Lawrence in the News: Spring 2001 and Summer 2001

A sampling of media clippings about Lawrence University, its faculty, students, and alumni from Spring 2001 and Summer 2001. For more clippings, check out the Lawrence in the News index page.

Investor's Business Daily, Los Angeles
August 22, 2001
Section: Leaders & Success
Headline: CEO­Harry Jansen Kraemer Jr. At Baxter International, he touts balance of work and life
Byline: Donna Howell
Excerpt: What helps Baxter International Inc. Chief Executive Harry Jansen Kraemer Jr. strike the right balance in business? Simple: strong priorities and caring about people. Kraemer has led a $ 30.8 billion health care company to prosperity. Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter has seen its stock price and earnings multiple rise markedly during his tenure. He leads Baxter's 45,000 employees by example, and actively seeks their views. As a chief executive, he knows he must rely on them to succeed. What's Kraemer's formula for success? "An awful lot of it for me I think comes down to understanding everybody's perspective," he said. That comes from "having a strong liberal arts background, and being a good listener and good communicator." Kraemer sees himself as a Renaissance man looking out for the needs of the whole person. It's an approach that's served him well and has built rapport with workers. It's more than two decades since Kraemer attended college. But teachers still remember him as a smart, personable student. "Surprisingly, I remember him rather well," said mathematics professor Bruce Pourciau of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. "He was a perfect combination of being very smart and very hard-working, combined with having a great personality." Pourciau says Kraemer showed boundless energy and joy in everything he did. Even as a youth, Kraemer knew how important listening well could be. "He's the sort of person who makes an impression on you because you seem to be making an impression on him," Pourciau said. "He seemed so interested in everything and everyone." Kraemer excelled in math and economics, and graduated summa cum laude in 1977 with bachelor's degrees in both. Kraemer got his Master's of Management degree in finance and accounting at Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management just two years after getting his bachelor's. Kraemer remains dedicated to the schools that taught him so much about how to keep learning. "It would be hard for me to name one volunteer job Harry hasn't filled," said Greg Volk, vice president of development and external affairs at Lawrence. The key, Kraemer says, is keeping things simple. Because they really are. "Nothing I've done since second-semester calculus is that complicated," he said. "If you think about it, business is not that complicated. People try to make it complicated." "Most of what you do in business is common sense," he said. For instance, "How do you lead? By example, so people know you're not just talking."

American String Teacher magazine
August 2001
Section: People
Excerpt: Oprah Winfrey honored ASTA member [and Lawrence University Class of 1973 alumna] Duffie Adelson on her May 14, 2001 show with a Use Your Life Award, part of Oprah's Angel Network. Adelson is executive director of the Merit School of Music (Chicago, Illinois), which every week teaches 4,000 children how to play instruments and sing. Music gives these children from rough neighborhoods the opportunity to express themselves in a positive way and to see a brighter future. Central to the Merit School of Music's mission is leveling the playing field for economically disadvantaged children. Most of the children receive their instruction either free or at a very low fee. When the students graduate, their music training opens doors to college and scholarships no matter what major they pursue. Over 95 percent of the graduating seniors each year go to college--many with scholarships.

American String Teacher magazine
August 2001
Section: People
Excerpt: Kathleen Murray has been named dean of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, becoming the first woman in the conservatory's more than 100-year history to oversee its operation. Murray has served as acting dean of the conservatory since the start of the 1999-2000 academic year after the former dean, Robert Dodson, accepted a similiar position at Oberlin College. As dean, Murray will oversee all performance and curricular operations of the Conservatory of Music and serve as a member of the president's administrative staff.

New York Times, New York
August 19, 2001
Headline: Two Czech operas, rarely performed
Byline: Derek Katz
Credit: Derek Katz teaches music history at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
Excerpt: The arrival of an opera called "Sarka" in record stores in the West qualifies as a genuine event for lovers of Czech music. The arrival of two such operas seems almost epochal. After the gains of recent decades, the mature operas of Leos Janacek are now staged often, and well documented in recordings, but his earlier works have received much less attention. A new release of his first opera, "Sarka," which began life around 1887 but was not performed until 1925, affords a fascinating glimpse of a budding master dramatist, hinting at the works to come and yielding suggestions of those that might have been. Eva Urbanova, a Czech soprano, sings the title role, as she does in the release of another "Sarka," by Janacek's contemporary Zdenek Fibich. Unlike Janacek's work, this one, from 1897, was a success in its own time. Now, like Fibich himself, it is nearly forgotten. The two operas provide a telling contrast, and both offer significant musical rewards. Unlike Janacek's brief and dramatically awkward setting, which probably does not have much of a future in public performance despite its musical glories and its historical significance, Fibich's "Sarka" is an eminently stage-worthy work. The new recording is taken from a 1998 performance in Vienna, led by Sylvain Cambreling. The interpretation is more flexible and dramatically convincing than in a 1978 Supraphon alternative, although both recordings give a fair sense of the opera. To judge from the recorded applause here, the Viennese audience was taken with the work, and well it might have been. Fibich may have intended "Sarka" to be a nationalist work, but there is nothing specifically Czech about it beyond its subject. The opera revolves around the love shared by the central characters, and one need not know the historical circumstances of its setting to be touched by the drama, any more than one must be aware of the intricacies of Druid lore to appreciate "Norma" (to pick another diva-driven, nightgown-laden saga). There is no reason "Sarka" should not appeal to opera buffs from any land, and it would be a happy paradox if the very cosmopolitan qualities that denied Fibich a fair reception during his lifetime should lead to a revival now.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
August 1, 2001
Headline: Celebrity is viewed with an ironic eye
Byline: James Auer
Excerpt: Review of "Taming the Infinite," Northwestern Mutual Life Gallery, Milwaukee
Two kinds of subjectivity -- a visceral memory of observed colors and an involuntary exploration of two-dimensional space -- add up to an enigmatic and ultimately rewarding, dual show in the paintings of Kasarian Dane and the mixed-media drawings of Shana McCaw. Dane and McCaw are emerging artists with academic ties. He's 29, and a visiting professor at Lawrence University in Appleton. She's 27 and will join the staff at Cardinal Stritch University this fall. Dane, a 1998 MFA graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is showing a sequence of large (18 by 120 inches), flat, brilliantly hued panels, each of which is divided into two rectangles. The effect, executed by hand in oil on aluminum, is cool, spare, minimalist. Dane explained in an interview that he greatly enjoyed looking out of the windows of elevated trains when he was attending art school in Chicago. He fell in love, not only with the Windy City's many moods, but with the printed signage that adorned its timeworn elevated stations. Hence, the shape of the panels, which pretty much echo the dimensions of the "el" signs. They are abstracted from observed reality to the point where even the lack of lettering is representational, since numbers and letters melt into a blur when passed at high speed. Astute observers will discern a hint of Josef Albers here -- as well as a soupcon of Ad Reinhardt and Mark Rothko.

Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, Nebraska
July 29, 2001
Headline: Mexico woos Midlands. A top official will visit the Midlands this week, working to open the door for additional partnerships
Byline: Cindy Gonzalez
Excerpt: Juan Hernandez - an atypical character in a historic Mexican government - will break more new ground when he comes to Nebraska this week. The red-bearded, U.S.-born author is the highest-ranking Mexican official to visit this area in recent times. Local leaders consider his stop as evidence of Mexico's sharpened focus on the Midlands and its exploding immigrant population. His trip comes about a year after the Mexican government established the state's first consulate, a sort of mini-embassy, in Omaha. It also comes as a broader base of local officials pushes for immigrant rights, including a national amnesty for some undocumented workers. Hernandez's mission is to relay concerns and conditions of Mexican exiles to his boss, President Vicente Fox, whose election last year ended 71 years of one-party rule. As director of the new Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad, Hernandez, 45, is helping Fox make good on a promise to pay attention to the roughly 20 million people of Mexican descent living in the United States, perhaps one-fourth of them undocumented immigrants. To be sure, the Mexican government has much to gain by helping expatriate brothers and sisters, who send home money that makes up Mexico's third-largest source of foreign income. And local Latino advocates say they will expect answers from Hernandez as well, such as how Mexico is trying to improve life so that workers won't feel the need to leave. Hernandez, who was born in Texas and raised mostly in Mexico, holds dual citizenship. He is an author and a guitarist and has served as a consultant for international corporations such as Lucent and Texas Instruments. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and literature at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, obtained a doctorate at Texas Christian University and was a literature professor in the United States before becoming director of the United States-Mexico Study Center of the University of Texas in Dallas.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago
July 27, 2001
Headline: It's Mozart twice over for director Timothy Troy
Byline: H Lee Murphy
Excerpt: The DuPage Opera Theatre presented a full production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" earlier this month. What an inspired idea to have its sister company, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble--also in residence at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn--revive "Amadeus." The two companies perform in different auditoriums within the college's sprawling Arts Center complex and they share many of the same technical staff. In July, in an unusual double-duty arrangement, they also shared the same director. He is Timothy X. Troy, a Milwaukee-based freelance director who is equally at home staging operas and plays. A professor in theater at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., who often works with the Boulevard Theater and Milwaukee Opera Theater in Milwaukee, Troy was hired to do the stage direction for "The Magic Flute" some 10 months ago. Soon after that he noticed that Buffalo had added "Amadeus" to its schedule to complement the opera. "Management at Buffalo Theatre was concerned about the logistics of rehearsals. I had to convince them that I could handle both," Troy said earlier this month. "So I put together a schedule that both groups could live with. As it is, there is a certain efficiency in doing it this way. Michael Moon is the technical director on 'Magic Flute' and the scenic designer for 'Amadeus.' Galen Ramsey is the props master for both productions. We can have production meetings for each show practically simultaneously." Troy arrived on campus most days at noon and held "Magic Flute" rehearsals from 2 to 6 p.m. There was a short dinner break and then "Amadeus" rehearsals ran from 7:30 to 10:30 in the evening. It was well past midnight when a weary Troy returned home. The link-up was particularly apt considering that a good part of "Amadeus" concerns the writing and premiere of "Magic Flute" in Vienna more than 200 years ago, very near the end of the composer's life.

The Washington Times, Washington, DC
July 24, 2001
Headline: Mexico's migrant minder. A son of two nations, Hernandez advocates for compatriots abroad
Byline: John Rice, Associated Press
Excerpt: Few people cross borders and boundaries more easily than Juan Hernandez. Born in Texas, raised in Mexico, the literature professor from the University of Texas at Dallas finds himself a historic figure in a historic government, a U.S. citizen in Mexico's Cabinet representing migrants in the United States. "I believe that Mexico has enriched the United States culturally, economically, and the United States can be the great promoter of economic development in Mexico." Mr. Hernandez said that so far he's met "very, very little" opposition to his role and his dual citizenship - though there have been a few complaints from hard-line nationalists in Mexico and anti-immigration activists in the United States. "Those who don't like it, I'm sorry. But there are 20 million of us," Mr. Hernandez said. "There are 20 million people that have one foot here and one foot there." Few are more firmly rooted in both countries than Mr. Hernandez himself. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to an American woman who had married a Mexican law student she met while studying art in the colonial city of San Miguel de Allende - about 75 miles east of the Fox family farm in Guanajuato state. Mr. Hernandez grew up in San Miguel, with frequent stays in Texas. His family moved to Texas for good in 1977. Mr. Hernandez graduated from Lawrence University in Wisconsin. While earning a doctorate at Texas Christian University, he played guitar in a spangled suit at a popular Fort Worth restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's. Mr. Hernandez later became an associate professor of literature at UT Dallas and founded the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies there, sponsoring exchanges of students and scholars between the two countries. In 1995, Mr. Hernandez invited the brash new governor of Guanajuato state to Texas, where Vicente Fox met another state leader, George W. Bush. Mr. Hernandez signed on as part-time director of the new trade office, and gradually became an influential adviser, helping Mr. Fox mount the improbable opposition-party campaign for the presidency that transformed the country. The appointment of an official to watch over the interests of migrants caps a slow but major change in attitude. The money migrants send home is now Mexico's third-largest source of foreign income, and it is on the rise: Remittances jumped 42 percent in the first quarter of 2001.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
July 17, 2001
Headline: Classical Music & Dance: MSO to take its time replacing Sill
Byline: Tom Strini
Excerpt: The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will take its time replacing associate conductor Andrews Sill, who has left the MSO after six years to pursue guest conducting and to become music director of the symphony in Lubbock, Texas. "The search is on," said MSO president and executive director Steven Ovitsky, "but it won't necessarily be completed by fall." The assistant/associate spends a great deal of time learning scores he or she will not conduct; backing up music director Andreas Delfs and guest conductors is a principal part of the job that is invisible to the public. Until the MSO comes up with a winner, the MSO will employ several conductors on a contract basis. Ovitsky specifically mentioned Bridget-Michaele Reischl, a highly regarded young faculty member at Lawrence University and music director of the Green Bay Symphony.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News
July 10, 2001
Headline: JanSport president to retire
Byline: Avi Stern, The Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wis.
Excerpt: Paul Delorey, president of backpack-maker JanSport, says he is retiring at the end of the year. During the 22 years the executive spearheaded the specialty apparel company, he transformed an enterprise with 80 employees and $20 million in annual sales into one with more than 800 staff and about $300 million in yearly sales. The Greenville-based company already has positioned for the future: Michael P. Cisler, a 24-year employee of the company, will assume the president's title upon Delorey's retirement. Until then, the 45-year-old has assumed the role of executive vice president. Cisler will oversee the company's North American sales, global public relations, human resources and custom products division. In March 2000, Cisler spearheaded JanSport's acquisition of Eastpak, the nation's second largest backpack brand and Europe's largest. Cisler, who holds a 1978 bachelor's degree in music from Lawrence University, has held senior positions in operations, information systems, finance, marketing and strategic planning for the company.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago
July 8, 2001
Headline: Student program finds 'city experience' is no cheap thrill
Byline: Julie Englander
Excerpt: Students who come to the city to learn about policy and urban issues are learning firsthand a lesson that Chicagoans of modest means have known for years: With rents rising throughout the city, it's getting harder and harder to find an affordable home. The Urban Studies Program uses Chicago as its classroom for students, most of whom are majoring in sociology and politics at small midwestern colleges like Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., and St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. In order to get real world experience in their fields of study, students come to the city for a semester's stay and live in apartments scattered throughout neighborhoods where issues like affordable housing are more than just policy debates on paper. It's not uncommon for students to study housing in their seminars or get involved with neighborhood non-profit organizations to look at ways that cities can develop and thrive without making it too expensive for those with the fewest resources.

The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
June 28, 2001
Headline: Local playwright's 'passionate' perspective. Church group's story of crucifixion going overseas
Byline: Yvonne J. Medley
Excerpt: When local playwright John O'Boyle and his artistic collaborators at St. Martin's-in-the-Field Episcopal Church in Severna Park decided to put on a play about Christ's crucifixion, none of the existing material made the cut. The story had been told before, so O'Boyle thought a new approach was needed--or at least it would be daring to write one. He penned a script and an original score and then enlisted the help of music director and accompanist Shirley Smith and producer Joan Hamilton (both members of his church) and the expertise of Ernest Green, music director for the Annapolis Chorale. The result was "The New Passion Play," which made its debut a year ago and continues to be performed in area churches and community theaters. Now the play has earned O'Boyle and his cast and crew of 27 a trip to Europe. This week, the group will perform at St. Teilo's Episcopal Church in Swansea, Wales. "If you're a Christian, you view this story from an historical perspective," O'Boyle said. But imagine if you were in the thick of things during the weeks before and after Palm Sunday, not knowing about the forthcoming of Christianity or even of Jesus's resurrection. "I tried to imagine this from the disciples' standpoint," said O'Boyle, for whom theater has been a lifelong passion. He earned a degree in drama from Lawrence University in Wisconsin and an MFA in directing and playwriting from Catholic University. O'Boyle also worked four years as house manager at Arena Stage. These days, however, the father of two supports his family by running a company called InterCare, which develops nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

U.S. Newswire, Washington, DC
June 26, 2001
Headline: Whitman appoints three EPA regional administrators
Excerpt: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman today appointed administrators of three Agency regions: Robert W. Varney, for Region 1, the New England region; Donald Welsh, for Region 3, the mid- Atlantic region; and Thomas Skinner, for Region 5, the Midwest region. "EPA is fortunate to have the leadership of such experienced environmental professionals. They bring a wealth of knowledge about Agency programs and relationships with the states, which will be critical in developing more progressive approaches to protecting the environment and public health," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. Skinner will manage Agency programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Since January 1999, he has directed the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and served in the cabinet of Governor George Ryan. Prior to that, Skinner was a partner with the Winston and Strawn law firm in Chicago for eight years and a special assistant to Illinois Governor James Thompson for economic affairs and transportation for two years. He is an alumnus of Lawrence University and the Northwestern University School of Law.

