Morningside College is willing to amend its Roberts Stadium proposal to include a 99-year lease rather than transfer of title and to establish caps on increases in the usage fee.

Regarding the 99-year lease amendment, Morningside College President John Reynders said, “We believe that a 99-year lease answers the concerns of the public, the Sioux City Community School District, and the college.

“Both the school district and the college attorneys have been working to protect the interests of the school district and the college in every way possible. We believe that this 99-year lease will satisfy all concerns about transfer of title.

“From the college’s point-of-view, a 99-year lease will still enable us to make essential decisions regarding current improvements and operations and allow us to assume full responsibility for future upkeep and improvements. Our donor believes that the college is the right entity to protect his $2.35 million investment, and Morningside accepts this responsibility as being of paramount importance.”

The Taxpayers Research Council has recommended that a cap be placed on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases to the usage fee of $40,000 that the school district would pay to the college. Morningside is willing to set caps on the CPI rate in 10-year increments.

“History suggests that the CPI rate can fluctuate dramatically. It is virtually impossible to set a cap today that would be fair to all parties,” said Reynders. “We have worked out a formula that sets caps in 10-year increments.”

For the first five years, the usage fee will remain at a flat $40,000 a year, approximately $10,000 a year less than the school district is currently paying for the expenses the usage fee covers.

For years six through fifteen of the agreement, the cap for the inflation rate will be equal to 3 percent plus the average actual CPI inflation rate for years 3, 4, and 5. For years sixteen through twenty-five, the cap will be equal to 3 percent plus the average actual CPI rate for years 13, 14, and 15, and so forth.

Jeanne Schwab, RN, BSN, will be the keynote speaker when the Morningside College Nursing Education Department and the Morningside Student Nurses Association hold their 22nd annual Maud Adams Research Day from 8 a.m. to noon on Thursday, April 15, in the Lincoln Center, 3627 Peters Avenue.

Schwab, a 1980 Morningside graduate, has been named the 2004 Morningside Nursing Alumnus of the Year. This award is presented for commitment to nursing and outstanding leadership in the profession.

Schwab, the administrator of the Audubon County Public Health Nursing Service in Audubon, Iowa, will present her address “The Challenges of Public Health Nursing” at 8:30 a.m.

The Nursing Alumni Scholarship will be presented in Schwab’s honor to Sara Schrank of Mapleton, Iowa, during the opening address. Schrank is a senior at Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto High School in Mapleton, Iowa. Schrank plans to enroll at Morningside this fall to pursue a bachelor of nursing degree. The scholarship is presented to a student who shows potential for outstanding professionalism in nursing.

Throughout the day, Morningside nursing students will present their research utilization projects on topics such as promoting psychosocial adaptation to mastectomy, identifying clients at risk for hospital readmission, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management. There will be other student presentations pertaining to mental health issues, play therapies, and a concept analysis of prayer.

Poster presentations prepared by nurses from Mercy Medical Center, St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, and St. Luke’s College will also be on display.

A program that will feature an interactive experience for high school students to learn about the nursing profession will be held from noon to 2:30 p.m.

Schwab joined Audubon County Public Heath Service in 1986. She was previously employed in the post-surgical area at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., and in surgery at Marian Heath Center, now Mercy Medical Center, in Sioux City. Schwab is certified as an operating room nurse and has been a delegate to the national convention for the Association of Operating Room Nurses. She has taught at St. Joseph School of Nursing in Sioux City. Schwab is a member of the Region 4 Steering Committee for Bioterrorism and is involved in data collection and research for improving public health nursing.

The nursing research day, started in 1983 as a tribute to Maud Adams, was created to feature the work of students and to provide a mechanism to promote
professional development. Adams, a former chair of the Morningside nursing department who died in 1995, was an instrumental leader in the early days of the department of nursing education. Before she came to Morningside, Adams served as a staff nurse, instructor, and administrator in various public health agencies and nursing programs.

For additional information, contact the Morningside College nursing education department at 712-274-5156.

Morningside College student Jennifer Van Otterloo of Sheldon, Iowa, will present a piano recital on Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

Van Otterloo, a sophomore at Morningside, is majoring in music performance.

