Family arranges funeral for WSU student
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn., Feb, 28, 2010 -- The family of a Winona State Univerity who died in his campus-area apartment last week, composed this obituaryLDerek Charles Henderson, age 20 of Bovey, Minn., died Wednesday, in Winona. |  DEREK HENDERSON 1989-2010 |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 28, 2010 Vandalism was reported in Kryzsko Commons. |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 27, 2010 Several students were cited for alcohol in Prentiss-Lucas dorm at 1:07 a.m. A mother phoned at 10:00 p.m. regarding a welfare check on her son. Someone injured an ankle at Somsen Hall at 3:01 p.m. Several students were cited at 1:15 a.m. for alcohol in the Sheehan dorm. A student was found with drug paraphernalia in the Lourdes dorm at 7:45 p.m. |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 26, 2010 Several students were cited for alcohol in Prentiss-Lucas dorm at 1:07 a.m. A student was cited at 9:43 p.m. for bringing alcohol onto the intracampus shuttle bus. |
Student found dead in WSU-area apartment
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 25, 2010 -- A Winona State University junior, Derek Charles Henderson, was found dead Thursday night in his campus neighborhood apartment two days after friends last saw him. Police Chief Paul Bostrack said that the cause of death had not been determined but that foul playb wasn't suspected. An autopsy is expected. There was no sign of intoxication, Bostrack said. Friends found the body in a chair in the locked apartment, at W. Wabasha St. The friends kicked in the door when Henderson didn't respond. Bostrack said the last person to see Henderson was a friend who had left him in the apartment about 9 p.m., Tuesday, after watching a movie.
Henderson, 20, from Grand Rapids, Minn., was majoring in exercise and cardiac rehab. | DEREK HENDERSON 1989-2010 |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 24, 2010 A student reported at 9:40 a.m. that she was being harassed by another student on campus. |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 20, 2010 A student who had previously been restricted from the dorms was found in the Quad dorm at 11:43 p.m. Police made a trespass arrest. Police arrested a student was arrested by the for underage boozing near Ninth and Huff streets. A male visitor was causing a disturbance in the Sheehan dorm at 1:30 a.m. He was removed. An individual struck a parked vehicle on Mark Street near the Physical Plant. Police were called. |
Bachmann call: Rescue of America from Obama
| WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2009 -- Rep. Michele Bachmann, carrying her right-wing crusade to the Conservative Political Action Conference, said the United States is on a course intended for failure. Bachmann, a Winona State University grad, blamed "stunning" growth of federal spending and influence. Almost as if catching herself in an unintended sound bite, she told fellow conservatives: "This is intending to fail -- that's what this is -- intending to fail." Her speech had frequent references to the American Revolution for a red, white and blue context for her precision that the country faces "decline." She told 8,000 conventioneers that President Barack Obama's spending priorities "sound to me like somebody is choosing decline." Bachmann singled out the like the federal stimulus law that she opposed. |  MICHELE BACHMANN In Congress from 6th Minnesota District |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 19, 2010 Several students were cited for alcohol in the Maria dorm at 8:14 p.m. A student who was previously restricted from the dorm was found in the Maria dorm at 8:14 p.m. Police were called. A student who was previously restricted from the halls was found in Maria. Matter referred to the Director of Security and Winona Police Department. |
Police send WSU dorm intruder packing
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 19, 2010 -- Police cited a Rochester, Minn., for trespassing after he was found in the Richards dorm at Winona State University. Paul Joseph Hayward, 19, was neither a dorm tenant nor a student, police said.Will Virginia Tech choose civility? Censorship?
BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 19, 2010 -- A campus board at Virginia Tech has threatened to cut funding to the student newspaper for allowing anonymous postings on the paper's web site -- and also to encourage an advertising boycott. The chair of the Commission on Student Affairs, Michelle McLeese, said some positing have been racist and offensive. The newspaper, Collegiate Times, is legally independence but receives free office space and $70,000 a year from the university. The McLeese proposal would ban student organizations from using university funds to buy ads in the paper.| MORE |
Kelly Wolff, general manager of Collegiate Times, said the university can expect a court battle if the Commission on Student Affairs persist. The proposal is "completely unconstitutional," Wolff said. Also, she said, it would constitute a breach of contract.
