November 2000
AIDS Quilt On Display Nov. 17 At ESTL Center
The South African AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display Friday, Nov. 17, for area high school and college students during the day and for the general public that evening at the East St. Louis Center, 411 E. Broadway.
The East St. Louis Center for the Performing Arts is playing host to this part of the quilt's tour. The quilt is appearing in only 12 American cities.
The display, in the seventh-floor studio of the center, will be open from noon to 3 pm., with presentations beginning at noon, 1, and 2 p.m., featuring a guided walk through the quilt display, a 15-minute presentation, and a question-and-answer period. That evening, from 6 to 8, the general public may view the display. A reception will follow the presentation.
The memorial quilt was created to promote awareness "about the devastation caused by AIDS in South Africa and to galvanize the American public to action in confronting the crisis."
The tour is being conducted on the heels of the XIII International Conference on AIDS in Durban. By building public interest, organizers say, the tour hopes to humanize the AIDS pandemic in Africa, educate people about the disease, and raise funds to fight AIDS and assist people living with the disease in Africa. Supporters say donations received during the tour will go directly to support grassroots AIDS Services Organizations in South Africa.
Holiday Musicales
The Department of Music is offering the 13th Annual Holiday Musicales house tour from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10. Participants will visit three area homes, decorated for the holidays, where they will hear jazz, classical, and vocal music performed by SIUE music students and faculty. In addition, holiday refreshments will be served. Tickets for the event are $10; proceeds support music scholarships. For more information or to obtain tickets, call Martee Lucas in the Department of Music, (618) 650-3799. Tickets also are available from Friends of Music members.
Men's Basketball Begins GLVC Season At Home
Coach Jack Margenthaler looks for his men's basketball team to start the conference season with two wins this weekend. "These are two games we are capable of winning if we play with the ability we have," the head coach said.
The Cougars return home to face Saint Joseph's on Thursday (11/30) at 7:45 p.m. in the Vadalabene Center. "Saint Joseph's is a much better athletic team this year. They come in with a 3-1 record and are a much improved team over the past year."
SIUE plays IUPU-Fort Wayne on Saturday (12/2) at 3:15 p.m. "IUPU-Ft. Wayne is always a team that plays solid fundamentals. We need to execute well on offense since they are a strong defensive team."
The Cougars fell to 1-2 on the season with losses to Northwood and Wayne State last week. "There were times we played well in each game. We had an opportunity to see a lot of different things. It was ideal for two non-conference basketball games with the exception we did not win."
Tim Rose (DuQuoin) led the team last weekend with 20 and 25 points, respectively. Mustafa Cetin (Edmonton, Canada) also finished in double figures both games, scoring 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Women's Basketball Keys Defense To Good Start
Coach Wendy Hedberg said strong defense is key for her women's basketball team to start the conference season on a winning note. The Cougars, 2-0, open up the Great Lakes Valley Conference season at home against Saint Joseph's, 0-4, on Thursday (11/30) at 5:30 p.m.
"Saint Joseph's is a very young team. I am a little concerned with the matchups because they play more of a perimeter game. However, we should be able to dominate the inside game."
SIUE faces IUPU-Fort Wayne on Saturday afternoon (12/2) at 1 p.m. in the Vadalabene Center. IPFW brings in a record of 3-0. The Cougars defeated Goldstar last Tuesday (11/21) 101-74 in the final exhibition of the season. Megan Grizzle (Salem) led the team with 19 points while Misi Clark (Paris) added 13 points. Jill Johnson (Highland) led the team with eight rebounds while scoring 11 points.
Wrestling Set For Missouri
Coach Booker Benford and his wrestling squad prepare for the first dual meet of the season on Tuesday (11/28). The Cougars travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers at 7 p.m.
SIUE struggled last weekend at the Oklahoma Open. Zach Stephens (St. Charles, Mo.) and Richard Ness (Belleville) each finished with a 2-2 record. "The team is not mentally tough," said Benford. "They are letting people ride them and turn them and are not effective in getting out of those situations."
The team travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to participate in the Northern Iowa Open on Saturday (12/2).
Softball Signs Three To Early National Letters Of Intent
Three high school seniors have signed early national letters of intent to play softball at SIUE in 2002. Head Coach Sandy Montgomery, who led the Cougars to a 39-19 record and appearance in the NCAA Regional tournament in 2000, expects all three to make immediate contributions.
"These three players will do much to improve our team next season," Montgomery said. Amanda Farmer, of Columbia, plays both outfield and infield. Montgomery said Farmer is a versatile player with good speed and a strong arm. "Amanda is a steady, sound player and can play almost anywhere on the field," Montgomery said. "She batted better than .350, had a .975 fielding percentage and can steal bases." Farmer also ranks near the top of her class academically at Columbia High School. Farmer will join her sister, Dawn, who is a junior pitcher for the Cougars.