Van Otterloo will perform a program that includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Prelude No. 2 in D Major,” Ludwig Van Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79,” Aram Khachaturian’s “Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano” and “Toccata in Eb Minor,” Edvard Grieg’s “Lyric Pieces, Op. 54 No. 3 and 4,” and Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in G Minor, Op. 23.”

She will be joined by Tessa Connor, a sophomore from Mapleton, Iowa, on clarinet, and by Devora Geller, a sophomore from Des Moines, Iowa, on violin, during the performance of “Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano.”

Filmmaker Russell S. Doughten, Jr., a writer, producer, and director of Christian motion pictures, will give a presentation at Morningside College on Wednesday, April 14, at 10 a.m. in the UPS Auditorium of the Lincoln Center, 3627 Peters Avenue.

The public is invited to the free event, which is sponsored by The Sioux City Readings Series, the Coleman Foundation, Inc., Morningside’s Center for Entrepreneur Education, and Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).

Doughten, who was born and raised in Iowa, has been called the father of modern Christian movies and has been a pioneer in putting Christian movies on video and DVD. He received the 2001 What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) Christian Film Festival’s Landmark Award for lifetime contribution in presenting the gospel through motion pictures. Doughten, who has 20 feature gospel motion pictures to his credit, is also a past recipient of the Milestone Award for 50 years of achievement, presented by National Religious Broadcasters.

His best known movie is 1972’s “A Thief in the Night,” the first in a series of four films based on biblical end times prophecy, that is one of the most watched Christian films in history. The rest of the films in the series are “A Distant Thunder,” “Image of the Beast,” and “The Prodigal Planet.”

After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Doughten returned to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, to study acting and directing. He later attended the Yale Graduate School of Drama, where he wrote, directed, and acted. Doughten then joined Good News Productions, a Christian filmmaking company in Chester Springs, Penn. He produced the 1958 science fiction classic “The Blob” for Valley Forge Films, a secular counterpart of Good News Production.

After several years in Hollywood, Doughten returned to Iowa and founded Heartland Productions and Mark IV Pictures, which produced many feature-length Christian movies, including “A Thief in the Night.” He founded his current company, Russ Doughten Films, Inc., in Urbandale, Iowa, during the mid 1990s.

Morningside College received a grant in the amount of $33,720 from the Coleman Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Awareness and Education Grant (EAEG) program in 2001 for the development of the Center for Entrepreneur Education and received an additional $40,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation in 2003. The center initiated the Entrepreneurship in the Arts program last year. Dr. Pamela Mickelson and Molly Williams, professors of business administration and economics at Morningside, serve as the co-directors of the Center for Entrepreneur Education.

The Coleman Foundation, Inc. was established in 1951 by Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Stetson Coleman. The Colemans were successful entrepreneurs, most notably as owners of Fanny May Candies based in Chicago. Since 1981, the foundation has committed over $26 million to advance the concept of self-sufficiency through self-employment. The Coleman Foundation established the EAEG program initiative in 1994. The program’s objective was to provide funding to create new or expand existing programs that promoted the awareness of self-employment through entrepreneurship education.

An art exhibition by Morningside College student Theresa Price, a senior photography major from Lincoln, Neb., will be on display from Thursday, April 15, to Monday, April 19, in the Eppley Auditorium Art Gallery, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

Her exhibition, “Releasing the Spirit,” features photographs in many different mediums and a variety of subjects.

A reception for Price, open to the public, will be held Saturday, April 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the art gallery.

The Eppley Auditorium Art Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Morningside College Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble will present a spring concert on Tuesday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

The concert is open to the public and free of charge.

The symphonic wind ensemble is directed by Dr. Peter Wood, assistant professor of music at Morningside. The jazz ensemble is directed by Dr. Gerald Bouma, professor of music and chair of the department.

The symphonic wind ensemble’s program will include “The Lord of the Rings” by Johan de Meij, “Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major” by Richard Strauss, “Australian Up-Country Tune” by Percy Grainger, “Gemeinhardt Suite” by Robert W. Smith, and “Scenes From the Lourvre” by Norman Dello Joio.

