Fall commencement is Dec. 18
Arkansas State University in Jonesboro will hold its 2010 fall commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m. in the Convocation Center. Interim Chancellor Dr. Dan Howard will confer degrees upon more than 900 graduates. Brigadier General Joseph Caravalho Jr., a well-decorated surgeon and the Commanding General of Brooke Army Medical Clinic/Southern Regional Medical Command at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the featured speaker. Brigadier General Caravalho was born and raised in Hawaii, and is a 1975 alumnus of St. Louis High School in Hawaii. In 1979, he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Dr. Caravalho is also a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College, the latter from which he received a master of strategic studies degree. He is a close friend of Major General Elder Granger, an ASU distinguished alumnus recipient in 2008, who will formally introduce Dr. Caravalho. More than 900 graduates, both undergraduate and graduate, will receive degrees, along with 90 students receiving associate degrees. Following the ceremony, a reception will be held on the north mezzanine. Punch and cookies will be served. Commencement can be viewed online. A Broadband connection (384k or greater) is required. To view the video stream, Windows users can use Windows Media Player to open the file url mms://streamer.astate.edu/asutv. Macintosh users can use QuickTime to open the file url at mms://streamer.astate.edu/asutv. Windows Media Components for QuickTime (by Flip4Mac) should be installed. For details, see the NewsPage release.

University Police Department recognizes officers
On Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 11 a.m., ASU's University Police Department held its annual luncheon and awards ceremony. Interim Chief Randy Martin presented the Arkansas State University Police Certificate of Merit to Officer Ron Smith and Officer Traci Simpson. Chief Martin also presented the Arkansas State University Police Medal of Valor to Officer Bobby Duff, for uncommon valor over and above the call of duty. Duff forestalled an attempted robbery while off-duty at a local restaurant. In addition to a certificate and the Medal of Valor, Duff was also presented with an award from Dr. Rick Stripling, vice chancellor, Student Affairs, and Dr. Lonnie Williams, associate vice chancellor, Student Affairs.

Dr. Gilbert named new dean of Continuing Education
Dr. Beverly Boals Gilbert, Elementary Education, and a faculty member at ASU since 1978, has been named as the new dean of Continuing Education and Community Outreach, university officials announced Thursday morning. Dr. Gilbert’s appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2011, according to Dr. Glen Jones, provost and interim executive vice chancellor. Dr. Jones said Dr. Gilbert’s selection followed after a national search for a replacement for Dr. Verlene Ringgenberg, who retired from the dean’s position Feb. 13, 2010. Dr. Jones noted that ASU’s national search yielded four qualified candidates. Dr. Gilbert joined the Arkansas State faculty in 1978 as an assistant professor of Early Childhood Education and was subsequently named as an associate professor, a position she held until 1985.That year, she was named as chair of the Department of Elementary Education and remained in that capacity until 1997.She has served as a professor of Early Childhood Education after earning that rank in 1993. Dr. Gilbert is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a bachelor of arts degree in Elementary-Early Childhood Education. She earned a master of arts degree in Elementary Education from the University of Mississippi, and she received her doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi in Elementary-Early Childhood Education. Dr. Gilbert is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles, and has an extensive history of community involvement. For details, see the NewsPage release.

Rosemary Freer elected NCTA treasurer
Rosemary Freer, director of testing, was elected treasurer of the National College Testing Association (NCTA) at the organization’s last board meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee in November. NCTA is the world’s largest organization for the advancement of professional testing standards and practices, with membership of more than 600 colleges and 40 corporations. NCTA is dedicated to the promotion of quality in the administration of testing services and programs, including issues relating to test administration, test development, test scoring, and assessment. The NCTA treasurer is in charge of, has custody of, and is responsible for all funds and securities of NCTA and reports directly to the board.The treasurer serves as chair of the Budget and Financial Review Committee; prepares and submits an annual budget report to the board and the archivist; ensures that proper documentation is submitted for all expenditures; and maintains all financial records.  he treasurer oversees the comptroller and the Board Grant Committee. Freer was also recently elected to her second four-year term on the organization’s governing board.

Dr. Hayes, Dr. Baglan, Dr. Thatcher attend convention
Faculty in the Department of Communication Studies participated in the annual convention of the National Communication Association held November 13-17 in San Francisco, Ca. Dr. Marceline Hayes presented a paper on a panel, “A Nonwestern Perspective on Communication.” Dr. Thomas Baglan participated on a panel, “Building Strong Master’s Programs in a Tight Economy,” and Dr. Matthew Thatcher presented a paper, “Identity and Interpersonal Contexts.”   

