17 June 2013

KOKOMO, Ind. — Attending Indiana University Kokomo is a family tradition for Christopher Santucci.

Christopher Santucci receives the Adam W. Herbert Presidential Scholar medallion from Interim Chancellor Susan Sciame-Giesecke.The recent Kokomo High School graduate knew he wanted to follow in his sisters' footsteps by going to college there — and his selection as the campus' Adam W. Herbert Presidential Scholar made that choice even better.

"It is a huge honor to be the Herbert Scholar," he said. "I am really excited about the opportunities it gives me, and that I can earn my degree without going into debt. I am elated and relieved."

The Herbert Presidential Scholars Program offers four-year renewable scholarships, valued at $30,000, and other benefits, to exceptional Indiana students. IU President Emeritus Adam W. Herbert created the prestigious program during his tenure, as the Hoosier Presidential Scholars program. The Board of Trustees renamed it in 2007, to honor Herbert's commitment to recruiting and retaining talented young Hoosiers.

Interim Chancellor Susan Sciame-Giesecke said Santucci is an excellent recipient.

"He is an impressive young man who is focused on studying biochemistry," she said. "IU Kokomo continues to grow and attract talented students, who choose to attend our campus to earn an IU degree with a faculty committed to their success."

Santucci, 17, was a National Merit finalist, and two-time qualifier for the National Forensic League's national championships, in Birmingham, Ala.

Angela Siders, director of admissions, said he was chosen based on his exceptional high school performance, involvement, and leadership activities.

"We are proud to have him join the IU Kokomo family this fall," she said. "He will be a great asset to our School of Sciences."

The award also includes a stipend for overseas study, and a laptop. Santucci, whose parents are Christopher and Shelly Santucci of Kokomo, hopes to study in Germany, because he has studied German language in high school.

He looks forward to participating in the pre-professional club, and to seeing what other opportunities are available for campus involvement. At Kokomo High School, he participated in the debate team, speech team, National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, academic teams, and the Kokomo Mayor's Youth Advisory Council. He also works at Subway.

He plans to major in biochemistry, and then possibly work in the pharmaceutical industry.

He knew from his sisters' experiences that IU Kokomo would be a good fit for him.

His sister Erica studied radiography, and found a job immediately after graduating. His other sister, Breanna, is a junior studying elementary education.

"It's a small school, with excellent faculty, so you get individual attention and plenty of opportunities," he said. "It just seemed like the place I wanted to be. I am really excited about getting into a college classroom, and college curriculum. I can't wait to get involved."

Indiana University Kokomo serves north central Indiana.

14 June 2013

KOKOMO, Ind. — As an artist, Abby Goley usually prefers to work alone.

Maymester Art ClassThis week, though, she and her classmates constructed a sculpture together on the Indiana University Kokomo campus, as the final product of a Maymester class on land and environmental art.

They built their class project, "Rays of Light," from the Well House to the Earth Stage, creating sculpture from metal poles, transparencies, wire, yarn, clothesline, and Styrofoam. It will remain on display for a week or two, inspiring students to achieve their goals.

Goley, a fine arts major from Kokomo, learned about teamwork from the experience, and developed new artistic skills.

"Usually, an artist creates alone, so this was a new experience," she said. "It was interesting to have to consider everyone's ideas and opinions, and make decisions based on what everyone wants, not just what you want to do. I feel like I grew as an artist, because I usually prefer to paint or do silk screening, rather than sculpting."

John Davis, a business major from Kokomo, expected a lot of lectures when he enrolled in the class, taught by Minda Douglas, assistant professor of fine arts.

Instead, the class visited the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Art Center outdoor sculpture garden, learning about contemporary art, and gathering inspiration for their own final work.

Douglas said the final project was a key component of the class.

"Making something at the end of the class is important, to use what we learned," Douglas said. "It's a creative way to learn, rather than just studying names and titles of art work and remembering them for a test. This adds another dimension to the experience."

Davis liked using what he learned to make something.

"I'm not very artistic, so I was surprised by how much I liked this class," he said. "I didn't know much about earth and environmental art, and I was surprised by how much fits into that category."

Andrea Bailey, who is completing her general studies degree during summer school, thought they would do a lot of drawing, and was happy to make sculpture instead. She enjoyed working on their project, which included transparencies of inspirational quotes hanging on clothesline by clothespins. It is meant to inspire students to persevere to achieve their goals.

"I hope anyone who sees it is encouraged to continue on with life, and push past any problems along the way," she said.

IU Kokomo's new Maymester program offers student a chance to earn three credits in a short time period, in an immersive class. A few other offerings include a creative performance class, in which students will write, act in, and direct a play; urban geology, complete with fieldwork; and a public relations campaign class that involves working with a local business or nonprofit organization

Indiana University Kokomo serves north central Indiana.

11 June 2013

KOKOMO, Ind. — Parvaneh Alipour is now an expert on her adopted hometown.

