Knox in the News

From: WQAD TV-8 (Moline, IL)

Contemporary politicians could learn something by revisiting the style of our 16th president, [according to Lincoln scholars Douglas Wilson and Rodney Davis,] retired Knox College professors, authors of four books about Honest Abe, and colleagues at the Lincoln Studies Center. “He learned that you don’t demonize your opponents,” Dr. Wilson said. “They’re people just like you.” Old Main is the last standing building from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. While Lincoln actually lost that election, it set the stage for his successful presidential bid just two years later. And it forged a Knox-Lincoln connection for the ages… Read more…

From: The College Solution

In her blog about colleges, Lynn O’Shaughnessy, author of The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price, mentions Knox as one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges for great teaching:

“How do you know if the college or university that your child ultimately attends will provide him or her with an excellent education… whether the professors are good teachers… In Princeton Review’s Best 377 Colleges, 2013 Edition, check out the ratings for ‘Professors interesting’ and ‘Professors accessible’… Many of the state universities that I saw hovered in the 70s… Liberal Arts Colleges with Top Scores [include] Knox College [with a] Professor interesting rating of 95 [and] Professor accessible rating of 95…” Read more…

From The Register-Mail:
Starting Sunday, The Register-Mail will begin publishing a five-day series providing the results of a study done by Knox College faculty and students about the lives of former Maytag workers. The refrigerator plant, operating for 50 years in Galesburg, employed about 1,600 people when it was announced in October 2002 that the plant would close and move its operation to Mexico. The final production line shut down in September 2004, leaving 902 union employees out of work. The series, Maytag Employees in Transition, focuses on what has happened to those workers.

The study, which included a survey, and the series were done by Knox College faculty and students in cooperation with an advisory group of former employees and with The Register-Mail.
Marilyn Webb, distinguished professor of journalism at Knox, was the project and editorial director. Professor of economics Richard Stout was the principle data analyst. Knox photography instructor Mike Godsil was photo director. Ryan Sweikert was the assistant data and editorial director. Of the 902 workers, 425 received surveys last summer asking a variety of questions about their lives; 133 surveys were returned, adding up to a 31 percent response rate.

The series includes 11 stories that present the results of the surveys, while telling the stories of former workers. Stories include topics such as pay, health, retraining, fears, future, loss of community and job satisfaction. The series starts Sunday and runs each day through Friday.

The series is a real service to the community, offering the first comprehensive look at what actually happened to those who found themselves out of work when the plant closed more than six years ago. The end result came about through a tremendous amount of research, interviews, writing and editing. The Register-Mail thanks Marilyn Webb and all those involved for providing series to The Register-Mail for first publication.

From The Register-Mail:

The Big Read kicks off with “An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe” at The Orpheum Theatre on Saturday.

“The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe” has been selected for the 2011 Big  Read.

Karly Steele, reference librarian at the Galesburg Public Library who oversees Big Read, said Poe was selected because “we had a lot of response with paranormal activities and thought it would be fun that all ages could be involved in. Everyone loves a good scary story.”

At the 7 p.m. event on Saturday, which is free, Poe will be portrayed by David Keltz, who gave his first performance at Edgar Allan Poe on Halloween night 1991 at Poe’s grave.

He will be reciting “Eldorado,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” “The Raven,” and “The Bells,” according to Steele.

Keltz has performed in Prague, Czech Republic, for the International Poe Festival, opening the festival at the Rudolfinum Concert Hall with “The Bells.” Stateside, he brings Edgar Poe to life throughout the United States for elementary and high schools, universities and private organizations…

Upcoming Edgar Allan Poe Events

- March 8, 1 p.m. — Book discussion of “The Beautiful Cigar Girl” by Daniel Stashower, a book about the true history behind Poe’s tale “The Mystery of Marie Roget.” The author will join in on the conversation by phone. 2 p.m. — “Edgar Allan Poe: Biography.” Learn more about this complex and versatile writer in a free viewing of the A&E Biography of Edgar Allan Poe, upstairs at the Galesburg Public Library.

- March 24, 6:30 p.m. — Decoding Poe. Knox College professor John Dooley will lead a discussion about the use of cryptography in Poe’s short story “The Gold Bug” and other works of fiction. Free and open to all, upstairs at the Galesburg Public Library.

- March 28, 6:30 p.m. — The Ghosts of Edgar Allan Poe. Come to the Charger Center, 1200 Buchanan St., Carthage, to spend a spine-tingling evening in the parlor of Edgar Allan Poe. Actor and educator Brian “Fox” Ellis will recount the tormented true tales of Poe’s life and how they led to his classic tales of terror. For more information, call the Carthage Public Library at (217) 357-3232.

- April 7, 7 p.m. — Paranormal investigator Sylvia Shults will present a bone-chilling program about ghosts in Illinois at the Galesburg Public Library. The first 20 attendees will receive a free copy of her book, “Ghosts of the Illinois River.” Teens and older children are invited to join.

From The Quad-Cities Online:

At its 49th Annual National Engineers Week Banquet held Feb. 24, the Quad City Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) recognized six local engineers and scientists, a local educator and one of its member societies. The QCESC numbers 35 local engineering and technical societies with a total membership of 5,000 engineers and scientists. The QCESC also promotes engineering and science to area youth through scholarship and engineering competition programs.David Bunde, 2011 Junior Scientist of the Year — David Bunde, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Knox College in Galesburg, is the 2011 QCESC Junior Scientist of the Year. A faculty member in Computer Science at Knox since 2006, he has strengthened that program with his innovative teaching in parallel computing and his involvement with Knox students in undergraduate research. He has also served as a coach for a FIRST Lego Robotics team in Galesburg.

David received his B.S. (1998) degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Harvey Mudd College and his Ph.D. (2006) in Computer Science from the University of Illinois. He lives in Galesburg with his wife Jennifer and young son Douglas. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery.

John Dooley, 2011 Senior Scientist of the Year — John Dooley, Professor and Chair of Computer Science at Knox College in Galesburg, is the 2011 QCESCSenior Scientistof the Year.Combining 18 years in the computer industry (including Bell Labs and Motorola) with 17 years of college teaching, his refereed publications and numerous oral presentations explore small-team software development, cryptology and small college computing pedagogy.

He received his B.A. (1974) degree in Mathematics fromLindenwood Collegeandan M.S.(1976) in Computer Science from Syracuse University as well as an M.S. (1982) in Electrical Engineering from Rice University. A resident of Galesburg, heis a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery.