News Releases December, 2007

Index:
MSUM graduates 460 Dec. 21
Financial aid meetings at area high schools
Mass Comm students win regional Emmy
Four long-time faculty retiring
Russian comedian
Photo exhibit features Cooperstown, N.D.
Planetarium: "The Star of Bethlehem"
Campus music events this month

MSUM WILL GRADUATE 460 DURING
WINTER COMMENCEMENT FRIDAY (Dec. 21)
MSU Moorhead will award degrees to more than 460 graduates during its winter commencement program at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21 at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.

Commencement speaker is State Representative Brita Sailer (DFL-Park Rapids), a 1975 MSUM art graduate now serving her second term in the Minnesota House representing District 2B.

Sailer worked for 20 years as a freelance artist in her pottery and painting studio and served on a variety of local and regional boards before being elected Hubbard County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor.

One of the legislature’s leading authorities on energy and environmental issues, Sailer came to the House with more than 17 years of experience working with solid waste and recycling projects. In 2007, she led the Minnesota Legislature to pass a nation-leading law making it easier for consumers to recycle electronic waste.

A reception for graduates, faculty, parents and guests will follow the recessional.

MSUM HOLDS FINANCIAL AID MEETINGS AT AREA HIGH SCHOOLS
MSUM will hold a meeting on college financial aid for area seniors and their parents at local high schools. An MSUM financial aid representative will present a one-hour program for those interested in knowing more about the financial aid process, especially the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

Upcoming meetings:

* Monday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. at Fargo South High School; Lake Park Audubon High School at 7 p.m.

* Monday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. Hawley High School

* Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. at Fargo North High School

* Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at West Fargo High School

* Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at Shanley High School

For more information about MSUM financial aid, visit the university Web site at web.mnstate.edu/finaid, call 1.800-593.7246, or locally at 218.477.2251.

EMMY AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM AT MSU MOORHEAD
Fourteen students in a broadcast documentary class at Minnesota State University Moorhead won an Emmy from the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for a documentary broadcast on Prairie Public Television titled “Walk into the Wild.”

Students Candace Thornberg, Walhalla, N.D., and Jan Roger Banken, an exchange student from Norway, co-directed the project. Thornberg also produced and narrated the program, and Banken served as chief editor. All of the students wrote, reported, photographed and edited material for the project. Mass communications Professor Martin Grindeland served as faculty advisor. He also teaches television news photography and coaches students in television news photography for Campus News on Prairie Public Television.

“I am so happy for the students who worked hard on this project. Now they can say they’re Emmy award-winning student journalists,” Grindeland said.

Mark Strand, chair of the department of mass communications, said, “Our students have distinguished themselves at regional and national level journalism contests over and over again this year. We won five Eric Sevareid Awards from the Northwest Broadcast News Association, 14 regional awards and five national awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, and now, an Emmy from the National Television Academy.”

National SPJ winners
Earlier this year, MSUM had four national winners in the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence Contest. Only one other university in the country had four national winners. Six universities had two national winners each. In the SPJ contest, this marks the third year in a row that MSUM produced a national winner in television news or sports photography. MSUM is the only school in the country to achieve this distinction. 

SPJ received 3,300 entries in 39 categories from 12 regions, including work in newspapers, magazines, photography, radio, television and online. Winners in each category advanced to the national competition. 

MSUM’s national winners were:
Candace Thornberg, Walhalla, N.D., for “Fatal Plane Crash” in the television breaking news reporting category. She graduated in May and is a producer/reporter at the Fox affiliate KVRR TV in Fargo. She’s the daughter of Bob and Melanie Thornberg.
Carrie Snyder, Fargo, N.D., for “Something Fierce” in the online feature reporting category. She graduated in 2006 and is the director of graphic design for the FM RedHawks. She’s the daughter of Anne and David Snyder.
Enrico Meyer, Melrose, for “Student Sandbaggers” in the television news photography category. He graduated in 2006 and is a photojournalist at the NBC affiliate WIS TV in Columbia, S.C. He’s the son of Jim and Ivanna Meyer.
The staff of Horizonlines.org (Vol. 5) in the best all-around independent online student publication.
“I am absolutely thrilled that our students won these national awards,” said Regene Radniecki, an assistant professor of mass communications who also supervises Horizonlines.org. “We are trying to stay on the cutting edge of online journalism and, to me, these awards confirm that we are succeeding.”

