Mansfield University Blog

I had coffee in Jazzman’s with Chris McGann, who earned two degrees at MU before being accepted at American University in Washington, DC where he’s also assistant director of the Campaign Management Institute.  Chris , a former reporter for the Wellsboro Gazette, will get his master’s this spring and plans to shoot straight into the PhD program.  Earlier this year his class was featured on C-span.  Fast forward to 22:50 to see our Mountie Man in Washington.

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Joyce Tice was a recent guest on Conversations, talking about the mid-19th century diaries of Rosina Smith, who lived a few miles up the road from Mansfield.   Life back then was very different in many ways and not so different in others.  It’s a candid look at local life in the mid 1800s.

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Art prof Paul Bozzo is taking full advantage of social media with his blog, Bozzo Art, displaying works of his and others with photo stills and video.  His latest is Faculty Choice Student Art Show.  Take a tour and see what our students are doing and what our faculty like.

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I interviewed retired professor emeritus Dr. Verne Lapps a couple years ago about his college days with actor James Earl Jones at the University of Michigan.    Verne gives some fascinating insights into the times and a young, shy pre-med student who went on to become one of the great actors of our time — and the voice of Darth Vader.  Here’s In College with Darth Part 1 and Part 2.

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I rummaged through our archives to find this shot of Jones at a press conference during his visit to MU in 1997.  Adoring media members came with their copies of Star Wars to be autographed.

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Speaking of Black History Month, the  NBC cafeteria served a special lunch of fried chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread.  I’m guessing employees partaking of the special had to sit at the back of the cafeteria.

The PA State System of Higher Education has established the  Haiti Relief Fund to help coordinate donation efforts from organizations and individuals in the 14 state system schools.

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Bill Gates believes in the potential of online learning, as well as publishing course materials free online.   Sounds like there are grant money possibilities for those in synch with the Microsoft Man’s vision.  In his annual letter he says his foundation has “made a few grants to drive online learning, but we are just at the start of this work.”

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Remember the Dutch Pantry? which later morphed into the University Club?  Some great meals and memories.  The building was razed recently to make way for a new borough hall.  More as it progresses.

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Debra Marbaker of Troy is working in the Legislative Office for Research Liaison as part of a 15-week Harrisburg Intership Semester sponsored by the PA State System of Higher Education.  Marbaker is a senior mass communications major with a minor in women’s studies.

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Chester Bailey’s wife, Mary, passed away on January 23.  The Baileys have been involved in the community and the county for decades.  Until a couple years ago, Mary was Chester’s right-hand person in the Museum Tent at the 1890s Weekend.  You can send Chester, a 1935 MU grad,  a card  at: 413 Valley Rd., Mansfield, PA 16933.

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Groundhog Day is coming up February 2.  While the winter hasn’t been that bad, I’m hoping the fat little rodent doesn’t see his shadow, which supposedly means an early spring.  The annual tradition, located in Punxsutawney, PA, (a Delaware Indian name), has its roots in the Pagan festival of Imbolc.  Now that’s diversity.

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Here’s one woman’s take on the name of  Jobs’ new baby, the iPad, which seemed to create as much buzz as the President’s State-of-the-Union address.

(Oh, Rush Limbaugh says the controversial name is Obama’s fault).

MTV spent several days and nights on campus last semester filming student Barry Hughes for its award winning series, True Life. Barry, a political science major from Wellsboro,  is considered a master at the game  Call of Duty.  The first episode of the show will air January 25 at 9 p.m.

Thanks to everyone involved in this project, from residence life to the police and faculty.  True Life is a long-running, popular show watched around the world.  While MU wasn’t the subject of the show it certainly is an important secondary character.  And MU folks, as always, were warm, welcoming and helpful.

In a recent email,  producer Josh Haygood said:  “. . .  This really was one of the more enjoyable shows I’ve done and I owe that to the great attitude of [the students]  and to the overwhelming support of you and the entire school staff.”

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A quick peek at the new semester shows good news  with 3,300 students.  This represents a 2.96% increase in head count and a 4.56 % increase in FTE over last year at this time.  Understand that this is an unofficial snapshot of what’s happening today.  Official figures will be out in about three weeks.

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Mansfield’s  Alumni & Friends online  community is live and really cool!  Check your latest Mansfieldian for your code and join today.  Get all the news, videos, and updates on your friends and classmates.  Create your own Facebook page and even your own community!  Check it out today.  I’ll give you updates as they arrive.

For info contact Tracey Dukert at tdukert@mansfield.edu or click here.

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When a convicted terrorist was sentenced to face Jack Bauer, he appealed to have the sentence reduced to death.

I’ll always be a fan of 24, but I am having a time reconciling grandfather Jack Bauer  still beating up bad guys and getting pounded.  Next year he’ll be taking on villains with his bionic walker.  All you 24 fans, let me know your take on this season’s shows and our gracefully aging icon.

Early issues of  The Mansfield Advertiser have been digitized and are now available on the Access PA repository site.   Penn State and the State Library converted about 100 copies of the Advertiser between the years 1911 to 1929.  Pick up the juicy facts of daily life here during World War I and the years leading up to The Great Depression.

