Bohn has comedy chosen for prestigious comedy festival
Tim Bohn, Theatre, has been selected as one of eleven playwrights to be represented at the 2010 Snowdance 10 Minute Comedy Festival in Racine, Wis. The Snowdance 10 Minute Comedy Festival is a competition of original 10 minute comedies. The Over Our Head Players present Snowdance Friday, Jan. 29-Sunday, Feb. 28, performing four shows each weekend. Snowdance received a record 241 scripts this year, with playwrights from 36 states and five foreign countries having entered the competition. Bohn's entry, "The Covenant," looks at how smelt fishing on the shores of Lake Michigan can teach many lessons. In the ultimate interactive experience, the audience can vote for the production they enjoyed the most. The votes will be tallied throughout the four-week festival run. The award “Best in Snow” will be conferred after the final performance on Sunday, Feb. 28. 

Rusty Starr opens Journalism Alumni Speakers Series
Rusty Starr, the publisher of the Palatka (Fla.) Daily News, is the first speaker in the spring resumption of the Journalism Alumni Speakers Series at Arkansas State University. Starr, a 1976 graduate of ASU, earned his BS in journalism in three years and has gone on to a lengthy career in journalism. Starr will address students and faculty Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 25-26, in ASU’s College of Communications. Born in Memphis, Tenn., Starr grew up in Little Rock, Ark., and graduated from Mills High School before attending Arkansas State University. He worked for ASU’s student newspaper, The Herald, holding several reporting and editing positions. He worked as a  yearbook photographer and later as editor of the yearbook. He served for roughly four years as managing editor of the TimesDaily in Florence, Ala., beginning in 1983, and the paper was named Alabama’s top newspaper by the Alabama Press Association during his tenure there. In 1986, he was named executive editor of the Gadsden Times in Alabama. Starr’s Alabama papers won six public service reporting awards; one paper finished first in a state competition against an eventual Pulitzer Prize winner. He became publisher of the Palatka Daily News in 1996. He writes editorials for each edition of the newspaper, which won 12 national awards in 2009. He is the son of the late John Robert Starr, who was managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat and served prior to that as bureau chief of the Associated Press in Little Rock. For details, contact Dr. Joel Gambill, chair, Journalism, ext. 3075, or see the NewsPage release.

Kays Foundation Grants Announced for 2010
The Board of Directors of the Kays Foundation recently announced recipients of its 2010 grants. The two proposals chosen for 2010 funding will support the BEST Robotics program at ASU and the ASU Band program. Dr. Edward T. Hammerand, Computer Science, will receive Kays Foundation grant monies in the amount of $4,350, which will be used to expand the Crowley’s Ridge BEST Robotics program's number of participating schools from seventeen to twenty-four schools, thus reaching a wider audience and exposing more students to engineering and science. The second grant, of $15,000, will assist the ASU Wind Ensemble with travel funds for a trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico on April 10 to perform at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Conference. The Kays Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation supporting Arkansas State University.

Faculty Recital Series presents first spring concert Jan. 28
The Department of Music at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro will present the first concert of the Spring 2010 Faculty Recital Series on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Riceland Hall, Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. The concert will feature ASU music faculty members Kyle Chandler, Dr. Robin Dauer, Dr. Lauren Schack Clark, Dr. Marika Kyriakos, Dr. Ed Owen, and ASU student Jay Shepherd. The concert is free of charge and open to the public. The concert will include performances of “Sonata for Tuba and Piano” by Paul Hindemith, performed by Dr. Ed Owen and Dr. Lauren Schack Clark; “Aboriginal Voices” by Neal Corwell, performed by Dr. Ed Owen; “Five Greek Folk Songs” by Maurice Ravel, performed by Dr. Marika Kyriakos and Jay Shepherd; “Serenade for Horn and Piano” by Karen Griebling, performed by Dr. Robin Dauer and Dr. Lauren Schack Clark; and “Donem Joy Maba” by new ASU faculty member Kyle Chandler, performed by Dr. Lauren Schack Clark. During intermission, the audience is encouraged to view the Fowler Center’s Bradbury Gallery, where the Delta National Small Prints Exhibition will be on display. The exhibit will run through Feb. 21.For details, contact the music office at ext. 2094, or see the NewsPage release.

Nashville Storytellers to appear Jan. 29
Three of Nashville’s greatest American songwriters/performers will perform in the ninth event of Arkansas State University’s Lecture-Concert Series. Nashville storytellers Chris Wallin, C. J. Watson, and Jeff Gilkinson will perform and tell the stories behind their songs on Friday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. in ASU’s Student Union Auditorium. Hit songwriter Chris Wallin has written number one hit songs for Kenny Chesney (“Don’t Blink”), Toby Keith (“Love Me If You Can”), and Trace Atkins (“I’m Trying”). Wallin will be joined by singer-songwriting champion C. J. Watson, winner of the 2008 Kerrville New Folk Award for Songwriting, and author of “The Everything Songwriting Book,” and Jeff Gilkinson, one of Nashville’s most talented and versatile musicians. Jeff Gilkinson is a member of the legendary Dillards and has appeared on Austin City Limits. Watson and Gilkinson are both members of the band the Evertones. The event is free and open to the public. For details, contact Dr. Gil Fowler, associate dean, the Honors College, ext. 2308, or see the NewsPage release. 

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