The Yellow Sheet for Sept. 14, 2006September 14, 2006 | Volume 39, Number 2

News & Announcements

Nobel Conference Tickets Available... Complimentary Nobel Conference tickets are now available for Gustavus employees and students. Employees may request a ticket by contacting Dana Lamb in the Office of Marketing and Communication (dlamb@gustavus.edu or x7520). Students may pick up their tickets at the SAO ticket center with their student ID. Tickets for the Oct. 4 Nobel Banquet are also available in college relations for $25. For information about this year's conference, read below for the Continuing Education lecture or click here.

New at Linnaeus Arboretum... A lot of new things are happening at Linnaeus Arboretum. Here are some:

• Personnel includes Emily Beatty (2006 graduate) as naturalist in charge of the interpretation in the arboretum from conducting tours to the development of interpretive displays in the Interpretive Center; Shirley Mellema continues to support the arboretum, Environmental Studies, and Continuing Education; and Cindy Johnson-Groh is the director and will work on arboretum development, management, and outreach. Shirley may be reached at x6181 and Emily or Cindy at x7199.
  
• Throughout the semester there will be opportunities to participate in programs at the arboretum, including Fall Fest on Oct.6 where all are invited to build a scarecrow for the first annual Arboretum Scarecrow Contest.
  
• When using the center notice that the physical set up is reoriented. The south fireplace wall is now the front of the room and food will be on the east wall, leaving the back of the room (north wall by kitchen) free for arboretum staff who may need access to the room, the kitchen, or the bathrooms.
  
• Continuing education has an interesting line-up of programs for Fall Semester and all employees and students are encouraged to participate free of charge (unless the event includes a meal or a play, for which there are charges). To register for these events, which are published in this newsletter, call Shirley (x6181) by noon the day of the program. This fee waiver applies only to Gustavus employees -- family members and other non-Gustavus participants must register through the St. Peter Community Education Office (934-3048).
  

This year, long-term arboretum development plans, Interpretive Center usage policies, and continuing education programs will be reviewed and refined. Suggestions and ideas are welcome.

"Help Wanted" in the Diversity Center... The search for a Director of Multicultural Programs is well underway and several candidates for the position will likely be on campus for interviews in a couple of weeks. In the temporary absence of a director, the Student Affairs Division is seeking to ensure that the Diversity Center is "open for business" and that students feel supported in this environment. Anyone available to spend time in the Diversity Center -- conducting office hours, doing paperwork, etc. -- is asked to contact Assistant Dean of Students Patti Kelly (pkelly@gustavus.edu or x7582). A faculty and staff presence would demonstrate support to students who already find the Diversity Center a community space, and encourage others -- especially new students -- to drop in.

Gustavian Yearbook Distribution... Copies of the 2006 Gustavian yearbook will be distributed to everyone who pre-ordered one from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20 and Thursday, Sept. 21 in the lower level of the Campus Center. Yearbooks will also be available beginning Monday, Sept. 25 in the alumni office, lower level of the administration building.

APO Needs a Faculty Advisor... The Gustavus chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO), a national coed service fraternity, is looking for one more faculty advisor. APO values are service, leadership, and friendship, and it seeks to provide service to the campus, community, and nation by organizing events such as Gustavus' annual Relay for Life, Better World Book Drive, Trick or Canning, Faculty Appreciation Day, and Random Acts of Kindness Day. APO currently has 30 active members with a fall pledge class of at least 35 people. Anyone interested in being an advisor should contact Stacey Johnson (sjohnso8@gustavus.edu).

President's Corner

• Work to finish the next stage of strategic planning. A series of "strategic directions" has been forming over the last year. So far, these ideas are in various stages of development and have received various levels of review and critique. An Academic Planning Committee has proposed directions for the academic program; that's being discussed this year. New ideas for organizing around our Church relatedness will be developed further as will plans for continuing our commitment to diversity across campus and integrating all segments of student life with academic planning. Part of our planning work will include setting priorities for a next set of capital projects. The stadium and athletic fields project is already underway and discussions have begun on our next major building project, a new academic building. New directions are also being set for our fundraising efforts and for our outreach work. Responsibility for this kind of long-range strategic planning is embedded in the position description for the new Provost. In anticipation of that, Interim Dean Mariangela Maguire will coordinate the planning process.
  
