Freshman Convocation Essary Contest Winners

Winners announced, receive awards in Freshman Convocation Essay Contest

UHD honored 17 students yesterday for writing top essays related to Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, that provided a common reading experience for the University's first Freshman Convocation this fall.

More than 600 students and 60 faculty members read the book and took part in discussion session during the convocation. Gladwell's book examines what factors lead individuals to extraordinary accomplishments and success.

UHD President Bill Flores and Freshman Convocation Coordinator Tammis Thomas  congratulated the students and their families at the event. UHD plans to make Freshman Convocation an annual fall tradition.

Winners are:

John Waller, first place, $500 cash award; Elena K. Walker, second place, $250 book voucher; Sierra Farrell, third prize, $100 book voucher; Luis Navarro and Isaac Valdez, sharing fourth place, $75 book vouchers.

Awards of Excellence, $50 book vouchers, went to Samantha Arredondo, Gerardo Briano, Angelina Cloud-Equam, Saundrya Dwivedi, Dora Frausto, Ryan Gracey, Mozerratt Garza, Teofi Gomez, Allison Laurenzana, Yuri Nasciemento, Jaime Ramos, Givone Roquemore, Diana Saavedra, Ivette Saucedo, Mayra Solarozano, Brianna Smith and Pamela Stewart.

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Information sessions for been set for Sept. 27, Oct. 7 and Oct. 9 on the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Study Abroad Program to London and Dublin this spring.

The Study Abroad Program includes seven nights in London and four nights in Dublin. The information sessions are 2:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27; 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 7, and 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 9. All sessions will be in Room N-420, the Library Special Event Room.

The courses are:

►DRA 4390 Royalty, Rogues and Rebels: English and Irish Theatre in Performance

5:30-6:45 pm, Thursday, Dr. Kate Roark,roarkk@uhd.edu

►ENG 3309 Creative Writing and the Delight of Travel

5:30-6:45 pm, Monday, Dr. Robin Davidson, DavidsonR@uhd.edu

►ENG 3340/HUM 3310 Cultural Criticism: Modernism, the Metropolis and Manifestos

5:30-6:45 pm, Tuesday, Dr. Nicole LaRose,LaRoseN@uhd.edu

►POLS 3303 Urban Politics: Cultures of Space, Sport and Media

5:30-6:45 pm, Wednesday, Dr. Anita Chadha,ChadhaA@uhd.edu

Scholarships are available. The requirements are successful completion of 30 semester credit hours including 12 completed at UHD, a 2.5 grade point average and satisfactory completion of the course prerequisites.

For information contact Sandra Dahlberg, professor of Englishh and program coordinator, at dahlbergs@uhd.edu or phone 713-221-8949. Information is also avail at the website, http://www.uhd.edu/academic/colleges/humanities/chsssummerabroad/index.htm

UHD Sports and Fitness is sponsoring the workshop "Exercise vs. Nutrition" from noon to 1 p.m. today in room N-1099, One Main Building.

Is exercise or nutrition more important where your health is concerned?  If you want to know your personal answer, register for this workshop.Participants will receive individual measurements and set personal fitness goals to strengthen muscles and decrease overall body fat.In addition, everyone will receive a specific nutritional guide to maintain or strive for a healthy weight according to their specific body type. Once you have both of these components, you will be able to answer the question. The workshop is free to UHD staff, faculty and students.

Snacks and an appreciation gift will be provided.To reserve a spot for this seminar call 713-221-8481 or email schererr@uhd.edu. A flyer is available here.

UHD's nationally recognized Scholars Academy has won a five-year, $450,000 federal grant designed to increase underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics who enter programs in the nuclear science arena.

Principal investigator Mary Jo Parker, director of UHD's Scholars Academy, was notified yesterday, Sept. 21, that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had funded UHD's proposal. "The grant will let us create pipelines from UHD to Texas A & M University, the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston and other schools with graduate programs in nuclear sciences, nuclear engineering and nuclear medicine," she said.

UHD will receive $90,000 a year for five years. Parker said the money will pay for scholarships, research stipends, conference-related expenses and other costs associated with mentoring eight students each year. "We want to increase the number of underrepresented professionals in the nuclear industry, and this grant will provide support for students who are interested in a number of different career paths."

At the end of the five years, Parker hopes to have a firmly established pathway from UHD to nuclear science graduate degree programs in Texas for underrepresented populations. 

