Nurse faculty member serves at North Carolina General Assembly

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East Carolina University nurse faculty member Becky Bagley is serving as Nurse of the Day at the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh May 7.

Becky Bagley

Becky Bagley

Bagley, director of nurse-midwifery education in the ECU College of Nursing, will provide services such as taking vital signs, checking blood pressures, and dispensing over-the-counter drugs for headaches, upset stomachs, or allergies to legislators and legislative staff members.

The day is made possible by the North Carolina Nurses Association.

“I chose to serve as Nurse of the Day to broaden my horizons,” Bagley said. “I am a soon-to-be DNP graduate at Duke University and this is a great way to sit in on legislative sessions.”

Many NCNA members who previously served have said the experience has validated their choice of the nursing profession. The nurses enhance the positive image of nursing in the state of North Carolina, officials said.
 
The North Carolina Nurses Association

The North Carolina Nurses Association is the professional organization for all registered nurses in North Carolina. Through NCNA nurses become powerful advocates patients and the nursing profession. For more information visit www.ncnurses.org.

Coach Rock Golf Classic set for May 13

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The third annual Coach Rock Cancer Research Golf Classic will be held May 13 at Ironwood Country Club in Greenville. The tournament will benefit ongoing research in the Department of Oncology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and the Leo Jenkins Cancer Center.

The registration deadline is May 9.

Coach Thomas "Rock" Roggeman addresses players during a 2008 ECU football game. (Photo courtesy ECU Sports Information)

Coach Thomas “Rock” Roggeman addresses players during a 2008 ECU football game. (Photo courtesy ECU Sports Information)

Funds raised at the tournament will directly benefit cancer patients in eastern North Carolina through the Coach Rock Roggeman Cancer Research Fund. Thomas “Rock” Roggeman, who died of lymphoma in 2010, served as a defensive coordinator for ECU’s football team.

“This has always been such a fun day,” said Dr. Paul Walker, who established the cancer research fund with his wife, Kathy. “People have recognized that we’re all out there for something that’s very, very important.”

The tournament features a four-person superball format with a $500-per-team entry fee. Sponsorships range from $100 to $5,000. Tournament prizes will be awarded.

Tickets also will be available at the event for a $10,000 putting contest that will benefit the Spencer Hampton Scholarship at D. H. Conley High School.

Breakfast, registration and practice begin at 7:30 a.m., with the morning flight teeing off at 8:15 a.m. The afternoon flight tees off at 1:30 p.m., after a 12:30 p.m. lunch and registration and a 1 p.m. tribute to Roggeman.

Walker, an associate professor at the Brody School of Medicine and director of the thoracic oncology clinic, said the tournament celebrates the vigor with which Roggeman coached football and fought cancer.

“We wanted to honor the legacy of a man who has been highly respected as a man and as a coach,” he said.

It also serves as an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of funding cancer research. The Coach Rock Roggeman Cancer Research Fund supports the development of innovative cancer research treatment clinical trials at ECU that are key to improving cancer care for patients throughout the region.

“Every advancement in cancer treatment comes from cancer research,” Walker said.

Current research seeks to double the cure in inoperable lung cancer and acute leukemia. Other studies are exploring how to eliminate lung cancer in lymph nodes in nine out of 10 patients and completely clear the disease in patients with specific types of breast cancer.

Other sponsors of this year’s tournament include Steele Insurance Company, Brenda Till (in memory of Bruce Till), ECU Physicians, Greenville Nissan, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Impressions magazine and BB&T.

To register or make a donation, please contact Susan Eubanks at 252-744-1015 or eubankss@ecu.edu.

Two ECU students to spend summer with NASA

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Two students from East Carolina University will participate this summer in a competitive internship experience with NASA through the Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars Program.

Soria

Soria

Lisbeth Soria, a senior pursuing a bachelor of science in industrial technology with a concentration in information and computer technology, and Kaveh Darafsheh, a graduate student in computer science, earned a spot among 200 internships out of 1,000 applicants. Both programs are housed in the College of Technology and Computer Science.

LARSS is a year-round internship program that offers three sessions in Hampton, Va. Soria and Darafsheh will participate in the 10-week program beginning June 3 – a paid research opportunity for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In 2011, the program was named by Vault-Career Intelligence as one of its top 10 best internship programs out of some 800 that were evaluated.

Darafsheh

Darafsheh

“I hope to expand the knowledge and skills I have acquired at ECU while engaging and meeting other people in the same career field as myself while working with NASA and its mentors,” Soria said.

This May, Soria will be the first person in her family to graduate from a four-year institution. She added that she is very thankful for her parents’ sacrifices to provide her that opportunity.

Darafsheh said “the internship will allow me to take the theoretical knowledge I gained in the past year in an academic setting and apply it to a real world problem.”  He will be developing an application for distributed network synchronization through software development.

Both students said the TECS Career Center and department faculty helped them learn about the opportunity. Dr. Krishnan Gopalakrishnan and Dr. Junhua Ding in computer science and Lee Toderick in the BSIT program were instrumental in the recommendations required for the applications, they said.

“This experience will allow me to grow both professionally and personally,” Soria added. “I hope this will be only the beginning of many more successful opportunities to come.”

More information about the LARSS internship is available at http://www.nianet.org/LARSS-2012/index.aspx.

 

ECU student discusses Tuscarora at UNCC Graduate History Forum

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Matthew Esterline, graduate student in history at East Carolina University, discussed John Lawson and the Tuscarora War at UNC-Charlotte’s 25th Annual Graduate History Forum on April 19-20. The presentation, titled “Spanish Oyster-Shell and Blood: An Examination of John Lawson and the Tuscarora,” was presented to faculty from across the state.

The presentation focused on the mystery behind and reasons for Lawson’s execution as well as the tensions between the Tuscarora Indians and colonists which lead to the war.

Esterline also participated with media relations for the Nooherooka 300 Commemoration held at ECU and Snow Hill in March. He said he wanted to raising awareness of the Tuscarora.

The graduate history forum featured guest speaker Dr. William Kimler, NCSU history professor and scholar on the history of biology and evolutionary ideas.

ECU to hold candlelight vigil

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A candlelight vigil for Jonathon Bennett will be held at 9 p.m. April 25.

The event will be held in the Student Memorial Garden across from Mendenhall Student Center.

Bennett was killed Wednesday morning following a fall from a tree near University Manor apartments in Greenville. Bennett was an ECU geographic information science and technology major from Wilson, an ECU Student Ambassador and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.