Volume XXIV No. 15 • April 14, 2000

   

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.

Administrative leave time announced for Good Friday - Top
Governor Janklow has declared Good Friday a half day of administrative leave for all employees under the control of the governor. Dr. Tad Perry has opted to follow the governor's lead for higher education.

Employees will not be required to use annual leave or

leave without pay for the afternoon of Friday, April 21.

For those employees completing time sheets, please indicate the administrative leave in the column titled "Other time taken."

Reception will honor retirees and employee award recipients - Top
A reception will be held Thursday, April 27 from 2 - 4 p.m. at the David B. Miller Yellow Jacket Student Union multi-purpose room to honor retiring employees, and to present special employee awards and longevity awards. The program will begin at 2:30 p.m.

Howard Perry is BHSU distinguished faculty recipient - Top
Veteran business-education teacher Howard Perry is this year's recipient of the Black Hills State University distinguished faculty award.

From Monroe rotary calculators to keypunch card extractors to computerized classrooms, Perry has seen business education evolve through more than four decades of changes.

A survivor of new curriculums and advances in technology, he believes “in teaching you have to be flexible and willing to change. It's been a fun 43 years. It has really been interesting.”

Story

Molecular genetics lab established at BHSU with NFS grant money - Top
A new state-of-the-art molecular genetics laboratory has been established at Black Hills State University with funds from two national science foundation grants.

Story

Woodburn display features theatre performances - Top
The Black Hills State University theatre is the focus of the new display on the second floor of Woodburn.

Take time to look at plays BHSU has put on in the past and see how many people you recognize. If you recognize more than three you can consider yourself an

old timer, according to Colleen Kirby, special collections librarian.

Items in the display are on loan from the theatre department, athletics, university archives, Brenda Standiford, and most members of the Kirby clan.

Master of science in education degree revised at BHSU - Top
The College of Education at Black Hills State University has announced the introduction of the revised master of science in curriculum and instruction (MSCI) degree.

Story

Poet will give a public reading at BH - Top
Nationally known poet Tony Crunk will give a public reading at Black Hills State University Monday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the Student Union.

Crunk is a native of western Kentucky and is currently a professor of English at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Drawing on his own rural background, Living in the Resurrection is a series of tightly connected poems that chronicle the attempt of the volume's narrator to reconnect himself to his cultural and familial past. Faced with the devastation of the rural landscape, the erosion of traditional religious values, and the fragmentation of the modern family, the speaker seeks to infuse lost folkways with new meaning.

Crunk's interest in reclaiming a lost agrarian past is also evident in his second volume, New Covenant Bound. Between 1936 and 1968, nearly 7,000 families from western Kentucky and Tennessee were removed from their homes by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers. Once the families were displaced, the land was flooded to create immense lakes. These lakes, which buried thousands of homesteads, and on occasion, entire towns, were designed to meet the electrical and recreational needs of the region.

 New Covenant Bound juxtaposes prose sections, which document the evacuation of a small Kentucky town in the 1930s, with poems that explore the ramifications of this removal in the present.

Crunk's first volume, Living in the Resurrection, was selected by James Dickey as the 1994 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. Previous winners of this prestigious award include Adrienne Rich, W.S. Merwin, James Tate, John Ashberry, and Carolyn Forché.

Crunk's visit is sponsored by the Black Hills State University English department and is part of a coordinated effort to introduce students to contemporary poetry. Crunk will visit BHSU English classes April 17th and 18th. To augment these classroom visits, nearly 200 students will study Living in the Resurrection as part of a common reading program. The Bush Foundation and the BHSU instructional committee provided funds for Crunk's visit.

For more information contact Dr. Vincent King at 642-6502 or by email at vking@bhsu.edu .

Students to perform “Come Blow Your Horn” - Top
The Black Hills State University theater department will present “Come Blow Your Horn” by Neil Simon in Woodburn Auditorium April 13-15 at 8 p.m.

Story

Williams and Ree will return to BHSU - Top

Williams and Ree, the comedy team that met while attending Black Hills State, will return to their alma mater for a show Tuesday, April 25 at 7 p.m. at the David B. Miller Yellow Jacket Student Union multi-purpose room.

Please note the date of this show is Tuesday.

