2009 Fall Edition by The University of Toledo Alumni Association

Toledo The University of

ALUMNI MAGAZINE

The power of greenthink

Fall 2009

fore words

It seems everything is harder these days. We have new ideas, new technology and a drive to succeed, but because of economic forces seemingly outside our control, we are becoming increasingly focused on sustainability.

The University of Toledo Alumni Association Officers and Trustees President Walter “Chip” Carstensen ’72, ’74

Toledo

Fall 2009

Volume 57, Number 1

Volume 57, Number 1 Fall 2009

contents

That’s not a bad thing. Given the economic hardships of the past year, sustainability should be foremost in our minds. This issue highlights what our University is doing for sustainability and improving the human condition.

First Vice President Constance D. Zouhary ’81

Executive Editor Cynthia Nowak ’78, ’80

Second Vice President Don Warner ’76

Associate Editor Vicki L. Kroll ’88

How can your Alumni Association help sustain The University of Toledo? By doing what we have always done: cultivate and celebrate UT’s successful students and alumni. It is absolutely incredible what our alumni have accomplished with the fine education they received at UT. Each year at our Homecoming Gala, your Alumni Association recognizes another group of distinguished alumni. Each year, I am amazed by the accomplishments of our alumni and pleased by their generous appreciation of their UT experience. Prepare to be amazed again this year, because “giving back” of time, talent and treasure is a sentiment that does not fade in our alumni.

Secretary David D. Dobrzykowski ’95, ’99

Past President Jon R. Dvorak MD ’80, ’83, ’86

Contributing Writers Chris Ankney ’08 Gregg Bartley Kim Harvey ’89 Megan Lewis ’09 Matt Lockwood Richard Paat MD Jim Winkler ’86

Executive Director Dan Saevig ’84, ’89

Graphic Designer Erin Lanham

One-Year Trustees Pete Casey ’67, ’73 Jeff Joyce ’85 Rick Longenecker ’86, ’88 Jonathan Mondelli ’06 Mark Urrutia ’88 Gene Zmuda ’81, ’84

Principal Photographer Daniel Miller ’99

healing UP-style

Additional Photography Jack Meade Terry Fell

not-so-secret

Your Alumni Association has had to trim its sails in the tough economic winds, but we will forge ahead, keeping you informed and engaged with news and activities. Your Alumni Association’s very rich Web site (www.toledoalumni.org) enables you to discover the latest events, news and information while connecting with former classmates. Please take advantage of this great resource. As part of our strategic planning process, there are two important goals that your Alumni Association will accomplish by this time next year. First, we will successfully integrate the College of Law alumni affiliate into the UT Alumni Association in much the same manner as the College of Medicine has done since the 2006 merger. By doing so, we expect to increase the support of law alumni for their college. Second, we will raise additional funding and break ground on the UT Veterans Plaza, honoring family and friends who have served in the U.S. armed forces. By accomplishing these and the other strategic initiatives of the Alumni Association, we will continue to increase the sustainability of UT. Like me, I know that you are justifiably proud to be an alum of UT, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your Alumni Association. Let’s have a great year!

Chip Carstensen ’70, ’72 President, UT Alumni Association

Treasurer Terri Lee ’92

Two-Year Trustees Bernie Albert ’68 Marie Latham Bush PhD ’83, ’00 Elizabeth Davis ’97, ’06 Dana Fitzsimmons ’76 Elizabeth Grothaus ’93, ’98 Philip Miller ’71, ’88 Tamara Norris ’87, ’06 Sharon Speyer ’85 Three-Year Trustees Bernard Barrow Sr. ’70, ’72 Catherine Martineau ’77, ’81 Jay Pearson ’91 Tamara Talmage ’99 Tom Wakefield ’75, ’78 Joe Zavac ’89, ’92 Student Representative David Hale (appointed by Student Alumni Association) On the cover: Sustainability grows on you. Photo (with UT student Mark Schriefer) by Daniel Miller

Toledo Alumni is published three times a year in Fall, Winter and Spring by The University of Toledo Alumni Association and the Office of University Communications. Vice President, External Affairs/ Interim Vice President, Equity and Diversity/Publisher Lawrence J. Burns

cover story Resource-full

features green crew future film dance Cannes Cannes brother doctor trophy doc

others

8 10 12 28 33 35 38 2 6 32 43

traditional & un research class notes book reviews

Associate Vice President, Alumni/Publisher Dan Saevig ’84, ’89 Office of Alumni Relations Staff Ansley Abrams ’92 Amanda Schwartz Marcus Sneed ’07 Dianne Wisniewski Advertising Jack Hemple (419.450.7568) Send Change Of Address Information To: Toledo Alumni, Office of Alumni Relations, Driscoll Alumni Center, Mail Stop 301 The University of Toledo Toledo, OH 43606-3395 Telephone 419.530.ALUM (2586) or 800.235.6766 Fax 419.530.4994

The University of Toledo is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in education, employment, memberships and contracts, and no differentiation will be made based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran status or the presence of a disability. The University of Toledo will take affirmative action as required be federal or state law.

RECYCLED PAPER

fore words

The University of Toledo Alumni Association Officers and Trustees President Walter “Chip” Carstensen ’72, ’74

Toledo

Fall 2009

Volume 57, Number 1

Volume 57, Number 1 Fall 2009

contents

First Vice President Constance D. Zouhary ’81

Executive Editor Cynthia Nowak ’78, ’80

Second Vice President Don Warner ’76

Associate Editor Vicki L. Kroll ’88

Secretary David D. Dobrzykowski ’95, ’99

Past President Jon R. Dvorak MD ’80, ’83, ’86

Contributing Writers Chris Ankney ’08 Gregg Bartley Kim Harvey ’89 Megan Lewis ’09 Matt Lockwood Richard Paat MD Jim Winkler ’86

Executive Director Dan Saevig ’84, ’89

Graphic Designer Erin Lanham

One-Year Trustees Pete Casey ’67, ’73 Jeff Joyce ’85 Rick Longenecker ’86, ’88 Jonathan Mondelli ’06 Mark Urrutia ’88 Gene Zmuda ’81, ’84

Principal Photographer Daniel Miller ’99

healing UP-style

Additional Photography Jack Meade Terry Fell

not-so-secret

Chip Carstensen ’70, ’72 President, UT Alumni Association

Treasurer Terri Lee ’92

cover story Resource-full

features green crew future film dance Cannes Cannes brother doctor trophy doc

others

8 10 12 28 33 35 38 2 6 32 43

traditional & un research class notes book reviews

RECYCLED PAPER

Toledo: traditional & un

Law student’s eco-friendly clothing covers celebs

Where some students’ extracurriculars involve event planning or athletics, UT law student Kyle Smitley is concerned about when her next shipment of clothing will arrive. That’s an entrepreneur’s concern — she’s founder and owner of eco-friendly children’s clothing line barley & birch, now in its third year. The entire line is made in the United States using one hundred percent certified organic cotton and water-based inks.“Organic clothing is important because conventional cotton today uses twenty-five percent of the world’s insecticides, seven of the ten top ingredients having been noted by the Environmental Protection Agency as having carcinogenic properties,” she says. Every facet of barley & birch is designed to be carbonneutral, with all emissions offset by, for instance, planting trees and working with solar-based manufacturers. Smitley’s fans already include celebrities Jessica Alba and Sheryl Crow, and the company donates thirty percent of its profits to social and environmental organizations. The key to balancing student and business responsibilities, Kyle says, is extreme time management:

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Outstanding Teacher awardees for 2009 From left, Paul Fritz PhD, associate professor of communication; Sally Harmych PhD, lecturer in biological sciences; James Kamm PhD, professor of engineering technology; Sakui Malakpa PhD, professor of early childhood, physical and special education.

“I do a lot of multi-tasking. If I get a break from class, I am e-mailing on my iPhone while making a call on my regular cell phone. I try not to work during classes, but sometimes it’s impossible.” She named the company after two symbolic things from her childhood: “the barley fields around where I went to school, and the birch trees [from] my family’s lake house and the front yard of my childhood home.” With inclusion in the National Green Pages — the country’s premier listing of environmentally and socially responsible businesses — came welcome networking options. “It’s like having a thousand mentors,” says Smitley, who suggests several easy forms of social and environmental impact: buying local products, bringing your own bags to the grocery store, and “UT students should get out and experience the community by volunteering an hour a month at the animal shelter, soup kitchen or wherever.” It’s a commitment she literally wears on her shoulder; view her clothing line at www.barleyandbirch.com. — Megan Lewis (A/S ’09)

www.toledoalumni.org

Double clutch. It’s hard to tell who’s looking more wary — Dave Scott of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources or Myrtle the UT peregrine — on a drizzly morning in May when this year’s brood of three females and one male received their leg bands and names. Myrtle and brother Harold (named by the Toledo Naturalists Association to honor longtime member Myrtle Sarver and ornithologist Harold Mayfield) were joined in their first public appearance by siblings Unity and Leela. The new quartet creates a total of nine young ones raised by UT’s resident peregrine pair Belle and Allen. www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Toledo: traditional & un

Law student’s eco-friendly clothing covers celebs

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Toledo: traditional & un

Power for alternative energy campus PlugSmart Solutions of Columbus, Ohio, will serve as a consultant in the transformation of UT’s Scott Park Campus into a dedicated Campus of Energy and Innovation. The campus will serve as a hands-on alternative energy laboratory used for teaching, research and demonstration, as well as to generate energy and reduce the University’s carbon footprint — making UT the only university in the country to commit an entire campus to advancing renewable, alternative and sustainable energies. Proposed projects will include work with wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, energy storage, electric transportation, and transformational grid analytics and modeling.

New art installation testament to creativity, collaboration

PlugSmart, a subsidiary of Juice Technologies LLC, is a company engaged in consulting, development and program management for utility-scale renewable generation projects, smart electric grid initiatives and energy efficiency projects. PlugSmart will work with UT to obtain financing and oversee implementation. UT has requested federal stimulus money to support the project. — Matt Lockwood

As a place of treatment for kids and teens struggling with severe emotional problems, UT’s Kobacker Center on the Health Science Campus serves as a gateway to hope. Thanks to the imagination of staffers and the creativity of UT art students, that gate has a fresh new look.

photo by Terry Fell Cultivating the human bounty in morally lean times. Toni Morrison, who was at UT in April as the fourth presenter in the Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture Series, began her Toledo visit surrounded by students of the Toledo Public Schools' Stewart Academy for Girls, whose letter-writing campaign to the author and Nobel-Prize recipient helped persuade her to participate in the yearly program. Morrison, whose novels include Song of Solomon, Beloved and A Mercy, in her presentation at Savage Arena called for a “new war … we need a collaborated effort against cultivated ignorance.” Universities fight this war daily, she said, but can adopt a wider scope: “We need new curricula, containing thinking about how the moral mind can operate in an unmoral world. We are being duped into accepting truncated, CEO versions of the future and seduced into seeking longer life, rather than ethical life.” Her talk ended on an unsettling promise: “I pledge my soul to the doomed armies of change.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

“Recent satisfaction surveys sent a clear message that families were unhappy with the appearance of the lobby area, ”says Ginny York, mental health administrator in the Department of Psychiatry. A palette of restful colors and new furnishings were part of the prescription; another visual component blossomed when the center’s unitbased council decided to enlist the talents of the UT Art Department. “We had limited finances for this renovation,”says Vickie Geha, administrator, ambulatory services and behavioral clinics.“We initially wanted something for the inpatient unit, but I think the lobby is a nice place to showcase student artwork. Karen [Roderick-Lingeman,

www.toledoalumni.org

associate lecturer] and her husband [Tom Lingeman, professor of art] were fired up about the project.” From an original proposal of a painted mural, the project quickly went off in a more tactile direction, says Roderick-Lingeman (Ed ’79).“I predominantly teach ceramics and 3-D design, so of course I wanted to do something related if we could.” Her students were enthusiastic; the ultimate art installation is centered around their chosen theme of nature in air, water and earth. An arrangement of thirty-six ceramic tiles celebrates those aspects of the natural world while complementing the setting. Birds soar, rain patters and leaves sway in a wealth of subtle detail. Tammy Cerrone, clinical performance improvement coordinator, says,“It’s amazing how everything came together so well from the different parts of the University. The kids like them, too. It’s a unique work for a unique building with a unique vision.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Toledo: traditional & un

New art installation testament to creativity, collaboration

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

UT research on the edge Battle, fatigues and PTSD

Dirty rotten research

There’s stress, then there’s its evil sibling,

Call them the decomposition duo. Michael

PTSD: post-traumatic stress disorder.

Weintraub PhD, assistant professor of soil ecology,

The debilitating syndrome drives a ten-year

and Daryl Moorhead PhD, professor of ecology, are

research project focusing on members of the

researching that most down-to-earth natural process.

Ohio National Guard with service in Iraq or

Don’t sniff; without decomposition unlocking the

Afghanistan. Funded by the U.S. Department

nutrients held in dead matter, life would grind to a

of Defense, the study — a collaboration with

halt. Turns out, though, that scientists lack critical

University Hospitals Case Medical Center,

information on how much humus is left behind after

Case Western Reserve University — is the first

plant litter decomposes. Humus already accounts

of its kind in the country, according to Marijo

for twice the level of planetary carbon than exists in

Tamburrino MD, chair of the UT Department

the atmosphere; warmer soil worldwide could mean

of Psychiatry and co-principal investigator. Risk factors for the development of PTSD

Fishing the gene pool

and related mental illnesses will be examined in three thousand members of the Guard

Lake Erie walleye is more than a terrific game fish —

before and after deployment. One question

it’s an economic and ecologic powerhouse. The lake’s

researchers hope to answer is the elusive

top predator, walleye impacts the region’s economy

“x factor”: why the majority of soldiers who

to the annual tune of $1 billion. Thus, the work of

experience combat stress don’t develop PTSD.

UT researchers Jo Ann Banda and Carol Stepien

Dem bones

faster decomposition and more carbon released.

Here’s a shattering pharmaceutical side effect:

rising due to human activity — to the mix and

Over time, diabetes drugs known as TZDs

you have a complex dynamic under study by the

might lead to weakened bones. Beata

UT researchers.

