Knox in the News

From the Register- Mail:

As Ben “Stone” Stomberg prepares to open Stone Alley Books & Collectables, 53 S. Seminary St., he’s so excited he can barely sleep at night. That’s probably not much of an issue. He said that the other night he and people helping him get the store ready were still working at 1:20 a.m.

An open house Aug. 21 will precede the store’s official opening Aug. 22. ….

Stomberg said friends, family and Knox College students have helped. He took possession of the building July 1. Boxes of used books were everywhere Friday. He busily entered inventory into a computer, as his three helpers put books on shelves.

Used books, used comics and vinyl records are in already. Stomberg is awaiting the first shipment of new books and comics.

Stomberg bought many of the used books from an estate sale that reportedly included 3,000 books.

“If it was actually 3,000, I’d say we have 2,000 of them,” he said.

From WGIL radio:

Knox College and construction representatives gathered Monday to mark the start of work on the new amenities center at the Knosher Bowl.

The 24-by-48-foot, one-story structure at the College’s football field will include space for food preparation and concession, storage and restrooms. Completion is scheduled for October, with a formal dedication at Knox’s Homecoming Weekend, October 23-25.

The facility will bring under roof the food concessions that in the past had to work at unsheltered outdoor grills and tables.

“The new amenities center is another great feature that says ‘Welcome to the Bowl!’”said retired athletic director Harley Knosher. “This is another piece in the dream that I first had for the bowl 47 years ago.”

The Bowl was extensively renovated in 2008, including installation of a FieldTurf playing surface. It was named in honor of Knosher, who coached and taught at Knox from 1960 until his retirement in 2000.

Also from the Register-Mail.

From the Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, IL):

DeKalb native and Knox College senior defensive end Maurice McDavid  has been named the male winner of the 2009 Midwest Conference Sportsmanship award. Every year the MWC presents the Sportsmanship award to one male and one female student athlete who exemplify what it truly means to be a “good sport”, players who encourage their teammates and can usually be heard shouting encouragements and cheering on fellow teammates.

In three seasons, Knox College’s Maurice McDavid has never been flagged for a penalty and is coming off a season in which he was second in tackles amongst Prairie Fire defensive linemen.

Away from the football field, McDavid – an ordained minister – has participated in a reading program with local elementary school students. He is a founding member of the Gentlemen of Quality fraternity chapter, an organization that is focused on brotherhood, multiculturalism, academics and community service. McDavid is also a Knox College student ambassador, officer for ABLE (Allied Blacks for Liberty and Equality) and served as the KC SAAC football representative until studying abroad this winter.

From The Ecologist:

A new book by WWF ‘Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity’ makes the case for a new kind of campaigning that sees the person behind the behaviour. Pat Thomas is impressed

In the last few years the Ecologist has published many articles that sought to shed light on the psychological aspects of environmentalism. We’ve looked at climate change denial as a kind of addiction.  We’ve looked at decoupling our identity from what we own and what we can buy, encouraging the notion that we are citizens rather than consumers.

For those of us who have been seeking to make sense of the human response to the environmental challenges we face and how it can either help to engage individuals in change, or push them further into inactivity and denial, this new book by WWF, Meeting Environmental Challenges is most welcome.

Written by Dr Tom Crompton, a specialist in evolutionary biology and change strategist at WWF and Tim Kasser Professor of Psychology, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois USA, this work, provides a solid foundation for understanding on what motivates behaviour change and what the social context of change might look like.

It provides compelling arguments that we must see the person behind the behaviour and strive to understand the values, the fears and the need for belonging that provide the framework for how each of us responds to environmental challenges.

The authors highlight the inadequacies of current methods. Engaging organisations and making a ‘business case for sustainability’, they argue, can produce some changes such as the development of new efficiency standards, but overall the change produced is small and slow because of the insistence that it must be compatible with economic growth, maintaining profits and protecting the sacred cow of ‘consumer choice’.

From the Register-Mail:

Hope and joy filled the air at Friday’s Relay for Life event at Knox College, as hundreds of supporters pledged to fight cancer with all the courage of those who battle the disease on a daily basis.

Survivors were honored, and the memories of those who didn’t win but fought with all their heart were celebrated. Donna Larson’s son Jeff passed away, age 19, after contracting liver cancer. She volunteered at Friday’s relay. “We do it all in memory of Jeff,” she said. “I just don’t want any other families to go through what we’ve been through. I hope someday we never have to hear the word cancer again.”

Joyce Jackson, Galesburg, had attended Relay for Life as a supporter, then as someone battling breast cancer, and now as a survivor…..

Knox County Relay for Life has raised more than $1 million to fight cancer. But just as important is the way the event brings people together and spreads awareness of the disease.

“For me it raises awareness for myself and my age group to really start taking care of yourself and getting yourself checked for breast cancer, for cervical cancer,” said relay volunteer Anne Giffey.

Of course, Relay for Life is also about having fun and there was plenty of that to go around Friday. “We do crazy things because we are all a little crazy,” Giffey said. “Think back to high school and all the things you did on homecoming week, that’s really what relay is like especially later in the night.”

Val Boucher, Roanoke, another volunteer at the event, survived a rare form of leukemia, first 15 years ago and then again five years ago. He was determined to encourage people to take a stand against cancer.

“The reason I’m here tonight is that I’m doing the Fight Back Ceremony,” Boucher said. “That’s an opportunity for you to make a decision to say what will you do in the next 365 days to fight cancer.” He added, “This is an opportunity for everybody to stand up take a pledge and be able to do something to save a life.”

From the Register-Mail:

The Register-Mail recently asked area high school students interested in writing a column for the Education section to submit a cover letter along with a sample column. During the 2009-10 school year, students, including freshmen, juniors and seniors, will write a monthly column offering a perspective rarely seen in a newsroom: the high school student. What follows is a list of the columnists, along with a brief bio….

Ashley LaGrow, 16, ROWVA High School junior

LaGrow ranked third in her class and was inducted into National Honor Society as a sophomore. She will be the clarinet section leader for both the concert and marching bands. She hopes to attend Knox College to major in instrumental music education. As she wrote in her essay, we hope asking her to write a column ends up working out to “our benefit.”