News releases/February 2005
Minnesota State University Moorhead |
Index:
North Dakota Poet Laureate reads here
Pemble presents Dille Lecture March 8
MSUM Theatre stages "Into the Woods"
$103,750 special education licensure curriculum grant
Legislative open forum Feb. 25
Joys of teaching conference...
Enz Finken named dean...
Wind Ensemble on stage Feb. 27...
Black History Month events...
Campus News debuts on PPTV...
Student art exhibit opens...
Water on Mars: Space scientist lecture...
Hollaar recognized for fiscal integrity...
Arctic Wildlife Refuge lecture...
Science Center celebrates winter...
Utopian dimensions of The Book...
Geology of Lewis & Clark...
Thalidomide victim talks...
McKnight Fellows photo exhibit...
Honor band performs....
Hubard Street 2 Dancers on stage
'Cool of the Evening: Alum book on the '65 Twins...
N.D. POET LAUREATE READS FOR MSUM MCGRATH SERIES MARCH 3
North Dakota Poet Laureate and novelist Larry Woiwode, will talk about the writers' craft at 4 p.m. and read from his work at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 3 in MSUM’s Science Lab Building 104. It's a feature of the university’s Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series. (free)
Woiwode is the author of eight novels. The two most acclaimed are his first, What I'm Going To Do, I Think (1969), and Beyond the Bedroom Wall (1975).
His stories and poetry have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Esquire, Harper's and The Paris Review. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a John Dos Passos Prize winner, a recipient of awards from the William Faulkner Foundation and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and a nominee for both the National Book Critics Circle and National Book Awards.
A North Dakota native (born in Sykeston), he now lives on a 160-acre farm near Mott where he continues to write. Many of his novels contain references to the state, and three of his novels are set in North Dakota. He teaches at UND.
PEMBLE PRESENTS DILLE DISTINGUISHED
FACULTY LECTURE TUESDAY, MARCH 8
Richard Pemble, Biology, is the 2004-2005 Roland and Beth Dille Distinguished Faculty Lecturer and will present a talk on “The Natural History of the Red River Valley Region Before European Settlement,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in King Hall Auditorium. A reception follows in the first-floor atrium area of Owens Hall.
The Dille Distinguished Faculty Lecture Award carries with it a $1,200 prize.
Pemble earned a Ph.D. in botany at the University of California Davis (1970), a master’s in botany at the University of Montana (1965), and bachelor’s in biology and secondary education at Simpson College (1963).
Pemble joined the MSUM faculty in 1969, serving as the department chair for nine years (1985-1994) and as the administrative coordinator for the MSUM Regional Science Center for two years (1988-1990).
His research interests during his 36 years on campus have focused on the ecology of the Red River Valley region, especially its native grasslands. He was an invited member of the Minnesota Humanities Commission International Speakers Bureau between 1994-1996. The results of some of his work will be included as part of the recently released four-hour documentary, “Minnesota: A History of the Land”. Six years in the making, the series chronicles more than 16,000 years of Minnesota history. It was produced by the College of Natural Resources at the University of Minnesota and by Twin Cities Public Television. In 1996, Pemble was recognized for his research on prairies and his contributions to the preservation of Minnesota’s native grasslands when he was awarded the Conservation Award from the Minnesota Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
Since 1970, more than 15,000 MSUM students have taken his Biology 103 course, “Humanity and the Ecosystem.” Pemble says, “an understanding of the principles covered in Biology 103 is critical to the future of the planet and the welfare of its inhabitants.” In 2004, Pemble was honored for his teaching accomplishments, receiving MSUM’s Excellence Award in Teaching.
In 1996, he also received MSUM’s Excellence Award for Service to the Community. He was a member of the Moorhead District 152 Board of Education from June 1979 to July 1985 and a member of the Board of Riverkeepers from 1990 to 2004. At MSUM, he was the University’s Faculty Athletic Representative from 1986 to 1996, a co-chair for the MSUM Foundation’s 2002 Campus Campaign, and is one of several faculty advisors for the MSUM chapter of Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta). In 2002, he was presented the national Tri-Beta Yokley Faculty Service Award.
