A sampling of media clippings about Lawrence University, its faculty, students, and alumni from Fall 2004 and Winter 2005. For more clippings, see the Lawrence in the News index page.
Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago, Illinois
March 18, 2005
Headline: Bad News Jones jazzes up hip-hop
Byline: David Jakubiak
Excerpt: Chicago's hip-hop band scene is expanding with the vigor of something
that refuses to be slept on, and near the top of the swell, along with bands
like Abstract Giants, Treologic, Small Change and Contriband, is the septet
Bad News Jones. As much progressive jazz as it is hip-hop, the band's music
comprises a backbone of lively rhythm provided by Andrei Chahine on keys,
Tim Lincoln on bass and Daniel Crane drums that's complemented by Josh Burke
on sax and the word play of the three MCs, Jed Spiegelman, James Occhipinti
and Jordan Taggert. Bad News Jones began when Spiegelman and Occhipinti were
students at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. "I only
played trumpet than and didn't really rhyme," Spiegelman says. "But James
convinced me to. We put together some janky beats and did show and everybody
went crazy." Eventually, the pair went with live instrumentation and the band
was born. "We started coming down here and people really liked our sound,"
Spiegelman says. Bad News Jones is working on an EP.
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne, Wyoming
March 18, 2005
Headline: "Messiah" a gift to Cheyenne
Byline: Karen Cotton
Excerpt: For the second time the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra and a massed
choir will perform Handel's "Messiah" as a gift for the community of Cheyenne.
The CSO will combine with the Cheyenne Chamber Singers' 70 choral members.
Guest artists will be soprano Patrice Michaels, mezzo soprano Angela Horn,
tenor Christopher Pfund and bass Jeffrey Straus. This marks a return trip
to Cheyenne for Michaels who was the guest artist for a CSO performance of
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in January. Michaels is a recording artist and
a faculty member at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
"I have probably worked with Patrice more than any other soprano," Alltop
said. "I conducted one of (her) CDs, which features 'The Divas of Mozart's
Day,' a fascinating project in which she performed music Mozart and other
composers wrote for five female singers of the late 18th century. "Patrice
has a highly versatile voice," Alltop said. "She will use it somewhat differently
in Handel than she did in Beethoven. Her melismas (long strings of faster
notes,) in 'Rejoice greatly' are as good as you'll ever hear."
The National Post, Don Mills, Ontario
March 12, 2005
Headline: U.S. teens in studying frenzy over new SATs
Byline: Mary Vallis
Excerpt: The SAT has been changed for the first time in a decade, with new
math questions and an essay section lengthening the excruciating test by 45
minutes. Changing the exam is like rewriting the Bible for U.S. high school
students, for whom it is a rite of passage. "It's created near panic," said
Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. "It has taken
on much more of role as a cultural symbol than it technically deserves." Affluent
students are engaged in an "arms race" to prepare, he added. Studying for
the SAT -- the College Board, which oversees the SAT, stopped claiming the
letters were an acronym for Scholastic Aptitude Test in 1993 -- is a US$300-million
industry in the United States. Parents pay thousands to give their children
every advantage and tutoring firms say their business has soared since the
new SAT was announced in June, 2002. The standardized test is considered as
one of the most important factors in the university admissions process. Students
with higher scores get into better schools. But 16-year-old Eli Silverstein,
a high school junior in South Brunswick, N.J., wishes U.S. schools would follow
Canada's lead and not use SAT scores. "A lot of colleges put too much emphasis
on it, in my opinion," Mr. Silverstein, who hopes to become a lawyer, said
Thursday night during a study break. "It measures only how you take a test."
More and more schools agree, saying the test is unnecessary. Lawrence
University in Appleton, Wis., for example, last month announced it
will no longer require students to submit SAT scores. "Ultimately, their choice
of courses and record of achievement over four years of high school provides
a much better indication of their ability to survive the academic rigors of
Lawrence than do the results of a three-hour test taken on some Saturday morning,"
Steve Syverson, dean of admissions, said at the time.
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota
March 12, 2005
Headline: Beefed up SAT tests students
Byline: Paul Tosto
Excerpt: Nationally, there's been some backlash against the SAT leading up
to today's initial testing. Some critics say the SAT has become even more
of a skills test than an aptitude exam and that the newest version will only
widen the success gap between those who can afford exam preparation courses.
Lawrence University, a small liberal arts school in Appleton,
Wis., recently announced it would no longer require SAT or ACT exams to get
in. It's the only liberal arts college in Wisconsin and the first member of
the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, a group of 14 independent liberal
arts colleges that includes Minnesota's Macalester, Carleton, and St. Olaf
colleges, to adopt a test-optional approach. "We've been kind of talking
about it for a couple of years, but it seemed that now was an appropriate
time to do it. The level of angst among high school students and counselors
has just grown so much in the last year in anticipation of this change,"
said Steve Syverson, dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence. It's
not that the tests don't have value or aren't reasonably well-designed, he
said. "It's just that they've taken on almost this surreal process ...
kids taking the tests multiple times, paying $500 to $1,000 to take test-preparation
courses. We think it's distorting the college admissions process."
Mizar 5 International Web Magazine
March 11, 2005
Headline: M5 interview with Fred Sturm
Excerpt:
MS: How did your love for music start and can you tell us something about your early influences and journey in that respect?
Sturm: I was born and raised about an hour from Chicago. My Dad was a cellist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and my Mom was an operatic contralto who doubled as a commercial group studio singer in Chicago television and radio stations. My uncle, a nightclub pianist/organist in Chicago, played Louis Armstrong records for me when I was a teenager. When I entered Lawrence University as a freshman, there was no jazz in the curriculum, and the only jazz on campus was a big band that was loosely organized by a music fraternity. A year later, I was privileged to direct that ensemble, which triggered my interest in jazz education. Through my remaining studies at the University of North Texas and the Eastman School of music and during my 4 years "on the road", my aspirations to teach were always in my heart and mind.
M5: You've arranged Steely Dan music, arranged songs from tango-meister Astor Piazzola ... Can you name a few other projects that are special to you?
Sturm: My musical tastes -- and hence my writing projects -- have become increasingly eclectic over the years. I've written for Broadway "Phantom of the Opera" star Davis Gaines, composed original works for symphony orchestra and wind ensemble, generated numerous compositions for chamber ensembles, and have published several arrangements for voices. I'm an admitted "musical mutt", and the mix keeps my projects fresh, varied, and ever interesting. I'll spend the next 6 months in a true labor of love, doing the orchestral arranging for "The Baseball Music Project". Two brilliant musical minds and fellow baseball fanatics -- Bob Thompson (CEO at Universal Edition, one of the world's largest publishing houses) and Mike Mushalla (President of Double M Arts & Events and former VP at Columbia Artists) --have engaged me as artistic director for the project, and we traveled to the Baseball Hall of Fame to research their fabulous Steele Baseball Music Collection. The program will be scored for symphony orchestra and will include music about the game dating from 1858 to the present. They're already booking dates with American orchestras 2-3 years into the future.
M5: Your work as a musician takes you to different levels of the field, as a composer, teacher, conductor, arranger, producer ... You're the Director of Jazz and Improvisational Music at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. What are the priorities attached to this job/position and what's the strength of improvisational music, in your opinion?
Sturm: Teaching is the great privilege in my musical life. After almost 30 years of university teaching, I still have a fire in my belly conducting ensembles, teaching composition and arranging, coaching young improvisers, leading pedagogy classes. My life in education has afforded me a constantly shifting mix of projects, and the endless energy and passion of my students continues to inspire me. Engaging in the creative process -- as composer/arranger, teacher, and performer -- is the lure in teaching. Like most jazz educators, I'm well aware that the vast majority of my students will not likely go on to experience highly visible professional jazz careers. But the creative work that we do -- most notably in jazz performance practice, improvisational music, and composition/arranging -- has an abundance of metaphors in every imaginable discipline and field.
The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, Public Broadcasting System
March 10, 2005
Segment: Revamped SAT
Reporter: Elizabeth Brackett, WTTW-Chicago
Excerpt: A redesigned Standard Aptitude Test including an essay section will
be administered to high school students for the first time this weekend. Correspondent
Elizabeth Brackett of WTTW-Chicago looks at the new exam.
Elizabeth Brackett: The College Board had been under pressure to revise their SAT test ever since the president of the University of California threatened to drop the SAT four years ago.
Richard Atkinson: The motivation is to have an admissions process that's perceived as being fair, one that really focuses on testing students on what they've studied in high school and where the student and their parents really understand the relationship between that test and the events in high school.
Elizabeth Brackett: James Montoya is vice president of the College Board, the not-for-profit association that owns and administers the SAT test that 1.4 million students take as part of the college admissions process. Montoya says the new SAT should fulfill that challenge.
James Montoya: We want to make certain that the SAT really helps an admissions office gauge a student's ability to be successful in college.
Elizabeth Brackett: But the dean of admissions at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, doesn't buy it. This small liberal arts college with a little under 1,500 students just announced that it will drop the SAT and go test-optional for revisions next year.
Steve Syverson: It doesn't add enough to our understanding of the student to justify the amount of stress that the students are undergoing to provide us with that information.
We think what they've done over four years in high school is a much better indicator than what they do for three and a half hours on a Saturday morning taking one of these tests.
