News Briefs
ENMU Enrollment Up for Sixth Straight Fall
Fall enrollment at Eastern New Mexico University rose for a sixth straight year, to 4,135 students. ENMU’s total enrollment is the highest since 1975’s headcount of 4,248. Total enrollment was up 2.1 percent from fall 2005, with a 13 percent increase in graduates and slight decline in undergraduate enrollment. The number of first-time freshmen and students living on campus increased.
However, officials were concerned about a drop in student retention and a 2.3 percent decrease in semester credit hours. “Improving these numbers will be a major focus this academic year,” said Dr. Steven Gamble, ENMU president.
[Full story]
KENW-TV Wins First Telly Award
A KENW-TV documentary, “Conchas Dam,” won the station its first prestigious Telly Award in the premier competition for outstanding local, regional and cable television, video and film productions.
Don Criss, director of production services for the PBS station, and his son, Martin, produced and directed the 45-minute documentary, which Don narrated. It features 70-year-old construction footage from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and interviews with two men who worked on the project, both now in their 90s.
[Full story]
English Professor Conjures Up Ghost Stories
Dr. Antony Oldknow, an ENMU English professor, has published a ghost story collection, “The Passion Play and Other Ghost Stories,” through Ash Tree Press in British Columbia, Canada. The book includes 10 stories he began writing and publishing in literary magazines seven years ago.
He describes his style as subtle horror, similar to that of M.R. James, who influenced authors such as H.P. Lovecraft, Ruth Rendell and Stephen King. Two of the stories, “Quintinshill” and “Harrow,” deal with the two deadliest train crashes in his native Britain.
[Full story]
Theatre Chair Studies at Kennedy Center
Janeice Scarbrough, chair of ENMU’s Department of Theatre and Dance, honed her writing during a Playwrights’ Intensive at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Scarbrough spent 12- to 13-hour days writing, rewriting and networking with directors, literary managers and agents. “I learned so much not only about my writing, but about teaching,” she said. “I picked up many tricks of the trade that I can share with students.”
One of 42 applicants chosen nationwide, she submitted her play “Mia, Emma and Rose” as part of the application. It is being restaged at ENMU Oct. 27-28 and will be in regional competition in November at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Amarillo, Texas.
[Full story]
ENMU Expert Shares Ideas for Feeding Children in Moldova
A nutrition expert from Eastern has transplanted ideas for improving nutrition in Europe’s poorest country, Moldova. Caryl Johnson, an associate professor in family and consumer sciences, presented “Improving Nutritional Health with School Gardens,” at a two-day international workshop sponsored by the Monsanto Foundation and the International Federation of Home Economics.
Many children in Moldova attend boarding schools with limited money for food. School participants received information on nutrition, lesson plans and grants for seeds and equipment. By next April, participating schools will plant tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beans, squash, fruit trees, grapes and strawberries.
[Full story]
