Thursday, November 4, 2010

C-SC Family Weekend November 5-7
Culver-Stockton College will host its 2010 Family Weekend from Friday, Nov. 5 through Sunday, Nov. 7. Families are invited to come enjoy a weekend full of activities with their C-SC student in Canton.The weekend kicks off Friday with the opportunities to participate in a chili cook-off and the C-SC version of the television game show "Family Feud." The cook-off will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Meaders Lounge, "Family Feud" begins at 8 p.m. Families can also enjoy a relaxing hayride around campus and Canton from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., or head over to the Alexander Campbell Auditorium to enjoy C-SC's theatre production "Once Upon a Mattress," beginning at 7:30 p.m. This production contains adult content. Saturday events begin with a continental breakfast in the cafeteria with the Parent's Association and Parent's Association Council. Following breakfast families are invited to join Culver-Stockton President Richard Valentine and his wife, Lorna, as they host "Mingle at the Pillars," in their home from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The Wildcat football team will host William Jewel College at 1 p.m. at Ellison Poulton Stadium. Pre-game events include an Expeditions information session in Johnson Hall Parlor from 11 a.m. to Noon, brunch in the cafeteria from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the Institute of Management Accountants Hog Roast in the Cat's Pause from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday night at 7:30 C-SC's theatre production "Once Upon a Mattress" will be staged in Alexander Campbell Auditorium. This production contains adult content. On Sunday, breakfast will be available in the cafeteria from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., Chapel Services hosted by Christians in Action begins at 10 a.m. in Merillat Chapel, brunch will be served from Noon to 1 p.m. and "Once Upon a Mattress" will be performed again at 3 p.m. in the auditorium. For more information, including a full schedule of events, log on to www.culver.edu/familyweekend or call (573) 288-6334.

C-SC Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band to perform nationalism
inspired concert
On Saturday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m., the Culver-Stockton College Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, under the direction of Trent A. Hollinger, director of bands and assistant professor of music, will bring you an afternoon of music inspired by nationalism. The concert will be held in the Alexander Campbell Auditorium located in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center on the C-SC campus. The Wind Ensemble will be joined by faculty artist, Tom Polett, professor of music, in a performance of Launy Gröndahl's "Trombone Concerto." In addition to this Danish composition, the Wind Ensemble will perform nationalistic works from Russia with Dmitri Shostakovich's celebratory "Festive Overture," Australia with Percy Grainger's beautiful "Colonial Song," and America with Charles Ives's quirky and virtuosic "Variations on America." The Symphonic Band will perform the famous, nationalistic standard "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius; exhilarating and mellifluous excerpts from Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin"; an American march, "The Thunderer," by John Philip Sousa; and will close the concert with the Latin American dance rhythms of Clifton Williams' "Symphonic Dance No. 3, Fiesta." Come and join the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band as they celebrate revolution and freedom, yearn for the beauties of home and dance to Latin American celebrations. This event is free and open to the public. For more information about this event contact the C-SC Fine Arts Division at finearts@culver.edu or (573) 288-6413.

C-SC students pledge to stay drug and alcohol free
Culver-Stockton students pledged to stay drug free as part of the 2010 Red Ribbon Week activities. The national campaign, held Oct. 26 through Oct. 29, is designed to show students, through a variety of activities and events, the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. The campaign was brought to campus by C-SC's Drug Education class as a class project. The campaign began Tuesday with an effort to get all 771 Culver-Stockton students to sign a pledge to stay drug free. C-SC mascot, Wildcat Willie, also handed out candy to any student wearing a red ribbon. Wednesday, students were asked to wear red and the class hosted an event for students to watch movies and hear true stories about drug and alcohol abuse. A banner competition was also held with a prize awarded to the student organization with the top rated banner. On "Thirsty Thursday," students competed in an obstacle course wearing "drunk goggles." The goggles are designed to simulate the effects of using drugs or alcohol, and allow students to experience first-hand how difficult it can be to complete everyday tasks while under the influence. A panel discussion on issues pertaining to drug and alcohol use and college students was held on Friday.