Dr. Jacinto, Dr. Hong conduct research projects
Dr. George Jacinto, Social Work, and Dr. Young Joon Hong, Social Work, conducted two research projects.The first study explored generational preferences among social work students with regard to learning preferences and online learning preferences.The second study explored self-forgiveness among college freshman. Drs. Jacinto and Hong sought to understand if there was an association between self-forgiveness and self-esteem, locus of control, and the students' understanding of their purposes in life. Drs. Jacinto and Hong hope to work on publishing from the two studies in the new year. Dr. Jacinto also serves as guest editor for two issues in the Journal of Social Service Research. One issue focuses on research on spirituality in Social Work practice, and a second issue focuses on research on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender populations in Social Work practice.

Dr. Shafer publishes article on marriage timing
Dr. Kevin Shafer, Sociology, recently published an article, “Marriage Timing and Educational Assortative Mating,” in the Journal of Comparative Family Studies. Dr. Shafer's paper was co-authored with Dr. Zhenchao Qian of Ohio State University. The paper explores the relationship between marriage timing, educational assortative mating, or how men and women match on educational attainment when marrying, and gender. The results show that less-educated men and women are most likely to marry a similarly educated spouse when they are young, but highly-educated men and women marry similarly educated spouses when they are in their late 20s and early 30s. Drs. Shafer and Qian also show that the longer men and women wait to marry affects who they marry: less-educated men and both less and highly educated men become unlikely to marry at older ages, while highly-educated men become increasingly likely to marry women with less education. The results are important for future research and understanding new trends in marriage, given that men and women continue to marry at later ages, and colleges now produce more female than male graduates.

Dr. Warner's dissertation chosen for award
Dr. Barbara Warner, Political Science, had her dissertation work chosen as one of two for the "2010 University of Arkansas Public Policy Ph.D. Program Distinguished Dissertation Award." The title of Warner's dissertation was "Talking Us Into War: Problem Definition By Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush." As Dr. Warner notes, how presidents talk us into war merges the study of problem definition in public policy with the study of rhetoric in communications. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this research analyzes the key words used by two presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush, to persuade Americans into escalating a war in Vietnam and engaging in a pre-emptive war in Iraq, respectively. The findings indicate that presidents repeat words that are patriotic, emotive, metaphorical, symbolic and religious, tapping into American themes of manifest destiny and even predicting dire outcomes if presidential definitions of the dangers and rewards involved in going to war are not accepted.The study also found that presidents develop a sustaining narrative that highlights what problem definition literature calls a “causal story,” which identifies the harm done, describes its cause, assigns moral blame, and claims government is responsible for the remedy (Stone 1989).This research indicates that Johnson used far less antithetical, religious, and repetitive language than did Bush, in some cases strikingly so. This work relies upon the literature on problem definition, presidential rhetoric, and presidential leadership as a backdrop for studying the major speeches of these two presidents prior to their escalation or initiation of war. It employs content analysis using the computerized program, NVivo 7.The study concluded that while we may not be able to measure the degree to which various audiences are persuaded by presidential rhetoric, we can see that presidents, who wield the powerful bully pulpit, carefully choose their words and repeat them often to afford themselves maximum persuadability with their audiences as they try to talk us into war. Such language also appears designed to quell dissent and to enlarge the authority of the president. Dr. Warner graduated in August 2009 from the Public Policy Ph.D. program at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Dean B. Ellis Library open during holiday break
The Dean B. Ellis Library will again be open on a limited schedule during the upcoming holiday break.The library will be open on the following days at the times listed:
Saturday, December 18 (Commencement Day) 10 am-3 pm
Monday, December 20, 2010                 11 am-5 pm
Tuesday, December 21, 2010                11 am-5 pm
Wednesday, December 22, 2010           11am-5 pm
Monday, December 27, 2010                 11am-5pm
Tuesday, December 28, 2010                11 am-5 pm
Wednesday, December 29, 2010           11 am-5 pm
The library will be closed December 19, December 23-26, and December 30-January 2, 2011. View all library hours (http://www.library.astate.edu/hours.htm.)

This issue of Inside ASU is final for 2010; happy holidays
The staff of Inside ASU wishes joy, peace, and illumination during the winter holiday season to all faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of the university as we dispatch this year's final issue of Inside ASU. Look for us early next year. ASU news is gathered, produced, edited, posted online, and distributed by Gina Bowman, director, Media Relations, and Sara E. McNeil, director, University Communications. Contact either Bowman (office line (870) 972-2250; cell (870) 243-6020) or McNeil (office line (870) 972-3633; cell (870) 897-5088) with any questions. We want to hear from you. The ASU news team reports directly to Christy Valentine, executive director of Communications. See the NewsPage release for complete and comprehensive information about submissions to ASU news, including guidelines on submitting photographs and images.


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