Minnesota State University Moorhead
News Releases
September 2007
Minnesota State University Moorhead News Releases |
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Index:
"Presidential Ambition' author speaks here Oct. 2
Oxford prof lectures on "Does Science Challenge Religion"
Corrick Spirit & Vision Award Winner
Governor names MSUM prof to Perpich Arts Board
32nd Family History Workshop Oct. 6
Five to receive alumni awards
Three alums honored by School of Business
Homecoming Sept. 24-30
Faculty art exhibition
Sept. 11 panel: Media and War on Terror
Heitkamp opens Constitutional law series
Peace & Justice Week: Sept. 10-14
Planetarium features Hotter than Blue
Goodman prmoted to associate vp, distance learning dean
Two MSUM biology majors among first class of Minnesota Future Doctors
New Rivers Press earns two major awards
MSUM Kicks off 119th year
New associate vice president
Record number of international students
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AUTHOR OF ‘PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION’ SHENKMAN SPEAKS HERE TUESDAY
Rick Shenkman, historian and author of “Presidential Ambition: How the Presidents Gained Power, Kept Power and Got Things Done,” will present a talk on “Why They Hate Us” at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2 in MSU Moorhead’s student union ballroom. The free event is sponsored by the university’s Campus Activities Board.
Regularly seen on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC and a former contributor the NBC Sunday Today Show, the New York Times Best selling author is also an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter and presidential scholar who’s an associate professor of history at George Mason University. His book “Presidential Ambition” focused primarily on the first 32 presidents, from Washington through FDR. In it, he shows how a single trait of these presidents—driving ambition—influenced key moments and decisions in American history.
‘DOES SCIENCE CHALLENGE RELIGION?’ FOCUS OF OXFORD PROF’S LECTURE AT OCT. 4
Allan Chapman, a professor at Wadham College, Oxford, England will present a lecture on
“Does Science Challenge Religion?” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 in the public lecture room 104 in MSU Moorhead’s Science Lab Building. It will be followed by tea and biscuits in the atrium.
Chapman, a social historian and member of the Royal Astronomical Society Club, frequently appears on British television specials about the history of astronomy and science.
His latest book, “England’s Leonardo: Robert Hooke & the 17th Century Scientific Revolution,” was published last year by the Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol & Philadelphia.
A specialist in the history of early medicine, he’s been a Hastings Memorial Lecturer at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
During his visit to campus, Chapman will also talk to students interested in studying in Oxford next year under MSUM’s Eurospring program, now in its 27th year.
For details, contact the campus International Programs office at 477-4389. He’ll also lecture at noon Thursday to doctors at MeritCare.
PPB COMMUNICATIONS
MANAGER RECEIVES
CORRICK SPIRIT AWARD
Marie Lucero, communications manager for Prairie Public Broadcasting, has been named the recipient of MSU Moorhead’s seventh annual Delmar G. Corrick Spirit and Vision Award.
It’s presented annually by the faculty of the MSU Moorhead’s Corrick Center to a graduate who exemplifies the spirit of Delmar G. Corrick, who retired in 1997 after 21 years at the university, 16 of them as director of the New Center.
Corrick’s egalitarian vision of higher education and his belief in the potential of the human spirit prompted the center to create an award in his honor.
The Corrick Center is an alternative entry program at MSUM, established for students who don’t meet the university’s requirements for admission, but show promise to succeed in college.
Lucero, a 1998 MSUM English/mass communications graduate, enrolled in the Corrick Center 15 years after graduating from Fargo South. She previously worked as a bank branch manager and later sold mutual funds for a New York-based company in Denver before she married and started raising two daughters.
She said enrolling at MSUM through the Corrick Center gave her a needed adjustment period to get back into the discipline of studying and provided a small college family atmosphere that helped ease her into student life.
Lucero has been Prairie Public Broadcasting's communication manager for nearly eight years creating promotional campaigns, leading community engagement activities, and writing the television and radio network's monthly member magazines, CEO newsletters and annual reports.
She also write and edits for "Area Woman" magazine and the Lake Aggasiz Arts Council "Art Forum," edits graduate disquisitions for the NDSU graduate programs office, and edits scholarly journal articles for the NDSU Transportation Institute.