Katie Berglof, a sophomore from Sherwood, N.D., will perform a horn solo during the performance of “Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major,” and Taurice Alexander, a sophomore from Sioux City, will perform a flute solo during the performance of “Gemeinhardt Suite.”

The jazz ensemble’s program will include “A Night in Tunisia” by Sammy Nestico, “Here’s That Rainy Day” by Dee Barton, “Latin Import” by John Fedchock, and “Straight no Chaser” by Thelonius Monk.

The performance of “A Night in Tunisia” will feature a tenor saxophone solo by Jason Davis, a junior from Aurelia, Iowa; a trombone solo by Samuel Kruse, a freshman from Anita, Iowa; and a trumpet solo by Tony Kasinskas of Sioux City. Alissa Reeves, a senior from Kingsley, Iowa, will perform a soprano saxophone solo during the performance of “Latin Import.” The performance of “Straight no Chaser” will feature a tenor saxophone solo by Davis and a trumpet solo by Wood.

Wood, a member of Morningside’s faculty since 1998, is a 1989 graduate of the University of Illinois. He received a master of music degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1991 and his doctorate in trumpet performance from the University of Indiana in 2000.

Bouma, in his first year at Morningside, came to Morningside from Northwestern College in Saint Paul, Minn., where he was the chair of the music department since 2001 and a professor of music since 1995. He was previously professor and chair of the department of music at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., for 10 years, and at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, for 16 years.

Bouma received his doctorate and master’s degrees from Arizona State University and his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

Morningside College Athletic Director Jerry Schmutte announced today that the college has named Jim Sykes as head men's basketball coach.

Sykes had served as the Mustangs' interim head coach when Schmutte, the Mustangs' previous head coach, took an eight-week medical leave earlier this winter. Schmutte announced last week that he was stepping down as head men's basketball coach but would continue as the Mustangs' director of athletics.

Sykes, a three-year veteran on the Mustangs' coaching staff, led the Mustangs to a 9-3 finish after he was named interim head coach. The Mustangs finished the season with an 18-13 overall record and posted a 14-4 record in their first season as a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) to share the league's regular season championship with Northwestern College.

Sykes was named the 2004 GPAC Coach of the Year for his efforts.

The Mustangs, who had finished 10-22 during the 2002-03 campaign, were the surprise team of the GPAC after they had been tabbed for a 12th place finish in the conference coaches' pre-season poll.

"One of the things we looked at in filling the position was the way the program turned around in a very positive manner this year," Schmutte said. "We felt it was important to keep some continuity in the program. Jim has been involved in recruiting many of the players who are here now. He did a great job in my absence, and we felt he was obviously worthy of the chance to coach at this level."

"I am very excited about this great opportunity, and I look forward to representing Morningside College as its head men's basketball coach," Sykes said.

Sykes came to Morningside in 2001 as an assistant under former Morningside head coach Bob Bargen. He remained as an assistant after Schmutte took over the program following the completion of the 2002-03 season.

"We have a great foundation of players presently here," Sykes said. "We just need to add a few pieces to that in recruiting. I'm really looking forward to next season. It can't get here soon enough."

Before coming to Morningside, Sykes had been an assistant boy's basketball and assistant football coach at Waverly (Neb.) High School for 10 years. He helped lead Waverly to a berth in Nebraska's 1995 Class B boy's state basketball tournament.

He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1989. Sykes previously attended Hastings College, where he was a member of the Broncos' basketball team for two years.

Morningside College will present a dance concert on Thursday, April 15, at 7 p.m. in Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Avenue.

The concert, “Just Dancin’,” will feature performances from Morningside students who participated in Morningside dance classes that were offered during the 2003-04 academic year as well as area students who attended Morningside’s Summer Dance Camp. The concert will include ballet, tap, and jazz performances.

Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door.

Morningside students who will participate in the concert are: Jessica Alexander, a sophomore from Lincoln, Neb.; Meagan Anderson, a sophomore from Indianola, Iowa; Christina Bennett, a freshman from Geneva, Neb.; Ashley Brewer, a freshman from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; Kelli Goodwater, a freshman from Omaha, Neb.; Jessica Jenkins, a sophomore from Essex, Iowa; Mikaela Johnson, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jessica Keller, a senior from Sioux City; Samuel Kruse, a freshman from Anita, Iowa; Sydney LeFlore, a senior from Omaha, Neb.; Erin Mulvany, a senior from Tualatin, Ore.; Felice Rodvik, a senior from Sheldon, Iowa; Iris Seaman, a freshman from Sioux City; and Brandi Shipler, a freshman from Algona, Iowa.

Tracy Bennett, co-director of the Siouxland Movement Arts Center in Sioux City, is coordinator of Morningside’s dance program. Bennett, a 1983 Morningside graduate, has 25 years experience in theatrical dance with an emphasis on classical forms and studied two years with the National Academy of Dance at the School for the Performing Arts in Champaign, Ill.

The players and coaches from Morningside College’s NAIA Division II National Championship women’s basketball team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 30, to meet Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and be recognized on the floors of the Iowa Senate and House of Representatives.

They will be recognized on the floor of the Senate at 11:30 a.m. and then go immediately to the House of Represenatives to be recognized there. They will meet Vilsack in his office at 12:30 p.m., followed by a tour of the capitol building.

Morningside College posted a 34-4 record during the recently completed 2003-04 season and defeated Cedarville University 87-74 in the championship game of the 2004 NAIA Division II National Tournament held in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.

Morningside College Athletic Director Jerry Schmutte announced today that he is stepping down as head men’s basketball coach, due to health reasons. He will continue to serve as Morningside’s athletic director.

The change is effective immediately, and the college will begin a search to fill the head coaching position this week.

Schmutte had taken an 8-week medical leave beginning in late January, and continued health concerns led to his decision to step down as head coach.

Schmutte has served as athletic director since April 2001. He was Morningside’s men’s basketball coach from 1990 to 2001 and reassumed head coaching duties in the spring of 2003. One of the most successful coaches in Morningside history, Schmutte compiled a 12-year record of 194-135 for a .590 winning percentage to make him the all-time “winningest” men's basketball coach in school history. His .590 career winning percentage is also a Morningside record.

Schmutte’s best season at Morningside came during the 1994-95 campaign when he led the team to a 24-8 record for the second highest victory total in Morningside history and the school’s first 20-win season since 1982-83.

He came to Morningside following a nine-year coaching career at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he had a nine-year record of 174-75 and led the school to six consecutive national post-season tournament appearances, including three Final Four finishes.

Schmutte retires from coaching with a 21-year record of 368-210 for a .637 winning percentage.

Schmutte is a 1967 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University.

The Regional Center for Teaching and Learning at Morningside College, formerly known as the Northwest Iowa Center for Teaching and Learning at Morningside College, named retired Sioux City educator Paul VanderWiel the 2004 Alumni Educator of the Year and Paul Niebuhr, instrumental music teacher at Gehlen Catholic School, the 2004 Siouxland Alumni Teacher of the Year during a banquet held last night on the campus of Morningside College.

Morningside College President John Reynders and Vice President for Academic Affairs William Deeds presented the awards. Nancy Mounts, director of the Regional Center for Teaching and Learning, and Marilyn Heilman, associate professor and chair of the education department at Morningside, offered remarks.

To be considered for the awards, Morningside alumni must have made a significant impact on their community as educators and exemplify the college’s mission statement, which reads, “The Morningside College experience cultivates a passion for life-long learning and a dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility.”

VanderWiel graduated from Morningside in 1961 and earned a master’s degree from the University of South Dakota in 1969. He began his career in education at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in 1961 and also taught at Central High School before becoming an assistant principal at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, a position he held from 1970 to1972.

From 1972 to1979, VanderWiel served as assistant principal at West High School. He was named principal of North High School in 1979 and continued in that post until 1991. Paul has also served as principal of Central Campus, as vocational administrator for the Sioux City Community School District, as director of federal, state, and special programming, and as director of secondary education and curriculum for the Sioux City Schools.

