These Days at Ripon these days at ripon

MELLON SUPPORTS GLOBAL AWARENESS, OFF-CAMPUS OPPORTUNITIES

Ripon recently received a $25,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support two initiatives that support global awareness among faculty and off-campus learning opportunities for students during the next two years.

The first initiative provides for two, two-day retreats to gather representative groups of faculty members from various disciplines and focus their energies on ways to connect and provide mutual support for courses and programs dealing with global awareness and international studies.

“The more faculty understand what we are trying to do with our global-studies programs the better it is for the coherence of our curriculum,” says William Schang, dean of faculty and project director for the international studies activity. “Global studies is critically important for liberal arts students today, and we are looking for ways we can sharpen and collaborate on what we already offer,” he says.

The second initiative provides support for an increase in the variety of offcampus, student-learning opportunities. Such opportunities have proven valuable in broadening students’ understanding of the disciplines they study and increasing participation in the wider intellectual life of those disciplines, according to Chris Ogle, dean of students and project director for the off-campus activities portion of the grant.

In the past, the dean of students office has helped fund student participation in a wide range of off-campus conferences and workshops. That budget, however, is limited and therefore some trips had to be denied, says Ogle. “Without a doubt students get a unique learning experience when they step out beyond the campus,” Ogle says. Fewer than 30 students receive funding for off-campus learning activities each year. Ogle says the grant could triple that number.

GOPLIN RESIGNS, WITTLER ’76 FILLS POST TEMPORARILY

Michele Baran Wittler ’76, registrar since 1985, has been named acting vice president and dean of admission and financial aid. Wittler, who has also served as assistant dean of academic affairs since 2000, replaces Scott Goplin who resigned from the post in June.

Goplin has joined the staff at TriState University in Angola, Ind., where he serves as vice president for enrollment management. During his tenure at Ripon, Goplin led a team of admission professionals who assisted in increasing the college’s enrollment each of the last six years. Last fall, Ripon enrolled 1,001 students, the highest since 1973 and an increase from 612 in 1997.

President David Joyce says he is pleased that Wittler has agreed to step in to provide “creative leadership to this important area of the College.” Wittler, he says, “knows what it takes for students to be successful at Ripon and she certainly knows the strengths of the institution. She is passionate about the College and, most importantly, she will look at the admission process with a fresh perspective.”

In addition to Wittler’s appointment, Brooke Tireman Konopacki ’94, former director of admission, has been named director of admission/assistant dean of admission and will handle the day-today operations of the office.

READING EXPERIENCE TO EXAMINE WORKERS’ STRUGGLES

The working poor, affordable housing and labor unions are just some of the issues addressed in the 2004 Ripon College Reading Experience (RCRE) book

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by journalist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Ehrenreich spent three months working as a waitress, a professional house cleaner and a Wal-Mart associate, spending about one month at each job in Florida, Maine and Minnesota. Written in 2002, the book chronicles Ehrenreich’s struggle to make ends meet while working for hourly wages. Led by Professor of French Linda Clemente, who is serving her second year as faculty representative of the RCRE, students will coordinate activities to raise awareness about the struggles Ehrenreich faced.

“Students hope to present this fall not just on problems but on solutions already in place to help the working poor,” Clemente says.

They will do this by working with agencies in Milwaukee, such as the

Helen Bader Foundation, which supports organizations and initiatives that create positive changes in a community. Kathryn J. Dunn, a community investment officer with the foundation, helped RCRE students draw up a list of organizations that work with and help the working poor, says Clemente.

“This fall interested students will contact these organizations to set up visit times to shadow, or at least meet, individuals at the organizations to learn more about community efforts in place, and about issues that directly affect the working poor to help them help themselves, or about policies that might adversely affect that group,” Clemente says.

On-campus, first-year students will participate in discussion groups on topics such as small businesses versus large corporations, living versus minimum wage, unions, gender and labor issues, religion and the working poor, and health and demanding physical labor.

“We hope to bring to campus speakers offering various perspectives about issues related to the working poor, including someone who might offer insights into the Ehrenreich book from the point of view of management or personnel directors,” says Clemente.

