MAY 2006 NEWS

News releases/Summer 2006

INDEX
What's new this school year
Adler named new Graduate Studies director
$320,00 grant helps fight high risk drinking among students
Bird banding Saturday(July 15) monitors Avian Flu
Barnier appointed interim athletic director
Promotions, tenure announced
Barden to replace athlethic director Scandrett
Pawlenty proposes free college tuition for top students(announced at MSUM)
Sporting News honors MSUM prof's baseball book
MSUM hosts its 34th annual 4th of July celebration
Conference June 30 looks an new fed, state employer regs
Eight classic hollywood films showing this sumer
850 to graduate in double ceremony Friday, May 12
Straw Hat Players summer season announced
Design show at library
Burgum receives Hartz Achievement Award
Liberty Bell replica crafted on campus made for Fourth of July celebration
Technology & a promise to his grandmother helps MSUM student graduate
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New this year….
ENROLLMENT 7,500; DRAGON CORE BEGINS;
MNSCU ADOPTS MEASUREABLE PERFORMANCE
Enrollment this year is expected to hover around 7,500 students, down anywhere from 150 to 250 students from last year, Pres. Roland Barden said in a discussion about what’s new on campus this year.

“That’s what we’ve been projecting, based on the number of high school graduates in our service area,” he said. “It’s a pretty comfortable fit for us now, considering the construction going on in MacLean and Hagen Halls. It’s a good match for our facilities.”

That 7,500 number was the comfort zone Barden aimed at when he first took over as president here in 1994.

This summer session, he noted, student credit hour sales were up for the first time in three years.

Barden said the university ended Fiscal Year ’06 with a balanced budget, and he expects that track record to continue. MSUM’s annual operating budget now is about $73 million.

Construction, meanwhile, continues with the remodeling of MacLean Hall (expected to be completed in about 18 to 20 months) and Hagen Hall (three floors are finished and the final floor is expected to be finished fall semester, with a dedication planned this spring).

Barden noted that the state, over the past decade, has funded more than $100 million in campus building projects. Next step in the construction area is requesting money from the Legislature to remodel Lommen Hall. And other future projects include the library, Weld Hall and the Center for the Arts.

“Sen. Keith Langseth has been very supportive of MSUM,” he said.

The $1.9 million remodeling of Grantham Hall (renovating common areas, laundry, kitchen, restrooms, showers, study rooms, new HVAC equipment along with electrical and plumbing upgrades) is expected to be finished this November.

The first phase of the Kise Dining Hall remodeling project, costing about $878,000, should be finished by Oct. 15. It involved demolition of existing seating areas and temporary finishes to accommodate students this year. Phase II of the project, which includes remodeling the kitchen area and equipment, along with final finishes to the dining area, is in the bidding process.

Dragon Core

This is the first year of MSUM’s new Dragon Core program for entering freshmen, providing a broad foundation of skills for incoming students, specifically in speech, math, writing and practical/ethical reasoning.

“When I explained the Dragon Core to a gathering of emeriti this summer, they actually cheered,” Barden said.

MnSCU Measurables

The MnSCU Board of Trustees has adopted, as part of its institutional planning, a group of measurable performance indicators that all 32 institutions in the system will be accountable for. They include:

* Retention, plugging the leaks in the process of students entering and eventually graduating with the degrees. Only about half the students who enter MnSCU universities actually earn degrees within a reasonable six years.
* Closing the gap in the number of underrepresented students pursuing degrees, including minorities, the poor and first time college families .The universities are being asked to reach out to them.
* Creating more Centers for Excellence programs, maybe adding two more to the already four MnSCU centers. The centers are designed to give selected campuses distinctive academic identities. Each center consists of at least one state university and one two-year college, and they will collaborate to create state-of-the-art programs to meet the critical needs of the state and region. MSUM, Barden said, is looking at making biosciences a center for excellence on this campus.
* Growing revenue sources outside of tuition and state appropriations, meaning more emphasis on grants for projects and programs and more private and alumni philanthropy to support scholarships and academic programs.
* Expanding enrollment from the growing portion of Minnesota’s population of 25 to 45-year-olds who have never been to college or graduated from high school.
* Increasing efforts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, both by recruiting more students and building better programs in these areas and qualifying more education majors to teach in these areas.

Barden said the MnSCU system will be monitoring and measuring each of its institutions’ progress in these areas.

Meanwhile, Academic Affairs is pursuing a major initiative, part of an effort to increase retention numbers and improve academic success of students, by including more writing in all courses.

Preparing for Reaccredidation 2007
The university is on schedule for its reaccredidation site visit by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). While the visit takes place in spring of 2007, the MSUM Self-Study Committee has been meeting regularly since last May.

To prepare, MSUM will engage in an intensive self-study to gather information and evidence demonstrating that it is accomplishing its mission. This information will be compiled to celebrate the university's strengths as well as identify things that can be done better. The entire campus community is integral to this process.

ADLER NAMED NEW GRADUATE STUDIES DIRECTOR
Richard K. Adler has been named the new director of Graduate Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

He succeeds Dorothy Suomala, who’s on phased retirement, but will continue teaching educational leadership courses through Tri-College University. She headed MSUM’s graduate studies program for six years.

MSUM offers master’s degrees in 12 fields of study as well as several certificate and licensure programs that enroll about 350 full- and part-time students.

Adler, a professor in the university’s Speech/Language/Hearing Sciences department, came to MSUM in 2002 after 20 years in private practice––two years in Seattle and 18 in Atlanta. Prior to that he taught four years at the Emory University Medical School.

