* K-State's Katie Hamm, a senior in dietetics from Shawnee, was elected to the American Dietetic Association's Student Advisory Committee by student members of the dietetic association. As part of her duties, she will help plan the student workshop that is part of the Food and Nutrition Conference and Exhibit at the American Dietetic Association's annual meeting. April 2008
* A radio-controlled biplane designed and built by students in K-State's chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers has landed in second place overall -- and first among U.S. teams -- in the regular class category at the 2008 Aero Design West, an international competition. The K-State entry, "The Purple Diablo," took second behind an entry from Ecole Polytechnique De Montreal. K-State also took second in the regular class category for the most payload lifted at 27.31 pounds. The competition, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers April 4-6 in Fort Worth, Texas, attracted 35 teams. The planes had to take off and land while carrying a maximum cargo. K-State also finished fifth overall -- and second among U.S. teams -- at the Aero Design East international competition, April 18-20, in Marietta, Ga. April 2008
* The K-State debate team finished the season ranked sixth in the nation, according to the Cross Examination and Debate Association and the National Debate Tournament. Elizabeth Mendenhall, sophomore in political science, earned first team Academic All-American honors and qualified for the National Debate Tournament. She also was the second-place junior varsity national champion. Also earning second-place junior varsity national champion honors were Chalmer Calhoun, sophomore in speech, Jordan Hanson, sophomore in English, and Derek Ziegler, freshman in political science. Chelsea Good, senior in agricultural communications and journalism, and Ryan Bennett, junior in agricultural communications and journalism, finished second at the Novice National Championships. Good also earned second team Academic All-American mention. Tristan Tafolla, Drew Cummings and Kara Thiele also received second team Academic All-American honors. April 2008
* Two K-State students have attended a select assembly that focused on terrorism. Phuong Vu, Manhattan, and Krista Leben, Loveland, Colo., both seniors in political science, were among the 200 undergraduate students 20 international graduate students selected to attend the 50th annual U.S. Air Force Academy Assembly. This year's assembly, Feb. 5-8 at the academy near Colorado Springs, Colo., was "Dismantling Terrorism: Developing Actionable Solutions for Today's Plague of Violence." The assembly includes lectures by guest speakers and small roundtable discussions by participants. Guest speakers included prominent military officials. April 2008
* A K-State senior in political science has won four titles at a national forensics competition, making him only the second person in the event's 31-year history to do so. Jessy Ohl, Denison, Iowa, won the overall individual trophy at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament April 5-7 in Austin, Texas. He also placed first in extemporaneous speaking, informative speaking and communication analysis. As captain, Ohl led the K-State team to a fourth-place finish overall, out of 90 teams that qualified for the country's most prestigious forensics competition. It was K-State's best finish in the tournament since 1998, when the team also placed fourth. April 2008
* One current and one recently graduated engineering student from Kansas State University have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Three K-State seniors also received honorable mentions.
The fellowship awards a $30,000 stipend and a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance per year for three years of education, totaling about $120,000 over three years for students pursuing research-based master's or doctoral degrees in an engineering or science discipline. Winners are Emily A. Voigt, McPherson, senior in chemical engineering with a minor in German, and David Thompson, formerly of Burlingame, a 2006 K-State summa cum laude graduate in electrical engineering with an emphasis in biomedical engineering and minors in physics and Japanese. Thompson is currently a graduate student at the University of Michigan. In 2006 while at K-State, he received an honorable mention for the Graduate Research Fellowship he won this year. Named to receive honorable mention were seniors Amir Bahadori , Kansas City, Kan., majoring in mathematics and mechanical engineering; Amy Twite, Olathe, majoring in biochemistry, microbiology and chemistry; Lydia (Roberts) Barrigan, Pomona, senior in chemistry and biochemistry with a minor in biology. All plan to graduate from K-State in May. April 2008
