A sampling of media clippings about Lawrence University, its faculty, students, and alumni from Fall 2008. For more clippings, see the Lawrence in the News index page.
Icelandic Review (Reykjavik, Iceland)
November 25, 2008
Headline: Icelandic Student Awarded for Anthropology Research
Link: http://icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?ew_0_a_id=315935
Excerpt: An Icelandic student at the Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Sveinn Sigurdsson, and his research partner Ashlan Falletta-Cowden, received on Friday an award for their project on Icelandic food habits from the world’s largest anthropology association, the American Anthropological Association.
“Most people we talked with agreed that the young generation [in Iceland] is not quite sure what the traditional [Icelandic] diet is and what is not,” Sigurdsson told Morgunbladid.
Door County Advocate (Wis.)
November 22, 2008
Headline: Center named for Warches: Building to open next fall at Lawrence University
Byline: Kara Beeck
Link: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811220481
Excerpt: It seems that no matter where Ellison Bay resident Richard "Rik" Warch goes, he leaves impressive footprints. The $35 million Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center — opening in fall 2009 — on the Lawrence University campus in Appleton is a good example.
"We are thrilled about it," Warch said. "I was responsible for a lot of building projects and now the Campus Center. It is being done, and it's going to be a spectacular building overlooking the Fox River. We are very excited to be associated with it."
WLUK-TV FOX 11 (Green Bay, Wis.)
November 18, 2008
Headline: College grads face
uncertain job market
Link: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/news_wluk_green_bay_college_grad_job_outlook_200811190202_rev1
Excerpt: Zoua Vue is a few weeks away from completing the dental assistant program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay. "Right now I work very part time because of school affairs, but then they're looking to put me full time," Vue said. Though Vue's employment at a dentist's office seems secure, many of her classmates are working on resumes and looking for jobs.
Kathy Heinzen, director of the career center at Lawrence University in Appleton, says the economic downturn is so recent, it's hard to know exactly how it will affect students finishing school next month.
"I think that we seem to be in a wait-and-see mode," Heinzen said. "Not all industries are experiencing the same effects, so there's a good bit of variety in terms of how people are experiencing the downturn in the economy."
The Lawrence University career center says it is noticing a slow and steady increase in the number of graduates who are enrolling in a service program such as the Peace Corps, after graduation.
WLUK-TV FOX 11 (Green Bay, Wis.)
November 13, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University
receives custom
instruments
Link: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local_wluk_appleton_gifts_that_will_keep_on_giving_200811131640_rev1Excerpt:
Centuries old songs, a bit of Haydn and Beethoven, performed for the first time on brand new instruments, and the quartet's father, intently listening to every note.
"It's absolutely great," said violin maker Douglas Cox. "I spent so many hours at the bench hearing crunch crunch, snip snip. That's the voice of the instrument while I'm working on it. But the whole idea is to make this kind of sound."
A sound Douglas Cox is still trying to tweak and mold the day before the instruments make their debut at their permanent home of Lawrence University.
"To have four paired instruments that were made all at the same time and meant to play together is something incredibly special," said Brian Pertl, the dean of Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
November 9, 2008
Headline: Gift to LU Conservatory has a sweet sound
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081109/APC04/811090543
Excerpt: This week the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music is receiving a donation that's expected to last 400 years, and itself function as a giver of unlimited gifts. A quartet of instruments — two violins, a viola and a cello that Vermont-based master luthier Doug Cox handcrafted for the conservatory, valued at more than $60,000 — will rest at its new collegiate home when not in use by Lawrence students and faculty members at competitions, concerts and other music events.
Donor Allen Greenberg of Maryland commissioned the quartet for the conservatory after he visited the downtown Appleton campus in 2006 with his son, a string musician on a college search. His son chose another school, but Greenberg wanted to make a lasting connection with Lawrence.
"It's an extraordinary gift," said Cal Husmann, vice president of development and alumni relations at Lawrence. "The conservatory is such a shining light for the college, and these instruments are absolutely exquisite and individualized and almost pieces of art in themselves. This is a treasure for the college to have these come to us."
Women Magazine
November 4, 2008
Headline: Good vibrations: Violinist Wen-Lei Gu connects with students, audience
Byline: Terri Dougherty
Link: http://www.mywomenmagazine.com/content/348_1.php
Excerpt: She had a Lawrence [University] symphony concert and a Midwest tour to prepare for, but violinist Wen-Lei Gu couldn’t turn down the Appleton North High School orchestra. So in addition to preparing concertos for the concert and tour, the internationally acclaimed musician worked on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto to play with the teenage musicians.
