Besides NDSU in Fargo and UND in Grand Forks, there are five other smaller, State-funded four year colleges in ND. That is in addition to the State-funded technical college in Wahpeton and two smaller State-funded two year colleges in Bottineau and Williston. That is a lot of State colleges for a place as sparsely populated as ND.
The five smaller four year colleges are enshrined in the ND State Constitution. That means they must continue to exist unless the Constitution is amended. The colleges are expected to be financially self supporting with tuition and not with tax dollars. What is a college to do, though, if, as national trends tell us, there will be fewer and fewer students attending college due to declining birth rates?
The college in our town is facing this very issue, and has made the very unpopular and draconian decision to eliminate the Music and Theatre Departments. They even are firing the guy who is the main tech person who is the only one who knows how the electronics in the auditorium work. It is traditionally a Teacher’s College and has strong Nursing, Agriculture, and Business Departments. I am sure they didn’t even consider eliminating the sports teams. They have told the Music and Theatre majors they need to find somewhere else to go next year.
What is a college without a band? It is hard enough to find elementary and secondary music teachers out here, and now it will be doubly difficult. State law requires that State property like the band instruments, band and choir music, and pianos, can’t be sold and must be given away. Our church is going to try to snag the timpani and big percussion instruments. I might try for a bass clarinet, as that is my instrument. It is all very sad.
If you went to college or technical school, what were your most memorable experiences? What makes a college a good place?
Trail Baboon 
Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I loved college. I attended two of them and enjoyed both. I enjoyed meeting new people, some of the classwork, and I loved living in a dormitory. Probably the most memorable experiences were at Iowa State University where there were many more people and a wide variety of experiences. I worked at the entertainment complex that included the athletic arena as an usher or in food service. The auditorium presented Marcel Marceau, Imogene Coca, and world class orchestras that I saw for free (free, free!). I also worked a 10 day Disney Ice Show, “It’s a Small World” featuring the most irritating selections of music that Disney ever presented. I still nearly turn inside-out if I hear the song, “it’s a Small World.”
AT the time ISU had a top rated gymnastics program that allowed me to watch gymnastics in person. It was wonderful. They had a world class wrestling program, as well, that sent a number of wrestlers to the winter Olympics at the time. My friends and I attended those meets which were so competitive.
My OpEd: I am sitting here typing this as I listen to an MPR/NPR news piece about the floods of immigrants moving into North Dakota to supply labor. These are immigrants who are struggling with language and adjustment. Existing college campuses would seem to me ideal facilities to assist these people with learning the skills they need to move into life in the USA. Why retract the programs that the state will just need to re-create because the Bean Counters don’t have the critical information they need about paying for a different kind of programming than traditional colleges provide? The arts often provide the cultural context of a place. To be blunt, ND is run by the GOP. The GOP appears to lack Twenty-first Century Problem Solving skills such as introducing immigrants to a homogenous Midwest state. The GOP can’t even govern itself right now.
I am thinking, thinking about what I said before I hit “Reply.” Should I do it?
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When my aunt was in assisted living and nursing home care, a lot of the staff assisting her spoke English as their second language. My aunt had significant hearing loss. I always felt she was somewhat isolated from the staff. She had trouble understanding everyone, but especially those who spoke with accents, and she tended to give up on conversation. I wonder if a course could be designed to train workers who assist the elderly. And a course for the elderly to try to prevent them from shutting down when they don’t understand.
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The skills needed for the elderly not to shut down when they can’t hear would be provided by an occupational therapist. It’s a subtle problem that is often missed by caregivers and physicians who would order such a service. My point is that what is needed already exists, but they would have to be more sensitivity to it, the exact situation you portray with my mothers care as well .
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Jacque
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This is definitely a problem in long term care. It’s natural for people to lose hearing as they age. It’s also natural for some aging people to lose the desire to learn new things. A different person speaking English with a different accent can be overwhelming for an aging person, who has become set in their own ways. My mom had this trouble too. Unfortunately it causes isolation and depression and it’s hard to fix without well-trained and devoted staff (which are hard to find these days).
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Sandy has had I would say more than 100 care takers, about half from other countries. Only a very few have been Naruto understand and only one had poor English and he did not stay long. They have been from many countries. At first they were all Hispanic, which was good for the one resident in memory care longer than Sandy who only speaks Spanish. But we have not had an Hispanic care giver in over a year.no idea why. Now we have several from Central Asia. Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and from west Africa. They all learned English in their own country. Many are in college here. They are almost always good and caring people. The worst have been a few Americans, but there have been so many wonderful American RN students. It is leadership of the controlling corporation I would complain about. Much of the loss of good employees comes from the treatment they receive.
