Monmouth College Winter 2011 Magazine

V O LU M E 26 | N um b e r 1 | w inte r 2011

M O N M O U T H CO L L E G E M AG A Z I N E

2009-10

Honor Roll of Contributors pa g e 4 5

How new technology and a new generation of faculty are reviving Monmouth’s storied

Scientific Tradition

3

4

Don’t recognize this campus landmark?

That’s OK, it hasn’t been built yet, but its construction is drawing near.

Monmouth

What to be.2 0 1 1 VOLU M E 2college 6 | N umwas b er meant 1 | w i nter

First-year student Garrett Daniel hugs his grandmother after matriculation, where MC welcomed 99 new U.S. minority students.

8

Author Jill Ker Conway found herself alone a lot in western Australia, but she was joined by 400 students at her convocation lecture.

®

Monmouth College Magazine is published by the Office of Development and College Relations for alumni and friends of Monmouth College.

All opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff or the college.

Editorial Board

Molly A. Ball

vice president for de velopment and college relations

Don R. Capener

vice president for strategic planning / chief marke ting officer

Jeffrey D. Rankin

direc tor of college communications

Barry J. McNamara

associate direc tor of college communications

Lucy Kellogg Thompson ’99 direc tor of alumni programs

Magazine Staff

Editor: Jeffrey D. Rankin Associate Editor: Barry J. McNamara Designer: Nancy Loch Monmouth College 700 East Broadway Monmouth IL 61462-1998 alumni@monmouthcollege.edu (e-mail) www.monmouthcollege.edu (Web) 309-457-2323 letters policy: We welcome letters about the college or the magazine. Letters will be printed on a space-available basis and may be edited for length, style and clarity. Send letters, queries or submissions to: Monmouth College Magazine, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 61462-1998, or email jeffr@monmouthcollege.edu.

on the cover: Molly Ball, a junior math and physics major, and Michael Howard, a junior math, business and accounting major, use a high-speed camera to study waves in a vibrating string as part of a course on differential equations.

Photo by K ent K riegshauser

correction: The story in the Fall 2010 issue

about the Summer Opportunities for Intellectual Activities (SOFIA) program failed to mention associate professor of chemistry Laura Moore as co-creator of the project. We regret the omission.

President Mauri Ditzler leads one of his weekly conversations about the liberal arts with

Monmouth freshmen.

S to r y o n pa g e 1 2 .

24

Last fall was Big Red’s first Homecoming, and he had a blast. It was a fun weekend for a lot of other folks, too.

34

Terry Glasgow was man of the hour

at a Roast and Toast honoring his service as coach, AD and professor.

message from the president. . . . . . . . 2 campus news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 people news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 clan notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Letters …when reading the caption for the

’60 class picture on page 24 of the Fall 2010 Monmouth College Magazine, I notice in row 4 we have Carl Gamer. I don’t think so.

Dr. Carl Gamer was our government professor when we attended the College, and his son Bob was in our class…and in the picture. Talk about a Freudian slip or a very good memory of times gone by!

David Bowers ’60 Chairman Emeritus MC Board of Trustees

we feel compelled to compliment you on the Fall 2010 issue. First in our minds are the fascinating and creative academic activities of the Monmouth faculty and students represented throughout the issue.

We are equally pleased to see community, national, and world-wide application of these learning endeavors.

Off-campus study, domestic and international, broadens students’ perspectives and often shapes their ultimate passions and careers. We hope the college continues to advance, and report upon, such emphases.

For those of us who do not live near Monmouth, what we see in the issues is much of what we know of the college. And, of course, that becomes the basis of our enthusiasm for supporting the college.

Also, we would be remiss to not compliment everyone on the fine design of the issue.

Bill (Willis M.) Hubbard ’62 Marilyn Kessinger Hubbard ’64 good to read of scholarly activity by

young faculty. Good teaching and scholarship are inseparable. Let’s hear more!

Jack Kelly ’52 Professor Emeritus University of Illinois

i just wanted to pass on to Mauri Ditzler kudos for his column “Simple but

reliable ways to educate” in the Fall 2010 issue. Forty years in higher education have convinced me that individualized active learning and mentoring are far superior to lectures. I’ve also had positive experiences along these lines in seminars of no more than 12 students. Thanks for reinforcing my experiences.

Don Hellison ’60

1

T

his fall, our faculty members discussed the many demands we place on our students. Certainly

classroom time is important, and so are the challenging problem sets and creative papers we assign. Equally important is reflecting upon, assimilating and integrating the new-found knowledge. And, of course, we hope our students regularly consult with their professors and classmates. When I think about all the opportunities and expectations our students face, I am reminded of my own hectic life as an undergraduate.

How a little less can be a lot more in education I must admit that those recollections of college days are sometimes a bit hazy. They happened, after all, many decades ago. But perhaps the real reason I can’t remember them clearly is that even at the time, my days were a blur. I remember feeling overwhelmed by what seemed to be a never-ending barrage of homework assignments.

Calculus, chemistry, physics and symbolic logic exercises were enough for every wakeful hour. Add to these the need to prepare speeches and read complex essays on political science, and my days and nights were filled to overflowing.

To be certain, there was value and sometimes joy in those exercises. Nearly 40 years later, I remember my excitement upon calculating how much higher the water level is on the west bank of the Mississippi River than the east bank.

Too often, though, one problem blurred with the next as one cup of coffee became a whole pot and late nights became early mornings. There was little time for reflection and little time to think about the significance of the assignments. I didn’t have the luxury to consider how my work was related to what my professors were discussing in class or how a calculus Mauri A. Ditzler problem might relate to a physics exercise President or a symbolic logic assignment.

While I loved the excitement of completing assignments and solving a seemingly endless series of puzzles, I eventually became frustrated, coining the phrase “my homework is getting in the way of my coursework and my coursework is getting in the way of my education.” How nice it would have been, I thought, to have time to truly reflect on all these assignments. Even as an inexperienced, sometimes cynical undergraduate, I was certain that there was some order and purpose to the work I was doing. But stopping to make sense of it would have made meeting deadlines impossible.

Between my sophomore and junior year, however, things changed. When I returned to campus, my college had adopted a less-can-be-more approach to learning.

The most visible change was a decrease in the typical course load from five courses (plus labs) to four courses (plus labs) per semester. The expectation was that with fewer courses and a less frenetic pace, we students could reflect on our experiences and find meaning by identifying connections between homework and classwork, between one course and another, and between schoolwork and life.

Initially, I was somewhat indignant, worrying that future generations wouldn’t understand what it meant to work hard. Why had the faculty gone soft? I soon discovered, however, that learning had become a richer and deeper experience. I saw connections and subtleties that I would have missed before. I began looking for and

2

message from the president

understanding the significance of the exercises I worked and the papers I wrote. Reflection became a part of my study routine.

To this day, I have a special memory from that first semester after the transition. Late one night, I was working through a problem in quantum mechanics. With the newly found luxury of time to reflect, I thought about the equation that I had just used to find a numerical answer.

For most students—and I was no exception—a scientific equation is generally seen as a tool for solving a quantitative homework problem. One picks the right equation, finds appropriate constants in a table, plugs in the numbers, works the slide rule (now replaced by the calculator or computer) and the correct answer magically appears.

During that memorable 3 a.m. study session, however, I suddenly saw those equations in a very different light.

They weren’t simply tools for solving homework problems; they were concise attempts to describe physical reality.

A few symbols summarized the results of hundreds of experiments and thousands of observations even as they predicted events yet to unfold. That insight transformed for me what it meant to be a student and a scientist.

If I had had 10 more problems to solve or another course awaiting my attention, I would likely have skipped the reflection that produced the valuable insight.

As I listened to a series of faculty conversations this fall, my mind often drifted back to my college experience.

My colleagues were considering the right balance between a “rigorous” academic schedule and opportunities to reflect, assimilate and integrate ideas. This conversation has been part of a debate about the maximum number of courses students should take at any given time. I am delighted to hear our faculty talking about the important place of reflection in their courses, our curriculum and the lives of Monmouth students.

Our students must learn facts and equations. They must know about important people and events. They must also understand complex ideas. But to achieve the full benefits of their liberal arts education, our students must learn to integrate and apply these ideas. They need time to consider what they are learning and they need to talk to others as they imagine the meaning of ideas and insights.

When we are operating at our best, our students will begin to understand how they will use the wonderful mix of ideas and information to advance their personal and our collective good. We can’t promote this important goal if we don’t provide a rich and challenging array of classes and activities. But we undermine our efforts if we don’t also provide the time and space for thoughtful reflection and reflective discussions.

monmouth | winter 2011

in recent weeks, Monmouth College has received more than $5 million in documented and verbal gift commitments for its planned $38 million academic complex. The new facility, which will be the college’s first new academic building since 1990, will house Monmouth’s business and science departments and allow for greater integration between academic disciplines.

Proposed $38 million academic complex moves closer to reality

Looking southwest, this rendering of the academic complex shows the entrance that will face campus.

The commitments include gifts of six figures or more from a group of four current and emeritus members of the college’s board of trustees: vice chairman William Trubeck ’68 of Long Lake, Minn.; former chairman Safford Peacock of Lincoln, Ill.; and trustees Robert Dahl of Washington, D.C., and Jack Schultz of Effingham, Ill.. Several other trustees have also stepped forward with significant gifts toward the project.

Trubeck believes the academic complex will be a major step forward for the college, and it will also allow history to repeat itself.

“I am completely behind the college’s plans to move forward with this exciting facility,” said Trubeck, who is a business and financial consultant. “When I was a student at Monmouth, the college was nationally known for its success in the sciences. This new complex will allow those departments to again rise to that prominence, while at the same time enhancing Monmouth’s outstanding business programs.”

Trubeck, who joined the board in 2002, added, “There are so many ‘food and fuel’ issues that are going on in the country that have their roots right here in western monmouth | winter 2011

Illinois. This complex will allow Monmouth College to be on the leading edge of all that.

I believe it will give the college a distinct advantage and will set Monmouth apart from the rest of the pack.”

The gift from Peacock and his wife, Betty, is a 100 percent increase of a prior pledge.

More than a decade ago, the couple made the naming gift for the college’s $1.7 million Peacock Memorial Athletic Park, home to MC›s baseball and soccer teams.

“Our previous gift filled what was termed as a ‘pressing need’ for the college at the time, and we couldn’t be happier with the way the facility turned out,” said Peacock.

“We view the academic complex as another opportunity for Monmouth College to distinguish itself—this time in the very crucial areas of business and science—and we are delighted to be able to assist with the project.”

Molly Ball, MC’s vice president for development and college relations, made special note of the Peacocks’ pledge, which includes an estate gift.

“The power of estate gifts is enormous,” she said. “They can really change an institution.”

In fact, during the first week of the new year, Monmouth College received another estate gift worth nearly $900,000 from the late Petrene Lauritsen, a 1948 graduate from Kansas City, Mo., which will also go toward the academic complex.

Ball added, “We are very pleased by the support that the academic complex has received in the past few weeks. It has provided some very positive momentum toward the project. We anticipate that other trustees, alumni and friends will step forward with their support in the near future.”

Just a few days later, such support followed. A trustee who had already made a generous gift to the campaign added a $2 million challenge gift. For every dollar committed toward the new building on or before June 30, the donor —who wishes to remain anonymous—will provide a 50 percent match. If the challenge yields $4 million in new pledges, the net result will be $6 million in additional funds for the project.

Plans call for the 140,000-square-foot complex to be built in the 700 block of East Broadway, just south of Archer Ave. It was designed by the award-winning international architecture firm Burt Hill.  campus news

3

MC emerging as a leader in student diversity By Barry McNamara

A

s the demographics of our nation change, Monmouth College is leading its competitive set of colleges and universities in recruiting a diverse student community.

on the strength of an

entering class that included nearly one American minority student for every four, the college reached its highest level of diversity in its 157-year history.

The college’s official 2010-11 enrollment figures Upperclassmen Michael Coates (left), Jess Avila (center) and showed that of the 413 Andre Taylor all remain pleased by their decision to travel across new students on campus, the state and attend Monmouth. At right, freshman Isaiah Steele 99 are American minorities. of Surprise, Ariz., is welcomed to campus by Big Red during the The incoming class, which matriculation ceremony. included more than 14 “HighSight had 29 graduates this year,” percent African-American students and Pitts reported, “and seven of them chose more than 7 percent Hispanic/Latino students, was the most diverse in MC’s history. Monmouth. That is an incredible figure.”

Pitts also saluted the efforts of Mike The new entering class pushed Milke, superintendent of Chicago’s Noble Monmouth’s overall minority student enrollment figure to 16 percent. There were Street network of charter schools.

“Most of the students in those schools 219 American minority students on campus are Hispanic/Latino or African-American,” last fall, which was also an all-time high. said Pitts. “One day, Superintendent Milke Monmouth’s overall enrollment for the got in his car and drove five or six students academic year is 1,353. That is within 30 of down to Monmouth for a visit. That was the college’s record number of students.

Not only has Monmouth College surpassed unbelievable. Most guidance counselors its own milestones for ethnic diversity, it has wouldn’t do that, let alone the superintendent. He helped with at least a half-dozen also risen to a leading position in the of our new students this year.”

Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Other programs Pitts credited include consortium. According to information availthe Chicago Scholars Program and 100 able through the University and College Black Men of Chicago. The ACM is also Accountability Network (www.ucan-netactive with the College Counselors’ work.org) and each school’s Common Data Set (CDS), Monmouth’s minority percentage Collaborative (CCC), which works to increase the number of highly-qualified was among the top three ACM colleges a year ago. Its new 16 percent total could lead Chicago Public School students who enroll and graduate from selective colleges and the ACM for 2010-11, pending new enrolluniversities. ment figures from its 13 sister institutions.

By working daily with incoming inner-city Regional director of admission Peter Pitts students, Pitts develops a unique perspective. works primarily out of the Cook County “These are really neat kids, and most are area in Illinois, which includes Chicago. first-generation college students,” he said.

Approximately two-thirds of the incoming “Some of these kids have fascinating backstudents he helped recruit for 2010-11 are grounds that you can’t begin to fathom.”

American minorities.

Monmouth’s rural western Illinois location Pitts explained that Monmouth participates in a series of networks and programs that each is the opposite of Chicago. Whether the colbring in a handful or two of minority students. lege’s location is a pro or con depends on the individual, but Pitts said that many minority In two cases, he said, Monmouth has had an alumni connection within the programs—Jen students certainly view it as a positive.

“They love the peace and serenity of this McNeely ’01 at AVID (Advancement Via rural town,” he said. “They’re looking for Individual Determination) and Craig Nash something that’s different from where they ’84 at GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs). came from. They come to campus for their Another success story was the HighSight overnight visits, and the comment they organization, which provides academic and make to me is that people are friendly, and social support to Chicago high school students. the students interact with each other.”

4

campus news

Junior Michael Coates, an African-African student, agreed.

“What drew me to the college was the silence,” he said. “I came from Chicago, and it is a very noisy city. I like Monmouth for the view and for the silence. I can focus better.”

“Coming from the city of Chicago, I wanted a new experience in life,” added junior Jess Avila. “I’ve learned a lot, including that a ‘city girl’ like myself can live in a small, yet great place.”

Andre Taylor, a junior from Rantoul, Ill. who is African-American, said he was drawn to Monmouth College by the campus size and sports.

While the Monmouth experience benefits minority students, the reverse is also true. The college as a whole benefits from such students’ diversity of experiences— experiences that allow students to learn from each other by adding richness to classroom discussions, social events and simple late-night conversations with friends.

“It is important for a college to have racial diversity so that real world interactions and relationships can be developed,” said Taylor. “The world is not one color, it is a variety of personalities and experiences, and diversity on campus allows students to expand our web of experiences.”

“It is our obligation as an institution to support a culture that provides students with a better understanding of our diverse world,” said vice president for student life/ dean of students Jacquelyn Condon.

“Experiencing and understanding that diversity as a student better prepares them for work and to contribute to society.”  monmouth | winter 2011

Chemistry students involved in CSI a grisly scene met the students of

Monmouth College’s Chemistry 102 course this fall when they arrived at class. A dirt trail, a blood-smeared chair and broken glass were just a few of the disturbing clues left by the “Balance Room Vandal,” kicking off the college’s very first forensic science mock crime scene investigation.

The elaborate scene was set up for the Chem102 students by faculty members Audra Sostarecz and Eric Todd.

Sostarecz said the chemistry department has sought to offer a variety of physical universe courses that fulfill one of the college’s general education requirements.

Chemistry 102—also known as “Forensic Science”—was first proposed by Sostarecz following a workshop she attended at Williams College in 2008. It follows the success of “Nutrition” (Chemistry 101).

“With 35 students, it may be good to split the class up into two sections for just the first lab, since this is the most timeintensive lab due to the analysis of the crime scene,” she said. “As the students unravel the case, all other labs will take place in the actual teaching laboratories and the instrument room.”

In addition to an extra lab, Sostarecz intends to have a different “crime” committed each year for students to investigate, and she hopes they’ll only get better.

“I’ve taught Chem 100

before, and I noticed that some students weren’t as excited,” said Sostarecz. “I wanted to teach a class that used quantitative skills, but in a fun way.”

The course appears to be accomplishing its goals, as students who first became interested in the topic through the various “CSI” (Crime Scene Investigation) shows are enjoying the opportunity to channel their inner Gil Grissom.

“For this being the first time, it was awesome, and I think it’s only going to improve,” said junior Cody Rogers. “They put a lot of detail into it.”

“I’m a huge fan of the TV show ‘NCIS,’ so the adrenaline of photographing a real crime scene took over,” said sophomore Matt Shumaker.

Sostarecz said the students picked three suspects. They then analyzed ink, powder and other clues during the semester to try to determine the “vandal.” Sostarecz stressed that it was only the first year of the class, so she and Todd are still experimenting with the format.

Because it’s for non-majors, the lab is only two hours long instead of three, which can make it difficult for every lab group to have as much time as it needs. 

Grant helps MC leave no recyclable unrecycled a $28,442 grant from the lllinois department of Commerce & Economic

Opportunity (DCEO) will allow Monmouth College to “leave no stone unturned” when it comes to recycling.

The funding will allow the college to dramatically improve its recycling program by adding nearly 2,000 recycling receptacles. The new bins have been placed in all academic buildings, beneath every office desk, in every residence hall room and at major collection points in high-traffic areas. They include 1,300 6-gallon bins, 450 3.4-gallon bins and 186 65-gallon tote bins.

The new bins are a key part of the college’s recycling program, an ongoing effort that is in turn part of a larger sustainability initiative at Monmouth.

The college is eager to capture recyclables from offices, classrooms and student residence halls that are currently disposed of in standard waste receptacles. By leaving no recyclable unrecycled, Monmouth College will be able to significantly increase the quantity of materials diverted from regional landfills, while at the same time generating income for the Maple City Recycling Center, a Monmouth business.

“Given our estimated volume increases, we would expect the number of the center’s pickups to increase by at least a factor of three, increasing its annual revenue by about $6,000,” said Don Gladfelter, vice president for business and finance, who has spearheaded the college’s energy-efficiency and recycling programs. “That’s an increase in expense that the college will be pleased to incur.”  monmouth | winter 2011

Benchmark moment: NSSE scores are high measuring the success of a college or a university is a touchy subject, similar to the gray areas of grading a 10-page essay compared to the black-and-white results of a 10-question “true-false” test.

By one measuring standard that is increasing in popularity, Monmouth College has reached a major milestone, topping the national average across the board among private liberal arts colleges.

For years, rankings by such popular surveys as U.S. News and World Report have been considered the best way to put a numeric value on an institution of higher learning, but lately, stock is increasingly being put in the findings of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).

“We’ve participated in NSSE for seven of the past eight years, and we tend to score around the median for small residential colleges, which is not a bad place to be,” said President Mauri Ditzler. “This year, though, for the first time, we were above the average score for all 10 of their benchmarks.”

The 40-question survey is broken down into five benchmarks of effective educational practice: level of academic challenge; active and collaborative learning; studentfaculty interaction; enriching educational experiences; and supportive campus environment.

Two groups of students are surveyed— freshmen and seniors—resulting in 10 sets of data, five benchmarks for each class.

Ditzler said Monmouth’s scores in the NSSE report are noteworthy for a number of reasons, including the growing trend to look at the engagement survey as a better indicator of a college’s success than the U.S. News rankings.

“In our board of trustees’ vision statement, they set the target of being in the top 10 percent of all of the NSSE results by the year 2025,” said Ditzler. “They didn’t set a similar goal related to U.S. News.”

The NSSE results go hand-in-hand with favorable figures received from the ACT (American College Testing) Student Opinion Survey.

“Our scores there were the strongest ever,” Ditzler said.

The college continued to receive high satisfaction marks in several areas, including the general condition of the campus and availability of instructors.

