PRAIRIE ROSES: To Dr. James Mitchell, chairman and professor of neuroscience at the Fargo campus of the University of North Dakota's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, for being picked to receive the first national award recognizing outstanding mentors in science and medicine. Mitchell, one of four McCann Scholar recipients, also is president of the Neuroscience Research Institute of Fargo. He is a UND Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor and occupies the first chair endowed by a major gift to the UND medical school, the Lee A. Christoferson, M.D./NRI Chair in Neuroscience.
The McCann Foundation awards $150,000 to each recipient, recognizing their success as educators and mentors in teaching, research or patient care. Mitchell, a psychiatrist, is an international expert in the diagnosis and treatment of bulimia and anorexia nervosa.
One physician referred to Mitchell as "the best mentor of my life." He has written six books, won a number of awards for teaching excellence and scholarship, lectured around the world and authored or co-authored more than 250 scientific papers during his career at UND. Wow. Fargo, Grand Forks and North Dakota are extremely fortunate to have a man of Mitchell's caliber in our midst.
LEAFY SPURGE: To Dean Hayek, former vice president of Fargo's First International Bank and Trust, who has pleaded guilty to bank fraud in federal court. Hayek pleaded guilty to defrauding the bank of about $363,400. The fraud scheme was set in motion back in 1995 and it went undetected at the Fargo bank for about eight years. Hayek created three fictitious bank customers, then authorized a series of loans to them that were deposited in accounts he controlled. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1 million and could be ordered to complete as much as five years of supervised release. The guilty plea came 10 months after the FBI began its investigation. Hayek will lose his home, his lake cabin and his retirement account at the bank and he can never again work for a federally insured financial institution. Talk about ruining your life.
PRAIRIE ROSES: To officials at North Dakota State University for their decision to allow students returning from military duty to be first in line when signing up for classes this spring. George Wallman, the school's vice president for student affairs, says students in the National Guard and Reserves returning from overseas deployment will receive priority treatment. NDSU also will waive the students' financial aid deadline and give them housing priority. Wallman says the goal is to make it as simple as possible for soldiers to get back to the job of being college students. Good for Wallman and good for the Fargo school. It shows they care a great deal about their students who have gone off to serve their country.
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LEAFY SPURGE: To 49-year-old Steven H. Anderson, who was wanted in Minnesota's Otter Tail County on charges of swindling a dealership out of $100,000 worth of vehicles, and now is also wanted in Clay County District Court on charges of defrauding a woman out of more than $15,000. Anderson is a real piece of work. In Becker County cases, court records say Anderson attempted to purchase real estate valued at $2.26 million and motor vehicles valued at $75,000 under an alias. This con artist has an extensive criminal history. He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper's Editorial Board
