HSU Insider

Foreign aide worker Cyd Mizell was abducted, along with her driver, as she left her home for work in the Afghanistan city of Kandahar. The former HSU student becomes the 28th foreigner kidnapped in Afghanistan this year, in a political climate that is increasingly unstable and dangerous; even for non-combatants.

A recent image of Cyd Mizell in traditional burqa

“It doesn’t surprise me that she would be in a place like Afghanistan,� says Karen Taylor, Cyd’s roommate when the two attended Hardin-Simmons University in the late 1970’s, “working to help others, even in the midst of war, danger, and chaos; a place where it’s dangerous simply to exist as a woman, much less be there as an American woman trying to help other women and girls.� Taylor remembers Mizell as being in the same “pod� of friends while at HSU, “She was (and I’m sure still is) a vibrant, warm, smart, funny young woman. She participated in a number of organizations on campus, including Sigma Alpha Iota and Chorale. I never recall seeing Cyd without that smile on her face, like the one in the CNN picture, and all of the yearbook pictures. She is a happy, positive, sincere person, with a heart as big as Texas.�

Cydney Mizell works for Asian rural Life Development Foundation and teaches English and embroidery lessons at a girl’s school as an income-generating project for women. Although 23 South Koreans, two Germans, and two Italian journalists were kidnapped this year, abductions of Americans are extremely rare. Jeff Palmer, the aid group’s international director, said the group had not been contacted by the kidnappers and that he did not know their identity or demands.

Cydney Mizell as the 1978 Sophomore "Favorite."

Asadullah Khalid, the provincial governor, blamed the kidnappings on the “enemy of Islam and the enemy of Afghanistan.� He said the 49-year-old American was wearing a traditional burqa when she was seized. A professor at Kandahar University, Mohammad Gul, said Mizell speaks the local language, Pashtu, well and did not travel with armed guards, “She is a very patient and calm woman. She was always thinking about Afghanistan’s future.�

Cydney's 1978 HSU yearbook photo

The Asian Rural Life Development Foundation runs food-for-work, irrigation rehabilitation, health care, and restoration projects around Kandahar, according to the group’s web site. The group also has projects in Vietnam, China, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Palmer appealed for her return saying, “It is our hope that our worker will be released safely and quickly and we are doing all that we can to resolve the situation. This is a first for our organization and we’re really praying for a quick resolution.�

Hardin Simmons University marketing majors and members of Abilene’s public relations community will get a first-hand peek into the tool box of veteran New York PR and media executive Ed Lamoureaux on Tuesday, January 22nd during classes and at the Abilene Public Relations Organization (PRO) luncheon. Lamoureaux will present “Using Online Social Networks and Communities as PR Power Tools� at 11:30 in the Johnson Building at HSU.

Ed Lamoureaux

The program is the third in a series of four planned by Abilene PRO during the 2007-2008 year. The luncheon is open to the public (reservations required). Area public relations and communications professionals and students, and anyone interested in improving his or her PR and marketing skills, are invited to attend.

Lamoureaux, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales for broadcast PR company WestGlen Communications, has deep experience in the public relations and marketing services arena, Internet services and the video production and distribution fields. He has developed a unique program whereby innovative online marketing techniques are wedded with solid PR strategies to deliver superior information dissemination results.

Prior to joining WestGlen in 2004, Mr. Lamoureaux served as Vice President, U.S. Sales for The NewsMarket, a leader in the emerging field of digital video distribution via the Web. Mr. Lamoureaux’ other appointments include: VMS, the largest television monitoring service in the U.S. where he was Vice President, Sales and Business Development; USWeb/CKS where he was General Manager, Eastern U.S.: Bacon’s Information of New York, a subsidiary of K-III/Primedia where he was Vice President and General Manager and Medialink, where he was influential in bringing the company from start up to successful IPO. Lamoureaux worked with our own Leland Harden, vice president of Institutional Advancement, in a number of corporate venues including Harden’s start-up company, GiftCertificates.com. Harden considers him a giant in aggressive, results oriented marketing.

