Volume II: Issue 8
Preview Day
On April 11, SOU welcomed 350 visitors, including 185 prospective students, for Preview Day. Over 70 percent of the prospective students were high school seniors who have already been admitted. The campus looked beautiful for our guests! I spoke with enthusiastic parents from Wyoming, California, Washington, and the rainier parts of Oregon.
I am very proud of the entire campus community who helped make this day a success. And I’m grateful to the Dulcet group, who performed wonderfully to kick off the event. Thank you, everyone!
Our next Transfer Day is May 2. Raider Registrations are just around the corner!
Alumni Luncheon
On April 8, the Office of Alumni Relations hosted the first SOU Faculty and Staff Alumni Luncheon to celebrate the 110 alumni working on campus. We gathered for lunch in the Rogue River Room, where we shared memories, participated in a raffle, and heard a few words from Alumni Director Doreen O'Skea about the new direction of the Alumni Relations Office.
This event demonstrates the strong alumni community we can build right on our campus. I am grateful to Doreen and her staff for organizing the event and bringing folks together in such a positive way.
Global Business Conference
Last Friday, the Rogue River Room echoed with the sounds of Taiko drumming and sparkled with beautiful Japanese flower arrangements and sculpture. The room was packed with people attending our second annual Global Conference on Business and Culture.
Cosponsored by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, SOU, and the City of Ashland, the conference focused on doing business in Japan. We were delighted to have the Consul General of Japan, Mr. Akio Egawa, as the keynote speaker. Currently located in Portland, Mr. Egawa has served in the Embassies of Japan in Australia, Iran, Tanzania, and the Philippines.
Moderators and panelists included Jim Teece, Owner and CEO of Project A Software; Jeff DeBoer, Senior Vice President and CFO of Lithia Motors; Paul Taylor, Owner, Global Law Office; Dennis Slattery, CPA and MBA, from our own School of Business; and others with extensive experience in international trade.
I am deeply grateful to Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce Sandra Slattery and Dean of Business Dave Harris, as well as the many members of the SOU and Ashland communities who worked all year to make this such a successful event.
José Romero Hicks Lectures on NAFTA
At the end of the Global Conference on Business and Culture, attendees were given an opportunity to learn about next year’s conference, which will focus on Mexico. Alumnus José Luis Romero Hicks, visiting from Guanajuato, Mexico, spoke to the crowd briefly about why people in Oregon should be interested in doing business with Mexico.
On the previous afternoon, SOU students and faculty packed into the Meese Room of the Hannon Library to hear Mr. Romero Hicks speak about "NAFTA at Almost 15." One of our most distinguished alumni, Romero Hicks holds a master's in economics from Southern, as well as a law degree from the Universidad de Guanajuato.
Mr. Romero Hicks served as Planning and Finance Secretary of Guanajuato State Government under Governor Vicente Fox and was Economic Counselor to Mexico's Embassies in India and Japan. He has been co-decorated by Spain and Brazil and recognized by several publications as one of the 100 best CEOs and one of the 300 most influential leaders in Mexico.
He spoke to the crowd in the Meese Room on the economic implications of NAFTA for the U.S., as well as the probable future of the global economy with the development of the European Union and the economies of Asia and Latin America.
This presentation and his words at the Global Conference were eloquent, thoughtful contributions to our understanding of global economies and the collaborative relationship between Mexico and the United States. José Luis Romero Hicks himself is a wonderful representative of the strong bonds between SOU and the Universidad de Guanajuato and between Ashland and the City of Guanajuato. I am very grateful that he took the time to share his expertise with us on two occasions last week.
Gold Ray Dam Project
One of SOU's greatest academic strengths is the opportunity we provide for undergraduate research. Our students gain unique experience working with faculty on projects that would usually be reserved for graduate students at other campuses.
A stellar example of this type of opportunity is the Gold Ray Dam Project. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has awarded Jackson County $100,000 to continue the collaborative study of Gold Ray Dam and its sediment. Of this amount, SOU's Environmental Studies program will receive approximately $10,000 to fund three to five undergraduate student research projects over the next two years. The projects will focus on sediment core samples collected from Gold Ray Reservoir.
Channel 12 (KDRV) recently featured our students conducting dam removal studies. You can view the clip at the KDRV website.
Geology student Elizabeth Carrington, who received the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for this academic year, conducted the preliminary research that was used as a basis for the Gold Ray Dam proposal. One of 323 students chosen from a nationwide pool of 1,081 mathematics, science, and engineering students to receive the Goldwater scholarship, Elizabeth received $7,500 for the 2007–08 academic year. She will graduate this spring with a BS in geology.
Track and Field
SOU’s Track and Field Team competed on Saturday, April 5, at the Oregon Tech Invitational Meet at John Mohl Stadium in Klamath Falls. SOU's teams won five events at the meet. Congratulations to Daniel Cecchini (high jump), Jeremiah Lewman (400-meter hurdles), Ryan Musselman (pole vault), Jaime Wells (pole vault), and the SOU relay team (4x100-meter relay).
Cecchini does the Fosbury Flop during a home meet (above), while Ryan Musselman launches himself skyward before an impending hailstorm (below).
Remembering Alumna DeMerius Henderson
It is with deep sorrow that I inform you of the death of SOU alumna DeMerius Henderson on April 6 after a battle with cancer. DeMerius graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in criminology and a minor in philosophy. She was very active in campus life and took full advantage of everything her college career had to offer. Many faculty and staff members remember her fondly. DeMerius was a special person and member of the SOU family who made a difference in this community during the time she spent with us.
