st.olafWiNtEr 2013 GLOBAL CITIZENS GOING TO EXTREMES OLE INNOVATORS ON ThE COvER: Vanessa trice Peter ’93 in the Los Angeles studio of paper artist Anna Bondoc. PHOtO By nAnCy PAStOr / POLAriS ST. OLAF MAGAzINE WINTER 2013 volume 60 · No. 1 Carole Leigh Engblom eDitOr Don Bratland ’87, holmes Design Art DireCtOr Laura hamilton Waxman COPy eDitOr Suzy Frisch, Joel hoekstra ’92, Marla hill holt ’88, Erin Peterson, Jeff Sauve, Kyle Schut ’13 COntriButinG writerS Fred J. Field, Stuart Isett, Jessica Brandi Lifl and, Mike Ludwig ’01, Kyle Obermann ’14, Nancy Pastor, Tom Roster, Chris Welsch, Steven Wett ’15 COntriButinG PHOtOGrA PHerS st. olaf Magazine is published three times annually (winter, Spring, Fall) by St. Olaf College, with editorial offi ces at the Offi ce of Marketing and Com- 16 munications, 507-786-3032; email: [email protected] 7 postmaster: Send address changes to Data Services, St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Ave., Northfi eld, MN 55057 readers may update infor- mation online: stolaf.edu/alumni or email alum-offi [email protected]. Contact the Offi ce of Alumni and Parent relations, 507- 786-3028 or 888-865-6537 52 Class Notes deadlines: Spring issue: Feb. 1 Fall issue: June 1 winter issue: Oct. 1 the content for class notes originates with the Offi ce of Alumni and Parent relations and is submitted to st. olaf Magazine, which reserves the right to edit for clarity and space constraints. Please note that due to privacy concerns, inclusion is at the discretion of the editor. www.stolaf.edu st.olaf features Global Citizens 7 By MArLA HiLL HOLt ’88 St. Olaf’s Davis united world College Scholars hail from around the world, enriching the St. Olaf community through intercultural learning and friendship. 24 A Global Perspective 11 By MArLA HiLL HOLt ’88 Five uwC Davis Scholars — Sophie Dekker ’15, Preben Bay ’14, Pumla Maswanganyi ’16, Mirwais wakil ’15, and Kagan Sen ’14 — refl ect on their journeys from home to united world College to St. Olaf. Going to Extremes 16 By JOeL HOeKStrA ’92 in the span of a single year, eric Larsen ’93 trekked to both of earth’s poles and summited Mount everest in an effort to bring attention to climate change and other environmental issues. The Road Less Traveled 24 By erin PeterSOn Ole innovators Lowell Pickett ’71, Lisa Stevens ’85, Vanessa trice Peter ’93, Adam Gettings ’04, David rose ’89, erik Brust ’14, Andrew Sather ’14, Kilian wald ’14, and Connor wray ’14 share their paths to launching and running successful, unique ventures. Almanac: A Musical Prayer for Peace 52 By JeFF SAuVe departments 2 the First word 3 On the Hill 4 0 Alumni news 45 Advancing the Mission 11 46 Class notes thefirstword FrOM PreSiDent DAViD r. AnDerSOn ‘74 Dear Oles, This issue of St. Olaf Magazine features inputs and outputs. What are the hallmarks of a fi ne college? One is its ability to gather remarkable students to learn together. Another is the ability of faculty and staff to provide a transformational experience for those students. A third is the ability of those students to translate the results of that experience into a postgraduate life characterized by fi nancial independence, professional accomplishment, and personal fulfi llment. The forty-six Oles who are Davis United World College Scholars exemplify the kind of “We believe in the remarkable students the College brings together on the Hill to form a community of learners. This is the input side of the formula. The stories of Sophie Dekker, Mirwais Wakil, Pumla power of talent, Maswanganyi, Preben Bay, and Kagan Sen paint a portrait of the rich diversity of experiences, creativity, hard interests, abilities, and aspirations that students bring to St. Olaf. That diversity and quality of input into the learning environment is a core element of our ability to offer a transformational work, and sound experience to our students. values to produce Transformed into what? St. Olaf has 36,000 alumni all over the world engaged in every success and to imaginable activity, so it’s hard to generalize. But the articles that feature Ole entrepreneurs on the one hand and extreme adventurer Eric Larsen ’93 on the other tell some compelling stories. create good.” This is the output side of the formula: a biology major who creates best-selling videogames, a St. Olaf grad who is the founder of a nationally-known jazz club, a physics and art major who found a way to use technology to ensure that people take their medication, a graduate of the Paracollege who is CEO of a paper art company, an Ole who, as a student, changed his major fi ve times and whose company manufactures robots, four current students who are running a business while in college, a biology and environmental studies major who in one year summited Mt. Everest and traveled to both poles to dramatize the effects of climate change. What experiences at the College led to these results? Analytical skills developed in the classroom, values formed at the hands of Emeritus Professor of Religion Vern Failletaz, a student work assignment