Moorhead State University
Alumnews
      (Spring of 1999)

* A Mantra for Ordinary Americans: a poet, a peasant and a professor
* Fish smell really well
* X-Files: Your'e not paranoid enough
* Poster boy for Ritalin
* Alumnotes
* Broadcasting God's message
* Letter from Doug Hamilton, Alumni/Foundation
* Advocate snippets
* Profile: Laurie Lee Bell
* Reunion Report from Jim Shipp
* The Lakers: poem by Mark Vinz
* Tapping the Night Away
* Head Hawkeye Bowslby MSU graduation speaker
* Mrs. North Dakota: Character as a crown
* Sports: Stengl is center of attention

On the wings of a poet, a peasant and a professor…
A mantra for ordinary Americans
"I was sick often and had a shaman blow mantra over me. I suffered from leech bites. I had head lice. The fleas and rats were maddening. I could not have been more pleased with any other field site."—Tom Fricke, from his book "Himalayan Households"
 

At  7,200 feet up in the remote mountains of Nepal, Tom Fricke collapsed from severe sunburn, a victim of the intense ultraviolet rays cutting through the thin Himalayan air.

When he awoke, his friend, a former WW II Gurkha soldier named Sirman Ghale, was gently rubbing bear fat into his blistered skin with rough peasant hands.

Not far away, in the stone cabin where he lived, heated only by a fire pit, Fricke kept a copy of Tom McGrath’s epic poem, "Letter to an Imaginary Friend."

If it weren’t for the advice of McGrath, who, like Sirman Ghale, had become both a mentor and friend, Fricke would never have seen the Himalayas.

"If you really want to write," McGrath had told him over a few beers at Ralph’s Corner Bar in Moorhead, "you have to learn about people."

That was more than 20 years ago. But that advice was as magical as Sirman Ghale blowing healing mantra over him.

Then an aspiring poet, Fricke took McGrath’s advice literally, switching his major to anthropology (a 1977 MSU graduate) to gain a more intimate insight into the human condition. He wanted to be either a writer, or maybe a high school English teacher.

Today, McGrath is gone, dying in 1990 at the age of 74.  Sirman Ghale is in a Katmandu jail, implicated in a murder that Fricke insists he didn’t do. "It’s all very complicated and political," Fricke said. "But that’s were I visit him now. I can’t seem to get him sprung."

And Fricke? He’s now a 44-year-old anthropology professor at the University of Michigan, where he recently received a $2.8 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to establish the Michigan Center for the Ethnography of Everyday Life. The University of Michigan, coincidentally, boasts the top-ranked anthropology department in the nation.

Fricke’s goal: to impose order on the disorder of the ordinary.

Back to the poetic and prosaic
In a way, Fricke is coming home again, from the mire of academic statistics back to the poetic and the prosaic of his North Dakota beginnings.

"The impetus for our series of studies on ordinary  Americans is precisely motivated by the lessons I learned at the feet of Tom McGrath and Sirman Ghale," he said. "We’re looking at a transition in American work and family that puts all of us in a world that’s fundamentally different, and, I suppose, more fundamentally dangerous. We’re losing our sense of community, or communitas, as McGrath put it, and replacing that with an almost  obsessive focus on the self."
 

During the next two years—between administrative duties and teaching—Fricke will literally "hang out" in Richardton, N.D., a small rural community about 100 miles directly west of his hometown of Bismarck. While picking up on the rhythm of life there,  he’ll also conduct an in-depth "ethnographic" study (combining daily observations, informal conversations, formal interviews and surveys) of everyday life in that nucleated village of the high plains.

It’s part of a team effort to document the apocalyptic changes in the culture, family and daily lives of middle-class mainstream families who live in the 12 states defined by the U.S. Bureau of Census as "The Midwest": Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota. The 12 anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and economists assigned to the study will each spend the next two years in rural, urban and suburban Midwestern sites.

Oddly enough, Richardton, pop. 650, matches the population of Timling, Nepal, a remote mountain village 50 miles from exotic Katmandu where Fricke first began his research as an anthropologist. Except Timling is about a mile closer to the sun.

"Although physically the towns are worlds apart, the human situation between them is strangely similar," Fricke said. "Both Timling and Richardton are small communities marginalized and isolated by the intrusion of modern technology and pop culture. The elders have raised big families and now find themselves growing old alone. And what’s happening in Nepal is also happening across the Midwest—rural communities are drying up. Fast food chains are moving in, young are moving out."

The result: a pervasive sadness among the people left behind, Fricke said. And the loss of a sense of belonging for the people who moved away.

Fricke’s no stranger to that phenomenon. He and his five brothers all fled North Dakota to jobs elsewhere. His parents still live in Bismarck.

"What’s interesting in a study like this, which is similar to what I did in Nepal, is to document the kind of tenacious attempts on the part of people to retain what they had or what they knew in the face of such relentless social change."

Fricke explains a theory called punctuated equilibria—periods of rapid social change, followed by long periods of stability, then rapid change again. "We’re seeing these rapid changes right in front of our eyes. I want to be there as an anthropologist to tell the stories of these people, to illuminate their lives, to tell other people about them. It’s a great job and, I believe, it’s perfect timing."

From the exotic to the ordinary
Traditionally gravitating to the exotic, anthropologists have never really opened the door very wide to peer inside the lives of ordinary Americans. That’s been left to a few novelists, poets and barroom eccentrics.

 "Hey, I understand that. I spent most of my career researching in the Himalayas," he said. "But I think it’s time for anthropology to bring the ethnography of everyday life to the United States, where it promises to add desperately needed concreteness to public debates about work, family life and social policy."

In other words, making it practical.

And instead of producing a stack of sterile, statistical, academic reports, Fricke insists they intend to write books that people will read—ordinary people, policy makers, politicians and planners. He wants to heed the advice of another literary  chronicler of rural America, Sinclair Lewis, who said while accepting the Nobel Prize before the Swedish Academy: "Our American professors like their literature clear and cold and pure and very dead."

"For me, it’s like refreshing the well that first got me into anthropology," Fricke said. "I want to write a book that will bring texture to the lives of ordinary people. I don’t want to paint stereotypes. I want to document them as living, breathing human beings tested by change. That’s what anthropologists are suppose to do. To tell the story of a people, to detail their lives. "

Fricke, an Army brat, grew up nearly everywhere. But his family roots were solidly sunk in Bismarck. "When my dad was transferred overseas, the family always moved back to Bismarck. My grandfather farmed around Baldwin, N.D. (pop. 39), but lost the family homestead in the early 50s before I was born. But when I was growing up I baled hay and drove machinery on my uncle’s farm."

Fricke showed a prophetic interest in writing about the ordinary. Here’s an excerpt from a poem he wrote at the age of 19 called "Driving Toward Sanger: Prophecy Fulfilled," about the last resident of that North Dakota ghost town:

And there is the last man in Sanger
Once a farmer
Corn shaman dreaming the future
Until the medicine ran out and the land was gone
Banks and mortgages all that’s left.

He gets drunk alone
Growing older in his house on the hill,
Burial scaffold etched against sun.
…It is fall
Leaves
The color of Armageddon.

No wonder Tom McGrath took a shine to Fricke. "I started out as an English major at Bismarck Junior College, then the University of North Dakota. In 1974, UND hosted a Beat conference that brought in a bunch of name writers like Gary Snyder and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. McGrath was there. That’s when I discovered my interest in poetry, and when I learned that one of the nation’s major figures in poetry—McGrath—taught 80 miles south. I transferred to Moorhead State right away."
 

As a student, Fricke worked on MSU’s grounds crew, mostly driving the garbage truck. McGrath also hired him to do chores at his house. "I think it was his way of helping a promising student. We had lots of long conversations at Ralph’s Corner Bar."

Fricke still thinks about him a lot. "Even more so now that I’m involved in this project," he said. "In particular, I think of a specific line from ‘Letter to an Imaginary Friend’ that goes: "All time condenses here. Dakota is everywhere.’ It’s so utterly true. The situation in North Dakota is the human situation, a microcosm of everywhere. Communitas is the name McGrath gave to the last communal group, on the verge of coming apart by external forces they have no control over—capitalism, greed, management, progress. Whatever you want to call it. He wrote passionately and specifically about the decline in a shared sense of community."

His poetry, Fricke said, should serve as a spiritual preface to the idea that we can only learn about the general human condition by first  understanding the concrete experiences of people in specific places. "That’s what he did; that’s what we’re doing. It’s amazing how his ideas keep following me."

In the land of the Buddha
Fricke’s segue to Nepal was an accident. As a graduate student, he had his eye set on the Hudson Bay Cree Indians. But his graduate adviser opened a door for him in Nepal, and he stepped through it.

He first landed in Nepal—the birthplace of the Buddha, a mystical mecca where time is supposed to stop, one of the poorest and  most inaccessible countries on earth—in 1981, already fluent in the language.

The 50-mile journey to Timling, located on a narrow shelf of land not far from the Nepal-Tibet border, starts at Katmandu with "the scariest 10-mile bus ride in the world," Fricke said. "Then the road ends. From there, it’s a five or six day climb to Timling, a slippery ascent during the monsoon season. But it can be a pleasant journey. On the way you can stop in villages were the town folk will serve you bowls of thick barley beer (the consistency of thin oatmeal) and pots of boiled potatoes."

Over  the past 15 years Fricke returned to Timling dozens of times, the longest continuous stretch of living there being about 13  months. "I figure I’ve spent a total of four years in Timling."

During that time Fricke  learned that North Dakota is, truly, everywhere.

"The people in Timling are, at their core, the same as me, the same as the people of North Dakota. Discovering the commonality of the human experience, and the pure joy shared from that experience, was probably my single most important moment there. Yet sadly, that ‘circle of warmth and work,’ as McGrath phrased it, is evaporating, like it is in North Dakota. The feeling is palpable. Work has changed. They’re no longer self-sustaining farmers. Jobs are in the cities. Their children move away. Even their religion has changed. In 1991 there was a mass conversion to Christianity. Their life is in constant crisis."

