University Administration President: Dr. Jesse W. Rogers Vice President for University Advancement and Student Affairs: Dr. Howard M. Farrell Provost: Dr. Friederike Wiedemann Vice President for Administration and Finance: Mr. Juan Sandoval Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Enrollment Management: Dr. Robert E. Clark Associate Provost and Dean, Graduate Studies: Dr. Emerson Capps Associate Vice President for Student Affairs: Mr. Keith Lamb Associate Vice President for Facilities Services: Mr. Allen Goldapp
features
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Staff Editor: Janus Buss Managing Editor: Julie (Nanny) Gaynor (’94) Contributing Writers This Issue: Ted Buss (’81), Kristal (Kingcade) Amador (’97), Leslee (Phillips) Ponder (’86), Bill Powers, Kay Hannah, Gary Achterberg Contributing Photographers This Issue: Janus Buss, Bill Powers, Nick Krug of Lawrence Journal-World, Kay Hannah, Josh Gray
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MSU Ranked Number One
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Perot Systems to Hire Students
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Summer in the City
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MSU Cyclists Win
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An Unlikely Friendship
10 Giving Back 12 2007 Outstanding Alumni 14 Unique Treasures
Advisory Committee Annual Fund: Kristal (Kingcade) Amador (’97) Donor Services/Development: Anne Opperman (’76, ‘85) Alumni: Leslee (Phillips) Ponder (’86) Sports: Bill Powers Sunwatcher is published two times a year and is distributed free of charge to university friends, alumni, faculty and staff. Direct correspondence to:
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departments
Office of Public Information and Marketing Midwestern State University 3410 Taft Blvd., Wichita Falls, TX 76308 (940) 397-4352, e-mail: janus.buss@mwsu.edu
Annual Fund 12 News
For name or address corrections, contact the coordinator of donor data and research at (940) 397-4236 or patricia.lowry@mwsu.edu.
Athletics 17 Soccer Challenge 18 Sports Recap Alumni 22 Weddings and Future Grads 23 Where They Are Now 28 Memorials
About the Cover Midwestern State University is ranked No. 1 Best Value in Public Colleges and Universities according to the June issue of Consumers Digest Magazine.
Homecoming Inside Back Cover
The magazine lists the top 100 best values based on attributes that validate or define the institutions’ academic prowess factored against annual cost of tuition and room and board. Final selections were chosen from approximately 3,800 U.S. schools. A reprint of the article is shown on page 2.
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Partnersh Partnership with
PEROT SYSTEMS to Benefit Dillard COBA Students
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An opportunity for MSU students to begin earning $50,000 a year after graduation is just one of the benefits provided in a new agreement between the Dillard College of Business Administration and H. Ross Perot’s company. Perot Systems, the No. 2 Most Admired Company on Fortune Magazine’s Information Technology 2007 list, has agreed to hire at least 25 students annually to begin the Perot Academy, the company’s training program for new hires. The program includes a Dallas apartment, an annual salary of $50,000, and three months of mentoring. The students will then be placed in one of the Perot Systems’ locations around the country. The current class is made up of college graduates from around the country and Great Britain. In addition, executives and instructors
From left, Dr. David Wierschem, Graduate Program Coordinator, and Dr. Anthony Chelte, Dean of MSU’s Dillard College of Business Administration, stand with H. Ross Perot, owner of Perot Systems, and Kennard Hill, Senior Advisor at Perot Systems.
from the Perot company will serve as guest lecturers and speakers on the MSU campus. An annual gift of $10,000 from Perot Systems will be used to recognize two outstanding students each year – one who has completed his/her junior year in the Dillard College of Business Administration and who is a good candidate for the Perot Academy upon graduation, and one graduate student.
Program includes a Dallas apartment, an annual salary of $50,000, and three months of mentoring. “Being associated with the No. 2 Most Admired Company is obviously a prestigious differentiator for the Dillard College and MSU. The potential to leverage this relationship for broader student recruiting, faculty recruiting, and branding of the college is limitless,” stated Tony Chelte, Dean of the Dillard College of Business Administration. Perot Systems expects to hire 300 to 400 people each year. “This should reassure parents of the opportunities for their children upon graduation,” stated Chelte. M S U
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SUMMER Guillermo Herrera
City N Tammy Balkcom
Lindsey Cook
Sean Evans
in the
Nat King Cole once sang about those “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,” and Eddie Cochran told us “that there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.” But today’s MSU students are redefining how generations have long characterized the summer break.
