Volume 28, No. 26
March 28, 1997
Scott A. Miller
Contact: MU PR Office 662-4844
NEWS
Russian experts to convene at MU for Global Issues
Experts from Russia, England, France and the United States will converge at Mansfield University during Global Issues Week beginning April 7.
The week, which is the capstone of MU's "The Year Of Russia" activities, will begin on Monday April 7, at 1 p.m. with an address by Frederique Longuet-Marx. Marx, the great great granddaughter of Karl Marx, is a specialist on the Muslim population of Russia. Her address will be "Moslems In Russia And Chechnya."
Tuesday's activities will include a discussion on "Russian Culture In Transition." Panel members include Robert Beard, a Russian Studies expert from Bucknell University and Sasha Kubyshkin, a visiting Fulbright Scholar in residence at MU this year.
At 3:30 Thomas Shillinglaw, assistant general counsel for Corning, Inc., will talk about "U.S./Russian Business Opportunities and Problems." Shillinglaw holds a law degree and an advanced degree in Russian from Stanford University. He lived in Russia for two years and has worked with Russian enterprises since 1974.
At 8:30 p.m., the MU theatre students will present "Four Short Chekhov Plays" in the Cabaret Room, Memorial Hall.
On Wednesday at 1 p.m., Tatiana Anisimova, a Russian architecture and art scholar, and MU art students will give a presentation on the subject.
There will be a discussion on Russian student exchanges at 7:30 p.m. Panel members will include Joseph Moore, MU Provost, MU professor Celeste Burns Sexauer and Russian exchange students. The Chekhov plays will presented again at 8:30 p.m.
Thursday will include a discussion on "Financing Russian Privatization." Panel members will be Paul Barker, senior manager of DFC International, Inc., an international financial consulting firm in Washington, DC and Konstantin Ogloblin, former chair of Volgograd Province Property Fund. He is now a Teaching Fellow in the Economics program at Kent State University.
Also on Thursday, at 8 p.m. MU music faculty members will present a concert of music by Russian composers.
Friday will begin with a panel discussion at 10 a.m. on "Financial Enterprises with Russia." Panelists will be Paul Barker and Bill Keenan, former finance director with the Russian-American Investment Bank in Moscow.
At 1:30 p.m., Benhart, Marx and Kubyshkin will discuss "Russian Geography and Politics," followed by a 3 p.m. discussion on "Russian Media and Politics" with Steve Crawshaw, chief foreign correspondent for "The Independent" of London and author of the book "Goodbye To The USSR." Other panelists include Robert Scott, head of the Electronic Text Service at Columbia University Library in New York, and Lesley Sixsmith, a reporter and Russian linguist with the BBC in London.
On Saturday at 10 a.m.. there will be a panel discussion of participants of International Exchange Programs in Leningrad, USSR. Entitled "Leningrad As We Knew It," the participants from Russia, Great Britain, France and the USA all took part in the 1975-76 International Exchange Programs in Leningrad.
The week will conclude with a concert of Russian composers by the MU music faculty and students at 8 p.m. in Steadman Theatre.
All activities except the music and theatre events will be held in the North Dining Room of Manser Hall. The events are sponsored by the MU Provost's Office.
Renowned Guitar Duo to perform
The world-renowned guitar duo, The Assad Brothers, will perform at MU Monday, April 7, in Steadman Theatre at 8 p.m.
Recognized across the globe for their technical virtuosity, their uncanny precision of ensemble and their musical and stylistic sensitivity, Sergio and Odair Assad are hailed by many critics as the foremost duo guitar team in the world. They have been credited with "doublehandedly" reviving Brazilian music for the guitar.
The brothers have performed around the world and recorded four albums on the Nonesuch label. Of their performance, The New York Times said "they consistently produced a supple, flawlessly unified sound."
Their last U.S. tour in 1993 included appearances in Miami, Dallas and a return performance at Carnegie Hall.