A specialist in voice and adult neurological disorders, Adler earned his doctorate in psycholinguistics from Ohio University in Athens. He is originally from New York City.

JEFF GOEBEL NAMED MSUM’S NEW PHYSICAL PLANT MANAGER
Jeff Goebel, facilities services supervisor for housing and residential life on campus for the past year, has been named the new physical plant manager at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

He’s replacing Todd Stugelmayer, who joined Greenberg Roofing Company earlier this year as vice president of service and maintenance. He’d been MSUM’s physical plant director for 13 years.

Goebel, 42, is a Detroit Lakes native (graduating from high school there in 1982) and earned a degree in religion from Concordia College in 1986.

Before coming to MSUM, he worked in procuring and operations for CNV Service Company in Oklahoma City, which specialized in custodial and mechanical maintenance at federal facilities. Prior to that he spent nearly 15 years as a maintenance supervisor for Hegenes Properties in Edina, Minn.

He and his wife, Cathy, a medical transcriptionist, have two children, David , who’ll be a freshman at MSUM this fall, and Heather, a sophomore at West Fargo High School.

Goebel will supervise all physical plant operations and employees on campus.

Involves 3 Moorhead campuses and police….
MSUM AWARDED $320,000 FEDERAL
GRANT TO COMBAT BINGE DRINKING
AMONG LOCAL COLLEGE STUDENTS
MSUM has received a two-year, $320,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to combat high risk drinking among local college students.

The grant, one of only 12 of its kind awarded by the education department this year, will involve all three Moorhead campuses—MSUM, Concordia College and Minnesota Technical and Community College––and include collaboration with the Moorhead police.

The initiative will target students who surveys have shown are at higher risk for binge drinking: off-campus students and first-year students who live in the residence halls.

Some efforts supported by the grant:
* Moorhead police, who currently patrol near MSUM on targeted weekends, will add two more officers on Thursday through Saturday nights. And for 27 weekends during the year, officers will target areas near all three campuses and neighborhoods with a high density of college students.
* Add a chemical health educator to Concordia and MSCTC, and provide additional counselor training at MSUM, which already has a chemical health educator.
* Continue the campus-wide social norm campaign, aimed at correcting the misperception that the majority of students misuse alcohol.
* Fund “bystander training” for student leaders so they can be ready to help their peers who are engaging in risky behavior.
* Mailings to parents, students and residents of college neighborhoods advising them of the education program.
* Bring in high-profile speakers to educate students, residence hall directors, security staff, police and faculty about the dangers and solutions to high –risk drinking. This year, Dr. Alan Berkowitz, an independent consultant who helps colleges, universities, public health agencies and communities design programs that address health and social justice issues, will speak on campus in November. He is the editor and founder of The Report on Social Norms.
* Continue to use e-CHUG, an on-line intervention and assessment tool that all students who violate campus drinking regulations will be required to complete. The on-line program takes students 10-15 minutes to complete, is self-guided, and requires no face-to-face contact time with a counselor or administrator.

Many aspects of the project are modeled after strategies used by the University of Nebraska, where binge drinking rates decreased from 62 percent to 47 percent in five years, said Susanne Williams, assistant to the president at MSUM who wrote the grant.

“All of these tools we’re putting in place have proven to be successful,” Williams said. “They are ultimately aimed at encouraging and fostering success among students while they are in college.”

Open house Saturday from 8-10 a.m.
MSUM SCIENCE CENTER BIRD BANDING PART OF NATIONAL EFFORT MONOTORING AVIAN FLU
Birds will be tested for Avian Flu during a bird banding open house at MSUM’s Regional Science Center Saturday (July 15), part of a unique national and international effort to monitor a disease before it hits the United States.

The bird banding site at the MSUM Regional Science Center, where about 200 birds will be tested for diseases this summer and fall, is one of over 500 sites across the country in the Mapping Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program. Birds are captured in mist nets and banded for later identification.

This year, 225 sites, including the one at the MSUM Regional Science Center, will participate in the flu-monitoring project.

“The goal is to sample 15,000 to 20,000 songbirds this summer across the country,” says Greg Hoch, a Concordia College biology professor who operates the MSUM Regional Science Center’s bird banding station. “We will ship the samples to UCLA where they will be tested for the more virulent H5N1 flu strain and 144 other milder strains of flu.”

The general public is invited to MSUM Science Center’s Bird Banding open this Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Buffalo River Site, located 15 miles east of Moorhead on Highway 10, adjacent to Buffalo River State Park,

The tour starts at the Interpretive Center’s Bird Observatory with an introduction to MAPS and then it’s off to observe citizen scientists at work as captured birds are identified, aged, sexed, banded, and released.

It is one of the few times, Hoch said, that a new disease has been monitored before it hits a population.

“In the past, a disease has spread across a region infecting people, wildlife or farm animals,” he said. “Then we have to backtrack and figure out where it came from and how fast it spread. By monitoring other virus strains we will know where and how fast bird borne viruses can move through the country. If a dangerous virus does enter the country we’ll know where it’s going and how fast. This will allow for very fast reaction times by government and health care agencies, and put vaccination and other control efforts exactly where they need to be.”

He said many North America birds breed and nest in Alaska and across the Bering Sea in northeastern Russia.

“This also happens to be the breeding area of many of the Asian birds that might be carrying the H5N1 strain. It is possible for an Asian bird to transmit the virus to a bird that might winter in the United States or South America. As these birds begin their southward migration this fall through North America, it’s possible that they could spread the virus to the continent.”

As part of the MAPS program, about a dozen volunteers at the MSUM Science Center collect and band birds seven times a year, from June through August.

