(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) To spur economic development initiatives and strengthen the University’s strategic relationships and leadership in the region, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift has named James R. Pennekamp special assistant to the chancellor for Regional Economic Development and executive director of SIUE’s University Park.
Pennekamp, who has been executive director of Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois (LCSI) for more than 15 years, will begin his duties Dec. 1. He succeeds Brian Donnelly, who is retiring Dec. 31 as executive director of University Park after 17 years in that post and more than 24 years of service to the University.
In his new position, Pennekamp will oversee the day-to-day operations and development of University Park, SIUE’s research and technology park which occupies 330 acres of the campus. University Park is the site of research and business activity that links SIUE to regional economic development opportunities including the biotechnology industry. Pennekamp will be directing, promoting, and marketing University Park to potential tenants.
In addition, Pennekamp will be identifying emerging regional economic issues, and trends, conducting research-negotiations, and developing public-private partnerships to enhance economic growth and opportunity.
“With 26 years of economic development experience in the greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area, Jim Pennekamp is a consummate professional who is well-respected in the region,” Chancellor Vandegrift said. “With nearly three decades of building partnerships with leaders in business, government, education, and labor throughout Southwestern Illinois and Eastern Missouri, Jim has the experience in both the public and private sectors that will prove invaluable to the University’s efforts in furthering economic growth in the region.”
Before joining the staff of Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois in 1989, Pennekamp was president of the Southwestern Illinois Growth Association from 1985-89, serving northern Madison County. From 1983-89 Pennekamp was executive vice president of the Southwest Madison County Chamber of Commerce in Granite City. He also served as assistant director of the Economic Development Corp. of Jefferson County in Hillsboro, Mo., from 1979-1983.
Pennekamp earned a bachelor’s in Sociology at Valparaiso (IN) University in 1972. He also is a graduate of several economic development programs, including the Leadership St. Louis Program, sponsored by FOCUS St. Louis. Pennekamp is a member of several organizations and regional development committees, including the Madison County Workforce Investment Board, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, the Madison County MetroLink Advisory Committee, and the Confluence Greenway Advisory Committee, to name a few.
Who: SIUE School of Pharmacy
What: Dedication of new School of Pharmacy building and open house
When: 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28
Where: 220 University Park Drive, SIUE University Park
SIUE School of Pharmacy Dean Philip Medon, as well as Pharmacy faculty, staff, and students will be on hand for the dedication of the new $3.26 million School of Pharmacy facility, containing 15,000 square feet for state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, and faculty offices. After a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, the facility will be open for tours conducted by Pharmacy students.
SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift and Dean Medon will speak at the ceremony and introduce other regional and local leaders. All will be available for interviews with the media. Also on hand will be major corporate sponsors who have helped the School with its initial start-up funding goals.
The general contractor for the project was L. Wolf Company of Granite City.
The SIUE School of Pharmacy, which offers a professional program leading to a Doctor of Pharmacy, values excellence in teaching, pharmacy practice, research/scholarship and service. The program of study is based on current knowledge and technology from pharmacy and other disciplines, and is delivered through a variety of innovative teaching strategies. The School of Pharmacy collaborates with rural and urban health care institutions to meet the health care needs of Central and Southern Illinois and the St. Louis metropolitan area.
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(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Have you been waiting for an evening of dinner, shopping, and detective work? A perfect opportunity to accomplish all three will take place at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Sunday, Nov. 6, with Murder in the Manor, this year’s Mystery Dinner Theater presentation and silent auction from SIUE’s Friends of Theater and Dance (FOTAD). Reservations must be made by Nov. 3.
Doors open at 6:15 p.m. to the University Restaurant on the second floor of SIUE’s Morris University Center, where guests may view silent auction items until approximately 7 p.m. when the play will begin and dinner will be served.
FOTAD is a support organization for the SIUE Department of Theater and Dance. Tickets are $35 per person and include dinner as well as several chances to win attendance prizes. Proceeds from the Nov. 6 event benefit FOTAD’s scholarship fund. For reservation information, call the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774, or, from St. Louis toll-free, (888) 328-5168, Ext. 2774.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) “Ethics in the Construction Industry: Where Do We Go From Here?” is the theme of a one-day seminar scheduled for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Deadline for reservations is Nov. 21.
