Jackson State University alum to speak at social work celebration - March 31

 (JACKSON, Miss.) – Author, psychotherapist and wellness expert Dwayne Buckingham, a Jackson State University alum, will be the guest speaker at Jackson State’s 30th annual School of Social Work Month Celebration March 31 at the Mississippi e-Center @JSU, 1230 Raymond Road in Jackson. The theme will be “Social Workers Inspire Community Action.” 
Buckingham provides therapy to individual and married military personnel at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and is founder and C.E.O. of R.E.A.L Horizons Consulting Service, LLC. He is the author of three books including, A Black Man’s Worth: Conqueror and Head of Household, which will be premiered at the celebration as a film.  The author will sign books at the event.
The celebration will begin at 11 a.m. and conclude with a reception/book signing from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Register by March 26. Cost is $25 for social workers and other professionals and $15 for students with ID. Cost for attending the reception only is $15. For more information, call 601-979-2631.

Complete schedule and registration form:
www.jsums.edu/announcements/socialwork2010.pdf

President Obama to appoint JSU President Ronald Mason Jr. to HBCU board of advisor

(JACKSON, Miss.) – President Barack Obama announced his intent on February 26 to appoint Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Mason will be one of 11 members to serve on the board.
The Board of Advisors, created in 1981 by Executive Order, is tasked with advising the President and the Secretary of Education on methods, programs, and strategies to strengthen HBCUs. President Obama signed a new Executive Order on February 26 to re-establish the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the President’s Board of Advisors. According to the White House, the action signals the Administration’s commitment to assure increased access to federally-sponsored programs and opportunities for the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  It will also contribute to the Administration’s efforts to increase the number and percentage of college-trained Americans by the year 2020.
President Obama said, “I am pleased to announce the appointments of these talented, diverse and accomplished individuals to the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, all of whom have shown a deep commitment to the mission of these institutions, which are as relevant and necessary to our society today as they were when first established.” 
Mason has served as President of Jackson State University since 2000.  He was previously the Founder and Executive Director for Tulane and Xavier Universities’ National Center for the Urban Community. During his 18-year tenure at Tulane, Mason also held appointments as Senior Vice President and General Counsel and as Vice President for Finance and Operations.  He began his career as a lawyer with the Southern Cooperative Development Fund, Inc. Mason has served on the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, and the American Council on Education Board of Directors.  He received his B.A. and J.D. from Columbia University.

Mason will serve on President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities along with William R. Harvey of Hampton University, Lawrence S. Bacow of Tufts University, Evelynn M. Hammonds of Harvard University, Beverly Wade Hogan of Tougaloo College, Edward Lewis of Essence magazine, Valerie Mosley of Wellington Management Company, LLP, Willie Pearson Jr. of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Beverly Daniel Tatum of Spelman College, Kenneth Tolson of the Emerging Technology Consortium and David Wilson, who was recently named as the next President of Morgan State University. 

Ambassador Andrew Young to speak at JSU’s Martin Luther King Convocation - Feb. 25

(JACKSON, Miss.) – Perhaps the most iconic, living figure of the civil rights movement, Ambassador Andrew Young will give the keynote address at the 41st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Convocation at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, in the Rose E. McCoy Auditorium on the campus of Jackson State University. The convocation is sponsored by the Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center.
Young was one of King’s most trusted advisors and was at his side the day King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in 1968. His civil rights activism led him to become a three-term U.S. Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter, and Mayor of Atlanta, where Young was instrumental in getting the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.
Ambassador Young will also be one of four honorees at the 15th annual Isaac Byrd “For My People” Awards Luncheon, which will take place in the JSU Student Center ballroom immediately following the convocation. The “For My People” Awards are named for Margaret Walker Alexander’s most loved poem and are given to individuals who have distinguished themselves in the preservation of African-American culture. Along with Young, this year’s recipients include Alferdteen Harrison, Clarence Hunter, and L.C. Dorsey.
Margaret Walker Alexander founded the forerunner to the Alexander Center, the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People, at JSU in 1968. Today, the Alexander Center is both an archive and museum that seeks to honor her artistic and academic legacy through the preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of 20th century African-American history and culture. The Center is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in historic Ayer Hall on the JSU campus.
Board member Rosia Crisler of Jackson is serving as chairperson of these events.

