Egypt topic of discussion at public library tonight

Listeners can travel to ancient and modern Egypt via photos and commentary tonight, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Cooper Room of the Brookings Public Library.

They can also join a real trip to Egypt May 12-30 guided by firsthand experts, Madeleine and Alfred Andrawis, professors of electrical engineering and natives of Egypt who will also give the library program.

Travel either way is sponsored by the South Dakota Council on World Affairs, a statewide organization that seeks to engage people in dialogue and understanding about world affairs.

Madeleine Andrawis, a native of Cairo and graduate of Cairo University, has arranged and led four previous tours to Egypt for faculty, career service personnel, and students at South Dakota State University.

Alfred Andrawis, a graduate of Alexandria University, serves as co-leader of the May tour.

Their presentation describes the historical and cultural characteristics of Egypt that make it a major force in the Middle East today.

Questions about the program and tour can be directed to Harriet Swedlund, executive director of the South Dakota Council on World Affairs, 605/688-5416, or by e-mailing harriet.swedlund@sdstate.edu

Madeleine and Alfred Andrawis, SDSU electrical engineering professors and tour guides, offer firsthand knowledge to groups visiting their native Egypt.

Students engage in King challenge event

SDSU students and staff remembered the Reverend Martin Luther King 40 years after his death when they participated in the first Martin Luther King Challenge event Jan. 21.

Students, staff and AmeriCorps VISTA members joined to take on service projects at Brookings Area Habitat for Humanity, Brookings Community Theatre, and United Retirement Center.

Groups were challenged to complete their service projects within a time limit and using only a small amount of seed money.

The event was a joint project by the Office for Diversity Enhancement and Multicultural Affairs Office.

The MLK Challenge was one of hundreds of activities held in states and cities across the nation to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, directing the King Center and the Corporation for National and Community Service to have a day of service reflecting his life and teachings.

For more information, contact Melissa Geddings Thiesse, service-learning consultant, with the Office for Diversity Enhancement, at 688-6896.

SDSU students and staff participating in the MLK Challenge included front row, kneeling from left, James McKinney, Tupelo, Miss; Jeanette Toles, Brookings; and Nick Rodriguez, Santa Ana, Calif. Second row, kneeling from left, Jodi Wuttke, staff; Rachel Lewis, Groton; and Nicole Spry, Anita, Iowa. Standing from left, Dianne Nagy, staff; Linda Rogers, Gutherie, Minn.; Melissa Thiesse, staff; Cameron Kwon, Garden Grove, Calif.; (front) Tanisha Sealy, Brookings; Marie Ngo Kaman, Bowie, Md.; Amanda Eastman, Eden; Keyona Yeldell, Columbus, Ga.; Aaron Koerner, Morris, Minn.; Gabrielle Baldwin, Brandon; and Nicole Vollan, staff.

TRiO Student Support Services to host workshop on managing money

The workshop, “Money Matters: Education to help you manage your money more effectively,” will be held in two sessions at The Union.

The first session will be held Jan. 29 at 12 Noon in SSU Room 260 or Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. The session will cover budgeting basics.

The second session will take place Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. in SSU Room 103 or Feb. 13 at 12 Noon. The session will be about credit basics.

Donna Bittiker, a graduate student and SDSU Extension Educator with Family and Consumer Sciences in Moody County, will present the workshop. The sessions are sponsored by TRiO Student Support Services.

For more information, contact Laurie Johnson, TRiO retention advisor, 688-6653.

Campus sessions to be held on global warming solutions

“Focus the Nation” talks about global climate change in an interactive webcast Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in Rotunda C. The event is sponsored by Project Sustainability.

“Focus the Nation” is a national teach-in group that engages millions of students and citizens with political leaders and decision makers about global warming solutions.

The live, interactive webcast includes Stanford University Climate Scientist Stephen Schneider, sustainability expert Hunter Lovins, green jobs pioneer Van Jones and youth climate leaders talking about solutions to current dilemmas. Audiences can weigh in with cell phone voting.

An informational fair at Main Street in The Union will be held Jan. 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

That afternoon, a lecture series on global climate change takes place from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Volstorff Ballroom at The Union.

