Search leader mum on recommendationWINONA, Minn., May 29, 2007 -- The search committee for finding a new business dean at Winona State University made a recommendation to the university president, said search co-chair Bill Ortega. He did not elaborate on the recommendation.A decision now is up to university President Judith Ramaley and academic Vice President Sally Johnstone, Ortego said: "It is up to them to move the process forward." The recommendation followed two weeks of interviews with three finalist. The finalists: Marketing prof Bill Murphy of Winona State, campus executive Charles Kroncke of University of South Florida-Lakeland, and Geofrey Mills, academic vice president at Notre Dame University-Louaize in Lebanon.
The search has been rocky with tho earlier searches failing to find a candidate. The first search failed last fall when the final candidate declined the job offer. The second search failed in February when the lone candidate pulled out. Of the search committee, Ortega was upbeat in describing the latest round: "In general the search committee worked well together and the process went smoothly." Troy Paino, the second co-chair on the committee, has been unavailable for an interview.
Reporter: Elizabeth Adams
Background: Candidate interview: Geofrey Mills
Background: Candidate interview: Charles Kroncke
Background: Candidate interview: Bill Murphy
WSU signs five basketball guardsWINONA, Minn., May 29, 2007 -- Five guards, including three all-state high school players, have been signed to play women's basketball at Winona State University. The all-staters are Paisley Larson of Spring Valley, Minn., Tori Lind of Rushford, Minn., and Afton Glander of Alma, Wis. In addition, Jenny Steffen of Grand Valley State University, the 2006 Division II national champion team, is transferring to Winona State. Transferring from Regina-Kirkwood Community College in Iowa CIty Iowa, the Division II junior-college national champion team is Kelsey Homewood. About letters of intent from the payers, Winona State coach Scott Ballard said: "They round out extremely well with the early signee we had last fall and they improve our team speed and depth at every position." The team has eight returning players.
An earlier signer was Natalie Gigler, all-time leading scorer at Champion Park High in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Gigler, team captain, was an all-State and three-time all-conference p[layer. She scored 1,000 points in high school.
Details on new signees:
AFTON GLANDER. Freshman, 5-4, guard, From Alma, Wis., Valedictorian, Presidential Award winner, conference all-academic. Basketball: first team all-state, all-star game participant. Three-time all-Northwest, all-area, four-time all-conference, 1,000-point scorer, four-time team best Offensive-defensive player, team captain. Volleyvball: All-area, all-conference, team best defensive player, team captain. Track and field: State participant in long jump, all-conference in 100, 200, 4x200 relay and long jump, team Captain. Softball: All-conference, team captain.
KELSEY HOMEOOD. Junior, 5-6, guard, From Iowa City, Iowa, (Regina/Kirkwood Community College). Junior College: Member of Division II junior college national champion team. High school: Two-time all-state, Iowa City, Iowa athlete of the year, three-time all-district, four-time all-conference, two-time team aaptain.
PAISLEY LARSON. Freshman, 5-foot-8, guard, From Kingsland High, Spring Valley, Minn. Three-time all-state, five-time all-conference. Conference all-time leading scorer for both girls and boys. Three-time team captain.
TONI LIND. freshman, 5-9, guard. From Mabel-Canton High, Rushford, Minn. Academic all-s, four-time conference all-academic, all-state, three-time all-conference, conference player of the year, Mabel-Canton female athlete of the year, two-time most valuable player, two-time team captain.
JENNY STEFFEN. Junior, 5-10, guard. From DePere, Wis. (Grand Valley State University in Michigan). Grand Valley: Member of 2005-06 NCAA Division II national champion team. High school: Two-year class president, four-year student council representative, three-year member of National Honor Society, Bellin Sports Medicine female athlete of the year, Lund Memorial Scholarship recipient. Basketball: Member of 25-2 and state championship team, two-time all-state, WCA all-star, four-time all-conference, all-time leading scorer, two-time team captain. Cross country: Sectional qualifier cross country. Track and field:: Sectional qualifier.
Cops put sudden end to loud party WINONA, Minn., May 28, 2007 -- Police broke up a loud party on the 550 block of South Baker Street after a complaint about 3 a.m. A 32-year-old man was cited.
Driver sober but not passengersWINONA, Minn., May 28, 2007 -- Two passengers in a car that police stopped at Sarnia and Hamilton streets were cited fro underage boozing. Police said the two, age 20 and 19, tested at twice the legally allowed blood-alcohol level. The driver was not cited. The stop was about 12:40 a.m.
COURT
CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING MAY 19, 2007
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT
UNDERAGE BOOZING
Brittany C. Borota, 22, Baraboo, Wis., $227.
Mary C. Davitt, 18, St. Charles, Minn., $177.
Amanda M. Degnan, 18, St. Charles, Minn., $177.
Aaron Emmons, 19, 215 Franklin, $454.
Samantha Guy Lynn Heim, 18, Eyota, Minn., $177.
Adrian E. Hueblein, 18, Oronoco, inn., $177.
Jesse L. Jacobson, 20, Dexter, MInn., $177.
Matthew J. Marek, 19, 664 Johnson, $354.
Daks M. Marquart, 18, St. Charles, Minn., $177.
Rebekah C. Monyancha, 18, St. Paul, Minn., $177.
Abigayle I, Verthhein, 18, LaCrescent, Minn., $177.
LOUD PARTYING
Brittany C, Borota, 22, Barbaboo, WIs., $277.
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Prof evaluations flawed, changes proposedWASHINGTON, May 26, 2007 - A University of Washington scholar recommended a new model for student evaluations of faculty to prevent the inflated scores given to easy-grading profs and disadvantages for profs who teach large sections. Anthony Greenwood, a psychology prof, recommended questions about the effort and engagement that a course requires. Students should be asked how a course compares to their other courses in terms of "intellectual challenge," "the amount of effort to succeed in this course," and "the amount of effort you put into this course." The data, Greenwald said, would create a Challenge and Engagement Index.
Greenwald told a convention of the Association for Psychological Science that his proposed index is being applied experimentally at his campus. Greenwald said he devised the index from a study of 14,000 courses at the University of Washington from 1997 to 2001. Current faculty evaluation systems are misleading and misused by administrators in promotion, tenure and salary decisions. These systems, he said, are "heavily influenced by grades and also by class size."
Another speaker, Steven Falkenberg of Eastern Kentucky University, also suggested overhauling student evaluations. Falkenberg proposed student learning outcomes for each course and to hold instructors accountable for making sure that students meet those goals. Traditional student-evaluation forms, he said, should be no more than a small part of comprehensive evaluation.
WSU SECURITY REPORT
WEEK ENDING MAY 26,
2007
May 25, 2007: A maintenance worker discovered a liquid substance in a tool kit at 12:15 p.m. and received some minor injuries as a result of it.
May 23, 2007: Security guards at 12:30 p.m. in an attempt to locate her high school son.
May 20, 2007: At 3:17 p.m. a witness reported hearing a crash and then observed several juveniles leaving the area. A subsequent investigation determined that a window was broken on a vehicle parked near Johnson and 10th streets.
May 24, 2007: Security guards and firefighters department responded to a false alarm at the Lourdes dorm at 6:19 a.m.
May 23, 2007: A staff member was reported as failing to return and misusing university property.
May 23, 2007: A trouble alarm sounded at Kryzsko Commons at 4 a.m. It was a false alarm.
May 23, 2007: A fire alarm was activated falsely at 9:12 a.m. at the Lourdes dorm.
May 23, 2007: A laptop leased through the university was reported as sold through unauthorized channels.
May 23, 2007: A security guard recovered a stolen vehicle on campus at 2:35 p.m. The vehicle that had been stolen in Wisconsin..
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$191,000 pay-off in failed Indiana searchINDIANAPOLIS, Ind., May 24, 2007 -- The Ivy Tech Community College system agreed to pay a year's salary to a former executive vice president, Carol D'Amico, rather than face a lawsuit for passing her over as the system's next president. The settlement: $191,000. D'Amico supporters said the search had been rushed. D'Amico is a former adviser to the Bush administration on community-college issues. The job went to Thomas Snyder, an Indianapolis corporate executive closely allied with Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Panel: Privacy law needs reinterpretation TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 23, 2007 -- Another crack has appeared in the knee-jerk caution of many U.S. colleges about shielding internal activities from public scrutiny under terms of the 1974 federal Buckley Amendment. A Florida commission on campus safety, appointed by Charlie Crist after the Virginia Tech massacre , called on colleges to identify and share information about specific students who are considered a possible danger. Such sharing, said the Crist commission, could have prevented the 33 Virginia Tech deaths. The commission commended crisis-management teams at the University of Florida and Rollins College that have wide access to information on students.
