Connections
A Newsletter for the Viterbo University Community
Vol. 16, No. 17 January 20, 2003
Sisters Presentation Available on the Web
In case you missed it, or want to revisit Sr. Marlene Weisenbeck’s and Sr. Celesta Day’s intriguing presentation during inservice week, “With Mindful Hearts: The Franciscan Intellectual Tradition,” it is now available on the Web. You can download this Power Point presentation by going to the library Web page and clicking “What’s New.”
(www.viterbo.edu/library/whatsnew.htm).
Welcoming International Students
International students are invited to a free soup and salad supper to welcome them to the La Crosse area on Thursday, Jan. 30 at the Roncalli Newman Center, 1732 State Street, at 5:30 p.m.
This is a unique opportunity to meet international students and become a friendship family.
Faculty and staff are also welcome to this event, sponsored by the La Crosse Friends of International Students (LFIS), a community-based organization affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Wisconsin Technical College. There is no charge, however, participants are asked to bring a salad or dessert for about 10 people.
Free Workshop Helps Parents, Educators Raise Media Wise Children
• Did you know that an average, 18-year-old will have viewed 200,000 acts of violence on television?
• 81 percent of children ages 27 watch TV unsupervised?
• The average American youth spends 900 hours per year in school but 1,023 hours per year watching television?
(Source: National Center for Children Exposed to Violence)
The statistics are staggering and, if you’ve been watching the news lately, then you know that the video games, music, television shows, movies, and Internet sites that children are exposed to often do more harm than good. Parents and educators alike have tried to take on Hollywood and the video and music industries and require higher standards but to no avail. How can we overcome these realities and raise media wise kids?
Viterbo University is offering a workshop designed to help parents and educators help children choose and use media wisely. “Turn On, Plug In, Boot Up: Strategies for Responsible Media Use” will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 in the FAC Lobby as part of “Through the Looking Glass: Media, Perception, & Reality,” the annual humanities symposium. The event is free and a complimentary soup supper follows for those who are able to stay.
Bill Reese, religious studies, and Jana Dahmen, criminal justice, will lead the workshop, which uses the award-winning PBS video, Raising MediaWise Kids, and materials from the National Institute on Media and Family. Topics include practical steps to raising media savvy children and ways to create a
media wise home environment.
For more information on this workshop, or other talks in the week-long humanities symposium, visit http://www.viterbo.edu/academic/ug/sls/symposium/ or contact Mary Hassinger, dean, School of Letters and Sciences, at ext. 3393 or mchassinger@viterbo.edu.
Monday, Feb. 3
“Adventures in the Memory Hole: The U.S. Media Before and After 9-11”
Mark Crispin Miller
7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Tuesday, Feb. 4
“Community Journalism”
Moderator: Anne Paape, WKBT
Panelists: Sean Dwyer, WXOW-TV 19; Gene Purcell, WLSU; Scott Robert Shaw, WIZM; and John Smalley, La Crosse Tribune
5 p.m., Fine Arts Center Lobby
“Black Media: The Same Facts, a Different Reality”
Keith Murphy
7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Wednesday, Feb. 5
“Media May Be Harmful to Women and Other Thinking Beings”
Jennifer Pozner
7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Thursday, Feb. 6
“Media and the First Amendment”
Jane Kirtley
7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Mark Your Calendars for April 2 "Flavor of Soul"
Dec. 29, 2002 marked what would have been the 65th birth year of the late Thea Bowman, FSPA. Friends of Thea will gather to celebrate her life at the third annual “Flavor of Soul” event on Wednesday, April 2 in the Viterbo Fine Arts Center at 7 p.m.
Spend “An Evening with Thea” and hear from famed artist Michael O’Neill McGrath, OSFS. Br. McGrath, who never knew Thea, cites her as the inspiration behind his artistic career, which started with a series of Thea portraits. During the evening, he will present a slide show about Thea’s life and his artwork. Spirited gospel music by the Viterbo Concert Choir, under the direction of Viterbo’s Dan Johnson-Wilmot, will be interspersed throughout the free talk.
A book-signing and art-signing session will follow. For more information on the artwork of Br. McGrath, explore his Web site at www.beestill.com. For information on “Flavor of Soul,” contact Charlene Smith, FSPA ’63 at Thea House, 608-791-5618 or email csmith@fspa.org.
Saving Lives through Organ Donation
Did you know that one donor can save the lives of up to eight people and improve the lives of dozens through donation of corneal, bone, skin and other tissue transplants (Source:National Organ Donor Society).
Find out more about this life-giving opportunity by attending a free talk by Dr. George L. McCann, education director for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Organ/Tissue Procurement Center, on Thursday, Feb. 6, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in BNC 122. Plus, hear a success story directly from a college-age student who received a bone graft last year, which saved his leg from amputation.
For information, please contact Wendy Wegner, nursing, at ext. 3685 or email wmwegner@ viterbo.edu.
Tune In!
Don’t forget to watch Who Wants to Be a Millionaire this Thursday, Jan. 23 and see how Viterbo alumnus Joe Kane fares. Kane, who received a Master of Arts in Education in December 2001 taped an episode of Millionaire and, although he may not have won the million and can’t reveal how much he won until after the show airs, he said he “did good.”
