WTAMU Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

Nov. 25, 2008

COPY BY: Rana McDonald, 806-651-2129, rmcdonald@wtamu.edu

WTAMU Faculty and Staff Accomplishments

Deanah Alexander, instructor of nursing, served as a scientific peer reviewer Sept. 14-16 for research proposals submitted to the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program sponsored by the Department of Defense. As a reviewer, Alexander will have full voting rights at meetings to determine how Congress’ FY08 appropriation of $50 million will be spent on future biomedical research in several different scientific areas. She was nominated for participation in the program by the Panhandle Division of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Dr. Larry Barnes, assistant professor of communication disorders, was a presenter at an international conference of biomedical engineers Oct. 4 in Ireland. He presented on the evidence of positive laryngeal muscle synergism resulting from neuromuscular electronic stimulation (NMES). This research will assist biomedical engineers and clinicians in the use of NMES as both a research and therapy tool relating to swallowing disorders.

Dr. Bruce Brasington, professor of history, was a visiting professor during the summer at the University of Dresden. He taught a graduate colloquium in medieval art history titled "Das Recht im Bilde" ("The Law in Pictures"). The colloquium treated the representation of secular and ecclesiastical law in medieval art. Brasington’s trip and stay in Dresden was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

Dr. De’Arno De’Armond, assistant professor of marketing and finance, was an invited speaker at the Financial Planning Association’s Corporate Resource and Research Council Sept. 10 via video phone from the Amarillo Center in Amarillo. His presentation focused on "Success Within the Financial Planning Profession" and is the culmination of three separate research projects conducted within the 28,000-member Financial Planning Association. Findings of the research will be published in a future issue of The Journal of Financial Planning.

Dr. Trudy Hanson, professor of speech communication, is the author of "The Challenges (and Rewards) of Teaching Speech Communication in Texas Public Schools" in the summer issue of Texas Speech Communication Journal. She also presented a faculty development workshop Aug. 21 at Clarendon College. The workshop focused on critical thinking and learning styles. Hanson also gave a presentation on storytelling for the Windows on a Wider World Professional Development Day Sept. 6 in Amarillo.

Dr. Alex Hunt, and Dr. Martin Jacobsen, associate professors of English, are the co-authors of "Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Plato’s Simile of the Sun," in the spring 2008 issue of The Explicator.

Dr. Jessica Mallard, associate professor of speech communication, is the co-author of an articled published in the summer 2008 issue of Texas Speech Communication Journal. The article, "Understanding the Role of Communication Bravado: An Important Issue for Trainers/Educators," discusses the phenomenon that occurs when people think they are effective communicators despite feedback to the contrary from their supervisors. Co-author of the article is Dr. Kelly Quintanilla of Texas A&M—Corpus Christi.

Dr. Bob Stewart, distinguished professor of agriculture, is the co-author of research presented at the 2008 Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America Oct. 5-9 in Houston. The paper, "Clump Planting to Reduce the Tiller Production and Increase the Yield in Dryland Corn" was co-authored by Mohankumar Kapaigowda, a doctoral student in agriculture, H. Kadasrivenkata, a graduate student in plant, soil and environmental studies, and Louis Baumhardt and Paul Colaizzi of the Conservation and Production Research Laboratory in Bushland.

Guy C. Vanderpool, director of Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, was a panelist at the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History Sept. 9-12 in Rochester, N.Y. Vanderpool addressed "Performance and the Bottom Line: What are the Keys to Success?"

—WTAMU—