At Virginia Tech, the university has excused the inability of officials to recognize the danger that shooter Seung-Hui Cho posed because state and federal privacy laws are so restrictive that the campus's police department and university administrators could not share Cho's academic, medical or disciplinary records. That interpretation of the 1974 Buckley law, although widely used by colleges to shield public inquiry into college affairs, has been criticized as conveniently self-serving for colleges.
The Florida report concluded that "those most closely involved in the fields of mental-health law and higher-education law held that the disclosure of a student's records without his or her consent is not prohibited in connection with a health or safety emergency ... if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals."
Background: Virginia Tech leader: Threat not clear at first
Candidate seeks "marginal daily" changeWINONA, Minn., May 24, 2007 -- Business dean candidate Geofrey Mills would work at marginal daily improvements" in running the Winona State University business college, he said in an open forum. Mills emphasized efficiency, money, and gradual change. "If someone came in here and said that they were going to create the Harvard business school, I'd run like hell," Mills said. Asked about the proposed new building for the College of Business, the first question put to Mills, he said: "Where's the money?" He suggested improving the College of Business' connections with business professions on regional and national levels as an effective means of fundraising. "If the goal doesn't fit the resources, it's a pipe dream," said Mills bluntly.
Accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business is a "basic goal" towards building such relationships, he said. Mills said his strength was "working in unsettled environments to make transitions." AACSB accreditation could be a key part of the "phase transition" that he believes the College of Business is undergoing. Even so, Mills called AACSB accreditation "a low standard." He did not discuss opposing opinions towards pursuing accreditation.
Besides accreditation, Mills did not present any goals he would make incremental changes towards if hired. "You don't have a lot to overcome in terms of organizational design structures, curriculum, or graduate work," Mills said.
The majority of Mills' concerns involved business college and university administration. He said he saw the job of business dean as largely administrative. Mills did not address student issues at Winona State at all.
Mills has been involved in academic administration for 25 years, most recently as academic vice president at Notre Dame University-Louiaze in Beirut, Lebanon. Earlier he directed the College of Business Administration at the University of Northern Iowa through AACSB accreditation and reaccreditation in 1993 and 1998.
In the open forum Mills said he would spend four days a week in office and one day out or "externally." Mills focus on internal work differs markedly from the other two candidates, Charles Kroncke of South Florida-Lakeland and Bill Murphy of Winona State. Kroncke and Murphy stressed external funding, contacts and relations as an important aspect of the dean's job. Although Mills acknowledged that a dean was responsible for making business contacts, he said there was a "gray zone" in defining external and internal duties.
What would he to do with all of his internal time? He likened his "marginal daily improvements" the theory to a book written a page a day. With that daily improvement, said Mills, will come gradual progress and for progress he looks toward faculty. "I have an understanding of what it takes for faculty to make progress," he said and. What does it take? Time, adequate resources, such as travel money and software, and peace of mind by the faculty, he said. Faculty need to believe that the college is going to invest in them and that they will be awarded if successful and held harmless for failure, added Mills.
Mills seemed less imbued with accreditation than earlier candidates. Accreditation is mainly up to the faculty, he said. "Accreditation should be a basic not a strategic goal and schools should be meeting requirements anyway," he accused. While accreditation was one of the biggest challenges noted by the two other candidates, Mills said identifying the future of the school was a bigger challenge. "We need a vision that's within our resources," he said and added that that vision needs to meet the needs of the students and the Winona community.
Asked how he would approach constructing the proposed business building, Mills said he would rely on the capital cycle to allot money to the school before any major decisions. Fundraising would be needed also, he added. Mills suggested holding an architectural competition to garner the best design aesthetically and technologically.
Mills called himself well suited for the deanship because he was accustomed to "working in unstable environments to make progress." Minutes before, however, he said the business college at Winona State was comfortable and didn't "have a lot to overcome." He said: "I'm sure the college turns out students who get good jobs and become happy alums." |
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GEOFREY
MILLS
From Notre
Dame in Beirut
Mills has been involved in academic administration for 25 years, on three continents, including assistant and associate dean of business at the University of Northern Iowa from 1983 to 2000.
He was academic vice president and busisness dean at the American College of Greece from 2000 to 2006.
Currently he is academic vice president at Notre Dame University-
Louaize in Beirut, Lebanon.
He directed the business college at Northern Iowa through AACSB accreditation and reaccreditation in 1993 and 1998.
Mills earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of Illinois.
He taught at St. Bonaventure University from 1976 to 1981 and at the State University of New York at Geneseo from 1981 to 1983.
He has also served as a visiting professor and a Fulbright Scholar at universities in Rome, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Korea and Norway.
In his application materials Mills cited a "long-standing, deep, broad and passionate commitment to international education, multi-
culturalism and the globalization of higher education." |
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Reporters: Elizabeth Adams and Samuel Keane-Rudolph
Background: Earlier interviews: Charles Kroncke
Background: Earlier interviews: Bill Murphy
| 2007 MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE |
Legislature OKs 3% annual state pay hikeST. PAUL, Minn., May 24, 2007 -- A 3 percent salary supplement for state employees for each of the next two years, including those in the MnSCU college system, passed the House and Senate and is expected to be signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The American Federation or State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest state employees' union, claimed credit for the increase -- although the union noted that 3 percent will barely cover the increased cost of health insurance.
Background: Solons send trim college funding plan
Democrats cast doubt on Sallie Mae stock saleWASHINGTON, May 23, 2007 -- An internal document of Sallie Mae, a major provider of student loans, shows that company lobbyists met with White House officials shortly before President Bush released a 2008 budget that calls for major cuts in subsidies. Congressional Democrats, in releasing the document, noted that Albert L. Lord, chair of Sallie Mae, sold 400,000 shares of Sallie Mae stock for $18.3 million in February -- three days before President Bush unveiled the budget, whose cuts to the lending industry totaled $1/7 billion. The day of the budget's release, Sallie Mae stock plunged 9 percent. Had Lord sold at that price, he would have received about $1.4 million less. The suggestion laid out by Democrats is that Lord had advance word of the proposed cuts.
Tom Joyce, a Sallie Mae spokesperson, called the Democrats' insinuation overdrawn. The meeting with Sallie Mae lobbyists was with the White House Office of Management and Budget was routine, Joyce said. Cuts were not discussed, he said. Also, a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget, Sean Kevelighan, said that meetings with industry representatives take place throughout the budget-setting process. As a matter of policy, Kevelighan said, details about the budget are not disclosed.
Background: Timing suspect in Sallie Mae stock dump
Split gives Cloquet Indians control of campusCLOQUET, MInn., May 23, 2007 -- The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is splitting into separate institutions, one under the curricular control of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's Tribal College Board. The split is intended not only to strengthen the tribe's role but to qualify for funding from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The newly separate Fond du Lac Community College will continue to be operated as part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Both will share the existing Cloquet campus.
Under the new organization, the Tribal College Board appointed Patty Petite, previously the accreditation coordinator for the tribal college, as president. The tribal board also appointed Donna Statzell, former director of institutional research at College of Menominee Nation in Keshena, Wis., as academic vice president. The president of the formerly combined operation, Donald Day, will be president of the newly separated and non-Indian governed community college.
Vern Zacher, chairman of the Fond du Lac Tribal College Board, called the change "a new era." Said Zacher: "The Tribal College has invested resources historically and will continue to build on the strengths of partnering with the community college in the future. The reorganization is necessary for building an even stronger tribal college for members of our band and other American Indian students." The current structure has been in effect since 1987 under an agreement with the Fond du Lac Band and the state of Minnesota. Fond du Lac Tribal College is one of 32 tribal colleges serving American Indians nationwide through the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. The tribal colleges serves 17,000 undergrads students in 621 majors.
Fire claims Chicken Ridge strip jointFOUNTAIN CITY, Wis., May 22, 2007 -- A biker bar atop Chicken Ridge, the notorious strip club the Gin Mill, was destroyed by a fire that firefighters believe started in the basement. The fire spread quickly and gutted the place, said Fire Chief Virgil Schaffner of the Fountain City volunteers. The building, adjoining ridge-top farm fields, was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, Schaffner said. The fire apparently started about 7:30 a.m. Firefighters extinguished flames within 15 minutes. Firefighters remained on-site several hours. The state fire marshal was summoned.