• Further develop a strong, effective, and collaborative administrative leadership team -- a key component of shared governance. We'll have a substantially new administrative leadership team in place by the end of this academic year. The search for a new Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost is underway (and the appointment of 2 deans will follow shortly thereafter). We're also going to have a new Vice President for Marketing and Communication in place to lead efforts to significantly raise the visibility and recognition of Gustavus to the level it needs and truly deserves. I expect these new people, together with the "still new" VP for Admission and Financial Assistance Mark Anderson and the "old" Vice Presidents, to form a team with great capacity to help guide Gustavus into the future. Also, we will have important replacement leadership for the Diversity Center, the Annual Fund and related fundraising activities, and a Director of the Office of Church Relations. All these searches are now underway and all are very exciting opportunities for change and growth.
  
• Heightened energy and activity around some emerging campuswide themes or initiatives, namely environmental sustainability and energy conservation in part with the newly funded Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation; internationalizing the College (in part by Pat Quade, our interim director for International Education this year); leadership, a component of our mission and an important characteristic of a liberal arts education; and engagement.
  

The next steps for broader community involvement in thinking about the future will be clarified and scheduled over the next weeks. I hope you will choose to participate. We have before us the challenge of working and moving the College forward. Thank you all for being a part of creating a greater and greater Gustavus. Let's have a great year together!

Jim

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Chapel Schedule... All are invited to the worship services at 10 a.m. weekdays and 10:30 a.m. Sundays in Christ Chapel. The upcoming schedule is as follows:

• Sept. 17 --15th Sunday in Pentecost, Chaplain Brian Johnson
  
• Sept. 18 -- Chris Johnson, Luke 10: 38-49
  
• Sept. 19 -- Joyce Sutphen
  
• Sept. 20 -- Morning Praise
  
• Sept. 21 -- Chaplain Rachel Larson, Psalm 116: 1-9
  
• Sept. 22 -- Steven Bouma-Prediger, Colossians 1: 15-20
  
• Sept. 24 -- 16th Sunday in Pentecost, Chaplain Rachel Larson

Hillstrom Museum Hosts New Exhibit, Lectures... Two exhibitions are currently on view in the Hillstrom Museum of Art, "Architecture of Silence: Cistercian Abbeys of France (photographs by David Heald)" and "Highlights and Recent Acquisitions of the Hillstrom Museum of Art." They are scheduled through Nov. 5. In conjunction with Cistercian Abbey photographs, the following free, public events will take place:

• “Landscape and Place in Contemporary Photography” lecture by Toby Jurovics, curator of photography at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24 in Wallenberg Auditorium;
• “The Cistercian Life and Spirit” gallery talk by Deborah Goodwin (religion) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 in the museum; and
  
• “Photographing Architecture” lecture by David Heald, chief photographer at The Guggenheim Museum, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29 in Wallenberg Auditorium. Heald’s lecture and campus visit is presented with the support of a donation from Dawn Michael (’67) and with additional funds provided by the College’s Curriculum II Program.
  

An opening reception for both exhibitions will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3 during the Nobel Conference.

Piano Recital on Friday... R. Kent Cook, professor of piano at Illinois Wesleyan University, will present a guest artist recital at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15 in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall. Cook will perform the Preludes for the Piano by Claude Debussy. The two books of preludes, written in 1910 and 1913, include 24 separate works for piano. Following the recital, a reception will be held in the recital hall lobby. This event is free and open to the public.

Fienen Organ Recital Saturday... David Fienen (music) will present a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 in Christ Chapel. Fienen will present Bach's Piece d'Orgue, Buxtehude's Nun lob, mein Seel. Toccata, Aria and Fugue, a work by Jan Bender (the German composer with whom Fienen has studied and whose works he has published in the Commemorative Edition of the Organ Works of Jan Bender), Mozart's Allegro and Andante, and Cesar Franck's Grand Piece Symphonique, Opus 17. This recital is free and open to the public.

Cajun Concert Sept. 22... Expect high energy Cajun music from the prairies and bayous of South Louisiana by the award-winning band the New Riverside Ramblers the evening of Friday, Sept. 22 in Alumni Hall. Cajun dance lessons begin at 7 p.m. and the dance, or concert for those who just want to listen, begins at 7:30 p.m. Bring the kids for good old-fashioned family fun. Louisiana snacks will be available. Sponsored by the Diversity Center, the Office of International Education, and the Arts Center of St. Peter. Ticket prices are $10 for adults; $8 for Arts Center members; students and children are free. A Cajun/Creole dinner may be purchased prior to the event at the Market Place. Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact April Valentine (x7546 or avalenti@gustavus.edu).

Winterfeldt Organ Recital Sept. 22... Chad Winterfeldt (music) will present a recital of organ works at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22 in Christ Chapel. The program includes the Sonata No. 2 in C minor, op. 65 by Felix Mendelssohn, a Chorale Fantasia on Wie scha-n leuchtet die Morgenstern by Dietrich Buxtehude, Kairos by Arizona composer Pamela Decker, Choral No. 2 in B minor by Cesar Franck; and the Free Fantasia on O Zion Haste and How Firm a Foundation by modern ragtime composer William Bolcom.

