People are becoming more concerned about the origins of their foods, including beef. In his PhD dissertation, David Wright (assistant professor of English and Technical Communication) studied the efforts of the US Department of Agriculture to use RFID devices implanted in cattle to trace them from origin to use. The cattle industry was not receptive to the proposal to implant Radio Frequency Identification devices in their stock.
On Friday, January 18, Dr. Wright was interviewed by Wayne Huebner, host of radio station KMST’s TechnoFiles program. You may listen to the full interview in MP3 format here.
Where Did Your Steak Come From?
January 22, 2008 by
Just a Couple Days Before Classes Start
January 12, 2008 by
The spring 2008 semester for Missouri University of Science & Technology starts on Monday, January 14. Here it is, Saturday, January 12, and I’m putting together course materials. (I suspect I’m not alone in that!)
This is the university’s first semester as Missouri S&T, rather than the University of Missouri – Rolla. We’re all making the transition in how we refer to the campus, with some uncertainty whether it is "MST," "MS&T," or "Missouri S&T." Officially, "mst" is reserved for our email and Internet domain, not for print or speech. However, it’s only three syllables versus four or seven in the other possibilities.
"S&T" is a good designation but a little too obscure right now. The Rolla Daily News uses it, so maybe it will spread.
I did quite a bit of class preparation back in December but still have plenty to do. I’m teaching Creative Writing for the first time in several years and using Blackboard for the first time for that class.
For a department chair, preparing for a new semester means much more than writing up (or revising) the course syllabus. It also means making sure all the courses taught by the department have teachers assigned to them, that everyone has appropriate office space, that the courses have sufficient enrollment.
In fact, I’ve been constructing the class schedule for the fall 2008 semester.
My colleagues in the department are doing their preparations (or have already completed them); some of my students have already visited Blackboard. Unfortunately, there won’t be much there until sometime late today or tomorrow.
Enrollment for this spring semester is slightly higher than for last spring. This weekend, the population of Rolla will expand by several thousand. The campus has felt very empty recently; that changes soon.
It Takes a Team to Pedal Fast
December 3, 2007 by
This afternoon, Missouri University of Science & Technology’s chancellor, John F. Carney III, delivered his fifth semi-annual State of the University speech. A high point was Tom Shipley‘s brief documentary on Missouri S&T’s entry in last summer’s human-powered vehicle contest. The vehicle was designed and built by UMR — pardon me — Missouri S&T’s Human-Powered Vehicle Team, a part of the campus’s Student Design and Experiential Learning Center. Shipley’s film is tight and clean and the source of the title of this entry: it takes a team and a lot of effort for someone to pedal a little over 59 mph.
Yes, I jumped the gun on the name-change from University of Missouri – Rolla to Missouri University of Science & Technology. But that particular gun is being jumped more and more often. Why not me?
Wait a minute! Why am I writing about student design teams? I’m chair of English and Technical Communication, not an engineer.
- First, I admire the student design teams, having known students in them in my own classes.
- Second, our department is a vital part of the campus and its endeavors, as Chancellor Carney noted early in his state of the university talk. The chancellor reminded the audience forcefully that, while he would talk mostly about scientific and technological matters, he did not want to overlook the humanities, the social sciences, or the business program.
- Third, there are numerous ways, many yet to be discovered, in which the scholars, teachers and students of our department can relate to the campus’s major thrust. One important way is to pursue our own research and teaching interests with energy and imagination. Our efforts do contribute to the overall accomplishments of the campus. Another way is participation of our students and faculty in projects of other departments and organizations.
Enough with metaphor and analogy! The university is not a bicycle in an aerodynamic cocoon, with its power-source, a student, concealed inside: the university is a complex enterprise, dependent on everyone, everything, every place that make it up. Ending his talk, the chancellor called on the university to focus on our world’s needs for energy and environmental renewal. Those of us who work with words and images can contribute our knowledge, skills, wit, and wisdom to that project.
Travels with Students
October 28, 2007 by
Recently, two English and Technical Communication faculty members accompanied students to events in St Louis. Dr. Kathryn Northcut took students to a regional meeting of the Society for Technical Communication; Dr. Kristine Swenson took a group of students to attend a play. These events enrich the students on-campus education.
Six MS students and Dr. Kathy Northcut attended the St. Louis regional chapter meeting of the Society for Technical Communication. The topic was "Cool tools for Technical Communicators <$100." The speaker, Nicky Bleiel, demonstrated dozens of tools which are either free or available for a nominal fee. Examples include voice-to-text applications, the GIMP, and icon-building design software.
A brief side trip to Global Foods International Market rounded out the evening.