Niebuhr, a 1987 graduate of Morningside, has been the instrumental music teacher at Gehlen Catholic School in Le Mars, Iowa, since 1996, when the school had only 23 students in concert band. In the eight years since, the concert band group has grown to 100 students. Niebuhr also has restored a marching band that had been extinct for 12 years and developed a music program that includes concert band, jazz band, pep band, flag corps, and solo and ensemble work.

Nominees from the Sioux City Community School District included Paula Hamp Nelson, a special education teacher at West High School, and Pamela Hanson, a teacher at Clark Elementary School.

Nominees from other school districts included: Dianne Clark, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, English; Victoria Conover, Charter Oak-Ute, vocal music; Denise Griebel, South Sioux City, elementary; Elizabeth Hagedorn, Irwin-Kirkman-Manilla, special education; Steven McHugh, Malvern, mathematics; Konnie Mouw, Cherokee Mental Health Institute, lead teacher; Dianne Norris, Storm Lake, special education; Gary Olsen, Clarion-Goldfield, social studies; Carrie Rice, Lawton-Bronson, English; Greg Royer, Woodbury Central, guidance counselor; Carol Sadler, Battle Creek-Ida Grove, science; and Randy Uhl, Lawton-Bronson, English.

The Regional Center for Teaching and Learning at Morningside College, founded by the college in 2001, works collaboratively with other institutions and agencies to improve education in the tri-state region. For more information, contact Mounts at 712-274-5139.

“Same-Sex Marriage: What’s the Big Deal?” will be the topic of discussion by a 3-person panel at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 26, in the Lincoln Center UPS Auditorium, 3627 Peters Avenue, on the campus of Morningside College.

The focus of the panel will be the ramifications of same-sex marriage from three perspectives, spiritual, psychological, and legal.

Panelists will include The Rev. Lanette Plambeck, director of college ministries at Morningside College; Sioux City attorney Elizabeth Rosenbaum; and retired counselor and psychotherapist Carol Wassmuth, M.A., R.N., C.S., A.R.N.P. Each panelist will present information from her field, after which the panel will answer audience questions.

The lecture is sponsored by the college’s Gay/Straight Alliance and the college’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).

Morningside College’s theatre department will present a production of the Grimm’s Brothers children’s story “Rumpelstiltskin” on Saturday and Sunday, March 27 and 28, at Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Avenue.

Show times for Saturday are 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday’s show times are 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The performances are sponsored by Morningside's Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).

Admission for the public is $3. Reservations are not required but can be made by calling 712-274-5196.

Cast members are Lesa Gillespie, a freshman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, as Rumpelstiltskin; Amber Donner, a senior from Sioux City, as Miller’s Widow; Jaclyn Jorgensen, a junior from Sioux City, as Miller’s Maid; Bryan Deck, a sophomore from Sioux City, as the king; Wendy Bryce, a senior from Sioux City, as the queen; Cory Clark, a junior from Quimby, Iowa, as the prince; and Mikaela Johnson, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the troubador.

The director is Erin Mulvany, a senior from Tualatin, Ore. Natalie Palof, a freshman from Amana, Iowa, is the stage manager; and Lia Lauderback, a freshman from Spencer, Iowa, is the assistant stage manager. The members of the crew are Joshua Goebel, a senior from Granville, Iowa; and Sharona Ernst, a freshman from Falls City, Neb.

Approximately 2,840 students and teachers from area pre-schools and elementary schools will attend special weekday performances of the play. All seats for the weekday performances have been filled.

Morningside’s theatre department produces four plays a year, including its fall and spring children’s plays, which have entertained more than 25,700 elementary school students and their teachers since 1987.

Senior art exhibitions by Morningside College students Jessica Keller, a senior from Bassett, Neb., and Leslie Stodden, a senior from Cherokee, Iowa, will be on display from Friday, March 26, to Tuesday, March 30, in the Helen Levitt Art Gallery located in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

Keller’s exhibition will be a display of landscape and wildlife 8x10 photographs taken in Europe. The photographs are both in color and sepia tone.