Add nitrogen — necessary for life but dramatically

Lecka-Czernik PhD of UT’s Orthopedic Department is directing studies on this possibility, centering on bone‘s constant dissolution and rebuilding. As people age, bone

PhD of UT’s Lake Erie Center and Department of

loss exceeds production, leading to osteoporosis

Environmental Sciences on walleye spawning habits

and fat accumulation in the bone. In a 2004

has far-reaching consequences. They’re studying the

study, Lecka-Czernik demonstrated that the

walleye gene pool at various spawning sites around

protein regulating bone aging can be activated

the lake and its feeder rivers, looking for relationships

by TZDs, leading to bone-marrow stem cells

between the groups. Identifying the fish stock can help

turning into fat cells rather than bone-forming

maintain genetically distinctive walleye spawning

cells. Subsequent studies showed a risk of lost

groups adaptable to a variety of environmental

bone mass for patients taking TZDs for more

conditions. With any luck, here’s one fish that won’t

than a year. Because the drugs are so valuable

get away.

against type 2 diabetes, her team’s experimental approaches include stem cell genetic modification to make TZDs more compatible with bone health.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

UT research on the edge Battle, fatigues and PTSD

Dirty rotten research

There’s stress, then there’s its evil sibling,

Call them the decomposition duo. Michael

PTSD: post-traumatic stress disorder.

Weintraub PhD, assistant professor of soil ecology,

The debilitating syndrome drives a ten-year

and Daryl Moorhead PhD, professor of ecology, are

research project focusing on members of the

researching that most down-to-earth natural process.

Ohio National Guard with service in Iraq or

Don’t sniff; without decomposition unlocking the

Afghanistan. Funded by the U.S. Department

nutrients held in dead matter, life would grind to a

of Defense, the study — a collaboration with

halt. Turns out, though, that scientists lack critical

University Hospitals Case Medical Center,

information on how much humus is left behind after

Case Western Reserve University — is the first

plant litter decomposes. Humus already accounts

of its kind in the country, according to Marijo

for twice the level of planetary carbon than exists in

Tamburrino MD, chair of the UT Department

the atmosphere; warmer soil worldwide could mean

of Psychiatry and co-principal investigator. Risk factors for the development of PTSD

Fishing the gene pool

and related mental illnesses will be examined in three thousand members of the Guard

Lake Erie walleye is more than a terrific game fish —

before and after deployment. One question

it’s an economic and ecologic powerhouse. The lake’s

researchers hope to answer is the elusive

top predator, walleye impacts the region’s economy

“x factor”: why the majority of soldiers who

to the annual tune of $1 billion. Thus, the work of

experience combat stress don’t develop PTSD.

UT researchers Jo Ann Banda and Carol Stepien

Dem bones

faster decomposition and more carbon released.

Here’s a shattering pharmaceutical side effect:

rising due to human activity — to the mix and

Over time, diabetes drugs known as TZDs

you have a complex dynamic under study by the

might lead to weakened bones. Beata

UT researchers.

Add nitrogen — necessary for life but dramatically

Lecka-Czernik PhD of UT’s Orthopedic Department is directing studies on this possibility, centering on bone‘s constant dissolution and rebuilding. As people age, bone

PhD of UT’s Lake Erie Center and Department of

loss exceeds production, leading to osteoporosis

Environmental Sciences on walleye spawning habits

and fat accumulation in the bone. In a 2004

has far-reaching consequences. They’re studying the

study, Lecka-Czernik demonstrated that the

walleye gene pool at various spawning sites around

protein regulating bone aging can be activated

the lake and its feeder rivers, looking for relationships

by TZDs, leading to bone-marrow stem cells

between the groups. Identifying the fish stock can help

turning into fat cells rather than bone-forming

maintain genetically distinctive walleye spawning

cells. Subsequent studies showed a risk of lost

groups adaptable to a variety of environmental

bone mass for patients taking TZDs for more

conditions. With any luck, here’s one fish that won’t

than a year. Because the drugs are so valuable

get away.

against type 2 diabetes, her team’s experimental approaches include stem cell genetic modification to make TZDs more compatible with bone health.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Green-tinged alumni

Eat off shoots and leaves? Almost! So your heirloom-tomato-Spanish-onion-and-brown-rice paella came out of the oven picture-perfect. Would you serve it to your delighted guests on anything other than organic, sustainable dinnerware? Thanks to Lawrence J. Ohlman III (A/S ’04), you don’t have to settle for anything less. Ohlman is founder of EcoLogic Products LLC, whose 2007 launch of biodegradable dinnerware — the first FDA-approved tableware made from natural plant fibers — places him on the green edge of a kitchen revolution. The enterprise grew from his effort to create an ecologically sensible flower pot for Ohlman Farm & Greenhouse, the century-old Toledo company owned by his family.“I figured we could either use it ourselves or sell it to the stores who carry our bedding plants,” he says. Other possibilities, Ohlman realized, existed for the material, created with the help of an overseas manufacturer. He explains, “I launched The Eco Collection [of tableware] after finding a partner through the UT Center for Family Business. We pooled our experience to create eco-minded products from the ground up.” That’s almost literal. The mocha dinnerware is made from coconut shells, the natural derives from reclaimed bamboo and rice hulls, held together with earth-based starch binder. “We’re partnering with overseas factories to give new life to products left after food processing,” Ohlman says.“Instead of incinerating the waste, we’re reclaiming it, clarifying it and making it into a safe tableware. It’s one hundred percent natural, so it creates no harm to the environment and it will degrade over time.” Yes, Lawrence says,“You can crush it up and put it in your garden to degrade naturally. We also advocate repurposing — what could be better than using the cups, for instance, as flower pots and saucers?”

“I launched The Eco Collection [of tableware] after finding a partner through the UT Center for Family Business. We pooled our experience to create eco-minded products from the ground up.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

The person he calls “our best engineer in the world” can even design each piece to degrade at a different rate, so flower pots decompose faster than dinner plates. No less a personage than Queen of Green Sara Snow featured the product in Better Homes & Gardens.“In March, we showed at the world’s largest housewares trade show,” Ohlman says.“Sara agreed to do a book signing at our booth. It really created quite a media event — two years ago I wouldn’t have imagined it, and here’s the press snapping photos so we can’t even move around.” Company products are carried in eighty stores nationwide, with plans afoot for spinoffs in housewares, electronics and food services. A member of the nonprofit 1% for the Planet, Ohlman says,“The better we do, the better off the planet will be. Green is win-win.” He knows he’s cutting edge, so when he calls his fledgling company an upstart rather than a startup, he’s probably right when he adds, “I think they’re one and the same.” www.ecologicproducts.com

www.toledoalumni.org

One little veggie and how it grew No, don’t call Jeffrey Twyman (Law ’78) the green bean king. The founder of GreenLine Foods Inc. — which owns about ninety percent of the national fresh packaged green bean market — says of that title,“I guess I don’t have enough of a sense of humor to appreciate it.” What still raises a smile, even at the remove of the twenty-five years since the company’s founding, is the “strange sequence of events” that took Twyman from attorney for a vegetable processing company near Bowling Green, Ohio, to their in-house counsel, then to company president.“I took a leave from my law firm to do the job and came back at the end of the leave. But it dawned on me that I preferred the business world,” he says. His first challenge was the product itself. After settling on a single vegetable — the much-dissed green bean — he set sights on what he calls “the Holy Grail of the vegetable business: longer shelf life.”A year of R&D resulted in a patented packaging technology that remains the company’s basis. GreenLine’s timing was serendipitous. As Twyman explains, “Ours was a ready-to-eat product just coming into its own at that time. Our packaged, trimmed green beans preceded bagged salads and peeled mini-carrots.” After what he terms a “resounding lack of success” in the retail market, Twyman hit green gold with the restaurant trade.“If you think back to that time, you were never served a fresh green bean in a restaurant,” he says.“It was broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus. “It finally dawned on me: Green beans were too labor-intensive to prepare. It takes a long time to slice off both ends and pull the strings from older varieties. A restaurant is profit-oriented and couldn’t afford the time and effort.” Accordingly, GreenLine worked with a national grower to change the “big, lumpy, light-colored green bean, the kind you cook with ham hocks, to a slender, darker bean. And chefs really liked having the new green vegetable option.” The rest is edible history. Now retired from the $150 million company that he sold to a Wall Street private equity concern in 2007, Twyman muses,“No one who starts a business in today’s world starts with millions of dollars in seed money, so my whole family worked: my wife, Carol, who’s a speech pathologist, our kids, even my mom and my dad, the history professor.” It helps, he notes, to have a good product: “It’s easy to sell something you believe in.” He always believed, even in the early run-from-the-basement days.“It was a nice little $25 million mom-and-pop company,” says Twyman.“Then we got into serious money.”

And he says he doesn’t have a sense of humor.

www.toledoalumni.org

“It finally dawned on me: Green beans were too labor-intensive to prepare. It takes a long time to slice off both ends and pull the strings from older varieties. A restaurant is profitoriented and couldn’t afford the time and effort.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Green-tinged alumni

“I launched The Eco Collection [of tableware] after finding a partner through the UT Center for Family Business. We pooled our experience to create eco-minded products from the ground up.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

And he says he doesn’t have a sense of humor.

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

UT research on the edge

Faculty essay

hy is it that, when the story of a film takes place in the future, society is most often presented as a dystopia, dysfunctional and almost invariably oppressive and violent? Why do filmmakers make these films this way? Perhaps even more interestingly, why do we watch them? Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men (2006) contains many of the elements of “future films” and presents some unique issues. The vast majority of “future films” are cautionary tales, prone to hyperbole, representing and exaggerating the spiraling effect of some current issue in society. Very often these involve overpopulation, the evils of big government and/or industry (the exploitation of the “have-nots” by the “haves”) and the perils of science. The specific issues addressed in these films are too numerous to list here, but many of these films have one or more of the following story elements: Some disaster has befallen humanity; pandemonium ensues (or has ensued); the government or another entity has imposed an oppressive regime.

Hollywood’s vision of a sustainable future:

Invariably, humankind in general is shown at its worst: destructive and predatory, or helpless, hopeless and ineffectual — or all these at the same time. There are usually only a very few people (the “heroes” of the films, of course) who represent the positive qualities of human beings. Films with similar elements have been made for many years (consider Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, 1927). In just the last decade, however, we have seen quite a few films that have all three of the aspects listed above, at least to some extent: V for Vendetta, Ultraviolet, the Resident Evil series of films, even the Matrix trilogy, among others. Then there is Children of Men.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men

By Dyrk Ashton PhD, assistant professor of film

Toledo 10 Alumni Toledo Magazine Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009 | Fall 2009

The story of Children of Men takes place in the relatively near future, 2027. In the film, for reasons that no one can explain, everyone on the planet has become suddenly sterile — essentially we are looking at the end of the human race. As a result, much of the world has been thrown into chaos. In Great Britain, however, where the film takes place, those in power have kept relative order by imposing martial law and by rounding up,

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www.toledoalumni.org

incarcerating, deporting and even randomly executing “foreigners.”There are a few adamant (though misguided) revolutionaries, but for the most part the rest of the citizens have fallen into a malaise of hopelessness. Why, under such circumstances, do these things happen? Particularly in Children of Men, when extinction is inevitable, why are we shown to default to chaos, violence, oppression, hopelessness? Why is it assumed that this is simply human nature? Instead, right from the get go, why don’t we all come together, drop our petty quarrels, forgive past transgressions and live out the rest of our short lives in peace and harmony? After all, the major concerns about land, fossil fuels, global warming, even pollution, really don’t matter anymore. There are many arguments that can be made about human nature being either essentially good or bad. These can have to do with human history, basic morality and ethics, society, physiology, genetics, psychology, religion, other belief systems — the list goes on and on. When it comes to film, however, the reasons these films are made like this are really quite simple. Returning specifically to Children of Men as an example, if under such circumstances everyone did come together right away, we’d honestly have a pretty boring — and very short — film. Who would want to watch two hours of everybody living in peace? We may want to actually live in peace, but we don’t want to watch it in a movie. Stories thrive on conflict. Also, consider that perhaps human beings might have to make terrible mistakes before they learn from them, and one hopes, never make them again (though even that does not always hold true). Filmmakers possibly hope that, through their films, these mistakes can be made vicariously. Lessons can be learned without the catastrophe or atrocity actually happening. As cynical as these kinds of films may be, the majority, if not all of them, also carry a message of hope. Some are far more subtle than others, but essentially, as long as we keep our eyes open, remain aware, look to the future, remember our past mistakes, and are willing to fight for what is right and good in humanity, there is always hope.

ToledoMagazine Alumni Magazine | Fall 11 2009 Toledo Alumni | Fall 2009

UT research on the edge

Faculty essay

Hollywood’s vision of a sustainable future:

Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men

By Dyrk Ashton PhD, assistant professor of film

Toledo 10 Alumni Toledo Magazine Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009 | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org www.toledoalumni.org

www.toledoalumni.org

ToledoMagazine Alumni Magazine | Fall 11 2009 Toledo Alumni | Fall 2009

Yes we Cannes Megan Sciarini, UT senior in film, spent a summer internship at the Cannes Film Festival in France, the only Ohio student to be so chosen by the Creative Minds in Cannes Program. In addition to blogging, she jotted some impressions for Toledo Alumni Magazine, sharing her photos as well.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

At the 62nd Cannes Film Festival I had the privilege of being able to view several foreign films on the red carpet, including Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold, Britain, Antichrist by Lars von Trier, Denmark, Vincere by Italy’s Marco Bellocchio and Agora, written by Spain’s Alejandro Amenábar. American films included Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Contrasting the last two with Terry Gilliam’s new film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, you can see huge differences, not only in subject matter but in the depth of thought and layers of ideas. Gilliam’s film was thought-provoking in dealing with good and evil, god and the devil, and the decency of human nature, but it was also entertaining and visually beautiful; there was never a dragging moment. Raimi and Tarantino created great movies that entertained, but I didn’t have a residual connection with them other than which scene scared me the most or which was the bloodiest. It’s a personal choice — and Cannes has a variety for everyone. An industry professional told me the real key to the film business is that you have to be willing to put yourself out there, to make what you can of everything you have, and to never stop trying. Majoring in film is not easy: Not only must you be technically proficient with the equipment, but you must have creativity, a level head, good writing ability, life experience from which to draw your

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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“The best part of the program was meeting other kids from around the country. Their creativity gave me a refreshed sense of purpose and motivation.” inspiration, and a willingness to put your ideas into the world, knowing full well that people may say it was the worst film they’d ever seen. What I took away from my conversations and interactions with film professionals is one recurring theme: Thick skin is a necessity, as is the ability to be able to do things on your own without a class or grade to motivate you. Self-starters who know exactly what they want are what the industry is looking for. The internship program I was accepted into gave me a lot of interesting opportunities. A part of the program was getting my own film shown in the Short Film Corner, which generated a lot of e-mail correspondence with industry professionals interested in seeing more of my work. The best part of the program was meeting other kids from around the country. Their creativity gave me a refreshed sense of purpose and motivation. Cannes itself was decorated with film murals and the whole town seemed to embrace the tradition of the largest and most prestigious film festival in the world. Not to mention that the French Riviera was a gorgeous place to walk! Going home every night from the Croisette [a local promenade] was like leaving behind a whole world of yacht parties and fancy restaurants with celebrities. Walking along the beach with the sun setting over the hills was more than enough for me.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Volunteers get back to the garden while nurturing educational collaborations.

