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| DSU president delivers State of the University address - WATCH VIDEO |
Posted: 8/20/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
Dickinson State University President Richard McCallum, Ph.D., addressed university faculty and staff during his “State of the University” address on Wednesday, August 20. McCallum emphasized collaboration and optimism as keys to planning for DSU’s future.
“There is a lot of positive momentum that we carry into the year,” McCallum said. “There will also be a number of challenges. We will meet those challenges with optimism.”
Academic affairs
McCallum spoke about the changing face of higher education, noting that DSU must continually seek to be responsive, to improve and, in some cases, to expand the curriculum.
“Yesterday’s curriculum will not prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s challenges,” he said.
He added that for students to succeed, they must be intellectually and emotionally engaged. Intellectual engagement stems from being in a classroom environment which provides rigorous intellectual stimulation as well as opportunities to expand ways of thinking, he said. Equally important, however, is the learning that takes place outside the classroom and results in emotional engagement and a sense of connectedness to the university community.
McCallum said enrollment patterns today are much different than they were 10 years ago. Nationwide, increasing numbers of people are seeking higher education on a part-time basis and enrollment growth will continue to come from the 25- to 30-year old who is seeking career advancement through additional education and from the 26- to 32- year old female single parent seeking better career opportunities. He pointed to the growth in DSU’s Extended Learning Program as a definitive example of this trend. Of the 2,760 students enrolled in DSU last fall, 926 were enrolled through the Office of Extended Learning.
“There is a changing face in higher education. We need to have a conversation about how the changes expand our boundaries,” he said.
Campus life
DSU is also seeing an increase in the number of students applying for on-campus housing this semester. McCallum said this number is the largest the university has experienced in 30 years, rivaling occupancy rates of the 1970s. The university has made the decision to designate some rooms as triple-occupancy rather than the traditional double-occupancy, although McCallum did not have specific numbers as to how many students will be housed three to a room.
“Two watchwords, provided by the mandates of the North Dakota Roundtable on Higher Education, governed our decision and those words are ‘accessibility’ and ‘affordability,’” he said, noting that as a public institution, DSU has a responsibility to be accessible to all students. With Dickinson’s robust economy, apartments in the city have gone up in price and down in availabiltiy, making it more affordable for students to live on campus.
McCallum said he believes the increased number of students living on campus will add to the richness and diversity of the college experience here and also give students a better opportunity to be involved in extracurricular activities.
“We are fortunate to have a great set of organizations, clubs, theatre, fine arts and sports that provide opportunities for our students to become involved in and connected to this institution,” he said.
Financial status
McCallum said the university is in a sound financial position, referring to the North Dakota University System’s annual financial review report which was prepared in May 2008 for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2007.
“There is no question that we have needs, but there are institutions across the country that are in much more serious circumstances,” McCallum said. “We are so very, very lucky to have the financial stability that we have.”
Health and safety planning
McCallum emphasized the reality that security and safety have become prime concerns on campuses nationwide. DSU has completed its Emergency Management Plan and is currently engaged in implementing an emergency notification system for students, faculty and staff and a crisis communications plan.
“We are expected to provide a safe and healthy environment for our students, staff and faculty as well as the community in which we live,” McCallum said. “My hope is that we never have to use any of these things that are in place, but we must be prepared to deal effectively with any emergency, regardless of the type or scope.”
Campus and community connections
McCallum spoke briefly about the DSU Alumni Foundation’s fundraising efforts for the Badlands Activities Center, noting that contracts have been signed with an architectural firm and a construction management company. The two companies are currently developing a plan that will both fill the needs of the university and high schools that use the facility and stay within the $16 million budget. To date, the Foundation has raised $8.2 million for the project.
McCallum also spoke about the Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, calling it a “great effort that the university must maintain.”
“There is a legislative expectation that universities contribute to the economic vitality of the regions they serve,” McCallum said. “The Strom Center will help us greatly to meet that expectation.”
In a final note about campus and community connections, the president gave an update on the Theodore Roosevelt Initiative, which includes the project to digitize Theodore Roosevelt’s documents and make them available to the public on a Web site devoted to the initiative. Through an agreement with the Library of Congress, its collection of 600,000 Roosevelt documents is currently being digitized from microfilm. By late this year, the images will be sent to DSU for categorization and interpretation on the Web site.
