Senior UMSL students Andrea Bryant (center left) and Jordan Sanderson pose with Zeta Tau Alpha’s CANstruction trophy alongside Beyond Housing representatives (from left) Alice Wilson, Shonte Byrd and Ted Simpson, who served as judges of the Homecoming 2016 competition Feb. 4. Most of the goods collected were delivered to Beyond Housing’s food pantry at the Pagedale Family Support Center, which assists up to 150 families each month with provisions. (Photos by August Jennewein)

For several hours inside the Millennium Student Center’s Fireside Lounge last week, the theme of Homecoming 2016 came to life in an especially vivid way.

Dozens of University of Missouri–St. Louis students could be seen literally “Building Triton Traditions” that afternoon as they wrangled thousands of canned goods into colorful 3-D creations and competed for spirit competition points. Ranging from a depiction of Spongebob Squarepants to a miniature UMSL Tritons basketball arena, the nine CANstruction projects collectively brought in 10,086 nonperishable items for nearby food pantries.

This CANStruction created by senior anthropology major LaVell Monger and the Associated Black Collegians probably needs no caption.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Ted Simpson, community support services manager for Beyond Housing. “We serve about 100 to 150 families a month. This really helps out and supplements the stuff that we do.”

The lounge filled to overflowing with cans, student participants and onlookers as the competition progressed. And deciding on a winning canned-good creation proved no small task for Simpson and two fellow Beyond Housing coworkers, who served as judges of the different designs.

Eventually they settled on Zeta Tau Alpha’s project, led by Andrea Bryant, a business administration major. Bryant and her team collected a total of 1,370 cans and incorporated many of those into their unique creation.

“We built a basketball court with stands and a ‘U-M-S-L’ in the middle,” Bryant said. “The theme for this year’s homecoming was ‘Building Triton Traditions,’ so we figured we’d stick to an older tradition for our design, which was inspired by Pack the Stands.”

Bryant was amazed at the overall effort, which seems to be a rapidly growing Triton tradition of its own.

Senior biology major Geddy Trebus adds more cans to the Pi Kappa Alpha CANstruction site in the Fireside Lounge.

“This year, we all collected over 10,000 cans, when last year it was only around 400,” she said. “That in itself made this year’s CANstruction event a lot more worthwhile. Not only did we collectively benefit [Beyond Housing’s] Pagedale Family Support Center, but we also gave cans to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson.”

Some of the student participants worked primarily with classmates and fellow members of their sponsoring student organizations, while others also drew donations from family members and others beyond the confines of the UMSL campus. Senior educational studies major Erica Runge went door to door in her hometown of Oakville, Mo., to collect several hundred cans.

A total of 4,136 cans poured in for the team led by Riann Rikard, whose sponsoring organizations included Delta Zeta and UMSL Ambassadors. She said her parents recruited canned good donations at their workplaces, and her sorority sisters also stepped up.

For more scenes captured during CANstruction and the entire week of Homecoming 2016, explore a Flickr gallery by campus photographer August Jennewein.

(Photo by Kelly Moffitt/St. Louis Public Radio)

As the University of Missouri–St. Louis looks to plug a $15 million hole in operational expenses in the months ahead, UMSL Chancellor Tom George acknowledges it’s a particularly tough moment for a university he loves and has led for more than a decade.

“No one enjoys budget cuts, and I’m awake every night,” George recently told Don Marsh, host of the “St. Louis on the Air” radio show, when asked whether it’s been a difficult time for him. “I woke up at 2:30 this morning, and I just went to my computer and thought, ‘Budgets.'”

But George was also optimistic during the Feb. 10 interview as he discussed the future of the university.

“We’re trying to also look at this as an opportunity,” he said. “There’s some things that – I’m looking ahead as to what we will be doing – that we probably should have done anyway, but when you don’t have a budget crisis you just let things move on. And so I think what we’re trying to do is come out even stronger with this.”

The interview touched on the reasons behind the financial issues UMSL is facing as well as some of the likely actions ahead in order to create a sustainable budget. George also highlighted a number of positive developments across the campus and surrounding communities.

Visit the St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU website to listen to the full conversation. Learn more about the fiscal challenges UMSL is facing and share suggestions as the university works to address them here.

UMSL freshman Diogo Dias’ winning time of 49.33 in the 100-yard backstroke just beat Drury’s Ramiro Olivares, who touched second in 49.40 during the Feb. 12 GLVC Championships.

Softball
No. 7-ranked University of Missouri–St. Louis went 6-0 last week, shutting out all six opponents it faced. The Tritons took a doubleheader from Christian Brothers last Tuesday before winning four games at the 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark., Friday and Saturday. Senior Hannah Perryman was 5-0 in the circle, surrendering just seven hits in 33 innings of work, while striking out 64. She tossed her 12th career no-hitter in Saturday’s game one against Southeastern Oklahoma, moving into a tie for fourth place on the NCAA Division II career charts for that category. Perryman followed up that performance with a one-hitter against Northwestern Oklahoma, throwing 18 strikeouts, tying the third best seven-inning single game performance in DII history. Offensively, junior Sara Kern batted .500, recording 11 hits, including four homeruns, and added 10 RBIs and seven runs scored. The Tritons (10-0) are idle until six games in Clermont, Fla., from Feb. 27 to March 2.

