Simulations prepare emergency responders for the worst, inside.
fall 2007
MINNESOTA STATE
COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Catastrophe
Catastrophe
When
strikes
Bridge collapse Brings emergency
training to the forefront
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offer new ways to learn
Minnesota love story:
Bright futures begin here
Educational opportunities. Employment opportunities.
Life changing opportunities.
Choose from 53 campuses and among 3,500 educational programs
including many flexible online learning opportunities.
From liberal arts to professional skills to the latest in cutting edge technologies,
launch your brilliant career at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.
www.mnscu.edu
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is an Equal Opportunity employer and educator.
C2 | Minnesota state | fall 2007
The Minnesota State Colleges
& Universities magazine
fall 2007 • Vol. 3 • No. 1
Published by the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system.
James H. McCormick, chancellor
MINNESOTA STATE
COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
EdiTOr: Linda Kohl
entrepreneur spreads
tastefully simple vision
for success
ASSOCiATE EdiTOr: Nancy Conner
ArT dirECTOr: deborah Thayer
PHOTOGrAPHErS: Neil Andersen, Todd
Buchanan, Jonathan Chapman, Michael
Cooper, Mario Felix, Andy King, Cathy
LaForge-Tonkin, rick Moore, Cory ryan,
John Swartz, Brady Whealon
dreams come true for CEO and
10
Alexandria Technical College
graduate Jill Blashack Strahan.
CONTriBUTiNG WriTErS: Paul Berger,
Cynthia Boyd, Nancy Conner, Michael
Cooper, Linda Kohl, Matthew Philion,
Melinda Voss
LETTErS: Send letters intended for
possible publication to:
Public Affairs
Minnesota State Colleges & Universities
Wells Fargo Place
30 7th St. E., Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55101-7804
or by e-mail to letters@so.mnscu.edu.
include your name, address and daytime
telephone number. The editor reserves the
right to edit letters for space and clarity.
iSSN 1932-7773
When the bridge fell, training paid off
Eighty to 90 percent of the emergency responders who
12
jumped into action when the bridge collapsed were trained
by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. The system
prepares first responders to handle a host of hazards, from toxic spills to collapsed structures and major fires.
Are you listening?
21
A Minnesota State University, Mankato professor gives tips for better listening. www.mnscu.edu
Phone: (651) 296-8012
Toll-free: (888) 667-2848
TTY: (651) 282-2660
safeguarding the Ojibwe language
in a Bemidji State University project, the words and stories of
Minnesota’s Ojibwe elders are being recorded for the first Ojibwe
grammar book.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
system is an Equal Opportunity employer
and educator. This document can be made
available in alternative formats by calling
one of the numbers above.
© Copyright 2007 by the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities.
COVEr: This was the scene encountered
by rescue workers when they responded
to the interstate 35-W bridge collapse
Aug. 1 in Minneapolis. This aerial shot was
taken the following day by photographer
Andy King. Story on Page 12.
22
New college academy fosters math and science careers
26
Thirty Normandale Community College students were chosen for a new Academy
of Mathematics and Science founded to encourage careers in these fields.
FeAtures:
The drive for bone marrow donors ...................................................................... 19
Budding filmmaker’s documentary reveals dangers of meth ........................... 20
Minnesota draws students from Nepal ............................................................... 23
INsIDe:
Briefs
Campus roundup
Grants and recognitions
Faculty spotlight
system News
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | BRIEfS
Power of You shows promising results
The Power of You program, launched in 2006 to
encourage more students in the Twin Cities urban core
to prepare for college and complete a college degree,
is showing early signs of success.
The Minnesota Business Partnership, the City of Lakes
Chamber of Commerce in Minneapolis and the St. Paul
Chamber of Commerce have endorsed the program.
This fall, 663 first- and second-year Power of
You students are enrolled at the two colleges and
in evaluating the program’s first year, Wilder
research, an independent firm, found the program
Metropolitan State University, which has campuses
in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
has doubled the enrollment of local public high school
students at Minneapolis Community and Technical
College and St. Paul College from the previous year.
Evaluators also said: “The Power of You
Students pitch in after floods, winds
As dozens of Winona State University students
program was successful in retaining students at an
fanned out to clean up a park in Stockton, Minn., they
exceptionally high rate through its first year. This
gained a real sense of the flooding that devastated
occurred despite the apparent academic struggles of
southeast Minnesota in August. About 275 students,
many students in the program.” Almost one-third
faculty and staff volunteered in early September for
of the students had little time to prepare for college
the project after torrential rains affected thousands
because they didn’t decide to enroll until their senior
of residents in communities near Winona.
year of high school, researchers noted. To bolster
student success, the program provided extra tutoring,
and intensive counseling and advising,
among other services. Participants
also took courses to reinforce good
Students also salvaged belongings from Lakeside
Manor Apartments in Goodview and gutted homes in
Minnesota City to help speed the recovery.
The Winona State Warriors football team had the
first call for help on a Sunday in August as rains ham­
study habits and time
mered the area. Head coach Tom Sawyer heard about
management skills.
the flooding as he drove in for meetings and stopped
The Power of You
at the Winona Law Enforcement Center to offer help
began after several studies
from his 90 players. Goodview police welcomed assis­
showed an alarmingly low
tance, and within an hour the Warriors were in the
number of Minneapolis and
St. Paul public high school
graduates attend college. By offering free tuition
for qualifying public high school graduates in the
thick of the work. “Our players helped out with secu­
rity and setting up safety measures until the National
Guard arrived on the scene,” Sawyer said.
Area resident Bryceson Maus later sent Sawyer a
two cities, the program seeks to eliminate real and
message of gratitude for the four football players who
perceived financial barriers. The approach paid off,
appeared at his door and removed heavy items so he
said Phillip davis, an architect of the program and
could start cleaning his house. Maus wrote, “Seeing
president of Minneapolis Community and Technical
what these players did off the field certainly added to
College. Four out of five Power of You students
the pride i feel as a graduate of WSU.”
reported financial assistance was the major influence
in their decision to attend college, Wilder researchers
said. Students of color made up more than 75 percent
of the first year’s 357 participants.
“We really are reaching a new group of lowincome, first-generation college students and students
of color who hadn’t intended to go to college or
didn’t think they could afford it,” davis said. “The
next challenge will be to encourage even more stu­
dents who are not now planning to go on to higher
education to prepare for college.”
The program has been funded by companies,
foundations and private donors that include rBC dain
rauscher, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo & Company, Xcel
Energy Foundation, Medtronic Foundation and Target.
2 | Minnesota state
fall 2007
Winona State University student Eileen Strube struggles to
walk in the mud as she works with fellow student volunteers
in September to clean up a flooded park in Stockton, Minn.
The September cleanup weekend was spearheaded by Winona
Almost 80 percent of the Minnesota Army National Guard
State’s recovery Assistance Planning Team, organized the day after
soldiers who returned recently from iraq expressed an interest
the floods hit. Winona State’s Homecoming events in late September
in taking higher education courses, said donald Pfeffer, who is
included helping rushford residents clean up, repair and rebuild
based at Central Lakes College in Brainerd and is the director of
homes and businesses. The university’s Social Action Task Force
the Minnesota department of Veterans Affairs Higher Education
organized that project.
Veterans Program.
More help has been coming in from an Athletics department
Steve Frantz, the system’s director of student affairs who led
football game fundraiser and benefit concerts organized by the
many of the reintegration sessions, said: “i am grateful that i could
student group FOrGE (Fighting for Our rights and Gender Equality)
help welcome our soldiers home and that our state colleges and
and by a recreational programming class.
universities are ready for them. We know many soldiers will choose
our state colleges and universities as they make the transition back
into civilian life.”
Veterans welcomed on campus
responding to the growing number of military veterans
To ease their way, the Minnesota department of Veterans
Affairs hired 12 regional coordinators who are based on system
interested in higher education, the Minnesota State Colleges
campuses plus one at the University of Minnesota. The coordinators
and Universities have been gearing up services to ease the
also serve private colleges. in addition, many campuses set up
veterans’ transition and help ensure their academic success.
their own veterans centers, which provide a space where veterans
System representatives participated in more than 80
can meet and receive special services. Since July, a Web site,
reintegration sessions this summer and fall at Camp McCoy
MyMilitaryEducation.org, and a call center operated by staff of
in Wisconsin, the first stateside stop for Minnesota’s returning
Minnesota Online, the system’s online learning programs, also have
troops. representatives provided a broad overview of higher
answered more than 5,400 e-mails, phone calls and other queries
education options and answered questions.
from military personnel and their families.
n
N atural classroom
Lake Superior College students have a new outdoor classroom
along the college’s Miller Creek interpretative Trail, a loop less than
a mile long that connects 14 sites of ecologic and geologic interest.
Open to the public, the trail and ravine are used as an outdoor teaching laboratory by geology and biology faculty and provide recreation
opportunities for physical education classes. in the winter, the trail
can be used for snowshoeing.
The wooded ravine of Miller Creek is one of the few remaining
sections of the creek that support a brook trout population. Brook
trout are considered the canaries of the watershed, sensitive to
increased water temperatures, loss of shade, and silt and salt from
polluted runoff.
A 2-acre site within the ravine is undergoing restoration funded
by the Minnesota department of Natural resources. Because evidence indicates this site once contained northern hardwoods similar
to those at Spirit Mountain and Jay Cooke State Park, sugar maple,
red oak and white pine seedlings have been planted in enclosures to
protect them from deer.
Partners and supporters in the trail development include the
South St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation district, the Superior
Hiking Trail Association and the Western Lake Superior Sanitary
district.
n
Students Brooke Havron, left, and Neva Swanson linger on a bridge on the
new interpretive trail.
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | C a m p u sr o u n du p
Alexandria Technical College
Anoka Technical College
Dakota County Technical College
College helps town hit by windstorm. After
Founding president honored. More than 250
The greening of Dakota County. Everything is
an August windstorm leveled the small com­
munity of Northwood in Grand Forks County,
N.D., 185 students from Alexandria Technical
College’s Law Enforcement Club boarded char­
tered buses and helped residents with cleanup.
“We picked up sheet metal, fence posts, two­
by-fours and whatever else we could,” said Scott
Berger, the college’s dean of law enforcement.
“Those students really worked, but they also got
to see the reward as people from Northwood
showed their gratitude.” Several college alumni
serve with the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s
Department, creating a special connection to
the community.
people turned out at Greenhaven Golf Course
in September to honor Howard Rosenwinkel,
who served as the first president of Anoka
Technical College for 18 years, retiring in
1985. The event was in conjunction with the
40th anniversary of the college. A scholarship
fund named for him was endowed with nearly
$30,000 raised at the celebration. When the
college began in 1967, tuition was free and
there were only five programs; the college now
offers 28 degree and certificate programs and
tuition costs about $4,200 this year.
coming up green at Dakota County Technical
College as the college celebrates its participa­
tion in the American College and University
Presidents Climate Commitment and the grand
opening of the landscape horticulture program’s
new greenhouse. President Ronald Thomas
signed on to the Climate Commitment in June,
committing the college to sharply reducing – and
eventually eliminating – all of the college’s global
warming emissions and accelerating the research
and educational efforts to equip society to
restabilize the earth’s climate. Presidents Judith
Ramaley of Winona State University and Don
Supalla of Rochester Community and Technical
College also have signed the commitment.
