March 12, 2013

In this issue…

• Current News
• Family Updates
• Personnel Updates

Current News

CBU announces extended hours for student study groups

 

California Baptist University has announced extended hours for three additional on-campus facilities to accommodate student needs.

The extended hours are an administrative response to a student petition that garnered 300 signatures to extend library hours and to increase availability of classrooms for study groups.

“I actually wrote (the letter) late at night after being escorted out of one of the buildings by public safety,” said Brittany Mammano, a junior biology major. “I was frustrated because I was only trying to study, and I had no place to go on campus, as all the main buildings are locked up at night. I realized that it probably is this way because the administration is not aware that there is a student need for more study locations on campus.”

Mammano said she gathered the signatures as students studied for finals last December.

“I was able to obtain over 250 student signatures and 15 CBU faculty signatures in 48 hours,” she explained. Mammano met with administrators in early January.

The Alumni Dining Commons (ADC) and Building 36A and 36B will be open for student study groups beginning March 18 from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Thursday. In addition, the Academic Resource Center (ARC) has extended its hours to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with tutoring available until 8 p.m. The ARC will close at 5 p.m. on Friday.

“I was so delighted when I found out that students were actually petitioning to have more time to study!” said Dr. Jonathan Parker, CBU provost. “It shows that our students are serious about their studies and committed to excellence.”

The Annie Gabriel Library extended its hours of operation on Feb. 25. It is now open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday; and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. During finals week, April 24-30, the library will remain open 24 hours a day.

“The administration actually addressed all aspects of my letter,” Mammano said. “I think that is one of the great things about California Baptist University. I was able to speak with administration and actually get somewhere!”

 

CBU campus newspaper claims first place in national competition

The Banner, campus newspaper of California Baptist University, took first place in the four-year, non-weekly newspaper category in the “Best of Show” awards at the National College Journalism Convention, April 28–May 3 in San Francisco, Calif.

Nineteen students from the CBU Journalism & Media and Public Relations program attended the annual convention hosted by Associated Collegiate Press.

“Receiving this award was very humbling,” said Sharayah Le Leux, senior journalism major and editor-in-chief of The Banner. “It proves all the hard work we’ve been striving towards is paying off. I’m proud of the staff and the work we’ve been putting in to make The Banner an award winning publication.”

While at the conference, the students attended sessions presented by keynote speakers, workshops conducted by professional journalists and had The Banner critiqued by journalism professionals and college journalism advisers.

During the same time, seven students from the CBU Journalism & Media and Public Relations program were attending the 20^th Annual Southwestern Photojournalism Conference to Fort Worth, Texas. They also heard keynote presentations from professional photojournalists, attended photography workshops, and had professional photojournalists critique their portfolios.

“We are very proud of our talented students, their dedication to the campus publications, and the outstanding work they do to provide CBU with these award-winning publications,” said Dr. Michael Chute, professor of journalism and director of the Journalism & Media and Public Relations program.

“CBU’s campus publications have won numerous awards over the past several years under the direction of Dr. Mary Ann Pearson. While we don’t produce these publications to win awards, they are validation of the outstanding work our students are doing and the skills they are mastering in our journalism education program.”

Grace Ferrell, senior journalism major with a photojournalism concentration, said of the Southwestern conference: “From sitting on a couch with (Sports Illustrated photographer) Dave Black as he critiqued my portfolio to listening as (National Geographic photographer) Joanna Pinneo described the people, relationships and stories behind her powerful images, the conference expanded my knowledge of not only how to be a photographer, but what it means to be a Christian photographer.

“I enjoyed getting to interact with professional photographers who were so open to speaking with students about their experiences. Many of the students like myself dream about traveling and capturing storytelling images; the opportunity to interact with professionals who have done just that was priceless,” Ferrell said.

The students who attended these events returned to CBU to put what they learned to good use in continuing to produce award-winner publications: the next issue of The Banner on newsstands March 8; the spring edition of Pursuit magazine, distributed on campus March 20; and the 2012-13 Angelos yearbook, available to students April 25.

 

CBU student explores her field through archaeological dig

From scorpions crawling out of dirt banks to carrying away buckets of soil in 120-degree heat, CBU student Cassandra Hanlin spent last summer digging for biblical history in Israel.

The sophomore anthropology and psychology major got the opportunity when her grandparents put her in contact with Dr. Sandra Richter, an Old Testament professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary. Richter leads archeology digs every couple of years.

The summer first took Hanlin on a CBU International Service Project (ISP) with a team to South Asia for three weeks. She had two weeks at home in California before boarding a plane for Israel.

