Minnesota colleges tackle textbook costs
ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 31, 2008 -- To find ways to lower textbook costs, the state college system has funded six pilot projects. One project, at Minnesota State-Mankato, put $5,000 toward more textbooks on reserve in the library. None of the pilot projects is at Winona State. Anoka Technical College received $148,300 to identify lower-cost textbook alternatives and that fit into course design. South Central College, in Faribault and North Mankato, received $36,525 for more used textbook options. Vermilion Community College in Ely received $60,000 to for textbook leasing. Hibbing Community College received $20,000 to explore possibilities with textbooks available through library subscription databases. Minnesota West Community and Technical College, in Canby, Granite Falls, Jackson, Pipestone and Worthington, received $8,000 to create a limited textbook rental program.| MORE |
Additional pilot projects will be considered for funding for this year, said state chancellor Jim McCormick. "Textbooks are a significant investment these days," he said. "If we can lighten our students' financial burden, they may be able to graduate with less debt." A national survey two years ago pegged student textbook costs at two-year public colleges at $850 a year and at four-year colleges $942.
City's cover photo by WSU prof
| WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2008 -- A photograph by masscom prof Tom Grier of Winona State University, "Sugarloaf Winter Sunrise," was selected for the cover of the City of Winona's annual financial report. Grier's photo was selected by Mary Burrichter, city finance director. Background: 29 pieces in state exhibit |  WINONA WINTERSCAPE Cover of new fiscal report |
Crane's wet tires a give-away
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 30, 2008 -- A Winona State University freshman, drunk and his bladder about to burst, took a piss on a construction crane's tires at Huff and Mark streets -- as the cops were watching. The guy ran, but the cops tackled him and he confessed to the deed at the crane. The ticket had three charges: Underage boozing, public urination and fleeing police. The incident was about 12 a.m.Nursing senator resigns, cites schedule bind
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2008 -- Nursing major Jonathan Williams, elected in the spring to represent the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, has resigned from Winona State University Student Senate. Williams blamed "course conflicts." In the spring elections, Williams received 56 votes for one of two nursing seats on the 28-member Senate. There were no other candidates. Williams is the second senator to step down this fall.Background: Write-in business rep Blechinger resigns
Background: Roster of student senators
Background: Spring election results
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 31, 2008 A student reported at 1:17 a.m. that he was assaulted by two acquaintances outside of ZaZa's pizza joint on Huff Street. Police were notified. |
Judge overturns state ban on most Cuba travel
MIAMI, Fla., Aug. 31, 2008 -- A Florida law that restricts profs, researchers and students at the state's public colleges from traveling to Cuba has been stricken down by a federal judge. Judge Patricia Seitz ruled that the state should not be allowed to regulate travel from private funds, which is the source of almost all college-related Cuban travel. State funds, however, may not be used for travel that is banned by the U.S. government as part of foreign policy, the judge said. The Florida travel ban also had applied to Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, which the federal government classes as terrorist states. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida had challenged the law with a line of reasoning that the statute violated faculty First Amendment rights.Prof writes on campus sustainability
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 31, 2008 -- A Winona State University biology prof, Bruno Borsari, co-authored a paper, "Empowering Universities and Colleges to Become Dynamic Actors for Driving Sustainable Development," for Proceedings of the Second International Sustainability Conference and Creating Values for Sustainable Development.
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Warriors tucker in soccer overtime
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 30, 2008 -- For the second match in a row Winona State University went into overtime but this time fell 2-1 to Metropolitan State of Denver in nonconference women's soccer. The Warriors had opened their season with a 2-1 overtime victory. The second time, however, Winona State lost the momentum and allowed Metro State to score 6:55 into extra play. The first half had ended in a 0-0 tie before Metro put a shot past Warrior goalkeeper Amanda Diehm 6:01 into the second period. The Metro goaltending also slipped up in the second period, when Winona State's Cori Beard put a shot into the Roadrunner goalkeeper Lisa Jewett's hands for a tying goal at 54:03.Statistics
| COURT CONVICTIONS WEEK ENDING AUG. 30, 2008 IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT UNDERAGE BOOZING Joseph Bernard Dieckmann 18, 832 W. Seventh, $180. Lauren Elizabeth Speca, 19, 267 Grand, $180. Brittainy Gail Vanderpool, 18, Elba, Minn., $180.
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WSU runners dominate SMU invitational
WINONA, Minn., Aug 30, 2008 -- Winona State University placed three runners in the top 10 and went on to finish second in the St. Mary's Invitational cross country meet. Freshman Bryan Lindquist paced the Warriors by at fourth with a time of 23:45.5. Senior Ryan Ledin followed for Winona State with an eighth-place finish in 24:22.6. junior Ryan Slack was right behind in ninth at 24:26.1 Winona State also added two more runners in the top 20 of the field of 45 runners with sophomore Ben Tharaldson in 18th at 25:47.2 and sophomore Ryan Burch in 20th at 26:03.4.Statistics
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WSU runners dominate SMU invitational
WINONA, Minn., Aug 30, 2008 -- Winona State University runners took five of the top seven finishes to win the St. Mary's Invitational women's cross country race. Sophomore Jenna Southworth paced the Winona State, the only runner in the 52-runner field to come in under 20 minutes, at 19:56. Junior Steph Smith followed with third at 20:48.3, junior Allie Glasbrenner at 21:03.6, sophomore Madeline Heinrich at 21:06.7 and freshman Amy Pawelko at 21:12.0. Adding to the Winona State efforts were sophomore Michelle Jeske at 21:43.8 for 11th, sophomore Kelly Rieber at 22:12.4 for 19th.Statistics
Laptop taken in house burglary
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 30, 2008 -- Police said someone entered an unlocked house in the 250 block of East Third Street between 4 and 5 p.m., Thursday, and took a Toshiba laptop computer. The burglary as reported about 9:30 a.m.
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Tech comes from behind in 2nd half
HOUGHTON, Mich., Aug. 30, 2008 -- Winona State University fell a little short in its football season opener, dropping a 26-21 nonconference decision to Michigan Tech. The Warriors had led 14-6 after scoring 14 points in the second quarter, but the Tech Huskies countered with three unanswered touchdowns for a 26-14 lead early in the final period. Winona State was then stopped at the Tech one-yard line later on in the final period before scoring for what proved to be the final score with 1:29 left.
Andrew Verbancouer scored the first touchdown of the season for the Warriors. Verbancouer took a handoff and rumbled seven yards for the tally. Ryan Abbott added the first of his three points from placement. That scored erased a 6-0 Michigan Tech lead. The Warriors then went on to take a 14-6 lead when Amir Ross hooked up with Drew Alexander on a 29-yard pass and catch for a touchdown. But with 53 seconds left in the first half, the Huskies came on to score and trim WSU's lead to 14-13.
Michigan Tech continued its scoring with a touchdown run at 8:05 of the third quarter to take back the lead, 20-14. The Huskies then scored their fourth score of the game with a touchdown pass at 14:54.
