CyberIndee: Winona College News (Aug. 1-31, 2006)

WSU MASSCOM ALUMNI

ABOUT CYBERINDEE

JOURNALISM AWARDS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO MASSCOM AT WINONA STATE
25 YEARS AND GOING STRONG, GROWING STRONGER

2006 NEWS
AUG. 1-31

VISITOMETER

LATEST NEWS

ELECTION 2006

Hatch vows $300 million for tuition relief

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2006 -- Gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch promised to allot $300 million to ease state college tuition if elected. Speaking at Winona State University, Hatch outlined a plan for "closing a loophole" in current tax law that allows some foreign-owned companies to pay less in-state companies. Closing this loophole, Hatch said, would free up approximately $300 million that he said could be put to better use to ease tuition.

Hatch outlined two ways in which the money could be dispersed. The money could be given to students as tuition reimbursement, he said. Also, he said, the money could go directly to the colleges for tuition relief. Hatch was specific that his plan would not be used to bulk up college budgets. His goal, Hatch said, is to roll back tuition to 2002 levels. He decried that Minnesota tuition has doubled in the past six years: "We never want any child in Minnesota to use money as an excuse to not attend college." His tuition cuts, he said, would affect tuition only for Minnesota students.

Hatch spoke, also, about high health-insurance costs straining recent college grads who also are struggling to pay off college loans. If elected he intends to address that issue also, he said.

Reporter: Elizabeth Adams
Background: Hatch brings governor's race to WSU
Background: Races campus people are watching

MIKE
HATCH
Minnesota attorney general

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

UPCOMING EVENTS
ST. MARY'S	SOUTHEAST TECH	WINONA STATE

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN'S)

WSU 3, UW-Parkside 1

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SMU seeks public comments for accreditation

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2006 -- As required by the regional college accrediting agency, St. Mary's University has solicited comments from the public. At issue is whether the North Central Association should re-accredit the college. Comments should be signed with address and phone, but the association will treat them coonfidentially, St. Mary's said. The address:

Higher Learning Commission
30 Norh LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602

St. Mary's said that anyone with a specific dispute or grievance should request a separate form.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COMMENT
PRESIDENTIAL JOB PERFORMANCE

D
RAMALEY
REPORT
CARD

EARLIER GRADES

LATE
JULY

LATE
JUNE

LATE
MAY

B-

EARLY
MAY

C+

MID-
APR

C-

MID-
MAR

C-

EARLY
FEB

Flitting campus to campus, today's university presidents hardly have time to figure out the local cultural. The stops are too quick on the upward zoom of their career tracks. Judith Ramaley, now at Winona State University a tad more than a year, is no exception. At her last presidency, at the University of Vermont, she grossly misgauged the local culture In a disciplinary decision that might have made sense elsewhere, Ramaley cancelled the varsity hockey season. Big mistake. In Vermont anyway. The university's governing point pointed her to the door.

From Vermont, Ramaley landed an interim position with the National Science Foundation and a loosely defined faculty appointment at the University of Maine. Then came her next stop, at Winona State. Just like Harry Chapin's morning DJ on WOLD, her first challenge for not repeating her Vermont disaster was to learn the Winona culture. She did many right things: Meeting political leaders, endearing herself in the banking community, glad-handing benefactors. But she has missed fundamental Minnesota values that are deeply rooted in our populist history. These include consultation, consensus-building and, most important, listening with a sincerity that conveys an interesting in learning the values of other people.

Like many New Breed university presidents, desperate to leave a mark as a springboard for moving on, Ramaley leapfrogged the time-consuming task of learning the values of the people of her new campus -- faculty, students and staff. Time-honored consultation through Meet and Confer and Meet and Discuss processes have been a visible pain for her, not an oppportunity for dialogue and progress toward consensus. She devised a complex administrative reorganization plan all be herself -- a complicated, multi-layered structure to replace a streamlined and budget-conscious structure that her predecessors had crafted with great deliberation and consultation over the years. Meanwhile, despite strident objections from students who would pay the bills, Ramaley ramrodded ahead with her expensive Learning for the 21st Century project. In student leadership circles, she's come to be known disparagingly as Auntie Ramaley. Think of a giant tablespoon of cod-liver oil. Her message: "I know what's good for you better than you do, and don't contradict me, damn it." Her way or no way. No compromising.

The patterns are unmistakable. Ramaley has imposed her vision on us, not listening nor working at bringing us into sharing her vision. Her approach has been a bad fit in the strong and workable Winona State cultural she inherited. Her approach (with apologies to Arthur Schlesinger) has been an Imperial Presidency -- top down, let the serfs comply, time is too short for anything else. Inherent in the approach, tragically, are seeds of a Vermont disaster.

The CyberIndee invites reader input for periodic updates of the Ramaley presidential approval rating. Brief comments on Ramaley's latest performance will be shared with readers. Anonynmity is assured if requested.

Your input

Background: Previous Ramaley report cards

YOUR COMMENTARY TOO IS INVITED
TRY TO STAY WITHIN 300 WORDS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Century College students to state colleges board

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 31, 2006 -- A student at Century College, Caleb Anderson of Maplewood, has been appointed to the state colleges board as a community college representative. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who made the appointment, said that Anderson's term would be through June 2008. Anderson works as an assistant pre-school teacher. At Century College he is involved in the student senate, debate and theater. On the MnSCU Board, Anderson succeeds Christopher Schultz.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU runs short of meningitis vaccine

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2006 -- A national shortage of meningitis vaccine has left probably 50 Winona State freshmen without the protection they want, university health services director Diane Palm said. Campus nurses ran out of the government-recommended vaccine Menactra after 85 inoculations during freshman orientation. The university recommends that frosh be inoculated against the often-deadly though disease, especially in they live in cramped dorms. Many frosh get the protection before arriving at campus. Palm said. Over the summer she had only 25 or 30 students respond to a letter that they would want an inoculation during frosh orientation. "We thought we had enough," she said. Then came the rush. There was no local stockpile to draw on, Palm said. She said the manufacturer expects to begin shipping again Menactra as soon as mid-September but perhaps only in units as small as 10 doses at a time.

The government recommends Menactra, which is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur. The company produced 6 million doses this year, which turned out to be short of demand. Palm said Sanofi Pasteur itself may have contributed to the shortage with advertising directed at parents over the summer. Palm said the almost perennial shortage may be eased in the future by a movement to administer Menactra to children 12 to 13 in the future. Menactra offers lifetime immunity, in contrast with earlier vaccines whose effectiveness ranged from three to eight years.

Winona State charges $90 for inoculation. The university has not had a meningitis case since 2001, when an Ashland, Wis., freshman was diagnosed in a dorm. She survived. A Minnesota State-Mankato student died of the disease last year. Meningitis affects relatively few people, with the highest incidence among college freshmen -- about five cases per 100,000. There are about 300 meningitis deaths a year in the United States. Complications include organ failure and tissue damage that can lead to amputation.

Background: Physician: WSU victim lucky, caught early
Background: MSU-Mankato dorm student dies of meningitis

DIANE
PALM
More doses
on the way

Sanofi Pasteur claims for Menactra efficacy: "The first quadrivalent conjugate meningococcal vaccine can help protect younger adolescents at the time of increased risk."

Sanofi Pasteur on risks: "Most common adverse reactions ... include pain, redness, and induration at the site of injection; headache; fatigue; and malaise. Menactra vaccine is contraindicated in persons with known hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine or to latex, which is used in the vial stopper. Because intramuscular injection can cause injection site hematoma, Menactra vaccine should not be given to persons with any bleeding disorder, such as hemophilia or thrombocytopenia, or to persons on anticoagulant therapy unless the potential benefit clearly outweighs the risk of administration."

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Packers drop WSU quarterback Wrobel

GREEN BAY, Wis. Aug. 31, 2006 -- The Green Bay Packer released former Winona State University quarterback Brian Wrobel in the latest fine-tuning for the National Football League season.

Background: Wrobel aiming for Packer quarterback slot

BRIAN
WROBEL
2005 WSU grad

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Problems stack up for WSU student

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2006 -- Police ticketed a 21-year-old Winona State University student for possession of drug paraphernalia at 1:35 a.m. The man had been stopped at Fourth and Franklin streets for attempting to steal a bicycle, police said. In checking for outstanding warrants, officers learned he was wanted as a public nuisance and for failing to appear in court. The cops took the man to jail, where they found a marijuana pipe on him.

Reporter: Kirsten Freeman and Sheila Goodlund

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 31, 2006

NEW PHONE PROVIDER. St.Louis-based Charter Communications, one of two Winona cable television companies, plans to add telephone service at $40 a month for unlimited local and long-distance calls. The decision will put Charter head-to-head competition against Winona-based Hiawatha Broadand, which offers television, internet and phone packages.

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Police stop driver, find 0.14% blood-alcohol

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2006 -- A 21-year-old La Crosse, Wis, man, was arrested at 1:22 a.m. on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth street for drunken-driving. Police said his blood-alcohol level tested at 0.14 percent.

Reporter: Kirsten Freeman

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Men's advocacy group: Poll students on sports inclination

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Colleges could protect themselves from sex-discrimination lawsuits by polling both male and female students about whether they're intersted in doing varsity athletics, according to the men's advocacy group College Sports Council. Jim McCarthy, Council spokesperson, said the federal requirement for quota-based equality in men's and women's sports probably doesn't reflect differing gender-based interest levels. "There is no method that could be more fair and straight-forward for students to demonstrate their interest than simply to be asked," the Council said in a letter to NCAA schools. The Council is concerned that some schools may be dropping men's sports to bring varsity opportunities into enrollment-based quotas. Rutgers and California State University at Fresno recently dropped some men's teams.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Deja vu for Aber as WSU quarterback

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 30, 2006 -- Junior quarterback Drew Aber will be back as the headline starter for the Winona State University football team this season. Coach Tom Sawyer decided to stick with Aber, who was the starting QB for the last final games last year. Sawyer said it was a tough choice between Aber and senior Aaron Boettcher. "They're both capable," Sawyer said. Last season Aber replaced Boettcher as quarterback after the Warriors' 51-6 loss to North Dakota. This season the Warriors would do well with either man, Sawyer said. Aber completed 153 of 260 passes for 2,388 yards and 2 touchdowns last season. The Warriors won seven of the eight games in which he started. The loss was the 35-21 Metrodome game with Concordia of St. Paul.			DREW ABER QBing against Truman
NEXT Truman State at WSU 1 p.m. Saturday SEASON OPENER

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

AFTERMATH OF A HORRIBLE NIGHT

Probation for Appelwick's vodka-source buddy

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 30, 2006 -- College-bound Benjamin Douglas Johnson, 19, was sentenced to two years probation for giving a bottle of fruity vodka to a high-school friend who later plowed her truck into a car and injuring two Winona State University coaches. The sentence was to a reduced charge. Originally Johnson was charged with a felony, but the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor in a plea bargain. Judge Mary Leahy accepted the plea deal, which had been worked out between Johnson's attorney and prosecutor Nancy Bostrack.

The driver, Katelyn Appelwick, now 19, is facing a trial in October. Meanwhile, Winona State football coach Tom Sawyer and volleyball coach Connie Mettille are back coaching. Sawyer was hospitalized for five days, Mettille 19 days. Metille missed all spring semester with a brain injury and short-term memory loss. The accident occurred at Franklin and Mark streets at 12:30 a.m., Dec. 27.

The conditions of Johnson's probation are 100 hours of community service and random alcohol tests. As much as one year in jail will be the penalty for not meeting the terms of probation. This coming year Johnson, a Winona High grad last spring, will be a freshman at the University of Minnesota.

Johnson, too young to buy liquor, admitted asking a woman, whom he never identified, to get the vodka for him at a liquor store the evening of the accident. He then gave the bottle to Appelwick, a friend who lived across the street. After Appelwick partied with friends at a rental dump at 417 W. Sarnia, a place with a partying history, she hopped into her Toyota 4Runner. At Franklin and Mark she ran a stop sign, police said, and hit a Chevolet Impala driven by Sawyer. Mettille was in the front passenger seat. Appelwick's blood-alcohol content was 0.12 percent, police said.

Background: Vodka supplier expected to plead guilty
Background: Trial set for teen driver in coaches' injuries

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Guilty verdict in North Dakota kidnap-murder

FARGO, N.D., Aug. 30, 2006 -- A federal jury convicted Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 53, of kidnapping a University of North Dakota student from a Grand Forks shopping mall, stabbing and raping her and dumping her body in a ravine in 2003. The jury deliberated less than four hours. Jurors will reconvene next week to decide whether the death penalty is in order. Rodriguez, already a convicted sex offender, is from Crookston, Minn., 30 miles from Grand Forks. The body of Dru Sjodin, 22, was found near Crookston five months after her disapparace. The prosecution had claimed in the trial that Sjodin's DNA was found in Rodriguez's car and indicted a struggle. The defense countered that tests for sexual assault were not reliable.

Background: Top cop: Kidnapping possible here too

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Hatch brings governor's race to WSU

WINONA, Minn, Aug. 30, 2006 -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch will be pumping hands Thursday at Winona State University. Hatch's visit includes a news conference:

Date: Thursday, Aug. 31
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Oak Rooms E and F, Krzysko Commons
Cost: Free

Background: Races campus people

MIKE
HATCH
Minnesota attorney general

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Former St. Teresa counselor dies

ROCHESTER, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- A former director of career planning and placement at the College of St. Teresa, Sister Maryellen Brady, 77, died at the Franciscan residence at Assisi Heights. At St. Teresa she, also, was a phys-ed instructor. She held a certificate in physical therapy from the Mayo Clinic.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Winona as the heart of a new Napa Valley?

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- The vineyard of Winona State University nursing prof Linda Seppanen and husband Marvin has been issued a federal permit as a bonded winery. The plan is to produce a family of wines, the Seppanens said in a news release. As soon as a state winery license is granted, you can stock your wine cellar with bottles labeled Garvin Heights Vineyards. The Seppanens have 20 acres along Garvin Heights Road that are producing cold-climate grapes.

This fall they are putting in a building to house the wine-making operation and to sell wine. There will be space for local art displays and performing musicians. The building will be available for groups of up to 60 for events.

The Seppanens see their winery as a stop on a proposed wine trail along the Mississippi River from Hastings, Minn., to Galena, Ill. They are working with growers and winemakers in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin for a federally recognized viticultural region.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

University defends prof's 9/11 unorthodoxy

DURHAM, N.H., Aug. 29, 2006 -- The University of New Hampshire at Durham defended the free-expression rights of a prof who runs an organization called Scholars for 9/11 Truth, which claims the government allowed the 9/11 terrorism in 2001 and perhaps was in on the planning. The prof, political psychologist William Woodward, had been called "crazy and offensive" by Gov. John Lynch. A Lynch aide later elaborated that prof Woodward has shown "a reckless disregard for the true facts and raises questions as to why such a professor would be teaching at the university in the first place." Responding, a university spokesperson said that the governor can have his views and so can Woodward. The university spokesperson said that Woodward is entitled to his First Amendment right to free speech. "We support academic freedom," the university spokesperson said, adding that Woodward is free to discuss case studies relevant to his course subject, including the 2001 attacks.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

New Mexico ex-football players allege religious slights

LAS CRUCES, N.M., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Three former athletes at New Mexico State University claim they were kicked off the football team because of their Muslim faith. Mu-Ammar Ali and twin brothers Anthony and Vincent Thompson filed a law suit against coach Hal Mumme. The suit says the three were made to "feel like outcasts" because of their religion, which they say infringed on their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. The suit also alleges violations of the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Also named as defendants are the university provost and university and regents. The suit claims that Mumme began practice sessions by leading players in the Lord's Prayer. Also, the prayer was recited before each game, the plaintiffs said. The plaintiffs said they prayed separately, which prompted the coach to start treating them differently. The coach prohibited two of the plaintiffs from a team event, the suit contends. Also, the suits says that the coach repeatedly questioned the third plaintiff about the Al Qaeda terrorist group.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Merchants Bank funds Tech scholarships

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Winona-based Merchants Bank has set up five annual scholarships through the Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical Foundation for Southeast Tech students. The amount of the donation was not disclosed.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COMMENT: TEXTBOOKS
CUSTOMIZING STUDENTS
INTO THE POOR HOUSE
Textbook publishers have new technology that allows profs to mix and match chapters from different books. Theoretically, if a prof chooses well and if the publisher does good production work, these custom textbooks can be superb learning tools. But there is a cost. The custom books have zilch resale value. For most students these custom books end up being vastly more expensive than mainstream textbooks that have ongoing currency at the end of the semester for resale in the national used book market.

What can students do? Make an appointment with your prof to discuss textbook prices. Or you can press your student senator to ask the Senate academics committee, which is concerned about textbook prices, to make this an agenda item and to alert profs campuswide about the cost implications of custom books. A prof who hadn't realized that custom books have no resale value will appreciate the information and become more cost-sensitive in choosing textbooks in the future.

There are other problems with mix-and-match textbooks. Some publishers do a sloppy job, not even getting chapters numbered sequentially. Indexing can be a mess. The seamless narrative of a single author or authoring team, which makes learning easier, is lost. Often there is an unevenness in pedagogical presentation. For example, some chapters may have glossary items, some not. This doesn't make learning easier. Study questions and other pedagogical guideposts can be all over the map in style. Too, there can be contradictions of fact. This can be a major impediment to learning if chapters have been drawn from books with different copyright dates, resulting in confusing amalgamations of current and outdated information. This can be a major problem in fast-changing fields like astronomy. Think Pluto. Or polysci. Newt who? Too, authors have different perspectives and themes that can be confounding especially in introductory courses. In short, custom books can be counterproductive mish-mash disasters.

Another downside of custom textbooks involves transferablity of course credits. If a prof wanders too astray from mainstream course materials, especially in lower-division and introductory courses, evaluators who check transcripts at other colleges can raise their eyebrows about whether to accept the course. A good transcript evaluation for inter-college transferability includes a check of the syllabus for what textbook was assigned. Historically, it has been mainstream textbooks that have contributed to the cohesive excellence of our U.S. higher education system that makes switching colleges feasible.

Done well, custom textbooks can be an asset. Done poorly, they're not. In either case, because they have nil resale value. custom textbooks are far more costly for most students.

YOUR COMMENTARY TOO IS INVITED
TRY TO STAY WITHIN 300 WORDS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SAT scores off; biggest drop in quarter century

WASHINGTON, Aug.29, 2006 -- The average combined scores on the SAT college-preparedness exams in critical-reading and math declined seven points this year -- the biggest single-year drop since 1975. The numbers, released by the College Board, which administers SATS, included 503 in reading, off five points, and 518 in math, off two points. Are high-school seniors dumber? Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said the drop might be explained by the fact that fewer students this year took the exam more than once. Students who take the test more than once typically see a 30-point increase in their combined score, Caperton said. This year 53 percent of test-takers took the SAT multiple times, compared to 56 percent the year before. Caperton also said the decline is not statistically meaningful.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Winona GOP moves to mall

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Republicans readied their new county headquarters today in the Winona Mall, with a ceremony planned for Wednesday with GOP candidates on hand to shake hands and ask for votes. Among features: A drive-up window for voters pick up information on the go. County Democrats, meanwhile, remain at their at 685 W. Fifth St. storefront.

