LaTeX Workshop

LaTeX is a mark-up language that mathematicians and other scientists have been using for decades to create scientific documents.  If you have ever wanted to curse at Microsoft Equation Editor, LaTeX is for you.  It allows you to write your reports as fast as you can type.

Workshop on how to use LaTeX

When:  Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 1:30 PM and again at 2:30 PM

Where: 245 Science Center

Bring your laptop to follow along.  Let Dr. Birgen know if you are thinking about coming.

May Term Special Events

May Term on campus can be a lot of work and a lot of fun.  The Special Events committee has planned several events in the past and we would like your input on what you might be looking for this year.  In particular, if there is enough interest in camping, there is money in the budget for tents.

Kayaking

We have rented kayaks from Crawdaddy and kayaked from Cedar Bend to downtown Waverly.  This is not white-water kayaking, but more like a quiet river float.  There are some islands and inlets to explore on the way.

Camping

We could camp in Cedar Bend or many other county campgrounds in the area.  For those of you who think sleeping on the ground is crazy, you could leave at bed time.

BBQ

This is a very simple activity because food service can provide a BBQ for us if we give them a week's warning.  Everything is provided except transportation.

Awaken the Dreamer Retreat

At the Upper Midwest Honors Council conference a week ago, we heard a talk by some students from Mt. Mercy College in Cedar Rapids.  They have incorporated Awaken the Dreamer/Changing the Dream into their curriculum at the college.  They have offered to come to Wartburg and have a retreat for the Scholars Program in the Fall.  This is an introductory video.

Please let us know if you are interested by filling out the questionnaire.

Out of Contact

The Scholars Director is heading away from Iowa for some family time and will be unaccessible from April 23, 2013 through April 27, 2013.  Please try not to have any emergencies during this time.

Back from UMHC

We had a great, educational time at the UMHC Conference in Duluth.  Travel was a bit exciting,  but it was worth the long drive and led to discussion of Boreal Forest on the way home.

Three Scholars and two Birgens

Three Scholars and two Birgens

The view outside my hotel window Friday AM.

The view outside my window 24 hours later.

Part of a presentation by students from Mt. Mercy on their Awakening the Dreamer experience.

Conference Theme Voting

Help us decide on a theme for the 2014 UMHC Conference to be held at Wartburg College.

Recommended PodCast

Before finals I suggested a web site for my Pre-Med students to download podcasts to listen to while they are traveling over Tour Week and May Term.  Of course, I posted during a very busy time in their lives, so here it is again:

Dr. Dawn Motyka is a medical doctor where I grew up and every Saturday morning she has a radio show on the local public radio station.  She then posts the show on the web site (you can use iTunes to subscribe too).  She talks about recent medical research, alternative medicine, and people call in with questions.  Sometimes when she is going to be out of town, she has full-shows with guests about specific topics.  You can access all her shows on the archive.  I have learned a lot about medicine over the years I have been listening to the show and I find the discussion to be well thought out and researched.  She is also good at making the distinction between research and her own thoughts.  You are welcome to listen to one hour for a Scholars Culture Point although I warn you that most students who do this continue to go back and listen to more.

So, if you have a long flight, bus ride, or car ride coming up I encourage you to load a few on your favorite MP3 player, especially if you are interested in medicine or medical research.

Culture Points since April Fools Day

Congratulations to Megan Tapp and Dylan Thiede for reporting the most Scholars Culture Points since April 1.

Scholars Culture Points are used to demonstrate your commitment to participating in the scholarly activities available during your Wartburg career and help you develop reflective habits of mind that will serve you well in the future.  It doesn't hurt that the program can use your reports when you ask us for letters of recommendation. Scholars Culture Points may be submitted for the 2012-2013 Academic year through June 30, 2013.