Meanwhile, an attempted break-in overnight was discovered in an unattached shed. A door was smashed down. A dozen motorcycles inside were left in tact. The fire did not damage the shed.
Lectures planned aboard WSU riverboatWINONA, Minn., May 23, 2007 -Ð A summer lecture series aboard the 64-foot Winona State University launch River Explorer will begin with a lecture on birds by bird-watcher Mike Kennedy. The university said the series, co-sponsored by the city tourism agency and the Winona Island Cafe, will be two-hour and three-hour evening outings the Mississippi River with expert lecturers. The series, with trips all on Saturdays, is called University on the River.
The series:
¥ June 16: "An Evening with the Birds," led by Mike Kennedy, 4 p.m. Cost: $17-$26
¥ June 30: "The Multidimensional River," led by Reggie McLeod, 1 p.m. $17-$26
¥ July 7: "Meet the Mississippi," led by Cal Fremling, 1 p.m. $17-$26
¥ July 28: "Meet the Mississippi," again led by Fremling, 1 p.m. $17-$26
¥ July 28: "Photographing the Mississippi," led by Allen Blake Sheldon, 4 p.m. $25-$32
¥ Aug. 4: "The Multidimensional River," again led by McLeod, 1 p.m. $17-$26
Details: Mary Kosidowski at (507) 457-5000
Book-seller worries about books' futureWINONA, MInn., May 23, 2007 -- When libraries and local bookstores are run out of business and state budgets cut, everyone's quality of life will diminish, independent bookstore owner said. In a recent presentation at WInona State University, Nancy Faulkem of Wabasha, Minn., who worked at a local bookstore when she was 19, said she has watched the business decline. She saw the eventual closure after a B. Dalton bookstore chain opened in a nearby mall. Faulkem, now the owner of Book Cliffs" shared the joy of collecting books in the final chapter of this year's Winona State speaker series, "Celebration of the Book."
She opened her bookstore a few years ago in a vintage store front in downtown Wabasha and hopes to retire there with her husband, who can build a "pretty good bookshelf" Faulkem said. She stressed the value of
the written word to her college audience: "If you can read, read. If you have trouble focusing on books, find out why."
Faulkem reminisces about her childhood when older siblings bring home college books at the end of the year and she would go through the boxes and cherishing the variety. "I just love books, holding, feeling and looking at them" Faulkem said. Eventually, Faulkem said, she started studying books, their condition, covers, who wrote them and when, more then just reading them.
Reporter: Ezra Firkins
Ex-con: Drop Golfview robbery chargesWINONA, Minn., May 22, 2007 -- The attorney for an ex-con accused of robbing Golfview Liquor asked a judge to throw out the charges against Andre Dion Jones, 37. Attorney Ross Phelps said the charges were based in part of a physician's unrecorded statement that Jones had said in a Rochester, Minn., emergency room that he had been shot in Winona. The prosecution say the statement, as well as a bullet lodged in Jones' back, tie him to the crime. The liquor store owner shot at the robber. Jones also said there is doubt about sufficient cause for all six felony counts against Jones.
Meanwhile, Susan Ann Leathes of Rochester, mother of Jones' child, has claimed innocence in lying to police when they knocked on her door about Jones' whereabouts the day after the robbery. She is accused of treating his wound. Also, Randy Lee Strong, accused of driving the get-away vehicle, has pleaded not guilty.
Background: Robbery bail upped to $250,000
Pooley, Eric. "The Last Temptation of Al Gore," Time (May 28, 2007), Pages 30-42. Pooley offers a many-faceted examination of the most prominent and effective environmental crusader of our time. Pooley finds only the remotest chance that Gore will seek the presidency a second time but notes his influence on key issues with the leading Democratic candidates. He portrays Gore as a gentleman who doesn't respond in kind to even the nastiest slaps, the George Bush the 41st once trying to dismiss him as the Ozone Man. Oh, yes, Pooley points out for the 1,000th time that Gore, despite Republican mantra from 2000, never claimed to have invented the Internet.
Gary Wolf. "The Church of the Non-Believers," Wired (November 2006), Pages 182-183). Wolf, himself a doubter, tracks the leading atheists of our time in quest to understand the zeal of a virulent new school on religious thought. These thinkers, including Richard Dawkins, are not passive in their atheism but in-your-face defiant to believers. They won't accept Medieval rationales, nonrationales, actually, that faith should not be held to some mystical standard: Where is the evidence? Where is the logic? What is the probability?
Tom Dickinson. "All Flipper, No Gipper," Rolling Stone (May 31, 2007). Dickinson assesses the field of Republican candidates and finds none of them presidential. Dickinson cites lots of political strategists, Republicans among them, to conclude the GOP is imploding in the wake of Bush-Cheney disasters and the disillusionment of religious right-wingers who bring litmus tests to the polls. The subtitle to the article: "The GOP's Pathetic Candidates, or Why Three Wrongs Can't Please the Right." His focus is on Giuliani, Romney and McCain, flip-floppers all, he says, but he doesn't spare Fred Thompson, Sam Brownback, Mike Hickabee or Chuck Hagel.
Read anything good lately?
Please share your recommendations |
Surveys: Students consider majors firstNEW YORK, May 22, 2007 -- Most high-school seniors choose a college based on whether their intended major is offered ad strong, according to two studies - one by the online career and recruitment company Monster and the other by the higher-ed consulting firm Eduventures. The MOnster report is based ion a survey of more than 2,000 high-school seniors nationwide. The reports differ from earlier studies that found top factors in non-academic lifestyle issues like dorm amenities and workout gyms. The Monster report also found that high-school seniors prefer to communicate by telephone more than networking web sites, e-mail and instant messaging.
RECENT DAYS IN
THE CITY
POSTED MAY 22, 2007
FAT FEST. County commissioners voted 4-1 to deny a permit for a three-day music festival, Fat Fest, that organizers predicted would draw 1,000 people to Wiscoy Valley in early July. Organizer Ryan Peterson said an alternate site would be sought. Issues included emergency vehicles on the narrow gravel road at the site, as well as water, garbage, noise, and potential creek damage. The festival previously was held at a suburban Minnesota City bar, but Peterson more space was needed.
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Latest candidate experienced at deanshipsWINONA, Minn., May, 22, 2007 -- a candidate for Winona State University business dean, Charles Kroncke, said he would re-evaluate the mission and vision of the business college and that re-evaluation would start by listening to the faculty. Kroncke, in academics more than 40 years, said if hired he would begin by talking with each faculty member and discussing their individual professional progress report from the past year That discussion would be repeated every year, he added. In addition, Kroncke said in an open forum for students, faculty and staff, he would organize a two-day or three-day retreat at which faculty would discuss where the school is going and give the curriculum a "completely new look."
This is the 21st century, he said, and it's "quite a different world." The business school needs to ask itself if it's "delivering the kinds of progress that will make us successful in the future," said Kroncke.
Kroncke's focus on faculty stemmed from a question by business prof Dan Sauers who asked Kroncke how he would handle faculty who were actively working against accreditation. Noting that accreditation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business is both a goal and challenge for the incoming dean, Kroncke replied that it was a moral dilemma that the new dean would have to face. Kroncke said he would "have to change the hearts of those people" who don't want accreditation. Of those against accreditation he said they have a "moral obligation not to actively fight the changes that are desired by the leaders."
Kroncke said the overall structure of the business school needs to change.
Writing is one key aspect of that change, he said. "I want to see writing infused at every level," said Kroncke. Not only is writing a must, he said, but professors need to read what the students are writing, talk with and have the students correct and resubmit their work. Writing is part of a "critical examination" and a focus on liberal arts that Kroncke called for.
He said students need to communicate, present, understand global economics and be able to read financial statements as well as write. "In four years," Kroncke said, "we need to increase the students' human capital" to increase their potential to be hired and that is done through liberal arts. In addition, he said he would increase course evaluations, institute teacher evaluations and organize a student advisory board.
Kroncke's new focuses stemmed from his desire to change business education into management education. Because of the broad spectrum that students with a business education get hired into, "we're not teaching business, we're teaching management," he said.
Kroncke said experiences he's had at previous universities will help him if hired at Winona State. "I've worked on the accreditation process many times," he said. Kroncke also noted that money would be an issue, especially in funding the business building proposed by the university president. To fund the building, he said, he would look to the private sector. Kroncke said there are alumni out there who would be willing to fund a building and the college needs to find them.
