KU Giving Issue 4

Building for Greensburg

Studio 804 • Costa Rica Exchange • Spooner Hall Revisited

FoR FRiEndS oF tHE UnivERSity oF K anSaS • SPRinG 2008 • KUEndowmEnt.oRG

2008NCAA NAtioNAl

ChAmpioNs

Photos inside

VisioNs oF KU

KU GivinGKU Giving is published three times a year, in spring, fall and winter, by KU Endowment, the private fundraising foundation for the University of Kansas. You are receiving this magazine because you support KU. We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions. Contact the editor at [email protected] or 800-444-4201.

Dreams come true: the Jayhawks celebrate KU’s 75-68 win over the memphis tigers on April 7 at the Alamodome in san Antonio.

on tHE wEB

From theground upIn Lawrence, Kansas City and now Greensburg, KU architecture students create sustainable buildings that serve the community.

By Charles Higginson

Tropical tiesKU’s Costa Rica ExchangeProgram turns 50 this year.

By Lisa Scheller

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spring 2008 I volume 2 I number 1

building a greater university: KU Endowment’s mission is to solicit, receive and administer gifts and bequestsfor the support and advancement of the University of Kansas.

KU students in Costa Rica visit places like this.A crane sets the new 5.4.7 Arts Center onto its foundation in Greensburg, Kan.

CoVER: Krissy Buck and her classmates in KU’s studio 804 will finish the Greensburg arts center in may.

PHOTO BY EARL RICHARDSON

dEPaRtmEntS

3 LETTERS 4 PRESIDENT’S NOTE 5 EVERY GIFT MATTERS KU women helping KU women

6 ACROSS KU 25 BE THE DIFFERENCE The perfect gift

27 AMONG FRIENDS 28 BIG PICTURE Finding hope while living with cancer

29 PAST AND PRESENT Spooner Hall revisited

PRoFiLES

8 WHY I GAVE24 CHANCELLORS CLUB Three great teachers

26 I AM KU Jeff Severin, Center for Sustainability

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Collected links: studio 804’s Greensburg project kuendowment.org/804/

photo gallery: KU’s beloved spooner hall, then and now kuendowment.org/spooner/

Our core valuespAssioN FoR KUThe generosity of alumni and friends influences the very fabric of KU, helping the university advance the frontiers of knowledge. We are dedicated to serving the university and helping it achieve its aspirations.

pARtNERship with DoNoRsOur donors empower us to accomplish our mission. We pledge to faithfully administer their gifts, adhere to their philanthropic intentions and respect their requests for privacy.

pERpEtUAl sUppoRtThe long-term vitality of KU represents our ultimate, unwavering goal. We strive to wisely invest funds and steward property, with the goal of achieving the greatest possible assurance of long-term financial support for the university.

pEoplE-CENtERED AppRoAChOur team of employees, trustees and volunteers guides our present and shapes our future. We seek to attract and develop the best talent, value each individual’s unique contributions and celebrate diversity as a strength.

spring 2008 I volume 2 I number 1KuenDoWmenT.org

CHaiR, BoaRd oF tRUStEESKurt D. Watson

PRESidEntDale Seuferling

SEnioR viCE PRESidEnt, CommUniCationS & maRKEtinG

Rosita Elizalde-McCoy

EditoRKirsten Bosnak

CREativE diRECtoRDoug Barth

ContRiBUtinG EditoRSJoel Francis

Charles HigginsonLisa Scheller

EditoRiaL aSSiStantSarah Aylward

EditoRiaL intERnMegan Lewis

ContaCt USKU Endowment

Communications & Marketing DivisionP.O. Box 928

Lawrence, KS 66044-0928

785-832-7400 or toll-free 800-444-4201E-mail: [email protected]

kuendowment.org

POSTMASTER: Send address changes toKU Endowment, P.O. Box 928,

Lawrence KS 66044-0928

- FounDeD 1891 -

wayS to SUPPoRt KU

100% of your gift benefits the area of your choice at the University of Kansas.

ONLINE GIVING — You may make a gift securely online using your debit or credit card. Visit kuendowment.org/givenow/.

GIFTS OF STOCK — By donating appreciated securities or mutual fund shares, you can provide a lasting contribution while receiving tax benefits, such as capital gains tax savings.

REAL ESTATE — Your gift provides a convenient way for you to enjoy a charitable deduction based on the current fair market value of your property, and it can reduce the size and complexity of your estate.

GIVE BY MAIL — Gifts made by check should be payable to KU Endowmentand mailed to:

KU EndowmentP.O. Box 928Lawrence, KS 66044-0928

ESTATE PLANNING — To remember KU in your will or estate plan, be sure to name The Kansas University Endowment Association (our legal name) as beneficiary. Our federal tax i.d. number is 48-0547734.

If you already have named KU Endowment in your estate plan, please contact us so we can welcome you to the Elizabeth M. Watkins Society.

We also offer life-income gifts that provide income and immediate tax benefits. Call our director of gift planning at 800-444-4201 during business hours, or visit kuendowment.org/giftplanning/.

Forrest “phog” Allen statueat Allen Fieldhouse

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I admire all the kids who are part of this great tradition, thank them for the time and effort they put into this endeavor, and wish them all well in their studies and future life.

KIRBY D. CLARK, EDUCATION ’60Tonganoxie, Kan.

Palco, Kan., population 295, is a regular stop on KU’s annual Wheat State

Whirlwind Tour, covered in our Fall 2007 issue. Former mayor Leo Von Feldt wrote to let us know he had shared our story with neighbors.

p.o. BoxThank you for the copies of the

magazine that you recently sent. I placed them in the post office so patrons could read the story when picking up their mail. I have already received several comments on the article.

As I have said before, it is very interesting visiting with the faculty members of KU. Both my wife and I enjoy it immensely. We appreciate [tour director] Don Steeples bringing the group to visit our fair city.

LEO J. VON FELDTPalco, Kan.

Our Fall 2007 story on KU’s World War II Memorial Campanile continues to bring mail. The cover featured a photo from KU Archives of the bell honoring alumnus Rodney Walden Selfridge.

shared historyThank you for sending copies of

the KU Giving issue with my cousin’s bell on the cover. I included them in my Christmas greetings to all of my Selfridge relatives, including Rodney’s sister-in-law, nieces and nephews.

The article was very timely, as this fall [2007] I had watched Ken Burns’ series on World War II. I learned more about the Battle for Okinawa in which my cousin was killed. My brother, John Selfridge, c’59, was 8 years old when Rodney was killed. When I gave him a copy of the magazine, he shared details he recalled from that era. We had never discussed it before, and he might never have mentioned it were it not for the article.

I deeply appreciate the opportunity it gave me to learn more of my family’s history and connections with KU.