Presenters will include: Jihong Cole-Dai, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Carter Johnson, professor of ecology, Department of Horticulture, Forestry, Landscape, & Parks; Matt Hansen, co-director, Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence.

That evening, the film “Black Gold,” sponsored by South Dakota Students for Fair Trade, will be shown in Rotunda C from 7 to 9 p.m. The show traces one man’s fight for a fair price.

For more information, contact Shianne Ovall, 688-5196.

Concentrated feeding operation training in Huron

Environmental training for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations is set for Feb. 5 in Huron.

The program is the first of three offered in 2008 and producers and consultants are encouraged to attend this event, which will be held 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Crossroads Convention Center. The cost is $40 and includes lunch, breaks, and training materials.

Specialists from SDSU, South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will offer the training.

This training fulfills the environmental and manure management training requirement to obtain a livestock permit from the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

To register, contact Candy Willms, 688-5141.

Physics professor & author describes curious events and effects

Jearl Walker, professor of physics at Cleveland State University and the author of “The Flying Circus of Physics” is coming to campus Thursday, Feb. 7 to astound and amaze his listeners. His presentation is set for 7 p.m. in Rotunda D.

Walker demonstrates such stunts as having a student stand on a board imbedded with nails as it lays on his chest.

The professor was led to such demonstrations as the bed-of-nails feat, sticking his fingers in molten lead and walking-on-hot-coals for physics teachers and PBS television audiences during a quest to show the real-life relevancy of physics.

Walker has also authored 152 articles for “The Amateur Scientist” section of “Scientific American” on such topics as the physics of judo to the physics of béarnaise sauce and lemon meringue pies.

For more information, contact Larry Browning in the Physics Department at 688-5428.

A student balances on a bed of nails to show the amazing effects of physics on the real world. Countless numbers of physics teachers have hurt themselves trying to repeat the stunt in their classrooms.

Extension service to host soybean forums

The Cooperative Extension Services of South Dakota, Minnesota, and North Dakota will host two soybean integrated pest management forums Feb. 7-8.

The regional forums will feature nationally recognized experts from throughout the Midwest. The Feb. 7 event will be held at the Courtyard by the Marriott Hotel in Moorhead, Minn., while the Feb. 8 event will be held at the Swiftel Center in Brookings.

The Northern Great Plains Soybean IPM Forum will offer producers, consultants, agribusinesses, Extension and research staff, and others answers to a wide range of questions about soybean integrated pest management. The events begin with registration at 7:30 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m. The cost is $15 and it includes lunch.

For more information, contact Kelley Tilmon at Kelley.tilmon@sdstate.edu or visit http://plantsci.sdstate.edu/conferences/ipmforum [External Hyperlink].

SDSU Calendar of Events

This calendar is prepared by the Office of University Relations. For more information, to have campus events included in the next calendar, or to make address corrections, please contact April Clarin at University Relations, SCM 105, Box 2230, (605) 688-6161, or by email at april.clarin@sdstate.edu. Thank you.

Campus Kudos

Norman Gambill, head of the Department of Visual Arts, will present public lectures today, Jan. 28 and Wed., Jan. 30 at 3:30 p.m. in the South Dakota Art Museum auditorium. The title for his lectures,
“Chinese literati painters of the Yüan, Ming and Qing Dynasties,” examines landscape, animal flower paintings and calligraphy from these periods.

The dynasties are covered in Gambill’s “History of World Art II” class.

Gambill’s lectures are open to the public to provide historical background for the current exhibition in the Ritz Gallery, “Birds, Flowers and Calligraphy: Modern Chinese Painting by Dingzhi He.”

Dingzhi He is a visiting artist from the People’s Republic of China. A reception for for the Helen J. Van Zante Visiting Artist will be held Feb. 1 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. n the Ritz Gallery.

“Proud Rooster Singing” by Dingzhi He, Chinese ink on rice paper, is part of the exhibition in the Ritz Gallery at SDSU.

For professor emeritus of music John Colson, the pressing issues of life include Beethoven, Sibelius and how do you play a brass instrument when you have braces, anyway?