The seminar, presented by the Department of Construction in the SIUE School of Engineering, is aimed at public and private construction business owners, construction managers, contractors, and consulting engineers. Held in the Hickory-Hackberry Room of SIUE’s Morris University Center, the seminar also will offer seven professional development hours (PDH) through the SIUE Office of Continuing Education.
“There is a great need for training in what constitutes ethical practice in the daily operation of a construction business,” said Dianne Kay Slattery, associate professor of Construction and chair of that department. Slattery said a 2004 national survey indicated “that a majority of owners, architects, construction managers, contractors, and subcontractors (who responded) had experienced … or observed … transactions that they would consider unethical in that year.”
She said many factors, including business practices resulting from mergers and acquisitions that bring competitive pressures in a “low-profit-margin” industry, can lead to unease regarding where the line between competitive business practices and unethical conduct is to be drawn. “This seminar will feature nationally known speakers representing many facets of the construction industry,” Slattery said. “They will be discussing ethical problems and will propose practical solutions to common ethical dilemmas.”
Registration is $125 for the first person from a company, and $100 each for subsequent registrants from the same company. Fees include handouts, visitor parking tag, lunch, refreshments, and seven PDH credits. For more information, call Professor Slattery, (618) 650-2088.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) As’ad AbuKhalil, professor of political science at California State University–Stanislaus and a visiting professor at UC– Berkeley, will be the third speaker in the series, “The View from the Arab World,” coordinated by Steve Tamari, an assistant professor of Historical Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
With a theme of “The Arab World: Reality and Political Fantasy,” AbuKhalil, the man behind the independent Angry Arab News Service (www.angryarab.blogspot.com), will speak from 5-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in the Mississippi Room, on the second floor of the Morris Center.
AbuKhalil—born in Tyre, Lebanon, and who came of age in Beirut—received a bachelor’s and a master’s in Political Science at the American University of Beirut and then came to the United States in 1983. He went on to earn a doctorate in Comparative Government at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
He has taught at Tufts University, Georgetown, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. AbuKhalil also served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington and as a free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News. He said the latter two experiences have served to increase his disdain for mainstream U. S. media.
Author of several books, including The Battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty, Fundamentalism, and Global Power; as well as Bin Laden, Islam, and America's New "War on Terrorism" and The Historical Dictionary of Lebanon, AbuKhalil said he hopes to “untangle the confusion that surrounds official and popular perceptions” of the Arab World.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) What has been dubbed the “Avenue of Trees”—in the median area of University Drive on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus—has been selected as one of the winners of the 2005 Green Thumb Award by the city of Edwardsville. The median landscaping won the award in the business/commercial category.
The award was given to the University by the Green Thumb Award Committee of the Mayor’s Beautification and Tree Commission for “beautiful and creative landscapes … that enhance the appearance of the community.”
The committee also cited the landscaping at SIUE’s Morris University Center and at SIUE’s Early Childhood Center.
The committee considers nominations of properties within the Edwardsville city limits in three categories: residential, civic/neighborhood, business/commercial. In addition to SIUE, this year’s Green Thumb Award winners included 11 residential properties and the Edwardsville Children’s Museum.