The Dille Fund for Excellence is a permanent endowment established in 1994 by the MSUM Alumni Foundation through the generosity of MSUM Alumni and Friends to honor the university’s former president, Roland Dille and his wife, Beth.
GO ‘INTO THE WOODS’ WITH MSUM THEATRE MARCH 2-5
MSUM Theatre presents the musical drama “Into The Woods” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, March 2-5, in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Hansen Theatre.
A fractured fairy tale by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, the show features an ambivalent Cinderella, a blood-thirsty Little Red Riding Hood, a Prince Charming with a roving eye and a witch who raps. When a baker and his wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell––involving swindling, lying to and stealing from a cast of fairy tale characters.
For tickets, call the MSU Box Office, 477-2271.
A pre-performance talk starts at 6:30 p.m. for each show in the Fox Recital Hall
MSUM TO GET $103,750 GRANT
FOR INNOVATIVE, ONLINE
SPECIAL ED LICENSURE PROGRAM
Minnesota State University Moorhead is receiving a $103,750 curriculum grant from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities to develop an innovative, online licensure program for Special Education teachers.
The program will be aimed at distance and non-traditional learners, working professionals and others who typically have a difficult time making it to campus.
It will involve four licensure Programs: Early Childhood Special Education, Physical and Health Disabilities, Emotional/Behavior Disorders and Developmental Disabilities.
In the online courses, the program will take advantageof new technologies ranging from chat rooms and discussion boards to perhaps video lectures, threaded discussions and online simulations and advising.
The Council for Exceptional Children recently noted that more than 30,000 teachers without appropriate licenses teach students with special needs and that in some urban and rural schools, close to half of the teachers in special education are unqualified.
The MSUM program is designed to make the processes of earning a second license available to a larger audience and to improve the quality of Special Education teachers in Minnesota.
The grant proposal was written by Britt Ferguson and Katherine Anderson, both faculty members in the university’s Special Education department.
The first classes are expected to be up and running Fall 2005. For details contact Britt Ferguson (218) 477-2554 fergub@mnstate.edu, or Katherine Anderson (218) 477-2011.
For more information on MSUM’s Women’s History Month, contact Laurie Blunsom at 218-477-4606 or 218-477-2101 or blunsom@mnstate.edu
MSUM’S WOMEN’S HISTORY
MONTH CELEBRATION
RUNS MARCH 1-31
MSUM celebrates Women’s History Month with a film festival featuring films by and about women. The theme “Women Change America” honors and recognizes the role of American women in transforming culture, history and politics as leaders, writers, scientists, educators, politicians, artists, and historians.
The University’s Livingston Lord Library will celebrate Women’s History Month by honoring women in the arts and humanities in a display that runs March 1-31 in the main lobby.
Women’s History Month will focus on four topics dealing with women and gender issues—African-American Women in History, March 1-4; Women in Global Perspective, March 7-10; Women’s Health, March 21-24; and Women and Artistic Expression, March 28-30.
The first film series celebrates African-American Women in History by featuring films that profile women in the Civil Rights movement, poet Audre Lorde and African American female artists.
March 1: “The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde,” noon to 1 p.m., MacLean Hall 171. This documentary is a tribute to legendary black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde (1934-1992), who was a catalyst for change and uniting the communities of which she was a part: black arts and black liberation, women’s liberation, and lesbian and gay liberation.
March 2: “Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders,” 3:30-5:30 p.m., MacLean Hall 171. Through interviews and archival footage, this film demonstrates the commitment and perseverance of the women who fought for change in Mississippi and altered the course of American history. Members of MSUM’s TOCAR and Women’s Studies will lead a discussion of the film.
March 3: “Conjure Women,” 7-9 p.m., King Hall Auditorium. This performance-based documentary explores the artistry and philosophy of four African American female artists, including choreographer and dancer Anita Gonzalez, critically acclaimed performance artist and theatre director Robbie McCauley, photographer Carrie Mae Weems, and composer Cassandra Wilson.
All events are free and open to the public.
For more information on film descriptions or the festival schedule, visit the Web site web.mnstate.edu/women/events/whm05.htm
MSUM’S FACULTY JAZZ COMBO IN CONCERT MARCH 3
MSUM's Faculty Jazz Combo will present a free, public concert Thursday, March 3 at 8 p.m. in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium.
