News in Brief

Alumnus Pledges $25,000 Gift to Shelby Hall

Neil Henderson, who earned his master’s degree in Computer Science from USA in 1990, will have a laboratory in the new Shelby Hall named in honor of his $25,000 gift.

“There have been few relationships in my professional life that have been more rewarding to me than that with the University of South Alabama,” Henderson said in a press release. “From earning my graduate degree, hiring its graduates, teaching students in the School of Computer and Information Sciences, through my current enrollment in the drama curriculum, it has been very rewarding.”

Henderson is the co-founder of the embedded systems division of Mentor Graphics, also known as Accelerated Technology. The company employs more than 80 USA alumni and “creates and sells embedded operation computer software systems,” according to the press release.

“Neil Henderson is the face of the graduate program in the School of Computer and Information Sciences (SCIS),” Dr. Alec Yasinsac, dean of the School of Computer and Information Sciences, said. “As one of our first graduate students, our first distinguished alumnus, and a generous sponsor of SCIS graduate assistants, it is fitting that Neil is our first alumnus to sponsor an SCIS research laboratory in Shelby Hall.”

To be completed in September 2011, Shelby Hall will house both the Engineering, and Computer and Information Sciences Colleges. The building is named in honor of U.S. Senator Richard Shelby and his wife, Dr. Annette Shelby.

The building “is expected to spur local economic development by generating new technological advances and providing state-of-the-art education for the next generation of engineers and computer science professionals,” the press release said.

Professor Named Chair of Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling

Dr. Charles Guest Jr., USA College of Education Department of Professional Studies chair, was elected chair of the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling after being the first USA faculty member named to the regulatory agency in 2007 by Alabama Governor Bob Riley.

“I have enjoyed the three years I have served as a board member, and I am honored by the confidence shown by the other members of the board in electing me chair,” Guest said in a press release. “I am excited about the opportunity to continue to serve the citizens of Alabama in my new role.”

He will serve a one-year term and will be able to be re-elected to the same position afterward.

Guest joined the USA faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor of Counselor Education and became chair of the Department of Professional Studies in 2006.

The Board is “comprised of licensed professional counselors, counselor educators, and public members. Its mission is to protect the public from incompetent, unethical, and unlawful counseling practice; to enforce qualification standards for all levels licensure; and to delineate unlawful conduct through disciplinary procedures against practitioners who violate applicable laws or rules,” according to a press release.

Kappa Sigma Brothers Volunteer at Little Sisters of Poor

The members of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, a campus social fraternity, played Bingo with residents of the Little Sisters of the Poor Sacred Heart Residence on Feb. 27.

“The residents happily welcomed the men who provided entertainment with simple conversation and heightened enthusiasm for the game,” according to a press release. “The residents enjoyed the brothers’ company and were thankful that they had given up a Saturday afternoon to spend it at the Home.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor have served more than 4,000 elderly people of Mobile since 1901 and provide a home for 90 residents.

“The Little Sisters’ mission is to share their lives with the elderly poor, offering them a home where they may find joy as they journey towards eternal life in the Father’s house,” according to a press release.

For more information on how to volunteer or donate to the Home, contact Lise Lirette at 251-476-6335 or e-mail volmobile@littlesistersofthepoor.org.

Budget Protests Intensify in Calif.

In the broadest protest yet on state budget cuts to the country’s largest public education system, groups of more than 1,000 students, and faculty and staff members marched on the University of California’s five campuses last Thursday, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

Protesters blockaded freeways and marched on major cities in what began as a peaceful protest.

California is facing a $20 billion deficit and other struggling state programs.