NASA, Midland team up for event

Midland Lutheran, in association with the NASA, is commemorating the 400th anniversary of the telescope and the International Year of Astronomy with a public unveiling of new images of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 at an event Thursday, Feb. 26 at 3:30 p.m. at the Eppley Auditorium on the Midland campus.

In 1609, Galileo improved the newly invented telescope, turned it toward the heavens, and revolutionized our view of the universe. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of this milestone, 2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy.

Today, NASA’s Great Observatories are continuing Galileo’s legacy with stunning images and breakthrough science from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Dr. Greg Clements will discuss the science and significance of the images, which will be unveiled by college president Dr. Stephen E. Fritz.

Twenty people will receive lithographs of the Hubble image of Messier 101, and refreshments will be provided. The public is welcome.

There will also be a presentation on the telescope, from its inception to the modern equipment in use today.
Midland is one of 116 partner institutions across the nation that have been selected to display these images. The images will be on display through 2009 at the Lueninghoener Planetarium.

While Galileo observed the sky using visible light seen by the human eye, technology now allows us to observe in many wavelengths, including Spitzer’s infrared view and Chandra’s view in X-rays. Each wavelength region shows different aspects of celestial objects and often reveals new objects that could not otherwise be studied.

This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 is a composite of views from Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra.

• The red color shows Spitzer’s view in infrared light. It highlights the heat emitted by dust lanes in the galaxy where stars can form.

• The yellow color is Hubble’s view in visible light. Most of this light comes from stars, and they trace the same spiral structure as the dust lanes.

• The blue color shows Chandra’s view in X-ray light. Sources of X-rays include million-degree gas, exploded stars, and material colliding around black holes.

Such composite images allow astronomers to see how features seen in one wavelength match up with those seen in another wavelength. It’s like seeing with a camera, night vision goggles, and X-ray vision all at once.

Alumnus continues to serve Midland

Midland Lutheran College is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Lynn Lamprecht as Senior Director of Institutional Advancement effective Jan. 5.

Lynn Lamprecht, senior director of Institutional Advancement

A 1977 Midland graduate, Lamprecht is no stranger to the College community. In 1999 he was recognized with Midland’s Master Teacher Award and in 2003 the Lamprecht family was honored as the Family of the Year.

“In many ways, I have never left Midland,” Lamprecht said. “My extended family has graduated more than 60 members from this fine college. Since I graduated from Midland in 1977, my wife, Cindi, our son Adam, his wife Jill, our daughter Sarah and her fiancé Ryan Hart have all graduated from Midland.”

“I am excited about having the opportunity to directly work for Midland and to find opportunities to promote the fine education offered by the college to alumni, friends of the college and to the community,” Lamprecht said.

Lamprecht has served on numerous community boards and organizations, including the Fremont YMCA, Sinai Lutheran Church, and the 3Rivers Health Department. Most recently, Lamprecht capped a 32-year career in health care at the Fremont Area Medical Center, where he most recently served as the Director of Outreach Services.

“We were fortunate that someone of Lynn’s caliber and character was available,” President Stephen E. Fritz said. “His past service to the College has been greatly appreciated, and we look forward to the achievements of the Office of Institutional Advance under his leadership,” he said.

Lamprecht will oversee the day-to-day operations of the College’s Institutional Advancement office, which handles donor relations, fundraising, and charitable contributions. “As our capital campaign progresses, Lynn will provide the guidance and direction necessary for The Campaign to be a success,” Fritz said.

“I believe that Midland Lutheran College is one of the major foundations of our community,” Lamprecht said. “I will do my best to help educate the people and businesses of Fremont to better understand why their support of the college is vital to our community. Their support will solidify the presence of Midland Lutheran College in Fremont for years to come.”

With his acceptance of the new position, Lamprecht resigned his position on the College’s Board of Trustees.

First FMES show coming up soon

Jill Hoops dropped us a note that the Fremont-Midland Entertainment Series opens its season Sept. 22.

The Fremont-Midland Entertainment Series is about to embark on its 2008-2009 season.  The first performance will be Monday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fremont High School Auditorium.

The show is entitled, “Stay Tuned”, and it will feature five professional singers and dancers who will take the audience back to the golden days of television, with a high energy performance that will be very entertaining!   Please join us.

Midland Lutheran College students have complimentary admission to all FMES events by showing your MLC Student I.D.   Midland Faculty and Staff may also attend by showing identification.  Additional season tickets for other family members may be purchased from Jill Hoops in the Institutional Advancement office.

Questions?   Call 941-6061.  Check out our brand new website at www.fmesconcerts.org for a taste of what the upcoming season will offer!

Interterm… in Cozumel

I spent a glorious 8 hours in Cozumel, Mexico once. Somewhere, is the picture of me swimming with a dolphin.

But that’s not important right now.

What is important is that Dr. Lance Johnson was working on Labor Day!

C’mon, Doc, you’re making the rest of us look bad.