Students who helped organize the RCRE, including Web site production, study guides and book cover design, are senior Colin Rafferty, juniors Zena Bauer, Kaelin Butch, Erik Carlson, Zack Chitwood, Joe Fontaine and Jason Nevins and sophomores Jennifer Delaney, Ryan Gustafson and Jill Jones.

The theatre department will produce a play by Joan Holden, based directly on the book, in March.

The RCRE, which was initiated in 2002 by Professor of History Diane Mockridge, is in its third year.

New Award Benefits Student Library Workers

Bernice Wells Carlson ’32 has been giving to Lane Library since 1992, but it is only recently that her annual gift is being structured into an award for a student worker interested in pursuing careers in librarianship, elementary ed- ucation or writing.

“We had been thinking about forming an internship-like experience for students wishing to learn more about library work and this award has allowed us that option,” says Assistant Librarian Valerie Viers. “We are all looking forward to working with a student who could be a colleague in a few years.”

Carlson, who lives in Lake Ridge, Va., has spent most of her life improving the lives of children as a Brownie troop mother, substitute teacher for 20 years, and the author and co-author of more than 25 children’s books. She has long acknowledged the value of working in a college library and her intentions with the gifts have been to guarantee students have that opportunity. “Working in a college library is a learning as well as earning experience and no student should be denied the opportunity to learn by doing,” she says.

The gift has enabled the College to add additional work grant monies to the library’s annual budget. Over the last several years the money has supported the overall student workers fund. With the formation of the restructured award, a student, upon being chosen, will receive a work grant for eight hours of work per week. The student will have the opportunity to shadow librarians in the different departments and learn about the various facets of library work. They will also be invited to attend professional conferences with librarians and visit libraries at other institutions.

“We have had several students in the past who have gone on to library school,” says Viers. “This will give students the opportunity to get a well rounded work experience.”

SCHOLARSHIP SENDS TAYLOR ’06 TO GERMANY

Amanda Taylor, a junior from Appleton, Wis., has been selected to receive a DAAD EDU.de scholarship to study

Think You Have Stress?

Ukrainian-born sculptor Oleg Sohanievich creates one of his stress sculptures for the College. To create a sculpture, Sohanievich uses readily available materials such as aluminum and steel, but his pieces are made without the use of industrial technology. He uses only leverage and his own strength to twist, contort or even break the metal, all while the material is still cold. His creation at Ripon provided an opportunity for art students and the campus community in general to witness this process. Sohanievich studied art at the Art School in Kiev and at the Art Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. Uncomfortable with the repressive societal conditions in the USSR, Sohanievich defected in 1967 by traversing the Black Sea, a journey of more than 150 miles, in a rubber life raft. He eventually came to the United States as a refugee and later became a naturalized American citizen. An exhibit of his work was featured in the Caestecker Gallery in April. Ric Damm photo in Bonn, Germany, beginning this fall. DAAD, known in English as the German Academic Exchange Service, is a private, publicly-funded organization of higher education institutions in Germany that created the EDU.de program to provide more scholarship opportunities for undergraduate students who

Calendar of Events

September 10-11

Family Weekend

September 10 - October 9

Roy Staab Environmental Sculpture Exhibit Caestecker Fine Arts Series

September 10

Minneapolis Guitar Quartet Chamber Music at Ripon Series

September 14

Opening Convocation

October 1-2

Alumni and Trustee Board Meetings

October 2

Homecoming Board of Trustees Annual Meeting

October 10

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Caestecker Fine Arts Series

October 18-22

Fall Break

October 23

Alumni Event

Ripon vs. St. Norbert Football Alumni Tailgate in DePere, Wis.

October 29

Laura Caviani

Chamber Music at Ripon Series

November 12-14

Theta Chi Fraternity 50th

Anniversary

November 13

Red Hawk Athletic Banquet

December 10

Last Day of Classes

December 13-17

Final Exams wanted to study abroad.

Taylor, in addition to participating in Ripon’s University of Bonn program, hopes to do research for her senior seminars in German and Latin while in Europe. “I plan to research the influence the Romans had on Germany, which had been heavily colonized by the Romans, especially in Bonn and its surrounding regions,” says Taylor, who intends to spend an entire year in Germany.