Sustainability in the food chain

Sustaining Passions

Consuming: It’s so 2007. Sustainability: That’s hot.

Agriculture Every classroom should be so dirty.

If only it were that simple. The fun of frugal chic and the recessionista lifestyle

aside, sustainability demands a smarter, long-view take on the world and its resources. Scope a few of the many sustainability efforts at UT (where the creation of a School of Solar and Advanced Renewable Energy was approved this spring) in humankind’s biggest areas of consumption. Photos by Daniel Miller Graduate student Erin Hammer’s work in soil ecology is one of many research roads leading to sustainability.

The educational collaborative situated near the Secor Road entrance to Main Campus might have the appearance of an ordinary (though ambitious) garden, but looks are deceiving. “Agriculture is an interesting lens through which to view many issues — and food is the great bridge between sciences and humanities,” says Ashley Pryor PhD, associate professor of women’s studies. Students working the rows of edible and healing plants — kale, broccoli, chard, pole beans, peas, tomatoes, borage, marigolds and nasturtiums among them — learn more than how to wield a hoe. They might be widening their horizons in eco-science — or in Emerson. Ann Krause PhD, assistant professor of ecology, explains: “We’re putting together a grant for a program in course curriculum and laboratory improvement in conjunction with the [ Judith Herb] College of Education. The grant would encourage professors to utilize the garden in their curricula. You’d schedule the garden just like you’d schedule an indoor classroom.” Thus, students kneeling in the dirt could measure soil properties, and an American Transcendentalist philosophy class reading Walden could get a better handle on Thoreau in his bean field. “There are ecological and geological applications as well as agro-ecology,” Krause says. “We’re working with the Health Science Campus to study nutrition and the College

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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of Business to look at economic sustainability. College of Engineering students will make rainwater collection their project.” The fine arts faculty might add a sculpture. The garden, in fact, was a central metaphor of this past spring’s seminar and film series on women and sustainable agriculture. That effort, sponsored by the departments of Environmental Sciences and Women's and Gender Studies and supported by a Strategic Enhancement Award from the Office of the Provost, unearthed realities about sustainable farming practices and the roles women play in what (and how often) humanity eats. “Women and gender studies have always known that women are the invisible workers, the backbone of the global economy and the majority of agricultural workers,” Pryor says. “A lot of their work doesn’t get calculated under most economic measures.” All participants in the garden project agree: It’s about synergies. “As a scientist, you need to understand that analytical measurement is great, but understanding the garden’s impact on larger society is even more important,” Krause notes. “The humanities help there.” Growing an education that’s anything but gardenvariety, the garden might even make a suitable emblem for the College of Arts & Sciences, Pryor says: “We are an incredibly diverse college but one that truly serves as a hub for the University.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Volunteers get back to the garden while nurturing educational collaborations.

Sustainability in the food chain

Sustaining Passions

Consuming: It’s so 2007. Sustainability: That’s hot.

Agriculture Every classroom should be so dirty.

If only it were that simple. The fun of frugal chic and the recessionista lifestyle

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Soil For some people, “dirt under your feet” is almost a compliment. “We soil scientists like to think that a lot of the action takes place below the surface,” says Michael Weintraub PhD, assistant professor of soil ecology. Take garlic mustard — please. The spicy biennial whose crushed leaves smell of garlic (but don’t think of it as a salad green, since even deer avoid it) is one of the many invasives that affect the sustainability of more desirable plants. Because it doesn’t require active human disturbance to spread, garlic mustard is moving into otherwise untouched forests. Once it sets up shop, the plant reveals a survival strategy that can justifiably be called malignant. “It’s known to produce chemicals toxic to other plants and microbial communities in the soil associated with those plants,” Weintraub says. “My graduate students and I hypothesized that this might be due to changes in the physiology of the organisms that drive terrestrial ecosystem processes such as decomposition and nutrient cycling.” The team believes that garlic mustard may affect soil mycorrhizae — symbiotic associations between fungi and the plant root systems to which they’re attached. These fungal associates assist plants in water and nutrient uptake, sometimes providing defenses against pathogens. In return, the plants supply the fungi with necessary carbon.

“Garlic mustard is one of the rare plants without these fungi,” Weintraub says. “And it produces a toxic compound that kills the mycorrhizae of other plants. So if it’s hurting one type of soil fungi, it may be hurting others — fungi that may be key decomposers in soil processes.” Decomposition, of course, is vital to release nutrients so they can be utilized by plants, then taken upward into the food chain. First introduced onto New York’s Long Island in the nineteenth century, garlic mustard has been spreading westward ever since. It presents, Weintraub notes, a complicated problem: “As with most invasives, it’s easier to control its entry than to eradicate it. For the most part, we’re stuck living with the ones established here.” At UT, the garlic mustard research emphasis is below ground, as Weintraub and his students study microbial interactions. “We’re studying forested areas, but garlic mustard can grow pretty thickly in the open and could move into crop areas. Forested buffer strips adjacent to agricultural areas can be reservoirs for garlic mustard,” he says. Incidentally, the harmless looking plant with its cluster of white flowers is even toxic to butterfly larvae and eggs. Caveat Alliaria petiolata.

Grad student Elizabeth Pisarczyk works to identify the relationships between garlic mustard and enzyme activity.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Grad student Elizabeth Pisarczyk works to identify the relationships between garlic mustard and enzyme activity.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

The Ottawa River overflows its banks, flooding the UT Main Campus this past March.

Making contact

Sustainability in water resources

It’s difficult to think of the Ottawa River — which meanders about forty-five miles through Michigan and Toledo (including the UT Main Campus) before emptying into Maumee Bay — as a sustainable resource, given the grim contact advisory postings along its length. Don’t drink the water. Don’t consume the fish. Don’t allow prolonged contact with this river. The yellow signs, posted by local health departments in the early 1990s, make dispiriting reading — but are they accurate? The University is working with state and local officials to find out.

Stormwater You might call it the perfect stormwater. Heavy rains and saturated ground combined last March to push the Ottawa River over its banks on UT’s Main Campus, creating a flood that surprised even old-timers. Water bubbled up from under several parking lots, the Flatlands turned into wetlands, and debris in the fast-running river flowed just inches under the David Root Bridge.

It could have been much worse.

For one thing, prior to its 1960 reconfiguring, the Ottawa flooded more often. “Today, the river actually does its job as it was designed to do by the Army Corps of Engineers,” explains Doug Collins, manager of grounds and a member of the President’s Commission on the River. “The Flatlands act as the flood plain designed to fill up, saving the rest of the campus. Pump stations along the river function to keep flooding under control as well.” Still, no one denies that stormwater is a headache, one shared by many urban areas with a preponderance of paved, shingled and otherwise impervious surfaces. “A fourth to a half of Main Campus, for example, is impervious surface — about average for an urban area,” says Patrick Lawrence PhD, associate professor of geography and chair of the River Commission. “Most flooding happens the same way all over the city: stormwater from a heavy rainfall in a short period of time. The water hits impervious surfaces and runs into aging storm sewers never designed to hold that capacity.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

“The stormwater here eventually gets discharged into the Ottawa River, carrying films, oils, salts and other contaminants from the hard surfaces.” Green engineering, he says, is part of the solution. UT has installed two rain gardens near the river, creating triple benefits: water filtration, horticultural variety and teaching opportunities. Permeable pavement that absorbs and filters stormwater is being examined as well, Collins notes: “Among the options we’re considering is using it in parking spaces, keeping the stronger asphalt in aisle areas where vehicles turn. And we’re looking at permeable for pedestrian walkways.

“The postings were based on test data gathered on the river,” says Hans Gottgens PhD, professor, Department of Environmental Sciences. “The last tests were done nearly twenty years ago and a lot has happened since then.” The demolition of the river’s Secor Road dam was one such change. “Removing this barrier opened up miles of river to fish spawning,” Gottgens notes. When he shared Ottawa River research data with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulatory bodies, he says, “They were surprised that such a supposedly polluted river could have such a variety of fish — twenty-four species. Most are native fish and all are in abundance.” The fish illustrate a central concern: The advisories posted for the entire waterway were based on 1980s

testing performed mainly downstream, where the river runs past several Superfund sites. “The land use upstream is so different,” Gottgens notes. “It’s almost a park-like corridor that includes Camp Miakonda, Wildwood [Metropark], Ottawa Hills, the UT Main Campus and Ottawa Park, compared to the heavily urban and industrial conditions downstream.” This fall, the EPA is funding a multi-year downstream dredging project that may be the catalyst for upstream testing — and perhaps the removal of some of the advisory postings. Among the area organizations interested in the outcome, UT has taken a leadership role. “As one group representative said, ‘Someone has to drive the bus,’” says Patrick Lawrence, chair of the University’s President’s Commission on the River. “UT can’t address or solve all the issue’s problems, but with four thousand feet of the Ottawa running through campus, we’re a stakeholder. We can provide leadership in securing funding, in advocacy and in providing science, such as analyzing the river sediments gathered.” Acknowledging UT’s role, Dina Pierce of the Ohio EPA says, “We encourage UT to stay involved, particularly in work that will improve the section of the river flowing through campus.”

With any luck, it’ll be Go Fish.

“So far, though, the closest such large-scale installation is in Chicago, so the jury’s still out on how permeable holds up to the freezing and thawing cycle. We have a sample in Parking Lot 10 right now.” Other stormwater solutions, he says, could focus on street gutters to slow the water’s flow, and Lawrence points roofward to rain collection barrels and downspouts that could lead directly into rain gardens. “Each step the University is taking,” Lawrence says, “is a small example of what can be done in retrofitting, to show leadership in regard to river.”

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

The Ottawa River overflows its banks, flooding the UT Main Campus this past March.

Making contact

Sustainability in water resources

It could have been much worse.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

With any luck, it’ll be Go Fish.

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

A small” coating test: the 180th Fighter Wing National Guard base at Toledo Express Airport

Sustainability in Energy Photovoltaics and chemistry Solar may be the clean, green energy of the future, but it does face a deceptively simple enemy — dirt. All manner of grime, grit and grease can coat the glass on solar panels, taking a chunk out of their efficiency.

Chemistry to the rescue.

Dean Giolando PhD, professor of chemistry and co-founder (with UT alum Alan McMaster [Eng '85]) of the solar R&D firm Innovative Thin Films LLC, explains the science: “The glass of some solar cells is the same glass used in car windshields. When the photovoltaic device is left out in the field, where it’s most useful, it’s exposed to all conditions.” Applying a coating to the exposed surface, he says, keeps things cleaner. “We use a very thin conductive coating, then embed a photocatalyst into the film that helps convert soil material into CO2 and water, actually degrading grime.”

“The main motivation is to reduce the cost of using solar energy.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

That takes care of garden-variety dirt. Inorganic materials, though — the quartzy sand particles, for instance, of blazing-sun desert areas — can be wind-driven into solar devices, causing pitting and other imperfections that compromise the energy output level. “We’re interested in using anti-static properties of the conducting film to remove those types of contaminants,” says Giolando, who holds patents on all chemistry, processes and equipment utilized in the business.

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The coating process — with applications being tested at the Toledo Museum of Art and Toledo Express Airport — can be licensed to solar panel manufacturers, he says. It won’t add much cost to the consumer, but it could reap millions yearly for Thin Films. “We’re not in it to make a lot of money, though,” he says. “The main motivation is to reduce the cost of using solar energy. Right now, there’s a high degree of maintenance in using solar energy. Solar arrays in a desert, for instance, have to be cleaned every few months, using water trucks carrying ten to twenty thousand gallons of distilled water that’s sprayed onto the cell surfaces.” The local entrepreneur envisions a future of many alternate energy sources: “There are certain places where it’s optimum to have solar and geothermal, or just wind, or solar, wind, hybrids and tidal.” A Thin Films sister company is marketing a solar inverter that links solar panels and the nation’s electricity grid. Giolando notes, “Recent hacking attacks on the power grid show the danger of centralized power generation. If every home and business was its own power grid, or if there were many wind or solar generation facilities, such an attack would be much more difficult. “In terms of national security, decentralized power generation is very desirable.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

A small” coating test: the 180th Fighter Wing National Guard base at Toledo Express Airport

Chemistry to the rescue.

“The main motivation is to reduce the cost of using solar energy.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

David Bright and Aaron Lengel share a plan that can mean better health for Karl.

Blood

Sustainability in medicine

Pharmacy practice A baby is wailing down the hallway, but the sound doesn’t distract the two pharmacists listening intently to Karl, the 56-year-old patient across the table.

Bright adds, “Medical therapy management is a term that’s recently coined, but counseling has been done by pharmacists for many years.

“The pain got unbearable — like someone pushing a needle through your heart, you know?” Karl opens the plastic shopping bag holding his prescribed medications and rummages through the bottles, choosing one for examination. “It’s better since the doc changed the dose on this,” he says.

“A lot of the patients here have diabetes, for example, so we talk about healthy foods, portion control, exercise and physical activities, and how medications work. Sometimes if there’s enough coaching and the patient buys in to make positive changes, they can reduce the amount of medication they need.”

Aaron Lengel, visiting assistant professor of pharmacy practice, takes the bottle and notes the change on Karl’s medical record. Along with pharmacy resident David Bright, Lengel is working at the Cordelia Martin Community Health Center near downtown Toledo. Twice a week, they consult with patients through the CareNet Medication Therapy Management Program.

Patients in this commonly under serviced population leave the consultation with a health plan to take to their next doctor’s appointment at one of several local NHA health centers. The CareNet program also allows them to get their prescriptions filled at a health center pharmacy, where UT pharmacy students participate in rotations. “We bring students in earlier, too,” Lengel says. “It’s a good experience for them to see pharmacists doing things other than working in a retail pharmacy.”

