Thursday, September 23, 2010

Cardinal Corner  opens today

The Cardinal Corner, a new retail store run completely by students, is hosting its grand opening from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, Friday, Sept. 24.

The store, which was established by the School of Business as part of SMU’s new entrepreneurship major, sells clothing, fun accessories, and school spirit essentials, such as the Cardinal Pride T-shirt. New products will be added each semester in a variety of product lines. All proceeds from the store will be donated to the Taylor Richmond Benefit, the students’ charity of choice this semester.

The Cardinal Corner welcomes products from outside groups, teams, organizations, club functions and individuals to sell. All proceeds from these items will be returned directly to the organizations.

For more information, contact entrepreneurship course instructor Jana Craft at jcraft@smumn.edu.

Speaker to share story of Brother James Miller’s life, death


Guest speaker Brother Paul Joslin, FSC — a colleague and friend of Brother James Miller — will present “Witnessing to Nonviolence” Thursday, Oct. 7.

This year marked the 28th anniversary of the death of Brother James, a member of the De La Salle Christian Brothers and a 1966 graduate of Saint Mary’s. Brother James was doing “God’s work” of bringing education, faith and hope to marginalized Guatemalans when he was shot and killed on Feb. 13, 1982 by four masked gunmen while mending a wall outside the De La Salle Casa Indigena where he worked. The La Crosse, Wis., Diocese has presented cause for his canonization and the Church is currently investigating cause for his sainthood. He has been named a Servant of God.

Brother Paul is a De La Salle Christian Brother and teaches at St. Raymond High School in Bronx, N.Y. Between 1976-1988, Brother Paul ministered in Guatemala, and in 1982, Brother James and Brother Paul formed the staff of the De La Salle Casa Indigena in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Consequently, Brother Paul’s presentation will include first-hand information about the horrible happenings of Feb. 13, 1982 — the day of Brother James martyrdom.

“Brother James took young people from the hills that had no chance and gave them a combination of hope and life. Are we, too, willing to rise up like Brother James to take the young by the hand and lead them to freedom?” said St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop John R. Roach, 1982.

The event, part of SMU’s Lasallian Week of Peace, will run from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Salvi Lecture Hall.

For more information, contact Dennis Gallagher, dean of Campus Ministry, at Ext. 6936 or e-mail dgallagh@smumn.edu.

First Women of Saint Mary’s Event is Oct. 7-10

The Alumni Office will host a First Women of Saint Mary's Event Oct. 7-10 on the Winona campus. The event — which will include a variety of weekend events — will bring together women from the decade of the ‘70s. Faculty and staff are invited to attend the events, specifically the Friday night reception. To review a complete schedule of events and to see who is planning to attend, go to www.smumn.edu/firstwomen. If you would like to register for any of the events, contact the alumni office at Ext. 1499 or alumni@smumn.edu.

Lasallian Week of Peace schedule announced

The week of Oct. 3-9 is Lasallian Week of Peace. The Lasallian Week of Peace originated in 2006 during a meeting of Young Lasallians in Rome to encourage Lasallian schools to participate in one of the social justice initiatives of the church as well as to pray for world peace.

Campus Ministry and other groups sponsor events.The overall theme of the week is “Blessed Are the Peacemakers.”

Schedule highlights include:

Sunday, Oct. 3 — Mass, “Peace Reflection” 10:30 a.m., 9 p.m., Saint Thomas More Chapel

Monday, Oct. 4 — Farmer’s Market, 3 to 5 p.m., Plaza; “Land Stewardship Project Presentation” with Doug Nopar, 7 p.m., President’s Room

Tuesday, Oct. 5 — “Storytelling from Guatemala” SOUL/LTIP, noon, Common Room, with free lunches for the first 50 attendees; Lasallian Collegians Peace Program, 8 p.m., Game Room

Wednesday, Oct. 6 — Video Conference with Bethlehem University Students, 8 to 9:35 a.m., World Room; “Day in the Life of a Palestinian, noon to 12:45 p.m., Plaza; SAC movie, “Motorcycle Diaries,” 9 p.m., Salvi Lecture Hall

Thursday, Oct. 7 — Brother Paul Joslin, FSC, companion of Brother James Miller, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Salvi Lecture Hall

Friday, Oct. 8 — Fair Trade Friday, 8 to 11 a.m., Saint Mary’s Hall; “Shack-a-thon Homelessness Awareness,” Habitat for Humanity 8 p.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, Plaza

Saturday, Oct. 9 — Iron Chef Competition, 5 p.m., Common Room. Support a Bethlehem University student; $3 for students, $5 for adults.

