Founder’s Day planned for Feb. 24

The campus community will celebrate Founder’s Day on Tuesday, Feb. 24. All faculty and staff are invited to join in the festivities. Mass begins at 11 a.m. in Saint Thomas More Chapel. The convocation begins at 1:15 p.m. in Page Theatre.

Class schedules for the day are:
• 7:45 to 9 a.m. classes meet from 8 to 8:50 a.m.;
• 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. classes meet from 9 to 9:50 a.m.;
• 10:45 a.m. to noon classes meet from 10 to 10:50 a.m.;
• 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. classes meet from 3 to 3:50 p.m.; and
• 1:45 to 3 p.m. classes meet from 4 to 4:50 p.m.

Anderson to receive
Distinguished Lasallian Educator award

Dr. Jane Anderson has been named as SMU’s Distinguished Lasallian Educator for 2009. Dr. Anderson has been on the faculty since 1995 and now serves as Dean of the School of Education. She is recognized for her efforts to engage and support the San Miguel Schools in Chicago and Minneapolis and her career-long commitment to understand and advance the cause of literacy education. Distinguished Lasallian Educator Awards are given by many Lasallian ministries in the North American-Toronto Region of the De La Salle Christian Brothers; they honor contributions and commitment to the Lasallian charism in education.

Beckman to receive Severin Award

The 2009 Brother H. Charles Severin Award for Excellence in Teaching will be presented to Dean Beckman, assistant professor in the Social Science Department. Beckman has been a member of the faculty since 2001 and teaches courses in the mass communication program. Over the years, he has shown consistent excellence in preparation of his courses, in communication and delivery of course material, and in fairness in dealing with students. He joins 21 other past and present faculty members as a Severin Award recipient. Recipients exemplify the teaching excellence and commitment to a student-centered learning that characterize a Saint Mary’s University education.

De La Salle Week events announced

Saint Mary’s University has celebrated Founder’s Day for many years to commemorate its founding in 1912. It has been a time of celebration and recognition of individuals within the Lasallian community.

With so much to celebrate about our Lasallian history and mission, the annual day of celebration has been expanded to become De La Salle Week. The year 2009 marks not only 97 years since our founding, but 75 years since the De La Salle Christian Brothers came to Saint Mary’s University.

Students, staff and faculty members are invited to a week of participation in these opportunities for learning, reflection, discussion and connection with others.

De La Salle Week events are sponsored by the Offices of Mission and Student Development.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22

9 p.m. — Opening liturgy, Saint Thomas More Chapel.

Food and money will be collected throughout the week for local Catholic Worker houses.

MONDAY, FEB. 23 - DE LA SALLE DAY

8 a.m. — SMU community gathering, first floor, Saint Mary’s Hall.

12:10 p.m. — Liturgy, Saint Thomas More Chapel.

4 p.m. — “Lasallian Hour” with Ben Murray ‘96, co-founder and president of San Miguel Middle School-Minneapolis, Common Room.

8 to 9:30 p.m. — “About Lasallian Volunteers” with Martin Richard, Lasallian Volunteer recruiter, Toner Student Center Cardinal Club. Learn more about the Lasallian Volunteer movement and hear from Brendan Corcoran ‘07, current Lasallian Volunteer at San Miguel Middle School, Tulsa, Okla. Refreshments will be provided.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24 - FOUNDER’S DAY

8 a.m. — SMU Community Gathering, first floor, Saint Mary’s Hall.

11 a.m. — Liturgy, Saint Thomas More Chapel.

1:15 p.m. — Convocation, Page Theatre, including:
• Recognition of the 75th anniversary of Christian Brothers at Saint Mary's;
• Recognition of the Christian Brothers Long Island-New England District for service to and leadership for Saint Mary’s;
• Presentation of the Distinguished Lasallian Educator Award;
• Presentation of the Brother H. Charles Severin Award for Excellence in Teaching; and
• Presentation of the Outstanding Senior Awards.

2:30 p.m. — Convocation reception, Hall of Fame Room.

6 to 8 p.m. — Mardi Gras Bazaar, Toner Student Center.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 - ASH WEDNESDAY
A day of prayer, fasting and alms giving

12:10 and 4:30 p.m. — Liturgy and distribution of ashes, Saint Thomas More Chapel.

11:30 am to 1 p.m. — Commemorative Lunch, Common Room (A Commemoration of De La Salle’s heroic vow “to live on bread alone;” includes an optional lunch of bread and water and freewill donation for Christ the Teacher Institute for Education, Nairobi campus).
2 and 5 p.m., Service Trip Opportunities, sponsored by Volunteer Services.