Winona State put up more yardage than Tech, compiling 394 total yards to 354. Randy Spring led Winona State rushing with 69 yards. Greg Preston passed for 141 yards. Ross finished with three completions in three attempts for 72 yards. Tyree Burks was the top receiver for Winona State with five catches for 53 yards. Jared Stahlecker, who tied for Warrior tackling honors with eight, came up with a fumble recovery, the only turnover in the game. Statistics |  ANDREW VANBER- COEUR Season's first WSU touchdown |
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Warriors split in Oredigger Classic
| GOLDEN, Colo., Aug. 30, 2008 -- Winona State University won its first match of the season. then split a pair of matches in the Days Inn Golden Oredigger Volleyball Classic. The Warriors won their first match, going five sets in beating Adams State. Winona State had to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the final three sets 25-22, 25-18 and 15-8. In Winona State's second match, the Warriors lost in three straight sets to Mesa State. In the victory over Adams State, Kerry Daly and Jessi Peterson had team-high 15 kills each. Jenna Padley came up with 13, Carmen Stankowski 12. Mollie Bjelland directed the offense with 56 assists. Stankowski and Rudi Balich each had 23 digs. Adding to the Winona State defense was Daly with seven blocks. Top efforts for the Warriors against Mesa State went to Daly with nine kills. Bjelland with 25 assists and Balich with 18 digs. Daly added five blocks. Statistics: Adams State match Statistics: Mesa State match |
 KERRY DALY Nine kills against Mesa Sta |
College president: Don't believe what you see
FORT DODGE, Iowa, Aug. 30, 2008 -- About a photo that appears to show the president of Iowa Central Community College, Robert Paxton, pouring beer down the throat of a young woman on a boat, he says: Not so. Paxton said the keg was broken and no beer came out" "I wasn't misbehaving. I wasn't drinking." The photo has been in wide circulation around Fort Dodge, as well as a companion photo showing someone=body else on the boar pouring vodka into someone's mouth.College president quits over $300,000 bonus furor
CONWAY, Ark., Aug. 30, 2008 -- The president of the University of Central Arkansas, Lu Hardin,, resigned after months of controversy over a $300,000 bonus that the university's governing board approved at a secret meeting in May. An associate said that Hardin, a former state senator, hoped his resignation would put the issue to rest. The resignation is tied to a $700,000 contract buyout package.| MORE |
The secret bonus raised criticism when a newspaper reported the salary. Hardin responded that the bonus was not his idea but that of three of his administrators. The criticism flared, however, when it was learned that Hardin himself had the memo justifying the bonus.
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Hardin, university president since 2002, recently had surgery for cancer in one eye.
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 30, 2008 Several students were cited for alcohol in the Quad dorm at at 12:55 a.m. A student was cited for an alcohol and housing violation at Lourdes dorm at 12:20 a.m. |
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EARLIER PROJECTION WAS $30 MILLION
$40 MILLION
FLOATED AS COLISEUM PRICE TAG
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 30, 2008 -- The city government listed the proposed Winona coliseum as a $30 to $40 million project in soliciting architects to come up with a preliminary design. The advertisement for proposals was the first to use a $40 million figure, a third higher than boosters had cited earlier, although there have been occasional mentions of $35 million. City Manager Eric Sorensen told reporter Mark Sommerhauser of the Winona Daily News that $40 million was used in seeking bids to attract more designers to consider the project. Sorensen said he doubted that the Legislature would provide funding for a $40 million project. Sorensen also said there could be taxpayer resistance.
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Mystery has clouded the coliseum project, particularly funding, since Mayor Jerry Miller unveiled the plan in December. Miller said that local backers had been lined up for $5 million toward the project. He didn't name them. Others have said that Winona State University would draw on its donor list for the $5 million. To the Legislature, which would need to come up with the remainder or authorize an election for a local tax increase, the city has proposed the coliseum as a joint city-university endeavor. Multiple uses have been listed as tare show and conventions, university commencements and varsity basketball, as well as tourist-geared theater and music festivals.
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The preliminary design is budgeted at $250,000 from a state planning grant. The proposal suggests a river background by tying the project into the city's mast plan for development. The location, according to the request for proposals, specifies a site "generally to include from the river to Sarnia Street and generally in the Main Street to Huff Street area." An earlier planning committee, whose mission was a Shakespearean theater that has been subsumed into the coliseum project, had been eyeing these sites:
• Tri-Mac lumber yard.Some thinking has been to include a deck over the Union Pacific railroad industrial spur with walkway links to Levee Park on the river.
• Winona 7 movie house.
• The former middle school, now Washington Square apartments.
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The current planning committee specified that the site needs to allow for adjacent commercial development. The specs ask that "public and private partnerships" be considered. The document asks also for conceptual building options, market and demographic analysis, and funding possibilities for construction and operations. Although Mayor Miller has talked about Winona State operating the coliseum as a joint municipal-university facility, the committee has asked the design firm ti=o com up with operational and organizational recommendations.
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The committee plans to choose architects for the feasibility and design study after reviewing submissions in October. The committee timetable is to select the planning firm by April.
Background: Coliseum linked to city property buy-up?
Alaska governor tapped as McCain running mate
DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 29, 2008 -- In a stunner, the Republican for candidate for president, John McCain, named the first-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, little known anywhere else, as his running mate for vice president. McCain praised Palin as reform-minded, and she cited her work against Old Boy corruption in Alaska politics. Critics called Palin a lightweight with no credentials for foreign policy or national affairs. Some called McCain's choice a ploy to lure women voters disenchanted by Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama for passing over Hillary Clinton as his running mate.Background: Races that campus people are watching
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 29, 2008 An emergency medical team responded to the Quad dorm at 11:29 p.m.regarding a highly intoxicated student. |
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Warriors drop volleyball openers
GOLDEN, Colo., Aug. 29, 2008 -- Winona State University opened its season women's volleyball season by dropping matches in the Days Inn Golden Oredigger Classic. It was a 3-2 loss to Chadron State College of Nebraska and also 3-2 t0 the host Colorado School of Mines. Against Chadron State, Winona State rallied from a 0-2 deficit to tie the match and then lost the fifth set by a 15-12 count. It was nearly the same in the second match, only this time Winona State lost 15-11 in the fifth and deciding set after taking a 2-1 lead. Against Colorado Mines, Alysha Pettit, Jenna Padley and Kerry Daly all had nine kills apiece. Mollie Bjelland recorded 34 assists for Winona State . On defensive Rudi Balich led the Warriors with 21 digs. Pettit and Daly each came up with four blocks. Against the School of Mines, Daly and Padely each came up with 15 kills. Bjelland posted 44 assists. Balich had 28 digs. Pettit came up with a team-high blocks.Statistics: Chadron match
Statistics: Colorado Mines match
| COURT CONVICTIONS WEEK ENDING AUG. 29, 2008 IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT UNDERAGE BOOZING Patrick R. Davis, 20, 729-1/2 E. Fourth, 45 days and $80. Zachariah Robert Higgins, 18, Rochester, Minn., $182. Andrew C. Hindrichs, 19, Mazeppa, Minn., 30 days and $605. Luke Andrew Miller, 18, Coon Rapids, Minn., $180. Kelly L. Pomeroy, 18, 11 Lenox, 30 days and $505. Jordan James Stahl, 18, Windom, Minn., $180. LOUD PARTYING Jack D. Dombrook, 22, 4140 W. Seventh, $260. Karl A. Pellowski, 22, 73 E. King, $260. Ryan K. Thomas, 21, 1600 Valley Lane, $130.
