Director of Jazz Studies Joel Griffin passionate about “America’s classical music”

Joel Griffin is the director of the jazz studies at Evangel University.

Joel Griffin’s turning point came in 1997, during his junior year at Webb City High School, when his band director took him to a music camp that featured Jim Widner’s Big Band.

“I had never been around great live jazz before,” Griffin says.

“They were performing a song called ‘Slim Jim,’ and saxophonist Kim Park took a solo. My mouth dropped open — I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

As a promising young saxophonist, Griffin focused like a laser on the art of jazz. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees while performing every chance he got.

The Evangel University Jazz Orchestra will perform in concert Tuesday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Barnett Fine Arts Center.

“I learned early that it’s not enough to be inspired, but you also have to have direction,” Griffin says. “I was fortunate to have great teachers like Randy Hamm, who taught me the technical side — how to create a great sound, how to solo.”

Soon, he was performing with jazz legends such as The Cab Calloway Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson and Paul Mckee.

Griffin has also been teaching at the college level for nine years, and is about to wrap up his first year as director of jazz studies at Evangel University.

On Tuesday, April 2, he will direct the Evangel University Jazz Orchestra’s spring concert, at 7:30 p.m., in the Barnett Fine Arts Center. There is no charge, and the public is invited to attend.

“Jazz is America’s classical music,” says Griffin. “Teaching at Evangel is a great opportunity to work with very talented musicians. Teaching them about an art that is so important to this country and culture is an incredible opportunity.”

EU’s Jazz Orchestra performs contemporary compositions as well as jazz classics and sacred jazz arrangements. The ensemble offers students of all majors the opportunity to experience a variety of jazz styles.

“Honestly, this is the job I wanted from the time I graduated high school,” he says. “Evangel has a great group of music students who are eager to learn, and I am challenged by how hard they are willing to work.”

Read more about the Jazz Orchestra and other music ensembles at Evangel.

— By  Paul K. Logsdon, director of public relations for Evangel, and Kim Jeyaraj, graduate assistant

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Passionate Pursuits: Craig Maslowsky “Building Provides a Meditative Outlet with Hands-on Learning Through Generations”

Passionate Pursuits: Craig Maslowsky “Building Provides a Meditative Outlet with Hands-on Learning Through Generations”

By Alicia Jacobs, Excelsior Life Staff --

The purpose of Excelsior Life’s Passionate Pursuits is to help shine a light on faculty and staff successfully balancing work, home and family – just like our students.

Learning can occur anywhere. Hands-on learning can be passed down from one generation to the next. Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Excelsior College, Craig Maslowsky feels education is important in your career and personal life. Growing up, he spent time with his father using tools in his workshop. Years later, Maslowsky learned the do-it-yourself skills he inherited from his dad had the ability to turn into a furniture building hobby with creative and meditative benefits.

Excelsior Life: Are building skills a family trait?
Maslowsky: My grandfather loved to build and had all sorts of woodworking tools from the 40’s, some of which I still have in my workshop today. My father was always working on projects around the house as well. I think seeing the satisfaction that goes along with building something for the family to enjoy was carried through the generations.

 

Excelsior Life: I understand you have built a variety of wood furniture items. How did you get started in building?
Maslowsky: It all started with building a vegetable planter for my wife (pictured above). I loved the fact that I could make it exactly the way I envisioned it (well almost). I added wheels, a special compartment for gardening tools, and stained it. As I tried new projects after that, I always included a new feature or technique to keep each piece unique and interesting. I especially enjoyed the satisfaction of giving the furniture to the person I made it for. I always use my own designs and think about the person I am making it for as I build it. It has really become a creative outlet and meditative process for me.

Excelsior Life: What is the most unique item you have built?
Maslowsky: An Ash coffee table. The plan evolved as I built it and I ended up using two stains to create a contrast that I think worked well.

Excelsior Life: Do you have a favorite piece of furniture you built?
Maslowsky: Besides the Ash coffee table, last year I built an Adirondack rocking chair for the son of one of my closest friends. He was born prematurely and it was a difficult time for the family. I was able to express my love and support for him and the family through building of the chair. I personalized it by carving his initials into the wood. A project like that one takes dozens of hours and gives you time to process the situation and the emotions surrounding it. It gives a special meaning to the end product that cannot be duplicated.

Excelsior Life: If someone was looking to pursue this hobby, what would you recommend to get started?
Maslowsky: Get a table saw and a drill. As far as wood, I started with pine because it is a soft wood and less expensive than hard woods. If you mess up, you can always start over and it won’t break the bank. Start with easy designs and keep your expectations realistic. There are a ton of resources on YouTube if you want to learn the basics or build upon your skills.
Most important for me is accepting that the plans change as they go. The outcome isn’t always what you expected it to be, but that is what makes each piece unique. Just have fun and watch those fingers!