“CareNet patients don’t qualify for Medicaid, but don’t make enough for private coverage,” Lengel explains. At Cordelia Martin, one of several such centers in the Neighborhood Health Association (NHA), patients like Karl have access to doctors, nurses and dentists. “But the sheer numbers of chronically ill people in this population can easily overwhelm attending physicians so they don’t have the time to sit down with patients and explain treatments in detail,” Lengel says. “Pharmacy is stepping into a collaborative role at these centers, helping patients understand their disease, reviewing medications, empowering and really becoming coaches.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

PAD: a nondescript acronym, but a disease already affecting some eight to twelve million Americans. “Because of limited blood circulation to their limbs, peripheral arterial disease patients can’t walk, can’t exercise, can’t perform activities of daily living,” says Gerald Zelenock MD, professor and Department of Surgery chair. “In severe cases, tissue loss is just around the corner, with ulceration and gangrene.”

The cells are being supplied by Cleveland biotech firm Arteriocyte Medical Systems, says Nancy Collins PhD, professor of medical microbiology and immunology. “They extract stem cells from the cord blood cells. We’re looking for very primitive stem cells; those are preferable because they can differentiate into more types of cells.”

Zelenock is part of a research team hoping to find a new therapy for severe PAD cases that don’t respond to traditional treatment. At the heart of the research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is a sustainable resource: umbilical cord blood.

The cells are selected, Collins says, by Lynn O’Donnell PhD and Vincent J. Pompili MD at Ohio State University. “There the cells are put on a plate covered with plastic fibers that mimic bone marrow matrix. Those cells will expand; once they’ve done that, they’ll come here to UT.

“The basic idea is to take stem cells derived from cord blood and use them to grow new blood vessels in the legs of people with the condition,” explains Christopher Cooper MD, professor, chief of the Division of Cardiology and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center that will be running the research’s clinical trials.

“My part in the research is that I’ll set up a small lab to receive the cells and perform the release testing. That lab will remain a part of the clinical coordinating center.”

“PAD is a marker for systemic atherosclerosis, so it’s closely aligned with cardiac problems,” Zelenock notes. “Dr. Cooper thought that by using cord blood, you could put progenitor cells into the extremities of PAD patients. It’s a much easier and less risky proposition than putting those cells into the heart.”

of cord blood cells, so we can tissue match them to each potential recipient.”

Cooper will oversee the clinical trials, scheduled for 2010. The therapy’s worked well in mice, though as Cooper says, “Sometimes studies that looked so promising in animals aren’t as striking in humans. “The bottom line, though, is that you’ve got to keep trying — because unless you do, you’re not going to find the winners.”

Cooper adds, “The cells have a very robust capacity to develop new blood vessels, and there are large banks

Bright notes, “Pharmacists are stereotyped as taking pills from the big bottle, putting them in the little bottle — but there’s so much more. This is one more example of taking clinical knowledge and passing it to people in the community.” Karl is succinct: “Since I lost my insurance, I feel bad about asking for help, but the program here saved my life.”

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

David Bright and Aaron Lengel share a plan that can mean better health for Karl.

Blood

Sustainability in medicine

Pharmacy practice A baby is wailing down the hallway, but the sound doesn’t distract the two pharmacists listening intently to Karl, the 56-year-old patient across the table.

Bright adds, “Medical therapy management is a term that’s recently coined, but counseling has been done by pharmacists for many years.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

“My part in the research is that I’ll set up a small lab to receive the cells and perform the release testing. That lab will remain a part of the clinical coordinating center.”

of cord blood cells, so we can tissue match them to each potential recipient.”

Cooper adds, “The cells have a very robust capacity to develop new blood vessels, and there are large banks

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Public education remains an important part of the program's mission.

Human networks

Sustainability in social connections

When it comes to our work lives, everyone knows the simple rule about networking: Do it. Repeat. But what happens when an economic tailspin turns so many people out of work that your network goes into a crash mode? That’s when sustaining the human connections becomes even more essential — or so believes the UT research team of Willie McKether PhD, assistant professor of anthropology, Lea McChesney PhD, anthropology instructor, and Patricia Case, associate professor of sociology. “Social network analysis determines how people are connected to each other, where they go when they need help,” McKether explains. “It’s a way of understanding sustainability.”

Disability studies “In some ways, people with disabilities are the most human people of all.” Jim Ferris PhD, director of the UT Disability Studies Program and associate professor of communication, is more than ready to expand on this paradigm, starting with history deserving of its own documentary. “Right after World War II, a growing number of disabled people began participating within the larger community in ways different from what they did hundreds of years prior to that time,” he says. Veterans returning from the war, he notes, were less inclined than their fathers’ generation to hide their disabilities: “They began moving beyond imposed divisions, to recognize shared experience and interests.” Even so, it took another forty years for American colleges and universities to initiate disability studies in the curriculum, and even longer for the 1990 landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which guaranteed equal treatment in the workplace. That’s another debt, Ferris says, owed to the Greatest Generation: “Those disabled veterans were instrumental in the creation of ADA, adapting the strategies and strengths of other minorities who came before.” If sustainability requires humans to devise new strategies for today’s realities, he notes, our species would be wise to study a population with a daily can-do attitude. “What’s

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

really at the heart of disability studies and the experience of the disabled population is finding ways to do things. One of the things disabled people show us is an amazing capacity to survive and even thrive under adverse circumstances.” As humans, he notes, we have enormous capacities and remarkable strengths — “our opposing thumbs and huge forebrains see to that.” Each of us, though, is limited or vulnerable in some ways. Disabled people personify both humankind’s creativity and adaptability as well as the vulnerabilities. Or as Ferris says, “One of the great virtues of disabled people — as well as a great problem — is that they make us see things we’d rather not see.

The recent economic downturn gave a particularly sharp focus to social networks for McKether and his team, given the hit taken by northwest Ohio, Lucas County in particular. McChesney, who’s new to the area (“though I grew up in Pittsburgh, which went through its own time of troubles,” she notes), calls the recession’s impact striking: “My immediate thought was how it should be documented, both in regard to the individual and the wider effects.” Their research, now in progress, centers on the lives of Lucas County residents. Various county agencies helped identify people affected by the recession, but the researchers hit the pavements as well, visiting employment offices and other places of assistance. “We ask people there how they’re sustaining their lives, who they go to and why,” McKether says.

“If a vehicle was repossessed, for instance, how do they get where they need to go? If their home was foreclosed, who’s in their network to help?” He adds, “We all have networks of friends and family, but we don’t usually think of them that way.” Researchers will document the interconnectedness of each person in an individual’s network, and software programs will be used to generate maps that graphically show that interconnectedness. Those software programs, McKether notes, are invaluable to the project, which will include a quantitative phase with a larger sampling of county residents: “The programs analyze interviews to extract social network data, which allows researchers the best of both worlds: narrative and quantitative. It’ll be a chance to use various technologies to draw concrete conclusions.” Ultimately, the team will have a study that can assist many of those affected by economic downturns, from the unemployed to small-business owners who might be unaware of resources to help the newly laid-off. “We’ll take care to publish our research accessibly,” says McKether. McChesney adds, “We want to bridge the grassroots and formal policy levels, creating information that could inform policy-makers. “Because we’re all affected by these upheavals — no one stands apart.”

“We tend to overlook the adaptability and creativity in our fear of the vulnerability.” Ferris, who also holds the Ability Center of Greater Toledo Endowed Chair in Disability Studies at UT, finds it easy to connect the dots of adapting, creating and sustaining: “It seems to me that one of the central tasks of sustainability is inclusion. A society that does not serve all of its members is fundamentally unsustainable. In a way, this leads back to my claim about disabled people being the most human — because when you find ways to live that are truly inclusive, you have access to the human strengths that make sustainability a reality.”

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Public education remains an important part of the program's mission.

Human networks

Sustainability in social connections

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Doctor’s order: MD/religious brother serves homeless by Cynthia Nowak Walk down some of Cincinnati’s meaner streets with Robert Donovan MD (MED ’79) and things turn downright friendly. Everybody, it seems, knows the lanky, slightly heat-disheveled guy in the electric-blue shirt and tie. “Hey, Dr. Bob! How you doin’, man?” “Dr. Bob, I need to talk to you about my meds.” “Dr. Bob! Hey, that abscess finally healed up.” “Dr. Bob” stops to talk with every person who calls out to him, both on the streets and in the multiple central-city locations where he serves as a family physician.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

He calls his work for the nonprofit Cincinnati Health Network both a medical practice and a ministry, with good reason: On his right hand he wears the ring of a Marianist brother, the religious order he entered some twenty years ago. “After my residency, I went into private practice, but I had this nagging desire to help people with less access to health care,” he says. Raised Catholic, he’d already been exploring the idea of a religious vocation, but until an archdiocesan vocational director suggested the Marianists, nothing had clicked. The Marianists did — but so did the Cincinnati Health Care for the Homeless Program, which was starting up at the same time. He entered both and his life changed forever.

“A critical piece to all our programs is that we treat people kindly — something most of our patients don’t expect.” That sounds more portentous than it should, because Bob Donovan is anything but holiness-haunted. Quietly upbeat, calmly competent, he has a wry but frequent smile and wears lightly the psychic battle scars of a street-service veteran. (He’s also a major Pink Floyd fan, but more on that later.) “The fact is that there are so many frustrations, but knowing that God is part of what’s going on helps me deal with it,” he says. “It’s not rosy-peachy ever, but there’s always a sense that God’s there and we’ll keep plowing through.” At the Center for Respite Care, for instance, Donovan walks briskly through the lobby of the rehabbed centuryold mansion now serving as a fourteen-bed facility serving homeless people recovering from acute illness. The reception area includes a wooden plaque inscribed “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Upstairs, a hand-written list of tongue-in-cheek precautions for those working in the tough Avondale neighborhood gives a parallel reality: “Learn to run really fast. As soon as someone grabs you, bite them. Carry a piece on you at all times. If you don’t have one, respite will provide you with one.” Homeless people have more experience with the latter, Donovan notes. “A critical piece to all our programs is that we treat people kindly — something most of our patients don’t expect. Our top quality assurance point is that we’re here for them. That’s something I learned at [the former] MCO. The top priority is to serve.”

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

He examines one of his patients — Russell, a burly Navy veteran who had a coronary bypass a month earlier and has been recovering at Respite Care. His chest incision has a slight infection; Donovan deftly feels along the scar, noting that the prescribed antibiotics are working. Meanwhile, Russell chats comfortably: “I’m feeling better now. Think it might have been the medication that was making me tired? [More likely the infection was sapping his energy, Donovan says.] My glasses broke and I’m waiting for new frames. I guess I just have to learn patience. Tell me one thing, because it’s driving me crazy. Sometimes I get a burning in one leg — not the one where they took the vein — and sometimes numbness. And it moves. It’s crazy!” Although Donovan doesn’t have an answer for the last question, he promises to follow up on it. The physical touch and the attention to questions, he notes, are all of a piece: signs of caring. And for every patient who has a good experience at respite, ten others hear about it: “For all our homeless programs, the grapevine is the most important form of communication. People hear from others that you can get everything you need here, that the staff are decent to you.” Next stop on the increasingly hot and drizzly day is the Health Care for the Homeless mobile health van, which today is parked outside the Drop Inn homeless shelter in somewhat notorious Over-the-Rhine. It’s also without power; the generator is down. What will Donovan and the two nurses do when patients begin entering in thirty minutes? “Be warm,” answers one nurse laconically. Or they can shuttle patients between the van and a back office at the Drop Inn. “That’s not easy, but we do it,” Donovan says — a broken generator is no novelty. Outside the van, homeless patients have formed an orderly line as they wait. One man politely assists with the van’s rain-slicked retractable stairs. “Watch your step, now,” he cautions. A typical day’s cases range from chronic illness to medical emergencies, Donovan says: “We do a little triage, then it’s first-come, first-served. They line up and we do what we can.” It’s mid-afternoon by now; the Drop Inn shelter is full of men and women waiting to find a bed or sleeping bag for the night. Some call to Donovan as he walks past, eager to talk about their medical conditions. There are no patients at his next stop — Health Resource Center of Cincinnati Inc. (HRC) — but only because the facility is upending itself to move to a larger location. “HRC fulfills the need by merging mental health care with primary health care,” Dr. Bob explains as he helps pack some of the center’s pharmaceuticals. “With mental health clients, we do a lot of physical monitoring because they’re prone to diabetes and high blood pressure and less likely to maintain their treatment.” www.toledoalumni.org

He holds up a bottle of diabetes medications: “One of the screwy things about the mental health system in this country is that we can get this 500-tab bottle for basically five bucks. Highly effective and extremely small cost. “If we worked things so that everyone could get basic medical coverage to see a doctor on a regular basis and get the proper medicine for pennies, the system wouldn’t cost much at all. We think we have to give everyone everything, but isn’t it better to have insurance to cover routine primary care, testing and hospitalizations? Maybe it wouldn’t cover the top end, but it’s better than covering nothing.” He smiles sheepishly, caught on a soapbox. It’s an occupational hazard, he admits: “It hurts to see someone in front of you who’s ill and you know what it would take to get him better, but because of some crazy rules, you can’t. So you can’t let it overwhelm you — you have to say, ‘That’s awful, but we’re going to go on and try to help the next person.’ “You have to know what you’re able to do, and do that well. If you think you’re going to save the world, you’ll be burned out fast.”

His extracurricular video company, Big Bang Productions, provides him a chance, he says with one of those wry grins, “to work the other side of the brain.” He’s visibly thrilled that the guitarist for a Pink Floyd cover band contacted him to talk about a video collaboration. More seriously, he adds, “At first [the work] felt like just giving, but then I began to see I was receiving something quite valuable. Still later I began to see how if you scrape away the veneers that each of us have, deeply within we’re much the same. It can still be a struggle not to get overwhelmed by the sometimes self-imposed situations that homeless people bring with them to the office, and to see the deep light, but this work gives me the advantage to do that regularly, and contemplate it often.” Or maybe the key is found with a shopping-bag-laden man on the street who looks quizzically at the sight of Dr. Bob being dogged by a reporter and a photographer. Told that Bob was going to be the subject of a magazine story, the man frowns as he considers, then brightens. “Well, that’s OK, then — he’s one cool guy.” Want to know more? Dr. Bob recommends the National Health Care for the Homeless Council Web site — www.nhchc.org — for “a wealth of information.”

So where does Donovan — advocate, mentor, steering committee member — find his energy?

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

So where does Donovan — advocate, mentor, steering committee member — find his energy?

