Tri-parish Newsmakers

TRMC wins Florida getaway

Registered nurse Lauren Duplantis, who works in Thibodaux Regional Medical Center’s home health department, won a three-night stay in a Perdido Key, Fla., condo and spending money courtesy of the Headache & Pain Center.

The prize was part of the Louisiana Board of Nurses Florida Vacation Getaway Sweepstakes. Duplantis’ name was drawn from the entries.

Dr. Jimmy Ponder Jr., medical director of the Headache & Pain Center, presented Duplantis her prize.

Microsoft alliance benefits NSU

Nicholls State University’s College of Business Administration has $1.1 million worth of new software, technical support and training materials courtesy of a partnership with Microsoft Corporation.

Nicholls joined the Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance in April 2009, following a membership push initiated by Dr. Neset Hikmet, the Otto Candies Endowed Chair in Information Systems, and Dr. Ronnie Fanguy, associate professor of computer information systems. The Alliance, a worldwide partnership linking university educators and business professionals, seeks to enhance the educational experiences of college-level business students.

“This partnership, as a result of Dr. Hikmet’s and Dr. Fanguy’s persistence and hard work, will provide additional valuable resources to our faculty and students that otherwise would not have been possible,” Dr. Shawn Mauldin, dean of the College of Business Administration, said.

“With this access to the full range of Microsoft resources, our goal is to focus our students on the software used by actual businesses – to strengthen their skill sets and increase their marketability,” Hikmet said. “They will learn how to both use and install these resources, which is what industries expect of business graduates.”

Hikmet was recently named to the Alliance advisory council – a group of scholars whose mission is to provide the Microsoft Corporation with input on how to strengthen the Alliance. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey and his Master of Business Administration and doctorate degrees from the University of Rhode Island.

Local pharamacists elected to state association

Lane Cheramie, RPh, of Lane’s Pharmacy Staffing in Cut Off, was installed as director of the Bayou Region of the Louisiana Pharmacists Association. Blake Pitre, RPh, with B & J Pitre Pharmacy Inc. in Houma, was installed as director-at-large.

The association held its 127th Annual Convention at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La., on July 16-18, where the association installed their 2009-10 board of directors.

The Louisiana Pharmacists Association, established in 1882, strives to promote the interests of all pharmacists of the state of Louisiana.