Morningside College has formed two advisory councils for renovations and scheduling at Roberts Stadium. Jerry Schmutte, Morningside’s athletic director, will chair both councils.

Members of the Roberts Stadium Advisory Council for Renovations include, in alphabetical order: Kirk Johnson, director of the physical plant at Morningside College; Tom Luxford, who is currently activities director at North High School but will be serving as assistant principal at North High School in the next school year; Cathee Phillips, director of public relations at Morningside; Bob Prince, co-director of the Sioux City Relays; Ray Rowe, facilities maintenance supervisor for the Sioux City Community School District (SCCSD); Schmutte; and Bill Stoneburg, director of finance for the SCCSD.

The renovations advisory council will meet monthly. Members will gather on Morningside’s campus for their first meeting at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, June 7.

The Roberts Stadium Advisory Council for Scheduling will include Schmutte and the activities directors at the SCCSD high schools: Jason Klingensmith, West High School; Richard Vanderloo, East High School; and Luxford’s replacement at North High School.

The scheduling advisory council will meet at least twice a year. Its first meeting has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 27, at the Educational Service Center, 1221 Pierce St.

Morningside College expects to have 80 incoming students in attendance when it hosts the first of four scheduled summer registration days for first-year students and their parents on Friday, June 4. The theme for this year's registration and orientation is "Unleash the Stampede."

Additional summer registration days for incoming first-year students are scheduled for Friday, June 18, Saturday, July 10, and Friday, July 30.

Amy Williams, associate director of admissions at Morningside, said the first summer registration day is full and openings for the remaining registration days are filling up quickly.

In addition to the four dates for first-year students, Morningside will host two summer registration days for transfer students, to be held on Friday, June 18, and Saturday, July 10.

Summer registration days provide an opportunity for new and transferring students to meet each other, visit with faculty, determine fall class schedules, learn about campus organizations and activities, interact with Morningside upperclassmen, and meet with financial aid advisors. Students and parents will also have the opportunity to attend individual and joint sessions to learn about campus life and college policies and ask questions.

For information about attending Morningside College, contact the Admissions office at (712) 274-5111.

Morningside College Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College William C. Deeds announced that twenty-one students earned a 4.0 grade point average for the spring 2004 semester.

Most of these students were also among the 136 students named to the Dean’s Honor List, which recognizes students who achieved a 3.5 grade point average or better and completed at least 15 hours of course work with no grade below a “C.” Each student received a letter of recognition from Deeds.

The students who earned a 4.0 grade point average were:

Sioux City – Cari Clayton; Jill Ellickson; Benjamin Goins; Zachary Hindman; Joshua Johnson; Sarah Loffswold; Jessica McKeever; and John Steele.

Iowa – William Allen, Pomeroy; Amy Anderson, Estherville; Natalie Biede, Council Bluffs; Michael Nicodemus, Aurelia; and Mallie Vetter of Red Oak.

Other states and countries – Chad Agnew, La Vista, Neb.; Mohamed Babiker, Khartoum, North Africa; Gethen Baker, Edina, Minn.; Stacy Baldus, Grand Meadow, Minn.; Elizabeth Kelly, Falls City, Neb.; Erin Mulvany, Tualatin, Ore.; and Chanda Pederson, Big Lake, Minn.

For a complete list of the students named to the Dean's List, click here.

At a noon meeting today, Tuesday, May 18, the Executive Committee of the Morningside College Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve the Roberts Stadium lease agreement with the Sioux City Community School District.
College officials signed the agreement this afternoon.

“We are pleased with the school board’s decision and truly believe this to be a win-win-win situation for the community, the school district, and the college,” said President John Reynders. “Our donor enthusiastically endorsed the lease agreement this morning and is anxious for the improvements to begin.”

Reynders began today to form the advisory council for the renovations. The council will consist of representatives from the school district, the college, and the community.

The college also began preparing request for proposals to start the bidding process for the renovations it hopes to complete by September 2004. These renovations include repairing the bleachers and installing new field lighting and a new public address system.

Morningside has asked Schroder Engineering of Sioux City to develop a schedule with the goal of completing all $2.35 million in renovations as quickly as possible.

Morningside College, in collaboration with TAG departments in the Sioux City Community School District and Western Hills Area Education Agency, will host the 2004 College for Youth programs on the Morningside College campus.

The College for Youth: Explorations day camps will be held Monday through Friday, June 7 to 11, for students who have completed fifth through eighth grades. The College for Youth: Pathways residential program will be held Monday through Friday, July 18 to 23, for TAG students who have completed eighth grade and up but have not yet started college or university as full-time students.

