Saint Mary’s to host panel discussion on food insecurity

Under-Told Stories journalist Fred de Sam Lazaro to report on trip to East Africa

The public is invited to experience a real and emotional taste of the dire conditions of East Africa during a discussion on “From the Famine Frontline: The Complex Issue of Food Security” Thursday, Nov. 17, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Salvi Hall.

Fred de Sam Lazaro, director of the “Under-Told Stories Project” and a correspondent for PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and his team will have recently returned from the famine frontlines of East Africa. Joined by other panelists, de Sam Lazaro invites the public to participate in a discussion about how to feed a complex world whose population will climb to 9 billion by mid-century.

“East Africa’s crisis demands our immediate attention but the famine’s causes are a deep and complex web of economics, politics, conflict, climate uncertainty and social indifference — a threat that could persist well into the future,” he said.

The event will be moderated by Jon Sawyer, executive director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Other panelists will include Dr. David Lynch, chair of the SMU Department of Social Science, and Sharon Schmickle, foreign affairs and science correspondent for MinnPost.com.

For more information, go to www.smumn.edu/foodinsecurityforum.

The event is sponsored by Saint Mary’s, the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership and the Under-Told Stories Project, in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

The “Under-Told Stories Project,” sponsored by and in partnership with Saint Mary’s, shares stories from some of the world’s most remote locations through PBS NewsHour and other media organizations. The partnership brings de Sam Lazaro to the university’s Minneapolis campus, provides new learning opportunities to Saint Mary’s students, and is intended to raise awareness for the local ramifications of global issues.

Kirk to give piano performance Nov. 6

Pianist Ned Kirk will interpret Beethoven and other renowned composers during a recital Sunday, Nov. 6, at Page Theatre.

The program — which will begin at 3 p.m. — will include works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Nikolai Medtner, Max Reger, Frederic Rzewski and Nikolai Kapustin.

Kirk has performed extensively in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia. Upcoming engagements include recitals with legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis, a second State Department-sponsored tour of Kenya, and recitals and master classes in the U.S., Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

Kirk is known locally as the artistic and managing director of the Minnesota Beethoven Festival and as a professor of piano at Saint Mary’s.

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

Halloween Fun Night draws hundreds to campus

Hundreds of elementary and preschool children from Winona attended the 12th annual Saint Mary’s Halloween Fun Night Monday, Oct. 24. The event was sponsored by the Office of Residence Life. To see a few pictures from the event, go to www.smumn.edu/photos.

Page Series presents ‘Letters Home’ Nov. 1

Letters written by soldiers serving in the Middle East will come to life during the next Saint Mary’s Page Series event — “Letters Home”— at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, in Page Theatre.

This Griffin Theatre production is a powerful portrait of the soldier experience. It’s inspired by the New York Times op-ed article, “The Things They Wrote” and the subsequent HBO documentary, “Last Letters Home.” Additional letters and correspondences come from Frank Schaeffer’s books, “Voices From the Front,” “Letters Home From America’s Military Family,” “Faith of Our Sons,” and “Keeping Faith.”

These letters were written under the most difficult of circumstances: the disorientation of training, deployment, separation from family and loved ones and combat, and occupation duties in Afghanistan and Iraq. The production uses minimal props and set pieces to dramatize the letters. Photos and video used in the production are taken directly from actual soldiers’ blogs and websites.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and are available online at www.pagetheatre.org or at the Box Office, Ext. 1715 Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Area schools are invited to a special matinee performance at 10 a.m.

Saint Mary’s students, staff, alumni volunteer in community

Saint Mary's alumni and students volunteered at a Habitat for Humanity build in Winona.

Saint Mary's students volunteered with Winona Health

In recognition of national “Make a Difference Day” and “Lasallian Day of Service,” about 300 Saint Mary’s students, alumni and staff volunteered their time Saturday, Oct. 22, throughout Winona — as well as in Chicago and the Twin Cities areas.

About 160 SMU student volunteers assisted locally at the Habitat Restore, Habitat for Humanity, Winona Health, the Salvation Army, the Winona Area Humane Society, area churches and schools, as well as residences — 38 locations in all.

“Make a Difference Day” is the most encompassing national day of helping others, a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. Created by USA WEEKEND magazine, this annual event takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October.

