News » Points of Pride Faculty/Staff

Music professor to record with The Rose Ensemble

weatheco — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:06:40 +0000

Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, Daniel Mahraun, enters the recording studio next week with St. Paul-based early music group The Rose Ensemble. Known for their performances of Medieval and Renaissance music, Rose also tackles under-performed repertoire of other periods and styles.

Mahraun will sing the title track of the CD, “A Toast To Prohibition” by Irving Berlin. Mahraun was full-time member of Rose when they premiered and toured the state with this program of music from the 19th-century temperance movement, the campaigns for and against the 18th Amendment, and jazz and blues from the Prohibition era.

The CD will be released in January 2014 with a series of concerts at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

https://www.roseensemble.org/shows/toast-prohibition-songs-temperance-and-temptation

Biochemistry and Biotechnology students and faculty present at the National Experimental Biology Meeting

weatheco — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:09:53 +0000

MSUM Biochemistry and Biotechnology majors Nick Berthelsen, Alex Novak, and Harrison Pantera attended the National Experimental Biology Meeting in Boston. MSUM faculty members Mark Wallert, Biosciences, and Joseph Provost, Chemistry, also attended the meeting. All three students participated in the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Undergraduate Poster Competition along with presenting their work in the regular poster sessions at the meeting. Wallert gave an oral and poster presentation on the MSUM Biochemistry and Biotechnology Industry Certificate program as part of the ASBMB Education and Professional Development Program.

Zhimin Guan opens solo show at ecce Art Gallery

weatheco — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:05:06 +0000

Zhimin Guan, Art, opens a solo show at ecce Art Gallery in Fargo June, 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. The gallery describes Guan’s exhibit as “Historical and expressionistic, Zhimin’s newest collection of watercolor and mixed media pieces are bringing his work into a fresh platform that successfully syncs form and content.” The gallery is located at 216 N Broadway in Fargo, and is open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Geology students present paper at the annual meeting of the North Central Section of the Geological Society of America

weatheco — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:06:27 +0000

Geoscience students Stephen Kunz, Adam Marks, Jon Sands, and their advisor Dr. Karl W. Leonard presented the paper “Sequence Stratigraphy of the Tyler Formation (Lower Pennsylvanian/Morrowan) in the Williston Basin, North Dakota” at the annual North Central Section of GSA meeting in Kalamazoo, Michigan on May 3.

Leonard and his students have been examining core samples and fossils from the Tyler Formation from the subsurface of western North Dakota to determine variations in rock types and fossil assemblages in response to global climate change over 300 million years ago. This study may have economic implications since the Tyler is often referred to as the “Baby Bakken”.

Richard Zinober’s play presented at Winona theater

weatheco — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:04:55 +0000

English professor, Richard Zinober, had his play, Heretics, a winner of the 2013 Theatre du Mississippi playwriting competition, presented in staged readings at a theater in Winona this past Saturday and Sunday.

A drama about an abduction in a prairie town, Heretics was developed with the support of grants from Lake Region Arts Council and the MSUM Peer Review Committee.

Book authored by Steve Grineski features MSTC Department of Rural Education

weatheco — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:03:11 +0000

Steve Grineski, STL, recently authored “We were pretty darn good” : A history of rural education in America. The book was published by the History Publishing Company in Palisades, N.Y., and features a case study of the Moorhead State Teachers College nationally-recognized Department of Rural Education.

Geib and Gompf to serve on Journal Editorial Advisory Board

weatheco — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:06:45 +0000

Professor Dr. Peter Geib, Management, and Associate Professor Tracy Gompf, Paralegal, were invited to serve on the Editorial Advisory Board for the International Journal of China Marketing. The International Journal of China Marketing is a double-blind, peer-reviewed journal and is part of the series of journals published by the North American Business Press, which has an overall acceptance rate of less than 20 percent.

Merrie Sue Holtan won first place awards at the North Dakota Professional Communicators conference

weatheco — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:05:38 +0000

Merrie Sue Holtan, Communication Studies instructor, won first place awards in Travel, Sports, Home and Personality Profile writing at the North Dakota Professional Communicators spring conference held in Minot, N.D. She also won third place and honorable mention in feature writing. The articles will go on to national competition at Salt Lake City, Utah, in August.

Holtan also serves as president of ND Professional Communicators.

Poet Zepper discusses writing with Moorhead High students

weatheco — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:04:01 +0000

Kevin Zepper, associate professor of English at Minnesota State University Moorhead, shared his thoughts on writing poetry and all things creative with Moorhead High School creative writing students during presentations May 3.

Zepper, a Moorhead High graduate, told students that he became interested in writing in second grade.

“My parents read to me all the time, and the library became going to the toy store,” Zepper said.

He shared with students how his path to writing began early — checking out books from the bookmobile, listening to visiting writers in second grade, and wanting his own typewriter. He continued to write in junior high and took as many English classes as he could at Moorhead High, where he filled notebooks with his poetry.

Math education majors present with professor at conference

weatheco — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:08:27 +0000

Mathematics education majors Andria Kelly and Megan Nygaard presented with Professor Tim Harms a session titled “What’s wrong with these problems?” at the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics, MCTM, state conference April 2013.

Susie Hamilton, mathematics education major, and Brandi Franck, recent graduate in mathematics education, also co-presented a session “Preparing for Student Teaching and the MN Teacher Licensure Exam” at the MCTM April 2013 conference.

Wally Sizer had paper published

weatheco — Wed, 01 May 2013 03:12:03 +0000

Wally Sizer, Mathematics, had a paper “Period two solutions to some systems of rational difference equations” published in the book “Differential and Difference Equations with Applications,” edited by Sandra Pinelas, Michel Chipot, and Zuzana Dusla, and published by Springer Verlag.