Baumgartner Recital Sept. 24... Celebrate Mozart's 250th anniversary year by attending a recital of four of Mozart's four-hand (duet) sonatas, to be played by pianists Helen and Paul Baumgartner (both music) at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24 in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall. This recital is free and open to the public.

Continuing Ed Event on Ethiopia... The public is invited to "A Culinary Introduction to Ethiopia" at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25 at The Nile Cafe, 1015 Madison Ave., Mankato. Lencho Bati (geography) will present a brief talk on Ethiopia and then tempt participants' palates with traditional Ethiopian cuisine. The cost for the event is $20 per person and includes dinner. Pre-register with St. Peter Community and Family Education (934-3048). This event is a Gustavus continuing education program done in cooperation with St. Peter Community and Family Education.

Holocaust Lecture Sept. 28... "The Holocaust in Hungary as seen by a Contemporary German" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 in Olin Hall 103 by Doreen Eschinger. A Ph.D. candidate in history at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, Eschinger is currently a Sosland Foundation Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. She was a student and German teaching assistant at Gustavus during the 1999-2000 school year. Eschinger's visit is sponsored by the College's Drell and Adeline Bernhardson Chair in Lutheran Studies and the Campus Outreach Lecture Program of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, supported by the generosity of Marvin and Rose Lee Pomerantz. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Off-campus Events of Interest

Extraordinary People

Greg Aune (music), Mark Granquist (religion), and Amy Pehrson (vocational reflection) are representing Gustavus at the Augustana Heritage Association's biannual meeting Sept. 14-17 in western New York. The theme of this year's meeting is "Sola fide: The Faith of Augustana."

Scott Bur (chemistry) has a chapter titled "1,3-Sulfur Shifts: Mechanism and Synthetic Utility" in the monograph series Topics in Current Chemistry.

Trial Files of the late Ron Christenson (political science) were donated to the University of Minnesota Law School Library in July. Ron collected these 540 individual files of secondary sources on political trials during his 29-year teaching career at the Gustavus from 1969-1998. The files will become part of the law library's special collection on trials and will be accessible to students and scholars.

Deane Curtin (philosophy) was the keynote speaker at several conferences in Peru in August. The conferences were part of Peru's effort to respond to the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development by introducing sustainability into all levels of the Peruvian educational system. At Cesar Vallejo University, in Trujillo, he gave the inaugural address at the First International Congress of Education: Education for Sustainable Development. He spoke on "Educating for Sustainability: An Ethical Imperative."

David Fienen (music) was heard on "Pipedreams," a program of organ music produced by J. Michael Barone for Minnesota Public Radio and aired throughout the country on American Public Media. The program was broadcast the week of Aug. 7 but still can be heard online at pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/0632/. Barone recorded Fienen's faculty recital last Nov. 5 and included one of the pieces in this broadcast. More selections will be aired in future broadcasts.

Mark Granquist (religion) has been selected to receive two Awards of Commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute. These selective awards are made yearly by the CHI to recognize publications of excellence in the field of American Lutheran history. Granquist received the 1st award for an article titled "Swedish-American Episcopalians and Lutheran-Episcopal Relations in North America, 1850-1935," published in the journal Anglican and Episcopal History, March 2005. The 2nd award is for an article, "Conrad J. I. Bergendoff (1895-1997)" in the journal Lutheran Quarterly, Summer 2005. This is the fourth time that Granquist has received these such awards.

Lisa Heldke (philosophy) was an invited presenter at the annual Institute in American Philosophy, sponsored each summer by the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. The weeklong institute, held this year in Boulder, brings together faculty and graduate students for the purpose of deepening their understanding of major thinkers and themes in American thought.

Dennis Henry (physics) represented Gustavus at the Bi-annual Conference for Physics Department Chairs, sponsored jointly by the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers at the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland. Also, the September issues of the Quarterly of the Lexington Group in Transportation History has published Henry's review of the book Minneapolis and the Age of Railways by Dr. Donovan L. Hofsommer and published by the University of Minnesota Press.

Doug Huff (philosophy) presented a paper, "Wittgenstein and the Paradox of Consciousness," at the Indian Society for Philosophy and Religion in Calcutta, India, on July 27. Doug also gave a talk, "Writing Historical Drama," at the Theatre Academy in Bangalore on Aug. 5.

Darrell Jodock (religion) gave 3 presentations to the Fall Faculty/Staff Workshop at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. The topics were "A Theological Foundation for Vocation," "Vocation," and " Vocation Amid Religious Diversity." On Aug. 28, he gave a similar set of presentations to the faculty of Concordia College, Bronxville, N.Y.