She lives in Moorhead with her daughters Emily, a sophomore at MSUM, and Kate, who will become an MSUM freshman in 2009.
GOVERNOR APPOINTS MSUM’S SUOMALA TO PERPICH FOR EDUCATION ARTS BOARD
Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the appointment of Dorothy Suomala, an associate professor of educational leadership at MSU Moorhead, to four-year term on the Perpich Center for Arts Education board of directors.
She was one of four new members appointed last week to the15-member board.
The Perpich Center for Arts Education, located in Golden Valley, Minn., includes a Research, Assessment and Curriculum Center; the Professional Development Institute; and the Learning Resource Center. They all serve teachers and schools across the state. It is also home to the Arts High School, serving Minnesota 11th and 12th grade students.
Suomala has more than 40 years experience in education, having served as a teacher, principal, superintendent and college professor. She was previously the director of graduate studies at MSUM, and served as the interim dean of the university’s College of Education and Human Services from 2003-05.
She earned her doctorate in educational administration from the University of Minnesota, a master of arts in English from MSUM and an undergraduate English and speech degree from Hamline University. Now on phased retirement, she’s currently working on a master of science degree in counseling at MSUM.
MSUM HOSTS 32ND ANNUAL FAMILY
HISTORY WORKSHOP ON OCT. 6
“Old Trails, New Highways” is the theme for the 32nd Annual Family History Workshop scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4: 30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6 at Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Comstock Memorial Union.
The 2007 Family History Workshop features two nationally acclaimed genealogists: Dick Eastman, author of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, and Kathy Meade, North American representative for Genline.
Eastman is the author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, a weekly electronic publication with more than 25,000 readers. He wrote “Your Roots: Total Genealogy Planning On Your Computer,” published by Ziff-Davis Press, and is a frequent international lecturer, manager of the Genealogy Forums on CompuServe, former editor of Genealogical Computing magazine and also a former consultant and guest on the Ancestors television series on PBS. Eastman will present four sessions: Grandpa in Your Pocket: High Tech Tools; Putting the Genes in Genealogy in a DNA World; Genealogical Research in 2007; and Photographing Delicate Old Documents.
Meade is the North American sales representative for Genline AB, a Swedish company that offers an online subscription service to images of the original Swedish Church records from the 1500s to 1900. Prior to working for Genline, Meade spent more than 20 years in the information technology sector, including six years in Sweden and Norway where she learned to read both Swedish and Norwegian. Meade will present three sessions: Beginning Swedish Genealogy; Doing Swedish Research in a Computer World; and Trace Your Family Using Swedish Church Records.
The workshop schedule also includes many other session topics, including getting started; using the Minnesota State Historical Center in your research; using funeral homes and cemeteries; organizing your genealogy records together; using church and courthouse records; interview techniques; using census records, computer and Internet genealogy resources; using LDS Family History Center resources; German family research and techniques; and online Norwegian genealogical resources.
The luncheon program features an address by Jim Puppe and presentation of the family history photo contest and family history research awards. An exhibit hall featuring booths for more than 20 organizations and vendors is open throughout most of the day.
Workshop cost of $30 includes continental breakfast, four lectures of your choice, the workshop syllabus with all handouts, and morning and afternoon coffee breaks.
For more information about the workshop, visit web.mnstate.edu/heritage/FHW32.htm, the Old Trails, New Highways web site, or contact Continuing Studies office at 477-5862.
MSUM PRESENTS FIVE ALUMNI AWARDS DURING HOMECOMING
Minnesota State University Moorhead will present alumni awards to five of its graduates during Homecoming Week.
Receiving Distinguished Alumni Awards: Tim Larsen, president of Larsen Design, with offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco; and Tamara Olsen, managing officer for the Minneapolis-based Gray Plant Mooty law firm.
Receiving Outstanding Young Alumni Awards: Brian Gramer, founder and board chairman of AnyCollege.com in Fargo and regional vice president of Strategy for Vtrenz, a Silverpop company; and Matt Von Pinnon, editor of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.