Background: Races campus people are watching

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Study: Student indebtedness same at public, private colleges

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 -- Students who attend state colleges graduate on average with nearly as much student-loan debt as students at private colleges, according to a new study. Robert Shireman, a former White House education-policy adviser, found, however, that there was a dramatic range among the states. The average debt for seniors graduating from public colleges ranged from $11,100 in Utah to $23,200 in Iowa . At private colleges the average debt ranged from $13,300 in Utah to $32,500 in Arizona.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU will hold election-night classes

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Classes will be held on election night this fall at Winona State, the university's new academic vice president, Sally Johnstone, announced. Johnstone's brief statement tacitly acknowledged a state regulation against campus events on the nights of precinct caucuses, which means classes must be canceled those nights, but distinguished "classes" from "activities" on election nights. Johnstone's announcement:

"A primary election and general election are scheduled this fall. No campus events can be scheduled between 6-8 p.m. on election days. Classes remain on schedule, including those that occur on election days: Primary Election Day, Tuesday, Sept. 12. General Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7.

The issue of class cancellation arose last spring when somebody forgot until the day of political party caucuses to cancel night classes formally.

Background: Law catches WSU by surprise; classes canceled

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SOCCER (WOMEN'S)

WSU 3, WSU

Warriors blank Viterbo, set turnstyle record

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Winona State University handed Viterbo University a 3-0 loss in nonconference volleyball match that broke a home attendance record with 980. Kiersten Arendt led the Warriors with 10 kills in the 30-27, 30-18, 30-12 victory. Lisa Dobie connected on 36 assists. Carmen Stankowski and Megan Pulvermacher each recorded 12 digs. Top blocker for the Warriors was Jenna Padley with four assisted blocks.

Statistics

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU coach begins weekly football luncheon

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- For the inside scoop on Winona State football, coach Tom Sawyer will begin his weekly fan luncheons Thursday. Sawyer will preview Saturday's season-opener against Truman State.

Date: Thursday, Aug. 31
Time: 12 p.m.
Place: Riverport Inn
Cost: $7
Contact: Nicholas Jaeger

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Football coaches rank WSU 19th

WACO, Texas, Aug. 29, 2006 -- The American Football Coaches Association ranked Winona State University 19th in its preseason Division II . It was the fourth preseason poll the Warriors were ranked in -- and their highest preseason ranking. Northern Sun conference sibling Concordia of St. Paul was not ranked in the Top 25 but did receive votes. Concordia was the only other Northern Sun team to receive consideration.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Auditions set for "Nutcracker"

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- The Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts scheduled auditions for "The Nutcracker," which will be presented Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 at St. Mary's University. Auditions for dancers and will be Thursday. Community members as young as 5 are invited.

Date: Thursday, Aug. 31
Time: 4 p.m.
Place: Valencia Arts Center, located at the corner of 10th and Vila streets
Cost: Free
Contact: (507) 453-5501

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Islamic scholar reports death threats

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 29, 2006 -- An Islamic-law prof at the University of California at Los Angeles says a false report that he supported the Israeli attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon has led to death threats. The report appeared in numerous Arab-language news media, leading to a second round of stories that Iranian authorities have endorsed his murder. Abou el Fadl told the Los Angeles Times that the death threats have been anonymous. El Fadl called the stories on his views on attacks on Hezbollah "a total fabrication." El Fadl is a critic of strict Islam practices. He has documented human-rights abuses in several Arabian. He has spoken out for women's rights under Muslim law. He has called a counter-jihad of moderate Muslims against extremists.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

"Love Makes Family" exhibit at WSU

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- A traveling exhibit," Love Makes a Family," with museum-quality photographs and interviews with families that have lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members, has been set up at Winona State University. Through first-person accounts and images, the exhibit seeks to challenge and change damaging myths and stereotypes, including homophobia, organizers said.

Date: Through Sunday, Sept. 10, except Labor Day
Time: 7:30 a.m. ecept 9 a.m., Sundays
lace: Library
Cost: Free
Contact: (608) 687-8294

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Diehm named soccer defensive player of week

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- The Northern Sun named Winona State University goal-keeper Amanda Diehm, a sophomore, as the conference's defensive soccer player of the week. Diehm did not allow a goal in three matches over a four-day period. Diehm played 290 minutes and came up with six saves.

AMANDA
DIEHM
WSU goal-tender

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

California governnor signs censorship ban

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law to give broad protection against college censorship to student journalists. The law, which passed the state Legislature overwhelmingly, is a response to a federal appeals court’s decision upholding censorship of a student newspaper at Governors State University in Illinois.

Background: California acts to protect student press

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Report: Chancellor's son on contractor payroll

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 29, 2006 -- The latest in scandalous revelations about the Alabama community colege system has an architectural firm paying $3,000 a month to the son of the chancellor to help oversee a project at the college where he works. According to the Birmingham News, Steven Johnson was paid $69,000 a year. Johnson received the payments from the Alabama-based firm of Jenkins Munroe Jenkins. The company has received $4.2million in contracts from the college system over the past five years, according to the newspaper. Steve Johson's father, Roy Johnson, was fired as chancellor this summer after a series of Birmingham News reports, all drawn from documents, on financial irregularities and favoritism.

Background: Report: College funded disabled granny in sports

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Sexual-orientation educator speaks at WSU

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Gay activist Shane Windmeyer will speak at Winona State University. The title of his speech: "Outspoken: Coming Out as an Ally." Windmeyer founded CampusPride.Net, a national online network of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student leaders. He co-edited the book "Inspiration for LGBT Students and Their Allies."

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 6
Time: 8 p.m.
Place: Stark 106
Cost: Free
Contact: Dan Lintin at (507) 457-5531

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Dobie garners all-tourney volleyball honors

BIG RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Winona State University's junior setter, Lisa Dobie, was named to the Ferris State Invitational all-tournament volleyball team. Dobie helped the Warriors split four matches in the two-day tournament.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Study: Growth in online continuing-ed

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 -- Online-course enrollments comprise about a fifth of all continuing- and professional-education enrollments at the typical college, according to a new Eduventures report. The report, based on data from 43 nonprofit institutions, projects 20 percent annual growth in continuing-ed online enrollments.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Cops continue fall crackdown on drunkenness

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 28, 2006 -- Police issued 10 citations over the weekend for drunkenness as college students poured back into Winona for the fall semester. The citations were in addition to six incidents in the weekend's prelude on Thursday.

A 25-year-old Rochester, Minn., man was cited at Broadway and Main streets at 12:24 a.m., Friday, for drunken driving.

A 37-year-old Winona man was cited at Main and Fifth streets at 1:28 a.m., Friday, for drunken driving.

A 24-year-old Fountain City, Wis., woman was cited at the Interstate Bridge at 1:33 a.m., Saturday, for drunken driving. A passenger, age 20, also of Fountain City, was cited for underage consumption.

A 21-year-old Galesville, Wis., woman was cited at Wabasha and Chestnut streets at 2:04 a.m., Saturday for drunken driving.

A 21-year-old Winona man was cited at Highways 61 and 14 at 1:27 a.m., Saturday, for drunken driving and marijuana possession. A passenger, age 18, was cited for underage consumption.

A 20-year-old Winona woman was cited at Broadway and Johnson streets at 1:39 a.m., Sunday, for underage consumption

A 20-year-old Winona man was cited at Broadway and Johnson streets at 1:52 a.m., Sunday, for drunken driving.

A 21-year-old man was taken for detoxification after he was found in Windom Park at 2:30 a.m., Sunday, with blood alcohol 0.24 percent.

Background: Fall drunkenness-arrest season off and running

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Chamber ensemble plans winds concert

WINONA, Minn., Aug, 28, 2006 -- The Chamber Music Winona ensemble begins its second season with a wind concert at Winona State University. The performance includes "Serenade for Winds" by Arthur Bird, "French Dances Revisited" by Adam Gorb, and "Concert for 10 Winds" by Robert Spittal. The Winona State-based ensemble, comprising local professionals, is conducted by music prof Don Lovejoy.

Date: Tuesday, Aug. 29
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Performing Arts Center Recital Hall
Cost: $3 to $5
Contact: Don Lovejoy at (507) 457-5257

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Duke rape evidence file disclosed

DURHAM, N.C., Aug., 28, 2006 -- An examination of the entire 1,850 pages of evidence gathered in the Duke lacrosse team rape case yields a less fuzzy picture of what happened than attorneys for the athletes have been suggesting for months, the New York Times reported. Reporters Duff Wilson and Jonathan Glater came to their conclusion after reviewing the entire files, including 33 pages of typed notes and three pages of handwritten notes by police Sgt. Mark Gottlieb. Sgt Gottlieb quoted a nurse that the woman appeared to be in so much pain that it took "an extended period of time" to examine her. The nurse also is quoted in the documents that "blunt force trauma" was consistent with "the sexual assault that was alleged by the victim." The third day after the party when he interviewed the woman, Sgt. Gottlieb said, she appeared still to be in extreme pain. Signs of bruises emerged then as well, he said.

The 1,850 pages, in binders eight inches thick, were put together by prosecutor Michael Nifong. The documents, not previously disclosed, include investigators' notes, medical reports, statements and other evidence. The documents were delivered to the defense under North Carolina pretrial rules.

Whether a rape occurred is the issue. Defense lawyers have asserted from early on that the physical evidence is flimsy. They have suggested that the accuser is unstable and untrustworthy. The defense also has noted that Nifong is in a tough re-electon campaign as district attorney and is playing a race card. The lacrosse players are white at an elite school, the women black from a primarily black school across town. The case propelled itself into national attention because it frames issues not only of race and sex but also of privilege.

Defense attorneys have argued in news conferences and other forums that the woman gave inconsistent versions of what happened, including differing accounts of who did what. The evidence files examined by the Times, however, show that aside from two brief early conversations with police, the woman's acconts were largely consistent that she was raped by three men in a bathroom. Although one investigator's notes have the woman describing the assailants as chubby or heavyset, when in fact one of the indicted players is tall and skinny, Sgt. Gottlieb's version of the same interview has the woman's descriptions closely corresponding to the defendants.

The Times' reporters, after assessing the files, concluded: "While there are big weaknesses in Mr. Nifong's case, there is also a body of evidence to support his decision to take the matter to a jury." In several important areas, the reporters said, the full files "contain evidence stronger than that highlighted by the defense" in news conferences and amplified by Duke alumni and supportive bloggers.

To be sure, there are inconsistencies in the evidence files. The medical report, for example, mentioned only some swelling, no visible bruises. Also, there is no direct DNA evidence.

Asked about the Times' evaluation of the evidence, attorney Joseph Cheshire, who represents one of the defendants, called Sgt. Gottlieb's report a "make-up document." He said that Gottlieb earlier had told defense lawyers that he took only a few handwritten notes and relied instead on his memory and other officers' notes to write his report. The Times quoted Cheshire said that sergeant's report was "transparently written to try to make up for holes in the prosecution's case." He added: "It smacks of almost desperation."

Background: Duke to field men's lacrosse again

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU, Benchmark establish faculty residencies

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2006 -- Texas-based Benchmark Electronics, which has a design and manufacturing facility in Winona, has created a residency program for Winona State University faculty members. The program, announced by the university, would put profs into five-week summer residencies working with Benchmark personnel. During the academic year, profs-in-residence would supervise students as a liaison between Winona State and Benchmark. The residencies will be geared to profs in business, engineering, logistics and management but possibilities also inlude profs in accounting, computer science, management information systems and math, the agreement says.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Student unhappy, but murdering the prof?

BALTIMORE, Md., Aug. 28, 2006 -- A grad student who was dismissed last year from Loyola College was charged with attempted murder and arson at one of his professor's home. The student, Garrett M. Alder, has been quoted as blaming the prof for ruining his life. The prof, Bradley Erford, who teaches education, and his family escaped the fire unhurt. Adler was captured in a nearby woodland, police said. Bail was set at $1 million,

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU masscom senior injured in car wreck

LEWISTON, Minn., Aug. 28, 2006 -- A Winona State University student journalist, Laura Gossman, was injured when her car went off a narrow, windy dirt road above Farmers Park Sunday evening. Apparently no one saw the accident happen. Gossman was pinned in the car for an hour, perhaps longer. Eventually she managed to free herself and crawl 50 feet up a ravine to the road, deputies said. She was airlifted to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn. Her injuries, including a severely dislocated ankle, were described as non-life threatening.

Gossman, 22, a Winona State senior, had been a news editor at the Winonan student newspaper. She also was a frequent contributor to the CyberIndee. In 2004 she was nominated for the Adolph Bremer Prize for journalistic excellence for her CyberIndee work. Gossman also had worked part-time as a reporter at the Winona Daily News. Recently she had taken a job at Home and Community Options in Winona. The last class that Gossman took at Winona State was this summer. She was planning to sign up for fall classes, which began Monday. The accident, on little used Arches Road, was reported about 7:15 p.m.

LAURA
GOSSMAN
WSU senior

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Price tag for WSU coffee shop: $25,000

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 28, 2006 -- The remodeling for a coffee shop at Somsen Hall at Winona State will cost $25,000, according to a building permit filed by the university. Schwab Construction Co. of Winona will perform the work, the permit said.

Background: WSU building Mugby Junction coffee shop

WSU PICKS UP TAB
Remodeling under way

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

TEXTBOOK PRICING

Want free textbooks? The "price" is ads

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 28, 2006 -- An upstart textbook distributor, Freeload, is offering college textbooks free -- with a catch or two. The textbooks are available only online as PDF pages with advertisements built in. It's the ad revenue from which Freeload hopes to break even by giving away textbooks, said chief executive Tom Doran. So far Freeload has advertisig deals with FedEx Kinko's and Pura Vida coffee. More will come, says Doran. This fall Freeload claims 25,000 students have downloaded 50,000 copies of 100 titles. To start, Freeload has agreements for books from three small business publishers. Negotiations with other publishers are in progress, Doran said.

Doran recognizes reluctance by some profs about advertising tie-ins as undignified. Doran is banking that the ads will become an acceptable part of textbooks because of growing student price-resistance to traditional textbooks. By most estimates students pay $800 a year for their books.

Doran is aware that McGraw-Hill Ryerson, a major Canadian textbook publisher, experimented with ad-laced biology books last year but have up. Doran says the Ryerson expertment failed because the company didn't use the ad revenue to reduce prices sufficiently. With Freeload, he says, what more reduction could there be than free.

Doran is puzzled by professor objections to ads in textbooks. Academic journals have carried ads for years, he said. Freeload's ads, which come at natural breaks in the material, aren't distracting, he said. Ads for alcohol and tobacco are not accepted. Also, ads that violate a particular college's standards can be customized out. He cited ads for caffeine products at Mormon-operated Brigham Young University as an example.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RYAN
WOLF

RUTH
DEFOSTER

LYDIA
OGLESBY

CRAIG
FITZ-
SIMMONS

TOM
WILDER

CHAD
LARIMER


TOMORROW'S GREATEST BYLINES TODAY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Court date set in Rascals incident

WINONA, Minn., Aug, 28, 2006 -- A Winona man accused of busting out the front window of Rascals, a college bar, has been told to appear in court Sept. 28. Kenneth Erkel Thorson, 24, is charged with felony damage to property, misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct. The criminal complaint says Thorson went into the bar about closing time on Thursday, Feb. 9, and told the manager he was looking for a fight. As Thorson was being escorted out he tackled the manager, according to the complaint. Then he returned and smashed the window and a neon sign, the complaint said. Police arrested Thorson on foot near Lafayette and Howard, seven blocks away.

Background: Window smashed at Third Street bar

RASCALS
151 E. Third St.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

UCLA offers reward in animal-rights bomb case

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 28, 2006 -- The University of California at Los Angeles posted a $30,000 award, matching an FBI award, for information to convict whoever placed a bomb outside a professor's house to protest his research with live animals. University President Norman Abrams said harrassment by animal-rights activitists must stop. Nobody was harmed by the bomb at the prof's doorstep. A message on an animal-liberation website claimed responsibility.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

Georgia Tech loses case on restricting dorm speech

ATLANTA, Ga., Aug. 28, 2006-- Georgia Tech agreed to change a dorm speech policy that forbid expressions that "injure, harm or malign" sombody else. Students had gone to court to challenge the policy as an unconstitutional infringement on free expression. A federal judge agreed, and Tech agreed to put its speech code under judicial supervision for five years. The original policy had been targeted by two conservative student groups that claimed the policy, although intended to protect students from intolerance, was also discriminating against anyone who spoke out against homosexuality, feminism, and other issues.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

College to review policy on depressed students

NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2006 -- The City University of New York paid a student $65,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the university of kicking her out of her dorm after a suicide attempt. The university also agreed to review its practices in dealing with suicidal students. The student, who suffers depression, claimed that her rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act had been violated. The eviction was preciptated by the student's call to 9-1-1 after taking 20 Tylenol pills . She admitted herself to a New York hospital, where doctors released her after determining that she was not a threat to herself or others. At issue was a provision in dorm regs: "A student who attempts suicide or in any way attempts to harm him or herself will be asked to take a leave of absence for at least one semester from the residence hall and will be evaluated by the school psychologist prior to returning."

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COURT CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING AUG. 26, 2006
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT

UNDERAGE BOOZING

Kelsey Anne Benson, 19, 408 Main St., $177
Joseph A. Curtis, 20, 62 W. Mark, $277.
Kelsey Anne Durow, 18, Mazeppa, Minn., $177.
Jackie D. Jessie, 20, 20875 Walnut Road, 15 days and $277.
Bryan Daniel Moore, 20, 1365 Glenview Road, $177.
Christopher Brown Moore, 20, Burnsville, Minn., $177.
Adam P. Parkers, 20, 315 Harriet, $402.
Beth Kristine Rahrmann, 18, Byron, Minn., $177.
Brandon Glynn Steele 20, Caledonia, Minn., $177.

LOUD PARTY

Ryan Marshall McNally, 23, 414 Center, $77.

ALL BOOZING CONVICTIONS
ALL NOISY PARTY CONVICTIONS

TO EARLIER NEWS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WHAT CAMPUS PEOPLE ARE READING

Tony Borreson. "Poetry: 'Both Meaningful and Ordinary,'" Winona Daily News (Aug. 26, 2006), Page C1.

Borreson, a news reporter, has interviewed St. Mary's University prof Steve Schild, a media scholar, on his poetry. Much of Schild's poetry is drawn from his southeast Minnesota farm upbringing with ethnicity a theme. Schild has lots of Norwegians though not so many bachelor Norwegian farmers.

Read anything good lately?
Please share your recommendations

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Ohio lays out options in plagiary cases

ATHENS, Ohio, Aug, 28, 2006 -- Engineering grads of Ohio University who have been accused of plagiarizing in their master's theses will be required to appear before a panel that will decide whether to allow them to rewrite the work. In laying out options, the university said the grads have three choices:

Admit the plagiarism and request permission to rewrite or correction the theses.

Request a hearing.

Forfeit their degrees.

Meawhile, the engineering school has created a mandatory technical-writing seminar. Also, every engineering student will need to sign a statement of originality on theses and dissertations. Faculty who approved plagiarized papers have been banned from advising grad students.