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Tech looks to local artists
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 29, 2008 -- Local artists have been commissioned to create uniquely Winona art for the Southeast Tech campus under a state law the requires 1 percent of construction budgets to go to art. Works include scenics by Julia Crozier, abstracts by Greg Inman, stained glass by Reinarts Studio, and landscapes by Larry Veeder. In a Winona Post article by Cynthia Porter, Crozier said the local artists created art for specific campus places -- a custom touch not possible when institutions go catalog-shopping for warehoused art.| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 28, 2008 A student reported at 4 p.m. that she allowed her friend to use her bike and it was stolen from outside the Tau dorm. Theike was unlocked. Security cited several students at 8:35 p.m. for lighting fireworks and throwing them underneath vehicles. |
WSU READY TO BUILD
$30 MILLION DORM
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 28, 2008 -- Architectural renderings of a long-delayed 400-bed Winona State dorm construction project were unveiled by university Vice President Kurt Lohide. Construction will begin in April with occupancy for the Fall 2010 semester, Lohide said. The project, a four-story structure with brick facade, has been pegged at $30 million.
The project is a scaled-down version of a plan dating to 2002 for a much more elaborate plan for what was called the Gateway. The earlier plans included student suites wrapped around a central parking ramp with shops and recreational facilities. The plan was scuttled by the state college system budget-planners as too expensive when estimates began climbing toward $60 million because of a global shortage of concrete and building materials. |  $30 MILLION South of high-rise Sheehan dorm |
Vomiting drunk ticketed at WSU dorm
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 28, 2008 -- An emergency response team treated a 19-year-old Winona State University student for intoxication at the Morey dorm. The woman, who had been vomiting, was cited for underage consumption of alcohol.
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Warriors come from behind in 2nd half
WINONA, Minn., Aug, 28, 2008 -- No. 19-ranked Winona State University opened its soccer season, defeating Regis 2-1 in nonconference overtime. Sophomore forward Lauren Sturdivant took a pass from senior Leslie Schumacher and popped in a goal 54 seconds into the overtime for the Warrior victory. The goal capped off a come-from-behind win by the Warriors, who trailed at halftime 1-0, thanks in great part to a Regis goal at 32:03 of the opening period.
In the second half, the Warriors got more on track. Amelia Kasten cracked the scoring ice for the Warriors with a goal at 62:37. Sturdivant also had a hand in that goal with an assist.
Amanda Diehm got the win in the nets for the Warriors. The lone goal by Regis came off a blocked shot by Diehm, but the ball then bounced off a Winona State player and into the net for the goal. In the end Diehm finished with one save. Regis finished with only six total shots. Statistics |  LAUREN STURDIVANT One gaol and key assist |
Bar safe missing, so too $600-plus
WINONA, Minn., Aug 28, 2008 -- A safe containing $600 to $1,2k 00 of checks and credit card receipts was reported stolen overnight from Hei-N Low bar at 529 E. Wabasha St., Deputy Police Chief Paul Bostrack said. A janitor reported the safe missing at 7:16 a.m. Police said a hasp was missing from the inside room where the safe was stored. How entry was gained was under investigation. The safe was a gray Grandall brand, 30 by 30 by 24 inches in size . The safe itself was valued at $400.Write-in business rep Blechinger resigns
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 27, 2008 -- A junior studying business at Winona State University, Kira Blechinger, confirmed that she will resign as a student senator before even taking office. Blechinger accepted the office as a write-in candidate last spring in a confusing set of circumstances in which other candidates for multiple office opted for other Senate seats. About resigning, Blechinger said: "Some things come up over the summer that affect my spare time." The resignation leaves August Whipple as the only senator representing College of Business students. Blechinger's seat will be on the September ballot. Blechinger said she had decided before fall classes began that she would resign but delayed submitting a resignation letter. To student President David Obray, she apologized "for late notice and lack of communication."| MORE |
The Student Senate also has an open seat from the College of Nursing that was not filled in spring elections. Also on the new ballot will be four at-large, three freshman and two grads seats that left until the fall election so new students can choose their reps.
Background: Roster of student senators
Background: Spring election results
Newcomer gets WSU quarterback nod
| WINONA, Minn., Aug. 27, 2008 -- Transfer student Greg Preston will be the Winona State University starting quarterback, football coach Tom Sawyer said. Sawyer said it was a tough choice between Preston, who played two seasons at Division I-AA Tennessee-Martin, and sophomore Amir Ross, who was last season's backup Warrior quarterback. A factor, Sawyer said, was that Ross missed some practices recently because of a minor hamstring injury. Preston, a junior engineering major, transferred to Winona State last spring. As a freshman at Tennessee-Martin, will start Saturday at a Michigan Tech. |  GREG PRESTON Starting quarter- back |  AMIR ROSS Ham- strung |
University ponders art sale for flood repair
IOWA CITY, Iowa., Aug. 27, 2008 -- A valuation of Jackson Pollock's "Mural" at the University of Iowa has been ordered as part of consideration of selling it to help repair damage from flooding that devastated the campus. A member of the university's governing board, Michael Gartner, requested the valuation. It is thought the mural might be worth $232 million. Gartner said he doesn't necessarily favor selling the work but wants to know what options are available for rebuilding the campus. The painting was donated to the university in 1951 by wealthy art collector Peggy Guggenheim.| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 27, 2008 A student suffered an asthma attack in the Quad dorm at 11:50 p.m. An emergency medical team was called. At 7:19 p.m. a student reported the theft of her iPod earlier in the day. Security guards checked on an alcohol violation in the Maria dorm at 11:12 p.m. |
Survey finds students wary of digital textbooks
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2008 -- College students overwhelmingly prefer ink-on-paper textbooks over digital, according to survey by the Student Public Interest Research Groups coalition. About 75 percent said they prefer a printed textbook, and 60 percent said that they would buy print versions even if a free digital copy were available -- if the price were right. Students were critical of current publisher restrictions on how long digital books can be viewed. Printing on many digital versions is restricted to 10 pages, and access expires typically after about 180 days. The survey had about 500 respondents.Scholarship to WSU accounting prof, student
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 27, 2008 -- A Winona State University accounting prof, Gloria McVay, has been awarded a Lean Accounting Summit faculty-student scholarship sponsored by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence and the Institute of Management Accountants McVay and accounting student Samantha Duellman will be attending the Lean Accounting Summit.Oops, valuable Leger painting missing
WELLESLEY, Mass., Aug. 27, 2008 -- Authorities aren't sure what happened to a 1921 painting by the French cubist Fernand Leger at Wellesley College. It may have been thrown out with crates after being shipped back to Wellesley from an Oklahoma exhibit. Or maybe stolen. Sources confirmed that Wellesley has filed an insurance claim. The value of the painting, "Woman and Child," is not certain. Legers average about $2.8 million. The painting was last seen in April being shipped back from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, which had it on loan. Back at Wellesley the painting was supposed to go into a storage vault. It was discovered missing last fall.ELECTION CHIEF
ON REGISTRATION CARD SHORTAGE
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 26, 2008 -- Responding to a complaint that organizers of a student voter registration drive at Winona State University were denied enough registration cards, county Auditor Cherie MacLennan said it was an inventory issue. "My office did not have enough forms on hand to meet their request," said MacLennan, who runs county elections. MacLellan said she referred students to the secretary of state, which had a surplus of the forms. In early August when Winona State student President David Obray asked for registration cards for new students, including 2,000 freshmen, most of them first-time voters, he was given only 50 cards. The same thing happened two years ago when students asked for registration cards.