Family Weekend Fall Frolic scheduled for Oct. 2

The 23rd Fall Frolic 5K fun run/walk is Saturday, Oct. 2.

Registration will run from 8 to 9:30 a.m. in the Toner Student Center with the race beginning at 10 a.m.

The annual event is free to SMU students, faculty and staff, but is open to the community as well for a fee of $8 (which includes a T-shirt). Typically close to 500 people participate; competitors of all levels (including walkers) are welcome.

Registration forms — as well as a complete weekend schedule — are available online at www.smumn.edu/familyweekend.

Family Weekend runs Oct. 1-3 and includes a full slate of activities for families of students and the SMU community. In previous years, as many as 1,000 visitors have come onto campus for Family Weekend music and theatre events, sporting events, the Fall Frolic, and other games and activities.

Students to perform comedy ‘Lightning Bug’ Sept. 30-Oct. 3

The Department of Theatre and Dance will begin its season with the giggle-inducing comedy, “The Lightning Bug” Sept. 30 through Oct. 3.

This world-premiere performance capitalizes on superhero silliness and involves fast-paced dialogue and non-stop action. The family-friendly show, written by award-winning playwright Rand Higbee, takes place in 1939 at the Magnopolis Daily News as the evil genius Dr. Kasady emerges from hiding. The plot combines the elements of a 1930s screwball comedy with those of an old-time comic book adventure.

Rand, who received a 2009 Wisconsin Wrights award for “The Lightning Bug,” has written several popular plays including “Next!” which is currently one of the most often performed high school one-acts in the country.

A question-and-answer period with Rand — who currently lives near Red Wing — will be held following Friday evening’s performance.

The show’s director Judy Myers discovered “Lightning Bug” when she attended the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska in June of 2009. “Rand’s piece was read on the last day and I was so impressed that I asked him immediately following the reading if he would allow us to produce it at SMU,” Myers said. “I believed it would be a great piece for our students, as well as the Saint Mary’s and Winona communities.”

“Lightning Bug” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and are available at the Box Office, Ext. 1715 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

Concert Band and choirs combine for concert Oct. 2

The Concert Band and choirs will combine for a 2 p.m. concert Saturday, Oct. 2, at Page Theatre.

The Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, under the direction of Dr. Patrick O’Shea, and the Women’s Choir, directed by Lindsy O’Shea, will present works in English and Latin, including compositions by Palestrina, Randall Thompson, and Moses Hogan.

The SMU Band, directed by Janet Heukeshoven, will start the year with a fanfare for concert band by Jack Stamp, “Cenotaph.” This will be followed by Malcolm Arnold’s “Scottish Dance No. 1” (from “Four Scottish Dances,” arranged for band by John Paynter) and another work based on the Scottish tradition, “Perthshire Majesty,” by Samuel Hazo. The band will conclude its part of the concert with the “Florentiner March” by Czech composer Julius Fucik.

To conclude the performance, the choir and band will combine for Randall Thompson's “The Last Words of David.”

This is the inaugural concert for SMU’s new acoustic shell.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and are available at the box office, Ext. 1715, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

Student jazz performance slated for Oct. 1



The 18-piece Saint Mary’s Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo I will perform a concert at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, in Figliulo Recital Hall.

This concert, part of SMU’s Family Weekend festivities, marks the release of the first big band CD “Staycation,” recorded by the jazz ensemble last February. It was produced and recorded by SMU music technology majors under the direction of Dr. John Paulson, professor of music, and Brett Huus, adjunct music faculty member and CEO of Soundstrations Studios in La Crosse, Wis. The CD will be available at the concert, in the campus bookstore and online at www.smumn.edu/music.

