Good News - Oct. 99

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Accomplishments
April – October 1999
Compiled by News Services

	The officers and members of UWSP's Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education raised $1,000 in honor of Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) week in April. Four schools received a $250 gift certificate from Book Look.
	The UWSP campus and community marked Earth Week and Earth Day in mid-April with a variety of environmental activities.
	The Central Wisconsin Client Service Center of Clifton Gunderson L.L.C. established an annual $500 scholarship to be awarded to a high-achieving student majoring in accounting or business administration.
	Former Seventh District Congressman and U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird returned to UWSP last spring to announce the establishment of the university's first million-dollar endowment and to launch the 17^th Laird Youth Leadership Day.
	High school students from across the state attended the 1999 High School Environmental and Energy Action Conference at UWSP. The conference highlighted local and global energy issues, showcased student projects and provided participants with the opportunity to build skills necessary to solve environmental dilemmas.
	Julie Zsido, assistant director of Student Development, was named Adviser of the Year by the Wisconsin United Residence Hall Association.
	The Sentry Insurance Foundation's $56,000 annual gift to UWSP was used to support scholarships, a distinguished professorship and programs in the College of Fine Arts and Communication, Division of University Relations and Department of Athletics. Sentry has been the university's leading corporate donor for more than 30 years.
	Several members of the classified staff were honored by their colleagues at the Classified Staff Advisory Committee spring awards ceremony. Also, longevity pins were presented to employees who have attained 25-and 30-year designations.
	Dianne Smith, a classified staff member who works for both Education Graduate Advising and Information Technology, was honored by her colleagues with the Carolyn Rolfson Sargis Award which recognizes classified staff members who epitomize the standards of outstanding and dedicated service and special contributions to UWSP.
	Helen Godfrey, retired assistant chancellor for student affairs, and founder of the University Child Learning and Care Center, was recognized by the center's board, staff , families and friends who chose to rename the facility's development fund in her honor.
	The Division of Communication faculty paid tribute to the memory of the late Larry Kokkeler, a communication professor at UWSP from 1983-1996, by dedicating a technology classroom in his honor.
	The Progressive Action Organization, a student group, asked the campus community to take time out on Thursday, May 6, to discuss violence in the world.
	An online magazine, Point of No Return, a publication for students, was created by students enrolled in a class called Global Communication and the Information Age.
	Lucinda Thayer, associate professor of music, was chosen president-elect of the 800-member Wisconsin Choral Directors Association.
	A new federal grant helped UWSP's Becoming an Outdoors Woman program surpass $1 million in outside support since its inception in 1991.
	Chancellor Tom George, professor of chemistry and physics, co-edited a book, Computational Studies of New Materials, published by World Scientific of Singapore. He also co-authored the introductory chapter and three other chapters.
	Stan Szczytko, professor of water science and leading international authority on stoneflies, co-authored American Stoneflies: A Photographic Guide to the Plecoptera, published by Caddis Press, an affiliate of the Ohio Biological Survey.
	"Tempered Steel" and "The Song of the Lark," two original orchestral works by Charles Rochester Young, associate professor of music, were commercially recorded onto compacts discs bearing the Mark and the Centaur labels.
	The interior architecture program was reaccredited for another six years by the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research, the national organization which evaluates interior design curricula. The department is one of only three in the state to hold accreditation.
	The Center for Economic Education at UWSP joined the National Council on Economic Education in kicking off a five-year nationwide campaign to increase economic literacy.
	Professor of Chemistry Marvin Lang was awarded lifetime corresponding membership in the Finnish Chemical Society in recognition of his contributions to research and international cooperation in the field .
	An anonymous donor contributed a $50,000 gift to establish a full-tuition scholarship for a student in UWSP's jazz studies program.
	Ray Mundt of Rosemont, Pa., the head of Unisource, Inc., the largest paper distributor in North America and Susan Feith of Wisconsin Rapids, the executive director of the Consolidated Papers Foundation, Inc., were named to the board of the UWSP Foundation.
	Carlos Castillo-Chavez of Ithaca, N.Y., a biomathematics professor at Cornell University, and John Noel of Stevens Point, founder of the Noel Group, were named 1999 Distinguished alumni. Helen Godfrey, retired assistant chancellor for student affairs, received the Alumni Service recognition.
	Sharon Cloud, director of UWSP's Native American Center, received the 1999 Indian Educator of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Indian Education Association.
	UWSP's telephone system was upgraded and made Y2K compliant.
	State Senator Kevin Shibiliski, a 1985 graduate of UWSP, was recognized at the Wisconsin Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel, held last spring in Madison. He received the Trio Achiever Award.
