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Department of Public Health Sciences

Spring 2013

As I reflect on the accomplishments of the Department of Public Health Sciences since our last

newsletter, I continue to be amazed by the productivity of our faculty, staff, and students. Here are

just a few highlights:

Our first Jo Hill Teaching Excellence Award was given to a deserving faculty member. (page 2)

More than 100 people attended our annual Jeffrey E. and Mary T. Brandon Lecture Series on Health Disparities to hear a top HRSA administrator. (page 3)

A record number of students were initiated into Eta Sigma Gamma. (page 4)

One of our students was selected to serve an internship this summer at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. (page 4)

NMPHA selected one of our student /faculty posters as an outstanding poster. (page 4)

A community health professor was named to the New Mexico Community Health Workers Advisory Council. (page 5)

The New Mexico Public Health Association (NMPHA) recognized one of our professors for her outstanding work in helping the citizens of this state. (page 5)

A faculty member received tenure. (page 5)

Our monthly Brown Bag Luncheons brought in such guests as

Dr. Jim Kroger of the NMSU Department of Psychology, Kristian

Chervenock from the NMSU International and Border Programs,

and Beatriz Favela from our college’s Southern Area Health

Education Center.

I could go on, but I wanted to give you a small idea of what our

department has accomplished this spring. Along with news items

in this newsletter, you will also find an in-depth article on longtime

health professor, Jo Hill; a brief profile of one of my major “go to”

people in the department, Bertha Perez; and a quiz that will let

you know how well you really know some of our professors and

staff. Have fun with it!

NMSU Public Health Update

Dr. Mark J. Kittleson,

Professor and Academic Head

School of Public Health Update

As a result of House Memorial 43 requiring a feasibility study for a School of Public Health in New Mexico, the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University have worked with the Secretary of Higher Education on this feasibility study. In October 2012, the Secretary of Higher Education submitted a report to the State Legislature indicating there was a major need for a School of Public Health in New Mexico. This report also highlighted the benefits that could come from such a School. The Legislature now has to decide what to do with this report.

AAHE-SOPHE Merge

The American Association of Health Education (AAHE) has merged with the Society for Professional Health Educators (SOPHE). Dr. Chuck Kozel, who sits on the SOPHE Board of Trustees, says the merge will build a stronger voice for the health education and health promotion professions while unifying the health education profession. “We have the potential to create the largest international independent organization representing some 8,000 or more health educators,” Kozel said.

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Current Public Health

Sciences Faculty/Staff:

Dr. James Robinson

Dr. Rebecca Palacios

Dr. Cindy Kratzke

Dr. Satya Rao

Dr. Charles Kozel

Dr. Anup Amatya

Dr. Sue Forster-Cox

Dr. Susan Wilson

Dr. Joseph Gladstone

Dr. Susan Cardenas

Ms. Francoise Grossman

Letty Gallegos

Bertha Perez

Bob Nosbisch

Meet Bertha Perez! If you’re lucky, you have had some kind of interaction with Bertha Perez, administrative assistant for the Department of Public Health Sciences. To say she does a lot would be an understatement. Bertha hires part-time faculty and fulltime positions after they have been approved by Dean Adera. She ensures all professional and student employees get paid, schedules classes, makes travel arrangements for Dr. Kittleson and faculty who request her help, ensures the departmental budget stays in the black, schedules Dr. Kittleson’s appointments, helps the department plan for such events as the Brandon Lecture on Health Disparities and the Commencement luncheon, orders supplies, contacts the appropriate repair people if office equipment breaks down, gathers graduate applications for admissions to the MPH

program, assists students, and much more. “I love working with everyone in the department and I enjoy seeing everyone’s face in the morning,” Bertha says. “I also enjoy helping students who want information on our programs. Letty Gallegos, Bob Nosbisch, and I make a good team in the office.” “Bertha is the lifeblood and soul of this department,” says Mark Kittleson, academic department head. “The department and I would not be anywhere close to being successful without Bertha. We are extremely fortunate to have her in this unit.” Bertha has been married to Victor Perez for 13 years. They have two daughters, Araceli (age 9) and Kristina (age 7).

