“Your Way Home”
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A publication for Alumni and Friends of Kent State University Fall 2006 Volume 6 — Issue 1 m A G a z i n e LifeLife InterruptedInterrupted 400+400+ KatrinaKatrina reliefrelief volunteersvolunteers shareshare hope,hope, gratitudegratitude “Your“Your WayWay Home”Home” WKSUWKSU showshow considersconsiders allall thingsthings NortheastNortheast OhioOhio New Beginnings, Strong Traditions Dr. Lester A. Lefton, President Jeff Glidden, ’87 Photo by (Above) Kent State President Lester A. Lefton speaks with At Kent State, I know that Kent State this fall will students and parents. (Lower the elements are in place graduate in 2010, the right) Lefton proudly displays Welcome to the fall for that next step. We have university’s centennial year. new Kent State apparel, a gift 2006 issue of Kent State a superb faculty; we have I look forward to meeting from R. Douglas Cowan, ’64, chair Magazine. This introduction motivated students; we have more of you in the months of Kent State University’s Board is a new role and represents dedicated staff and alumni; ahead, as we move together of Trustees, during a May 9 press a new beginning for me, we have top-notch facilities. into the future and toward conference announcing Lefton’s but I am delighted to be a We also have something Kent State’s next 100 appointment. member of the Kent State else, that special intangible — years. community and to share character. The cover story of with you the ongoing this issue provides a com- accomplishments of this pelling example: Hundreds amazing institution. of Kent State students, On the cover: As I said on the day I was faculty and staff spent their Tom R. Hayward and his wife of named to lead Kent State, 2006 spring break on the 10 years, Victoria, are living in this is a university of which Gulf Coast, helping victims temporary housing while work we can be justifiably proud. recover from the devasta- on their house continues in Pass Yet, there is a moment in tion of Hurricane Katrina. Christian, Miss. “Kent State Unit- time when institutions My wife, Linda, and I were ed for Biloxi” volunteers cleared are ready to step into the directly affected by that dead trees and other plant matter future — to move ahead tragedy, so we felt a special on the Haywards’ property and in new and exciting ways. connection to this university started hanging drywall. This is a time to dream new even before we arrived. Photo by Pat Jarrett, Kent State photojournalism student dreams, inclusive dreams — Let me make one more dreams of an even greater point about our “moment in Jeff Glidden, ’87 university. time.” The class entering Photo by Kent State Magazine • Fall 2006 • Volume 6 • Issue 1 Kent state MAGAZINE c o n t e n t s Fall 2006 • Volume 6 • Issue 1 Board of Trustees Features R. Douglas Cowan, ’64, Chair Sandra W. Harbrecht, ’71, Vice Chair James M. Biggar, Secretary Andrew J. Banks Emilio Ferrara, M.D., ’59 Erin E. Klemen, student Patrick S. Mullin, ’71 Jane Murphy Timken Brian D. Tucker, ’75 Jacqueline F. Woods Executive Officers Dr. Lester A. Lefton, President Dr. Paul L. Gaston, Provost Dr. Patricia A. Book Vice President, Regional Development Dr. David K. Creamer, M.S.A. ’86, Ph.D. ’90 Photo by Bob Christy, ’95 Vice President, Administration Dr. Harold Goldsmith Vice President, Life Interrupted ............ page 2 Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Four hundred-plus Katrina-relief volunteers share Issue to Issue Carolyn Deasy Pizzuto Vice President, Human Resources hope, gratitude. Dr. Kathy L. Stafford, ’70 Vice President, “Your Way Home”........... page 8 News Flash ....... page 20 University Relations and Development WKSU show considers all things Northeast Ohio. • Annual awards celebrate diversity Edward G. Mahon Vice President, Information Services, Safety, Security and Jobs... page 10 • Cartwright lends name to building, plane and Chief Information Officer Licensing of biosensor technology is positive • Tuscarawas’ Dean Andrews recognized Magazine Editorial Committee step for region. at reaffirmation celebration Thomas R. Neumann Associate Vice President, One of a Kind ............ page 11 University Communications & Marketing Flo Cunningham, ’83, M.A. ’86 Doctoral candidate hopes to break new ground Class Notes . page 23 Director, University Communications in nursing. and Marketing • Alumni volunteers Editor Scholarships Open Doors • Alumni chapters connect with For the complete list of committee members, follow the Contact link at to Self-Discovery. ......... page 12 their communities www.kent.edu/magazine. Students broaden their horizons with the help • Alumnus’ foundation starts with his roots of private scholarships. Comments and letters can be sent to: • Alumna has belief in lifelong learning University Communications and Marketing, Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, Three Bowl Teams Highlight Ohio 44242-0001 or [email protected]. Home Football ....Schedule . page 14 Upcoming Events www.kent.edu Minnesota will mark first-ever Big Ten opponent Back cover to play at Dix Stadium. Published quarterly in conjunction with Great Lakes Publishing Co., 1422 Euclid Ave. Suite 730, Cleveland, Ohio 44115 Complete to Compete ....... page 16 [email protected] Kent State, Ohio University join forces to help working adults finish degrees. Setting the Standard. page 17 ISO training helps businesses move ahead of the competition. Kent Classic Arts .......... page 18 Music season features award-winning performers. Countdown to Centennial .... page 19 Kent State honors traditions and memories. p a g e 1 The Katrina memorial in Biloxi, Miss. , stran helping people gers becoming ; people friend d be s.”— oul Re sh nee rld Ru wo cho e tzk th e, ay Un w it e ed th fo is r B i is lo h x T i “ V o lu n t e e r The Katrina memorial in Biloxi, Miss. Photographs By Bob Christy, Pat Jarrett, Gavin Jackson and Michelle Roehrig the world should be; people he the way lping peo This is ple, st “ range rs be com ing frie nds .”— Re ne e R uc ho tz ke , U n i te d fo r B i lo x 400+ Katrina relief volunteers i V o l u share hope, gratitude n t e e r By Lisa Lambert, M.A. ’05 We are all familiar with Hurricane Katrina, the Category 5 storm that slammed into the Gulf Coast region in August 2005, leaving unprecedented destruction in its wake. Almost a year later, images of damage and debris, stories of tragedy and triumph continue to pervade the evening newscasts. Those of us who have not witnessed the destruction firsthand, however, seem to live in another world, far from the reality of the Gulf Coast devastation. We turn the TV off, sleep in our beds, wear our clothing, cook our meals, go to work and assume our loved ones are going about their day in a similar fashion, uninterrupted. LIFE INTERRUPTED During Kent State University’s 2006 spring break, more than 400 volunteers chose interruption over apathy when they traveled to Mississippi to participate in the rebuilding effort. The volunteers, ranging in age from 13 to 74, included Kent State students, faculty and staff, community members and a contingent of University of Akron students, faculty and staff. Some signed up for the trip because they wanted to offer construction skills gained from summer jobs or previous work with Habitat for Humanity. Others had never picked up a hammer before but felt compelled to do something. No one knew exactly what to expect, but everyone understood the experience would be life- changing. p a g e 3 Pass Christian, Miss., p to have lived in rior to the hurric estimated ane; people sin ber of ce the Num storm 7,000 , 5,00 0 peo ple hav e l eft the ci ty. ss Christ ed to have lived in Pa ian, Miss., prior to the le estimat hurricane of peop ; mber sinc 00 Nu e the 7,0 storm , 5,00 0 peo ple hav e l eft the ci ty. Unshakable faith and a will to fight — these are perhaps the two defining characteristics of Katrina survivors. Billy Wright recalls swimming out the window of his home, pulling his neighbor to safety. The two rode out the storm on Wright’s roof. Camille Foret, an 84-year-old former Golden Gloves boxing champion, uses his own money to rebuild the four businesses he lost to the storm. Mark Noller thinks about the moments before he was knocked unconscious and pinned underwater; his wife, Darlene, fights back tears as she tells of freeing her husband and swimming to the safety of a nearby tree. Rev. Peggy Gibson sees a new garden where one used to be. She points to her yard beyond the FEMA trailer: “I’m a woman with a vision,” she says. “Over here will be a gazebo.” Bill Stallworth, Biloxi Ward 2 council member, coordinates homegrown relief services for his constituents. He worries that a protracted battle with insurance companies will be the next blow to the residents of east Biloxi. Fr. Dong Phan, a Vietnamese immigrant and Catholic priest who survived the fall of Saigon and a harrowing journey to the United States, offers the mantra “Faith first, food second” to his parishioners. For the few young children left in Pass Christian, normal developmental milestones are harder to achieve in the wake of Katrina. A daycare provider, grateful to Kent State volunteers for building bathroom facilities at the tent city, relates the difficulties of toilet training children in portable toilets. In east Biloxi, veteran elementary school teacher Mrs. Broussard has noticed a change in her young students; she says since the storm they are more emotional and cry often.