Cassie Witherell is a utility player from Abingdon. She has been first team All-Conference and team Most Valuable Player all three years at Abingdon High School. She also was named All-State by the Illinois High School Coaches Association in 1999. "In my opinion, she is the best utility player in the state," Montgomery said of Witherell, who has attracted attention from some NCAA Division I programs. "She can catch very well, play third base very well and play shortstop very well. She has even pitched and bats better than .400 consistently."
Veronica Schmidt is a shortstop from Westmont. She is a power hitter who batted .487 last season with a slugging percentage of .730 at Westmont High School. She was named All-Conference and All-Area in 1999 and 2000 and attracted attention from NCAA-I programs and other schools in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. She figures to fill the void that will be left by the graduation of current shortstop Mandy Uhrhan.
SIUE Volleyball's Rust Named Second Team All-GLVC
Lindsay Rust, a senior from Belleville, has been named second team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference by a vote of the league's 12 volleyball coaches.
Rust led the GLVC in digs per game this season with 4.05 per game. She also finished 19th in hitting percentage at 2.49, seventh in kills per game at 3.94, and 20th in service aces per game at 0.33. A three-year starter at SIUE, Rust was named All-GLVC for three consecutive seasons.
She completed her collegiate career with 1,435 kills, 1,299 digs, 127 service aces and a .231 hitting percentage. She is ranked No. 2 all-time at SIUE in both kills and digs.
Rust and Michelle Gilman (1995-1998) are the only two players at SIUE ever to have recorded more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
Three Men's Soccer Players Earn All-GLVC Honors
Three men's soccer players have been named All-Great Lakes Valley Conference by a vote of the league's 12 coaches. Brandon Gibbs (St. Charles, Mo.) was named to the first team. Eric Modeer (Hershey, Pa.) and Cress Maddox (Springfield) were named to the second team.
Gibbs, a senior forward, led SIUE in scoring with six goals and seven assists. His goal scoring was mostly on a timely basis with five game-winning goals, including three in overtime. He also recorded a team-best 53 shots. Modeer, a senior midfielder, picked up three goals and six assists in his final season as a Cougar. He had 25 shots while playing in all 20 games this season. Maddox, a junior back, earned his second All-GLVC distinction. The hard-nosed defender scored two goals in 17 games played.
Coach Ed Huneke's team completed the 2000 season with an 11-7-2 record and an 8-0-3 record in GLVC play.
Five Women's Soccer Players Earn All-GLVC Honors
Five women's soccer players were named All-Great Lakes Valley Conference by a vote of the league's 12 coaches. Colleen Creamer (St. Louis) and Sara Decker (St. Louis) were named to the first team as a forward and midfielder, respectively. Backs Rebecca Mays (Springfield), Tasha Siegel (Collinsville) and goalkeeper Beth Louderman (Girard) were named to second team. Decker also was tabbed as the GLVC's Freshman of the Year.
Creamer, a sophomore, scored a team-leading 10 goals and five assists for the Cougars. After just two seasons, she is now tied for eighth with Kelly Drury (1990) on the all-time scoring list with 23 goals and 14 assists. Decker caught the eye of opponent coaches with her sharp passing and timely scoring. She led SIUE in points with 27 after scoring nine goals and picking up nine assists. Mays, a senior, and Siegel, a junior, both became three-time All-GLVC selections. As a back, Mays was delegated the responsibility of marking an opponents' best offensive player. Siegel, a sweeper, was the team leader on defense and scored three goals this season to increase her career total to 12 goals and two assists. Louderman played a key role in the team's low goals against average. She recorded 103 saves and had a 0.84 goals against average in 1,812 minutes played.
Coach Brian Korbesmeyer's team completed the 2000 season with a 13-4-3 record and an 8-0-3 record in GLVC play.
Rare Clarinet, Harpsichord Part Of Tollefsen Collection
A 125-year-old clarinet, with its "revolutionary" 13-key system, and an 18th century harpsichord played by Marie Antoinette are in The University Museum's warehouse, near a lute that was given to Catherine the Great of Russia.
The items are part of the Tollefsen Collection owned by Lovejoy Library. Carl H. and Augusta S. Tollefsen were influential musicians in New York City during the first part of the 20th century.
Not only did the couple love to play instruments, but they collected quite a few "famous" instruments. Eventually, the collection was purchased by Lovejoy in 1969. The Museum has custody of the instruments for storage under safe conditions.
