New Stephens College president always teaching

I’ve interviewed Dianne Lynch, the new Stephens College president, twice. The first time I walked into her office, I was nervous (she used to be a journalist…she’d know if I was doing a bad job with the interview)–and I had about 20 questions running around in my head I needed answered.

When she invited me into her conference room, I introduced myself, sat in a puffy chair, told her I wanted to follow her around for the day and then immediately began firing answers back to all her questions.

Lynch, a former journalist and journalism educator (in 1999 she was national Journalism Teacher of the Year, according to a Stephens college news release), was bubbling with enthusiasm to have a j-school student in her office. She began teaching right away.

What classes are you taking?

Where’d you grow up?

So you want to be a journalist…

What are you covering?

How long will you be reporting?

By the time she knew my life story, I’d asked at most, one or two questions. For the first 30 minutes of our interview, she was the reporter, I, the subject.

In half an hour, Dr. Lynch gave me advice on reporting for the summer, career advice and one lifelong lesson: Never run out of breath or the journalist-turned-college-president might outgun you with questions.

On Tuesday, I walked into her office again. This time I was ready. 30 minutes in, just like my last interview, I didn’t have any answers about new media, the subject I’d come to discuss. But it didn’t matter–because sometimes questions are answers.

Who is Dianne Lynch?

She’s an inquisitive journalist and teacher. I have a feeling, no matter her job title, this won’t change.

MU hosts field day for controlling pesky plant pests

If you work at a nursery, landscaping business or just do a lot of gardening at home, you’re certain to have to deal with bugs and weeds that can harm your plants. But what can you do about those annoying little critters?

On July 14, MU is hosting a field day of workshops dealing with landscaping issues at its South Farms Center complex.  The day will include discussions about annual flower selections, turfgrass diseases affecting golf courses and the best products for getting rid of weeds and crabgrass.

Exotic creepy crawlies, including the emerald ash borer, Asian longhorn beetle, gypsy moth and ambrosia beetle, will also be the topic of discussion.

MU horticulturists David Trinklein and Chris Starbuck will lead the afternoon session, which according to an MU news release includes “a tour of the state Capitol complex in Jefferson City to discuss plant selection, use and design.”

Registration is $40 for the morning session, including lunch, and $10 for the afternoon session.

South Farms Center is at 3600 E. New Haven Road, a quarter of a mile east of the Route AC/Grindstone Parkway exit of Highway 63 in southeast Columbia.

For additional information contact Tonya Mueller at 573-356-6955 or Brad Fresenburg at 573-442-4893.

Students and financial aid

This week, I talked to MU students who received financial aid so they had a chance at going to college. Without that support, college life would remain a dream with a slim chance to become a reality.

The recession is making the lives of students and their families even harder. MU has seen a 16-percent increase in the number of students seeking federal financial aid this year, meaning that 2,859 more students are having trouble paying for college.

Read more about this in my story Wednesday.

MU doctorates success in conference

Working in Starbucks at the Memorial Union at the crack of dawn everyday provides very “interesting” experiences. One experience I did not expect however, was to hear a small group of doctorate students singing a song about community to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas.” From this jolly harmony echoing off walls, I gathered the students had a successful week.

I covered a story about 23 doctorate students who met with nine mentors from around the world at MU this week to discuss science teaching and learning. They met and held a series of discussions and workshops to help the students with their research.

Since I’ve been a barista for several years, I’ve been taught to keep the “coffee shop talk” alive. Daily, when the doctorate students would make their appearances during breaks between sessions for a tall cup of Pike Place or an iced grande non-fat hazelnut latte, I found myself asking about how everything was going.

The students I spoke with, such as Smith, who I mentioned in my article, said the conference was a “positive learning experience.”

Overall, the smiles and excitement that “sang” from their voices led me to observe the success of the week.

Bioelectric symposium comes to MU

MU is hosting an international conference on bioelectrics with speakers from MU as well as Japan, France, Germany, and Thailand today and Friday.

According to a University news release, bioelectrics is an emerging science that studies short electrical pulses and the effect these pulses have on biological cells and tissue. The study of bioelectrics could advance solutions in medicine, forestry, and renewable energy.

Bioelectrics could be used to target and kill specific cells such as cancer cells or warts, decontaminate foods, or deliver drugs into specific cells according to research published by Old Dominion University.

The event will take place in the Bond Life Sciences Center on the MU campus.

For more information: http://engineering.missouri.edu/bioelectric/about/

Outlook Live Crossover in Progress

MU’s Division of IT sent out an e-mail yesterday to update users about the ongoing crossover to Microsoft’s Outlook Live e-mail service.

According to the e-mail, about 5,000 students have made the switch so far.

The e-mail also points out that although students’ e-mail address names will change, they don’t need to update or recreate distribution lists.

A previously sent e-mail said messages sent to the old addresses will be automatically forwarded to the new ones. However, students must transfer any old messages they wish to keep themselves.

IT expects all student e-mail accounts to be transitioned to Outlook Live by the fall semester.

Read more about the crossover here.

Looking for advice on how to study for finals?

Seem like there is too much to memorize for your final coming up?  An expert at Purdue University says a great way to study for exams is by actually testing yourself.

Jeffrey Karpicke, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University says that additional learning is taking place when students practice retrieving the information just as if an actual test were taking place.

He also says don’t just practice doing this one time.  According to the release, doing it three or four times “can achieve big gains in learning.”

Here is the link to the entire news release if you are interested in learning more.

Free late-night breakfast to be held Sunday night

With finals about to begin and summer so close, why not take a break from finals with a free late-night breakfast?

The Missouri Unions, Campus Dining Service, and Student Life are hosting a free late-night breakfast at the Bengal Lair in Memorial Union from 9:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. Sunday night.

According to the website, it will be a pancake and sausage breakfast.

This is also the beginning of the union being open for 24-hour service to accommodate those studying for finals.

Good luck!

Goodbye Seniors

MU will bring the spring semester to a close and celebrate as the seniors finish their last week. More than 4,500 seniors will say goodbye to MU by walking through the columns on Francis Quadrangle towards downtown, symbolizing  their exit from the university. This annual ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 7 at 4pm. While the celebration honors seniors, everyone in the MU community is invited to attend.

Administrators discuss MU student body

At the MU Spring General Faculty meeting on April 30, one of the hot topics was the makeup of the student body and the trends for the next school year. Anne Korschgen, vice provost for enrollment management, discussed the increase in students in five key areas.

• Students are the first one in their family to attend college.
• Students with an ACT score of 33 or higher.
• Non-Missouri students
• African American students
• Hispanic students

Korschgen said these numbers have been climbing since 2001. In addition, MU had their highest retention rate this year and had 13% more applications filled out. Traditionally, about 40-45% of applications turned in end up enrolling in the university but the administrators expect that number to decrease this year based on the increase in applications and the state of the economy. She added that they have had 900 more applications for financial aid in the freshmen class than last year.

She said that while the numbers are increasing, it is still important for Mizzou to work hard to recruit even more students. Ideas that have been mentioned are attracting more out of state students, especially focusing on Indianapolis and Minneapolis, exploring new scholarshiping and reducing tuition for students in contiguous counties.