Fall 2007 in Volume 108, Number 3 WISCONSIN

Fall 2007 IN Volume 108, Number 3 WISCONSIN

Getting In: The Not-So-Secret Admissions Process 18 As any high school senior can attest, the college search process is complicated these days. Woven in among the entrance exams and the application forms and the deadlines are myths about who gets in and who doesn’t — and why. On Wisconsin talks to the people who make those decisions every day and learns that numbers are only part of the equation. By Michael Penn MA’97 18 May the Farce Be With You 28 When a group of budding filmmakers creates a parody of Star Wars that becomes a YouTube sensation, you can bet that UW alums are involved. Find out why Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager has been downloaded some 18 million times. By Erin Hueffner ’00

Hidden History 30 Recorded history of the early days of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement, from 1950 to 1970, is spotty at best. In a first-of-its- kind UW-Madison experiential learning course, students and professors traveled to meet people, see places, and formulate the past firsthand. 28 By Susan Zaeske ’89, MA’93, PhD’97 and Scott Seyforth MSx’08

I’m Not Who You Think I Am 36 They express themselves and how they feel about the world INSIDE around them through a powerful mechanism: words. And now the LETTERS 4 students who have embraced urban art, including “spoken word,” are SIFTING & WINNOWING 9 coming together on campus, playing a leadership role in a national DISPATCHES 10 movement and sharing their craft with others. CLASSROOM 16 By Jenny Price ’96 SCENE 42 SPORTS 44 36 WAA NEWS 46 UPFRONT 48 ALUMNI NEWS 49 PHILANTHROPY 56 MAIN EVENTS 64 FLASHBACK 66

Cover: What advice can you believe about getting through the door to a top- choice college like UW-Madison? An admissions staff with decades of expertise sorts through the myths and the well-intentioned opinions, and describes a process that is anything but formulaic. Photo by Jeff Miller LETTERS

On Wisconsin Magazine welcomes letters was most revealing as to what one man [Dispatches, “She’s Got Game,” Summer from our readers. The editors reserve the right can do with his skills for medicine, public 2007]. I am glad you’re helping promote to edit letters for length or clarity. Please e-mail health, and business for an entire nation. this wonderful form of entertainment for comments to [email protected]; mail them Ruth Kortemeier ’64 young and old alike. I realize violence to On Wisconsin, 650 North Lake Street, Rockford, Illinois is very entertaining and very popular, Madison, WI 53706-1476; or fax them to which I hope Raven Software is in a (608) 265-8771. Savoring Story on Savants position to capitalize on with help from The article on Darold Treffert [“The Rain UW-Madison. Please Update Your Address Man in All of Us”], similar to the excellent Your idea of having the “elite-force” UW-Madison wants to stay in touch article several years back on anthropology assassin as a beautiful woman in black with you. As primary manager of the professor Neil Whitehead [“Unintended stiletto heels is even more persuasive and UW alumni and friends database, the Consequences,” Fall 2003], is a timely entertaining. We all know that the pro- UW Foundation is always seeking and needed reminder of the world-class liferation of violence, including mall and up-to-date contact information. academic institution that is the University school shootings, has had little impact on You can update your information of Wisconsin, a treasure to the world. our lives, and is certainly not related to online by visiting www.uwfoundation. Keep these types of articles flowing. the proliferation of violent video games. wisc.edu/survey. When you are Jim Noyes ’64 I also believe Raven Software asked to log in, please use the iden- North Easton, Massachusetts should explore and produce graphic tification number located above rape video games with the assistance of your name on the magazine mailing Niki Denison’s well-thought-out article UW-Madison, as a new and revolution- label. Taking these steps will help on Darold Treffert in your Summer issue ary form of entertainment. This also us to maintain consistent and accurate brought back some pleasant memories of would have little impact on those who information, which is shared selec- Dr. Treffert and his unique personality. play them, and could be another proud tively with the Wisconsin Alumni In the 1970s, while I was employed moment in UW-Madison history. Association and most othercampus at Dodge County Mental Health Center, James Navratil ’86 departments and programs that you Dr. Treffert was a mentor and teacher to Scottsdale, Arizona may be involved with as analum, our staff. At the close of one training ses- volunteer, faculty member, or donor. sion, staff asked him how he happened to The Stellar UW Staff Thank you! go into psychiatry. As the husband of former Wisconsin Dr. Treffert said that when he was State Climatologist Pam Knox, I’ve had Congrats on Summer Issue growing up, he wanted to be a pediatri- the privilege of knowing Lyle Anderson My congratulations and appreciation for cian, as he liked kids. Following his year [“Pitchman,” Summer 2007] for more the diversity shown throughout the latest as a medical intern, he attended a sym- than fifteen years. He is a gem. issue [Summer 2007] of On Wisconsin. I posium with medical professionals who After having attended and worked have received many calls from alumni of hosted question-and-answer sessions on at five different universities, I am fairly color expressing their appreciation. their fields. The pediatrician hosting the certain that the factor that significantly Chuck McDowell ’77 first session told the students that if you elevates the UW above its peers is not the Madison wanted to be a pediatrician, you had to quality of its faculty. You can find similar have the patience of a saint, the knowl- fine faculty at a number of universities What a gorgeous issue of On Wisconsin edge and skills of the Divine, and above — indeed, the “stars” rotate from one (Summer 2007). Every article was inter- all, you must own a vomit-colored suit. institution to another with remarkable esting and informative. The one on Dr. Dr. Treffert said he did not own frequency. But at no other university Ernest Darkoh [“Country Doctor”] and a vomit-colored suit, so he went on to have I found anything close to the same his inspiring work was so well done! The another session, and was intrigued by level of excellence in the staff that I expe- article on savants [“The Rain Man in All psychiatry — and the rest is history. rienced at Wisconsin. They make the of Us”] and what the research on them From my experience, Darold Treffert place hum and rise above any limitations. implies for all of us just blew me away. is one of the Lord’s gifts to mankind. Why does the UW enjoy such a competi- There’s not room to mention all — but I Gene Schwarze ’61 tive advantage with regard to staff? The read every article! Eagle River, Wisconsin staff of a university, unlike its faculty, is Betty Garton Ulrich ’72 much less mobile, and the talent pool is Stone Lake, Wisconsin Video Game Violence usually limited to the locals and to faculty I couldn’t be more proud of the fact that spouses. This is where Madison blows Thank you [for the Summer 2007 On my alma mater is involved in creating the doors off of other college towns, Wisconsin]. The article “Country Doctor” the next-generation assassin video game Continued on page 58

4 ON WISCONSIN

%&&"$ %!%&+ %""#&!&" & &&$&

"%"!-%"" %& "%&*&!!)" '!&++"'- .!%"!-%

"%&%&+ %"!"%,%")%!#&" &+%"##!'!&".! & !! ( '%!&!&"!-%.$%&'!! ! "$%! #(%&& % !&$&( "' ($$& !*&&" &"#$ !$"%%$" &!)'!! ! !"$ # !"%#$% $ ! "! &.$%&&" (& ! "(&

FALL 2007 5 Which UW–Madison alum has helped cure global disease and alleviate human suffering for more than 80 years?

WARF, the nonprofit organization founded by UW alumni that supports the university’s world-class research, and patents and licenses UW–Madison discoveries that improve lives around the world. In 1925, nine visionary UW alumni created the world’s first university technology transfer organization, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Since then, WARF has helped support and advance some of the most important scientific and medical breakthroughs of the past century. Nearly a century ago, WARF founder, UW alumnus and professor, Harry Steenbock, pioneered the use of Vitamin D that wiped out the childhood disease of rickets. WARF has continued to support major new Vitamin D research and has helped UW–Madison scientists lead the search for treatments and cures for other diseases, such as juvenile diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and heart disease. Learn more about the 1,600 UW patents, 1,500 UW licensed technologies and $860 million WARF has provided UW–Madison to support research, programs and initiatives www.warf.org at www.warf.org.

6 ON WISCONSIN SIFTING & WINNOWING

FALL 2007 7 LETTERS Their futures are a little brighter. BOB RASHID

Thanks to you, Create the Future: The Wisconsin people together to find a common ground, Campaign has been a record-setting success and will lead to new opportunities for the the future is ever brighter for these prospective University of Wisconsin-Madison to shape Badgers. The conversations inspired by the and to lead the century of discovery. campaign will continue, as will the challenge Thanks to you, the future is in good hands. and joy of helping this great university evolve into an extraordinary university. These For further information please conversations, which are bringing call 608-263-4545 or e-mail [email protected].

CREATE THE FUTURE The Wisconsin Campaign

www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu

8 ON WISCONSIN SIFTING & WINNOWING

ON Fall 2007 The Make-a-Life Challenge It was Winston Churchill who first wrote, “We make a living by WISCONSIN what we get, but we make a life by what we give” (italics mine). Winner of the 2006 CASE Grand Gold Award These words can certainly be applied to our debt to the University for Periodical Staff Writing of Wisconsin. None of us were anywhere near Bascom Hill when that Publisher first class met on a February morning generations ago. However, Wisconsin Alumni Association we found evidence of those who came before us at every turn. 650 North Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706 Everything was in place: a world-renowned faculty, state-of-the- KIMBERLY PILLAR Voice: (608) 262-2551 • Toll-free: art facilities on Lake Mendota, and proud, passionate alumni. This (888) WIS-ALUM • Fax: (608) 265-8771 place inspired and attracted students from every county of the E-mail: [email protected] Web site: uwalumni.com/onwisconsin state, every state in the Union, and from well over one hundred countries. That total education package offered us arguably the Co-Editors most complete college experience in the country. Niki Denison, Wisconsin Alumni Association Cindy Foss, University Communications During my eighteen years as a member of the Wisconsin Alumni Association volunteer board of directors, I’ve seen the Senior Editor many ways that the association is working to build on the legacy John Allen, Wisconsin Alumni Association of those who came before. I have seen the number of engaged Writer and involved alumni reach and then exceed 200,000. In 1998, all Jenny Price ’96, University Communications alumni began receiving On Wisconsin magazine. The association’s Editorial Associates Web site highlights the myriad WAA initiatives, events, and volun- Paula Apfelbach ’83 and Erin Hueffner ’00, teer opportunities in Madison and beyond. Alumni chapters around the Wisconsin Alumni Association world offer rich and varied programs that connect UW-Madison graduates. Scholarship funds raised from those programs are matched by the Art Director Go online to Earl J. Madden MFA’82, UW Foundation and can make the difference in whether students attend University Communications our alma mater. The list of Lifelong Learning programs, including the uwalumni.com/ makealife to take the Production Editor award-winning Grandparents University, continues to grow. Eileen Fitzgerald ’79, Beginning this fall, there will be new opportunities for alumni to get challenge and let University Communications involved in UW-Madison. Students are the focus of the university, but us know how you’d like to get involved Design, Layout, and Production they often give little thought to their role as future alumni. To increase Barry Carlsen MFA’83, Toni Good ’76, their awareness and involvement, we need to do much more with and in helping students MA’89, Kent Hamele ’78, Christine Knorr ’99, for them. This year, in partnership with the Offices of the Dean of Stu- and strengthening Nancy Rinehart, University Communications dents and the vice provost for teaching and learning, WAA is renewing your university. Editorial Intern its efforts to enhance their experience. Longtime celebrations such as Elli Thompson x’08 Homecoming and the All-Campus Party will continue to be important Campus Advisers components of this program. In addition, initiatives such as Wisconsin Paula Bonner MS’78, President and CEO, Welcome’s Fifth Quarter, Founders Days in the residence halls, and and Mary DeNiro, Vice President of enhanced commencement activities offer new opportunities for alumni Marketing and Communications, Wisconsin to connect with and enrich our students. There will also be opportuni- Alumni Association • Albert Friedman, Associate Director, and Amy E. Toburen ties for supporting student scholarships, participating in mentoring and ’80, Director, University Communications • career programs, and much more throughout the year. Lynne Johnson, Senior Director of External Your time investment will be a vital part of the success of this Relations, University of Wisconsin Foundation initiative. It will be much appreciated by the students whose Badger Advertising Representative experience you affect ... and by those who made your own University Madison Magazine: (608) 270-3600 of Wisconsin experience possible. So, I’m asking you to “make a life” Alumni Name, Address, Phone, and E-Mail — yours and one for many future Badgers — by visiting uwalumni.com/ Changes • Death Notices makealife to find out how you can get more involved. Madison area: (608) 262-9648 Meanwhile, feel free to stop by the Marty and Florence Below Toll-free: (888) 947-2586 Alumni Center at the foot of Lake Street on Lake Mendota for a wel- E-mail: [email protected] come back to campus. I hope to see you there or at www.uwalumni.com! The Wisconsin Alumni Association® (WAA) encourages diversity, inclusivity, non- Doug Griese ’75 discrimination, and participation by all WAA Chair of the Board alumni, students, and friends of the UW in its activities.

Printed on recycled paper.

FALL 2007 9 DISPATCHES

Live from Ag Hall Goldberg’s bootleg lectures now on CD.

Like the most diehard fan of a his attorney and now serves fund pooled their recordings rock band, Sidney Iwanter ’71 as secretary-treasurer for the to release the collection of lec- went to extremes to capture a memorial fund. tures Goldberg gave from 1974 piece of legendary UW history Goldberg, who began to 1976, most of them in his — professor Harvey Goldberg teaching at the UW in 1963, popular Contemporary Societies ’43, PhD’51. wrote just three books — one course. After Goldberg told him in French — during his career, With only a lecture outline “no” when he asked permission putting most of his academic on a three-by-five note card, to tape his class, Iwanter stuffed efforts into preparing lectures. Goldberg described a vibrant the 1962 Bell & Howell recorder “Harvey inspired a lot of history of struggles against he received as a bar mitzvah people to do a lot of differ- colonialism and imperialism gift under a bulky sweater and ent things with their lives that around the world. The theme snaked the microphone cord they otherwise would not have of resistance to domination by through the sleeve to record done,” Borns says. the West ran through the entire dozens of lectures. Another fan, Chibu Lag- course, says Allen Ruff MA’76, “Some people listened man MS’88, was not enrolled PhD’87, who was a teaching to The Doors at night; I just in Goldberg’s class, but won his assistant for Goldberg and wanted to listen to [Goldberg],” reluctant permission to record today serves as president of the says Iwanter, a Los Angeles the lectures when he promised memorial fund. $36 million television producer who funds to share the tapes with people “I’ve listened to all the The estimated amount of fed- an annual “love of learning” in his native Philippines who CDs in the collection. In each eral and private research fund- scholarship at UW-Madison. were living under dictator lecture, there is something ing that faculty departures cost Iwanter wasn’t alone. A Ferdinand Marcos. “Given the of significance, salient to this UW-Madison from 2004 to 2006, handful of Goldberg’s students restrictions and censorship, we moment we’re currently in,” according to the Office of the recorded his unparalleled lec- were so starved for the kind of Ruff says. “The lessons [and] the Provost. The number of UW pro- tures before a packed house in lessons and information that continuities are staggering.” fessors receiving outside offers Agricultural Hall. Now some of Harvey imparted,” says Lagman, To order Harvey Goldberg: from universities, including Ari- these “bootleg” recordings are who donated his recordings to The Bootleg Lectures, visit zona State, Pittsburgh, and Flor- part of a CD collection released the project and now teaches http://history.wisc.edu/Goldberg/ ida State, hit a twenty-year high jointly by UW-Madison’s Harvey Latin American studies at the hgc_cd/cd.htm or www.rain- last year. Officials blame the Goldberg Center for the Study University of Alberta and sociol- bowbookstore.org/goldberg. departures on budget cuts to of Contemporary History and ogy at Grant MacEwan College. — Jenny Price ’96 the UW System in recent years, the community-based Harvey “His lectures and his friend- salaries that aren’t competitive Goldberg Memorial Fund. ship ... helped me bear with other schools’ offers, and Both groups received a the pain and loneli- the lack of health care benefits number of recordings from ness of exile.” for domestic partners. Goldberg’s former students fol- Advances lowing his death from cancer in audio in 1987. Since then, they have technology worked independently to pre- made it serve and protect the cassette possible tapes, which started to disin- to digi- tegrate after spending years tize and stored in unstable conditions. remaster Before turning his tapes over to some the history department in 2004, of the Iwanter had kept them in cigar student- boxes under his bed. Others recorded were stored in people’s cars. lectures “We thought, ‘This is his — diminish- legacy here, and how do we ing the echo of preserve this and not just Goldberg’s powerful let it deteriorate and go to voice within the walls UW S waste?’“says Mark Borns ‘80, of the cavernous lecture -MADISON ARCHIVE JD’83, a former Goldberg stu- hall — and convert them to dent who went on to become CDs. The center and memorial

10 ON WISCONSIN DISPATCHES

Days of Their Lives A landmark study spans a half-century — and counting.

Lee Schoenecker ’61, MS’64 journal articles, and other schol- doesn’t recall filling out a sur- arly publications, and the study’s vey fifty years ago about his data have been requested hun- plans after high school, yet dreds of times by researchers JEFF MILLER this long-forgotten event has worldwide. Along the way, the stayed with him. Since then, the investigation has also had a pro- retired urban planner has spent found impact on public policy many hours being surveyed via and practices. both telephone and written “One of the big effects of questionnaire. He recently pro- the WLS was that it inspired vided a sample of DNA. Even his a whole series of federal sur- wife and siblings have become veys, which have been carried involved. out more or less regularly ever And he’s not alone. Like since,” says Robert Hauser, Schoenecker, more than ten UW-Madison sociology professor thousand graduates from and WLS director. Wisconsin’s high school classes None of this would have of 1957 have participated for been possible, though, without a half-century in the Wisconsin the cooperation of the gradu- Lifelong bonds: When 1957 graduates of Lake Mills High School gathered Longitudinal Study (WLS), one of ates, which is why WLS research- this summer for their fiftieth reunion, they shared far more than small talk. the longest and most respected ers have been sharing results at They and their spouses listened intently and asked questions about the sociological investigations ever more than fifty-five high school findings of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. undertaken. Started at UW-Mad- reunions held this year. ison as a survey of high school “We know class reunions are Class of 1957 and their spouses seniors’ post-graduation plans, a big thing for everyone around listened attentively to a presen- the WLS has since evolved into the country, and the fiftieth tation by Roan, then bombarded a study of the entire life course, reunion is very special,” says her with questions. From the including education, career, Carol Roan MS’89, PhD’94, WLS front row, Schoenecker posed family, aging, and retirement. scientist and the reunion effort’s several questions of his own As Schoenecker and other chief architect. “So we just saw about the study that has been study participants have traversed this as an opportunity to give part of his life for five decades. these stages, their journeys have back to these people who have “One of my classmates given social scientists unprec- spent so much time with us.” asked me recently, ‘Why are edented insight into how a life- One of the reunions was you so interested in this?’ “ he time of experiences influences Schoenecker’s own, in June. recalls, “And I said, ‘Because it’s quality of life as people age. Amid a banquet and a pontoon part of me, and my family, and WLS findings have appeared in boat ride, two dozen members everything else.’ “ more than four hundred books, of the Lake Mills High School — Madeline Fisher PhD’98

Ripe Old Age markers for stress, immune function, and car- diovascular risk. Now, working with a team of Americans feel enormous pressure to stay U.S. and Japanese researchers, she is compar- forever young — or at least to age gracefully. ing those findings with data collected from Whether that cultural trait affects emotional one thousand residents of Tokyo. Ryff explains and physical health has captured the inter- that while Japanese society emphasizes filial est of Carol Ryff, director of the UW-Madison obligation, interdependence, and respect for Institute on Aging. Ryff’s groundbreaking lon- the elderly, the youth-oriented United States gitudinal study of midlife and aging, which has values individualism and independence. One surveyed more than seven thousand Americans intriguing finding of the new study, she says, ages twenty-five to seventy-four, has already may be that “it’s easier to get old in Japan demonstrated that a range of psychologi- than in the U.S.” cal and social factors are linked to biological — Staff

FALL 2007 11 DISPATCHES

Centering on the Promise Efforts help to focus stem cell and regenerative medicine research.

The advent of the center is JEFF MILLER (2) timely. Since 1998, when UW- Madison developmental biologist James Thomson won the race to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells, the all-pur- pose cells that arise at the earliest stages of human development have become the focus of keen scientific competition worldwide. “To allow the UW to maintain its leadership in stem cell biology, we need a clear campuswide organization that Professor Laura Kiessling, left, lends her expertise in chemistry to the can facilitate and empower UW’s stem cell research. this research,” Kamp argues. Wisconsin has been the epicen- contribute to this effort.” “Collaborative efforts from a ter of human stem cell research Svendsen and Kamp say the range of investigators working since the world’s first human center will cover all of stem cell together will be needed to embryonic stem cells were biology, exploring the potential overcome the major roadblocks isolated and cultured on the of stem cells derived from all to realizing the promise of UW-Madison campus nearly a sources. They estimate that as regenerative medicine.” decade ago, setting off an inter- many as fifty UW-Madison faculty In short, the new center will national scientific frenzy. are engaged to varying degrees be a critical catalyst and source Now, as dozens of laborato- in the pursuit of stem cell science of support for bringing Wiscon- ries scattered across campus work and regenerative medicine. To sin stem cell science to fruition. with stem cells of various kinds — amplify their work, the center The potential, say Svendsen and embryonic, adult, and fetal — the will help develop core shared Kamp, is breathtaking, promis- research that seeks to capitalize research facilities, a seed grant ing novel insight and treatments on the body’s ability to maintain program, funding for postdoc- for a host of human diseases and and heal itself has a formal home toral fellowships, and programs conditions. in the new UW-Madison Stem for outreach and education. — Terry Devitt ’78, MA’85 Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. The effort was announced in May at a UW Foundation event featuring famed developmental biologist Ian Wilmut, creator of Good Chemistry Dolly, the cloned sheep. Stem cell researchers face a particularly tough challenge: Operating under the aus- working with microscopic materials that are unpredictable. pices of the Graduate School Despite a decade of advances, scientists are still honing the and the UW School of Medicine conditions under which stem cells will continue dividing and Public Health, the center indefinitely in culture or begin morphing into specific will be led by cardiologist cell types. Timothy Kamp and neuro- “It’s a complicated problem, but when you distill it down, scientist Clive Svendsen. these are all just molecules,” says UW chemistry professor Laura “We hope the Stem Cell and Kiessling. “So, that’s where chemists can make a difference.” Regenerative Medicine Center Kiessling and her colleagues have devised a new system will serve as a catalyst on cam- that can quickly and systematically screen hundreds of indi- pus and bring together interdis- vidual molecules for their ability to influence stem cell fates ciplinary efforts to advance stem — a technique that could hasten efforts to develop stem cell cell and regenerative medicine therapies and attain new insights in developmental biology. research,” says Kamp. “It will The team’s chemistry-based system allows scientists to test not provide communication and crit- only molecules from nature, but synthetic ones, too. ical facilities and enhance faculty — Staff recruitment and retention to

12 ON WISCONSIN DISPATCHES

Local Flavor Research project brings fresh snacks to schools.

