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Former Instructor Earns Degree

Vernon Windsor, long time ISU accompanist and dance instructor, left Iowa State to finish an additional degree at the University of Colorado.  As you can tell by his picture, he is enjoying his success.  Congratulations from your friends and previous colleagues!

	Vernon Windsor

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	Jennifer Perkins, Dan Dempsey, Lacey Johnson- in front of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Kinesiology Students Explore Malaysia

Continuing a five-year tradition, three kinesiology and health students traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to represent Iowa State as the only Americans at the National Olympic Academy (NOA) conference on Feb. 14.  Dr. Rich Engelhorn, associate professor in kinesiology, serves as the faculty advisor for trips to the Olympic academy. While other trips have traditionally taken just two students, this year ISU was fortunate enough to be able to send three students.  The three students – junior Lacey Johnson, senior Dan Dempsey, and senior Jennifer Perkins – were chosen based on their essays about the Olympic Ideals of Pierre De Coubertin and how they relate to the world today, and how the trip would personally benefit them. Beyond interacting with new cultures, the students had opportunities to gain experience that will help them reach their professional goals.

While the trip was short, Engelhorn stressed that the experience is very unique – students interact not only with Malaysians, but also with people from 20 diverse European and Asian countries. In fact, ISU students room with a participant from another country. During the week of the conference, the people are grouped into five or six subgroups, again mixed by culture and background and country, and they work together to do various tasks and activities throughout the week.

Engelhorn said that the overarching goal of the program, consistent with that of all Iowa State international experiences, is to open students’ minds to new perspectives.  “Traveling to other countries is probably the very, very best way that you can foster understanding of international relations. Taking a course on international perspectives is not going to provide the same outlook and learning that [a] trip to another country is going to do – especially one like this, where there’s so much interaction,” Engelhorn said.

While these three students clearly expect to broaden their perspectives, Engelhorn hopes that the partnership between Iowa State and Malaysia grows so that more Malaysian students will have the same opportunity to visit ISU.  Five staff members and students from the National University of Malaysia visited Iowa State last summer to learn about culture and youth sports programs in the United States. Engelhorn said that two Malaysian students will probably visit Iowa State this fall.

See the entire article by Steve Adams at:
http://www.hs.iastate.edu/news/inside/view/192/

	Lacey, Dan, & Jennifer with Mr. Chua Ah Tok, Director of the Malaysian National Olympic Academy & Mr. M.P. Haridas, General Manager of the Malaysian Olympic committee.

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	Darrin in Ecuador

Kinesiology Student Travels Ecuador & Uganda to Advance Food & Health

Darrin VanderPlas, a junior in the community & public health option of kinesiology, traveled to Uganda last summer to teach sustainable agriculture to school children and their families.  “I think it’s important to get an international perspective,” said VanderPlas. “You start to understand the world a little better and start to feel a little bit more connected.” 

Over winter break, VanderPlas studied on a two-week program, entitled “Analysis of Food and Agricultural Systems in Ecuador,” that involved traveling around Ecuador and analyzing farming systems.  The agronomy and horticulture study-abroad program, “Service Learning in Uganda: Creating a School Garden,” gives seven undergraduate Iowa State students a chance to work in Uganda with primary school children. The group will travel to the Kamuli district of Namasagali for about five weeks to teach primary school children the importance of agriculture and show them how nutrition directly affects both personal and community health. 

VanderPlas works at Wheatsfield Cooperative, an Ames grocery store that “works with local farmers and organic produce,” which VanderPlas said sparked his interest in how agriculture affects health.  “I was interested in the connection of food to health, and from working with local farmers [through Wheatsfield] and then going on the trip to Ecuador, I started to see where my passion was,” VanderPlas said.
 
After he graduates, VanderPlas plans to join the Peace Corps and then return to the United States to “probably get a master’s after that,” he said. 

See the entire story by Carrie Boyd, Student Journalist at:
http://www.hs.iastate.edu/news/inside/view/136/

	Darrin VanderPlas

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