Tobacco control proponents oppose dismantling of their program to pay for UND med school expansion By: Tu-Uyen Tran, INFORUM

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1 February 1, 2011 February 4, 2011 In this edition: Published February 1, 2011 Not the time for silence By: Tom Miller, Grand Forks Herald As a commissioner of a Division I conference, I m sure there are certain situations in which issuing a no comment response is the most appropriate action for Summit League head Tom Douple to take. At this point, no comment would be an upgrade. Published February 1, 2011 Important Integration Figure in Minot By: Rich Wisniewski, KFYR-TV News Stories Minot State University played host to a person who played an important role in America`s history of school integration. The youngest Little Rock Nine member, Carlotta Walls LaNier spoke in Minot Tuesday night. This article includes video footage. Published February 1, 2011 Students Rock Out in Orchestra By: Jody Kerzman, KFYR-TV News Stories This week, orchestra members from Bismarck and Century High Schools, as well as Horizon, Wachter and Simle middle schools and even Bismarck State College are spending some time with world renowned electric violinist Mark Wood. This article includes video footage. Published February 1, 2011 Tobacco control proponents oppose dismantling of their program to pay for UND med school expansion By: Tu-Uyen Tran, INFORUM Proponents of North Dakota s tobacco control program found a frosty reception Monday when they came to the Capitol to oppose the dismantling of their program to pay for another program at the University of North Dakota to increase the number of health care workers in the state. Broadcasted February 1, 2011 Legislation to Save UND Nickname and Logo Valley News Live This article is a video clip.

2 Published February 2, 2011 Non-resident tuition bill KXMBTV Bismarck Non-resident tuition is in the cross-hairs today. A bill introduced would set a minimum tuition rate for non-resident students. This article includes video footage. Broadcasted February 2, 2011 Podcast: SBHE members Shaft and Espegard on higher ed issues Scott Hennen Show This article is an audio clip. Published February 2, 2011 Transition group moves ahead with plans to archive nickname By: Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald UND archivists will scour university offices and departments for letters, photographs, documents and artifacts to preserve the history of the Sioux and Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. Published February 2, 2011 Quality in higher education important By: David Fuller, Wahpeton Daily News Higher education must continue to demonstrate that it is responsible to our state and communities to address many demands. In the current debate about the value and cost of higher education, we shouldn t lose sight of one of the most essential demands quality student learning. Published February 2, 2011 Gates to Speak at NDSU Valley News Live U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be the guest speaker at NDSU's spring commencement in May. NDSU's spring commencement is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Fargodome. Published February 2, 2011 UND's online Norwegian language course attracts wide audience By: Associated Press, Bismarck Tribune University of North Dakota officials say an online Norwegian language course is attracting people from as far as Maine, Texas, and the Canadian province of Alberta.

3 Published February 3, 2011 Northern Tier Network links North Dakota scientists to global research Prairie Business Participation in the Northern Tier Network is connecting North Dakota researchers with scientific work applicable here in North Dakota and around the world, according to a report presented at the Jan. 27, 2011, State Board of Higher Education meeting. Published February 3, 2011 MSU director of public information resigns Minot Daily News Mark Lyman, director of public information at Minot State University, has resigned his position effective Feb. 23, according to a press release issued by Minot State. Published February 3, 2011 NDSCS to provide free dental care for kids By: Brandon L. Summers, Wahpeton Daily News For the third year, the North Dakota State College of Science Dental Education Department is participating in Give Kids a Smile Day, a nationwide event that provides free dental care to low-income children. Published February 3, 2011 Other views: Don t mess with UND pyramid By: Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun The Energy and Environmental Research Center is a spectacular asset for North Dakota. Research at the EERC represents 45 percent of the total externally funded research at UND. Published February 4, 2011 UND archivists plan to preserve Fighting Sioux By: Associated Press, INFORUM University of North Dakota archivists plan to scour university offices and departments for letters, photographs, documents and artifacts to help preserve the history of the school's Fighting Sioux nickname and American Indian head logo. *Click on the title to go to the full article. **Some of the articles are no longer available seven days after publication. They are, however, archived on the publication s website and are available for a small fee.