Alexandria students help with cleanup in
Northwood, N.d.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College
Bemidji State University
Plugging into new lifestyles. Bemidji State
University recently began an $8.5 million
renovation project to overhaul the Linden Hall
residence facility into two- and three-bedroom
suites. Each suite has its own bathroom, more
storage space, air conditioning and more electri­
cal outlets as well as technological amenities.
Bemidji State, like many colleges across the
country, built most of its residence halls in the
1960s or earlier and now needs to update the
buildings to better accommodate changing stu­
dent lifestyles driven by technological advances.
College faculty’s enthusiasm for science leads
to collaboration. Anoka-Ramsey Community
Central Lakes College
College is assisting high school teachers in
east central Minnesota with science instruction
through the college’s concurrent enrollment
program. Taught by high school faculty who
have college faculty mentors, the program
allows high school students to take collegelevel courses at their high schools. This fall,
concurrent enrollment courses are offered in
art, biology, economics, English, environmental
science, math, music, physics, political science,
psychology, sociology, Spanish and speech.
College, with campuses in Brainerd and
Staples, has launched a pilot project to provide
high school students with career pathways.
The Bridges Academies partnership with area
school districts and businesses has created a
sequence of courses and internships that begin
in high school and earn college credit. Courses
in engineering, health sciences, manufacturing
technology, business administration and nurs­
ing are incorporated into the program.
Career-focused project. Central Lakes
Century College
Anoka-ramsey biology instructor Brad Wold
shares edible berries found along the trail with
Centennial High School students Mitch Barott,
Kayla Anderson and Lindsey Berg.
| Minnesota state | fall 2007
College takes technological step forward. Nearly
700 new computers on campus, 85 new laptops
for faculty and staff, nine new technologically
advanced “smart classrooms” and a new Web site
were added to Century College this fall semester.
Additionally, a new digital language laboratory
features 30 student stations that allow language
students to hear words, speak and record them,
and then play them back. “We have taken a giant
step forward into the 21st century, technologi­
cally speaking,” said John Rohleder, the college’s
head of information technology.
Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College
New construction on campus. Fond du Lac
Tribal and Community College in Cloquet is
in the midst of constructing the $12.4 million
Lester Jack Briggs Cultural and Recreation
Center and the Ruth A. Myers Library expan­
sion project. Highlights include a great hall and
cultural exhibit gallery, library book stacks and
archive space for 38,000 volumes, library class­
rooms for research and instruction, clinical nurs­
ing lab, law enforcement training classrooms and
simulation labs, and a fitness training area. The
project will be complete by fall 2008.
Hennepin Technical College
New campus cultural centers open. Hennepin
Technical College recently celebrated the open­
ing of new cultural centers at both the Eden
Prairie and Brooklyn Park campuses. “We
hope that the cultural center will be a place that
brings people together and fosters inclusiveness
among students, faculty, staff and alumni,” said
Kim Chau Ngo, multicultural and international
student advisor. “Our goal is to make it a place
where diversity is celebrated and where artwork,
exhibits and human connections will take place.”
The cultural centers also will provide reading
materials and computer access for students.
Inver Hills Community College
China studies certificate program begins.
A China studies certificate is available starting
this year at Inver Hills Community College.
Courses focus on the culture of international
commerce in China, law and society, business
procedures, trade and international relations.
The flexible certificate is offered for nine to
Campus round up
25 credits, providing options to focus just on
business-related courses or to include one or
two years of Chinese language study or related
courses from other departments.
Lake Superior College
interested in apprenticing
with Tutu in April will
learn about the Nobel
Peace Prize laureate’s
life and work through
curriculum made avail­
able to schools and youth
groups. The archbishop
will work with area youth
April 12 and 13, including
a service project with the Archbishop Tutu
North Minneapolis
community.
Minneapolis Community
& Technical College
Lake Superior College’s new Academic and Student
Services Building is on track to complete the Silver
LEEd registered certification, meaning the building
meets standards established by the Leadership in
Energy and Environmental design Green Building
rating System for new construction. Under this
nationally accepted rating system, standards are
applied to the building process for design, construc­
tion and operation. The LEEd system scores five key
areas: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and
atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor
environmental quality. This would be the first time
that LEEd certification has been applied for and
received for a building within the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system.
Metropolitan State University
Archbishop Tutu to speak in April. Metropolitan
State University will host a public lecture by
Archbishop Desmond Tutu on April 11 as part
of its ongoing President’s Lecture Series. A
nonprofit organization, youthrive, is bringing
Tutu to the Twin Cities to work with area youth.
The university is the partner and host for events
in November preceding the April visit. These
include a preparatory event in which area youth
Veterans Welcome Center opens. Minneapolis
Community and Technical College celebrated
the opening of its new Veterans Welcome
Center in October. The newly remodeled class­
room space will provide a lounge, study and
resource area for veterans enrolled at the col­
lege and their families. The center is adjacent to
offices for Veterans Upward Bound, a federally
funded program providing academic and support
services to help returning veterans refresh their
skills before enrolling in college.
Minnesota State College –
Southeast Technical
Entrepreneurial energy. The Entrepreneurship
Center at Minnesota State College - Southeast
Technical hosted an event called “Entrepreneurial
Solutions to Advance Alternative Energy” in
October at the Winona campus. The daylong
event included breakout sessions with regional
presenters on alternative energy and entrepreneur­
ship opportunities, and guest speakers includ­
ing former U.S. Rep. Tim Penny, president
of Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation;
J. Drake Hamilton, science policy director at Fresh
Energy; and Will Steger, legendary polar explorer.
Minnesota State Community
& Technical College
Travel abroad program offers college credit.
A new travel abroad program offered through
Minnesota State Community and Technical
College at Fergus Falls will give local high
school students the opportunity to earn three
college credits while traveling to Paris and
London. Instructors Lon Laager and Arlin
Nikolas will lead a 10-day trip to Europe in
June 2008. Emphasizing the history of France
and England, the tour features the tomb of
Napoleon, the Palace of Versailles, the British
Museum and the Tower of London. Students
also will attend a London West End produc­
tion of “Les Miserables.” The program is open
to area high school juniors and seniors.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Endowment pledged. Lowell Andreas and
David and Debbie Andreas have pledged $7.5
million to Minnesota State University, Mankato
for a new Nadine B. Andreas endowment in
arts and humanities, dedicated to the memory
of their wife and mother. The funds will be
used to promote student and faculty develop­
ment in the College of Arts and Humanities
and for cultural events on campus that enrich
the Mankato community. The endowment
will support three major College of Arts and
Humanities initiatives: artists and scholars in
residence, graduate assistantships and creative
or research grants for faculty. Lowell Andreas is
the retired president of Archer Daniels Midland
Company; David is his son.
Faculty, student artwork on display
Artworks created by faculty and students from throughout the Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities system are on display in public areas of the
Office of the Chancellor in Wells Fargo Place, downtown St. Paul. The 2007
exhibit is the second round of art loaned by system faculty and students for
approximately one year.
“rochester Pop,” painting by Simon Huelsbeck
The display includes works by Zhimin Guan of Minnesota State University
Moorhead; Simon Huelsbeck of rochester Community and Technical College;
Marilyn indahl of Minneapolis Community and Technical College; Peter
Latner of dakota County Technical College; Jack Mader of Minneapolis
Community and Technical College; and darren Lane Wendt of rochester
Community and Technical College and the University of Minnesota duluth.
Also displayed are student works owned by Normandale Community College
and a photograph by Mary Adams, a former student at Metropolitan State
University. The 2006 and 2007 exhibits also can be viewed at
www.chancellor.mnscu.edu/displays/.
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | Campus round up
Northeast Higher Education District
Wilderness emergency medical services certificate offered. Vermilion
Community College’s new wilderness emergency medical services certificate
gives students hands-on experience in providing emergency patient care
in the outdoors. The college’s location in Ely on the edge of the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is ideally situated for staging all types of
potential wilderness emergency situations. The course series covers a wide
range of emergency rescue situations including low- and high-angle technical
rope rescue; water, boat and ice rescue; and all-terrain vehicle and global
positioning system land-based rescue.
Students practice emergency rescue techniques near Ely.
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Challenge grant announced at commence­
ment. During his address to graduates at the
spring 2007 commencement, university gradu­
ates Russ Gerdin and his wife, Ann, issued a
$2 million challenge pledge to kick off fundrais­
ing efforts for a new $12 million wellness center.
Ross Gerdin is chairman and CEO of Heartland
Express of Coralville, Iowa; Ann Gerdin is a for­
mer teacher. The two-story, 42,000-square- foot
building will have state-of-the-art cardiovascular
and strength equipment, an indoor track, two
basketball courts and a rock climbing wall.
Student fees will provide $6.5 million of the
total; the rest will be raised through private
philanthropy. Completion is set for fall 2008.
Minnesota West Community
& Technical College
New center promotes sustainable energy.
Minnesota West Community and Technical
College has established the Minnesota Energy
Enterprise Center to continue promoting educa­
tion in the sustainable energy field. The center
will be involved with talent development, provide
business and industry assistance, disseminate
energy-related information to the public and
facilitate partnership development. The center
will work to expand the college’s partnerships
in the energy field with industry leaders while
focusing on production training for the latest sus­
tainable energy technologies.
Normandale Community College
Fine arts anticipates new home. Normandale
Community College’s art, music and theater
departments will have a new home in December
when a $6.6 million project to add or remodel
nearly 40,000 square feet will be completed.
“New facilities in these areas are integral to a
quality educational experience for our students,”
said Ed Wines, vice president of finance and
operations. Jon Marshall, dean of humanities
| Minnesota state | fall 2007
and college readiness, said Normandale is
known for its fine arts programs and as a
provider of talent to the Twin Cities arts and
theater scenes.
North Hennepin Community College
Renewed commitment to serving veterans
and their families. This fall, North Hennepin
Community College welcomed more than
120 veterans and family members eligible for
military education benefits. Approximately
20 took advantage of the college’s Veterans
Book Charging Program in which the book­
store delays payments on books for up to 60
days while the veteran waits for GI benefits to
begin. A new Veterans Center opened at the
college in November.
