Mansfield University Blog

The next couple years on campus are going to be full of demolition, construction, modification and improvement across campus.  And Interim President Allan Golden talks about all of it in the most recent episode of Conversations.

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The latest edition of The Mansfieldian is online with a cover story about retired FBI Agent Ali Soufan ’94 and his book The Black Banners, co-written  with Daniel Freedman.

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The Rock Wall, which has been discussed and anticipated for years has overcome its obstacles and is being erected in the Kelchner Fitness Center.  Here’s a promo video and a still shot overview of its current status.

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The North Hall Library now has downloadable e-books.  If you have an ereader, “check it out.”

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Lilace Guignard’s poem “Belief,” which appeared in The Kerf Fall 2011, a publication of the College of the Redwoods, Del Norte Center for Writing. The poem has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, which is among the the most coveted literary honors in the small press world.  Lilace is an instructor in the Outdoor Recreational Leadership program.

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The International Film Series sponsored by the MU Library and the English & Modern Languages Department will begin Feb. 20.  Here is  a complete list of films, times and location.  After the initial screening, the films will be added to the library for everyone to access.

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Congratulations to Tim Huck, who has been named Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the Mansfield University Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Tim is a Wellsboro native.

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For the latest news updates via video, spent a minute with Terry’s Take.

Guido Pichini, chair of the State System Board of Governors, will be on campus October 26 and hold an open session with faculty and staff 10:15-11 a.m. in the Community Room, North Hall, 6th floor.

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Congratulations to Shellie Gregorich, music department chair, and Ben Moritz, on the publication of their book  Keyboard Skills for Music Educators: Score Reading, published by Routledge.   Ben  was a music professor and  Honors Program director at MU before being named director of the Honors Program at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

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‘Tis the season of the zombies.  The Walking Dead season 2 premiere episode attracted 7 million viewers, breaking cable industry records.

While most folks are obsessed with destroying zombies, English prof Lynn Pifer is keeping them alive and well (comparatively speaking).  Lynn’s essay,  “Slacker Bites Back: Shaun of the Dead Finds New Life for Deadbeats”   is included in Better Off Dead: The Evolution of Zombie as Post Human.

Lynn also talks about  zombies in the latest episode of “Conversations” and the surprising reaction students had when she  announced  she would be using “Shawn of the Dead” in her Freshman Comp course.

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Colleen Devine from our post office sent me this original poem & photos that remind us to slow down and appreciate our area’s autumn beauty.  Thanks, Colleen.

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Apple sold 4 million iPhones in in three days last weekend.  According to Wired,  this has huge implications in a very competitive industry.

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This video is making the internet rounds.    It’s cute.  It’s also disturbing.  This person is sending a clear signal that a 560-year-old method of communication is dead.  But she does it in a wordless, charming way that only a one-year-old can do.

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It’s called AcademicPub.  It’s a build-your-own textbook service that  enables professors to create their own textbooks for under $20.  Here’s the Chronicle’s take.

Ali Soufan ’94 is everywhere. This week he was a guest on  Fresh Air with Terry Gross, 60 Minutes and Frontline, among other shows.  Here’s a live chat with The New Yorker senior editor Amy Davidson.

Ali, former FBI counter terrorism agent, details his experiences investigating major terrorist attacks and getting terrorists to talk without “enhanced interrogation techniques” in his new book,  The Black Banners: the Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al Qaeda. Ali has been an outspoken opponent of torture since he first went public in a New York Times op-ed piece, “My Tortured Decision” in 2009.    Here’s the  Facebook site which has a running list of Ali’s media appearances along with links.   The Soufan Group website is also updated on a regular basis.

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And from our own archives is an  in-depth story I did on Ali in the Fall 1998 Mansfieldian.

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Area artist and graphic designer Marc Rubin has an exhibit entitled D2ALITY in Allen Hall through Oct. 7.  In addition to his art, Rubin is an award winning graphic designer  and owner of Marc Rubin Associates in Elmira , NY.

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Check out this week’s Terry’s Take, the under-two-minute video MU news blog.  Terry moves to a new location each week so you not only keep up with news, you also get a year-long tour of the campus!

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In this episode of Conversations, Peggy Dettwiler, director of Choral Activities, gives us a behind the scenes look at how the choirs came back from international competition victorious again, despite being evicted from their hotel two hours before their first competition.  You’ll come away feeling pride in our MU students who are talented, resilient and, well, just plain nice.

Topping it off, they’re among the best singers in the world.

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.