4 Published February 1, 2011 Not the time for silence By: Tom Miller, Grand Forks Herald To view the original article, please visit: As a commissioner of a Division I conference, I m sure there are certain situations in which issuing a no comment response is the most appropriate action for Summit League head Tom Douple to take. At this point, no comment would be an upgrade. It d be two more words than we ve heard since UND denied his allegations that the school pressured Douple into coming out against the Sioux nickname and logo to accelerate its retirement process. But this is no time for cricket-inducing silence or no comment. Sorry, but Pandora s box has already been opened. When UND president Robert Kelley and athletic director Brian Faison had their names dragged through the mud last week, they fired back. They adamantly defended their reputations and refuted the claims and perceptions. Kelley and Faison s harsh denial swung the hot interrogation lamp back toward the Summit League commissioner. The UND officials even went on the offensive questioning what exactly was Douple s problem? Now, as a newspaper guy, I pride myself in not assuming the local university s innocence. I like to think I m not quick to swig the Kelly green Kool-Aid. I d like to hear out the other side. So, Mr. Douple, tell us you stand by your comments. Tell us about some miscommunication or misunderstanding. Tell us you actually meant someone from outside UND perhaps attempting to speak on its behalf applied the reported pressure. Defend yourself and/or clear the names of Kelley and Faison. Explain why you would take on the burden of a non-member, a stance that nearly put your league on life support if it weren t for the last-minute switcheroo by the University of South Dakota. Heck, issue a boring, canned statement through a public relations staffer. Like many, I have a hard time believing Douple s comments have completely no basis. So explain yourself. Tell us something, anything. Each of the Herald sports writers have taken a turn sending up the DoupleSignal into Gotham City s night sky. Yet whether it s fair or not here s my perception of how our phone calls are handled at the Summit League office. Summit secretary: Summit League office. Herald writer: Can I speak to Tom Douple? Summit secretary: Yes. Can I ask who s calling? Herald writer: Tom Miller with the Grand Forks Herald newspaper. Summit secretary: Oh...let me see if Mr. Douple is available. (Sets the phone down on desk. Leans back in chair. Crosses feet up on desk. Pulls out nail file. Whistles a tune. Self-manicures for 45 seconds. Picks up the phone again). Sorry, Mr. Douple is in a meeting at a conference while on vacation." The guy is tougher to track down than Leonardo DiCaprio s character in Catch Me If You Can. It s the beauty of being the commish of a lower-level conference in a big city like Chicago. The Summit League isn t on the radar of any media staff in the Windy City. The Chicago Tribune or the Sun-Times isn t going to be knocking on any Summit League doors. It s bubble-wrap, a safe haven for a leader avoiding the media.

5 It s unfortunate, too, because Douple has an opportunity to un-fog this hazy mess of a story he helped create. Instead, he s turned into the apparent offspring of Waldo and Carmen San Diego. Published February 1, 2011 Important Integration Figure in Minot By: Rich Wisniewski, KFYR-TV News Stories This article includes video footage. To view the original article, please visit: Minot State University played host to a person who played an important role in America`s history of school integration. The youngest Little Rock Nine member, Carlotta Walls LaNier spoke in Minot Tuesday night. LaNier talked about a dangerous time in American history and in Arkansas where schools were segregated between whites and blacks. In 1957 LaNier became the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine to integrate Little Rock Central High School. She graduated in 1960 and became the first African American Female to graduate that high school. Just much more that has taken place in our country and we really do need to understand whose shoulders we stand on. I`m standing on shoulders of others and I`m proud to pass the baton on to the next generation, said LaNier. LaNier received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999 and she also has a book out called, "A Mighty Long Way," a memoir that gives an inside look at the most famous school integration in American history. Published February 1, 2011 Students Rock Out in Orchestra By: Jody Kerzman, KFYR-TV News Stories This article includes video footage. To view the original article, please visit: This week, orchestra members from Bismarck and Century High Schools, as well as Horizon, Wachter and Simle middle schools and even Bismarck State College are spending some time with world renowned electric violinist Mark Wood. Erika Gallaway has been playing the viola since fourth grade, but she`s never played the viola quite like this. The Bismarck High School sophomore is trying her hand at the electric viola. "It`s fun to do this kind of music because it`s so out of the ordinary for our type of people," said Gallaway. This music is definitely not what comes to mind when most people think of orchestra... But that`s what makes it so special, and so much fun. "It`s not only fun but it`s engaging them on a different level emotionally," explained Wood. "Classical music is so wonderful but it`s also important for them to feel ownership of every note they play. We try to encourage them to put their own fingerprints on the music." This orchestra even includes guitars. BSC freshman Trenten Brunelle said, "We`re kind of like the rhythm section so when the cellos and violas are playing, that`s what we`re playing."