From Dr. Johnson:

Interterm 2009 course offering:
Marine Ecology BIO 426 (scuba trip course to Cozumel, Mexico)
This is a call to anyone interested in enrolling in the Marine Ecology course for the January Interterm 2009. Currently there are 5 people enrolled, but I hope to enroll at least 10 people for the trip to be financially feasible. The more we have the lower the price. If you are interested in the Marine Ecology course please contact me ASAP. This course may be in jeopardy unless we obtain more participants/students.
Marine Ecology (BIO 426) involves learning about marine ecology, becoming PADI Scuba certified, and traveling to Cozumel, Mexico for 5 days of scuba diving (in cold, wintery January mind you). The first week and a half will be on the MLC campus and will involve classroom scuba instruction in the morning (9-12am) and diving in the YMCA pool in the afternoons (1-3:30pm). The last week of the course will be completed in Cozumel, Mexico. Ron Johns from Heartland Scuba (Kearney, NE) will be teaching the scuba course. The estimated cost for the course is $1900, but you will also be responsible for meals, taxis, tips, mask/snorkel/fins/boots, and a current passport (~$100) is required. Payment will be required in the next few months. If you are already scuba certified, you may still go on the trip and/or take advanced diving courses for some credits. The price for the scuba trip alone is estimated at $1500.

Other courses you may take if you are already scuba certified include Advanced Open Water Diver (~$250), Deep Diver (~$200), Reef Fish Identification (~$100), Digital Underwater Photographer (~$170), and Night Diver (~$180). See the attached flyer for more information. This course was offered a few years ago and was very enjoyable… especially since we were in tropical Cozumel, Mexico while it was snowing back at home! Please contact Dr. Lance Johnson with any questions. Thank you.

Mexico in January… for education?

That’s just about the perfect combination.

Meet the New Instructional Technology Specialist

Again, from the Dean’s Office (he’s been busy)

It is a pleasure to announce that David Bentz has accepted the Instructional Technology Specialist Position at Midland, effective August 18, 2008. He will report to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College.

He earned the Bachelor’s of Arts (BA) Degree in Anthropology in 1996 and the Master’s of Secondary Teaching (MST) with concentrations in Curriculum and Instruction/Instructional Technology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), Lincoln, Nebraska. Also, he is currently studying for his Doctorate of Philosophy in Instructional Technology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which he plans to complete in the fall of 2008.

Prior to beginning graduate studies at the University of Nebraska, he was Nebraska Wesleyan University’s first full-time Web Technician, where he was responsible for Web site architecture and design overhaul and coordinated the Blackboard system for the entire campus, serving as the primary staff member assisting faculty and students with the use the system.

In addition to serving as Educational Technology Liaison at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI,he has had extensive experience as a professional photographer, with his work appearing in magazines such as, Newsweek, Life and U.S. News and World Report.

He has also held adjunct teaching positions in teacher education, curriculum, communication and theatre arts at UNL and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Of special note are his extensive presentations such as “Online and face-to-face classes: A comparative evaluation of eight large –scale introductory food science classes”, Graduate Research Conference, Lincoln, NE, 2007.

In this position, he will be responsible for designing/developing and supporting the use of technology-assisted course delivery systems for classroom – based and on-line learning activities.

As an old darkroom rat myself, I’m always pleased to see a photog get a real job.

A hearty WarriorWay welcome to Mr. Bentz

Meet the New IT Director

From the Dean’s Office:

Ken Clipperton, the person responsible for the nation’s first all-wireless college campus, has been named the new Director of Information Technology at Midland Lutheran College.

During his terms as the managing director of University Information Services for Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, Clipperton designed and implemented the first all-wireless college campus in the country. As a result of this groundbreaking achievement, Clipperton has been approached by more than 200 organizations to see how he runs his department.

A believer in Midland’s faith-based approach, Clipperton expressed a deep passion for the college’s core values. While doing research on the area, Clipperton said one of his first priorities was to find a church in the area that he and his family could attend.

Clipperton earned his Bachelor’s Degree in History from Saint Paul Bible College (now known as Crown College), in Saint Bonafacious, Minnesota. He then earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Metropolitan State University, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Clipperton is a “visionary” and an “industry leader,” said Ralph Oxley, a senior account executive for Gateway Computers. “Ken has a history of keeping projects moving and completed on time, lining up appropriate resources to accomplish tasks and coordination of multiple partners. He has implemented several large scale complicated projects that institutions of similar size wouldn’t normally try to execute.”

Before working at Buena Vista University, Clipperton was the first full-time IT staff hired by Crown College where he oversaw all computing and telecommunications functions.

Clipperton will begin his duties at Midland Lutheran College in August.

Everyone I’ve talked to who has meet Clipperton is excited he’s here. His work at Buena Vista really is pretty cutting-edge and he has a lot of cool ideas for Midland.

Also… I want to be sure to welcome the person who controls my e-mail.