Mansfield University Blog

Exonerated Death Row inmate Ray Krone will speak Monday, April 5 at 7 p.m.  in Allen Hall.  The Air Force veteran with no criminal record before his arrest in 1991 was charged with killing a bartender.  In 2002, DNA evidence proved Krone’s innocence and he was released.  Krone now works for  Witness to Innocence.

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The lecture by Alina Fernandez, estranged and exiled daughter of Fidel Castro scheduled for March 30 here, has been postponed.  More details on the new date when I get them.

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Jeff Bosworth, history and political science, was quoted in the Star Gazette recently about the passage of the health care bill.  His comments drew some pretty lively responses.

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Mardi Whitehouse, art, sent us this link highlighting one the department’s eArts workshops, “Martha’s Claymation Station.” Paul Bozzo filmed, edited and posted the video.  “You can witness the interaction of our students with area teachers in this project, a major goal of our professional development workshops,” Whitehouse explains.

Take a couple minutes and watch it.  It’s a reminder of how much fun education can be.

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For news of upcoming MU events, visit Terry’s Take, a video blog that this week logs in at 1:35 minutes.

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How did the Apple name fall to Jobs?  How did a check writing mistake create Google’s name?  And who is responsible for naming Hotmail?   Find these answers and more here .

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Just in time for Women’s History Month comes Womanity.  It’s slogan is, “The invisible bond between Women.”

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Here’s the latest Facebook scam.  Whatever you do, don’t download the attachment.

The Mansfield Activities Council (MAC) celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by setting up a booth on the Student Mall and giving away cookies, soda, water — and green beads!  It was a perfect, cloudless day in the 60′s.  I’m not sure what the kilt was all about.  Chalk it up to one guy’s commitment to diversity.

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Hair fell and money was raised for cancer research thanks to the generosity of MU students and the organizational efforts of Phi Sigma Pi.  Read the news story here and see the video here.

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Gloria Gadsden, the East Stroudsburg U prof suspended for her Facebook comments, just made the top of the list of mainstreet.com’s “Dumbest Facebook Mistakes.”  I think it’s unfair.  From all indications she was new to FB and naive.  But it’s a reminder that as the social media world progresses, err on the side caution and common sense when posting.  Facebook, by the way, is up to 150 million users in the U.S. and 400 million worldwide.

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Ironically, the site on which Ms. Gadsden got  into trouble is also a source of support with the Facebook site Support Gloria Gadsden which has 94 members.   Take a few minutes to read the comments.

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Is high risk drinking among college students on the way out?  According to this Chronicle piece, there are little rays of hope.

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Okay, so one  employee at a well-known company  works so many hours officials called his wife in to teach the company chef how to make her husband’s favorite meals so he’d never have to leave his office.  Is the company evil?

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I’ve talked to several colleagues who are still trying to get their bodies in synch with the time change.  How long does it take your internal clock to make the adjustment?  Do you have ways of helping the transition that you can share?  I’d love to hear them.

I’m always amazed at how little we appreciate what’s before our eyes.

Dr. Bernard Koloski was professor of English at Mansfield for four decades.    He was a Fulbright Scholar from 1981-84, teaching in Poland.   Lech Walesa was spearheading the Solidarity Movement, helping to topple the Communist government, and Bernie was chipping away at the stodgy American literary establishment.

Bernie is  one of the world’s preeminent scholars on American writer Kate Chopin. In terms of the universe, it’s a pretty small niche.

In terms of literature, it’s huge.   Bernie and a small group of scholars discovered this writer who had been banished to obscurity by a Puritan  society in the late 1800′s.  This youthful band of literary renegades  recognized the timelessness of Chopin’s prophetic fiction  and over the course of 40 years  drove her into mainstream higher education.

Because of them, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is now taught in nearly every college literature program in the US.

Over the decades Bernie has written and edited five books on Chopin.  He corresponds with scholars, teachers and students around the world.  He oversees the Kate Chopin Website which  attracts  hundreds of visits a day from more than 100 countries.

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Over the years I’ve written news releases, features and stories for The Mansfieldian about Bernie’s travels and accomplishments.  But I didn’t truly appreciate him until we recently sat down for a two-part podcast interview on the occasion of his new book Awakenings:  The Story of the Kate Chopin Revival.

Editing an audio interview takes a lot of time.    You listen to words and sentences over and over, snipping pauses, stutters, repeated phrases.  But I came away each time refreshed by Bernie’s enthusiasm, his love of his subject, his broad vision and his humility.

The interview opened my eyes to the fact that we had one of the world’s leading scholars in a subject walking around campus, teaching and writing for nearly 40 years and few people outside his department really appreciated him.  It’s that dratted “backyard syndrome.”

It also made me appreciate that Mansfield University has other scholars.   We have some of the best professors anywhere, but because we know them personally,  sit over a coffee or in some committee, we forget their accomplishments.

Students can be forgiven for not appreciating the gift they’re getting with many of our professors who are recognized  leaders in their fields.  Or the  profs who study and teach with a passion that never seems to burn out despite the committees and endless reams of papers to grade.

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I single out Bernie because somehow he finally switched on the light of recognition for me, for all that he’s accomplished in a way so quiet and self-effacing that he slipped right by us.

There are many others hidden in departments around campus who are accomplishing a lot in and outside the classroom.  And we should take a moment in our busy lives to appreciate them.

They, like Bernie, have a passion for that ever-changing concept called knowledge.

Next week is spring break and everyone is ready despite our two-day vacation last week thanks to heavy snow.  It was the first time in anyone’s memory that the campus was closed for two consecutive days due to weather.

They were, however, great days for sledding,  snowballs,and buried snow angels, captured by student photographer Matt Coppadge.

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Spring break dates back to 1935 when members of the Colgate swim team traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to practice.  The site saw a massive surge in popularity after the 1960 release of “Where The Boys Are,” a film not as innocent as many of us remember.

Not everyone parties.  A growing number of students are doing volunteer work during spring break.  Smart kids.  They’re meeting new people, building their resumes and waking up without those bothersome hangovers.

No matter how much you know about North Hall, take this video tour with Scott Dimarco, director of libraries.  I’ll guarantee you’ll learn something new about Mansfield’s landmark building.

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One area Scott and I didn’t get to yet is the sixth floor.  Student intern Jamie Curtis, however, did take a tour and came back with these  shots.

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Stating the obvious:

1. Facebook is close to ubiquitous.

2. There’s  no privacy on the Net.   East Stroudsburg University Sociology Professor Gloria Gadsden found out the hard way that one’s “private”  musings are public and what is humor to one person is a threat to another.  Dr. has been suspended.

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PR student intern Jamie Curtis spent last fall semester in Russia.  She had never traveled before and didn’t speak Russian.  Now she’s sharing her adventures in her blog “Half A World Away.” Check it out.

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Last word on Spring Break.  Don’t take anything for granted.  You could make this spring break mistake.