Who:SIUE Intercollegiate Athletics
What: Inaugural ceremony for the SIUE Hall of Fame
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 22, 2005
Where: SIUE Vadalabene Center
The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will be honoring many of its top student-athletes, coaches, administrators and teams at the inaugural Hall of Fame ceremony. All of the 14 living inductees are scheduled to be at the event and include individuals from Sweden, Sri Lanka and well as from Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Members of the media may interview any of the individuals before or after the event. To do so, please contact the SIUE Sports Information office, (618) 650-3608. Inductees are shown below:
Mike Allen, Track and Field/Cross Country (Granite City/now lives in Midwest City, Okla.); Rosemarie Archangel, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (Maryville); Christina Bokelund, Women's Tennis (Gothenburg, Sweden); Chris Carenza, Men's Soccer (St. Louis); Pete Delkus, Baseball (Collinsville/now lives in Plano, Texas); Arjun Fernando, Men's Tennis (Sri Lanka); Amy Frey, Softball/Field Hockey (Edwardsville/Edwardsville); Harry Gallatin, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics/Men's Basketball Coach, Men's Golf Coach (Roxana native/now lives in Edwardsville); Portia George-Morrow, Women's Tennis (Columbia, S.C./now lives in O’Fallon); Ed Gettemeier, Men's Soccer (St. Louis); Bob Guelker, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics/Men's Soccer Coach (posthumous induction); Roy Lee, Baseball Coach (posthumous induction); Greg Makowski, Men's Soccer (St. Louis/now lives in Lake Mary, Fla.); Denise Schaake, Softball/Women's Basketball (Edwardsville/Edwardsville); Al Sears, Wrestling (Huntsville, Ala./now lives in Belleville); Tim Wright, Wrestling (Rock Island/now lives in Indianapolis). The four teams are 1972 men’s soccer, 1978 men’s tennis, 1986 women’s tennis, and 1984 wrestling. All four were the first national titles in their respective sports.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Citing the vision statement of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville—“SIUE as a premier Metropolitan University, will be recognized nationally for the excellence of its programs and development of professional and community leaders”—Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift said today that the institution is making progress toward achieving our goal of national recognition. Vandegrift made the remarks during his 2005 Report to the University.
With a theme of “Realizing the Vision for National Recognition,” Vandegrift spoke of the University’s increasing excellence and the corresponding increase in national rankings. He reported that SIUE ranked 16th among public universities in the Midwestern Universities-Master's category of U.S. News and World Report magazine’s annual university rankings.
Additionally, U.S. News & World Report cited SIUE for its Senior Capstone integrative learning experience required by all seniors prior to graduation. SIUE was one of only 15 universities nationally recognized in this category that includes Harvard, MIT, Duke, Princeton, and the University of Chicago.
Vandegrift reviewed the three initiatives he proposed in October 2004 to help the University achieve its vision. First, he indicated that SIUE would further align its enrollment management program to attract a student population that is characteristic of a premier Metropolitan University. “Just as excellent students seek a well-prepared and committed faculty, an excellent faculty seeks well-prepared and committed students,” he said.
Vandegrift reported that ACT scores for incoming freshmen, applications for admission, and full-time equivalent student enrollment all continue to rise.
The second initiative is to strive to position SIUE as a premier Metropolitan University in the marketplace of ideas. Vandegrift said that the development of the University’s new media campaign was based on the results of stakeholder surveys. The objective of the campaign is to “communicate, foster and sustain academic quality.” He also discussed recent and future campus accessibility, navigational and beautification projects.
The third initiative is to develop the University’s resource base. Vandegrift explained that, in addition to charitable gifts, grants and tuition, the enhancement of the resource base for SIUE can also be influenced by the University’s role in regional economic development. “Our university is an economic engine for this region,” he said.
Vandegrift shared with the audience his vision for SIUE’s future. “While we will always serve our region by accepting quality transfer students, the academic preparation of our first-time, full-time freshman class will continue to improve and thus increasingly characterize us as a premier Metropolitan University.”
Vandegrift gave several more examples of how SIUE will progress toward its strategic goals:
· SIUE will enhance its overall reputation as a university committed to maximizing student learning.
· SIUE will become a more residential campus.
· Graduate level programs will flourish as more certificate programs and applied professional degrees will be developed by faculty and offered throughout the region.
· SIUE will have active support from regional citizens as they increasingly recognize the value of the University.
· SIUE alumni will recognize that the value of their degrees is increasing yearly.
“The purposes of higher education lie in the fulfillment of human potential,” Vandegrift concluded. “We add value to people’s lives.”
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Representatives from approximately 100 colleges, universities, and branches of the military, as well as 1,000 high school students and their families, will converge at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, for the annual Illinois College Exposition (ICE) Regional College Fair.
The ICE Fair. sponsored by the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC), will be conducted in SIUE’s Morris University. Registration is not required and there is no cost to attend. Free parking is available in campus lots P4-P9. Additional information is available in local high school guidance offices and in community college counseling centers.
