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Exactly 100 People Respond to 'Monday Memo Presidential Preference Poll' – By pure coincidence, exactly 100 employees and students responded to the "Monday Memo Presidential Preference Poll" in the last issue.

Results

Democratic – 45
Republican – 33
Undecided – 12
Other – 5
Not Voting – 3
Hanging Chads – 2 (submitted ballot, left choice blank)

By Category

Administration

Democratic – 5
Republican – 1
Undecided – 1

Faculty

College of Business

Democratic – 1
Republican – 1
Other – 1
Not Voting – 1

College of Education and Technology

Democratic – 4
Republican – 2

College of Fine Arts

Republican – 2
Democratic – 1
Undecided – 1
Hanging Chad – 1

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Democratic – 10
Republican – 4
Undecided – 3
Hanging Chad – 1

Professional Staff

Republican – 13
Democratic – 13
Undecided – 4
Other – 3

Support Staff

Republican – 7
Democratic – 6
Undecided – 2
Other – 1
Not Voting – 1

Students

Democratic – 5
Republican – 3
Undecided – 1

Below is the original poll results from Survey Monkey:

Video of ENMU freshman goat whisperer/milker Jessica Eden – [video] (photo and video by Robin Haislett)

New Music Professor Says Picking Favorite Opera More Difficult Than Picking Favorite Ice Cream by Erin Griffith Communication Services “Who else has an office this big with a kitchen and shower?" – Jason Vest

Jason Vest is a new assistant professor of music at Eastern New Mexico University.  He teaches private voice lessons, a non-major voice class and language diction. Mr. Vest’s philosophy, which he learned from a professor in his master’s program, is that anyone can sing by learning to use his or her body in the right way.  “My style of teaching is very systematic.  There are steps you have to take to speak or sing correctly.  First, posture, breathing and resonance, then singing becomes art,” the Indianapolis native said.  One of his favorite quotes is, “Flash is trash without the basics.” Mr. Vest’s favorite music is opera.  He said, “Your asking me to pick my favorite opera is like asking me to pick my favorite ice cream.”  Although, he admits he has a soft spot for the first one he saw, Tosca by Giacomo Puccini.

In fourth grade, Mr. Vest had an instructor teach him to sing in Italian and he has been singing ever since.  Also since his first bit of Italian, he can now read German, is fluent in French, speaks decent Italian and even knows some Malagasy (from Madagascar).

Mr. Vest came to Eastern from the University of Kentucky where he was working on his doctoral degree.  He has to go back to defend his dissertation, The Evolution of Tenor Techniques in 19th Century Opera, in November.

“I really love the faculty here and the atmosphere is open and friendly.  I also enjoy working individually with my students and seeing their openness to my ideas and the progress they make when they work at it,” Mr. Vest said.

Mr. Vest and his wife, Heather, both food network junkies, like the openness of New Mexico and this small town with little crime.  Mr. Vest is also excited to be close to the Santa Fe Opera House.

“I was fortunate in that I was able to go to New York a lot to see some of the greatest singers of our time – many of whom perform at the Metropolitan Opera in the winter, and spend their summers in Santa Fe,” Mr. Vest said.

The music department will be doing an opera in February, Die Fledermaus “The Bat” by Johann Strauss II. Mr. Vest says he is looking forward to the opera, a comedy to be performed in English.

Since Mr. Vest joined the music department during a transitional time, he has not worked in the old Music Building and his office is housed in Chavez Hall, the old apartment building. 

“Who else has an office this big with a kitchen and shower?  I can have lessons while my students have a place to hang out. They’re going to have to drag me out of here,” he said with a laugh.

Audio Alert

Listen to Jason Vest sing “Then Shall the Righteous Shine Forth” from "Elijah" by Felix Mendelssohn. – [audio]

New English Prof Lived on Island of Sumatra for Five Years
Story and photo by Robin Haislett
Communication Services

"I've had my car for two years and I have 79,000 miles on it." – Nancy Peterson

One of the newest members of the English department, Nancy Peterson, coordinator of the Writing Center and instructor of English, came to ENMU to complete her master’s and teach after moving around the country with her family. "My husband sells chemicals out in the oil fields so we've moved around to quite a few places," explains Ms. Peterson.

Originally from Granada Hills in California, Ms. Peterson went to California State University at Bakersfield for her undergraduate degree. She then became an adjunct professor at Eastern for three years before she came on the staff full time.

"I really enjoy Eastern. I really like the atmosphere, the students… I find it very comfortable, friendly and the people are easy to work with," says Ms. Peterson.

