Campus Life Today

They want options

Options in housing, dining, recreational and learning opportunities. The ability to tap a database from their apartments. Flexibility in structuring their schedules. More choice in student-life programming, from workshops to fitness programs to social activities.

While this fall's new freshmen share similarities with those of 1969 or '79 or '89 in expecting a range of choices in and outside the classroom, longtime observers do see a difference.

The students of 1999 arrive as more practiced consumers. Many have shopped the Internet for colleges. They are more likely to come from a smaller family with a larger house. Fewer have had to share a bedroom with siblings. They are as likely to arrive with a personal computer and a van full of electronic gear as yesterday's students were with a clock radio. They earn to learn, with an increasing percentage holding down part-time jobs.

But yet, don't label them materialistic. Interest in service learning, activism and community involvement appears on the rise.

Offering options for all is challenge for Dean of Students

Sue Keihn says the experience of working closely with students gives her hope, variety, and "a viewpoint on the world I might not otherwise see."

Keihn, who is associate provost for student services and dean of students, focuses on the student experience outside of the classroom. "It's very future oriented," she says of her work. "I like seeing students grow. It's an exciting time in their lives."

Student services is about much more than providing housing and dining services, says Keihn. "When alumni look back at their university experience, they think about the whole thing. It's the dean of students' responsibility to help coordinate all of those experiences," she explains.

Keihn puts meeting the variety of student needs at the top of her list of challenges. The student population is diverse and it's a population that demands options in housing, food, career services, health, counseling services, and student life. Using a breakfast food analogy, Keihn explains, "Just putting Rice Krispies on the table doesn't do it." She says that the hard part is meeting students' needs, yet not being able to have individual options for everyone.

Another challenge is working with students whose lives aren't focused entirely on the campus. "Today's students are pulled in many directions," says Keihn. "It's a rare exception to have a graduate coming out of here without work experience." Jobs, to make money or for experience, are a significant influence on students' time and attention.

Keihn says that despite their diversity and competing influences for their attention, students still want a sense of community, and that's yet another challenge. "Students want to belong; they want to identify; they want tradition," she says.

Keihn joined UW-Green Bay in August 1996 as a successor to longtime Dean of Students Jerry Olson, who retired. She brought a perspective gained from a stint at University of Wisconsin System administration, where she was responsible for student-related issues, and from student services positions at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and California State University, Los Angeles.

She says she liked what she saw at UW-Green Bay. "I sensed a tradition of caring here, demonstrated by both faculty and staff," says Keihn, "A lot of institutions would like to achieve that. If you've got it, you're ahead."

Keihn says she was attracted to the aesthetically pleasing environment, with its arboretum and location on the water, and saw the relative newness of the campus as positive. "Here, we don't have to live with mistakes made long ago," explains Keihn. And, she views the University as having been progressive and creative in its planning, citing the successes of the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts and the student housing program as examples.

Campus life in the future will be influenced by recommendations of a Campus Life for the 21st Century committee convened last year by Keihn and Assistant Chancellor Thomas Maki.

"I'd like to see a vibrant campus life and a campus that's engaging for everyone, from the traditional students to students in the Learning In Retirement program," says Keihn.

'Student Life' runs the gamut from fun to leadership and community service

What do poet Gary Gildner, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a leadership seminar, Chinese human rights activist Harry Wu, and a benefit food drive have in common?

Answer: all are sponsored by the Office of Student Life on the fall semester 1999 UW-Green Bay calendar.

Though the laundry list of activities may seem disparate, there is a unifying goal. "Everything we do is to enhance and balance the academic experience," says Brenda Amenson-Hill, who joined the staff as Student Life director in August 1998. "We're here to see that students have a 'whole' experience."

Student Life coordinates student activities funded by student fees and Amenson-Hill explains that many of its activities are organized in collaboration with student groups or other University units: the popular Halloween Fright Fest dance is co-sponsored with the student Good Times Programming Board; the Martin Luther King Day observance with the American Intercultural Center.

The office supports the Introduction to College program for new freshmen by organizing the social component of the three-day program. New this year is a campus welcome convocation on August 29 for "Introduction" enrollees and their parents.