| MORE |
The university's image-makers are background players in the issue. The university's vice president for student affairs, Ed Spencer said: "The concern is not the content per se, although some of it is alarming -- homophobic and racist and so forth. The concern is it portrays a campus climate that may not be our campus climate. Anyone from anywhere in the world could be posting them."
| MORE |
Spencer tried to deflect attention from the specter of university censorship of student media: "This is not an issue of freedom of the press." Even so, several advocacy groups for free expression have weighed in and charged the proposal is a violation of Tech's own institutional principles. One university's Principles of Community states: "We affirm the right of each person to express thoughts and opinions freely." Backers of the McLeese proposal countered that the Principles contain contradictory values in another sentence: "We encourage open expression within a climate of civility, sensitivity and mutual respect."
La Crosse rumor-mongers asked to hold tongues
LA CROSSE, Feb. 19, 2009 -- To rumor mongers, Police Chief Ed Kondracki said: Give it a rest. Kondracki issued a statement in the drowning death of Chris Meyers, 21: "There is no serial killer!" The death of Meyers rekindled tales, all long debunked, of young men being targeted and killed and then dumped in the Mississippi River. There indeed have been eight drink-related river deaths with downtown bar district connections in the last decade. All have been attributed officially to suicide or drunkenness.| MORE |
Addressing rumor-mongers, Kondracki said: "Please show some respect for the Meyers family and the men and women who police our streets." Kondracki mentioned stories of a rogue cop, long-range hypnotists, a seductive female or a national smiley face gang. These, he said, are beyond the pale and demeaning to all."
Background: Drowning victim blood-alcohol at 0.28%
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 18, 2010 A student was cited for alcohol in the Tau dorm at 11:35 p.m. Security guards conducted a welfare check on a student in the Lourdes dorm at 4:30 p.m. |
Book digitization project on WSU program
WINONA, Minn. Feb, 16, 2009 -- The director of Digital Collections and Imaging at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Wayne Torberg, will discuss his work ay digitizing and preserving books in many countries. The presentation, "45 years of Manuscript Preservation," is part of the university's Celebration of the Book series.Date: Wednesday, Feb. 24
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center
Cost: Free
Details: Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at
ENRICHED CAMPUS NEWS REPORT AVAILABLE BY PRE-SCREENED SUBSCRIPTION APPLY FOR DETAILS |
Open house focuses on disadvantaged kids
WINONA, Minn., Feb 15, 2010 -- An open-house on the needs of disadvantaged young people working to improve their lives will be held at Winona State University. Gar Kellom, director of the the university's Student Support Services, said the campus community can learn the importance of investing in the education of these students.Date: Friday, Feb. 26
Time: 10 a.m. toto 12 p.m.
Place: Room 219, Krueger Library
Cost: Free
Contact: Gar Kellom at
Church school bans "gay" in club name
ST. CHARLES, Mo., Feb. 14, 2010 -- Administrators at Presbyterian-affiliated Lindenwood University will recognize a new campus gay group so long as "gay" isn't part of its name. University President James Evans also said the group must accept "other students in need of understanding and support." Student organizer Jack Sago found the conditions acceptable. The group, Sago said, would be known as Spectrum Alliance. Originally the group was to be called a gay-straight alliance, administrators called that "parochial and self-serving."| MORE |
Lindenwood, enrollment, 14,500, with an administration known for sensitivity to values in the conservative Bible Belt. A Lindenwood spokesperson, Scott Queen, said a gays-only group was too "parochial and self-serving" for Lindenwood: "It doesn't offer a benefit to the campus community." With the name Spectrum Alliance, a broadly stated goal of social justice and no limiting definition of membership, the group will be allowed to proceed. Sago, the student organizer, was satisfied: "Qt the end of the day, we accomplished our goal; it's still a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender group. We can pick our own topics, speakers and own events and functions."
| MORE |
Campus gay leaders elsewhere had raised eyebrows. Shane Windmeyer, executive director of the national group Campus Pride, said: "They're being told they can have a club, but they have to be in it with all the other marginalized group." "It basically says you're not important enough to have your own club."
| MORE |
Lindenwood has placed itself in the crosshairs of conflicting values. The university claims a historical relationship with the Presbyterian Church "firmly rooted in Judeo-Christian values" that promote "ethical lifestyles." It also claims to be a liberal arts university.