Story

Whirlwind Horse Memorial Run and Walk is April 15 - Top
The 16th annual Kevin Whirlwind Horse Memorial Run & Walk will be held at Black Hills State University on Saturday, April 15 at 10 a.m. Categories include kids' races (eight and under - 1/4 mile and 9-12 - 1/2 mile), a one-mile walk, a 5K run, and a 10K run. A $10 entry fee includes a t-shirt. Proceeds support the Kevin Whirlwind Horse Memorial Scholarship Fund. For more information or to obtain registration forms call Deatta Chapel at 642-6259 or e-mail to deattachapel@bhsu.edu . Registration forms will also be available at a booth at the Northern Hills Wellness Fair April 5 from noon to 7 p.m. in the Young Center Field House.

BHSU students will offer stress management seminar - Top
A stress management seminar presented by Black Hills State University students will offer techniques to deal with stress just as students are heading into their fast-paced end of semester finals week.

The seminar will be presented by BHSU students in Larry Tentinger's stress-management class on May 1, 2 and 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the David B. Miller Yellow Jacket Student Union. All students are welcome to attend and reduce their anxiety level before finals week begins.

A variety of techniques to relieve stress will be featured including art therapy, music therapy, time management, and progressive relaxation techniques.

“It would be in the best interest for mind, body and soul to participate in these activities,” according to the organizers.

For more information on this seminar contact Tentinger at 642-6042.

PBL to sponsor blood drive - Top
The PBL Business club is sponsoring a blood drive Wednesday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. Anyone who would like to donate can call Dr. Perry at 605 642-6193 or e-mail him at howardperry@bhsu.edu.

Every unit of donated blood is tested and processed for the 35 area hospitals served by United Blood Services. Laboratory technicians separate the whole blood into components (including red blood cells, plasma and platelets), so that one donation has the potential to help several patients.

Red blood cells are used for surgery patients. Plasma is needed to treat trauma and burn patients. Platelets are required for cancer and leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy. Cryopreciapitate is a special blood clotting factor used by those with hemophilia.

The goal of PBL and United Blood Services is to have at least 60 to 70 donors.

Donors are asked to bring a complete list of all medications taken in the past month. ID is required to donate. Refreshments will be served after donating.

Adams Museum Art Gallery will display BHSU student photography - Top
Photography students in Black Hills State University Professor Steve Babbitt's classes will display their artwork in the Adams Museum Art Gallery April 14 - May 12.

The work, from a variety of classes, will include beginning and advanced students of both black and white as well as color photography. Utilization of alternative processes will also be exhibited.

The Adams Museum opens its new yearlong exhibition, “A Snapshot in Time: Photography as Historic Preservation,” May 1. The exhibition will run through Dec. 31. The student art show and three other photography art shows throughout the year will complement the exhibition.

Babbitt will give a lecture entitled “Photography: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” June 1.

Professor Babbitt has been teaching photography at the college level for 12 years. He received his BFA and MFA in photography from The San Francisco Art Institute. His photographs can be found in the collections of The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France; The Getty Museum Library, Malibu, Calif.; the Sioux Falls Civic Fine Arts Center, and the San Francisco Art Institute.

The Adams Museum Art Gallery, co-sponsored by the Wet Edge Gallery of Lead, is located on the mezzanine level of the Adams Museum at 54 Sherman Street. The museum is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and closed Sunday. For more information contact Mary Kopco at 605-578-1928.

Case Library at BHSU receives anonymous gift - Top
The Leland D. Case Library for Western Historical at Black Hills State University has received an anonymous donation of Case family material.

The anonymous donation was made in memory of Denise Hill Markve. Markve loved teaching and taught at the Middle School in Deadwood until the time of her death. She was an ardent South Dakota history buff. She also enjoyed politics, and while a student at Huron College she interviewed and wrote an article on Gladys Pyle.

The Herbert L. Case collection given to the university

consists of the personal papers of Reverend Herbert L. Case, father of Leland and Francis Case. Materials in the collection included photographs of the Case and Grannis families, Rev. Case's sermons, a WAC uniform, and correspondence dating from 1892 until 1955. The correspondence includes personal letters from Rev. Case's children and other relatives and friends. There are letters regarding Rev. Case's business as an insurance salesman and the "Out-O-Sight" liniment made by his father, Dr. F. L. Case. The collection also includes scrapbooks which contain newspaper clippings of Francis Case's political career.

Bruce Junek will speak at Kiwanis breakfast - Top
Bruce Junek, author and world traveler, will be the featured speaker at the annual Kiwanis Good Friday prayer breakfast April 21 at 6:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Spearfish

Story

Faculty and staff invited to join in disc golf tournament - Top
Recreation sports is hosting a disc golf tournament on Saturday, April 29 on the campus disc golf course.