Men’s Swimming
Freshman Diogo Dias gave UMSL its first Great Lakes Valley Conference champion on Friday night, winning the 100-yard backstroke at the 2016 GLVC Championships. The Tritons finished seventh overall in the team standings and had several school records and personal bests over the course of the four-day event.

Women’s Swimming
UMSL broke nine different school records and added several other personal bests last weekend as the Tritons competed in the GLVC Championships. Freshman Amber Visser set new school marks in the 200-yard individual medley, the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard breaststroke.

Men’s Basketball
The Tritons lost road games at No. 13 Bellarmine, 81-71, and at Southern Indiana, 86-76, last Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Redshirt freshman Joshua Webster averaged 18.5 points, 6 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game, which included a career-high 22 points at USI. Junior Hunter Reine followed with 16 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, recording his third double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds at Bellarmine. UMSL (10-14, 4-11 GLVC) travels to Missouri S&T on Thursday and to Drury on Saturday.

Women’s Basketball
UMSL lost games at Bellarmine, 68-47, and at Southern Indiana, 76-69, last Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Redshirt sophomore Jordan Fletcher averaged 14 points and 5 rebounds per game, while senior Amber Daly followed with 10.5 points, 2.5 steals and 2 assists per game. The Tritons (9-14, 4-11 GLVC) are at Missouri S&T on Thursday night and travel to No. 12 Drury on Saturday.

Men’s Golf
UMSL carded an opening round score of 289 on Sunday at the Frito Lay/All State Intercollegiate, hosted by Jackson State, and hold a 22-stroke lead over Florida A&M heading into today’s final 18. The Tritons also have the top three individual scores, led by junior Julien de Poyen’s 70.

Women’s Golf
The Tritons turned in an opening round score of 315 on Sunday at the Frito Lay/All State Intercollegiate, hosted by Jackson State, and hold a 28-stroke lead over the host school with the final 18 to be played tomorrow. All five individuals sit inside the top eight individually, while junior Miranda Rohlfing, competing as an individual, leads the field with a career-low 76.

Director of the Challenger Learning Center Tasmyn Front (left), Orthwein Professor for Lifelong Learning in the Sciences Keith Miller and Emerson Electric Company Endowed Professor in Technology and Learning Carl Hoagland (right) each manage a variety of programs bringing innovative STEM learning to students at all levels. (Photo courtesy of Carl Hoagland)

For Carl Hoagland, his efforts in creating and directing the Technology and Learning Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis are more about the human element than touch screens and circuit boards.

“The technology center isn’t just about the latest gadgets,” said Hoagland, Emerson Electric Endowed Professor at UMSL. “Its purpose is to create a culture of learning for students. Everybody has a cellphone to play with, but I’d like to see technology work in schools where it’s most needed.”

On Jan. 28 Challenger Learning Center St. Louis honored Hoagland with the Challenger Inspiring Teacher Award for his commitment to STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] education, social justice, accessible technology and student success.

With decades of curriculum development under his belt, Hoagland has turned his attention to empowering the next generation of teachers by serving as a steward in the STEM doctoral cohort program.

“First and foremost, new teachers need a strong desire to share knowledge, and then they have to figure out how they’re going to connect with their students,” said Hoagland. “You can’t just walk in and do activities without considering your students’ mindsets. Once you have students interested, they can take on anything. I’ve had some great moments where kids really got some ‘ahas,’ and they weren’t always quite the ‘ahas’ I thought they were going to get.”

Teaching and Learning Center graduate assistant Sarah Rambo has gained considerable insight from working with Hoagland and experiencing his infectious enthusiasm.

“One thing that strikes me about Dr. Hoagland is his dedication to students. You can see it in how he runs the TLC,” she said. “He’s helped me develop a savvy about higher education so I can excel in my profession. Down the road, I hope to be as happy and effective in my job as he is.”

Including Hoagland and UMSL alumnae Holly Camacaro and Diane O’Leary, seven local educators were honored during the award ceremony.

Homecoming 2016 at the University of Missouri–St. Louis proved a busy, fun-filled week for members of the campus community, including UMSL photographer August Jennewein. The nearly 200 photos included in a Flickr gallery showcasing the festivities bear that out, capturing a wide range of the many memorable moments from the annual celebration Feb. 1 to 6.

UMSL Daily settled on 16 favorites from Homecoming 2016 to share below. Explore more of Jennewein’s work on Flickr.

1. Red & Gold Regatta boat captain Lindsey Nolan takes the plunge Feb. 1 in the UMSL Recreation and Wellness Center natatorium as onlookers cheer her on.

2. Senior anthropology major LaVell Monger and a teammate share a laugh after their cardboard seacraft sinks.

Student Life staff member Colleen Pace tallies up the 10,086 canned goods UMSL students donated as part of CANstruction.

4. The CANstruction creation by the University Singers decorates Fireside Lounge alongside eight other unique canned-good construction projects Feb. 4.

5. A chili feed-goer displays a handful of recipes submitted and served by UMSL faculty and administrators who participated in the Feb. 3 competition. The Golden Ladle Award ultimately went to “Tom’s Traditional & Easy Garlic Crock Pot Chili,” entered by the College of Arts & Sciences.