6 "Putting drums and guitars in with the orchestra elevates it to a different level. This is the music they`re listening to," added Wood. Music like the Beatles, and even Metallica. "I think it`s amazing," said Brunelle. "Having this fusion of music really sounds good." And while it sounds good, these students are also learning to express themselves and to tell their own life stories, through music. If you`d like to hear more, students and Mark Wood will hold a concert tonight. It starts at 7:30 at Horizon Middle School. Published February 1, 2011 Tobacco control proponents oppose dismantling of their program to pay for UND med school expansion By: Tu-Uyen Tran, INFORUM To view the original article, please visit: BISMARCK Proponents of North Dakota s tobacco control program found a frosty reception Monday when they came to the Capitol to oppose the dismantling of their program to pay for another program at the University of North Dakota to increase the number of health care workers in the state. Some lawmakers in the House Education Committee, which took up the matter, implied that the proponents may have illegally used tax dollars to lobby the Legislature. Others implied that the 2008 initiated measure creating the tobacco control program out of a portion of the state s tobacco settlement may not have really been the true voice of the people. Measure 3 certainly had never been popular with the Legislature, particularly Republicans. Even in 2009, months after it passed with 54 percent of the popular vote, lawmakers hesitated to give it any funding and some even wanted to ask voters if they might not change their minds. Two years later, some lawmakers want to take a stab at overturning Measure 3 themselves, and they think they can muster the two-thirds vote needed from each legislative chamber to do it. House Bill 1353 would end the roughly $18.6 million-a-biennium tobacco control program not just cut funding, but end the program and the agency that runs it and use the money to expand UND s School of Medicine and Health Sciences, which would cost $34.7 million in the initial biennium. Many hospitals and doctors say this is needed because the state faces a major shortage of health care workers even as the state s aging population requires more care. Tobacco control proponents say they want the med school to expand, too, but not at the cost of their program. To do so, they said, would cause tobacco use to rise again. Some of them are proposing a more than three-fold increase in the cigarette tax, from 44 cents a pack to $2, to raise funds for the med school. Committee members took no action on the bill. The Education Committee meets in one of the larger meeting rooms at the Capitol, but it was completely packed Monday, mostly with proponents of the tobacco control program. Many wore red to show solidarity, and Chairwoman RaeAnn Kelsch, R-Mandan, had to clarify that she wasn t one of them. She wore red, she said, because it makes me happy. She didn t seem happy, though, when she talked about the flood of voic s and s that she received. How is it, she said, that the wording of these messages were almost identical? When she returned the calls, she claimed, the