Future focused planning
McCallum concluded his address by describing a planning committee that will convene this fall to set strategic direction and goals for the university’s future. Representatives from Student Senate, Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, administration and the larger community have been invited to begin discussions at the end of August. He also invited each member of the staff and faculty to participate by filling out a “Stakeholders’ Survey,” the results of which will be compiled and used in the planning process.
“I believe there are so many good ideas out there,” McCallum said. “We will think together and walk together to make a path to where we want to be. I am incredibly optimistic about our future.”
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| DSU Strom Center Hosts Leadership Conference |
Posted: 8/15/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
The Dickinson State University Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will sponsor a “Values-Based Leadership” conference in Dickinson and Hettinger on August 21. The conference will be held from 9 a.m.-noon at the Strom Center in Dickinson and from 4-7 p.m. at the North Dakota State University Hettinger Research Extension Center in Hettinger.
Presenter Buie Seawell will conduct the conference, addressing leadership, communication, motivation, team building and change. Seawell is the Business Ethics and Legal Studies Chair at Daniels College of Business, University of Denver and a former Colorado political figure.
Seawell earned his bachelor's degree from Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., and his master's degree in theology from Union Seminary in Richmond, Va., after which he served as a Presbyterian minister in Alabama and North Carolina. After earning a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver, Seawell practiced law in Colorado. He served Colorado Governor Richard Lamm as director of the Colorado Office of Energy Conservation and later as Legislative Liaison. Then, he worked for Sen. Gary Hart as Chief of Staff for his Senate office and on his 1984 presidential campaign. Seawell was chairman of the state Democratic Party from 1985-89, during which time he dramatically increased the party budget. He unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Party nomination for the United States Senate in 1989-90. Seawell worked at the University of Colorado at Denver from 1993-95 before joining the Daniels Business College at the University of Denver.
The “Values-Based Leadership” conference is free of charge to the first 50 registrants and $25 thereafter. To register, visit www.dickinsonstate.com/buie or call the Strom Center at 701-483-2756 for more information.
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| Renowned Japanese Artist to Teach Two Courses at DSU This Fall |
Posted: 8/8/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
Dickinson State University will offer two unique art courses this fall thanks to the generosity of artist Eitaro Sato, who has volunteered to serve as a visiting professor of art. Sato also will supply materials for the students in the calligraphy course, including ink, brushes and rice paper.
Sato is a Japanese artist who specializes in sculpture and calligraphy. He has won numerous prizes in both venues and is highly respected in Japan as a nationally recognized sculptor of bronze. He also is the executive director of Satoe Academy, the Japanese government-authorized non-profit school corporation that administers and manages one law school, one university, two colleges, four high schools, two junior high schools and one elementary school. All of Sato’s schools are located in or near Saitama, Japan, which is near Tokyo.
“The university is fortunate to have an artist of Mr. Sato’s caliber volunteer to teach our students,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Rich Brauhn. “We appreciate his willingness to share his time and talent and look forward to his arrival on campus this fall.”
Sato will teach a calligraphy course and a clay sculpture course from Sept. 1-Oct. 31. The 1-credit courses will meet one day a week and are open to enrolled DSU students and to the general public as audit courses. The calligraphy course will be held at Hawks Point and the clay sculpture course will be held in the Art Building on South Campus. Sato will be accompanied at DSU by Professor Michio Matsui, who will act as interpreter. Matsui is a faculty member in the School of Tourism at Kobe Shukugawa Gakuin University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
Matsui describes Sato, who is 81 years old, as “very disciplined,” stating that he rises each day at 4 a.m. to work on his art before going to his office to oversee his 11 schools.
Sato, Matsui and Junko Tanaka, principal at Sakae Higashi Junior-Senior High School, Saitama, Japan, visited DSU last week to explore the campus and finalize arrangements for Sato’s fall courses. During their visit, Sato gave calligraphy demonstrations to a number of people on campus.
Those interested in enrolling in one or both of Sato’s courses can contact the Office of Academic Records at 701-483-2331 for more information. Those wishing to audit a course will be required to pay a small fee. Some experience in sculpture is recommended for the clay sculpture course. No experience is necessary to enroll in the calligraphy course. Class sizes are limited to 15-20 students per course.