Explorations participants will have a choice of two different classes in each morning and afternoon session during the week-long program. Classes include: “Cultural Writings,” “Chess for Beginners,” “Fair Division,” “Clay Bead Making,” “Creative Book Making,” “Mind-Bending Morning,” “What are the Chances?” “Geometry in Art,” “Eggs Away,” “Readers Theatre,” “Wild Rides,” “Creative Lettering,” “Junk Drawer Inventing,” “Island Adventure,” “Non-Verbal Creations,” “Under the Microscope,” “Hands-On Psychology,” “Dance,” and “Geology Rocks.”

Explorations participants may register for individual sessions or the entire week. Cost is $30 for individual sessions or a reduced rate of $275 for the full week of 10 sessions. Lunch will be offered at the Olsen Student Center on the Morningside College campus at a cost of $5 a day. Class size is limited to 20 students. Registration deadline is May 19.

Confirmation of sessions, room/building assignments, directions, and additional information will be mailed to participants on May 24. For more information on Explorations, contact Kindall Todd at 712-277-6131 or e-mail toddk@sioux-city.k12.ia.us.

The College for Youth: Pathways program will be offering the first course for gifted students, “Fundamentals of Rocket Science.” The college-level course will explore the applications of Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion through experimentation with high-powered water rockets. Students will stay in the college residence halls. Students must have completed a course in algebra to be eligible to participate. Upon successful completion of the Pathways program, participants will receive one hour of college credit.

Dr. Gary Turner, assistant professor in engineering and physics at Morningside College, will instruct the class. Turner holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in astronautics and space engineering from Cranfield University, and a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Warwick University. He has worked with academic summer programs since 1998, including the home-schooled programs and the College for Youth at Morningside College, and has developed several courses for Iowa State University’s Office of Pre-collegiate Programs for the TAG program.

Cost for Pathways is $400, which includes tuition, room, three meals per day, planned and supervised activities, equipment, textbook, T-shirt, and 24-hour residential staff. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until July 2.

For more information on the PATHWAYS program, contact LaVon Stroh at 712-252-0059 or e-mail lavonstroh@aol.com.

Morningside College conferred 109 bachelor’s degrees and 80 master of arts in teaching (MAT) degrees during its 106th spring commencement exercises held Saturday, May 8, at 2 p.m. on the Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Library Center lawn.

In addition to the 189 spring graduates, degrees were conferred upon August 2003 and December 2003 graduates, as well as students expected to graduate in August 2004.

An honorary Doctor of Science degree was conferred upon Dr. Robert Hilker, retired cardiologist and pioneer in the field of occupational medicine, and an honorary Doctor of Music degree was conferred upon Dr. Karen Lias Wolff, dean of the School of Music at the University of Michigan and a member of the National Council on the Arts. The college presented these honorary degrees in honor of their commitment to life-long learning, civic responsibility, and ethical leadership, the tenets of Morningside’s mission.

Dr. Jane Hey, professor and chair of Morningside’s biology department, received the Lucille and Charles Wert Faculty Award for excellence in teaching. Hey, who has been at Morningside since 1979, holds a doctorate degree from Iowa State University, a master of science degree from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor’s degree from Monmouth College in Illinois. Hey is known for her research on amphibians and ephemeral wetland communities. The Wert award, established in 1996, recognizes the faculty member judged by his peers to best exemplify the ideas of the academic profession at Morningside.

Lindsay A. Holmberg, of Sioux City, was awarded the Paul VanderWeil Award, which was established this year to recognize a student who shows the most potential in the field of education. Holmberg, a spring graduate, earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education. The award was given in honor of Paul VanderWeil, who was recognized earlier this spring as the college’s 2004 Alumni Educator of the Year. He is a retired Sioux City educator and former principal of North High School.

The following graduating seniors were recognized as Outstanding Graduate in their respective academic divisions: Georgie A. Mrla of Lawton, Iowa, Division of Education; Crystal A. Reinhart, of Odebolt, Iowa, Division of Behaviorial and Health Sciences; A.J. Rieder, of Centerville, Minn., Division of Natural Science and Mathematics; Crista K. Rustwick, of Sioux City, Division of Humanities; Kristine M. Sauer, of Sheldon, Iowa, Division of Business Administration and Economics/Communications; and Adam M. Webb, of Grundy Center, Iowa, Divison of Fine Arts.

For a complete list of all the graduates who participated in the exercises, click here.

Morningside College will host the 2004 College for Youth Summer Science Institute June 1 to 11 on the Morningside campus. The institute is sponsored by the Morningside College education department.

All classes will take place in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Hindman-Hobbs (HPER) Center, 3501 Peters Avenue.

Students who have completed first and second grade may enroll in the “Space Cities” class, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday, June 1 to 4. Students will design a space station in cooperative groups using recycled materials. They will participate in hands-on science experiments dealing with gravity, weightlessness, space mud, and astronaut foods. Students will learn to develop their problem solving abilities as well as their critical thinking skills. Cost is $75, which includes tuition and all materials. Enrollment is limited to 25 students.