2013 Amazing Scholarship Convocation

Yesterday, as part of RICE Day, the college had a convocation to celebrate the scholarship from the past year.  The following Scholars students were mentioned:

Outstanding Senior in Accounting	Hanson-Pollock, Hollis
Outstanding Senior in Biochemistry	Marsh, Sydney
Outstanding Senior in Writing	Jochims, Torie
Outstanding Senior in Computer Science	Juett, Jon
Outstanding Senior in Mathematics Education	Peterson, Jamie
Outstanding Senior in Music	Reisner, Chelsea
Dean's Honor Cord	Ciota, Alex
	Hanson-Pollock, Hollis
	Jochims, Torie
	Juett, Jon
	Kruger, Shea
	Marsh, Sydney
	Reisner, Chelsea
	Roedel, Gordon
Goldwater Scholarship Applicant	Kucera, Adam
	Patel, Aditi
Leadership Certificate	Benning, Kaylee
	Kruger, Shea
	Marsh, Sydney
	Roedel, Gordon
	Seymour, Erin
	Wedeking, David
Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates	Kucera, Adam
	White, Sarah
Presented at the University of Northern Iowa Sustainability Conference	Bonthius, Daniel
Presented at the Broadcast Education Association Convention	Jochims, Torie
Presented at the Iowa Academy of Science Annual Meeting	Baldrige, Kaitlyn
Presented at the 23rd North American Prairie Conference	O'Loughlin, Mary
Presented at the Midwest Undergraduate Conference in the Humanities	Tanner, Dani
Presented at the Iowa Writing Center Consortium Annual Meeting	Ugoretz, Serena
Presented at the Psi Chi Program of the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference	Wedeking, David
Beta Beta Beta Honor Society	Ciota, Alex
	Clark, Justin
	Daubenberger, Jena
	Horrigan, Katie
	Reicks, Amy
	Reynolds, Caitlyn
Delta Mu Delta Honor Society	Huedepohl, Allison
Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society	Freese, Ashley
Kappa Mu Epsilon Honor Society	Bergman, Jalen
	King, Robert
	Reist, Hailee
	Wessels, Phillip
	White, Sarah
Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society	Arnold, Kristine
	Jochims, Torie
Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society	Geibert, Courtney
	Reynolds, Brittany
Psi Chi Honor Society	McGinnis, Jenna
	Sterenberg, Alycia
Sigma Delta Pi	Jellema, Christina
	Knepper, Chantal
	Tanner, Dani
	Ugoretz, Serena

Philosophy and Literary Society today.

Remember Phil and Lit today.

Castle Room at 4. Bring your friends

Professors David Herwaldt and Brian Pfaltzgraff along with a raft of students.

Optics Photo Contest

You can't get any Scholars Culture Points for it, but there is an Optics Photo contest running in the classroom on the third floor of the Science Center.  The students in Optics are indulging in their love of art and science.  When you are in the Science Center anyway, make your way up to the third floor and vote for your favorite photographs.

Enjoy the last day of the semester!

Five Successful Scholars Defenses

With only mild technological challenges, I am proud to announce that the Wartburg Scholars Defenses are over and all students were successful.

All students who attended two defenses earn one Scholars Culture point without having to fill out any forms.

Scholars Director Transition

Over the next two years I will be transitioning a new Scholars Director.  Yesterday, the request went off for faculty who want to become Director.  The Dean will choose a new Director who will work with me next year to learn the ropes.  Then, in Fall 2014, I will hands the ropes off to the new Director, but will continue to teach SCH 101 for at least one year.

Mariah Birgen
Scholars Program Director

Science Internship

Good Morning,

My name is Stuart Barry and I am the laboratory manager @ Northland Technical Laboratories in Waterloo, Iowa.  Janeen Siefken works at Northland with me I asked her if she had any Wartburg College contacts.  She said her and her husband Darin (of CrawDaddy Outdoors) recommended I inquire with your staff regarding opportunities for students.

We are currently renovating our laboratory in Waterloo for a new project.  We are adding considerable instrumentation and capabilities which are producing exciting opportunities.  Students from chemistry, biology, physics, and earth sciences have participated in our programs from UNI and other colleges.  The starting pay is $9.75 per hour and we offer exposure to many analytical instruments and methods.

Over the past years, we have been successful employing the talents of college students in our Summer internship programs.  We are a research-grade analytical laboratory based in the petroleum industry.