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| Wright Accepted into University of Vermont Graduate Program |
Posted: 8/5/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
Tamar Wright has been accepted into a graduate program at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt., where she intends to pursue a master’s degree in nursing with a concentration in psychiatric/mental health. Wright graduated in May 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She also was a Theodore Roosevelt scholar and completed a minor in leadership.
Wright received the DSU 2008 Outstanding Senior Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed on graduating seniors by the university. She also was selected as DSU’s 2007 Student Nurse of the Year and named the 2007 Student Nurse of the Year for the State of North Dakota by the Nursing Students Association of North Dakota (NSAND). She has been active in NSAND since 2007 and currently serves as a graduate consultant. She was voted 2007 Homecoming Queen. She also represented DSU at the Alliance Toward Harnessing Global Opportunities World Bank Symposium in Washington, D.C., in 2006 and traveled with DSU nursing faculty to Siberia to learn about health care in Russia in 2007. Wright was the first recipient of the President Lee A. Vickers, PhD., Student of Excellence Award.
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| Dorgan to Hold Town Hall Meeting at Strom Center Aug. 4 |
Posted: 8/4/2008 |
U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) will hold a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 4 at the Dickinson State University Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 1679 6th Ave. W., Dickinson.
Dorgan will discuss energy and workforce issues. The town hall meeting is open to the public.
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| DSU and Ukrainian Cultural Institute Present Program to Commemorate Famine in Ukraine |
Posted: 7/8/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine, Dickinson State University and the Ukrainian Cultural Institute will present “The Ukrainian Famine-Genocide: Reflections after 75 Years” at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 18 in DSU’s Beck Auditorium, Klinefelter Hall. Known as the Holodomor, the famine killed an estimated seven-10 million Ukrainians and is believed to have been a planned repression of farmers by the Soviet government for resistance to forced agricultural collectivization. The program at DSU includes the showing of the film “Harvest of Despair” followed by a panel discussion. The public is invited to attend this free event.
“Harvest of Despair” is a powerful film that documents the Ukrainian famine using interviews with survivors and scholars as well as rare photographic evidence. The film establishes that the Holodomor was deliberately created by the Soviet government as part of Stalin’s decades-long effort to destroy the Ukrainian peasantry who resisted the forced collectivization of their lands. Since its original release in 1985, the film has received many awards including an Academy Award nomination.
Following the film, DSU Department of History Chair Dr. David Meier will moderate a panel discussion about the events surrounding the famine. Meier is an historian and professor who has researched and taught German and Russian history. Panel members include Olexandr Aleksandrovych, Minister-Counselor for Economic and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of Ukraine to the United States in Washington, D.C; Ronald Vossler, senior lecturer, University of North Dakota Department of English; Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, adjunct professor in Educational Foundation at Northern Illinois University, who served on the White House staff as a special assistant for ethnic affairs in 1976; and local Ukrainian historian and director of the Ukrainian Cultural Institute Agnes Palanuk. DSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Rich Brauhn will give opening comments.
In addition to the program at DSU, there also will be a requiem service in honor of those who died during the famine at the newly restored Ukrainian Orthodox Church of SS Peter and Paul, Belfield, N.D., on Saturday, July 19 at 9 a.m. Remembrance wristbands honoring the victims of the Ukrainian famine will be available at the Ukrainian Cultural Institute.
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| Arts Roundup scheduled for July 5 |
Posted: 6/27/2008 |
Live music, dance, tasty treats, creative crafts, beautiful artwork, classic cars and colorful motorcycles will be featured at the 10th Annual Arts Roundup held near King Pavilion on the Dickinson State University campus in Dickinson, North Dakota on July 5th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If that’s not enough you can get creative with the kids and press rice paper onto an ink covered fish, an art form created by Japanese fishermen in the 1800’s to record their prized catches. This is just one of the artistic activities planned for children of all ages from noon to 4 p.m.
Live entertainment will kick off at noon on the King Pavilion stage with contemporary, hip hop and jazz dance numbers being performed by Hardcore Four Performance Company and Northern Plains Dance of the Velocity Dance & Yoga Studio. Singer/songwriter Jessie Veeder will perform beginning at 1:30 p.m. followed by Dr. Steve Werpy, a jazz saxophonist at 3 p.m. and Pistol Grip, a classic country and rock and roll band from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The paintings of Troy David, the “wood turning” of LeRoy Boespflug, the paintings, photography and jewelry of Shawna Andrea Fricke and the elegant lamps, mirrors, knives and end tables made out of moose antlers, buffalo skulls and stainless steel by Jay Urlacher will be featured in the Rider Gallery at the Alumni Foundation house throughout the day.