	"Days Gone By: Life in Portage County Was Different in 1899," an exhibit at the Portage County Historical Society's Heritage Park Museum in Plover, was the result of a semester's work by students in a museum techniques class at UWSP.
	For the seventh consecutive year, Waupaca's Indian Crossing Casino hosted the Big Band Express with all proceeds going to UWSP scholarships for students enrolled in UWSP's jazz studies program.
	One hundred twenty area students and their teachers will participate in "Wisconsin Forestree," a program at UWSP's Central Wisconsin Environmental Station deigned to foster understanding of how environmental and economic concerns are related. The program is funded through grants from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board.
	Seventeen children from UWSP's Suzuki singing program and their parents visited Finland for 10 days in June to sing with their Finnish counterparts. Their teacher is Mary Hofer.
	UWSP received nearly $100,000 from the UW System's PK-16 Initiative: Professional Development in Instructional Technologies for Teachers, for programs to further strengthen technology and teacher training ties between UWSP and area school districts.
	UWSP and the Portage County Public Library signed an agreement to share online catalogs, the first joint online venture between a UW System library and a public facility.
	The Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education was awarded a $15,000 grant from the World Wildlife Fund to support a Web-based course on biodiversity.
	Rory Suomi, the director of physical education and coordinator of UWSP's special needs aquatic program, received the Robert W. Doucette Research Award for 1998 from the Wisconsin Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. The award recognized his research on the effects of an aquatic program on women with arthritis.
	George Kraft, director of the Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center and associate professor of water resources, received an Outstanding Service Award from the Wisconsin Society of Professional Soil Scientists. He was recognized for his efforts in securing a state licensure for soil scientists and hydrologists.
	Doug Moore, UWSP photographer and instructor in natural resources, won a national award for the second year in a row for co-producing a slide program, "A New World of Agates," presented at the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies annual convention in Nashville.
	Barbara Dotts Paul, associate professor in the University Library, and Justus F. Paul, a professor of history and dean of the College of Letters and Science, have collaborated on "Wisconsin History: An Annotated Bibliography," a guide to thousands of Wisconsin history literary resources. It was published as part of a series of state bibliographies by Greenwood Press.
	UWSP's Learning Through Education Technologies, a program to strengthen technology and teacher training ties between UWSP and area school districts, received the Conferences and Professional Programs Exemplary Program Award from the University Continuing Education Association.
	The third phase of an energy efficiency project, part of Governor Thompson's Wisconsin Energy Initiative, brought $1 million of improvements to the campus infrastructure with the goal of improving overall energy efficiency and savings. The project involved a contract negotiated by Wisconsin's Department of Administration and Honeywell, Inc.
	U.S. News and World Report's annual ratings named UWSP fifth in Tier One of Midwestern public universities.
	Chancellor Tom George received the Faculty Scholar award from UWSP's chapter of the Sigma Xi scientific research honor society.
	UWSP's Child Learning and Care Center was awarded a $127,000 four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Child Care Program.
	The College of Natural Resources received approval by the U.S. Department of Education to begin expending funds from a $2.15 million grant for technology enhanced learning.
	In 1998-99, more than 1,700 UWSP students contributed 9,590 hours of community service to 42 agencies and 20 area schools.
	Corey Jaskolski, a senior physics and mathematics major from Milwaukee, was invited to present a research paper at an international meeting of the Society of Physics Students in Helsinki, Finland, in August. His paper was selected by the participants as the best presentation at the conference. One of three students representing the United States, Jaskolski conducts his research on ultrashort laser pulses under the guidance of Assistant Professor Greg Taft of the physics department.
	The student chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) was named one of the top three chapters in the nation.
	The Central Wisconsin Archaeology Center at UWSP received a $20,000 grant from the State Historical Society to continue its research. in eight area counties.
	Ten faculty and academic staff members were recognized by UWSPfor outstanding teaching scholarship and service. Honored at the annual fall assembly, the recipients were nominated by colleagues and students. Those named outstanding were E. Sherwood Bishop, Dennis Elsenrath, Marcia Parker, Chris Sadler, John Vollrath, Hamid Hekmat, James Stokes, Virgil Thiesfeld, Sharon Gahnz, and Ron Zimmerman.
	Jyotsna Chander , a member of the mathematics and computing faculty, was recognized with a statewide award given to women of color who have been instrumental in initiating change, within the community and on their campuses. Her accomplishments include serving as the driving force behind 10 highly successful Festival of India Celebrations.
