A sampling of media clippings about Lawrence University, its faculty, students, and alumni from Spring 2006 and Summer 2006. For more clippings, see the Lawrence in the News index page.
New York Times, New York, New York
August 31, 2006
Headline: Students’ paths to small colleges can bypass SAT
Byline: Tamar Lewin
Excerpt: It is still far too early to sound the death knell, but for many small liberal arts colleges, the SAT may have
outlived its usefulness. Since Bowdoin and Bates dropped their testing requirements decades ago, more than a fourth of
U.S. News & World Report’s Top 100 liberal arts colleges have made admissions exams optional, and new ones are joining
the list at a quickening pace. Admissions officers said eliminating the testing requirement had increased both the size and diversity of their
applicant pools, and bolstered their reputation as places personal enough to consider each applicant individually. At the
same time, the revamped, longer SAT, the drop in average scores announced Tuesday and recent problems with scoring have
created growing disenchantment. College officials also say that tests -- whether the SAT, or in the Midwest, the ACT --
are not the best predictors of performance. Test scores, college officials say, present a skewed picture both of poor
students who have had little formal preparation, and wealthy ones who spend thousands of dollars -- not to mention
evenings, weekends and summers -- on tutoring. “We felt the system had gotten out of whack,” said Steve Syverson, dean of
admissions at Lawrence University, which admitted its first test-optional freshmen this year. “Back when kids just
got a good night’s sleep and took the SAT, it was a leveler that helped you find the diamond in the rough. Now that most
of the great scores are affluent kids with lots of preparation, it just increases the gap between the haves and the
have-nots."
[The article also appeared in the Detroit News on September 27]
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
August 29, 2006
Headline: Ex-Lawrence-star to play hoops in Denmark
Byline: Jeff Potrykus
Except: Chris Braier, a three-time NCAA Division III All-American forward at Lawrence University, has signed a
contract to play professional basketball in Denmark, Lawrence officials announced today. "It sounds like a great
situation," Braier said in a university release. "It's right in the city of Copenhagen. The team took second place
last year, and they have most of the guys back." Braier, who is to leave for Denmark on Thursday, has signed with
the Danish Basketliga for BK Amager, which compiled a 16-4 league record last season. The 6-foot-5 Braier, who played
at Wauwatosa East High School and graduated from Lawrence last spring, is the most decorated player in Lawrence
basketball history. He won the 2006 Jostens Trophy, which is given to the top NCAA Division III player based on
basketball ability, academic excellence, and community service. He was also a two-time Midwest Conference player of
the year and was a first-team all-conference pick all four seasons. He is the only player in Midwest Conference
history to compile 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Braier also is Lawrence's overall leader in points (1,565) and
rebounds (1,267).
Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks, North Dakota
August 19, 2006
Headline: Act fast: 1-minute playwrights have no 'room to monkey around'
Byline: Archie Ingersoll, Associated Press
Excerpt: They may not be theatrical masterworks, but the world now has a slew of plays made for the short-attention-span
set. Credit the One Minute Play Contest: a scriptwriting bonanza in which competitors have just that long to tell their
stories. About 90 people submitted scripts this summer for the contest, dreamed up by the Minneapolis-based Playwrights'
Center as a way to connect the public with American theater. Six plays were chosen as finalists, three each in student
and adult divisions, with winners to be named in September. Amy Thorstenson, a senior at Lawrence University in
Appleton, Wis., reached the adult finals by taking the comedic route. In her punchy vignette "From Russia, With Love,"
a 300-pound Russian dubbed "Dostoy-hefty" shows up after a bachelor named David orders an Internet bride. Happily for
David, he eventually learns the Russian is just a messenger and that his bride will arrive the next day. Thorstenson,
a 21-year-old English major, has honed her skills at school through a theater company she founded with a friend. She
jotted down the first draft of her play during a slow 20 minutes in her job at a Roseville gift shop. On Sept. 25, the
two first-place plays will be performed at the Ivey Awards, which honor theater in the Twin Cities.
Milwaukee magazine, Milwaukee
September 2006
Headline: Brain power. National college rankings don't tell the whole story -- not even close. What are
the best performing, most interesting college programs in Wisconsin?
Byline: Julie Sensat Waldren
Excerpt: Nationally, we are on a search for excellence, with everyone from college administrators to the
federal government pushing for new ways of measuring the quality of student learning at colleges. The quality question
goes beyond popular rankings and guidebooks to include innovative programs and hidden gems. We set out to uncover some of these
treasures. Lawrence University: The top-rated liberal arts college in Wisconsin, with a nationally renowned
music conservatory, Lawrence attracts talented musicians from around the world while also providing a strong liberal arts
education. The conservatory enriches the whole school; the theater department is one of the only undergraduate programs
in the region that annually puts on full-scale operas. With signature programs in laser, computational and surface physics,
the physics department is thriving, and more than half of student majors go on to graduate programs in physics and related
fields. Physics Today magazine singled out Lawrence's programs as "an undergraduate physics success story."
Waco Tribune-Herald, Waco, Texas
August 13, 2006
Headline: Sex, lies and political shenanigans. Scandals we love to hate
Byline: Terri Jo Ryan
Excerpt: More than 30 years ago this week, Richard M. Nixon became the first president in American history to resign
from his office -- an act that was the direct result of a scandal that erupted two years earlier while he sought
re-election. Many historians declared the Watergate scandal the worst such breech of trust in our nation’s past because
it was an attempt to subvert the political process itself. With the approach of another election cycle -- we’re a mere
12 weeks from the next Election Day -- it may be prudent to review some of the scandals of the past. Scandal has always
been a part of American politics. When bachelor Grover Cleveland was
running for his first presidential term in office in 1884, the Democratic candidate was accused by his opponents of
fathering a child out of wedlock. Cleveland admitted there was a child born 10 years earlier to a young widow, Maria C.
