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      Amazing Students


 • The entire production of "Never a Sinner," a UWSP Theatre and Dance Department production staged in October, has been invited to perform the show at the Region III American College Theatre Festival held in Saginaw, Mich., the week of January 5. "Never the Sinner," the sensational true story about teenage murderers Leopold and Loeb, was selected as one of eight college productions from five states (WI, IL, MI, IN, OH) to be featured at the regional festival. Winners of the regional competition will be invited to perform in April at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C

 •  Theatre majors James Freer and Thomas Bevan were nominated for the Irene Ryan Award for their work in UWSP's Theatre and Dance Department's staging of "Never the Sinner." The American College Theatre Festival chose the two actors after seeing a performance. Being nominated requires that Freer and Bevan do two scenes and a monologue at the ACTF regional festival, where they will be judged along with the work of other nominees from the region. The winners will receive scholarships and go on to the national competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. 

•  Thirty one voice students competed in student auditions at UW-Whitewater in November, sponsored by The National Association of Teachers of Singing. Two students won first place, Christine Sanderson and Michael Fowler. Six other students were semi-finalists.

•  Eight physics majors were accepted into the prestigious National Science Foundation’s summer program,
Research Experiences for Undergraduates, including Steve Lynam, Fitchburg; Chelsey Driessen, Kimberly; Michelle Stephens, Saukville, Kyle Taylor, Liza Piltz, and Luke Wilson, Stevens Point; Karen Chamberlain, Wisconsin Rapids; and Karl Larsen, Princeton, Minn.

 • Jamie Karoses, Campbellsport, a senior graphic design student, won a $5,500 scholarship as the winner of the 2008 Design*Sponge Scholarship competition. Her product designs, chosen from 2,000 applicants, included soap wrappers embedded with seeds and illustrated paper and textile designs. She works at the Design Center at UWSP and is a member of the Student Art League and American Institute of Graphic Artists.

 • Seven UWSP students competed in the annual National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference in New York City in March. The students represented Togo on five committees and South Africa on the UN Security Council. All the students are members of the United Nations Student Organization (UNSO) on campus.

 • Danielle Lawe, Neopit, a senior elementary education major, was named a Woman of Color Honoree by the UW System Women’s Studies Consortium and Office of Diversity and Development. Lawe is active in American Indians Reaching for Opportunities and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.

• Katrina Mijal, Stevens Point, a sociology major, was one of five national winners of a $1,000 grant to participate in her second trip to the Gulf Coast to assist with hurricane cleanup efforts.

 • Brennan Walder, Plover, a chemistry and mathematics major, was the tenth UWSP student to win the prestigious, federally-funded Goldwater Scholarship, an award of $15,000 over two years. Steve Lynam, Fitchburg, a physics and mathematics major, won an honorable mention. Both demonstrated potential for graduate research.

 • Nine UWSP undergraduate students showcased five research projects at the State Capitol in March as part of the fifth annual “Posters in the Rotunda: A Celebration of Undergraduate Research.” The students also promoted public higher education and research with legislators at the capitol.

 • Ximin Wang, an environmental specialist from Zhejiang, China, is the second Ford Fellow from China to earn a master’s degree from UWSP in as many years. A May 2008 graduate, he hopes to return to his home country to start up a nonprofit ornithology and conservation organization.