Or as the simple peasant Sirman Ghale put it (taken from Fricke’s field notes): "In the village, everybody is joined. But there (the city) a person makes his own way, his own provisions for tomorrow’s food; he’s alone. He builds one house for himself. And then another builds one for himself and so on…everybody for himself. And with that kind of process the old habits are gone, finished."

Richardton, N.D. (pop. 650)
So when Fricke  started applying for grants to study ordinary Americans, North Dakota was on his mind. He drove throughout the state, looking for a town much like Timling, with a defined culture. He found that place, Richardton, about 60 miles west of his native Bismarck. "It was a magical sort of place when I was young. It has a definite German culture, and a religious one."

Driving by on Hwy. 94, you can’t miss the twin spires of St. Mary’s Church, a Bavarian Romanesque structure built in 1909. It includes Assumption Abbey, home to 60 Benedictine monks. Just west of town is Sacred Heart Monastery, home to 40 Benedictine sisters.

"After stopping in the café for a cup of coffee and some rhubarb pie, walking among the town folk, visiting the Abbey, I knew this would be my place to study."

This is a piece of rural, mainstream America, which contains 83 percent of the nation’s land and 21 percent of its people. Over the past four decades, farm employment in the United States dropped from just under 8 million to a little over 3 million. The number of farms has gone from 5.8 million to 2.1 million. Only about 5 million people, less than 10 percent of the rural population, live on farms today. And the elderly account for nearly a quarter of the population of most rural communities.

Fricke hopes to turn statistics like these into the human stories, stories that will change how policy makers think of rural Americans, from child care subsidies and Social Security benefits to farm aid and funding for rural clinics. "Statistics are good," he said. "But we are story-telling animals. That’s how we communicate best."

It’s anthropology with the instincts of Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis and Tom Wolfe.

"Rural America is filled with parents who raised their children in towns that once beamed with optimism," Fricke said. "Now they’re confronted with the reality that their towns are dying along with their dreams. If you look at your descendants as rings of a tree, what happens when the core dies? That’s what I was thinking when I came back home for my grandpa’s funeral last year. Will the children come back? Major changes occur when family and place no longer overlap."

Here’s what an anthropologist from Nepal, a collaborator with Fricke, wrote in the Katmandu Post about a recent visit to North Dakota:

"Americans are said to place no value in religion, but everywhere we went we observed many churches of the Christian denomination….We also hear much about Americans not valuing their families as much as we do in Nepal and throughout Asia. But in these rural areas, families seem to be larger than in  cities and they maintain strong relationships."

Maybe so. But the foreboding statistics keep ticking away in rural America, despite the optimism of casual tourists.

North Dakota is everywhere. Some day it may be nowhere, a Buffalo Commons bone-yard of hopes picked dry by the miasma of the new millennium.

Could it happen? Maybe. It’s already happening in Nepal.  Fricke  simply intends to narrate the process. Hope and pray it has a happy ending.

Nothing fishy in the notion that fish smell well 
Spit on your bait for luck? Don’t do it!

Scientists are discovering that  fish have such an acute sense of smell that it may be their primary weapon in their never-ending battle for survival.

Brian Wisenden, a behavioral ecologist who teaches biology at Moorhead State University, last month told an assembly of scientists at the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters that many fish rely on odors not only to detect predators, but also to send warning signals to nearby members of their own species.

"Put a fish in a bucket of water and then stick your finger in it," said Wisenden, who was invited to speak at the august Norwegian conference because of his cutting edge piscatorial research. "The fish responds immediately, either physically or by increased brain wave activity. What it’s doing is sensing odors, or essentially chemical cues from your hand, that shout danger."

All humans give off a chemical known as L-SERINE, which, oddly enough, tends to repel fish.

That may explain why modern-day fishermen use an assortment of fish attractants and human scent masks on their bait—from pastes and gels to injected plastic. And why savvy  fishermen wash gasoline and suntan lotion from their hands before handling minnows or tackle.

It makes sense. Fish live in a dangerous environment, an underwater jungle where the mortality rate for young may reach 99 percent.

Vision and hearing aren’t reliable defenses. That’s because lake water is often turbid, and predators are often stealthy.

But water, a universal solvent, is a perfect medium for dispersing long-lasting odors.

"Chemical cues are  the most ancient and primitive method used by life forms to learn about their environment," the MSU professor said. "Our one-celled ancestors, who didn’t even have eyes, responded to the world around them by detecting the presence of certain chemicals."

Until recently, scientists assumed that fish viewed their world primarily by sight and hearing. As proof, just look at all the attention put into the color, shape and movement of artificial lures.

But new research, including Wisenden’s, is producing a different picture: fish are immersed in a world of scents and smells.

Some scientists suggest that fish have a sense of smell that’s 1,000 times more acute than a dog’s, which is 1,000 times better than a human’s.

Fish receive smells through their nostrils and mouth, said Wisenden. The nostrils, which are essentially loops that take in and expel water, are strictly for smelling, not breathing. Their mouths are lined with taste cells that pick up chemical odors in the water. They filter water through their mouths and out their gills constantly in order to breath and  "taste" their environment.

Fish use their highly developed olfactory senses to navigate, to find mating partners and prey,  and to detect the odor of their predators, said Wisenden. Salmon follow the scent in a stream to find their mating grounds; lamprey, among the most primitive of  living vertebrates, follow the scent of juveniles of their own species to find their breeding ground.

But the newest trend in predator-prey behavior research focuses on the amazing number of "alarm substance cells" fish have distributed all over their bodies. They were first discovered in European minnows by Nobel Prize-winning animal behaviorist Karl von Frisch during the late 1930s.

"These cells, if injured, release chemicals that send warning signals to other fish of the same species, and often to other species of fish in the prey category," Wisenden said.  "Hundreds of these cells dot the bodies of more than 60 percent of all fresh water fish."

When a predator tears into the flesh of a minnow, for example, it damages the  alarm substance cells, which then send out chemical odors warning of the attack. An injury to a square inch of flesh can send out a bouquet of warning scents more than 10 feet in all directions, signaling other minnows to get away.

Prey are so sensitive to these odors they can detect alarm sensor chemicals in an approaching predator’s stomach, enough of a warning to move aside.

During mating season, Wisenden said, the alarm cells disappear on males when their testosterone levels increase. That allows them to scrape against rocks and plants, part of their mating ritual, without alarming the females.

"Trials I’ve done suggest that once a fish does learn that a chemical scent signals danger, it never  seems to forget it," Wisenden said. "They’ve been 100 percent right in every test I’ve done."

These alarm sensor cells are common in prey fish like minnows. But they aren’t present on common Midwestern game fish such as walleyes, northern pike, crappies, bass or sunfish. As predators, they don’t need the protection.

Ironically, though, predators can also sense their prey’s alarm signals. "It’s an odd kind of prey-predator relationship we’re discovering," Wisenden said. "When a prey minnow is attacked by a predator, say a northern pike, it sends out a chemical warning to its own species. But it also sends a message to other predators, hopefully bigger ones, that there’s more to eat down here than just us minnows. They’re hoping that it will entice other predators who will find a meal in attacking the predator that’s attacking them."

Wisenden says he’s constantly amazed at how complex this prey-predator relationship is in the aquatic world. "There doesn’t seem to be any end to what we can learn about them."

Of course, Wisenden is a scientist whose research is aimed at theoretical ends. But he’s also a native Canadian who’s spent hours behind a fishing rod. He’s aware of the practical nature of his research.

So the next time you’re baiting a minnow, remember that the damage the hook inflicts on its flesh will send a strong chemical message that may be picked up by a succulent predator, maybe a 10-pound walleye.

But if that walleye also detects human scent on the minnow, it might think twice before swallowing your bait.

Oddly enough, better fishing is possible through chemistry.

Mulder: And one of those girls was just abducted.
Scully:  Kidnapped.
Mulder: Po-tae-toe, po-tah-toe…

Academics watching television…
X-Files feeds on growing
Distrust of government?

Is it the growing distrust of government?

The normal paranoia surfacing at the approach of every new millennium?

An impending New World Order threatening to absorb American culture?

Or just an atavistic urge to believe in the paranormal?

Whatever, Geoff Peterson says, it’s propelled the quirky Fox network series "The X-Files" into one of the nation’s top rated shows and addictions.

Throw in some angst, sarcasm, humor, sexual tension and science, and you’ve got a series that a Merrrill-Lynch analyst says will earn an estimated $1.5 billion in profits over its projected life-span of seven years.

As the "The X-Files" is midway through its sixth season, Peterson and his wife Julie find themselves in the penumbra of the show’s glitter.

The two Moorhead State University alumni, both now teaching at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, wrote a research paper about "The X-Files" that’s become a cult classic in some academic circles. Seductively titled "From The Dukes of Hazzard to the X-Files: How Is Government Authority Portrayed on Television?" it surfaced publicly last fall when it was featured in a Washington Post story, followed by an interview on ABC radio.

After reviewing more than 5,000 television shows, movies, books and articles along with scores of Internet interviews, the Petersons think they’ve felt the pulse of "The X-Files."

"The portrayal of the government as an agent of evil has never been so blatantly expressed on television before," said Julie, an Ashby, Minn., native who teaches English and speech at Southwestern. "In fact, the government seems to be a primary protagonist in the series, a character in its own right. It’s a new genre of television."

And the timing was perfect,  said Geoff, a political science professor and Fargo native. "Our distrust for government has never been greater. This show probably wouldn’t have been popular in the Eighties, but it sure has tapped into something today."

That something, he said, was hatched by  the baby-boomers’ nascent distrust of authority spawned by  Watergate and Vietnam, and later the growing intrusion of government in their lives.

Even X-Files creator and producer Chris Carter admits it. In an interview summarizing his own motivation for creating a conspiracy thriller, he said: "I grew up during the era of Watergate…I distrust any institution that exercises power. Government is an all-purpose bad guy…the government may indeed not be working in our best interests."

What he didn’t know is just how much of that distrust permeated America. According to Carter: "The thing that was amazing to me in test marketing was that, to a man, everyone believed the government was conspiring to cover things up."

