Is school on? Is it late? How about church or that special meeting?
For Northwest Iowa Weather-Related Announcements, as reported by KIWA Radio click here or go to www.kiwaradio.com.
Summer Suites is early this year– Thursday, June 6 at 6:30p.
Beautiful gardens, wonderful sweets! The shows: Erika (Van Den Hul) Hoogeveen, violinist from Mill City Quartet of the Twin Cities; Andy Juhl & the Bluestem Players; and dueling marimbas!
Tickets will go on sale soon. Call 707-6514
So much happening. ORANGE RIND FILM FESTIVAL!
Featuring a free showing of Mark Volkers’ award-winning film, The Fourth World, August 29, and a documentary film workshop taught by Volkers in September & October.
Do you like documentary films? Reality TV? Come learn from an expert with global awards and international sales how to create a documentary film that gets attention! Fee for workshop: $40. Prize for Best of Show: $250. Honorable mention: $100. http://orangecityarts.net/2013/04/orangerind-2013/
THE PERFECT MOTHER’s DAY GIFT !! In 2013-14, the Arts Council is sponsoring a series of five shows at the Unity Performing Arts Center & NWC’s Christ Chapel: Le Vent du Nord (award-winning progressive folk ensemble from Quebec); Ames Children’s Choir; Baladino (exhilarating Israeli music ensemble); Cashore Marionettes; & the Second City Improv All-Stars! SAVE 30 percent! Buy Mom or yourself a season pass! ($35 adults, $20 students)
Sioux City and Sioux Center, Iowa — Several northwest Iowa sixth graders were honored for their math prowess at two Math Bees on Wednesday (3/6).
Grace Kiple from Sgt. Bluff-Luton placed first individually in the south and Hannah Van Meeteren from Sheldon Team A placed first individually in the north, in the Northwest Area Education Agency (AEA) Sixth Grade Math Bee competitions. North Middle Team A and Sheldon Team A were also the top-finishing teams in each competition. Read The Full Story…
ORANGE CITY, Iowa—Northwestern College’s spring enrollment is 1,170, an increase of 41 students from last year and the highest figure since 2008.
Kenton Pauls, dean of enrollment management, says the increased enrollment resulted from strong retention of current students and growth in online learners.
The retention rate of freshmen who returned for the spring semester was over 92 percent. “We’re starting to see fruit from the hard work that’s happened on campus to implement strategies known to support student success and retention,” says Pauls. He cited as an example the new first-year seminar, which was taken by 38 percent of freshmen. Of them, 94 percent came back to campus after Christmas break.
“The first-year seminar emphasizes the building of a strong academic community,” says Dr. Adrienne Forgette, dean of the faculty. “Our data indicates that the seminar’s emphasis on what we are all about at Northwestern—our academic and Christian mission and values—resulted in students who were more satisfied and successful. This bodes well moving forward as every new freshman will enroll in this class starting next fall.”
This semester’s enrollment includes 48 students who are enrolled only in Northwestern’s online programs. College officials expect online enrollment to continue to rise as two new programs begin this summer—an R.N. to B.S.N. completion program and a certificate in analytics.
Northwestern’s spring enrollment data indicates that nine percent of students are American ethnic minorities and another three percent hail from another country. Nearly 53 percent of Northwestern’s students are from Iowa, with 34 states represented. A quarter of the college’s students are members of the Reformed Church in America, but 23 denominations are represented.
Sheldon, Iowa — Several members of the faculty and staff at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon were recently honored for their service to the college, students and community at the annual Employee Recognition Ceremony held on November 6, 2012.
For the full story, including pictures of those honored, click here.
Orange City, Iowa — A group of demonstrators is being gathered to demonstrate before the Steve King and Christie Vilsack debate on Thursday night at Northwestern College in Orange City.
Citizens of Sioux County are invited to attend an event before the debate. The group, focused on “Christians standing together with our immigrant neighbors,” will gather at 4:45 PM at the JayCee Park on Albany Avenue just north of Hospers Hall on the college campus. Free T-shirts with the words “Love Our Immigrant Neighbors” will be given to the first 80 people in attendance. After a word of prayer, at about 5:00 the group plans to join a line of those waiting to enter Christ Chapel, the site of the debate. Doors open at 6:00 and the debate starts at 7:00 PM.
According to Harold Heie, one of the organizers of this event, while waiting in line, those in attendance will sing some favorite and familiar Christian hymns and choruses, led by two accomplished singers and guitarists. He says the event is not an endorsement of either candidate. Rather, it is QUOTE, “an endorsement of the teachings of Jesus to love our neighbors (Mark 12: 31), and to welcome the stranger and care for the marginalized in our midst (Matthew 25).”
Everyone is invited to join the group, whether or not they have a ticket for the debate.
Those who have questions can call (712) 737-8676.
A Dordt College professor has received a sizable grant toward genetics research.
The National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Dordt College Associate Professor of Statistics Nathan Tintle a $392,000 grant to work with students on researching how to most efficiently sort and organize the vast amounts of genetic information scientists are generating.
“The Human Genome Project took more than $3 billion and 13 years to discover the gene sequence for just one person,” Tintle said. “Because of major technological breakthroughs in the last few years, the cost to sequence a single person is now less than $10,000 (and dropping), and it takes an inconsequential amount of time.”
Because of these advances, researchers are experiencing a tidal wave of massive genomics data sets, with little clarity as to how to best analyze and interpret such data to provide insights into the genetic component of many common diseases.
Tintle says that’s where he comes in as a statistician. If we are trying to better understand the hereditary aspects of diseases, we need a good way to analyze all of that data.
Tintle’s proposed research, which one NIH reviewer said, will QUOTE “provide very good training opportunities for undergraduates,” END QUOTE seeks to create design and analysis strategies for genetic association studies, with the goal of helping researchers better understand the genetic architecture of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and mental illness.
Tintle will be working with more than 20 students from Dordt and other universities over the next three years, and he expects this work will result in various publications in scientific journals that will contribute to the greater body of knowledge in this area.
“Advances from this work are likely to be used widely and inspire other statisticians to work on similar problems,” said one of the NIH reviewers in written comments about the significance of the research proposal. Another called it an “exceptional application” and described Tintle’s summer research program as “one-of-its-kind” for statistical genetics, resulting in the placement of nearly all of the student assistants in prominent graduate programs.
While Tintle acknowledges that there is some concern with creating massive human genetic datasets, he also sees the potential benefits of knowing more about how people’s genes predispose them to various diseases. “Clearly, we need to be appropriately cautious about how this data will be used,” he says. “However, I think the promise of the good that can come – identifying and better understanding the way God created human beings – has the potential to help greatly in the treatment of many of the most common and debilitating human diseases.”
Tintle is associate professor of statistics, and along with teaching the majority of statistics courses at Dordt, has recently initiated a new minor in statistics and a major/minor in actuarial science. College and high school students interested in learning more about Tintle’s research and learn how to get involved should visit www.dordt.edu/statgen.
