!e Magazine of Nicholls State University MASTER CHEF Nicholls grad leads critically acclaimed restaurant PAGE 30 Newest coastal erosion tool? Drones 6 faculty tell their unexpected backstories Student-athlete races against cancer PAGE PAGE PAGE 5 24 52 FALL 2012 FALL 2012 | Volume 9 Issue 1 FEATURES 24 BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Hidden behind their research projects and stacks of ungraded papers, professors have intriguing hobbies, personal goals and professional histories. Six faculty members share their unexpected backstories. BY GRAHAM HARVEY ON THE COVER A FRESH TAKE ON FINE DINING IMPROVING PATIENT CARE 30 Chef John Besh has le! his signature 40 Nicholls nursing faculty prepare restaurant in the hands of two Nicholls students to provide compassionate care in life’s graduates: Executive Chef Michael Gulotta and most precious moments, from birth to death. Executive Sous Chef Jacqueline Blanchard. BY RENEE PIPER BY STEPHANIE DETILLIER A FRESHMAN’S GUIDE TO NICHOLLS SPECIAL MISSION 36 Orientation leader Mallory Carrere 42 As Nicholls alumnus Stephen Watson o"ers an inside look at what it’s like to welcome helps expand the National WWII Museum in new freshmen to the Nicholls campus. New Orleans, he’s also changing preconceptions BY MISTY LEIGH McELROY about what a museum experience should be. BY STEPHANIE DETILLIER Voilà! THE MAGAZINE OF NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY FALL 2012 1 DEPARTMENTS Currents 4 !e Magazine of Nicholls State University 4 Chinese-Cajun equation; In search of the perfect compost President 5 A musical twist to Ellender library; Dr. Stephen T. Hulbert The future of drones 6 Slimming down statewide obesity; Reading 10 Vice President, Twilight for class credit Institutional Advancement 7 Dracula researcher debunks stereotypes Dr. David Boudreaux 8 Keeping students on track; Editor Oh, Christmas tree Stephanie Detillier 9 Can ATMs spread staph? 10 Photographic fashion Art Directors Jerad David Competitive Colonel cyclists; On the 11 Bruno Ruggiero Nicholls nightstand Photojournalist Misty Leigh McElroy Campus Icons 12 Writers 12 One for the history books: Jim Barnidge Dr. Robert Allen Alexander Jr. 14 A successful pairing: Dr. Quenton Fontenot Lee Daigle and Dr. Allyse Ferrara Dr. Al Delahaye 17 Through Lillie’s Lens: Deborah Lillie Dr. John P. Doucet Graham Harvey Debbie Papa Kliebert Dr. Lisa Lauer Expert Tips 18 Bridget Mire 18 Health & Wellness: Managing your mood; 14 Renee Piper Keeping your cool Clyde Verdin Jr. 20 Food: Make-at-home recipes from Contributing Illustrator LeBistro; Creating kid-approved healthy 55 food Sharon Doucet 22 Home & Family: The need for child’s play; Voilà! is published annually, From hobby to home-grown business with funding by the Nicholls State University Foundation and the Nicholls State University Colonel Pride 50 Alumni Federation. 50 If you build it, fans will come Nicholls is a member of the 52 Outrunning cancer University of Louisiana System. Contact Voilà! at: A Colonel of Truth 55 P.O. Box 2033 55 The day Dylan came to Nicholls #ibodaux, LA 70310 Phone: 985.448.4135 Email: [email protected] Honor Roll 56 Web: nicholls.edu/voila 59 Entrepreneur honors employees through scholarships 2 FALL 2012 Voilà! THE MAGAZINE OF NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY President’s Message Doing what we do BEST am so pleased that you are taking the time to read this year’s is now officially an All-Steinway School and the only public Voilà! magazine. It is with great pride that my sta" and I institution to achieve that designation in Louisiana. And all of present you with some real insights about your university, the this is just what you see on the surface. Below that surface is great progress we continue to make and the challenges we face where Nicholls continues to shine. Igoing forward. While it is tempting to put greater emphasis on the Despite the hardships we have endured as a small university current challenges, I know that you are already aware of the budget serving an important geographical area, our faculty and our sta" are cuts we continue to endure from the state. I assure you that I am working even harder to accomplish our mission. #ey are taking on much happier focusing on the outstanding work being produced greater class loads and additional assignments while demonstrating by Nicholls faculty, sta", students and alumni — which is what this that they understand the importance of staying positive in the face of magazine celebrates. adversity. Nicholls is committed to serving our students in the best If you visit us on campus in the near future, you will notice possible manner that we can, given our limited resources. We remain some remarkable additions. The Harold J. Callais Recreation dedicated to providing high-caliber educational experiences so that Center, scheduled to open in early