The first ceremony begins at 11 a.m. for the School of Graduate Studies, with a 1 p.m. ceremony following for graduates from the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Liberal and Performing Arts and the College of Science and Technology.

The speaker for this year’s graduation will be Arkansas State Representative Bruce Maloch of Emerson. Since 1986, Maloch has been with Farmers Bank & Trust and currently serves as regional president and chief operating officer and is a member of the bank’s board of directors.

Maloch received a B.B.A. in business agriculture from Southern Arkansas University in 1980 and a Juris Doctor degree with honors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. While at SAU, Bruce served as president of the Student Government Association and later served as president of the SAU Alumni Association.

Community and governmental affairs have long been a part of Maloch’s interests. He served 10 years on the Columbia County Quorum Court, has served as president of the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, Columbia County Bar Association and the Group 4 Arkansas Bankers Association for Southwest Arkansas. He is a member of the Magnolia Economic Development Corporation and serves on the Magnolia Airport Commission. Maloch is current chairman of the Arkansas FFA Foundation and has long been active in Arkansas Farm Bureau and Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association activities. He is an auctioneer and donates his services for charitable events throughout the area. In 1997, Maloch received the Outstanding Young Alumni award for Southern Arkansas University.

Maloch and his wife, Martha, live on a farm south of Magnolia where they raise registered Brangus cattle. Martha is a retired educator from the Emerson-Taylor School District. They have three children, Ryan, Lauren, and Victoria; a son-in-law, Scotty Covington and daughter-in-law, Amy; and granddaughters Reese Covington and Marley Kate Maloch. The Maloch’s are members of First Baptist Church of Magnolia where Bruce is an adult Sunday school teacher.

The SAU Office of Alumni Relations will sponsor a reception for all graduates from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Blue and Gold room. For more information regarding commencement exercises at SAU, call the Office of the Registrar at 870-235-4031.

Carville’s speech is being presented by Farmers Bank & Trust and proceeds will benefit the SAU Foundation.

“James Carville is an internationally-recognized political consultant, known for his keen wit and astute political analysis,” said Southern Arkansas University President Dr. David Rankin. “It will be a pleasure to have him at SAU as part of this outstanding lecture series.”

The event begins with a private reception from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Farmers Bank & Trust. The dinner and presentation will follow at 7 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center at SAU. Tickets are $100 to attend the dinner and lecture and $200 to attend the dinner and lecture as well as the private reception where you can have a photo taken with Carville.
Bob Burns, chairman and chief executive officer of Farmers Bank & Trust, said the goal of the lecture series is not to support any specific political interest, but to support students who want to attend the University but may have financial difficulties.

“What is really important is that the series helps us make a difference in the lives of a few students,” Burns said. “The more funds we raise, the more students who get to go to college.”

Burns said there are four students who currently benefit from the lecture and the hope is to add two to three more this year.

Those who want to help students this year by participating in the lecture are in for an interesting night.

Carville, along with his wife Mary Matalin, wrote “All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President,” the best-selling political memoir in American history. His second book, “We’re Right, They’re Wrong,” made it to number one on The New York Times Best Seller list and his third, “And The Horse He Rode In On-the People v. Ken Starr.” His latest release is “Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future,” with Paul Begala.

Perhaps a lesser-known fact about Carville is that he was a partner in a restaurant in San Francisco called Hawthorne Lane. Another interesting fact is that he was featured in a documentary called “The War Room” about the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign that was nominated for an Academy Award.

For more information on the event, or to reserve tickets, call the SAU Foundation office at 877-235-7409 or 870-235-4078.

Presented annually to current or former CARTI pediatric cancer patients, the scholarships are named in honor of cancer survivor and CARTI Foundation Board director-emeritus Dennis Jungmeyer of North Little Rock. Jungmeyer is a co-founder of the CARTI Kids Golf Classic, proceeds of which benefit CARTI Kid programs and activities. Established in 1986, the tournament has since raised more than $2 million.

Lindsey was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 2000 and received treatment at CARTI/St. Vincent. A graduate of Stuttgart High, he is currently enrolled at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia where he is majoring in history with a minor in education. He is the son of Kris and Kelly Lindsey of Casscoe.

“I guess you can’t have brain surgery and not expect a lot of changes,” wrote Lindsey in his scholarship essay. “The thing is, when you’re 11, you can’t even begin to imagine what life will be like afterwards. I guess this might be a good thing, because sometimes, if you knew, you might not fight so hard to stay alive.”

