Morningside Connect

Jesus Cendejas ’14 started his journey at Morningside College with the intent of becoming a nurse. Along the way, however, he took a few detours and hit a few bumps in the road. Down the bumpy road of life, he found his true passion for religious studies.

Cendejas is originally from California and journeyed to the Midwest for the nursing program at Morningside College.

His freshman year led him on the adventure of self-discovery where he took on more responsibilities and became more independent. The next year multiple bumps lined his path. Homesickness set in. He also switched his major to developmental psychology. All of the bumps he had to overcome led him to his turning point in college his junior year.

“I began to get involved in the community at large, not just the college,” said Cendejas. “It helped me set roots and get to know this place better. I fell in love with the city and the people even more. Through this time, I found my calling.”

At this point, Cendejas found his passion for religious studies. This became his major. He also met people that eventually led him to his job as a youth pastor. Along with being a pastor, Cendejas also is Morningside College’s International Student Advisor.

His role at Morningside transitioned from being an active alumnus who showed up to Homecoming, Christmas at Morningside, and other events to now having an active role in students’ life on campus.

“Now it is getting to see the students going through the same things you once did,” said Cendejas, “and watching them accomplish their dreams or goals and watching them change over time. I think it is pretty cool because each experience is unique. I enjoy working with people.”

The Morningside College football team battled the reigning NCAA Division III Champions University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Thursday, September 24, at 6 p.m. at Elwood Olsen Stadium.  The game was streamed live on ESPN3. For more information about the game check out the Sioux City Journal’s story Here.

Spreading the news because we’re FANs of your work!

The Faculty Achievement Newsletter was created in 2014 with the purpose of letting the Morningside community know about the academic achievements of the Morningside faculty and staff.

Scott Arnett (Education) and Earle Knowlton (Graduate Education) have been given permission by their publisher, Kendall Hunt, to write a textbook. The working title is Collaboration in the Transition Process. Arnett and Knowlton will be showing the benefits of using a collaboration model while transitioning students with disabilities from the school system into the adult community. What makes this text different from others is the ability of parents to remove their dependency on the schools and provide transitioning skills to their children well after the public school years.

Bette Skewis-Arnett (Performing Arts) held a workshop at the Sioux City Community Theatre. The workshop was to assist the interested actors auditioning for the roles of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan in the upcoming production of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. The workshop focused on realistic portrayals of historical figures with disabilities.

Patrick Blaine (English and Modern Languages) was elected to the executive committee of the Film Studies section of the Latin American Studies Association, where he will serve a 3-year term. He also served as a grant reviewer for two programs with the federal Department of Education.

Aaron Bunker (Biology) published a paper containing data collected during graduate school in the Journal of Heart and Cardiology titled “Impaired coronary endothelial vasorelaxation in a preclinical model of peripheral arterial insufficiency.”

Tim Case (Performing Arts) designed two productions this summer for St. Michael’s Playhouse in Vermont, Spamalot and Outside Mullingar. Earlier in the summer he completed the set design for Once on this Island for the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. He is currently finishing up Fiddler on the Roof at the SECT in Sioux Falls and Monster Makers at Lamb Productions in Sioux City.

Steve Coyne’s (English) collection of linked short stories titled It Turns Out Like This won the Many Voices Award and will be published by New Rivers Press. The book comes out in fall of 2016.

Marilyn Eastman (Business) attended a Digital Marketing Boot Camp this August in Chicago, IL. The boot camp is designed to prepare instructors to teach social, digital and Internet marketing subjects in an environment where the content is rapidly changing. She will be teaching the college’s first digital and social media marketing course in the Spring, 2016. Marilyn also recently completed a research study analyzing the effects of instructor background and delivery modality on student perceptions of instructors and of course content of digital marketing subjects. The research paper has been submitted to Marketing Education Review and is undergoing the peer review process.

Geoff Harkness (Sociology) authored a book chapter that was included in The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop, published by Cambridge University Press this summer. The chapter, entitled “Thirty Years of Rapsploitation: Hip-Hop Culture in American Cinema,” examines how hip-hop culture was portrayed in American feature films from 1983-2013, and how these images reflect and comment upon larger issues of race, social class, and gender.