fall, will be a magnificent our graduates will become valued citizens and go forth to serve their facility and will enrich campus life. The women’s soccer field communities and their families. house opened Aug. 1, giving our women a complex that they We know that we have even more challenges to come, but have waited so long for and truly deserve. You will also see the this faculty and this sta" will meet them with resolve. We will do newly renovated auditorium in Powell Hall, equipped with the everything within our power to see that Nicholls not only survives latest classroom technology, including wireless Internet and but also $ourishes despite %nancial obstacles. #rough it all, we will hookups for students’ laptops. If you attend a piano recital in continue to take care of every student who comes our way, ensuring the newly named Mary M. Danos Theater, you will hear the that he or she has the highest quality educational opportunity performance on one of two Steinway grand pianos, as Nicholls possible. #at is what we do best! Dr. Stephen T. Hulbert As part of a new employee-focused initiative, a different group of Nicholls faculty and staff is invited to monthly “Bend the President’s Ear” meetings, where they have the chance to ask questions and voice their concerns. Voilà! THE MAGAZINE OF NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY FALL 2012 3 Currents Chinese-Cajun equation efore she boarded a 20-hour $ight to native Yusheng Dou, who began the Louisiana, Mi Chen’s only knowledge degree partnership. He helps answer their of the area was the “New Orleans- schoolwork questions and invites them Bstyle” wings served at the KFC restaurant to his home each week for a traditional in her hometown of Chongqing, China. But Chinese meal. a!er some initial homesickness, and now To the so!-spoken, studious Chen, with two semesters behind her, Chen has Nicholls’ smaller class sizes and one-on-one adapted well to American culture, Cajun attention from professors have stood out the cuisine and college life at Nicholls. When most. #ey are advantages she couldn’t get at she’s not watching !e Vampire Diaries CUPT’s campus of 20,000 students. or listening to Taylor Swi!, she’s studying #e daughter of a Chinese chemistry or working her student job at businesswoman and a construction worker, Ellender Memorial Library. Chen hopes her Nicholls education will help Chen is one of the %rst participants pave the way to a pharmaceutical career. in a program that allows students from Her ultimate goal is to bring new discoveries Chongqing University of Posts and or inventions to the world through Telecommunications (CUPT) to %nish pharmaceutical research. Chemistry major Mi Chen is one of the first students their chemistry degrees at Nicholls a!er “When someone I know says, ‘#is is a from China’s Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications to participate in a degree completing two years at the Chinese product my friend Mi Chen made,’ I will be partnership program with Nicholls. university. so proud,” she says. “#is was a chance for me to go to Moving from a southwestern Chinese As for her favorite Cajun dish, “I America and learn a di"erent culture,” says city of more than 31 million to a southern like the gumbo,” she says. “It’s similar to Chen, who has wanted to visit the United Louisiana city of fewer than 15,000, Chen Chinese food because of the rice, which is States for some time. %nds #ibodaux “peaceful.” our staple food.” #ere to help Chen and other Chinese “I like the blue sky, the fresh air, and the In true Cajun fashion, Chen indulged at students make the cultural transition is sunset is so beautiful,” says Chen, who bikes the annual Craw%sh Day. “I ate too much,” associate chemistry professor and China to campus each day. she says with a laugh. — Bridget Mire In search of the perfect compost ach semester, Chef John Folse Culinary paper towels, etc.); and co"ee and tea. #e Institute students go through sacks of Starbucks in #ibodaux has also o"ered to potatoes while learning proper knife donate its used co"ee grounds for the project. Eskills. Wanting to %nd a good use for food Angie Corbin, instructor of biological waste, faculty tossed the diced, sliced and sciences, tests the various soil samples to minced potatoes into the compost bin outside determine what ratio of food scraps produces Gouaux Hall. Before long, though, a strong the best soil for plant growth. stench emanated. “Getting students to remember to #ey quickly learned that excessive compost their food scraps is sometimes a pounds of potatoes don’t yield fertile soil challenge,” Larousse says. “But it’s becoming or pleasant smells. But what food scraps the way of life for chefs.” are best for composting? Chef Monica #e farm-to-table movement is having a Larousse, culinary instructor, is partnering lasting in$uence on the culinary industry.