6. UMSL students enjoy the traditional Big Man on Campus event Feb. 2, which proved a hit with the large crowd that gathered in the Millennium Student Center to cheer on the contestants.

7. Homecoming king candidate Braxton Perry and fellow UMSL students perform a somewhat prophetic number during the Feb. 3 Lip Sync Competition. Three days later, Perry was in fact crowned king.

8. Lip Sync Competition judges (from left) Beth Eckelkamp, Curt Coonrod, Yvette Kell and Miriam Roccia, along with Director of Student Life Jessica Long-Pease, react to the creativity and showmanship on stage during the event.

9. A handful of student leaders and homecoming candidates, and even a member of the UMSL Police, entertain the crowd with a rock ‘n’ roll medley during the judges’ deliberations.

10. UMSL students lace up their skates for a little ice skating under the stars beside the Millennium Student Center Feb. 2.

11. The drum section of Triton Sound helps get the crowd pumped up at Pack the Stands Feb. 4 in the Mark Twain gymnasium.

12. Pint-sized Triton Lylah Kimberlin cheers on the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

13. Junior Robneisha Lee helps the Tritons to a 56-40 victory over McKendree.

14. Junior Hunter Reine (No. 42) and his teammates sail past McKendree to an 86-82 final score – the perfect finish to Pack the Stands.

15. While putting in a day of volunteer service in the local community alongside fellow UMSL students Feb. 5, nursing major Samantha Tran ties a shoe at Patch Center (part of Grace Hill).

16. Sophomore Armela Subasic takes a spin down the slide with Freddy while lending a hand Feb. 5 during the Homecoming Service Projects.

For even more photos, see the Flickr gallery.

University of Missouri–St. Louis senior pitcher Hannah Perryman has been named the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II National Pitcher of the Week, as announced Feb. 17 by the organization. It is Perryman’s third overall selection.

Perryman, a criminology and criminal justice major, was lights out keying the seventh-ranked Tritons (10-0) to five of their six wins last week. In five starts, she did not allow a run, surrendered just seven hits and struck out 64 in 33 innings of work. Perryman registered her 12th career no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Southeastern Oklahoma at the 8-State Classic hosted by Arkansas-Monticello. The no-no moved her into a tie for fourth on the NCAA Division II career charts.

“This honor means so much to me,” Perryman said. “My team and I have worked incredibly hard this off season, so being recognized is a true honor. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this season has in store for us.”

The lefty hurler twirled a pair of one-hitters, including a scintillating 18-strikeout performance against Northwestern Oklahoma. She also notched a two-hit blanking of Nebraska-Kearney, fanning 14 and bringing the NCAA’s, across all divisions, active strikeout leader’s total to 1,257, which is seventh all-time in Division II. For the week, she held opponents to a .069 batting average and struck out 10-plus in all five appearances.

“Hannah has had an amazing start to the season,” said head coach Brian Levin. “Going six straight starts without giving up a run is astonishing. She never ceases to amaze me, and I am really looking forward to what else she has in store for us.”

UMSL returns to the field Feb. 27 to March 2 with seven games in the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla.

UMSL swept McKendree, 9-0, on Saturday, with senior Renee Verboven winning her singles match 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4.

Men’s Basketball
The Tritons went 1-1 on their roadtrip last weekend, defeating Missouri S&T, 89-85, on Thursday before falling to Drury, 77-72, on Saturday. In the loss, UMSL rallied from a 22-point deficit and tied the game with 2:35 to play but couldn’t complete the comeback. Senior Brandon Marquardt averaged 19.5 points per game, finishing with seven three-pointers to move his season total to 81, three shy of tying the program’s single season record. UMSL (11-15, 5-12 GLVC) will close out the regular season at Maryville on Thursday night. A win would put them in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with first-round games beginning on Sunday. If the Tritons lose at Maryville, their postseason fate would be dependent on how other teams around the league finish.

Women’s Basketball
UMSL picked up a 72-48 win at Missouri S&T last Thursday, outscoring the hosts, 52-32, in the second half. The Tritons then took on No. 12-ranked Drury on Saturday, coming within six points of the Panthers twice in the fourth quarter, but suffered a 73-59 loss. Junior Shea O’Brien averaged 19 points per game, shooting 60.9 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from three-point range. She scored a career-best 22 points at Missouri S&T. The Tritons (10-14, 5-12 GLVC) will close out the regular season at Maryville on Thursday night with a possible GLVC Tournament berth on the line, depending on the outcome of several other games around the league.

Men’s Tennis
UMSL improved to 3-0 on the young season by defeating McKendree, 8-1, on Saturday night. The Tritons swept all six singles matches en route to the victory. UMSL returns to the courts March 2-4 with three matches in Hilton Head, S.C.

Women’s Tennis
The Tritons bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 7-0 setback to NCAA Division II Saint Louis last Thursday by sweeping McKendree, 9-0, on Saturday night. The Tritons allowed just six combined points in doubles and won five of the six singles matches in straight sets, including senior Renee Verboven, who won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4. UMSL (4-1) returns to the courts March 2-4 with three matches in Hilton Head, S.C.

Among the many events held during the University of Missouri–St. Louis Homecoming 2016 week Feb. 1 to 6 was a day of Homecoming Service Projects. Participants lent a hand at various locations throughout the area. UMSL students Bekah Cripe (green sweatshirt) and Armela Subasic made some new friends and gave out a few free piggyback rides to Elijah and Freddy, respectively, while volunteering at Patch Center, part of Grace Hill.