MARTHA SELFRIDGE HOUSHOLDER, FRENCH ’68, M.D. ’72

Wichita, Kan.

lEttERs

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write to usKU Giving, KU Endowment,P.O. Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044-0928Email: [email protected]: 785-832-7493

We welcome your comments on our magazine and invite you to share your KU experiences with our readers. Please include your name, address, email and daytime phone. Letters may be edited for length and clarity; we assume letters are intended for publication unless indicated otherwise.

passion and prideI enjoyed the informative article

about the Marching Band. I’m a KU grad who follows our athletic teams with a passion, especially track and field (bring back the pink and blue)! But more than that, I truly love and am proud of our marching band. Mr. Clemmer is doing a great job as director of athletic bands. I hope your article will draw increased interest and support.

I’ve seen and appreciated other Big 12 bands, but none surpasses the beauty of ours or summons such emotion in this old Jayhawker’s heart as when I hear our band play “Home on the Range.” When listening to this piece, your heart swells with pride, and a little tear wants to gather in the corner of your eye. It’s everything about being a Jayhawk, about being part of this great university!

winter 2007Our last issue featured a story on KU’s Marching Band, with drum major Brittani Boyd, senior from Le Mars, Ia., on the cover.

You’ll find this and other past issues online at kuendowment.org/publications/.

Fans of all ages welcome the team home at the April 8 championship celebration at memorial stadium.

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Will we ever forget where we were when we saw Mario’s famous shot? Our Jayhawks have won another

championship; that remarkable comeback is a story of perseverance for the ages.

Most impressively, these team members have become role models, thanks to their leadership on and off the court. I hope to live long enough to talk about them to my grandkids some day.

And let’s not forget about the Orange Bowl. It may be a distant memory, but it still makes me smile. It’s hard to explain why it mattered so much. Perhaps it was the joy of proving wrong the pundits who predicted a quick defeat for our team in a national arena.

It’s funny how passion for sports teams creates an instant bond between people who otherwise have nothing in common. We hug strangers in exhilaration after a victory. We set aside all sense of logic and put on our lucky socks, just in case. We even throw our Midwestern practicality out the window and travel to a distant city to watch our Jayhawks play.

It’s been a year of acclaim for KU. At one point last fall, KU was the only Division I

university to have three teams nationally ranked in the top five: football, basketball and debate.

Two KU graduate programs — city management and special education — are ranked number one in the nation. Besides Mark Mangino, another Jayhawk has been named national coach of the year — debate coach Scott Harris (for the second year in a row).

The accolades go on: 13 of KU’s graduate programs are ranked in the top 10 in the country. The university is seventh in the nation in the percentage of students who study abroad. And it’s in the top 20 nationally for the number of alumni who serve in the Peace Corps. It’s no wonder Forbes magazine ranked Lawrence as the seventh smartest city in the U.S.

Yes, I know, pride in these rankings isn’t going to cause us to start waving the wheat. We won’t be booking hotel rooms wherever the debate team is competing next. Or breaking into a cold sweat if one of our academic programs drops a notch. But these accomplishments do take a great deal of hard work. And they depend on support from loyal alumni and friends like you. Whether you support KU through annual giving or have endowed a program to last forever, this university owes much of its success on the field and in the classroom to your generosity.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawks: athletes and scholars!

Dale Seuferling, PresidentKU Endowment

4 Ku giving spring 2008

A great time to be a Jayhawk

pREsiDENt’s NotE

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Jubilant athletes celebrate two huge wins in 2008: a men’s basketball championship and an orange Bowl victory.

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EVERY GiFt mAttERs

A special fund offers aboost to women seniorsand graduate students

Support from the KU Women for KU Women Fund made a world of difference to KU student Angela Lindsey-Nunn.

“This fund is so important,” she said. “For a lot of us, it’s the difference between being able to finish school and not being able to finish.”

Lindsey-Nunn, a divorced mother raising a teenage son, lives with a serious seizure disorder that prevents her from working full time. Her limited income doesn’t always cover necessary living expenses. A gift from the KU Women for KU Women Fund, created by women through KU Endowment, allowed her to fix her car, pay for her son’s trombone lessons and purchase a new computer monitor that, unlike older monitors, is less likely to trigger seizures.

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For Lindsey-Nunn, who will complete a bachelor’s degree in sociocultural anthropology in May, the fund provided an economic boost. But just as importantly, she said, it reaffirmed her belief that what she was doing — working toward a college degree to better her life — was worth the sacrifice.

“Just knowing that a group of strong women is helping women like me drives me even harder to succeed,” she said.

The support also mirrors Lindsey-Nunn’s personal resolve to help women. She recently established IMANI, a nonprofit organization, to empower women and children by providing access to educational and economic resources. The organization’s name is a Swahili word meaning “faith.”

KU Women for KU Women, an endowed fund, was established in 2005. That year, the advisory board of Women Philanthropists for KU created the fund to help women students who are KU seniors or graduate students

with urgent, one-time, non-medical expenses. For instance, it can provide assistance with tuition and books, travel costs for auditions, suits for job interviews, childcare expenses or other needs.

Support from the fund is distributed through the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center at KU. Kathy Rose-Mockry, program director, said the KU Women for KU Women fund provides crucial financial assistance.

“We have been so fortunate that this remarkable group of women is providing this kind of support,” she said. “It’s so important, so needed and so appreciated.”

— Lisa Scheller

SUPPORT THE FUNDTo give to KU Women forKU Women, visit us online

at kuendowment.org/kuwomen/ or contact Judy Wright at 785-832-7330 or [email protected].

Angela lindsey-Nunn got key assistance from the KU women for KU women Fund.

KU women helping KU women


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On what would have been her daughter’s 22nd birthday, Nancy Bingham signed two papers. The first authorized her daughter’s cremation. The second created a scholarship in her daughter’s memory.

KU senior Nicole Bingham died Oct. 7, 2005, in the fire at the Boardwalk Apartments complex in Lawrence. Nancy Bingham used part of her daughter’s college fund to create the Nicole Bingham Memorial Scholarship Fund for undergraduates in history. Since then, the fund has grown to $30,000, and the first scholarship will be awarded this fall.

A history major, Nicole Bingham looked forward to a career in museum management. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and worked in the Kansas Union business office. She survived a 1999 open-heart surgery to

repair a congenital heart defect and took heart medication for the rest of her life.

“She loved KU. She wanted to live in Lawrence forever,” Nancy Bingham said. “The scholarship was, for me, the way to let Nicole’s memory continue, to do good and to follow her dreams.”

Bill Tsutsui, chair of history at KU, said the department has 550 history majors but only five scholarships.

“It’s so wonderful and so appropriate that we now have a scholarship that can help other students in Nicole’s honor,” he said.

Bingham, who lives in Wichita, plans to continue adding to her daughter’s memorial scholarship fund so more students can benefit. She is retired from the Boeing Company, which matches up to 50 percent of her contributions. Gifts from family and friends also helped build the fund.

To give to the Nicole Bingham Memorial Scholarship Fund, visit kuendowment.org/Nicole/

or contact Kathleen Brady at 785-832-7357 or [email protected].

A Haydn sonata and a Debussy etude christened Kansas Public Radio’s new Steinway grand piano in a live broadcast in January. KU doctoral student Michael Kirkendoll performed from the KPR studios on the Lawrence campus.

