TROY News Center

TROY – An internationally acclaimed Chinese martial arts troupe from Beijing will bring their kung fu show to Montgomery and Troy this week, hosted by the Confucius Institute at Troy University.

The group will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25 in Sartain Hall on the Troy Campus, and at 7 p.m. Friday, April 26 in Davis Theatre on the Montgomery Campus. Both shows are free of charge, but tickets are required for the Davis Theatre performance. They may be acquired at the theater.

Tickets are also available at the Confucius Institute office at 307 Whitley Hall; King Buffet at 2727 Bell Rd., Seoul Market at 1841 Eastern Blvd., and at Hibachi Sushi Buffet at 181 Eastern Blvd.

No admission tickets are required for the Sartain Hall performance.

The Confucius Institute at Troy University is the only such institute in Alabama with a state-wide mission to promote language, cultural and economic development exchange.

No barriers are too large to overcome with faith, belief and determination. That was the message delivered by representatives of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind to those gathered on Tuesday for the 18^th annual Helen Keller Lecture at Troy University.

The lecture series, held each spring, is designed to promote awareness of people who excel in their chosen fields despite physical and/or mental limitations.

“Helen Keller believed that anything was possible through hard work,” said Dr. John Mascia, AIDB President. “Ms. Keller had a vision for the future and what could be for the deaf and blind. She knew from experience what could be and she wanted that for everyone. Her philosophy inspires me every day.”

Dr. Mascia credited the “heroes” in his life, including his mother-in-law who spent most of her life wheelchair-bound due to Muscular Dystrophy, for helping to mold his outlook.

“I have been fortunate to be a witness to those heroes who have demonstrated to me that nothing is impossible if we choose to think big, rely on each other and believe in what can be,” he said. “All of my heroes believe in themselves and in other people and all have a very strong faith.”

Dr. Mascia said his mother-in-law who spent 30 years in the classroom as an educator, long before the existence of the Americans with Disabilities Act, was an agent for change.

“She transformed her students and the way they viewed people with disabilities,” he said. “People with disabilities are not less than people without disabilities; they are just different.”

Joining Dr. Mascia on stage for Tuesday’s lecture were Patrick Robertson, director of AIDB’s Talladega Regional Center, and Donovan Beitel, a TROY alumnus and an instructor in the Institute’s Business Enterprise Program.

“I experienced many barriers in my youth because I was deaf,” said Robertson, an AIDB alumnus who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University and a master’s degree from Western Maryland College. “Many people would make fun of me because I was deaf. I was never part of any organizations or activities at school. Because I was deaf, I went to the sixth grade unable to read or write.”

At the age of 12, Robertson’s parents enrolled him in the Alabama School for the Deaf and his life began to change.

“What an exciting time that was in my life,” he said. “I became involved and served as president of many organizations. I became Patrick, my given name, and not Pat the deaf boy. The Institute gave me the courage to go to college. I grew as a person. I became a person with no limits, no handicaps. I became, Patrick, a big mass of possibilities.”

Beitel, who as a child was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a form of juvenile macular degeneration, lost his central vision by the age of 10.

“I was the typical kid, doing the usual kid things, but over time I began to realize I was different,” Beitel said. “When I recognized that I was different, doubt began to creep in.”

Beitel said he is often asked about barriers he has faced in life.

“I face two barriers in life – me and you,” he said. “One I can do something about and one I can do nothing about. One is internal and one is external. AIDB removed the barrier of ‘me’ from me.”

While no one person can change the world, all have a role to play, Beitel said.

“I can’t change the world, but I can do my part,” he said. “How can you change the world? Repeat ‘I won’t doubt’ and ‘I will believe.’”

Entertainment for the lecture was presented by Malia Thibado, a second grade student at AIDB and the daughter of Paul and Karen Thibado of Pell City. She received a standing ovation after singing “Who I was Born to Be.”

The Helen Keller Lecture is sponsored by Troy University, The Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, the Alabama State Department of Education, the Alabama State Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

Dr. John Mascia, president of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, speaks during the 18th annual Helen Keller Lecture at Troy University on Tuesday.

TROY – Troy Campus students will have an opportunity to put their Lego skills to the test in the Hungry for a Change campaign's Can Castle Contest on Wed., April 24.

Eighteen of this year's Office of Student Services and Civic Engagement Civic Scholars will lead a Can Castle Contest on the Quad from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m., as the culmination of a number of service learning activities seeking to address hunger these past few months.

Student teams involved in the event will bring their group's collected canned goods and build can the castles, which will then be judged on soundness of structure, creativity, use of materials, theme and overall appearance. Three teams will be chosen as Best Overall, Runner-up, and Collecting the Most Cans awards. All winning teams will receive a plaque and have items donated in their name.

The students are hoping to collect at least 6,000 canned food items to deliver to local food banks. Currently, 27 business and community partners have pledged to donate at least 100 cans apiece and the students say they hope to more cans at Wednesday's event, said Jonathan Cellon, a coordinator of learning initiatives who’s helping with the event.

On Friday, the collected food items will be sorted by local middle-school students during TROY’s annual Civic Leadership Day. The items will then be delivered over the course of next week to six Pike County food banks, including the Salvation Army, the Salem-Troy Baptist Association, Christian Mission, Head-Start and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

Alabama is the nation’s seventh poorest state, and the nation’s second hungriest state. In Pike County, 30 percent of families - and 38 percent of children - live below the poverty line.

Anyone interested in donating to the drive should bring canned food donations to the Quad on Wednesday, or call Jonathan Cellon at 334-808-6349 by Thursday, April 25 to arrange for pickup.

Jonathan M. Miller, a Troy University alumnus and current member of the University’s Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences faculty, has won the Faculty Senate Excellence Award.

Miller, who earned both his bachelor’s degree in environmental science (2006) and his master’s in environmental and biological sciences (2009) from TROY, was presented with the award on April 15 from Faculty Senate President Dr. Scott Nokes during the University’s annual Honors Convocation on the Troy Campus. The award was created to salute the outstanding contributions of non-tenure track faculty and was presented for the first time in 2008.

As an adjunct lecturer, Miller teaches Principles of Biology and Biology Lab, Organismal Biology lab and ecology lab. He was nominated by Dr. Paul M. Stewart, professor of biological and environmental sciences and ALFA Eminent Scholar in Environmental Management and Agriculture.

“Based on his willingness to work hard and his eagerness to teach and help the students at Troy University, I consider Mr. Miller to be a most-deserving and qualified recipient for this award,” Dr. Stewart said. “I routinely see him working directly with his students, helping them and explaining how to write the laboratory reports. In addition, Mr. Miller continues our research collaboration and together we continue a high level of scholastic productivity. I’ve known him for 12 years, and I can describe him as one of the finest young people that I have ever known.”

As a research assistant, Miller has promoted student involvement in biological research, performed surveys on mussels and crayfish life history studies, aided in taxonomy of local mussels, fish and crayfish, written and edited papers for peer reviewed journals and presented studies at local conferences. As a graduate student, Miller performed aquatic habitat assessments and analyzed data in various aquatic studies, as well as assisted in collections and identifications of research specimens.

Jonathan M. Miller