Background: Prof sues for defamation over plagiary

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 28, 2006

STEAMED BURGERS NO MORE. Downtown revitalization crusader Jennifer Hoffman, once a City Council candidate, closed her Abby's Soda Jerk after two years in business. The 50s-style eatery, 119 East Third St., had a hard time catching on. Hoffman cited personal reasons for going out of business.

REASONABLE FACSIMILE? The School Board approved Alisa Petersen as a temporary replacement for board member Fred Petersen, her hubby, who has been away on summer job in Alaska since May. Petersen and the Board had been under criticism for letting his constituents go unrepresented months on end. He is expected back in October. Background

LOW-COST GOVERANCE. Winona County has the fifth lowest government expenses among Minnesota's 87 counties, according to state Auditor Pat Anderson. The ranking was based on 2004 data.

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Citadel exceeds other academies in sex assaults

CHARLESTON, S.C., Aug. 28, 2006 -- An internal study on gender relations at the Citadel, 10 years after the military academy was forced to admit female cadets, found almost one in five women reported being sexually assaulted since enrolling. Also, one in 25 male cadets reported being sexually assaulted. Lt. Gen. John Rosa, president, said that the data would help in revising policies. Incidents were higher than at the Air Force, Naval and West Point academies, which have conducted similar surveys. At the Citadel, most of assaults involved unwanted touching and stroking, fondling private parts and kissing. But 16 of the 27 incidents reported by women and 15 of the 23 reported by men there was unwanted sexual intercourse, oral sex, anal sex, or penetration with an object. Most incidents were reported neither to school officials nor police. Most cases involving women happened in the barracks or elsewhere on campus and the perpetrator was another cadet. For men most incidents were on campus and about half of the perpetrators were Citadel cadets.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SOCCER (WOMEN'S)

WSU 2, Augustana 0

Warriors run soccer winning streak to 25

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 27, 2006 -- Winona State University scored single goals in each half to defeat Augustana 2-0 in nonconference soccer. Junior midfielder Kallie Tellefsen scored at 22:11. Kayla Walters and Amelia Kasten each assisted. At 66:53 of the second half, Heidi Woerle took a rebound shot and scored. The match was the third straight shutout for the Warriors and for goal-tender Amanda Diehm. The Warriors defense gave up just two shots, with both being on goal, Diehm coming up with the save on each shot. The match extended the Warriors' unbeaten streak to 25 matches.

Statistics

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Maxwell kids program in Winona partnership

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 26, 2006 -- The Maxwell Children's Center at Winona State University has entered a partnership with the Madison grade school to offer childcare for toddler and preschool age children this fall. June Reineke, Maxwell director, said the partnership is a win-win for everybody. The center, which plans to be financially self-supporting, will pay rent to School District 861 for three rooms, which will accommodate 30 toddler and preschool children. Reineke said the center has raised nearly $10,000 through private and business donations and grants. As much as $10,000 more is needed to finish equipping the rooms, she said..

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Montana plan: Cap tuition at 5%

HELENA, Mont., Aug. 27, 2006 -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, proposed capping tuition increases at 5 percent for four-year colleges and freezing tuition at two-year colleges. The plan would need approval from the Legislature. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have countered with a plan to cut tuition by 5 percent. Tuition increased more than 8 percent this year.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN'S)

WSU 3, St. Joseph's of Indiana 0
Saginaw Valley State 3, WSU 2

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Faculty strike averted at Ferris State

BIG RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 27, 2006 -- Profs and administrators ar Ferris State University came to a tentative contract agreement, one day before fall classes were to scheduled begin. Among issues were wages and health-care costs. Insiders said the tentative agreement is for 2 and 3 percent raises over the next three years. The profs' union had voted last week to authorize a strike if the university rejected its latest offer. A vote had been scheduled for Monday on whether to carry out a strike.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Georgetown acts against Protestant proselytizing

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 -- Georgetown University, a Catholic institution, banned Protestant ministries from campus to prevent proselytizing. On-campus Protestant groups are unaffected -- just outsider groups. Among those banned are Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, both national organizations. Constance Wheeler, a Protestant chaplain at Georgetown, made the announcement in the wake of growing tension over whether the Protestant organizations are seeking cinversions.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

WSU Democrat takes stock of Gutknecht vows

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 26, 2006 -- A campus Democrat leader at Winona State University, Student Sen. Rick Howden, criticized Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., for breaking his vow to help balance the federal budget when he was first elected. Howden cited 1994 photo-op news coverage of Gutknecht waving the so-called Contract with America from the Capitol steps. The contract promised a balanced budget. "How has Gil done?" Howden asks in a letter to newspaper opinion pages. Howden notes that the huge budget surplus that "Gil and his Washington friends" inherited six years ago is gone: "The country now is deeply in debt -- debt our kids and grandkids will pay on for the rest of their lives."

The Contract with America also laid out strict term limits, Howden said:

"Gil promised us 12 years ago he wouldn't serve more than 12 years. Now the news is out that he got caught (not once but twice) trying to erase his promises from an online Internet encyclopedia.

Howden, former president of the Winona State student Democrats, said he supports Democrat Tim Walz, a Mankato teacher a 24-year National Guard member, for Congress. He praised Walz for "integrity, courage and intelligence."

Background: Congressman caught trying to dink with history
Background: Races campus people are watching

RICK
HOWDEN
WSU Student senator

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU SECURITY REPORT
WEEK ENDING AUG. 26, 2006

Aug. 26, 2006: Police arrested a student near Ninth and Huff streets at 3:35 a.m. for minor consuming and obstructing legal process.

Aug. 26, 2006: Three students were cited at 12:05 a.m. for attempting to bring alcohol into the Lourdes dorm.

Aug. 26, 2006: Security guards cited several students for an alcohol violation in the Quad dorm at 11:15 p.m.

Aug. 26, 2006: Security guards responded to Morey dorm at 12 p.m. concerning a student who was experiencing pain. A friend took the student to the hospital.

Aug. 25, 2006: A student reported at 12:30 p.m. that she provided some personal information to a salesperson and later became concerned.

Aug. 24, 2006: Security guards assisted some students who were stuck in an elevator in the Quad dorm at 11:30 p.m.

Aug. 23, 2006: A staff member reported at 8:45 p.m. that a student pedestriam had been struck by a vehicle while crossing at Huff and Howard streets. The student hd gotten up and walked away and eventually walked to the campus nursing station for minor injuries. Police were notified.

Aug. 23, 2006: At 4:45 a.m. security guards assisted a student who was feeling ill. The student went to the hospital.

Aug. 20, 2006: A student reported at that her unlocked bike was taken from outside Kryzsko Commons.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Judge: Same-sex marriage rights not portable

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Aug, 25, 2006 -- A state judge ruled that Monroe Community College did not discriminate against an employee when it denied health benefits for the woman's lesbian partner. The employee had argued that the couple, who had married in Canada, should receive the same benefits as heterosexual married couples. The judge ruled that state law does not recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

California acts to protect student press

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 25, 2006 -- The California Legislature passed a bill to prohibit officials from censoring student publications at public colleges. The bill grants student reporters free-speech protections similar to those held by professional journalists. The Senate voted 31-2 in favor. The House earlier approved the bill 76-0. The bill partly was a reaction to a secret memo thatt Christine Helwick, general counsel of the California State University system, to campus presidents that they may have "more latitude than previously believed" to censor subsidized student newspapers. Helwick said a 2005 decision by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in an Illinois case. In the case, Hosty v. Carter, the court supported administrators who censored a student newspaper at Governors State University.

In Washington, Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, called the California Hosty bill "a positive step." Since the Hosty case, Goddman has encouraged student journalists, particularly in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, the Seventh Circuit's jurisdiction, to push administrators for official recognition of their editorial freedom. The Student Press Law Center's efforts intensified in February, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in the Hosty case.

California is the first state to pass Hosty legislation to support student-press freedom. Goodman said at least one other state may consider a Hosty bill this year.

Background: California moves to shield college press
Background: Student press adviser foresees rocky road
Background: Supreme Court passes on student media case

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

Colorado panel calls for tenure rule changes

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 25, 2006 -- A University of Colorado committee recommended 40 changes in the tenure system, including quicker firing of incompetent profs. The 431-page report concluded that the university's tenure processes generally are sound in supporting academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas but need strengthening. The review follows investigations into prof Ward Churchill, who became a magnet for tenure-system critics after he likened some victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attack to a Nazi leader. The university now is in the process of dismissing Churchill after investigations into his research practices. As a tenured prof he has appealed. Churchill's critics say he was awarded tenure too quickly and without a sufficient review of his academic work.

The report recommends an outside audit of a sample of tenure cases every five years, a review of the entire tenure process every 10 years, a six-month deadline for reviewing faculty members under investigation for dismissal "for cause," and new post-tenure reviews to provide incentives to professors to perform well.

Background: Colorado prof appeals dismissal

WHAT IS
TENURE?
Tenure is a special kind of job security that colleges award to senior profs to protect them from politicians and others who don't like their academic inquiries into issues that may be unpopular. Tenure is an essential to the free inquiry and free expression that are at the heart of a college's mission. Think Galileo. Think Darwin. Think Martin Luther. Think Aristotle. Think Christ.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN'S)

WSU 3, Texas A&M Kingsville 1
Augstana 3, WSU 0

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU offers aviation ground school

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006 -- A private-pilot ground school course is being offered at Winona State University this fall. Prof George Bolon said that the 11-week Federal Aviation Administration-approved course will help students pass the FAA written exam for pilot certification. Bolon said that registration can be completed at the first class:

Date: Tuesday, Aug. 29
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Stark 106
Cost: Not announced
Contact: George Bolon at (507) 457-5585

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Colleges claim new federal grant rules unworkable

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 -- The American Council on Education, a lobbying group for colleges, complained that proposed federal requirements for colleges to verify student eligibility for new grant programs places a "breathtaking new administrative burden" on colleges. David Ward, association president, noted that the U.S. Education Department would have colleges determine the eligibility with a "retrospective, granular analysis on every transcript." It's unworkable, Ward said. Several other higher-ed organizations have joined Ward's objections.

At issue is eligibility of talented low-income students for extra grant money if they have completed rigorous high-school programs. The grants would be would be $750 to $1,300, provided students maintain a 3.0 grade-point average. Not only is the detailed analysis for eligibility unworkable, Ward said, but the proposed timelines to determine eligibility in time to get money to students are impossible. Similarly problematic are the new so-called Smart Gants for Pell-eligible students in engineering, math, science or certain foreign languages, Ward said.

Background: Feds to allow grants for evolutionary bio students

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Business ethics book co-authored by SMU ex-president

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006 -- The retired president of St. Mary's University, Louis DeThomasis, and Minneapolis Star Tribune business columnist Neal St. Anthony wrote a book, "Doing Right in a Shrinking World: How Corporate America Can Balance Ethics and Profit in a Changing Economy." The book, published by Greenleaf, is on several business book club lists. "We focus on doing ethics in a profit-driven world economy and show the reader how ethics and profit can coexist," DeThomasis said. DeThomasis and St. Anthony ask in the book whether ethical agreement is possible in a multicultural world? Do religions help or hinder businesses to do ethics? How do U.S. chief executives tackle ethical issues? "Alone, the Golden Rule, religious tenets, and other static belief systems are no longer viable options in our ever-changing world," DeThomasis, a Christian Brother, said. "With the diverse cultures, religions and organizations in our global economy, we must continuously adapt to unique situations and make decisions that benefit all people."

The book argues that it is important to frame business ethics not as a higher calling or a legal minimum requirement but as a realistic tool for increasing profit. DeThomasis and St. Anthony encourage spreading wealth and improving the quality of life and human rights worldwide. The publisher, Greenleaf Books, is promoting "Doing Right" as a new perspective to help organizations balance ethics with profit and do away with the idea that businesses should apologize for seeking increased wealth. The book offers case studies of executives who embrace cultural differences and proceed with imagination, faith and commitment to doing ethics in a rapidly changing pluralistic economy.

MESSAGE FOR BUSINESS:
Benefit all people

CO-AUTHORS

Louis DeThomasis

DETHOMASIS
SMU chancellor and former president

Neal St. Anthony

ST. ANTHONY
Newspaper columnist

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

College advising in place for Minnesota vets

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006 -- A new initiative to assist military veterans returning to college has been created by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs with a $600,000 legislative grant. Donald Pfeffer, of the state college system, will direct the program under a five-year contract with state veterans departmen. Regional offices, which opened Aug. 14, will provide information, resources and referrals about veterans benefits, the Montgomery GI bill, psychological assistance and physical injury support. The regional offices offices are at Minnesota State-Moorhead, Lake Superior College in Duluth, St. Cloud State, Southwest Minnesota State, Minnesota State-Mankato and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Feds to allow grants for evolutionary bio students

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 -- Oops. The U.S. Education Department said it was an oversight that evolutionary biology was omitted from a list of science majors eligible for a new federal grant program. David Dunn, chief of staff, said evolutionary biology would be on the final list of programs for which the new $4,000 Smart Grants are available. Dunn made the statement in a written document, which did not squarely address suspicions that the omission ws in deference to President Bush and to religious rigghtists who have campaigned against Darwinism.

Background: No federal Smart Grants for evolutionary biology

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Klochubar aide notes shift in Kennedy tactics

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006 -- The Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Mark Kennedy, is distancing himself from the president, according to a campaign aide for Democrat Amy Klochubar. In a message to Klochubar supporters Ben Godfarb noted that Kennedy's current ads are reveaking a whole "new" side of him. "Unlike his campaign ads in the past, his good buddy George Bush is nowhere to be seen, and he even forgot to mention he's a Republican," Goldfarb said. "It takes a lot of guts to look into a camera and tell people you're bipartisan and independent when you've voted with your president and political party no less than 92 percent of the time.

Background: Races campus people are watching

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Study: North Carolina tuition hikes illegal

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 25, 2006 -- The University of North Carolina system is vulnerable t a lawsuit for its near-annual tuition increases, accordig to a study by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. The report refers to a state constitutional mandate that "higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the state free of expense." The system has had tuition increases annually from 1999 through 2002, resulting in a 71 percent increase for in-state undergrads. In 2004 and 2006 there also have been increases for individual campuses. The report cautions that a tuition lawsuit could cost massive amounts of money if tuition refunds are ordered.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

T'ai chi among WSU fall courses

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006 -- A senior-level course, T'ai Chi Holistic Health, will be taught by retired Winona State prof Brice Wiklkinson this fall at the univerity. The course is offeed through the Health, Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences Department. The class has been recommended by the National Council on Aging, Wilkinson said.

Date: Monday, Aug. 28
Time: 8 a.m.
Place: Lourdes 157
Cost: Not announced
Contact: Brice Wilkinson at (507) 457-5083

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

New Orleans schools sues over insurance

NEW ORLEANS, La., Aug 25, 2006 -- Dillard University sued its insurance carriers for cutting flood coverage. The suit names Lexington Insurance, Axis Specialty Insurance, and RSUI Indemnity. Dillard claims the companies ignored an emergency state rule aimed at protecting institutions ravaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Said Dillard President James Garer: "You can't kick the wounded when they're down. You can't profiteer from someone else's misery." The companies cut the university's flood coverage from $500 million to $50 million and hiked deductibles. Meanwile, Loyola and Tulane universitues have sued their insurance companies for failing to pay claims for hurricane losses.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Court: College must accept all-male frat

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2006 -- The College of Staten Island must accept an all-male frat as a campus club, a federal judge ruled. The college had been denied denied club status to the proposed chapter of the international frat Alpha Epsilon Pi on grounds it practied by gender discrimination by not accepting women. Judge Dora Irizarry ruled that federal law protects the single-sex nature of social frats and sororities. The frat now will be eligible for college financial support and access to facilities.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

States increasing funds for higher-ed

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 -- State financial support for higher education nationwide will grow 6.3 percent this academic year, according to a projection from the National Conference of State Legislatures. The increase will move ahead of last year's 6.1 percent. Eleven states plan to increase higher-ed spending 10 percent, the report said. Mississippi, which has changed iys higher-ed funding mechanisms, has the latgest increase -- 28.6 percent. Alabama is second at 18.7 percent. Two states, New Jersey and Texas, have cut their higher-ed spending.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Union chief: Colleges suffering under Pawlenty

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006 -- Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is running for a second term, has not been the friend of higher-ed that Nancy Black, president of the state professors' union, would like. In a letter to union members, including Winona State profs, Black noted that Pawlenty slashed approriations for the MnSCU system, of which Winona State is part, by $189 million for the biennium. When Pawlenty took office in 2002 the state appropriation for MnSCU institutions was $601 for the biennium, Black noted. Even with increases for Pawlenty's second biennium the appropriation is back only to $600 million. That, she said, is $1 million short of four years ago. Over those four years, she said, enrollment has grown by more than 10,000 students, and inflation has risen 12 percent. The union, the Inter Faculty Organization, is prohibited by law from edorsing candidates but does provide fact sheets on legislative voting records and candidate positions on higher education. To IFO members, Blcks said: "Read this information, and please vote in November."

NANCY
BLACK
Tough on governor

Black: State higher-ed funding less than four years ago, even as enrollment and inflation go up

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Prof sues for defamation over plagiary

ATHENS, Ohio, Aug, 25 2006 -- the former chair of of mechanical engineering at Ohio University, Jay Gunasekera, sued the university for a report that he charges accused him falsely of supporting academic fraud. Gunasekera said the report, on a student plagiarism scandal, claims there is no evidence that he was aware of any of the plagiarism. The report, he said, has cost him job opportunities and a nomination as a fellow of the International Academy of Manufacturing Engineering. The report, by an on-campus investigating committee, called for the dismissal of Gunasekera and a fellow faculty member in "rampant and flagrant plagiarism" by grad students over more than 20 years.

Background: Resignation follows plagiarism report

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SOCCER (WOMEN'S)

WSU 0, South Dakota 0 (tie) (double overtime) (exhibition).

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Maryland bans its funds from Sudan

BALTIMORE, Md., Aug. 25, 2006 -- The University of Maryland system joined the movement to drop investments in companies that do business in Sudan to protest the country's governmental complicity in the Darfur genocide. The system, which does not have any current investments in Sudan, has directed its money managers to avoid them in the future.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU inks second Burlington Catholic cager

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2006, -- A second Burlington, Wis., basketball plater, Rion Rayfield who helped lead his high school to a state championship and a 26-1 season, has been signed to play for Winona State University. Rayfield, a 6-foot-1 guard from Burlington Catholic High, joins former prep teammate Matt Smith on the Warrior team. Coach Mike Leaf said he was especially pleased that Rayfield chose Winona State, noting that he originally signed with North Dakota. "There was a coaching change at UND, and Rion requested his release from there," Leaf said. "We now welcome him as a Warrior." Leaf called Rion "a true point guard" who can also play the off guard position. Rayfield shot 51 percent from three-point range last season. He also averaged 20.5 points and 4.8 assists per game. "He is fundamentally very sound," continued Leaf. "He can shoot the lights out, create off the dribble and will be very dangerous in the open court."

In high school, Rayfield was on the Associated Press and WBCA all-state teams. He was Wishhops.net Division 4 player of the year. Three imes he was on the Racine all-county team, the all-area team, and all-conference team. He was on the all-state Journal Sentinel team and named all-area and conference player of the year.

Besides Rayfield and Smith, the Warriors have signed Brad Meyer of Winona High School standout.

