Volume 31, No.28
April 14, 2000
Contact: Terry Day (570) 662-4844
tday@mnsfld.edu             

Considering Commencement

     Linda Wertheimer, host of National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered" will be the speaker during MU’s spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 6 at 11 a.m. at Karl Van Norman Field.
     In making the announcement, Mansfield President John R. Halstead said, "In today's fast-breaking world of sound bites, NPR's 'All Things Considered' remains one of the most in-depth news shows available. We are privileged that the senior host of this news magazine will be the speaker for Mansfield's 135th Commencement. As one of America's most trusted journalists, we are pleased that Linda Wertheimer will bring her vantage point of almost 30 years of political commentary to our podium on May 6."
     Werthheimer has been with NPR almost since its inception in 1971. She served as the network’s congressional correspondent, then as political correspondent before becoming host of the award winning "All Things Considered" in 1989.
     In 1988 she received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting award for her work on "The Iran Contra Affair: A Special Report" and in 1978 Wertheimer was honored with a special Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia University citation for her coverage of the Panama Canal Treaty debates. She has covered the last four presidential election campaigns. Since 1976 she has anchored NPR’s live coverage of both nominating conventions and all presidential debates.
     In addition to her on-air duties Wertheimer edited Listening to America: 25 Years in the Life of A Nation, a collection of NPR interviews and essays spanning the networks life.
     In the event of inclement weather Mansfield’s commencement ceremonies will be held in Decker Gymnasium.

Town Meeting Called

     "How Are We Doing?" That is the theme of the President’s Town Meeting on Tuesday, April 18 at noon. The meeting will be held in the multi-purpose room, upper floor #307 in the Alumni Hall Student Union.
     A "report card" will be handed out and all faculty and staff are invited to join the community dialogue on the progress of The Mansfield Plan.
     A light lunch will be served.

Musical Exploration

     The MU Jazz Ensemble, along with the newly formed MU Jazz Lab Band, will perform Saturday, April 15, 8 p.m. in Steadman Theatre.
     The Jazz Lab Band is a new ensemble under the direction of graduate assistant and Mansfield alumnus Timothy Eick. The ensemble is open to all students, regardless of major, and allows them to experience and explore jazz through performance. The Jazz Lab Band will perform Steve Wright’s arrangement of "Secret Love," Benny Golson’s ballad "I Remember Clifford" and the Duke Ellington standard "C Jam Blues."
     The MU Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Galloway, will present a variety of standards as well as jazz originals by some of today’s top big band composers and arrangers. Included in the performance will be Bill Stapleton’s arrangement of "Come Rain Or Come Shine," written for the Woody Herman Band, Tom Kubis’ "On Purple Porpoise Parkway" and Phil Kelly’s "Sweet Georgia Upside Down."
     Among the jazz originals on the program are "Carmelo’s By The Freeway" by Bob Florence, Mike Pendowski’s "Thank You So Much," and "Bill’s Blues," another Stapleton tune. Vocalist Carrie Miller will join the Jazz Ensemble to sing "Moonlight In Vermont."
     The concert is free and open to the public.

     The MU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Sarch, will perform on Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. in Steadman Theatre. The concert will feature the student winners of the 2000 Solo Competition held by the Music Department and the Hamilton-Gibson Children’s Choir.
     The MU soloists were chosen by a panel of music faculty to appear with the orchestra: Sarah Ball, soprano, will sing a Handel aria, Andre Canniere and Darcy Lyle will perform the Vivaldi Two Trumpet Concerto and Ruth Beale and Natalie True will play the first movement of the Vivaldi Double Violin Concerto. The flute soloist to be heard in the Griffes "Poem" will be Alicia Botelle, and Matthew Stein will be the featured soloist in the Milhaud Percussion Concerto. These student soloists are pupils of vocal professor Jean Ann Teal, trumpet professor Michael Galloway, flute professor Angela McBrearty, percussion professor Adam Brennan, and string professor Kenneth Sarch.
     The Hamilton-Gibson Children’s Choir will perform Aaron Copland’s "Old American Songs" for Choir and Orchestra. The Choir was formed in Wellsboro by its director Thomas Putnam with pianist Kay Galloway in 1996. It has grown to include 40 members in grades five to eight who come from all over Tioga County. Sarch calls the Choir a joy. "Thomas Putnam has trained this extraordinary children’s choir so well that their singing will both excite and move those who hear them" Sarch said.
     Last year, the Hamilton-Gibson Children’s Choir sang in New York City and later this year the young singers will tour Toronto, Canada.
     The MU Symphony Orchestra will round out the program with a performance of the "Bizet L’Arlesienne Suite." The orchestra toured this spring, playing at Lycoming College, Hanover High School and performing an invitational concert at the state capitol in Harrisburg to celebrate Music In Our Schools Month. State Senator Roger Madigan and State Representative Matt Baker attended the concert and assisted with special arrangements at the Capitol.
     The concert is free open to the public.

