V 7.11 NEWS FROM SU

News from SU (Vol. 7 No. 11)
December 16, 2005
An Electronic Newsletter for SU Alumni

FEATURED STORIES:
Shilling Lecture Announcement
President Schrum Writes Op-ed Piece on Why Texas Needs the Liberal Arts
SU Receives Grant to Assist Dillard Faculty Members

ALUMNI NEWS:
Will You Be Celebrating a Reunion in 2006?
Reconnect Classmates and Support SU's Annual Fund
Official Alumni Ring Adopted

LIFELONG LEARNING:
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Opens National Graduate Scholarship Competition
Prepare for 2006 Brown Symposium "GNP or Gross National Well-Being?"
"Physical Activity: An Investment in Well-Being" Lecture
Road Scholar Presentation Scheduled for North Carolina
Identity Theft Survival Kit

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS:
SU Student and Professor to Spend Holidays Conducting Research in Uruguay
Library Receives the Gift of Music
Southwestern Students Polish Their Networking Skills
Pirate Athletics Update
Who's Who from SU

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
Reunion Planning and Class Agent Workshop – Jan. 20–21, 2006
2006 Brown Symposium (XXVIII) – Feb. 9–10, 2006
Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship Applications Due – March 1, 2006
North Carolina Road Scholar Presentation – March 4, 2006
Shilling Lecture – March 31, 2006

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The Office of Alumni and Parent Relations wishes you and your family an enjoyable holiday season!

FEATURED STORIES
Shilling Lecture Announcement
Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey governor who was selected by President George W. Bush to chair the 9/11 Commission, will give the 2006 Shilling Lecture at Southwestern University. On Dec. 16, 2002, Kean was named by President Bush to head the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, which became known as the 9/11 Commission. The Commission's work culminated on July 22, 2004, with the release of the 9/11 Commission Report, which quickly became a national bestseller. Its recommendations resulted in the largest intelligence reform in the nation's history. Kean currently serves as the chairman of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, a nonprofit entity created with private funds to continue the Commission's work of guarding against future attacks. The lecture will be held March 31, 2006, at 2 p.m. in the Corbin J. Robertson Center. Tickets for the lecture will be available to the general public in March. The 2006 Shilling Lecture will part of the kickoff for Southwestern University's "Thinking Ahead" fundraising campaign. Click here to read more about Thomas H. Kean.

President Schrum Writes Op-ed Piece on Why Texas Needs the Liberal Arts
Ask a student at one of Texas' public or private universities if they want to be rich, and most would probably answer yes. Likewise, they would assume that "being rich" refers to personal wealth measured in financial terms. However, all of us — whether we acknowledge it or not — desire to be rich in other ways. We yearn to explore the unknown: other cultures, the meaning of life, languages different from our native tongue, art and music that lift the spirit in ways we cannot easily describe. We want to understand the richness of life, not just a life lived for riches. This is why Texas needs the liberal arts. Click here to continue reading the article, published in the Austin American-Statesman, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Beaumont Enterprise.

SU Receives Grant to Assist Dillard Faculty Members
Southwestern University received a $160,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to assist faculty members from Dillard University, which was severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Up to 20 faculty members from Dillard will use technology available at Southwestern to recreate course materials lost in the disaster and develop new online courses that can be offered to students regardless of their location. Southwestern is home to a technology center sponsored by the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE), which was established in 2001 through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. It currently serves 93 liberal arts colleges across the country with programs and services in instructional technology. Click here to read more.


ALUMNI NEWS
Will You Be Celebrating a Reunion in 2006?
Reunion Planning Committees are already forming for 2006, and they need your help! The success of your reunion depends on you. If you're looking for a good excuse to gather old friends together, volunteer today! Save the date for Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006, to attend the Reunion Planning Workshop. If you have any questions about Reunions scheduled for 2006, contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 1-800-960-6363 or alumni@southwestern.edu.

Reconnect Classmates and Support SU's Annual Fund
The Office of Annual Giving wants YOU to serve as a Class Agent! Class Agents are primarily responsible for managing the fundraising efforts of their class by writing a yearly solicitation letter to encourage gifts from their classmates, setting class giving goals, and appropriately thanking classmates for gifts made. This volunteer position is an essential one that requires very little time. Volunteers from any class are welcomed, but especially from classes for which there are presently no Class Agents. View a list of current volunteers at http://www.southwestern.edu/development/class-agents.html. The success of our Annual Fund depends on our alumni volunteers. If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please contact the Office of Annual Giving at 1-800-960-6363 or gunnins@southwestern.edu.

Official Alumni Ring Adopted
During Homecoming and Reunion Weekend 2005, the official Alumni Ring was introduced to Southwestern alumni. Southwestern adopted its popular signet ring bearing the University seal as the official ring worn by graduating seniors and alumni. Click here to learn how to order your Southwestern University Alumni Ring. Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 1-800-960-6363.