We have an opportunity for a full-time Summer internship.  The dates for the program are May 13^th through June 28^th.  We will be making our selection of the final candidate the last week of April.

As always, we focus on providing opportunities to college students first.

Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you have any students whom you feel would be a great fit for the Summer internship.  If this is something you would be interested in offering to your departments’ students, please let me know.  I’ve attached an informational posting.

Best Regards,

Stuart Barry
Northland Products Company
P 319-234-5585
F 319-234-5580

NCHC National Conference in New Orleans this November

The National Collegiate Honors Council Conference is November 6-10, 2013 in New Orleans.  Since no students have submitted a proposal to give a talk, there is money to take one or two students to this conference.  First choice is given to students who have attended a regional honors conference.  Please contact Dr. Birgen if you are interested.

'The Wartburg Opera Workshop performs excerpts from "The Duenna"—Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comic, romantic opera.

Wartburg Philosophical and Literary Society. The next meeting will be held Friday, April 12 at 4:00 pm in the Castle Room. The speakers will be Professors David Herwaldt and Brian Pfaltzgraff supported by several students. The title of their talk is 'The Wartburg Opera Workshop performs excerpts from "The Duenna"—Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comic, romantic opera.




> Dr. Herwaldt will introduce the performance by telling the story of Elizabeth Linley's and Sheridan's tumultuous romance (which inspired the opera) and how it was that Dr. Pfaltzgraff and his students revived an unfortunately neglected and nearly forgotten opera. Professor Herwaldt's talk will be illustrated with pictures by Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence, George Romney, and Joshua Reynolds—the greatest English painters of the late 1700s.

Possible Changes to future second Scholars Course

We are in the process of submitting a course change to make the second Scholars course count as IS 201 starting in Fall 2014.  Because of this, Scholars would encourage any students who are planning on taking SCH 255 to help them develop a Senior Scholars Project to take that course in Fall 2013.

Also, if anyone is interested in looking over the course proposal, I would be happy to share.  Just contact me.

Culture Points since the Ides of March

Congratulations to Merry Gillaspie and Alexia Brewster for reporting the most culture points since the Ides of March.  You too can earn up to two culture points on Thursday.  One for going to an hour of Scholars Senior Defenses and another for going to a different hour of RICE Day events.

Partners in the Parks proposed projects for 2013

Partners in the Parks: Outdoor Experiential Education for Students Partners in the Parks is an NCHC outdoor experiential learning program co-sponsored by Southern Utah University and Cedar Breaks National Monument. In 2013 we will be hosting a variety of academic adventures at national parks across the country. These week-long projects include seminars led by university faculty and park rangers as well as exciting recreational opportunities to broaden participants' understanding of the overall value of national parks to our country and its citizens. PITP programs are open to honors faculty and students from all majors and disciplines. If you are interested, send inquiries to honors@suu.edu. Proposed projects for 2013 Grand Canyon-Parashant, AZ (May 27-Jun 1) Great Basin National Park, NV (July 27-Aug 2) Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO (Aug 4-10) Sequoia National Park, CA (Aug 5-10) Olympic National Park, WA (Aug 5-11) Everglades National Park, FL (Dec 26-Jan 1) More information and online registration can be found on our web site: http://www.partnersintheparks.org What students have said… "I loved being in the backcountry and seeing snow in the desert." Zion National Park "I loved meeting new people and sharing our thoughts and ideas. " Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument "The seminars by rangers and faculty were all well done. The parks are a wonderful and difficult responsibility." Black Canyon of the Gunnison National park Financial Assistance is available for Partners in the Parks. The NCHC Student Stipend award provides $300 towards participation in a 2013 Partners in the Parks project. This funding is provided to help financially challenged students participate in the academic adventures hosted through Partners in the Parks. We encourage honors administrators to promote the stipend awards and encourage qualified candidates to apply. Two stipends will be provided for each of the remaining projects in the 2013 schedule. The online application and more information are available at the PITP website: http://www.partnersintheparks.org.