to develop language-learning software, study travel on the Term in the Middle East, problem-solving to complete group class assignments. St. Olaf is a fundamentally optimistic place. We believe in the power of talent, creativity, hard work, and sound values to produce success and to create good. The beginning of a new year renews hope for our collective future, and that hope is reinforced by these stories of what Oles are preparing to do and what they have already done. 2 St.OLAF MAGAzine onthehill a natural Connection heir work space spans more than 350 acres of restored basic ecology, and leading field trips to the natural Lands for school- habitat, their tasks include conservation and ecological children attending northfield’s Open Door nursery and Greenvale elementary School. research, and they share a passion for environmental T to facilitate self-guided tours of the natural Lands, this year’s stu- education. they are the St. Olaf College student naturalists. dent naturalists plan to create informational signposts for the walking t he St. Olaf Student naturalist Program employs up to four students paths that will combine modern technology with ecological education. each year who are responsible for conducting long-term research, fur- “the signs will have Qr codes [Quick response barcodes] people can thering conservation efforts, and providing environmental education scan with their phones to bring up further information on the natural opportunities. this year’s student naturalists, all seniors, are rozlyn Lands website,” says Cornwell. Anderson, emma Cornwell, Andrew Kaul, and Kirsten Maier. the student naturalists help maintain St. Olaf’s natural Lands — Future plans restored native tallgrass prairie, wetlands, and woodlands bordering the ollowing his graduation in May, Kaul hopes to apply his experience in campus — including the Bluebird trail, a path with 64 nest boxes that Fpreserving an endangered biome to a career in conservation work. offer habitat and protection for native birds threatened by increasing “the skills that i develop through the Student naturalist Program, such urbanization. throughout the year, the students also host community as organizing events, communicating scientific ideas to a general audi- events ranging from prairie seed collections and buckthorn pulls in the ence, and carrying out land maintenance duties, will make me qualified fall to snowshoe hikes through the natural Lands in the winter to weekly for a naturalist position after i graduate,” he says. phenology walks through the prairie and woods in the spring. Both Maier and Anderson likewise plan to apply their naturalist expe- “the events are a way to educate students about the ongoing work rience to careers in environmental and outdoor education. while involved in conservation,” says Cornwell, whose academic research Cornwell is unsure of her specific plans for the future, she recognizes the involves investigating the optimum input of nitrogen fertilizer on value of the skills the Student naturalist Program provides. St. Olaf farmland. She adds, “the program will give me knowledge and leadership skills Other responsibilities include writing articles for the biology depart- that will be applicable no matter what i decide to do.” ment’s monthly publication, Biomass, providing monthly instruction on —Lara Palmquist ‘13 ’15 n MA Lutter LL i w Professor of Biology and Curator of the Natural Lands Kathy Shea (left) oversees the St. Olaf Student Naturalist Program, which this year employs seniors (from left) Emma Cornwell, Rozlyn Anderson, Kirsten Maier, and Andrew Kaul. winter 2013 3 onthehill northern explorer n 2010, norwegian marine explorers thorleif Ithorleifsson and Børge Ousland became the fi rst to sail around the north Pole in a single short season. their urD MiLBury/nOrweGiAn eMBASSy voyage — which took them through the northern Sea route in russia, the Tour 2013 northwest Passage in Canada, and across the WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 north Atlantic — covered inteSeattle, Washington 10,000 nautical miles in a record-breaking 80 days. thorleifsson (above) recently visited the St. Olaf Benaroya Hall campus to discuss with students not only the challenges of his unprecedented voyage but also the · · · · · history of norwegian Arctic exploration and the explorers of the past. His lecture, “A Voyage Around FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 the north Pole: Modern exploration and Climate Change,” is available at stolaf.edu/multimedia. Eugene, Oregon The Hult Center · · · · · SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 specifi c enough to identify the fi ber as coming Portland, Oregon CSI:ST.OLAF from of a given piece of clothing, explains Trinity Episcopal Cathedral new grant from the national institute of Beussman. However, the atoms in the · · · · · A Justice (niJ) is enabling St. Olaf students molecules of the clothing’s fabric can relate SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 to dig deeper into forensic research.