A gift to KU Endowment by longtime KPR supporters Phil and Beth Harrison of Lawrence enabled the station to purchase the piano.

“There is no other place in this part of the country that a good musical instrument could be put to use that would be heard and enjoyed by so many people,” Phil Harrison said. “We hope the Steinway will play a role in an increased number of live and recorded performances in the future.”

KPR broadcasts cover much of Kansas through radio stations in Lawrence, Emporia, Olsburg-Junction City and Atchison. Programs also can be heard at www.kansaspublicradio.org.

Broadcasting Hall, KPR’s home on the Lawrence campus, was funded with gifts from Hortense Oldfather, the Sunderland Foundation and other donors through KU Endowment.

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A tuneful debut

Remembering Nicole

A new scholarship in memory of KU stu-dent Nicole Bingham will benefithistory majors who share her passion for learning.

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supportfor students: 2007-08• KU’s academic year runs from July 1 to June 30.

• More than 5,400 KU students will have received a projected $26 million in student aid (scholarships, fellowships and awards).

• Recipients come from 101 of the 105 Kansas counties, 44 other states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 50 other countries.

• KU Endowment raises and manages student aid funds.

• KU decides how available student aid is distributed.

• Student aid fluctuates annually based on several factors, including: how many students apply; the investment performance of endowed funds; and new gifts.

Everyone knows bees are busy.

Research at KU is revealing that they’re also

surprisingly smart.“This organism makes

honey, which is a lot of work,” said Daniel Najera, Lawrence doctoral

student in entomology. “Its survival depends on intelligence. Bees must know where food is all day long.”

Bees “dance” to communicate distance and direction to a food source. But when a source runs out, instead of returning to the hive for new instructions, bees often take shortcuts to new sources. And the dance language doesn’t communicate that.

“The new answer is, they’re smarter than we thought,” Najera said.

Najera leads a group of students working with Rudolf Jander, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, to test bees’ cognitive abilities. To do this, they manipulate feeding stations. If they move a station in a repeated pattern through several days, the bees

learn to predict the pattern. Similarly, they’ve discovered that bees can work out the more complex interactions of multiple factors, such as location plus odor plus time of day. They call this ability context-specific reasoning, and bees turn out to be highly skilled.

Najera said the work helps lay a foundation for understanding how neural networks operate.

“We don’t know how nervous systems work,” Najera said. “It’s one of the top four or five gaps in human knowledge. How do you generate the

concept of physical pain? We have no clue. Let alone love, grief, things like that.”Two KU Endowment

scholarships have supported Najera’s work over summer sessions: the R.H. Beamer

Scholarship and the John M. Deal Scholarship.

“To have funds handed to me because someone is interested in the generation of new knowledge really energizes me,” Najera said. “When someone gives you money because of an idea you’ve had, you don’t want to let anyone down.”

what’s all the buzz about?

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Daniel Najera studies honeybees’ ability to link concepts of physical location, time of day and sequence of events.

whY i GAVE

special education

Donors: Eva Alley, health education, ’77, Lawrence, and her children, Steven Alley, Overland Park, and Melissa Sears, Emporia

Gift: $30,000

purpose: To create the Gordon R. Alley Family Scholarship in Education for graduate students in special education. The scholarship honors Gordon Alley, Eva’s husband and Steven and Melissa’s father, a KU professor of special education from 1970 to 1982. Gordon Alley was 49 when he was struck by a car while riding his motorized scooter to campus. He lived another 14 years but never was able to return to work. The gift coincides with the 30th anniversary of the KU’s Center for Research on Learning, which he helped found.

why i Gave: “The scholarship will provide the opportunity to help someone who is going into special education at the graduate level. Gordon was dedicated to research and teaching. I think this is just the thing he would have wanted.”

— Eva Alley

The donors invite friends, former colleagues and students, and others to contribute to the Gordon R. Alley Scholarship.

Residency in orthopedics

Donor: Federico “Fred” Adler, M.D., Shawnee Mission, Kan., arrived at the KU Medical Center as a resident in 1957 and then joined the faculty. Today, he is a clinical professor of orthopedic surgery.

Gift: $50,000

purpose: Create the Betty and Federico Adler Resident Award to recognize outstanding original medical research by a resident in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

why i Gave: “I established this award to stimulate original research by a resident and try to stimulate the formation of clinician scientists, who are in short supply. I also wanted this award to honor the memory of my late wife, and finally to celebrate my 50 years at KU.”

— Fred Adler


Voice and opera

Donor: Sue Wilkie Snyder, doctorate in music, ’88, Washoughal, Wash. She is retired from the music faculty of Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C.

Gift: $100,000

purpose: To establish the Phyllis Brill Munczek Voice Scholarship Fund for graduate students in voice and opera. Snyder began her graduate studies at KU when she was 40. Munczek, a member of the voice faculty from 1969 until her retirement in 2001, helped Snyder with the challenges she faced as a nontraditional student.

why i Gave: “Phyllis was everything I could have asked for in a teacher. She was such a strong supporter. When you go back to school at the point in your life that I did, you have a whole different perspective than you do as an 18-year-old. Because of the faculty at KU and the environment in the Department of Music, there was enormous support and encouragement, especially for someone my age. I wanted to give back to the situation that had given so much to me.”

— Sue Wilkie Snyder

Gordon Alley in 1996

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munczek and snyder at graduation in 1988

online Gifts Nov. 2007 - Feb. 2008

total giving:Average monthly giving:Average number of donors/month:Average gift amount:largest gift:

266,16366,540

165402

15,000*

* Elder Law Program

$$

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December 2007 accounted for 58 percent of the year’s online gifts.

women athletesin journalism

Donors: Kansas Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills, journalism ’72, and his wife, Kathy Wysong, through the Wysong Family Foundation. David Wysong is a KU Endowment trustee and a member of the Advancement Board of the KU Medical Center and the University of Kansas Hospital.

Gift: $100,000

purpose: To create the David and Kathy Wysong Scholarship in Journalism for Student Athletes, an endowed academic scholarship for women student-athletes enrolled in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Previously, the Wysongs have made significant gifts for KU athletics and also have provided support for other areas.

why i Gave: “We have two daughters who have done extremely well since graduating from their respective universities. As a graduate of KU’s J-School and a big supporter of the university’s athletic department, I wanted to give something back to both factions, in hopes that the women who receive the scholarships will excel in life after their competitive athletic careers are over.”

— David Wysong

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left to right: David, Elizabeth and Kathy

wysong; Erin and mike martin

Denise and Bob meyer

onLinE donoR

Need-based scholarships

Donor: Robert J. Meyer, M.D., Telford, Pa.

Gift: $50, with a $50 match by his employer, Merck and Co.

purpose: To support the Christina M. Hixson Opportunity Fund, which provides scholarships for undergraduates with financial need.

why i Gave: “My former colleague, Curt Rosebraugh (pharmacy ’81, M.D. ’86), attended KU despite significant economic challenges. He has two children currently enrolled at KU, while I have two children at Virginia Tech. We made a bet on the Orange Bowl and thought we should settle it in some way other than cash paid to each other. So I asked Curt if he was willing to have the loser donate to the rival school. The winner either way would be a great state institution of higher learning.