Viewed side by side, Ditzler said a logical conclusion can be drawn from NSSE’s College Student Report and the ACT survey.

“We had a pretty good year last year,” he said.  campus news

5

Panelists at election forum include Clinton’s campaign manager Participants in the 2010 election forum included, from left, Mike Glover, David Wilhelm, Rick Pearson, Steve Grubbs and MC political science lecturer Robin Johnson ’80.

along the way to reviewing “Election 2010: What It Means For The Midwest” at a special Midwest Matters forum at Monmouth College on Nov. 30, four distinguished panelists also touched on what the Midwest might mean to the 2012 election.

Described as a group of “politicos, pundits and professors,” the panelists included a Democrat—David Wilhelm, manager of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign—and a Republican—Steve Grubbs, founder of Victory Enterprises, Inc., a political communications company specializing in media, polling and mail. Political reporters Mike Glover and Rick Pearson of the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune, respectively, rounded out the panel, which was moderated

by MC political science lecturer Robin Johnson ’80.

During his opening remarks, Glover noted, “Elections in America are won in the middle.”

While he meant the moderate ground between the two political parties, it would have been nearly as accurate had he been speaking in geographic terms. In the 2004 presidential election, for instance, a victory in the “battleground” state of Ohio lifted George Bush past John Kerry.

The 2010 election was a big one for Republicans, and Johnson showed that an eight-state section of the Midwest (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana) reflected that, with major GOP gains in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and state governors.

“We thought it would be a good year, but we didn’t know how good it would be,” said Grubbs. “It turned out to be historically good. Now the Republicans have a two-year window of opportunity to impress the voters.”

Wilhelm, of course, offered a different point of view.

“This was a terrible month,” he said. “I’m glad to see it end.”

He countered a popular point of view that the Democrats lost so much ground because their base didn’t turn out and vote.

“There’s virtually no evidence of that. It was actually the moderates, the independents, who did not vote. When you really get beneath the numbers, the Democrats have to admit a tremendous rural problem. Of 125 districts in the region that could be classified as rural, the Democrats controlled 61. Now, after the election, it’s just 22. What was that all about? We need to have answers. We need a heartland strategy.”

Part of that strategy, he added, should involve listening.

“The people were saying this election was about jobs, jobs, jobs.

The Democrats said ‘health care and cap and trade.’ It compares well with the mid-term election in 1994, when the people were saying ‘Jobs, jobs, jobs,’ and the Democrats said ‘deficit reduction.’ We can’t continue to be tone-deaf to what the people are saying.”

David Wilhelm

6

campus news

Johnson posed two questions to the panelists on behalf of the students in attendance, asking them “How’s the economy going to be?” and “Will college graduates be able to get a job?”

“In 1994, the deficit in Illinois was $1.6 billion,” replied Pearson.

“In 2010, it’s 10 times that. Whoever thought we’d look at a $1.6 billion deficit as the good old days? Voters want to see cuts. They want to see blood on the floor. As long as it’s not your ox getting gored, go ahead and do it.”

Glover approached the economy question from a different angle.

“If government eliminated all discretionary spending, they’d still have a deficit,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot the government can do about the economy.”

Grubbs offered yet another viewpoint, speaking to the students directly.

“The skills I use today were self-taught during school outside of the classroom, or I learned them after graduation,” he said. “After you finish school, know that you must continue to teach yourself.

If graduates have practical skills, interview well and work hard, there’s room for them in this economy.”

Grubbs also shared his insights about the Tea Party, agreeing with Pearson that it would not become a viable third party.

“The White House hosted officials from China to ask for more money. People saw the United States, the greatest capitalist country ever, asking for another loan from a Communist country. They looked at America today and said, ‘This is nothing like the country I grew up in. So where do I go?’ That’s where (the party) comes from, but the anger and angst will wane.”

The panelists also discussed Obama’s role in the 2010 election and who might challenge the former Illinois state senator for the Democratic nomination in 2012.

“We advised our candidates to run against (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, not Obama,” said Grubbs. “She was more unpopular than Obama. That being said, you look at who was in charge of Congress before the election, and it was (Harry) Reid, Pelosi, (John) Boehner and (Mitch) McConnell. After the election, it’s still Reid, Pelosi, Boehner and McConnell.”

Looking ahead to the next presidential race, Pearson agreed with the other panelists that Obama would not be challenged.

“If he is, then there would be no chance of the Democrats winning the presidential election,” he said.

continued on page 11 monmouth | winter 2011

MC apparel goes off campus to Campustown campustown, which is found in several shopping malls in this part of the Midwest,

bills itself as “the leader in providing collegiate apparel to students, faculty, family and friends.”

Now, at two of its stores, that collegiate apparel will include Monmouth. Just in time for the holiday rush, MC sweatshirts and T-shirts went on sale at the Campustown locations in Davenport, Iowa, and Peoria, Ill. “It is rare that a Division III college is featured in independent retailers and mall locations,” said Don Capener, vice president for strategic planning. “It is a tribute to our strong sports heritage and alumni support that we are an exception. If the Monmouth gear sells through well, we will have more exposure in areas farther away from campus, such as Chicagoland.”

Monmouth gear is also available online at www.cbamatthews.com/monm/. 

Exceptional creative students treated to fine arts in St. Louis

Mmmm … bagels! College adds Einstein Bros. academic dean David Timmerman is a big fan of the brand new Einstein Bros.

Bagels shop, which is located on the main floor of the college’s Hewes Library. In fact, he might be its biggest one.

“I have been there nearly every day since it opened,” he said. “When I don’t see someone I know to talk to, I peruse the journals on the shelves while I wait.”

According to one of the shop’s managers, Cori Moore, Timmerman is among nearly 300 customers per day at the shop, which opened for business on Aug. 24. The shop held a week-long grand opening celebration.

Prior to coming to Monmouth College during the summer, Timmerman regularly visited Einstein Bros. Bagels in West Lafayette, Ind., while he worked for Wabash College. Although Wabash didn’t provide the Einstein bagels experience on campus, Timmerman made an effort to visit there daily, too.

“There is something about a bustling, somewhat noisy place that smells like coffee and bagels that spurred me on to good work,” he said.

Timmerman said he is lobbying to get his favorite Einstein’s item at the Indiana shop, the “Good Grains” bagel, added to the Monmouth shop’s menu. Flavors that are offered include asiago, chocolate chip, wheat and cinnamon sugar, among many others.

Lunch offerings include a variety of sandwiches and wraps, and hot beverage choices include espresso and cappuccino, in addition to coffee, tea and hot chocolate. 

Jam session in the art studio

SOFIA, one of Monmouth’s new academic initiatives, had some interesting side effects, including this jam session featuring blues guitarist Little Joe McLerran, with David Bernston on harmonica.

The musicians listened to a presentation about the diddly bows that Brian Baugh’s students created during the summer (and which were featured in the previous issue of Monmouth College Magazine), then entertained the crowd with an impromptu 40-minute concert.

monmouth | winter 2011

ten exceptional students got their just reward in September, receiving invitations to take MC’s second annual Fine Arts Trip, which is part of the college’s observance of Fine Arts Month.

The destination for the first trip a year ago for “seriously creative” art, music and theatre students was Chicago. This time, the students traveled to St. Louis, accompanied by faculty members Stacy Lotz (art), Ian Moschenross (music) and Doug Rankin (theatre).

The itinerary included visits to the Gateway Arch; Blueberry Hill, the landmark restaurant and music club; a production of You Can’t Take It With You at The Repertory Theatre; and two museums—The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and The Contemporary Art Museum. The group also toured three facilities at Washington University— The Kemper Museum, the new Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, and the School of Architecture.

“I thought it was a great trip, and I was honored to have been picked to attend,” said senior Hillary Broms, who said a “high”light for her was going to the top of the Gateway Arch.

Students invited to go on the trip must exemplify academic excellence in their chosen department, exhibit strong leadership qualities and have an overall enthusiasm toward creating.

Part of the success of the trip was due to a “great partnership between faculty, current students and trustee emeritus Peter Bunce,” said director of alumni programs, Lucy Kellogg Thompson ’99. Bunce, who was chairman of MC’s board of trustees for more than a decade, “was very instrumental in putting the trip together.”  campus news

7

Following her opening remarks, Conway opened the floor for questions from Monmouth students, who were eager to learn more about their “common experience.”

Nuggets gleaned from the Q&A included: • Conway’s disdain for the movie version of her book. “I wouldn’t look at it … the producers said they were going to consult me for the movie, then they didn’t.”

• Her view on the isolation she

experienced, which included not interacting with another girl her age until she was 7: “I was alone a

lot. A number of books have been written about the value of solitude.

The ability to be alone is important.”

• Her unique family relationships

included anger at her surviving sibling: “I was mad at my brother for

not helping take care of my mother.

Much later in life, he helped me with her.” Regarding her mother, she said, “She was not able to be close to her daughter, who had grown up.” Of her brother, who died when she was 14: “I lived for him, as well as for myself.

That helped make me more courageous.

It was almost as though I could keep him alive through my experiences.”

8

campus news

Conway’s ‘Coorain’ convocation captivates crowd

By Barry McNamara

for someone who acknowledges feeling uncomfortable meeting people at cocktail parties, author Jill Ker Conway seemed remarkably at ease in front of approximately 400 new friends at Monmouth College last fall.

Conway was on campus to deliver the Samuel M. Thompson Lecture, as well as a convocation lecture to the freshman Introduction to Liberal Arts (ILA) students whose reading list included her 1989 autobiography, The Road from Coorain.

The book, which chronicles Conway’s childhood in the isolated Australian outback and her boarding school experiences in Sydney, was assigned in order for all ILA students to share a “common experience,” according to one of the program’s coordinators, faculty member Mark Willhardt.

The book has been the common ILA text for four years and, said Willhardt, “student reactions to the book have been vastly different. What’s been common is that, by encountering another person’s ideas and values, our students have in turn thought about their own ideas and values—their lives have therefore been changed.”

Conway told the students, “I’ve never met 400 people who’ve read my book before,” then spent the next 15 minutes explaining her reasons for writing it. Chief among them, she said, was to bring to light a different perspective of Australia than the “male myths” that were depicted in the popular 1986 movie, Crocodile Dundee.

“I decided, ‘I’m going to write a book about a female heroine, my mother, told by a female speaker,’” she said.

In addition to writing three installments of her memoirs—True North and A Woman’s Education followed The Road from Coorain—Conway has done extensive studies of women’s autobiographies and has edited three such anthologies.

“What I discovered from reading about women reformers who grew to prominence in the late 1800s and early 1900s—tough, ambitious women who were driven to achieve—was that when they sat down to write about their lives, they wrote them as a romance, which made them seem very fake. They didn’t represent themselves the same way in their memoirs as they did in their correspondence with friends, or in their diaries.”

Conway, who became the first woman president of the all-female Smith College in 1975, noted that at Smith, “we would bring in women of great achievement to speak to our students. They would say things like, ‘I’ve been very lucky.’ Women were getting a lousy message. I wanted to break that myth.”

She continued, “In my book, I wanted to acknowledge ambition as well as bad character aspects. I wanted to make it clear that even though

I lived on an isolated sheep station, I had big dreams.”

She said she used the first chapter of her book to paint a clearer picture of the outback than previous narratives.

“The land was a character in the book,” she said.

Included in that opening chapter is the following description: “Nut-flavored green grass puts up the thinnest of green spears. Wild grains appear, grains which develop bleached gold ears as they ripen.

Purple desert peas weave through the green and gold, and bright yellow bachelor’s buttons cover acres at a time, like fields planted with mustard.”

Her willingness to share with the students led faculty member Craig Vivian to say, “It was one of the best convocations I’ve seen here.”

“One thing that made it good was how so many of our students stepped up and asked questions,” added another faculty member, Steve Buban. “I’d say it was unprecedented.”

Titled “Thinking About Women,” Conway’s Thompson Lecture was also well-received, said faculty member Anne Mamary.

Following her ILA convocation, Conway was able to continue her interaction with a select group of students over lunch.

“She asked them about their dreams and plans and how they were figuring out what they want to do with their lives,” said faculty member Hannah Schell. “It was a great discussion.”

“Professor Conway said she thought our students were smart, that our campus was lovely, and that she was really pleased to have been invited to Monmouth,” added Mamary.

After graduating from the University of Sydney, she earned her Ph.D. in history at Harvard in 1969.

Conway, who holds 38 honorary degrees from North American and Australian colleges and universities, has served the past 25 years as a visiting scholar and professor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s program in Science, Technology and Society. She told the students that she lives in a isolated setting there, too, “replicating the silence” of her upbringing.

Four hundred students now have a much greater appreciation for the importance of that “silence,” as well as for the other messages Conway was trying to convey in The Road from Coorain.  monmouth | winter 2011

Shhhh! There’s a sesquicentennial going on

t

wo sesquicentennials

receives all of the federal documents.

Documents printed by the governhave received considerable ment grew to an “overwhelming” attention in Monmouth in quantity during the 20th century, said decades past. One occurred in 1981, Daw. For several years, microfiche was when the City of Monmouth turned used to cut down on the storage space 150 years old, and the other took place needed. That format was followed by in 2003, when MC followed suit.

CD-ROMs, and now the Internet is the The latest sesquicentennial marks preferred method of making the infor150 years of Monmouth College serving mation available. as a Federal Depository Library (FDL).

“We currently select roughly 19 perThat makes the college’s library the cent of all documents published by the oldest FDL in the state and the fourthGovernment Printing Office,” said Daw. oldest in the nation.

Lynn Daw and Hewes Library director Rick Sayre display “Today, many items are received Technical services librarian Lynn electronically and are available for free Daw explained that FDLs got their start a poster published by the Department of Defense during World War II, one of many “little treasures” available (at https://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/ when 19th-century legislators began because of the college’s Federal Depository Library status. vf-mon).” asking for copies of various bills or docNow that so many documents are paperless, Daw said the college uments to be sent to their constituencies.

In 1858, the U.S. Congress enabled each representative to desig- library receives only “about two boxes” of publications per month.

Through the years, what Daw describes as “lots of little treasures” nate a depository in his district or territory and, in 1859, the U.S. have been deposited in the college library.

Senate followed suit for state depositories. The Government “We have maps of Yellowstone, since it’s a national park, and we Printing Office (GPO) was established the following year.

In 1860, and for several decades afterward, the college’s distinc- have census information, in print, dating back to 1860,” she said.

“We also have information on the explorations before the transcontion of being a Federal Depository Library was shared with the tinental railroad went through, so we have John Wesley Powell’s community library, but MC took over its exclusive claim in 1905 maps of the Colorado River. We just keep discovering things like that.” with the construction of its Carnegie Library (now Poling Hall).

Other items include the Warren Commission reports on the Interestingly, one reason that the college’s Hewes Library is open to the community is that it’s a requirement for the general public to assassination of President Kennedy and records from the “War of the Rebellion,” which would have been received right around the have access to the federal documents inside. time that Monmouth first became an FDL. One of the oldest docuThere are approximately 1,350 Federal Depository Libraries ments on hand is an 1834 reprint of the Annals of the Congress throughout the U.S. and its territories, and there is at least one in almost every congressional district. Daw explained that Monmouth is from 1789.

Daw called the value of the collection “almost priceless,” for the considered a “regional” FDL, which means it’s a “selective” depository.

That is in contrast to the Illinois State Library in Springfield, which way it “puts history in the hands” of library patrons. 

The Case of the Vanishing Sword did you ever experience the relief of waking up from a nightmare, only to discover it was just a dream? Susan Harding Press recently did.

Back in 1974, Press and her husband, Fred, used a Civil War sword that had belonged to her great-grandfather, Gen. Abner C. Harding, to cut their wedding cake. The Harding family had donated the precious family heirloom to Monmouth College, because the general was a principal founder of the institution. The arrangement called for the sword to be returned to the family for use at important occasions such as weddings.

When Susan, who lives in Maryland and goes by “Sudi,” contacted the college in 2004 about borrowing the sword for an upcoming wedding, she was shocked to learn—as were college officials—that the sword could not be located in the library archives. This was shortly after an extensive renovation of the library, and after a thorough investigation, the college concluded that the sword had monmouth | winter 2011

probably been stolen during a time when construction caused items to be temporarily relocated.

In 2006, Sudi’s husband launched a personal campaign to find the sword by offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to its return in Civil War publications and media in the Monmouth area but, alas, the trail had apparently gone cold.

Then last spring, just as unexpectedly as the sword had vanished, it suddenly reappeared. History professor and archives curator Stacy Cordery was supervising some reorganization of the archives room when somebody spotted what looked like part of a brown paper bag at the top of ceiling-level cabinet that had been locked.

A ladder was brought and reaching, to the very back of the cabinet, she was able to retrieve a package which contained the long-lost sword.

An email went out immediately to the Presses, who happened to be vacationing in Nevada. They made arrangements to pass

Fred and Sudi Press cut the cake with the Harding sword. Ready to help them enjoy it are alumni director Lucy Kellogg Thompson ’99 and senior development officer Michael Blaesing ’96.

through Monmouth on their return trip home for a glorious reunion.

In gratitude to the college for its safekeeping (albeit a bit too safe) of the heirloom, they brought with them a special cake, which of course was cut with the saber.  campus news

9

Ott returns to MC to serve as chaplain a once-familiar face has been named

MC’s chaplain. The Rev. Dr. Teresa McDowell Ott, who served as MC’s chaplain intern during the 1996-97 academic year, began her duties on campus on Jan. 5.

“After many years without leadership in the areas of religious and spiritual life, Rev. Ott was the college’s first chaplain intern,” said vice president for student life Jacquelyn Condon. “Her work was central to paving the way for the permanent chaplaincy, as her skills with students and her effective approach to her ministry touched our students’ lives and reminded us of the importance of this position. Now, she returns to finish what she began.”

Ott completed her bachelor’s degree at another liberal arts Presbyterian college, Alma, where she majored in Spanish. She

was in the midst of studying for a master’s degree at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary when she accepted the Monmouth internship, a degree she completed in 1998.

Ten years later, Ott received her doctor of ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Ott is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and has served in three churches, most recently at Cameron Presbyterian Church in North Carolina.

“I love working with young adults,” Ott said. “They’re at an exciting time in their lives, growing and exploring and learning what they can be. I enjoy helping young adults discover their gifts and their potential. It’s fun to walk with them on that journey. They ask good questions and they’re thoughtful and creative, so they’ll challenge me, too.”

Ott’s husband, the Rev. Dr. Daniel Ott, will also join the college as a visiting assistant professor. The Otts have two young children. 

De Young honored by Illinois Theatre Association emeritus professor Jim De Young received the 2010 Member’s Award of Honor from the Illinois Theatre Association (ITA) at its recent convention.

The ITA has more than 300 members and includes theatre arts practitioners from the professional ranks, colleges, high schools and elementary schools. Over the past 30 years, De Young served twice on the ITA Board of Directors, representing the College and University Division. In 1996, he received that division’s Outstanding Contribution Award. Shortly after his retirement from active teaching, he became the ITA’s director of advocacy and, for the past three years, his columns have appeared regularly in the ITA’s newsletter.

During his MC career, De Young directed and designed more than 100 plays and was the recipient of the Sears Roebuck Award for Outstanding Teaching and Campus Leadership.

He led the Associated Colleges of the Midwest’s Arts in London program on two occasions and helped found the ACM’s Chicago Arts Program. He was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Summer Fellowships, and his book London Theatre Walks is now in its second edition. 

Correa named VP for enrollment formerly the vice president for enrollment at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., Omar Correa began his duties as MC’s vice president for enrollment management on Oct. 11.

Correa oversees all aspects of enrollment at Monmouth, including admission, financial aid and retention. President Mauri Ditzler addressed Correa’s role when he spoke about the appointment.

“We conducted a national search for this position, and we were thrilled with the high level of achievement of the applicants and, particularly, our finalists,” he said. “Omar certainly brings of wealth of experience in the recruitment of prospective students, which is a major part of this position. What helped set him apart was that he also has a strong background working on the financial aid side of things and with retention initiatives.”

Since 2005, Correa was at Concordia where, under his watch, the college achieved record enrollments. Part of that can be attributed to a 5 percent increase in retention after Correa established Concordia’s office of student success and retention.

From 1999 to 2005, Correa worked at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, including five years as its executive director and vice president for enrollment management.

Correa, also has seven years of experience at his alma mater, Iowa State University, where he studied chemistry, completing his degree in 1994. Two years ago, he completed his master’s degree in higher education administration at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minn. 

Huff named Student Laureate; will speak at 2011 commencement senior Derek Huff was one of approximately 50 students honored by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois in November at the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

Each year, an outstanding senior who exhibits overall excellence in curricular and extracurricular programs is selected from each of the four-year, degreePresident Ditzler congratulates granting institutions of higher Derek Huff for his award. learning in Illinois. The students are awarded a medallion of Lincoln, a certificate of merit and a small stipend and thereby become a Student Laureate.

