Published: September 05, 2008 12:00 am            

Roundup

Water challenges come to campus

Mickey Sampson will share his experiences during a Monday seminar at the University of Oklahoma. The event is free and open to the public and will be 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Sarkeys Energy Center, 100 W. Boyd St., Room A235.

As country director and founder of Resource Development International-Cambodia, Sampson has spent more than a decade helping the people of Cambodia -- a nation of 13 million people with a land mass about the size of Missouri -- get fresh drinking water.

"This is going to be a really exciting talk, targeting one of the poorest countries in Asia," said David Sabatini, OU civil engineering and environmental science professor and director of the Water Technologies for Emerging Regions Center, also known as the WaTER Center. The WaTER Center is part of the OU College of Engineering and focuses on solving drinking water challenges in impoverished regions.

The seminar, titled "Meeting the Challenge of Drinking Water for the Third World," will address technical, economic, social and educational challenges faced by the nation of Cambodia as well as look at some of the innovative approaches to water treatment used by Resource Development International-Cambodia.

RDIC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the people of Cambodia through education and technology. Under Sampson's leadership, RDIC established a ceramic water filter manufacturer and distribution system that produced 25,000 filters last year.

The seminar is presented by the WaTER Center. Engineers Without Borders and the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science are sponsors of the program.



JayMac alumni recognized

The University of Oklahoma's Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the JayMac Alumni Association are pleased to announce the induction of four alumni to the ranks of Distinguished Alumni.

Bob Barry, Sr., KFOR-TV and the voice of the Sooner Sports Radio Network; Roger Frizzell, vice president of corporate communications and advertising for American Airlines; and Paul Massad, senior vice president and director of major gifts, University Development, University of Oklahoma will be honored at a banquet Oct. 2 in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Library on the second floor of Gaylord Hall.

JayMac also will honor N. Bird Runningwater, associate director of Native American and Indigenous Programs of the Sundance Institute, with the Young Professional Award that recognizes the contributions of young professionals in journalism and mass communication fields.

"With more than 8,000 alumni, the difficulty is not in finding worthy candidates, but in narrowing the number down to four to be recognized," said Sean Simpson, JayMac president and corporate communications director at Express Employment Professionals. "There are many who have impressive careers and others who are on the rise, but the JayMac board felt the time is right for this group to receive recognition."

JayMac and the Gaylord College also will announce and honor one faculty member chosen by the students for excellence in the classroom with the JayMac Teaching Award.

In addition to the awards, this year's banquet will display the contents of a 50-year-old time capsule installed in the walls of Copeland Hall when it was built in 1958. An open house and reception in the lobby will precede the dinner.

-- Transcript Staff

        

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