UHD assistant professors Janusz Grebowicz and Maria Benavides in the Natural Sciences Department serve as co-principal investigators on the project and Rene Garcia, Scholar' Academy program manager, will help manage the grant. 

Other collaborators include the state's two nuclear power sites, the South Texas Project and its Nuclear Operating Company, located 90 miles southwest of Houston near Bay City, and the Comanche Creek Nuclear Power Plant, located about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Jennifer Abrams found her life's work would center on scientific research thanks to opportunities provided by the Scholars Academy and faculty mentors in the Department of Natural Sciences at UHD.

Abrams graduated from UHD in 2007 and moved directly into a microbiology doctoral program at the UT Health Science Center in Houston. This week she won a three-year $33,000 fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology to support cutting-edge research into the molecular causes of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's and Parkinson's. She was one of seven students to win the national award.

Abrams said she found out about the award while at home one night reading email. "I was very surprised," she said. "Honorable mentions had already received their letters, so I wasn't expecting the ASM's Award letter."

Abrams said her success started at UHD. To read more....

The Center for Public Deliberation sponsoring a public discussion, "Muslim Community Center Near Ground-Zero" last night to consider different arguments about the proposed Muslim community center being located near Ground-Zero, where the World Trade Center buildings stood before they were destroyed Sept. 11 in terrorist attacks. The panelist were from left, Derek de la Pena, UHD assistant professor of Psychology; Michael Duncan, UHD assistant professor of English; Alp Aslandogan, president of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, and moderator Paul Fortunato, assistant professor of English. The organizing team also included Raquel Chiquillo, associate professor of Spanish, and Diana Bowen, right, instructor of communications.

The First Generation Student Steering Committee is hosting a First Generation Student Welcome from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, in the Special Events Center, third floor, Academic Building.

The Welcome event will include food, UHD memorabilia, a raffle, and information that will be valuable to all students.  Please stop by if you can.    See the attached flyer.

The Office of Students Activities and Events is seeking donated cakes for its Cake Walk during the annual Fall Family Festival which be from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23.

The festival will include a kids costume parade, raffles, hot dog eating contest, arts and crafts show, Houston Rockets inflatables, games, music and more. A flyer is available here.

To contribute a baked good, please email Liza Alonzo at AlonzoL@uhd.edu

For people who would like to donate a cade, but who cannot attend the festival, SAE will collect the cakes on Friday, Oct. 22.

For more information, contact the Office of Student Activities at 713-221-8573 or visit www.uhd.edu/sae/fall_family_festival/.

Career Services will hold its fall 2010 Career Expo from 1 to 4 p m. Sept. 29 in the Special Events Room, third floor, Academic Building, where more than 50 employers will have information booths to recruit current students, upcoming graduates, and alumni for employment and internship positions. 

All majors are welcome.  Students are encouraged to dress professionally (dark suit preferred) and to bring plenty of resumes.  Workshops are being held at Career Services for resume preparation, interview skills and "How to Work a Career Fair" so that students can get the most out of the event.  Faculty members are invited to visit with the employers - make connections for your classes. 

For information or to volunteer to help, please contact Career Services at 713-221-8980, or visit room N-340.

Jesus F. de la Teja, chair of the history Department at Texas State University-San Marcos and the first State Historian of Texas, will discuss "Cultural Realities and Culture Wars: Texas History Education in the 21st Century" at noon Friday, Sept. 29, in room A-436, Academic Building

The debate over history and how it's taught has fueled culture wars in the United States for many years. Most recently, national attention focused on the Texas State Board of Education's selection of social sciences standards for textbooks. de la Teja was one of six experts the Board consulted during the process.

"Texas history education faces numerous challenges, funding shortages, competition with TAKS preparation, but especially outdated paradigms emphasizing mythological masculine memes, " de la Teja said. "The formulation of heroic white men conquering a wild land, savage Indians, and mongrel Mexicans and spearheading a Southern version of Manifest Destiny that ignored blacks except as an amorphous mass of labor, a la T. R. Fehrenbach's still popular Lone Star, runs up against the reality that is our urban, multicultural, multiracial society.

"The presentation makes the case that the relevance of Texas history education rests on re-examining the Texas experience to re-balance the story to more directly reflect the concerns and realities of the children we have in our classrooms."

The event is sponsored by Achieving the Dream, the UHD Department of Social Sciences History Faculty, and the Alpha-Nu-Epsilon Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society.