Historically, college fairs were held several times a year at various area high schools. The ICE Fair is a consolidated opportunity to explore a wide variety of higher education options. Karen Bollinger, ICE On-Site chairperson, said: “the regional college fair concept continues to support its ultimate goal to help students learn more about post secondary education options.
“Designed for high school juniors, seniors, and community college transfer students, the ICE Fair gives students and parents an opportunity to speak with more than 100 private and public educational institutions in a well-structured setting.” Bollinger said.
Judy Verseman, director of guidance at Edwardsville High School, likes the regional concept. “This fair gives prospective students and their parents access to a variety of colleges and universities at one site. It is exciting to see our students have this opportunity.”
“The ICE Fair is a result of a collaborative effort among area high school counselors and college admission professionals to best serve area students who are in the process of choosing a college or university,” Bollinger said.
Who: The SIUE School of Business
What: Symposium “Sarbanes-Oxley: A Focus on IT Controls”
When: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday, October 21, 2005
Where: Technology and Management Center, 245 South Research Drive at University Park on the SIUE Campus
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law in 2002 in response to the corporate and accounting scandals of Enron, Arthur Andersen and others. In an effort to rebuild trust in America’s corporate sector, the law requires that publicly traded companies adhere to significant new governance standards that broaden board members’ roles in overseeing financial transactions and auditing procedures.
Will the new reporting requirements enhance investor confidence? Without a doubt, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is the single most important piece of legislation affecting corporate governance, financial disclosure and the practice of public accounting since the U.S. securities laws of the early 1930s. And, it is clear that public companies and the accounting profession have made tremendous progress in meeting the rigorous requirements of this legislation.
The purpose of this symposium is to help prepare IT and accounting professionals for responsibilities associated with safeguarding the internal control and quality of information generated by IT systems. Presenters and facilitators include representatives from Edward Jones, RubinBrown, Monsanto, Ameren, Royster-Clark, Hortica, IBM Global Services and SIUE.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The 28th Annual Art Auction, sponsored by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Friends of Art, is set for Thursday, Nov. 17, at Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville. All artwork is original and may be previewed between 6 and 7 p.m. when the auction begins. Admission fee is $5; students and members of the Friends of Art are free.
Each year, the Friends of Art assembles an impressive array of donated artwork from faculty, students, and alumni of the SIUE Department of Art and Design for auction, all in the name of enhancing the University’s undergraduate and graduate art programs.
Since l977, the Friends of Art has assisted the department in staging the fund-raiser; last year’s event saw nearly 175 pieces sold by professional auctioneer Gary Neimeier and members of Ahrens & Niemeier Auction Service. Some 60 additional items were sold during the Silent Auction.
Money raised by the auction is used to fund a number of events for the department and its students. Last year, these included 20 nationally and internationally-known artists/scholars who came to SIUE to conduct workshops and lectures. The funding also supports the Art Scholarship Fund and helps purchase books and films about art and design for SIUE’s Lovejoy Library.
Additional monies are awarded to students traveling to conferences, for visiting artist receptions, the High School Award and Art Auction Awards, the Graduate and Undergraduate
Exhibit Purchase Awards, and stipends for speakers in the Art Seminar. Funding also aids the
local ArtEast Studio Tour reception.
For further information, call Dianne Lynch, (6l8) 650-3073, or Pam Decoteau, (618) 650-3107.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Eduction will conduct an informational meeting Nov. 3 for anyone interested in earning a master of arts in Teaching.
This degree is intended for those individuals who have a bachelor's in subject area and are interested in becoming certified as a secondary teacher.
The meeting is set for 7 p.m. that Thursday in the Hickory/Hackberry Room, on the second floor of the Morris University Center.
Questions may be directed to David DeWeese, Secondary Eductation program director by telephone, (618) 650-34322, or e-mail: ddewees@siue.edu.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Kristine Polo, of Glen Carbon, recently was named director of the Southwestern Illinois Entrepreneurship Center, a service of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Business.
In her new position, Polo is helping businesses stay profitable while assisting in their growth. "I enjoy getting out into the community and meeting new people," Polo said. "My current position allows me to do this and it helps me make valuable connections between the University and the region."