Regional SPJ winners
Finally, MSUM mass communication students won eight first place awards, the most of any school in the region, in the Region 6 (Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota) Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Contest. First place winners advanced to the national SPJ competition.

“It is wonderful to see our students get this kind of recognition for their work,” said
Grindeland.

FOUR LONG-TIME MSUM FACULTY RETIRING
Four long-time faculty members will retire from Minnesota State University Moorhead this winter: history professors Ken Smemo and Dieter Berninger; mass communications professor Shelton Gunaratne; and Judy Strong, associate vice president for academic affairs.

Ken Smemo will end a 46-year career at MSUM as one of the longest serving professors in the university’s history.

A specialist in U.S. Constitutional and Scandinavian history, Smemo came to MSUM in 1961 as a supervisor of social studies teachers at the Campus School. He then spent a year as director of the school before joining the university’s history faculty.

During his tenure, Smemo estimates he’s taught nearly 7,000 students. He also chaired the history department three times, created and directed for 10 years the university’s Northwest Minnesota Historical Center, created and directed the Scandinavian Studies program for 20 years, and served two years as a graduate dean.

Smemo grew up in Eau Claire, Wis., the son of Norwegian immigrants. He served two years in Korea as a member of the U.S. Army, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire under the G.I. Bill, then started his teaching career at a high school in Osseo, Wis. Later he earned his master’s and doctorate at the University of Minnesota.

History, he said, has taught him to be positive: “The future is always filled with hope when you know how the past evolved and how good things have often resulted from terrible challenges. The human spirit perseveres.”

Judy Strong, raised in a small town in upstate New York near Cooperstown, earned an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany and her master’s degree and doctorate in chemistry from Brandeis (Mass.) University.

She joined the MSUM faculty right out of graduate school and during the next 38 years became a full professor, chaired the chemistry department, was appointed dean of Social and Natural Sciences and most recently served as associate vice president for academic affairs.

A specialist in physical chemistry, she won several merit awards for excellence in teaching before committing her last 21 years to administration. She recently shared an Academic Excellence Award with co-chair Deb White and their Higher Learning Commissions 10-year accreditation visit steering committee.

Strong plans to retire in Moorhead this January and continue her involvement in Soroptimist International of the Americas. “I came to Moorhead State College because it was an undergraduate institution that valued work with students including teaching above all….It’s a credit to the vision, perseverance and energy of many of our campus leaders and faculty that today we have a newly renovated campus to be proud of and we have maintained that vision I saw in 1969.”

Berninger grew up in Milwaukee and earned an undergraduate degree in political science, a master’s degree in Ibero-American Area Studies and a doctorate in history, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A specialist in Latin American and U.S. history, he later branched out into the study of race and ethnicity and recently began offering seminars in genocide studies.

During his 37 years on campus, Berninger also served as chair of the Humanities and Multicultural Studies department and coordinator of the Master of Liberal Arts program.

In retirement, he said: “I’m no exception to the usual formula of reading, writing, traveling and living happily ever after. I’ve been fortunate to be able to enjoy the classroom experience as much and as long as I have. And I have had dozens of wonderful colleagues. Both have enriched me beyond measure and I am grateful for them.”

Shelton Gunaratne came to MSUM in 1985 from Central Queensland University where he spent a decade as a lecturer in journalism.

The Sri Lanka native is a specialist in international communication and earned his doctorate in mass communications from the University of Minnesota. He will retire in December after a 35-year career in academia.

Gunaratne got his start as a journalist working at Associated Newspapers of Ceylon. After earning his doctorate, he taught journalism at Central Missouri State University and then the University of Florida and the Universitiy Science Malaysia.