In addition to Lindsey, other 2008 Jungmeyer Scholarship recipients are: Meagan Aitchison, of Greenbrier; Miranda Baird, of Fayetteville; Morgan Butler, of Hope; Zykeya Butler, of Ruston, LA; Lauren Crook, of Benton; Ben Dalton, of Sherwood; Amelia Floriani, of Malvern; Amy Garrett, of Quitman; Alex Giannavola, of Little Rock; Ethan Helm, of Mabelvale; Ryne Johnson, of Maumelle; Adrian Landis, of Fouke; Kevin Leon, of Siloam Springs; Archie Lester, Jr., of West Memphis; Celso Medina, of Fort Smith; Clayton Mitchell, of Paragould; Patty Morris, of Berryville; and Jessica Odle, of Little Rock.

Scholarship recipients were honored at a special presentation ceremony held June 25 at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock. First Lady Ginger Beebe assisted Jungmeyer in presenting scholars with their awards.

“To the Jungmeyer Scholars of 2008, we offer not only our congratulations, but also our admiration and appreciation,” said Rick Fleetwood, chairman of the CARTI Foundation Board of Directors, while addressing the audience during the presentation ceremony.

“You have already faced some of the most difficult obstacles life can present, and you have learned to use your experiences to encourage and inspire others,” said Fleetwood. “You have every right to be proud of yourselves not only as scholars, but as survivors. And we appreciate you allowing us to share in a portion of that pride.”

CARTI is a nonprofit radiation therapy center with facilities located in Little Rock on the St. Vincent, Baptist Medical Center and UAMS campuses, and in Conway, Mountain Home, North Little Rock and Searcy. The CARTI Foundation was incorporated in 1983 as a non-profit organization to assist CARTI in meeting the current and future needs of Arkansas cancer patients and their families.

For more information, visit www.carti.com.

Participants in the Upward Bound program will begin the evening with a one-act play called “Disco Knights,” which is said to be an unforgettable trip back to the 1970’s. The evening will conclude with an award ceremony.

The event is free to the public but donations are welcomed and will go toward endowment scholarships for the Upward Bound program. For more information about Upward Bound, call Mary Iverson at 870-235-5004.

That is why Sneed is heading to Boston on July 10 to spend five weeks studying at the Berkley College of Music. After this five week period, he will have the chance to audition for an opportunity to attend the school to receive an education in music.

The competition will be stiff.

“I think an average of about 3,000 try out, so it’s around the size of SAU,” Sneed said. “The school is world renowned, so people are trying to get in there day in and day out.”

Sneed was named 2005 Mulerider Idol at SAU. He participated in the contest that gives SAU students the chance to compete against their peers just like American Idol. The song he performed was an original called “That is the way it is.” Sneed said he wrote the song about a guy whose life was impacted just because he got in a friend’s car and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The song is just one of several Sneed has written and produced on a CD. When he is not creating new music, he is planning what songs are the best to worship to at the Full Gospel Holly Temple Church in Magnolia where he unofficially heads the church’s music department.

Sneed said if he is accepted into Berkley, he would like to pursue a music degree from the university and work at a music company like Sony after he graduates. With this job he hopes to combine his talent as a performing musician as well as a producer, something he has learned from experience of putting together tracks for events such as the Miss SAU Pageant.

“I would eventually like to have my own small scale company, and I would like to bring something back to Magnolia,” Sneed said.

But first thing is first. And right now Sneed hopes his next four-year stop is Berkley.

These young ladies have a reason to be proud of what they are accomplishing in order to get high-paying jobs. The pace of the Certified Nurse Assisting (CNA) class requires several chapters of material to be learned each day, with a quiz after each chapter. Each new set of skills is demonstrated and practiced in class and then put to use as the students interact with the care facility’s residents. The pace is non-stop and challenging but they know it will result in their being prepared for the Arkansas CNA certification exam.

“I’m going home and brag about what I’ve done! I really like it,” said class partcipant Shondreshia Morris about what she would do after completing the class.