MSU students spend break working with prestigious organizations
While it might be true that their summers were a little crazy, Guillermo Herrera, Tammy Balkcom, Lindsey Cook, and Sean Evans spent their time putting into practice what they’d learned in the classroom. For Guillermo it all began in the summer of 2006 when Johns Hopkins Medical Hospital began a summer program for students interested in a career as a pediatric or neonatal respiratory therapist. The program only allows four students from across the country to participate, and for the past two years, MSU respiratory care students have earned spots in the program. Guillermo, a May 2007 graduate, was part of the inaugural program during the summer of 2006. And through that internship, Guillermo accepted a position in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins that began in mid-June of this year. So there was definitely not much lazy about his summers.
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“I did work pretty hard,” Guillermo said of his internship. “Monday through Friday we followed therapists, did some troubleshooting; we got to see some of the rare diseases, some techniques with high-frequency ventilation, and attend lectures. One of the more interesting things we did was to hook up a pig’s lung to a high-frequency ventilation machine and see how it works.” While Tammy Balkcom’s husband and 11-year-old daughter might have been a little blue about her departure to Baltimore for her stint at Johns Hopkins, Tammy said they were excited and realized what a great opportunity this was for her. “At first it seemed like such a far-fetched idea, but I decided, ‘I can do this’,” she said. Both Tammy and Guillermo credit the MSU respiratory care program for their preparedness to tackle the internships. “They did a great job of preparing me for the internship. Not many questions stumped me during the interview because of the preparation I received from my instructors,” Tammy said.
she gained has helped her tie into what her professors are teaching in the classroom. Sean Evans saw a blue haze this summer – but with a splash of bright orange. The sophomore athletic training major from Irving spent the dog days of summer at the Denver Broncos training camp in Colorado. Sean first heard about the NFL’s minority scholarship internship program from MSU’s head athletic trainer Gary Diehm. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘I have this great opportunity.’ ” So Sean seized the opportunity and applied. But the Broncos organization wasn’t the first to knock at Sean’s door. “I was first contacted by the Tennessee Titans, but I sat on it for a few days.” And in the meantime, Sean thought he found a better fit at the Broncos preseason training camp. Through Sean’s internship he was awarded a $1,000 scholarship, room and board, and his travel expenses. Sean, too, felt like the preparation and knowledge he received from his instructors at MSU made the difference in being selected for the
And Guillermo felt that he had a slight edge on the other internship
The work that these students completed at these prestigious organizations not only brings a sense of pride and accomplishment to Midwestern but also shows others the quality education that our students are receiving. participants. “Even last year (as a senior) I felt very prepared. I knew more or a little more than the others (students),” Guillermo said. “That made me very proud of the MSU program.” There’s certainly not anything hazy about Lindsey Cook’s plans for the future. The senior marketing major has spent the past two summers working in New York City to prepare for what she hopes is a career in fashion or celebrity public relations. In 2006 she completed an internship, on her own and without MSU credit, at the public relations firm of LaForce & Stevens. Organization was key for Lindsey as she spent a little more than a year making arrangements for her second summer trip to the Big Apple. She interviewed for the position at Bvlgari during spring break of 2006 and went back for a second interview while she was working at her internship at LaForce & Stevens. “One thing that I’ve gained is the networking opportunities and just how important networking is,” Lindsey said. Also, she said the experience
internship. “Athletic training isn’t the biggest program on campus, so it offers a lot of one-on-one time. You get to go into the weight room for three or four hours each day and put into practice what you learned that morning.” Gary Diehm, head athletic trainer and instructor at MSU, said, “I am very glad that Sean was given this opportunity with the Denver Broncos. It shows the other athletic training students that you can get to the major sports level from MSU, and hopefully it will set the ground work for other MSU students to get opportunities with not only NFL teams, but all the major sports teams.” The work that these students completed at these prestigious organizations brings a sense of pride and accomplishment to Midwestern and also shows others the quality education that our students are receiving. “We are proud to be represented in Baltimore at a facility like Johns Hopkins. Our goal has always been to be a state-of-the-art program,” Ann Medford, Respiratory Care Chair, said. M S U
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MSU CYCLISTS CROSS FINISH LINE T O N AT I O N A L TITLES
W
When Midwestern State cyclist Alex Boyd rolled across the finish line at the Collegiate Road Cycling National Championships this May with his arms up in celebration – a halfminute in front of the sprint for second place – he added a chapter to a long tradition.