News Gazette, Champaign, Illinois
June 24, 2001
Headline: Neighbors
Byline: Kim Busboom
Excerpt: Mark Cronan, a 1999 graduate of Urbana High School, and son of John and Elizabeth Cronan, Urbana, received the POLYED Organic Chemistry Award at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis. The award, sponsored by the Polymer Education Committee of the American Chemical Society, is presented to a chemistry major for outstanding achievement in organic chemistry.

News Gazette, Champaign, Illinois
June 24, 2001
Headline: UI soybean expert honored by Lawrence University
Excerpt: Former University of Illinois botanist James Sinclair was honored Saturday by Lawrence University for his contributions to the world's understanding of soybeans. Sinclair received Lawrence's Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award in recognition of his career accomplishments in plant pathology. A 1951 graduate of Lawrence, Sinclair established himself as one of the world's leading authorities on soybeans during a 40-year research career that began at Louisiana State University and ended at the University of Illinois, where he spent 28 years. He joined the Illinois faculty in 1968 and founded the National Soybean Research Laboratory in 1984, serving as its director for 12 years. He retired in 1996 and now is a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. As the director of the National Soybean Research Lab, Sinclair established an international reputation as a researcher, conducting pioneering work in latent infections, host-parasite relationships, bacterial control of pathogens, epidemiology and disease control. He collaborated with scientists in more than 40 countries and served as mentor to more than 50 graduate students. His work in Brazil was so influential, the government there hailed him as their "father of plant pathology."

Capital Times, Madison
June 22, 2001
Headline: County families to host Russian teens
Excerpt: They've come a long way to visit the Dairy State. Eight teenage students from the NIVA School in Sergiev Posad, Russia, are here in Wisconsin for the next two weeks. The exchange visit was arranged by the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth, based in Madison. The NIVA School, located 70 kilometers from Moscow, is an academic enrichment school focused on language and computers. Last summer, the NIVA School hosted American students who had previously participated in a Russian language program at Lawrence University in Appleton. The Russian students, ages 14-17, will learn about American history, culture, cuisine and outdoor recreation during their stay.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
June 17, 2001
Headline: Teachers' teacher ready to 'retire.' Appleton's Sager has taught at high school, college for 59 years
Byline: Meg Jones
Excerpt: Ken Sager teaches teachers. He's been doing it for decades in Appleton. Doing the math, that means thousands, probably tens of thousands of people have been touched by Sager's knowledge in one way or another. Sager has bloomed where he was planted. He was born and raised in Appleton and graduated from Appleton High School, now known as Appleton West, and Lawrence University, which also is in Appleton. When Sager became a teacher, he returned to his alma maters, first teaching at his old high school, from 1942 to 1963, then switching to his former college, where he's been ever since. Now it's time for Sager, 83, to retire. Today at Lawrence University's graduation, he'll receive an honorary degree to add to his bachelor's degree in history, as well as a master's degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At Appleton High School, he taught history, speech, psychology, philosophy and political science. At Lawrence he has taught a number of education classes and worked with student teachers. He left high school students for the opportunity at Lawrence University to train new generations of teachers. Sager also has left his handprints on education in Appleton by serving on the city's School Board for 37 years. First elected in 1963, Sager was re-elected last year to another three-year term.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
June 12, 2001
Section: Sportsday
Headline: Genes unlinked to ball
Byline: Bob Wolfley
Excerpt: It's hard to imagine a pro draft pick in any sport having parents any smarter. The parents of pitcher Jon Steitz, the Milwaukee Brewers third-round draft pick out of Yale University, are not only professors at Yale, but noted and acclaimed researchers. Jon's father, Thomas A. Steitz, was recently appointed Sterling professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale, where he has been since 1970. His research interests have included work in X-ray crystallography used to study the molecular structure of proteins and nucleic acids. One of his research teams recently determined the atomic structure of a subunit of ribosome. In 1992, his laboratory determined the three-dimensional structure of an AIDS protein which could bring better AIDS medications. Thomas Steitz is a native of Wisconsin, attended Lawrence and earned a Ph.D. at Harvard. Jon's mother, Joan A. Steitz, also earned her doctorate at Harvard. She also is a Sterling professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale. Her studies have won international acclaim in the field of molecular genetics.

Boston Herald, Boston
June 11, 2001
Headline: Debate rages on public executions. Experts divided on benefit to society
Byline: Tom Mashberg
Excerpt: If all goes according to plan, by 8 a.m. today the most exclusive group of television viewers in U.S. history--300 or so people victimized by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing--will have assembled to watch a live broadcast that is never supposed to be rerun; the execution by lethal injection of a mass killer, Timothy J. McVeigh. McVeigh's infamy, and the fact that his death is a media show for a limited audience, has left many pondering the propriety of airing executions for the public at large. In an age, they ask, when everything appears on TV--war, sex, birth, death, humiliating behavior--why balk at broadcasting society's ultimate official act? In fact, U.S. executions were once very public. Hangings were occasions for picnics in the Old West, and pirates' bodies were displayed in Boston Harbor. Caught up in the debate over publicly airing executions are the pros and cons of the death penalty. Many foes of capital punishment think support for it would wane if Americans were allowed to eyeball the spectacle of state-administered death. Advocates of the death penalty admit such a prospect concerns them. There are worries that a McVeigh execution video could leak out in an age of cyber hackers and camcorders that can be secreted in one's palm. If so, it will be the public that sends a message about its appetite for the show. "In 1925, an enterprising Daily News photographer strapped a tiny camera to his ankle and captured the electrocution of adulterer-murderer Ruth Snyder at Sing Sing," said Jerald Podair, professor of history at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. "It's appearance on the front page caused a sensation--and sold a lot of newpapers. Still, given the state of public culture, one wonders whether Americans would be able to distinguish real McVeigh footage from the staged 're-enactments' of tabloid television fare."

Star Tribune, Minneapolis
June 10, 2001
Headline: Wisconsin composer remembered as his waltz plays on. Legislature may name one of his pieces an official state symbol
Byline: Susan Squires
Excerpt: Waupaca-born composer Ethwell "Eddy" Hanson befriended gangsters in Chicago, was a guest in most of England's royal palaces and toured the country in 1918, selling war bonds. In his music, though, Hanson never ventured far from home, and "The Wisconsin Waltz" is on track to become the official state waltz. State Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, has added the proposal to name Hanson's waltz an official state symbol as an amendment to Assembly Bill 21, which also would make "Oh Wisconsin, Land of My Dreams" the official state ballad. Locally, Hanson is remembered as "dapper" and "colorful." "He'd play piano with his left hand and the organ with his right," said Arlin Barden, retired commandant of the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, where Hanson died in 1986. "He was really something." Hanson was born in Waupaca in either 1893 or 1898. He moved to Neenah in 1910, finished high school, then worked his way through Lawrence University playing the organ in movie theaters. By 1918, when he enlisted in the Navy so he could play saxophone in John Philip Sousa's band, he'd published "Rattlesnake Rag," "Moon Maid," "Homecoming Song," and "When Evening Shades are Falling." Later, for Appleton band leader Lawrence Duchow, Hanson wrote "The Polish Piano Polka," the "Windy City Polka," and, in 1951, "The Wisconsin Waltz." After World War I, Hanson moved to Chicago, where he played the organ for a succession of radio stations, including WGN, WLS and WBBM.