It makes more sense to eat able for schools to serve locally washed, chopped, and bagged See how Madison has changed fruits and vegetables from a grown foods and encourage at Willy Street Grocery Co-op through the ages in Historic farm down the road than from kids to eat fruits and vegeta- on the city’s near-east side, and Photos of Madison, a new book halfway across the country. bles by offering fresher, high- then delivered to Madison Met- by Don Johnson, head of library That’s the driving force behind quality snacks. ropolitan School District’s food communications at the UW. a UW-Madison research pro- Wisconsin Homegrown service program for distribution Johnson collected nearly two gram seeking to make it afford- Lunch — a partnership between to schools. hundred photos for the 216-page the university’s Center for Inte- This year, children at four book, which was published in grated Agricultural Systems Madison schools are getting July by Turner Publishing. and the Madison-based non- the chance to eat sweet potato

SPENCER WALTS profit REAP Food Group — first slices, carrot coins, and sliced UW-Madison’s physics depart- launched its weekly snack pro- kohlrabi from local certified ment honored Robert Fassnacht, gram in 2005 at Lincoln Elemen- organic growers. “One of the the research scientist killed in tary School. goals of the program is to the 1970 Sterling Hall bombing, UW researchers are study- expose them to a wider vari- in May by dedicating a plaque ing the feasibility of process- ety,” says Doug Wubben, the near the site of the explosion. ing locally grown fruits and project’s coordinator. “Children Fassnacht, a thirty-three-year- vegetables off site, since many will eat their vegetables, if old husband and father of three school districts lack the time, they’re presented with enthusi- young children, was a postdoc- facilities, and resources to do asm, and on a regular basis.” toral student in physics working so on their own. The produce is — Jenny Price ‘96 on an experiment in a basement laboratory when the blast occurred. The bombing injured three others and damaged twenty-six buildings in the area. Q and A fantasy than ever, Kathleen Horning often now in multi- volume sets. Cover More than five thousand eighth- The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) art many times is graders across the state have has served as a resource for Wisconsin teachers boys with black hair signed up for the Wisconsin Cov- and librarians for more than forty years. Kath- and round glasses, enant Program since it launched leen Horning ’80, MA’82 has been a librarian whether or not that in May, pledging to keep a B with the CCBC for twenty-five years, and knows a has anything to do average, stay out of trouble, and thing or two about what makes for a good read. with the work. Also, take college preparatory courses the Harry Potter during high school. The program, Q: What do you do with the CCBC? books are beautifully created by Wisconsin Governor A: I’ve worked primarily with multicultural litera- designed, and most Jim Doyle ‘67, promises each ture over the years, and I compile lists of recom- fantasy is now fol- student financial aid based on his mended children’s and young adult books. Each lowing suit, with quality paper, typography, and or her needs and a spot at one year we publish Choices, a listing of two hundred imagery. There also is more fiction than ever with of the state’s universities or tech- or so recommended books, and we travel around many more adults trying their hand at writing it. nical colleges. Funding for the the state to speak with Wisconsin teachers. Picture books used to be everywhere, and now it program was in dispute during is difficult for picture books to get published. state budget negotiations over Q: How are the books selected for Choices? the summer, but students can A: We have many discussions with Wisconsin Q: What else should kids read these days? continue to sign up. teachers and librarians when we travel through- A: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selsnik out the year, and we try to make note of the is currently one of my favorites. Some chapters are History professor Jeremi Suri books they bring up. Whether they’re excited wordless, so it’s a fiction and picture book in one, has published what may be the or concerned about a specific work, we’ll take it and kids really seem to have a lot of fun with it. authoritative account of late into consideration. And also, the four librarians Also, many books are dealing with heavy social twentieth-century American for- we have on staff read — a lot! issues nowadays, which can make it hard to find eign policy: Henry Kissinger and good humor. The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop the American Century. The book Q: Harry Potter has been the biggest story in Elementary School by Candace Fleming features offers a look inside the compli- kids’ books in the last decade. What effects contemporary fables that are lighthearted but still cated and controversial legacy of have you seen on children’s literature? end with a moral. I’d compare them with the old one of the dominant figures in A: Where do I start? There definitely is much more Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books of the 1950s. U.S. Cold War diplomacy.

FALL 2007 13 DISPATCHES

Sweet Feet Topical honey offers hope for healing diabetic ulcers.

You could call it sweet serendip- ulcers, often resulting in ampu- in this,” Eddy recalls. But ini- ity: Jennifer Eddy couldn’t stop tated limbs. Honey’s acidic pH tially, she found that wasn’t thinking about honey on her and low water content, and the the case. So she got to work, honeymoon. hydrogen peroxide secreted by publishing a case study. Now, A UW Health physician in its naturally occurring enzymes, with funding from the Wiscon- Eau Claire, Eddy was in medi- make it ideal for combating sin Partnership Fund for Health cal school when she first organisms that have developed and the American Academy heard that ancient peo- resistance to standard antibiot- of Family Practice Foundation, ples had used honey as ics. Treating wounds with honey she is conducting a clinical trial a topical antiseptic. She has tremendous potential for to assess the effectiveness of read more about the the approximately 200 million honey as a topical treatment for topic while traveling people in the world with dia- diabetic ulcers. right after her wedding. betes, 15 percent of whom will “I’ve been surprised how “When I came back, develop an ulcer. In 2001, the open the patients are to the I talked with the United States spent $10.9 billion idea,” says Eddy, “and by posi- infectious disease to treat diabetic foot ulcers and tive response from the physician specialist at the provide amputations. community.” hospital,” she Eddy first used honey with Some honeys have been says, “and luck- a patient in 2001, after all tra- shown to have higher antibac- ily, she said let’s ditional medical therapy had terial properties, but Eddy’s give it a try.” failed. Although surgeons had study is using generic brand Honey offers told the patient he would die if honey because she believes it particular hope they didn’t amputate his foot, has the biggest public health to people with he refused. Then Eddy sug- ramifications. Despite its wide- diabetes. Diabet- gested honey treatment. After spread availability, she cautions ics typically have weeks of applying honey and a patients against using honey poor circulation gauze bandage to his wounds, without a physician’s involve- and decreased they began to improve; within ment. Patients interested in SPENCER WALTS ability to fight months, they were completely enrolling in the clinical trial infection, so even healed. can visit uwhealth.org or call minor cuts and blis- “I thought, the whole (715) 855-5683. ters may turn into world is going to be interested — Karen Roach ’83

Parental Advice These days, parents no longer drop their sons and daughters off at residence halls for fall semester with a promise to talk again over the Thanksgiving turkey. On average, in fact, college students and their parents willingly catch up by phone two or three times per week. Now a new Parent Program is making it easier for families to stay connected. Launched this summer, the program informs parents about key milestones and campus issues, and serves as the go-to option when they have questions or concerns. Nancy Sandhu ’96, MS’03, the program’s coordinator, says that a UW-Madison survey found that parents wanted ongoing communications from the university. “Parents overwhelmingly had a good experience with the campus during the admissions process, the campus visits process, and through the summer orientation,” she says. “But they truly — and this was a theme — felt like they dropped off the map after the freshman year started.” Families’ information needs change over time, she adds, noting that parents of freshmen have an interest in health and safety, for example, while those with seniors want to learn about career services. The program has launched a new Web site (www.parent.wisc.edu), a hotline, and an e-mail service, and this fall it will produce a newsletter. The overall program goal, Sandhu says, is to help parents play an active and constructive role in supporting student success. Part of her duties, she expects, will be to gently remind parents about how much information they can legally access — that, no, they won’t automatically receive copies of students’ grades simply because they pay the tuition bills. — Staff

14 ON WISCONSIN DISPATCHES

Farming Out Physicians UW trains the next generation of rural doctors.

There’s no doubt about it: the just five, many of whom are challenges will be found in rural The UW System Board of Regents United States is facing a short- from rural areas — and thus are practice, as we have to do more and Paul Barrows, former age of doctors. Americans are more likely to return home, he with fewer resources.” UW-Madison vice chancellor getting older and living longer, reasons. Crouse says that these Despite advances in rural for student affairs, reached a so the problem will only get physicians also tend to be non- medicine, many people still settlement in June, bringing an worse as time goes on. Rural traditional students, who have envision old-fashioned doctors end to Barrows’s claims against communities will be particularly gone out and worked before carrying black medical bags and university administrators. Under hard hit as the number of coun- going to medical school. vials of potions from door to the agreement, in which neither try doctors shrinks. “We can’t wait until some- door. Crouse says he wants to party claims victory, the university That is, unless the UW has one calls up and says, ‘Boy, we’re dispel that myth. Today’s rural will pay Barrows $135,000. An anything to say about it. really short on doctors,’ ” he hospitals have all the technolo- academic staff appeals committee This fall the School of Medi- says. “The lead time for medical gies that urban facilities do. ruled last year that UW-Madison cine and Public Health launched education is such that we really That being said, rural doc- officials did not have enough evi- the Wisconsin Academy for have to be planning at least ten tors usually have to deal with a dence to reprimand Barrows for Rural Medicine (WARM) to years in advance.” broader scope of practice than alleged sexual harassment. address the rural doctor short- Students who enroll in their big-city counterparts do. age. By training students to WARM will study a rural core For example, the family physician Want to see stuff blow up from practice medicine in smaller curriculum during their four in a rural community could have behind the safety of your own communities, the UW hopes to years of medical school. They will to handle cradle-to-grave care: computer screen? Then check out boost the number of physicians choose electives that are relevant obstetrics, pediatrics, geriatrics, the Chemistry Comes Alive! Web in underserved areas. to rural medical practice, and and everything in between. site, created by Jon Holmes, John Though there may be a spend much of their third and “In rural communities, you Moore, and Jerry Jacobsen, all of looming shortage, WARM is fourth years at affiliate sites in La have to be comfortable with a the chemistry department. The selective about its students, Crosse, Green Bay, or Marshfield. lack of anonymity,” says Crouse. site recently won the Pirelli Inter- says Byron Crouse, associate “It’s an exciting area of med- “People say it’s kind of [like] national Award, which carries dean for rural and community icine that is in need of doctors,” living in the fish bowl. But that a 15,000 euro cash prize. Visit it health. He hopes the program says Diane Anderson, a WARM reflects the values, and so we try at www.jce.divched.org/JCESoft/ will include as many as twenty- student from Waupun, Wiscon- to admit students who have a CCA/pirelli/. five students within the next sin. “I believe the answers to bond to rural life.” few years, but it began with some of our nation’s health care — Erin Hueffner ‘00 Playing fantasy baseball is about more than drafting pitchers and hitters. Erica Halverson, an COLLECTION Williams (at right).

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY assistant professor in educational Mark Twain satirized French Connections? psychology, and Rich Halverson, such claims by making an assistant professor in educa- In this age of terrorism and uncertainty across the an obvious con man a tional administration, are study- international stage, one question isn’t creating a “Lost Dauphin” in The ing three fantasy baseball leagues burning crisis: where is the true heir of the king Adventures of Huckle- to learn more about learning in of France? Still, this mystery — the search for the berry Finn. online environments. The project Lost Dauphin, the eldest son of Louis XVI — has Milwaukee his- is funded by the MacArthur Foun- intrigued a variety of figures over the last 212 torian William Ward dation, which is backing research years, including Mark Twain. The UW Libraries’ Wight became caught into educational innovation. Special Collections has brought together more up in the search for the than five hundred pamphlets devoted to the hunt. Lost Dauphin when The Lost Dauphin, a.k.a. Louis XVII, is he was writing a biography of Eleazer Williams in The Wisconsin Formula Team believed to have died at the age of ten in 1795 the 1920s. He collected pamphlets issued by those won the Society of Automotive in the Temple Prison in Paris, where he was incar- claiming to be Louis XVII or his descendants, and Engineers Foundation Cup at its cerated by the leaders of the French Revolution when he died in 1943, he left them to the UW annual competition in May. More after they had executed his father. But his body Libraries. Though the mystery of the Lost Dauphin than a hundred schools from was never produced, and so many French royalists has long gone out of fashion, the library retains eleven countries took part in the — especially those with a bent toward conspiracy the collection as a record of the public’s fascination competition, in which teams of theories — cling to the notion that he somehow with this royal mystery, and of the persistence of student engineers design, build, escaped. In the nineteenth century, at least a his legend. The materials are kept in Special Collec- and race cars. This marks the hundred people claimed (or were claimed by oth- tions at Memorial Library, which is open Monday eleventh automotive engineer- ers) to be little Louis, including naturalist John to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ing contest that the UW has won James Audubon and Wisconsin missionary Eleazer — John Allen in the last nine years.

FALL 2007 15 CLASSROOM

They’ve Got the Power Freshman engineers take on an electrifying project.

On their first day of introduc- my class, ‘We’re going to take designer, Hugh Piggot. Starting tory engineering in January, a different approach,’ “ recalls only with coils of wire and pieces two dozen freshmen slouch at Venkataramanan. “We’re going of wood and metal, a team of lab tables in the Engineering to build this wind turbine, and ten built a wind turbine by hand Centers Building, waiting to at the end of the semester, we in just one week. In a stiff wind, want to generate electricity. If its blades spin at roughly 300 you do that, you get an A.” rpm to generate 200 watts of The budding engineers sit electricity — enough power in JEFF MILLER (4) upright at the news — or at twenty-four hours to meet the least as upright as teenagers needs of a small home. will sit. In Introduction to Engi- So impressed was Venkata- neering, students usually build ramanan with this success that simple devices of their own he recruited teams of upperclass design, items like new-fangled and graduate students during bike racks or ergonomic weed- subsequent travels to California, ing gadgets. By constructing Brazil, and Turkey to build three something as large and complex more of Piggot’s turbines. Then as a wind turbine, Venkataram- the electrical and computer anan’s students will be breaking engineering professor began to new ground. wonder: how might beginning Once past the initial surprise, students do with a project like they quickly embrace the plan. this? By spring 2007, he was “I thought it would be really ready to try it with his introduc- cool,” says Matt Bayer x’10. “In tory class. seventh- and eighth-grade tech After announcing the ed, you make something out of assignment on the first day, Ven- wood, and you get to keep it. kataramanan divided the stu- But it’s not like a wind turbine.” dents into two teams and tasked A wind turbine isn’t merely each with building a wind tur- cool, however. Venkataramanan bine following Piggot’s instruc- believes that constructing one tions. Then, following a lesson in also helps students appreciate the safe use of power tools, they the complicated interplay of the went to work. For some students engineering fields. Too often, — veterans of high school shop disciplines like electrical and civil class or a grandfather’s base- engineering are taught in isola- ment workshop — the experi- tion of one another, he says, ence was familiar. For most, even though solving problems though, it was a nonstop crash in the real world almost always course in welding metal, solder- requires an interdisciplinary ing wire, and molding plastic, approach. not to mention sawing, grind- “I think the wind turbine ing, and drilling. is very rich in terms of bringing “I learned how to weld just the disciplines together,” he within the past two weeks — it says. “And it fits in with today’s was crazy,” marvels Bayer mid- hear the semester’s assignment. concerns about climate change way through the semester. Little do they know, they’re in and sustainable energy.” “I was kind of worried at for a jolt. Their professor, Giri The idea for the classroom first, because I’d never taken Venkataramanan PhD’92, has project emerged in the off-the- a tech class in high school or spent part of the previous year grid emptiness of the Scottish anything,” adds Kaitlin Brendel constructing four wind turbines Highlands, where sustainable x’09. “But, actually, once you get on three continents. And now, wind energy is a must for many. into it and start using the mate- he announces, they’re going to There, Venkataramanan kicked rials, it’s not that bad. It’s kind of build one, too. off a yearlong sabbatical in May fun and exciting.” “Other classes will design 2005 by taking a wind turbine One of the students’ tough- this and design that, but I told workshop, led by the turbine’s est assignments was shaping the

16 ON WISCONSIN CLASSROOM

wind turbine’s wooden blades. Raubolt x’10. “And it’s an In a process that spanned nearly interesting aspect — alterna- the entire semester, they deli- tive energy — that we probably cately sculpted planks of wood wouldn’t have been exposed with a series of precise cuts, to” otherwise. and then planed, sanded, and sanded some more. Although undeniably tedious at times, the effort yielded some impressive results, says Brendel, who notes that the students “started out with this big block of wood, and then it turned into this pretty intricate, technical thing.” At every step, Venkatara- manan kept lectures and directions to a minimum, letting the students mostly figure things out for themselves. Inevitably, this led to a fair number of mis- In the real world, “we learn from our failures,” says engineering professor Giri Venkataramanan. In the takes — and some frustration. photo series at left, that advice comes to life for the professor, at far left in the photos, when he acciden- “Screwing up and having tally breaks one of the wind turbine’s wooden blades when spinning them by hand. His surprised students to redo things, that’s always a laugh, then, above, quickly get back to work to repair the blade and resume assembling their turbine. pain,” says Jason Kontny x’08. “Like we just cut a board wrong today — it was a little short Although the next step — and we had already done would have been to erect the CLASS NOTE more work on it. So we had to turbines outdoors atop two War of Words start over from scratch.” thirty-foot-tall towers, unfor- Integrated Liberal Studies 275: The Art of War Yet Venkataramanan tunately, parts needed for the wouldn’t have it any other way. operation failed to arrive before When the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu penned his treatise on The Art “We always tell students to semester’s end. Venkataramanan of War many centuries ago, he wasn’t thinking of comic book hero succeed, succeed, succeed,” he now hopes to install the tur- Captain America. But then, for Sun Tzu, war was literal, the central says. “Whereas in the real world, bines sometime this fall on the topic of discussion; art was just a metaphor. When faculty associate there’s this common-sense grounds of the West Madison Kristin Hunt created a class called The Art of War, she meant the art knowledge that says, ‘We learn Agricultural Station in Verona. to be literal, and war could be the subject of metaphors, similes, and from our failures.’ “ In the meantime, he’s busy symbols. Captain America fit right into her lesson plan. But would the students fail making plans. “This wind tur- “I was doing research on political uses of popular media, espe- at their ultimate goal of gen- bine project was a pilot experi- cially comic books,” she says. “A lot of early comic books created a erating electricity? The day of ence for me, so I hope to see sort of patriotic fantasy land — look at Superman in the 1940s. But reckoning came in mid-April. it grow,” he says. Additional that image changes over time, and I thought this would make a After finishing up a few last- wind turbines top the list, of great topic for a class.” minute tasks, the students finally course. But he’s also talking with Hunt’s class, which is offered for the first time this semester, assembled the alternator they’d other faculty about building covers four recent American conflicts: World War II, the Cold been building the parts for all an energy-efficient house each War, the Vietnam War, and the ongoing Iraq War. Her students semester, and attached to it the summer and starting a certifi- — about twenty undergraduates from a variety of majors — will turbine’s blades and tail. Crank- cate program in engineering for look at how these engagements have been represented in a vari- ing the blades around by hand, energy sustainability. ety of art forms, from literature and the fine arts to comic books, they then watched as first one Whatever projects material- film, music, and other creative elements of pop culture. turbine and then the other lit up ize in the future, Venkataram- “The basic question of the course,” she says, “is about the a bank of four small lights. Yes! anan knows just the engineers relationship between artists and observers in wartime — about A grade of A all around! for the job. “It’s fun to work with how they see society and how they create representations of ‘our Beyond that accomplish- freshmen,” he says. “They’re side’ and ‘the enemy.’ And while most of the artists take a nega- ment, though, the project new. They’re daring. And they’re tive view of war, the changing perspectives on patriotism and on provided “a great insight willing to try anything.” conflict offer insight into how we construct history.” into engineering,” says Ryan — Madeline Fisher PhD’98 — John Allen

FALL 2007 17 Getting In: E..J. MADDEN

The Not-So-Secret Admissions Process

No one can get into UW-Madison these days ...

Admissions counselors live to crush dreams ... A good word from a Hollywood film star is all it takes to get in ...

That essay you’re asked to submit with your application — nobody will read it.

If you’ve heard such claims and believed them, it’s time for a reality check.

18 ON WISCONSIN BY MICHAEL PENN MA’97

On the topic of college admissions, the last thing people need is more advice. For that, they can turn most anywhere — to book- stores, where yards upon yards of glossy volumes promise to reveal the secrets of university admissions offices; to universities themselves, with their countless brochures promising the idyllic college experience; to pricey private coaches, who charge thousands of dollars to usher students through the process; or even to well-meaning friends, who swear they know somebody who knows somebody who can help. Particularly in fall, as high school seniors begin to prepare applications to college — and national magazine editors correspond- ingly roll out their annual getting-into-college issues — there seems no shortage of public opinion on university admissions. But a glut of advice does not necessarily mean a wealth of it. Like water, a little of it can sustain you; a lot can drown you. When On Wisconsin determined to take a closer look at UW- Madison’s admissions practices, this reality weighed on our minds. The university often gets knocked for admissions decisions that seem mysterious and arbitrary, yet when we started asking around, we were struck by how much people thought they already knew about how those decisions are made. People swore knowledge of secret formulas and hushed policies that govern the process. The urban legend on this subject is, to say the least, rich — and, in many cases, dead wrong. At UW-Madison, the competition for admission is keener and the expectations higher than ever before. For most applicants, there is precious little room for missteps, especially ones that could be avoided with a better understanding of the process. And so, we offer advice: not about how to get into UW-Madison, but about how much attention students and parents should pay to all those pieces of advice they’re likely to receive and all those myths they are likely to hear. Which ones are helpful? Which ones are misguided? In our opinion, the real key to UW-Madison’s admissions policy is in knowing the difference.

FALL 2007 19 MYTH: example, the chart suggests an 80 per- tion is much more comprehensive and, cent likelihood of admission. A student ultimately, much more human. in the seventieth percentile with a 26 Counselors do have general guide- It’s a secretive process. ACT score, on the other hand, ranks a lines at the start of each admissions Refreshingly, no. UW-Madison has no 20 percent chance. cycle, notes admissions director Rob star chamber admissions committee or Of course, those aren’t the only fac- Seltzer. The guidelines offer an idea of murky decision-making authority. For tors counselors consider. And the esti- how tight or lenient counselors need to applicants to the freshman class, initial mates can shift if more students apply be to meet the office’s goals, and they admissions decisions are made by one than expected, as has been the case in establish a measure of consistency, of twenty individual counselors who recent years. But there’s no secret about ensuring that all counselors are using are responsible for reviewing applica- what qualities admissions counselors are the same yardstick in their first-glance assessment of an application. But those guidelines are just a starting point. As they read applica- 5,600 tions, counselors weigh many other 24,000 factors, from the competitiveness of an applicant’s high school to unique aspects of an applicant’s character that come through in personal statements. tions from specific geographic regions. looking for. Just ask them. It matters, for example, whether a stu- The UW’s admissions Web site (www. “When I have a question, I know I dent took the most challenging courses admissions.wisc.edu) highlights which can call them directly, and we don’t get available. It matters whether he or she counselors will read which applica- that kind of attention from everybody,” was involved meaningfully in extracur- tions and how to contact them. It’s says Jim Conroy, chair of post-high- ricular activities or just joined a bunch not at all unusual for students to carry school counseling at New Trier High of clubs to pad a resume. It matters on a dialogue with their admissions School in Winnetka, Illinois. “Some big whether a student held a part-time job counselors for months before they file state schools, I have no idea who to call. or managed other family responsibilities applications. It’s like a black hole. That’s never been along with school. Nor are those counselors holed up the case with Madison.” “That’s relevant to us, because it in some dungeon. Okay, technically, tells us something about a student’s the Office of Admissions is housed in work ethic and what challenges they’ve

a former armory, UW-Madison’s his- MYTH: had to face while earning the grades toric Red Gym. But there counselors that they’ve earned,” says Provost A formula determines greet a stream of prospective students, Patrick Farrell. “We want to look at whether students are and they also hit the road to visit some the entire student, because that gives admitted or denied. three hundred high schools — includ- us a much better sense of the overall ing two hundred in Wisconsin — and Not true — and if it were, you’d have likelihood of success for this student two hundred college fairs each year. to wonder why the university keeps at our institution.” With more than 24,000 students twenty people around just to read The approach is sometimes called expected to apply for approximately undergraduate applications. Wouldn’t holistic admissions, in that it entails a 5,600 spots in the freshman class, it be easier to load a bunch of numbers review of the whole person, not just his they’re not just drumming up applica- into a database and spit out decisions? or her academic credentials. Tom Reason tions. They’re out there to talk frankly Ironically, the likelihood-of-admis- ’76, associate admissions director and a about what it takes to be admitted to sion chart mentioned above may share twenty-one-year veteran of the office, UW-Madison. Their go-to handout, some of the blame for this miscon- says it’s far more art than science. “Aca- a sheet titled “Freshman Admissions ception. Some parents and guidance demics are always the first and foremost Expectations,” features a chart that counselors believe the table — devel- thing for us to consider, but even within places odds of admissions on students oped in part to answer concerns that that, there is great variability in how who fall into particular ranges of class UW-Madison fudged too much on students are assessed and the curricu- rank, grade point averages, and test admissions criteria — is actually what lum offered,” he says. “To have a purely scores. For a student in the ninetieth UW’s admissions counselors use when objective measure just wouldn’t work.” percentile of his or her class and a 29 making decisions to admit, postpone, or Sheri Albers, a former high school on the ACT college entrance exam, for deny admission. It isn’t. Their evalua- guidance counselor, learned that first-

20 ON WISCONSIN hand when she joined UW-Madison’s admissions office in 2004. She was MYTH: One grumpy admissions among those who had thought the counselor can doom an application. university didn’t do a good enough job of explaining what factors mat- FALSE. Individual counselors have the power to admit or postpone ter in admissions decisions. She says students, but they can’t deny a student on their own. Recommended she now realizes that “it is much more denials must be passed to another counselor for a second review. complicated than people think, and it’s Only when two or more counselors agree that an application doesn’t not always easy to put into black-and- white terms. That doesn’t mean that pass muster is a student officially denied admission. Applicants also it’s secretive or underhanded. It’s just have the right to appeal the decision, which triggers another review. not a formula.”