7:30 p.m. — “Lasallian Hour” with Dr. Steve Pattee, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies, Common Room.

THURSDAY, FEB. 26 - CELEBRATION OF LASALLIAN ARTS AND SGPP

8 a.m. — SMU Community Gathering, first floor, Saint Mary’s Hall.

12:10 p.m. — Liturgy, Saint Thomas More Chapel.

4 p.m. — “Lasallian Hour” with Dr. Patrick O’Shea, associate professor of music, Common Room.

4:30 p.m. — Build an igloo with Brother Finbar McMullen, Plaza (weather permitting).

7 to 8:30 p.m. — Fun and Games, Founder’s Style, Hall of Fame Room. Enjoy French cuisine and games from the time of De La Salle in 17th century France; sponsored by Health Advocates.

7:30 p.m. — “The Long Christmas Ride Home,” Valéncia Academy Theatre.

7:30 p.m. — Chamber Singers Homecoming Concert, Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels.

FRIDAY, FEB. 27 - GLOBAL LASALLIAN FAMILY

8 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Fair Trade Sale, first floor, Saint Mary’s Hall.

12:10 p.m. — Liturgy, Saint Thomas More Chapel.

4 p.m. — “Lasallian Hour” with Brother Christopher Soosai, SMU graduate student from India, Common Room.

7 p.m. — Movie time with Brother Jerome Rademacher, Christian Brothers’ Residence, including Brother Jerome’s famous popcorn! (Limited to 20 people; sign up in Student Activities.)

SATURDAY, FEB. 28 - SERVICE DAY

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — Habitat for Humanity Service Trip (sign up in the Office of Campus Ministry).

Noon to 5 p.m. — “Just Bouncing Around” Ping-Pong Tournament, Toner Student Center Game Room.

6 p.m. — “Africa Night,” Common Room; Dinner (first 100 people); 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. music and dance, hosted by Intercultural Awareness Association (ICAA).

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

10:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. — Liturgy for the first Sunday of Lent, Saint Thomas More Chapel. Refreshments follow each Mass, compliments of Campus Ministry.

Go Red to Get Ahead’ SGPP promotion is Feb. 26 in Winona

The Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs are hosting a “Go Red to Get Ahead” promotional event Thursday, Feb. 26, on the Winona campus.

The event will be an opportunity for information, education and celebration. On that day, attendees will receive a more complete overview of the SGPP and the many educational opportunities SMU currently offers in Minneapolis, Winona, Rochester, Apple Valley, Minnetonka, greater Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The information will be valuable for undergraduate students, faculty and staff, as well as for our alumni and the greater Winona community. Whatever your role with the university you are encouraged to attend one or more of the events scheduled throughout the day.

• Pre- Event Activity: Morning classrooms will receive red balloon bouquets including an attached schedule of events for the day.

• Morning Event: (8 to 10 a.m.) Tables will be set up in key locations across campus offering juice and mini-muffins. Visitors will also be presented with a small give-away and post cards with a brief overview of the day’s events. Sign-up sheets for the raffle will be available at each table.

• Faculty and Staff Information Sessions (9 and 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m.) Undergraduate faculty and staff are invited to attend informational sessions on the SGPP in Meyer Conference Room and Salvi Lecture Hall. SGPP administrators and program directors will lead the information sessions. Power Points will be presented and handouts will be available for Q&A. Light refreshments and sign-up sheets for the raffle will be available at each session.

• Afternoon Event (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.): Each of the graduate schools (and each individual program within the school) will be represented by faculty and staff in the North Dining Room of the Dining Hall. Financial Aid and Career Services tables will be set up, and additional information about the SGPP will be available just outside of the North Dining Room. Visitors will view Power Points, have an opportunity to sign up for a raffle, and participate in a Guitar Hero contest.

• Evening Event (4 to 6 p.m.) An open house for alumni and the general public will be held in the Toner Student Lounge. Refreshments will be available, as well as basic SGPP materials. School deans, program directors and program staff will be on hand to greet visitors and discuss the SGPP options.

Saint Mary’s students to stage ‘Long Christmas Ride Home’

The heart — and the heartbreak — of family dynamics are closely examined in the hopeful drama, “The Long Christmas Ride Home,” to be presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance at Saint Mary’s.

In a seemingly Rockwellesque beginning, author Paula Vogel introduces audiences to a family of five, traveling by car to their grandparent’s house on Christmas Day.