Receiving the annual Eva Vraspir Nursing Award: Deb Magnuson, executive director of Waterford at Harwood Groves, a 125-home active adult retirement community in Fargo.
The five will be recognized at a 6 p.m. awards banquet Friday, Sept. 28 at the Courtyard by Marriott. For ticket information, contact the MSUM Alumni Foundation office, 477-2143.
* Larsen, a Bismarck, N.D., native who earned an art education and graphic design degree at MSUM in 1971, heads an award-winning design firm employing more than 50 professionals who serve 140-plus clients nationwide working at its Minneapolis and San Francisco offices.
Larsen founded the company in 1975, specializing in branding, print, and interactive and environmental graphics. It has received numerous awards and recognitions, including featured articles in several national graphic arts publications. He’s also a founding member and former president of the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and served on the AIGA national board. Besides establishing a Larsen Design Scholarship for MSUM students in 2000 (five local students received the merit-based awards in 2007), he’s an advisor for the University of Minnesota’s College of Design.
* Olsen, a Moorhead High graduate, earned an English degree at MSUM in 1982 and then a law degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as executive editor of the Harvard Women’s Law Journal.
Olsen began her career as an English teacher at Fargo North Senior High School. But after graduating from law school in 1986, she joined Gray Plant Mooty, where she specializes in employment and higher education law. This year she became the first female managing officer in the Minneapolis firm’s 140-year history.
Olsen has taught “Women and the Law” at the University of Minnesota, is a Minnesota Law & Politics journal “Super Lawyer,” and this year was named an “Industry Leader” by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Her husband Michael, along with her mother and father, are MSUM graduates.
* Gramer, also a Moorhead High graduate, earned a political science degree at MSUM in 1995. He began his career in radio sales, later working in marketing and sales for several national corporations, including Michelin Tire and McLeod USA. Then he became an entrepreneur with the mission of creating high paying jobs in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
He started his first company, AnyCollege.com, an international niche search engine helping high school students find colleges at the beginning of their research process, which became profitable after its first year in 2001. The next year he founded Vtrenz, another Fargo company focused on creating marketing automation technologies utilizing Internet technologies, which currently works with more than 300 companies around the world. It was acquired in 2007 by Silverpop in Atlanta, Ga., a corporation with nearly 300 employees. Silverpop has pledged to grow the Fargo campus and keep jobs in the FM area for years to come. Today Gramer is chairman of the board for Anycollege.com and regional vice president of Strategy for Vtrenz. He’s also served on the Moorhead City Council and received the FM Chamber Choice Award for Entrepreneurial Business of the Year and Business of the Year.
* Von Pinnon, another Moorhead Senior High graduate who grew up one block from campus, earned a degree in English and mass communications from MSUM in 1994, serving as editor of the campus newspaper, The Advocate, his senior year. He started his career at The Forum as a newspaper carrier and became an intern at the paper right after graduating. He then worked there as a paginator, copy editor, designer, reporter, city editor and managing editor before being named editor last year.
He’s helped The Forum win several Freedom of Information Awards for efforts to keep public information open to the people. As a student, he also founded MSUM’s soccer club, Terra Firma, and has worked as a college, high school and youth soccer referee, eventually becoming president of the North Dakota College Soccer Officials Association. He met his wife Jennifer, also an MSUM alum, while at college.
* Magnuson, a Fargo native, earned a nursing degree at MSUM in 1997 after graduating from the St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing and working nearly 20 years in the health industry. That included 11 years as a clinical instructor for the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and five years as a managed care reviewer and later as an employment coordinator for Dakota Hospital in Fargo.
Before joining Waterford at Harwood Groves, a 125-home active adult retirement community in Fargo, she was director of operations for Country Health, an eight-location medical equipment company owned by Lutheran Health Systems.
Magnuson started at Waterford in 1998 as a health services manager and in 1999 was named its executive director. She has served as president and board member of the local chapter of the North Dakota Nurses Association and as a board member of Sigma Theta Tau, an international nursing honor society. She is a member of the board of directors for the Dakota Medical Foundation.
MSUM HONORS THREE BUSINESS ALUMS
Minnesota State University Moorhead’s College of Business and Industry will honor three of its graduates for outstanding success in their careers during the university’s Homecoming Week celebration.