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
March 9, 2005
Headline: New essay test adds to SAT exam anxieties. Critics question use
of section on writing
Byline: Robert Becker
Excerpt: It's only 25 minutes out of a nearly four-hour exam, but a new essay
section in the retooled SAT that makes its debut Saturday has high school
juniors about to push the panic button. Long considered a rite of passage,
the new SAT aims to more accurately test the skills needed for college success,
officials say. Along with the essay, the test features a revamped math section
and lasts three hours and 45 minutes--three quarters of an hour longer than
the old exam. But the test long has come under criticism from those who argue
that it is little more than an educational relic, fraught with cultural bias.
And at $41.50 per exam, critics say the test is little more than a moneymaker
for College Board. Some top schools--Bowdoin College in Maine, Mt. Holyoke
in Massachusetts and Lawrence University in Wisconsin--have
made entrance exams optional. "It's not that we believe there's no value
[in entrance tests], we believe they've become so over-emphasized in the college
admissions process," said Steve Syverson, dean of admissions and financial
aid at Lawrence in Appleton.
USA Today, McLean, Virginia
March 5, 2005
Headline: Despite new version, SAT still faces questions of survival
Byline: Justin Pope, Associated Press
Excerpt: The wave of anxiety over the new SAT with essay finally breaks next
Saturday, when an estimated 300,000 high school students will take the test
for the first time. For them the exam may seem all-important, but it doesn't
matter everywhere -- and Bates College is a prime example. Twenty years ago,
the liberal arts college decided students could submit standardized test scores
voluntarily but stopped requiring them -- convinced they did little to identify
who will contribute and thrive. Today, Bates says the data have only verified
that hunch. The changes to the SAT, which also include shaking up some multiple-choice
sections, are an effort by its owner, the College Board, to persuade the admissions
world that the test remains useful and fair.The huge University of California
system, which threatened to drop the SAT in 2001, will study results of the
new exam for three years to make sure it is really an improvement. Other colleges
have already decided. Just last month, Lawrence University in
Wisconsin and St. Lawrence University in New York dropped their testing requirements.The
colleges say the SAT isn't worth the cost in money and stress -- to them,
and to students and parents. And they are increasingly concerned that the
SAT, designed to level the playing field for all, has now become a barrier
to poor and minority students.
[Under various headlines, the AP wire story appeared in the national edition of the National Post (Toronto, Canada), Seattle Times (Seattle, Washington), Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, Ohio), Evansville Courier & Press (Evansville, Indiana), South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), Sunday Gazette-Mail (Charleston, West Virginia), Times Union (Albany, New York), Tulsa World (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Dubuque Telegraph Herald (Dubuque Iowa), Beaumont Enterprise (Beaumont, Texas), and other newspapers across the country.]
CollegeBound Teen Magazine, Staten Island, New York
Spring 2005
Headline: Lives of professors
Byline: Jennifer Merritt
Excerpt: CB Teen did some investigating to track down professors with shocking lives
outside the classroom ... who knew profs could be so cool?
Double agent: Dr. Bruce Hetzler
By day: Professor of psychology and director of the neuroscience program at Lawrence University
(Appleton, WI)
Moonlights as: A magician
The scoop: As a physiological psychologist who focuses on the effects of drugs
on the brain, you would think Bruce Hetzler regularly gets his fill of mind
tricks. Not so, says the 56-year-old who's been teaching 26 years and practicing
magic for 40. Hetzler works his magic at parties, weddings, company picnics,
and a local restaurant--where he occasionally sees some of his students. Their
reaction to seeing their psychology prof make $100 disappear and then reappear
inside a lemon. "They're impressed," he says. "But they probably aren't that
surprised, because I use a lot of the same jokes in class that I do in my
show."
The New York Review of Books, New York, New York
March 10, 2005
Headline: Bush's Victory: Second Thoughts
Byline: Andrew Hacker, Paul Cohen. Reply by Mark Danner
Excerpt: To the Editors: Convincingly debunking the "moral values"
storyline concerning the fall election, Mark Danner suggests that Bush's victory
turned instead on the fears raised by terrorism and the war in Iraq. The Republicans,
he argues, constructed a narrative that relentlessly contrasted Bush's presumed
"forthrightness, decisiveness, and strength" with Kerry's "uncertainty,
hesitation, [and] vacillation." But how, one must ask, did that story
work so well as to effectively override the plain facts -- the nonexistence
of WMDs in Iraq, for example, and the disconnect between Iraq and September
11 -- which Danner cites? The answer, I would propose, lies at the level of
theme and subtext. The Republican storyline reached Americans at the gut level
because it was fundamentally about masculinity -- about who is and who is
not a "real man." The masculine-feminine binary virtually defined
the Republican campaign. Bush played the tough, aggressive "stand-up
guy" who would "stay the course" because "sometimes a
man's gotta be a man." Kerry, meanwhile, was transformed into a soft,
flip-flopping, effete elitist -- a "girly man," in the immortal
words of the Hollywood action hero now governing California, or, in Jon Stewart's
satirical synopsis, "a pussy." In the Republican narrative, in short,
"Democrat" translated as "weak" and "liberal"
as "effeminate." This is neither new nor surprising. The Republicans
have regularly played the masculinity card in recent elections, particularly
when bloodthirsty Russian bears or Islamic wolves are sighted in the woods.
And the story, as Danner suggests, has often trumped the facts. How else did
a combat-averse Yale Yankee morph into a plain-spoken Texas sheriff ridding
the Wild West -- read the Middle East -- of bad guys? And how was a decorated
combat veteran so readily converted into a "girly man"? Perhaps
it is time for the Democrats to challenge the Republican story directly instead
of implicitly endorsing it by (pathetically) forcing their candidates to play
with the symbolic toys -- tanks, guns, motorcycles -- of "real men."
Paul Cohen
Professor of History
Lawrence University
Appleton, Wisconsin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
February 19, 2005
Headline: University to drop need for SAT, ACT. Lawrence says 'enough' to
tests' angst, expense
Byline: Nahal Toosi
Excerpt: Students aiming for a spot in the fall 2006 freshman class of Lawrence
University can relax just a bit: By then, the private school in Appleton
won't require standardized test scores in the admissions process. It's a move
that comes after about three years of consideration, said Steve Syverson,
Lawrence's dean of admissions and financial aid. One key reason Lawrence went
forward with the idea was the recent addition of writing segments to both
the SAT and the ACT. The new sections just added to the "confusion, angst
and expense already associated with the admission process," Syverson
said. "We've basically decided to say 'enough already.' " Syverson
cited the experience of Maine's Bates College, which found in a 20-year study
that there were no significant differences in the graduation rates or academic
performance of students who submitted the scores as opposed to those who didn't.
He also pointed to the growth of the test-preparation industry, which charges
hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars to help students get ready to take
the SAT and ACT. Students from poorer families often are unable to afford
such preparation, which puts them at an even greater disadvantage in admissions,
Syverson said. Syverson expects many applicants will submit scores anyway.
"Most of the kids that apply to Lawrence will be applying to places that
do require it," he said. "What we're really doing is putting more
power back in the students' hands."
Madison Capital Times, Madison
February 19, 2005
Headline: Sturgeon caviar guru can't sell her treasure
Excerpt: Ah, sturgeon-spearing season on Lake Winnebago. The elusive sturgeon
carries precious cargo: glistening globules to be dabbed on delicate crackers.
"I think it's really a wonderful flavor," said Betsy Krizenesky,
a Neenah massage therapist, Russian language teacher and food fan who has
become a Department of Natural Resources-sanctioned sturgeon caviar hound.
"It's got a little bit of earthiness. You know, like really fresh catfish
has that slight earthiness, but not fishiness." Every February since
2000, Krizenesky has been the DNR's go-to caviar contact. The Russian culture
buff teaches the language at both Lawrence University in
Appleton and Fox Valley Technical College. "She's becoming kind of known
as 'the caviar lady,' so more spearers know of her," said Ron Bruch,
DNR sturgeon biologist and expert. "We actually have her recipe and give
it out at (sturgeon registration) stations, so it doesn't go to waste."
Sturgeon caviar isn't like maple syrup. It's illegal to sell. It can't even
be bartered. Stringent laws are in place to thwart poaching and black markets,
Bruch said. So Krizenesky, 50, is a bit of a rarity herself. Any caviar she
produces she donates to friends or contacts. The idea is to not let a precious
commodity go to waste. The DNR agrees.
Gannett News Service, McLean, Virginia
February 5, 2005
Headline: Efforts build to increase Pell grants
Byline: Brian Tumulty
Excerpt: President Bush's 2006 budget will propose a $28 billion increase
in guaranteed loans and Pell grants to college students over 10 years, partly
by squeezing profits out of the lucrative student loan industry and ending
another student loan program.The administration is expected to announce a
$15 billion increase in Pell grants for low-income college students. Bush
will also propose increasing the amount that students can borrow under the
federal guaranteed student loan program. Loan limits have not been adjusted
since 1986. The maximum Pell grant for low-income students has been frozen
for three years at $4,050 despite rising college costs. "I can see an
increase in Pell grants making a difference in a lot of students' lives,"
said Cora Schroeder, a 23-year-old single mom attending Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wis. Schroeder's $29,701 package of aid for 2004-2005 consists
of Federal Work Study, a federally subsidized student loan, and six grants
that include the maximum Pell award of $4,050. Schroeder described her Pell
grant as a piece of the puzzle that made it possible for her to transfer to
Lawrence from the less expensive University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley to participate
in Lawrence's respected studio art program. "I think I've been very fortunate
and I'm very grateful for it," Schroeder said of her Pell grant. "If
I didn't have it, it would put more stress on my third party grants and maybe
mean taking out more student loans." Schroeder also receives child support
from the father of her 3-1/ 2-year-old
daughter, Veronica, and works at three part-time jobs. But that money mostly
goes to pay her rent and other living expenses.