MYTH: 24 on the ACT. By 2007, those aver- one in ten applicants is admitted and ages had climbed to a percentile rank of the tab for four years of tuition is nearly UW-Madison has raised 89.4 and a 28 ACT score.* And while in $150,000, more top students are choos- its admissions criteria 1985 UW-Madison admitted about 83 ing Big State U. “Costs have spiraled so in recent years. percent of those who applied for spots unbelievably that these big public uni- Not exactly. The bar applicants need to in the freshman class, in 2007 its accep- versities look like great bargains, and clear to be admitted to UW-Madison is tance rate was just 56 percent. people are thrilled to go there,” says unmistakably higher than in years past, “It’s not like we’re sitting here every New Trier’s Jim Conroy. He counts but the university didn’t put it there. A year saying, ‘How can we increase our UW-Madison among a group of “seven crush of applications did. standards and make people really or eight flagship universities that have In 2007, UW-Madison received irritated with us?’ ” says Kelly Olson ’99, gotten really tough to get into. Students 24,521 applications for freshman admis- who were accepted even four or five years ago aren’t going to get in today.” But perhaps the biggest factor in 24,521the flood of applications is the ease of filling out applications online. Univer- sities have put application forms, rec- sion, the highest number in history. an assistant director of freshman recruit- ommendations, recruiting guides, and That number bested the previous high ment. “It’s totally out of our control.” even campus video tours on the Inter- of 22,816 set in 2006, which broke the What’s behind the surge in applica- net, making it far easier for students record of 21,682 set in 2005. Applications tions? For one thing, more students are to research and apply to a boundless are up 88 percent since 1985, and they’ve heading to college now than in the past. array of schools. While past generations jumped 37 percent since 2000 alone. The U.S. Department of Education applied to two or three colleges, now The number of places available to estimates that 3.3 million students will five, six, or seven is the norm. More those applicants, on the other hand, graduate from high school in 2008, up than 25 percent of students admitted isn’t growing. Every year, after consid- from 2.6 million in 1997. And more than in 2005 had filled out more than five ering factors such as advising capac- 60 percent of these students plan to go applications, according to the Coopera- ity, housing availability, and space in to college, compared to slightly less than tive Institutional Research Program. required courses, UW-Madison sets a half of the class of 1974. And this raises a fascinating aspect target for freshmen enrollment. Right Moreover, the difficulty of getting of the admissions game. When uni- now, and for the foreseeable future, into — and paying for — America’s top versities admit students, they know that number sits at around 5,600, universities is creating a trickle-down some of them will ultimately opt to meaning more students are applying effect for many states’ flagship universi- enroll elsewhere, so they offer admis- for the same number of spots. When ties. When considering applying to Big sion to far more students than they that happens, standards are bound to State U or Harvard, where only about actually have room for. It’s like invit- rise — and so they have. In 1985, the ing three hundred people to a recep- average freshman who enrolled at UW- * All enrollment figures for 2007 are projec- tion knowing the hall holds only two Madison ranked in the seventy-ninth tions; final university counts were not avail- hundred: you’re gambling that some percentile of his or her class and got a able when On Wisconsin went to press. won’t accept the offer. With students

FALL 2007 21 fanning out more applications, admissions officials have had to readjust MYTH: Being postponed their estimates about how many stu- is the same as being on a wait list. dents they need to admit to fill their classes. In recent years, for instance, NOT QUITE. The difference may be semantic, but it’s important. UW-Madison has admitted more than Universities that use a wait list are implying that admissions counsel- 13,000 students — more than the total ors have essentially made up their minds about admitting a student, number who applied in 1985. So even and they’re just waiting to see if there’s enough space to make an as it’s gotten more competitive, UW- Madison is admitting more students offer. UW-Madison, however, doesn’t use a wait list. Instead, coun- than ever before. selors can choose to “postpone” a decision. Doing so doesn’t ensure that a student will be admitted later, but it does mean that counsel-

MYTH: ors will take a fresh look at a student’s application one more time later in the process, then make a decision. The UW turns away students with perfect GPAs. It depends on what you mean by perfect. If it’s a 4.0 grade point average, then Bs, we might have to say, ‘Forget it,’ The rationale for special treatment yes, UW-Madison does in a few cases ” says admissions director Seltzer. is that the university believes admitting reject students with 4.0s. But remember, “That’s the business we’re forced into. these students fits with its goal of build- in a lot of high schools, a 4.0 GPA isn’t Twenty years ago, a 3.1 was great. You ing a diverse student body. “These are perfect anymore. Many schools now were working hard and doing good individuals who in their own way can hand out above-scale bonuses for honors work. Now, that 3.1 is a 3.9.” make a specific and unique contribution classes, meaning that applications these to the university,” says Seltzer. “They days are full of impossible-sounding are typically students who are under-

GPAs like 4.3s and 5.0s. MYTH: represented [in higher education], and Admissions counselors say they’re the university and our society say that Some students get frustrated by what they see as a perva- they should not be underrepresented special treatment in sive trend toward higher marks across on our campus.” the admissions process. the board in secondary schools. One Does that mean students in recent ACT study indicated that high True. Veterans, adult students, students these groups get in with lower grades school grades have inflated 12.5 percent with disabilities, children of alumni, than others? Occasionally, yes. some athletes, some minority students, “But they have some other set of some exceptional musicians, and stu- extraordinary qualifications that justifies “Now, that dents who are the first in their families them being here,” says Reason. “To be to go to college all get some special a Division I athlete is extraordinary; to 3.1 is a 3.9.” consideration. be an outstanding musician is extraor- If an applicant in one of these dinary. These students add something groups is clearly admissible, or clearly very meaningful to the university.” since the early 1990s. At many high not admissible, nothing unusual hap- Another consideration is that the schools, merely average students have pens; a counselor simply makes a deci- university often has resources to support 3.7s and 3.8s, creating a logjam of kids sion and follows the normal process. students in these categories who might with similarly unblemished transcripts But in borderline cases, counselors not fit the typical academic profile. The — and little way for counselors to distin- are instructed to give students in these athletic department’s academic services guish them. “I review one state where I groups some extra consideration when unit, for instance, offers tutoring and don’t think I’ve ever seen a C on a tran- they feel a decision could go either way. study halls for student athletes, which script,” says admissions counselor Bob- “It’s one more penny on the scale,” Seltzer says allows for some wiggle room. bie Jean St. Arnauld ’02. “I don’t think says associate admissions director Rea- “The question is, can they succeed they’re doing those kids any favors.” son. “It’s not a pound on the scale. It’s here?” he says. “We will never admit a “There’s so much compression at nowhere near as important as academ- student if we don’t believe he or she the top that, these days, if we see some ics. But it’s a penny in their favor.” can succeed.”

22 ON WISCONSIN MYTH: that may not ease the sting of initial plete, rather than lumping them all into rejection for some students, ultimately, one or two evaluation periods. Students It’s impossible for no one asks where you started college. who complete their applications during regular students to get They ask where you finished. the filing period — typically Septem- in anymore. ber 15 through February 1 — usually receive decisions within four to six Impossible? MYTH: Let’s not weeks, and the admissions office guarantees that they’re no more likely to be get carried No one reads personal admitted or denied whether they file away. UW- statements. Madison early or late in that window. % False. For better or worse, counselors But what if the freshman class fills admits six 56 of every ten do read personal statements, and in up early? This is why the university students hundreds of cases, it’s for worse. Many postpones decisions for some students. who apply. applicants simply recite their extracur- Counselors are somewhat conserva- Compare that to the microscopic accep- ricular activities or fall back on unin- tive in admitting students in the rolling tance rates for 2006 at places such as spired chestnuts such as, “I want to go period, helping to avoid filling the class Harvard (9 percent), Princeton (10 to UW-Madison because I really love prematurely. Postponed applications percent), or Stanford (11 percent). the Badgers.” Some don’t even bother are reconsidered once the deadline has UW-Madison’s 56-percent acceptance writing one at all. passed and admissions officials have a rate is on par with its peer flagship “To me, that says that they’re just better sense of how many more students institutions, such as Michigan (47 per- not serious about coming here,” says St. they can admit. cent) and Illinois (65 percent). Arnauld. “We really rely on that per- The trend toward hypercompeti- sonal statement to get a better sense of tive admissions often gets oversold in where the applicant is coming from and MYTH: the news, because it disproportionately where they are going.” Minority students get in affects private East Coast universities. Sure, a Hemingwayesque personal with lower grades than Admissions aren’t nearly that restrictive statement won’t make up for major some white students at the vast majority of colleges. Accord- deficiencies in other parts of an appli- who are rejected. ing to the National Association for Col- cation, but it’s curious that so many lege Admission Counseling, only about students squander a golden opportunity As noted above, this can be true, one-third of American universities to market themselves. Especially in and it’s one of the most controversial accept fewer than half their applicants, cases where students have holes in their aspects of UW-Madison’s admissions and the average acceptance rate across applications that might leave a counselor policies. To foster campus diversity, the all four-year institutions is about 70 wondering — such as a dip in grades university does give some preference to percent and holding steady. due to an illness — a personal statement qualified students in targeted minority Another often-overlooked facet to is a chance to say, “Let me explain ...” groups, and, as a result, students who UW-Madison’s admissions crunch is are African-American, Latino, Native that the number of incoming freshmen American, or Southeast Asian do some- that the UW can enroll is limited chiefly MYTH: times get in with the same academic by physical space — seats, specifically, numbers as a white student who is It pays to apply early. in required courses. By their sophomore postponed or denied. and junior years, students disperse In terms of affecting the odds of admis- That doesn’t mean those students into thousands of different courses in sion, no. Being the first application in aren’t qualified to attend UW-Madison. one hundred and sixty majors, and it’s the door may save some headaches, but The vast majority of students who apply easier to squeeze in a few newcomers. it makes no difference in the decision. these days are: they’ve demonstrated a That means that while it’s difficult to get capacity to handle the curriculum and admitted to UW-Madison as a fresh- SEP 15 would likely do just fine as UW stu- man, it can be easier to transfer in. The dents. There just isn’t room for them university has several arrangements that FEB 1 all, and so each year, a lot of otherwise allow students to attend other campuses deserving students aren’t admitted. for two years before coming to Madison, UW-Madison uses a rolling-decision What university officials don’t like is including direct transfer arrangements system, which means that it reviews the suggestion that academic numbers with several Wisconsin colleges. While applications as soon as they are com- should be the only factor in selecting

FALL 2007 23 which of those qualified applicants to At the same time, university officials what might happen if it hit that mark in enroll. are hearing warnings from businesses November? Anyone applying after that UW-Madison operates under the that increasingly value multicultural date — even the school’s top scholars principle that students learn most when fluency in their employees. “When we — would have to be turned down. they’re surrounded by a diverse group of talk to employers about what skills As it is, 110 of the 184 students who peers who can challenge their presump- they want to see in our graduates, the applied from Madison West in 2007 tions and offer unique perspectives. ability to work with people from differ- were admitted, a 60 percent acceptance When forced to choose among a bunch ent backgrounds is very high on their rate that exceeded the overall average by four percentage points. “A student’s race is never, on its own, a deciding factor. But if we can build MYTH: more diversity into our student popu- Back in the day, UW-Madison let lation, we want to do that, because everybody in. we think it provides a better quality Well, not quite. Up until the mid-1980s, UW-Madison did guarantee admission education for all the students here.” for Wisconsin students who graduated in the top half of their high school classes. That’s certainly not the case of qualified applicants, the university’s list, sometimes even higher than some anymore — nor, really, should it be. admissions policies do give an edge of the technical and academic skills Looser admissions policies had a to students who could add something that we spend a great deal of time and deleterious effect on the university and unique to the educational environment. energy having students learn here,” its students. During the 1980s, under- “A student’s race is never, on its says Farrell. “Our students need to be graduate enrollment ballooned to nearly own, a deciding factor,” says Provost prepared for that, and I think we would 31,000, and by fall 1985, there were Farrell. “But if we can build more be enormously handicapping their 6,815 freshmen on campus. Students diversity into our student population, future if we can’t provide that kind of had a hard time finding space in desired we want to do that, because we think it experience for them.” courses, and many had to delay gradua- provides a better quality education for tion to finish up requirements. “We had all the students here.” a lot of complaints from students, par- The use of race in admissions, how- MYTH: ents, and legislators,” says Farrell. “For ever, is a deeply divisive practice that many students, it was not the quality of faces a cloudy legal future. Opponents UW-Madison caps the educational experience we’re capable of claim racial preferences are counter- number of students providing. The numbers were not well productive and inherently unfair, and who can be admitted controlled, and we’re not anxious to voters in Michigan, California, and from one high school. repeat that.” Washington have approved ballot There is no shred of truth to this rumor, A state legislative audit in 1986 initiatives banning their use in state which stubbornly persists in some of recommended trimming enrollment institutions. In fall 2006, Wisconsin the UW’s largest feeder schools. It’s so across the UW System by about seven lawmakers created a special legisla- widely believed that Reason was asked thousand students, ushering in the tive committee to study the issue, and by the UW Board of Regents to defend modern age of enrollment management. the group has sought input from Ward the policy at a meeting last year. “It’s UW-Madison, in fact, now has a Divi- Connerly, a vocal critic of affirma- just absolutely false,” he says. “Why sion of Enrollment Management, which tive action who helped mobilize public would we do something like that?” includes the offices of Admissions, opposition in California and Michigan. For one thing, UW-Madison’s roll- Student Financial Services, the Regis- In July 2007, Wisconsin Attorney Gen- ing-decision setup would make quotas trar, and Integrated Student Information eral J.B. Van Hollen issued an informal logistically difficult. If the university Services. “Having these four key units legal opinion that an admissions policy could admit only fifty students from, say, working together makes it possible for can use race as one of many factors Madison’s West High School (often the us to make enrollment decisions within when assessing an individual applica- top high school in terms of the number the context of how they will impact the tion for freshman admission. of students who apply to UW-Madison), whole university, not just the freshman

24 ON WISCONSIN class,” says Joanne Berg MBA’01, vice Before each new admissions cycle, the freshman class is sometimes higher. provost for enrollment management. UW-Madison’s leaders weigh those Of the 5,643 students who enrolled UW System campuses now set factors and make a strategic decision as freshmen in fall 2006, 1,634, or enrollment targets based on how many about how many out-of-state students to 29 percent, were non-residents. students they can serve without dimin- ishing the quality of their education; for UW-Madison, that means scaling back 5,643 undergraduate enrollment to around twenty-eight thousand. By doing so, the university also rids itself of some of the 1, 634 obstacles undergraduates used to face in completing their degrees. More students have been able to graduate on time, enroll. A Board of Regents policy limits Whether those students are getting in at allowing the university to nudge up the the university to having no more than the expense of more-deserving Wiscon- size of the freshman class, from around 25 percent of its undergraduate enroll- sin residents is debatable. On one hand, 4,600 in the early 1990s to approxi- ment come from out of state (except for students from out of state don’t appear mately 5,600 this year. Minnesota students, who are counted as to have some of the academic creden- “It makes this a very efficient place,” residents under a reciprocity agreement tials of their in-state peers. Among new says Reason. “Because the nature of between the two states), but in recent freshmen in 2007, Wisconsin students students here is so highly qualified, we years, UW-Madison has been a couple came in with better average high-school graduate at a very high rate. The net of ticks below that cap. As of fall 2006, GPAs (3.79 to 3.53) and higher aver- result of that is that more students are 22.8 percent of undergraduates were age class ranks (90.9 to 86.2) than non- able to come.” classified as non-residents; 66.7 percent residents, although lower average ACT were Wisconsin residents, and 10.6 per- scores (27.9 to 28.2). On the other hand, cent hailed from Minnesota. However, such comparisons can be misleading. MYTH: because out-of-state students typically More than half of out-of-state students graduate more quickly than in-state stu- attended high schools that do not com- Applicants from outside dents, the percentage of non-residents in pute class rank, for instance, and grad- Wisconsin are taking up spots that could go to state residents. MYTH: An A is always better than a B. Maybe, but it’s a simplistic answer to Parents and students often ask if it’s better to have a B in an honors a complicated question. UW-Madison seeks to enroll students from outside course or an A in a less-challenging one. Insiders joke that the honest Wisconsin for three main reasons: one, answer is an A in the honors class. it creates a diverse student body that That may be an exaggeration, but this much is true: the road to enriches the college experience; two, it UW-Madison is rarely lined with cupcakes. Nearly nine of ten stu- brings bright young people to Wiscon- dents who enrolled as freshmen in 2007 took Advanced Placement sin, and oftentimes, they stick around and make meaningful contributions to (AP) classes in high school. Admissions counselors are barely looking the state; and three, non-residents pay at students who don’t have ambitious transcripts these days, and sim- higher tuition rates that help defray the ply to stay in the mix a student should have completed at least four costs for in-state students. (At press years of English, math, science, and foreign languages. Counselors 3.79 GPA understand that not all high schools offer AP or special honors programs, but they want to see students take a healthy sampling of 3.53 GPA the most demanding classes available to them. “We don’t tell students to take difficult classes to torture them,” time, it was estimated that in-state says Kelly Olson, an assistant director of freshman recruitment. “We students would pay $7,188 in tuition for 2007-08, about half the actual cost of want them to take those classes so that they’re better prepared for education at UW-Madison. Non-resi- what they’ll face when they come here.” dents would pay $21,438.)

FALL 2007 25 ing standards vary widely from school dent on individual philanthropy, a to render decisions without outside to school. The fact that out-of-state decision to admit can become a valu- influence. Many say they have encoun- students graduate more quickly suggests able commodity, for which wealthy tered letters of recommendation from that they are competitive with in-state donors might offer, or threaten to prominent politicians, business lead- students, says Farrell. withhold, millions of dollars. In his ers, and other recognizable names in “There’s no benefit to us to admit 2006 book The Price of Admission, which application files, but they insist those out-of-state students who are not every documents the eroding wall between applicants aren’t treated any differ- bit as well qualified as in-state students, the admissions and fundraising func- ently as a result. or conversely,” he says. “We want to tions at America’s elite universities, admit excellent students from both journalist Daniel Golden argues this groups, because our faculty count on game of quid pro quo is “increasingly “Not a whole lot that kind of preparation. We can’t afford tainting college admissions, undermin- impresses us. The to have different standards and expect ing both its credibility and value to that to be accommodated in the way we American democracy.” whole influence teach our courses.” At UW-Madison, however, the It’s also not the case that UW- wall appears intact. Numerous univer- factor just isn’t Madison has suddenly become inac- sity officials in both admissions and really a value cessible to Wisconsin students. In fundraising told us that admissions 1987, the university enrolled about 5.5 decisions are sacrosanct from outside of the state of percent of the state’s high school gradu- influence. ating class, and that number has wan- “It’s a source of pride at the UW Wisconsin, and dered little during the past two decades: that you can’t buy your way in,” says the most recent figure, for the class of Walt Keough ’69, MBA’78, a vice I think we walk 2007, was 5.1 percent. president at the UW Foundation. the walk of that Keough says he will contact the admissions office on behalf of a donor to every day.”

MYTH: check an application’s status or make sure it is complete. “We try to make Connections with the process more personal for them,” important people he says. “We are very concerned that “I got a recommendation letter from can get you in. our donors know that we appreciate Dustin Hoffman once,” says counselor This may be the case in some admissions them, but at the same time, we’re St. Arnauld. “I was very excited when I offices, but UW-Madison’s is famously clear with them that appreciation can’t got it. But it didn’t get [the applicant] in. immune. extend to admissions decisions.” She was postponed.” In an age when both public and All of the admissions counselors we “Not a whole lot impresses us,” adds private universities are more depen- talked to confirmed that they feel free assistant director Olson recruitment. “The whole influence factor just isn’t really a value of the state of Wisconsin, MYTH: Alumni can get their kids and I think we walk the walk of that in if they pull the right strings. every day.” NOT REALLY. Children, grandchildren, siblings, and spouses of UW- Madison alumni — called legacy students — are given only slight MYTH: favor in the admissions process. “Essentially, it’s a tiebreaker,” says admissions director Rob Seltzer. “If we’re trying to decide between My son or daughter isn’t admit and postpone and we see a legacy, we’ll take him or her. But emotionally ready to be turned down if the kid is further down on the list, it’s not going to bump him up.” by the university. Counselors add that it’s not necessary for parents or grandparents Actually, most are. It’s the parents who to call on behalf of their Badger offspring. The application includes a seem to have the most trouble with it. place to list alumni family members, and counselors take account of Admissions counselors say most com- that UW heritage as part of their routine review. plaints they receive after a denial come from parents, not from students. “It

26 ON WISCONSIN speaks volumes when a parent is writing an appeal letter, rather than a student,” MYTH: Admissions counselors says St. Arnauld. “It says to me that the like rejecting people. student has accepted it and moved on, but the parent hasn’t.” FALSE. But some people must believe this to be true, given the nasty Although college admission has things they’re willing to say to admissions staff. The office fields hun- grown increasingly competitive dreds of phone calls and letters from hostile people. Several counsel- — as reported repeatedly in the media ors report that they’ve been cursed at and threatened. One says she — denials still genuinely shock some parents, who may have seen older was accosted in a grocery store by an angry parent, who proceeded children, or perhaps themselves, get to verbally harass her in the middle of the produce section. admitted with lesser qualifications. Admissions counselors don’t just review files; as they recruit stu- “We hear from a lot of people who just dents and help them navigate the admission process, they develop can’t believe it,” says Seltzer. “They’re alumni, and they expected their kids to relationships. Each cycle brings hundreds of new faces, and hundreds come here. You can understand their of new stories. Many are compelling, even heart-wrenching. You disappointment.” think they like telling those students no? At the same time, he says, parents “We take this work home with us,” says admissions counselor could avoid the letdown by understand- Bobbie Jean St. Arnauld. “There are some really tough decisions we ing the reality that UW-Madison’s expectations have changed — and have to make. We care a lot about these students, and it’s hard to turn likely will continue to do so. He says them down. We’re human beings.” his office now attempts to reach out to “We don’t tell students to take difficult classes to torture them,” students as early as the ninth grade to says Olson. “We want them to take those classes so that they’re bet- explain the standards they’ll need to ter prepared for what they’ll face when they come here.”. reach during high school if they want to be admitted. “If you wait until senior year to call me, at that point, there’s not much I can do,” says Seltzer. “I’m just explaining the ‘no.’ ” to the prestigious film program at the “People who get that [rejection] let- Counselors say the appropriate role University of California at Los Angeles. ter from us view it as a comment on a for parents is to stay in the background, He was rejected, and so he went to Cali- student’s quality, on his or her history, informed about what’s happening, but fornia State at Long Beach. Later, he and on the likelihood of future success,” never in the driver’s seat of the pro- tried to transfer into another top-shelf says Provost Farrell. “It’s none of those.” cess. “Most of the parents I hear from department, the University of Southern That admissions decisions often are not in a good place to support their California’s School of Cinematic Arts. swing on the narrowest of margins kids,” says Olson. “Instead of being a Again, he was denied, and so Steven should temper those feelings of failure, cheerleader on the sidelines, it’s like it’s Spielberg had to make do with his but ultimately, behind each application their application. Some of them are com- second-rate education. that lands at UW-Madison’s door is one pletely out of control.” There are plenty of cases like face and one hope — and one decision Spielberg’s — smart, tough, ambitious that really matters. students who are bound for glory despite But the final lowdown about UW- And that brings us to this ... less than stellar credentials. Yet students, Madison’s admissions process comes parents, and, in many cases, universi- down to this: demand exceeds supply, ties themselves persist in believing that so admissions counselors have to make MYTH: admission to the best college represents a tough calls about which students get sink-or-swim moment in a teenager’s life. in. And they do so every day, using the It’s a perfect system. This single decision is inevitably defined best tools they have: numbers, words, College admission is ultimately a human in terms of winning and losing, with instinct, and experience. process, and humans are prone to the social status and a ticket to the academic fallibility that defines us. No one gets it promised land going to those who get into Michael Penn MA’97, former senior editor for On right all the time. their top-choice schools, and with humili- Wisconsin, now edits a magazine for the College of In 1965, a scrawny California kid ation and an overwhelming sense of fail- Agricultural and Life Sciences. with a C average in high school applied ure to those who don’t.