Receiving the College of Business Outstanding Alumni Awards are Greg Staszko, a partner with Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, a Big 5 international accounting firm in San Jose, Calif.; Curt Gudmundson, founder and CEO of Milestone Hotel Investments in Minneapolis; and David Sweet, president of Ramkota Companies, a hospitality and management consulting firm headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The three will be honored at a 9 a .m. awards breakfast Saturday, Sept. 29 in MSUM’s Center for Business. For details, call the MSUM Alumni Foundation office at 477-2143.
Staszko, a Fargo Shanley High School graduate who earned an accounting degree at MSUM in 1972, was an award-winning athlete for the Dragons, participating for four years in football and track, named captain and MVP of the track team in
1971- 2. He began his career working for Unisys in Fargo and later Minneapolis from 1972 through 1978, when he received the company’s Outstanding Sales Award. At age 33, he was named a partner at KPMG, where he remained until 1986. He joined Deloitte & Touche as a partner in 1986 in Cincinnati, moving to San Jose, Calif., in 1994. He has built and manages a business/technology transformation consulting unit that accounts for nearly $1 billion in annual revenue and over 5,000 professional staff. Shortly after graduating, he founded MSUM’s Winged Foot Track Club, which today continues to support the track & field and cross-country programs. He also was the campaign chair for the Ron Masanz endowment, which raised over $250,000. He was named MSUM Distinguished Alumnus in 1999.
Gudmundson, a Moorhead Senior High graduate who earned an economics degree at MSUM in 1969, started his career in college, first as a rock band promoter and later as owner of Mama Mia’s Pizza shops in both Fargo and Moorhead. After graduating, he worked as a loan officer at the Moorhead State Bank. Then from 1970 to 1978 he flew F-101 fighter interceptor aircraft for the North Dakota National Guard. Later he joined Piper Jaffray as a stock broker before starting Milestone in 1987, a company that serves as a general partner for various investment entities including hotels, real estate development and publicly traded investment partnerships with an excess of $300 million under management. Gudmundson, who lives in the Minneapolis area, is a board member for the MSUM Alumni Association and his wife Pam is also an MSUM graduate.
Sweet, who grew up in Minneapolis, earned a degree in hotel/motel/restaurant management and business administration from MSUM in 1970. After graduating, he started climbing the corporate ladder with the Sheraton Corporation and Holiday Inn. After five years managing hotels across the country, he became a partner in Ramkota Companies, a small Sioux Falls, S.D., hotel management firm that owned two hotels at the time. Today Ramkota owns or operates, with its subsidiary Regency Inns Management, dozens of hotel projects across the country, along with a variety of other real estates and restaurants. His wife, Martha, also graduated from the university.
MSUM CELEBRATES HOMECOMING SEPT. 24-30
A bonfire, parade, alumni reunions and a campus talent show will surround Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Homecoming Week celebration Sept. 24-30.
Events get underway Monday with an all campus picnic at 4:30 p.m. outside Kise Commons and a bonfire and pep rally at 9 p.m. on Nemzek’s practice field, featuring the traditional burning of the “M.”
A Dragon chalk art contest and ice cream social starts at 2 p.m. Tuesday on the mall.
Wednesday, hypnotist Frederick Winters is on stage at 7 p.m. in Weld Hall’s Glasrud Auditorium.
Thursday events feature the annual campus variety show and Homecoming coronation at 7 p.m., also in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium.
Friday events include a combined MSUM Moorhead High Homecoming parade at 4 p.m., which will circle the streets surrounding the campus. The Distinguished Alumni Awards banquet starts at 6 p.m. Friday at Courtyard by Marriott in Moorhead, honoring five MSUM alums. And the traditional student Homecoming dance starts at 9 p.m. in the student union ballroom.
Saturday events begin with MSUM’s College of Business and Industry honoring three of its alumni at a 9 a.m. breakfast in the Center for Business Atrium.
Also, an Alumni Welcome Zone with free coffee, donuts, and rides on the Dragon Kiddie Train will open Saturday at 11 a.m. across 17th Street from Nemzek Field.