Last season the Warriors captured the NCAA Division II national championship along with the North Central and Northern Sun championships. The tean finished the season 32-4 with a 22-game winning streaand totaled a 32-4 record.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Fall drunkenness-arrest season off and running

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The dark side of a new college semester showed itself, predictably, with public drunkenness in the Winona State University neighborhood. Anticipating high levels of partying, the cops were out in reinforced numbers and made arrests in six incidents early Thursday:

A 20-year-old man was cited near Huff and King streets at 12:05 a.m. for underage drinking, underage possession of alcohol, and public consumption.

An 18-year-old man was cited near Fifth and McBride streets at 12:09 a.m. for underage drinking and driving.

A man and women, both 17, were stopped in a car near Wabasha and Walnut streets at 12:12 a.m. for underage possession of alchol.

An 18-year-old man was cited at King and Garfield streets at 12:40 a.m. for underage drinking, fleeing police, and giving false identfication.

A 28-year-old man was stopped at Fifth and McBride streets at 1:11 a.m. on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug.

A 19-year-old man was cited near Howard and Center streets at 1:37 a.m. for underage drinking.

The fall drinking-arrest season began the night before, at 1:04 a.m., when a 21-year-old man was stopped near Fifth and Johnson streets and cited for drunken driving and marijuana possession.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Lincoln building to become WSU's June 15

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The School Board set June 15 as the new date to vacate the Lincoln building and turn the property over to Winona State University. In the meantime, mid-level Learning Center will continue to use Lincoln, at Huff and Sarnia. The Board has rented a building at 909 West Fifth St. for the Center's art and work-skills classes at $1,000 a month. The district's executive offices and most other Lincoln programs have been moved to the high school or other district buildings.

Background: WSU acquisition of Lincoln on hold

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Indian activist LaDuke scheduled at WSU

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- An Ojibwe champion of Indian rights, Winona LaDuke, has rescheduled a Winona State University speech from last spring, which she canceled to testify before a Senate committee at on her wild rice bill. The title of LaDuke's presentation: "Honoring the Earth: Our Native American Legacy." LaDuke is known for her work as environmentalist, economist and writer. She was the Green Party vice-presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000.

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 19
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Somsen Auditorium
Cost: Free
Contact: Cindy Killion at (507) 457-5098

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SOCCER (WOMEN'S)

WSU 4, Southwest Missouri State 0 (exhibition).

Warriors win in final seconds

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- Winona State University opened its season by needing to go down to the final seconds before beating Missouri Western State 1-0 in nonconference soccer. The Warriors finally got a goal from All-American Kayla Walters with five seconds left in regulation play. Walters got the shot off in front of the net after a shot by Holly Sutton bounced off Missouri Western goalkeeper Ahsley Harret. Walters was able to put the ball in the back of the net. A minute earlier the Warriors missed opportunity to take the lead. Sutton bounced a shot off the left post. The ball bounced to Heidi Woerle, who was wide open. Woerle got off a shot but put it high over the net. For the game the Warriors got off 15 shots, five on goal, and allowed only two shots, with Winona State goalkeeper Amanda Diehm not needing to come up with a save on either shot. The match extended the Warrior unbeaten streak to 23.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 24, 2006

COCAINE PROFITS. Daisey May Coughlin, 23, of suburban Minnesota City, was arrested after, police said, she sold cocaine on five occasions to informants under police surveillance Police quoted Coughlin that she had pulled in $100,000 selling cocaine since January. Some weeks she earned as much as $6,000, police said she told them.

IN ABSENTIA. The wife of School Board member Fred Petersen is being considered to pinch-hit for the rest of his protracted absence to go bush-piloting in Alaska. Board Chair Larry Laber said Alisa Petersen would be a "good fit." Fred Petersen has missed all board meetings since May and says now he won't be back until October.

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Three Guthrie theater trips planned

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- It'll be a triple-feature of matinees at the Guthrie for Winona theater aficionados who sign on for three bus trips to the Cities. Winona State University theater prof Dave Bratt said he has arranged buses for "Lost in Yonkers," by Neil Simon, Oct. 28; "The Glass Menagerie," by Tennessee Williams, Feb. 24; and "The Merchant of Venice," by William Shakespeare, April 21. The deadline for reservations for the first trip is Thursday, Sept. 28, Bratt said.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 28
Time: Bus at 10 a.m.
Place: Bus departs Performing Arts Center
Cost: $25 to $30
Contact: Dave Bratt at (507) 457-5241

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Gizmo-enabled college recruiters head for Fair

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The state college system has dusted off its touch-and-find interactive kiosks for another run at the State Fair. The screens offer a virtual tour of MnSCU campuses, including Winona State and Southeast Tech. Representatives from various campuses will be avaialble to counsel fair-goers on programs to earn a degree or retool a career. The exhibit includes a giant interactive map of Minnesota showing all 53 campuses. Representatives from Minnesota Online, a clearinghouse of 120 online programs, will be on hand. Fairgoers also will have a chance to win prizes once an hour by spinning the Wheel of Luck. Campus presidents and system trustees will be available to discuss educational opportunities.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Report: College funded disabled granny in sports

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The Birmingam News reported more dubious goings-on in the state community college system, which already hass been racked by scandals and whose chancellor has been fired. At Bishop State student aid and scholarships were arranged by employees for relatives who did not attend, including a 67-year-old disabled grandmother who was enrolled in baseball, basketball and softball three months before her death, the newspaper reported. One employee set up student aid for her mother, grandmother and husband, none of whom attended classes, the newspaper reported. Another employee arranged financial aid payments for her husband, who did not attend classes either. The News cited documents that have prompted interim Chancellor Thomas Corts to launch an investigation.

Background: Report: Chancellor, contractor had questionable ties

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Conservatory brings dancer Allen Fields to Winona

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts named dance professional Allen Fields as artist-in-residence for the coming academic year. Fields will oversee the artistic direction of conservatory's repertory company for "The Nutcracker" in December and a contemporary concert in May. Fields also will supervise the dance curriculum and teach intermediate and advanced ballet and pointe. Fields, of Duluth, Monn., is on sabbatical from the Minnesota Ballet.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Penn tops list for civic engagement

BOSTON, Mass., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The latest buzz word in higher education, "civic engagement," now has been institutionalized in a ranking. The most engaged college? It's the University of Pennsylvania, according to Evan Dobelle, president of the New England Board of Higher Education, who compiled a list of the most 25 civically engaged universities in the country. As the guru of higher-ed civic engagement, Dobelle should know. In the 1990s Dobelle fostered a widely recognized project between Trinity College and the city of Hartford, Conn., to revitalize a horrible neighborhood next to the college. Dobelle said his just-released ranking recognizes the "extraordinary efforts" by schools throughout the United States in contributing to the educational, economic and civic well-being of their surrounding environment.

At Winona State, university President Judith Ramaley has made civic egagement a priority in her first year in office and brought in consultants on the subject. Winona State did not make Dobelle's list:

University of Pennsylvania

University of Southern California

University of Dayton

Indiana University / Purdue University at Indianapolis

Rhode Island School of Design

Case Western Reserve

Clark University

Virginia Commonwealth

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Middlesex Community College

Portland State

Carnegie Mellon / University of Pittsburgh

George Washington

Springfield College

College of Charleston

Union College

University of Missouri-Kansas City

"These are engines of renewal and revitalization in cities and towns that would be spiraling downward in every indices of quality of life without their direct and indirect involvement in neighborhoods and communities," Dobelle said. He said the criteria included long-term commitment, the amount of real dollars invested from endowments, the relationship with city officials, the continuing student and faculty involvement, and the sustainability of the projects.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU aims to increase diversity in nursing

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- Brain-storming has begun on how to attract more men and racial and ethnic minorities into nursing progrms at Winona State University and Rochester Community and Technical College. Jo Stejskal, nursing chair at Winona State, said the project will identify high-achieving diverse Rochester high-school students with an interest in health care. The goal, Stejskal said, is to put these students a fast track into professional nursing. The project is operating with a $10,000 grant.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Idaho seeks nurse shortage solution

BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 24, 2006 -- Gov. James Risch, a Republican, appointed a committee to figure out how the state can increase capacity for students in college nursing programs to address a shortage. Where to find nursing profs is a problem. The state's nursing schools turned away 800 applicants last year because programs were fully enrolled.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

32,000 students vulnerable in loan security breach

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2006 -- The U.S. Education Department said personal data of 32,000 student borrowers, including birth dates and Social Security numbers, may have been compromised by a software glitch between Sunday and Tuesday. Borrowers who went online to update their entries were seeing data about other borrowers. After the Boston Globe reported the security breach, the Education Department said that data on 32,000 students at most, out of 6.4 million, was involved. Only 26 borrowers have complained before the problematic section of the site was shut down for repairs, the department said. Meanwhile, free credit monitoring has been offered to students whose personal data may have been compromised.

Background: Student borrower data shared in government slip-up

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Colleges steering away Lebanon, Israel programs

PROVO, Utah, Aug, 24, 2006 -- Brigham Young University joined a growing list of U.S.colleges to back off study-abroad programs in the wake of terrorism and combat in Levatine Arabia and Israel. Brigham Young had planned to reopen its Near Eastern Studies Center in Jerusalem, which had been closed several years, but changed it mind for concern over student safety, the university said. The University of Wisconsin has canceled its program in Jerusalem for fall. Rutgers canceled a program in Haifa. The University of Pennsylvania also canceled a Haifa program. Hobart and William Smith colleges also has bscked off a study-abroad program.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Cornell yanks Sudan investments

ITHACA, N.Y., Aug. 24, 2006 -- Cornell University will bar investments of its endowment assets in oil companies currently operating in Sudan and in obligations of the Sudanese government as a response to the genocide being committed in Darfur, university President David Skorton announced. "It is impossible for us to stand by idly and tolerate the complicity of the Sudanese government in this human tragedy," Skorton said in adding Cornell to a growing list of U.S. colleges that are boycotting investments in Sudan. "Given that more than half of the Sudanese government's revenues are derived from oil, the Cornell community is sending an unequivocal message to the oil companies about the impact of their own actions in this crisis," Skorton said. How effective will divestment be? "Divestment is not a panacea and it should never be employed as a measure of first resort. In this case, however, it is the best way to stand up for the people of Darfur by refusing to invest in such companies that, in effect, provide the financial backing to the instigators of genocide."

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU art sudents to "Body Worlds" exhibit

WINONA, Minn., Aug, 24, 2006 -- An art expedition that includes the exhibit "Body Worlds" in Minneaplis is being arranged by Winona State University art prof Anne Plummer. The all-day bus trip includes the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Walker Art Center. "Body Worlds" is an anatomical exhibition of real human bodies, Plummef said. Other special exhibits on the tour include "Surreal Calder" sculptures and "Diane Arbus Revelations" photographs at the Walke. Reservations seats for bus are required, Plummer said.

Date: Saturday, Sept. 2
Time: Bus at 8 a.m.
Place: Bus departs Watkins Hall
Cost: $29 to $34
Contact: Anne Plummer

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Profs' lobbyist rates solons: Thumbs up overall

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- The chief lobbyist for the state university professors' union, Russ Stanton, said he's pleased overall with how the 2006 Legislature treated issues that were union priorities. On the major issue, loans to build, remodel and repair state facilities, all projects requested by Minnesota State Universities an Colleges system were funded, albeit some at a little less than requested, Stanton said. Of the total loans authorized by the $1 billion bonding bill, MnSCU institutions were the biggest recipient of money with $191.4 million, he noted. In addition, a campus-conbected Marshall recreational facility received $11 million and a Bemidji facility $3 million, he said. Winona State received $11.2 million to renovate Maxwell Hall and $400,000 to plan renovations at Memorial Hall renovation.

Stanton thanked Sen. Keith Langseth, D-Moorhead, and Rep. Dan Dorman R-Albert Lea, who carried the bonding bill. Langseth was particularly effective, passing "a very large bill" in the Senate and forcing the House and governor to match the Senate numbers at the joint conference committee at the end of the session, Stanton said.

Stanton offered this summary on other priorities of the Inter Faculty Organziation:

Same-sex marriage
The faculty union was against a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The proposal was defeated in the Senate Judiciary committee with five Democrats against it and four Republicans for. Attempts to circumvent the committee process and bring the issue straight to the floor were defeated along party line votes.

Alternative teacher licensure
A bill that would have allowed individuals to be licensed as a teacher without going through a college teacher-prep program was defeated. IFO opposed the bill as a lowering of standards. The bill had been a pet of Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Speak clear English
Then there was a bill to refund tuition to students if more than 10 percent of the students in a class complain about the professor not speaking clear English. The bill did not pass. The union opposed the bill, arguing that the proposal was an over-reaction to a lagely non-issue. The bill also would have allowed students to have failing grades removed from their transcripts and to remove professors accused of having poor English skills from classroom teaching.

Dream Act
The so-called Dream Act to allow children of illegal immigrants who graduate from Minnesota high schools to attend Minnesota public colleges at resident tuition rates was defeated. The bill, favored by the faculty union, had been opposed by Gov. Pawlenty. The bill was designed to help students financially who had brought to the United States as small children. The students currently are not eligible for financial aid and generaly pay twice the in-state tuition of Minnesota residents.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU acquisition of Lincoln on hold

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2006 -- Winona school adinistrators, beset with space problems, may keep squatting at their Lincoln building at Huff and Sarnia longer than anyone expected, delaying the transfer of the property to Winona State University. In the meantime, the university is holding off on its promised $700,000 for the building. The issue is on the next School Board agenda. The school district's space problems are complex but involve a domino effect of shifting offices and operations among various other buildings. It's been three years since the School Board agreed to sell the Lincoln building to Winona State to cut expenses. The university wants to raze the former school for parking.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Profs' union readies for contract negotiations

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- The labor union that represents profs at Winona State and other MnSCU campuses will soon call together its negotiating team for a new round of contact bargaining with the state university system, union President Nancy Black said. The current contract expires June 30. Said Black: "We need to get our expectations out there front and center." Priorities likely will be competitive salaries and workload for faculty, she said. How does she expect negotiations to go? "No round of bargaining is easy, but we have seasoned negotiators who work very hard on behalf of their colleagues," she said. "We will be more prepared than ever to address some very serious issues."

Black noted that the current contract, which went into effect last October with retroactive provisions to the previous July, was one of the earliest settlements in the the union's history. For most profs, the contract brought salary increases amounting to 6.2 percent over two years, additional raises for promotions and career steps, and more for state health care reimbursement.

NANCY
BLACK
Inter Faculty Organization president

IFO represents 3,400 full and part time faculty statewide

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU athlete: Arrest news leave paints wrong picture

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23. 2006 -- A former Winona State University athlete, Maria Kiselicka, said she's bothered that news coverage of her drug possession and underage boozing case has given her a "bad rep." Kiselicka, 20, who transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee over the summer, did not challenge the accuracy of the reporting. "I was just wondering if it is possible to have an article showing that I'm not a troublemaker, and I wouldn't be able to accomplish things like being on the dean's list, have GPA of 3.6, etc. if I was," she said in a letter to a CyberIndee police reporter. Kiseicka paid a $177 in July for minor consumption of alcohol in a plea bargain that dismissed the drug charge. As for drinking, Kiselicka said: "I'm not the only athlete and college student that drinks. At least half the WSU track team drinks." Several stories on Kiselicka's case reported that she held a Winona State athletic scholarship for her jumping. It also was reported that she finished fifth in Northern Sun conference with an indoor long jump of 16 feet, 7-1/4 inches, her freshman year.

Background: Kiselicka pays boozing fine, moves on

MARIA
KISELICKA
WSU scholar-
ship athlete in track and field

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU building Mugby Junction coffee shop

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- In the quest of Winona State President Judith Ramaley for a decent cup of coffee at the university, a Mugby Junction coffee shop will be built in Somsen Hall near the admissions office. The shop is expected to open about the first of October, said campus construction coordinator Steve Ronkowski. The coffee shop was an early promise by Ramaley after being named president a year ago. Ramaley joked that she had second thoughts about taking the job when all she could get was a "tepid brew" when she interviewed on campus. Mugby is a local espresso shop operator. The campus shop will be in Somsen 106.

Background: Did WSU's future hinge on a tepid brew?

COMING SOON
To a campus near you

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Are profs outta touch? Or students?

BELOIT, Wis., Aug. 23, 2006 -- Two Beloit College profs who conduct an annual study on the campus education gap say classroom lectures with references to Mister Rogers still resonate with frosh. But who's Walter Cronkite anyway? Tom McBride and Ron Nief's latest Mind-Set List, which goes back to 1998, is intended to alert profs to the worldview that freshmen bring to college. McBride said he hismelf had an awakening last semster when brought up the movie "Pulp Fiction" in a lecture. He thought he was citing "a terribly contemporary and hip film" to make a point but got only blank stares. Members of the class of 2010, beginning college this fall, were mostly born in 1988. For them, Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb and Secretariat have always been dead. Other findings based on the experience of today's 18-year-olds:

The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.

They have known only two presidents.

For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt.

Manuel Noriega has always been in jail in the United States.

They have grown up getting lost in "big boxes."

There has always been only one Germany.

They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register.

They are wireless yet always connected.

A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents.

Thanks to pervasive headphones in the back seat, parents have always been able to speak freely in the front.

A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.

Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines.

Faux fur has always been a necessary element of style.

The Moral Majority has never needed an organization.

They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.

DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court.

They grew up pushing their own miniature shopping carts in the supermarket.

They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.

"Google" has always been a verb.

Text messaging is their email.

Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.

Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.

Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.

Madden has always been a game, not a Superbowl-winning coach.

"Phantom of the Opera" has always been on Broadway.

Boogers candy has always been a favorite for grossing out parents.

There has never been a skyhook in the NBA.

Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.

Computerized player pianos have always been tinkling in the lobby.

Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing religious organizations in the United States.

They grew up in mini-vans.

Reality shows have always been on television.

They have no idea why we needed to ask "Can we all get along?"

They have always known that "In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups."

Young women's fashions have never been concerned with where the waist is.

They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.

Brides have always worn white for a first, second or third wedding.

Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.

"So" as in "Sooooo New York" has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.

Affluent troubled teens in Southern California have always been the subjects of television series.

They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.

Ken Burns has always been producing very long documentaries on PBS.

They are not aware that "flock of seagulls hair" has nothing to do with birds flying into it.

Retin-A has always made America look less wrinkled.

Green tea has always been marketed for health purposes.

Public school officials have always had the right to censor school newspapers.

Small white holiday lights have always been in style.

Most of them never had the chance to eat bad airline food.

They have always been searching for Waldo.

The really rich have regularly expressed exuberance with outlandish birthday parties.

Michael Moore has always been showing up uninvited.

They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.

There have always been live organ donors.

They have always had access to their own credit cards.

They have never put their money in a savings & Loan.

Sara Lee has always made underwear.

Bad behavior has always been getting captured on amateur videos.

Disneyland has always been in Europe and Asia.

They never saw Bernard Shaw on CNN.

Beach volleyball has always been a recognized sport.

Acura, Lexus and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.

Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.

LoJack transmitters have always been finding lost cars.

Diane Sawyer has always been live in prime time.

Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on sale.

Disposable contact lenses have always been available.

"Outing" has always been a threat.

"Oh, The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss has always been the perfect graduation gift.

They have always "dissed" what they don't like.

The United States has always been studying global warming to confirm its existence.