“Given my knowledge of what KU did for him, the Hixson fund seemed a fitting choice; I was delighted to contribute to this great school and cause. I hope VT and KU meet again, so VT can redeem itself and Curt can contribute to the VT Office of Recovery and Support!”

why i Gave online: “It was convenient, and KU Endowment’s site made it easy.”

— Robert Meyer

study in london

Donor: Antha Cotten-Spreckelmeyer, Lawrence, associate director of KU’s Humanities and Western Civilization Program since 1998

Gift: $30,000

purpose: To establish the James E. Seaver, Ph.D., Study Abroad Fund in Western Civilization. Each spring semester, the fund will assist one student enrolled in a special section, taught by Cotten-Spreckelmeyer, of Western Civilization II. Students travel to London during spring break. The section carries a program fee of about $1,800, and the scholarship covers the fee.

Cotten-Spreckelmeyer named the fund for Seaver, professor emeritus of history, to recognize his leadership as director of Humanities and Western Civilization from 1957 to 1984. Seaver is also known for his radio program “Opera Is My Hobby,” which has aired since 1952 on KANU-FM 91.5.

why i Gave: “We offer an academic program, not just travel. It’s about exposure, to see that the entire world does not revolve around the things we might find important. KU students abroad are very involved and attentive to the work and what they’re seeing. They make us very proud.”

— Antha Cotten-Spreckelmeyer

seaver and Cotten-spreckelmeyer

whY i GAVE

FEatUREd GiFtS

From a native sonFormer senator’s gift will support Dole institute, prostate cancer research

Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., has given $650,000 in support for programs at the Dole Institute of Politics and for prostate cancer research at KU’s Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute.

Of the total gift, $500,000 supports programs of the Dole Institute, which was established at KU in 1997. The institute fosters new thinking on major policy issues and encourages student participation and citizen involvement in public service. It is recognized as one of the nation’s leading bipartisan venues for the civil discussion of politics.

Since the 2003 dedication of the institute’s building on west campus, its programs have attracted more than 20,000 people to hear prominent figures such as former President Bill Clinton, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, civil rights leader John Lewis and former Polish President Lech Walesa.

The institute also has served as the site for university and community forums, as well as ceremonies in which new U.S. citizens take the oath of allegiance. All Dole Institute programs are free and open to the public.

In addition to support for the Dole Institute, the senator’s gift includes $150,000, provided through the Kansas Masonic Foundation’s Partnership for Life Campaign. The gift creates the Bob Dole Prostate Cancer Research Fund at the KU Cancer Center. It

will support research, including novel therapeutic research that directly benefits the treatment of men suffering from the disease.

In 2007, approximately 1,500 men in Kansas were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Dole himself was diagnosed more than 17 years ago and is a cancer survivor today.

Dole, who lives in Washington, D.C., grew up in Russell, Kan., and attended KU in 1941. Since retiring from elective posts, he has remained active in discussions of public policy and has supported numerous charitable causes.

Why i GaveFor the Dole Institute: “I hope my contribution will underscore my commitment to bipartisanship and will encourage others to participate. The institute is all about the future and the students of today who will be the leaders of tomorrow. The institute’s record speaks for itself, and I am proud to play a small part in its success.”

At the 2003 dedication of the Dole institute building, sen. Dole visited withDr. samuel Billison, left, and other world war ii Navajo Code talkers.

Dr. Jeffrey holzbeierlein conducts research that eventually will lead to new therapies for prostate cancer. he is a urological surgeon and the John w. weigel, m.D., professor in Urology at KU medical Center.

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For prostate cancer research: “Prostate cancer can be a man’s worst nightmare. It is the number two cause of death among males. I am a survivor, and my goal is to help eliminate this disease — it can be done through more and more research.”

— Sen. Bob Dole

FEatUREd GiFtS

Better lives for children

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Couple’s bequest willfund autism research

A rural Chase County, Kan., couple has left more than $1 million to support KU research benefiting children with developmental disabilities. The gift from the estate of Wanda and Thomas Pyle will support KU’s Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies.

Wanda Pyle died in 2006 at the age of 92. Her husband, Thomas, died in 2001. Longtime ranchers in Elmdale, the couple had no children but stipulated that the bulk of their estate should fund research and service at KU that would improve children’s lives.

Steve Warren, previous director of the Life Span Institute, said the bequest will enhance the institute’s efforts to pursue high-impact research on the

causes and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, which now affect one in every 150 children in the United States.

The Life Span Institute provides leadership and training in autism treatment through research and clinics. It is also the sponsor of a new initiative, the Work Group on Autism Research and Training. The Work Group is exploring the development of a permanent research and training center that will serve all of Kansas.

The institute is one of the largest research and development programs in the nation for the prevention and treatment of developmental disabilities. It includes 12 centers and more than 120 programs and projects located on the Lawrence campus, at the KU Medical Center and at other sites in Kansas City, Kan., and Parsons.

Rene Jamison, left, psychology fellow at the Center for Child health and Development at the KU medical Center, coaches samantha pritchard of louisburg, Kan., on play therapy skills with her son, Chase. A bequest from wanda and thomas pyle will help support the work of researchers like Jamison.

thank you: “We greatly appreciate the thoughtfulness of Wanda and Thomas Pyle in making this bequest, which will make a significant difference in our work throughout the state and nation.”

— Steve Warren, previous directorof KU’s Life Span Institute

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wanda and thomas pyle

From thegro

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Thank you to these donors, who are creating the foundation for Studio 804’s future:

• Google $100,000• American Institute of Architects (AIA) $50,000• Kansas Housing Resources Corporation $50,000

and to the many other individuals and firms who have made in-kind gifts and other donations in support of Studio 804’s green initiatives and leadership in sustainability.

From thegro

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You couldn’t buy wood like this today: straight, clear, a full inch thick. For 60 years,

it held the roof of a simple structure at a now-abandoned ammunition plant in northeast Kansas. In its new life, it’s the exterior surface of a new public building in southwest Kansas.

The builders, who salvaged the lumber for this purpose, are KU students. They’re enrolled in Studio 804, a capstone graduate-level class in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. In less than five months, students create a building from initial concept through design, construction and finish work — and they literally do it all. It’s called a “design/build” experience. It’s so demanding, they can’t enroll in any other class at the same time.

In Lawrence’

Kansas City’ and

now Greensburg’

KU architecture students create sustainable buildings that serve the community

By Charles Higginson

A study in green building: Josh somes and other students in KU’s studio 804 salvage roof planks from a building at the old sunflower Army Ammunition plant in De soto, Kan. the students reused the material as exterior siding for their course project, the new 5.4.7 Arts Center in Greensburg, Kan.

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this!’ It changes your attitude.”Guidance comes from Dan Rockhill,

who founded the class in 1995. A faculty member since 1980, he was named the J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor of Architecture in 2007. Since 1998, Studio 804 has built affordable housing in Lawrence and Kansas City, Kan.

