In This Issue:

President Bradshaw left us with so much

President Wilson G. Bradshaw’s beaming face has been a fixture on Metropolitan State University’s Web site for years, accompanying his emboldening message to prospective students: "I invite you to explore the many ways in which this institution, in its fourth decade of creating educational opportunity for working adults and other traditionally underserved populations, can enrich your life and your future." But more than that, so much more, he has lived every word he dare utter about our educational institution, and brought it to ever-increasing levels of excellence...

William Lowe appointed interim president of Metropolitan State University

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees today appointed William Lowe as interim president of Metropolitan State University. "Dr. Lowe has extensive administrative experience and a strong commitment to the high-quality programs at Metropolitan State University," said Chancellor James H. McCormick. "I am confident the university will continue to advance under his leadership in this transition..."

Higher Education Web site available for returning soldiers

Nov. 9, 2007--The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and Minnesota Online have created a Web site to serve the unique higher education needs of veterans, military members and their families.Veterans, members of the military and their families can find information about education benefits, Minnesota higher education institutions and related issues from a team of experienced advisors and counselors...

Tis the season for stress

The last couple months of the year can be very stressful for students, due to final exams, holiday preparations and much more. One Metropolitan State University student, Jennifer Lambert-Smith, recalls a time during the holiday season that she felt particularly stressed. "Let's just say that in the midst of panic, I ended up unplugging our deep freezer and ruined Thanksgiving Dinner," she says...

25 ideas to reduce stress

Twenty-five ways to reduce your stress over the holiday (and finals) season...

Bilingual au pairs provide both childcare and language education

With the increasing need to prepare children to enter a global society, a growing number of American parents are demanding childcare providers who can offer their children first-hand knowledge of another culture, language and traditions. Whether it is Spanish, German, Russian or Swedish, families across the United States are seeking childcare providers who speak a foreign language. One childcare option gaining popularity among parents is an international au pair, a live-in childcare provider who is able to teach children a second language in the home...

Senator Ellen Anderson receives 2007 "Vision Award"

"Cloud Nine" by Caryl Churchill is an inventive, surrealistic and entertaining look at sexual repression and role conditioning. Set in Victorian Africa as well as modern London, "Cloud Nine" explores the parallels between colonial and sexual repression and the changing, often confusing sexuality of our own relatively modern times. With this play — considered one of her best — Churchill exposes, in distinctly theatrical ways, identities warped by conforming to "unnatural norms..."

Brittany Nelson: The Projects Abroad experience

The fall of communism in Eastern Europe created the need for volunteer programs to assist with humanitarian efforts. Projects Abroad is one such program. Peter Slowe, long time academic at Chichester University and founder of Projects Abroad, saw the opportunity to engage his students in the experience of foreign cultures while doing meaningful work. Brittany Nelson of Richfield, MN is one of the student volunteers who has given her time to this worthy cause...

Metropolitan State’s tech com grad students to travel to Puerto Rico

From February 23 through March 8, six Technical Communication graduate students from Metropolitan State University will trade their down coats for sun block as they head to the University of Puerto Rico. The week prior and week of spring break, the grad students will travel to Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico to complete their international communication service.  The trip, a first of its kind for Metropolitan State, is organized by Suzanne Walfoort and Craig Hanson. "I am excited for Metro State to have this opportunity," says Walfoort..."

Lifetime "Every Woman Counts" poll reveals presidential favorites

Lifetime Networks today announced the results of a nationally representative poll of women revealing that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani are the most welcomed Thanksgiving guests, thoughtful gift givers and trusted babysitters. The poll was released as part of Lifetime's nonpartisan, award-winning "Every Woman Counts" campaign. First launched in 1992 and now entering its fifth presidential election cycle, the initiative was created to ensure that issues important to women are part of the dialogue during election season...

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system receives award for outstanding use of technology

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has received an award for innovative and effective uses of technologies in supporting students through Minnesota Online, the system's gateway to more than 4,700 course sections and 200 programs offered via the Internet. The Outstanding Work Award from the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, an association with nearly 300 members in 46 states and nine countries, recognizes the system's Online Support Center for delivering high-quality student services, particularly to veterans and military personnel...

Goodbye from the editor

My tenure as editor of The Metropolitan has been short-lived, only six months, but with a year behind me as associate editor. In my time with the student newspaper I have watched so many dedicated people work extraordinarily hard to improve the quality of the newspaper, to engage in the discourse on campus and to voice what's important to Metropolitan State students. I can honestly say that over the past year and a half The Metropolitan has improved many-fold, thanks to the ardent devotion of its participants on staff and from the student body, to become a worthy representation of this fine institution - one we can truly be proud of...

A moveable feast

Up until around World War I it was customary, almost obligatory, for members of a certain class to engage in what was known as the Grand Tour as a kind of capstone to their classical education. The Grand Tour was a trip, undertaken with guidance, to Europe. Typically the starting point was London, with Paris, Florence and Rome as essential destinations. The tradition endures today - in the form of backpacking. Before I finished my B.S. I was lucky enough to be a part of the International Traveling Classroom, or ITC. ITC is a program that essentially allows students to follow their own itineraries for four months and gain credit for it...

Cloud Nine Review

The fall production "Cloud Nine" was recently put on by a small department of dedicated individuals called the Metropolitan Theater Underground. Directed by Scott M. Rubsam, the play explores the gray area of human sexuality that is so often ignored. Many of the themes were quite uncomfortable, epitomized in scenes of pederasty that contrast sharply with the innocence of childhood. Dealing with these issues was like having the soul shoved through a blender...

Metropolitan State University announces new art exhibit

Metropolitan State University Third Floor Gallery is pleased to present Focus on Fibers: Selections from the Textile Center. The exhibit opens Monday, Nov. 26, with a reception on Thursday, Nov. 29, from 4 - 7 p.m. A spinning and weaving demonstration by Textile Center members will take place during the reception from 5 - 6 p.m. The show continues through Friday, Dec. 14. Gallery hours are Monday - Thursday, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Friday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. The gallery is located in the Library and Learning Center, 645 East Seventh Street, Saint Paul...

Sporting The Twin Cities: Turkey Day Tragedy

It's 1:53 a.m. November 22, Thanksgiving morning, and my cell phone jars me awake from a restless slumber filled with dreams of homemade apple pie and endless NFL football. "Beep! Beep! Beep!" it screams, as I roll over to begrudgingly oblige the electronic nuisance's calls for attention. It's a text message from Tom, a good friend and fellow baseball enthusiast, determined to start my holiday off right: "Torii 2 Anaheim!! 5 yrs 90 mil!!"

Technology Bytes : Nano Bytes

The Holiday season is approaching, and with the end of the year come finals and final projects, as well as the hectic details of family and work life. My workplace, like many others, institutes an 'end-of-the-year code freeze,' so the next two weeks are going to filled with long hours and hard deadlines. The good news is that with all the overtime I'll be able to afford that pony my daughter's been asking about for Christmas…