The Abilene Public Relations Organization (Abilene PRO) is a nonprofit association that provides educational programs, networking opportunities and support for public relations and communications professionals and students in the greater Abilene area.

Author Sylvia Gann Mahoney was a college rodeo coach, coach’s spouse, alumni administrator, former contestant, and happened to be born the year of the first collegiate rodeo. The author, more qualified perhaps than anyone to write the first book about college rodeo, is the guest speaker at the 2008 Guy Caldwell western Heritage Lecture Friday, 8 Feb in Moody Center on the HSU campus, room 233.

Sylvia Gann Mahoney

With an insider's understanding of the people, events, and history of college rodeo, Sylvia Gann Mahoney details the sport's progression from regional entertainments to international events, from one-horse trailers to multi-horse rigs, from dollar donations to million-dollar sponsorships, from human-judged inconsistency to electronic reliability, and from a ranch-raised cowboy majority to urban cowperson sprawl. She completed some of her research at Hardin-Simmons University and will discuss the important role that HSU played in the establishment of collegiate rodeo as a competitive sport. Her book, College Rodeo From Show to Sport is a chronicle of the sport and has gained a formidable following.

In the early years of the twentieth century, a growing number of kids from farms and ranches attended college, many choosing the land grant institutions that allowed them to prepare for agricultural careers back home. They brought with them a love for the skills, challenges, and competition they had known—a taste for rodeo. The first-ever college rodeo was held in 1920 at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, as Texas A&M was then known. Since that time, college rodeo has thrived on campuses throughout the West.

The Guy Caldwell Lecture series was made possible by an endowment established by Lee Caldwell, Clifton Caldwell, and Molly Cline in memory and honor of their father, local rancher Guy Caldwell. The purpose of the endowment is to preserve the western heritage of Hardin-Simmons University and the Abilene area. The 8:00 p.m. lecture is free and open to the public. For more information about the lecture, contact Dr. Tiffany Fink, 325.670.1512.

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Hardin-Simmons University will host an elementary Music Workshop with Orff Schulwerk clinician Chris Judah-Lauder, on the University campus, Monday, Jan 21, for area elementary music teachers.

Chris Judah-Lauder

The Orff Schulwerk method is a process which incorporates singing, instrument playing, and rhythmic play into a process for children to create and perform music. The workshop will focus on ways to establish a positive learning atmosphere that will enable and encourage students to work to their potential in playing, creating, and extending musical compositions. Attendees will work with an assortment of barred instruments and drums, using both sacred and secular material. Teachers will have hands-on opportunities to experience the Orff process, and will receive a packet of materials suitable for use in public school and church music programs.

Chris Judah-Lauder teaches fifth through eighth grade music at Good Shepherd Episcopal School in Dallas, TX where she received the Teacher of the Year Award in 2001. She has served on the National Board for the American Orff Schulwerk Association as a Regional Representative and Local Conference Co-chair. She has recently been elected to serve as the National Co-Chair for the 2009 National American Orff Schulwerk Conference in Milwaukee.

Judah-Lauder practicing rhythmic play with her students

She is a composer and an active nationally known clinician. She teaches Orff teacher training courses, in-service staff developments and presents workshops for “children’s music in church� throughout the United States. Chris has presented at 7 National Orff Conferences.

Chris also directs three middle school music ensemble groups that have been featured at international and national conferences including the opening session at the 1995 National Orff-Schulwerk Conference.

Her publications include Spotlight on Music (Macmillan/McGraw), to drum, Canya Conga, Fun with Boomwhackers®, Hand Drums on the Move, Boom Boom Classic ,Boom Boom Holiday Fun, Keeping It Simple, Sounds n’ Beats, Hands on Recorder Bk 2, the video Hand Drums and More, and she is a contributing author for Spotlight on Music. Chris also has a video presentation on “Hand Drums and More� available from the American Orff Schulwerk Association library.

