For University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni and Friends

The Wayfinder Meg Gaines helps patients navigate the turmoil of a serious medical diagnosis.

WINTER 2009

We’re Not Making These Up Badgers have uttered some of the nation’s most enduring quotes.

Can Less Be More? Americans are learning the tough lessons of a weakened economy.

Whole Lotta Hillel The Jewish student center gets a big new home.

First Do Some Good Medical students take the lead to care for the homeless. Invest in Great PEOPLE Ensure that the leaders of tomorrow can afford a world-class UW-Madison education today.

Ben Van Pelt aspires to be the next great American writer. Right now, he’s a triple-major, work-study student. When he isn’t in class, he trains for his hobby – wrestling – and gains stamina for his second, late-night job. But even smart, ambitious students like Ben can’t afford to attend UW-Madison by simply working more hours.

Your gift to the Great People Scholarship will create a pool of financial resources for promising scholars like Ben while ensuring the socioeconomic diversity of a strong public university. Make your gift now and the UW Foundation will boost its impact with a match.

Go to uwgreatpeople.org to learn more and to give online today.

Great People Move Wisconsin Forward

4 ON WISCONSIN

OnWisconsin_InsideFrontCover_09-30-09_v01.indd 1 10/2/2009 10:41:02 AM WINTER 2009 contents VOLUME 110, NUMBER 4

Features

22 The Wayfinders By Jenny Price ’96 After the initial shock of hearing a grave health prognosis comes the confusion. But thanks to a unique UW program, patients can count on help to weigh the options and chart their own paths.

28 “Houston, We’ve Had a Problem” By Fred Shapiro Some of the most popular quotations ever to infiltrate our culture were contributed by UW alumni. Prepare to be inspired, challenged, or simply entertained.

32 Consumer Wake-Up Call By Jason Stein MA’03 By necessity, Americans have tightened their belts during the 22 economic downturn — but will the valuable lessons learned bring lasting changes to our relationship with money?

38 Hillel Encapsulated By John Allen If Hillel asked us, here’s what On Wisconsin would place in a time capsule in the organization’s new Barbara Hochberg Center for Jewish Student Life.

42 Amazing Grace By Erika Janik MA’04, MA’06 Gaining hands-on experience, helping those who have nowhere else to turn, and contributing to the UW medical school’s culture of giving back — it’s all woven into 42 student-organized clinics like this one at Grace church.

Departments 5 Inside Story 6 Letters 10 Scene 12 News & Notes 28 18 Cool Tool 19 Classroom 20 Sports Cover 48 Traditions Meg Gaines, founder and director of the Center for Patient Partnerships, 50 Gifts in Action knows firsthand the challenge of 51 Badger Connections navigating the unknown. 66 Flashback Photo by Jeff Miller

WINTER 2009 3 John Stauffer and Myron Backus

Countless lives were saved by penicillin during World War II, and thanks to University of Wisconsin research, a method was developed to mass produce the antibiotic. By the end of the war, the cost of the drug dropped from $20 to three cents.

University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists continue to lead the way in improving our health. Here, researchers are studying how we may prevent birth defects and manage cancer treatments.

FORWARD. THINKING. www.wisconsinidea.wisc.edu

Gabriela Cezar, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences 4 ON WISCONSIN

OnWiz_Health.indd 1 10/22/09 4:56 PM insidestory BRYCE RICHTER

Meg Gaines looks On Wisconsin serene and determined on WINTER 2009 the cover of this issue, and she is both — even when she Publisher isn’t being photographed in a Wisconsin Alumni Association 650 North Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706 boat on Lake Mendota on a Voice: (608) 262-2551 • Toll-free: chilly fall day. (888) WIS-ALUM • Fax: (608) 265-8771 E-mail: [email protected] But serenity leading up to Web site: uwalumni.com/onwisconsin that moment? Not so much. Co-Editors When we at On Wisconsin Niki Denison, Wisconsin Alumni Association Meg Gaines takes to the open water as photographer Cindy Foss, University Communications headquarters started brain- Jeff Miller (foreground) and art director Earl Madden (right) prepare to capture our cover photo. Hoofers Senior Editor storming ideas for the cover, staff, in a second vessel tethered to the first, prepare John Allen, Wisconsin Alumni Association we knew we wanted to fea- to nudge the boat, as needed, into the changing light. Writer ture Gaines in some way. While Jenny Price ’96, University Communications Gaines gives full credit to the contributions of her dedicated staff, for us she is the Editorial Associates Paula Apfelbach ’83 and Ben Wischnewski ’05, face of the Center for Patient Partnerships, a unique endeavor she initiated in 2001. Wisconsin Alumni Association (See story, page 22.) To open the story, we had selected an illustration that repre- Art Director sents the center’s philosophy of helping people navigate difficult times. We wanted Earl J. Madden MFA’82, University Communications to capture that same theme in the cover photo.

Production Editor And that’s when it got interesting. We needed Gaines, a lake, two boats, Eileen Fitzgerald ’79, just-right lighting, and cooperative weather. Gaines? Check — it’s on her calen- University Communications dar. A lake? Check — got that right here on campus. Boats? Check — thanks to Design, Layout, and Production Barry Carlsen MFA’83; Toni Good ’76, MA’89; Wisconsin Hoofers. Just-right lighting? Check — although things got a little dicey Kent Hamele ’78; Christine Knorr ’99; Nancy when the boat’s sail had to be dismantled, the task seemed to take forever, and Rinehart, University Communications the sun was rapidly setting. Cooperative weather? Check — we happened upon a Campus Advisers Paula Bonner MS’78, President and CEO, perfect fall day, bracketed by days of rain and gray skies. and Mary DeNiro, Vice President of Marketing Then we needed a creative art director who, in his mind’s eye, could envision a and Communications, Wisconsin Alumni Association • Albert Friedman, Associate concept and bring it to life. Check — Earl Madden MFA’82. We needed a seasoned Director, and Amy E. Toburen ’80, Director, photographer who knew how to capture the decisive moment, despite a rocking University Communications • Lynne Johnson, Senior Director of External Relations, boat and fading late afternoon light. Check — Jeff Miller. And we needed a subject University of Wisconsin Foundation who could arrive right on time and be a good sport about all that we were asking. Advertising Representative Thank you, serene and determined Meg Gaines. Madison Magazine: (608) 270-3600 A lot of conversations, a lot of e-mails, a lot of phone calls, and a little luck ... Alumni Name, Address, Phone, and E-Mail Changes • Death Notices Smooth sailing. Madison area: (608) 262-9648 Toll-free: (888) 947-2586 Cindy Foss E-mail: [email protected] Co-Editor Quarterly production of On Wisconsin Magazine is supported by a UW Foundation grant. © 2009 Wisconsin Alumni Association

Printed on recycled paper using soy inks. Please remember to recycle this magazine.

WINTER 2009 5 letters

For University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni and Friends

Vick. Sending his “loved” pet out to tear many of those quoted) decry as the down- apart a little bobcat is inhumane. So is the fall of Detroit are the very products that all English “sport” of fox hunting with hounds. major automakers who sell in the U.S. provide. When the dogs exhaust their prey, they Consider that Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Nissan, tear the poor creature to death, just as the and Toyota all have gravitated to larger vehi- wolves did poor Bonnie. We must assume cles since the 1970s. Has the author heard that if Meyer’s redbone hound, Bonnie, had of Toyota’s Lexus brand, seen the huge new caught up with a bobcat on the other side Toyota Tundra pick-up truck, or Nissan’s Titan of the river, a fight to the death would also truck? have ensued. Sadly for Bonnie, she became While the Japanese automakers continue Nature’s Laboratory To those who will listen and learn, prey rather than predator. to make excellent economy cars, their recent the UW Arboretum tells many stories. Wilton (W.D.) Nelson ’54 success is grounded in providing people with Leesburg, Florida reliable and affordable vehicles that compete with Detroit in every niche. One of the most profitable auto manufacturers is Porsche, Two More Classic Wisconsin Songs whose product line includes high-powered In the Fall 2009 On Wisconsin, you have sports cars and SUVs with range-topping Thank you for the wonderful Arboretum story Stephen Thompson pick the songs that say models having over four hundred horsepower. and pictures [“For All the Right Seasons,” Fall UW-Madison [“When You Say Wisconsin in There is nothing wrong with making and 2009 On Wisconsin]. I grew up in [the Nakoma Song”], but I was a little shocked by some selling economy cars, and Detroit does have neighborhood], and from the marsh marigolds, of the [omissions]. Bill O’Brien’s “Cool at the some decent ones. To suggest that Detroit to the “stay away from the C.C.C. boys,” to Union” is a bit obscure, perhaps, for some- has failed largely due to their absence, or to the teen-years bike rides, it was a taken-for- body of Thompson’s youth, but nevertheless suggest that Detroit will succeed on the basis granted natural environment. is the classic song about UW-Madison. More of hybrids and electrics, highlights the dan- Now, at eighty-three, I had a recent bout surprising was the lack of mention of the Cork ger of businesspeople listening to academic with cancer, and here, far away, I’m especially ’n Bottle String Band’s “Lake Mendota High” dreamers who subsist on government grants grateful [for your article]. (a parody of John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain and handouts. Patricia Melgard ’47 High”). The group has performed count- Fred Birnbaum ’83 Seattle, Washington less times right on the shores of the lake, giv- Boise, Idaho ing both the band and the song a permanent place in UW-Madison music history. Of Wolves and Hunting Dogs Tim Ringwood ’87 Thanks for Lynn Margulis Profile John Allen did a great job of writing the article Denver, Colorado Thank you for helping alumni be lifelong about wolves [“Wolves at the Door”] in the Fall learners. I appreciated the article on Lynn 2009 issue. What really disturbed me, though, Margulis’s contributions to the study of evo- was the bit about Scott Meyer’s dog. Yes, I do A Different View of the Auto Industry lution [“Evolution Revolution,” Fall 2009]. have sympathy for the dog. Most pet owners The U.S. auto industry article “Reinventing Also, it is refreshing in this Age of Aggressive would agree that it is tough to lose a pet under Wheels” [Fall 2009] was riddled with sweeping Ignorance to find a journal fearless in present- any conditions. generalizations, environmental piety, and intel- ing sometimes unpopular views. But I cannot go along with the activity lectual arrogance. The author liberally quoted April Hoffman MA’80 — they call it sport — of hunting with dogs. former [UW-Madison] chancellor John Wiley, Madison Michigan allows the use of dogs to hunt bear, who opined that Detroit “made stupid deci- Florida uses dogs to hunt deer, and there sions” by fooling us into buying big, heavy, are probably other states that have simi- high-powered cars we really did not want. Mr. Rhesus Research lar hunting allowances. Sport? How can they Wiley also claims that the VW Beetle “ate their I couldn’t help but notice the stark environ- call such an activity sport? This is what the (Detroit’s) lunch” in the 1950s. The rest of the ment surrounding the Rhesus monkeys pic- Romans did in the Coliseum in ages past to article is just as slipshod. tured in the Fall 2009 On Wisconsin [“Subtract entertain after they tired of killing Christians. None of the people quoted in the article Calories, Add Years?”, News & Notes]. Jane The Romans pitted wild animals against other provide any real market data. Let’s start with Goodall recently stated in TIME magazine that animals to fight to the death. We are sup- the Beetle. It was a niche vehicle in the U.S. subjecting primates to lives of test research posed to be civilized. in the 1950s, and with only forty horsepower, is abusive and equivalent to torture. Do we In my opinion, Scott Meyer belongs in it met the needs of a limited group of people. really need to abuse monkeys to know that the same camp as quarterback [Michael] The heavy, powerful cars that the author (and overeating is bad for our health? I would love

6 ON WISCONSIN UW-Madison to allow open viewing of all pri- as emeritus professor, I know most of this local mate research and create test conditions that stuff, so I can skip over it quickly, but it sure Excellence in Education don’t confine monkeys or other animals to didn’t happen this time. I enjoyed every minute cages like the ones that Canto and Owen have (most of yesterday afternoon) reading it. from a lived in for almost thirty years. Richard Steeves Mary Eiler Radl ’82 UW Hospital and Clinics Leader You Know! Tomah, Wisconsin Madison Why choose this program?

How delightful to see that nearly fifty years I just finished reading your notes at the front • Earn a Master of Science degree in 2 years after the “groundbreaking” research of Dr. of the Summer 2009 issue of On Wisconsin. I with a cohort of K-12 Educators Harry Harlow, UW researchers are once again never, ever throw this magazine out until I’ve • Convenience—100% of the Fall and using Rhesus monkeys in essential research read it from cover to cover. It’s a great maga- Spring coursework is ONLINE + 2 weeks that will have tremendous benefits for man- zine, and I always feel stirred by the articles in it. each summer on the UW campus kind. Harlow’s experiments with baby Rhesus My first UW degree was in journalism, monkeys demonstrated that babies deprived then law. I often say that journalism was more • Aligned with State & National of their mothers and raised in horrid condi- important, as it gives me a passion for clear Teacher Standards tions actually develop psychotic, antisocial expression. I love to edit contracts as a result. • Advance your career behaviors. (Who ever could have guessed?!) Keep up the fine work. Now another generation of monkeys has been Kathryn VandenBerk ’71, JD’79 • Maximize your teaching potential confined for almost three decades in small Highland, Illinois cages to prove the unthinkable: overeating has bad health implications and can reduce Please Update Your Address one’s lifespan! UW-Madison wants to stay in touch with you.

And of course, now that we know these To update your contact information, which is “dramatic” findings, humans everywhere will maintained by the UW Foundation, visit www. no doubt begin eating less, diabetes and obe- uwfoundation.wisc.edu/survey. Log in using sity will end, and we will all live forever, just the ID number above your name on the maga- like child neglect and abuse ended thanks to zine label. This information is shared selectively

“More surprising was the lack of mention of the Cork ’n Bottle String Band’s ‘Lake Mendota High’ (a parody of John Denver’s ‘Rocky Mountain High’).”

Harlow’s findings. Shame on my alma mater with other campus units and the Wisconsin for continuing to abuse, confine, and use sen- Alumni Association to ensure that information tient, intelligent beings to prove the obvious! is consistent and accurate. Thank you! Stephanie Rane Chamberlain ’92 Denver, Colorado

On Wisconsin Magazine welcomes letters Fall and Summer Issue Fans related to magazine content, but reserves This might well be the first time I’ve ever writ- the right to edit them for length or clarity. You ten to a university alumni journal, but your Fall may e-mail your comments to onwisconsin@ 2009 issue moves me to let you know that all uwalumni.com; mail them to On Wisconsin, five feature articles were very well done. 650 North Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706; FOR MORE INFORMATION I’m an alumnus of UWO [University of or fax them to (608) 265-8771. We regret that Phone: 608.262.1427 Western Ontario] in London, Ontario, and also we don’t have space to publish all the letters Email: [email protected] of the University of Toronto, so when your we receive, but we always appreciate hear- www.education.wisc.edu/mspe magazine comes along, I think to myself that ing from you.

WINTER 2009 7 Third Wave s Mirus Bio s TomoTherapy s NimbleGen s SoftSwitching Technologies s ProCertus BioPharm s GWC Technologies s WICAB s NeoClone Biotechnology s Stratatech s ioGenetics s Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals s AlfaLight s GenTel Biosciences s Quintessence Biosciences s Opgen s NeuroGenomeX s Imago Scientific Instruments s Helix Diagnostics s ConjuGon s Scarab Genomics s NovaScan s Platypus Technologies s Virent Energy Systems s SonoPlot s BioSentinel s Bridge to Life s Mithridion s NeuWave Medical s aOva Technologies s NovaShield s Cellular Dynamics International s Ratio, Inc. s Colby Pharmaceutical s Stemina Biomarker Discovery s Centrose s Nemean Networks s AquaMOST s FluGen

A Better World Starts Up Right Here When it comes to start-up companies aiming to improve the world, there’s no stopping the dynamic start-up team of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and WARF. The great discoveries of the university begin to grow into healthy businesses with the help of WARF. Some, like Third Wave Technologies, Mirus Bio, TomoTherapy and NimbleGen Systems, have surpassed their start-up beginnings through successful acquisition or IPO, ensuring UW-Madison discoveries are at work improving lives around the world every day.

Helping invent a better world. warf.org

8 ON WISCONSIN Third Wave s Mirus Bio s TomoTherapy s NimbleGen s SoftSwitching Technologies s ProCertus BioPharm s GWC Technologies s WICAB s NeoClone Biotechnology s Stratatech s ioGenetics s Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals s AlfaLight s GenTel Biosciences s Quintessence Biosciences s Opgen s NeuroGenomeX s Imago Scientific Instruments s Helix Diagnostics s ConjuGon s Scarab Genomics s LIVE ON THE WATER, WORRY FREE. s s NovaScan Platypus Technologies Virent Energy Free yourself of all the traditional homeowner headaches and start living Fthe life with an extraordinary, new home on Lake Monona. Systems s SonoPlot s BioSentinel s Bridge to Life 45% soldout.VisitWaterCrestOnTheLake.com.Orcall(608)204-0606today. Lake and city views from $299,000 to $745,000.Askaboutourbuybackprogram s s s s and $8,000 credit.

Mithridion NeuWave Medical aOva Technologies ® Developed by Metcalfe Company Construction by Stevens Construction Corp. Marketed by Stark Company Realtors Fastest selling condominium in Dane County NovaShield s Cellular Dynamics International s Ratio, Inc. s Colby Pharmaceutical s Stemina Biomarker Discovery s Centrose s Nemean Networks s AquaMOST s FluGen

A Better World Starts Up Right Here When it comes to start-up companies aiming to improve the world, there’s no stopping the dynamic start-up team of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and WARF. The great discoveries of the university begin to grow into healthy businesses with the help of WARF. Some, like Third Wave Technologies, Mirus Bio, TomoTherapy and NimbleGen Systems, have surpassed their start-up beginnings through successful acquisition or IPO, ensuring UW-Madison discoveries are at work improving lives around the world every day.

Helping invent a better world. warf.org

WINTER 2009 9 scene Big Man on Campus An enormous image of author Michael Pollan dominates the big screen at the Kohl Center during a free public lecture in September. Sponsored by the Center for the Humanities, the talk coincided with Go Big Read, a common-reading program in which the entire university community is being encouraged to read and discuss Pollan’s book In Defense of Food this year. To learn more about Go Big Read, visit www.gobigread.wisc.edu. Photo by Jeff Miller

10 ON WISCONSIN FALL 2009 11 news ¬es

What Lies Beneath New research center digs deep for sustainable energy source.

One of the newest UW-Madison with piping to transfer heat to and BRYCE RICHTER buildings is also one of the green- from the building. It will capture est on campus. the ground’s heat instead of burn- The Wisconsin Institutes for ing fossil fuels or using electricity Discovery — scheduled to open to help keep the 300,000-square- in late 2010 on the 1300 block foot building warm in the winter. of University Avenue — will be In other words, a geother- the first campus research facil- mal system doesn’t make heat ity to use a geothermal heat- — it moves it around. When the ing-and-cooling system; Olin weather turns warm, the ground House, the official residence of acts as a natural condenser UW-Madison’s chancellor, also to maintain cool temperatures has a geothermal system. inside. And it’s a power source The energy source, which that doesn’t vary, unlike wind and relies on the constant tempera- solar energy. ture of the earth (45 to 55 degrees Coupled with the building’s year-round) to regulate building mechanical systems, the geother- temperature during Madison’s mal system will balance energy changing seasons, is expected to usage and increase efficiency The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, scheduled to open in 2010, rises from the heart of campus on an August night with the state yield savings of approximately 10 by simultaneously cooling large capitol in the background. percent a year and provide about occupied spaces, such as confer- 15 percent of the building’s ulti- ence rooms, while heating other mate heating-and-cooling load. areas of the building with the licly funded Wisconsin Institute research spanning biotechnology, Building the $1.25 million excess warmth. for Discovery and the private nanotechnology, and information system required drilling seventy- Sustainability was one of the Morgridge Institute for Research. technologies designed to improve five bore holes, each 300 feet core principles for the building Both will provide space for sci- human health. deep into the ground and filled project, which will house the pub- entists doing interdisciplinary Jenny Price ’96

quick takes

In an effort to lighten the UW-Madison faculty, staff, and twenty-five entrepreneurial pro- series National Parks: America’s load for students — literally students are serving the peo- grams in the country, accord- Best Idea, created by docu- — UW-Madison has joined an ple of Wisconsin, has debuted ing to the Princeton Review and mentarian Ken Burns. Cronon experiment to replace textbooks at wisconsinidea.wisc.edu. The Entrepreneur magazine. Based appeared in all six of the pro- with e-books. Twenty students database highlights teaching, on a review of more than 2,300 gram’s episodes. in History 600 have traded the research, clinical, and public undergraduate and graduate pro- course’s eight texts — including engagement activities that provide grams, the survey considered The Office of Multicultural works by Sun Tzu, Thucydides, benefits beyond the boundaries of academics, students and faculty, Arts Initiatives (OMAI) is the first and Tolstoy — for one Kindle, the campus in the century-old tradi- and outside-the-classroom activ- university program to win a top electronic reading device sold tion of the Wisconsin Idea. Users ities. The Weinert Center ranked Wisconsin arts honor: the 2009 by Amazon. The Kindle holds the can search the listings by school eleventh in the nation in terms of Governor’s Award in Support of content of all eight books but or college, subject area, keyword, graduate education and sixteenth the Arts. OMAI oversees the First weighs only about a pound. and Wisconsin county. for undergrads. Wave Spoken Word and Hip- Hop Arts Learning Community, The Wisconsin Idea in Action, The Weinert Center for History professor William a cutting-edge program that is a compilation of more than a Entrepreneurship in the School of Cronon ’76 added his voice of the nation’s first college learning thousand examples of how Business ranks as one of the top authority to the recent PBS mini- community devoted to urban art.