Click here to view a gallery of nearly 200 photos from the full Homecoming 2016 week.

This photograph was taken by UMSL photographer August Jennewein and is the latest to be featured in Eye on UMSL.

Travis Johnson is an electrical engineer at POWER Engineers, a job he landed after working a co-op position at the company as an engineering student in the UMSL/WUSTL Joint Engineering Program. (Photos by August Jennewein)

For Travis Johnson, the path to his electrical engineering career was just down the street at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. It’s but five minutes south from where he went to high school ­– McCluer South Berkeley in Ferguson, Mo.

“I really liked math and science back in high school,” Johnson said. “That encouraged me to go into engineering.”

That’s when he chose the UMSL/Washington University in St. Louis Joint Undergraduate Engineering Program.

Johnson now works for POWER Engineers in St. Louis – a position that grew out of the paid co-op opportunity the joint engineering program made available to him. The co-op program joins engineering students with local companies for hands-on, internship experience prior to graduation.

“The co-op part is one of the reasons I chose to come to UMSL,” said Johnson, who graduated in December 2015. “I wanted to gain more experience and be able to find a full-time job at the end of my degree.”

His plan panned out even better than expected when his co-op position at POWER Engineers turned into a full-time position with the company, which currently employs more than 20 UMSL engineering alumni.

“I design wiring connections for new electrical equipment,” he said. “So I pretty much replace old electrical equipment with new electrical equipment for things like transformers, circuit breakers and relay panels. Drawing and designing everything on paper takes up most of my day.”

It’s entry-level for now, but Johnson has hopes of rising up the ranks and maybe even earning an MBA or engineering management degree along the way.

“I really want to have my own engineering business in the future,” he said.

During his time at UMSL, Johnson got involved on campus in the Society for Future Engineers. He also was a UMSL Ambassador, helping with university events and growing his network.

Associate Dean of the UMSL/WUSTL Joint Engineering Program Bernard Feldman and recent graduate Travis Johnson hold up Johnson’s IEEE Power & Energy Society Scholarship award. He was the first UMSL student to ever have been selected for the national scholarship.

His extracurricular activities and academic performance earned him the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power & Energy Society Scholarship given out to exceptional students committed to exploring the power and energy field.

“When I applied my senior year, I didn’t think I would get it,” he said. “It definitely felt like an accomplishment.”

He was the first UMSL student to ever win an IEEE PES Scholarship, a national honor that went to only 209 university students across the country.

“We’re quite proud of him,” said Bernard Feldman, associate dean of the UMSL/WUSTL Joint Engineering Program. “Travis really took the initiative as an undergraduate. He was an outstanding student.”

Feldman also pointed out that the rigors of the joint engineering program and Johnson’s success in it demonstrate what a phenomenal student he was.

“It’s 123 required hours,” Feldman said. “Consider all the work that goes into a one-unit lab course – the reports, the oral presentation. This is mathematically intense work, calculus-based with physics applications. He didn’t just learn the material, he learned it well, and the proof is in the pudding. Look at his wonderful job.”

Johnson plans to continue his career, in which he finds great satisfaction.

“It’s important for people to go into fields like this,” he said. “Based on research, fossil fuels will diminish. There are better ways with alternative energy that can deliver the energy we need. This requires better energy storage. And it’s cleaner energy as well, decreasing the pollution. Those solutions are something I want to be involved with and help better our world.”

A competition involving more than 400 students and teachers in the St. Louis area will draw a large crowd to the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus this Saturday as the university hosts the free National History Day district contest for the region.

“It gets pretty intense,” said contest coordinator Peter Acsay, an associate teaching professor of history at UMSL, who has been involved with the program for over a decade. “It’s wonderful to see middle school and high school students engaging in primary source research, weighing evidence, making judgments – doing things that professional historians do.”

In addition to hundreds of student competitors, nearly 80 volunteer judges from the St. Louis community will be on hand for the Feb. 27 event, which gets going around 9:30 a.m. and is free and open to the public as well as entrants. Composed of librarians, archivists, teachers and others, the judges will keep busy throughout the morning and early afternoon as students present entries ranging from websites and exhibits to documentaries in the Millennium Student Center and Clark Hall.

“Without those many volunteers, it wouldn’t work,” said Acsay, adding that teaching assistants in the history department and a handful of other UMSL students are also deeply involved in the effort.

This year’s participants hail from 16 middle schools and high schools in St. Louis City and Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis counties, all aiming to apply the 2016 theme, which is “Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History.”

Having worked on their entries for many months, the local youth are vying for a chance to represent the St. Louis region at the state competition held in April in Columbia, Mo. – and for a special prize in local history, which will be presented by the Missouri Historical Society.

A diverse range of entries will mark the regional contest this weekend, Acsay said, including a performance on the Manhattan Project, an exhibit highlighting the local fur trader Robert Campbell, a documentary on Emmett Till, a paper considering gunpowder, a website on the struggle between Romanovs and Bolsheviks, and much more.

National History Day is the nation’s leading program for history education in schools, annually engaging 2 million people in the U.S., Puerto Rico and overseas.