	Robert T. Tomlinson, a student personnel specialist who served UWSP as a residence hall director in the early 70s, returned to campus this fall as the Assistant Chancellor for Student Affairs.
	The sixth annual Terry Porter Scholarship Golf Outing raised about $!6,000 to benefit the Milwaukee Scholars Fund, a scholarship program for promising Milwaukee area minority students.
	Thirty-two German students and two professors from the University of Wuerzburg in Germany came to the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station at Sunset Lake as part of an academic field trip to study environmental programs and issues.
	UWSP received a $319,000 grant to continue and expand the Wisconsin Lakes Program within the College of Natural Resources.
	The Association for Community Tasks, student volunteer organization at UWSP, placed 1,500 volunteers in 92 community programs.
	Chinese Culture Week was celcbrated at UWSP this fall with a variety of events and displays that showcase the history, art and lives of the Chinese people. The events were sponsored by the Chinese Culture Club and Multicultural Affairs.
	Renee Craig-Odders, assistant professor of Spanish, is the author of "The Detective Novel in Post-Franco Spain: Democracy, Disillusionment and Beyond," published by the University Press of the South.
	David Worth, CEO of the Worth Company, a fishing tackle manufacturer, pledged up to $10,000, and Jim Anderson and Carl Carlson, co-owners of Ellis Stone Construction Company, pledged up to $15,000 to match amounts raised through new and increased unrestricted gifts from alumni to the UWSP Foundation.
	The Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB), located at UWSP, is offering grant opportunities in energy education for schools, agencies, tribal governments and nonprofit corporations in northeastern Wisconsin.
	The success of a collection of essays compiled by Professor Katherine Ackley of the English faculty has prompted a second edition of the text, "Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across the Disciplines," published by Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
	Assistant Professor of History Sarah S. Elkind received the Abel Wolman Award from the American Public Works Association and the Public Works Historical Society in recognition of the best new book published in the field of public works history. Her book, "Bay Cities and Water Politics," an analysis of Boston, Mass, and Oakland, Calif., water resource management issues at the turn of the century, was published by the University Press of Kansas.
	The UWSP Student Employment Office provides a free job posting service to area employers and members of the community that need students for one-time jobs such as moving, lawn care, harvesting or even "doing windows."
	Nature lovers and visitors to central Wisconsin can now obtain "The Schmeeckle Reserve Browse Line," a free eight-page, full color guide to Schmeeckle Reserve, UWSP's 275-acre native plant and animal preserve on the north side of campus.
	The International Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program, founded by UWSP's Associate Dean of Natural Resources Christine Thomas, offered a two-day conference focused on breaking down the barriers to women of color and low-income women to natural resource-based recreation.
	Faculty and staff garnered more than $2.8 million in grants from outside sources during fiscal year 1998. Seventy-five percent of UWSP's requests were funded by local, state, federal and foundation sources.
	The newly remodeled planetarium was dedicated to the late Allen Blocher, longtime professor of physics and astronomy and first director of the facility. The planetarium was updated to accommodate a new computer-controlled projector, only the second of its type to be installed worldwide.
	Professor Donna Decker of English authored a collection of poems, "Under the Influence of Paradise; Voices of Key West," published by head and a half Press, Panacea, Fla.
	Ron Strege, interim director for multicultural affairs for the past ____ years, was appointed as director of the program. Multicultural Affairs is responsible for fostering the success of UWSP's disadvantaged students and student s of color.
	Students who graduate from UWSP have one of the best records in the state and the national for repaying student loans. UWSP's most recently published student loan default rate is 2.2 percent compared to the rate for all Wisconsin post-secondary schools which is 5.4 percent , UW System campuses at 3.8 percent and the national rate of 8.8 percent.
	Lawrence Eagleburger, a former U.S. Secretary of State, John Seramur, retired founder and CEO of First Financial Corp., David Worth, owner and chief executive of The Worth Co., a local fishing tackle manufacturer, and Michael Knapstein, co-owner and CEO of Waldbillig and Besteman, a Madison advertising and public relations agency, were appointed to the UWSP Foundation Board.
	A 28 percent increase in total giving was announced at the fall meeting of the UWSP Foundation Board of Directors. President-elect Judi Carlson accepted the gavel from outgoing president Jim Anderson.
	Zoran Mojsilov, a Minneapolis-based sculptor, had his first commissioned piece, "Basin," an outdoor sculpture of stainless steel and granite, installed at UWSP. It was funded through Wisconsin's Percent for Art Commission.
	Charles Young, an associate professor of music, has been named the 1999-2000 Wisconsin Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

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Copyright � 1999 UWSP News Services
Revised: March 30, 2001