The jazz combo will lead off the concert with Herbie Hancock's famous “Cantaloupe Island,” arranged by the group, and freshman alto saxophonist Katie Kosiek will be featured on the ballad “Come Rain or Come Shine.” The closing set will be “Nutville” by Horace Silver. The big band will feature sophomore drummer Allen Mekash on Mark Talor’s “Power Play” and the trombone section on Dave Barduhn’s “Safety Net Blues.”

Also included in the set will be “Maputo” by Marcus Miller featuring Tommy Quinn on alto sax and freshman Webster Camden on guitar, “Big Cat” blues by Dave Hanson and the funky “Poultry in Motion” with solos by the always enthusiastic Benjamin Scott on tenor sax.

Jazz musician Anat Cohon and her jazz quartet will start off the Page Series season Friday, Oct. 8. Cohon, one of the top jazz clarinetists in the world, will be doing a free Masterclass on jazz improvisation with SMU's Jazz Combo I from 4 to 5 p.m. in Figliulo Recital Hall. She will join Paulson for a pre-show interview in the recital hall.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and are available at the box office, Ext. 1715, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

Free violin recital Sept. 29

Saint Mary’s will host a free recital featuring violinist Tien-Hsin “Cindy” Wu and pianist Jiayi Shi at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, in Figliulo Recital Hall.

Violinist Tien-Hsin “Cindy” Wu enjoys a versatile career as a soloist and a chamber musician, having performed with renowned musicians and ensembles in Europe, the United States and Asia. She has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan and Taipei Symphony Orchestra in her native country, as well as with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine) and the Russian State Symphony Orchestra.

Wu’s 2010-2011 season highlights include performances on the Linton Chamber Music Series, Marlboro on Tour, Caramoor Rising Stars, as well as an invitation to Music Sharing International Community Engagement Program 2010 LAOS. In addition to performances across the globe, Wu also began teaching violin/viola this fall as an adjunct professor at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.

As a solo recitalist and chamber musician, Wu has performed extensively in Taiwan, Europe and North America, at such prominent venues as New York City's Alice Tully Hall, Boston's Jordan Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, as well as in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver.

Pianist Jiayi Shi began playing the piano at age 4. A few years later, she was accepted to the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China and studied there until 1996, when she was granted a full scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin. Shi continued her education at the Eastman School of Music and graduated from Eastman in 2002 with both a master’s degree and a Performance Certificate in Piano. Besides completing her Doctoral of Musical Arts at Manhattan School of Music, she is currently on the piano faculty of Biola University in California. She maintains an active schedule as a chamber musician and collaborative pianist, working extensively with the internationally renowned violinist Midori.

Host families needed for San Miguel student visit

Host families are needed to house 28 sixth-grade students that will be visiting Saint Mary’s from the San Miguel Chicago-Back of the Yards School.

Hosting a student/s involves three nights of lodging from Oct. 25-28 and providing two dinners.

For more information, or if you would like to sign up as a host family, e-mail richmond@smumn.edu. When signing up, please include your address, phone number, and the gender you would prefer, keeping in mind that there are seven girls and 21 boys visiting this year.

Mockler featured on MIAC website

Saint Mary’s junior Michael Mockler was featured in an article on the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference website this month.

Mockler, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last January, beat the life-threatening illness and returned to running cross country on Sept. 4.

The full article can be viewed at www.miac-online.org/news/2010/9/17/FOOTBALL_0917100332.aspx.

Kugel, Weiner publish article in chemical education journal

In an example of interdisciplinary collaboration, Roger Kugel, Chemistry Department, and Paul Weiner, Mathematics and Statistics Department, have co-authored an article that appeared this week in the Journal of Chemical Education (web edition). The paper, titled, “Energy Distributions in Small Populations: Pascal versus Boltzmann,” describes a novel way to compute how energy distributes among a small number of molecules. The study promises to have a direct impact on student learning regarding the important concept of energy distribution, and could lead to new insights into the molecular energetics of real nanoscale systems.

The article can be viewed at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed1003838. A print edition of the paper will appear in the November issue of this journal.

Major League Soccer VP speaks to class


Bryant Pfeiffer, the vice president for Team Services for Major League Soccer (MLS), spoke to a sports management class Tuesday. His presentation is part of a series of sports professionals who will be visiting the management classes.