Student Life staff is organizing a new outdoor recreation and adventure travel series of activities for 1999-2000 that includes on its agenda canoeing, skiing, biking, and trips to Great America theme park and Brewer's games. "We're working to collaborate with St. Norbert College on three or four of the programs," says Amenson-Hill. "A January ski trip is definite."

Many see today's campus atmosphere as increasingly dynamic, with the energy supplied by enrollment growth and a greater proportion of students living on campus. Amenson-Hill concurs and has taken the lead in forming a liaison committee representing all groups who organize programs. "We're trying to collaborate so that we're not competing and make sure we offer the best mix of programming available," she says.

'Career Services' reflects new scope

For many UW-Green Bay alumni, it's the office formerly known as Career Counseling and Placement. As of July 1, it is "Career Services." The change reflects both the broadened scope and the practicalities in an equal opportunity environment of college career services.

"The 'placement' concept has gone by the wayside," says Director Linda Peacock-Landrum. That means that while the office still makes referrals, arranges on-campus interviews, and maintains job listings, it doesn't single out individuals for placement in specific jobs. Employers seeking candidates get resumes of all students who meet a set of criteria, not one or two or five "best."

"We have to refer students equally," says Peacock-Landrum, who formerly was director of career services at Frostburg State University in Maryland. "We work with students, help them market their skills, and help them identify opportunities, but ultimately, employers will make the choice."

The new concept is focused on working with students from the time they enter. "We want students to be able to do what they need to do to gain career development skills and make career decisions," says Peacock-Landrum. Doing that means starting early.

She notes that students entering college often lack realistic knowledge about career fields, including those they may have chosen, and even about their own needs and options. "If we can get students into the process earlier, they can make clearer decisions earlier," says Peacock-Landrum. Students who do that may be able to avoid delays to graduation.

Accordingly, Peacock-Landrum has sessions for incoming freshmen during Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR). Her office is involved in the three-day Introduction to College for new freshmen just before the start of classes, and with Project Connect, which sets up learning communities for freshmen. Career decision-making groups are advertised in the residence halls where many freshmen live. Effort is made to make sure faculty and staff know about the office's career discovery resources so they can refer students.

Career Services still organizes job fairs, and helps students with resume, interview and job search preparation, and with graduate school searches and information, including applications and study guides for the various graduate school entrance examinations.

Some things are the same, but different. Employment listings, notices of employers recruiting on campus, and forwarding student resumes to employers has gone electronic. Students need to register to use the World Wide Web-accessible program, called Phoenix Recruitment Online (PRO).

A trend Peacock-Landrum notes is increasing employer interest in internships. She sees internships as so important ("as close as you can get to being in the career field") that she makes it the topic of talks to students in SOAR to get them to plan early to include internships in their schedules.

Get information, look at yourself, make informed decisions, and try-by shadowing, visiting, consulting, or internships-is a recipe for career planning success that Peacock-Landrum repeats often.

University Village is 'ahead of the wave'

When Tom Haevers joined UW-Green Bay as director of housing in 1980, the University was in the process of purchasing its first student housing-the privately owned Bay Apartments adjacent to campus.

The nine-building complex had a capacity of more than 550, but had never housed more than 435 students a year. Says Haevers, "We filled the apartments the first year and we've never looked back."

Today, University Village is a park-like setting with 24 buildings, including a community center, and it can accommodate 1,540. "We offer a beautiful range of options for students," says Haevers.

Construction of residence halls began after University Village Housing, Inc., a limited purpose foundation, formed in 1984 specifically to build campus housing. Ten 60-student residence halls were followed by 194-student Roy Downham Hall in 1994. It's nicknamed "the super dorm," not only for its size, but because of its exercise room, and other amenities. The two newest buildings, opened in 1997 and 1998, offer suite-type apartments, in which each student has a private bedroom. Units house one, two, three, four, or five students.

Apartments are "the wave of the future," says Haevers. "We've been ahead of that wave," he adds. "Today's students want privacy. They want more control over their environments."

Another wave the University planned for is technology. Conduit and wiring for computer hook-ups has been included as new buildings were built. By the start of classes this year, every residence hall room and every apartment will be computer-ready.

Bricks and mortar aren't the whole story of University Village's evolution. "We've changed dramatically from the first few years when we were spinning our wheels just getting the facilities up to par," Haevers says.

