The Yellow Sheet for February 26February 26, 2009 | Volume 41, Number 22

Volume 41, Number 22

News & Announcements

Check Out the New DVD Vending Machine... Take advantage of the new "Goldbox," a DVD vending machine installed last week in the Jackson Campus Center across from the Information Desk. Movies are $1 per night, and there is a great selection of movies for the family as well as new releases. Receive one free night during the first 30 days! The Goldbox is brought to you by the Student Activities Office.

Campus Happenings

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:

• Friday, Feb. 27 - St. David's Day: gymanfa ganu (hymn festival)
• Sunday, March 1 - Vicar Peter Bauck
  
• Monday, March 2 - Eric Dugdale (classics)
  
• Tuesday, March 3 - Paul Lutter (religion)
• Wednesday, March 4 - Lenten Morning Prayer
• Thursday, March 5 - Emily Johnson (senior student)
• Friday, March 6 - Taizé

It's St. David's Day Tomorrow... The 36th annual St. David's Day observance at Gustavus will be held tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 27). The day opens at 10 a.m. in Christ Chapel with an observance and hymn sing featuring four great Welsh hymns led by a 200-voice choir. The chapel service will be followed by a reception and talk in Alumni Hall starting at 10:30 a.m. and a luncheon in the Dining Center (by reservation).

Winter Warmer... Meet John Cross and Tim Krohn and enjoy a photographic presentation of the journey they made by canoe in 2008 from the headwaters of the Minnesota River to its confluence with the Mississippi River at the Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum Winter Warmer at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, March 1, in the Interpretive Center. This is the second time Cross and Krohn have made this journey, the first time coming in the summer of 1998. Hear about changes that have taken place along the river in the decade between trips and the effects of measures made to clean up the watershed that feeds into it. Krohn is a journalist with the Mankato Free Press; Cross is a photographer with the same newspaper, and his photographs add a stunning beauty to this presentation. Soup and sandwich lunch costs $12 ($10 for members). Advance registration was required by Feb. 25, but you still might sneak in if you call right away. Contact Shirley Mellema (507-933-6181 or arboretum@gustavus.edu) for more information.

Phi Beta Kappa Lecture... Tom Palaima, Ph.D., Raymond F. Dickson Centennial Professor of Classics from the University of Texas at Austin, will give a talk on "Home Front and War Front in Ancient and Modern Times" on Sunday, March 1, at 7 p.m. in Confer 127. Palaima is the founding director of the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory at the University of Texas. He received a MacArthur fellowship in 1985 for work on Aegean writing. His talk is sponsored by the Gustavus chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Following the lecture, there will be a reception in the Phi Beta Kappa Room in Confer Hall. On Monday, March 2, Palaima will be visiting classics courses at Gustavus and having lunch with Gustavus students.

West Point's Jazz Knights to Perform... Gustavus Adolphus College and the St. Peter Herald are sponsoring a performance by West Point's Jazz Knights on Wednesday, March 4, in Jussi Björling Recital Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m. The jazz ambassadors for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Jazz Knights, under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Morse, will be joined by the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and Director Steve Wright for this public concert.
     In addition to their work at the Academy and on tour, the Jazz Knights have played with the Benny Goodman Orchestra at Lincoln Center and the Duke Ellington Orchestra (for the 200th anniversary of the New York State Legislature), and have appeared twice at Boston's Independence Day Celebration at the Hatch Music Shell. They regularly perform for festivals and music educators' conventions, including the International Association for Jazz Education, the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Festival, and the New York State Band Director's Association Conference last year.
     Wednesday's concert will open with the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, under the direction of Steve Wright. The Lab Band has just returned from a performance at the Minnesota Music Educators' Convention. The Jazz Knights then take the stage with a program that includes works by Thad Jones, Jon Fedchock, Slide Hampton, and Rodgers & Hammerstein, as well as compositions and arrangements by current members of the band. Tickets are not required, and there is no charge to attend this concert. Doors open at 7 p.m.

March Faculty Shop Talk... Mary Solberg (religion) will present the next Faculty Shop Talk of the 2008-09 academic year. Her talk, titled "The German Christians in Print, 1933-45," will be presented on Friday, March 6, at 4:30 p.m. in the Interpretive Center. Feel free to arrive any time after 4:15 p.m. The abstract for this and future talks may be viewed at gustavus.edu/events/shoptalks/.

Visiting Lecturer Complements Newly Mounted Native American Art Exhibition... Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a nationally acclaimed Native American artist, activist, and curator who served as a juror for the exhibition Migrations: New Directions in Native American Art, currently on view at the Hillstrom Museum of Art, will visit the campus to present a public lecture Sunday, March 8, at 3:30 p.m. in Wallenberg Auditorium, Nobel Hall of Science. Her lecture, titled "A Survey of Contemporary American Indian Art," is sponsored by the Hillstrom Museum of Art, with support from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community as well as the Gustavus Lecture Series, the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies program, the Department of Art and Art History, and the Ethel and Edgar Johnson Endowment for the Arts. It is open to the public without charge.
     Quick-to-See Smith, an enrolled Flathead Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, is considered one of the foremost contemporary Native American artists. Her works are found in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. She has lectured widely, and, among many other honors, was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Caucus for the Arts. Elaborating on her Native American worldview, her work addresses human rights and environmental issues, as well as today's tribal politics, with a keen sense of humor and insight.