"I also enjoy reading Shakespeare and am an active member of the Roswell Shakespeare Club. Hopefully, my students find that reading and composition prove to be valuable assets in their educational and professional careers."

Ms. Peterson became attached to the English world through reading. "I love to read. I love the literature aspect. I have very diverse tastes; I love the classics, but I like American literature and British literature. So the reading ties in with writing," explains Peterson.

Being the coordinator for the Writing Center is something familiar to Peterson because she was involved in it during her master’s program since all tutors there are graduate assistants. She is very excited about the online capabilities of the center.

“OWL is the online writing lab and distance ed students can get online and ask tutors questions about their papers. It’s just like having an appointment, but they can do it from their home computer and they’ve made it more user-friendly this semester,” Peterson beams.

Ms. Peterson also taught all subjects for sixth grade in Roswell for five years where she used the field trips to also advance her own knowledge of the area. “While still a new resident I learned about the diverse history of New Mexico while escorting students on school field trips. Another teacher and I would take students around the area to different historical sites, so I got to learn a lot about New Mexico," she says.

Ms. Peterson’s love for higher learning drove her to complete her master’s to teach at the college level and become the coordinator for the Writing Center and an instructor at Eastern. “I like this level; I like the older kids,” she says.

Ms. Peterson's penchant for travel has her vehicles working overtime. "I've had my car for two years and I have 79,000 miles on it. Because we've moved around quite a bit, we have friends in different states and we try to get together with them."

Among the list of Ms. Peterson's favorite locales are Bali, Copenhagen and Oslo, which she visited on a Baltic cruise over the summer. "They were clean and safe. We like variety and cities that are easy to walk around in," she says.

Ms. Peterson lived on the island of Sumatra for five years and traveled frequently to Jakarta and Singapore.

Fall 2008 Wellness Round-Robin, Mixed-Doubles Tennis Tournament (photos by Robin Haislett)

	Action was hot and heavy in Saturday's Fall 2008 Wellness Round-Robin, Mixed-Doubles Tennis Tournament at the University Courts. In the scene at the left, the final results from the eight-team tournament, in which every team played each other once in first-to-win-three-game sets, is tabulated. In the most exciting news of the day, the duties of commissioner were transferred to Minnie Bresler.
Before the competition began, everyone was optimistic, dry and cordial.
And the Winners Were... First Place: D'Lyn Ford and Wendel Sloan (Record: 7-0) Second Place: Patrick Newman and Minnie Bresler (Record: 6-1) Third Place: Jane Liu and Zhiming Liu (Record: 5-2) Fourth Place: Jane Blakeley and Steve Blakeley (Record: 4-3) After it was over, everyone was wet, hostile and a little crazy.

Video Alert
	Watch video of Texas Tech Celtic Ensemble in the CUB on Sept. 26, 2008 – [video] (video by Minh Tran)

Bond D Yard Signs Available

Ready to Run – If you would like a Bond D yard sign for your lawn, come by Room 108 in the Administration Building, or call 562.4490. Communication Services graduate assistant Robin Haislett recently did a little tresspassing in her runing shoes to quickly put signs up around town. (photo by Wendel Sloan with a cell phone camera)

ENMU-Roswell Enters Bond D Float

Pinatafest Parade in Roswell (photo by Donna Oracion)

Winners in Comm 212 Digital Photography Contest

Each student in Margaret Kirby's Comm 212 Introduction to Digital Photography class turned in one photo for their first assignment.  They had to take one photo that captured “back to school."  It was not limited to Eastern students as possible subjects.  Students could choose to focus on any school or student in the area.  They were told to make sure the photo was candid and not staged.  Everyone voted in class on their favorites and had to explain why on their ballots.

First: Petra Gonzales Comments on ballots included: “love the color”/ “good shooting position…can see both teams ½ and ½ in frame”/ “liked the moment of waiting”/”liked the angle on players and view from top”

Second Place: Jennifer Conlee Comments on ballots included: “captures realistic perspective…feel like a student”/ ”angle was cool”/ “no clutter and eye smoothes over whole picture”/ “showed classroom experience”

Third Place: Dianna Hernandez Comments on ballots included: “the way he is running to school shows energy”/ “I like the movement”/ “boy is excited to go back to school”

Slide Show Alert Slide Show from Saturday's Greyhound football game against Abilene Christian University – by Robin Haislett Greyhound Football 9 27 08 (Click Arrows to Advance Photos)

Scenes from Recent Hispanic Affairs Events (photos by Daniela Garcia)