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how do i re download bonjour without re downloading itunes

Uninstalling and then reinstalling your iTunes should also get your Bonjour reinstalled.

For the reinstall, use an installer downloaded from the Apple website:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

... or you could get it back via your Apple Software Update for Windows.

If you'd prefer not to uninstall iTunes, try the following procedure.

Download and save a copy of the iTunesSetup.exe (or iTunes64setup.exe) installer file to your hard drive:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Download and install the free trial version of WinRAR:

http://www.rarlab.com/

Right-click the iTunesSetup.exe (or iTunes64setup.exe), and select "Extract to iTunesSetup" (or "Extract to iTunes64Setup"). WinRAR will expand the contents of the file into a folder called "iTunesSetup" (or "iTunes64Setup").

Go into the folder and doubleclick the Bonjour.msi (or Bonjour64.msi) to do a standalone Bonjour install.

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Evangel students present research at Sigma Zeta National Convention

On March 22nd, four Evangel University students, Adam Engebretson, Kyle Fulghum, Audra Stephenson and Chelsie Brown, presented their research at the 2013 Sigma Zeta National Convention at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Sigma Zeta is a national undergraduate honor society that encourages and fosters scholarly activity and recognizes academic scholarship in the natural and computer sciences and mathematics. 

The research team is supervised by Dr. Fred Fortunato. The Sigma Zeta adviser at Evangel is Dr. Glenner Richards.

In 2012, Engebretson and Fulghum received a student research award form Sigma Zeta to contribute to their research project, titled “The Effect of Molecular Branching on Specific Rotation in Isomers of Alcohols: Separation of Racemic Alcohols into Pure Enantiomers.”  They were recognized at the convention for receiving this award. 

As a part of the convention, the students were given the opportunity to tour the hospital labs at St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur.

Engebretson’s abstract and presentation photo can be found by following this link to the Sigma Zeta website. 

Fulghum’s abstract and presentation photo can be found by following this link to the Sigma Zeta website.

Evangel Consolidation Update

Evangel University is pleased to anticipate its consolidation with the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Central Bible College beginning with the fall 2013 semester, pending approval of accrediting bodies. For information on the consolidation progress, please visit http://ag.org/top/consolidation/

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Jeremy Glasstetter Hired to Lead Veterans’ Center at Excelsior College

Jeremy Glasstetter Hired to Lead Veterans’ Center at Excelsior College

By Mike Lesczinski, Excelsior Life News Staff--

The Center for Military Education (CME) at Excelsior College today announced the hiring of Jeremy Glasstetter to lead the College’s Lt. Col. Bryant A. Murray Veterans Center, an online, array of services to meet the needs of former members of America’s armed forces. Glasstetter, a U.S. Army veteran of both Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom, served previously as a military & veterans program advisor for Baker College (Michigan).

[AUDIO: Glasstetter discusses higher education transition challenges for returning veterans]

The Center offers resources and support for both academic and life needs to the more than 4,000 veterans currently enrolled in the college. Working within the Center for Military Education, Glasstetter will develop and advance services available to veterans, promote increased use of veteran benefits, enhance communication to veterans and related organizations, serve as an advocate for veterans issues, and work toward unit and college strategic planning goals related to the center.

“Jeremy served our country with distinction on two fronts and has dedicated his post-military career to helping his fellow servicemembers transition back to the civilian world,” said Sue Dewan, executive director of the Center for Military Education at Excelsior, which in addition to its veterans population, also counts more than 10,000 active duty military personnel among its 36,000 currently enrolled students. “His experience and commitment to nontraditional higher education for adults and, more specifically, military service members and veterans, make him a valuable addition to Excelsior. We are thrilled to have him on board.”

Raised in Flint, Michigan, Glasstetter enlisted in the U.S. Army as an avionics, armament, electrician and helicopter mechanic less than one month after the attacks on September 11th. In 2004, he proudly deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2007, he deployed once again, this time to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Honorably discharged from activity duty, he returned home to serve in the Michigan National Guard and began his studies at the University of Michigan-Flint.

While at UM, Glasstetter founded the Student Veterans of America – Flint Chapter (SVA-FC); eventually he was elected the 3rd President of the national organization. During his undergraduate studies Glasstetter also helped orchestrate, with the help of the University of Michigan Board of Regents and others, the creation of the university’s first Student Veterans Resource Center. One of the few in the nation at that time, the center offered returning military veterans a place to work and congregate during their transition home.