Kroncke was the second finalist to be interviewed by the search committee. The first finalist, Winona State prof Bill Murphy, was interviewed last week last week. The third and last finalist is Geofrey Mills. The public forum with Mills:Date: Thursday, May 24
Time: 9:45 a.m.
Place: Somsen 213A
The three finalists make up the third search for a business dean. The first search failed last fall when the only finalist to be interviewed said no. The second search failed in February after that finalist also turned down the job. |
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CHARLES
KRONCKE
40 years
in academics
In more than 40 years in academe, Kroncke has mostly been in dean or director positions.
Currently he is special assistant to the president and campus executive officer of the University of South Florida-Lakeland.
Kroncke holds a bachelor's in economics and business from St. JohnÕs University in Minnesota, a master's in business administration from University of Pittsburgh and doctorate finance,from the University of Minnesota.
Kroncke has been dean of business at Auburn University, University of Texas-Dallas, St. JohnÕs University of New York, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee.
He has been associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. |
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Reporter: Elizabeth Adams
Background: Internal candidate eyes external funding
Head injuries up in college sportsDALLAS, Texas, May 22, 2007 -- Head injuries have become increasingly common in college sports like basketball, according to a report in the National Athletic Trainers' Association's Journal of Athletic Training. Concussions have grown an average of 7 percent per year in 15 sports over 16 years. The past 10 years have seen a surge in concussion research. An editor of the report, Jennifer Hootman, said some of the increase can be attributed to athletic trainers and doctors becoming better at spotting them.
The single most common injury is the ankle sprain, which made up almost 15 percent of all injuries. Hootman said ankle sprains usually are not career-ending, but, she said, repeated sprains can lead to long-term problems. The report found that college sports injuries happen below the waist, with football having the most. Among its findings was that injuries are most frequent during regular-season games, followed by preseason practices, then regular-season practices. Overall injury rates have stayed the same since 1988.
WSU prof named counselor of year| WINONA, Minn., May 21, 2007 -- Winona State University counselor education prof Mary Fawcett has been named the the state post-secondary counselor of the year by the Minnesota School Counselors Association. Fawcett has been at Winona State since 1998. |
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MARY
FAWCETT
With one of her nominators,
Robin Alcala Saner, at the l MSCA conference in Brainerd, Minn. |
| 2007 MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE |
Solons send trim college funding planST. PAUL, Minn., May 21, 2007-- The Legislature passed a second version of the higher-ed bill, responding to a veto of the first version by Gov. TIm Palenty, and sent it on to the governor. Although Pawlenty has not indicated which budget bills he will sign or veto, he is expected to sign the revised higher-ed bill. The bill passed the Senate 65-0 and the House by 124-7. Also, Sen. Sandy Pappas, D-St. Paul , and Rep. Tom Rukavina, D-,Virginia, had made numerous concessions to the governor in an effort to get him to sign the bill.
Although legislators were forced to cut some money from the base for the 2010-11 biennium, the bill does provide a hefty boost in funding for higher-ed for the next two years. The appropriations for the MnSCU system, which includes Winona State and southeast Tech will jump from $602 million this fiscal year to $666.9 million next year and $689.3 million the following year.
About a bonding bill to finance new state construction projects, the House ran out of time before adjournment of the 2007 session.
Background: Governor vetoes higher-ed funding
Cops find bombs in car for Falwell funeralLYNCHBURG, Va., Mat 21, 2007 -- A Liberty University student on the way to the g=funeral for university Chancellor Jerry Falwell was arrested for carrying bombs in his car. Police quoted Mark D. Uhl, 19, that he intended the devices to prevent protesters from disrupting the funeral. The bombs, of gasoline and detergent, would not have caused much damage, police said. A relative of Uhl tipped police. Three three other suspects were being sought. At the service, the 6,000-seat Thomas Road Baptist Church was at capacity,
Virginia Tech leader: Threat not clear at firstBLACKSBURG, Va., May 21, 2007 -- The president of Virginia Tech, Charles Steger, told a panel of investigators that an urgent warning was not issued after the first shootings in the April 16 massacre because police first thought they had only a domestic quarrel on their hands. Steger also said that university officials were worried about causing a needless panic. The first shootings, at a dorm, however, were a prelude to 33 deaths in the worst mass-murder shooting in U.S. history. Gerald Massengill, chairman of the state panel, suggested to an e-mail message to everyone on the campus after the first shootings should have said: "We've had a shooting and the shooter has not been apprehended." The university's first e-message that morning said only that n a shooting in a dorm was being investigated. Also at the hearing, police said that they had found the Morris and West Ambler Johnston dorms "almost indescribable" after the first shootings.
Background: Criminal justice prof faults news focus
Background: TV prof defends NBC on "manifesto"
Background: Prof objects to term "manifesto"
Background: Experts try for answers, fall short
Background: WSU ponders dorm crisis procedures
Background: WSU vigil honors victims
Background: WSU English profs see scary stuff too
Background: Mayor wants to be in the loop
Background: Video games to blame?
Background: WSU messages en route to Blacksburg
Background: Ramaley: WSU's sympathies offered
Background: Virginia Tech shooter was student
Nursing groups praises WSU faculty WINONA, Minn., May 24, 2007 -- Winona State University has been awarded the Outstanding Faculty Practice Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. Timothy Gaspar, dean of nursing, called the especially significant because the award is typically given to
larger schools. "This award really recognizes the high level and expertise of our nursing faculty," said Gaspar. Nursing profs Lisa Schnepper, Mieca Valen and Gayle Olsen accepted the award at a Denver convention. "It's definitely something that goes beyond the nursing department," said
Schnepper. "It's an award that recognized community involvement as well."
Need a quick term paper? Don't ask GoogleMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 21, 2007 -- The giant search-engine company Google has thrown term-paper services off its site. Spokesperson Diana Adair said that the ban would go into effect before fall college classes. Under the policy, "paper mills" will be barred from buying search terms in the Google AdWords program, which means that their ads will no longer pop up in the sponsored-links sections of a Google search-results page. Colleges have objected strenuously to term-paper ads, whose products mostly are used by dishonest students to submit plagiarized work to profs.
20 SENATORS, 5 VACANCIES
SENATE GLASS
HALF EMPTY? HALF FULL?
WInona, Minn., May 21, 2007 -- Going into the new school year, 20 seats on the Winona State University Student Senate are filled with only eight vacancies open in the fall elections. Things haven't been so bright for the Senate in months, which at one point this spring was down to 15 members and unable to staff key committees. Vacancies lingering from this spring will be two graduate seats, a business college seat and a science college seat. Also on the ballot fall ballot will be seven seats that cannot be filled until new freshmen are on board -- four at-large seats and three freshman seats.
The vacant business seat was never filled in the spring general elections because no one ran. Sen. Justin Vasel, who currently holds one of of science seats, is transferring out of Winona State in the fall, thus leaving a vacant seat.
Despite the problems resulting from vacancies, the outgoing Senate vice president, Kari Winter, who ran elections, much was accomplished in her three years with the Senate to make elections work better, Winter cited at transition from hand-counted to computer-counted ballots. She also noted record student turnouts during her watch. Winter won wide praise for her attention to detail in running elections.
Winter's successor, Vice President-elect Emily Feehan, who has no Senate experience, acknowledged she has big boots to fill. "I am taking the summer to really learn about all of the areas of Senate so that I may bring valuable ideas to the table in the fall," Feehan said in a interview. Feehan said she is "ready to get going." How to encourage students to run for office -- or even vote? "I have many ideas that I think will help bridge the communication gap between students and the Student Senate," Feehan said. She promised new ways of promoting election but was not specific. Also, she said, students need to have a better knowledge of what the senate is doing throughout the year, which she sees as helping the voter turnout.
Reporter: Shannon McGraw
MIT to consider Darfur divestmentCAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 21, 2007 -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced it would consider divesting from companies doing business in Sudan, but the announcement was hardly the outright divestiture commitment that 50-plus other colleges have made. The announcement said that MIT would "not invest in a company whose actions or expressed attitudes are abhorrent to MIT" and that it would review its securities portfolios and "divest as appropriate." The statement noted that the university's action was a departure from MIT's "policy of not speaking with a single institutional voice on matters of public debate not directly affecting MIT's core mission of education, research, and service."
Couching the announcement in such language drew criticism as baffling in the Boston Globe's "Campus Insider" column, which noted that MIT fell short of an outright commitment to divest in companies active in the ongoing Darfur genocide. At Smith College, Eric Reeves, a leader of the Sudan
divestment movement, called the wording "most peculiar."
