In the spring, two UIW professors received the royal treatment at the Oprah Winfrey Show. Dr. Mary Beth Swofford and Sr. Germaine Corbin of the theatre arts department flew to Chicago to appear in a surprise segment for UIW alumnus Ricardo Antonio Chavira. Though the content of the segment was changed at the last minute, they were able to surprise Chavira and attend the taping of the show. The lucky ladies then had the privilege of having lunch with three of the cast members from the hit show Desperate Housewives- Chavira, Jesse Metcalfe and James Denton. The ladies were invited back to an additional taping of Oprah the following day and enjoyed a show with the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond.

Dr. Paul Lewis, UIW assistant professor of philosophy, is a member of the “Mombasa Code,” a musical performance group that provided music for an event commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s march to the sea to make salt 75 years ago. This salt-making challenged the British monopoly on salt and transformed history with Gandhi’s effective use of non-violence to get freedom from the strongest empire in the world. People carried posters of Martin Luther King, Jr. who used Gandhi’s techniques.

Graciela Lopez Cox, professor of nursing, returned from a 10-day medical mission trip to Guatemala in February. The trip was made possible by the Presbyterian Church and an agreement with a Guatemala mission group, Mission Presbytery. Cox spent 5 days in the jungle, visiting the people of Guatemala.

Sister Martha Ann Kirk has been invited to be a part of an Oxford Round Table discussion at the University of Oxford, England, from August 7-12, focusing on the cultural practices and legal assumptions that restrain women’s achievement of leadership roles in the modern world.

Sister Martha Ann Kirk was also selected to participate in the Calvin Institute of Worship that took place July 11-22 in Grand Rapids, Mich. The summer program, which is funded by the Lily Endowment at the institute, is for individuals who teach worship. The acceptance letter was as following: “The applicant pool for this seminar was exceptionally strong; your selection is a testimony to the important work that you are doing.” Sr. Kirk will also receive continuous resource support to help in curricula development. In addition, she will attend another seminar in January.

Dr. Hubert Robichaux, lecturer-in-anthropology, presented a paper titled “Archaeological Research at Punta de Cacao in Northwestern Belize: The Emerging Understanding of an Ancient Maya Town” at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 1. Dr. Robichaux also co-authored another paper presented during the SAA conference titled “An Examination of the Political, Social, and Ideological Significance of the Hieroglyphically Inscribed, Late Classic Vessel from El Pedernal, Guatemala” which he wrote with Santa Monica College professor, Dr. Brandon Lewis.

Dr. David Foglesong, associate professor of biology, participated in the Quality Enhancement for Minorities/Biology Workshop sponsored and fully supported by the National Science Foundation. The purpose of the workshop was to assist professors at minority universities in preparing grant proposals to support the research of minority students in biology. The workshop was held in Memphis, Tenn., on April 1-2.

Dr. Pat LeMay Burr, Distinguished Chair in International Business, has been awarded a grant funded by the European Union for work this summer in Europe. Burr is one of 10 awardees in the U.S. who traveled to Europe during the months of May and June for fact-finding and analysis on European Institutions, Infrastructure, the Monetary System, Trade and Economic Development. During their work, they will visit multinational corporations as well as European government offices. The group is a leadership team representing World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Suk Bin Kong, associate professor of chemistry, published a research paper with Dr. Harvey Schwertner, Clinical Research Directorate (CID), Wilford Hall Medical Center, US Air Force, in the “Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis” (Elsevier), 37 (2005) 475-479. The title of the article was "Determination of modafinil in plasma and urine by reversed phase HPLC." This method can be used for pharmacokinetic studies and for therapeutic monitoring. In addition, it can be readily adapted to the liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric (LC/MS) analysis of the drug. Modafinil (Provigil) is a new wake-promoting drug that is being used for the management of excessive sleepiness in patients with narcolepsy. The article is available on line www.elsevier.com/locate/jpba.

Dr. Tim Henrich had two articles published in the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. The articles were titled "The Impact of Static Stretching Warm-up on Training Performances of Competitive Swimmers" that he co-authored with Bob Pankey of Texas State University and Bill Carleton, and “Exercise Heart Rates of Children During a 15 Minute Horizontal Wall Climbing” in which he collaborated with Pankey again. The Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport” is an impact journal for the associated physical activity and health related academic disciplines. These findings were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.