In August 2011, Jeremy graduated with his Bachelors of Business Administration Degree from the University of Michigan and in May, 2013 will earn his Masters of Business Administration in Leadership degree from Baker College Center for Graduate Studies.

Jeremy, married with a young son, resides in Clifton Park, NY.

-30-

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Share music folder ONLY

Dear all, I am having the following issue I hope you can help with:

I am running itunes under windows 8. I have setup two users on the same desktop. Only me has iphone / ipad. Installing itunes it has put its libraries under my user account. However, I wish to share ONLY the music files with the other user i.e. for him to able and listen to the same music files directly from his account. I can obviously give him access rights to the folder but I don't really want to do that. The good option would be to place ONLY the music files under the PUBLIC user account - but I don't know how to do this!

I have found some articles / solutions talking about moving the itunes media folder under "public" account  - but this means that other items apart from music is transfered (not desirable). Any suggestions or directions?

Thank you in advance

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Evangel graduate recognized by U.S. ambassador for medical work in Angola

Dr. John and Lori Clements, both 2002 Evangel University graduates, are pictured with U.S. Ambassador Christopher McMullen (center) at a ceremony held in John's honor.

Dr. John Clements, a 2002 graduate of Evangel University, was recognized for his work as a medical missionary by the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Angola, Christopher McMullen, in a ceremony held on March 4, 2013.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Angola and the United States, the embassy’s “Good Citizen Award” was designed to recognize Americans who are working to help the citizens of Angola, a country devastated by poverty and disease.

After attending medical school on a Regents full-ride scholarship, specializing in ophthalmology and completing a fellowship in cornea transplantation and refractive surgery at The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at the Harvard School of Medicine in 2011, Dr. Clements could likely be practicing medicine anywhere in the United States and living a very comfortable life.

However, “comfortable” was not this EU graduate’s goal.

As an Evangel pre-med student, Clements had taken a two-week medical service trip with the Assemblies of God Health Care Ministries team to La Paz, Bolivia, where he experienced a powerful encounter one day in a clinic while fitting an elderly woman with a pair of glasses.

“The woman had never had glasses and as a result was unable to read,” he says. “After I put the glasses on her, she opened her Bible and read it aloud. She cried, praised God and gave me a great big hug.”

At that moment, Clements knew what he was meant to do. “I knew from that time on that I wanted to help restore the physical and spiritual sight of those who could not see,” he says.

In 2011, that calling led Clements, his wife, Lori (Dollar ’02) and their three small children to Benguela, Angola, where he now serves as a medical missionary performing cataract surgeries.

Angola is a country with 20 million people where, due to poverty and lack of basic medical care, the rate of preventable blindness ranks among the highest in the world.

A group of Dr. Clements’ patients sit at the clinic after their surgeries, awaiting the moment they can remove their bandages and see.

Through their clinic, which focuses on providing care for the poor, Clements performed more than 3,000 cataract surgeries in 2012.

He says the surgery is very inexpensive. “It costs less than $50 to do one of these surgeries and can transform a person’s life,” he says. “Patients enter our clinic being led by the hand, unable to walk independently because of blindness, and they leave dancing and singing because their vision has been restored.”

However, Clements does not just perform surgery. He says his true passion for the ministry is training Angolan doctors to do the procedure.

Today, the number of doctors who are able to provide cataract surgery in Angola is less than 10.

“The need is massive,” says Clements. “Imagine this: Angola has a rate of blindness that is 10 times higher than the United States, however the rate of cataract surgery in the U.S. is 65 times higher than Angola’s. I simply cannot put a dent in this level of cataract blindness by myself. However, by multiplication of cataract surgeons we can make a difference.”

This month, the Clements’ first trainee will graduate and return to his home in the north of Angola to provide cataract surgery in an underserved province.

Clements says the publicity the clinic has received through the Good Citizen Award will help him  further this work. “The best part about the award is that our clinic was featured on a national news program documenting the visit of the U.S. ambassador to our city. This was free and very positive advertising. Hopefully as a result more people will come to the clinic and have a chance to hear the gospel message.”

He is quick to point out that the success of the clinic is a result of the work of many others who work alongside him.

“I have a strong team that helps me do what I do, so I must give credit first for the team here in Angola,” he says. “Also my wife, Lori,  who is source of strength for me.”

Both John and Lori say their education at Evangel was fundamental in preparing them for the work they are doing today.

“The faith-based classes I had helped me to critically think about my faith and deeply personalize it,” he says. “I was surrounded by other believers studying the sciences, which helped keep me focused on the Creator and not simply the creation.”

Read more about the Clements’ ministry at their blog, From Angola with Love.

— By Ashli O’Connell, Web content developer and editor for Evangel University

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