December 16, 2011 QuickNotes

SAINTS IN SEVENTH HEAVEN? We'll know if they'll reach that new height tomorrow (Sat., Dec. 17) when the six-time NAIA national champion Carroll Fighting Saints go Cougar hunting in the big game against St. Xavier (Ill.) at Shorter University's Barron Stadium in Rome, Ga. The game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. (EST), 2:30 p.m. Helena time and will be NATIONALLY televised by CBS Sports Television. If the Saints are victorious, they will head back to Helena for a Sunday morning meet and greet with cheering fans at Carroll's Saints' Shoppe bookstore in the Campus Center, which will open for the fun at 10 a.m. Championship gear-with fresh new designs to be unveiled-will be on sale just in time for Christmas, plus the team will be signing footballs. Get there from 10 to noon for autographs and plenty of good times with the soon-to-be Magnificent Seven Saints! BIG GAME SEASON CONTINUES Game watch parties have sprung up just about everywhere, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coastlines. Check out the Carroll Alumni webpage at http://www.carroll.edu/alumni/gatherings/index.cc for game watch locations near you. As of today, around 40 sites are awaiting droves of Saints fans yearning to huddle up and watch us grab a seventh national trophy-we've got game watch venues all over the Treasure State plus hotspots from the California Bay Area to New York City; from Anchorage, Alaska, to Austin, Texas; from the Windy City of Chicago to the even windier city of Washington, DC; plus Denver, Minneapolis, Omaha, Portland and just about anywhere Occupy has set up a tent city. New spots are being added-so keep checking our webpage for updates! For those watching from home, tune in to the CBS Sports Network telecast by finding the specific channel in your area-visit www.cbssportsnetwork.com and provide your zip code and provider (like Direct TV, DISH, Optimum) and hit enter. PRESENTATION OF THE GIFTS The Carroll Student Nurses Association thanks the campus community for its outpouring of generosity in donating gifts to the children of Shodair Hospital in Helena. For several years, this annual gift drive by CCSNA has made kids at Shodair feel that they are cared for, loved and remembered, which is the greatest gift anyone can offer. (Photo right: CCSNA students this week presenting the presents prior to showing them at Shodair). And, Carroll faculty and staff recently provided baked goods to sell at Broadwater Elementary School, near Carroll's campus, in support of Broadwater parents currently battling cancer. STUDENT NEWS Carroll's Business Department Associate Professor of Marketing Annette Ryerson recently challenged one of her marketing classes to compete in creating the best new design for football championship apparel to be sold by the Carroll Saints' Shoppe bookstore. The winning design was submitted by sophomore Nikole Drummond, who received a $100 award (thanks to an anonymous donor) and a free championship tee from the bookstore. The public can view Nikole's work product this Sunday, if our Saints win on Saturday. (Photo left: Drummond, right, with Ryerson presenting award check). Today, December 16, everyone is welcome to attend the Fall Carroll ROTC Commissioning Ceremony in the Montana state capitol rotunda starting at 10 a.m. The guest speaker will be the vivacious and tenacious Captain Diane Carlson Evans, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, R.N., the founder of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C. In 2009, Captain Carlson Evans received a Carroll honorary doctorate for her courageous work as an advocate for the US Army Nurse Corps, and she will be paying tribute to our two Carroll students at the center of this ceremony: US Army Nurse Corps Second Lieutenants Natasha Aberth (second from right in photo left) and Kristina Christensen (photo above right). A free reception will follow. Full coverage of all student events is online at: http://www.carroll.edu/students/index.cc ALUMNI NEWS In the News Colleen Craig-Davis, class of 1980, of Yankton, S.D., recently received the Distinguished Professional Award for the Midwest Network from the National Recreation and Park Association. This honor was conferred at the Best of the Best Reception during the association's 2011 Congress and Exposition held this November in Atlanta, Ga. The award was presented in recognition of Craig-Davis's outstanding contributions to the field of therapeutic recreation through leadership, research, advocacy, community outreach and program development. She has held officer positions within the association's local and state organizations, presented at local, state and national conferences, taught college classes, mentored interns, and provided therapeutic recreation services for patients in a variety of inpatient treatment programs. After earning her Carroll sociology degree, she obtained a master's at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and since then has provided 20 years of service to the State of South Dakota.  