Student-athletes honored for community service

For the second time in three years, Saint Mary’s student-athletes have been honored for their community service work.

Saint Mary’s is one of 19 NCAA Division III schools to receive this year’s National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators awards honoring community-service projects and activities.

Saint Mary’s athletes earned honorable-mention honors for their variety of different volunteer and service projects over the past year. Those efforts included raising money for cancer awareness/research; being role models for elementary and middle-school children through clinics and educational activities; collecting food and Christmas gifts for donation to charitable organizations; cleaning the campus and local community; and serving other students and student-athletes on the SMU campus.

“I am so proud of our student-athletes for their numerous volunteer activities,” said athletic director Nikki Fennern. “Nearly all of our over 300 student-athletes have participated in community service projects for the SMU community, Winona community, and beyond. They are committed to academic and athletic success, as well as to giving back to the community. Along with so many other students at Saint Mary’s, they are living the university’s mission.”

Alvernia College (one-time project/activity), UW-Stevens Point (an array of projects/activities) and Carleton College (on-going project/activity) earned top honors in the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators community service project categories.
SMU was among 16 other institutions that earned recognition in the program, which has honored Division III athletics programs’ community-service efforts annually since 2002. All of the institutions were recognized by NADIIIAA on Jan. 15 at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

The awards are presented in cooperation with the program’s exclusive sponsor, Jostens Inc. of Minneapolis, whose products include yearbooks, class rings, graduation products, school photography, and employee and achievement awards.

McCoy hired as centennial and special events director

In 2012, Saint Mary’s will mark its centennial with a yearlong celebration and special events. As we approach this landmark occasion, we are pleased to announce that Bridget McCoy has joined Saint Mary’s as the university's Director of Centennial and Special Events.

She is a key member of the Centennial Celebration Committee that began meeting last fall to plan and execute the year's activities.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, McCoy served as event coordinator with the McNamara Alumni Center at the U of M. In this position McCoy and a staff of five managed and executed more than 900 events annually. Previously, McCoy served as marketing coordinator for Gopher athletics.

McCoy feels a special affinity for Saint Mary’s as her father Lou McCoy ’79, brothers Rick ’08 and Mike McCoy ’10, as well as numerous uncles and aunts are alums. Additionally, her mother, Margaret (Stringham ’80) McCoy, is an alum of the College of Saint Teresa.

‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ nears

Can you spell hilarious? The Department of Theatre and Dance will present “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” Feb. 24-27.

Catchy musical numbers combine with colorful characters filled with youthful angst and yearnings in this one-act musical comedy directed by Dr. Gary Diomandes and music director Judy Myers.

Feel the anxious anticipation at this fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. The contestants include a Boy Scout, an allergy-plagued student, an over achiever, a tentative newcomer, the wide-eyed offspring of hippie parents, and a politically aware contestant — six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grownups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” spotlights the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

With the underlying theme that losing doesn’t make you a loser, anyone who sees this show is a winner.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 24-26, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $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.

* This show includes adult language and subject matters.

Page Series presents Ensemble Galilei with Conan

The Page Series will present an evening of wonder and delight featuring Ensemble Galilei with Neal Conan in “Universe of Dreams” Thursday, Feb. 3.

This unique show will combine a live performance of early Celtic and European folk music mixed with the written word from poets, philosophers and storytellers — read aloud by one of America’s best known radio voices, Neal Conan, host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation (heard locally on both Minnesota Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio). The performance includes images, captured by the Hubble space telescope, that have transformed our understanding of the universe.

Ensemble Galilei takes its name and inspiration from the life of composer Vincenzo Galilei, whose influence, some 400 years ago, helped restore a vital element of passion to the music of the day. Including both classically-trained and traditional musicians, the ensemble infuses ancient music with a spirit of improvisation and liveliness. Text from Stanley Kunitz, Jim Harrison, William Shakespeare, and a re-telling of a Navajo Creation Myth will be included. Anyone who enjoys music, language or the sciences will want to attend.

The event, which will begin at 7:30 p.m., will be held in Page Theatre.

Wisconsin Public Radio is the media sponsor of this event.

Saint Mary’s University is a fiscal year 2010 recipient of an Institutional Presenter Support grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 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.

Work of well-known illustrator William A. Berry on display

“The Eye Behind the Eye, the Art of William A. Berry” is on display at Saint Mary’s through Feb. 20.

