NSU News Oct.09 - Northwestern State University

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Dr. Julie H. Ernstein, assistant professor
of anthropology and coordinator of the
undergraduate program in Heritage Resources,
served as program chair for the first Louisiana
Studies Conference, hosted at NSU on Sept. 26,
which featured more than 40 presentations by
scholars drawn from numerous disciplines.
Ernstein also presented a paper at that
conference titled “Plant the Seed and Watch
It Grow: From Collections Management,
to Disaster Mitigation, to Heritage (Re)
Interpretation at the Kate Chopin House/
Bayou Folk Museum (Cloutierville, LA).” Her
presentation addressed ongoing interpretive
planning work she is performing at the site that
grew out of previous service-learning, disaster
mitigation, and classroom projects resulting
in an online Virtual Museum developed for
this Cloutierville National Historic Landmark.
Ernstein spoke about her project currently
underway to develop an interpretive plan for the
property’s owners (with grant assistance from the
Cane River National Heritage Area) and how it
has been inspired by her students’ considerable
efforts at the site.
Dr. Norann Planchock, dean of the College
of Nursing, was elected chair of the Nursing
Supply and Demand Council (NSDC). As chair
of NSDC, she will serve as a member of the
Health Works Commission and as a member of
the Executive Committee, which consists of five
commissioners from Health Works.
The Health Works Commission was
reestablished last year, by legislature, and
placed under the Board of Regents. One of the
responsibilities of the HWC is to recommend
funding for capitation and stipend programs
which benefit the nursing programs’ faculty and
students.
Dr. Gerra Perkins, College of Education,
and former NSU student Amy Foster Johnson
recently had their article “What We Know About
At-Risk Students: Important Considerations for
Principal and Counselor Leadership” published
in the June issue of the NASSP Bulletin. The
article detailed the important role that middle
school counselors play in meeting the needs of
at-risk populations.
A review by Dr. Keith Dromm, associate
professor of philosophy in the Louisiana
Scholars’ College, of Kelly Dean Jolley’s The
Concept ‘Horse’ Paradox and Wittgensteinian
Conceptual Investigations (Ashgate) was
published in the August 2009 issue of Philosophy
in Review. Dr. Dromm’s book Wittgenstein
on Rules and Nature (Continnum Books) was
reviewed by Lars Hertzberg in Notre Dame
Philosophical Reviews in July. Hertzberg
described the book as “rich,” “thoughtprovoking,”
and a “stimulating read.”
A paper written by Dr. Steven Gabrey,
Biology Department, and colleagues from
the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries was named Best Paper in the General
Conservation category at this year’s annual
meeting of the Louisiana Association of
Professional Biologists, held in Lafayette in
August.
The paper, titled Impacts of Nutria
Removal on Food Habits of American
Alligators in Louisiana, reported on the
contents of over 450 alligator stomachs and
appeared in the spring issue of the Southeastern
Naturalist.
Dr. Henrietta Williams Pichon, assistant
professor, Student Peronnel Services, presented
at the 35th Annual Louisiana Association for
College and University Student Personnel
Administrators (LACUSPA) at the Learning
Center for Rapides Parish in Alexandria. Her
presentation title was “Getting At-risk Students
Involved in Civic Engagement: The Importance
of Service Learning during Times of Economic
Downtowns.” The service learning project was
supported by the Learn and Serve America
through the Louisiana and Kentucky Campus
Compact.
Volume 33 No. 9
October 2009
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