MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University will host its first Intercultural Festival, featuring an array of workshops, lectures, films and performances by nationally touring groups, Sept. 28 through Oct. 3.

“We are celebrating our cultural diversity at Northwest and want our faculty, staff and students, as well as our communities, to be more interculturally competent,” said Dr. Himadri Chakraborty, an associate professor of physics who chairs the Northwest Faculty Senate’s Intercultural Advocacy Committee. “Our cultural diversity is only going to increase in time and we hope this will drive our community to better understand other people’s cultures and to function more efficiently in a culturally diverse environment.”

The Intercultural Festival is an initiative of the Northwest Faculty Senate’s Intercultural Advocacy Committee, which is sponsoring the week-long festival in partnership with Northwest’s Student Senate and the offices of International Programs, Study Abroad and Multicultural Student Success. Additional support comes from the office of the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Chairs’ Council, the Encore performance series and Professor of Recreation Dr. Terry Long as well as grant-funding from Northwest’s Improvement of Teaching and Learning Committee, the Missouri Arts Council and the Missouri Humanities Council.

The festival will include an Intercultural Cuisine Tasting, Conversation and Fashion Show on Saturday, Oct. 3, in the Student Union Ballroom. During this event participants may sample foods from different cultures, talk with international students and attend a fashion show featuring wardrobes from these cultures. Food kiosks will include cuisine from China, India and Africa and dessert from Russia.
Sessions are 30 minutes with tasting at 1 and 2 p.m. and fashion shows at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $10 per session and per country, may be purchased at the Student Services Center on the first floor of the Administration Building; 25 tickets are available per country per session, excluding the Russian dessert, which is included with each ticket purchase.
All other events are free and open to the public.

Other festival highlights include performances by nationally touring acts such as the Kansas City Celtic Pipes and Drums features Great Highland Bagpipes and Scottish Drums, which will perform a processional from Memorial Bell Tower, and classical Indian music masterfully performed by James Palmer and Shivalik Ghoshal with Northwest Professor of Music Dr. Rebecca Dunnell.

The festival concludes Saturday, Oct. 3, with performances by classical guitarist Beau Bledsoe and Company with special guest and violinist Christine Brebes and Grupo Atlántico, a St. Louis-based dance ensemble performing traditional dances of African, Native American and Spanish people with sounds of the Caribbean and coastal regions of Colombia, South America.

Grupo Atlantico’s finale to the Intercultural Festival also kicks off Northwest’s 2015-2016 Encore performance series and received direct support through grants awarded by the Missouri Arts Council and the Missouri Humanities Council.

Workshops and lectures presented during the festival will include “Classical and Folk Dances of India,” presented by Northwest Assistant Professor of Professional Education Dr. Pradnya Patet, which will introduce participants to various forms of classical and folk dances of India while recognizing the universal function of movement and music as forms of expression and an important part of cultural identity.

Concluding the workshop portion of the festival, Sein Lengeju, the founder and chief executive officer of the Keep Girls Safe, will present “International Women’s Rights: Who’s Going to Stop Me?”

Missouri farmers are harvesting crops prompting the Missouri State Highway Patrol to warn farmers and motorists to take extra precaution on roadways.

Due to an increase in heavier farm machinery on highways, especially rural highways the patrol is encouraging drivers to share the road and remain vigilant.

In 2014 MSHP reports a total of 156 crashes involving farm equipment. In those crashes four people were killed and 57 were injured.

The patrol is asking drivers to look out for slow moving farm equipment, slow down behind a tractor or other farm machinery and use patience, never pass unless they have a clear view of oncoming traffic and be especially careful when traveling at dawn or dusk when the sun makes it difficult for drivers to see.

The patrol also urges farmers to make sure all farm equipment being driven on roadways is properly marked, drive as far to the right as possible, pull off to the side to allow traffic to pass, and review regulation that pertain to farm vehicle and the transportation of goods.

For a complete list of regulations which apply to farm vehicles CLICK HERE.

ST. JOSEPH, MO— Proceeds from the sale of local artwork will benefit arts in St. Joseph.

In conjunction with First Saturdays, the Allied Arts Council is offering an Art Recycle sale Saturday, October 3 from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the Allied Arts Council Conference Room, 128 S. 8th Street. The Allied Arts Council has collected many pieces of art over the years, but said sadly there is not room to display it all and it has sat unseen in the Council’s basement.

The collection includes pieces from originals to prints. Much of the collection includes and contains landscapes, portraits and still life. Lots of photography along with oil and acrylic paintings will be featured at the sale, and many are framed and ready to hang.

The Council said the art is priced to SELL so you can pick up a piece for as little as $5.00 but never over $200.00, and all proceeds benefit the programs of the Allied Arts Council.

The Allied Arts Council was organized in 1963 to provide service to St. Joseph area arts organizations, artists, and the general public.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Community Blood Center recognized Northwest Missouri State University and its Student Senate Thursday for their commitment to supporting blood donation in the region.

Northwest was recognized by the Community Blood Center in St. Joseph as the top university among the 12 participating institutions in the area. During the 2014 calendar year, Northwest donors provided 612 units of blood, which was nearly 400 more units than the second-ranked institution.

Student Senate launches its 2015-2016 campaign with its fall blood drive Sept. 29 through Oct. 1. The student governing body annually sponsors blood drives in cooperation with the Community Blood Center to boost blood supplies in northwest Missouri.

The fall blood drive is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday in the Tower View Room at the J.W. Jones Student Union. Donors may register at www.savealifenow.org, by entering the code: NWMSU. For more information, contact Morgan Maxwell at S520390@mail.nwmissouri.edu or call 660.562.1218.

Northwest’s blood donor totals for the 2014-2015 academic year were record-breaking as 745 units of blood were collected during the Student Senate’s fall, winter and spring blood drives – an increase from 625 units collected during 2013-2014.

Northwest also collected 272 units of blood during its January blood drive, breaking its record for a single blood drive. The previous total was 268 units collected during the fall 2012 blood drive.

Community Blood Center is the primary supplier of blood and blood components to local hospitals and medical centers. Blood from volunteer donors assists cancer patients recovering from the rigors of chemotherapy, auto accident victims needing blood for emergency surgeries or mothers needing blood as the result of traumatic birth deliveries. It is estimated three lives are saved with every unit collected.

Northwest has sponsored blood drives since at least 1973 and donated nearly 7,000 units of blood since 2000 – enough to save more than 21,000 lives.