[The article also appeared in the June 9th edition of the Madison Capital Times under the headline "Composer Of Waltz Led A Colorful Life. His Piece Likely To Be State Song" and the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, as "Wisconsin Native Waltzed Into Fame. 'Wisconsin Waltz' Composer, Ethwell "Eddy" Hanson, Made A Name For Himself With His Piano And Organ Playing."]

The Eccentric, Birmingham, Michigan
June 10, 2001
Headline: Student violinist seeks to walk where the masters walked
Byline: Ken Jannette
Excerpt: "A dream come true"--that's the way Birmingham native Julianne Carney describes the trip she's about to embark upon to study at the finest music schools in Europe. Carney is finishing her undergraduate career as a music performance major at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. She will receive a Bachelors degree in June, and was awarded a $22,000 fellowship to travel to Europe after graduation to further her studies. "I'm excited to see the places where famous composers were born, lived and worked. This is a rare opportunity," she said. Beginning in late August, Carney will indeed walk down the same streets that Bach, Beethoven and Brahms once traveled. The fellowship, sponsored by the Thomas J. Watson foundation, will allow her to visit Europe's finest music schools. During her trip abroad, Carney will focus on observing teaching methods at Europe's historic violin schools in cities renowned for their places in the history of the instrument--Vienna, Prague, and Karlsruhe, Germany. When Carney returns, she said she will seek out a master teacher in the U.S. to continue her education.

The New York Times, New York
June 5, 2001
Headline: On research frontier, basic questions
Byline: Gina Kolata
Excerpt: In the 20 years since AIDS was recognized, scientists have found the virus that causes it, have elucidated the virus's 10 genes and have developed an array of drugs that can thwart the virus when it tries to replicate. Experts say no virus, even polio, has been more thoroughly studied than H.I.V. But the more scientists learn about AIDS, the more they find themselves confronting a mystery. The new research involves trying to understand how to make AIDS a manageable disease like mononucleosis or chickenpox. The viruses that cause mononucleosis and chickenpox remain in the body forever after a person gets infected, but the immune system usually keeps them in check. Could that happen with AIDS? Dr. Walker and Dr. Rosenberg [Massachusetts General Hospital] came up with a strategy. They would find people who had just been infected with H.I.V., as the virus was dividing so vigorously that people could have as many as a hundred million viruses in each drop of blood. That is when most people become acutely ill. And that is when the helper T-cells are galvanized. Maybe, the researchers thought, if they could immediately stop the virus with powerful drugs, the helper cells could survive and remain in the body, ready to direct an attack if the virus tried to re-emerge. And they might be there in sufficient numbers to hold the AIDS virus in check. That meant that the patients might be able to stop taking the drugs and let their immune systems control their infections. Now the study is well under way, with 40 patients in various stages of taking drugs or coming off them. So far, the results are preliminary but promising. Other AIDS experts say they think the data are credible. "It's quite convincing and it makes a lot of sense," said Dr. Ashley T. Haase, chairman of the microbiology department at the University of Minnesota Medical School [Lawrence University Class of 1961]. "There's that little window in the race between the virus and the immune system. If you open it a little bit wider, you very likely will get a better virus-specific immune response."

Star Tribune, Minneapolis
May 25, 2001
Sports Section
Headline: Minnesota scene
Excerpt: Ling Nguyen of Hopkins batted .375 for the Lawrence University softball team this season. She is a sophomore.

Antiques & The Arts Weekly, Newtown, Connecticut
May 25, 2001
Headline: Haggerty Museum to exhibit Russian Imperial porcelain
Excerpt: The Haggerty Museum of Art will present "At the Tsar's Table: Russian Imperial Porcelain from the Raymond F. Piper Collection" from June 1 to August 19. "At the Tsar's Table," curated by Dr. Annemarie Sawkins, traces the development of Russian Imperial procelain from the reign of Empress Elizabeth I (1741-1761), daughter of Peter the Great, to the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, which ended in 1917. The exhibition catalogue includes essays by Russian porcelain scholars from the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C., and Lawrence University. An essay by Eizabeth Krizenesky, instructor of Russian at Lawrence University, examines the art of Russian state banqueting.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
May 23, 2001
Headline: Artists show their worthy styles
Byline: James Auer
Excerpt: If it needs a verbal description, it shouldn't be drawn or painted: It should be spoken or written. So contends veteran printmaker and painter Arthur Thrall. Thrall's argument is, it seems to me, a sound one. The problem is, it makes commenting on his work a bit of a challenge. Thrall, who taught at Lawrence University in Appleton for 26 years, is a master of imagery that avoids the narrative and pays ardent court to the lyrical. He imbues his output with a kind of poetic athleticism. His compositions are balanced, his lines assured, his color contrasts subtly muted and controlled. He loves to play geometric clefts and grids against curvilinear forms, recessive shapes against aggressive strokes of the brush or burin. Musical notation is part of his visual vocabulary. So is a sense of movement and sheer physical agility. Thrall is committed to a classical ideal of purity, elegance and restraint in the face of a world that long ago settled for smashing impact and shock value. He works within self-defined limits in a stable universe. No "big bang" artistic theories for him. Still, few artists today can make freehand drawing look easier or more natural. (Through Sunday. Studio 613 Fine Arts, 338 N. Milwaukee St.)

St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota
May 21, 2001
Headline: Home schooling grows in popularity but standards aren't enforced, officials say
Byline: Gretchen Ehlke, Associated Press
Excerpt: The number of Wisconsin children educated at home has climbed to more than 21,000, but little is done to see that those students are taught according to state law. Home-schooled children represent about 2 percent of the school-age population in Wisconsin, but the practice has increased 260 percent in the last decade with 21,134 children educated at home in 2000, according to the DPI. In 1990, 5,869 school-age children were home-schooled. Nationally, there are 1.5 to 2 million children being taught at home, representing 3 to 4 percent of the school-age population, according to the National Home Education Center, an information and support group for home-schoolers. Growth in home-based instruction has been steady because of its rising credibility, according to Paul Gubbels, a WPA [Wisconsin Parents Association] regional coordinator. "After repeated attempts in general over the years to discredit home-schooling, it's become more legitimized. People are becoming more aware of it," said Gubbels, whose four children have been home-schooled. Gubbels' son, Jason, home-schooled through grade 9, recently graduated with honors from Lawrence University in Appleton. Jason Gubbels said being home-schooled gave him greater opportunity to focus on his interests. "If there was a certain area in history, I could spend a large amount of time on that period in history," he said. "It gave me so much more time to explore authors that I was interested in."

[The article also appeared in the May 21, 2001 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, under the headline "21,000 state children schooled at home."]

Chicago Tribune, Chicago
May 18, 2001
Headline: Preps Plus
Byline: Marlen Garcia
Excerpt: Former New Tier basketball player Rachel Goldfarb has been named to the U.S. women's team for the Maccabiah Games, which open July 16 in Israel. Goldfarb, a sophomore at Lawrence University, sat out last season as a medical redshirt player because of a shoulder injury. She attended Illinois-Chicago in 1999-2000.

Wisconsin State Journal, Madison
May 17, 2001
Headline: 'Spring Into Jazz' event will help Urban League
Byline: Kevin Lynch
Excerpt: A new event aims to fill a gap in the local jazz calendar and help mend some tears in the social fabric. The Urban League of Madison will debut the new annual fund- raising event "Spring Into Jazz" tonight at the Concourse Hotel Ballroom. Among the musicians slated to perform are bassists Jeff Eckels and Henry Boehm, pianists Dave Stoler and Harris Lemberg, trumpeter Dave Cooper, trombonist Joel Adams, and drummers Dane Richeson [Lawrence Conservatory of Music associate professor] and Joe Banks. Also this weekend, Lotte Anker, a Danish musician who plays soprano and tenor saxophone, will be featured with Scott Fields in the guitarist- composer's International Duet Series at the Wendy Cooper Gallery. She has also worked in theater and dance settings, and with the Maria Schneider Orchestra. By the way, Schneider, the marvelously gifted composer and arranger, will be appearing at 8 p.m. May 25 at Lawrence University in Appleton. Schneider will conduct the top-notch Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble in selections of her own compositions, including works from her recent Grammy-nominated CD "Allegresse." The concert, at Memorial Chapel on the Lawrence campus, is part of a week-long festival of women's music. The festival will also feature New York new music-alternative jazz composer/performer Kitty Brazelton Sunday in Harper Hall. That event will begin at 7 p.m. with a pre-concert talk by UW-Madison associate professor of music Susan Cook. Other concerts will feature works by composers Joan Tower (8 p.m. Monday) and Chen Yi (8 p.m. Wednesday).