LIFELONG LEARNING
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Opens National Graduate Scholarship Competition
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation will award graduate scholarships to help students with exceptional promise and demonstrated financial need. Each award will fund a portion of educational costs including tuition, fees, living expenses, books and other required fees for the length of a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar's graduate degree - up to six years! To be eligible, a candidate must be a college senior or a recent graduate (since May 2001), have a cumulative GPA of a 3.50 or better; plan to attend graduate school, starting in Fall 2006, and be nominated by Southwestern. This highly prestigious scholarship can provide as much as $50,000 per year. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation will award 65 of these scholarships in 2006. To learn more about the process and to get an application, go to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Website. All applications must be submitted to Stephanie Fabritius, Associate Provost and Director of the Paideia® Program, (MBH 110; 1001 E. University Ave., Georgetown, TX 78626) by March 1, 2006. For additional information, contact Dr. Fabritius at fabritis@southwestern.edu.

Prepare for 2006 Brown Symposium "GNP or Gross National Well-Being?"
The 2006 Brown Symposium (XXVIII) at Southwestern University presents the topic of “GNP or Gross National Well-Being?” on Feb. 9-10, 2006. The 2006 Brown Symposium will focus on the latest theoretical research and findings on well-being from economics, neuroscience and psychology. This symposium's intent is to encourage us to go beyond measuring well-being indirectly in terms of dollars or total consumption and to look deeper and assess societal and individual happiness by focusing on and measuring quality of life. To prepare for this year's topic, A.J. Senchack, holder of the Lucy King Brown Chair in International Business, recommends two books, Richard Layard's (2005) Happiness: Lessons from a New Science and Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer's (2002) Happiness and Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Well-Being. For other suggested readings, click here. Additional information on the 2006 Brown Symposium will be provided in a later issue of News from SU for Alumni.

"Physical Activity: An Investment in Well-Being" Lecture
John Bartholomew, associate professor of kinesiology and health education and director of the Exercise and Sport Psychology Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin, will present the physiological and psychological benefits of physical activity at 4 p.m., Jan. 19, in Olin 110. In particular, he will discuss the effect of physical activity on general health, mood regulation and well-being. As kinesiology research indicates, regular exercise influences many psychological factors associated with well-being, which can then lead to increased self-esteem, higher levels of cognitive functioning, and reduced anxiety and stress. He will also describe the clinical benefits of exercise on mental health. This lecture is the second in a series of speakers who will address issues centered on the 2006 Brown Symposium, “GNP or Gross National Well-Being?” and is sponsored by the Kinesiology Department and the Lucy King Brown Chair in International Business.

Road Scholar Presentation Scheduled for North Carolina
Mark your calendars, North Carolina residents! On March 4, 2006, Hal Haskell, professor and chair of the classics area and Paideia® Professor, will visit Durham for a Road Scholar Presentation. Haskell will cover the topic, "Politics the Old Fashioned Way: Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus." Additional details will follow in future editions of News from SU. Stay tuned!

Identity Theft Survival Kit
A number of students reported receiving telephone calls from telemarketers for special credit card offers and other sales offers asking for their social security numbers and other private information. This is often a familiar story, especially during the busiest shopping month of the year. Read "Am I the Only One of Me?" written by Bob Paver, associate vice president for information technology services, and protect your family from identity theft.


CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS
SU Student and Professor to Spend Holidays Conducting Research in Uruguay
For Southwestern University junior Brandon Boland and biology professor Romi Burks, this Christmas is going to be anything but typical. Rather than spending the holiday relaxing with family members, the two will be in Uruguay conducting research that could provide insight on how to control an exotic, invasive aquatic snail that is causing problems in several bodies of water in the Houston area. Click here to read more about this story.

Library Receives the Gift of Music
Stephen Aechternacht, a former host for KMFA radio in Austin, has donated his CD collection to Southwestern's A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center. The collection consists of approximately 12,000 CDs. It will more than triple the library's recordings collection. Click here to read more.

Southwestern Students Polish Their Networking Skills
For 27 Southwestern University students from the Houston area, the holiday break is providing an opportunity to polish their networking skills and explore career opportunities. Southwestern is sponsoring its first "SU Connections" event in Houston on Jan. 6 at the Coronado Club. The event will begin with a presentation on networking given by Diane Gottsman, founder and director of The Protocol School of Texas. Students will spend the afternoon with a Southwestern graduate or parent who is working in their occupational field of interest. This year, approximately 30 alumni, parents and friends of Southwestern will participate in the program.  For additional information, please contact Roger Young, director of career services, or Megan Radison, assistant director of alumni and parent relations.

Pirate Athletics Update
Men's and Women's Basketball notes are now available online. Visit www.southwestern.edu/athletics/ for more information! Don't forget to register for the most up-to-date SU Pirate Athletics news! To subscribe to the Athletic Department Listserve, e-mail Erin Shackelford, sports information director.

Who's Who from SU
Each month the University highlights Southwestern's students, faculty, staff and alumni who make unique and meaningful contributions to the University community or the communities in which they live. To read the profiles for this month, visit the Who's Who from SU web site.

• Senior Student – Ana Baida ’06
• Associate Professor of Biology – Rebecca Sheller
• Associate Director of Admission – Christine Bowman ’93
• Alumnus – J. Javier Uribe ’95

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
Reunion Planning and Class Agent Workshop – Jan. 20–21, 2006
2006 Brown Symposium (XXVIII) – Feb. 9–10, 2006
Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship Applications Due – March 1, 2006
North Carolina Road Scholar Presentation – March 4, 2006
Shilling Lecture – March 31, 2006