“The success our freshmen have had this past year is very exciting and
While the trip to nationals in Lawrence, Kan., would have been a huge success with just Boyd’s championship, another member of the team had her sights set on matching that feat and also climbing to the winner’s step of the podium. Boyd and his girlfriend, Natalie Klemko, also a freshman, enrolled at MSU together. Both are national-caliber cyclists. In addition to MSU, Boyd races for USA Cycling’s national development squad; Klemko races for the professional Advil/ChapStick women’s team. The boyfriend-girlfriend championships, along with a fourthplace in the women’s team time trial and points scored by other riders during the championships, earned MSU fourthplace team honors for the weekend among 45 schools M S U
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The national titles in June were not the first for MSU this school year. Aaron Kacala, also a freshman, won two events on the track at the Collegiate National Track Cycling Championships in Indianapolis last September.
encouraging...”
The freshman from Nebraska’s national title was the 20th in the 20-year history of Midwestern’s cycling program that has competed successfully with much-larger schools including Stanford University, Colorado and Wisconsin.
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competing in Division I. With its relatively small student body, MSU could compete in Division II, but chooses to race against the biggest schools.
Kacala, from Racine, Wis., spent several years as a permanent resident at the U.S. Olympic Training Center before deciding to enroll at MSU so he could pursue a college education while also focusing on his cycling. Kacala is looking forward to the 2007 collegiate and elite track national championships and, more long-term, representing the United States at the Olympics. “The success our freshmen have had this past year is very exciting and encouraging,” said Midwestern’s cycling coach, Gary Achterberg. “The young athletes on the team now are going to continue to work hard and develop. I’m also very optimistic about others who are considering studying and racing at MSU. Our future is bright.” Photo of Alex Boyd, right, courtesy of Nick Krug/Lawrence Journal-World. Photo of Natalie Klemko, center, courtesy of Josh Gray.
College of Science and Mathematics receives
$9.9 SCHOLARSHIPS Set Program Apart Midwestern is one of just a handful of schools across the nation that awards significant scholarship money to cyclists. Funding for the scholarships – which ranges from several hundred dollars to about $1,000 a year per student – comes from several sources, including the Hotter’N Hell Hundred bicycle ride, Midwestern State University, and private donors. “Being able to award scholarships has been extremely valuable in attracting the riders who have put MSU on the map,” MSU cycling coach Gary Achterberg said. “We offer athletes an opportunity to get an excellent education in a small-school environment. Cyclists who come to MSU can train with others who also are highly motivated and have the same goals.” Community support also has provided inexpensive housing opportunities for cyclists as well as other equipment, such as the team’s 16-foot-long trailer that is equipped to carry 22 bicycles to races. If you would like to make a donation to the cycling program, contact the MSU Annual Fund at (940) 397-4539.
Million
Midwestern State University has received $9.9 million for its College of Science and Mathematics. This funding includes personal gifts from Vicki and Jim McCoy and major grants from the McCoy Foundation, the Bridwell Foundation, and The Priddy Foundation. The College of Science and Mathematics is composed of six departments (biology, chemistry, computer science, geosciences, mathematics, and physics) and one school (the McCoy School of Engineering). According to Dr. Betty Stewart, Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, many faculty and teaching laboratories and some research laboratories are housed in Bolin Science Hall, while three small buildings currently house the McCoy School of Engineering, its faculty offices, and laboratories. Dr. Stewart states that there is currently a shortage of office, laboratory, and research-teaching space for all of the departments, along with the need to upgrade equipment. The project, scheduled to begin in the fall 2007, will include a $7.2 million reconstruction and re-configuration of Fowler Hall, which previously housed the College of Business Administration. Upon completion, this building will be named the McCoy Engineering Hall and will contain modern offices, classrooms, and laboratories for engineering and physics. Bolin Science Hall will then be renovated to provide better space for faculty offices and laboratories. Funding in the amount of $900,000 will purchase much-needed natural science and engineering equipment. Finally, a $1 million endowment will be established for the natural sciences to provide basic support for advanced undergraduate and graduate laboratory experimentation.