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

50s

George W. Green (Bus ’50, MBA ’51), Dearborn, Mich., gave a presentation on collecting mineral specimens at Toledo’s Wildwood Preserve in April.

60s

Walt Lange (Ed ’61, MEd ’65, Ed Spec ’77), UT superannuate professor of mathematics, was elected president of the Ohio Forestry Association, the state’s oldest conservation organization, for a one-year term. Franklyn Olmstead (Ed ’61), Erie, Mich., competed in the 23rd National Veterans Golden Age Games, held in June in Birmingham, Ala. The combat veteran of the Korean War competed in the swimming, shot put and discus throw events. J. Patrick Downey (A/S ’65, Law ’68) retired in Travelers Rest, S.C., was appointed to the Glassy Mountain Fire Service Area board of commissioners. He previously worked as vice president, human resources and legal counsel for Commercial Intertech Corp. in Youngstown. Alan H. Barry (Bus ’66) was named to the board of directors of global lawn-and-garden giant The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. Previously, he was with home improvement manufacturer Masco Corp. for more than 30 years, including time as president and COO. He lives in Michigan and Arizona. Ray Diaz (UTCTC ’66), Ringwood, N.J., is retired from the Lincoln division of water filtration company Pentair Inc. He and his wife have two sons and four grandchildren. Joyce VanTassel-Baska (Ed ’66, MEd ’69, DE ’81), the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education at William & Mary College, Williamsburg, Va., retired as executive director of the college’s Center for Gifted Education. She was with William & Mary since 1987. Charles H. Mann III (Bus ’67), founder, chair and CEO of Atlanta

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

medical-care company The Mann Group, was tapped to join the Buckhead Coalition, the Georgia community’s chamber-type organization whose 100-membersonly roster always has a waiting list.

Community College by Gov. Ted Strickland. Mattie McAlister (MEd ’77), a longtime educator in Toledo Public Schools who helped pilot the first local education program for emotionally disturbed children, was named Mother of the Year in May by the Toledo alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

Fred Susor (UTCTC ’68, Ed Spec ’87), superintendent of Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, since 1997, retired in July after 37 years in education.

70s

Ken Gipe (Ed ’70, MEd ’87), who worked in numerous coaching positions for Port Clinton City Schools, including swimming and diving, football and volleyball, was inducted into the city’s Hall of Fame in May. William T. Mawer (Ed ’70) was named dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Southeastern Oklahoma State University after serving as interim for three months. He joined the faculty in 2002, also serving as MBA and accreditation coordinator for the university’s school of business. Patrick T. Dowling MD (A/S ’71, MED ’74) is professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and the Kaiser Permanente Endowed Professor of Community Medicine. Michael W. Wray (Bus ’71), Holland, retired after 40 years in retail management, buying and sales for stores that included Lion, Highland Superstores and Appliance Center. Thomas Stanley (Ed ’73, MEd ’81) retired after 33 years with Genoa (Ohio) Area High School, where he taught English. Jay Mirtallo (Pharm ’76), specialty practice pharmacist at the Ohio State University Medical Center, was named vice president on the 2009-2010 board of directors for ASPEN: the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, an interdisciplinary association that champions evidence-based nutrition support for medical patients. He will serve as president in his next term. William Takacs (Law ’76), president and managing partner of Toledo law firm Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer, was appointed a trustee of Owens

No place like home.

Pharmacist Kendra (McLaughlin) Peters (Pharm ‘90) spends much of her time trying to get patients out the door. Her work in the Children’s Home Infusion Pharmacy at Children’s Medical Center in Dayton involves preparing families for the rigors of home care. “I formulate meds, supplies and equipment these children need in going from hospital to home,” Peters says.“I have to put myself in their shoes. Many of these families aren’t medically trained, but to get the kids into a better healing environment — their own home, in their own bed, with their own siblings — facilitates better healing.” The children she serves have serious illnesses, including cystic fibrosis, acute lymphocytic leukemia, cancer and hemophilia. Considering she has two young children of her own — ages nine and five — Peters can’t help but note similarities when planning her patients’ therapies. She revels in the experience when she bumps into a young patient who’s turned a positive corner: “Sometimes, I don’t recognize them at first, with their full heads of hair and rosy cheeks!” — Kim Harvey

Have you considered

teaching ? COME BACK TO UT! Thousands of dollars in scholarships are available to become a science or math teacher.

Larry Shilling (Ed ’77, MEd ’87) was selected as superintendent of Whiteford (Mich.) Agricultural Schools, after heading Deerfield Public Schools for the past seven years. Robin (Anderson) Burwell (A/S ’78), assistant principal at Murchison Elementary School in Pflugerville, Texas, received the 2009 Administrator’s Excellence Award from the Texas chapter of the American String Teachers Association, honoring her contributions to a school orchestra program. In addition to her years of teaching orchestra, she performs with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. David A. Stephens (Bus ’78) brought his 30+ years of experience in information technology systems when he became vice president of enterprise solutions and services for Pennsylvania-based candy company Just Born Inc., whose products include Hot Tamales and Marshmallow Peeps. Debra Boblitt (MEd ’79) was appointed senior vice president of the Mid-America Zone for insurer State Farm, which she joined in 1988. From her Mason, Ohio, office, she oversees operations in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Bryan F. Ohm (Bus ’79), president of MPM Wealth Advisors of Holland, Ohio, and his newly formed Women and Wealth Management group held their spring luncheon in May at the Packer Creek Pottery studio of local artist Jan Pugh.

Now is the time to become a teacher.

Melinda Sanders MD (MED ’79) is professor of pathology, chief of anatomic pathology and director of surgical and cytology services at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

419.530.4967 teachut3@utoledo.edu www.teachut3.utoledo.edu UT3 - UToledo. UTeach. UTouch the Future

www.toledoalumni.org

An up-north mission

www.toledoalumni.org

Picture This Photography / Jill Stenglein

Editor’s Note: Class notes submitted by alumni are not verified by the editors. While we welcome alumni news, Toledo Alumni Magazine is not responsible for information contained in class notes.

Amy Trimble-Postma DO (HS ’01) is just trying to finish her lunch. With the packed schedule of a family practitioner, she has one hour to snag a meal and try to down it between the Q&A of a phone interview — which in turn is punctuated by the repeated ring tones of her cell phone. She’s also six weeks from delivering her first child, with plans to continue her work at Riverside Medical Associates PC in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan,“up until I go into labor.” But she wouldn’t arrange her hectic life any other way.“I have a mission to make sure that the people in the area I serve have the best medical care available,” she says.“That’s extraordinarily important to me, particularly with the experience of my father having gone through cancer.” (He died when Amy was 12.) A specialty in osteopathic medicine is part of that mission, she says: “Osteopathy is centered on taking a mind-body approach to medicine. We learn everything MDs do, but in addition, we learn manipulation, which you can most closely compare to chiropractic, though we’re not limited to the area of the spine.” When meeting with patients, she says, “I address everything the illness affects — not just the physical, but everyday lives and families as well.”

It helps that living Up North means instant community.“I came from a smaller town myself — Ida, Michigan — so this was an easy transition,” she says.“You’re part of everyone’s everyday life; I run into patients every single time I go out shopping.” Her affiliation with War Memorial Hospital, which serves all of Chippewa County, extends that community.“It’s an underserved area of the country. About seventy percent of the population here don’t have a primary care physician. Maybe two-thirds of my patients are over the age of fifty.” It’s no wonder she cites time management as her biggest challenge, but she has strong support. Her husband, Gregory, the county sheriff’s deputy, comes from a family with a long history in the area. (Postma Bros. Maple Syrup was founded more than a hundred years ago.) “They’re great; they’re like my own family,”Amy says.“I’m very faith-oriented and have a church family, too. I know I can count on family and on God, which makes a world of difference.” Before allowing her to finish her lunch, one more question: At the end of the day, what do you hope people say about you? No hesitation: “That I’m a physician who really cares about her patients.” The newest member of the Postma family, Wyatt Robert, arrived in the spring.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

50s

George W. Green (Bus ’50, MBA ’51), Dearborn, Mich., gave a presentation on collecting mineral specimens at Toledo’s Wildwood Preserve in April.

60s

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

medical-care company The Mann Group, was tapped to join the Buckhead Coalition, the Georgia community’s chamber-type organization whose 100-membersonly roster always has a waiting list.

Fred Susor (UTCTC ’68, Ed Spec ’87), superintendent of Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, since 1997, retired in July after 37 years in education.

70s

No place like home.

Have you considered

teaching ? COME BACK TO UT! Thousands of dollars in scholarships are available to become a science or math teacher.

Now is the time to become a teacher.

Melinda Sanders MD (MED ’79) is professor of pathology, chief of anatomic pathology and director of surgical and cytology services at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

419.530.4967 teachut3@utoledo.edu www.teachut3.utoledo.edu UT3 - UToledo. UTeach. UTouch the Future

www.toledoalumni.org

An up-north mission

www.toledoalumni.org

Picture This Photography / Jill Stenglein

Editor’s Note: Class notes submitted by alumni are not verified by the editors. While we welcome alumni news, Toledo Alumni Magazine is not responsible for information contained in class notes.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

and special assistant to the vice chancellor for academic affairs at Indiana University Southeast, where he’s taught for 31 years. His published books include This Place We Call Home: A History of Clark County, Indiana. He and his wife, Mary, live in Jeffersonville, where they operate Kramer Associates Inc., a public history consulting firm. Barbara A. Bialko (Law ’82) joined the law firm of Foster Zack Little Pasteur & Manning PC, headquartered in Okemos, Mich. She serves on the boards of the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council and the Mid-Michigan Planned Giving Council.

One man and a boat. “If you could look behind the boat for a quarter mile of marsh, you would see a bald eagle's nest,” the doc says.

Still ship-shape, ready for more voyaging

See that frosty-haired gent plying a small rowboat on the quiet Piankatank River near Gloucester, Va.? Would you guess he used to hang with“crazy Navy pilots”as a flight surgeon aboard the USS Saratoga in the waters off Vietnam? That he was an internist for the Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and twice served as Commanding Officer of major Navy medical facilities? That his memorabilia includes two Navy Legion of Merit Awards and the Surgeon General’s Award of Academic Achievement, among other honors? All that and more is true of David G. Kemp MD (Eng ’62), a 25-year U.S. Navy veteran and semi-retired physician who remains“reasonably proud that I’ve never quit seeing patients, no matter what job I held.” The Rossford, Ohio, native took his UT degree in engineering, but another direction beckoned. After graduation, a year at OwensIllinois brought him enough money to start medical school — the rest is a professional history in academia, the military and private practice. He admits retirement didn’t come easy; along with his continued three-days-a-week medical practice, he took on the directorship of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Pennsylvania’s Easton Hospital, where he worked until his recent move to Virginia.“Most of the internal medicine residents we trained have been from overseas,”he notes.“In the course of the dozen years I was in charge, we trained more than eighty internists from more than twenty nations on six continents.” Now as he and his wife adjust to life near that birdsong-rich Virginia river, he says,“I’m very happy, even though nothing I’ve done really went according to any grand plan. Whenever I talk to young people, I tell them they’ll be happier if you use opportunities that come along. When you influence people positively, they’ll create those opportunities for you.”

Patricia A. Todak (A/S ’79), Perrysburg, was named executive director of Heartbeat of Toledo, making her the first full-time employee in this position for the pregnancy support center founded in 1971.

80s

Neil Godbey (Univ Coll ’80) Colleyville, Texas,was named chair/ CEO and director of Advanced Plan for Health, a

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Back into the swing of things

Col. Robert D. Mitchell (A/S ’82) received a U.S. Army brigade command, transferring to 121st Combat Support Hospital at Yongsan Garrison, Korea. The longtime member of the military medical community was a speaker at the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement 9th Battlefield Healthcare Conference this past spring. Mary F. Powers PhD (Pharm ’82, PhD ’96), UT associate professor of pharmacy practice, was chosen as Outstanding Professor of the Year by graduating students at the college’s May commencement ceremony. Ron Binder PhD (Ed ’83), director of Greek life at the University of South Carolina, was named Greek Advisor of the Year by Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity, recognizing his work at USC and his 20+ years of Greek advising at four academic institutions. William Chris (Law ’84), Roderick Linton Belfance LLP partner and city prosecutor for Hudson, Ohio, was appointed to the executive board of the Ohio chapter of the National Society of Professional Investigators. Dan Gottwald MD (MED ’84) is an orthopedic surgeon at Warren General Hospital in Warren, Pa.

Web-based system to help companies analyze employee health-care benefits. He’s also president of managed-care contractor The Godbey Group, serving 200 hospital clients nationwide.

Brian P. Infalt (A/S ’84, A/S ’84) is a GDS system analyst for travel company Expedia Inc. in Bellevue, Wash.

Robert L. Head PhD (MBA ’80), president of Rockford College in Illinois, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Defiance College, where he spoke at the May commencement ceremonies. His alma mater honored him for outstanding commitment to education and civic engagement.

Barry Luse (Law ’84), vice president and trust officer at Croghan Colonial Bank in Fremont, Ohio, was elected to a three-year term on the Memorial Hospital Foundation board of trustees.

Carl E. Kramer PhD (PhD ’80) was named director of the new Institute for Local and Oral History www.toledoalumni.org

www.toledoalumni.org

Kropp with Scratch trophy

As a boy, Bradley Kropp MD (MED ’88) spent his summers playing golf with his brothers at Ottawa Park Golf Course near the UT Main Campus. Their father, Ken Kropp MD, former chairman of urology at The University of Toledo Medical Center, or his mother would drop the boys off at 7 a.m. and pick them up in the evenings. All that golf paid off when Bradley was named a two time All-American at Ohio Wesleyan University. Practice had made perfect. However, following in his father’s footsteps by becoming a urologist meant his clubs would collect dust for the next dozen years while he attended medical school, did a residency and opened his medical practice. Golf is a funny game; so is life. About the time Kropp was settled into his new life as a urologist in Oklahoma, his son fell in love with golf, and now it was he and his wife who were shuttling him to the course and back. “My wife started ‘making’ me take him out to play,” jokes Kropp, now professor and vice chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Soon he found himself back in the swing of things, his competitive juices flowing.“Just like anything, if you shoot 100 then you want to shoot 90. If you shoot

even par or under par with your friends, you want to see if you can do it under the stress of competition.” To sharpen his edge, Kropp began working with a mental management system, in addition to a workout and flexibility program. After success in a few local and regional events the last couple of years, Kropp received an invitation last spring to play against the best amateurs over the age of 30 in the country in the Scratch Players Mid-Amateur Championship. “Nobody knew me, so I had nothing to lose,” he says. After thirty-six holes of stroke play, Kropp was tied for thirteenth place, qualifying him for head-to-head match play to determine the championship. As if the odds weren’t against him already, Kropp drew the number-one seed for his first match, a former champion who was playing on a course close to home. Stunningly, Kropp beat him: “I think I played to my capacity and when I got up on him early, I think it threw him off and he got a bit flustered.” He then took out several more of the top-ranked amateurs in the country before prevailing on the final hole of his final match to win the championship. Practice equals perfect. — Matt Lockwood

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

One man and a boat. “If you could look behind the boat for a quarter mile of marsh, you would see a bald eagle's nest,” the doc says.