Northland Community
& Technical College
“Imbamenimaag” opens. Northland
Community and Technical College and White
Earth Tribal and Community College have
opened a new Nursing Education Center
in Mahnomen, Minn., on the White Earth
Indian Reservation. The building is named
Imbamenimaag, which means “the ones who care
for others.” The building has two classrooms,
a lab, an area for computers, office and study
space, and a social area. The program’s 29
students started practical nursing coursework
fall semester 2007. The program was made
possible by grants from the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system, the Dakota
Medical Foundation and a $340,000 grant from
the Bremer Foundation. The development and
implementation of the program will increase the
number of American Indian students trained as
nurses on the White Earth Reservation.
Northwest Technical College
State agencies bring exhibit to Bemidji.
“Art of Recovery,” an exhibit featuring works
by Minnesota victims of crime who have
used art as a means to respond, explore,
express or heal, was displayed in September
at Northwest Technical College. The exhibit
reflected a range of experiences from rape
and domestic abuse to being parents of mur­
dered children. It also featured visual art and
poetry by Bemidji artist Mike Schlemper, a
teacher who was present during the shoot­
ings at Red Lake High School. “Art of
Recovery” is an annual exhibit co-sponsored
by the Minnesota Department of Public
Safety Office of Justice Programs and the
Minnesota State Arts Board.
Pine Technical College
Three bachelor’s degrees now offered.
A collaboration was created this fall between
Southwest Minnesota State University and Pine
Technical College in Pine City. The partner­
ship allows students to take the first two years of
a four-year degree as a Pine Technical College
student and then transfer to the university for
the remaining two years without leaving the col­
lege campus. The bachelor’s degrees are in early
childhood, business administration and business
management.
Ridgewater College
Fund drive for mobile simulation lab.
The Ridgewater College Foundation has
launched “Changing Lives, Strengthening
Communities,” a drive to raise $2.5 million to
create a mobile simulation laboratory capable
of delivering state-of-the-art simulation-based
health care training anywhere it can travel.
Inside the vehicle would be a mock emergency
room, mock ambulance bay and command
center. The laboratory, which would include
simulation mannequins, would be used to train
health care professionals for virtually any medi­
cal scenario, including disaster response and
emergency situations.
Campus round up
Riverland Community College
“Be Your Best” program targets under­
represented population. Nearly 20 students
enrolled in Riverland Community College’s
first “Be Your Best” program this past summer.
“Be Your Best,” funded by a grant from
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities,
was an initiative focusing on bicultural and
bilingual students from groups traditionally
underrepresented in higher education to offer
support in their pursuit of a college education.
Expected outcomes included increased
knowledge about options for higher education,
costs of college, payment options including
financial aid and individual advising for
appropriate college course work.
to share his concerns and condolences following
the Sept. 11 attacks. St. Cloud State has had a
study program in England since 1981.
St. Cloud Technical College
Instructor of the Year inspires. Deborah
Roiger, an anatomy and physiology instructor
at St. Cloud Technical College, was named
the college’s Instructor of the Year. To offer
students easier access to lab materials, Roiger
developed a virtual anatomy and physiol­
Rochester Community
& Technical College
The Thailand delegation, along with South Central
College officials, visited the college’s carpentry
house in Faribault.
Students, faculty assist flood recovery efforts.
Students and faculty in Rochester Community
and Technical College’s building utilities
mechanic program volunteered to assist flood
recovery efforts in southeastern Minnesota this
fall. Participants helped people whose homes
were damaged by testing and, where possible,
repairing flooded equipment such as furnaces,
water heaters, freezers and dehumidifiers. The
only cost to flood victims was the price of parts;
labor was donated.
St. Cloud State University
A royal visit. Charles, Prince of Wales, visited
Alnwick Castle in northern England, home of
St. Cloud State University’s Center for British
Studies, in September. The heir to the British
throne met students at the 11th century castle
that serves as a St. Cloud State branch campus.
The castle also is a tourist attraction, frequent
film location and home of the Duke and Duchess
of Northumberland. The prince was at the castle
in his role as the Royal Honorary Colonel for
the Queens Own Yeomanry as they celebrated
the presentation of the regimental flag. This is
the second time St. Cloud State students have
met Prince Charles. He was at the castle in 2001
deborah roiger, anatomy and physiology instructor
at St. Cloud Technical College.
ogy lab including a digital atlas with more
than 600 photos of charts, microscope slides
and models. The virtual lab allows students
access any time of the day via the Internet.
Leah Scherbing, a practical nursing student,
nominated Roiger for her abilities to inspire
and challenge students. “What I have taken
from her class has formed the groundwork
which I will use throughout my entire career,”
Scherbing said.
St. Paul College
Neuss Chamber Orchestra performs. As part
of an evolving St. Paul Sister City Program,
the Neuss Chamber Orchestra from Neuss,
Germany, performed a series of classical con­
certs at St. Paul College in September. The
St. Paul Sister City Program with Neuss was
founded in 1999 to foster cultural, educational,
intergovernmental and economic development
and trade exchange opportunities between the
two cities and their regions. St. Paul College
has an exchange program in place with the
Commercial College in Neuss. Sue Senger,
international trade instructor, and her students
are hosting students from the Commercial
College in Neuss this fall.
South Central College
Prince Charles greets St. Cloud State students
Aaron Kurrell, Shantell Job and Andrea Snaza.
of Thailand, including the secretary general of
the 805 vocational colleges in Thailand, visited
South Central College’s Faribault campus in
September. The visit included classroom visits
in computer integrated machining, construction
technology and medical laboratory technician
Thailand delegation visits campus. A delegation
of five officials from the Ministry of Education
programs and a tour of the Northfield-based
Far Gaze Farm, where the owners participate
in the college’s farm business management
program. The Minnesota stop was part of the
Thailand delegation’s tour of American and
Canadian businesses and research for potential
future Thailand-Minnesota student exchange
programs.
Southwest Minnesota State University
New agronomy degree offered. Southwest
Minnesota State University in Marshall will
begin offering an agronomy major in fall 2008.
The program will build on existing curricula in
environmental science, biology, chemistry, phys­
ics, culinary arts and food science. “The degree
will integrate all aspects of agronomy – from
the ground to the table back to the ground,”
said Thomas Dilley, program coordinator. The
university collaborated with the University of
Minnesota to offer a U of M agronomy degree
on the Southwest Minnesota State campus sev­
eral years ago.
Winona State University
‘Prairie Home’ live broadcast. As part of
its 150th anniversary celebration, Winona
State University will host a live national
broadcast performance of “A Prairie Home
Companion” with Garrison Keillor on Feb.
23 in McCown Gymnasium. Music professor
Rich MacDonald had been working to get the
show to the Winona campus for six years and
finally prevailed, with the help of alumna and
former student Kathryn (Hauser) Slusher, now
a segment producer and music librarian for the
show. A portion of the proceeds from VIP ticket
sales will go to the university’s sesquicentennial
scholarship fund. n
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | Grants an dr e c o g n i t i o n s
Here is a sample of grants and awards
received by the Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities and their faculty, staff
and students.
Grants
The Anoka-Ramsey Community College
Veterans Upward Bound program has been
awarded $250,000 a year for five years by
the U.S. Department of Education to serve
veterans at the Cambridge and Coon Rapids
campuses. The college will serve 120 veterans
this year, offering instruction, tutoring, aca­
demic advising, career counseling, assistance
with college and financial aid applications, and
connections to community resources. Services
are free to any veteran who has served at least
six months of active duty.
The nursing program at Bemidji State
University has received a $750,000 grant
from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. The grant will provide
funding for the university’s Department of
Nursing to hire a director, purchase supplies
and equipment, create a simulation equipment
program and expand nursing faculty.
South Central College has been awarded
$175,000 by the U.S. Department of
Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration. Through the college’s
Midwest Excavation and Trenching Safety
Project, 30 excavation safety courses will
be conducted in English and Spanish for
375 participants in Minnesota, Iowa, North
Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The
eight-hour excavation safety course consists
of four hours of classroom training and four
hours of hands-on experience using a trench
trailer simulator.
The St. Cloud State University Gender
Violence Prevention Program has received a
$300,000 grant from the Office on Violence
Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice.
The initiative is designed to help reduce sexual
assaults, domestic and dating violence, and
stalking on campus and in the community;
strengthen victim services; and increase appre­
hension, investigation and adjudication of gen­
der violence cases on and off campus.
The National Science Foundation has
awarded a $205,000 grant to Minnesota
State University Moorhead biosciences
Professor Chris Chastain to study a new gene
he discovered last summer that may play a
significant role in the biological process that
controls photosynthesis. Chastain is a specialist
in a photosynthetic process called C4, a
more recently evolved and superior form of
photosynthesis that allows plants to produce
twice as much biomass as other plants that
use the more common form of photosynthesis
called C3.
Minnesota State University Moorhead has
received a $1.35 million grant from the U.S.
Department of Education for its new program
in Teaching English as a Second Language.
The grant will be used to revise the univer­
sity’s teacher education program, including
training of all preservice teachers in English
language learner issues and professional devel­
opment for all teacher education faculty. The
grant also will support a regional conference
on issues relating to teaching English lan­
guage learners and an initiative to encourage
secondary school teachers in partner school
districts to enroll in the university’s gradu­
ate courses in Teaching English as a Second
Language.
instructors and students at South Central College
prepare to run through a training exercise in the
excavation and trench training trailer. The mobile
equipment is used to teach first responders and
businesses how to deal with an excavation collapse.
| Minnesota state | fall 2007
Mesabi Range Community and Technical
College, part of the Northeast Higher
Education District, has received a new
five-year Upward Bound Math and Science
grant from the U.S. Department of Education
to serve 50 students in nine area high schools
and provide the tools and skills necessary
to pursue a college education. The students
will engage in yearlong college preparation
activities in their schools and on field trips.
Students also will participate in a six-week
summer program at Vermilion Community
College, where they will experience collegebound and laboratory-based coursework
and learn about high-level research on the
Iron Range.
Minnesota State University, Mankato has
received a 500-megahertz nuclear magnetic
resonance spectrometer, valued at $850,000
when it was new seven years ago, thanks to
a recent gift from 3M Pharmaceuticals. The
7-foot-tall, 1,600-pound instrument was
installed in July in Trafton Science Center
and is one of the state’s most advanced NMR
spectrometers outside of Minneapolis. The
new instrument will allow chemistry faculty
members and students to conduct advanced
studies of compound structures including
drugs, proteins, biofluids and other complex
compounds.
St. Cloud State University is one of three
public universities honored for leadership and
innovation in teacher education. The univer­
sity was named a 2007 recipient of the Christa
McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher
Education by the American Association
of State Colleges and Universities. Other
winners were the University of Northern
Colorado and Western Carolina University.
St. Cloud State was recognized for its
Teacher Quality Enhancement Partnership
that improves the preparation of teachers by
redesigning the student teaching experience
through co-teaching. Co-teaching is defined
as two teachers working together with groups
of students and sharing the planning, organi­
zation, delivery and assessment of instruction
and physical space. The program also has
integrated co-teaching into teacher prepara­
tion courses through collaboration among
public school teachers and faculty from edu­
cation, fine arts and humanities, science and
engineering, and social sciences.