Jackson State University Department of Facilities and Construction awarded for campus landscaping

 (JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University’s Department of Facilities and Construction Management was recently presented the award for Best Urban Forestry Project by the Mississippi Urban Forest Council (MUFC) and the Mississippi Forestry Commission (MFC). The university was honored for its landscaping, trees and greenery.

Representatives from MUFC and the MFC toured the campus last October when the university participated in the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus USA Program. The program recognizes college and university campuses that:

• Effectively manage their campus trees.
• Develop connectivity with the community beyond campus borders to foster healthy, urban forests.
• Strive to engage their student population utilizing service-learning opportunities centered on campus, community and forestry efforts.

Colleges and universities across the United States can be recognized as a Tree Campus USA college by meeting stringent standards developed to promote healthy trees and student involvement.

Wayne Goodwin, assistant vice president for facilities and construction management, said the campus landscaping has been admired by the surrounding community as well as by students, faculty and staff.

“This award will encourage members of our Site Care Division who maintain the university’s grounds and landscaping,” he said. “JSU will continue to have one of the premiere campus grounds in Mississippi.”

Jackson State granted $1 million to study levee strengthening

(JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to study levee strengthening under full-scale overtopping conditions. The research project is the first of its kind.
“This is a major research project and it involves innovations in levee strengthening systems during full-scale, unstudied conditions for the first time,” said Farshad Amini, professor and chair of Jackson State’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and principal investigator on the project.
  The research project aims to determine the effectiveness of three innovative levee strengthening systems during full-scale overtopping conditions simulating waves or combined wave and storm surge. The simulations will evaluate the articulating concrete block system, the roller compacted concrete system and the use of anchored high-performance turf reinforcement mats.  The researchers expect the project will help establish disaster resilient communities throughout the country.

Jackson State University to host Math/Engineering Fair - April 17

 (JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University will hold the 29th annual Mathematics/Engineering Fair April 17 in the university’s new School of Engineering building.
The fair will bring together some 200 juniors and seniors from seven area high schools who will compete individually and in teams in such events as mathematics bowls, exhibits and games, and a written exam and essay contest. The fair also will offer hands-on activities for teachers.  
One of the highlights of the day will be the bridge design and construction competition at 11 a.m., during which teams will present hand-made bridges built from balsa wood.
“The students are asked to construct a bridge under certain specifications,” said mathematics professor David Bramlett, who directs the fair. “The bridge that withstands the most weight wins.”
The theme of the fair is “Building a Better World through Mathematics.” Its objective is to introduce students to Jackson State and to expose them to career opportunities in the fields of mathematics and engineering.
“We hope to attract some of the students to our campus for the long term,” Bramlett said. 
            Participating schools include Collins High School, Crystal Springs High School, the Piney Woods School, St. Joseph Catholic High School, Jim Hill High School, Murrah High School, and Velma Jackson High School. 
            All activities will take place throughout JSU’s newly opened School of Engineering building, which is the first state-funded construction project to earn a LEED designation by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council. The building was constructed with eco-friendly materials and includes such features as a storm water management system that recycles rainwater for landscaping uses.

            The Mathematics/Engineering fair is sponsored by JSU’s Departments of Mathematics, Civil Engineering and Computer Engineering in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. The event will run from 7:45 a.m.-4 p.m. For a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.jsums.edu/announcements/4.7.09mathfairsched.pdf.

            For more information, contact David Bramlett at (601) 979-3751 or david.c.bramlett@jsums.edu.

 

Original Temptations singer to perform at JSU College of Public Service gala - April 25