Student governance is through the Residence Hall and Apartment Association, which also organizes programs, "mostly fun stuff," explains Haevers. The resident assistants-there are 50-sponsor programs ranging from pizza parties to last year's popular "Rescue 911," which brought a Green Bay Fire Department ambulance and fire engine to University Village for demonstrations. Dwellers in old and new apartment buildings have organized the Community Apartment Board to address their interests. And the Residence Life staff offers programs on topics such as eating disorders, and alcohol and other drug abuse.

"Programming is a balance between what students want and what we think they need," says Haevers of meeting the needs of students who are living away from home for the first time. Programs helped UW-Green Bay win the 1999 "Small School of the Year" award from the Wisconsin United Residence Hall Association.

Twenty new tenure-track faculty members join UW-Green Bay this fall and the number provides evidence of a growing impact of retirements. Until 1998, when 14 new faculty arrived, the number of annual new hires hadn't exceeded single digits since the faculty first was assembled.

Replacing retiring faculty in all UW System institutions is a concern, but it's especially critical at UW-Green Bay. When the University began in 1968, many young faculty members were attracted to the new institution and stayed to build its program. Three decades later, they're retiring.

"We have extraordinary professors retiring," Chancellor Mark L. Perkins told a newspaper reporter earlier this year. "They're people who are pioneers in the area of interdisciplinary education."

Deans Nancy Kaufman, Professional Studies and Outreach, and Carol A. Pollis, Liberal Arts and Sciences, note that not all the new faculty represent retirements. Kaufman says retirement accounts for only one new faculty member in her area this year. Three joining the Education program represent brand-new positions to support the new Institute for Learning and new Education master's degree program.

Pollis also has some new positions but says retirements will significantly impact several units in her area over the next two to three years. Natural and Applied Sciences and Humanistic Studies especially will change from units with mostly senior-level faculty to programs comprised mostly of assistant and associate professors, she noted.

The 70 fifth graders at Anne Sullivan School in Green Bay had an extraordinary 1998-99 school year. The theme of the Broadway musical Cats was woven throughout their studies, and it was made possible by a $5,000 grant to the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts from the League of American Theatres and Producers.

The children were introduced to professional theater in the fall by attending a performance of The Jungle Book at the Weidner Center. At school, students wrote stories about animals, used their science and geography studies to check accuracy, and converted the stories they wrote to plays. In music class, they learned the music of Cats. In art, students made masks. When the Broadway touring production of Cats came to the Weidner Center, a cast member gave a "how to be a cat" workshop at the school; then students went to the Weidner Center for a backstage tour, dinner, and Cats performance-all in one exciting day. Each student got a Cats T-shirt and each fifth grade room received a signed cast poster. At the end of the year, students performed their own play at the school.

"We want teachers to use the arts as a teaching tool," says Weidner Center education coordinator Cassandra Howard, who worked with the three teachers to integrate the theme into the curriculum. The Green Bay School District assisted in selecting the school for the project.

Education is an important Weidner Center goal, says Howard. Nearly 48,500 teachers and students attended the Weidner Center's "Just for Kids" series of performances in 1998-99. Adding attendance for informances and dinner discussions for adults and other activities, the Weidner's education program reached 51,700 individuals.

In 1999, the Weidner Center and the Green Bay Area Schools are among 14 arts center/school system teams chosen nationwide to participate in the Kennedy Center Performing Arts Center and Schools: Partners in Education Institute. Howard, along with Weidner Center Executive Director Tom Gabbard and Anneliese Waggoner, supervisor of staff development for the schools, went to Washington, D.C. in May to learn how to implement programs integrating the arts as a teaching tool in classrooms.

An award of $120,000 to the Cofrin Arboretum and Natural Areas Program from the Fox River Group of seven paper companies will fund studies on one of the few remaining coastal wetlands on the Bay of Green Bay.

The award was announced at a gathering in June on land owned by The Nature Conservancy at Point au Sauble on the bay's east shore. The site is about five miles north of the University.

Prof. Emeritus Paul Sager, retiring director of the Arboretum and Natural Areas Program, says the gift will help scientists learn the ecological value of the wetlands.