Hanlin said the ISP training she received to prepare for different cultures helped her make the transition.

“God had just rocked my world in South Asia,” Hanlin said. “I had finally said ‘Oh my gosh, Lord. You lead my life.’ I got home and was still discovering what that looks like in routine. Then I get to Israel and had to get up at 4 a.m. to read my Bible.”

After Bible study at 4 a.m., Hanlin dug from 5 a.m. until noon near Tel Rehov, a site located north of Jerusalem believed to hold artifacts dating back to the David-Solomon period. The team of diggers ventured to a mound near the city believing it to be the biblical town of Rehob.

Over the course of the three-week dig, Hanlin and the team found artifacts including an Assyrian arrowheads, pottery pieces and a chair with the name “Elijah” inscribed on it, where people would have sat to be prayed over, she said.

“(Digging) was really cool because you could see it level by level, which would be time period by time period,” Hanlin said. “You could see how the town had been destroyed and rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt, whether through fire or war.”

The dig confirmed Hanlin’s desire to pursue an education in anthropology at California Baptist University.

“It really gave me a more wholistic outlook on what my major consists of and how many routes it consists of,” Hanlin said.

Hanlin still claims to be a far cry from the movie character that she often gets compared to.

“People ask me, ‘Like Indiana Jones?’ And I’m just like. ‘I wish I had fought off bad men and met this cool, muscular man who saved me from the Nazis.’ But unfortunately you are just covered in dirt and there are scorpions coming out of the wall.”

 

Siblings share passion for CBU volleyball

Aaron McCalmont often gets asked who the tall girl is he hangs around with. That girl is his younger sister by 14 months, Kim McCalmont. Together the siblings have taken the men’s and women’s volleyball teams of California Baptist University by storm.

“We are not a brother and sister who are just on the teams,” said Aaron, a kinesiology major at CBU. “We are both making an impact on the teams. It is cool to know that we have both been given the ability to play at the college level, and we both are in a position on the team that we are helping the teams out.”

It all began in San Diego, Calif., where pick-up games of beach volleyball at South Mission Beach are a way of life for their parents, uncle and cousins.

“Everyone fears the McCalmonts,” Aaron said.

The pair went on to play volleyball for their high school. After graduation, they split up to attend different universities. However, following a game in San Diego, their father approached CBU’s former volleyball coach to ask about the university. That initial conversation would lead Aaron and eventually Kim to transfer to CBU.

“(CBU) didn’t find us,” Aaron said. “We found them.”

After making the two hour drives from San Diego just for open gym practices, senior players took Aaron under their wings and made him feel welcome, even when he had yet to become an official member — a normal practice for CBU athletics, he said.

The next year Kim followed her brother to the Riverside campus, making it feel even more like home for both of them and enabling them to support each other through the challenges of balancing life as a student athlete.

“I am like a guy version of her, and she is like a girl version of me,” Aaron said.

“Except that he is a lot better than me at the sport,” added Kim, with a glance at her brother.

Both siblings say they have never let the competitive nature of athletics become a part of their relationship.

“We try our best and that is all we can do,” Kim said.

Both players sport the same jersey number and position on their teams — #24, outside hitter.

Their connection and love for the sport continues off the court through Bible studies that both have started for members of their teams.

“God has definitely placed us here for a reason, and we want to use that to the best of our abilities to influence the girls and the guys on our team and help them out,” Kim said.

While slightly intimidating to get started, the pair said they are using the Bible to make volleyball an on-and-off the court ministry.

Graduation will mark the end of Aaron’s undergraduate experience and the pair’s time together at CBU.

“It is going to be weird without him next year because I only know CBU with him here,” Kim said.

Aaron hopes to continue playing volleyball internationally and use the sport as a platform to reach out to others and share his faith. Kim will finish her undergraduate degree at CBU and one day hopes to become a teacher.

No matter where life takes the siblings, though, both say one constant will remain — a passion for volleyball.

 

Family Updates

Leontine Armstrong, adjunct English professor in the Modern Languages and Literature Department, presented a paper Feb. 15 titled A Transformation of Gawain: A Human Experience at Natures 2013, the fifth annual interdisciplinary humanities conference to be hosted by La Sierra University.