7 callers had no idea what they were talking about. Somebody had to orchestrate it, she said, noting all the red shirts in the audience. Proponents said they just got phone calls or s from friends to show up Monday and that they ought to wear red. In the audience were a handful of supporters of the med school expansion, though they were not mutually exclusive with the tobacco control proponents. Some that spoke in support of the bill said they only support the part that would get more health care workers trained, not the part that kills the tobacco control program. Bruce Levi, executive director of the North Dakota Medical Association, called HB 1353 a paradox. The association wants to increase the supply of health care workers, he said, but it also believes that for supply to ever meet demand, demand has to also drop. The easiest preventable health problem, he said, is tobacco use. Kelsch responded by asking him how many doctors in the state the NDMA represents. Levi said 70 percent. Other med school supporters chose to avoid the tobacco control issue altogether. Joshua Wynne, the med school dean, said something along the same lines as Levi increase supply, decrease demand but he left out the part about tobacco and about funding. How to pay for the expansion, he said, is a value judgment for the Legislature. Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a sponsor of the bill, explained that value judgment this way. It s true that the tobacco control program came out of a vote of the people, he said. The committee ought to bear in mind, however, that voters only get a yes or no vote with these measures, he said, and it s the Legislature that must deal with prioritizing one state need over another. Let s say you make up your mind to save up money for a new house, he said, but then, after you ve been saving a bit, the furnace goes out. Do you say that you can t touch the money for the new house, he said, or do you fix the furnace? While supporters of the bill spoke, proponents of tobacco control passed out stickers that said Save money, save lives, save Measure 3. And they spoke to all three. Between 2008 and 2025, North Dakota is expected to reap $575.5 million from the settlement that state attorneys general, including North Dakota s, reached with the tobacco industry. Dr. James Hughes, a heart and lung doctor at St. Alexis Medical Center in Bismarck and an assistant professor at UND s clinic there, told the committee that settlement represents the immensity of the economic impact to North Dakota because of tobacco-related diseases. The true cost to society of a pack of cigarettes isn t what s paid at the cash register for it, he said, but $ The difference is what society pays later for the loss of productivity, he said, not to mention the impact to families. He decried the attempt to take tobacco settlement money away from tobacco control programs to pay for more doctors as counterproductive. If a car heads into an accident, the solution is to stop the car, not build repair shops. Broadcasted February 1, 2011 Legislation to Save UND Nickname and Logo Valley News Live This article is a video clip. To view the original article, please visit:

8 Published February 2, 2011 Non-resident tuition bill KXMBTV Bismarck This article includes video footage. To view the original article, please visit: Non-resident tuition is in the cross-hairs today. A bill introduced would set a minimum tuition rate for non-resident students. Representative Mark Dosch says taxpayers subsidize out-of-state students to the tune of 100 million dollars per biennium. He says we must ask the questions who do we educate and at what cost? Rep. Mark Dosch: "The legislative assembly shall make provision for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools which shall be open to all children of the state of North Dakota. I find nowhere in the constitution the duty nor the enabling authority to use state taxpayer funds to pay or subsidize the education of non-north Dakota students." Several people spoke in opposition to the bill. Paul LeBel is the vice-president for academic affairs at UND. He says out of state students contribute to the economy, create diversity on campus, and help schools expand the number of programs they offer. Paul LeBel/UND: "What we have to read into that constitutional charge is an implicit demand to educate our students well and our citizens well. And nonresident students are absolutely essential they play a critical role in meeting that charge." The chancellor of the state university system says non-resident students contribute over 9-thousand dollars to their local communities. That does not include what they pay in tuition. There are over 18-thousand nonresident students in North Dakota and around 22-thousand resident students. Broadcasted February 2, 2011 Podcast: SBHE members Shaft and Espegard on higher ed issues Scott Hennen Show This article is an audio clip. To listen to the podcast, please visit:

9 Published February 2, 2011 Transition group moves ahead with plans to archive nickname By: Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald To view the original article, please visit: UND archivists will scour university offices and departments for letters, photographs, documents and artifacts to preserve the history of the Sioux and Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. They may appeal to the public, as well, for materials that could help future researchers understand how the symbols were adopted and how they ve been used in the 80 years since, as well as the controversy over their use in recent decades. It s something we definitely should do, said Curt Hanson, head of the Department of Special Collections at UND s Chester Fritz Library. It s an important part of the university s history and needs to be documented. Hanson spoke Tuesday evening to members of the Honoring History and Traditions task force, charged by UND President Robert Kelley to become well acquainted with this history, both the parts that are celebrative and those that have been highly controversial and highly criticized, and to make recommendations on how the long Fighting Sioux era may be documented. The task group, which includes students, faculty and staff members and public representatives, was formed to help implement UND s transition away from the nickname, as ordered last year by the State Board of Higher Education. The group earlier sent Kelley recommendations on the discontinuance of most nonathletic uses of the nickname and logo. The traditions panel is continuing its work despite the introduction of three bills in the North Dakota Legislature that would direct the university to retain the Fighting Sioux name and logo. The bills were heard last week in the House Education Committee. A committee vote has not been scheduled but could come within a week. Hanson said the university has a formal records retention program that could help with the collection of nickname and logo-related materials, and some records and artifacts have been collected since the university archives were established in Some materials from the early years have been collected, including a Golden Feathers jacket the Golden Feathers was a student organization that supported athletics in the 1960s and 70s as well as more recent acquisitions, such as pro and con materials distributed during the referendum campaign on the Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation and documents from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Legal settlement As part of a legal settlement with the NCAA, which had told UND and other schools to move away from American Indian nicknames, logos and mascots, the university had until late last fall to gain the two tribes OK to continue using the name. Spirit Lake voters said yes, but efforts to win approval from Standing Rock failed. Hanson also recommended creation of a digital exhibit that would provide historians and other researchers with an easy-to-use timeline featuring highlights (and low points) in the nickname story and directions to more detailed resources. Development of such an archive should be done by trained and neutral people, he said, to make sure divergent views are represented. The task group asked Hanson to check with other NCAA schools that dropped American Indian nicknames to see how they handled the preservation and display of historical documents and artifacts. Bill Gorneau, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and a public member of the task group, asked whether the university has documents relating to a 1969 ceremony at which according to some pronickname activists a group of Standing Rock elders formally granted UND permission to use the Sioux name for athletics when they bestowed an Indian name on President George Starcher.

10 What the university has is just a few newspaper clippings which make no references or vague references to such a blessing, Hanson said. We haven t been able to find anything else, he said. There s no correspondence (regarding the ceremony) from the president s office. Hanson told the traditions task group that assembling a comprehensive archive that would preserve Fighting Sioux history and make it available for future researchers is going to be a long-term process. It s going to take years. Published February 2, 2011 Quality in higher education important By: David Fuller, Wahpeton Daily News To view the original article, please visit: Higher education must continue to demonstrate that it is responsible to our state and communities to address many demands. In the current debate about the value and cost of higher education, we shouldn t lose sight of one of the most essential demands quality student learning. That s not to say that most observers of higher education - critics and defenders alike - are not concerned about learning. Most recognize the importance of learning science and math, the ability to read critically, civic knowledge and the ability to contribute as citizens, ethical actions, and effective writing and speaking. But we ve got to be careful that this learning doesn t get overshadowed in our important discussions about student access, affordability and degree completion. What I suggest is that we spend considerably more time and resources figuring out how we ensure and improve student learning and success. Completion rates, access and cost are virtually meaningless if we don t ensure that our students learn the best of what we know and practice. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) argues that to regain our position as a world leader, the United States now must work both to increase degree attainment and to improve significantly the breadth, level and quality of students actual learning. AAC&U urges that all of us commit to civic, ethical and intercultural learning as institutional priorities. And the calls for that type of learning are not merely coming from educators, they are coming loud and clear from employers who recognize the essential role learning plays in their businesses and organizations. A 2009 survey of 302 employers revealed that a large percentage of these owners and executives believed that colleges should emphasize more the knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, intellectual and practical skills, personal and social responsibility, and applied learning. Specifically, the survey showed that 70 percent indicated that colleges should do a better job placing more emphasis on science and technology, 67 percent on global issues, 89 percent on written and oral communications, 81 percent on critical thinking and analytic reasoning, 75 percent on complex problem solving, 75 percent on ethical decision making, and 79 percent on applied knowledge in real-world settings. At this time, as we continue to discuss and debate the role of higher education and the job it does or doesn t do, it is essential that significantly more attention is paid to the sciences, mathematics, humanities and other general and liberal education curricula, field-based learning activities, and interdisciplinary studies that engage students in crossdisciplinary and global studies. While at the same time, we need to make sure that students experiences in our classrooms are rigorous, challenging, meaningful and valuable for their growth as citizens and individuals. Making that happen is not cheap, but as the educator and former administrator Derek Bok emphasizes, If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. In my view, all of us in higher education, and policy makers and leaders who are keenly interested in education, should include in our debates about education the essential role quality learning plays. We need to work hard to ensure access to effective college studies and assisting students in the rewarding efforts to complete their degrees.

