Julie Curro, director of annual giving for University Advancement, shares the final, official numbers from this year's Employee Drive. The gains are impressive:

* 148 employees contributed
* 51 employees joined the campaign for the first time
* Gifts totaling over $23,000 set a record (previous high was $14,000)
* Average gift size was $156
Says Curro, "Thank you for such a generous demonstration of support for your university!"

The UW Board of Regents on Dec. 7 approved sabbatical leaves during the 2002-03 academic year for five faculty members. Granted full-year sabbaticals were Professors Gregory Aldrete, Humanistic Studies; Francis Carleton, Urban and Regional Studies; Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences; and Denise Scheberle, Public and Environmental Administration. A sabbatical leave for first semester was approved for Prof. William Shay, Information Sciences.

UW-Green Bay choral groups will sing seasonal music in the Cofrin Library plaza from 12:15 to 1 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 12). The lunch-time holiday concert is becoming a campus tradition. The event also will serve as a preview of the 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14 "Holiday Traditions" concert in the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts. See more on that event later in this column.

The University has announced the names of the featured speakers and the two outstanding students to be recognized at mid-year commencement at noon Saturday, Dec. 22, at the Weidner Center. Delivering the commencement address will be the Rev. R. Grace Imathiu, noted speaker and senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Green Bay. Recipient of the Alumni Association Outstanding Student Award is Katie Ginsbach, a summa cum laude Spanish major from Elmwood. Student speaker is Tanya L. Zimmermann of Sheboygan Falls, a biology and broadfield science major. Look for more on these individuals and the graduation ceremony in next week's LOG ONLine.

Friday's program lists one individual celebrating a 35-year anniversary with the institution: Prof. William Laatsch, a geographer with the Urban and Regional Studies faculty. He began his UW System teaching career as an instructor with the Green Bay and Fox Valley center campuses in 1966-67. Honored as a top teacher by both the University and the National Council for Geographic Education, Laatsch has also given back through service on various state and local boards and as a frequent presenter on issues of cultural geography.

If you see Prof. Bill Laatsch this week, you might not only congratulate him on his 35-year milestone but also inquire as to his political plans. A LOG ONLine reader sent word recently that a "Laatsch for State Assembly" sign has been sighted on premises. The story doesn't quite check out, however. It seems the sign was a souvenir, a yard-sale pickup from an unrelated candidate in a forgotten race in a different district far, far away. Too bad. He already had our vote, for just about anything.

Five students are nominated to compete for Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships at the January 9-13 regional conference of the American College Theater Festival (ACTF) in Evansville, Ind. Students and the productions for which they were selected are: Todd Dively, "Aloha Say the Pretty Girls"; Sunam Ellis, "Twelfth Night" and "Aloha Say the Pretty Girls"; Eric Lindahl, "Company"; Steven Marzolf, "Company" and "Twelfth Night"; and Shayne Steliga, "A Lie of the Mind." Some participants in the regional level acting competition are selected to advance in the scholarship competition and to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Nominations are made by jurors from other institutions who attend the plays.

A sixth UW-Green Bay theatre student, Briana Fahey, has been selected a regional finalist in the ACTF's Kennedy Center stage management competition. The participation in the stage-management category at the regional level is a "first" for UW-Green Bay, according to Theater Chair Laura Riddle. Fahey was stage manager for "Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls."

It's the final week for the Give-A-Kid-A-Book campaign. Books you buy and donate will be distributed as holiday gifts through organizations such as the Salvation Army. Bring your donations (of new, unwrapped, hardcover or paperback books for babies through age 18) to Sherry Rasmussen, Outreach and Extension, WH-480, by Thursday (Dec. 15).

Pat Sorelle at the Phoenix Bookstore says Tuesday (Dec. 11) should be a big shopping day for those interested in getting the most bang for their buck as they support the Give-A-Kid-A-Book campaign. Selected children's books will be among the items on sale Tuesday.

UW-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard met with alumni and fielded a few questions as part of a reception last Wednesday at Humana/Employers Health Insurance. With about 120 UW-Green Bay graduates on payroll, Humana is one of the area's biggest employers in terms of this institution's alumni. Areas of interest for those in attendance included the repositioning of the master's degree program in administrative science, opportunities for adult learners, and campus plans for new student event and recreation space. The Alumni Relations office plans more workplace receptions during 2002.

Alumni Association President Pam Stoll, '74, has been speaking at recent Alumni events on and off campus. She invites alumni to take part in University and Association special events, and to give back through volunteer service and/or philanthropy. At a recent program, she shared this: Alumni board members are raving about state-of-the-art Mary Ann Cofrin Hall. "We were amazed and, frankly, a little jealous of all the building has to offer," she said. "The latest in technology … environmentally friendly architecture … windows … and no sign of the olive green, brown and orange décor that alumni are used to."

Funeral services will be held Tuesday in Green Bay for Elizabeth J. Kirschling, 91, a local English teacher and librarian who devoted much time in retirement to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. A firm believer in lifelong learning, Kirschling was familiar to many on campus as she continued to take courses and participate in University life well into her later years. Among the places memorial donations may be directed: The Weidner Center for Performing Arts Educational Fund at UW-Green Bay.

A UW-Green Bay faculty-student jazz combo will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13 at the Luna Café, 330 Main Ave., De Pere. "Mellow" is the description given the program by Prof. Thomas Pfotenhauer, who directs the group. It includes works by Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Pfotenhauer arranged Sting's "Fragile," and guitarist Brian Dainsberg did the arrangement of Pat Metheny's "Always and Forever." Andrew Kettlewell is the bass player and Pfotenhauer will perform on trumpet and flugelhorn. After their set, other UW-Green Bay jazz students will play.

• Dennis Lorenz is moving from MAC C316 to MAC C307. — Phone will stay the same (2535).

• Add Denise Bartell, Assistant Professor, Human Development
Office: MAC C315
Mail: MAC C310
Phone: 5041
email: bartelld

• Also, all the mail for Human Development, Psychology, Information and Computing Sciences, Computer Sciences and Communication Processes should be directed to MAC C310 instead of MAC C307.

Prof. Joyce Salisbury's book, Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World, is a "best read" pick in the nonfiction category in "Today's Books," a report to the news media on the book publishing industry by Public News Service. The book received a "!!!!! Must Read" rating, representing the top 10 percent of new books published and distributed in the U.S.

Prof. Regan Gurung, Human Development, has had accepted for publication in Personal Relationships journal the paper "The Femininity Effect: Relationship Quality, Sex, Gender, Attachment, and Significant-Other-Concepts." The paper was co-authored with Human Development graduate Nicole Steiner.

LOG ONline is prepared for University of Wisconsin-Green Bay faculty and staff by the Office of Marketing and University Communication. Employees may submit a Brief, a Publication, a news item, an announcement, or offer feedback; call ext. 2527 or e-mail us at Log@uwgb.edu.