WSU recruits four women basketball players

WINONA, Minn., June 1, 2001 -- A Cedar Falls, Iowa, high school basketball player, 5-foot-9 Kim Dreyer, has signed for the Winona State University women's basketball team, said Coach Terri Sheridan. Dreyer's won its state championship and was ranked in the USA Today Top 10 nationally. Dreyer plays guard and forward. Sheridan also announced these signees:

Molly Digman, from Maquoketa Valley, Iowa, a 6-0 center and forward, who amassed 913 points, 713 rebounds, 263 assists, 234 steals and 51 blocked shots in high school. She was an all-state player.

Teri Silvi, from Inver Grove Heights, Minn., a 5-10 forward, who has 1,281 points from high school. She is a three-time all-state player who also competed in prep basketball cross country and track.

Beth Giessen, from Morningside College in Iowa, a 5-10 forward, is a two-time all-conference selection. She was captain of her high school basketball and track teams in New Prague, Minn.

Prof: Life is largely the stories you create

WINONA, Minn., June 1, 2001 -- Narrative therapy with teenagers and families is the focus of a five-day Counselor Training Institute at Winona State University. Prof Walter Berra, a psychotherapist, said he draws on the work of Michael White and David Epston, who theorized that people live their lives according to the stories that they hear and also create themselves. Understanding how to assist clients and students how to construct a more satisfying and appealing story line is the essence of narrative work, Berra said.

Latest IRS report: SMU prez gets 3.2% raise

WINONA, Minn., June 2, 2001 -- The president of Saint MaryÕs University,Brother Louis DeThomasis, received a 3.2 percent increase in salary for the 1999-2000 school year, the latest period for which public tax records are available. The raise was less than his 4.8 percent the year before. It also was less than national averages. According to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources , the median salary increase college executives was 5.8 percent from 1999-2000, putting DeThomasis below the national average.

EXPANDED COVERAGE Reporter: Kate Schott

Trustees of the college set the salary, but spokesperson Bob Conover declined to offer details. He acknowledged that federal law requires 990 tax forms to be available to the public but that there is no obligation to talk to anyone about how salaries are decided. "ItÕs a personnel matter," he said. "It is between the university and the employee. In a private institution, itÕs not a matter of public interest." The 990 forms for 1999-2000 showed only one professor among top-paid Saint Mary's employees -- long-time history prof Daniel OÕNeill, who has since retired. He made $78,200. According to a 1998-99 survey by the Association of University Professors, the average salary for a full-time faculty member nationally was $56,300. Profs at a religiously affiliated private colleges averaged $49,400.

The year before the biggest salary change at Saint Mary's was for Tim Burchill, executive director of the Hendrickson Institute of Ethical Leadership -- a 14.5 percent increase to $114,300 and change. He took a $5,000 cut in 1999-2000, down to $109,000. Again, Conover offered no explanation. Burchill's Hendrickson Institute works at providing students and Winona community members with programming relating to leadership and ethics. Burchill is also the president of the Metanoia Group, which is a consulting group affiliated with the university that does fundraising work with other non-profit groups. Burchill, a 1968 Saint Mary's grad, has been on the payroll about 20 years.

Other salaries contained in the university's latest Form 990: