FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE #2

 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE #5

This week, I'm writing about the Mission Change at Dakota State from 1983 to 1984. Next week, I'm going to a 40th-year event on campus.

*****

I was asked not to continue as Dean in the spring of 1990. I had been on a twelve-month contract and now would be on a nine-month contract. Connie insisted I get a job. I called friends at Citibank and immediately got hired as a "Summer Faculty Intern." I worked 12 summers at Citibank as a "Summer Intern." (More on that later).

By 1990, our graduates were sought after. Citibank tended to get the group's pick - for interns and full-time hires. Other employers were Schwan's Enterprises out of Marshall, Minnesota, and Federated Insurance in Owatonna, Minnesota.

In particular, Tom Farrell and Bruce White became salesmen. We went to the BIG Job Fair in Sioux Falls and talked to employers. We even helped shy students talk to employers by walking them to the employers. (or dragging them <grin>).  We hosted the employers when they were on campus - and asked what they were looking for. Some students were stronger in technical skills, and others were better analysts.  

By the middle 1990s, Tom and I drove to visit employers where our students worked. We wanted to know how to better prepare the students for work.  

We drove to Marshall to Schwan's Enterprises (much larger than the Schwan's Frozen Foods delivery trucks you might see in your neighborhood). They loved our students. Many of our graduates came from smaller South Dakota towns, and Marshall was a good location for those not wanting to work in larger communities. Jack (our Schwans recruiter) took us to Senior Professional Golf events in the Twin Cities. (I saw Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicholas, Chi-Chi Rodriges, Sam Sneed, and others on the Senior Professional Tournament play).

We drove to Owatonna to Federated Insurance - again, they loved our graduates. And to Rochester to IBM. We traveled to Omaha to Mutual of Omaha and ADS (Advanced Data Services). 

Tom and Bruce were "larger than life" at times (or maybe it was just Bruce). We wanted companies to keep hiring our students and build relationships between Dakota State and the employers.  

Our biggest deal was when we recalled our graduates' degrees!!! (WHAT???). YES!!

Cars were recalled for safety reasons, so why not get our alums together to talk about what exciting things were happening on campus - give some ideas on new technologies, and invite our alums to share what exciting things they were doing?  

We did clear it with the administration first - and we expected students getting an invitation from Tom Farrell and Bruce White - would laugh and say, "It'll be nice to be back on campus with friends for a Saturday afternoon!!!."  

A few didn't quite understand, and the President's Office handled some of those calls by asking, "And, whose names were on that invitation?" It was a reunion when they figured out it was Tom and Bruce, not any important official.

*****

We did pranks on each other. My best prank on Tom was putting a cassette tape player in the false ceiling with about 15 minutes of nothing - then a loud, bombastic piece. Tom (and others) filled my office with wadded-up newspapers - so I could barely get in - and then it took most of the day to get the paper out!!!

We went into classrooms and sang Karaoke for Christmas and St. Patrick's Day.

The entire BIS faculty dressed up for Halloween. It was definitely a fun atmosphere.

After going to an academic conference and returning in the cold, I volunteered to get my car, scrape the snow off it, and warm it up while Tom got the suitcases. After paying for the parking, I swung by the luggage door and Tom through the suitcases in the trunk. After driving home and dropping off Tom, I found that Tom had picked up the wrong bag. It had clothing items with much more lace than I was wearing then. (I had to run back to the airport - about an hour's drive away - and exchange the suitcase for me.

*****

Our students know that we will support them as they go out to work. Yes, we had fun, but yes, our students learned. Tom would put a $20 bill on his desk for the first dumb question (and, of course, there never was a dumb question). He also stamped his foot if a concept was necessary, and students would know it was vital because he stamped his foot. 

******

I mentioned that I worked twelve summers at Citibank in Sioux Falls. It was a great experience. For an academic with a doctorate, I was "book smart." Working in the Information Systems industry was an eye-opener. Developers had users and were developing (or improving) applications for those users.  

In my first summer, my team got a one-page memo from users. The first paragraph said this was a good project, the second paragraph said they had some issues with the project, and the third project said it was a terrible project for them. (We got a good laugh from it and worked with the users to clarify) 

All professors should have real-life experiences like I had at Citibank. It made me a better teacher!!!

All from the mission change at Dakota State. In 2023, I can't imagine a world without computers and computing. But in 1983, without the Internet, Google, Amazon, and electronic tax filing, it was a different environment. I am proud of the students I taught and are living the American Dream.

LOVE WINS

CHANGE AND INNOVATION OCCUR

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, © DECEMBER 1, 2023

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2023 - MISSION CHANGE AT DAKOTA STATE - #4

 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2023 - MISSION CHANGE AT DAKOTA STATE - #4

This week, I’ve been writing about the academic mission change at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota.

GET YOUR UNION CARD, BRUCE

With Dr. Richard Gowan’s prompting, I started looking at Ph.D. programs.  I didn’t want to uproot my family.  I had two choices - the University of Minnesota or the University of Nebraska.

Minnesota had a stellar program - one of the tops in the nation in Management Information Systems.  When I visited and said my college in South Dakota wanted me to get a doctorate, they said, “You cannot / will not go back to the small college after getting a Minnesota MIS degree.” That put me in a bind. I didn’t want to move my family; I had a moral obligation to Dakota State, and I was the Dean of the program.

Nebraska was building their program, and they said, “You won’t want to go back to your little South Dakota college when you are finished here.” But it wasn’t the total negative that Minnesota put out. I smiled.

So, I became a graduate student at the University of Nebraska.  To make it all fit, I had taught at Dakota State for three years, and they would give me a “junior sabbatical” of 8% a year for each year completed (or 24% of my annual salary).  Nebraska offered me a graduate assistantship and teaching one class.  And Dakota State hired my wife (Connie) as a math instructor to teach two classes. (Connie only had a bachelor’s degree in math - not a master’s).

All in all, we were close to meeting our financial needs.  My parents gave me a car to drive to Lincoln, Nebraska.  (We lived one block from campus, so I didn’t need a car in Madison).

Surprisingly, nothing major went wrong with the house, car, or our health that year.  I got a room in a graduate dormitory - about a quarter mile from the School of Business.  I ate in the dorm cafeteria.  

On Friday afternoons, I loaded my dirty clothes and books in my car and drove the 5 hours from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Madison, South Dakota.  

I reversed that trip on Sunday afternoons after church and lunch with the family.  

[Aside - College football was big in Nebraska.  I stayed only two weekends in Lincoln that fall semester.  The first weekend, I had a major paper due and needed to research in the library.  It was a cold, rainy day, and I estimated when the third quarter would end - and I walked to the stadium.  People were leaving as the Cornhuskers were ahead 35 to 3.  The usher looked at me and didn’t say anything, and I just walked in, found a seat, and watched the end of the game.  

The other weekend was Thanksgiving weekend, and I had significant papers to write for the end of the semester.  For that weekend, my family drove to Lincoln, and we all stayed in my dorm room.  

I took four classes, taught one class, and shared an office room with three other graduate students. Usually, you could only take ten credits if you were a graduate and teaching assistant, but I was allowed twelve credits (or four classes).  

I majored in Management Information Systems and minors in Business Administration, Computer Science, and Educational Administration.  That year, I got most of my classwork finished (including the summer semester), and I became “ABD” - “all but dissertation. 

I’ll admit I generally hated it.  I liked my teaching and Dakota State - why did I need to get a doctorate?  On Sunday afternoons, it was hard to leave my family.  

But 40 years later, I am SO GLAD I GOT MY DOCTORATE!!!  IT IS A UNION CARD!!!

The drive was long.  (I hate to admit the following).  My car had a radio, and that was it.  I wanted music I liked, so I had a cassette tape recorder/player and listened to music that I had recorded.  (Many weekends, I’d record something from our record player that I could listen to on the way).  

There weren’t iPods, iPhones, internet music sites, and not that many good radio stations to listen to. 

*****

After a calendar year, I returned to Dakota State as Dean - and “almost” forgot about completing the dissertation.  

By 1988, I had completed the research chapter of the dissertation. I submitted my research plan to my committee, and it was approved.  Now to do the research.

My topic was “The Development and Implementation of an Expert Systems for the Advisement of Undergraduate Business Administration Majors.” I selected one of my faculty members who was a great advisor and had her use the system with half of her advisees, and the rest of her advisees were a control group; then a second newer faculty member who wasn’t (yet) a good advisor and one that was more in the middle.  So, each faculty member had two sets of students - students who used the system and students who didn’t (that is, the control group)

My faculty administrated the advisement system, and students evaluated if the software advisement system enhanced the advisement system. I did the statistical analysis and found a good correlation with the system being helpful with some aspects significant at the P .05 level.

In the fall of 1990, I returned to Lincoln to defend my dissertation before my committee - and I passed!!  I became Dr. White!!!!  (WOOO!) 

After completing my doctorate, I was promoted to full professor, significantly increasing my salary. 

And, in 1990, I was asked by the Academic Vice President to step down as dean - and I did and went back to the classroom full time.

After completing my doctorate, I started actively researching and publishing.  I chaired my academic conference (ISECON) four times, and while I could have been a better academic writer, I became competent enough!!!

*****

I told people that Dakota State would put a glass office in the middle of the Kennedy Center hallway with me inside to show off that we had a doctor of philosophy in information systems. It was that rare at that time.  Now, Dakota State offers doctoral degrees!!!

In 1998, a faculty friend commented that I was the highest-paid professor on campus.  Somehow, that surprised me.  (And … sorry to say, that gave me a huge ego - but that’s another story - and was later than Dakota State - and part of the Bruce becomes Karen story).

LOVE WINS

LUCK IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY
LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 30, 2023

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE #3

 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29., 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION #3

On December 7th, I’m flying to South Dakota for the 40th anniversary of the Mission Change at Dakota State University to Computer Information Systems.

On Monday, I wrote about the background and some political changes. Tuesday, I wrote about Eric Johnson and me going to Dallas, Texas, for five weeks in January 1984.

Today - the first year.

*****

In the new Dakota State, there were three new Deans - Eric Johnson as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Linda Venekamp as Dean of the School of Education, and myself as Dean of the College of Business and Information Systems. The fourth Dean was Clyde Brashear - Dean of the College of Science - and a holdover from the previous structure.  

We also had a new President.  Chuck Luke, the Executive on Leave from Citibank, was the new President of Dakota State.  

After Eric Johnson and I took the IBM course in PL/I programming, Melanie Stopfer, Lynette Molstad, Tom Farrell, and Louis Pape also took courses. (Some took several courses).

A note about Tom and Louis.

With the change in Mission, athletics was going to change. Tom Farrell had coached just about every sport at Dakota State. When the call went out - “Is anyone interested in being retrained in Information Systems? Tom volunteered.”

If it was hard for Eric to become a computer person (even though he had taken some programming courses), it was almost impossible for Tom Farrell. Tom didn’t give up - stayed up late (and didn’t go out drinking every night!!). Tom mastered the PL/I and Database courses and became an integral part of the BIS team. (Yes, Tom, I am still sorry - but you agreed when I asked you to teach a large section of PL/I with about 60 students!! WOW!!! Programming languages generally have smaller sections, as students will be at your door looking for help. Programs had to be thoroughly reviewed for grading. He did have an excellent student assistant - but it was a tremendous effort).

Louis Pape was a music professor. There would still be a Music Appreciation general education course, but not a major in music. After taking the PL/I training, Louis decided it wasn’t a good fit for him - he remained a music professor, and some additional music classes were added.