“The students were in awe,” says North orchestra director Gary Wolfman. “Professionals sometimes do a movement (with a high school orchestra), but she did the whole concerto.”
Music is the essence of Wen-Lei Gu’s life, and the Lawrence music professor is not one to keep things to herself. The superb violinist is a passionate performer who plays to enrich her audience and teaches to give others the techniques and musical knowledge that have meant so much in her own life.
WBAY-TV 2 (Green Bay, Wis.)
November 3, 2008
Headline: Getting Out the Youth Vote
Byline: Matt Smith
Link: http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=9286701
Excerpt: A lot of attention of this campaign focused on the youth vote. It's a part of the electorate that, historically speaking, doesn't fare well with turnout.
In a effort to make voting as easy as possible, especially for college students, UW-Oshkosh and Lawrence University are offering shuttles to the polls. Lawrence has gone so far to say it expects 100 percent of its students to vote.
"Our president, she wants students to take part in the democratic process and by any means necessary. We will provide those tools to make that happen," Mohammed Bey, the head of Lawrence's Civic Engagement Committee, said.
WFRV-TV 5 (Green Bay, Wis.)
October 29, 2008
Headline: Feingold Gets Out The Vote For Obama
Link: http://www.wfrv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?articleID=43967
Excerpt: If this room packed full of Lawrence University students who are supporting Barack Obama doesn't prove that young people are excited about this election, nothing will.
"I'm really excited because, I mean, it is one of the most important elections that we've had in our country's history, and because of the caliber of candidate," says Lawrence sophomore Caitlin Fish.
It should be no surprise that Russ Feingold and congressman Kagen could come to a college campus just a week before the election, especially here at Lawrence where they've been making a push all year long to get students involved in politics.
WOSH Radio (Oshkosh, Wis.)
October, 28, 2008
Headline: MyElectionDecision provides answers for undecided voters
Link: http://www.lawrence.edu/news/featured_content/med-wosh/kate-election-decision.mp3
Excerpt: For voters who still can't decide on which candidate they want in the Oval Office, it's technology to the rescue. MyElectionDecision.org is the answer if you're still questioning your election decision. Dr. Robert Beck, visiting professor of education at Lawrence University, tells us all about it.
"Over 16-thousand people have matched their values with Obama and McCain, over four thousand last week visited MyElectionDecision.org," says Beck. "The site has had thousands of hits daily, and allows users to rank without knowing who they agree with."
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 28, 2008
Headline: LU professor examines evangelical Christians in book
Byline: Cheryl Anderson
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081028/APC04/810280498/1029/APC04
Excerpt: David McGlynn's most primal answer when asked why he wrote his first book, "The End of the Straight and Narrow," is that he wanted to be a writer. The better answer, says the Lawrence University English professor, has more to do with what the book is about: religion and evangelical Christians.
"The End of the Straight and Narrow" is a collection of nine fictional short stories that examine inner lives and passions of the zealous and the ways religious faith is not only the compass for navigating life but also the force that makes it possible.
WBAY-TV 2 (Green Bay, Wis.)
October 27, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University Web Site Helps Pick Your Candidate
Link: http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=9248863
Excerpt: A locally-created web site gains popularity each day the election draws closer. Experts at Lawrence University in Appleton created MyElectionDecision.org last year. It helps user find the candidate who best aligns with their beliefs by having them rank issues then picking which candidate's position they agree with more.
"We've never had an election like this, so we thought this is a good year to try and use technology and help educate citizens, educate our students and perhaps voters around the country," visiting professor of education Robert Beck said.
Door County Advocate (Wis.)
October 25, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University center to be named for Warches
Link: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20081025/ADV01/810250589/0/ADV&theme=ADVNEWS Excerpt: The most ambitious building project in Lawrence University history will bear the name of an Ellison Bay couple. Lawrence's $35 million, 107,000-square-foot campus center in Appleton will be named the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center in honor of the college's second-longest-serving president and his wife.
The name recognizes Lawrence's 14th president, who led the college from 1979 until his retirement in 2004. The naming of the campus center was announced Oct. 17 as part of the public launch of a $150 million capital campaign Lawrence is undertaking.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 23, 23008
Headline: Lawrence University's new Conservatory dean follows a different beat
Byline: Kara Patterson
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081023/APC04/810230516
Excerpt: In one corner of the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music dean's office, where musician, ethnomusicologist and new dean Brian Pertl has been arranging his world music instruments, leans a didjeridoo. The long, wooden tube with a flared end — it resonates when Pertl buzzes it like a horn, adding vocalizations and trills to further complicate the sound — displays traditional designs that seem abstract to Western eyes. However, the swirls and squiggles illustrate significant events in life for the aboriginal Australians who invented the instrument.