The GIMP is the Gnu Image Manipulation Program, a tool that I use myself, on both Windows and Linux. It is a freeware parallel to PhotoShop.
Dr. Kris Swenson took a group of students to see Alan Bennett’s award-winning play, The History Boys (2004) at the St Louis Repertory Theatre on September 29. The play is set in a boys’ school in England in the 1980s. A group of history students preparing for Oxbridge entrance exams is being pulled in contrary directions by the teaching styles and goals of different faculty members. It’s really a play about the ends of education and something of an indictment of the current emphasis on testing versus life-learning. I set up the trip especially for students in my Contemporary British Literature class, though all were welcome. The trip was partially supported by Sigma Tau Delta, the English honorary society.
Writing the Self
October 1, 2007 by
Many people write diaries, journals, logs, and so on. Most write for their own purposes — keeping records, expressing emotions, exploring ideas, and exploring writing are all done by journal keepers. To read someone else’s journal is to enter in some way into the writer’s experience, especially if the writer did not intend her journals to be read. The diary or journal becomes a kind of mirror for the writer’s self, and, unlike a literal mirror, the diary retains an impression of what it reflects.
On September 7 and 8 of this year, Dr. Anne Cotterill, Associate Professor of English and Technical Communication, attended a conference at Princeton that explored this topic. The conference focused on Elizabeth Isham, a 17th century diarist.
Dr. Cotterill presented a paper on Saturday, September 8, along with a young man named Isaac Stephens, a graduate student in history whose almost-completed dissertation concerns this memoir and this woman and her family. They are the two scholars who’ve been working the longest on Elizabeth Isham and her text. Dr. Cotterill’s paper was taken from a longer piece she’s written on Elizabeth’s memoir, entitled, "Fitting Words at the ‘pitts brinke’: The Achievement of Elizabeth Isham." Dr. Cotterill plans to send the longer article to The Huntingdon Library Quarterly.
New and Better Computing
September 23, 2007 by
The English Department began developing ideas for a writing center in the 1990s. Dr. Elizabeth Cummins and Dr. Larry Vonalt were important forces behind the department’s request for a Center for Writing Technologies. Their project was finally realized in the establishment of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program, which includes the Dr. Beverley Moeller Writing Studio and the Center for Writing Technologies.
A pod of new computers in the Writing Center
Photo taken with the webcam on one of the new computers
While administratively separate from the Department of English and Technical Communication, the Writing Center and the department are close allies, especially concerning the Center for Writing Technologies (usually called "The Writing Center").
This summer, the department arrived at a plan to share licensing fees for new and upgraded hardware and software. I’m sure you are aware of the rate of change of software and hardware. To best serve our students, especially majors in Technical Communication, we need the best equipment and software available. The Writing Center was updated this August.
The updates this summer make the Writing Center UMR’s premier authoring lab. It was designed by a committee of faculty and staff from various departments: Todd Kreuger (Information Technology [IT]), Connie Melone (IT), Jim Turner (IT), John Sequin (Library), Kate Drowne (English and Technical Communication), Richard Hall (Information Science & Technology), and Ed Malone (English and Technical Communication). The new equipment and software were paid for by IT, Center for Technology Enhanced Learning, and English and Technical Communication
In the future, this lab will accommodate such courses as Web-Based Communication and Multimedia Development and Design. In TCH COM classes this semester, students are authoring help systems with RoboHelp and creating books with FrameMaker; next semester, they will be conducting usability tests and creating tutorials with Camtasia.
The lab has extended hours this semester (6-9 M-Th and 12-9 on Sundays) and hired a lab monitor to help patrons.
The new and updated software is available in two other locations on campus. In Computer Science 207, all of the Adobe programs — except RoboHelp — are available 24/7. One of the machines in the library also has all of the Adobe programs — including RoboHelp — so that a student can complete assignments on Friday evenings or
Saturdays. The library also purchased a collection of Adobe classroom-in-a-book tutorials for the specific versions of Adobe programs we have and other tutorials for RoboHelp, Camtasia, and so on.
Online Scholarship
September 16, 2007 by
One consequence of the increasing use of the World Wide Web is the migration of scholarship to online venues. Internet publication has many advantages for scholarly and creative work, especially ease of access for millions of people.
Dr Elizabeth Cummins, Professor Emeritus of English and Technical Communication, is one of the scholars whose work is being published online. Her Judith Merrill: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography has just been published by the Center for the Bibliography of Science Fiction and Fantasy at Texas A&M University.