Pat Haywood, a member of the MSU Board of Regents and wife of the late Sen. Tom Haywood, stands with President Jesse Rogers in the foyer of Bolin Science Hall. The foyer was dedicated and named in honor of Tom Haywood on May 11. The former state senator also taught at MSU as an associate professor of physics from 1971-1979. M S U
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ACROSS THE
GLOBE
Chance meeting sparks unlikely
FRIENDSHIP On an August afternoon in 1992, two young men met for the first time at a Bellgrade airport, headed for the United States as high school exchange students. Zoran Arula (‘97) from Croatia and Faruk Saltagic (’97) from Bosnia introduced themselves and immediately formed a friendship that appears deeper than its 15 years. “The boys took photos with their mothers before boarding their flight to Amsterdam enroute to Chicago. They had little way of knowing how many years would pass before they would be able to return to their homeland. Faruk went to live with a couple in Kansas while Zoran lived with a family in Wichita Falls. “When I left home, I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on in my country. I’m just thinking, ‘I’m going to the U.S. to go to school.’ But within two weeks after we left, the shelling started,” said Zoran. The boys kept in touch throughout their senior year. After graduation, neither could go home because of the war that was raging between Croatia and Bosnia. With some help from a high school teacher whose husband taught at Midwestern State University, Zoran was able to get a scholarship to attend. His next step was to convince Faruk that he needed to come, too, despite the fact that he had already received offers from other universities. “Zo was a born accountant. He already had everything worked out,” said Faruk. In addition, MSU offered me the best package.” 8
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Faruk Saltagic
“When we met, we just clicked and it’s been like that ever since. “
They lived together for the first 3 1/2 years, then life began to change. Faruk’s mother had been killed in a bombing and his father and sister were Croatian refugees. He urged them to “just come to Wichita Falls. We’ll figure it out from there.” That was the end of his plans for medical school. He took what savings he had to set up an apartment for his family, and took his student loan to buy a car so he could pick them up at the airport.
hospital, then took him to Wichita Falls for a week to nurse him back to health. “We have a guest room in our house, but we still refer to it as Zo’s room. Thank goodness he’s learned to make his bed.”
Of course, Zoran moved with them. Political tension between Zoran and Faruk’s father was difficult to overcome. Zoran’s father had been a general in the Serbian military, an enemy who had contributed to Faruk’s family losing their lives as they had been. The mix was explosive at times. Yet Zoran and Faruk have been able to maintain a simplicity in their view of life.
The Odd Couple.
“When we met, we just clicked and it’s been like that ever since. Both of us have been through trying times here. Some of our experiences would have pushed people apart. To me, we’re even better friends,” said Faruk.
They’ve taken in Faruk’s refugee family together. While searching for
“Faruk is a friend that is even more than a brother to me. To have that kind of relationship is more than anybody could ask,” said Zoran.
“We’ve been told that before,” joked Faruk. “I’m not as bad as Jack Lemmon, but I tell Zo, ‘You can’t eat chips on the couch.’ ” Their years have been filled with tragedy, the death of Faruk’s mother and, only recently, the death of Zoran’s father. They’ve dealt with financial worries and working two jobs while attending school full time. careers, they’ve moved apart and moved back together. Currently, Zoran is a C.P.A. working in Dallas while Faruk is branch manager of the mortgage department at Wells Fargo. And Zoran recently served as Faruk’s best man at his wedding. Both young men are donors to MSU’s Annual Fund. And both give for
A couple of years ago Faruk had to explain to his boss that he had a family emergency. Zoran needed to have a kidney removed. As any brother would, he drove to Dallas to spend the night with Zoran, took him in for surgery, called his parents in Croatia throughout the surgery to update them, stayed with him at the
the same reason. Someone’s donation made college available to them and they’d like to think they can help someone else in the same way. Whatever comes their way in the future, they’ve built a bond to deal with it. As Faruk says, “Nothing is too big to overcome. We keep our lives simple. We’ll just figure it out.”
Zoran Arula
Community Adopt-a-Highway A group of students majoring in athletic training take their annual spring walk down FM 2224 gathering trash along the way. The two-mile stretch has been adopted by the student group to give
back to the community.
