Top News

NEW GI BILL® HELPS VETERANS ATTEND SOUTHWESTERN

 

[The Department of Veterans Affairs asks that the following notice appear after use of the term “GI Bill”: GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.]

For many students who come to Southwestern, getting used to living in a dorm can be difficult.

It wasn’t for Will Molidor, though.

Before coming to Southwestern, Molidor had already spent four years living in barracks as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. He also spent 13 months in Antarctica doing contract work as a firefighter.

Molidor is one of the first students to attend Southwestern through the new Post-September 11th G.I. Bill that enables veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to attend college after returning home. In addition to tuition, the bill provides for books and a monthly housing allowance. For veterans attending private institutions, the bill will cover tuition that matches the cost of the most expensive in-state public university.

Molidor said he chose to attend Southwestern after returning to Austin and spending a year taking courses at ACC. He was considering applying to Columbia when several friends of his mentioned Southwestern. “I heard a lot of good things from them, plus it was close to Austin. I looked into it and it felt like the right fit.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Events

AUSTIN CIVIC ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM AT SOUTHWESTERN FEB. 20

The Austin Civic Orchestra will present its Winter Concert at Southwestern on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater.

The orchestra, under the direction of Lois Ferrari, will perform Grieg’s “Holberg” Suite with the Southwestern University Orchestra. Also featured on the program will be Debussy’s “Premiere Rhapsodie for Orchestra and Clarinet” with clarinetist Richard MacDowell, Strauss’s Serenade, Opus 7, for chamber winds, and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Opus 88.

Tickets for the concert are $10 for adults, $8 for students and $3 for children under 12. For more information, visit www.austincivicorchestra.org

SAN GABRIEL WINDS TO GIVE FREE CONCERT AT SOUTHWESTERN FEB. 21

The San Gabriel Winds will present a chamber music recital on Sunday, Feb, 21, at 7 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater.

The concert will feature faculty performers Eric Stone Miller on bassoon, Adrienne Inglis on flute and flauto traverse, and Anna Carney on clarinet along with guest artists Amy Burgus on oboe and Eric Daub on piano. The ensemble will perform works by Cioffari, Caldini, Villa-Lobos, Debussy, Vivaldi and Ponchielli.

The concert is free and open to the public.

LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT PIRATES AT FEB. 22 LECTURE

Did Pirates really live up to the image we have created about them? Carolyn Eastman, assistant professor of history and women’s studies at UT-Austin, will explore this subject in a Feb. 22 lecture titled “Bootylicious or, Sexing Up the Pirates of the Caribbean in Early Printed Books.” The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in Mood Atrium.

In the golden age of piracy between 1670 and 1730, pirates decimated European trade in the Americas and posed an economic threat that was as serious as international war. Yet early illustrated books about pirates cultivated a different image. Increasingly, authors and book illustrators drew out highly sexualized, gender-bending and rapacious lives of the pirates for readers’ delight. Why focus on these themes? Eastman will analyze pirates in texts and illustrations to uncover the long history of sexy pirates in print and imagery.

FEB. 23 LECTURE WILL FOCUS ON IMPACT OF WALL BETWEEN U.S., MEXICO

The 2010 Fleming Science Lecture Series will explore the social, economic, environmental and ecological impacts of the U.S. Secure Border Initiative’s U.S.-Mexico Border Fence project. The series will begin Feb. 23 with a lecture by Juan Hernandez, founder of the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas. The lecture, titled “The New American Pioneers: Hispanics 2010 and el Gran Debate on Immigration Reform,” will begin at 4 p.m. in Olin 105. A reception will be held outside the lecture hall beginning at 3:30 pm.

Hernandez served as a cabinet member under former Mexican President Vicente Fox and has been a passionate advocate for human and civil rights for immigrants. Hernandez now acts as a consultant and adviser for leaders in the United States, Mexico and Central America. He is the author of several books, the most recently of which is titled The New American Pioneers. Copies of this book will be available at the lecture.

Future presentations in the series include an April 5 lecture by Michael Tewes from Texas A&M-Kingsville and an April 12 lecture by Joseph Cook from the University of New Mexico. Tewes is one of the world’s leading authorities on ocelots, which live near the U.S.-Mexico border, and Cook studies mountain lions and black bears that live in Mexico and southern Arizona.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH LECTURE WILL DISCUSS THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY

The Black History Month Lecture Series continues with a lecture by Carina Evans, assistant professor of English, on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Evans will present a lecture titled “The Legacy of Slavery in ‘Post-racial’ America” from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Marsha Ballroom on the second floor of the Campus Center.

URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL, OPENS MARCH 3

The Southwestern Theatre Department is presenting “Urinetown, The Musical” from Wednesday, March 3, through Sunday, March 7, in the Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones Theater.

The Tony Award-winning musical is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. Due to the water shortage, citizens of a Gotham-like city must use public amenities regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he’s had enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom.

Performances will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets for the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances and the Sunday matinee are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 63 and over, and $8 for students. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening performances are $18 for adults, $14 for seniors 63 and over and $12 for students. Tickets may be purchased online at www.southwestern.edu/boxoffice or by calling the box office at 512-863-1378. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more.

Media Coverage

The Williamson County Sun and the Austin American-Statesman ran stories about Senior University moving to Southwestern. Read the Statesman story here.

The Williamson County Sun ran a story about Southwestern raising $100 million in the Thinking Ahead campaign.

Several media outlets covered Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s visit to Southwestern on Tuesday, including KVUE-TV and News8 Austin. Watch the KVUE story here. Watch the News8 story here.

The Williamson County Sun and KXAN-TV did stories on Kinesiology Professor Scott McLean’s work with the U.S. Olympic bobsled team. Watch the KXAN story here.

Notables

Ellen Davis, director of communications, had an article published in the February issue of PR Tactics.