Arguments ensue, unfortunate words are spoken, and we discover that memories of this dysfunctional and poignant car ride play a pivotal role in how the family’s three children mature into adulthood.

As the author intended, the three children are portrayed by Japanese Bunraku-inspired puppets. In this production each puppet is controlled by two black-cloaked figures, and one of their puppeteers (whose face is not obscured) then becomes an adult version of each child as the story flashes forwards.

Audiences also discover that the opening car ride is a memory of one of the children, Steven, who has died of AIDS. Though somewhat damaged by their past experiences, the three siblings have an enduring bond that transcends life itself.

“It’s universally beautiful,” said director Sarah St. Laurent, an SMU senior theatre major. “We all have a family, and no family is perfect. Family comes with a lot of baggage, but there are also redeeming qualities.” St. Laurent and Preston Lawing, chair of the SMU Department of Art and Design, constructed the puppets used in this presentation.

The show contains several adult themes and is recommended for mature audiences.

“The Long Christmas Ride Home” will be staged at Academy Theatre, located at the Valéncia Arts Center, 10th and Howard streets. The show runs 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 26-28 and Monday, March 2; a matinee performance is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, March 1.

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

Kabara business plan competition for students

The Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies announces the second annual Student Business Plan Competition.

Participants must be full-time undergraduate students on the Winona campus, may participate as an individual or as a team of two students, and can have any major.

Students are asked to develop a business plan for a business that they would like to start. The business does not need to be an on-campus business. The projected start-up costs and initial capital required may not exceed $10,000.

A hard copy and electronic copy of the business plans must be submitted to Teresa Speck by noon Monday, March 2. Semifinalists will present their plans to a panel of judges on Friday, March 13, and winners will be announced within a week.

For more information, go to www.smumn.edu/kabara or contact Speck at tspeck@smumn.edu or Ext. 1449.

SMU invites community to decorate fountains

The Heart of the Beast Puppet Mask Theatre residency ended in public performance in celebration of our water on Friday, Feb. 6.
A decorated drinking fountain in Saint Mary's Hall.

The public is invited to adopt a drinking fountain as part of the “Our Drinking Fountains, Our Water!” collaborative project.

Winona State University, Saint Mary’s University, Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical, Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board and the City of Winona are incorporating the water theme into classes, presentations and activities this year. The goal of the project is for the community to achieve a broader and deeper understanding of water quality and stewardship. This project is funded by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Campus Compact.

Through the adopt-a-drinking fountain project, community members are invited to design and implement an artistic design around a drinking fountain. This project was designed to get the community involved in highlighting our drinking fountains and remind everyone how lucky we are to have clean, drinkable water right at our fingertips.

Fountains must be registered by Feb. 27. Decorating must be started and completed between March 2-18, and the design must remain in place until Earth Day celebrations on April 27.

A map of the decorated fountains (along with designer credit) will appear on the project’s website, http://water.southeastmn.edu. Prizes will be awarded in a number of categories including: most educational, most inspirational, best use of water theme, most creative, and most eye catching.

Refer to the project’s website for rules of the contest, as well as details about how to register a fountain, or call Katie LaPlant at Ext. 6936 or kalaplan@smumn.edu.

Next SMU exhibit to feature digital photography, paintings

Painting by Ming Zhou
Digital photography by Jing Zhou

“Old Media, New Ideas and New Media, Old Ideas” — featuring the work of two Chinese-American artists — will be on display Feb. 16 through March 20 at the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries.

Jing Zhou, Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., will display digital photography that reflects her interest in spiritual experiences, and Eastern and Western art, literature and philosophy. “As a Chinese artist living in the western world, I am aware of art and philosophy from both cultures,” she said. To her, creating art is a process of expressing her nature via “being human.”

Ming Zhou, University of Missouri, Columbia, critiques “China’s new middle class’s tasteless manner, which is also a mirror of superficial, boastful and rash society of contemporary China” with her paintings. “Through the slightly ironic paintings, I intend to euphemistically remind the new Chinese bourgeoisie that good taste actually comes from internal cultivation, not just blind mimicry,” she said.

The Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries are free and open to the public and are open daily between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. For more information, call Ext. 1652.

Deadline for study abroad extended to Feb. 23

The deadline for submitting applications for the fall semester London Study Abroad program has been extended to Monday, Feb. 23. Applications are no longer due the Friday before break. The extended deadline will allow students additional time over break to complete the application materials.

If students need an application packet or would like additional information about studying abroad in London fall semester, they should stop by the Study Abroad Office located in Saint Mary’s Hall Room 136.

