Student Accomplishments

Margaret Grote, Communications Studies Student Assistant, wins UMKC Outstanding Student Employee of the Year for her professionalism, cheerfulness, patience and maturity in dealing with the myriad of responsibilities presented by a departmental office that serves more than 24 faculty and over 350 majors. Her capabilities were clearly demonstrated when she had to step into the position of AA and Office manager for a period of time due to an emergency and things continued to function smoothly.

Geosciences doctoral student Sajith Vezhapparambu research explains why jet contrails appear in spring and fall. Recently published article, co-authored by this College of Arts & Sciences graduate student has been profiled by Discovery Channel News (http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/08/jet-contrails.html). The study was published in the Journal Applied Meteorology and Climatology. Sajith is a doctoral degree candidate in the Department of Geosciences (Physics, co-discipline) and a current recipient of the UMKC Chancellors Doctoral Fellowship.

Scott Ditzler, graduate student in English, has won a 2008 AWP Intro Journal Award in Fiction for his short story "Pond Twenty-Seven" which will be published in Puerto del Sol. It marks the second consecutive year that a UMKC student has won this prize for a best new work.

Dustin Jensen, a triple major in Environmental Sciences, Urban Affairs and Geography, is now working in the Office of the Mayor as City Commissioner on the Kansas City Environmental Management Commission. Dustin was awarded the Udall Scholarship in both 2006 and 2007.

Josh Earlenbaugh, recently graduated Philosophy major, has been awarded the Jacob Javits Fellowship. The Javits is one of the “Big Twelve” awards most frequently applied for by American college and Graduate students. The Javits provides up to 4 years of support (renewable annually) for graduate study; the support includes an institutional stipend to cover tuition and all fees and a personal stipend up to $30,000 depending upon financial need. Josh was named a Javits alternate earlier in 2007 and just learned of his full appointment to the Fellowship. He began his doctoral studies in Philosophy at the University of California/Davis this past fall. Josh completed a stellar undergraduate program at UMKC with a record that included publishing, panel presentations and an active involvement with student and academic life. Upon his acceptance at UC/Davis, he was awarded the most prestigious scholarship provided by that university to one incoming graduate student in any discipline.

Jessica Goldring, 2007 – 2008 Fulbright recipient, has settled into her new quarters in Germany where she will pursue a rigorous graduate program in music and theatre. Jessica was one of 1300 recipients this year to be funded for overseas study in nearly 150 countries. See http://us.fulbrightonline.org/about.html.

Bowman Design Forum

The ninth annual Bowman Design Forum of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design was held on the Kansas State campus on December 5, 2007. The Forum brings internationally acclaimed architects to campus to discuss third-year work by students in the K-State Department of Architecture.

Two students from each of four third-year studio sections were selected to present their designs for a hypothetical 18,600 square foot visitor center to serve as a gateway for the promotion of experiential tourism in the Flint Hills. The program called for a facility and adjoining landscape that demonstrated the principles and best practices of ecological and sustainable design. The gateway center, to be located at the intersection of Interstate 70 and state highway 177, was to house commercial services as well as a prairie interpretive center.

The national jury gave an Honor Award and $1,000 to Amanda Garbach, Overland Park, KS (UMKC Student). Merit Awards and $500 each went to Aaron Dyck, North Newton, KS, and Eric Salmon,

Kimberling City, MO (UMKC Student).

Hillary Lungren, College of Arts and Sciences, was one of four students on campus to be named the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Honor Recipients for Fall 2007. Other students included Miriam Bailey, School of Law; Marisa Fultz, Bloch School of Business and Public Administration; and Tabitha Moe, School of Medicine. A committee selected these students as this Fall’s Honor Recipients based on their academic achievements, leadership roles, and service to the University and our community.

The dissertation thesis of Zdravka K. Todorova, IPhD, 2007, was a winner in the Competition to Honor the 150^th Anniversary of the Birth of Thorstein Veblen. Her thesis, entitled, Reconsidering the Role of Households in Economic Theory, considered the role of households within a micro-macro framework developed from a Post Keynesian and chartalist monetary theory of production. The work adds a further, Veblenian dimension by addressing the roles of gender and production in a pecuniary culture.