The SIUE Entrepreneurship Center (EC) serves as a facilitator between entrepreneurs and existing resources, providing in-depth assistance and accelerated services to entrepreneurs, as well as striving to promote an entrepreneurial culture throughout the region.
The EC provides support for start-up businesses as well as businesses in the growth, maturation, or transition stages.
The EC also conducts assessments that identify gaps and limitations in a client's current operation and coordinates services for clients based on these limitations. It also provides business coaching, financial assistance and planning, and accelerated services for clients with high-growth potential.
Polo, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in crop sciences, has focused her studies in agribusiness. She has extensive experience in business and sales, including work with Cargill Ag Horizons, the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at SIUE, and the Illinois Farm Bureau.
For more information about the SIUE Entrepreneurship Center, contact Polo at kpolo@siue.edu or visit the Web site: www.siue.edu/BUSINESS/EC.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Legendary folk singer Joan Baez, who appeared at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Mississippi River Festival in 1969 and 1975, makes a triumphant return to campus at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, in Meridian Ballroom, on the first floor of SIUE’s Morris University Center.
From the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s to Woodstock Nation to songs from her new live CD retrospective due out this fall, Baez appearance at SIUE will merge past, present, and future for an evening of beautiful and thought-provoking music from a timeless performer.
“The Mississippi River Festival at SIUE provided an eclectic decade of musical styles from jazz to folk to rock ’n’ roll, right here on this campus,” said John Peecher, coordinator of the Arts & Issues series. “And, Joan Baez was one of that festival’s brightest stars. We are excited to have her return to campus a third time, knowing that she will bring back great memories to many MRF fans.
“During the 30 years since Joan has performed at SIUE, she has become one of the very symbols of American folk music, creating an incredible canon of work that has cemented her place in history.”
Never content to just perform, Baez has used her musical talents to cry out against human rights abuses, support environmental causes, or rally a social movement. From the moment she burst upon the folk scene in 1959 when she was a student at Boston University, Baez has shown a special talent for playing guitar and singing. During the early 1960s, her star quickly rose as she performed in Chicago at the Gate of Horn nightclub, the Newport Folk Festival, and in New York City coffeehouses.
As that volatile decade continued, Baez became more involved with the Civil Rights Movement, took a stand against the Vietnam War, took part in a boycott of ABC-TV’s Hootenanny because of the show’s censoring of folk singer Pete Seeger for his political activism, and appeared at
Woodstck. Throughout that decade, she also continued to record her songs, garner Grammy Award nominations, and headline annually at the Newport festival.
During the 1970s, Baez continued her political activism, while turning out hit records including her landmark album, Diamonds & Rust, in 1975. She also provided soundtracks for documentary films and performed concerts throughout the world. During the 1980s and 1990s, she never showed signs of slowing down. In 2001, Baez appeared in the role of La Contessa as part of the cast of Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco; the following year, after touring the U.S. and Canada, she rejoined Teatro ZinZanni for a limited tour.
After more than four decades, Baez has never meant more to fans across the globe, and has never shown more vitality and passion in her concerts and recordings. She says that she is always searching for a new song or a new social movement that would benefit from her support. As she wrote in “Wings,” from the Dark Chords from a Big Guitar album, Joan Baez will always continue to seek “a place where they can hear me when I sing.”
Tickets still are available for historian David McCullough on Oct. 27 and for economist Steve Forbes on Jan. 10, 2006. The Dec. 2 appearance of Kathy Mattea is sold out. Information and tickets for Joan Baez or other Arts & Issues events are available by contacting the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774, or at the Web site: artsandissues.com.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Filmmaker Joan Mandell will speak at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Oct. 13 about her films concerning special circumstances facing Arab-Americans today as they strive to balance their identities as Arabs and Americans.
Mandell will be speaking from 5-7 p.m. that Thursday in the Mississippi Room, on the second floor of SIUE’s Morris University Center. This is the second event in the series “The View from the Arab World,” coordinated by Steve Tamari, an assistant professor of Historical Studies at SIUE.
Mandell, executive director of Olive Branch Productions, began her film career in 1982 with the feature length documentary, Gaza Ghetto, which she produced while living in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. After time spent in the Middle East as an English teacher and journalist, Mandell chose film as her medium for bringing a human face to issues of what she calls "social injustice hidden from mainstream view."