Richard M. Daley has always been mayyor of Chicago.

They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water and play games with, lest they die.

Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.

Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Ever heard the Constitution recited? Here's your chance

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- To observe Constitution Day, the whole Constitution will be read, start to finish, at Winona State University. Prof Matt Bosworth, organizer of the Sept. 21 event, said State Sen. Bob Kierlin, State Rep. Gene Pelowski, Daily News publisher Rusty Cunningham and Winona State President Judith Ramaley will be among those reading sections of the Constitution in front of the library. Later in the day, Bosworth said that a panel discussion on terrorism, crime and the Constitution will be held.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Study: 4 of 5 frosh receive tuition discount

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 -- Colleges are giving frosh an average discount on tuition of 38.6 percent, usually called an institutional grant, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. A new survey said the grants in 2005 were roughly the same as the year before. The grants are a recruiting tool offered to 83.5 percent of full-time freshmen, the association said.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU invites alums to Rochester event

ROCHESTER, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- Rochester alumni of Winona State University have been invited to a social event. University President Judith Ramaley will be there for conversation and hors d'oeuvres, organizers said. The university has 4,000 Riochester-area alums.

Date: Thursday, Aug. 24
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Place: Westfire Grille, 2043 Superior Drive N.W.
Cost: Cash bar
Contact: JaNell Scott at (507) 457-5027

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Government inadvertantly sharing borower data

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 -- The federal government has mixed up the data for college-student borrowers and opened up access to personal information about some borrowers, including Social Security numbers, according to the Boston Globe. The newspapr quoted a U.S. Education Department official that the mixup occurred accidentally in a software upgrade. The spokesperson called the effect "pretty limited" and involves relately few of 6.4 million borrowers. Only four borrowers have complained, the spokesperson said.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU speaker to discuss same-sex marriage

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- A constitutional lawyer from Loyola Marymount University, Evan Gerstmann, will discuss same-sex marriage at Winona State University. The title of Gerstman's lecture: "Law and Common Sense." Gerstmann has two books on constitutional law, "The Constitutional Class: Gays, Lesbians and the Failure of Class-Based Equal Protection," from University of Chicago Press, and "Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution," from Cambridge University Press.

Date: Monday, Oct. 9
Time: 3 p.m.
Place: Stark Auditorium
Cost: Free

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Minnesota leads college-preparedness scores

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 -- College-intent high-schoolers in Minnesota averaged 22.3 on the ACT this year, the best among the states where ACT is the dominant college-entrance exam. The national average was 21.1, ACT officials said. Students who exceed score thresholds on each section of the exam are considered likely to earn at least a C in related college course work. Only 21 percent of test takers reached the recommended threshold in every section, the same as last year.

Over all, students did best on the English test, with 69 percent reaching the minimum threshold score of 18. Fifty-three percent met a similar threshold in reading. Only 42 percent scored high enough to reach the threshold in math. Science performance was qeakest, with only 27 percent meeting the minimum of 24. "This doesn't mean those students won't succeed in college," ACT chief exec Richard Ferguson told reporters. "But it does mean there's a higher likelihood that they'll struggle or need help along the way."

The 21.1 average score of high-school seniors nationawide who took the ACT exam was two-10th of a point a head of last year, which ACT reported was the biggest one-year improvement in 20 years. Anong state averages Wisconsin was second, after Minnesota's 22.3, at 22.2.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

"Sex Wars" author to speak at WSU

WINONA, Minn.. Aug. 23, 2006 -- Feminist poet Marge Piercy will speak about her new novel "Sex Wars" at Winona State University. Her lecture's title: "Sex Wars and the Turbulent Post Civil War Period for American Feminists" Piercy's other novels include "Gone To Soldiers," "The Longings of Women" and "Woman on the Edge of Time." Her memoir is "Sleeping with Cats."

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 18
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Science Lab Auditorium
Cost: Free

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Bad Jocks photos doom Catholic University team

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006 -- After an internal investigation into an initiation party, Catholic University of America put its women's lacrosse team on probation for a year. The university called the party "contrary to the expectations we have for our students and to the values of the university." The investigation followed photographs on the Bad Jocks web site of a male stripper at the party.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Diversity speaker due at WSU

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- A higher-ed administration prof at the University of Maryland, Jeffrey Milem, will speak on diversity in higher education at Winona State University. His subject: "Why Diversity Matters: A Research Based Perspective." This is the first of three Winona State visits by Milem scheduled this year. Besides his open sessions Thursday morning, Milem will conduct small group sessions later in the day.

Date: Thursday, Aug. 24
Time: 8 a.m. and again at 10:30 a.m.
Place: Baldwin Lounge, Kryzsko Commons
Cost: Free

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU prof examines bloodhound as abolitionist symbol

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2006 -- A Winona State University history prof, John Campbell, wrote an an article, "The Seminoles, the 'Bloodhound War,' and Abolitionism, l796-l865," in the Journal of Southern History. The journal is peer-reviewed.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Supreme Court: Gutknecht can be on ballot

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 22, 2006 -- The state Supreme Court sided with southern Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht and ruled he can be on the Republican primary ballot in September. In a one-paragraph statement after a hearing in the issue Chief Justice Russell Anderson rejected a Democratic argument that Gutknecht had violated campaign rules in obtaining signatures on a petition to be on the ballot. Justice Anderson did not go into any rationale for the decisision. At the hearing Democratic attorney lawyer Alan Weinblatt argued that Gutknecht's signatures shouldn't count because some were gathered outside of a two-week candidate filing period. The decisions means that Gutknecht as well as his Republican challenger, Greg Mikkelson, will be on the GOP primary ballot. The Democatic candidate, Tim Walz, has no opposition for his party's nominaion.

Background: Lawsuit challenges Gutknecht's candidacy
Background: Races campus people are watching

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU offers course on China business climate

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2006 -- A new course, Business Environment in China, is beig offered this fall at Winona State University by visting scholar Wu Fen. The course is an introduction on social, economic and cultural frameworks that shaope Chinese business practices, Wu Fen said.

Contact: Gabriel Manrique at (507) 457-5014.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

University pays Congressman's brother to lobby him

PROVO, Utah, Aug. 22, 2006 -- Brigham Young University paid the brother of a U.S. congressman $70,000 to lobby on behalf of the institution last year, according to the Associated Press. Joseph Cannon, the lobbyist, was quoted by the AP that at least twice he had pressed his brother, Republican Christopher Cannon, to support higher-ed issues favored by Brigham Young. In one instance, Joseph Cannon sought his brother’s vote to exempt religious colleges from rules prohibiting discrimination against gays, according to the AP. Brigham Young supported the bill, which later passed the House. Christopher Cannon holds his Congressional seat from the Utah district where Brigham Young is located.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Report questions chancellor's contractor ties

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 22, 2006 -- The recently fired Alabama community college system chancellor, Roy Johnson, was recommending to the system's governing board that his long-time friend Jimmie Clements' consulting company he hired, while he himself was taking a $125,000 loan from Johnson. The revelation was reported by the Birmigham News, which cited public documents as its source. Clements' received more than $262,000 in work from the colleges. Most of those contracts were signed with colleges after Johnson became chancellor in 2002, records show. The loan to Johnson carried were at favorable 5.5 percent interest. The newspaper reported also that Johnson was building a $1 million-plus home at the time, with the help of two contractors who had contracts for college buildings.

The state Board of Education fired Johnson in July after revelations about jobs and contracts that his friends and family received in the system. About Johnson and Clements' connection, the newspaper scited specific help given to Clements to land college contracts. In one case, the newspaper said, Johnson told the president at Ingram State Technical College to hire Clements' firm for a special education program. In another case, Johnson introduced Clements to Snead State Community College officials as someone who would work with them on campus issues. Bevill State Community College had a $3,500-a-month contract with Clements for consulting. Seven other schools also gave Clements contracts, according to records unearthed by the newspaper.

Background: More nepotism questions at Alabama colleges

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU gymnasts cited for high grades

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2006 -- Winona State University’s gymnastics team finished second in the 2006 Scholar All-American list announced by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women. The Warriors compiled a total team grade point average of almost 3.59. Southern Utah led with 3.66. WSU also had the second highest number of individuals, 10, named to the individual Scholar All-American list:

Eileen Strube, major in exercise science

Holly Thompson, an undeclared major

Melissa Vodvarka undeclared

Jory Waldron, pre-pharmacy

Heidi Kick, nursing

Alexandra Nugent, Spanish teaching

Bridget Nordstrom, undeclared

Lindsey Greer, social work

Allyson Thelen, nursing

Renae Lee, psychology.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Court: Gender-equity law protects whistle-blowers

PHILADEPHIA, Pa., Aug. 22, 2006 -- A federal appeals court ruled that a former athletics director at Lafayette College, Eve Atkinson, has a right to continue the suit in which shecaims she was fired for blowing the whistle about gender discrimination. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said that the law protects individuals accuse educational institutions of sex discrimination from retaliation by those institutions. The opinion overturned a lower court's dismissal of Atkinson's claim.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

STABBING AT SCHYDE'S

Did Minor know what he was telling the cops?

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2006 -- Wrirten arguments are due to the judge by Aug. 31 on whether Jonathan Minor was woozy from pain medication during a hospital interview about a stabbing at Schyde's drinkery last winter. In an hearingin June,, Minor's attorney, Rich McCluer, argued that Minor's statement to police should be disallowed as evidence. Minor was in a post-surgical, post-anesthetic state at the hospital, McCluer said. At the hearing, police interrogator Jerry Olson said under questioning by McCLuer that Minor appeared increasingly drowsy in the interview. Meanwhile, Minor, 22, of Anoka, Minn., remains in jail for the stabbing of an off-duty bouncer at the college bar Schyde's on Johnson Street. The bouncer, former Winona State University football player Steve Adams, has largely recovered from five penetrations into his lower back. Minor cut deeply into his own finger in the fray.

At the June hearing Judge Margaret Johnson told McCluer and county prosecutor Chuck MacLean to submit written arguments on why the hospital statement should or should not be considered. At the hearing, McCluer emphasized that Olson was inexperienced as a police interrogator on the effects of anesthesia, even while conceding Olson's extensive experience with suspects in drug-related and alcohol-related crimes. In a recent telephone MacLean said his legal brief to Judge Johnson would be based on the observations of the physician who treated Minor after his surgery to attach his nearly sawn-off pinky finger.

Reporter: Kai Oehler
Background: Attorneys to interview hospital witnesses in Minor case

JONATHAN
HANS
MINOR
Too groggy after surgery to know what he was saying?

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Civic-engagement workshops at WSU

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.., Aug. 22, 2006 -- The director of the National Service Learning Clearinghouse, Barbara Holland of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, will begin a series of Winona State University workshops on civic engagement on Wednesday. Her workshop's title: "Community Engagement and the Future of Higher Education." Holland said she will will an overview of civic engagement's increasing influence on institutional diversity. More workshops are scheduled for Thursday on "The Scholarship of Engagement" and "Institutionalizing Community Engagement at Winona State."

Date: Wednesday, Aug. 23
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Place: Science Lab Auditorium
Cost: Free
Contact: Tammy Swenson Lepper at (507) 457-5246

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

R.I.P.: Jeanette W. (Gernes) Hartert

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2006-- A College of St. Teresa alum, Jeanette Hartert, 88, died at a hospice. She was an X-ray lab technician in Minneapolis before marrying and returning to Winona in 1935.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Survey: Longhorns know how to party

NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2006 -- The University of Texas at Austin is the top party school in the nation, according to an annual ranking by Princeton Review. Pennsylvania State was raked second, West Virginia University third. For the ninth straght yeart Brigham Young University was ranked the country's most "stone-cold sober school." In Minnesota, neither Winona State nor St. Mary's made any of Princeton Review's party lists, inluding those for reefer madness, lots of hard liquor, lots of beer, and major frat and sorority scene.

Princeton Review is a company that specializes in preparing high-school students for college admissions tests. The company ranks colleges in numerous categories. The party-school ranking has been published since 1992. This year's rankings were darwn from 115,000 students at 361 institutions who responded, mostly online, to a survey on 62 characteristics of their campuses.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Hunt for Virginia escapee shuts down campus

BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 21, 2006 -- Virginia Tech canceled classes and send everybody home while police hunted for a prison inmate who escaped from custody at a hospital and was suspected in the fatal shootings of a security guard and a sheriff's deputy. Police blocked camopus entrances with dump tucks and squad cars and searched the student center. Sharpshooters were posted on rooftops. The suspect eventually was arrested at athletics fields south of the campus.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SOCCER (WOMEN'S)

WSU 4, UW-Stevens Point 0 (exhibition).

Florian leads Warriors with goal, assist

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 21, 2006 -- Winona State University, with two goals in each of the halves, ended its exhibition soccer season 4-0 over the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Gina Florian led the Warriors with a goal and an assist.Florian got the Warriors going 10 seconds into the match. From there Florian assisted on the next goal, which was scored by Holly Sutton at 5:33. Amelia Kasten also assisted on the goal. In the second half Heidi Woerle and Kayla Walters each scored. Kara Fritze assisting on Woerle's goa. Walters scored unassisted. Amanda Diehm and Brooke Sherer split the halves in the nets for the Warriors. Diehm came up with a single save in the first half. Sherer collected three saves in the final 45 minutes . For the game, Winona State outshot UW-Stevens Point 18-10.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU theater prof wins teaching award

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 21, 2006 -- A Winona State University theater prof, Vivian Fusillo, was presented the Creative Drama Award by the American University Alliance of Theater and Education at a conference in Washington.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

War-injured prof: Xavier out to fire him

CHICAGO, Ill., Aug. 21, 2006-- A St. Xavier University prof says the university has conspired to fire him for Iraq war injuries suffered while on duy as a reservist. Chris Cooper says it began when the university chose not to hire a substitute for him when injury-related problems interfere with his teaching, even though, he said, the U.S. Veterans Administration is willing to defray some of expense. Cooper, 43, tenured as a criminal-justice prof, has viral infections, dangerously low blood pressure, and a frequent need to urinate. Sometimes he has to leave class to go to the bathroom and to monitor his blood pressure. Also, he has had to leave occasionally for hospital visits becaue of swelling in is throat and blisters on his tongue that prevent him from speaking.

Rather than support him, Cooper said he the university placed him on an unrequested medical leave in January. The universuty also denied his request for a sabbatical this coming school year. In a complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Cooper, who is black, charged discrimination based on race and war injuries. The univerity has since granted the sabbatical, but Cooper says the sabbatical is problematic at this point. First, he said, he has already made preparations to teach rather than arrange for the research project he originally proposed for his sabbatical. If he takes the sabbatical and can't produce the research that he proposed, he risks a negative performance review, Cooper said. The sabbatical, he said, has become a vehicle to fire him.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

D2football.com puts WSU at 23rd

WINONA, Minn., Aug, 21, 2006 -- -- Winona State University has landed 23rd on a footall pre-season ranking by the NCAA Division II website D2football.com. The Warriors were the only team from the Northern Sun conference to make the list. Defending national champion Grand Valley State of Michigan was No. 1.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

No federal Smart Grants for evolutionary biology

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2006 -- The U.S. Education Depqrtment has failed to include evolutionary biology on a list of majors for which college students may receive a new form of federal grant. It was not clear whether the absence was a sop to anti-Darwinian Christian groups that insist that intelligent agent guided the creation of life. President Bush himself favors curriculum that includes intelligent-design theory. The so-called Smart Grants were created by Congress to encourage students into engineering, mathematics, science and certain foreign languages -- fields the Bush administration has identified as important to national security. The grants can be as much as $4,000 in addition to Pell grants. Specifics of eligibility were left to the U.S. Education Department by Congress.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Vatican bumps pro-evolution astronomer

Vatican City, Aug. 21, 2006 -- A Jesuit astronomer who has critcizecd the intelligent-design theory for human creation, has been replaced by Pope Benedict XVI. It was unclear whether the pope was dispaleased with George Coyne's views on creation or whether other factors were involved. Coyne has been with the Vatican Observatory sine 1969. Last January, speaking in the United States, Father Coyne said that intelligent-design, which has been offered to counter evolutionary theory, belittles God's power and might. Science, he said, should be seen as "completely neutral" on both theistic and atheistic implications of scientific results. "Science and religion are totally separate pursuits," he said. In the speech, Coyne criticized the cardinal archbishop of Vienna's support for intelligent-design and quoted Pope John Paul's declaration that evolution is "no longer a mere hypothesis" but "a fundamental church teaching."

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU moving into leased Cotter buildings

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2006 -- Winona State University has leased the former Cotter Junior High School building on East Wabasha Street for temporary offices while Maxwell Hall on the main campus is undergoing major renovation. The university also is leasing the older gym at the Nett Recreation Center at the school. Father William Becker, administrator for the Winona Area Catholic Schools, which operates Cotter, annouced the lease but did not disclose terms. Cotter Junior High already has been relocated to Roger Bacon Hall at the old College of St. Teresa campus. The school will share staff and space with Cotter High, which has been at St. Teresa since 1992.

Over the summer Winona State already assumed security responsibilities at the Cotter buildings on Wabasha, a block east on the main campus. The Maxwell renovation, funded as $11.1 million by the Legislature, involves a major re-do on the former campus library. Among tenants to be relocated: Student health services and the fitness center. The National Child Protection Training Center, also in Maxwell, will move to the university's Tau building at the former St. Teresa campus. At one point, the moves had been planned for August but now will be October at the earliest to give Winona State crews time to remodel the Cotter Junior High buildings for university occupants.

Meanwhile, Craig Junker, president of the Cotter schools, announced that Cotter is purchasing the buildings and grounds occupied by Cotter at the St. Teresa campus. The buildings have been owned by St. Mary's University. The purchase includes Roger Bacon, St. Cecelia, St. Teresa, and Loretto halls.

Background: WSU in talks to buy Cathedral School

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

NCAA to colleges: Cool that postgame partying

INDIANAPOIS, Ind., Aug. 20, 2006 -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association called on colleges to review how postgame rowdyism can be headed off and to take action. Dennis Poppe, managing director for football and baseball, said that too many postgame celebrations have resulted in serious injury. "We must continue to do all we can to minimize the potential for catastrophic events," Poppe said. NCAA President Myles Brand issued a letter to NCAA schools about "an escalation in the number and severity of incidents" and urging better crowd control.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SOCCER (WOMEN'S)

Iowa 4, WSU 0 (exhibition).

