By Ruby Osorio, Class of 2015 - Enjoy the talents of Catawba College's newest students when the Theatre Arts Department presents "Fresh Faces," a series of short plays. See the talent of these first-year students as they offer free debut performances at 7:30 p.m. October 7, 8 and 22, and at 2 p.m. October 9 and 23 in the Florence Busby Corriher Theatre on campus.

An article published online by the Smithsonian Institution's www.Smithsonianscience.org site highlights the results of collaborative research conducted in part by Dr. Jay F. Bolin, assistant professor of biology at Catawba College. The online article, entitled "Super tough seed coat keeps Michaux's sumac on critically endangered list," presents highlights from a scholarly research paper authored by Bolin and fellow researchers...

Rowan County's Partners in Learning (PIL) Child Development & Family Resource Center marks its 15th anniversary on October 6 and its director Norma Honeycutt says the non-profit has much to celebrate. From serving less than 50 children the first year it opened, PIL has grown to serve more than 300 children a week. In its 15 years of existence, Honeycutt believes a total of more than 5,000 children and their families have been served by her organization that she terms "an extended family."

By Katie Scarvey, SalisburyPost.com [EDITOR'S NOTE: Erin Harper is Director of Catawba's Community Music Program and is only the fourth director since the program began in 1984.] Parents of young children often say to Musikgarten teacher Erin Harper, "Oh my child is so musical!" Erin's response is always: "Of course they are!" All babies are musical, says Erin, who has been a certified Musikgarten instructor for three years now, but that instinct needs to be nurtured to see its full expression.

The Catawba College Math Club and KME Chapter sponsored a visit by alumnus Daniel D. Dubree, assistant director of the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) for the FBI's Information and Technology Branch, on September 22 in Ketner Hall. Dubree spoke to members of the college community about the mathematics and computer science involved in his career at the FBI.

In recognition of its 2010-2011 activities, Catawba College's Chapter of the American Chemical Society has received an Honorable Mention Chapter Award from the American Chemical Society. Catawba's chapter will be recognized in the November/December issue of "In Chemistry" magazine and at the ACS Student Chapter Award Ceremony to be held in conjunction with the 243rd ACS National Meeting in San Diego, Calif.

The Catawba College Singers and Chamber Singers will present a wide repertoire of songs during their Fall Concert, slated for 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 2 in the Omwake-Dearborn Chapel. This will be the first formal concert of the academic year for the Singers who are directed by Catawba's new Director of Choral Music, Justin Hazelgrove.

It has a new name this year, but it is the same marching band competition that has drawn area bands to Catawba College for the past five years. The Catawba Pride Marching Band Classic, formerly the Lord Salisbury Marching Band Classic, gets underway in Catawba's Shuford Stadium at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 8.

Catawba College is proud to announce that its Admissions website is among the most highly rated in the country, scoring in the top 100 of all sites rated. The site was recognized in the 13th annual My College Options® Enrollment Power Index® (EPI), an analysis of the admissions websites of nearly 3,000 colleges and universities.

Ralph W. Ketner, founder and chairman emeritus of Food Lion, Inc., celebrated his 91st birthday Tuesday, Sept. 20 with some help from his colleagues at Catawba College. Ketner was surprised with flowers and an array of refreshments in the conference room of Ketner Hall on campus.

By Jordan Clifton, Class of 2014 - A piece of classic Southern literature, adapted for the stage by Catawba College Writer-in-Residence and Professor of English Dr. Janice Moore Fuller, kicks off Catawba's 2011-2012 theatre season. Fuller's adaptation of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" will be offered in Hedrick Theatre on campus at 6:55 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 27 and 28, and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 29 through Saturday, October 1.

North Carolina voters will decide whether to ban same-sex marriage in the state's constitution next May, rather than in the November general election. The timing has serious political implications. Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer says Democrats were in a tough spot. Without enough votes to defeat the measure, opponents saw putting it on the primary ballot as a way to "take the lesser of the two evils and see what happens eventually in the courts."

Catawba College will welcome James H. Morgan, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., as the keynote speaker at the eighth annual CEO Lecture Series on Thursday, October 13. Sponsored by the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business and much anticipated by the local business community, this event will be held at 11 a.m. in Keppel Auditorium with a reception sponsored by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to immediately follow in Peeler Crystal Lounge.

Catawba College is among 13 Duke Energy customers in five states to receive Duke Energy's 2011 Power Partner Award. The awards, given since 1992, recognize customers who work with Duke Energy to achieve high levels of energy efficiency, sustainability and economic growth.

by Lauren Ebersole '07 - It has been almost two months since my last email yet I am having trouble thinking of anything witty or unusual to write about, so prepare yourself for the mundane. Year two of teaching is leaps and bounds easier than year one. First I am not coming up with completely new lesson plans every single time, but am working to tweak them. I understand the Indonesian education system better...