She currently serves as the therapeutic recreation coordinator at the South Dakota Human Services Center. Michael J. Haegele, class of 2003, was recently appointed as the management change agent for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) at Ft. Harrison, Mont., near Helena. In this post, he coordinates between the Central Office in Washington DC and Ft. Harrison for sweeping changes occurring throughout the VBA system to better serve disabled military service members.  Married Carroll grads Andrew Stewart, class of 2007, and Courtney (Hecht) Stewart, class of 2009, welcomed baby boy Cormac Robert Stewart on October 16, 2011. In the Carroll family tradition, all the Stewarts, including a football-sized Cormac, will cheer for the Saints during this weekend's championship game. Courtney and Andrew live in Fort Collins, Colo., and both work as civil/environmental engineers for Stewart Environmental Consultants, LLC. (Photo right: One-week-old Cormac rests after asking Coach VanDiest to redshirt him) In Memoriam A great friend of Carroll Jean Baucus (photo left), died on December 10, 2011. She was a rancher, historian, patron of the arts and mother of three children, including U.S. Senator Max Baucus. For her long support of the college, Carroll conferred on Mrs. Baucus on honorary doctorate in 2000. For more on her life, read http://helenair.com/news/local/jean-baucus-dies-at/article_60052e4c-23c9-11e1-95ca-0019bb2963f4.html Vincent T. Hoffman, class of 1955, of Albuquerque, NM, died on December 3, 2011. After earning his history degree at Carroll, he was awarded a master's in educational administration from UNM in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Vince spent his entire professional career in education as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and school principal. He spent eleven of those years in Montana and the last twenty eight in the Albuquerque Public Schools, including serving at Sandia High School, Highland High School and the Career Enrichment Center; he retired in 1993. For more on his life, read: http://obits.abqjournal.com/obits/show/221486 FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS Two of Carroll's new professors rotated through the news cycle this week on the hottest headline topics: Dr. Doug MacKenzie (photo right), economics professor in the Business Department, was the guest expert on KTVH Beartooth NBC's Dunwell Report that focused on the EU sovereign debt crisis and its potential impact on Montana and our nation. See the show in its entirety at: http://www.beartoothnbc.com/features/dunwellreport/index.1.html Dr. Jeremy Johnson (photo left) of the Political Science Department was the featured expert on Wednesday night's KXLH TV News in Helena during a story on how the latest President Obama polling results will affect Montana's elections. Check it at http://www.kxlh.com/videos/could-obama-s-polling-numbers-impact-tester-rehberg-race-1/   CAMPUS MINISTRY Right now, 22 students who are signed up on the Spring Break Campus Ministry Headlights service trip are selling bags of quality java beans from Firetower Coffee with proceeds to help defray service journey travel costs. For only $12 a bag, you can purchase the Mt. Helena blend (darker roast) and the Guatemalan (medium roast). To order, just contact Headlights Director Colleen Dunne (cdunne@carroll.edu). For all Campus Ministry news, including Mass, sacraments, retreat info, homilies and discussions of Catholic social justice, check out: http://www.carroll.edu/ministry/ ATHLETICS In the News Carroll sophomore running back Chance Demarais (photo right) ensured Carroll College has a player on the American Football Coaches Association NAIA Coaches' All-America Team for a record seventh consecutive year, and on Saturday he'll lead the Saints in their quest for a record-tying seventh national championship. More on the story is online at: http://helenair.com/sports/college/carroll-college/football/demarais-recognized-as-an-naia-all-american/article_be5d5bc0-26eb-11e1-820d-001871e3ce6c.html For more Saints Athletics news, including coverage of the pilgrimage to Rome, Ga., and Seventh Championship Heaven, fly to http://www.carroll.edu/athletics/index.cc COMING EVENTS January 9, 2012: First Day of Spring Semester classes. January 16, 2012: Martin Luther King Day at Carroll College. At 7 p.m. the special MLK Day keynote speaker Juan Meléndez (photo right) will present a talk, "Amazing Grace," in the lower level of the Campus Center. Free and open to the public. Melendez spent nearly 18 years on Florida's death row for a crime he did not commit. Upon his 2002 release, he became the ninety-ninth death row inmate in the country to be exonerated and released because of innocence since 1973. Hear his story, and responses from death penalty activists, at this public celebration of Dr. King's life and legacy. For more info, call 406-447-5415. Other MLK Day events include Fr. Jerry Lowney, professor emeritus of sociology, celebrating a Martin Luther King Day Mass at noon in Borromeo Hall chapel with Professors Anne Perkins and Jack Oberweiser providing music. Following Mass, students, faculty and staff will be serving at God's Love and Helena Food Share. Sign-ups for this service will occur in the Campus Center during the first week of classes, starting January 9.