C-SC Music Department hosts an evening of chamber music and jazz
Come celebrate an evening of virtuosic chamber music and classic big band jazz with the Culver-Stockton College Music Department on Tuesday, Nov. 9. The evening begins at 7 p.m. with performances by C-SC student chamber, wind and brass ensembles, followed by a showcase of the music faculty in Igor Stravinsky's masterpiece, "L'histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale)." This portion of the program will be held in Merillat Chapel in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center, and will be followed by a performance by the C-SC Jazz Ensemble playing Swing Era jazz in a cabaret setting in the Mabee Theater. "L'histoire du Soldat" is based on a Russian folk story. The story was originally published by Alexander Asanafiev in his compilation of "soldier stories" from 1828. Three narrators tell the story of a soldier who tries to match wits with the devil, with his soul (represented by his violin) at stake during the musical performance. The ensemble is comprised of seven instrumentalists: Jane Polett, C-SC adjunct professor of violin, Doug Reeve, C-SC adjunct professor of bass, Christine Damm, C-SC adjunct professor of clarinet, Kathy Flick on bassoon, Aren Van Houzen, C-SC adjunct professor of trumpet, Tom Polett, C-SC professor of trombone, and Bill Machold, C-SC adjunct professor of percussion. Carol Mathieson, and Kevin Baker, C-SC professors of music, will perform as narrators, and the production will be conducted by Trent Hollinger, assistant professor of music. This multi-movement work is highly virtuosic and a true tour de force of twentieth century music. Following the Stravinsky performance, the audience is invited downstairs for a performance of Big Band Era jazz in a cabaret setting. There will be refreshments, and the dance floor will be open as the band plays beloved tunes made famous by band leaders such as Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, and Benny Goodman. The C-SC Jazz Ensemble is under the direction of Tom Polett. The entire evening is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the C-SC Fine Arts Division at finearts@culver.edu or (573) 288-6413.

Lecturer lends expertise to train law enforcement
Interviewing a child who has been the victim of sexual abuse can be one of the most difficult jobs a police officer or law enforcement official will face. But a Culver-Stockton College faculty member is helping make that job a little easier for officials in Illinois by teaching them new interview techniques and approaches. Judy Abbott, C-SC senior lecturer in criminal justice and law, recently taught at the Finding Words Forensic Training Initiative in Springfield, Ill. This is Abbott's second year as a faculty member with the Finding Words Initiative. "As a Prosecutor in Juvenile Court, I worked on many sex cases and saw firsthand the barriers our system places in front of child sex abuse victims. For that reason, I joined a team of professionals from Adams County who became forensic interviewers so we could bring these skills to our jurisdiction," explains Abbott. Finding Words is a training initiative offered through the National Child Protection Training Center; it's aimed at law enforcement officials, workers with the Department of Children and Family Services, socials workers and prosecutors. The goal is to teach officials forensic techniques that can be used when interviewing child sex abuse victims. Using forensic interviewing techniques helps ensure that the child's statement is admissible in court during trial. "Children face the biggest barriers in Court, from accessibility to believability," said Abbott. "The McMartin Pre-School trials in the 1980s sent shock waves through the criminal justice system and highlighted the suggestibility of child victims. Child advocates have countered those concerns by starting the nationwide Finding Words Initiative. We train investigators, DCFS workers and prosecutors to interview child sex abuse victims in a child-friendly atmosphere in a non-suggestive manner so their statements can be admitted in court as reliable evidence. Our forensic interviewers create a calm, neutral, non-suggestive environment in which the child witness can relate the details of the incident to an interviewer trained in collecting those statements," Abbott adds. Read more online.