Two levels of “Aerospace Education” classes will be held from Monday through Friday, June 7 to 11.

The Level I class, which will meet from 9 a.m. to noon, is for students who have completed third and fourth grade or who have completed the “Space Cities” class. Students will learn how the space program improves life on earth. Students will investigate and experiment with scientific principles relating to space exploration.

Classes will include hand-on experiments in topics such as air transportation, rocketry, weather, layers of the atmosphere, and space suit technology as it relates to health care. Students will consider technological advancement careers in aerospace fields and how these impact the quality of life on earth. Cost is $78, which includes tuition and all materials.

The Level II class, which will meet from 1 to 4 p.m., is for students who have completed fourth, fifth, and sixth grades or who have completed the Level I class. Students will learn how the space program improves life on earth through rocketry, satellites, space stations, and hydroponics. Students will interact with an educational specialist from the Johnson Space Center. Students will also study topics in geology involving moon rocks and utilize the Iowa telecommunication network system. Cost is $78, which includes tuition and all materials.

The classes will be taught by Connie Richardson Smith, an educator/consultant from Sioux City, and Mary Richardson Tester, a computer specialist in preschool education from Pawleys Island, S.C. The two instructors have taught space studies classes in Iowa and South Carolina for the past 11 years and have done graduate work in science education through the Iowa Chautauqua Program at the University of Iowa.

Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Program materials will be sent to participants upon registration. For more information, contact the Morningside College education department at 712-274-5106.

Frank Breneisen, professor of art at Morningside College and long-time instructor at the Sioux City Art Center, is retiring after more than 33 years of teaching at Morningside. In his honor, an exhibit representing thirty years of his artwork is on display at the Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Library Center, 1601 Morningside Avenue, now through midsummer.

Breneisen, an internationally and nationally known artist, plans to travel, pursue his work in photography, ceramics, and furniture making, and to continue working in education in new ways. He said that he does not see this change as retirement but as a chance to explore new opportunities.

“Being at Morningside has been wonderful, and teaching students is a real joy. Living in Sioux City has been rewarding, and it has been a good place to raise our family,” said Breneisen. “The college, the city, and all our friends have helped to make an exciting life for us. I will always be a teacher, but now it is time to ‘go fly my kite’ and do some fun things. It’s a good time to leave; the college is strong and doing well.”

Breneisen currently teaches photography and ceramics at the college, where he began teaching in 1970. That same year, he began teaching at the Sioux City Art Center, where he served on the association board and on the board of trustees. He was elected president of the center’s associate board in 1973 and again in 1998 and chair of the board of trustees in 2003.

He served as chair of the Morningside art department from 1971 to 1993. When he first came to Morningside, only 12 students were art majors. Today more than 90 students are art majors. He founded the college’s graphic arts program in 1980, securing a $250,000 Federal Advanced Institutional Development Program (AIDP) grant to develop the program. Eight years later, he founded the college’s photography program.

Breneisen was also instrumental in securing the Helen Levitt $2 million art collection, housed in the Helen Levitt Art Gallery on campus.

Breneisen has organized and led study trips for hundreds of students throughout his tenure at Morningside, including trips to Europe, Chicago, Ill., and the Badlands of South Dakota. He helped to start the college’s study abroad program by leading negotiations with Edge Hill College in Lancashire, England. Morningside now offers study abroad programs at four different institutions in Japan, Ireland, and England.

Breneisen taught at Edge Hill as a visiting professor in 1993. He also taught at three other colleges in the United Kingdom. In 1982-83, he taught at Hugh Baird College in Liverpool as part of a direct teacher exchange program and in 1976 as a visiting lecturer at Manchester University. In 1975-76 he was selected as a Fulbright scholar and taught at the Southport College of Art. Breneisen has also taught in China, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, and Turkey.

He has juried at countless art competitions on the local, state, national, and international levels and had his work exhibited in England and across the United States.

He received three grants from the Iowa Arts Council during his career. The first, in 1972, was for an Iowa landscape silk-screen project. The second, in 1974, was for an Iowa wildflowers silk-screen project. Most recently, in 1999, he received a grant for a photographic exhibit entitled “Spirit of Small Northwest Iowa Towns.”

In 1973, Breneisen received an “Outstanding Educators of America” award.

Morningside College will hold its 106th commencement exercises at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 8, on the campus lawn in front of the Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Library Center. Three days of activities in honor of Morningside College graduates will begin with the Senior Rehearsal Luncheon on Thursday, May 6.

