Holiday Open House at president’s home

SDSU President David L. Chicoine and his wife, Marcia, invite all faculty and staff to a Holiday Open House at their home, Woodbine Cottage. The open house is Dec. 18 from 2 to 5:30 p.m.

Sun Grant Center to hold open house

The North Central Sun Grant Center will hold an open house Thursday, Dec. 20 in its new offices of the Enterprise Center at 815 Medary Ave.

The open house will be held in the third floor conference room from 2 to 4 p.m. A brief program starts at 2:30 p.m. Coffee and cake will be served.

The North Central Sun Grant Center is one of five regional Sun Grant centers. Land-grant university teachers, researchers, and Extension professionals deal increasingly with bioenergy and other new agricultural products through projects coordinated by the Sun Grant centers.

Jim Doolittle, is the director of the North Central Sun Grant Center.

Community singers invited to join Christmas Concert

The SDSU Department of Music in conjunction with the Heartland Opera Troupe and the Dakota Men’s Ensemble will present a Community Christmas Concert Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center.

Singers of all ages and ability levels are invited to sing along with the “Messiah” choruses. A choral rehearsal will be held Thursday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln Music Center.

The program consists of Menotti’s one-act Christmas opera, “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and the Christmas portion of Handel’s “Messiah.”

Tickets for the Dec. 22 concert are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Children under 12 and singing participants are free.

For more information, contact Steve Grives, 688-4616.

The Pride … is back … for the Rose Parade!

Three hundred thirty-four members of the Pride of the Dakotas marching band will leave Dec. 27 for California to perform in the 119th annual Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

The seven-mile-long parade consists of equestrian groups, elaborately constructed floats made up of thousands of flowers and other botanical material, and marching bands. The parade is seen in more than 150 international territories and shown in the U.S. on ABC, NBC, HGTV, Travel Channel and Discovery HD television.

The Pride marched in the 2003 Rose Parade. Typically only bands from universities of participating Rose Bowl football teams march in the parade. However, after the SDSU band’s impressive, crowd-pleasing appearance five years ago, the Pride was invited to return.

“Mr. C.L. Keedy, president of the Tournament of Roses committee who went through various posts for 25 years before rising to head up the event, told us it was our band’s bold, crisp look and strong sound that convinced them to invite us back,” said Jim McKinney, director of the Pride who marched in his first Rose Parade in 1968 as a student in the Hapeville (Ga.) High School band.

In order to assure their timely appearance for South Dakota TV audiences, the Pride will be in the last third of more than 90 bands marching in the Jan. 1 parade. Their appearance is scheduled before cameras about 11:15 a.m. CDT on New Year’s Day.

You can follow the Pride’s California trip on the SDSU Web site after Dec. 27 by clicking on the Pride hat logo.

The crisp sound and snappy stature of the 2007 Pride of the Dakotas marching band filled the field at Coughlin Alumni Stadium in Brookings this fall. The same, polished musicians will take that spirited entertainment to California after Christmas.

Visiting artist from People’s Republic of China here after new year

Visiting artist Dingzhi He will show his modern color and black ink paintings while he visits students and faculty in the Department of Visual Arts at South Dakota State University. The artist’s work will be on display from Jan. 13 to Feb. 8, 2008 in the Ritz Gallery on campus.

Dingzhi He’s paintings and calligraphy show highly artistic ingenuity, according to Norman Gambill, head of the Department of Visual Arts and director of the Ritz Gallery.

The exhibition, called “Birds, Flowers, and Calligraphy: Modern Chinese Paintings by Dingzhi He,” will be on display from mid January to early February 2008 in the Ritz Gallery, located between Mathews and Brown Residence Halls in the center of campus.

A public reception will be held in the Ritz Feb. 1 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Gambill said Dingzhi He’s work shows close observation of life forms in order to discover natural animal behavior rather than assigning human, anthropocentric, points of view.

Dingzhi He’s visit is co-sponsored by the Dr. Helen J. Van Zante Visiting Artist Endowment, the Office of Diversity Enhancement and the Department of Visual Arts at SDSU.

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

Nebraska artist photographs New York’s media messages

Nebraska photographer Roger Bruhn’s newest collection entitled “New York Series,” will be on display through April 6 at the South Dakota Art Museum.

In his collection of photographs taken over a four-year period, the surrealistic images of metropolitan life comment on the complicated relationship between advertising, consumerism, and daily life.

In many of the collection’s photographs, there is an emphasis on messages sent by the media, such as the prevalence of sexuality, violence and, on occasion, humor.

As an artist, Bruhn’s paintbrush is a camera that fits comfortably in his pocket. Thus, the small digital camera was readily accessible to capture the unique imagery of New York City.

Bruhn received his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1965 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he remained to continue to study both philosophy and philosophy of art until 1970. For 40 years, Bruhn worked as a committed and keen photographer.

Roger Bruhn’s photo “Severed Head” was taken in 2002 in New York City.

Make plans for Career Service Family Fun Night

The Career Service Family Fun Night is Jan. 5 when the SDSU men’s and women’s basketball teams host IPFW (Indiana Purdue/Fort Wayne).

Two $100 Hobo Dough cards will be raffled off with the winners announced that evening.

Tickets are available from the following career service advisory council members:

Mary Kidwiler, 688-5133, mary.kidwiler@sdstate.edu; Casey Sampson, 688-4435, casey.sampson@sdstate.edu; Betty Knutsen, 688-5447, betty.knutsen@sdstate.edu; Jodi Pierce, 688-6275, jodi.pierce@sdstate.edu; Tom Henley, 688-5564, thomas.henley@sdstate.edu; Tyke Knudson, 696-8280, tyke.knudson@ces.sdstate.edu; Alvin Mielke, 688-4622; Michael Kilber, 688-5117, michael.kilber@sdstate.edu.

SDSU spreads holiday cheer by donating toys to Project Joy

SDSU students, faculty, and staff got into the holiday spirit by donating more than $8,500 in toys and clothing to Project Joy, a local charitable effort.

Project Joy provides gifts to children in need in the Brookings area during the holiday season.

“While Project Joy trees and toy collection sites were located in The Union and the Agricultural Heritage Museum, the largest donations came from the student residence halls,” said Melissa Geddings Thiesse, co-chair of the SDSU effort. Thiesse and co-chair Nicole Vollan are service-learning consultants with Americorps VISTA on campus in the Office for Diversity Enhancement.

The Department of Residential Life supplied artificial trees to publicize the toy drive and held a contest to see which residence hall could raise the most for Project Joy.

Students donated individually, held fund-raisers and asked their hall governments to allocate money to the cause. Pierson Hall raised the most, collecting more than $1,500, which won them a pizza party from Papa Johns Pizza.

South Dakota State University's 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

Michele Elbers, accounting assistant with facilities and services at SDSU has been named the December Career Service Employee of the Month.

A reception is planned for this afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. in the foyer in front of the Doner Auditorium in the Administration Building. A presentation will be made at 3 p.m.

Elbers’ supervisor, Jennifer Kindt, summed up her key attributes by saying she is a team player, hard worker, dependable, and knowledgeable.

As SDSU continues to grow, supporters of Elbers’ nomination said she keeps a huge database of information about SDSU buildings and construction projects with accurate, up-to-date information.

“During this past year, there were more than 100 projects totaling greater than $30 million worth of work,” said Dean Kattelmann, assistant vice president of facilities and services.

Part of what Elbers’ database does is to provide accurate information that keeps the Board of Regents and administrators informed. Letters from people inside and outside of her department called her devoted to SDSU, handling things in a pleasant manner and always with a smile.

Elbers grew up in Brookings with six brothers, the daughter of Elaine and Ronald Tingle. She and her husband, Bryan, have two children.

Michele, “Mick,” Elbers is the December Career Service Employee of the Month.

A retirement reception for Jeff Schumacher will be held Dec. 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 104B of the Old Horticulture Building. He is retiring as lead computer operator for the Administrative and Research Computing Department after 39 years of service to SDSU. For more information, contact Del Johnson, 688-6134.

The SDSU Foundation invites the campus community to join in saying a farewell to Development Director Liz Rezek. She will be honored Dec. 20 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the second floor conference room at the SDSU Foundation.

Rezek has been a familiar face and friend to many on campus over the past seven years working with donors to support SDSU, the South Dakota Art Museum, South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, Women & Giving, and McCrory Gardens.