Pertl, who has been playing the didjeridoo for 22 of his 46 years and is eager to educate the community about it both on and off Lawrence's downtown Appleton campus, pointed out a snake-like marking that runs a little less than halfway down one side of the instrument. It signifies not native wildlife, but a journey from one place to another.
Ceramics Monthly
(November 2008)
Headline: Valerie Zimany: Recasting the Japanese Tradition
Byline: Elizabeth Carlson, Assistant Professor of Art History at Lawrence University
Link: http://www.ceramicartsdaily.org/magazines/Ceramics%20Monthly/2008novvaleriezimanyfeature.aspxExcerpt: Valerie Zimany, a studio ceramist and Fellow at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, first traveled to Japan in 1996 on a Fulbright Fellowship after graduating with a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was nearly ten years before she decided it was time to leave. Zimany was undoubtedly influenced by the rich traditions of Japanese culture...Zimany has developed her own vocabulary, fusing tradition and experimentation to develop biomorphic shapes that resist the classifications...The ambiguity of her forms strengthens their impact.
Now back in the United States, no longer an outsider and exhibiting for a different audience, Zimany’s work carries new meaning. The bamboo, for example, may not be as easily recognized within her works, nor are we familiar with Japanese dining traditions. Many of her Japanese titles, humorous and creative in their double meaning and onomatopoeia, are lost on the American viewer.
Health Magazine
October 23, 2008
Headline: Want to Ace the Interview? Offer a Warm Handshake
Byline: Theresa Tamkins
Link: http://news.health.com/2008/10/23/want-ace-interview-offer-warm-hand/
Excerpt: It’s an old saying that cold hands equal a warm heart. But a new study suggests you’re better off giving a warm handshake to someone you’re trying to impress. People who have their hands warmed—for example, by holding a cup of hot coffee—are kinder and more generous toward others and view other people in a more flattering light than they do after holding an icy-cold beverage, according to a study in Science.
he researchers were studying a “priming effect,” which is exposure to an object that then influences behavior. Priming people to something—such as an American flag—can change the way they vote, as can voting in a school versus voting in a church. However, that’s not to say we are prisoners to these subtle cues—or that a cup of joe from Starbucks will catapult you to instant popularity.
“This doesn’t mean that we are totally driven by these; it’s an influence, but it’s not like you’re being driven around willy-nilly,” says Peter Glick, PhD, a professor of psychology at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. “If someone likes you a little bit better, that could translate into something good, but it’s not like this is the only thing that’s going on.”
WFRV-TV 5 (Green Bay, Wis.)
October 20, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University Names New $35M Center
Link: http://www.wfrv.com/content/business/wiworks/story.aspx?content_id=1607795E-00B1-485E-904F-F8496A3965E1&gsa=true
Excerpt: Lawrence University in Appleton has looked to its past for a name for its new $35 million campus center. The building will be called the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center. The university announced it as part of the launch of a $150 million fundraising campaign.
It honors Rik Warch, who was president from 1979 to 2004. Rik Warch calls it a great honor and a thrill to be associated with project.
The Chicago Tribune
October 19, 2008
Headline: Lawrence U. names new $35M campus center
Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-lawrence-campusce,0,5045358.story
Excerpt: Lawrence University in Appleton has looked to its past for a name for its new $35 million campus center. The building will be called the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center. The university announced it as part of the launch of a $150 million fundraising campaign.
It honors Rik Warch, who was president from 1979 to 2004. Rik Warch calls it a great honor and a thrill to be associated with project. Margot Warch taught at Fox Valley Technical College for 27 years. She retired in 2004 as the chairwoman of its Goal Oriented Adult Learning reading lab.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 19, 2008
Headline: Laughter can be the best medicine for stress
Byline: Cheryl Anderson
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081019/APC04/810190498
Excerpt: Although Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is not from Wisconsin, professional stand-up comedian Rob Brackenridge says she very well could be.
"Her slogan's going to be 'Are you gonna vote for me or no?'" said Brackenridge, a standup comic who lives in Los Angeles but is a native of Appleton. Though Brackenridge doesn't do political humor, he says it's kind of hard not to these days.
While it might be hard to find things to laugh about in difficult times, finding humor precisely at those times can be beneficial to your mental health.
But what kind of humor best alleviates stress? It depends on the stress, said Matthew Ansfield, associate professor of psychology at Lawrence University in Appleton. "Humor helps people take their distress less seriously, but only when the humor focuses directly on the source of an individual's distress."