Eastern Shore News, Salisbury, Maryland
December 25, 2004
Headline: Like father, like son
Byline: Ted Shockley
Excerpt: Winter has arrived, and the son has returned home from college, so
rowing on the water is being discussed more than it is being practiced right
now. But come February, when Heath Gordon is back at Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wis., and his father, longtime Broadwater Academy staffer Chris
Gordon, is spending his afternoons along Pungoteague Creek, they'll both be
coaching crew again. In a sport that was just introduced locally in 2001,
the Gordons have pulled off a rare father-and-son coaching feat. While the
dad is back in Virginia with Broadwater's crew team, the son, a college sophomore,
is coaching his school's club crew team in Wisconsin. More surprising is that,
roughly five years ago, neither envisioned themselves coaching or participating
in the sport. "I couldn't have imagined it," said Heath Gordon,
who graduated from Broadwater in 2003 and was a member of the school's first-ever
crew team. During his first year in college, Heath Gordon rowed on the team
but ended up in a leadership role this year. Both acknowledge that coaching
involves more than spending the afternoon on the water. Scheduling regattas,
organizing travel and coordinating practices all play a big part, they said.
New York Daily News, New York
December 23, 2004
Headline: Without a doubt, Santa still rules. In a skeptical age, he retains
his ho-ho-hold
Byline: Julian Kesner
Excerpt: The cliche is true: Children grow up faster than ever these days.
Many are learning to question and doubt -- like so many adults -- at an early
age, and the magic of the holiday season is a major target for skeptical youngsters.
Parents have been forced to adapt to this increasingly tricky environment
and defend the spirit of Santa Claus for all the big guy is worth. Rex Myers,
Ph.D., is on the short list of Claus' most important deputies (although, for
the record, Myers alludes to actually being Santa himself). A history and
freshman studies lecturer at Lawrence University in Wisconsin,
Myers can't go anywhere without a child walking up and asking if he's Santa."I
have a beautiful, big white beard, and Santa glasses that I wear year-round,
and I actually carry a business card that identifies me as Santa -- it says
my address is the North Pole," says Myers. "I pass that out all
year." Myers once spent four holiday seasons working at a mall instead
of a classroom (nowadays, he volunteers at nursing homes and charities). More
than 15,000 kids visited Myers each year, and he saw first-hand how important
a role Mom and Dad play. "The parent who is really excited and happy
to be around Santa makes all the difference in the world," he says. "They
gotta believe." So how should parents deal with their child's questions?
"I tell adults and high-school kids that are being cynics that Christmas
is really a combination of love and magic," says Myers. "Santa is
that universal person who loves every child in the world, and how he gets
to everyone's house and gets just the right presents -- that's got to be magic."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
December 18, 2004
Headline: Auer used his gift for words to share love of art, history
Byline: Jackie Loohauis
Excerpt: He was -- and there could be no other description for such a person
-- "a man for all seasons." Writer, photographer, cinematographer,
historian, magician -- Journal Sentinel art critic James Auer was the definition
of a Renaissance man. He possessed all the attributes in the rest of that
famous quote about Thomas More. Auer, who died Saturday at 76, was a man of
gentleness, mirth and singular learning. Auer joined The Milwaukee Journal
as art editor in 1972, with his primary duty to cover the visual arts. But
he soon showed that canvass was too small to hold him. His work at The Journal,
and later the Journal Sentinel, would also include writing about everything,
including movies, theater, history and obituaries of the rich, famous and
artful. Though he spoke with the diction of an Ivy League patrician, Auer's
roots sprouted from pure Wisconsin soil. A native of Neenah, his early home
life was not the stuff of the haut monde. His father was a sheet
metal worker and his mother a librarian. But his command of language showed
itself early on. He was a three-time recipient of the English medal awarded
at Menasha High School. As an English major at Lawrence University,
he contributed regularly to the student newspaper. Auer's talents weren't
confined to the print medium. Auer wrote and narrated award-winning documentaries
that aired across the country on PBS stations. One of his more popular specials
was "A Partner to Genius," a 1993 documentary about the life of
Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, third wife of artist and designer Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison
December 11, 2004
Headline: State Commerce chief to resign. Nettles, who will rejoin law firm,
is hailed
Byline: Jason Stein
Excerpt: Wisconsin Commerce Secretary Cory Nettles -- the youngest member
of Gov. Jim Doyle's cabinet and the first African-American to hold the post
-- announced Friday he is stepping down and rejoining his old law firm. After
just under two years with the Commerce Department, Nettles will resign Dec.
31 to become a partner at Quarles & Brady in Milwaukee. Nettles entered
government at a time when the state faced massive budget deficits and the
punishing losses of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Lawmakers and
business groups praised Nettles' work Friday, saying they hoped that Doyle's
replacement would continue the direction Nettles set for the 400-employee
department, which seeks to provide assistance to businesses and develop the
state's economy. Newly-elected Assembly majority leader Mike Huebsch, R-West
Salem, said he'd been impressed by the quick response Nettles had given to
needs for economic development in the La Crosse area. "I think he was
one of the best ambassadors the Doyle administration had," Huebsch said
of Nettles. "I think it's a real blow for the Doyle administration."
A self-described "poor black kid" raised by a single mother in Milwaukee,
Nettles graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton and
the UW-Madison Law School. Nettles said he will continue to help the Doyle
administration but that he wants to spend more time with his wife, Michelle
Nettles, at their home in Whitefish Bay.
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina
December 12, 2004
Headline: E-mail puts byte in politics
Byline: Scott Dodd
Excerpt: No local politician can hide from e-mail for long. It's quickly overtaking
phone calls, faxes and handwritten letters as the main way that voters reach
their representatives and many politicians talk to each other. If you want
to stay plugged into politics, local pols say, you've got to be plugged in.
Neighborhoods organize e-mail campaigns to protest unwanted development. Elected
officials float proposals and board appointments by computer. Elementary-school
parents send their neighbors surveys regarding boundary disputes. Lawmakers
have replaced quarterly mailings with electronic updates of their doings in
the state capital. "E-mail is so much easier for a constituent than a
letter or a phone call," said political science professor Christian Grose,
who grew up in Concord and studies political communication at Lawrence
University in Wisconsin. Doing research in the late 1990s, Grose
found that only about half of Congress had public e-mail addresses or Web
pages. Now, they all do.
Current Science & Technology Center's News Bites
Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts
December 2004
Headline: Alcohol and Nicotine: A Sobering Combination?
Excerpt: In bars that still permit smoking, you can often see patrons who don't
usually partake of tobacco light up a cigarette to accompany their glass of
beer or hard liquor. They may do so to instinctively or intentionally to counteract
the depressive effects of alcohol with the stimulant nicotine. Does the mixture
of drugs really work? Surprisingly, scientists know little about the combined
effects of nicotine and alcohol. So Dr. Bruce Hetzler of Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wisconsin set out to find out what really happens when the two
drugs get together in a biological system. Dr. Hetzler examined the brainwaves
and behaviors of groups of rats on alcohol, nicotine, a combination of the two
drugs, and nothing. He tracked the rats' movements on an enclosed square surface
square lined with a grid that allowed him to see how the rats moved after they
were exposed to each drug, the combination, or no drug. What do the results
imply for humans? Dr. Hetzler suggests that individuals who smoke and drink
at the same time might feel more alert than if they consume alcohol alone, but
that their motor skills could actually be worse than they think.
[Adapted from reporter Cheryl Wojciehowski's November 2004 weekly science/technology segment on New England Cable News.]
Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts
December 9, 2004
Headline: Voting errors linger five weeks after election. The presidential outcome wasn't
contested, but one county's woes symbolize glitches still unfixed
Byline: Patrik Jonsson
Excerpt: Five weeks after the election, North Carolina still doesn't know
who its next agriculture commissioner will be. The reason: 4,500 votes in
coastal Carteret County were lost in a computer. They simply vanished. The
mishap here is one of many that occurred across the country on election day,
offering a window into the flaws that still exist in American democracy. While
most experts think the election went well overall -- especially given the
large turnout -- lessons are nonetheless being learned about how to improve
individual systems. And questions linger in some states about the integrity
of a system that underwent massive changes after Florida's debacle in 2000.
"The case in Carteret County exposes the flaws in democracy and elections
generally," says Christian Grose, a political scientist at Lawrence
University in Appleton, Wis. "Counting all the votes is not that
easy all the time." Experts blame a confluence of factors, from ballot shortages
to electronic glitches, and point to a populace increasingly skeptical of
the voting system. With such a politicized process, too, the fact that partisan
officials often run the show has only stoked the tension of the aftermath.
All the electoral hiccups and rumored shenanigans have only intensified public
scrutiny of the electoral system (which for centuries functioned by hook and
crook and common sense, and involved little more than setting up voting booths
and unlocking the ballot box). Now, there's a growing expectation that the
polls should be run with all the speed and accuracy of a NASCAR pit stop.