The program has taken place on the campus of Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia as part of the Consortium for Arkansas Medical Professions (CAMP). The CAMP teaching staff includes Mary Armwood, Youth Apprenticeship advisor and SAU nursing faculty member, as the primary instructor for Certified Nurse Assistant and Cyndi Graham, SAU nursing faculty member, as an additional instructor for CNA.
To ensure that the students are prepared not only to pass the CNA exam but to begin a successful search for employment after receiving their certifications, sessions on “How to Approach Applying for a Job” and “Resume Building” have been presented by Matt Taylor, a volunteer from the SAU chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, national honorary theatre fraternity. The activities focus on what is expected of a young person entering the health care workforce and provide practical information about interviews and resumes. One of the Metro students, Cree Love, said, “I’ve learned a ‘real world’ perspective from all of this.”

Also, CAMP has led to the students discovering new areas of interest or confirming previous choices.
“CAMP has helped define what I’m going to do,” said Tyanne Jackson. “And, what I don’t want to do.”
Hayli Stricklen summed up her CAMP experience by saying that she would now be able to find a job that applies all the skills she learned.

Stricklen’s comments state the true purpose behind the program because it is designed to provide opportunities that lead to high-skilled, high-paying jobs for Arkansas students interested in the medical professions.

For more information about CAMP activities or SAU Youth Apprenticeship programs, contact Robbye Meador Taylor at (870)235-5073.

Local church choirs and other groups will present a musical extravaganza to help fund the programs third endowment. Each endowment provides two semesters of paid tuition annually for an Upward Bound student to attend Southern Arkansas University.

Upward Bound is a federally-funded program which helps underprivileged students prepare for college. Sponsored by the University, the program has been in existence since the fall of 1965, and is currently funded to serve 150 area high school students.

This musical is free and open to the public. Rev. Charles Hughey is the pastor of Free Union Missionary Baptist Church.

“We are happy with the enrollment for the first summer session,” said SAU President Dr. David Rankin. “This increasing demand for summer courses is an encouraging trend. We hope to continue this trend into the fall 2008 semester.”

The SAU system has an enrollment of 1047 for the first summer tern, which is 142 more students than the 905 who enrolled for the 2007 summer session.

SAU in Magnolia has a current enrollment for the 2008 first summer term of 799 students, compared to 691 students at this time last year for a total increase of 108 students. The number of students at SAU Tech in Camden has also increased with 248 students enrolled this first summer semester as compared to 214 in the first summer session of 2007.

This workshop is titled “What’s Happening? A Global View” will cover topics in globalization for educators at every level to assist in teaching and learning. A fee of $25 which covers training materials should be sent to Economics Arkansas, P.O. Box 3477, Little Rock, Ark., 72203.

Participants will be mailed a $150 stipend upon successful completion of the workshop and eighteen hours of staff development will be provided. There is a limit of 45 people to the class. If interested, please visit www.economicsarkansas.org for information regarding registration or contact Donna Wright at (501) 682-4230.

The grant will be used to make improvements to the Southern Arkansas University baseball field, but plans have not yet been finalized. Some of the ideas being considered include a new score board, a new press box, a concession stand, public restrooms and possibly office space for coaches to meet with players and prospective recruits in private.

SAU Foundation Director Jeanie Bismark said she and Josh Kee, associate director of the foundation, received a letter Tuesday that the grant was accepted. The group applied for the grant in February.
On Wednesday morning, the pair, along with Mulerider Baseball Coach Allen Gum, SAU Athletic Director Jay Adcox and SAU President Dr. David Rankin, took part in a conference call thanking the foundation for the gift. They spoke to Debbie Walker, Executive Director of the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.

“I just wanted to tell you what a huge difference these grants make in the baseball program,” Gum said. “So much of recruitment is driven by the quality of the facilities and we continue to attract better recruits each year with one of the nicest quality baseball fields in (NCAA) Division II baseball.”

The Walker Charitable Foundation first granted SAU a $160,000 matching grant in July 2005 which provided the lights at the baseball field.

Adcox described this year’s gift from the Walker Charitable Foundation as “tremendous” and said the benefits of a top notch baseball facility impact more than just the baseball team.

“This facility is a pride factor for the University and the whole community,” Adcox said.

Rankin said one of the goals for the University is to eventually to host the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Conference tournament which ended this past weekend. The Muleriders’ season ended at the semi-finals of the conference with a loss to Delta State.

The loss was the end of a phenomenal season by SAU (46-12) as they reached the 40-win plateau for the third consecutive year and reached the No. 1 ranking in the country in April for the first time in University history. Southern Arkansas’ 46 victories matches the highest season win total set by the 1987 NAIA World Series team that finished third in the nation.