BHSU faculty, staff and student get a great deal. If

you sign up at the recreation sports desk by April 7, your entry fee is only $5. This fee includes an official golfing disc (a $10 value) and a post tournament barbeque.

Vucurevich Foundation presents scientist James Watson - Top
The John T. Vucurevich Foundation will host “An Evening with James Watson, Ph.D.,” at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Theatre Tuesday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. One of the great scientists of the 20th century, Watson discovered the secrets of DNA and won a Nobel prize for his groundbreaking research.

Story

Minutes of the March 15 faculty senate meeting - Top
The faculty senate met March 15 in Jonas 110 at 3:15 p.m.

Story

Minutes of the March 14 CSA meeting - Top
The CSA council met March 14 at 9 a.m. at the Pangburn Dining Room.

Story

Instructional improvement committee taking applications for course releases - Top
The instructional improvement committee is ready to receive applications for course releases for the 2000-2001 school year.

Course releases are available to any full-time faculty member with the approval of his/her dean and department chair. Course releases will be for one semester during the regular academic year. Consideration will be given for summer stipends for faculty unable to apply for a course release for the regular academic year because of documented departmental staffing problems.

Course releases may be granted to:
  • design a new course which will be infused with technology or offered through the internet;
  • redesign an existing course so that it is infused with technology or offered for internet delivery;
  • design a new course or redesign an existing course to be presented collaboratively with other BHSU faculty;
  • significantly redesign an existing course; or
  • design a new course.

Funds available through instructional improvement committee - Top
The instructional improvement committee (IIC) encourages, through monetary grants, the application of existing knowledge to specific teaching situations to improve the quality of instruction at BHSU.

Any full-time faculty member, full-time adjunct faculty or other full time staff member engaged in student instruction may apply for grant funds administered by the committee. Grant funding will normally be available up to a maximum of $1,000 per project. Priority will be given to projects that will have a broad-based, visible, continuing impact of instruction across faculty members and/or disciplines. Funds are available for development of materials and methods to improve teaching and learning, equipment to enhance teaching and learning, travel to conferences or workshops which enhance teaching and learning, and bringing consulting

 lecturers and teaching specialists to campus to offer presentations to and/or with faculty and teaching-support staff at BHSU. Faculty members who apply for grants to support travel to a conference or workshop are limited to receiving no more than one grant every three years.

Proposals for grant funding will be reviewed by the IIC on a monthly basis. The deadline for submission will be the last Friday of each month; a decision will be made as soon as practicable on each proposal. Ten copies of the proposals should be submitted to the grants and special projects office, W220, or to the chair of the committee, Sharon Strand. Proposals will consist of proposal and budget outlines following the specified format available at the grants and special projects web page.

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. Deadline is April 14.

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. Preference is given to new applicants particularly in the areas of education, business, social sciences and humanities.Two three-hour release times are available for spring of 2001. You can apply now.

The applicants are encouraged to contact the committee members for advice prior to completing their proposals. The members are John Alsup, Steve Anderson, Lyle Cook, Tom Cox, Daniel Farrington, Abdollah Farrokhi, chair; Jim Hess, Kathleen Parrow, Shane Sarver and Rob Schurrer.

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 March 30-April 12 in the grants office in Woodburn 220. For copies of the information, contact our office at 642-6627 or e-mail requests to us at grants@bhsu.edu . Fellowship information will also be posted on the Student Union bulletin board near the information desk.
  • Weeden Foundation. Biodiversity is its main priority. Organizations funded so far range from those that protect ecosystems and wildlife to those that raise the status of women and increase awareness about family planning.
  • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Various RFP topics available. Due June 2.
  • NSF. FY 2000 Guide to Programs. NSF 00-65.
  • NSF. Geosciences Beyond 2000. Understanding and predicting Earth's environment and habitability. NSF 00-28.
  • Fannie Mae Foundation. Research grants on community development issues.
  • HHS. NIH. CDC. FDA. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR). NIH and FDA grants due Aug. 1; CDC due Dec. 1.

New Faculty Profile

By Dawn Taggart, media relations student intern

Penelope DeJong

“The standard of technology available here (in South Dakota) is far beyond anywhere else I've ever taught,” said Penelope De Jong of the College of Business at Black Hills State University.

“To have computers in the classroom where you can go to the internet while you're in class and the entire class can see that—no other school that I've been to has that technology; it just amazes me,” said the business instructor. She commented that it is easier to give visual support to lectures with the improvements in technology. “It gives your communication more power,” she said.

