Fall 2006
Transcription
Fall 2006
table o f | CONTENTS Cover Story: Extraordinary adoptions showcase unconditional love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Features: Restaurateur’s passion brings success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Adolescence explored, explained through art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Call to serve translates into housing for the poor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Racine postmaster overcomes tragedies, aims high . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Nursing project prompts kids to promote nutrition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 20 In every issue: Footprints Milwaukee Symphony adds Stritch as performance site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Exhibit to feature works of Sr. Thomasita, Italian printmakers. . . . . . . . . . . 4 Public Safety Management degree to go online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Undergrad leadership offerings revised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 14 Advancement/Alumni: Nursing college formally named for benefactor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Stritch gets $500,000 challenge grant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 What’s up with alumni? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 29 On the Cover: 8 Marjorie Schoemann, in the foreground, is one of several Stritch alumni who work in a variety of positions behind the curtain to create theater magic. Also depicted, from bottom left to top right, are Andrea Toussaint, Aaron Dyszelski and Charles Kukak. The cover was designed and photographed by Kou Vang with the assistance of Jane Backes. Both are graphic designers in the Public Relations office at Stritch. Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 foot | PRINTS can raise money for Stritch Helping to raise money for Cardinal Stritch University is only a mouse click away. And you can do it easily and regularly, at work and at home. Simply use GoodSearch.com, a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to schools and charities selected by its users. Although one cent is not a lot of money, the pennies can add up quickly. For example, if 1,000 of Stritch faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni and friends used GoodSearch twice a day, the University would receive about $7,300 a year. GoodSearch is used the same as any other search engine. And because it’s powered by Yahoo!, results are proven. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter Cardinal Stritch University as the school you want to support. You can make GoodSearch your home page on your computer. Click on “tools” while in your Internet browser and select “Internet Options.” Type in goodsearch. com. Or bookmark it as a favorite and use it every time you need to do a search. GoodSearch’s success is continuing to grow, and it has been featured in Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Small Business Magazine and more than a thousand blogs. The more people who use this site, the more money Stritch will earn, so please spread the word. Bach Babes go for Baroque in new Stritch home The chamber music ensemble Bach Babes has set up residence at Stritch for their 2006-07 concert season, which opened on Oct. 15. The group of instrumentalists and vocalists perform Baroque music in an informal setting. The ensemble includes Katy McGinn, an adjunct faculty member in Stritch’s Music Department. “Performing at the University opens up an entirely new audience to us,” said Helen Reich, a founding member and violist for the group. “The population on the North Shore has proven it’s very committed to the arts.” During the Baroque era of music (1600-1775), there was no conductor, much of the music was meant to showcase an instrumentalist’s prowess, and it had a great deal of political sarcasm as well as outright humor. “We like to have fun and we like the audience to have fun,” Reich said. “We don’t want our performances to be stuffy and academic. We want them to be memorable and have some spark … . The goal for Bach Babes concerts is to be relevant to our lives today.” Dr. Dennis King, chair of Stritch’s music department, is thrilled to welcome the group to campus and sees their presence as another tool for attracting serious music students. “With the appointment of Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra musicians Catherine McGinn as our bass instructor and Timothy Klabunde as our violin instructor, the door was open to pursue new collaborations with Milwaukee’s professional artists,” said King, who helped bring both Bach Babes and the MSO to campus. “Although Bach Babes’ concerts are University fundraising events, they are also my attempt to build a greater network in getting the word out that Stritch is a wonderful place to study music and train as a professional musician.” The group will play at Stritch again on Feb. 18 and April 22, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students are available through the Stritch Box Office, (414) 410-4171. For more information about the Bach Babes, visit their Web site at www.bachbabes.org. College of Arts and Sciences Austria wins national award for promoting women in psychology Dr. Asuncion Miteria Austria, chair and director of training in Stritch’s Master’s in Clinical Psychology program, recently was honored with the Award for Distinguished Leadership for Women in Psychology from the American Psychological Association (APA). The prestigious national award notes her “outstanding contributions to education and training and to the delivery of psychological services to women through her teaching, writing, administrative leadership, mentoring and guidance for their professional careers.” Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Austria also was recognized for championing efforts to recognize and increase the participation of women and ethnic minorities in the field of psychology and in APA governance. In addition to her Stritch duties, she is an APA board member for the division on clinical psychology, where she also will be vice president of the Committee on Diversity. Austria has been at Stritch since 1974, and she was instrumental in creating the clinical psychology master’s program. New degree program combines art, computer science training The Art and Mathematics/Computer Science departments have collaborated in the creation of a new program that marries art and technology. The Bachelor of Arts in Interactive Media Development is designed to enable graduates to enter professional careers in the fields of computer science and electronic media such as the Internet, educational software development, simulation software, systems modeling, and the gaming industry. It’s slated to begin in fall 2007. Sister Barbara Reynolds, SDS, professor of mathematics/ computer science, and Peter Galante, associate professor of art and University creative director, created the program. Galante initially collaborated in developing a mathematics course – Visual Mathematics – for arts majors. After additional discussion, he and Sister Barbara decided to further develop the idea of merging mathematics/computer science and arts disciplines. The goal is to give students the arts skills to create electronic media designs and the technical expertise to implement them. “These big technological changes are coming down the pike,” Galante said. “Technology is really influencing our culture, and the speed of the change is incredible. You don’t need to know software, you need to be able to come up with the key questions and answer them. We have to train renaissance people; that’s what’s necessary.” Sister Barbara said Stritch is tapping into a new market that she hopes will draw students who otherwise may have overlooked Stritch. The new major will include existing arts, mathematics and computer science classes, as well as two new computer science classes and four new arts classes developed specifically for the program. The capstone course will be a two-semester experience in which students create a large-scale project using principles of artistic design and implement it using the technical skills they have acquired. “Our expectation is that this will be the kind of project that students can take into job interviews,” Sister Barbara said. College of Business Adjunct publishes book on conservation in Cameroon Dr. Steven Wolfgram, an adjunct faculty member in Stritch’s College of Business, recently had a book published, “Global Development and Remote African Villages: Environmental Conservation and Cultural Survival in Cameroon.” The book, published by the Edwin Mellen Press, looks at the relationships among development, conservation, and culture in two provinces of Cameroon, which is in central Africa. “This book is the outcome of Dr. Steve Wolfgram’s curiosity concerning why so many conservation projects fail in Africa despite the involvement of local people,” according to a reviewer, professor Joyce Endeley, of the University of Buea. Wolfgram has been conducting research in Cameroon for 15 years. He is the president of the Cameroonian American Foundation and is on the boards of two other Non-Governmental Organizations focused on Cameroon. A partner in the consulting firm Cahill, Wolfgram and Associates, he has been with Stritch since January. The book is available for $39.95 through [email protected], or (716) 754-2788. College of Education and LEadership New name chosen In May, the College of Education became the College of Education and Leadership, a name that Dr. Tia Bojar, dean, said better reflects the range of programs and services the college offers. The newly named college now comprises three specialized schools, Education, Leadership, and Urban Initiatives. Bojar said the changes would ease collaboration within the college and with Stritch’s other colleges. “Leadership has become a huge part of what we offer, and yet it was not reflected in the name of the college,” she said. “Neither were the many urban initiatives in which the college is involved.” Many details of the restructuring will be figured out within the coming year. “It’s easy to rename something but difficult to reorganize it,” Bojar said. “We do not want this to become much more hierarchical, because that’s not how people get their work done efficiently and effectively. It’s redefining how people work together. These are all the things we’ll determine.” Faculty and staff will determine how the new schools will oversee programs that used to be categorized by department. Bojar said the aim is to eliminate redundancy, streamline services, and facilitate communication. Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Bojar said the school structure also will provide a centralized location for all of the University’s leadership and urban initiatives, allowing the other three colleges to work with experts in those areas to launch their own programs. “Right now we’re working on a program in leadership in conjunction with the College of Nursing and another one with the College of Business. For the College of Arts and Sciences, we offer the undergraduate integrated leadership program,” Bojar said. “So we needed to figure out a way to really organize ourselves so it wouldn’t just be seen as a college of education. And then the urban initiatives can come from any college, too. “We hope to partner more with nursing, because how can you truly help inner-city kids read if they have no nutrition? Together we can create more meaningful connections to the community.” Office focuses on mentoring and coaching efforts A new Office of Mentoring and Coaching within the College of Education and Leadership is home to all of the college’s mentoring and coaching initiatives, including ongoing programs supporting and training teachers in local K-12 schools, a new college faculty orientation program, certificate programs in mentoring and coaching, and the Southeastern Wisconsin New Teacher Project. “By creating the office, we are much more aware of what everyone’s doing and how we can benefit from working with each other,” said Rhonda Dubin, who is a co-director for the new office along with Nancy Marsho. Dubin and Marsho will oversee ongoing work with local districts while helping them to comply with the No Child Left Behind requirements, including PI 34, which mandates ongoing support for new teachers by qualified mentors. This fall, Stritch introduced a nine-credit Certificate in Mentoring to provide formal training for veteran teachers and Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 administrators who serve as mentors or work with beginning teachers within K-12 schools. Dubin also spearheaded the creation of the new Southeastern Wisconsin New Teacher Project, a consortium of K-12 school districts that provides professional development for mentors, forums for an exchanges of ideas, and resources for new teachers. Some seminars include an opportunity to earn graduate credit. “Mentoring needs to be taught through research and practice and skills,” Dubin said. “This training can lead to better teachers, better instruction, better schools, better