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MacLennan denied the suggestion that she is creating obstacles for students to register to vote: "I encourage a dialogue between my office and the Student Senate," she said. "My office is here to assist the students.
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MacLennan said too that the problem this year relates to a state-mandated format change in the voter registration application form. County auditors, she said, have to purchase new forms. "Each county," she said, "must pay for their own stock of voter applications with property tax dollars." Abut the legal requirement for universities to make a "good-faith" effort to distribute voter registration cards, MacLennan said that the university is expected "to provide adequate inventories of cards for their students."
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Specifically addressing Obray's early August request for cards, MacLennan said: "In the recent case of WSU requesting voter cards my office did not have enough forms on hand to meet their request and no date as to the delivery of the new ordered forms before the upcoming primary election. Therefore, I suggested that they contact the secretary of state whose office had just informed us that they had a large surplus of the old voter card free for the asking."
Background: Obstacle faces new student voters
Academic award to WSU volleyball team
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 26, 2008 -- The Winona State University women's volleyball team, with a B-plus cumulative grade point average of 3.41, has been recognized the American Volleyball Coaches for a team academic award. Coach Connie Mettille said that her team members said. work hard on the court and in the classroom: Kiersten Arendt, Rudi Balich, Mollie Bjelland, Krista Bogue, Lauren Brown, Kerry Daly, Lisa Dobie, Katie Matel, Crystal Otte, Jenna Padley, Kelsey Penebaker, Alysha Pettit, Carmen Stankowski and Kelly Thompson.UP IN AIR
WSU ADOPTS
TOBACCO-FREE POICY
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2008 -- Winona State University will become a tobacco-free campus in January, including sports facilities where varsity games are played. President Judith Ramaley said the policy is consistent with the university mission to improve health and well-being "by setting an example of healthy practice." Ramaley did not address enforcement issues but said a plan for implementation will be developed. The tobacco ban begins Jan. 12, coinciding with the start of spring semester.
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The existing policy prohibits tobacco with 25 feet of doors and windows, in university cars and inside campus buildings including dorms. Enforcement has been uneven and lax. Former university President Darrell Krueger on relied peer examples to decrease smoking on campus, but campus groups, including a student referendum last spring, have been pressing for an absolute ban. A year earlier an all-campus committee adopted a proposal for a tobacco-free campus. A campus-wide survey completed in last October found 74 percent of survey respondents favorfavors a tobacco ban.Ramaley said the ban is based also on "a review of responses from campus constituency groups." She noted a trend to tobacco-free policies at other colleges.
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Said Ramaley: "Wellness and fitness are a major theme for the university, expressed through our Integrated Wellness Complex, our academic programs and our community partnerships," Ramaley said. "This is the natural next step, to practice what we teach."
Background: Campus smoking ban wins overwhelmingly
Shorty's sold to make room for house
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2008 -- Fire-ravaged Shorty's Bar and Cafe across from the Amtrak depot on Mark Street may be leveled for construction of a duplex or triplex. Kevin Brady of Fountain City, Wis., has bought the property and adjoining house for $120,000, according to county transaction documents. The bar and grill, a morning coffee klastch place and night-time college bar, was destroyed by fire in 2005. Owners Greg and Theresa Fakler decided against trying to rebuild the structure, which had been a workingmen's grill and bar most of its history back to 1890.
After the Faklers' decision not to reopen, there was speculation that Winona State would buy the property as part of a universuty plan to bridge the four blocks between the main campus and the East Lake dorm -- and also to retire the Shorty's liquor license. The university, however, kept its eastward expansion plan across the tracks on Belleview Street. |  AFTER THE FIRE Mark and Center streets |
Background: Shorty's faces $400,000 bill to rebuild
Finances force student newspaper cuts
BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 25, 2008 -- The University of California student newspaper, the Daily Californian, has trimmed its publication schedule and staff because advertising revenue is falling off. Wednesday issues are being dropped, editor and reporter salaries are being reduced, and the staff is being cut 25 percent, said editor Bryan Thomas. He announced a campaign to build an endowment. The goal, Thomas said, is return to a five-days-a-week. The advertising situation mirrors that of the imploding newspaper industry as a whole.| MORE |
The Daily Californian is 135 years old. Since a 1971 dispute with university administrators, the paper has been financially on its own. The paper publishes 10,000 copies.
Regional award to WSU nursing club
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 26, 2008 -- The Winona State University chapter of Kappa Mu received the Regional Showcase of Excellence Award from Sigma Theta Tau for a presentation "Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing." Prof Diane Wrobleski portrayed Nightingale, the nurse who was a pioneer in aseptic technique, nursing education, public health and hospital design. The chapter will be recognized for the presentation in Indianapolis, Ind., on Sept. 26.Movie buff produces WSU radio show
| WINONA, Minn., Aug. 25, 2008 -- A library technician at Winona State University, Nathan Wardinski, is producing a radio show, "Sounds of Cinema," that will air on campus station KQAL at 4 p.m. Sundays. The one-hour-long program includes film music, information on new releases, and reviews. KQAL manager Mike Martin described the Wardinski program as a "serious discussion." Said Martin "Many mainstream media outlets have reduced the discussion of film to box office grosses and celebrity gossip. This program is intended to open up a greater understanding of the medium, making us all better consumers." The show, also, is syndicated to station KMSU at Minnesota-Mankato. Wardinski holds degrees in radio-television-film and creative writing. He blogs at Maverick at the Movies. |  RADIO SHOW DEBUTS Goal: To promote understanding |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 25, 2008 A threatening note was reported in the Minne classroom building at 11:24 a.m.. The note, it was learned, had originated in a class project and was not intended as a threat. At 10:20 a.m. an employee reported a harassment incident . |
Turncoat announcement: Penny favors McCain
DENVER, Colo., Aug. 25, 3008 -- Former Rep. Tim Penny, D-Minn., stole a little thunder from the opening day of the Democratic national convention by announcing his support of the Republican presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain. Penny, a Winona State University grad who represented southern Minnesota in Congress, spoke at a GOP-arranged news conference. Penny said he went to Congress with McCain in 1982 and worked with him on a number of issues on which McCain sought bipartisan coalitions. At the news conference, Penny was among several independents and moderate Democrats who spoke for McCain. Penny is chairing Minnesota Citizens for McCain. Penny is a maverick who worked closely with independent Jesse Ventura when he was governor. Penny lost a bid for governor himself in 2002.Background: Races that campus people are watching
Advertising vet joins WSU faculty
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2008 -- An advertising buyer for the giant retailer Target, Tanya Rolfson, has joined the Winona State University masscom faculty. Rolfson, herself a Winona State masscom grad, holds a master's degree in communication from Bethel University. She has taught for the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the Art Institutes International Minnesota. At Winona State she teaches courses formerly taught be Becky McConnell, who left the faculty. Rolfson, known to Winona State classmates by maiden name Ryan, has worked all sides of the advertising business, including client, agency, media and production house.| MORE |
At the ad agency Carmichael Lynch, Rolfson worked on Harley Davidson, Northwest Airlines, Solomo and VeggieTales accounts. Earlier she was the Minneapolis Business Journal. Most recently, at Target, she managed an annual creative budget of $15 million.
