Sights of the season

The past few weeks have been filled with holiday festivities. Check out a few pictures of our students, faculty and staff enjoying this joyous season from the Christmas Light Service, the pre-finals breakfast, and Lessons and Carols at www.smumn.edu/photos.

Christmas dinner is Dec. 17

The annual faculty and staff Christmas dinner will be Tuesday, Dec. 17. Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails will begin at 6 p.m. in the dining room, followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

Saint Mary’s music professors travel to Cuba

The former and current directors of jazz studies  will travel to Havana, Cuba, along with a delegation of musicians, composers and educators to interact with the contemporary Cuban music scene.

Dr. John Paulson, professor emeritus, and A. Eric Heukeshoven, assistant professor of music, will join a group sponsored by the American Composers Forum from Dec. 15-22 for a one-week research program to Cuba. The trip marks the first time a group of this type will be allowed to study with renowned Cuban musicians. Of special interest to the two SMU professors will be full access to the Havana International Jazz Festival.

During the intensive weeklong visit, the delegates will attend concerts, workshops, open rehearsals, and networking events, as well as tour Havana to enjoy its rich cultural history.

For more information, contact A. Eric Heukeshoven at Ext. 7292 or eheukesh@smumn.edu.

Explore the comedic side of science with Doktor Kaboom

Audiences will explode with laughter as Doktor Kaboom takes the stage during the Page Series offering Thursday, Jan. 16.

The event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in Page Theatre, creatively blends theatre arts with the wonders of scientific exploration. Doktor Kaboom keeps his crowds riveted with interest and rolling with laughter. Join him for a sidesplitting journey of increasingly spectacular, and often successful, experiments and demonstrations. Using masterful improvisational skills, the artist takes his audience on an amusing tour of the modern scientific method while demonstrating spectacular applications of the physical sciences.

Doktor Kaboom is the creation of actor/comedian David Epley, who says he has been fortunate enough to discover two passions in his life. His first, science, took him to studies at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. His second, performing, became his career, and for 20 years Epley has made his living writing, performing and directing original interactive comedy across the U.S. and Canada. He now brings his passions together with an explosive style that refuses to allow his audiences time to catch a breath.

Tickets are $14 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and are available at the SMU Box Office Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., 457-1714, or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

Reception for Brother Paulos is Friday

Faculty and staff are invited to an informal reception for Brother Paulos Mesmer, FSC, director of Christ the Teacher Institute for Education, Nairobi, Kenya, will be 2 to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, in Saint Mary’s Hall, Rooms 115 and 123. Hors d’oeuvres and hot apple cider will be served. African art and jewelry will be available at huge discounts.

Cardinal Corner completes record semester

Members of "Team Hats" describe their experiences selling stocking caps in the Cardinal Corner.

It was a real-life lesson in profit margins as well as the spending habits of target consumers … fellow college students.

On Dec. 11, students from MG315 Entrepreneurship summarized the incomes and expenditures of their semester projects. These students, broken into smaller groups, had chosen five new products to sell at the Cardinal Corner, a small not-for-profit retail shop located in the basement of the Toner Student Center. The students chose to sell a vintage-style Saint Mary’s College shirt, stress footballs, stocking hats, tote bags and cancer awareness shirts.

Their goal was simple: Make money.

This semester, the cohort not only broke even on their inventory investment of $2,000, but Michael Ratajczyk, assistant professor of business, also announced that this semester’s cohort also broke records in both revenue generated and profit margin from their products. The Cardinal Corner brought in over $2,300 in revenue and had a profit margin over 40 percent, breaking records by over $1,000 and 800 basis points of margin.

The students were assessed based upon two commonly used financial metrics within industry:  GMROI and Inventory Turns.  GMROI stands for Gross Margin Return on Inventory and is used to study cash flow performance.  It is commonly used to protect companies from spending too much cash on a particular product.  Inventory Turns is a metric that reports how many times per year a product would sell out if it was sold throughout the year.

The team that won the Inventory Turns performance was “Team Hats,” which sold a red, black, and white stocking cap. Their “turns” score was 10.4, which means that the hats would sell out 10 times per year.  Ratajczyk explains that a score of 10 is highly desired by any business because it essentially means a business is selling out of all its inventory every five weeks. Team members include: Michael Burfeind, Ron Enrooth, Jakub Koziuk, Jen Tobroxen and Jamal Arnold.

The team that won the GMROI performance was “Team Shoot Pass Cure Shirts,” which sold a stylish pink shirt that brings awareness to breast cancer. Their GMROI score was 0.43, which means that for every $1 of cash invested in inventory, the team not only earned back that dollar, but also earned an additional 43 cents. Team members include: Sarah Mills, Lucas Kubic, Otto Holzer, Cody Sprague and Tyler Krysiak.

“I am very pleased with the results of this semester and I am proud of the students.  They worked hard,” Ratajczyk said. “The students learned firsthand how difficult it can be to start a business and break even. They not only broke even, but did so by breaking sales and profit records with style.”