This is the seventh year the MSUM Regional Science Center has been involved in the MAPS program. .

For more information, or if you are interested in volunteering for this and other programs, call the MSUM Science Center office at 477-2904.

Contacts: Hotch (office 299-3799, home 483-4555 or e-mail hoch@cord.edu) will be out of town Wednesday and Thursday but will be available Friday.)
Also contact: Tony Borman, Science Center, 498-2930 or 477-2091 mornings his week.

SYLVIA BARNIER APPOINTED MSUM’S INTERIM ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
MSU Moorhead Pres. Roland Barden has asked Sylvia Barnier to serve as interim athletic director.

Barnier has been serving Dragon Athletics as the assistant athletic director, the senior women’s administrator and as an assistant track coach. She will fill the vacancy created last week by the reassignment of Alfonso Scandrett, Jr. A search committee will be formed to recommend a long-term replacement for the position, a process that is expected to take a few months.

Barnier is a 2003 graduate of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators/Higher Education Resource Services (NACWAA/HERS) Institute for Administrative Advancement. On June 29th she graduated from the NCAA’s Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Females.

Prior to joining the MSUM in August 2002, Barnier served for five years as the compliance coordinator, senior woman administrator and assistant track coach at Abilene Christian University. She was also compliance officer and assistant track coach at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Barnier is an inductee into the NCAA Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame (2002) and Abilene Christian University’s Centennial Hall of Fame (2005). She was a five-time national indoor track champion at Abilene Christian, the most for any female Division II athlete.

Barnier holds a master’s degree in public administration from James Madison University and an undergraduate degree in public relations from Abilene Christian.

MSUM PROMOTES 25 FACULTY; 22 RECEIVE TENURE
Twenty-five Minnesota State University Moorhead faculty members have been awarded promotions, eight to the rank of professor and 18 to associate professor, Pres. Barden announced this week. Twenty-two also received tenure.

Promoted to Professor:
Henry Chan and Steven Hoffbeck, History; Hazel Retzlaff and Sharon Scapple, English; Larry Nordick, Paralegal; Jarilyn Gess, Corrick Center; Philip Baumann, Political Science; and Brian Wisenden, Biosciences.

Promoted to Associate Professor:
Laurie Blunsom, Music; John Early, English; Stephen Lindaas, Physics and Astronomy; Cecilia Mafla-Bustamante, Languages and Cultures; Kenyon Williams, Music; Daniel Johnson, Mass Communications; Olgun Sahin, School of Business; Elizabeth Rowse, Corrick Center; Layna Cole, Elementary and Early Childhood Education; Steven Street, Special Education; Margaret Sankey, History; Paul Sando, Anthropology and Earth Science; Gregory Stutes, Economics; Lee Vigilant, Sociology and Criminal Justice; Karla Nelson, Athletics; Ellen Hill, Mathematics; and Karl Leonard, Anthropology and Earth Science.

Receiving tenure:
Laurie Blunsom, Music; Cecilia Mafla-Bustamante, Languages and Cultures; Margaret Sankey, History; Ok-Hee Lee, Elementary and Early Childhood Education; Britt Ferguson and Steven Street, Special Education; Elizabeth Rowse, Corrick Center; Trista Conzemius, Technology; Olgun Sahin, School of Business; Layna Cole, Elementary and Early Childhood Education; Tracy Clark, Social Work; Ruth Newton, Elementary and Early Childhood Education; Kenyon Williams, Music; Richard Adler, Speech, Language, and Hearing Science; Yurii Boreisha, Computer Science and Information Systems; Ellen Hill, Mathematics; Karl Leonard, Anthropology and Earth Science; Stephen Lindaas, Physics and Astronomy; Jane McCabe, Speech, Language, and Hearing Science; Paul Sando, Anthropology and Earth Science; Lee Vigilant, Sociology and Criminal Justice; and Debra DeMinck, Counseling Center.

BARDEN TO REPLACE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR SCANDRETT
President Roland E. Barden has determined that it is in the best interests of Minnesota State University Moorhead to make a change in the leadership of the Department of Athletics. Dr. Alfonso Scandrett, Jr. will be reassigned to other administrative assignments for the rest of the summer and offered a fixed-term associate professor position with the faculty, which would begin with the Fall Semester.

“I want to acknowledge Dr. Scandrett’s advocacy for Dragon Athletics and the University,” President Barden said, “and I thank him for his commitment to MSU Moorhead’s student athletes.”

A search committee will be formed in the near future to fill the position.

PAWLENTY PROPOSES FREE COLLEGE TUITION FOR TOP STUDENTS
ACHIEVE program will reward top 25 percent, emphasize science and math...
Under a landmark new program proposed by Governor Tim Pawlenty Tuesday (June 27) at MSUM, all Minnesota high school students who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or post a comparable ACT score will attend their first two years of public college for free. Students' third and fourth years of college will also be free if they major in a math or science field.

Governor Pawlenty said the program, called ACHIEVE, is "designed to encourage all high school students to attain good grades, keep the best and brightest high school graduates at home in Minnesota colleges and universities, and increase the number of Minnesota college graduates with strategic math and science degrees. ACHIEVE wil give Minnesota students a compelling incentive to study hard and it rewards them with free college.

Under the oovernor's proposal, students in families with annual adjusted gross income at $150,000 or below (which includes 93 percent of Minnesotans) would be eligible. ACHIEVE students will be required to attend college full-time and maintain at least a B average each year they are in college.

