Campus News Briefs

Author visits University, gives reading as part of writers series

Speer Morgan is coming to Joplin as part of the department of English and philosophy’s Visiting Writers series.

Morgan was raised in Fort Smith, Ark., and is the author of five novels, all set in the four-state area. His first novel was a work of historical fiction about Belle Starr.

His most recent novel, The Freshour Cylinders, won an American Book Award in 1999. He is currently teaching at University of Missouri-Columbia and is the editor of The Missouri Review.

Morgan will give a reading at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 on the third floor of the Billingsly Student Center. He will also be giving another reading and a question and answer session at 11 a.m. Dec. 1 at University Java in the Spiva Library. Both events are free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Dr. Joey Brown at 625-9708 or [email protected].

Students serve pizza to help raise money for conference

On Nov. 20, the respiratory therapy students will be serving as waiters and waitresses from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Pizza Inn on Range Line as part of the pizza buffet fund raiser. All proceeds earned will help offset the cost of going to the annual Respiratory Therapy Conference in the spring 2007.

Law enforcement academy enrollment deadline Dec. 15

The deadline to enroll in the next session of the 600-hour state certified basic law enforcement academy is Dec. 15.

The academy will meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday beginning Jan. 8. The academy requires four Saturday classes per semester. Graduation will be held May 9, 2007.

For more information, please contact Tim Wilson at 625-9516 or e-mail at [email protected].

Speech, debate team competes, five take individual awards

The Speech and Debate team competed in the annual Capital City Classic Nov. 11-12 in Topeka, Kan.

At the tournament, sophomores Whitney Hart and Dylan Slagel qualified for partial octo-finals rounds but were defeated on close decisions. Sophomores Cody Synder and Victor Cook also qualified for elimination rounds and went to respective quarterfinals before dropping decisions. Mike Baca (ninth), Cook (eighth), Hart (seventh), Slagel (sixth) and Synder (fourth) all won individual speaker awards.

Cook joined his teammates Synder and Valerie Melton as a national tournament qualifier Saturday and Sunday. The debate national championship will be held at Berry College in April 2007.

The team is traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to attend the Ohio State University Holiday Frolic and some tournaments at Otterbein College.