Autopsy: Drowning victim blood-alcohol at 0.28%
LA CROSSE, Wis., Feb. 18, 2009 -- A La Crosse college student whose body was recovered from the Mississippi River died from cold-water drowning, according to a [preliminary autopsy report. Medical Examiner John Steers said that hypothermia and alcohol were factors in the death of Craig Meyers, 21. His blood-alcohol content was 0.28 percent-- 3-1/2 times the state definition of drunken driving. Results of toxicology tests will take longer, Steers said. Meyers disappeared early Sunday after a wedding reception and at least two bar stops.Background: Clues point to river in La Crosse search
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 17, 2010 Security guards responded at 10:35 a.m. to an alcohol incident in the Prentiss-Lucas dorm. One student left and was eventually was arrested. Security guards witnessed an accident on 9th Street by the Quad dorms at 12:20 a.m. and called police. A professor had reported the theft of a desk, which later was located in another office. An individual threatened another person on campus |
Student's body found off La Crosse riverfront
LA CROSSE, Wis., Feb. 16, 2009 -- Divers pulled the body of a La Crosse college student from the Mississippi River near the riverfront hotel and recreation district. Cameras had spotted the body of Craig Meyers, 21, about 20 feet into the current at the Marriott Courtyard hotel. Tracks in the snow had led to the river.Background: Clues point to river in La Crosse search
Golden parachute for North Texas president
DENTON, Texas, Feb. 15, 2009 -- Typical of university presidents who are fired of forced out, Gretchen Bataille of North Texas will have a soft landing. A severance agreement continues her salary to May 31. Then she received $599,000 to cover her salary through August 2011. Also, she was granted a concurrent year research position for $150,000. Bataille a tenured professor of English, can take up a $139,000 faculty appointment. The system will also pay $20,000 legal fees, although it was not clear why she has run up attorney bills.
Neither Chancellor Lee Jackson, who reportedly wanted her out, nor Bataille has explained her sudden departure. The university's governing board listened Wednesday to student and faculty pleas to retain Bataille, who was well liked among those constituencies. Background: Regents to North Texas president: OK, Bye |  GRETCHEN BATAILLE $900,000 in severance deal |
Clues point to river in La Crosse search
LA CROSSE, Wis., Feb. 15, 2009 -- A bloodhound tracking a missing Western Technical College student, Craig Meyers, led searchers to the downtown riverfront. Divers hesitated to entered the Mississippi main channel because of dangerous conditions under the ice. Cameras lowered into the water found nothing. The student, Craig Meyers, 21, disappeared early Sunday. Footprints were found leading onto the ice behind the Marriott Courtyard hotel, police said. Also, a security camera had taped someone of Meyers' description walking alone on a downtown street early Sunday.Background: Student vanishes after night of drinking
Campus gathering planned in Essar memory
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 14, 2010-- Campus people have been invited to a brief program of memories of biology prof Dave Essar, who died Feb. 3:Date: Thursday, Feb. 18Background: Prof professor of year dies
Time: 4:30 p.m. open house, 5 p.m. program
Place: Atrium, Science Laboratory Center
Cost: Free
Contact: Mary Dieckmann at (507) 457-5270
Student vanishes after night of drinking
LA CROSSE, Wis., Feb. 14, 2009 -- A Western Technical College student, Craig Meyers, 21, disappeared after a wedding reception and downtown bar-hopping Saturday night. A cousin told police about giving Meyers a lift around 1:50 a.m. and letting him off. Police were checking surveillance cameras in the downtown area, including the riverfront, for images that might show where Meyers headed. The disappearance raised the specter of the drowning deaths of eight college-age men in the downtown area over the past nine years.| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 14, 2010 A student was cited for a housing violation in Prentiss-Lucas dorm at 12:45 a.m. A student was cited for drugs in the Lourdes dorm at 12:45 a.m. |
WSU paying $52,000 for conference table
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 13, 2010 -- Winona State University has paid $52,000 for a custom-designed bamboo conference table with video bells and whistles, the Daily News reported. The table was ordered for the new Professional Resource Center in the remodeled Maxwell library, The table will seat 40. Video conferencing capabilities are built in.| MORE |
Reporter Matt Christensen of the Daily News found shocked responses when he asked campus people about the table. Said student President Caitlin Stene: "It doesn't look good, especially because of the budget situation we're in." Stene said the university could do better things with its money. At St. Mary's University, spokesperson Deb Nahrgang responded: "I don't think we have any furniture worth $50,000."