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 24, 2008 Security guards picked up a strong odor in the science building. Fireifghters discovered a malfunctioning vent. |
Body may be that of missing prof
IOWA CITY, Iowa, Aug. 24, 2008 --A body found in a park may be that of a University of Iowa polituac science prof who disappeared last week after a report that he solicited sexual favors from female students in exchange for better grades. The prof, Arthur Miller, had disappeared into the park five days earlier, reportedly with carrying a high-powered rifle. Police said the body could not be identified immediately.Education prof leads China conference
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 24, 2008 -- A Winona State University prof, Mary Jane Guy, was co-director of a two-week educational leadership conference in China in partnership with Virginia Tech.Block parties to signal solidarity against crime
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2008 -- Neighborhood block parties throughout the city, three in the Winona State University neighborhood, are planned Tuesday as as a show of solidarity that criminal behavior will not be tolerated. The parties are the National Night Out project to strengthen neighborhoods. Winona police community liaison officer Kevin Kearney said that McGruff the Crime Dog would make the rounds. Coordinators for the Winona State-area parties are Mary Jane Guy, Jay Kohner and Laura Preim. People weree couraged to leave outdoor lights on as a sign of support.Date: Tuesday, Aug. 26
Time: 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Place: Sanborn Street between Huff and Harriet (Winona State, sponsor)
Harriet Street between King and Howard (Winona State)
Sanborn and Franklin streets (Winona State)
Near Gabrych Park (Sponsored by East End Watch)
Howard Street between Vine and Laird (Howard Street Watch)
Fourth Street between Walnut and Market (Valleyview Tower Watch)
Druey Court (Maplewood Townhomes Watch)
Fifth Street between Walnut and Market (East Fifth Street Watch)
Belleview Street (Belleview East Watch)
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RECENT DAYS IN THE CITY POSTED AUG. 23, 2008 MALL RESTROOM. A handicap access restroom is being built at the Winona Mall/ The contractor, Rush Creek Ltd., listed the projectproject at $55,000 in a building permit application. NEW JUDGE. A 17-year veteran as an assistant county prosecutor, Nancy Bostrack, was sworn in as a Third Judicial District Court. Bostrack was appointed to the $129,000 job by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. She will be on the ballot in 2010 for a second term. Background: Bostrack to judgeship MCGIVER BOMB. Police mailed citations to two teen-age men for a homemade explosive device that shattered glass at the former Burger King near Winona Mall. The device, a yellow liquid and foil inside a soda bottle, exploded in the drive-trough lane about 8:30 p.m., Wednesday. Witnesses said a group of young people scattered when the bomb went off. No one was injured. The charges against the teens, age 18 and 17: Disorderly conduct and public nuisance. |
Police: Truck, tire iron used as weapons
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2008 -- Two men were jailed after a series of assaults, one involving a tire iron, in the Winona State University neighborhood. In one incident, about 3 a.m., the driver of a red pickup truck rammed a 19-year-old man at about 30 mph at the Kwik Trip at Huff and Sarnia, police said. The victim flipped into the air and hit the windshield. The truck, police said, jumped a curb and raced off. At the Winona hospital, the decision was made to fly the victim to a Rochester hospital fro serious injuries. The victim, police said, had been in a fight 1-1/2 hours earlier near Sarnia and Walnut streets, about seven blocks away, in which a 20-year-old man suffered head cuts and a 19-year-old man suffered a bloody nose. One of the men said he was hit with a tire iron.| MORE |
After the Kwik Trip incident, policed spotted a red pickup with a dented hood and shattered windshield. The driver was arrested. Later police arrested a second man and located a tire iron in a garbage container.
Biden is Obama's vice president pick
CHICAGO, Ill., Aug. 23, 2008 -- In a 3 a.m. text message to supporters, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama announced that his running mate would be Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. Biden chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Obama supporters see as derailing Republican criticism that Obama is light on international issues. Biden and Obama have an easy relationship, which also favored him. On foreign affairs, Biden's two-day trip to the Republic of Georgia after the Russian invasion gives him current credibility on oil-rich Middle East issues and Soviet and European relations. Biden, 65, was elected to the Senate first in 1972.Background: Races that campus people are watching
Thieves cart off flavored vodka
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2008 -- Burglars carted off six bottles of flavored vodka in a break-in at Fifth Street Liquor, police said. Access was through a window that was busted in. The liquor was valued at $60 to $80.WSU begins trimming grad requirements
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2008 -- The graduation requirements at Winona State need to be pared to meet a mandate from the Legislature, the university's academic vice president, Sally Johnstone, said. The change, from 128 credits for a bachelor's degree to 120, means two fewer courses for graduation for most students. Johnstone said the faculty curriculum committee will be working through details. Another Legislature-mandated change is a 60-credit max for associate degrees.| MORE |
Guidance on implementing the changes will come from the state chancellor's office in St. Paul, Johnstone said. "Minnesota is not the first state to do this," she said. "Some states say students should complete a bachelor's degree in four years and others, like Minnesota, focus on the number of credits instead." The changes will be phased by the year 2010, she said. Currently enrolled students will not be affected.
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About the Legislature's role in curricular policy, Johnstone said: "This is a growing movement that states legislators are taking an active hand in changing."
Reporter: Chelsey Wilson
Bare-ass debate coach fired at Fort Hays
FORT HAYS, Kan., Aug. 23, 2008 -- The debate coach at Fort Hays State University was fired for mooning judges at a national tournament. The incident was last spring but became as issue only when a clip was posted recently on YouTube. The clip has the coach, William Shanahan, dropping his shorts in front of judges after a heated exchange. Shanahan was swearing and gesturing violently. The clip has been removed from YouTube. Shanahan had coached the Fort Hays debate team years and he once led it to a national championship.| MORE |
The university president, Ed Hammond, called Shanahan's display a breach of faculty duty. Shanahan was a tenured professor of communication. Hammond, also, suspended the debate team for a year because of other videos that showed students swearing and yelling during the competition.