De Jong always knew she wanted to be a teacher and said she's always loved working with kids. “Before I became a teacher I taught at Bible school; I taught crafts; I taught in 4-H. I've always loved working with young people. Both my grandparents were teachers and there's a great deal of respect in my family for education, so it just was a natural. Two of my sisters have teaching degrees as well. I think education is extraordinarily important not just to individuals but to us as a nation; we have to make sure we maintain our place in the world by maintaining our education of our young people and excelling in that.”

De Jong feels that teaching is a lot tougher than she thought it would be. “I'd say the ups are higher and the downs are lower than I expected. When you feel like you've really done a good job, you are really connected, you really feel like you benefited the people in the class and you know that they are going to be able to use what you've taught them, that's a real high. Then there are days that you've spent 12 hours grading papers and you just sort of want to go find a hole and crawl into it. It's more varied than I thought,” she added.

The business instructor finds that one of her most rewarding classes is principles of marketing because, she said, “these are people who've never really studied business before, really don't have a clue what marketing is, and I get to tell them just exactly how fascinating it is as a subject. [I get to] watch them grow in their realization of how marketing has touched their lives and changed our world.”

As De Jong described her teaching style she said she likes to tell stories. “I lecture and I also include cases so they can apply what they've learned, but when I lecture I try to relate the subject matter in a way that's more personal so it's easier for the student to remember,” she explained.

De Jong feels that methods of teaching have improved over the years. She said, “It hasn't been that long ago that students weren't encouraged at all to talk in class—no questions, no participation; they were supposed to sit there and listen and learn. We incorporate more teamwork in our assignments because that's what will be expected later on; we definitely encourage, strongly encourage, the use of technology in their research and in their presentations. We also strongly encourage presentation skills and all kinds of communication skills.”

De Jong was educated in her hometown of Maryville, Mo. She received two bachelor of science degrees and her master of business administration degree from Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, and is currently working on her doctorate through Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla.; she expects to finish her dissertation next year.

She earned several honors, including: an education scholarship at Oklahoma State, a research grant from Northwest Missouri State, a Pi Omega Pi Scholarship, as well as many other honors. Her publications include “Influencers of Purchase Intentions for Ecologically Friendly Products” in the Proceedings of the 1994 American Marketing Association's Winter Educators' Conference.

She began her teaching career at her alma mater in Maryville. From there she taught at Oklahoma State from 1991 to 1993 before returning to Northwest Missouri State for the years 1993-1996. She then became an assistant professor at Alvernia College in Reading, Penn., in 1996 before joining the teaching staff at Black Hills State.

De Jong's future plans include staying in Spearfish and becoming more involved in the community as well as doing some research. She feels really fortunate to have had the opportunity to be at Black Hills State and taste the western way of life.

She said, “I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to work with the people that I'm working with, the technology that's available, and getting to know the students out here has been a real joy; I really hope to continue.”

In her spare time she is an avid reader and enjoys sewing and watching new movie releases, but her favorite thing to do is spending time with her five children who are all grown except her youngest son, Matthew, who De Jong says is her “new beginning.”

This week at BHSU

Submit items or send to media relations, Unit 9512, BHSU.

April Calendar

Friday, April14

Preview Day: high school students on campus

18th Annual Lakota Omniciye Pow Wow, Young Center, grand entry, 7 p.m.

Theatre production "Come Blow Your Horn," Woodburn Auditorium, 8 p.m.

Mock Prom, Student Union multipurpose room, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Saturday,
April5

18th Annual Lakota Omniciye Pow Wow, Young Center, grand entries, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Kevin Whirlwind Horse Memorial Scholarship Run/Walk

Theatre production "Come Blow Your Horn," Woodburn Auditorium, 8 p.m.

Piano festival, Cook Hall
Sunday,  April16
18th Annual Lakota Omniciye Pow Wow, Young Center, grand entry, 1 p.m.
Monday, April17
Poetry reading by Tony Crunk, Student Union multipurpose room, 7 p.m.

Spring Science Seminar Series, Jim Buell, Jonas 101, 4 p.m.

Maniac Monday Retreat for faculty, Woodburn third floor, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Tuesday, April18
Graduate Council meeting, Jonas 306, 3:15 p.m.

Student recital, Cook 303, 3:30 p.m.

Food service spring banquet, Pangburn, 4:30-7 p.m.

Wednesday, April19
Blood drive, 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hall of Fame Room of the Young Center

Faculty senate meeting, Jonas 103, 3:15 p.m.

Thursday,
April20		 Friday,
April 21
No classes – Good Friday,

Administrative leave for employees
Saturday, April22