Go Greek
The Fundamentals of Biblical Greek will again be offered in a special session by Bill Reese, religious studies. The no-cost, no-credit classes will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursdays in FAC 213. Sessions will run 45 minutes and material will be provided. Biblical Greek is useful, particularly for those pursuing seminary studies, but the class is open to anyone. To sign up, call Reese at ext. 3708 or email wjreese@viterbo. edu.
campus ministry
By Fr. Tom O'Neill
Martin Luther King, Jr. Service of Remembrance: Jan. 20, 6 p.m., San Damiano Chapel—An ecumenical service in celebration of our national commemoration. All are invited and welcome to attend.
Cinema Pix: Mostly Martha: The sharing of food has forever been a way to show our humanity. Mostly Martha is a film treat in which food becomes the central metaphor for our need of love and caring.
The Octave of Christian Unity concludes on Jan. 25 with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Let us continue to pray for the Unity of Christians:
“Almighty and eternal God,
you gather the scattered sheep
and watch over those you have
gathered.
Look kindly on all who follow Jesus,
Your Son.
You have marked them with the seal
of one baptism
and unite them in the bond of love.
We ask this through Christ our
Lord. Amen.”
Please remember in prayer those who have died: the father of Sally Emerson (Floyd Kramer). Requiescat in pace (May he rest in peace).
Kudos to…
• Gretchen Kinney, communications and marketing, and her husband, Raven, who celebrated the birth of a son, Dillon Douglas, on Jan. 3. Dillon was born at 5:40 a.m.; weighed eight pounds, four ounces; and was 20 inches long.
• Jason Ramaker, residence life, and his wife, Dawn, who celebrated the birth of a son, Jack Thomas, on Jan. 15 at 4:41 a.m. At birth, Jack weighed eight pounds, nine ounces, and was 20 inches in length.
• Wendy Wegner, nursing, and Kim Fredricks, biology, who had an article they co-authored published in the July/August issue of Nurse Educator. The article, “Clinical Relevance of A&P: A Senior/Freshmen Mentoring Experience,” is based on an on-going mentoring project they established.
focus on...
By Megan Voeltz ’06
Name: Alida Herling
Title: Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics
Dept: Nutrition and Dietetics
Family: Alida has a husband named Richard; two boys who live in Minneapolis; one daughter in La Crosse; and one daughter who lives at home and goes to high school in Onalaska.
Education: Alida went to college in Menominee for four years and received a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics. She interned for one year at the Oklahoma Medical Center. Eventually, she went back to school at the University of Michigan for her master’s degree in public health.
Hobbies/Interests/Enthusiasms: Gardening, traveling, knitting, and biking are among her hobbies.
Adventures and Travels: Alida has been to Victoria in British Colombia and to Scotland, twice. She hopes to return to Scotland many more times and would love to see its Standing Stones.
Future Hopes and Plans: Eventually, Alida wants grandchildren to spoil and she also dreams of traveling around Lake Superior to absorb its beauty. Another goal of hers is to go to Church Hill on the Hudson Bay and see polar bears.
Little Known Fact: Her great grandfather’s name was Frank N. Stein.
Pay Ahead for Jeans Day
You no longer have to worry about bringing $1 each Friday for Jeans Day. Now you can get ahead by paying ahead. Simply submit a check, payable to Viterbo University to Marcia Brodt, MC Reception Desk. She’ll send you your stickers via interoffice mail. Payment options include: $52/yearly; $16 fall semester; $17 spring semester; $4 winter break; and $15 summer break. Proceeds support the Staff Assembly Grant, employee socials, the Viterbo food pantry, the La Crosse Tribune Jeans Day, and other local causes. For more information, contact Marcia Brodt at the MC Reception Desk or email mkbrodt@viterbo.edu.
from the library
By Galadriel Chilton
Quiet Wanted
Last fall, many students raised concerns that there were no quiet places to work in the library. So, we hung up “quiet zone” signs to help identify study areas. The response? All signs have silently vanished!
The first batch of tabletop tent signs disappeared in a few days. The second batch was hung from the ceiling, but they, too, are gone.
At first we thought the signs were being taken in protest to having quiet areas designated. Then, we heard reports of quiet zones appearing in dorm rooms and apartments.
Due to such an overwhelming demand, the library is now offering free quiet zone signs. They are available at: www.viterbo.edu/library/quietzone. Just print, cut, and hang!
Get Fit for Spring
Follow up on your new year’s resolution to get in shape by attending Monday, Wednesday, Thursday strength-training class offered through Viterbo University (Jan. 27 May 1 with no classes during Easter break).
The classes are held in the basement of Rose Terrace from noon-12:55 p.m. and cost $48 for 40 classes. Prorating is not an option but payroll deduction is. Sign up by contacting the business office.
Artist's Reception is Wednesday
Don’t miss the opening reception this Wednesday from 7:309 p.m. for guest artist Marcy Neiditz of Bloomington, Ind.
The Viterbo FAC 3rd floor gallery will host the reception and feature her work through Friday, Feb. 21.
Neditiz’ ceramics work is inspired by nature. The reception and gallery showing are free and open to the public.
out and about
• Art: 21, a series of discussions of contemporary art based on the PBS series of the same name, is being held at the Pump House Regional Arts Center Tuesdays Feb. 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The cost is $25 for members and $40 for nonmembers. For a preview of the series, visit www.art21.org. To register, contact the Pump House at 785-1434 by Jan. 24. The event is sponsored by Wettstein’s and Sir Speedy.
connections
connections is published every Monday of each academic year.
Copy deadline is noon, Thursday.
Email copy to: connections@viterbo.edu or send interoffice to the Communications & Marketing Department, MC 228.
Visit us on the web at: www.viterbo.edu/ campnews/camppub/connections/.
Return to Viterbo University Home Page