The first annual Eta Sigma Gamma Teaching Excellence

Award was given out May 2, 2013, to Dr. Sue Forster-Cox (left

and smiling). Dr. Chuck Kozel (below left and talking) and

Dr. Joseph Gladstone (below right with his “I just won the

Lottery” game face) were finalists. Congratulations to all

three professors who are part of a larger body of

hardworking, dedicated public health faculty. Read about

the legacy of Jo Hill on page 6.

FIRST ANNUAL ETA SIGMA GAMMA JO HILL

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS!

BELOW LEFT: The awards.

BELOW RIGHT: Spring 2013 ESG President Sengdhuan Defibaugh-Chavez,

Dr. Kittleson, Dr. Forster-Cox, Dr. Kozel, Dr. Gladstone, and Fall 2012 ESG President

Beth Renick

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Mr. Cantu’s presentation coincided with National Public Health Week which began April 1 (no fooling!) In the photos above, Dr. Anup Amatya (left) and Dr. Karen Rishel (center) show off their hula hooping skills while thinking about biostatistics and epidemiology respectively. In the right photo, MPH students Chris

Spurny, Janine Weitzell, and Mayra Lovas help staff a table in honor of National Public Health Week.

(Left) Frank Cantu, special honoree at the 2013 Jeffrey T. and Mary E.

Brandon Distinguished Lecture Series on Health Disparities which was held

April 3, 2013, acknowledges the audience with one of the gifts he

received. Cantu is Director of the U. S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Rural

Health Policy, Border Health Division in Dallas. More than 100 people

attended this event and they enjoyed NMSU Interim President Manuel

Pacheco’s welcoming comments.

Dr. Brandon and Dr. Kittleson enjoy some time before the Brandon

Lecture Series begins.

(Photo courtesy of Joy Mynatt)

Celebrating Public Health Week April 1-7, 2013

Special Guest—Mr. Frank Cantu

(From left) Dr. Jeffrey Brandon, Teresa Brandon,

Dona Ana Community College assistant professor

Dr. Earl Nissen, and Connie Nissen at the Brandon

Lecture Series event.

(Photo courtesy of Joy Mynatt)

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Our MPH student/faculty poster was selected as one of the two winners in the student poster session

at this year's annual New Mexico Public Health Association (NMPHA) & the New Mexico CARES Health

Disparities Center National Health Disparities 2013 Joint Conference. Kudos to our students!

Evaluation of Caregiver Stress Websites and Implications for Usability and Web Site Design:

( l to r) Beth Renick, Laura Valentino, Janine Weitzell. Not pictured: Cynthia Kratzke, faculty advisor

DEAN’S LIST STUDENTS—FALL 2012

Several of our students found out that

working hard has its rewards. Twenty of our

students were named to the Fall 2012 Dean’s

List as a result of their academic scholarship.

The students are:

Eugena Armijillo, Derek Beckford,

Kirsta Bezenek, Kelsey Campbell,

Anthony Cook, Lauren Cope,

Jordan Davenport, Andrea Franco,

Roxanne Grajeda, Jennifer Hinojosa,

Tiara Jarrell, Merrissa Johnson,

Emily Juchniewicz, Danielle Lapiano,

Elizabeth Maldonado, Kara McLaughlin,

Kayla Musser, Taylor Ortega,

Patrick Renteria, and Ruth Roman.

Spring 2013 Dean’s List students will be

recognized in the next newsletter.

Dr. Karen Rishel with BCH student

Dillon Trujillo. Dillon will serve an

internship at the Fred Hutchinson

Cancer Research Center in Seattle

this summer .

A record number of students (49)

were initiated into the NMSU

Chapter of Eta Sigma Gamma in

December 2012. This monumental

achievement will be reported in

the national ESG newsletter.

PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENTS GET INVOLVED!

GRADUATING STUDENTS—SPRING 2013

The following students will graduate from

NMSU on May 11, 2013. We heartily

congratulate each of them for achieving this

milestone in their lives. They are:

Master of Public Health/Master of Social

Work degree:

Amilya Ellis, Naomi Fertman,

Patricia Hernandez, and Colleen Rice.

Master of Public Health degree:

Hilario Armijo, Nicholas Eckert,

Ana Gonzalez-Marquez, Corina Jauregui,

Caroline Martin, Heidi Martinez,

Kirsty Nichols, Rebecca Salinas, and Laura

Valentino.

