First Ski

Lake Herman ski trail, December 29, 2012

Last winter we didn't get enough snow to make it worthwhile to dust of the skis and bring them out of the garage, but this year it's a little different.  We've had some snow stay on the ground, and with a few sunny windless days, there has been an opportunity to get out to the park and have a little quiet time in the woods. A good way to end the year.

Exchanging Sweetness

The end of the fall semester often brings the opportunity to gather together and share, and this December was no different.  A group of cooks in our College of Arts and Sciences made goodies to share, exchanging half a dozen sweets to carry home, so that the wife and I were able to enjoy treats from colleagues, some of which appeared at that night's birthday party for yours truly.

Treats at the cookie exchange 2012

The cooks and their guests

Among the goodies were molasses cookies, Russian tea cakes, bourbon balls, and many other tasties.  Best of all was the sharing that goes with the exchange.  

Seeing The Hobbit in Only Two Dimensions

Peter Jackson's rendition of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy was an astounding, mind-blowing, once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment, and certainly people had a reason to anticipate what he would do with The Hobbit.  But I have to say, after seeing the new film last night in our local theater here in little Madison, SD, it was something of a disappointment.

Yes, there were cool effects, and it was fun to see some of the same characters again.  And the story is a pretty good one.  But the results of stretching the journey into three feature films were a bloated narrative and gratuitous scenes for the 3-D viewer.

It made me a little sad.

For one thing, The Hobbit is a children's story, one Tolkien wrote and read to his children, and it was published in part on the recommendation of a nine-year old, the son of the publisher.  The movie is not one for children.  It taps into the same dark vision that Jackson rightfully employed for the LOTR films.  Even more sadly, the movie adds elements that were NOT in the novel.  For example, we see Saruman, the turncoat wizard in the later story, arguing against the continuation of the dwarves' journey, hinting at his later betrayal.  We see the dwarves hunted by a goblin king bent on revenge on Thorin.  We see the double personality of Gollum that was introduced in the LOTR movies.  Essentially, these elements were apparently added, perhaps to wed the story more tightly to the later works, but more probably to help sustain the length of the film series.

For another thing, the film just wasn't very interesting for several stretches.  The opening sequence, the unexpected party, took too damned long.  Nothing was happening, just a lot of silliness with food and the dwarves eating everything in Bilbo's larder.  I realized later that this, like some of the later battle and chase scenes, were there for their 3-D effects.  Watching them on a conventional screen made me impatient.  I guess it's worthwhile to see what 3-D will do for the movies, but it didn't do much for this movie.  It just made it longer.  Like I tell my students, it's either working for you or against you.  These long scenes weren't working for me.

Yes, I'll go to the next films in the series, but I'll try to keep my expectations low.

How to Kill a Snowman (and other helpful tips)

My students in Composition II at Dakota State University have completed their final project, a slam-bam project they completed in about a week.  It's a video essay with a pretty open subject.  Many of them, because of time restraints, choose to do a segment of their longer paper as a video, but some are ready to turn to more fun projects, like one student, whose "Ways to Kill a Snowman" sounds mighty interesting.  She was, perhaps, inspired by my mention of "How to Kill a Mustache " included here. Another student tells how to make orange chicken.  Yum!

My student's efforts are included on our blog here:  http://compdsu.blogspot.com/.  They include essays on securing a network, building a man-made brain, driving the car of the future, and other wide-ranging subjects.

Meet the Other Old Boss: Our VPAA Also Steps Down

Another big announcement today indicating change at the top:

Dr. Cecelia Wittmayer, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Dakota State University announced her retirement today, effective June 2013.

Dr. Wittmayer has been a part of the institution since 1986, when she was hired as an assistant professor in marketing.  After a marketing career in the direct-mail catalog industry, she taught marketing/ advertising at DSU from 1986-1990.  In 1990, she took a three-year leave to earn a Ph.D. in Business Administration/Marketing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  She returned to her faculty appointment at DSU in 1993 and received a promotion to associate professor in 1995 and to full professor in 2001. In October 1998, she was asked to serve as interim vice president for academic affairs and was named to the position in June 1999 after a national search.