“Derek Huff ’s contributions to Monmouth College have been many,” said vice president for student life Jacquelyn Condon.

“Chief among them has been his rich involvement in the academic 10

people news

program, whether here on campus as a classics major or studying abroad. In addition, Derek has been a founder of a number of very active and important groups on campus.”

A classics and Latin major, Huff helped create three campus organizations and currently holds leadership positions in two of them. He was a founding member of the new fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, is the founder and co-chair of Students Organized for Drinking Alternatives (SODA) and is president of the Liberal Legion. Huff has been a member of MC’s residence life team for three years, including two as a head resident. He has served as the treasurer of the Alpha Lambda Delta honor society and as a member of the Associated Students of Monmouth College, the student governing body. Huff has also participated in off-campus study programs in Romania and Italy and is a curatorial intern for the James Christie Shields Collection of Art and Antiquities.

As Monmouth’s Lincoln Laureate, he will be asked to give an address to his graduating class at the 2011 commencement.  monmouth | winter 2011

Vivian enjoys his semester as kindergarten professor each semester, Monmouth sends out

approximately 30 student teachers to area schools. Most are up-and-coming teaching prospects, who use the intensive experience to serve as a bridge between their work in MC’s classrooms and being hired by a school district to run a classroom of their own.

That was not the case, however, for the student that the college sent to Monmouth’s Harding Elementary School during the 2009-10 academic year—chair of the educational studies department Craig Vivian.

“For my sabbatical, I taught kindergarten at Harding,” said Vivian. “My goal was to experience that grade. As chair of the department, I thought it was important.”

Vivian taught in the classroom of recently retired Kathy Savino Rickey ’74, who taught for 36 years, including 24 at the kindergarten level.

“I started off doing what a student teacher would do”, said Vivian. I put up bulletin board displays, I worked one-onone with students, I taught lessons.”

Of course, it wasn’t only the students who were learning.

“I’m studying how young children become students,” Vivian explained. “How do they make that transition? What I observed last year is that children quickly take on the role of student. They understand very quickly that it’s a different set of rules and a new experience. They become enamored with the role of student very early, and they’re happy to take on new adventures and learn the rules of a new game. It’s a lot of fun for them.”

As part of Vivian’s study, he plans to track last year’s kindergarten students for six years. He said it will be interesting to

Haywood authors World War II memoir

Van Kirk’s book on teaching has ties to MC

Bremerhaven, a book by

former mc president Bruce Haywood, was

recently published.

“Bremerhaven is a memoir of the two years I spent in that German port town, which was the American army’s gateway to Europe,” said Haywood. “I was the only member of a British intelligence team assigned to work with American intelligence.”

Haywood was MC’s president from 1980-94, after having served 27 years on the faculty of Kenyon College, where he specialized in German language. He was provost there from 1967 to 1980.

“My six years of German and seven years of French got me out of the infantry and into the Intelligence Corps,” explained Haywood, who was raised in England.

“I have called those two years in the corps the basis of my future life, for I was changed from one who thought the only good German was a dead German into one who wished to make German studies his profession. I was given through my American colleagues a vision of freedom and citizenship that England had not granted me. That I am what I am and the life I have lived in the U.S., I owe to my time in Bremerhaven.”

Bremerhaven is available for purchase at Innkeepers in Galesburg and at Olivia’s (formerly Soda Works) in Monmouth. It will soon be available on Lulu, Amazon and Amazon Kindle.  monmouth | winter 2011

a book by communication studies

lecturer Susan Van Kirk was recently published, and it’s appropriate that a former student was part of the process.

The Education of a Teacher: Including Dirty Books and Pointed Looks is a montage of stories covering 40 years of Van Kirk’s teaching career, much of it at Monmouth High School.

The Education of a Teacher is not the first byline for Van Kirk. Shortly after earning her master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois, she began writing on a freelance basis and was hired to write CliffsNotes for books such as The Scarlet Letter and All Quiet on the Western Front. She said that job came in handy because it helped her determine if her students were using her writing in their book reports.

Copying off Van Kirk was not allowed, but Van Kirk used the material her students provided in writing her new book.

“One of my students gave me guitar lessons, and that was the subject of one of the stories in my book—the night I played electric guitar with ZBT’s band,” said Van Kirk.”

Another MC connection to the book is one of Van Kirk’s former students, Darren Jackson ’07, who designed the book’s cover and website. Communication studies lecturer Chris Goble compiled Jackson’s designs into a full-functioning website, which Dan Endthoff ’96, Van Kirk’s nephew, is currently hosting on his server. 

Vivian and Rickey welcome the kindergartners on a field trip to Monmouth College.

see the results of his interviews with the children over the next few years, as they gradually begin to question the rules, or want to learn “a new game.”

“This really helped strengthen our partnership with the schools,” said Vivian. “It was one of the best things I’ve ever done, and it’s probably the best experience in education that I’ve had in the past 10 years.” 

FORUM continued from page 6 Wilhelm said only one person, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, could do it, but “she’s tried that. She’s busy. And she’s something like 20 points behind. It would rip the party apart like nothing you’ve ever seen.”

As for the Republicans’ most likely nominee, Glover made a valid point, and a humorous one, as well.

“In November 2006, who was saying Obama? He wasn’t even a blip on the screen. So who knows? It could be somebody out of—well, not left field—but somebody out of right field.”

Grubbs actually named names, and he put them into groups. He said that Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich would “almost certainly” run, and that Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal wouldn’t. He was skeptical about the chances of Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee running, but then listed five other possible candidates: John Thune, Jim DeMint, Mitch Daniels, Boehner and Ron Paul.

“The Republicans will find somebody from the center—our center,” he added. “It’s going to come down to Florida, Ohio and just a few key states.”

The panelists agreed that there are too many variables to accurately handicap the race at this point. For example, will the Tea Party emerge as a viable third party and steal Republican votes? Will the economy fail to continue its slow rise, thus severely hurting Obama’s chances?

While that was the panelists’ view, the moderator made an outright prediction.

“With 275 electoral votes, Obama beats Romney,” said Johnson, as he concluded the entertaining evening.  —Barry McNamara people news

11

A

PHOTOS: Kent Kriegshauser

STORY / LAYOUT: Jeff Rankin

t many colleges, just getting invited to the president’s house for dinner is a thrill for students, but for MC president Mauri Ditzler the thrill is all about the after-dinner conversation.

Since he arrived at Monmouth five years ago, he has hosted at least 60 dinners—followed, of course, by thoughtful and stimulating dialogue.

First-year students fill their plates at a buffet line, catered by MC’s Dining Services, on the Quinby House back porch.

12

people news

Every Thursday night from September through November, streams of first-year students and the professors who teach their Introduction to Liberal Arts (ILA) seminar course make their way across campus to Quinby House, where they feast on a scrumptious buffet at tables scattered throughout the mansion’s rooms. monmouth | winter 2011

“Liberal arts education is all about teaching them not facts but how to think…”

room and that always puts them at ease.”

Ditzler starts out the Mauri Ditzler conversation by explaining why ILA is Monmouth’s signature course and what makes it different from courses their high school friends at other colleges are taking. He said that early in the semester students are less familiar with the liberal arts concept and have to be drawn into conversation, but that groups visiting in Also invited to each dinner November have a strong is a college vice president, grasp of the liberal arts and and President Ditzler stops are extremely talkative. briefly at each table to “Liberal arts education extend greetings. is all about teaching them “Every week we host two not facts but how to think,” sections of the course, each Ditzler said. “It’s a model of of which has 16 to 17 learning we want them to students,” Ditzler explained. learn to apply to all “By the time November courses, and from these rolls around, virtually every remarkable discussions I member of that year’s get a sense that we are Ditzler enjoys engaging one-on-one with students as he visits each table. entering class will have making a real impact. enjoyed an evening of like most Victorian homes has high “I leave meetings fellowship and discussion.” ceilings but not a lot of room for exhilarated,” he observed. “The Before dinner there is a half-hour furniture. “Students are usually hesitant marvelous stories I learn from young chat in which students introduce to sit on the floor,” Ditzler said, “so I people inspire me to work harder for themselves and tell a story. Ditzler asks plop down right in the middle of the the college.”  them what their first weeks at college have been like and then asks them to speculate what they will talk about at their 50th reunion. “I enjoy it because I find out what it’s like to be a freshman,” he said. “Things like being in the shower when a fire alarm goes off or enduring two-a-days in 90-degree temperatures.”

Ditzler is always surprised by some responses—particularly from students coming from urban areas. “They often marvel at things we think are no big deal,” he said. “Sometimes it’s something as simple as riding a bike or being able to look up at the stars at night.”

When the dishes are cleared away, the guests adjourn to the parlor, which The gracious host shares a moment of levity with students during the dessert course. monmouth | winter 2011

people news

13

CELEBRATING THE SCIENCES

As a new center for the sciences and business comes ever closer to reality on the

Monmouth campus, a new generation of talented science faculty is rapidly assuming the mantle recently worn by such veteran professors as Nieman, Kieft and Gebauer in chemistry, Buchholz and Allison in biology, Skov and Ambrose in physics, Hastings in psychology, and Welch in math.

 Decades from now, gray-haired Scots may instead be reverently reciting names like Baldwin and Bond, Mayfield and Moore, or Sostarecz and Sturgeon, just to name a few of the newer crop of academicians.

 When Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center opened in 1970, it was considered thoroughly modern—the ancient McMichael Science Hall having long since lost its relevancy as a teaching facility. Now, four decades later, the same can be said about “HT.” Gone are the days when each scientific discipline had its own dedicated floor; when chemistry majors rarely interacted with psychology majors; or, for that matter, when science majors had little contact with business majors.



With the dawn of the Internet, the global economy, genetic cloning and the Green Revolution, all the old rules have changed. Students of today will be expected to be conversant in multiple technologies, to assimilate new information at a lighting pace, to switch careers at a moment’s notice and to be conscientious stewards of their environment—all skills that can best be learned in a liberal arts college like Monmouth.

 It was their liberal arts education that allowed earlier generations of Monmouth graduates to continue to have relevant careers in science. The lessons they learned in Haldeman-Thiessen were less about modern technology than they were about how to think, reason, hypothesize and design useful experiments.

 In this issue we pay tribute to some Monmouth alumni who are leaders in the world of science—many of whom have succeeded because of their ability to adapt and expand their fields of expertise. We also take a look at some of today’s students and faculty, and the exciting technology they are embracing—equipment and concepts that to their parents’ generation was pure science fiction.

14

scientific tradition

monmouth | winter 2011

Science prof’s legacy lives on through summer research program the absence of the late Doc Kieft is felt on the monmouth college campus every day, but the legacy of the beloved chemistry professor who died in 2009 lives on in many ways, including an intensive research experience that five students enjoyed last summer.

The 10-week program was funded not only through the Richard “Doc” Kieft Summer Richard “Doc” Kieft Research Program, but also through the Jean Cheng Go Endowment and funds from assistant professor of chemistry Brad Sturgeon’s Research Corporation grant.

“In conversations with Doc in the past years, he always stressed the importance of students getting hands-on experience and really thinking about chemistry,” said assistant professor of chemistry Audra Sostarecz.

In addition to working on their research projects with Sturgeon, Sostarecz and assistant professor of chemistry Eric Todd, the students traveled to the University of Iowa to use some of its analytical instrumentation. They also took a trip to Abbott Labs in Chicago, where senior Angie Morris was doing her research internship. The latter trip was sponsored by Paul David ’84, who is the associate director of global analytical research and development at Abbott.

“This was an amazing opportunity for the students to see what it is like to work in an industrial research setting in the area of pharmaceuticals,” said Sostarecz.

Abbott employs both chemistry and biology majors, and Sostarecz said the company stressed the importance of their future employees having experience working with analytical instrumentation.

“Attending small liberal arts colleges like Monmouth affords students the opportunity to work hands-on with top-of-the-line instrumentation,” she said.

Sostarecz said the remainder of her summer was spent mentoring one of her research students, Holly Morris, on a project involving the use of synthetic peptides in cystic fibrosis therapy.

“I enjoyed summer research because I was able to accomplish a lot of research on a day-to-day basis, as opposed to the usual three-hour sessions done during the school year,” said Morris, who is Angie’s twin sister.

“I gained a lot of troubleshooting skills with our equipment and learned different ways to analyze and interpret data and how to research and read scientific literature better.”

Senior Michelle Tank agreed.

“I enjoyed working in a relaxed lab atmosphere and at my own pace. I learned how to problem solve pretty quickly because monmouth | winter 2011

Holly Morris, Dominic Savino and Michelle Tank were three of the five students who participated in an intensive 10-week research program at MC last summer. In back are chemistry faculty members Brad Sturgeon, Audra Sostarecz and Eric Todd.

“I am most excited about the summer research program because it provides students an immersive experience that emulates what it is like to be a chemist in industry or graduate school.”

— Eric Todd, assistant professor of chemistry things often didn’t go the way we had planned, and we had to figure out how to make it work. It was a great overall experience, and I’m very glad I got the chance to do it.”

Tank and classmate Charrina Crawford worked on separate projects involving fluoroquinones and polyamides.

“In reality, though, they did work on both projects, which allowed them to work collaboratively and to experience the widest range of science,” said Todd. “By the end of the summer Michelle took more ownership of the fluoroquinone project and Charrina took ownership of the polyamide project, which she is continuing to work on and will be presenting at the national American Chemical Society meeting.”

The fluoroquinones are also going to be investigated by students in Sturgeon’s group, adding another interdisciplinary dimension to the summer projects.

“I am most excited about the summer research program because it provides stu-

dents an immersive experience that emulates what it is like to be a chemist in industry or graduate school,” said Todd.

“Students taking part in summer research not only learn chemistry but contribute to scientific knowledge, building on previous results and making discoveries that will themselves be built on by future students.”

Also participating in the summer research were senior Dominic Savino and junior Ramon Ceja. All of the students working in the three chemistry faculty labs this summer also engaged in a research group meeting at which they discussed the same paper, thus bringing together all aspects of each individual research project.

“The students commented how they enjoyed hearing the faculty talk about the paper while we all ate pizza,” said Sostarecz.

“It is nice for students to see faculty in this casual, yet educational, setting.”

It was a scene that surely would have made Doc Kieft proud.  scientific tradition

15

Assistant professor of math and computer science Michael Sostarecz (center) prepares to assist Brandon Kemerling (left) and Jared Johnson in capturing their golf shots.

High-speed camera captures both images and interdisciplinary imagination

By Barry McNamara Layout by Jeff Rankin to be fully equipped with the right clubs and accessories for an important round of golf, the cost can easily top $1,000.

For the two members of Monmouth College’s golf team who are working with assistant professor Michael Sostarecz, that’s just a drop in the bucket. The new science equipment they’re using for their current project carries a much loftier price tag.

“The entire camera set up—lights, camera, tripod, software, lenses—is right around $30,000,” said Sostarecz. “The trustees were gracious enough to provide some new equipment for the new science building, but before the building gets here.”

Brandon Kemerling, a sophomore physics major, and Jared Johnson, a freshman who is studying physics and mathematics, chose the project, in part, because it will help them athletically, as well as academically.

“This is like all the Sports Science shows on ESPN,” said Johnson. “That’s where we got the idea for this.”

16

scientific tradition

“Even just looking at this helps you work on your swing,” added Kemerling.

What the students are looking at are tiny snippets of videos of themselves striking a golf ball. “Tiny” is the operative word since, at up to 15,000 frames per second, there is only so much data that the camera can store.

“It stores memory like a treadmill,” Sostarecz explained. “It captures the previous two seconds of data, but the data before that rolls off.”

Longer videos can be stored on a computer, but those also require a great deal of memory.

For example, recording Kemerling in action from backswing to follow through used 3 gigabytes.

“It’s a delicate balance between the resolution, how fast you Kemerling takes a swing want to go, how long while the high-speed you want to record, camera records what the and the light,” said naked eye cannot see. The Sostarecz. “We’ve hard shell of the golf ball dramatically flattens during often sacrificed light impact with the head of to speed up the shutthe club. ter and get sharper images. If the shutter’s too slow, the ball will be blurry.”

The high-speed camera arrived on Oct. 31 and, Sostarecz explained, “The golf ball was one of the first projects we worked on. The way a hard object like that gets flattened is eye-opening.”

In the 15,000-frame-per-second sequence, the impact was captured between eight frames, meaning the club and the ball were together for about 1/2,000th of a second.

By converting pixels to units of distance, Johnson and Kemerling are able to make a

variety of calculations, including club head speed and velocity of the golf ball at impact.

Johnson learned that the ball speed coming off his club his 143 miles per hour, while Kemerling used his 6-foot-5 frame to generate a 164-mph effort. Both players expressed an interest in being re-tested during the heart of their spring season.

“What they’re doing involves modeling, calculus, physics and differential equations,” said Sostarecz. “It’s an interdisciplinary project.”

“This project has helped me think outside of the box,” said Johnson. “I now understand different ways to calculate pretty much whatever I want to calculate. This project has helped me become more creative in my thinking towards physics and mathematics.”

“I also got some ideas for future projects, possibly hitting a golf ball into glass to observe it at high speed,” added Kemerling.

It’s not only the golfers who are experimenting with the camera, which Sostarecz said features the “same software that is used for crash tests and how air bags deploy.”

By using particle trackers (think the dots on athletes when they are being modeled for video games), Sostarecz was able to conduct a simple experiment shooting balls out of a launcher.

“A solid plastic sphere had the classic parabolic flight,” he said. “Then we shot a styrofoam ball, which is light enough that drag matters. Acceleration is no longer constant, and the sphere fell short of the parabolic arc.”

Sostarecz’s students will be able to compare their mathematical predictions of the projectile motion with data from these experimental monmouth | winter 2011

images.

With senior physics and mathematics major Tom Danielson, Sostarecz also used the camera to capture what happens when a ball is dropped The camera captures into a viscoelastic colors of stress when a sphere is dropped into fluid. a beaker of liquid.

“You can see the colors of stress in the fluid,” he explained. “Different wavelengths of light will refract differently.”

If you think Sostarecz is pleased to have such a diverse teaching tool at his disposal, you’d be “right on.”

“This is way cool,” he said of the camera.

“It can be used in a number of interdisciplinary applications. Being able to visualize life in slow motion will give our students new perspectives in the world around them.”

As advertisements for the NCAA often say, Johnson and Kemerling will probably “go pro” in a field other than sports. While they might not earn a paycheck from playing golf, the sport could still be a part of their careers.

“I want to go into some sort of engineering,” said Kemerling. “If I could tie that to possibly designing golf clubs, that would be my dream job. Analyzing golf swings with the high-speed camera—using equations studied in physics— would be pretty cool, too.”

“I hope to become involved in product technology for a golf company or an athletic company,” said Johnson. “I would like to work for Titleist, Callaway, Nike or Adidas.”

In the meantime, if their high-speed camera project helps improve their golf game, too, that wouldn’t be a bad thing. After all, both Kemerling and Johnson have their sights set on dethroning the current Midwest Conference men’s golf champ. That just happens to be another student they pass in the hallways of the Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center, physics major and math minor Rodney Clayton. 

monmouth | winter 2011

Sciences acquire some fancy tools for their toolbox monmouth college recently

authorized the purchase of $225,000 worth of new science equipment to enhance and expand educational and research opportunities in biology, chemistry, physics, physical education, mathematics and computer science.

Purchases include a GC mass spectrometer, a radiation shield, a hand-held photosynthesis meter and a high-speed color digital camera, as well as smaller accessories and pieces of equipment.

Associate professor of biology Tim Tibbetts said that his department will soon be in possession of the photosynthesis meter, which will allow faculty and students to measure the rate of photosynthesis in the field.

Senior environmental science major Colleen Zumpf will use the new equipment to measure photosynthetic rates on plum trees receiving an organic fertilizer versus a control group of plums at the college’s LeSuer Nature Preserve, thus testing claims made by the fertilizer company. It will also be used in Tibbetts’ research on the physiology of invasive plant species and in classes to demonstrate the effects of light wavelengths on photosynthetic rates.

The chemistry department will receive a gas chromatography (GC) with mass spectrometry (MS) detector (familiarly known as a GC/MS), a piece of equipment that will open many research doors for students and faculty.

“This new instrument will be a very welcome addition to our department,” said assistant professor of chemistry Brad Sturgeon. “Most colleges our size have a GC/MS.” The GC/MS will analyze both liquid and gas samples. For example, if a chemical (or drug) were placed in a drink, students could analyze the sample and identify the compound. Students could test a $100 bill, washing it with a small amount of ethanol and analyzing the wash to detect substances on its surface. Also, using the instrument’s gas sampling port, students will be able to analyze the chemical compounds responsible for odors from foods and perfumes. The GC/MS is the device that often first appears in research sequences on the television show “CSI” as the characters seek to identify chemical substances.

