Submit items to Campus Currents

The Campus Currents is distributed every Friday. If you would like to include an item in the newsletter send it to: Campus Currents, Unit 9512 or by e-mail to Campus Currents. Deadline is Thursday at 8 a.m.

Welcome to Black Hills State University - Top

Bonnie Stoddard, secretary, College of Arts and Sciences

Resignation - Top

Pam Soriano, child-care worker, Child Care Center

Ochse elected SDCTE President - Top

Dr. Roger Ochse, associate professor of English, has been elected president of the South Dakota Council of Teachers of English. He will serve a two-year term through June 2001.

SDCTE is affiliated with the National Council of Teachers of English and represents teachers of English and language arts at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. The organization sponsors a newsletter, scholarships, and advocacy for high standards in the teaching of English.

Ochse indicated that SDCTE is committed to fostering unity among teachers at various levels, as well as among the members from across South Dakota. He believes the organization, in electing as its leader a college professor from the Black Hills, is dedicated to this cause. On the agenda for SDCTE is a joint convention with the South Dakota Reading Council, to be held in Spearfish March 27-April 1, 2000. Over 800 teachers, parents, and students are expected to attend.

Those interested in forming a student chapter and/or obtaining further information about the 2000 convention should contact Ochse at 642-6386.

Kopco releases "virtual" country music album - Top

Paul Dennis Kopco, who teaches computer graphics, desktop publishing, multimedia, and web design at Black Hills State University, has released a "virtual" album of original country music on the internet entitled Badlands.

"What makes this all possible is a music format called MP3," said Kopco. "It's a way to compress CD-quality music so that it can be transmitted over the internet."

Kopco's albums, conventional and "virtual," are available at <http://www.MP3.com/pauldennis> .Other websites featuring his music can be accessed from his own Dakotah Records website at <http://www.blackhills.com/dakotah/records>

"Being involved with computer-based media and the internet on both professional and personal levels, I wanted to be among the early adopters of this technology," said Kopco, "for the benefit of my music as well as my students."

Story

Brauneller presents at conference - Top

Deb Brauneller, academic/career advisor for student support services, presented at the Sixth International Conference on Aging & Disabilities June 17-19 in Rapid City.

Her presentation was titled, "Teaching Basic Skills to Aging Adults with Learning Disabilities." The conference was co-hosted by SDUAP and Minot State University.

Brauneller is currently serving as president of the South Dakota Literacy Council.

Hesson acknowledged for textbook contributions - Top

Dr. James Hesson, College of Education professor, is acknowledged in the introductory section of a new textbook for his valuable contributions to the seventh edition of Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology published by McGraw-Hill.

He is acknowledged for his diligent reading of the manuscript as it was being prepared during the last two years as well as for providing detailed criticisms and ideas for improving the narrative and the illustrations. This new textbook was just released in September for the fall semester with a publication date of 2000.

Hesson has taught human anatomy and physiology for the last 18 years and is a member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS). HAPS was formed by Human Anatomy and Physiology Teachers to promote excellence in the teaching of Human Anatomy and Physiology.

Hesson teaches a one semester human anatomy and physiology class each semester on campus and a summer school class for the University of South Dakota Nursing students in Rapid City.

Lech Walesa will speak at BHSU - Top

Lech Walesa, 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader who helped end Communist rule in Poland, will speak at Black Hills State University Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Donald E. Young Sports and Fitness Center gymnasium.

Walesa burst into the world spotlight in 1980 during the well-known Lenin shipyard strike in Gdansk, Poland. Workers, incensed by an increase in prices set by the Communist government, were demanding the right to organize free and independent trade unions.

On Aug. 14, 1980, Lech Walesa, an electrician who had long been active in the underground labor movement, arrived at the barricaded shipyard just as the dispirited workers were on the verge of abandoning their strike. Scaling the shipyard walls, he delivered a stirring speech from atop a bulldozer. Revitalized by his passion, the strike spread to factories across the nation. Christened "Solidarity," the strike became a social revolution. Walesa entered into negotiations with the government, convincing it to grant legal recognition to Solidarity and the right to form independent unions and to strike. This became the Gdansk Agreement, which Walesa signed on Aug. 31.

Over the next 18 months, however, relations between Solidarity and the government became progressively worse until Dec. 31, 1981, when the Polish government declared martial law. Walesa was arrested and spent a year in jail. Later, returning to his job and working with the Solidarity movement, he was able to lead his followers in victory over the Polish Communist party in 1989. In 1990 he became the first democratically elected president of Poland.

As president, he set Poland firmly on the path to becoming a free-market democracy. Through his unwavering commitment, Walesa made Poland a model of economic and political reform for the rest of Eastern Europe to follow and earned the honor of receiving one of the first invitations to join an expanded NATO. Retired from politics, he now heads the Lech Walesa Institute whose aim is to advance the ideals of democracy and free-market reform throughout Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.

Walesa is the tenth speaker in the Madeline A. Young Speaker Series to address a northern hills audience since its inception in 1987. The presentation is open to the public at no charge.

About the Madeline A. Young Distinguished Speaker Series

The Madeline A. Young Distinguished Speaker Series at Black Hills State University was established in 1986 by a $150,000 gift endowment from Madeline Young, a 1924 alumna. In 1990 her estate provided an additional $146,469 to fund the speaker series endowment.

Young, who acquired her teaching certificate at Spearfish Normal (later known as Black Hills State University), created an endowment for a prominent speakers program to benefit students, faculty, and citizens of the Black Hills area. The nature of selected speakers and topics are calculated to enhance and challenge the artistic, cultural, civic, educational or intellectual interests of the community.