The EDU.de program, which began in 2000, awards recipients with a stipend plus additional funds to help defray the cost of travel, research and health insurance. Of the 294 who applied, Taylor is one of 56 undergraduates from 46 different Canadian and American universities who received the scholarship.

Packers Foundation Supports Ingalls Field Improvements THREE NAMED TO BOARDOF TRUSTEES

The College has named three new members to the board of trustees: including an adjunct instructor and two alumni.

■ Thomas Hefty, who received an honorary degree from Ripon in 2002 and joined the faculty as an adjunct instructor of business administration last fall, is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of Cobalt Corp. He has served as Wisconsin’s deputy insurance commissioner, as assistant general counsel for the Sentry Insurance Group, (as president of Competitive Wisconsin Inc.), and as an attorney in the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. He spent 20 years at Cobalt, joining Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin in 1982. He was named chief executive officer of Blue Cross & Blue Shield and United Wisconsin Services in 1986. Blue Cross and United Wisconsin were merged in 2001 to form Cobalt.

Hefty recently joined the corporate, health care, government relations and insurance practice groups of Milwaukee law firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C., and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has appointed him to head a state economic development council in 2003.

Bay Packers Foundation committee, announces more than $100,000 in awards to 57 civic and charitable groups throughout the state of Wisconsin, including Ripon College, the Ripon Public School District and the Joint Ingalls Field Board. The foundation awarded the group $2,000 to support repairs and improvements to the pole vault area at Ingalls Field. The improvements, including new landing pits and a new runway approach to the pole vault, will allow the college and the high school to host regional and sectional meets, according to Robert Duley, head track and field and cross country coach.

Block. He has concentrated his practice as a corporate restructuring attorney in the areas of commercial, insolvency and bankruptcy law, focusing primarily on representing debtors, trustees, creditors’ committees, landlords and secured lenders in Chapter 11 cases.

For details on Alumni Events, call the Alumni Office, 920-748-8126

■ Ron Peterson ’70 is a partner in the Chicago offices of law firm Jenner &

Peterson is also legal council for the Boy Scouts of America in Northeast Illinois and a member of the Chicago Bar, Illinois State Bar and American Bar Associations. On the American Bar Association he serves on the Business Bankruptcy Committee and the Commercial Financial Services Committee. He is also a member of several other associations related to his area of practice.

■ Marti Spittell Ziegelbauer ’82 spent

18 years as a news anchor for WLUKTV and morning co-host for WIXX radio in Green Bay. She now spends her time raising awareness of cervical cancer since she was diagnosed with the disease in 1998. After her diagnosis, she spent three years as a television talent and communication consultant with Frank N. Magid and Associates in Marion, Iowa, before devoting all of her time to philanthropy.

Last fall, Ziegelbauer served as mistress of ceremonies at the inauguration of President David Joyce. She received an Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 1993 and continues to be involved with her alma mater as a class reunion committee member and volunteers as part of the Alumni/Parents Supporting the Admission Process program. (See related story in the Class Notes section on page 51 for more information).

41 Students Present Research

Biology, chemistry and psychology students, 41 in all, presented their research at the college’s annual research symposium in the spring. Topics ranged from ecological research at White Lake in Marquette County, Wis., to the effects of local anesthetics on back pain to the emotional similarities and differences between men and women.

The annual Ripon College Research Symposium, modeled after larger professional research conferences, gives all students a chance to present their research to the campus and Ripon community, according to Tim Petersik, professor of psychology. “The primary benefits to students come from the opportunities for exchanging ideas amongst one another. It’s a great source of cross-fertilization,” says Petersik. “Also, the sympo- sium lets the greater campus and community know what good things are being done by our research-oriented students,” he adds.

Held each spring for more than 10 years, the symposium is open to all students performing research. It is sponsored by Psi Chi, the psychology honor society, and Beta Beta Beta, the biology honor society.

Green Lake Festival Celebrates 25 Years

The Green Lake, Wis., Festival of Music, which celebrated its 25th anniversary season this summer, has long benefited from its connection to the Ripon College community

It’s creator, Douglas Morris, was a long-time Ripon music professor; many of its attendees are college students, faculty and staff; and a string of presidents’ wives have served on its board of directors, including Lynne Joyce.