Says Therese Zoske Dickman, music librarian at Lovejoy: "The collection is distinguished for its more than 5,000 photographs, prints, composer and musican autographs, first editions, Edison cylinder rolls, manuscripts, and scores, as well as the instrument collection, which contains both European and Asian pieces," she said.
The 13-key clarinet in the collection uses a system developed in the early 1800s in Vienna and Paris by Iwan Müller. The system became the standard for most clarinets until the beginning of the 20th century.
Clarinetist James "Mac" Hinson, associate professor of music at SIUE, says the system was a monumental change for clarinetists who had a tendency to play off-key because their fingers couldn't accurately cover the sound holes. Müller added keys which made the sound much easier on the ears.
Müller's model was very popular with the composers of the Romantic period," Hinson said. "It was a bigger sound, an emotional sound, favored by Brahms, Wagner, and Bruckner. And, the sound of the 'new' style of clarinet was much more in tune with the other instruments."
Eric Barnett, director of The University Museum, said the instruments are kept in a temperature-controlled warehouse with several thousand other artifacts. "I would like to see these instruments carefully refurbished and put back in playing condition," Barnett said. "Instruments should be played."
Hinson echoes that sentiment. "Instruments only come alive when they are played," he said. "Otherwise, they're not much more than pieces of furniture."
'Digital Divide' Program Helping Bridge Techno-Gap
Earlier this year, the School of Education received a five-year grant to fund a program that has come to be known as "Bridging the Digital Divide," which has various components operating in the East St. Louis area.
That "divide" is a technology gap becoming wider and wider in low-income areas throughout the country, where students are lacking the basic computer and internet skills to compete in a computer-literate society.
School of Education Associate Dean Don Baden says the program is making inroads. "An average of 60 percent of the students in this country have access to the internet," Baden said. "In the East St. Louis area, it's two percent. There are eight centers operating in East St. Louis, Washington Park, and Fairmont City that offer after school programs. Part of this grant is being used there.
Among the components of the grant is one that will provide donated computers to children and their families once they have completed some service work and some basic computer skills training," Baden said. "We're also putting together an on-line mentoring program for those students who have access to the internet.
"Our first request for donations in August resulted in about 30 computers-some from individuals and some university property which was being sent to surplus. A recent 'refurbishing effort' resulted in providing 25 more computers."
Baden is asking faculty and staff again to search their offices for computers that are useable but not being used. For more information, call Baden, Ext. 3644, or by e-mail: dbaden@siue.edu.
"If its private property," he said, "we will be glad to provide an IRS contribution letter. If its university property, the equipment can be transferred to our program."
Professor Emerita To Be Given Honorary Degree
Ruth Slenczynska, an emerita professor of music and an artist-in-residence at SIUE, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at the Dec. 16 commencement ceremonies. The resolution to grant the degree was passed recently by the SIU Board of Trustees.
Professor Slenczynska, a renowned pianist who has performed more than 3,000 recitals and concerts in many countries around the world and who has appeared with most of the world's great orchestras, retired from the SIUE music faculty in 1988 after 24 years of service. She has continued to teach part-time at the university and continues performing in concert.
A native of Sacramento, Calif., Slenczynska gave her first public recital when she was four. Two years later, she made her European debut in Berlin and at seven played for the first time in Paris. At 16, she entered the University of California at Berkeley and worked for "pocket money" as a record librarian in the Music Department. She earned a degree in Psychology.
She then served as professor of Music at the College of Our Lady of Mercy in Burlingame, Calif., eventually leaving to tour with such organizations as the Boston Pops and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Slenczynska was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit from Poland, the country of her ancestry, and was the first western artist to perform with the China State Symphony Orchestra.
Her story has been featured on many television programs, including This Is Your Life, The Today Show, and 20/20, as well as in newspapers and magazines such as the Chicago Tribune, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Reader's Digest, McCall's, and Life magazine (she was featured on the cover of the first-ever edition in 1936).
The many accomplishments of the 75-year-old pianist include: playing a duet with then-President Harry Truman at the White House, performing for President John Kennedy's inaugural, and recognition from President Ronald Reagan as the first American woman to celebrate 50 years on the concert stage. She included among her friends some of the greatest musicians of the century, such as Artur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz.
Several years ago, National Public Radio featured the SIUE artist-in-residence in a video called Living Treasure, and in 1989, the St. Louis PBS affiliate (KETC-TV Ch. 9) devoted a half-hour of its St. Louis Skyline series to her performance at the piano. That segment was repeated twice by viewer request.
In addition to a lifetime of concert touring, her commercial recordings include 10 albums for the Decca Gold Label Series, three for the Musical Heritage Society, and five CDs, the most recent of which, an all-Schumann program for Ivory Classics, was released last year.