WSU tests soak-through parking surface
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2008 -- Soak-through paving for parking lots is being tried at Winona State University. A new lot at the Tau Center on the West Campus has been covered with a packed mix of 60 percent pea gravel, 40 percent gravel and a less-than-usual amount of sand. Under the pressed material is a layer of aggregate and a filter layer that allowed gravity to pull the water directly into the ground rather than be diverted to storm sewers.| MORE |
The university's construction coordinator, Bruno Ronkowski, said the pervious surfacing, the first attempted in southern Minnesota, will he watched over the winter. If the surface proves durable, the university will use it in the future as part of its environment-sustainability program, he said.
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The problem with traditional paving is that it is a impervious, blocking ground absorption and forcing water to run off into channels and storm sewers. The channeled water increases likelihood for flooding
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 23, 2008 Several persons were stopped by security guards for possession of alcohol at 11:15 p.m. When the persons ran, security guards and police gave chase. One individual, a non-student, was arrested as a minor consuming. A student was injured jumping on an inflatable in the Kryzsko courtyard at 5:57 p.m. An emergency nedical team was called. |
Book featuring WSU trees into new edition
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 23, 2008 -- A Winona State prof and a groundskeeper. whose book "The Trees of Winona State University" was nominated for a Minnesota book award, is being revised for a second edition. The new edition is scheduled fro release this fall, said prof Tim Grier, who photographed campus trees for the book. Senior groundskeeper Bill Meyer is the co-author. "We originally printed 2,000 copies of the book, and there are only 200 left, which is good," Grier said.| MORE |
For the new edition Grier has no shortage of images, 50,000 in all. The number itself is a problem. "It takes me up to five hours just to pick one picture of a tree to use," he said. He has 300 different frames of one featured tree. For each page of the book, you only use four photographs of one tree.
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Why a new edition and not just a reprint? A lot has changed, Grier said. Maps needed updating to guide readers to trees. The new edition will be in both hard and soft covers. Pages will total 130. The first edition had 96 pages. Height and width are trimmed 15 percent.
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"Every picture is taken on campus and one thing that's interesting is that no other university has done this before," Grier said.
Reporter: Courtney Rappa
Background: Book shows off campus forest
Researchers: Profiling may curb cheating
NEWARK, Ohio, Aug. 22, 2008 -- Students who cheat have weaker self-images and bleaker outlooks on life, according to psychologists at Ohio State University-Newark who created profiles of 450 undergrads. Honest students have a more positive view of others, said Sarah Staats, a co-author of the study. The findings suggest new tools for targeting audiences for anti-cheating campaigns, Staats said. The research found that students who said they had not cheated in the past month or year and had no plans to cheat in the future possessed qualities like courage, empathy and honesty. Also, non-cheaters were less likely to believe that their peers had cheated.| MORE |
Students who scored lower on courage, empathy and honesty not only reported having cheated but believed that other students cheated more often than they themselves did. This belief rationalized their own cheating.
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The research found 47 percent students saw themselves not cheating in the future, 24 percent saw themselves cheating, and 29 percent were undecided. Said Staats: "Interventions may have a real opportunity to influence at least a quarter of the student population."
| COURT CONVICTIONS WEEK ENDING AUG. 22, 2008 IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT UNDERAGE BOOZING Adam Thomas Shea, 20, St. Charles, Minn., $405.
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Cops tag six underage boozers
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2008 -- Police have resumed foot patrols in the downtown bar district and neighboring student-housing neighborhood, Deputy Police Chief Paul Bostrack said. It's a fall ritual for the new semester at the colleges. On Thursday night and into early Friday officers cited six young people for underage boozing. The tickets generally mean a $177 fine. Most of the incidents were within a few blocks from the Winona State University campus, Bostrack said.| MORE |
About 10:40 p.m. cops stopped and ticketed three 20-year-olds, two women and a man, near King and Harriet streets. Within the hour they ticketed an 18-year-old woman in the250 block of West King Street. About 1:30 a.m., cops ticketed two men, age 19 and 18, near Wabasha and Johnson streets.
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One goal of the foot patrols, Bostrack said, is to head off vandalism.
R.I.P.: Ruth M. (Modjeski) Thilmany
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2008 -- The long-time owner with her husband of Johnnie's East Side Bar, Ruth Thimlany, died at a nursing home at age 84. Her husband, John H. Thilmany Sr., died earlier.Southeast Tech wins grant for radiography
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2007 -- Southeast Technical has received a $2 million federal grant for a new two-year degree program in radiography and certification programs in four other medical fields -- mammography, pharmacy, phlebotomy and ultrasound. Radiography is a growing career area involving internal body images for examination. Nate Emerson, vice president for student affairs, said classes of 25 students are expected to begin the every semester.OBSTACLE FACES WSU STUDENTS
FOR VOTER REGISTRATION
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2008 -- A student get-out-the-vote project at Winona State University has encountered problems again obtaining voter registration cards for upcoming elections. Student President David Obray said he requested 2,000 registrations cards at the office of the county auditor but was given only 50. Obray said the law requires that the university make a "good-faith" effort to distribute voter registration cards.
Obray has asked the MSUSA statewide student association to report the matter to the secretary of state. It is the secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, who is responsible for elections in Minnesota, and county Auditor Cherie MacLennan, who is responsible for elections in Winona County. In the meantime, Obray has asked MSUSA campus organizer Holly Davis to bring the requested number of voter registration cards from St. Paul so the Winona State Student Senate registration program can proceed.
Local primaries for City Council, County Board and School Board elections are Sept. 9. National elections follow Nov. 4.
The problem in obtaining registration cards has echoes to 2006, when sophomore Jared Stene, chair of the Student Senate Student Services Committee, was denied sufficient voter registration cards by MacLennan. Stene finally obtained the cards after the secretary of state intervened. The issue fueled student suspicions that the local community would rather that college students be disenfranchised, especially on local ballot issues because , by sheer numbers, students can influence elections. Winona State has 8,000-plus students, including 2,000 freshmen who mostly would be first-time voters. The county's population is 50,000, the city's 27,000.
Stene's 2006 work propelled him to high visibility as a student senator. The following spring he was elected student president. He decided in November 2007 of a previously undiagnosed congenital disorder. Background: Students given registration cards, finally |
JARED STENE Getting the same run-around? |
R.I.P.: Marie (Graham) Horton
WINONA, Minn., Aug, 22, 2008 -- A 1942 College of St. Teresa grad, Marie Horton, 89, who served seven years on the Winona City Council, died in a Phoenix, Ariz., hospital. Death was attributed t pancreatitis. Besides being elected to the City Council, Horton also served 11 years on the city Housing and Redevelopment Commission. she had living near a daughter in Arizona since 1998. Her St. Teresa degree was in sociology.Pilot ground school set at WSU
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 22, 2008 -- A federally approved aviator ground school begins Tuesday at Winona State University. Prof George Bolon said the course helps students pass the required written examination for private pilots. Registration can be competed at the first of second class, Bolon said.Date: Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Aug. 26
Time: 7 to 10 p.m.