Bachelor of Community Health degree:

Cassandra Alba, Jude Betancourt,

Nathan Cannon, Courtney Irwin,

Merrissa Johnson, Emily Juchniewicz,

Elizabeth Morales, Sandra Pena,

and Jessica Velasquez.

The Department of

Public Health Sciences

congratulates these

students on their

accomplishments!

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More

Dr. Mark Kittleson was awarded the AAHE Professional Service to Health Education Award at

the AAHE national conference in Charlotte, NC, in April. AAHE President Dr. Caile Spear said,

“Dr. Kittleson has provided outstanding service to the health education profession through his

creation of the HEDIR, the one and only Health Education listserv. He also started the

International Electronic Journal of Health Education, the first online journal devoted to health

education. Mark continues to be a great leader and his work at NMSU continues to push the

envelope of our profession and enable graduates to make a positive difference in the lives of

many individuals and communities.” Dr. Kittleson also worked with students to have them

evaluate the impact and success of real-life health projects. Interesting results will be published

in the next newsletter.

Dr. Cynthia Kratzke was awarded the departmental teaching award this year and appointed by

Governor Martinez to serve on the New Mexico Community Health Workers Advisory Council.

Also, she presented her research at three national conferences: the American Academy of

Health Behavior in Santa Fe (March) with Candyce Luna, MPH student, the American

Association for Cancer Research in Washington DC (April) with Dr. Hugo Vilchis, and the SOPHE

national convention in Orlando, FL, (April). She also has submitted an article on hygiene that is

under review and is working with Dr. Hugo Vilchis on an article on cancer and patient

navigation. She serves as faculty advisor for Voice Against Cancer, a student organization at

NMSU, since her research areas are cancer and health disparities.

Dr. Rebecca Palacios was awarded the Con Alma Foundation New Mexico Hero of Health award

in December 2012. In February 2013, she was awarded the College Award/Recognition for

Excellence in Research. Dr. Palacios also has been selected to attend the Principles and Practice

of Cancer Prevention and Control Course in Rockville, Maryland, from July 8 - August 2, 2013.

This spring, she accompanied two MPH students, Sengdhuan Defibaugh-Chavez and Swati

Somuri, to San Francisco where they presented a poster at the 34th Annual Meeting and

Scientific Session of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. She also co-authored and delivered a

presentation on the “Selection and Evaluation of Point of Use Drinking Water Filtration for

Colonias in the Paso del Norte Region” in San Antonio, TX, and conducted a two-day workshop

on community based participatory research in Las Cruces. Additionally, she is assessing weight

management strategies used by college students, evaluating student beliefs and practices

toward tobacco use, and is ready to help launch a cancer outreach pilot project.

Dr. Satya Rao was honored for her work in mental health and suicide prevention at the New

Mexico Public Health Association (NMPHA) & the New Mexico CARES Health Disparities Center

National Health Disparities 2013 Joint Conference.

Dr. Susan Wilson recently received “Tenure.” She also earned her Quality Matters Peer

Reviewer Certification. She is now qualified to conduct peer reviews of faculty online courses.

Publications

Amatya A., Bhaumik D., Gibbons R.D. “Sample Size Determination for Clustered Count Data.” Statistics in Medicine (accepted).

Kratzke, C., Vilchis, H., Amatya, A. “Breast Cancer Prevention Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Among College Women and Mother-Daughter Communication.” Journal of Community Health, 2013.

Pio, E., Waddock, S., Mangaliso, M., McIntosh, M., Spiller, S., Takeda, H., Gladstone, J., Ho, M., and Syed, J. (2013). Pipeline to the future: seeking wisdom in Indigenous, Eastern, and Western traditions. In J. Neal (Ed.), Handbook Of Faith And Spirituality In The Workplace: Emerging Research And Practice. New York: Springer, pp. 149-174.

Stager, L., Gladstone, J., Beamer, L. (2013). Management across cultures when the boundaries are intra-national. In The Routledge Companion to International Management Education (Tsang, D., Kazeroony, H. H., and Ellis, G., Editors). London: Routledge.