FALL 2007 27 May the Farce

BLAME SOCIETY PRODUCTIONS (4) Be with You A long time ago, in a grocery store far, far away ... “Our plans to make this station fully operational on Saturday may be jeopardized!” EPISODE 1 BY ERIN HUEFFNER ’00

ife is rough for Darth Vader’s little by actor David Prowse and voiced by the brother. famed baritone James Earl Jones, the L He has the black helmet. He has part of Chad is a dual role. Yonda wears the deep voice. But Chad Vader doesn’t the costume on camera, while Sloan lends command the Galactic Empire. Rather, his impressively accurate imitation of he’s struggling as a day shift manager at Darth Vader’s ominous voice. Everything Empire Market, a small grocery store. about Chad Vader is well planned and Chad may have less charisma than thought out, giving the feel of a Holly- Darth, but he has millions of fans, thanks wood set on a small scale. to the Madison filmmakers behind Chad “It’s always a treat to work with those “Strike me down with your hate, Vader: Day Shift Manager, a YouTube sen- guys,” says Brad Knight ’93, who plays and claim your refund.” sation that George Lucas has honored Randy, the store manager. “They run a EPISODE 2 with an award. very tight ship. On the flip side, Matt More than just another Star Wars par- and Aaron are very open to changes on ody, each five-minute episode features the the fly. They have a rare combination of challenges Chad faces at Empire Market: [being] extremely organized and very insolent employees, an unrequited crush, creative and flexible in the moment.” a demotion to night shift manager, and a It wasn’t long before Chad Vader went general lack of respect despite his light viral. Buzz about the series spread expo- saber and telekinetic powers. But Chad nentially as word got out about the funny has one thing going for him — a loyal videos posted on YouTube, an Internet site apprentice in Commander Wickstrom, where people can upload homemade films. played by UW grad Paul Guse ’01. Within the first year, Chad Vader had mil- “He just does these ridiculously stu- lions of views. Among the growing legion pid things in defense of Chad,” says Guse of fans is the Jedi Master himself, George “Commander Wickstrom, take of his character. “Probably things that Lucas, chair of Lucasfilm and creator of your squadron and find that dog. aren’t in Commander Wickstrom’s own the thirty-year-old Star Wars space epic. Do not return without it.” EPISODE 4 interests. He really wants to be like Chad. Last May, Lucas chose Chad Vader: Day Which makes sense, considering the little Shift Manager as his favorite fan film of helmet that he wears.” the year from a record number of entries The Chad Vader saga, with eight epi- in the Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. sodes so far, was created a year ago by The first episode won the competition’s Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan of Blame grand prize: the coveted George Lucas Society Productions. The idea came from Selects Award. Chad Vader was honored, a friend who thought it would be funny to along with other films that received official place Darth Vader in a supermarket and selections, at the Star Wars Celebration IV film him on the job. awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Many members of the cast and crew “It’s been a lot of fun,” says cinema- are from the Madison area, and the series tographer Tona Williams MS’97, PhD’06, was filmed during off hours at Madison’s of the making of Chad Vader and ensuing “I love chocolatinis.” Willy Street Co-op. Much like Darth publicity. “You can’t buy this kind of EPISODE 5 Vader’s character, portrayed in Star Wars advertising.”

28 ON WISCONSIN BOB RASHID

Despite the acclaim, most of the cast network Spike TV after winning the The Star Wars spoof that features Darth Vader’s “little brother,” Chad, has hit it big and crew of Chad Vader are in it for the Lucas award. In February 2007, the Star with 18 million online views so far. From fun, which is fortunate, since the project is Wars spoof was featured on the VH1 left: Brad Knight, Paul Guse, Aaron Yonda low budget. Where some might shy away cable show “40 Greatest Internet Super- (Chad Vader), Tona Williams, and Matt Sloan film on location at Madison’s own from the challenge of producing such an stars.” And Chad Vader was featured on Willy Street Co-op. endeavor with virtually no funding, the ABC’s Good Morning America last year. It’s Left: Chad Vader faces many challenges as cast and crew have often pitched in their all been a blast, says Guse, a Drake & day shift manager — undisciplined employ- local connections to help the cause. For Company recruiter in Madison who has ees, cranky customers, unrequited love, and a rival out to get his job. But he survives it example, Knight is a member of Madison’s enjoyed some unexpected notoriety from all, thanks to his Napoleon (or should we Union Cab Cooperative, a credential that working on the series. say Darth?) complex. came in quite handy one day. “It’s really weird that people recog- series, all of which helps offset the costs “We actually used one of our cabs in nize me,” he says. “One time, this guy of production. A second season is in the an episode of Chad Vader,” says Knight. came up to me and said, ‘It’s fantastic to works, but as of press time, the release “I was the connection that made that one finally meet Commander Wickstrom.’ date was up in the air. Until then, happen. It’s the only time I know of when He didn’t even ask me if I was the guy viewers can chuckle at Chad’s bumbling someone other than Aaron wore the Chad from Chad Vader. He just knew.” attempts to rule Empire Market online Vader outfit. I had to wear it while driving at www.blamesociety.net. the taxi, since I had the taxi permit.” hat’s next for Chad Vader? The The actors may be unpaid, but Wcreators have capitalized on the Writer Erin Hueffner ’00 has watched every episode they’ve certainly received a lot of atten- antihero’s popularity by selling T-shirts, of Star Wars at least a thousand times. She has always tion. Chad Vader aired on the cable coffee mugs, and a DVD of the entire wanted a pet Ewok.

FALL 2007 29 HIDDEN HISTORY KAY TOBIN LAHUSEN

By Susan Zaeske ’89, MA’93, PhD’97

On an otherwise ordinary day in late May, twenty- one people burst through the walls of the traditional classroom. We were UW students, faculty, and staff, and we were about to make history by studying history. We were boarding a bus and hitting the road to meet people who, starting in the 1950s, have been key players in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement. We were going to stand where they had once stood and listen to the stories of their struggles. Our stops along the way would include Cleveland, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. We weren’t traveling lightly. We carried a weight of responsibility, knowing that we were the ﬁrst class at UW-Madison — and, perhaps, anywhere — to employ the experiential education format to study LGBT history. We immersed ourselves in the topic for ten full days, meeting with people and grappling with issues throughout the day, over meals, and well into the evening. The learning — and teaching — experience was intense, not only because of the hours we invested in each day, but also because meeting the history-makers heightened the reality of course themes. One of the most important aspects of the class, students said, was that the immersion pushed them to engage more deeply with the material than they would have in a traditional classroom. They were able to speak with and ask almost unlimited questions of Building awareness: Early activism for gay and lesbian civil rights included demon- the subjects of their study, to interact closely with strations at Independence Hall in Philadelphia every July 4 from 1965 to 1969.

30 ON WISCONSIN A UW contingent takes to the road to learn ﬁrsthand from those who broke down barriers for gay and lesbian Americans more than fifty years ago. SCOTT SEYFORTH

faculty, and to draw upon their own experience to identify themes and lessons. Students and teachers together became knowledge gatherers and cre- ators — preparing for interactions with speakers, reflecting on experiences and events, and synthe- sizing disparate versions of the past and conflict- ing points of view. It all made for meaningful and long-lasting learning, both for students and for me and others who taught the course. More important than achieving a first, though, was the goal of discovering the history that we could not find on library shelves. We were seeking people who could tell us the stories that have yet to be recorded in journals and books. “LGBT history has been hidden, and we are attempting to bring it more into view,” says Scott Seyforth MSx’09, the course’s creator, who is a graduate student in educational leadership and policy analysis and serves as a residence life coordinator for University Housing. Seyforth was the major force behind the trip, leading the effort to coordinate hundreds of details, and gaining broad sponsorship from nine different campus organizations, including the offices of the Dean of Stu- dents, the Chancellor, and the Provost. The trip came to fruition, thanks to Seyforth’s persistence and to the indefatigable Joe Elder, a professor of sociology and one of the faculty founders of the university’s LGBT studies cer- tificate program in 2003. “At the moment, LGBT people are probably the most discriminated

Re-creating history: In summer 2007, UW students marched and carried signs at Indepen- against,” Elder said when he signed on to help dence Hall, following in the footsteps of those who spoke out some forty years earlier. teach the class. “All discriminated groups face

FALL 2007 31 barriers. This trip is one way of bringing those barriers down.” KALA KLUENDER Our leadership team also included two graduate students, Amy Barber ’06, MAx’08, communication arts and women’s studies, and Eric Pritchard MAx’08, Eng- lish, as well as Maren Greathouse of the LGBT Campus Center. The fifteen students enrolled in the course were in various stages of their undergraduate careers and, although we never asked, they identified themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or — for about half of the class — as an “ally,” a term they prefer to use rather than “straight” for individuals who are advo- cates for LGBT causes, but not LGBT themselves. The first class session included the It happened here: UW students visited The Stonewall Inn in New York City, an unassuming chance to meet local activists, such as location for what is viewed as a watershed event for the gay and lesbian rights movement. members of PFLAG (Parents and Fami- REFLECTIONS lies of Lesbians and Gays) and Soulforce, a Christian group that fights oppression of History is messy. LGBT people. During a visit to St. Francis House, which during the 1970s hosted meetings of gay activist groups, a Brave foremothers and forefathers of the panel of UW-Madison alumni, faculty, and staff taught the students about the history gay and lesbian rights movement taught of LGBT activism on campus and in the Madison community. (See sidebar, page 34.) us many things during our trip. But the We then set off on our rolling history seminar, with a first stop in Cleveland. At an comment I found most meaningful is one LGBT community center there, we were moved by the stories from a navy veteran turned that I heard repeated often: “You’re not transgender activist, and from several lesbians in their seventies and eighties. In Washing- just learning history by participating in ton, D.C., we met founders of 1960s gay organizations, and, quickly jumping to the pres- this trip. You’re making history.” ent, we visited the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, where David Stacy ’90, once At the broadest level, very little gay a student of Elder’s, serves as a senior public policy advocate. In Baltimore on a Sunday and lesbian history is available to stu- morning, we attended a moving service at the Afro-centric, gay-positive Unity Fellowship dents in our libraries, our news media, Church. And in Philadelphia, the cradle of the nation, we were greeted by a well-known or our classrooms. As we created this local activist, who outfitted us with picket signs so that we could re-create the demonstra- much-needed course on the topic, we also tions by people who marched for gay rights in front of Independence Hall every July 4 developed a format that allowed us to from 1965 to 1969. learn in a new and different way, outside In New York City, our final destination, we focused our attention on the history of and complementary to what little gay of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, a several-day clash outside The Stonewall Inn, where and lesbian history we had encountered police officers fought gay and transgender people who were protesting police entrap- in classroom settings. We created an envi- ment and shakedowns of LGBT citizens. It is regarded as a watershed event for the gay ronment in which history came alive. rights movement. We met with Elliott Imse ’05, a communications research associate Stories have often been told about the at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and David Carter people involved in the movement, rather MA’78, author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. Carter’s book was than by them. On this trip, we heard the assigned reading for the class, so speaking with him and some of his interview subjects stories of gay and lesbian rights pioneers face-to-face was especially meaningful. directly from them, rather than filtered In fact, hearing directly from those who had made history in earlier decades was a through a third party and represented as strong — and emotional — thread woven throughout our journey. Each of the trip’s words on a page. As we talked, we came participants came away from these conversations with new knowledge and new appre- to our own conclusions about the people ciation for those who had stepped forward in years past, without knowing for certain and the history they made. where the road would take them. It is one thing to read about groups By the time our bus returned to Madison, our thoughts were swimming with all that — the Mattachine Society and the Daugh- we had observed and learned. Barber, Pritchard, and Kala Kluender x’08, who were ters of Bilitis — that formed to fight for among the class participants, share some of those thoughts here. gay and lesbian civil rights beginning in

32 ON WISCONSIN applied, and a hand raised powerfully SCOTT SEYFORTH in the air. To your right is a picture of a woman with hair adorned with various decorative ornaments, a multitude of paints and glitters on her face, and a Mona Lisa smirk, a look that at once says, “I know much, and am telling you nothing.” These are photos of Sylvia Rivera, a Latina transgender woman, and Mar- sha P. Johnson, an African-American transgender woman. Their names, as those knowledgeable about LGBT history can tell you, quickly come up and then fade away in discussions about the Stonewall riots of June 1969. Depend- ing upon whom you ask, or the agenda for the history recounted, depictions of Seeing firsthand: The UW-Madison course of LGBT history employed experiential learning, Rivera and Johnson fluctuate from being bringing students face-to-face with the very people and places they were studying. humorous, quirky, back-up players to being the “real” gay activists. And, in the the 1950s, a time when the very notion of in the 1950s and 1960s. It is another to recollections of still others, they were gays and lesbians as people who deserve watch Banis shakily recount the night troublemaking radicals, master grassroots equal rights was unheard of. It is another he was gang-raped by police simply organizers, or sex-working mothers to thing to hear members of the groups because he was gay. These are stories, the “street kids,” the homeless youth describe the deep and paralyzing fear they and faces, that undoubtedly will stick in who helped spark and solidify the riot’s felt when they decided to picket the White our memories even though the course has momentum. In these same recollections, House and Independence Hall in 1965. As ended. They are stories that students will the two women are depicted as having they marched, holding signs insisting that incorporate into their lives, their research nothing to lose and everything to gain “Homosexuals Are Equal Citizens,” they endeavors, and their future activist work. by fighting back and supporting others feared for their jobs, their families, their “I learned about history, yes,” says one in the same position. Consequently then, safety, their lives. A few days later, when student about the course, “but even more this history posits that their roles were our group re-created the event, we felt that about myself and how to evaluate and so central to the movement itself that it’s same fear and vulnerability when pass- understand history.” difficult to imagine a Stonewall riot, a gay ersby shot us chilling glances or spewed Joan Biren, a self-described “radical liberation movement, or a New York City anti-gay epithets. The experience gave us lesbian feminist,” opened her talk with without them. a true sense of the courage and bravery it the assertion that “history is the politics As a black gay man, I know the must have taken for the women and men of memory.” History, she told us, is con- consequences of marginalized histories, to picket more than forty years ago. tingent upon who has the means and whether they are histories I directly iden- It is one thing to read about the the access to write it. History is often tify with or not. To know these histories accomplishments of Victor Banis, a gay contradictory. History is messy. The real- is to know myself. To silence them is to author who has written more than one ity of history’s complexity and messiness silence me. These are the consequences hundred and fifty gay pulp novels since became our trip’s most important lesson. of being rendered to historical margins the early 1960s. It is another thing to sit in — Amy Barber — consequences that erase not only his- a room with him and hear him talk about tory and ancestors, but also descendants. the many publishers of the era who were This erasure is true, in particular, for REFLECTIONS LGBT people of color, lesbian herstories, sentenced to federal prison for distributing To know these histories “obscene” (gay-themed) material, and to and transgender communities. is to know myself. hear him recall how afraid he was when he On our trip, we talked with Bob was indicted on federal charges of Entering the lounge at the back of The Kohler, Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, conspiracy to distribute the material. Stonewall Inn, you can’t help but notice Danny Garvin, and Karla Jay, who It is one thing to read about the the two photos. To your left is a picture spoke at length about Rivera and omnipresence of police harassment and of a woman dressed in a chic wrap dress, Johnson. In Washington, D.C., we brutality inflicted upon gays and lesbians hair loosely curled, makeup impeccably met with A. Billy S. Jones and Louis

FALL 2007 33 REFLECTIONS Hughes, Jr., co-founders of the question or identify them, but instead My awareness of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians to make our own contributions through privileges that I carry and Gays, and Buddy Sutson, co- writings, documentaries, and gathering has been heightened. founder of the Best of Washington, one interviews. He also encouraged us to of the oldest black gay social organiza- challenge the politics of which materi- During this course, many of the tions. As we talked over the history we als and ephemera, if any, are deemed speakers commented on public health had come to study, the scant inclusion history-worthy or “intelligible” histori- concerns that are specifi c to LGBT of LGBT people of color and the trans- cal documents. We, as a learning com- individuals, which helped to inform my gender community was front and cen- munity, took this charge seriously, and personal interest. ter. Still, these communities were more it peppered our class discussions more For example, Frank Kameny, a readily recalled by our panelists than than any other subject that we heard on prominent fi gure in the gay civil rights in most other historical accounts of those days. movement, explained that removing the era, which spoke to the blessing of Overall, the speakers helped us homosexuality from the diagnostic experiential learning and the mandates to understand that within the LGBT manual of the American Psychiatric we were charged with as students, community there is a diversity of expe- Association in 1973 was a signifi cant teachers, and descendants. riences. We learned that we, as descen- moment in LGBT history. For the fi rst This mandate was best summed up dants, can use our voices to counteract time, he noted, well-respected profession- by Lanigan-Schmidt, a former street kid. the consequences of historical invisibility als removed the characterization of being He said the best thing we can do to right and erasures. gay or lesbian as medically or psychologi- the exclusions of history is not to just — Eric Pritchard cally abnormal. We also met with Jessica

Close to Home UW-MADISON ARCHIVES The UW gay and lesbian civil rights movement faced daunting challenges, yet made steady progress, during its early decades.

By Scott Seyforth MSx’09

When examining the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people at the UW from 1950 to 1970, a stark duality emerges: they contributed to — yet never were fully accepted into — the campus community. The Haresfoot Club, while not a gay organization, featured all-male casts in revues and Broadway shows. According to information in the UW-Madison Archives, it was an outlet for some gay men, and Haresfoot was one of the few places on campus where the rigidity of 1950s gender roles was satirized. In the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, the Haresfoot Club performed in seven to ten cities throughout the state each year, with its men-in-drag cast playing women’s parts. Haresfoot offered changing conceptions of gender and Speaking out: Created in 1971, the Gay Liberation Front joined other gender roles for sixty-fi ve years, from 1898 to 1963, under the politically active student organizations on the UW-Madison campus. motto, “All our women are men, yet every one’s a lady.” Despite the acceptance of the gender-bending aspects of — LGBT groups in campus history until that time. In response the Haresfoot Club, on at least two occasions, the university to what they perceived as a threat, city and university police actively purged groups of students identifi ed as homosexu- arrested twelve men in June 1948, primarily by raiding a pri- als. The fi rst purge occurred in 1948, a time when the campus vate party of gay men at a Madison house. At least four of the population had tripled in size compared to enrollment before men arrested were university students, and they were expelled World War II. Networks of gays and lesbians had begun form- for gathering with other gay men. ing on campus and in the community during this period, “Each of you by your conduct has caused an indelible mark representing the most — and, perhaps, the most visible to be placed against you,” said the judge at the students’ court

34 ON WISCONSIN Xavier, an author, songwriter, and sexual experiences untold. Some of our most ened, and as I work toward my goals minorities activist, who pointed out that captivating speakers were local organiz- of becoming a health care provider, Gender Identity Disorder is currently ers who worked at the grassroots level community leader, and engaged citizen, listed in the manual, and I learned about and whose stories may go unrecorded. my awareness of the unique concerns the issues this presents to transgender We also repeatedly heard speakers of the LGBT community will heavily and transsexual individuals. describe different versions of the same inﬂ uence my actions. I will translate Although many of the people we event, all falling at the mercy of memory what I learned in this course into met are well-known and often cited and personal perspective. This phenom- discussions with my friends and fam- in LGBT historical writings, I expe- enon — in addition to issues of race, ily about LGBT issues, increase my rienced a renewed awareness of those age, class, access to education, and other recognition of unjust policies on both who were not included in meetings, resources — points to one of the chal- local and international levels, openly videos, or reading assignments. Unique lenges in writing and reporting history. identify myself as an ally, and actively to LGBT history, I believe, is the loss In the end, we all developed a very pursue more information about barriers of some of the most interesting and keen appreciation for the caution that to quality health care faced by LGBT potentially accurate recordings of must be taken in historical study, and individuals — as well as how to elimi- events because of the social stigma that for the need to recognize the invaluable nate them. drove the gay community underground people, places, and events that may not — Kala Kluender for decades. The use of pseudonyms, have been acknowledged. for example, effectively erased ties to I know that my awareness of the Susan Zaeske is a professor and associate chair of activists who may have left integral privileges that I carry has been height- UW-Madison’s Department of Communication Arts.

hearing, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report 602 Club. The unpublicized arrangement at the time was that of June 21, 1948. the back half was for straight patrons, while the front half, The second gay purge occurred in 1962, culminating a along the bar, was for gay patrons. Later in the 1960s, a similar decade of greater policing of homosexual behavior than had arrangement operated at the old Kollege Klub. ever been seen on campus. Throughout 1962, the campus’s By the mid-1960s, perhaps related to the youth culture’s security and dean of men offi ces conducted a full-scale inves- quest for authenticity, gays and lesbians began a shift toward tigation of gay men, which Ron McCrea ’89 has documented fusing their private and public lives, and becoming more open in the Midwest Gay Academic Journal. By coercing gay male about their homosexuality. students to provide names of other gay men, the offi ces com- In fall 1969, several men and women gathered at St. piled a list and called in dozens of gay men for questioning. Francis House to form the Madison Alliance for Homosexual If a man admitted that he was gay, the university called his Equality (MAHE), the fi rst public gay and lesbian student orga- parents, took away his scholarships, and expelled him. The nization in the university’s history. The group was primarily purge also led to the investigation of certain faculty, staff, and social, meeting weekly in the basement of the Episcopal stu- deans. In time, the purge subsided, in part because faculty and dent center and occasionally holding functions in the upstairs counseling center staff stepped in, saying that the purge was sanctuary. MAHE gave birth to a more political entity, the causing the university community more harm than good. Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in fall 1971, created, according to During 1950 to 1970, the time period studied by our class, its mission, to “promote interaction and solidarity within the gays and lesbians at the UW lived two lives — one private, one gay community and to raise the consciousness of the straight public — because of the hostility toward and stigma associ- world to the problems of sexist oppression.” GLF marked ated with their orientation. The Madison gay and lesbian the beginning of a more politically active LGBT student community was largely a private social network, with a mix community, and a new chapter in exploring social justice of undergraduate and graduate students, Madison profes- at the university. sionals, and working-class people, with little town/gown split. Today more than half a dozen LGBT-related student Although they were not allowed to be “out” at work, some of organizations exist on campus. Undergraduates in any major the most well-respected faculty and staff of this period were can now pursue an LGBT studies certifi cate; since its launch members of the LGBT community — professors George Mosse, in 2003, sixty-seven students have completed the program, Harvey Goldberg ’43, PhD’57, and Maxine Bennett, and her with forty-six working toward completion. The LGBT Campus partner, Martha Peterson, who served as dean of women from Center, which was established as a student organization in 1956 to 1962. 1992, by 2003 had evolved into a unit of the Offi ces of the During the 1950s and 1960s, one of the few bars in Madi- Dean of Students with full-time staff. Each year, the GLBT son that welcomed gays and lesbians was a smoky watering Alumni Council, working with the campus center, awards hole at University Avenue and Frances Street called the student scholarships to LGBT and ally students.