National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.
December 8, 2004
Show: All Things Considered
Headline: Aluminum trees make a comeback
Description: "Wisconsin Public Radio's Patty Murray reports from the
birthplace of the aluminum Christmas tree. The old holiday decorations are
coming out of the closet and are riding a wave of 50's nostalgia."
[The report featured the work of Lawrence University art instructors John Shimon and Julie Lindemann and the publication of their book of photography, "Season's Gleamings: The Art of the Aluminum Christmas Tree."]
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
December 1, 2004
Headling: Web site links vegans -- over lunch, naturally
Byline: James P DeWan, Special to the Tribune
Excerpt: On a recent sunny Saturday, 40 Chicagoans -- mostly strangers --
descended upon a North Side eatery. Sharing a passion for the humane treatment
of animals, they were there for no better reason than to have lunch. The monthly
Vegan Meetup is a direct outgrowth of meetup.com, a Web site founded in 2002
to help people connect with others who "share their interest or cause, and
form lasting, influential, local community groups that regularly meet face-to-face."
In this case, that cause is veganism, a term coined in London in 1944 by the
founders of The Vegan Society, a group dedicated to "ways of living that seek
to exclude, as far as is possible and practical, all forms of exploitation
of animals for food, clothing or any other purpose." A 2000 opinion poll by
Zogby International suggested the U.S. is home to more than 2.6 million vegans.
"Veganism is very prevalent among young people," said Meetup novice Tim Ridlen,
a sophomore at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. "Even the food
they serve on campus caters to the fact that lots of the kids there are vegan."
Of course, not every college is quite so progressive. "We're trying to get
a group going on campus," said Dominique Gougis, a sophomore at Lawrence
University in Appleton, Wis., "but it's difficult when you're up
in cheeseland." Of the nearly 1,400 undergraduates enrolled at Lawrence, Gougis
doubts she knows even a dozen other vegans. This can make life challenging
for a person whose needs, both dietary and fashion, fall just outside the
mainstream consciousness, and it is exactly why groups such as the Vegan Meetup
are so successful.
USA Today, McLean, Virginia
November 30, 2004
Headline: Trendy to tacky to kitschy
Byline: Craig Wilson
Excerpt: Photographers Julie Lindemann and John Shimon pay tribute to their
Wisconsin town's [Manitowoc] aluminum tree tradition in "Season's Gleamings:
The Art of the Aluminum Christmas Tree." This town of 33,000 was known
as the Aluminum Cookware Capital of the World, but it's ultimately being remembered
for turning out more aluminum Christmas trees than anywhere else. At the height
of the rage in the early '60s, as many as 300,000 tin Tannenbaums were made
here during "tree season" — July to November — bringing new meaning to the
term "Tinseltown." Lindemann and Shimon bought up as many as 40 castoff trees
and set up an "aluminum forest" in their studio for Christmas. To them, the
tree was not only part of their own past but also an art form worthy of exploration.
Something not only to behold, but to photograph. They started taking photos
of them with an 8-by-10 view camera, hoping "to portray the people and landscape
of this place where we'd been born." For Shimon and Lindemann, the book is
a somewhat bittersweet look back at a time when the town was thriving and
aluminum -- whether in a pot or on a tree bough --was king.
[Julie Lindemann and John Shimon are art instructors at Lawrence University.]
WebMD, Elmwood Park, New Jersey
November 29, 2004
Headline: Strategies for a hangover-free holiday season
Byline: Elizabeth Heubeck
Excerpt: 'Tis the season to celebrate -- but beware! One too many glasses
of eggnog at the office holiday party, or a bit more bubbly than you anticipated
on New Year's Eve, and you're likely to find yourself feeling less than cheerful
the day after. Symptoms vary, but can include one or all of the following:
Raging headaches, dehyrdation, and fatigue. "Alcohol intoxication seems
to produce dilation of the blood vessels that surround the brain, which may
contribute to the headache in some people. Alcohol also has an effect on some
neurotransmitters, increasing levels of serotonin or histamine that may trigger
headaches," says Bruce Hetzler, PhD, psychology professor at Lawrence
University. Who Is Susceptible to Hangovers? Most people who get
hangovers have no intention of drinking too much. In fact, light to moderate
drinkers are 70% more likely to get hangovers than heavy drinkers. Women bear
a disproportionate burden of hangovers. "Alcohol produces a higher blood
alcohol content in females than in males, due to several factors: weight,
distribution of body fat, and the way our bodies metabolize alcohol,"
Hetzler tells WebMD. Personality may also play a role in a hangover's severity.
Recent research indicates that increased hangover symptoms occur more often
in people who are neurotic, angry, and defensive. Before the hangover hits,
you can do some damage control. Here are some of the old-fashioned remedies
you may have heard of that really work. Choose your beverage of choice wisely.
"A couple of studies show that alcoholic beverages that are mainly just
alcohol and water, like vodka and gin, produce less severe hangovers, while
other compounds that contain congeners -- brandy, whisky, red wine, to name
a few -- tend to produce more severe hangovers," Hetzler tells WebMD.
What if you're a beer lover? "Beer has a relatively low congener level,
although the heavier the beer, the more congener it contains," Hetzler
says.
The New York Times, New York, New York
November 25, 2004
Headline: Dumpster, spare that tree
Byline: Bradford McKee
Excerpt: The first aluminum Christmas trees that John Shimon and Julie Lindemann
ran across nearly gave them hives. Having settled in Manitowoc, Wis.,15 years
ago after various postgraduate wanderings, the two set out to furnish their
house, an 1893 distillery building in the downtown of this faded Lake Michigan
port. At rummage sales around town, they kept finding old aluminum trees that
nobody wanted: silver trees, gold trees, trees the colors of candy canes.
The trees, now considered the ultimate in Christmas camp by collectors, were
made here in Manitowoc by the hundreds of thousands between 1959 and 1969.
"There was something off-putting about them," Ms. Lindemann, 47, recalled
in early November in the couple's third-floor loft. Grudging acceptance turned
to fascination. Mr. Shimon, 42, and Ms. Lindemann, both photographers, eventually
bought 37 trees. In 1993, just for fun, they set up an "aluminum forest" in
their drafty first-floor storefront gallery, reprising it over the next four
Christmases. They of course had no idea that what had started as a minor obsession
(and a way to use the unheated gallery in winter) would turn into a local
phenomenon. The storefront displays drew carloads of curious people and attracted
the news media. Now many in town have come to appreciate the aluminum tree's
place in Manitowoc's history, which previously had seemed too recent to consider,
Ms. Lindemann said. "It was just kind of taken for granted." Mr. Shimon and
Ms. Lindemann, while teaching photography together at Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wis., have assembled a short history of the aluminum Christmas
tree and its Manitowoc roots in a new book, "Season's Gleamings: The Art of
the Aluminum Christmas Tree" (Melcher Media), out this month. The book contains
their photos of their trees — twinkling limbs presented with deadpan cheer
against mostly brightly colored backgrounds.
[The story also ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 1 under the headline "That old aluminum tree in the attic is now a collector's item" and in the Chicago Tribune on December 5 under the heading "Interest is climbing in aluminum trees."]
London Free Press, London, Ontario
November 23, 2004
Headline: Pianist brings "razor-sharp" Rhapsody to London
Byline: Free Press staff
Excerpt: When Canadian pianist Michael Kim played George Gershwin's Rhapsody
in Blue with the Boston Pops, a critic raved about his "big technique" and
"razor-sharp attack." This week, Kim performs the 1924 Gershwin masterpiece
with Orchestra London. "It's such a quintessentially American work," Kim says.
"It's spontaneous. It's fresh. Gershwin had a real genius for writing melody
and accessible music." Kim has performed Gershwin's Rhapsody with orchestras
across North America. Born in Quebec City, Kim began piano studies at 11 and
by 15, had made his debut with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. A graduate
of Calgary's Academy of Music at Mount Royal College, he completed undergraduate
studies at the University of Calgary. Other studies have been at the University
of Victoria, the Music Academy of the West and the Banff School of Fine Arts.
Kim received his doctor of musical arts degree from the Juilliard School.
Since 1996, he has been a member of the faculty at Lawrence University
Conservatory at Appleton, Wis.
Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio
November 22, 2004
Headline: Perspective: Ambition, hope for power, drives party switching politicians
Byline: Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press
Excerpt: First his future father-in-law switched parties, becoming a Republican
before running again for county commissioner. Then state Rep. Derrick Seaver's
fiancee defected from the Democrats - to vote for her father in a 2003 primary.
Then it was Seaver's turn to leave the Democrats, the first Ohio lawmaker
in 22 years to make the switch but one in a long history of politicians around
the country parting ways with their party. Lawmakers who make the switch do
it for their conscience, their short-term gain or their long-term ambition,
say observers of the jump from one side of the aisle to the other. In Georgia,
three Democratic representatives switched parties after the GOP gained control
of the House Nov. 2 for the first time in 130 years. People who switch parties
are often successful when running for re-election, said Christian Grose, a
political science professor at Wisconsin's Lawrence University
who studies the phenomenon. Before Seaver, the only precedent in recent Ohio
history was the temporary defection to the GOP in 1982 by state Sen. Morris
Jackson, a Cleveland Democrat. Jackson agreed to become the 17th Senate Republican
- giving the GOP control of the chamber -- in exchange for becoming Senate
president. But the deal fell through after about two weeks and he returned
to the Democrats. Seaver, the youngest lawmaker in Ohio history when he was
elected at 18 in 2000, opposes abortion and the death penalty, favors gun
rights and voted against a penny sales tax increase last year supported by
many Republicans. "I plan on holding those same values and beliefs this term
and hopefully future terms that I've held in the past," Seaver said in making
his announcement last week. Time will tell, said Grose. "There's a lot of
evidence that party switchers become more conservative or more liberal depending
on which party they switch into," he said.
MSNBC News, New York, New York
November 21, 2004
Headline: Mooney Airplane's new CEO wants to give the company a lift
Byline: Tamarind Phinisee, San Antonio Business Journal
Excerpt: Kerrville-based Mooney Airplane Co. recently hired a new chief executive
officer, Gretchen Jahn, who is focused on piloting the company into a leadership
position in the industry. In her new post, Jahn will be working alongside
Tom Gray, the company's managing director, to help improve the operational
efficiency of the 237-employee company. Jahn comes to Mooney from Colorado-based
Knotridge Corp., where she served as president of the business planning and
consulting firm, which specializes in the evaluation and management of start-up
enterprises. Jahn's career began as a software specialist, upon graduation
from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. She later received
her master's degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. In 1979,
Jahn founded her own software consulting business, called Conformation Inc.,
after developing and managing IT departments at two different companies. In
the mid-1990s, Jahn joined MIS Inc. as vice president of engineering for one
year. She left MIS to launch Aegis Analytical Corp., a performance software
manufacturer for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets. She served
as the company's president and CEO until 2002. In her spare time, Jahn says
she likes to race airplanes cross-country.
Vail Daily, Vail, Colorado
November 15, 2004
Headline: A look at Eagle County's election
Byline: Tamara Miller
Excerpt: A lot has changed in Eagle County in the past four years. Four years
ago, Eagle County was considered one of the most conservative of Colorado's
ski communities. In the 2000 election, Republican candidates won the majority
of races in Eagle County and certainly the lion's share of state and national
races. But this trend likely has little to do with party affiliation: the
majority of Eagle Countians then were unaffiliated voters and that group has
grown over the last four years. Eagle County's unaffiliated voters are the
"sleeping giant" in local elections. And it appears that many of those voters
leaned left in 2004, allowing Democratic candidates to sweep every single
race except one. Some pundits speculate that Democratic candidate John Kerry's
efforts campaigning in Colorado helped boost local and state Democratic candidates,
even if it didn't help him (Colorado went for Bush). Democratic candidate
for Senate, Ken Salazar, also did a good job of addressing those issues that
tended to alienate voters from Democrats elsewhere: values, according to the
Associated Press. Salazar "talked about his faith, his background in a way
that connects with people," said Christian Grose, a political science professor
at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas, Nevada
November 13, 2004
Headline: Reid will need to balance his newfound power
Byline: Suzanne Struglinski and Benjamin Grove
Excerpt: Sen. Harry Reid's likely election next week as Senate Democratic
leader will give him even more power to deliver federal money and projects
to the Nevada, experts say. But the new high-profile job will also put him
at risk of losing touch with state voters, the fate of current Minority Leader
Tom Daschle, D-S.D., they said. "He has two constituencies now, Nevada and
Democrats in Washington," said Congress watcher Christian Grose, assistant
professor of government at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis. "Reid will have to do this really careful balancing act of being liberal
in a conservative state. Can he keep his party happy in Washington while keeping
his constituents happy in Nevada?" Reid has been the assistant minority leader,
known as the whip, since 1999, but his new role will give him much more power
and national attention. Nevadans should expect more media coverage and more
visits by other senators. Reid may spend even more time in the capital. The
constant interaction and owed favors may translate into even more grants,
projects and federal money funneled to the state, experts said. But at what
cost? Reid won't face re-election for six years. But eventually, voters will
be asked to decide if Reid's new job as a national Democratic spokesman and
high-profile Bush basher distracted him from his duties to the state.
Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah
November 13, 2004
Headline: Colorado's Salazar brothers give Demos hope for red-state inroads
Byline: Judith Kohler, The Associated Press
Excerpt: On the campaign trail, Democrat Ken Salazar criticized President Bush,
Iraq and the war on terrorism. But the soft-spoken candidate spent just as much
time talking about family, faith and the spirituality of his home in Colorado's
San Luis Valley. The cowboy hat-wearing Colorado attorney general went on to
beat GOP beer executive Pete Coors to win Colorado's open Senate seat last week.
And his older brother, John, picked up another open seat, this one in Congress.
Salazar's Senate campaign is credited with helping Democrats take control of
both houses in the Colorado Legislature for the first time since 1960, and with
helping shrink Bush's margin of victory here from 2000 while it grew in most
other states. Bush won Colorado by more than 8 points in 2000 but beat John
Kerry by less than 6 points on Nov. 2. "It probably explains why Colorado kept
hanging in there as one of the battleground states," said Christian Grose, a
political science professor at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis. Salazar "talked about his faith, his background in a way that connects
with people."
[The article also ran in the Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer, Boulder (CO) Daily Camera, Bucks County (PA) Courier Times, and Corvalis (OR) Gazette-Times.]
Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas
November 11, 2004
Headline: Stober fitting into roles as member of HGO Studio. Soprano won top
prize in company's 2004 competition
Byline: Valerie Sweeten, Houston Chronicle Correspondent
Excerpt: It is miles away from her home state of Wisconsin and her newlywed
husband, who's in Boston studying for his doctorate, but one of the newest
members of the Houston Grand Opera Studio is thrilled to be here. The grand
stage at the Wortham Center, vast choices of restaurants, and extensive voice
coaching are part of the appeal for soprano Heidi Stober, 26, who was chosen
to be part of the HGO Studio for the opera company's 2004-05 season. The HGO
Studio is a training and performance program dedicated to the advancement
of young artists with the potential for major careers in opera or music theater.
"These are young artists that are put on internship just like a doctor and
are all incredibly talented," Diane Zola, director of the HGO Studio, said.
"I travel around the country looking for new talent. When she made it past
the semi-finals and then the finals for our 15th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition
for Young Singers to take first place, she just gave a beautiful performance."
"She has an extremely beautiful voice with excellent communication skills.
I feel she has the potential. She's very committed and very bright." Not afraid
to take the stage, Stober began singing casually in high school and at church
in Wisconsin. Her plans to pursue a double undergraduate degree in environmental
science and music education took a quick turn when Stober discovered Lawrence
University offered a degree in vocal performance and vocal pedagogy.
Stober then continued her education at the New England Conservatory of Music,
preparing to become a vocal coach with the intent to perform professionally.
She graduated with a master's degree in May 2003. Stober has performed on
stages across the United States. She appeared with the Milwaukee Opera Theatre
as Lisa in "La Sonnambula" in 2001, the Boston Lyric Opera as Yvette in "La
Rondine" in 2003 and with Colorado's Central City Opera in the summers of
2002 and 2003.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
Novemer 10, 2004
Headline: Panthers overwhelm Division III foe
Byline: Dan Manoyan
Excerpt: UW-Milwaukee's first trip down the floor was a portent of what
lay ahead for undersized and outmanned Division III Lawrence University.
Fast forward 39 minutes 30 seconds of basketball and the Panthers were leaving
the floor with an 89-55 victory over the Vikings, the fifth-ranked team in the
D3Hoops.com pre-season poll. UWM was too quick, too big, too athletic ...
just too good for the Vikings, who return four starters from their team that
last year finished 24-5 and advanced to the Division III Elite Eight. But as
much of a mismatch as it was, both coaches agreed that it was a good thing.
"Occasionally, the NCAA gets it right and this is an excellent rule change,"
said Panthers coach Bruce Pearl, referring to new NCAA regulations that steer
Division I teams away from scheduling foreign and AAU teams and toward Division
II and Division III teams for exhibition games. "I think this is good
for basketball and especially good for basketball in Wisconsin." "We
have a lot of respect for Lawrence. We looked at a few of the things they did
last year, and I really enjoyed of couple of the looks they gave us. And they
way their kids play." Lawrence coach John Tharp was like a kid who had
been given free rein in a candy store. "We have a thought of the day and
today our thought was opportunity," Tharp said. "It was an opportunity
to play in a special arena and an opportunity to show Wisconsin what Lawrence
basketball is all about." "We came here to win this basketball game, but
their style of play was a little bit too much for us. There is no doubt in my
mind though that we would do it again, so if the Badgers and Marquette are listening.
..." Indeed, even the crowd, which included a large contingent of Lawrence
fans who made the drive downstate from Appleton, seemed to enjoy the matchup.
Lawrence acquitted itself well, contested every UWM shot and generally put on
a better show than the AAU and foreign teams, who seemed to be more interested
in meal money than competing. The Vikings made a game of it for a half, trailing
by 14 at the break, but a 16-3 run by the Panthers early in the second half
blew the game open at 64-35.