Conferences

Kittleson, Mark, J., Gautam, Yuba, and Clark, Cindy Lou. “Using Cell Phones as Clickers.” American Association of Health Education (AAHE), Charlotte, NC 2013.

Kittleson, Mark J., Wilson, Susan, Kratzke, Cindy, Amatya, Anup, and Pilley, Amy. “Domestic Violence among College Students in a Minority Serving Institution.” American Association of Health Education (AAHE), Charlotte, NC 2013.

Kozel, Charles T., Hubbell, Anne P., Pérez, Frank G., and Valentino, Laura S. “Exploring the Alchemy of Salience: Research Directions and Implications on the Role of Media in Sustained Advocacy Strategies for Policy-Driven Change.“ A research poster was presented at the 64th Annual National SOPHE meeting, April 19th, 2013, Orlando, FL.

Olsen, Larry K., Pena de la Cruz, Gabriela, Duvall, Anchalee, Pena de la Cruz, Adriana, Phiromsid, Nattaya, and Kittleson, Mark J.. Fat Phobias of Mexican and Thai High School Students. American Association of Health Education (AAHE), Charlotte, NC 2013.

Olsen, Larry K., Pena de la Cruz, Gabriela, Pena de la Cruz, Adriana, Duvall, Anchalee, Phiromsid, Nattaya, and Kittleson, Mark J. Attitudes of Thai and Mexican HS Students Toward Obese Individuals. American Association of Health Education (AAHE), Charlotte, NC 2013.

Ratnapradipa, Dhitinut, Kittleson, Mark, and Preihs, Kristin. Techniques for Online Public Health Education: Environmental Health Case Study. American Association of Health Education (AAHE), Charlotte, NC 2013.

Recent Faculty Publications, Awards, and More

Our department continued its tradition of monthly Brown Bag Luncheons. In April, Kristian

Chervenock from the NMSU International and Border Programs (IBP) (left photo with Dr.

Hugo Vilchis) told an interested audience of many new opportunities for faculty and

students through IBP. The community is invited to the Brown Bag Luncheons.

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If spending 25 years as an educator is impressive, what do you call someone who has spent twice as much time as an educator? “Impressive.” “Phenomenal.” “Unbelievable.” But it’s true. Jo Hill was an educator for 50 years.

“They’re Like Bugs!” Hill began her career in education by teaching junior high school and high school classes. She taught at Chaparral Junior High School in Alamogordo in 1961-1962 and at Las Cruces High School from 1962 to 1965. In the spring of 1966, she taught at Garner Junior High School in San Antonio, Texas. From 1966 to 1968, she was an educator at Bowie and Andress high schools in El Paso. From January 1969 to January 1971, she began working on her master’s degree as a graduate assistant at UTEP. This led to a new direction in her life – teaching at the elementary school level. In the spring of 1971, Hill was a physical education teacher for grades one through three at Cooley Elementary School in El Paso. In the 1971-1972 school year, she taught social studies to sixth-graders and physical education to seventh- and eighth-graders at Crosby Elementary and Junior High School in El Paso. While she relished teaching at the high school and junior high school levels, preferring the former, elementary school was a completely different story. “I tried it and hated it,” Hill says. “I thought, ‘I can’t stand these little kids.’ That sounds bad, but I’m being honest. At UTEP, I taught one or two sections of a required course for elementary teachers. I was preparing those teachers to teach health for grades one through six. Before we got into the methodology, I told the teachers that I had tried teaching elementary school and couldn’t stand it. My friends said, ‘How can you say that? They’re so cute!’ And I said, ‘They’re like bugs! They’re everywhere!’ That wasn’t me and I couldn’t do it.” In the fall of 1973, Hill started working at New Mexico State University and this signaled her long career in higher education. To give the reader some perspective of how long a career it has been, Richard Nixon was President of the U.S., Spiro T. Agnew resigned as Vice President that year, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War, and inflation was at 4.9 percent. Hill was hired by the NMSU Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER), a department in the College of Education. At that time there was no Department of Public Health Sciences or College of Health and Social Services. Within the College of Education, she says her department was not a high priority. “When it came to money or ideas, by the time you got through all of the college’s departments like educational psychology, guidance and counseling, or early childhood development, then there was HPER. Health was the lowest ranking department in HPER. We had no identity.” At the time of her hiring, very few health courses were offered so Hill taught bowling, badminton, tennis, and archery as well as three first aid classes. As more classes were added to the curriculum, the department needed extra help so Hill was asked to teach Health 150, an introductory health class. Two men, department head Henry Lasch and Wesley Staton, had been teaching health. Lasch was getting ready to retire and Staton stayed a year, but then left. Even without a doctorate, the department wanted Hill. Eventually health would separate itself from physical education and recreation to become its own department. As expected, a fledgling department would not exactly be rolling in the riches. “We were using a mimeograph machine and a ditto machine before that,” Hill says. “So we got a copier, we had the one WATS phone line, we had one fax machine, and we had one computer.” Somehow, though, the department made it work.