John Helms (Chemistry) published a paper in the journal Marine Chemistry titled: “Spectroscopic characterization of oceanic dissolved organic matter isolated by reverse osmosis coupled with electrodialysis.”

Marty Knepper (English) was guest book review editor for the Spring 2016 issue of the international academic journal Clues: A Journal of Detection. She had a paper accepted for the spring national Popular Culture Association on Ross Macdonald’s reworking of the Oedipus legend in his mysteries. As faculty advisor of ALD, she will be attending the National Alpha Lambda Delta Leadership Workshop in Orlando with four students in October. Last year’s ALD group earned the Order of the Torch outstanding chapter award. The National President, Dr.Susan Huffman, will present the award on campus Oct. 6.

Susie Lubbers (Education) “Methods of Teaching English: How to Engage Students in Classroom Activities.” Presented at The University of Lucerne. Lucerne, Switzerland, May 2015.“Studying in the United States: Chances, Problems and Risks.” Presented at Kantonale Mittelschule Uri. Uri, Switzerland, May, 2015.

“Growth Mindset and Student Motivation.” Presented at Sioux City Community Schools Leadership Academy, June, 2015.She was also an editor of a book of essays on leadership: Jones, G., Knight, M., & Lubbers, S. (Eds.) (2015). Legacies of Leadership. Thomas Buckmiller, 2015.

Brian McFarland (Chemistry) recently had a paper published in the Journal of Polymer Science, titled “Effects of Shell Crosslinking on Polyurea Microcapsules Containing a Free-Radical Initiator”. This paper examined different ways of making polymer systems that could be more stable upon storage, and could be initiated via controlled-release.

Jeremy Schnieder (Writing & Rhetoric) and Aaron Bunker (Biology) published a paper titled “Writing Across the Curriculum in a Human Physiology Class to Build Upon and Expand Content Knowledge” in the Athens Journal of Education. This publication follows their oral presentation over the same topic at the Athens Institute for Education and Research 1st Annual Biology Conference in June 2015; Athens, Greece.

Jeremy Schnieder (Writing & Rhetoric) and Jessica Tinklenberg (Religious Studies) presented a paper at the International Sport and Society Conference in Toronto, Canada. The paper discussed the role of blame in changing perceptions of masculinity following the domestic violence scandals of the 2014 NFL season. The paper will also be published in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Sport and Society.

Tim Sesterhen (Biology) co-authored a paper accepted for publication. He contributed habitat suitability modeling for different fish species: Withers, J.L., T.M. Sesterhenn, C.J. Foley, C.D.

Troy, and T.O. Höök. in press. Diets and growth potential of early stage larval yellow perch and alewife in a nearshore region of southeastern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research. He also gave a presentation about mosquitoes in the Betty Strong Encounter Center at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. He was then interviewed about mosquitoes for a story that appeared in the Siouxland Life magazine.

Heather Reid (Philosphy) in July gave an invited lecture titled “What Gladiators Can Teach Us about Stoicism,” for The American Academy in Rome Classical Summer School.In August, she gave a presentation titled “An Ethical Definition of Olympic Sport,” at the14th Biennial Conference of the International Olympic Academy Participants Association, Ancient Olympia, Greece. And sometime over the summer, her “Historical-Philosophical” introduction to Philostratus’ Gymnasticus was published in Italian as part of her co-editorship of a new Italian translation of the book titled: Filostrato. Sull’Allenamento. Eds. Paolo Madella, Heather L. Reid, Emanuele Isidori, and Alessandra Fazio. Viterbo (Italy): Sette Citta, 2015.

Kurt Spearing (Biology), with E. Welsh from Badlands National Park, and C.A.Boyd from the North Dakota Geological Survey, have a publication in press in the Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Sciences titled STRATIGRAPHIC AND TAXONOMIC REVISION OF A NORTH AMERICAN FALSE SABER-TOOTHED CAT CUB. It deals with their research on a well preserved juvenile skull of a saber-toothed “cat” like animal.

