mo-tors. Their salaries have reached $500,000 to $650,000 or more per year. “There are outstanding posi-tions out there for women,” Bruce Dallman, dean of technology, said. “Our biggest problem is that from an early age, women are typically not encouraged to go into the technology field. More and more, we are seeing the opportunities and are pursuing them, but the opportunities far exceed the number of women that are going down that path.” In two national studies, college men reported they studied less and socialized more than their female classmates. Men were also significantly more likely than women to say they spent at least 11 hours a week relaxing or socializing, while women were more likely to say they spent at least that much time preparing for class. More men also said they frequently came to class unprepared. “Not to brag or anything, but we are usually the first (ones) done in every group project, and it takes a while for the guys to ask for help, but that depends on if they know you or not,” Amor

said. Female students don’t have to be in their early 20s seeking a technology-based career, either. Thirty-year-old Lori VanDyne, junior in construction management, is proof. She’s worked as a defense contrac-tor, marketing for satellite launchings in Kazakhstan, and she’s worked in the Navy. VanDyne found her ambition didn’t mesh with the atmosphere she had been working in previous to construction. “I worked in an office for eight years and I wanted to shoot myself,” Van-Dyne said. “My cousins worked in construction, so I checked it out and decided to go for it.” To make the leap into a construction career, nontraditional student VanDyne had to go back to school. “It’s hard to relate to college kids sometimes, but I don’t really act like most 30-year-olds, so it’s OK,” she said. “But after I’m done here at PSU, I plan to move back to the East Coast and start my own company.” For Book, she’d like to see more women follow Sweeton’s, Amor’s and VanDyne’s example. “We as teachers would love to see more women deciding to work in tech-nology. There are many opportunities here at PSU,” she said. “I just recom-mend that [they] come here highly motivated and passionate about what [they] want to do.”

Shalin Patel

Alyssa Zimmerman works on an injection molding machine in the plastics processing lab and checks out the mold condition before doing further operation.

Biology Department: Front, Dave Gordon, Mandy Peak and Dixie Smith. Middle, Danna Lair, Virginia Rider, Delia Lister, Cindy Ford, Daniel Zurek and James Dawson. Back, Neal Schmidt, Peter Chung, Phillip Harries, Steven Ford, Joe Arruda and Stephen Timme.

Math Department: Front, David Newcomb, Cynthia Woodburn, Karla Childs, Terry Martin and Hazel Coltharp. Middle, Yaping Liu, Jeremy Wade and Tadek Dobro-wolski. Back, Ananda Jayawardhana, George Kaemmerling and Tim Flood.

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30 Academics

artistic touches ormer students help decorate campus

photos by Shalin Patel

The Night Song, by Joe Beeler (PSU alumnus, 1957), was dedicated in October 2001. It faces the Overman Student Center to the east and is cast in bronze.

Ganzu Horse, donated by Huo Baozhu, sits by the university lake. The horse was handpicked by former president Tom Bryant who admired a scale model of it while visiting China. It was donated May 16, 2003, and is cast in bronze.

Tom Corbin’s Student’s Life statue stands tall in the Kansas Technology Center court-yard. The bronze statue was dedicated in April 2005.

f

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31Sculptures on Campus

The Healer by Joe Beeler, which is cast in bronze, was dedi-cated during the fall semester and placed in front of the new Bryant Student Health Center.

Gus by Lawrence Wooster is located outside the Overman Student Center, with the gorilla’s body fac-ing to the south. The statue was a senior class gift in 1965.

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President Steve Scott says he isn’t one for puns, but he describes his first year as president at a university in the middle of Tornado Alley as “a whirlwind.”

Scott officially replaced former president Tom Bry-ant on Oct. 23. True to his nature, he thanked the K-12 teachers and administrators who ultimately helped and encouraged him along the way. Both Scott and his mother are PSU alumni, giving him strong per-sonal ties to the university. This is a characteristic that bleeds through into every aspect of his workday.

“There’s a lot of emotions involved - saying good-bye to a professor that has been here for 41 years, someone who was my professor - and at the same time, greeting new people who are new to this experi-ence, and the whole range of emotions in between,” Scott said.

Scott says his first year as president brought chal-lenges much like the ones first-year college students face.

“I’ve had to relearn time management,” Scott said, ruefully.

Although his job often requires him to be at the university before 8 a.m. and frequently past dinnertime, Scott and his wife, Cathy, manage to spend as much time together as they can. Sometimes, according to Scott, it means getting creative, like traveling to events and conferences together.

Scott says he’s also discovered what it’s like to be the face of the university 24/7. No matter what the situation, he has to display the appro-priate emotion and be in the correct mindset for the task at hand.

“You know, I’ve heard some politicians talk about compartmentalizing,” Scott said. “But it’s sometimes very difficult.”