Grants and reCoGnitions
Statewide alliance to share $2.45 million grant
Three universities and five colleges in the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system are part of a statewide alliance
that will receive a $2.45 million grant over the next five years from
the National Science Foundation.
The goal of the North Star STEM (science, technology,
engineering and math) Alliance is to double the number of bachelor’s
degrees earned by students from historically underrepresented
minority groups, specifically including African American, Hispanic/
Latino and American Indian students.
The alliance includes Metropolitan State University;
Minnesota State University, Mankato; St. Cloud State
University; Anoka-Ramsey Community College; Century
College; Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College;
Minneapolis Community and Technical College; and North
Hennepin Community College.
Along with the Science Museum of Minnesota and the
Minnesota High Tech Association, other alliance members are the
University of Minnesota Twin Cities, which is the lead institution
for the project; the University of Minnesota Duluth; University of
Minnesota Morris; Augsburg College; Carleton College; Gustavus
Adolphus College; Macalester College; and St. Olaf College.
First Excellence in Teaching
award winners selected
in launching the Excellence in Teaching awards, the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees honored three faculty
members in April. Presidents of the system’s institutions submitted
nominations for review by a panel of judges that included faculty
members, presidents, administrators and students. The panel’s
recommendations then were submitted to the system’s Board of
Trustees. The award recipients are:
Donald Graves, biology instructor at rainy
river Community College, part of the Northeast
Higher Education district. reviewers cited
Graves’ commitment to real-world experiences
for his students by engaging them in scientific
research and his work to help students assess his
teaching and their learning. The only biology
instructor at the college, Graves typically teaches
seven courses a year in such areas as human anatomy, physiology,
microbiology, environmental science, geology and general biology.
Awards
Michele Neaton, speech and communication
instructor at Century College. reviewers said
Century College President Larry Litecky has been awarded the
College President’s/Chancellor’s Award from the National Council
for Staff, Program and Organizational Development, an organi­
zation affiliated with the American Association of Community
Colleges that annually recognizes a college president for outstand­
ing leadership.
she skillfully engages students in large classes
with her passion for learning: “She makes
ongoing improvements to course structure,
teaching strategies, assignments and projects
to build students skills in communication.”
Four faculty members, staff and students of Minnesota state univer­
sities have been named Fulbright Scholars for 2007-2008:
Julie Rodakowski, English and communica­
n Winona State University faculty member Beckry Abdel-Magid
has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and con­
duct research at the United Arab Emirates University during the
2007-08 academic year. Abdel-Magid, professor of composite
materials engineering and chair of the engineering department,
will teach courses in engineering mechanics and work on a
research project to investigate the long-term durability of fiber
reinforced polymers in warm sea water environment.
n David Williams, vice president for university advancement
at Minnesota State University, Mankato, has been named a
Fulbright Scholar. He will participate in the U.S.-Germany
International Education Administrators Program in Berlin,
sharing fundraising expertise and learning about German higher
education administration.
n Erin Rahmen and James Livermont, students at Minnesota
State University, Mankato, have been awarded Fulbright U.S.
Student scholarships. Rahman, a senior, will study political
science in Bangladesh. Livermont, a graduate student, will
teach English as a second language and study French linguistics
in Belgium.
tion studies instructor at rochester Community
and Technical College. reviewers noted that
rodakowski formed the rochester Area Council
of Teachers of English to improve cooperation
among high school and college teachers. Also,
she has brought an international perspective
to the college’s curriculum by teaching in the
global learning program at Oxford University in England, studying in
Tanzania and india, and leading the college to introduce Arabic and
Chinese courses.
Nominations are being sought this fall for the 2007-2008 Excellence
in Teaching awards, to be given April 16. Students, faculty, staff
and administrators, as well as alumni and community members,
can nominate an eligible faculty member through procedures
determined on each campus. By Feb. 22, college and university
presidents will forward the names of outstanding educators
to be considered for the award. Guidelines are available at
http://botawards.mnscu.edu.
n
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | AlumNI
Entrepreneur
Jill Blashack Strahan
spreads Tastefully Simple vision for success
A dozen years ago, Jill Blashack
Strahan was a one-woman show
working out of a backyard shed. The
Alexandria Technical College graduate
drove a cheap Grand Am and wore the
same smart black-and-beige suit day
after day to peddle a dream that today
is a multimillion-dollar company.
Hers is a corporate Cinderella story.
Jill Blashack Strahan had no magic wand – only a 3 a.m. stroke of
inspiration, a little help from friends and plenty of elbow grease. Up late
“It’s been an incredible ride,’’ she said.
Education at state colleges started her on her way. After a year at the
one night reading a magazine, she came upon an article about home
University of Minnesota Morris, she went on to earn two associate degrees
parties to sell products. From that seed, the company Tastefully Simple
from Alexandria Technical College in sales and marketing in the late ’70s.
was born.
There she grew to appreciate education and a teacher’s selflessness.
What Tupperware did for plastics, Blashack Strahan is doing for
For instructor Lyle Holscher’s sales associate course, she created a
food. Blashack Strahan, the company’s 48-year-old CEO, has turned
business plan for an imaginary gift shop. That assignment sparked her
the selling of salsas, dips, spices and mixes into a home party empire.
entrepreneurial creativity, and she won a state Distributive Education
Based in Alexandria, a community of 10,000, Tastefully Simple last year
Clubs of America competition and went on to national competition.
logged $120 million in nationwide sales. This September, sales were up
nearly 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
At its conception, Blashack Strahan worked long hours without pay.
Holscher inspired her, she said. He looked beyond the person she
was then – a sometimes-testing 19-year-old who complained about
required class attendance. “He showed me he believed in me,’’ she said.
She peddled and packed the product. A decade later, her efforts catapult­
And when she needed help designing visual aids for competition, he
ed her to No. 2 on Fast Company magazine’s Top 25 Women Business
built a plywood presentation board according to her design.
Builders’ list and in 2003 earned her a finalist spot for the national Ernst
Holscher remembers Blashack Strahan as hard-working, fun-
& Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Through the years, she
loving and brimming with promise. “My opinion was, whatever she
has weathered economic downturns and ruts in the road. When sales
chose to do, it was going to happen. Jill was a very motivated type of
dropped a few years ago, the company reinvented itself to rebound.
person, a self-starter. You didn’t have to tell her much, and then she
Recently, she began marketing her own business culture.
was full steam ahead.’’
0 | Minnesota state | fall 2007
parties by night. These days she travels the
leaders. They toss around beach balls to
Tastefully Simple does not make the food
country energizing, inspiring and educating
lighten a mood. Coffee and chai tea are free.
its 24,000 independent consultants sell.
the thousands who sell her wares. Blashack
Yoga and other classes are offered at the on-
“We’re marketers. We created the brand.
Strahan is the company motivator, said
site fitness center. Teams sponsor charitable
We find great products to market,’’ Blashack
Amy Robinson, spokesperson for the Direct
projects, such as a pancake fundraiser for a
Strahan said.
Selling Association, an ethics-regulating
women’s shelter. And they cheer one anoth­
trade group of which Tastefully Simple is
er’s accomplishments and the latest sales
food. Instead of lining up at the free-samples
a member. “For a lot of sales reps, it’s that
figures with bells, tambourines and other
table at a grocery, you get invited to a party at
they can identify with a founder and a cer­
“personal noise makers.”
a friend’s home to try Tastefully Simple prod­
tain mission. The company’s mission is her
ucts. It’s not only the easy-to-make Truffle
vision,’’ Robinson explained.
That marketing education was crucial.
The strategy? Mix a good time with good
Fudge Brownies or the Italian Romano
Cheese Ball you enjoy, but also friends.
Blashack Strahan practically stumbled
Blashack Strahan’s office is decorated
with warm colors, a sofa and an electric
fireplace. The elegant-home atmosphere
“You feel appreciated,’’ said heating
and air conditioning mechanic Marty Root,
50, a nine-year employee. “You feel like you
want to come to work.”
Still, this is a workplace. Walk in the
across the business concept when she adapt­
permeates the headquarters of the privately
front door and see today’s sales numbers.
ed a gift basket business she had owned. At
held company and, she said, symbolizes a
Use the bathroom and see posted inside
an annual Holiday Crafters Tour at homes
different way of doing business.
the stalls the company’s mission statement
around Alexandria in the early 1990s, she
tried a new sales approach. She sold not
“The business world has tried forever
to amputate, to extract, humanness,’’ she
only food-laden baskets but also individual
products and struck gold. She sold $200 in
baskets, but $2,500 in Reindeer chips and
mixes such as Nana’s Apple Cake. Ditto the
next year.
“Those experiences were the begin­
ning and end of my market research,’’ she
said. People didn’t want the baskets; they
wanted interesting, easy-to-prepare foods.
Add a home sales party and she had her
and this year’s sales goal of $132 million.
Blashack Strahan calls it a dream map rather
than a strategic plan. “I don’t like corporate
after graduating from alexandria Technical College, Jill Blashack Strahan built Tastefully Simple on a supportive company culture and a winning sales strategy; “You get to hang out, eat and drink, grocery shop and buy gifts.’’
lingo,” she said. Company goals are “what
we’re dreaming here.”
The dream is evolving. In 2001, sales
hit $34.4 million and kept climbing. But
when numbers fell from $119 million in
2004 to $110 million in 2005, Blashack
Strahan invited staff to brainstorm
solutions. The company reinvented itself,
she says, by simplifying the business for
its consultants. Products now are shipped
business concept. She brought the idea to
Joani Nielson, a business acquaintance who
said in explaining why she devised the com­
directly to customers rather than delivered
jumped onboard, putting $10,000 into the
pany culture she’s now marketing on a DVD
by consultants, for instance.
business as a silent partner and loaning a
and in a book. The culture lets people be
backyard shed for operations. Nielson is
themselves, work hard, feel special, have fun
ongoing success in the
now the company’s chief operations officer.
and find success in their jobs, she says.
company’s basic strategy.
Blashack Strahan also obtained a $20,000
Blashack Strahan has a son, Zach, 15.
Bottom line: Blashack Strahan sees
“You get to hang out, eat
loan from the Small Business Administration
Widowed some years ago, she married Gary
and drink, grocery shop and
and used $6,000 of her own money, launch­
Strahan last year. Before and during the
buy gifts.’’ n
ing Tastefully Simple in 1995.
company building-block years, she faced the
The Tastefully Simple headquarters is
accidental deaths of two brothers, one in a fire
a 178,000-square-foot, lodge-like building
and the other from injuries sustained after fall­
with more than 300 employees. Nationwide,
ing off a roof he was building. Though griev­
the company has nearly 23,000 independent
ing for loved ones, she threw herself into her
consultants, of which 3 percent are men.
work, painfully aware, she once wrote, that life
At the company’s startup, Blashack Strahan
is short and must be lived fully.
packed orders on an old pool table; today,
The company culture, employees say,
employees load orders on a 1.5-mile con­
is about being a whole person, even at work.
veyor belt. The company offers more than
In keeping with the philosophy, employees
50 products with an average price of $7.99.
are called team members and their bosses,
In the early stages, she recruited sales
consultants by day and hosted home tasting
Tastefully Simple products sell at home parties.