| MORE |
Christensen noted that the table will be installed in late February, even as the campus braces for staff layoffs. Last week university President Judith Ramaley issued a fire report layoffs may be necessary because of fading state budget support in the stagnant economy. About the table, Ramaley deflected queries to Kurt Lohide, her facilities vice president.
| MORE |
Lohide defended the table cost as reasonable, noting that it probably will y have a 50-year life span. Also, Lohide said, there had been a higher bid -- $74,000. Lohide said the table will replace temporary folding tables. To fill the space with smaller pieces of furniture, he said.
ENRICHED CAMPUS NEWS REPORT AVAILABLE BY PRE-SCREENED SUBSCRIPTION APPLY FOR DETAILS |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 13, 2010 Security guards contacted two individuals arguing outside of the Lourdes dorm at 1:01 a.m.and sent them on their way. |
University buys site license for physics textbook
RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 13, 2010 -- North Carolina State University is offering free textbooks to beginning physics students through a site license from the publisher. The $1,495 license for "Physics Fundamentals" by Vincent Coletta, paid to publisher Physics Curriculum & Instruction, gives students access. Students may also purchase the Coletta text for $49 at the campus bookstore. The book is used for Physics 211 and 212. The courses enroll 1,300 students a year.| MORE |
The Coletta text, first issued in 1995, is widely used. Coletta is on the faculty of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 12, 2010 A student was cited for alcohol in the Maria dorm at 11:16 p.m. |
North Carolina president to step down
CHAPEL ILL, N.C., Feb. 12, 2010 -- The president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system, Erskine Bowles, announced his resignation after four years of one scandal after another. Bowles' resignation is effective when a successor is found. Bowles, chief staff to President Bill Clinton, returned to run his alma mater in 2005. It was his first job as a higher-e administrator. Among scandals on Bowles' watch was a nursing program that failed to enforce graduation requirements. Then there was a small satellite campus operating in a church in a suburb of Atlanta without authorization from the system's governing board. Gaining most publicity was a decision at North Carolina State University to hire the wife of the governor, which became an ethical and political controversy.Hadyn on WSU recital program
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 12, 2010 -- A Winona State University faculty duo, violinist Natalie Filipovich and celloist Paul Vance, will perform works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Bohuslav Martini and Zoltan Kodaly:Date: Tuesday, Feb. 16
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center Recital Hall
Cost: $4-8
Regents to North Texas president: OK. bye
DENTON, Texas, Feb. 12, 2009 -- The University of North Texas governing board voted 7-2 to accept the resignation of President Gretchen Bataille. At the meeting a dozen faculty and students, some in armbands of protest, spoke to keep Bataille. Student President Dakota Carter called Bataille well-loved on campus and said the resignation had been "completely back-door, behind-the-scenes, political craziness." Bataille offered no explanation for he surprise resignation two days earlier.| MORE |
It has been known that system Chancellor Lee Jackson had been increasingly unhappy with Bataille. Jackson didn't like her decision to move key offices to a satellite campus, home to a newly approved law school, north of Dallas. In a later job interview, sources said, Jackson gigged Bataille for not meeting goals for federal research projects. Bataille's faculty supporters countered that she has worked aggressively to promote North Texas as a top-tier research university and that more research is under way than ever.
Background: North Texas president quits, but why?
Three Alabama profs shot dead, three wounded
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Feb. 12, 2010 -- Three biology professors were shot dead and three others wounded during a late afternoon department faculty meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. A seventh faculty member, Amy Bishop Anderson, 45 was arrested leaving the building, Police Chief Henry Reyes said. On the second floor police found a 9 mm, Reyes said. Anderson was charged with capital murder, a crime under state law for two or more intentional deaths.
Killed were Gopi Podila, chai of biology; and Maria Davis and Adriel Johnson, both tenured professors. In critical condition at the Huntsville hospital were Joseph Leahy and Luis Cruz-Vera. In stable condition was Stephanie Monticello.