'Building Bridges'... Gustavus Adolphus College will host its 14th annual "Building Bridges" Conference Saturday, March 14. The conference, whose theme is "Liberation through Education," will focus on educational inequality in the U.S. and abroad and the important influence an education has on an individual’s future. Erin Gruwell, the real-life hero portrayed in the 2007 film Freedom Writers, and Maria Reyes, one of Gruwell’s first students and an original Freedom Writer, are the keynote speakers.
     The schedule for the daylong conference is as follows:

• 9 a.m. - Registration in the C. Charles Jackson Campus Center
• 10 a.m. - Opening: "I Am...We Are" social justice theatrical performance; keynote addresses in Christ Chapel
• 12:30 p.m. - Lunch (on your own)
• 2-5 p.m. - Workshop Sessions in the C. Charles Jackson Campus Center
• 5 p.m. - Interactive literacy action piece in the Lund Forum: 70 local first through fourth graders will be invited to take part in a number of activities themed around the popular book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to encourage literacy. Volunteers and participants will read, make crafts, build a book, and make caterpillar bookmarks. Healthy snacking and physical activities will also be promoted. Parents who would like their children to participate may contact the co-chairs of the conference via e-mail at BBCo-Chairs09@gustavus.edu.

     The conference is open to the public, but tickets are required and may be purchased in advance. Tickets are $8 per person, but are complimentary for college students, high school students, and Gustavus students, faculty, and staff with a valid I.D. For more information and to register, visit the conference website at gustavus.edu/diversity/buildingbridges or contact the Gustavus Diversity Center at 507-933-7449.
     "Building Bridges" is a student-led, student-initiated diversity conference dedicated to addressing today’s pressing social and global issues. The conference works to increase awareness and action, promoting mutual respect and understanding about diversity. In addition to planning and running the March 14 event, the "Building Bridges" Conference committee also organized a book drive on campus and in the communities of St. Peter and Mankato. The book drive ran from October through January and collected 26,000 books that were then sold online with the proceeds going to the non-profit group Invisible Children.

Off-Campus Events of Interest

Lunch with the Birds... Continuing Education invites you meet Gustavus naturalist Bob Dunlap at Whiskey River Restaurant (Hwy. 99, Saint Peter) on Saturday, March 7, noon-1:30 p.m. "Bob the Birdman" will share tips on feeding birds and answer your bird questions. Ever wondered where these birds come from, or what seeds work best to attract them? Bob will provide advice, information, and help you identify common feeder visitors. Learn more about these feathery winter companions. Cost to the public is $10, but Gustavus faculty, staff, and students are admitted free (lunch is optional, purchased separately). Enjoy lunch with your birds, or come just for the talk.

Extraordinary People

Pamela Kittelson (biology) and biology grads Monica Paulson Priebe '03 and Phil Graeve '03 had their article, "Ant Diversity in Two Southern Minnesota Tallgrass Prairie Restoration Sites," published in the Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science. They collected a total of 3,523 ants and found significantly higher ant species richness in prairie remnants with higher plant diversity. Their study also found 10 new ant species records in Le Sueur and Nicollet counties. This student-faculty research collaboration was funded by the Gustavus chapter of the Sigma Xi Society as well as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for Environmental Studies. Monica is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in conservation biology at Indiana University. Phil is a fire effects manager for the National Park Service.

Mike Ferragamo (biology) has an article, "Calcium-dependent, source specific modulation of the plasma membrane calcium pump in hippocampal neurons," in press in the Journal of Neurophysiology. The work applied laser microfluorimetry to visually quantify calcium-mediated biochemical signaling pathways as a way to evaluate whether specific proteases could protect the brain during stroke events or neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's. Ferragamo was supported by an award from the NSF. His University of Minnesota co-authors are Dr. Stan Thayer and undergraduate student Jessica Reinhardy.

Births

• Chris and Julie Gilbert (political science and library) are thrilled and delighted to announce the birth of their son, Sam Julian, who was born on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas and officially adopted by Chris and Julie on Feb. 16.

Congregational Outreach

Partners in Education... Presenters scheduled for this Sunday, March 1, include the Rev. Darrell Jodock (religion), who will be giving his talk, "Luther and Vocation," at 9:45 a.m. at American Lutheran Church in Windom, Minn. The Rev. Grady St. Dennis (church relations) will be giving his talk, "Observing the Speed Limit of Life," at the 9:15 a.m. worship service at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chokio, Minn. Partners in Education is a program coordinated by the Office of Church Relations in which participating faculty and staff members prepare topical presentations for adult forums, workshops, and seminars in congregations of the ELCA.

Retreats... The Office of Church Relations will host a confirmation retreat for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church from St. Paul, Minn., this Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28. Church Relations will also host a retreat for Faith Lutheran Church from Coon Rapids, Minn., on Friday and Saturday. The Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations Retreat Center, coordinated by the Office of Church Relations, will host a women's retreat for All Saints Lutheran Church from Minnetonka, Minn., Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 28 and March 1.

