Category: Kudos

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures and the WSU Japanese Language program extend a congratulations to the winners of the Heart of America Japan-America Society’s annual Japanese Language Contest. The contest was held on March 4 at Johnson County Community College. They are proud of the hard work that all the contestants put into the contest this year to represent Wichita State.

Students competed in several categories including poetry writing in both English and Japanese, karuta card games, online grammar and culture quizzes, calligraphy, 4-panel manga creation, and a speech presentation contest.

This year’s winners from Wichita State:

• Cameron Gillespie: First in speech presentation, second in Japanese-language tanka poem.
• Alyssa Moen: First in Japanese culture quiz, second in N5 karuta card game.
• Wren Johnson: Second in speech presentation.
• Quyen Tran: Honorable mention for calligraphy.
• Lilith Tackett: Honorable mention for English-language tanka poem.

On March 9, the Office of Online & Adult Learning held its annual Adult Learning of the Year (ALOTY) ceremony where it recognized an outstanding adult learner and both a community partner and Wichita State partner who have supported adult learners on campus.

• The ALOTY winner was Jennifer Johnson, a junior in the elementary education program, who is balancing a heavy course load, an internship helping a fourth grade classroom and raising three young children. Jennifer was recognized for exceling in her classes and for being a dedicated student, exemplifying what it means to be both an adult learner and a Shocker.
• The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning received the community partner award in recognition of its continued assistance and expertise of adult students.
• Lynette Murphy, senior director of development for the Fairmount College and Honors College at the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement, received the WSU partner award in honor of her going above and beyond for adult learners at WSU.

The Office of Online & Adult Learning congratulates this year’s ALOTY award winners.

On March 2 and March 3, five students from the Department of Human Performance Studies in the College of Applied Studies participated in the annual Central States chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (CS-ACSM) conference with the support of Dr. Heidi A. VanRavenhorst-Bell, faculty research advisor.

Thinh Huynh, a senior in exercise science, gave an oral presentation on “Validation of a neuro-fitness device to access cognitive and reaction time measures: A pilot study” to a full room where he received the first compliments of the day for delivering a strong presentation. This compliment came from a notable expert in the field.

Additionally, three other exercise science students competed against 13 other teams from the Central States chapter in the quiz bowl competition. These students were Christian Yabut, senior; Adelyn Tackitt, senior; and Khoa-Vinh “Victor” Nguyen, junior. They were the first team in Wichita State history to ever compete in the CS-ACSM quiz bowl competition. After the initial rounds, a final jeopardy and a final double jeopardy, WSU claimed third place.

The conference held many successes for the Department of Human Performance Studies, with all photos courtesy of Frida Loera Moreno, a junior in exercise science. 

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures and the WSU Japanese Language program extend a congratulations to the winners of the Heart of America Japan-America Society’s annual Japanese Language Contest. The contest was held on March 4 at Johnson County Community College. They are proud of the hard work that all the contestants put into the contest this year to represent Wichita State.

Students competed in several categories including poetry writing in both English and Japanese, karuta card games, online grammar and culture quizzes, calligraphy, 4-panel manga creation, and a speech presentation contest.

This year’s winners from Wichita State:

• Cameron Gillespie: First in speech presentation, second in Japanese-language tanka poem.
• Alyssa Moen: First in Japanese culture quiz, second in N5 karuta card game.
• Wren Johnson: Second in speech presentation.
• Quyen Tran: Honorable mention for calligraphy.
• Lilith Tackett: Honorable mention for English-language tanka poem.

A team of ten students from the School of Computing within the College of Engineering competed virtually and won third place in the Midwest qualifiers of the NCAE Cyber Games on Feb. 18.

As part of the competition, the team was tasked with setting up and defending a small network against cyber attacks. Additionally, a “capture the flag” component required solving challenges, such as password cracking, network traffic analysis, reverse engineering and threat hunting.

Team members, all of whom belong to the Wichita State University Linux User Group student organization, included Marcos Vera Bareiro, Carlos Renato Soverina Figueroa, Michael Foster, Jason Kurtz, Philip Lindholm, Ivan Macias, Nikilesh Samba Murthy, Mirza Shahid, Olivia Robl and Khang Tran. From the group, Macias received an award for Most Valuable Player, and Tran received an award for Most Improved Player. The competition was the first NCAE Cyber Games that included WSU student participants.

On Feb. 24, the Office of Engagement was given a Community Hero Award during Community Day at Gordon Parks Academy, STEM Leaders in Applied and Media Arts.

The Office of Engagement thanks everyone who worked hard to organize Community Day and especially thanks LaTonia Kennedy, principal of Gordon Parks Academy. It also congratulates all the other award recipients.

Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) is a part of the federally funded TRIO programs. The goal of UBMS is to help students recognize and develop their potential in math and science, and to encourage them to pursue postsecondary degrees in those subjects.

The UBMS Scholars are the top at their high school in USD 259 academically and received a recognition dinner at President Rick Muma’s house on Feb. 17.

TRIO’s purpose is to prepare low-income and first-generation college-bound students for success in higher education.

During the recent Wichita State sickle cell awareness blood drive on Feb. 7 and 8, the American Red Cross collected a total of 51 pints of blood against a goal of 62 pints, achieving 82% of its goal. There were 71 donors who registered, including 15 first time donors.

The American Red Cross appreciates all of the donors who came out to give blood.

As a leading business school academic, Usha Haley, W. Frank Barton distinguished chair in international business and Kansas Faculty of Excellence, was recently interviewed by the Financial Times. Professor Haley explained why business school research has not had greater social impact.

Thank you to all students who took the AOD survey and congratulations to red parking spot winner Rueben Scheck.