Still ship-shape, ready for more voyaging

80s

Neil Godbey (Univ Coll ’80) Colleyville, Texas,was named chair/ CEO and director of Advanced Plan for Health, a

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Back into the swing of things

Web-based system to help companies analyze employee health-care benefits. He’s also president of managed-care contractor The Godbey Group, serving 200 hospital clients nationwide.

Brian P. Infalt (A/S ’84, A/S ’84) is a GDS system analyst for travel company Expedia Inc. in Bellevue, Wash.

Barry Luse (Law ’84), vice president and trust officer at Croghan Colonial Bank in Fremont, Ohio, was elected to a three-year term on the Memorial Hospital Foundation board of trustees.

Carl E. Kramer PhD (PhD ’80) was named director of the new Institute for Local and Oral History www.toledoalumni.org

www.toledoalumni.org

Kropp with Scratch trophy

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

partners with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences. He’ll see ER patients on the Greenville and Shenango Valley campuses. Elizabeth (Raitz) Cowboy MD (MED ’92, Res ’95), medical director, eCare-ICU, Via Christi Health System in Wichita, Kan., earned her master of organizational development degree from Friends University. She also was elected to head TeleICU, a component of the American Telemedicine Association, an international medical information exchange, and is co-chair of the Society of Critical Care Medicine TeleICU Committee.

Faith in times of shadow

Events north of Korea’s Demilitarized Zone created a tense spring in the peninsula, but dire political scenarios don’t slow the Incheon, South Korea, ministry of Sr. Marie Emma Kim, SND (a.k.a. Sungaei Kim A/S ’92). In her assigned parish of Shipjeong-dong, for instance, where she works with catechumens, twenty-eight adults were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church at Easter.“There are another forty catechumens who are preparing themselves for baptism at Christmas,” the Notre Dame sister writes.“I am also engaged in different prayer and activity groups of the parish. For instance, a group of senior citizens come here on Thursdays to participate in singing, reading scriptures, dancing, doing yoga and learning origami.” Ministering on the parish’s social welfare team is another way she carries spirituality into the community, along with visits to the sick, meals on wheels for the homebound, and her presence in twenty-nine small Legion of Mary groups. She adds,“The neighborhood of the parish is rather poor, but people are very zealous. Today we had a funeral Mass for a 57-year-old man who lived with his brother and mother, all who fled North Korea in 1950. He lived poor, but his funeral Mass was filled with people who came to pray for him since he was a member of a Legion of Mary group. The other members of the parish came together. It was very touching.”As to North Korea’s actions, she notes,“Yes, we need prayers, but we trust in God, who has always been standing at our side over every crisis in our lives.”

Patti Eshman (Law ’85), assistant vice president for community relations at Grange Insurance in Columbus, was elected to the board of directors of Maryhaven, central Ohio’s largest behavioral health-care provider. Dale Nowicki (Univ Coll ’85), retired from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Dept., obtained his JD and accepted an appointment with the U.S. Department of Labor, assigned to the L.A. office. He’s also a professor in justice administration at Cerritos Community College and the author of field patrol books for the National Tactical Officers Association.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Stuart (Stu) C. Killian (Eng ’92) was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, commanding the 179th Civil Engineering Squadron in Mansfield. Jim Wyse (MEd ’92), who was a principal with Defiance (Ohio) City Schools, remains in Fulton County as new superintendent of the Evergreen School District. Asra Ahmed MD (MED ’93) is an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. Karl Klamar MD (MED ’93) is an assistant professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and a member of the physical medicine and rehabilitation section at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. Annette Clark (A/S ’94), Maumee, was appointed director of Family Service of Northwest Ohio’s Lucas and Wood county operations. Tami Decator (Bus ’94), assistant vice president with Fifth Third Bank, was named business development officer for the bank’s Northwestern Ohio Business Banking Group.

George J. Weiner MD (Res ’85), a University of Iowa professor, is director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and holds the C.E. Block Chair of Cancer Research. Lt. Col. Kathryn Ellis MD (A/S ’87, MED ’92) is serving her second U.S. Army tour of duty in Baghdad, Iraq. Charles R. Toth PhD (A/S ’87), associate professor and chair of biology at Providence College, R.I., received the 2008-09 Joseph R. Accinno Faculty Teaching Award, bestowed annually since 2002 to recognize tenured faculty for teaching excellence.

90s

FINDLEY DAVIES consultants in human resources

David S. Anderson MD (MED ’91) joined the staff of UPMC Horizon, a health enterprise that www.toledoalumni.org

Michael Rywalski (MBA ’94), vice president with Fifth Third Bank, was named business development officer for the bank’s Northwestern Ohio Business Banking Group.

www.toledoalumni.org

Gregg Dodd (A/S ’96), deputy director for communications and education at the Columbus Statehouse’s Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, entered the 2009 class of Forty Under 40 honorees, organized yearly by online journal Columbus Business First to honor professional drive and community involvement. Nikki (Maas) Metzger (Ed ’96), Lawrence Township, Ohio, assumed the post of her husband, Gregg Metzger, on the Northwest Local School Board when he died in March. The former Canal Fulton teacher has three children. Richard S. Richards II MD (MED ’96), an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, joined the practice of Cumberland Valley Orthopaedic Associates, a Summit Health affiliate in Chambersburg, Pa. Kenneth P. Fraelich (Ed ’97) joined Common Ground, a children’s daycare services organization in Oberlin, Ohio, as youth program coordinator. Melanie M. (Simo) Miller (A/S ’97) is self-employed as a virtual assistant, as well as a certified Scentsy consultant and professional organizer. She and her husband, Jeff, live in Fort Collins, Colo., with their two dogs and a cat. William J. Wilcox (Eng ’97) is a senior electrical engineer with Otis Elevator Co., Bloomington, Ind. Rachel Wixey (A/S ’97) is president of The Renhill Group, Perrysburg, a division of Renhill Staffing Services. Amy (Arenz) Zangara (Bus ’97) was named manager of KeyBank’s Dundee, Mich., branch. She’d previously been a manager at its branch in Monroe. Capt. Mark Clutter (HS ’98) is serving in Afghanistan as a combat physician assistant with U.S. Army Special Forces. Marc Folk (A/S ’98), executive director of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, received the Governor’s Award for the Arts in April from Gov. Ted Strickland. Marc’s been with the commission since 2000, leading it since 2006. Jeanne Gordon (Law ’98) joined Weston Hurd LLP in Cleveland as an associate. Frank T. Jere (Eng ’98), business unit manager, byproducts, at EES Coke Battery in Detroit, was named to the board of directors of the Association for Iron & Steel

Digital revolutionary

He might be known internationally as one of the fathers of digital linear tape, but Demetrios Lignos (MEng ’66) is now as well holding the title of Muskingum College Distinguished Service Award recipient. The retired engineer with a generous fistful of professional accolades for his work in electronics design engineering received Muskingum’s highest alumni honor in June at the college’s annual Alumni Weekend. Lignos’ 1984 invention of digital linear tape for Digital Equipment Corp. furthered the digital revolution by creating an economically feasible method of large-scale storage on computer tape drives. A winner of the coveted R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine, he shares his skills these days by teaching marine electronics courses to fellow boaters; he’s a member of the Sarasota (Fla.) Sailing Squadron and a chapter of the U.S. Power Squadron.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

Faith in times of shadow

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

90s

FINDLEY DAVIES consultants in human resources

David S. Anderson MD (MED ’91) joined the staff of UPMC Horizon, a health enterprise that www.toledoalumni.org

Michael Rywalski (MBA ’94), vice president with Fifth Third Bank, was named business development officer for the bank’s Northwestern Ohio Business Banking Group.

www.toledoalumni.org

Digital revolutionary

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

Technology. He also completed his MBA from Michigan State University.

Just your average ‘fast paced, exciting and challenging career’

Ryan Schertzer (Bus ’98), Marion, Ohio, was named May Republican of the Month by the Marion County Republican Central and Executive Committee. Sales manager for Quest Software, Dublin, he’s a candidate for an at-large position on the Marion city council.

00s

Chris Litwin Photography Inc.

Tobey Porter (HHS’03) is an average guy. Really. Just look through the all-black suit, the sunglasses, the earpiece, the concealed weapon, the body armor, the suspicious gaze and the president of the United States who’s standing a few inches to his right, and an average guy emerges. As a husband and father of a young son, Porter is average enough. As a special agent in the Secret Service, he’s protected the lives of the world’s most important people — including President Barack Obama. Porter, assigned to the USSS Chicago field office, says he worked an advance (securing the area surrounding an event) for Obama last year, which meant close proximity.“Most of the questions I get from people revolve around [him],” Porter says.“People ask, ‘What’s he like? What’s he do in his free time?’ and I have no idea. A lot of people really overestimate the relationship we have with the protectees … the conversations just don’t happen. “We are there to protect him, not to get to know him.” Everything about the Secret Service, not just the relationships, is platonic, he says. Take the all-black suit, for example: “It’s not the whole men-in-black look, it’s just professional.” Porter has worn the suit since 2007, when he joined the service after a yearlong application process. Since then, he’s protected the likes of former President George W. Bush and had an assignment with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

But protection isn’t the only charge of the Secret Service, and it is not the one upon which the agency was founded. Created in 1865, the Secret Service has been the main force in the fight against counterfeit currency, bank and credit card fraud, and cyber-crimes. Porter is especially prepared to be a warrior in the battle. After graduating from UT, he worked as a private investigator, sharpening his surveillance and espionage skills by catching scammers in the act.“Most of what it involved was sitting in the back of a van, watching the guy who says his back hurts, but then he’s out putting a new roof on the house and gardening all day,” Porter says. “But it really is kind of an art. You have to know when to push it and when to let the guy go. You don’t want to get burned.” Porter can’t go into details about his current counterfeit investigation assignment, but says the idea of investigation or surveillance isn’t necessarily less dangerous than being a human shield for dignitaries — a thought not very comforting for the loved ones of those in the field. “You know, it’s an honor to be able to do what we’re doing,” he says.“But we carry a gun to work every day, which means we may have to use it. That’s something real that families have to live with every day when you leave the house.” — Chris Ankney

Melissa Hager (Law ’00) was named a partner in the creditor rights law firm of Javitch, Block & Rathbone LLP, which has offices in Ohio and Indiana. David D. Lick MD (MED ’00) was named interim program director at the William Beaumont Hospital family medicine residency in Troy, Mich. Jeff Morman (Eng ’00) was named supervisor of the command, control and computers avionics engineering branch of Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa., the largest electronics maintenance facility in the U.S. Department of Defense. Jason Justice MD (MED ’01) joined the hospitalist program of Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, N.C. Eric Mueller (MEng ’01) of Landeck, Ohio, near Delphos, was ordained as a priest in the Toledo Catholic Diocese in May. Jenna Peitz (HHS ’01, HS ’02) is a new physical therapist at Magruder Hospital’s Lake Erie Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Oak Harbor, Ohio. Yousuf Zafar MD (MED ’02) is a medical oncology instructor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. Michael S. McCartney MD (MED ’04), a member of South Point Family Practice, joined the active medical staff of Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, N.C. Bradley J. Van Sickle MD, PhD (MD ’04, PhD ’04) is a pediatric endocrinology and diabetes fellow at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University, Nashville. Heather Ritz (Eng ’05) was promoted to senior consultant with Ann Arbor workplace improvement firm Humantech Inc. She’s also a certified professional ergonomist.

Lisa Wuyek PhD (MA ’05, PhD ’07) joined Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore as a practitioner, and instructor and supervisor for third-year psychiatry residents. Lt. Glenn Burkey (HHS ’06) served with the U.S. Army as an infantry platoon leader in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. He returned home to Texas before being stationed in Fort Knox, Ky., until a deployment to Iraq. Mike L. Daniels (Univ Coll ’06) was hired as varsity head football coach for the Scott High School Bulldogs in Toledo. Richard V. Lake Jr. (Univ Coll ’06) was promoted to officer in the Retail Division of Fifth Third Bank and continues to manage the Swayne Field branch in Toledo. Yogesh P. Patel MD (Res ’06), a radiologist and partner at Consulting Radiologists Corp., Toledo, was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Radiology.

Ryan P. Kaufman (Univ Coll ’08) was hired as an account manager at Metzgers Printing & Mailing, Toledo. Sgt. Antonio D. King (A/S ’08) of the Marine Corps Reserve, participated in the yearly Partnership of the Americas exercise that includes U.S. Marines and partner nation marines from Central and South America. Eddie T. Nelson (Univ Coll ’08) completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Commands, Great Lakes, Ill. Diana K. Sharp (A/S ’08) is the new editor of the Galion Inquirer, the Ohio city’s daily, owned by Brown Publishing Co.

Marriages & Unions

Sheila M. Rice MD (MED ’97) & Thomas Dane. She works at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Richard Phinney MD (MED ’06) received a scholarship from the Geneva (Ohio) High School Academic Boosters Club. He’s completed his internal medicine residency at the UT Medical Center and will continue research in gastroenterology while working as a hospitalist at Toledo Community Hospital.

Craig N. Burkhart (A/S ’99, HS ’03) & Jena Ivey. He’s a clinical assistant professor with the University of North Carolina Hospitals.

Mackenzie Manard (Ed ’07), who teaches fifth-grade science and math at Selma (N.C.) Elementary School, was named the school’s First Year Teacher of 2009.

Jessica Meyers (Bus ’04, MBA ’05) & James Adams (Bus ’04). She’s an organizational development specialist with Sykes Enterprises Inc., he’s a sales rep for Ferguson Enterprises. Tampa, Fla.

Carrie Price (Ed ’02) & Nick Anasinis. She’s an academic ombudsman and adviser for Ellis University. Chicago.