“The college has been invaluable in supporting the festival,” says Maria Dietrich, administrative director of the festival and adjunct professor of music at Ripon. “Part of what keeps us going is the mission of education that we have in common with the college.”

Each year the festival offers opportunities for children and students to participate in the festival, including the intensive student chamber music camp.

To mark its anniversary, the festival commissioned Janika Vandervelde, a native of Green Lake, to compose a new string quartet, “Monapacataca,” inspired by the natural beauty of the area.

The work made its world premiere in the Demmer Recital Hall of the C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts and was broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Radio.

The Green Lake Festival of Music is a non-profit organization and provides the greater Green Lake area with numerous classical music concerts throughout the summer.

CHITWOOD ’06, PHI DELTS HONORED

Phi Delta Theta fraternity was honored with a host of awards at the annual general convention of the international fraternity, held in Los Angeles, including a national scholarship awarded to junior Zack Chitwood of Fallon, Nev.

The award granted by the Phi Delta Theta Educational Foundation is worth as much as $4,000. Chitwood was nominated to represent the Ripon chapter and compete against members representing every other chapter for $170,000 of individual scholarships. The foundation, created as a scholarship-granting body, has over the years broadened its scope to support a wide range of educational programs.

The fraternity also received the Silver Star Award, which is the second highest overall rating for a chapter the fraternity offers. Other awards included recognition of the fraternity’s recruiting efforts, a Community Service Citation, and the General Headquarters Trophy for overall excellence.

Senior Ryan Bobholz of Beaver Dam, Wis., president of the Ripon chapter, attended the convention and picked up the awards at the ceremony.

The Ripon Phi Delts will celebrate their 45th anniversary next spring, April 22-24, to coincide with their sixth annual fire safety program. The program, held each spring, is the fraternity’s top fundraising event and benefits the City of Ripon Fire Department. Additional activities for Phi Delt alumni this year will include golf outings, a picnic and a Saturday evening banquet.

GRAMS, RIEL ’57 LEAVE GIFTS

The late Lucile Mosling-Morton Grams, a long-time Ripon resident and philanthropist, and Barbara Zimay Riel ’57 made significant gifts to the College recently.

Before her passing, Grams, who died July 19, donated $5,000 to the Chamber Music at Ripon Series. The Series is in its 33rd year of bringing professional chamber musicians to campus.

In the past, Grams was a key supporter of the completion of Demmer Recital Hall’s Mildred Thiel Memorial Organ and also funded an endowed scholarship award in music. Although a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Grams and her philanthropic efforts are familiar to Ripon. “Her willingness to help was boundless,” says Bill Neill ’67, special assistant to the president. She contributed to the improvements for both Francis Field and Ingalls Field and supported scholarships and materials for the Advance College Experience (ACE) program. Grams taught junior high school before raising four children as well as many foster children. She was also a contributor and director of the Green Lake Festival of Music.

Riel, an English major who had donated to the College for 23 years, died in May 2003 and left a $10,000 bequest to the College through her will. She and her late husband, Melvin, lived in California before settling in Bellevue, Wash., in 1978. Two years later Melvin started the Mars Co., an electronic manufacturers’ representation firm which served the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. In addition to raising two children, Riel assisted with the operations of the company.

Ripon has a history and tradition that is indebted to, and honors, the philanthropy of its alumni and friends, according to Vice President for Advancement Lyn Corder She says generous private support enriches the Ripon experience and enhances the academic environment for faculty and students alike. “The college community is deeply grateful to Lucile Grams and Barbara Riel, and many others like them,” says Corder, “who decide to share a portion of their resources because they believe in the special, personalized experience that a college like Ripon provides.”

Alumnus Tracks Train Trips

Thanks to an unlikely encounter with other alumni, Edward Cheetham ’43 is headed down the tracks of an old story that touches both his love for trains and for his alma mater.