For more information and to RSVP, contact Gene B. Preuss, UHD associate professor of History, at 713-222-5308 or email PreussG@uhd.edu. A flyer is available here.

An information session is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, in the Library Events Room N-420, to kick off the countdown to UHD's Fall Open House: Destination Downtown on Oct. 23.

Come be part of the fun, get involved as a volunteer to make a difference. UHD's open house is the university's biggest campus visitation program. Past events have attracted up to 1,200 prospective students and their families. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP if you will be attending the information session by emailing Lucia Cantu at CantuL@uhd.edu to ensure enough snacks.

The UHD Staff Council meetings  are open to all staff members and the fall meetings will be at 2 p.m. in room N-1099 on Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15.

Applications are now being accepted for the Edge Award. Apply for the Edge Award today at www.uhd.edu/about/hr/forms/theedge.pdf.

The EDGE is a grant award available to UHD full-time staff members interested in attending seminars, workshops, training sessions, continuing education courses, etc. that are related to their jobs. One award will be presented each month by random draw from applicants. The maximum award per workshop/seminar is limited to $200. A flyer is available here.

The Center for Public Deliberation is sponsoring a the public discussion, "Religion and the Public Sphere," from, 8 to 9:45 a.m. Oct. 12 in room N-420, the Library Special Events Room, One Main Building.

The discussion will focus on religion and the First Amendement of the U.S. Constitution.

Students will address a set of questions about how religion fits and does not fit in public spaces like universities, government, courts, and the media. The discussion will focus on the document, "God and the Commons," produced by the Kettering Foundation. Snacks and beverages will be provided for participants. A flyer is available here.

The College of Public Service will host an Information Session from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Thursday, Oc.7, in the Commerce Building, Room C100, for UHD students interested in pursuing degrees in education or criminal justice.

The event will provide information on declaring a major, THEA and TExES exams, internships, and scholarships.  CPS advisors and faculty will be available to answer questions and meet informally with students.

An additional information session will be at 4:30 p.m. for Urban Education candidates on Oct. 7 in Room C100.

Refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact the CPS Advising Office at 713-221-8906.

The Institute of Business, Ethics and Public Issues in UHD's College of Business will host Gordon Massie, former head of AIG's Leveraged Finance Group  at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28, in room A-405 in the Academic Building. He will discuss AIG's acquisition of American General Corporation om 2001.

Massie will detail AIG's accounting practices for its high-yield bonds, the discovery of accounting fraud, and how accounting fraud was confronted.

Massie has been a regular speaker at high-yield bond and investment management conferences in the United States and Europe. He has worked in the financial/investment business for 30 years with companies including Texas Commerce Bancshares, Prudential Insurance Company, American General Corporation, and American International Group (AIG). At American General, he was responsible for the management of American General's $3 billion high-yield bond portfolio for 16 years.

Massie earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. He is in the process of publishing his first book titled, "The Whistleblower's Dilemma.Confronting Fraud at AIG".

For information or to RSVP, contact Carolyn Ashe, professor Management, Marketing and Business, at 713-221-8051 or email ibepi@uhd.edu. A flyer is available here.

Individuals who take the training for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use are more likely to use the training on someone they know versus a complete stranger. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn what to do in case of an emergency situation.

CPR/AED Certification        

Oct. 14-15, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Nov. 11-12, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

First Aid Certification

Oct. 29, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Dec. 3, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.                                           

The class fee is $5 for UHD students, faculty and staff members and $10 for others. The sessions are limited to the first 15 people who prepay for the class. The certification is valid for one year.

To reserve a spot for this training, stop by the Student Life Center. For more information call 713-221-8225. A flyer is available here.

IT Training for Faculty/Staff/Alumni

Register for IT training opportunities at the links below.  To schedule a one-on-one appointment or other assistance, please call 713-221-8200. 

Blackboard Vista

Monday, Sept. 27
1-2 p.m. - Blackboard: Communication Tools

Wednesday, Sept. 29
               10-11:30 a.m. - Respondus: StudyMate

Thursday, Sept. 30
               1:30 - 2:30 p.m. - Respondus: Lockdown Browser

e-Portfolio

Tuesday, Sept. 28 
1:30 - 3 p.m. - TaskStream e-Portfolio

Microsoft Office

Today

10-11:30 a.m. - Excel Macros 

See all current IT training available