Stodden’s graphic design exhibition wil include package design, an Addy Award winning poster, and Web design.

A reception for the artists, open to the public, will be held Saturday, March 27, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the art gallery. The Helen Levitt Art Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Desdamona Racheli, a hip-hop spoken word artist and performer based in the Twin Cities, will present some of her original poems and discuss her entrepreneurial career during an appearance at Morningside College on Wednesday, March 24, at 10 a.m. in the UPS Auditorium of the Lincoln Center, 3627 Peters Avenue.

The public is invited to the free event, which is sponsored by The Sioux City Readings Series, the Coleman Foundation, Inc., Morningside’s Center for Entrepreneur Education, and Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).

Desdamona was the recipient of the 2000 Minnesota Music Academy’s Best Spoken Word Artist Award. She has performed with Lydia Lunch at Minneapolis’ 1st Avenue, performed at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York, and appeared on the “Jenny Jones Show” to perform an excerpt of her poem, “Miss America.”

She is the curator of the Encyclopedia of Hip-Hop Evolution at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis and is an active member of the Twin Cities spoken word and hip-hop scenes. Desdamona hosts a weekly open microphone night at the Blue Nile Restaurant that features poets, musicians, hop-hop artists, and singers.

Morningside College received a grant in the amount of $33,720 from the Coleman Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Awareness and Education Grant (EAEG) program in 2001 for the development of the Center for Entrepreneur Education and received an additional $40,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation in 2003. The center initiated the Entrepreneurship in the Arts program last year. Dr. Pamela Mickelson and Molly Williams, professors of business administration and economics at Morningside, serve as the co-directors of the Center for Entrepreneur Education.

Dr. James March, professor of music at Morningside College, and Dr. Kathryn March, artist-in-residence at Morningside, will present a piano recital at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue. The recital is free of charge and open to the public.

The husband and wife team, known professionally as “The March Duo,” have performed together since they met as graduate students at the University of Iowa in 1982. Both hold doctorate of musical arts and master of fine arts degrees from the university. They were married in 1984.

They will perform a program of works written for four-hands at one piano. The program will include “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Fantasie in F Minor” by Franz Schubert, “Three Slavonic Dances” by Antonin Dvorak, “Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann” composed by Johannes Brahms, and “Souvenirs” by Samuel Barber.

James March, who has been at Morningside since 1986, has appeared as soloist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, Sioux City Symphony, and others. He has received first prizes in the Concerto Division of the Piano Guild’s International Recording Competition, the national level of the Federation of Music Clubs Competition, and the Bloomington-Normal Concerto Competition.

Kathryn March has taught at Morningside, Western Iowa Tech Community College, and the University of South Carolina-Coastal Carolina College. She has been a soloist with the Sioux City Symphony and the University of Iowa and Morningside College Chamber Orchestras.

Dr. James Brandt, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), will discuss the controversial death penalty issue as the featured speaker for the annual Morningside College Wright Lecture series at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17, in the UPS Auditorium of the Lincoln Center, 3627 Peters Avenue.

Brandt, associate professor of historical theology at Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Mo., will also discuss and debate the merits of the death penalty with several members of the Morningside faculty in a Teach-In on the Death Penalty later that evening at 7 p.m. in the UPS Auditorium.

Brandt’s morning address, “Our Violent Culture and the Death Penalty: A Theological View,” is sponsored by the Morningside College Wright Lecture series and the college’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS). The teach-in is also sponsored by ACAS. The public is invited free of charge to both events.

Brandt is a member of the Western Missouri Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, an organization whose mission is to affirm the value of human life by abolishing the death penalty and replacing it with humane alter

Morningside College student Christoper Frisbie of Wall Lake, Iowa, will present a tenor voice recital on Saturday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

Frisbie, a senior at Morningside, is majoring in music education.

Frisbie will perform songs composed by Henri Duparc, Friedrich Flotow, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Marx, John Jacob Niles, and Roger Quilter.

He will be accompanied by JoAnn Kots, a collaborative pianist for Morningside’s music department.