Student Association Senate leaders chosen for 2011-12

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

The Dakota Wesleyan student population recently voted for their student body leaders for 2011-12 Student Association Senate. These students were chosen to serve in the following positions:

Student Association Senate Executive Board
President – Aaron Rolen, Bogata, Texas
Vice president – Chris Ferera, Riverside, Calif.
Treasurer – Grace Schnabel, Philip 

Standing Committee Chairmen
Student Activities Board – Carrie Swanson, Spearfish
Student Ministries Council – Nicole Anderson, Watertown

Class Representatives
Senior class president – Mario Palencia, Huntington Park, Calif.
Junior class president – Leah Miiller, Corsica

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DWU A.A. Nursing Program Receives Estate Gift

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

The Dakota Wesleyan University nursing program has purchased seven simulation manikins with a gift from the estate of Ivan and Doris Bartels, given by the Bartels family – Keith Bartels, of Mitchell, and Lilas (Bartels) Robinson, of Glenwood Springs, Colo.

The three adult, two child and two infant simulation manikins will be used at the Mitchell nursing program and the LPN-to-RN nursing program in Sioux Falls.

From left to right are nursing students Amanda Schmidt, Freeman, and Heidi Berg, Mount Vernon, with Keith Bartels.

The use of simulation manikins makes it possible for nursing faculty to provide real-world patient scenarios that challenge students to prioritize patient care and to enhance their clinical judgment skills in a safe, supportive environment.  Nursing faculty are able to change the manikin responses (pulse, blood pressure, breathing, etc.) by use of a wireless remote control.  The manikins can even be prompted to give “yes” or “no” answers and to respond by coughing, moaning, crying and screaming.

“High-level thinking and decision-making skills are required by nurses,” said Aletha Erpenbach, DWU nursing simulation coordinator.  “It is often difficult to provide consistent key learning experiences for nursing students during scheduled clinical rotations. The use of simulation manikins allows faculty to develop real-world patient scenarios that all students will experience.”

In addition to the gift of simulation manikins, the Bartels family has also initiated an endowed scholarship for nursing students in honor of Ivan and Doris Bartels.

“This is the perfect way to carry on my parents’ legacy of compassion and service,” Keith Bartels said.  “Our hope is that this gift will provide an even better learning environment for future nurses at DWU.”

The DWU Associate of Arts nursing program was initiated in 1973, and the DWU LPN-to-RN nursing program in Sioux Falls began in 2005.  Wesleyan also offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in nursing and an Associate of Arts nursing degree in Huron.  The graduates from these programs work in healthcare agencies in the Mitchell area as well as across South Dakota and in several other states.

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DWU mission trip set for Peru; fundraising underway

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

A fundraiser for the upcoming Dakota Wesleyan University mission trip to Peru is being tracked on the campus pastor’s world map.

The hypothetical plane is somewhere over Columbia – not bad progress.

The mission trip must raise $64,000 to send 33 people on two consecutive mission trips to Chincha, Peru, in May. They will work with the Methodist Church in Peru building a self-sustaining, clean-water drinking well; enhancing the church’s facilities that run a food pantry, children’s ministry; and performing medical and dental checkups for the extremely poor who do not have access to medical facilities.

Right now, about $48,000, or 75 percent, has been raised through a 5K Run/Walk for Water and free-will offering at homecoming; free-will donations by churches throughout the region; and other fundraisers like making and selling necklaces on campus. On Tuesday, Dairy Queen on Havens Street partnered with the Peru Mission Team and donated $158.51 of its proceeds. There will be a second fundraiser at the Dairy Queen from 5-9:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 29. A portion of all proceeds will go to the mission teams.

To read more, click here.

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DWU announces 2011 Athletic Hall of Fame class

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

The Dakota Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Fame will hold its annual induction banquet in mid-April, and the 2011 inductees were announced recently by the athletic department.

This year’s hall of fame class includes seven inductees that played a large role for Tiger athletics during their time on campus. All seven of this year’s inductees are athletes from the past two decades. They are: Jason Bailey (football, class of 1994), Victoria Drefs (women’s basketball, class of 2004), Abbey DeWolf Mikkelsen (women’s golf and women’s basketball, class of 2005), Justin Portenier (wrestling, class of 2003), Jamey Sperle (track and field, class of 2003), Betsy Bartels Tupper (volleyball and softball, class of 1996) and Bob Zimmerman (baseball, class of 1994).

Click here to read the full press release.

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Intertribal Buffalo Council to give presentation at DWU

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

At one time, they were hunted and killed almost to extinction, but now the American Bison can be found everywhere from the South Dakota prairie to the grocery store. On April 6, community members are invited to Dakota Wesleyan University to learn more about the great animals that once out-populated people in this region.

There will be a presentation on the history of the bison and tribal bison restoration efforts at Dakota Wesleyan University from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, in the East Main Dining Room within Rollins Campus Center. Jim Stone, executive director of the Intertribal Buffalo Council, will give the presentation with an emphasis on South Dakota tribes. In addition, there will be educational brochures, bison snack products and displays showing the traditional uses of the bison by Native Americans.

Stone is originally from Lake Andes and attended Iowa State University and the University of South Dakota where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. He worked for the Yankton Sioux Tribe as the director of the Environmental Program and Buffalo Program for 13 years and at the Mni Sose Intertribal Water Rights Coalition for a year. He has served as the executive director of Intertribal Buffalo Council for four years. His mother graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University.

