Volume II: Issue 19
Celebration of Life
The Music Recital Hall was filled last Tuesday, October 14, with several hundred students, faculty, and staff who came to honor the lives of four firefighters killed in the tragic firefighting accident on August 5 in northern California. The Celebration of Life event remembered students Scott Charlson and Edrik Gomez; former student Steven "Caleb" Renno; and David Steele, son of Susanne Steele, a current student and employee of Southern Oregon University. My thanks to Laura O'Bryon and others who organized this lovely event.
High School Honor Choir Workshop
Each year, the High School Honor Choir Workshop kicks off fall term with a delightful selection of choral pieces. More than 100 students from a dozen area high schools came to campus for the weekend, ready to sing and learn habits of responsible musicianship and leadership in choral art.
Professor of Music Paul French, Assistant Professor of Music Fredna Grimland, and Adjunct Instructor Kirby Shaw selected pieces that offered a broad range of musical styles. The weekend culminated with a Sunday afternoon concert featuring the prepared choral pieces. This year's concert also featured the SOU Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Paul French, who is preparing the choir for a European tour over Spring Break.
Greg Jones Travels to Brazil and New York
The Brazilian government agency Embrapa (the equivalent of our USDA) recently invited Professor of Environmental Studies Greg Jones to Brazil, where he gave a series of talks and interacted with wine industry leaders, academics, and government research groups. In addition, he gave a keynote talk to approximately 500 people at the XII Congresso Brasileiro de Viticultura e Enologia.
While in Brazil, Greg visited the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, where he worked with a graduate student on her research project and helped the Center for Ecological Studies and Spatial Information with developing a state analysis of climate potential for wine production. Greg then traveled to Campinas to give a talk on climate change research.
At the end of October, Greg will travel to New York to speak at the American Museum of Natural History in Central Park for a sold-out exhibition titled "Wine and Climate Change."
Bill Gholson Contributes to the Field of Rhetoric
Professor of English and Writing Bill Gholson has been accepted into the Rhetoric Society of America's summer institute workshop, “Rhetoric and Civil Discourse,” to be held at Penn State next summer. In addition, his essay "Teaching an Online Course: Compassionate Reasoning for a Civil Society" has been accepted for publication in a book based on presentations at last summer's international conference celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Chaim Perelman and Lucie Albrecht-Tyteca's The New Rhetoric.
Homecoming 5k Run
Forty-two people participated in running, jogging, walking, and strolling during the first President's Homecoming 5K Run on Saturday, October 18. It was a gorgeous fall morning and a great opportunity to get outside and celebrate fall term. Everyone I spoke with wanted this to be an annual event—so I hope to see even more folks out there next year. Proceeds from the event help support student scholarships.
I appreciate all the work that Doreen O'Skea and her folks put into making the run such a success. Even our wrestling team showed up early in the morning to handle the heavy lifting tasks. Thanks, everyone!
Football
Saturday's Homecoming game was tense to the end. Finally, with 1:23 to play, senior kicker Corey O'Neill's field goal gave SOU our 16-14 victory over Azusa Pacific.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Raiders and improved them to 2-5 on the season. Azusa fell to 1-6 overall. "That was a big victory for us," SOU Head Coach Steve Helminiak said. "Our guys have been battling all season long and that was evident today. Even when we got down we kept fighting and it paid off at the end."
Playing one of the most difficult schedules in the nation, SOU opened up 2008 with a victory at 21st-ranked Montana State and then dropped games against NCAA Division II Humboldt State, NCAA Division I Sacramento State, NCAA Division III Willamette, NCAA Division III Linfield, and NCAA Division II Western Oregon. In all except the Western Oregon game, the Raiders were leading at some point and in position to win the game.
Our last home game of the season starts at 1 pm on October 25 when we host Mary Hardin Baylor.
Cross-Country
Under new Head Coach Brent Ericksen, the SOU Cross Country team has started off with one of the best opening months in the program's history. The SOU men went from unranked in the preseason NAIA Top 25 poll to No. 8 in the latest poll. The Raiders defeated third-ranked Simon Fraser in the opening race in Washington and finished as the top NAIA team in the second race.