That’s not always been the case. Fifties, Sixties and Seventies television shows like "The Untouchables," "The F.B.I." and "Dragnet" portrayed a government and its agents as benign and truthful.

"That just reflected a more idealistic time in America," Geoff said. "It slowly changed with shows like ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ that added a single evil sheriff. Then evolved into shows like "Mission: Impossible" where the government is basically good, but breaks the law as a means to a decent end."

But "The X-Files" broke the mold, ushering a new ideology of an active government conspiracy.

"It’s not a new concept," Julie said. "Notions of shadow governments and conspiracy have been around since Machiavelli wrote "The Prince." And  movies like "All the President’s Men" and "JFK" also tapped into that growing public paranoia. So do the current best-selling conspiracy novels of Robert Ludlum."

But what came first, the distrust or the television series? "Obviously ‘The X-Files’ found something that was already there," Julie said. "But as time goes on, the television show reinforces that belief. Is that bad? In this case, I don’t think so. The show does make you think about serious issues like government power and science, and beguiling topics from UFOs to the paranormal."

"The X-Files," which premiered in 1993, wasn’t expected to succeed. Featuring two oddly matched F.B. I. Agents, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), the show chronicles their investigations into the F.B.I.’s unsolved cases—called "X-files"—whose solutions involve paranormal or unexplained phenomena.

But it graduated from a cult hit to a cultural phenomenon in its second  season when the show’s growing fan base began translating into regular Friday night wins for the Fox network.

"As a result," Geoff said, "the conspiracy theory became a trendy and accepted way of viewing our culture."

At the end of its first season, "The X-Files" was ranked 116 out of 152 shows. The second season it ranked 73. Currently the show draws top-10 ratings and was recently nominated for 16 Emmy Awards, tied with "ER" as the most ever for a television series.

And the show’s spin-off movie, "Fight the Future," so far has taken in more than $85 million at the domestic box office. It’s already scheduled for a sequel due out by June of 2000, following the show’s seventh and, maybe, final season.

But X-stars Duchovny and Anderson, already signed for the sequel, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the daily grind of the TV show. Their contracts expire at the end of the seventh season.

Despite all this serious talk about the show, let’s get real! Aliens, genetic mutants, black helicopters, vampires and shadow government?

"Well, should we trust our government?" Geoff asks. "One of  the show’s underlying themes, ‘Trust No One,’ might be a little exaggerated. But we should be skeptical. And why not? We now know that the government infected blacks with syphilis in experiments earlier in the century. And that it exposed citizens to radiation after WW II to test its long-term effects. And what about Watergate, Vietnam and Iran-Contra? The show has some social merit if it asks citizens to keep an eye on the government."

But it’s not just our government. Also fanning the fire of fear, the international movement toward greater global unity, which nourishes  a long-festering American conspiracy theory. Said Julie: "A new European common currency, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GAT)  are seen by some people as omens of a New World Order, which would absorb traditional American culture and values. It feeds into the notion that there is, in fact, a Consortium of power elite functioning within and above the government, keeping the American public ignorant and themselves in control."

Then there’s the approaching millennium, she said, an event that’s caused paranoia throughout history. "That end-of-the-world stuff has been around since at least the 14th century, and probably way before. Maybe it adds some interest to ‘The X-Files’."

But seriously, are there shadow governments, conspiracies, alien bodies hidden in government storehouses? "The government couldn’t cover up the Lewinsky affair, so I doubt that they could hide dead aliens from the public," Julie said. "I think the truth is out there because bureaucracies really can’t keep secrets."

No matter why, the Petersons said, "The X-Files" is just plain good television. And it should be, if industry reports are right that say Fox spends about $2 million producing each episode.

Geoff and Julie met at MSU during a theatre production of "Olympus on My Mind." He was in the orchestra pit, she was stage manager. They both left in 1992 after Geoff earned a double major in psychology and political science, and Julie an associate degree in liberal arts.

They’re considering stretching their academic paper into a book, if they can balance their careers, two kids and research at the same time.

Bu why  study how government is portrayed on television? "I think you have to have your head in the sand not to realize the impact television has on people’s political perceptions," Geoff said. "When millions see shows featuring conspiracy theories and black helicopters, that has an impact on what people believe about their government."

"No matter how paranoid you are," to quote an X-Files episode, "you’re not paranoid enough."

New technique developed by MSU prof
May help physicians with Ritalin dilemma

Bart Simpson could be a poster boy for Ritalin. He’s a hyperactive underachiever, a troublemaker with a short attention span.

Or is he just a normal kid?

"That’s a difficult question," says James Hale, a Moorhead State University pediatric and school psychologist who’s been studying the effects of Ritalin for six years.

Ritalin is the most widely prescribed drug for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Hale says.  But after 40 years of use,  doctors are still debating how and why Ritalin works, and whether it should be prescribed at all.

Yet Ritalin is prescribed to 4 million children in America each year, according to Dr. Lawrence H. Diller, author of the popular book "Running on Ritalin: A Physician Reflects on Children, Society and Performance in a Pill," a number that’s doubled in the  last five years.

"It’s a huge national controversy," says Hale, who’s developed a new technique to determine if Ritalin is effective, and at what dosage.

"The problem is that ADHD is difficult to diagnose," he said. "It can’t be detected by blood tests, X-rays or EEGs.  So doctors and parents are often forced to make subjective decisions on whether a child has ADHD and if so, whether to use Ritalin to treat the symptoms."

The results of Hale’s research, funded locally by  Fargo’s Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, were published in a recent issue of The Journal of Learning Disabilities, an 8,000-circulation professional magazine that’s considered the authority in its field. Since the article was released, Hale has received reprint requests from doctors in Israel, Germany, England and throughout the United States.

What Hale did is develop a technique that can help doctors determine if a child actually benefits from Ritalin, and what the optimum dosage is for a child’s learning and behavior skills.

Ritalin is the brand name for methylphenidate, a drug that paradoxically calms hyperactive children by stimulating parts of the brain that aren’t working right.

"Ritalin increases the amount of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, available in the frontal lobe of the brain," Hale said. "And it’s the frontal lobe that basically manages other activities of the brain."

The theory is that the frontal lobes of children with ADHD are under-active, Hale said. "It’s like a boss coming to work without enough sleep or a morning cup of coffee. Without that stimulation, the boss tends to be a poor manager of employees."

As a result, children with ADHD can be inattentive, impulsive, hyperactive and disruptive because the manager in their brain isn’t stimulated enough. They may have problems at home, in school and on the playground.

Ritalin, Hale said,  provides that missing stimulation. And it takes effect within about an hour of ingesting the drug.

Controversy surrounds Ritalin, Hale said,  because a raft of other causes may be responsible for attention and behavioral problems in children, ranging from medical ailments and depression to anxiety, emotional trauma or poor parenting techniques.

Then there’s also the specter of potential side effects, ranging from lost appetite, sleeplessness, stomachache and headache.

And because 90 percent of the world’s Ritalin is prescribed in the United States, there’s the possibility that pampered American parents rush to Ritalin for the quick fix at the first sign of rebellion in their children.

"As all parents know," Hale said, "almost every child at some time is inattentive and hyperactive."

Yet the best medical surveys suggest that between 3 and 5 percent of all American children are affected by ADHD, to the point where it significantly disrupts their lives, an important criterion, according to Hale.

Hale’s solution to part of this Ritalin dilemma involved administering a battery of tests to children with ADHD over the past six years. Some of the studies were conducted at MSU in cooperation with MeritCare Hospitals. Others took place at the Rochester, Ohio State and Northwestern Medical Schools where Hale previously taught and conducted research.

"I essentially refined and expanded a technique developed by Dr. Jo-Ann Hoeppner, a pediatric neuropsychologist at Northwestern University Medical School who I studied under," Hale said. "It allows a doctor to make a more objective decision about prescribing Ritalin and determining the appropriate dosage."

The technique is simple. It’s a double-blind placebo study (meaning only the physician and pharmacist know who gets what pill) that takes four weeks to complete.

"The first week we establish a baseline, meaning no one is on Ritalin," Hale said.

During the second, third and fourth weeks, he said,  each child is given a placebo sugar pill, a low dose of Ritalin, and a high dose of Ritalin. But no one, except the physician and the pharmacist, knows who gets what and when.

"Every week during the trial we give the children a series of visual and verbal tests to measure their attention, concentration, impulse control and memory," Hale said. "We then have both parents and teachers complete weekly behavior rating scales of each child, judging their peer relations, hyperactivity, attentiveness and impulsiveness. Included are questions about side effects such as decreased appetite, irritability, drowsiness, stomachaches and headaches. And finally, once a week, we do a direct observation of the child in the classroom."

After the fourth week, Hale ranks the behavior and thinking skills of all the students after matching dosages with the pharmacist’s records.

"It’s a straightforward technique that takes a lot of the subjectivity out of the decision," Hale said. " But there’s a problem we discovered: behavior usually gets better with higher dosages of Ritalin; but at higher doses,  thinking skills can get worse. The solution is to find some kind of medium. Maybe lowering the dosage to improve thinking skills, and then incorporating behavioral modification techniques to further affect behavior."

In any case, he says, the results of his tests can provide physicians with a more systematic approach in deciding whether to prescribe or not prescribe Ritalin.

"I think you need to have multidisciplinary input to make the most accurate diagnosis," Hale said. "That includes input from the physician, the teachers, the psychologists, the parents and the child. It’s a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. At the same time, we shouldn’t be afraid of Ritalin. It works in about 70 percent of all cases."

But the arguments will rage on, whether it’s from organizations such as Parents Against Ritalin and Grandparents Against Ritalin or from doctors who seriously believe that Ritalin is over-prescribed.

So far, Hale said, no other treatment, including behavior modification, compares to the success of Ritalin in treating ADHD. "But the most effective treatment," Hale said, "is using Ritalin along with behavior modification and learning strategies as part of a multifaceted treatment plan."

