This is our fourth year and we have some great prizes for this year’s winners so get out there with your Racer Gear and get creative! If you are new to the contest, check out the page on the blog titled, “What is WDYBAG?” Added features this year are Future Racers and Racer Pets!

All entries will be added to the WDYBAG Flickr page for viewing but also the WDYBAG photo album on the Murray State University Facebook page. Go there to vote for your favorite pictures as those with the most votes will win prizes! Get your friends to vote for your entries too!!

Hearing loss can increase a person’s isolation by making communication difficult. People with hearing loss may give up favorite hobbies or gatherings if it is too difficult to understand others. Husbands and wives may find their relationships changing as one becomes less involved while the other becomes the caretaker who answers all questions. The frustration with a loved one can strain relationships and create further isolation.

Susan Brown, the audiologist in the Murray State University Speech and Hearing Clinic, will be leading this workshop with the assistance of four graduate students in the speech-language pathology program. The workshop allows graduate students to gain experience in working with adults with hearing loss while providing an opportunity for the clinic and clinicians to give back to the community.

This free workshop is to adults with hearing loss and their significant others. Participants will be given the opportunity to practice speech reading and to discover strategies and techniques they can use to make difficult listening situations easier. Often these strategies involve collaboration between the person with the hearing loss and frequent communication partners. For that reason, individuals are encouraged to attend with the person with whom they talk the most.

The “Workshop to Improve Communication Impacted by Hearing Loss” will meet on four Tuesday mornings in June in the classroom at the J. Stuart Poston Center for Health and Wellness on the corner of Poplar and Eighth Streets in Murray. The meeting schedule is June 4, 9-10:30 a.m.; June 11, 9-10:30 a.m.; June 18, 10-11:30 a.m.; and June 25, 9-10:30 a.m.

Registration is required and space is limited. To register or for more information, contact Brown by phone at 270.809.6821 or by email at sbrown1@murraystate.edu.

This award is presented annually to faculty members who demonstrate an exemplary commitment to teaching. Nominated by their peers, the recipients received a bound certificate from the Board of Regents and a $1,000 award.

This year’s recipients of the Board of Regents’ Award for Teaching Excellence are Dr. Holly Rudolph, professor of accounting; Dr. Jeanetta Riley, associate professor of early childhood and elementary education; Dr. Sharon Hart, assistant professor of applied health sciences; Ms. Lissa L. Graham, associate professor of theatre; Mr. Dale Leys, professor of art and design; Dr. Lara Homsey, associate professor of geosciences; Dr. Timothy Schroeder, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics; and Ms. Katherine Farmer, assistant professor at the University Libraries. Through their dedication to excellence in teaching, these individuals will provide a lasting example for the MSU Community.

Also honored during this year’s banquet were recipients of the newly created Outstanding Research Award. The Outstanding Research Award, which was presented for the first time this year, was developed by the Research Policy Committee to honor faculty members for their distinguished contributions in research during the previous calendar year.

This award will henceforth be presented annually to one faculty member in each college or school. The recipients of the 2013 Outstanding Research Awards are Dr. Katherine Smith, assistant professor of marketing; Dr. Yuejin Xu,

assistant professor of educational studies, leadership, and counseling; Dr. Kala Chakradhar, assistant professor of social work; Dr. Paul Walker, assistant professor of English; Dr. Renee Fister, professor of mathematics and statistics; Dr. Jessica Naber, assistant professor of nursing; Dr. Lin Handayani, associate professor of agricultural

science; and Ms. Ashley Ireland, assistant professor at the University Libraries. Murray State University thanks this year’s recipients for their significant contributions to their respective fields.

June 10-13 Mini-camp for ages 5-7

June 17-20 Youth Camp 1 for ages 7-17

July 29 – Aug 1 Youth Camp 2 for age 7 to entering 7th grade

See Coach Prohm’s announcement for more details.

Nominations for the 2013 Staff Excellence Award must be received by May 31 to be considered for the awards presented at the August Staff Appreciation Luncheon. Nominations can be made online or printed and mailed through campus mail by going to http://murraystate.edu/staffcongress and clicking on Staff Excellence Award. Contact Dana Howard at dhoward@murraystate.edu with any questions about the award.

The Processional will feature “Liberty Fanfare” and the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance.”

The Mace Bearer is Patrick Williams, the MSU Distinguished Professor and an associate professor in the Hutson School of Agriculture.

Kristen Nicole Tinch and Thomas Anthony Werfel, the Outstanding Spring Graduates, will lead in candidates for degrees. Tinch and Werfel will deliver the valedictions. Kristen, the daughter of Anna Tinch of Bowling Green, Ky., and formerly of Lewisburg, Ky., and the late Frank Tinch, will receive a bachelor’s degree in English/Spanish/education. Thomas, the son of Boyd and Karen Werfel of Waverly, Tenn., will receive a bachelor’s degree in physics with a minor in chemistry.

MSU President Randy J. Dunn will preside over the ceremony.

Music for Commencement will be provided by the MSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dennis L. Johnson of MSU’s department of music. The Alma Mater will be led by Joseph Ryker, MSU alumnus.

Faculty Marshals are Richard Dougherty, David Kraemer, David Fender, Robert Lyons, Ginny Richerson and Michael Kemp.

The faculty will be led in by the recipients of The Regents Teaching Awards for Excellence — Holly Rudolph, Dale Leys, Jeanetta Riley, Lara Homsey, Sharon Hart, Timothy Schroeder, Lissa Graham and Katherine Farmer. They will be joined by Distinguished Faculty Researcher Glynn Mangold, University Distinguished Mentor Claire Fuller, University Emerging Scholars Katherine Smith and Kevin Miller, and Faculty Adviser of the Year Jessica Naber.