The Baccalaureate Service will be held from 5 to 6 p.m., Friday, May 7, at Grace United Methodist Church, 1735 Morningside Avenue. The Rev. Annette K. Ruhs Kruse of the Anita-Wiota United Methodist Church (UMC) will deliver the keynote message “Well, Here It Goes.” The Rev. Lee Webb of the Grundy Center UMC will assist Kruse. Graduating senior Adam Webb, son of The Rev. Webb, will perform the solo “You Raise Me Up,” which is also the theme of the service. The Morningside College Choir will provide special music.

Both officiating pastors are 1978 graduates of Morningside College. Kruse is the mother of graduating senior Sarah Kruse.

Following the service, the Senior Celebration Dinner will be held at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City, Neb.

Academic departmental receptions will be held Saturday morning at 10 a.m. across the campus. Following the afternoon commencement exercises, a congratulatory gathering for graduates and their guests will be held on the college “M,” in front of Roadman Hall.

Morningside College President John Reynders announced today that Robert Hilker, M.D., cardiologist and pioneer in the field of occupational medicine, and Karen Lias Wolff, Ph.D., dean of the School of Music at the University of Michigan and member of the National Council on the Arts, will be the featured speakers at the college’s 106th spring commencement exercises to be held Saturday, May 8, at 2 p.m. on the campus lawn in front of the Hickman-Johnson-Furrow Library Center.

The college will present an honorary Doctor of Science degree to Hilker and an honorary Doctor of Music degree to Wolff, in honor of their commitment to their respective fields, in which they have exemplified life-long learning, civic responsibility, and ethical leadership, the tenets of Morningside’s mission.

Hilker is retired in Vero Beach, Fla., after some 30 years of work in the field of medicine. He graduated from Morningside College in 1938 with a degree in economics and biology. He holds a bachelor’s in medicine degree with distinction and a medical doctorate degree with distinction from the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Ill.

Hilker served four years active duty as a Naval officer in World War II. In 1953, Hilker and seven partners started a private practice, Internal Medicine Associates, where he practiced general internal medicine and cardiology as a senior partner.

He supervised occupational medicine at Illinois Bell Telephone Company from 1962 to 1982, ending that career as assistant vice president of health benefits and safety at Illinois Bell. He practiced medicine part-time throughout his tenure at Illinois Bell.

While in training as a fellow in cardiology at Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital during the early fifties, Hilker and his partner developed and used the first balloon catheter in a human being. Because they were fellows, their success earned little recognition.

Since achieving doctor status, Hilker has published 47 articles in medical journals. He served as associate editor for the “Journal of Occupational Medicine” and on the editorial advisory board for “Employee Health & Fitness.” He also taught for thirty years and became an associate professor in the department of medicine at Northwestern. He was certified to practice by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He has been president of the American Occupational Medical Association and served as chairman of the board of directors for the Occupational Health Institute.

Hilker served all terms possible on Morningside’s board of directors. In 1977, the college recognized him with the Distinguished Alumni Award and, in 1980, awarded him the Order of Morningside for his service and dedication to the college.

Wolff, of Ann Arbor, Mich., is also the Paul C. Boylan Collegiate Professor of Music at the University of Michigan. She graduated from Morningside College in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in music education and holds master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan.

Wolff was appointed by President George Bush to serve on the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts. She was sworn into office by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in April 2003.

She has dedicated over ten years of service to the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). She currently serves as president of NASM and has served on that group’s executive committee and as a NASM accreditation reviewer. She also has served on the boards of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera, the Minnesota Composers Forum and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Orchestra, and the Ohio Chamber Orchestra. She currently serves on the Boards of the University Musical Society and the Michigan Shakespeare Festival.

She is recognized for her success in leading major programs and schools of music. She was dean and professor of music at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Ohio from 1991 to 1999. While at Oberlin, she dramatically improved the college’s quality of strings education and implemented new degree programs in classical guitar and saxophone.

She was director of the School of Music at the University of Minnesota from 1987 to 1991, where she played major roles in the fundraising and planning for the construction of Ted Mann Concert Hall. Wolff was a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music from 1978 to 1987, where she also served as acting dean and associate dean for academic affairs.

TRACES, a non-profit educational organization based in Des Moines, Iowa, is bringing the traveling exhibit “Behind Barbed Wire: Midwest POWs in Nazi Germany” to the campus of Morningside College from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5.

The Sioux City stop is one of 205 during a 55-day tour across Iowa that will take the exhibit to all 99 Iowa counties.

The traveling exhibit is housed in TRACE’s “BUS-eum,” a converted 40-foot school bus, which will be parked by Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue. Michael Luick-Thrams, executive director of TRACES, and other guest historians will travel with the exhibit, which will visit 11 other Midwestern states in the next two years.