Young was born in Gettysburg in 1903 and graduated from Faulkton High School in 1921 before embarking on a career as a teacher and a nurse. She completed her bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1931 and a master's degree in rehabilitation at Columbia University in 1951.

During World War II she served as an Army nurse, receiving three battle stars during the battles of Normandy, Northern France, and the Rhineland. After the war she worked for the Veterans Administration in rehabilitation.

After receiving her master's degree, Young pursued a nursing career at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York. Her specialty was cancer nursing which she pursued until retiring in 1967.

The distinguished speaker series was initiated at the university April 13, 1987, with an address by former United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. The most recent speaker was author and Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin who spoke to a Black Hills audience in the fall of 1997.

$100,000 added to Vucurevich scholarship program at BHSU - Top

The Black Hills State University Foundation recently received $100,000 from John T. Vucurevich to support his scholarship fund at the university.

This latest gift is in addition to more than $355,000 given by him to the scholarship endowment since 1993.

Vucurevich scholarships are awarded each year to a Black Hills area residents who are juniors or seniors at the university. The students must be in good academic standing and have financial need. No preference is given to the students' program of study for the scholarships to be awarded.

Scholarship award winners are selected each year by the university's scholarship committee.

Steve Meeker, institutional advancement director at BHSU, said, “John's gifts to the university are examples of his philanthropic spirit. He has given freely to many charities and we are most fortunate to be a beneficiary of his good will. His generosity perpetuates his belief in helping others and at the same time helping the community by providing a educated citizenry.”

Meeker noted that Vucurevich's gift brings the Black Hills State University Foundation's assets total to over $6.3 million.

State employee health check set - Top

The bureau of personnel will offer employees a health check, Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Student Union multi-purpose room.

The screening will include:

• Cholesterol check
• Blood sugar level (three-hour fast recommended)
• Blood pressure
• Body mass index ( BMI )
• Carbon monoxide

The health screening is available at no charge to benefited state employees and their spouses who are on the state's health plan

Other health screenings

Ruddell Gallery features artwork of Larry Dulin - Top

The Ruddell Gallery at Black Hills State University currently is showing original oils by Denver area artist Larry Dulin. This show continues through Sept. 17.

The Ruddell Gallery in the Miller Student Union is open to the public at no charge weekdays from 7 a.m to 4 p.m. and weekends from noon to 5 p.m.

This showing of portraits, landscapes, and abstract studies is a retrospective of the moods and tempo of Dulin's enduring heart for the fine arts. The lure of a white canvas, the smell and texture of oil paints or the feel of pastel pigment transferring to paper are links that center and express the essence of his being.

One night in 1976, Dulin placed a coffee can filled with hand-me-down brushes, an easel and a new canvas in front of a window in his apartment and began to paint. Encouraged by Taos artist, Lee Simpson, to pursue his dream and innate talent, Dulin decided to put his work in the oil patch and numerous odd jobs behind him and enrolled in Rocky Mountain School of Art in Denver. There he studied both fine and graphic arts with Ned Jacob and Phil Steel.

He worked as a creative illustrator and as creative graphics supervisor for Martin Marietta Aerospace for 12 years. He made his mark creating huge paintings of space systems and as a conceptual artist designing graphics for proposals.

Dulin has continued to maintain a studio in Denver and many of his paintings have hung in shows and galleries.

BHSU honors alumni and friends at Swarm Day activities - Top

Black Hills State University will honor seven alumni and friends for their service and contributions to the university during ceremonies Swarm Day weekend Sept. 24 and 25.

Receiving recognition from the BHSU Alumni Association at the alumni awards breakfast, Saturday, Sept. 25 at 8 a.m. at the Miller Student Union are Gene Bovee, Longdale, Nev.; Doris Phillips, Spearfish; and Hope Glenn, San Bernardino, Calif.

Award winners

Yellow Jacket Hall of Fame inducts four new members

Four people will be inducted into the Yellow Jacket Hall of Fame this year during Swarm Day. Receiving awards and recognition at the Yellow Jacket Hall of Fame banquet Friday, Sept. 24 at 6:15 p.m. at the Northern Hills Holiday Inn will be Bill Hughes, Spearfish; Paul Hayashino, Stockton, Calif.; Steve Colling, Hulett, Wyo.; and Bryce Christensen, Spearfish.

Hall of Fame inductees

Faculty-research committee has funds available - Top

The faculty-research committee has funds available for the current fiscal year. Write a short (about three-page) proposal. Proposal forms are available at the academic affairs office. The faculty research committee will review applications Oct. 21.

Proposals are due Oct. 15. It is anticipated that successful applicants will request support for faculty release time, research equipment, travel to research sites, research support for the production of creative work. Education, social science and humanities proposals are encouraged.

Funds for two three-hour release times are available for the spring and fall 1999 semesters. You can apply now. The research committee will not provide salary. The committee may approve payment to student or non-student research assistants. Mail ten copies of your proposal to unit 9550.

Grants opportunities announced - Top

Below are the program materials received Sept. 2-8 in the grants office, Woodburn 220. For copies of the information, contact our office at 642-6627 or e-mail requests to us at grants@mystic.bhsu.edu. Fellowship information will also be posted on the Student Union bulletin board near the information desk.

• Zonta International Foundation. Amelia Earhart fellowship awards for women.

This week at BHSU - Top

Friday, Sept. 10

• College of Education scholarship reception, Student Union multipurpose room
• Volleyball, BHSU Invitational

Tuesdsay, Sept. 14

• Last day to drop a non-block class and receive a refund

Wednesday, Sept. 15

• Instructor's signature required to drop/add classes

Thursday, Sept. 16

• Spencers Magic and Illusion Show, Woodburn Theatre, 7 p.m.

Sept. 17-18

• Relay for Life, Lyle Hare Stadium

Campus calendar