Venders from Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota will sell a wide assortment of products including purses, pottery, photographs, glass pieces, sewing items, floral crafts and wood carvings at over 30 booths. Then at 4:30 p.m. classic cars and motorcycles will roll in and line up along 8th Avenue in front of the Alumni Foundation house.
Other sites to visit are the art gallery at DSU’s Klinefelter Hall and the gift shop/university store at the DSU student center.
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| Dickinson State announces record summer session enrollment |
Posted: 6/4/2008 |
Dickinson State University officials announced today that summer session enrollment reached a record high with 505 students enrolled. This number reflects a 6 percent increase over last summer when enrollment stood at 475.
The summer session at DSU runs from May 27 to June 27 and offers a limited course schedule at the Dickinson, Bismarck and Williston locations, as well as online. This session, the majority of the students are from North Dakota, numbering 353 from 35 counties. There are 107 students from 25 other U.S. states and 41 international students from eight foreign countries.
This growth is consistent with the overall trend at DSU; fall enrollment numbers have increased for the past 12 consecutive years.
“This record increase in summer session enrollment is an indication that Dickinson State University is responding effectively to the needs of its students by focusing on quality programs and personalized service,” said DSU President Richard McCallum.
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| Dvirnak Native American Collection to be Displayed at DSU |
Posted: 5/22/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
The Alick and Grayce Dvirnak Native American Collection will be unveiled at its new home in Dickinson State University’s Theodore Roosevelt Center in Stoxen Library on Thursday, June 5 at 4 p.m. Following the ceremony, there will be a social at the DSU Alumni and Foundation House from 5-6 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend this free event.
Alick and Grayce Dvirnak recovered and preserved the collection of approximately 1,500 artifacts from the 1864 Battle of Killdeer Mountain from their Dunn County ranch, the Diamond C, which encompasses the battle site. Among the pieces are arrowheads, spear points, bullets, casings, stone pipes and pottery fragments. Alick Dvirnak will speak briefly at the unveiling as will Theodore Roosevelt Center Project Director Clay Jenkinson and DSU President Dr. Richard McCallum.
Last fall, the Dvirnaks entered into an agreement with the Dickinson State University Foundation allowing for the items to be displayed in the Theodore Roosevelt Center in Stoxen Library. It is their desire to share their extensive collection with the public in order to promote and preserve the heritage of western North Dakota.
"Our family is excited to share our father’s collection with the university,” states a letter to the DSU Foundation from the Dvirnak family. “We know that Dickinson State University will present and promote the rich history of western North Dakota and bring recognition to our father (Alick Dvirnak). He devoted his life to his family, ranching and promoting western North Dakota history, including the Battle of Killdeer Mountain.”
The Battle of Killdeer Mountain, also known as the Battle of Tahkahokuty Mountain, took place on July 28, 1864. Brigadier General Alfred Sully led 2,200 United States cavalrymen into battle, attacking the Lakota, Yanktonai and Dakota (Sioux) who were camped at the base of the Killdeer Mountains. Although there were an estimated 5,000-6,000 Sioux, the firing of cannon and artillery into the encampment forced the Native American warriors, as well as unarmed men, women and children, to flee on foot into the Missouri River badlands. The soldiers then destroyed the encampment, including all winter provisions, and set fire to the camp and the mountain. Although two U.S. cavalrymen are buried at the site, the exact number of casualties is unknown. Sully estimated that 100-150 Sioux were killed.
The Dvirnak family has owned and operated the Diamond C Ranch since 1928. The ranch was established in 1880 by William L. Crosby, an attorney and lumber business owner from La Crosse, Wisc. The Diamond C is the second oldest brand in the state, filed by Crosby in 1885. Crosby also was a fellow law student and friend of Theodore Roosevelt. When Roosevelt’s boat was stolen from his Elkhorn Ranch north of Medora in1886, he tracked down the thieves and walked them back to the closest sheriff’s office in Dickinson by route of Killdeer. During this trek, he and his charges spent a night at the Diamond C Ranch.