40s
Sylvia Ronnie Yarger ’41 (el ed) ’62 (el ed) writes "I retired in 1987 after 36 years of teaching. My job now is volunteering. I attended MSTC from 1939-1941, and in 1962 received my B.S. degree." She lives in Morris.

50s
Don Torgerson ’56 (indus ed) and his wife Kay Swenson Torgerson live in Glenwood. Don taught and coached for 35 years and is now retired.
Don Holm ’56 (el ed) ’59 (el ed) and Doris Holm ’54 (el ed) ’59 (el ed) are both retired after 36 and 28 years respectively in education. They are now partners in a garden center business in Renville.
L. Fran Stella ’57 (soc st) is retired from Volvo Truck Corporation and is now a business administration instructor at Guilford Technical and Commercial College in Jamestown, N.C.

60s
Charles Pinkney ’65 (art) and Denise Meyer Pinkney ’84 (Eng/mass comm) live in Fairmount, ND. Charles is a teacher for the Wheaton Area Schools. He writes "Have enjoyed sharing my ideas on two Internet web sites, one on the topic of Christian spirituality. My book is entitled "The Gospel without Religion," and the web address is http://geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/5006; the second is my "Online Art Classroom," and it’s address is: http://Victorian/fortunecity.com/literary;431."
Mary Nelson Pattison ’67 (el ed) started teaching in Canada in a one room school in 1938. Three years later she taught in town. During World War II she taught in Bellingham, WA. She came to MSU in 1965 to get her B.S. She later taught in Fargo and Moorhead. She says that in all she taught for 13 years and loved every day with her students. She’s retired now, living in Elbow Lake.

70s
Laurie Lucking ’71 (hist) has received a Secretary of Defense Environmental Security Award in Cultural Resources Management from the U.S. Army. Dr. Lucking is stationed with the U.S. Army garrison in Hawaii, where she is responsible for developing the comprehensive cultural resources program for all 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army installations in the State of Hawaii.
John Rokke ’71 (hist) ’90 (MS, ed admin) is currently the principal at Tracy Area High School, having received his administrative degree through the Tri-College in 1990. His wife Denise is an occupational therapist. He says "Our time is consumed by being involved in our children’s activities." John and Denise have two children.
Craig Euneau ’72 (art) and Linda Maland Euneau ’72 (el ed) recently moved to Hayward, WI, deep in the Northwoods. Craig is currently the principal at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School, and Linda is teaching part time at the Northwoods Christian Academy. Their son Mikel has moved with them, while their daughter Alicia has stayed in Sioux Falls to attend school and work, and son Howard lives and works in Moorhead. Prior to leaving Sioux Falls the Euneaus taught together at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.
Norma Smith Nosek ’72 (MA, el ed) writes "I am married to a retired superintendent. I have two sons and daughters-in-law and six grandchildren, ages 20-3. My most exciting achievement at work has been to obtain funding to completely network our five buildings and provide e-mail and Internet access to all staff and students. It’s nearly complete." Norma and her husband Walter live in Wahpeton, where Norma in an administrator with the school district.
Gary Miller ’73 (poli sci) ’81 (acctg) and Kathryn Miller ’75 (spch/lng/hrg, spec ed) live in Bismarck with their three children. Gary is the chief financial officer for St. Alexis Medical Center there, the largest hospital provider in western North Dakota, with yearly gross revenues exceeding $150 million. Gary serves on numerous healthcare boards and is a CPA and member of the AICPA national group. He’s also very active in professional and charitable organizations.
Penelope Pope ’74 (soc wk) works with special education students and their families at St. Francis High School. Her husband Rick Wyatt is the national sales director for First Team Sports in Anoka, where they live with their daughter. Their hobbies are gardening, travel and maple syrup making.
Steven Maag ’77 (acctg) has joined Giddings & Associates, Ltd., as a shareholder and vice president. Steven is a CPA with more than 21years of experience in accounting, retail, and construction. He will manage the firm audit, review, compilation and accounting functions and perform income tax planning. He lives in Fargo with his wife Barbara and two daughters.
Stan Weibe ’79 (ind maj) ’93 (MBA) and JaNelle Jacobson ’86 (ind maj) ’89 (MS, couns/dvpt) have been married since 1992 and now live in Minneapolis, after many years in Fargo-Moorhead. They write "We enjoy the Twin Cities very much. We live in downtown Minneapolis. Stan is an information systems consultant and JaNell is a recruiter. We are enjoying our collective five grown daughters and their families. So far four grandchildren. Email address is sweibe@uswest.net."
Kim Moerer ’79 (thtre) has received a great review from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for his performance in the musical "Violet" at the Contemporary Theatre in Seattle this fall. Before going to Seattle, Kim was in Vermont for the Dorset Theatre Festival’s production of Room Service.

80s
James Fay ’80 (bus admin) is plant manager for the 3M plant in Fairmont. He and his wife Ann have three children.
Danette Wahowske Potochick ’81 (mktg) and her husband Jim live in London, England. Danette is a sales learning consultant for SC Johnson Wax. They have lived in the United Kingdom for two years and plan to move to Palm Coast, FL, where they own a home, in the next year or two.
John Justad ’81 (thtre) has been working in the area of technical theatre since graduation. He writers "I have owned a theatre equipment and supply company, designed and directed shows, and now work as a theatre facility design consultant for new theaters and renovations. He lives in Hackensack, and has three children.
Mamie Bengtson Phillips ’82 (el ed) was a substitute teacher in the Fargo-Moorhead area until she moved to San Diego. She moved back to Minnesota for a time, and then moved to Anchorage, AK, where she lives now. She’s a substitute teacher, has four children, and is busy with water color classes.
Cynthia Forster ’82 (spch/lng/hrg) ’83 (MS, spch/lng/hrg) was nominated by her students to appear in the 1998 edition of "Who’s Who Among America’s teachers." She is a clinical assistant professor for communicative disorders. Forster has been selected three times as the Dean’s Distinguished Outstanding Teacher for the School of Communicative Disorders.
Elliott Haugen ’82 (MBA) has been named vice president of Kaludis Consulting Group, a higher education executive management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in Washington, DC.
Anne Gollehon Kuzas ’82 (mgmt) is the supervisor of information technology for Maintenance Engineering, a company she’s been with for 12 years. She’s currently on the board of Directors, serving as vice president of human resources for the Ronald McDonald House in Fargo. Anne and her husband Bill live in Oxbow with their two children, and Anne says "I enjoy the challenge every day with the ever-changing computer industry."
Marquita Martindale Hains ’82 (mktg/bus admin) has been awarded the Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager designation by the Institute of Certified Bankers, a nonprofit organization sponsored by the American Bankers Association. She is assistant vice president at Valley Bank in North Mankato, where she is responsible for the compliance, loan review and marketing functions of the bank. The CRCM designation is awarded to individuals who demonstrate excellence the field of regulatory compliance. Individuals must have experience in knowledge in the profession, pass an exam and sign an ethics statement. Currently, there are only 987 CRCMs in the country.
Chuck Stober ’83 (bus admin) e-mailed that he has a minor in economics, and adds that they were the toughest classes he’s ever taken! After graduation he completed a graduate degree in Denver in 1989. Currently, he’s regional sales manager for UNUM/Colonial Live & Accident Insurance Company, which handles group insurance, and oversees national and regional accounts in six Rocky Mountain states. He lives in the North Denver Metro area suburb of Broomfield, CO, and says "When I’m not working I’m camping with my family, climbing mountains or cross-country skiing."
Michael Haas ’86 (phy ed) supported the Hurricane Mitch disaster relief efforts in Honduras while serving with the U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion SEVEN. Home based in Gulfport, Miss., his unit is currently on a seven-month Caribbean depl0yment to naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Hass also assisted in clean up efforts after Hurricane Georges.
Cindy Buski McCullough ’86 (poli sci) and Jerry McCullough ’84 (bus admin) welcomed new son Andrew in September. Cindy has finished her principal’s licensure and Education Specialist degree, and husband Jerry has survived his first year of medical internship. The McCullough family, which also includes sons Mathew and Christopher, lives in Fridley.
Jaimie Sumption ’87 (mgmt) writes "We [Terri and I] have been back in Pipestone since graduating from MSU. I was the administrative assistant for the City of Pipestone for five years. I coached football and weight training for eight years. I have now been in the insurance industry for five years, and recently formed Freedom Financial Solutions. Terry and I enjoy ‘the battle’ of fitness and the wonder of our kids."
Scott Norling ’87 (bus admin) is the MIS director of Willmar Poultry Company, a family business. He married Jada Anderson from Marshall in March of ’96 and says that they now have a beautiful 18 month old daughter named Laura.
Laurie Lee-Bell ’88 (el ed) has written "Step By Step Phonics," a book which going to be nationally distributed. The book resulted from lessons she wrote when tutoring a student. Besides writing the book, she formed a company, Back to Basics Publishing, and now a national distributor will be provide her book to most major bookstore chains. Lori lives in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
Dave Alto ’89 (phy ed) and Anne Belgum Alto ’89 (el ed) are both teachers in the Buffalo School District. Dave teaches PE at Buffalo High School and is the head softball coach and assistant girl’s tennis coach. Anne teaches 4th grade. Dave writes "We have two beautiful little girls, Baily, age 6 and in first grade, and Paxton, age 3."
Debra Strem Schmalenbert ’89 (sec sci) ’91 (bus ed) is a job counselor for the Welfare to Work programs at the Minnesota WorkForce Center in Crookston, MN. She and John Schmalenberg were married in December, 1992, and live in Fertile with their two sons, Brad and Alex.
Kent Pramhus ’89 (fin) is regional manager for The Amanda Company, a voice processing/computer telephony manufacturer. He develops custom applications for Integrated Voice Response Systems and unified messaging as well as network telephony. He lives in Whittier, CA, and says "I enjoy golfing 12 months a year and am glad not to have to warm my car up in the morning."
Donna McMaster ’89 (anth) hasn’t completed her summer plans yet, but is considering visiting friend and classmate Kent Bakken in England this summer, where he will be supervising a survey and excavation at a Roman and possibly Viking iron smelting site. She’s thinking about going on the off-chance that the Brits might have some large roadside critters over there. Well, you never know.
 

