Students planning mock presidential debate
Members of the social and international studies faculty have arranged a student mock presidential debate to be held on Mon., Nov. 5, from 12-1 p.m. in the Student Center Theater.

Students majoring in political science and international studies will participate in the debate. Each of the three students on Team Obama and the three students on Team Romney will be responsible for a different area of public policy. A student moderator will facilitate the discussion with questions posed by other students.

Ballots will be distributed to the audience and a vote will be taken after the debate to determine which team won. The winning team will be announced on Tues., Nov. 6, the day of the 2012 general election. All faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the event and vote for whichever team they find most convincing.

A meet-the-candidates reception with light refreshments will precede the debate, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the lobby of the Student Center.

Speech team has good showing
The SPSU Speech Team qualified for a national competition in two events at a recent competition called “The Chicken or the Egg,” held at Gainesville State College in Gainesville, Ga.

Junior political science major Tyler Maran placed fourth in both impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, and senior technical communication major Toby Pope placed fifth in impromptu speaking. These placements qualify them to compete at the National Forensic Association Tournament in April 2013.

Maran also placed fifth in editorial impromptu speaking, while Pope earned seventh-place honors in editorial impromptu and informative speaking. SPSU placed fourth in the team sweepstakes.

“We brought home awards for every event we entered,” said Prof. Misty York, speech team coordinator and a lecturer in English, Technical Communication and Media Arts (ETCMA). “That is an extraordinary achievement, and the national qualifications made the day even sweeter.”

Dr. Mark Stevens, assistant coach and professor of English, added, “To achieve these results in the first competition of the year shows the team’s hard work and remarkable talent. SPSU is preparing students not only in technical ability but also in the skills needed to communicate that knowledge to our linked-in 21st-century world.”

The team has upcoming competitions at the University of Alabama and Berry College in Rome, Ga., remaining. Prof. Kelsey Harr-Lagin, an instructor in ETCMA, also coaches the team.

Recent faculty publications
• Dr. Khalid Siddiqi, chair of the Construction Management (CM) department, and Timothy Coleman, who received his master of science in CM this past May, had a paper published in the Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Construction in Developing Countries Advancing Civil, Architectural and Construction Engineering & Management. The conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand, July 4-6. The paper, “Pitfalls in estimating for siding for large projects,” addresses the concerns of subcontractors involved in large-scale siding projects.

• Dr. Don Ariail, associate professor and accounting program coordinator, co-authored a paper in Volume 16 of the journal Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting. The name of his paper is “Ethical predispositions of certified public accountants: A study of gender differences.”

SPSU Soup Cook-Off a success
The Social and Community Building Committee reported a record turn-out for SPSU’s annual Soup Cook-Off earlier this month. So many faculty and staff members and even a few students were on hand to sample the goods that there was a shortage of bowls and spoons.

Walking off with the top prize for her entry, Autumn Corn Chowder, was Dr. Jennifer Louten, an assistant professor of biology. Second prize went to Jolene Istas, assistant director of budgets and grants, for her entry, Goblin Good Gumbo. Leigh Ann Soublis, manager of scheduling and logistics, took third place for It’s Pronounced Chowdah. Honorable mentions went to Susan Vande Ven, a lecturer in information technology, for Mama’s Medicine and Becca Tuck, recruitment, for Taco Soup.

Deserving of an award themselves for sheer stamina in sampling 23 varieties of soup in one sitting were the judges: Rich Cole, interim dean of the School of Architecture and Construction Management; Dr. Tom Nelson, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; Sylvia Carson, director of Public Relations; and Dr. George Stickel, director of SPSUTeach.

SPSU students to light up Big Chicken as part of national event promoting diabetes awareness
Marietta’s iconic landmark, the Big Chicken, will be bathed in blue lights on the night of Nov. 14, thanks to the SPSU Society of Physics Students (SPS) and the Biology Student Organization (BSO). The two organizations are participating in the Shine a Light on Diabetes event for World Diabetes Day, promoted by the International Diabetes Federation.

More than 40 iconic buildings and sites all over the world will be lit in blue to raise awareness for diabetes in what is known as the Blue Monument Challenge. Since 2007, over 1,000 monuments and landmarks in more than 80 countries have been involved in this day.

“I approached KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken, which owns the restaurant) with the idea of using the Big Chicken, and they liked the idea of supporting the cause,” said BSO President Curtis Anderson. “Since then, we’ve been working out all of the details together, including lights, media, etc. KFC has never done anything in conjunction with either of our groups and hadn’t heard of the Blue Monument Challenge until I brought it up.”

Students will place blue filters on the flood lights that illuminate the Big Chicken and put a message on the marquee sign. The lights will turn on after sunset and will shine until closing.

There are 65 students and faculty members in the SPS. Dr. Kisa Ranasinghe, assistant professor of physics, is the advisor. The BSO has 43 members, and Dr. Jennifer Louten, assistant professor of biology, serves as advisor.

SPSU staff attend USG Staff Council Conference
Five members of the SPSU staff traveled to Georgia Southern University in Statesboro for the annual University System of Georgia Staff Conference in early October.

The SPSU delegation included: Staff Council Vice Chair Alberta Cook (electrical and computer engineering technology) and staff members Christina Turner (industrial engineering technology), Vickie Ann Moody (mechanical engineering technology), Susan Bentzen-Gordet (computer science and software engineering) and Denise Tucker (mathematics).

Leading in tough times was the theme of the educational and networking conference, which was co-hosted by Savannah State University. Participants engaged in break-out sessions that focused on teamwork, motivation and leadership in the higher-education environment as well as a half- day workshop on the Peoplemap System of employee training and development, which identifies personality types and promotes optimal performance.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Campus donates $563, walks/runs 153 miles to support cause
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the SPSU campus contributed a generous $563.55 to the Lee National Denim Day campaign this month and walked/ran a total of 153.65 miles.

The SPSU Staff Council spearheaded campus participation in the annual Denim Day campaign, created by Lee Jeans to support the American Cancer Society’s breast cancer programs. Staff Council members encouraged faculty and staff members to wear denim, delivered pink roses to the breast cancer survivors among the staff and faculty members on Oct. 5 and collected donations at several campus locations.

Over in the Recreation and Wellness Center, faculty and staff members and students took part in SPSU’s annual Indoor Cure Walk on Oct. 10, walking and/or running on treadmills and elliptical machines and tallying up their mileage in symbolic support of the Greater Atlanta Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

Have news to share?
If your department has an upcoming event or other news to share with the campus community, please send an e-mail with all the pertinent information to Diane Payne (dpayne@spsu.edu). To be considered for use in a specific issue of the SPSU Hornet’s Nest, a news item must be submitted no less than four weeks before the date of the issue.

Volume 5, Issue 41
Oct. 31, 2012