K-State achievements--2003 Human ecology

Kansas State University achievements

2003 Human ecology

* Three K-State apparel marketing and design students received top awards for their presentations at the Kansas City Fashion Group International Career Day Friday, Oct. 24. Apparel marketing and design students participated in activities related to the apparel industry, including presentations and competitions. Among universities in the five-state region competing, K-State took first and third place in the celebrity board competition, and first place in the product development board competition. Lori Schrick, Easton, senior in apparel marketing and design, received first place for her product development board. Tammy McCoy, Manhattan, junior in apparel marketing and design, received third place for her celebrity board. Melesa Lorett, Scott City, senior in apparel marketing and design, received second place for her celebrity board. November 2003

* Two K-State professors in the College of Human Ecology were recognized at the International Textile and Apparel Association meeting Nov. 8-11, in Savannah, Ga. Gwendolyn O'Neal, professor and head of the department of apparel, textiles and interior design, was recognized as an International Textile and Apparel Association Fellow, an honor given to only one or two professors in the organization each year. O'Neal was nominated based on her contributions to the field of textiles and apparel, contributions to the knowledge base in the field, and leadership in the profession. O'Neal has been serving as president-elect of the organization since September and will take over as president in September 2004. She will then serve as counselor the following year. In addition, O'Neal was also recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Center of Kitchen and Bath Education Research Foundation. Elizabeth McCullough, professor of textiles in the department of apparel, textiles and interior design, and co-director of the Institute for Environmental Research in the College of Engineering, was recognized as a Distinguished Scholar, an honor given to only one member of the organization each year. Criteria for the award include an excellent record of research accomplishments, scientific achievements, contributions to textile education, professional service related to scholarship and work that has made an impact on the field. McCullough presented the Distinguished Scholar lecture, "Comfort vs. Safety: The Protective Clothing Dilemma," focusing on the need for development and evaluation of protective clothing systems. November 2003

* K-State's interior design program, in the College of Human Ecology, was reaccredited in October for another six years. With exemplary documentation and evidence, the program met all standards of the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research. Every six years the interior design program is required to be reaccredited by the foundation. This year, a three-member team from the foundation spent three days in April visiting K-State's interior design program. The team visited with students, faculty and stakeholders of the program, including community groups for whom students had provided design assistance. The reaccreditation team asked to use K-State's documentation of how the program meets the foundation's standards as an example for other programs to follow. November 2003

* A project by Tara Hacker, a K-State senior in nutrition exercise science/pre-med, Shawnee, was one of six nationally chosen to be presented at the Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society national undergraduate research conference in August. Hacker presented research on the long-term effectiveness of physical activity intervention for the Walk Kansas program at the national conclave Aug. 7-10 in Washington, D.C. Her research, "The Long-term Effects on Physical Activity Patterns," was prepared in collaboration with Paul Estabrooks, former assistant professor of kinesiology at K-State. Hacker found that the Walk Kansas program has positive effects on physical activity patterns up to six months after program completion. September 2003

* A field production team from Canada's version of the Discovery Channel is preparing stories about K-State research on television news comprehension, conducted by Tom Grimes and Lori Bergen, and on television violence, conducted by John Murray and on research by Grimes and Bergen. The stories are to air this fall on them the "Daily Planet," a nationally broadcast science program which airs on Canada's Discovery Channel. July 2003

* Cynthia Allen, doctoral student in human nutrition at K-State, has received the $27,500 American Egg Board-Egg Nutrition Center Dissertation Fellowship in Nutrition for her work studying the possible association between egg consumption and a lowered incidence of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older adults. Only one fellowship is awarded each year in the national competition. The fellowship supports students during the final two years of their doctoral research on nutrition topics related to eggs or egg products. Allen will be eligible for a second year of funding, based on the progress of her work. June 2003

* K-State's financial planning team won the national championship at the American Express Collegiate Financial Planning Competition, earning $10,000 in scholarship money for the university. Each student also received a $750 award. Winning the competition also guaranteed one K-State financial planning student a paid internship with the Certified Financial Planning Board of Standards in Denver. This competition is only four years old, and K-State has won the national championship in two of the last four years, and placed third another year. In 2000, K-State won its first national championship at this competition. In 2002, K-State finished third. April 2003

* A distance education master's program in family financial planning offered at Kansas State University has received the Exceptional Program Award from Region VIII of the Association for Continuing Higher Education. The program is an interinstitutional program offered by seven members of the K-State-coordinated Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance. Instructors include K-State family financial planning faculty members John Grable and Joyce Cantrell from the College of Human Ecology's School of Family Studies and Human Services. March 2003

* A national survey of leading firms across the United States again ranks K-State programs in interior design/interior architecture as among the top three in the nation. The survey is by Design Intelligence and the Design Futures Council in conjunction with the Almanac of Architecture and Design. K-State's combined interior architecture/design program ranks third in the 2003 survey. It's the third consecutive year the program has been rated one of the nation's top three design programs. K-State was ranked second in 2002. No other Kansas or Big 12 school is rated in the survey's top 15 programs. February 2003

* K-State is the first veterinary medicine program in the United States to offer a master's degree in public health and the fifth graduate program to offer the master of public health degree in nutrition. K-State's program combines resources and faculty from K-State's department of human nutrition, department of kinesiology, department of animal sciences and industry and College of Veterinary Medicine. The master of public health program will help meet the demand for trained public health professionals to address issues including rising health care costs, the increasing population of older adults, obesity in children and young adults, outbreaks of food-borne illnesses and the threat of bioterrorism. January 2003

K-State College of Human Ecology