Stoverink has proposal accepted at annual conference
Al Stoverink, assistant vice chancellor for Facilities Management, recently had his proposal, "Leadership for Everyone," accepted for presentation at an educational session at the upcoming CAPPA 2009 Annual Educational Conference and Business Exposition. The session is in late September at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D. CAPPA is the central regional division of APPA, the association of higher education leadership professionals. APPA's mission is the elevating of facilities professionals into influential leaders in education by transforming them into higher-performing managers and leaders. This helps to transform member institutions into inviting and supportive learning environments and elevates the recognition and value of educational facilities and their impact on the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff. APPA promotes excellence in all phases of facilities management, including administration, planning, design, construction, energy/utilities, maintenance, and operations.

Dr. Tusalem publishes article in journal
Dr. Rollin F. Tusalem, Political Science, recently published an article, "The Role of Protestantism in Democratic Consolidation Among Transitional States," in the July issue of  the journal Comparative Political Studies. The article examines the causal link between Protestantism and democratization, primarily in shaping a nation-state's cultural ethos and its tendency to affect the outcome of democratic politics. Historically, Protestantism has also been linked to generating a political culture that promotes individualism, tolerance, the pluralism of ideas, and civic associationalism. Recent empirical evidence also shows how Protestant countries are more likely to be democratic compared to largely Islamic and Catholic states. Drawing from established cultural theories, Dr. Tusalem empirically tests the argument whether or not transitional states with larger Protestant populations are more likely to strengthen their democracies. Findings indicate that transitional states that have higher Protestant populations are more likely to have higher levels of voice and accountability, political stability, citizenship empowerment, and civil society pluralism. The author contends that transitional states with higher Protestant populations are more likely to consolidate their democracies.

Dr. Bednarz and students publish journal article
Dr. Jim Bednarz, Wildlife Ecology, and two of his recent graduate students, Nick Anich and Dr. T. J. Benson, recently published an article this summer in the Journal of Field Ornithology, an international journal published by the Association of Field Ornithologists. The article, "Effect of Radio Transmitters on Return Rates of Swainson’s Warblers," describes a recent study that assesses the effects of using small radio transmitters (<0.5 g) to study a very small songbird. Bednarz and his students placed transmitters on 40 male Swainson’s Warblers and compared their return rates the following year with 86 males just marked with color bands (no transmitter). They found no differences. This is the first study, using a large sample size of birds, that demonstrated no long-term adverse affects of using glue-on radio transmitters to study the ecology of small songbirds and has broad implications to many avian ecological studies throughout the world.

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