“The Theodore Roosevelt Center is primarily devoted to the memory of the 26th President, but we don't view TR in a vacuum. Our plan is to collect and interpret not just Roosevelt, but the world that he moved in North Dakota. The Dvirnak Collection is the foundation of all that will follow,” said Jenkinson.
Alick Dvirnak has been recognized for his accomplishments in preserving the history of western North Dakota by former Governor George Sinner and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. He also has been honored by the Native American community. In 2001, the Sioux tribes of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Canada gathered at the ranch and held a ceremony to honor their dead from the Battle of Killdeer Mountain. They also smoked the peace pipe with Alick Dvirnak.
"Alick is a historian and a story-teller. He knows the Battle of Killdeer Mountain as well as anyone and he's walked every inch of the ground,” Jenkinson said. “It has been such a pleasure to sit at his feet and listen to him tell one of North Dakota's most interesting stories.”
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| DSU Graduates Record Number at 88th Commencement |
Posted: 5/13/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager
Dickinson State University held its 88th Commencement exercises at Scott Gymnasium on Saturday, May 10. The university graduated a record 462 students from 17 states, 13 foreign countries and 30 North Dakota counties.
Author and historian Dr. Douglas Brinkley gave the keynote speech at this year’s ceremony. Brinkley is a distinguished professor of history at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is a biographer who has had five of his award-winning books selected as New York Times Notable Book of the Year. The Chicago Tribune has called Brinkley “America’s new past master.”
Brinkley focused on the importance of integrity to create a successful life. He used as examples three strong women who embody honesty, humility and persistence. The first was Sheila Schafer, who Brinkley met while traveling with students as part of his “Magic Bus Program” in 1992. When he and his students arrived in Medora, he said, he was struck by the warmth and hospitality he received from Sheila and her late husband Harold Schafer.
“Sheila’s been called the ‘First Lady of Medora,’ but she’s really the first lady of North Dakota. She wakes up every day, which is what I hope you will do,” he said to the graduating class, “knowing that there’s a new friend to meet.”
Brinkley said that Schafer’s warmth is typical of the people of North Dakota and that it was this, more than anything, which drew Theodore Roosevelt to Medora in the late 1800s.
“Theodore Roosevelt had been everywhere, but it was the badlands of North Dakota that captured his imagination and became so important to him,” he said. “It is the open heartedness of the people and ethereal serenity of the landscape. North Dakota is a place where you can find solitude, where you can clear your mind.”
Brinkley credited Schafer with almost single-handedly making Medora a fitting gateway to the national park that bears Theodore Roosevelt’s name.
He also spoke about President Jimmy Carter’s mother, Miss Lillian, whom he called honest and dedicated to helping others. He said Jimmy Carter ran his presidential campaign on one point: that he would never tell a lie. Miss Lillian confirmed that her son never did.
“The key thing to being a great president is the same thing that it takes to have a successful life. Integrity,” Brinkley said.
The third great woman Brinkley referred to in his talk was Rosa Parks, the African American civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger in 1955 and was subsequently arrested and jailed. Although she lived a difficult life, Parks maintained her personal integrity and her kindness, Brinkley said.
“She was the most demure, honest, serene woman,” Brinkley said. “She kept a wholeness of her spirit. She never gave up.”
DSU President Dr. Richard McCallum also gave comments, emphasizing the university’s commitment to academic excellence, scholarship, engagement with students and commitment to the community. He said this fall he will begin a series of conversations with the campus community and the community at large to form a long-range plan for the university.
“I want the planning process to be participatory and to include both the campus and the community,” he said. “We will use our collective vision to create a plan that shows commitment to the higher good of the community, the state and the world.”
Former president Dr. Lee Vickers gave the opening welcome. He said he has considered it a privilege to serve the university for the last nine years. He charged the graduating class to view the enormous and fast-paced changes in today’s world as opportunities to succeed and to serve.
“The world is changing dramatically. The speed and magnitude of change will continue to increase,” Vickers said “Your opportunities will be limited only by your will and your imagination.”
Both McCallum and Vickers participated in presenting Sheila Schafer with an honorary Bachelor of Arts and Letters degree and a framed diploma, following which she gave brief comments.
Schafer said that 65 years ago, she went to the employment office in Fargo and asked which part-time summer jobs offered the highest pay. She was told that she could earn the most money working in the meat packing plant.