At 1 p.m., the Dragons face Upper Iowa University in the annual Homecoming football game, preceded by an 11:30 a.m. women’s soccer game against Providence College.
Saturday there is an 8 p.m. reunion of mass communications majors and photography students at the Plains Art Museum, and a student senate reunion at 5 p.m. at Comstock Memorial Union.
The Dragon Hall of Fame banquet will induct six athletes into its honor roll at a 6 p.m. banquet at the Courtyard by Marriott.
Also Saturday, an alumni social starts at 9 p.m. at the Moorhead Knights of Columbus.
To make banquet reservations for the banquets, or for information on any Homecoming event, call 477-2143.
MSUM FACULTY ART ON
DISPLAY SEPT. 17-OCT. 10
An MSUM faculty art exhibit will be on display Sept. 17-Oct. 10 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts gallery. An artists’ reception will be held Thursday, Sept. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.
A variety of works will be shown, from graphic design, drawing and photography to sculpture, printmaking and ceramics. Participating faculty members include Carl Oltvedt, Loral Iverson Hannaher, Sherry Short and Kelli Sinner.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday; or by special arrangement by contacting gallery director Jane Gudmundson, 2284 or gudmunja@mnstate.edu.
SEPT. 11 PANEL LOOKS AT MEDIA AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM
A panel discussion on “The Media and the War on Terrorism” runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11 in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium. Speaking will be MSUM Mass Communications Prof. Martin Grindeland, Fargo KVRR-TV news director Jim Shaw and Fargo Forum editor Matthew Von Pinnon.
FORMER N.D. ATTORNEY GENERAL HEITKAMP OPENS MSUM’S CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SERIES SEPT. 17
Heidi Heitkamp, former North Dakota attorney general and gubernatorial candidate, will talk on "The Social Compact Theory of the U.S. Constitutio " at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17 in MSUM's Center for Business 109. It's the first of this year's Constitutional Law Series, designed to promote an ongoing consideration of the document and its impact on daily lives. Heitkamp is currently a director of the Dakota Gasification Company.
“Imagine: Remembering the Fab Four,” a Beatles tribute band, will be on stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen theatre as a feature of MSUM’s Performing Arts Series. For tickets, contact the MSUM Box Office at 218.477.2271
PEACE & JUSTICE WEEK SEPT. 10-14
The Lutheran Campus Ministry is presenting Peace & Justice Week Sept. 10-14. Events will include the following:
* Monday (CMU 101)
10 a.m. Difficulty in Getting Around
1 p.m. Presentation on the Peace & Justice Center
* Tuesday (CMU 101)
7 p.m. An Inconvenient Truth
* Wednesday (CMU 205)
10 a.m. What is Economic Justice
2 p.m. From Hate Crimes to Same-Sex Marriage. Difficulty in the GLBT Community
* Thursday (CMU 227)
10 a.m. Women in Power; The Journey
11 a.m. Peace & Justice of Housing Issues
3 p.m. Politics of War
* Friday (Campus Mall)
Noon What is Peace? What is Justice? (Food also available)
Sponsored by Lutheran Campus Ministry & Multicultural Affairs office.
PLANETARIUM FEATURES ‘HOTTER THAN BLUE’ SEPT. 16 THRU NOV. 12
The MSUM Planetarium presents the show “Hotter Than Blue” Sundays at 2 p.m. and Mondays at 7 p.m. from September 16 through November 12.
The show looks at blue light, which has the highest energy of any color visible to the human eye. But these blue light higher energies also include exotic forms of radiation—ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays. How do scientists detect these energies and what do they tell us about the astronomical objects that emit them?
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, room 167 at 11th St. and 8th Ave. S. in Moorhead. Please use the south entrance to Bridges Hall. For more information, call 477-2904.
GOODMAN NAMED MSUM’S NEW
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
ASSOC. VP, DISTANCE LEARNING DEAN
Brittney Goodman, director of Instructional Resources at MSU Moorhead for the past five years, has been named the university’s new dean of Distance Learning and associate vice president for Instructional Resources.
The new position reflects a growing emphasis on distance learning and off-campus programs along with the increased focus on planning for future library and instructional technology spaces and innovations.