Place: Stark 106
Researcher: Why false-positives for sports doping
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 22, 2008 -- Drug-testing practices are so flawed that the only result is that the value of athletics is being undercut, according to researcher Don Berry of the Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. Writing in the journal Nature, Berry said: "Cheaters evade detection, innocents are falsely accused, and sport is ultimately suffering." What's wrong with the testing? For one thing, Berry said, tests are not always validated by checking against samples. The result is that it is impossible to know how many dopers are incorrectly cleared and how many clean athletes are falsely accused, he said: "If conventional doping testing were to be submitted to a regulatory agency such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to qualify as a diagnostic test for a disease, it would be rejected."| MORE |
Berry raised statistical probability issues. A hypothetical test that correctly determines that 99 out of 100 samples but goofs up on one would generate a three-quarters chance in the next 26 samples that a mistake would occur and a clean athlete would be identified as doping, he said.
WSU prof co-authors Canada media text
| WINONA, Minn., Aug. 21, 2008 -- Winona State University prof John Vivian and Mohawk College prof Peter Maurin wrote the fifth Canadian edition of the textbook "The Media of Mass Communication." The edition was published by Pearson Canada. The Canadian edition and also latest U.S. revision, now its ninth edition, have been available for fall adoptions. The book is the most adopted in its field in both countries. Background: Media text enters ninth edition |  "MEDIA OF MASS COMMUNICATION" Fifth Canadian edition |
Catholic college turns away pro-choice advocate
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Aug. 21, 2008 -- The University of San Diego, a Catholic institution, withdrew its invitation to feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether for an endowed chair after complaints she once served on the governing board of of the abortion-rights organization Catholics for Choice. The abortion issue seemed to be a litmus test at the university. A university spokesperson said that Reuther's public position are in "direct conflict" with the values inherent in the endowed position. Revoking the invitation has stirred a protest that Catholic doctrine has trumped academic freedom. Among 2,000 signers of a protest petition are 50 faculty members. The petition, sponsored by two women's religious groups, asks the university to re-appoint Ruether to the endowed chair or to sponsor her in a lecture on academic freedom.| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 21, 2008 Security guards removed an an individual from a concert in Memorial Hall at 9:30 p.m. because of his behavior. At 11:37 p.m. security guards investigated a report of drug use outside of Tau dorm but found nothing. Police were called to the Quad dorm for drunk student. |
School Board race narrows to four
ROLLINGSTONE, Minn., Sept. 21, 2008 -- One of the five candidates for the District 3 seat on the Winona County Board, canvas manufacturer Greg Kuehntopp, confirmed that he is withdrawing his candidacy. Because Kuehntop missed a July 17 deadline, his name will be ar on the Sept. 9 primary election ballot. The primary will leave two candidates for the November general election from among Steve Herrick, Mena Kaehler, Berard Siebenaler and Rudie Spitzer.Background: Races that campus people are watching
WSU LAUNCHES
$10 MILLION FUND DRIVE
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 21, 2008 -- Winona State University unveiled a $10 million fund drive to fund scholarships and a range of other projects. Already, university President Judith Ramaley said, 157 donors have pledged $6.4 million. The project, called Light the Way, seeks $4 million for scholarships, $3.5 million toward a wellness center that includes an indoor track and workout gym, and $2.5 million for the National Child Protection Training Center. The project is the largest to raise funds in the university's history and the first in what the university calls "comprehensive fundraising."
The university has called in consultants in recent years on the feasibility of a capital fund drive. The early conclusion was that the university was not ready. But a 2007 report urged a relatively modest goal for an initial project to assure success. It was important, the report said, to already have a solid head start before an official launch. The Light the Way campaign already has $3 million that the university has told legislators would go toward construction of the wellness center. Scholarships are a perennial magnet for donations, and the campus-based Child Protection Center has attractions for fundraising.
Ramaley said that donor support is a growing need at Winona State. "Our financial circumstances are very different from what they were even a decade ago," she said. "We still offer a first-class education, but with just 29 percent of our funding coming from the state we must think and lead differently." The need for scholarships is increasingly critical, Ramaley said. While tuition costs at Minnesota's state universities have doubled in the past 10 years, average grants increased by only a third, she said. Higher education is moving out of reach for many families, she said. "Increasing funds for scholarships will ensure that a vibrant mix of students with diverse backgrounds, cultures and ideas have access to Winona State University," Ramaley said. "This mix brings considerable value not only to Winona State and our region, but also to the economies and societies where graduates live and work."
Jim Schmidt, the university's fundraising vice president, said the construction of the wellness complex, a 90,000-square-foot facility, will support expanded academic and research programs focused on healthcare and wellness. The complex, he said, will provide a platform for new degree programs, advance new healthcare technologies, and create new partnerships with the university. He specifically mentioned Winona Health. the complex, he said, will foster a holistic approach to wellness. "The purpose of this facility is to create opportunities for WSU students and the community at large to improve their health and well-being," Schmidt said. "External partnerships are critical not only for completing the facility, but also for increasing its value and impact in the region."
Funds for the National Child Protection Training Center will help stabilize erratic budget issues involving federal moneys. The Light the Way campaign, Vieth said, will help expand the center as "the only national organization that has as its goal the elimination of child abuse." Vieth said the center is generating reform. The impact, he said, is positive in the lives of hundreds of millions of children. Background: WSU to unveil long-term project |  FUND DRIVE Expect to see lots of this logo
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College foundation ordered to reveal donors
LEXINGTON, Ky., Aug. 21, 2008 -- The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the University of Louisville must disclose the names of donors to the university foundation, even though the foundation is a separate private corporation. The court found that the foundation, a fund-raising organization should be considered a public agency because t he public has legitimate interests in how the university's fund-raising arm operates. The public interest outweighs any case that cab be made for donors privacy, the court said. At issue are names of 47,000 donors.| MORE |
The Louisville Courier-Journal, a newspaper, had sought the names the state open-records law. The foundation responded that many donors insisted on anonymity and that fundraising could be damaged by revealing names.
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At issue specifically were donations to the McConnell Center for Political Leadership. named for long-time Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who helped found the center. Forty-six corporations and foundations donated to the McConnell center, which raised questions about political favors that could not be answered if the donors were not identified.
Study questions value of extra math homework
BANHAMTON, N.Y., Aug. 21, 2008 -- Exta homework helps only some students achieve better scores on math tests, a new stdy says. Econometricians at the State University of New York-Binghamton and the University of Nevada reported that additional homework is most effective for high and low achievers -- and less so for average achievers. Daniel Henderson, of SUNY-Binghamton, said: "For the average achieving classes, who may have been given too much homework in an attempt to equate them with the high achieving classes, educators could be better served by using other methods to improve student achievement." The study was based eighth-grade students.Breza dissents on Tiger's liquor license
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 3008 -- The City Council voted 5-1 to grant a liquor license for a new Third Street bar, Tiger's, that the owner plans to operate with teen pool hall in the basement. Council member Tim Breza said he saw youth and alcohol as a bad mix -- even though the booze would be upstairs. Owner Greg Yahnke described Tiger's as a billiards club and a dining establishment. Tiger's will serve breakfest, lunch and dinner seven days a week, Yahnke said. The lower level would be a youth center with pool tables, foosball, ping pong and video games.| MORE |
Tiger's will be in at 265 East Third, which is being vacated by the American Legion to move into a new clubhouse adjacent to the East Lake dorm of Winona State University on Sarnia.