Featured faculty members include John DiFiore, tenor sax; Glenn Ginn and Eric Klotz, guitar; Doug Neill, bass; Simon Rowe, piano; Tom Strait, trumpet; and Kenyon Williams, drums.
CAMPUS LEGISLATIVE FORUM RESCHEDULED FOR FEB. 25
MSUM has rescheduled its Legislative Open Forum featuring our District 9 Legislators (recall the original January event was postponed due to a winter storm).
The event will be Friday, Feb. 25, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Comstock Room of the Comstock Memorial Union. State Senator Keith Langseth and State Representative Morrie Lanning will participate. Representative Paul Marquart sends his regrets.
A reception will be held in the Comstock Room following the open forum. All students, faculty and administrators are welcome. To faculty: if you plan to bring your entire class to the forum, contact Susanne Williams at susannew@mnstate.edu and we will make appropriate arrangements.
VISITING LECTURER TALKS ON ‘JOY OF TEACHING, JOY OF LEARNING’ MARCH 9 AT MSUM
Linda Lantieri is the featured speaker during an all-day education conference on the "Joy of Teaching, Joy of Learning." Wednesday, March 9 at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
The event is a visiting scholar lecture sponsored by MSUM’s College of Education and Human Service, the Moorhead Public School District and the Comstock Funds
She’ll talk on “Restoring Our Spirits: Nurturing Our Inner Lives" at 9 a.m. in the university’s student union ballroom, exploring how to nurture your own sense of purpose and vision and create opportunities for reflection and personal renewal.
Her evening keynote address at 7 p.m. in MSUM’s New Science Lab Building Auditorium is titled, "Creating Ridicule-Free Communities: The Don't Laugh at Me Program.”
Afternoon breakout sessions will begin at 1 p.m. at Moorhead High School.
On-line registration is available at the conference website, web.mnstate.edu/edhuman.
Lantieri is a Fulbright Scholar and nationally known expert in social and emotional learning, conflict resolution, inter-group relations, and crisis intervention.
She’s the director of the New York Satellite Office of the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), located at the University of Illinois at Chicago. CASEL's mission is to establish social and emotional learning as an essential part of education from preschool.
Lantieri, the co-author of “Waging Peace in Our Schools,” has over 30 years of experience in education as a former teacher, principal and director of the alternative middle school East Harlem and as a faculty member of the department of Curriculum and Teaching at Hunter College in New York City.
ENZ FINKEN NAMED DEAN OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES
Kathleen Enz Finken has been named Dean of Arts and Humanities at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
She's been serving as interim dean since the former dean, Peter Quigley, resigned last year to become vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Hawaii at Leeward on the island of Oahu.
MSUM's College of Arts and Humanities includes nearly 100 faculty members and eight academic departments—Art & Design; Communication Studies, Film Studies and Theatre Arts; English; Music; Languages; Philosophy; History; and American Multicultural Studies.
Enz Finken joined the MSUM faculty in 1993. While teaching full time in the Art and Design department, she completed her doctorate in art history from Rutgers University. As an under- graduate at Douglass College, Enz Finken was a Stanton Anthony Scholar, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and she graduated summa cum laude in art history in 1983.
Enz Finken participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar, the American Academy in Rome, in 2002. She was named a Marion Johnson Fellow, Rutgers University, for 1990-91. Enz Finken has also been a member of the Plains Art Museum Board of Directors for almost a decade, serving as president in 1999-2000.
MSUM WIND ENSEMBLE IN CONCERT FEB. 27
MSUM's Wind Ensemble, directed by Dr. John Tesch, will perform a free, public concert at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27 in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium. Previous publicity material indicated an incorrect start time of 3 p.m.
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READING, JAZZ PERFORMANCE PART OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH HERE FEB. 22
Philip Bryant, author of Sermon on a Perfect Spring Day (New Rivers Press, 1998), will help MSUM celebrate Black History Month with a publicreading/jazz performance at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, February 22 in the Library Porch.