The show, free and open to the public, is on display at the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

This retrospective exhibition celebrates the life and work of the internationally known artist, illustrator, author and teacher William A. Berry. This exhibit features a number of large colored pencil still life drawings for which he is perhaps best known. Also included in a variety of media are examples of themes including portraits, the human form and architectural motifs.

Berry’s rich professional career spanned nearly half a century. His book, “Drawing the Human Form: Methods, Sources, Concepts” is still a widely used textbook for illustration. Berry also worked as an illustrator for Newsweek, The Reporter, Opera News and Esquire. His work has appeared in more than 500 juried and solo exhibits.

A reception will be held Friday, Feb. 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the galleries. A presentation by Dr. John Whelan, SMU’s Department of Art and Design, and Valerie Wedel, Missouri Valley College, will take place at 6:15 p.m.

For more information, call Ext. 1652.

Theology hosts second Vineyard Colloquium

The Department of Theology will presents its second Vineyard Colloquium on Tuesday, Jan. 25. The lecture, “The Lay Vocation to Ecclesial Ministry,” will begin at 4 p.m. in the President’s Room of the Toner Center.

Guest speaker Todd Graff currently serves as the director of the Office of Ministry Formation for the Diocese of Winona.

A colloquium is a somewhat more informal, yet academic, conversation between scholars on a given topic. The Vineyard Colloquia give students a chance to hear from local and national scholars and practitioners in lay ecclesial ministry. The series is part of the Spirituality for the Vineyard program for students discerning lay ecclesial ministry.

The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact Dr. Susan Windley-Daoust at Ext. 4430.

Page Series presents Eisenhower Dance Ensemble

The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble will celebrate the music that made Motown famous in a razzle-dazzle evening of dance and music Saturday, Jan. 22, at Page Theatre.

Playful, humorous, and wonderfully theatrical, the performers will have audience members dancing in their seats — and out into the streets!

This visual salute to the tunes that rocked the Motor City includes a mix of dance vignettes to various Motown favorites, performed with electrifying energy. Motown in Motion will take audiences on a tour through five decades of Motown classics.

The program — designed to appeal to a diverse audience of all ages — will begin at 7:30 p.m. The performance provides an entertaining and historical look at Motown, a distinctly American artistic and cultural legacy.

The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, the Midwest’s premier contemporary dance company, was founded by artistic director Laurie Eisenhower in the summer of 1991 in metropolitan Detroit. Since its inception, the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has been dedicated to the performance of a diverse range of contemporary dance works.

Tickets for this Page Series performance are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students and are available at the Box Office, Ext. 1715, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or at www.pagetheatre.org.

Frozen River Film Festival screening is Jan. 23

As part of the Frozen River Film Festival, a screening of the documentary “FEAT” will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, at Saint Mary’s.

The documentary chronicles Tim Borland’s coast-to-coast quest to run 63 marathons in 63 days for kids battling the rare, terminal disease ataxia telangiectasia, or A-T.

This cause is particularly meaningful to the Saint Mary’s University community as Taylor Richmond, son of Saint Mary’s Campus Ministry and Student Activities staff member Nikki Richmond (and her husband Nick Richmond) was diagnosed with A-T as a young boy. The annual Taylor Richmond Benefit Dance at SMU was named in his honor. The Richmonds live in Cochrane, Wis.

The makers of this film, Deborah and Bradley Carr, are both seasoned television and documentary producers. They met in college, where they were also introduced to their first A-T family. The couple collaborated to produce the first A-T Children’s Project Telethon at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2000. The eight-hour live broadcast served to educate the surrounding community about ataxia-telangiectasia, while simultaneously raising funds to support research. The telethon has become an annual event at the university.

The screening – free and open to the public – will be held in Figliulo Recital Hall. A panel discussion, including Taylor Richmond, will be held following the film.

For more information about this documentary, go to www.featmovie.com.

The Frozen River Film Festival is scheduled for the last week of January. This event identifies and offers programs that engage, educate and activate viewers to become involved in the world. These programs provide a unique perspective on environmental issues, sustainable communities, extreme sports, adventure travel and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in the local media. For information about other events, go to http://frff.org.

Public invited to ‘SMU 10K’ ski events Sunday, Jan. 30

Saint Mary’s is inviting the public to the annual “SMU 10K” classic ski event on Sunday, Jan. 30. A classic-style citizens ski event will begin at 10 a.m., and a skate race will begin at 1 p.m.