In the study's first year, $25,000 will be dedicated to baseline surveys of Point au Sauble's plants and animals, and to gathering historical knowledge about the Point. Remaining funds will be placed into an endowment to support maintenance and continuing research. Sager says much of the long-term work can be conducted as funded undergraduate and graduate student research projects.

The opportunity to study a wetland that hasn't been channeled or drained is of particular value to scientists, says Prof. Robert Howe, leader of the baseline survey. He noted that preliminary work this spring hints at their value for birds. Researchers identified 176 species of birds in about a month, indicating that Point au Sauble is a major stop-over for spring migrants.

UW-Green Bay's innovative heritage still 'alive and celebrated'

That's the conclusion of the author of a new book that examines the fates of six colleges and universities founded in the 1950s and 1960s. The book is The Innovative Campus, Nurturing the Distinctive Learning Environment, by Joy Rosenzweig Kliewer (American Council on Education Series on Higher Education, Oryx Press, 1999). Kliewer examined UW-Green Bay, along with Pitzer College, New College of the University of South Florida, Hampshire College, University of California, Santa Cruz, and The Evergreen State College.

The chapter on UW-Green Bay is titled, "The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay: 'Eco-U' in the 1990s." In the conclusion, Kliewer writes, "Although the university has witnessed much of the early visions of the pioneers fade away with the budgetary cuts and statewide pressures to homogenize, the innovative heritage of UW-Green Bay is kept alive and celebrated not only in the hearts and minds of the old guard faculty, but in the new leadership on campus and in the continuing interdisciplinary organization of the institution today."

Extended Degree major is now 'Interdisciplinary Studies'

The name of the major offered through the Extended Degree program changes this fall from Bachelor of Arts in General Studies to Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. Also new are minors for Extended Degree students. The first two offered are Business Administration and accounting.

Art students benefit from scholarship gift

A gift of $100,000 from an unnamed donor has created the David L. Damkoehler Art Scholarship, which will make its first awards in fall 2000-2001. The new scholarship is the largest offered in visual arts at UW-Green Bay. It is named for the late founder of Damkoehler Chemical and Paper, Inc., Oconto, whose son is Prof. David Damkoehler of the Communication and the Arts and art faculties.

Weidner Center donors are 'Stars of Touring Broadway'

Dr. David and Mary Ann Cofrin were named "Stars of Touring Broadway" at a League of American Theatres and Producers event in New York last May. The Cofrins' financial support helped build the Weid-ner Center at UW-Green Bay in 1993 and expand it in 1998, making it among the leading presenters of touring Broadway shows in the Midwest. Executive Director Tom Gabbard nominated the couple for the award.

Nine faculty members win promotions

The Board of Regents approved promotions in June for nine UW-Green Bay faculty members. Promoted to full professor from associate professor are Clifford F. Abbott, Information Science; William C. Conley, Business Administration; Robert W. Howe, Natural and Applied Sciences; and Dean Rodeheaver, Human Development. Five others were promoted from the probationary rank of assistant professor to associate professor. They are Ed de St. Aubin, Human Development; Victoria Goff and Christine Style, both Communication and the Arts; Jeffrey Nekola, Natural and Applied Sciences; and Cristina Ortiz, Humanistic Studies.

Plan 2008 addresses diversity

UW-Green Bay has made public its 10-year plan for increasing diversity on campus. The plan was developed in response to UW System's Plan 2008, presented to the Board of Regents this spring. More than 100 campus participants developed the plan's themes: changing the face of the University, assuring diversity in the student experience, and building partnerships for a multicultural community. Copies are available through the Office of Educational Support and Multicultural Services, (920) 465-2671.

Shop online and help the Cofrin Library

Online shoppers at barnesandnoble.com can extend the benefits of online buying to benefit the Cofrin Library. For each purchase at barnesandnoble.com accessed through the Friends of the Cofrin Library home page, Barnes and Noble will contribute five to seven percent of the value of the purchase to the Library. The "deal" applies not only to books, but to music and all products sold through barnesandnoble.com. A warning: this won't work if you bookmark Barnes and Noble's site and go directly to it. To benefit the Library, barnesandnoble.com must be accessed through the Friends page, so that's the site to bookmark: http://www.uwgb.edu/library/friends.html, then click on "online book shopping."