90s
Barb Kellogg ’90 (psych) e-mailed to say "Just heard the news that good old Neumeier will be torn down. I lived there 4 years, living on various floors. Lots of great memories. We always joked about the "leaning" building whenever the elevators would go down or stop in between floors. When the Twins won the World Series in '87, tons of people gathered in the open area inside Neumeier and Holmquist, and people up in their rooms in Neumeier were tossing toilet paper out the windows - it was kind of like a ticker tape parade. My 5 years at MSU were a great experience."
Scott Sellin ’90 (bus admin) is vice president of Sellin Brothers, Inc., a company which specializes in highway and underground construction. The 51-year-old family-owned business covers a territory in a 150 mile radius of Hawley. Scott and his wife Denise have two children.
Sheila Wanden Roberts ‘91 (acctg) has worked as an accountant at Royale Comtronics, Inc., for the past five years. The company specializes in communication services such as business phone systems, cellular phones, pagers and Direct TV. She lives in the country near Menahga where her husband, Tim, farms with his brother and enjoys spending time with son Ryan.
Bill Welder ’91 (bio) writes "After graduating from optometry school in 1995 I purchased an existing optometry practice in Wahpeton, ND. I married my college sweetheart Katrina (Erickson, at MSU ‘89-’91) in 1994 and we have one beautiful daughter, Whitney, age one."
Jay Elshaug ’92 (mass comm) and Deborah Farkas were married on November 14, 1998, in the Grand Ballroom at the Swissotel in Chicago, IL. Jay is the vice president of telebanking services for First American national Bank in Nashville, TN, where the couple will reside.
Bradley Gozl ’92 (indus tech) received his M.S. from Eastern Michigan University in 1997, following a two-year teaching assistantship program. He’s currently in his fifth year as a computer program analyst with Andersen Consulting Worldwide and works out of their Atlanta, GA, branch office.
Deanna Hogenson ’93 (mass comm) ’97 (ind maj) is employed with mySimon inc., in Santa Clara, CA. She is the senior graphic designer for Online and Offline Creative. mySimon is an internet company that features and licenses proprietary online comparison shopping technology.
Mark Seeba ’94 (el ed) is in his fifth year of teaching fourth grade at Centennial Elementary School in Fargo.
David Holzwarth ’94 (bus admin) and Rachel Kingsley Holzwarth ’94 (soc wk) live in Ivanhoe. Dave is agronomy manager at the Ivanhoe Farmer’s Elevator, and Rachel works at Community First Bank and the Divine Providence Health Center there.
Rusty Ekness ’94 (MBA) recently joined the Fargo office of Johnson Controls as their service manager. He spent the last 110 years as a manager and engineer at both 3M and Anheuser-Busch. Rusty is president of the Minn-Dak Manufacturer’s Association in addition to being a member of the Fargo Kiwanis and Oxbow Country Club. He lives in Fargo.
John Flood ’94 (hit) has received his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. While a student, he was a program coordinator for the Conflict Management Center/AMERICORD, and he now works in specialty contracting with HealthPartners in Minneapolis.
Eric Hullstrom ’95 (acctg) writes that he’s working with his father in the family business, Hullstrom Motors, Inc., learning everything there is to learn so his father can retire shortly. He’s been back in his hometown of Dawson for just over a year and a half.

On the surface it might seem that a career jump from television broadcaster to minister requires a leap of faith. But on closer examination, the two callings have a lot in common: a captive audience, a gift for storytelling, sharp communication skills, and a dependence on visual images.

Perhaps that’s what made Pastor Dan Clites’ (’84, English and mass communication) transition to ministry so smooth.

"People are still raving about the vacation Bible school program Pastor Dan created last year," says Wanita Martin, a member of Brainerd’s First Lutheran Church since 1972 and its current council president. Clites’ VBS program last summer combined two of his great interests—the Gospel and sports.

Spreading God’s word comes naturally to Clites, who is a native of Marshall, Minn. He was an avid athlete and Christian throughout his youth. He played high school football, basketball and track. His family attended church regularly. "Faith was a part of our lives," Clites says.

At Moorhead State, athletics and faith continued to play an important role in his life. He was active with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and campus ministry. He was sports editor for the Advocate. His junior year he joined the fledgling Campus News, switching his allegiance from print to broadcast journalism. But he was still undecided about which direction to take in his life. He considered ministry, but says that "seminary meant another four years of school, and I was burned out academically."

So he took his first TV job with Fargo’s top station—WDAY—and spent eight years in the business reporting, producing, anchoring, and directing.  He moved up the career ladder working at several stations, but he began to feel a void.

"I experienced a real disillusionment with the trappings of TV," Clites said. "There was a drive in me to be the best, but I wasn’t always surrounded by a good supporting cast. I was losing myself, always angry and disappointed. I couldn’t see myself doing this at 40 years old. I guess I was too busy trying to be my own god that I wasn’t listening to God and allowing Him to work in my life."

He left television in 1990, and he and his family moved to Brainerd, where he worked as a writer for Universal Pensions. They became active members of First Lutheran Church.

First Lutheran’s Senior Pastor Mark Anderson says that Clites was involved in worship, the men’s breakfast group, and adult Bible study and that "Dan just got tuned in to the whole Gospel message."
"I thought maybe it was time to do this (make a career change) now," Clites said. He consulted with several pastors, including Pastor Mark. "Dan’s major concern was the financial aspect," Anderson says. But First Lutheran helped by paying Clites’ entire seminary tuition.

"I felt this is something I could do the rest of my life and be happy doing it," Clites said.

Four years later he graduated from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. He did his pastoral internship at a "mission starter church" in Grand Rapids, Minn.

"I learned a lot about evangelism, reaching out to people of the community who don’t have church homes, and inviting them into ours," he said of his Grand Rapids experience. That is the common thread of his ministry—"sharing the Gospel with people in a way that they come to understand that God’s grace is for them."

An undaunting task for any pastor, but one made a little easier with Clites’ broadcast background.

"Our message never changes but how we share our message must change," he says. The fast-paced, entertainment trappings of the media have impacted our lives. "We don’t make worship entertaining," Clites insists, "but we can allow people to participate in worship in a way that isn’t foreign to them. It’s not entertaining, but it’s still fun." So he’s brought some journalistic polish to the church. (Clites served churches in Cannon Falls, Minn., for two years before returning to First Lutheran in 1997.)

Anderson kept in touch with Clites throughout his seminary study and knew Clites was the kind of pastor his church needed. "He was interested in evangelism and innovative worship, and he works equally well with kids and aged people," Anderson said. He says Clites’ greatest single contribution has been in worship innovation. "He’s been the leader of our new blended service, which has been extremely well received."

"I think worship attendance is up since he’s been here," says Martin. "He’s been instrumental in changing the times of worship to be more accommodating, and he’s brought so much life to our worship services. His sermons have a central theme from the greeting to the Gospel to the music. Knowing that theme gives more life and meaning to the message."

Communication is another area Clites has greatly enhanced. "Sometimes churches are poor communicators," Clites says.  So he helped revamp the church’s communication tools. "I made some radical changes to the newsletter," he says. "Because of my journalism background I knew we needed to make it more eye catching. Our newsletter tells about our good news, and if it’s so good, why are we not excited about sharing the Good News?" Clites also implemented a telephone information line where people can call the church to learn about upcoming events.

First Lutheran has its own unique vacation bible school program, thanks to Clites’ interest in sports and TV. "I developed a program called "God’s Athletes" that’s based on Bible characters and athletes. I created the videos and had a friend who announces the Timberwolves games do the voice over," Clites said. "One story might be about the apostle Paul as a soccer player, and the theme might be ‘happy are the feet that bring the good news.’ It’s kind of corny and funny, but it’s connecting kids with sports—something they can all relate to."

Pastor Mark agrees. "The program was very successful," he says. "The kids liked the videos, the sports, the songs. It was very action-oriented so they got really excited about it, as did the parents."

He occasionally uses sports analogies (the Vikings will certainly play a part in several upcoming sermons!), but his main goal is to spread the news of God’s grace in the most welcoming, understanding way possible.

"I’m tremendously grateful for the skills I gained from working in the media. Writing is very important to me," Clites said. "First and foremost we need to share the Gospel with people in a way that they come to understand that God’s grace is for them."

He serves on the board of directors for Lutheran Campus Ministry in Minnesota, and says that he might like to do campus ministry some day to empower college students to be future church leaders. Or to be a mission developer by beginning a new church within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America," Clites says. "I feel it’s important to reach out to people who may never have had a church home."

In that vein he spreads the message that there are many ministries we can support at Moorhead State, "places where seeds of God’s grace can be planted whether we know it or not." Such as in the classroom, on the athletic field, The Advocate, Campus News, or Campus Ministry. "As children of God who happen to be Moorhead State graduates, we need to support Moorhead State, not necessarily just financially, but by praying for our young people and for all of the campus ministry possibilities that may be instrumental in their lives."

Dan and his wife, Joanne, have two daughters, Breanna and Aimee, and live in Brainerd.

What do the letters "MSU" represent?   If you check a college guide, you’ll find ten listings for those initials,* including Morehead State in Kentucky.  Of course, you know MSU is located in the Red River Valley.  Almost everybody in our region knows about Moorhead State and its reputation for excellent and affordable education.

Many people also know about our history.  We weren’t always MSU.  In 1887 our school opened its doors as Moorhead Normal School.  The designation lasted until 1921, when we became Moorhead State Teachers College.  A generation later, the name was changed again to better reflect the institution’s mission: Moorhead State College.  And by 1975 that mission had expanded to allow College to be replaced by University.

There’s serious discussion about changing the name again.  You may have heard that Mankato State is now Minnesota State University, Mankato.  The trustees of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities approved Mankato’s name change and opened the door for the system’s other institutions to reconsider their names.

Why ponder another name change?  One argument is the changing recruitment needs for our campus.  We’re well known to our traditional constituents, people who live within 100 miles of our campus, but outside that area awareness plummets.