The “Barbed Wire” exhibit tells the little-heard story of thousands of U.S. soldiers from the Midwest who were taken prisoner during World War II. The exhibit consists of narrative display panels illustrated with photographs and documents, audio and DVD documentaries, artifacts, and more.

The exhibit was built upon years of research. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and the Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin have supplied hundreds of photos for the exhibit that are otherwise unknown in the United States. Best-selling author and former POW from Indiana Kurt Vonnegut has given TRACES free and unrestricted use of “Slaughterhouse Five.”

Funding partners include the Iowa Arts Council, Thomas Bus Sales, Firestone Agricultural Tire, WOI Radio, the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum, and private individuals.

According to the organization’s Web site at www.traces.org, TRACES was created to gather, preserve, and present stories of people from the Midwest and Germany or Austria who encountered each other during World War II.

The site states: “Many of these stories have lain beneath the dust left in the wake of a World War most never thought touched the American Heartland. TRACES brushes away that dust, unearthing an amazing legacy. As we learn about these stories, may we rise above–and eventually defeat–the prejudices, fears and conflicts that otherwise demean and destroy us.”

The Morningside College dance team placed first in the Collegiate Open Team Performance Division at the 2004 Daytona Beach Classic held earlier this month at Daytona Beach, Fla.

The team performance division encompasses a wide variety of dance forms, including jazz, kick, funk, and pom.

The competition was hosted by the National Cheerleader Association (NCA)/National Dance Alliance (NDA). The event took place at the Ocean Center and Band Shell, the same stage that hosted the 2004 Chick-Fil-A Cheer & Dance Collegiate Championships.

The captains of the dance team are Lisa Varenhorst, a junior from Le Mars, Iowa, and Stefanie Pugh, a senior from Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The other dance team members are: Ashley Brewer, a freshman from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; RaeAnn Enney, a junior from Cambridge, Minn.; Jessica Hansen, a junior from Granville, Iowa; Janae Jacobs, a sophomore from Nevada, Iowa; Mary Johannsen, a freshman from Davenport, Iowa; Tricia Slump, a sophomore from Henderson, Iowa; Ashley Tolle, a freshman from Lincoln, Neb.; Tessa Wellman, a freshman from Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Haruna Yamada, a senior from Sapporo, Japan.

Cheryl Gamble, athletic department administrative assistant and office manager, is the dance team’s advisor.

A senior art exhibit by Morningside College student Edward Van Etten, a senior American history and world history teaching major from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, will be on display from Friday, April 30, to Wednesday, May 5, in the Helen Levitt Art Gallery in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

The exhibit “Drawing Conclusions” will include works in painting, photography, and multimedia.

Van Etten is a 1997 graduate of Sioux City East High School.

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

A group of Morningside College students who took a study tour to Italy earlier this year will share their experiences on Friday, April 23, 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 Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).

During their presentation “Experiencing Italy’s Ancient Civilizations,” the students will discuss what they have learned while taking the course “Italy’s Ancient Civilizations: Etruscans, Greeks, Romans” during the current 2004 Spring Semester. The class included a study tour in Italy from March 5 to 14 during the college’s Spring Break.

The course is taught by Dr. Heather Reid, associate professor and chair of philosophy at Morningside.

The students who will give the presentation are: Connie Frank, a junior from Fontanelle, Iowa; Renee Fudala, a senior from Bloomington, Minn.; Mary Grady, a senior from Hospers, Iowa; and Tamara Lostan, a sophomore from Sioux City.

The students will give a multi-media Power Point presentation combining photographs with reflections and information.

Some of the locations the students toured while in Italy were the archaeological site of Pompeii, the Greek temples and archaeological museum in Paestum, the Vatican, Rome, the National Etruscan Museum and frescoed tombs in Orvieto, and Signorelli’s apocalypse frescoes, underground Etruscan caves, and the Claudio Faina Museum in Orvieto.

Reid, a 1986 graduate of the University of Virginia, has been at Morningside since the fall of 1996. She earned her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1994 and 1996, respectively.

Awards for student achievement and Faculty Person of the Year were presented Wednesday during the annual Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) Honors Assembly at Morningside College.

ODK is the national leadership honor society that recognizes and encourages superior scholarship, leadership, and exemplary character.

Sharlene E. Georgesen, M.S.N., R.N., assistant professor of nursing, was voted by the student body as the Faculty Person of the Year for her outstanding contributions to Morningside and its students. Georgesen, who became assistant professor of nursing at the start of the current academic year, had been an adjunct faculty member at Morningside since January 2002. She had also been a clinical instructor at the college since August 2000.

