Inside Gustavus December 9, 2010 | Volume 43, Number 14

News & Announcements

Publication Reminder... With the end of fall semester and the holiday break, Inside Gustavus will not be published for two weeks following the Dec. 16 posting. The next Inside Gustavus following Dec. 16 will be posted on Jan. 6, 2011. Those wishing to announce any events or activities occurring between Dec. 17 and Jan. 6 will need to submit them by the end of the day on Tuesday, Dec. 14, in order to have them listed in the issue posted on Dec. 16.

Reading Group to Discuss New Book on Integrative Education... All faculty and staff and are invited to join a reading/discussion group that will meet in January to discuss Parker Palmer and Arthur Zajonc's new book, The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal. Co-sponsored by the new Center for Servant-Leadership and the Kendall Center for Engaged Learning, and facilitated by Carolyn O'Grady (education/CICE) and Chris Johnson (CVR/CSL), the group will meet each Wednesday throughout the month at 3:30 p.m. in the Faculty-Staff Center. Books and refreshments will be provided; faculty should contact Cathy Blaukat in the Kendall Center (cblaukat) to reserve your copy, while staff and administrators should contact Amy Pehrson in the CVR (apehrson). The book discusses integrative education, a model of liberal-arts learning that "engages students in the systematic exploration of the relationship between their studies of the 'objective' world and the purpose, meaning, limits, and aspirations of their lives." Palmer, master educator and author of several books including The Courage to Teach, and Zajonc, professor of physics at Amherst College and director of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, advocate a holistic approach to teaching and learning that honors the whole human being.

Food Shelf Donations Requested... A collection for the St. Peter Food Shelf will be made at the Staff Christmas Party on Dec. 21. Bring non-perishable items to the luncheon; gift certificates or cash will also be accepted and greatly appreciated. The College will match donations to around the same amount as was given last year. Thank you in advance for your generosity during the Holiday season.

West Mall Project Preview Sessions... Gustavus plans to begin redevelopment work on the campus's West Mall this summer. The College is working with landscape architects from the firm Perkins+Will on the concept plans for the project. On Monday, Dec. 13, two of the firm's architects will lead a series of one-hour open sessions of the plans under consideration for the project. They will present for about 15 minutes and then invite questions and discussion. These sessions will be held at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. in Linner Lounge, and they will be  open to anyone from the campus community. Attend one of these as your schedule permits; this is a good opportunity to view drawings, ask questions, and provide input to the planning process.

2010-11 Gustavus Technology Training Classes... Want to feel more comfortable using technology, software, and online resources? Take advantage of free hands-on technology training for faculty and staff. Classes meet in Olin Technology Classroom 9-10 a.m. and are aimed at all skill levels. To sign up or view a full list of class offerings and descriptions, visit gustavus.edu/gts/Technology_Services and click "Schedule an Appointment," or call x6111. For more information, visit the User Services blog.

Don't Get Towed... The City of St. Peter reminds the campus community about its snow emergency ordinance: Snow emergencies will be declared before 5 p.m. and disseminated to local media. When it snows, check local media outlets for information or call the City Information Line at 934-0675. When a snow emergency is declared, there is NO PARKING on any of the posted SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTES for the entire 48-hour period (even if the street has been plowed curb-to-curb). Beginning at 11:59 p.m. on the day a snow emergency is declared, for two days (48 hours) there is NO PARKING on residential streets from midnight until 7 a.m. (again, even if the street has been plowed), and beginning at 2 a.m., for two days there is NO PARKING on downtown streets from 2 to 6 a.m. Vehicles parked in violation of the snow emergency ordinance will be ticketed (fined $15-50) AND towed at the owners' expense. For more information about this ordinance and which streets are considered snow emergency routes, visit the City of St. Peter's website.

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, Dec. 10 - Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Angelique Dwyer (MLLC-Spanish)
• Sunday, Dec. 12 - Doug Huff (philosophy); Chaplain Rachel Larson presiding
• Monday, Dec. 13 - The Rev. Grady St. Dennis (church relations)
• Tuesday, Dec. 14 - TBA
• Wednesday, Dec. 15 - Morning Praise
• Thursday, Dec. 16 - TBA
• Friday, Dec. 17 - Taizé

Shakespeare Performance Showcase to Be Staged This Weekend... Building on the success of last season’s Physical Theatre Project, the Department of Theatre and Dance will present a Shakespeare Performance Showcase, directed by Amy Seham, in Anderson Theatre, Dec. 9-11 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. The Showcase uses Shakespeare’s classic  A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a loose framework, and includes sonnets, monologues, and scenes from many other works by the famed playwright. The evening culminates in a delightful rendition of Dream’s hilarious play-within-a-play, "Pyramus and Thisbe." Tickets are available online at gustavustickets.com and at the Ticket Center in the Jackson Student Center. General admission seats are $9 for adults and $6 for seniors and students. Tickets remaining on the day of the performance will be available in the Anderson Theatre lobby one hour prior to curtain.

