Sigma Tau Delta Regional Newsletter: Call for Submissions

To members of Alpha Theta Eta of Sigma Tau Delta:

Sigma Tau Delta Regional Newsletter: Call for Submissions

Because this is a student organization, it is great when students can contribute to the newsletter. Want to talk about a literary issue or favorite author? Has your chapter done an awesome or original fundraiser/service project? Let the rest of the region and the nation know about it by submitting a piece. You are also invited to submit creative pieces (especially pieces for Back Page Poetry – see Spring 2006 Newsletter).

Length Restrictions:
Articles: 100-300 words
Excerpts of longer works or Flash Fiction: 250 words max
Poetry (including line breaks): 30 lines max

Submissions are due October 16th at 12:00 pm.

I hope your semesters continue to go well and that your midterms flow smoothly.

Best regards,
Rachel Moses
Student Representative
High Plains Region

Touchstone is Now Accepting Submissions

In the 1500s French traders used pieces of dark quartz or jasper stone to test the quality of gold and silver by rubbing it across the stone’s surface and examining the mark it left behind. This was their way of testing the genuineness and quality of each precious metal. This was their touchstone.

Touchstone Literary Magazine serves as just such a standard for creative writing at KSU, and therefore we encourage you to send us your best work for consideration in the upcoming Spring 2007 edition. A $75 First Place Award Winner and $25 Second Place Award Winner will be selected for each of three genres: Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction.

At this time we gladly accept email submissions as follows:

Include your contact information in the body of your message and address to Litmag@ksu.edu.

For each genre follow these guidelines:

Poetry~
Please send up to 5 poems attached to an email as Word documents or Rich Text Format (rtf) files with the word “Poetry” as your subject line.

Creative Nonfiction~
Please send up to 2 essays attached to an email as Word documents or Rich Text Format (rtf) files with the word “Nonfiction” as your subject line.

Fiction~
Please send up to 2 stories attached to an email as Word documents or Rich Text Format (rtf) files with the word “Fiction” as your subject line.

You may send multiple submissions for a single genre attached to one email. However if you have work to send for more than one genre, please send each in separate emails with the appropriate subject line for that genre.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: NOVEMBER 1, 2006

If you have any questions about the submission process, please contact me via email at the address provided below.

We look forward to hearing from you!

_______________________________________________________________________

Tulora S. Roeckers
MA English ~ Creative Writing
Touchstone Editor-in-chief
Kansas State University
Manhattan on the Prairie
email: roeckers@ksu.edu
_____________________________________________

T-Shirt ideas

If anyone has ideas for t-shirts, please post them as comments to this! our only idea so far is:

Front: Use your literary knowledge....
Back: insult someone! (followed by a list of awesome shakespearian insults)

other ideas are VERY WELCOME!

First meeting this year!

Our first meeting will be 6pm, Thursday, Sept. 14 in 121 ECS! We will discuss possible Metaforum events for the coming year, and t-shirt designs. Plan to be there!

Activities Fair

Check out our table Thursday at the Activities Fair in the Union Ballroom from 6 - 8 p.m. for more info about this coming year!

Ice Cream and Officers

First, the ice cream! Since there weren't that many people that were
able to attend the last meeting, we decided that we should push the
call hall ice cream back to dead week. We discussed doing this
Thursday, May 4th, at 5:30, and meeting in front of ECS before going to
get it (paid for by Metaforum!) If you could email me (anna28@ksu.edu)
and let me know if you can come, so we have some idea of a head count.
Also, if this day/time doesn't work for you, let me know. If there are
lots of conflicts, we could move it!

Secondly:

Congratulations to the Metaforum Officers for the 2006-2007 school year!

President: Carla Schuster, schuster@ksu.edu
Vice President: Christina Forsberg, forsberg@ksu.edu
Treasurer: Kelsey Bates, bates@ksu.edu
Newsletter Editor: Anna Jurey, anna28@ksu.edu
Assistant Editor: Micah Janzen, theelf@ksu.edu

Carla has lots of fantastic ideas for next year, posted below, so check it out, and if
you have comments/ideas, please feel free to share as comments to this
post!

---------------------

Hello! In case you don’t know me, I’m Carla Schuster, an English major (double-majoring in French) at good-old KSU. 2006-7 will be my last year at this lovely institution of higher education (sad…) and my last to be with the Metaforum gang (double-sad!)