12 ON WISCONSIN

UW-MADISON ARCHIVES

Fight on for Her Fame “On, Wisconsin!” turns one hundred.

Badgers everywhere know the tune instantly. “On, Wisconsin!” evokes memories of dancing pre- cariously in the student section, blasting music from car stereos at tailgate parties, sweet victories, and painful losses. This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the fight song, and UW-Madison is celebrating the occasion by giving fans the chance to post videos of their rendi- tions, producing a documentary for the Big Ten Network, and offering a commemorative T-shirt (see sidebar). W.T. Purdy, who had never been to Wisconsin, composed the song’s melody in 1909. Here are more facts about the Badger favorite:

• Purdy had intended to enter the tune in a contest for a new University of Minnesota fight song. The first line would have been “MINN-e-so-ta, MINN-e-so-ta.” Carl Beck, a former UW student and Purdy’s room- mate in a Chicago boarding house, encouraged him to dedicate it to the Badger football team instead and contributed new lyrics.

• “On, Wisconsin!” is featured in the Beach Boys’ 1963 hit song, “Be True to Your School,” but it’s a tribute “On, Wisconsin!” was first to the Wilson brothers’ alma mater, Hawthorne High introduced as UW’s football School, whose fight song uses the same melody. fight song in 1909. The com- poser reworked the piece after originally intending to • An instrumental version of the song was used during enter it in a contest to select a fight scene in the 1973 Disney animated film Robin a new University of Minnesota Hood. Friar Tuck, portrayed as a badger, is cheering fight song. loudly.

• Contrary to a persistent rumor that resurfaced after his death, Michael Jackson did not own the rights • To watch — and hear — videos or to upload your own, visit to “On, Wisconsin!” — at least in the United States. http://onwisconsin.wisc.edu. The song is in the public domain, and it has been adopted by thousands of high school bands and at • To learn more about the song’s history, visit http://archives. least eighteen other colleges. UW officials aren’t library.wisc.edu/uw-archives/exhibits/onwisconsin/. certain if Jackson, or anyone else, owned the international rights. • To shop for The Red Shirt, a limited line of T-shirts devel- oped by the Wisconsin Alumni Association to support the • John Philip Sousa, who composed “Stars and UW Foundation’s Great People Scholarship Campaign, visit Stripes Forever” and many other famous marches, uwalumni.com/TheRedShirt. once called it “the finest of college marching songs.” J.P.

WINTER 2009 13 news ¬es JEFF MILLER

Fair Share Federal stimulus funds jump-start stalled research across the campus.

With no shortage of research professor Charles Kaspar, and looking for grant money, good a computer modeler at Texas science can start to back up A&M University together landed a waiting for a turn. $1 million grant from the National That changed a bit for Science Foundation (NSF) to UW-Madison this year with study E. coli’s adaptations inside the infusion of funding from and outside hosts such as cattle. the American Recovery and “The reviewers recognized Reinvestment Act, the federal that we were young investiga- government’s economic stimulus tors,” Döpfer says. “They liked package. the idea of interdisciplinary study. “What the stimulus pack- They were also interested in the age did is clear the queue,” says equipment included, that we’re zoology professor Stephen stimulating the economy in that Carpenter. “It’s like you were at regard as well.” the grocery store in a long line to And it didn’t hurt that their check out, and then they opened project created five laboratory A federal stimulus grant means Stephen Carpenter, a zoology professor and director of the Center for Limnology, will get to half a dozen more checkout jobs. spend more time doing research in Lake Mendota. stations.” “It’s actually pretty ineffi- By mid-September, the uni- cient to have half the country’s versity had drawn more than $47 scientists looking for resources The two-year term of most be, but it’s making a lot of good million in funding for nearly 160 instead of doing science,” says stimulus grants will have many things happen, and it makes room projects and programs spread Carpenter, whose own NSF back in line for funding soon, but for many more good ideas,” he across academic disciplines. stimulus grant will allow him to Carpenter isn’t complaining. says. “It would be a great time to Veterinary epidemiologist study the nutrient inputs in lake “I’m delighted. I have no idea send in a good idea.” Dörte Döpfer, bacteriology food webs. what the economic impact will Chris Barncard

Patients Know Best Project banks on nobody knowing your health better than you do.

A Band-Aid that can detect infec- The $10 million program, Brennan, a professor in the management assistant for chil- tion. A dinner plate that records funded by the Robert Wood School of Nursing and chair of dren with cystic fibrosis, and how much food it holds. A teddy Johnson Foundation, will award the Department of Industrial and Living Profiles, a kind of health- bear that not only reminds chil- grants later this year to five Systems Engineering, says the focused MySpace for chronically dren when it’s time to take med- research teams with expertise in resulting personal health records ill teens aimed at getting them to ication at school, but alerts their fields including medicine, psy- can serve as much more than a take responsibility for their health. parents if they skip a dose. chology, and computer science. warehouse of data. Collecting “You know more about your- Sound a little bit like The Their proposals offer inventive daily observations of patient self than anybody else does,” Jetsons? ways for patients to capture and experiences and feelings can says Brennan, also one of five “That’s what we’re going store health-related information serve as a “platform for action” UW faculty recently selected for,” says Patti Brennan from their daily lives — such as for people to improve their health, to lead research teams at the MS’84, PhD’86, national direc- when they skip medications — she says. Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. tor of Project HealthDesign. “It’s to help them and their caregivers Project HealthDesign’s “Your ability to mobilize — to act a future where you can’t see the better manage chronic conditions first round of grants in 2006 on that — might be the key to computer, but it’s everywhere for ranging from diabetes to hyper- yielded concepts including the your health behaviors.” health.” tension to rheumatoid arthritis. “MediTeddy,” a medication- Jenny Price ’96

14 ON WISCONSIN What’s Next? Palliative care specialists guide terminally ill patients through the tough questions.

James Cleary is a doctor, but he In the United States, hospice treatments — much earlier in the end up being about death and doesn’t have all the answers for has been the primary option for hospital setting. dying, he explains that his open- patients facing a grim prognosis. palliative care. But about half of Palliative care specialists ended questions are meant to In fact, as a palliative care people who enter hospice facili- work closely with primary care encourage patients to think about specialist, he’s the one asking ties die within weeks, Cleary says, physicians and aid with transi- what’s next. questions. His goal is to find out which is why doctors can and tions during a patient’s treatment. “The answers are within the how those patients want to spend should address palliative care — While some colleagues claim that patients,” he says. what time they have left and to including pain relief during certain Cleary’s conversations always J.P. make sure those final months, weeks, or days are as pain-free as possible. STUDENT WATCH “I’m not taking away hope. I’m just being honest with their Whose ’bot is the best? The UW’s ’bot is — at least according to the International options,” he says. The contentious health care Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) held in June. During that event, UW-Madison’s reform debate thrust palliative IEEE Robotics Team — and its creation, Paradroid — took first place for design, care into the spotlight earlier this garnering the highest honor that a UW robot has received. year, when critics falsely labeled IGVC is an annual event held at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Teams a proposal to reimburse doctors for discussing advanced direc- of robotics engineers from around the country compete to see which can design tives with patients as “death pan- and build an automaton that can accomplish simple tasks — such as navigating an

ARTVILLE obstacle course — without human aid or direction. Paradroid, a four-wheeled buggy that looks something like a small golf cart, won the design phase of the competition, meaning that the UW team performed best at describing and presenting its design concept. For its efforts, the UW team won just $2,000 — hardly a fortune, but still important for this underfunded group of students within the College of Engineering. IEEE (formerly known as the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is a professional organization devoted to promoting technology. The Robotics Team was previously associated with IEEE, but isn’t anymore. (According to Ted Steiner x’10, the break occurred before any of the current members joined the team, and it’s too els.” The truth is that palliative difficult to change the official name now.) It receives very little outside funding, mean- care is just good medicine, says ing that the team had to raise not only the $3,500 necessary for Paradroid’s compo- Cleary, a past president of the American Academy of Hospice nents, but also cash for travel and other expenses. and Palliative Medicine. “We need “We build all of the stuff we can ourselves, including the circuit boards,” says good palliative care in order to Steiner, who was one of the lead designers for the 2009 team, and he believes that the actually bring about appropriate team’s parsimony helped land them their prize. care for people with advanced disease,” he says. “We really worked in the spirit of the competition,” he says. “Some of the UW Hospital opened a ten- teams were able to buy their components and their software. We had to learn it bed unit devoted to such care all ourselves.” two years ago and also hosts a For the 2010 competition, the robotics team is working on two projects — fellowship to train doctors in the specialty, a program that could an improved Paradroid and a new creation, built from scratch. help combat an anticipated signif- John Allen icant shortfall of specialists.

WINTER 2009 15 news ¬es

Strategic Study Group Get Googlier Web-based history course reaches out to members of the military. Libraries to expand availability of online collections.

Hoping to share the information SHAWN HARPER in their collections with a wider readership, the UW Libraries have expanded their agreement with the Internet firm Google to make many of the works they own available online. Since 2004 Google has been working with libraries to digitize as many books as possible and make them available for down- load anywhere in the world. UW-Madison was the eighth library to join in the project, and the UW Libraries have digitized more than 200,000 works so far, meaning that students, faculty, and staff can download the text online rather than checking out History professor Jeremi Suri (right) talks with Captain Ken Auten, professor of naval science and physical volumes. commander of the naval ROTC program at UW-Madison, after a lecture on grand strategy. Last sum- Until recently, however, mer, Suri gave an online course in grand strategy designed to accommodate active-duty personnel. access to these works has been Attention, Mr. and Mrs. Armed To develop the course, Suri The course drew on online restricted to members of the Forces and all the ships at sea — teamed with one of his doc- technologies, such as audio campus community. Jeremi Suri wants to teach you. toral students, Scott Mobley recordings of lectures and down- But new agreements Last summer, the UW history pro- PhDx’13, a retired naval cap- loadable readings, and the class between Google and authors’ fessor launched an online course tain and former professor of was divided into smaller sections and publishers’ organizations called U.S. Grand Strategy, naval science at UW-Madison. for weekly online discussions. mean that the UW will be able to designed to appeal to active- In 2007, Suri had used the Web “It started as posting essay grant wider access to people off service members of the military. to teach alumni for a course on responses, but it became a blog campus, as well. Officially listed as History American foreign relations since — a really fantastic blog,” says Some public-domain or out- 434, the course ran from June 1941. Where Suri brought aca- Suri, who led the section that of-copyright materials will be to August. Though most of the demic expertise, Mobley worked included the military personnel available for free, while access 130 students who enrolled were to develop Suri’s previous online and found them to be an invig- to in-copyright materials may be undergrads, twenty-two were offi- class into something with appeal orating presence in his virtual purchased. For instance, read- cers in the armed forces, some for a military audience. classroom. ers and researchers may be able of whom were serving in Iraq and “In its earlier incarnations, Few people feel the effects of to buy online access to the full Afghanistan, as well as one sta- the class was about foreign pol- America’s strategic efforts more text of certain books. University, tioned on an aircraft carrier. icy,” Mobley says. “We altered intimately than do those in the college, and public libraries may “We were trying to bridge its focus to center on strategy, armed forces, which gives them also subscribe to Google’s data- the chasm that exists between in addition to policy — that is, to a unique perspective. “They were base, then offer their patrons scholarship and practice,” says how the country exercises mate- ruthless in wanting to get to core access to UW-Madison’s Suri, adding that the officers were rial, human, and cultural power issues,” Suri says. “They don’t collections. “thinking about applications, to help it achieve its long-term want to muck around. And they’re For more details on Google about how to use this knowledge” objectives — because that would very, very concerned about being Books, visit books.google.com/ — and that they brought the real more closely address the needs better leaders.” intl/en/googlebooks/about.html. world into scholarship. and interests of military students.” John Allen Staff

16 ON WISCONSIN Come On-A My House Longtime sociological study continues with in-home interviews.

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Participants also will demon- as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, people. During the most recent Study (WLS), conducted by strate grip strength, lung capacity, diabetes, obesity, and longevity. survey in 2006, about 8,900 were UW-Madison researchers since and other physical abilities, such And four to five thousand sib- still alive and some 7,500 partici- 1957, has compiled a treasure as walking a measured distance lings of study participants will pated, a high response rate for a trove of data used by researchers at a normal pace, and answer also be interviewed. long-term research project. worldwide. questions about economic situ- “I really like the fact that we Hauser won two grants ear- Over the years, WLS has ations, marriages, and relation- are going to have an opportunity lier this year from the National gathered information by mail and ships with their kids. Given that to talk to these folks firsthand. So Institute on Aging to fund the telephone, studying more than participants are about seventy- much of our contact with them home interviews, a time-con- ten thousand individuals start- one years old, and some have has been indirect over the years,” suming and expensive process ing when they graduated from hearing problems, the in-person says Robert Hauser, a UW soci- that will begin in March and is high school. But now, for the first conversations will be easier than ology professor and WLS direc- expected to take at least a year. time, the researchers will conduct those conducted by phone. tor. “They’ve just been wonderful The study will require some travel, in-home interviews, which will Researchers will also col- about sharing their lives with us.” too, as about 30 percent of par- include cognitive assessments lect DNA samples not already The study — one of the ticipants live outside Wisconsin. and collecting height, weight, on file; the samples will allow longest and most respected “There are participants literally all waist, and hip measurements that testing for genes that indicate sociological investigations ever over the world,” Hauser says. are predictors of health. tendencies for conditions such undertaken — started with 10,317 Jenny Price ’96

How Wired are UW Students? Technology is an intrinsic part of campus life. Students rely on computers, cell phones, and other devices to make the most of their academic and social lives, according to an annual survey conducted by the Division of Information 52% Technology to monitor technology use trends. J.P. rarely or never back up important data 80% use social networks 24% every day own handheld 81% devices use mp3 players every day

93% own laptops 83% text message every day

WINTER 2009 17 cool tool

Winter Wonderment A computer model replicates snowflakes in all their detail and beauty.

Snowflakes, one of nature’s complex masterpieces, have long been a bit of a mystery. For hundreds of years, scientists have been fascinated with how a seemingly random process results in crystals that are geometrically simple and symmetrical, yet incredibly intricate at the same time. UW-Madison mathematician David Griffeath found a way to replicate the real thing for the first time, building an elaborate computer model that generates what he calls “snow fakes” in gorgeous, three-dimensional detail. Nature creates about eighty types of snowflakes — with temperature, humidity, and other local conditions determining their shape — and the latest model of the 3-D software is able to produce all of them, right down to the tiniest features. Griffeath’s process for simulating the complex growth of snow crystals is a bit slower than nature’s. It took four years for Griffeath and Janko Gravner PhD’91 of UC-Davis to build their model, and it requires up to twenty-four hours to grow just one of the snow fakes using a powerful desktop computer. Real snowflakes materialize when water molecules join together and freeze around dust. Each flake is composed of millions and millions of molecules. The most remarkable thing, Griffeath points out, is that these complex structures come from water, a molecule made of just three atoms. Jenny Price ’96 DAVID GRIFFEATH (4)

18 ON WISCONSIN classroom

Lights, Camera, Music! A film’s score can convey emotion or mood, and prepare the audience for what’s to come.

The class starts with a simple get- “That’s what you should always a few music students actively listen to films as well as to-know-you exercise as students listen for. You will hear it many who, when they discover the watch them. give their names and hometowns. times over the next couple of course, will say ‘What can I pos- “A lot of students have said But there’s a twist: each must hours,” he says. sibly do to get in?’ And I like hav- that it does change their habits, also reveal a favorite movie score Called “Fascination,” the ing music students in class. It’s the way that they approach the or soundtrack. song first appears as part of a different perspective, and in film experience,” he says. For Carly Rudeen x’10, the seduction routine of Gary some cases, they will know more Which film score is Smith’s the answer is easy: Breakfast at Cooper’s playboy character, is about the music than I will.” favorite? Once Upon a Time in Tiffany’s. later sung by Audrey Hepburn But because most of the the West, he says, which com- “ ‘Moon River’ is my ring when her character starts falling students are film — not music poser Ennio Morricone wrote tone,” she says with a grin to her for him, and finally swells in the — specialists, Smith takes time before filming began on the 1968 classmates, whose own favorites score at the end of the film when to explain the lingo they’ll need spaghetti Western so that direc- include The Godfather, various he has fallen in love with her, too. to describe and analyze music tor Sergio Leone could play it installments of the Lord of the Smith, who studied music as in films, including tempo (fast or on the set, allowing actors to Rings trilogy, and Pulp Fiction. an undergraduate, says he often slow), texture (a few instruments walk and gesture in time with the These students are devoting uses the piano in class to make versus an orchestra), dynam- music. “It really becomes a very the semester to studying some- sure students are “actually hear- ics (loud or soft), and tone color effective dramatic tool, because thing filmgoers don’t always ing what you want them to hear.” (such as the difference between it has been conceived as part of notice when they watch mov- Music plays a powerful role a flute and a trumpet). In the the production itself,” Smith says. ies, but that plays a tremendously by conveying emotion to movie end, he says, students learn to Jenny Price ’96 influential role in their viewing audiences. “Music SUNSET BOULEVARD/CORBIS experience: music. can tell us what “You really do have to start characters are by saying, ‘This is not something feeling,” Smith I’m accustomed to doing.’ You says. “You don’t have to change the way in which want the dialogue you engage with the films,” says to be that on-the- Jeff Smith MA’89, PhD’95, nose all the time.” a communication arts profes- But music can sor and movie music expert also set a mood who teaches Communication and cue view- Arts 613: Hollywood Film Score: ers to what they Theory and History. are about to see “A lot of [students] may on screen; imag- have seen Star Wars, but they ine the shower haven’t listened to Star Wars scene in Psycho when they watched Star Wars,” without the shriek- Smith says. “We don’t train our- ing, cacophonous selves to attend to music, in strings or Jaws part, because we’re not really without the gut- supposed to.” tural, ominous So Smith sets the stage theme music: “da- before the lights go down, stand- dum ... da-dum.” ing at a piano at the front of the Most stu- screening room and picking out a dents enrolled in lilting — and slightly schmaltzy — the class are com- tune before showing his students munication arts Love in the Afternoon, a 1957 film majors, but, says Imagining Jaws without its famous score is an effective lesson in how much directed by Billy Wilder. Smith, “There are music affects the emotions and responses audiences have to a film.

WINTER 2009 19 sports

TEAM PLAYERS Samantha, Rob, and Casey Dehn

Samantha x’10, Rob x’11, and Casey x’13 Dehn set out on different paths in sports long ago. The three siblings (whose last name is pronounced dean) hail from Owatonna, Minnesota, and they never thought they’d all converge as Badger athletes. But don’t look for any sibling rivalry. As Badgers, the Dehns couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to now compete together. Samantha, senior discus and shot put thrower, feels grateful just for the chance to compete. After two ACL surgeries on her right knee by the age of sixteen, doctors told her that her days as an athlete were over. Undeterred, she entered a clinical trial for reconstructive surgery on the cartilage in her knee and, after intense rehabilitation, she’s now the highest-competing athlete to have under- gone the procedure. She hopes to close out her UW career in 2010 with finishes in the top three in shot put and discus at the Big Ten Championships in May. Waiting until his second year in school to join the men’s track and field team, Rob picked up a javelin for the first time as a decathlete. The javelin took, and last season Rob set a school record with a throw of 231 feet, 10 inches. He comes off a finish as runner-up in the 2009 Big Ten Outdoor Championships and qualifier in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and is looking to post a strong showing at the Big Ten Championships in his junior season. Rated the ninth-best high school offensive lineman in Minnesota by Rivals.com, Casey arrived As Badgers, the on the UW campus this fall as one of the newest recruits to the Badger football team. But don’t expect an off-season for the youngest Dehn sibling, who also lays claim to the 2008 Minnesota state Dehns couldn’t be high school championship in shot put and discus. He will join Samantha and Rob as a member of more excited for the men’s track and field team after the football team closes out its 2009 campaign. Ben Wischnewski ’05 the opportunity to now compete together. BRYCE RICHTER PHOTORUN

Togetherness of the Long Distance Runners Former Badgers pick up the pace in Portland, Oregon.