Halpin -- a son she named Oscar Folsom Cleveland. But because Halpin had kept company with several men, including
Cleveland’s law partner, Oscar Folsom, Cleveland was never sure that he was the child’s father. He nonetheless provided
Halpin with financial support, later arranging for her commitment to a mental asylum for her alcoholism. The child was
sent to an orphanage, where he was later adopted and grew up to become a doctor. "Our era has nothing on the 19th century,
when exposing and exploiting personal misbehavior was an art form," said Jerald Podair, an associate professor of
history at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. Cleveland apparently took the rap for his married friends “because he
was a gentleman,” Podair added.
WITI Television, Milwaukee
August 11, 2006
Fox 6 News at 6 and 10
Excerpt: Former Milwaukee Brewer Chris Bosio picks up pitching coaching duties for the Lawrence University baseball
team in Appleton. Since retiring after the 1996 season, Bosio has been the pitching coach with the Devil Rays and
Mariners. He spent eleven seasons in the pros including seven with the crew.
Belleville News-Democrat, Belleville, Illinois
August 11, 2006
Headline: West graduate makes much ado about role in Shakespeare play
Byline: Teri Maddox
Excerpt: It was a hard decision, but Bradley J. Behrmann chose education over theater. The 25-year-old Belleville man
teaches vocal music at Notre Dame High School in South St. Louis County. But Behrmann has kept his foot in the stage door
this summer as a lead actor in the St. Louis Shakespeare production of "Much Ado about Nothing." It opens tonight at
Grandel Theatre. St. Louis Shakespeare is a professional theater company that specializes in the works of William
Shakespeare and other classical playwrights. Behrmann majored in music education and English and minored in theater at
Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. He was an actor, director, stage manager and scenic designer in college
plays and musicals. Since returning to Belleville, Behrmann has dabbled in theater at the Broadway Center, Notre Dame
and the Shrine. He teaches music history and music theater and directs four choirs at Notre Dame.
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota
August 8, 2006
Headline: Lawrence University receives $15 million
Byline: The Associated Press
Excerpt: An anonymous donor gave $15 million to Lawrence University to help with construction of a new campus
center, the university said Monday. The donation is the largest philanthropic gift in the school's 160-year history. The
school plans to construct a 100,000-square-foot facility, at a cost of about $32.7 million, for the campus' dining services
and other student activities. "The Trustees of Lawrence have made a new campus center the highest capital priority for the
college," Lawrence University President Jill Beck said in a statement. "An unprecedented gift of this magnitude will help
make that a priority." The new campus center will replace facilities located in the Memorial Union, which was built in
1951, and Jason Downer Commons, the main dining hall since 1968.
[The AP wire story also appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Duluth News Tribune on August 7.]
WKOW Television, Madison
August 8, 2006
ABC 27 News: Wake Up Wisconsin
Excerpt: Lawrence University in Appleton has gotten a 15-million dollar donation. It's the largest philanthropic
gift in the school's 160-year history. The money, given by an anonymous donor, is earmarked for the constrcution of a
new campus center.
The Observer, London, England
August 6, 2006
Headline: Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
Byline: Carole Cadwalladr
Excerpt: And you thought Harry Potter was kids' stuff ? Try telling that to the delegates who packed into a conference in
Las Vegas last week discussing moral alignment and meta-narrative in the works of JK Rowling. Lumos 2006 is not just
another conference, it's “a Harry Potter symposium”, and most of the audience aren't academics at all, they're
common-or-garden fans, 1,200 of them in total, here for three days' worth of talks, presentations and panels. There are a
hundred or so people lining up to hear “Snape's Eyes” by Dr. Edmund Kern. Snape, who's been the baddie through six books,
is almost universally adored, something which puzzles me until Debbie McLain, a volunteer and 'stay-at home mum' who's
the main organizer of Lumos, explains it to me by saying that “a lot of women are drawn to the characters who they hope
may experience redemption.” According to the programme notes, Dr. Kern holds the chair in history at Lawrence
University. His talk, however, is just a nice old-fashioned piece of lit crit based on a close reading of the text.
It's the type of thing that English professors did before theory was invented. Which is all well and good -- it just has
nothing whatsoever to do with his academic speciality. Not that anyone notices. The audience is rapt. He receives
thunderous applause. He's treated less as a history prof, more as an international rock god.
The Capital Times, Madison
July 26, 2006
Headline: Film gives radio pioneer Corwin his due
Byline: Rob Thomas
Excerpt: Today, few seem to remember radio pioneer Norman Corwin or his legendary broadcast, "On a Note of Triumph." Airing
in 1945, on the day that America declared victory in the European theater, the broadcast was heard by millions, both
encapsulating the joy that the nation felt on that day while asking questions about what values America will carry in the
postwar era. Eric Simonson, a Wisconsin-born filmmaker, aims to resurrect Corwin's words with his documentary "On a Note
of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin." The film, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject last year,
resurrects Corwin's powerful words for a new generation -- relevant words for a generation also at war, and also asking
questions about America and its values. The premium cable network Cinemax will air the 40-minute documentary at 6 p.m.