Julgran Celebration... To usher in the winter season and holiday spirit, the Linnaeus Arboretum is hosting its third annual Julgran celebration in the Interpretive Center on Friday, Dec. 10, 4-6 p.m. The "Julgran" (Swedish for "Christmas tree") will again be highlighted by a cookie contest featuring hundreds of cookies baked by various student organizations at Gustavus. Enjoy hot cider and milk as you sample the cookies; results of the contest (and prizes for the winners) will be announced at 4:30 p.m. One of the College's very own student musicians will perform at 5 p.m., and local artists will be present throughout as a warm fire burns in the Interpretive Center's fireplace. Or, if the weather is nice, stand by the outdoor fire pit and roast a marshmallow or two! Individuals and teams interested in participating in the cookie contest should contact Bob Dunlap (x7199 or rdunlap) no later than today (Thursday, Dec. 9).

Michael Johnson Returns... Singer, songwriter, storyteller, and guitarist Michael Johnson returns to Björling Recital Hall on Friday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m., renewing what is now a 40-year tradition. This concert on the Gustavus campus is the only performance the national recording artist will present in southern Minnesota this Christmas season. Johnson first performed at Gustavus in April 1968 with the late John Denver as part of the trio of Denver, Boise, and Johnson. Since that time, he has studied and toured internationally eight times and has recorded 11 albums, which include 10 hit singles and two #1 Country Songs of the Year. Tickets are available (at $20 for adults and $17 for students, senior citizens, and Gustavus staff) through gustavustickets.com or by calling the Gustavus Ticket Center at 507-933-7590.

Old and New Carols for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany... The Sioux Trails Chapter of the American Guild of Organists invites you to a carol sing-along, to be held at 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 11, in Christ Chapel. Carols from across Europe and the Americas, from the eleventh through the twentieth centuries, will be sung. The program will also feature organ carol settings performed by members of the Sioux Trails Chapter of the AGO. This event is free and open to all. For more information, contact Chad Winterfeldt (music), dean of the chapter, at 507-934-3060 or chadwinterfeldt@yahoo.com.

Off-Campus Events of Interest

Riverlights' Christmas Concert... The Riverlights, with Michael and Bonnie Jorgensen, will present "A Riverlights Christmas," a concert of secular and sacred Christmas music, on Friday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Union Presbyterian Church (730 South 3rd Street, St. Peter). Donations at the door will go to the Bennett Clayton Scholarship Fund, for children with OI.

Obituaries

• June J. (Nelson) Solberg, mother of Mary Solberg (religion), died Dec. 2, in Grass Valley, Calif., after an extended struggle with Alzheimer’s disease; she was 90. Funeral services were held Dec. 8 at Peace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley; interment will be in Madison, Wis. Memorial contributions may be made to Peace Lutheran Church.

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

Retreats... Darrell Jodock (religion) is hosting a retreat for members of the Education for Vocation group in the Retreat Center this weekend. This group includes participants from five different colleges: Luther, Augsburg, Gustavus, Concordia/Moorhead, and Augustana/Sioux Falls. Also, the Office of Church Relations will be hosting.an athletics retreat for Central College of Pella, Iowa.

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

Web Tips

Events Need to Be Listed in the College Calendar... If you are responsible for producing or publicizing any events of interest to the College community, you need to submit them to the College Calendar. They will not only automatically receive a lot more publicity just by being there (the Web team pulls calendar events to a lot of places on the website and sends out a daily e-mail newsletter with events in it), but they also can pull just your events onto your website (e.g., as they have with Global Insight). This is very customizable. Additionally, events on the College Calendar will show up next to your pages in Google search results.

Plugs

For Sale... Love seat, TV stand, dining room table & four chairs, five-piece bedroom set, end tables, and small microwave. Call Ann at x7027 or 507-246-5286 (evenings) for any or all.

"Plugs" is maintained as a forum by which members of the Gustavus community may offer goods and/or services to others in the community, or seek the same from them. It is not meant to accommodate ads or announcements from area businesses such as real estate agents or retailers, although from time to time such announcements may be published when deemed to be of particular interest to the community.

 



---

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