“I spent the next three summers at the packing plant twisting meat into wieners,” she said. “And look at me now, honored with this degree. All in all, I don’t think it’s a bad day for a wiener-twister.”
Schafer spoke briefly about her love of Medora and charged the graduates to find their own ways to give back to their communities.
“You are fortunate to be in this place, in this state, in this country. Find a way to give back. You are our hope. Find the glory of work and the joy of living,” she said.
Following the Commencement exercises, the new graduates and their families and friends were welcomed by university faculty and staff at a reception at the DSU Student Center.
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| Three DSU Faculty Members Granted Emeritus Status |
Posted: 5/5/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager 5/2/2008
Dickinson State University faculty members Professor of Sociology Dr. Keith Fernsler, Professor of English Dr. Barbara Laman and Associate Professor Mathematics William Massey have been granted emeritus status. The honors were announced at the annual Faculty and Staff Service Awards ceremony on April 29. Fernsler has been with the university for 26 years, Laman for 16 and Massey for 42.
Emeriti faculty retain as an honorary title the rank of the last position held. Only tenured faculty members are eligible for emeritus status.
Candidates for emeritus status are considered for the honor on the basis of length of service to the university, significant service to the institution, state and community, and distinguished contributions to the faculty member’s academic discipline as a scholar and a teacher.
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| Centennial Challenge Grant Furthers DSU-TRNP Collaboration |
Posted: 4/30/2008 |
Shanna Schoch, News Bureau Manager 4/28/2008
Theodore Roosevelt enthusiasts and visitors to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) in Medora, N.D., will soon have more access to the complete collection of documents about Theodore Roosevelt and his time in the North Dakota badlands, as well as other original documents related to the 26th President.
Thanks to National Park Service Centennial Challenge Initiative funding, TRNP is receiving $50,000 in funding to participate in a collaborative project with Dickinson State University (DSU), Dickinson, N.D., to digitize Roosevelt documents held at the park, and also collections from other National Park Service units dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt. DSU will match the grant funding, offering $50,000, and also will combine the data at the park with that from other institutions including the Library of Congress.
The announcement of the grant comes on the heels of last week’s unveiling of a special kiosk in the park visitor center that was installed as a result of a memorandum of understanding between the university and TRNP. The kiosk is a computer portal to the Theodore Roosevelt Center Web site which is being developed by DSU as part of DSU’s Theodore Roosevelt Initiative. Additional kiosks may also be installed at other national parks.
“The new kiosk was unveiled as part of our National Park Week celebration,” said Valerie Naylor, superintendent of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. “This project will strengthen our existing relationship with Dickinson State University and give us the opportunity to be directly involved in the digitization project that will make Theodore Roosevelt more accessible to the world.”
The TR Center opened its first kiosk in DSU’s Stoxen Library last September. The Web site is intended to make Roosevelt’s writings available to scholars, biographers, students, tourists and the world at large. In partnership with the Library of Congress, and with funding from the North Dakota legislature, DSU is working to digitize Roosevelt’s documents and to organize and interpret them on the site in a user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing manner. The site contains numerous pages devoted to different facets of Roosevelt’s life and career, including biographical information, TR’s experiences in North Dakota, Roosevelt’s documents, political cartoons and a scrapbook containing information and photographs of TR Initiative activities and North Dakota landscapes. The Web site also can be viewed from any computer with Internet access at www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org.
“Through this collaborative project, the cultural experience of tourists, naturalists, students, historians and children will be broadened,” said Theodore Roosevelt Center Project Director Clay Jenkinson. “Their experiences will be further enhanced by access to the holdings of the Library of Congress of the United States and to the holdings of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and other national parks.”
The partnership with DSU is one of two TRNP projects to receive funding from the Centennial Challenge Initiative. The other involves the 218-acre Elkhorn Ranch site within the park, which Theodore Roosevelt called “his home ranch.” Friends of Elkhorn Ranch will provide $25,000 to match an equal amount in Centennial Challenge funds. The park will enhance interpretation and resource conditions at the ranch site by installing new exhibits, developing a new brochure and other interpretive materials, and improving gates and fences.
The National Park Centennial Initiative is a 10-year program to reinvigorate America’s national parks and prepare them for a second century. The initiative includes a focus on increased funding for park operations plus a President’s Challenge: up to $100 million a year in federal funds to match $100 million a year in philanthropic donations to the National Park Service.