David Timmerman, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, was impressed that the faculty in the science departments worked together to determine the best use of funds.

From left, assistant professor of chemistry Brad Sturgeon, lab coordinator Steve Distin and Adam Keil, senior scientist for ICx Technologies, show off the GC/MS that was installed last fall.

“They didn’t simply divide up the funds,” he said. “They talked about what would be most beneficial. It was definitely a collaborate process … We were looking at equipment that would be easily portable to the new facility (the proposed center for the sciences and business) to further strengthen the work of faculty and students in science education.”

The physics department will soon receive the concrete bricks and borated high density polyethylene sheets required to build a concrete shield to enclose the department’s neutron generator. The shield will protect students and the public from exposure to radiation, enabling students and faculty to safely conduct a wide array of experiments.

The department has also purchased a portable neutron monitor, which enables students and faculty to measure the exposure to neutrons. A second piece of equipment, the portable scintillator, measures the exposure to gamma and X-rays.

Both provide necessary safety features in the lab and enable faculty and students to engage in experiments related to radiation exposure and shielding.

The department has also purchased digital neutron and gamma sensitive dosimeters, which will be worn by anyone who comes into the physics lab, providing a real-time measurement of the radiation dose the individual is receiving. Faculty and students can also use them to measure exposure to radiation in a wide range of experiments.

“This equipment is all about building a safe lab and doing interesting and substantive experiments in it,” explained physics professor Chris Fasano.  —Barry McNamara scientific tradition

17

President Barack Obama poses with Presidential Awardees for Excellence in Mentoring in the White House Jan. 6, 2010. Kennedy Reed is standing to Obama’s left. Off i c i a l W h i t e H o u s e P h oto b y S a m a n t h a A p p l e to n

From out of the rubble, a scientist is born the newest inductee into Monmouth

College’s Hall of Achievement is connected to at least three U.S. presidents.

Dr. Kennedy Reed ’67 shares the name of a famous president (more on that below), and his most recent connection made him a clear choice to receive the highest honor that Monmouth bestows upon its graduates. Reed, a theoretical physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was named by President Obama in 2009 as a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering Mentoring.

Some aspects of Reed’s youth might call to mind another president, Abraham Lincoln, although Reed lived an urban version of Honest Abe’s log cabin story.

When he was two years old, Reed’s family moved from Memphis, Tenn., to Chicago, and eventually settled in the Ida B. Wells housing project on the south side of the city. Although he attended school, Reed’s experience with self-education had some similarities to Lincoln’s.

Reed traces his interest in science back to a time when the city began tearing down some of the slum dwellings that surrounded the projects in order to build new high-rise housing projects. He and his friends played in the rubble, making forts and throwing dirt balls and rocks at each other.

“We started noticing that some of the

18

scientific tradition

rocks dug up for the new construction were really pretty or very interesting, and we started collecting them,” Reed said.

He became interested in chemistry because it was useful for identifying the rocks and learning what they were made of and, as his interest grew, he began building a laboratory in his room, using lunch money to buy chemicals and equipment.

Reed’s interest in geology led to an interest in astronomy, and he saved enough money to buy a small telescope.

He also spent a lot of time in the public libraries and in school libraries, “reading anything I could find about geology, chemistry and astronomy, and about physics, which I became interested in while studying astronomy.”

Reed attended Chicago’s Tilden Technical High School, which was oriented to science and engineering, and it was there that he first learned about Monmouth.

“A school counselor got word of a scholarship competition there, and he arranged for me and another student to go to Monmouth and take the scholarship tests.”

Reed won one of the six scholarships, which entitled him to full tuition at Monmouth. Asked what he thought of the campus when he first arrived to compete for the scholarship, Reed replied, “I had two impressions. One was that Monmouth was very different from the urban area where I lived. That was very attractive—to be able to be outside and see grass and trees, not just cement. Also, I was impressed by some of the professors we met. I remember Dr. [Garrett] Thiessen, and I also remember a biology professor [John Ketterer] spoke to our group that day. They both seemed so learned and scholarly, and I remember

By Barry McNamara

thinking that I would like to go to a school like that.”

Because he had learned so much on his own, Reed tested out of freshman-level chemistry. That would prove to be chemistry’s loss and physics’ gain.

“I was in upper-level chemistry classes right away, but I wasn’t ready for them, discipline-wise,” he said.

He later switched his major to physics, and he also appreciated other academic opportunities at Monmouth.

“I really enjoyed my liberal arts classes, too,” said Reed, who was also involved in classical piano. “The courses in history, English and philosophy were very appealing to me. And I enjoyed the monthly convocations. They brought in wonderful speakers. It was a real education.”

There were also memorable moments outside the classroom—none of them more important to Reed than a chance encounter in the cafeteria.

“I was behind her in line one day,” he said of Jane Hensleigh Reed ’69, his wife of 43 years.

Jane remembers the meeting, too.

“I was very aware of Kennedy at that time,” she said. “I knew he was standing behind me, and I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to say something to him.’”

She eventually turned and asked him a question related to an art project she was working on and—in keeping with the liberal arts theme—you could either say “the rest was history” or “they had good chemistry.”

Jane completed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of IllinoisChicago, then earned her master’s degree and taught high school physics and chemistry. The Reeds now have two adult children.

A simple cafeteria encounter turned into monmouth | winter 2011

a major moment in Reed’s life, and so did a simple trip to the barbershop in town. It’s not a proud moment in the city’s history, but Reed was refused service when he tried to get his hair cut in Monmouth.

“I didn’t have a car, and I couldn’t drive anyway, so it was very difficult for me to get to Galesburg where there was a black barber,” he explained.

College and city officials became involved, and Reed recalls a public meeting in which he sat at a table facing five or six barbers.

Local media reported on the issue, and the national press soon picked up the story.

Eventually, one of the barbers, who was an ex-convict, agreed to cut Reed’s hair.

“It was never my intention to be an activist,” said Reed. “All I wanted was a haircut.”

Reed also recalled that a few students told him that on Nov. 22, 1963, when they first heard that “Kennedy” had been shot, they had feared it was Reed who had been fired upon because of the barbershop controversy.

If you do the math, you’ll realize that Reed was not named for JFK. He was, however, named for the president’s father.

“I was the first baby born in a hospital in Memphis that had been funded by Joseph Kennedy,” he explained. “I’ve been told that the nurses convinced my mother that ‘Kennedy’ would be a good name for me.”

After earning a Ph.D in theoretical physics at the University of Nebraska, Reed joined the physics faculty at Morehouse College, a four-year liberal arts college in Atlanta. He later became connected with a group at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that was engaged in research closely related to his Ph.D. thesis. He took a leave of absence from his faculty position to work at LLNL, and it worked out that he has been there ever since.

While continuing his research, Reed now has administrative responsibilities and serves on committees for such agencies as the National Academy of Science, the National Science Foundation and the American Physical Society.

While visiting Monmouth during Homecoming week, he presented a lecture in the physics department on his research involving atomic collisions in high temperature plasmas and another talk for all science students titled “Physics in Africa.”

Reed has been a leading advocate for increasing opportunities for minority students and professionals in the sciences and has created several national programs, including the National Physical Science Consortium. His work to encourage minority students in science disciplines and his international scientific activities have led to high-level recognition, such as the Presidential Award and the American Physics Society’s John Wheatley Award. monmouth | winter 2011

Kruse focusing attention—and radiation—on cancer By Melissa Bankes ’11 president mauri ditzler believes that today’s Monmouth College students will be called upon to solve tomorrow’s problems, and that the abundant natural resources of the Midwest will be key to feeding the world and supplying it with energy.

While the Midwest region may very well provide those solutions, another of the world’s largest problems—curing cancer—is looking for a solution from any part of the world, and one MC graduate is on the frontline of that battle.

A summa cum laude physics graduate at Monmouth, Jon Kruse ’92 has focused his clinical and research endeavors on intensity modulated radiation therapy. He is currently developing a new facility at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., which will use computer optimization routines to develop complex X-ray treatment plans to deliver high radiation doses to tumors while sparing nearby healthy organs.

Kruse, who joined the clinic as a research fellow in 1999 after receiving his Ph.D. from Michigan State University, said that his time at Monmouth influenced his choice of graduate school.

“The summer after my sophomore year, I was asking around for recommendation letters for summer research programs,” he recalled. “When I asked Professor (Rajkumar) Ambrose, he suggested the research internship at Michigan State University. I ended up going there and working in nuclear physics, and I fell in love.”

When he returned to MSU for graduate school, he even had the same adviser from his summer study as his thesis adviser. Upon graduation, he was named the Sherwood K. Haynes Outstanding Graduate Student in Physics or Astrophysics.

At Monmouth, Kruse also furthered his off-campus experiences with a semester at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. In addition to all of these horizonbroadening research opportunities, Kruse found that his classroom preparation at Monmouth, especially in writing, put him ahead of the other students in his graduate program.

“From the first class freshman year, all the way through senior year, there was always writing involved in any of the work I did,” said Kruse, the 2004 recipient of Monmouth College’s Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. “To be a scientist, you need to be able to think critically about your surroundings as well as other people’s writing.”

Kruse’s writing talents were rewarded in 2000, when his manuscript Guide to Clinical Use of Electronic Portal Imaging, written with Michael Herman and Chris Hagness, was named best radiation oncology physics paper in the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics.

Kruse said that a welcoming campus atmosphere and a generous scholarship brought him to campus. He took advantage of a wealth of involvement opportunities, including hosting his own radio show, being on the soccer and tennis teams, and joining the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

“What I remember about Monmouth is that everyone was encouraged to participate in anything that they had an interest in,” he said. “I don’t think that is always the case at other schools. Students were really involved at Monmouth.”

Such involvement opportunities helped prepare him for his career.

“There was a science major seminar on Friday afternoons,” Kruse recalled. The students listened to presentations about current research methods and topics, followed by a discussion. The seminar introduced Kruse and many other students to the application of critical thinking in the field of scientific research. He remembers being impressed by physics professor Charles Skov’s ability to look deeper into the issues presented and to ask more thoughtful questions.

“Later in graduate school, I would find myself thinking back to those seminars as I applied those skills to my own work,” he said.

That work—computer optimization routines—doesn’t prevent cancer from occurring.

It does, however, offer promising potential for a cure, and it’s comforting to know that critical thinkers like Dr. Jon Kruse are on the case.  scientific tradition

19

Businessman, scientist share many distinctions When Monmouth College invited distinguished alumni Eugene Turner ’67 and Robert Riley ’71 to campus last year, it was no accident that they visited together. By Barry McNamara “their visit to my Citizenship and Ecology classes illustrated

what liberal arts graduates should look like,” said associate professor of biology Tim Tibbetts.

In addition to that shared distinction, the pair seems to have almost as many coincidental connections as the similarities that have famously been drawn between Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy.

Both men shared an academic year on campus (1966-67) and studied at Drake University following their graduation. Riley was a philosophy major who is now heavily involved in science, while Turner approaches his lifework in the sciences from a very philosophical point of view.

The Mississippi River is also a common theme in both of their lives. Turner came to Monmouth, which is located just 15 miles from the “Big Muddy,” from Connecticut, and now lives and works in Louisiana near the mouth of the river. Riley came to MC from Iowa and has since returned there. Part of his professional and personal interests now focus on protecting the waters that eventually flow into the Mississippi.

In addition to serving as president and CEO of Des Moines, Iowa-based Feed Energy Company, Riley is heavily involved in policies of water conservation and water quality, serving on nine different boards, of which he chairs three. Among them are the Iowa Environmental Council, Water for Iowans, the Nature Conservancy, Whiterock Conservancy and the Des Moines Water Works.

Not long ago, Riley’s hometown of Des Moines was forced to install the world’s largest nitrate removal system to help avoid a major health risk.

“There were 150 tons of nitrogen going by our plant every day,” he said, adding of Turner, “That ends up down in his neck of the woods … We need to clean up our act. Our rivers have become sewers.”

Turner, a faculty member in the department of oceanography and coastal science at Louisiana State University, is also director of LSU’s Coastal Ecology Institute.

“I have one foot in coastal wetlands and one foot in coastal waters in my role as a faculty member,” said Turner, who has been referred to as “a leading wetland scientist.”

Turner and his wife, Nancy Rabalais, who is another well-known coastal researcher, shared the 1999 Blasker Award for their scientific research on the ecological relationships between the water quality in the Mississippi River watershed and the low-oxygen zone found off the Louisiana coast each year. The zone is approximately the size of New Jersey. The $250,000 award was, at the time, the largest international juried award for science and engineering.

Turner also received the National Wetland Award in 1998. His research showed the relationship between wetlands loss and reduced commercial shrimp harvests.

“It was one of the first works to quantify the economic value of coastal wetlands,” read the announcement of the award. “His research has focused on science-based, cost-effective management strategies for wetlands restoration.”

College officials viewed both men as role models who illustrate the important connections between business and science and that Monmouth has had—and plans to continue to have—an interest and an influence in both disciplines.

20

scientific tradition

Eugene Turner (left) makes a point during one of the Citizenship and Ecology class sessions that he and Robert Riley attended on their visit to campus during the 2009-10 academic year.

“Both Mr. Riley and Mr. Turner greatly contributed to the spirit of the college’s Alumni Distinguished Visitors Program,” said senior development officer Steve Bloomer ’83, who coordinated their visit.

“The central theme of their open forum and classroom presentations focused on sustainable clean water, energy sources, food supplies and community leadership. All of these issues address critical challenges of our times.”

“Eugene has had a very successful science career studying the Gulf of Mexico aquatic system and how practices along the Mississippi River affect it,” said Tibbetts. “Bob turned a philosophy degree and his liberal arts training into a very successful entrepreneurship in the animal feed business. Both are critically interested in how regional actions in the Midwest have national and international consequences, and what that means for active and informed citizenship. And, both were grateful for the chance to communicate about their passions to Monmouth students.”

Perhaps most important to those students, Turner and Riley are connected by the way their stories show that it’s possible to arrive on campus and not have all the answers right away; that it sometimes takes a while to develop as students and, ultimately, as professionals.

“I wasn’t the most applied student for my first two years,” admitted Turner. “Monmouth College had great patience.”

Turner said a breakthrough moment for him occurred when he had the opportunity to spend part of his summer break in Virginia.

“I visited epileptic children, and I got socially engaged,” he explained. “It fired me up.”

Back on campus, Turner credited MC biology professors David Allison, John Ketterer, Ben Cooksey and Bob Buchholz for allowing him to “try things out and find the right combination. They made it fun.”

After serving in the Peace Corps, he went to Drake for his master’s degree in biology.

“It was easier than Monmouth,” said Turner. “I wasn’t studying on Friday nights anymore. I had become a better student.”

Turner then enrolled at the University of Georgia, where he received his Ph.D. in oceanography. monmouth | winter 2011

Riley came to Monmouth and dabbled in everything but science and business, it seems. In fact, the only part of his education that went according to plan was “growing up.”

“My older sister was the first to go to college, and I watched her go through all sorts of maturation,” he recalled.

When it came time to pick his own school, Riley wasn’t choosy.

“Monmouth said, ‘If you’ll apply here, we’ll accept you.’ My search was over. I went thinking I could always transfer, but once I got on campus, that never entered my mind. This is a great college.”

While setting out on a course that he thought would lead him to law school, Riley majored in philosophy and minored in English.

Like Turner, an off-campus experience triggered a switch in his development.

“I remember the world view I got from Monmouth and from traveling in Europe in May of my junior year,” he said.

Following graduation, Riley attended Drake for two years (Turner was long gone, having earned his master’s degree in 1969), then worked at National Byproducts Co. His background in the rendering business—“We used everything but the squeal,” he quipped—gave him a basic knowledge of rendering byproducts from animal fats.

In the mid-1980s, when Feed Energy was up for sale, he said he “did about six months of spade work to figure out what could be done with it and then took the plunge.”

For perhaps the first time since May of 1967, Eugene Turner and Robert Riley were together on the Monmouth College campus. Their visit “illustrated what liberal arts graduates should look like,” said associate professor of biology Tim Tibbetts.

What’s he’s done with it is create an agribusiness firm primarily engaged in processing soybean oil co-products for use in feed, agronomy, dust control, fuel, industrial and fertilizer applications.

The company’s fatty acid feed ingredients are consumed by about 35 million of Iowa’s 52 million egg-laying hens, and by substantial portions of Iowa’s 19 million hogs and 4 million cattle.

When Riley bought the company in 1986, “it was a blending company that took different types of fatty acids and put them together,” he told The Des Moines Business Record. “We put a lot of effort into sophisticating that process and finding out what our products did when we fed them to an animal, what they did when we sprayed them on a crop, or put them on coal, or used them for dust control. We’re more on the technical side of figuring out what these products can do, and have historically done that, rather than saying, ‘We know you can sell this stuff if you put it in a truck and ship it out.’”

The company’s motto—“Real Science and Solutions …

Always!”—might not appear to jibe with Riley’s undergraduate studies but, make no mistake, he knows his science. He recently monmouth | winter 2011

told a reporter that he read voraciously about oils, additives and processes to get up to speed.

“For years, about the only things I read were scientific journals.

It was fascinating to me, and maybe because I didn’t have the academic background, I was able to absorb more new information.”

In 2010, Ernst & Young named Riley a finalist for its Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Along with receiving business recognition, he’s developed a reputation for walking and talking with environmentalists who might otherwise view him as the enemy.

Turner also delivered some interesting observations in a dialogue with a reporter, who interviewed him for an article in the journal Estuaries and Coasts. He referenced philosophers such as Bacon and Descartes as he described the difference between a knowledge-based world view (KBWV) and an ignorance-based world view (IBWV).

In a recent article in the journal, Turner had argued that three historic coastal land uses in Louisiana—agricultural impoundment, marsh management, and dredging— have all led to catastrophic ecological problems because of their reliance on a knowledge-based world view.

He wrote, “The intellectual landscape is flattened, the introduction of new ideas is impeded, monitoring and adaptive management is marginalized, risky behaviors continue and social learning is restricted.”

In his discussion of world views with the reporter, he said, “The KBWV is not so worried about what is not known, but how to apply what is known in the right way. The IBWV, in contrast, emphasizes what we do not know, assumes that it is a large proportion of what might be known, and that there is much that will not be known. The IBWV, therefore, actively seeks new knowledge.”

He concluded, “The very nature of the IBWV is that we learn what not to do, and modify accordingly. The success of projects based on a IBWV do not often reveal the process leading to progress, which is a learning process. The failures are not ‘good copy’ and can be misunderstood when written up in the local paper as wasted money, when the truth is that a lot can be learned from unexpected outcomes.”

Predictably, Turner has been in the news since his visit to Monmouth, as his region attempts to recover from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. For almost three months, the leak from the April 2010 explosion put 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Some made its way into the marsh.

Turner is part of a team of LSU researchers who are analyzing the environmental stresses to the marsh. The ultimate goal, he said, is to design a way to measure how the marsh responds to conditions out of the ordinary.

Turner visited about three dozen marsh areas in May, and a similar number in September. “It looked to me that the edge had eroded already,” he said.

That’s a concern because if the edge erodes before the new grass can grow back, that takes away the tougher edge protection for interior marsh, which will only add to current coastal land loss, he explained.

More than a thousand miles away, Riley also spoke about “unintended consequences” in the quest for food and fuel.

“There will be unintended consequences of the ethanol and biodiesel industries to deal with. It is rocket science. … I think the nuances and the complexity of the renewable fuels industry requires much more thoughtful and intentional actions by industry leaders. … My premise is that the stakeholders involved are dealing with individual market components and not connecting the dots.”

And that’s yet another connection between Eugene Turner and Robert Riley. The two leaders in their fields know that much work still needs to be done to protect the planet from those who inhabit it.  scientific tradition

21

‘Women in Science’ now in law, education, too

By Barry McNamara

at one time in their lives, Amy

Manning ’89, Jean Peters Witty ’88 and Sherri Williams ’88 wanted to be, respectively, a

doctor, a professor and an “animal doctor.”

Only Williams is still on that long-agoimagined career path, but all three Monmouth College biology majors are enjoying success in their professions. They also enjoyed a return to their alma mater last spring as the stars of a “Women in Science Conference.”

They visited with women science majors and other students and attended a Science Seminar session, where they spoke about their backgrounds and answered questions.

Manning, who lives in Elmhurst, Ill., is a Witty partner with Chicagobased McGuireWoods, while Witty, a past winner of MC’s Distinguished Young Alumnus Award, is a high school chemistry teacher at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Ill. Williams is a veterinarian in Divernon, Ill. “They are very bright, energetic and inspiring women,” said faculty member Marta Tucker. “They have in common the science background, but followed different career paths. All of them have furthered their education and have a very strong sense of core values.”

Not only did they further their education, but they did so at prestigious schools.

Manning earned her J.D. at the University of Chicago Law School. Witty received her master’s degree in neurobiology and physiology at Northwestern University and earned her Ph.D. in cell biology and anatomy at Vanderbilt University. Williams, who completed her master’s degree at Sangamon State University while working full-time as a researcher at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, earned her doctorate of veterinary medicine in 1997 from University of Illinois.

As they recalled their time at Monmouth, another common theme emerged—the relationships they made with faculty.

“We were all in the same era, and all influenced by the same professors,” said Witty. “One of the most important things to me, looking back, was the strong relationships I was able to build with the faculty here … not only the science faculty,” but others, including [religion professor] Stafford Weeks.

She added, “It was amazing to me that faculty would get to know me so well and

22

scientific tradition

care about the things that I was thinking about and engage me in intellectual conversations.

Manning credited being at ease with Monmouth’s faculty for opening the doors for future interactions.

“The fact that you can go to a professor’s house and have a seminar is a really unique opportunity,” she said. “It gives

you a certain maturity about dealing with people. I found that I felt comfortable in going to my very prestigious law professors Manning at the University of Chicago and talking to them about my own ideas or questions because I had learned those skills at a place where that happened in daily life.”

Literally from Day One, Williams was impressed by how easy it was to talk to faculty and staff.

“On the way home from a visit to Coe College, we stopped by Monmouth,” she said of how her college decision came about.

“The main thing that made me say, ‘Wow, I really want to go here,’ is it was just so friendly. You walk down the sidewalk and people say ‘Hi.’ And then when I started to learn a little bit more, and they took to me to the HT building, I saw the facilities that were available there, and I was hooked.”

The hook sank even deeper when she realized she could get a well-rounded education.

“I went and talked with one of the coaches,” said Williams, who was a member of Kappa Delta and participated in volleyball and softball, which were both coached at the time by Kathy Wagoner. “I could combine everything and have a science program, but yet also keep myself entertained. I have to keep busy all the time.”

Manning agreed that not being limited to studies and perhaps just a single outside

activity was a big advantage of her Monmouth education.

“The thing that was really special about Monmouth was that you could do lots of different types of activities and have many opportunities for leadership,” said Manning, whose activities included music, theatre, Kappa Kappa Gamma and student government. “The skills that came from that have been very helpful in my career.”

Witty, who has many family connections to Williams Monmouth and recalls sledding on the Wallace Hall hill as a child, found family at Monmouth she’d never known— sisters.

“It was a way to get to know a lot of girls,” she said of her involvement with KKG. “There were 19 in my pledge class.

I’d never been a sister before.”

All three spoke of their career decisions.

For Williams, it came very early, and she never wavered.

“I’ve known since kindergarten that I wanted to be a vet,” she said. “When I was in junior high, our local vet asked me if I wanted to help him. Once I did, it was hook, line and sinker.”

Since 2007, Williams has been involved with an emergency medicine clinic for dogs and cats.

“It’s something new every day that walks in the door, which is why I love the job.”

Her passion for animals was clearly evident as she described the highs and lows.

“Sometimes, they put you on this pedestal. ‘You saved my animal. I’m so grateful,’ but it’s basically, you win some and you lose some.”

She paused.

“I’m not good at describing stuff like that.”

Manning made her big career decision while she was a Monmouth student.

“Becoming a doctor was the original plan,” she said. “My junior year, I went on Washington Semester and started to develop an interest in possibly becoming a lawyer.”

She credits her liberal arts education for the ease of that transition.

“Because of the integrated curriculum, I could go to law school even though I was a science major and be fairly well prepared for a completely different kind of thinking than what I was used to in the sciences,” she said. “Now, I still have a connection to science because I co-chair my law firm’s Life Sciences Industries Group, represent monmouth | winter 2011

pharmaceutical, medical advice and technology companies.”

A published author on antitrust matters, Manning focuses much of her practice on that area. She was the 2007–08 chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Committee and is the 2011 vice chair of the American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, Civil Practice and Procedure Committee.

Witty considers herself both “a scientist and an educator.” She squarely straddled the fence while holding a research and faculty position at the University of Notre Dame.

“I did cancer research and taught freshmen. I did that for three years, then I went to the Chicago Medical School, which had a more teaching-oriented focus.”

Her “light bulb” moment came while

giving advice to some high school students and, in 2000, she took a junior high teaching position. She has since moved on to the high school level and enjoys preparing students for college.

“I have the opportunity to write curriculum, including material geared for upper level students,” she said. “I’m trying to plug in the more current things like molecular biology and medicine.”

Witty’s connection with MC and science will continue this spring when she participates in the biology department’s trip to the Galapagos Islands. The Monmouth group will work with local research scientists to develop a deeper understanding of the South American rainforests and the biologically diverse islands off the eastern coast of the continent. Witty hopes to

interact with her Glenbrook North students back home through a live feed that she’s dubbed a “Turtle Cam.” All three were pleased to see that their alma mater has grown considerably since their undergraduate days. Witty, in fact, has had a front row seat as a member of MC’s board of trustees for the past 10 years.

“At the time I was here, the college was very empty,” she said. “I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to see the transformation while I’ve been on the board. Not just physically, but enhanced programs.”

At the heart of it all is a faculty dedicated to teaching its students, and that’s something that clearly has remained the same since Manning, Witty and Williams roamed MC’s academic halls. 

Kaskel has enjoyed distinguished nephrology career By Jane Simkins ’14 looking for a good pediatric nephrologist? Monmouth College

and I was very impressed by the young man representing Monmouth College. When the time came to make my final deciproduced one of the nation’s best. sion, it was a very serendipitous moment when I chose to attend Dr. Frederick Kaskel ’67 is chief of the Monmouth.”

Section of Pediatric Nephrology at the Making the transition from home life to dorm life is a major Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, in Bronx, adjustment for any college student, and in Kaskel’s case, the N.Y. His interest in pediatric kidney disease 15-hour and 59-minute drive from NYC to MC was a giant leap for and its origins has led to extensive research fresh-mankind. both in the laboratory and in clinical “At first, it was a bit of a culture shock living in a small town, but medicine. the friendliness of the students on campus and the small size of Kaskel, who earned his Ph.D. in physiolMonmouth made it a comfortable, easy environment to meet ogy from the University of Cincinnati in 1972, is the author of people,” he said. “The transition from high school to college life was Pediatrics for Medical Students (1996), Clinical Pediatric Nephrology also an exciting challenge, especially being so far from home. I was – 2nd Edition (2007) and Fluids and Electrolytes in Pediatrics: A very impressed by Monmouth’s faculty, as it was quite clear that Comprehensive Handbook (2009). they were dedicated to teaching and encouraging their students.”

Kaskel’s scientific contributions also include those he makes as Kaskel also experienced success outside the biology classroom. a professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He was president of his class for both his sophomore and senior The students who benefit from his years of expertise could soon years, and he also participated in Tau Kappa Epsilon, varsity footinclude a group from Monmouth College. ball, M Club and Blue Key. “I may serve as a guest lecturer and meet with students someToday, Kaskel is one of five principal investigators on a National time in January or February, as I have done before in the early ’90s,” Institutes of Health grant, “Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis he said.

Clinical Trial.” The grant was provided to help create a better underIt’s easy to imagine such a visit providing the same type of inspi- standing of the molecular mechanisms underlying FSGS—a disease ration to MC science students that Kaskel received in his which attacks the kidney’s filtering system—in the hope of finding undergraduate days. When asked whether or not he believed the a cure and prevention. Of the major causes of progressive glomerubiology department helped prepare him for his future career in lar diseases, FSGS is the most common and often devastating pediatrics, Kaskel confirmed, “Absolutely. I felt my interest in biolentity in pediatric and adult nephrology. ogy was fully supported by my professors, who encouraged me to “We are actively involved in an NIH-funded clinical trial of this become engaged in the major. I could really tell the professors gen- condition aimed at defining the most efficacious therapy while uinely cared about teaching their subject, not just preparing their investigating the molecular etiologies for its expression,” said students for a test.”

Kaskel. Of the major causes of progressive glomerular diseases, He gave special thanks to one professor in particular, Robert FSGS is the most common and often devastating entity in pediatric Buchholz, who guided him throughout his MC years. and adult nephrology.

“He gave me the inspiration to engage in the excitement and He has been honored many times for his work, including the rewards in the field of science and medicine,” said Kaskel.

Fellowship Award in Pediatric Nephrology from the National Just how did this New York native become a Fighting Scot? Why Institutes of Health and the National Kidney Foundation of New did he trade in the hustle and bustle of the “Big Apple” for some York.

Midwestern waves of grain?

Kaskel has also been honored by his alma mater.

“In my senior year, I declined a scholarship to a Big Ten school “During my return (in 2007) for my 40-year reunion, I received and was very nervous when May and June came around, as I had the Distinguished Alumnus Award,” he said. “Upon my campus not yet applied to a college,” Kaskel reminisced. “My guidance coun- visit, it was very encouraging to see all of the updates made and selor suggested I attend a fair for Midwestern schools in New York, buildings that have been added since I was a student.”  monmouth | winter 2011

scientific tradition

23

A record attendance of more than 1,000 alumni turned out for Homecoming 2010, which fittingly carried the theme, “A Thousand Hearts’ Devotion.” Brilliant, crisp fall weather served as a backdrop for the weekend’s many successful events, including dedication of a Native American artifact collection, the second annual Midwest Matters forum, the fourth annual President’s Gala, a spirit shout and fireworks, the Homecoming parade, reunions, a choral concert and an alumni mixer.

PHOTOS: George Hartmann

Scott Spitzer

Jeff Rankin LAYOUT: Jeff Rankin

24

homecoming 2010

monmouth | winter 2011

Opposite page: Stuart Aumonier ’13 of Oakville, Ontario, and his fellow pipers lead the Homecoming parade. This page (clockwise, from top left): Members of the Class of 1985 pose for their 25th reunion photo at Quinby House; new inductees into the M Club Hall of Fame Bob Tucker ’65; Gary Halls ’76; Jim Thornton ’82; and Dori Ternig ’96; Jesse Holtsclaw ’14 and his mom, Suzy, celebrate a 27-10 victory over Lake Forest; Big Red congratulates Homecoming royalty Ben Morrow ’11, Kristen Wyse ’11, Danielle Kita ’12 and Gavin Halpin ’12 at the Spirit Shout; members of Kappa Kappa Gamma Kim Kleczewski ’13, Katie Murtagh ’12 and Lauren Wells ’11 (in center of group) welcome visitors to their new house on Broadway, including Kristin Lee ’04 (second from right); the Fighting Scots Marching Band revs up the crowd at the football game.

monmouth | winter 2011

homecoming 2010

25

Reed

Helton

Sproston

Grimm

Bruce Work

Wertz

Achievers recognized at President’s Homecoming Gala monmouth college announced six award winners

at its annual President’s Homecoming Gala. Held in the college’s Huff Athletic Center, the event was attended by approximately 250 alumni, friends, faculty and staff, and featured an address

by President Mauri Ditzler and entertainment by the Monmouth College Jazz Combo.

Award winners included Dr. Kennedy Reed ’67, who was inducted into the college’s Hall of Achievement, the highest honor MC bestows upon its graduates (see story on page 18), and associate psychology professor Joan Wertz, who received the Hatch Award for Distinguished Teaching.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented to Lon Helton ’72; the Distinguished Service Award went to Michael Sproston ’64; and the Young Alumnus Award was presented to Robert Grimm ’96.

The Work family was honored as the college’s Family of the Year.

The plaque for Reed, which joins 27 others in the college’s Hall of Achievement in Wallace Hall, reads: “A theoretical physicist who researched atomic collisions in high temperature plasmas, Dr. Reed has been a leading advocate for increasing opportunities for minority students and professionals in the sciences. He helped establish the National Physical Science Consortium and has received numerous awards, including the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering Mentoring, presented

by President Obama.”

Wertz, who joined the MC faculty in 2001, was nominated by a former student who noted how well the professor prepared her for graduate school and the world beyond: “I have found myself far above the level of my peers because of the training I received in her classes. I left Monmouth College with four significant research projects under my belt and have met people at my current institution without any hands-on experience at all. She has done an exemplary job of preparing her students for what they will face in life after Monmouth College.”

Like one of last year’s award recipients, NBA broadcaster Joe Tait ’59, Helton got his start in the entertainment industry at Monmouth’s WRAM radio station. A few months later, he moved over to WGIL in Galesburg. He received his big break after sending an entry tape to a Billboard Magazine contest, which led to a job as the night disc jockey in Denver. Helton then worked in Chicago and, in 1986, moved to Nashville to run the country music office for Radio and Records. Six years later, he became the host of the nationally syndicated CMT Country Countdown USA. Helton has interviewed countless stars over the years, from Carrie Underwood to Keith Urban to Willie Nelson. In 2006, he was inducted into the

26

homecoming 2010

Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame and, during last November’s Country Music Awards, he was surprised with the National Broadcast Personality of the Year Award, an honor he has received three times in six years.

After his graduation, Sproston left Monmouth, but just long enough to earn his master’s degree from the University of Iowa. He then returned to his alma mater in the music department, where he served Monmouth students for more than 35 years. He has also been an avid and loyal supporter to the college’s annual fund, as well as funding several musical endeavors.

Grimm, who was nominated for his award by history professor Stacy Cordery, is professor of the practice of philanthropy and nonprofit management at the University of Maryland, where he heads a new program for students who are striving to become effective public leaders and philanthropists. Prior to joining the University of Maryland this year, he was director of research and policy development at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

“Bob is motivated, compassionate, intelligent and extremely capable,” wrote Cordery in her nomination. “He was all of those things as a student, too. We should be very proud to have played a part in Dr. Grimm’s stellar career—a career dedicated to service and to teaching others to give back, a career on a trajectory toward even more prestige and usefulness.”

Monmouth College alumni directories list dozens of members of the Work family, dating from the late 19th century to the 1980s.

Among those names are former trustees, alumni board members, and honorary degree recipients representing four consecutive generations of ties to Monmouth College. The family’s award recognizes direct descendants of Robert Marshall Work and the Rev. McLean “Mac” Work, who were half-brothers and sons of Josiah Work.

“Mac” Work served on the MC senate from 1959 to 1969 and devoted more than 60 years of expertise and counsel to the advancement of the college. Robert Marshall Work came to Monmouth from Fort Morgan, Colo., where he had been district attorney and a prominent public servant. His wife, Roberta Gibson Work, was the sister of Emma Gibson, a longtime MC Latin professor and dean of women. Five of Robert and Roberta’s children attended Monmouth in the 1930s and ’40s, including Mary Work Theis ’42, who is the most senior living alumna of the Work family.

She was in attendance at the gala, along with three other family members, including Bruce Work ’64, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire family.

Nominations for next year’s awards should be sent to Monmouth College’s alumni office.  monmouth | winter 2011

Clockwise, from left: Sandra Snyder Gravlee ’70 and her husband, Coleman, enjoy the fall colors along Broadway; Mellinger Foundation scholarship recipients Michelle Hutchison ’13, Jim Fry ’11, Charlie Jo DeMay ’11, Evan Davis ’14, Britta Dixon ’13, Bryce Ball ’14 and Alexander Padilla ’14 meet with foundation officers at a reception for donors; Deere & Co. executive Jackie Bell Zachmeyer ’89 speaks at the Midwest Matters forum; ZBT actives and alumni dedicate a granite bench in memory of their late adviser Doc Kieft; Sig Ep alumni watch the parade from the site of their former fraternity house on Broadway.

When Big Red attempts to steal the limelight from Dane Feenstra ’11 during halftime of the Homecoming game, the trombone soloist puts the mascot in his place.

Below: Matthew Voss ’14 and President Ditzler unveil a display case at the dedication of the college’s new Native American artifact collection; Lynn Utter Ewing ’98, Sara Erlandson ’98, Kari Bailey Shimmin ’97, Samantha Robinson ’09, Anna Damos ’09, Rachel Leffelman ’09, Wendy Erlandson Anderson ’00, Ashley Parer ’09 and Abby Pollentier Tyra ’01 prior to the alumni volleyball game.

monmouth | winter 2011

homecoming 2010

27

• monmouthiana •

No, the other Coach Bell

By William Urban O.C. “Cliff” Bell did not have to come far to make an impact on Monmouth College.

Born and reared in nearby Biggsville, he led that tiny school to state track championships in 1899 and 1900, then went to the University of Illinois, where he was a reserve halfback for one season and captain of the track team. After earning his degree in 1903, he returned to western Illinois, perhaps to assist his father, a railroad mailman in declining health who had moved to Monmouth so his daughters could attend Monmouth College.

In the spring of 1905, Bell began coaching the track team. The May Oracle reported, “To our coach, O.C. Bell, great credit is due for the victory over Knox. He has the men training and working hard and his coaching is of the right kind for he understands, ‘how it is done’.”

That was enough for President Thomas McMichael—who had been a star pitcher himself—to offer a contract to Bell to coach football, basketball, baseball and track for the 1905-06 year. Bell told his football team that he intended to win the championship of Illinois, but few believed it possible. Many believed a national ban of football was more likely.

Happily, the Ravelings of these years were among the best ever produced, containing detailed descriptions of each sport and often

28

monmouthiana

Left: A young Cliff Bell, fresh from the University of Illinois. Above: The undefeated 1906 football team. Opposite: Bell’s squad practices on the lawn in front of Old Main.

In two years as Monmouth’s coach, Bell posted a record of 18-1.

each athlete. Bell’s photo shows a handsome, thin man in an elegant suit—perhaps too large for today’s taste, but exactly what the Model Clothing Store indicated was the acme of good taste.

The warm-up football game in 1905 was against high school teams, each playing one half.

The first real opponent was the University of Iowa in Iowa City. After losing 40-0, the headline in the Monmouth city paper was “Crippled Team Goes to Keokuk” for a game against the “Medics” (but not so crippled that it couldn’t win 49-0). Early concerns about the backfield were resolved when the “Old Men” (three lettermen) rejoined the team.

Soon, Bell’s relentless drills began to pay off. He orchestrated lightning swift attacks featuring precision teamwork. Thanks to detailed accounts of the games in the city paper, we know that against Millikin, “’Hurry Up’ Bell wore a smile all through the game” (772 yards of offense—all running plays—versus Millikin’s 83). In preparation for the Knox game, he held secret practices; after the 12-6 victory, the players were carried off the field on the shoulders of the fans. monmouth | winter 2011

Early gridand bosstrack had success a century before current coach Steve Bell baseball The championship game inspired a poem about a player who responded when he heard “loud the call of Bell, game’s called my hearty men.”

Safford Peacock, an emeritus MC trustee, recalls that his father, Sheller Peacock ’07, was a member of Bell’s celebrated 1950 squad, serving as both manager and fullback. Unfortunately, “the summer after his football year [Sheller] severed his big toe in a logging accident in the north woods and was unable to play football thereafter.”

As soon as the season ended Nov. 30 with a 23-0 victory over Lake Forest, Bell took charge of the basketball team, which lost the first three contests, but won the remaining 10. The Ravelings summed up the year with a spoof of faculty minutes that reported, “Prof. Bell called attention of the faculty to the fact that he is making good. Reports that the student body has not yet gotten next to the fact that he is planning for essential complete control of Monmouth athletics.”

Meanwhile, President Roosevelt had started a football reform movement that introduced new rules for the 1906 season.

Significantly, the forward pass was legalized.

Nevertheless, 1906 was almost the season that wasn’t. Several parts of the “Bell Machine” were missing because of injuries and the academic workload. When attendance at practice had fallen below what he needed for a scrimmage, Bell invited the high school team to join him at the athletic fields on East Broadway.

Bad news arrived from Iowa and Purdue (and later Rose Polytechnical), that they had no room on their schedules, then Knox and Lombard dropped football. By the middle of the month, the scrimmages were so unsatisfactory that Bell spoke to President McMichael, who called a student assembly after chapel and asked, “Are we to have a football team which will be a credit to the institution or shall we quit the game altogether?” He then turned to Coach Bell, who made his feelings clear. When the question was put to a vote, the students unanimously endorsed continuing the season.

The first game against Biggsville High School was only 30 minutes long, but it was notable as the college’s first contest in which a forward pass was legal. This was three weeks after the first legal pass was thrown at St. Louis University. It was not easy to hurl the rugby-shaped ball of that era, but as the 1908 Ravelings noted, “Before other teams had delved into the intricacies of the ‘forward pass’ and ‘onside kick,’ Coach Bell had them working smoothly and effectively.”

At the Illinois College game, “speed, dash, energy and determination marked every man,” resulting in a 61-0 victory despite the second team playing much of the second half. More importantly, “the game proved beyond a doubt that the new rules have done much to make the sport more open and much safer for the players.”

Playing against a heavy community team at Kewanee that “refused to be penalized,” Coach Bell had to ask the referee to stop calling infractions. His trick plays were frustrated by the crowd surging onto the field, and the ball was so soft and dead that punts hardly went any distance. With drop kicks impossible, it took two long runs to put up points. Bell said afterward, “It was the worst gang of rowdies and ruffians that I ever got up against.”