* K-State students Iris Wilson, Manhattan, and Nicholas Long, Topeka, are among the 80 students nationwide who are receiving $5,000 Morris K. Udall Scholarships. The Udall is a congressional scholarship that honors the former Arizona congressman for his legacy of public service. Scholarship recipients must be seeking either a career related to the environment or be a Native American or a Native Alaskan seeking a career in health care or tribal policy K-State is now third among state universities with 20 winners since the competition began in 1996. Wilson is a junior in geography and natural resources and environmental sciences, and Long is a senior in architectural engineering. According to the Udall Foundation, this year was the most competitive yet for the Udall scholarship, with more than 500 scholarship applications reviewed. Since 1986, K-State students have won 124 nationally competitive scholarships -- the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater and Udall -- more than any other public university in the nation. April 2008
* Lakshmikantha Channaiah, a doctoral student in grain science at K-State, was recognized for a research paper he presented at the Missouri Valley branch meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, March 14-15, in Liberty, Mo. His paper, "Antibiotic resistant and virulent enterococci in animal feed," was co-written with K-State's Subramanyam Bhadriraju, professor of grain science and industry, and Ludek Zurek, assistant professor of entomology. The paper received second place in the oral presentation category. April 2008
* Three K-State students won awards for their research presented at the 140th annual meeting of the Kansas Academy of Science, March 28-29, at Emporia State University. Kaley Morris, senior in biology, Derby, received second place for her undergraduate poster presentation, "The Tribolium Gut Proteome." Erin Katzfey, senior in biochemistry, Eudora, won third place for her undergraduate poster presentation, "Proteomic Analysis of Beauveria Bassiana Infection of Tenebrio Molitor." Both Morris and Katzfey work in the labs of K-State's Brenda Oppert, adjunct assistant professor of entomology, and John Tomich, professor of biochemistry. Mark McHaney, junior in biology, Manhattan, won second place for his oral presentation about work he completed in the lab of Mark Weiss, K-State professor of neuroscience, on cloning and sequencing a rat Oct-4 promoter sequence and comparing it to known sequences from other species. McHaney also created a vector expressing the Oct-4 promoter driving enhanced green fluorescent protein and a tetracycline-resistance gene. April 2008
* Nathan Gorrell, senior in professional pilot and aviation maintenance, Centerville, represented K-State in the All Kansas Air Tour, April 2-7. Gorrell flew a Cessna 172 from the K-State fleet. His participation was made possible with help from a scholarship from the Kansas Department of Transportation's Aviation Division. As part of the scholarship, Gorrell gave presentations at several schools in communities on the tour. He taught students about Kansas aviation history and shared his experiences. April 2008
* A team of K-State interior design students won an international student design competition, dealing with affordable housing that was sponsored by the Interior Design Educators Council. Members of the winning team, all seniors, were Alexandra Sumpter, Leawood; Alison Hecht, Seneca; and Haley Van Wagenen, Orange Park, Fla. Their faculty adviser was Peggy Honey, assistant professor of interior design. The K-State team advanced to the finals of the competition by being among the top three finalists at the council's Midwest regional competition. K-State had two of the top three teams at the regional contest. March 2008
* Benjamin Champion, a 2003 Rhodes Scholar who earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from K-State in 2002, has been awarded his doctorate in geography from Oxford University. He plans to pursue work in climate policy or in his doctoral field of helping small food producers reach viable markets. March 2008
* "Winter Teapot" by Jason Harper, senior in fine art, Manhattan, was among the 116 teapots selected for the Third International Small Teapot Competition and Show at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif. The teapot depicts how a tree would look in the winter and is one in a series of nine teapots Harper made as part of class project. March 2008
* K-State's Russell Webster, graduate student in psychology, Shorewood, Ill., won two awards for his poster presentation at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. Webster won the Diversity Fund Travel Award and the Graduate Student Poster Award. Webster's poster explored the terror management processes on sexual prejudices. March 2008
* Apparel design students at K-State have taken top honors or placed highly in two recent competitions. The events included the Kansas City Fashion Group International competition and the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association's student design competition. In the Kansas City competition, Juan Garcia, senior, Herington, took first place in the original design category, while Molly Shannon, senior, Shawnee, earned second place in the personal shopper board category. In the Alpaca competition, K-State students earned five of six national awards. Winners include Jessica Ponnath, senior, Kansas City, Kan., second place; Elizabeth Kuzila, December 2007 bachelor's graduate, Kansas City, Kan., third place; Jennifer Swander, senior, De Soto, fourth place; Amanda Razlaff, senior, Manhattan, fifth place; and Ashley Snyder, junior, Lyndon, sixth place. March 2008