I would dearly love to be there to tell you about what I want to do for the upcoming year in Metaforum, but I’m in France with my education being held hostage by a bunch of French radicals (more info on the Metaforum blog site), so you’ll have to settle for this hand-out that only displays a small part of my sparkling personality. But all that aside, I’m EXTREMELY excited for this upcoming year, and I hope you are too! (or will be, after you hear what I would plan to do!)

First of all, what I think this club needs is some more departmental involvement. I’ll explain: I’ve been in the English department for nearly four years, and I know about a forth of the English staff, most of the undergrad students only by sight, and nearly none of the grad students! And I don’t think I’m the only one. (Which is why I included my picture—perhaps you’ve seen my smiling face in class? –or unsmiling, if it was before, say, noon.) So, what I would propose is that we have an introductory get-to-know-everybody Departmental Picnic at the park at the beginning of the year in August. Whether someone is new to the club and/or the department, are like me and still know nobody, or have just wandered over from the Engineering department to seek some literary enlightenment, this would offer a great no-stress opportunity to get together and meet. (It would probably be pot-luck, unless the club wants to spring for a caterer.)

Next, I think we need to make our presence known on campus (most people don’t even know what Metaforum is!) with Metaforum T-shirts, featuring, perhaps, reasons why it’s great to be an English major or Shakespearean insults, or something else creative and literary.

Also, throughout the year, I think it would be cool to have a Library Display of banned books, literature from a specific period, or other literary topics of interest, to get more people interested in literature and Metaforum. (Depending on permission and space from the library.)

Hopefully, sometime during the year, we would also plan a group trip, either to Hamlet or Madama Butterfly, at the Lyric Opera in Kansas City, to the Renaissance Festival, or to the Sigma Tau Delta national conference in Pittsburg or regional conference, depending on if we get enough demands for and monetary means to go.

Lit Wit Jeopardy in September. Put your favorite professor on the spot, with students asking literary trivia questions, and professors answering to compete for who wins the grand prize (to be decided). It will either be free or admission charged, with the profits going to a scholarship or Varney’s gift certificate for school books for an English major (probably, but not necessarily also a Metaforum member). Possibly concessions served, depending on what room we get for it.

Literary Pumpkin Carving Contests in October, with members/staff/whoever vying for a prize by carving their favorite literary authors, characters, or related pictures out of pumpkins. For all. If you think your artistic skills are lacking, cut-outs will be provided, and you can opt to not compete for the prize!

Around the World in 4 Hours in November, with displays, literature, and food from all parts of the world, Anglophone and other types of literature (perhaps coordinated with the Spanish, German, and French clubs, since it’s a rather large project). This would be a large event, with the whole campus invited, that would take a bit of planning, but I think it would be worth it!

A themed literary movie night, like Science Fiction, French, Walt Disney, Bollywood, or Jane Austen, (or all at the same time, such as pairing “Bride and Prejudice” with an adaptation of the Austen original), complete with discussions on how the books were made into movies, or, if original movies, how they act as pieces of literature or products of a particular culture, (not at all as serious as it sounds!), possibly in December. Probably at a member or sponsor’s house, since the chairs are incredibly uncomfortable at the rooms we usually use in the Union! If it’s a success, we can plan one in the spring, with a different topic.

Valentine’s Day Message in a Bottle in February. Seriously, why even have Shakespearean poetry if it’s not going to be shared with all? And what better day than the traditional day for lovers? This would involve putting little “kits” of a love poem (Shakespearean sonnets, among other things), along with candy inside a plastic heart of bottle, (and perhaps a flower) and then sell them to make profits for Metaforum, with the added benefit of sharing literature and love!

Scrabble-a-Thon in March. Why read extensively and have an inordinately huge vocabulary if you’re not going to show it off every once in a while? Contestants would register and compete for a prize, glory, and the honor of being “The King (or Queen) Scrabbler.” Choose to either play for fun, or compete in the competition. For the entire department, including staff.

High Tea, Alice-in-Wonderland Style in April or May. Well, this is, after all, an English club! And although the name refers to the literature, and not the country, I still think we should honor it by having proper British tea, crumpets, cucumber sandwiches, and real china on the lawn of a member’s or sponsor’s house. Also, we would have readings from British classics such as Alice in Wonderland, other English works praising tea, as well as original works, read by faculty and students. Also, if in May, this would also be a chance to say goodbye to the graduating seniors and give out the gift-certificates and/or Metaforum scholarships, if we raise enough money to do so.