[The article also appeared on CBS Sportsline.com on November 11]
MLive.com, Ann Arbor, Michigan
November 7, 2004
Headline: Secretary of state hopes to expand early voting in Michigan
Byline: David Eggert, The Associated Press
Excerpt: Record-high turnout caused long lines and prolonged waits at some
polling places Election Day, one reason why Secretary of State Terri Lynn
Land supports two ideas that would let more people vote early. Land said Michigan
should change its laws so citizens can vote in person before Election Day,
as residents in Florida and some other states can. She also supports erasing
the restrictions on who can get an absentee ballot so they're available to
all voters. Democrats such as Gov. Jennifer Granholm generally support doing
away with absentee restrictions. But the no-reason absentee proposal has previously
stalled in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The key, backers say, is
making sure cities and townships have the money to make early voting worthwhile.
"We want to make sure we have a process in place that can accommodate
the demand," said Land spokeswoman Kelly Chesney. Otherwise, the incentive
to vote early in person would vanish. "If you don't have enough (poll
workers) or polling places, it doesn't really help anybody if they're waiting
in line for four hours," said Christian Grose, a Lawrence University
assistant professor of government who specializes in elections. Grose and
other experts stress that early voting, while convenient, doesn't attract
a large number of new voters to elections.
[MLive.com is the online portal for the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News, and the Michigan Talk Radio Network.]
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minnesota
November 5, 2004
Headline: Midwest likely to be in limelight once again
Byline: Chuck Haga,
Excerpt: Christian Grose had to laugh at a message recorded on his home answering
machine in Appleton, Wis., on Election Day. "It was someone who said
he was calling on behalf of the Democratic National Committee, and he said,
'If you're concerned about Minnesota losing jobs, please go vote for John
Kerry,' " Grose said. "Apparently they think it's all the same state."
At the outset of the presidential contest, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota were
declared vital to both Republican and Democratic strategies for building an
electoral college majority. The campaigns treated the three states as if they
were a borderless region -- a one-message-fits-all market. The three states
were kin already by geography, Big 10 sibling rivalries, weather and immigrant
demographics, and their names have been joined so often now by pundits that
half the country might think them one: Iowiscesota, with 27 electoral votes,
same as Florida. "If the growth of the suburbs and other demographics
continue, I think that regional battleground status will continue, too,"
said Grose, a professor of government at Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wis. In the end this year, Minnesota went for the Democrat again,
as did Wisconsin, though by the thinnest slice of low-fat mozzarella. Iowa
is still counting. So be prepared to do it again, to be an electoral ground
zero again.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, D.C.
November 5, 2004
Section: The Chronicle Review
Headline: My students love Derrida
Byline: Timothy A. Spurgin
[Timothy A. Spurgin is an associate professor of English at Lawrence
University.]
Excerpt: OK, maybe not all of them. But over the past 10 years more than a
few of the students in my literary-theory class have not only survived but
enjoyed their encounters with Jacques Derrida, the supposedly unfathomable
founder and father of deconstruction. At first glance, undergraduates at a
small college in Wisconsin may not seem like an ideal audience for a thinker
and writer like Derrida. Though our students come to us from many states and
countries, most of them are Midwesterners at heart, if not in fact. They tend
to be plain-spoken and straight-shooting, with an almost instinctive distrust
of the trendy and the faddish. What my students have seen in Derrida -- and
what so many of those obituaries appear to have missed -- is his deep
fascination with words and wordplay. "Derrida seems to want to describe
language as something slippery, intricate, iridescent, complex, and deceptive,"
one student wrote, "as if deciphering a text were like trying to catch
an eel, underwater, with just one finger." They sometimes go on like
that for pages, as if Derrida has unblocked or freed up something in them.
Suddenly they start paying very close attention to their own reading and writing,
playing with words and ideas in a way that obviously excites them. On occasion
they fall into bad habits, making weak puns and relying on poststructuralist
jargon. But quite often they write brilliantly, turning in some of the best
and most impassioned work of their undergraduate careers.
The Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
November 4, 2004
Headline: Young voters show up by the millions
Byline: Megan McSwain, Staff Writer
Excerpt: The presidential election Tuesday brought historic numbers of young
voters to cast their ballot, as 4.6 million more made it to the polls than in
previous years. "The turnout rate rose to over 50 percent," said Cate
Brandon, spokeswoman for Rock the Vote. "We are very happy with that."
But the high turnout by the under-30 bracket coincided with a high national
voter turnout, dulling the effect of this group's large participation.
The youth vote constituted 18.4 percent of the nation's popular vote -- not a
dramatic increase from 2000, when young voters made up 16.8 percent of those
who cast ballots. William Hixon, a professor of government at Lawrence
University, pointed out that new voters historically don't turn out
in the same numbers as older voters. Although the under-30 bracket is the only
one to have supported Sen. John Kerry over President Bush, the percentages were
54 and 44, respectively -- not a wide enough margin to tip the scales. Hixon
said this happened because many groups overlooked some of Bush's key strengths.
"(People) underestimated the religious and moral appeals of the Bush campaign
to young people."
Fresno Bee, Fresno, California
October 31, 2004
Headline: Pianist tries to personalize Beethoven
Byline: Marty Berry
Excerpt: Pianist Andreas Haefliger doesn't want to give you just another piano
recital when you come to hear him play Wednesday at California State University,
Fresno. The Swiss pianist, who is performing as part of the Philip Lorenz
Memorial Keyboard Concerts series, is embarking on performing all 32 of Beethoven's
piano sonatas and will present the first four in the series at the Fresno
concert. He will return in the spring to perform two more. Performing all
the Beethoven sonatas is somewhat of a Holy Grail for pianists, and the sonatas
as a group often are referred to as "The New Testament" of classical
piano music, with Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" as "The Old
Testament." Beethoven wrote the 32 sonatas throughout his lifetime, and
hearing them all shows both the composer's development and the evolution of
the sonata form through his lifetime. "With his 32 sonatas, Beethoven
brought the inherent possibilities of the sonata form to an unparalleled height,"
says Michael Kim, pianist and associate piano professor at Lawrence
University in Appleton, Wis., "so much so that the Romantic
generation of composers to follow focused much more on shorter-length works,
being intimidated by Beethoven's absolute mastery of the form. Performing
the entire cycle for any pianist is the pinnacle achievement of a lifetime."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
October 31, 2004
Headline: Red, blue and a bit bruised. A divided Wisconsin looks beyond the
vote
Byline: Alan J. Borsuk
Excerpt: At the end of a presidential campaign that has been like no other in
Wisconsin history, what does it say about our state that we have become such
a political battleground? To put it simply, we are so divided. If the question
is whether Wisconsin will be Republican red or Democratic blue on the television
screens when Tuesday's results come in, the answer is simply to wait and see.
The result almost certainly will be close and is beyond solid prediction now.
Consider this fact: In the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush
four years ago, no county in Wisconsin had as close a margin as did the state
as a whole. In other words, almost every county was clearly red or blue. It
was the state as a whole that was essentially tied. Christian Grose, a government
professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, considers himself
a newcomer to Wisconsin. "This state, I love it for its politics," he says.
"I hope it stays competitive. It's so interesting." Grose says if you visit
some parts of Wisconsin, you think you're in an entirely different state than
if you're visiting other parts. "The state itself doesn't fit into ... your
stereotypical view of either a red or blue state or a conservative or liberal
state," he says. "It's a really interesting mix of people in the state." But,
he says, the state has been affected by the same trends as elsewhere in the
country, in which people live increasingly in what some social scientists call
"neighborhood cities" -- places where other people are much like them, where
they are rather insulated from the realities others live with. And thus the
gaps among us grow, and with them the anger or suspicion or just plain lack
of understanding of those on the other side in an election such as Tuesday's.
Of course, you can overstate this. The bitterly divided election wasn't invented
in 2004; it goes way back. And we still have much in Wisconsin that binds us
together. The Packers. Coping with the weather. General pride in Wisconsin.
Lawrence University's Grose still sees the legacy of the progressive movement
of almost a century ago providing some sense of common politics in the state
-- a desire for clean government, a willingness to reform. He does not think
the social fabric of the state has been torn. And, even in our polarization,
Wisconsin, has no monopoly on the sense of divisiveness attached to this election.
We just happen to have a really good sampling of it.
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
October 31, 2004
Headline: Kitchen karma. Witches needn't toil over a caldron all day when
today's appliances get the job done ever so much faster
Byline: Sue Vering
Excerpt: Amy Myers works magic in her kitchen. And we're not talking about
a tasty batch of voodoo chicken. Myers is one of a new breed of witch, disenchanted
with the time-consuming demands of practicing traditional witchcraft. Even
witches can't stretch a day longer than 24 hours, so it's a feat to work,
run a household, raise a family and still prepare the necessary ritual tools
to celebrate a major Wiccan holiday like Samhain (Halloween). What's a busy
soccer mom-witch to do? Never fear. Today's witches are turning to kitchen
appliances as a way to magically save time and effort -- trading caldrons
for slow cookers and coffeemakers. That's bunk to some traditional witches
who dismiss such methods as "white light and fluffy bunnies." Raven
Grimassi, author of 10 Wiccan titles including the recently released "Witchcraft:
A Mystery Tradition," is a self-described "stodgy old-timer -- what
the eclectics would call a stick in the mud," who personally favors a
more traditional practice of magic. Although the southern California resident
doesn't dismiss the beliefs of others, kitchen magic just doesn't do it for
him. "When I stand before a caldron I have a deep spiritual connection
to the energy of magic as a living, centuries-old, ancestral current,"
Grimassi said. "When I stand before a Crockpot, I think about stews."
