Renowned alum to offer keynote remarks at UMN Crookston commencement
Times Report
Crookston Times
The University of Minnesota Crookston announces that alumnus Wemimo Abbey 2013, recently featured in the New York Times for work related to his multimillion dollar company, will be the keynote speaker for both commencements on Saturday, May 8.
UMN Crookston commencement organizers stated that in order to have a safe commencement and follow COVID-19 protocols from the CDC and Minnesota Department of Health, there will be two commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 8 in Lysaker Gymnasium. Abbey will attend and keynote both in-person events, which will be split into two academic divisions. Business and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education will have a ceremony at 10 a.m., while Math, Science, and Technology and Agriculture and Natural Resources will convene at 2 p.m.
Written By: Andrew Weeks | ×
Allie Kaiser, student at Bismarck State College, sits behind a microphone at the school s Mystic Media studio. Colleges and universities in the upper Midwest say businesses want their new hires to be effective communicators.
Image: Courtesy of Bismarck State College
When karen Bauer – who spells her first name with a lowercase “k” – started at Bismarck State College, the school’s communication department had only a newspaper and literary magazine. Now it has a digital studio and a larger focus on the many tools that make up today’s world of mass communication.
Bauer, the school’s assistant professor of journalism and the executive director of the North Dakota Student Media Association, said communication has not only affected her life and career but is a skill from which people in all professions may benefit.
Fertile, Minn., native excited about the challenges ahead.
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Shawn Smith, UMC communications | 1:50 pm, Apr. 19, 2021 ×
University of Minnesota Crookston student Marlee Steffes. (2021 photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Crookston)
CROOKSTON, Minn. - When she was two years old, a daycare provider noticed Marlee Steffes’ right eye was turning in.
“I have known since I was little I wanted to be an optometrist,” Steffes stated. “My parents brought me in and I have something called strabismus, or the turning in of the eye.
The condition and the various eye appointments, and surgeries, would help guide the path Steffes is on today.
Polk County DFL prepares for ‘typical’ Earth Day event
Submitted
Crookston Times
On April 22, 1970, across America many folks went outside to do their part to end the worsening pollution of our land, water, and air. Some marched and protested with signs, some picked up trash along shorelines and roads, some held rallies for the earth, sang songs, and signed petitions, It could be considered the beginning of the environmental movement.
It was Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin who thought up the idea of an Earth Day to get folks motivated across the country to get the message out about caring for the earth in meaningful ways. One in ten Americans participated on that first Earth Day.
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John Loegering, a professor in the UMC Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, sponsored van transportation to the site. Removing the tamarack trees reduces the possible perching sites for predators, Loegering said.
“Cutting them opens the landscape and improves the cover for many species,” he said. “Our work will open that brushland for the next 25 years or more.”
The 15 volunteers each logged 10 hours of time valued at about $20 an hour. The Sharp-tailed Grouse Society can use that work as an organizational match when applying for grants, Loegering said.
“That is $3,000 worth,” Loegering said, adding that the society applies for grants that typically require a 5% match. “Thus, our work ($3,000) translates into an additional $60,000 in grant funds.”