The site’s Introduction explains the background: the loss of print publishers for scholarly bibliographies and yet the continuing need scholars have for such bibliographies. Sponsored "by the Science Fiction Research Association, The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, Extrapolation magazine, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection, Cushing Library, Texas A&M University," the Center is a fully qualified scholarly publisher
Earlier in the history of publication on the World Wide Web, many questioned whether such publication really counts as "scholarly," as legitimate publication, or as a kind of vanity publishing. Like other Web publishers, the Center for the Bibliography of Science Fiction and Fantasy qualifies as a full-fledged scholarly publisher. The bibliographies it publishes are reviewed by a qualified editorial board just as they would be for hard copy publishers.
Congratulations to Dr. Cummins on the latest publication of a labor of scholarly love. Judith Merrill is a crucial editor and writer in SF; now scholars around the world have ready access to this outstanding bibliography.
New Roles for Two Faculty Members
September 4, 2007 by
Beginning with the fall 2007 semester, Dr. Kris Swenson and Dr. Ed Malone, will each add a new role to their responsibilities in the Department of English and Technical Communication. As the number of students increases, managing the courses they take becomes more complex. The department itself is changing in response to changes in the student body and to changes in the campus. In addition, our BS and MS degrees in Technical Communication are not quite two years old: these programs need attention and effort to develop most effectively.
As Coordinator of Writing Courses, Dr. Swenson will oversee the Department’s English 20 (Exposition and Argumentation) and English 60 (Writing and Research). English 20 is "freshman comp," an important course taken by almost all incoming freshman. Her duties also include working with the faculty teaching these courses and coordinating policies and practices for the courses.
Dr. Kris Swenson
As Director of Technical Communication, Dr. Malone will work extensively with the graduate students on issues ranging from admission to keeping statistics on their test scores. Dr. Malone will also aid in recruiting both undergraduate and graduate students for the technical communication programs.
Dr. Ed Malone
For my part as chair, I welcome these new roles for Dr. Swenson and Dr. Malone. The department will function more effectively because of their contributions. Thanks are due the Provost, Dr. W. Kent Wray, and the Chancellor, Dr. Jack Carney, for making these new roles possible.
Celebration
September 2, 2007 by
The fall semester has well and truly begun. The first wave of student questions and dilemmas is over. (That first wave ranges from trying to find a classroom to trying to get into a class to finding an instructor.) For all that the university has over 1200 new freshman, there were fewer problems of this kind this fall.
Now that enrollment and class schedules have pretty well settled down, faculty, students, and staff can take stock and focus fully on the tasks of teaching, learning, and facilitating. The Department of English and Technical Communication sponsored a "Welcome Back" reception on Tuesday, August 28. Students and faculty from several departments mingled and ate goodies. 
In this photo, Erin Cotita, English major and department student assistant, prepares to cut the cake for serving.
The reception ran from 1:00 to 2:30; those attending did more than eat, as shown in this photo of students (Irangi, Li and Tommy) talking with Professor Emeritus, Nick Knight, and parent, Glenn Cotita. 
Together with the break in the heat we’re experiencing (highs of 85 F are much more pleasant than highs of 105 F) and the relatively smooth start of a new semester, this reception put, so to speak, the icing on the cake. (Or the dip on the crudités. if you will.)
Between Wildfire and Hailstorm
August 23, 2007 by
The Department of English and Technical Communication welcomes David Wright as a new Assistant Professor. Dr. Wright completed his PhD. last May at Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Wright shares this story of an unusual event:
Once, in South Dakota, I was caught between an wildfire and a massive thunderstorm. On the road ahead, we could see flames and massive amounts of smoke reaching the sky. Behind us was a wall cloud that looked like it covered the world. Since we couldn’t drive into the smoke and fire, we had to pull over and wait for the hail and rain that was creeping in behind to overtake us and extinguish the wildfire. Believe me, it was quite a wild ride. While there, we watched a mountain lion stalk an antelope across the valley below the road.
He adds, "Sounds like a tall tale, doesn’t it?" Whether tall or not, it’s a good tale.
Dr. Wright grew up in Oklahoma, where he learned to enjoy trout fishing, golfing, playing and recording music, and college athletics of all kinds. He has worked for NASA, the State of Oklahoma, in the software industry, and at one time was a member of a band that traveled a great deal and played lots of "really fine establishments." As part of his dissertation research into technology diffusion and as part of his work in the software industry, Dr. Wright visited livestock auctions from Texas to North Dakota (and everywhere in between) to research the cattle industry’s technological readiness for animal identification processes, both hardware and software.
I’m going to guess that many of those livestock auctions weren’t all that far from the "fine establishments" where his band played at an earlier stage of his life. The department is glad to have Dr. Wright join us; we hope you’ll meet him, perhaps in one of his classes or through reading his research.