Dorms were locked down within 10 minutes of the shooting. An alert about the incident followed half an hour later.
Earlier in the day, Anderson had taught a class in anatomy, with 100 students.
No motive was immediately clear. One report was that Anderson, who held a doctorate from Harvard in genetics, was up for tenure. Anther report said her husband Jim, a researcher at the university, was up for tenure too. |  AMY BISHOP ANDERSON Prof charged in campus killings |
Truman search chair: We lost enthusiasm
KIRKVILLE, Mo., Feb. 11, 2009 -- The search that landed former Winona State University dean into the presidency at Truman State University was so dragged out that momentum and enthusiasm for the vacancy waned, the search chair said. The advice of Ken Read, secretary of Truman State's governing board, for presidential searches: Move quickly. The Truman State search took two years. In the end, the only finalist who still wanted the job was Troy Paino, who had been chancellor two years after leaving Winona State. Read's comments came as Missouri State University was considering hiring a search firm for $100,000 for its search for a new president.| MORE |
Read said a search firm might have made for a better search at Truman State. Knowledgeable help can be important in essential, early coordination. "You need a search firm or a great coordinator if you don't have time," he said. "There are no shortcuts," he said. Basic services such as background checks can be a bottleneck, Read said, noting that his 15-member committee reviewed 66 applications in narrowing its field.
| MORE |
For the Missouri State search beginning now, the goal is to have a new president in place by July. A Texas-based academic search firm, R. William Funk & Associates, told the Missouri State search committee that the timeline is ambitious but possible with "an all-out blitz."
Background: Paino by default as Truman State president
Binghamton top brass faulted for sports lapses
BINGHAMTON, N.Y., Feb. 11, 2010 -- The president of Binghamton University and the former athletic director failed in their oversight responsibilities are to blame for a scandals that have plagued the men's basketball program, an investigation concluded, In a 99-page report ordered by to the State University of New York governing board, President Lois B. DeFleur and Athletics Director Joel Thirer. DeFluer announced in January that he would retire in July. Thirer was reassigned to the provost's office months ago.| MORE |
The reported recommended creation of a systemwide SUNY "athletic oversight officer" who would monitor the admission, academic progress and behavior of athletes.
| MORE |
The university's men's basketball team went to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2009, but the accomplishment ended up clouded. Ten athletes either quit or were dismissed for misconduct or academic deficiencies after the season. This fall, six more players were dismissed. Word leaked that basketball coach Kevin Broadus had pressed admissions officials campus to give special breaks to applicants with marginal academic promise. At first DeFleur supported Broadus, but he has since been placed on leave.
| MORE |
The new report said that DeFleur "took no corrective action in her role as the supervisor of the athletic director and the person charged with ultimate responsibility." The report also faulted Mr. Thirer for failing to adequately supervise the men's basketball coach. An open question is whether NCAA rules were broken. Binghamton is in the NCAA's Division I.
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 11, 2010 A student reported at 6:05 p.m. that she was sexually assaulted at an off-campus location. |
Analysis: College budgets may never recover
BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 11, 2010 -- Finances are tighter for higher-ed with enrollment increases in the current economic bad times without concurrent state government budget support, says the State Higher Education Executive Officers association. The association's analysis concludes the crunch will continue even after the economy has fully recovered. Paul Lingenfelter, president of the association, said: "The big story is that the demand for higher education is outstripping the ability of states to finance it."| MORE |
Unlike recent recessions, when state support increased after the recovery, the nation's college this time are falling more and more behind -- more than ever before, the analysis said. The 2009 level of per-student appropriations was 13 percent below the $8,00 that states were providing in 2001, when higher education budgets were at a high point, the report said. When the next recovery begins, states and colleges will be starting from further behind, Lingenfelter said.