Another argument focuses on our diploma.  Our reputation is excellent among the potential employers and educators who know about us, but, again, that’s a limited group.  Graduates who send resumes for jobs outside our traditional service area aren’t likely to find widespread knowledge about our MSU.

Marketing is at the bottom of these arguments.  The State of Minnesota has a national reputation for quality in all aspects of education.  Moorhead State has an excellent reputation in Northwest Minnesota, but is largely unknown elsewhere.

On the other side of the equation are alumni, students, faculty and staff who oppose dropping our unique name and its sense of place and history.  What do you think?  We’ve been asking this question of many people, but only a few seem to care.  Those few tend to have very strong opinions for and against a change.  Our challenge is to get a better idea of how alumni feel about the prospect of Minnesota State University at Moorhead—or some other version.

Campus presidents have until September to forward a consensus opinion to MnSCU trustees.  You can help make this decision by sharing your thoughts with us.  It’s easy to do.  Call our new toll-free number, 1-877-270-2586.  Send e-mail to alumni@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu, or fax your opinion to (218) 236-2370.

*Mankato State, Metropolitan State, Memphis State (TN), Michigan State, Midwestern State (TX), Minot State (ND), Missouri State, Montana State, Morehead State (KY), Morgan State (MD)

Doug Hamilton
hamilton@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu

The following news items were culled from the pages of The Advocate, MSU’s student newspaper, during winter/spring semester. If you’re connected to the World Wide Web, read The Advocate at this address: http://www.moorhead.msus.edu/~advocate; or access it through MSU’s own home page on the Web: http://www.moorhead.msus.edu.

* Students were skeptical about changing the University’s name in an open forum this winter. "If a whole bunch of colleges change their names to the same thing, all the individuality will be lost, said Jason Gritti. MnSCU, the bureaucracy overseeing Minnesota’s state universities, tech schools and community colleges, allowed Mankato State last year to change its name to Minnesota State University, Mankato. MSU President Barden said he’s in favor of changing MSU’s name to include Minnesota because Moorhead isn’t well-known outside the tri-state area. Barden will take a recommendation from the student senate and feedback from university constituent groups before making a recommendation to MnSCU.
* More on the name change from a letter to the editor by English professor John Sherman: "…this scheme reinforces an idea, much more popular in St. Paul than elsewhere, that conceives of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system as a sort of giant science-fiction squid with brain at the board office and the actual colleges and universities as largely identical, expendable tentacles spread throughout Minnesota. I assume the various state universities will be proud enough of their histories, their accomplishments and their alumni to resist board ‘coaxing’ be become Generic State U."
* The Crystal Bowl is broken, but someone might pick up the pieces. American Crystal Sugar dropped its sponsorship of the annual season-opening football game between the Dragons and the Cobbers.  The cost-cutting move was based on low harvest projections. Three local companies have already expressed interest in sponsoring the historic rivalry that dates back to 1920.
* An apparent cult has assigned a disciple to recruit students at MSU. The organization, with ties to the International Church of Christ, has all the markings of a cult, according to national monitoring groups. It requires that students sever family ties, recruit, give mandatory pledges and renounce individuality.
* According to an MSU education department survey, elementary and secondary education graduates consistently report dissatisfaction with the training they received in dealing with classroom violence.
* To B or not to B plus? That’s what professors will decide next fall. MSU Pres. Roland Barden announced that professors will have the option of assigning pluses or minuses to student  grades. Said Barden: "Faculty7 who feel they would benefit will use it, but others feel the A, B and C are enough." Counters  Student Senate President Harleigh Brown: "Basically, it gives the faculty too much discretion."  Last year half the faculty responded to  a survey and the majority were in favor of the new grading system. Added Student President Brown: "Obviously, the student senate is very disappointed  by President Barden’s  decision to implement the plus-minus policy. We, as the representatives  of the students, asked their opinions. They were overwhelmingly against this policy and we relayed that message to the administration." According to an Advocate editorial: "With an optional plus-minus system, Jane and Tarzan can attend different sections of English 101 and both can get a 92 percent. But if Jane’s professor uses minuses and Tarzan’s doesn’t, she will end up with a 3.67 while Tarzan will get a 4.0. And according to Barden, that’s tough bananas."
* While many students were standing in line upwards of 45 minutes to purchase their books during the first week of the semester, others were shopping for their texts on the Internet. Considering that MSU students, most under tight schedules, spend an average of  $200 to $250 for books each semester, it’s no wonder some are surfing the net for bargains. But not all net buys are bargains, and don’t forget shipping fees, which can cost as much as $36.  According to Bookstore manager Kim Samson, book prices have steadily risen about 5 to 6 percent annually over the 15 years she’s worked in the industry—about par for the rest of the economy. Publishers and authors get about 75 percent of the cash student pay for books. The Bookstore makes about 25 percent from the price of each book sale. At book buyback time, students get about 55 percent of the new book price.
* When it was dedicated in 1970, Neumaier Hall was MSU’s lofty pride. But with Neumaier’s ongoing evacuation, it’s become, in one student’s words, "the zit of the prairie." University officials announced the evacuation of the building at the beginning of winter semester after engineers determined the building structurally unsound. All students had to evacuate within two weeks of the notice. "Of course it was sad to hear the news," building namesake John Neumaier told The Advocate. "Obviously, however, what is really crucial is the welfare of the student residents of the dormitory." Neumaier, now 77 and seven years into retirement, lives in Mount Flora, Fla., with his wife Sally Luther. A German Jew whose family came to America fleeing the Nazis (his mother died in a concentration campu), Neumaier became president of MSU in 1958 and reigned for 10 years, a decade in which MSU’s enrollment jumped 350 percent.

phonics: (fon ‘ iks): The use of elementary phonetics in the teaching of reading;  the relationship between sounds in speech (phonological patterns) and spelling patterns (orthographic patterns);  stresses the sounds of spelling patterns rather than individual letters.

Phonics vs. whole language: the reading debate: If you have school-aged children, or ever had children learning to read, then phonics and whole language may be familiar to you. As a 70s child, I recall "See Dick and Jane. See Dick and Jane run. See Dick and Jane run through the grass." Thankfully, those days are long gone. But how we teach our children to read remains a battle. One that is even taking root in state legislatures. California and Texas are enacting laws mandating phonics instruction. The disputes have been called the Reading Wars, and the participants call them "vicious."

"The passion is fueled in part by a simple fact: reading achievement in the U.S. is low. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, 44% of U.S. students in elementary and high school read below the basic level, meaning they exhibit ‘little or no mastery of the knowledge and skills necessary to perform work at each grade level.’" ("How Johnny should read," Time, Oct. 27, 1997)

Phonics is not new. However, whole language theory was only developed in the late 1960s and was enthusiastically embraced by teachers and teachers of teachers in the 1980s. The leader of the whole-language movement, Ken Goodman, concluded from his work "that readers rely on context to guess an upcoming word rather than using the word’s spelling. If this ability to guess were improved, and poring over individual letters discouraged, then reading would be more fluent."

With reading scores steadily declining, a shift back to phonics instruction has occurred. And current philosophy favors a combination of systematic phonics instruction with a meaningful emphasis as the best approach to teaching reading.

A crash course in phonics: Laurie Lee Bell’s immersion into phonics came out of necessity. She began teaching a first grade class mid-year and was frustrated that the children were not reading or writing. "The previous teacher had been using the school’s reading series which was whole-language based with little emphasis on phonics," Bell said. "And it wasn’t working." While Bell, a 1988 MSU elementary education graduate, was acquainted with phonics, she didn’t know how to teach it because "universities were not emphasizing phonics in the 80s."
During summer vacation she explored phonics further. "I needed to be accountable to these children and to supplement what the school was using because reading skills are the foundation for all future learning in all subject areas," she says. After poring over thick manuals and books littered with technical jargon, she became frustrated and decided to develop her own program. "I couldn’t find what I needed for my students so I just decided to do it myself."  She used it in her first grade classroom (San Bernardino City Unified School District) that fall (1993).

Success is in the reading: "I was having great success with the program," Bell says. "I kept a tremendous amount of writing samples and by the end of the year the kids were writing on fifth grade, college-ruled paper. They were scoring at the 80th and 90th percentiles for reading." Her principal at the time, Carolyn Livingston, was impressed with Bell’s class’ higher than average reading performance. "Bell’s program is so effective because students receive phonics instruction on a regular basis, and the lessons come in a handy package for the teacher," Livingston said. "Time is set aside so the children are being taught the skills they need to unlock the box to reading."  Bell says Livingston told her she wanted the program for the other primary teachers. "That’s how I got into publishing."

Now it’s a book: Livingston wanted the book for that fall, which meant Bell had to print it locally. "The school purchased my program for the primary (K-3) grades. "I think teachers liked it because it was simple to use. Even teachers unfamiliar with phonics could use it. Each week emphasized one phonics pattern with daily activities included." Some teachers’ comments include: "…I had been looking for a program that would incorporate patterning, sight words, and reading practice all in one. I found this program in Step by Step Phonics. The program works and the children enjoy it." (Vickie Boutiette, 1998 North Dakota Teacher of the Year and 1997 MSU alumna)  "Step by Step Phonics has been the backbone of my spelling program. It is a very simple, yet effective program built around a balanced approach to literacy using repetition, poetry, good literature, and writing." (Gale C. Ortega, Grade 1-2 Teacher)  "My first graders this year are already reading and writing as much as my first graders were doing at the end of the year last year. The only thing that I changed in my teaching was the addition of the Step by Step Phonics program. This program goes back to the basis, back to what worked in the past." (Robert Schumacher, Grade 1 teacher)

Taking it to a higher level: Bell took a leave of absence from teaching after the birth of her daughter 20 months ago. "Since I was off from teaching I had the opportunity to push the book to a whole new level," Bell said. The book expanded from 67 pages to 205 pages. It now includes practice sentences, poems, and a section for creative writing. She’s sold out the first 1,000 copies. Another printing should arrive shortly, which she hopes to distribute more widely. Step by Step Phonics is currently in about 60 libraries and a handful of teacher supply stores. Seven Hills Book Distributors in Cincinnati is promoting the book to consumer outlets.