Several other architecture schools offer design/build experiences, but Rockhill said none tackles projects as comprehensive as Studio 804 within such a short time frame.

“The students do everything,” he

said. “I hardly make a phone call. They work with clients, money, finding a site, city officials, manufacturers, suppliers, plumbing, heating, AC, using a table saw, laying sod, cleaning up the building for an open house. So many other things are involved, it makes the task of building a relatively minor component.”

This year’s students say they sense the result.

“I’ve learned more in the last four months than in the last five years,” said Lindsey Evans, Belleville, Ill. “Something comes from experimenting

studio 804 past projects

1995 1996Barber School RoofRural Douglas County, Kan.

McCrea StudioRural Douglas County, Kan.

1997 Marvin Yard CanopyKU, Lawrence campus

• First Place Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Hollow Steel Tube Competition

Above: studio 804 students explore details of design during long hours in this studio on the fourth floor of KU’s marvin hall. • Above right: in the warehouse construction area in lawrence, reclaimed roof planks become the outer skin of the new building.

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)“We give back to the community by a process that results in something useful.”

— Dan RockhillFounder

’ Studio 804

Boyd Johnson, Boulder, Colo., one of 22 fifth-year graduate students in the class, said it teaches students the practicalities of architecture. “You can’t sit and draw and think you can create just anything,” he said. “You’re thinking, ‘I gotta build this! Somebody has to pay for

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with materials — cutting the wood, seeing the grain, holding the concrete. Knowing what the materials can do allows you to make the best use of the materials.”

Greenestof the green

Community concerns always have been central to Studio 804. Previous projects were residences, located in transitional neighborhoods and designed for affordability and efficiency.

The 2008 project broke new ground in several ways. It’s a public building, it’s bigger than previous projects and it was the farthest 804 has ever traveled: 400 miles to Greensburg, Kan., the small town 110 miles west of Wichita that was virtually wiped out by a tornado in May 2007. The project also was 804’s first attempt to achieve the ultimate in sustainable building: platinum-level certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) system.

In December, Greensburg became the first city in the world to commit to building all municipal structures larger than 4,000 square feet to meet LEED platinum certification. That’s a tall order, and it reflects a long-term perspective.

“It’s a much more responsible way to take on this process,” said Stacy Barnes, assistant to the Greensburg city administrator and president of the city’s new 5.4.7 Arts Center board. “We want to make 100-year buildings that will serve people better and be healthier. We’re not thinking of just our generation.”

Studio 804 does many things simultaneously, but one decision that must come early is site selection.

“The open house for last year’s 804 project was just a couple of weeks after the Greensburg tornado, and the idea came up then,” Rockhill said. “Some of the students went down to Greensburg. I said, ‘If you’re interested, let’s see what’s there.’ We like to leave no stone unturned.”

The 2008 project, which the students call simply a “sustainable prototype,” occupies two city-owned lots near the center of Greensburg. It is destined for the 5.4.7 Arts Center and will be used for several civic purposes, including city governance meetings.

200019991998 216 AlabamaLawrence, Kan.

1144 PennsylvaniaLawrence, Kan.

933 PennsylvaniaLawrence, Kan.

• Affordable Housing Award, Federal Home Loan Bank; Design Matters, Best Practices in Affordable Housing, City Design Center, University of Illinois, Chicago

• Affordable Housing Award, Federal Home Loan Bank; Grand Prize, Residential Architect Design Awards, professional competition

• Affordable Housing Award, Federal Home Loan Bank; Global Home Award, Structural Board Association

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left: tim overstreet and Krissy Buck confer with prof. Dan Rockhill about a roofing detail. • lower left: students unload cellulose insulation to be blown into the new building’s wall cavities. lower right: sarah Boedeker uses a laser to project a narrow beam upward for precise placement of ceiling lights.

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Puttingit together

To get from raw sketch to finished building in 20 weeks, the 804 students work. During major construction periods, they put in 16-hour days or longer, six days a week. After they’ve settled on the overall floor plan together, individual students plan various

systems of the building and acquire necessary materials. They meet daily to keep everyone up to date.

The class uses a modular/prefabricated construction approach. The projects are first built to a high level of finish in a warehouse, then cut into pieces (modules), loaded onto semitrailers, hauled to the destination site and stitched back together.

200420032002 3800 Lloyd St. (Modular 1)Kansas City, Kan.

1718 Atherton CourtLawrence, Kan.

1603 Random RoadLawrence, Kan.

• Home of the Year, Architecture magazine; Project of the Year, Residential Architect magazine

• First Place Award, SECCA “HOME” House Project Design Award; Grand Prize, NCARB Prize for Creative Integration of Practice and Education

• First Place Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Hollow Steel Tube Competition; First Place Award, “Design with Memory,” International competition for sustainable design

Greensburg made international news after it was devastated by an EF-5 tornado on may 4, 2007. this rendering, by BNim Architects, Kansas City, mo., shows a vision of the rebuilt downtown area. studio 804’s 5.4.7 Arts Center, named for the date of the tornado, is slated to open on the one-year anniversary of the disaster.

Greensburg, Kan. Master Plan

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Rockhill explains the advantages: “We can build nonstop; weather is not a factor. We overbuild somewhat because we know we’ll have to move the modules. And we can be very frugal, which helps with LEED certification because waste is a factor.”

Previous 804 classes have used low-impact construction methods to create efficient buildings, but none ever attempted to reach the level sought this year. The LEED goal affects every aspect of design, as well as the bottom line.

Student Zack Arndt, Chesterfield, Mo., designed the building’s high-tech, high-efficiency geothermal heating/cooling/ventilation system.

“A standard system might cost $5,000 to $6,000,” he said. “Geothermal with a heat pump will cost two to three times that, but it’s 40 to 60 percent more efficient. I had no clue about heating and cooling and ventilation, and that’s why I wanted to do it. Even a lot of professionals don’t know much about this.”

Greater distance and size also raised the budget for this year’s project above previous levels. As in other years, Rockhill and the students met the budget by combining support from the university, donations to Studio 804’s own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, loans, grants from agencies and in-kind donations of materials and products. KU Endowment funds support both the Constant professorship and Studio 804 operations.

Eventually, the class and the client settle up, and one year’s profit becomes part of the next year’s seed money.

Journey’s endBefore the tornado, houses stood

at the intersection of Wisconsin and Sycamore streets in Greensburg. Afterward, all that remained were broken foundation slabs, a couple of concrete tornado shelters, and large, skeletal trees. Now, a long, rectangular building stands nearly finished. Crawling over, under and

through it, madly working to meet an early May deadline, are 22 KU students dedicated to learning, experimentation, hard work and sustainable building: the Studio 804 class of 2008.

Rockhill said, “We take advantage of eager, young builders who want experience, to make a contribution to society, to do what few others have the time or inclination to do. We give back to the community by a process that results in something useful.”

SUPPORT STUDIO 804To give, visit kuendowment.org/804/ or contact Ellen

Casagrande at 785-832-7428 or [email protected]. This year’s project has attracted considerable media attention, including a spot on the Discovery Channel. To learn more, go to kuendowment.org/804/ for our collected links to ongoing coverage: articles, photos, blogs, videos, press reports, information on previous projects and more.