Tamari said Mandell has produced films for the past 20 years that “unravel the complexities of broad issues in American history, its culture and immigrant communities by presenting with dignity and humor the stories of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events.”
Mandell’s career also includes community-based media activism, curating, consulting, teaching (UCLA, UC-Irvine and community venues) and research (Fulbright fellowship, Felton Scholar in Media Literacy).
This series is made possible by a grant from SIUE's Excellence in Undergraduate Education program. For more information about the series, contact Tamari, (618) 650-3967.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) An art exhibit of more than 40 paintings, depicting what has been called the Chinese government’s persecution and oppression of practitioners of Falun Dafa, will be presented from Oct. 16-22 at the SIUE Religious Center.
Falun Dafa is a traditional self-cultivation practice to improve mind and body, which is seen as a threat by the Chinese government. In 2004, the United Nations produced a report on what it called “the terrible torture and killing of women, men, and children, including infants.”
The exhibit—The Oppression Of Falun Dafa (Gong)—will be shown from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Practitioners will be available to discuss the artwork and talk about Falun Dafa. At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, Huagui Li, a Chinese national, will speak about her captivity and torture in the Chinese jail and her witness of persecution of torture and killing of other Falun Dafa practitioners.
At the same time, Falun Dafa practitioners will be demonstrating their exercises in the SIUE flagpole area. The exhibit and programs are free and open to the general public.
For more information, contact Suzanne Kutterer-Siburt, of SIUE’s Student Leadership Development Program and Volunteer Services, (618) 650-3472, or by e-mail: skutter@siue.edu. The event is being provided by local Falun Dafa practitioners.
The following SIUE programs and organization are sponsoring the event on campus: the Student Leadership Development Program and Volunteer Services, Raise Your Voice, Campus Activities Board (CAB), United Campus Ministry, Catholic Campus Ministry, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) He may be short of stature but the little guy can spin straw into gold, for heaven’s sake. However, he’s not very nice.
Rumplestiltskin kicks off A Season for the Child, entering its 17th year of presenting family-oriented theater to Southwestern Illinois audiences, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, in SIUE’s Katherine Dunham Hall theater.
The series, sponsored by the SIUE Friends of Theater and Dance and TheBANK of Edwardsville, features professional theater troupes from St. Louis that stage adaptations of various children’s stories, using interactive techniques that not only delight children and parents, but also provide a learning experience.
Piwacket Theatre Company will present its lively adaptation of the 19th Century fairytale penned by the Brothers Grimm. Rumplestiltskin is a gnome who helps a young woman threatened by a ruthless King. The King wants the girl to spin gold from straw, which she hasn’t a clue how to do. She is visited by the gnome who tells the woman he will do the spinning for her if she gives him gifts, the last one of which is her firstborn. But he gives her one chance to forego that final precious item—she must guess his name.
Piwacket Theatre for Children is in its 14th season of captivating young audiences with cleverly adapted fairytales, filled with catchy songs, dance, colorful costumes, and magical props.
Tickets are $5 per person and may be obtained through the SIUE Fine Arts box office, (618) 650-2774. Subscriptions are available at $16 per person for the four-show season, a savings of $4.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) The Illinois State Board of Nursing has approved both the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing’s revised undergraduate curriculum proposals and the Accelerated Baccalaureate in Nursing option.
SIUE Nursing Dean Marcia Maurer said that the approvals were necessary for the School’s curriculum planning. “Securing these approvals is an important step for the nursing program at SIUE to execute the revised curriculum and the Accelerated option,” Maurer said. “It also enables the School of Nursing to stay on its implementation schedule.”
Maurer explained that the revised undergraduate curriculum was initiated this semester and the accelerated option will have its “first cohort” enrolled in January.
“The accelerated baccalaureate option for nursing is open to individuals who have a baccalaureate or higher degree in another field,” she said. “These individuals will be able to complete the nursing degree in 15 months because they will already have earned credits in many of the courses required particularly in the pre-nursing component of the program.