Kris Kracht (communication studies) won the 2006 Bob Derryberry Award for outstanding new forensics educator. This award will be presented at the Pi Kappa Delta business meeting at the National Communication Association convention in San Antonio.

Thomas LoFaro (mathematics and computer science), Timothy Dorn ('04), and Hamish Spencer (University of Otago) published the paper "Population Models of Genomic Imprinting II. Maternal and Fertility Selection" in Vol. 173 of the journal Genetics.

Douglas Nimmo (music) served as conductor of the LSM Concert Band during the 4-week Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, held at Gustavus this past summer. The LSM Academy brought 150 top high school and college musicians to campus for an intensive period of music study and performance. In late July, Nimmo served as conductor of the Sommarfest Wind Ensemble, in its performance of Igo Stravinsky's, The Soldier's Tale, presented July 27 in Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall.

Paul Turpin (communication studies) will receive the National Communication Association's Outstanding Dissertation Award in November at the association's annual conference.

Eric Vrooman (English) had his short story, "Wiffle," published in the Sept. 1 issue of Carve magazine, Vol. 7, No. 5.

Obituaries

• The mother of Bronwen Wickkiser (classics) died Monday, Sept. 4. Services were held Saturday, Sept. 9 in Baltimore. Memorials may be sent to St. John's Episcopal Church, 3009 Greenmount Ave., Baltimore, MD. 21214.

Position Openings

• Part-time Custodians
• Associate Vice President for Advancement

For more information on the aforementioned positions, call human resources (x7304).

Funding Opps

• Dow Creativity Fellowships for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities... The Alden B. Dow Creativity Center offers 4 Creativity Fellowships each summer to individuals in any field or profession, including the arts, sciences, and humanities, who wish to pursue an innovative project or creative idea. The applicant's project idea should be new and innovative, and have the potential for impact in its field. The 10-week residency is on the Midland, Michigan, campus of Northwood University. Emphasis is placed on a totally creative learning experience independent of formal education interests. Awards include travel, room, board, and a $750 stipend. The deadline is Dec. 31. More information is at www.northwood.edu/abd/fellows/.
  

In the Media

• Gustavus was included in a USA Today article on 10 Great Places to Tour Swedish America. The Friday, Sept. 8 article listed Gustavus as 1 of the top 10 Swedish-American destinations in the nation and included a photo of Old Main in the winter (taken by Anders Bjorling). The Travel section story was the result of a new book on Swedish America published by the Minnesota Historical Society. To see/read the article online, go to: www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-09-07-swedish-american-places_x.htm.
• Chris Gilbert (political science) discussed the primary elections on Minnesota Public Radio’s “Midday” program on Sept. 8.
  
• The Gustavus summer National Youth Sports Program, along with St. Thomas University’s NYSP, was featured in Soccer Times. The Sept. 2006 full-page feature consisted of a column and 5 color photographs.
  
• The new photography exhibit, “Architecture of Silence: Cistercian Abbeys of France,” in the Hillstrom Museum of Art was featured on the 6 p.m. KEYC-TV news of Mankato on Sept. 11. Don Myers (art and art history) was interviewed.
  
• Gustavus and Chaplain Brian Johnson were included in a “Remembering 9/11” story on local 5th anniversary remembrances on the 10 p.m. KEYC-TV news of Mankato on Sept. 11.
  
• Gustavus senior Jamie Pederson and her summer internship with the Nicollet County Historical Society were the topic of a feature story in the St. Peter Herald on Aug. 24. Pederson spent the summer helping record information on recent immigrants of the area. Her research included meeting and interviewing Sudanese, Somali, and Hispanic people.
  
• Stay tuned for news of upcoming television features on Gustavus student athletes on the Golf Channel and on ESPN Classic’s “NCAA on Campus” show. The golf program film crew was on campus Aug. 27 and the NCAA on Campus film crew will be in St. Peter on Sept. 19.
  

Anyone who has suggested additions for this list, suggestions for potential future media stories, or interest in being a media source should contact Media Relations Manager Jonathan Kraatz (x7510 or jkraatz@gustavus.edu).

PLUGS:

For Rent: Two-bedroom basement apartment; off-street parking, private yard. Rent is $575 per month; utilities included. Call 931-3282.

Looking for Singers: Musicorum, an auditioned chamber choir based in the Mankato-St. Peter area, has openings for singers. Interested individuals may contact music director Greg Aune (934-4550 or gaune@gustavus.edu) for further information.

Calendar of Events

To add or change items on the calendar, please fill out and submit a College Calendar event form. View the entire College Calendar online.