Missouri Institute of Mental Health research associate and substance use counselor Brendolyn Bailey-Burch is the principal investigator for a substance use and HIV/AIDS prevention program she hopes will provide resources for St. Louis youth to learn more about health and also provide outlets for positive expression. (Photos by August Jennewein)

As principal investigator, Brendolyn Bailey-Burch led a team of Missouri Institute of Mental Health researchers at the University of Missouri–St. Louis in securing over $1 million to implement a new substance use, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis prevention project for African American male and female youth from ages 13 to 24.

The grant was recently awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration with a goal of serving a total of 960 participants in St. Louis City and County.

“The African American community in St. Louis is disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and substance use issues,” said Bailey-Burch. “If we can offer youth an interesting program, keep their attention and teach them about the harmful effects of substance use and dispel myths about HIV/AIDS, they can begin to make healthy lifestyle choices. And then maybe they won’t become a statistic down the line. It’s all about saving lives.”

After years of practice in the helping profession, Bailey-Burch along with team members LaToshia Boyd-Lee and Jeffrey Noel, have learned one important secret to spearheading successful youth programs at UMSL.

“You have to pair the education with engagement and a fun element,” said Bailey-Burch. “One unique feature about our latest project is that it is designed to promote positive prevention messages and to change community norms through social marketing and media campaigns that will be developed by project participants.”

The program’s social media and marketing components may use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other popular platforms as a method to share those messages and promote health awareness.

“This time around, we hope to see a series of high-quality and creative social media campaigns produced by teens and young adult college students working with them,” said Noel, who is the evaluator for the project.

“We hope UMSL students will act as big brothers and sisters who will help manage the marketing campaign and provide younger participants with encouragement,” said Bailey-Burch.

Staff members agree that building a sense of community and developing lines of communication between generations is another important component of outreach and prevention program success.

Boyd-Lee, who will manage the program’s daily operations, seeks to create safe spaces for serious communication about health education among participants during the program interventions.

“I also hope the program will help decrease stigma,” she said, “and encourage youth and young adults to be responsible for their own health and not shy away from getting counseling, substance use screenings, HIV, STD and hepatitis testing if needed.”

According to Bailey-Burch, the last key to a successful youth prevention program is continued communication.

“Participants always want to come back and do our programs again, and families write to us about how they are continuing important health dialogues,” she said. “Hearing these success stories motivates us to continue the work that we do.”

More than 50 of the region’s best junior-level high school science students received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Science from UMSL’s College of Arts and Sciences. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Some of the world’s greatest scientists – Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Aristotle – started their work as teenagers. This fact, pointing to the potential of young minds, isn’t lost on the University of Missouri–St. Louis, which is why UMSL celebrated more than 50 of the region’s best junior-level high school science students.

Recognized for their good grades, talent and success in the sciences, the students received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Science from UMSL’s College of Arts and Sciences. The dinner and presentation ceremony took place Feb. 25 in the Millennium Student Center.

Attendees, including parents and teachers, were treated to a reading from UMSL’s poet laureate as well as a performance by the UMSL Jazz Combo. They also heard from keynote speaker Ron Yasbin, dean of the college, and Chancellor Tom George.

See below for the full list of the 2016 honorees.

Affton High School
Jeffrey Au

Althoff Catholic High School
Henry Jansen

Alton High School
James Steinman

Cardinal Ritter College Preparatory
Nautica Little

Christian Brothers College High School
Matthew John Schulz

Clayton High School
Nicholas Lee

Cleveland Junior Naval Academy
Daisha Carrawell

Clyde C. Miller Career Academy
Jerry Crews

Collinsville High School
Emily Hendricks

Crossroads College Preparatory
Callista Martin

Festus High School
Braden Shular

Francis Howell High School
Leah Amos

Francis Howell North High School
James Dohrman

Fort Zumwalt North High School
Joseph Cassidy

Fox Senior High School
Kortni D’Andrea

Gateway Stem High School
Rebecca Harrington

Jefferson High School
Brendan Reese

Lutheran High School North
Matthew Zeuschel

Maplewood Richmond Heights
Mia Rintoul

Mary Institute And Saint Louis Country Day School
Andrew Krause

Marquette High School
Shane Whitehead

Marquette Catholic High School
Faith Griffin

Mehlville High School
Elizabeth Hong

Mccluer South-Berkeley High School
Trevon Brown

Nerinx Hall High School
Kristina Inman

Northwest High School
Patrick Collins

Northwestern High School
Lucas Motley

Notre Dame High School
Sydney Boland

Orchard Farm High School
Will Runion

Rockwood Summit High School
Neha Gupta

St. Charles High School
Karen Ye

St. Charles West High School
Jacob Larson

Saint Francis Borgia Regional High School
Ryan McDermott

Soldan International Studies High School
Teraya Marble

Soldan International Studies High School
Ngoc Nguyen

Southwestern High School
Stephanie Eva Korte

Steelville High School
Kyle Bean

St. Dominic High School
Jacob Luebbers

St. John Vianney High School
Tyler Dreiling

St. Joseph’s Academy
Anissa Bernardez

St. Louis University High School
Daniel Wagner

St. Mary’s High School
Dan Ranciglio

Ste. Genevieve High School
Dylan Burr

Triad High School
Lauren Pingsterhaus

Troy Buchanan High School
Alyssa Higgins

Union High School
Jessica Kelly

Ursuline Academy
Alexandria Schomaker

Vashon High School
Tomisha Miller

Villa Duchesne And Oak Hill School
Harper Wieldt

Visitation Academy
Ferguson Beardsley

Warrenton High School
Macie Sommer

Washington High School
Scott Klein

Wentzville Holt High School
Aimee Aubuchon

Whitfield School
Zachary Taylor

The Tritons tallied a combined 26 hits with senior Justin Busekrus going 6-for-8 at the plate.

