Faculty Notes, June 19, 2012

Robert Becker, assistant professor and director of string studies, Conservatory of Music, College of Performing Arts, will be appearing at the Samueli Theater at the Segerstrom Performing Arts Center as a part of the Café Ludwig chamber series. He will perform the “Martinu Madrigals” and “Dvorak Piano Quintet” with internationally recognized pianist Orli Shaham and the principal players of the Pacific Symphony.

“X-TRA,” the art journal co-founded by Stephen Berens, assistant professor, was recently awarded a 2012-2013 Nonprofit Arts Organizational Grant by the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs. The grant is for the production of next year’s journal. This is the seventh consecutive year the DCA has awarded “X-TRA” an Organizational grant.

Jeff Cogan, associate professor, Conservatory of Music, College of Performing Arts, performed “Diaraby,” a composition of the late composer Shaun Naidoo, associate professor, D.M.A., for the “What’s Next” new music ensemble concert Friday, June 1 at the Royal T in Culver City.  Dr. Naidoo wrote the piece specifically for Professor Cogan, who premiered it last October at his solo concert

Tibor Machan, Ph.D., professor and holder of the R.C. Hoiles Chair in Business Ethics and Free Enterprise at the Argyros School of Business and Economics, on Monday, May 21, gave a talk to a branch of the Federalist Society in Seattle, Wash.  He spoke on the topic “Cass Sunstein’s Perverse Idea of Individual Rights.” Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein is a major figure within President Obama’s team of legal experts and advocates a pragmatic jurisprudence. The talk was delivered at the Washington Athletic Club and attended mainly by attorneys working the Seattle area.

Professor Machan’s lectures, delivered in 2009 in Tbilisi, The Republic of Georgia, have just been published by Addleton Academic Publishers of New York.  The book is titled The Georgia Lectures on Principles, Transitions and Development (2012).

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, served as a respondent for Dance Raw Boise. The national dance convention and showcase was held at the Nampa Civic Center in Boise, Idaho. She was responsible for evaluating new choreographic work ranging from novice to professional. Professor Okouchi-Guy also was selected to judge the final round of competition for the MLS Chivas USA Professional Dance Team. The Chivas Girls serve as ambassadors for the organization and perform at the Home Depot Center. This highly selective panel of judges included the director of the LA Laker Girls, the director of the LA Clipper Girls and top LA industry professional choreographers.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was selected to teach a master class for the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance at the Pasadena Convention Center. She taught a contemporary jazz class to dance educators throughout California. She was also selected to have her choreography presented in the Dance Gala that was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Her original choreography “Temporal” was performed by dance majors Jordan Krinke (’12), Sarah Sheade (12’), Brit Rooney (’13), Sami DeDolph (’13), Katy Talon (’13), Caitlin Johnson (’13), Rachel Leitson (’14), Allison Burke (’14) and understudy Alanna Seitz (’15).

Timothy Shields, Ph.D., assistant professor, Argyros School of Business and Economics, and fellow researcher and co-author Baohua Xin were awarded the 2012 American Accounting Association’s Steve Berlin/CITGO Grant. Shields and Xin will experimentally examine the presence and the disclosure of conflicts of interest affect behavior in an intra-company setting, asking how a firm can induce cooperation despite conflicts of interests between operating divisions. The purpose of the Steve Berlin/CITGO Grant program is to foster academics’ understanding of the contemporary external reporting and governance challenges faced by preparers. The four-person committee awarded only one award this year. The committee is chaired by the American Accounting Association’s Vice President-Research and Publications with representatives from the Financial Accounting and Reporting, Management Accounting, and Auditing Sections of the American Accounting Association.

In addition, Shields presented “The Role of Risk in Trust” at the 3UC Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior Conference in San Luis Obispo, May 22.

Dawn Bonker

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