For example, after Scott consoled the friends and family of a Pitt State student who was killed in a car crash during the year, he had a forum that required him to be upbeat about Pitt State.

Scott views his presidency as “almost mission work.” He says he cares deeply about the uni-

by Madison Dennis

“it’s a wonderful job” resident Scott dedicates time, energy, heart to PSU

Pittsburg State University’s new president, Steve Scott, speaks at his inauguration in October.

photo by Jim Quist

32 Academics

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Although his job often requires him to be at the university before 8 a.m. and frequently past dinnertime, Scott and his wife, Cathy, manage to spend as much time together as they can. Sometimes, according to Scott, it means getting creative, like traveling to events and conferences together.

Scott says he’s also discovered what it’s like to be the face of the university 24/7. No matter what the situation, he has to display the appro-priate emotion and be in the correct mindset for the task at hand.

“You know, I’ve heard some politicians talk about compartmentalizing,” Scott said. “But it’s sometimes very difficult.”

For example, after Scott consoled the friends and family of a Pitt State student who was killed in a car crash during the year, he had a forum that required him to be upbeat about Pitt State.

Scott views his presidency as “almost mission work.” He says he cares deeply about the uni-

versity and interacts with students on a one-on-one level as frequently as he can, giving as much of his time and energy as possible for the good of the uni-versity. He makes visible efforts to stay connected to students and faculty.

“We have very intelligent faculty members,” Scott said.

Although this is good, it comes with a downside.“That means whatever issues make it to my door

are very complex financially, politically and educa-tionally,” he said.

These issues often trickle down from national and global issues.

“Whether it be abortion or the concealed carry is-sue, it always seems to make it onto campus,” Scott said. “Sometimes it seems that college campuses are even the stage on which these issues are played out.”

Like any other upper-level management position, the price of doing the job well comes with sacrifice. The long hours and big responsibilities that come with the president’s job mean that Scott has to give up

time-consuming activities that were once important.

“One thing that I have had to give up is exercise,” Scott said, regretfully.

However, he plans to find time to pick up this pastime again.

“I think I’m going to try morning workouts,” Scott said.

His willingness to dedicate himself to the university and its well-being, even when it means giving up things that are important to him, is what cements his reputation as a caring, personable president with the best interests of the university at heart.

“It’s a wonderful job,” Scott said.

“it’s a wonderful job” resident Scott dedicates time, energy, heart to PSU

President Steve Scott

33President

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34 Academics

The Art Grad reception was held on April 23, 2010, in Porter Hall. Admission was free to anyone who was interested in coming and free refreshments were served.

"Flying Machine," a dye subli-

mation print by Tera Reed.

"In Motion," oil on panel, by Deann Norris, another graduate student whose work was displayed with Reed’s

during the Spring ‘Environments’ show in Porter Hall

A close-up of a bird from "Bird Tie" a dye sublima-tion print by Tera Reed.

photos by Natalia Rex

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35Art Grad Exhibit

by Monica Hart

raduates display works of art in spring showG strokes of color

Birds seemed ready to fly out of their paintings in Porter Hall during the graduate art exhibit “Environments” this spring.

Tera Reed, graduate student with a painting emphasis and teacher’s assistant, says she is inspired by the contradictions between order and chaos.

“The birds are the mediator, and the patterns and modern items are the representations of chaos,” says Reed. “I got the birds from a field guide, then altered them using different colors, stance, or even replacing body parts that I thought looked good on another bird,” she says.

And when asked why she decided to use birds as her main theme, she said, “If you think about it, birds have the same controlled patterns that are similar to humans. We both have that same obsessive compulsiveness in our nature.”

She uses dye-sublimation prints that combine photos and virtual painting on the computer to draw the viewers’ attention.

“I’m trying to advance, new things have to be updated, definitely different then dipping a brush in paints,” said Reed.

Reed says it can take 5-10 hours to complete a piece.

The birds are the mediator, and the patterns and modern items are the representations of chaos.” - Tera Reed

“

of 200 years in the dark, and 100 years in light. They could pretty much outlive 18 grandmas,” says Reed.

Thinking of teaching at PSU after she graduates, Reed states that her teachers have played an important role in her education.

“The art faculty is very involved with the students, they really push you and that’s beneficial. One of the teachers, Jaimy Oliver, is amazing and encouraged me to stay on as a graduate.”

“It depends on the piece, if it doesn’t feel quite right, then I keep working on them. So usually I’m in the art building from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day,” she says.

She then gets the completed artwork professionally printed and frames them herself, thanks to the knowledge she picked up while working at a framing store.

“I use the special UV protectant acrylic frames that have a life capacity

A close up of "King Rail" a dye sublima-tion print, created by Tera Reed.

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36 Academics

Shirley Drew remembers the day Pete Hamilton took her on a whirlwind tour of Pittsburg.