Division II Warriors bow to Division I foe

IOWA CITY, Iowa, Aug. 20, 2006 -- Winona State University got in some competition with a 4-0 exhibition soccer loss to the University of Iowa. A six-minute lapse in the second half proved to be the difference. The Warriors had held the Hawkeyes pretty well in check in the opening half before Iowa scored at 36:01. From there the Warriors again kept the Hawkeyes at bay until Iowa scored three goals during a five-minute stretch in the second half. The Warriors came up with six shots, four on goal.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Western Michigan trustees fire president

KALAMAZOO, Mich., Aug. 20, 2006 -- Trustees at Western Michigan University fired university President Judith Bailey for budget deficits and strained relations with the faculty and community leaders. Also, the trustees said that Bailey, on the job three years, has failed to reverse enrollment declines. Before being fired Bailey told trustees that this is a "difficult period" but that she could see it through. The trustees disagreed. James Holden, the trustees' chair, said there had been too much frustration over Bailey's leadership.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU braces again for frosh class of 1,700

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2006 -- Nobody knows or sure how many frosh will show up at Winona State University for fall classes, but the best guesses are about the same 1,700 as in recent years. Orientation begins this week. Freshmen will move into dorms Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. The university has issued an alert about likely traffi9,c snarl-ups on Huff Street with backups perhaps as far south as Sarnia, as parents unload trunks and vans near the dorms. On Wednesday the university will continue its recent tradition of a fall convocation at 11 a.m. in McCown Gym. After the convocation, a picnic is planned in the campus courtyard.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COURT CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING AUG. 19, 2006
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT

UNDERAGE BOOZING

Jonathan Joe Light (again), 20, 1258 Randall St., 21 days and $177.
Christopher Stephen Siegersma, 17, LaCrescent, Minn., $477.
Laura Elizabeth Zeiher, 20, 850 458th Ave., $177.

LOUD PARTY

Matthew Raymond Oberhaus, 22, 456 Main St., $177.
Andrew Ralph Pettis, 20, Viroqua, Wis, 90 days and $602.
Richard Dean Rasmussen, 456 Main St., $177.

ALL BOOZING CONVICTIONS
ALL NOISY PARTY CONVICTIONS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Free tuition for Ohio students at Miami

OXFORD, Ohio, Aug. 19, 2006 -- Ohio students with family incomes of $35,000 or less will have tuition and fees auves at Miami University. The program, called Miami Access Initiative, will begin for fall 2007 classes. The plan will be financed partly by a $10 million bequest from alum Lois Klawon.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Fund-raising cyclist due at WSU on Sept. 19

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2006 -- The cycling college trustee Bob Erickson will reach Winona on his 2,300-mile bike tour on Tuesday, Sept. 19, if his schedule holds up. The schedule calls for Erickson will ride 52 miles from Rochester to Winona, arriving at Southeast Tech around 3 p.m. He will visit Winona State University at 4 o'clock and spend the night at a hotel. At 8:30 the next morning Erickson will travel to the Southeast Tech airport campus. From there, ot will be 65 miles to Red Wing. Erickson is chair of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation anda former MnSCU trustee. This is his latest annual bike trek to all 53 campuses in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system to raise awareness about the struggles of part-time adult students and eliciting pledges for scholarships. In 2005 he raised $27,300 to create scholarships for part-time students.

Background: Ex-trustee starts fifth scholarship tour

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 19, 2006

WIRELESS WINONA. Mayor Jerry Mlller proposed a $30,000 feasibility study for citywide wireless Internet service. Miller's recommendation will go to the City Council.

SUPER LAWYERS. An annual ranking of Minnesota "super lawyers" by the magazine Minnesota Law and Politics lists criminal defense attorneys Rich McCluer and John Paul Plachecki of Winona. The ranking is based on peer recognition. McCluer and Plachecki are partners in Price, McCluer & Plachecki.

F.U. INC. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, abbreviated as MPCA, fined Winona Excavating Co. for doing demolition work under a false corporate title after being ordered several years not to do any more demolition. The fake corporate name: MCPAFU. For four years nobody caught onto the disguised message in the fake name.

THE CITY OF HERONS. The City Council approved funds to help a identify WInona as the Blue Heron City. Next summer 30 seven-foot heron statues will be positioned downtown, each painted by an artist applying individual creativity. The herosn will be auctioned off at summer's end. Organizer Bernadette Mahfood said the project will stimulate tourism.

RAILSURVEY. Minnesotans favor the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern railroad's plan to upgrade its tracks across southern Minnesota, according to a statewide survey of 400 likely voters. GOTRAC, a coalition supporting the rail upgrade, said the margin is 7 to 1.

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

University president dies jogging on campus

LORMAN, Miss., Aug. 19, 2006-- The president of Alcorn State University, Clinton Bristow, died while jogging around the university's track field. A student found the body. Bristow had been president of Alcorn State for 11 years. Eralier he was at Chicago State University and Olive-Harvey College.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU SECURITY REPORT
WEEK ENDING AUG. 19, 2006

Aug. 17, 2006: A student reported at 4:15 p.m. thathis bike had been stolen the previous day. The bike eas found in someone else's possession, but the owner declined to file a charge.

Aug. 16, 2006: Security guards responded at 2:35 p.m. to an alarm at the John Nett Center. It was a false alarm.

Aug. 13, 2006: Security guards responded at 8:20 a.m. to an alarm at the John Nett Center. It was a false alarm.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Governor to climatologist: Speak for yourself

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug, 19, 2006 -- The Virginia state climatologist, Patrick Michaels, who also is a University of Virginia prof, has been told by the governor not to use his state title in his private consulting business. Michaels has controversial views on global warming could be mistaken for the state's views, said Gov. Tim Kaine in a letter. Michaels has registered offense at he governor's letter. Michaels said he always has been clear as a climatology consultant and professor that his opinions are not those of the state but "the remarks of a faculty member given under the traditional protection of academic freedom." Michaels' position on globl earning is that natural forces, not human activity, are the primary cause. Michaels has been criticized for taking donations from the Intermountain Rural Electric Association of Colorado. Utilities have been targeted as trying to discredit the idea that they are to blame for global warming.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Teaching award to WSU theater prof

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 19, 2006 -- A Winona State University theater prof, Vivian Fusillo, was presented an outstanding teacher award by the Association for Theater in Higher Education at a Chicago meeting. Fusillo has been on the Winona State faculty since 1968.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Appeal filed in Colorado football rape case

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 19, 2006 -- A woman who claims she was raped by University of Colorado football players at an off-campus party in 2001 has appealed of a federal judge's dismissal of her lawsuit. The judge had thrown the case out on technical grounds. Lisa Simpson, a student at the time, alleged in her suit that university officials had fostered an attitudes among football players that led to the rape. Also, Simpson claimed that officials had known of sexual assaults and harassment for years Simpson's suit, when first filed, led to investigations followed by the resignations of both the athletics director. No sexual-assault charges have ever been filed in the case.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Ex-trustee starts fifth bike tour for scholarships

ST.PAUL, Minn., Aug. 19, 2006 -- Once was not enough for Bob Erickson, a bicycing enthusiast who chairs the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation. Nor twice. No, even four times was not enough for, who began his fifth 2,300-mile bicycle tour Monday to raise money and public support for part-time students who at Minnesota state colleges. Erickson departed at 8 a.m. from Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids. During the trek, which is expected to take 30 days, Erickson will tour all 53 campuses in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, including Winona State and Southeast tech. He is funding the trip at his own expense.

What keeps him pedaling all those miles, year after year? "Many part-time students have a tough time making ends meet," the 60-year-old Erickson said. "They're often not eligible for scholarships, and the financial aid formula does not treat them fairly. The state should change its formula to give part-time students a fair shake." About 40 percent of students in the MnSCU system are enrolled part-time. Theue average age is 29.

Erickson is a former trustee and chair of the finance and facilities committee of the state system’s Board of Trustees. Erickson also was senior vice president for finance and operations for the University of Minnesota from 1991 to 1995. For 16 years he was a senior executive at SuperValu.

In his first four bike tours, Erickson, who lives in Bloomington, raised more than $261,000. To spur contributions, the state colleges and universities will participate in Erickson's effort in various ways. Anoka-Ramsey Community College, for example, has created a scholarship fund for its part-time students and raffles off two donated bicycles.

BOB ERICKSON. At a campus stop on 2005 cycling trek

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

SMU, WSU make magazine's college rankings

WINONA, Minn., Aug.18, 2006 -- Winona-based St.Mary's University once again been recognized as a top tier institution, according to U.S.News & World Report magazine's best colleges rankings. The ranking put St. Mary's as 30th in the Midwest for colleges offering a broad range of undergrad and master's degrees. Winona State also made the top tier at 62nd among Midwest master's colleges. In all, eight Minnesota colleges made the list in the catgeory. In the seven-campus MnSCU system of public colleges, only Winona State was listed. At 64th Winona State was marginally ahead of last year's ranking at 68th.

The annual listing includes more than 1,400 schools nationwide. Rankings are drawn from information submitted by colleges and from assessments by administrators at peer institutions. Considered are student retention, faculty resources, student academic preparedness, financial resources, graduation rate performance, and alumni giving rate.

Nationally, Princeton University claimed top spot, followed by Harvard, Princeton and Yale. The California Institute of Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University tied for fourth. Among liberal arts colleges, Williams College topped the list, followed by Amherst, then Swarthmore. The University of California at Berkeley ranked first among top public universities, with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Virginia tied at second.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Canadian colleges boycott magazine ranking

TORONTO, Ont., August 18, 2006 -- A group of Canadian research universities are refusing to participate in Maclean magazine's annual ranking. Presidents of 11 universities signed a letter to the magazine Monday about problems with the magazine's ranking methodology. The letter also complained that the magazine had failed to address the presidents' concerns over several years. The letter called the ranking "oversimplified and arbitrary." Responding, Maclean's defended the rankings as fair and said that they will be continued despite by the boycott. Tony Keller, managing editor of special projects, said that information needed for the rankings is available from other sources.

At the University of British Columbia, research Vice President John Hepburn said Maclean's treats data crudely and misleads students: "We have a basic disagreement with Maclean's, and we're letting people know." The boycott includes the universities of Alberta, British Columbia, Calgary, Lethbridge, Manitoba, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, along with Dalhousie, McMaster, and Simon Fraser. Notably absent from the signatories was McGill University. A McGill spoeksperson said the university wants to work with Maclean's to improve the rankings.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Warrior cagers to start in Division I territory

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 18, 2006 -- The reigning Division II national basketball champion Warriors of Winona State University will open the season gainst three Division I teams -- all an in a row, bang, bang, bang. The first exhibition game will be Oct. 31 at Drake, said coach Mike Leaf, followed Nov. 1 at Bradley and Nov. 8 at Minnesota. Leaf said that tough competition, especially at the start of a season, strengthens a team. Leaf noted, though, that the Warriors will have only a 17-day period of regulation practice before opening against Drake. Leaf is hopeful for the season, Only one player from last year's champion team, Dave Zelmann, has been graduated.

The schedule foregoes the traditional cross-town matchup with St. Mary's University. Leaf blamed a tighter Northern Sun schedule now that Upper Iowa and Mary of North Dakota have joined the conference. Leaf said he hopes that a St. Marys-Winona State game can be fitted in the year after this. traditional game, with MSU-Mankato, also has been dropped. A Bahamas road trip is scheduled for the winter break with games against Wingate of North Carolina and Hillsdale of Michigan.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Congressman caught trying to dink with history

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2006 -- Six-term southern Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht tried to turn himself into an editor and delete an online encyclopedia's references to his 1996 campaign promise not to seek more than six terms. Gutknecht, a Republican, now is seeking a seventh term. That Gutknecht had been dinking with the entry was uncovered by a Nashville, Tenn., teenager, Daniel Bush, who is among hundreds of volunteer editors for Wikipedia. In an interview with the Associated Press, Bush noted that Wikipedia has a policy against what's called "autobiographical edits. Bush said he said he wanted to protect the integrity of Wikipedia, which allows anyone to submit and update entries. Bush was checking Wikipedia page histories, which are available for anyone to see, when he found that Gutknecht’'s office had tied twice to replace an entry on him with the congressman's own biography.

Term limits have been an issue against Gutknecht. In his first bid for Congress in 1996, Gutknecht gained traction by signing on to the Contract for America that House Speaker Newt Gingrich was touting as a platform for Republican candidates. The Gingrich argument was to end the control of Congress by career politiucians. Confronted during the current campaign, Gitknecht has said, in effect, "That was then. This is now." ABout a seveneth term, he has said: "Let the people decide."

Both times that Gutknecht attempted to erase references to his pledge to a maximum of six term, the original entry, including the term-limit information, were restored within hours. The disclosure of Gutknecht's editing prompted Wikipedia to place a block on all entries from congressional computers, but the block was lifted on Wednesday. Wikipedia has blocked editing from congressional offices from time to time in the past for self-serving nodifications of entries.

Asked about the Wikipedia entry on Gutknecht, the congressman's news secretary, Jon Yarian, didn’t dispute that there had been attempst to make changes. Yarian turned the issue to whether Wikipedia is a reliable source. The volunteer nature of Wikipedia, he said, makes it less than trustworthy.

Background: Races campus people are watching
Background:Gutknecht: Pledge, what pledge?
Background: Wikipedia's Gutknecht entry

ABOUT WIKIPEDIA
Sometime in the 1960s Jimmy Wales' folks bought a World Book encyclopedia set from a door-to-door salesman. Jimmy became hooked on information. In college he became committed to the notion that people can best acquire wisdom by pooling what they know. He calls himself "an Enlightenment kind of guy." Wales put his idea on the web in 2000 with an ambitious project for an online reference book. Nupedia, he called it. Like dozens of other encyclopedias before, all in printed form, Nupedia solicited experts to write articles and ran the articles by a review panel, then posted them. Things went slowly, a year later Nupedia has only 21 entries.

Then, second hand from an assistant, Jimmy Wales heard about simple software tool called wiki. The software enabled several people to collaborate on writing and editing. Why not thousands? Millions? By 2001 Wales had modified Nupedia to accept online contributions directly from, well, anyone -- with anyone able to edit entries online and instantly. It was a process called open editing. An e-notice went out to 2,000 people on Nupedia'a mailing list: "Wikipedia is up! Humor me. Go there and add a little article. It will take all of five or 10 minutes."

Five years later Wikipedia, as the project was renamed, carried 1 million articles, compared to 120,000 in Enyclopedia Britannica, the printed encyclopedia against which all others are judged. Being on the web Wikipedia has no physical limit on its size, The site had become the 17th most visited on the Internet. There were 14,000 hits per second.

In ways, Wikipedia represents much of the free-for-all that is the web. Among Wikipedia's few rules are these; First, articles must be from a neutral point of view. Second, content must be verifiable and previously published. Contribution are anonymous.

Although there are rule, nonsense gets posted. Too, there are vandals who take perverse joy in messing up entries. Wales has robots that roam entries for disruptive entries. When accuracy is an issue, volunteer administrators make judgment calls. When contributors differ on facts, Wales has a mediation committee and an arbitration committee.

How accurate is Wikipedia. Stories are legion about members of Congress cleaning up entries posted about them. Voting records have been tampered with in self-serving ways. Some members of Congress modified entries about themselves in 2005 to distance themselves from President Bush when his popularity plummeted. Wikipedia, which tracks all changes, restored the balanced accounts, although this takes time. On several occasions every member of Congress has been barred from posting changes while Wikipedia admins sorted out the facts and truth.

A survey by the journal Nature in 2005 tested 43 entries in Wikipedia and in the Encyclopedia Britannica and found both amazingly accurate. Wikipedia did, however, have four errors for every three in the Britannica, but errors were rare both places.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

CAMPUS ALMANAC

What campus thieves are looking for

CHICAGO, Ill., Aug. 17, 2006 -- Allstate Insurance Co. compiled a list of possessions most commonly stolen from college and high-school students, all of them “high-dollar, easy-to-grab items that are hard to recover":

Band instruments

Data-processing devices such as laptops and PDAs

Sports equipment

MP3 players and accessories

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Republicans endorse Reiman for Legislature

LEWISTON, Minn., Aug. 16, 2006 -- A Lewiston farmer who has been active in Republican affairs , Lewie Reiman, was endorsed by House District 31-A Republicans to challenge incumbent Gene Pelwoski. Pewloski, a Winona high-school teacher, is seeking an 11th term. Reiman has farmed in Winona County for 32 years and has held positions with both the First Congressional District Republicans and the Winona County Republicans. He is a delegate to the state and First District Republican conventions. In a statement Reiman said his goals include job growth and affordable education.

Background: Races campus people are watching

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COURT CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING AUG. 12, 2006
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT

UNDERAGE BOOZING

Graham Robert Brasic, 20, Lewiston, Minn., $177.
Brian Patrick Cain, now 21, 18628 Grandview Ridge, $754.
Charles William Delfosse, 20, Green Bay, Wis., $177.
Kalla Rae Evans, 19, Wabasha, Minn., $177.
Jessica Aren Gusa, 18, Wabasha, Minn., $117.
Taylor Shelley Halberson, 20, Utica, Minn., $117.
Michael William Horst, 20, Dakota, Minn., $554.
John William Loebel, 20, 374 W. Mark St., $165.
Mitch Nolan McCubbin, 18, Davenport, Iowa, $177.
Jerrad Robert Ohr, 20, 466 Kansas St., $377.
Pamela Jean Stellenberg, now 21, Andover, Minn., $372.
Alexander Ian White, now 21, 560 E. Sixth St., now 21, $1,431.

NOISY PARTYING

Mark Andrew Urbick, 27, 1041 Highway 43, $277.
Alexander Ian White, 21, 560 E. Sixth St., now 21, $1,431.

ALL BOOZING CONVICTIONS
ALL NOISY PARTY CONVICTIONS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Lawsuit challenges Gutknecht's candidacy

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 11, 2006 -- A lawsuit to have southern Minnesota's member of Congress removed from the September primary ballot has been filed. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a six-term Republican, failed to obtain signatures on his petition as a candidate during the legally specified two-week filing period, according to the suit. Louis Reiter, 77, an Elgin Democrat, filed the action. Gutknecht's people publicly downplayed the suit as a campaign nuisance, but the legal questions apparently have at least some merit. The Minnesota Supreme Court has instructed all parties to submit paperwork and briefs.

The national news media immediately glommed onto the story with interviews with legal scholars, some whom think Gutknecht may be thrown off the ballot and some of whom expect him to vindicated by state election laws that are confusing at best. Some political pundits have seen Gutknecht's re-election pospects dimming with the faded popularity of President Bush and his Republican supporters in Congress. At stake nationally is whether Republicans can maintain their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.

If Gutknecht loses a spot on the ballot, it would appear that Gregory Mikkelson, his challenger inside the Republican party, would become the party standard-bearer in Minnesota's First Congressional District. Mikkelson, of Lake Crystal, Minn., has filed as a Republican candidate for the First District seat and will appear on the primary ballot. Mikkelson is a farmer and grain business operator who ran against Gutknecht as an independent in 2002 and 2004. Mikkelson does not agree with the U.S. war on Iraq, which Gutknecht supported as a Bush loyalist until waffling recently. Mikkelson argued in earlier campaigns that money has taken over politics and candidates are too obligated to their contributors rather than their constituents.

Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate, has no opponent in the September primary.

The Reiter lawsuit claims that most of the signatures that Gutknecht submitted to be placed on the ballot were gathered before the July 4-18 period that the lawsuit claims is required by the state. The suit was drafted by a Democratic election attorney, Alan Weinblatt, who argued that all candidates are subject to the time limit for petitions. If there were no specified window to collect sigbatures, Weinblatt said, candidates could collect signatures years before an election and use them in elections over and over again. Weinblatt said that only 290 of One-thousand are required.

That Gutknecht chose to get on the ballot by petition is unusual. Most candidates pay a $300 state election filing fee. Since he first ran for Congress in 1994 Gutknecht has filed petitions to get on the ballot rather than pay the fee. This year Gutknecht was the only major-party candidate to do so. Why the petition route? Gutknecht says he's a fiscal conservative and that saving $300 makes sense to him.

