Extra Credit Opportunity: Holi

Indian Student Association cordially invites you to join us for Festival of Colors – Holi…! All Indians celebrate this festival over the world with bonfires on the eve of the festival and on the day of the festival everyone plays with water and herbal colors. Celebrate this day with us with laughter and to signify victory of good over evil.
Event:  Festival of Colors – Holi
Date:   Saturday, March 31, 2012 @ 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Place: Gorilla Lake
*Refreshment will be served and no entry fees

Extra Credit Opportunity: Sister Helen Prejean

The Pittsburg State University Performing Arts and Lecture Series concludes its 2011-12 season on Friday, March 30, with a free lecture by Sister Helen Prejean, the author of “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.” Sister Prejean will speak at 7 p.m. in Pittsburg’s Memorial Auditorium.

Sister Helen PrejeanSister Prejean, a Catholic nun from Louisiana, became the spiritual adviser to convicted killer Patrick Sonnier and witnessed his execution. In 1993, she wrote of that life-changing experience in a Pulitzer-Prize nominated book, “Dead Man Walking.” The book, which topped the New York Times list for 31 weeks, was adapted by director and producer Tim Robbins for an Oscar-nominated film in 1996 featuring Susan Sarandon as Sister Prejean and Sean Penn as the death-row inmate.

A Nobel Prize-nominated activist and advocate, Sister Prejean has witnessed multiple executions and describes herself as “an ordinary person who got involved in extraordinary events.” As the founder of Survive, a victim’s advocacy group in New Orleans, she continues to counsel not only inmates on death row, but the families of murder victims, as well.

In conjunction with Sister Prejean’s Pittsburg appearance, the PSU Theatre will present the stage version of “Dead Man Walking” April 26-29 in the PSU Studio Theatre.

Admission to the lecture on March 30 is free, but tickets are required. Tickets may be obtained at the PSU Ticket Office in the Overman Student Center (620-235-4796) or at the door the evening of the lecture, based on availability. All seating is general admission.

For information, please contact Campus Activities at 620-235-4795.

Eating History Essay Grades

I’m not terribly happy with the results of this essay, but it’s only one of many assignments that makes up your grades. The highest grade I gave on the essays was a B; the median and average were D and almost half of the registered population of the class didn’t hand in an essay (Yes, I take late assignments, with appropriate penalties; yes, it’s worth writing something and handing it in still, because even an F with penalties is worth a lot more than a zero). A few thoughts

The biggest grade-killers were essays that ignored instructions

  • Essays that didn’t pick a century
  • Essays that didn’t have anything to do with food history.
  • Essays that didn’t focus on immigration, politics or the media
  • Essays that focused on one, but didn’t address the “most important” question, assuming that “important” and “most important” were the same thing. (Some essays claimed to address the contrast/”more” aspect, but didn’t spend anywhere near enough time on the question to be serious.)
  • Essays that drew material from one or two chapters and missed important aspects of the issue in other parts of the book.

I’ll try to be a little more aggressive about explaining what I’m looking for on the next essay and final exam essays, but all of those errors could be avoided by reading the instructions carefully.

Crimean War Images

What excellent timing: after our discussion of the Crimean War yesterday, this morning BibliOdyssey has pictures and maps. It’s worth noting that the Crimean War was a little too early for photography to be used extensively (though they were used, which was new), which is why lithographs were necessary. PK also has links to this short history of the war. Also, I forgot to mention, this was the war in which the Charge Of the Light Brigade took place, inspiring one of the most famous poems of the 19th century.

Test 2 results

Each question was worth up to 4 points, for a possible total of 32. The highest score in the class before extra credit, in both sections, was 27.5, and the median was again a solid C; the grade scale works out like this:

Grade starts at distribution
A+ 27.5
A 26  10%
A- 25
B+ 23
B 20  20%
B- 18
C+ 16
C 13  45%
C- 11
D+ 9
D 6  20%
D- 4
F under 4  5%

If you answered 8 questions, but failed to answer two from each chapter, I took a 2 point penalty off your grade. (If you didn’t answer all 8 questions, I did not)

If you want to discuss your performance, and how you can improve it next time, feel free to come by my office hours. If you want to dispute your grade, feel free to do so in writing.

 

Extra Credit Opportunity: International Culture Fair

Where can you eat your way around the world in one evening? The International Food and Culture Fair! PSU International students will offer tastes from their native cuisines as well as performances of music and dance. Students, faculty/staff and the community are invited! The Food & Culture Fair is an event hosted by the International Student Association and International Programs and Services Office every spring.
Event: Food & Culture Fair
Date: Saturday, March 10th
Time: 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Place: Memorial Auditorium, 503 N. Pine, Pittsburg, KS
Cost: Entrance Fee is $1, Children under 12 free. Tickets for food purchased separately (each food sample $1 – $1.50). Tickets available at the door.

 

Extra Credit Opportunity: Dead Man Walking

PSU CAMPUS FILM NIGHT: DEAD MAN WALKING, 1995 Academy-Award Winning Film
MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012, 7:00 PM, 109 Grubbs Hall
-Starring: Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn; Directed by Tim Robbins
-Based the book by Sister Helen Prejean
-Arranged through special permission from Swank Productions, Inc.
-Sponsored by the PSU Department of Communication, Ron & Debbie Koelsch & June Koelsch
*ADMISSION IS FREE, but due to limited space, RESERVATIONS are REQUIRED. FOR RESERVATIONS, EMAIL Kristy Magee at kmagee@pittstate.edu your name and email address.
*Open to PSU Students, Faculty/Staff, Community Members
*FREE POPCORN!!
PLOT: Susan Sarandon, in her Academy-Award winning role, portrays Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who exchanges letters with death row inmate, Matt Poncelot, portrayed by Sean Penn. This captivating film leaves viewers questioning what roles compassion and freedom play in today’s society; and ultimately, in their own lives.
ENGAGING IN A SEMESTER OF INTERDISCIPLINARY DISCOURSE AT PSU! As this semester of discourse on capital punishment continues, Sister Helen Prejean’s visit to Pitt State gets closer (March 30th, Sponsored by PALS & Social Work Plus), and Dead Man Walking, the play (April 26th-29th, Sponsored by Pitt State Theatre) wraps it up at the end of the semester, let’s get together with everyone interested and inspired by this story to kick off these activities and watch the film! Whether you are working on this project for a class, doing an independent study surrounding this topic, planning to attend auditions and/or be involved with the production of the play, or just interested in watching this film, it is sure to get you thinking about everything involved.
QUESTIONS? Contact Kristy Magee, Graduate Student in the Department of Communication & Director/Coordinator of The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project at Pitt State, at kmagee@pittstate.edu or 620-481-9619.