*****

It was like opening a brand new college. How did we get students? The old-fashioned way - we gave them money. Citibank sponsored ten Citibank scholarships - an entire ride, with guaranteed paid internships at the end of their freshman year (and the other years). There were other partial scholarships in the new major. Of the ten Citibank Scholars I know of, one is an executive at Citibank, three others worked at Citibank and took other computing positions, and one went on and got a doctorate in computer security and is a professor at Dakota State. I’m not sure where the other five Citibank Scholars went. One transferred to another university for his senior year. (My bias was that he thought having a degree from Dakota State wouldn’t be as impressive as having a degree from the University of Colorado). 

I got to teach my one and only philosophy class that year. As a mathematician, logic was essential, and I assigned myself to teach the “Reasoning and Logic” course. (We did away with the course after that year as the material was duplicated in other classes).

The Citibank Scholars were given internships that started the third week of April - or about four weeks before the end of the semester. The students were to both work and complete their college classwork. I supervised the interns and visited Citibank all summer of 1985 to make sure all was well (which it was - other than one of the interns got stressed and thought he was having a heart attack (which he didn’t) and after a day off, came back to Citibank.)

Between DSU and Citibank, we realized that expecting the Citibank Scholars to do both the internship and the coursework was too much. In subsequent years, interns started the Monday after the Spring semester ended.

There were growing pains. There were three faculty who taught social science/history courses. All three had tenure and had taught at Dakota State for at least 18 years. The one with the most minor years of experience (18 years) was cut from the faculty.  

Other majors were added - but needed to have information systems content. Some modified majors are English for Information Systems, Chemistry for Information Systems, and Biology for Information Systems. All students had to take at least two programming courses. An English class , “Documentation and Presentation,” was added to the Information Systems core (since Reasoning and Logic were removed).  

*****

Enrollment was down. Juniors and Seniors wanted to stay and get their degrees, and Sophomores who weren’t interested in information systems transferred mainly to other colleges. Incoming freshmen weren’t quite sure what they were getting into. Was Dakota State a “technical school” now? Would this involve a lot of math? (No!!!)

The catalog for 1984 was negligible.  

But, the funding for the mission change came in - incoming freshmen got their courses and were on their way to a great career.

*****

Towards the end of spring semester 1985, Chuck Luke returned to Citibank, and the South Dakota Board of Regents put Dr. Richard Gowan in as President. 

In one of my meetings with Dr. Gowan in June 1985, Dick Gowan said, “Bruce, you don’t have your union card.”  I didn’t quite know what he meant. There was a small faculty union on campus - but what did that have to do with me?

He elaborated, “You need to get a Ph.D. in information systems.”

I was 37 years old - did he mean I should return for a doctoral degree?  

Yes, that was what he meant.

That’s tomorrow’s topic.

LOVE WINS

LUCK IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY
LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 29, 2023

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2O23 - DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY - MISSION CHANGE #2

 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE - DAY 2

December 1983 to July 1984

So, the pieces were falling into place. The Governor proposed the mission change (with enough behind-the-scenes work), the legislature hadn’t approved it (but it was a “done” deal) and allocated funds), and the board of regents was going to support it. 

Done (not quite!!!)

How about curriculum? How about faculty? How about students? How about advertising? How about infrastructure?  

The mission change would help the state’s technology infrastructure. A major employer of technology infrastructure was Citibank’s Credit Card processing.

Although it hadn’t been formally approved, we were assured it would be. (In a state like South Dakota, with a Governor of the main political party and the legislature with a majority of the same party, generally, what the Governor wants, he gets. Jerome Lammers (from Madison) was the South Dakota Majority Leader in the Senate and was a huge proponent of the change.

On a Saturday in December 1983, an executive from Citibank ( Chuck Luke) was on loan to Dakota State. I met Chuck Luke, Melanie Stopfer, Glenn Pearson, and two other Citibank leaders in the cafeteria. 

We focused on the core information systems courses - with business applications.

We settled on two introductory programming courses (PL/1), then two advanced programming courses (COBOL I and II), Systems Analysis and Design, Reasoning and Logic, Database Systems, Operating Systems, Management Information Systems, and an elective - 10 courses.  