The central green at Geos Neighborhood

Sustained applause

A national award for a zero score? You’ll find it on the office wall of Michael Tavel (A/S ’85, A/S ’85), whose Denver company, Michael Tavel Architects, netted an Honor Award for Analysis and Planning this past May from the American Society of Landscape Architects. When completed, the winning project — the Geos Net Zero Energy Neighborhood planned for Arvada, Colo. — will hold title as the nation’s biggest net-zero-energy, mixed-use neighborhood. Fossil fuels are banished; the community’s energy needs will be met via an integrated array that includes super-efficient mechanical systems and photovoltaic panels on every rooftop. Attractive urban landscapes will be irrigated by runoff from melting snow and stormwater. While it all might sound futuristic, it’s the daily reality at Tavel’s company, co-designers of the under-construction Geos Neighborhood.“We advocate for dense, transit-oriented urbanism as the first step toward resource conservation,” says Tavel, whose father is David Tavel PhD, UT emeritus professor of education.“Beyond this, we use innovative thinking in order to integrate passive and active strategies for resource conservation into urban neighborhoods.” Zero: It’s the new Number One.

What in the world are you doing? Your UT Alumni Association is interested in what you’ve been up to since graduation. Information about births, marriages, new jobs and recent promotions, and educational or professional accomplishments is published in Toledo Alumni Magazine. Please complete the information below and attach a brief description of your news. Mail to: The University of Toledo Alumni Association, Driscoll Alumni Center, Toledo, OH 43606-3395. NAME: Last

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Alums can now update, search and network in a flash. Check out the Alumni Online Directory at www.toledoalumni.org.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

Technology. He also completed his MBA from Michigan State University.

Just your average ‘fast paced, exciting and challenging career’

00s

Chris Litwin Photography Inc.

Marriages & Unions

Sheila M. Rice MD (MED ’97) & Thomas Dane. She works at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Craig N. Burkhart (A/S ’99, HS ’03) & Jena Ivey. He’s a clinical assistant professor with the University of North Carolina Hospitals.

Mackenzie Manard (Ed ’07), who teaches fifth-grade science and math at Selma (N.C.) Elementary School, was named the school’s First Year Teacher of 2009.

Jessica Meyers (Bus ’04, MBA ’05) & James Adams (Bus ’04). She’s an organizational development specialist with Sykes Enterprises Inc., he’s a sales rep for Ferguson Enterprises. Tampa, Fla.

Carrie Price (Ed ’02) & Nick Anasinis. She’s an academic ombudsman and adviser for Ellis University. Chicago.

The central green at Geos Neighborhood

Sustained applause

First

M.I.

State

Zip Code

Phone: (

E-mail address: Degree:

Former

City

Address:

)

Year of UT Graduation: College:

Alums can now update, search and network in a flash. Check out the Alumni Online Directory at www.toledoalumni.org.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

Amy Thompson (HHS ’05) & Nicholas Kundmueller (Eng ’05). She’s a public health nurse at Cuyahoga County Health Dept., he’s an engineer with Diebold. Medina, Ohio. Michael J. Kemerer (Law ’06) & Carrie Rietschlin. He works for the city of Mansfield, Ohio. Michael R. Smith (HS ’06) & Megan Daubert. He’s employed by Affinity Medical Center, Massillon, Ohio. Joseph Pellman (A/S ’08) & Jessica Jennings (Pharm ’09). Toledo.

Births

Maegen (Tansey) (Bus ’97) and Joe Verkennes (A/S ’97), Sylvania, celebrated the birth of their son, Joseph Michael, in January.

Kevin (Bus ’02) and Mandy (Buchholz) Bentley (A/S ’04) welcomed their second child, Brielle Rebekah, in April. She joins big brother, Vin, and the family in Lambertville, Mich.

When the waters rose

A coach and a remarkable ride

As frigid floodwaters poured into the Chehalis, Wash., home of Nancy Punches (A/S ’57) Dec. 3, 2007, the American foxhound breeder had one thought: Rescue the dogs. “There was absolutely no warning,” the 76-year-old says of the flood.“I had the four puppies in a little Styrofoam container, which kept them warm because it reflected their body heat. They just floated around.” She kept an eye on them — and the rising water — as she stood on the kitchen counter.“I watched the water reach one Venetian blind and then the next one and the next slat — the water was up to my chest. Then my antique bookcase slowly tipped over and it floated. And I thought: my life raft.” The American Kennel Club judge floated for hours, coming within inches of her cathedral ceiling, which she said saved her life. As the water receded Dec. 4, she climbed off the bookcase and put the five-week-old puppies under her fleece shirt. One pup kept popping up through the v-neck to lick her face. After thirty-six hours, Punches and the puppies were rescued. She was treated for hypothermia and frostbite, but little could be done to mend her heart after losing sixteen dogs. “I kept Noah, who kept sticking his head out, and his sister, Spirit,” Punches says. Her story was seen and read around the world: “I can’t believe that I’ve heard from people with donations, cards and gifts from every

Explore the

Savage & Associates Complex for Business Learning and Engagement

continent except Antarctica.” Punches’ life is getting back to normal. Her home has been replaced, complete with a new kennel for several American foxhounds. And she’s back at Morton General Hospital, Morton, Wash., where she’s a laboratory manager: npunches@mortongeneral.org. — Vicki L. Kroll

On November 5, 2009, the UT College of Business Administration will dedicate the Savage & Associates Complex for Business Learning and Engagement, a substantial expansion of the college’s physical home.

Now you can take Marco’s Pizza to your new hometown.

Dynamic features include: • 54,000 square feet of space • Ten state-of-the-art, technologically advanced classrooms • Eight conference rooms • Five action learning labs • Rooftop garden for college and university events • Convenient walkways connecting the Complex to Stranahan Hall • Green environment

The new facility will also be a remarkable resource to local and regional businesses through innovative programs provided by: • Executive Center for Global Competitiveness • Center for Family Business • Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and Innovation • International Business Institute • Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales • Institute for Supply Chain Management and Information Assurance • Edwin Dodd, Dana and Owens-Illinois Business Ethics and Social Policy Initiative • Region’s preferred and largest MBA/EMBA programs

Marco’s Pizza is the fastest growing pizza company for several reasons. • Marco’s Pizza’s ownership business model is right for the times • 11 Consecutive Quarters of Same Store Sales growth* • Decades of outstanding Italian food quality • Founded 1978, Toledo, Ohio • Call 800-262-7267 or visit marcos.com *See Marco’s Franchising, LLC FDD, April 1, 2009

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Franchise and Area Representative ownership options nationwide.

www.toledoalumni.org

For more information, visit the college’s Web site, utoledo.edu/business. Classes will be held in the new Complex beginning January, 2010. The University of Toledo College of Business Administration Lifelong, Transformational Learning For You, Your Business, Your World. Accredited by AACSB International Member, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)

Just Call Me Coach by Dick Strahm (Ed ’58), former UT assistant football coach and defensive coordinator, is a darn good story — multiplied. The four-time NAIA national championship coach with a 24-year string of success with the Oilers of Findlay College/ the University of Findlay, is a veritable fountain of human-size stories, here told by newspaper writer John Grindrod.“I know it’s a long book, but I’m an old guy; I’ve got a lot to say,” Strahm quips. Certainly there are plenty of gridiron tales in the book. With ringing endorsements by Jim Tressel, head football coach at OSU, and ESPN sports commentator Dick Vitale, it’s a must-read for those who follow the pigskin.“But it’s not all football,” Strahm says. Now working at Findlay as special assistant to the vice president for development, Strahm is especially pleased to be able to share stories about the young players who learned — as one of them says in the book — “a lot more than just football.” Former UT football coach Frank Lauterbur (under whom Strahm worked in the early 1970s) provided what might be the definitive review of the book. Lauterbur says, “This is the kind of book you don’t put down. I read it in two nights and you might be surprised, but I’m not a big reader of sports books — Dick’s book, though, has so many really interesting stories.” Just Call Me Coach is available by calling Diane Rowland at the University of Findlay: 419.434.4517 or via e-mail at Rowland@findlay.edu.

Make it Rocket talk Rocket Wireless can take what you talk, with Verizon, Sprint, Alltel and AT&T available. Most have family plans to fit all needs; deals of under $30 a month; payroll deduction for UT employees; smart phones and easy-use models; and no sales tax, no monthly service fees after sign-up, no termination fees for switching over your old plan when you keep your carrier. UT alumni, students and employees can start saving by checking out telecom.utoledo.edu, then calling Rocket Wireless (owned and operated by UT’s Auxiliary Services): 419.530.7998.

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

class notes

Births

Maegen (Tansey) (Bus ’97) and Joe Verkennes (A/S ’97), Sylvania, celebrated the birth of their son, Joseph Michael, in January.

Kevin (Bus ’02) and Mandy (Buchholz) Bentley (A/S ’04) welcomed their second child, Brielle Rebekah, in April. She joins big brother, Vin, and the family in Lambertville, Mich.

When the waters rose

A coach and a remarkable ride

Explore the

Savage & Associates Complex for Business Learning and Engagement

Now you can take Marco’s Pizza to your new hometown.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

Franchise and Area Representative ownership options nationwide.

www.toledoalumni.org

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

in memoriam Correction: The Spring 2009 obituary for Hugh F. Hinton PhD of the Political Science Department reversed the order of his name. We regret the error.

30s

*William L. Adler (A/S ’35), Toledo, May 1 at 95. Mollie (Meerkreebs) Heidelberg, Toledo, att. 1935 to 1937, March 20 at 91. Roberta R. (Newcomb) NopperWarnke, Oregon, att. 1936 to 1938, June 9 at 91. Claude H. Watts Jr. (Eng ’37), Hudson, Ohio, March 6 at 93. Ethel (Dull) Joseph (Ed ’38), Sylvania, March 29 at 92. As student, Alpha Phi Gamma president, Campus Collegian editor. **Ted V. Shinkle, Temperance, Mich., att. 1938 to 1941, June 20 at 89. Lettered in football 1940, 1941. Donald H. Freeborn Sr., Sylvania, att. 1939 to 1943, April 4 at 88. **Alfred H. Samborn (Eng ’39), Glenview, Ill., March 19 at 91. The founder of Toledo architectural firm SSOE Inc. upon his retirement became a UT professor of civil engineering. He established a distinguished lecture series in his name in the College of Engineering and helped fund two scholarships established in his name by SSOE. In 1970, he was honored with the Alumni Association’s Blue T Award; in 1980, he received the Gold T. Founding member of Tower Club.

40s

Raymond D. Baldwin (Law ’40), Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., March 9 at 106. **Clara M. (Cordes) Bloomer, Cincinnati, att. 1940 to 1943, May 14 at 86. Rabbi Melvin Weinman (A/S ’41), San Diego, Nov. 28 at 88. Doris E. Shaffer (Ed ’42), Wauseon, May 17 at 88. *Milford M. Romanoff (Bus ’43), Ottawa Hills, June 21 at 87. Served on the UT Campus Beautification Committee during the creation of Centennial Mall; also served on MCO’s Advisory Committee. Zeta Beta Tau member. Ethel O. (Payne) Skran (Ed ’43), Saginaw, Mich., March 5 at 86. *Lavella (Andrew) Stone, Fort Myers, Fla., att. 1944 to 1946, March 25 at 83. Alpha Omicron Pi member. Richard A. Buehler, Toledo, att. 1946 to 1949, March 23 at 79. Frank J. Comte, Toledo, att. 1946 to 1949, April 19 at 82. Christopher Koinis, Columbus, att. 1946 to 1949, March 29 at 82. Edward T. Sherman, Toledo, att. 1946 to 1952, June 19 at 85. Lifetime Kappa Alpha Psi member. John R. Alspach (Eng ’47), Tampa, Fla., April 23 at 89. William L. McCord Sr. (Eng ’47), Toledo, May 24 at 88.

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

biblio-files Gerald E. Strausbaugh (Eng ’47), Sylvania, March 18 at 89. Mary Jane (Blank) McCormick (A/S ’48), Toledo, April 18 at 82. Thomas O. Messinger, Toledo, att. 1948 to 1950, May 5 at 81. **B. William Tanner PhD (Ed ’48), Toledo, June 20 at 87. Taught as adjunct associate professor of psychology from 1968 to 1972. Edward A. Davis (Bus ’49), Pinehurst, N.C., April 2 at 83. *Merritt R. Facer (Eng ’49), Toledo, May 16 at 87. Richard P. Hibbard (Eng ’49), Bellevue, Wash., May 7 at 85. Harry M. Seubert Jr. (Eng ’49), Lancaster, Ohio, May 14 at 86.

50s

**Harry A. Dom (Eng ’50), Tiffin, Ohio, April 2 at 84. Sylvia E. Klotz (A/S ’50), Toledo, June 5 at 82. *Edgar R. Shirey II (Pharm ’50), Reno, Nev., April 23 at 82. Edward L. Steiger (A/S ’50, MS ’53), Toledo, March 30 at 85. Parttime chemistry instructor for 22 years. Richard D. Herold (Bus ’51), Toledo, May 9 at 80. Warren G. Myers (Eng ’51), Pemberville, Ohio, March 7 at 83. *Eugene R. Sheline (Ed ’51, MEd ’56), Fort Myers, Fla., May 7 at 84. *Edward A. Stowell (Law ’51), Naples, Fla., March 11 at 84. Heritage Oaks Society. Alvin R. Turski (Eng ’51), Santa Monica, Calif., May 16 at 79. Gerald J. Aubry (Bus ’53), Portland, Ore., April 18 at 77. Carol L. (Nordgren) Daschner (Ed ’53, MEd ’73), Sylvania, April 23 at 78. Delta Delta Delta member. Ralph W. Landmeier (MEd ’56), Sandusky, May 3 at 79. Robert N. Lindner (Eng ’57), Sarasota, Fla., May 26 at 74. Deane E. Wettstone (Bus ’57), Richmond, Va., April 24 at 79. Sigma Alpha Epsilon member. Waldo M. Finnell (A/S ’58), Westerville, Ohio, Feb. 25 at 90. H.D. Huffman (Bus ’58), St. Louis, April 9 at 76. Robert Mair (Bus ’58), South Lyon, Mich., April 8 at 76. Richard E. Orzechowski (Eng ’58), North Olmsted, Ohio, June 20 at 73. **Arlene B. (Zielinski) Schubargo (Ed ’58, MEd ’68), Toledo, April 9 at 72. Richard A. Smith (Ed ’58), Cheboygan, Mich., Feb. 28 at 73. Phi Kappa Phi member. *Robert J. Nolan Sr. (Bus ’59), Toledo, May 7 at 79.