Janesville Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin
May 17, 2001
Headline: Local teachers honored
Excerpt: This spring, 73 Wisconsin educators were honored by their students for outstanding work on behalf of all students and academically talented youth in particular. Students nominated these educators through the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth's Educator Recognition Program. Excellence in education requires educators who are supported in their efforts, knowledgeable in their fields and skilled in sharing their knowledge with young people. The students nominated educators by submitting essays and anecdotes about what makes the educator "excellent." Nominated educators receive a copy of the student's nomination submission and the opportunity to apply for a fellowship to attend the four-day Excellent Educator Institute at Lawrence University this summer.

CNNfn, New York, New York
May 17, 2001
Headline: Former Senator from Minnesota promotes group effort on health care
Excerpt: Former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger pointed to a photo of flooding in Great Falls, N.D., in which people passed sandbags alone a line. "When things get bad, everyone pitches in during a crisis," illustrated the Minnesota Republican, who is the president and chief executive officer of the National Institute of Health Policy, a Minneapolis-based partnership between the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas. The nation's health care system is not in such a crisis, but it does need fundamental change, he told nearly 30 people who attended the final biomedical ethics seminar at Lawrence University Monday night. Everyone--from the consumers to the organizations, health care providers and their systems--need to find common ground. "If we stay at it long enough, we'll get it right," added Dr. John Mielke, a retired Appleton cardiologist and one of three panelists who spoke after Durenberger. "Managed care has not failed. It does have a future, if it's done right."

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii
May 15, 2001
Excerpt: Iolani graduate Kit Okimoto has been elected to Lawrence University's chapter of Lambda Sigma, a national honor society. Okimoto, who graduated from Iolani in 2000, was chosen to join the honor society at the end of his freshman year of college.

CNNfn, New York, New York
May 17, 2001
Headline: Homeschoolers tap into high-tech learning tools
Excerpt: For Daniel and Ben Casner, Web design, global positioning systems and video cameras serve as just a few of the high-tech learning tools worked into their homeschooling curriculum. Nine years ago, the family got involved with the JASON project at Lawrence University. Each year, researchers voyage on a fact-finding expedition, doing everything from studying turtles to looking for ship wreckage. The Web has taken that single lab and transformed it into a worldwide experience. Students communicate with scientists via the Web and perform many of the same experiments. Then they upload information. "They're interacting with all students--homeschooled, those that attend public schools and private schools," [the boys' mother] Cindy Duckert said.

Press-Telegram, Long Beach, California
May 16, 2001
Headline: Names & faces
Excerpt: The California Language Teachers Association has named Long Beach resident Myra Hillburg as Outstanding Language Teacher of the Year. The association recognized Hillburg for "outstanding efforts in the classroom and for promoting foreign language learning beyond the educational community." Hillburg, who joined the Downey High School faculty in 1991, sponsors the German Club, German Choir, German Band and a student exchange with a high school in Germany through the German-American Partnership Program. She also teaches English as a second language, and coaches the the girls' golf team at Downey High. She studied at Lawrence University [Class of 1970], the University of Wisconsin, the University of Munich and Northwestern University. Her husband, Bill Hillburg [Class of 1970: see Lawrence in the News, January 2000] writes for the Press-Telegram from Washington, D.C.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
May 10, 2001
Headline: Mexican governor feels at home in Wisconsin
Byline: Georgia Pabst
Excerpt: Before he became president of Mexico in July 2000 in a historic election that ended the 71-year-old grip of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Vicente Fox was governor of the state of Guanajuato. When he decided to run for president, Fox and the National Action Party recruited Juan Carlos Romero Hicks to run for the governorship of Guanajuato, a post he won. Born in the City of Guanajuato, the 45-year-old Romero was educated at the University of Guanajuato and at Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, Ore. He was in Milwaukee recently to sign an agreement between his state and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Roberto Hernandez Center for collaborative research into Mexican migration between there and here. He spoke with Journal Sentinel staff writer Georgia Pabst.

Q. You're visiting Milwaukee, but I understand Wisconsin is really your second home.

A. Yes. My wife (Frances Siekman, who is related to the family that founded Appleton Papers) is from Appleton. I have a large family. I have l0 children; nine of them were born in Wisconsin. She raises American saddle horses and has a farm in Appleton. We met because she went to Lawrence University, which had a program in Guanajuato. She went down to Mexico and found me (he laughs). I come here every summer. We have a home in Appleton.

St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota
May 9, 2001
Headline: Guthrie managing director will leave theater. Few reasons given for surprise action; will consult during move
Byline: Dominic P. Papatola
Excerpt: David Hawkanson, the managing director who helped engineer the turnaround of the Guthrie Theater into one of the most successful regional theaters in the country, said Tuesday that he would not renew his contract, which expires July 30. Hawkanson, a 54-year-old Duluth native hired by artistic director Joe Dowling in 1996, will remain with the theater for an undetermined period as a consultant on the Minneapolis-based theater's planned move to a new three-stage facility on the Mississippi riverfront. Though rumors of administrative unrest at the Guthrie had been circulating recently, the sudden announcement caught most of the Twin Cities theater community by surprise. Before Hawkanson and Dowling took over, the Guthrie's season-ticket base had plummeted to 16,000 and the theater was running an operating deficit almost every year. At its most recent annual meeting last July, the Guthrie said it had 28,000 season subscribers, the highest in the theater's history and finished in the black for the third consecutive year. This was Hawkanson's second tenure at the Guthrie. After graduating from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., with majors in drama and political science, Hawkanson turned down a spot in graduate school at Yale in favor of a job at the Guthrie in 1970. He rose quickly, from theater manager to business manager to associate manager of the company. He initiated a touring company that visited about 90 cities throughout the Midwest. Hawkanson's success setting up the Guthrie tour landed him a job at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he launched a pilot artist-residency program.

The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona
May 9, 2001
Headline: Reaching out to 'VIPs.' Emissary makes appeals to migrants
Byline: Hernan Rozemberg
Excerpt: Juan Hernandez, head of Mexico's new Office of Mexicans Abroad, stopped in the Valley on Tuesday night to tell Mexicans here that their new president, Vincete Fox, worries about them. Improving migrants' human rights, getting rid of corrupt border officials and reaching out to the Mexican-American community are his priorities, Hernandez said. About a dozen people told of abuse at the hands of Mexican officials. Several professionals told Hernandez that they'll gladly take his request to go home and help out, but only when there are jobs to go home to. Hernandez, 45, is just as familiar with Mexico as he is with the other side of the border. The son of a Mexican father and U.S. mother, he began university studies in Guanajuato state and completed them at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. He received master's and doctorate degrees from Texas Christian University, where he later taught. Hernandez's post was created by Fox as part of his promise to reach out to the Mexican community outside the country.

[A Spanish language version of the article was also carried by EFE News Services, New York, New York.]