Thursday, and will repeat it several times over the next few weeks. In addition to Altman and Terkel, Simonson interviewed
several people about Corwin who have Wisconsin ties, including Lawrence University Professor Timothy Troy and
Wisconsin Public Radio host Norman Gilliland.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
July 25, 2006
Headline: Radio giant draws Simonson in. Former state resident's film has premiere
Byline: Joanne Weintraub
Excerpt: For the longest time, playwright, director and documentary filmmaker Eric Simonson wanted to develop a work
about Norman Corwin. But Simonson, who grew up in Wauwatosa and Eagle, Wis., didn't think too many people would know or
care about the once-celebrated radio dramatist -- until, that is, he learned that a friend, fellow Lawrence
University alum Tim Troy, not only knew all about Corwin but actually had the great man's phone number in Los
Angeles, not far from where Simonson himself lives. "When I found out Tim was a fan," Simonson said in an interview here
this week, "it was like finding out a friend was a fan of the same rare, exotic bird in New Guinea." Corwin, now 96 and
still living in L.A., may not be exotic, but he's unquestionably rare: a radio giant whose work is still revered by
popular historian Studs Terkel, filmmaker Robert Altman, television pioneer Norman Lear and others who continue to shape
the culture. Simonson quickly made contact with Corwin, sat down with him four or five times over three years and added
interviews with Terkel, Altman, Lear, Troy, Walter Cronkite and others. The resulting film, "A Note of Triumph: The
Golden Age of Norman Corwin," won this year's Oscar for best documentary short. It will premiere Thursday on premium
cable's Cinemax channel, which will air this year's three other Oscar nominees in the category on successive Thursdays.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
July 12, 2006
Headline: Iron woman. Preparation for her 12th triathlon in tune with 88-year-old's lifestyle
Byline: Mark Stewart
Excerpt: Mary Stroebe is too headstrong to let "little things" get in her way. In 1987 she was
diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. A day after coming home from the hospital,
she ran 3 miles. So imagine the chance of the 88-year-old great-grandmother following her
doctor's advice when he practically forbade her from competing in a triathlon this year.
"Absolutely not," he said after she had broken her leg skiing in January. With that kind of
talk, he might as well have offered to take her to the race himself. "I just never like to
give up," she said. That in a nutshell explains what drives Stroebe, who will compete in the
Life Times Fitness Triathlon Saturday in Minneapolis. She says she is a testament to the
power of active living and positive thinking. She believes she will be fine, therefore she
is. It is a tried-and-true philosophy for the retired schoolteacher and World War II veteran.
Stroebe grew up in Appleton in the 1920s and '30s, playing football with the boys in her
neighborhood and later participating in intramural basketball, volleyball and field hockey
at Lawrence University. Saturday she'll compete in her 12th triathlon, an 18-mile
swim-bike-run. Stroebe says it might be her last race, which could free her up to visit
Russia or India, countries she's always wanted to see. She also wouldn't mind learning to
kayak. However, Stroebe threatens retirement every year but she always comes back.
Arkansas Times, Little Rock, Arkansas
July 6, 2006
Headline: What's provocative? Professional women walk a fashion tightrope
Byline: Jennifer Barnett Reed
Excerpt: So which is it? Can sex appeal be part of a woman's professional wardrobe? Should it
be? Does she have a choice, if she's under 40 and wants to look remotely in style? We're not
supposed to dress like men, but if our clothing emphasizes our femaleness too much -- if we
show too much leg or too much cleavage or too much curve -- we may cause men's eyes to light
up, but, research has demonstrated, we won't cause their brains to take us seriously. Not to
mention the even harsher judgment women can bring down on other women they believe have
crossed the invisible line. The lines get grayer, and the penalties for crossing them greater,
as the relative status of the occupation increases. Peter Glick, a professor of psychology
at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, published earlier this year a study of how people
perceived women according to their dress and occupation. Participants watched videos of a
woman reading from the same script, but dressed differently -- either conservatively or
provocatively (short skirt, lots of cleavage, heavy make-up, tousled hair, etc.). When the
participants were told the woman was a receptionist, Glick said, their perceptions of her
didn't change based on what she was wearing. But when they were told she was in management,
they reacted much more negatively to the provocative dress. "They saw her as less competent,"
Glick said. "They had an emotional reaction that seemed to drive that perception." So why did
the receptionist get away with it when the manager didn't? Sexuality is associated with
traditionally feminine occupations -- the stereotype of the stewardess, the receptionist, the
nurse. "We thought women wouldn't be penalized [in those professions] because they were not
combining sexiness with power," Glick said. "But it would be different in a high-status
profession."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
June 30, 2006
Headline: Sending wheels of fortune. Teen collects used bikes for poor children in Africa
Byline: Felicia Thomas-Lynn
Cristina Costantini had no idea the level of support she would receive when she put out a call
in the fall asking fellow classmates, friends and area businesses to contribute their unused
bicycles to help children in Sierra Leone get to school. The cross-continental cause brought
teens from the suburbs and the central city together for the past eight months. The country is
emerging from a brutal 11-year conflict that left many of the towns and villages reduced to
rubble and tens of thousands of people dead. At least 45% of the country's children are
orphans. Claudena Skran, an associate professor of government at Lawrence University
in Appleton who recently returned from the region after spending five months there as a
Fulbright scholar, served as an adviser on the bike project. Skran, who spent time in
housing projects, schools and clinics in the strife-torn region, said the children are in
dire need. "Most people have not gone to school, but since the war finished they have made
primary education free," she said. But, she said, many schools were placed between villages
and are quite a distance. "They walk three to seven miles to get to school," said Skran,
who specializes in refugees and international relations. "Most of the kids spend four hours
walking. The bikes will be very helpful." The donation is an outgrowth of the YMCA's Bykes
for Tykes program, which collects used bicycles and distributes them to underprivileged
children locally.
CBS News.com, New York, New York
June 28, 2006
Headline: 88-year-old woman trains for triathlon. Mary Stroebe stays young at heart, ignores doctors'
orders not to compete
Byline: Todd Richmond, Associated Press
Excerpt: Her elbow is still bandaged from banging it on the refrigerator. On a short bike ride outside her
wooded home, she somehow sliced open her calf. There's a titanium rod in her left shin, a constant reminder
of a skiing accident. But the bespectacled great-grandmother is still decked out in her riding gear, pink,
purple and black shorts and shirt, and her day is just getting started. She's got three weeks left to get
ready for the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis. The July 15th race -- a grueling succession of
swimming, biking and running that tests even the most hardened athletes' stamina -- will be Stroebe's 12th
triathlon. "I think I'm young so I act like it. I don't realize how old I am," she said Saturday. The retired
school teacher grew up an athlete, playing intramural basketball, volleyball and field hockey at Lawrence
University in Appleton. She entered her first triathlon in Beloit, Wis., in 1993 at age 75, joining her son
Bruce -- who has competed in several triathlons himself -- and her granddaughter in a three-generation team.
Each one competed in one leg of the race. "I just watched them and said that looks like fun," she said. "I can
do that." She entered her first triathlon on her own in 1995. She's done 10 more since. This January, she broke
her left leg after a snowboarder fell in front of her while she was skiing at Squaw Valley. Doctors inserted
the rod in her leg and forbade her to compete in this year's triathlon. Nothing doing, said Stroebe. She picked
up her training again two months ago with the help of a personal trainer. Almost every day she spends up to
three hours riding, biking or walking. "Each year I think it's my last," she said. "Sometimes I think it's time
to hang it up. Then it comes and I think it's fun to do it one more year."
[The story also ran on ABC News.com, MSNBC.com, and KOTV News, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was published in the Guardian (London, England), Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Times Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), Kalamazoo (Michigan) Gazette, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pennsylvania), Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer, Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader, San Diego Union Tribune, Wichita (Kansas) Eagle, and other newspapers across the country. On the web, it appeared in Salon and Forbes magazines and on Wired News.]
Gallatin News Examiner, Gallatin, Tennessee
June 26, 2006
Headline: Conducting at Carnegie Hall
Byline: Tena Lee
Excerpt: Bernstein. Stravinsky. Strauss and Stern. While Pope John Paul II High School Choral Instructor
and Fine Arts Chair Jeannette Ebelhar doesn't pretend to be in the same category as these great
classical composers and conductors, she does share one thing in common with them. Or at least she will
Sunday night. That's when Ebelhar will slip into the Maestro Suite at one of the world's most famous
concert halls and anxiously await her lifetime dream: conducting at Carnegie Hall. Ebelhar, who will
conduct a 150-voice women's honor choir with professional orchestra and soloists Sunday, is already in
New York as part of a five-day Conductor-In-Residence program through classical concert producer Mid
America Productions. Although she has taken choirs to perform at Carnegie Hall on two separate
occasions -- in 1996 and again in 2000 while she was the choral director at St. Cecilia Academy --
she has never conducted there before. The 88 choir members from Tennessee will be joined by around
60 members of the Foothills Women's Chorus from Tucson, Ariz. The choir will be accompanied by the
New England Symphonic Ensemble. Ebelhar received her bachelor's degree in music education from
Lawrence University Conservatory in Wisconsin, and a master's degree in music education
from the University of Illinois in Urbana. She has been an assistant professor of music education
at Michigan State University and has taught in public schools in Connecticut and here in Sumner
County including at Gallatin High School, Sumner Academy and Volunteer State Community College. She
joined St. Cecilia Academy from 1993 to 2002 before becoming JPII's first arts director.
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
June 20, 2006
Headline: Readers hot about the way women dress at work
Excerpt: Last week, Tempo ran an article about the outfits career women wear on television shows
such as "Conviction," a courtroom drama. "What we're seeing in the media is a fusion of career woman
and sex object, and that's a real problem," Peter Glick, a psychology professor at Lawrence University in
Wisconsin, said in the story. Turns out the issue is a hot-button -- the article was one of the most e-mailed
stories in the paper that day. Here are some of the e-mailed comments we received about appropriate work
wardrobes: "Isn't it ironic that women work so hard to be treated equally with men, but then dress in a
self-depreciating way? A woman should dress in a way that will not invite men in the office to view her as
anything less than a colleague, both for her sake and for theirs" (Toni Milak, Elmhurst). "Fashion and TV have been joined at the hip
for decades, but I think that common sense or lack thereof is the main culprit. I used to work in retail and
during the summer I was forever telling the younger female clerks that if they would wear it to a picnic or
a nightclub, then they should not be wearing it to work" (Dana Chichester, Latham, N.Y.). "It's confusing: Women want to be
seen as competent, skilled and focused, but that's hard to believe when so many women attempt to use their bodies
rather than their brains to get ahead. This is why, in certain male-dominated industries, women hires are avoided. It's wrong,
but they have a point!" (Darlene Whitt, Chicago).
Denver Post, Denver, Colordao
June 12, 2006
Headline: Overexposure at the office. As more women dress like TV attorneys, experts warn of career liabilities
Byline: Cynthia J. Pasquale
Excerpt: "Professional women watching television are taking it as a guideline for what to wear to work," says David
Wolfe, the creative director of the Doneger Group, fashion analysts and consultants based in New York. Remember Ally
McBeal, a television lawyer famous in the late 1990s who wore short, short ... really short skirts? "It wasn't long
before women, no matter what their body type, were wearing copies to work," Wolfe says. Even "reality" television
shows such as Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" play up the notion that sex sells. In a late 2004 episode, two team
members, Jenn and Sandy, dressed skimpily to sell 50-cent candy for $5. Another contestant, Ivana, took off her
skirt on Wall Street to sell the same candy for $20. It was considered a low point for the show, and working
women in general. It proves the idea of a sexy career woman is a dangerous one, says Peter Glick, a psychology
professor at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. He and his class studied how sexily dressed women were
perceived. What they found, not surprisingly, is that women in high-status positions who dressed provocatively
were rated as less competent and elicited negative reactions from participants. The same was not true for women
in what was considered a low-status position, such as a receptionist. "There are three ways in which women are
subtyped - career, homemaker and sex object. What we're seeing in the media is a fusion of career woman and sex
object, and that's a real problem," he says. Initially, there might be benefits to dressing like a sex kitten, but
there are hidden costs. "For young women starting out, it's a real temptation (to be sexy). You get more attention;
you might even get hired; but it will only take you so far. Eventually, it undermines perceptions of your competence."
