Donahue: Governor lays bad eggs

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 31, 2005 -- The student vice president at Winona State University, Tim Donahue, doesn't think Gov. Pawlenty's plan for a new university in Rochester will go through. In an interview Donahue said that the idea for such an institution has been in the works for 30 years and never proven economically viable. Noting that Pawlenty is up for re-election in 2006, Donahue said that it is unlikely that Pawlenty's "political present to Rochester" will make it past the Legislature. "It is a waste of money," Donahue said. The governor wants $3.2 million for the project for starters to replace Winona State and other universities that have programs in Rochester. Said Dionahue: "Current institutions should be funded first. Do that before trying to set up a new university in Rochester." MORE Much in Pawlenty's new budget proposal alarms Donahue, including the giovernor's proposal to deny $130 million to the MnSCU system for enrollment growth. MnSCU colleges, including Winona State, would need to raise tutiion to offset the loss that would result from the Pawlenty plan, Donahue said. He noted that many obstacles face the governor's plan. Many revisions can be expected, he said. Ultimately Donahue hopes the Legislature will listen to a student call for a tuition freeze. MORE

TIM DONAHUE Student Senate vice presdident

Congress eyes new taxes on collegians

Upper Iowa rebounds for Northern Sun

FAYETTE, Iowa, Jan. 31, 2005 -- The athletic director at Upper Iowa University, Gil Cloud, believes both University of Mary and Upper Iowa will be on the ballot for expansion of the Northern Sun conference. "I believe this will be a two or none deal," said Cloud. Butch Raymond, the Northern Sun commissioner, has said before that he would like the Northern Sun, in which Winona State plays, to have an even number of teams for tidy scheduling. MORE Last September Upper Iowa's application, which would have made for a nine-school league, came up one short in a bid to join the Northern Sun. Six votes were need. The vote was 5-3. The defeat was hard to take, said Cloud. A veteran football coach, Cloud said would rather lose a game 28-0 than 7-6. The issue will be reviewed again, this time paired with the University of Mary application, at a league policy meeting in the third week of April. MORE Cloud distanced himself from a Winona Daily News article in September that cast him as bitter about the September decision. He claimed he was misquoted that he believed one of the votes against allowing Upper Iowa into the league came from Southwest State because his team had just defeated the Mustangs. The Daily News quoted him this way: "I think from that game we won, you can draw a pretty strong conclusion where one of the 'no‚ votes came from. I don't want to do a Dan Rather. I don't have it in writing who voted which way, so I'd rather not say because I don't know for sure." MORE In an interview last week, Cloud said he has no negative feelings toward Southwest State and denied the quote: "I remember that day clearly.That is not exactly what I said." The outcome of one game is not a reason to vote on a decision that affects the future of an entire conference, he said. Cloud doesn't believe that Southwest State based a negative vote on the outcome of that game: "The media blew what I said out of proportion." Some people at Southwest State took offense and are still not over it, he said. MORE

NORTHERN SUN INTER- COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE NORTHERN SUN ROSTER Bemidji State Concordia St. Paul MSU- Moorhead Northern State Iowa UM- Crookston Wayne State Nebraska Winona State EXPANSION POSSIBILITIES University of Mary North Dakota Upper Iowa

WSU Foundation assets pass $22 million

Frosh see greater indebtedness ahead

NEWS AND COMMENT WINONA MEDIA WATCH MEDIA-BASHING V. TRUTH-SEEKING Gov. Tim Pawlenty is uncanny at finding friendly forums for his pronouncements. He is so accustomed to the emperor treatment and softball questions that he walked into the Minnesota Newspaper Association convention expecting the same. Then Steve Schild did what nobody else in the room dared do -- abandon Minnesota Nice obsequiousness. Schild is chair of media studies at St. Mary's University and a former Winona Daily News reporter desk editor. He's also an independent thinker with the courage to craft tough questions. MORE TIM PAW- LENTY STEVE SCHILD Governor v. journalist To the governor, Schild rose in a question-answer period and posed the best question of the day: "I wonder what it would be like for you to live in the sort of conditions day to day that the approximately 30,000 people who will have no health care if your proposals are enacted. I wonder what it would be like for you to walk in their shoes." MORE Although Schild didn't frame his question in interrogatory form, he was asking a fair question, exactly what journalists should have been asking all week as Pawlenty has made whirwind trips outstate to stir interest in his parsimonious health care budget plan. In the MNA banquet room, however, Pawlenty was confronted with an honest and penetrating question and had no answer. He fell back on the convenience of media-bashing: "Well, there's a comment from an unbiased journalist. Gosh, there's no bias in the media there." MORE Pawlenty has a simplistic notion: Either you're for me or you're biased. He sees no ground discussion or debate -- or accountability to the people through the news media. His response to Schild was surrealistic, considering how soft other media people were on him that day and every other day. MORE What Minnesota needs is less journalistic sappiness and more Steve Schilds. MEDIA WATCH ARCHIVE