If you’re a fan of track, you may try team won the 2005 NCAA title, their athletic careers. Travel is have seen some familiar names and finished second five times. also less of an issue, as most at the country’s biggest meets — “It was a tough decision to leave major U.S. meets are held on though those names go with run- my home and my dream job,” he the West Coast. ners in unfamiliar colors. With says. “The bottom line is we left Created by Nike executives help from their former UW coach, because of our sport — world- in 2001, the Oregon Project has Nike sponsorship, new training class track and field.” evolved into an elaborate train- terrain, and each other, a group A three-time All-American at ing system, touting the latest of former cross-country athletes the UW, Schumacher was hired in research and equipment in sports has traded Badger red for Oregon 1998 at the age of twenty-eight to physiology and psychology and Badgers in green: Matt Track Club green, and are taking lead the Badger harriers. Over the injury rehabilitation. After proj- Tegenkamp (left) and Chris Solinsky were the top two big strides in their sport. next ten years, he worked his way ect director and marathon legend finishers in the 5,000 meter In June 2008, UW men’s into the record books and the Alberto Salazar experienced seri- race at the U.S. outdoor track cross-country coach Jerry hearts of his runners. ous health problems in 2007, he championships in June. Schumacher ’93 left for the West “Jerry and I have a great recruited Schumacher to reduce Coast and joined the Nike Oregon relationship that started his coaching load — and to bring ment from Nike. “We are treated Project, a group created by ath- when I was at the UW,” says in a new group of talent. just like big-time football or bas- letic shoe company Nike to pro- Tegenkamp, who relocated to The move west is paying off ketball players, and if we need mote American distance running. Portland to continue training for Tegenkamp. After an eighth- something that will make us With him, Schumacher brought with Schumacher shortly after place finish at the 2009 World better athletically, we get it,” several of Wisconsin’s elite run- competing in the 2008 Beijing Championships, he broke the Tegenkamp says. “I am living ners, including Matt Tegenkamp Olympics. “The relationship thirteen-minute barrier for 5,000 a dream, getting to travel the ’05, Chris Solinsky ’07, and between a coach and athlete meters by running 12:58.56 in world, and getting paid for what Simon Bairu ’07, and freshman has to be strong with a lot of September 2009, one week I love to do.” turned pro Evan Jager x’11. Tim trust. There needs to be constant after his Nike teammate Dathan Before the 2009 World Nelson ’08 and Stuart Eagan communication, and that takes Ritzenhein broke the thirteen- Championships, the former ’09 also train with the group, many years to develop.” year-old American record in the Badgers were featured in a near Nike World Headquarters in Oregon’s temperate weather 5,000 meters. “It gave me a lot of series of videos for Runners Beaverton, Oregon. offers year-round soft-surface motivation,” Tegenkamp says. World magazine. To see them, “We’re all Badgers, and we training, which can help prevent He attributes the break- visit www.runnersworld.com and talk about it all the time,” says the chronic injuries that plague through to a new focus on injury search “Wisconsin to Worlds.” Schumacher, whose cross-coun- distance runners, shortening prevention and the commit- Karen Roach

BADGER SPORTS TICKER Curious about Badger football Madison Gas and Electric, the Athletic through the Ryder Cup Outreach trivia? The Athletic Department has Department aimed to cut energy usage Program. The funds will go to the put the Football Fact Book online. The and offset the carbon dioxide emis- Department of Kinesiology and the 286-page document can be down- sions of all seven home games. Division of Recreational Sports to sup- port adding additional golf classes. loaded at www.uwbadgers.com/sport_ Two UW basketball players, Jeremy news/fb/media_info_6243.pdf. Glover x’13 and Diamond Taylor x’13, Eight of the twenty-three women were dismissed from the team in When the football Badgers kicked on the U.S. National Hockey Team are September after being charged with off their 2009 season in September, Badgers: Hilary Knight x’11, Meghan burglary for allegedly stealing items the university also kicked off an effort Duggan x’10, Jessie Vetter ’09, Erika from other students. to improve its environmental stand- Lawler x’11, Angie Keseley ’09, Molly ing with its first-ever carbon-neutral Pro golfer Steve Stricker desig- Engstrom ’07, Kerry Weiland ’03, and football season. In partnership with nated the UW as a recipient of $45,000 Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej ’08.

WINTER 2009 21 JON KRAUSE/THEISPOT.COM

The

WayfindersA one-of-a-kind UW program helps patients who are overwhelmed by serious medical diagnoses to navigate the confusing array of choices and next steps — from interpreting insurance coverage to getting a second opinion to finding clinical trials.

Laura Mueller’s cancer enormously complicated pursuit. Fred Lee, the radiologist who has treated By Jenny Price ’96 was back, and there was no Mueller several times, suggested she do recommended treatment. what he does when he wants to know about clinical trials: call his sister. She didn’t know what to do. Like her brother, Suzanne Lee is a After being diagnosed in 2001 with a doctor, but she uses her medical training rare and aggressive cancer called leiomyo- to help clients of UW-Madison’s Center sarcoma, she underwent chemotherapy, for Patient Partnerships, which during surgery, and eventually, a cutting-edge the past decade has helped nearly two procedure that essentially cooks tumors thousand clients negotiate health insur- to try to remove them from her liver and ance and employment issues, find second lungs. But in 2007, a CT scan showed the opinions and locate clinical trials, and fight was not over for the sixty-one-year- move past the paralysis of a frightening old retired elementary school teacher. diagnosis. The center also serves as an “I felt like I was in the ocean as a unparalleled clinical learning experience non-swimmer,” Mueller says. “I just for students studying law, medicine, social felt so overwhelmed with the enormous work, pharmacy, public health, and nurs- responsibility and journey.” ing, who work as patient advocates. Her only options were to get a second “My mom had been doing really well opinion and investigate clinical trials, an for a year and a half or two years, so to

22 ON WISCONSIN WINTER 2009 23 find out that it was back and it was bad, She checked up on Lee, asking around to getting patients to understand that “it’s and there was no recommended course make sure he was good enough to read still their life. It’s important for them to of treatment ... you’re just dealing with her scans, and when they spoke face-to- make choices that reflect their values in a all that emotional stuff,” says Mueller’s face about her results, her knowledge situation like this.” daughter, Jessica Gilkison JD’99. “There’s about medicine and her illness blew him The center, which is affiliated with nobody who can tell you what to do — away. Gaines had ovarian cancer, two the schools of law, medicine and public and that’s not what the center does either. very young children, and was, in a word, health, nursing, and pharmacy, also makes But to have somebody who has the time tenacious. sure that student advocates don’t cross the to walk you through all the steps was Lee remembers thinking to himself line in their eagerness to help and end up invaluable for us.” at the time, “Wow. If every patient did disempowering their clients. Advocates The center worked with Gilkison to see this ... a lot fewer mistakes would happen; don’t give orders; patients are regarded as a specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute patients would understand better the captains of their health care team and in Boston, who discussed treatment options. the course of their disease, why things make their own decisions. Later, the center helped Mueller get into a happened; and it wouldn’t be such a Gaines was influenced both by her UW-based clinical trial studying the effects black-box mystery to them.” own journey through the complex health of using two FDA-approved drugs together When Gaines was sick fifteen years care system as a cancer patient and by her to combat her disease. ago, some of her friends went through previous work in the law school with a “They provided a compass for us to her medical bills to help sort out pay- program that provides legal assistance to at least have a sense of direction,” says ment. Others researched the latest prison inmates. Mueller, who when asked how she is developments in treatments. One made “It’s easy to take people in a situation, doing today, responds with a bright smile a quilt stitched with shapes of the hand- whatever the situation is, and characterize and says, “I’m here.” prints of Gaines’s loved ones to keep them or stereotype them,” she says. “The her warm. lesson is, that it’s one heart at a time, and The Center for Patient Partnerships, if you think you can go faster than that or ‘It’s One Heart at a Time’ which Gaines founded in 2001, operates more efficiently than that, you can’t.” Fred Lee’s patients don’t usually demand on the same principle: people facing life- Operating primarily on donations, to meet him. But Meg Gaines was not a threatening or serious chronic diseases the center charges clients nothing for typical patient. can’t go it alone, but that doesn’t mean the help it provides. “We struggle to In radiology, doctors can often remain they should turn over decision-making to stay afloat, and we rely on the generosity anonymous behind closed doors. Gaines doctors. One of the hardest aspects, says of people who believe in what we do,” JD’83, LLM’93 didn’t let that stop her. Gaines, who serves as director, is Gaines says.

Teaching Advocacy

If we want a better health care system, having those who plan to work in the field learn what it’s like to be a patient seems like a pretty good place to start. UW-Madison is one of just two universities in the country — Stanford is the other — that teach patient advocacy through hands-on experience. In fall 2008, the UW began offering two twelve-credit consumer-health advocacy certificates through the Center for Patient Partnerships. One is aimed at graduate students and professional students from the schools of law, medicine and public health, nursing, and pharmacy. The other is designed for working professionals or nontraditional students who want to change careers or develop advocacy skills to help them- selves or family members. Students enrolled in the certificate programs earn six credits for working as advocates and another six for coursework, including an introductory class on consumer issues in health care. The remaining courses in the interdisciplinary program focus on subjects including law, regulations and ethics, and public health. For more informa- tion: www.patientpartnerships.org/certificate.php. J.P.

24 ON WISCONSIN JEFF MILLER

‘I Need to Reach Out ... We Need Help’ Clients often come to the center soon after learning they have cancer or some other life-threatening illness. But getting that information isn’t always as simple as it seems. “One of the things that surprises peo- ple is how hard it is to get a diagnosis,” Gaines says. “People think: I have this, there’s a test, we know it’s yes or no.” Getting a second opinion is impor- tant, she adds — even if the first opinion is good news. “If somebody gives you good news and it turns out not to be, you’ve lost a lot of time,” Gaines says. “If somebody gives you bad news and it turns out not to be, you certainly don’t want to have treatment unnecessarily.” At any given time, the center is help- ing thirty to forty clients with longer- term advocacy and about ten more with what is known as critical advocacy — cases that can usually be resolved with just a handful of phone calls. Sometimes the client is the patient; in other cases, the point of contact is a family member. Despite being housed in the law school, the center does not litigate. Instead, it uses its status as a well-informed third party to ask questions and push for the Teamwork is a cornerstone of the Center for Patient Partnerships. Director Meg Gaines has answers patients might not be able to get built a staff that includes patient advocates Pete Daly (at top), Suzanne Lee (center), and on their own. Clare O’Connor. “A lot of times, there isn’t a great answer to the questions we get called One of Hynes’s clients, Michelle hair. There are good days when Minder- with, and we can fight the fight, we can Minder-Massey, is thirty-eight and suffers Massey is able to shower on her own, but go up against insurance,” says Emma from lupus and mixed-connective tissue her pain confines her to bed 90 percent of Hynes ’08, MPHx’10, MPAx’11, who disease that cause severe, chronic pain. the time, with a fish tank nearby and her began working as a student advocate this “If you could imagine somebody laying a laptop computer within reach. year after her father was diagnosed with clothes iron and pressing it on the under- “I went from being superwoman, stage IV colon cancer. “But a lot of times, side of your skin, that’s how bad it will conquering everything in the world ... the best service we provide is just helping get,” Minder-Massey says. to sometimes I can’t eat or I need help the client to feel like they exhausted all She relies on her fifteen-year-old to go to the bathroom,” says Minder- possibilities.” daughter to help her bathe and wash her Massey, a former newspaper editor who

WINTER 2009 25 You’ve just learned that you have a serious illness. Now what?

• Surround yourself with a support network. Assign specific tasks to loved ones and friends, including taking notes at doctor appointments, organizing your insurance information, assisting with child care, or simply sitting with you. • Learn as much as you can about your illness. Communicate with your health care team; if you are feeling confused, ask for a clearer explanation of your diagnosis, and take a list of questions or concerns to your next appointment. • Organize your medical and insurance information. This step will make your first appointments run more smoothly, allowing more time with your doctor. And you’ll be ready to deal with any financial issues that arise. • Take care of yourself. Devote time to your physical, mental, or emotional health. Practice relaxation techniques; share your feelings honestly with family, friends, a spiritual adviser, or a counselor; list pros and cons about a difficult decision; set aside time to be alone; and remain involved with work and leisure activities.

Source: Center for Patient Partnerships, “Pathways to Empowerment,” http://www.patientpartnerships.org/pathways

contacted the center earlier this year for Yet, Gaines says, often the center’s know what to ask, there may be some help obtaining Social Security disability work can be accomplished in just one con- things that you really need to know that insurance. versation, when a patient calls the center to you don’t even think about.” Hynes says that for most people facing say, “Am I doing okay? I’m really scared. That’s where the center’s advocates can a serious illness and its impact on loved Am I doing what I should be doing? Can make a difference, by either meeting with ones, there is always a breaking point, you think of anything I’m not doing?” clients before or after appointments, or “when they finally say, ‘I need to reach out Whether it takes one call or many, advo- even coming along to talk with doctors. ... we need help, we can’t do this alone, cates help patients stay the course. “The word cancer is so overwhelming navigating the system is too much.’ ” that it takes over your life,” says Lacinda Minder-Massey’s condition makes it ‘A Sense of Hope Smith, who contacted the center for difficult for her to put pen to paper, so help after her mother, Marilyn Isenhart, Hynes filled out the fourteen-page dis- and Direction’ was diagnosed in March with stage IV ability application form on her behalf and It’s easy enough to forget what you want melanoma, skin cancer that had spread to developed an advocacy list, with priorities to ask your doctor during a routine visit other parts of her body. — including home health care services and — for too many of us, the flimsy gown Their student advocate, Clare family counseling — to deal with the stress goes on and any organized thoughts evap- O’Connor MPHx’11, researched of her illness. orate from our brains. Adding a serious clinical trials when chemotherapy failed “They make me feel like things are illness into the mix makes it even harder to stop the cancer from spreading. going to be okay,” Minder-Massey says. to focus. O’Connor, who has a bachelor’s degree “It is hard emotionally to lose your inde- “It’s a pretty well-known fact that in biology, uses her science background pendence, no matter what age you are ... when patients come to see a cancer doc- to walk Isenhart and Smith through to have somebody like Emma — it makes tor, that it’s a complicated conversation the trials and the medications involved, a world of difference.” and they only retain about half or less of something busy physicians don’t always The work requires persistence. what you talk to them about,” says Tom have time to do. Hynes, who is also doing research at the McFarland, a UW physician certified “I’m ready to go for it,” says Isen- center for her dual master’s degree, recalls in hematology, oncology, and internal hart, a seventy-one-year-old retiree with days of phone calls and talking to as many medicine who has referred patients to the fourteen grandchildren and one great- as fifteen people just to get a copy of a cli- center for help and consulted on some of grandchild, who was accepted into a ent’s policy from an insurance company. its other cases. “If you go in and you don’t clinical trial in Michigan. “I want to live,

26 ON WISCONSIN so I’m going to do whatever I have to do. ‘Cancer Doesn’t Grow included reviewing his own insurance So, sky’s the limit.” policy — a three-hundred-page document Aiding patients with finding trials is on Weekends’ — and diagramming what it did and did another of the center’s invaluable services. Spending any time at the center means not cover. About a year later, Marc was “As a physician, I’d love to be able to do coming into contact with walking-and- diagnosed with testicular cancer. Because all of the extra legwork for looking for the talking stories of hope and survival. of the class assignment he had completed, unique clinical trials that we don’t have Daly became a client in 2002, after he knew that his policy would cover the access to when a patient’s exhausted other a diagnosis of stage III melanoma. A cost of his surgery and chemotherapy. options,” McFarland says. “There just clinical trial at the National Institutes of “I could understand. I could pull out aren’t enough hours in the day.” Health helped save his life. Isenhart says this grid,” he says, adding, “Life is kind of O’Connor, like other patient advo- Daly taught her to “get out and enjoy life, crazy.” cates, does more than research. Along and do things when you don’t feel like it. Now cancer free, Marc began work- with Pete Daly, her supervisor at the He said, ‘Enjoy your weekends, because ing at the center after graduating from law center and a melanoma survivor, she cancer doesn’t grow on weekends,’ and school in May, doing advocacy work and has served as an essential piece of the then he said, ‘Deal with cancer for four launching a new Web site for patients called Isenharts’ support system. It’s clear her hours [a day] and then forget it. Live!’ “Pathways to Empowerment.” (See sidebar.) diligence and compassion have meant the And I’ve done that.” The center helped Marc research treat- world to this family, too. In fact, during her first meeting with ment options after his diagnosis, and as an “When we meet with Pete and Clare, Daly and O’Connor, the advocates helped advocate, he offers fellow student advocates we come away with a sense of hope and develop next steps for Isenhart and her a firsthand perspective on various situations, direction — something that we don’t family to move forward not only with a such as what it’s like to finish treatment. always get from the medical doctors. And medical plan, but a life plan, too. “That’s “Just saying to somebody, ‘Go and they’re great doctors, but we sometimes our focus at the center, not only the celebrate’ — people might not be feeling come out of there feeling overwhelmed medical side, but the healing side and the like celebrating,” he says. “They might and almost a sense of doom,” Smith says. living side,” O’Connor says. actually be feeling kind of abandoned, The experience of working with Like Daly, other members of the because [they’re] used to getting so much Isenhart and other clients has convinced center’s team have traveled the path from from everybody, and then all of a sudden, O’Connor to apply for medical school, patient to advocate. everybody’s gone.” with the goal of becoming a primary Jessica Gilkison, Mueller’s daughter But the patient whose story still fuels care doctor. Smith wrote her a glow- and an attorney who had worked for a dis- the center is Gaines, whom doctors gave a ing recommendation letter. O’Connor, ability rights organization, couldn’t resist 5 percent chance of surviving cancer. who was inspired to work at the center the chance to join the center’s team when “What I think I learned is, you’re after hearing Gaines speak during a class, a position supervising student advocates either 100 percent alive or 100 percent says being an advocate has made her became available. She says that her experi- dead at any given moment,” Gaines says. more aware of the non-medical hassles ence as a client has given her “that inside “What statistics tell you is whether you’re that patients facing serious diagnoses go perspective on how your life can be turned in a great big fight, a medium-sized fight, through at a time when they are already upside down by health issues ... on what it’s or a little fight. And people win and lose facing a great deal of stress. like to be sitting in the waiting room when all three, and so it just tells you what your “This has been the most useful edu- you’re waiting for CAT scan results.” fighting mindset is. cational experience I’ve had — looking Before he became a client, and later a “It tells you what level of risk you’ll at the complete picture of what happens staff advocate, Marc, who did not want his take in treatment. It informs things. But to a family and an individual when they full name used, learned about the center I don’t think it’s very helpful on the ulti- are diagnosed with a serious disease. [It’s during his second year of law school when mate question: will I stay or will I go?” n what] you don’t see if you focus on one he took Gaines’s course on consumer part of it,” she says. issues in health care. His homework Jenny Price ’96 is a writer for On Wisconsin.

WINTER 2009 27 “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Notable sayings from prominent alumni provide a unique perspective on the UW’s impact on the world.

By Fred R. Shapiro

hen On Wisconsin Magazine asked Fred Shapiro, attempt to update standard quotation references by using state-of- the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations (or the-art research to trace the origins of quotes more accurately. W YBQ, Yale University Press), to compile some For this story, he included quotes that grace the pages of the most famous quotes uttered by University of Wis- of the YBQ, as well as additional Badger words of consin alumni and faculty, Shapiro was surprised by how wisdom that he compiled in his research. many he found. The UW is remarkable for the achieve- — Editors ments of its most prominent alumni, he says, “the more so because Wisconsin is a smaller state that outshines many larger states in this regard. Only California The Punchline of Many Jokes and Michigan are its peers.” The saying that is clearly the UW’s most famous, Shapiro also found an like a lot of quotations, has been altered extraordinary breadth in the somewhat by popular culture. In contributions reflected in those the 1995 movie Apollo 13, actor quotes. “The University of Tom Hanks, playing Jim Lovell, Wisconsin,” he says, “with a spoke it as, “Houston, we have stunning range of departments a problem.” The Apollo 13 and professional schools, has command module pilot, Jack produced notable government Swigert, actually preceded officials, activists, social sci- Lovell’s line by saying, “Hey, entists and academics, writers we’ve got a problem here. … and other artists, scientists and Okay, Houston, we’ve had a technologists, explorers, busi- problem here.” The original nesspeople, athletes, and enter- quote as uttered by the real Jim tainers — to name only some of Lovell was: the categories.” Shapiro, who also serves Houston, we’ve had a problem. as a librarian at Yale, Jim Lovell x’50 (astronaut), JIM LOVELL transmission on Apollo 13 mission created the YBQ in an to the moon (April 13, 1970) CORBIS

28 ON WISCONSIN UW–MADISON ARCHIVES

ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE

Reflections on Government Every nation has its war party. It is not the party of democ- racy. It is the party of autocracy. It seeks to dominate abso- A sizable number of UW quotes reflect the Wisconsin Idea, lutely. It is commercial, imperialistic, ruthless. ... If there is no first formulated in 1904 by UW President Charles Van Hise: sufficient reason for war, the war party will make war on one “I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the pretext, then invent another. University reaches every home in the state.” In the early twen- Robert M. La Follette, Sr. 1879 (governor and senator from Wisconsin, tieth century, the university worked closely with both state and third-party presidential candidate), The Progressive (June 1917) federal government, as expert professors consulted with legisla- tors to draft pioneering laws. Today, the Wisconsin Idea is used The act of imposing one people’s morality upon another broadly to describe the university’s commitment to public people is an imperial denial of self-determination. Once service to Wisconsin and to the entire world. begun, there is no end of empire except war and more war. William Appleman Williams PhD’50, faculty member 1957–68 (historian), Public service is most obviously found in the realm of America Confronts a Revolutionary World: 1776–1976 (1976) government. Here Badgers have created a striking legacy in American history. Although that legacy is not restricted to any This program [domestic spying by the National Security single political philosophy, many of the university’s graduates Agency] is breaking the law, and this president is breaking and faculty, reflecting the state of Wisconsin’s progressive his- the law. Not only that, he is misleading the American people tory, have viewed government from a reformist perspective. in his efforts to justify this program. How is that worthy of They have championed peace and civil liberties: applause? Since when do we celebrate our commander-in- chief for violating our most basic freedoms, and misleading Conflicting views may be expressed, must be expressed, not the American people in the process? When did we start to because they are valid, but because they are relevant. If they stand up and cheer for breaking the law? In that moment at are responsibly entertained by anyone, we, the voters, need the State of the Union, I felt ashamed. to hear them. ... To be afraid of ideas, any idea, is to be unfit Russ Feingold ’75 (senator from Wisconsin), statement on the U.S. for self-government. Any such suppression of ideas about the Senate floor about warrantless wiretapping (February 7, 2006) common good, the First Amendment condemns with its abso- lute disapproval. The freedom of ideas shall not be abridged. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists

Alexander Meiklejohn (faculty member 1926–32, 1935–37, and have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do. founder of the UW’s Meiklejohn Experimental College), Free Tommy Thompson ’63, JD’66 (former secretary of the Department of Health and Speech and Its Relation to Self-Government (1948) Human Services and governor of Wisconsin), New York Times (December 4, 2004)

WINTER 2009 29 UW–MADISON ARCHIVES

Words that Inspired Environmentalism Badgers have also been pioneers in the environmental move- ment. No other university can claim three environmentalists as pivotal as the authors of these quotes:

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. John Muir x1865 (naturalist and explorer), Journal (July 27, 1869)

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. Aldo Leopold (faculty member 1933–48; conservationist and author), A Sand County Almanac (1949)

The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, JOHN MUIR not the other way around. Gaylord Nelson LLB’42 (governor and senator from Wisconsin; founder of Earth Day), Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise (2002) Shaping the Social Sciences Signs of the Times Turning from political activism to the social and behavioral Other alumni have spoken memorably about social justice sciences, the UW has produced leading scholars in fields issues ranging from civil rights to feminism. Here is just a ranging from economics to history to psychology: small sampling: When we come to speak of the disadvantages of the mod- Though it be a thrilling and marvellous thing to be merely ern system of freedom, that is to say, of competition, it young and gifted in such times, it is doubly so — doubly occurs to us that the moral atmosphere of a race-course is dynamic — to be young, gifted, and black. not a wholesome one. Competi-

Lorraine Hansberry x’52 (playwright), writing to NATIONAL GALLERY, PORTRAIT RESOURCE, NY SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION/ART tion tends to force the level of winners of a creative writing contest sponsored by Reader’s Digest and the United Negro economic life down to the moral LORRAINE HANSBERRY College Fund, Negro Digest (August 1964) standard of the worst men who can Adults ask little boys what they want sustain themselves in the business to do when they grow up. They ask community. Richard Ely (faculty member, 1892–1925; little girls where they got that pretty and economist), An Introduction dress. We don’t care what women do to Political Economy (1889) with their education. Mary I. Bunting MS’33, PhD’34 What the Mediterranean Sea was (biologist and president of Radcliffe to the Greeks, breaking the bond College), TIME (November 3, 1961) of custom, offering new experi- The academy is not paradise. But ences, calling out new institutions learning is a place where paradise and activities, that, and more, the can be created. ever retreating frontier has been bell hooks MA’76 (social critic, educator, to the United States directly, and and writer), Teaching to Transgress (1994) to the nations of Europe more

30 ON WISCONSIN EUDORA WELTY/CORBIS

remotely. And now, four centuries Of Literature from the discovery of America, at and the Arts the end of a hundred years of life under the Constitution, the frontier The study of social and human life is has gone, and with its going has also pursued through literature, and closed the first period of American here, too, Wisconsin has contributed history. notably: Frederick Jackson Turner 1884, MA1888 (historian), “The Significance of the A woman has got to love a bad Frontier in American History” (1893) man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one. The significance of man is that he Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ’18 is that part of the universe that asks (novelist), The Yearling (1938) the question, What is the signifi- cance of man? Never think you’ve seen the last of Carl Becker 1896, PhD1907 (historian), anything. Progress and Power (1935) Eudora Welty ’29 (writer), The Optimist’s Daughter (1969) By the power elite, we refer to those political, economic, and military For what links us are elemental EUDORA WELTY circles, which as an intricate set experiences — emotions — forces of overlapping cliques, share deci- that have no intrinsic language and sions having at least national conse- must be imagined as art if they are quences. In so far as national events are decided, the power to be contemplated at all. elite are those who decide them. Joyce Carol Oates MA’61 (writer), Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? (1993) C. Wright Mills PhD’42 (sociologist), The Power Elite (1956)

Perhaps the most renowned UW alumnus in the arts, how- The Encyclopaedia Britannica devotes many columns to the ever, is architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright demonstrates topic of love, and many more to faith. But ... poor little hope his wit and wisdom in the following two quotations: ... is not even listed. Karl Menninger ’14, MS’15 (psychiatrist), TIME (December 28, 1959) The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines — so they should go as What is most personal is most general. ... The very feeling far as possible from home to build their first buildings. which has seemed to me most private, most personal, and Frank Lloyd Wright x1887, New York Times Magazine (October 4, 1953) hence most incomprehensible by others, has turned out to be an expression for which there is a resonance in many A man is a fool if he drinks before he reaches the age of fifty, other people. and a fool if he doesn’t afterward. Carl Rogers ’24 (psychologist), On Becoming a Person (1961) Frank Lloyd Wright x1887, New York Times (June 22, 1958)

It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat From Contraception to everything as if it were a nail. Abraham Maslow ’30, MA’31, PhD’34 (psychologist), The Computer Science Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance (1966) In science and technology, the University of Wisconsin has trained innovators of towering significance. Two of the most We should hang on to [the Panama Canal]. We stole it fair important inventions of the last century, the computer and the and square. birth control pill, were both developed by alumni. The first S.I. Hayakawa PhD’35 (faculty member, 1936–39; semanticist, and senator from California), Los Angeles Times (October 7, 1976) Continued on page 63

WINTER 2009 31 Consumer Wake-Up Call

During tough economic times, people are learning money lessons the hard way. MARK WEISS/GETTY

By Jason Stein MA’03 new ring and paying sellers more than feel that buyers are looking for great they’d make returning a ring to a jew- deals,” Opperman says. “At the same As the nation’s financial markets col- elry store. During summer 2008, busi- time, sellers are looking to make money, lapsed in September 2008, causing ness essentially had been flat at their so we have a nice partnership between consumer wallets across the country to site, I Do Now I Don’t (www.idonow- the buyers and sellers [during this snap shut, Mara Opperman ’02 started idont.com). But when the markets did downturn].” selling diamonds. their version of a cannonball dive, In the midst of economic disaster, A year and a half before, Opperman visits to the site shot up. In October UW-Madison researchers see one and her brother, Josh, had co-founded 2008 alone, traffic nearly tripled com- bright spot: by necessity, consumers a Web site that allows people who have pared to the previous month, and sales are learning to be better stewards of fallen in and out of love to buy and rose by 68 percent. their money. They’re identifying the sell used engagement rings — charg- “Really, we attribute it to what’s things that they don’t need and finding ing buyers less than they’d pay for a going on in the economy, because we ways to save money on the things that

32 ON WISCONSIN But will these new habits disappear when things start looking up? SABINE SCHECKEL/GETTY

they do. Faculty studying topics such A Sign of Things to Come white side streets in suburbs around as mortgages and retail stores see those the United States. changes as likely to last for years, if only Years before the housing and lending Now an assistant professor of con- because people now have fewer chances crisis upended lives around the coun- sumer science at UW-Madison’s School to revert to their old ways. try, J. Michael Collins watched the of Human Ecology, Collins was then a The recession has also confirmed leading edge of the economic down- policy researcher for NeighborWorks an important insight into markets that turn slice through the southwest side America, a nonprofit created by Con- some UW-Madison researchers first of Chicago. Though he didn’t know it gress to promote home ownership and had years ago — that irrational, even then, the consumer researcher was get- financial independence among the work- self-defeating, choices by everyone ting an early view of the flood of bad ing poor. He went to Chicago to study from laid-off workers to wealthy bank- debt and disastrous decisions that in families in areas such as Back of the ers can undermine a neighborhood and, time would flow out of poor, black, and Yards, a tough neighborhood that a cen- eventually, an economy. Latino backstreets and into well-off, tury ago served as the setting for Upton

WINTER 2009 33 Sinclair’s muckraking novel about poor debt such as credit cards, the consumers got the truck. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘I’m going immigrant meatpackers, The Jungle. In were grabbing at mortgage refinancing to lose the truck, and I’m going to lose 2001 and 2002, the minority neighbor- as a quick fix and wrapping that debt my house.’ ” hood was facing a resurgence of hard into their home loan to get temporar- times, with as many as one in four homes ily caught up again. But to do it, the in some stage of foreclosure. homeowners had to trade in their better- Puzzling Behavior Some of these struggles were even than-market-rate loans for worse-than- What was most disturbing and perplex- spreading to the city’s better-off neigh- market-rate subprime loans, financial ing was what some consumers did after borhoods that were home to middle- deathtraps with annual interest rates as they got into trouble. class African-Americans. This troubling high as 17.99 percent. Classical economics predicts that

Classical economics predicts that homeowners would work with lenders to try to avoid foreclosure, and that they would simply walk away from a mortgage if falling prices meant they suddenly owed more than their home was worth. However, Collins found that many homeowners, attached to their houses, kept paying on these mortgages — even when it didn’t make financial sense. mini-trend in parts of the Windy City “There were people who did up to homeowners would work with lend- was also showing up in a few other com- five or six refinances,” he recalls. “Every ers to try to avoid foreclosure, and that munities such as Detroit and Atlanta, year, they were refinancing their loan they would simply walk away from a but it still wasn’t getting much national and rolling more and more debt into mortgage if falling prices meant they attention. As in Chicago, poor and work- it, and their interest rates were going suddenly owed more than their home ing-class minorities dominated these up and up. They were rolling them was worth. However, Collins found that areas. Collins went to investigate what over because they were late making many homeowners, attached to their was going wrong in these places, hop- payments on something else, [such as] houses, kept paying on these mortgages ing to stop the trend from undoing the credit cards or cars.” — even when it didn’t make financial work that his group and so many others Home values in Back of the Yards sense. Other homeowners at risk of fore- had done during the prosperous 1990s didn’t shoot up as quickly in those years closure shut down psychologically; they to help move low-income families into as houses in some other parts of the didn’t seek help from the various aid home ownership. country. But they did rise, and families programs available to them, they didn’t What Collins discovered defied the in the neighborhood — like many other respond to phone calls and letters from traditional laws of economics, in which Americans — began to see their houses their banks, and they didn’t investigate rational actors seek the greatest benefits as piggybanks. One African-American whether they could cut a deal with their available to them and avoid the greatest tradesman nearing retirement age had lenders and avoid foreclosure. losses. In focus groups and surveys, Col- refinanced his mortgage through a broker One of these homeowners, Collins lins talked to low-income homeowners he knew from church, giving up a govern- recalls, was a flight attendant who got — strapped for cash and driven by their ment-backed loan with better terms. behind on her mortgage payments after desires and fears — who were voluntarily “He was sort of suspicious about she was furloughed from her job follow- giving up loans with fantastic terms taking money out of his house, but he ing 9/11. that they had obtained with help from wanted a new truck,” Collins says. “His “She didn’t leave her house or read the government and nonprofits like his. wife said, ‘You’ve worked for a long time; her mail or answer the phone. She was Behind on payments on shorter-term you ought to have a new truck,’ and he so depressed and so worried and anxious.

34 ON WISCONSIN She was just in tears. ... She lost the inform public-policymakers on ways to “Everybody’s cutting a few more house. Her credit was ruined,” Collins help families use, save, and invest their corners these days,” he says. says. He and his team tried to help the money wisely. For consumers like Rehm, cutting woman get mental health services. Collins and others in the field are corners can also mean deferring dreams. Thinking back to his surveys in now finding a more receptive public Yet not all of the news is bad. After Chicago, Collins isn’t surprised that in among both decision-makers and ordi- several years during which consumers 2008, as many as half of American bor- nary Americans — by necessity. When saved practically nothing — including rowers in foreclosure had no contact the economic crash came in September a brief period in 2005 when they even with their lenders. His fieldwork taught 2008, people like Jonathan Rehm started spent more than they were taking in him that people don’t always pursue behaving differently. They didn’t have — in spring 2008, they increased what common-sense actions that are in their a choice. they were saving. During the first three own interests. months of 2009, consumers saved 4.4 Regrettably, that insight about the percent of their disposable income, well potentially destructive role of emo- Want Versus Need below the roughly 10 percent savings tion among homeowners turned out to A twenty-seven-year-old heating, venti- levels in the early 1980s, but still the apply even to sophisticated executives at lation, and air conditioning technician in highest rate in a decade. banks and investment houses. In 2006 Vancouver, Washington, Rehm recently “I think there really will be a move and 2007, as the housing market began had to sell a $3,000 diamond engage- toward a little more frugal attitude to slow, lenders eager for a quick profit ment ring that he had bought for his everywhere,” says retail expert Jerry handled a baffling boom in subprime fiancée. The trouble started when an O’Brien. “People are redefining want mortgage loans that intensified the equipment purchase for a side business versus need.” inevitable crash that followed. — putting on laser light shows — left O’Brien spent twenty-seven years “We had a problem that was going him more in the red than he’d hoped. working for the retailer Target, the last to be a major problem, and it became a Then, because of the poor economy, eleven of them managing a store on catastrophe,” Collins says. he started picking up fewer hours at Madison’s West Side, before leaving During those years, Collins was work. In November 2008, Rehm and to become the director of the Kohl’s working on his PhD in policy analysis his fiancée called off their engagement, Department Stores Center for Retailing

Regrettably, that insight about the potentially destructive role of emotion among homeowners turned out to apply even to sophisticated executives at banks and investment houses. In 2006 and 2007, as the housing market began to slow, lenders eager for a quick profit handled a baffling boom in subprime mortgage loans that intensified the inevitable crash that followed. at Cornell University, where he stud- although they stayed together. The Excellence at UW-Madison. After the ied both economics and psychology, following February, he sold the economic meltdown, O’Brien noticed including the extensive literature that engagement ring to a Massachusetts that people suddenly stopped spending has examined how emotions influence buyer through I Do Now I Don’t for money on faster computers or high- decision-making. Today, through efforts $1,900. He recouped a little more than definition plasma televisions. such as UW-Madison’s Center for 60 percent of the price he’d originally “We’ve been in a trend for a long Financial Security, he uses that broader paid, about average for sellers who use time where people were willing to perspective in research that seeks to the Web site. upgrade [their electronics],” O’Brien

WINTER 2009 35 says. “The first real visible thing I saw is people stopped upgrading. They said, Taking It to the Streets ‘I’ve got a TV.’ ” In addition, shoppers in grocery stores began switching from premium

NATALIA BRATSLAVSKY/ISTOCK NATALIA food brands to the cheaper, in-store varieties. Retailers such as Wal-Mart — known for low prices and essential goods like food — performed well, while their slightly more upscale com- petitors stumbled, according to both O’Brien and Cynthia Jasper MS’82, PhD’84, a professor of consumer science at UW-Madison. “What I find interesting is that the majority of consumers are changing their habits at this point, and they are becoming more price-focused and cutting back on some of their excesses,” Alfonso Morales studies the most traditional of retail sectors: public markets. Jasper says. In the spring of 2007, months before the economy dipped into recession, The pullback by consumers follow- Morales, a UW assistant professor of urban and regional planning, and a soci- ing the crash was so pronounced that it ologist by training, saw anecdotal evidence that business at these markets was strained that most-American of retail picking up. Morales says that makes sense in a downturn: the street can be an relationships: our love affair with malls. outlet for both stressed-out shoppers and for sellers who are trying to survive Shopping centers saw a double-digit in a grim economy. Workers who can’t make ends meet or retailers who can no drop in business in October 2008, Jas- longer survive in a storefront can sell lower-cost goods on the street to boost per says. Shoppers’ sudden reluctance their income, while at the same time helping consumers stay within ever-tighter to spend had a lot to do with the dete- budgets, he says. riorating labor, housing, and stock mar- kets, all of which left consumers with Morales knows his subject well — even choosing to work for a time as a less income and accumulated wealth vendor in Chicago’s celebrated Maxwell Street Market as part of his graduate to spend. But the economic turmoil in research. There, he sold everything from used goods from faculty and student communities across the country also colleagues to new bathroom fixtures. affected many consumers who hadn’t But though Morales has seen anecdotal evidence of the increased activity in lost their jobs or seen their homes drop public markets, it can’t be quantified. The federal government doesn’t track the precipitously in value. These consum- activity of street markets as a whole or even how many there are, although the ers hadn’t lost their ability to spend — U.S. Department of Agriculture does report that the nation has 4,800 farmers’ just their desire to do so — during what markets. they then perceived as a risky financial An advocate for public urban spaces, Morales believes that policymakers time. should be paying closer attention to the markets and cutting the red tape that “We all see friends, neighbors, and makes it harder for them to thrive. relatives losing their jobs,” Jasper says. “We should be encouraging this,” he says. “There’s a psychological factor.” J.S. In the midst of that uncertainty, con- sumers are re-evaluating what’s impor-

36 ON WISCONSIN tant, O’Brien says. Some are cutting out the brother-sister pair, the Web site out some $13.9 trillion in assets since a portion of spending altogether, while had early success. Mara successfully June 2007, leaving them with less money others are finding cheaper substitutes or brought the site to the attention of to spend today and more need to save putting more emphasis on other aspects major media, including CNN and the for tomorrow, he says. Home mortgages, of products, such as whether they’re envi- Rachael Ray Show, and, eventually, the lines of credit, and even credit cards — ronmentally friendly or locally made. pair quit their day jobs. that final refuge of American consumers

The pullback by consumers following the crash was so pronounced that it strained that most-American of retail relationships: our love affair with malls. Shopping centers saw a double-digit drop in business in October 2008. Shoppers’ sudden reluctance to spend had a lot to do with the deteriorating labor, housing, and stock markets.