Bryant was born in Chicago in 1951 and earned a B.A. in English from Gustavus Adolphus in 1973, and a M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University School of the Arts in 1975. From 1975 to 1989 he taught at Chicago State University, Harold Washington College, and City Colleges of Chicago. He has taught at Gustavus Adolphus College since 1989 where he is an Associate Professor of English.
He was a 1992 fellow of the Minnesota State Arts Board, and has served on the governing board of The Loft Literary Arts Center in Minneapolis. His poems have been published in The Iowa Review, The Indiana Review, The American Poetry Review, and Nimrod. Bryant’s books include a chapbook Blue Island, (Crossroads Press, 1997) and Sermon on a Perfect Spring Day (New Rivers Press, 1998). Sermon. . . won the Minnesota Voices Project contest and was Nominated for a Minnesota Book Award and a Forward Award for best book of poetry in 1999. Thomas R. Smith wrote in a St. Paul Pioneer Press review, “These superb storytelling poems entertain while addressing candidly and generously America’s racial division.” Bryant is completing another book of poetry that features some of the same characters that appear in Sermon. . . .
A collaboration between Bryant and Berkelee College musician and professor-friend has set Bryant’s poetry to music. Respected author and National Book Award nominee Michael S. Harper said of Bryant’s work, “Bryant loves to riff in short exhortations, treatises, . . . the rare aesthetics ushered into our consciousness by the great improvisers, jazz musicians, those tuned on the human voicings of the saxophone, and the vocabulary of the blues.” Tuesday’s reading will feature cuts from 1950s and ‘60s jazz vinyl recordings that Bryant’s father left to his care.
The program on February 22 is co-sponsored by MSUM’s Cultural Diversity Events Fund and Black Student Alliance, New Rivers Press, and the McGrath Series. It’s free and open to the public.
Other Black History Month events on campus include:* Wednesday Feb 16
Soul Food Lunch
MSUM Union Station / 3 square
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Cost $4.99
Soul Food Dinner
MSUM Kise Commons
4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
BSA Movie Night “In the Heat of the Night”
7:00 pm. – CMU Rm. 227
Based on a small town Southern sheriff finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a big-city black homicide detective as they investigate a murder.
Monday, Feb 21
7:00 pm. – CMU Rm. 227
BSA Movie Night “A Raisin in the Sun”
A film of the award-winning play about a struggling black family living on Chicago’s South Side and the impact sees the bequest as the means of realizing dreams and of escape from grinding frustrations.
Staring: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee
Monday, Feb 28
Mixed Blood Theatre Presents “Daughters of Africa
7:00 pm. – CMU Rm. 227
“Daughters of Africa” is a commemoration of the triumph of pride, determination, and courage. It features music made famous by Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, and others in a rousing celebration of famous and unheralded African American women.
All events are free and open to the public
MSUM CAMPUS NEWS AIRS SATURDAYS ON PRAIRIE PUBLIC TV
Minnesota State University Moorhead’s weekly Campus News program will be broadcast at 7 a.m. Saturdays on Prairie Public Television this winter and spring. The show premieres Saturday, Feb. 12.
The half-hour newscast focuses on local and regional colleges, including some stories from campuses around the world. It’s written, reported, photographed and produced by MSUM students.
MSUM seniors Lindsay Hartmann and Martha DeCrans will anchor the program
About 50 students are involved in the production. They are supervised by Martin Grindeland, an MSUM mass communications professor and executive producer of the program.
DeCrans, a 2001 graduate of Park High School, is a Mass Communications senior from Cottage Grove, MN. She’s been a member of the Campus News staff going on four years.
Hartmann, a 2000 graduate of Alexandria High School, is a guard on the Dragon varsity basketball team. Also a Mass Communications senior, last year anchored and produced sports for Campus News.
MSUM STUDENT ART EXHIBIT OPENS FEB. 28
An MSUM student art exhibit will be on display Feb. 28 through March 11 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts gallery featuring photography, graphic design and ceramics. The exhibit is in partial fulfillment of students’ B.A. and B.S. degrees.
A reception for the artists will be held from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 3 in the gallery. It’s free and open to the public.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.
The following students are exhibiting work:
• Alissa Bergan, B.A. photography. She’s the daughter of Allan and LaMae Bergan, Devils Lake, N.D.