During his career at MSUM he published widely, including books such as “The Dao of the Press” and “Handbook of Media in Asia.” In 2003 he won the Best Article Award of the International Communication Association for his paper on “Convergence: Informatization, World-System, and Developing Countries” published in Communication Yearbook 2001.

In retirement he plans to pursue his research interest in de-Westernizing communication theory and research. His parting suggestion: “Read Lynne Truss’s “Eat, Shoots, and Leaves” to understand the power of a comma.”

RUSSIAN COMEDIAN ON STAGE HERE DEC. 3
Comedian Daniel Kinno, born and raised in Russia, is on stage at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3 in MSU Moorhead’s student union ballroom, a free public event sponsored by the university’s Campus Activities Board.

His brand of comedy combines a deeper look into simple human behavior with a Russian-turned-American wit.
 He’s performed regularly at Los Angeles’s most famous comedy clubs, including Hollywood Improv, The Laugh Factory, Ice House, and Sunset Strip’s Comedy Store.

Inspired by famed landscape photographer Frank Gohlke…
PHOTO EXHIBIT OF COOPERSTOWN, N.D.,
ON DISPLAY AT MSUM LIBRARY DEC. 3-28
A collection of photographs featuring the town of Cooperstown, N.D., will be on display Dec. 3-28 in MSUM’s Livingston Lord Library, an exhibit inspired by a Frank Gohlke, a leading figure in American landscape photography, who presented a workshop at the university this fall.

The photographs were taken in a single day––Saturday, Oct. 20––by 13 MSUM students, Gohlke and MSUM mass communications professor Wayne Gudmundson.

An expanded version of the exhibit will be shown this spring at THE POSTOFFICE, a restaurant and gallery in Cooperstown.

One of an influential group of artist who redefined American landscape photography, Gohlke’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum in New York along with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

His career blossomed after his inclusion in the 1975 New Topographics exhibition at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y. But he’s probably best known today for his depictions of the destruction and rebuilding after a devastating tornado struck Wichita Falls, Texas in 1979 and for his multi-year investigation of the effects of the massive volcanic explosion that blew off the top of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

Gohlke, who holds a master’s degree in English from Yale University, is currently the laureate professor of photography at the University of Arizona and senior research fellow at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson.

MSUM students who contributed to the exhibit: Penny Kelley, Lewis Ableidinger, Stef Graner, Chris Huber, Travis Ehrich, Sayward Honer, Matt Johnson, Jessica Gloege, Beth Haugen, Jeff Off, Erin Myers, Krystal Hoover and Robb Siverson.

Gohlke’s workshop and the exhibit were made possible by a grant from MSUM’s Dille Fund for Excellence.

MSUM PLANETARIUM PRESENTS “STAR
OF BETHLEHEM NOV. 29 THRU DEC. 20
The MSUM Planetarium presents its traditional season show, “Star of Bethlehem” at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays and at 7 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Nov. 29 through Dec. 20.

Was it a comet, a supernova, a triple conjunction of the planet Jupiter with Saturn, or a miracle? Whatever it was, the event reverberated through the centuries and changed millions of lives.

The show will also explore the stars and constellations of the winter night sky.

General admission is $3; children 12 and under, senior citizens and Tri-College students are $1.50. The Planetarium is located on the MSUM campus in Bridges Hall 167. For more information, call 477-2904.

UPCOMING MSUM MUSIC…
MSUM will feature a variety of music events in the coming weeks. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

* MSUM Opera Workshop presents “A Game of Chance” at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Fox Recital Hall. “A Game of Chance” is an opera in one act by Seymour Barab and Elixir of Love (Scenes from Act I) by Gaetano Donizetti.
* Tri-College Jazz Combos will be in concert Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre.
* MSUM’s Wind Ensemble performs at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium.
* The University Symphony Orchestra and Choir perform Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre. Call the MSUM box office, 477-2271, for tickets.