Rich Yates (Art) presented a poster of his research project “Visualizing Group Creativity” at the University & College Design Association—UCDA Design Education Summit this past May at South Dakota State University in Brookings. Information visualization principles are used to explore and find relationships in the data gathered from group interactions during brainstorming. This approach allows him to explore the processes of group creativity and idea generation, moving beyond individual notions of creativity and to form a better understanding of team idea generation.

Mary Zink (Business) presented, on August 21st, at the Siouxland Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM)annual conference on the topic of “Managing Difficult Conversations.” She has also re-joined the Siouxland SHRM board of directors as College Relations Chair. In this capacity, she will work to connect local college students with local professionals and manage a scholarship program. She has also just been elected to the board of the Siouxland Society of Human Resource Managers as College Relations Chair. Her position involves acting as a liaison with local post-secondary schools and creating and judging a scholarship.

Thank you all for the wonderful work you are doing! Bruce Forbes (forbes@morningside.edu) and David Elder (elderd@morningside.edu), the editors of the Faculty Achievement Newsletter, welcome feedback and submissions at any time.

We plan to publish the Newsletter monthly during the school year, so please submit paragraphs about your achievements to facultynewsletter@morningside.edu.

We’re 30 days into the start of a new school year. New faces have mixed in with the returning faces. The campus is full of activity after what seems to be a short pause called summer.

A number of you have asked, “What’s the faculty up to?” Click and see for yourself just how active our great teaching faculty has been: Faculty Achievement Newsletter.

Coming up shortly will be the celebration of Homecoming, October 9-11. There are many changes to be seen along with many opportunities to revisit past beloved areas on campus. If you haven’t made your reservations yet, please send in the RSVP card from the Homecoming brochure. If you can’t find it, call the Alumni Office at 712-274-5293.

I have received several requests to share the short video created by students and staff depicting the tremendous changes on campus over the past few months. When you return for Homecoming, you will be able to see for yourself why we are so proud of what has taken place at the college. It could not have happened without the financial support of alumni and friends. Please view the piece again and share it with your friends.

https://drive.google.com/a/morningside.edu/file/d/0B6Y6gIhnIzsQVEdmU1dzaWZ4Yjg/view?pli=1

Best regards and see you at Homecoming!

Gene Ambroson

The Dimmitt Hall renovation was completed in late August, just in time for the class of 2019 to move in. However, since new students didn’t know Dimmitt Hall before, most of the excitement came from upperclassmen, as they moved in a few days later. Students explored all over the building and were thrilled with their updated home and all of its perks.

In the Business Center, students can study, work on group projects, or just use the printer.

The Fitness Center features various machines and a yoga room.

The Community Kitchen is fully stocked with various pots and utensils, so students have the opportunity to cook some homemade food.

The Informal Lounge remains a primary hangout and study place for students.

The Formal Lounge features multiple areas for students to congregate and study.

At the intersection of every hall is now a lounge for people to study, have hall functions, or hang out with friends.

Not only do the laundry rooms have new washers and dryers, laundry is now free for students living on campus.

Jacob Hecht is one of Morningside College’s sophomores. He traveled from his hometown of Lansing, Kan., to pursue his passion for music education.

At first, Hecht said it was challenging living so far away from home and being unable to visit often, but, eventually, it turned into a positive for him.

“I was unable to visit home often, but at the same time this helped me make some great friends by sticking around on the weekends,” said Hecht.

Hecht can normally be found studying in the library or practicing various instruments in Eppley Auditorium. If he’s not there or anywhere else on campus, there is a good chance he can be found in his room playing Super Smash Bros on the WiiU.

He is heavily involved in the music department. He is this year’s drum major of the Marching Mustangs and will be directing the marching band at halftime of the home football games. Hecht plays tenor saxophone in ensemble and jazz band along with alto and baritone sax in the saxophone ensembles. Besides playing in the musical groups, he is involved in Phi Eta Sigma and secretary of the music educators group CNAFME.