A kids race will start at the gazebo at 11 a.m. Approximately 75 to 100 kids from the Minnesota Youth Ski League are expected to participate.

“We’re very fortunate to have an excellent trail system here that is both scenic, as well as challenging," said Chris Kendall, vice president of student life.

Both races will be held at Saint Mary’s University, home to one of the region’s finest cross country trail systems. The trails wind through the bluffs and valleys above the Mississippi River.

The event is open to the public.

On-site registration will begin at 8 a.m. for the classic ski and 11 a.m. for the skate race, both at the SMU Toner Student Center. The cost is $10 for one race or $20 for both; the fee includes a souvenir race bib. Medals will be awarded for men and women in open and recreational classes.

For more information or to receive a registration form, call Gary Borash at Ext. 8740 or e-mail gmbora05@smumn.edu.

Relay for Life scheduled for March 18-19

On Friday, March 18, Saint Mary's will be hosting its fourth annual Relay for Life event. Relay for Life is a 12-hour relay held in celebration for cancer survival and a way to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

All those within in the Winona community who have survived cancer, or who have extended family and friends that are survivors are invited to participate in the Victory Lap in the RAC. This lap is a moment to recognize those attending survivors while they take the first lap of the night. This lap sets the tone for the night, focusing on a celebration of courage while motivating walking participants.

There will also be a special survivors’ reception in honor of all those survivors attending the event.

For more information, contact Kaitlin at kmwerm07@smumn.edu.

Film screening scheduled for next biology seminar

The Biology’s Seminar Series will be screening the acclaimed documentary film “Red Gold” in Hoffman Hall, Room 112, on Thursday, Jan., 27 at 4:15 p.m.

“Red Gold” explores the issue of future mining in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is home to the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers, two of the most prolific sockeye salmon producers in the world.

Competitors needed for annual chili cookoff

The competition’s getting hot!

No beans about it, this is a great fundraiser!

The Volunteer Committee invites you to test your award-winning chili in the upcoming faculty/staff chili cookoff on Friday, Feb. 4.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries!

Please let Deb Nahrgang (Ext. 6966 or dnahrgan@smumn.edu) know if you plan to enter the contest, so we can be sure we have enough to go around! If 10 competitors do not sign up, the event will need to be cancelled.

Chili makers should bring their “unmarked” crockpot to the Common Room by 11 a.m. for judging. Everyone is invited to eat chili between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Desserts, beverages and side dishes will also be provided.

History book prizes announced for fall 2010

Since 1995, the Department of History has awarded book prizes to recognize students for outstanding work in history courses. The following students were chosen for their work during fall semester:

Alycia Wojahn and Rim Woldeslassie won the book prizes for H125 Europe and the World.

Rachel Peterson, Peter McColl, and John Soucheray were honored for their good work in the H150 American Experience sections.

The book prize for H250 Historical Thinking was won by Anna Sonday, who also won the prize for H335 Environmental History.

David Spriegel won the book prize for H333 Reformation and Alison Hill was recognized for her good work in H367 Europe in the Era of World War.

Congratulations to all from the history faculty.

Cardinal Corner reports successful first semester

The Cardinal Corner had a successful first semester at SMU! Thanks to everyone who supported MG315 Entrepreneurship’s small business venture. Profits from the student-run business benefited the following organizations:

Athletic Department - $95
Christ the Teacher Institute - $60
Men's Hockey - $82.50
Paintball Club - $40
Rugby Club - $254
Volunteer Committee - $12

Additionally, $500 was donated in support of the Taylor Richmond Benefit Dance, the class choice for the Fall 2010 semester charity.

The Cardinal Corner is a non-profit retail store located in the lower level of the Toner Student Center. Managed by the students of MG315 Entrepreneurship and supported by the School of Business, the mission of the store is to create an opportunity for entrepreneurship students to gain hands-on experience in operating a small business.

Each semester, the class donates profits from the Cardinal Corner to a charity of their choice. In addition, the store sells products for various SMU clubs, teams, departments, and organizations and returns 100 percent of the sales to benefit the SMU community.

For more information, contact the professor, Jana Craft, at Ext. 1491 or jcraft@smumn.edu. Become a fan and receive the latest updates at www.facebook.com/cardinalcorner.

Women’s basketball celebrates the ‘pink zone’ Feb. 12

The women’s basketball team will join forces with teams across the country when they play for a cure to celebrate the “pink zone!”

