Inside Gustavus February 11, 2010 | Volume 42, Number 20

News & Announcements

Lund Center Policy Reminder... Due to the many recent snow days for school-age dependents of Gustavus employees, we have seen an increase in the attendance of K-12 students in the Lund Center during College class times. Lund Center policy states that dependents may use our facility after 5 p.m. on week days, and anytime space is available on the weekends. All dependents should sign in at the Information Desk on the lower level. Anyone under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a parent while using the facility. If you have further questions regarding Lund Center policies, contact Candy Siewert at x6659 or e-mail csiewert@gustavus.edu.

TIAA-CREF Individual Counseling Sessions... A TIAA-CREF representative will be on campus on Feb. 17, 18, and 19 for individual counseling sessions. A limited number of openings remain. To schedule an appointment, call 1-952-830-3118.

New Employee Reception... A welcome reception for new employees in the Office of Human Resources will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18, 9-10 a.m., in the Heritage Room in the Jackson Campus Center. Join in welcoming Renae Stierlen, employee benefits assistant, and Barb Langemeier, payroll assistant. Also, Barb Lundgren (formerly finance office) will be relocating to Human Resources in Uhler Hall.

Wellness Committee Offers Study Group... A Spiritual Practices Study Group will meet Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. throughout Lent in the Pioneer Parlor of First Lutheran Church. This study group is being initiated by Patricia N. Freiert (classics, emerita) and Liz Power Hawkinson to study practices in various traditions that have nurtured and enriched spiritual life and opened doorways to the divine and a deeper faith throughout history. The Lenten sessions will begin with Barbara Brown Taylor's book, An Altar in the World, a general review of spiritual practices. Her final paragraphs encourage the reader to think of the dozen chapters she left out of the book and the many more ways to celebrate our own priesthood, practiced at the altar of our lives. Following the Lenten study, those interested will regroup to decide what to read next, whether to practice one of the practices and how often to meet. More information on Barbara Brown Taylor, who left formal ministry to find God out in the world, can be found at her website: www.barbarabrowntaylor.com. The plan is to read the first two chapters prior to the first meeting Feb. 18. A paperback version of An Altar in the World is due out Feb. 9. Copies of the book are available in the Book Mark. Please read the first two chapters and join us on Feb. 18!

Promotion Support Letters Sought... The following members of the faculty are currently being considered for promotion to the rank of professor: Jennifer Ackil (psychology), Leila Brammer (comm. studies), and Amy Seham (theatre & dance). Letters written on behalf of these candidates should be sent to Provost David Fienen and should address the criteria for promotion as stated in the Faculty Manual (see below). Letters are due by Monday, Feb. 22, at 4 p.m. All members of the Gustavus community are invited to submit letters; tenured department colleagues are expected to do so. Candidates will have access to their letters. The specific criteria for promotion are as follows:

1. the continuing excellence and growth as a teacher, as evidenced, for example, by student and peer evaluations, course and program development, or participation in workshops and seminars related to one's field of expertise or teaching.
2. an established record of professional accomplishments as evidenced, for example, by demonstrated research activities in private, public, or corporate settings; publications; presentations at scholarly meetings or conferences; (in the arts) exhibits or performances; and leadership in professional and/or public organizations, boards, or commissions related to one's academic field(s) or assignments.
3. an established record of leadership in the governance of the College in the candidate's department, in the faculty and its committees, or in other College positions.
4. continuing evidence of sympathy with the aims and purposes of Gustavus Adolphus College as stated in the Mission Statement of the College.

Scholarship Days 2010... On two upcoming Saturdays—Feb. 27 and March 6—the Office of Admission will hold its annual Scholarship Day competition. Faculty members are invited to help conduct interviews for the College's most prestigious scholarship recognizing academic achievement in high school, the President's Scholarship. If you are interested in helping out (whether for one Saturday, part of one, or both dates), contact Joy Reese at jreese2@gustavus.edu or x7603.

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. 12 - Transfiguration Series: Peter Shea
• Sunday, Feb. 14 - Transfiguration of Our Lord: Peter Shea
• Monday, Feb. 15 - Transfiguration Series: Peter Shea
• Tuesday, Feb. 16 - Transfiguration Series: Peter Shea
• Wednesday, Feb. 17 - Ash Wednesday
• Thursday, Feb. 18 - Tom Liska (senior student)
• Friday, Feb. 19 - Chaplain Brian Johnson
  

'Love, Basketball and the KGB'... This afternoon (Thursday, Feb. 11) at 4:30 p.m. in Linner Lounge, Tom Mooradian, author of Love, Basketball and the KGB, will share his story of spending 13 years behind the Iron Curtain after volunteering to repatriate to Soviet Armenia as a teenager. Mooradian went from being a Detroit basketball star and promising student to a Soviet citizen trapped in bread lines and unable to leave the USSR. His basketball prowess captured the hearts of the Soviet people and probably saved his life. Surviving 13 years behind the Iron Curtain, he had the opportunity to see what no foreign correspondent, no western journalist, no diplomat was permitted to see: the Soviet Union as the Soviets lived. Mooradian's visit is sponsored by Peace Studies program.