Clyde
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Hear, Hear, Clyde.
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I agree.
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Listening to the great up-and-coming jazz musicians at the U of Miami for my one year there (freshman). To drop names, (not that you’ll recognize them): Pat Metheny, Danny Gottlieb, Mark Colby, Ben Davis, and a few others whose names elude me.
That school had one of the best jazz studies programs in the nation back then. Not sure where it’s at now.
Chris in Owatonna (NOT one of the up-and-comers) 🙂
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Should also mention having Gopher season tickets for hockey from ’76-’78, back in the day when Herb Brooks was at the peak of his dynasty. Watched in old Mariucci Arena, sitting on wooden benches, no heat, so the temp inside was influenced by the outside temp. We often watched the game with coats hats and gloves on (still chilled) then walked outside into -20 for the 15-minute walk back to my place or her’s (my future wife’s) 🙂 in Dinkytown.
Chris
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I was a Gopher hockey season ticket holder from 1972 to 1975 and I have very similar memories from sitting in the old, cold Mariucci Arena. Those huge windows at one end certainly weren’t insulated. I attended UMD for my first two years and had season tickets for the Bulldogs from 1970 – 1972 in the old Duluth Convention Center. There was no glass on the boards except behind the nets so sitting close to the ice was hazardous. I remember one girl who took a puck to the face – luckily her eye was not injured.
At the main campus I was a season ticket holder for football and men’s basketball as well. The football team was pretty inept during those years but we had fun in the stands. In the Barn, Bill Musselman was the coach and it was fun watching the team go through its Globetrotter type warmup before each game.
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This sums up my relationship to college sports, K-Two, even though ISU (as Jacque mentioned) had some outstanding teams…
“The football team was pretty inept during those years but we had fun in the stands.”
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I “attended” Moorhead State College and Concordia College in 1966. The campuses were located between Moorhead South Junior High and home. I enjoyed browsing the libraries pretending I was a fourteen years old student. A very fake but early version of Young Sheldon. Self-glorification as I suspect no one gave me much attention. The Concordia biology department had some display cases containing specimens so I’d take notes on the names and research them later at the Livingston Lord library at MSC. In all the many visits, I was never challenged by security. That has likely changed.
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I loved those display cases at Concodia Biology Department. I got a Minor in Biology there.
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Cool! The area reeked of formaldehyde. A great smell.
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Ack! Formaldehyde reeks!
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The Biology Department was located in a barrack-like building then. Now there is a new Science building.
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I also hung out at the local college library after out-growing the public library in Junior High and High School where Mrs. Smith stared at me disapprovingly. The college librarian, Mrs. Kang, was a friend of my mom’s and she approved of anything I checked out and read. It was wonderful.
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I started at Carleton. A long story involving a compromise between me and my father. I loved the campus and I loved not being in St. Louis any longer. But I struggled with what I was going to do with this expensive education and after 2 1/3 years decided to take a break. And never went back — at least never to Carlton. When I finally went back for my degree at Metro State, I had a very nebulous major but I enjoyed all the classes immensely because I was only taking things that I was interested in. Of course it was definitely “I have to get this done to get the piece of paper” slog. Of course now that I’m older and I don’t have any pressure about getting a piece of paper or spending my parents’ money wisely, college seems like a fabulous idea. But having watched YA do her masters with groups and Google docs and teams sharing all the work, it doesn’t seem as alluring any longer.
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I forget what you ended up with for a major, VS.
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Liberal Studies w/ a minor in Asian Studies. Which translates into I just took whatever I wanted to. Religious Architecture, Shakespeare, Water Coloring, History of the Reformation, Boxer Rebellion, King Arthur in English and American Literature, 20th Century Chinese Lit….,,
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Cool!
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When I took practical nursing training in Faribault in 1980, we had our classrooms in a very old, historic building called Johnston Hall. It was part of the Seabury Divinity School and one of the reasons Faribault was once known as the “Athens of the West.” The building was constructed of local limestone in the late 1800s. When we were there for classes in 1980, the windows were leaky and there were pigeons roosting in the attics directly above our heads. In the morning when we arrived, there would be droppings from both pigeons and bats on our antique desks and chairs. We had to clean every morning before class could start. Then we would sit there and freeze. I actually liked the place. It was gorgeous with gothic bar tracery in the stone-framed windows. The windows were uninsulated with leaded glass frames. Everything was stone, various metals, and wood. The roof had colorful clay tiles. It was an amazing old building. The City owned it with the hospital building, but they wanted to demolish it and build a new building. There was a fight which did result in a group being formed to stop the destruction of Johnston Hall. It was saved and remodeled into an office building but the historic nature of the building wasn’t honored and it continued to have structural problems. When the City wanted to tear it down again, they succeeded. There is a parking lot there now and Johnston Hall only lives in the memories of aging practical nursing students. I met some nurses who were 20 years older than me on Monday. The beloved RN who had been director of the program for decades passed away at 102 years old. She was also the mother of one of my very best friends. I attended the visitation. We chatted about “Old Pigeon Poop Prison” and shared memories of our training.
