Volume 29, No. 4
September 12, 1997
Scott A. Miller
Contact: MU PR Office 662-4844
NEWS
Bigger, wilder: 1890's Old West area to expand
The popular Old West area at this year's Fabulous 1890's Weekend, Sept. 26-27, will be twice as big this year. Operated by the Tioga Valley Saddle Club, last year's Old West area included a "saloon" complete with can-can girls, food, sarsaparilla, player piano, and horse rides. This year the club will add a bank -- maybe even a robbery -- plus trick roping demonstrations, horse rides and other activities as wells as food and drinks.
The weekend will include a number of new, established and improved events.
The Seneca Moon String Band includes members from throughout New York's Southern Tier playing over 40 acoustic instruments. The band performs authentic music from throughout the centuries including a large amount of Appalachian music.
Back by popular demand -- "Literally," says Dennis Miller, cochair of the weekend -- is Canada's own Professor Marvel.
"Professor Marvel has been enormously popular. He and his assistant are just perfect for the 1890s Weekend," Miller says. "Every year his shows fill the tent because the kids just love Professor Marvel."
This year instead of four 20-minute shows, the Professor will perform one large two-hour show with an intermission which promises to be vaudeville-medicine show-comedy at its best.
In addition to Professor Marvel, the weekend will feature continuous entertainment:
Canadian Studies Consortium holds second faculty development program in Canada
Participating State System of Higher Education faculty benefitted in a number of ways during the intensive Mansfield University-organized professional development institute in the Canadian Maritimes in June.
The Maritimes study program, like a 1995 program held in central Canada, was supported by an Intra System grant from the SSHE Faculty Professional Development Council. It was conducted by MU as a project of the State System Canadian Studies Consortium with support from Clarion University and Lock Haven University. The purpose was to introduce State System faculty to the study of Canada and U.S.-Canada relations by means of a focused exploration of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
According to Larry Biddison, director of MU's Canadian Studies Program, the faculty selected for the Institute represented a number of disciplines and sub-disciplines from 10 State System universities. They included: Robert Bookmiller, political science, Millersville; Douglas Campbell, journalism, Lock Haven; Pascale Dewey, French, Kutztown; Russell Dodson, geography, Mansfield; Charles Greenawalt II, political science, Millersville; Karen Hornung, gerontology, California; Joan Kendal, geography, Kutztown; Jan Kinch, English, Edinboro; Sherry Reynolds, business, Edinboro; Martha Ritter, biology, Clarion; David Rovinsky, political science, Bloomsburg; Gail Sechrist, geography, Indiana; Dale Titus, education, Kutztown; Priscilla Travis, broadcasting, Mansfield; and Donald Wilson, English, Clarion.
The Institute was designed for humanists and social scientists interested in developing Canadian studies projects or courses. It included academic, cultural and social components. Through a combination of lectures, workshops, and field experiences, Canadian academics at three Maritime universities enabled participants to explore regional views of current environmental, economic, and political issues within the contexts of history, culture, and geography.
"Cultural and academic immersion serves to jump-start the development of Canadian Studies courses and research topics," Biddison said. "But System faculty don't need to wait (for the next Canadian summer institute); there are several well established summer programs for faculty interested in Canada. I encourage faculty to apply to such programs as those conducted by SUNY-Plattsburgh and the University of Maine."
Have an Updater announcement? Send it to Scott A. Miller
The football team found out it's probably a better club than last year, but still has a way to go after dropping a 20-7 decision to Southern Connecticut State. Reserve freshman tailback Charles Thomas rushed for 168 yards and scored on runs of 52 and 54 yards to lead the Owls to the win in the opener for both teams. "We played like it was an opening game," said head coach Joe Viadella. "We made a lot of mental errors out there that ended up costing us the game, but we learned some things today and a lot of them are positive. When you consider that this team beat us 54-14 last year, I think it shows we've made a lot of improvement." The Mountaineers moved inside the Owls' 35-yard line four times in the fourth quarter but failed to score. Sophomore quarterback Lucas Smith, who was under constant pressure all afternoon, completed 14 of 41 passes for 135 yards, including three for 45 yards to freshman Mike Klecko, the son of former New York Jet Joe Klecko. Senior running back Jason Donadi picked up 54 tough yards on 21 carries, caught three passes for 10-yards and returned a kickoff of 18-yards. The Mountaineers travel to Westminister College next Saturday.
The women's cross-country team opened the season by sweeping the top five spots in beating Baptist Bible College 42-15 Saturday. Elmira Southside freshman Brianne Liddick ran away from the field finishing more than a minute and a half in front of second-place Colleen Ryder with a time of 23:10. Freshman Todd Stewart of Hornell won the men's side with a time of 29:26.46.
Brian Oakes, a native of Covington and a graduate of North Penn High School, has been named as full-time assistant athletic trainer for the Mountaineers. Oakes, a 1990 graduate of North Penn High School, earned his B.S. in health sciences from Lock Haven University in 1995 and was awarded his athletic trainer certification two months later. Oakes joined the athletic training staff at Lycoming College in August of 1995 and has served as a full time assistant for the Warriors 19 intercollegiate programs. A member of the national Athletic Trainers's Association, Oakes is also affiliated with the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers Society.