The Dallas Morning News noted that "even the most delicate, fleet filigree was perfectly matched in tone and touch."
Tickets are $5. For tickets call 4444 or 4710.
MU survey finds Pennsylvanians give Ridge good marks
A clear majority of Pennsylvanians continue to approve of the way Gov. Tom Ridge is handling his job according to the latest MU statewide survey.
When 2315 randomly selected adults were asked, "do you approve or disapprove of the way Tom Ridge is handling his job as governor," 53 percent approved, 23 percent disapproved, and 24 percent were undecided. Although disapproval has increased for 17 to 23 percent over the past year, the governor's approval-disapproval ratio is a solid 2-to-1. By comparison, President Clinton's ratio has generally been about 5-to-4.
Ridge enjoys a broad base of support across political lines, ranging form 45 percent approval among female Democrats to 68 percent among male Republicans. Regionally, he remains strongest in the central part of the state (63 percent) and weakest in the southeast (49 percent)
About half of the respondents (1228) were asked, "At this point, what grade would you give Gov. Ridge for his performance as governor?" Measured as a "student" the governor received an overall grade of "B." Like the approval rating, the grading was almost identical to last year's performance assessment. Forty-five percent gave him a "B" or better, while only 12 percent a "D" or "F." Despite some political setbacks in Philadelphia, 37 percent graded him "B" or better, while only 7 percent flunked him.
The remaining half of the sample were asked the hypothetical question, "if you had a choice between Al Gore and Tom Ridge in the next presidential election, whom would you prefer?" Forty-one percent chose Gore, while 31 percent chose Ridge. The remainder either did not know or said they would not like either one.
The survey was conducted Feb. 23-March 8 under the direction of Gale Largey, social work, anthropology and sociology, and Richard Feil, psychology. The margin of error for the entire sample is plus or minus two percentage points; for the split questions, about 3 points. The questions were asked as part of the annual Public Mind Project. Other questions related to selling the state stores, raising the gas tax, charter schools tax reform, recycling, an programs for children.
Saturday, April 5, Jazz Festival, Steadman. Area high school jazz bands will perform throughout the day as members of the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note give clinics. The festival culminates with a 7 p.m. concert featuring the outstanding high school jazz ensemble, the acclaimed MU Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Galloway, music, and the Airmen of Note.
Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m., Steadman. Michael Trowbridge will give a senior voice recital of works by Purcell, Ravel and Schumann.
Sunday, April 6, 8 p.m., Steadman. Matthew Kanon will gives a senior guitar recital of works by Bach, Martin, Defalla, Villa-Lobos and Giuliani.
Have an Updater announcement? Send it to Scott A. Miller
The baseball team got off to a shaky start in their quest for a sixth straight PSAC East crown suffering a conference opening 8-5, 7-6 twinbill loss at Millersville. It marks the first time since 1989 the Mountaineers have lost twice in a season to Millersville. In the opener, Millersville's Matt Unger drilled a three run home run over the rightfield fence with two out and a 2-2 count in the bottom of the seventh inning for the win. Towanda's Mark Munkittrick hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth with Scott Wilcox adding solo home run also in the sixth. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the nightcap before Brian Reber drilled a three run home run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score. Reber than added a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth for the win. Dean Kroesen had a two-run home run in the first for Mansfield.
Mansfield hosted the annual Mansfield Open Badminton Championships, welcoming teams from Penn State, Cornell and MU as well as clubs from Syracuse, Buffalo and Lock Haven. In men's singles C division, Shaker Ramasamy placed second. Don Reiner won first place in men's singles D with Joe DeGuzman finishing second. Jason Brouse was runner up in the E division of men's singles. In men's doubles, Ramasamy and John Pavia of Ithaca placed second in the B division, while Ron Koernig and DeGuzman finished second in the C division. The MU Badminton Club travels to the Penn State Open on Saturday, April 5.