Public Health Makes an Entry As the public health industry expanded, the need for a new college became more of a reality. “So we were attending meetings and brainstorming and making a proposal for the new college. Remember there was no public health as such. Now we’re getting to a national scope – public health is making an entry, it’s needed, it’s growing. So we said we have to prepare students for these new positions that are coming in. So we went into the new college and really had an identity then. “John Savage was the department head. We had a man who retired at Arkansas, passed away from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, and died a few years ago, just before retirement. I think his name was Gary Lewis . He replaced Wesley Staton. So there was John Savage and Gary and I. Then we hired another person – Ron Hamelink—so we had a department head and three professors, three tenured positions. So we were growing. And then John Savage had a heart attack in February one year. This happened before Hamelink was hired. Gary Lewis and I taught Savage’s classes and ours so between the two of us, we covered every class in the whole department. We also had a good secretary who helped keep the two of us on track, got us what we needed, and stayed in touch with John Savage because he stayed out a couple of semesters. Savage came back, Hamelink went on, and we went on with the department. But we never really gained momentum.

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“No Regrets” - The Legacy of Jo Hill

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Gerontology and Native Americans When Hill’s sabbatical request was approved, NMSU looked into adding gerontology as a field of study. Hill says after the government “looked across the nation one day and asked, ‘Where did all these old people come from?’” an institute on campus to study gerontology was funded. “They realized that since 1960 or 1962, the elderly population was getting bigger and bigger,” Hill says. “The government said people needed to be trained to serve the needs of the elderly. So they sent funding to an institution in every state to establish a gerontology program for education and research purposes. With funding from the government, NMSU started TIGRE, The Institute for Gerontology Research and Education. Hill says when the institute was opened, stipends were available to anyone that would develop a course or change an existing course to focus on aging. Hill was getting ready to create a new course called “Health in a Multicultural Society.” She changed the course’s purpose and name to “Aging in a Multicultural Society,” thinking it would be in high demand. “So my little class was accepted, I got a 2 or 300 dollar stipend, but I knew nothing about gerontology, but who did? Some of the larger universities like Oklahoma did, but I didn’t have any training in the subject. So I started going to conferences and networking with everybody who had been working in the field and picking their brains. We established about seven courses in aging and started a certificate program, too.” Hill used the textbook and what she learned outside the university to create her gerontology classes. Stephanie Fallcreek, a woman who had worked at TIGRE since its inception, moved to the state Office of Aging in Santa Fe. Hill says when Fallcreek arrived in Santa Fe, she was approached by a group of people who wanted someone to work with Indian tribes through a section of the Older Americans Act that funds just Native American tribes for their senior programs called Title Six. Fallcreek said she had someone in mind – someone who is Native American and who had a proven record of success. “Stephanie called me, explained the program, and asked if I would be a consultant with them,” Hill says. “I said I would. So in the months I wasn’t teaching, I traveled to the tribes that got the Title Six grant and worked there for two days as a consultant. I helped them get over bumps they had with their grants so they wouldn’t lose them. I would go to the tribe, train them for two days, drive to the next tribe, train them, and then fly home. Then I’d get more training materials and go again. “If I went to South Dakota, I would fly in to Rapid City, rent a car, go to Pine Ridge which is home of the Ogallala Sioux, train them for two days, and travel to Rosebud that evening because they’re so close. I’d stay in Rosebud for two days, drive back to Rapid City, turn in the car, and fly home. And then Sunday I’d take off again.” Hill trained Indian tribes in Washington state, New Mexico and Oklahoma. She says only four consultants covered the whole country and while she went to Maine, she did not train in any other New England or mid-Atlantic states. Many of her visits were in the Midwest or West. As for the South, she worked with a group of Creek Indians in Atmore, Alabama, which is on the Alabama-Florida border. She also worked with the Choctaw in Mississippi. The more she travelled, the more knowledge she picked up incorporating what she learned in her classes. Hill trained Native American tribes for about three years and by the time she quit, she had worked with about 60 different tribes in 24 states. “When you’re on the road all the time, you burn out pretty fast. That’s the work I turned in for my sabbatical. At that time, President (James) Halligan had just stepped down and Dr. (William) Conroy was acting interim president. When I came back, I wrote a report and sent it to President Conroy. He wrote back, saying he was impressed with all that I had accomplished in the time I had.”