The State of Minnesota will pay the balance of tuition and required fees at a public college or university after Federal Pell Grants, the Minnesota State Grants and private scholarships have been applied. Federal Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students with family incomes up to approximately $50,000. Minnesota State Grants help students from low- and moderate-income families pay for educational expenses at eligible Minnesota colleges or universities.

Governor Pawlenty said he will include ACHIEVE in his next budget proposal to the Legislature. The program is estimated to cost approximately $112 million in the next biennium (FY 08-09).

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education will be the administrator of the new program.

ACHIEVE stands for Academic Competitiveness Highlighting Individual Excellence and Valuing Education.

SPORTING NEWS HONORS MSUM PROF’S
BOOK ON BLACK BASEBALL IN MINNESOTA
“Swinging for the Fences: Black Baseball in Minnesota,” edited by Steve Hoffbeck, an MSUM history professor, has been selected to receive a Sporting News-Society for American Baseball Research Award for expanding the knowledge and understanding of baseball.

The award will be presented at the SABR National Convention June 30 in Seattle, which Hoffbeck will attend.

“Swinging for the Fences,” a 320-page hardback with 50 photographs, chronicles the struggles and triumphs of 16 black ballplayers over a span of 150 years.

Edited by Hoffbeck and written by a team of nine historians, sports journalists and baseball experts, it was released last year by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Black baseball in Minnesota sounds like an oxymoron, particularly since only 759 blacks lived in the state in 1870 when an amended U.S. Constitution gave black men the right to vote in federal elections.

But according to Hoffbeck’s research, that’s also when a former slave named Prince Honeycutt, who served as a mess boy for the Union Army in the Civil War, followed his commander, Capt. James Compton, to Fergus Falls, Minn., and started a baseball team.

The book starts there, and ends in the modern era of baseball with a chapter on the rise and fall of the Minnesota Twins’ Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett written by Minneapolis Star Tribune sports writer Jay Weiner.

In between are stories about Willie Mays, Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Earl Battey along with some obscure names like “Rat” Johnson, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, Toni Stone (a black woman infielder with the Indianapolis Clowns) and Bobby Marshall, who in the first two decades of the last century was among the most celebrated athletes in the nation.

“It’s an epic story about manhood, brotherhood and fatherhood, a lost part of Minnesota history,” said Hoffbeck, whose last book, “Haymakers,” earned a Minnesota Book Award in 2001.

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) was established in Cooperstown, New York in 1971. Its mission is to foster the study of baseball past and present, and to provide an outlet for educational, historical and research information about the game.

MSUM HOSTS ITS 34th ANNUAL 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION
MSUM will hold its 34th annual 4th of July celebration at 1 p.m. on the campus mall, beginning a Tuesday afternoon of family entertainment followed by fireworks at dusk over Nemzek Field.

The 4th of July celebration—free and open to the public—features continuous stage entertainment all afternoon, along with children’s games, Dragon Express and barrel train rides, stagecoach and covered wagon rides, a climbing wall, bingo, music, and a variety of food booths.

Prior to the festivities, MSUM will host a 10K run starting at 8 a.m. at Nemzek’s north gate entrance. Runners should contact Mark Rice at MSUM, 477-2062, for details and registration.

The United Patriotic Bodies plans an Independence Day Parade, starting at 4th Ave. South in Moorhead at 12:30 pm. The parade will proceed to the campus for the opening ceremony.

Campus mall events begin right after the 1 p.m. opening ceremony, which will include a flag raising by the American Legion Post 21 Moorhead, and music by the Lake Agassiz Concert Band. The children’s decorated bike parade starts at 1:30 p.m. Kids and parents should assemble at the mall flagpole right after the opening ceremony.

The new Liberty Bell replica, constructed by MSUM, will be on display in the Center for the Arts foyer from 1 to 5 p.m.

Evening entertainment begins at 8 p.m. with the Lake Agassiz Concert Band, and the Front Fenders. A short evening program will include the flag pole dedication and flag raising at Nemzek Field.

For more information, contact the Office of Administrative Affairs at MSUM, phone 218.477.2156, or go to the Web site at web.mnstate.edu/july4

MOORHEAD CONFERENCE TO BRING STATE, FEDERAL EXPERTS TOGETHER
TO DISCUSS REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND CHANGES FOR EMPLOYERS
Several state and federal agencies are sponsoring an “Employers Conference” in Moorhead on Wednesday July 12 in King Hall 110 on the campus of Minnesota State University Moorhead.

The conference brings together a panel of state and federal experts to discuss a variety of regulatory requirements and changes, ranging from fair labor standards and medical leave to workplace safety and payroll issues to complying with federal business tax.

The conference is ideal for small business owners, small business advisers and economic development professionals and is approved for recertification credits by the Human Resource Certification Institute.

Date/Time: Wednesday July 12, 8:15 am – 3:00 pm
Location: King Hall 110
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Moorhead, MN 56563

Fee: $25 (includes lunch)

To register call 218-477-2289 at the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Centers or visit http://mnsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/ConferenceList.asp. Pre-registration is required by June 30.

Participating agencies include Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Minnesota Small Business Development Centers, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Minnesota Department of Revenue and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

EIGHT CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD FILMS
SHOWING AT MSUM THIS SUMMER
Eight Hollywood film classics featuring some of the greatest stars and scenes from the silver screen will be showing in Minnesota State University Moorhead’s 30th annual “Summer Cinema 2006,” a series of weekly film programs beginning June 12.

Including some rare, seldom-seen movies along with masterpieces of American cinema, the series offers a special film every Monday evening through July 31. Show time is 7:30 p.m. weekly in the air-conditioned Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium. Admission is $2 and each feature runs about two hours. Tickets are available at the door.