Men’s Basketball
UMSL saw its season end on Sunday with a 90-84 loss at Truman State in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament First Round. The Tritons clinched their spot in the league’s postseason affair with an 81-66 victory at Maryville last Thursday in the regular season finale. Senior Brandon Marquardt recorded 17 points in that win, knocking down five three-pointers to break the program’s single season record. He finishes the year with 89 long balls. UMSL posted a 12-16 record during the 2015-16 season, including a 6-12 mark in GLVC play.

Women’s Basketball
UMSL saw its season end on Sunday in first round action of the GLVC Tournament with a 59-51 loss at Truman State. The Tritons secured their bid to the tournament last Thursday with a 72-70 win at Maryville as Jordan Fletcher scored the game-winner with 1.9 seconds left to play with a pass from Sydney Bloch. UMSL wraps up the 2015-16 season with an 11-16 mark, including a 6-12 record in GLVC play.

Softball
No. 5 UMSL ran its season-opening win streak to 11 games on Saturday with a 9-0 win over Notre Dame College, but then suffered its first loss of the year in a 2-1 setback to No. 16-ranked West Virginia Wesleyan in eight innings. Junior Alex Stupek recorded a combined four hits, including three in the victory. UMSL (11-1) continues play at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., this week with five more games.

Baseball
UMSL opened the year 2-0 with wins over Ashland (11-4) and Saint Joseph’s (11-8) last weekend. The Tritons tallied a combined 26 hits with senior Justin Busekrus going 6-for-8 at the plate. Redshirt freshman Jose Ortiz added four hits and six RBIs. The Tritons return to the field Saturday and Sunday, traveling to Cartersville, Ga., for four games against Illinois Springfield before continuing south to Florida, where they will play five games March 8-12.

Men’s Golf
Sophomore Markus Lindberg leads all individuals at the Las Vegas Desert Classic, hosted by the Tritons, after two completed rounds on Sunday. Lindberg shot a 138 (68-70), while as a team the Tritons are tied for third with the final 18 holes being played Monday.

Women’s Golf
Sophomore Alexa Capesius shot a 74 for UMSL on Sunday as the Tritons opened play at their own Las Vegas Desert Classic. She enters today’s final round tied for the individual lead with Central Oklahoma’s Marla Souvannasinig. Capesius helped the the Tritons to a team score of 306, one stroke behind Central Oklahoma in the 12-team field.

“There is only one river. There is only one sea. And it flows through you, and it flows through me. There is only one people. We are one and the same. We are all one spirit. We are all one name. We are the father, mother, daughter and son. From the dawn of creation, we are one. We are one,” said University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Arts and Sciences Dean Ron Yasbin, quoting lyrics from the Peter, Paul and Mary song “River of Jordan” at a convocation for the new School of Fine and Performing Arts. The College of Fine Arts and Communication was dissolved Jan. 1, and the school was created under the umbrella of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We are one, we are the College of Arts and Sciences, and welcome to all of you!”

The Feb. 19 event in the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center celebrated all that is the new School of Fine and Performing Arts. It began with a lobby exhibition featuring artwork by students and faculty in the Department of Art and Art History. Assistant Professor Zachary Cairns and members of the UMSL Percussion Ensemble performed “Rhythmic Ceremonial Ritual” (pictured above), UMSL Poet Laureate Victoria Walls recited a poem, Assistant Professor Jacqueline Thompson directed members of the UMSL Players in a piece called “What Theatre Means to Me” and Professor James Richard conducted the UMSL Student, Faculty and Alumni Ensemble in performing an original piece, “Together in Harmony,” composed by Curators’ Professor of Music Barbara Harbach. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Junior media studies major Mario Miles-Turnage takes a water break while working out at the UMSL Recreation and Wellness Center.

The photograph was taken by UMSL photographer August Jennewein and is the latest to be featured in Eye on UMSL.

Senior Brianne Clemons is marketing manager for the student-planned International Business Career Conference 2016 on March 4 at UMSL. (Photo by Jen Hatton)

As a marketing and international business major, Brianne Clemons is always interested in learning more about the global business world. She sees the International Business Career Conference 2016 at the University of Missouri–St. Louis as a great way for herself and other business students to gain real insight into their future careers.

“The conference is an opportunity to not only help you gain knowledge into your field but it can teach you things and help you open up your mind,” said Clemons, marketing manager for the student-planned International Business Career Conference. “A misconception is that this is for international business majors only, but the truth is it’s for all majors, because all business is global.”

The International Business Career Conference, now in its eighth year, will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. March 4 in the J.C. Penney Building and Conference Center at UMSL. This year’s conference, “Your Connection to a Global Future,” is free and open to all students, but registration is required.