Colson isn’t just offering theory and opinions on that last topic. He wrote the book — literally.

John Colson’s “Braces & Brass” helps trumpet and French horn players — those who tend to have the most difficulty — continue to make progress with their chosen instruments after getting orthodontic braces.

Colson, who spent 34 years as the conductor and music director of the South Dakota State University-Civic Symphony Orchestra, said the difficulty is enough to derail some promising musicians. But it doesn’t have to.

Colson’s book offers study materials and practice procedures and an assignment guide that leads students through gradually more strenuous stages.

The focus is on French horn and trumpet because musicians who play other brass instruments don’t have the same difficulty coping with orthodontics.

It started when triplet sister trumpet players, Mary, Kristin and Sarah Stoneback, were fitted with braces and experienced difficulty playing their horns. Known today as the Stoneback Sisters and Stoneback Brass, they are acclaimed professional trumpet players — and they say Colson’s exercises helped them through the difficult time they had playing with braces.

Their dad, Ron, a professional musician and author of instrumental music books of his own, sought help from Colson and suggested Colson publish his helpful methods.

“Braces & Brass” is available online from RBC Music, http://www.rbcmusic.com/ [External Hyperlink]. Click on “Braces & Brass” and then on “Instrumental Solos & Ensembles.”

John Colson’s newly published book “Braces & Brass,” gives answers to the dilemma of orthodontic braces while playing musical instruments, particularly for trumpet and French Horn players.

New TV Episodes of Pursuits to Air

Three new episodes of the “Pursuits” TV program will air in February.

“Pursuits” enlists a group of undergraduate media production students to interview several graduate students about their research via student-hosted and directed TV-studio interviews.

The 30-minute TV program will air on Mediacom, Channel 2 beginning on Feb 5.

The show is developed in the spirit of the Morrill Act and serves an outreach mission of a land-grant university to inform the public of the research and scholarship being done by graduate students in a variety of disciplines.

Air dates: Feb. 5, 7 & 9
Time: 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 7 p.m., 11 p.m.
Pursuits - Fall 2007 Episode #1

Hosts and Guests: Lydia Farber interviews Kathleen Grode (English) about her thesis, ”From Crucifixes to Chainsaws: the Story of Transition from English Literature to Modern Horror.”

Zeke Richter interviews Matt Pajle (Water Management) about automated water-read systems in rural areas.

Nicole Townswick discusses the possible affect that ethanol production will have on cropland with Jordan Graesser (Geography).

Jordanne Blair interviews Ryan Brunner (Agricultural Economics) about the economic feasibility of renewable fuels with a focus on ethanol.

Kellyn Ferrell interviews Sam Dwire (Plant Science) about phenotype plasticity in grass.

Directors: Char Luze, Carl Deardoff, Cody Brown, Dan Nelson, and Jenna Mann.

Woman of Distinction nominees sought

Nominees for the SDSU Woman of Distinction Award are being sought by the Women’s Studies Committee, in conjunction with the Quest for Equity Committee to recognize four women on campus for their accomplishments.

One woman in each of the following categories will be recognized:
• Administration and Exempt Employees
• Faculty
• Career Service
• Students

Nomination deadline is Mar. 3.

For more information, contact Co-Chairs Laura Diddle-Hildebrant, Music, or Mary Arnold, Journalism.

Attention advisors, presidents of student organizations

The Board of Regents award applications and supporting materials have been emailed to advisors and presidents of student organizations as listed in the Office of Student Activities.

The deadline date is Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. For questions or concerns, contact Adam Karnopp, 688-4960, or adam.karnopp@sdstate.edu.

News on Newsline

To publicize an event or congratulations on “Newsline,” please submit information by the preceding Thursday at 2 p.m. to Kyle Johnson kyle.johnson@sdstate.edu or Jeanne Jones Manzer jeanne.jonesmanzer@sdstate.edu

Position Announcements

The Board of Regents has implemented PeopleAdmin for SDSU and all institutions within the BOR system. Vacancies are posted on the shared, Online Employment System. Applications are accepted electronically.

For more information regarding current SDSU job postings and the on-line employment process, visit http://yourfuture.sdbor.edu [External Hyperlink].