“But then Savage quit because of his health (he passed away shortly after that) and we hired Jeff Brandon. We hired him specifically for the department head position. He came in from New Orleans. I was chair of that search committee. When candidates come in, they look great on paper and they’re going to be on their best behavior, but you don’t really know what they’re like in person. And we really lucked out. When Brandon walked in that door, he was a workaholic. He was there all the time. It’s because of him that this department is where we are today.”

Brandon and Accreditation The first thing Brandon wanted was accreditation for the department. Hill and her colleagues were assigned the task of data collection. This was in addition to their main three areas of focus as academicians: teaching, research, and community service. Hill says it was too much; it was overwhelming. So after a year, Brandon hired Doreen Alexander to gather the data and assemble it for the accreditation team. Even though Alexan-der’s doctorate was in nursing, she was hired to help health science. Hill says when the three-member accreditation team arrived, they were im-pressed by the college’s package. Anyway, the accreditation team came in. “I remember the man from North Texas State came to my office to do an interview with me. I told him that I had been here ten years and that I don’t have a doctorate. He said that the only thing a doctorate would help you do was what you had already done.” Shortly afterwards, Hill was promoted from instructor to assistant professor, received tenure, and was then promoted to associate professor. When the dean told her that was as high as she could go without a doctorate, she replied, “I’m thrilled to death. How many people retire at associate and never make full professor?” Between her time as assistant professor and associate professor, Hill was awarded a sabbatical for a semester. Hill says Brandon was chiefly responsible for ensuring that everything was approved and the program was accredited. Around this time (1982), the health science honors society, Eta Sigma Gamma, was chartered. After that, the program continued to grow. Hamelink stayed, but Lewis moved to Arkansas. Another man, Paul Diaz, was hired.

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An Aggie AND a Miner In January 1994, Hill retired from New Mexico State University. It was not in her spirit to be idle, so she visited the University of Texas at El Paso and asked if any gerontology classes were offered that she could teach. She told the UTEP officials she had just retired and would appreciate being considered for an instructor position should one open up. Nothing was available in the spring, summertime was a different story. “In the summer, the department head taught two classes when she broke her foot. They called me right away because they knew if I accepted the teaching assignment, I could walk in, knowing what to do. These were just basic classes and I accepted the assignment.” In Fall 1994, nothing was available, but Hill was offered a class to teach in Spring 1995. “I told them I did not want to be sound unappreciative, but since I drive from Las Cruces, if you have one more class, it would make my drive worthwhile. So they gave her the spring class and one for the summer. The department head had hired a young man, but they did not see eye-to-eye, so he left. When that happened, the department head said, ‘Jo, you wanted another class. How about five more classes?’ Without hesitation, I said, ‘I’ll take all of them!’ So I stayed at UTEP full-time for about six or seven years and was there for a total of about 10 or 12 years.” Keeping busy is Hill’s mantra and while she taught at UTEP, she also learned. The former Aggie became a Miner, earning her master’s degree in health education. Had Hill not chosen health education as a career, she would have stayed in physical education. She had taught first aid. When she was hired to teach first aid, she hadn’t had any first aid classes in detail. So she took three of them, immediately going to the Red Cross and taking their multi-media short course to get into the intro class. When the fall started, an emergency medical services instructor came down from Albuquerque to teach a two-week class. Hill signed up for it and was certified as an EMT to help teach first aid. She taught the first aid class like an EMT, but without the equipment. She told the class they were an advanced class, but that they’re still just citizen responders. She said they were not EMTs, not professionals, but they would discuss the course material just like EMTs did.