She has been responsible for the academic integrity of the institution and for the resolution of conflicts involving academic areas.  As VPAA, she supervised the deans and directors of the academic support areas; she also represented the institution on the system-wide Academic Affairs Council.  Most importantly, Dr. Wittmayer has shaped DSU’s academic programs and was instrumental in getting approval from the SD Board of Regents for master’s degree programs and in adding the doctoral program in 2005.  She also was responsible for moving the institution to the AQIP accreditation process, the adoption of the CQI perspective, and most recently wrote the university’s 2012 system portfolio for the Higher Learning Commission.  Dr. Wittmayer has been a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Delta Mu Delta and the American Association of University Women.  In addition to being an AQIP Strategy Forum Facilitator and Peer Reviewer, she has published a number of articles spanning a 20- year period on a variety of topics.

Dr. Wittmayer’s influence at Dakota State University will be felt for a long time past her retirement.  I know you will join me in wishing her well as she spends more time in her gardens and reading on her front porch.

A national search for her replacement will begin shortly.

Here too, as with the change at the Arts and Sciences dean's position, we hope that change will go smoothly and the results will be good.

Meet the Old Boss: The Dean Steps Down

A big announcement came down at DSU today regarding the leadership we've had in the College of Arts and Sciences.  Our dean is stepping down.  

Dr. Kari Forbes-Boyte announced today that she will be stepping down as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences as of June 2013 to pursue full-time teaching here at Dakota State University. She plans to teach in the areas of geography and cultural anthropology starting Fall 2013.
 Since Dr. Forbes-Boyte began her career at DSU as Dean in 2005, the College of Arts and Sciences has grown to include new cutting-edge programs and has fostered research activities for both faculty and students.  The programs in Digital Arts and Design and Computer Game Design, developed while Dr. Forbes-Boyte was dean, have quickly become some of the largest programs at DSU. The cross-college approach to the Computer Game Design degree has built a challenging program that brings the art and technology of gaming together for well-rounded educational experience. The College of Arts and Sciences has also fully implemented the Math Emporium for pre-general education math courses since Dr. Forbes-Boyte has been Dean.
 The research culture within the college has also flourished under Dean Forbes-Boyte’s leadership, with faculty in the college awarded almost $300,000 in grant funds last year. These grants and the active publishing agendas of college faculty have helped build a college where research in both liberal arts and natural sciences is greatly valued.   During her tenure, the Science Center underwent a massive renovation and reopened for classes in 2010.  And, under Dean Forbes-Boyte’s leadership, the college has developed a culturally rich program of speakers and has sponsored a wide variety of learning activities for students outside the classroom, including student participation in regional and national competitions and conferences.  Dr. Forbes-Boyte has also been key in developing a multi-cultural campus through her work with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
 Dr. Forbes-Boyte is a tenured, full professor at DSU.  She has also served on the faculty at Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska, where she taught American Indian studies, geography and anthropology and on the faculty at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas.  Before coming to DSU, she served as the Dean of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Sacramento City College in Sacramento, California.
 A national search for her replacement will begin shortly.

Things change, and we always hope that things change for the better.

No Sense of Decency

I can't help thinking that it's about time, and it looks like soon, that some may stand up to Mr. Grover Norquist in the manner that others finally stood up to Sen. Joseph McCarthy when he attacked recklessly in a hearing concerning the U.S. Army.  McCarthy seemed to sniff out Communists anywhere there were people.  Joseph Welch, an attorney for the Army, uttered the lines, "You have done enough.  Have you no sense of dignity?"
A similar charge might be brought against Norquist soon, as Republican signatories to his no-new-tax pledge are beginning to chafe under the binding of his threat to come after them if they reneged.  But these public pledges to a figure not elected to office are helping drag the country to the so-called "fiscal cliff."  It's time they pitch their pledges into the burning barrel and pledged to solve the budget problems first and let Grover grumble.

Snow Queen Competition Update

Who knew what I was thinking when I agreed to be a judge for the 2012 Snow Queen competition that was held in Howard, SD, last night?  Nothing all that critical, I would guess.  And so there I was, spending my Saturday afternoon and evening with some intelligent, lovely young women and two other judges--Dan Bohl and Allison Malone. This competition, which sends its winners on to a state-wide contest, has been held since 1958, and once featured the wife as a contestant.  Turned out to be an interesting day.

Scoff as you might at such contests, the event puts the young women--from middle and high school--on the spot, with interviews with the judges and a pageant at night.  Judges were tasked with ranking the three senior and six junior candidates on several criteria, including poise, sincerity, personality, and other factors.