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | When the bridge fell,
emergency personnel relied on specialized
training provided by minnesota state
Colleges and universities
2 | Minnesota state | fall 2007
M
inneapoliS fire Chief JiM ClaCk
got there,” Clack said. “They were operat­
never thought he would ever be
ing efficiently, doing a super job, without
dealing with the collapse of a major
any of us bosses telling them what to do.”
bridge in the course of his career in the fire
service.
“On July 31, if you asked a firefighter if
system trAINs FIrst respONDers
An estimated 80 to 90 percent of the fire­
there was a possibility that a bridge might fall
fighters, law enforcement officers, emergency
into the river, they’d say no, it’s not possible,”
medical technicians and others who worked to
he said. “We have preplans for a lot of situa­
save lives on the bridge that day received their
tions – a large fire, a leak of hazardous material,
education and training from the Minnesota
a train derailment, a building collapse – but we
State Colleges and Universities system.
never preplanned for an interstate bridge to fall
into the river.”
Hennepin Technical College has pro­
vided basic firefighter training for all new
training paid off
Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack, a graduate of
Southwest Minnesota State University, led the first
26 hours of bridge collapse rescue and recovery.
That all changed a few minutes after 6
hires of the Minneapolis Fire Department
“We got to the top and you could see the
p.m. Aug. 1. When Clack heard the call come
since the late 1990s. One of the program’s
levels of destruction going down, see a crushed
car, the school bus, a Tastee Bread truck.”
in – “Bridge collapse” – he assumed an accident
trainees, Raúl Ramos of Station 11, a few
had occurred with the construction crew work­
blocks from the north end of the collapsed
ing on the bridge deck and thought “something
bridge, was among the first firefighters to
ered their fellow crew members and moved
fell off, maybe a railing or something involving
arrive. He was confronted by a horrific scene
the rig to the River Flats area near the north
a couple of cars.”
– cars stopped on the bridge, crushed cars in
end of collapsed bridge. He donned a yel­
Then he pulled up to the nearby 10th
Street Bridge. “I saw hundreds of people on the
collapsed I-35W bridge – victims, firefighters,
police, civilians – and for a moment I thought,
this can’t be real. This is like a movie set.
“It took a second, and then I said to myself,
this is real, and I’ve got to get downtown and
get things organized.”
For the next 26 hours, Clack was the
unified incident commander, the person in
The two ran back to the rescue rig, gath­
low Mustang rescue suit and grabbed some
“individual crews were making life
and death decisions before i or any
other chief got there. They were
operating efficiently, doing a super
job, without any of us bosses telling
them what to do.”
rope, tied the knots he had learned to tie at
– Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack
saved and became one of 13 people who died
charge of directing the massive rescue and
rookie school, and started working his way
through the water. When he came to the first
car, he reached in, then put his head in the
water, reached in further and felt a person.
He cut the seat belt, pulled the victim out of
the water and handed her to an emergency
medical technician. The woman could not be
in the bridge collapse.
recovery operation from the Emergency
the water, dazed people walking on pieces of
Ramos then turned to the others.
Operations Center in the basement of
the bridge deck that had landed in the river.
“I saw 15 to 18 people on the bridge,
“You don’t think about anything,” said
and they all were in a daze,” he said. He
But even before the chief reached the
Ramos, 35, a firefighter since 1999. “You
helped load people who could walk into
scene, emergency first responders were
just do what you’ve been taught from back
rescue boats and then turned to those who
relying on their training – much of it
to rookie school at Hennepin Tech. That’s
had broken bones or other injuries. All the
provided by the Minnesota State Colleges
why we put in the training.”
while, rescuers kept an eye on the twisted
Minneapolis City Hall.
and Universities system – to save lives.
Ramos and his partner ran up a section of
bridge structure above them, worried that
“Individual crews were making life and
the bridge that was pointing toward the sky,
it would shift and send debris raining down
death decisions before I or any other chief
checking cars to see if anyone was injured.
on top of them. Ramos learned later that 88
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | raúl ramos, trained by Hennepin Technical College, was one of the first to arrive at the bridge collapse scene and donned a Mustang rescue suit to search for survivors.
vehicles had been on the bridge when it col­
lapsed, including a school bus with 60 pas­
FrOm resCue tO reCOvery
Meanwhile, back at the Emergency
While Clack had received some media
training through the years, he learned the
sengers, and it had taken an hour and a half
Operations Center, Chief Clack was start­
most from watching previous fire chiefs and
to get everyone off.
ing to think about transferring command to
how they dealt with disasters, he said. “One
“If I wasn’t trained, I wouldn’t have
another agency. “Once we had been through
of the old chiefs told me, if you’re on the
known anything,” Ramos said. “You learn how
the first hour and 50 minutes, we had rescued
news and you look panicked and excited,
to tie up the rope, how to use the Mustang
everybody who was rescuable,” Clack said.
all of the firefighters watching you will get
suit, how to triage, how to talk to civilians and
“At that time, two hours into the incident,
panicked and excited. So no matter what hap­
calm them down, how to know where the col­
we made the switch from rescue to recovery.
pens, when the world is falling down around
lapse zone is.”
Two hours after that – four hours into the
you, you need to project a confident, calm
incident – the switch was announced.”
presence. People pick up on that.”
Ramos was at the bridge scene most of
the night, returning to the fire station around
During the rescue phase, Clack said,
Clack, 47, who became fire chief in
3 a.m. But he was called back 30 minutes later
“we’re risking people’s lives to save people’s
February 2007 after serving as acting chief
when it was discovered that a railroad car that
lives. When we switch to recovery, we don’t
since April 2006, said the comprehensive
had been struck by debris when the bridge col­
want anybody hurt or killed when it’s not likely
training provided by Hennepin Technical
lapsed was leaking hazardous material. Ramos,
we could rescue any more people.”
College is critical to the department’s success.
a hazardous materials specialist, once again
By 8 p.m. Aug. 2, Clack was ready to
relied on the specialized training he received
transfer command to law enforcement, and
he said. “Firefighters really have to be gener­
from Hennepin Technical College.
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan took
alists – emergency medical technician, vehicle
over. At that point, Clack took on a media
extrication, rescuing people out of buildings.”
Ramos said he knew that others at the
scene, though they were from a host of dif­
“The fire service is such a diverse workplace,”
relations role, becoming the public face of
Clack said he knew he wanted to be
ferent jurisdictions and agencies, had gone
the tragedy and speaking to reporters not
a firefighter as early as kindergarten. He
through the same training. “The one reason
only from Minnesota and the United States
joined the Minneapolis Fire Department
why we got along so well was that we knew
but also from as far away as England and
in 1986 after a brief stint as a real estate
each other through training,” Ramos said.
Japan. His physical presence (he is 6 feet, 6
broker. Right after joining, he started
“You feel more comfortable knowing you can
inches tall) and stoic on-camera demeanor lent
on his associate degree in fire protection
trust these guys.”
authority and credibility to his words.
through a collaborative program between
| Minnesota state | fall 2007
North Hennepin Community College and
Hennepin Technical College.
He knew from the start that he wanted
to be promoted, and he knew that a bach­
Education boosts firefighters’ careers
Higher education for firefighters has become more and more important as the fire service
elor’s degree would be necessary. So, after
has become more professionalized over the years, says don Beckering, who oversees fire training
he received his associate degree, he became
programs for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the state of Minnesota.
one of the first students to enroll in the fire
administration program, a bachelor’s degree
program offered by Southwest Minnesota
State University. He took classes in risk man­
it wasn’t always that way. “Most people became fire chiefs because they were the best
firefighter on the department – and most failed,” he said. “You tend to revert to what you’re good
at. if there’s a fire and you’re grabbing hose and fighting a fire, that’s not where you’re supposed
to be. You’re supposed to be in a command and control role.
“Fire departments are a very, very expensive part of the city, with high equipment and liability
agement, diversity, fire administration, sta­
costs,” added Beckering, a former Hopkins fire chief and instructor at Hennepin Technical College.
tistics and other topics, all online. He visited
“The guys may like you, but does that mean you can run a department with $5 million in equipment
the Southwest Minnesota State University
sitting out there? There’s got to be a blend of training and education.”
Minnesota is somewhat unique in that it does not have a state-run fire training academy
campus in Marshall once to give a capstone
separate from the colleges and universities. Back in the 1970s, the former Technical College Board
presentation to a training class. The entire
took on the responsibility of training first responders, and technical colleges started developing
cost of his education was paid for by the city
more sophisticated training programs. A statewide Fire information and research Center, started at
of Minneapolis, which covers education and
the University of Minnesota in 1962, was taken over by the Technical College Board in the late 1960s
training for all firefighters.
and now is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Fire chiefs from around
Clack is now a walking billboard for
higher education. Fire department recruits
the state call in for advice, and the center’s library is a repository of information about the latest in
firefighting techniques.
Today, 12 institutions within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system have
are told the first day on the job about the
firefighting programs. All offer a standardized curriculum that covers the basic firefighting and
importance of continuing their education.
emergency medical technician skills.
They then go to Hennepin Tech’s Eden
Prairie campus for four months of entry level
training, taking emergency medical technician
certification, firefighting I and II, hazardous
Using firefighter training provided by the colleges saves fire departments thousands of dollars
and has produced better results, Beckering said. For instance, before Hennepin Technical College
took over training for the Minneapolis Fire department, it was not unusual to have 30 to 50 percent
of a class of recruits fail the national registry test the first time they took it with 10 percent failing
the third time. in the first cohort of Hennepin Tech students, 92 percent passed the test the first
materials and basic rescue skills courses. All
time, 100 percent the second time. And the cost was much lower: it cost the department $150,000 to
courses are credit-based and will transfer to
$200,000 to conduct a 30-person class, while Hennepin Tech could conduct the same class for $75,000.
A bachelor’s degree program started four years ago at Southwest Minnesota State University
an associate degree program.
The fire chief said the bridge collapse
reinforced the importance of good training:
“What I learned most, what made me feel
prepares firefighters for fire administration jobs. The program, which is in the business administration
department, has about 10 to 12 students at any given time, and most are working firefighters who
want to become a chief or assistant chief, said Lori Wynia, program coordinator.
For people interested in fire service as a career, Beckering says: “Make sure this is something
good about the city and the state, is that we
you want to do. it’s not the glamorous occupation we always see on TV. it’s 59 minutes of boredom
had done a lot of tabletop exercises, but you
and one minute of exhilaration.”
never know until something happens that it’s
going to work. All of that exercising came into
place. It makes me feel proud and confident
that we dealt with something we hadn’t prac­
ticed for. That really made me feel good and
gave me confidence that when the next one
He also recommends checking department requirements in your area. Some require that an
applicant already is a paramedic. in others, it’s tough to get in unless you’re a military veteran.