ENRICHED CAMPUS NEWS REPORT AVAILABLE BY PRE-SCREENED SUBSCRIPTION APPLY FOR DETAILS |
High-schoolers at record high in pre-college exam
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2010 -- A record 15.9 percent of the public high school students achieved at least one Advanced Placement Exam score of 3 or higher last year, the College Board, which administers the exam, reported. Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said the schools indicate that more students than ever before are participating in rigorous course work and succeeding. The AP score is considered predictive of college success. The 2009 15.9 percent is up from 15.2 percent in 2008 and 12.7 percent in 2004. Upper MIdwest percentages:
Wisconsin
Illinois
Minnesota
South Dakota
Iowa
North Dakota17.3 percent
15.9 percent
15.5 percent
10.3 percent
8.3 percent
6.4 percent
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 10, 2010 Security guards responded to the Quad dorm at 2:20 p.m. on a drug complaint of drugs. Report unfounded. A student was cited for an alcohol violation in the Prentiss-Lucas dorm at 10:10 p.m. |
Court gets tough on textbook swap service
HAMBURG, Germany, Feb. 10, 2010 -- The file-trading web site RapidShare lost a case in the Landgericht district court over making textbooks available. Publishers had compiled a list of 148 titles that are frequently pirated on the site. The court gave RapidShare until Feb. 17 to do more to stop the unauthorized swapping of copyrighted books and to keep certain copyrighted books off its site. The court threatened fines of $340,000 and two-year jail terms for RapidShare executives for every specified book that is not removed.| MORE |
About the decision, the company said that it meets all legal requirements regarding copyright. A spokesperson said the decision will be appealed. Meanwhile, the spokesperson said, RapidShare is installing filters to check for copyright violations
University president quits, but why?
DENTON, Texas, Feb. 10, 2010 --The president of the University of North Texas, Gretchen Bataille, resigned unexpectedly. Bataille made the announcement on the university website, offering no explanation to detailing "significant progress: in her plan to be a "transformational leader." Speculation sprouted quickly that Bataille had been forced to resign. There has been criticism that North Texas is missing goals for eternally funded research support, student retention and fund raising.
Bataille's online statement said: "When I accepted the UNT presidency I made the commitment to serve as a transformational leader. I saw a great opportunity to forge a clear direction for the university's future and to take it to new heights. As a university community, we have made significant progress in many areas, including academics, arts, research, athletics, and image and reputation. A better infrastructure is in place to achieve our strategic goals and to embrace new opportunities. Pride in our university is at an all-time high, and we have achieved unprecedented levels of state and national recognition."
Bataille had been president since 2006. She was the university;s first woman president. Earlier she senior academic vice president for the University of North Carolina system. | GRETCHEN BATAILLE Mystery attends resignation |
R.I.P.: Roger A. Burgoon
ROCHESTER, Minn., Feb. 9, 2010 -- A 1993 Winona Technical College grad in maintenance, Roger Burgoon. 60, died at a Rochester hospital. Before college he served 23 years in the Navy and Army. His service included the Vietnam war and Operation Desert Storm. He worked at Technical Die Cast in exurban stockton, Minn.Laptop reported stolen from WSU dorm
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 10, 2010 -- A Winona State University student reported a Toshiba laptop computer was stolen from his room at the Lourdes dorm, police said. The man said the theft was in the period Feb. 4 to 8,SMU choir offers a capella concert
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 9, 2010 -- The 22-voice St. Mary's University Chamber Singers will present an a capella concert with works by Hatfield, Scarlatti, O'Shea, Willan and Woolen during homecoming. Patrick O'Shea, director, has chosen items from the choir's 2010 tour.Date: Thursday, Feb. 25
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, CST campus
Cost: Free
Contact: Contact: (507) 457-15598
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 7, 2010 Several students were cited for alcohol violation at the East Lake dorm at 1:45 a.m. Two non students visiting at the Maria dorm began causing a disturbance outside at 1:40 a.m. Police cited one of them for underage boozing and sent him to the hospital. A drunk student at the Quad dorm was taken to the hospital ay 12:20 a.m. |
WSU orez restrained over Essar death
WINONA Minn., Feb. 5, 2010 -- The president of Winona State University, Judith Ramaley, called on campus people to to keep in their thoughts the family of Dave Essar, the biology prof who committed suicide Wednesday. Otherwise, Ramaley's announcement was noncommittal about the colorful and mercurial prof whom students once named Prof the Year. The Ramaley statement:Dear WSU Community,Background: Drug overdose claims Professor of Year
It is with great sadness that I inform you that David Essar, a member of our university community, passed away Feb. 3.