At a California meeting of a chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society — of which Cheetham is the treasurer — a conversation with Clayton Tinkham ’49 turned into a reminiscence of their college days at Ripon. Both men, with their fondness for trains, remembered that during their time at Ripon, there had been a much celebrated train trip. Students, faculty, staff and “pretty much anybody who wanted to go” would board the picnic train Saturday morning and travel roughly 28 miles northwest to Wautoma, Wis., where there was a large amusement park, swimming pool and other attractions,

Celebrating the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial

Local collector and historian Todd Berens shares insight into the collection of Lewis and Clark materials he and his wife, Betty, donated to the College. “The Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Journals,” held in April, was a celebration of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which lasted from 1803 to 1806. The exhibition was supported by a grant from the Fond du Lac Area Foundation. Although neither are alumni of the college, the Berenses have been donating items to Lane Library for years, culminating in a collection known as the Dale L. Morgan Memorial Library of Western Americana. Highlights from the collection include rare and out-of-print copies of Lewis and Clark journals, Western Americana books, framed maps and a 10drawer map cabinet. Sal De Los Angeles ’05 photo according to Cheetham. “Everybody had a good time,” he says.

At first the conversation seemed to be a happy coincidence, but when another society member spoke up about the Ripon train trip Cheetham was shocked.

“He said his sister went to Ripon and that she remembered the train,” Cheetham recalls. “When I heard that I just about fell on the floor. It turns out she was my roommate’s girlfriend. It really is a small world,” he says.

Now Cheetham is attempting to piece together a story of the train trips and the experiences people had on them. Cheetham remembers the trip during his freshman year in 1940 and Clayton says he recalls the trip during his time at Ripon later in the decade, but neither can say when the trips originated and how often they occurred. “Obviously this happened a long time ago and it is hard to find information and people who knew about it,” Cheetham says.

To help him fill in the blanks and to gather the experiences of other alumni, Cheetham enlisted the help of classmate and 1943 class officer Frannie Sischo Altheimer ’43. Through a newsletter, they have received 20 responses from alumni who remember the train trip.

Cheetham, a retired high school principal who lives with his wife, Mary Jane, in Los Angeles, has spent the summer putting together a story on the train trip. Alumni who have recollections of the train trips are urged to contact Cheetham at 310-670-4235.

15 Conduct Summer Research On Campus

Fifteen students advanced their research experience by conducting their own research on campus this summer. Their research is funded through a variety of grants, the College and support from local individuals.

A new Communicating Plus Summer Collaborative Research Grant supported the work of four students, including seniors Joe Laedtke, Loryn Ohlaug and Leah Sievert and junior Matthew Nicolai. Created by Deano Pape, Communicating Plus director, the grant emphasizes critical thinking, problem solving, oral communication and written communication by having students work one-on-one with a faculty or staff member, researching a topic of their choice. Laedtke researched the experience of “coming out” for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, and how that experience influenced teaching methods and practices. Nicolai researched the accuracy of historical films about the Roman Republic and Empire. Ohlaug spent eight weeks researching killer whales on San Juan Island off the coast of Washington to produce a computer model for the southern resident killer whale population, a group of about 100 whales that gather around the San Juan Island group in the summer. Sievert worked to revitalize the Tri County Animal Shelter in Green Lake through publicity and visioning sessions with community and board members.

The Merck Co., a research-driven pharmaceutical products and services firm, supported four students through grants, including seniors Jatinder Dhillon, Andy Tratar and Nikola Bjelos, and junior Dan Feld. Dhillon, who based her research on that done by her faculty mentor Professor of Biology Peggy Stevens, studied the gene sequence of a sea urchin, where it came from and how it formed its sequence. Tratar researched the electron transfer properties of Glutyral-CoA dehydrogenase (GCD), an enzyme that is essential in the breakdown of fatty acids in the human body — a study that was part of an ongoing project started by Associate Professor of Chemistry Colleen Byron. Bjelos cloned genes from a bacteria that lives in the mouths of humans to investigate how this bacteria causes disease in the mouth. Feld analyzed the concentration of lead in eggshells from Rush Lake and compared those results to the lead concentration in eggshells from an area near Appleton, Wis.

Funded by a grant from Ripon historian and Professor of History Emeritus George Miller, junior Zack Chitwood and senior Jessica Owens focused their research on Ripon history. Chitwood used oral histories from local World War II participants and wrote an analytical paper based on their accounts to determine how the war did or did not change the city and the College. Owens researched the papers of

Ripon historian Samuel Pedrick (18681963), who wrote the definitive history of the city, and cataloged archives and artifacts related to Ripon and World War II. Both performed oral history interviews of alumni during the annual alumni weekend.