The interviews and the evening's competition resulted in the crowning of Sidney Thompson as the Senior Snow Queen and Kayla Pardy as Junior Snow Queen.  Each will move on to the state competition in Aberdeen in January.  Both will represent Miner County well.

It might come as a surprise that perhaps 300 people attended the event, and they were enthusiastic with each of the announcements of the winners.

The evening also included a talent show (not connected to the Snow Queen contest) where a very young Faith Genzlinger strutted away with the title of the Junior Talent division with a rendition of "These Boots Were Made for Walking."  Derick Burghardt was unopposed in the Senior Talent division.

Would I do it again?  I suspect I'd be tempted.  The event organizers treated us well and nobody egged the car or threatened to punch me out.  And it's not every day that a guy gets so many lovely smiles from attractive young women or gets to enjoy so much glitz and glitter.

Test Pie/Go Pie

Here's what comes from volunteering to make a "real" pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving at the in-laws.  It's a risky business, since pumpkin pie is, for some people, the linchpin of the entire meal.  So, it's not clear yet whether the pie will hold up under the scrutiny of the pie aficionados at the Hueners household, but from what I could tell from the pies in progress, it looked like I managed to hold my own.  

I started by walking out on to the front porch and plucking one of the display pumpkins--maybe not the best source of pumpkin flavor, but it made me feel real and practical.  Then I cut it in halves, baked it to softness, peeled and sorted it, then zapped it in the processor until it was smooth.  That was yesterday.  Today I chose a recipe that supplemented the pumpkin with yams for an even pumpkinier taste.  Lots of milk and cream.  Made the crust with a modified Nancy Moose recipe (changing some water to vodka), then filled the cooked crust with heated filling.  

Waited for the jiggle to move only to the center, and here we are.  I'm ready for a taste.  

GPACW and the Future of Computers and Writing

Word is that the next Great Plains Alliance for Computers and Writing Conference will go big next year, being hosted by none other than the University of Minnesota at their main campus in downtown St. Paul (or Minneapolis--stay tuned).  After the success of the event yesterday at Mankato, it's sure to be a conference that brings in even more people curious and willing to share about the work that people are doing in this field.

My own session had a small but interested group that heard from Matt Barton of St. Cloud about what we could learn from Kickstarter and similar crowd-funding opportunities.   They heard me talk about our growing English for New Media program at Dakota State University, and they heard Danica Stith of Iowa State talk about using political ads in a swing state for doing rhetorical analysis.  That group lingered and talked and shared more ideas as the conference wound down to a close.

Kudos to Lee Tesdell and his crew at Mankato State University for a job well done.  I look forward to next year!

Living in Red

Mr. Obama's election victory came as a welcome gift from those who made that choice in places mostly far from where I live, and mostly far from where I have ever lived.  In the end, those who voted for him in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Kansas--all states I once and do call home--were essentially uncounted. Their electoral college votes all went to Romney. In fact, despite our hopes for a continuation of the President chosen four years ago, we could only watch as people in other places, most of them far from Lake County, South Dakota, overcame those who chose Obama's opponent.

So a guy has to reflect on living among a majority whose views are so different from his own.  So I look back on places I have lived to see how far out of synch from the majority I am, at least on choosing a president:
RED:  Stanley County, SD:  Obama 28.2%, Romney 69.0%
RED:  Lawrence County, SD:  Obama 35.0%, Romney 61.8%
RED: Albany County, WY:  Obama 46.4%, Romney 48.9%
RED: Yellowstone County, MT:  Obama 39.0%, Romney 58.6%
RED: Ford County, KS:  Obama 30.5%, Romney 67.5%
BLUE:  Roberts County, SD:  Obama 54.1%, Romney 44.2%
RED:  Lake County, SD:  Obama 43.3%, Romney 54.4%.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?  It is nice to know, however, that my three children are all living in areas more friendly to Mr. Obama and the Democrats in general:  Hennepin County, MN, went for Obama 62.4% and Romney 35.6%.  They're among those who chose the President.  Thank you, people in blue. 

All figures are from the "President Map" on The New York Times.

Sunset on Election Day

Sunset on Election Day

We've watched and listened and read all about the candidates and the issues on the ballot, and now it's time to put that work to rest and watch the results come in.

Let's hope, whatever our choices, that we've made things better for ourselves and our neighbors.