And - yes - I was written down on napkins in the cafeteria.  

We still needed general education - Freshman Composition I and II, Mathematics, Social Science, Arts, and Sciences. They were adapted from already existing programs. 

1983, the Internet was the “new kid on the block.” (As Governor Janklow noted, “The Internet Superhighway is the only highway I haven’t been stopped for speeding” (he was noted for having a lead foot).

“January 1, 1983, is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Before this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communications protocol called Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was established.” (Source - University of Georgia).

So, we sent away to receive college catalogs to see what others were teaching in these classes. I had some of the courses and got sample textbooks for the courses.  

But, it had to be business-focused. Chuck Luke had connections with IBM, especially with the director of internal IBM education. Over Christmas break, Chuck Luke worked to get two of us into IBM’s beginning programming course. On January 8th, Eric Johnson (English professor and the new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts) and I flew to Dallas for a five-week course IBM put their employees through.    For two professors living in Madison, South Dakota, five weeks in Dallas, Texas, was like a trip to the Caribean!!!

[Aside - We were the first non-IBM employees to complete this program. It was culture shock - more for Eric than for me. We couldn’t stay in the IBM apartments since we weren’t IBM employees. A room was booked for us in the “Irving Inn” in Irving, Texas. We were on a budget since the mission change hadn’t been approved or funded. I was naive, but Eric noticed that the hotel had a larger than average scantily dressed ladies (hookers). There were also some fights in the parking lot of the Irving Inn. The IBM education director said he wouldn’t let his daughter stay here, but his son could stay there.

We got badges to get through security. The other students had regular IBM employee badges, but we got C badges. Eric said the “C” was for clowns (it was for “contractor).” All the male students in the class wore white shirts and ties. I wore a colored shirt and tie. IBM at that time was “Big Blue” - and the overwhelming leader in “big iron” (mainframe computers). Eric, as an English professor, wore turtle-necked sweaters. I was just a little step up from Eric.

We habitually went to Bennigans for a beer after classes and then to a restaurant in the area. I didn’t drink much before going, but Eric liked beer, so we had at least one beer every night.  

By the last two weeks, Eric, through Chuck Luke, got IBM to let us stay in their apartments.]

The class was in a programming language called PL/I (for Programming Language 1). It was the programming language that Citibank used for its accounts receivable system. While I don’t know this, it is still in use. To rewrite a solid, stable primary application like accounts receivable in C or C++ would be difficult.  

I had a programming background - although not in PL/I. I whipped through my assignments while Eric struggled with his. Many evenings, we came back to the classroom to work on assignments. I polished mine - with comments and minor enhancements while Eric got his to work. The class included all kinds of IBM employees who were being transferred into technology areas. There were IBM typewriter repairers and even IBM internal nurses in the class.  

[Aside. I was very frugal - going out for beer and meals every night added up, and I wanted to be able to send money back to my family in South Dakota. Eric had a wife but no children. I wrote a calendar program while Eric worked on his assignment one evening. We didn’t have a calendar at the Irving Inn - and I didn’t want to spend $1 or 2 on a calendar when I could write an application for a calendar. We worked in a classroom on mainframe terminals and had a printer down the hall. I wrote a good application for the calendar, except I put a “page break” after every line. So, I printed a line of the calendar, then jumped to a new page and a new page. So, with 52 weeks in the year, I had a calendar of 52 pages - with one line at the top and then nothing. I was chagrin about the new page routine when I picked up my printout. }

Our instructors were all IBM employees - doing some teaching was expected for moving into upper management. One of our instructors was a lady with wonderfully long fingernails. She couldn’t type normally, so she used her knuckles to order.   

Our instructors were great, as were our classmates. When our assignments were returned, we got “Great Job” on the printout, and the other received “Nice job.” But it would switch on the next assignment. At the end of the class, one of the instructors said they didn’t want to write “Great Job” on both assignments, so they played a game with us, knowing we would talk about it.