Hmm, this all the makings of a great (black) catfight. Edmund Kern is an associate
professor of history at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis., and an expert on religious culture, with a particular interest in witchcraft.
Most recently he authored "The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What Our Favorite
Hero Teaches Us About Moral Choices." Kern has seen this discord between
witches brewing for a while. "While there's an interest among some to
return to the old order," Kern said, "the trend is toward embracing
modernity and technology."
The Columbian, Vancouver, Washington
October 31, 2004
Headline: Health head builds community bonds
Byline: Tom Vogt
Excerpt: John Wiesman recently took over a public health system with a staff
of 160 and an annual budget of $14 million. He doesn't want to stop there.
One of his first steps as new director has been meeting other people who can
contribute to the mission of the Clark County Health Department. Wiesman came
to Clark County from a four-year stint as manager of the prevention division
for the Seattle-King County Public Health Department. In Seattle, Wiesman
oversaw a bigger staff (210) with a bigger budget ($40 million) than he has
here. But Wiesman says the size of the Clark County Health Department, as
well as the size of the community, appealed to him. Wiesman, 43, grew up in
a small town in Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Lawrence
University, in Appleton, Wisc., and then earned a master's in public
health at Yale University. He traces his interest in his field to a magazine
story he read while working as a residence hall director in college."I
was reading Time magazine about Legionnaire's disease," he said. "It
was about an epidemiologist solving a mystery, and that turned me on to public
health. It's the intersection between epidemiology and science; it affects
people's lives."
Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
October 31, 2004
Headline: Before the big day, very long nights
Byline: Ann Gerhart, Washington Post Staff Writer
Excerpt: It's nearing midnight, the wind gusting, the dark air unseasonably
warm -- spooky October surprise weather. About 30 John Kerry volunteers are
out on the airport tarmac, peering up at the candidate's plane, which has
just arrived from Miami, and before that West Palm Beach, and before that
Orlando. Told to unload baggage, they don't move. They need to see the man
with their own eyes first. Scores of media and Kerry staffers straggle down
the plane stairs, until the jet looks, through the cabin windows, completely
emptied out. Where is he???? "He's probably asleep," says Patrick
Davis, a student at Lawrence University here. "I hope
so," says Davis's friend Kim Manley. "He better be asleep."
They then discuss whether Kerry's appointed hotel is the best one for his
overnight rejuvenation, and decide that it is, because that is where the Packers
stay. They hope that the Radisson has a presidential suite, and their man
can be tucked into bed in it. "Now remember," says another volunteer,
because she sees the eagerness with which digital cameras are being hoisted
to the eye, "they told us not to yell at him and attract his attention
because he needs to get out of here and get his sleep." Obediently, they
all troop off to get the baggage and never see Kerry bound down the steps,
giving a jaunty wave and flashing those white teeth for the lone television
pool camera.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
October 30, 2004
Headline: Kerry pushes a fresh start for America. To crowd in Appleton, senator
touts his remedies for terrorism, economy
Byline: Nahal Toosi
Excerpt: Braving Wisconsin's chilly winds to pursue its prized votes, Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry campaigned Saturday to urge supporters to
vote for him Tuesday and to persuade others to do the same so that the country
can get "a fresh start." Kerry hit many familiar notes - lowering
health care costs, improving national security, and pursuing stem cell research
to name just a few. But for the Wisconsin crowd gathered next to Roosevelt
Middle School in Appleton, he emphasized the last few years of economic struggles.
Watching the event with a special sense of curiosity was Julian Pereira, 23,
a Lawrence University senior from Pakistan. Pereira (who
has some Portuguese ancestry) said he found the American democratic process
"different." "If I could vote, I'd vote for Kerry," the
philosophy major said. "I like his policies -- his international policies."
The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana
October 29, 2004
Headline: Churches offering own style of treats. Religious groups provide
alternatives to what some view as Halloween's dark side
Byline: Robert King
Sidebar: History of Halloween
Excerpt: Halloween may be a secular holiday today, but it has roots in both
pagan and Christian traditions, said Edmund Kern, a researcher who chairs
the history department at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis. Celtic pagans in the British Isles celebrated their new year on Oct.
31 with a festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The celebration's
significance is unclear, Kern said, but appears to have been related to agriculture
or fire. The boundaries between the living and the dead were believed to be
more permeable on that night. Eventually, that festival became Nov. 1 on the
calendar. The night before became known as All Hallows Eve. And the pagan
and Christian traditions did some blending, Kern said. Some Halloween icons
-- including sweet treats -- have religious origins. In England during the
Middle Ages, it was common for people to make "soul" cakes and give
them to people who would pray for the family's dead. Kern said the idea was
similar to the Catholic notion of praying for those in purgatory.
The New York Observer, New York, New York
October 25, 2004
Waiting for Kerry, Wisconsin man in cap recites Abe Lincoln
Byline: Philip Weiss
Excerpt: The next day, the swing state goes a little crazy. John Kerry is
holding a rally in Appleton and George W. Bush is speaking just 20 miles away
in Oshkosh. Rush Limbaugh is doing black voice to make fun of inner-city get-out-the-vote
efforts, and a pastor is telling local Christian radio that you shouldn't
vote for anyone who won't talk about his relationship with Jesus Christ. The
Kerry rally is at a field outside the Lawrence University gym.
I get there five hours ahead of time, and Chris, a scruffy, badgerish operative
from Maryland with a black stocking cap low on his eyebrows, opens an aluminum
barricade for me and puts me on the Jump Team. We're the guys that have to
jump in on stuff. "Jump" seems to have a wide meaning. Like if Bush
people sneak into the crowd with signs, "then we quell the problem,"
says Dan, a lean, ponytailed union guy with a Packers hat, giving me a wink.
Chris is the professional. "Listen, guys, we're all representing the
Senator tonight. Remember that. We're the nicest guys in the world."
He sends me to a remote parking area to load buses. At 7:30, I ride the last
bus to the rally. Chris is there with the rest of the Jump Team; he says we
did an awesome job, but John Kerry's running an hour late. We start speculating
about who's going to fill in for him when Chris whips off his stocking cap,
revealing an intelligent forehead, and begins declaiming the Gettysburg Address
straight through: "It is for us, the living, to be dedicated to the unfinished
work that those who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced .... "
In the cold air, it's stirring.
The New Jersey Herald, Newton, New Jersey
October 18, 2004
Headline: Opponents share passion for politics
Byline: Lynn Olanoff, Herald Staff Writer
Excerpt: Numerous connections from the Vietnam War era have been drawn to this
year's election. Democratic congressional candidate Anne Wolfe links the time
periods, too. She said she couldn't stay out of politics in either era. In the
early 1970s, then teenaged Wolfe participated in politics through campaign work
and protests. This time around, the Mahwah resident, 51, is the candidate herself.
She is challenging Republican Rep. Scott Garrett to represent the district which
contains most of Sussex County and all of Warren County. Wolfe said she is particularly
perturbed by the politics between Democrats and Republicans that get in the
way of governance. "We're spending more time yelling with each other than dealing
with policy issues," Wolfe said. "I feel very strongly that the other 99 percent
that aren't part of the tax cut group, the special interests, need to be represented
in America." Spending most of her childhood in Lexington, Mass., Wolfe worked
on the first congressional campaign of now-presidential nominee John Kerry.
Also that year -- 1972 -- Wolfe, then 19, ran the state's finance office for
Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern. "I don't think you could not
get interested in politics then," said Wolfe, who went on to get a bachelor's
degree in government from Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis. "As a responsible citizen of the United States, you wanted to speak out
on it." Wolfe said her life has been focused almost exclusively on politics
since she quit her position with the Bergen County Improvement Authority in
the spring to focus on her campaign.
Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, Florida
October 16, 2004
Headline: Brats and soccer moms for Kerry
Byline: John Kennedy
Excerpt: After motoring past the autumn-tinged farmland of Wisconsin, Democrat
John Kerry began another bus tour today in Ohio, one of his most sought-after
swing states. Kerry is pulling out all stops. In Wisconsin, with Halloween
nearing, he even conjured up the political ghost of President Clinton and
the economic good times of the 1990s. He contrasts that with stories of people
he's met along the trail who are struggling in today's tougher times. At a
late night rally on the floodlit campus of Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wis., Kerry traded his famously stiff demeanor for a saltier tone. "When
I am president of the United States, no one is going to have to kick me in
the rear end or twist my arm to convince me that I should be a champion for
the middle class," Kerry told thousands of cheering students. Earlier,
Kerry stopped at a bratwurst festival in Sheboygan, noting, "Some brats,
some cheese, a few beers and then I can go out and talk about health care."
