Ball State University - BSU

Panel at Ball State Discusses Financial Crisis

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 2 Oct 2008 23:28:54 -0700

Panel at Ball State Discusses Financial Crisis

Brilliant 'Impromptu' rendition wins national music competition

kpaul.mallasch — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:29:13 -0700

MUNCIE, Ind. - A stellar harp performance earned Ball State University student Ashley Wells first prize in the Instrumental Division of the Glenn Miller National Music Scholarship Competition.

The judging took place June 12 in Clarinda, Iowa, the birthplace of the famed bandleader. By taking top honors, Wells, a sophomore from Houston, earned a $4,000 scholarship and was a featured performer during the coinciding Glenn Miller Festival.

Wells performed a brilliant rendition of Gabriel Fauré's "Impromptu" as part of her winning performance, recounted Elizabeth Richter, professor of harp at Ball State's School of Music.

"I'm delighted but not surprised that Ashley won the competition," she said. "She performs with exceptional virtuosity and musicality, and she worked very hard and was thoroughly prepared. I'm tremendously proud of her!"

This honor adds to an already impressive musical resume. Wells is a multiple winner of the Milligan Harp Competition in Houston in additional to being a three-time Texas All-State Orchestra winner and a four-time Texas Region 23 Orchestra winner.

At Ball State, she has earned a Ball State Presidential Scholarship and a Young Artist Award from the School of Music. She also has performed with the Harp Ensemble, the Ball State Symphony Orchestra and the Wind Ensemble. And this summer, Wells plans to attend the renowned Sewanee Summer Music Festival in Tennessee.

The Glenn Miller competition was established in 1976 and Wells is the second Ball State harp student to win first prize. Rachel Browne won in 2001.

Ball State hosts fifth annual copyright conference

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:33:26 -0700

MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State University presents its fifth annual copyright conference, "Copyright in Oz: Over the Rainbow or I'll Get Your Little Dog, Too?" from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. April 23 at the Alumni Center.

The goal of the conference is to help attendees understand how to properly use copyrighted materials in an educational setting.

"This year's theme relates to using someone else's copyrighted intellectual property," said Fritz Dolak, conference chair and manager of Ball State's copyright and intellectual property office. "It pertains to some people's ideas of copyright being rather naïve, which can lead to consequences that can be threatening or detrimental."

Special guest speaker David Carson will present. Carson, associate register for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office, assists the register of copyrights in advising Congress and executive branch agencies on domestic and international copyright policy matters.

Other guest speakers include:

· Dwayne Buttler, professor and first Evelyn J. Schneider Endowed Chair for Scholarly Communication at the University of Louisville, University Libraries

· Michelle Cooper, attorney in the Education Law Group at Bose McKinney & Evans LLP

· Kenneth Crews, director of the Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia University

· James Williams, attorney at DeFur Voran LLP.

Ball State has the only annual copyright conference in the Midwest.

The conference's sponsors include Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, DeFur Voran LLP, Paws Inc. and the Muncie Visitors Bureau, as well as Ball State's Digital Policy Institute, Office of University Advancement and J-Ideas.

For more information or to register, visit www.bsu.edu/library/conference/copyright. The cost for Ball State faculty and staff is $45. Others can register by April 8 for $95. Registration after this date or at the door is $125. Contact Dolak at 765-285-5330 for additional information.

Source: BSU News Center

Birthday bash salutes former governor Otis ‘Doc’ Bowen

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:26:13 -0700

MUNCIE, IN - Former Indiana Governor Otis R. “Doc” Bowen will be the guest of honor at a tribute dinner March 28 in Indianapolis marking his 90th birthday.

The event, sponsored by Ball State, will take place at the Westin Hotel, 50 S. Capitol Ave. Bowen and his wife, Carol, will attend the dinner. Former President George H.W. Bush is the honorary chair of the event and current Hoosier Gov. Mitch Daniels will serve as master of ceremonies.

“For the adult portion of his nine decades, Doc Bowen has exemplified the best qualities of personal integrity and public service and we are thrilled to have this opportunity to honor him,” Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora said. “We are proud to have his name grace our Bowen Center for Public Affairs and hope that Doc Bowen’s legacy of concern for the people of Indiana will continue to inform the center’s efforts to improve government responsiveness to our fellow citizens.”

The former governor and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary enjoys a long-standing relationship with Ball State. Most recently he donated his official papers as governor and HHS chief to the Bowen Center, which opened last March and provides university-based, nonpartisan research and training to public officials with the aim of improving the performance and delivery of government services.

Bowen, who received an honorary degree from the university in 1978, also has been active in Ball State’s Bowen Institute on Political Participation. A component of the Bowen Center now in its 27h year, the institute is managed by the university’s political science department. It is one of the oldest continuously operated civic engagement programs in the nation and provides an opportunity for people to better understand the political system.