Here's how to get calendars of events at UW-Green Bay

All-University Calendar:
World Wide Web page, http://www.uwgb.edu

Lawton Gallery Exhibits:
Curator of art, (920)465-2916 or 465-2271

Sports (all varsity sports):
Sports information office, (920)465-2498

UW-Green Bay Music and Theater Performing Arts:
Weidner Center ticket office, (920)465-2217 or 1-800-328-TKTS

Personal majors got couple started on a trek far from campus, but they still feel connected

Nancy (Pelt) Lyche and Harald C. Lyche both graduated from UW-Green Bay in 1978 with personal majors - she with a major in Water Resource Management and he with a degree in Economics and Environmental Engineering. Today, the couple, married since 1979, lives near Perth, Australia.

Nancy works in computer control for floating oil and gas production ships, platforms, and the like, for Woodside, an Australian company with which Chevron has joint oil and gas ventures. Harald works in environmental consulting, including site cleanup, and advice to oil, gas, and mining companies and power utilities on environmental issues, design methods, laws, and regulations.

"At UW-Green Bay, we lived across the hall from each other at the Bay Apartments and had most of our classes together," writes Nancy, in the first of a series of e-mail conversations explaining how the couple got from here to there.

Following graduation, the two went to the University of Minnesota. Harald completed two master's degrees, one in Agriculture and Applied Economics and another in Chemical Engineering, and Nancy earned a masters in Environmental Engineering. "We seem to have swapped careers just out of graduate school," jokes Nancy, of the turns their careers have taken. "I now do the chemical engineering and he does the environmental engineering (go figure!)."

The couple moved to the San Francisco area in the early '80s, where both went to work for Chevron, she in computer control and he in environmental system work. Harald eventually left Chevon for other opportunities, but in 1994, Nancy's job offered a transfer to Australia and the two don't regret taking it. "We love living here," says Nancy.

By then, there were young children. Here, Harald picks up the story. "I stayed home for a year with our two kids and then started environmental consulting for what has become a four-person company," he explains. The firm does overseas as well as Australian work. "Interestingly, I still work mostly on projects that combine enviromental engineering and economics, my UWGB personal major," adds Harald. "Nancy has moved a bit away from her personal major, and does oil and gas resource management instead of water management."

The family has traveled in Asia and Africa and returns to visit Nancy's family in Berlin, Wisconsin and, adds Harald, "...to teach the kids what snow is. "

"We have happy memories of UWGB and are grateful for our time there," says Nancy. "We think of some of the faculty often and wonder what they are up to."

He's making a difference on Green Bay's Broadway

Jeff Witte, '92, is making his mark on the changing image of the Broadway neighborhood on Green Bay's west side. His first venture as a developer is a two-story, 2,420-square foot building on the site of a former bar.

"I designed the building to show that contemporary design can work in a historic neighborhood," says Witte, who works as an urban planner for the Oneida Tribe of Indians. He also choose materials compatible with a healthy indoor environment, and used many recycled materials. The exterior bricks are from an old building in Chicago. Witte says recycled materials were among strategies that helped him keep costs to $52 per square foot, compared to typical office building costs of $75-$80.

Building construction started in fall 1998, and it was ready in March for the first tenant, Ken Koenig, Communication and the Arts '88. Koenig, who had operated his graphic design and advertising studio, Koenig Design, out of his home for seven years, moved his business into the second floor. Koenig is joined in the space by freelance writer Jane Stewart Cook, Humanistic Studies '85. A coffeehouse, Twato Lihsa (Oneida for "let's all take a break"), moved into the ground floor this summer. Witte says he tried to design for businesses that are compatible with the changing area.

Witte currently is co-chair of the design committee for On Broadway, Inc., an organization working to revitalize the neighborhood.

An Urban Studies major, Witte began working at Oneida as an intern in 1990, and joined the staff in 1991. His projects have included design and layout of a 300-home subdivision and of a business park.

"The Educational Opportunity Program and the Environmental Design program at UW-Green Bay greatly influenced what I do," says Witte. "EOP gave me the opportunity to go to school after I got out of the Marines and Environmental Design gave me a real-life approach to problem solving."