SMU’s Day at the Capitol is March 5

Saint Mary’s students have been actively involved over the last few years in Minnesota’s Private Colleges Day at the Capitol. On this day students meet with their legislators at the State Capitol to advocate for student financial aid, specifically the Minnesota State Grant Program. Between February and April 2007, more than 400 students developed skills on how to be effective citizen lobbyists and urged their hometown legislators to support Minnesota students.

Saint Mary’s will be at the Capitol on March 5. Anyone can attend Day at the Capitol — students, professors, parents, or administrators. Last 40 students took advantage of this opportunity. Student Senate would love to increase these numbers this year.

Minnesota undergraduate students and their families had to borrow more than $1 billion dollars in 2005 to pay for higher education — an amount that has grown 162% since 1995. The value of state grants dropped 14 percent from 2000 to 2005. Only 2 percent of public spending for Higher Education goes to private schools while 28 percent of state graduates come from private schools like Saint Mary’s.

With 71,108 students receiving need-based aid through the State Grant Program and our state budget deficit for the next biennium forecasted to be at least $4.8 billion, preserving the State Grant program and keeping the cost of education low is even more important.

Go to the Minnesota Association of Private College Students’ (MAPCS) website at www.mnprivatecolleges.org/mapcs/index.php for more information. Students will be able to register on the MAPCS website or through Student Senate as the event draws nearer.

In addition to excusing students to attend, faculty are encouraged to promote conversations about the cost of higher education and the problems our state is currently facing.

If you have any further questions, contact Mary Gleich, Student Senate vice president for external affairs, at mtglei04@smumn.edu.

Gaslight auditions will run Feb. 27-March 1

Auditions for Gaslight will be held Feb. 27- March 1 in the Phi Mu Alpha room (in the basement of the Toner Student Center). Performances will be March 13-14. For more information, contact Kaitlin Depuydt, kadepu05@smumn.edu.

SMU in the news

Here is a recent mention of SMU “making the news” — in the Winona area and beyond.

• The Winona Daily News ran an article titled, “Drink it up” Feb. 9 inviting the public to decorate drinking fountains and detailing SMU events in connection with the project.

Daffodil orders due next week

Daffodil orders can be turned in until Feb. 17 (during break), or order online until Feb. 19.

Support the American Cancer Society’s programs of research, education, advocacy and vital patient services by purchasing some of these bright spring flowers, which serve as a symbol of hope.

This year’s Boyd's™ exclusive, limited-edition bear is Carrie N. Hope. She is available through the “Bear Hugs for Hope” (through which a bear will be delivered anonymously to a child at an area cancer center for $25) or “Bear and a Bunch,” (through which the bear and 10 daffodils will be delivered to you for $25).

“Dainty Daffodils” return this year. Plant bulbs outside in fall to enjoy again in your garden next spring, or regrow indoors. — $15

Also available are:

“Bunch of 10” daffodils — $10; “Vase and a Bunch” — $12; “Gift of Hope Bouquet” (bouquet of open flowers in vase delivered anonymously to a local cancer patient) — $25; and “Sunshine Bouquet” (a vibrant arrangement of 6 bouquets and fresh greenery presented in a glass vase) — $75.

Order online at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/smuwinona or contact Sylvia Pflughoeft, spflugho@smumn.edu, Campus Box 17, Ext. 1455.

Payment is required with your order. Make checks payable to the American Cancer Society, and please don’t send cash through campus mail.

Daffodils will be delivered on the Winona Campus during the week of March 9.

Reminder: No ‘Campus Notes’ next week

Look ahead on your calendars. Because of February break, there will be no “Campus Notes” next week. The deadline for the Feb. 27 edition is Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Saint Mary’s Chamber Singers to perform in Provence Feb. 19-22

The Chamber Singers of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota will perform in Provence, France as part of their 2009 concert tour.

The 24-voice select ensemble is directed by Dr. Patrick O’Shea, associate professor of music.

Tour performances will include concerts at:
• Cercle Naval de Toulon (Vauban) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, and
• Salle Tino Rossi, Les Pennes Mirabeau at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20.

The Chamber Singers will also serve as the guest choir for Mass at the Église de Notre-Dame de l’Assomption de Lambesc at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 22 (followed by a short concert).

All performances are free and open to the public. Repertoire will include a cappella works by Nystedt, Byrd, Debussy and Stanford; English madrigals; and a world premiere of Due Sonetti di Petrarca, composed by Dr. O’Shea especially for this tour.

A special homecoming concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels. For more information, call Ext. 1598.