* When it comes to building with concrete, a student team from K-State is among the best. The five-member team finished tied for second in the international Concrete Construction Competition offered by the American Concrete Institute. Finishing first was Missouri State University, and tying with K-State for second was Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All three teams received $500 for travel expenses to the institute's annual conference in Los Angeles, where they presented their winning solutions to the institute's Construction Liaison Committee. More than 200 students from 49 teams from schools across North America competed. For the competition, teams were assigned a real-life, high-profile job problem to solve. March 2008
* Shannon Connolly, an Overland Park senior in anthropology and French, won a Joseph W. Yedlicka Award from Pi Delta Phi for a summer of study in Avignon, France. Pi Delta Phi is an honor society devoted to French language and literature. February 2008
* K-State's Black Student Union received the Clarence Wine Most Outstanding Big 12 Council of the Year award at the 31st annual Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government, Feb. 14-16, at Oklahoma State University. It's the second time the K-State Black Student Union has received the award in the past three years. February 2008
* Joel Jackson, Salina, senior in mass communications at K-State is the winner of a Student ADDY for Best in Show at the Kansas City Advertising Club's annual ADDY Awards competition. Jackson submitted a three-piece magazine campaign, "Educate," designed for the World Wildlife Fund. The next step for Jackson is the Ninth District ADDY competition. If he wins a Gold Award at the competition, his work would be forwarded to the National ADDY competition. The National ADDY Student Best of Show receives a $1,000 prize. February 2008
* Katie Hamm, a senior in dietetics, has been selected as the alternate student representative on the American Dietetic Association's Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education. The commission is the association's accrediting agency for education programs preparing students for careers as registered dietitians or registered dietetic technicians. It serves the public by establishing and enforcing eligibility requirements and accreditation standards that ensure the quality and continued improvement of nutrition and dietetics education programs. As the student alternate, Hamm will attend any meetings that the student delegate is unable to attend. Only one dietetics student in the nation is selected each year to serve on the commission. February 2008
* A K-State senior in architectural engineering has received a $10,000 scholarship from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. James Newman, Hoxie, was selected for the Willis H. Carrier Scholarship by the society for his outstanding scholastic and leadership abilities, character and potential service to the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration profession. The one-year scholarship is to assist top students in pursuing a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering. It can be used for tuition and fees required for enrollment, including books, supplies and equipment. February 2008
* Two K-State students were named Next Generation Nonprofit Leaders by the Kansas City-based American Humanics. Molly Hamm, senior in English, Shawnee, and Anthony Carter, senior in social science, Colorado Springs, Colo., were selected by a national panel of university, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders. Each will receive $4,500 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to help cover living and educational expenses while completing an internship with a nonprofit or philanthropic organization. February 2008
* Natalie Turner Barrett, a fourth-year student in veterinary medicine, Escondido, Calif., is a 2008 recipient of the $10,000 National Simmons Educational Fund Business Aptitude Award. The fund is an educational foundation created by Simmons and Associates to educate practitioners and students about the business of veterinary medicine. The fund awards $1,500 to one veterinary student at each participating school in the nation through its Business Aptitude Award Program. From these winners, one student is chosen to receive a $10,000 award based on their solution to the competition's business case study. Barrett was selected from among a broad pool of national candidates based on her resume and her solutions to the case study. January 2008
* An article written by a K-State doctoral student in history has earned a prestigious honor from the CIA and its Center for the Study of Intelligence. Ricky Dale Calhoun received the CIA's Walter. L. Pforzheimer Award at a ceremony in December at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. The award is presented annually for the best article on an intelligence-related subject written by a U.S. graduate or undergraduate student. Calhoun received the honor for his article, "The Musketeer’s Cloak: Strategic Deception During the Suez Crisis of 1956," which was published in the summer 2007 issue of the CIA's scholarly journal, Studies in Intelligence. At K-State, Calhoun's focus is on foreign affairs and the role of intelligence in decision making, with special interest in the Middle East. January 2008