In vintage Hollywood tradition, each film is preceded by a short subject. Pre-show pipe organ music and scores for the silent pictures are performed by members of the Red River Chapter of the American Theater Organ Society.

On the marquee this summer:

Monday, June 12: “The Cat and the Canary” (1939) starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard in this comedy/mystery directed by Elliot Nugent. Low key lighting, eerie music, slamming doors and eccentric characters make up the perfect formula for a classic “spooky house” mystery. It was the first film written and produced as a Bob Hope vehicle and for co-star Goddard (wife of Charlie Chaplin).

Monday, June 19: “Steamboat Bill Jr.” (1928), a comedy featuring Buster Keaton and Earnest Torrence directed by Charles Reisner. Considered the first comedy film ever made, it’s a straight forward tale of a young man who doesn’t live up to the expectations of his father. As a trained acrobat, Keaton demonstrates his abilities at physical comedy with elaborate pratfalls and comic chases. An original score will be performed on the Ted M. Larson Memorial Wurlitzer Pipe Organ by Lance Johnson.

Monday, June 26: “Dodsworth” (1936) with Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton in a drama directed by William Wyler. The film’s bittersweet plot centers on a self-made man from the Midwest who comes to discover some things about himself and life while on a trip to Europe. The film is based on the dramatic version of Sinclair Lewis’ 1929 novel of the same name.

Monday, July 3: “The Winning of Barbara Worth” (1926), a western romance starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky and Gary Cooper. Directed by Henry King, this silent epic story is about a young engineer who goes to the Arizona desert to work on an irrigation project to reclaim barren land. David Knudtson at the console of the Ted M. Larson Memorial Wurlitzer Pipe Organ will perform an original score.

Monday, July 10: “She Loves Me Not” (1935), a musical comedy with Bing Crosby, Miriam Hopkins and Kitty Carlisle directed by Elliot Nugent. It’s the story of a Philadelphia nightclub dancer who witnesses a murder and runs away to avoid being held as a material witness. Landing at Princeton University, she hides out in a college dorm and is decked out in men's clothes and haircut by students. Crosby and Carlisle perform the first on screen rendition of a best- selling hit single by Bing, “Love in Bloom.”

Monday, July 17: “Fine Manners” (1926), a comedy/drama with Gloria Swanson and Eugene O’Brien directed by Richard Rosson. A variation of the Pygmalion myth, this is fun entertainment from the golden era of silent film. And it would be the last of 27 films that Gloria Swanson made at Paramount between 1918 and 1926. Swanson was about to start producing her own films in conjunction with industrialist-turned-film producer, Joseph P. Kennedy. In her autobiography, Swanson admitted that leaving the protective wing of a studio was one of her biggest career mistakes. Lance Johnson at the console of the Ted M. Larson Memorial Wurlitzer Pipe Organ will perform an original score.

Monday, July 24: “Gilda” (1946), a classic from the film noir era starring Rita Hayworth and Glen Ford directed by Charles Vidor. The plot of “Gilda” is wrapped up in gambling, international intrigue and a steamy love triangle between Hayworth, Ford and another actor from that era, George Macready. Hayworth is at her “provocative best” while Ford had just returned to his screen career after serving in the Marine Corps during WW II.

Monday, July 31: “The Sea Hawk” (1924), a high seas adventure with Milton Sills, Enid Bennett and Wallace Beery in a film directed by Frank Lloyd. This silent film version of the Raphael Sabitini story has much of the adventure and excitement that made the 1915 novel a best seller. The film is the story of an English knight, betrayed by his brother, kidnapped by pirates, and captured by Spaniards, who takes up a new identity and becomes the most feared and respected pirate of the high seas. David Knudtson at the console of the Ted M. Larson Memorial Wurlitzer Pipe Organ will perform an original score.

Summer Cinema Series is sponsored by the university’s Communication Studies, Film Studies and Theatre Arts department.

MSUM EXPECTS 850 TO GRADUATE THIS SPRING
MSUM expects to award degrees to 850 students during its spring commencement program Friday, May 12 at Nemzek Fieldhouse.

The ceremony will take on a new look this year. To accommodate all guests, the university has split graduation ceremonies into two parts:

* Students graduating from the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Arts and Humanities will participate in the 10 a.m. ceremony.

* Students graduating from the College of Social and Natural Sciences and the College of Business and Industry will participate in the 2 p.m. ceremony.

Speaker for the morning graduation is Charles Cheney, superintendent of West Fargo Public School District and MSUM alum who earned an elementary education degree here in 1965. He received a master’s degree in elementary education in 1969 and a Ph.D. in school administration in 1982, both from UND. He has served the West Fargo Public Schools for over 40 years as a teacher, middle school principal, assistant superintendent, and currently as superintendent.

Speaker for the afternoon graduation is Judge Lisa Borgen, also an MSUM alum who earned a criminal justice degree here in 1993. She was appointed to the bench in Minnesota’s 7th Judicial District by Gov. Tim Pawlenty earlier this year. The 7th Judicial District covers 10 counties in Minnesota, including Clay and Otter Tail. Borgen had been the Clay County attorney since 1999.

STRAW HAT FEATURES FIVE SHOWS THIS SUMMER
The Straw Hat Players Summer Theatre Company at Minnesota State University Moorhead will open its 43rd season with five hit shows on its marquee: three musicals: “The Boyfriend,” “Urinetown, the Musical” and “The Fantasticks”; a comedy, “Wonder of the World”; and the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama “Proof.”

All shows start at 7:30 p.m. and the season opens Tuesday, June 13.