For four consecutive years, Catawba College has been named one of the nation's Best Music Schools by In Tune magazine. Catawba was one of only 45 institutions included in the magazine's listing of The Best Music Schools of 2012. Catawba offers a bachelor's degree in Music with concentrations in Music Business, Music Education, Music Performance, Popular Music and Sacred Music, and offers a bachelor's degree in Musical Theatre.

By David Freeze, for the Salisbury Post - [EDITOR'S NOTE: Lori Wong graduated summa cum laude from Catawba College in the B.A.E. program and completed her licensure program in teacher education] Young students at Partners in Learning Children’s Development Center know they are taught by a high-energy teacher named Lori Wong. However, few of the children or their parents, and just a small number of the school’s staff, know Wong’s story.

Catawba College continues to be ranked as one of the nation's Best Regional Colleges, according to the 2012 edition of "Best Colleges," published by U.S.News & World Report and released September 13. Catawba ranked 16th among 99 of these Best Regional Colleges in the South. In total, 371 colleges are ranked as "Best Regional Colleges" according to geographic region (North, South, Midwest, and West). Highlights of these rankings are published in the magazine available this month on newsstands...

Four new inductees to the Catawba College Blue Masque Theatre Hall of Fame will be honored on October 21 during the college's Homecoming Weekend. Those being honored for their meritorious lives in the theatre arts are New York based actor Bill Tatum, class of 1970; theatre entrepreneur Jerry Moore, class of 1974; New York costumer and wardrobe supervisor Ginnie Patton, class of 1979; and Charlotte, N.C. designer, director and actor Jim Glouster, class of 1984.

by Allijah Motika '14 - So today has been really up and down. This morning was wonderful. My throat is still in a lot of pain, I wish that I'd stop being sick and my voice would just come back. But even with that I really enjoyed the session this morning on melody and harmony with Judy and Bobby.

by Hugh Fisher, Salisbury Post - Sunday's "Ceremony of Remembrance" at Catawba College's Omwake-Dearborn Chapel honored those who died on 9/11 with music and prayers for peace. The mournful wail of a bagpipe echoed through the arches of the chapel, while a color guard of Salisbury Police Explorers slowly marched in. The Rev. Jim Dunkin, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury, asked the company to honor "all who gave their lives in sacrifice, trying to save others."

By Susan Shinn, for the Salisbury Post - What do you get when you combine members of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Livingstone football players, students from Catawba College and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and a whole lot of enthusiasm? Some 20,000 meals packaged for the Stop Hunger Now campaign. More than 100 people from all these groups came together in the church’s fellowship hall Sunday afternoon to complete the service project.

Sixteen Catawba College students, all 2011 summer interns through the Lilly Center for Vocation and Values will make presentations about "My Summer of Service" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 in the Tom Smith Auditorium of Ketner Hall on campus.

A 9-11 poem written by Catawba College's Writer-in-Residence and Professor of English, Dr. Janice Moore Fuller, was featured Sept. 7 on the N.C. Arts Council's website. Her poem, "This Whistling is For You There in the Dark," was among poems by N.C. poets featured on the site to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9-11.

Past and present members of the Catawba College Theatre Arts Department — students, alumni and faculty — received many nominations for the 2010-2011 season of Metrolina Theatre Awards. The awards will be presented at the Metrolina Theatre Association's 8th annual Gala on Sunday, October 9 at the Omni Charlotte Hotel at 132 East Trade Street in downtown Charlotte.

The sensational inquiry into the 1935 death of youthful hotel heiress Elva Statler Davidson in Pinehurst, North Carolina, made front-page headlines across the nation and has been described as the O.J. Simpson trial of its day. But few modern residents of the town had even heard of this long-cold case until journalist Steve Bouser, former editor of The Salisbury Post, became so caught up in the story that he turned it into the recently published book, Death of a Pinehurst Princess.

Stephanie Cook is a senior majoring in Communication Arts at Catawba College. In the summer of 2011, she lived in Atlanta in the Midtown area and interned in the Sports Communications Office at Georgia State University, located in the heart of downtown Atlanta. In what is Catawba's first student video blog, she shows what a day in the life of an intern living in a big city is all about! Watch footage of her complex journey to work, meet some of her co-workers, and...

The first home football game will be on Saturday, Sept. 17th at 7:00 pm against Newberry. Season Tickets were mailed on August 31 to all who have joined the Catawba Chiefs for 2011. You still have time to become a member of the Catawba Chiefs or to renew your membership. There are plenty of good seats available in Shuford Stadium and we hope you will consider joining us for an exciting year!

Catawba College will mark the 10th anniversary of 9-11 with several activities on campus, including a campus worship service, a 9-11 Panel Discussion, symbolic ringing of the carillon bells to note the time of the 9-11 attacks, and commemorative stickers designed and distributed by the SGA. These 9-11 activities begin with the weekly campus worship service, slated at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6. At the service, remembering 9-11 will be theme.

by Allijah Motika '14 - So today has been really up and down. This morning was wonderful. My throat is still in a lot of pain, I wish that I'd stop being sick and my voice would just come back. But even with that I really enjoyed the session this morning on melody and harmony with Judy and Bobby.