Heads roll in student-loan scandalsAUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2007 -- Universities are firing financial-aid officers who have been implicated in the growing scandal over insider activities and favors with lending companies to which they steered students. Columbia University has fired David Charlow as senior associate dean of student affairs. Johns Hopkins University announced the departure of Ellen Frishberg as director of student financial services. The University of Texas at Austin fired its financial-aid Director Lawrence W. Burt.
The allegations were made in documents by New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo,in a widening investigation into links between colleges and student-loan companies. Cuomo has threatened lawsuits against the
institutions, saying the preferred-lender lists they provided students constituted fraud against saying any benefits that aid officials or their offices student borrowers.
At least six loan companies and 24 colleges have already reached settlements with Cuomo. Two of the lenders have agreed to pay $2 million into a fund to educate students about financial aid. One lender, CIT Group, the corporate parent of Student Loan Xpress, has agreed to pay $3 million.
Background: WSU uninvolved in loan kickbacks
City OKs pedestrian underpass planningWINONA, Minn., May 21, 2007 -- The City Council approved an agreement for Winona State University to continue with plans for a pair of pedestrian tunnels under the Canadian Pacific railroad tracks that dissect the campus. The tunnels, tentatively at Winona and Johnson streets, would be largely funded through an earmark in the 2006 federal highways bill. The agreement specifies that Mayor Jerry Miller and university President Judith Ramaley will work to ensure proper planning and construction. The federal funds originally were for a larger project that included a Huff Street underpass to clear up traffic jams caused by trains, but the Council has given a low priority to the Huff project in its long-range traffic planning.
WSU prof judges science grantsWINONA, Minn., May 20, 2007 -- A Winona State University chemistry prof, Thomas Nalli, served on the review panel for the National Science Foundation's major research instrumentation grants program at the foundation's headquarters in Arlington, Va.
COURT
CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING MAY 19, 2007
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT
UNDERAGE BOOZING
Ashley Marie Dean, 18, Rochester, Minn., $177.
Shane D. Lange, 18, t. Charles, Minn., $177.
Stefan G. Meyer, 18, 293 Knopp Valley Drive, $177.
Kirsten M. Mueller, 24, 5117 W. Ninth, $177.
Jennifer S. Nelson, 20, Champlin, MInn., $227.
Lacie L. Newgarden, 18, St. Charles, Minn., $177.
Joshua W. Norton, 18, St. Charles, Minn., $177.
Susan Renee Nytes, 10, New Prague, Minn., $177.
Billy Hay Ortiz, 19, Viroqua, WIs. $177.
Justin J. Peterson, 20, St. Charles, Minn., $227.
Laura W. Rainey, 20, St. Charles, Minn., $177.
Eric Walter Samuelson, 19, 105 W. Mark 1, $177.
Carey James Stanek, 19, 1385 48th, $177.
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Barrone top regional baseball playerWAYNE, Neb., May 19, 2007 -- Winona State University senior catcher Ben Barrone has been named the Rawlings/ABCA All-Central baseball player of the year. Barrone, who leads the NCAA Division 2 in home runs, helped the Warriors to a Central Region tournament berth, a Northern Sun conference championship and a 29-15 record. Barrone was the only WSU player to be named to the All-Central first team. Junior outfielder Mike Wendland and junior pitcher Bryan Ruff were selected to the second team.
Barrone finished the Warrior season with 27 home runs, which tied him for fifth on the NCAA Division 2 All-time single-season list. That was also a single-season Winona State record. His 43 career home runs as a Warrior is another WSU record. Barrone did play one season for Minnesota State-Mankato and hit two home runs to give him 45 for his collegiate career.
Background: MSU-Mankato 8, WSU 1 |
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| 
BEN
BARRONE
Division 2 All-Central player of year |
Death claims U.S. News' college rankerWASHINGTON, May 19, 2007 -- The former managing editor of the annual college rankings by the magazine U.S. News & World Report, Alvin Sanoff, died at age 65. Sanoff helped direct the rankings years in the 1990s, when the rankings became a best-seller topic for the magazine. Sanoff left U.S. News in 1998 to became senior vice president for communications at Maguire Associates, a higher-ed consulting firm. More recently he was a project manager for the Education Schools Project at Columbia University/
SMU receives continued accreditationWINONA, Minn., May 19, 2007 -- St. Mary's University has won re-accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission for the coming 10 years. Louis DeThomasis, chancellor, called the approval an affirmation of "what we already know -- that Saint Mary's provides a high quality, distinctive education." The accreditation followed am exhaustive self-study and visits by Higher Learning Commission reviewers. About lessons learned from the process,
Provost Jeff Highland,said:: "We have already begun to implement some of the recommendations from the self-study and the Team Report, and we look forward to using the findings to make SMU an even better institution."
Background: SMU awaits accreditors' report
Three killed in campus-town shootingsMOSCOW, Idaho, May 19, 2007 -- A gunman shot five people then killed himself in this college town. The shooter was identified as Jason Hamilton. Killed were Hamilton's wife, a police officer, and a church sexton. The shootings began at the courthouse and ended in a church. A hero in the episode was University of Idaho student Pete Hussmann, 20, who heard shooting near his apartment, grabbed his pistol and ran outside to see if anyone needed help. He was shot in the back, neck and a thigh with a semiautomatic assault rifle. He is expected to recover. In all, six people were shot by Hamilton.
| FREE INQUIRY / FREE EXPRESSION |
Intelligent Design advocate loses tenure bidAMES, Iowa, May 19, 2007 -- an outspoken advocate of Intelligent Design, which holds that some form of intelligence is responsible for the universe and life, has been denied tenure at Iowa State University. Prof Guillermo Gonzalez says his controversial views seems to be factor. He is appealing. Gonzalez has been a target since co-writing a book, "The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery," in 2004. The book, published by the conservative Regnery house, argued against dominant scientific thinking. "There is evidence of design in nature, from astronomy, cosmology, and physics," the book said. In reaction, 120 Iowa State faculty members issued a statement denouncing Intelligent Design as contrary to science.
 | | BASEBALL (MEN'S)
DIVISION 2 REGIONALS
MAY 18, 2007
MSU-Mankato 8, WSU 1 |
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Season ends downbeat for WarriorsWARRENSBURG, Mo., May 18, 2007 -- A five-run third inning proved to be too much for Winona State University to overcome in loser's bracket play of the double-elimination NCAA Division 2 Central Region tournament. The Warriors went on to drop an 8-1 decision to Minnesota State-Mankato. The loss eliminated the Warriors from the tournament and completed their season with a 29-15 mark. Winona State finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning when senior catcher Ben Barrone led off the frame with his 27th home run of the season and his 43rd as a Warrior. Barrone did finish the game with three of the seven Winona State hits.
Background: Statistics
Services skills day camp at WSUWINONA, Minn., May 18, 2007 -- One-week day camps for youth interested in hands-on community service begin July 16 and 23 at Winona State University. Students entering Grades 6 through 12 will work in teams to build leadership and teamwork skills with United Way agencies, organizer Vicki English said. Teams include one college intern for every four to five students, Englich said.