Joining a paid-on-call or volunteer fire department is a way to find out if it is something you like,
he said, and a way to get financial support for your training.
don Beckering oversees fire training for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the state.
comes, we can handle it.”
Raúl Ramos said his experience at the
bridge reinforced his love for his job. “I
love the camaraderie, the physical aspect of
the job, and, whether I should or not, I love
running into that burning building. It’s not
about being a hero, it’s just being able to help
somebody.”
Except when he goes home: “I love going
home to my kids and being the hero. Having
my kids look up to me, that’s a huge thing.”
n
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | s
imulations prepare emergency
Trainees tackle structural collapses, hazardous spills, trench cave-ins,
farm equipment extrication, water emergencies and more
As threats to public health and safety
for first responders,” said don Beckering,
typically earn a one-year diploma or two-year
grow more complex, the Minnesota State
the system’s director of fire, safety and
degree. And professional firefighters generally
Colleges and Universities system has embraced
emergency medical service programs. To
undergo 300 to 600 hours of basic training.
an increasingly important role in educating
meet that challenge, the system focuses on
and training emergency first responders.
developing training exercises that mirror
important to the League of Minnesota Cities,
With more than 70 degree, certificate
Well-trained first responders are
real-life emergencies, improving coordination
the state’s major insurer of police and fire
and diploma programs in these areas, the
among all first responders and building state­
departments. “We have an ongoing interest
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
of-the-art training facilities.
in reducing injuries and minimizing lawsuits,”
system prepares 92 percent of the state’s law
For years, firefighters, police officers and
enforcement graduates and trains more than
emergency medical technicians often learned
director. “Given emerging hazards and
9,000 firefighters, emergency medical techni­
skills on the job or in department training
increasingly complex safety requirements,
cians and other first responders each year.
programs. Now, Minnesota police officers
training will continue to become more critical
routinely hold two- or four-year college
and be a more significant part of public
degrees in law enforcement. Paramedics
safety budgets.”
“For us, the new challenge is designing
programs that set the next national standard
| Minnesota state | fall 2007
said Jim Miller, the league’s executive
responders for the Worst
“Since 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the
federal government has called for even more
sophisticated education of first responders,”
Beckering said. “Two- and four-year degrees
in emergency management as well as special
training in search and rescue are becoming
important.” in response, two-year degree
programs in emergency management began
this fall at Minneapolis Community and
Technical College and Hennepin Technical
College. A four-year degree in emergency
management at Metropolitan State
University also is in the works.
To create realistic training conditions,
the state colleges and universities system
relies heavily on simulators that can stage
a wide variety of emergency exercises. The
system has 42 simulator trailers to train
firefighters. Many are the size of semitrailer
L E A R NI N g T H E R I g H T TECHNIqUES
Left: Fire protection program instructor
Bernie Vrona of Hennepin Technical College
demonstrates the proper way to conduct a
search in a confined space. rescue workers
must size up conditions to ensure their own
safety, conduct an initial search for victims
and determine what tools are needed.
right: A student practices the correct technique
for suppressing a fire in a structure. Firefighters
routinely keep their bodies low to the ground
to avoid heat and injury in these situations.
“Fighting fires requires lots of training,”
said Hennepin Technical College’s Jon Olson.
“it’s not just grabbing a hose and spraying
water on a fire.”
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | trucks and can be taken to various training
manager of fire, emergency medical services
shoot” judgment. A driving simulator gives
sites in the system.
and safety programs at Hennepin Technical
students experience in making split-second
College, put it, “Often, it is critical thinking,
decisions during high-speed chases, skids and
environments – how to extinguish fires and
Students learn – in safe and controlled
clear communication and team work that
other treacherous situations. Another simula­
rescue victims from burning homes, buildings
save precious seconds.”
tor, known as “Hogan’s Alley,” provides a
or cars and from collapsed structures. “They
To support training first responder
mock urban setting to teach “street smarts”
are fantastic tools, but they are costly,”
teams, Hennepin Technical College opened
in handling civil disturbances, domestic abuse
Beckering said. Last year, Hennepin Technical
an Advanced Center for Emergency Services
calls and gang situations.
College spent about $800,000 to acquire
this fall on its Eden Prairie campus. Using the
simulators.
new emergency room simulator, instructors
grams at the state colleges include wildland
rescue workers, typically firefighters,
Other highly specialized training pro­
can create a full-scale emergency. Students
firefighting at itasca Community College in
can earn credentials in water emergencies,
work on computerized mannequins that can
Grand rapids and aircraft rescue firefighting
structural collapse, hazardous material spills
be programmed for injuries associated with
at Lake Superior College in duluth. Featuring
and cave-ins, among other things. Overall,
car crashes, work accidents, cardiac arrests,
a two-thirds scale mock-up of a 757 jet with 98
the U.S. Fire Administration has identified
gunshots, major bleeding trauma and bio­
computer-controlled burn segments, the Lake
21 credential specialties. Many of the
terrorism. Better known as “SimMan” and
Superior simulator provides an unlimited num­
system’s colleges and universities also have
“SimBaby,” the mannequins can talk, choke
ber of programmable fire scenarios. Firefighters
nationally recognized credentialing pro­
and exhibit 250 different heart rhythms,
from all over the world train at the center.
grams. For example, South Central College,
among other bodily functions.
with campuses in Faribault and North
“Using the simulator lab adds a lot more
To continue improving facilities, the
system is asking the Minnesota Legislature
Mankato, specializes in cave-in and trench
realism to our training,” said Susan Long,
for funds to construct a $13.4 million regional
rescue. riverland Community College in
director of clinical and support services for
law enforcement training center for six Twin
Austin focuses on how to extricate people
Allina Medical Transportation. The ambu­
Cities area colleges and Metropolitan State
from farm equipment.
lance service, which employs about 300 emer­
University and a $10.5 million law enforce­
gency medical technicians and paramedics,
ment training facility at Alexandria Technical
requires about 120 hours of training that
A credential in structural collapse
has a training partnership with the college
College as part of the system’s capital bud­
occur over 10 consecutive 12-hour days.
funded by a grant. “Our teams see pretty
get request. The regional center would
“The knowledge and skills must become so
quickly when they’re running through the
allow training exercises to involve all three
ingrained that rescue workers react instinc­
exercise if they’re not communicating well,”
branches of first responders. Beckering said,
tively rather than having to think about how
she said. “They actually experience what
“We believe the convergence of emergency
to get the job done,” Beckering said.
doesn’t work and understand it better than
response training with law enforcement will
if we just told them.”
take Minnesota to the next level of emergen­
Training teams of first responders
so they work effectively is also critically
important in an emergency. As Jon Olson,
With a fully equipped ambulance,
Hennepin Technical College trains
about 125 emergency medical
technicians each year.
| Minnesota state | fall 2007
On the law enforcement side, students
use simulators to learn “shoot-and-don’t­
cy preparedness and could set a new standard
for the nation.”
n
right, Jena Clem, a student at St. Cloud State
University, swabs her cheek at the 2007 bone
marrow donor registration drive.
the drive for donors
Bone marrow registration
was created as a legacy for
St. Cloud State professor
OFFERINg HOPE FOR A STRANgE R
Anita Carlson had signed up to be a donor several
years ago during the annual registry drive. “it was
so long ago that i had forgotten about it until
i got the call,” she said. The call was a request
a
quiCk, painleSS SwaB inSide Your
Rotary Club is the biggest sponsor, and the
cheek – that simple act could become student volunteers share their experiences at
a gift of life for someone suffering
its meetings.
from leukemia, other blood diseases and
lymphoma.
That’s the message student volunteers
to be tested as
Aaron Kurrell, a student from Maple
Grove, was student chair of this year’s drive.
Among those he persuaded to register was
a possible bone
use to garner participation in the annual bone
student Jenny Hill, who said: “I think we all
marrow match for
marrow donor registration drive at St. Cloud
want the chance to save someone’s life. Who
a man, 41, married
State University in honor of communications
would say no?”
with three children.
professor, Duan Kendig, who had a bone mar­
Carlson,
row transplant in 2001.
a management
Seeing how difficult it was for Kendig to
instructor at the
LeAnn Myers would appreciate that.
A student from Ely who had developed
leukemia in her freshman year, she had a
university, turned
find a donor match, her colleague and friend
bone marrow transplant in 2005. “I was
out to be the best
Diana Rehling and other colleagues organized
basically dying,” she said. “I got the call in
match. The call
a bone marrow registration drive that year.
October that they had found four donors.
Kendig died the next year of lymphoma, and
On Dec. 8, I had my transplant.”
came in december
2003; she set a goal
the donor drive continues as a memorial.
to donate during
spring break. in
Anita Carlson
Myers returned to campus part time
“Daun had adopted a little girl from
last spring. Her brother Paul, 26 and a pilot,
Guatemala, and she had another year with her
enrolled in the university’s aviation program,
patient had chemotherapy. Carlson, married and
daughter,” said Rehling, associate professor of
shared her apartment in case she needed
the mother of five, underwent a full checkup,
communications studies. “It meant a lot for
help – and placed his name on the registry
her. She said she did not consider it a failure.”
during the donor drive.
the meantime, the
prepared her students for her absence – and faced
some unexpected responses from her friends and
family. “My father said, ‘Why would you do this
The project’s success has earned national
This fall, Myers said she has much
for someone you don’t know?’ i was a little taken
attention. St. Cloud State University was
more energy and lives on her own, attend­
aback.”
presented with the 2007 National Marrow
ing classes full time. She became a certified
But Carlson kept her commitment. The
Donor Program’s Collegiate Award at the
nursing assistant this summer and decided
doctors took almost 2 liters of bone marrow.
organization’s meeting in early November
to major in business management with an
in Minneapolis.
emphasis in health. She hopes awareness of
She said she learned later that he had not
survived long. “What i did bought him a year,
and i also think he and his wife knew they did
The student volunteers registered 247
the bone marrow registry will spread.
everything they could to fight it to the end,”
donors during last April’s event for a total
Carlson said. But, she added, “i feel bad that was
of 1,012, Rehling said. At least seven people
aren’t on the registry is because they don’t
all he had.”
who were added to the donor list through
realize what an impact it has on people’s
the university’s drives have donated mar­
lives,” she said. “If I hadn’t had that trans­
row. The next drive is April 8. The Granite
plant, I wouldn’t be here.”
More information about the National
Marrow donor Program is on the Web
at www.marrow.org.
