Stories from the November 2005 Issue / page 3

Save the 'Whale': Coffeehouse stages comeback

In the 1970s and 1980s students had their "Bluewhale Coffeehouse." Now, they have their "Common Grounds."

Thanks to University Union remodeling, UW-Green Bay again has a venue for stimulation, conversation and musical expression — all under one roof. Located in the former Timber Lounge area, Common Grounds is quickly becoming a prime campus hangout.

Almost from the time the University broke ground on the bayside site, campus folks longed for a coffeehouse. Students in the 1970s created their own — Bluewhale Coffeehouse was really a makeshift stage and a large wooden sign for a backdrop — set up on Saturday nights at the old Shorewood Club.

"In the '70s, there was a pretty significant group of us who hung out and played music together," recalls Linda Guinee '78, who grew up in Chicago with its active folk scene. The humanism and cultural change major went on to study the songs of humpback whales, before working with the AIDS Action Committee. She is now a senior associate for the Interaction Institute for Social Change. "A tight group of friends was responsible for the name and its development," Guinee says. "We also launched a yearly folk festival — a weekend-long event with all kinds of local and national talent and workshops and food. I do recall that Mike Tincher and Teresa Bargielski made the sign."

The Bluewhale was popular through the mid-'80s, ending when the old Shorewood Club was torn down and the new University Union opened. Good Times programming set up "Bluewhale Sounds Stage" in the Union's Niagara Rooms, but it was less of a coffeehouse and more of a venue for local bands playing punk, reggae and mainstream.

In recent years, Student Life's Groovin' Grounds series has featured coffeehouse-type performers without an actual coffeehouse. Now, after a two-decade dry spell, a "real" coffeehouse, Common Grounds, finally has its appropriate place and a dedicated space.

UW-Green Bay alums doing a capitol job

Robert Cowles '75 serves the 2nd District in the Wisconsin State Senate. He is chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Infor- mation Technology Com-mittee, and is also a member of the Joint Finance Committee and Joint Audit Committee. His degree is in science and environmental change.

Frank Lasee '86 represents Wisconsin's 2nd Assembly District in the legislature. He has chaired committees on Insurance and on Government Operations and Spending Limitations. He currently serves on the Assembly Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Committee and is chairman of TABOR for Wisconsin. He majored in humanistic studies.

The Mouse is in the house

It's an event whose history is vague. Archives show that it began in the 1970s and was held annually for a decade or two. What is known for sure, is that Prof. Bill Laatsch has always been "The Mouse."

After a few years' hiatus, the Bill Laatsch Wine and Cheese Classic is back, sponsored by the Alumni Association and moved to the Shorewood Golf Course Clubhouse. This year's edition was held Oct. 14. More than 100 faculty, staff, alumni and students made the walk across campus to Shorewood and, for many, a trip down memory lane.

Laatsch, the most senior active faculty member on campus, once again packed his 6'4'' frame into a mouse costume for purposes of building campus spirit. The "Big Cheese" is known for his scholarly work in the fields of urban and regional studies, history and interdisciplinary studies. He is also known as a dynamic teacher, one of the University's most popular and respected. Two years ago, alumni of the former Extended Degree program made a scholarship donation for naming rights to the William Laatsch Geography Classroom in Mary Ann Cofrin Hall, making him the first professor so honored.

Guests this year squeaked with delight at the return of the whimsical tradition. Said one, "We're too serious sometimes, I think. This is a reminder that it's okay to relax, have fun and not take ourselves too seriously."

House that Lambeau built is restored to glory years

This is a story about the house that Lambeau built. Yes, that's Curly Lambeau, first coach of the Green Bay Packers. And yes, we're talking about his cottage, not Lambeau Field. The building on the bayshore was acquired by UW-Green Bay sometime after the coach's death in 1965 and before the Shorewood campus opened in 1969.

The cottage stood adjacent to a pier that was the campus boating and sailing center. When water levels dropped, however, boaters abandoned the site, and Lambeau Cottage was cut off from the revenue source (boat launch fees) used for maintenance. And it showed. While the University's philosophy program claimed the space for classroom, retreat and office use, the lack of funds for serious upkeep led to plumbing, electrical and structural problems. Sporadic vandalism didn't help.

But the story of the little cottage has a happy ending. Craig Mueller, a 1971 UW-Green Bay graduate and both a sailing enthusiast and Packers fan, couldn't bear the disrepair. He donated money to return the cottage to its former state.

A Nov. 5 celebration sends a message: The cottage will be open for entertaining again soon. Maybe not in the grand style rumored of Packers legend Lambeau — said to enjoy a good social gathering, which he hosted frequently at the site — but perhaps in a similar spirit of conviviality and celebration. The University plans to host school functions, community gatherings, small concerts and outdoor environmental education activities at the cottage.

Grad students' environmental research gets ink

Impressive recognition — publication in professional journals — is being achieved by several alumni and current students in the Environmental Science and Policy graduate program. Here's a sampling: • Steve Price, recipient of the 2003 Outstanding Thesis Award, has, along with fellow graduate student Dave Marks, published his work on habitat conservation for frogs and toads in the peer-reviewed international journal Landscape Ecology.

• The Passenger Pigeon has accepted two articles based on thesis research. Former graduate student James Broetzman published "The Effects of Lake Michigan on the Distribution of Breeding Birds in Eastern Wisconsin," and current student Gregory Cleerman is publishing his work on birds of the Marathon County Forest

• Former graduate students Bruce Snyder and Jeanette Jaskula both have upcoming articles in Great Lakes Entomologist. Snyder's article, co-authored with former classmate Joel Whitehouse, looked at macroarthropods of the Toft Point Natural Area in Door County. Jaskula's article examined spider populations of Great Lakes wetlands.

• Alumnus Bradley Herrick has had two articles accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. A piece on invasive wetland species will appear in the February 2006 issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research. An analysis of the vegetation of the University's Point au Sauble Nature Preserve appeared in a recent issue of Michigan Botanist.

Each of the articles included a faculty co-author, either Prof. Robert Howe, Prof. Michael Draney or Prof. Amy Wolf.

Campus Seen: Where on campus?

People Pockets, offbeat architectural flourishes and 1970s color schemes still persist in some areas of the UW-Green Bay campus, if you know where to look. A new Alumni Web site tests your memory and pays homage to vintage UW-Green Bay sights.

For a look, go to www.uwgb.edu/alumni/scenes/oncampus.htm.

Alumni notes

An archive of alumni notes is available online at www.uwgb.edu/alumni/outreach/classnotes.htm. Check the Website often for the latest news on your fellow graduates.