[The article was reprinted in the June 13 edition of the Chicago Tribune under the headline "Enjoy it on TV, but don't wear it to your office." It also appeared in the June 15 Beaumont Enterprise of Beaumont, Texas under the heading "Television's sexy fashions an office no-no".]
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
June 5, 2006
Headline: `Workhorse' has get-tough stance on immigration. He's not a typical glad-handing politico, but he
may hold the key in negotiations
Byline: Frank James
Excerpt: James Sensenbrenner has been more richly blessed than most. The Wisconsin Republican was born into a
wealthy family; his great-grandfather was a founder of Kimberly-Clark Corp. Then, of course, for nearly six
years he's been one of the nation's most important lawmakers as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. But
now it is an open question whether the 62-year-old Sensenbrenner's good fortune will continue with congressional
approval of the House-passed, enforcement-only immigration bill he wrote. Sensenbrenner's get-tough stance has
made the low-key lawmaker a bogeyman to illegal immigrants and their allies but a hero to Americans seeking a
crackdown on illegal immigration. The noisy debate Sensenbrenner helped trigger is in stark contrast to the
lawmaker's stodgy Midwestern manners. But as Sensenbrenner himself puts it, he's not into political theatrics. A
careful man, Sensenbrenner says he tries to live what he preaches, even as it relates to immigration. When he
believes he's right on principle, he's not prone to compromise, observers say. "Wisconsin is between 3 and 4
percent Hispanic," said Jerry Podair, a history professor at Lawrence University in Appleton.
"Sensenbrenner's district, the most Republican in the state, is even less so. So for Sensenbrenner, this is more
an issue of principle than anything else." Among the many issues Sensenbrenner's committee has faced over the
years, he said that immigration is "the most difficult one of them all." "I believe that I'm exercising
leadership in bringing an issue that should have been addressed a long time ago to the fore of a national
debate," he said.
Inside Higher Education, Washington, D.C.
May 20. 2006
Headline: Momentum for going SAT-Optional
Byline: Scott Jaschik
Excerpt: Just this week, Gustavus Adolphus College, in Minnesota, announced that it would make standardized tests
optional for admissions. And George Mason University, in Virginia, announced that it would make tests optional for
applicants with high grade point averages or class ranks in high school. Bennington, Chatham, and Lebanon Valley
Colleges have all also recently dropped the requirement. Indeed there are signs of an upswing in colleges --
especially liberal arts institutions -- that are ending SAT requirements. Nothing prompts colleges to consider a
shift like knowing that colleges like them have made the leap and benefited from it. Gustavus Adolphus, for
example, focused its analysis on two colleges in the Midwest: Knox, which saw applications rise by 18 percent in
the year, and Lawrence University, in Wisconsin, which saw an increase of 12 percent. Not only are the
colleges that are shifting gears seeing immediate gains, but several colleges that made the shift a few years ago
have conducted in-depth studies of the experience, and they report that the students admitted without standardized
test scores are not only succeeding, but doing as well as students who submitted test scores. No one expects the
SAT to disappear. Movement to make testing optional has been much more limited among research universities than
among liberal arts colleges. But for the first time, people are starting to talk about whether liberal arts
colleges may reach a critical mass such that students could skip the SAT or ACT completely and still apply to a
wide range of highly respected institutions.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
May 17, 2006
Headline: Shag bag
Byline: Gary D'amato
Excerpt: Joe Loehnis of Appleton became the first golfer in Lawrence University history to earn
All-American honors when he was named to the Ping All-American third team by the Golf Coaches Association
of America. Loehnis, a senior, won three tournaments and finished second at the Midwest Conference Championship.
He shot a 67 at the Wartburg College Invitational and averaged 74.8 in 17 rounds.
Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri
May 14, 2006
Headline: Pulse: Trends in looks, life and love. A jumper crop of fashions
Byline: Jackie White
Excerpt: It worked fine for Erin Brockovich, the celebrated heroine in the California fight against industrial
pollution. Certainly in the film of the same name, her gaudy personal style of miniskirts, dangling earrings and
low-cut blouses seemed to underscore her passion and earnest emotions. But it doesn't always work. Allure
magazine reports on a recent academic study showing that dressing overly sexy in the office still may categorize
you as a low-level worker bee. A researcher at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., showed men and women
two videotapes. Each centered on the same woman. In one scene she was dressed conservatively in a business jacket
and pants, and in another she wore a tight miniskirt and heavy makeup. When she was described as a receptionist,
the participants assumed her competent even in sexy clothes. When she was labeled a manager in the sexy attire,
she got low competence ratings. Researchers concluded that people link high-level jobs with stereotypically
masculine traits.
