ULM Water Ski Team wins 22nd national title

The University of Louisiana at Monroe Water Ski Team triumphed Sept. 24, winning its 22nd national championship title at the National Collegiate Water Ski Association’s 31st National Championship Tournament, held this year in Bakersfield, Calif.

ULM's National Champions Water Ski team with the new equipment trailer donated by Dean Blackett (plaid shirt.)

Twelve of the nation's top teams competed in Division I; this is the fourth consecutive year ULM won the Division 1 Team Overall title.

ULM team skiers won the tournament by more than 1,000 points. Treina Landrum, ULM Water Ski Team coach and director of Recreational Services, expressed her pride in the team.

"We really had some stellar performance by our skiers; it was phenomenal. They exhibited tremendous momentum, and they exemplified good sportsmanship."

The men’s team won first in the slalom, tricks and jumping categories, winning first place overall. In men's slalom, Martin Bartalsky of Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia placed first; Adam Sedlmajer of Prague tied for second; Daniel Odvarko of Prague finished fourth. In men’s tricks, Sedlmajer finished first and Odvarko finished third. In men’s jumping, Zack Worden of Florida placed first.

The women’s team won first in the slalom competition and placed second in tricks and jumping categories, winning first place overall. In the women’s slalom competition, Kate Adriaensen of Belgium placed second. In women’s tricks, Adriaensen placed first. In women’s jumping, Adriaensen placed fifth. Allison Bryant is the assistant coach for the team.

More about the ULM Water Ski Team:

The ULM Water Ski Team competes in the National Collegiate Water Ski Association South Central Region. The team qualified for the competition through their win at the South Central Regional Water Ski Tournament, hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, on Oct. 3. The team also won the University of Texas Fall Classic Water Ski Tournament in September and the 2009 Ragin’ Cajun Water Ski Tournament, hosted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Men’s team members include: Martin Bartalsky of Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia; Kyle Dammann of Lynchberg, Tenn.; Rob Paterson of North Vancouver, British Columbia; Daniel Odvarko of Prague, Czech Republic; Will Oliver of Hull, United Kingdom; Adam Sedlmajer of Prague, and Zack Worden of Deltona, Fla.

The women’s team members are: Kate Adriaensen of Antwerp, Belgium, Brittany Collins of Murray, Ky.; Emily Darwin of Bossier City; Tatiana Hernandez of Bogota, Colombia; Carly Marquess of Paducah, Ky.; Tina Rauchenwald of Vienna and Karen Stevens of Morrisburg, Ontario.

For information about the ULM Water Ski Team, contact Landrum at 318-342-5313 or landrum@ulm.edu or visit the team’s Web site at www.ulmwaterski.com.

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ULM Institute of Gerontology receives $30,000 for Medicare outreach

Amin

The Institute of Gerontology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe received a $30,000 grant for a survey project titled “Statewide Outreach Assessment and Survey of Low Income Medicare Recipients.”

Dr. Iftekhar Amin, principal investigator of the project, said the study would assess the knowledge and use of various Medicare subsidy programs among low-income Medicare eligible individuals (65+) residing in rural Louisiana.

“It also examines the best methods for outreaching these individuals since low-income older Americans are a vulnerable group who face the largest financial burdens in terms of health care costs,” said Amin, assistant professor and institute director.

Amin said sizable proportions of potentially eligible individuals do not participate in public benefit programs.

“Efficient and effective outreach efforts are crucial to ensure that all those who qualify for various Medicare subsidy programs get informed and take advantage of this important assistance,” he said.

Suterhlin

The Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs awarded the grant to target Medicare eligible seniors in 35 rural parishes, with special efforts to reach non-white and lower income older people who are typically underserved. Survey results combined with demographics will guide decisions concerning what outreach strategies work best for these populations, according to Amin.

The $30,000 award is for two surveys (pre and post) for a one-year period, with the first one beginning Oct. 10. The initiative includes a partnership with Dr. John Sutherlin, Co-Director of the Social Science Research Lab at ULM.

Results will be used for state and community-level efforts to expand, extend, or enhance outreach to beneficiaries on Part D and to those with limited incomes.

ULM became the first in the state to offer a center on aging, the Institute of Gerontology, funded by a federal grant. In 1992, ULM became the first – and is still the only university in Louisiana – to offer National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long Term Care Administrators’ accredited graduate degree in gerontology.

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ULM Presidential Lyceum to feature best-selling author and Pulitzer winner

Thomas L. Friedman, best-selling author and New York Times foreign affairs columnist, will speak at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8, in Brown Theatre, as part of the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s Presidential Lyceum Series.

Friedman is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner touted by Vanity Fair magazine as “the country’s best newspaper columnist.” Friedman has reported on numerous stories considered pivotal in American foreign policy in recent decades.

In his best-selling book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, Thomas L. Friedman demystifies how the world “flattened” at the dawn of the 21st-century and explains the cultural, political and economic implications on all of us.

The World is Flat earned the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2005, the same year that U.S. News & World Report named Friedman one of “America's Best Leaders.” ULM included the book in its freshman summer reading program this year.

Friedman’s most recent work is Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How It Can Renew America, another bestseller.

Cofer

“ULM is fortunate to add Mr. Friedman to the growing list of notable speakers we have hosted in the last several years,” said ULM President James E. Cofer Sr. “His books cogently addresses the myriad of issues stemming from globalization and spells out in precise terms what one must do to compete amid these ever-changing realities.”

A book signing will follow Friedman’s lecture to the public; a Patron Party at 5:30 p.m. will precede it.

Student admission is free and ULM faculty and staff tickets are $10 for the event. General admission tickets are $25, while tickets for the Patron Party, where guests will get the chance to meet Friedman, are $75.

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at www.ulmtickets.com or at ULM La Capitol Bank.

Friedman has authored three previous books, all of them bestsellers: From Beirut to Jerusalem, winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction; The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization; and Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11.

ULM's Presidential Lyceum Series began in 2003 under the direction of current President James E. Cofer Sr., to promote intellectual exchange among ULM students, faculty, staff and the community. Previous speakers at the Presidental Lyceum Series include:

• journalist and TV host Lisa Ling;

• political strategists James Carville and Mary Matalin;

• businessman and entrepreneur Steve Forbes;

• comedian and television personality Ben Stein;

• laywer and social activist Robert Kennedy, Jr.;

• author/historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin;

• film/TV star and comedian Bill Cosby

For more information about Friedman’s visit to ULM, contact Media Relations Director Laura Woodard at 318-342-5447. For more information about the Presidential Lyceum Series, visit www.ulm.edu/lyceum.

Stories and photos courtesy of ULM's Office of University Relations, unless otherwise indicated.

Photo and Thomas L. Friedman biographical information provided by www.thomaslfriedman.com and Royce Carlton, Inc.

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