student achievement. So that’s the true mission of it.” MAT program going to Kenosha The College of Education and Leadership has entered into a partnership with the Kenosha Unified School District to bring the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program to that area. Classes will be held at Mahone Middle School, 6900 60th St., with an expected January start. The program was developed largely at the request of Scott Pierce, superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District and a graduate of Stritch’s doctoral program in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service. “Dr. Pierce understands Stritch quality,” said Tony Shafer, chair of the Regular Education Department. “This is the first time we’ve ever worked this closely with one large school district, and I think it holds a great deal of promise to be beneficial for both parties.” Stritch already is offering its Educational Leadership, Instructional Technology, and Literacy/ESL programs in Kenosha, but this is the first time the MAT will be offered in the area. The MAT is designed for students who already have a degree, frequently in another area, and who want a career change. Teacher candidates meet evenings for a year, then complete a semester of student teaching. After that, they can apply for a teaching license in their chosen area. They then have the option to return to Stritch after a year in the field to complete the remaining eight credits necessary for a master’s degree. “We have a number of people who are looking at new careers who are interested in the field of education,” Pierce said. “Our challenge is that we are a fast-growing district. We have a very ripe area.” The majority of the MAT students in Kenosha will conduct their student teaching within the Kenosha Unified School District, and Kenosha teachers will serve as adjunct instructors within the program. “If we build in a relationship with student teachers, we increase the chance that they’ll want to work in Kenosha (after graduation),” Schafer said. In addition, the MAT program in Madison continues to grow, with two additional cohorts beginning next year. One of these new cohorts is a daytime option, from noon-4 p.m.; the other is from 4:30-8:30 p.m. Considering how popular the program has proven around the state, Shafer said the college is looking at offering it in areas north of Milwaukee. College of Nursing Partnership expanded to Gateway in Kenosha Stritch is now offering its Bachelor of Science in Nursing Completion Program at two Gateway Technical College sites. In addition to initiating a program at Gateway’s Burlington center last spring, the University also began classes at Gateway’s Kenosha campus on Nov. 1. “This growing partnership between Stritch and Gateway creates new opportunities for Gateway’s graduates and other area nursing professionals to further their education on site,” said Kristen Bachman, Stritch program chair and coordinator of the new partnership. Gateway currently offers an associate’s degree in nursing. Photo by Kou Vang Peace Corps: Kyle Freund, dressed in traditional Guatemalan garb, sits in front of a gallery of artwork from that Central American nation. By Sar a Woelfel s the crowded Guatemalan bus rumbled out of sight, Kyle Freund, ’99, ’02, realized that his wallet – and the pickpocket who stole it – were still on the bus. Frustrated yet resigned, Freund recalled with a sigh the many things he lost, the least of which were his money and credit cards. He knew he could never replace his Cardinal Stritch University staff identification card with the photo from his first day of work, the squashed penny he found on his Route 66 road trip, or his favorite slip of fortune-cookie wisdom: “Life for you is a bold and dashing adventure.” And while that slip of paper is no longer tucked in his wallet, the sentiment on it has tunneled deep inside him, often drawing him to new and distant lands. His latest travels A Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 took him to Central America, where he lived in Guatemala for more than two years as a Peace Corps volunteer. He capped off that experience with a twomonth journey through Argentina and Chile before coming back to his home state of Wisconsin. “Travel is not an extravagance in any way whatsoever,” said Freund, who also has trekked to Tanzania, Belize, Brazil, Peru and the Czech Republic during the years he was a student and, later, assistant director of Public Relations at Stritch. “I like getting to see new places like you see in National Geographic.” And, while in the Peace Corps, Freund not only got to see plenty of spectacular scenery, but he also became a part of it as he was absorbed into the fabric of life in the intimate community of Chiabal, a village in the Cuchumatanes mountain range, about 200 miles northwest of the capital, Guatemala City. “It’s neat to be able to live somewhere long enough to see the seasons change twice,” said Freund, who relished exploring the nearby mountains, traveling (by bus, bike, foot or hitchhiking) to other parts of Guatemala, immersing his family and friends in the culture when they visited him and through regular e-mails he sent home, and by participating in holiday and village celebrations. Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Known as “Ronaldo” among his Guatemalan friends and co-workers (since his middle name, Ronald, was easier to pronounce), Freund lumbered into Chiabal for the first time sitting with his co-worker from the village atop a load of sand in the back of a dump truck. His upcoming job was to be a marketing consultant for Cooperativa Union Cuchumateca, a slaughterhouse that sells lamb meat and also raises alpacas and llamas as pack animals for a tourist project. Within a few months, he settled in his cement block home in the village, joined the local soccer team, entertained the children with daily bouts of juggling, and began teaching English at a local school and in his home to young men who would eventually emigrate to the United States to earn money for their families. Over time he also learned to crochet, make his own granola bars, bake bread and ride a horse. Yet life wasn’t without challenges. In addition to the effort it took to communicate solely in his second language, Freund quickly confronted other obstacles that made his daily existence difficult. In this village, which didn’t have electricity until 1989, he had no running water and had to fetch it regularly from one of 40 wells in town. He also had to cook in a homemade oven, seek just the right hilltop perch to get phone reception, fend off the aggressive chuchos (mutts) that roamed the streets, and deal with the dust or mud that clung to him depending on the season But as is characteristic of Freund, he was able to find humor and charm in even the most difficult or awkward circumstances and documented many of these in the travel journals that he e-mailed home. He wrote quirky, compelling and often comically self-deprecating tales of daytrips he took, conversations he had, people he met, observations he made, or missteps he suffered. One of his favorite recollections was a simple conversation he shared with a young boy one evening. “After taking our llamas and alpacas out to pasture, I was sitting with him on the sheep corrals at the slaughterhouse and I was trying to get him to talk,” Freund wrote. “The sun was setting off in the distance … I asked him how old he was. He sat there, mulled it over for a while and, looking off into the distant sun, replied with a world-weary voice, ‘Saber,’ which basically means, ‘Who knows?’ “I thought that was a very mature response from a 5-to-8-year-old, as if he knew that his answer was just small talk and that maybe sharing the beauty of the afternoon coming to an end was all that really was needed.” Freund also noted his neighbors had a lot of curiosity about life in the U.S. One man asked him if Americans wash their clothes or if they simply throw them away after they wear them. Others would unabashedly ask what his possessions cost. Yet most just wanted to learn basic English, since many men – some as young as 13 – eventually leave home to live in the U.S. for several years to be able to send money back to Guatemala. Often Freund’s journal entries centered on his job. Considered one of the least desirable jobs among Peace Corps volunteers that year, the slaughterhouse assignment was his first choice when he learned of the cooler climate, the higher elevation and the opportunity to return to his farming roots. During his two years at the cooperative, Freund helped raise baby llamas, developed a product logo that tied in elements of the local heritage and dress, helped standardize the product recipes, researched and created a 21-page manual on sanitation and hygiene practices using information shared by a Wisconsin slaughterhouse he visited during a trip home, conducted a marketing study, and worked with the men at the cooperative to devise better business practices. “I was trying to plant things here and there,” said Freund, who has a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a Master of Business Administration degree, both from Stritch. “As a Peace Corps volunteer, you are just a consultant and cannot force your way or ideas … . At times it seemed they did not fully trust everything I said because they were not paying me any money to work there.” As in any workplace, in Guatemala Freund felt his share of frustrations, not the least of which was his need to communicate complicated business concepts in Spanish. “The nicest thing about learning a new language is the forgiveness you get for saying things wrong or out of turn,” Freund said. His face still gets red when he remembers how time stood still the day he accidentally told his host mother that he was aroused when he meant excited. Some of the cooperative’s challenges centered on overcoming a positive E.coli test, securing a sanitary license, building their client base, figuring out why so many of the baby llamas were dying, and developing the most appealing marketing strategy for their meat products. Freund encountered a couple of unexpected obstacles in his quest to school his co-workers on the fine art of marketing and public relations. In one instance, he was prepping the cooperative manager for a media appearance, since a Los Angeles television station wanted to feature their llama and alpaca project on their newscast. “Throughout that week I stressed the importance of public relations and how media appearances can affect business,” Freund said. “We discussed talking points and how to be interviewed … I thought I covered everything that was needed, from the hike route to who would be the spokesperson. But on the day of the event I realized the one thing I forgot. Apparently I didn’t stress how important it was to show up.” In the end, another worker from the cooperative proved to be a natural in front of the cameras, so a disaster was averted and the interview turned out to be even better than planned. On another occasion, the cooperative’s accountant was a bit overzealous in his attempt to attract new business. In a meeting with a restaurant owner, the accountant said the product was 100% meat and completely fat free. “After watching the production process and seeing the globs of fat along with the other vegetables and spices that go into our sausages, I knew that neither of these statements was true,” Freund said. “I made a mental note to talk with the accountant about this later … I asked him if it was true that our meat products were 100% meat and fat free. He replied that it wasn’t true, but he thought it would help sell more sausage. “We had a discussion about honesty in advertising and sales and ways to get a similar idea across without lying, and I know he took it to heart.” From exchanges like that one or just everyday meetings with co-workers, Freund came home with newfound confidence as well as a greater ability to self-direct at work, be more persuasive when presenting ideas, and manage unexpected situations that require immediate attention. He learned to “roll with the punches and adjust. The only thing you can control is how you react.” After especially difficult days at work, Freund could count on a good walk home to ease his tension. The 15-minute walk often took three times that long to complete. “Without fail, at the end of each day I can count on a few things,” Freund wrote home. “… as I reach the corner before the hill up to my house, a motley crew of kids comes running to the road and asks me to juggle or play soccer. And then as I make my way up the hill, I run into a couple of the town shepherds watching their sheep on the hillside and playing with slingshots. And we sit, and we talk, and we admire the view. By then I’m usually cleansed of my frustrations at work and I’m back home talking with my neighbors and watching another day come to a happy close.” While sad to leave this second home, Freund was ready to return to Wisconsin last December at the conclusion of his Peace Corps stint. He eased his transition with a few weeks traveling through Mexico before coming home for Christmas, then added two months traveling in South America after the holidays. Today, Freund’s formerly exotic lifestyle has been tamed. He works a 9-to-5 job as a public relations specialist at a Milwaukee ad agency. He admits to feeling “scattershot” and unsure of what his future career or life holds. “There are a million things I would like to do and only one lifetime to do it,” Freund said. “Where do I go from here? It’s wide open. I have a lot of skills and interests now after the Peace Corps. My Spanish is fresh. I learned marketing things. I want to work somewhere with an altruistic motive but yet also have money and vacation to feed my travel habit.” There are many more places Freund plans to visit, so he’ll keep his passport current, just in case. “I plan to keep a fund going with $400 in the bank as my ‘emergency perspective fund,’” Freund said. “That way I can go back for a week on a whim if necessary.” Yet for now, Freund is content to settle in to life in Milwaukee, further develop his career skills, and enjoy time with family all the while keeping his eyes peeled for the next “bold and dashing adventure” to come his way. Or perhaps discover another fortune cookie that leads him in a different direction. Including Kyle Freund, Cardinal Stritch University alumni have served in the Peace Corps, with the first beginning service in 1965. They called the following places home for two years or more: Ethiopia, Ecuador, Micronesia, the Philippines, Fiji, Mali, the Solomon Islands, Paraguay, the Eastern Caribbean, and Guatemala. Source: Peace Corps press office. Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Midwest meets Far East Student uses travel as a means to learn Evan McCaw E By Brett Kell van McCaw is not one to sit still. Over the past two years, the senior political science major from Iowa has spent a year in South Korea, a week in Washington, D.C., as a delegate to the Model United States House of Representatives, and touring as a drummer in a punk rock band over the summers. “It’s certainly a lifestyle,” he said. “I’ve slept in dorm rooms, fancy hotels, and on living room floors – it’s always an experience.” McCaw went to South Korea for the first time in the summer of 2004 as part of a group led by former Stritch Associate Professor Terry Roehrig. The trip was part of a two-week cultural exchange program that Stritch’s International Programs office offers every two years. Although he had been looking for a study abroad opportunity, McCaw decided that the cultural exchange trip would offer an ideal opportunity for him to get a taste of a study abroad experience before actually making the commitment. The group stayed at the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul, which has more than 7,000 students and is one of Stritch’s partner schools. The two-week program included trips around the city and to the North Korean border, tea with Buddhist monks, and short courses in language, economics, and other subjects. “I didn’t know anything about Asia, so it was a real learning experience for me,” he said. “Every second of every day was intensely fascinating. We talked about Korea in Terry’s classes, but that couldn’t prepare me for what it was actually like being there.” His group also toured the demilitarized zone at the North Korean border, where they experienced firsthand the gravity of the escalating tensions between the North and South. “Inside the zone, you can look across into North Korea and see soldiers and bunkers, and there’s this sort of propaganda Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 on Jeju Island in South Korea village where both sides have set up these fake towns meant to look like ideal little communities,” he said. “The intimidation is unbelievable. It feels really, really tense. “The South Korean guards are standing in this martial arts ‘ready’ position, just staring into North Korea. You can’t take pictures because the light from your lens might reflect off of something and someone on the other side might thing you’re aiming a gun at them. There are lots of precautions. It’s striking.” McCaw was grateful for the experience, but he was much more comfortable in Seoul, the nation’s capital. “Seoul looks so much different than here, but it’s also commercialized and developed,” he said. “It was definitely somewhere I wanted to go back to.” Soon after, he did just that. In January 2005, he departed for a year in Seoul. He lived in a dorm at Catholic University, where he shared a small room with three Koreans who spoke little English. “That was interesting,” he said. “But we got better at communicating as time went on. You learn pretty quickly when you don’t have a choice.” McCaw was struck by how the college environment reflected the conservative, traditionally minded South Korean culture. “There are so many behavioral differences between the U.S. and Korea,” he said. “There, you have a thousand college students living in a dorm building and no one is drinking, no one is fighting, no one is breaking things.” The nature of the South Korean people is an issue McCaw explored in his senior thesis. Confucian culture, family values, a hierarchical social structure, and other factors contribute greatly to their behavior, he said. Misbehavior carries a heftier stigma in South Korea than in the U.S., a fact that contributes to a vastly different social climate and learning environment, McCaw said. “There are repercussions, but not in the way we’d think. They’re more psychological. There, everyone you know will feel disgraced. It’s a totally different concept of right and wrong. They ask themselves, ‘How did we fail this person?’” Although McCaw spoke virtually no Korean when he arrived, many of his fellow students spoke English and were excited to practice it with him, the very first Westerner to attend Catholic University. He became friends with his roommates and had many acquaintances around campus. Far more people wanted to spend time with him than he had time to accommodate. Many wanted a chance to practice their English and learn more about Western culture. While in school, McCaw took Korean language and history courses, as well as political science and other courses. He contributed to his classes, but noted that Koreans were not as willing to speak up as he was. “If your opinion differs from the instructor, that’s considered confrontational; everyone went to great lengths to avoid that,” he said. “So I did a lot of talking, and the teachers seemed to like it.” Overall, his study abroad experience was a rich one, McCaw said. In addition to his time in Seoul, he saw almost every major tourist spot in the country. “Many Koreans remarked that I had been to more places than they had,” he said. “Some of the most memorable are a tropical island named Jeju and the Eastern coast city of Sokcho, with its beautiful mountain range, called Soraksan.” He also was able to spend 10 days each in China and Japan during the time he was in Korea. In both countries, he tried to see as many things as possible in the time that he had. In Japan, he traveled by himself to many places, including Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo and Mt. Fuji. In China, he visited Shanghai, Beijing and other cities. Before he left for his study abroad program, McCaw learned about the Model House of Representatives from Roehrig and applied while in Korea. He was accepted and set out to raise the $1,400 needed to pay for the trip. He left for Washington, D.C., in April of 2006. McCaw represented his native Iowa during the first-ever one-week program, which included 160 students from 40 states. Each represented a district and was responsible for authoring a bill for submission. The group spent time in the real House office buildings and committee rooms amid real House staffers, debating bills, making amendments, advocating issues and voting. “We really felt like politicians,” he said. “It was all very upscale. We wore suits and ties and carried briefcases. We debated legislation that was really well written and had some pretty broad implications. There was articulate and well-informed discussion of issues on a much higher level than any classroom I’ve been in.” McCaw wrote a bill on trying to establish a permanent security forum for East Asia and to make permanent the Six-Party Talks that include the United States, China, Japan, Russia and both Koreas regarding North Korean nuclear weapons issues. “I’ve always had the opinion that politics is just dirty and nasty, and I’ve wanted to be as far away from it as possible. But what motivated me to do this was my interest in the issues and in making the world a better place.” After McCaw returned from Washington, Stritch was notified by Aurelia Figueroa, executive director of the American Youth Scholarship Foundation and founder of the Model House of Representatives, that McCaw was the first-ever recipient of the Committee on International Relations Award of Excellence, which included a $500 scholarship. “From the very beginning, Mr. McCaw established himself as one of our best Student Representatives,” Figueroa wrote. “We followed Mr. McCaw closely at the event, and with every step were impressed with his commitment, maturity, patriotism, intellect, and leadership qualities.” McCaw said that the level of camaraderie and cooperation exhibited by other delegates softened his unsavory perception of politics. McCaw in Washington, D.C., speaking about international relations “It was really empowering,” he said. “People weren’t interested in dividing themselves by party. Of course there were different views, but we all just focused on getting the job done. It felt natural.” Continued on page 10 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Continued from page 9 McCaw admits that he wasn’t always interested in politics, or any other subject very much. School had been the least important part of his life for a long time, he said. When he enrolled at Stritch, he took a number of music and natural sciences courses, but it took some time for him to become engaged in his studies in a meaningful way. “Stritch helped me a lot. It took me a while to understand that the reason I had been accumulating these amazing experiences was because I’m being encouraged every step of the way.” By Brett Kell Building the confidence to go to Korea also took him a while, but McCaw said making the decision to study abroad in the first place was the hardest part of the entire experience. “I think Stritch definitely played a part in my feeling able to do it,” he said. “I’ve had a really easy time here finding the help that I needed to do the things I wanted to do, and going to Korea is just one example. “I really feel like I’ve been stimulated to take responsible social action, and that’s probably a result of being exposed to Stritch’s values on a certain level.” In addition to politics and social action, music also has been a big part of McCaw’s life. He had been the drummer in a Dubuque-based punk rock band, Chinese Telephones, since his senior year in high school. The band criss-crossed the country on six or seven tours over summers and spring breaks during McCaw’s first two years at Stritch. They made enough money to continue traveling, but not enough to make touring a permanent endeavor. “All of the tours I’ve been on, we pretty much broke even,” he said. “But after I left for Korea, they got another drummer and the first tour they went on, they came out ahead. Just my luck.” By Brett Kell Although he isn’t part of the band anymore, McCaw hopes to start another band with a new sound when he can find the time. He said that because he’s played the drums since the sixth grade, music is hard to get out of his system. “If I had my way, I’d get into some bluesy rock,” he said. In addition to remaining in his memory, many of McCaw’s experiences were documented in his senior thesis, which he finished in May and presented at the History and Political Science department’s annual student presentation and dinner event. “I was told to get it down to about 40 pages, which was tough,” he said. “It was around 70 pages. I had a lot to say. Every time I read it over, I thought, ‘But I really like this part!’ All of it is important to me. “Attempting to analyze culture and politics in the way that I did was like opening one of those Russian dolls – every idea I came across just led to more questions and few answers. But I gained a lot from trying to find those answers.” 