See more photos.As a student in the Maymester "Getting to Know Kokomo" class at Indiana University Kokomo, she walked the Wildcat Walk of Excellence, watched glass being made at Kokomo Opalescent Glass, learned about the city's automotive history at the Elwood Haynes Museum, and asked questions about city government during a meeting with Mayor Greg Goodnight.

"I moved here 13 years ago from Iran, and I didn't know a lot of the important places here," said Alipour, who will graduate at the end of the summer session. "I've really enjoyed learning about Kokomo. Now, when my family comes to visit, I will know the places they need to see."

Cindy Ison, senior lecturer, developed the class after Interim Chancellor Susan Sciame-Giesecke challenged faculty to create something completely different than anything they have taught before.

"I started thinking about Kokomo, and all the hidden gems we have," Ison said. "We have been looking at all the positive attributes this city has to offer."

The class met three days each week, exploring the city. They combed through the archives at the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, ate in the Crystal Tea Room, learned about architecture in the Silk Stocking neighborhood, and watched beer being brewed at the Half Moon Restaurant and Brewery.

In addition to the field trips, students wrote weekly essays, took photos, drew pictures, made videos, and worked in groups to develop final projects, complete with 20-minute presentations. Projects included a visitor's guide, a restaurant guide, and a city history. They plan to donate their work to the city when complete.

Joelynn Marconi, a senior psychology major from Peru, helped write the restaurant guide, which features the Half Moon.

"We wanted more people to know about the locally owned restaurants we have in town," she said. "I was surprised during this class by how much there is to see and do that I didn't know about before. I didn't know that you could tour the Seiberling Mansion, and I didn't know glass is made in Kokomo. This has been a great experience."

Alipour's group compiled the history, and she focused on the old buildings.

"We have some beautiful old homes in Kokomo, and I wanted to know the stories behind them," she said.

Her son, Alireza Zeinalpour, a junior informatics major, was surprised to learn that the city was named for a Native American chief. He liked the historic buildings, especially the Seiberling Mansion.

Ison said the Seiberling Mansion had to be included, because it was IU Kokomo's first home.

"We are looking at where we are going, and where we have been," she said.

IU Kokomo's new Maymester program offers students a chance to earn three credits in a short time period, in an immersive class. A few other offerings include a summer blockbuster class, in which students study cinematography and editing through viewing and discussing current movies; an art class that will culminate in building a class sculpture, and a creative performance class that includes creating and producing a play. Maymester ends Thursday, June 6.

Indiana University Kokomo serves north central Indiana.

07 June 2013

KOKOMO, Ind. — Physical exercise is a traditional part of the summer camp experience. Hooking the camper up for an electrocardiogram test immediately afterwards is a bit more unusual.

See more Science Rocks camp photos.But at Indiana University Kokomo's Science Rocks! summer camp, it's all part of the learning experience.

The camp, which includes 15 Kokomo-area middle school students, offers seven days of hands-on learning experiences, in geology, chemistry, microbiology, physiology, and health sciences.

During the physiology session, the students write down their heart rates in their lab manuals, and then do more than a dozen jumping jacks – measuring their heart rates again.

Michael Finkler, associate professor of physiology, talks about the human circulatory system, and what happens during exercise that makes the heart rate increase.

"I like working with this age group, and explaining the 'whys' behind what they see," he said. "We go beyond the simple answer of 'my heart rate increased because I exercised,' and explain in more detail why that happens."

Finkler said these students are just the right age to teach that science is fun, "so we can spark the interest now, and sow the seeds for careers in sciences."

Lucy Baker, a sixth-grader from Sts. Joan of Arc and Patrick School, already has the interest in science, and plans to be an engineer.

She enjoyed taking water samples during the geology and chemistry session, and testing the water quality.

"I was surprised at how many different chemicals were in the water," she said. "I like that this is hands-on. I don't have someone telling me how something works, I'm trying it myself."

Her classmate, Renee Creppy, liked looking at bacteria under the microscopes, and was amazed to learn how much bacteria is in the human body.

"This is a really fun way to learn about science," she said.

Cooper Reed, a sixth-grader from Central Middle School, hopes to learn more so he can use his science kits.

"I have tons of science kits, and I don't know how to use them," he said. "I want to learn more about science."

He liked testing water quality, and learning about pollution, and he's excited about the health sciences sessions later in the camp.

"I may be interested in working in health sciences, so I want to learn more," he said.

Ian Retz, also a Central Middle School sixth-grader, was interested in learning how the parts of a heart function.

Christian Chauret, Dean of the School of Sciences, said the camp's goal is to pique the interest of young people, especially women and minorities, in science-related fields.

"We have to nurture that interest when they are young, so they can take the appropriate classes in high school, and then hopefully return to us as students," he said.

This is the fifth year IU Kokomo has hosted the Science Rocks! summer camp. It is funded with grants from North Central Indiana Areas Health Education Center and Community Howard Regional Health.

Indiana University Kokomo serves north central Indiana.