Vol. 38, No. 103, May 3, 2007     /     Log Archive

An interesting and quietly voiced observation in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy regards how quickly some media outlets labeled it the "worst mass shooting in U.S. history," and didn't qualify it, as in "recent history" or "on a college campus." More than a few bloggers are writing that an 1890 incident in South Dakota, and some others, are worthy of continuing historical reflection, as well. Duly noted. In news today:

Governor appoints Chancellor Shepard to co-chair campus safety task force
Gov. Jim Doyle has appointed UW-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Campus Safety, charged with developing best practices to ensure the security and preparedness of all college campuses in Wisconsin following the tragic events April 16 at Virginia Tech. River Falls Police Chief Roger Leque is the other co-chair. Reps from the UW System, Wisconsin Technical College System and the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities will participate, along with law enforcement officers, student affairs professionals, mental health professionals, faculty experts, student housing administrators, student and parent representatives, and a representative from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. "We will have the right people sharing ideas and best practices for making our campuses safer," Shepard said. "As a lifelong educator, I cannot help but view this as a teachable moment. We will learn valuable lessons from this experience by asking tough questions that may not have easy answers." After the Virginia Tech shootings, UW-Green Bay immediately convened its standing emergency response team to critically examine everything from communication systems to coordination with local law enforcement agencies, Shepard said. The task force will hold two statewide summits on campus safety issues, including physical planning and critical mental health aspects to ensure campus safety.

College-safety task force gets big media play
Both the Madison Capital Times and the hometown Green Bay Press-Gazette carried significant coverage of Wednesday announcement. See (Cap Times) http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=132076&ntpid=2 or (P-G) http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/GPG0101/705030606/1207/GPGnews

Photos of Shepard at Wednesday's ceremony
Gov. Doyle announced his task force plans in a media event Wednesday (May 2) at UW-Milwaukee. Photos of Chancellor Shepard appear early and late in a photo gallery at http://www.uwm.edu/IMT/Crserv/vimaging/UNIVERSITY%20COMMUNICATIONS/D18574%205-02-07/

Commencement: May 12, 600-plus graduates, two ceremonies
You'll be seeing publicity in coming days on awards and honors to be part of UW-Green Bay commencement, scheduled for Saturday, May 12. More than 600 students will be eligible to take part in one of the two ceremonies - one at 11 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m. For a news release overview, click http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2007may.htm#commencement

Commencement speaker is Gollnick '81, Oneida chief of staff
The commencement speaker is William Gollnick, chief of staff of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. Gollnick, who has served in various administrative capacities with the Oneida Tribe for more than 30 years, received the UW-Green Bay Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. After receiving his bachelor's in social change and development at UW-Green Bay in 1981, Gollnick continued his education at Harvard University where he received a master's degree in educational administration, planning and social policy. In addition to receiving the UW-Green Bay Distinguished Alumni Award, he has won awards from numerous local, state and national organizations.

Reminder: Presentation by dean candidate Rosa is Friday at 3 p.m.
On-campus interviews of the finalists for the position of dean of liberal arts and sciences begin Friday, May 4. The candidates meeting schedules will include presentations to the campus community, which are open to the public. William Rosa, associate dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will speak at 3 p.m. Friday in the Union's 1965 Room. For the full announcement (which includes information for a fourth candidate who has recently withdrawn), see http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2007apr.htm#finalists

Reminder: All welcome at Doyle's health care forum, Friday on campus
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has scheduled an appearance on the UW-Green Bay campus for noon to 1:15 p.m. this Friday (May 4). The governor will host a health care forum for the purpose of gathering citizen input on this important topic. Open to all, the forum will take place in Phoenix Room A of the University Union.

Employee Recognition Day, a cookout... AND a Food Drive
Gov. Jim Doyle has proclaimed May 9, 2007, as State Employee Recognition Day in Wisconsin and May 7 - 11 as State Employee Recognition Week. UW-Green Bay will be honoring the efforts of Faculty and Staff at the Campus Cookout, which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8. Faculty and Staff are encouraged to wear their UW-Green Bay apparel. We will also have a food drive during the cookout. Please bring any non-perishable food items to the cookout, and we will donate them to Paul's Pantry on behalf of the Faculty and Staff of UW-Green Bay.