“I enjoy anything that has to do with music because it doesn’t seem like work to me,” said Hecht. “Every class and extra-curricular activity I am in aims to make me a better musician, teacher, and person, and I love that.”

His hard work has been paying off for him. Besides receiving the job of drum major, he was awarded the Berdina Hospers Woodwind Award, which is given to the student judged to have given the best performance of the year. Hecht also had the opportunity to play with The United States Army Field Band during its concert here.

After getting his degree in  K-12 instrumental music education at Morningside College, Hecht plans on getting his master’s in music education and spreading his passion for music through teaching.

Campus has sprung back to life!  After a restful summer break, students are back on campus, ready to learn and to continue to follow their desired career development plan.  Fall is always an exciting time to be on campus, as well very busy, as we assist students in declaring majors, connecting with clubs and activities, finding jobs, and identifying meaningful service opportunities for students.

As an alum, it is easy to look back with fondness on your alma mater and get nostalgic about the “good old days.”  I would challenge you to think about how you can extend those “good old days,” as well as those warm and happy memories of your college experience.

Think about how you can involve yourself on campus.  Is there a lecture, presidential visitor, performance, athletic or other activity you could attend?  Go to the event, seek out students, and talk to them about their experience.  See what challenges they are facing and act as a resource.

Not in town?  Continue to stay connected through social media.  Follow Morningside College Career Services on Twitter (msidecareers) and Facebook (Stacie Hays Morningside), participate in events through the LiveStream feature (https://www.morningside.edu/athletics/live-stats-streams), or other events on campus (https://www.morningside.edu/events/).

You can also reach out to students by contacting Career Services (hays@morningside.edu) or the Alumni Office (ambroson@morningside.edu) and letting us know that you are interested in mentoring students, providing internships, or meaningful volunteer opportunities.

The opportunities to engage with students are literally endless.  Take some time to figure out how you can relive your college memories while making a positive difference with current students.

Stacie Hays

Homecoming 2015 is just around the corner. The festivities will kick off Friday, October 9, and last until Sunday, October 11.

This year the classes and groups of honor are ’55, ’65, ’75, ’85, ’90, ’95, ’05, ’15, Dimmitt Hall residents, the 2005 GPAC Football Champions, the agricultural business program, and the sororities Delta Zeta and Alpha Delta Pi.

Morningside College Homecoming is a family fun event and has something for everyone.

The Helen Levitt Art Gallery in Eppley Auditorium will be hosting an Alumni Art exhibit. This will be available for viewing Friday and Saturday from 9 am until 5 pm.

Friday morning campus tours will be offered from 9 am until 3 pm. Tours will begin on the hour every hour, with the last tour starting at 2 pm. Tours will start at the Alumni House. Special stops along the tour will be the Academic Village and Dimmitt Hall’s informal and formal lounges.

On Friday night, alumni and families will be gathering at Bob Roe’s Point After with the Alumni Association. All the pizza and wings a person can eat for $10. Children 12 and under eat for $5. Along with this, Morningside’s Women’s Volleyball will be facing off against Nebraska Wesleyan at 7 pm in Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.

Saturday morning starts off with another opportunity for a campus tour from 9 am until noon. Tours will begin on the hour every hour, with the last tour starting at 11 am. The morning also has reunion receptions for the classes of honor starting at 9:30 am in Dimmitt Hall’s formal lounge. The M-Club Luncheon and athletic celebration and awards will start at 10:30 am in the Yockey Family Community Room in the Olsen Student Center.

Saturday afternoon the Morningside College Mustangs football team will be battling the Hastings College Broncos at Elwood Olsen Stadium. After the game, A Taste of Morningside will start. This year the local vendors include Bob Roe’s Point After, La Juanita’s, Jerry’s Pizza, Palmer Candy, and many more.

Besides having food available to taste and enjoy, a national recording artist and Morningside College graduate, Casey Muessigmann, will be performing. Also playing will be a local favorite,  alumnus Charlie Leissler and his group.

On Sunday, everyone is welcome to eat in the main dining room in Olsen Student Center for a Marquis Brunch starting at 11 am and going until 1 pm. Adults are $12 and children under 12 are $7.