Chemical & Engineering News, Washington, DC
May 7, 2001
Book Review
Headline: Fostering research for undergraduates
Byline: David E. Hansen
Excerpt: Research in the physical sciences at nondoctoral institutions is at a watershed--a crisis point, some would say. The ever-increasing cost, both in terms of dollars and time, of pursuing original research and obtainable publishable results seemingly has led to a decline in activity at colleges and master's-granting universities. Yet the data needed unequivocally to draw such a conclusion--or to refute it--have yet to be systematically collected and analyzed. Now, the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the W. M. Keck Foundation, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Research Corporation, and the Robert A. Welch Foundation are embarking upon just such a study and, in anticipation of their results, have released "Academic Excellence: The Role of Research in the Physical Sciences at Undergraduate Institutions." The volume is a combination position paper and how-to manual for conducting research in chemistry and physics in the absence of doctoral students. The book is divided into three sections--Achieving Excellence, Model Programs, and Supporting Excellence. Contributing authors include foundation executives; university and college administrators (such as Richard Warch, president of Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., and James M. Gentle, dean of natural sciences at Hope College, Holland, Mich.); and science faculty. Two motifs are evident in the success stories. The introduction to the volume nicely articulates the first: "Almost universally, positive changes occurred as a result of the conviction and determination of a single individual." The second is that establishing and maintaining a research tradition requires the full support, monetary and otherwise, of an institution's administration. But even with a faculty champion and a supportive administration, the transition to a research-active physical science department is a slow one. Warch's description of the transformation of the physic's department at Lawrence University, Churchill's of the chemistry department at Hendrix College, and Knight's of the chemistry department at Furman University are especially illuminating. On the other hand, the tone of the three policy essays by foundation executives is disappointing. [Research Corporation's Michael] Doyle, in particular, is dismissive of faculty who do not pursue independent research programs. "You may perform experiments with students that stimulate them to intense interest in science, but unless those experiments lead to a definable outcome, your influence will only be transient." I disagree, not merely because inspiring generations of students is an indelible achievement, but also because approaching the problem of research inactivity with Doyle's attitude is sure to be counterproductive. He compounds the crime by arguing that today the benefits of going to college are "measured in career opportunities." This Lomanesque view is antithetical to the concept of liberal education, and I think it essential to provide instead a pedagogical rationale for the importance of research. I stand with Warch, who writes, "Faculty engaged in original research stand a better chance of bringing the thrill of scientific discovery to their students."

Chicago Daily Herald, Chicago
May 1, 2001
Headline: Best & brightest
Excerpt: Andrew Maginnis, a senior at Prospect High School, Mount Prospect, was among 24 students nationally who participated in a recent weekend physics workshop at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. The two-day workshop explored laser physics, chaos and liquid crystals, using more than $1 million worth of state-of-the-art scientific equipment. Maginnis attended lecture and laboratory sessions and received hands-on experience with a variety of lasers, an x-ray diffractometer and computations/graphics equipment. Maginnis was selected for the workshop on the basis of strong performance in high school physics, chemistry mathematics, computing and scientific extracurricular programs.

U.S. News & World Report
April 30, 2001
Headline: Didn't get in? You're not alone. Record applicants and fewer openings
Byline: David L. Marcus and Emily Sohn
Excerpt: The number of students vying for spots continues to rise, with some schools reporting as much as a tripling of applications over the past decade. It's also true that a slew of selective colleges across the country have fewer spots to fill than they did last year. No, it's not a nefarious plot to drive teenagers (and their parents) to the brink of madness. It is just a matter of numbers. For several years, more students than expected have taken up these schools' offers of admission, creating a space crunch on campus. Brandeis University in Massachusetts had 60 extra students matriculate last year; next year, it will have 85 fewer spots. The College of William and Mary in Virginia will have 60 fewer, Wisconsin's Lawrence University, 25 fewer. That might seem like a minor difference, but at smaller schools the change can be significant. Several factors have made selective colleges even more selective. Foremost is the "echo baby boom": The number of college-age kids nationwide continues to swell. It has also become increasingly easy (and popular) for students to apply to several colleges, as more schools embrace online applications. Finally, as more students compete to get into top colleges, more highly qualified applicants are left vying for spaces in the next tier of schools, and the next one. On top of all that, record numbers of students applied for early decision this year. That means that by the time regular-admission students apply, the doors have already begun to close. "It's heartbreaking when they don't get in," says Michael Thorp, admissions director of Lawrence, where applications are reviewed so carefully that the staff ends up knowing applicants' hobbies by heart.

The Billings Gazette, Billings, Montana
April 27, 2001
Headline: Inventive West High concert features composer and writers
Excerpt: The Billings West High School Music Department welcomes back to Billings John Harmon and Bob Levy, composers in residence. Harmon and Levy will join the West High Symphonic Band, Jazz I. Philharmonic Orchestra, Meistersingers and Westwinds when they present their fifth West High Music Showcase, a gala public concert at the Alberta Bair Theater. The concert will include original works by Harmon, composer and pianist, and Levy, conductor, composer, and trumpet player. The evening's grand finale will feature the combined groups performing The Mountain Sings! (Journey to Beartooth Pass), an original composition by Harmon, which was commissioned by the Red Lodge Music Festival. Levy is associate professor of music and director of bands at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis. Levy has worked throughout the country with high school and college bands, wind ensembles, and brass chamber groups. Harmon, a freelance composer of modern non-jazz music as well as a jazz performer, lives in Wineconne, Wis. He has taught evolution of jazz, composition, arranging, music appreciation and improvisation at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., where he founded their jazz studies program.

Palisadian-Post, Pacific Palisades, California
April 26, 2001
Headline: Film compsoser Steve Edwards strikes major new chord in Catholic Mass
Byline: Nancy Smith
Excerpt: Palisadian Steve Edwards has contributed film scores and songs to more than 40 motion pictures, including the recent Mel Gibson hit, "What Women Want." So how did it happen that he was commissioned by Thomas Monaghan--founder of Domino's Pizza--to compose an original Mass for choir and orchestra that premiered in Florida earlier this year? It all began when Edwards wrote the first few phrases of what would become the Kyrie, or first movement of the Mass, as an audition piece for the independent film "Reservoir Dogs," a movie famous for its violent content. Liturgical music, especially the Latin Mass, has always been a passion of Edwards and for a time he was a member of the world-class choir at St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood. A studio recording of the Mass will take place in England in May, and Edwards hopes to find a label to release the work. Edwards, 39, is a graduate of Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where he received his degree in Piano Performance. The university will present Edwards with a distinguished alumni award this spring.

Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago
April 21, 2001
Editorial page op ed
Headline: Liberal arts key to science equation
Byline: Richard Warch
Excerpt: In 2001, the nation finds itself once again confronting a dire situation on the science front, though provoked more by internal assessments than external threats. A blue-ribbon panel on national security in the 21st century, chaired by former Senators Warren Rudman and Gary Hart, warned in February that if the United States does not halt and reverse the present downward spiral in science and math education and student performance, it will be unable to maintain its position of global leadership. Former astronaut and Sen. John Glenn, who chairs another group, the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, raised similar alarms in a recent speech at Harvard University. Glenn is concerned that there are too few math and science teachers at the K-12 level and that those who do teach the subjects are often unqualified for the job. These observers, and others, have reached much the same conclusion: that we need to attract more students to the study of mathematics and science and reverse a growing shortage of high-quality teachers in these critical fields. For that objective to succeed, we must ask how well higher education is accomplishing these tasks and what the best practices are for achieving those ends. While large research universities receive the lion's share of science funding and attention from science reporters, it may surprise many to learn that traditional liberal arts colleges are at the forefront of science education today, leading the way in establishing new approaches to teaching and learning science at the undergraduate level. Though small in size, on a per capita basis these colleges produce nearly twice as many students who go on to earn a Ph.D. in science as other institutions. Liberal arts graduates also are disproportionately represented in the leadership of the scientific community. In a recent two-year period, nearly 20 percent of the scientists elected to membership in the prestigious National Academy of Sciences received their undergraduate education at liberal arts colleges. The achievements of these colleges in undergraduate science education and the training of future scientists and science teachers stem from their emphasis on "hands on," laboratory-rich science at even the most introductory levels. Students learn science by doing science, by collaborating with their peers and instructors in independent research, not by sitting in large lecture halls and memorizing formulas and facts. Liberal arts colleges are playing their part and are pointing the way to a better science education for all students. One can only hope that greater recognition of their accomplishments will lead to greater support from the National Science Foundation, investments that surely will bolster and strengthen what the national government expressed as an aim six years ago: for the United States to produce the finest scientists and engineers of the 21st century and to attain a scientifically literate populace. Liberal arts colleges are pulling more than their weight in meeting those objectives. They deserve support for doing so.

