Anne Cobb and Erin Cormier of the office of public information and communications at McNeese State University were presented with professional awards at the 2008 CASE District IV Conference in Little Rock, Ark. CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, is an international association for professions that advance educational institutions. District IV includes higher education institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mexico, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Cobb, graphic artist and board member of the American Advertising Federation, received a bronze award for specialty advertising design for her "Write to Excellence" campaign, which was designed to advance the university's Quality Enhancement Plan. The gold and silver awards were presented to the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University. Cormier, a communications specialist and former feature writer with the American Press, received a silver award in feature writing for a story on a McNeese graduate who overcame a rare brain tumor. The gold and bronze awards were presented to Texas A&M University and Baylor.

Toby Osburn, dean of student services at McNeese, Cinnamon Salvador, director of university police at McNeese, and Candace Townsend, director of public information and communications at McNeese, had an article titled "Student-Administration Collaboration for Campus Safety: A Funding Success Story" published in the Online Bulletin of the International Association of Emergency Managers, Vol. 25, No. 3, March 2008, Campus Safety, Part 2. IAEM is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting the goals of saving lives and protecting property during emergencies and disasters.

Dr. Satyanarayana Parayitam, assistant professor of management at McNeese, has co-authored a paper titled "The Interplay Between Cognitive and Affective Conflict and Cognition and Affect-Based Trust in Influencing Decision Outcomes" that has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Business Research.

Dr. William Dees, McNeese associate professor of biological science, attended the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service and Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service's Stakeholders' Workshop for Veterinary, Medical and Urban Entomology in Denver, Colo. He participated in meetings to develop a five-year research action plan for the ARS Veterinary, Medical and Urban Entomology National Program.

Dr. Rathnam Indurthy, professor of government at McNeese, and Dr. Muhammad Haque, assistant professor of sociology at McNeese, recently attended the Social Science Association Conference in Las Vegas, Nev. Indurthy presented a paper titled "The Peace Process Between India and the Musharraf Regime over the Kasmir Dispute: A Military Rule Is Not Conducive for Its Resolution" and chaired an undergraduate panel on world issues, while Haque served as chair of a panel on globalization and economic sociology.

McNeese's yearbook, The Log, was one of 38 colleges and universities recently featured in the first "College Sampler," a showcase of layout design and photography selected and published by Taylor Publishing Company, one of the nation's largest yearbook publishers. Kasha Ashworth of DeQuincy, editor, and Maggie Frey of Sulphur, creative director, produced the 2007 yearbook, titled "Symmetrical Year," Adviser is Candace Townsend, director of public information and communications.

Dr. Sandra J. Leder, assistant professor of teacher education at McNeese, was presented the Loretta Doerr Achievement Award by the state chapter of Kappa Kappa Iota, a national professional organization for educators. This award recognizes educators who have made significant contributions to education and community service. The award is named for one of the past presidents of the state organization. Leder is a former state president, has chaired numerous national committees and is the recipient of state and national scholarships from this organization. She is the sponsor of the McNeese chapter of Kappa Kappa Iota.

Cheryl Northam, professor of health and human performance at McNeese, was elected vice president elect for sport and leisure for the Southern District of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance at the AAHPERD/SDAAHPERD Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. The Southern District is comprised of 13 states--Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Northam has also been presented the Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Honor Award, an annual award that recognizes those persons who have made outstanding professional contributions to the field of health, physical education, recreation and dance.

Debbie Johnson-Houston, assistant professor and head of serials in Frazar Memorial Library at McNeese, was selected to serve as a peer reviewer for the 2008 Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant applications. She served on a team of 90 peer reviewers from across the country that evaluated almost 2,000 grant applications for this program that supports the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind Initiative.

Dr. Delma McLeod-Porter, professor and director of the Write to Excellence Center at McNeese, has been recognized by the College Reading and Learning Association's Arkansas/Louisiana Chapter for her professional contributions and leadership to the CRLA organization.

Dr. Joe Cash, head of the English and foreign languages department at McNeese, recently presented "Mississippi River Delta Folklore in the Paintings of Alvin Batiste" at the 29th annual meeting of the Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association in Albuquerque, N.M.

Dr. Ann Warner, assistant professor of nursing, presented "Experiences of Family Caregivers for Adults with Oxygen Dependent COPD" at the Research and Nursing: Formula for Practice conference at Northwestern State University.