Standing out from the crowd: Hundreds of phonics instruction tools are available, most notably "Hooked on Phonics." But Bell has captured the quality that many lack: simplicity. As one mother notes: "As a parent with no teaching skills, I appreciate this program. It gave me the opportunity to teach my child and know that I was doing it correctly." Bell’s approach doesn’t talk down to parents or educators. It offers a brief, basic introduction to phonics and whole language theory. "I intended to keep it simple so parents and teachers know what they can do to create successful readers and writers," Bell says. The revised edition also includes a section on choosing quality literature. She says good children’s literature incorporates multiethnic groups, teaches values and life lessons, and provides good pictures. Some tried and true classics for young readers: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?, nursery rhymes, Ten Bears in Bed, and A Prairie Alphabet. Older readers may enjoy The Giving Tree, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Polar Express, Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King, and Love You Forever.

In addition to promoting Step by Step Phonics, Bell’s had several speaking engagements at bookstores, and she’s working on a Step by Step Phonics Level 2 book for second graders. She’d also like to write a book about health and fitness. In the meantime, she says, "Just knowing that every book that sells is going to change one child’s life—to me, that is success because it’s helping people."

Bell lives with her husband, Brian, and daughter, Victoria, in Alta Loma. You can reach Bell at phonicspro@aol.com; 909-941-0717; or Box 3055, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729.

Thank you to all the Fergus Falls folks who came out for our Comedy Showcase at the Fergus Theatre.  Feedback has been positive and I’m quite sure we’ll be doing something similar next year.  We also had a nice turnout for the FM Beez game.  They didn’t win but it was a well played game, and I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys good basketball that they give the Beez a try.  It’s perfect family entertainment. Which reminds me of the Redhawks.  Last summer’s game was everything a baseball game should be: perfect weather, extra innings, and a grand slam homer to end the game, which the Redhawks won!  I can’t guarantee all those elements, but you can be sure we’ll have a Dragon night at a Redhawk game sometime this summer.

By the time this makes it to you we’ll have been in Phoenix and Tucson.  We always have a good time at our events in Arizona and I’m pleased with our plans for this year.  We’ll have a luncheon in Phoenix at the Fiesta Inn, and our Tucson alumni will have an evening get-together at the home of Margaret Moore and Jan Paulsen, former faculty members and long-time supporters of MSU.

We plan on being in Southern California on Friday, April 16 and in Denver on Friday, April 23.  California is a reunion we have nearly every year, but I just checked the records and it’s been seven years since we’ve been in Denver.  I’ve gotten a line on some good sites but if anyone has an idea for an interesting place to meet please give me a call.  President Barden will be with us, of course, as will Doug Hamilton, class of ‘71 and the new Executive Director of the Alumni Foundation.  Many of you may remember Doug for the years he spent as a local newscaster in Fargo-Moorhead.  We’ll have a brand new video with us that will highlight all that’s gone on at MSU for the past several years.

There will be a reunion in the Twin Cities in June on Friday, June 4.  We’re planning a cruise on the Mississippi aboard the Jonathon Padelford.  Good food, good music and good friends on a warm summer night in Minneapolis ? St. Paul!  The last time we did this we sold out. If anyone has any ideas for our on-board entertainment, I’d love to hear from you.  Expect an invitation in early May.

Finally, the class of 1949 ? we’re considering having a 50 year reunion this summer.  Please call or write if you are interested in helping us with this.  Our new toll free number is 877-270-2586.  You can also write me at MSU Box 336, MSU, Moorhead, MN 56563.

The Lakers

Sunday evenings their headlights
Fill the countryside—home from another
Weekend, cars packed with sullen faces
And dirty clothes. They’ve been to the lake,
You know, worked hard to enjoy themselves—
Mowing, trimming, caulking, raking,
Sating themselves with sun and charred food.
Next month Dad will get two whole weeks
At the cottage. He’s been waiting for a chance
To do some painting, fix the screens and pump.
He’ll do some fishing, too, once or twice,
Take the kids water skiing—when he gets the outboard running. Those kids.
They seem to be avoiding him lately,
Especially since they put in video games
At the little store just down the road.
It’s so hard to  understand kids.
Hasn’t he kept reminding them?
Someday all this will be yours.

(This poem by MSU English professor Mark Vinz appears in the new book "Affinities," a collection of poems by Vinz and photographs by MSU mass communications professor Wayne Gudmundson. It’s published by Dacotah Territory.)

Tappin’ the night away
By Kristi Monson

She’s performed in and/or directed more than 400 outreach performances in seven years. She’s directed major variety show productions for the past two years. She’s an active substitute teacher for the Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead school districts. And she teaches private piano lessons to 18 students. You can imagine how busy she was before she retired.

Pat (Briggs) Sondrall, a 1950 MSTC graduate with a degree in physical education, spent 41 years in the classroom. Her students included kindergarten through senior high students at Bateman private school in Chicago, and later physically and mentally handicapped students at North Center for Handicapped Children, also in Chicago.

But it’s her current students—average age 72—who have proved to be the most fun, and sometimes, the most challenging.

"They really don’t listen any better than junior high kids," Sondrall says of members of the Silver Follies. "And it takes longer for us older folks to memorize lines. We have to deal with age-related issues, such as deafness. But there’s no way that we could have any more fun. If we don’t have a rehearsal as a reason to get together, then someone just throws a party."

Since returning to Fargo-Moorhead, life has been one big party for Sondrall. A Moorhead native (her parents were the original proprietors of Briggs Floral, still located in Moorhead), Sondrall moved with her husband Maurice, to Chicago in 1950. After his death in 1990, she made the difficult decision to retire and return to Fargo-Moorhead.

"Chicago is no place to live alone," she says.

She moved back to help care for her in-laws, Oscar and Vi Sondrall.  "One day, I went with them to the Depot for lunch and saw a flyer announcing the formation of the Silver Follies at the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre," Sondrall said. "Even though I had never auditioned in my life, I figured I could sing or accompany on piano."

She says she blew the audition entirely, but that she and director Ann VanderMaten hit it off right away. "I began with the Silver Follies that fall."

Sondrall had little performing experience, but theatre was a big part of her life as a teacher.

"Maurice and I set up the entire drama program at the private school," she says. "We did five shows a year and a Christmas program at every grade level. I also formed a faculty/student group that performed together a couple of times a year. Dramatics became a very important part of the school program."

She introduced drama to her handicapped students as well. And she’s always been a big fan of the arts. "I had Chicago Symphony tickets for 30 years," she says. So hanging her hat with the Silver Follies felt comfortable.

The Silver Follies formed in 1991 under the direction of VanderMaten, who was at that time children’s program director for FMCT, and who is now retired. The nonprofit group includes about 35 senior citizens (age 55 and over) who entertain "anyone who’ll listen." The  Silver Follies is the only organization of its kind to be financially supported by a community theatre.

"I can’t imagine our mission being fulfilled without the Silver Follies," says Bruce Tinker, FMCT’s managing artistic director. "Our mission is to provide people of all ages an opportunity to perform. We do that with adults, children and senior adults. Silver Follies is an outlet for our senior adults to perform and take a risk."

"We are very lucky to have the theatre sponsoring our Silver Follies, because if they didn’t, we would not exist," says Sondrall.

Sondrall has directed the Silver Follies’ outreach group since 1992. About 30 of the group’s members perform up to 60 times a year to—at churches, style shows, nursing homes. Their typical performance includes singing, dancing and short comedy skits. They’ve performed at the Red River Valley Fair, Las Vegas, Trollwood, Bonanzaville, Kiwanis, plus many other events.

This all-volunteer outreach program relies on honoraria for support, as well as the money raised from activities such as their annual style show. "Simply buying music for about 35 people runs into quite an expense," Sondrall said.

"The Silver Follies really tries to reach out to the community," says Bette Hildebrand, Sondrall’s good friend and assistant director of the Follies. "I think we help people to understand that life doesn’t end at retirement or old age. We have a lot to offer the community and ourselves by sharing and helping others to stay active."

In addition to the outreach program, Sondrall was music director of the past four Children’s Theatre productions, and has directed the Follies’ annual variety show at the theatre for the last two years. She was honored for her accomplishments this year when she was named the YWCA’s Woman of the Year in The Arts.

Hildebrand, who nominated her, says, "Pat is an extraordinary woman. She has so much talent and is willing to share that talent. She has a unique ability to encourage and draw talent from cast members and making cast members feel comfortable with themselves and the theatre. Her ability to sense and then act on the different needs of each cast member is unique."

Each year the Silver Follies presents a new theme—last year was a tribute to Irving Berlin. Next year’s show (they present six performances in June of each year) will be "Rock around the clock with the Silver Follies."

"It is really fun using the talents I have at my age," says Sondrall, who turns 70 in December. " My voice is better and stronger than it’s ever been. I’ve discovered talents I didn’t realize I had, and I have a lot more confidence in myself."

"Pat has a breadth of knowledge," says Tinker. She has been intrinsic to the success of Silver Follies. She not only directs them, but she’s teaching these people how to sing. She has contributed untold hours, ability and personal resources to this group. She’s made a huge difference."

Opportunities are plentiful with the Silver Follies: sewing costumes, playing an instrument, dancing, singing, performing skits, building sets. "People have talents to use, and we’re always looking for new talent," Sondrall said. "Our oldest tapper is 83. You’re never too old to learn."

Head Hawkeye Bob Bowlsby to give
MSU's 110th commencement address
Bob Bowlsby, a former Dragon wrestling star and now in his 9th year  as athletic director at the University of Iowa, will deliver the commencement address for Moorhead State University’s 110th graduation ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday, May 7 in Nemzek Fieldhouse.

Bowlsby returns to the same Nemzek Fieldhouse where he lettered in wrestling four straight years and served as captain of the team his senior year when he captured an NSIC title.

Today, the 47-year-old Bowlsby is in charge of a $25 million budget, 100 employees, 400 athletes, 10 men’s coaches and a host of athletic facilities that are home to Hawkeye sports.