‘Let’s Do Lunch’ for October has Halloween theme

The next “Let’s Do Lunch” will be a Halloween party on Friday, Oct. 29. Proceeds will benefit Christ the Teacher Institute for Education on our Nairobi campus. Start gathering costume ideas for your offices and departments.

DVD, video game sale to raise money for CTIE

The volunteer committee needs donations for a DVD and video game sale on Wednesday, Oct. 6, in Saint Mary’s Hall. Donations can be brought to the Business Office or to Student Activities before Monday, Oct. 4. If enough donations are not received, the event will be canceled. No CDs or video tapes will be accepted. Proceeds will benefit Christ the Teacher Institute for Education on the SMU Nairobi campus.

SMU hosts Sing It Loud, The Fast Track Sept. 25


WINONA, Minn. — On Saturday, Sept. 25, Saint Mary’s University will host a concert featuring the bands Sing It Loud and The Fast Track.

The concert will be held in SMU’s gymnasium and doors will open at 7:30 p.m. The Fast Track will play at 8 p.m. with Sing It Loud taking the stage at 9 p.m. The concert is free to SMU students and $5 for all other admission. Tickets will be available at the door.

Sing it Loud is an American pop rock band from Minneapolis. Their new album, titled “Everything Collide,” contains 11 tracks and was released in May. The album reached #28 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

More information about the bands can be found online at www.myspace.com/thefasttrack
and www.myspace.com/singitloud.

For more information, contact SMU’s assistant activities director Lance Thompson at (507) 457-1686 or e-mail ljthom01@smumn.edu.

Brother Rod’s work selected for Minneapolis exhibit

Brother Roderick Robertson, Department of Art and Design professor, was selected for the “Hooked on Photography” exhibit at the Icebox gallery in Minneapolis.

The Icebox is an independent sole proprietorship fine art gallery. More information can be found at www.iceboxminnesota.com.

Heukeshoven inducted into high school hall of fame

Dr. Janet Heukeshoven will be inducted into her high school’s Alumni Hall of Fame on the weekend of Sept. 24-25. Events surrounding the event include a dinner for honorees, introduction at half-time of the homecoming football game, a post-game ceremony of installation and reception, and appearance at the Band Boosters pancake breakfast Saturday morning. A plaque will be placed in the school alumni hall of fame and will also be featured on the school’s website.

Blood drive scheduled for Oct. 18-19

Saint Mary’s bi-annual Red Cross Blood Drive, hosted by the sisters of SAI, will be held Oct. 18-19 in the Hall of Fame Room from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Nicole Ciulla, SAI programs director, nkciul07@smumn.edu.

Next ‘Chat, Chow & Web 2.0’ event announced

Nancy Sims, copyright program librarian at the U of M, will discuss copyright issues relevant to higher education, including using teaching materials in class and online for the October Chat & Chow event. Sims will present from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Meet in the main lounge of the McEnery Center. The event is sponsored by the Fitzgerald Library, IT and Instructional Technology. Lunch will be provided; an RSVP is appreciated, but not necessary, and everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Jason Spartz, jspartz@smumn.edu.

Jazz Notes

Swing Inc. will perform 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. today, Friday, Sept. 24, at Signatures, 22852 County Road 17.

CMENC clinic co-sponsored by SMU, WSU

The CMENC PLUS Fall Clinic is a annual conference for music education majors and early career music teachers. This year’s event is co-sponsored by the music education students at both SMU and WSU. Highlighting this year’s event is a performance by Native American singer and teacher, Lyz Jaakola (www.lyzjaakola.com) and her troupe.

This Oct. 8 performance will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the main stage of the Performing Arts Center at WSU and is open to the general public.

For additional information contact Dr. Janet Heukeshoven, CMENC chapter advisor.

Students exhibit art in ‘Watershed’ exhibit

Several students from SMU were chosen to exhibit in “Watershed,” a juried exhibition at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive. The exhibition features work from SMU and Winona State University students who were asked to create work that was inspired by water. Three winners and 12 runners-up were chosen out of 45 entries. The exhibition, being held in conjunction with “Between the Shining Seas,” will be on display through Saturday, Nov. 13.

SMU students featuring work in the exhibit include: Ryan Anderson, Danielle Miller, Stephanie Binot, Ashley Blum and Blake Dahl.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for students, $20 for immediate families, or free to children younger than 4.