“What I think consumers are doing But it was the economic downturn — are becoming more difficult to over- is redefining what value means to them that took the site to the next level. As use as banks tighten their standards. individually,” O’Brien says. traffic surged in late 2008, Mara Opper- Collins also sees some reasons to man noticed a change in the stories that be hopeful based on a survey of rent- sellers were posting to explain why they ers that he conducted in Chicago and Getting Even were trying to sell their rings. San Francisco in fall 2008. When asked Mara Opperman thinks I Do Now I “When the spike happened, we how many homebuyers end up in fore- Don’t is poised to take advantage of started seeing more stories about people closure, these renters estimated about many of those trends. The business needing the money to finance things,” one in every three, indicating that these started with a very personal bit of she says. potential homebuyers clearly understood re-evaluation. the risks of buying a house and, in fact, Opperman’s brother, Josh, had overestimated them. (Even borrow- spent his savings to buy his fiancée Staying Power? ers with subprime mortgages default at an engagement ring costing more More consumers may be wising up and cumulative rates of around 20 percent, than $10,000. Three months later, becoming thriftier, but are their new Collins says.) Most of the renters weren’t he returned from a weekend away to habits likely to last when the economy interested in buying a home at the time find that his fiancée had broken off the turns around? Although Jasper is among of Collins’ survey, but a majority said engagement and cleared her things those who suspect that consumers may they’d likely buy a home within three out of their New York City apartment, happily return to their wasteful ways if years and welcomed information about leaving only the ring behind. When they get the chance, she says, “I think it how to make the purchase, wanting to he took the ring back to the jeweler, depends on exactly how this recession become educated consumers before Opperman got another shock: how resolves itself — when and how.” taking such a big step. little the retailer was willing to pay Economist Menzie Chinn of the “I think people are learning some him for it. That gave Josh the idea for UW’s La Follette School of Public hard lessons,” Collins says. n an elegant revenge — a site where the Affairs questions whether consumers will jilted could sell their jewels, and where have the means to go back to big spend- Jason Stein MA’03, a Madison freelance their hard-luck stories could become ing. After all, their houses, retirement writer, Wisconsin State Journal reporter, and marketing hooks. Launched in Janu- savings, and other investments have suf- homeowner, is thankful that he has never had ary 2007 as a moonlighting project for fered a “wealth shock” that has wiped reason to sell an engagement ring.

WINTER 2009 37 COURTESY OF HILLEL COURTESY

Hillel [E ncapsulated] Before moving into its third home, the Madison Hillel Jewish student center discovered a time capsule — but one that missed some of that organization’s highlights. On Wisconsin suggests a few mementos from Hillel’s storied past.

By John Allen big deal, true, but he’d known it was com- ing Hillel’s history with the UW — the ing. The disappointment was caused by a student groups that had met there, the There came a point during the long little thing: the opening of a time capsule. prominent speakers who had come to reconstruction process for Madison’s When the old Hillel Center came share their wisdom, the Shabbat dinners. Barbara Hochberg Center for Jewish down, construction workers removed He was wrong. Student Life — the Hillel Center — the cornerstone (etched with the date of Rather than an account of the work when director Greg Steinberger had to the building’s completion: 1955 by the Hillel had done, the contents were some- stifle a pang of disappointment. common reckoning, 5716 by the Jewish thing like a record of the fundraising that It wasn’t just the knowledge that his calendar), and behind it, they found a had built its home. organization would be without a home box. Steinberger imagined that this would “What we had was a sort of roll call for the 2008–09 school year — that was a contain papers and photos document- from every county in the state,” he says.

38 ON WISCONSIN JEFF MILLER

[E ncapsulated]

On the same Langdon Street lot that hosted Madison’s old Hillel Center, the new Barbara Hochberg Center for Jewish Student Life (above) gives Hillel its third Madison home. The first site (opposite) was on State Street in the rooms now occupied by Nadia’s restaurant, and was Hillel’s home from 1924 to 1955.

“It was materials from Jews who took munity. It hosts religious services and three items we would pack away, one for part in the campaign, those who found Jewish-themed student organizations, each of Hillel’s homes, should the organi- pride in building an expression of their and offers a site where observant Jews zation create another time capsule. Jewish identity.” can regularly find a kosher meal. This is all well and good, but it Hillel arrived in Madison during a The Kenneth Sterling Day doesn’t reflect the considerable color period when anti-Semitism was wide- that Hillel has added to the fringes of spread in America, and it’s outgrown two Prize given to Louis Behr ’28 campus history. Founded in 1924, the homes and seen thousands of students When Hillel first arrived in Madison, UW’s Hillel is the second oldest of its pass through its doors. Its time capsule there was no certainty that it would kind. It has provided a gathering place really should be outstanding. And so we have any lasting impact — here or near campus for the UW Jewish com- at On Wisconsin would like to suggest anywhere else.

WINTER 2009 39 The first Hillel Foundation was cre- UW-MADISON ARCHIVES (2) ated in 1923 at the University of Illinois, gaining sponsorship from that state’s B’nai B’rith lodges, the members of which feared that the campus didn’t offer a particularly welcoming environment to Jewish students. Named for Hillel the Elder, a sage born in Babylon two thou- sand years ago, the organization evoked not merely religious devotion, but also deep thought and scholarly debate. Within a year, Hillel was adding chap- ters at other major Midwestern universities — first UW-Madison, then Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio State. But Hillel wasn’t the first UW orga- nization that aimed to serve the Jewish student community. Two others existed before it arrived: in 1911, the Wisconsin Menorah Society was founded, with a mission “to study Hebraic culture and Kiekhofer’s Wall, named for legendary econ professor William Kiekhofer, served as an infor- ideals,” and in 1918 Zionist students mal bulletin board before it was destroyed to make room for Hillel’s second home. Hillel formed the Palestine Builders Associa- offered to have the wall moved to a different location, but souvenir hunters got to it first. tion, encouraging members “to go over to Palestine as near in the future as feasible, Second, Hillel had a home: the that sorority women were distressed at in the form of a colony, and do all in our upstairs quarters at 508 State Street. The the number of Jewish students attend- power to help build up Palestine.” rooms there gave the organization a sense ing dances at the Memorial Union, the But Hillel had two advantages those of permanence and predictability. By the club moved its social engagements to organizations didn’t. First, it had Solo- end of the 1920s, both the Menorah Soci- off-campus facilities, where it could have mon Landman, its initial director and ety and the Palestine Builders Association invitation-only events. rabbi. Described by the Daily Cardinal had come under Hillel’s umbrella. But once the Apex Dancing Club’s as “a popular university preacher [who In the 1920s, the UW was seeing a aims became public, it was widely criti- has] given talks at Princeton, Cornell, surge in its Jewish student population. cized, and in general, the university was Harvard, Dartmouth, and other eastern Between 1928 and 1929, the number welcoming to Jewish students, and espe- universities,” Landman was a tireless of Jewish students on campus doubled, cially to Hillel. Consider, for instance, the organizer. He brought in prominent according to the Capital Times, making case of Louis Behr ’28. speakers, including UW faculty (such as Jews the second largest religious group As a senior, Behr was the student economics professor Selig Perlman and on campus (after Catholics), and estab- president of Hillel when he received the literature professor Louis Zucker), rab- lishing Wisconsin as the Big Ten school university’s Kenneth Sterling Day Prize, bis from around the country, and clerics with the largest proportion of Jews in its granted for displaying “essential Christian from other faiths. He also organized a student body. worth as evidenced by moral character.” newsletter — Hillel-O-Grams — a the- Not everyone at the university was The prize made news around the atrical troupe, and athletic teams that happy about this. In 1929, fifteen frater- country. That an Orthodox Jew from came to dominate the Madison-area nities banded together to form what they Rockford should be named Wisconsin’s church league. called the Apex Dancing Club. Claiming “best Christian” college senior, as the

40 ON WISCONSIN Many students were not pleased. “The tradition of Kiekhofer’s wall is as much a part of Wisconsin’s history as Milwaukee beer,” wrote a Daily Cardinal editorialist. But preservationist efforts failed to halt the wall’s destruction. It came down in 1946. And still no Hillel Center went up. That work would have to wait until Max Ticktin arrived in 1948, though he took it over with some reluctance. “I’d never run a building campaign before,” he says. “I was as green as could be.” But working with the synagogues and B’nai B’rith lodges across the state, he managed to scrape together $85,000 to Rabbi and director Max Ticktin (front row right) led Hillel through its effort to build the fund construction. “Although that was a Langdon Street home. It was his first major fundraising campaign. “I was green as could be,” he says. The building went up in 1953, five years after Ticktin arrived. big sum in those days, it actually didn’t take that long,” he says. “We wanted to New York World phrased it, struck some At the same time in Madison, Hillel be masters of our fate.” as ridiculous. But not Behr. was also going through a massive change. The new Hillel House and the arrival “I cannot understand the reason Between 1924 and 1949, the UW’s stu- of Ticktin proved a boon for Jewish stu- for the wide publicity this award is dent population more than doubled, from dents. As a young rabbi, Ticktin brought being given,” he wrote to the World. “If 7,643 to 18,623, and Hillel’s ambitions energy and intellect to his efforts. He I have personal qualities requisite for rose, too. The rooms at 508 State could embodied the new age — he and his wife, the Kenneth Sterling Day award — if no longer accommodate the programs Esther, had lost family members to the I have a sound moral character — it is that the organization wished to run. But Holocaust, and in 1947 and 1948, they’d because my parents and my religion have though Theodore Gordon, the center’s spent time in the nascent state of Israel. taught me the wisdom of not having an director and rabbi from 1941 to 1948, Over the course of his sixteen-year immoral character.” tried to get a new building, his efforts tenure, Ticktin forged friendships with By the 1930s, Hillel was a perma- stalled. Troubles abounded, and the barri- faculty — including UW president Fred nent part of the campus establishment. ers weren’t just financial. There was also a Harrington, economists Selig Perlman UW president Glenn Frank even physical obstacle — Kiekhofer’s Wall. and Edwin Witte, and historians Merle helped the organization raise funds, Kiekhofer’s Wall was a brick-and- Curti and George Mosse — and with writing that he regarded the Hillel stone enclosure that surrounded the clergy of a variety of faiths around Madi- Foundation “as an indispensable part Langdon Street property of William son, hoping to increase the educational of our larger campus life.” “Wild Bill” Kiekhofer, a retired econom- emphasis of Hillel lectures. ics professor. Students used the wall as an “Madison, as a public institution, had informal message board — postings and no department of religion or of history A Kiekhofer brick graffiti adorned it from the 1920s through of religion,” he says. “We tried to do a The 1940s were a watershed decade for the 1940s. But after Kiekhofer sold the lot of teaching — non-credit teaching — Jewish identity. Two epochal events — property to developers, they in turn sold and combine that with worship services the trauma of the Holocaust and the the lot at 611 Langdon — the section and with social and recreational activities establishment of the state of Israel — for- with the wall — to Hillel. If a new Hillel for students.” ever changed what it meant to be a Jew. Center was to be built, the wall had to go. Continued on page 62

WINTER 2009 41 Amazing Grace Every Tuesday evening, in a space that usually houses a Sunday school, UW medical students care for those who have nowhere else to turn.

y rika anik The men trickle in slowly. Some lean heavily on the metal On the other side of that door, students hurriedly gather Privacy is minimal at the clinic housed in Grace B E J MA’04, MA’06 Episcopal Church in downtown Madison, but Photos by Bryce Richter railing as they ascend the cement stairs to take a seat on papers, pens, clipboards, and other supplies as they receive last- the UW medical students do what they can with the available space. Above, in an exam one of the metal folding chairs lining the dimly lit hallway. minute instructions. For some, it’s familiar territory; for others, “room” at the end of an L-shaped hall, student Tim Kufahl MDx’11 cares for a patient beneath Most sit quietly, glancing up slightly as someone walks by, it’s the first time. All fairly brim with nervous anticipation. At church banners. patiently waiting for a door to open. around 8 p.m., the students are ready, and the door opens.

42 ON WISCONSIN WINTER 2009 43 One of two coordinators at MEDiC’s Grace clinic during spring 2009, Michael DeVita ’06, MDx’11, at right, leans down to talk with a patient who lost his lower leg to frostbite. DeVita keeps things running smoothly at the clinic, directing the other medical students and stepping in as needed to care for patients. Drugs and other medical supplies, below, are limited at the Grace clinic. The medical students work with the clinic’s attending phy- sician each week, doing the best they can for their patients, including some who return for treatment of chronic illnesses. Students volunteering at the clinic, at bottom, must complete a raft of paperwork before they can head home. Patient records are kept on site in case a patient makes a return visit. Under a new program, the students also record information about homeless veterans who seek medical care.

44 ON WISCONSIN Every Tuesday night, while most of us “I came here for school because of this Today MEDiC operates six clinics, each are at home finishing dinner, UW medi- program, and it is by far the best thing serving a distinct population with its own cal students are taking blood pressure I’ve done here.” needs and challenges. One, known as Safe readings and gathering patient histories in Haven, provides ongoing care for home- less adults suffering from mental illness, the hallways of Grace Episcopal Church MEDiC began in 1990 when a particular challenge for the homeless in downtown Madison. By 10 p.m., as seven medical students approached Ted community. many as sixteen patients have been seen Goodfriend, who today is an emeritus While the idea of medical students and treated. Thanks to the dedication professor of medicine and pharmacology. working in free clinics is not unique, the of these UW students and faculty vol- With little clinical experience — but a degree of control exerted by the MEDiC unteers, these patients, most of them desire to somehow contribute to social students is. The UW School of Medicine homeless men who would otherwise go and medical needs — the students hoped and Public Health supports the program, untreated, get the health care they need. that their professor could help steer them including providing a faculty adviser, The Grace location is one of several in the right direction. Someone suggested Sharon Younkin, but the clinics are medical clinics operated by the Medical that Goodfriend check out the shelter at wholly coordinated by students. Information Center (MEDiC), a pro- Grace Episcopal, where law students had gram that has two unwavering goals: to improve the health of an underserved population and to give medical and other “This is the most real thing we do as begin- health care students what is literally a ning medical students. I came here for school hands-on learning opportunity. Although several practicing physicians because of this program, and it is by far the best rotate as volunteer supervisors, the clinics are staffed and managed by students who thing I’ve done here.” volunteer during their first and second years of training. The students are clearly already set up a clinic to provide legal When setting up the program, Good- embracing the medical school’s culture counsel to the homeless. friend wanted to ensure that students who — an astounding 80 percent of UW med Creating a medical clinic at the volunteered did so for the right reasons. students volunteer at least once during shelter seemed like a win-win proposi- Students receive neither pay nor academic those years. tion. The population there — homeless, credit for their work at the clinics. Instead, “I just fell in love with the clinics,” but ambulatory, adult men — offered he says, they “actively participate in patient says Dhaval Desai ’08, MDx’12, who a medical experience that a beginning care while becoming aware of the social, volunteered during his first year and, student could successfully undertake. economic, and access issues that affect now in his second year, is serving as one In turn, while surgeries or other major these populations.” of the student coordinators at the Grace procedures couldn’t be performed at They also learn that paying attention clinic. “Doing something medically rel- the clinic, the students could help with to patients, reassuring them, and engag- evant while helping people in my com- conditions such as broken bones, acute ing them in conversation often has as munity is why I came to medical school infections, minor injuries, skin problems, much therapeutic benefit as any pill. in the first place.” and digestive disorders. Three of the six clinic sites, including For Megan Schultz ’03, MDx’11, Goodfriend and several students the homeless shelter at Grace Episcopal, it’s all about this medical school. “This is began going to the shelter once a week in are run by Porchlight, Incorporated, a the most real thing we do as beginning 1991. Soon after, a clinic opened at the Madison-based nonprofit that provides medical students,” says Schultz, former Salvation Army to serve homeless families shelter, housing, and support services to president of the MEDiC Council, a at the suggestion of Goodfriend’s wife, the homeless in Dane County. Within thirty-member group that handles Mary Lou MS’88, a teacher who had Madison alone, an estimated 3,500 peo- everything from scheduling to publicity. many homeless children in her classroom. ple are without a place to live at some

WINTER 2009 45 point each year. During 2008, Porchlight realize they failed to ask questions that ing at the Southside and Salvation Army provided housing, counseling, job train- are important for developing diagnoses clinics also participate in Reach Out and ing, medical and legal assistance, and and treatment plans. But that’s all part of Read, a national program that encourages eviction-prevention services to around the learning process. When needed, the childhood literacy, by advising parents on 12,700 people. physician and student return to talk with the importance of reading aloud to young “Homelessness is on the rise — as is a patient a second time, allowing the stu- children. They also distribute free books the number of people unable to get basic dent to watch and learn as the physician to kids in the clinic waiting areas. medical care,” says Steve Schooler, Porch- talks with and examines the patient. light’s executive director. “[MEDiC] clinics “The students inhabit the role they help fill a gap in our community’s social need to be in, even if they aren’t trained Talk to nearly any MEDiC support services.” in that area yet. They ask questions and volunteer, and you’ll hear a refrain similar Goodfriend counts MEDiC as his get the job done — it’s really quite amaz- to that from Brian Cone ’07, MDx’11, proudest career accomplishment. “These ing,” says Mark Linzer, a UW profes- now a third-year student: “It’s nice to clinics are the most gratifying thing I’ve sor of internal medicine and one of the be doing something other than butt-in- done as a doctor,” he says. “But really, I clinic’s supervising physicians. the-chair learning.” He and his fellow students are well aware that during the first two years of medical school, most “But really, I didn’t do anything — it was the of their time is spent in the classroom. students coming to me wanting to do this, and The chance to work with actual patients usually doesn’t come until their third and it continues to be the students who are the stars, fourth years. making this kind of care possible.” Second-year student Alex Froyshteter MDx’12 is grateful for that clinical expo- sure during the earlier stages of his medi- didn’t do anything — it was the students By necessity, given the transient cal training. “This is a very comfortable coming to me wanting to do this, and it nature of the homeless population, the atmosphere for learning directly from the continues to be the students who are the MEDiC sites operate more like battlefield doctors,” he says about the Grace clinic. stars, making this kind of care possible for clinics than traditional medical settings. “It’s putting a face on something I only some of our neediest people.” Patients are treated quickly and sent on read about in a book — and having some- their way, making it especially difficult to one take the time to explain it to me.” treat chronic conditions such as diabetes. In turn, the patients are grateful for When the Grace clinic opens But the students do what they can on the students and their clinics. “The guys each Tuesday evening, the MEDiC a shoestring budget of less than $20,000 are really lucky to have this here,” says volunteers divide up patients and take — most of which is donated. At Grace, Richard, a homeless man receiving treat- them to exam rooms that are anything two metal cabinets are filled with ment at Grace for a dog bite. “I’ve been but typical. Students meet with patients at samples and generic versions of many in shelters all over the country, and none the end of a long L-shaped hall, in one of common medications, as well as ban- of them have had this.” two rooms that most often serve as Sun- dages, antacids, and toothbrushes. A As Richard trudges back down the day school classrooms, all the while doing pharmacist in La Crosse often helps stairs, a MEDiC student files his paper- their best to maintain patient privacy. MEDiC purchase drugs. work, then leads another man in need of After initial chats with incoming Despite the odds, the six clinics care down the hall. n patients, students present cases to the serve some 1,300 underinsured and volunteer physician who is supervising underserved patients annually, and reach A Madison-based freelance writer, Erika Janik MA’04, MA’06 is glad to know that this gen- that evening’s clinic. As they describe beyond medical care in helping the com- eration of doctors-in-training is so community their patients, the doctors-to-be often munity. For example, students volunteer- minded.

46 ON WISCONSIN Above: After a student completes an initial examination at MEDiC’s Grace clinic, the attending physician or resident arrives to talk with the patient and complete the exam. Resident Ryan Kipp ’03, MD’07 exams a dog bite on a patient’s arm before discussing a treatment plan with medical student Tim Kufahl. Among the most common conditions seen at the clinic are animal bites, broken bones, skin infections, and colds. Left: Tuesday nights pass in a blur of activity for medical students Dhaval Desai and Michael DeVita, left and center, and Shelly Schmoller ’05, x’11, right, who is studying to be a physician assistant. Before semester’s end, DeVita, one of two clinic coordinators, will help with the transition to new students and coordinators, one of whom will be Desai. Below: Patient care takes priority in the clinic’s cramped quar- ters. While physician assistant student Juliane Nevers x’11, left, takes a patient’s pulse in the main room, medical student Jill Sracic ’06, MDx’11 hurries in to retrieve medications.

WINTER 2009 47 traditions

When resourceful students borrow cafeteria trays to slide down snowy campus slopes, there’s just one unwritten rule: have fun! MICHAEL FORSTER ROTHBART Traying What happens when you combine winter weather, campus topography, and fiberglass cafeteria trays with students looking to blow off steam during a tough semester? A whole lot of fun. Some students go “traying” head first, arms stretched out airplane style. Others go feet first, knees tucked in. And those who favor teamwork link their trays together to form a train (often at their own peril). But while some trips down Bascom and Observatory Hills threaten to re-enact the “agony of defeat” vividly demonstrated by Yugoslavian ski jumper Vinko Bogataj during the opening of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, often the outcome is harmless — a rush of cold snow up a pant leg or down the back of a jacket. There are no formal rules against traying. UW police will ask trayers to return their makeshift sleds to where they found them, but officers also have been known to join in for a ride down the hill. Sledding used to be a more organized pursuit. From 1886 until 1939 — before the construction of Elizabeth Waters Hall — there was an official UW Toboggan Club and a 600-foot-long slide down Observatory Hill that ended out on Lake Mendota. When some universities, including Minnesota, recently removed trays from dining halls to limit food waste, some wor- ried that traying was in danger. Thankfully, UW housing officials have no plans to go trayless, even though food service staff must continue collecting wayward trays — sometimes nearly fifty in one trip — as the campus enters its annual spring thaw. Dining rooms at Chadbourne and Elizabeth Waters suffer the greatest tray losses during Madison’s long winters, and this was especially true in 2007–08, when the city received a record 100-plus inches of snow. “The traying is quite hard on [trays]. Once they get a little beat up, we choose not to use them anymore,” says Brian Burke, food service manager for University Housing. “It has been going on for so long, I think everybody realizes that it’s not going to stop.” Jenny Price ’96

What’s your favorite UW tradition? Tell On Wisconsin about it at [email protected], and we’ll find out if it’s just a fond memory — or if it’s still part of campus life today.

48 ON WISCONSIN WINTER 2009 49 gifts in action

Scholarly Success Story With unwavering support, the Chancellor’s Scholars Program reaches a quarter-century. JAMES GILL In 1984, a group of six students and contributing members of launched a fundraising effort enrolled in a scholarship pro- the campus community,” says that endowed the Irving Shain gram designed to attract tal- Mercile Lee, assistant vice Chancellor’s Scholarship. ented, underrepresented minority chancellor for academic affairs, • Chancellor Donna Shalala and culturally disadvantaged stu- who is the architect and guiding enthusiastically embraced the dents to UW-Madison. Since that force behind the program. The program and hosted the first fall twenty-five years ago, the graduation rate for Chancellor’s annual reception for mentors Chancellor’s Scholarship Program Scholars is more than 80 percent, and scholars to recognize has produced 442 alumni, many slightly higher than the overall graduating seniors. of whom have gone on to pursue campus population. • Chancellor David Ward advanced degrees. Faculty and staff mentors MS’62, PhD’63 increased This October, past and play an important — and popular funding to add twenty-five present scholars, faculty and — role in the program by volun- new scholars annually and, by staff mentors, supporters, and teering their time and knowledge the program’s tenth anniver- friends celebrated the milestone to help each scholar participate sary, achieved a goal of having with a day of reconnecting and fully in the Wisconsin experience. at least one hundred scholars remembering. Former UW chancellors, for on campus each year. The program, which is whom the program is named, have • Chancellor John Wiley Mai-Lan Huynh ’88, MD’98 (above), a member of the first funded entirely by private gifts, provided institutional and personal MS’65, PhD’68 expanded class of Chancellor’s Scholars covers tuition and fees for all par- support, and served as mentors: initiatives supported by his (far right in 1984 photo, at ticipating students. Chancellor’s • Chancellor Emeritus Irving predecessors and provided top) and now a physician in Scholars, who come from all over Shain, along with the late resources to almost double Colorado, served as emcee during an October event to the United States, are selected for Vice Chancellor Emeritus the number of scholars. mark the program’s twenty- their academic records, leader- Bryant Kearl MS’42, Current Chancellor Biddy fifth anniversary. ship skills, and sense of purpose. provided initial funding, Martin PhD’85, who has made “They generally graduate in identified potential donors, overall undergraduate accessibil- to the private donors who have the top 10 percent of their high and encouraged the support ity and affordability a priority, is helped the scholars earn world- school classes and participate of the faculty and staff. committed to creating a campus class educations, allowing bright in school and community • Interim Chancellor and that celebrates diversity. young people to pursue unlimited organizations. As they become Vice Chancellor Emeritus The Chancellor’s Scholars possibilities and achieve ambi- proud Badgers, they also grow Bernard Cohen strength- Program was able to reach a tious goals. as individuals and as cooperative ened donor relations and milestone anniversary, thanks Merry Anderson

medical school to become a pediatrician and help children like her Great People sister, who has asthma. “I know it’s a job that at the end of the day A new scholarship paves you’ll feel good about yourself,” she says. the way for a pre-med student. Lind’s dad, a carpenter, contributes to some school expenses. Her mom, a schoolteacher, has little to spare after family medical bills. In Stephanie Lind x’12’s neighborhood, kids left high school to get “Without scholarships, I would not be at University of Wisconsin- married or to work, but Stephanie’s mom believed college was important. Madison,” says Lind, who grew up in Freeport, Illinois. “I never thought of any other option,” Lind says now. “I knew I Lind works in a university deli and also volunteers for Big Brothers didn’t want to live paycheck to paycheck.” Big Sisters and for the Children’s Learning Center, an after-school The recipient of the John Gould Great People Scholarship is a program. “I’m very, very busy,” she says, “but I’m happy to be here.” sophomore majoring in biology and Spanish. She plans to go to Ann Grauvogl

50 ON WISCONSIN Badger connections JEFF MILLER

52 WAA News How Sweep It Is Students play broomball on a cleared section of 54 Class Notes frozen Lake Mendota. Played like ice hockey (only without skates or, well, rules) broomball has been a popular intramural sport among UW students for 59 Calendar decades. This photo was taken during the 2007 Hoofers Winter Carnival. 60 Bookshelf

61 Sifting & Winnowing

WINTER 2009 51 alumni association news

More Than Just Being Green WAA embraces sustainability as annual theme. This year, as UW-Madison ways that benefit future Badgers providing political, social, and Alumni will also recognize and the nation mark the forti- and the greater good.” cultural understanding of the this theme at Founders’ Day eth anniversary of Earth Day, the Throughout 2010, WAA’s world; and nurturing abilities to events across the United States Wisconsin Alumni Association events, programs, and services serve genuinely human ends and this spring, when many faculty (WAA) is doing its part to will focus on sustaining protect the planet. and staff will speak about sus- promote sustainability resources and maintain- The association’s responsi- tainable practices and traditions by thinking green and ing opportunities close ble stewardship and commitment in their respective fields. And showing the impact of to Badger hearts and to Badger traditions begins with at the upcoming Distinguished Badger red. minds — healthy envi- this very magazine, now printed Alumni Awards, WAA will honor “We’re mind- ronments, respectful on recycled paper certified by the graduates who have demon- ful that the choices we communities, access to Forest Stewardship Council, as is strated their own commitments make can leave a last- a UW education, interest WAA’s membership publication, to sustaining important causes. ing impact on the quality of in lifelong learning, and an Badger Insider. That ceremony will appropriately life for future generations,” says understanding of UW history and “With a simple step like take place on April 22, 2010 — Paula Bonner MS’78, WAA’s the shared Wisconsin Experience. keeping e-mail addresses and Earth Day. president and CEO. “And as This commitment is inspired alumni profiles updated online, Learn more about WAA’s UW-Madison alumni, we have the in part by UW-Madison’s strate- grads can also take advantage commitment at uwalumni.com/ knowledge, curiosity, and com- gic plan, which calls for preparing of paperless communications,” sustainability. mitment to enhance our world in students for a global economy; Bonner says. Staff

Returning to Their UW Roots New partnership allows Badger retirees to live and learn near campus.

Returning to Madison later in life programs and events to ANDY MANIS is often a dream come true for participants. As the program UW-Madison graduates, and the progresses, WAA members who Wisconsin Alumni Association are age fifty-five and older will (WAA) has joined with Capitol enjoy many benefits, including Lakes retirement community to information and resources about offer exclusive opportunities for retirement and senior living, pri- active seniors to live and learn in ority access to residency at the the campus area. community (for those age sixty- “Even when Badger alumni two and older), special guest graduated from college many room rates, and complimentary years ago, their university experi- club memberships at the Capitol ence in Madison is always close Lakes Aquatic and Wellness to their hearts and minds,” says Center. Paula Bonner, WAA’s president “Studies have shown the and CEO. “We’re delighted to value of continuing education Cultural events are key at the Capitol Lakes retirement center. partner with Capitol Lakes to wel- in successful aging, and host- From left, resident Jim Crow, a UW-Madison emeritus professor come seniors back to the vibrant ing these events has long been of genetics, plays his viola, while Bucky Badger demonstrates his piano skills for residents Janice and Jean-Pierre Golay. downtown area, where they can a commitment of Capitol Lakes,” stay connected with their alma says Bruce Beckman, the facil- town Madison. We invite alumni retirement community that offers mater through our lifelong learn- ity’s marketing director. “Now, to take advantage of our member an array of residential styles, ing programs.” with the help of WAA, we can benefits and make full use of our assistive services, health care, WAA’s affiliation with Capitol expand our educational pro- expertise when considering their recreation, and social activities. To Lakes, the only retirement com- grams while providing alumni an retirement options.” learn more, visit retirement.org or munity in downtown Madison, affordable way to re-experience Capitol Lakes is an accred- contact WAA at (888) 947-2586. will bring lifelong learning the fun, urban lifestyle of down- ited, not-for-profit, continuing-care Staff

52 ON WISCONSIN Gearing Up for Game Day WAA welcomes Class of 2013 into Fifth Quarter tradition. Ever wonder how new stu- ANDY MANIS new speed record for “The dents learn the traditions Chicken Dance,” learned the that make up the post-game words to “Time Warp” from Fifth Quarter festivities? WAA the cult classic movie The makes it easier with a spe- Rocky Horror Picture Show, cial celebration led by UW and linked arms to sing their Marching Band Director and first rendition of “Varsity” as Fifth Quarter founder Mike the class of 2013. Leckrone. For marching band This year’s September 3 member Ben Wagner event kicked off with an ice x’10, the event was a way cream social on Engineering to blur any student divides Mall for all first-year stu- — because in the end, he dents. New students min- notes, we’re all Badgers. gled before filing into Camp “The Fifth Quarter is Randall Stadium, where they a celebration of all things were greeted by UW football Wisconsin, so initiating head coach Bret Bielema the freshmen into that tra- and the 2009 team cap- First-year students learn the “Section O” cheer as part of WAA’s special Fifth dition really helps build tains. The third-year coach Quarter Celebration designed to teach beloved Badger game day traditions. school spirit and a sense of stressed the importance of Wisconsin pride right away,” the crowd’s energy. because you energize us.” all the UW postgame classics, the senior mellophone player “We come on and off the field Then, as members of the leading students through the said. “At the first game, it will be here for a reason,” Bielema said, football team exited the field, lyrics and dances that accom- impossible to pick out the fresh- pointing to the tunnels under the the band entered and opened pany each one. men in the student section, and student section. “We enter and with several stanzas of “On, The nearly full Section N of that’s the way it should be.” leave by [the student section] Wisconsin!” before moving on to Camp Randall Stadium set a Ben Wischnewski ’05

Bucky Wagon Goes Electric Engineering students will upgrade a campus institution.

Badger fans always recognize the iconic appearance of the wagon, recently, the wagon ran on all In recent successes, the Bucky Wagon by its bright-red which is owned and operated by original parts and could be heard two snowmobile teams, one exterior, but inside, the historic the Wisconsin Alumni Association. blocks away by its distinctive building a zero-emissions sled vehicle’s engine is going green. “During the last twenty years, horn, which plays the first eight and the other an internal-com- Over the next year, students our leading automotive program notes of “On, Wisconsin!” bustion sled, won their respective from the College of Engineering teams have developed seven WAA uses the Bucky Wagon categories in the 2009 Society will renovate the Bucky Wagon generations of hybrid vehicles,” to ignite Badger spirit on foot- of Automotive Engineers (SAE) into an electric-powered vehicle says College of Engineering Dean ball Saturdays and during each Clean Snowmobile Challenge. with power hydraulic brakes. Paul Peercy. “This partnership year’s Homecoming festivities In 2007, the Formula SAE race- Glenn Bower MS’89, with the alumni association is an and parade. Until 2001, the Bucky car team claimed the world PhD’92, a mechanical engi- excellent opportunity for the stu- Wagon was used on game days championship. neering faculty associate who dents to apply their innovation to to carry the Spirit Squad into Badger fans can track the advises the college’s six vehicle a great Badger tradition.” Camp Randall Stadium. Bucky Wagon renovation’s prog- project teams, will supervise the The third in a line of vehicles Under Bower, more than ress over the next year through students. known by this name, the current 1,500 students have participated the College of Engineering’s blog The project will preserve the Bucky Wagon is a restored 1932 on the vehicle project teams and at www.vehicles.wisc.edu. vehicle’s exterior, wheels, and La France fire engine, donated developed innovative designs that Sandra Knisely ’09 and hubcaps in order to maintain the by alumni to WAA in 1971. Until will influence the auto industry. Kate Dixon ’01, MA’07

WINTER 2009 53 classnotes

early years after graduation and moved to Milky Way for habitable, Earth- Alaska, where I have lived ever sized planets. What’s New(s) with You? Happy birthday wishes (albeit since.” The Anchorage resi- The Institute of Food Please send the (brief, please) a bit belated) go out to former dent has served her community Technologists has bestowed its details of your latest achieve- high school English and his- in many ways, including a stint 2009 Appert Award on UW emer- ments, transitions, and other tory teacher Pauline Smith as president of the League of itus professor Daryl Lund ’63, “wow!” life events by e-mail to Scribner ’26. New Berlin, Women Voters of Alaska. MS’65, PhD’68 for his contribu- [email protected]; by Wisconsin, officials honored her Looking Back: Whatever tions to the field. Since the 1970s, mail to Alumni News, Wisconsin as the city’s oldest resident when Did I Miss? (Outskirts Press) is Lund’s research has focused on Alumni Association, 650 North she turned one hundred and the memoir of Ralph “Pidge” the fouling of food-contact sur- Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706- four in July. (New Berlin, in con- Davies ’50: fifth of eleven chil- faces, reaction kinetics in foods, 1476; or by fax to (608) 265-8771. trast, is only fifty years old.) And dren, WWII veteran, UW grad on and microwave food processing. Our submissions far exceed our Roland “Rollie” Hartman ’29 the GI Bill, business broker (still — The Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, publishing space, but we appreci- of Redlands, California, is right at age eighty-five), reunited with resident is also president-elect ate hearing from you anyway. behind Scribner: he celebrated his first love after fifty-plus years, of the International Academy of his one-hundred-and-third birth- and “just one more member of Food Science and Technology. Please e-mail death notices day in June. Hartman spent his the ‘Greatest Generation.’ ” Flagler College in St. and all address, name, tele- career writing for and editing The only person ever to sail Augustine, Florida, has awarded phone, and e-mail updates to poultry publications, and founded entirely around the world with- associate professor emeri- [email protected]; the monthly Poultry Digest. out using any navigational instru- tus Louis Preysz III ’68 its mail them to Alumni Changes, What do the children’s book ments — no GPS, compass, first Society for Advancement Wisconsin Alumni Association, “Daddy, Daddy, There’s a Mouse sextant, or clock! — was Marvin of Management (SAM) Lifetime 650 North Lake Street, Madison, in the House!” and Swiss Miss Creamer MS’53. It was a jour- Achievement Award for leading WI 53706-1476; fax them to cocoa mix have in common? ney that took from December his student teams to exceptional (608) 262-3332; or call them in Madisonian Charles Sanna ’39 1982 until May 1984 to complete. success in SAM competitions. to (608) 262-9648 or toll free to created both. As the co-founder A good friend is getting the word Preysz, of Lexington, Virginia, (888) 947-2586. and chief engineer of Sanna out about Creamer’s fantastic feat retired from college teaching in Dairies in Menomonie, Wisconsin, through a DVD, Voyage of the 2008, and from military service in Most obituary listings of WAA he designed and built food-pro- Globe Star, and globestar.org. 2004 after thirty-one years. members and friends appear cessing facilities and established Two years ago, Madisonian in the Badger Insider, WAA’s the grocery category of “cocoa Robb Besteman ’57 put his member publication. ’70s mix” by inventing Swiss Miss. In career in writing, advertising, and 2006, he published a children’s PR to the test by participating in New York City independent x-planation: An x preced- tale about Friendsy the mouse. National Novel Writing Month: an scholar and author C. (Celia) ing a degree year indicates that annual event during which writ- Kay Larson ’70 is an expert in the individual did not complete, ers each create fifty-thousand- women’s military history (espe- or has not yet completed, the ’40s–’50s word novels between November cially female Civil War soldiers), degree at UW-Madison. This is one of those amazing 1 and 30. Besteman’s work was helped to negotiate peace in coincidences. Barbara Grabin The Elm Ridge Scramble (Lulu), a Northern Ireland, and was heav- The Wisconsin Alumni Association® Meyers ’49 of Milwaukee tried murder mystery set around a golf ily involved in New York state and (WAA) encourages diversity, unsuccessfully for many years to course, which he reworked after city government and politics. Her inclusivity, nondiscrimination, and track down a former UW room- he’d met the deadline. latest historical work is Leaving participation by all alumni, students, mate. Then in 2009, Meyers’ son Santa Croce: The History of and friends of the UW in its activities. attended a birthday party in San ’60s Maine Evergreen Nursery and the Francisco and was seated next to Costa Family in America, 1901– a woman who had traveled from At NASA’s Ames Research Center 2008 (Maine Evergreen Nursery). Puerto Rico to attend. She was in Mountain View, California, Paula Neuman Warnken Josephine Traxler Kevane ’49: physicist and meteorologist Bill ’70 retired in August after sixteen the mother-in-law of the party Borucki ’60, MS’62 is the prin- years with the State University of honoree and the long-lost room- cipal investigator on a mission New York-Cortland. She provided mate. The reunited friends have that he began proposing in 1992 leadership for all technology and been in touch since that day. and finally launched in March. It’s library services, and is now asso- Jean Neale Stassel ’49 the Kepler spacecraft that’s now ciate provost emerita for informa- writes, “I was married the day orbiting the sun, scanning the tion resources.

