Sytsma Appointed Examiner for Malcolm Baldridge Award
Sidney Sytsma, professor of Business, has been appointed by the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to the 1999 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. The award, created by public law in 1987, is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive.
As an examiner, Sytsma is responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the award. The board is comprised of about 400 leading experts selected from industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations, and government.

Heidemann Teaches Overseas

Maryanne Heidemann, assistant professor of German, taught for three weeks in August at the Summer Language Course in Aachen, Germany. A joint effort of the University of Applied Sciences of Aachen, the Community College in Aachen, and the Technical University of Rheinland-Westphalia, the course enrolled 100 students from 35 countries in seven levels of German. Students took classes for 20 hours per week and participated in cultural activities during the afternoons, evenings and weekends.

Haladyna's Book Presented in Mexico

Ronald Haladyna's book, "La contextualización de la poesía postmoderna mexicana: Pedro Salvadore Ale, David Huerta y Coral Bracho" (The Contextualization of Mexican Postmodern Poetry . . .) was recently published by the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (Toluca, México). The book explains the theoretical underpinnings of postmodern poetry and covers works by three contemporary Mexican poets - Pedro Salvadore Ale, David Huerta and Coral Bracho.
Haladyna, professor of Spanish, gave the formal presentation of his book at the Numismatic Museum in Toluca on August 20.

Russell Publishes Second Book

"Scott O'Dell," a new book by David L. Russell, professor of Languages and Literature, has been published by Twayne, a MacMillan subsidiary. The book is a critical biography of O'Dell, a popular and award-winning children's author, best known for his "Island of the Blue Dolphins," generally regarded as one of the finest children's stories of the last half of the 20th century. O'Dell, who wrote some 25 books for children, helped to revitalize the genre of historical fiction for young readers. Russell's work is the first full-length study of O'Dell and is the second book-length study Russell has published with Twayne. His critical biography, "Patricia MacLachlan," appeared in 1997.