Georgesen has been a Kaplan NCLEX review course instructor since 1998. Previously, she served as a project coordinator and as a nursing manager in the obstetrics and pediatrics units at Mercy Medical Center, Sioux City, from 1993 to 1999. Georgesen was a nursing supervisor of the obstetrics unit at Marian Health Center, Sioux City, from 1992 to 1993; clinical supervisor of the women’s health care unit at University Hospital and Clinics, Columbia, Mo., from 1990 to 1992; research assistant at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Nursing from 1990 to 1992; and a staff registered nurse at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, from 1986 to 1990.

Georgesen holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1992 and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., in 1986.

The First-Year Teaching/Advising Award went to Esther A. D’Agrosa, assistant professor of music and division chair of fine arts. The award, presented with assistance from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church, is given to an exemplary teacher who has helped first-year students succeed in making the transition into college.

D’Agrosa currently does volunteer work at Hunt Elementary in Sioux City where she works with students by combining reading and music skills.

D’Agrosa has been at Morningside since 1998. Before coming to Morningside, she had a long and distinguished career as a music teacher and teacher of teachers in the Iowa public schools. D’Agrosa graduated from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, in 1968 and received a master’s degree in music from Emporia State University in Kansas in 1968.

The Tommeraasen Award of Excellence for the outstanding campus organization went to the Creative Edge Advertising Club. The award is presented in honor of the late Miles Tommarasen, former Morningside president. The club will compete in the district level of the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) on Friday at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City, Neb. The club has participated in NSAC for 15 years. The club’s faculty advisor is Dr. Pamela Mickelson, professor of business administration and economics.

The ODK Sophomore Cup was awarded to Matthew Armstrong, Bassett, Neb. This award is given annually to a sophomore for outstanding leadership and campus participation.

Many other students were recognized for their accomplishments. Click here to read more.

Five Morningside College students were selected to sing in an honors recital after participating in the annual student auditions sponsored by the Lewis and Clark Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) held earlier this month. Ten Morningside students participated in the auditions.

The Morningside students selected to sing were: Emily Faber of Le Mars, Iowa, Chris Frisbie of Wall Lake, Iowa; Mark Mullin of Sioux City; Jon Rotramel of Anthon, Iowa; and Craig Hamann of Sioux City. Kjersten Ohrlund, a high school student from Le Mars, was also selected to sing at the recital.

Faber, Frisbie, Mullin, Ohrlund, and Rotramel are students of Dr. Gail Dooley, associate professor of music at Morningside. Hamann is a student of Joan Enockson, adjunct faculty member at the college.

The Lewis and Clark Chapter of NATS has eighteen members from colleges and private studios in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. About 80 singers competed in the auditions. Dooley is the outgoing president of the organization. Dr. Linell Moss, adjunct professor at Morningside, is the newly elected treasurer of the chapter.

The first annual “Geekstock,” a day-long computer festival, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 24, in the Randolph Room of the Olsen Student Center, 3609 Peters Avenue, on the campus of Morningside College.

The Morningside College Student Chapter of the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) is organizing and hosting the event, which is open to the public free of charge.

The festival will feature game and operating system demonstrations, a part-swap, a free consultation table, and raffles for computer parts, t-shirts, and monitors.

Attendees can try out the latest games, bring in their working computer parts to sell or swap, or have their upgrade questions answered. ACM students will also provide free installation of hardware and software.

All proceeds from the event will go to support the chapter’s computer fund.

For more information, please contact the group’s faculty advisor Dean Stevens, assistant professor of mathematical sciences, at 712-274-5369.

The Morningside College student body recently elected new Student Government officers for the 2004-05 academic year.

The students elected were: Andy Eberhardt of Sioux City, president; Arynn Rasmussen of Manilla, Iowa, vice president; Taera Stille of George, Iowa, secretary; Dustin Wenham of Sioux City, treasurer; and Nick Agne of Clarence, Iowa, student advocate.

Thirty-two Morningside College students have been accepted for membership and were recently initiated into the National Alpha Lambda Delta Society for First-Year Students during ceremonies held at Morningside College.

These students were:

Sioux City—Brittany Cole; Casaday Nguyen; and Melissa Rowe.

Iowa—Amy Anderson, Estherville; Brianna Blake, Atlantic; Lisa Cunningham, Anthon; Hilary Hansen, Atlantic; Jenna Jurrens, George; Kellsey Kock, Breda; Maggie McDermott, Oto; Lindsay McFarland, Pella; Kara Mickelson, Odebolt; Sara Schmidt, Moville; Brandilynn Shipler, Algona; Kari Skalisky, Sergeant Bluff; Ashley Wood, Webster City; and Jill Zeman, Ottosen.

Nebraska—Laura Andersen, Omaha; Christina Bennett, Geneva; Jill Bottolfsen, Hartington; Natalie Fenton, Omaha; Elizabeth Kelly, Falls City; and Dana Rossmeier, Norfolk.

