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December 2008
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Student Achievers
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 randon McInnis
’09 might be found recording music on his equipment
at home for interested SONY Music representatives, but he isn’t a
music major. McInnis, who became a certified nursing assistant in
high school, might be found volunteering as a first-response medical
staff member for a large convention in Dallas, but he doesn’t major
in any science. When McInnis meets a fork in the road, he considers
it an exciting opportunity rather than a perplexing decision. Austin
College’s emphasis on broad, liberal arts education has presented
him many opportunities.
“I feel like I’m walking five
different roads, which shouldn’t be possible,” McInnis said. “It’s
possible at Austin College and great preparation for the real
world.” The very fact that Austin College would open many paths to
him is why he ultimately decided to attend. McInnis developed a
passion for music, especially vocal performance, after earning a
role in a middle school musical. He eventually earned all-state
honors in vocal performance and was offered a “tempting scholarship
package” to attend Baylor University.
“I knew that if I did that, I
would only ever do music and voice,” said McInnis, who plans to
pursue a career in medicine, specializing in vocal chord injuries.
“I chose Austin College because the ultimate goal for me was to be a
physician.”
 Austin College has allowed
McInnis to continue his passion for music through involvement as
assistant director of the A Cappella Choir and as a member of The
Quartette, a men’s a cappella group. Austin College also enabled him
to pursue pre-medical studies and introduced McInnis to his major
area of study, Japanese. “You start with the language, and it opens
up this window into a culture,” he said. “Then, you study abroad and
go through a door to see a different world entirely.” In fall 2007,
McInnis studied abroad in Tokyo through the Institute for the
International Education of Students (IES) and completed internships
in interpreting and translation for a variety of business groups and
conferences in the U.S. and abroad.
McInnis has had the good fortune
of witnessing his many paths converge on occasion. While studying in
Tokyo, McInnis met with a former head of the Japanese Fulbright
program to discuss continuing his Austin College honors thesis on
the Japanese healthcare system through Fulbright study. McInnis has
completed a Fulbright application in hopes that his love of Japanese
and his career aspirations in medicine can continue as one road for
additional study through that program.
While volunteering as an
interpreter at an annual anime conference, McInnis met an editor for
an American music magazine who showed interest in the fact McInnis
had written and recorded his own music (some of it in Japanese). The
editor put McInnis in contact with representatives of SONY Music in
Japan, who wanted to hear his music. McInnis sent sample tracks of
his work and is awaiting word from SONY. McInnis readily admits that
walking so many different paths can require a lot of time and
energy. “I don’t sleep, let me tell you,” he said. Sleep or no
sleep, the availability of so many opportunities is what McInnis
thrives on. “You have to see an opportunity and grab it,” he said.
“Just go for it all the time.”
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Junior Earns Boren Scholarship for
Study in China
 Claire Balani
’10 has been awarded a National Security
Education Program (NSEP) Boren Scholarship for study abroad and
is spending the 2008–2009 academic year in China. Claire, a
political science and international relations major, is studying
Chinese culture and ethnic minorities this fall at the School of
International Training in Kunming of the Yunnan Province. In
spring 2009, she will complete intensive language study in
Beijing with the International Education of Students, focusing
on improving her Mandarin language skills.
“Throughout my time in
Yunnan, I hope to understand the real challenges facing Chinese,
if not global, society today, from environmental degradation, to
rural poverty, to health epidemics,” Balani said. “I want to
examine the relationship between China and Southeast Asia,
particularly Burma, by examining these important social issues
through the eyes of immigrants, migrant workers, and visiting
students. Hopefully, I can use what I learn throughout my time
abroad in a position that could influence relations between
China, Southeast Asia, and the United States, either through the
government, think tanks, or nongovernmental organizations.”
Boren Scholarships provide
up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in
areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and
underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia,
Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the
Middle East. The scholarships fund study that focuses on
geographic areas, languages, and fields deemed critical to U.S.
national security. Applicants identify how their study abroad
program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will
contribute to U.S. national security. NSEP draws on a broad
definition of national security, including not only the
traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American
well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including
sustainable development, environmental degradation, global
disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and
economic competitiveness.
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Students, Faculty Begin Look at
“Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World”
Austin College history students
Austin Tooley ’09, James Hannan ’09, Victoria
Sheppard ’10, and Elizabeth Elliott ’09 accompanied
Hunt Tooley, associate professor of history, to the Southern
Historical Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in
October. Hunt Tooley was chair and moderator of one of the
conference sessions. The students attended sessions and workshops,
choosing at least one session on the theme of Austin College’s
History Department Mobley Project “Mass Violence in the
Twentieth-Century World.”