Goodman joined the MSUM faculty as a librarian in 1997, in charge of library instruction. Five years later she was promoted to director of Instructional Resources.
In her new position, Goodman will oversee 36 employees and 50 student workers in the Instructional Technology, Library, Instructional Media and Continuing Studies units, providing leadership, planning, coordination and management. She’ll also administer the distance learning fee, serve as the intellectual property officer for the university and serve as a member of MSUM’s Academic Affairs Council and the President’s Administration Council.
An associate professor and a member of the university’s graduate faculty, Goodman has a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in English from Western Illinois University. She’s currently working on her doctorate in Communication Studies at NDSU.
Two of 23 selected from a pool of 91 applicants…
TWO MSUM BIOLOGY MAJORS SELECTED FOR
FIRST MINNESOTA’S FUTURE DOCTORS CLASS
Evelyn Fuentes grew up in East Los Angeles, the first U.S.-born child of her Mexican immigrant parents. Spanish was her first language. She’s the first member of her family to graduate from high school.
Jordan Sang grew up in the tiny northwestern Minnesota town of Stephen (pop. 700), one of four children in the only Native American family in the community. At the time, the only full-time physician available was an hour’s drive away.
Fuentes and Sang, both MSUM biology majors, are now on a different track. They were among the 23 Minnesota college students selected from a pool of 91 applicants to join the first class of the Minnesota’s Future Doctors program. It’s designed to recruit and prepare highly talented, committed and hardworking minority, rural and disadvantaged students for careers in medicine.
“I guess I’m just determined,” said Fuentes, a West Fargo High School graduate with a 3.96 GPA. “What really attracted me to a career in medicine was when I attended the MeritCare Youth Medical Experience program in high school. They let us into parts of the hospital not many people see. I even got to suture a pig. I was amazed.”
Sang said his interest in science was inspired by his high school biology teacher, Garry Kotts, and his involvement with The Northwest Minnesota River Watch program, which involves more than 27 high schools monitoring 135 aquatic sites within the watershed. “The science of it just drew me into biology,” said Sang, who graduated from Stephen-Argyle Central High School in 2006 with a 3.95 GPA.
Fuentes came to MSUM with a variety of academic scholarships, and is now in the university’s Honors Apprenticeship Program. Besides attending classes and studying, last year she also worked part time as a certified nurse aide at Eventide, a senior living community in Moorhead, and as a teacher at the West Fargo Adult Learning Center, helping immigrants learn English and adjust to life in North Dakota.
“I’m going to cut back on some of my part-time work this year because I’m getting ready for my MCAT (medical college admission test). I’ll also be involved in a couple cardiovascular and spinal chord research projects with Prof. (David) Rodenbaugh.”
For relaxation, when she can spare the time, she plays Frisbee golf.
Fuentes, whose grandfather was a migrant worker, moved to West Fargo with her family when she was 11 years old, partly because two of her uncles lived there, partly because the school she attended in East Los Angeles wasn’t exactly in a model neighborhood.
“We were warned about a shooting near our school once, and another time our car was stolen from a Target parking lot,” she said. “West Fargo is a much more comfortable community to live in.”
Sang also came to MSUM with a variety of scholarships and grants, many provided through the White Earth Indian Reservation, where he’s an enrolled member. “I was impressed that MSUM students here can get involved in so many research projects,” he said. “But I wasn’t a stranger to the university. My older sisters Rachel (an MSUM Goldwater Scholar now in medical school at the University of Minnesota) and Rebecca (a junior biology and political science major at MSUM) became my mentors.”
Standing 6’6” and the center of his high school basketball team, which competed in the state tournament in his senior year, a first for his school, Sang had his share of athletic scholarship offers when he graduated. “I still play intramurals, but I decided to focus on academics. Varsity sports just takes too much time.”
His mother was born on the White Earth reservation, but was adopted by a family in Stephen. “I’m proud of who I am. Although I wasn’t raised on the reservation, I try to get there as much as possible to join in on the ceremonies.”
In his spare time, he enjoys hunting and fishing.
