COLLEGIAN THE CA M ERON U N I V ER SIT Y
Monday, April 6, 2009
News
Informing the Cameron Family Since 1926
Acclaimed Aggies: CU’s finest By Megan Mefford and Community Relations
Professor awarded Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters fellowship. SEE PAGE 2
A&E
Music festival features Keith Kirchoff.
Volume 83 Issue 20
Cameron University has selected CU alumni Dr. Sanjit Bhattacharya, Dr. Andrea Montgomery and Dr. Jamie Polk as Acclaimed Aggies for the Spring 2009 semester. Posters of each selected alumni featuring highlights of their achievements since graduating from CU are currently displayed on campus. Recognition of Acclaimed Aggies was initiated in Fall 2005 to demonstrate the accomplishments of CU graduates to the student body. President Cindy Ross said that she believes successful alumni deserve to be recognized and will inspire current Cameron students. “We are proud of our students, and that includes alumni,” President Ross said. “The outstanding accomplishments of Sanjit, Andrea and Jamie are deserving of recognition. Their success stories will inspire and remind students of the powerful impact of a Cameron degree.”
Dr. Jamie Polk earned her Master of Elementary Education degree in 1995, at the same time teaching sixth grade at Westwood Renaissance Academy in Lawton. During that time, she also mentored intern
SEE PAGE 7
Sports A PLUS scholar at Cameron, Dr. Sanjit Bhattacharya established a real estate building and development company while earning his Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Bhattacharya, who continues to oversee his
students from Cameron. As principal of Lawton’s Cleveland Elementary School, a post she has held since August 2004, Polk is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe environment, increasing student achievement and hiring and maintaining quality teachers. Polk has not left the classroom altogether. She earned a doctorate in Educational Administration and Curriculum Supervision (EACS) from the University of Oklahoma in May 2006 and holds a National Board Certification as a Middle Childhood Generalist. In addition to her career in elementary school administration, she is also an adjunct instructor for CU’s Department of Education. Dedicated to providing the best possible education to her students in Lawton, Polk is committed to improving education nationally through her volunteer service. She serves as Chair of the National Association of Alpha Kappa Sorority’s Connections Program and is the Southwest Regional Director for Gamma State – Oklahoma, the state chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, which promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. Polk is also a member of Phi Delta Kappa International and the President of the Lawton Association of Elementary School Principals. real estate holdings, diversified in 2006 by entering the field of oil and gas exploration, despite the risks involved. Today, he heads a rapidly growing company with drilling operations in five states. In addition to his business endeavors, Bhattacharya sets aside time to give back both to his community and to his alma mater. He is a longtime advocate of the Boys Scouts of Lawton, the Lawton Food Bank and the Salvation Army. He also shares his philanthropy through the Lily Foundation, which supports education for low income children in India. He supports the internship program in the School of Business, awarding two internships to date. Additionally, his generosity has established the Bhattacharya Endowed Lectureship for Excellence in Research, which will advance the quality of research as well as creative and scholarly activity at Cameron University and in southwest Oklahoma.
See ACCLAIMED Page 3
CETES hosts Emergency Operations Center Collegian Staff
Aggie Baseball loses man to injury but is still going strong. SEE PAGE 9
Voices
The new CETES Conference Center is host to two critical services for the city of Lawton and the state of Oklahoma. Daryl Morgan, the City of Lawton Emergency Communication Director, said the CETES Conference Center provides a secure facility for
planning in emergency situations. The Emergency Operations Center is utilized when a crisis situation arises that will last longer than three to four hours and will require more manpower than the Lawton Police and Fire Departments can provide. Morgan added that, in emergency situations, many people from state and local
Freshman phenom pitches perfection
Choice Awards to honor outstanding faculty, staff Collegian Staff
Collegian Staff When Freshman softball Pitcher Carrie Harvey struck out the final batter against the Missouri Southern Lions, she knew she had just accomplished something special. “I was nervous the last two innings because I’ve always ended up walking someone or they would get one hit,” Harvey said. “I was just hoping not to blow the game on the last pitch.” The Burkburnett, Texas native has been on the precipice of a perfect game many times, but has always come up just short. This is her first year with the Aggies softball team, and she already leads the team with a 1.74 ERA. She played other sports while in high school, but decided to settle on softball her senior year.
SEE PAGE 5
See EOC Page 2
By Joshua Rouse
By Joshua Rouse
Newspapers are running out of ink.
governments are involved in planning the emergency response. They all need work space and the CETES Conference Center can provide that.
See PITCHER Page 8
Entering into the second century, Cameron University wants to recognize the faculty and staff that helped change lives for more than 100 years. A new award program called “Cameron Choice” was created this year to give those on campus a voice to nominate an employee who has helped them. Jamie Glover, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, said the idea came up because students and other faculty members continued to comment to the administration about the wonderful job employees were doing. “Some of them do it just
because it’s the right thing to do,” Glover said. “But we want to be sure as an institution we recognize the individuals who do a good job at what they do and are really working to help propel the university in our goal to become the university of choice, the partner of choice, the location of choice and provide the college experience of choice for students and the community in this area.” There are four categories a person can be nominated for: College Experience of Choice, Location of Choice, Partner of Choice and University of Choice.
See CHOICE Page 2