Election Day

It's election day across the country, like the day we open the presents beneath the tree, ones that have been sitting there for a year and a half, one we want, one we don't (at least we think).  The sun came up like it does every day, and it will again tomorrow, no matter how it all turns out.

I can't help thinking, though, that the consequences of our presidential election will be big.  Two very different paths on the agenda.

Zombie Life Meets Gangnam Style

One of the more popular shows on television today depicts a post-apocalyptic world of a few survivors facing hoards of walking zombies, the AMC program "The Walking Dead." Our DSU campus is celebrating its own version of the dead versus the living in a game of HvZ--Humans versus Zombies. In a backdrop to these developments, PSY is dancing his ass off, gangnam style.  Which leads to the following.  You've been warned:

Soul Mates?

Nice little video of love buzz.

Hey Kobrinsky, Check Out the Dead Man

Sister-in-law Sarah Kobrinsky (and fictional detective) has a new short piece in The Molotov Cocktail:  Dead Man! 

October 25, A Day to Celebrate

When the wife's birthday comes around, we take the chance to get out and do something a bit different to make the day special and to celebrate the event.  So, this year we buzzed out of town and did some things that she likes to do, which, in this case, involved eating some good food, doing a little shopping for clothes and other stuff, and feeling lots of different kinds of yarn.  Anything the wife wants to do, I'm her man. 

Crawford's in downtown Sioux Falls

We also did some things for yours truly, which involved picking up some new tires for the bicycle and having a good "old-fashioned" down at Crawford's, where we had some excellent food (blackberry ribs and walnut-encrusted pork chop) and dessert (midnight chocolate cake).  Yum!  Beautiful place, too. 

We also picked up a copy of the new Joe Walsh album, "Analog Man," but we forgot it in the trunk and haven't listened to it yet. 

First Snow, 2012

First Snow, Fall 2012

Schoolchildren across parts of South Dakota are rejoicing today (or at least going back to sleep) as snow has accumulated enough to cause schools to open a few hours late, from Bon Homme to Scotland to Bennett County. 

Rejoice, young people, and enjoy those few extra hours of sleep! 

Investing in the Zombie Future

Doesn't this look delicious? A zombie documentary, sort of, from the makers of THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS. Featuring Simon Pegg and George A. Romero.

Russell and Me

I don't have a picture of me and Russell Means, who died yesterday at the age of 72, like I do have of me and George McGovern.  But our paths did cross, several times.  I was a young kid working on a ranch down in southwestern South Dakota, just off the Rosebud Reservation, and the American Indian Movement was in full swing in that area.  I was working with some Lakota ranch hands on the place, but I was afraid of those wild AIM guys.  At that time Russel Means was active on the reservation, trying to revive some traditions that were being lost, and there was a sun dance planned near Ghost Hawk Lake, between Parmalee, SD, and St. Francis.

It just so happened that the ranch where I was working was north of Parmalee and my boss wanted me to drive a tractor to St. Francis, where we were going to work some land.  That meant I had to drive the tractor past where the sun dance was being held.  And it didn't have a road gear.  So, I remember full well the anxiety I had as I crossed bridges marked with spray-painted AIM lettering and other "Red Power" slogans.  And fearing what might happen as I neared the sun dance.  But nothing did.  Russell Means, the warrior/trouble-maker, in our view, was supposed to be there.  I couldn't see much.  Later, as I passed a little settlement of houses, some kids began to run out from their yards, and they could have caught me easily, even easier on bicycles, but they apparently had little interest in me.

Years later, I talked with Russell Means on the phone when I was researching the reaction of Indians to the popularity of "Dances With Wolves."  He denounced that film as one of the most racist movies ever, and although I agreed that there were problems with the film, there wasn't much of a chance to convey that to him.  He wanted to be heard.  Shortly afterwards I learned that he had been filming "Last of the Mohicans" about that time, and I was impressed with his role in that--a very non-stereotypical character.  But at that same time, what many do not know, was that he was also playing a very stereotypical role in a computer game, "Under the Killing Moon," one of the first computer games to include live action video.

I also seem to remember that my grandfather, who lived in Sioux City, once rented a house to Russell Means, which was right next door to him.  I remember a woman coming to the door, paying the rent, and my grandfather telling me, "That's Russell Means, in the car."  We knew who he was then.  That was maybe 1970 or so.  

So, another of these iconic figures for me is gone.