“We have received more than 500 inquiries about the accelerated option,” Maurer said. “We’re aiming to admit 40 students to the first cohort.”
Dean Maurer reported that the meeting with the State Nursing Board was very affirming. “We were complimented for the strength of our curricular proposals. One member of the Board asked permission to use the model for the curriculum in a modified format for the orientation of new nurses to her agency,” she said.
“These comments are a testimony to the hard work and creativity of the SIUE School of Nursing faculty who have worked so hard to bring these curricular initiatives to fruition.”
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) There’s a favorite scene in Annie Hall, in which Alvy is in line at a movie theater and he overhears a pompous windbag expounding on the work of Marshall McLuhan, a media visionary of the day.
At some point, Alvy pulls McLuhan himself out from behind a lobby placard and the author begins to berate the windbag for not understanding his central themes. Alvy then looks at the camera and says: “Boy, if life we’re only like this.”
SIUE Assistant Professor Chuck Harper recently had a chance to play out the same kind of fantasy, but without the windbag.
Playwright Melanie Marnich, who wrote Blur, the first play of the 2005-06 Mainstage Season at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, came to town recently and spent about two weeks at SIUE, conducting a playwrighting workshop and visiting with students. However, she didn’t berate enyone, but offered sage advice about her play and what it meant to her.
The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, and continues at the same curtain time through Saturday, Oct. 15, and then again at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, all in SIUE's Katherine Dunham Hall theater.
Marnich spent time with the cast of Blur, and her insights into the play helped all involved, Harper said. “She is an amazing playwright and an amazing person. We were very lucky to have her here for the students.”
Blur is by turns quirky, comic, and poignant in its portrayal of Dot DiPrima, a teen-ager whose life has been “knocked wildly off balance” by the news that she is going blind. The play chronicles Dot’s struggles in dealing with the blindness and its effects on her and her family as she journeys into womanhood.
But, Harper also says the play offers more. “It’s not about the blindness, but about seeing clearly, seeing through,” he said. “It’s also ultimately about a mother-daughter relationship.” Although a mostly conventional staging, the play does veer off into its surreal moments, a trademark staging for Harper as a director, which may be why he chose to direct Blur.
Harper last regaled SIUE audiences with his direction of Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage last year and, before that, the 2003-04 production of bobrauschenbergamerica. “Blur does have its surreal moments, but it’s a very hopeful, positive play," Harper said.
Dot surrounds herself with friends who become family to her, but they are an odd assortment—chosen as friends without the benefit of sight. “Melanie said the play was inspired by a family member who was legally blind and surrounded by people who society wouldn’t think of as beautiful,” Harper said. He also mused that the irony of the play lies in the fact that Dot, although blind, has the clearest vision of anyone of the characters.
Harper pointed out that the play explores what “family” means. “Family is what you make of it,” he said. “The play is populated by ‘peripheral’ people, outside the mainstream but still good people.
“Each of these quirky people has issues to work through but, in the end, still become family to Dot.”
Tickets for Blur are $10; senior citizens, students, and SIUE employees, $6; SIUE students are free with a valid SIUE ID. To order tickets, contact the SIUE Fine Arts Box Office, (618) 650-2774.
(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Nominations are being sought for the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian and Scholarship awards to be given at the 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration Luncheon at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Nomination applications are available in SIUE’s Kimmel Leadership Center, on the first floor of the Morris University Center and must be completed and returned by Friday, Nov. 11.
Entries also are being sought for an essay, poetry, and visual arts competition for high school students. Guidelines for this competition have been sent to all area high schools. Winners of the high school competition will receive a $100 honorarium and a plaque of recognition.
The awards are given each year to recognize those who exemplify the philosophy of nonviolent social change as demonstrated by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
An SIUE employee and a resident of Illinois are each eligible for the Humanitarian Award, while a current SIUE student is eligible for the Scholarship and Humanitarian Award. The student scholarship and humanitarian award offers tuition for two semesters at the Illinois in-state rate, a $100 honorarium, and a plaque of recognition.
Complete criteria for eligibility for the high school competition, the Humanitarian Award, and the Scholarship and Humanitarian Award are contained in nomination packets at the Kimmel Center. For more information, call the center, (618) 650-2686.