In one of two studies Ansfield conducted, "Is All Humor Created Equal? Effects of Distress-Focused Versus Distracting Humor," participants about to endure a painful dental procedure or a difficult exam were randomly assigned to two groups that were either topically related to their situation or unrelated.
Wisconsin State Journal
October 18, 2008
Headline: ON CAMPUS
Byline: Deborah Ziff
Link: http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/310207
Excerpt: Lawrence University announced a $150 million fundraising effort on Friday, the most ambitious in the Appleton college's 161-year history. The campaign, which began a "quiet phase" in 2005, has already raised $104 million toward its goal.
Half of the campaign's goal will be directed to Lawrence's endowment. The campaign also aims to raise $50 million for capital projects, some of which have already been started or completed. The rest will go toward operating expenses and new initiatives, including a final project for graduating students called the Senior Experience.
WLUK-TV 11 (Green Bay, Wis.)
October 18, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University Fundraises For Millions
Excerpt: In the middle of a tough economic time, one area university is in the middle of its largest fundraising effort ever. Needs remain, but is the timing right?
While student gifted in sound, and blessed with movement share their talents, they look for others to share their funds. Lawrence University began a $150 capital campaign Friday, drawfing its last major fundraiser effort in the 90s, which raised about $66 million.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
October 18, 2008
Headline: Drinking deeply ingrained in Wisconsin's culture
Byline: Rick Romell
Link: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=807584
Excerpt: Beer for beer and shot for shot, when all 50 states belly up to the bar, few can hold their own with Wisconsin. Binge drinking — we’re No. 1. Percentage of drinkers in the population — No. 1. Driving under the influence — No. 1.
We lag a few states in beer consumption, but we’re near the top. With brandy, it’s no contest. We put away more brandy per person than any other state. We have a strong claim on the vodka title, too.
Outsiders, with their potentially different attitudes and habits, don’t exactly flock to Wisconsin. Nearly three in four state residents were born here — the ninth-highest percentage in the U.S. Nationwide, 60% of Americans live in their native state. When it comes to drinking, the habits of friends and neighbors are critical. Drinking, for the most part, is social behavior. We do it with other people. And if our friends drink, we’re more likely to drink.
“People are strongly influenced by local norms, that is, by what they see others doing — especially their peers, members of the groups they belong to and identify with,” said Lawrence University psychology professor Peter S. Glick.
We’re hard-wired for this. Deep in our evolutionary history, humans learned to depend on each other to survive. Exile from the group, Glick said, was a death sentence.
“Consequently,” he said, “we evolved to be exquisitely attuned to getting along with the group, giving us the tendency to conform — whether for good or for ill. So when there is an established heavy-drinking norm, it will tend to perpetuate because there is lots of social tolerance and reward for drinking.”
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 18, 2008
Headline: Appleton's Lawrence University honors past president with name of new center
Byline: Kate McGinty
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081018/APC0101/810180493/-1/archive
Excerpt: Lawrence University has unveiled the name of its $35 million campus center, paying tribute to one of the longest serving presidents in the school's history. The building will be called the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center, the university announced Friday as part of the launch of a $150 million fundraising campaign.
"Rik" Richard Warch served as Lawrence's president from 1979 to 2004, when he retired. He and his wife now live in Door County.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
October 17, 2008
Headline: Lawrence U names campus center for former college president
Byline: Erica Perez
Link: http://blogs.jsonline.com/education/archive/2008/10/17/lawrence-u-names-campus-center-for-former-college-president.aspx
Excerpt: Lawrence University's $35 million, 107,000 square-foot campus center currently under construction will be named the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center, after the university's 14th president and his wife. Warch came to Lawrence in 1977 as the college's vice president for academic affairs. He was named president in 1979. In retirement, the Warches have made their home in Ellison Bay, Wis.
The Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center, slated for completion next summer, is a key part of Lawrence's current capital campaign and was made possible by a $16 million gift from an anonymous donor in August, 2006.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis)
October 17, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University launches $150 million capital campaign
Byline: Kate McGinty
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081017/APC0101/810170570/-1/archive
Excerpt: Lawrence University is kicking off the public phase of a $150 million capital campaign, the largest fundraising effort in the school's history. The university quietly began the "More Light!" campaign three years ago and already has raised $104 million toward its goal.
Today, the university announces the final phase of the campaign, which will support the school's endowment, capital projects and new initiatives.
"The excitement is palpable here, because we're more than two-thirds of the way to our goal," Lawrence President Jill Beck said. "It's very inspiring, and I must say that I am personally very touched by the generosity of so many of our alumni and also some of the foundations that have chosen to support Lawrence. People remember their years here as having enabled their success in life."