Greek Life at C-SC gets Phired Up!
After years of fundraising and saving, Culver-Stockton College's Panhellenic Council brought Phired Up Productions to campus on Sunday, Oct. 17 for an afternoon recruitment workshop. Phired Up Productions is an education firm providing recruitment services to membership organizations. They teach groups to recruit more high quality members. C-SC welcomed Phired Up performance consultant Jessica Gendron to facilitate this experience. Gendron's background includes national sorority headquarters consulting and campus Greek life advising. She is also a national trainer of Dynamic Recruitment as well as a member of Alpha Sigma Tau sorority. Most notably for Culver-Stockton, she is a former student of Bob Dudolski, C-SC interim dean of student life. "I was very happy to have Jessica provide her expertise in organizational recruitment and social excellence to our sorority community," stated Dudolski. "Her presentation helped the women who attended learn how to motivate their fellow chapter members, increase their level of networking across campus with fellow students and learn life skills that will help prepare them for their professional careers." Women from C-SC's three national sorority chapters: Chi Omega, Sigma Kappa and Sigma Sigma Sigma, attended the workshop to learn about the dynamic recruitment process. Not only did the women learn about recruitment and how to get the best members - they also learned basic leadership and communication skills. Gendron addressed common problems that chapters may encounter and gave simple solutions that anyone could follow. Last year, C-SC's Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils were presented with the highest Greek awards in the region at the Association for Fraternal Leadership and Values conference in St. Louis. Read more online.

C-SC professor attends NNER conference and workshop
Dr. Terry Sherer, associate professor of education, co-hosted a session of the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER) 2010 Annual Conference with Guy Banicki from Illinois State University over a weekend earlier this month. The conference was held at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. Their lecture was called "Closing the Achievement Gap: Are Education Policy, Innovation, And Democracy Compatible?" The discussion focused on the dramatically changing demographic climate and how schools cling to unworkable paradigms in which coming to a logical reasoning is impossible. It was a part of a series which focused on the implications of policy decisions. NNER is a "membership network dedicated to the simultaneous renewal of schools and the institutions that prepare our teachers." Dr. Sherer also attended and completed the North American Leadership Workshop in Dallas, Texas earlier this year. This workshop welcomed more than 400 leaders from International Reading Association (IRA) councils throughout North America to discuss how to focus and lead their councils. It was organized around three key ideas: the changing environment, the opportunities the changes present, and the councils integral part of the IRA.

C-SC's McEwen named HAAC POW
Culver-Stockton College linebacker Josh McEwen has been named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his play in the Wildcat's 38-33 victory over Graceland University on Saturday that snapped a 32-game losing streak. McEwen, a 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore from Leonard, Mo. (North Shelby HS), recorded only five tackles in the game, but had a game-changing interception that put the momentum on the Wildcats' side. With the Wildcats trailing 33-24 late in the third quarter, Graceland was looking to extend their lead and had first and goal from the C-SC 10-yard line. On the next play, McEwen picked off a Brandon Charles pass in the flat and raced 90 yards the other way for a touchdown to cut the Wildcat deficit to 33-31. The Wildcats would add a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Graceland never threatened as the Wildcats ended the NAIA's longest losing streak. Of McEwen's five tackles on the day, two came behind the line of scrimmage for a total of two yards. In addition to the interception, McEwen also had one pass defended on the day. For the season, McEwen has 28 total tackles, including 13 solo stops. He has seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions in nine games this season. The Wildcats, now 1-8 overall and 1-7 in the HAAC, will play its final home game of the 2010 season this Saturday, Nov. 6, against William Jewell College. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. at Ellison Poulton Stadium.

Sinkus honored for second time by HAAC
Culver-Stockton College libero Kallie Sinkus has been named the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Libero of the Week for her defensive play in four matches last week. Sinkus was also honored on Oct. 11. Sinkus, a junior from Chatham, Ill. (Glenwood HS), averaged six digs per game over 14 games last week, totaling 84 digs overall, including a season-high 30 digs against Millsaps (Miss.) on Oct. 29. In addition, Sinkus committed 11 passing errors on 80 chances last week for a reception percentage of 86.3 percent, and she recorded a service percentage of 94.1 percent, successfully serving 34 times with just two service errors. She also recorded three service aces. For the season, Sinkus has garnered 577 digs in 118 games played and is ranked fourth in the HAAC in digs per game with an average of 4.89 per contest. She is also second on the team with 18 service aces this year.

Cash for textbooks
A representative from MSB Direct will be on campus Wednesday, Nov. 17 and Thursday, Nov. 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday, Nov. 19 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Logo Store to buy student textbooks. Students will be able to receive cash for their books and not have to worry about mailing them back, if they visit the MBS table on those three days.