 

Dr. Chris Morgan, dean and professor of theology, School of Christian Ministries, lectured Jan. 30-31 at two plenary sessions for Ph.D. students at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley. Morgan lectured on a biblical and systematic theology of the glory of God.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Daniel Prather, chair of the department of aviation science, taught a course titled Effective Leadership in Aviation to 49 attendees of the Helicopter Association International’s Heli-Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 4.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Meg Barth, professor of health sciences, has been invited to serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Food Chemistry and Nutrition. She also served as an advisory panel member for the Wellness13 Conference held on Feb. 26-28 in Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

Eighteen students in the College of Allied Health are participating this semester in a mentorship program for students of the Health & Medical Careers Academy at Temescal Canyon High School. Each allied health student engages once or twice a week with the high school student via email, sharing career goals and educational advice.

 

Night of Nations, the annual fundraiser hosted by the Mobilization Office and starring the 2013 ISP, USP and SOS teams will be held in the Van Dyne Gym on Friday, April 5, starting at 7 p.m. Each team will be competing for a scholarship by putting on a presentation, skit or video that will highlight what they will be doing this summer as they serve. Tickets are $10 for non-students and will be on sale in the Game Room or at the door on the night of the event. Come support the 2013 teams!

 

The College of Engineering hosted Randall S. Over, president-elect of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) on March 1. Over spoke to students on the topic Leading the Way to a Better Future.

 

 

 

 

 

Russell Baker, assistant professor of kinesiology, and Jayme Baker, adjunct professor of kinesiology, along with Dr. Alan Nasypany and Dr. Jeff Seegmiller recently published three articles entitled, The Mulligan Concept: Mobilizations with Movement; Treatment of Acute Torticollis Using Positional Release Therapy: Part 1, and Treatment of Acute Torticollis Using Positional Release Therapy: Part 2 in the International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Gayne Anacker, professor of philosophy and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, delivered the paper C.S. Lewis and Leadership to the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society, meeting at Azusa Pacific University, on Wednesday, Feb. 20.  Anacker  is vice president for academic affairs of the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

 

 

 

 

Twenty students from the College of Allied Health joined the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and adopted Liberty Elementary School and Madison Elementary School for Read Across America Day on March 1. The students joined teachers at the elementary schools to read Dr. Seuss books to students. Read Across America Day encourages literacy in the schools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The College of Allied Health’s communication disorders program is now officially a California state board-approved Speech & Language Pathology Assistant (SLPA) program. Students who earn a B.S. in communication disorders and complete the built-in 126 clinical hours are eligible to register as a SLPA in the state of California upon graduation. This allows graduates to work as a SLPA while waiting for entrance into graduate school to become a fully licensed SLP. For more information, contact Dr. Namhee Kim in the Department of Health Sciences.

 

Lisa Bursch, professor of nursing, was elected chairman of the board for UCAP, formerly Path of Life Ministries. UCAP provides health care to people who are homeless in Riverside County. The organization recently received Federally Qualified Health Center status and therefore will be expanding services in Riverside and the desert communities.

 

 

 

Dr. Jennifer Newton, associate professor of English, has had an article published in the George Herbert Journal, vol. 34. Her article is titled ‘Show that thy brests can not be dry:’ Unsatisfied Longing in George Herbert’s Nursing Mother and Child Imagery.

 

 

 

 

The College of Allied Health will host Dr. Charles Sands, dean of the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University, on March 18. In addition to speaking to a number of classes during the day, Sands will be featured in the College of Allied Health Distinguished Speaker Series at 6 p.m. in the Innovator’s Auditorium.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jeff McNair, professor of education, visited Uganda Feb. 19-21. Partnering with Uganda Christian University and Africa Renewal University, he is working to develop programs for the training of disability advocates. In a  joint project with the Joni and Friends organization, the Disability Studies Institute also delivered a library of 250 books on disability/disability studies/theology and disability issues. McNair was told by university officials that the library may be the most comprehensive on the subject in Eastern Africa. Across the two weeks, trainings were provided for theology, child development and law students. McNair also provided an intensive version of the Joni and Friends, Beyond Suffering:A Christian View of Disability Ministry training to 54 students from Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.

 

 

 

CBU’s Shelby and Ferne Collinsworth School of Music has announced its spring calendar. View the dates for concerts, performances and tours by clicking here.

Personnel Updates

DATE	DEPARTMENT	POSITION	NAME	STATUS
3/1/2013	Facilities and Planning Services	HVAC Supervisor	Eric Taylor	Change
3/1/2013	Modern Languages and Literature	Adjunct	Rachel MeenanFormerly: Blackmon	Name Change
2/28/2013	Athletics	Director of Athletic Academic Services	Richard “Rick” York	No Longer Employed
3/7/2013	Institutional Advancement	Associate Director of Development	Kevin Royse	No Longer Employed