Knox in the News

From Kansas City.com:

The funniest relationship on TV might be the clandestine, cross-network affair between “The Colbert Report” and “House.”

If you look carefully, you can spot a small, framed photograph of Hugh Laurie, the star of Fox’s “House,” on the set of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.” “House” has reciprocated the gesture with a photo of Colbert that sits on Dr. Gregory House’s desk.

On a recent “Report,” Stephen Colbert said House’s photo sits on his shelf because he’s a huge fan of the TV doctor.

“House and I have a lot in common,” Colbert, in mock pundit character, said on the show. “We both refuse to play by the rules, never consider the consequences of our actions and are horribly abusive to our staffs.

“In the end, we’re both always right.”

The shelf behind Colbert’s C-shaped desk contains a collection of odd objects that he has found reason to keep by some twist of the show’s bizarre comedic meanderings. The House photo currently rests, Colbert noted, “in a place of honor next to my coin purse made from a bull scrotum.”

Colbert first placed the photo on his set in June 2006 after Colbert (the real one) received an honorary degree from Knox College. This made him a doctor, Colbert claimed, and next to his degree, he placed photos of three other TV doctors: House, Noah Drake from “General Hospital” and Cliff Huxtable from “The Cosby Show.”

From IT World Canada:

On the morning of our conversation, Rick Swanborg isn’t grading papers or planning his next lecture. He’s dealing with some errors from his payroll processor and going back and forth with the State of Massachusetts on some money he’s already given them. Such is the nature of being part academic, part entrepreneur.

A graduate of Knox College with a degree in mathematics and computer science, Swanborg spends part of his time running ICEX, a company which organizes confidential executive forums as an alternative to traditional research and conferences. He also teaches business strategy and information technology at Boston University’s School of Management. This summer, he takes his expertise online as one of the first instructors in IT World Canada’s TechLearningSpace.com, which will offer courses in architecture, governance and organization as well as IT strategy, measurement and value.

CIO Canada recently spoke with Professor Swanborg over the phone at his home base in Boston.

From the Register-Mail:

A team of Japanese educational researchers were Knox College students Tuesday, dining in the Hard Knox Cafe and checking out the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house.

The group of researchers stopped at Knox for the day as part of a study tour through Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The team members are observing American liberal arts universities in an attempt to understand more about institutional research — the analysis of a university’s operations, processes, methods and data that allow it to compare itself to other universities.

Ryohei Matsuda, associate professor of Japanese studies at Knox, helped coordinate the visit. He said the team, made up of administrators and professors from higher education institutions across Japan, wanted to see a traditional, private liberal arts college, and Knox fit the bill. The Japanese team visited Northwestern University and Lake Forest College before Knox.

“Higher education is very competitive (in Japan),” Matsuda said. It’s a survival game.”

In order to attract more applicants, Japanese colleges and universities are investigating institutional research methods to apply to their own schools, eventually making them more competitive. But the idea is new to the Japanese — so new that there isn’t a translation of the term yet.

From the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park-River Forest (IL):

By Bruce Polay:

I had the distinct privilege of witnessing history with the Symphony of Oak Park-River Forest on Monday, April 19. A community orchestra, conducted by a gifted, world-class musician in Jay Friedman, put on a truly memorable performance of one of the greatest, most challenging and otherwise impractical works in all of the orchestral literature.

Mahler’s 8th Symphony calls for a huge orchestra that requires a large string orchestra, supplemented by two piccolos, English horn, bass-clarinet, e-flat clarinet, contrabassoon, eight French horns, two harps, celesta, organ, piano, harmonium, mandolin, an auxiliary brass band, seven vocalist soloists, mixed choir of 200 souls supplied by the Symphony Chorus and the

Oak Park-River Forest Children’s Chorus. What a combination.

Accompanying me were five students from Knox College. The program notes mentioned that this magnificent work had not been performed by our famed Chicago Symphony since 1980. And here we were in Chicago’s gem, Symphony Center, with a community orchestra, choruses, and a member of the CSO bringing us the rare and unique joy of not only witnessing history in the making, but hearing a work rarely attempted by one of the most proficient and financially viable professional orchestras in the world!

From the Register-Mail:

Earlier this month, the city Landmark Commission recognized three structures with Historic Preservation Awards. These structures included The Runges’ home, Corpus Christi Catholic Church and Knox College’s Old Main….

…Old Main, Knox College

Knox College President Roger Taylor said a few years ago, severe straight line winds hit Galesburg and did a lot of damage in town. Some of that damage included lifting up the roof on the southwest corner of Old Main.

“It became obvious that the sensible thing to do was to have a new roof,” Taylor said.

A new roof was constructed out of copper, which is historically accurate.

“(Copper) has a longer life span than any other kind of roof,” Taylor said.

Additionally, the platform around the bell tower was restored to its historical appearance; Taylor said that when the platform was repaired after a tornado in the 1960s, the platform was covered up. For this work, Old Main was given an award by the Landmark Commission.

The restoration work was done before Knox’s commencement in June 2008.

From the Register-Mail:

The 25th annual Concert on the Lawn, presented by the Concert on the Lawn Committee Inc., will feature the Knox-Galesburg Symphony under the direction of conductor Bruce Polay at 5 p.m. June 5.

This free concert will be on the South Lawn of Old Main, Knox College. In the case of inclement weather, the concert will move to the T. Fleming Fieldhouse.

This year’s Concert on the Lawn will primarily consist of popular selections requested by previous audiences, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,”  “Themes from 007,” “Star Trek Through the Years,” John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,”  Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” and the “Knox Hymn,” among other favorites.

The 2010 Walgreens Midwest Young Artists Junior Competition winner, Rachel Stenzel, 13, will join the KGS as soloist performing Viotti’s “Concerto Nr. 22 in A minor.”