Junior Anthony Falk, with funding from the Puelicher Foundation, compared new species lists with old species lists of the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy and examined what environmental factors contributed to those which were found.

With funding provided through the Knop Scholars Program, junior Ksenia Borisova explored the influence of metal ions on gene expression of an oral bacteria, while Sara Wichlacz ’04, conducted research at White Lake in Marquette County, Wis. Wichlacz tested lake organisms, recorded the oxygen and temperature range and investigated rooted plants through macrophyte mapping.

Working with Professor of Psychology Tim Petersik, ProCollege Scholarship recipient junior Curran Rice researched how humans perceived movement and in particular the illusion of movement seen with rapidly presented still pictures.

“Summer research,” according to Professor of Greek and Latin Eddie Lowry, “enriches the education of the students involved, and it also sends a signal to graduate schools that the student has a passion for their subject and is eager to advance beyond normal degree requirements.”

RECENT GRADS FILL CAMPUS AMERICORPS*VISTA POSTS

Dana Olson and Kate Hersey have returned to campus to serve for one year as AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) members. The two 2004 graduates will provide support for community and service-learning programs to build connections between the campus and Ripon communities, according to Director of Communicating Plus Deano Pape, who wrote and submitted the grant for the two positions.

Originally conceived as one position, overwhelming response from the campus prompted Pape to submit an amended grant for two positions. “We had significant interest considering our small campus in comparison to the other schools applying,” he says. Pape wrote the grants with the help of the Wisconsin Campus Compact, a coalition of state college presidents and chancellors, which facilitated work on the grants.

VISTA members have the opportunity to design any kind of program, as long as their work is dedicated to serving low-income populations. “The program affords us so many opportunities,” Hersey says. “It’s a great program to help with community activism on campus.”

Hersey, whose career goal is to become an English professor, sees the program as a stepping-stone. She wants to combine her work on “some pet projects” with her position. A classical studies and English double major, Hersey worked extensively with Ripon’s Clark Collection of Ancient Art during her senior year. Through her position, she hopes to create a number of courses focused on the collection. “The community already utilizes the college’s assets so much, and my goal is to organize that more,” she says.

Olson, who wants to pursue non-profit work, was attracted to the position because it offers the “ability to work in a group setting where I can definitely reach out and help others.” Her goal is to create a lasting position on campus. “I want to walk away knowing that we started a strong project that’s going to sustain itself,” Olson says.

Collaborative Leadership Network Hosts Workshop

All VISTA members attend orientation sessions where they learn about goals and expectations for the program. Participants are separated into smaller groups by location to discuss the role they will have on campus. “Instead of direct service, I help organize and gather resources,” says Olson. “It’s more indirect and behind the scenes.”

Pape says he expects that Hersey and Olson will build strong bridges across the campus and the community “I also expect that they will use their energies to create sustainable programming for the future and that everyone will take advantage of their skills and energy and engage the campus in some fantastic projects,” he says.

While Pape will guide Olson and Hersey, he stresses that “they will be doing their own jobs and will rely a lot on each other and their backgrounds to help them overcome challenges.”

Olson, a communications major, will draw on her communications classes and philanthropy work. “My learning on campus in an applied communications class gave me an idea of how a service-learning class can work for the community,” she says. Olson also helped with Relay for Life events and and Jose Luis, a student from J.S. Morton East High School of Cicero, Ill., were among 20 people who participated in a June workshop on campus to develop the Collaborative Leadership Network curriculum. Others attending included seven teachers from five Wisconsin high schools and J.S. Morton, the curriculum coordinator for the Fond du Lac, Wis., School System, and five students from J.S. Morton. Presenters included Jack Christ, professor and director of the leadership studies program and Doug Northrop, director of Ripon’s new ethical leadership program. Leadership studies and educational studies students were also involved.

Craig Sauer ’05 photo was involved in philanthropic work with her sorority, Delta Psi Delta.