'Outstanding' graduates pursue professional goals

Tina Marie Sauerhammer and Ma Moua were co-recipients of the Outstanding Student Award at May commencement. This fall, both are at UW-Madison pursuing their dreams of professional careers.

Sauerhammer, Green Bay, is beginning studies at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. Moua, St. Paul, Minn., is starting classes at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Sauerhammer, who at 18 is the youngest-ever UW-Green Bay graduate, also was selected to be graduating class speaker. She started UW-Green Bay at 14, completed double majors in Human Biology and Human Development with a minor in chemistry, and graduated with highest honors. Her cellular biology honors project was presented at last spring's UW Undergraduate Research Symposium.

On campus, Sauerhammer was active in science organizations and honoraries and tutored other students. Off campus, she volunteered at Bellin Hospital, N.E.W. Curative Rehabilitation Inc., Santa Maria Nursing Home, American Cancer Society, Montessori Children's World, and for Habitat for Humanity and other organizations. She performed with the UW-Green Bay Concert Choir and Green Bay Community Orchestra. In 1998 she was Miss Wisconsin Coed and Miss America Coed First Runnerup. Sauerhammer is aiming for a career in pediatrics.

Moua, a cum laude graduate with distinction in her major, was a trail-blazer on-campus and off. A philosophy major who completed a Humanistic Studies minor, she was the first Hmong student to be a director in Student Government Association and represent SGA at the state level. She helped found PEACE, People Educating and Communicating Everywhere, a student organization promoting inter-cultural understanding. She was a volunteer mentor to students in the Green Bay Public Schools.

Moua founded an after-school gang prevention program, working with Southeast Asian adolescent girls identified as "at-risk," partly because of their struggles to reconcile traditional Hmong and American cultures. The program was Moua's senior distinction project and she presented her research, "Role Models for Hmong Adolescents," at a Hmong Education Conference in Colorado earlier this year. Family Services Association will continue the program. Moua also founded and edited the first issue of Teen Hmong magazine. As a lawyer, Moua wants to advocate for economically disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

Moua was the second family member to graduate from UW-Green Bay. Sister Xong Moua, '94, completed a degree in Human Development and is a counselor in a St. Paul public high school.

English graduates are in print in science fiction venue

John Helfers, English '95, is co-editor along with Prof. Emeritus Martin Greenberg, of two books scheduled for release in October by Greenberg's Tekno-Books. The fiction anthologies, Future Crimes and Alien Abductions, each include a story by Russ Davis, English '96. Zane Stillings, English '94, also has a story in Alien Abductions.

Helfers' first co-editing credit was on another anthology, Black Cats and Broken Mirrors, published in summer 1998. Four alumni were represented by stories: Davis, Stillings, Genevieve Gorman, English '95, and Kristin Schwengel, English '96.

1970s

Iron County Circuit Judge Patrick Madden, '71, swept unopposed to a third full term in last spring's elections. Madden was elected Iron County District Attorney in 1975 and the governor appointed him to complete an unfinished Circuit Court term in 1986. He subsequently was elected to two six-year Court terms; in 1987 and 1993. Madden, whose UW-Green Bay major was Modernization Pro-cesses, earned his law degree at UW-Madison.

Carl Rudolph, '71, Business Administration, has been appointed senior vice president, Corporate Financial Services, at Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), Appleton. Rudolph continues to serve as AAL controller and treasurer. He also is treasurer of AAL Capital Management Corp. and AAL Holdings, Inc., two wholly owned subsidiaries, and is a director of AAL Capital Management Corp. and AAL Member Credit Union. Rudolph is a member of UW-Green Bay's Business Executive Advisory Board.

Jim Sehloff, '71, recently was named co-manager of management information services at Holy Family Memorial Hospital, Manitowoc. He previously was diagnostic services systems analyst. Sehloff completed his UW-Green Bay degree in Environmental Science and received a master's degree in computer medicine from Texas Tech University.

Jane M. (Powell) Luthardt, '73, who earned her degree in Analysis-Synthesis, has joined the staff of Rodney R. Johnson, CPA, Menominee, Mich.

Bob Steeno, '73, and Theresa (Knappen) Steeno, '73, both work in the Kaukauna school district. An Environmental Control major, Bob was named last spring to the district's Quarter Century Club. He is chair of the science department at Kaukauna High School. Theresa received her UW-Green Bay degree in Growth and Development and teaches at kindergarten level.