“What makes the conference different from any other networking event is that it is completely created and designed by students, those of us who know what we are looking for in a conference and the speakers we want to hear,” she said. “We’ve set up the panel discussion so the students are the ones asking the questions. And the networking lunch, instead of walking around to each executive, students are sitting down and eating with them.”

Clemons, a Woodson Terrace, Mo., resident, chose UMSL because of the top-ranked International Business Program and study abroad opportunities.

“I have a minor in Spanish, and I’m very interested in the Hispanic market. I had the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica last year, and in a few weeks I will be going to Japan for nine days to learn about the culture and business market,” she said. “These international opportunities are essential to success in the business world. The conference is just another one of these opportunities for students to engage with professionals in the field and take away vital information.”

Visit umsl.edu/ibcc/index.html to register and for a complete conference schedule.

Freshman Robert White went 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles last week in Hilton Head, S.C.

Baseball
UMSL took three of four games from Illinois Springfield last weekend. The Tritons’ pitching staff posted an ERA of 1.69 over the weekend and received solid starts from Kevin Smith and Jake Renfrow, who each struck out eight. Austin Simokaitis recorded three saves, bringing his career total to 15, which ties the third most in program history. Offensively, Tanner Hudson batted a team-best .429, recording six hits, including two doubles. UMSL (5-1) will play five games in Clearwater, Fla., this week.

Softball
No. 7-ranked UMSL went 5-0 last week with four shutouts in the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. The Tritons outhit their opponents, 46-12, with sophomore Jennah Perryman tallying six hits, including two doubles and two home runs. She also scored five runs, while junior Alex Stupek finished with seven hits, including two doubles and two home runs plus seven RBIs. Senior Hannah Perryman was 4-0 in the circle with a 0.26 ERA. She tossed her 13th career no-hitter last Wednesday against Findlay, which ranks fourth on the NCAA Division II career charts. UMSL (16-1) will host Williams Baptist Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in a doubleheader before opening Great Lakes Valley Conference play this weekend at home against Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis.

Men’s Tennis
UMSL won all three of its matches in Hilton Head, S.C., last week. Freshmen Fabian Frank, Max Heath and Robert White all went 3-0 in singles, while White was 2-1 in doubles. The Tritons (6-0) are at Bellarmine on Saturday.

Women’s Tennis
UMSL went 2-1 in Hilton Head, S.C., last week, posting shutouts against Brevard and Michigan Tech, with its lone loss coming from Tiffin (5-4). Senior Natalia Carvalhais went 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles to lead the Tritons. UMSL (6-2) travels to Bellarmine on Saturday.

Men’s Golf
Sophomore Markus Lindberg earned runner-up honors at the Las Vegas Desert Classic, hosted by the Tritons, while helping UMSL to a tie-for-second-place finish as a team. Lindberg turned in 54-hole school record 209 (68-70-71). The Tritons are idle until March 28 and 29, when they compete at the North Alabama Classic.

Women’s Golf
Sophomore Alexa Capesius earned a runner-up finish at the Tritons’ Las Vegas Desert Classic last Sunday and Monday, shooting a two-round personal best score of 150 (74-76). Her play helped the Tritons to a second-place finish as a team. UMSL returns to the course March 19 and 20 at the Perry Park Invitational, hosted by Lewis.

From classrooms to conversations to media, a handful of UMSL community members aim to expand perspectives about disability during a series of interactive events March 15 to 18. (Graphic courtesy Lauren Obermark)

“What difference does disability make? And how does disability provide insight?”

It’s questions like these that a guest scholar will ask of students, faculty and staff at the University of Missouri–St. Louis in the coming days as the College of Arts & Sciences presents “Normal is Overrated: Disability in the 21st Century” March 15 to 18.

“Often, disability is understood in a limited way, and people make some assumptions – for instance, many people think about disability in strictly medical terms,” says Assistant Professor of English Lauren Obermark, who has organized the effort alongside fellow UMSL faculty and students. “Next week’s events approach disability as a category of identity, one that can indeed be positive and worth celebrating.”

Through film and artwork viewings, syllabus workshops and more, visiting professor Brenda Jo Brueggemann of the University of Louisville will lead interested UMSL participants in a wide-ranging exploration of disability. Her brief residency at UMSL is the first to take place as part of a CAS-grant-funded visiting scholars program.

College of Arts & Sciences Visiting Scholar Brenda Jo Brueggemann, director of composition at the University of Louisville, says the “Normal is Overrated: Disability in the 21st Century” series will explore disability from all sorts of angles – artistic, historical, medical, institutional and educational. (Photo courtesy Brenda Brueggemann)

“Dr. Brueggemann is the perfect person to guide these events, as she has a long career as both a scholar and teacher exploring the complex intersections of deafness, language and pedagogy,” says Obermark, adding that the title of the series illustrates its broad relevance. “She is a gifted professor who always makes discussions about disability engaging, accessible and exciting.”

Interest in the field of disability studies is already growing at UMSL, according to several of Obermark’s own students.

“Ever since I took her Introduction to Rhetoric course last spring, I’ve realized that a part of my pedagogy is social justice,” says senior English major Justin Yancey, who has been thinking a lot about his own approach to teaching and scholarship as he looks toward graduate school. “As a queer person, I know what it’s like to experience injustice, so I want to bring social-justice issues into the composition classroom. And in a disability studies seminar this semester, I’m learning so much more about Universal Design for Learning, which is a kind of educational framework to make courses accessible to all students so that they can succeed.”