Clarinetist featured in Schubert concert

WSU keeping fall admissions open

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 31, 2005 -- The admissions director at Winona State is optimistic about meeting the university's goal of 1,650 freshmen in the fall. Carl Stange said that the total number of admitted frosh is running 5 percent ahead of last year. "At this point we have admitted 3,677 students," said Stange. In the past there has been a 42 percent show rate -- except last fall when only 38 percent of the admitted showed up, said Stange. The decline sent the university into a budget crisis that temporarily forced a halt to all hiring and major budget reshuffles. MORE Stange said that this year admissions is continuing beyond the cut-off dates of recent years, some as early as December,. Instead, a selective ongoing process is reviewing students who are still applying based on their ability and space in the academic programs they seek, said Stange. Asked if continuing tuition increases, in double digits the last two years, scared freshman away, Stange said no: "Winona State is only $1,000 more than our other sister schools in the MnSCU system." MORE The admissions office in Somsen Hall, meanwhile, has spiffed up its physical appearance to be more inviting, said Stange. Also, he said, more one-on-one time is being spent with each family "to build a relationship with each of them." Visitors are being given a calendar with application deadlines and important dates, said Stange. More families are coming for Saturday campus tours. he said: "We break them into smaller groups than the years before so it's more personal." Still, why the drop in frosh enrollment last fall? Stanged said that an ad-hoc group has researched the question and come up with some good information, but, he said, nothing jumped out as a single reason. Reporter: Meghan Frain Background: WSU frosh enrollment slips

CARL STANGE Chief WSU recruiter

Could Augsburg happen here? Palm: No

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 31, 2005 -- The flu vaccination incident that triggered panic at Augsburg College, with a freelancing nurse giving unauthorized injections, is unlikely ever to occur at Winona State, said campus health services director Diane Palm. Winona State students should know that any vaccinations given on campus would be advertised by health services, Palm said. Also, she said: "No one should ever receive a vaccination without signing a consent form." No consent form is the biggest red flag to let people know that something is not legitimate, she said. At Augsburg a nurse showed up on her own, posted a sign, and began selling injections at $20. By the time she was discovered, the nurse had sold three dozen injections of who knows what. The students went into AIDS testing. MORE Palm said that all Winona State vaccination clinics are formal, never held out in the open on campus. She said usually they are set up with a whole group of people working them, not a single nurse. That is something else students should look for, said Palm. MORE

DIANE PALM Chief WSU nurse

Student: Drug summons arrived late

Endowments score 15.1% return

Rochester higher-ed future seen as hazy

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 30, 2005 -- Hyped concern over Gov. Pawlenty's proposal to replace Winona State and University of Minnesota programs with a new university in Rochester is premature , according to Ron Elcombe, whose management duties at Winona State have included a stint at the university's Rochester operation. Not enough concrete information about Pawlenty's proposal is known to determine what will actually might happen, Elcombe said. He said he can't have an opinion on something so much up in the air. MORE As Elcombe sees it, there are three possibities: Start a completely new university in Rochester. Make the current system work better. Create a new Rochester alliance with MnSCU system, of which Winona State is part, or with the University of Minnesota system. MORE

RON ELCOMBE Wait 'n' see

Party ends in fight over shaver

WSU spech topic: Future of book

YES, IT'LL MAKE IT Zach Malvik swooshes a free throw in the Winona State's 77-65 basketball victory over Concordia. Malvik led the Warriors with 30 points.