Asked about the issue, Gutknecht's attorneys were quoted by the Associated Press as the calling the suit "childish" and an odd reading of what at best is an ambiguity in election law. Thy said that say the time frame for collecting signatures applies only to minor-party candidates. Removing Gutknecht from the ballot would be a "drastic remedy" that would hurt Republicans who want to vote for their party-endorsed candidate, they said.

Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, who is a Republican, like Gutknecht, also pooh-poohed the suit. Kiffmeyer said that Gutknecht has met the requirements for major-party candidates when he filed on July 5. The time limitation, she said, applies only to independent and minor party candidates who must file nominating petitions to get on the ballot. Petitions for major party candidates may be signed at any time, she said.

Fred Morrison, co-dean of the University of Minnesota Law School, told the Associated Press that the legitmacy of Gutknecht's petition signatures could be argued either way. Morrison called Minnesota election law "very complicated." The law, he said, was built a little section at a time and is loaded with inconsistencies.

David Schultz, an election law prof at Hamiline and also at the University of Minnesota, says, however, that the sction of the law about a timeline for sigatures on nominating petitions applies to all candidates. "I think Gutknecht's in trouble," Schultz told the AP.

Guy Charles, a co-dean of the law school, expects Gutknecht to argue that he made a good-faith effort to comply with electon requirements. Charles pointed to a section of the law that specifies no restrictions on when signatures are obtained.

Background: Races campus people are watching

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 11, 2006

WINONA 85th. Online business-news site bizjournals.com rated Winona 85th in its Top 100 dreantowns list in the 10,000 to 77,000 population range. Criteria included ease of commuting, affordbale housing, reasonable taxes, small business growth and concentration, and population growth.

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

College settles journalism case for $130,000

GREAT BEND, Kan., Aug. 11, 2006 -- The adviser of the Barton County Community College student newspaper, who was fired after refusing to censor stories on an athletics scandal, has settled her lausit againsty the college. Jennifer Schartz will receive $130,000 in the settlement. Two years agom, college trustees voted not to renew Schartz's contract. Schartz claimed she was fired for exerciseing her First Amendment rights and supporting the rights of her students. Originally Schwatz wanted to be reinstated but dropped the request. She now is a county commissioner. In the settlement, the college did ot acknowledge wrong-doing. The institution agreed to the settlement because it made financial sense, said the college lawyer. Schartz called the settlement a vindication.

The scandal involved seven coaches and an athletics director, all since departed and all of whom have pleaded guilty or been of charges including fraud, embezzlement, and theft of student-aid funds. Meanwhile, the National Junior College Athletic Association has placed all Barton teams on probation for lack of institutional controls that contributed to the crimes.

Background: Barton ex-athletic director pleads guilty

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

Prof wins promotion in free-expresion flap

FREDONIA, N.Y., Aug. 11, 2006 -- The State University of New York at Fredonia reversed itself and has promoted a prof to a full professorship despite his criticism of university policies in the town newspaper. Earlier the promotion had been denied to Stephen Kershnar, a tenured member of the philosophy faculty, for what university President Dennis Hefner called "deliberate and repeated public misrepresentations of campus policies and procedures." The denial raised academic freedom questions, which in the end forced Hefner to recant. He approved the promotion without comment and laid out no stipulations for Kershnar's public expresion.

During the controversy over his writing, Kershnar offered to submit writings for a year to a two-member committee for approval before pre-publication approval. That wasn't enough for Hefner, who had insisted that the review time-frame should be unlimited and that Kershnar would need the proposed committee's unanious approval.

The issue arose after Kershnar had been quoted in a news article that SUNY-Fredonia penalizes students who don't report violations of the student-conduct code. Kershnar had also written a newspaper opinion-page articler that that the university had lowered academic standards in an attempt to boost minority enrollment.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Not-guilty plea in Schyde's knife incidet

WINONA, incident., Aug. 10, 2006 -- A Winona woman accused of swinging a knife and threatening a crowd outside the college bar Schyde's in July pleaded not guilty. A trial for Renee Barlow, 33, was scheduled for Oct. 18 to charges of second-degree felony assault, felony terroristic threats and fifth-degree misdemeanor assault. A work-release request was granted, which victim service coordinator Cami O’Laughlin said means that Barlow is subject to alcohol and controlled substance testing as well as random checks with her employer to ensure she is complying with the conditions set by the court. Also, Barlow, is barred from contacting anyone involved in the case, O'Laughlin said.

Witnesses said that Barlow kicked one woman in the stomach and slapped another woman in the face. Barlow continued to fight with another woman until several otehr people broke it up, according to police. The woman who was kicked, a Winona State grad who asked not to be named in this article, gave this account: "We were in the parking lot of Schyde's after bar close, waiting for some friends to pick us up, when she came over and started yelling at us." The woman said that nobody knows why Barlow chose to confront them. She said she doesn't remember seeing Barlow earlier that evening. After the fight was broken up Barlow took out a folded-pocket knife, waved it in the air, threatened the crowd and swung it at a man who was trying to break up the fight, according to police. Some witnesses said they were not able to see if the blade of the knife was open. Others did report seeing the blade. No one was seriously injured.

Reporter: Jessica Pluth
Background: Woman charged in Schyde's fight

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

AFTERMATH OF A HORRIBLE NIGHT

Trial set for teen driver in coaches' injuries

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 10, 2006 -- A recently graduated Cotter high school student accused of driving drunk in a December accident that seriously injured two Winona State University coaches, Katelyn Appelwick, pleaded not guilty to 10 charges. Appelwick's attorney Rich McCluer, asked Judge Jeff Thompson to set a jury trial with a pre-trial hearing. The judge scheduled both for October. After being read the charges against her, including two counts of causing great bodily harm to Winona State volleyball coach Connie Mettille, Appelwick was asked if she wanted to plead not guilty and go before a jury. She answered timidly, with a faint "yes," to which Judge Thompson responded that it was a "pretty weak yes." He asked:"Do you want to try again?" Firm and clear this time, Appelwick repeated: "Yes."

Appelwick's parents and several friends watched from the back row. As Appelwick was leaving with her family, she confirmed she will begin classes this fall at St. Benedict. Asked if she had planned to attend St. Benedict before the accident, Appelwick's father said that many students leaving high school plan ahead, suggesting that her choice was unaffected by the accident. Appelwick's mother interjected that because the case is still ongoing, Katelyn would rather not talk about it.

According to the joint website of St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict, the admission standards are relatively high. Most freshmen enter with above-average scores on the ACT college preparedness exam, strong high-school grades, and a class rank above 69 percent of their peers. Appelwick was on the B-honor-roll at Cotter prior to the accident.

A pre-trial heanrig for Appelwick is scheduled for Oct. 5 at 1:30 p.m., a jury trial for Oct. 18 at 9 a.m.

Reporter: Kai Oehler
Background: Plea of innocent expected hearing

KATELYN
APPELWICK
Teen driver

WSU football coach Tom Sawyer back at work

Volleyball coach Connie Mettille to resume work fall semester

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

MnSCU chief named to Rochester hicher-ed committee

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 10, 2006 -- Responding to criticism that the state college system had been excluded from planning for a new stand-alone Rochester university, Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed the new chair of MnSCU's governing board, David Paskach, to the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee. Pawlenty created the Rochester committee in July 2005 to recommend expanded educational offerings for Rochester. The committee cmprises 11 members, all appointed by Pawlenty. The committee will sunset out of existence at the end of 2007.

Background: Ex-Schawn Foods exec heads college board

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

League coaches high on WSU soccer

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 10, 2006 -- A pre-season coaches' poll puts the Winona State University women's soccer team at the top of the heap of the Northern Sun conference. The Warriors received nine first-place votes. Northern State got one. Winona State has been the pre-season favorite seven season in a row, The poll also named Kayla Walters of Winona State the pre-season offensive player of the year, Last season Walters had 12 goals and 10 assists in 23 games.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU fall football drills begin

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 10, 2006 -- Varsity football players began fall training at Winona State University without any injuries. Coach Tom Sawyer said the session went well. Sawyer plans contact drills the rest of the week.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Wyoming court: Secret tape is public record

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Aug. 9, 2006 -- The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that a secretly taped recording of a committee meeting at the University of Wyoming is a public record. At issue was a recording of a meeting of the committee on parking tickets, which a university investigation concluded was made at the instruction of Corrine Sheaffer, the campus parking director. She was fired. She denied ever ordering the taping and sued for a copy of the tape. The university has tried to to keep the tape out of Sheaffer's hands, claiming it is not an open document under Wyoming public-records law. The Supreme Court disagreed.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Math prof named acting WSU science dean

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 9, 2006 -- A math prof at Winona State fior 14 years, Jeff Anderson, was named acting dean of science and engineering. University President Judith Ramaley, who announced the appointment, said that Anderson will serve one year with the possibility of a second year.

Anderson holds a 1989 doctorate in applied mathematics from Iowa State University. He was on the Ball State faculty before moving to Winona State in 1992. He has served as chair of the math and statistics department at Winona State. His research interests have addressed the application of partial differential equations to groundwater and contaminant flow, population growth and movement, production methods of composite materials, and the growth of vascular beds in solid tumors.

At Winona State, Anderson has worked to develop undergraduate research experiences on mathematical models of the ecology of the Upper Mississippi River. Hee has served as a consultant in the Talented Youth Mathematics Program for middle and high school students sponsored by the University of Minnesota in Rochester. He is a contributor to our Project Kaleidoscope program on science, technology, engineering and mathematics undergraduate education.

As acting dean Anderson succeeds Nancy Jannik, who has been named the university's associate vice president for research, graduate dtudies and sssessment.

JEFF
ANDERSON
Mathematician

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

HALLOWEEN INCIDENT AT 560 E. BROADWAY

Halloween bash case over; White fined $477

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 8, 2006 -- A Winona State University student senator, Alex White, will pay $477 in fines for violating the city noise ordinance and possessing a keg without identification -- charges that resulted from a Halloween party that ended in a four-hour stand-off between police and partiers. The plea agreement apparently ends the protracted case, which forced White off the university football team and plagued his campaign for re-election to the Student Senate. According to the plea agreement, the charges that were misdemeanors were reduced in status to petty misdemeanors, which can carry a fine of $300 maximum.

On a minor consumption charge, Judge Jeff Thompson accepted a plea of no contest, which means White did not admit guilt but would accept whatever penalty the judge would issue. In effect, White will pay the penalty for minor consumption charge but will be able to maintain legally that he wasn't drunk, which his attorney, Rich McCluer, said had been an issue argued for months. White has argued with "tremendous contention," said McCluer, that he was innocent of the charge. Since a plea bargain is being offered, McCluer said, his client wanted to end his legal trouble collectively, rather than fight one last charge while paying for the others. As part of the deal, Thompson dismissed a charge of possessing more than one keg of beer.

Prosecutor Jennifer Holl said that police officers who felt White was intoxicated were willing to testify to a breath test that showed .08 percent blood-alcohol content, which is the cutoff for drunkenness under Minnesota law. At the hearing Holl also asked White how old he was the night of the bust. Twenty, he answered. The legal drinking age in Minnesota is 21. Judge Thompson said there was good reason for the prosecution to offer an Alfred plea, sometimes called a "no contest" plea, and for White to accept and "take advantage of a good deal." However, Thompson asked McCluer for the Alfred plea's "factual basis" before allowing it. Judge Thompson asked White how many partiers were in the house when officers responded, to which he said, "Oh, man -- 60 to 70. Eighty, I don't know." White also answered Judge Thompson that the party had been loud, as well.

McCluer cited one reason for the Alfred plea as White's legal trouble led to his suspension from the Warrior football. Asked as he was leaving the courtroom if he plans to rejoin the football team, White said: "That's what I hope to do." He did not answer whether he anticipated any trouble enlisting on the football team because of his legal problems.

The fine for White's minor consumption charge was $100, to be paid concurrently with his noise ordinance violation and unregistered keg violation. The noise an keg fines are $200 each, but White will get off with $400 total, with a legal surcharge of $77. At Judge Thompson's suggestion, White said a payment plan would be appreciated. Thompson gave White five months to pay, $100 a month.

ALEX
WHITE
Plea deal: Charges reduced, dismissed

Reporter: Kai Oehler
Background: Way paved for Alex White house-party trial

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COMMENT:
ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY
WILL MSUSA
TAKE A LESSON FROM PROFS?
The statwide faculty union that represents Winona State University profs, the Inter Faculty Organization, has raised dues 6.6 percent. It all was done above board with every member apprised of the process and given supporting evidence. As should be the case. The IFO has also mailed every member the budget -- $700,000 for employee compensation, $160,000 for the president, $143,000 for campus chapters, $100,000 for legal fees. The faculty union operates transparantly, as is appropriate for a member-supported organization -- open books, full disclosure.

If only the same could be said for the Minnesota State University Student Association, which levies a mandatory membership fee on students and has not made acess to its books easy for anybody outside the cliquish leadership. Yes, mailing an accounting to thousands of students statewide could be expensive. But why not online? Ah, we forgot, the MSUSA site has been dormant for months. Or how about the MSUSU propaganda sheet, the Monitor? Ah, we forgot again. The Monitor doesn't pubih any more? How about asking campus MSUSA delegates for a copy? Well, although the delegates supposedly have a voice in policy, the state-level leadership doesn't trust them sufficiently to tell them what's really going on.

It is time for MSUSA to become accoutable to the students who pay its bills, as the IFO is the its faculty members. Or does MSUSA have something to hide? The fact is that MSUSA has worked hard at covering up $400,000-plus in legal expenses from a lawsuit stemming from irresponsible leadership decisions. The costly fiasco, which almost bakruoted the association, was unearthed only because a journalist digging through tax documents that MSUSA is required to file found the legal expenses. Despite a gauntlet of resistance, the truth was out -- after months of being hidden from the student membership of MSUSUA by the govering board, whose members, sadly, included Ryan Flynn, student president at Winona State at the times.

Has MSUSA leared any lesson from the embarsassing disclosures? Apparently not. The association web site remains dead. The Monitor is continues defunct. We hope that Carl Soderberg, Winona State's new member of the governig baord, gives a priority to ending the associations's secrecy and make MSUSA transparent to its members. This means being responsive and accountable.

Background: Student leader: "Too busy" to discuss MSUSA
Background: New revelation: MSUSA legal bills top $400,000

YOUR COMMENTARY TOO IS INVITED
TRY TO STAY WITHIN 300 WORDS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 8, 2006

R.I.P.: BUD RAMER. Commercial fisherman Bud Ramer, 69, whose Mississippi catfish had customers as far away as New York, died at home. He operated the Ramer Fish Market on Second Street for many years. Among his claims to fame was as a consuktant for the movie "Grumpier Old Men." His responsibiity: EIght 50-pound catfish who had parts in the Wabasha, Minn.-sited film.

WILKIE REPAIRS. To start repairs needed to restore the aging Wilkie steamboat rep,ice at Levee Park will cost $400,000, according to architect Warren Warneke. He said his estimate was preliminary, based only on a visual inspection. Background

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

1,000 WSU students to read Nerburn book

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 8, 2006 -- A book by Bemidji, Minn., author Kent Nerburn, on his travels and conversations with an Indian elder, has been adopted for the Common Book program at Winona State University this fall. English prof J.Paul Johnson said the book, "Neither Wolf Nor Dog," will be assigned to more than 1,000 students in freshman composition. The book also is suitable for classes in politics, philosophy, social justice, media, writing, diversity, history and communications, he said. Faculty who are teaching a course in which the book would be appropriate reading are encouraged to consider adding it go their syllabuses, Johnson said. Nerburn will visit the campus to read from his book Oct. 17 and 18, Johnson said.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Warriors top in pre-season league poll

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 7, 2006 -- All eyes are on Winona State University as the strongest football team in the Northern Sun conference. In a coaches-preseason poll, the Warriors received nine of 10 first-place votes. Concordia of St. Paul was second with one first-place vote. Last season Winona State and Concordia tied for the conference championship. In the ranking, Winona State received 90 points, Concordia 77, and Northern State 77. Warrior quarterback Drew Aber was named pre-season offensive player of the year, and linebcker John Tackmann defensive player of the year.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

AFTERMATH OF A HORRIBLE NIGHT

Plea of innocent expected at Appelwick hearing

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 7, 2006 -- The hearing for Cotter High School grad Katelyn Appelwick, accused of drunken driving in the December accident that seriously injured two Winona State University coaches, will last less than 10 minutes, predicted prosecuting attorney Nancy Bostrack, who said she expects Appelwick to plead not guilty. The purpose of the hearing, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 10, is for Applewick to enter a plea. In March Appelwick challenged the negligent drunken driving charge against her, a felony crime based injuries to Warrior volleyball coach Connie Mettille. Bostrack said the judge responded in May by accepting the charge and evidence as filed. Asked last week if plea options for Appelwick were being negotiated, Bostrack said: "Not yet at this time." However, Bostrack said that under Minnesota sentencing guidelines, if convicted, Appelwick would likely receive "presumptive probation," in which she would not serve prison time as long as she stays out of legal trouble. A judge can rule otherwise, but the guideline assumes probation for an offender without a prior criminal history for a drunken driving offense, Bostrack said.

Bostrack said that Appelwick's release conditions would require her to remain in the state and that to her knowledge Appelwick hasn't attempted to modify those release conditions. According to the registry for the all-women's College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn, Appelwick is enrolled for fall classes. Also, on the peer-networking site Facebook.com Applewick reports herself as an entering freshman expecting to graduate in 2010. Scott Appelwick, Katelyn's brother, is a varsity football player at the adjoining St. John's University, where he will be a senior this year. A St. John's senior who knows the Appelwicks called the family "very nice." He said that Katelyn's Scott was torn up when the accident happened but hasn't spoken much about it.

Reporter: Kai Oehler
Background: Vodka supplier expected to plea guilty
Background: Judge trusts Appelwick will stay sober

KATELYN
APPELWICK
Teen driver

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

College president dies in plane crash

PUEBLO, Colo., Aug. 7, 2006 -- The president of Pueblo Community College the pasty five years, Mike Davis, 54, was killed when his light plane crashed in remote southwest Colorado. Davis had received his pilot's license last spring. The cause of the crash was not determined immediately.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

City renews Booze Bus

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 7, 2006 -- The City Council approved another year of the Booze Bus that carries college students from the campuses to the downtown bars and back on heavy partying nights. The service is free to students as an incentive to curb rowdyism in the downtown area and adjoining residential areas after the bars close.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Concordia starts Northern Sun volleyball season as favorite

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 7, 2006 -- Coaches chose Concordia of St. Paul as the strongest women's volleyball team in a Northern Sun conference pre-season poll. Concordia received five first-plae votes for 85 points. Southest Minnesota was next at 83, followed by Wayne State, MSU-Moorhead, Northern State and Winona State.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Lesson: College should control access to campaign events

MEADVILLE, Pa., Aug. 7, 2006 -- Colleges are forgetting their role as a forum for debate when they allow political candidates to appear on campus at ticketed events for which the candidiates control who gets in, says political scientist Daniel Shea. A campus never should be a forum for a controlled campaign event, Shea writes in the current issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Shea expressed regret, as director of the Center for Political Particpation at Alleghany College, that he authorized a ticketed appearance on campus by Vice President Dick Cheney in the 2004 campaign. "Through the advance distribution of tickets, the Cheney team controlled who was allowed into the facility," Shea said. "Tickets were given to local GOP activists." Others were kept out. At some such campus events in 2004, Bush-Cheney campaign people even required people to sign a Bush loyalty oath for admission, even though the events were touted as "town meetings," Shea said. There were also Democrat abuses in 2004, but, said Shea, Republicans were the worst offenders.