2006 20072005 534 Riverview Ave. (Modular 3)Kansas City, Kan.

3914 Lloyd St. (Modular 4)Kansas City, Kan.

750 Shawnee Rd. (Modular 2)Kansas City, Kan.

• Gold Award for Craftsmanship, Construction Specifications Institute; Home of the Year, Architecture magazine

• Decatur Modern Design Challenge, Category II Portfolio

• Honor Award, Boston Society of Architects, In Pursuit of Housing; Project of the Year, Residential Architect magazine

Above: studio 804 student Boyd Johnson presented the class project proposal in January to Greensburg city administrators. • Right: in march, after a 400-mile trip from lawrence to Greensburg on secondary highways, Rockhill and students wrestled the modules into place on the foundation.

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TropicalTiesBy Lisa Scheller

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KU’s Costa Rica Exchange Program turns 50 this year

Last summer, KU doctoral student Norberto Baldi Salas, of Costa Rica, traveled by boat to Rama Cay — a tiny, undeveloped island in a Nicaraguan bay. He and his KU

research partner, Phillip Melton, went there to study the genetic history of the island’s indigenous inhabitants. They took cheek swabs from 75 of some 900 people who live on the island, which is about the size of five city blocks.

Back at the University of Costa Rica in San José, they extracted DNA from the swabs. And now, in a genetic anthropology lab at KU, they’re analyzing the DNA.

“We know that people came to the Americas from Asia originally,” Baldi Salas said. “With the DNA, we’re trying to reconstruct what happened. Central America is unique in that it’s the narrowest point through which any migration into South America would have moved. This allows us

to use molecular genetics, or DNA, to reconstruct the history of the indigenous population of Central America.”

This research partnership came about through KU’s Costa Rica Exchange Program, the longest continuously operating student-faculty exchange between a U.S. university and one in Latin America. Baldi Salas is one of about 60 Costa Ricans who will have earned graduate degrees through the program since its inception in 1958.

top: Noberto Baldi salas prepares to take a cheek swab from a woman who lives on Rama Cay. Above: he traveled to and from the island via dugout canoe.During his semester at the University of Costa Rica in

spring 2007, KU junior Andrew stanley snapped this photo near Cartago, Costa Rica’s old capital.

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The roots of the program run deep.The first connection between KU and Costa Rica may have occurred in 1893.Costa Rican naturalist Anastasio Alfaro and KU professor Lewis Lindsay Dyche — a taxidermist and director of KU’s Natural History Museum — met when they each brought exhibits to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Their friendship eventually led to a working relationship between the museums at KU and in Costa Rica.

In the 1930s and 1940s, KU and Costa Rican researchers interested in natural history, archaeology and museum studies built ties and shared research.

By the mid-1940s, Costa Rican students had begun coming to KU for graduate study.

KU Chancellor Franklin Murphy and Rodrigo Facio, rector of the University of Costa Rica, formalized the connection in 1958 by signing an agreement to establish the Costa Rica Exchange Program.

“In the 1950s, the U.S. Department of State pushed for exchange relationships,” said Charles Stansifer, former director of KU’s Costa Rica program and professor emeritus of Latin American history. “Four universities in the U.S. got connected with Latin American universities. Only one has been in continuous operation since 1958 — that’s our program.”

Stansifer said Costa Rica was the ideal country with which KU could build an exchange program. “There was a tremendous surge of interest in Latin America, and it focused on Costa Rica,” he said. “That’s primarily because Costa Rica was the most progressive of the Latin American countries, the most democratic and the most peaceful. It was the least likely to have a dictatorship.”

The exchange program carries out three main missions. First, it sponsors collaborative research between faculty at KU and the University of Costa Rica. It also brings Costa Rican graduate

top to bottom: KU students on a rainforest hike took in this view of the la paz River from a suspension bridge. • lewis lindsay Dyche, namesake of KU’s Dyche hall, worked with colleagues from Costa Rica. • in 1993, former exchange director Charles stansifer presented his bibliography of books about Costa Rica to president oscar Arias sanchez.

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students to KU. After they earn their degrees, they return to the University of Costa Rica as faculty members and administrators. In addition, the program sends undergraduates from KU and other universities to Costa Rica.

Jeff Weinberg, assistant to KU Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway, said that during the past 50 years, the program, which receives support through the Greater KU Fund, has woven strong, influential ties between these two universities — and between the United States and Costa Rica.

“Over many decades, this relationship has had a major impact on hundreds of students, producing leaders in government, business and education in the Americas and, in Costa Rica, cabinet ministers, presidential candidates and diplomats,” Weinberg said. “The benefits to this hemisphere are enormous, and the continued success of the relationship depends on the generosity of alumni and friends.”

From top left: Bottlebrush blooms in a coffee-growing area near san José. • students arrive from KU in 1970. Anita herzfeld, far right, was program director. • in march, during a trip to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the exchange, KU faculty, staff and alumni visited irazú Volcano.

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It’s well past midnight in a Costa Rican rain forest, and KU professor Robert Timm aims a flashlight beam on a group of tropical tent-roosting bats, feeding at their roost site. The bats are among many types of mammals he studies through one of the Costa Rica Exchange Program’s collaborative research projects.

The first such research partnerships ran from 1960 to 1966, funded by the Carnegie Foundation of New York. A total of 56 KU faculty members spent two summer sessions at the University of Costa Rica.

The latest in a long line of collaborative projects began in 2007. They provide rich insight into Costa Rica’s past, present and future.

Some projects, like Timm’s, explore environmental and sociological issues. Loss of habitat is a critical threat to biodiversity worldwide. Timm, curator of KU’s Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, surveys Costa Rican mammals in a forest fragment to assess their diversity and abundance. His findings will be crucial to the reforestation of corridors between forest fragments.

Timm also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Costa Rica and at KU. The graduate field classes study the effects of climate change, deforestation, agricultural practices and all aspects of conservation biology. “We teach students how to do science,” Timm said. “This is all about training the next generation of scientists.”

Other research focuses on anthropological history. John Hoopes, KU associate professor of anthropology, studies two Costa Rican archaeological sites that may have been occupied as early as 2,000 years ago. Despite damage from erosion, looting and agriculture, the sites still have well-preserved above-ground architecture.

Hoopes wants to learn how Central American cultures, particularly the Chibchan-speaking groups, related to other cultures, such as the Mayas to the north and the Incas to the south. Because the early Chibchan had no written language, he said, the only way to understand them is through archaeology. This knowledge is vital to Costa Ricans, who long to know the history of the area and of the people who lived there before Columbus arrived.

“Having a good sense of history contributes to a sense of identity,” Hoopes said. “This cultural identity helps foster an interest in Costa Rica that has significant ramifications for long-term investment in business, in tourism and in promotion of the region.”

