The Alumni Association has selected Urla (Teixeira) Barrow of Hyattsville, Maryland, as the recipient of its 1999 Distinguished Alumni Award. She'll be honored on Saturday, Dec. 4, at a reception that begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Niagara Room. Barrow, a native of Guyana, South America, received an Associate of Arts degree from UW-Green Bay in 1979 and a Bachelor's Degree in Social Change and Development in 1983. She is chief executive officer of Community Medical Care, an agency serving low-income residents of Washington, D. C.

Eight alumni and one student will receive awards for distinguished service at the Alumni Association reception on Dec. 4. They are Angie Olson, Eau Claire, a senior English and History major planning to graduate in May 2000; Karie Clement, '90, Wauwatosa, compensation specialist with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.; John Groth, '91, Green Bay, director of technical support for Global Optics, Inc.; Tony "Homer" Jira, '92, Deerbrook, sales manager for Ecolab Inc.; Kathy Kapalin, '84, De Pere, a self-employed realtor; Mike Pritzl, '95, Green Bay, manager with Midas Auto Systems Experts, East; Ronald Rasmussen, '95, Loganville, a teacher at Reedsburg High School; Bette Schauer, '76, Green Bay, owner/manager of Krolls East; and Michael Stearney, '80, Denmark, director of Educational Support and Multicultural Services, UW-Green Bay.

The Dec. 4 Alumni Association awards reception begins with an hors d'oeuvres buffet, followed by presentation of awards. Guests are invited to continue the evening by attending the UW-Green Bay Theatre Department production of Mrs. Coney, A Tale at Christmas at 7:30 p.m. in University Theater, or the Phoenix men's basketball game vs. Miami of Ohio at 7:05 p.m. at the Arena. Call 2586 for information.

The date and time have been set (1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18). The site has been mowed. All that's left is for the campus community to show up at the field east of the library for groundbreaking ceremonies to mark the start of construction of the new $18 million academic building. Chancellor Mark Perkins will preside. The early forecast is pleasant for late November, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper 50s.

OK, Phoenix fans, it's here. The annual pre-season Basketball Brown Bag lunch is scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 17) in the Point Sable Room (just off the Nic) in the Union. Women's coach Kevin Borseth and men's coach Mike Heideman will offer a thumbnail of their respective teams and then submit to ruthless Jim-Gray-style grilling, er — friendly but knowledgeable questioning — from faculty and staff friends of the program. Bring your lunch and your questions Wednesday.

The University Leadership Council received an update last Wednesday on campus conversion to PeopleSoft and Voyager. Training on PeopleSoft Financials is now under way in Madison for selected staff members. The plan is to replace the old cash/ledger system with the PeopleSoft system by July 2000. For many users, the difference will be most noticeable in easier-to-use statements and searching ability; the changeover will have its greatest impact on auxiliary and cash-generating units. Familiarity with Excel will be key to making the most of the new system. The rollout for PeopleSoft SA ("SA" stands for Student Administration, and areas such as admissions, financial aid, student records and billing) will be more of a "phase-in" than a "big bang," with a target of the year 2001. Project manager Matthew Clark has just joined the Information Services staff. The Voyager Library System, as explained in recent e-mails from the Cofrin Library, appears on schedule for a January 2000 startup.

There's a new website in town, at http://www.wisc.edu/wisc That's where UW System students are being directed for online purchase of Microsoft software through the Wisconsin Integrated Software Catalog (WISC). The newly signed license agreement enables students to obtain many of the latest Microsoft products at nominal prices. For faculty and staff members — who will pay an even lesser amount because the contract provides them "home-use rights" as opposed to actual ownership — details on how to order are being finalized.

It's National College Week and the UW System and its president, Katharine Lyall, are promoting the "College is Possible" theme. In a letter you're likely to see in state newspapers, Lyall touts the value, affordability and attainability of a UW System education and shares stats that might be of use. At the state's comprehensive universities, including UW-Green Bay, tuition ranks 30th among 35 peer institutions. There is a 13 percent annual rate of return for every dollar invested in a college education. In 1997, bachelor's degree recipients on average earned 77 percent more than high school graduates ($41,106 vs. $23,250 in constant 1998 dollars). The national average for high school student access to a university education is 20 percent; in Wisconsin, the UW System serves 32 percent of new high school graduates.

The annual Art Agency Sale is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 29th and 30th in Phoenix Room C. Hours are 8 to 4:30 (or a little later) each day. It's a chance for students to sell their art — jewelry, paintings, ceramics and sculptures — and for faculty and staff members to pick up some distinctive and moderately priced holiday gifts for friends and family, from $5 to $50.

The annual University of Wisconsin-Green Bay juried student art exhibit opens with a reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at the Lawton Gallery. Award winners will be announced at 5 p.m.

Worth checking out are the weekly standings, if you're an observer of popular culture or the creative ability of students naming their Phoenix Sports Center rec league teams. This fall's squads include Bye Week, The Betty Ford Outpatients, Old School, Large & In Charge, Cohabitation Nation, Flying Monkeys, C-League All-Stars (playing in the B League), Unusual Suspects, The Tennis Shoe Mafia and The People's Team.

This season's first show in the popular Parent Connection series was broadcast last night (Monday the 15th) on Wisconsin Public Television. The hour-long call-in show originates live from the WPT studios on campus. A parent guide for the topic, "Managing Emotions," is available online from NEWIST/CESA 7 and WPT at http://www.wpt.org/parentconnection

Tom Nesslein, Urban and Regional Studies, recently presented a paper entitled "Housing in the Welfare State: An Assessment of the Swedish Housing Model in the Postwar Period" at the Annual Research Conference of the American Public Policy and Management Association in Washington D.C.

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