10 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 David Riordan is teaching a screenwriting workshop that draws on his experience working in Hollywood. Paul Gleason will teach a course, Reading Film, that explores elements of film that translate to the written word. And Paula Friedman will be teaching an Irish Literature course that includes an eight-day trip to Ireland that alumni are encouraged to join. “Our writing program has always included study in poetry and fiction, but in order to stay relevant and provide students with a broader background and additional skills, we saw the need to expand our offerings,” said Arts and Sciences Dean Sister Mary Ann Polasek, OSF. Literature of the Indomitable Irish and its trip component were designed with the help of Stritch’s International Programs director, Laine Philippa, who asked Friedman if she would be willing to teach a course on Ireland. Interest in Irish culture and literature has grown among Stritch students, Philippa said. The name comes from a William Butler Yeats poem, “Under Ben Bulben,” in which he writes, “Through seven heroic centuries;/Cast your mind on other days/That we in coming days may be/ Still the indomitable Irishry.” The coursework will include examination of Yeats poetry; plays by John Synge, Sean O’Casey, Samuel Beckett, and Brian Friel; a memoir by Nuala O’Faolain; and fiction: James Joyce’s “Dubliners” and Roddy Doyle’s “A Star Called Henry.” “The trip component is designed to give students a chance to experience Irish culture and to see some of the places depicted in the course readings,” Friedman said. “We’re actually going to stand in the footsteps of these writers.” The group will be in Ireland March 30 to April 7, half the time in Dublin, and the rest in Cork, Ireland’s secondlargest city. In Dublin, they will see The Book of Kells, a famous manuscript containing the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John completed in about 800 A.D., at Trinity College; the Dublin Writers Museum; the General Post Office, site of the Easter 1916 rebellion; the Kilmainham Gaol Historical Museum, where political prisoners were kept and mistreated; the James Joyce Centre; the Abbey Theatre, where they will take in a play; and Malahide Castle, north of the city. In Cork, they will visit the City Gaol, where other political prisoners were kept, the Cork Public Museum of Art, the Coal Quay Market, St. Anne’s Church, and Blarney Castle, which is outside of the city. Stritch faculty and staff, alumni, and partnership students in adult education are encouraged to take the trip and will not be responsible for course work. The course itself, which may be audited by students and non-students, will be offered from 2:40-4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning Jan. 23. The cost for the trip will be approximately $1,770 for students, who will likely share rooms at a hostel, and from $1,945 to $2,225 for non-students who may want their own single or double rooms at nearby location. The cost includes round-trip airfare, lodging, and breakfasts. Participants will purchase their own lunches and dinners. Scott Lehmann, assistant director of International Programs, will go along to visit an Irish university that could serve as an exchange program option for Stritch students in the future. Friedman said future courses could focus on and include trips to Italy, Australia, or London. Riordan’s Screenwriting Workshop attempts to use the contemporary cultural influence of film to help students create their own works. “Our goal is to promote visual literacy studies and offer a more interdisciplinary approach to creative writing,” he said. “Students are experienced moviegoers, and this is a chance for them to use what they see as inspiration for their own material. Riordan spent a year in Hollywood as a screenwriter, film production assistant, and personal assistant. He also worked for an agency as a script analyst, where he wrote synopses, comments, and recommendations on scripts submitted to production companies for consideration. “I got to see first-hand how the business works and how quickly things can happen.” His students are charged with writing and revising either a short screenplay or the first act of a full length one, as well as storyboarding and filming a scene from their screenplay projects. They are practicing pitching their projects to the class, as well as writing treatments (a lengthy synopsis), coverage reports, annotated filmographies, and more. “The practical commerce-related aspects (of filmmaking) are necessary to know even if all you’re interested in is writing,” he said. “The more you know about the process, the more you’re able to tailor your work and increase the likelihood that it will see the light of day.” Gleason’s course, Reading Film, is structured around a dozen contemporary films that were chosen as examples of six major cinematic elements: acting, narrative, set design, cinematography, editing, and sound. Students will write commentary and essays that focus on each of these elements and the two films chosen to represent it. For example, the set design unit will examine Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove” and Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich,” and the cinematography portion will look at Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” and Larry and Andy Wachowski’s “The Matrix.” Gleason said that because students respond first to what they see and second to what they read, the films used in his new course will serve as visual representations of what’s possible on the page. “Being able to see examples of arguments, rhetorical structures and more on screen allows the student to better grasp how those elements function in written form,” he said. The three instructors hope the new courses attract students and help Stritch’s writing program keep pace with others in the area. “We’re really trying to transform the way our department looks at literature by using films, music, plays, and more to illuminate writing,” Gleason said. “We think these are very attractive courses that will draw in more potential writing majors.” Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 11 Humanities help create Eric Pullin well-rounded business students Deb Bruers 12 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Owen Phelps By Scott Rudie tice. “The Believer’s Edge” explores scientific research that religiously active people make better neighbors, build better The College of Business has a long-recognized reputation for communities, and live happier, healthier lives. employing business leaders as instructors – men and women who practice by day what they teach by night. “As a communications person, I’m always intrigued by disparities between reality and general perceptions,” But there is another diverse group of scholars within the he said. “The common perception would be that reliteaching ranks whose work helps ensure that adult learners are gion is just an inhibitor. Its job is to filter the fun truly well-rounded individuals when they graduate. These facout of life before life gets to you.” But Phelps found ulty members have notable experience in the liberal arts and through his research that “people that didn’t buy into that other areas beyond business, supporting a humanities focus social myth were getting incredible rewards.” the college deems vital. “This book talks about reaching out beyond yourself and The college has a foundation of liberal arts requirements and finding things beyond yourself that are worthy of your attention has added more in recent years. For an associate’s in business and your devotion,” he said. “Our whole culture goes after the degree, 30 liberal arts credits are required out of a total of 64 idea that ‘It’s all about me.’ We know from a preponderance of credits. At the bachelor’s level, 39 liberal arts credits are required empirical experience that the consistently effective leader is not out of 128. Courses include American History, Western a self-centered human being.” Civilization, Non-Western Religions, American Government, and Humanities, among others. Phelps is CEO of Midwest Leadership Institute, which works to develop the leadership potential of individuals through The liberal arts expertise is evident at College of Business coaching, presentations and workshops. He began his career locations throughout Wisconsin and in Minnesota. For in journalism, but later moved to instance, when adjunct faculty memmanagement. He also worked for the ber Eric Pullin is in front of a classIt’s not just giving people Catholic Diocese of Rockford and later room, the topic is not information systems or business administration. degrees to get jobs. We have to began his own company, the Durand Corporation. Instead, it is a lively discussion of the origins of World War I or the tyran- have healthy business people Gwen Rivkin, associate dean in the nies of Joseph Stalin. College of Business, said some stu“The students help me keep it fresh,” to have a healthy economy and dents may not initially understand the importance of the liberal arts courses, he said. “They always come to class a healthy society. —Deb Bruers but the connection of these areas to with a different set of questions.” business becomes evident as they progIn addition to his adjunct facress in their studies. ulty responsibilities, Pullin serves “We explain to them how the liberal arts inform their underas a curriculum specialist in the college. He also is comstanding of the world, and that there is a connection between pleting work on a Ph.D. in history at the University of art, literature and philosophy and things that happen in the Wisconsin-Madison. business world.” “Coming to Stritch really brought it home to me that I might Pullin said he continues to enjoy the unique personalities and be able to turn my interest in history into a career,” he said. characteristics of each group of students that he teaches, and “I realized that this is what I want to do.” he relishes the challenge of teaching history to business stuIn Minnesota, Deb Bruers brings a variety of humanities dents. expertise to her business students. She is a painter, does charcoal “Many of them ask, ‘Why do I even need to take a history drawings, and has written for more than 300 publications in class?’ I think I help students realize that the skills they learn the field of public health. in a history class are versatile skills that can be used in the busiIn humanities classes, she often takes the students into the ness world to great effect.” streets of inner-city neighborhoods with culture centers. Bruers said the focus is to create well-rounded individuals “I take them to places that are culturally rich,” she said. “We’ll who are better equipped to contribute to society. And she meet, lecture and go over the reading. I don’t leave the curricutakes pride in helping students find their own path. lum behind, but I have them experience art. They’re business “The most gratifying work I have ever had is working for people, but they are absolutely taken by it.” this school,” she said. “It’s not just giving people degrees to Adjunct faculty member Owen Phelps brings research and get jobs. We have to have healthy business people to have a expertise on spirituality to his students. He recently wrote a healthy economy and a healthy society.” book that analyzes the benefits of religious faith and pracStritch Magazine Fall 2006 13 Husband and wife COB students tackle education, enterprise 14 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 By Brett Kell Jeff Janssen often multitasks. A student in Stritch’s MBA program in Woodbury, Minn., he recently was presented with the Dr. Robert Flahive Award for his essay on Stritch’s Franciscan values. “I wrote the essay while my wife and kids and I were watching a movie one night,” he said. “My kids gave me all kinds of grief.” In addition, he and his classmates started a consulting company, Ethos Innovations, which they plan to grow after graduation. His small study group also has assisted in the formation and operation of the Bless the Children Child Care Center, based out of his church in Newport, Minn., just minutes outside of Woodbury, itself an eastern suburb of St. Paul. His wife of 23 years, Kim, is a student in the same MBA class. Both are employees of the 3M Company in St. Paul, Jeff is a senior new business development specialist and has been with 3M for 28 years in various roles. Kim is a quality manager in the 3M Company Automotive Division. They both agree that their Stritch coursework helps them approach their work in a new way and will be a tool with which to grow their business after they retire from 3M. But fortunately for their community, work isn’t the only thing on their minds. They’ve made a habit of giving back to their community. During their Managerial Economics class, Janssen’s group of classmates decided to use the family’s church, which had asked for help in outreach efforts, as the focus of a class project. “Newport Lutheran church is an older congregation and needs to become more relevant in and connected to the community in order to grow,” he said. The congregation decided to start a day care center as a way to connect with younger families. Bless the Children Child Care Center was founded soon after by several of the church members, but needed help to get off the ground. Janssen and his classmates researched the economic viability of the center, helped establish a pricing structure, and studied the market to determine potential demand. They discovered that a 19-home Habitat for Humanity development adjacent to the church is home to about 80 kids from multicultural families who could utilize the center. Since opening, Bless the Children has enrolled 16 students, well on its way to a capacity of 29. Janssen also built a Web site for the center and has volunteered to maintain and update it. The Janssens’ group project with their church was not the first time they have promoted a worthy cause. Two years ago, friends opened a Vietnamese restaurant in Woodbury. To help out, the Janssens volunteered as wait staff up to four nights a week and donated all their tips and wages to a local food pantry. Local churches boosted the effort by placing notices about the restaurant in their bulletins, and the Woodbury community began visiting the restaurant and leaving large tips. “The restaurant has benefited, we’ve benefited, customers leave with a smile, and the Christian Cupboard Food Shelf has been able to purchase more than 25,000 pounds of food for the hungry,” Janssen said. Another project in works for the couple is Ethos Innovations. The company was the idea of Janssen’s classmate Kerry Mellum and is made up of several students in their class. Ethos already has one project underway, serving as the consulting arm for a company called Market Connections in Stillwater, Minn., which acts as a fulfillment house for other companies. Ethos currently works for no money and is helping Market Connections identify new clients and has coordinated with them to help develop other business relationships. “Right now the people in Ethos are busy with work, home and school, but we hope to build the business after we graduate in 2007,” Janssen said. When the Janssens’ class representative sent out a notice about the Flahive essay award, Janssen decided to share his insights on what the notion of a caring community had come to mean to him. The award has been given annually since 2002 by the Student Affairs committee in honor of Dr. Robert Flahive, a former senior vice president of Stritch, to the student who most embodies one of the Franciscan values. Each year, the essay focuses on a different value. This year it was creating a caring community, which encompasses respecting human dignity; offering courtesy, kindness and friendship, and fostering relationships. “I’m not a Catholic, so the Franciscan values were a little foreign to me at first,” Janssen said. “But the longer we’ve been in the program, the more I appreciate the fact that, at Stritch, it isn’t only about the money. It’s about relationships and a value-centered education.” The couple decided to pursue their degrees together with the hope of using what they learned to advance in their careers. After researching other wellknown business programs, they chose Stritch because of its proximity to their home and workplace, and because the program structure allowed them to remain with the same classmates. Working toward an MBA has made a huge difference in the way he works, Janssen said. “My job at 3M is to invent products and create new growth opportunities. The Stritch MBA program has helped me better describe ideas and proposals so they resonate with customers and business leaders. I think more like a business person and it makes the odds of achieving business success much better.” “Jeff is a remarkable individual,” said College of Business Dean Kathleen Radionoff, who presented him with the award during a ceremony at the Woodbury site. “The leadership that he and his wife exhibit and the energy they put into everything they do are really amazing. I’m proud to have him as a Stritch student.” Janssen said the name of their company, Ethos, is a Greek word that means conscience or character. It’s a notion held close to his heart, though it only hints at the true meaning behind the name. Ethos is an acronym for Excellence Through Helping Others Succeed. Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 15 B r a z e n ly disagreeable pat i e n t promotes learning 16 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 By Scott Rudie here’s a new patient in the Ruth S. Coleman College of Nursing’s Learning Resource Center who has been causing quite a stir. He can be quite disagreeable at times to the nursing students who care for him, and he even brazenly complains that his caregivers don’t know what they’re doing. The patient’s name is SimMan. He is a mannequin, but he is unlike any that Stritch nursing students have worked on before. This mannequin has a pulse, a heartbeat, and his chest swells with each breath. And when the situation calls for it, he can be quite loquacious. A computer-controlled device, SimMan is designed to help train students in the diagnosis of illness and injury. He made his first appearance in nursing classes this fall. The mannequin is capable of an extraordinary level of realism and can display a full range of symptoms. For example, one of SimMan’s arms has replaceable rubber skin so students can practice inserting IV tubes. “SimMan can do everything but get up and walk out of the bed; he has a pulse, he’s got lung and heart sounds, abdominal sounds,” said Mary Ann Mosley, the Learning Resource Center coordinator. SimMan can be preprogrammed to exhibit a variety of symptoms and conditions or be manipulated remotely by a faculty member to react as a real person. He can cry out in pain, complain while being treated, and carry on a conversation with a student. “For instance, if a student is starting an IV, you can have SimMan say, ‘Ouch! Get me somebody who knows what they’re doing,’” Mosley said. “Because that is what nurses will hear in real life.” With a few modifications, SimMan can be converted into SimWoman, allowing students to have a simulated experience with uniquely female health issues. “We can give students a scenario and leave them in the room with the mannequin,” Mosley said. “The sessions would be videotaped, so the instructor and students can see any problem and issues in the clinical setting. The instructor doesn’t have to be there anymore.” This technology allows students to learn the practice of nursing without constant supervision, said Lori Stutte, assistant professor and chair of the associate’s degree program. “I am able to create a scenario in which a student is able to go through the care of a patient and experience problems in a safe setting,” Stutte said. “In clinicals, I obviously can’t let them wing it. I have to intervene and do the right thing. With SimMan, I can allow them to make a mistake.” Stritch’s single SimMan unit cost $37,000. The mannequin and other new equipment were acquired with the help of a Title III grant from the federal government. “To spend that kind of money, you have to figure out how it will filter though the curriculum and use it at every level,” Mosley said. “You can’t let something like this lay and catch dust.” SimMan is housed in the new Learning Resource Center on the second floor of Bonaventure Hall. He joins another mannequin there named Noelle, who can simulate the birth experience. The college has also added a “virtual IV” computer simulation, which interactively instructs students on how to insert an IV correctly. In addition, the college is interested in acquiring SimBaby, which is designed to help train students in the care of newborns. The new Learning Resource Center, which opened this fall, is twice the size of the previous center. The old facility in Roger Bacon Hall has been refurbished into a physical assessment lab, with new exam beds, curtains and equipment. This new physical assessment lab adds an on-site facility for activities that used to be housed at St. Michael Hospital. “It is the thing of the future, because clinical sites are getting harder and harder to find,” Mosley said. “People are staying in hospitals for shorter and shorter periods of time, so we’re going to have to start to do a lot of these things on campus.” Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 17 D esigners, artists , administrators help create theater magic By Sara Woelfel The lights dim. A melody begins to swell as a hush spreads through the audience. People peer with expectation at the stage, awaiting the first glimpse of an imagined world created with accents of light, scripted sounds, painted backdrops, tailored costumes, and carefully placed props. Seeped in darkness, the audience feels reality fade away as the actors enter and the story begins. And whether that story is one of human foibles, happy endings or current events, many talented artists, technicians, administrators and actors must collaborate in the exhausting and exhilarating process that takes a production from a concept on an empty stage to an opening-night catharsis in front of a live audience. Several Stritch graduates have invested their talents and passions behind the curtain to make that magic come alive. The process begins in the front office of a theater company, where the artistic director scours dozens of scripts to select shows for the season. Stritch music graduate Marjorie Schoemann, ’02, the founder and artistic director for two Milwaukee theater companies, Dramatists Theatre and Allegro Productions, said the difficulty comes from trying to find just the right balance of shows. She had a hard time last year, for instance, trying to choose four one-acts written by Dramatists’ featured playwright, Lanford Wilson, because he wrote more than 100 one-act plays. 18 Stritch Magazine Summer 2006 “They had to complement each other … . And I wanted to open people’s eyes. That’s part of our mission, to choose a playwright who writes to expose people to the various issues in our society.” And while the artistic director grapples with show selection, the managing director works alongside to handle the logistics of securing funding, lobbying for rights from publishing houses, overseeing rental agreements for theater space, handling marketing campaigns, and simply getting people in the seats to help pay the bills. According to Milwaukee’s Next Act Theatre managing director Charles Kakuk, ’99, often one of his greatest challenges is getting the word out in a city that is flush with more than 20 theater companies. “Every show is a different product,” said Kakuk, who earned a bachelor of business administration degree from Stritch. “It’s not like we make widgets and just keep kicking out the same thing. Each show is a different item, and it has to be sold differently to a lot of people … you are selling a concept. You take it home, but you take it home in your mind.” Kakuk feels a responsibility to ticket subscribers and donors to make keen business decisions when managing Next Act’s $630,000 budget, which has grown from $129,000 when he started at the theater company in the early 1990s. “We’ve grown very conservatively, because it’s a volatile business,” he said. “Just like any business, you need plans, you need strategies.” Finding just the right space at an affordable rate can be a challenge for theater companies that do not have a permanent residence. This summer, Schoemann was thrilled to find just the right intimate performance space at the Marian Center for Non-Profits – the site of the former Cardinal Stritch College – for her two theater companies. She renovated an old chemistry room to create the Dramatists Theatre Studio, with 75 seats and a thrust stage. She expects the new theater to be a better fit for her companies, especially since last year’s warehouse-style space received criticism for being too cavernous. “It was a great space but just really did not suit our needs,” Schoemann said. A company’s budget is also a factor in determining some of the artistic elements of the show, including the size of the cast and crew, how elaborate the scenery and props can be, and whether the cast will wear costumes or street clothes. That’s why theater companies are most successful when the artistic and managing directors work closely together when making decisions, respect each other’s areas of expertise, and always maintain a focus on creating the best product for their audiences, Kakuk said. Yet, Schoemann has proven that even a brand-new company can attract top-notch talent and work around typical budget limitations using creative approaches. Dramatists has put on performances on a bare stage, “using a couple of cubes. and everyone wears their own clothes as their costumes.” Also, she does not pay actors a weekly salary but instead compensates them based on a percentage of ticket sales and income from a well-placed tip jar at performances. “Salaries can be very expensive, which is why a lot of the theaters have done smaller casts,” said Schoemann, who proudly broke even in the first year of Dramatists. “Last year, when we did ‘Balm in Gilead,’ we had a cast of 38 people. So we said, let’s all pool together and do well and really promote this show. And the more money we bring in, the more everyone gets.” Once the budget is finalized, the rental agreements are signed, and rights for the shows are approved, Schoemann decides which productions she will personally direct, hires other directors and designers, and then sets up a two-day casting call for actors to audition. “It’s a lot of auditions. It’s a lot of meeting people and finding out, “Do I think I can work with them? What will they bring to the table? Do they love it? Do they understand it? Could they understand it given the proper direction?’ ” Logistics in place, the production work begins And while much of the planning and hiring is done well in advance, work on an individual production usually begins three to eight weeks before opening night. That means the Charles Kakuk “A Thought on the Theatre” No show is completely over The lights are dim The stage is empty The members of the audience have gone back to daily life But the echoes of what once was Will ring forever in the memories of all of us who helped to make it happen The theatre is magic It is being a part of something larger than yourself In a world so often dimmed by hard times and discontent Theatre is a heartening reminder that wonderful things can happen when we work together. cast and crew must focus signing as well as painting, and prepare themselves for a because sometimes people are rigorous schedule of evening right on top of the set and rehearsals, often coming to can see every single molecule. And other times you the theater after working full time at a day job. can fudge it and your lines don’t have to be perfect. No “Theater is a collaboraone notices because your eye tive art form,” said David tricks itself into seeing. That’s Oswald, chair of Stritch’s kind of what my job is. Theatre department. “It’s one of the few places where “Scenic art is tricking the people of so many disciplines eye, using a lot of tools and and artistic talents work different kinds of brushes together this closely toward a to create different kinds of collective goal.” surfaces.” A crew of backstage techniToussaint said her work has cians works to invigorate a required her to use lessons bare performance space. Usfrom chemistry and mathing renderings created by the ematics to achieve certain – Author Unknown effects or shapes. production’s designers, it’s up Courtesy of David Oswald, who reads this poem to each new class of students and keeps a copy hanging in his office. to artists and technicians to “How does paint work? make those plans a reality. How does water react? How Andrea Toussaint, ’01, a do these chemicals react? Don’t put these together. This one crackles. This is how you full-time scenic artist for Milwaukee’s First Stage Children’s make a perfect square. This is how you can measure out your Theater, a painter for the Fireside Dinner Theater in Fort distance or make bricks or whatever … . My teachers used to Atkinson, Wis., and a graduate of Stritch’s art program, said say, ‘You’ll thank us when you use this later in life.’ I’m like, much of the work she does is about creating an illusion. ‘No, I won’t.’ Now I use it.” “Every stage is different,” said Toussaint, who, in addition to her art training at Stritch, attended the prestigious Cobalt Working alongside Toussaint to develop the illusions are Studios summer workshop in 2005 to refine her skills in other backstage professionals who handle lighting, sound, painting wood grains, marble, foliage and other textures. costuming, make-up and props. Aaron Dyszelski, ’00, a self-described “jack of all arts,” has dabbled in all those areas “Your audience is a different foot distance away from your during his time as a theatre and art double major at Stritch, stage. So you need to keep that in mind when you are dewhile in graduate school at the University of Kansas, and now on a freelance basis when he is not working at his full-time job as a costumer for Walt Disney World in Florida. “You are creating a whole world up on that stage,” Dyszelski said. “All those little elements must come together in harmony to create that world.” Willing to dive in wherever they are needed during a production, Dyszelski and Toussaint both have experience with finding and managing “properties,” a job that requires great attention to detail. During a recent visit to Milwaukee, Dyszelski connected with theater colleagues in search of some hard-to-find, gruesome props, including a straightedge razor that squirts blood, a barber chair that catapults 20 Marjorie StritchSchoemann Magazine Fall 2006 people, and a giant meat grinder. “We won’t talk about what that is for,” he said, laughing. The weeks of preparation leading up to a production often are frenzied and consuming for people on both sides of the curtain. Personal lives are put on hold while hammers pound, costumes are fitted, sound cues are scripted and faux bricks are painted. “The hours can get nuts, but it’s self-induced,” Kakuk said. “When you’ve got this much invested in this and so much heart, you want to be there. You gotta love it or you wouldn’t be doing it. It’s a curse!” Since she is pursuing a lifelong dream, Schoemann said the sacrifice of a social life is worth it. “You give up certain things to achieve what you want. Luckily, theater is my passion and sometimes my torment. I try to take my mind off of it, but I can’t seem to. It’s just in my blood.” In the days before the performance opens to the public, the company enters “tech week” when the set is erected and all the pieces of the stage world are combined for the first time. “It’s called 10 of 12, which means you work for 10 out of 12 hours. So you are there from noon until midnight and you have two one-hour breaks some time during the day,” said Toussaint, who worked three simultaneous jobs last season, resulting in seven-day, 75-hour work weeks. “But, usually for a technical position, you’re there for 15 or 16 hours. If things go bad, then you’re there for 16 to 18 hours. If good, you’re only there for 12. We work until it’s done. The show must go on!” Toussaint, who used to be the deck chief for Next Act, said their tech week is only three days long. Everything is set up the first day and the actors get their bearings – where their props are, how they enter and exit. The second day is a 10 of 12, while the third day is another daylong rehearsal and an evening preview performance with a live audience. Then the show is off and running for the next several weeks. “Seeing the faces as they are leaving, knowing that, wow, you really connected with this person at a very personal level, you can’t describe that feeling,” Kakuk said. “Even having nothing to do with what’s going on onstage, other than helping it get there, it’s very rewarding to me.” Yet as quickly as it was all put together, the run of the show ends, the company takes a week or two to regroup, and it’s time to start all over again on the next production. “That’s the one things that drives me crazy about theater is that you spend all that time working on it and it’s so ephemeral. It’s gone,” Dyszelski said. “It’s the hope that it lives on in the viewer’s mind that keeps you working.” From Stritch’s stage to the real-world stage For Schoemann, a career in theater was not even part of her original plan. She enrolled at Stritch with a music scholarship to study voice, having sung with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus as a teen and wanting to further develop her natural talent. However, when Stritch staged the musical “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?”, she rediscovered the thrill of “the lights, the clapping, the preparation for a character. I forgot how much I loved it.” During her last year at Stritch, her idea to create a theater company that focused on one playwright for a whole season began to germinate. Three years later, after intensive study at another Milwaukee theater company, Dramatists opened in 2005. Allegro Productions, a company focused on musical theater, debuted this fall. “I think I’ve always had a lot of nerve as a person,” said Schoemann, who dreams of creating a summer stock company or theater festival in Milwaukee some day. “Being gutsy has gotten me far in life ... . I have that bright-eyed, bushytailed outlook on the world right now. It’s still my oyster.” Toussaint had a similar awakening at Stritch after abandoning her graphic design major in favor of interdisciplinary art. Little by little she found herself backstage, applying her talents to making puppets, painting scenery, or stage managing. A couple of years after graduating from Stritch, she found a comfortable and satisfying niche as one of just six full-time scenic painters in the Milwaukee area, thanks to a little help and advice from Stritch assistant professor David Krajec. Stritch Magazine 2006 21 AndreaFall Toussaint “I encouraged her to find for herself what feeds her soul and use that as a guide,” Krajec said. “By the beginning of her senior year, I could see that she was starting to focus on scene painting. She is a very good all-around stagehand and carpenter, but she shines in painting. So I started dropping hints on how she might best parlay her talents and get known around town.” “A true advantage to our theater program at Stritch is that students get to work in Aaron Dyszelski every aspect of the theater and really discover their talents,” Oswald said. “At larger universities, there is no opportunity for music or visual arts students to work in theater, so people like Mar or Andrea never would have had a chance.” While at Stritch, Dyszelski combined his love for art and theater by creating an independent study class on prosthetic make-up. He spent the semester learning how to create molds, work with latex and transform people. “I was always interested in doing make-up in horror movies like most little boys are,” said Dyszelski, who went on to teach an undergraduate make-up course while in graduate school and hopes to one day return to the classroom as a university professor. “But I took it to the next level, where I actually taught myself to do it ... . I turned my girlfriend into Medusa and Abraham Lincoln. I turned myself into a zombie, put a bullet hole in my head and gave myself bruises.” Also an actor, Dyszelski played Nick Bottom, a man with the head of a donkey, for Stritch’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and used his art and make-up background to construct his own mask. “I think that’s one of the best parts of our new building (the Joan Steele Stein Center for Communication Studies/Fine Arts),” Oswald said. “The disciplines of art, music and theater are together in one place, and the students do a lot of things together. It’s very congenial and encourages a lot of crossover.” However, Oswald was quick to point out that the “Little Theater,” a basement space in Duns Scotus where theater productions used to be held, surprisingly had its advantages, too. “We had to worry about standing water, mold, and other environmental factors when down in that basement,” Oswald said with a good natured smile. “But theater is all about creative problem-solving, and a space like that teaches enormous problem-solving skills.” Oswald said many students graduate from Stritch and go 22 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 on to graduate school, join Milwaukee theater companies or find some way to keep theater a part of their lives. Two recent graduates even took a giant leap and moved to Los Angeles in hopes of making a living there. “I told them not to do it and tried to be the voice of reason,” said Oswald, who commented that he and Krajec often take on a parenting role with students since they get to be like a big family during countless hours of rehearsals. “But I’m very proud of them for going anyway.” With a laugh, Oswald said while his job is to prepare his students to work in theater, he never recommends the profession because of how difficult it is to make a living and how often professionals are unemployed or between projects. Yet, he knows his advice will go unheeded by those actors and artists whose eyes light up when they step inside a theater. And he knows firsthand that theater has a way of spinning its magic and not letting go. “You can spot them a mile away, someone who is in the theater or the arts,” Schoemann said. “There is just something that they give off. They have that glow.” Adva n c e m e n t | ALUMNI Alumni Award recipients, Hall of Fame athletes honored Winners of Stritch’s annual Alumni Awards and inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame were honored in July at the President’s Picnic. For the first time, the newly named College of Education and Leadership granted awards from each of its three schools: Education, Urban Initiatives and Leadership. All of the recipients were recognized for bringing honor to themselves, the University and the community. School of Education Barbara Palmer Bachelor’s degree in English, 1970; Master’s degree in Special Education, 1976 Barbara Palmer has a long history of volunteerism and service with nonprofits and church organizations. While at Stritch she was a Girl Scout leader and taught Communion class at St. Eugene’s Church in Fox Point. For a time, she taught a special education class at Maple Tree School. After moving to California in 1977, she worked for the San Jose Unified School District for 22 years as a learning disabilities specialist. She retired from teaching in 2002. Since then, she has pursued several of her passions. She is a 25-year member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and has directed a run for the past three years that raises money to send eighth-grade girls to Stanford Tech Trek Camp, which encourages an interest in science, math, and technology. The group also gives scholarships to high school senior girls and junior college women and supports Girls Engaged in Math and Science. Her branch also contributes to an endowment that helps Ph.D. women continue their education. Palmer also teaches non-English-speaking women at a local center, and she has been a lector at her parish for 25 years and a Eucharistic minister for 10. She regularly raises funds for the American Heart Association and the Cancer Foundation, and she is active in her hometown’s effort to build a new library, doing fundraising and lobbying. School of Urban Initiatives Tyra Stokes Tyra Stokes has been involved in early childhood education for many years, as a childcare provider, an instructor for new childcare providers and, most recently, as a K-4 teacher at the Young Leaders Academy in Milwaukee. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Springfield College with a major in human services. This year, she completed the certification component of Stritch’s Master’s of Urban Education program, and she is working on the research requirement for the master’s degree. Instructors selected her for the achievement award because of her high level of commitment to the program and her dedication to providing positive educational experiences for the children of Milwaukee. School of Leadership The school chose to honor all of its graduates from the master’s and doctoral programs, who have engaged in collaborative and value-centered initiatives and provided value-based leadership that transforms lives. College of Arts and Sciences Sandra A. McCabe Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics, 1966 Sandra A. McCabe graduated from Stritch imbued with Franciscan values and a commitment to lifelong learning. She completed a dietetic internship and worked in hospital food services and then did graduate work to prepare her to work in higher education. She also set up the Nutrition Program for the Elderly in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare Region III. Throughout her professional life she has worked with and advocated for youth and young adults, whether in a paid position or as a volunteer catechist, retreat leader, chaperone or mentor. She eventually answered her call to ministry and became certified in Youth Ministry at Stritch. Her passion for justice and peace has taken her to various parts of the world either as a member of a missionary group or a private citizen. She has advocated for and volunteered her time with the poor and marginalized. She was a member of the Stritch Alumni Board from 1999-2003, is a member of the Alumni Association Development Committee and also is active in the Franciscan Heritage Society. College of Business Mildred Leigh-Gold Master of Science in Management, 1999 Mildred Leigh-Gold is the program manager for the City of Milwaukee Health Department Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness Program, which provides free screenings to medically underserved women. Since earning her MSM, she has remained involved at Stritch as an instructor in the Lifetime Learners program and in the Associate Degree in Business program. She serves on the Medical and Community Advisory Board of After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, the board of directors of the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition, META House, and Pets Helping People, is a former board member of Gilda’s Club and the Milwaukee Urban League, and is a volunteer for the American Cancer Society. The Milwaukee Breast and Cervical Cancer Program has been published in the Medical Journal of Wisconsin because of its unique design and success in reaching medically underserved women. Leigh-Gold has been nationally recognized for her advocacy, and the program has been honored by former President George Bush’s “Thousand Points of Light” and by the National Breast Cancer Coalition. She is a breast cancer survivor, since 1989. College of Nursing Lynda Gruenewald-Schmitz Master of Science in Nursing, 2004 Lynda GruenewaldSchmitz is the director of clinical services for Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care. She also is the founder of Kyle’s Korner, a place of hope and healing for grieving children in Milwaukee. She had begun a similar center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and was inspired to Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 23 begin Kyle’s Korner when a friend of her son lost his mother in a car accident. Weekly, the center now sees about 45 to 60 children, who help each other heal through the sharing of personal stories of strength and compassion as they play in a warm, welcoming and safe environment. Volunteers staff the center, and services are free. Gruenewald-Schmitz is on the executive board of Kyle’s Korner and was recognized by the Business Journal of Milwaukee as a Woman of Influence, for innovation, in October 2002. She was the recipient of Stritch’s Sister Joanne Kliebhan Service Award in April 2003. Spirit of St. Francis Award Brother Patrick McCormack Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, 1989 A Fox Point native, Brother Patrick McCormack is a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province. He is the director of communications for the province and also works part time as a marketing consultant for the Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs. Brother Patrick spent more than a decade in Philadelphia as a theology teacher and the director of Institutional Advancement at Archbishop Ryan High School. During his senior year at Stritch, he served on the task force that originally identified and described the University’s Franciscan values. Today, he continues to live out those values through his involvement in the undergraduate Integrated Leadership Advisory Council, the College of Education Advisory Board, and the Franciscan Heritage Society. He also has been instrumental in several recent special projects at Stritch. Most notably, through his enthusiastic efforts, the University received a statue of St. Bonaventure, which is on permanent loan from his Franciscan community and is installed on the second floor of Bonaventure Hall. University Award of Excellence in Servant Leadership Daniel J. Bader, President, Helen Bader Foundation, Inc. As president of the Helen Bader Foundation, Daniel Bader is responsible for ensuring that it continually furthers his late mother’s dreams and aspirations. Since 1992, the Foundation has made $142 million in grants and facilitated idea-sharing in support of a range of charitable efforts, primarily in Wisconsin and Israel. Bader is devoted to using the Foundation’s intellectual and financial resources to best serve people in need. He is a frequent speaker on subjects affecting philanthropy and nonprofit organizations, and he is an active participant in local public policy and civic leadership groups. He also serves on the boards of a number of local and national organizations. The Milwaukee native holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and in 2006 the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee conferred an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in recognition of his efforts to improve the quality of life in the city. Athletic Hall of Fame inductees Kevin Crim Bachelor’s degree in Business, 1999 Men’s Basketball 1995-99 Crim played four seasons for the men’s basketball team and was a three-year starter. He was a two-year All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection. Julie (Schommer) Fechter Bachelor’s degree in Education, 1993 Women’s Basketball 1988-92 Fechter played four seasons for the women’s basketball team and started all four. She was named to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Academic All-American team in 1990-91 and was a National Catholic Basketball Tournament Scholar-Athlete in 1991-92. Craig Holmquist Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, 1996 Men’s Soccer 1992-95 Holmquist played four years for the men’s soccer team at the sweeper position and was instrumental in the program’s beginnings. He was a four-year letter winner and starter. He was a twotime All-Lake-Michigan-Conference selection (’94, ’95) and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-District selection (’93). He was a two-time team co-captain and also voted co-Most Valuable Player twice by his teammates. In his senior year, he was selected to the NAIA Academic AllAmerican team and served as president of the Student Government Association in his junior year. Jeff Kreiling Bachelor’s degree in Education, 2001 Men’s Basketball 1998-2001 Kreiling played three seasons for the men’s basketball team and was a three-year starter. He was a three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American, selected to the third team in 2000-01 and an honorable mention selection in 1999-2000 and 1998-99. He was a three-time All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) selection and twice was voted CCAC Player of the Year. For more information on athletics programs, go to www.stritch.edu/athletics 24 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Agnes Ryan dies at 93 Agnes Ryan, who founded Our Blessed Lady of Victory Mission, died May 20 at age 93. She was an early graduate of St. Clare College, which is now Cardinal Stritch University, earning a teaching degree. Ryan was born and raised in Watertown and eventually moved to Milwaukee, where she taught elementary school for a few years and, soon after, at the Milwaukee County Children’s Home. She began the Mission with the blessing of then-Milwaukee Archbishop Samuel Stritch, later known as Cardinal Stritch. The mission was housed in a duplex on West Vliet Street that also was home to Ryan and her mother. She undertook various activities in the community with the goal of supporting the mission, which also provided assistance for seminary studies. In addition to her mission work, she helped with a number of projects around the globe. In Thailand, Ryan helped raise money to buy water buffalo that were used by poor farmers to cultivate their rice fields. In Brazil, she used money that had been raised to help feed the hungry to instead fund a project that gave goats to families so they could produce milk and cheese. In India, she helped build a trade school for boys and an infirmary for people with leprosy. She also worked at a youth home in the Philippines and helped the Green Bay Diocese start a medical clinic on the Menominee reservation there. Under her direction, the mission bought a nearby commercial building that became the Seat of Wisdom Library, which featured religious books as well as a small chapel that holds daily Mass. Even after her health began to fail and she needed help to get there, Ryan still attended daily. For her work with the mission, she received the national Lumen Christi Award from the Catholic Church Extension Society in 1991. “I’m a good beggar,” she told the Milwaukee Sentinel then. “I seek what’s needed.” Sister Magdeleine Mueller, former registrar, dies at 89 Sister Magdeleine Mueller, OSF, who served Stritch in many capacities, for almost 40 years, including 21 as registrar, died Oct. 3 at age 89. She taught foreign and classical languages and ancient history starting at the former St. Clare College in 1942. When St. Clare became Cardinal Stritch College in 1946 and more lay students were admitted, Sister Magdeleine pitched in and helped refurbish residential quarters for students. ‘’Nothing was too menial for us to do; that was in our rule,” said Stritch History Professor Sister Justine Peter, OSF, “and she lived it.” Sister Magdeleine also was one of the brightest faculty members Stritch has ever had, Sister Justine said. She authored scholarly translations from Latin to English on Saints Augustine, Cyprian and Caesarius of Arles. But she was also a lot of fun. “She and Sister Frederick (Lochemes, former academic dean at Stritch) were great friends, pillars of this place. They worked hard, but they didn’t take themselves too seriously and always had fun.” Sister Justine said. Sister Magdeleine loved to play cards and was great at organizing parties, for students and the Mother’s Club, a group that supported Stritch for many years. Her computer-like brain, according to Sister Justine, allowed her to be a successful registrar for 21 years, which in her day required arranging and typing class and examination schedules by hand and recording grades and issuing report cards on a typewriter. Students would turn in a list of what they wanted and Sister Magdeleine would arrange their schedules, often working into the wee hours of the morning to get everything just right by the next day. From 1971-79, Sister Magdeleine served as an associate director of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi and later worked as a liaison to the Sisters’ then-five other corporate ministries. In that role, according to Religious Studies Professor Sister Coletta Dunn, OSF, Sister Magdeleine was the consummate peacemaker, skillfully and calmly facilitating some very difficult decisions. “She was a peacemaker and a reconciler,” Sister Coletta said. “She made the workplace a workable place.” Sister Magdeleine returned to Stritch from 1983-89, working in the Development Office, the newly completed library, assisting the registrar and advising students. “Except for the 12 years of direct service to the Sisters of St. Francis,” she wrote in “My Stories,” a compilation of OSF autobiographies, “my entire religious life was devoted to the college, my first and only love.” Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 25 What’s up with alumni? Recent Events n Reunion Weekend 2006 Reunion Weekend 2006, held July 14-15, For information on upcoming Alumni Events, please visit www.stritch.edu/alumnievents. celebrated graduates of the College of Education and Leadership. Events included a picnic, cocktail reception, dinner, alumni awards, and live entertainment. William Andrekopoulos, ’85, superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, conducted an open forum discussion. In addition, alumnae from the Class of 1956 celebrated liturgy at the St. Francis Convent and attended Sister Mary Lea Schneider’s champagne brunch. From left, Dorothy Wolf, Dolores Ivanchick, Betty Kwass, Dorothy Wreshnig, and Sylvia Gear. From left, Jennifer Fontanini, Linda Neiman, Stephanie and Dave Bernander. New Alumni Association Board president, members named Stritch recently named Patricia Brown-Albert as president of its Alumni Board. Four new members also were added. Brown-Albert owns and manages two local businesses, which include her full-time law practice, the Law Offices of Patricia A. Brown, as well as a partnership in Northstar Printing and Graphics. She has an associate’s degree, paralegal, from Milwaukee Area Technical College; a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Stritch, and a juris doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. She is a member of the Wisconsin and Milwaukee bar associations. Shalon Atkins, one of the new board members, is a program assistant for the New Concept Development Center. Preston and Jennifer Cosgrove Muje and Else Thompson She has a bachelor’s degree from UW-Milwaukee and a master’s degree in business administration from Stritch. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the YMCA Black Achievers in Business and Industry. Annual report online From left, Jim Anderson, Kurt Strenke, Rick Gonzalez (sitting), and Tom Bergen. 26 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 Cardinal Stritch University’s annual report will be featured online this year, in a printable PDF version. To access the annual report, go to www.stritch.edu/annualreport. In the Spotlight JaDawn MuhammadCollins, another new board member, works as an instructional supervisor for NonPublic Educational Services Inc. She also volunteers with students working on their dissertations and was on the Stritch doctoral design team that helped plan the first Italy retreat at Villa Pieve in Corciano, Italy. She has a bachelor’s degree from UWWhitewater, a master’s degree in social work from UW-Madison, a master’s degree in educational administration from Concordia University, and a doctorate from Stritch. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the United States Tennis Association, and the Midwest Multicultural Tennis Committee. Board member Barb Loberg has been a certified medical technologist with Columbia St. Mary’s for more than 30 years. She has a bachelor’s degree from UW-Milwaukee, a master’s degree in nursing from Stritch, and doctorates from Walden University and Stritch. She is a presenter at the International Blood Banks Association. Joan Whitman is an assistant professor in graduate education for the College of Education and Leadership and is working on her doctorate. Stritch has been her professional home since 1981, when she began pursuing her master’s degree. She has a bachelor’s degree from Northland College and a master’s degree in education from Stritch. Whitman has numerous professional memberships and is a state and national presenter on learning and the brain and reaching reluctant learners. Learn about arts and athletic events, career networking, workshops, and travel opportunities. And how you can become involved at the University. How to receive Strictly Stritch? E-mail your current address to [email protected] or register online at www.stritch.edu/stayintouch. Highlights graduates of Cardinal Stritch University who are creating their own careers, carving their own niche, and making a difference in their communities. Jones Lang LaSalle recently announced that Janice Ochenkowski (BA ’70) has been promoted to managing director of the firm’s Global Risk Management department, from senior vice president. She joined Jones Lang LaSalle in 1980. She is a frequent speaker on the subject of risk management within and outside of the United States. In her new role, she is responsible for overseeing professionals responsible for guiding the purchase and administration of corporate insurance programs as well as specifically designed client insurance programs. In addition, she will oversee the expansion of risk management services into Asia Pacific and the United Kingdom, formalize internal risk processes and create risk strategies to meet the real estate and general business environment. Dr. Lowell Holtz (Ed.D ’04) recently became the superintendent of the Beloit School District. He hopes to ensure that students have the tools necessary to be successful, and aims to get Beloit Memorial High School off the state’s list of schools identified for improvement. Holtz began teaching in the early 1980s and then moved to Whitewater in 1984, where he served on the police department while obtaining his master’s degree. He served as principal in the Cambridge School District from 1989-95, before moving to Peshtigo, where he was principal until 2002. In 1999 he was named Principal of the Year for the State of Wisconsin and also was recognized nationally for the achievement. He was superintendent with the Palmyra-Eagle district, starting in 2002. Tony Sweere (MS Ed.L ’03) returns to his hometown to serve as superintendent and principal of Hilbert High School. A priority includes involving students in the community on a regular basis, which he feels also lets them know they are valued. Sweere has been assisting with coaching the Hilbert football team for the past two seasons. He taught physical education and health and served as athletic director, head football coach, head track coach, and assistant wrestling coach at River Valley High School in Spring Green from 19942003. His most recent position was assistant principal at Green Bay East High School and Edison Middle School, where he served from 20032006. Tony Shields (BA ’87) is manager of community relations at the HarleyDavidson Motor Company. He was featured in “For the Sake of Aaron: Celebrating our Black Men” in the Sept. 13 edition of the Milwaukee Community Journal. Shields has worked with community leaders, service, organizations and business leaders for many years. His first job was with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he worked with schools and non-profit organizations managing youth ticket programs so that kids could go to games. He later moved to the Boys Club, where he worked to help build community relations. These experiences prepared him for his Harley-Davidson position, which also includes media relations and public relations. The four C’s — corporate citizenship, community betterment, compassion and continuous improvement — motivate him, Shields says. He attributes these characteristics to his parents, who are his first and greatest role models. Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 27 Class | NOTES 2000s plan to be married June 23, 2007. Jennifer Binneboese (BA Psychology ’00) graduated from Marquette University with an MA in Counseling, specialization in school counseling. Nicholas Narloch (MA Religious Studies ’05) was appointed full-time director of music and liturgy at Mother of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Milwaukee. Keona Jones (MS Educational Leadership ’00) is the new director of education for the Child Development Center of St. Joseph in Milwaukee Becky Trochinski (MA Visual Studies ’05) received the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 2006 Personal Achievement Award for Wisconsin. Lisa (BA Education ’00) and Owen Manske had a son, Simon Tzuriel, on March 18. The couple also has a daughter, Grace. Alfredo Cintron (Ed.D. ’06) has been hired as principal at Jerstad-Agerholm Middle School in Racine, Wis. Sandra Schuster (BA Psychology ’00) married Kenny Asselin on May 26. Joe Fryda (Teaching Certification ’06) was hired as the third grade teacher at Holy Cross in Kaukauna, Wis. Synthia Taylor (MS Educational Leadership ’00) was hired as Pattengill Middle School principal in Lansing, Mich. Jessica Suslick (MA Reading Language Arts ’06) is teaching third grade at Richards School in Whitefish Bay, Wis. Slobodan “Bobby” Vujic (AA General Studies ’00, BA International Business ‘02) and his wife, Kimberly, had a baby girl, Liliana, on Sept. 9, 2005. Cale Vogel (BA Political Science ’01) was named Lake Mills High School athletics director and head boys basketball coach in Lake Mills, Wis. Alix Blair (MS Educational Leadership ’02) has been hired as the principal of Decorah Elementary School in West Bend, Wis. Bill Neubauer (BA Education ’02) married Jennifer Wolcott on July 7. They live in Lockport, Ill., and he teaches geography and government at Shepard High School in Palos Heights, Ill. Elizabeth Kysely (MS Educational Leadership ’03) is the district technology coordinator for the Mosinee School District, Mosinee, Wis. Scott Lund (MBA ’03) joined Security MicroImaging, Milwaukee, as account executive. Vanessa Sowinski (BA Math, Education ’03) is the varsity girls’ basketball coach for the ’06-’07 season at Messmer High School in Milwaukee. Lisa Church (ME Prof. Dev: Teaching ’04) was hired as Lake Bluff music teacher for the Shorewood School District in Shorewood, Wis. Kimberly Infalt (BSBA ’04) has been named executive director of the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce in Hartford, Wis. Contessa Clark (MBA ’05) was recently promoted to process leader for Specialty Accounts at GE Healthcare in Pewaukee, Wis. Adam Gonzalez (BA English ’05) is engaged to Michelle Klos (’07). They 28 Stritch Magazine Fall 2006 1990s Karl Mueller (MBA ’91) was inducted into the Kaukauna High School Athletic Hall of Fame in Kaukauna, Wis. Jill Braasch (BS Management ’93) was elected to the presidency of the Wisconsin Independent and Private Colleges Career Consortium for 2006-07. Jim Lindenberg (MBA ’93), formed World Class Wire and Cable, which won one of the Small Business Times and Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce Top 10 Small Business Awards. Nita Stika (MS Health Administration ’93) recently received her Ph.D. in Human Services/Health Care Administration from Capella University and also began a new position as the Academic Dean for Herzing College Online. Judy Cornell (BSM ’94) is customer service coordinator for Community Health Partnership in Eau Claire, Wis. Bill Mann (MSHA ’95) has been named by Theda Care in Appleton, Wis., as a senior vice-president of Ingenuity First, a new division offering health solutions to area employers. Jennifer (Petushek) Wetzel (BS English/BS Theater ’96) graduated from the University of Phoenix with an MBA in July. She also is an actress with the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. Erin Perez (BA Psychology ’99, MA Clinical Psychology ’03) was accepted to the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology for a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology. 1980s Preston H. Long, Ph.D. (BA Biology ’81) has published his second book, “The P.R.E.S.T.O.N. Protocol for Back Pain: The Seven Evidence-Based Best Practices for Living Pain Free.” Terry Frett (MSM ’87) established Frett/Barrington Ltd., which won one of the Small Business Times and Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce Top 10 Small Business Awards. Christine Hornung (BA Psychology ’87) is in partnership with Realty Executives in Brookfield, Wis., as part of the Lambrecht team. Shirley Miller (BSM ’89, MBA ’92) is director of the Vaughn County Library in Ashland, Wis. In Memory of... Rosemary J. Voros (BA Music ’48) died Oct. 1 Janet Mikyska, secretary in the Mathematics and Computer Science department, died Aug. 8 Elizabeth “Betty” Jean Riley (BA Biology ’52) died June 16 Michael Zientek (MA Visual Arts ’05) died June 15 Sister Marysia (Irene) Stefanowski, OSF (BA Education ’45) died May 18 Jeffry P. Van Groll (BFA ’81) died March 21 Elizabeth and Pete Rudowski (BA Math ’95) had a daughter, Faith Elizabeth, on 9/1/05. David Zepecki (BSM ’95) joined Equity Commercial Real Estate, Milwaukee, as vice president and commercial broker. Marcelina Metropulos (BSBA ’96) was recently sworn in as a member of the board of trustees for Nicolet College, in Rhinelander, Wis. Keep in touch with your Alumni Office. Call or e-mail us when you change jobs, earn a promotion, get married, have a baby, win an award, complete an advanced degree or to update your home or e-mail address. Contact the Alumni Office at (414) 410-4554 or visit www. stritch.edu/stayintouch.