Single show ticket prices range from $10 to $15. A variety of season ticket options are also available. Call the MSUM Box Office for reservations or details, 218-477-2271.

Featured this summer:

“Proof”
Tuesdays through Fridays, June 13-16 & June 20-23 (Roland Dille Center for the Arts Gaede Stage)

When a disputed mathematical proof is found among the abandoned notebooks of a brilliant but unstable professor, his daughter searches for the truth while confronting her family’s twin legacies of madness and genius. (PG)

“Urinetown, the Musical”
Tuesday through Friday, June 27-30 (Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre)

A hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage leads to a government ban on private toilets, putting the malevolent company in charge of admission. One hero just won’t take it any more. (PG-13)

“The Fantasticks”
Tuesday through Friday, July 11-14 (Roland Dille Center for the Arts Gaede Stage)

It’s the longest running musical in the world, a timeless fable of love that manages to be nostalgic and universal at the same time. (G)

“Wonder of the World”
Tuesday through Friday, July 18-21 (Roland Dille Center for the Arts Gaede Stage)

Nothing will prepare you for the secret Cass discovers in her husband’s drawer. It is so shocking that she has no choice but to flee to the honeymoon capital of the world, Niagara Falls, in a frantic search for the life she thinks she missed out on. During that adventure she meets a suicidal alcoholic, a lonely tour-boat captain, a pair of bickering detectives and a gargantuan jar of peanut butter. (PG-13)

“The Boyfriend”
Wednesday through Saturday, July 26-29 (Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre)

The Jazz Age lives on in this light, romantic spoof of 1920s musical comedy. It involves an English heiress attending a finishing school on the French Riviera. Great tunes, great dances, great humor. (G)

2006 AIGA MINNESOTA DESIGN SHOW AT MSUM THROUGH MAY 12
The 2006 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Minnesota design show will be on display at the MSUM library reading room through May 12. The reading room is located inside the library door on the first floor.

The show highlights the most exceptional design work coming out of this region and reflects the power of design in today’s culture. AIGA is the only national organization of professionals in the field of graphic design.

The annual competition is judged by leading professionals from around the country and is structured around the entry’s ability to solve the problem of communicating both the design’s effectiveness and aesthetic appeal.

Several MSUM art alumni and their firms are represented at this year’s exhibit:

Tim Larsen, 1971, president of Larsen; Jason Rysavy and Beth Mueller, both 1997, principles at Catalyst Studios; Sharon Werner, 1985, principle and Sarah Nelson, 1996, designer, Werner Design Werks; Jeff Johnson, 1993, principle, Spunk Design Machine.

MICROSOFT’S BURGUM RECIEVES MSUM’S HARTZ ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Doug Burgum, a senior vice president for Microsoft Corporation, last Saturday received the 2006 L.B. Hartz Professional Achievement Award. The award is named in honor of the late L.B. Hartz, the founder of Hartz Wholesale Company headquartered in Thief River Falls. It’s presented annually to an individual who has created economic opportunities for others through innovation, entrepreneurship and community service.

Burgum literally “bet the family farm” and joined a startup called Great Plains Software in 1983. A year later in 1984 he organized a family consortium that purchased majority ownership of the company. Under his leadership the company grew from a mid-market accounting software firm with fewer than 50 employees into a publicly traded international corporation. In 2001 Great Plains was acquired by Microsoft Corporation and Burgum became senior vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS). The Microsoft Fargo campus currently has approximately 1,100 team members, with another 1000+ Business Solutions team members around the world.

His leadership centers on cutting-edge products, teamwork, quality and exceptional service. Burgum’s thoughtful eloquence has been featured in numerous keynote addresses for partner conferences and community service events.

The Doug Burgum Family Fund focuses on charitable giving to youth and education. In 2001 he gifted the former Northern School Supply building to North Dakota State University. It houses the university’s architecture, landscape architecture and visual arts programs and has contributed to the revitalization of Fargo’s downtown.

Burgum earned his bachelor of university studies degree from NDSU in 1978 and his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1980 (he currently serves as a member of the Stanford Business School Advisory Council). He was awarded an honorary doctorate from NDSU in 2000 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Mary during its 2006 graduation ceremony. He lives near Fargo with his three children.

The recognition dinner will also honor two MSU Moorhead students who will receive L.B. Hartz Scholarships. Joseph Yard, a junior from Maple Grove, Minn., and Dallas Rylander, a senior from Ashby, Minn., were selected for their outstanding accomplishments, campus and community leadership and work experience.

WORKSHOP MAY 25 LOOKS AT DOING BUSINESS WITH MINNESOTA & NORTH DAKOTA
“Doing Business With the States of Minnesota & North Dakota,” a Small Business Development Center workshop, will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 25 in Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Business Center, room 103.

To register or for details, contact the MSUM Small Business Center at 218-477-2289. Or e-mail seifertj@mnstate.edu. Cost is $25, including materials and refreshments.

Featured presenters will be Paul Stembler, assistant director of the Materials Management Division, Minnesota Department of Administration; and Susan Fugere, procurement officer, North Dakota State Procurement Office.

Topics will range from an overview of the states’ purchasing practices and how to register as a vendor to how to find business opportunities and the states’ expectations of contractors.

MSUM STAFF CRAFTS OAK LIBERTY BELL REPLICA FOR CAMPUS FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION
An exact replica of the Liberty Bell handcrafted in oak by Ordean Swenson, a retired MSUM cabinetmaker, will be a centerpiece for the university’s annual Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration this summer.