PHOTOGRAPHER: SHELLI DANIELS

Campus projects intact in Senate bill

City may flash SMU speed limit

WSU academic veep has hat in ring

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 28, 2005 -- The academic vice president at Winona State the past 5-1/2 years, Steve Richardson, confirmed he is among 60-plus candidates for the university's presidency. Asked in an interview whom he saw as qualified candidates, Richardson said firmly: "Me." Then he said he had indeed applied for the presidency, which becomes vacant in June with the retirement of Darrell Krueger. "I've been reasonably quiet at this point" about the status of the search, Richardson said. It is not known whether there are other internal candidates. The vacancy has been advertised nationally. MORE The search committee chair, Minnesota State University-Moorhead President Roland Barden, has not released the names of any applicants or nominees. The state chancellor's liaison for the search, Linda Skallman, has confirmed that the search is on schedule with confidential interviews being conducted with candidates who survived initial cuts. The names of candidates are still hush-hush because state law prohibits the release of names until the confidential interviews have been completed. MORE After 5-1/2 years at Winona State, Richardson believes it's his turn for a shot at the presidency. "I have been here for WSU every step of the way, and I already have the commitment," said Richardson. Asked whether his role in Winona State's New University project would affect the search, Richardson said he has been right at the heart of the New U and can help the campus maintain momentum during the process. The job description specifies that the new president be supportive of the New University project, which, although still evolving, is a package of initiatives that have drawn student criticism because it would require a $1,000 tuition surcharge. MORE Noting that Krueger has been president 16 years, Richardson said it will be hard to say goodbye: "It's hard to look at anything at WSU without seeing President Krueger's fingerprints." Krueger will be retiring to southwest Utah to run a family sheep ranch.

DARRELL KRUEGER Who will successor be? STEVE RICHARDSON Among 60 applicants

Huskies trainer suspended for false docs

Liquor outlet outside 1,200-foot radius

Six-year graduation rate: 54%

Campus cop: Dorm drug busts rare

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 28, 2005 -- The security director at Winona State University said drug busts like the one involving junior Jonathan Richard Erickson are not common on campus. Don Walski, at Winona State since 1995, said Erickson's pending arrest on a charge of dealing drugs in the Morey dorm is one of the first the university has experienced. Campus security typically records about 20 drug violations a year, he said. Most involve possession of drug paraphernalia or illegal substances, he said. Walski also said drug violators are usually freshmen and sophomores because few juniors and seniors live in the dorms. Erickson's violation is unique because he is a third-year student. MORE

DON WALSKI WSU security director

CIA terrorism expert at Rochester

Jersey college quits five sports

High schoolers riled at Lincoln plan

Senior WSU prof earning $96,600

139 cars towed for snow plowing

Fed student programs off risk list

KATIE CARLSON SARAH HOVEY ADAM KRAHN KASEY KOLBERG ANNE JUNGEN BEN GRICE TOMORROW'S GREATEST BYLINES TODAY

Cato report: Drop student grants

Smoking ban plan scaled down

College Board revamps placement tests

As portrayed in Winona State University promotional materials OTHER SLICES OF CAMPUS LIFE

WINONA CAMPUS LIFE

Bardfest "benefactor" in foreclosure

BARD FEST Next season June 24 premier "Much Ado About Nothing" "Richard III"

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 27, 2005 -- A big-spender Burnsville, Minn., developer, Amir Marafie, who has promised $100,000 to the Great River Shakespeare Festival, has had a house in Winona foreclosed for missing mortgage payments, record show. The house, at 721 Main St., has been used as gift from Marafie for disabled children under the care of Home and Community options. Unless mortgage payments are made, the hoyse will be sold at a sheriff's auction. The auction notice said he paid $283,400 for the house in February 2004 but put little down. He owes more than $291,000, according to the notice. MORE Through his Marafie Foundation USA, Marafie has a record of large donations, but in recent months numerous commitments have gone unfulfilled. Backers of the Shakespeare fest, based at Winona State University, had counted on a Marafie promise to make their budget. Now, with Marafie failing to send a check, festival backers have turned to the community to make up the shortfall. Money promised to the Winona Community Foundation also has failed to materialize.

Cancer fund-raiser planned at WSU

WINONA, Minn., Jan. 27, 2005 -- The second annual Winona State University Relay for Life, an overnight team event to raise money for cancer research, kicked off last week with games to stir interest in the relay, scheduled in April. Some women plan to sell locks of their hair to raise the $100 each team member needs to enter. Date: Saturday, April 9 Time: 5 p.m. Place: Courtyard, Winona State Contact: Cassie Lynch or April Springer Reporter: Matt Kroulik

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY EVENT

Study: College benefactors satisfied