'Music in the Holocaust'... Tonight (Thursday, Feb. 11) at 7 p.m. in Nobel Hall's Wallenberg Auditorium, Nick Strimple, author and professor at the University of Southern California, will deliver a public lecture on music as a central part of the culture of the concentration camp Theresienstadt. His lecture, "Music in the Holocaust," is being presented in partnership with the St. Peter Choral Society and precedes the society’s performance of Mendelssohn’s famed oratorio Elijah on March 6 and 7. For more information, contact the Office of Fine Arts Programs at 933-7013.

Visiting Professor Is Transfiguration Series Speaker... Peter Shea, who was a visiting faculty member in the Gustavus Department of Philosophy from 2006 to 2008 and taught January IEX classes in 2009 and 2010, will be in residence as the guest homilist for the College's annual Transfiguration Series, sponsored by the Office of the Chaplains. He will present chapel talks centering on the theme More than Human? - Jesus’ Authority in the Gospels on Friday, Feb. 12, Monday, Feb. 15, and Tuesday, Feb. 16, and will deliver the homily at the worship service on Transfiguration Sunday, Feb. 14. Noting that Jesus' words and actions sometimes stood outside well-established traditions of moral teaching, Shea has developed his homilies to respond to such moments in Jesus’ career: Friday - "Take these things out of here" (John 2:13-20); Sunday - The Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36); Monday - "It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs" (Mark 7:24-30); and Tuesday - "This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (I Corinthians 11:23-25). Shea has been teaching philosophy at Minnesota colleges and universities since 1978. He has done extensive work in bringing philosophy to elementary school classrooms and in promoting the humanities through public programs and video production. For the last 14 years, he has produced and hosted a weekly cable show on the Metro Cable Network. This show, The Bat of Minerva, presents one-hour interviews with thoughtful and creative people in many disciplines and occupations. Peter is a member of the Roman Catholic parish of Saint Frances Cabrini in Minneapolis, where he as preached and taught as part of their lay preaching initiatives.

Gustavus Wind Orchestra's Home Concert Saturday... Following its 16-day concert tour in central Europe, the Gustavus Wind Orchestra and Conductor Douglas Nimmo return to Christ Chapel for one final performance of the tour literature on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. The wind orchestra's 2010 tour itinerary included performances in the Czech Republic (Prague), Poland (Wroclaw with Radio Poland, Krakow, and Kety), Hungary (Pomaz/Budapest), and Austria (Vienna and Salzburg). This tour was a reprise of the band's concert tours to the region in 1994 and 2006 and included a joint concert with the Pomaz Wind Orchestra, from the Pomaz School of Music outside Budapest, Hungary, an ensemble which was formed following the Gustavus Wind Orchestra's visit in 1994. Saturday's concert program includes Malcolm Arnold's English Dances and a composition that took on special significance for the ensemble after its visit to the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau—Eric Ewazen's Hymn for the Lost and the Living. The concert concludes with "The Great Gate of Kiev," part of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The wind orchestra's home concert is free and open to the public.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano to Perform at Gustavus... Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the award-winning string quartet from Mexico, will perform at Gustavus on Monday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. in Jussi Björling Recital Hall. Formed in 1982, the group is known worldwide as the leading proponent of Latin American music for the string quartet. It consists of three brothers, violinists Saúl and Arón and cellist Alvaro Bitrán, and violist Javier Montiel. They have recorded more than 40 CDs, and their sixth and final album of Hector Villa-Lobos's string quartets, Quartets Nos. 4, 9, and 11, was nominated for two Grammy Awards (Best Chamber Music and Best Latin Music) in 2002. The quartet has introduced more than 100 works written for them and has participated in over 100 world premieres. Tickets for this special Gustavus Artist Series event are available online. Tickets are $20 for adult general admission and $17 for senior citizens and students under 18. Unsold tickets will go on sale at the box office one hour prior to the performance. For more information, call 507-933-7590.

'Seven Liberal Arts and Counting'... What do Brancusi and William Morris have to do with the liberal arts? What does it mean to MAKE your life count? A special Teachers Talking symposium with Deborah Goodwin (religion), Max Hailperin (MCS), Lisa Heldke (philosophy), Doug Huff (philosophy), and Brian Johnson (chaplains' office), is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 4:30 p.m. in the Lind Interpretive Center to discuss those questions and more. The event is co-sponsored by the Hanson-Peterson and Sponberg chairs.

Noted Environmentalist to Speak on Campus... Environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author Paul Hawken will deliver a free public lecture at Gustavus on Thursday, Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m., in Alumni Hall. Hawken has started and managed ecological businesses, written and taught about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulted with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He is the author or co-author of dozens of articles and papers, as well as six books. His 1999 book, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, is published in 14 languages. His latest book, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming, was published in 2007. Hawken’s appearance is sponsored by the Environmental Studies program, the Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation, the Gustavus Lecture Series, and the Center for Vocational Reflection.

Faculty Shop Talk... Sidonia Alenuma and Jane Schuck (both elementary & secondary education) will present the next Faculty Shop Talk of the 2009-10 academic year. Their talk, entitled "Meeting the Needs of Diverse Students with Emphasis on ELLs (English Language Learners): Some Dos and Don'ts," will be presented on Friday, Feb. 19, 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/.

Theatre Department Presents 'Urinetown'... The Department of Theatre and Dance at Gustavus Adolphus College announces a witty performance of Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis's musical, Urinetown. Directed by Amy Seham, with musical direction by Christina Dryland Smith, performances will be held in Anderson Theatre on Feb. 19, 20, 26, and 27 at 8 p.m., with matinee performances on Feb. 21 and 28 at 2 p.m. Urinetown imagines a future in which poor citizens must pay for the "privilege to pee," a law enforced by a corporate power working to manage a water shortage. Comical chaos culminates in a rebellion after a popular leader is sentenced to "Urinetown" for failing to pay. The show is both a commentary on corporate control and a humorous glance at human nature at its best and its worst. Tickets are available online at www.gustavustickets.com or by calling the Gustavus Ticket Center at 933-7590. Adult tickets are $9, student and senior citizen tickets $6, and Gustavus students and staff free of charge with ID. Tickets not purchased in advance may be purchased at the Anderson Theatre Box Office beginning one hour prior to curtain.

Off-Campus Events of Interest

South Elementary Fundraiser... A "Flapjack Fundraiser" breakfast will be held at Applebee's in Mankato on Saturday, Feb. 20, 8-10 a.m. to benefit St. Peter's South Elementary School. Support the local elementary school by raising funds to purchase new playground equipment and teacher supplies and fill up on flapjacks at the same time! Tickets are $6 per person. South Elementary will receive all proceeds minus a small fee to cover some of the food cost.

Stations of the Cross... The Sioux Trails Chapter of the American Guild of Organists invites you to a performance of The Stations of the Cross, Opus 29, by Marcel Dupré, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 20, in the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel (170 Good Counsel Drive, Mankato). Rarely performed in its entirety, this virtuosic work for solo organ depicts programmatically events related to the passion of Jesus Christ. Five organists, including Chad Winterfeldt, associate organist in Christ Chapel, will collaborate to perform the 14 movements of this work. Each movement is associated with a "station" of the familiar devotional exercise known as the Stations of the Cross. Enhancing the performance will be the projection of photographs of station icons found in nine Roman Catholic parishes in southern Minnesota. Also, poetry directly linked to Dupré’s composition, by French poet Paul Claudel, will be read during the performance. Admission is free; donations will be accepted to defray costs. This activity is made possible by a grant provided by the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, from funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature. Parking for the event is available at the Provincial House, Loyola Catholic School, and the Education Center. Questions can be directed to Chad Winterfeldt, dean of the Sioux Trails Chapter, at 507-934-3060.

Obituaries

• Audrey Wahlund, mother of Dean Wahlund (marketing & communication) passed away on Sunday, Feb. 7. Audrey resided at the Commons (assisted living) at  the Presbyterian Homes of Bloomington. She was 86. (Dean’s father, Donald, died on Oct. 15, 2009). Funeral arrangements are pending.

To inform the campus community of the death of a current student, employee, or trustee; an emeritus professor or trustee; or an immediate family member of a current employee, contact the Office of the President (x7538 or pleagjel@gustavus.edu). Death announcements and funeral notices for students, current and emeritus faculty and employees, and trustees will be sent to the community via written notice from the president, posted on community-l, the official campus-wide e-mail list, and published in the Inside Gustavus or Summer Scoop. Notices for immediate family members of current employees will be published in the Inside Gustavus or the Summer Scoop unless they occur during a publication break, in which case they will be posted on employee-l.

Congregational Outreach

Partners in Education... The Rev. Mary Gaebler (religion) gave her talk, "Affluenza," at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, Minn., this past Sunday, Feb. 7. Presenters scheduled for this week include the Rev. Grady St. Dennis (church relations), who will be giving his talk, "Observing the Speed Limit of Life," at 9:45 a.m. this Sunday, Feb. 14, at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, Minn., and Mark Bjelland (geography and environmental studies), who will be discussing justice issues related to water in his talk at 10 a.m. on Sunday at St. James Lutheran Church in Burnsville, 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.

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

Recycling Review

Recycle Electronics via Best Buy... Best Buy will take electronics, including TVs, DVD players, computer monitors, cell phones, and more. You can bring in up to two items a day, per household, and most things are absolutely free. However, there is a $10 charge for TVs 32" and under, CRTs, monitors, and laptops—but Best Buy will give you a $10 Best Buy gift card to offset that cost. For more information, visit the Best Buy website.

 



---

Inside Gustavus 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: Inside Gustavus, 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).

Home | News & Info | Inside Gustavus Archives | Submit an Item Online