• Shaylene Burman, B.A. graphic design. She’s the daughter of Gene and Alice Burman, Glendive, Mont.
• Shannon Crabtree, B.A. photography. She’s the daughter of Lori and Doug Crabtree, Lakeville, Minn.
• Alyssa Caryn Notermann, B.S. art education. She’s the daughter of Linnea Notermann and Philip Volby, Excelsior, Minn.
• Christine Gundersen, B.A. ceramics. She’s the daughter of JoAnne and Willmore Gundersen, Fergus Falls, Minn.
• Angela French, B.A. photography. She’s the daughter of Ida Harlan, Plainville, Kan.
• Kristen Flowers, B.A. art and photography. She’s the daughter of David and Charlene Flowers, Fargo, N.D. She previously lived in Junction City, Kan.
• Ryan Peterson, B.A. graphic design. He’s the son of Doug and Sue Peterson, Fargo, N.D.
• Anne Lane, B.A. graphic design, Fargo, N.D.
JOHNSON SPACE SCIENTIST TALKS ABOUT WATER ON MARS RESEARCH FEB. 21
“Spirit and Opportunity: The Search for Water on Mars” is the title of a talk by Johnson Space Center scientist Doug Ming at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21 in MSU Moorhead’s Science Lab Building 104.
Sponsored by the S.G. Comstock Fund, it’s free and open to the public.
Ming has worked as a space scientist at the Johnson Space Center since 1987, involved in a variety of shuttle science missions and planetary probes. A soil scientist by training, he has participated in many projects related to humans living in space, including spending a month as commander of a habitat simulating life on Mars. He is one of several key scientists tracking the discoveries of the Spirit and Opportunity Landers on Mars.
The primary objective of the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) is to identify and investigate rocks, outcrops, and soils that have the highest possible chance of preserving evidence of past water activity on Mars. The stories of the two rovers and their incredible discoveries of water will be presented through the eyes and instruments of the two rovers.
MNSCU RECOGNIZES JEAN HOLLAAR
FOR UNIVERSITY’S FISCAL INTEGRITY
Jean Hollaar, Minnesota State University Moorhead’s planning and business officer, has been named the recipient of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities’ annual Outstanding Service Award.
Part of MnSCU’s Excellence Awards program, the service award is presented to an outstanding individual working in the system as chief financial officer, business manager or facilities director.
The award cites her efforts in designing and implementing a budget planning process and a financial management practice that has restored fiscal integrity to the university’s General Fund budget.
MnSCU is comprised of 32 institutions of higher learning, including community colleges, technical colleges, and state universities.
President Barden selected Hollaar to fill the newly created position as university budget officer in 2002 after his administrative team discovered, to its surprise, that the university’s “cash balance” at the end of FY 2001 was dangerously low. As a result, Hollaar proposed, and Barden approved, a budget planning process that’s based on revenue projections for the coming year.
As Barden explained it: “Once the revenue projection is accepted by my Cabinet, dollar amounts are allocated to each division or college officer by an algorithm accepted by the administrative team and the university’s Budget Planning Committee. Line officers must develop an annual operations plan with complete cost analysis, and a total cost equal to or less than their allocated revenue. This was a difficult matter for our campus, requiring a discipline in decision-making by line officers that was unparalleled in their prior experience.”
As the university’s fiscal performance showed in FY04, Barden said, Hollaar’s efforts have made a critical difference in improving MSUM’s financial performance.
Barden also noted that Hollaar designed and organized a controlled “designated carry forward” system to counterbalance an older system that encouraged account managers to spend almost every last nickel in their account by the end of the fiscal year.
“Ms. Hollaar,” he said, “has remarkable inter-personal skills and has been able to convince both line officers and the university’s Budget Planning Committee of the worth of her ideas, and everyone has responded positively to her ‘teachings’ on fiscal management.”
ARCTIC WILDLIFE REFUGE FOCUS OF PROGRAM AT MSUM FEB. 10
“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: A Threatened Legacy,” an illustrated slide talk on the history, wildlife and controversy surrounding the wilderness area, will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10 in MSUM's King Hall Auditorium.