Research into economics explores current questions. For a developing nation such as Costa Rica, it’s vital to learn about how the activities of multinational corporations affect the local economy. Multinational firms typically increase employment, pay higher wages and bring new technology, which tends to spill over to the local business sector. Elizabeth Asiedu, KU associate professor of economics and director of graduate studies, conducts research in Costa Rica to determine whether the country has benefited from the recent increase in investments by multinational firms.

KU Endowment support helps these and other faculty members with travel expenses and equipment purchases. The funding can serve as seed money, giving researchers the support needed to gather basic data. With this information, they can pursue long-term funding through outside sources.

left: KU professor John hoopes and Costa Rican graduate student mónica Aguilar study a looted tomb at the archaeological site of Corinto in northeastern Costa Rica. • Above: KU professor Robert timm and undergraduate students study bats by night at Reserva Natural Absoluta Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica’s oldest nationallyprotected reserve.

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Last spring, Jen Mayer spent the semester in Costa Rica with help from a KU Endowment-funded study abroad scholarship. For Mayer, now a KU senior, the academic experience — and life with her host family — turned her career plans to teaching abroad. “Living with a family is like having a window into their culture,” Mayer said.

Since 1960, when the undergraduate exchange began, KU’s Office of Study Abroad has sent nearly 1,800 students to the University of Costa Rica. They, along with the graduate students and faculty members who have taken part in the program, have helped build lasting ties between KU and people across the Americas.

After Norberto Baldi Salas completes his doctorate at KU, he’ll return to Costa Rica as a faculty member and develop a degree program in biological anthropology. He also plans to continue his working relationship with various KU researchers and faculty members.

“That’s why it’s important to come here,” Baldi Salas said. “It’s not just going through the process of getting my Ph.D. It’s also making contacts, creating a network of people and other researchers who will want to participate in research in Costa Rica or in other places in Central America and South America.”

SUPPORT THE ExCHANGETo support the Costa Rica Exchange Program, give to the

Greater KU Fund at kuendowment.org/greaterku/ and specify that your gift is for: 1) general support of the Costa Rica Exchange Program or 2) study abroad in Costa Rica. Or contact Jim Mechler at 785-832-7328 or [email protected].

left: After completing a doctorate at KU’s school of social welfare, Cindy Calvo salazar will return to the University of Costa Rica as a faculty member and administrator. • Above: maria Eugenia Venegas, left, dean of education at the University of Costa Rica, studied teacher training and other practices at KU this semester. Rick Ginsberg, right, is KU dean of education.

top: KU senior Jen mayer, second from left, and friends visit la paz waterfall Gardens. •left: prof. Elizabeth Asiedu studies the economic effect of multinational firms in Costa Rica. • Above: life’s good in Costa Rica for Andrew stanley, KU, and marlise hernandez, st.lawrence University, who studied abroad through KU.

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ChANCElloRs ClUB


Three great teachersIn fall 2007, KU honored three stellar faculty members as Chancellors Club Teaching Professors, bringing the total number holding the professorship to 12. The professorship carries a $5,000 annual stipend. We asked the new teaching professors to give readers a window onto their academic fields.

helen AlexanderPlant population biologyYears at KU: 20

What is plant population biology?“Most people think of plants as ‘green stuff’ that is everywhere: lawns, trees, fields, crops. But any plant species also exists as a population, a collection of unique individuals of different ages. When studying human populations, questions of age, ethnic background and genetic predisposition to disease come to mind. I explore the same kinds of questions but focus on plants. Plants are the source of food and fiber for us, as well as the food for other organisms. They also provide habitats for animals.

“I am particularly interested in native plants, including the endangered prairie species Mead’s milkweed, because they existed in Kansas long before we had cities and towns. We hope our knowledge of Mead’s milkweed will help us better understand how to maintain populations of plants that are vulnerable to extinction because of the decreased amount of land in native vegetation.”

Amy DevittComposition and rhetoric, and English language studiesYears at KU: 23

How do you teach someone to be a good writer? Can this be taught?“The definition of ‘good writing’ varies from one field to the next, one writing situation to the next. What counts as good writing in a lab report differs from good writing in a literary analysis. This ties directly to my research in genre theory and how genres of everyday writing influence the ways people write. Part of what I try to do is help writers see that good writing is a variety of qualities and that they can learn to understand the situation that creates those differences.

“I love helping students clarify their thinking, either by explaining something they had trouble under-standing or by asking questions that help them discover their own answers. Conscious awareness is a big part of what education is about — just as true in writing as in other fields.”

Alice liebermanSocial welfareYears at KU: 20

Do you think it takes a certain kind of person to go into social welfare?“Yes, I do. Many of the students in my classes have had to sacrifice a lot to be in that seat. They often come from families where no one has graduated from college. Or they have taken out huge loans. Yet, they move forward with hope and optimism. It’s these students who are so excited about social work as an engine for big changes in the lives of people and communities.”

Describe your current research. “My work is part of the federal Healthy Marriage Initiative. Currently, my research looks at two models of family training and education for parents who have adopted children in the last eighteen months. We’ve just run workshops on one model and are now doing the other. The funds for the workshops provide a getaway weekend for couples. These parents are doing great things.”

GREATER KU FUNDThe Chancellors Club Teaching Professorships are supported

by the Greater KU Fund. Through your annual gift of $1,000 or more to the fund, you will be recognized as a member of the Chancellors Club. Give online at kuendowment.org/greaterku/.

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BE thE DiFFERENCE

support KU as you honor someone special

Finding the right gift can do more than delight the recipient — it also can be a way to support your passion. By making a gift to KU Endowment in honor of a family member, friend or mentor, you can help a student or support research now. You can even benefit KU for generations to come.

Joyce Dryden Damron knows. When she reached the age of 70½, she was required to begin taking minimum IRA distributions. Using funds from an IRA, she created an endowed scholarship fund in honor of her daughter, Julie Damron-Dittmer, theater and film ’88.

“I created a similar scholarship at the university where I obtained my degrees,” said Damron, of Mesa, Ariz. “It seemed appropriate to do the same for my daughter. We both benefited from scholarships as college students.”

Gifts honoring friends and loved ones can help any area at KU. To make your gift more festive, KU Endowment provides free cards illustrated with historic Jayhawks. We can send a card directly to the honoree, or send it to you for personal delivery.

You can make a gift of any size to KU Endowment to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, graduation or other occasion. You can direct your gift to the area of your (or your honoree’s) choice, and you can give by phone or mail, online or in person.

KU donor Carol Wall, of St. Louis, has made dozens of gifts, large and small, to establish and grow an endowed scholarship fund in memory of her husband, Mitch Wall, architecture ’71. In 2005, she established the Mitch Wall Class of 1971 Scholarship. Her contributions,

which range from $25 to thousands of dollars, include gifts made in honor of family and friends for memorials, birthday presents and even one for a friend’s “speedy recovery.”

Wall’s reasoning is simple: “Rather than give people gifts that they don’t need and don’t want, I think it’s more beneficial to honor my friends in a meaningful way.”

— Lisa Scheller

SEND A CARDTo announce your gift of any amount, you may choose one of KU Endowment’s free Jayhawk cards. Contact us at [email protected].