The field has also become increasingly important on a personal note to members of the UMSL community including alumna Racheal White, who has spent much of her life living with a rare lung disease and is on the planning committee for “Normal is Overrated.”

“When I was a child, my illness was visible due to the treatment I used, and I remember some girls on the playground saying, in reference to the fanny pack that held my intravenous medication, ‘Ew. That’s gross,'” White says. “As treatment changed, my illness became invisible, but the repercussions of living with an illness never left me. I continued to feel ‘abnormal.'”

During her time as a student at UMSL, White only opened up to a few people about her chronic illness and sense of otherness. But after taking a course with Obermark focused on social justice and inclusivity, she says, that began to change.

“Disability studies helped me realize that hiding my life story and my disease is a form of oppression,” White says. “I have nothing to be ashamed of in talking about my illness – it has made me the person I am today.”

The week’s focus may lead naturally from discussions about disability to touch on a range of other identities and issues such as race, gender and sexuality, Obermark notes, with all of the events interactive in some respect.

“Over the 18 months or so since Michael Brown was killed, and then with the protests surrounding Mizzou this past fall, I think UMSL has been forced to think more critically about what it means to be a diverse, public, urban institution,” she says. “I’ve been proud to see the campus hold conversations and workshops to think about what it means to be more inclusive and better serve the university community – from students, to surrounding neighborhoods, to those who work here. In some ways, the work of ‘Normal is Overrated’ aims to take such conversations even further.”

Brueggemann, whose scholarly work in the field over the last decade has resulted in two single-authored books, has seen firsthand the myriad ways in which disability studies can enrich academia. She gives a recent art and film project at her home institution as just one example.

“For many of the citizens with developmental disabilities who had participated in the workshop and were featured in the film, this was their first time ever on the university’s campus – even though the Council on Developmental Disabilities office is less than a mile away, straight up the street,” she says. “Many campus citizens also came out for the event, and the true mix of ‘town and gown’ was very meaningful.”

She also sees attention to disability having an impact in her own classroom, where she is currently teaching a general education course titled “Disability in Anglophone Literature,” with volumes such as Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” looming large.

“A literature professor colleague of mine was puzzled about how and why I was teaching ‘Jane Eyre’ in a course about disability,” says Brueggemann, “but my students claimed – without my prompting – in the end that the story as we know it simply does not exist if disability is taken out of it.”

Brueggemann’s pedagogy is also deeply informed by the field as she continually finds ways to turn her own “hearing loss [into] a ‘deaf gain’ move” that elicits more learning and collaboration among her students as they share ownership of class conversation.

“I’m deaf myself,” she says. “Access to education (and many things) has not always been easy in my life. I want a different world for other students now.”

For the full rundown of “Normal is Overrated” events on and off UMSL’s campus March 15 to 18, see the flier.

Two University of Missouri-St. Louis athletes earned Great Lakes Valley Conference honors this week ­­­– Renee Verboven in the sport of women’s tennis and Hannah Perryman in softball.

Verboven, a senior civil engineering major, was named GLVC Player of the Week after going 6-0 last week with three No. 4 singles wins and as many wins at No. 3 doubles. This is the Waalre, Netherlands, native’s third career weekly honor. UMSL (6-2) returns to the courts Saturday night at Bellarmine.

Perryman, a senior criminology and criminal justice major, was named GLVC Pitcher of the Week. She went 4-0 last week for UMSL, recording her 13th career no-hitter on Wednesday against regional foe Findlay, and the GLVC announcement marks the southpaw’s 14th career weekly honor. The Tritons host Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday and Lewis on Sunday.

UMSL students networked with representatives from area businesses during the Information Systems Career Conference. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Joshua Benoist understands that networking doesn’t always come easily to those in his field of study.

“In information systems and computer science, networking and people skills are not always our strong suit,” said Benoist, an information systems major at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. “So any opportunities we have to improve upon them just make us that much better to a potential employer.”

The Information Systems Career Conference is one of those opportunities. Held recently by the Department of Information Systems in the College of Business Administration, the conference was attended by more than 100 students and representatives from 15 area companies.

“Events like this are so important,” Benoist said. “I learned some great tips and resources and had the chance to sit down with companies I’m interested in, talk with their employees and see what they are looking for. Plus the work session offered up great insight into the field.”

Emily Coates, who earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2013 from UMSL, now works as a software engineer for Enterprise. Coates attended the conference on behalf of her employer.

“This is a great networking opportunity for students,” she said. “There are students that we’ve spoken with (at the conference) that would fit perfectly for positions we have available. This is a great way for them to get some exposure and, if nothing else, some experience in networking and interviewing.”

Dinesh Mirchandani, professor and chair of the Department of Information Systems at UMSL, organized the event.

“The conference is a wonderful way to give our students exposure to businesses, while also presenting our talented students to these companies,” Mirchandani said.

Other companies in attendance included Ameren, Boeing, Edward Jones, Emerson, Express Scripts, MSD, Panera Bread, TDK Technologies and Unisys.

The IS department has several other events planned; click here to see a complete list.