Jennifer Tobroxen of “Team Hats” said, “It was a great hands-on experience in learning about what types of target markets buy what kinds of products. I enjoyed the opportunities that the Cardinal Corner gave me as a business major.”

Funds from this semester will be donated to the First-Generation Initiative at Saint Mary’s.

Conservatory news

On Wednesday, Jan. 8, from 4 to 6 p.m., the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts will conduct its winter 2014 registration open house.

Here are five great reasons to attend:

•    It’s a great opportunity to visit the facility, tour the studios and classrooms, and meet the talented instructors and staff.
•    The dance attire boutique will be open and staff will be fitting students and taking orders for all of the dance classes.
•    Visitors can learn more about programming including some great new opportunities.
•    Guests can learn more about hands-on volunteer opportunities.

Additionally, the new winter semester 2014 catalog is now available. Classes run from Jan. 13 through March 29. New programming is offered, and registrations are now being accepted. Some offerings include:

•    Teen and Adult Ballet will be taught by director of dance Tammy Schmidt this semester.
•    There are new Art Division classes including Drawing 102 for Children and Drawing 101 for Adult Workshops.
•    Dance programming in Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Tap with new course divisions.
•    Private music lessons with talented teaching artists.
•    New adult wellness class discounts and packages.
•    Advanced training for those serious about dance with an additional Ballet V/VI/VII class.
•    New adult wellness classes include Mindfulness, Introduction to Guitar, Teen and Adult Tap, and Belly Dancing for Beginners!

Interested students may registration online, by mail, or in person at MCA’s Valéncia Arts Center.

Class days, times and tuition vary. Financial need-based scholarships are available. For a brochure and a complete listing, visit www.mnconservatoryforthearts.org, e-mail mca@smumn.edu, “like” them on Facebook, or call 453-5500. 

Interested students may register online, by mail, or in person at MCA’s Valéncia Arts Center, 1164 W. 10th St.

The Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts offers programming in Dance, Music, Visual Art, and Theatre, year-round. Classes, lessons, workshops, and camps are offered for ages 3 to adult at the Valéncia Arts Center located at 1164 West 10th Street, Winona.

Silent auction in Admission ends today

The eighth annual Breast Cancer Silent Auction continues until 3 p.m. today in the Admission Office.

Contact Suzanne Deranek with any questions.

All-campus student work on display in art galleries

The All-Campus Undergraduate Art Exhibition is on display in the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries.

This juried exhibition is always highly anticipated by both students and faculty, as entry is open to all students, not just art and design majors. This year there are more than 75 entries from students majoring in human services, computer science, education, music industry, literature, theatre arts, Spanish, biology, chemistry, English, entrepreneurship, criminal justice, psychology, art studio, business, graphic design and environmental biology.

Vondracek publishes story

Christopher Vondracek, English Department, had a story titled “My rural Minnesota childhood with cats named Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach” published on MPR Classical’s website: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/12/05/classical-cats.

Lieder, Tadie are performing in Dancing with Winona Stars

The fifth annual Dancing with the Winona Stars will take place Tuesday, Dec. 31, at Winona State University’s McCown Gymnasium. The New Year’s Eve event will feature seven individual stars, eight groups of stars and The Dweebs.

Terri Lieder, Marketing and Communication Office, and Dr. Joe Tadie, Philosophy Department, will be performing. Lieder is dancing with M.P. and the History Hotties, raising money for the Winona County Historical Society, and Tadie is dancing for Project FINE. They have been training with professional dance instructors for several months.

There will be a panel of judges who will critique each performance. Each will be scored on several criteria. The winner is determined based upon a combination of 50 percent dance score and 50 percent votes raised.

Votes can be cast at any time, for $1 per vote, up to the end of the event. Checks for the votes should be made out directly to the charity.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 per person (which includes late night hors d’oeuvres, the show and The Dweebs’ performance.

Tables, which allow for reserved seating for eight, are $350 per table. For more information, go to www.dancingwithwinonastars.com.

This is last ‘Campus Notes’ of the year

Look ahead on your calendars. This is the last issue of “Campus Notes” for 2013. After break, the first issue will come out Jan. 17. The deadline for that issue will be Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Sympathy to Cada, Healey families

Sandra “Sandee” Burt, mother of John Cada (maintenance), mother-in-law of Vickie Cada (development and alumni relations), and aunt of Tammy Vondrasek (financial aid), died Saturday. 

Tom Healey, former director and administrator in the M.S. in Nurse Anesthesia program recently passed away in Arizona. Tom was one of the founding members of the Twin Cities campus in his role at the Abbott Northwestern Hospital system. He contributed to the establishment of 2500 Park Avenue as a home for SGPP in the early 1980s and continued to serve in many capacities until his official retirement a few years ago. In addition to his time with the M.S. in Nurse Anesthesia program, he served many SGPP roles including co-chair of the Curriculum Committee, director of the Surgical Technology Certificate, HLC Criterion Committee co-chair, a representative on several SMU strategic planning committees, and countless other task forces and committees.

The Saint Mary’s community extends its sympathy to the Cada and Healey families.