MSUM biosciences Prof. Joe Provost encouraged both Fuentes and Sang to apply for the Minnesota Doctors Program.
“Evelyn and Jordan are both top-notch students and I knew they were leaning toward medicine,” Provost said. “But I thought they both needed a better understanding of how incredibly difficult it is getting into a medical school. I wanted them to get pumped up, and also understand just how much they can contribute as physicians.”
Created by the University of Minnesota Medical School in partnership with the Mayo Medical School, the MFD program allows students to spend six weeks for three consecutive summers at the U of M, where they participate in medical case studies, shadow physicians in different specialties, and prepare for the MCAT and medical school interviews.
“I was scared at first, spending six weeks with strangers and living in a dorm room,” Fuentes said. “But the first day we all clicked. We were from all races: African-American, Thai, Native American, Vietnamese, Hispanic, Hmong. Even one white girl who was from a rural community.”
Sang was also a bit nervous about leaving home. “But the program was amazing. It opened my eyes, especially shadowing the doctors. On top of that, we made so many contacts that will help us in pursuing a medical career.”
Fuentes will also attend next year’s MFD summer session. She’ll do two instead of the typical three summers because she was admitted into the program after her sophomore year, along with two other members of the class. The rest of the selected students, including Sang, just completed their freshman year.
The medical schools cover the full cost of the program, including room and board, a $300 transportation stipend, and a $1,650 salary for each student.
The intent of Minnesota Future Doctors is to help diversify the population of medical school students to more closely represent the increasing diversity of Minnesota. While African-Americans, for example, made up five percent of Minnesota’s population last year, only one percent of physicians and medical school students were black.
The program also addresses another problem: the country will face an estimated deficit of 150,000 doctors by 2020.
Because of her experience this summer, Fuentes, originally more interested in the cardiovascular side of medicine, has now decided to pursue a career in either rural general practice or medical research (M.D./Ph.D). Maybe both.
Sang, who was on the cusp of deciding what field of biology to pursue, now is single-minded in his efforts to become a physician. “Definitely,” he said. “And because I learned so much about the health disparities in rural Minnesota, I think that’s what I want to do: become a small town doctor, maybe even in Stephen.”
NEW RIVERS BOOK ON MINNESOTA WOMEN
WOMEN POETS WINS TWO MAJOR AWARDS
“To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-Territorial Days to the Present,” published by New Rivers Press headquartered at MSU Moorhead, has just received two major awards: the 2007 Midwest Booksellers' Association Honor Award for Poetry, and the 2007 WILLA Award for Poetry (Women Writing the West).
The first historical and contemporary anthology of Minnesota women poets, this anthology is edited by three prize-winning poets: Thom Tammaro, Connie Wanek and Joyce Sutphen. Poems included range from the earliest poetry in Minnesota-oral song-poems of Ojibwe women-through the sounds and rhythms of early-twentieth-century formalism and contemporary free verse.
The Midwest Booksellers’ award winners were chosen by more than 240 independent booksellers and most of the winning titles were released by major publishers like HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin, Simon & Schuster and Harcourt. The awards will be presented at the organizations 27th annual trade show Oct. 5 in Minneapolis.
The WILLA Literary Award winners are chosen by professional librarians, historians and university affiliated educators for books representing the best published literature for women’s stories set in the American West. The winners will be honored at its 13th annual conference in Colorado Springs Oct. 19-21.
Arranged chronologically, the poems in “To Sing Along the Way” are connected by the common thread of universal themes and reflect Minnesota's diversity of women's voices. Among the more than one hundred contributors are Harriet Bishop, Candace Black, Frances Densmore, Elaine Goodale Eastman, Mary Eastman, Louise Erdrich, Diane Glancy, and Patricia Hampl.
Tammaro, widely published poet and editor, is an English professor at MSU Moorhead. Hehas received three Minnesota Book Awards and a Critics Choice Award from the San Francisco Review of Books for his literary anthologies. His previous collections of poems include “When the Italians Came to My Home Town,” Minnesota Suite” and “Holding on for Dear Life.”
Connie Wanek lives in Duluth, Minnesota where she is a public librarian and renovates old houses with her husband. The author of two books, she is a 2006 Witter Bynner Fellow in Poetry.
