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Facing Death: Hospice Work Affects Student's Life
Cassie Daley | Staff Reporter

He loved watching cartoons and playing with his Gameboy. Talking about his toys always seemed to make him laugh.
Sophomore kinesiology major Jennifer Corbin only knew him for two weeks, and when he died at the tender age of 10, Corbin was there, crying and praying with his family.
Most college students are notorious for thinking they are invincible. For Corbin, dealing with death on a daily basis has made her very aware and appreciative of the fact that she’s not.
Corbin as been a staff member of Hospice of Wichita Falls on Johnson Road for the last three years, and although she loves her job, she says the hardest thing she deals with is seeing a child come through the door, knowing he or she will never go back out.
“You see the little kid, just layin’ there, and you’re like…damn it,” Corbin put her head in her hands. “It’s hard knowing that they didn’t even get a chance at life.”
Seeing families struggle is hard for Corbin as well. “They always take it well,” she said, “because they are well educated. We educate them on what’s going to happen.”
Though she often gets very close to both her patients and their families, she does not go to their funerals. She said she only goes to funerals when it is someone that she has known for a long time.
Corbin herself once lost a loved one at Hospice; her grandmother. She credits that experience for her current employment.
Her “Mimi” went through Hospice in 1996, this was one of Corbin’s first experiences with the permanency of death.
“The care that they gave her inspired my mom to be a nurse,” Corbin said. “After she died, my mom went to nursing school and got a job here. Now my sister and I work here with her.”
Corbin said she finds comfort in the fact that now she’s in a position to give other people the kind of comfort her grandmother experienced in their final hours.
* * * * *
Corbin bounces down the hall, singing show tunes purposely out of key and swinging her stethoscope like an excited child. One would never guess by her crooked, mischievous smile that her job is to deal with, such a solemn phenomenon. Corbin said that in her eyes, the most important part of her job is to make her patients laugh.
“It’s like when you know they’ve had a crappy day I just do everything I can do to make them laugh, and it’s the best feeling,” Corbin said.
She is not above making herself look like a clown to make someone’s night a little better. Corbin pointed out that most of the time in dealing with difficult patients, if she can make them laugh she can make them open up and be more comfortable.
During an 11 pm to 7 am shift, she and the night RN put rubber gloves on their heads and army-crawled into a patient’s room and acted like they were the police.
“It’s good to make them laugh,” she said. “It’s good to get to know them.”
Corbin spoke nostalgically of another male patient who would let only her give him a shower and how he always wore gray underwear. She said she loved teasing him about adding color to his life.
“One day his wife came and got me and showed me his drawer and she had gotten him every color in the rainbow.” Corbin cocked one eye brow and chuckled. “I was just like, ‘now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.’”
Corbin explained that Hospice isn’t a hospital, nor is it clinical. It’s not a place where people come to get well. She wears her corduroys, a black sweater and her tennis shoes.
“We don’t wear scrubs here. It’s all about making patients as comfortable and as happy as they can be in their final days,” she said. “We do a lot of family support. It’s all about comfort here.”
Part of what makes Corbin and her co-workers able to provide the care that they do is the positive working atmosphere. Caring for, praying with, and getting to know patients, that she knows aren’t going to be with her long, isn’t always easy for Corbin. Even so, she rarely takes the stress of her work home with her.
“We support each other. We’re like one big family,” she said. “There’s a lot of unity. You never feel like you’re the low man on the totem pole.”
One might think it would get depressing to be faced with death constantly, but it definitely doesn’t show in Corbin’s youthful face and playful eyes. Corbin said she has definitely come to appreciate working at Hospice.
And what has she come to think about death?
“It’s peaceful,” she explained. “You can feel this goodness in the room. It’s amazing. It’s so permanent; but it’s so amazing.”