WBAY-TV 2 (Green Bay, Wis.)
October 17, 23008
Headline: Lawrence Campus Center to be Named for Former President
Link: http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=9198611&nav=menu24_2
Excerpt: A construction project at Lawrence University will honor the university's second-longest serving president. The $35 million building will be named the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center.
Warch served as president for 25 years before retiring in 2004.
The Business Journal of Milwaukee
October 17, 2008
Headline: Lawrence U. launches $150M capital campaign
Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/10/13/daily43.html
Excerpt: Lawrence University in Appleton is launching a $150 million capital campaign, the largest in its history, to raise funds for endowment, programming and recent, current and future construction projects. The campaign, slated to be announced by Lawrence University president Jill Beck late Friday afternoon, has already raised $105 million in its so-called "quiet phase," a private fundraising effort that has been in place since 2005.
"This historic campaign is a commitment to building on our successes and to firmly establishing Lawrence as a national liberal arts education leader -- the very best at providing the individualized learning experiences that our students and alumni know are powerfully transformative," Beck said in a press release. "It's critical that we invest aggressively to keep the defining characteristics of the university strong, ensure its vitality and pave the way for continued innovation that expands our students' opportunities."
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 17, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University launches $150 million capital campaign
Byline: Kate McGinty
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20081017/APC0101/810170570/1003/APC01
Excerpt: Lawrence University is kicking off the public phase of a $150 million capital campaign, the largest fundraising effort in the school's history. The university quietly began the "More Light!" campaign three years ago and already has raised $104 million toward its goal.
Today, the university announces the final phase of the campaign, which will support the school's endowment, capital projects and new initiatives.
"The excitement is palpable here, because we're more than two-thirds of the way to our goal," Lawrence President Jill Beck said. "It's very inspiring, and I must say that I am personally very touched by the generosity of so many of our alumni and also some of the foundations that have chosen to support Lawrence. People remember their years here as having enabled their success in life."
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
October 17, 2008
Headline: Lawrence fund raising off to strong start
Excerpt: Lawrence University in Appleton has raised more than two-thirds of the goal in its $150 million capital campaign, its most ambitious fund-raising effort ever, university President Jill Beck will announce today as part of the fall board of trustees meeting.
The campaign was launched quietly in 2005, raising money from key donors and foundations to reach $104 million. The goal for today was $105 million, said Cal Husmann, vice president of development and alumni relations.
Now the campaign goes public, seeking to raise an additional $46 million by October 2011 from alumni, parents and others, Husmann said. The effort is focused on funding the school's endowment, capital projects, new initiatives and the Lawrence Fund, which covers the college's operating expenses.
Marketplace Magazine
October 17, 2008
Headline:
Lawrence University to announce $150 million capital campaign today
Link: http://www.marketplacemagazine.com/blogs/blog1.php/2008/10/17/lawrence-university-to-announce-150-mill
Excerpt: Lawrence University President Jill Beck will announce a $150 million capital campaign, the most ambitious fundraising effort in the college’s history, this afternoon.
The campaign, which began with a “quiet phase” in 2005, already has raised $104 million toward its goal, according to Beck. Campaign co-chairs William Hochkammer and Harry Jansen Kraemer led the fundraising efforts during the quiet phase.
“This historic campaign is a commitment to building on our successes and to firmly establishing Lawrence as a national liberal arts education leader — the very best at providing the individualized learning experiences that our students and alumni know are powerfully transformative,” said Beck. “It’s critical that we invest aggressively to keep the defining characteristics of the university strong, ensure its vitality, and pave the way for continued innovation that expands our students’ opportunities.”
The New Jersey Star-Ledger
October 15, 2008
Headline: How much is too much exposure at work?
Byline: Joseph R. Perone
Link: http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-10/122404421159540.xml&coll=1
Excerpt: There is a popular notion that professional women aren't taken seriously in the office if their necklines plummet like the Dow Jones industrial average. However, does a plunging neckline give women a competitive advantage when selling products?
Peter Glick, a Lawrence University psychology professor, and four of his students studied whether a low-cut blouse had any effect on a professional woman's persuasiveness.
They concluded it could positively affect the sale of a weak product. Dressing provocatively also could affect her employment prospects, according to the study by the Appleton, Wis., school.
The New York Post
October 13, 2008
Headline: Palin Falls Prey to Fey
Byline: Jeremy Olshan
Link: http://www.nypost.com/seven/10132008/news/politics/palin_falls_prey_to_fey_133371.htm
Excerpt: Thanks to Tina Fey, Sarah Palin isn't just a target of jokes - she's been swift-butted.
Some political scientists contend that Fey's "Saturday Night Live" skewering of the Alaska governor is playing a large role in spoiling the McCain/Palin ticket.
"Presidential impersonators do influence elections, and in this one, Tina Fey is well on her way to ruining Sarah Palin's political career," said Jerald Podair, a professor of American Studies at Lawrence University.
"In a political culture that takes its cues from popular culture, a good impersonator may be worth a million votes," Podair said.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 13, 2008
Headline: Videos explore voters' thoughts
LU professors probe concerns of freshmen
Byline: Kate McGinty
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081013/APC0101/810130458/1979/APC05
Excerpt: Two Lawrence University professors have captured a glimpse into the minds of some young voters. Rob Beck, a visiting professor of education, and Jerry Podair, an associate professor of history, teamed up on a video project that will be launched today. They interviewed six first-time voters about their feelings toward each presidential candidate.
The voters wrestle with questions like what they would ask candidates if they were alone in a room or how they thought the candidates would respond to a terrorist attack.
"You're hearing the voices of young voters, and it's in their own words. I haven't seen that. When you go on television, you see these little sound bites. I never know how these people are chosen," Beck said.
The video project is an extension of MyElection Decision.org, an online survey designed to blindly match voters to the positions of presidential candidates.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 10, 2008
Headline: Lawrence sets sights on perfect voting turnout
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081010/APC0101/810100497/1979
Excerpt: When Nov. 4 rolls around, Lawrence University leaders are hoping to have 100 percent voter turnout at the polls.
Election season swept in mightily this week with volunteers carving out hours each day to register students and faculty at the campus of about 1,400. As of Thursday, volunteers had processed some 345 forms.
"This generation is so much about helping each other," said Julie Fricke, a librarian who volunteered Thursday at the registration table in Downer Commons.
The Catholic Herald (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Date: October 2, 2008
Headline: Summer in Uganda is life-changing experience for teen
Byline: Amy Guckeen
Link: http://www.chnonline.org/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=1101&SectionID=14&SubSectionID=13&S=1
Excerpt: Mariah Mateo heard all the stories about Africa, stories that left her in a state of disbelief. After a summer in Uganda, she is telling the tales she once found hard to comprehend.
"You hear things about Africa and how people live, and think it can't be possible," Mateo, 18, said. "When we got there it was, 'Wow. This is real.'"
Always wanting to go to Africa, the Lawrence University freshman got her opportunity June 14 - July 28, after becoming involved through a school project with CARITAS for Children, Inc., which provides assistance to children in underdeveloped countries through a partnership with religious communities around the world.
The Chicago Tribune
October 2, 2008
Headline: Wisconsin high school honored for best musical
Excerpt: A Wisconsin high school will receive an award Thursday for producing the best high school musical in the nation. Arrowhead High School about 30 miles west of Milwaukee is being honored for last year's production of "Cats."
The school has spent the past decade developing a musical theater program so strong students joke the Broadway Company is a varsity sport. Its graduates have gone on to major in music at Harvard University, Lawrence University and the Chicago College of the Performing Arts.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
October 1, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University has best year on record for gifts
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081001/APC0101/810010557/1979/APC040
Excerpt: Lawrence University shattered its all-time fundraising record this year, school officials announced this week. The school accepted $31.4 million in gifts and donations last fiscal year, which ended June 30. That is a 47 percent increase over the previous year.
"We are extremely pleased with and grateful for the level of support we receive from the thousands of people who believe in the mission of the college. … It's clear that the upward trend in giving is linked to the quality and unique aspects of the institution," said Cal Husmann, vice president of development and alumni relations.
WBAY-TV 2 (Green Bay, Wis.)
September 30, 2008
Headline: Lawrence University Buys Milk Locally
Byline: Matt Smith
Link: http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=9101496
Excerpt: In an effort to boost the local economy, Lawrence University in Appleton is changing where it buys milk. The change comes at a pivotal time for local farmers.
Don Zuleger's been running his family farm since 1984. He has "about 75, 80 head total," he says. He knows the ups and downs of dairy farming. "Prices have to maintain. It can't keep bottoming out, otherwise it will be hard for us. Prices of fuel, fertilizer, seed, that all keeps going up no matter what."
Zuleger was excited, to say the least, when he met Terry Homan. Homan, a veterinarian by day, started a new business which sells local milk to local businesses.
"I think maybe this brand is a way to use the economy system to accomplish my veterinarian oath," said Homan, founder of Red Barn Family Farms. Now Homan lands his biggest client, supplying to more than a thousand thirsty students.
"Once we learned what his program was about, we decided it was a win-win situation," Lawrence University director of dining Patrick Niles said.
