CAMPUS DIGEST

Art, Drama and Traveling Pastors

A showing of 25 of Sisse Brimberg’s photographs was on display in The Forum in the Margre Henningson Durham Center on Dana’s campus. Brimberg has been a photographer with National Geographic since 1976. Her work has appeared in more than 30 articles, ranging from documenting the life of Hans Christian Andersen to her cover story chronicling the Viking culture. Brimberg has been honored by the National Press Photographers Association with “Picture Story of the Year” for her reporting on migrant workers.

Dana is also proud to be the site for an exhibit on the Life and Art of Hans Christian Andersen. The exhibit is on loan from the Odense City Museum in Denmark and is located in the Madsen Fine Arts Center on Dana’s campus. The exhibit seeks to help people gain a greater understanding of Andersen’s life as one of the world’s best-known and most-prolifically translated authors. He is especially remembered for the many beautiful fairy tales he wrote. The exhibit will be on display through the Sights and Sounds of Christmas, Dec. 8.

Taking a cue from Dana’s commitment to hands-on learning and community service, Dr. Barbara Zimmerman’s child psychology class is performing 15 hours of service-learning at Blair preschools and the new Head Start program as part of the class requirement. “It lets students see how we can apply what they’ve learned about kids to real kids, and it helps sometimes understaffed schools do the things they’ve always wanted to do, but didn’t have enough hands to accomplish,” Zimmerman said.

Overall excellence puts Dana College high in U.S. News and World Report’s most recent ranking of the nation’s colleges and universities. College officials say Dana’s commitment to personalized attention for students sets the institution apart from similar schools. Dana was listed in the second tier of Midwestern comprehensive colleges that offer bachelor’s degrees, meaning the school placed in the Top 60. The ranking is determined by compiling academic and institutional data and comparing it to similar colleges. The results are published each year in U.S. News and World Report and are the most prominent of higher education rankings.

Dana College Professor of Music Dr. Richard Palmer made his debut as artistic director of Omaha’s Clarion Chamber Chorale at their Oct. 20 concert, opening the new season. Palmer, also director of the acclaimed Dana College Chorale, took over for the recently retired Stan Schmidt, whom Palmer served under as associate conductor.

Two Dana College seniors were elected Dana College Homecoming King and Queen, Oct. 4. At a special coronation ceremony Friday night, it was announced that senior Wynn Fangmeier of Hebron, Neb. was elected king, and senior Erin Sorensen of Grand Island, Neb. was elected queen. The rest of the Homecoming Court included Erik Hoffman, Kjaer Kirkegaard, David Abbott, Cheston Field, Erin Williams, Toni Ahrendt, Petey Sparacino and Natalie Hornig.

Dana College’s drama program continued its focus on modern American playwrights by performing Lanford Wilson’s “Book of Days,” Sept. 26-29. Paul Schneider, chair of the English department and director of theater, said he believes Wilson is one of the great American writers. “Wilson has written great plays that have gone on to be monumentally ignored,” he said.

Buz Wehrman, Tom Nielsen and Sharon Jensen from the Dana Library attended the SIRSI Midwest Users Group (SMUG) in Bellevue on July 19. At this conference, Wehrman and Nielsen co-presented a session titled “New ways to old questions: SIRSI reports and collection assessment” to a standing room only crowd.

Dana College music faculty members performed a recital of music for soprano, trumpet and organ on Sept. 29, at Sinai Lutheran Church in Fremont, Neb. This recital featured Jeanmarie Nielsen, Michael Anderson and Claire Bushong.