Game time is 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12, vs. Carleton College (The men’s game will follow at 3 p.m.) Everyone is encouraged to wear pink to the game.

Games People Play out of La Crosse, Wis., has teamed up with SMU women’s basketball to help fundraise for breast cancer awareness. Pink T-shirts are available for $10 each with all proceeds being donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund TM.

If you would like to purchase a T-shirt or make a donation, e-mail Coach Mandy Pearson at mpearson@smumn.edu by Feb. 1 with your name and size(s) of the T-shirt(s) you would like. Donations will be accepted at the game as well.

Environmental Awareness Center open on weekends

The Environmental Awareness Center will be open between 1 and 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays to check out cross country ski equipment. It is located next to the Clock Tower on the top floor of the Power Plant.

There is no charge for students, but an SMU ID is needed to check the equipment out.

Contact Brother John Grover in Administrative Computing, Ext. 1404, if you need skis.

Tristano publishes article on Boiardo

Richard Tristano, Professor of History, has published an article titled “Reading Boiardo: On Chivalry, Text, and Context,” in the 2009/2010 issue of Allegorica. In the article he argues for the importance of context in understanding both Boiardo’s poetic and historical texts. He points out the political and social importance of chivalric activity at the Ferrarese court and Boiardo’s conviction that chivalry could provide the basis for a more just and peaceful society.

Online iT HelpDesk Request form now available

Have you ever needed to submit a technology issue to the iT HelpDesk at SMU but did not have access to a phone or WebMail?

There is now another option — the Online iT HelpDesk Request form.

Visit courses.smumn.edu and:

• Click the SMU Services tab.
• Click the “Submit a HelpDesk Request” link in the HelpDesk Services box.
• Fill out the appropriate information on the form for type of customer, username, type of issue. (Choose one option that best fits your situation.)
• Type in a detailed description of your issue or request. The details are critical to an effective resolution. Please provide an alternate email address and a contact phone number to allow us to contact you more efficiently if necessary.

As with any incident logged to the HelpDesk, you should receive an e-mail confirmation that your request was created (logged) and assigned to an iT technician along with the description you provided.

iT and HelpDesk staff review HelpDesk incidents daily and strive to act on each one within 24 hours. You may be contacted for further details as necessary.

HelpDesk Tips:

• Try the “Click here…” link on the WebTools login screen if you have a password issue.
• WebTools password changes effect Webmail, Blackboard, MED website, and Library or network login. Not all users have WebMail or MED accounts. The password changes for all SMU accounts you have. WebMail may take a few minutes to process.
• Initial Blackboard password is not the same as WebTools. Please “Change SMU Passwords” in WebTools to set your SMU passwords to be the same.
• Contact the HelpDesk 800-635-5987, Ext. 7800 or email helpdesk@smumn.edu if you do not receive the confirmation e-mail within a day.

Heukeshoven article featured on music notation website

A brief history and tutorial on making computers “sing” is featured this week on the Sibeliusblog — a website that highlights interesting stories about how Sibelius music notation software is being used in a wide variety of contexts.

The article, written by SMU music instructor A. Eric Heukeshoven, offers a brief history of making computers “sing” and a detailed tutorial on using state-of-the-art software to create realistic playback of choral music.

The article can be found at: www.sibeliusblog.com/tutorials/sibelius-sings-with-ewql-symphonic-choirs/#more-1624.

Jazz notes

Swing Inc. will perform 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, at Signature’s Restaurant.

Frozen River Walk to be held Feb. 5 at Aghaming Park

The fourth annual Frozen River Walk is scheduled for 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, at Aghaming Park and Preserve. The Mississippi River Revival will host a 90-minute walk with Richie Swanson.

Bring kids and warm boots and learn more about wildlife habitat. For more information, contact Richie Swanson, (507) 454-8478.

Sympathy to Kleist family

Vicki Kleist, a 1998 graduate of graduate of Saint Mary’s, died Sunday, Jan. 16, from complications of Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, Type IV.

A wake will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. today, Friday, Jan. 21, at Hoff Funeral Home, 780 North Mill Street, Rushford, Minn.

The funeral will take place on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 1 p.m. at Rushford Lutheran Church, 101 S. Mill Street, Rushford. There will be an hour of visitation before the funeral service.

Cards of condolence can be sent to:

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kleist
26042 Kleist Drive
Rushford, MN 55971

The Saint Mary’s community extends its sympathy to the Kleist family.