[The article was also carried in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 28]
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison
May 12, 2006
Headline: Oshkosh teen advances to national pageant
Excerpt: Samantha Dannielle Jankins, 18, of Oshkosh, was chosen last Saturday as Miss Wisconsin National
Teenager 2006 at the Weasler Auditorium at Marquette University. Jankins, a 2004 graduate of Oshkosh Lourdes
High School, is currently a sophomore theatre major at Lawrence University in Appleton. She now becomes
the only woman to win all four of the pageant's state titles: Miss Wisconsin National Teenager (2006), Jr.
Teenager (2003), Wisconsin Pre-Teen (2000), and Wisconsin Pre-Teen Petite (1996).
Richmond Times Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia
May 23, 2006
Headline: Executive leads by example. Trade-group chairman anticipates challenges of the 'new world order'
Byline: John Reid Blackwell
Excerpt: MeadWestvaco Corp. traces its roots to 1888, when an immigrant from Scotland named William Luke
started Piedmont Pulp and Paper Co. in Allegany County, Md. Fast-forward 118 years, and the packaging and
paper products company is under the leadership of William Luke's great-great-grandson, John A. Luke Jr. Luke, 57,
is not known for seeking publicity and declines to talk much about himself, preferring instead to focus on the
company he leads. "I don't know anybody who would describe him as a command-and-control type person," Brett
Vassey, president of the Virginia Association of Manufacturers, said. "His management style is very much by
leadership and example." Yet Luke has taken a very public role in recent years as an advocate and spokesman for
U.S. manufacturing companies. He is serving a two-year term as chairman of the National Association of
Manufacturers, an influential trade group. Luke was born in New York and spent several childhood years in mill
towns in the Southeast and the Northeast. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam
War. Previously, he worked at the Covington mill and at the company's carton-converting operations in Richmond,
which were closed after the Westvaco and Mead merger. As a senior vice president of Westvaco from 1987 to 1989,
Luke managed corporate marketing, international sales and a subsidiary in Brazil, where the company has had
operations for more than 50 years. He credits his international experience with helping shape his strategic
outlook. "I'm very grateful for that experience, because I think it is absolutely vital for anyone in a
leadership position in industry to have good perspective on what is happening globally." Luke earned a
bachelor's degree from Lawrence University and the MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon
April 30, 2006
Headline: Lean on governments to halt abuse, conference told
Byline: Kathleen Gorman
Excerpt: U.S. citizens must pressure their government, and those abroad, immediately to combat civil rights violations worldwide,
participants were told at Amnesty International USA's annual meeting Saturday in Portland. Panelists and speakers, including actress
Mira Sorvino, expressed frustration with ongoing abuses in such places as the oil-rich Niger Delta, the Darfur region in Sudan, and
the Mexican border communities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City. More than 800 people registered for the event at the Hilton in
downtown Portland. "We have the power to pressure governments," said Cynthia Bejarano, a professor at New Mexico State University
and co-founder of Amigos de las Mujeres de Juarez, a group active in trying to stop the killing of women and children in Ciudad
Juarez and Chihuahua City. Participants seemed devoted to living up to that call. "I've pretty much all along felt that inaction
is wrong action," said Valerie Raedy, 19, who grew up in Vancouver and is active in Amnesty International at her college,
Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
Midland Reporter-Telegram, Midland, Texas
April 23, 2006
Headline: Midland inventors
Byline: Colin Guy
Excerpt: The spirit of innovation has long been present in Midland, and over the course of several decades local inventors have
dedicated their knowledge, skill and time to develop improvements in many different fields. Often the key to success for an
organization is not just the development of new technology, but rather developing innovations in how existing technology is
applied. The Midland Certified Reagent Company has been in business for more than 20 years and by pioneering a technique for
quality assurance they have become one of the nation's premier suppliers of synthetic DNA. Dr. Richard Case studied biochemistry
at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and obtained his Ph. D. in biochemistry from Marquette University in
Milwaukee. Before moving to Midland, he spent several years as a postdoctoral fellow at P-L Biochemicals and as a faculty member
in the biochemistry department at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Case founded the Midland Certified Reagent Company and by
the mid-1980s they had started manufacturing synthetic DNA. While Case's company is not the only provider of this service, they
have become one of the most trusted suppliers of synthetic DNA. In addition to working on the next generation of DNA synthesizers,
Case said his company is also collaborating with a group on a process for developing synthetic RNA, a molecule similar to DNA that
is involved in the synthesis of proteins. "If we can make it work, it will become the most widely used method for making RNA," Case
said. "(Synthetic RNA) is a widely used tool now and has become almost as important as synthetic DNA for research purposes."
Nature.com, London, England
April 19, 2006
Headline: Industrial physicist returns to academic roots: Thomas Baer, executive director, Stanford Photonics Research Center
Byline: Virginia Gewin
Excerpt: As a child, Thomas Baer taught himself to build receivers and design circuits. But he credits his liberal arts education
from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, for the skills to learn disparate fields later. Staying true to his love of
applied mathematics, Baer did postgraduate degrees in atomic physics at the University of Chicago. But after a postdoc with Nobel
laureate John Hall at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he moved into industrial science. Baer's entrepreneurial leanings emerged
when he founded an advanced product technology group while vice-president of research at laser company Spectra-Physics. Working on a
solid-state laser system, Baer invented a laser that, combined with a drug activated by light, can be used to treat cancer. He also
co-founded Spectra-Physics Laser Diode Systems to develop the technology group's advanced products, including materials and
applications. He would later draw on this business experience to run start-up companies. His company, Arcturus Bioscience, pioneered
the area of microgenomics, using molecular tools to analyse single-cell samples. Convinced that Arcturus had grown through its
entrepreneurial stage and could best evolve under new leadership, he recently resigned as chief executive to become executive
director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center, where he has been a member of the applied-physics faculty since 2004. But
Baer acknowledges that the allure of starting high-tech companies makes it unlikely that academia will be his permanent home.
Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, Kansas
Headline: LHS grad's singing dream comes true
April 16, 2006
Byline: Mindie Paget
Excerpt: Nearly a decade ago, Gabe Lewis-O'Connor sat in the Lied Center with his family, enthralled by the sounds of a men's choral
group called Chanticleer. There was an instant in the middle of the final song of the evening when Lewis-0'Connor, then a baritone-bass
in the Lawrence High School sophomore choir, glimpsed his future. “It was a moment of awakening,” he recalls. He knew then that he
wanted to sing in a professional choral ensemble one day. He never dreamed he'd become part of the very group that inspired his career
choice. Yet that's precisely what happened in late February when Lewis-O'Connor auditioned and was invited to join Chanticleer. He got
the call from the group's musical director, Joseph Jennings. “It was definitely one of those speechless moments,” says Lewis-O'Connor,
a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Chanticleer has just 12 members and
is one of only two professional male vocal ensembles in the United States. The Grammy Award-winning group, founded in 1978, performs
everything from Renaissance to jazz, gospel to commissioned work by contemporary composers. Music has been part of Lewis-O'Connor's
life since infancy; he started taking piano lessons as a 5-year-old student at Raintree Montessori School. He joined the Lawrence
Children's Choir in sixth grade and discovered that voice was his forte. Lewis-O'Connor solidified his love for ensemble singing at
Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. Most of his peers in the vocal program there were working toward solo careers in opera,
but he was ensnared by the magic of the group sound. It's what continues to mesmerize him about Chanticleer.
Tulsa World, Tulsa, Oklahoma
April 16, 2006
Headline: Exotic look
Byline: James D. Watts, Jr.
Excerpt: Light Opera Oklahoma will take a turn to the exotic for its 2006 summer season, with three rarely performed classics of musical
theater. The season is anchored by "South Pacific," Rodgers and Hammerstein's popular and award-winning tale of romance and racial
tolerance set during World War II, along with Gilbert and Sullivan's first full-length collaboration, "The Sorcerer," and one of
the best examples of zarzuela, the Spanish style of operetta, "The Little Barber of Lavapies." "'The Little Barber of Lavapies'
is exotic in just about every way, because I don't think a zarzuela has ever been performed in Tulsa," said LOOK artistic director
Eric Gibson. LOOK will employ the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra to accompany all its productions, with the company's music director
James Bagwell conducting. Gibson will direct the first two productions. For LOOK's final show, "The Little Barber of Lavapies,"
Timothy Troy, a professor of theater at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, will direct. Zarzuela is one of the longest-lived
musical forms -- some trace its origins back to the mid-1600s. A zarzuela combines spoken dialogue with songs and dance, and the
usually light-hearted romantic stories contain a strong strand of political intrigue. "The Little Barber of Lavapies," written in
1874 by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, is considered one of the greatest zarzuelas ever written.
Slate Magazine, New York, New York
April 14, 2006
Headline: For God, for Country. Remembering the radical chaplain William Sloane Coffin Jr.
Byline: Mark Oppenheimer
Excerpt: In January 1996, I visited William Sloane Coffin Jr. in Appleton, Wis., where he was a visiting professor at
Lawrence University. I was 21 years old and in the midst of writing a senior essay about Coffin's sermons. The legendary
Yale chaplain had agreed to be interviewed, but only in person; he thought that would be more fun than talking on the phone. And
it was. After picking me up at the small airport, Coffin brought me and his dog, which had come with him in the car, to a little
cemetery in town. We walked over to a tombstone etched with the name "Joseph McCarthy." The pooch sauntered over to the memorial slab,
lifted his leg, and shot a nice, warm stream of urine on the dead senator's grave. "Our daily ritual," Coffin joked, leading me back
to the car. Coffin died on Wednesday at the age of 81, and I keep thinking that only he would have the gallows humor to make me feel
better about his passing. He wouldn't have called it a "passing," of course; he loathed euphemisms and favored directness. William
Sloane Coffin has died. We're all poorer for it. Many will remember Coffin for his courageous participation in the civil rights and
anti-war marches of the 1960s and '70s. His sermons at Yale, where he was chaplain from 1958 to 1976, often packed the house, and
not just with Protestants. It's hard to imagine a Christian chaplain today of whom Jewish students might say, "He was my rebbe,"
which is how Rabbi James Ponet, Yale '68, described Coffin to me. "Rebbe" connotes teacher, sage, adviser-and that was Coffin to a
generation of boys who couldn't decide whether to fight in Vietnam. Coffin didn't suborn the burning of draft cards, which he found
needlessly antagonistic, but he would collect draft notices and give them back to the Pentagon. Coffin had fought in World War II and
worked for the CIA. He was as disdainful of silly anti-Americanism as he was of jingoistic rallying cries, and his ability to fuse
anti-war rhetoric with love of country is unequaled today.
The Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colorado
April 9, 2006
Headline: Longmont native volunteers during spring break to help rebuild N.O.
Byline: Erin Feese
Excerpt: New Orleans is a popular party spot for vacationing college students, but this year,
many students are visiting the region for another reason: to help rebuild communities ravaged
by last year's hurricanes. Emily Palmer, a junior at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis., and a 2003 graduate of Niwot High School, traveled to the New Orleans area as a volunteer
with Lutheran Disaster Response working for Habitat for Humanity. During her March 19-25 stay,
Palmer helped gut damaged homes by knocking out walls and removing mold-infested furniture and
appliances, often using a shovel to clear debris. Ten other Lawrence University students
joined Palmer on the trip. They were put into work groups of 10 to 12 people, which allowed
them to meet other students from around the country. Clad in white protective suits, hard hats,
masks and steel-toed boots, volunteers worked eight-hour days gutting homes. Palmer, who works
at the volunteer center at Lawrence University, said she was inspired to take the trip after
watching the coverage of Hurricane Katrina and wishing there was something she could do. “Seeing
that kind of devastation from far away, I felt helpless,” she said. “This opportunity just
jumped out at me.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, D.C.
