Cory's blog

Your first teaching job starts you off on top of a decommissioned British double decker bus in Hong Kong.  Your instructed to teach the English language to some Vietnamese boat people at a refugee camp.  You also have no background in teaching but somehow you end up with the job.  Most people would simply laugh this one off and walk away thinking that they could be doing better things.  Not Dr. Greg Guelcher though, he took it upon himself as a sort of challenge he had never encountered before.

“I’d never taught before, but I really enjoyed it and it kind of solidified my interest in pursuing teaching as a career,” Dr. Guelcher admits.

Who would have guessed that teaching English to Vietnamese refugees  on top of a double decker bus in Hong Kong would lead to a teaching career at Morningside College?  Then again, it seemed like the job was written just for him Dr. Guelcher says,

“They [Morningside] had a job description online that really sounded as if it had been written just for me.  They wanted an Asianist who was interested in the Middle East, and willing to teach World History courses.”

The rest, as they say, is history.  Not many professors have a story quite like that, and none that still puts people in complete shock.  Taylor Rasmussen, a sophomore at Morningside, isn’t surprised by the discovery however,

“That’s just Dr. Guelcher’s go get em’ personality.  If he had the same passion for teaching English to those Vietnamese refugees as he does for his current history courses, then those people got a good education, I can guarantee that.”

Dr. Guelcher has earned high praise for his history courses and for his teaching ability throughout his career.  Johan Frafjord, a sophomore at Morningside, says that he has never had a teacher quite like Dr. Guelcher,

“He makes the Ming Dynasty sound like it was Apollo 11 landing on the moon; he’s so excited and enthralled every single day, I don’t know how he does it.”

Dr. Guelcher isn’t just a history fanatic, he’s also heavily involved in the Morningside student organizations and many Sioux City organizations,

“I’ve been a faculty/academic adviser for the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity at Morningside since 1998. I have been a faculty adviser for the college Republicans and Democrats.  I’ve worked with ODK and several other student groups.  I’m a member and chair of the Historic Preservation Commission of Sioux City and a current member of the Public Museum board. ”

He does this on top of teaching at a college?  Dr. Guelcher says by doing all these extra curricular activities, it helps him with his teaching.

“I love teaching and I like working with young adults, its a great thing.  I love my job, love my colleagues and love being in the classroom so often.”

In many ways you can almost consider Dr. Guelcher as one of us, just like a college kid.  He’s involved in so many things around campus and in the community.  He shares the same kind of energy and passion that we share in our studies or what interests us.  Above all though, he shares the same passion and love for learning and that’s something that people can learn by taking a history course with Dr. Greg Guelcher.

Dr. Greg Guelcher Profile

Dr. Greg Guelcher is a history and political science professor at Morningside College.  Dr. Guelcher has been teaching at Morningside since 1996 and has loved every minute of it.  “There are so many great people here, and the students are the best of the best” says Dr. Guelcher.  Dr. Guelcher’s classes are almost always rated at the top of list.  Many students all agree that Dr. Guelcher brings the most exciting and provocative details out in every history lesson.  “He makes the Ming Dynasty sound like it was Apollo 11 landing on the moon; he’s so excited and enthralled every single day, I don’t know how he does it.” says Johan Frafjord, a Sophomore at Morningside.  Dr. Guelcher isn’t just measured in high regard with his students, but also with his fellow professors.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_spoint/20101201/ts_yblog_spoint/wikileaks-founder-added-to-interpols-most-wanted-list

Interpol is doing something right here in my mind.  Putting the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, on their most wanted list earns high marks in my books for several reasons.  One, Interpol knows that what Assange did was wrong, regardless of the whole “Freedom of the press” B.S. that I’m sure Assange will pull at one point or another.  You don’t just blow the whistle on the U.S. government and release over 300,000 pages of confidential information and expect to be perfectly safe and secure from world wide governments.  Second, this is a good sign for the U.S.  Think about it for a second, everything that Assange leaked to the world had the U.S. bad mouthing many world leaders and ambassadors, with Interpol (the European’s version of the CIA) putting Assange on their most wanted list, this goes to show that the U.S. isn’t the only country that’s royally ticked off about the matter.  Also, if Assange is to be tried in Europe, he will have a better chance of being prosecuted fully without any sort of leniency, which he would likely get in the U.S.  What are your thoughts on this matter?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5822232

Throughout this whole Cam Newton “Pay for Play” plan, one thing has been on many people’s minds, where are the facts?  Seriously, where are the cold hard facts in this story that can distinctly prove that Cam and Cecil Newton asked for money to play at Mississippi State?  Where are these recorded phone calls that Bill Bell claims to have recorded between himself and Kenny Rogers?  Where are these text messages that Bell claims to have saved on his phone regarding Cecil Newton asking for money to play at MSU.  But apparently the phone has “water” damage and he is trying to repair his phone.  In other words, he’s trying to buy time so that he can come up with some other b.s. excuse in hopes of destroying Cam Newton’s legacy.  I’m not quite sure why this is getting so much publicity when there are zero concrete facts that can actually be proven either by a recorded phone conversation or by text message.  All it is, is several people saying different things about the story in hopes of destroying a young man’s career and image.  MSU alumni and anyone else involved should just cut their losses at this point and stop investigation.  This will all eventually turn on MSU and they will take all the heat for it.

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Did Cam Newton try to solicit money from Mississippi State?  Students at Morningside College and a football coach all weigh in.

For the first time since 2002, the Oakland Raiders are over .500 and have a 3 game winning streak heading into the bye week with a 5-4 record.  After a huge overtime win over the much improved Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders have developed a swagger that hasn’t been seen since that illustrious Super Bowl run back in 2002.  In that overtime win, there were numerous opportunities where the Chiefs could have put away the Raiders for good.