FALL 2007 35 JEFF MILLER (4)

who you think I am

BY JENNY PRICE ’96

You might be surprised by the weapon of choice for many high school and college students who want to wake up the world and assert their personal identity: words.

Jair Alvarez was initially nervous about performing his poetry for an audience, but has found his voice and is now part of First Wave.

36 ON WISCONSIN momentary escape from the prison cell of First Wave’s inaugural class and wants to The young man at the page, where silence is enforced, to a become an English teacher. “A lot of peo- the microphone freedom dependent only on the ability to ple who watch spoken word are shocked open the mouth — the most democratic by what we’re saying — and I always tell stands in the beam of instruments — and speak,” wrote my teacher that the future of the youth of the spotlight on stage, but he doesn’t Billy Collins, poet laureate of the United isn’t dead, it’s thriving in our cafeterias.” stay still. He can’t. States, in his introduction to the 2003 A first-generation American, Truong As he begins to speak, the rhythm of anthology Spoken Word Revolution. wrote her first spoken word poem in high his words moves his arms and his head Members of Generation Next school, a product of her frustration about and sometimes his feet. He spits out the — raised on technology like personal being one of two Vietnamese students. “I verses he’s woven about what makes him computers, cell phones, and the Internet was just sick of everyone not knowing the angry, what gives him joy, what turns — are invigorating spoken word with difference between Vietnam and other him on, what makes him laugh, and what social activism rooted in the origins of Asian countries,” she says. “I wanted to he thinks has gone wrong in the world. hip-hop music and art, and a rejection of fight back the stereotypes, and it helped He wields agile alliteration, vivid imag- the roles and identities assigned to them me clear my mind and my thoughts a lot.” ery, clever metaphors, and a sharp dose by popular culture. And Truong ultimately fell in love of truth, with the members of the audi- And now spoken word has taken up with the community that spoken word ence poised to grab hold of the next line, residence on the UW-Madison campus, provided when she first got involved with not knowing what torrent of words will in the form of First Wave, the nation’s a group called Young Chicago Authors. follow his next breath. first college learning community devoted “I’ve met so many people through spoken What they do know is that this poem to urban art. Fifteen students selected word competitions that I never would does not belong to literary ghosts from for First Wave can major in any subject have crossed paths with, people who have the past; it is here and now, grabbing — from English to theater to biology definitely changed me into a better per- them by the shoulders and demanding — while working on their spoken word son,” she says. “We’re all so different, but their attention. poetry, dancing, or visual art. we all can agree on the fact that we love If you based your view of American to write.” youth on what you see on MTV or the “There’s a lot of Walt Whit- nightly news, you’d never imagine that mans and Langston Hugheses and there are teenagers composing lines of Robert Frosts right among us ... The first time verse in the margins of their notebooks and we just have to give them a during class or dreaming up poems on the Jair Alvarez x’11 forum. And this is it — this is the bus. But they’re out there. And they have performed one of seized upon a medium called “spoken forum for that at a university,” his own poems, “Admitted,” which told word” to express themselves to their peers says Willie Ney MA’93, MA’94, his story of coming to the United States and to the world. Their passion for this director of the UW Office of Mul- from Puerto Rico as a non-English art form has taken hold in high schools ticultural Arts Initiatives, creator speaker, he stood before just twenty — with after-school clubs where students people in a spoken word club at Madison break into freestyle poetry jam sessions of First Wave, and tireless advo- West High School, where he graduated called ciphers — and on college campuses cate for the power of urban arts. last spring before joining First Wave. where open mic nights offer an alternative The students’ arrival on campus caps The American dream to house parties and the bar scene. off a two-year sprint that has catapulted Kills us off Spoken word is not a new the UW to the forefront of the spoken But with enough word movement, due in large part to the poetic form. It dates back to Strength success of a national spoken word pro- Homer’s Odyssey and African sto- Determination gram for high school students conceived Imagination rytellers, resurging in more recent by a UW graduate, along with the infec- From our nation times through the beat poets of tious enthusiasm of key administrators We will make it who realized its potential to revolutionize the 1950s and 1960s and competi- Let them hate it recruitment and diversify the campus. tive events — called slams — of Try and procrastinate it “I guess it sounds like a big goal, but the 1990s. Its appeal is the exact But we will cross that stage we want to change the world. We want and accept it opposite of curling up in a chair to make a difference in it,” says Kimanh to read poetry in isolation. Truong x’11, a writer and spoken word “I forgot my place and I was shaking ... “To hear a poem is to experience its artist from Chicago who is a member of hard,” Alvarez says, waving his arm

FALL 2007 37 rapidly back and forth for emphasis. that Kass still leads, which, in addition Advice from a friend helped to to offering comprehensive programs in prepare him for performing in front the San Francisco Bay area, networks of even larger groups. with organizations across the country to “ ‘I know you know most of the bring spoken word to kids through high people at your school,’ ” he says the school clubs, writing workshops, and friend told him. “ ‘There’s four hundred teen poetry slam contests. UW-Madison’s of your friends and you’re just saying the Office of Multicultural Initiatives oper- poem to them.’ ... When I got up there, I ates similar programs, with students still got nervous, but I was always able to and poet mentors who perform for and play it off because I just moved around.” lead workshops in middle schools, high Nervous is the last word anyone schools, community centers, and other would use to describe Alvarez on stage as venues in Madison, Milwaukee, and Willie Ney has worked tirelessly to bring he emceed an arts assembly in the closing spoken word programs to the UW-Madison throughout Wisconsin. weeks of his senior year at West. He con- campus and Madison high schools. The national program is playing a fidently presided over the program with role in redefining poetry itself by taking a touch of swagger, introducing other an incredibly diverse place, he couldn’t it back from institutions that focus too poets, urging classmates to make some help but notice that the writing programs much on form and reverence for past noise, and jumping around with students were not. Kass, who focused on Afro- masters, “letting kids understand,” says who hopped on stage to dance during a American studies courses while getting Kass, “that poetry is something that can freestyle rap performance. his English degree at the UW, knew there be liberating, it can be educational, it can He confidently performed a poem were poets and writers who were not be entertaining. For teenagers, this is a with fellow West student Dan Bunn being nurtured as artists and did not have time where you’re questioning so much about the dangers of public apathy and a place to present their work. and learning so much — it’s perfect. what he later described as “the gov- At the same time, Kass was The ability for it to be an anchor in kids’ ernment’s not caring about the people, lives — which are oftentimes tumultuous they’re just making people like sheep.” struck by an onslaught of anti- — where they can always go to the pen youth propaganda in the media and the paper and, no matter where they on Capitol Hill, they’re raising no capital to fill are, that provides an anchor for them, an schools with new sense, that portrayed teenagers as thugs opportunity to continue to engage with instead they spend, tax halves of paychecks, to or hyper-sexualized. “There was who they are and what they believe in the attack women and children of other never an opportunity for just world.” nations. an average, everyday kid to say And youth spoken word poetry then the nuisance becomes the needed, when something,” he says. “And the contests or performances can be remark- you’re drafted or recruited, ably different from the adult slam scene, Selling dreams, like you want to be pine-coffin average, everyday kid is, you which is notable for ego as much as art. suited and booted. know, saddled with a ton “The youth, for the most part, are tak- “A lot of times my personal issues are of things.” ing the stage and using the opportunity kind of broad issues,” says Alvarez, who His early workshops for aspiring to communicate directly with their peers plans to go to law school and aspires to young poets in San Francisco drew a about the specific thing that they want to be a U.S. senator, the highest office he melting pot of eager participants. talk about,” Kass says. With adult poets, can reach as a non-native citizen. “For “The first kids who came were the he says, the vibe can be more about, example, if I’m writing about poverty, I’m kids who were already writing, and they “Look how great I am.” not the only one going through that so, were writing out in their own little neigh- you know, other people can also relate.” borhoods or in their own little isolation, so they came to sort of meet other kids,” Karlo Martinez lost Kass says. “And right away, there was his place midway Poetry slams were this incredible demographic diversity in hitting it big the room ... from ethnic, to gender, to through a performance orientation, to how kids were doing in before students at Middleton High School, as James Kass ’91 school. Some of them were total dropouts, a fifteen-minute drive west on University was studying for a master of fine arts in some of the kids are straight-A students.” Avenue from the heart of campus. The fiction at San Francisco State University Those early events grew rapidly into award-winning student poet, now a senior in the early 1990s. While the campus was Youth Speaks, the national organization at Madison West High School, was cruis-

38 ON WISCONSIN Lana Simpson performs during a jam session on the Memorial Union Terrace in June, part of an event welcoming First Wave students to the UW. ing through his poem, spitting rhymes and Healey directs the students and performance. Their teacher, Chris tapping his chest when his face went blank to take on the character of a ste- Cummings, marvels as he watches his and the flow of words stopped. He started students engage with poetry. to pace, mouthing silently, for what prob- reotype they’ve identified and “I don’t know how [the mentors] pull ably felt to him like hours, trying to find write a short piece that starts with it off,” he says. “They shouldn’t be getting the next line. the line “I’m not who you think them to talk at all.” “It’s all right,” said one voice from the I am.” Healey tries to help push darkened seats of the auditorium, where Middleton students just weeks from their things along by posing questions The city of Madison’s summer vacations had gathered for the for them to ponder as they write: four public high midday assembly. “It’s okay,” others said, “What part of it is true? What buoying him to reclaim the thread of his do you wish you could be? Who schools are within lost thought and finish the piece to loud ten miles of campus, but despite the applause, whistles, and cheers. knows the real you? Why don’t physical proximity, some students — Martinez and the other poet men- people know the real you?” particularly students of color — see the tors channel that support back to the The exercise achieves far more than UW as out of reach, out of touch, or students during visits to creative writing simply illustrating that stereotypes are both. Ney saw spoken word as a vehicle classes made up of juniors and seniors. bad. It demonstrates, says Healey, “the to change that perception, by putting Program director Josh Healey ’05 puts power of telling stories and using your university resources into launching and one class through a writing exercise, story to break down barriers.” supporting spoken word programs in the asking them to brainstorm stereotypes. In another Middleton writing class, high schools. “Dumb blonde,” “spoiled brat,” “carefree juniors and seniors break into groups with That realization came in 2004, when superstar,” and “outcast transgender” are the mentors, who listen to them read origi- he invited Kass, Youth Speaks Artistic offered up. nal work and offer advice on both writing Director Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and a

FALL 2007 39 Kelsey Van Ert, performing at the Memorial Union Terrace, found spoken word to be a powerful method for healing after personal tragedy. few of the country’s top poets to perform is a “deep-seated cultural link” at national conferences and are slated on campus during Cinefest, a Latin film between students of color in to perform at Madison Square Garden festival sponsored by the Office of Mul- during a New York Knicks-sponsored ticultural Arts Initiatives. Ney organized Madison schools and the univer- college fair and poetry slam audition. workshops and performances by the sity. Teens who have never before “Imagine you have a block of four artists at three Madison high schools, set foot on campus are finally kids who are the best young artists, going where the reaction was so passionate to a school, any school, but an urban that students left their seats to do spoken making the short trip to partici- school particularly, and doing a show, a word poetry freestyle from their diaries pate in cultural events such as a twenty-minute show, in front of all 1,500 and notebooks. A few months later, Kass performance by Bamuthi, who students and saying ‘Why don’t you and his staff returned to Madison to run was an interdisciplinary artist in come join us?’ ” Ney says. Instead of the spoken word workshops in the schools expected admissions officers, “the people and host poetry slams. The experience, residence during spring semester. who make the pitch will be the students Kass says, taught him more about the city “This university, just by tapping themselves.” And they make compelling of Madison in two weeks than he had into our own school district, could be as messengers, offering prospective college learned in five years as a student on the diverse as our school district. Our school students a glimpse of what their own UW campus. district is a reflection of the broader experiences could be. Today Ney’s office has spoken United States,” Ney says. And now, First Wave students, who word clubs at Madison’s East, will reside in the same residence hall and It took just one La Follette, Memorial, and West work on their art alongside one another meeting for high schools, with members tak- in and out of the classroom, will help to ing part in local and national build a pipeline between UW-Madison Darrell Bazzell ’84, and students around the country engaged UW-Madison’s vice chancellor for admin- youth spoken word poetry com- by spoken word and hip-hop, Ney says. istration, to decide that the university petitions. The result, says Ney, Some UW poets have already performed should commit resources to a spoken

40 ON WISCONSIN word program on campus and in local some of the brightest urban youths time, she began to perform it, finding that high schools. He agreed to fund tuition in the country coming to Madison. doing so was “incredibly healing.” Then, for First Wave students during their first as she heard from others who had expe- year, hoping to help leverage support They’re so talented and thoughtful rienced similar tragedies, she learned that from private donors through the UW and moving that no one can help her performance achieved something else. Foundation to cover the remainder of but be inspired by them.” “I realized that this piece can be used for their undergraduate education. change,” she says. “What’s so powerful about that is A caption in the paper revealed the truth [the program] cuts across all cultural For young spoken Of how young Yolanda stole her own lines,” Bazzell says. “This isn’t just a word poets, their youth. program for African-Americans or So I did exactly what adults told me to Latinos — there are majority students very personal, and do. in the program. It cuts across all racial sometimes painful, stories of rape, the I talked to my teachers about it boundaries in a very profound way.” death of a loved one, or struggles with in school. That’s evident from looking at the depression or cultural identity are often But they were (too) religious to hear me out membership of spoken word clubs in the foundation of their earliest work. Once And that was my best friend they were Madison schools and at the inaugural the students are exposed to other poets talking about. First Wave class: the poets and artists are and literature and styles, Ney says, “their Oh how bad I wanted to say goodbye so African-American, white, Latino, Native poetry develops and expands, and then it I could release all this pain I had inside. American, Asian, and biracial. becomes more regional and national and But no one would drive me to her funeral. “It’s not surprising that you see a then global. So you see these kids who And I got violent whenever my conservative higher proportion of students of color begin with that raw, visceral poetry ending classmates and teachers who use this medium, so to speak, up with these sonnets and these forms that told me Yolanda was in hell well because oftentimes in mainstream soci- are more traditional lyrical forms that not “She’s not in hell!” ety we don’t always feel that there are only help them to succeed academically I’d Yell. mechanisms to express ourselves in — often for the first time — but also make ways that are meaningful and really let it hard to believe the kids are teenagers us basically tell our story,” says Bazzell, with the depth and breadth of their writ- The journey who is African-American. “The students ing skills they’ve acquired.” who I hear talk, it really resonates with And for many students, the act of Van Ert and other me, the messages they’re communicat- writing and performing gives them First Wave students ing. I come from an urban environment; something more than they might have take each time they think about their I lived in lots of big cities growing up, expected when they first started. lives, transform their thoughts into so I, myself, experienced the same frus- “I don’t want to sound corny, but I words, commit the words to paper, and trations in terms of not really feeling think, in a lot of ways, art, not just spo- speak the words aloud as others listen is that I had outlets to express myself in ken word, has seriously saved my life a liberating and moving journey. ways that people understood and appre- on a couple of occasions,” says Kelsey “If you write the piece and you ciated. So, for me, part of it was just Van Ert x’11, a poet and singer from St. about creating an opportunity for self- Paul, Minnesota, who is African-Ameri- memorize it and then you perform expression.” can, white, and Latina. She first visited it, especially for the first time, you Jeff Chang, a journalist who Madison in 2005, when she won an adult go somewhere else, you revisit that poetry slam contest, and is now one of wrote Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A half a dozen First Wave students who moment,” Van Ert says. “What- History of the Hip-Hop Generation, are the first in their families to go to col- ever is hurting you ... it’s out there, agrees that the program can help lege. Without First Wave, she says, she you just let it go and you feel a lot bridge the campus with urban wouldn’t have considered enrolling at a lighter. And I feel like a lot of kids “huge school” like UW-Madison. “That communities. “Far too many ‘elite’ sense of community [will] really help me don’t understand ... how powerful universities have a distant relation- stay focused in my studies,” she says. that is, in any art form.” ship to the urban youths who need Four years ago, Van Ert wrote about their resources and can potentially the suicide of a friend, a twelve-year-old Jenny Price ’96 is a writer for On Wisconsin. To learn girl, in her poem “Yolanda.” At first, she more about the national Youth Speaks organization, transform the campuses the most,” visit www.youthspeaks.org. For more information about couldn’t perform the work because it was UW-Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives and Chang says. “We’re talking about too painful to think about her friend. In First Wave, visit www.omai.wisc.edu.

FALL 2007 41 SCENE POP GO THE PEOPLE Like an angry volcano, a steel drum smolders after erupting for a crowd of high-school students near Weeks Hall in July. The students were taking part in PEOPLE, the UW’s Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence, which helps prepare them for college. This demonstration simulated volcanic steam eruptions: instructors from the geology department dropped a container of liq- uid nitrogen into a drum filled with water, and as the nitrogen warmed, it rapidly expanded, causing an explosion of water and steam. Photo by Jeff Miller SPORTS

Air Time Fledgling network to broadcast all things Big Ten.

Mark Silverman is on the run. the network ensures it will be Ten fan outcry if the network Through the halls of the for- carried on satellite TV provider doesn’t get wide pick-up. “If TEAM PLAYER mer Montgomery Ward & Co. DirecTV, which gives it access to you don’t, there will be such an Five things you should know Catalog House in downtown 14 million households nationally. uproar that I don’t know why a about football player Chicago, he bounces from wran- But unless the channel negoti- cable company wouldn’t carry Nick Toon x’11 : gling over who at the new Big ates major, lucrative cable deals, it,” he says. • Although he Ten Network gets a TV in his many fans could be shut out. Alvarez adds that the tried lacrosse or her office, to high-level The network was pushing round-the-clock network has a and track discussions about distrib- for its programming to be on huge upside. It can offer schools and field in uting its programming. expanded basic cable, where all unparalleled exposure and fans high school, The new studio set is due viewers would presumably share a depth of coverage and events nothing to arrive the next week, the cable providers’ cost of add- that they can’t find elsewhere. could top but work on the studio ing the network. Some cable “The thing that excites his love itself continues. Silver- providers, however, suggested it me most,” he says, “is that our for football, man, president of the Big belongs on special sports pack- coaches, and all the coaches in which he calls Ten Network, is building a ages, for which only interested the Big Ten, now can go out “the ultimate television network from scratch, subscribers pay an added cost. and recruit with something team sport.” squabbling with cable TV giants, The network has attracted some nobody else has.” • Toon’s decision to play for and hiring on-air talent. smaller municipal cable outfits Wisconsin women’s bas- the Badgers came partly “There’s a great energy across the Midwest. But Char- ketball coach Lisa Stone sees from his love for Madison. here,” says Silverman, who was ter, Comcast, and Time Warner the same potential for all UW Growing up just next door then readying for an August 30 were still holding back — with sports. The network has com- in Middleton, Toon didn’t launch. “There are not a lot of Comcast issuing a biting state- mitted to “event equality” want to go anywhere else, networks that, right out of the ment last June, saying, “Indiana between men’s and women’s he says, because “every- gate, get access to millions of basketball fans don’t want to events within the first three body dreams of growing loyal fans.” watch Iowa volleyball, but the years of operation. “We have up and playing for their The Big Ten Network is a Big Ten wants everyone to pay Badger fans across the entire hometown.” bold enterprise. It will provide for their new network.” country,” she says. “The Bucky • He received All-American viewers with unprecedented Badger athletic director Badger fans from coast to coast honors in high school, was access to Olympic and women’s Barry Alvarez predicted a Big will be able to watch all of us ranked one of the top college sports — along with three players overall in the appeal of selected football Wisconsin by rivals.com, and basketball games. The net- and was selected to play in work, a twenty-year partnership IN SEASON

the Offense-Defense All- SPORTS INFORMATION between the conference and Women’s Golf American Bowl in Florida Fox Cable Networks, is expected his senior year — an event to air about three hundred and Circle the Dates: September 9– he considers one of his eighty sports events during its 10, the Badger Invitational will greatest accomplishments. first year. Beyond that, each of take place at University Ridge. • Looking to study business, the eleven universities will be Toon plans on “getting afforded up to sixty hours of Keep an eye on: Senior Katie [his] degree and being suc- original campus programming Elliott, whose score of sixty- cessful” at UW-Madison, each year — possibly ranging nine at the Legends of Indi- which, he says, “holds a lot from reality shows, to musical ana tournament last October of weight” in the profes- events, to public affairs talk snagged her the second-best sional world. shows. Unquestionably, the individual eighteen-hole record • His father, Al Toon ’95, network offers promise in rais- in Badger women’s golf his- played football and coming the profile of all conference tory. Her finish also helped peted in track and field for sports and many of the universi- the team to the second-best the Badgers from 1981–84. ties’ academic offerings. eighteen-hole team record in But Nick Toon says he Here’s the rub: that promise school history. doesn’t feel any extra pres- will ring a bit hollow without sure. His only goal? “I want the buy-in of major cable provid- Think about this: When they placed second at last year’s Badger to get on the field ... [and] ers who, as of early August, were Invitational, the Badgers had their best finish since the 2003 Big play my freshman year.” giving the network the cold Ten Championships. The meet also has a good history for Elliott. * PHOTO:CRAIG SCHREINER / WISCONSIN She won her first individual tournament title there last year. STATE JOURNAL shoulder. The deal that created

44 ON WISCONSIN SPORTS

— from women’s basketball to has hired some high-profile “The programming will serve to Senior Nathan Brown was named swimming and hockey. All of talent, including former ESPN help alumni connect, showcase Academic All-American of the our sports will be showcased.” personality Dave Revsine as student achievements, inform Year for men’s track and field The network plans about its lead studio host and Thom parents about campus life, and and cross country by ESPN The thirty-eight football games a Brennaman and Charles Davis as give potential students a taste Magazine. This was the third season, with Wisconsin debut- its lead football broadcast team. of what could be,” he says. first-team Academic All-Ameri- ing in a game against The Cita- Other analysts will include The opportunity to detail can recognition for Brown, who del on September 15. The new former Indiana coach Gerry academic breakthroughs and competes in the decathlon, hep- venture will have to coexist with DiNardo and ex-Minnesota campus culture is extraordinary, tathlon and the javelin in track the Big Ten’s current network coach Glen Mason. Silverman says. “Tradition- and field. Brown completed his partners, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Silverman says the network ally, we’ve had a thirty-second undergraduate biochemistry But Silverman notes that the Big is planning to exist on multiple halftime spot to promote the degree with a 3.98 grade point Ten Network will get the second platforms — eventually offering school, and to go from that average and earned a 4.0 in his pick in three of the season’s video on demand, broadband, to sixty hours a year is a great first year in medical school while twelve weeks, and the third pick and wireless access. It will also opportunity for the schools and finishing his UW track and field in three others. Silverman says broadcast in high definition. a huge advantage over schools career. Senior and three-time that positions the network well. At the same time, univer- that don’t have that opportu- Academic All-American Joe Det- “A game that features sities across the Big Ten are nity,” he adds. mer joined Brown on the first Wisconsin, even if it’s playing brainstorming concepts for Meanwhile, the questions team, and senior Tim Nelson The Citadel, is a game that Wis- original, non-sports programs keep coming about how widely earned second-team honors. consin fans want to see,” says to highlight the work of faculty available the Big Ten Network Silverman, a former executive at and students, and to provide will be in its inaugural season. UW student athletes earned ABC Cable Networks. the nation a window into the Silverman has a long list of several record-setting academic The Big Ten Network will laboratories and classrooms meetings, and he’s off in search achievements in the 2006–07 also carry at least 105 men’s bas- of Big Ten universities. Peter of the answers. Stay tuned. academic year. Overall, student ketball games and 55 women’s Kleppin, who is charged with — Dennis Chaptman ’80 athletes earned a 3.0 grade basketball games, 170 Olympic producing much of that con- point average, 20 percent made sporting events, classic sports, tent for UW-Madison, says the the Dean’s Honor List, and fifty- For more about the Big Ten Network, coaches shows, and Big Ten programming offers a powerful visit www.bigtennetwork.com or five earned a 4.0 GPA in either championships. The network tool for promoting the campus. www.uwbadgers.com. the fall or spring. One hundred eighty-two student athletes were named to the Academic All-Big Ten. Disk Drive ALEX PETERS Former UW men’s hockey coach While the women’s hockey Bob Johnson will be inducted team and the men’s track and field team earned national into the Colorado Springs Sports championships amid much buzz Hall of Fame in October. During and attention, one of the UW’s Johnson’s seasons coaching the lesser known sports had some Badgers from 1966 to 1982, the success of its own this year, team garnered three NCAA titles albeit much quieter. The ultimate Frisbee club team, whose — 1973, 1977, and 1981. His son disk-throwing sport includes is current women’s hockey coach elements of soccer and flag Mark Johnson ’94. football, claimed its second national title. The Hodags, who entered last May’s national Ranked number one by the tournament in Florida with a USRowing poll last spring, the 49-1 record, defeated Colorado women’s lightweight rowing 15-7 in the championship game. team capped off the season by Here Dan Heijmen x’08 (in pale taking third at the IRA National blue) flings the disk before a Colorado player can catch him. Championships in Camden, New One of the team’s two captains, Jersey. The men’s rowing team Heijmen was also a member of dominated the Midwest Rowing the Hodags the last time they Championships held in April on won the national tournament, in 2003. Madison’s Lake Wingra, sweep- ing every event.