***

On February 29, 1984, the state legislature passed a bill changing DSU’s mission to include instruction in computer-related technology in all majors.

We were the first to go through the program. Soon afterward (especially after the official notification), Lynette Molstad (business education professor, Tom Farrell (coach and former athletic director), Melanie Stopfer (computer professor), and Louis Pape attended IBMs education facility - and they stayed in the regular IBM housing - not the Irving Inn!!!

IBM liked Melanie and offered her a job as a Database instructor - which she accepted.

Tom Farrell became one of our most vital information systems instructors.

And (gulp) I became Dean of the College of Business and Information Systems - without a doctorate at age 36.

LOVE WINS

GOD GRANTS YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 28, 2023

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2023 - DAKOTA STATE MISSION CHANGE #1

 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2023 DAKOTA STATE THOUGHTS - 1

I am going to Madison, South Dakota, for a celebration at Dakota State University in ten days. Forty years ago (1984), by the action of the Governor, Board of Regents, and Legislature, the mission of Dakota State was changed to “Computer Information Systems.” 

This week, I will give my perspective on the mission change. I left Dakota State in 2000 after eighteen fantastic years - and there has been continued success at the University.

*****

South Dakota is a lightly populated state. At the time of the 2020 census, it was the fifth smallest state by population (after Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and North Dakota).

That was true in the 1980s.  

There were seven state colleges in the state in 1980:  The University of South Dakota (Vermillion); South Dakota State University (Brookings), Northern State University (Aberdeen), Black Hills State University (Spearfish), South Dakota School of Mines (Rapid City), Dakota State University (Madison), and Southern South Dakota College (Springfield). (The names reflect current names - for example, Dakota State University was Dakota State College then).

The governor at the time (Bill Janklow) and his advisors thought seven state colleges were too many. Plus, for growth, a major financial institution (Citibank) had recently moved its credit card operations to Sioux Falls (the biggest city in the state).

The proposal was to close the smallest (Southern State College), make it a prison, and change Dakota State’s mission to computing.  

Dakota State was originally a teacher education college. It was once called “Dakota State Normal College” and General Beadle State College. (Both names were significant but beyond this week’s blog).

*****

CITIBANK

Citibank was a significant financial institution in New York City. As such, it was regulated by New York Laws. One of the laws was that it limited in what it could charge credit card customers. South Dakota - wanted to grow and attract new businesses and changed their financial laws so that credit card companies could charge whatever interest they wanted.  

So, Citibank moved its credit card operations from New York City to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Only some of their credit card staff wanted to move from New York to South Dakota. So, they needed local people to add to the staffing.  

In particular, they needed programmers and analysts familiar with business computing. Computer Science was excellent - but they required staff that understood accounting, finance, marketing - and computer programming.  

So, how do you get such staff in a sparsely populated state like South Dakota? You educate them in a college. But which college? Dakota State was in the middle of the bullseye. The teacher education mission was okay, but the demand for teachers was pretty level. Why not change the mission of Dakota State to be computer-focused? Computer programmers, analysts, and database experts - generally paid more than teachers - would generate more tax dollars. 

South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota were the “flagship” institutions of the state. SDSU had engineering and computer science programs. USD had business programs. But, that unique blend of computing and business skills was lacking.  

The proposal to change “sleepy” (my term) Dakota State (teacher-focused) to computer information systems-focused made a lot of sense. 

On February 29, 1984, the state legislature passed a bill changing DSU’s mission to include instruction in computer-related technology in all majors.

With the change in mission, the legislature and board of regents would need to pump some money into the new program. South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota wanted the new program and money.  

[Aside - I would be remiss without mentioning two Madison people who were instrumental in this effort - Jerome Lammers - Lawyer and State Representative, and Jerry Prostrollo - prominent businessman of Prostrollo Motors. The Governor needed lieutenants to help push the proposal through the state legislature. They were instrumental in the “making it happen” arena.]