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DSU Art Gallery presents “Yellowstone: Then and Now”
“Yellowstone: Then and Now” is on display in the Dickinson State University Art Gallery until October 7. This exhibit contrasts historical images of Yellowstone National Park, including engravings, stereopticons and postcards, with contemporary black and white photographs of the same sites. The focus of the exhibit is the changing perception of the nature and history of Yellowstone National Park.
Photographer and exhibit curator Lee Silliman, who lives in Deer Lodge, Mont., turned his focus on Yellowstone National Park in 1990. Backpacking, canoeing, and using mule pack strings, Silliman has carried his camera to many of Yellowstone's secluded thermal basins, waterfalls, lakes and rock formations. Silliman's 8-inch by 10-inch field view camera, glass plates and processing techniques are very similar to the equipment and methods used by Yellowstone's first photographers more than 100 years ago. In many cases, Silliman took the photographs from the same vantage points as the historical images. He also framed and mounted the photographs he produced for “Yellowstone: Then and Now.”
Taking black and white photographs with a large format camera is a craft that requires a great deal of skill. The camera, which is the size of a medium television set, takes 15 minutes just to unload and set up. The photographer sees the image upside-down through the camera’s lens and also must translate in his mind’s eye all of nature’s colors into shades of gray to determine whether the subject will look good in black and white.
Selected images from the “Yellowstone: Then and Now” will be retained by DSU for display on campus during the third annual Theodore Roosevelt Symposium October 9-11.
The DSU Art Gallery is located in Klinefelter Hall and is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Support for the gallery comes from Dickinson State University, private donations and the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which is funded by the state of North Dakota and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Douthit receives Moments of Excellence Award for September
Johnna Douthit, academic records associate/testing coordinator, was named recipient of the Staff Senate Moments of Excellence Award for September. Douthit was recognized for “Going the Extra Mile” when providing service members the information they need to apply for and receive military benefits for college. Students also find Johnna approachable and knowledgeable when inquiring about testing, whether it is exit testing or ACT testing. Even though testing usually takes place after regular working hours or on Saturdays, she administers the tests with a smile on her face, displaying a positive attitude that speaks highly of the DSU staff.
Douthit received a framed certificate of commendation and 50 Chamber Bucks. Chamber Bucks are certificates available through the Dickinson Area Chamber of Commerce that can be spent like cash at various Dickinson businesses.
Moments of Excellence is a Staff Senate initiative designed to recognize excellence among staff members. DSU employees are encouraged to nominate a staff member they feel has gone above and beyond the call of duty in one or more of the following categories: positive attitude; excellent teamwork; going the extra mile; marvelous motivator; outstanding customer service; loyalty and commitment to the university; innovation and creativity; diligence; or a category of the nominator’s choosing. A committee then chooses from among the nominees to award a deserving individual staff member. The award is given out monthly. Nominations for Moments of Excellence Awards can be made on the Staff Senate Web page and are due by the second Tuesday of each month.
Gary Gildner to give poetry reading at DSU
Author Gary Gildner will give a poetry reading at Dickinson State University on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. in Beck Auditorium, Klinefelter Hall. A book signing and reception will follow the reading. The public is invited to this free event.
Gildner is an award-winning writer who is best known for his eight books of poetry, including “Letters from Vicksburg” (1977), “Blue Like the Heavens” (1984), “Clackamas: Poems” (1991) and “The Bunker in Parsley Fields” (1997), which won the 1996 Iowa Poetry Prize. He also has written two novels, a collection of short stories and a memoir, “The Warsaw Sparks” (1990), which he wrote while he was a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Warsaw and coach of the city’s baseball team. His latest book, “My Grandfather’s Book,” is available from the Michigan State University Press. Gildner has received the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a Pushcart Prize, the Robert Frost Fellowship, the William Carlos Williams and Theodore Roethke poetry prizes and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Gildner’s appearance is the first of this year’s Heart River Writers’ Circle programming. The Heart River Writers’ Circle brings to the west river area significant, contemporary writers whose work interests a range of readers on the Northern Plains. The circle also will involve faculty members, students and community members in follow-up discussions of books by contemporary writers. The Heart River Writers’ Circle is sponsored by Stoxen Library and the Dickinson State University Department of Language and Literature through the use of university fees.
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