Saint Mary’s alumni also came together in service to others Oct. 22 as part of the annual “Lasallian Day of Service.” Alumni helped out in the Twin Cities, Chicago and Winona, working with projects such as Feed My Starving Children and Arc’s Value Village in the Twin Cities; Feed My Starving Children, St. Procopius School and a San Miguel School in Chicago; and Habitat for Humanity in Winona.

Veterans Day ceremony planned for Nov. 11

On Nov. 11, in recognition of Veterans Day — an annual holiday observed in honor of those who have served the U.S. armed forces — a small ceremony will be held at the Veterans Memorial beginning at 11 a.m. Dr. Bill Crozier, university archivist, has put together a video tribute for the occasion, and members of the choir will perform. A prayer remembrance will be held for all those who have served and sacrificed in the U.S. armed forces, especially those from the Saint Mary’s community. A reception will be held in the Toner Student Center following the ceremony.

News from Nairobi

This article was written by Joseph Muiruri and edited by Father Michael Kirwen, director, of the Maryknoll Institute for African Studies in Nairobi.

The Maryknoll Institute of African Studies (MIASMU) has so far recommended the conferring of a Master of Arts in African Studies degree to three of its students this academic year.

The first student, Apollinaire Munyampundu from Rwanda, dwelt on job creation through small-scale informal sector called (jua kali) ‘hot sun’. He highlights problems that hinder the sector from creating more employment opportunities such as inadequate capital, lack of experts, innovation shortcomings, advertising, dumping of imports, and lack of government support.

The second student, Solomon Ameh Eche from Nigeria, wrote a thesis that explores the understanding and promotion of socio-economic development through cultural values among the Maasai of Kajiado North in Kenya. It looks at what the Maasai understand by socio-economic development and the extent to which the government and the development partners have integrated socio-economic development with the Maasai cultural values. The study showed that this integrated socio-economic development among the Maasai is often hindered by the individualistic attitudes of the youth, educated and business people.

The third student, Jiodio Tsafack Marius from Cameroon, had a captivating thesis on the Abalogoli of Western Kenya and their concept of immortality. For one to be immortal, i.e., live on after death, one must have been morally upright while living. People living with HIV/AIDS are seen as immoral and therefore are denied immortality. The researcher explores whether the Abalogoli will eventually change this belief in view of new understandings about HIV/AIDS and how it is contracted.

What is unique about these theses, a specialty of the MIAS program, is that they are based on the data obtained by professional-quality field research entailing at least 150 field interviews.

The Cardinal Corner is open for business

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.

This semester, all non-club related profits will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the largest health agency devoted to blood cancers. They supply funding for cancer research all around the world, and provide free information for support services. Their mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s, and myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and families.

New items added this semester include:
• SMU MUTTS Frisbees and shirts
• Winona Knits and Mitts mittens
• Trendy and affordable neon sunglasses
• Cardinal Pride athletic shorts - with pockets!
• A Brother Stephen shirt - coming soon! (You’ll love the design and quote!)

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

Fall 2011 hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Wednesdays.

Illuminated Manuscript project on display at Fitzgerald Library

Jeunesse Rutledge

Aaron Henry

In conjunction with the completion of the handwritten St. John’s Bible in Collegeville, Minn., Fitzgerald Library now has on display handwritten pages and drawings of Bible verses completed by Saint Mary’s students.

Dr. Christian Michener’s students in the Lasallian Honors Program were asked to choose a few verses from the Psalms and compose their own “Kells” page, based on the original Book of Kells, a 9th century Irish illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels.

Students had several weeks of practice to learn the calligraphy, and then — through careful measuring, some research and imagination, a little tracing, and hours of their own effort (and frustration) — managed to produce their own version of a page of the book, copying as best they could the decorative Celtic style of the original Kells.

It wasn’t easy, but it was admittedly easier than the monks’ efforts: their lapis lazuli, a brilliant blue, arrived from Afghanistan, whereas that of the students came in packages of magic marker.

The display runs through the semester and can be seen on the main floor of the Fitzgerald Library near the reference librarian’s desk.

Library Mystery Night a spooky success

The second annual “Library Mystery Night” was, by all accounts, a big success. The action commenced in a darkened Fitzgerald Library on Friday, Oct. 21, at 9 p.m. In this ghostly setting, six teams (three students per team) braved “unspeakable horrors” in their attempts to locate the “missing student.” Witches, ghosts, goblins, and even a man-eating spider all were on hand.