60s

Arthur E. Just (Eng ’60), Naples, Fla., April 12 at 72. Leo R. Stiger (Ed ’60), Paulding, Ohio, March 15 at 72. **Lawrence Degnan (Bus ’62), Toledo, March 5 at 73. Real estate instructor at UT. Stephen R. Krauser (Bus ’63), Toledo, April 27 at 70.

John J. Rendle (UTCTC ’63), Maumee, June 12 at 67. Sarah K. (Miller) Salley (MA ’63), Winter Park, Fla., May 10 at 91. **Alice M. (Taylor) Snow (MA ’63), West Lafayette, Ind., April 1 at 96. Robert Meinardi (A/S ’64), Tempe, Ariz., March 5 at 68. Sigma Alpha Epsilon member. Anne J. Sturdevant (Ed ’64), Lambertville, Mich., March 8 at 90. Jacqueline J. Dorr (Ed ’65, MEd ’74), Toledo, April 21 at 83. Paul E. Harshman Jr. (Ed ’65, MEd ’89), Toledo, April 13 at 66. Lettered in UT football 1963 and 1964. Willis J. Kirkbride Sr. (UTCTC ’66), Henderson, Nev., April 22 at 70. Jeffrey F. Kraemer (UTCTC ’66), Toledo, May 28 at 64. Richard Seymour, Columbus, att. 1966 to 1970, June 20 at 61. Lettered in football 1967, 1968, 1969. Sigma Alpha Epsilon member. *Michael B. McKeown (Pharm ’67), Loveland, Ohio, March 30 at 64. Robert B. Williams (Law ’67), Toledo, May 9 at 71. Terry A. Kinsey (Eng ’68), Toledo, May 22 at 67. Dale E. Sattler (Bus ’68), Toledo, March 24 at 64. Robin R. Tiep (Ed ’68), Toledo, March 15 at 66. **David W. Sterner (MEng ’69), Freeport, N.Y., May 29 at 64.

70s

Terence M. Harrington (Bus ’70), Mount Pleasant, Mich., Dec. 24 at 62. **Leonardo “Nayo” C. Mendoza MD (Res ’70), Toledo, May 18 at 70. Charles H. Pickle (Bus ’70), Elburn, Ill., March 21 at 62. Avis C. (Levey) Smaw, Toledo, att. 1970s, 1980s, 2000s, March 27 at 50. Patricia Solon (A/S ’70), Kent, Wash., April 19 at 61. Deloris M. Haase (UTCTC ’71), Lapeer, Mich., Jan. 13 at 89. Delores “Dee” (Davis) Herman (Ed ’71), Ottawa Hills, April 15 at 76. Sigma Delta Tau member. Delores (Jackson) Hassell, Toledo, att. 1971 to 1976, April 27 at 77. David C. Schreiner (UTCTC ’71), Fostoria, Ohio, April 18 at 61. Delton C. Stewart (UTCTC ’71), Oregon, April 29 at 58. Martha E. Woodard (Ed ’71, MEd ’75), Toledo, April 13 at 60. Kappa Delta Pi member. Rosemary (Robertson) Heger (MEd ’72), Holmes Beach, Fla., March 7 at 82. Cathy A. (Otremba) Johnson (Ed ’72, MEd ’76), Oregon, April 23. Phi Beta Phi member. Barbara L. (Carson) McCarthy (Ed ’72), Falls Church, Va., May 13 at 60. Chi Omega member. Murry J. Rosenberg (A/S ’72), Sylvania, May 3 at 59. Jacquelyn A. (Unger) Tramontana, Lorain, Ohio, att. 1972 to 1974, May 23 at 55. Beta Sigma Phi member. Charles P. Wasovich (Law ’72), Altoona, Pa., Feb. 12 at 61. Kappa Sigma member.

James G. McGinnis Sr. (Univ Coll ’73, MEd ’78), Toledo, May 8 at 73. Carol D. Statum, Toledo, att. 1973 to 1976, April 24 at 53. Alpha Chi Omega member. Kourtney (Kean) Peterson (A/S ’74), Chapel Hill, N.C., May 10 at 58. Gary Rambo (Bus ’74), Zephyrhills, Fla., April 17 at 71. Thomas C. Rotterdam (A/S ’74), Maumee, May 3 at 58. Larry S. Szabo (UTCTC ’74, Bus ’77), Toledo, March 10 at 54. **Ethel B. (Earle) Bradford (A/S ’75, MA ’78), Toledo, May 6 at 89. Nicholas T. Adrahtas (Law ’76), Monroe, Mich., May 9 at 57. Carol S. (Cook) Cassavar (UTCTC ’76), Toledo, June 1 at 52. Beverly A. Copper-Butler PhD (MEd ’76, Ed Spec ’85), Boardman, Ohio, May 26 at 59. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Phi Delta Kappa member. Marlene (Rometski) (Schultz) Geissler (Ed ’76), Temperance, Mich., June 15 at 67. Thomas D. Kitz (A/S ’76), Oregon, March 3 at 57. *Amy L. (Brigham) Janick (A/S ’77), Temperance, Mich., April 25 at 85. *Jerri Nielsen MD (MED ’77), Southwick, Mass., June 23 at 57. She was the subject of a profile in the Spring 2009 issue of Toledo Alumni Magazine. Pamela S. (Kulka) Smith (UTCTC ’77), Springfield Twp., May 19 at 55. Charles G. Andrews (Law ’79), Dayton, May 7 at 55. Kappa Alpha Psi member. John A. Gratop (Univ Coll ’79, MEd ’81), Aiken, S.C., April 24 at 66. Edward W. Jepson (MEd ’79), March 18 at 59. Theta Chi member. Carole J. Verble (UTCTC ’79), Oregon, May 12 at 73.

80s

Morton R. Cohn (Law ’80), Monroe, Mich., Dec. 8 at 85. J. Jeffrey Fretti, Swanton, att. 1980 to 1982, April 12 at 48. Donald K. Sorter (A/S ’80), Anguilla, British West Indies, March 16 at 68. *Gregory T. Courter (Eng ’82), Lima, June 15 at 49. Vickie (Smith) King (A/S ’83, Univ Coll ’87), Athens, Tenn., May 1 at 54. Carolyn C. (Black) Lagro (Univ Coll ’84), Goffstown, N.H., Feb. 12 at 87. Marty F. Leonard III (UTCTC ’84), Toledo, April 13 at 45. Meredith P. “Pete” Price (Ed ’84), Toledo, March 8 at 79. Linda A. Sadowski (A/S ’86), Sylvania, March 25 at 56. Greta M. (Clarkson) Scanes (UTCTC ’89), Toledo, April 8 at 75. Randall Shafer RN (A/S ’89), Las Vegas, June 18 at 55.

90s

Jennifer L. (Conkle) Steingass (Ed ’90), Toledo, March 18 at 42. Alpha Omicron Pi member, SOAR adviser. www.toledoalumni.org

Paula J. (Frohlich) Yarger, Toledo, att. 1990 to 1992, June 10 at 41. Chi Omega member. Frank “Biff” Beauregard Jr. (A/S ’91), Toledo, May 13 at 58. Stacey L. Stalker (UTCTC ’93), Toledo, May 8 at 38. Frederick J. Buckholz (Univ Coll ’94, MEd ’97), Gold Beach, Ore., May 29 at 59. Gregg Metzger (Pharm ’97), Lawrence Twp., Ohio, March 12 at 35. Todd D. Nafziger (A/S ’98), Archbold, Ohio, April 22 at 46. Christine E. Shaffer (A/S ’98), Millbury, Ohio, May 3 at 39. Leslie M. Wunder (Univ Coll ’98), Springfield Twp., June 21 at 33.

00s

**Wilma Irene (Rosenberger) Quisno (Ed ’02), Toledo, March 22 at 71. Lecturer in business technology at the UT College of Business Administration from 1991 to 2008. Phyllis M. Jones (MEd ’04), Toledo, May 5 at 52. Michael J. Rawlings (Bus ’05), Lambertville, Mich., April 5 at 25. Alpha Kappa Psi president. Jonathan May (HS ’08), Tipton, Kan., March 24 at 27.

Faculty, Staff & Friends James M. Barry, Toledo, MCO

delivery worker from 1974 to 2002, March 6 at 66. Esther M. Carter, Toledo, MCO cook for 10 years, May 11 at 70. Judith A. DeWeerd, Sylvania, longtime MCO employee, April 3 at 67. Ernest H. Fink, Toledo, shop superintendent in the Geology Department from 1982 until his 1992 retirement, March 21 at 87. A geology scholarship was established in his name. Barbara J. Fitzpatrick, Toledo, preschool teacher at Apple Tree Nursery School for 22 years, April 1 at 58. Sonia M. Flower (UTCTC ’77), Dillsburg, Pa., MCO nurse/patient education coordinator from 1980 to 1991, May 7 at 69. Alfred F. Foster PhD, Toledo, UT faculty and administrator, March 29 at 93. He began as assistant professor of chemistry before promotion to associate professor, then professor in 1960. From 1963 to 1968, he served as associate dean in College of Arts & Sciences’ Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Named acting dean of the Graduate School in 1968, he held the position until the following year, then became associate dean until 1974. Honored with an Outstanding Teacher Award in 1977, he also served as UT’s representative to Council of Central State Universities and as chair of the Honors Day Committee. In 1964, he headed the faculty committee that planned the Science Building (later BowmanOddy). Founder of the Dr. Alfred & www.toledoalumni.org

Betty Foster Nursing Scholarship for nursing students, he retired in 1985 as emeritus. Charles N. Glaab PhD, Toledo, professor of history since 1968, May 1 at 81. Instrumental in helping to create the department’s doctoral program, he continued to direct student theses and dissertations, completing his last such work the week of his death. Co-editor of the Northwest Ohio Quarterly, he authored texts that included A History of Urban America and Toledo: Gateway to the Great Lakes. He retired as professor emeritus in 2006. Thomas B. Hodges, Toledo, stationary engineer since 2005, May 3 at 45. *Theodore F. Horst (Eng ’48), Toledo, whose 21 years at UTCTC were spent as faculty (associate professor) and administrator (acting dean and executive dean), March 18 at 82. He joined UT in 1967 and served under three deans, teaching math, drafting and civil engineering technology and heading the college’s Division of Technologies for three years. He retired in 1988. Evelyn Jackson, Chandler, Ariz., dietary supervisor in MCO Food and Nutrition from 1967 to 1994, May 16 at 76. Johnnie W. “Action” Jackson, Toledo, UT custodian from 1963 until his 1991 retirement, April 1 at 76. Ferdinand H. Kruse PhD, Rosita, Colo., who taught science and math at UT from 1978 to 1998 as adjunct associate professor at the former Community and Technical College, and part-time instructor for the Department of Chemistry, May 10 at 83. Charles E. Mallory, Toledo, who worked at UT from 1975 to 1986, retiring as physical education store clerk, April 12 at 88. Edward Herman, Morenci, Mich., who worked at the University from 1972 to 1984, retiring as housekeeping manager, June 4 at 87. Janet M. (Blaesing) Mauck, Toledo, technical typist at MCO/MUO from 1985 to 2005, May 21 at 46. **Lamora R. Mueller (Ed ’36), Toledo, UT faculty member 41 years, April 16 at 94. Starting as a teaching fellow in physical education, she was promoted to associate professor in 1951, serving as chair of the Women’s Physical Education Department until it merged with the men’s department. She retired in 1977 as professor emeritus. Delta Delta Delta member and faculty adviser. Joseph A. Provenzano MD, Toledo, clinical assistant professor of family medicine at MCO from 1971 to 1987, March 30 at 91. Angela B. Ruth, Toledo, nurse in MCO Oncology Department from 1975 until her 1993 retirement, April 2 at 74. Hazle B. Sauer, Salem, Ore., who worked 16 years in UTCTC, retiring in 1984 as a secretary, March 13 at 93.

Caring for the World: A Guidebook to Global Health Opportunities University of Toronto Press Stephen A. Huffman MD (MED ’00), Drain, Pirtle and Chan As I write this, I’m a few hours away from Tanzania, where I’ll be performing my thirty-sixth medical mission. So this book hits home as an excellent overview of the challenges and joys of providing international health care. The book presents both the big picture — goals of global development programs — and personal stories of six individuals, including a 6-year-old, who serve the underserved, showing the impact even one person can make. The importance of understanding personal goals and building partnerships in achieving these goals is stressed. Those interested in obtaining positions in international medical education, research and governmental and non-governmental organizations are given tips on how to start, succeed in and fund their aspirations. The book also provides sound advice regarding trip planning and pearls for providing global health care. Although a section on obtaining medicines and supplies would be helpful, the listings of numerous global health resources are a good starting point for anyone interested in pursuing a life-changing experience. I wish that I had read this book earlier in my career. — Richard Paat MD, UT clinical associate professor of medicine and faculty adviser, Students for Medical Missions

Ecology and Popular Film: Cinema on the Edge SUNY Press Robin Murray PhD (MA ’91, PhD ’94) and Joseph Heumann As evidenced by its title, this book deals with the topics of ecology and movies. Obvious examples of this intersection of topics immediately spring to mind, such as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. However, the authors also examine disparate films such as The Day After Tomorrow, Hooper, Silent Running, The Fast and The Furious (both the 1955 original and 2001 remake) and Eight Legged Freaks for those movies’ typically deliberate but sometimes unintentional environx mental message. They also analyze the changing attitudes of Americans (and thus American films) toward the environment and how filmmaking itself can have a substantially negative impact on the environment. The book, while never intending to provide an exhaustive analysis of the topic, delivers an interesting and decidedly unusual take on popular films in America. — Gregg Bartley

* Member of the UT Alumni Association ** Lifetime member

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

in memoriam Correction: The Spring 2009 obituary for Hugh F. Hinton PhD of the Political Science Department reversed the order of his name. We regret the error.

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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Jennifer L. (Conkle) Steingass (Ed ’90), Toledo, March 18 at 42. Alpha Omicron Pi member, SOAR adviser. www.toledoalumni.org

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Faculty, Staff & Friends James M. Barry, Toledo, MCO

* Member of the UT Alumni Association ** Lifetime member

Toledo Alumni Magazine | Fall 2009

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Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get you back in the game. If you are a super star, retired athlete or a weekend warrior, make UTMC Sports Medicine part of your team for a higher degree of care.

For 24/7 access to your team of experts, call our UTMC Sports Medicine Hotline at 419.262.1556.

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