“The reason I think a lot of people
n
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | AlumNI
BUddiNG FiLMMAKEr’S dOCUMENTArY
rEVEALS dANGErS OF METH AddiCTiON
o
ne of adaM forSgren’S firST
it is one of the few schools that offers film
projects as a filmmaker likely won’t
classes and not just video classes.”
win any Oscars, but its benefits
may transcend the value of any such award.
to learn from professionals, such as screenwrit­
Forsgren, who earned his associate degree
ers and cinematographers, while using state-of­
in filmmaking at Minneapolis Community
the-art equipment. And there’s the opportunity
and Technical College in spring 2006, was
to sample all of the roles in film production,
chosen by the Minnesota County Attorneys
from doing sound design or lighting, to holding
Association last fall to film a documentary,
the boom and being a grip.
“revealing Meth in Minnesota.”
He served as videographer, editor and
whole filmmaking process,” he said. “This
is being used to educate community groups,
program is a great springboard into a profes­
parents, students and others about the impact
sional career working in film.” And based on
of methamphetamine – the drug that has
the networking that evolves with faculty and
taken a tragic toll across Minnesota and the
fellow students, “i would say there’s as much
rest of the country.
job placement assistance as a person needs.”
He’s also learned the value of hard work.
February at the Minnesota Judicial Center and
For the “revealing Meth” documentary,
has been receiving positive feedback ever since.
Forsgren collected about 27 hours of footage
“There has been tremendous demand for it.
from more than a dozen interviews he con­
We initially produced 1,000 copies and now are
ducted, working closely with Sara Wolff of the
into our second 1,000-copy run,” said ramsey
ramsey County Attorney’s Office on the proj­
County Attorney Susan Gaertner, who chairs
ect. “The more of these tales we heard, the
the Meth Task Force of the Minnesota County
more we realized this was a really important
Attorneys Association. The film has been dis­
issue that couldn’t be contained in a 15-min­
tributed statewide to county attorneys and to
ute or 30-minute film,” he said.
interested citizens, educators and organiza­
tions. “And parents are asking for it to show
their kids, which is the best possible use for
it,” Gaertner said.
Forsgren’s foray into
film came almost by accident.
While studying chemistry and
20 | Minnesota state | fall 2007
“Being able to try all those things lets
you find out where you want to be in the
director of the 55-minute documentary, which
“revealing Meth” was first screened in
Adam Forsgren
brought filmmaking
skills learned at
Minneapolis Community
and Technical College to
this documentary project,
“revealing Meth in Minnesota.”
Forsgren liked that students get the chance
“Adam did a terrific job of listening to
what we had in mind but then executing the
concept with a lot of added creativity and
substance,” Gaertner said.
Forsgren had extra incentive to work on
the project: His brother was a recovering meth
addict. “My brother has been struggling with
biochemistry at the University
this for many years, and then i got this call
of Minnesota duluth, he took
from the county attorney’s office asking if
what he says was an “incred­
i would like to bid on the project.”
ibly basic” film appreciation
But recovery often doesn’t follow a
course. “i was just completely
straight path. “My brother wound up being
enthralled,” Forsgren said. “it just
pulled me in.”
He surveyed a number of possible col­
arrested and is currently incarcerated,”
Forsgren said this fall. He said his brother
is serving time for attempt to manufacture
leges and said Minneapolis Community and
meth. His brother hadn’t seen the film, so
Technical College “just popped out because
he asked for permission to watch it behind
FACulty
spOtlIGht
bars. “in the end, over 50 people
watched the movie, including a couple
of guards, and the majority were
inmates,” Forsgren said. “My brother
said it was very powerful.”
in making the film, Forsgren said
he deliberately avoided sensational­
izing the danger of the highly addic­
tive drug. He approached the topic
are you listening?
i
f You’re like MoST people, You proBaBlY are
not listening as well as you could, says Nanette
Johnson-Curiskis, a speech communication profes­
sor at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
The consequences of poor listening habits can
through candid conversations with
those directly involved with addiction,
be significant, especially for couples. It can lead to
including recovering addicts, medical
misunderstandings, mistrust, stress and tension in a
professionals and prosecutors.
relationship, she said. Johnson-Curiskis teaches good
“Using scare tactics really doesn’t
listening habits in her “Effective Listening” course at
work,” he said, “because when you
Minnesota State University, Mankato, one of only about
try to scare people – kids especially are
30 universities nationwide that offers such a course.
“It’s important to teach people how important
thrill seekers – it can make them want
listening is,” she said. “My course makes people aware
to try it.”
Meth-related criminal cases had
of the different kinds of listening and the pitfalls
risen alarmingly in recent years across
of poor listening habits. Most of what I do is teach
Minnesota, Gaertner said, but now the
teachers how to be good listeners and how to pass that
picture may be brightening: “We have
on to their students.”
So who listens better, women or men? The
seen indications of decline over the
last year or two. Obviously it’s difficult
answer, she said, is neither.
Men and women listen differently, she explained.
to say how that came about, but we
certainly hope prevention efforts like
The biggest difference is in how they exhibit verbal
ours are making a difference.”
and nonverbal communication while listening.
After making the first film, Forsgren
Women tend to use a lot of verbal and nonverbal
continued working on the Minnesota
communication, such as nodding their heads saying
County Attorneys Association project,
“uh-huh” and asking for details. Men, on the other
building the Web site www.reveal­
hand, often use very little verbal and nonverbal
ingmeth.com, filming a new segment
communication, which can give the impression that
about meth addiction treatment, and
they’re not listening.
While men’s lack of verbal and nonverbal
shooting more interviews and photo­
John Beelman, a speech communication
senior from Bloomington, Minn., works
with Nanette Johnson-Curiskis, speech
communication professor at Minnesota
State University, Mankato.
graphs for the association’s exhibit at
communication may make them look like they’re “spacing out” when they should be
the 2007 State Fair.
listening, women may communicate too much, which can be interpreted by male speakers
“i stopped by the booth a couple
as interruptive, she said.
Johnson-Curiskis, who in 2005 was chosen the International Listening Association’s
of times, and it was amazing to see
the turnout,” he said. Young children,
Outstanding Listening Educator of the Year, offers these tips for better listening:
teens and adults alike crowded
n
Give the speaker your undivided attention.
into the small space, some sharing
emotional personal experiences or
Stop everything and listen. Stop watching TV. Stop cooking. Stop working on the car.
n
Men should use some verbal and nonverbal communication, such as nodding their head
returning with friends in tow after
and uttering an occasional “uh-huh.” Women should cut down on their communica­
viewing the exhibit.
tion.
“if one person doesn’t use meth
n
movie,” he said, “it could help stop
n
n
When you are speaking, watch your listeners’ nonverbal communication. If they look
confused, ask if they need a better explanation or additional information.
the heartache that my family felt …
and still feels today.”
Don’t think about your response when you should be listening. Concentrate on what the
person is saying and the emotion behind the message.
or stops using meth because of this
n
There’s a good time to listen and a bad time. If you’re about to leave for an important
engagement or are in the middle of stressful work, it is probably not a good time to listen.
Ask if the conversation can take place later.
n
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | 2
FACulty
spOtlIGht
W
iTh a granT and a Tape reCorder, anTon Treuer
is searching out the grammatical underpinnings of native
Ojibwe dialects spoken in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The
elders hold the answers, and he knows time is running out.
“Our grammar books are the people,” said Treuer, a Bemidji
State University associate professor of Ojibwe language and culture.
“You hear many people lament the loss of world languages. it amazes
me the depth of knowledge we still have here. The only issue is the
transmission of the knowledge to the younger generation.”
The National Endowment for the Humanities last year awarded
Treuer a $40,000 documenting Endangered Languages fellowship
to research and write the first grammar book for the Minnesota
and Wisconsin region’s three main dialects of Ojibwe and many
local variations.
“This is a really exciting and important project,” Treuer said.
“We have to build this from the grassroots. We have to go right
to the speakers.”
Treuer, 38, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, has
compiled hundreds of recordings so far. Collaborators include his
brother, david Treuer, a University of Minnesota faculty member who
is using the material to write a book about reservation life, as well
Safeguarding the
OjibWe language
as linguists and Ojibwe elders such as Melvin Eagle, 74, a prominent
member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe who shared stories and
information.
The team of scholars is deriving its examples from natural speech,
Anton Treuer said. “We are turning speakers loose to do what they
do, for the most part.”
Ojibwe grammar is very complicated and different from the
European languages. For example, Treuer said, Ojibwe has more varia­
tion in the “we” form, which allows the speaker to discern whether “we”
includes the person being spoken to or does not include that person.
“Ojibwe is very specific and very polite,” Treuer said. “We don’t
have swear words for the most part, and that is very unusual.”
Treuer’s interest in Ojibwe emerged as he grew up. “it wasn’t until
i was a teen that i thought it was cool,” he said. College further rein­
forced the interest. “i was the first Ojibwe person to go to Princeton,
and talking with people about my culture and language gave me more
understanding and appreciation for what i had grown up with.”
After graduating from Princeton University, Treuer earned a mas­
ter’s and doctorate in history at the University of Minnesota. He has
ANTON TREUER ExPLAINS: “The roots of Ojibwe words are known
to everyday speakers of the language, making all communication
loaded with meaning. For example, in Ojibwe, the word for elder,
gichi-aya’aa, literally means ‘great being.’ The word for old
woman, mindimooye, means ‘one who holds things together,’
a description of the family matriarch. in English, the words are
old woman, elderly woman, aged woman. No wonder people in
English-speaking parts of the world don’t want to admit how old
they are, get face lifts and dye their hair. The meanings behind
Ojibwe words are different than in English.”
22 | Minnesota state | fall 2007
authored two anthologies of Ojibwe stories told in the Ojibwe lan­
guage, Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories, and Omaa
Akiing. He also edits Oshkaabwis Native Journal, the only academic
journal of the Ojibwe language, produced at Bemidji State University.
For Treuer, finishing the Ojibwe grammar book is a critical project.
“All vibrant languages have a grammar book, and we don’t have one.”
Top: Melvin Eagle, member and elder of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Bottom: Anton Treuer, associate professor of Ojibwe language and culture
at Bemidji State University.
n
Minnesota draws students from Nepal
R
apan Upreti left his homeland of Nepal to study electrical
engineering at St. Cloud State University, coming halfway around
the globe from a small country tucked between india and China,
flanked by the Himalayas and beset by years of political turmoil.
“Because of the conflict, a lot of people didn’t think it was
safe to study back home,” Upreti said. “Everybody was looking
for a good college. My friend was here, so i picked St. Cloud State.”
Upreti is one of 695 students from Nepal enrolled this fall in
the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Nepal, a country
ing our culture among ourselves. i have learned so many things
about my own country.”
despite the strong enrollment of Nepalese students,
retention is a concern, according to some international student advisors across the system. They say some students
who start at more rural campuses want to transfer as
soon as possible, and part-time jobs to help cover costs
can be harder to find at those campuses.
