Eleven students in the University of West Florida Department of Music were invited the week of Jan. 9 through 12 to participate in the Florida Intercollegiate Band at the Florida Music Educator’s All-State Conference in Tampa. The Florida Intercollegiate Band is an ensemble made up of the best college musicians in the state. The students representing UWF were: Brandi Hebold, flute; Audrey Carp, flute; Jennifer Smith, clarinet; Amy Miller, clarinet; Bobby Griffin, bassoon; James McAllister, tenor saxophone; Dan Crago, horn; Jennifer Lawson, horn; Armond Navarro, trumpet; Billy Morris, tuba; and Maggie Mitchell, percussion.
Richard Castellano, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, was awarded the Dade Behring Emil von Behring Scholarship for the amount of $2,500. The scholarship was awarded based on his outstanding academic achievement, strong leadership and active community service. Castellano is currently doing his clinical laboratory internship at Baptist Hospital.
The UWF Department of Theatre's  fall musical "Once On This Island" has been selected by the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival to perform at the Region 4 Festival in Clemson, S.C. A  first for UWF, the department will be appearing alongside the University of Central Florida and the University of Southern Mississippi this February. The show was Directed by Kevin P. Kern and musical directed by Tim Kennedy. Charles Houghton designed the sets and lights. Glenn Breed designed the costumes. The entire cast (except one eight-year-old actress) was comprised of UWF students, making this a true UWF production.
The Department of Biology recognizes the following students as awardees of Graduate Student Research grants: Dustin Addis, Allyson Bradley, Valentina Di Santo, Kristen Hellein, Daniel Killingsworth, Cecelia Louder, Michael Perez, and Katherine Shepard.
The UWF Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering is pleased to announce the following scholarship recipients. Amanda Hetrick and Bill Seaman each received a $1,000 Boeing Need/Merit Scholarship. Kaitlin Weeks received the Boeing SWE Scholarship of $500. Adam Keyhani, Alexander Evans, and Jarod Brown all received Gulf Power Scholarships in the amount of $500. Jacob Whisenhunt received the $500 Alumni Scholarship and James Kasler the $500 MTI Scholarship.
The UWF Department of Chemistry awarded $12,500 in scholarships for the 2007-2008 academic year to nine undergraduate chemistry students. Julia Balazh received the Ralph K. Birdwhistell Scholarship, which awards junior or senior chemistry students who show potential to make substantial contributions in the field of chemistry. Katie Eanes and Jessica Nicewonder were named Grace Po-Yuen Chiu Scholars, an honor that is intended for outstanding students in chemistry. Both scholarships are funded by endowments which honor founding members of the UWF Department of Chemistry. Tyler Butler, Sarah Genet, Taren Walton, Scott Shaw, Melinda Bottenfield and Megan Chapman were also awarded scholarships through demonstrated excellence in their chemistry programs.
J.D. Olitzky, Chris Clanton, and Dr. Lazslo Ujj, Physics, received the award for Best Undergraduate Research Presentation (for the poster session) at the Society of Physics Students Zone 6 Meeting hosted at Florida Institute of Technology on February 17. The project, titled Development of Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy, won the R.S. Jin Award Certificate of Excellence. The group competed against 40 research projects, of which 20 were posters, from schools in Alabama, Florida, and Puerto Rico; including University of Central Florida, University of Alabama Huntsville, University of Florida, Florida Institute of Technology, University of Puerto Rico, and Stetson University.
amuel ParkSamuel Park, Music, won first prize Oct. 28 at the Florida State Young Artist Competition, which is sponsored by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). He will go on to represent the state of Florida in February 2007 at the MTNA Nine-State Regional Competition. The winner of the regional competition will participate in the MTNA national finals March 23 through 27. This year's competition was the second year that both UWF and Park participated, last year Park earned second place.
Samuel Park also placed second at the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, Final Round, held in Toronto, Canada, March 24.
Tommy Padgett, an undergraduate English major, under the mentorship of Professor Greg Tomso, has been awarded an undergraduate research award in the amount of $1022.00 to fund his Honors thesis research on “The Discourses of Genetic Research on Alcoholism."
Rachael Masek, graduate student in Communication Arts, has won a Merit Award in the portfolios.com international design competition. Her entry, a Web site for The Window Factory in Pensacola, was submitted in the U.S. corporate category and can be viewed at http://www.windowcompany.com/.
Jamie Warden , College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded an expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) National Convention. Warden is one of 12 students picked from the entire state of Florida, based on her work in ACLU activism and a variety of background assets. Warden is the vice president of the UWF chapter of the ACLU.
The University of West Florida Department of Chemistry has awarded $13,000 in scholarships for the 2006-2007 academic year to 10 undergraduate chemistry students. Julia Balazh and Tyler Butler have been awarded the Ralph K. Birdwhistell Scholarship, which awards junior or senior chemistry students who show potential to make substantial contributions in the field of chemistry. Dayoung "Diane" Ann has been named the first Grace Po-Yuen Chiu Scholar, an honor that is intended for outstanding international students in chemistry. Both scholarships are funded by endowments which honor founding members of the UWF Department of Chemistry. Amanda Miller, Patrick Barber, Kent Reagan, Rachel Chamberlain, Sarah Genet, Guilherme Cury, and Jessica Williams were also awarded scholarships through demonstrated excellence in their chemistry programs.
Chasidy Hobbs, Environmental Science, had her research featured in the Council of Florida Graduate Deans' summer 2006 publication. Hobbs is completing her master's degree in Environmental Science. To read about her research, visit http://uwf.edu/news/argus/Hobbs_Research.pdf.
Stephanie Bova, Music - 1st Prize Distict Sonata Contest & 3rd Place Florida State Piano Competition
Tessa Burch & Samantha Rich, Art - Captured two of five showcase spaces for all art students in the State (the second year for the Art Department to achieve this Outcome)
Stephanie Kovacs, Psychology - Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship
Samuel Park, Music - 2nd Place Florida State Music Teachers National Association competition
Martin Tate, Music - 3rd Prize in District and State Music Teachers Piano Concerto competition
Choctaw High School Engineering Program placed 4th out of 45 in the US First Peachtree Regional Competition in Robotics.
The Honors Program hosted the Southern Regional Honors Conference in Orlando, serving 500 students and 43 institutions.
Clinical Laboratory Science students all passed their national certification exams four years in a row. The department mean scores were higher in the UWF program than the national mean in every area tested. We are awaiting this years scores and if the pattern remains the same we will have a 100% pass rate for 5 years.
Nursing students provided substantial relief post-Katrina in the Biloxi area and collected $4000 for Relay for Life.