For more information, contact Elaine Brown, 697-7475.

Distinguished professor David Willis was named head of the SDSU Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences.

Willis has served as a distinguished professor of fisheries science at South Dakota State University since 2002. His new post will allow him to lead the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department as it grows in the future.

“I am happy and proud to be working for the enthusiastic, energetic, and productive faculty members in our department,” said Willis.

A Mandan, N.D., native, Willis received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Dakota and completed his Ph.D. in fishery biology in 1980 at Colorado State University.

He served as an assistant professor at Pittsburg State University in Kansas and later worked as a fisheries biologist with the Kansas Fish and Game Commission before beginning work at SDSU in 1987.

Willis received tenure in 1991 and full professorship in 1995. Over his career, he has presented hundreds of professional papers and received funding for nearly 60 contracts or grants for research, totaling nearly $6 million.

As department head, Willis will oversee changes in the Wildlife and Fisheries department that include a new Ph.D. program in the discipline.

The Service-Learning program in the Office for Diversity Enhancement recognized hard work and dedication of outstanding people and programs in service-learning and community engagement at the Service-Learning Showcase and Awards Reception Dec. 11.

Awards were presented by Gary Heusel, executive director of the Midwest Consortium for Service-Learning in Higher Education, based in Lincoln, Nebr.

Service-Learning integrates service in the community with academic courses to meet learning goals for students. Faculty, in partnership with representatives of non-profit organizations, design service-learning projects that meet community-identified needs.

The showcase featured student oral presentations from six service-learning classes and an exhibition of 20 posters that provided details of projects. The event culminated in an award ceremony recognizing an outstanding faculty member, community organization and students for their contributions to service-learning at SDSU.

Paul Fokken, assistant professor of park and recreation management, and graduate assistant Andrea Masters shared the award for outstanding faculty member. Fokken and Masters designed a service-learning project for students in a Recreation Sports Programming and Administration course to provide structured recreational activities and league tournaments to students at Flandreau Indian School.

Doris Roden, program manager of Downtown Brookings, Inc., was recognized as the outstanding community partner for her mentoring, coaching and collaboration with SDSU students in planning and executing the annual Brookings Harvest Festival.

American Humanics students Kelli Carstensen, Molly Fendrich, and Sara Stauffer shared the outstanding student commendation for their work as committee co-chairs for the Harvest Festival. Their work on the Harvest Festival was part of their Intro to Leadership and Management of Non-profit Organizations class.

The award recipients, nominated by community members and faculty, each received a plaque or certificate and a monetary stipend from a Learn and Serve grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service through the Midwest Consortium for Service-Learning.

Certificates of recognition were also awarded to Debra DeBates, Hande Briddick, Carol Wallace and Allen Whitlach for their participation in the Service-Learning Faculty Fellows training program.

Through SDSU’s service-learning program, approximately 280 students involved themselves in more than 2,750 hours of service-learning during the fall semester.

Paul Fokken and Andrea Masters shared the award for outstanding faculty member in a service-learning project.

Numerous faculty and students from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences were involved with research papers and poster presentations at the recent Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Madison, Wis.

Faculty members involved were Jon Jenks, Mike Brown, K.C. Jensen, Dave Willis, Steve Chipps, and Chuck Berry.

Graduate students who participated were Casey Schoenebeck, Jessica Lee, Justin Van De Hey, Heidi Jacobson, Nick Kaczor, Steve Ranney, Brian Spindler, Martin Hamel, Matt Bahm, Mark Fincel, Nick Ahrens, Wesley Bouska, Andrew Jensen, Tom Bacula, Travis Schaeffer, Michael Weber, and Kevin Honness.

Undergraduate students involved were Bethany Galster, Jeff Grote, Maude Livings, and Scott Sindelar. Some faculty and students were involved with multiple presentations and posters.

For more information, contact Charles Scalet, 688-6121.

SDSU Newsline will break for the holiday until Jan. 7. Please send any announcements to Kyle Johnson kyle.johnson@sdstate.edu or Jeanne Jones Manzer jeanne.jonesmanzer@sdstate.edu by Jan. 3 to be published.
Happy Holidays!

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