FALL 2007 45 WAA NEWS

Welcome Aboard WAA inducts seven national board members.

Doug Griese ’75 was recently KIMBERLY PILLAR elected chair of the board of the Wisconsin Alumni Asso- ciation for the 2007–08 term. Griese steps into the role previously held by Regina Millner JD’85, MS’91. Griese, a member of the WAA board since 1989, is the Detroit district sales manager for Donaldson Company, Inc., Nominate a an industrial filtration busi- Badger for a ness in Michigan and Ohio. Distinguished He plays an active role in his industry and has been elected Alumni Award to several offices, including Do you know a UW-Madison president of the Detroit chap- graduate who exemplifies ter of the American Society of the best of the university? Heating, Refrigerating, and Nominate him or her for a Air-Conditioning Engineers. He Distinguished Alumni Award has been highly engaged with or Distinguished Young the Detroit alumni chapter of WAA’s new chair, Doug Griese, shares some thoughts with fellow Alumni Award, which recog- WAA, serving six years as chap- alumni in the Sifting and Winnowing column on page 9. nizes those under age forty. ter president. Doug also serves Visit uwalumni.com/awards on the executive, compensa- Also joining the board this relations and public affairs; for nomination guidelines tion, and nominating commit- year are Hilton Augustine, Jr. William Raaths ’69, CEO of and forms. WAA is accepting tees for the WAA board, as ’82, president and chief execu- Great Northern Corporation, nominations through well as the diversity and inclu- tive officer of Global Manage- headquartered in Appleton, October 12, 2007. sivity council. In his free time, ment Systems, Inc., in Maryland; Wisconsin; Vasudevan Rajaram he has enjoyed coaching youth Nancy Ballsrud MBA’75, a PhD’78, an environmental engi- athletic teams. resident of Minnetonka, Min- neer at Techknow Engineer- “Doug is a real asset to nesota, who serves as vice ing LLC in Chicago; and Jeff the alumni association,” says president of Cargill’s admin- Wiesner ’83, a Waukesha resi- WAA President and CEO Paula istrative division and regional dent whose professional career Bonner MS’78. “He brings a treasurer for Latin America; Bill has been spent with Accenture. wealth of knowledge, experi- McCoshen ’87, vice president of Each board member will serve a ence, and Badger spirit to the Capitol Consultants, a Madison three-year term. organization.” firm specializing in government — Ben Wischnewski ’05

Big Badger Auction The Wisconsin Alumni Associa- Bucky weather vane to a back- of the Big Badger Auction, so tion is about to launch a stage tour of Camp Randall we just had to do it again,” Badger bidding war. UW Stadium. This time around, says WAA President and CEO alumni and friends all over many of the same items, as well Paula Bonner. “People can get the globe will soon have a crack as many new ones, will be up their hands on some high-end, at the next online Big Badger for bid. Proceeds will benefit unique things and feel good Auction, which runs from WAA’s student scholarships, knowing that their dollars will September 26 to October 10. lifelong learning programs, and benefit a great cause.” Last spring, more than nationwide chapter events. But For a full list of Big Badger seven hundred Badgers com- that’s just part of what makes Auction items and more details, peted for prizes ranging from it fun. visit uwalumni.com/auction. a custom pair of red-and-white “Alumni told us how — B.W. Allen Edmonds shoes to a much they loved being part

46 ON WISCONSIN WAA NEWS

Murder, They Wrote Alumni try their hands at whodunits.

Who killed Cheese Buckmun- on 425 wooded acres and com- ster? Badger mystery junkies plete with a twelfth-century were charged with cracking this Norwegian stave chapel, it hypothetical case — and pick- was perfect for a weekend of ing up some mystery-writing murder and mayhem, and, as clues along the shores of Lake it turns out, romance. Lea and Michigan in June. With instruc- Chris ’79 Davis of Philadelphia tor and mystery writer Marshall spent the weekend sleuthing Cook, UW alumni and friends and celebrating their twenty- learned how to create a pro- fifth wedding anniversary. tagonist, build suspense, and “Not only is Lea a huge mystery hide clues in plain sight: tools buff,” says Chris, “but Door that writers use to keep the County is where I proposed to SPENCER WALTS rest of us awake at night. her all those years ago.” They were attending Cook says he got interested Alumni College in Door County, in mystery writing through a lifelong learning event mystery reading. “For me, it all sponsored by the Division of started with the Hardy Boys and Continuing Studies and the Nancy Drew. Franklin W. Dixon creative writing, this time using Wisconsin Alumni Association. and Carolyn Keene were my the Internet as his setting. The “This annual event gives alumni heroes — until I discovered that interactive online course will with a common interest the they don’t exist.” Dixon and run from October 1 to Novem- chance to get away from it Keene were pen names for syn- ber 12, with lectures and dis- all and explore a topic with a dicates of writers who authored cussion topics posted weekly. UW faculty expert,” says Sarah the popular teen mystery series. Participants will be able to Schutt, WAA’s senior director A perennial favorite among work at their own pace and of alumni education. students of all ages, Cook submit samples for review. Visit The appeal of whodunits is teaches creative writing through uwalumni.com/learning to find no mystery to Cook. “The good the UW Division of Continuing out more. stuff has sharply drawn char- Studies, and he edits a news- So: who did kill Cheese acters, an interesting setting, letter for writers. His special Buckmunster? Several theories and a puzzle to solve,” he says. passion is writing the Monona surfaced during the Door County “What’s not to like?” Quinn mystery series. course, but for now, the killer In this case, the setting was This fall, Cook will teach and motive remain a mystery. Björklunden lodge. Situated another alumni course on — Karen Roach ’82

All Grown Up The Badger Insider, WAA’s member magazine, has done a bit of growing up. And out. Formerly smaller in size than On Wisconsin, Badger Insider has grown into a large-format, quarterly magazine. And while Badger Insider was previously tucked inside members’ copies of On Wisconsin, it will now be mailed separately. “Badger Insider is the community voice of WAA,” says the association’s president and CEO, Paula Bonner. “It’s the place where alumni can tell their own stories and share their own photos. We want to give Badgers a larger canvas on which to see their experiences. It’s a fun way for them to connect with their past and with each other.” Watch for your first issue of the new Badger Insider, arriv- ing in October. If you’re not receiving Badger Insider, you can get a free subscription by joining WAA. To find out more, or to become a member, visit uwalumni.com. — Staff

FALL 2007 47 UPFRONT

Home Is Where the Memories Are By David Tuttle ’83

Maybe it was doomed from the tages — notably its proximity to highs and lows, Ogg became start by being named Ogg Hall. State Street. The programs were more important than classes for It falls from the lips with a thud: incredible: the Ogg Jog charity some of us. It became our col- part odd, part egg. It was my run, the house parties, the win- lege experience. dorm for three years, but more ter games on the muddy intra- My friends in the Ogg com- than that, it has been a home mural field, the Bob Newhart munity stood by me when, at in my heart ever since. And they social libation game, and more. age twenty, I lost a parent and are tearing it down. Characters galore lived we had to sell the family home Ogg Hall was ill-fated by throughout the building— I grew up in. The more these other things besides its name. It among them, a guy we called friends gave, the more I wanted was a twin-tower, thirteen-story “Rock” (because of his hard to give back. monster, designed and built at head). Rock routinely invited When it came time to leave a time in the 1960s when large others to smack or punch his Ogg, I had to be pushed out the rows of space mattered more head for entertainment pur- door. That experience, though, than comfort. Nestled between poses. He felt no pain, ever, would turn itself into a career Sellery and Witte, it was taller, and apparently the blows did for me in student affairs. wider, and clearly the worst of little damage, as he artistically The newly opened Ogg Hall the three. It had no air condi- painted the stunning tiger mural — it carries on the name — fits tioning, room doors opened to that remained in the Hohlfeld the needs of today’s students. concrete walls (today a dorm- House lounge for years. They won’t have to meet new design no-no), the showers and The staff became best friends at 2 a.m. in the bath- restrooms were public areas, friends, and we had a role room, there to brush their teeth and the city code had to be model and mentor in our new after a night on State Street. changed after the fact because boss, Susan Winter. I am still They won’t have to be weighed “With its highs and the rooms were built too small in touch with many of these down emotionally by all the lows, Ogg became more — or so the legend goes. former housefellows — Muff, concrete, the slow or broken important than classes for I loved it. Sid, Behemoth, T-Bone, Miss Bill, elevators, or the cramped quar- When I first learned that I Stebs, and Rag, to name a few. ters. There are academic spaces, some of us. It became our was assigned to interview for a And I wonder regularly, and and kitchenettes, and a technol- college experience.” house fellow position at Ogg, fondly, about the other staff ogy center. (Ours was a Pac-Man which was unaffectionately members and residents with game.) The residents have card called “the Zoo” and was noto- whom I’ve lost touch. access, computer access, and rious for its rowdiness and lack We had our own weight cable TV. of charm, my heart sank. Then I room (featuring one Universal It will be far better in every interviewed with a man named machine), which predated the way. But it will never be our Jeff Janz and concluded that, SERF, yet to be built across Ogg. For us, it will never be hey, if he could like it there, the street; our own campus home. maybe I could, too. police officers named Sasso and What followed were some Ooboo; and cheap records from David Tuttle is dean of students and of the best memories of my life. Discount Den. director of residential life at Trinity It was a boisterous hall, but it But there was stress, and University in San Antonio, Texas. was fun. The residents were angst, and too many residents just like the ones in the coveted for too few staff. There was If you are a UW-Madison alum- lakeshore halls, but they, like too much alcohol, in hindsight, nus or alumna and you’d like me, had a bunker mentality. and certain blurred memories the editors to consider an essay We could make this place home, and poor choices still embarrass for publication in On Wiscon- we decided — and we did. today (if only those were the sin, please send it to WAA@ Besides, there were advan- fault of the building). With its uwalumni.com.

48 ON WISCONSIN ALUMNI NEWS

Compiled by Paula Wagner ’47, MA’48, principal at University; and their departure Apfelbach ’83 Philadelphia’s Molinaro Associ- for Bangkok for their first ates: “Currently helping to plan foreign-service assignment. an international, intergenera- Youngquist’s soon-to-be- What’s New in Your 40s–50s tional, continuing-care retire- released Foreign-Service Family World? ment community in Belize, details their stay in Thailand. The Wisconsin Medical Alumni Central America, using the phi- If the Great Depression, Please send us the news of your Association honored oncologist losophy of Max Otto and Hor- Franklin Roosevelt’s leader- Gerald Mueller ’43, MD’46, ace Fries — and it still works.” ship, and the New Deal era recent accomplishments, transitions, PhD’50 with an emeritus fac- We caught up on the seem worthy of study all over and other significant life happenings. ulty award for basic science in achievements of Joyce Onar- again, consider the new work May. He’s spent his career with heim Boe ’48 of Denver from by (Richard) Alan Lawson You may e-mail the (brief, please) the UW’s McArdle Laboratory her spouse, Larry Pavlinski. In MA’56, A Commonwealth of details to [email protected]; for Cancer Research, where his 1970, Boe became an importer Hope: The New Deal Response mail them to Alumni News, landmark discovery concerned of Scandinavian home wares to Crisis (Johns Hopkins Uni- the genetic basis of steroid and sweaters. Then in 1994, she versity Press). The author is an Wisconsin Alumni Association, hormone action. Mueller lives realized her dream to support emeritus professor of history 650 North Lake Street, in Middleton, Wisconsin. American artists and weavers and honors at Boston College. Madison, WI 53706-1476; We received a sneak by creating her Legacy Collec- Now retired from his post peek at the 2008 Who’s Who tion (www.buffalocoat.com) as research information direc- or fax them to (608) 265-8771. in America profile of Roger — original fabric patterns and tor of the U.S. Forest Service’s Sadly, space limitations prevent us Zion ’43 of Evansville, Indiana clothing designs rooted in Intermountain Research from printing every item we receive, — president of Alpha Delta American traditions. Station, Dick Klade ’57 has Phi’s Wisconsin chapter while Dick Cockrell ’49 of written Building a Research but we do appreciate finding out on campus, a former congress- Anderson, South Carolina, Legacy: The Intermountain what’s new with you. man from Indiana, and now wonders how many cast and Station 1911–1997 (USDA). a retired management consul- orchestra members from the He lives in Ogden, Utah. Please e-mail death notices and tant. He’s also the author 1948 and 1949 Haresfoot Club Conversations with Carl: all address, name, telephone, of several books, including productions will respond to My Journey through Grief The Amazing Adventures of his invitation to contact him at (Euphonia Publishing) is the and e-mail updates to Congressman Zion. [email protected] or (864) second book by Ethel Erickson [email protected]; Up-to-date UW-Madison 225-8592. Cockrell was the Radmer ’57. It’s the story of records are always a goal, but music director of both the 1948 losing her spouse of almost mail them to Alumni Changes, sadly, the one on Martyn Sun Haresfoot show, Big As Life, thirty-nine years, Carl Radmer Wisconsin Alumni Association, ’45 was so lacking that he was with music by Tony-Award and ’57, to esophageal cancer; 650 North Lake Street, “missing” for almost twenty Pulitzer-Prize winner Jerry moving across the country years. Recently, however, Sun Bock x’49; and the 1949 show, within two months; and “reach- Madison, WI 53706-1476; was “found,” and he’s eager to Bloomer Girl, which included ing out to Carl’s spirit to find fax them to (608) 262-3332; tell his old friends from Cham- Bob Teague ’50, who became solace” in adjusting to her new or call them in to (608) 262-9648 berlin House and the economics an author and NBC News life without him. The author and art history departments broadcast journalist. lives in Cary, North Carolina. or toll free to (888) 947-2586. that he’s “still around” in Arthur Cash MS’50 shares Marina Del Ray, California. that his book John Wilkes: The Most obituary listings of WAA Richard Heinrich ’46, Scandalous Father of Civil Lib- 60s members and friends appear in the MS’48 has sifted and blended erty (Yale University Press) was Badger Insider, WAA’s publication the wisdom of thirty books on a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Congratulations to Madisonian fitness and nutrition into his Prize in biography. Cash is a Franklynn Peterson ’60: The for its members — now mailed new book, Orthomolecular distinguished professor emeri- eight-book Study Smart series independently and directly to their Diet: The Paleolithic Paradigm tus at the State University of (University of Wisconsin Press) homes on a quarterly basis. (Blue Dolphin Publishing), and New York at New Paltz and that he co-authored has been concludes that Barry Sears’s lives in New York City. named the 2007 Best Home- x-planation: An x preceding Zone Diet is both superior Think Kind Thoughts school Book of the Year by and proven by pre-history. (Voyageur Publishing) is a col- Homeschoolstuff.net. a degree year indicates that the Heinrich’s longtime interest in laboration of Eric Youngquist There’s a new chair and individual did not complete, healthful eating supplements MA’51 of Nashville, Tennes- CEO at the St. Paul, Minnesota, or has not yet completed, his multi-faceted career in the see, and his late spouse, Rita. It investment advisory firm of bridge-crane industry. He lives chronicles the life of Rita and Mairs and Power. He’s William that degree at UW-Madison. on Amelia Island, Florida. her ancestors; the couple’s early Frels ’62, who joined the com- Short, but sweet was the years together at the UW, the pany in 1992 and has moved up message from Leo Molinaro University of Oslo, and Cornell from his past role as president.

FALL 2007 49 ALUMNI NEWS

In recognition of his official for thirty-three years. Youth Care (www.youth-care. Bookmark achievements as an AT&T and The April 20 issue of the org), a nonprofit that provides Sprint senior executive, and his Chronicle of Higher Educa- business and funding help to longtime service to the school, tion carried an article titled other nonprofits. John Berndt ’63 received a “The Sage on the Stage” by The Port of Tacoma [Wash- seldom-given honorary doctor Mike O’Connell MA’66. He ington] has a new manager of of international laws in May describes it as “a defense of real-estate development in Jay from the Thunderbird School lecturing in the college class- Stewart ’69. His objective is of Global Management in room in the face of stigmatiza- to locate and negotiate real- Glendale, Arizona. The school tion by revisionists (‘guides on estate investment opportunities We often hear about the big also recently named a wing of the side’) who favor interactive that bring a return and create feats of Frank Lloyd Wright its administration building for and group learning strategies.” jobs, which the port already x1890, but we don’t as often Berndt and his spouse. Now O’Connell teaches English at provides for more than 113,000 hear about his smaller works. retired, he lives in Plano, Texas, UWC-Baraboo/Sauk County and state residents. Henry Whiting II ’83 has and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and UWC-Richland. Fran Ulmer ’69, JD’72 set about to change that with serves on boards for the UW Fund Directions, a mutual- is the new interim chancellor a new book devoted to the Foundation and the UW’s fund industry publication, of the University of Alaska in only artist studio that Wright College of Engineering. named Leonard Auerbach ’67 Anchorage — but this is hardly designed other than his own. “After four decades as its 2006 Small-Board Trustee her first prestigious post. Ulmer It’s called At Nature’s Edge: a scientist,” writes Glenn of the Year in March. Now was most recently the director Frank Lloyd Wright’s Artist Borchardt ’64, MS’67, the independent chair of the of the university’s Institute for Studio (University of Utah “I’ve finally figured out the board of trustees of RS Funds, Social and Economic Research, Press), and Whiting knows universe.” He explains his con- the Orinda, California, resident and she’s also served as the a lot about his subject matter clusion that the big bang the- was the founding president mayor of Juneau, a member — he lives there. ory “rests on extremely shaky and CEO of AIG-Centre Capital of the Alaska House of Repre- Perched on a cliff above philosophical grounds” in The Group, as well as a general sentatives, and the state’s first the Snake River in Bliss, Scientific Worldview: Beyond partner at Tuttle & Company. female lieutenant governor. Idaho — one of the most Newton and Einstein (iUni- Harry Morgan MS’67, spectacular natural sites verse), and notes that the book a professor at the University Wright ever worked with is “sure to be highly controver- of West Georgia in Carrollton, 70s — this one-room artist studio sial.” Borchardt is the director has authored Early Childhood was designed for landscape of the Progressive Science Education: History, Theory, and Horizon Chasers: The Lives painter Archie Boyd Teater Institute in Berkeley, California. Practice (Rowman & Littlefield and Adventures of Richard and his spouse, Patricia After fourteen years as Education). Halliburton and Paul Mooney Teater, in 1952. Despite its executive director of the When the UW’s College of (McFarland & Company) is simplicity, it’s an excellent Detroit area’s Suburban Tennis Agricultural and Life Sciences a new work by Gerry Max example of organic archi- League, Jean Gelner Bliever- (CALS) held a hearing in March MA’70, PhD’75, MA’91. The tecture and a “sophisticated, nicht MS’65 has retired, but about the safety of our nation’s Madison author says that Halli- complex work of art” that the Southfield, Michigan, resi- fresh produce, Michael Pariza burton’s celebrity in 1930 as Whiting describes as “a testa- dent remains active officiating ’67 was there to weigh in as a the “quintessential world trav- ment to the architect’s total high school and college sports. CALS professor and the direc- eler” equaled that of Charles mastery of his craft.” David Schultz ’65, MS’67, tor of the UW Food Research Lindbergh x’24 and Amelia At Nature’s Edge contains PhD’70 retired in 2006, follow- Institute. (To read his testi- Earhart. Mooney was Hallibur- contemporary photos, his- ing more than thirty-five very mony, visit www.cals.wisc.edu/ ton’s editor and ghostwriter. toric images, and Wright’s active years in UW-Milwaukee’s downloads/Pariza_foodSafety. Both disappeared at sea in 1939 original drawings; chronicles mathematical sciences depart- doc.) U.S. Senator Herb Kohl during a trans-Pacific voyage. the design and history of the ment. A specialist in numerical ’56 convened the hearing as The School Social Work studio at Teater’s Knoll; and analysis, Schultz was instrumen- the chair of the agriculture Association of Arizona recog- discusses the restorations tal in developing programs in subcommittee of the Senate nized the work of Timothy that brought it out of years industrial mathematics, applied appropriations committee. Musty MS’70 of Tucson of neglect. Whiting, an math and computer science, Upper Iowa University gave in March with its Lifetime architectural writer, does this and atmospheric science. He its Dedicated Service Award to Achievement Award. He in the personal way that only lives in Grafton, Wisconsin. Paul Rux ’67, MA’77, PhD’94 pioneered the use of devel- someone who’s been there The Wisconsin High in March. The Mount Horeb, opmental playgroups with can — he and his spouse, School Gymnastics Association Wisconsin, resident has been kindergartners in 1995 and has sculptor Lynn Fawcett has selected Helen Larson teaching and designing MBA, been teaching the approach Whiting, renovated and Culliney ’66 of Grafton as higher-education administra- since 1998. preserved the building its 2006 Judge of the Year tion, and online courses at the Amy Platka Yule ’70 has themselves. and inducted her into its Hall school’s Madison campus since just two words for you: Pecan of Fame. She’s been a WIAA 1996. Rux is also the founder of Yummies (www.pecanyummies.

