RIVER CURRENTS DEADLINE: Feb. 15 is the deadline for submissions for River Currents, the literary magazine. Students can submit fiction, non-fiction, drama or poetry.
Submissions, preferably keyboarded, should be given to instructors Kimberly M. Radek in A-311 or Sharon Trotter-Martin in B325a or sent via e-mail to
kimberly_radek@ivcc.edu or sharon-trottermartin@ivcc.edu. Copies of this year’s River Currents will be available in the spring.POETRY CONTEST: Phi Theta Kappa honor society, in collaboration with River Currents magazine, is sponsoring its second annual PTK poetry contest. The theme this year follows PTKs honors topic: "Customs, Traditions, and Celebrations."
The contest is open to all IVCC students. Poems can be in any form or format. Entries should be taken to Kirk Lockwood, Office B-321 by Feb. 15, 2002.
First place prize is a $25 bookstore gift certificate and acknowledged publication in River Currents. Second place is a $10 gift certification and publication. Third place is publication. Entries will be judged anonymously by River Currents staff.
Further information is available from Linda Tri, art lab assistant.
MUSIC INSTRUCTOR HONORED: Kevin McMahon, part-time music instructor, received The Certificate of Recognition for Meritorious Service in Orchestra Conducting from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. The award was presented to him at a reception in his honor Jan. 18 at the Union League Club in Chicago.
INSTRUCTOR'S BOOK REVIEWED: Former English instructor Geoff Schmidt's novel, "Write Your Heart Out: Advice from the Moon Winx Motel" was favorably reviewed in the November 2001 issue of The Writer.
The reviewer said Schmidt's book "will change the way you think about writing books, about writing -- hell, it'll change your life."
The book was published in the fall of 2000.
Schmidt is currently teaching creative writing at SIU. He taught at IVCC from 1994 to spring 2001.
ENGSTROM INTRODUCTION: Music instructor Norman Engstrom performed his "Audition to the Valley" in the Cultural Center Jan. 26. Engstrom, a tenor, joined the IVCC faculty in fall 2001.