Left to right: Victoria Sheppard, Elizabeth
Elliot, Hunt Tooley,
Jamie Hannan, and Austin Tooley shared their experiences.
The four students offered their
perspectives on the conference at a campus presentation in late
October. Faculty and students will undertake a number of research
initiatives through the Mobley Project. Tooley hopes students will
be prepared to participate in an upcoming Phi Alpha Theta history
honor society graduate and undergraduate conference.
Hunt Tooley is the Andrew
Pickens Mobley Scholar for 2008–2010 and selected the theme for the
project, which will combine his own historical research, student and
faculty presentations, conference participation, and guest speakers
to “create a kind of intellectual awareness of the scope and nature
of the historical and human dimensions of mass violence.”
Tooley’s academic career has
included a great deal of study of mass violence in 20th century
Europe, and his courses have included focus on the Holocaust and
Stalinist mass killing and forced migration. In addition to student
research initiatives created through the Mobley Project, he hopes to
complete a book he began some time ago on the topic of mass
violence.
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Senior Speaks on Behalf of American Youth
It isn’t every day that U.S.
college undergraduates have the opportunity to meet the presidents
of foreign countries, much less discuss economics and foreign policy
with them. Yet, that is exactly what Lurissa Tucker ’09 found
herself doing over dinner with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo
at the Association for Peruvian Institutions in the United States
and Canada conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
A Latin America studies major
and public health minor at Austin College, Lurissa was the only U.S.
American invited to present a speech at the international conference
held in May 2008. Lurissa, who made the speech in Spanish, discussed
the awareness of and involvement in third world countries among
youth in the United States. “Basically, I had seven minutes to
convince Latin American diplomats that not all young people in the
U.S. are lazy and ignorant,” Lurissa said.
Lurissa’s involvement in service
and study abroad made her an ideal candidate to make that point. She
lived in Cusco, Peru, in 2007, volunteering at La Clinica de San
Juan de Dios and researching the status of maternal and child health
among the region’s indigenous population. In March 2008, she was a
part of an Austin College LISTEN (Letting Intensive Searching and
Traveling Enlighten North Americans) delegation to Guatemala,
focused on fair trade and collaborative work between non-profit, non
government agencies and the recipients of aid. In summer 2008,
Lurissa completed an internship at the New Mexico Health Policy
Commission, performing research on undocumented immigrant
healthcare.
Lurissa’s speech highlighted the
change that occurs in many students who serve or study abroad. “We
go forth with what we consider to be the best of intentions,
prepared to save the world with all of our wealth and knowledge,”
she said. “However, many young people in the United States, me
included, return to our homes and societies changed. In our
enthusiasm to ‘change the world,’ we are changed by the people we
meet and the work we do. This is the real souvenir we bring home.”
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December 2008
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Student News of Note
 Cicily Smith
’08 spoke at the annual summer meeting of the
Mathematical Association of America in early August in Madison,
Wisconsin, presenting “Paracycles in Snell Geometries,”
highlighting mathematics research done during her senior year.
The research involves the description of a new type of geometric
object in a new category of geometries. Jack Mealy, Austin
College professor of mathematics, said the presentation received
an enthusiastic response. Smith is now doing graduate work in
industrial engineering at Texas A&M University.
Priscilla Lo
’11 has been awarded a scholarship from the Jimmy
Rane Foundation of Alabama. According to foundation information,
Lo’s selection was based on standout academic achievements and
career goals as well as letters of endorsement. The scholarship
is open to high school seniors or to college freshmen.
Lo, an Asian studies major
with a minor in educational psychology, plans to complete the
Austin Teacher Program at Austin College. “I've wanted to become
a teacher since fourth grade and have explored this career
through various volunteering opportunities and courses
throughout my high school and college years,” Lo said. “I really
love working with kids — especially in a small setting. I love
influencing their lives and teaching them new things that can
help them as they grow into young adults.”
 Ethan Tanner
’12 was awarded Eagle Scout rank August 9,
highlighting training that began as a Cub Scout in first grade
and transitioned into the Boy Scouts at age 12. Eagle Scout is
the highest rank attainable for a Boy Scout.
A major requirement of the
rank is completion of the Eagle Project, an extensive service
project that the scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages.
Tanner's project was refurbishing an old kitchen in the Helping
Hands Center in his hometown of Rockwall.
In addition to the survival
skills the Scouts taught Tanner, “the most important thing I
learned was the concept of leadership and ‘followship,’” Tanner
said. “Basically, there is a time for you step up and be a
leader but there also is a time for you to know your place and
be a follower.”
At Austin College Tanner
plans to pursue the five-year Master of Arts in Teaching track
and put to use the things he learned in the Scouts such as
"responsibility, loyalty, and a strong work ethic.”
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