The workshop grants 3 hours of advanced academic training credit and will be held in the HSU Hemphill Building choir room from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Registration is $30. Music educators, children’s music ministers, Music Education majors, and home educators may register at the door or by sending a check to Dr. Leigh Anne Hunsaker, Hardin-Simmons University, Box 16230, Abilene, TX 79698.

Please make checks payable to HSU-MENC. For further information, contact Dr. Hunsaker, HSU Music Education department head and director of Graduate Studies Programs at 670-1391.

There is a good chance that a pocket of crude oil lies under the HSU campus, and the Abilene City Council approved a permit for Dallas based Cholla Petroleum Inc. to find out. Don’t worry, you won’t see oil wells on HSU’s front lawn; the property is located just north of the Six White Horses Center on the old ROTC obstacle course.

Cholla is a small company that specializes in developing reserves in areas that other companies overlook. Although the odds of developing producing wells are one in nine, the company’s research, and the proximity of working wells just north of the planned drilling site make their investment a good risk. Hardin-Simmons will not incur any development costs, but will receive a portion of the profits if the wells come in. “It’s a win, win situation for everybody,� says Dr. Craig Turner, university president.

Drilling location - the old HSU ROTC obstacle course

If the wells do produce, the University doesn’t expect a financial windfall. The wells are relatively shallow, 3,000 to 3,500 feet, and these wells typically product a medium to low volume of crude. However, Dr. Turner considers any income from the wells a blessing and indicated that the University will use the proceeds to keep costs down for students.

The Texas Railroad Commission has already granted approval for the test wells, and HSU has leased the mineral rights. The City Council’s approval means that drilling will begin immediately. The company gave assurances that the drilling will have a minimal environmental footprint, and will be virtually unnoticed by area residents and the University. The former ROTC obstacle course is now covered in mesquite trees and the operation should be well screened from casual observers.

The operation of working wells on university property, so close to the campus, may be unprecedented and has attracted quite a bit of media attention. Only the working well on the front lawn of the Oklahoma State Capitol building is as unique.

The Abilene Independent School District went back to class Jan 7, and two yellow buses pulled up to the new Holland Health Sciences Building on the HSU campus. After moving boxes, books, skeletons, and anatomical models over the Christmas Holidays, AISD teachers were ready as the first 50 students crowded off the buses Monday morning. The Magnet School is a first-of-its-kind project in that it was built entirely by the University, on the University campus, to benefit students of the Abilene High School and Cooper High School Health Science Technology Program. University President, Dr. Craig Turner, and AISD Superintendant, Dr. David Polnick led media into the building carrying the last of the lab equipment and answering questions from the press.

Medical High School student learns how to transfer a patient

There were a lot of ooh’s and ahh’s as students explored their new classrooms, and when it was time to head back to the buses, many student’s lingered; just to absorb the feel of the place; from the lab, with it’s electronically adjusting tables, to the Skills Lab, which looks more like an emergency room than a classroom. The two academic classrooms and four labs on the first floor of the 22,000 square foot building will be maintained by HSU, but school district will provide curriculum, technology, and staffing. Currently, over 200 students are enrolled in the program and will rotate through the complex as class schedules require. The second floor of the building, which is still getting a few finishing touches, will be additional lab space for HSU science and mathematics students.

Students completing courses of study in the program can receive industry-recognized certifications as pharmacy technicians, emergency medical technicians--basic, phlebotomy technicians, and certified nurse aides, as well as several levels of first aid and CPR. Recent graduates of the program are currently enrolled in pre-medical and pre-pharmacy programs throughout the country, including Johns-Hopkins University, Baylor University, and the Honors Program at Texas Tech University.
In addition to the regular sequence of health science technology courses (HST I, HST II, and HST III), students are able to take advanced science and medical courses. These courses include: Anatomy and Physiology, Forensic Science: Code Blue (Microbiology), Forensic Science: C.S.I. (Pathophysiology); and Medical Terminology. An independent study course, which involves in-depth individual research into an allied health problem, is also available for students completing the distinguished achievement program.