The next week, 200 Monmouth students took the train to see the “championship game” against Millikin. Both teams were frozen by a strong north wind, but “the game was played in Monmouth’s monmouth | winter 2011

usual whirlwind style, little time being taken out.” Illinois Wesleyan cancelled the next game, saying that its team was too crippled to play, but against Des Moines (Drake), “the locals again brought the smile which comes to Coach Bell’s face only when they play winning ball.” The losing coach said that his boys “laid down,” but the reporter thought it was more that they were “run over.” It had been 51-0.

The Lake Forest match was fought out in the mud. After Bell telegraphed a very short summary to the city paper, students built the largest bonfire in the history of the college. The last game was against the champion of Wisconsin and Michigan, Beloit College, attended by the “biggest crowd ever at a local football game.” A reporter wrote that “at a late hour in the afternoon, it is reported that three of the Monmouth players have gotten off enough dirt and mud to be recognized,” and that “players would slide through the mud belly-buster, cleaving the slime with their feet straight out.” Final score 10-0—that is, two touchdowns with no extra points kicked.

It was a short season, only five intercollegiate games, but only Millikin had managed to score and then only in the final minutes on a blocked punt. Thus it came as a shock to read the headline of the Jan. 15, 1907, local paper announcing that Coach Bell had resigned. Though the athletic board would not match the $1,500 that Missouri State Normal was offering, Bell would stay through the end of the basketball season and prepare the track team for the next coach, then would take his mother and sister to Kirksville.

He was as good as his word. Bell is pictured with the 1906-07 basketball team that won its first six games before losing two in the final seconds, then defeated Macomb Normal (now WIU) 46-12. At the farewell party, after several speeches praising his coaching skills in all the sports, the students presented him with a gold signet ring, saying that they hoped he would “accept it and keep it as a reminder of his Monmouth associations.” He credited his success to the support of students and faculty, and that of people who wished to advance the interests of the college. He urged everyone to support his successor.

Bell coached Missouri State Normal football for two years. In 1908, when they won all seven games, giving up only six points, he described his players as Bulldogs, the name still used for Truman State teams.

In 1911, Bell moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to become teacher and coach at East Technical High School, a sports juggernaut for working class boys. Three years later, he began the practice of law, but continued to teach and coach—from 1916 to at least 1920 at West Technical High School. Then he worked his way up the Cleveland City Civil Service Commission until 1923, when he was elected municipal court judge.

In September 1921 he married Mabel A. Holland, a teacher at West Technical. When he returned from a vacation cruise to Bermuda with his wife and his daughter Thalia in 1936, he playfully listed his birthplace as Pigskill, Ohio.

Bell died Aug. 17, 1943. His passing went unremarked—too many Monmouth men were dying that year to remember a legend from almost four decades earlier.  William Urban is the Lee L. Morgan Professor of History and International Studies at Monmouth College.

monmouthiana

29

FALL SPORTS REVIEW:

Spikers net MWC title; Beyer an All-American

And they’re off! Monmouth College cross country runners, from left, Aron Jackson, Marlee Lane, Mary Kate Beyer, Rachel Bowden, Tori Beaty, Whitney Didier and Brittany Frazier embark on the first steps of their season-opening race in Macomb.

30

scot sports section

monmouth | winter 2011

A

lthough monmouth college’s fall sports season didn’t feature the excitement of an undefeated football team—which was the case in three of the previous five autumns—it was nonetheless a successful time for the Fighting Scots.

Equaling a mark accomplished four times previously, four fall sports teams finished in the top three of the Midwest Conference, led by the volleyball team, which captured its first league title since 1982.

Also placing in the top three were football, women’s cross country and women’s soccer.

Freshmen made a difference for all four of those teams, indicating their successes have a strong chance to continue for several more years.

monmouth | winter 2011

scotsection sports

31

Mollie Murdock

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: A senior was the team’s unquestioned star, but coach Roger Haynes ’82 has to feel good about the runners who will be returning to his team

VOLLEYBALL: As coach Kari Shimmin ’97

looks to the future, she has to be pleased by what she sees. The nucleus of her MWC title team is full of standout returning players. Only hitter Alyson Schroeter and serving specialist Laura Anton will be lost to graduation.

Schroeter’s absence due to injury dealt the team a blow in 2009, but she rebounded with a 209-kill season as Monmouth increased its win total by seven during a 20-13 campaign. There was plenty of help to go around, too, as Schroeter’s kill total was just fifth on the team. Sophomore Chelsey Widdop led the Scots with 367 smackdowns and picked up her second all-conference honor. Sophomore Claire Hermie and juniors Megan Creen and Kendra Newlon were all tightly bunched between 251 and 239 kills, with Newlon posting a team-high 92 blocks. Hermie also netted All-MWC honors, and she was an all-tournament selection at the Aurora Invitational, where Monmouth went 3-1.

Setting up the Scots’ stable of hitters was freshman Mollie Murdock, whose 1,118 assists earned her first team All-MWC honors. Murdock made a great entrance onto the college stage, earning all-tournament honors as the Scots went 4-0 in their own invitational on the season’s first weekend.

Another freshman, Emily Kauzlarich, excelled in her libero role, recording team highs of 570 digs and 48 aces.

Keyed by a two-game road sweep of eventual playoff teams Beloit and Lake Forest, Monmouth rolled to a 6-0 start in league play and began to entertain notions of winning the MWC title and hosting the playoffs.

The Scots capped their MWC regular season with a thrilling 3-2 win over Grinnell, and their 7-2 league mark proved to be just good enough for the championship.

In the playoffs, which were held at Glennie Gymnasium, the Scots pulled even with St. Norbert at 1-1 but could not keep their momentum, falling 3-1 to the Green Knights in front of a near-record 750 fans.

32

scot sports

in 2011 and beyond.

The senior, however, will be quite a loss. Mary Kate Beyer leaves the program as its most accomplished performer, and she capped her career with a 20th-place, All-American finish at the NCAA Division III meet. The three-time national qualifier covered the 6K course in Waverly, Iowa, in 21:35, just four seconds off her school record for that distance, set earlier in the season.

Beyer qualified for nationals with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional, leading Monmouth to a 12th-place team finish. Earlier, she placed second at the Midwest Conference Championships, which were held at Monmouth’s Gibson Woods Golf Course. En route to four straight All-MWC honors, she never placed lower than fifth at the league meet.

The team also placed second at the meet, and they needed much more than Beyer’s success to do that. Sophomore Rachel Bowden earned her second All-MWC honor by placing fifth, while classmates Aron Jackson and Tori Beaty also ran all-conference times. In her rookie season, freshman Alyssa Edwards added her name to the All-MWC list, putting the Scots on track to have four returning all-league runners next fall.  Mary Kate Beyer

FOOTBALL: The bad news is that the

Fighting Scots did not pull off a “three-peat” by adding to the Midwest Conference football titles they won in 2008 and 2009.

The good news is that, despite all the adversity they faced in 2010, the Scots were still able to place second in the league.

The face of the program in 2009, Melberger Award-winning quarterback Alex Tanney, was also the face of the adversity, suffering a season-ending injury just two plays into the Scots’ second game of the season.

When the Scots ultimately lost that game 17-15 to Grinnell, it dropped them to 0-2 for the season, and the outlook was grim. But the Scots rallied to go 6-2 the rest of the way, despite losing several other key players to injury, including 2009 all-league selections Mike Blodgett and Marcus Ruff.

How many players did Monmouth lose?

A comparison of the 2009 and 2010 lineups vs. Ripon is a great place to start. The Scots rolled the Red Hawks 35-13 during their title season but faced them a year later in Wisconsin with just six of the same players as starters. Still, the Scots were able to pull out a thrilling 51-45 triple-overtime win against their league-leading hosts.

That contest served as a big stepping stone for new faces, including the freshman trio of quarterback Brik Wedekind, tailback

Trey Yocum and receiver Austin Peterson.

Wedekind accounted for five TDs in the game, passing for 221 yards and rushing for 96, while Yocum scored three times, including the game-winning TD, and ran for 108 yards.

Some familiar faces also had strong efforts for the Scots, particularly senior Matt Shepherd, who completed his career as MC’s all-time leader in receiving yards (2,785), return yards (2,057) and all-purpose yards (4,888). Shepherd, who caught 64 passes for 810 yards and seven TDs in 2010, was named all-conference for the fourth consecutive season. He was also invited to play in two postseason all-star games.

Joining him as a first team All-MWC selection were junior guard Jim Allen, junior linebacker Adam Hoste (team highs of 99 tackles and six INTs), senior defensive tackle Peyton Lumzy (53 tackles, 6.5 sacks) and Wedekind (an MC-record 42.6-yard punting average). Junior tight end David Milroy made the second team. Hoste and Wedekind added to their honors by being named to the All-West Region third team.

In addition to the Ripon game, the Scots’ final two contests were also memorable—a come-from-behind 16-13 overtime win against Carroll and a 42-6 victory against Knox, giving Monmouth its 12th consecutive Bronze Turkey triumph. 

monmouth | winter 2011

Senior co-captain Hillary Broms is held aloft after Monmouth’s first-ever victory over Grinnell. Molly Ball, who is pictured on the cover of this issue, netted the game-winning goal in overtime.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: A stingy defense and a balanced offense were the keys to one of the most successful seasons in team history.

How stingy was the defense? The Fighting Scots set MC soccer records for shutouts in a season (10) and fewest goals allowed per match (1.21).

Leading the way was freshman goalkeeper Samantha Barranco, who was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Year. The Scots finished 6-2-1 in league action to place third in the league and reach the postseason for just the second time. Barranco made outcomechanging saves in three of those matches, none bigger than stopping a penalty kick in the final two minutes to preserve a 1-0 victory at Lake Forest on the final day of the regular season.

Joining her as a first team All-MWC pick was senior defender Hillary Broms. Her counterpart at marking back, freshman Mikaela Rogers, was named to the second team, and freshman midfielder Danielle Gordon was also honored. A fourth newcomer, Denise Nelson, starred at sweeper and played every minute of every game.

How balanced was the offense? Three players led the Scots with seven goals apiece.

Junior Molly Ball got the Scots off to a great start with game-winning goals against Coe, Cornell and Grinnell, the latter coming in sudden death overtime. After Ball suffered a season-ending injury, Niki Sue Williams picked up her scoring slack, returning from an injury of her own to score seven times in the final three weeks of the season, including the game-winner at Lake Forest. Kerry Kost was healthy all season and posted team highs of six assists and 20 points.

Monmouth’s 10-6-3 season came to an end at the MWC tourney with a 1-0 loss to regular season champion Carroll.  MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: It was rare to

see the Fighting Scots run a home meet, and nearly as rare to see them finish outside the top three teams in the Midwest Conference.

Monmouth scored 95 points at the league meet at Gibson Woods, just two points back of third-place Ripon. The Scots’ fourth-place finish was the first time they had not been in the top three since the 2003 season. It was just the third time since 1979 that the race was run in Monmouth.

Two Scots repeated their all-conference success from a year ago, including Geoff Bird senior Geoff Bird, who was runner-up, just three seconds behind the winner. His 25:27 clocking on the 8K course was one of the 10 best times at that distance in Monmouth history, but not quite as fast as the 24:54 race he ran earlier in the season. Only All-American Zach Barr ’06 (24:28) has covered the 8K distance faster.

Junior Jon Welty also earned All-MWC honors by placing 18th.

Monmouth’s scoring runners, who also included sophomores Paul Davies, Matt Gatlin and Jake Barr, were all involved in close finishes, and just a few fractions of a second here or there would have moved the team up one spot in the standings.  monmouth | winter 2011

MEN’S SOCCER: The Fighting Scots got their Midwest Conference season off to a memorable start, and they finished strong, as well, with shutout wins over Illinois College and Knox in the final days of the season.

Opening league play at Beloit, Monmouth had battled to a 0-0 tie through the end of regulation. In overtime, the host Bucs were awarded a penalty kick, but sophomore goalkeeper Frank Bowman came up big, diving hard to his left to block the shot and extend the game. A minute later, a glancing header by senior Lucas Knox found the back of the net for a thrilling 1-0 win.

Senior Garrett White’s second-half free kick goal was the winner vs. IC, while freshman Isaac Hernandez and junior Josh Del Valle both scored against Knox.

Their 3-6 mark (4-12 overall) was good for seventh place in the MWC.  WOMEN’S TENNIS: The Fighting Scots

defeated Illinois College head-to-head in league play and also finished ahead of the Lady Blues at the MWC Championships. As a team, that was the extent of Monmouth’s victories, but several players did put together solid seasons for the netters.

Leading the way was sophomore Ashley Reynoso at No. 2 singles. After missing all but one match of her freshman year with a knee injury, she posted a 7-8 record. With two different partners, Reynoso added seven doubles victories to finish with 14 total wins on the year.

Two other players each had nine total wins. Senior Kimi Wegner, the No. 3 player on the Scots’ playoff team from 2008, battled hard at the No. 1 spot, earning three wins and dropping several tough matches.

In doubles, she had three wins with Reynoso as her partner, and trimphed in three others with freshman Joi Henry.  WOMEN’S GOLF: The Fighting Scots will usher in a new era next fall, as coach Molly McNamara ’03 seeks to replace two of the

team’s three top players at the Midwest Conference Championships.

Monmouth carded rounds of 438-456-410 at the culminating meet of the season, taking seventh place. The strong final day finish was keyed by senior Kristin Humphrey’s solid 95, as well as big improvements by sophomore Nicole Hurst (98), senior Whitney Bergen (103) and sophomore Claire Johnston (114). The latter two chopped 15 and 14 shots, respectively, off their previous best scores at Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill. The Scots carded their best round of the season (402) on the first day of a 36-hole event at Millikin. Humphrey led the way with an 88, which she followed up with a season-low 84.  scot sports

33

Those toasting longtime basketball/baseball coach and athletic director Terry Glasgow (pictured far right with his wife, Chris), included, from left, John Herman ’89, former dean of admission Dave Long, Paul Bubb ’79 and Arnold Gonzalez ’92.

Raising a glass for Terry Glasgow

34

scot sports

monmouth | winter 2011

Clan Notes

1971 HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class 1974

1933 Born on May 2, 1909, and nearing her 102nd birthday, it’s quite possible that Wadia McClure Stewart of Davidson, N.C., is Monmouth’s second oldest living alumna, a distinction that is believed to be held by Mary Smith Johnson ’30, who was born 11 months earlier. One of Stewart’s two husbands was the late Paul McBride ’33, who was the youngest of four brothers to graduate from Monmouth.

Susan Helton Haley of Homewood, Ill., earned her master’s degree in school leadership last year from Concordia University Chicago.

1975

1976 HOMECOMING 2011

Elizabeth Johnson Dew of Fort Wayne, Ind., celebrated her 90th birthday on Dec. 13, 2010.

She has been married for 67 years to Clairus Dew ’38.

Pam Slaughter Van Kirk of Monmouth has been the director of the Galesburg Public Library for 12 years. She made news in 2010 for challenging the director of the public library in Monmouth to a charity boxing match.

Don Robeson and his wife, Jeanne Gittings Robeson ’60, celebrated their 50th anniversary on Nov. 26, 2010. They have four children and seven grandchildren.

1956 GOLDEN SCOTS 2011 1960

Reunion Class

Two members of the class have recently written books. Floyd Sours, a clinical psychologist in Columbus, Ohio, has written Burnt Offerings, a book that is subtitled The Art of Politics and the Consequences of Freedom. It is described as “the work of a lifetime that offers new ways of understanding current American politics.”

Joe Suffield, a retired teacher and coach who lives in Peoria, Ill., wrote a historical novel, Escape to the West, which takes place in the 1700s. Both books are available on Amazon.com.

1961 GOLDEN SCOTS 2011 Reunion Class The Hon. James Hornaday was re-elected for a fourth term as mayor of Homer, Alaska.

1964 Kay Buss MacNeil of Frankfort, Ill., can be found on YouTube thanks to her local TV show, Avant Gardening.

Kenneth Wolma, who retired in February 2010, is moving to Adelaide, Australia, for one year while his wife participates in a teacher exchange.

1966 GOLDEN SCOTS 2011

Reunion Class

Trudy Roberts Triner of Walnut Creek, Calif., applied some management advice to personal life, and the result was “a wonderful, life-altering experience.” In addition to asking her employees what she could do to be a better manager, she asked her mother, who lived alone in rural Arkansas, what she could do to be a better daughter. The answer, in short, “Send me more mail.” She started a “Make Mom Happy By Mail” campaign. Called a “modern archaeological dig” into Triner’s daily life, her mom loved all the items and messages she regularly received from her daughter. Triner’s personal experience has turned into a blog and a book that offers hundreds of suggestions for making parents and grandparents happy. “I’m hoping to change people’s lives by reminding them that our moms, dads and grandparents won’t be here forever, and that there’s a wonderful opportunity to make them happy right now,” Triner said.

monmouth | winter 2011

Leah Lazarus Kelley of Lombard, Ill., an English major at Monmouth, loves being able to use her degree on a regular basis as an on-call proofreader for Tyndale House Publishers.

2001 HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class Mariah Sexton Sloan of Addison, Ill., was on campus in September, and her daughter, Riley (left), made an “unofficial” visit as a prospective student for 2030.

Barbara Orville of Great Neck, N.Y., retired from the New York City Department of Education in November. She has now begun her next career as an applied behavior therapist, working with autistic children.

1941

1946 GOLDEN SCOTS 2011 Reunion Class 1951 GOLDEN SCOTS 2011 Reunion Class 1954

2000

Reunion Class

1977

Kevin Kaihara of Westchester, Ill., received the Rising Sun Award, presented by Soka Gakkai International to individuals who have made significant contributions. locally and globally, in the promotion of the culture of world peace.

1981 HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class 1985

Competing under the moniker “Boom Boom Pow!,” Karen Schmalshof Reese is part of the 60-member Peoria (Ill.) Push League for women’s roller derby. “There are women in this league from the age of 19 to 49,” she told a reporter. “There are grade school teachers and Sunday school teachers.” Her day job is running Sewing Center II in Peoria.

2002 After leading the Annawan (Ill.) High School girls basketball team to the No. 1 poll position among small schools in 2009, Matt Huber has a new coaching gig at nearby Princeton High School. He remains a teacher at AHS.

2005

Duane Strojny of DeWitt, Mich., is associate dean for library and instructional support at Thomas Cooley Law School. He supervises the largest academic law library in the country at the nation’s largest law school. Strojny said his roots in his profession go back to working as a college student at the Hewes Library circulation desk.

Crystal Lang Click of Crystal Lake, Ill., is a training administrator at Baxter Health Care.

1986 HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class 1989

Brant Peterson of Dixon, Ill., graduated from St. Xavier University in May with a master’s degree in teaching and leadership.

Tim Wolf of Portsmouth, Va., a special education teacher for 21 years, is now the student activities coordinator at Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, which has 2,000 students.

2006 HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class 2007

1990

Sylvia Zethmayr Shults of Pekin, Ill., has been named publicity director for Dark Continents Publishing, which publishes horror and dark speculative fiction. Her novel, Price of Admission, a supernatural romance about the power of music, will be released when the company makes its debut in April. In February, another of her novels, Timeless Embrace, will also be released. Also that month, Shults will be in Monmouth to present “Ghosts of the Illinois River,” a lecture based on her non-fiction book of the same title. She will share her experiences as a paranormal investigator.

1991 HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class 1994 Warren Monk of Herscher, Ill., recently received his commercial pilot license. Monk is president of Airstryke, Inc., an aerial application company.

1996

HOMECOMING 2011 Reunion Class

1998 Chad Simpson of Monmouth was awarded the junior faculty Philip Green Wright/Lombard Colleges Prize for Distinguished Teaching, the highest honor conveyed by the Knox College faculty upon its members. The sole criterion is teaching. Simpson has taught literature and creative writing at Knox since 2005.

Katie Humann Halberg and her husband, Luke Halberg ’04, live in Monmouth, where Katie is assistant human resources manager at Farmland Foods. She also coaches MC’s cheerleading squad and the competitive dance team at Knoxville High School.

Kelli Wefenstette of Chicago, Ill., a self-described “craftivist,” is the creative crafter behind greenie bean recycle, a line of unique up-cycled handbags.

She also runs her own blog, “our urban farmhouse,” which documents her and her husband’s efforts to create a low-impact, sustainable household. A graduate student at Loyola University, she is seeking a master’s degree in social justice and community development.

2009 Anna Damos of North Henderson, Ill., was inducted into the inaugural class of the athletic hall of fame at United High School near Monmouth. A four-year starter in volleyball, she was an athletic and academic all-conference player at United before embarking on her Fighting Scots career.

2009 Jonathan ’10 and Andrea Dorscheid Peterson have settled in Minnesota, where Jonathan is attending William Mitchell College of Law and Andrea tutors students in the St. Paul school district with an Americorps program, Minnesota Math Corps.

2010 Harrison Heilman is serving in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. He is located in the Bicol region on the eastern coast and says, “I’m doing my lifelong dream, and I’m only 22.”

clan notes

35

scotlight

Sig Eps put a new twist on ‘family’ reunions they graduated

Biklen speculates that the game’s popularity derives from its allowing each man to relive his college days, but for others the attraction seems to be watching Paulson attempt to “shoot the moon” while opponents are doing everything they can to stop him.

The reunions have elicited numerous memories, including watching a sunset over Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers from the class of 1965 gather for a reunion every two years. The the Pacific Ocean off most recent event was held in Connecticut and hosted by David Biklen. Pictured from left the Oregon coast while are Allan Etzbach, Daryl Lynne Etzbach, David Lindgren, Roberta Benda, Rick Pfaffmann, waiting for the “green Chris Pfaffmann, Don Paulson, Beth Paulson, Genie Wilman Zagorski ’65, Ron Zagorski, flash.”

Sharon Wehrs Mock ’65, Jim Mock, Joyce Simpson, Bill Simpson, Blanche Capilos (Biklen’s “There is no such spouse), Bill Goldsborough, Beverly Goldsborough, Carolyn Greenwald, Lynn Ruyle, Jim thing as a green flash,” Greenwald, Robb Ruyle and Biklen.

Paulson famously Al Etzbach, Bill life, and it is wonderful to gather together declared moments before the sun disapGoldsborough, Jim Greenwald, Dave with unique and interesting men,” said peared below the horizon, and a brilliant Lindgren, Jim Mock, Don Paulson, Rick Etzbach. green flash appeared, much to his astonishPfaffman, Robb Ruyle, Bill Simpson and Ron “The friendships which have been mainment, and the amusement of everyone else.

Zagorski. All agree that membership in tained with great brothers for life have Many of the Sig Eps are golfers, albeit Sigma Phi Epsilon had a significant impact mediocre ones, so when Simpson introon their lives by helping them develop lead- proven to be the most meaningful ever,” Greenwald added. duced the Simpson Rules of Golf, everyone’s ership skills and learn to work It is clear that the Sig Ep principle of score improved. He believes that “when a cooperatively while instilling a strong sense brotherly love has remained constant in ball is lost out of bounds, it is punishment of responsibility and citizenship. these men. Mock, who was the pledge class enough, and your score shouldn’t be “Joining the fraternity my freshman year president and also the chapter president, penalized.” gave my campus life more structure,” said believes the reunions have been successful While most are now retired, the brothers Goldsborough. “The emphasis on scholar“because brothers respect each other for have had distinguished careers in both eduship and the number of role models in the whom we have become. The great bond we cation and business. The diversity of each chapter undoubtedly worked to my benefit brother’s life is remarkable, and each has a as well … The respect I have for the lifelong developed as Sig Eps at MC has translated into lifelong friendships.” compelling story to tell: friends I made and continue to see has Each reunion lasts four or five days and unquestionably made me a better person.”

• After Mock earned his Ph.D. at Iowa is planned and coordinated by one of the This sentiment is shared by the other State, he became a nationally recognized brothers and his wife, who act as the host classmates, who have met for biannual plant geneticist in both academia and couple for the event. Activities typically reunions in Colorado (twice), Wisconsin, business. He is past chairman of the include sightseeing, golfing, hiking/explorMissouri, California, Florida, Oregon and Agri-business Council of Wichita and ing, shopping, visiting local attractions and Connecticut. Wives and fellow 1965 classcurrently serves as chair of the board of reminiscing. mates Genie Willman Zagorski and Sharon the Kansas World Trade Center. He is The most important activity for the Wehrs Mock are the only MC alums, but it also a former MC trustee. brothers, however, is a competitive card didn’t take long for all 11 of the wives to game of hearts. On commencement Sunday • Paulson received his Ph.D. from Indiana form a bond, too. They all agree that the University and was acknowledged for in 1965, the brothers were playing hearts stories are the same, but they get more innovative teaching of organic chemistry together for what they thought would be exaggerated at each reunion. by the state of California. the last time. When the time approached Since the brothers live on both coasts for the group to don caps and gowns, the • Simpson was awarded his Ed.D. from and in the Midwest, it takes significant deck of cards, scorecard and pencil were Illinois State University and was recogplanning and effort on the part of the picked up, only to reappear at the first nized by Phi Theta Kappa and the attendees. The motivation to attend, howreunion.

National Junior College Athletic ever, is rooted in the brotherhood of Sigma Mock believes the passion displayed in Association for his leadership as a comPhi Epsilon and reconnecting with men playing each game is a story in itself, since munity college president. He is currently who have a deep bond with one another. no one plays hearts between reunions. an MC trustee.

“Each brother has been successful in his almost half a century ago and they live in various parts of the U.S., yet they remain friends and rekindle their brotherhood through regular reunions. “They” are 11 members of Monmouth College’s Sigma Phi Epsilson fraternity from the Class of 1965.

A claim made by fraternities in the recruitment of new members is that recruits will develop lifelong friendships during their college years.

That has proven to be true for Dave Biklen,

36

clan notes

monmouth | winter 2011

Make your reservation online today

Golden ScotsCelebration june 1-5, 2011

Special Class Reunions:

♥ 1966 ♥ 1961 ♥ 1956 ♥ 1951 ♥ 1946

Special Activities: ♥ Live in the Residence Halls ♥ Day Tour to John Deere Commons ♥ Tour of Campus with Students ♥ Evening Fellowship ♥ Reunion Receptions and Dinners ♥ Golden Scots Celebration Dinner ♥ Memorial Service

www.MonmouthCollege.edu/alumni • Biklen attended law school at the University of Virginia and was executive director of the Connecticut Law Revision Commission. He has been recognized with the Public Service Award from the Connecticut Secretary of State.

• Greenwald earned a master’s degree in taxation from Golden Gate University and has been a CPA specializing in taxes.

He is also a director of the Warren Eukel Teachers Trust, which fosters excellence in education.

• Ruyle received his MBA in hospital administration from the University of Arizona and, after working in that field for several years, he has operated his own business. Shortly after he attended Monmouth, he was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam.

• Goldsborough received his MBA from the University of Chicago and, after a monmouth | winter 2011

short teaching career, moved into the field of investment management. He has been on MC’s board of trustees for more than 25 years and has received the college’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and its Distinguished Service Award.

• Etzbach received his master’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University and taught high school physics for 38 years, during which time he coached a Junior Engineering Technical Society team to third place in national competition.

• Zagorski earned a D.D.S. from Marquette University and, after a tour in the U.S. Army, established a successful general dentistry practice. He served on the college’s alumni board for several years.

• Pfaffman received an MBA from the University of Denver and was the owner of a Volvo dealership and a chain of

shops throughout the Rocky Mountain ski resort area prior to his retirement.

• Lindgren has a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and is a counselor specializing in group dynamics.

The link among these successful individuals is Sigma Phi Epsilon. They pledged together and spent four years as fraternity brothers. They believe their individual successes can be attributed to the nurturing environment the fraternity provided as well as their relationships with professors who sincerely cared about their students.

“The membership in Sig Ep directly impacted my ability to function as a leader in higher education and to work with diverse groups of people,” said Simpson. “I can think of no other single experience that shaped me as much as being a Sig Ep did.”

His 10 Sig Ep brothers certainly agree.  clan notes

37

scotlight

‘Smart Politics’ includes keeping eye on baseball during the 2010 world cup, Paul the Octopus become a global celebrity, correctly predicting the results of eight consecutive contests, including the final between Spain and the Netherlands.

T

wo days following the World Cup’s conclusion, a Monmouth College graduate made sports prognostication news here in the U.S. Eric Ostermeier ’94, a research associate at the University of Minnesota and author of the blog “Smart Politics,” climbed out on a pretty big limb when he predicted that the National League would end a 13-year drought and win Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Anaheim, Calif.

Ostermeier, who majored in political science and communication at Monmouth, didn’t just make his prediction to a few friends or in his blog. He received media attention from NBC News and Atlantic Monthly, as well as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

That attention continued after Ostermeier was proven to be correct. The National League rallied in the seventh inning and went on to post a 3-1 victory, its first over the American League since 1996.

“I got a good run out of what was a late Monday night lark,” Ostermeier said of the media blitz.

Ostermeier based his baseball prediction on a political one. It was widely assumed that the Republican Party would win a large share of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate after November’s election. The MC grad had observed that a National League victory has preceded every election with doubledigit GOP House gains since 1950. The sample size is growing, as the 2010 election marked the 10th time it’s happened.

The same correlation is true in the Senate. Each year since 1948 that the Republicans have gained at least five seats, the NL has won.

In the same time span, American League victories have preceded

Democratic gains of five Senate seats or more. Congressional Republicans have never made substantial gains in either chamber during years in which the All-Star Game was won by the American League.

“I have to stick by the data, and I have to go with the upset, because all signs point to a big GOP victory in Congress, and that can only go with a National League victory,” Ostermeier told a reporter from Politico, a multimedia political news source.

In his “Smart Politics” blog, Ostermeier wrote of “the mysterious yet powerfully predictive value of the annual baseball classic.

“Smart Politics” is the blog of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Political Affairs. One fan of the blog wrote, “’Smart Politics’ is by far the best Minnesota political blog. I check it every day and encounter much good information and analysis that I can get nowhere else.”

Ostermeier received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 2006 and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1995. His research interests include elections, legislative politics, public opinion, crime policy and mass communication, and his research has been published in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Journal of Politics and Public Perspective.

Although he appeared on a national stage and nailed his prediction, Ostermeier remains humble. When asked by a reporter if he was psychic or simply a good data analyzer, Ostermeier replied, “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”  — Barry McNamara

save the date october 21-23 special reunion classes:

2006 2001 1996

38

1991 1986 1981

clan notes

1976 1974 1971

monmouth | winter 2011

scotlight

Mitchell shares global perspective with students when Jerry Mitchell ’67 returned to his alma mater earlier this fall as part of Monmouth

College’s Alumni Distinguished Visitors Program, he brought with him several messages.

Chief among the thoughts he shared with two classes and in a forum discussion was, “There is no such thing as domestic or international anymore. It’s a worldwide competition. If you’re on the Internet, you’re global. They can find you. This is the world we live in—a global environment. It’s naïve not to think that way.”

M

itchell was the perfect visitor to help students understand the way the world has changed and how important it is to have a global perspective. He spent nearly 30 years with the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service, helping U.S. business overseas, most recently as senior commercial officer in Mexico from 2002 to 2004. Prior to that, he served two years in Washington, D.C., as a deputy director general, the top career position in the service. Mitchell has also been posted in Korea, Belgium, Greece, Canada and Africa.

He described the role of the Commercial Service as “We don’t sell your product, we open the doors for you. We represent the companies, doing things like meeting with ambassadors, advising companies about labor situations in the foreign countries and helping them operate within labor laws. We help keep the playing field equal.”

Mitchell said one of his main responsibilities was to educate business and the public about international trade.

“U.S. exports used to be a small percentage of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but now equal 13 percent … Going it alone for the U.S. isn’t possible anymore.”

Living and working abroad and being fluent in French, Greek and Spanish was probably the farthest thing from Mitchell’s mind when he grew up on a farm outside Maquon, about 25 miles from of Monmouth.

He originally attended Carthage College (when it was still located in Carthage, Ill.), but transferred to Monmouth because he felt it would be “more of an academic chal-

monmouth | winter 2011

lenge, and I’d get a stronger education.

I liked what I had heard and seen about Monmouth.”

He fondly recalls faculty member James Pate, who was also the adviser for his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and remembers having classes with other legendary MC professors such as Mary Crow, Adele Kennedy, Sam Thompson and Roy McClintock. He majored in comparative government and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.

“That’s the quality of education I received at Monmouth,” Mitchell said of the Wilson honor. “It really prepared me and my classmates.”

When Mitchell left Monmouth, he taught at the junior high and high school level. He had thought about going to graduate school and eventually did, receiving the equivalent of an MBA in international management at the Thunderbird School in Glendale, Ariz.

Mitchell passed the Foreign Service exam “after a couple of tries,” then went to work for the State Department in 1975, moving to the Commerce Department in 1980.

Of his career, he pointed to his time in Greece as a highlight “for family reasons.”

From a career perspective, he said he enjoyed Mexico and Korea.

“I was in Korea during the Asian financial crisis,” he said. “We turned that around with the help of the Korean government.

We kept banks from leaving. Korea was the first country to come out of the crisis.”

Currently, Mitchell is an adjunct professor of international business at Austin Community College, which has 40,000 students at eight campuses. He also serves as

associate director of the college’s Export Education Program.

“Our students do market research,” he said. “They’re graded on the work they do for particular companies. The students visit the companies, and we take them all the way through the process. It’s pretty rewarding.”

Mitchell has also served as executive director of the International Center of Austin (Texas), a non-profit organization that works to promote international educational, cultural and business activities in the Greater Austin area. In cooperation with a number of partners, Mitchell developed an active outreach program, focused on educating small businesses about the skills and knowledge needed for successfully conducting international business.

“San Antonio, Houston and Dallas are all pretty involved in the global marketplace, but Austin is not,” he said.

The potential is there, though.

“Austin is really booming as a high tech and education center. There are 50,000 students at the University of Texas and another 30,000 at Texas State in nearby San Marcos.”

MC development officer Steve Bloomer, who helped organize Mitchell’s visit, was very pleased with the result.

“Jerry’s willingness to return to Monmouth College to share his thoughts on a number of hot U.S. foreign policy issues and to discuss potential careers in U.S. diplomatic services will benefit both political science students and other students who are seeking career options serving their nation abroad,” he observed.  — Barry McNamara clan notes

39

scotlight

Emily Eddington: From cheerleader, to news anchor, to YouTube sensation outside of class that just might turn into a passion and make you a leader,” she explained. “Campus involvement was always stressed, as opposed to just going through the motions. Getting involved in various activities and seeing success in those areas builds confidence.”

While at Monmouth, Eddington was active in Pi Beta Phi, cheerleading and MC-TV. A communications major with a concentration in media, she a news anchor for also worked as a WSIL-TV 3, an ABC affiliate speech tutor. in southern Illinois, She married MC r to be Eddington is also the founder poll, entitling he e” classmate Tyler Dihle, Ris e th n “O n YouTube’s of “Beauty Broadcast,” a video ousands of n’s video blog wo e for a day and earning her th to accepting his storyng di Ed ily Em ag blog published on YouTube.

YouTube homep book proposal in front featured on the Eddington decided to start cribers. additional subs of hundreds of fellow students.

Dihle, the making her own videos in 2007 captain of the Fighting Scots football team, after seeing that there was a need for Rise” poll, in which four up-and-coming surprised Eddington, the cheerleading capsomeone to review drugstore makeup as channels were featured and then voted upon. tain, by asking her to marry him at the opposed to expensive department store Her blog won that poll, and she was 2005 Homecoming pep rally. Footage of the brands. featured on the YouTube homepage for a memorable moment can be found on one “It is a very relevant topic,” she said, day, earning her thousands more subscribof her “Em’s World” YouTube videos, which “considering the economic conditions, and ers and video views. she made shortly after returning to campus the fact that many people are looking to Eddington has also been featured on for last fall’s Bronze Turkey Game between save money.” beauty websites and in Elle, a women’s Monmouth and Knox.

Her experience as a news anchor has fashion and beauty magazine. Her videos The 12-minute video clip includes some served her well. have always been popular among teens and Bronze Turkey atmosphere, as well as a “In the news, I try to tell a concise story, 20-somethings, and they are starting to mini-campus tour. Over footage of the speak clearly and cover all the bases. I have grow in popularity among 50- and famous proposal, Eddington typed the the same goals for my videos.”

60-year-olds. words “I was shocked,” and the audio Starting with an inexpensive video Eddington believes that her liberal arts includes approving screams and hollers camera, Eddington initially set up a small experience provided valuable preparation from the large crowd in attendance that makeup station in the bedroom of her for her new career. night. apartment and began making short videos “On any given day, I don’t know what To watch “Beauty Broadcast,” go to www. using products she already had on hand. kind of story I’ll be covering,” she said. youtube.com/emilynoel83. Eddington also She has since moved into an office/studio “I feel like Monmouth College, paired with maintains a traditional blog, which can be dedicated to “Beauty Broadcast” that is a summer internship at a TV station, preread at www.beautybroadcast.net, and a painted bright pink and will soon transipared me so well.”

Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ tion to shooting high-definition video.

She also said that her alma mater gave beautybroadcast. Follow her on Twitter at With 90,000 subscribers and more than her a “try anything” mentality.

13.5 million video views, Eddington’s blog “Monmouth College encourages students www.twitter.com/emilynoel83.  was recently included in a YouTube “On the to not only go to class, but to find an activity — Melissa Lindsay ’10

Emily Eddington has been keeping busy since she graduated from Monmouth College in 2006.

40

clan notes

monmouth | winter 2011

Weddings 2005

Kristen Hodgeman and Jeremy Pickrel October 10, 2009 Katie Humann and Luke Halberg ’04 September 19, 2009

2007

Ashley Sullivan and Matt Gordon ’06 August 14, 2010 Sarah Watters and Brian Manecke ’06

2008 2009

June 19, 2010

Jessica Dollins and Jeff Denny ’07 August 28, 2010 Andrea Dorscheid and Jonathan Peterson ’10

July 24, 2010 Joining Sarah Watters ’07 and Brian Manecke ’06 at the altar were six Monmouth alumni. The three closest women to Watters are, from left, Bobbi Sue Prochazka ’07, Lindsey Clark VonHolten ’07 and Paige Taylor ’07. The middle three men on the right are, from left, Blake VonHolten ’07, Tyson Gramkow ’07 and Seth Rohweder ’07.

Jessica Dollins and Jeff Denny

Sarah Watters and Brian Manecke

Joining Andrea Dorscheid and Jonathan Peterson at their wedding were Ed Novak ’10 (next to Dorscheid), Steve Whittle ’10 (second man from right) and Lauren Firchau ’09 (far left).

we welcome news and photos related to your career, awards, reunions or travel with your MC friends, and any other information of interest to your classmates or alumni. We also welcome announcements and photos of alumni weddings, civil unions and births, as well as alumni obituaries. Digital photos should have a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Please include a photo caption with full names that clearly match faces, class years, date and location. Submit your news online at monmouthcollege.edu/alumni/updates, by e-mail to alumni@monmouthcollege.edu, or by mail to Monmouth College Magazine, Attn: Alumni Programs, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 614621998. We reserve the right to reject images for any reason, especially those with low resolution and those that require purchase from a photo gallery website. Submissions will be published at the discretion of the editors on a space-available basis.

Births 1999 Stephanie Orsi Dare and Jason ’00

2000

Brezdan Wilhelm Schaub

Isabelle Anna Kennedy

Name

2001 2002 2003 2005

Wendy Erlandson Anderson and Jeremy a daughter, Reese Piper

Benjamin Reed Potter

monmouth | winter 2011

July 13, 2010

Jennifer Gerard Lair and Ryan

a son, Cooper

Wendy Wilhelm Schaub and Matt ’99

a son, Brezdan Wilhelm October 3, 2010

Amelia Fillman Tierney and John

a daughter, Rhylen Cait

December 2, 2010

Abby Pollentier Tyra and Andrew ’00

a daughter, Boey Grace

July 12, 2010

Jill and Matt Huber

a son, Jaton

July 27, 2010

Stephanie Fritz Kennedy and Brian ’02

a daughter, Isabelle Anna August 10, 2010

Crystal Lang Click and Nikolaus

a daughter, Cadence November 2009

Andrea Farr Cokel and Mike

2006 MC

twin children, Carson Andrew and Vivian Orsi October 20, 2009

May 3, 2010

a daughter, Shaye

May 5, 2010

Sara Poggi Potter and Brian ’06

a son, Benjamin Reed

Misty Prater

a daughter, Jaelyn Miller

Maria Shepard Peterson and Brant

a daughter, Delaney Justine

July 2, 2010 June 24, 2009 February 5, 2010

Sarah and Logan Mayfield, a son, James Logan November 17, 2010 assistant professor of mathematics and computer science

clan notes

41

Deaths 1932 Ellen Rhinehart Hanna, 99, of Monmouth, died Jan. 1, 2011. After completing her degree in mathematics, she received a master’s degree in education from Colorado State University. She taught grade school for 10 years and served on the first Yorkwood District 225 Board of Education. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ross E. Hanna ’28. Survivors include a son, Ross E. Hanna, Jr. ’67.

1936 George Beste, 95, of Baton Rouge, La., died Aug. 29, 2010. After majoring in chemistry, he received a master’s degree in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D in chemistry from Columbia University. He held various senior positions in research and development during a 40-year at Ethyl Corp. In 1958, Beste received an honorary degree from Monmouth.