50 ON WISCONSIN ALUMNI NEWS

com). She’s been making her family’s recipe for the crunchy, Giving and Receiving in Rwanda sweetly coated pecans for “I know I can’t save the world, but I think we can all do something to make a difference globally.” years, and in 2003 began selling This sentiment from Christine Brackett ’01, who completed her master’s in public health from them on a large scale in Easton, Cal State-Fullerton in May, is what will motivate her as she begins a ten-month tour of Rwanda Maryland, and by mail order. in October as a Fulbright scholar. If you’ve worked with the Brackett has spent the last two summers as a volunteer in Rwanda, living among disease, malnour- UW’s College of Agricultural ishment, and death, especially among the very young. “Children are dying needlessly,” she says, and and Life Sciences (CALS) over now, as she returns for a longer stay, Brackett has a plan to help Rwandans keep their infants alive the past few decades, you’ve and healthy. She wants to help children receive immunizations, to empower their parents and care- probably met Rick Daluge ’71, givers to learn about disease prevention and nutrition, and to encourage adults to make long-lasting MS’75, PhD’82. This fall, he’s behavioral changes that will improve survival rates. retiring after twenty-four years Brackett’s journey actually began in 1997, when, as a dancer with the Milwaukee Ballet Company, directing CALS’s ag short course she realized that she was living a privileged life and started sponsoring an Ethiopian girl through a and thirty-five years overseeing community organization. Unfulfilled in her career, Brackett left the ballet company and enrolled at its alumni relations work. CALS UW-Madison as a double major in French and English. After graduation, she moved to California to Dean Molly Jahn noted, “The earn her master’s and became an assistant to Cal State-Fullerton math professor David Pagni PhD’73. strong, loyal support that we Cal State-Fullerton’s Health Science Department awarded Brackett its 2007 Best Thesis Award get from our alumni — both of for her work, which focused our four-year and short-course on her experiences in Rwanda programs — is due in large part the previous summer when she to Rick’s efforts.” evaluated a nutrition and Pearl Meyer & Partners has child-survival program funded made David Swinford ’71, by USAID. JD’74, MS’74 number one: he’s It’s likely that Brackett will the executive-compensation make world service a lifelong consulting firm’s new president commitment. “You receive so and CEO. Swinford joined the much in return when you give firm in 1998 and most recently that you really just can’t stop,” headed its New York office. she says. “Every individual has Three new deans came to value and worth, and through our attention recently: Daniel our deeds, we can communicate Ehnbom ’72, an associate that message. That’s what I professor of art history at the want to do — show the forgot- University of Virginia (UVa) in ten or abused or neglected or Charlottesville, is the dean of suffering that someone cares.” the school’s spring 2008 Semes- — P.A. ter at Sea study-abroad voyage Christine Brackett is making life better for Rwandan children. and will sail around the world on UVa’s floating campus, the MV Explorer. Marguerite research meteorologist with hand while doing manual labor tographed Pictures of Human Barratt PhD’78 is the new the National Environmental in the Maritime Alps — an Life: Documenting Personal dean of the Columbian College Satellite, Data, and Information experience that grew out of Spirit in My Little Black-and- of Arts and Sciences at George Service of the National Oceanic Miller’s UW junior year abroad. White Photobook. Marcou Washington University in Wash- and Atmospheric Administra- John Dussling ’73 is the also wrote “Operatic Entrance” ington, D.C. She was previously tion. Ellrod, of Granby, Con- new senior VP of marketing for the March 2007 issue of the deputy director of clinical necticut, was honored for his and business development at Smithsonian magazine. research policy analysis and pioneering work with environ- the Nashville, Tennessee-based Aaron Williams MBA’73 coordination at the National mental satellites. marketing firm of Frank/Best is new to the Advisory Com- Institutes of Health. Lastly, The 2007 Francis Alison International, and works out mittee on Voluntary Foreign Christopher McCord PhD’86 Award — the highest faculty of its Orlando, Florida, office. Aid, the official advisory group has left the University of Cincin- honor at the University of Speranza has published of the U.S. Agency for Inter- nati to become the new dean Delaware (UD) — has gone two new books by David J. national Development and its of the College of Liberal Arts to Mark Miller ’72, MA’73, Marcou ’73 of La Crosse, Wis- partners. He’s also VP for inter- and Sciences at Northern Illinois PhD’78, who joined UD’s consin. He edited the American national business development University in De Kalb. Department of Political Science Writers and Photographers at RTI International, a research The National Weather and International Relations Alliance’s Spirit of the World: A institute based in Research Tri- Association has presented its in 1978. He’s specialized in Group Photographic Portrayal angle Park, North Carolina, that 2006 Fujita Award to Gary international migration issues, of Nature, People, Stories, and provides technical solutions to Ellrod MS’72, a retired which he learned about first- Miracles; and wrote and pho- entities worldwide.

FALL 2007 51 ALUMNI NEWS

We heard good news of all images, plus a link to the ’90 is a new partner in the PhD’84, of the University of from Leonardo Academy Library of Congress’s online, Milwaukee office of Quarles & Texas’s M.D. Anderson Cancer (www.leonardoacademy.org), searchable resources. Cleary Brady; and Boyle, Fredrickson, Center in Houston; and Joseph a Madison-based nonprofit teaches architectural history at Newholm, Stein & Gratz in Krzycki MS’81, PhD’85, of that’s devoted to sustainability. the University of Texas-Austin. Milwaukee is the new profes- Ohio State in Columbus. Its founder, Michael Arny Living Consciously, Dying sional home of Eric Lalor ’00. Toyota Material Handling, ’74, ’79, MS’82, says that the Gracefully: A Journey with Lovers of French film, U.S.A. has promoted Ron academy has been chosen to Cancer and Beyond (Beaver’s this one’s for you. Richard Roensch ’79 to VP of legal, help the Clinton Library in Pond Press) is a new work Neupert ’77, MA’80, PhD’86 human resources, and dealer Little Rock, Arkansas, by man- co-authored by Becky Bohan has penned A History of the development from his previous aging its LEED-EB (Leadership MA’77 of Minneapolis. French New Wave Cinema, post as national manager of in Energy and Environmental Through journal entries, letters, Second Edition (University of legal and human resources. Design for Existing Buildings) photos, and personal memo- Wisconsin Press). The first such He lives in Glendora, California. certification process and ries, it chronicles the inspiring work to be written in English, greening of operations. last five years of nurse educator it’s “refreshingly jargon free,” Richard Cleary ’75, Diane Manahan as she blended says one review. Neupert is a 80s MA’77 writes about a facet complementary therapies with professor of fine arts and film of U.S. infrastructure that’s traditional medicine during her studies at the University of The Environmental Water perhaps been underappreciated breast-cancer treatment. Georgia in Athens. Resources Institute of the in Bridges: A Norton/Library of Three Badger attorneys Three professors have been American Society of Civil Congress Visual Sourcebook have joined new firms: Leslie elected to the American Acad- Engineers has given David (W.W. Norton). This well- Levinson ’77 has moved to emy of Microbiology as fellows: Goodrich ’80, MS’82 its 2007 illustrated account of American Wolf, Block, Schorr, and Solis- Kathleen Postle Bertrand Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineer- bridge design includes a CD- Cohen’s New York City office PhD’78, of Penn State in State ing Award. Now a resident of ROM with downloadable files as a partner; Steven Glaser College; Richard Brennan San Antonio, Texas, Goodrich was particularly praised for his earlier mentoring of research- Sewing and Reaping ers at the University of Arizona Of the many ways to help the less and the USDA’s Agricultural fortunate, Margaret John Jankowski Research Service. ’83 of Monona, Wisconsin, has found Marsha Lindsay MA’80 her niche through sewing machines. founded the Madison ad Following the 2004 tsunami in agency of Lindsay, Stone & Southeast Asia, she read about a Briggs nearly thirty years ago woman who had lost her sewing while pursuing her PhD at the machine in the storm. The woman had UW, with plans to become a saved for years to purchase it, and it college professor. The business had become the key to her income. In kept her away from the class- response, Jankowski began collecting room at first, but seventeen donated machines, and cleaning and years ago, she created Brand- refurbishing them with help from her works University, which draws co-workers at Hans’ Sewing and Margaret Jankowski offers fabric and hope in New Orleans. professionals from around the Vacuum in Madison. Through the world. She also taught the first American Hindu Association, she found places to send the machines in Sri Lanka and India — graduate-level branding course primarily to orphanages where children could use them to learn a trade. at the UW’s Center for Brand Then when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Jankowski shifted her efforts homeward. She’s and Product Management and made four trips to New Orleans thus far, delivering more than 275 machines that were then distrib- serves on its advisory board. uted to individuals, schools, and community centers. Recipients use them not only to rebuild their The details of our lives, but also to begin small, sewing-related businesses. ancestors’ lives are almost Jankowski has initiated the Pay It Forward program as well, in which machine recipients are always a little sketchy, contain- asked to teach others to sew, or to sew something that’s needed by a local organization. ing some secrets and surprises. “I’ve been so fortunate in so many ways during the course of this project,” Jankowski says of receiv- In Yaya’s Cloth (Iris Press), ing “incredibly supportive” assistance from the Downtown Kiwanis Club, the Monona schools, local a full-length collection of Girl Scouts, Madison-area residents, and Bernina sewing machine dealerships from around Wisconsin poems, Madisonian Andrea and in neighboring states. The group also accepts donations of warm-weather-appropriate fabric, Potos ’81 “searches and deep- patterns, notions, and other sewing-related items. ens the narrative of her Greek “I’m now working on making the Sewing Machine Project (www.thesewingmachineproject.org) heritage as embodied by her an official 501c3 nonprofit,” Jankowski says, and adds, “I can’t believe how quickly and beautifully beloved grandparents, Yaya this project is growing.” — P.A. and Papouli.” How cool is this?! John

52 ON WISCONSIN ALUMNI NEWS

Cato ’83 of Manhattan Beach, for those who want more har- Mayers, of Middleton, also California, was the voice of mony, satisfaction, and success, operates several online news Bookmark Dell’s national commercials this and it’s the latest endeavor of services as the president and spring, including the “Purely Mari Tankenoff ’87 and Scott editor of WisPolitics Publishing. You” spots. He’s also done Bergér. They offer telephone many on-camera commercials and in-person life coaching, and has played the Quarter- holistic healing, bodywork, 90s mains’ attorney on General networking, and studio/class- Hospital. Check him out at room space in Minneapolis. If you were watching Jeopardy! www.jcato.com. Dana Bedford Hilmer ’88 on March 8, you saw Ted Ken- It’s football season again, has gathered popular writers’ niston ’90, a logistics manager when Wisconsinites love to first-person thoughts on rais- from Mason, Ohio, compete A passion for adventure cheer for the Badgers, the ing children and edited them and win. On March 9, he went travel and wilderness Packers, and the Packers’ quar- into her first book, Blindsided up against Bison, Kansas, grad exploration has led Jon terback — the subject of the by a Diaper: Over 30 Men and student Rachel Campbell ’03, Helminiak ’79 to visit nearly second book by Milwaukeean Women Reveal How Parent- who, he says, wore a UW pin. sixty countries and to take Tom Kertscher ’84. Called hood Changes a Relation- But, lucky pin or not, Kenniston a stand against mainstream Brett Favre: A Packer Fan’s ship (Three Rivers Press). In bested Campbell to earn a third tourism — a theme that’s Tribute (Cumberland House it, contributors such as Moon try on March 12 — when he woven throughout his col- Publishing), it captures all of Unit Zappa and Madison-area lost narrowly, but took home lection of travel essays called the best games and plays by author Jacquelyn Mitchard $30,600. He also won $32,000 Nothing Routine: A Quest for “Green Bay’s favored son,” invite you “inside their bed- in 2001 on Who Wants to Be a Discovery in Remote and Strange and includes behind-the-scenes rooms, minds, and lives as Millionaire. Places (Seaboard Press, photos by team photographer parents.” Hilmer is a parent in Walt McKeown MS’90, www.nothingroutine.com). Jim Biever. The book’s second another Madison — the one PhD’93 writes that he was a Helminiak, of Milwaukee, edition came out this summer. in Connecticut. satellite oceanographer at the has also orchestrated cultural By the time you read this, How does running 1,079 Naval Research Laboratory, exchanges and outdoor John Radanovich ’85 will miles — the equivalent of worked for the Atlantic Fleet expeditions; studied in have finished work on his new forty-one marathons — sound to improve the routing of ships London; become a pilot, book about a legendary 1950s to you? Madison engineer around storms, surveyed Euro- professional photographer, Cuban bandleader and singer, Jason Dorgan ’89, MS’92 pean meteorological organiza- sea kayaker, and certified titled Wildman of Rhythm: The did it this spring, meeting tions for the Office of Naval open-water scuba diver; and Life and Music of Benny Moré his goal of completing a Research, and designed covert served as a correspondent (University Press of Florida). through-run of the Ice Age gliders to profile atmospheric for Healthy Style, which aired This spring, the author made National Scenic Trail (IAT, www. variables for navy SEALS. on PBS in the fall of 2006. the short trip from his West iceagetrail1000.com) in under McKeown now consults for In addition to his travel Palm Beach, Florida, home to twenty-three days, and achiev- the intelligence community in adventures, he’s VP of visit Moré’s hometown in Cuba. ing the fastest through-run Washington, D.C. Bonanza Aviation and a Elizabeth Raetz ’87, ever. Dorgan hoped to raise New Yorker Ed Neppl ’90 former UW-Milwaukee MD’92 made the Wall Street awareness of and funds for the is a new vice president and assistant chancellor. Journal in May. A pediatric IAT, one of just eight National chief financial officer for NBC Helminiak’s body of expe- oncologist at NYU Medical Scenic Trails in the U.S. Sports and Olympics. He most riences has inspired a dream. Center, she’s been treating a William Graham III ’89 recently served as VP of finan- Based on his belief that travel young girl who suffers from a is the new VP of sales for skin cial planning and analysis for builds character, promotes rare cancer and is the subject of and beauty-care company NBC Universal, and has also reflection and perspective, an ethical dilemma. The Journal Beiersdorf. The Chappaqua, worked with Universal Parks and nurtures growth and reports that the girl’s father has New York, resident has held and Resorts, and Universal confidence, his goal is to have asked a small biotech firm for previous vice presidencies at Studios Operations. “every parent view adventure the experimental drug that it’s Novartis Consumer Healthcare Peace Came in the Form or wilderness travel as being developed, in hopes that it may and Bristol-Myers Squibb. of a Woman: Indians and equally as important to his or help her, but the company is Wisconsin golfers, it’s not Spaniards in the Texas Bor- her child’s future as a college withholding it because it may too late to hit the links before derlands (University of North education.” not be safe for a child. Andy snowfall, and (John) Jeff Carolina Press) is a new book by But how to accomplish ’65 and Donna Boltz ’64 Mayers MS’89 can show you Juliana Barr MA’91, PhD’99. this? For starters, Helminiak Wojdula are Raetz’s parents- where through the book he’s She teaches history at the Uni- hopes to establish a nonprofit in-law, and Andrew Wojdula co-authored: Golf Wisconsin: versity of Florida in Gainesville. that would subsidize trips for ’89, JD’92 is her spouse. The Official Guide to the State’s Liza Bearman ’92 knows youth and families who oth- Harmony for Life (www. Top 25 Public Courses ... and 50 what she loves, and it’s the erwise could not afford them. HarmonyForLife.com) is a More Fun Places to Play (Jones education field. She earned an “worldwide wellness center” Books, www.jeffmayers.com). MA from the Teachers College

FALL 2007 53 ALUMNI NEWS

of Columbia University, taught model four years ago has put ’94 is a “proud Badger living Bookmark in New York City, was a school Ari Rosenthal ’93 — president in Hermosa Beach, California,” administrator in Los Angeles, of Ari Rosenthal Photography who moved there in 1999 to and returned to Teachers and OzMoses Media in Shore- pursue a screenwriting career. College for an EdM and EdD. wood, Wisconsin — at the Since then, he’s created Terra Bearman is now a lecturer, forefront of a growing trend Firma Filmworks, and his latest faculty adviser, university super- in wedding photography. He’s effort, a horror satire called visor, and curriculum consultant seen great business growth Behind the Mask: The Rise of there, as well as a consultant since he began transferring the Leslie Vernon, was released in with Stanford University’s ownership of all images and theaters in March. Stieve was School Redesign Network. copyrights to his newlywed thrilled to plan a Wisconsin UW football fans, you heard Byong-wan Chang MA’92 clients free of charge. premiere of the film in July at it here first: Trails Books is is the minister of planning and Chris Winkler ’93 of St. the Orpheum Theatre, where publishing a new work about budget for South Korea and Paul, Minnesota, reports that he worked as a student. He also Badger football and launch- resides in Seoul. A UW delega- telecom firm IDT has bought sends his thanks “to Ron Kuka ing it in time for the glorious tion met with him in November the debt-buying company and the rest of the English- season of red and white. 2006 during a visit to Asia, and that he co-founded, Big Ten department staff who helped No Bed of Roses: My Sideline the UW’s Division of Interna- Capital Management, with give me my start as a writer.” View of the Badgers’ Return tional Studies held a reception plans to use it to enter the Four Badger educators to Greatness is a memoir by for him when he visited the global debt-buying market. have received promotions and Chris Kennedy ’94 that’s Madison campus in February. Winkler and his business tenure. Maria Jesena Schro- based, he says, on his “expe- A “humorous memoir partner have also appeared eder PhD’95 has become a full riences as a ‘local boy’ from about a naïve, small-town in Maxed Out, a documen- professor of chemistry at the Waunakee who played foot- Wisconsin girl who goes off tary about the credit industry U.S. Naval Academy in Annapo- ball for Wisconsin during to the big city to attend law (www.maxedoutmovie.com). lis, Maryland. Beloit [Wisconsin] the historic 1990–93 seasons. school”? It’s a new book by Best wishes to Emine College has promoted Susan Okay, well, the ’94 Rose Phoenix resident Martha Onhan Evered MA’94 of Swanson MS’96, PhD’01 of Bowl win was historic. The Kimes ’92 called Ivy Briefs: East Lansing, Michigan, who’s the geology department and three previous losing seasons True Tales of a Neurotic Law among the National Academy Mark Klassen MFA’98 of were … not so much.” Student (Atria Books). Review- of Education’s 2007–08 Spencer the art and art history depart- That “not so much” is an ers praise her wit, candor, self- Postdoctoral Fellows, and will ment to associate professors. important theme as Kennedy awareness, and humor, and call receive $55,000 for her fel- And, Jayme Nelson MS’00 candidly chronicles the Bad- the work “a must-read for any- lowship period. The chair of is a newly promoted associate gers’ rise from the bottom of one contemplating law school.” the selection committee is UW professor of nursing at Luther the Big Ten in 1990 to the Don Meyer ’92 has gone professor of educational policy College in Decorah, Iowa. first Rose Bowl win in the out on his own: he’s left his studies and history William Jason Wied ’95 is mak- program’s 105-year history. post as senior VP and director Reese PhD’80. ing his mark on the Green Bay From his view as a Rose of corporate practice with the A five-year Faculty Early Packers — not on the field, Bowl senior wide receiver, public relations firm of Hill & Career Development Program but in the office. He joined Kennedy also shares a Knowlton, and, with a partner, (CAREER) Award — worth the organization in 2000 as behind-the-locker-room- has formed the new public- more than $400,000, and the corporate counsel, and in April, door look at the frustra- affairs consulting firm of Rubin/ National Science Foundation’s was promoted to vice presi- tions and rewards of college Meyer in Washington, D.C. most prestigious award for dent of administration. Wied athletes chasing dreams of Bob Paulsen ’93 of rising-star junior faculty — has now works on league matters, glory as “different sizes, ages, Denver writes that he began gone to Dennis Hong ’94. An oversees the team’s corporate backgrounds, and personali- his telecommunications career assistant professor of mechani- governance, and manages its ties were overcome and in Madison with AT&T, and cal engineering at Virginia Tech administrative operations. unified under the same goals, in 1998, pioneered a concept in Blacksburg, and the director In Cold War at 30,000 Feet: the same vision.” called Hosted PBX Service. In of its Robotics and Mechanisms The Anglo-American Fight for These days, the author 2003, he parlayed the service Laboratory, he’s been at work Aviation Supremacy (Harvard cheers on the Badgers from into a new company called on his Whole Skin Locomotion University Press), Jeffrey Engel his home in Los Angeles — Unity Business Networks, which mechanism, whose robotic MA’96, PhD’01 tells the darker where he’s an actor, writer, has expanded into Portland, movement is based on the side of mid-twentieth-century and director who’s worked Oregon, and Minneapolis, locomotion of single-cell organ- relations between the U.S. and on stage, in commercials, on where Peter Youngdahl ’91 isms. It will be used for search- Britain. The author is an assis- TV, and in films — but this heads the office. Paulsen adds and-rescue missions, but Hong tant professor of history and fall he plans to return to the that he’s “recently and ecstati- hopes that his research will public policy at Texas A&M UW for some live football cally married,” and has a help to promote the concept of University in College Station. action as well. “wonderful dog named Bucky.” bio-inspiration in robot design. Fair trade is a growing Adopting a novel business David (Stiewe) Stieve alternative market that’s meant

54 ON WISCONSIN ALUMNI NEWS

to increase social justice, but The Politico (www.politico. ber ’48, LLB’51, practiced law Jamie Farnsworth ’06 Daniel Jaffee MS’96, PhD’06 com), a Washington, D.C.-based in Mayville, Wisconsin, where was a Badger cheerleader, questions whether it’s working. multimedia news outlet. he was also a multi-term mayor worked part time, graduated in In Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Rick (Ricardo) Enrico and community activist. All four years with a double major Coffee, Sustainability, and Sur- ’98, president and CEO of the three generations now live in — and then put that same vival (University of California San Diego-based media and Green Bay, Wisconsin. energy into landing her first Press), his study of Mexican software company Juice Media Mark Penshorn ’03 has job. Jamie’s mom, Jill Elmer coffee farmers offers the first Worldwide, had some excite- made a leap: from design Farnsworth ’81, says that two thorough examination of fair ment in February when Petters engineer with IBC Engineering weeks after graduation, Jamie trade’s benefits and recom- Group Worldwide announced Services in Waukesha, Wiscon- talked her way into the execu- mends ways to strengthen it. its investment in Juice as its sin, to oil- and gas-industry tive producer’s office at CBS Jaffee is an assistant professor newest portfolio company. analyst in Denver with R.W. Evening News in New York and of sociology at Michigan State While on campus, Enrico was Beck — an energy and water/ now works with Katie Couric University in East Lansing. captain of the Badger hockey waste resources consulting and as a production assistant at the Congratulations to Jeremy team from 1996 to 1998. engineering firm. national desk. Graff ’97 — the choice of the For the last five years, UW-Madison is a leading UW PhD student Mukoma Big Brothers and Big Sisters Jeffrey Foucault ’99 has producer of Peace Corps volun- Wa Ngugi MA’06 is dedicated of the Greater Twin Cities as worked as a songwriter teers, and Mark Hansen ’04 to the campus organization their 2007 Big Brother of the and touring musician “from is continuing in that fine tradi- Toward an Africa without Year. He’s mentored his Little Anchorage to Amsterdam,” but tion. In April, he left St. Paul, Borders (www.towardan- Brother, DeAndre, for six-plus spends his free time “exploring Minnesota, for Botswana to africawithoutborders.org), and years and says that he receives the local trout streams” near work with orphans and other writes that the group held its just as much enrichment as his Greenfield, Massachusetts, vulnerable children who have third international conference DeAndre does. Graff is a home. He released his third been affected by AIDS. Hansen at the Durban [South Africa] co-founder and principal full-length solo album, Ghost previously worked for Senator Institute of Technology in July. of Allodium Investment Repeater (Signature Sounds, Herb Kohl ’56 of Wisconsin. Ngugi is the author of several Consultants in Minneapolis. www.jeffreyfoucault.com), in Live ... from Mérida, books, including a collection of It’s been a big year for 2006, and played at the Big Top Yucatán, Mexico ... it’s Claire poetry, Hurling Words at Con- Nathan Henry ’97 at the Chautauqua festival in Bayfield, Hellweg ’05! She plays in the sciousness (Africa World Press). Mellman Group, a Washington, Wisconsin, this summer. horn section of the Yucatán D.C.-based Democratic poll- Symphony Orchestra and in the ing firm: he was promoted to Puro Corno Horn Quartet and obituary VP in February and opened a 2000s Ka’na Yaan Brass Quintet. She Madison office in June. Henry’s also coaches chamber music at Philip Kaiser ’35 — a retired research on tobacco-control Michael Murray ’00 is a new one of the city’s music schools. diplomat, U.S. Department issues has been used to pro- “brand man” — brand man- John Pederson ’05 is of Labor official, and ambas- mote stricter laws and policies ager, that is — at Madison’s an English teaching assistant sador — died in May in Wash- governing tobacco use. Planet Propaganda, a design, — and pioneer — in Indonesia’s ington, D.C. He served as the The work of Madison advertising, and interactive South Sumatra province. U.S. ambassador to Hungary artist Timothy Hughes ’97 firm. He was most recently Working with the Sampoerna and Austria during the Carter garnered attention this spring an account manager at Shine Foundation, a nonprofit dedi- administration, and to Senegal when a limited-edition color Advertising, also in Madison. cated to improving Indonesian and Mauritania simultaneously print titled In the Shower was In his spare time, Murray revels educational opportunities under President Kennedy. He acquired by the Kinsey Insti- in indie rock and refurbishing (www.sampoernafoundation. was also a diplomat in England tute’s permanent art collection his 1920s Sun Prairie home. org), he’s helped a high school and an assistant secretary of at Indiana University, and four UW-Madison’s May com- to launch a radio station — labor for international affairs large-scale prints went on mencement produced the third the “Voice of Smanda” — that’s in the Truman administration. exhibit at the Infusion Gallery generation of lawyers in the the first in the nation to be run Born to Ukrainian immigrants in Los Angeles. Bachhuber family to throw by students and teachers. as the ninth of ten children, The experience that Ken- the same cane over the Camp The Houston Aeros Kaiser became a Rhodes scholar neth Vogel ’97 gained while Randall goalpost during the professional hockey team has and married Hannah Greeley covering state government traditional Law School cane a new account executive: Laura Kaiser ’35 in 1939 as he ended and politics for newspapers in toss. Rachel Bachhuber ’03, Bacon ’06. She’s also a recent his studies at Oxford University. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and JD’07 is the new grad. Her grad of the Game Face Execu- Washington state earned him father, Bruce Bachhuber tive Academy, a training and an American Political Science JD’83, is a trial attorney who placement company that helps Compiled by Paula Wagner Apfelbach ’83, who reminds you to remain Association fellowship — and recently served as president of people to launch careers in seated, with your hands and arms the chance to work with the the Wisconsin Academy of Trial sports. While at the UW, Bacon inside the compartment at all times U.S. House of Representatives Lawyers. And Rachel’s grandfa- worked with the UW Founda- while the vehicle is in motion. in 2006. Now Vogel writes for ther, Raymond Alex Bachhu- tion and Fox Sports.