“We’ve been talking about this project for a couple years,” Swenson said, “but we didn’t start working on it until this February. Because the physical dimensions of the original bell varied slightly when we looked up specifications on the Internet, I drove down to St. Paul to take measurements from the replica at the State Capitol to get a better handle on the project.”

Three months later, the bell is complete, with an iron stand fashioned by MSUM physical plant welder Ray Bjerke, who also collaborated with Swenson on the design.

“It’s composed of more than 200 pieces of oak glued together,” Swenson said, “then shaped into a bell by a specially-built lathe designed by Ray (Bjerke) that went around the bell, an amazing piece of machinery. The bell itself was just too big for a regular turning lathe.”

The wooden replica is precise to the detail, including the bell’s inscription, composed in oak letters and numbers machine routed by MSUM physical plant painter Don Hersrud:

"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada.” (The quote is a passage from Leviticus, the third book in the Old Testament; the spelling, Pensylvania, was the accepted version at the time.)

Ralph Lemar, a painter in the university’s physical plant, put the finishing touches on the replica by sanding it and then covering it with five coats of clear polyurethane varnish.

“These guys are more than craftsmen, they’re artists,” said Dave Holsen, a facilities supervisor at the university who originally came up with the concept to promote MSUM’s July Fourth celebration. “A photograph doesn’t do it justice. You have to see this replica in person to fully appreciate the detail and grain.”

Swenson retired from MSUM eight years ago after a 37-year career on campus. He still works on special projects for the university during the winter months.

According to the Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown, Penn., an on-ine museum housing a collection of Liberty Bell memorabilia and souvenirs dating back to the 1800s, the original bell was ordered from Whitechapel Foundry in London by the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751. It was intended to commemorate the 50th anniversary of William Penn’s 1701 Charter of Privileges, which allowed citizens of the colonial province to take part in making laws and gave them the right to choose their own religion.

But it cracked soon after arriving in Philadelphia. Local craftsmen John Pass and John Stow cast a new bell in 1753, using metal from the original English bell. As a result, their names appear prominently on the front of what’s become a national icon.

As the official bell of the Pennsylvania State House (today called Independence Hall) it rang often for public announcements, but most notably on July 8, 1776 to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

There’s disagreement about when the first crack appeared on the Liberty Bell, Swenson said. One popular version suggests that a hairline fracture occurred when it was rung to celebrate Washington's birthday in 1846, rending it unringable ever since.

The repair, Swenson, said, involved machining a slot along the entire length of the crack, then bolting two rivets into the slot to prevent the two sides of the fractured bell from vibrating against each other.

According to the Liberty Bell Museum, it was first called the "Liberty Bell" by a group trying to outlaw slavery. The abolitionists pointed to the inscription on the bell and adopted it as a symbol of their cause in the 1830s.

It has since become an international symbol of liberty.

In 1950, the United States Department of the Treasury ordered 55 full-sized replicas of the Liberty Bell from a foundry in France, all shipped as gifts to states and territories of the United States and the District of Columbia to be displayed and rung on patriotic occasions. This was part of a savings bond drive held from May 15 to July 4, 1950 with the slogan "Save for Your Independence."

The original bell weighed 2,080 pounds when first cast and is made mostly of copper (70 percent) and tin (25 percent).
The MSUM oaken replica, along with its yoke and iron stand, weighs about 1,000 pounds and sits on wheels. It also has two metal pockets in back to accommodate a fork lit.

Just like the original, Swenson said, the MSUM replica bell is three feet tall and measures 12 feet around the circumference of the lip.

It will be on display during the university’s 34th annual 4th of July celebration, an afternoon of family entertainment that starts at 1 p.m. on the campus mall, followed by fireworks at dusk over Nemzek Field.

One problem: while the original Liberty Bell ring tone was an E-flat, MSUM’s replica is made completely out of oak, including the clapper. The sound it makes is just a muffled thud.

To listen to the sound of the Liberty Bell, visit the Web Site: www.ushistory.org/libertybell/more/normandybell.htm

Today, the Liberty Bell hangs at the Liberty Bell Pavillion in Philadelphia.

After the university’s Fourth of July celebration, Holsen said, the MSUM replica will be displayed prominently on campus at a site yet to be determined.

WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY OR HIS GRANDMOTHER, JOHN AAKER WOULDN’T BE GRADUATING MAY 12
John Aaker admits he’s miserable at the three Rs: reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic.

But he’ll graduate from MSU Moorhead next week with nearly a 3.0 grade point average–– thanks to computer voice and scanning technology. And a promise he made to his late grandmother.

Aaker, born with cerebral palsy, will ride his wheelchair on stage to accept his social work degree Friday, May 12 during the university’s annual spring commencement.

“And they said I couldn’t do it,” he said, referring to the assessments of a few counselors and consultants, one who suggested he be raised in a residential center rather than at home.

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for a group of permanent disorders associated with developmental brain injuries that occur near or at birth. About 500,000 people in the United States have some form of it. For Aaker, it was likely the result of being born two months prematurely.

“I’ve been in physical therapy since the age of two and had 10 major orthopedic surgeries when I was younger,” he said.

The 1997 Moorhead High School graduate has limited use of his legs. “I can stand on my own for about a minute and a half, and I can walk some, but it’s a safety issue,” he said. “If I fall, I can’t get up.”

He’s accepted his physical disabilities. What he hasn’t accepted is a raft of learning disabilities that also stem from that difficult birth.

Fortunately, he has no trouble with a computer keyboard. And that’s been his saving grace.