St. Cloud State is among the state colleges and
slightly larger than Arkansas with a population of 29 million, is the
universities offering in-state tuition to international stu-
country of origin of the largest group of international students
dents, which is a draw, as is its location about an hour
in the system. Upreti became active in the university’s Nepalese
from the Twin Cities area.
Student Association, serving as its president last year and seeing
Subigya Shakya, a graphic arts student who
great growth in the group. “When i came,” he said, “there were
is not related to rajish Shakya, said the
about 100 here.”
students enjoy going to the Nepalese res-
Today, Nepalese students at St. Cloud State total 300 and make
taurants in the cities for momos – filled
up 31 percent – the largest group – of international students on
dumplings – and other traditional
that campus.
foods. At the same time, he said he
Upreti sees good opportunities at home once he graduates
with a degree from an American university. “There are emerging
industries in the Southeast Asian area, and companies are looking
for students who have studied here,” he said.
Meanwhile, he’s part of the close-knit community that travels
enjoys learning about American tradi­
tions such as Halloween and pumpkin-carving.
Shakya attended one year of college in
Nepal before deciding to apply to U.S. colleges.
The occasional violence, curfews and strikes
to other campuses to participate in Nepalese festivals. They help
disrupted classes, he said, and he worries
newly arrived Nepalese students settle in and understand university
about his family, keeping a close watch
life and how to enroll in classes, and they offer moral support when
on the news from Nepal.
needed. “A lot of people have culture shock when they first come,”
Upreti said.
The Nepalese Student Association presents several annual events
“it was hard to leave – you are
leaving everything you know,” he
said. “But i love St. Cloud State – they
at St. Cloud State including Nepal Night, for which the St. Cloud com­
are very accepting. The students here are
munity is invited to campus for Nepalese food, music, poetry and
very, very nice.”
dance performances. The next Nepal Night will be April 5.
rajish Shakya, who came to St. Cloud State to study computer
engineering, said the students gain from participating in Nepal
Night and the other events.
“We are sharing our culture, and we are learning leadership
skills and communication skills,” Shakya said. “And it’s for preserv­
n
Student performers at Nepal Night at St. Cloud State University
shared their culture with hundreds of guests. On stage, left to
right, are singers Kripa Chalise, Apekshya Neupane, Mohinee
Shrestha, Aachal Kunwar and Mingma Sherpa; guitarists Pratik
Suwal and Prakash Shrestha; and vocalists Subigya Shakya and
Saurav Pandey.
Top right, at the microphone, is Pranam Gurung.
Above is dancer Sophiya Gurung.
fall 2007 | Minnesota state | 2
System News
2007-2008 Board of Trustees
Back row from left: James McCormick, chancellor; Carol Wenner*; Thomas renier; Caleb Anderson; dan McElroy; Michael Boulton*; James Van Houten; Christine rice. Front row from left: Clarence Hightower; ruth Grendahl, vice chair; david Olson, chair; C. Scott Thiss, treasurer; Cheryl dickson.
Not pictured: duane Benson, david Paskach, Ann Curme Shaw.
* Term has expired; incumbent serves until new trustee is appointed.
Enrollment grows by
4.5 percent
college and university system has 180,848 students, an increase of 7,832 students from last
fall’s headcount enrollment of 173,016.
Fall semester enrollment in the 32
Part of that increase came from 29 percent
Online at www.minnesotaonline.org.
The number of high school students
taking college courses through the PostSecondary Enrollment Options program
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
growth in the number of students taking online
jumped by 15 percent to 13,731.
increased by 4.5 percent over fall 2006,
courses, bringing the number of online students
thanks to growing numbers of students tak­
to 33,082. The system now offers about 200 pro-
ing online courses and high school students
grams completely or predominantly online, and
able at www.mnscu.edu/media/publications/
taking college courses. This fall, the state
thousands of online courses through Minnesota
pdf/2007enrollmentfig.pdf.
Official enrollment numbers for each of
the state colleges and universities are avail-
Biker Bob ends his ride
Former trustee robert “Biker Bob” Erickson has raised $44,520 on his sixth and final
2,300-mile bike tour to create scholarships for part-time students, bringing the total amount
raised over six years to more than $348,000.
Erickson, 61, chair of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation, rode his
bicycle to the 53 state college and university campuses, completing his final tour Sept. 20 at
Normandale Community College, Bloomington.
“Bob’s willingness to ride nearly 14,000 miles to focus attention on the needs of part-time
students is unparalleled,” said Catherine McGlinch, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Foundation executive director. “We cannot thank him enough for his dedication to this cause.
in hanging up his biking shoes for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, he should
know that he has made a profound difference for hundreds of students.”
Erickson began the annual bike ride in 2001 to bring attention to the challenges
faced by adult part-time college students. Erickson maintains they are not treated fairly
by Minnesota’s financial aid program. About 41 percent of Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities students are enrolled part-time; the average age of part-time students is 29.
robert Erickson, chair of the Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities Foundation, was
joined by bicyclists from South Central College,
Minnesota State University, Mankato and the
Faribo Flyer Bike Club this year on the Sakatah
Trail from Faribault to Mankato.
2 | Minnesota state | fall 2007
Older students who work at relatively low-paying jobs while attending college part time
often do not qualify for aid from the Minnesota State Grant Program.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation and college and university
foundations distribute scholarships with donations generated from the bike tour.
n
A
foundAtion
for
the
f u t u r e
�
Contributions to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation help ensure that
the next generation of teachers, engineers, health practitioners, scientists and other professionals will
be there to serve Minnesotans and contribute to the world.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation is a partner and advocate for
the system’s 32 state colleges and universities by raising and distributing funds to benefit students,
programs and communities.
Gifts may be unrestricted or directed toward a specific institution or program. To learn
more, visit www.foundation.mnscu.edu or call (651) 297-5519.
NE-Rainy River
Community College
International Falls
Northland Community
& Technical College
Thief River Falls
Northland Community
& Technical College
East Grands Forks
NE-Hibbing
Community College
NE-Mesabi Range
Community &
Technical College
Hibbing
Bemidji
Minnesota
State
Community
& Technical
College
Ely
Virginia
Northwest
Technical College
Minnesota State
University
Moorhead
NE-Vermilion
Community College
NE-Mesabi Range
Community & Technical College
Bemidji State
University
Eveleth
NE-Itasca
Community College
Minnesota State
Community &
Technical College
Grand Rapids
Lake Superior
College
Detroit Lakes
Fond du Lac Tribal &
Community College
Minnesota State
Community &
Technical College
Duluth
Minnesota State Universities
Minnesota State Colleges
Cloquet
Wadena
Moorhead
Minnesota
State Community
& Technical College
Central
Lakes
College
Central Lakes College
METRO AREA
Brainerd
Staples
Pine Technical College
Fergus Falls
Anoka
Technical
College
Pine City
Alexandria Technical
College
Alexandria
St. Cloud
Technical College
St. Cloud State University
Ridgewater
College
Willmar
Minnesota West
Community
& Technical
Minnesota West
College
Community &
Canby
Technical College
Coon Rapids
Anoka
Anoka-Ramsey
Community
College
St. Cloud
Anoka-Ramsey
Community College
Hennepin
Technical
College
Cambridge
North Hennepin
Community College
Minneapolis
Community &
Technical College
Hutchinson
Minneapolis St. Paul
Hennepin
Technical
College
Metropolitan
State University
Minneapolis
Metropolitan
State University
St. Paul
Saint Paul
College
Inver Hills
St. Paul
Community
College
Minneapolis
Normandale
Eden Prairie
Community
College
Bloomington
Southwest Minnesota
Minnesota State
State University
College–Southeast
South
Dakota County
Marshall
Technical
Central College
Technical College
Red Wing
North Mankato
Rosemount
Minnesota West
Minnesota
Community &
Minnesota State
South
State College–
Technical College
University, Mankato
Central College
Southeast Technical
Pipestone
Mankato
Faribault
Winona
Minnesota West
Winona
Rochester Community and
Community &
State
Minnesota West
Technical College
Technical College
University
Community &
Rochester
Riverland
Jackson
Technical
Community
Riverland
College
College
Community College
Granite Falls
Worthington
Albert Lea
Austin
White Bear Lake
Brooklyn Park
Brooklyn Park
Ridgewater
College
Century
College
Wells Fargo Place
30 7th St. E., Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55101-7804
Inver Grove
Heights
www.mnscu.edu
Phone: (651) 296-8012
Toll-free: (888) 667-2848
TTY: (651) 282-2660
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
07/06
Spring 2007 | Minnesota state | C
T
hirTY College STudenTS who have
process was very competitive, which ensures that
promising futures in math and science
incoming students have the necessary academic
careers have been selected for Normandale
foundation. Also, students are expected to study
Community College’s new Academy of Mathematics
and Science, which was launched this fall.
in recent years, not enough students have been
choosing careers in science, technology, engineer-
hard and maintain a focus on academic success.
Stubrud also believes that supporting acad­
emy members is crucial. “Part of our program’s
goal is helping our students build the skills and
confidence they need and support­
ing them through the process to get
new college
academy fosters
math and
science careers
into a four-year institution,” she said.
Scholarships are available for any costs
that financial aid does not cover for
students who need assistance. Equally
important to the academic and final
support, Stubrud said, is the role they
play as members of a cohort. The
cohort is the peer network created
by the group of 30 students who
enter the program at the same time,
Academy director Genella Taylor
Stubrud, above, conducts an
orientation session with academy
students.
Academy students, left to right,
Winta Ghidei, Benjamin Harste
and Jemil Hassen listen intently.
ing or math, and this is especially true for students
take many of the same classes and have similar
of color, first-generation college-goers, low-income
goals. Stubrud said they will come to rely on each
students and those from immigrant families.
other for support and success.
The Normandale Community College
“We have hand-picked students from
Foundation is doing something about it by estab-
different areas and brought them together to
lishing and funding the Academy of Mathematics
see how different students would succeed in this
and Science. The students are entering the acad­
environment,” she said.
emy with specific, achievable goals, primarily to
Alejandro de la Mora, one of the new
receive an associate degree in a science, technol­
academy members, said: “At first i joined the
ogy, engineering or math field – including math
program because of the possibility of winning
and science teaching – within two years.
the scholarship. However, after a few weeks,
“The long-term plan is for the vast majority
i noticed how my mentor was helping me
of academy members to transfer to a four-year
organize my class schedule. She helped me find
institution,” said Julie Guelich, vice president of
a physics tutor and whatever else i needed. Now
academic and student affairs at the college, locat­
that i’m in the program, i feel like someone’s
ed in Bloomington.
got my back; i don’t feel like i’m doing it alone
Genella Taylor Stubrud, the academy’s direc­
tor and student mentor, said the application
anymore, and that makes me work harder and
get better results.”
n
Wells Fargo Place
30 7th St. E., Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55101-7804
First Class
US Postage
Phone: (651) 296-8012
Toll-free: (888) 667-2848
TTY: (651) 282-2660
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