Lawrence University receives its first shipment of Red Barn Family Farms milk on Tuesday. And from this point on, all the milk at Lawrence comes from local farms. How much milk are we talking? Each week Lawrence plans to buy about 255 gallons of skim, 190 gallons of two-percent, and 85 gallons of chocolate milk.
WLUK-TV 11 (Green Bay, Wis.)
September 30, 2008
Headline: Lawrence U. Sets New Fundraising Record
Link: http://www.myfoxnewisconsin.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7546832&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.8.1
Excerpt: Lawrence University reported its most successful fundraising year ever for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.
The university says it raised $31.4 million in gifts this past year, up from $21.3 million in 2007. In the process, Lawrence earned a Circle of Excellence Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
St. Petersburg Times (Fla.)
September 28, 2008
Headline: Stressful tests don't tell whole story
Link: http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article828918.ece
Excerpt: Each year, thousands of high school students stress out as they prepare to take the SAT or ACT tests to get into college. Many researchers suggest that the singular importance placed on these tests has produced a culture of questionable meritocracy and unfairly blocked thousands of otherwise deserving students from entering the schools of their choice.
Primarily for these reasons, the National Association for College Admission Counseling formed a 21-member blue ribbon panel last year to examine issues surrounding standardized testing and evaluate how schools can make the best use of entrance exams.
Even before NACAC launched its study last year, however, many schools, including Smith College, Lawrence University, Wake Forest and Mount Holyoke, had stopped requiring the SAT and ACT, making the tests optional. NACAC has recommended that more schools consider making the tests optional.
The observations of Steve Syverson, vice president for enrollment at Lawrence University, reflect the hard reality of the iconic reach of the SAT and ACT in higher education.
"We're all just making assumptions about these tests," Syverson said. "We've all grown up with it. It's embedded in the culture. If you really ask around the country, how many admissions officers can tell you at their institution what the predictive validity of the test is? What does it add to our understanding? What do tests help you predict? You'd find a lot of them equate these tests with intelligence. It's not an intelligence test."
The New York Times
September 28, 2008
Headline: Study of Standardized Admissions Tests Is Big Draw at College Conference
Byline: Sara Rimer
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/education/29admissions.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=education
Excerpt: For the 5,500 college admissions officials and high school guidance counselors who gathered here over the weekend, there were discussions, debates and analyses of things like the ethics of tracking student applicants on Facebook and “Why Good Students Write Bad College Essays — and How to Stop It.”
But for this crowd, at the Seattle convention center for the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the main event was William R. Fitzsimmons’s first public presentation of the findings of the Study of the Use of Standardized Tests in Undergraduate Admission.
An audience member asked Mr. Fitzsimmons and the other college admissions officials on stage if any of them had changed their minds about the SAT and decided to go test-optional as a result of their participation in the study.
Steve Syverson, the dean of admissions at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, said dryly, “We’re test optional, and we weren’t persuaded to change.”
Christian Science Monitor
September 26, 2008
Headline: Shea Stadium leaves mark as a ‘ballpark for the rest of us’
Byline: Harry Bruinius
Link: http://features.csmonitor.com/backstory/2008/09/26/shea-stadium-leaves-mark-as-a-ballpark-for-the-rest-of-us/
Excerpt: Last week, with the last game ever at Yankee Stadium, that grand cathedral of baseball, the “house that Ruth built,” and home to 26 World Series championships, there was yet again the endless breathless adulation for the Bronx Bombers and their unsurpassed tradition of greatness since 1923. The hall-of-famers, the unforgettable moments, the rings.
But a subway ride away, looming high in Flushing, Queens, stands New York’s other, more eccentric ball park, Shea Stadium, which will host its final regular season game this weekend. And while its cavernous C-shape and vertigo-inducing upper reaches have never inspired like the elegant white frieze flanking the Yankee field, its flaws have become a source of pride over the past 45 years.
“Shea was the funky alternative to regimented, uptight Yankee Stadium,” says Jerald Podair, a Bronx native who is now a professor of history and American Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. “[It was] a place where ‘characters’ reigned and imperfection was tolerated as it never would have been at Yankee Stadium. It was a ballpark for the rest of us.”
For a team that has set the standard for losing – the ’62 Mets still own the worst record for any team in the modern era, and last year’s epic late-season collapse may never be surpassed – hordes of us Mets fans resist the temptation to make the effortless switch and join the popular kids.