Perhaps some of these events are a bit ambitious, and if the club or the department doesn’t some things are a good idea, we’ll have to think about not doing some of them… Also don’t take the schedule as gospel-truth, since, odds are, the dates and times of each will have to be changed! Along with a couple of literary movies some months and perhaps some more faculty readings (at least one per semester), I think that would be enough for any over-ambitious English club to take on!

Hopefully you all would be just as excited about upcoming year of Metaforum as I am!

Final Meeting, don't miss it!

Hey everyone!

It's our final meeting of the year. So on Thursday the 20th at 5:30 we
will be meeting in ECS 121 to vote on our new officers and then walking
over to Call Hal for ice cream (courtesy of the English club)!

Our nominees for this next year are...drum roll please...

President: Christina Forsberg, Carla Schuster
Vice Pres: Christina Forsberg, Carla Schuster
Treasurer: Kelsey Bates

Also, there has been some discussion of creating two new
officers/positions: Newsletter Editor and Assistant Editor. I already
have a nominee for each, but if anyone else wants to put their name in
let me know before the meeting. So far its...

Editor: Anna Jurey
Ast. Editor: Micah Janzen

If anyone has a schedule conflict and can't make it, e-mail your vote to
either me or Carol Franko before Thursday so we can count you. Hope you
all have a good Easter!

~Micah Janzen
theelf@ksu.edu

English Majors Job Opportunities Panel cont.

I posted the announcement for the job panel a little late, but decided it would highlight this post, in case you missed all of the other promos... so see the previous post if you are totally lost.

Onward! I realize that many of you may not have had the chance to attend this job panel, due to scheduling conflicts and such (as has happened to me in past years) and decided that the metaforum blog would be a good chance to share the knowlege!

*disclaimer: names may not be spelled correctly, and if my information is just a tad off, my apologies...

Kevin Johnston
-high school teacher in Manhattan, Masters degree-
He started out as a journalism teacher, before getting the position of english. Advice: transitioning from student to teacher can be a bit of a challenge... and be flexible and patient. As a teacher chances are you will not start out teaching the subject you want; stick with it and you'll get there eventually! It is a rewarding job!

Susan Simon (Blake)
-copy editor for Quintessential books in KC, Undergrad in Lit.-
Although she only graduated this past December, she managed to land a position for a new Christian literature publishing company, where she interned the previous summer. Publishing companies aren't self sustaining, so it is under a marketing company. As a small company, she also has to help out editing/writing for the marketing size, but has more direct influence within the company. The publishing business is difficult to get into, so have patience, and any related experience helps give an edge!

Sara Kearns
-instruction librarian at Hale Library, english undergrad, Masters in Library Sciences-
She worked the circulation desk at the public library, and enjoyed the reseach aspect of her English degree, and decided to go to librarian school. A one year-ish masters program, some schools offering online classes, to become a librarian doing more than just shelving books. Most libraries look for ALA accredited program graduates, and she recommended attending in a large city to give a wider range of libraries (she was in DC). She worked at a law firm's library, and returned to Manhattan, taking the Hale business librarian position with this background. She enjoyed teaching as well, and shifted to the instructional librarian position. The job is very flexible, and she's (I think) going to be getting a Ph.D. in the near future.

Jim Hohenbary
-scholarship advisor at K-State, Masters-
Starting out as an advisor for open option, he transferred to the scholarship advisor position when it opened up. He informs students of scholarship opportunities, especially prestigous ones, assists students in writing and learning to present themselves for these scholarships, and oversees the nomination processes when only a set number of students from each school may apply. This is a growing field. In advising positions in general, english majors can be very competitive, and a masters is required. He also mentioned, in an academic setting, there is somewhat of a glass wall in any position, for those without Ph.D's, although one can pursue this while currently at a job there.

Kristin Brighton
-CEO of a Manhattan marketing co., journalism/mass comm, & english degree, Masters-
As a student at K-State, Kristin worked at McCain and was in charge of marketing, and also taught as a GTA, which she emphasized gave her many skills that can be used for so many different things. She worked in KC for a start up marketing company, and later returned to Manhattan to do freelance work. Recently she joined with two other women to form a company. She suggested that practical work experience will help give an edge, as it gives employers some assurance that you will be an asset to the company. Even if you can't do much, something as simple as a paper proofreading business for fellow students could fit the bill.

Kent Glasscock
-former Kansas Speaker of the House of Rep, Director of something and technical transfer (patent stuff... it was a long title) for the university, in the family lumber business, English undergrad-
After graduating, despite urgings of a professor, he returned to the family lumber business instead of pursuing a masters. He got involved in government, eventually becoming Speaker of the House for the Kansas State House of Representatives. Currently, he is still in the family business, and is director of basically the people who manage patents and such for the university. He emphasized that BOOKS ARE IMPORTANT, and with an english degree, you develop critical thinking skills, and an understanding for how people work. With these skills you can do anything!