FALL 2007 55 PHILANTHROPY

A Place of Their Own A community comes together to build a new children’s hospital.

Kids get sick. Kids get hurt. JEFF MILLER (3) When they do — because it can be scary, lonely, and bor- ing — they need three things: expert care, their families, and stuff to do. Children coming to the new American Family Children’s Hos- pital (AFCH), which opened in August, get all three and then some. There’s a Town Square on “Wisconsin Avenue,” complete with a theater, store, and the Picnic Point Café. There are Philanthropic investment rooms for pets to visit and for doing schoolwork. Parents and in UW-Madison promises to guardians have a bed for the provide a tremendous return as the night, a shower, and places to fix a snack and do laundry. Brothers university applies its resources to and sisters hang out in Tyler’s bring greater understanding of our Place, an area where they, too, get much-needed attention. During a media tour, hospital vice president David Berry shows a new world and to find answers to society’s Most important, each child patient room — here reflected in a mirror — which is spacious enough receives top-quality, advanced to accommodate parents, staff, and advanced medical equipment. most critical problems. For more treatment from skilled doctors, information about the University nurses, technicians, and assis- distinguish each floor, AFCH was Madison for nearly a century, tants. AFCH integrates clinical designed for, about, and even there has never been a hospital of Wisconsin Foundation, care, academic programs, and by the people who will use it. quite like AFCH. call (608) 263-4545. research not found in this part David Berry, AFCH vice presi- of Wisconsin or in many places dent, estimates that three hun- Pediatric Care: A Look Back in this country. dred to four hundred people Bradley Memorial Hospital “It leaves me speechless,” were involved in the planning for the Study of Children’s says Mary Kaminski MS’91, phase, including medical staff, Diseases, completed in 1920 director of Patient and Fam- patients, families, and commu- at the corner of Linden and ily Services. “Now we can give nity groups. “They had a really, Orchard streets, was planned families so much more than we really long wish list,” he says. as a facility for children and have been able to do.” “We also organized three medical research. However, its “Our general pediatric advisory boards of six to eight first occupants were influenza wards were simply out of members each — Patient/ victims from World War I. Over date. Probably the most excit- Family, Kids as Partners, and the years, it housed a variety ing improvement is the larger Teens,” says Kaminski. “They of functions. Starting in 1952, rooms,” explains Christopher met every other month and it was used exclusively as a chil- Green, AFCH medical director. educated us about things like dren’s hospital for five years. “Parents today stay with their the need for multiple washers Children’s Orthopedic Hos- children. Advanced technology and dryers, ethnic and religious pital, a fortress-like structure means more equipment. With dietary restrictions, even the west of Bradley Memorial, a cot, patient bed, nursing care annoyance of clocks that tick.” opened in 1931. Where children supplies, and machines, typical “We listened, planned with non-orthopedic conditions 130-square-foot rooms were well, and executed the way we were treated is not clear. In hard to move around in.” planned,” Berry says. “When 1952, a one-floor wing of the From its sea of windows a child is hospitalized, it’s the main Wisconsin General Hospi- to the detailed interior scenes little things that matter.” tal, located at 1300 University of Wisconsin prairies, farms, While a children’s hospital Avenue, was designated for woodlands, and lakeshore that has been associated with UW- pediatrics. Five years later, all

56 ON WISCONSIN PHILANTHROPY

pediatric patients were admit- daughter and granddaughter, children’s hospitals have the ted to Children’s Orthopedic Mary Cornelius Bradley. The community behind them. AFCH Hospital, which quickly became board of regents added $18,000. has benefited from a commit- known as Children’s Hospital. Today, of the $78 million ted community, including some Though ostensibly for chil- needed for the project’s first very young supporters who were as enthusiastic and important to the project as anyone. The students at Windsor Elementary School in Windsor, Wisconsin, American Family decided to participate in the auction of life-size painted Children’s Hospital cows from Madison’s 2006 Cow Founding Families Parade, an event held with proceeds going to AFCH. Students American Family Insurance organized penny wars, hat days, and spaghetti dinners, ultimately Oscar Rennebohm raising $13,000 — enough for Foundation them to purchase their favorite cow, “Rosie,” for their school. Sub-Zero Foundation Chugging across the trestle Helen Bakke, Frederick above the AFCH front door is a and Deborah Schwartz steam locomotive, engine num- One hospital inpatient floor incorporates a prairie theme through ber 1950 on the Welcome Train. Friends of University paint colors, glass panels on the staff station, and other details. The engine number honors the Hospital and Clinics UW-Madison Class of 1950 and dren, the atmosphere was seri- phase, which completes four of its latest gift. More than 60 per- University of Wisconsin ously grown-up. Sick children the hospital’s six floors, private cent of the class were veterans School of Medicine and were isolated from their families gifts have provided nearly $41 of World War II, whose educa- Public Health and confined. Their fears were million. The balance will come tions were paid for by the GI Bill. not recognized, their educa- from bonding. American Family These veterans and their class- University of Wisconsin tions were postponed, and their Insurance led the effort with an mates are grateful, loyal alumni Medical Foundation comforting toys were put away. initial $10 million gift. The com- whose gifts to UW-Madison have They were treated with what pany and its employees later reached a record $100 million. Department of Surgery, nursing professor Florence G. added another $5 million. “Many of us are grandpar- UW School of Medicine and Blake called “ritualistic atten- Madisonians John MS’72 ents now,” says Tony Brewster Public Health tion to detail.” Blake, who came and Coleen Flad made a major ’50, LLB’55. “These days we have to the UW in 1963, revolution- family gift, and gifts from a grandparent’s concern about John and Coleen Flad Family ized pediatric nursing practices. the Bakke-Schwartz family’s children’s health, and the class Her pioneering work changed Sub-Zero Foundation and the wanted to help put our uni- Pierce Family Foundation the care of sick and injured chil- Harvey Pierce family continued versity on the cutting edge, to Harvey, Delores, Jeff, dren around the world. the momentum. Together, they maintain our position as a world Steve, Julie, and Susan With the move west to the and other “Founding Families” leader, and to advance learn- new University Hospital and (see sidebar) turned a dream ing.” Class members Robert J. Cindy Crawford Clinics on Highland Avenue in into a world-class facility. “Red” Wilson ’51, Ted Iltis ’50, and Rande Gerber 1979, Children’s Hospital was a Former Madisonians Bob Dale “Buzz” Nordeen ’50, June distinct unit within the larger and Marlene Wilson thought Sweitzer ’50, and Mary Moen Irwin F. and Linda S. Smith hospital. However, the need about their grandson, Trevor, ’50, MA’77 engineered the for treatment, teaching, and who was successfully treated effort. Department of Pediatrics, family space in an even more for cancer in Georgia as a tod- Although no one likes to UW School of Medicine sophisticated, more kid-friendly dler. “We were fortunate to think about a child being sick and Public Health environment was obvious. be able to afford to help move or injured, it’s comforting to things along,” says Bob about know that, thanks to a caring Kohl’s Department Stores The Community Responds a gift from the Wilsons that community, American Fam- Private gifts established the named two rooms. The couple ily Children’s Hospital is now first children’s hospital. Brad- gave now-teenage Trevor the open. ley Memorial was built with chance to choose the rooms. — Merry Anderson $75,000 from Dr. and Mrs. Har- Not surprisingly, he picked old Bradley and Mr. and Mrs. rooms in the cancer center. Special thanks to John Toussaint ’49, Charles Crane, Mrs. Bradley’s Medical director Green MD’51 for research on the history parents, in memory of their believes the most successful of Children’s Hospital.

FALL 2007 57 Letters national charters were allowed to flour- Spirits”] that the clock is being turned Continued from page 4 ish, and were, in fact, the majority. As backward in Madison, and that a “Chris- because of the deep pool of extremely an unintended consequence, those few tian dormitory” is to open this fall. While talented people who choose to live in fraternities that were not discriminatory co-pastor Elsdon may well open its doors Madison and work at the UW. became equally segregated, pledged by to students of all faiths, it is hardly likely People like Lyle Anderson are in the minority groups turned away from that there will be any significant number incredibly short supply elsewhere, and the mainstream Greek houses. of Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or perhaps the university should thank its lucky It was only one courageous and even Catholic, applicants. stars that Lyle and his colleagues on the forward-thinking man, Bob Levine, who The study and practice of religion staff devote their energies to the UW. To operated the women’s dormitory Villa do have legitimate places in a state uni- me, they are the real stars of Wisconsin. Maria, who insisted on racial and reli- versity. Segregated housing does not, John Knox PhD’96 gious mixing in his facility. (In order to whether that segregation is enforced, or, Athens, Georgia maintain a mix, he had to ask questions as in this case, is merely a consequence about race and religion on his applica- of the nature of this unfortunate addition Faith-Based Housing tion forms. Ironically, because he asked to the residence roster. After four years, Arguably, the most important thing that these questions, he was investigated for the residents of this dormitory will have a university such as Wisconsin can offer civil rights violations, while those private failed to experience a “university” educa- its students, beyond basic academics, is housing facilities where it was “under- tion. Those who feel the needs that this to expose them to a broad spectrum of stood” that “Jews need not apply” or “no residence hopes to address would be other students who bring differing back- Negroes welcome,” were left untouched.) better served by attending one of the grounds, opinions, and philosophies to Fortunately, in the years that fol- admittedly faith-based universities. our great center of learning. lowed, fraternities changed their char- Robert Goldstone ’55 More than half a century ago, I arrived in ters, and housing became mixed, to the Truro, Massachusetts Madison to find a strictly segregated pat- benefit of all. tern of private housing. Christian women Therefore, I was appalled to learn Using Alumni Versus Alumnae lived in some houses and Jewish women from the [Spring 2007] edition of On Wis- The university is an academic institution in others. Fraternities with restrictive consin [Dispatches, “Housing for Kindred serving the whole state, its female as well

58 ON WISCONSIN as its male constituents. [The phrase on the cover of On Wisconsin that reads “For UW-Madison Alumni and Friends”] is using a Latin term, alumni, to refer to all of its graduates. This is the masculine plural. As you know, there is a perfectly good Latin feminine, alumnae, to refer to female graduates. By never using this feminine term on the front of your magazine where you are defining for whom this magazine is published, and only using the masculine, the university is adhering to the sexist mindset that when it’s a mixed- gender group, it’s appropriate for male terminology to take precedence. That’s a sexist mindset and a throw- back to the old femme covert. Jane Barry Shorewood, Wisconsin

(Editor’s Note: The term alumni has come into common usage to refer to both sexes. According to Webster’s II New College Dictionary, “Alumni is generally used to refer to both the alumni and alumnae of a coeducational institution.” This is the usage detailed in the style guide of UW-Madison, as well as many other universities, and it is also the usage endorsed by the professional group for alumni relations, CASE (the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education).

Andersen House Reunion A Case of Award-Winning Writing On Wisconsin Magazine received one of the highest honors in its field of publishing when it was awarded a Grand Gold Medal for staff periodical writing by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). According to CASE, “a grand gold medal is given when the judges feel that an entry is head and shoulders above any of the other entries received in a category.” Some 701 college and university publications submitted more than 3,100 entries for this year’s CASE awards, and only 12 grand golds were given out of a possible 40. On Wisconsin received its honor for a collection of articles written by Michael Penn MA’97 and John Allen

and published in 2006. BYPHOTOS MICHAEL FORSTER ROTHBART

FALL 2007 59 Your Badgers™ on real postage. Mail them. Collect them. Give them to your favorite fan.

iller John M Ave. akwood 1234 O 711 n, WI 53 Madiso

th oe Smi e. J aple Av 1234 M I 48109 bor, M Ann Ar

ORDER YOURS TODAY! AVAILABLE ONLY AT:

www.photostamps.com/badgers60 ON WISCONSIN

"(&#)" ) - (* &#+" $&(!"('. #!!)"(-.((.'.$&(.#.(."+."*&'(-. %)&.* #$!"(.$"".".(. .#. ) - + #& '(#&' # #)('("". $&(!"(.&'"' #&$#&(.&"( '. ),)&-.$"(#)'.)"('."''.#!$& . (#.)'(#!.#!'.".".#".!$)'. #(#".! .) -.(. $&(.#.#&.. )!".'()"('.) (-.".'( # #" " (# ' +( # ( ,(!"( ' #)(. #& // #& !#& "#&!(#"

SEPTEMBER 26–OCTOBER 10, 2007 uwalumni.com/auction CLICK. BID. WIN. Get in on the Big Badger Auction, going on now! This is your chance to grab great loot and support Badgers around the globe. You know you want to.

FALL 2007 61 IN PARIS, IT’S THE RITZ.

IN NEW YORK, IT’S THE PLAZA.

IN MADISON, IT’S . . .

Revived. Refined. Remarkable.

Special rates available for select University of Wisconsin football weekends. Limited availability. Call now for details.

601 Langdon Street on the UW Campus • www.thecampusinn.com • (608) 257-4391 (800) 589-6285

62 ON WISCONSIN Remember when choosing a Babcock ﬂavor was as important as choosing your classes?

Like George (’61 BS L&S, ’64 MS L&S) and Jane (’64 BSE Edu) Shinners, you’ve made many sound decisions since then. After raising ﬁve Badger sons, the Shinners established two endowed family funds to help make a UW-Madison education possible for promising students. A planned gift guarantees that the UW-Madison will beneﬁt from your generosity. Designate your gift for student scholarships and fellowships, for programs in your school or college or for projects of personal interest. Your gift will make a real difference. Your legacy is the University’s future.

University of Wisconsin Foundation Ofﬁce of Planned Giving PO Box 8860 I Madison WI 53708-8860 I Phone: 608-263-4545 www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu I [email protected]

FALL 2007 63 MAIN EVENTS

Campus JEFF MILLER (3) Resources

Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) (608) 262-2551 Fax (608) 262-3332 Toll-free (888) 947-2586 (888-WIS-ALUM) [email protected] uwalumni.com

Alumni Address Changes (608) 262-2551 or Toll-free (888) 947-2586 www.uwalumni.com/directory [email protected]

Alumni Death Notices (608) 262-2551 or Toll-free (888) 947-2586 [email protected]

Visitor and Information Programs (608) 263-2400 [email protected] www.vip.wisc.edu

UW Foundation (608) 263-4545 [email protected] www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu

UW-Madison www.wisc.edu Although a recent survey revealed that more than 70 percent of UW-Madison students own laptops, old-fashioned textbooks are still the tool of choice for studying on Bascom Hill. Call WAA toll free at (888) WIS-ALUM for more ongoing online sion and close with today’s details about these events. war on terrorism. Register Wednesday Night @ the Lab — Writing Fiction — October 1 online at uwalumni.com/ Get a behind-the-scenes look to November 12. Learn the learning. at a UW-Madison research lab basics of great fiction writing in the company of scientists, from a UW faculty expert and students, and alumni. These published author. Registrants september free events offer a variety of will also have an opportunity topics and are open to the to submit writing samples for Made in Wisconsin: public. Call (608) 262-5699. review. Writers of all experi- Beer and Cheese — ence levels are welcome. 28 Global Hot Spots Lecture Learn about the tasty treats Register at uwalumni.com/ Series — October 5, Novem- that made Wisconsin famous learning. ber 9, December 7, Pyle Center, during this special lifelong- Madison. Monthly talks fea- The United States and the learning event. UW alumni ture UW faculty with expertise World: The History of Ameri- and friends will visit a cheese in a broad range of inter- can Foreign Relations since factory in Monroe, Wisconsin, national subjects, including 1941 — October 22 to Decem- and then enjoy a traditional global health, global environ- ber 6. Enrich your understand- Swiss lunch at the historic ment, and human rights, along ing of America’s place in the New Glarus Hotel and a tour with particular countries and world since the 1940s. Online of the New Glarus Brewery. regions in the news. Free and lectures given by Jeremi Suri, To sign up, call Sarah Schutt open to the public. Call Sarah associate professor of history, at (608) 262-5699 or visit Schutt at (608) 262-5699. start with the Great Depres- uwalumni.com/madeinwi.

64 ON WISCONSIN MAIN EVENTS october Call (608) 262-2551 or visit troupe at the Wisconsin Union uwalumni.com/homecoming. Theater. Call the box office at (608) 262-2201 for tickets. A Day in Pompeii WAA Chap- 14 — Unearth the daily 25–27 ter Leader Day on Campus — Begin life of the lost Roman city of Fall Forum — Representatives 9 Friday in the classroom, Pompeii during this lifelong- from WAA’s alumni chapters attending lectures of your learning event at the Science across the country will come choice taught by top UW- Museum of Minnesota. Alumni back to Madison for training Madison faculty. Then, enjoy and friends will hear from a UW and special events. For more a luncheon at the Memorial faculty member and enjoy a details, contact Joe Hammes Union’s Great Hall, followed by 2007 private reception before a tour at (608) 263-4508. entertainment in the Wiscon- BADGER FOOTBALL of the exhibit. Call Sarah Schutt sin Union Theater. Call WAA at SCHEDULE at (608) 262-5699 or visit november (608) 262-2551. uwalumni.com/pompeii. First-Year Parents’ Greek Life Reunion Made in Wisconsin: Gen- 9–11 Weekend — SEPTEMBER eral Motors — Since 1919, 20 Weekend — Celebrate 1 Parents of first-year students 1 Washington State 150 years of Greek life at UW- Janesville’s General Motors will have a chance to attend 8 @ UNLV (WAA Tour) Madison. Alumni from campus assembly plant has been a true Friday classes, meet Chancel- 15 fraternities and sororities will economic engine for the state lor John Wiley, and cheer for The Citadel come back to their old stomp- of Wisconsin. On this special the football Badgers at Camp 22 Iowa ing grounds to enjoy a tailgate lifelong-learning tour, alumni Randall Stadium on Saturday. 29 Michigan State and Badger football game at and friends will visit the GM Call WAA toll free at (888) Camp Randall Stadium. Call plant and hear from employ- 947-2586. OCTOBER (888) WIS-ALUM or visit ees and UW faculty. Call Sarah Opera with Experts 6 uwalumni.com/Greek150. Schutt at (608) 262-5699 or visit @ Illinois — Explore the world uwalumni.com/madeinwi. 12 13 @ Penn State Homecoming Charity of this on-stage art form dur- 20 Northern Illinois Run/Walk — Begin your American Players Theatre ing a lifelong-learning event 21 27 5K run or 3K walk in front of 3 Presents The Merchant of featuring Madison Opera’s Indiana (Homecoming) the Memorial Union and wind Venice — Enjoy one of William Allan Naplan, and alumni-in- through the UW campus along Shakespeare’s most oft-quoted residence Fred Plotkin and Bill NOVEMBER Lake Mendota. Proceeds benefit comedies as performed by Lutes. Call WAA at (608) 262- 3 @ Ohio State the Dean of Students Crisis Fund. Spring Green’s premier acting 2551 for more information. 10 Michigan (Parents’ Day) 17 @ Minnesota

The Wisconsin Alumni HOMECOMING 2007 Association hosts official BADGER HUDDLE® pre-game OCTOBER 19–27 tailgate parties at all away games. Advance reserva- tions are required. Call WAA Travel toll free at (888) 922- 8728 (WAA-TRAV) or e-mail The Wisconsin Alumni Association has a host [email protected].

of spirited events planned for Homecoming

week, including a pep rally, parade, and fire-

works, plus the BADGER HUDDLE® tailgate

party. Festivities wrap up with the Homecoming

football game against Indiana. See a full event

schedule at uwalumni.com/homecoming.

FALL 2007 65 FLASHBACK UW-MADISON ARCHIVES

High-Carb Diet

Stephen Babcock may be better known as the namesake of the university’s ice cream, but he helped make another important — not to mention healthier — contribution to the field of dietetics. Babcock inspired an experiment that began a century ago, in 1907, and discovered the key role that vitamins play in a nutritious diet. Babcock hired biochemist E.B. Hart, who carried out an experiment known as the Single Grain Feeding Study, which tested the nutritional value of various grains containing the same amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, and salts. Hart fed groups of dairy cows corn, oats, or a mixture of grains, and they remained healthy; he fed other cattle just wheat, and they suffered severe health problems or died. These results indicated the presence of what biochemistry professor Hector DeLuca calls “substances required for life and reproduction that were yet to be described.” These substances were later named vital amines, or vitamins. E.V. McCollum, a UW researcher hired by Hart, discovered vitamin A in 1913, and in 1917, he discovered the vitamin B complex. The Single Grain Feeding Study not only highlighted the essential role that vitamins play, but also showcased the university’s research abilities. — Elli Thompson x’08

66 ON WISCONSIN