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Art thrives from the looks of art instructor Paul Bozzo’s blog that he kept last semester of his Intro To Drawing Class. Professor Emeritus prof Dick Feil might have been the oldest student in the class but the retired psych prof  still has the look of a determined young artist.

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10 Ways social Media Will Change in 2010 outlines changes the author sees coming to social media (FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, etc) this year.  Note #9, that “Women will rule social media.”   Women make 75% of all buying decisions for the home and women ages 35-55 comprise  the fastest growing population on Facebook.

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The snow had just fallen.  I stepped outside to take a look.  Before the 2 degree air rushed me back in, I took this photo of our pavilion  and a few of the flags flying on our International Walkway.

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I think Peggy Dettwiler, director of choral activities, is the first MU prof to have her own fan page on Facebook. Some students started it last semester and it quickly grew.  While Peggy wasn’t sure what a FB fan page was at the time, she’s very familiar with it now with 214 fans around the U.S.  Under Peggy’s direction, the choir has performed around the U.S. and  Europe.  In 2008, the choir earned three gold medals at the World Choral Games in Graz, Austria.

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Condolences to the family of Jack  Plunkett ‘74, a longtime football coach and teacher at Chestnut Hill Academy who died January 12 of an apparent heart attack.  He is survived by his wife, Sue, and five children.  Mr. Plunkett played football all four years at MU.

In 2007, MU custodian Steve Orner found a collection of 16 mm films.  One of them was labeled “Rod Kelchner.”  I had it digitized.  Our multimedia man Mark Polonia did some light editing.  The result is a 30-minute look at college life here in the early 20th century, complete with brand new model T’s and a cameo by William Straughn and Arthur Belknap.  This is Mansfield like you’ve never seen it.  Experience it here.

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Al Qaeda in Yemen can be defeated without sending in American troops, says Ali Soufan ‘94, in a January 2, 2010, New York Times  op-ed piece.  Soufan was the FBI case agent in the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000.  He was part of a team that unraveled the Qaeda network in Yemen over the next several years.

He was also the featured speaker at our December commencement.

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The MU Podcast is included in a recent Widgetbox posting of  “fun and interesting widgets ” to add to your Facebook, Myspace, etc.

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Check out collegetimes which lists 15 Coolest college Courses.  The courses, at various colleges, run from American Pro Wrestling to Underwater Basketweaving.  My favorite:  The Joy of Garbage — and no, they’re not talking about talk radio.

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Natural gas is big news these days, from Tioga County to Tennessee.  It’s seen by some as a win-win situation in our quest for clean, efficient, domestic energy.  But there’s also a lot we don’t know, as this article points out.

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Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.  Just click on the “comments” link below.

I covered my 50th Mansfield University commencement recently. Over the years the speakers have melted into a quiet mumble of forgotten words.

But Saturday’s speaker, Ali Soufan, hit home in a personal way. The former FBI Agent was lead investigator in the USS Cole bombing, He was a key investigator after the 9/11 attacks, an Al-Qaeda expert and one of the FBI’s lead counter terrorism investigators.
He interrogated suspected terrorists, and partly because he speaks Arabic, partly because he took the time to understand religious beliefs, and partly because he treated them as humans, they often talked.

The FBI called Soufan a “national treasure.” Others called him an “American hero.”

He left the FBI n 2005 and created his own international security firm. Later, when various officials defended “enhanced interrogation” as a means to obtaining information, Soufan came forward and denounced torture. He testified at the 2009 Senate Judicial Hearings on torture, providing facts that others sought to ignore. He wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times and has been quoted by Time and Newsweek.

He came up against anyone who defended torture, including the Vice President of the United States.

Soufan doesn’t do it for the publicity, though he was profiled in a long piece in The New Yorker.

He does it for the sake of truth, for what he believes in.
“My service to our country has put me in difficult situations,” Soufan told the MU audience. “I’ve seen man at his worst, and man at his best. I can tell you that in the darkest of moments, there are those who provide a light. Never forget that a small beam of light is enough to overpower a whole room of darkness. Never underestimate the impact that you alone, sticking to your principles, can have.”
Inspirational words are expected at commencements, but Soufan has earned the right to share them. He’s put himself in danger more than once because of his principles.

And it struck me like never before that, yes, each student sitting here, waiting to cross the stage, pick up his or her diploma and enter the world, can make a difference.

Why did this speaker’s words ring so true?

Because in 1994 Ali Soufan sat in this same spot, crossed the stage, accepted his diploma, and entered the world.

Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Honor Society for Criminal Justice, recognized MU as its newest undergraduate chapter on Dec. 3. Dr. Scott Thornsley is the advisor. The CJA department has 265 majors. More details here.

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Thanks to student Matt Coppadge who posted this on his Facebook. Singing Obama’s been making the rounds and whether you’re right or left, it’s hilarious (and less than 2 minutes.) Play it.

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The Marcellus Shale Gas Play is bringing major changes and growth to Tioga County. If you ever thought about going into business for yourself, now’s the time. Check out the interview with franchise expert Lou Laveton for inside tips on how to succeed in the franchise world.