She had worked all day in Detroit, Mich., and then flew into the Joplin Airport for an interview at PSU the next morning. Hamilton, who was going to interview her, picked her up from the airport.

Just being her transportation would not be enough for Hamilton. He insisted on showing her around town.

It was after the burger from Jim’s Steakhouse, the drink at JB’s and the trip to Barto’s to get a feel for the lo-cal culture, that Drew discovered Hamilton’s character.

“He was very social and I guess that’s the one thing I remember about him,” Drew, communication profes-sor, said. “He was very much into being collegial, being friendly, and he enjoyed the people he worked with, and so that first memory just sort of set the pace for our whole working relationship.”

Cynthia Allan, Communication Department chair, describes Hamilton in the same light.

“He was one of the most generous, big-hearted, easy-going people that I knew,” Allan said.

Because of his friendly relations and all that he did with the university, Drew and Allan, as well as other faculty, friends and students of Pittsburg State Univer-sity, said they were saddened to hear that Hamilton died Thursday morning, Aug. 6, 2009, after a long illness.

Hamilton joined the PSU staff in 1972 after complet-ing his doctorate at the University of Oklahoma. Before that, he received his master’s from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Hamilton hadn’t always been in the States, though. He was born in Scotland on Feb. 26, 1944, and moved to the U.S. when he was 8.

When he came to PSU in 1972, he was an assistant pro-fessor in the Department of Communication. From there he moved to full professor, then to chairman in 1989.

It was then that the program seemed to progress.

The umbrella effect

Allan said Hamilton probably knew a decade before-hand how to organize a communication department.

The Pitt State Communication Department today has seven different emphasis areas, but one common field. It was Hamilton who fused them together.

“He understood the fields of communication, even though they were very separate, needed to work to-gether,” Allan said. “And so the modern organization of

our communication department and the way we see many commu-nication departments now going throughout the country are to pull disciplines such as broadcast-ing, advertising, public relations, journalism, all together into one department, so communication then becomes the umbrella under which all those disciplines work together and integrate.”

The teacher

Hamilton taught a variety of classes during his tenure at Pitt State: theories of human commu-nication, quantitative (research) procedures, attitude/behavior research and several graduate classes.

Hamilton’s classes were not typ-ical lecture-and-tests classes. They were more about ideas and how to apply them, Mallory Murray, 2007 graduate and marketing specialist at Northwest Missouri State University, said.

For Murray, it was a comfortable atmosphere as well.“He treated everyone as colleagues as well as stu-

dents,” she said.And, Allan adds, Hamilton had a knack for teaching

hard concepts.“I’ve had people say he could explain difficult research

procedures better than anybody else,” she said. “He could make things clear that you just couldn’t under-stand otherwise.”

But she’s also heard he could be demanding.“He was always tough, always tough, and he didn’t

have a lot of patience for people who were kind of the slacker, who wanted the easy way out,” she said. “He didn’t understand people who came to college and wanted to be spoon-fed.”

He had a soft side, too, Murray said.For example, as the graduation announcer, Hamilton

would put a star next to the names of communication graduates. And, as he read their names, it would be in his big, announcer football voice.

Murray recalls Hamilton shouting “Maalllorrry Mur-rrray!” as being one of her fondest memories.

ittsburg State University family remembers Pete Hamilton

by Mandy Toepfer

more than a voiceP

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37Hamilton

The voice

In fact, on the campus he was known as the “Voice of the Gorillas.”

He was the one who coined the phrases “First down, Pitt State!” and “Welcome [opponent] heh, heh, heh, Welcome to the Jungle!”

Hamilton started his announcing career Nov. 8, 1980, for the final regular season game against Empo-ria.

He continued for another 26 seasons announcing football, and during those 26 years also did the public address for track and field, men’s and women’s bas-ketball and commencement ceremonies.

Bob Walter, timekeeper for Hamilton and dean of learning resources, says it was a great pleasure being up in the box with him until he announced his final game on Nov. 10, 2007.

“He was having fun. He had fun in life, had fun doing that ... He loved the Gorillas,” Walter said. “I think it kind of broke his heart when he found out he couldn’t do the announcing anymore. He kind of lived for that.”

Top, Pete Hamilton, with his wife, Christy, at his side, addresses the fans at Carney Smith Stadium during halftime of a football game in 2008, after being presented an award proclaiming Pete Hamilton Day in Pittsburg.

Above, Pete Hamilton, former chair of the Communication Department at Pittsburg State University, his wife, Christy, granddaugher Kaitlin, son Kevin, grandson Caleb, Pittsburg mayor William H. Rushton and former PSU president Tom Bryant stand on the PSU football field in 2008 after Pete Hamilton was awarded a plaque com-memorating Pete Hamilton Day.

photos by Mike Gullett

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