Olson and Hersey will receive stipends from AmeriCorps and Communicating Plus that will take care of some of their housing, travel and office expenses. Located in an office in Communicating Plus, they will also communicate with the 35 other AmeriCorps*VISTAs working at Wisconsin colleges and universities.

The AmeriCorps*VISTA program has been working to help communities out of poverty for 40 years. There are 6,000 members working to improve literacy rates and health services, increase housing options and create businesses. The VISTA program was created in 1964 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Economic Opportunity Act. VISTA merged with AmeriCorps when President Bill Clinton signed the National Community Service Trust Act in 1993.

WAR GAMES: CADETS TRAINFOR COMBAT

A young man in camouflage peers out from behind a tree. Somewhere on the horizon is a sniper. If he moves his squad out of the protective cover too soon, it could mean the death of a friend. But if too many are killed, they’ll brush themselves off and try again.

The exercise wasn’t real, but Ripon ROTC students were keenly aware that it could be and all too soon. Those thoughts hung in the minds of the students as they participated in a field training exercise (FTX) outside Princeton, Wis., in March.

“[When I’m on an FTX], I start to think about the real-life situation, when we end our exercises,” says Kjell Sporseen, a junior from Bothell, Wash., after the training. “[Right now], everything kind of is dropped [at the end] and suddenly we’re just a bunch of cadets. [In real combat], there will be no endexecution. You go tactical, you stay tactical. There’s no reset.”

Students in the Army training program at the College use the FTXs to ready for just such a day. The cadets arrived at the training grounds — 70 acres just outside Princeton owned by the relative of an area Army officer — at about 9 a.m. From that moment until they conclude a long hike out of the woods the next day, the students are in the Army. For some, it’s one of their first peeks into military life.

“As an MS1 [first-year student], I kind of went in there expecting to have a good time and do what I was told,” says Mike Lindsay of Elgin, Ill., noting that he expected the weather to make it tough. “It was a lot of fun; I expected a lot worse weather … and [the better weather] made morale high.”

The MS3s — juniors on the brink of signing a contract to go into the Army after graduation — have much more to worry about. “Basically it’s a time where we get tested to see where we compare with other MS3s,” says Adam Kirschling of Mequon, Wis. “It’s an overall learning experience to help prepare for our time in the Army. I consider it intense when it comes to the STXs [situational training exercises].”

In an STX, the classroom theory meets real-life execution. Students are given realistic missions to execute.

For younger students, it’s a time to get their bearings. But for the MS3s, the rest of their lives in the Army can be determined by how they handle the opportunity. “I knew MS3s would be rotated into leadership positions,” says junior Hallie Becker of Huntley, Ill.

“As an MS3, I take it very seriously, because we get graded,” Kirschling says. Students may be faced with reaching a destination in the face of a sniper, or may have to deal with the aftermath of an explosion. “It’s a challenge to be in a leadership position and people count on you to make the best decisions possible,” Becker says. “You want every- thing to run great and be in control, and it doesn’t end up that way.”

Knowing what to do is only one side of the equation. Understanding the consequences of one’s actions can be just as difficult. “You wonder what it would be like if it was actual fire, and if the guy next to you really got hit in the arm, or someone gets killed,” Becker says. But the cadets haven’t reached that point yet. For now, their top concerns are more mundane as they ready for life as a soldier.

“Dealing with the weather [is tough],” Kirschling says. “Everything has to be kept dry.”

Ian Stepleton

Reprinted with permission from the Ripon Commonwealth Press

Terrace Receives Design Award

’98

The Terrace, the college’s newest eating establishment and gathering place located in the lower level of Bovay Hall, will display a 2003 Design Award from the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). The Milwaukee-based firm Uihlein-Wilson Architects, which designed the Terrace, received the gold award in the historic/renovation/recycle category. ASID “identifies interior designers by the results and benefits they bring to the building environment through their specialized design skills and sound business practices,” according to the organization’s Web site. They present gold, silver and bronze awards each year in several categories. r

CORRECTIONS/ CLARIFICATIONS

■ The name of Martha Dantuma, a sophomore from Watertown, Wis., was inadvertently omitted from the Academic All-Conference listing for women’s basketball. Dantuma plays forward for the Red Hawks.