Music in Worship... Any Gustavus music ensemble or soloist is welcome to perform in congregations. For more information, contact Marilyn Beyer (x7001).

Funding Opps

The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations' weekly program or funding opportunity highlight:

• NIH Research Grants Available... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) grants to support research at undergraduate and other institutions that have not been major recipients of NIH research grant funds. These grants support small research projects in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, either for feasibility studies, pilot studies, or other small-scale programs that would provide data preliminary to a traditional research project grant or as support for an ongoing program of research. The maximum project award is $150,000 in direct costs, plus facilities and administrative (indirect) costs, and is available for a period of up to three years. The deadlines are June 25, Oct. 25 and Feb. 25. For more information, see grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/area.htm, which includes a link to frequently asked questions.

For more information on grants or proposal preparation, contact Bob Weisenfeld in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (x7049 or bweis@gustavus.edu).

In the Media

Here are some noteworthy Gustavus-related stories that recently appeared in print or broadcast media locally, regionally, or around the nation:

• The Mankato Free Press printed a news brief and photo of Gustavus alumnus Peter Breitmayer ('87) on the front page of its Thursday, Feb. 19, Currents section regarding a role he played in Clint Eastwood’s recent movie, The Changeling.
• The St. Peter Herald printed a story about the Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of The Other Shore in its Thursday, Feb. 19, edition.
• The St. Peter Herald printed a story about alumnus ('69) Ted Zimmerman's Transfiguration Talks in its Thursday, Feb. 19, edition.
• The St. Peter Herald printed a story about Rydell Professor Curtis Marean in its Thursday, Feb. 19, edition.
• The St. Peter Herald printed a color photo of several Gustavus students participating in the Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics in its Thursday, Feb. 19, edition.
• The Mankato Free Press printed a story on the front page of its Thursday, Feb. 19, Sports section about Kevin Birr (Dining Services) and his brother, Todd, preparing for the Olympic Trials in curling. Birr was quoted in the story.
• ELCA.org posted a story on its website about RecycleMania on Friday, Feb. 20. Gustavus was mentioned and Jim Dontje (Johnson Center) was quoted in the story.
• The Mankato Free Press printed a story on Saturday, Feb. 21, about the women’s hockey team clinching the MIAC championship. Head coach Mike Carroll (athletics) and senior Jenny Pusch were quoted in the story.
• The Star Tribune printed a story about Barack Obama’s upcoming speech to Congress in its Sunday, Feb. 22, edition. Leila Brammer (communication studies) was quoted in the story. Brammer’s quotes also appeared in similar stories nationwide in newspapers such as the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News-Tribune, Miami Herald, Seattle Times, Kansas City Star, Sacramento Bee, Raleigh News & Observer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and many others.
• Kevin Birr (Dining Services) was mentioned in a Monday, Feb. 23, article on TeamUsa.org about Olympic Trial results in the sport of curling.
• Gustavus and the Nobel Conference got significant play in an article posted on the website developed for the three-part PBS documentary The Human Spark, to be seen on PBS stations later this year. Three of the scientists interviewed for the program—Robin Dunbar, Curtis Marean, and Svante Pääbo—were featured speakers at the 2008 Nobel Conference. Read more at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/humanspark/topics/primates/in-the-news-nobel-conference-who-were-the-first-humans/190/.

Anyone who has suggested additions for this list, suggestions for potential future media stories, or interest in being a media source should contact Marketing and Communication (x7520 or ga_news@gustavus.edu).

Safety and Security Snippets

Stay Safe—Be Seen... Throughout the year, several pieces of heavy equipment (skid-steers, forklifts, loaders, etc.) are routinely used around campus. What many people may not realize is that there are a number of blind spots affecting the operator’s view. During normal operation, an operator’s view can easily be 50-75 percent obstructed, depending on the piece of equipment and load it is carrying. For your safety, keep as much distance between you and the machine as possible when walking or driving by. A minimum distance of 50 feet is recommended. If you cannot maintain a safe distance, stop and wave to get the attention of the operator. DO NOT move closer until the operator has stopped work, made eye contact with you, and motions you past. Additionally, most of the machines have backup alarms installed. If you hear a loud pulsating beep, look around and make sure heavy equipment is not nearby. For more information, please e-mail jstratma@gustavus.edu or contact a Safety Committee member at https://gustavus.edu/security/osh/.



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

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The Yellow Sheet is a newsletter for Gustavus Adolphus College employees produced by the Office of Marketing and Communication. It is published weekly during the academic year (except during the week of Thanksgiving, the Christmas break, Touring Week, and the Spring and Easter breaks). Anyone may submit items by filling out an online submission form. While online submissions are preferred, items may also be submitted typewritten on a letter-sized sheet of paper. Send "snail mail" items to: The Yellow Sheet, Office of Marketing and Communication. Items must reach the office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday before publication. The week of Nobel Conference the deadline is 4:30 p.m. Monday. For more information, contact Steve Waldhauser (waldo@gustavus.edu or x6413).

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