2 Speakers in Store for May Graduates
Michael Galindo | For the Wichitan

Livingston Alexander, president of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and Greg Pogue, a noted scientist and former MSU professor, will speak at commencement ceremonies May 14.
 “In the past, we have had the person give the same speech twice. We thought this year we would try something different,” said Debbie Barrow, executive assistant to the president.
 This year’s speakers will address about 650 graduates.
 Both commencement ceremonies will be held at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 Alexander will speak to the colleges of Business Administration, Education and Liberal Arts at the 10 a.m. ceremony. Pogue will address the colleges of Fine Arts, Health Sciences and Human Services and Science and Mathematics at the 2 p.m. ceremony.
 Before becoming an administrator at several institutions, Alexander worked his way up from assistant professor to professor during his more than 10 years teaching of psychology at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. In 1990, Alexander became the associate vice president for academic affairs at WKU.
 In 1994, Alexander left WKU and went to Troy State University in Atlanta to become the vice president of academic affairs. He stayed at TSU until 1998.
 In 1998, he moved to Kean University in Union, NJ, where he was provost and vice president of academic affairs.
 Alexander is active in several higher education groups, such as the American Council on Education. He also serves as a member of the Board of Governors of The Renaissance Group, a collection of administrators of higher education institutions. Alexander was also chair of the College Bound Advisory Council for the State of New Jersey. The group focuses on programs to get underrepresented groups of students ready for college.
 Alexander often visits universities and other institutions to give workshops and lectures on leadership and diversity.
 Alexander received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Joseph Seminary College in Washington, D.C. He received his master’s in curriculum and his doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Houston.
 Pogue, an MSU graduate, is vice president and executive program manager at the Large Scale Biology Company in Vacaville, Calif. The company works with plant-made pharmaceuticals and proteins.
 Before Pogue joined LSBC in 1996, he worked for the United States Food and Drug Administration. He was a scientist and reviewer at the Center for Biologics.
 Pogue has written more than 30 scientific articles. He also obtained several patents in the fields of microbiology and virology.
 Pogue received his bachelor’s degree from MSU in 1987. He was also MSU’s Hardin Scholar from 1985 to 1986.
 He earned his doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from Texas A&M University.
 Pogue has often spoken at the MSU since his graduation. He returned to MSU in March 2001 as part of the inaugural activities of former President Henry Moon, to present a paper entitled “What’s Next? Beyond The Genomes of Humans and Weeds,” for the College of Science and Mathematics.
 Speakers for commencement ceremonies were chosen by MSU President Jessie Rogers.
 The ceremonies will be aired on MSU’s Channel 2. Taped copies of the commencements will also be available from the Office of Public Information.
 Doors open to the morning ceremony at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. for the afternoon session. Seating is first-come first-serve. Each ceremony is expected to last about two hours.



Hardin, Clark scholars named at Honors Dinner
For the Wichitan

Two MSU students received the university’s top academic honors, the Hardin and Clark Scholarships. Other outstanding students were named, as well, on Thursday night at the Academic Honors Dinner, held at the Wichita Falls Country Club.
Robbie Lee Graham, a chemistry major, was named Hardin Scholar. This is the university’s highest award for academic excellence and was initiated in 1961 by the Hardin Foundation. It is presented each spring to a student during his or her senior year, and a $2,500 award is given with the honor.
Graham was the recipient of the Clark Scholar Award in 2004 and was recently named MSU’s Outstanding Man of the Year. He is a member of several honorary societies and currently holds the title of Welch Scholar, Mark Lax Pre-Med Memorial Scholar, Scott/Sund Scholar, George N. Prescott Scholar, and Priddy Scholar. He also received the United States National Collegiate Award in 2004 and was named to the National Dean’s List in 2005. In addition to receiving academic honors, he is active in many campus organizations and serves as a teacher’s assistant in the chemistry laboratory. His community involvement includes volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, Vacation Bible School at Southside Baptist Church, Highway Trash Clean-Up, and spending150 hours as a post-surgery recovery volunteer over the past year.
Nhan Le Dat Nguyen, a major in business computer information systems, was named Clark Scholar. The Clark award was established in 1976 to honor E. B. Clark, a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the MSU Foundation. It is presented each spring to a student in his or her junior year and carries with it a $1,500 award. Nguyen is a member of Delta Mu Delta and Alpha Chi honor societies.  He was a finalist for Outstanding Junior Man of the Year and serves as treasurer of the International Student Association. He is also a member of Circle K International and the Association of Information Technology Professionals.



Dining Etiquette Seminar teaches good Maners in Social Situations
Camron Rushin | Editor-In-Chief

The Career Management Center held its 2nd annual Dining Etiquette Seminar last Wednesday.
Manners guru and Director of Public Information and Marketing Janus Buss taught the seminar.
Buss has been teaching and learning about etiquette for about eight years.
“Good manners is all about thinking about other people,” Buss said.
Many graduates go out into the work force and have the skills to do the job but lack in social skills and etiquette, Buss said.
The first thing one must do in a dining situation is make sure they know everyone at their table.
“Before you sit down introduce yourself to everyone you don’t know and introduce people you do know to others,” she said.
When taking a seat at a table, a man should always help the woman to his right with her chair. Everyone else should enter their chairs from the right to avoid collisions, she said.
Take the napkin from the table and place it in your lap.
“Don’t just leave it there,” Buss said. “Use it.”
No one should start eating until the hostess has begun eating, and all courses need to start at the same time, Buss said.
When looking at the place setting, the forks should be on the left and the knife and spoon should be on the right.
“If you’re not sure which one to use, you should work from the outside in,” Buss said.
When you are finished with a plate you should put your utensil across it diagonally to show the wait staff that you’re finished.
Buss added other small tidbits such as always picking up the condiments nearest you and passing it to the right. The salt and pepper should always stay together and don’t season your food until you’ve tasted it first, Buss said.
Buss also mentioned how to eat certain food like rolls and French fries.
“Don’t ever pick up a roll and eat it like an apple. You tear it off a piece and eat it like that,” she said.
French fries should only be picked up with your fingers if you’re eating other food that can be picked up with fingers, she said.