54 ON WISCONSIN Excellent news came from Where Does a Travel Writer Go on Vacation? Georgia Guldan ’71: she’s one of three inaugural science profes- sors at the new Asian University Travel writer Everett Potter ’76 has the kind of job that most for Women in Chittagong, people only dream of — getting paid to travel the world, sample Bangladesh. Michelle Zjhra the best hotels, or ski at the finest mountain resorts. PhD’98 is its dean of undergrad- But earning a living in this rarified specialty takes much more uate studies, and, while we’re at than a taste for the good life. It takes moxie, an entrepreneurial it, the president of Bangladesh spirit, and the ability to produce. is a Badger as well: Iajuddin “You’ve got to keep thirty-eight balls in the air at the same Ahmed MS’58, PhD’62. time,” says Potter, who lives in Pelham, New York, with his wife, May was a good month for Gayle, and their six-year-old daughter. “As a freelance writer, you Sylvia Barkan Rimm MS’71, are your own boss. But you also have seventeen editors you are PhD’76: she received two writing for, and they demand your full attention. You are constantly Arizona Book Awards and one on deadline; you hit the deadlines; and then you hit them again.” National Indie Excellence Award For twenty-five years, Potter has been hitting those dead- for Why Bright Kids Get Poor lines. He’s a frequent contributor to National Geographic Traveler, Grades: And What You Can Do Ski, New York Magazine, and Forbes Life. His column appears about It and How to Parent So in USA Weekend, and he publishes a weekly blog called Everett Children Will Learn: Strategies Potter’s Travel Report (everettpotter.com). for Raising Happy, Achieving He also writes regularly on travel for Diversion, an online Children (both Great Potential magazine for physicians. His April 2009 piece on “15 Ways to Press). Rimm, of Sheffield Lake, Save Big on Your Next Vacation” encouraged travelers to negoti- Veteran traveler Everett Ohio, is a psychologist, colum- ate discounts at hotels, use public transportation instead of rent- Potter was surprised to nist, speaker, and contributing ing a car, and use farecompare.com to find the lowest airfares. experience culture shock in correspondent to NBC’s Today. “Everett shows readers how to get the most travel for the dol- Katmandu, Nepal. In a May ceremony, Lesley lars they have,” says Tom Passavant, editor-at-large at Diversion. Moore Hallick PhD’72 became “He’s a true professional at a time when travel writing seems to be the province of anybody who travels.” the seventeenth president of Last May, Potter returned from three weeks in Nepal, which he toured with adventure-travel Pacific University in Forest Grove, specialist Antonia Neubauer, who has built libraries in some of the poorest countries of the world. Oregon. She arrives there after He’s co-authoring a book with Neubauer about her experiences. twenty years as the chief aca- “It was very hair-raising travel, landing on tiny airstrips in the mountains,” he says. “And just when I demic officer of Oregon Health thought I’d never again experience culture shock, I experienced it in Nepal. Katmandu is pandemonium & Science University. personified. ... It was a veritable mosh pit of cars, trucks, motorcycles, pedicabs, motor scooters, bicy- Wisconsin’s 2009 School cles, pedestrians, dogs, and assorted livestock on narrow lanes better suited for oxcarts, all attempt- Social Worker of the Year is ing to go in different directions at the same time. That’s not to mention constant horn blasting and the air Thom Evans ’73, MSW’79, filled with [the scent of] diesel fumes, chilis, and garlic from open doorways.” MS’80 of Monona, who retired Potter didn’t plan to become a travel writer when he was earning his master’s in English in Madison. from the Madison Metropolitan He was going to write fiction. He says he wrote a few novels, but none were published. While working School District in 2008 after a in the art business in 1984, a friend of a friend who worked for a trade publication in the travel industry thirty-five-year career that also asked him if he’d like to travel to Shandong Province in China, which was then quite undeveloped and included lecturing in the UW’s just opening up to tourists. School of Social Work. Evans He wrote a story, then sold another to the Washington Post. A year later, he was in Tibet; he sold notes that he’s now mentoring more stories; and his freelance career was rolling. Soon he was on work trips to Europe, Asia, and new Madison school employees Central America. and “training his unruly dog.” Potter’s personal vacations, however, are anything but glamorous. He likes to take his family to In late 2007, Madisonian his rustic cabin on a lake in western Maine, where he has to put a pipe into the lake to get running Tony Evers ’73, MS’76, water inside. PhD’86 thought the time had “I go fly-fishing, and take my daughter out on the lake to swim,” he says. “It’s an old-fashioned, come to put his affairs in order: 1950s getaway and the perfect antidote to the New York magazine world.” the prognosis for his esophageal David McKay Wilson cancer was, at first, not good. But, early detection and success- ful surgery gave Evers a second

WINTER 2009 55 classnotes

chance in life, which Wisconsin’s Milwaukee mayor Tom School of Medicine. strategic planning and manage- then-deputy state superinten- Barrett ’76, JD’80 became a Way to go, Mark Samels ment to the Moldovan Academy dent of public instruction used hero in August when he inter- ’78! The PBS series American of Science to develop an agri- to enter the race for the superin- vened to assist a grandmother Experience, for which he serves business park. When he’s in the tendent’s spot. He won it — and and her young granddaughter, as executive producer, was nom- U.S., Cadwallader is an agri- was sworn in as the successor to who were involved in a domestic inated this summer for an Emmy cultural development agent in Elizabeth Schantz Burmaster dispute with the child’s father. The in the outstanding nonfiction Wisconsin’s Lincoln County area. ’76, MS’84 in July. man attacked Barrett with a tire series category. It’s the Medfield, Who’s news at the UW’s An award-winning pioneer in iron, leaving him lying in a pool of Massachusetts, resident’s tenth University Communications the field of coordination dynam- blood. During Barrett’s hospital nomination for his work on office? Dennis Chaptman ’80, ics, (J.A.) Scott Kelso MS’73, stay to recover from the incident, American Experience, and he’s most likely — he’s the new direc- PhD’75 has been lauded again: President Obama was among the earned the honor four times. tor of news and media relations. he’s been named a Pierre de well-wishers who called to com- Psychologist Terrance Chaptman has served as senior Fermat Laureate. It’s a French mend him for his bravery. Lichtenwald ’79 shared an university-relations specialist in honor conferred by an interna- James Turner MD’76 is article that he co-authored, that office since 2003, and has a tional panel of scientists repre- leading the American College “When Worlds Collide: Criminal long career with Wisconsin news- senting the Republic of France Health Association through Investigative Analysis, Forensic papers. He’s also authored two and the University of Toulouse. national and global challenges as Psychology, and the Timothy books about Badger football. As the founding director of Florida its president this academic year. Masters Case,” which appeared Kathleen Horning ’80, Atlantic University’s Center for He’s also the executive direc- in Forensic Examiner this sum- MA’82 is a rock star in the library Complex Systems and Brain tor of the University of Virginia’s mer. Lichtenwald, of Loves Park, world. Why? The latest rea- Sciences, Kelso plans to use Department of Student Health, Illinois, has twenty years’ expe- sons are that she’s been cho- the award’s financial support a professor of internal medicine, rience with threat assessments sen to deliver the 2010 Arbuthnot to develop a program between and the executive director of the and forensic, psychological, and Honor Lecture, and the American his center and the Institute of National Social Norms Institute. security evaluations. Library Association has given her Neuroscience in Toulouse. In 1984, Charles Alexander In August, the U.S. Senate MA’78 drove into Tucson from “I can’t imagine another life.” unanimously confirmed Aaron Madison and founded a nonprofit Williams MBA’73 of Reston, called Chax Press that specializes — Charles Alexander MA’78 Virginia, as the Peace Corp’s in printing handmade books and eighteenth director. Most recently avant-garde poetry and plays. The College of Mount Saint the Scholastic Library Publishing the VP of international business Alexander says, “I can’t imag- Vincent in Riverdale, New York, Award. But Horning has also development for the research ine another life. I am a poet in has welcomed Guy Lometti authored the quintessential From group RTI International, he’s the world, and I take that as an PhD’79 as its new provost and Cover to Cover: Evaluating and served in the Peace Corps himself engagement of great responsibil- dean of faculty. He was most Reviewing Children’s Books — one of the nearly two hundred ity and great pleasure.” recently dean of the graduate (HarperCollins), chaired the thousand volunteers who have President Obama has nom- school at the College of New Newbery Awards, and serves as worked in 139 host countries. inated J. Michael Gilmore Rochelle [New York]. director of the UW’s Cooperative Kudos to Laurie Deal MS’78, PhD’80 to become Lee Tesdell MA’79 spent Children’s Book Center. Benson ’75. In May, she received director of Operational Test & the spring on sabbatical as Felicitations to Anna the 2009 National Women in Evaluation in the Department of a Fulbright scholar at Birzeit Burwash PDE’81 of Etobicoke, Business Champion award Defense. His most recent post University’s Center for Continuing Ontario, who now holds the pro- from the U.S. Small Business was assistant director for national Education in the Palestinian fessional designation of C.Dir. Administration. A co-founder and security at the Congressional Territories. He teaches techni- as a graduate of the chartered the CEO of Inacom Information Budget Office. cal communication at Minnesota director program at the Director’s Systems in Madison, Benson The new president of the State University-Mankato. College. This partnership between was instrumental in establish- American Dietetic Association McMaster University and the ing Wisconsin’s first “Make Mine is registered dietitian Jessie ’80s Conference Board of Canada a $Million” program of Count Pepple Pavlinac MS’78. She’s trains and certifies those who Me In for Women’s Economic also director of clinical nutri- Most folks never go to Moldova work in corporate governance. Independence. She serves on the tion at Oregon Health & Science in Eastern Europe, but Tom Alex Chu PhD’84 is the UW School of Business’s Weinert University Hospitals and Clinics Cadwallader MS’80 has new vice president of process Center for Entrepreneurship MBA in Portland, as well as a senior recently returned from his fifth development at the Lexington, Advisory Board. instructor at that university’s trip there. He was providing Massachusetts-based Microbia,

56 ON WISCONSIN retirement gave him time to earn Making a Difference in Nigeria a second master’s degree and begin his first book, Lincoln’s Veteran Volunteers Win the “I have become somewhat of a voice for the War: The Hudson Valley’s Ross voiceless,” says Dena Grushkin Florczyk ’80. Brothers and the Union’s Fight for She’s a longtime public school teacher, an avid Emancipation (State University photographer, a wife, and the mother of two, but of New York Press). He’s also an her voice may be strongest in yet another role affordable-housing advocate in that keeps her life rich in meaning: Florczyk is Durango, Colorado. the founder and director of The Nigerian School Anne Jacobson Markus Project (TNSP, www.NigerianSchoolProject.org), Banda ’87 is one of those self- a nonprofit that provides resources to teachers less folks who make the world and students in Nigeria. — and bike tires — go ’round. It was Florczyk’s first trip to the country in This summer she rode eight hun- 2004, when she did a little advance fund-raising, Dena Florczyk founded The Nigerian School dred and fifty miles on a tan- that taught her the powerful lesson of “how a little Project to aid education in impoverished areas. dem bike around Milwaukee’s thing can be so much over there. A little can move lakefront to raise money and mountains. ... I saw the tremendous need, and I felt enormous gratitude from teachers and students. As awareness for UW-Milwaukee’s a result, I felt that I could not turn my back and walk away.” community nursing centers. Florczyk returned home from that trip and founded TNSP. Since then, it has provided textbooks, Banda is the administrative direc- supplies, uniforms, classroom furniture, and scholarships; built five libraries in existing schools; sent tor of the Institute for Urban thousands of books to fill their shelves; and — most exciting to her — completed a secondary school Health Partnerships and direc- across the channel from Nigeria’s capital, Lagos. “It is the first secondary school ever in this devastat- tor of the UW-Milwaukee College ingly poor river community,” says Florczyk, who adds that during a June ceremony when the school was of Nursing’s Center for Cultural turned over to the ministry of education, a tribal leader declared, “This day will go down in history. This Diversity and Global Health. community will no longer remain in the darkness. Our existence can no longer be ignored.” One highlight of the journey Florczyk has been able to gain tremendous support for her work from her home community of that Appleton, Wisconsin, attor- Teaneck, New Jersey, where she organizes fund raisers, collects donated books, and shares her experi- ney Harriet Peppard JD’87 ences with local schoolchildren. She also travels to Nigeria every summer, accompanied by other teach- took to Norway this summer ers who share their knowledge of African-American history, Harlem Renaissance poetry, theater, math, was meeting Rasmus Falck and photography with the students. “It’s a life-changing experience for all involved,” says Florczyk, MBA’69 at the American ambas- who’s considering expanding this part of the program. sador’s residence in Oslo. Falck, During the rest of the year, Florczyk is fortunate to have a “fantastic on-ground coordinator” who of Haslum, Norway, works with oversees all of her projects, and she adds that she’s “built a strong network of friends, teachers, admin- the Confederation of Norwegian istrators, and government officials who have made all of this possible.” Business and Industry, and is very But even so, how does she do it all? Florczyk says that she’s driven by “a passion for kids, educa- involved in UW alumni activities. tion, and the moral right. ... I make it work because it’s a priority, and because I have made a commit- The new director of the Isaac ment to do so. ... To be able to make a difference — and see the difference — is a feeling like no other.” Newton Group of Telescopes Her photography is also equally critical to the effort: “It’s the fuel in my machine,” she explains. “I take in the Canary Islands is Marc pictures of these beautiful [Nigerian] children, and I’m continually reminded of the gift I’ve been given.” Balcells PhD’89. Among his Paula Wagner Apfelbach ’83 goals for the organization and its William Herschel Telescope (WHT) is to “reinforce the role of the which produces sustainable spe- librarian at the U.S. Department to establish its master of pub- WHT as one of the most produc- cialty ingredients and biomateri- of Justice to accept an assign- lic health degree program, which tive four-meter telescopes in the als from fermentation technology. ment with the library that serves opened this fall. As a specialist world.” Balcells was previously a Most recently, he held a simi- the White House. in health economics and policy tenured researcher at the Instituto lar position with Bristol-Myers Timothy McBride MS’85, who regularly briefs congressional de Astrofísica de Canarias. Squibb’s Adnexus Therapeutics. PhD’87 is blazing trails at staffs, he’s been busy lately! This summer and fall, Jan Washington University in St. For many years, eighty- ’90s Oberla ’84, MA’87 of Fairfax, Louis, Missouri: he became its seven-year-old D. (Daniel) Reid Virginia, stepped away from her first associate dean for public Ross MA’86 was an urban plan- Explaining that it’s “time to seek position as Web and reference health in 2008, then led the effort ner and family historian. His 1985 new challenges,” journalist

WINTER 2009 57 classnotes

Anthony Shadid ’90 is moving Moe’s spouse, Mia Paul Moe John Roach ’77. later, Miller has traveled the from his position as the JD’00, for the update. She’s the It’s not often that we hear world, raced full time through- Washington Post’s Baghdad director of communications for from a Badger living in Finland, out Europe, and now, living in Fort bureau chief to join the New York the LENA Foundation. but Lisa Erdman ’94 wrote from Collins, Colorado, she’s won a Times’s Baghdad staff. He also Geoffrey Richards ’92 Pori to say that she’s there pur- U.S. championship that qualified notes that his work with the Post is giving back to the boarding suing a doctorate of art at the her for the world championship in represents his “favorite years in school that gave him his start as University of Art and Design Switzerland in September. journalism.” Shadid earned a a trustee for The Hill School in Helsinki. Her thesis is titled, “Art, Sarah Roberts ’97, MA’09 Pulitzer Prize for international Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He’s Humor, and Advertising as Tools was among fourteen people reporting at the Post in 2004 and also principal and head of the for Political Dialogue.” to earn a 2009 Google Policy was a finalist in 2007. special situations and restruc- First Haitham Salawdeh Fellowship, which took her to the There’s a new academic turing group at the William Blair ’94 founded the Milwaukee- American Library Association’s leader at the helm of the & Company investment firm in based Corporate Technology Office of Information Technology University of South Carolina in Chicago. Global M&A Network Solutions to provide integrated IT Policy in Washington, D.C., this Columbia: Michael Amiridis recently named Richards its services. Now he’s broadened its summer. Come fall, she began PhD’91 became the provost and Restructuring Financial Advisor scope considerably by opening doctoral studies at the University VP for academic affairs in August. of the Year. an office in Nablus, Palestine. of Illinois’s Graduate School of He was previously dean of the Seventh-grade social studies Lance Fox DVM’95 of New Library and Information Science. school’s College of Engineering teacher Andrew Liss ’93 of Fair London, Wisconsin, wanted to University of Pittsburgh bio- and Computing. Lawn, New Jersey, writes, “I’ve climb Mount Everest, but he also logical sciences professor Jon (Shanyong) Sam always looked for ways to reach wanted to give back while he was Boyle MS’98, PhD’03 has been Zhang PhD’91 was pleased out into the world and make a in Nepal. So, the technical service rewarded handsomely for his to share that the textbook difference.” So, he contacted manager with Alpharma Animal research thus far on microbes: he’s co-authored, Materials Adam Grenier ’03 of Kiva, Health set about deworming yaks he’s one of seventeen Pew Characterization Techniques the “world’s first person-to- in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley before Charitable Trusts scholars in bio- (CRC Press), has been person micro-lending Web site,” scaling the peak. Fox’s expedition medical sciences, which provides adopted for a course at Purdue a four-year, $240,000 award. University. Zhang is a profes- “I’ve always looked for ways to reach out Boyle specializes in the toxo- sor in the School of Mechanical plasma parasite, which can infect and Aerospace Engineering at into the world and make a difference.” humans and other mammals. Nanyang Technological University — Andrew Liss ’93 Mark Fisher ’98 has in Singapore. packed a lot into his thirty-three Congratulations to Jennifer which empowers individuals to was the subject of the Discovery years, living and working across Fields-Tawil ’92 of Ossining, lend directly to entrepreneurs in Channel’s third installment in its the U.S. and around the world. New York: she’s entered the realm the developing world. Grenier, of Everest: Beyond the Limit series. But now he calls Victor, Idaho, of self-employment as a co- Griswold, Connecticut, served as Winslow Sargeant PhD’95 home — and home base for his owner of Synergy Investigative a Kiva fellow in Sierra Leone and is President Obama’s nom- career as a mountaineer and ski Solutions. For the last twelve is collaborating with Liss’ school inee to serve as chief coun- photographer with both edito- years, she’s been an investigator district. sel for advocacy in the Small rial and commercial clients. His in New York, regulating elements Paul Steinbrenner ’93 was Business Administration’s Office shots posted on ESPN’s online of the public-market, waste- recently promoted to U.S. Navy of Advocacy. Sargeant was most freeskiing gallery this summer removal, and construction indus- commander while serving with the recently the managing director were amazing. tries that are known to have ties Operational Test and Evaluation at Madison’s Venture Investors Stefan Gerhardt ’98, to organized crime. Force in Norfolk, Virginia. and a co-founder of Aanetcom. MS’01, PhD’04 received a People lust after a lot of Amanda Veith ’93 has He’s also a director of the UW Presidential Early Career Award things, but for Jaime (James) collaborated with filmmakers in Foundation and a board member for Scientists and Engineers from Moe ’92, it’s garages. The L.A., found new Web markets of WiCell, WiSys, and the UW’s President Obama this fall. The Boulder, Colorado, entrepreneur for short films for the Sundance Waisman Center. award includes a research grant is the creator, publisher, and edi- Film Festival, and worked in Web- For Meredith Frommer of up to five years. As a staff tor of dreamgarage.com, an inter- based entertainment with Mika Miller ’96, athletics had been physicist at Princeton University’s active Web site for those who Salmi ’87 of AtomFilms. Now about soccer — at the UW and Plasma Physics Laboratory, seek inspiration in the enhance- she’s back in Madison, applying then in a semi-pro league. But Gerhardt is working on a fusion ments others have made in their her knowledge to social media when the league folded, she machine called the National vehicles’ habitats. Thanks to with John Roach Projects, run by looked to cycling. A dozen years Spherical Torus Experiment.

58 ON WISCONSIN Colin McCabe ’98 and Tony summer, Ryan Good ’07 of Shure knew each other from a Brooklyn, New York, was among Calendar school in New York, but, by coin- them for his ensemble work in cidence, met up again in Madison the New York Neo-Futurists’ pro- and found that neither loved duction of Too Much Light Makes February the food. Their response? They the Baby Go Blind. The annual 3 Humanities in the 21st Century founded the Manhattan-based awards honor artistic excellence As part of UW-Madison’s Year of the Humanities celebration, Chop’t Creative Salad Company, in Off-Off-Broadway theater. Chancellor Biddy Martin PhD’85 will host a panel discussion on which has since expanded to Max Bruner ’08 and Adam the UW campus on the vital role that the liberal arts play in our eight additional locations in New Schmidt ’08 — both 2007 Harry lives. humanities.wisc.edu/yearofhumanities York and Washington, D.C. S. Truman Scholars — traveled through the United Arab Emirates 15 Whys and Wows at Discovery World in Milwaukee Designed to engage kids ages ten and younger, Whys and Wows in April as guests of the crown 2000s offers youngsters and parents quick, hands-on activities led prince of Abu Dhabi and par- by expert UW-Madison faculty at various discovery stations. As the executive director of ticipants in the third Emirati- uwalumni.com/uwforyou Energy Action in Washington, American Young Leaders Cultural D.C. — a coalition of fifty youth Exchange. Bruner is now devel- organizations focused on cli- oping an energy investment com- March mate change — Jessy (Jessica) pany in Washington, D.C., while Beginning March 20 Imaginary Architecture Tolkan ’02 is a dynamo who’s Schmidt has joined Teach for See the creations of Belgian photographer Filip Dujardin, become one of the leading young America’s first Milwaukee corps. who combines photos of wildly different buildings into new voices on the subject. This spring, For Joel Charles ’08, the constructions of impossible architecture, at this Chazen Museum Tolkan helped to bring twelve future is about seeking “long- of Art exhibition. chazen.wisc.edu thousand activists to the nation’s term, sustainable solutions to capital for what she calls the health disparities, poverty, and April “largest youth summit on climate environmental degradation.” He’s change in U.S. history.” attending the UW’s School of 5–9 Senior Week Matthew Slaats MA’05, Medicine and Public Health and Members of the 2010 graduating class are invited to a free, five- MFA’05 made the New York was recently named a 2009 Jack day series of events designed to celebrate campus and to acquire Times in May when a game that Kent Cooke Scholar, which entails a host of career and financial skills. uwalumni.com/seniorweek he invented as his MFA project a national graduate scholarship 20–21 Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference was mentioned, but he says it’s worth up to $50,000 per year for In 2010, Earth Day and the Nelson Institute for Environmental just “part of a larger conversation up to six years of study. Studies will both celebrate fortieth anniversaries. The Nelson about sport and art that started at Remember the 1988 Coppola Institute will mark the occasion with Earth Day at 40: Valuing Madison.” The Staatsburg, New film Tucker: The Man and His Wisconsin’s Environmental Traditions, Past, Present and Future York, artist is one of a growing Dream? According to a July New at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in group whose medium is “interac- York Times article, Madison clas- Madison. www.nelson.wisc.edu tive art-sports” or “participatory sic-car restorer Justin Cole ’08 art” — a combination of improvi- has acquired and restored a con- 22–25 Alumni Weekend sational theater and athletics. vertible that some say is a secret Plan now to reconnect with campus and welcome the Class of A recent Popular Mechanics prototype that Preston Tucker 1960 back to celebrate its fiftieth reunion. Alumni Weekend is also article asked, “Is America’s space was developing right before his a great chance to meet friends, enjoy an interesting class, and administration over the hill?” It fledgling car company was shut take an open house tour. Find events, activities, and registration worried that today, fewer than down in 1949. Doubters claim at uwalumni.com/alumniweekend. 20 percent of NASA’s employees that Cole is propagating a hoax, are under the age of forty, versus but, like Tucker, Cole says, “It Founders’ Days its much younger demograph- seems like everyone is against Celebrate UW-Madison’s beginnings at Founders’ Day ics when the agency first placed me, but I will not back down. I will celebrations around the country. These annual events bring the a man on the moon. “Next-gen finish this project.” best of the UW to your community, from presentations by leading NASA” engineer Tom Ahlstrom faculty members to well-loved Badger traditions. Find a Founders’ ’07 of Houston was quoted. Day in your area at uwalumni.com/chapters. When the nominees for the Class Notes compiler Paula For more information on these events, call (888) WIS-ALUM or visit New York Innovative Theatre Wagner Apfelbach ’83 has been uwalumni.com. Award were announced this called worse.

