Professional notes
Criminal justice majors who enrolled in the Policing Skills training programs in Alexandria and Hibbing passed and moved on to the next stage of the Peace Officers Standards and Training program for becoming a police officer in Minnesota. Congratulations to Chris Palmer, Ryan Burk, Michael Cassel, Michael Devoy, Theodore Layton, Christopher McCall, Charlie Nelson, Salim Omar and Amy Zustiak. Coordinator of the Law Enforcement Education Program at St. Thomas is Dr. Susan Smith-Cunnien, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department.
Dr. Mari Heltne, Quantitative Methods and Computer Science Department, and Dr. Kris Bunton, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, presented a paper, "E-Hate: The Dark Side of Citizen Engagement," at the International Colloquium on Communication and Democracy: Technology and Citizen Engagement, Aug. 4-6 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The conference was sponsored by the National Research Council, Canada Institute for Information Technology and E-Business, and the University of New Brunswick. The research began as a faculty partnership sponsored by UST Faculty Development when Heltne and Bunton received a grant to study ethical and legal issues surrounding hateful expression in the online environment.
Dr. Meg Wilkes Karraker, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, presented a paper, "The Stranger and Marginality, Sociation and Social Process: Sociological concepts for Globalizing Knowledge Around Issues of International Migration," at an international education seminar, Immigration in Western Europe, in June in Marseilles, Paris and Berlin.
Dr. David Kelley, Geography Department, presented a paper, "Incorporating GIS Into Problem-Based Learning Pedagogies for Environmental Studies Courses" at the 2004 ESRI User Conference Aug. 8 in San Diego, Calif. He also co-wrote two posters, "Phytofiltration shows promise to reduce ground water nitrate," and "Finding the 'leaks' in source water protection areas," at the 2004 Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting July 25 in St. Paul.
Dr. William Kinney, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, is the co-author with Jacqueline Helfgott of a chapter, "Life Satisfaction and Late Life Liberal Activism: Activity, Continuity and the Role of Identity Politics," in Politics of Change: Sexuality, Gender, and Aging, edited by Lisa K. Waldner, Sociology Department; Betty Dobratz, Iowa State University; and Timothy Buzzell of Baker University in Kansas. The book is Vol. 13 of the JAI Press series, Research in Political Sociology. Valerie Clark '03, now a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, served as editorial assistant for the book.
Dr. William Ojala, Chemistry Department, presented a lecture, "Structural Preferences of N-Substituted Monosaccaride Derivatives," at the annual meeting of the American Crystallographic Association in July in Chicago. Co-authors were current and former UST students Summer Hanson, Thomas Skrypek and Jonathan Smieja, as well as Charles Ojala, chemistry instructor at Normandale Community College, and his students, Robyn Sabo and Joanne Ostman. William Ojala also served as co-chair for the Margaret C. Etter Early Career Award Symposium, which recognizes scientists who have shown outstanding achievement and exceptional potential at an early stage of their careers.
Dr. Richard Raschio, Spanish Department, participated in the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese in July in Acapulco, Mexico. Raschio and three colleges presented a half-day workshop, "Service Learning: Taking Language Learning Into the Real World." During the workshop he presented "A Rationale for Service-Learning in Language Learning." He also presented "Best Practices for Service-Learning" in a follow-up session and was a discussant at another follow-up session.
Dr. Ivancica Schrunk, History Department, received a research grant from the Tyche Foundation to support archaeological research this summer on a Roman villa on the coast of Istria in Croatia.
Dr. Buffy Smith, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, was awarded the Graduate Student Paper Award for the Educational Problems Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems in San Francisco. Her award-winning paper is titled "Rethinking the Mission of Academic Mentoring Programs in Higher Education."
Dr. John Spry, Economics Department, is co-author with Jocelyn Elise Crowley of an article, "Assessing the Impact of Monopoly Toll Road Service Areas," in the summer issue of Eastern Economic Journal.
Dr. Dawn Swink, Legal Studies in Business Department, attended the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Conference Aug. 17-22 in Ottawa, Canada. She presented a paper, "Affirmative Action in the Wake of Proposition 209," with Dr. Jordan T.L. Halgas of California State University, Sacramento. She also was a member of the House Of Delegates, representing the Midwest academy.
Dr. John Tauer, Psychology Department, is the author of a paper, "The effects of cooperation and competition on intrinsic motivation and performance," published in the June issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The paper included four studies collected in a sport setting over a six-year period. Tauer also presented part of this work at the American Psychological Association national conference, held in July in Honolulu.
Dr. John Wendt, College of Business, recently was interviewed and appeared on KARE 11 TV regarding the gymnastics controversy at the Olympics. Wendt also was interviewed on WCCO radio about the games.
Dr. Fred Zimmerman, Graduate Programs in Engineering and Technology Management, gave a keynote address, "The Importance of Manufacturing in the United States," to the Edina Kiwanis Club Sept. 7 at Edina Methodist Church.