April 7, 2006
Headline: Prose or pablum?
Byline: Jennifer Jacobson
Excerpt: Once upon a time, Jeremy Zilber wrote a children's book about a family of
squirrels. But the subject matter wasn't exactly juvenile. It was political.
Why Mommy Is a Democrat is Mr. Zilber's effort to win over little hearts and minds to the
party he loves. The visiting assistant professor of government at Lawrence University
published the book in November. "I think of it as a legitimate children's book that Democratic parents can
use to explain their support of the party to their children," says Mr. Zilber. He also hopes it serves as a
reminder of the party's core values, which include "fairness, tolerance, peace, and concern for the well-being of
others," according to the book's Web site. To illustrate such principles, the book includes lines like "Democrats make sure we all share our toys, just like
Mommy does," and "Democrats make sure we are always safe," beneath a drawing of an elephant rumbling past the cuddly
squirrels. "We expect parents to pass along their values to children," he says. And those include political
values, he contends.
USA Today, McLean, Virginia
April 5, 2006
Headline: More universities are going SAT-optional. Schools, students say testing can't
always predict success
Byline: Laura Bruno
Excerpt: There is a growth spurt in the test-optional movement; now, 24 of the top 100
liberal arts colleges, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, are SAT- and ACT-optional.
In total, 730 U.S. colleges don't require SAT or ACT scores, but many are technical or
religious schools or those with open admissions policies. For some colleges changing
policies, the turning point came when the College Board introduced the new 3-hour,
45-minute SAT with an added essay section. The colleges were troubled by the hysteria
among students and also by aggressive marketing of test-prep companies capitalizing on
the students' worries about the essay. It may be too early to know whether the recent
string of scoring errors on the SAT, which affected more than 4,400 students, will lead
to more schools opting out. Some of the schools that changed to SAT/ACT-optional
policies this year logged record-breaking numbers of applications, among them,
Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., up 12%. "The tests have taken on too much
significance. It's gotten out of control," says Steven Syverson, Lawrence's dean of
admissions. "The amount of time, energy and money spent on tests distorts how students
spend their time. We want them to be high school students."
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Arkansas
April 2, 2006
Headline: New ivories get special tickle in Clinton center Great Hall
Byline: Scott A. Johnson
Excerpt: A crowd gathered in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center on March 22
to help the William J. Clinton Foundation christen a new piano. The Steinway grand was
donated to the foundation by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust. The trust invited two special Arkansans to be the first to perform on the piano: former
Broadway star Lawrence Hamilton and Krystle Maczka, a young pianist from El Dorado.
A recent graduate of the boarding high school at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in
Michigan, Maczka is a piano performance major at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis. She performed two pieces by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network, Madison
March 27, 2006
Program: The Joy Cardin Show
Excerpt: In the wake of the news that there were scoring problems with the SAT test administered last October, how concerned
should we be? Should colleges require the SAT test for admissions? We will talk with an admissions officer
from Lawrence University in Appleton about the problems reported with the test and why Lawrence
no longer requires the test.
Cardin: Our guest is Steve Syverson, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Lawrence University in Appleton. Lawrence decided to get rid of the test as an entrance requirement a year ago. Why?
Syverson: We felt that the [standardized] tests had become overemphasized in the admissions process, that they take on too much significance in people's minds, and that they tend to disenfranchise less sophisticated or less affluent families and students. Too many people are looking at the SAT or ACT as being the pivotal factor in whether they will be admitted as opposed to their high school records. We felt that a lot of high schools and students were distorting their attention; rather than taking a test prep course, you should just keep focusing on your high school work.
Cardin: You don't think the test helps predict academic success?
Syverson: It does to a marginal level. Everyone, including the testing agencies, agree that the best predictor is the student's high school record. If you have the test scores, it adds a little margin to your predictability but what it is really predicting is a grade point average at the end of the freshman year in college. It has decreasing validity in predicting either a student's long-term success in college or even their [ultimate] GPA.
New Jersey Jewish News, Whippany, New Jersey
March 24, 2006
Headline: Series examines a troubled era in black-Jewish relations
Byline: Enid Weiss
Excerpt: Long after the teachers went back to work, the New York teachers' strike of 1968 still affected the
way blacks and Jews related to each other. The Highland Park Conservative Temple and Center hosted a weekend
of events Jan. 21-22 examining the infamous Ocean Hill-Brownsville controversy and its decade-long impact.
"It's a story of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and hubris on both sides -- each side asked for the
impossible, ignoring the needs of each group," said Jerald Podair. An associate professor of history and
American studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Podair was one of two speakers included in the
program. The strike pitted Jewish teachers against black parents and administrators in a dispute over who should
control the schools and the hiring and firing of educators. At the time the teachers' union members were
predominately white and Jewish while the school board and the students were black, Podair explained in his
lecture at the synagogue. School officials felt that "blacks should run the schools in their community, not
the union, not the [white] teachers," he said. "Meanwhile the white teachers were afraid they would lose
their jobs under new school board policies." In his talk, Podair said the crisis gave birth to a host of
issues, including the demand for multiculturalism within American education. "Many trace New York City race
relations to this incident," Podair said. "Ocean Hill-Brownsville is remembered today, not for what it did
to blacks and whites, but for what it did to blacks and Jews. In 1968 Jews were more accustomed to
[politically] battling white Catholics than blacks."