The Intertribal Buffalo Council provides this presentation to the community free of cost. Oyate Ho Waste, the Native American club at DWU, is hosting the presentation, which is free and open to the public. Oyate Ho Waste would appreciate that off-campus groups of 10 or more RSVP to John Husmann at 995-2714, or johusman@dwu.edu, to ensure seating is available.

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DWU Future Teachers host Dr. Seuss Carnival

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

MITCHELL – The Dakota Wesleyan University Future Teachers Organization will host the 13th annual Dr. Seuss Carnival from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 2, in the Christen Family Recreation/Wellness Center.

Children from preschool through fifth grade are welcome to participate in this fun event.  There will be cupcakes available to all the readers. Children can read or listen to books to earn tickets which allow them to play games and win prizes, and each child who participates in the festivities will receive a free book. Adults must accompany their children to the carnival.

This event provides not only a learning experience for the DWU education students, but a service to the community, as well.

“We as teachers can do more than teach. We can give in many different ways,” said senior Dillon Ostby.

Ostby’s family, which runs Ostby Auctioneering in New Effington, also helped with the Future Teachers Organization auction fundraiser on March 17, which raised $1,497, and with donations FTO raised just shy of $1,700.

For more information, contact FTO adivsers Gloria Leondard, 995-2626, or Rene Pruitt, 995-2634.

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DWU mission trip featured in S.D. publication

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

MITCHELL — The Dakota Wesleyan mission team was recently featured in a South Dakota publication about service.

Beautiful Fork, an ecumenical Christian magazine based in Belle Fourche, is published quarterly and promotes a life of service. The magazine also serves as a fundraiser for mission work.

The magazine featured the upcoming DWU mission trip to Chincha, Peru. It will be DWU’s fifth trip in the past 10 years. Two mission teams will travel to Chincha in May to work with the Methodist Church in Peru building a self-sustaining, clean-water drinking well, enhancing the church’s facilities that run a food pantry, children’s ministry and performing medical checkups for the extremely poor who do not have access to medical facilities.

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DWU to host regional science fair

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

Dakota Wesleyan University will host the 19th annual South Central South Dakota Regional Science and Engineering Fair on Tuesday, March 22, in the Christen Family Recreation/Wellness Center.

The competition includes students in grades six through 12, from 19 schools in 18 South Dakota counties. Projects will be on display for viewing by the public from 2-5 p.m.

For more information, click on the links above.

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Stark Lecture speaker announced

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

Al Staggs will present two one-act plays concerning justice and theology for the annual Stark Lectures at Dakota Wesleyan University.

Staggs, a former minister and hospital chaplain, has been combining his love of theatre and justice for years as he writes and performs one-man plays that characterize notable figures and share messages of wisdom and experience with audiences around the world.

He will give two performances on Thursday, April 7, in the Sherman Center on campus; one at 11 a.m., “Awakening the Dream,” as Martin Luther King, Jr., and one at 1:15 p.m., “A View from the Underside,” as Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

For more information – visit the press release or contact Brandon Vetter, campus pastor at DWU, at (605) 995-2919 or brvetter@dwu.edu.

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DWU back from Toronto Hunger Summit

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Dakota Wesleyan University

Students, experts and activists in the struggle to fight world hunger had a chance to share ideas and strategies recently during the Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit (UFWHS) in Toronto, Canada.

Four representatives from Dakota Wesleyan University attended the summit in late February: professors Dr. Donald Simmons and Dr. Brian Patrick, and students Chase Kristensen, Plankinton, and Mario Palencia, Huntington Park, Calif.

“I had a very inspirational trip to Toronto,” Palencia said. “The connections I made at the hunger summit will definitely help me establish a club here at DWU and get the university involved in helping to end hunger worldwide. DWU alum George McGovern was a champion in this fight against hunger and I believe it is time for the current generation and future generations of DWU students to pick up this tradition and get involved.”

UFWHS was an opportunity to discuss the policies, strategies and responses to hunger issues throughout the world.

“This largely-student organized summit provided our DWU students with opportunities not only to interact with other students concerned about hunger in the modern world, but also with experts and advocates at the forefront of the fight against famine and malnutrition,” said Patrick, assistant professor of biology.

These experts included: Joey Adler, founder of ONEXONE (www.onexone.org/) and CEO of Diesel Canada (www.diesel.com/); Dr. April Mason, senior vice president of Kansas State University; Ray Buchanan, executive director of Stop Hunger Now; Dr. Craig Wilson, director of the Sparkman Center for Global Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham (www.soph.uab.edu/sparkman/); and other students: Gavin Armstrong, undergraduate at the University of Guelph; and Clark Solomon, undergraduate at Auburn University. 

Also present was Philip Donne, president and CEO of Campbell Company Canada, the makers of Campbell’s soup. Simmons, director of and associate professor in the McGovern Center and dean of the College of Leadership and Public Service, said this was possibly the most interesting aspect to the summit – the unveiling and tasting of the new meal called Nourish, which was developed by Campbell’s to provide full servings of three food groups in each meal.

“It was a great opportunity to network and share ideas with other organizations working on the problem of world hunger,” Simmons said. “I think the students realized just how easy it is to get involved and make a difference.”

Patrick said that the UFWHS provided him with the opportunity to meet several other researchers working in different fields of study, but all toward the same common goal of sustainable agricultural practices throughout the world.

“It’s important for students to not only hear about hunger in this world, but also to be engaged in the conversation, and this summit provided that opportunity,” Patrick added. “Such experiences provide opportunities to share ideas and to participate in the problem-solving aspect of questions too large for any one individual to handle. No one group is going to make a dent in the problem of feeding the people of the world; rather, it must be a large, cross-discipline effort that involves the steady streaming of information between groups working in cooperative.”

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