“I grew up, ironically, in the Bronx, but the Yankees were never for me,” says Mr. Podair, the history professor. “How could a 10-year-old coming of age in the 1960s root for them? It would be like rooting for an investment bank. The Mets were the new team, the team for the kids, the team with the neat Mr. Met mascot, the team that hired Casey Stengel when the heartless Yankees fired him, the team that brought in Yogi Berra when the Yanks axed him, and the team with the state-of-the-art stadium in Queens across the street from the World’s Fair. How couldn’t you love them?”
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
September 26, 2008
Headline:
Lawrence University launches new green initiative
Byline: Kate McGinty
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080926/APC0101/809260509/-1/archive
Excerpt: The Vikings want to go green.
Lawrence University launched a campuswide initiative Thursday to build on the school's drive for environmental sustainability. It already has entered into an exclusive partnership with the students who maintain the Sustainable Lawrence University Garden. All produce grown in the garden now is served in
Lawrence dining halls.
The school also recently signed with Red Barn Family Farms, a new Appleton family-owned dairy company, to serve its premium brand of milk in both of the college's dining halls beginning the end of this month. The local shipment will reduce gasoline emissions and
support the Fox Valley economy.
Lawrence will intensify its efforts with Green Roots, a 10-person committee of faculty, staff and students. They will study the environmental footprint of the college and propose institutional changes to increase environmental awareness and sustainability.
The New York Times
September 22, 2008
Headline: College Panel Calls for Less Focus on SATs
Byline: Sara Rimer
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/education/22admissions.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Except: A commission convened by some of the country’s most influential college admissions officials is recommending that colleges and universities move away from their reliance on SAT and ACT scores and shift toward admissions exams more closely tied to the high school curriculum and achievement.
A growing number of colleges and universities, like Bates College in Maine, Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Smith College in Massachusetts, have made the SAT and ACT optional. And the report concludes that more institutions could make admissions decisions without requiring the SAT and ACT.
One commission member, Steve Syverson, is vice president for enrollment at Lawrence University, which made the SAT and ACT optional several years ago. Mr. Syverson said he hoped the report would encourage more college admissions officials to question their use of standardized admissions tests.
“We’re all just making assumptions about these tests,” Mr. Syverson said, referring to the SAT and the ACT. “We’ve all grown up with it. It’s embedded in the culture. If you really ask around the country, how many admissions officers can tell you at their institution what the predictive validity of the test is? What does it add to our understanding? What do tests help you predict? You’d find a lot of them equate these tests with intelligence. It’s not an intelligence test.”
The Malaysia Star
September 21, 2008
Headline: Cultural ambassador
Link: http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2008/9/21/education/1900543&sec=education
Excerpt: For Angela Ting Shin Wei, 19, teaching fellow students how to sing Malaysia’s national anthem was a good way to introduce her beloved country to them. Angela was part of Wisconsin-based Lawrence University’s Viking Chorale choir group that performed at an “Around the World Concert” earlier this year.
Led by Prof Richard Bjella, the concert was aimed at honouring the university’s diverse student body and promoting cultural understanding.
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
September 18, 2008
Headline: Appleton College Life Just Another Chapter for Sudanese Student
Byline: Kate McGinty
Link: http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/APC0101/809180517/1979
Excerpt: Each time her mother slipped the blue sandals on her feet before bed, the little girl knew the attacks might come. When they did, Nidal Kram could hear gunshots and piercing screams, pots clamoring and babies crying. In the glow of fires, she could see people dash to pick up their belongings.
"There was a little creek behind our hut, and my mom always said if anything were to happen, we would run over there. That was the drill. We even practiced that at school, anywhere. You would teach kids where to go in case of an attack," Kram said.
Lie low and don't breathe, the adults commanded. Close your eyes. Always close your eyes. You don't want to see what happens.
Kram grew up in Dabri, a small village in central Sudan dotted with thatched huts. It has been caught in the crossfire of an ongoing civil war between Arab and Christian communities. She eventually escaped the horror — and moved to Lawrence University on Wednesday to begin a journey that will lead her right back to Sudan. Kram is one of 386 students who moved onto campus to begin their freshmen orientation. She represents one of 15 foreign countries and is the first Sudanese student to enroll.
WGBA-TV 26 (Green Bay, Wis.)
September 11, 2008
Headline:
Lawrence Receives Millions from Anonymous Donor
Link: http://www.nbc26.com/Global/story.asp?s=8993103
Excerpt: A $2.5 million bequest from an anonymous donor has given Lawrence University's scholarship funds its third million-dollar-plus gift in the past six weeks.
The donor, a long-time Wisconsin resident who graduated from Lawrence in 1936, designated the gift for the college's general scholarship endowment.
Cal Husmann, vice president for development and alumni relations, said the donor was a product of "the greatest generation" who enjoyed quietly helping others.