Contact: (507) 457-2949
November 2008 contests in early startWINONA, Minn., May 18, 2007 -- Races that Winona campus people are watching:
U.S. PRESIDENCY
Democratic national convention, Aug. 25-28, Denver
Republican national convention, Sept. 1-4, Minneapolis
Joe Biden (Democrat): Delaware senator
Hillary
Clinton (Democrat): New York senator
Chris Dodd (Democrat): Connecticut senator
John
Edwards (Democrat): Former North Carolina senator
Mike Gravel (Democrat): Former Alaska senator
Dennis Kocinch (Democrat): Ohio member of House
Barack
Obama (Democrat): The Illinois senator
Bill
Richardson (Democrat): New Mexico governor
Sam Brownback (Republican): Kansas senator
Jim Gilmore (Republican): Former Virginia governor
Rudy Giuliani (Republican): Former New York mayor
Duncan Hunter (Republican): California member of House
John McCain (Republican): Arizona senator
Mike Hickabee (Republican): Arkansas governor
Mitt Romney (Republican): Massachusetts governor
Ron Paul (Republican): Texas member of House
Tom Tancredo (Republican): Colorado member of House
U.S. SENATE
Minnesota
Norm
Coleman (Republican): Seeking second term
Mike Ciresi (Democrat): Tobacco Settlement attorney
Al Franken (Democrat): Former Air America host
U.S. HOUSE
District 1
Dick Day (Republican): State senator from Owatonna
Randy Demmer (Republican): State representative from Hayfield
Mark Meyer(Republican): Crystal Lake Wellcome School Board member
John Wade (Republican): President of Rochester Chamber of Commerce
Tim
Walz (Democrat): Expected to seek second term
MINNESOTA HOUSE
Distict 31-A
Gene
Pelowski (Democrat): Expected to seek 12th
term
MAYOR
Jerry
Miller (incumbent): e to seek re-election
Todd
Ouellette Former City Council candidate has
expressed interest
CITY COUNCIL
1st Ward (Far West End)
Al
Thurley (incumbent): Expected to seek
e-election
CITY COUNCIL
3rd Ward (Central city,
including WSU)
Deb
Salyards (incumbent): Expected to seek second
term
CITY COUNCIL
At-large
Debbie
White (incumbent): Expected to seek
second term
COUNTY COMMISSION
2nd District
Dwayne
Voegeli (incumbent): Expected to seek
re-election
Wayne
Valentine: Retirednewscaster has
considered running
COUNTY COMMISSION
3rd District
Jerry
Heim (incumbent): Expected to seek re-election
COUNTY COMMISSION
4th District
Dave
Stoltman (incumbent): Expected to seek
re-election
SCHOOL BOARD
Vicki
Englich (incumbent): Expected to seek
re-election
Kelly
Herold (incumbent): Expected to seek
re-election
Fred
Peterson (incumbent): Expected to seek
re-election
RECENT DAYS IN
THE CITY
POSTED MAY 18, 2007
WILKIE BILL RISING. A new structural analysis of the Wilkie steamboat museum found water damage has left the structure in in "poor" condition. Repairs were pegged at $435,000. Earlier estimates were less than $400,000. The analyst, an engineer, recommended that the public not be allowed in the building until a new roof and windows are installed and two main staircases rebuilt. Background
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Bill to ease tuition for illegal immigrantsWASHINGTON, May 18, 2008 -- The immigration reform compromise being worked out in the U.S. senate would make it easier for public colleges to extend in-state tuition discounts to students who entered the United States illegally as children. The bill would give special visas to immigrants who entered the country illegally when they were under 16 and have lived in the country for at least five years, graduated from an American high school, and have been enrolled for at least two years in college or the military. They would then become eligible for permanent U.S. residency after three years. Proposals for in-state tuition for immigrant children who have grown up in the United States has run into opposition in several states, including Minnesota where Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been a leading opponent. In Washington President Bush praised the pending Senate compromise, which deals broadly with immigration. Bush said he would sign the bill.
Provisions would give legal status to millions of immigrants. A system would be created for issuing more than 1 million permanent visas each year, with priority for people who with advanced degrees and certain job skills. The bill also would strengthen security along the Mexican border to discourage further illegal immigration.
On in-state tuition, the bill would eliminate part a 1996 federal immigration law that has been used to deny in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants. The 1996 law rules out "any post-secondary benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit." The new law would extend in-state tuition rates to students who entered the United States illegally but who graduated from those states' high schools.
Although some courts have bought the argument based in the 1996 law, 10 states now allow in-state tuition for some illegal immigrants. In Minnesota the Legislature had worked out a loophole earlier this month to allow illegal-immigrant children by creating a one-price tuition rate at six two-year colleges. Everyone would receive in-state tuition. Gov. Pawlenty has vetoed that higher-ed bill that contained the provision, but the provision may not be deal-breaker in the Legislature's negotiations with the governor on the larger bill.
Background: Governor vetoes higher-ed funding
Background: Compromise reached for higher-ed funding
WSU tennis players make
academic listSIOUX FALL, S.D., May 17, 2007 -- A pair of
Winona State University tennis players have been named to the North Central
Conference men's all-academic at-large team. Selected were seniors Scott
Hessian and Kyle Savelkoul. Hessian is a business administration
graduate. Savelkoul majored in human resources management.
| | BASEBALL (MEN'S)
DIVISION 2 REGIONALS
MAY 17, 2007
Central Missouri 7, WSU 2 |
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Warriors fall into losers' bracketWARRENSBURG, Mo., May 17, 2007 -- Winona State University could not overcome an early Central Missouri lead and fell 7-2 in opening-round play to the NCAA Division 2 Central Region tournament. The Warriors, their record now 29-14, moved into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament. The Warrior's next game is with Minnesota State-Mankato.
Central Missouri, its record now (49-11, opened the game with a run in the bottom of the first inning. The Missourians came up with three more runs in the third inning before making a 4-0 lead after four innings. Winona State finally cracked the scoreboard with two runs in the top of the fifth. Ronnie Olson hit a one-out double to left center. Ben Smothers then dumped a single into right and after a wild pith moved Smothers to second, Brett Maxwell came up with a two-run double to the gap in right-center. Dru Mickelson continued the fifth inning with a flyball, and Ben Barrone reached on a walk. Both Maxwell and Barrone then moved up a base on a throwing error off a pickoff attempt. But Central Missouri was able to get out of the threat when a running catch was made of a looping flyball by Mike Wendland to end the inning.
background: Statistics
Lecture set on mothering fat kidsWINONA, Minn., May 17, 2007 -- The afternoon Atheneum series at WInona State University, an enrichment series of presentations, will begin in the fall with prof April Herndon speaking on mothering problems with fat children. Joe Mount, series organizer, said the Herndon presentation will be Sept. 12 in the library. Other presentations, mostly at 1 p.m.:¥ Sept 19: Prof Linda DÕAmico on finding from her Fulbright Fellowship to Bolivia at the Universidad de San Simon.
¥ Sept 26: Steve Richardson, former academic vice president. and his artist wide Cathy Richardson on the revival of the studio art glass movement.
¥ Oct. 3: Judith Ramaley, university president, and Sally Johnstone, academic vice president Johnstone, their topic to be determined.
¥ Oct. 10: Student Senate, the topic to be determined.
¥ Oct. 17: American Democracy Project, the topic to be determined.
¥ Oct. 24: Prof Sharon Mansur on her cultural and artistic experiences in the west Africa country of Benin.
¥ Oct. 31: Profs Bruno Borsari and Chuck Ripley on their summer course focused on the Mississippi River aboard the university launch River Explorer.
¥ Nov. 7: Prof Eric Brisson, with a lecture-recital from the classical piano repertoire.
¥ Nov. 13: Prof Greg Schmidt and Brian Ohmn the WesternÓmovie genre as an influenced on 1950s McCarthyism and the political ideology of the Cold War.
POLITICAL NOTES
POSTED MAY 17, 2007
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn, said that President Bush's threat to veto Congress's defense authorization bill, which includes conditions for conduct of the Iraq war, will hurt soldiers and their families financially. At stake, said Walz is a special survivor indemnity allowance of $40 a month, he said, Walz said too that President Bush opposes an additional one-half percent increase for soldiers above the president's proposed 3 percent. Said Walz: "President Bush has often stood in front of soldiers for the benefit of TV cameras and photographers, but today he failed again to stand behind our soldiers." |
Charges face WSU pair after larkWINONA, Minn., May 17, 2007 -- Two Winona State University students who passed off a license-plate stealing spree as a drunken lark aren't laughing. Dorm tenants Paul Daniel Lund and Garrison Leo Zollinger, both 19, have been charged with possessing a burglary tool, a felony, and with a host of misdemeanors -- theft and tampering with cars and, yes, underage boozing. They were arrested Feb. 17 after a campus security guard reported what looked like two men trying to break into a car between 2 and 3 a.m. Later it was discovered that plates were missing from several cars in the Prentiss-Lucas dorm parking lot.
When police spotted Lund and Zollinger on the street, Zollinger dropped four plates in the snow, officers said. In a pat-down, the officers found a screwdriver. In the criminal complaint, the screwdriver is listed as a burglary tool. According to the complaint, the two pair said they had been at a keg party on East Eighth Street and got the idea to go out and collect license plates. Police checked them for blood-alcohol levels and, they said, found one at 0.189 percent, more than twice the 0.08 legal limit. The other man was at 0.086, police said.