Children’s Injury Prevention Fair On a bright Saturday morning hundreds of children and their parents arrived for the first “Put
Prevention into Practice” event. Health Science students talked with kids about a variety of topics ranging from the importance of exercise and diet to safety precautions of petting strange dogs. Everyone came away a winner.
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Tackling the TAKS The West College of Education provided 53 students to the Burkburnett Independent School District to cover
classrooms
for teachers at Hardin Elementary. The teachers were then able to administer the TAKS test
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to Finish
to individual students who needed special provisions.
Fifty to Finish Alumni Tony Bindel was 50 miles away from his goal of walking 1,000 miles in a year when he died suddenly
Chili Cookoff
in March. More than 200 friends and
The Annual Chi Omega Cookoff was held in April and raised $12,500. With this year’s gift of $11,000, the local Chi Omega chapter has now
donated $70,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation
family gathered in May to walk around Sikes Lake for a “Fifty
Finish” memorial walk.
to
in the past nine years.
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The ranking MSU cheerleaders received at the National Cheerleaders Association Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship. This is the highest finish by MSU cheerleaders since 1998.
of donors to the President’s 215 Number Excellence Club in 2006-07. percentage of MSU alumni giving back 9 The to their alma mater.
18,746 8 21 1,100
The number of MSU Connections, the alumni monthly e-mail newsletter, sent each month. The number of MSU athletic teams that made it to regional playoffs in 2006-07. The number of national titles won by MSU’s cycling team, TEAM ARROW, since 1987. The number of participants to attend any of the 12 camps held on the MSU campus this summer.
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A Tradition of Giving Many funds have been established to honor or memorialize individuals or recognize programs at Midwestern State University. The generosity of donors has provided MSU with support for enhanced learning and scholarship opportunities for our students. This tradition of giving has made a difference in many lives. Some of the funds created since 2002 are listed below: Association for Systems Management Award Fund Ayres Mechanical Engineering Scholarship Ivy Eddleman Boland Music Scholarship D. Clifford Burross, M.D. Pre-Med Scholarship Jeff H. Campbell Humanities Scholarship Jason and Sherri Christie Scholarship Eve Anne Coleman Scholarship Ramona and LeRoy Daniel Scholarship Tenaia Dawson Respiratory Care Scholarship Juanita Harvey Art Excellence Award Fund Linda Hawley Nursing Scholarship Roy and Gretta Hogan Foundation Scholarship Dr. Norman Horner Biology Scholarship Charlene Iman, RN, BS, BSN, MSN, M.Ed., Ed.D. Scholarship Dustin Lee James Memorial Scholarship Peggy Jarrett Nursing Scholarship Kemp Center for the Arts Outstanding Artist Scholarship Bessie Sellers King Scholarship Munir A. Lalani Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise
Bryan L. Lawrence Fund Carlson-Leishner Scholarship Vinny Lewis Soccer Scholarship Howard Longley Scholarship Dr. F. Robert Madera Accounting Professorship James N. McCoy Engineering Fund Debra Morgan Nursing Scholarship Musicians Club/Sealy Spiller Scholarship Richard and Mary Newton Music Scholarship North Texas Restaurant Association Scholarship Willie Pino, M.D. Scholarship Louis J. and Ramona Rodriguez Professorship Paul Scheurer Mechanical Engineering Scholarship Bill and Gladys Sharp Scholarship Dr. Eldon Sund Chemistry Scholarship Adair-Turnbull Scholarship Randy Waldrum Soccer Challenge Dr. Jackie Watkins Memorial Scholarship Roy Watts Memorial Scholarship Dr. Rickey Williams Chemistry Scholarship Work Services Corporation Scholarship
How do I create a fund at MSU? Contact Laura Peterson, Donor Services and Special projects at (940) 397-4919
How do I contribute to an existing fund at MSU? Contact Kristal Amador, Annual Fund at (940) 397-4539.
Example of gifts to MSU include: • Pledges • Gifts with retained interest • Closely held securities • Gifts-In-Kind
• Cash • Appreciated securities • Gifts of real estate • Charitable requests
For more information, please contact the Office of University Advancement at (940) 397-4782 or visit www.mwsu.edu/donations 12 M S U
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