Dr. Maness to hold book signing in library Sept. 2
Dr. Don Maness, dean, College of Education, will hold a book signing for “Do They Miss Me at Home?: The Civil War letters of William McKnight of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry," on Thursday, Sept. 2, at 1 p.m. in the Dean B. Ellis Library's third-floor exhibition and programs area. The book was published this spring by Ohio University Press, and contains more than one hundred letters, providing in-depth accounts of several battles in Kentucky and Tennessee, including the Knoxville and Cumberland Gap campaigns that were pivotal events in the western theater of the Civil War. Copies of the book will be for sale at the event. Dr. Maness has also donated a copy of his book to the library, presenting it to interim library dean Jeff Bailey. For more details about the book, see the NewsPage release. For event details, contact April Sheppard, ext. 2766.

Dr. Po-Lin Pan publishes journal article, presents papers
Dr. Po-Lin Pan, Radio/TV, published an article, "Morality or equality? Ideological framing in news coverage of gay marriage legitimization," in the Social Science Journal, Volume 47, Issue 3 (September 2010). This content analytic study investigated the approaches of two mainstream newspapers—The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune—to cover the gay marriage issue. The study used the Massachusetts legitimization of gay marriage as a dividing point to look at what kinds of specific political or social topics related to gay marriage were highlighted in the news media. The study examined how news sources were framed in the coverage of gay marriage, based upon the newspapers’ perspectives and ideologies. The results indicated that The New York Times was inclined to emphasize the topic of human equality related to the legitimization of gay marriage. After the legitimization, The New York Times became an activist for gay marriage. Alternatively, the Chicago Tribune highlighted the importance of human morality associated with the gay marriage debate. The perspective of the Chicago Tribune was not dramatically influenced by the legitimization. It reported on gay marriage in terms of defending American traditions and family values both before and after the gay marriage legitimization. The Social Science Journal is the official journal of the Western Social Science Association. Dr. Pan also recently attended the Information Systems Division of the 60th Convention of International Communication Association (ICA) in Singapore, where he presented two papers, "Mortality salience in news coverage of immigrant criminals: Effects on viewer’s emotional responses, news evaluations, and crime perceptions," which he co-authored with Shuhua Zhou, and "Examining affective dispositions in online comments readership of sporting events," co-authored with Prof. Sandra Combs, Journalism. Dr. Pan also presented a paper, also co-authored with Shuhua Zhou, "Mortality salience in broadcast news: An exploratory test of effects on the judgments of the immigration issue, at the Mass Communication Division of the 80th Convention of Southern States Communication Association (SSCA) in Memphis, Tenn.

ASU faculty trio performs world premier composition
Dr. Dan Ross, oboe Dr. Dale Clark, bassoon, and Dr. Lauren Schack Clark, piano, all faculty of the Music department, performed on July 25 at the International Double Reed Society Conference (IDRS) in Norman, Okla. Performing as the Arkansas State University Double Reed and Piano Trio, the group performed a world premier of "Three Dances for Three," by international award-winning composer Allen Feinstein. The performance was choreographed by University of Oklahoma choreographer Cheyla Clawson and danced by the OU dancers. The OU school of dance, under the direction of Mary Margaret Holt, is one of the three most prestigious university schools of dance in the U. S. Subsequent performances of the work took place in Salt Lake City, Utah. The ASU Trio has performed at two other IDRS conferences and both Drs. Clark performed at the conference last July in Birmingham, England.

Office of Admissions recognizes STARS for May, June
Rosanne Burton, Office of Admissions, was recognized as May's STARS Employee of the Month. Tiffany Daniels, Office of Admissions, was recognized as June's STARS Employee of the Month. The STARS program (Service Targeted At Recruiting Students), recognizes Admissions staff for their dedication and commitment to customer service. Burton, the coordinator of Recruitment, was nominated by Christi Crawford and voted on by her peers as June's STARS Employee of the Month. Burton had been with the Office of Admissions for more than three years but has since moved on to retire and be with her family. She served the office extraordinarily well. She was not only able to put out ideas but execute them as well. Her role in the office was one of many. Burton was a recruitment leader but also an office manager. She was a leader, a listener, as well as a friend to everyone. Tiffany Daniels, an administrative specialist, was nominated by the processing staff and voted on by her peers as May's STARS Employee of the Month. Daniels joined the Office of Admissions in March and has done an outstanding job adapting to and accepting her new role. She is a wonderful liaison between the students and the staff, which makes the admissions process run more smoothly. She takes her duties and responsibilities very seriously.

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