11 For the sake of our students, the support of higher education is well worth all of our efforts. FULLER is the president of Minot State University and Dakota College at Bottineau. Published February 2, 2011 Gates to Speak at NDSU Valley News Live To view the original article, please visit: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be the guest speaker at NDSU's spring commencement in May. NDSU's spring commencement is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Fargodome. Full release from North Dakota State University: North Dakota State University President Dean L. Bresciani announced today that U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will be the guest speaker at NDSU's spring commencement May 14. Dr. Robert M. Gates was sworn in on December 18, 2006, as the 22nd Secretary of Defense. Dr. Gates is the only Secretary of Defense in U.S. history to be asked to remain in that office by a newly-elected President. President Barack Obama is the eighth president Dr. Gates has served. Before entering his present post, Dr. Gates was the President of Texas A&M University, the nation's seventh largest university. In 2004, he hired Bresciani from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to serve as Vice President of Student Affairs at Texas A&M. Prior to assuming the Texas A&M presidency in 2002, Gates served as Interim Dean of the George BushSchool of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to "Secretary Gates exemplifies a career of selfless service to our country at a level with few parallels, and through the course of his tenure leading Texas A&M University, became a broadly respected higher education leader," Bresciani said. "We are honored that North Dakota State University's graduates will have the opportunity to hear from such a notable patriot, scholar and public servant." Dr. Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, The White House, serving four presidents of both political parties. Dr. Gates served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until He is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level analyst to Director. He served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser at the White House from January 20, 1989, until November 6, 1991, for President George H.W. Bush. Secretary Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. He is the author of the memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in While President of Texas A&M University, Gates also served as Chairman of the Independent Trustees of The Fidelity Funds, the nation's largest mutual fund company, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International,Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc. Secretary Gates also has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the NationalExecutive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He has also been President of the National Eagle Scout Association.

12 A native of Wichita, Kansas, Secretary Gates received his bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from GeorgetownUniversity. NDSU's spring commencement is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Fargodome. Published February 2, 2011 UND's online Norwegian language course attracts wide audience By: Associated Press, Bismarck Tribune To view the original article, please visit: 2ed6-11e0-951d-001cc4c002e0.html GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - University of North Dakota officials say an online Norwegian language course is attracting people from as far as Maine, Texas, and the Canadian province of Alberta. The university already offered Spanish classes online. UND Norwegian program coordinator Melissa Gjellstad told the Grand Forks Herald that the strong Scandinavian heritage in North Dakota and Minnesota made UND the right place to start an online Norwegian course. Instructor Kim Pedersen said Norwegian 101 helps meet the needs of people who are interested in learning the language but don't have a good way of doing it. UND plans to offer an online Norwegian 102 class in the fall. Published February 3, 2011 Northern Tier Network links North Dakota scientists to global research Prairie Business To view the original article, please visit: Participation in the Northern Tier Network is connecting North Dakota researchers with scientific work applicable here in North Dakota and around the world, according to a report presented at the Jan. 27, 2011, State Board of Higher Education meeting. Operational in North Dakota since 2009, the Northern Tier Network has elevated research conducted in the state, making it part of the national research networking footprint. "The Northern Tier Network removed barriers that prohibited North Dakota from being competitive with leading national research universities," said Phyllis Johnson, vice president for research and economic development at the University of North Dakota. "Now we are at the table with some of the nation's best." "Northern Tier provides the advanced computing infrastructure now required to participate in work sponsored by the National Science Foundation and helps our state attract top scientists and researchers," said Bonnie Neas, vice president for information technology at North Dakota State University. High-performance computing provides scientific tools and enables new types of collaborations not possible just a few years ago. Examples include:

13 Four-dimensional modeling simulation to better understand tornado formation, using supercomputers located several states away. (Time is the fourth dimension.) Real-time sharing of electron-microscope work with scientists thousands of miles away Rapid transfer of very large data files that would take 10 days at the Internet speed available for home use compared to the Northern Tier time of one and one-half hours. Several North Dakota researchers and graduate students currently work with files of this size. A 13-state consortium for the advancement of high-performance research and education, the Northern Tier Network enhances the economic vitality of member states. Other states participating in Northern Tier include Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education - or WICHE - also is a member of the network. Planning for the network began in One-time funding provided to North Dakota includes $3.25 million in federal funds, $2.77 million in state funding approved by the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, and $2.1 million from the National Science Foundation. In addition, the Northern Tier Network Consortium members of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Washington are partners in a $62.5 million grant to connect to Internet2. The five states will receive a considerable increase in bandwidth (the maximum currently available in the marketplace) for their Northern Tier Network segments. It is estimated that, through this multi-state partnership, North Dakota's long-term operating costs will be reduced. NDSU and UND received a total of $1 million of the original federal funding to improve campus connections to the Northern Tier Network. Funding for North Dakota's continued participation in the Northern Tier Network is included in the North Dakota University System's budget request. Published February 3, 2011 MSU director of public information resigns Minot Daily News To view the original article, please visit: Mark Lyman, director of public information at Minot State University, has resigned his position effective Feb. 23, according to a press release issued by Minot State. "Mark has been a valued member of our staff, and we have appreciated his hard work and his dedication to Minot State. He has expanded our public information services and initiated quality enhancements to provide our community and our region in-depth knowledge of our university and our work to serve our students well," said David Fuller, president of Minot State University. "I wish Mark and his family the best in their move to Fargo." Lyman joined MSU in July He has accepted a position as the director of public relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.

14 Published February 3, 2011 NDSCS to provide free dental care for kids By: Brandon L. Summers, Wahpeton Daily News To view the original article, please visit: For the third year, the North Dakota State College of Science Dental Education Department is participating in Give Kids a Smile Day, a nationwide event that provides free dental care to low-income children. According to Lucinda Johnson, NDSCS associate professor and program coordinator, the campus dental clinic normally offers preventative care such as cleanings, exams, radiographs and sealants. On Give Kids a Smile Day, though, the clinic goes "outside the box" to offer more services by having area dentists come in and help provide some restorative care as well. "We have two chairs that we run like that," said Johnson. "We'll first do the diagnostic piece of it and then we'll go and see what the needs are. If they need some fillings and some kind of basic care in that direction we'll provide that for them, too. Every year, the department tries to outdo itself, said Johnson. Last year, they saw 59 patients from ages This year, they've already scheduled 54 patients for care. "We're hoping by Friday we'll maybe even surpass 59," she said. While the care is being offered by appointment, Johnson also expects to receive some walk-ins. Assisting the college in the nationwide event again is Breckenridge dentist Dr. Kenneth Weidman, who will treat Minnesota residents. The NDSCS dental clinic mainly tries to help North Dakota residents. "We try to stay to North Dakota, but there are some patients from Minnesota," Johnson said. "If possible, we'll either serve them or they'll go to Dr. Weidman's office. That'll work out nice." Every year, said Johnson, the department gets better at providing this service. The staff especially focuses on finding different ways to schedule patients so they can fit more in a day. "I hope it goes maybe a little smoother. It seems like every year we learn something new to do, take notes on it," she said. The department receives some support from the American Dental Association for participating in the event. They also signed up to receive free products from their two dental supply houses. Johnson said a dentist contacted one of his sales representatives and got some more products for the event. The department also received $500 for Give Kids a Day from the North Dakota Dental Foundation. The rest comes from the clinic itself, including the day's volunteers the college's dental hygiene and dental assisting students, and clinic staff. "Everybody's on for the day to do that," said Johnson. "We're not having any other classes, it's just all clinical on Friday. It's all the groups working together. It's a volunteer thing." According to Johnson, Give Kids a Smile Day is a good thing. "One day a year, to do volunteer to give somebody a service like that, I think it's amazing," she said. "We'd like to do it more often than that, and that would be something nice for the future. I think it would be good if every dental office did that on this day. There could be a lot of service to those who could really benefit from it." Give Kids a Smile Day takes place at the Mayme Green Allied Health Center on the NDSCS campus in Wahpeton, Friday, Feb. 4, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. To schedule an appointment or for more information, call , ext or