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Here are some facts about bottled water. Just thought you’d like to know since each of us drinks about 29 gallons of it a year.

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I read this news story about a college basketball player being shot numerous times outside his Mountain State U residence hall, apparently following an altercation. The story ends with: “Mitchell is averaging 12.67 points this season for the NAIA Cougars (10-0).”

What’s wrong with this picture? By tacking on his point average, is the reporter giving value to him as a human? If an English major was shot would the reporter add that “Smith was half finished with his paper on Moby Dick“?

Let’s get some real values back in order: A human being who happens to be a college student who plays basketball was shot. I don’t think his parents care right now about his game point average.

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“Scanning my Facebook page gives me, precisely, a ’sense’ of connection. Not an actual connection, just a sense,” from a NY Times piece about the nature of friendship throughout history, aptly titled “Faux Friendship.” Long, but well researched & interesting. Good holiday break reading.

Home for the Holidays, sponsored by the Greater Mansfield Area Chamber of Commerce is Saturday, Dec. 12.  The event, which gets a little bigger each year, includes Santa’s appearance, a day of activities and a vendor fair sponsored by our own MAEOP group.

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The North Hall Christmas Tree is up for its 14th year of exuding holiday spirit.  The 16-ft tree was donated  by Elaine and Tony DiBiase in 1996, the year the renovated North Hall opened.  Elaine was a librarian here until her retirement.  To complete the festive feel,  Larry Nesbit, library director at the time, on his way to Harrisburg, stopped in every WalMart on the way and bought up all the pink and white poinsettias.

Thanks to Bob Bertsche for putting up the tree and the library staff  and students for  decorating it each year.

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The MU Art department is featured in the Nov. 29 issue of the Sun Gazette in its story about the Tioga Central Railroad’s Santa Express which travels to an elaborate village scene created by our art students under the direction of professor Darryl Abraham.

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CJA Professor Scott Thornsley’s op-ed piece on prisons, We Need To Be Smart, Not Just Tough, On Crime appears in the Nov. 29, 2009 edition of The Patriot- News in Harrisburg.  Thornsley, a former legislative director for the state Department of Corrections,  offers  solutions to prison overcrowding without building another prison.

Note: nothing is local in the speedy cyber world.  The website of Sunnydale, CA based company  Allied Lock and Safes carries a two-paragraph pitch for its products, followed by Scott Thornsley’s op-ed piece as it appears in the Patriot.

Clever.

And quick.

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Did You Know is the latest in a series of viral videos that condense into  4:46 minutes  how our lives are changing and speeding up with the new technologies and social media.  (Um, 2 million TVs are in our bathrooms?)

Click here and hang on to your brain cells.

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Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. Mark Twain

The Mansfield Symphony Orchestra will perform Sunday, Dec. 6 in Steadman at 2:30 p.m.  Selections take in everything in the universe from E.T. score selections to Holst’s The Planets.

Admission: donate some winter clothes.

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The MU Council of Trustees granted emeritus status to six faculty members who, in total, served the university more than 200 years.

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Frankly, my dear, you will give a damn. You don’t have to be a movie buff to relive some of the greatest lines in movies over the past century.  After watching this collection of clips, you may even want to play it again, Sam.

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Get an inside look on what goes into producing one of the major concerts of the year.  Peggy Dettwiler, director of choral activities, talks about all aspects of the Holiday Concert, from how the music is chosen and arranged to how she chooses her outfit.  (It’s more complex than you think).

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Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving with this cute one-stop motion video of some mischievous table top turkeys.

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History repeats itself; that’s one of the things that’s wrong with history. Clarence Darrow

I was talking with Steve Plesac, director of student activities the other day about ABBA. (He’s looking into bringing in a tribute group.)  He mentioned “Fernando.”  That was it.  I couldn’t get the song out of my head so I  returned to the office,  brought up Pandora Radio, typed in ABBA and listened to “Fernando,” “Dancing Queen” and a few others while I caught up on my email.

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Peggy Detwiller is my guest on Conversations this week on Channel 13.  She gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into creating the annual Holiday Concert. The show airs Saturdays at 8:30, 6:30 and 11:30 and Sundays at 10, 2:30 and 10.

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I love these shots that student Stephen Myers took earlier this year.  Says a lot about the natural beauty of our area and our campus.

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James Butler, assistant arts editor at The Spectrum, the University at Buffalo student newspaper, is pretty down on our students and visitors for not being more lively at the recent All American Rejects concert.  So, anyone who attended the concert, what’s your take?  Are MU students apathetic in the presence of live rock?

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While taking my daily noon walk, I found a Blackberry in a case in the East parking lot.  I figured I’d post a message on Facebook but didn’t need to.  When I pulled the device from the case I found the student’s last name and first initial taped to it.   I found him on Outlook and sent him a message.  Blackberry and owner are now happily reunited.  Good lesson: label your mobile device.

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I’m sure it doesn’t happen at MU, but if it did, these are the top 8 ways students cheat today.  I was impressed with the energy students expend in innovative, high-tech ways  to replace, umm, studying.

Faculty, if you’ve had unique experiences in the high– or low –  art of cheating, let me know.

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If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion. George Bernard Shaw