Background: Police nab pair with stolen car plates
RECENT DAYS IN
THE CITY
POSTED MAY 17, 2007
FOURTH HOUSE INTRUSION. Three men bound a 69-year-old man to a chair inside his home and robbed him at gunpoint Wednesday. The man's wife found him when she returned home about 9:30 p.m., said Deputy Chief Paul Bostrack. The robbers had left minutes earlier, Bostrack said. It was the fourth home intrusion in the city in a month. The victim was treated overnight at the hospital for assault injuries. Stolen was a home safe with a large collection of rolled quarters. The man's billfold also was taken. The man said he had let one of the men into the house to use a phone. The others followed, two of them brandishing handguns. The victim, who lives in the 650 block of West Fifth Street, described the assailants as in their 20s, two black, one white.
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Internal candidate eyes external fundingWINONA, Minn., May 16, 2007 -- An internal candidate for business dean at Winona State, Bill Murphy, said the key to improving the university's business college lies in outside funding. In a public interview, Murphy said external funding would be needed to hire more faculty and to construct a new building for the college. Every organization on campus wants more money, he said, but there's only so much that the university and state government can allot. Murphy called for a strategic plan that would establish the college's financial needs and identify potential donors. ABout his candidacy, Murphy pointed to his 18 years of teaching at Winona State and "a lot of good contacts."
The new dean needs organizational and people skills, he said: "I have it." Murphy's said his strategic plan would include actions with deadlines. In an unexpected slap at acting Dean Gabriel Manrique, Murphy said that for four years the college s has floundered with either interim deans not interested in the long run or deans spread too thin. "We need someone dedicated to the job," he said. What makes him dedicated to the job? Experience and belief in the institution, said Murphy.
Murphy served as a co-chair on the search committee for the first two rounds of the search for a new dean, a process which has lasted more than a year. "I didn't think about this job a year ago," he said. The search committee was originally formed in the spring of 2006. But after two rounds of searches failing to produce a new dean, he said he felt someone needed to step up.
The search for a candidate has included identifying a candidate to help win accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. Murphy said that accreditation is an important goal: "I want to see us accredited whether I'm the leader or just a participant." Murphy cautioned that accreditation will not be soon. The college needs a dean who will be in it for the long run, said Murphy, who has been in higher-ed for 30 years. "This is going to be my last job and I want it to be successful," he said.
Why has the search failed twice? Paino said in an interview Wednesday that the accreditation goal led earlier search committees to set the minimum qualifications too high. In his public interview Murphy agreed. "We wrote a notice of vacancy that only God could have filled," he said, "and God did not want to be in Winona." Paino said that after two rounds of searches producing no new dean, the committee started over in late February, having learned from its mistakes and lowered minimum qualifications. Did lower qualifications affect the quality of candidates? Paino said no. "The quality of the candidates is better this time," he said. "There's more depth all around."
Of the more than 20 applicants this time , the committee chose three for on-campus interviews. Murphy was the first. The other two will be next week. Paino said that he knows of Murphy well because he works at Winona State but that "all three are excellent candidates."
Throughout the 40-minute interview, Murphy talked to fellow profs using their first names and jokeing. Before getting serious, he said that the easiest way to raise money for the proposed business building was by winning the lottery, which he said he planned to enter that night. "I wanna teach in the Murphy College of Business for ten years," he said, smiling broadly.
Reporter: Elizabeth Adams
Background: Search chair surfaces as dean candidate
AMANDA
FARLEY | 
DIANA
NORMAND | 
EZRA
FIRKINS | 
SARAH
DOTTA | 
LINDSAY
VERBETEN | 
LYNN
UNZE |
TOMORROW'S GEATEST BYLINES TODAY |
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Jimmy John's sub shop opening on Third| WINONA, Minn., May 16, 2006 -- After a year of planning, Winona State University grad Chris McClellan and buddy Troy Finnigan have installed a kitchen and booths for a Jimmy John's Gourmet Subs shop downtown. They plan to open June 5. The shop will be next to Rascals bar. |
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SANDWICH SHOP BRAND
155 E. Third St. |
Background: Jimmy John's sub shop opening on Third
Bush swipes at anti-ROTC campusesWASHINGTON, May 16, 2007 -- During an ROTC-commissioning ceremony at the White House, President Bush took a swipe at colleges that "do not allow ROTC on campus." Said Bush: "To the cadets and midshipmen who are graduating from a college or university that believes ROTC is not worthy of a place on campus, here is my message: Your university may not honor your military service, but the United States of America does." He did not name any colleges where anti-military sentiment has been expressed in recent months. The president did not mention that the government has shut down many ROTC units because they weren't generating enough cadets to be worth the expense.
RECENT DAYS IN
THE CITY
POSTED MAY 16, 2007
ASSESSING WILKIE ART. Curators of two museums that loaned photos of old Mississippi River steamboats for exhibit at the river-front Wilkie tourist attraction say the images don't have much value, the Daily News reported. The images aren't originals. Somehow a figure of $1 million was attached to the photos during recent years of controversy when the Wilkie changed hands. The original negatives remain with the lending museums. Wilkie managers apparently paid $20 or so to mount each of the reproductions on firm foam backing.
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Skidmore grad arrested for phone threatSARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., May 16, 2007 -- Four days after a recorded threat to shoot people was left on an alumni-welcome voice machine, a Skidmore College grad was arrested. The arrest was made in Massachusetts, police said.
Search chair surfaces as dean candidateWINONA, Minn., May 16, 2007 -- Winona State University will hold an open forum with its own Bill Murphy, who is a finalist in the ongoing search for a dean of business. Murphy, currently the business college's marketing chair, is one of three candidates in this the third round of searches for the dean. Two previous searches failed when candidates said no.
As an 18-year veteran at Winona State, Murphy has been the director of the College for Kids program for the past five years. He also active in the Winona Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber honored him as its Volunteer of the Year in 2001. Murphy has spent more than 30 years in higher ed. Before WInona State he was at Western Kentucky, Pittsburg State and Northeast Louisiana.
Ironically, Murphy co-chaired the past two search committees. The other co-chair, liberal arts Dean Troy Paino, was unavailable for an interview the morning before the forum but in February he told reporters that the committee set the bar high for candidates. That high bar may have resulted in a lack of candidates, he said in an earlier interview with a reporter.
The search for a business dean has spanned almost a year now with the two failed searches. A marketing professor from the Arkansas-Fayetteville declined the position last fall and the business dean from Wisconsin River-Falls withdrew her candidacy in February. Looking back at the two failed searches, Paino said in February he would have recommended to the committee that the bar not be set so high. In February, Paino admitted that deanships are usually not hard to fill. He noted that Winona State faculty could apply but noted that a lot of professors don't want to give up their flexible hours, teaching and research time.
The open forum:Date: Wednesday, May 16
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Place: Somsen 321 |
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| 
BILL
MUPRHY
Seeking deanship after 18 years on faculty |
Reporter: Elizabeth Adams
Fire damages East Mark houseWINONA, Minn., May 15, 2007 -- Fire damaged a bathroom and the attic of the vacant one-story house at 320 E. Mark St. No one was injured. Faulty wiring may have been the cause, said fire Capt. Kurt Losse. Firefighters were summoned about 5:45 a.m., after a passerby noticed smoke. It took 1-1/2 hours to out out the fire.
Report: Sophs are WSU's neglected classWIONA, MInn., May 14, 2007 -- Sophomores typically have been the neglected middle child of the university experience, a Winona State University student support adviser told administrative and service faculty recently. Richard Kotovich reported on a study that found a need to create professional advisers to guide undeclared sophomores toward a major and not just pass them off to a pool of general faculty advisers. Kotovich and dorm director Sarah Olcott based the findings on a survey across 50 colleges, including 40 Winona State people involved in adviser. Their goal: Look at how to engage and retain sophomores.
Kotovich said the study was triggered by a report from the National Center for Education Statistics that Winona State had a 36 percent transfer out rate from 1998 to 2004. Eighty-five percent of students who dropped out or transferred did so at the end of their sophomore year, he said. Why? Kotovich said life or
economic changes are factors but also so is the university's lack of attention at retaining students.
Kotovich noted too ha sophomores can feel a sense of starting over as their freshman friends who across the hall in the dorms move into off-campus rentals said Kotovich. Olcott said dorm supervisors need to support sophomores as a specific university resources.
Kotovich said sophomores, just out of the freshman honeymoon stage, are looking for what the university can do for them. "We will need to have an answer that question, academically as well as socially," he said. Pushing students toward degrees will help to retain them for another
semester or even a year, giving them associates degrees instead of the
laundry list of classes, Kotovich said.