15 Published February 3, 2011 Other views: Don t mess with UND pyramid By: Grand Forks Herald, Jamestown Sun To view the original article, please visit: The Energy and Environmental Research Center is a spectacular asset for North Dakota. Two sentences from the center s website explain why: First, the EERC s staff is a multidisciplinary team of more than 345 highly skilled scientists, engineers and support personnel representing more than 120 different disciplines, making it one of the world s leading developers of energy and environmental technologies. And second, research (at the EERC) represents 45 percent of the total externally funded research at UND. The center draws talented scientists from around the world to Grand Forks, greatly enhancing the region s economy as well as the research climate at UND. For years, it has been an exceptionally dynamic and robust branch of the university. But a key word in the above appears in the last sentence: branch. The EERC remains a part of UND, not apart from it. That status may change some time in the future; maybe North Dakota will spin off the center in some fashion and grant it a measure of functional independence. But until then, it s a branch of UND, albeit a special branch. And for all matters UND, the university president must remain at the pyramid s top. That s why the Legislature should make short work of a proposal to give the EERC director a veto over the fate of the old Ralph Engelstad Arena. It s never good management to forge bypass links into a chain of command. Higher education in North Dakota already endured one such episode in recent years, when the State Board of Higher Education failed to support then- Chancellor Robert Potts in his dispute with Joe Chapman, president of North Dakota State University at the time. The Potts-Chapman conflict embarrassed the board and left a sour taste in the mouths of most North Dakotans, lawmakers included. Those lawmakers should recall the quarrel s core lesson: Everybody needs a supervisor even dynamic chief executives such as college presidents. EERC director Gerald Groenewold isn t commenting on the bill, but he might consider opposing it. After all, Groenewold has a reputation of running a tight and very effective ship. How would he react if he learned of a bill to give, say, his associate directors for research or technology commercialization vetoes over his decisions? For that matter, how would lawmakers react to a proposal to let the Legislature s staff experts overturn House and Senate votes? End runs may work in football games, but they re poison to modern organizations. The Legislature should reject the proposal and reaffirm the university system s chain of command.

16 Published February 4, 2011 UND archivists plan to preserve Fighting Sioux By: Associated Press, INFORUM To view the original article, please visit: GRAND FORKS (AP) University of North Dakota archivists plan to scour university offices and departments for letters, photographs, documents and artifacts to help preserve the history of the school's Fighting Sioux nickname and American Indian head logo. The Grand Forks Herald reports that Curt Hanson, the head of UND's Department of Special Collections, says officials also might appeal to the public for materials that could help future researchers understand how the symbols were adopted and used, and the controversy surrounding them. UND is retiring the nickname under an agreement with the NCAA, which says the moniker is offensive. Officials have been looking at how to retire the name and logo and how to preserve their history. Hanson says assembling a comprehensive archive will take years.