A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Bowlsby graduated from MSU in 1975 with a health and physical education degree. "I wouldn’t exchange by days at MSU for anything," he said.  "It was the best decision of my life. Besides, wrestling became the sum and substance of what I am today. It defines the work ethic and develops a fierce sense of individualism. You learn a lot of lessons when you’re on there on the mat by yourself."

At MSU, Bowlsby also served a year as Father Owl, head of the  Old Order of the Owls fraternity, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in July of 2001. It’s the oldest and only fraternity left at MSU. "That’s where I made some of the best friends of my life," he said. "And, as Father Owl, I suppose, I learned, at least tried to learn, how to lead a group of rough and tumble athletes. It was certainly interesting training for what I do now."

After finishing a graduate degree in recreational administration at the University of Iowa, he was named director of the University of Northern Iowa Unidome in Cedar Falls. Soon after, he was named athletic director for the campus. "I was 31 years old and head of a Division I athletic program at Northern Iowa. I had it made."

Eight years later, he fell into a pool of five finalists for the Hawkeye athletic director position. He got the job and at the age of 39 became  the youngest AD in the Big Ten.

"If I were to do it again, I would have gone to law school first," he said. "Actually, the job is a lot like being a business executive. I oversee budgets, make personnel and business decisions, market the programs, ensure our integrity."

Bowlsby averages about 100 days in hotel rooms, 75 to 100 speaking engagements and 140,000 air miles a year.

He’s one of the most respected athletic directors in the country (Duke University offered him a king’s ransom to become the Blue Devil’s athletic director last year, but Bowlsby opted to stay in Iowa). He chairs the NCAA  Olympic Sport Liaison Committee and represents the NCAA as one of two voting members of the United States Olympic Committee. He also was appointed by former United States Olympic Committee President LeRoy Walker to the NCAA/USOC Liaison Committee chaired by George Steinbrenner.

He and his wife Candice (nee LaPash), a 1977 MSU elementary education graduate, have four children.

Old friends and acquaintances are invited to a little get-together with Bowlsby from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, May 7 at the Moorhead Knights of Columbus.

Paula Ekman, who also placed sixth as North Dakota’s representative at the Mrs. United States International pageant last fall, is a 1990 MSU hotel/motel/restaurant management major who’s about the end her one-year reign. Since being crowned last April, she’s made more than 81 public appearances and presentations focusing on her major platform: "Character Counts!"

"Character Counts!" is a national nonprofit initiative to reinforce the basics of good character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. She became interested in the program as a member of the FM Junior League, one of 250 member organizations that promote the "Character Counts!" initiative.

The Wahpeton, N.D., native had never entered any kind of pageant until her husband, Dave, coaxed into the Mrs. North Dakota International event last year. He owns Corporate Technologies in Fargo.

It’s not as if Ekman, 32, has time on her hands. The mother of two children (Paris, 3, and Davis, 1), she’s also a full-time flight attendant for Northwest Airlines who averages 561,720 air miles a year (a weekly schedule that has her flying three days and at home with family four days). She just switch to a domestic route after eight years as an international flight attendant.

"The experience has been extremely enriching," she said. "But schedule is demanding. I get so many requests that I have to turn some down.  It’ll be nice just being a mom again."

During the past year she’s shared her thoughts on "Character Counts!" with more than 4,000 people—from elementary and pre-school children to mom’s groups, PTAs and community organizations. (For details on the national organization contact them at www.charactercounts.org)

"As a mother of a preschooler myself," she said, "I know we all want our kids to have good values and strong character. But good character doesn’t just happen. It’s up to each of us to lay a solid foundation for character development by teaching children right from wrong and by acting as positive role models."

With little kids, she plays games demonstrating just why character counts and lets the children try on her crown.

The Mrs. North Dakota International philosophy is based on family values, community  service and volunteerism. Each contestant picks a platform they intend to speak on throughout the year, and a charity to support. Ekman’s charity is the Mental Health Association.

Last year’s national winner, Mary Kay Sanders of Minnesota, passed away after drawing national attention to early detection of breast cancer.

If you’re curious, Mrs. North Dakota International candidates are selected based 50 percent on their interview, onstage questions and platform; 25 percent on evening gown presentation; and 25 percent on aerobic wear.

Ekman (her maiden name is Paula Cox) spent four years at MSU, which included a Walt Disney Internship. She worked her way through school with jobs at the Days Inn, Ground Round and Labelle’s. She also worked at an exclusive five-star resort on Captiva Island. That experience, and a degree, earned a quick job after graduation as a flight attendant. "It’s what I always wanted to do," she said.

Placing sixth in the Mrs. United States International contest, and being a flight attendant, didn’t give her any pull getting home from the national pageant held last fall in Texas. "Yes, I did get stranded there during the  NWA strike," she said.

Stranger things have happened to her in the air. Six years ago, en route to Japan, she was called to the back of the plane to see a passenger. It was Dave, who promptly got on his knee and proposed.

Stangl: center of attention
 by Larry Scott, MSU Sports Information Director
 

 Moorhead State University's recent ascent into the regal ranks of the
 NCAA Division II was heralded as a divine sign that the Dragons had, at
 last, reached the promised land of intercollegiate athletics.

 As advertised, the switch from the National Association of
 Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to the NCAA II has created substantial
 challenges, and opportunities, for Moorhead State student-athletes. In
 truth, however, the Dragons arrived at the doorstep of the new order
 financially ill-prepared.

 The harsh reality is most regional NCAA II members have substantial
 scholarship leverage over Moorhead State, and while MSU has made
 substantial strides to enhance its scholarship base, it is still
 overshadowed by the financial largesse of the neighboring North Central
 Conference, especially the University of North Dakota and North Dakota
 State University.

 It was Moorhead State's good fortune, however, that none of the politics
 of college division athletics mattered to Kristie Stangl. When being recruited,
 the 6-3  prospect had more upside than the legendary corn that brackets her
 hometown of Manning, IA. She had other distant, and distance concerns.

The whole recruiting process was an intriguing adventure to Stangl, but
 it became tiresome. "I enjoyed it (recruiting) to a point, but sometimes
 I would come home and have five messages on my phone," explained Stangl.
 "I knew I didn't want to go too far away from home. . . In the end it
 came down to Southwest State and Moorhead State, and MSU was just 423
 miles from home."

 Stangl admits her prep background was anything but an ideal proving
 ground for a collegiate basketball career.

 "I played six-on-six basketball until my junior year, and I usually
 played defense the whole time. In my junior year we switched to
 five-on-five basketball."

 Stangl was clearly a work in progress when MSU head coach Jean Roise won
 a spirited recruiting battle to land her, and the onetime Iowa Prep
 Illustrated All-Star did not disappoint.

 Stangl was quickly installed as the Dragons' starting center as a
 freshman, and became an inside fixture for MSU for four years. The post
 with the most, Stangl quietly put up some impressive numbers despite a
 beefed up schedule that surely eclipsed the venues of previous Dragon
 basketball editions.

 A four-year fixture in the Dragon starting lineup, Stangl was a
 three-time All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference selection and a
 three-time NSIC All-Academic pick as well. She closed the books on her
 collegiate career with another marvelous campaign in 1998-99, and ranks
 fourth on the Dragons' career scoring chart with 1207 points, and fifth
 in lifetime rebounds with 676 boards.

 While Stangl kept reaching more basketball milestones, she always kept
 her sneakers planted firmly on the floor. Individual glory was always a
 non-issue for Stangl.

 "I never worried about that stuff," said Stangl. "The only thing I ever
 worried about was wins and losses."

 Stangl would be reluctant to admit it, but she exited in style as a
 senior. She finished third in the NSIC in rebounding, 8.0, fifth in field
 goal percentage, .429, and 11th in scoring, 12.7. Stangl led the Dragons
 in rebounding, 7.9, and field goal accuracy, .498, and ranked second in
 scoring, 13.8, as well.

 Stangl's grace under pressure and feathery shooting touch was a given,
 but beneath the doll-face veneer lied a real competitor's heart, and a
 real passion for the game.

 Coach Jean Roise was courtside for the Stangl run at Moorhead State, and
 was very impressed with her gritty resolve.

 "I really enjoyed coaching her, watching her grow as a person and a
 player," Roise said. "On the court she's really a silent leader. She's
 been starting since her freshman year, and she became a marked women on
 the floor. They (opponents) played her very physically, double and
 triple-teamed her. Kristie's not the most physical player, but she
 handled it well."

 Roise admits Stangl contributed in other ways as well.

 "Off the court she was someone the kids could talk to. She was more vocal
 this year, and helped the freshmen players a lot, especially in the
 fall," Roise said.

 As one of three senior captains, Stangl accepted some additional
 responsibility in her final trip around the collegiate basketball block.
 "I tried to be a leader, and I liked the challenge. Hopefully something
 I've done can help in the future."

 Roise has no doubt Stangl will make an even larger imprint off the court.
 "She's very bright, and I know she'll continue to work hard and
 discipline herself. That will carry over. I just hope she remembers us
 when she makes her first million!"

 Stangl admits putting basketball on the shelf will cause some pain, but
 she's ready for life after basketball.

 "I'll miss the team, and getting together, but I won't miss the
 pre-season. My knees hurt so bad right now," said Stangl.

 "It takes a lot of dedication to do both. Basically, I had no life during
 the season. Since we usually played on Wednesdays and Saturdays, I had to
 study on Friday night. You have to say no to your friends."

 Stangl's academic commitment helped her fashion a 3.55 grade point
 average, and her name will appear on the ballot of the 1999 GTE/CoSIDA
 Academic All-American team, saluting the very best of today's
 student-athletes.

 Stangl has some down home advice for the returning Dragons: "If you're
 going to do it, give it your all with everything you have."

 A biology major at Moorhead State, Stangl plans will pursue a pharmacy
 degree in graduate school, and the recruiting process will start all
 over. Creighton University, Drake University, South Dakota State
 University and the University of Minnesota are all in the Stangl
 sweepstakes.

 Here we go again.