Said Olcott: "Sophomores are painfully aware of what they are not good at and not aware of what they are good at." She said that sophomores need to feel like they belong in Winona through internships, student clubs, and involvement with seniors who share their majors. Kotovich said initiatives at Colorado a d Wisconsin colleges have helped involve sophomores in a shared sophomore experience through university-hosted get together in the fall.
Reporter: Ezra Firkins
Hit-run warrant issued against soldierWINONA, Minn., May. 14, 3007 -- A judge signed an arrest warrant for a man suspected of trying to run down three men, injuring one of them, in a post-bar closing-time incident. The warrant named Dustin Dale Sicard, 28, of Cottage Grove, Minn., for second-degree assault. The injured man, Michael Plog, 21, suffered minor injuries to his left elbow and right foot and leg. The incident occurred about 2 a.m., Thursday, at Huff and Fifth streets as the three men were walking from the bar district toward the Winona State University main campus. Police said they hope to arrest Sicard before his scheduled departure for military duty.
As police reconstructed the incident, the three men on foot were heckled by someone in a passing car. When the car stopped for a red light at Broadway, words were exchanged. Then, according to the police reconstruction, the driver hit the gas, ran a red light, made a tire-squealing U-turn and drove at the men. Two men got out of the way. Plog was hit by the front passenger side, flew into the air and onto the hood before landing on the pavement, police said.
The driver sped off north on Huff Street, making a left turn onto Fifth Street. Officers on patrol at about 6 a.m. located the maroon Nissan sedan parked in a driveway on the 800 block of West Fifth Street and impounded the car. The front end of the car was damaged, police said.
Background: Pedestrian struck, injured; driver flees
Sociologist awarded SMU special degreeST. MARY'S, Minn., May 12, 2007 -- An honorary doctorate of educational leadership was presented to Brother Jose Cervantes, a sociologist, during undergraduate commencement ceremony at St. Mary's University. Cervantes was honored fora lifelong commitment to education. Cervantes serves on the boards of trustees of St. Mary's College of California. He has been teaching more than 50 years.
| | BASEBALL (MEN'S)
NORTHERN SUN TOURNAMENT
MAY 12, 2007
WSU 9, Wayne State 7 |
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Warriors fall into losers' bracketWAYNE, Neb., May 12, 2007 -- Ben Barrone hit a pair of home runs and drove in five runs to help lead Winona State University to a 9-7 win over Wayne State in the championship game of the Northern Sun conference baseball tournament. The victory automatically qualifies Winona State for the NCAA Division 2 regional tournament. Barrone broke the single-season Winona State home run record in the bottom of the eighth when he launched his 26th round tripper, a three-run blast to left. The hit broke a 6-6 tie and give the Warriors the lead for good. Earlier Barrone hit his 25th home run, which was his 41st and broke the Winona State career home run record.
It was a two-run shot in the first inning that helped Winona State take a 4-3 lead after Wayne State scored three runs in the top half of the first. Wayne State regained the lead with two runs in the fourth and made it a 6-4 game with a lone run in the fifth. But Winona State came back to cut the lead on a sacrifice fly by Ronnie Olson in its half of the fifth.
In the eighth Olson led off with a walk and, after a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, went to second on a wild pitch. Brett Maxwell then plated Olson with a single to right. Wayne State did not help itself with an error that allowed Maxwell to reach second on Dru Mickelson's ground ball. Barrone then followed with the game-winning blast. Barrone added more heroic exploits by coming in to pitch the ninth. Barrone did give up a run, but came up with a strikeout for the final out of the game and was credited with the save.
Donny Erdall, the third of four Winona State pitchers, was credited with the victory.
Background: Statistics |
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BEN
BARRONE
Two homers, five runs |
COURT
CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING MAY 12, 2007
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT
UNDERAGE BOOZING
James R. Bollom, 18, 770 W. 11th. $177.
Dillon J. Hewitt, 20, St. Charles, Minn., 30 days and $77.
Courtney Alissa Kieffer, 18, Elba, Minn., $177.
NOISY PARTYING
Ian Richard, 19, 1078-1/2 W. King, $377.
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| | TRACK AND FIELD (WOMEN'S)
NORTHERN SUN CHAMPIONSHIPS
MAY 12, 2007
Mary 210 (1st), MSU-Moorhead (2nd), WSU 115 (3rd), Wayne State 93 (4th), Bemidji State 55 (5th), Northern State 30 (6th), Concordia of State Paul 15 (7th) |
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Warriors break three school marksMOORHEAD, Minn., May 12, 2007 -- Winona State University broke three Warrior records and placed third in the Northern Sun conference women n's track and field championships. Jess Devine had a hand in two of the records. Devine placed second in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.45 seconds. She teamed up with Samantha Lisowski, Nikki Olson and Nicci Johnson in placing second in the 4x100-meter relay in 48.45 seconds. The other record also came in a relay event, with Adi Luedtke, Lisa Meyer, Theresa Pawelko and Jennifer Bradford finishing second in the 4x400 at 3:55.56.
Bradford was also second in the 400-meter dash at 58.7 and Nicole Lonning was second in the shot put at 42 feet, 8 inches. Third for the Warriors was Pawelko in the 800-meter run at 2:19.08, Allie Glasbrenner in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 12:5.90, and Chelsey Brown in the shot put 40-11 3/4.
Winona State did not field a men's team. |
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JESS
DEVINE
Two school records |
RECENT DAYS IN
THE CITY
POSTED MAY 12, 2007
WANTA BUY QUIZNO'S? After a three-year and never quite catching on, the Quizno's Subs franchise at 1474 Gilmore Ave. is no more. Owner Mark Swenson shut the sandwich shop, formerly Happy Chef. Swenson said the franchise is for sale.
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WSU uninvolved in loan kickbacksWINONA, Minn., May 10, 2007 -- Winona State University is clean in the growing national scandal about college-loan companies "buying: their way onto colleges' lists of preferred lenders. FInancial aid Director Greg Peterson said the university has not and will not accept money or gifts from lenders trying to make it on a preferred list. Side deals, referral fees or revenue-sharing with lenders would be unethical, Peterson said in an interview. Winona Sate does not support or endorse the practice, he said.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has uncovered widespread conflicts of interest in the student-loan industry at the expense of students. Two weeks ago Cuomo expanded his investigation by subpoenaing alumni associations from 90 colleges to determine whether they were paid by lenders seeking access to students. Cuomo's investigation has already ensnared big lenders and several high-profile schools. Six schools -- the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Syracuse University, Fordham University, Long Island University and St. John's University -- have agreed to reimburse students $injured.3 million for inflated loan prices caused by revenue-sharing agreements, Cuomo said. Minneapolis-based online Capella university has placed its financial aid director on leave after Cuomo revealed that he had accepted $12,400 in consulting fees by Student Loan Xpress.
At Winona State, Peterson said that less than 10 percent of student loans are subsidized through private lenders. Winona State students do not have to trust the university to finding lenders he said. "They have several lenders to choose from and can make up their own mind," he said.
Reporter: Ezra Firkins
Background: Details surface in loan scandal
Pedestrian struck, injured; driver fleesWINONA, Minn., May 10 , 2007 -- A 21-year-old man walking home from the bars with friends was injured when a motorist tried to run the group down, police said. Michael Plog suffered cuts and bruises and complained of pain in one leg, according to police. He declined medical treatment. Police Sgt. Chris Nelson said a group of three males were walking near Fifth and Huff streets just before 2 a.m. when a vehicle stopped and its occupants shouted taunts and insults. The vehicle turned around and drove in the opposite lane at three pedestrians, striking Plog. The driver then fled, although police said they spotted the car parked in the neighborhood about 6 a.m. and impounded it. Possible charges include assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted homicide because the collision appeared to be intentional, Nelson said.
CAREFUL? PICKY?
OR JUST PLAIN SILLY?
HOW MANY AVOCADOS
CAN YOU EAT A DAY?
WINONA, Minn., May 9, 2007 -- When the California band Cake performed at Winona State University, their contract called for enough backstage and hotel provisions to stock a small organic grocery store. A review of the fine fine print in the 23-page contract provided a $40,000 guarantee for the April 21 performance plus, on even days of the month:¥ Small sealed bottles of mayo and mustard.
¥ Four organic Haas avocados.
¥ Hot smoked trout and salmon (not lox), gourmet cheeses vegetables
and bread.
¥ Soy Chai (five small individual packages).
¥ Amy's frozen breakfast or other burritos three vegetables and three
others.
On odd-number da |
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