In summaries and questions, it was pointed out that few english majors pursue a Ph.D. as it prepares you generally for one job: a professor. Undergrad and masters degrees have a wide range of opportunities, as seen in the panel.

-------------------------------------------------------

Hopefully this recap is beneficial. I think I've covered all the high points, except that if you couldn't come, you missed out on nabbing some sweet library magnets... "big brains are sexy" and "if you talk too loud, the library ninjas will slay you." :)

your treasurer,
~Anna

English Majors Job Opportunities Panel

Dear Students,

Perhaps I met with you when you were thinking of becoming an English
major, and I might have given you a sheet with "marketable skills of
English majors" followed up with Lists of Careers and then one of
Employers that match up with the skills. This Friday you can see
people who got an English major here, and who are working in various
fields: editing; professional writing; high school teaching; university
advising; library-ing; CEO-ing (what's that?) These kind people
(traveling from places far and sundry) will talk about their careers,
their current positions, and how they prepared for and landed these
jobs. They'll also answer questions following their presentations. I
know you are really, really busy, but this is an excellent opportunity
--please come!!

The time: Friday, April 7, 3:30-5:00 pm
The place: The ECS Literature and Film Room (017 ECS).

--Carol Franko

Carla's Fabulous French Foray, 1.1

After much hinting, wheedling, begging, blackmailing, bribing, and
demanding, I have decided to cave in to the wisdom of the other
officers and give a small report of my studies so far in France. Since
this is English Club, I thought it would be suitably improper to speak
about the French, arch- and ancient enemies of the English. So, here
it goes. (p.s. I might write a column for the Collegian in the Fall
or Spring, so don’t be surprised if you see some of this stuff again…
as long as it’s my name in the byline!)

From what I’ve discovered so far, the French are…
1. MUCH more politically active: the students blockaded all of the
other students, teachers, and personnel out of the university buildings
for a week and a half (and still counting), and I don’t think it was
because they didn’t want to go to school any more. (more later, if any
one’s interested…)
2. not aliens. The (one) truly Irish pub here is still packed to the
gills and the crowd spilling onto the street on St. Paddy’s Day.
Although getting drunk until one is sick isn’t considered cool here as
it apparently is in the US, people still like to enjoy themselves with
alcohol.
3. not the antichrist. Churches are still crowded on Sunday mornings,
and they keep the Sabbath better than we do in the States (try buying
anything other than bread on Sunday, I dare ya!). Even if the official
statistic is 10 % of the population as practicing Christians, you
couldn’t prove it by me.
4. VERY concerned with their children and family life. Most French
students go home nearly every weekend to be with their family. And if
they’re not in church Sunday morning, odds are that most people with
kids are in the park with them, or taking a Sunday stroll through
centre-ville, again, children in tow.
5. REALLY good at making bread and pastries. I’m going to be 20 pounds
heavier when I get back to the States, so I hope you all still
recognize me!
6. ... and, finally, (to make this somewhat literary) REALLY rather
fond of Diderot (an eighteenth century French philosopher and writer)
and Freud. I'm studying not one, but two books by Diderot, and the
English girls next door spend nearly all their time in psychology
talking about Freud. I don’t know if they read these people for fun,
but I’d say, almost…

until next time… as long as I don’t get done-in by the angry mobs here!
jk. mostly.
Carla Schuster

Essay Brochures

Brochures for The Department of English Annual Student Awards, Scholarships, and Fellowships 2005-2006 are available from the main English office in 108 ECS or from the bulletin board right next to my office in 108D ECS. The brochure will tell you how to submit an essay--and the two contests you would probably be interested in are the Clark M. Brink Memorial Essay Awards Contest and The Cultural Studies Essay Award. Most of the other awards are ones that students don't have to apply for themselves to be considered. But do submit an essay to the Brink and/or Cultural Studies contests!

best wishes,
Carol F.

The Clark M. Brink Memorial Essay Awards

Dear English Majors, English Minors, and other students at ksu reading this,

Get money and fame for your thoughtful, well written essay!
The Clark M. Brink Memorial Essay Awards
are two awards given for student essays exhibiting "the highest degree of originality of composition and excellence in handling a topic treating or exemplifying the values of humanistic studies." The essay should follow the requirements of either the MLA Handbook or the style manual appropriate to the student's disciplines, and should be no more than 5000 words. 10-20 pages is a reasonable length.