Dr. Essar, a professor in the biology department, began teaching at Winona State University in 1992.
Funeral arrangements are pending, and the details will be shared when available.
The loss of a member of our academic community affects all of us. I ask that you keep David's family in your thoughts during this sad and difficult time.
Judith A. Ramaley,
President
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 5, 2010 A student reported at 2 p.m. that she was assaulted by a roommate at an off-campus residence. |
Drug overdose claims WSU Professor of Year
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 4, 2010 -- A veteran Winona State University biology prof, David W.Essar, was found dead Wednesday of a drug overdose at the home of friends where he had been staying. He was 50. Earlier in his Winona State career, which began in 1992, Essar was voted Professor of the Year in a Student Senate-sponsored poll in 1998. At the time Essar was teaching large-enrollment introductory courses and was known for colorful lectures and presentations and also fanciful, entertaining asides. In recent years he taught seminars and smaller upper-division courses in microbiology.
In accordance with his wishes, the family arranged cremation. No visitation was planned. The family said an obituary would appear in a Kalamazoo, Mich., later and perhaps in Winona.
An autopsy was ordered, as routine in deaths apparently with unnatural causes. Several people familiar with the situation said that Essar had overdosed on prescription drugs. The autopsy may help Coroner Tom Retzinger determine whether to declare the death accidental. Essar had been under treatment for issues that last spring led to a mental meltdown that he himself chronicled in his classes.
In a March 10 email message to students last year Essar said he had been dealing with mental issues since February: "I apologize that I had to cancel class & lab today. As you all know, before Spring Break I was very ill, in fact I spent a couple of times in the hospital. It is now mid-March & I'm still ill; modern medicine has yet to figure out what is going on." He also mentioned personal complications in his life" "Over Spring Break some very serious family issues have developed that have left me devastated both emotionally & physically."
In mid-semester, university President Judith Ramaley ordered Essar to go on leave. The leave was for a disciplinary investigation triggered by a student complaint that Essar had slammed him against a wall and kneed him. The issue but was complicated by whether Essar's psychological issues should be considered mitigating. Ramaley decided after a 30-day investigation that Essar would be allowed resume faculty duties.
This spring Essar was teaching a light load: A senior-level course in microbiology and a seminar entitled "Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases."
Essar held bachelor and master's degrees from Ferris State College in Big Rapids, Mich. The master's, in pharmacy, was in 1981. His 1989 doctorate was from the University of Iowa in microbiology.
As a teacher, Essar scored well with students. Essar was consistently rated high in RateMyProfessors.com tallies. Typical of comments: "He is a very very nice man. Sometimes the material was too difficult for non-science majors. His exams are not easy, lots of fill in the blank. He does give review questions & exam questions are from the review questions.
Even so, there were occasional less enthusiastic evaluations on RateMyProfessors.com: "DO NOT TAKE FOR LAB IF YOU CAN HELP IT! He truly knows his stuff but he is very rude to his students. He talks forever about his life & past, but it doesn't pertain to lab. He also marks against you in lab if you are not perfect."
Essar gained prominence beyond campus in high-visibility romance with former Deputy Police Chief Andrea Foss and their subsequent marriage in 2002. Foss had just won a settlement from FedEx, reportedly several million dollars, for the death of her state trooper husband Ted Foss in a traffic accident. Essar adopted the two Essar children, Mitchell and Hannah.The new couple moved quickly into Winona's tony social set. Their new home at the head of Knopp Valley was on the loop of fund-raising gala house crawls. In a Winona Daily News account of one party, one guest, Winona interior decorator Eric Engrav, was quoted marveling about the Essars home at 410 Pleasant Drive: "They have more refrigerators in this house than I have bathrooms." At the party the Essars pinned flowers on guests as they arrived, which everyone thought was a nice touch.
The marriage fell apart, and Andrea filed for divorce in April 2009. In the meantime, she had obtained a restraining order against David. In March he had been arrested on an allegation of violating the order. The court file on the case swelled with charges and counter claims, including knives and death threats in the household, which included Andrea's two children.
During the breakup, David moved to a large brick house on the ridge up County Road YY, near Fountain City, Wis., and began stylish remodeling. The house then was put up for sale. In recent weeks he had been living at the home of dentist Paul and Susan DeGallier in Winona.