The first student rotation leaves for the day

Although the primary aim of the magnet school is to improve health care in Abilene, the recruiting benefit is obvious. Not only will students have the facilities in the magnet school, they will be able to use the Richardson building and physical therapy complex in their class work. HSU faculty will be guest lecturers during the year, and students will feel at home on the campus by the time they finish high school.

A formal dedication of the building is scheduled with donors Jacque and David “Scotty� Holland, dignitaries, and the Abilene Red Coats on February 7th. Holland, an HSU alumnus and athlete, went on to become president and CEO of Pennzoil Exploration and Production Company, and later endowed the Holland School of Sciences and Mathematics. Faculty and staff are invited to the 10:00 dedication and the reception following.
In addition to the Holland’s, the Dodge Jones Foundation, Mabee Foundation, Dian Graves Owen Foundation, and Shelton Family Foundation contributed to the $3.9 million project.

We'll start off the new year with the Commencement award winners from the recent December graduation exercises. These students are remarkable.

Three degree candidates were singled out for singular accomplishment at Hardin-Simmons University commencement exercises on Saturday, Dec 15.

Savannah Minnick, of Abilene, Texas, a summa cum laude graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish, was awarded the Academic Foundation Medal for outstanding scholarship and service to the University and community.

Savannah Minnick

The Academic Foundation Medal was established in 1999 by the Academic Foundation of Hardin-Simmons University. This medal is awarded annually at Winter Commencement to the graduate who achieves the highest grade point average, exemplifies the highest scholarly achievement, and completes at least 90 semester hours of residence credit at HSU.

Our 2007 honoree distinguished herself academically as well as in service to the community and the University. She has held jobs on campus as a tutor in both English and Spanish, as a student working in the department of literature and languages and as an employee in the HSU Bookstore. She has consistently been on the President’s List and her high grades have earned her the Ruth Ann Burton Endowed memorial Scholarship, the Reiff Presidential Scholarship, and the Virginia Oldham Endowed Scholarship. During the Fall of 2004, she worked in HSU’s Character Education Program and has also been an International Rescue Committee Volunteer. She excelled in the Department of Literature and Languages by earning membership in the 4.0 Club and by traveling to Spain where she studied with her peers at the University of Salamanca. She is also a member of Alpha Mu Gamma Foreign Language Honor Society.

Sarah Speegle, of Snyder, Texas, a summa cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education, received the Winnie & D.M. Wiggins Award for outstanding scholarship and service to the University.

Sarah Speegle

The Winnie and D. M. Wiggins Medal is awarded to the senior student graduating at winter commencement for academic excellence throughout his or her entire college career. The student must have spent three or more years in residence and excelled in character, personal development, and academic achievement.

Our 2007 honoree has distinguished herself academically, musically, and in service to the University. She has been named repeatedly to the President’s List and is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Sigma Alpha Iota National Music Fraternity for Women, the Hardin-Simmons Concert Band, Cowboy Band, Collegiate Orchestra and the HSU Chorale. She was named the “Presser Scholar� which is the most prestigious award given by the School of Music. The Presser Scholar award is given for academic excellence and merit. She has been very active in the College Ministry in her church and as a volunteer in the Children’s Music Ministry.

Jennifer Carter, of Houston, Texas, graduating with a master of arts degree in Family Psychology, and an accumulated grade point average of 4.0, received the 2007 Graduate Dean’s Award of Excellence. The recipient is selected from nominations from all graduate programs and is the individual who excelled as a graduate student, typifies the character and Behavior consistent with HSU’s mission and purpose, and showed potential to excel in their field of study.

Jennifer Carter

While pursuing her degree she found time to serve the Abilene community by interning at three sites; The Regional Crime Victims Crisis Center, Just People, and the Christian Women’s Job Corps. On campus; she has worked in the HSU Family Psychology Center, represented Family Psychology students on the Graduate Student Council, and served as student liaison to the Abilene Marriage and Family Therapy Association.

Eryn completed her undergraduate work at Oklahoma Baptist University, and is the daughter of Donnie and Brenda Carter.