WINTER 2009 59 bookshelf

■ Tango: The Tale ■ The Prometheus Project: Trapped of an Island Dog and The Prometheus Project: Captured (Bloomsbury) is the (both DNA Press) are fast-paced, science- debut novel of Eileen fiction thrillers for tweens that offer accurate Larsen Kittelsen Beha science to boot. They’re written by San Diego, ’72, MS’75, PhD’79 of California, biotech executive Douglas Rich- Minneapolis. Intended ards MS’87, who also writes science pieces for tween readers, it’s the for National Geographic Kids. story of a brave little dog ■ World War II: 365 Days (Library of Con- who “risks all to find his gress/Harry Abrams) is drawn from the vast way back home” after a shipwreck on Prince collections of the Library of Congress, and Edward Island. picture editor Athena Angelos ’88 of Wash- n Seven Steps to a Rewarding Transi- ■ “I’ll Remember This Trip”: Fifty ington, D.C., has drawn them all together. tional Career: Getting Work in a Tough Years of Study Abroad at UW-Madison More than five hundred images — action Economy (HRD Press) is a workbook that (UW Division of International Studies) chroni- shots, editorial cartoons, posters, maps, shows readers how to manage and embrace cles the program’s faculty champions, student combat art, and more — blend with a timeline a “transitional career”: a work-life cycle that pioneers, and direction over a half-century. and excerpts from letters, diaries, speeches, comprises a series of job engagements. The “It was a great project to have as my ‘swan and memoirs to create a “vivid mosaic of the author is Richard Pinsker ’56, MS’59, song,’ ” says Madisonian Joan Raducha battlefield and home-front experiences.” ’72, MA’76, PhD’82 about writing the book of Pinsker and Company in Granite Bay, ■ A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food before her 2008 retirement from the UW. California. and Drink Made by Monks and Nuns n Business Mensch: ■ When a stigmatic (Tarcher) by Madison journalist Madeline Timeless Wisdom for priest bleeds to death Scherb ’89 is part travel guide and part Today’s Entrepreneur on Good Friday in front cookbook: a survey of delicious consumables (Wolfeboro Press) says, in of his parishioners in made by Catholic religious orders in America a warm and wry way, that Bleeder (Sophia Insti- and Europe; a sense of the spirit, work, and what’s good for the soul tute Press), is it a miracle history that go into them; and recipes from is good for business, too. — or murder? Author notable chefs incorporating the products. John Desjarlais ’76 And its author, (Norman) ■ Called to Account: teaches English and jour- Noah Alper ’69 of Berke- Fourteen Financial nalism at Kishwaukee ley, California, should know: he founded the Frauds that Shaped College in Malta, Illinois, Noah’s New York Bagels and Bread & Circus the American and recently re-released natural-foods chains. Accounting Profes- his medieval thriller, Relics (Thomas Nelson). ■ Thoughts of a sion (Routledge Pub- Scientist, Citizen, ■ Healing Parties (Xulon Press) begins with lishing) chronicles some and Grandpa on a trip that Gail Mosley Conner ’82 took to of the most egregious Climate Change: Africa in 2006, but then it takes the reader on financial frauds in an Bridging the Gap a longer, more intimate journey through the entertaining (yes!) and between Scientific author’s life. Its message is one of healing and educational way. Author Paul Clikeman and Public Opinion hope through reconciliation, no matter how PhD’95 is an associate professor of account- (iUniverse) warns force- readers or their ancestors arrived in America. ing at the University of Richmond [Virginia]. Conner is the president of G&C Environmental fully against backsliding ■ Couldn’t we all use a little more Pru- Services in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. in environmental improvement efforts due to dent Decision Making in an Imprudent the difficulties they’ll cause. It’s the work of ■ Radio’s Hidden Voice: The Origins World: Better Decisions at Home and Eric Grimsrud PhD’71 of Kalispell, Montana. of Public Broadcasting in the United Work (Praeger)? This new work by Patrick ■ Sweet and Sour Pie: A Wisconsin States (University of Illinois Press) fills in what Gould PhD’06 combines research-based Boyhood (University of Wisconsin Press) most histories of the medium leave out: public principles, practical advice, and many exam- evokes, as one reviewer wrote, an “enviable radio’s early development during the 1920s ples of good and bad decision-making. He’s a Wisconsin childhood.” The teller of the tale, a and ’30s. Author Hugh Richard Slotten retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, former UW former spokesperson for the state’s DNR, is MS’85, MA’86, PhD’91 is a senior lecturer at educational researcher, and founder of Major Dave Crehore MA’72 of Green Bay. the University of Otago in New Zealand. Decision Consulting in Middleton, Wisconsin.

60 ON WISCONSIN sifting &winnowing SPENCER WALTS

Grow Your Own Security By Justin Mog MS’99, PhD’03

Like so many of our fellow Badgers who finish Peace Corps service each year, my wife, Amanda Fuller MS’02, and I were traveling home in late 2008. But instead of exploring foreign lands on our way back to U.S. soil, we traveled America by rail in an effort to rediscover what felt like a very different country from the one we left in 2005. In the midst of considerable apprehension about the economy and climate change, we found an amazing amount of hope and interest in sustainable re- localization — especially when it comes to food. In November 2008, at the close of three years working in agriculture and nutrition in Paraguay, we thought it would be fitting to send a letter to President-elect Obama, urging him to plant an organic kitchen gar- den on the White House lawn as a model of sustainable living and healthy eating. To our delight, we weren’t the only ones who thought this was a good idea, including the Obamas themselves, who broke ground on their garden in March 2009, as well as the new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, who’s creating a People’s Garden at the USDA. And it’s not just happening in Washington. Around the country community gardens and farmers’ markets are sprouting like weeds, seed companies are reporting record sales, and we’ve seen inspir- ing efforts by groups such as Growing Power in Milwaukee, the New Agrarian Center in Cleveland, and The Greening of Detroit, all of which And in an age when we are becoming acutely aware of the prob- are helping to transform vacant lots, urban blight, and food deserts into lems of oil addiction, imagine a world in which draft animals are still highly productive gardens and nurseries. used to work the land and transport goods. When I’d wave to Hermosa It’s as though our country has taken a lesson from the Paraguayans rambling down the red earth road on an oxcart, I often felt as though I’d we had been sent to help. stepped back in time; but in a post-peak-oil world, perhaps he’s ram- Peace Corps volunteers often conclude that, in the end, they bling on ahead of us, like the tortoise overtaking the hare. learned more than their hosts. As someone who studied sustainable The simple fact that Hermosa’s family is capable of producing development at UW-Madison, one of the most striking lessons of my most of what they need means that they are living much more sus- service was that being “poor” can mean a dizzying array of things in tainably than the vast majority of us in the “developed” world. While today’s world; and, thus, helping people get out of “poverty” requires we typically measure success and progress by how much farther we the opposite of the all-too-common, one-size-fits-all development can detach ourselves from the land, many of us are starting to real- strategy. But, thankfully, one thing was universal in my Paraguayan ize that — from a sustainability perspective — the measures run in the community: no matter how poor, no one goes hungry. opposite direction. This is why I have tremendous hope for societies This realization highlighted for me the importance of something I’d like Paraguay’s, and I believe that the corner we’re finally turning in the learned about during my UW days, and a concern which now seems U.S. is such an important milestone. Fortunately, there’s still time for us to be sweeping the nation. I sat down with my Paraguayan neighbor, to learn from one another. Don Hermosa, and did some basic calculations about this. We found that a typical Paraguayan family of eight could achieve food security on Justin Mog and his wife are proud graduates of the Gaylord Nelson a surprisingly small amount of land by growing a year’s worth of basic Institute for Environmental Studies, and he now works at the University foodstuffs on little more than a hectare (2.5 acres) and by feeding their of Louisville as the first-ever assistant to the provost for sustainability animals off another two hectares. They also have the potential to meet initiatives. many other needs on their land, including yerba mate (a bitter iced green tea made from this native plant is the undisputed national bever- age), medicinal herbs (popular and well known throughout the country), If you’re a UW-Madison alumna or alumnus and you’d like the editors to sponges (loofahs are native to the region), bamboo, sugar, honey, green consider an essay of this length for publication in On Wisconsin, please manures, lumber, firewood, and a bounty of fruit. send it to [email protected].

WINTER 2009 61 Hillel still one of his organization’s most impor- “I didn’t spend a lot of time at Hillel Continued from page 41 tant purposes. But making students feel when I was a student,” says Hochberg. The result was a Hillel that was intel- welcome is becoming increasingly com- “I could get all the Jewishness I wanted lectually challenging. Dolores Adler Erle- plex, as “the Jewish theme” can mean very within my fraternity.” bacher ’62 says that Hillel “was the place different things to the UW’s large and And so when creating the new build- where I first heard about the Holocaust diverse Jewish population. ing, Steinberger and his colleagues tried — I mean really heard about it. They had Steinberger came to Madison in 1999, to design it to offer students the oppor- a survivor come and talk to us.” having previously worked with Hillel tunity to create their own experience. And Kiekhofer’s Wall? The Hillel at Ohio State University in Columbus. “Eighteen- to twenty-one-year olds, Center offered to give the wall to students There, he says, most of the Jewish stu- they’re just beginning to figure the world so that it could be restored elsewhere, but dents came from within Ohio, making out, to find out what it means to think the gesture failed. Souvenir hunters took them a fairly homogenous group, but he independently,” Steinberger says. “We so many of the stones that the wall was quickly realized that this wasn’t true at the want to help them do that, to create a doomed. When workers examined the UW, where most of the Jewish students space that helps them figure out how they remaining bricks, they determined that come from out of state. “This means want to be. We’re a big tent.” somewhere between twenty-six and thirty that they bring a wide variety of experi- Which, of course, is not literally true layers of paint covered each one. ences and expectations,” he says. This — Hillel’s new Barbara Hochberg Center university, he came to understand, would is four stories and 40,000 square feet of require more physical space than the stone, steel, glass, wood, and concrete. A menu from the center then offered. It’s one of the largest Hillel centers in When the previous Hillel House the country, and it’s also working to earn new Hillel Café was built in 1953, the UW’s student LEED (Leadership in Energy and Envi- When Sharon Byer x’10 and her mother body numbered fewer than 14,000, and ronmental Design) certification, making made their first visit to Madison in 2006, its Jewish population was around 1,200. it one of the greenest structures in the Mom made sure they took the brief jour- Currently, UW-Madison has more than campus area. It includes not only spaces ney up Langdon Street to Hillel. 40,000 students, and Steinberger esti- for Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox “She was familiar with Hillel from mates that 5,000 of them are Jewish. services every week, but also room for its chapter at the University of Mary- “It’s not uncommon for many of student groups; study areas equipped with land,” says Byer, a Silver Spring native. them to say that their only contact with wireless Internet access; a gym; and a “They’ve got one of the largest and most Hillel is at the High Holidays,” Stein- street-front kosher café that Steinberger active chapters, and we’d heard that the berger says. And this is something he hopes will appeal not only to Jewish stu- Wisconsin chapter is very active, too.” understands — when he was a graduate dents, but also to the crowds that walk up Finding a thriving Jewish student cen- student at the University of Michigan, and down Langdon Street every day. ter was, Byer felt, an important element he didn’t see much of that campus’s The new building may embody what for feeling comfortable in Madison; she Hillel center until his last year. “That’s Steinberger sees as Hillel’s future, but it’s had never spent much time away from the when I discovered it was a pretty good also working to fill the organization’s origi- East Coast before and was then getting place to study,” he says. nal mission of preserving Jewish identity. ready to graduate from the Jewish Day In light of this and of his understand- “For five thousand years, people have School in Rockville, Maryland. ing of UW-Madison, Steinberger has chosen to participate in this heritage,” he “The Jewish theme is big in my life,” developed Hillel’s new home to appeal to says. “If we’re doing our job well, we’re she says. students in new ways. The lead donors using our presence to make this campus a Greg Steinberger, the current direc- — Ricky Sandler ’91 and Larry Hoch- richer, better place.” n tor of the Madison Hillel Center, knows berg ’58 (whose first wife, Barbara, is the On Wisconsin senior editor John Allen wishes that making Jewish students — and their building’s namesake) — typify holidays- he had witnessed the destruction of Kiek- parents — comfortable with Madison is only Hillel patrons. hofer’s Wall by, evidently, a team of showgirls.

62 ON WISCONSIN BETTMANN/CORBIS

Quotes that the weather would be fine, so Continued from page 31 we thought we would try it. I saw a oral contraceptive was synthesized fleet of fishing boats. ... I flew down by Carl Djerassi PhD’45. Howard almost touching the craft and yelled Aiken ’22’s Mark I machine is often at them, asking if I was on the right said to have ushered in the com- road to Ireland. They just stared. puter age. Yet it was another UW Maybe they didn’t hear me. Maybe graduate, John V. Atanasoff, who I didn’t hear them. Or maybe they in 1973 was adjudged by a United thought I was just a crazy fool. An States District Court to be the hour later I saw land. inventor of the first automatic Charles Lindbergh, Jr. x’22 (aviator), New York Times (May 23, 1927) electronic digital computer, which he created in 1939. I conclude this romp through UW The Pill is a four-letter word, but CHARLES LINDBERGH, JR. quotation history with the lighter it’s both a pejorative word and areas of sports and popular culture, complimentary. In the beginning, where Bud Selig issued a carefully an explosion of litigation went on for ten years, while women ambiguous commemoration of a baseball feat and Steve concerned about side effects demanded, “Why do you use us Miller achieved a lasting niche in musical trivia with a cryptic as guinea pigs?” But then when women saw that it empow- phraseology: ered them, it was a quantum jump — from diaphragms and condoms to the Pill — with nothing at all in between. I congratulate Barry Bonds for establishing a new career home- Carl Djerassi PhD’45 (chemist), run record. Barry’s achievement is noteworthy and remarkable. San Francisco Chronicle (March 16, 1992) While the issues which have swirled around this record will continue to work themselves toward resolution, today is a day At the present time there exist problems beyond our ability for congratulations on a truly remarkable achievement. to solve, not because of theoretical difficulties, but because of Bud Selig ’56 (commissioner of baseball) (August 7, 2007) insufficient means of mechanical computation. Howard Aiken ’23 (computer scientist), “Proposed Some people call me the space cowboy. Automatic Calculating Machine” (1937) Yeah! Some call me the gangster of love. It was at an evening of scotch and one-hundred-miles-per- Some people call me Maurice, hour car rides when the concept came, for an electronically ’Cause I speak of the pompatus of love. operated machine, that would use base-two (binary) numbers Steve Miller x’65 (musician), “The Joker” (1973) instead of the traditional base-ten numbers, condensers for There has been endless speculation about the meaning of memory, and a regenerative process to preclude loss of Miller’s “pompatus of love” — it has been referenced, for memory from electrical failure. example, on television’s The Simpsons, in a novel by Michael John Atanasoff PhD’30 (computer scientist), Bristol Evening Post (February 8, 2001) Ondaatje, and in a 1996 movie whose title was actually The Pompatus of Love. The best guess is that Miller adapted the words More Space Cowboys from a 1954 rhythm-and-blues song by the Medallions, whose lyrics included “Oh my darling, let me ... discuss the puppetutes UW alums have made their explorations not just in the labora- of love.” Unfortunately, the definition of “puppetutes” is way tory, but also in the skies. In addition to Jim Lovell, another beyond the scope of this article. n famous alumnus made his mark in the world of aerospace:

We (that’s my ship and I) took off rather suddenly. We had a In addition to being an expert on quotations, Fred Shapiro is the report somewhere around four o’clock in the afternoon before associate librarian and a lecturer in legal research at Yale Law School.

WINTER 2009 63 You can have an impact on the University of Wisconsin-Madison through a planned gift. Your foresight now will benefit a campus program or area that you value far into the future. It also can pay off with tax advantages. To find out more, contact the UW Foundation’s Office of Planned Giving at 608.263.4545 or [email protected].

Your legacY is the universitY’s future.

www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu

2009 Today’s Support Leads to Tomorrow’s Success Each year the UW Athletic Department faces the challenge of supporting nearly 800 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports. The ongoing generosity of over 15,000 friends and fans is vital to funding the scholar- ships and facilities needed for tomorrow’s success.

Invest In excellence Contribute to Wisconsin Athletics Contact the Badger Fund at 608.262.1000 or visit uwbadgers.com.

64 ON WISCONSIN Checking with Compassion

Mayfair Branch Coming Soon Enjoy a new full-service branch opening Spring 2010 at 2365 Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa, WI. First things first: You can count on our competitive products, like Rewards Checking, loans, online banking and other valuable products to all be very competitive. You can also count on compassion and care in our relationship with you. A certain humanity underlines our products, services and ourselves so that your best interest (as well as the interest of our more than 139,000 members) always comes first.

FEDERALLY INSURED BY NCUA uwcu.org | 800.533.6773

WINTER 2009 65 flashback UW-MADISON ARCHIVES

Floating in Furs Residents from Ann Emery Hall, then a private women’s dormitory, set score, when Ohio State blocked a Wisconsin punt and recovered it in sail on their lawn as part of a Homecoming tableau in November 1931. the end zone. The display, which involved a boat, a stormy sea, and a lighthouse, won It seemed all of campus was descending into chaos that weekend. first prize among dorm entries that year. Homecoming festivities turned into a riot when some five hundred stu- The 1931 Homecoming was a rough one for the Badgers, who lost dent revelers stormed the Orpheum Theatre. The Capital Times covered 6 to 0 to Ohio State, and the Emery women’s display turned out to be the riot like a sporting event, giving it a tally in injuries and arrests. The surprisingly apropos. Although meteorologists forecast perfect weather police, they wrote, “scored two knock-downs and three POW.” for game day, Madison instead received a deluge. Twelve hours of In 2009, Ann Emery still stands at 265 Langdon Street, though rain turned Camp Randall into a swamp, and the sun never made an it’s now an apartment building. And Homecoming was considerably appearance. Fans were frustrated by a heavy fog that blanketed the calmer, with no call for lifeboats. field in the third and fourth quarters, and few managed to see the lone John Allen

66 ON WISCONSIN Invest in Great PEOPLE Ensure that the leaders of tomorrow can afford a world-class UW-Madison education today.

Students like Apriel Campbell will change our world in ways that we have yet to imagine. This work-study genetics major revels in the unlimited possibilities of a great public university, from cutting-edge science to intercultural dialogs.

But even bright students like Apriel cannot afford to attend UW-Madison without your help. Your gift to the Great People Scholarship creates a pool of financial resources for promising students. Make your gift now to support UW-Madison’s next generation. The UW Foundation will even match your gift to increase its impact.

Go to uwgreatpeople.org to learn more and to give online today.

Great People Move Wisconsin Forward

WINTER 2009 5

OnWisconsin_InsideBackCover_09-30-09_v01.indd 1 10/2/2009 10:39:20 AM On Wisconsin NONPROFIT Address Correction Department PRESORT STANDARD P.O. Box 8860 U.S. POSTAGE Madison, WI 53708-8860 PAID COLUMBUS, WI Change Service Requested PERMIT 106 PHOTO COMPOSITE. CAMPUS PHOTO BY JEFF MILLER BY JEFF PHOTO CAMPUS COMPOSITE. PHOTO

Home. It’s where you feel connected.

Members of the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) are an important part of the UW community. So become a member and feel right at home as you connect with ideas, information and fellow Badgers.

Membership is also a way to leave your mark by supporting valuable scholarships, programs and services, and enjoying exclusive benefits like Badger Insider Magazine. So live your life as a Badger to the fullest.

Join today at uwalumni.com/membership, or call (888) 947-2586.

owbc_winter09.indd 1 10/27/09 9:30:17 AM