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Absent from the Council meeting was Third Ward represetative Deb Salyards. Her ward includes the downtown commercial district and the main Winona State campus.
Bio prof writes cancer case study
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2008 -- A Winona State University biology prof, Bruno Borsari, coauthored a case study on ovarian cancer for introductory classes. The case study, "But I'm Too Young!" deals with cellular and genetic mechanisms that are responsible for causing cancer. The publisher: National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.Cops intrude on drunk's slumber
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2008 -- An 18-year-old drunk sleeping it off in the bed of a pickup truck in the 100 block of East Sarnia Street was cited for underage boozing. Police found the man abut 2:30 a.m. while investigating a report of someone banging on a door at a house in the neighborhood.WSU to unveil long-term project
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2008 -- News reporters have been invited to Winona State University to learn about an initiative that will "positively impact current and future students." Also affected will be the Winona community and children and families for generations to come, the university said in its invitation to the news conference. Details were not announced, although it was expected the announcement would be specific plans for construction of a stand-alone building to house the campus-based National Child Protection Training Center.| MORE |
Expected at the news conference were Judith Ramaley, university vice president; Jim Schmidt, vice president for fundraising; and Vic Veith, director of the National Child Protection Training Center. Schmidt and Vieth have been working on construction funding for the center. Since it was founded the center has been shuttled around campus to space as it's become available. Vieth has talked about a $1 million structure.
Date: Thursday, Aug. 21
Time: 11 a.m.
Place: Outside Somsen Hall
| WSU SECURITY REPORT AUG. 20, 2008 An ambulance crew responded to the Prentiss-Lucas dorm at 1:27 a.m. for a student wifh an asthma attack. A Code Blue alarm was acivated near the gazebo at 10:11 p.m. because a student was having difficulty breathing. An ambulane crew allowed the student to return to her dorm. A city-owned picnic table was taken from campus sometime before Aug. 20, it was reported at 2:45 p.m. Police were notified. |
Preston, Ross vie for starting quarterback
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2008 -- The smart money was on Amir Ross as starting quarterback for Winona State University's football team this fall. Then Greg Preston transferred in after three seasons at the University of Tennessee-Martin. Coach on Sawyer has fueled the competition between Ross and Preston, which he says is sharpening them both. Ross agrees. To Jeff Bersch of the Winona Daily News, Preston said "It makes me want to compete that much more. It makes me focus a lot more. It's going to make me and the team better." Preston struck the same message: "If we work hard, we'll make each other better each day."| MORE |
Preston, 6-foot-3, and 210 pounds, plated in eight games for Tennessee-Martin last season and threw 27 passes. Over three years he led the Skyhawks to a 9-3 record and a conference championship. Ross, 6-foot 3 and 190 pounds, was the backup quarterback to three-year Winona State starter Drew Aber last season.
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Sawyer, in his 13th season coaching at Winona State, has been impressed going back to spring drills with how Ross dealt with the challenge from Preston the newcomer. Sawyer called Preston a teacher. "He was Greg's best teacher in the spring," Sawyer said. "The reason Greg can play in our offense today is because of what Amir did in the spring. But it's made Amir better, too. That's what competition does."
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The season begins Aug. 30 for Winona State at Michigan Tech, a nonconference game. A home stadium scrimmage will be:
Date: Thursday, Aug. 21
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Maxwell Field
Cops cite underage boozers on Howard
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 20, 2008 -- Police cited two Winona State University sophomores, age 20 and 19, in the 300 block of West Howard about 1:50 a.m. for underage consumption of alcohol. Police had been called to check out three or four suspicious men in the neighborhood.KQAL-FM adds Rick Steves travel show
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 19, 2008 -- A new travel show, "Travel with Rick Steves," has been added to programming at Winona State University radio station KQAL at 89.5 FM, station manager Mike Martin said. The program runs Sundays at 3 p.m. Steves is the author of 30 travel guidebooks and longtime host of the "Rick Steves' Europe" television series. About the show, Steves said: "Rather than being the tour guide, as I am on TV, I get to host the coming together of experts on various cultures and travel themes with our callers and listeners."WSU cranberry research seeks diabetic volunteers
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 19, 2008 -- For a study on a possible influence if cranberries on blood-sugars, Winona State University biology researcher Ted Wilson has asked for volunteers with Type II diabetes. Participants will be paid $150. WIlson said that participants must be age 40 to 70, non-smokers and not insulin dependent. Blood will be drawn weekly at a a two-hour study period, Wilson said. The study begins the week of Sept. 8. The deadline for applying: Friday, Aug. 29.| MORE |
With funding from Winona-based nutrient-supplement distributor Watkins, Winona State has conducted several studies in recent years on curative qualities of cranberries. None have been conclusive. The latest study involve Wilson Emily Carrell and Erin Morcomb.
Contact: Ted Wilson
Tough lesson: Minnesota's open container law
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 19, 2008 -- Policeoni foot patrol stopped two Winona State Universuty students, a man and awoman, each carrying an open bottle of beer, and cited them under the state open-container and underage consumption laws. The man was 20, the woman 19. The incident was about 12:20 a.m.near Sanborn and Harriet streets.Extra title for WSU academic chief: Provost
WINONA, Minn., Aug. 19, 2008 -- The academic vice president at Winona State, Sally Johnstone, has been bestowed an additional title -- provost. Making the announcement, university President Judith Ramaley said Johnstone will have direct responsibilities in preparing the institution for reaccreditation. The university's current accreditation expires in Spring 2012.
In U.S. higher education, the title provost usually denotes that the academic vice president is the first among equals at the vice presidential level with senior administrative duties. In the six-campus Minnesota state colleges system, the chief academic officers at all but Minnesota State-Moorhead already carry the title provost and academic vice president.
Johnstone has been at Winona State since 2006. Earlier she was executive director of the Colorado-based Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications. She holds a doctorate in experimental psychology from the University of North Carolina. |  SALLY JOHNSTONE Now provost and vice president for academic affairs |
100-plus college leaders: Drop liquor age to 18
MIDDLEBURY, Vt., Aug.19, 2008 -- The Amethyst Initiative, a campaign to lower the legal drinking age to 18, has support from more than 100 college leaders, said the organizer John McCardell, the retired president of Middlebury College. The organization released the signatories of presidents who support its position in an attempt to generate news coverage. The presdients agree that the 21 age is not working and has created a culture of dangerous binge drinking. The campaign calls on elected officials to weigh the consequences of restrictions and to work rather on helping young adults make responsible decisions about alcohol. Neither presidents Judith Ramaley of Winona State nor WI=illiam Mann of St. Mary's have signed the statement.
The signatories: Vincent Maniaci, American International College |
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