Madison Capital Times, Madison
October 16, 2004
Headline: Bush, Kerry campaign 20 miles apart
Byline: Carrie Antlfinger and Todd Richmond, Associated Press
Excerpt: President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry dueled Friday
in the battleground state of Wisconsin, making stops 20 miles from each other
in their fight for the state's 10 electoral votes in the last weeks before
the election. Kerry visited a Milwaukee technical college and was to attend
an afternoon bratwurst fry in a Sheboygan park and an evening rally at Lawrence
University in Appleton. Bush held an evening rally at Wittman Regional Airport
in Oshkosh, about 20 miles from Appleton. Kerry focused on the economy as
he toured Wisconsin. He said in Milwaukee he wanted to focus on keeping and
creating good jobs and close tax loopholes that reward companies for moving
jobs overseas. Bush said to several thousand supporters who packed a hangar
at the Oshkosh airport that the national economy is rebounding. He touted
the nation's 5.4 percent unemployment rate and Wisconsin's 4.8 percent unemployment
rate. Kerry and Bush have bombarded Wisconsin with visits this year. Kerry
has visited 10 times and Bush nine. Four years ago, Bush lost the state to
Democrat Al Gore by just 5,708 votes.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
October 15, 2004
Headline: Ridicule, indignation at leader "out of touch." Economy,
health care take top billing in senator's stops in state
Byline: Craig Gilbert
Excerpt: Accusing President Bush of turning his back on middle-class families,
Democrat John Kerry campaigned by bus through eastern Wisconsin Friday, decrying
high gas prices, high health care costs and lagging wages, saying Bush "either
just doesn't understand what's happened to our economy . . . or he understands
but doesn't care." Mixing ridicule and indignation, Kerry painted a grim
portrait of average Americans riding an economic "treadmill" and
of a president who doesn't understand their problems. Kerry also ridiculed
Bush for being "proud" of his domestic record, which Kerry summed
up as "millions of American unemployed, tens of millions without health
insurance, millions of families facing rising costs and failing incomes."
Kerry's trip, featuring the slogan, "A Fresh Start for America,"
came on the same day that new September jobs numbers were announced for Wisconsin,
showing a loss of more than 5,000 manufacturing jobs. During his events at
Lawrence University in Appleton, Kerry slipped in this reference to a famous
local: "Even Harry Houdini couldn't hide Bush's mistakes."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
October 12, 2004
Headline: Federal role at issue in health care debate. Bush seeks private
solution; Kerry pushes government
Byline: Joe Manning
Excerpt: No issue separates the two presidential candidates more than their health
care proposals. It all comes down to philosophy. Kerry would have the federal
government and taxpayers pick up much of the costs of extending health care
to the uninsured. He would expand government health programs and subsidize
employers for providing insurance, with lesser subsidies to individuals. Bush
seeks marketplace solutions, with an expansion of private health insurance
plans in which people pick up more of their own health care costs, with the
idea that patients who pay more for care will seek less care at cheaper prices.
Merton Finkler, an economics professor at Lawrence University in Appleton,
said: "Neither of the proposals are viable in addressing the fundamental
questions we have to address. The plans are complex and, thus, unlikely to
be implemented." Finkler called the candidates' proposals "fuzzy
and lacking in detail" and said it was not clear how any of the programs
would be funded. "The Bush program depends on individual choice. And
that assumes we have wise and informed people making their own health care
decisions. Becoming informed is not trivial because disease is complicated,"
Finkler said, adding that he is not convinced that health care can completely
become a consumer-based item. "The Kerry program, though it has some
good aspects to it, is very expensive. If it were to go through the congressional
sausage mill, I would be surprised if it would be recognizable," Finkler
said.
Wisconsin State Journal, Madison
October 11, 2004
Headline: Students learn by serving community
Excerpt: Nine recipients, two organizations, five schools and three students
were honored during the second annual State Superintendent's PK-16 Institute
on Service-Learning and Citizenship. "Service-learning is the most effective
educational strategy for the application of knowledge learned in school to
the real world and for the civic engagement of students in their communities,"
said Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction. Recipients
of the 2004 service-learning awards included Richard Warch, retired president
of Lawrence University, for his advocacy for liberal education.
United Press International, Washington, D.C.
October 8, 2004
Headline: Analysis: Immigration is issue to avoid
Byline: Hil Anderson
Excerpt: That California's massive electoral vote total is a foregone conclusion
allows the candidates of the major U.S. political parties to sidestep the
most volatile issue in the state: immigration. California is worth 55 electoral
votes out of 540 nationwide. It's a huge prize, but it's also a very Democratic
state, which has a side benefit for both Sen. John Kerry and President Bush
in that it allows them to not only devote more time and resources to the swing
states, but they can also avoid immigration, which is a more polarizing issue
in California than it is in many other states with large Spanish-speaking
populations. Democrats have an advantage in the Latino community due in large
part to the unwavering support of liberal activist groups, labor unions and
local politicians who have the volunteers and campaign apparatus in place
to pitch Kerry to the voters. The Democrats have also had a long historical
affinity to building support in immigrant communities. "In California,
the Latino population includes Mexican-Americans, but also many, many other
Latino ethnic groups, and these sometimes conflicting interests need to be
melded together for ambitious Latino politicians in California to succeed,"
Christian Grose, a political science professor at Lawrence University in Wisconsin,
told UPI in e-mail correspondence. The Republicans likely inadvertently solidified
Latino support behind the Democrats some 10 years ago when the party backed
Proposition 187, a ballot that called for a ban on providing such basic services
to illegal immigrants, who happen to by and large be from Latin America. The
measure passed but was later ruled unconstitutional. The bitter campaign,
however, continues to provide ammunition for Democrats and Latino activists
who want to feed the notion that Republicans are hard-hearted opponents of
social services for the poor, who often happen to be immigrants. And because
emotional reactions can be unpredictable, both Bush and Kerry have brought
up the topic only on specific occasions, preferring to announce platform planks
that are largely generalities and then refocus on the major issues of the
economy and Iraq.
American Psychological Society's Observer, Washington, D.C.
October, 2004
Headline: Global impact. How international collaborations strengthen science
Byline: Siri Carpenter
Excerpt: Peter Glick didn't expect his unassuming Ambivalent Sexism Inventory
to become an international sensation. But soon after he published the questionnaire
in 1995 (with APS Past President Susan Fiske), researchers from Botswana to
Taiwan were knocking on his door with ideas for joint projects. Glick started
small, sketching out ideas on a napkin with some Chilean psychologists while
attending a conference in Puerto Rico. The group hit it off, and a collaboration
was born. Then things took off. Within a few years, Glick, an APS Fellow and
a social psychologist at Lawrence University in Appleton,
Wisconsin, had acquired a large coterie of international colleagues. In 2000,
he found himself the lead author of an article, published in the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, whose salient feature was its author list:
32 authors from 19 countries. It was a journal record. "I didn't start
out thinking I'd be collaborating with so many people across the world,"
Glick said, "but once such a project gets started, it can snowball."
Glick's continuing international collaborations have produced fresh theoretical
insights and generated piles of new data. The scale of Glick's collaborative
projects is unusual: Few psychologists maintain simultaneous collaborative
relationships on six continents. In this electronic age, it's possible for
two people to establish a productive collaboration without once seeing the
whites of each other's eyes. "You can do this from your desk," Glick said, noting that even among
collaborators whom he's never met in person, some relationships are strong
enough for baby pictures to fly through the ether. "But if you meet with
them, eat with them, talk with them face-to-face, it helps you form a closer
bond, come up with ideas, and get a better understanding of other cultures."
American Psychological Association's Monitor on Psychology, Washington,
D.C.
October, 2004
Headline: What's behind prejudice? People's emotions may better predict intolerant
behavior toward certain groups than can stereotypes, according to a social
psychologist's research
Byline: Jamie Chamberlin, Monitor Staff Writer
Excerpt: While most research on prejudice has focused on how people's negative
stereotypes contribute to intolerance, new research by Princeton University's
Susan Fiske, PhD, indicates that emotions such as pity, envy, disgust and
pride may play a bigger role. In fact, according to Fiske's research -- conducted
with Princeton doctoral student Amy Cuddy and Lawrence University
psychologist Peter Glick, PhD -- these emotions appear tied not only
to people's prejudicial ideas about social, cultural and religious "outgroups"
they don't belong to but also to discriminatory behavior -- an important, but
often overlooked aspect of prejudice, said Fiske during an APA Board of Scientific
Affairs Master Lecture at APA's Annual Convention in Honolulu. "It's
not illegal to have a bad thought or feeling in your head," said Fiske.
"What really matters is the behavior." And the types discriminatory behavior prejudice can spur include excluding
and harming others, Fiske said. She and her colleagues have also found evidence
that emotional prejudices of pity, envy, disgust and pride exist across cultures
and, through neuroimaging studies, that these four emotions may activate distinct
parts of the brain.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
September 16, 2004
Headline: Second-year programs aim to provide helping hand to college's wise
fools.
Sophomores are ignored at their most vulnerable time, many experts
Byline: Nahal Toosi
Excerpt: Sophomores (a.k.a. second-year students or, as the etymology goes,
"wise fools") are in many ways the most ignored of college undergraduates.
Not yet upperclassmen and no longer wide-eyed freshmen privy to a slew of
new-student programs, students in their second year find themselves unattended
to at a time some say they need attention most. Higher education leaders say
there is increasing discussion, at education conventions and elsewhere, about
how to help students survive their sophomore year. Freshman-year programs
have been around for years. College leaders have embraced the idea of helping
new students with the transition to campus life, and many pursue such programs
to improve student retention. According to one survey, more than 90% of colleges
appear to have some sort of program for freshmen, be it a required seminar
course or an orientation. Wisconsin colleges are no exception, and some, such
as those at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Lawrence University
in Appleton and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have achieved national
recognition. Compared with first-year efforts, "This discussion about
sophomores is embryonic - it's minuscule," said John N. Gardner, executive
director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College in Brevard, N.C.,
which did the survey.