Also marching in with the faculty are Presidential Research Fellow Alexey Arkov, Max Carman Professor Bommanna Loganathan and the recipient of the Faculty Distinguished Service award Dwayne Driskill.

The Commencement Address will be delivered by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). An honorary Doctorate of Public Policy will be conferred on McConnell by Murray State. McConnell, who first elected to the Senate in 1984, made history in the 2008 election by getting nearly one million votes, the most ever received by a Kentuckian in a statewide race.

Residential College Investiture and the Awarding of Degrees follow the address.

Ample general guest parking is available in the Stewart Stadium parking lot, east of the CFSB Center, off of Hwy. 641. Shuttle busses are available to transport guests from the parking lot to the front doors of the CFSB Center beginning at 8 a.m. Busses are also available until 1:30 p.m. to transport guests from the CFSB Center back to the parking lot.

The top two rows of chair seating in the arena is reserved for guests with limited mobility. Limited mobility guests may have two additional guests sit with them. Special seating areas will also be located on each side of the arena. Ushers will be available to assist with seating.

Guests with disabilities who require special assistance should note the parking lot located off of Gilbert Graves Drive is available for a drop-off zone. A handicapped parking tag or special permission will be required to park in that location.

Special requests regarding disabilities may be directed to the office of equal opportunity at (270) 809-3155, or the CFSB Center at (270) 809-5577 or TDD (270) 809-3361.

The event will be streamed online for those who can’t attend at www.ustream.tv/channel/msu-commencement.

Kristen, the daughter of Anna Tinch of Bowling Green, Ky., and formerly of Lewisburg, Ky., and the late Frank Tinch, will receive a bachelor’s degree in English/Spanish/education. A Dean’s List student, Tinch has a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

She is a member of the Honors Program at Murray State. A Presidential Scholar, Tinch’s recognition includes being named the Outstanding Senior in English.

Tinch’s activities at Murray State include active membership on the Honors Program Student Council, holding the offices of secretary and treasurer. She is also an office assistant for the Honors Program, coordinating events and assisting with program recruitment and web publications.

Other academic interests are memberships on the Freshman Reading Experience Selection Committee and the National Council of Teachers of English student chapter, serving as an ambassador for the department of modern languages, consulting with students in the Racer Writing Center and tutoring for the Murray State Community College developmental education program. Tinch has also been a “conversation partner” through the Institute for International Studies with students from South Korea, China and Puerto Rico.

Research highlights for Tinch encompass her senior honors thesis, participation in Posters-at-the-Capitol, and presentations during the MSU Scholars Week, at the Kentucky Council of Teachers of English and at the Southern Regional Honors Conference. As a recipient of the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity Fellowship, Tinch completed 300 hours of research on visual literacy in secondary classrooms.

Her campus and community connections include Racer Band activities, volunteering for the Shakespeare in the Schools initiative and as an After-School Spanish Program volunteer, and 50+ hours of teaching in the Murray and Calloway County schools.

Tinch has taken advantage of study abroad programming in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and Austria.

Tinch will be teaching Spanish at Bowling Green High School this fall.

Thomas, the son of Boyd and Karen Werfel of Waverly, Tenn., will receive a bachelor’s degree in physics with a minor in chemistry. A Dean’s List student, Werfel has a 3.93 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

He is an Honors Program student at Murray State and a Presidential Scholar. Active in the Honors Program, Werfel held the position of Sergeant at Arms and was a class representative to the council during his freshman, sophomore and junior years. He also participated on several committees for the program.

Werfel received recognition during Sigma Xi’s Scholars Week for the Best Engineering and Physics Research Poster and as the Outstanding Student Researcher in 2012, and for the Best Undergraduate and Best Multidisciplinary Research Posters in 2011.

An active researcher, Werfel completed a biomedical engineering internship at Yale University, an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates at the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and was a research assistant in MSU’s Biomedical Plasmas Lab.

Werfel has also served as a physics teaching assistant at Murray State.

His other activities at the university include membership on the Student Government Association, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and involvement with the Baptist Campus Ministries. Werfel received a Top 10 Student Leaders Award from the vice president of student affairs on campus.

Werfel has traveled abroad on service mission trips to Zimbabwe and El Salvador.

This fall, Werfel will begin graduate study in biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University.

Both Tinch and Werfel are graduating in May. The Murray State University Commencement ceremony begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, at the CFSB Center.

“The college of education enjoys a long and proud history of supporting opportunities for our students as they become educators — teachers and administrators — which is often only made possible through generous scholarships like the William O. Price Jr. Scholarship for Education,” Dr. David Whaley, dean of education at MSU, said.

“The impact of our graduates today is greater because of the legacy of quality and high expectations left by such education giants as Dr. Price. This scholarship in his memory will help students reach their goal of becoming teachers who, during their careers, will potentially influence the lives of hundreds and thousands of school-aged children,” he said.

This scholarship will be available in the coming fall semester to full-time students at Murray State, specifically juniors, seniors and non-traditional students majoring in education. Each recipient must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and be a United States citizen. The $1,000 scholarship can be applied to the recipient’s books, housing, tuition or fees over the period of two semesters.

Price was connected to Murray State for many years. He graduated from MSU with a B.S. in physics and mathematics and a M.A. in secondary education. He received his doctorate from Indiana University in Educational Leadership. For 43 years, he was a faculty member at Murray State serving as a professor in the College of Education, director of secondary education, assistant dean and dean of the College of Education, and as associate provost.