Richard Warch is president of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., and a member of the Executive Committee of the Annapolis Group, a consortium of the nation's 100 leading liberal arts colleges.

USA Weekend, Arlington, Virginia
April 20-22, 2001
Headline: Make A Difference Day awards. Local heroes
Excerpt: Iowa City Press-Citizen. Richard Campagna, whose son, Robert, plays on the football team of Lawrence University, organized a cash and signature drive against hunger during the school's Oct. 28 game against Monmouth College. $675 was sent to the Feinstein Foundation, a Rhode Island-based international charitable organization.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
April 18, 2001
Headline: Butler to run for Circuit Court
Byline: Tom Kertscher
Excerpt: Milwaukee Municipal Judge Louis Butler Jr., defeated in a run for the Wisconsin Supreme Court last April, announced that he will run next April for the seat held by embattled Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Robert Crawford. Butler said he decided to run for the Circuit Court because of criticism of Crawford and the need for integrity on the bench. Butler, 49, was appointed to the Municipal Court in June 1992 by the Common Council and was named the court's presiding judge last August. Before becoming a judge, he worked in the state public defender's office for 13 years. Butler got his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his bachelor's degree from Lawrence University in Appleton.

PR Newswire (California)
April 16, 2001
Headline: Lee Enterprises appoints publisher in Oregon
Excerpt: Martha Wells, former advertising manager or publisher at three Lee Enterprises newspapers, has been appointed publisher of the Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald and group manager for Lee's Mid-Valley publications. She will have group responsibility for the Corvallis Gazette-Times and the jointly published Mid-Valley Sunday. She also will oversee the weekly Lebanon Express. She grew up in Green Bay, Wis., where she was high school salutatorian. She received a degree in English at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., attending the London Study Center in England. She worked for the university for several years after graduation as a development writer at Lawrence.

The McCuistion Show, PBS, Dallas, Texas
April 15, 2001
[Available to PBS affiliates nationally via satellite April 25-May 1]
Title: Should we abolish the Electoral College?
Excerpt:
Host Dennis McCuistion: When the 2000 presidential election was finally decided, 36 days after the election, and George W. Bush won 271 electoral votes to Al Gore1s 266, there was a renewed call for replacement of the electoral college with one or more methods, primarily the direct vote of American citizens. In this program you're going to hear powerful arguments for change and equally strong arguments for the status quo.

McCuistion: Joining us by phone is Larry Longley. He's professor of government at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. He's consulted to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and often testified before Congress on this issue. He's a member of the National Committee of the Democratic Party. He himself has served as an elector, and finally he has authored many studies and books, including "The Electoral College Primer 2000."

Professor Longley: I think the electoral college is a fatally flawed institution that should be abolished. It has many flaws at its best, as an historic counting device, and it has many flaws at it worst that can result in a divided verdict election like we just had in the year 2000 election. The electoral college has never worked as intended by those who created it. They had assumed that 19 times out of 20 the election would go to the House of Representatives for final determination and the electoral college would be simply a means of nominating some candidates for final determination by the House of Representatives. In fact that has not normally been the pattern. Only twice in our American history have we had elections go to the House of Representatives, so the plan as visioned by its creators has worked very differently than they thought it would work.

It is empirically not the case that the small states are advantaged more than the other states. In fact, because of the winner take all the large states are the most advantaged. But whoever's advantaged the fact remains that the electoral college is a distorted and unequal voting device for transforming the popular votes cast for President into the electoral votes that actually elect the President. And I think it'd be hard to justify a gerrymandered electoral college as being somehow desirable.

The only solution that makes any sense is a direct vote, the way we elect all our other political officials, in a direct tally of the people in the given constituency. We elect governors that way, we elect senators, we elect house members, and it is the way we elect members of the state legislatures and so forth and I think a direct tally of the American people in this case nationally is the only fair and equitable way.

Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas
April 15, 2001
Headline: Sunday Talk Shows
Excerpt: McCuistion (1 and 11 p.m., Channel 2). Topic: "Should we abolish the Electoral College?" Guests: John Anderson, president and chairman, Center for Voting and Democracy; Dr. Judith Best, distinguished teaching professor, State University of New York College at Cortland; Dr. Lackland Bloom, law professor, Southern Methodist University; Mark Davis, ABC radio host; and Dr. Lawrence Longley, government professor at Lawrence University and co-author of The Electoral College Primer 2000.

[A similar announcement was published in the April 15th edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.]

Physics Today, College Park, Maryland
American Institute of Physics
April 2001, Volume 54, Number 4
Headline: Feature--An undergraduate physics success story
Excerpt: Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, is nationally recognized as a leading small liberal arts college. Within this institution of only 1300 undergraduates, one quarter of whom major in music, physics is thriving. Lawrence graduates an average of 10 physics majors and several minors each year. More than half of the physics majors go on to graduate programs in physics and related fields, placing Lawrence well ahead of other primarily undergraduate institutions. John Brandenberger, chair of the Lawrence physics department, attributes this success to the faculty's belief that an effective undergraduate physics program must embrace far more than a curriculum. The five physicists on the faculty thus support several activities outside the classroom, including an aggressive recruitment program focusing on high-school seniors interested in physics; student involvement in faculty research; a steady stream of prominent physicists who make extended visits to the department; and a broad range of interactions among students, faculty, and visitors, including colloquia, teas, retreats, conferences, and planning sessions. The department offers recruitment workshops, which currently focus on computational physics, laser physics, plasma physics, and x-ray diffraction. The weekend workshops attract 30-35 high-school seniors from around the nation. The workshops depend heavily on the participation of current physics majors, thereby giving students a role in sustaining the livelihood of the department. Attracting students is only half the battle. To retain them, Lawrence focuses on high-quality teaching and a contemporary curriculum that provides opportunities for advanced projects and individual electives in the senior year. For the summer, students are encouraged to work with Lawrence faculty and to seek research experiences elsewhere at major laboratories.

Madison Capital Times, Madison
April 6, 2001
Headline: Finding art at Menards. "No brow" pieces put home items in different light
Byline: Kevin Lynch
Excerpt: "Today's superstores often offer the illusion of plentiful choice and quality," artist Yumi Janeiro Roth says. That's one of the tricky issues of perception she addresses in her droll, lively exhibit "Parts & Labor," which will open Saturday at the Wisconsin Academy Gallery. Roth makes what she calls "no brow" (as opposed to high- or low- brow) art. She thinks hard about her work and its meanings without losing her sense of humor to a furrowed brow. Most of the pieces in this show are enlarged (3 feet by 5 feet) versions of the Formica decorator "samples" you find dangling on displays at home improvement superstores. Roth turns the samples into her version of true variety -- original relief sculptures with wooden, Formica-covered patterns and chrome-plated metal hook holes. One of the quirkiest sample pieces is a Persian pattern titled "Mocha Glace with Misty Flame." The arty title is actually a combination of the Formica and paint color names. Early in her exploration of this medium, Roth took a more ironic view of this material, which still prompts her to pose rhetorical questions about how public taste is formed. The borderline between good taste and kitsch can be as hazy as the layers of bland, pastel Formica hues on sampler racks. "I have a background in metals," says Roth, who is an assistant professor of art at Lawrence University in Appleton. "That gave me a real sensibility for craft. So what do you get when you put material that's considered cheap through the rigors of precious metal craft? "I don't think it turns into silliness, because of the time I spend on these. I think they are transformed, in a way. Can you learn to love Formica? Some people do gain a strong Formica sensibility, like, 'Oh, I've seen that before.' I often recognize what seems a neutral glaze as being very specific, and where I've seen it combined before. You see it in its context as labor, and even craft."