Joyce Sutphen lives in Chaska, Minn., and teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She is the author of three books, including “Straight Out of View” (Beacon Press, 1995), winner of the 1994 Barnard New Women Poets Prize.
“To Sing Along the Way” will soon go into its third printing.
MSUM KICKS OFF ITS 119TH YEAR
Enrollment will be close to last year’s with about a 7,200 headcount (down 2 percent) and 1,200 freshmen (up 8 percent), while the budget looks adequate even with a more moderate 4% tuition increase. Dragon Core is in the homestretch, remodeling of MacLean Hall and Kise Commons is a bit behind but should be done a couple weeks into the semester, and the university expects to get approval to offer its first doctoral program (in nursing) this year.
“It looks like another good year,” says MSUM Pres. Roland Barden, who’s entering his 14th year as president. “Last year was particularly satisfying because of the successful outcome of our work to gain re-accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission for 10 years.”
Meanwhile, construction has begun on the university’s new $12 million Dragon Wellness Center just east of Ballard Hall. It should be completed next year.
New this year will be additional emphasis on the university’s emergency response plan, tested this summer when an accidental mercury spill occurred at the same time the e-mail system went down. “We’re looking at a variety of on-campus communication strategies, including sending emergency notices to desk phones in departmental offices,” Barden said.
MSUM’s budget for this academic year is expected to reach $62.5 million, with $29.4 million coming from state appropriations and a projected $32 million from tuition. Another $800,000 comes from other revenue.
Last year MSUM’s budget for instruction and instructional support was about $60 million.
State appropriations to MSUM are up $566,800 in general support from last year, plus designated funding for technology infrastructure ($253,986) and for access and opportunity ($262,591). And this year’s tuition increase of 4% is expected to bring in an additional $1.3 million. Together they basically cover inflationary costs and targeted improvements.
With an expected $1.2 million in estimated contract settlement costs for union employee salaries (projected to average about 3.25%) and about an 8% increase for employee health insurance, totaling $275,000, the university will have about the same amount of spending power as last year.
This year MSUM students will pay $5,950 for tuition and fees (15 credits/two semesters) and about $5,444 four housing and meals (double room/14 meals per week/two semesters) Total: $11,394.80.
Meanwhile, the university’s new Student Success Initiative, designed to keep retention numbers up and students in school, will come into full stride along with Dragon Core, the new liberal studies curriculum that began with last fall’s incoming freshman class. It’s designed to develop knowledge, talent and skills for a lifetime of learning, service and citizenship.
The university should also hear this fall from the Higher Learning Commission, which is expected to approve a doctorate in nursing practice at four MnSCU campuses, including MSUM. Each campus will focus on a specialty. Details will be forthcoming.
It’s been 119 years since MSUM (then called Moorhead Normal School) opened its doors with a freshman class of 29 students in 1888.
SOLINGER NAMED MSUM’S
NEW ASSOCIATE STUDENT
AFFIARS VICE PRESIDENT
Diane Solinger, the former interim director of development in the student affairs division at Minnesota State University Mankato, has been named Minnesota State University Moorhead’s new vice president for student affairs.
She’ll be responsible for supervising and leading the departments in MSU Moorhead’s student affairs office that manage recruitment and retention, focusing on enrollment management. Those departments include admissions, counseling and career services, financial aid, international programs, multi-cultural services, orientation and transition [rograms and student conduct.
For the past two years, Solinger served as an interim director at MSU Mankato, where she’s worked 13 years in positions ranging from interim vice president for student affairs to director of residential life. She earned her undergraduate degree in personnel services from MSU Moorhead and a master’s degree in college student personnel from Western Illinois University. Her previous experience includes four years as director of residence life, two years as associate director and three years as complex director at the University of Denver, where she earned a certificate in public relations.
STUDENTS ENROLL THIS FALL
More than 100 new international students registered for classes this fall, bringing the total number of international students to 350 as classes begin this week.
Last year 240 international students enrolled here, 60 of them were new.
The students represent 36 different countries. The largest groups come from Nepal (31), Japan (18), China (17) and Norway (14).