Other states—Gethen Baker, Edina, Minn.; Stacy Baldus, Grand Meadow, Minn,; Julia Husk, Littleton, Colo.; Jennifer Nelson, Helena, Mont.; Debbie Noble, Louisburg, Kan.; Sherri Pucherelli, Pine, Colo.; and Crystal Quibell, Blue Springs, Mo.

Japan—Himi Mizutani.

Membership in Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) is open to full-time freshmen who earn a scholastic average of 3.5 or better at a four-year college or university and are in the top 20 percent of their class. The new initiates have taken an oath to continue “to maintain high scholarship and to use my education for the benefit of my community, my nation, and the world in which we live.”

ALD was founded in the spring of 1924 at the University of Illinois to recognize and encourage academic excellence among first-year students. Today, ALD has over 240 chapters throughout the nation and offers more than $120,000 each year in scholarships and fellowships to its members.

Dr. Leonard Greenspoon will be the featured speaker for the annual Goldstein Lecture to be held at 10 a.m., Monday, April 19, in the UPS Auditorium of the Lincoln Center, 3627 Peters Avenue.

Greenspoon’s address will be entitled “Heroes and Villains: Reading and Misreading the Bible in Tough Times.”

Greenspoon will present the address “Heroes and Villains: How the Jewish Bible was Read and Misread During the Holocaust” on Sunday, April 18, at 7 p.m. during Yom HaShoah Services at Congregation Beth Shalom, 815 38th Street. Yom HaShoah in the Jewish calendar focuses on remembrance of the Holocaust.

The Goldstein Lecture is co-sponsored by Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS) and the Jewish Federation of Sioux City. The Goldstein Lectures are made possible through a permanent endowment provided by the Harold and Bernice Goldstein Foundation.

Greenspoon’s address at the Yom HaShoah Service is sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom and the Jewish Federation of Sioux City.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Greenspoon holds the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb. Greenspoon is also professor of classical and Near Eastern studies and theology at Creighton, where he has been on the faculty since 1995. He was previously on the faculty at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Greenspoon’s Yom HaShoah sermon and Goldstein lecture will examine different, but related aspects of how some people find conflicting messages in Biblical texts. While some people draw messages of hope, help, and humanity from Biblical texts, others have found support for their own hatreds and criminal activities. The latter was exemplified during the Holocaust, where the Nazis and their sympathizers looked at the Bible as a record of Jewish crimes and deceits, and thus led to their belief that Jews were rejected by God.

During his Goldstein Lecture, Greenspoon will examine the Holocaust as well as how “Bible-based” prejudice is still prevalent in society today. He will offer guidelines to help distinguish between appropriate and harmful interpretations or applications of the Bible.

Greenspoon is recognized internationally as an expert on the history of Jewish Bible translations and has been involved in two Bible translation projects as editor or consultant. He has edited or authored a dozen books, written more than 100 articles and book chapters and almost 500 book reviews dealing with translations of the Bible. Greenspoon has made presentations throughout the United States, as well as Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Romania, the Czech Republic, Norway, Finland, and Israel.

Greenspoon graduated from the University of Richmond in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in classical studies. He received a master’s degree in classical studies from Richmond in 1970 and his doctorate in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University in 1977.

The first annual Morningside College Student Research Symposium will be held Thursday, April 15, from 1 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the James and Sharon Walker Science Center, 1707 Morningside Avenue.

More than 30 Morningside students were selected to present their research on a variety of topics from several academic disciplines, including psychology, biology, political science, literature, and physics.

The symposium will begin with comments by Morningside College President John Reynders and Dr. William Deeds, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the college. Oral and group panel presentations will be held in Room 107 of the science center at 1:15 p.m., 2:20 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4:10 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. Poster presentations will be held in the main hallway of the science center at 1:45 p.m., 2:40 p.m., and 3:35 p.m.

Refreshments will be served in the center’s atrium. The public is invited free of charge.

Seven Morningside College seniors recently participated in nursing preceptorships at Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City.

The students are Melissa Hansen of Treynor, Iowa, Cassandra Lewis of Cambridge, Neb., Robin Mahnke of Manilla, Iowa, Kristine Marsh of Sioux City, Emily Nees of Early, Iowa, Lori Van Meeteren of Sheldon, Iowa, and Amy Yearous of Galva, Iowa.

The seniors are part of the 28th class who will graduate with a bachelor of science in nursing degree from Morningside College this May.

Morningside’s preceptorship program provides students with opportunities to increase competence and confidence in clinical practice while working closely with a staff nurse who serves as a role model and teacher.

Four Morningside College students have been inducted into Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology.

The students are Connie Frank of Fontanelle, Iowa, Mariah Laver of Harlan, Iowa, Angela Meyer of Lincoln, Neb., and Angela E. Phillips of Sioux City. Frank and Laver are juniors at Morningside, and Meyer and Phillips are sophomores.