(JACKSON, Miss.) – Otis Williams of Motown’s legendary Temptations will perform with his group the Temptin’ Temptations at the Jackson State University College of Public Service “Celebrating the Giving Heart II” Scholarship Gala April 25 at the Hilton Jackson Hotel in Jackson.
            The event will honor the legacy of the college’s founding dean, Gwendolyn Spencer Prater, and raise money for an endowed scholarship in her name. Prater will step down from her post in June.
            “My first love, my passion during my entire academic career, is the students,” Prater said.  “I am very pleased that funds raised will be for students.”
            Prater began her career as a social worker and started teaching at Jackson State in 1978. She is the founding dean of the JSU’s School of Social Work, which launched in 1995. In 2003, she became the founding dean of the College of Public Service, which encompasses the School of Social Work, the School of Health Sciences and the School of Policy and Planning. 
            Williams, 67, is the only surviving member of the original Temptations, which created a slew of R&B hits including “My Girl, “Ain’t to Proud to Beg” and “I Can’t Get Next to You.” The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. 
            Tickets for the gala cost $125 per person and $1,250 for a reserved table of 10. Supporters may also make a tax-deductible donation to the scholarship fund. For complete details and an order form, visit http://www.jsums.edu/cpsweb/gala.pdf.
            For more information, call the Jackson State University College of Public Service at 601-979-8836.

Spoken word artists to gather at Jackson State University conference - April 7

(JACKSON, Miss.) –  The Jackson State University Department of Speech Communication and Theatre will host its third annual spoken word creative fest/conference from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, April 7, at the College of Business, located on the main campus at 1400 John R. Lynch St., in Jackson, Miss. Admission is free.
Students will draw upon their experiences in and knowledge of civil rights while performing poems, orations, or dramatic interpretations
This year’s special guests include: Carolyn Ingram, author, The Curse; Rhoyia Hope Crozier, editor, Under the Hammer and Chronicles of Courage; John Rousseau, a writer who witnessed executions and lynchings in the South; C. Leigh McInnis, writer and founder of the group Out Spoken; Kalamu ya Salaam, performer and educator; Minnie Watson, and curator at Tougaloo College.
The event will include a tour of Medgar Evers’ home, the Medgar Evers statue and Freedom Corner in Jackson.
The purpose of the Spoken Word Creative Fest/Conference is to expose JSU students, faculty, staff and community to students’ original poems, orations and stories regarding any aspect of civil rights.
For more information, call Janice Neal-Vincent at 601-979-3331 or 601-979-1357.

JSU to host 1,500 students at regional science and engineering fair - March 26-27

(JACKSON, Miss.) – Young scientists will reveal discoveries ranging from the makeup of a golf ball to which type of wood burns the fastest at the annual Mississippi Region II Science and Engineering Fair March 26-27 at Jackson State University.
            Held in the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center on the university’s downtown campus, 1400 John R. Lynch St. in Jackson, the fair attracts more than 1,500 students from 250 public and private schools in Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Jefferson, Madison, Rankin and Warren counties.
            The competition helps spark interest among young people in science and math, and serves as the preliminary to the Mississippi Science and Engineering Fair slated for April 1-2.       
            Student projects will include experiments in biochemistry, botany, chemistry, physics, microbiology, zoology, medicine and health, and earth, space and environmental science. Some 300 experts with advanced degrees in science, mathematics or engineering have volunteered to judge the entries. 
            This year’s projects include an experiment to determine whether Flintstone vitamins can make a plant grow faster, an epidemiological study of classroom illnesses and a behavioral study that shows whether children are motivated by rewards or punishment. Other entries respond to the nation’s economic crisis by revealing which supermarkets have the best values and determining the most effective diapers, batteries, glue, mouthwash and detergent.
            The lower fair for grades 1-6 will be held March 26. The upper fair for grades 7-12 will be held March 27.
            For more information, call 601-979-3448 or visit www.jsums.edu/scifair.

Congresswoman Maxine Walters to speak at Hamer humanitarian awards luncheon - April 17

(JACKSON, Miss.) – U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters will be the guest speaker for the third annual Fannie Lou Hamer Humanitarian Awards Luncheon to be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 17, at the Student Center on Jackson State University’s main campus, 1400 John R. Lynch Street in Jackson, Miss.
The luncheon honors individuals and organizations that have made major contributions to the areas of service and leadership in the pursuit of social, economic, political, and environmental justice and equality. Consideration is given to Mississippians whose community involvement has benefited the public, particularly people and organizations that have not received appropriate recognition for their many contributions.
The Fannie Lou Hamer Humanitarian Awards are also designed to honor individuals from various age groups.
Tickets are $50 per person and $400 for a table of eight.
For more information or to purchase tickets and souvenir booklet ads, visit www.jsums.edu/~hamer.institute or call the Hamer Institute at 601-979-1562.

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