The Essar-Foss marriage had surprised campus people, among whom Essar was openly gay and sometimes flamboyant. There were other mysteries that Essar himself fueled, sometimes claiming to be the scion of a Detroit steel fortune. He was a gifted conversationalist and story-teller. Colleagues said Essar sometimes tripped himself up with conflicting stories about himself but almost caught the contradictions and eased his way out of them.
Essar took pride in being impeccably groomed. His dress was natty. Neighbors in his bachelor days, when he lived near campus, were incredulous that he would always have freshly pressed trousers for yard work. He loved gardening, and his yard was a showcase. He enjoyed top-of-the-line, flashy automobiles and liked being considered worldly and cosmopolitan. For a while he used the avatar 'brooksbrothers" on an online dating site.
The marriage had surprised campus people, among whom Essar was open and sometimes flamboyant about being gay. There were other mysteries that Essar himself fueled, sometimes claiming to be the scion of a Detroit steel fortune.
The Essar-Foss saga assumed twisted turns in recent months. After the marriage break-up, she tightened a relationship with a former deputy poice chief, Don Walksi, who had become Winona State's security chief. Ironically, last March it was Walski who was charged with escorting Essar off campus when university President Judith Ramaley suspended him pending the disciplinary investigation. In recent months Essar complained he could not get fair police treatment in Winona because of Foss and Walski's long ties with the police department.
Survivors include Kenneth and Evelyn Essar,his parents; Cathy J. Essar, a sister; Robert Roessler, a nephew; and Kelsey Roessler, a niece.
The family asked that memorial be directed to the Winona State University Foundation for the Dr. David W. Essar Memorial Fund or other charities. |  DAVID ESSAR Biology prof
 WITHIN A BIOLOGY PROP Iowa his alma mater pride |
Background: WSU president clears Essar to resume teaching
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 4, 2010 A non-student injured his leg at the Wabasha Recreation Center at 8:10 p.m. in a basketball game. |
ENRICHED CAMPUS NEWS REPORT AVAILABLE BY PRE-SCREENED SUBSCRIPTION APPLY FOR DETAILS |
Subject: WSU magazine seeks contributors
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 3, 2010 --he Winona State University literary magazine Satori invited students to submit poetry, prose, art and photography for the annual spring edition. The deadline: Feb. 12. Faculty adviser Gary said students may submit as many as five poems, 15 pages of prose and 10 works of art or photos. Art and photography scans should be in black and white as a digital attachment to Satori.| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 3, 2010 At 8:46 a.m. a staff member asked for a check on student who had been out of touch several days. The student was located and OK. |
| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 2, 2010 A student reported at 8:30 a.m. that she was being harassed by a former boyfriend, anon-student). Police were notified. |
WSU students surveying Pine Island
WINONA, Minn., Feb. 1, 2010 -- Winona State University marketing research students will survey Pine Island, Minn., to ascertain the community's core values, challenges, concerns, and successes for a report intended to guide public policy into the future. The chief researcher, marketing student Leon Tyler, students and the Pine Island Environmental Development Authority already have developed four focus groups. Phase 2 will include surveys.| WSU SECURITY REPORT FEB. 1, 2010 student reported at 1 p.m. that he was being harassed by a non-student off campus. Police were notified. |
NEWS TIP? Let us know if you have a campus-related story that needs to be told: editor@indee.info |
TIPS Every item ends with links to scoot elsewhere on the site. US |
PEOPLE WHERE INDEE CONTRIBUTORS ARE NOW  ADAM CROWSON Cheyenne, Wyo., Tribune Eagle  AMBER DULEK Winona Daily News  KRISTIN ELICERIO La Crosse,Wis., WKBT television  LAURA GOSSMAN Rochester, Minn., Post Bulletin  ANNE JUNGEN La Crosse, Wis, Tribune  BRIAN KRANS Moline/Rock Island Dispatch-Argus  CHANDLER MACLEAN Winona Daily News  PAUL SOLBERG Winona Daily News  HEATHER STANEK Fond du Lac, Wis., Reporter  PAUL SLOTH Racine, Wis., Journal Times  IAN STAUFFER Casper, Wyo., Star-Tribune  KATE WEBER Dekalb, Ill., Daily Chronicle |