Rick Chernick, '74, has been named to the Green Bay Packers board of directors. He is owner and president of Camera Corner in downtown Green Bay. A Managerial Systems major, Chernick has participated in the UW-Green Bay Alumni Association, serving on its board and on its membership committee. He also has been active in many community organizations, at one time serving on 13 boards.

Roberta Filicky-Peneski, MEAS '77, is vice president of investments with Robert W. Baird and Company's Sheboygan office. Her UW-Green Bay master's degree emphasized managerial systems. Prior to joining Baird, Filicky-Peneski owned Community Relations Consulting, a public relations and marketing firm.

1980s

Mary A. (Brickner) Ostrum, '80, has been elected vice president of Latin America business development by Nationwide Global Holdings Inc., Columbus, Ohio, the holding company for international operations of Natonwide Insurance Enterprise, a Fortune 500 organization. After receiving her Urban Studies degree, Ostrum earned master's and Ph.D. degrees in psychology at The Ohio State University. She joined Nationwide in 1989, and in her new position divides her time between Columbus and South America.

Gary Miciunas, '80, is a principal and director of facility programming with The Environments Group, Chicago. One of the top 10 design firms by size in the corporate/office category, the firm specializes in interior architecture with a focus on planning, design and management of corporate facilities. Miciunas previously was a senior vice president at the architectural firm, Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, and chairman of HOK Consulting. Miciunas completed UW-Green Bay's Environmental Design sequence, earned his degree in Urban Studies, and later received a master's degree in Environmental Design at Southern Illinois University.

Jeffrey W. Kleiman, '80, has been elected president of Union State Bank and its holding company, Bay Lake Bancorp Inc., Kewaunee. Kleiman, whose degree is in Managerial Accounting, had been comptroller and internal auditor of the bank and of the holding company.

Christopher J. Groh, '81 and M.S. '86, joined Commercial Testing Laboratory Inc., Colfax, last fall as environmental laboratory supervisor. The nationwide independent firm tests food, water, wastewater, and other substances for public and private clients. Groh, whose bachelor's degree is in Human Adaptability with a co-major in biology, completed his master's degree in Environmental Studies. He has worked in the environmental laboratory field for nearly 15 years.

Dr. Mokenge Malafa, '82, assistant professor of surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Ill., received the 1999 Edwin A. Lee Memorial Award for community service. The award made by the Student National Medical Association chapter goes to the faculty member who has exhibited excellence in teaching. Malafa joined the School of Medicine in 1994 after completing a fellowship in surgical oncology at the City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, Calif. His medical degree is from the University of Wisconsin and he completed a residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Ohio, Toledo. Malafa's UW-Green Bay bachelor's degree is in Human Adaptability.

Mike Steavpack, '82, is employed by Fox Network in research and graphics production for professional baseball, basketball and hockey telecasts, and has worked four of the last five Super Bowls, including the Packers' Super Bowl XXXII championship game. The Communication and the Arts major was host of the original "Dick Bennett Show" and was WGBW's "voice of the Phoenix" for men's and women's basketball and soccer in the late '70s and early '80s.

Eileen Connolly-Keesler, '82, recently became executive director of the Oshkosh Community Foundation. She previously was executive director of Regional Domestic Abuse Services, serving Winnebago and Green Lake counties. Connolly-Keesler, who earned her Bachelor of Social Work degree at UW-Green Bay, serves on the statewide Governor's Council on Domestic Abuse.

Gary D. Urban, '84, came back to campus in May to be the commencement speaker. Urban, who pursued interests in travel, languages, and music before and during his years at UW-Green Bay (he earned a living as a musician locally and in Spain), is president of Perini America Latina, Inc., Coral Gables, Fla., a company that he started in 1990 for Italy-based Perini America, Inc., a manufacturer of tissue converting equipment. Urban's degree is in Spanish, and he completed the International Studies Program and a Business Administration minor.

Steve Duchrow, '84, is executive director at the Raue Center for Arts, a venue for film and performing arts in Crystal Lake. Ill. The Communication and the Arts major is completing a Ph.D. degree in adult education, emphasizing the community arts movement, at Northern Illinois University. Duchrow formerly was director of cultural arts activities at NIU.