“I rely on two software programs a lot,” he said. “Dragon Dictate, which allows me to talk to my computer, then types what I say. The words appear on the screen almost instantly. And my Kurzweil 3000, which allows me to scan copy into my computer, then the program reads the document to me out loud, highlighting the copy as I listen to it.”

When it comes to comprehending the spoken word, Aaker is a whiz. But while he can read well, the wiring in his brain interferes with his ability to remember what he’s read. Same with writing.

“I’ve destroyed a lot of $50 text books, ripping out page after page so I can scan and then listen to them.” (Aaker said when he’s rushed, he often uses a free text-to-speech software program downloadable free on the Web at www.readplease.com)

For the most part, it works well. But there are some glitches. “We don’t talk like we write,” he said. “The formality isn’t there.”

Another problem: Other students can highlight important sections of textbooks or notes, typically with a yellow felt pen.

“You can’t do that when all your books and notes are in an audio format,” he said. “Sometimes my mom or friends would read the same chapter in a book that I did, then summarize some of the important material for me. That really helped when studying for tests.”

Many of his required classroom texts were available on tape, either through Services for the Blind and Dyslexic or the Library of Congress.

“I can call the Library of Congress and if they don’t have the book, I can request a copy and they’ll send it to me in a month,” he said. “It’s really amazing.”

As if he doesn’t have enough problems, he also has dyscalculia. “Which means I’m really bad at math,” he said. “I’ve taken life skills courses in the basics, which means I can balance a checkbook, make change, figure out times or ingredients for cooking.”

He took the most basic college math twice. He then advance to Math 105, “which I passed with the help of Sylvan Learning Center in Fargo,” he said, “and a very dedicated teacher, Kristine Montis, a professor in the university’s mathematics department who took the time to help me.

He also had to take a required statistics class twice. “I barely passed, thanks to the professor and Matt Bakko, a student tutor who spent endless hours helping me understand the concepts.”

The hurdles sometimes overwhelmed him, whether it was another accessibility issue or again trying to work with another professor who didn’t quite understand his reading and writing difficulties.

“But when I really, really got frustrated, I’d remember the promise I made to my grandmother. When she was lying in bed dying, I promised her I’d graduate from college. That kept me going.”

Aaker’s mother Joan, a nurse practitioner at MeritCare, remembers that moment. “I’m a single parent who raised two boys and my mother was very important in their lives,” she said. “They both adored her. So I truly believe that his promise motivated him.”

And so did his attitude, she said. “When John was young, he was a very strong willed boy. And I knew that would serve him well because of the difficulties he would face. So I tried as best I could to steer his strong will in the right direction.”

After graduating from Moorhead High, Aaker spent eight months at The Courage Center in Golden Valley, Minn, a rehabilitation center that helps people with disabilities reach their potential and learn to live independently.

That’s where he picked up his technological skills, and a nudge to try college.

“The psychologists and counselors there knew it would be difficult for John to get through college,” his mother said. “But they told him it would be worth a try.”

They suggested Augsburg College, because it had a reputable learning disabilities program. He spent two years there, but when available technology became an issue, he returned to Moorhead and enrolled at MSUM.

“I grew up a few blocks from campus and my mom still lives there,” he said. “It was just easier.”

Scoring a surprising 25 on his ACT test (a high school teacher read the exam to him), he had no trouble getting admitted to MSUM. But he started out at the university Corrick Center for General Education (formerly called The New Center), which fosters a mastery of freshman and sophomore coursework while students adjust to the academic environment.

“It was just what John needed,” his mother said. “I can’t say enough about the program. John has always had the ability and the will to succeed, and we knew he had to jump through all the hoops other students do. I think the New Center reinforced what his grandmother and I tried to teach him: that you can do it.”

Greg Toutges, the university’s disabilities director, also played a role in getting Aaker access to books on tape and other technologies, along with note takers who would accompany him to class.

All the while, Aaker has been a steadfast advocate for accessibility on campus, serving on several university committees. “I’m not militant about it, but at times I’ve been frustrated with the process.”

He has nothing but good things to say about Gordy Bergman, MSUM’s grounds and roads maintenance supervisor. “I think he gives all students with disabilities here his cell phone number in case we get stuck in a snow bank or need some other kind of help,” he said. “He and his crew have been invaluable.”

Aaker, now 29 years old, recently earned his driving permit after taking a series of special training sessions at MeritCare. But last year he had to make a choice: get a car or a laptop computer. “I needed the computer to graduate,” he said. “I can get my driver’s license any time.”

Following his goal, he just completed an internship at the Freedom Resource Center for Independent Living in Fargo. “That’s really what I want to do with my degree, help other people with disabilities learn to live independently and make choices for themselves. I think I have a talent for it.”

He and his fiancée Bethany Whitehead, an MSUM special education major, have planned a June 17 wedding. They met four years ago at an Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship retreat in Brainerd.

“I was an education major at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn., then,” she said. “John and I were in a small group at the retreat, and many of us kept in touch over the Internet. Then I found out that it would be better for me to transfer to another state school because of my decision to change my major Knowing John here in Moorhead made MSUM a logical choice.”

For the past three years they’ve lived on the same floor in East Snarr. “He proposed to me in his mother’s driveway. We’d spent the evening driving through Lindenwood Park looking at the Christmas lights. I almost drove off the road a few times, looking at the lights and trying to figure out what John was fidgeting with.”

It was an engagement ring, in a bone china box imported from Ireland. “It was his grandmother’s. And the stone was also from his grandmother’s ring,” she said.

After graduating, they plan to move to Yuma, Ariz., where Bethany already has a teaching job, and John will pursue a career as a social worker helping people with disabilities.