*****

So, what does Bruce White (now Karen White) do with all of this?

Well, Bruce White had been a high school mathematics teacher (seven years) and had taught math at Winona State University for one year and computing for a second year, and then taught computing for two years at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon.  

In the middle of his first year at Winona State, the Department of Math and Computer Science chairman told Bruce that if he could teach a computer course, he could have summer employment. Connie White instantly decided that: “We could use the money.” So, Bruce White, in his first year at Winona State, started taking all the computing classes that would fit into his teaching schedule - and maybe the most important was COBOL - Common Business Oriented Language. The following summer, Bruce White was the COBOL teacher, and in his second year at Winona State, he combined more computer classes with teaching COBOL and math.

When he could no longer teach at Winona State (Bruce White didn’t have a doctorate), he worked as a computing instructor at Mount Hood Community College.  

In the spring of 1982, my dad (Woodrow Wilson White - the original “www”) had a mild heart attack, and I wanted to be closer to my parents. Connie wanted to be closer to her family in Minnesota. I applied to colleges with computing openings that didn’t require a computing degree or a doctorate.  

I got an interview at Dakota State for a computing position - that neither required a computing degree nor a doctorate. I was told that if I was offered the position and declined, they would only pay 20% of my travel/interviewing expenses. (I was paying this out of pocket).  

I was offered the position, and rather than turn it down and eat the expense, I accepted. Connie said she’d consider moving if it was within 25 miles of Minnesota, and Madison is about 20 miles from the Minnesota border. Her grandmother lived in Sioux Falls, and her other relatives were in South Dakota.  

So, I was at Dakota State College when the discussions were being held. (Right place at the right time) - GOD IS GOOD!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 2023

SUNDAY FUNDAY - NOVEMBER 26, 2023

 SUNDAY FUNDAY NOVEMBER 26TH, 2023

We just finished Thanksgiving - but every day is a day to give thanks (or have a “gratitude attitude”). We finished Black Friday shopping (if we did any). We have under a month until Christmas. Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, and Advent starts next Sunday. The November full moon (known as the “Beaver Moon”) is officially tomorrow at 3:16 a.m. Central Time, so tonight will be the highest total moon for November.

GRATITUDE QUOTES:

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” Lionel Hampton:

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.” Maya Angelou:

“True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.” Oprah Winfrey:

“Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience.” Roy T. Bennett:

“For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.” Elie Wiesel:

“Be present in all things and thankful for all.” Maya Angelou:

“Forever on Thanksgiving, the heart will find the pathway home.” Wilbur D. Nesbit:

“The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” Norman Vincent Peale:

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward:

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” Willie Nelson:

“The thankful heart opens our eyes to many blessings that continually surround us.” James E. Faust:

“Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others.”Jonathan Safran Foer:

“Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.” Amy Grant

THANKSGIVING TRIVIA

Question: What professional football team has played almost every Thanksgiving since 1934?

Answer: The Detroit Lions

***
Question: What did President Calvin Coolidge famously receive as a Thanksgiving gift?

Answer: A live raccoon

In November 1926, Vinnie Joyce of Nitta Yuma, Mississippi, sent the 30th ***

Question: What food did the colonists and Native Americans not have at the first Thanksgiving?

Answer: Turkey

***

Question: What wasn’t part of Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Answer: Balloons

***

Question: Has Thanksgiving always been celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November?

Answer: No. In 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the third Thursday in November.

***
Question: What happens to the turkeys pardoned by the president each year?

Answer: The turkeys pardoned by the president live fulfilled lives.

*****

Wrap-up

The days are getting short. The winter solstice is December 21st - and then the days will lengthen. If you lived in Anchorage, Alaska, on December 21st, you’d have about 5.5 hours of sunlight!!! (No wonder bears hibernate!!!)

December can be a busy month. Christmas. Shopping. Concerts. Events. 

But don’t let it get to you. Take time for yourself and reflect.

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, © NOVEMBER 26TH, 2023