It will be presented by Andy Keller, a native Minnesotan and field biologist in Alaska, and Robert Thompson, an Inupiat Eskimo and wilderness guide who joined acclaimed photographer Subhankar Banerjee on a 4,000-mile trip through the Arctic refuge.
The 50-minute talk is free and open to the public.
Opening the coastal plain of the ANWR to oil drilling was an issue in the recent presidential campaign. The 19.6-million acre wilderness area supports the greatest variety of plant and animal life of any park or refuge in the circumpolar arctic.
MSUM SCIENCE CENTER CELEBRATES WINTER FEB. 13 AT BUFFALO RIVER SITE
MSUM’s Regional Science Center will “Celebrate Winter” Sunday, Feb. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Buffalo River Site. It’s free and open to the public.
This family-centered activity offers an afternoon of fun with snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, bird viewing, and a nature walk. Some snowshoes, skis and boots will be available for use, although personal equipment is recommended.
The Buffalo River Site is located 15 miles east of Moorhead, just off Highway 10 adjacent to the Buffalo River State Park. For more information, call 218.477.2904.
UTOPIAN DIMENSIONS OF THE BOOK TOPIC OF DEANS’ LECTURE FEB. 3
Art & Design Prof. Anna Sigridur Arnar presents a Deans’ Lecture on “The Utopian Dimensions of the Book” at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3 in MSUM’s Center for Business 111. The lecture reflects her interest in the history of the book as a cultural object and interactive medium in Western civilization. She’ll draw on her current book project devoted to the French poet and theorist Stephane Mallarme, a man obsessed by the concept of the “Book.”
GEOLOGY OF LEWIS & CLARK TRAIL FOCUS OF LIBRARY LECTURE FEB. 2
John Hoganson and Ed Murphy from the North Dakota Geological Survey will do a presentation on the geology of the Lewis and Clark Trail at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 in the MSUM Library Porch as part of the annual Livingston Lord Library Lecture Series.
The presentation is based on their book, “Geology of the Lewis and Clark Trail in North Dakota.” It’s free and open to the public.
THALIDOMIDE SURVIVOR SPEAKS ON PERSEVERANCE HERE FEB. 3
Alvin Law, one of 13,000 babies born in the 1960s with deformities caused by the infamous morning sickness drug Thalidomide, will speak on “There’s No Such Word As Can’t” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3 in MSUM’s student union ballroom.
Born without arms, today he’s an award-winning trombonist, drummer and vocalist. The program is inspirational, motivational and reflects his daily life. The Campus Activities Board event is free and open to the public.
MCKNIGHT FELLOWS ON DISPLAY AT DILLE GALLERY JAN. 31-FEB. 23
The 2003 McKnight Fellows Exhibition, “New Photography,” featuring Terry Gydesen, Celeste Nelms, Xavier Tavera, and Katherine Turczan, will be on display Jan. 31-Feb. 23 at the Roland Dille Center for the Arts gallery.
A reception will be held Thursday, Feb. 3 from 4-6 p.m. in the gallery. Artist Celeste Nelms will be at the reception and will present a slide lecture at 6 p.m. in the Fox Recital Hall. Both are free and open to the public.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.
HONOR BAND PERFORMS FEB. 5
MSUM hosts the Honor Band here Saturday, Feb. 5, which will includes a free, public concert at 4 p.m. in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium.
More than 100 area high school students schools auditioned for the band last fall. Sixty-six ninth through 12th graders from 16 schools were selected for the honor. MSUM music professor John Tesch directs the band.
HUBBARD STREET 2 ON STAGE TONIGHT
The MSUM Performing Arts Series presents the Chicago dance ensemble “Hubbard Street 2” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts Auditorium.
Founded in 1997 under the leadership of Artistic Director Julie Nakagawa Böttcher, these six dancers between the ages of 17 and 25 reach more than 35,000 people annually through performances in schools, community centers and theatres. The troupe combines theatrical, jazz, modern and classical ballet techniques performing works of the nation’s most promising choreographers. For tickets, contact the MSUM Box Office at 477-2271.
Written by MSU Moorhead alum Jim Thielman…
‘COOL OF THE EVENING’
DOCUMENTS THE ’65 TWINS
WINNING THEIR FIRST PENNANT
When the Minnesota Twins took the field in 1965 for their first World Series appearance, they were scheduled to face the ace lefty for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sandy Koufax—the best pitcher in baseball that year with a 26-8 record and a 2.03 ERA.
Oddly enough, that first game fell on Yom Kippur, and Koufax, who was Jewish, couldn’t play because of his religious obligations.
The Twins knocked his replacement, future Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, off the mound in less than three innings, winning the opener 8-2.
“It was just another oddity from that chilly, storm-ravaged summer,” says former sports writer Jim Thielman (’76, mass comm/political science), author of the recently released “Cool of the Evening: The 1965 Twins.”
The 243-page book, published by Kirk House in both hardcover and paperback, takes readers back 40 years to the late-Metropolitan Stadium in an era better known for hippies and anti-war demonstrations.
But the same year the Rolling Stones released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Twins fans got theirs with a talented Cal Griffith team that included Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Zolio Versalles, Earl Battey and a fiery third-base coach named Billy Martin.
Thielman, who grew up in Breckenridge, Minn., was still in grade school that year. “But I had a lot of memories about that team,” he said.
Thielman came to MSU Moorhead, majored in mass communications and political science, wrote for the Advocate, interned at The Forum and then, at the age of 22, became a sports writer for the Rochester Post-Bulletin, where he covered the Twins for the next 16 years.
After a stint as a reporter for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, he worked in public relations for the Minnesota House of Representatives, the University of Minnesota and Cargill and later in marketing and web development for a large Minneapolis law firm.Today he’s a freelance writer living in Long Lake, Minn., and will spend much of the first part of the year promoting his new book.
When Minnesotans were sending sons and husbands to Vietnam, and patching together their weather-beaten homes, Thielman said, the Twins that year gave them a distraction.
In the spring of ’65, the United States began regular bombing of North Vietnamese towns and villages and the first U.S. combat troops were sent to South Vietnam.
In the first week of May 1965, a violent outbreak of at least 12 tornadoes roared through Minnesota, six of them touching down in or close to the metro area. Fourteen people died due to the storms, which has been called the greatest weather disaster in Twin Cities history.
Just one month earlier, the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix rivers reached record flood stages.
“On top of that, it turned out to be a very cool summer,” Thielman said. “But the Twins warmed it up a bit.”
Despite a slew of injuries to starters Killebrew, Allison, Oliva and Battey, and eventually playing with a roster of essentially 23 players (other teams carried a full 25-man roster), the Twins dominated the American League in 1965 with a 102-60 record (best in the franchise’s history), finishing seven games ahead of second-place Chicago White Sox. They were also drawing a league-leading 1.2 million fans at a time when an official Twins baseball cap sold for $1.
It was only their fifth year in Minnesota.
In 1961, Calvin Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators, moved his team to the Twin Cities, a franchise his family had operated in the nation’s capital since 1912.
The newly named Twins finished in 7th place their first year in Minnesota, 2nd the following season, 3rd the next, and a disappointing 6th in 1964.
But manager Sam Mele, then a 43-year-old Italian from Long Island (who managed the team from 1961-67), took the injury-plagued team and did the unthinkable, dethroning the Yankees for the American league pennant.
The 1965 Twins scored 774 runs in a year when no other team in the league scored more than 680; shortstop Versalles was named the league MVP and won the league Gold Glove; Oliva was the American League batting champ; and future Hall of Famer Killebrew was still a utility player, switching positions from first base and outfield to third base.
“In writing this book, I talked to 17 players from that team,” Thielman said. “And what struck me most was the friendships these guys developed among themselves. Many of them still stay in touch regularly.”
The World Series that year was also an oddity because, for the first time, it featured two franchises that left home and relocated west.
The Dodgers won the series, prevailing in the seventh game when Koufax hurled a three-hit shutout and struck-out 10 Twins.
Despite losing the 1965 Series, the Twins notched a golden moment in Minnesota history. At an autograph session years later, Thielman notes, a fan told Killebrew: “You’re the only hero I ever had who never let me down.”
Killebrew, he said, was speechless.
”In a storm-filled year in Minnesota, the Twins were a perfect storm,” Thielman said.
The book is available at amazon.com and bookstores throughout the state.