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It’s tragic to take music, theater, and art out of curriculums due to budgets. Music teaches so much more than singing. It helps with math and language. I took care of a young autistic man who improved his verbal skills by listening to singing and imitating what he heard. He and I used to sing “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by PPM together. He started using words from that song, then from various Jimmy Buffett songs. He would listen to all music and singing and absorb it like a sponge, then burp it back out in speech. When we got him he was nonverbal and self-injurious. When I left he was talking in full sentences. Music is absolutely necessary. It helps young people learn.
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As one who has accompanied middle school age choirs for over 20 years, I agree wholeheartedly. I get angry and frustrated when I hear that music programs get cut for budgetary reasons. Very recently MPS has actually pushed elementary and middle schools to provide at least some exposure to band/choir/orchestra programs. Music, art, and theater all help with not only math and language but also science and history and help create well rounded individuals.
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And in the immigrant communities, those programs unite a community–everyone wants to go see their kids’ paintings, or hear them sing, or hear the band play. Parents feel proud and participate no matter what their national origin.
There is a great deal of research now about the economic impact of an arts community in towns large and small. It is enormous.
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As mentioned already – the opportunity to live with a lot of people different from you was a big one. Of course, looking back, they weren’t very different from me, but still.
And all the chances to join things like chorus, play bridge in the Student Union between classes, work on campus events and festivals…
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I have told too often of my experiences at U of Chi and the U. I drive twice a day, except when there are big events on campus, through the campus of MN State. Sometimes I do my PT walk around campus just to walk in a different place. I plan to do that today. Dozen years ago we lived close by and I would bike around it. Two big changes. More buildings with more varied architecture and a big infusion of minority students. It does not strike me as a campus with a lot of student life. But much of the housing is a few blocks away. It has a large commuter population. Supposedly by enrollment it is the third largest college in the state or was a few years ago. Only one of the nursing students does anything on campus. She is in the band and in the LBG etc. group. Most have moved to housing downtown. I like talking to them and they seem to like me. The Nepalese woman is charming and the Sri Lankan cleaning the table right now is so funny in that Indian way.
The library is about as dull as a library can be. The bookstore is B & N so also devoid of personality. The thing on this campus seems to be to wear other college logos, SDSU and UMD in 2nd and 1st place.
When I was teaching high school, people used to tell me I should be teaching college. I think they meant it as a compliment. I am not sure why they said that. Nor would I want to. The energy of a high school kept me stoked, worn out, infuriated, delighted, etc.
Clyde
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Library. A good college has a welcoming library. All have books but need easy access and numerous areas for quiet study without having to reserve the room.
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UWSuperior was a small college library but great for its size, full of nooks and crannies. Where I got my masters where I could make it fit what I was doing as a teacher.
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the move to online training has almost become the standard it seems. Of course it makes a lot of financial sense, which is all the administrators look at. Full Time students numbers, and if they can teach at home and still get the full funding for the FTE (Full Time Equivalent) than of course they are. Doesn’t make it right.
The halls seem so empty around our campus. We’re only a 2 year with no dorms, but it’s a little different, but it’s a different place than it felt a few years ago.
Once my boss, the artistic director retires, they’ll cut the theater programs. I only hope they have enough sense to keep me around to run the equipment, but I don’t know. If they bothered to ask, or think about it, they’d move me into the IT area, but let the theater be my main area.
I only need a couple more years. 🙂
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On a positive note, a major bond issue for renovating the high school passed in our town yesterday.
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Yay for them!
Two questions coming in November for us locally: A bond for the public schools IT improvements, and should the city renew its half cent sales tax up to $25 million to be used for a new athletics facility, street improvements, ect. Of course only City residents get to vote on that one.
Gonna be a quiet day in our voting precinct with just the one question.
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We’ve had a similar thing happen at St. Mary’s University. There is some controversy, of course, and I have friends who think part of who got cut (the arts) was more about getting rid of the liberal faction of the faculty. Ultra conservative people in the upper echelons…
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Well, I am back to arguing with WP about my identity. If I post something, it might like me again…
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