Heirloom plant sale May 19 features tomatoes, peppers, much more
Heirloom tomatoes and peppers are expected to sell fast at UW-Green Bay's annual heirloom vegetable plant sale Saturday, May 19. More than 4,000 tomato plants are ready for sale, including cherries, paste/salsa, novelty, yellows and reds. About 1,000 bells and medium-to-hot peppers will be available. The Natural and Applied Sciences academic unit is the sponsor. This year, the Public and Environmental Affairs Council student organization also is participating and will be selling lettuces, herbs, eggplants and some flowers. For more on the always-popular fundraiser, click http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2007may.htm#heirloom

Appleton paper touts NEW ERA, UW-Green Bay's 1+3 with Fox Valley Tech
A newspaper story Thursday highlighted Fox Valley Technical College's "1+3" program, allowing students to complete some general requirements at the technical college before transferring to UW-Green Bay with sophomore status. Also mentioned is the BAS degree. See http://www.appletonpostcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/APC0101/705030643/-1/APCnews

UW-Green Bay Admissions project wins top honors in print-industry competition
Seaway Printing has received a Badger Award - the top award in its category - in the Printing Industries of Wisconsin's seventh annual Graphics Excellence Awards. The honor recognizes a partnership with UW-Green Bay Admissions on a variable-data postcard and Web site used in new-freshmen recruitment. Jen Pfundtner of Admissions calls digital/variable data "a pretty hot product right now" in higher education, particularly among private schools. (Green Bay is likely among the first UW schools to enter the market.) A total of 2,212 personalized, printed postcards have been distributed to new freshman admitted for fall 2007, a 13% conversion-to-action ratio is considered very good for a new, direct-mail venture.

Seeking 100%: New employees get safety/hazard training on May 8
All new employees are required to attend one session of New Employee Safety Orientation and Emergency Response training. Training will include the required introduction to Hazard Communication and an overview of Campus emergency procedures. The next training session is scheduled for May 8 from 9-10:30 AM in IS 1034. New employees unable to attend this training session have the option of completing the required training on-line. Please contact Jane Rank, rankj@uwgb.edu, if you would prefer this option. This is the last scheduled training session for this academic year. A report will be sent to University leadership summarizing progress in meeting our goal of 100% compliance with this training requirement for 07-08.

Center for Biodiversity co-sponsors 'Spring's Wings' festival
UW-Green Bay's Cofrin Center for Biodiversity is co-sponsoring the Spring's Wings Birding and Art Festival on Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12. The Center for Biodiversity is working with the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary and other community partners to celebrate the many ways we interact with birds. The biodiversity center's participation includes:
•   A Foxy Lady (local tour boat) trip on the bay led by Richter Museum Curator Tom Erdman.
•   talks at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday, May 12 with speakers including Jennifer Meece from the Marshfield Clinic, who will speak on avian flus, and Dave Willard of the Chicago Field Museum, who will talk about birds and building collisions and the effects of skyscrapers.
•   the group Loonwatch offering training for its program and a general talk on loons.
•   Prof. Bob Howe, director of the Center for Biodiversity, will judge an art contest.
More information about the Spring's Wings festival is available online at http://www.baybeachwildlife.com/springswings/index.html

More on Jenny Olson, Phi Kappa Phi fellowship
We carried a short announcement a while back that Jenny Olson, a psychology and human development major, was one of 60 students nationally awarded a $5,000 Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship for the 2007-08 academic year. Here's more: She intends to pursue a master's degree in social psychology at Ball State University. She was a teaching assistant for the Psychology of Women course, a Phuture Phoenix research assistant, and author of an honors research project on the effects of sexualized magazine advertising. Read more at http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2007may.htm#fellowship

Workshop on eating disorders still has openings
Registration is still open for a daylong workshop on obesity and other eating disorders Friday, May 18 at UW-Green Bay. "Eating Behaviors from Anorexia to Obesity" is sponsored by the Northeast Wisconsin Alliance for Social Worker Continuing Education, a partnership of the UW-Green Bay and UW-Oshkosh Social Work Professional Programs and Outreach Offices. See http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2007may.htm#eating

Campus readies for WSMA crowds this Saturday
As always, UW-Green Bay is a regional site for the annual Wisconsin State Music Association solo/ensemble festival. Several thousand middle- and high-school students will be performing before judges this Saturday (May 5), accompanied by teachers, parents and others. If you have promotional material you'd like to distribute or, conversely, things you'd rather not leave unattended on a high-traffic weekend, be advised.

Always entertaining: May concerts
There's a Hand Drumming and New Music concert on Friday night, and a Jazz Ensembles concert on Monday. Both promise to be entertaining. Check 'em out at the campus news page at http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/page/

You can submit material for inclusion to the Office of Marketing and University Communication at Log@uwgb.edu. Past issues are achived at http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/logarchive/logarch.htm.