Recognition Planned

     The 21st annual service recognition program will be held in early May. Employees who have served MU for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service will be honored. Also recognized will be persons who have retired or will be retiring through June. The following individuals have been identified as meeting the above criteria.
10 years: Brian Barden, Tammy Felondis, Keith Graver, Benjamin Jones, Beth McClure, Kathleen McNett, Marilyn Ouellette, Rob (Douglas) Pinkney, Marvin Roberts, Shirley Smith, Mary Lou Stroud, Joan Tease, Russell Wood, Joan Zuchowski, Kathleen McQuaid, Marta Garay, Leroy Wright, Lois Vore, Sandra Woolley, Thomas Murphy, Brian Loher, Peggy Dettwiler, Judith Sornberger, Andrea Harris and Bonnie Kutbay.
15 years: Jon Clark, Mary Beth Eggleston, William Phillips, Bonelyn Kyofski, Mary Jane Mitchell and Robert Timko.
20 years: John Abplanalp, Dennis Atkinson, Dennis Miller, Karen Route, Janet Fuller, H. Michael Galloway, Andrew Havalchak, Ann Mabe and Paula Welch.
25 years: Marlene Herbst, Claudette Meiklejohn, Roxanna Mogush, Edward Ryan, Ronald Straub and Celeste (Sexauer) Burns.
30 years: LesErik Achey, Stephen Bickham, Marguerite Bombaski, Kaye L. Brown, Gary Cleveland, Robert Irwin, Gale Largey, John (Jack) Reidy, J. Richard Walker and Kenneth Musselman.
35 years: Hazel Tarbox.
Employees who have or will be retiring prior to June 2000: Harry Spencer, William Yost, Joyce Bixby, Bonnie Sullivan, (Roland) Howard Kramer, Jay Gertzman, Mary Lou Shaw, Larry Uffelman, Harold (Reggie) Carter, Walter Funmaker, Bernard Clark and Sandra Linck.
     If you feel you qualify under the above criteria and your name is not listed, call Lorraine Farr at x4893 by April 18.

Kelvin Morgan, Facilities and Grounds, has been recognized for his volunteer work as a coach for Tioga County Special Olympics. In a letter to Ben Jones, Director of Physical Plant Operations, Janine Cesare, president of Special Olympics Pennsylvania, praises Morgan saying "Kelvin has worked very hard toward the success of Tioga County and its participants…We applaud your company in nurturing volunteerism and in helping us celebrate the efforts of this upstanding Pennsylvania citizen."

STUDENT SCENE

Ten members of MU’s Public Relations Student Society of America took part in a mock crisis scenario April 7-9 In Syracuse The students were told to imagine that they managed communications for a town near the Chesapeake Bay and were alerted at 5 a.m. last Saturday that an imaginary Class II hurricane had touched land. They had to generate press releases, fact sheets and public service announcements in response to hourly updates regarding the hurricane. The students also had to justify which governmental and non-governmental agencies should be alerted, and delivered a 20 minute mock press conference. The MU team of Stacey Godlewski, Karen Holgate, Michael Kane, Amber Lindquist and Suzanne Yeager won third place.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• The State Employees Assistance Program (SEAP) maintains a hotline that offers confidential assistance to employees and their families. Call 1-800-692-7459 (TDD: 1-800-824-4306). SEAP is available to employees and their family members who desire professional assistance to address concerns such as stress, family issues, drug and alcohol, bereavement, legal, and financial problems. The SEAP hotline operates 24 hours a day. If you have questions about the SEAP program you can contact John Boselli, MU SEAP Coordinator, at x4052 or jboselli@mnsfld.edu.
• Susan Spafford, the reigning Miss Pennsylvania, will talk about the importance of music education, perform on the violin and answer questions in Steadman Theatre, Tuesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. "A Night of Music with Miss Pennsylvania" is sponsored by the MU Student Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the Student Activities Office.
• Discards from the North Hall Library journal collection are available free to faculty only. Ask for assistance at the Information Desk.
• The Center for Lifelong Learning will offer "The Video Classroom" on Thursday, April 20, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in Retan Hall G-2. Presented by Bell Atlantic and sponsored by the Center for Distance Learning, the one-day workshop is an introduction to the nuts and bolts of successful distance education instruction. Lunch will be provided. Participation is limited to 10 people and the registration deadline is April 13. Call x4244 for information.
• Saturday, May 13 is WVIA member day at Knoebel’s. Twenty people from MU, with a limit of four per household, can ride the rides all day for free. For information call x4846.
• The development of large-scale hog farms in Pennsylvania will be the topic of a Land Use Forum, "Pigs, Pigs and More Pigs!", on Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. in Grant Science Center, room 153 . Kerry Gyekis, Tioga County Planner, will discuss this recent phenomenon from the land use planning perspective. Bill Achor, Environmental Coordinator for Wenger Feeds of Rheems, PA will present the industry’s point of view. The event is free and open to the public. The forum is sponsored by the MU Department of Geography and Geology.
• A study kit, "Better Grades In Less Time", has been added to the North Hall collection and is available to students. Gary Tuerack, the kit’s author, donated the four tape and one book set after his workshop on campus. Tuerack said he was impressed by the number of students attending his workshop and their attentiveness.

SPORTS UPDATE

      The track and field team took second place in a tri-meet with Bloomsburg and Lock Haven Universities Wednesday, with Kelly Maines breaking the school record in the 100-meter high hurdles. Kyle Kintner won the pole vault and the long jump events, and placed second in the javelin.
      The Mountie baseball team lost a doubleheader at Millersville Monday and split a twinbill Wednesday with Shippensburg. Scott Costa went 2-2 with four RBI in the opener to rally MU to a 12-9 win in the opener over Ship.
      In softball, Kelly Morris became the first pitcher in MU history to win 30 career games by going the distance in an eight-inning 3-2 win over East Stroudsburg in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon. The Mountaineers dropped the nightcap by a score of 3-0.

LIBRARY LISTINGS

These bestsellers are now on the shelves at North Hall:

Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts
Where You Belong by Barbara Taylor Bradford

THE BOTTOM LINE

"Whoever acquires knowledge and does not practice it resembles him who ploughs his land and leaves it unsown."
--Gulistan