Survivors include his wife of 71 years, Margaret Grier Beste, daughter of former MC president James Grier.

Louise Conver James of Lake Oswego, Ore., died July 20, 2010. She majored in Latin and was a member of Kappa Delta. She was preceded in death by her husband, Russell James ’37.

1937 Mildred Delabar-Kelly, 95, of Oquawka, Ill., died Dec. 9, 2010. She worked as an LPN in Monmouth, Galesburg and Burlington, Iowa, and operated Oquawka Shelter Care.

1939 Donald Lawrence, 94, of Roseville, Ill., died Nov. 10, 2010. He played football and baseball, was a member of Theta Chi and graduated with a degree in mathematics. He was married Mary Young of Roseville in 1939 at the home of President James Grier, and she survives. Lawrence farmed near Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, for 30 years before moving to his wife’s family farm in 1970.

1941 Earl Carwile, 91, of Monmouth, died Nov. 7, 2010. He majored in biology and was a member of the track and football teams and Theta Chi. Carwile served in the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa during World War II, and he owned Carwile Paint Store with his late brother, Ralph Carwile ’38, for 40 years. Described as “a kind, compassionate, ornery man,” he had many connections to Monmouth, including his wife of 67 years, Ruth “Kak” Finlay Carwile ’42, who survives. His daughter, Marti Carwile, is a current staff member, and two granchildren, Ryan Standard ’03 and Rhett Standard ’13, followed him to MC. Donna Schantz Kleinkauf, 90, of Prescott, Ariz., died Nov. 14, 2010. She majored in English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Her teaching career started in a one-room country school, and she also helped her husband run a successful urology practice in Galesburg, Ill., for 21 years. She and her husband, who survives, were married 62 years.

Wiley Prugh, 90, of Greenville, Tenn., died Sept.

15, 2010. He majored in mathematics and music, serving as college organist his senior year. He was also a member of Octopus Club and Tau Kappa Epsilon. He received his master’s in theology from Pittsburgh Theological Semi-

42

clan notes

In Memoriam: Ronald ’54 and Diane Peyret Zalokar ’55 of Racine, Wis., who were married for 57 years, died within three weeks of each other on Sept. 4, 2010, and Aug. 18, 2010, respectively.

Zalokar, a 1995 inductee into the M Club Hall of Fame, participated in football and track at Monmouth, where he majored in physical education and was a member of the Octopus Club and Alpha Tau Omega.

He earned master’s degrees in biology and physical education from Western Illinois University and Southern Illinois University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in education from Marquette University.

He credited the late MC coach Glenn “Jelly” Robinson ’32 for paving the way to the success he enjoyed at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., where he began working in 1960. When he first started at the college, it was located in Carthage, Ill. Zalokar coached wrestling and men’s track at Carthage, producing a national individual champion in each sport, and he also coached women’s tennis. He also worked 18 years as the defensive coordinator for the football team, and Carthage’s 1969 squad led the nation at all levels for fewest points allowed per game. He was inducted into the athletic hall of fame at Carthage, where he was a professor of exercise and sport science until his retirement in 1997.

Zalokar, who coached wrestling for 33 years—the longest coaching tenure in the history of Carthage athletics—was inducted into the NCAA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1999.

His wife, Diane, who was a member of Kappa Delta at Monmouth, completed her degree at Carthage in 1975. She was a bookkeeper at the Racine Country Club for 20 years.

nary and his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburg in Scotland. Prugh also received an honorary degree and a Distinguished Service Award from Tusculum College. He pastored several Presbyterian churches, founding churches in Dayton, Ohio, and Rockville, Md., and he also served as a professor of religion and chaplain at Monmouth.

Louise Mae Efaw Rankin, 90, of Macomb, Ill., died Nov. 5, 2010. She also attended Western Illinois University. She taught in the Roseville area and worked at the Roseville Public Library for 20 years, retiring in 2007.

Mary James Risberg, 90, of Lake Oswego, Ore., died Oct. 15, 2010. She studied English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma before completing her degree at Lindenwood College.

She worked in the credit office of two companies and was a legal secretary in Boise, Idaho, and Portland, Ore.

1942 Charles Dawson, 90, of Woodstock, Ga., died March 5, 2010. He majored in chemistry and was a member of the golf team. The 1940 and 1942 Midwest Conference golf champion was inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame in 1993.

Dawson, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, retired as executive vice president of Linwood Stone Products Co., of Davenport, Iowa, in 1985. He was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years. Survivors include sons Stanley Dawson ’70 and Stephen Dawson ’70.

Hugh Marsh, 90, of Lindsborg, Kansas, died Feb. 21, 2010. He graduated with a degree in chemistry, then attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He was a Presbyterian minister at one church in Pennsylvania and Nebraska and five in Kansas, including three in Wichita. Marsh served four other churches as an interim pastor. His motto was, “Leave your world for those who

follow as good or better than you found it.”

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Joanne Maxwell Marsh ’42.

Catherine Wilson Thompson, 92, of Novi, Wis., died Aug. 29, 2010. She studied business administration and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta.

1943 Howard Seaton, 90, of Shreveport, La., died Nov. 24, 2010. He majored in elementary education and was a member of Theta Chi. Seaton served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He farmed in Little York, Ill., and retired as owner and operator of Monmouth Grain and Dryer. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Adcock Seaton ’45.

1944 Jean McInnes Creswell, 88, of Champaign, Ill., died Aug. 26, 2010. She graduated with a degree in English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. The next year, she received a master’s degree in speech communication from the University of Wisconsin. She taught at the University of Northern Colorado and coached its debate club. Creswell, who served as a class secretary for 12 years, retired from the University of Illinois as an administrative assistant. Survivors include a brother, James McInnes ’48.

David Hallam, 88, of Flossmoor, Ill., died Nov. 13, 2010. He graduated cum laude with a degree in philosophy. In 1960, he formed the David Hallam Agency in Monmouth, which sold real estate and insurance. He was also supervisor of assessments in Warren County and was chief appraisal office at Security Savings and Loan for 21 years. Hallam also served on MC’s alumni board for three years. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Caldwell Hallam ’49, and survivors include a son, Tim Hallam ’85.

monmouth | winter 2011

1945 Mildred Pressley Rummell, 87, of Scales Mound, Ill., died Dec. 7, 2010. She was a teacher’s aide in Hanover, Ill., for 26 years.

Leroy Shrode, 87, of Colville, Wash., died Oct. 1, 2010. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating with a degree in engineering. He served as an active duty and reserve officer, retiring as lieutenant commander in 1983.

Shrode’s civilian working career was spent at Alcoa. His three brothers also attended Monmouth—Max Shrode ’49, who survives, and the late Louis Shrode ’38 and Raymond Shrode ’41.

1946 Elizabeth Brown Robinson, 86, of Mountain Lakes, N.J., died Jan. 5, 2011. She graduated with a degree in biology and was a member of Kappa Delta. She taught biology in Chicago for several years before moving to New Jersey and becoming a homemaker. Survivors include a brother, William Brown ’52, and a sister, Louise Brown Whiteman ’52.

1948 Leroy Pierce, 85, of Morning Sun, Iowa, died Sept. 10, 2010. He followed his parents Leroy and Gertrude Kaufmann Pierce to MC and majored in business administration while serving as a member of Alpha Tau Omega and Octopus Club. Pierce served in the U.S. Army during World War II, serving eight months as a POW. Upon his return, he completed his Monmouth degree and also graduated from the Cincinnati College of Embalming. He worked at Pierce Furniture, now located in Muscatine, Iowa, with his father and sons. He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Nancy Peters Pierce ’52, and a sister, Charlotte Pierce Gibson ’50. Survivors include a son, David Pierce ’76.

1949 John “Jack” Gumm, 82, of Galesburg, Ill., died Nov. 6, 2010. He participated in football, served in the U.S. Army and farmed for 58 years.

George Hughes, 86, of Little Rock, Ark., died Dec. 10, 2010. He graduated with a degree in economics and business administration. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1947, earning the rank of captain. Hughes returned to active duty in 1951 and flew 132 combat missions in Korea. Following his service, he was a salesman at Bankers Life, retiring in 1984.

1950 Robert “Rusty” Williams of Princeton, N.J., died Oct. 20, 2010. During World War II, he served in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater. At Monmouth, he majored in physics and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega. As an electrical engineer at Raytheon, he was in charge of the installation of the radar system across the high Arctic. Most of the rest of his career was devoted to consulting for the defense and intelligence industries. During the Carter administration, Williams served as a special assistant to the Director of Intelligence. In retirement, he lived for five years in France before serving as a mentor to foreign graduate and post-graduate students at Princeton University.

and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta before graduating from the University of Michigan. She was a teacher and elementary counselor, retiring in 1999. Survivors include a sister, Edith Lambers Winter ’55.

Robert Shunick, 81, of Ottawa, Ill., died Dec. 10, 2010. He graduated with a degree in government. He served in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953 in the Counter Intelligence Corps. Shunick was the executive secretary of the Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce and also held that position for a number of years in Ottawa.

1952 Wilma Barnhart Toohey, 79, of Bellingham, Wash., died Oct. 31, 2010. She studied English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma before moving on to Pennsylvania State University. Toohey worked in law firms in Canada and three U.S. states. She was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert Toohey ’52.

1953 Norman Suranne, 79, of Wild Rose, Wis., died Aug. 27, 2010. He majored in business administration and was a member of the football team and Theta Chi. He worked for The Hartford for 27 years.

1954 Donald Utter of Surprise, Ariz., died Dec. 13, 2010. He majored in physical education and was a member of the football and swim teams and Alpha Tau Omega. After college, he spent two years in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Ord, Calif. Utter completed his teaching credentials at Fresno State College in 1962 and began a career in education and coaching, primarily at Costa Mesa (Calif.) High School. His passion was coaching aquatic sports.

1956 Dr. Stuart Walker, 75, of Monmouth, died Sept.

9, 2010. He majored in chemistry and was a member of the swim team. He served in the medical branch of the U.S. Army in Germany.

Walker, who had a dental practice in Monmouth for 41 years, received his dental degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

1957 Sally Fraser Scott, 75, of Moline, Ill., died Oct. 15, 2010. She was a cheerleader and a member of Pi Beta Phi. She was a houseware buyer for two True Value Hardware stores.

1961 Dennis Rineberg, 70, of O’Fallon, Ill., died Dec. 13, 2009. He majored in physical education and was a member of the basketball and baseball teams, the Octopus Club and Alpha Tau Omega.

During his four-decade career teaching mathematics, he earned his master’s degree from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Rineberg spent the final 30 years of his full-time teaching career at Quincy (Ill.) High School, where he also coached golf and basketball.

1951

Richard Tornquist, 78, of Kewanee, Ill., died Oct. 6, 2010. Prior to attending Monmouth, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He majored in economics and was a member of the baseball team. After working for Standard Oil for eight years, Tornquist worked for three insurance agencies, including 27 years at the Lyle Jager Agency. Survivors include his wife of 51 years.

Catherine Lambers Humes, 78, of Lansing, Mich., died Nov. 26, 2010. She studied sociology

Margaret Cochrane Porter, 68, of Tucson, Ariz., died Aug. 23, 2010. She studied history and was

monmouth | winter 2011

a member of MC’s synchronized swimming organization. At the age of 50, she returned to school to become a registered nurse. Porter remained very active and was climbing Mt. Sianid the day before she was diagnosed with the glioblastoma that eventually took her life.

1968 Sharon Lowe Loewenstein-Smith of St Louis, Mo., died Nov. 3, 2010. She majored in mathematics and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

1969 Deanna Tumey, 65, of West Yarmouth, Mass., died July 1, 2010. She studied sociology and was also educated at the University of Hawaii and Brandeis University. Tumey, who was a social worker for 32 years, interrupted her college education in response to President Kennedy’s plea, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do four your country.” She joined the domestic Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America and worked on two Native American reservations. For her master’s degree thesis, she produced a documentary, which shed much-needed light on the plight of the institutionalized elderly. Tumey also taught graduate school at Boston College and conducted a psychotherapy practice.

1972 Stanley Felix, 61, of Arlington, Texas, died Sept.

9, 2010. He majored in business administration and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. The retired Army Aviation flight officer was a chief instructor pilot for two Learjet training programs.

1976 Mildred “Millie” Ford, 85, of Galesburg, Ill., died Dec. 13, 2010. She graduated with a degree in religious studies, and she was so interested in Egyptian hieroglyphics that she could read and them write fluently. She operated Galesburg’s General Assistance Office until her retirement in 1993. Survivors include a son, Greg Ford ’77.

1989 Blair DeLong, 43, of Coral Springs, Fla., died Sept. 14, 2010. He was a member of the men’s basketball team. He completed a degree in political science at the University of South Dakota, where he also played two years of basketball. DeLong served in many capacities with the Quad Cities Thunder, a member of the Continental Basketball Association.

Word has also been received of the deaths of: Betty Kruidenier, former staff member, died Sept. 15, 2010. She was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Jud Kruidenier ’50, who she helped coach track and cross country at Monmouth.

1940: Marion Brouse, 92, of Williamsburg, Va., died Oct. 15, 2010.

1954: Robert Rislow, 77, of Goodyear, Ariz., died Aug. 22, 2010.

1956: Norma Hackmann Rowland of Raytown, Mo., died Dec. 23, 2009.

1957: Richard “Buzz” Koontz of New York, N.Y., died Oct. 5, 2008.

1963: David Peterson of Algonquin, Ill., died Aug. 14, 2010.

clan notes

43

the last word by James Godde

Monmouth students, NASA scientists find common interest at California’s Mono Lake when i devised the “Monmouth College on the Rails” initiative in which a dozen participants traveled across America by train studying “extremophiles,” most people, including many of my students, had heard very little concerning these incredible microorganisms. Extremophiles thrive in, and often require, the most extreme conditions found on Earth, carving out a niche inhabited by few competitors.

During a two-week-long trip last August, Monmouth College students and professors visited the Great Salt Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Mono Lake in California and the Argo Gold Mine in Colorado, among other places, in order to study halophilic (salt-loving), thermophilic (heat-loving), alkalophilic (base-loving) and acidophilic (acid-loving) organisms, respectively. The students took water samples at each location and then treated them to extract the DNA of the microbes that were present before returning them to Monmouth for further studies. Since this time, extremophiles have risen to the forefront of a scientific controversy.

Unbeknownst to our team, scientists working in conjunction with NASA, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey, had previously visited Mono Lake and taken samples of the extremophiles found there. Mono Lake is unique in that it is one of only a handful of alkaline lakes in the U.S. In addition, the lake has a salt content 2.5 times that of sea water, an impressive amount—even though this is only one-third as salty as the Great Salt Lake. Another component that has been found to be present in the lakes that dot the Sierra Nevadas is the poison, arsenic.

Mono Lake, with more than 1,500 times the maximum arsenic concentration allowed for drinking water, is at the high end of the concentration range found in similar lakes. Herein lies the controversy.

In December, Felisa Wolfe-Simon and colleagues reported in Science, America’s most prestigious scientific periodical, that 44

the last word

they had characterized a halophilic alkalophilic microbe that not only tolerated high arsenic concentrations, but was actually able to use this compound for growth in place of phosphorous (www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pubmed/21127214). If this claim were true, this would be the first living organism that could live in the complete absence of phosphorous.

NASA, for its part, took a considerable interest in the suggestion that an organism

As we continue our research, it is good to keep in mind that, whether it be high-profile or low-profile, whether steeped in controversy or lacking thereof, science matters. could live without one of the “big six” elements thought to be required for life (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur) and called a press conference to announce Wolfe-Simon’s results. After all, any narrowing of the conditions required for life could expand the range where it could potentially exist beyond the confines of Earth. NASA’s lateNovember press release claiming it would “discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life” led to widespread speculation on the Internet that they had indeed found E.T., only to be followed by considerable disappointment that it was merely the finding discussed above (www.nasa.gov/home/ hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-167_ Astrobiology.html).

Disillusionment with NASA was not confined to laypeople in the blogosphere, however. After the details of the Science

paper were released, it did not take long for a number of prominent scientists to question its results, as well as to point out flaws in the experiments performed and/or conclusions drawn from the work. As of this writing, the controversy remains unresolved and promises to be the subject of intense debate during 2011 and beyond.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, since science is fueled by constructive debate and progresses only when conflicting hypotheses are ultimately resolved.

For our part, the Monmouth College research team managed to release our preliminary findings without any controversy whatsoever. Instead of calling a press conference, our results were presented at a recent Friday faculty colloquium. Our results, though not particularly controversial, are interesting in their own right.

Monmouth students characterized halophilic and alkalophilic organisms from Mono Lake whose nearest living relatives resemble Flavobacterium johnsoniae, an opportunistic pathogen of fish; Teredinibacter turnerae, commonly found in the gills of wood-boring shipworms; and Dorea formicigenerans, a normal inhabitant of the human gut.

Work continues on the wealth of samples obtained from this, as well as the other, sampling locations. As we continue our research, it is good to keep in mind that, whether it be high-profile or low-profile, whether steeped in controversy or lacking thereof, science matters. Our goal at Monmouth has been to expose students to real research experiences, wherever they may be found. The college, like an extremophile, has sought out a unique niche in which it can thrive.  editor’s note: Associate professor of biology James Godde joined the Monmouth College faculty in 2005.

monmouth | winter 2011

Monmouth College Alumni Travel Series

Join the Chorale in Spain!

MAY 2012

Templo de Debod,

Travel with President and Mrs. Ditzler, along with the Monmouth College Chorale, to historic Spain! The 8-day excursion will depart from Chicago on May 20, 2012.

Tour the cities of Barcelona and Madrid under the knowledgeable guidance of MC modern foreign languages chair Michael Harrison. Several evenings will feature the Chorale, under the direction of Tim Pahel, performing in historic locations, as well as alumni/student dinners.

Madrid

For detailed information about the tour as it becomes available pre-register today at: monmouthcollege.edu/alumni/spain

Writing a New Chapter for MC Alumni!

The MC Alumni Board of Directors is pleased to announce the launch of several alumni chapters across the United States. The goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for alumni, parents and friends to connect with each other and the college. Chapter leaders and committees coordinate social, educational, cultural and service activities in their local areas. They also provide support to the Monmouth College admission office by providing volunteers to assist with college nights and referring prospective students to Monmouth. To share ideas, get more information about upcoming events or to volunteer, contact a club leader or Lucy Kellogg Thompson ’99, director of alumni programs (alumni@monmouthcollege.edu).

Monmouth College alumni chapters are open to any alumni, parent or friend of Monmouth College. Chapters are using e-mail and Facebook as their main form of communication.

Midwest chapters: Quad Cities Kellie Kohler Esters ’86 kesters@scottcountyfamilyy.org

Monmouth/Galesburg Eric ’98 & Tara Sloss ’00 Hanson ehanson98@hotmail.com thanson3@hotmail.com

Chicagoland Dan Cotter ’88 dcotter1@msn.com

Champaign, Illinois Bill Turner ’93 waturner@law.illinois.edu

St. Louis Anna Beasley ’05 Geoff Edwards ’03 annarosebeasley@gmail.com

Indianapolis Jeff Miller Jdm918@earthlink.net

West chapter: Phoenix, Arizona Tina Hartwig ’68 tmhartwig@gmail.com Mary Beth McGregor ’01 embee78@yahoo.com

Interested in forming an Alumni Chapter in your area?

Contact Kevin Kaihara ’77, President, Alumni Board of Directors (kkaihara@gmail.com) or Lucy Kellogg Thompson ’99, Director of Alumni Programs (alumni@monmouthcollege.edu).

Monmouth

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Rock Island IL Permit No. 21

®

700 East Broadway Monmouth IL 61462-1998

If you wish to be addressed by other than the name on this label, please let us know your preference.

Warm clothes, Big Red help brighten Moldovan winter

W

ith a mission of “providing warmth for Monmouth and Moldova,” the psychology honorary Psi Chi recently staged a drive to collect gently-used coats, mittens, hats, gloves, boots and scarves.

Psi Chi’s goal was to collect more than 500 winter items, sharing some with Monmouth’s Jamieson Community Center and sending the rest to the eastern European republic of Moldova, which has 75 state orphanages with approximately 12,500 orphans and a severe shortage of winter clothing. The organization flew past its original goal, concluding the drive with 935 items (upper photo).

Psi Chi’s attention was called to the effort in Moldova by David Byrnes ’72, chairman of the college’s board of trustees, who recently visited the country.

“The kids (lower photo) were kicked out of the state orphanages the year they turned 16,” Byrnes explained.

“They were rescued from an uncertain fate by missionary Philip Cameron and his family. Philip is a large Scotsman with an infectious personality and usually has a smile on his face. When I was at Homecoming I saw the new T-shirts with Big Red and a large M on the shirts and it immediately made me think of these kids, Philip, and Moldova…”