1997-10-23

              If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.

P.O.Box 1866

Saint John's University

Collegeville, MN 56321

The Record

Non-profit organization

US Postage paid

Saint John's University

Volume CX, Number X

Official Student Newspaper Since i88y

October Z3, 1997

First annual conference celebrates creativity

Students and organizers hope to make the weekend a distinctive CSB/SJU tradition

different disciplines to investigate    Students presented on different as-

creativity," said Thornbury.              pects of Carroll's work. Examples of

Every attempt was made to use    their crf ^ ™d™°™ include a

the conference not just as a connec-    SrouP °f stud^ who compared and

by Nicole Kroetsch Editorial staff writer

acters to the tune of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine.

Last weekend's first annual Creativity Conference at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University celebrated and investigated creativity in a way that no other campus has ever done before. The success of the conference is encouraging to organizers who plan to make it a tradition.

Conference coordinator and English professor Charles Thornbury explains that the purpose of this conference is to highlight the importance of creativity in different disciplines in a unique way.

Thornbury believes that this conference will become a distinguishing feature of St. John's and St. Ben's.

"We want to produce something as notable as the Nobel Laureates conference at Gustavus Adolphus," Thornbury said. "That is our ambition."

This year's conference was dedicated to the spirit of Lewis Carroll, noted mathematician, illustrator and creator of Alice in Wonderland. According to Thornbury, the commemoration of Carroll allowed the campus to investigate creativity from diverse disciplines such as mathematics, biology, English, art, theater and political science.

"Carroll was a figure that allowed us to look at a number of

"I would have to say that the overall experience (of the conference) was one of the best experiences I have had here yet," Sumangil

said.

Emily Trempe reacts with surprise as she realizes she is not the only Alice in Dr. Kaarin Johnston's Alice in Wonderland, (photo by Nick Lipetzky)

tion with different departments on campus but also be an actual mode of the course. Many classes, such as first-year symposium, biology and economics classes, were given assignments to present at the course.

contrasted videos on the Mad Tea Party. Another formed a band called "Chucky Tea and the Tea Addicts" and sang songs about Carroll's char-

SJU first-year student Eric "Pogiw Sumangil participated in the conference as part of his symposium class. He describes his experience with the conference as positive.

According to Sumangil, the conference not only encouraged students to explore their creativity, it also helped his class bond together.

"While we were trying to figure things out, we had some splats of creative interpretation," Sumangil said. "But it was kind of funny because through it all we got to understand each other better. If given the chance, 1 would definitely do it again," Sumangil said.

In the future, Thornbury would like to see more of these types of student presentations.

Students also participated through a theatrical production of Alice in Wonderland written by Kaarin S. Johnston of the theater department.

This production was geared toward younger children and allowed the larger community to get involved in the conference.

A celebration of creativity in the spirit of Carroll was timely. Thornbury explains that the upcoming centennial celebration of Carroll's death in January of 1998 made biographers and scholars of CaTrolI coveted commodities. He had to book the keynote speaker,

See Creativity Page 3

Co-funding board implements new procedures

Nov. 13 allocations deadline approaches for club funding

By Destiny Kessel Staff writer

The co-funding board for the St. John's and St. Ben's senates has introduced a new system for allocation requests. This new system has necessitated installation of a club budget and a request deadline, which causes some distress among club members. In spite of some negativity the process has been effective in making clubs come forward with their funding needs.

The senates, before this year, have never felt the need to place a budget on allocation requests. It is now essential for one to be put in place in order to control the increase in the number of major clubs wanting more money then allotted to them in their annual budgets.

St. Ben's senate Allocations Chair Nikki Shea believes that the new process will make the allocation process more efficient and fair.

"We [the SBS] felt that it was time to realistically look at how much we have spent already and how it will affect the smaller clubs who have not come for funding yet," Shea said. "We don't want to have to turn them down because we have spent too much on the bigger clubs."

The deadline for allocation requests is November 13. Although the co-chairs of the co-funding board say that this deadline is not set in stone, they encourage all clubs who have not received funding to make their requests by this date to guarantee access to the activity fee.

The co-funding board will continue to distribute money to clubs who   seek   additional   funding

throughout the semester. St. John's senate and Activities Allocations Board Chair Michael Caputa explains that the allocations process does not end after the deadline date.

"After [November 13], all the money left over can be accessed by clubs that have already received an allocation, or to plan other events or make capital acquisitions," Caputa said. "We just want to assure other clubs that they will have access to the activity fee."

As of now, nearly $50,000 has been claimed of the approximate $ 101,000 that is able to be spent this year in allocation funds. These figures will be updated closer to the November 13 deadline.

Web courses to be offered as part of academic curriculum

By Gabriel A. Alisna Staff writer

The Committee on Academic Policies and Standards (CAPS) discussed four controversial web courses to be taught next spring semester last Tuesday.

The four courses to be offered include: Modern Dramatic Literature (Kaarin Johnston), Qualitative and Quantitative Statistics (Jamie Partridge), Social Dynamics (Aubrey Immelman) and Introduction to Economics (the economics department).

Johnston rationalized that her course was primarily to assist theater majors who wanted to study abroad on the London Program. Unfortunately, Modern Dramatic Literature is only offered during the spring; most students who did not

Transportation

problems addressed

Page 4

take the course during their junior year are forced to make other arrangements. With existing technology, Johnston's proposal would allow her to teach the course, which offers a writing and gender flag, via e-mail. Because the course is already in existence, it is very similar to an Individualized Learning Project. Currently, the professor constantly exchanges writing assignments with students to analyze the course material in more detail. Johnston noted hat students would not meet as a class in the physical sense but would have a very intimate, individualized correspondence with her.

Partridge's web-based course is an attempt to allow students here at St. Ben's and St. John's as well as bur sister campus, the Benedictine Uni-

See Web Page 3

Johnnies football

gets big win at

Moorhead

Page 19