A reception precedes the tribute dinner at 6:45 p.m. with the meal to follow at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available to the public for $250 per person; business attire is requested.

Reservations are due by March 14 to Stephanie Painter, Bowen Center for Public Affairs, North Quad 240, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306. For more information, contact Painter at 765-285-8982.

Source: BSU News Center

Research replaces complex medical documents with interactive program

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:55:37 -0800

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Researchers from Ball State University are collaborating with Medical Animatics, LLC and Community Health Network to see if a first-of-its-kind program combining education and informed consent can better explain complex medical information than traditional educational methods.

Community Health Network is now offering a multimedia education and informed consent program for its surgical weight loss patients. The program was developed by Medical Animatics and can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection. It combines cutting-edge medical animation, video, audio narration and interactive programming into an easy-to-use interactive design. Unlike other patient-education applications, this program uses proprietary knowledge-check technologies developed by Medical Animatics to ensure that patients see and understand information regarding bariatric surgery as well as the associated benefits and risks involved.

Corinne Renguette, a doctoral student in applied linguistics at Ball State, and her faculty adviser, Mary Theresa Seig, are conducting the study to determine whether patients actually learn more when they receive information through this multimedia program as opposed to only reading complex documents.

Traditional patient education often is done through such written documents, which, according to previous research, may not be the most effective way to ensure that learning occurs. Legal terminology also makes up a significant part of the informed consent process. However, patients need to be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the procedures and the risks before making decisions.

"According to the American Medical Association, over a third of our population is lacking in functional health literacy," said Renguette. "Many people do not understand complex medical information. We would like to see if this tool can help people better understand the complex material."

To help increase comprehension, patients can review the Web-based program as many times as they like, share it with family or friends, or really get familiar with the content prior to surgery — all from the convenience of home. Once the patient has been approved for surgery, he or she can complete the informed consent process within the same program.

"We believe that sophisticated technology is a key component to education, healthier lifestyles and ultimately patient outcomes," said Harlon Wilson, president and chief executive officer, Medical Animatics, LLC, which collaborates with health care professionals to develop innovative, technology-based educational tools for patients such as the patient education and informed consent program on bariatric surgery. "This research is part of our commitment to showing higher patient comprehension levels for our programs versus typical patient education."

According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), weight loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery or gastric bypass surgery, limits the amount of food the stomach can hold by surgically reducing the stomach's capacity to only a few ounces. In addition to reducing food intake, some weight loss surgeries alter the digestion process, which curbs the amount of calories and nutrients absorbed.

Nearly 205,000 of the estimated 15 million people with morbid obesity in the U.S. had the procedure in 2007, according to the ASMBS.

"Since one of the most important steps in weight loss surgery is getting and understanding a lot of information, we believe this tool will increase comprehension for our patients," said Jack Ditslear III, medical director of Community Hospital North's bariatric program. "We're excited to see the research results so that we have firm data to confirm our beliefs."

Source: BSU News Center

Experts Believe Indiana Economy Will Expand in 2008

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:31:54 -0800

By Marc Ransford

MUNCIE, Ind. - Two Ball State University professors anticipate Indiana's economy will rebound in the coming year with a low inflation rate, strong wage growth and near historic low unemployment rate. Indiana's future looks to be improving in the new year as the state rebounds from two consecutive years of major job losses, said Michael Hicks, director of Ball State's Bureau of Business Research.

Hicks and Gary Santoni, a professor emeritus of economics at Ball State, gave their cautiously optimistic assessment of Indiana's economy during the 12th annual Indiana Economic Outlook luncheon Dec. 4 in the Horizon Convention Center in downtown Muncie.

"Indiana has suffered a bout of job loss in recent years, but it looks like the more difficult times are past. The state is rebounding due to the strong fundamentals of our economy," Hicks said. "We think the state's economy is going to bounce back after some rocky times."

Ball State's forecast is based on data from the newly released Longitudinal Employer Database produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and Columbia University.

Santoni was similarly upbeat, but noted there is risk in the new forecast due to continued high petroleum prices and lingering concerns over the subprime market fallout.

According to Hicks and Santoni's forecast:

Job growth will be respectable with about 47,000 net new jobs by the end of 2008. This growth of 1.6 percent is better than that of recent years but similar to the annual growth Indiana experienced in the later 1990s and early part of this decade.
Wage growth is projected to be at 3.8 percent, but with larger gains concentrated among existing employees. This suggests much of the new job creation will occur in human capital intensive jobs such as financial services and health care where acquired skills translate into higher wages.
The unemployment rate should hover around 4.6 percent in 2008 — the same as the national average — much lower than the average of 5.9 percent from 1960 to 2006.
Inflation should be at 2.6 percent next year, which is lower than the 3.8 percent average from 1960 to 2006.

Source: BSU News Center