Competition for the awards is open to all undergraduate students at KSU. The amount of the prize varies from year to year.

Deadline for submissions: Friday, March 17, 2006 by 5 pm. in the Main English Office, ECS 108 (opposite the drinking fountain.)

Please put your essay in a large envelope.
The following information goes on it AND ON THE first page of your
entry:

1) The Clark M. Brink Essay contest
2) Carol Franko, chair
3) Your name
4) Your social security number and local address and e-mail and phone.
INCLUDE #4 ONLY on the first page of your essay, not on the envelope.

Poetry on Poyntz

This semester's Poetry On Poyntz will be Friday, February 24, at 7:30 pm. POP features KSU students' poetry. Basically, you come with a few of your poems, we sit in the front, and take turns reading. Or one can come to just listen/give support/etc. Last semester's POP was wonderful fun.

It is at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery, 406 1/2 Poyntz Avenue, in Downtown Manhattan.

http://www.strecker-nelsongallery.com/

Hope to see you there!

Call for Undergrad Papers

Greetings,

The Graduate Student Council is announcing an excellent opportunity for UNDERGRADUATE students engaged in research!!

The Graduate Student Council is organizing the 11th Annual Graduate Research Forum on campus on March 3, 2006. This event provide graduate and undergraduate students an invaluable experience to present their work to fellow students and faculty members on campus.

The GSC is now accepting abstracts for these events. The deadline for submitting an abstract has been extended to undergraduate students, to FEBRUARY 10, 2006, 5 pm. The abstracts submission is an online process. For further information about the Research Forum, instructions and guidelines for submitting an abstract, please visit the website: www.ksu.edu/grad/gsc/research There is a link from this page for the abstract submission over a secure form. Please note that Undergraduate students have the option of doing only Oral Presentations

The GRF is evaluated by a panel of judges in different disciplines. There are awards in the form of gift cards to K-State Student Union. GSC is pleased to announce that the Graduate School has increased the awards for these research presentations. For the Oral presentations, the awards has been doubled from the previous ones and for the top three presentations they are - $150, $100 and $50.

We highly encourage the participation of undergraduate students in the GRF and appreciate your help in sharing this information.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact egsc@ksu.edu

Thanks and regards,
Bala.

Bala Thiagarajan
President
Graduate Student Council
Kansas State University
www.ksu.edu/grad/gsc
egsc@ksu.edu

Newsletter

After discussing an internet newsletter type thing for about a semester, we decided at the Metaforum meeting yesterday to finally do it. This is for anything people would like to share, from book recommendations, to class reccommendations, to creative writing (I checked the blogger website information, and it says, "Anything you create is automatically protected by full copyright, regardless of whether you file for it or not." for those of you concerned about that, you don't give up your
rights.) Basically anything and everything that interests you. To get something up on this site, simply email it to one of the officers:

Micah Janzen, President - theelf@ksu.edu
Christen Kuchem, Vice President - celise84@ksu.edu
Anna Jurey, Treasurer - anna28@ksu.edu

I do believe that Carla, our member currently residing in France, may also be keeping us posted on her study abroad adventures through this, as well!

Check back every so often to see the lastest postings!

What Is Metaforum?

The Society

'meta-': changed in position, altered; more comprehensive: transcending; a new but related discipline designed to deal critically with the original one.

'forum': an assembly for the discussion of public matters or current issues.


Metaforum is an undergraduate literary society for students interested in English at Kansas State University

Literary societies have been a major part of KSU's history since 1864.At the height of their popularity between 1864 and 1943, there were eight societies. The purpose of these past literary societies was to give its members literary and forensic training and development. Such training allowed students to write and deliver papers, give speeches and readings, and to participate in formal debates. Each literary club also published a society paper twice a month.

Today, as a literary society, Metaforum is primarily an organization which allows students with a common interest to meet and have fun sharing, discussing, and truly experiencing all kinds of literature. Metaforum meetings are usually held once a month and feature a wide variety of activities--poetry and story readings, movie nights, and just food-hangout time.

In the fall of 2005 the officers and active members of Metaforum agreed that Metaforum officers, meetings and activities will be officially merged with Alpha Theta Eta officers, meetings and activities. Alpha Theta Eta is K-State's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta.

The officers of Metaforum and Alpha Theta Eta from Spring Break 2005 to Spring Break 2006 are:

Micah Janzen, President
Christen Kuchem, Vice President
Anna Jurey, Treasurer