Math faculty attended Mathematical Association of America spring meeting

weatheco — Wed, 01 May 2013 03:09:41 +0000

Sayel Ali, Damiano Fulghesu, Justin James, and Wally Sizer, Mathematics, attended the spring section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America April 26-27 in St. Peter, Minn.

Fulghesu presented joint work with student Seth Meyer on Generalized Peano Functions.

A retired F-M attorney writes a book on para-legal

weatheco — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:09:49 +0000

By: WDAY Staff Reports, WDAY

Moorhead, MN (WDAY TV) — A retired Fargo-Moorhead attorney has found a new career. Author.

Dick Jeffries practiced law in our region for 37-years before retiring. But when MSUM asked him to teach a Para-legal Class, he jumped at the chance. That’s when he realized there was no book out there that focused on personal injury law. So, Jeffries wrote one.

MSUM hosted a book signing today, as a way to honor Jeffries for his work.

Women of the Year in the Cass-Clay community

weatheco — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:09:49 +0000

By: WDAY Staff Reports, WDAY

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) — Some of the most influential and impactful women and businesses in the Cass-Clay community are getting some well deserved recognition.

Dana and I were proud to host tonight’s 40th Annual Women of the Year, put on by the YWCA. We met 30 nominees whose lives, talents and passions shape the community.

One of this year’s winners, for the lifetime achievement award, was Dr. Terrie Manno.

She’s a professor of piano at MSUM.

Watch the video here.

Dr. Winkler co-authored paper accepted for publication

weatheco — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 03:08:13 +0000

Dr. L. Winkler, Physics and Astronomy, has co-authored a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics. The paper is authored by P.J. Chi, M. J. Engebretson, M. B. Moldwin, C. T. Russell, I. R. Mann, M. R. Hairston, M. Reno, J. Goldstein, L. I. Winkler, J. L. Cruz-Abeyro, D. H. Lee, K. Yumoto, R. Dalrymple, B. Chen, and J. P. Gibson.

The article is titled “Sounding of the plasmasphere by Mid-continent Magnetoseismic Chain (McMAC) magnetometers. Visit spc.igpp.ucla.edu/mcmac for more information about the chain of instruments, one of which is at the MSUM Regional Science Center, Buffalo River site.

Wisenden and students publish paper

weatheco — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:11:48 +0000

For the second time in the same week, Brian Wisenden, Biosciences Department, has published another research paper. Biosciences undergraduates Randy Sutrisno and Phillip Schotte conducted a test of phylogenetic differences in predators’ ability to mask or biochemically degrade the chemical alarm cues of their prey that eke out of the predator’s digestive system. The full citation for the paper is:
Sutrisno R, Schotte PM, Wisenden BD (2013) Chemical arms race between predator and prey: a test of predator digestive counter-measures against chemical labeling by dietary cues of prey. Journal of Freshwater Ecology.

Cecilia Mafla-Bustamante invited to join literary organization in Ecuador

weatheco — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:08:17 +0000

Cecilia Mafla-Bustamante, Languages and Cultures, has been invited to join the Grupo América Ecuador, a literary organization in Ecuador. She also recently presented a paper to this organization, based on a publication she has submitted to its journal. The organization is comprised of writers, intellectuals and diplomats in Ecuador.

Biosciences professors and student have paper accepted for publication

weatheco — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:09:00 +0000

Shireen Alemadi, Brian Wisenden and undergraduate student Andrew Nelson (all Biosciences Department) have had a paper accepted for publication in the international peer-reviewed journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The title of the paper is “Learned recognition of novel predator odour by convict cichlid embryos.” In this study, eggs of the cichlid fish were simultaneously exposed to the odor of a novel fish species and odor of chemical alarm cues of cichlid larvae. Later, after the eggs had hatched and grown for about a week as larvae, they showed antipredator behavioral responses to the novel odor while control larvae that did not experience the conditioning stimuli showed no response to novel odor.

This is the first demonstration of embryonic learning in a fish. Nelson is currently pursuing graduate studies in the Environmental and Conservation Sciences program at NDSU.

Theodore Gracyk published essay

weatheco — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:08:02 +0000

Theodore Gracyk, Philosophy, has published the essay “Covers and Communicative Intentions” in The Journal of Music and Meaning. The essay discusses the communicative intentions of “cover” records in rock music.

Adjunct Professor authors national textbook

weatheco — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:11:19 +0000

Richard N. Jeffries, an adjunct professor for the Personal Injury class in the Paralegal Department, has authored a revolutionary new textbook on torts and personal injury. The textbook, published by Pearson Publishing, became available nationwide this spring. The book goes far beyond the traditional approach of just teaching the black letter law of torts. The book includes practical hands on assignments, extensive appendices for use by the student, a discussion of medical issues and a discussion of insurance issues with related documents. A particularly unique and helpful aspect of the book includes a multitude of “workplace skills tips” throughout each chapter.

Mr. Jeffries received his B.A. in Business Administration from MSUM in 1965 and his Juris Doctorate with distinction from the University of North Dakota. He spent 37 years practicing law concentrating his practice in the areas of civil litigation personal injury. He was named a Leading Minnesota Attorney, received an “av” rating (the highest available) from Martindale Hubbell. Mr. Jeffries is licensed to practice law in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Florida. He is currently serving as a consulting attorney to an Arizona law firm practicing in the area of construction defects.

Mr. Jeffries is currently co-teaching the Personal Injury class with his former long-time paralegal, Terri Bourcy Smith.