Morningside senior Amanda Nichols of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, serves as president of Psi Chi. Also seniors at Morningside, Crystal Reinhart of Odebolt, Iowa, and Erin Mulvany of Tualatin, Ore., serve as vice president and secretary/activity chair, respectively, of the society. Dr. Larry Sensenig, professor of psychology, serves as Psi Chi’s faculty advisor.

Membership is awarded to students who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who meet the qualifications. With over 975 active chapters, Psi Chi is one of the largest and most successful honor societies in the world.

Morningside College’s music department will present a Spring Choral Collage Concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Avenue.

The concert will feature performances by the Singing Men of Morningside, the Eclectix Vocal Jazz Ensemble, the Bel Canto Singers, and the Morningside College Choir. Each of the groups will join together on stage for a performance of Gilbert Martin’s “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” with organ accompaniment from Felice Rodvik, a senior from Sheldon, Iowa.

The Morningside College Recorder Consort will perform in the lobby of Eppley Auditorium prior to the concert.

Tim Watson, visiting assistant professor of music and director of choral activities at Morningside, directs the Singing Men of Morningside, the Eclectix Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and the Morningside Choir.

The Singing Men of Morningside, founded in 1997, is an all-male chorus consisting of students from a variety of majors and disciplines on the Morningside campus. They specialize in performing music from the “Morningside College Songbook” and frequently perform the national anthem at sporting events throughout Siouxland.

The Eclectix Vocal Jazz Ensemble is a highly select performing group that sings an “eclectic mix” of musical styles. Jazz, pop, show tunes, and a cappella arrangements form their core repertoire.

The Morningside College Choir has been in existence for over 100 years. Annual tours have taken the choir across the United States and to many of the famed concert halls and cathedrals of Europe. In May of 2000, the choir toured Spain, France, and England, and presented the premiere of the “Requiem” by Eleanor Daley at the Chard Festival in Chard, England. The choir will return to Europe this May with concert appearances throughout Denmark and in Stratford and London, England.

The Bell Canto Singers, a choir comprised of female Morningside College students, is directed by Joan Enockson, an adjunct faculty member at Morningside.

Students from Morningside College’s Creative Edge Advertising Club will unveil their multi-media ad campaign for Visit Florida at noon on Friday, April 16, in the Randolph Room of the Olsen Student Center, 3609 Peters Avenue.

The public is invited to the free event, which is sponsored by Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS) and Friday is Writing Day.

The presentation will be similar to the one the ad club will present at the district level of the 2004 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) to be held Friday, April 23, at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City, Neb. The American Advertising Federation (AAF) organizes the annual competition. The district winners will advance to the 2004 AAF National Conference to be held June 13 and 14 at Dallas, Texas.

The 2004 competition is sponsored by Visit Florida.

The students who are on the presentation team are: Amanda Annan, a senior from Atlantic, Iowa; Michael Fossum, a senior from Dubuque, Iowa; Kristi Sauer, a senior from Sheldon, Iowa; Robert Waddell, a junior from Aurelia, Iowa; and Megan Winn, a senior from Palmer Lake, Colo.

The alternate presenters are: Darija Ljubibratic, a junior from Sioux City; Kate Lokken, a senior from Denison, Iowa; Kristina Marshall, a senior from Clarion, Iowa; and Amanda Norby, a junior from Sioux City.

Other members of the ad club are: Jason Davis, a junior from Aurelia, Iowa; Rebecca Gerritson, a senior from Hartley, Iowa; Lindsie Honsbruch, a senior from Danbury, Iowa; Erin Huseman, a senior from Aurelia, Iowa; Elizabeth Miller, a senior from Shenandoah, Iowa; Ashley Thompson, a junior from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; and Scott Watson, a junior from Nelson, Neb.

Dr. Pam Mickelson, professor of business administration and economics, is the faculty advisor for the ad club.

This year’s assignment is to develop an advertising-centered $7 million communications plan that will help increase tourism from out of state residents to Florida and that will result in an increase in nights of paid lodging.

The Morningside students have been working on the project since September and developed the tagline “Wish You Were Here” for their campaign.

In order to learn how other states promote travel, several students attended travel and trade shows in Chicago and Des Moines. Two groups of students visited tourist locations in Florida during the college’s March Spring Break to conduct interviews and take original photographs and video footage. The first student research team of Davis, Marshall, Norby, and Waddell visited Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and the Florida Keys. The other team of Annan, Gerritson, Ljubibratic, Thompson, and Winn went to Orlando and Vero Beach.

The Creative Edge Advertising Club has participated in NSAC for 15 years.

The NSAC provides more than 3,000 college students with “real-world” experience by requiring a strategic advertising, marketing, and media campaign for a corporate sponsor.