Shea said he learned a lesson and wouldn't endorse a repeat performance: "Candidates are anxious to stifle public debate, to control their messages and artfully manipulate news content," he said. "Who, if not colleges, will challenge these undemocratic impulses?" Colleges are not obligated to provide an arena and a bullhorn for a select few, he said. Colleges, he said, are shirking their responsibility to facilitate public speech when they allow partisans to control access to campaign events.

Shea cited instances in the 2004 camapign when people trying to get into a Bush-Cheney event were forced to remove buttons or T-shirts that hinted at opposition to the Bush ticket. The Secret Service used aggressive tactics to keep non-supporters out, he said. Also, the Secret Service and local police frequently broke up protesters outside events and left free-speech issues be sorted out later -- after the damage was done.

Shea's answer the next time a candidate asks to use Alleghany College as a platform: Insist that the ticketing be in the hands of the college. "Closed, ticketed events are inconsistent with the mission of higher education and with the spirit of democracy," he said.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY
POSTED AUG. 7, 2006

<DOWNTOWN RAMP. City economic planner Judith Bodway confirmed that the Chrysler Winona building at Main and Fourth and the adjacent Hardee's property are being eyed for a downtown parking ramp. The city already has a pyrchase agreement with Chrysler Winona, she said. The dealership is moving to Huff and Second. Background

EARLIER NEWS IN THE CITY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Texas Southern regents take heat at commencement

HOUSTON, Texas. Aug. 6, 2006 -- The commencement speaker at Texas Southern University, State Rep. Harold Dutton, turned from the graduates to the university's regents, seated behind him, and rebuked their management. "You are directly responsible for the unsuccessful management and government of TSU," Dutton told the regents in pointed reference to former university President Priscilla Slade, who is under indictment for lavish purchases for her home. Slade was fired in June after an internal audit identified $650,000 of school money over seven years for personal purchases, including furnishing, decorating and landscaping. Dutton, a Houston Democrat, said he considered the regents "co-conspirators."

Dutton also criticized regents for trying to restructure university radio station KTSU. Leave the station alone, he said. "Why are board members attempting to direct the affairs of KTSU when KTSU remains unquestionably the black jewel of Wheeler Avenue?" he said in his speech. "You have to pass the financial aid office before you get to KTSU's office. So why not fix the things that are broken at TSU." Dutton is an Texa Southern grad.

Background: Grand jury indicts college ex-president

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

University president dies on vacation

HILTON HEAD, S.C., Aug. 6, 2006 -- The president of the State University of New York at Albany, Kermit Hall, drowned while swimming near his vacation home. He was 61. Hall, a constitutional historian, had been president at SUNY-Albany 1-1/2 years. Earlier he had been at North Carolina State, Ohio State, Tulsa, the Florida, Wayne State, Vanderbilt and Utah State. Hall's most recent book, "Institutions of American Democracy: The Judicial Branch," a compilation of articles, co-authored with Kevin McGuire, was published by Oxford University Press last year.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WSU SECURITY REPORT
WEEK ENDING AUG. 5, 2006

Aug. 7, 2006: Security guards responded to an alarm at the Midwest Wireless Box at the stadium at 1:45 p.m. It appeared to be a maintenance problem.

Aug. 5, 2006: Security guards responded to the north Sheehan dorm parking area, where several people were arguing, at 1:25 p.m. The individuals, none of them students, were sent on their way.

Aug. 3, 2006: Security guards and medical technicians responded to Kryzsko Commons for a medical situation at 6:05 p.m. A student was examined but not transported to the hospital.

Aug. 2, 2006: At student at a hockey camp was injured in the Lourdes Hall pool area.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Iranians turned back en route to college reunion

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 5, 2006 -- Immigration guards stopped an estimated 60 Iranian professors and alumni at airports as they tried to enter the United States to attend a university reunion and sent them back. Word about what happened got out after Ahmad Ganji, a professor at San Francisco State University, said he had gone to an airport to pick up a friend from Iran and, after waiting three hours, learned that his friend that had been taken into custody with nine other people. They were shackled and jailed, Ganji said. No explanation was given, Ganji said. The Iranians were headed for a reunion in Santa Clara, Calif., of graduates of Sharif University of Technology in Iran. About 600 people attended in reunion. The Stte declined to comment except that Itanians are subject to "special processing." Iran is one the countries that Presdiuent Bush has identified as the Axis of Evil.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

R.I.P.: Todd D. Johnson

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 5, 2006 -- A Winona State University criminal justice grad, Todd Johnson, 45, died while hiking with friends. He was a probation officer.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Comedy Central spurns objections to "mockumentary"

NEW YORK, April 5, 2006 -- The cable channel Comedy Central said it will air "Dog Bites Man" episode despite protests from Portland State University in Oregon that the video was obtaned fraudulently. The footage features a four-member "news crew" from a non-existrent statio in Spokane, Wash., that went into a class at Portland State to interview students about how to break into the news business. A video clip of the segment, which runs about three minutes, is available on Comedy Central's Web site. Prof Jil Freeman objected after a student recognized the news-news team leader as Matt Walsh from the movie "Old School." The university complained to the Oregon Department of Justice, which sent two letters of complaint to Comedy Central. But Comedy Central said it has release waivers signed by prof Freeman and her students and is on solid legal ground to use the sgots.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COURT CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING AUG. 5, 2006
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT

UNDERAGE BOOZING

Taysheena M. Houdek, 19, Lewiston, Minn., $477.
Wesley Allen Nowland, 18, Stockton, Minn., $177.
Ana Patricia Sauceda, 21, Fairmont, Minn., $177.

ALL BOOZING CONVICTIONS
ALL NOISY PARTY CONVICTIONS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

North Carolina system whacked at headquarters

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug 4, 2006 -- The president of the University of North Carolina system, Erskine Bowles, announced a 10percent cut in this administrative budget and the elimination of 15 jobs. The savings, Bowles said, would be channeled to academics. The $1. 3million and cut would eliminate four vice presidencies and six associate vice presidencies or directorsships.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

"Animal House" frat raid draws blank

HANOVER, N.H., Aug. 4, 2006 -- A police search of a Dartmouth College fraternity house, the inspiration for the the 1978 movie "Animal House," found nothing to support charges of videotaped sex. There were, however, two arrests for marijuana. John Engelman, alumni adviser for the Alpha Delta frat, said police were looking for a videotape alleged to have been made several years ago of a Dartmouth woman engaged in sex with a frat member. Engelman said that, according to the woman's account, the sex was consensual but not the videotaping. Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said would neither confirm nor deny what the search was about but said that CDs, a computer tower and a laptop computer have been returned. The chief did say, however, that the case dated to October 2004 and resulted from a student complaint.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

NCAA presses colleges on athlete grades

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Aug. 4, 2006 -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association has created a new structure to penalize colleges whose teams consistently lag in academic performance. Performance will be measured by a scale of 1 to 1,000 based on whether athletes stay in school and make adequate progress toward their degrees. Teams with academic-progress rates below 900, or roughly a 50-percent graduation rate, would receive a public warning after four years. Among penalties: Fewer scholarships and restricted recruiting privileges. Also, eligibility could be revoked fro postseason games cou and NCAA membership reviked. NCAA officials estimate that approximately 300 teams could be in the danger zone unless their players dio better in classes.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Convoluted minimum-wage bill fails in Senate

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2006 — Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-designed bill that would have increased the federal minimum wage but also cut how much table-servers and bar tenders get paid in Minnesota and some other states to $3 less than the minimum. The Republican bill also would have cut the federal estate tax. The bill's failure came when Republicans fell 4 votes short of the 60 needed to cut off debate. The Republicans' sweet deal on the estate tax did the bill in. Democrats argued that a $2.10 wage increase for struggling workers, to $7.25 an hour, was a bad deal not because the current minimum is adequate but because the Republicans also insisted on the estate tax change to the exclusive benefit wealthy families. Also, the bill would have allowed restaurants and bars to cut wages to $4.25 an hour for table-servers and bartenders in some states. In Minnesota, employees who earn tips currently must be paid $5.15. The Republican minimum wage bill earlier had passed the House.

Background: Comment: The war against table servers, bar tenders

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

NCAA firm against Tribe, Lady Indians nicknames

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Aug. 4, 2007 -- The National Collegeiate Athletic Assocaition denied an appeal of the College of William and Mary to continue using American Indian name Tribe for its athetic yeams and in athletics competition and of McMurry University to use Lady Indians. If the coleges do not comply, they will be excluded from NCAA championships.

Background: North Dakota to sue to keep Sioux
Background: NCAA removes Catawba from banned list

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

FREE EXPRESSION / FREE INQUIRY

Mixed signals at UW-Madison on 9/11 brouhaha

MADISON, Wis., Aug. 3, 2006 -- The University of Wisconsin-Madison provost was threatening an Islamic scholar privately while at the same time publicly defiending the scholar's expression of his controversial 9/11 views as legitimate acaemic freedom. In a letter obtained by the Associated Press using the state open-documents law, Provost Patrick Farrell told the instructor, Kevin Barrett, to disassociate his "personal political messages" from the university ot foirfeit course he is scheduled to teach this fall. The letter was sent JUly 20. "If you continue to identify yourself with UW-Madison in your personal political messages or illustrate an inabiity to control your interest in publicity for your ideas, I would lose confidence," the provost wrote. The letter came only days after Farrell had defended Barrett's right to free speech and re-approved him to teach the course, which covers Islamic religion and culture. Barrett's view on the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington is that they were organized by the U.S. government -- a veiw that has riled several state legislators who have called for his removal.

Background: Legislators want UW-Madson prof fired

TO EARLIER NEWS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

WHAT CAMPUS PEOPLE ARE READING

Nicholas Lemann. "Amateur Hour," New Yorker (Aug. 7 and 14, 2006), Pages 44-49.

Lemann, journalism dean at Columbia University, says that mainstream journalism faces little threat from bloggers and "citizen journalists" in the long term. Amateur journalism will wear thin, he says. However, Lemann adds, the quality of Internet journalism likely will improve as it takes on the virtues of traditional journalism. Lemann cites how the radical new journalism of the 17th century's bloggers, including Addison and Steele, was eventually subsumed into what became mainstream journalism. For his theory, Lemann, a first-rate thinker, draws heavily on a recent book, "Representation and Misrepresentation in Later Stuart Britain: Partisanship and Political Culture," by British scholar Mark Knights.

Read anything good lately?
Please share your recommendations

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Northern Illinois lands on NCAA probation

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Aug. 2, 2006 -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association placed Northern Illinois University on probation for one year for gifts and favors that a prof gave to a women's basketball player. The prof bought the student a plane ticket home for Christmas, paid cellphone bills, drove her to the grocery store, let her move in six weeks, and gave her cash for personal expenses. Over a seven-month period, the bennies were worth $1,900, according to the university's own estimate. The NCAA said coaches should have been monitoring the student's relationship with the prof for potential improper benefits.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Florida daily buys student newspaper

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 2, 2006 -- Acknowledging that college students don't read local dailies much but devour their campus newspapers, The Tallahassee Democrat bought the independently owned, student-run newspaper at Florida State University. The Democrat is owned by Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the nation. Terms were not announced. The general manager of the campus-oriented FSView.Jennifer Irwin, was named publisher of campus paper. FSV owner Robert Parker said the deal included the building and staff. "No one is really going to notice any difference," Parker said. FSView will continue as an independent entity," he said. FSView publishes 25,000 copies twice weekly during the academic and 18,000 weekly in summers.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ELECTION 2006

Ballot taking form as September primaries near

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 1, 2006 -- These are the 2006 races that Winona campus people are watching:

U.S. SENATE
Robert Fitzgerald (Independence): Won his party's endorsment
Mark Kennedy (Republican): Unchallenged as party's candidate
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat): Holds party endorsement

GOVERNOR
Mike Hatch (Democrat): Won his party's endorsement with Judi Dutcher as runningmate
Peter Hutchinson (Independence): Won his party's endorsement with Maureen Reed as runningmate
Becky Lourey (Democrat): Running in primary with Tim Baylor as runningmate
Sue Jeffers (Republican): Has announced candidacy
Tim Pawlenty (Republican): Has announced for second term
Ken Pentel (Green): Won his party's endorsement

U.S. HOUSE
Gil Gutknecht (Republican): Announced for seventh term
Tim Walz (Democrat): Endorsed candidate

MINNESOTA SENATE
Brenda Johnson (Republican): Has announced candidacy
Kevin Kelleher (independent): Has announced candidacy
Lewis Relman (Republican): Has announced candidacy
Sharon Ropes (Democrat): Has won the party endorsement

MINNESOTA HOUSE
Gene Pelowski (Democrat): Holds the party endorsement for re-election
Lewie Reiman (Republican ): Holds the party endorsement

CITY COUNCIL (2nd Ward) (Near West End)
Gerry Krage: Filed for re-election
Todd Oulette: Filed candidacy papers

CITY COUNCIL (4th Ward) (East End)
George Borzyskowski: Unopposed for re-election

CITY COUNCIL (At-large)
Tim Breza: Unopposed for re-election

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

RYAN
WOLF

RUTH
DEFOSTER

JEFF
GRIER

MEGAN
BUES-
GENS

TOM
WILDER

CHAD
LARIMER


TOMORROW'S GREATEST BYLINES TODAY

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Popcorn won't be in quite the same place

WINONA, Minn., Aug. 1, 2006 -- Despite problems besetting the movie exhibition business, the movie-houe chain Cinema Entertainment plans a $50,000 remodeling project at its Cine 7 theater in Winona. The company filed for a building permit for Hommerding Construction to reconfigure the concession counter and ticket booth.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Highlands willing to take back fired prof

LAS VEGAS, N.M., Aug. 1, 2006 -- New Mexico Highlands University will settle a la suit with fired math prof Gregg Turner for $170,000, according to an agreement Turner had accused the university of denying him tenure for speaking out against President Manny Arago, who has since left the university amid widespread acrimony with the . The Turner settlement would expunge the fact he was denied turned and terminated. Also, he would have the option of returning to the university. Meanwhile, Highlands regents approved a separate deal to pay Aragon $200,000 plus health benefits in exchange for his resignation.

Background: New Mexico Highlands prez gives up

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

COMMENT: MINIMUM WAGE
THE WAR
ON TABLE SERVERS, BARTENDERS
The minimm wage is a hot-button topic this election year. Traditionally it's a Democratic push that moves the minimum up. This time, however, Republicans have tried to trump the Democrats and make it their issue. The Republican plan, already passed by the House, would hike the minimum from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over three years. That would be good were it not for a huge exception. In Minnesota and some other states the minimum actually would be cut $3 an hour for anyone whose income includes tips. That includes, in Winona, several hundred college students who wait tables and tend bars.

As you might expect, the Republican bill has the support of the National Restaurant Association. The restaurant owners want to even out the present patch-quilt of minimum wage requirements in the various states so they can pay their help less. The $3 cut in Minnesota, roughly 17 percent, would be levied on workers in some of the most demanding jobs around. The cuts are even harsher because every projection is that inflation and the cost-of-living -- and college tuition --will be going up over the next three years. The restaurateurs should be embarrassed. So should their Republican water-carriers in Congress.

What to do? Put the heat on Gil Gutknecht, southern Minnesota's member of the U.S. House. Write him. When he comes to Winona asking for yur vote, give him a piece of your mind. And remember on election day how he voted. Also, ask local restaurant and bar owners whether they would cut wages just because the law would allow it. Then decide where you'll eat and drink the next time.

YOUR COMMENTARY TOO IS INVITED
TRY TO STAY WITHIN 300 WORDS

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

Anti-Darwin forces in Kansas setback

TOPEKA, Kan., Aug. 1, 2006 -- Anti-evolution candidates took a licking in the Kansas Board of Educatuion election. The board will have a 6-4 majority who believe evolution is well-supported by evidence. Among losers was incumbent conservative Connie Morris, who had called evolution "an age-old fairy tale." Evolution opponents had entered the election with a two-person majority on the board.

TO EARLIER ITEMS
TO TOP
TO HOME
TO NEWS ARCHIVE

ACE
REPORTER
CITATION

Chandler MacLean

CHANDLER
MACLEAN
WSU JOURNALISM STUDENT

For imaginative identification of sources and thorough interviewing

RECENT
COVERAGE

No family, friends calling on jailed Minor

Chuckles hard to suppress at textbook dirge

Schyde's beefs up post-stabbing security

WSU dorm leader presses for fight charges

Anoka man charged in Schyde's stabbing

Witnesses: Stabber had been bounced twice

Bar bouncer recovering from stab wounds

WSU dorm leader charged in bar fight

WSU recruiter eyeing Rochester U plan

OTHER ACE REPORTERS
IN GOOD COMPANY

JOB
OUTLOOK

Administrative information systems

Advertising

Biology

Book industry

Biology

Chemistry

Criminal
justice

Communi-
cation

Dance

Education

English

Foreign
languages

Geoscience

Health

Human performance

Journalism

Math

Marketing

Music

Nursing

Paralegal

Photo-
journalism

Physical
education

Physics
Political science
education

Psychology

Recreational therapy

Social work

Sociology

Speech

Statistics

Theater

OBNOXIOUS
PARTIES

Barrels.

WHEN GOOD
TIMES GET
OUT OF HAND

CONVICTIONS
Winona County District Court

UNDER-AGE
BOOZERS

Barrels.

WHO GOT
CAUGHT
BEING
STUPID

DON'T
TELL
THEIR
MOTHERS

CAMPUS
SALARIES

Judith
Ramaley
WSU president
2006: $217,200

Louis
DeThomasis
SMU president
2001: $155,245

Jim Johnson
Tech president
2001: $125,000

OTHER
SALARIES

The CyberIndee serves Winona State University masscom students as a reference resource and as a digest of campus news.

The CyberIndee enriches learning by providing audience feedback for students' creative work.

The CyberIndee reports Winona campus news for a global audience.

The CyberIndee offers information, entertainment and opinion geared to campus people.

The CyberIndee is financially independent of campus administrators and student politicians.

CYBERINDEE
PEOPLE

EDITOR
John Vivian

WEB DESIGNER
Matt Del Vecchio

CONTRIBUTORS
Felicia Alexander
Marissa Block
Megan Buesgens
Mark Chryst
Rachel Conrad
Ruth DeFoster
Kristen Elicerio
Craig Fitzsimmons
Carie Frillman
Leticia Graf
Jeff Grier
Andy Hamilton
Seth Johnson
Chad Larimer
Chandler MacLean
Jenica Matzek
Kaitlyn McCarhy
Sam Molter
Kai Oehler
Lydia Oglesby
Shanthal Perera
Alison Paulseth
Ashley Schultz
Laura Servaty
Mollee Sheehan
Joel Shirek
Katy Smithson
Noelle Snow
Laura Spielmann
Adam Stanek
Scott Swanson
Amy Vergin
Chris Warrington
Tom Wilder
Ryan Wolf

EARLIER CONTRIBUTORS