RICE Schedule -- April 11,2013

Whitehouse Business Center 217

1:00 PM                                                  Chelsea Reisner
New Music at Wartburg: Composers' Recital
Under the supervision of Geoffrey Wilson

1:30 PM                                                   Jamie Peterson
A More Modern Teaching Portfolio
Under the supervision of Jennifer Pothast

2:00 PM                                                   Jon Juett
John Deere Driving Simulation
Under the supervision of John Zelle

2:30 PM                                                   Jordan Achilles
Wartburg Carbon Footprint
Under the supervision of Anne Duncan


3:00 PM                                                   Gordon Roedel
Preliminary Analysis of Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces in Farmhouse Ales
Under the supervision of Roy Ventullo

MCSP Seminar

The final MCSP Seminar of 2012-13 will be on Tuesday, April 9 at 11:30 in SC 134.  The featured speaker will be Patrick Rhomberg '07, a doctoral candidate in applied mathematics at the University of Iowa.
Mr. Rhomberg will discuss mathematical and computational models in biological mathematics and other aspects of his work in computational epidemiology.  A strong mathematical background is not required to listen to his talk.  All are invited to hear his presentation entitled, "Good Looking Mathematics: a Discussion of Mathematical Models," in room 134 of the Science Center.  (See below for an abstract.)  As always, refreshments (cookies and beverages) will be provided.  We hope to see you there!


April 9 Speaker: Patrick Rhomberg '07 (Graduate Student in Applied Mathematics at the University of Iowa)
Title: "Good Looking Mathematics: a Discussion of Mathematical Models"
Abstract: Models are instrumental to our understanding of much of the world around us.  Mathematical models provide us with a strong framework for conjecture and analysis of the phenomena they represent.  In this talk, I will motivate and introduce some mathematical and computational models in biological mathematics: a simple differential equations model of the heart, the standard compartmental epidemiology model, and (time
permitting) extensions of this model.  All are welcome.  No strong mathematical background required; all pertinent mathematical framework will be covered.

Do Not Panic - Call for Assistance

1. We need two student moderators for the Scholars Senior Project Defenses next Thursday.  The job of the moderator is to keep the defenses flowing smoothly.  You will:
• Help the speaker get set up
• Introduce the speaker and the topic
• Keep the speaker on time by giving notice
• Run the question and answer session
• Earn Scholars Culture Points 
• If you are interested - send Dr. Birgen an email or comment on this post.
2. Next year, the Scholars Program would like to hire a Scholars student for five hours a week to run activities specifically for the first-year Scholars students.  These would be activities in and around the Scholars housing, but the person would not need to be someone living with the students.  If you are interested - send Dr. Birgen an email.  If you have a great name for this job, respond with a comment.

New Pictures

Check out the video memories of the SCH 110 course this Winter Break.

https://sites.google.com/site/wartburgscholarsprogram/classroom-pictures

Scholars Service Project Opportunity

Come spend stress-free time with friends preparing Travel Gift Bags for students studying abroad for May Term.

When:  Friday, 4/5/13, 2-3 PM
Where: Outside Dr. Birgen's Office, 358 Science Center
Who:  Anyone who wants to
Scholars Culture Point: You Bet

RICE Day

You can earn up to two Culture Points on RICE Day. You can earn one point by attending one hour of Scholars Senior Defenses. You can also earn one point for attending one hour of RICE which is not the Scholars Defenses.

1-3:30 p.m.  Scholars Program: Senior Project Defenses, WBC 217

The complete RICE schedule is online.

To receive credit for your Culture Point activities, you need to submit reflections using this Google Form

Committee Heads

The Wartburg Scholars Program has five committees that are in charge of most of the extracurricular parts of the program.  Chosen by their peers, the heads of the committees for 2013-2014 will be

Academics Committee	Robert King
Admissions Committee	Aditi Patel
Publicity Committee	Nicole Jamieson
Service Committee	Kelsey Smith
Special Events Committee	Andra Peeler

Additionally, there will be a Service Project opportunity Friday afternoon outside Dr. Birgen's office in the Science Center when we put together Travel Gift Bags for all the Scholars traveling over May Term.