Mansfield University Blog

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.

Nobody loves Halloween like Kathy Rumsey.  Here’s a video tour of the fifth floor decorations and the office of the  kindest witch on campus.

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Mark Polonia has produced 32  independent films over the past 25 years, most with his late brother John.  They developed a loyal following around the country (See Happy Polonia Day).  Mark talks about his campy classics in this episode of Conversations. There’s also a four-part podcast in which he talks in more depth about his avocation.

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Ken Sarch teamed up with Ben Franklin a couple years ago to arrange the restless genius’ music. Now Ken dons a derby and has composed a  music score for a clip from  Charlie Chaplin’s The Rink.  His concert, including the MU String Chamber Orchestra debut performance of this music will be Friday, Oct. 30   at 7:30 p.m. in Steadman.  It’s free and open to the public.  I saw a sneak preview of the clip  and the music and it’s brilliant.    For complete information, click here.

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The first Steinway piano was dedicated Thursday, Oct. 22.  The piano was bought by former trustee Marcella and MU Foundation Board member Marcella Hyde-Smith ‘56.  For history, the first song played on the Steinway was the last movement of Beethoven’s “Appassionata Sonato (Op. 57)”  played by student Tyler Wetherbee.

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MU grad and retired art teacher Paul Bozzo is teaching a drawing course at MU.  His blog records student works as they’re created through the semester.  Check out the site. There’s an amazing variety of drawing and techniques.  Not to be missed: drawing done with shaving cream, ink and a toothpick.

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And, finally,  a Halloween gift to the president’s house from an Alpha Kappa Lambda student.