NOTICES
Wheaties Honors Jim Thorpe
reprinted with permission from General Mills
Wheaties, The Breakfast of gravesite and monument before
Champions, announced in November the parade.
that the legendary Jim Thorpe will be
The Wheaties announcement was
honored on the cover of the celebrated
timed to coincide with National
cereal box.
American Indian Heritage Month.
“My dad had a bowl of cereal
History is filled with Jim Thorpe
almost every day for breakfast, and of legends - he led his football team from
course we had Wheaties,” said Jim
the small Carlisle Indian School of
Thorpe’s daughter, Grace Thorpe, 80.
Pennsylvania in victories over such
“He was very modest and humble when
powerhouses as Pitt, Syracuse, Army,
it came to all of the attention, but he
Nebraska, Navy, and Penn State;
would be very honored to be recognized
he played professional baseball with
by The Breakfast of Champions.”
the New York Giants and the
Members of the Thorpe family and
Boston Braves.
Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker
But the most well known comes
unveiled the new Wheaties box during
from when he won gold medals in both
the ceremony at the Jim Thorpe High
the pentathlon and the decathlon at the
School football stadium and
1912 Olympic Games in Sweden. After
participated in a parade to celebrate the Thorpe was awarded his second gold
occasion. The Pennsylvania state
medal of the games, Sweden’s King
legislature passed a resolution,
Gustav V shook his hand and said, “Sir,
“Recognizing the great athletic
you are the greatest athlete in the world!”
achievements of Jim Thorpe and
Thorpe replied, “Thanks, King.”
celebrating his appearance on the
For years, members of the Jim
Wheaties cereal box.” Thousands of Thorpe Area Sports Hall of Fame in
school children, many of whom are
Pennsylvania have nurtured the Jim
among those who wrote letters to
Thorpe legacy and have been invited
Wheaties, also marched in the parade
into schools to talk about the history of
and participated in the ceremony.
the great champion, said Jack Kmetz,
Members of the American Indian
the group’s president. But a few years
running group Wings of America
ago the newly crowned Miss Indian
traveled from all over the United States
USA, Anna McKibben of Quapaw,
to participate in the ceremony, along Okla., started a letter-writing campaign
with a national spiritual leader, Orrin
that sparked the thousands of letters
Lyons (Onondaga), who presided
from school children sent to Wheaties
over a memorial service at Thorpe’s
in support of Jim Thorpe.
Nominations Due for
Presidential Awards
The Executive Office of the President of the United States has established
the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and
Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) program.
The program, administered on behalf of the White House by the National
Science Foundation, seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts/programs
designed to enhance the participation of groups underrepresented in science,
mathematics, and engineering.
The awardees - individuals and institutions - will serve as exemplars to
their colleagues and will be leaders in the national effort to more fully develop
the nation’s human resources in science, mathematics, and engineering.
The deadline for nominations is May 7, 2002. The program
announcement, NSF 02-63, is available electronically via NSF’s online
document system at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf02063/nsf02063.html.
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McKibben, who recently earned a
journalism degree from the University
of Arkansas and currently is a doctoral
student at the University of Oklahoma,
is a member of the Quapaw Tribe,
which, like Jim Thorpe’s Sac and Fox
Tribe, is located in Oklahoma. She was
inspired by the story of Jim Thorpe and
decided to champion the cause to have
him placed on the Wheaties box during
her reign as Miss Indian USA 2000.
She wrote to every American Indian
newspaper, tribal headquarters, and
Web site in more than 35 states, and
the response was overwhelming.
“I’ve received hundreds of letters
of encouragement from people who are
passionate in their support of Jim
Thorpe and my cause,” McKibben said.
“Jim Thorpe has a special place in the
heart of all Native American Indians,
and now Wheaties has a special place
in my heart.”
Wheaties began its association with
sports in the mid-1930s with a sign on
the left field wall at old Nicollet Park
near downtown Minneapolis. General
Mills’ broadcast deal with the minor
league Minneapolis Millers on WCCO
Radio included the large signboard that
Wheaties would use to introduce its
new advertising slogan: “Wheaties -
The Breakfast of Champions.” Since
then, Wheaties has built a heritage that
includes many of the greatest athletes
of all time.
Jim Thorpe joins a distinguished
list of Wheaties champions such as Lou
Gehrig, Babe Didricksen, Babe Ruth,
Jackie Robinson, Walter Payton,
Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and
Tiger Woods.
Spend Part of ]
Your Summer ■
in Colorado ■
The Native’American Fish & t
Wildlife Society (NAFWS), a !
non-profit
organization
in
Broomfield, Colo., invites Native
American high school students to
apply for its summer program, held
on July 20-30, 2002, in the
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Colorado mountains.
This two-week program teaches
modern and traditional Native
American
natural
resource
management techniques in a
camp setting with classes taught
by Native American natural
resource managers and Native
traditionalists/elders.
Deadline
for
student
applications is May 10, 2002. For
an application, contact Sally
Carufel-Williams at 303-466-1725
or visit www.nafws.org.
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Diversity
Scholarships
Deadline Nears
At least four Diversity Scholarships
are available for the 2002-2003 academic
year at Lane Community College from
the Wayne Shields Endowment and
individual contributions. Scholarship
awards are $ 1,000 per year.
The Diversity Scholarships are
designed to promote diversity in the
student
population,
increase
intercultural competencies, broaden
cultural awareness and understanding
of African American, Asian American/
Pacific Islander, Latino/a, and Native
American/Alaska Native cultures, and
enrich the educational experience for
the mutual benefit of Lane students and
the community. The deadline to
submit applications is April 17,2002.
Scholarship applications can be
picked up in Career and Employment
Services, the Multicultural Center,
online at http://www.lanecc.edu/
afirmact/div/schol/index.htm or by
contacting Adrian Rodriguez at
541-747-4501, ext. 2870, or by e-mail
at rodrigueza@lanecc.edu.