The winning team was Bernadette Acocella, Devin Sigulinsky, and Kelly May. The Mystery @ the Fitz was a great time. Thanks to all who attended and those who volunteered their time to make it a success

Get set to scream at annual Saint Mary's Walk of Horror

This year’s Walk of Horror is again guaranteed to give you goosebumps. New scares are planned around every corner.

The 15th annual hair-raising fundraiser for the SMU Cardinal fastpitch softball team will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 29-31 in the SMU bluffs. Walkers meet on the lighted path between the SMU baseball and softball fields, where the haunted walk will begin.

Groups are then escorted through the dark bluffs surrounding the SMU campus for approximately 20 minutes.

The cost is $5 for adults, $4 for students with ID, and $4 for children 12 and younger. Tickets are available at the gate.

SMU head fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller said the event is fun for all ages. The scare level is toned down for younger children and turned up for groups bold enough to face their fears. Last year more than 1,100 brave souls took SMU’s Walk of Horror.

Proceeds from this event will be used for the softball team’s travel expenses. For more information, contact Miller at Ext. 457-6923.

Oktoberfest lunch raises $325 for CTIE

The Oktoberfest lunch, held Oct. 20, raised $325.33 for Christ the Teacher Institute for Education in Nairobi. Thanks go to all participants, including Chartwells.

Michigan artist displays work in ‘These Things Happen’

Unique paintings by Michigan artist Andrew Rieder depict human struggles in the upcoming art show “These Things Happen” on display through Nov. 13 at the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries.

Rieder, a stencil artist, describes his work as visual metaphors for ongoing human struggles.

Rieder is an art instructor at Delta College in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay Region.

The Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily and are free and open to the public.

Final Chemistry Night is Nov. 3

Many area high school juniors and seniors will perform hands-on chemistry projects during upcoming Chemistry Night at Saint Mary’s University, which will run 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3.

Chemistry Night is an annual event designed to help students explore the discipline of chemistry and appreciate the positive role that chemistry plays in our everyday world.

Each year students solve a challenging but fun chemical problem. Students will work in small teams, using wet chemistry and working with chemical instrumentation in the SMU Department of Chemistry, under the guidance of SMU chemistry majors.

Eight area schools and approximately 50 students are participating this year.

For more information, contact Dr. Brett Bodsgard at Ext. 6972.

Blue Angel 2011 scheduled for Nov. 4-5

The SMU annual music variety show Blue Angel is planned for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5. Mark your calendars!

Oldie Moldies to perform at Signatures Nov. 12

Catch dinner and a show with the Oldie Moldie All-Stars Saturday, Nov. 12, at Visions Event Center.

Rock along to your favorite ’50s, ’60s and ’70s tunes while you enjoy a menu of house salad, pan-seared Canadian walleye fillet, wild rice pilaf, mixed vegetables, caper tarter sauce, rolls and butter, and strawberry shortcake. A chicken or pasta option is available by reservation.

The Oldies are members of the national music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at Saint Mary’s. The group consists of 11 talented and engaging singers and band members.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and dinner will be served at 7 p.m.; the Oldies will perform two sets, one at 6:30 p.m., and a second at 7:45 p.m.

The price for the dinner and show is $32 per person; reservations can be made now through Nov. 10 by calling Signatures at (507) 454-3767. Payment is accepted at time of reservation.

Visions Event Center is located at Signatures Restaurant, 22852 County Road 17 in Pleasant Valley.

Senior Class Auction nears

The 2011 Senior Class Silent Auction will be held Monday, Nov. 7, and Tuesday, Nov. 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Toner Game Room. The Silent Auction is a means for the senior class to fund the activities held throughout the year, specifically Senior Week.

Donations of merchandise, dinners, gift certificates, monetary donations, or any other items can be given to Laura Schmidt, director of Student Activities by Wednesday, Nov. 2.

Mayo program topic of next biology seminar

Sue Lehman from the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences will be talking about Mayo’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in Room 112 Hoffman Hall.

Jazz notes

Swing, Inc. will perform 6 to 9 p.m. today, Friday, Oct. 28, at Signature’s Restaurant.

‘A Confluence of Voices V’ planned for Nov. 4

Student poets from Saint Mary’s University and Winona State University will gather to read and share their original work at the Mugby Junction Coffee House, 451 Huff St., at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, for “A Confluence of Voices V.” Poets Ken McCullough (from SMU) and Jim Armstrong (from WSU) will host the event, which is open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own work to share.