No Regrets Some may believe that Hill had a tougher career climb because she was a double minority – a woman and a Native American, but Hill says her double minority status was actually welcomed. “I did not run into any career roadblocks. Being a double minority, they always used me because a percentage of the department had to be minority. Instead of being a snag, it was a token of passage. I have never in my life had any prejudice, any discrimination, or any negative thing happen to me so I consider myself very fortunate.” For the past few years, Hill has been fighting cancer. She says while it has slowed her down, it has not stopped her. “f I go out tomorrow, I’ll have no regrets because nothing has been left undone. I’ve had a tremendous career and it was because I was a pioneer, filling in the gaps, such as in gerontology. I credit my successful career to the fact that I was on the ground floor for everything. I’m absolutely thrilled with how my life and career have turned out.”

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Quiz Time!

Read each description below of some of our faculty and staff. From the

list on the right, who do you think fits each description? Each name will

be used only once.

Participants include:

Dr. Anup Amatya (AA)

Dr. Sue Forster-Cox (SFC)

Ms. Letty Gallegos (LG)

Dr. Joseph Gladstone (JG)

Dr. Mark Kittleson (MK)

Dr. Cindy Kratzke (CK)

Dr. Rebecca Palacios (RP)

Dr. Karen Rishel (KR)

Dr. James Robinson (JR)

1. This person wanted to choose sportscasting as a career, says the whole Desiderata (“The

universe is unfolding as it should”) was the best advice he/she ever received, and would

love to meet Maya Angelou, not to talk, but just to listen. __________

2. This person sang at Carnegie Hall, would have loved to have met John Denver to discuss

“Rocky Mountain High,” and wanted to be an attorney. __________

3. This person wanted to be a librarian, actually worked as a librarian in New Mexico, and

wants to visit the South Pole. __________

4. This person would have loved to have met George Mallory to discuss what it was like to

climb Mt. Everest in hobnail boots, wants to visit remote areas of Africa on an

uncharted safari, and is from Akron, Ohio. __________

5. This person nearly represented the U.S. in the 1972 Munich Olympics (missed making

the 100 meters by just 2.1 seconds), wanted to be a professional baseball player, and

attended the world’s first circular high school. __________

6. This person would love to own a kayak shop on a bay, has backpacked through Europe

twice, and would have loved to have met Edgar Cayce to talk about his gift of healing.

__________

7. This person’s pet peeve is Apple computers, would have chosen to be a computer

scientist as another profession, and says a photo of his/her life would be blurry because

it’s a work in progress. __________

8. This person would have hosted a travelogue show as an alternative career, wants to

catch a ride on Virgin Galactic, and says his/her pet peeve is “drivers who do not

understand the concept of the acceleration ramp leading onto a freeway.” __________

9. This person would have chosen neurology or computer science as another career, would

love to learn how to dance, and would have loved to have met Madame Curie to learn

what it was like to be a female researcher in that time of history. __________

Answers can be found at http://publichealth.nmsu.edu/answers

HAVE FUN WITH THIS BUT DO YOUR OWN WORK! :)

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Our Mission: To provide academic, professional, and service

excellence in preparing community health education

professionals who will demonstrate competent leadership,

innovation, and technical expertise at local, state, and

national levels, with particular emphasis on border and rural

health problems in communities along the U.S./Mexico

border.

New Mexico State University

Department of Public Health Sciences

‘We Are Public Health’

http://publichealth.nmsu.edu

575-646-4300 ph

575-646-4343 fax

Join the Aggie Century Club

The Aggie Century Club has been designed to allow alums of our programs an opportunity to directly impact

our current students. The Aggie Century Club is a commitment by alums to donate $8.50 a month (less than

two lattes) to the department to help students travel to conferences, offset expenses of guest speakers, or

other activities to enhance the students’ experience.

Giving has never been more important to universities. We are asking alums to donate to the Aggie Century

Club. For more information, go to http://publichealth.nmsu.edu/donor

Have a wonderful summer!

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Special thanks to Bob Nosbisch for his work

on this newsletter