Journal of Chemical Education, Madison
April 4, 2001
Headline: News & Announcements
Excerpt: Research Corporation announces the publication of Academic Excellence: The role of research in the physical sciences at undergraduate institutions. In Academic Excellence, college administrators, scientists, and foundation representatives describe the history, philosophy, and benefits behind the inclusion of research in the undergraduate curriculum. The background and formula for success at Furman University, Hendrix College, Hope College, and Lawrence University--model departments with a national reputation--are related from both administrative and faculty perspectives.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
April 3, 2001
Headline: Classical music & dance briefing. Lawrence conductor leads Atlanta orchestra
Byline: Tom Strini
Excerpt: Bridget-Michaele Reischl, conductor of the Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra, Appleton, led the Atlanta Symphony as guest conductor in three performances March 29 to 31. The program included Beethoven's Violin Concerto Op. 61 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. Reischl, an associate professor, is the music director for the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra and Lawrence Opera Theatre. The Green Bay Symphony Orchestra recently named Reischl its music director. In 1995, Reischl became the first woman and the first American to win the Antonio Pedrotti International Competition for Orchestra Conductors, held in Trento, Italy.

Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona
April 2, 2001
Headline: Foothills senior at physics workshop
Excerpt: Catalina Foothills High School senior John Condon was among 24 students from around the country who recently participated in a weekend workshop at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. The two-day workshop explored laser physics, chaos and liquid crystals.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Atlanta
March 30, 2001
Headline: ASO sub sizzles, mostly
Byline: Pierre Ruhe
Excerpt: Under what must have been intense pressure for her, Bridget-Michaele Reischl's (Lawrence University associate professor of music and Lawrence symphony orchestra conductor) debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Thursday evening amounted to a qualified success: her reading of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony sizzled along, as this music always does. But it only leaped from the fire on a few occasions. The scheduled conductor for this weekend's ASO concerts was Mikko Franck, but he cancelled last week, citing illness. Reischl, his replacement, is a 34-year-old American who studied the craft with Robert Spano more than a decade ago, and he's tracked her progress ever since. She currently leads the Green Bay (Wis.) Symphony Orchestra. Although Reischl had a full set of rehearsals -- no different than if she'd had been scheduled all along -- the evening felt psychologically different. It was her big chance; from the looks of her resume, the ASO is the biggest orchestra she has conducted to date. Her beat was firm, her approach muscular, and many details were in place. She coaxed an impressive rubato from the strings at the height of the opening movement, for example. Yet the horns blared mostly unchecked, and the strings didn't have the sheen or subtlety they're capable of. The Valse movement was ill-fitting; it didn't hang right. Interpretively, she never quite persuaded the listener that her Tchaikovsky was the only one we needed to hear. In Beethoven's Violin Concerto, on the first half, however, Reischl had the firm hand necessary to successfully accompany the poetic and profound violinist Hilary Hahn. Not a phrase in her Beethoven was glib or inconsistent from the whole.

Financial Times, London, England
March 26, 2001
Headline: Russ Feingold, a Senate renegade
Byline: Jeff Pruzan, Carola Hoyos and Ellen Kelleher
Excerpt: Russ Feingold spent his first two years in the U.S. Senate fighting for the issues dear to his Democratic party's left. He opposed Nafta and tax-cuts, and supported healthcare reform. He also supported changes in political donation laws. Then, in 1995, he got a phone call from a hawkish Republican senator named John McCain. The two colleagues did not know each other well, and to this day see eye-to-eye on little. But Mr. McCain wanted Mr. Feingold's help in publicizing his proposed ban on "soft money" donations. Since its inception, many on Capitol Hill have despised the proposal. Mr. Feingold's co-sponsorship stamps the effort as bipartisan. The two senators, though dissimilar, have slowly acquired reputations as renegades. In 1998, Feingold criticised President Clinton's handling of the Monica Lewinsky affair and later voted to impeach the president. And this past January, his crucial panel vote helped make John Ashcroft the new U.S. Attorney General. His adamant refusal to accept lobbyist donations or soft money advertising very nearly capsised his November 1998 re-election bid. "He's become a very, solid mature politician since he's become a senator," says Claudena Skran, professor of international relations at Wisconsin's Lawrence University. "I feel he's fighting for a higher ethical standard in politics."

Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, California
(Cox News Service article)
March 25, 2001
Headline: Parents feel pinch in college money. Officials expect boost in attendance at less expensive schools as savings evaporate
Byline: Andrew Mollison, Cox News Service
Excerpt: The stock market's woes are troubling many middle-class parents just as the college-choosing frenzy reaches its peak. Even some of the state-sponsored college savings plans have had disappointing returns recently. "People are getting cautious, but college is still important to them," says Michael Thorp, director of admissions at Lawrence University, a top-tier liberal arts school in Appleton, Wis. At his school, where tuition, room, board and other expenses add up to nearly $28,000 a year, "parents tell me they feel very confident about this year, but not about next year," Thorp said. Seppy Basili, vice president for learning and assessment at Kaplan Inc., said "the first real signs" that more parents than usual are choosing less expensive colleges could come in May. "State schools could end up with more acceptances than they expected and freshman classes that exceed their capacity by 10 to 20 percent," Basili said.

[The article also appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal on March 31 under the headline "Market plunge fouls up families' college plans" and in other newspapers across the country]

Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago
March 23, 2001
Headline: Peacock likes to 'go deep' in her songs
Byline: Mary Houlihan
Excerpt: By all rights, singer-songwriter Alice Peacock should have been an actress. Peacock's grandfather Fritz Gnass worked with Bertolt Brecht in the Berliner Ensemble and appeared in several films, most notably Fritz Lang's "M." Her grandmother was a cabaret composer and her mother acted in film and television while her father acted in repertory theater in the '60s. Peacock herself was a theater major at Lawrence University until she realized that music was where her heart was. "For me, music has always been a way to sooth my soul," said Peacock, whose 1999 debut album, "Real Day," is a self-assured collection of 11 personal songs. After college and a short stint in San Francisco, where she sang backup with a rhythm and blues band, Peacock found her way to Chicago, where she did the rounds of live mikes at local venues such as the Old Town School of Folk Music and FitzGerald's. Peacock's songs may be labeled "folk," but they stretch well beyond those boundaries. The songs have a pop sensibility because she grew up listening to the radio. There are country, blues and jazz influences as well.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
March 19, 2001
Headline: Countertenor Daniels' rich voice keeps baroque style in fashion
Byline: Elaine Schmidt
Excerpt: David Daniels is an opera star. He's in tremendous demand on the opera and concert stages, and has three solo CDs to his credit. What makes his success newsworthy is the fact that this bearded singer is a countertenor. He sings in the high-pitched range of a mezzo soprano. Countertenors are nothing new in classical music. From the mid-16th century to the end of the 18th century, the high male voice was in such demand that boy sopranos who showed some promise were castrated before puberty to prevent their voices from changing. Countertenors, whether castratos or "falsettists," those men who could sing in the alto or mezzo soprano range without surgical help, had fallen out of fashion by the end of the 19th century. But times and tastes change. In the 1960s the opera world turned its attention to baroque opera once again. "For a long time those baroque operas were really out of favor," said Patrice Michaels, professor of voice at Lawrence University in Appleton and a soprano herself. In fact, when the operas were performed, countertenor roles often were sung by baritones who simply sang an octave lower than the part was written. "Marilyn Horne took a lot of those male roles and put them back where they belong." "David Daniels is really riding the crest of a wave that began in the '60s when Jeffrey Gall was first presented at the Met," Michaels said, explaining that Daniels is actually part of the third modern generation of countertenors and male altos. "Drew Minter, who is still singing but has been around for some time, would be what I would call the second generation."

Green Bay News-Chronicle, Green Bay
March 16, 2001
Headline: Reischl new GBSO director
Byline: Christopher Clough
Excerpt: Bridget-Michaele Reischl was named music director of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra effective July 1. Reischl was one of four guest conductors for this season's Masterworks series and one of three trying out for the job. "(All the candidates) impressed, but Bridget soared over them," said GBSO executive director John Kelley. "The musicians absolutely loved her; with them, Bridget came in very high. In all realms, as far as artistic growth and community outreach, Bridget shined." Resichl is music director of the Lawrence (University) Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre and Contemporary Music Ensemble in Appleton. She won first prize in the prestigious Antonio Pedrotti international conducting competition in 1995. Reischl has also been a guest conductor for orchestras in Italy and across the country, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

 

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