Dora Nadolski, IPhD graduate in 2001 in Political Science and History, has written a book entitled, “The Etatist Turkish Republic and Its Political and Socio-Economic Performance from 1980-1999: A Developing State Impacted by International Organizations and Interdependence.” It is to be published in March, 2008 by the Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group. Professor Nadolski is currently conducting research on Iraqi and Turkish Kurds in Middle East policy initiatives. She has taught at Rockhurst, Park, and Northwest Universities. Her awards include a Fulbright, a National Endowment for the Humanities in Islamic statecraft, a Social Science Research Council Fellowship in Erfurt, Germany, and selected for membership in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Women, and Who's Who in American Education from 2005 to 2008.

Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award: Nichole Huffman

“Nucleation of Hydroxyapatite Crystals with Biomineralization Foci is Associated with Proteolytic Processing of Bone Sialoprotien and Bone Acidic Glycorpotein-75”. She will be honored with a certificate and a check for $250.00 at the School of Graduate Studies Awards Convocation next spring.

Antonia Ford Roberts was offered a position in the costume department of the Los Angeles Opera. She was considered one of the best students at the recent Designer Showcase West, according to the Costume Director of the LA Opera, Jennifer Green.

In direct refutation of T.S. Eliot’s assertion about April, it is proving to be a very good month for UMKC students. In the past three weeks, we have learned of the following awards:

Josh Earlenbaugh (Senior, A&S), Javits Alternate (strong chance of receiving the award because of his high position on the alternate list). Recipient: most prestigious UC – Davis entering doctoral student Fellowship

Dustin Jensen, a junior carrying a triple major: Environmental Sciences, Urban Affairs and Geography, has been awarded the Udall 2007 Scholarship. This is his SECOND Udall award; he received the 2006 Scholarship last year. It is difficult not to sound as though I am indulging in hyperbole when talking about Dustin: he is simply one of the best, a truly remarkable person who has already made important contributions to our community and the larger society. The Udall Foundation invited him to submit for the second award; in the past year he has done such an exceptional job of connecting with fellow scholars and other environmentalists in the nation that they made it clear they wanted him to remain in the program.

Sarah Peters, a senior with a double major in History and Music, has been awarded a 2007 Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship to be applied to her graduate school studies. Sarah is one of 60 recipients from throughout the nation. At a time when we are revitalizing our Phi Kappa Phi Chapter on this campus, Sarah’s recognition is particularly gratifying and certainly an affirmation of the importance of this honorary for our students. Sarah’s splendid tenure at UMKC has been made noteworthy not only by her pursuit of a rigorous double major, but also her unstinting involvement in student government and campus life. Well done, Sarah!

These awards represent hundreds of hours of work on the part of our students, their mentors and letter writers, and the campus faculty committees. Each of them has already done so much; these well-deserved awards will help them become truly important members of their professions and society at large.

We have great news! Nancy Mays (MA student in fiction writing) has had her story “People Are” win one of the five Intro awards this spring from the Associated Writing Programs. See info below which I have pasted from the Associate Writing Programs web site (awpwriter.org). You will also find info below on the Barger winners. The Stork and Field scholarships are still being deliberated by the judges.

Nancy competed with students in major writing programs across the country and won. Her story will be published next fall in The Mid-American Review.

Congratulations, Nancy!

2006-07 Winners Announced in Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction

The Intro Journals Project is a literary competition for the discovery & publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in the programs of AWP. We offer many thanks to the tireless work of our General Editors from the past—Jim Simmerman, Joseph Duemer, Mary Crow, and Clint McCown—as well as the help of our judges. Due to their efforts, AWP has revitalized an essential service to our members and member programs.

Both graduate and undergraduate students are eligible. Contact your program director to submit your work. Each member program is free to devise its own method for nominating student works. Only students currently enrolled in AWP member programs may enter the competition. Judges for the 2008 contest will be announced at the end of the competition.

STUDENT AWARDS