End of the second quarter for example:  Matt Cassel drives the Chiefs down to the Raiders 5 yard line with only 30 seconds left in the quarter.  Cassel drops back to pass, throws a would-be touchdown pass only to watch it bounce out of his receivers hands and into a Raiders defender.  The Chiefs were up 10-0 and could have gone up 17-0 to end the half.

4th quarter, Raiders punt returner Nick Miller looks like he his tackled on the Raiders 20 yard line even though he fumbles it and the Chiefs recover it.  The play is reviewed and even with evidence showing that Miller’s knee is down before the ball is knocked out of his hands, the play stands and the Chiefs take over on the Raiders 20.  Cassel throws a touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe which puts the Chiefs up 20-17 with 3 minutes left to go in the game.  The old Raiders would have normally admitted defeat and just shut down the rest of the game.  But it wouldn’t happen this time.  Jacoby Ford saves the team on several phenomenal catches and puts the Raiders in field goal position with time running down on the clock.  Raiders kick the field goal and send the game into overtime.  They’ve got the momentum and the swagger going into overtime at this point.

Chiefs receive the ball first and every Raider fan fears that they’ll drive the length of the field and kick an easy field goal for the win.  But the Raiders much improved defense forces a 3 and out and the Raiders take over on their own 30 yard line.  First play, Jason Campbell throws a 50 yard bomb to Jacoby Ford who reels it in for a catch and puts the Raiders in position for a 35 yard field goal try.  Field goal is good, and the Raiders win an emotional roller coaster game that in years past they normally would have blown time and time again.  But this is a different team that’s producing different results, BETTER, WINNING results.  But heading into the bye, the Raiders shouldn’t feel content, they should feel hungry for more, and my gut feeling, they will.

This weekend, the Oakland Raiders play host to the Kansas City Chiefs in the fabled Colosseum in Oakland, California.  Not since 2002 have the Raiders nor the Chiefs played a meaningful game with so much to gain and so much to lose.  Currently the Chiefs hole a 1/2 game lead in the AFC West, the team directly behind them?  The Raiders, not since 2002 have the Raiders and Chiefs been 1 and 2 in the division.  With this game having massive repercussions, it sounds like the Raiders will end the blackout streak at 11 straight games dating back to the Monday Night Football match up with the Chargers!  And for the first time this year, many people around the nation will get to watch the once great rivalry revive itself on CBS this Sunday.  As for picking the winner in this one, 5 ESPN “experts” picked the Chiefs, while 3 ESPN “experts” picked the Raiders.  My pick is for the Raiders to continue their resurgence and win this one close, 24-21 with Darren McFadden continuing his dominance with another 100 yard+ game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest

Darren McFadden has arrived according to this article and the many people that commented on it.  The number 4 pick of the NFL draft in 2008 for the Oakland Raiders has had an up and down career so far.  He missed much of his rookie year due to numerous injuries but did have several good games when he was given the opportunity.  His second year was the same story.  This year however, he’s only missed two games but is second in the league in rushing yards.  A huge step up from the previous two years obviously.  McFadden at one point was being labeled as a “bust”, and he was at the time, but now I think you can throw away that tag.  Yes there is still a lot of football to be played and its still a possibility that he could get knocked out of a few games, but with the yards that he’s putting up and the way he’s getting these yards is what’s so impressive.  Coming out of college, he was known as a speed back but not able to run between the guards nor take the brunt of the damage from linebackers.  This year he has flourished between the guards and he has done amazing things after the first hit.  This is the player I had been hoping he would turn into 3 years ago.  I hope that he can continue this great play.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/picks

Nothing to read on this story quite simply.  Only thing I’m taking away from this is that every single expert at ESPN, except for Eric Allen, is picking the San Francisco 49ers to pick up their first win of the season against the Oakland Raiders this Sunday.  Am I surprised by this?  A little bit, the Raiders seem to always find a way to win a huge game then have a massive let down game the following week.  Take last year for example, Raiders had just beat division rival Denver Bronco’s and were set to play the dismal Cleveland Browns.  Everyone figured the Raiders would roll to a 2 game winning streak.  Instead the Raiders managed to lose 23-9!  What I’m trying to get at is that it is in the Raider’s history to fold after a huge game.  But I’m here to tell you that this year is a different team.  This year the Raider’s are benefiting from  a consistent coaching group, better quarterback play and running game.  The defense has struggled sure, but it hasn’t given up when it gets down.  Every time this team has answered right back and kept up in all its ball games.  I’m predicting that the Raiders prove everybody wrong and prove that they are not the same team from last year. Raiders win 23-10.

Former Governor Terry Branstad visited Morningside College to discuss his run for the governorship in Iowa.  Many may wonder why Branstad is running for governor after already holding the office for 4 terms nearly two decades ago.  Branstad cleared that one up pretty easily, “I wanted to run for Governor because I love Iowa, and I couldn’t stand to watch the mess that it’s in.”  The “mess” that he’s primarily referring to is the unemployment rate which has skyrocketed to nearly 8.6%.  Branstad was firm on the belief that he could turn this economy around like he did last time he was in office. Nick Buth, a student at Morningside College, thinks that it might be possible, “I think that he won’t be able to do it in only one term of office, I don’t think anybody in their right mind would be able to.”  In other words, maybe Branstad isn’t necessarily the right answer.  Maybe the economy just needs a few years to right itself out and things can possibly return to normal.  Who is the right answer in this years election? Terry Branstad or Chet Culver?  Maybe neither is the right answer.  Soon enough we’ll find out.