For trail leg, Tech to put in for grant
Arkansas Tech University will apply for a state grant in hopes of building a leg of a larger bicycle and pedestrian trail near the Russellville campus.
The university will apply for the $500,000 grant with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department after it got the go-ahead from the board of trustees last week. If approved, the university would shell out $100,000 in matching funds to build a 2,080-foot concrete sidewalk from the intersection of West O Street and North Glenwood Avenue to North Phoenix Avenue, according to a news release.
The trail will be a part of a 27-mile citywide system that begins at West Parkway Drive and El Paso Avenue. The trail will run through the campus to the North Phoenix Avenue site, where the city is building an aquatic center, the news release states.
If funds raised, SAU nurse to help Nepal
An assistant director for Southern Arkansas University's University Health Services is raising money in hopes of going on a medical mission trip to Nepal.
Robyn Rowe, a registered nurse, is trying to raise $3,400 to be a part of a team providing medical services in an outdoor tented area in Nepal from May 29 to June 7. If she is able to raise that amount, she will head with the team to Nepal to help the more than 13,800 wounded from a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit Saturday.
"Anytime something like this [earthquake in Nepal] happens, being a nurse I wish I could be there to help," she said in a news release.
She added that she was inspired to act after the candlelight vigil that some two dozen Nepalese students and alumni organized on the Magnolia campus last week. Donations can be made at www.SAUmag.edu/RobynNepal.
Cultural, geospatial degree new to state
Arkansas Tech University this fall will offer students a path to the state's first degree in cultural and geospatial studies.
The move came after the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the new program Friday. The Russellville-based university is expecting 20 students to enroll in the program this fall.
The program incorporates liberal arts skills with new technological skills, especially geographic information systems, said Jeff Woods, dean of arts and humanities at the university. It also combines anthropology and geography, allowing students to choose from courses in global studies and development, regional or community planning and regional culture studies, according to board documents.
Metro on 05/05/2015