Jean A. Busker, '85, is the new executive director for American Red Cross for Fond du Lac County. A Human Development major, she recently worked for the Ripon Area Chamber of Commerce as school-to-work coordinator for the Ripon cluster of school districts. Busker previously held positions at American Red Cross chapters in Chippewa County and West Central Wisconsin.

Thomas Sweeney, '85, recently was named county conservationist with responsibility for natural resource programs for Rock County. Prior to his job change, the Science and Environmental Change major worked in Door County for a dozen years, where his duties included administering the farmland preservation program and coordinating priority watershed activities.

Julie (Crowe) Boucher, '87, has completed her first year as site manager of the Stockbridge-Mohican site of the College of the Menominee Nation. Boucher earned her degree in Social Change and Development.

Michelle (Bredael) Kinnard, '89, has been named branch sales manager for the new Casco office for the Bank of Luxemburg. A Business Administration major with an emphasis in marketing, Kinnard has been with the bank for 12 years.

Juliana M. Ruenzel, '89, is the first full-time assistant city attorney for the city of Manitowoc. She previously was the assistant corporation counsel for Door County. Ruenzel, who earned her UW-Green Bay degree in political science, with a minor in Public and Environmental Administration, received her law degree from Hamline Law School, St. Paul.

1990s

Mark Dittloff, '83 and M.S. '90, has been appointed a family therapist at Family Service of Racine. Dittloff's bachelor's degree is in Urban Studies, and he completed his master's in Community Human Services. He received the 1995 Morris Nelson Award from Lutheran Social Services for outstanding performance and dedication.

Paul Cegelski, '91, joined Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates, Inc., Green Bay, as geographic information systems (GIS) coordinator. At UW-Green Bay, Ciegelski completed majors in Regional Analysis and geography.

Sister and brother Kirstin Hellwig, '93, and Jason Hellwig, '96, continued parallel paths after graduation to the London (England) School of Economics where each earned master's degrees in international relations -Kirstin in 1994 and Jason in 1997. At UW-Green Bay, Kirstin completed three majors: Social Change and Development, History, and Communication Processes. She relocated this summer to Washington, D. C., after working as an international business consultant in Capetown, South Africa; Brussels, Belgium; London, England; and Evanston, Ill. Jason's majors were in Social Change and Development and History, with a minor in Urban and Regional Studies. He has completed two years at the UW-Madison law school, had a summer internship in a Washington, D. C. law firm, and in September, goes to Florence, Italy to attend the European Union Law School, before returning to complete his degree at Madison.

Hun Ho, '93, works in the Job Services area of Integrated Community Services in Green Bay, where his responsibilities include Wisconsin's welfare-to-work (W-2) program and a program for newly arrived refugees from various countries. Ho, whose degree is in Urban Studies, completed an internship at Integrated Community Services while at UW-Green Bay and began his job there upon graduation.

Jeffrey T. Pederson, '93, who earned his degree in sociology, is a sports writer/photographer at Vercauteren Publishing-Chilton Times Journal.

Pamela Matzke, '93, joined Two Rivers Community Hospital early this year as manager of surgical services. Matzke has nearly 18 years of health care experience, most recently serving as assistant director of surgical services at St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay. Her degree is the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Dawn (Wangen) Alft, '95, is education coordinator for Youth Educated in Safety, Appleton, a non-profit organization that offers educational programs on personal safety for children and also works with families of missing children. Alft, who completed majors in Human Development and psychology, was previously director of a child care center.

Jamie Kuhn, '95, is chief of staff for first-term District 35 Assemblywoman Sarah Waukau. Kuhn previously was a policy analyst for the Assembly Democratic Caucus in Madison. She also is serving a two-year term on the Dane County Board, representing the Town of Madison. In her spare time, Kuhn volunteers with The Briar Patch, a teen and family counseling organization serving Dane, Dodge and Jefferson Counties. Kuhn's major was sociology and she completed an Environmental Science minor.

Annie L. (Doersching) Gariepy, M.S. '97, is a regulatory affairs specialist at Sherwin-Williams Co., formerly State Industrial Products, Cleveland, Ohio. She earned her master's degree in Environmental Science and Policy.