Let us know:• the purpose of your gift• the amount of your gift• whether you would like us to send the card directly to your honoree or to you for personal presentation• your personal message (if we are sending the card to your honoree).

Donors may choose between cards featuring: 1) an illustration of a Jayhawkcarved into KU’s twente hall, with the inside of the card left blank; or 2) perching Jayhawks from the 1925 Jayhawker yearbook, with the greeting, happy Birthjay!

The perfect gift

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default margins were set to be narrower and if we used duplexing printers. Studies show that universities can save thousands of dollars this way.

Third, we have about 30 faculty and staff “ambassadors” across campus. They’re developing a self-evaluation

to help departments look at current practices and set goals for energy conservation and waste reduction.

how can donors help?Gifts of every size can help. With $200 to $400,

we can provide travel funds or materials for classes working on a service project. A

gift of $1,000 can support professional development for ambassadors or interdisciplinary teaching teams. A larger gift can help fund the beautiful rain garden of native plants that students have designed for the KU Student Recreation Fitness Center. And, of course, our dream is to have an endowment that supports the center and sustainability projects for

the long term.— Kirsten Bosnak

SUPPORT THE CENTERGive online at kuendowment.org/greaterku/ and specify that your

gift is for the center. Or contact Dale Slusser at 785-832-7458 or [email protected]. Find out more about sustainability at KU at www.sustainability.ku.edu.

i Am KU

Jeff severinDirector, KU Center for sustainability

Sustainability is generally defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” KU’s Center for Sustainability, founded in 2007 through a student initiative, is devoted to promoting a culture of sustainability — environmental, financial and otherwise — at KU.

how did you getinterested in sustainability?Where I grew up, a creek ran through the backyard. Learning about what happened up- and downstream was my connection with nature. As an undergraduate, and after graduation, I worked with K-12 students across the state through Kansas Streamlink, a water education program of the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance. In a sense, it recreated my childhood experiences.

how is the center currently supported?It’s one of the programs funded with revenues from KU’s Tuition Enhancement Program, which was initiated in 2002. We have used KU Endowment funds for small projects, and we also were thrilled to use the privately funded Dole Institute of Politics building for “Focus the Nation” in January. More than 300 students, faculty, staff and community members came to talk about solutions for global climate change with local, state and national leaders.

what are some of your current projects?I’ll talk about three. First, one of my two student staff members is exploring effective ways to compost on campus. She’s researching a small “composting machine” that could compost vegetable waste and leftovers from the scholarship halls.

The other student is looking into something very simple: how much paper we could save at KU if computer

Four easy energy-savingsteps to take now1 Turn off overhead lights; rely on daylight 2 Change to compact fluorescent bulbs3 Turn off computers and printers at night4 Plug electronics and chargers into a power strip; switch off when not in use

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AmoNG FRiENDs

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spring 2008 eventsPhotos 1-3 capture the fun at a March 14 reception hosted by KU Endowment atthe Hilton President Hotel, Kansas City, Mo. KU played in the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center that evening. See more photos of the event at kuendowment.org/photogallery/. 1 KU fans and friends Mike Beatty, left,

Salina, and Bill Walsh, Wichita, weren’t afraid to show their spirit; the Jayhawk tattoos on their ankles are permanent.

2 Nancy Dykes, left, Leawood, wife of former KU Chancellor Archie Dykes, visited with Linda Stewart, Lawrence.

3 KU Endowment trustee Deanell Tacha, center, greets fellow trustee Chuck Heath and his wife, Kathy. All are from Lawrence.

4 Outgoing Advancement Board chair Drue Jennings greeted new chair Cheryl Jernigan at the board’s Jan. 9 holiday party at the American Restaurant in Kansas City, Mo. The Advancement Board, a group of business and civic leaders, works to develop philanthropic, community and political support for the University of Kansas Hospital and the KU schools of medicine, nursing and allied health.

5 On Feb. 9, KU officially opened its International House, which will serve as a home to visiting international scholars. A gift from Jann and Tom Rudkin, Los Gatos, Calif., provided for renovation of the structure, a historic Mount Oread home. KU Endowment acquired the home in 2001 from the family of Frank Pinet, a KU business professor.

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“We love the help and support we get from everyone here. Some days it’s all that gets me through as the mom of a cancer patient.”

This is one of many comments in our Brandmeyer Patient Resource Center guest book. Glancing through the book

gives you an idea of the work we do from this small but significant room inside the University of Kansas Hospital’s Cancer Center.

Our resource center, supported by a gift from the Joe and Jeanne Brandmeyer family and their company, Enturia, provides information on specific types of cancer, treatments, support groups and more. We offer computers with Internet access, books, videos and other materials.

Patients with all types of cancer visit us — the newly diagnosed, those undergoing treatment, and survivors. Our role is to provide them with the information and support they need.

Throughout my nursing career, I’ve given hope to people who experience difficult, life-changing situations. People who have cancer need, above all, to maintain hope. I try to help them see their situations in a hopeful way.

Patients are overwhelmed when they learn they have cancer. They are understandably anxious and hardly able to deal with the news. We can help by informing them of their options and by meeting their emotional needs. Many patients ask, “What do I do now? Get a second opinion? Seek other treatments?” We provide the best answers for each patient’s individual needs.

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After more than 30 years of working with cancer patients, I’ve collected many stories of people who have beaten the odds. “Chances for survival” are statistics and should be taken with a grain of salt. Instead of allowing patients to focus on the negative, I share hopeful stories.

Some patients lose their battle with cancer. After getting to know them, you can tell when they’re ready to end the fight. It’s important to give them permission to do this. At this time, we offer them as much support as possible by arranging for them to see a counselor or by helping them hold on until they can say goodbye to their families.

Just as we provide support for patients, we also help their families. We helped a teenage patient with a serious bone marrow cancer and her family get through the diagnosis and stem-cell transplant that followed. Later, when the patient died, her mother still needed care. I gave her a

Finding hope while living with cancer

journal to document her feelings and memories, and she continued to visit the center for quite some time.

A cancer diagnosis affects the patient and an entire community: family members, friends and co-workers. They all need support and hope. That’s our role at the Brandmeyer Patient Resource Center.

Lynn Marzinski, RN, MSN, AOCNBrandmeyer Patient Resource Center CoordinatorThe University of Kansas Hospital Cancer Center

FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIESGive to the Brandmeyer Patient Resource Center at

kuendowment.org/brandmeyer/ or contact Kate Migneron at 913-588-4497 or [email protected].

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29KuenDoWmenT.org

Spooner Hall opened its doors in 1894 as KU’s first library. This spring, after a year of renovations, the main hall on the ground floor became home to the Commons — a place where art, science and the humanities meet. The new space hosts exhibits, lectures, performances and other events, particularly those that cross disciplinary lines.

The Commons is overseen jointly by KU’s Biodiversity Institute, Spencer Museum of Art and Hall Center for the Humanities.

Spooner was built with funds from a bequest of William B. Spooner, uncle of KU Chancellor Francis Snow. A gift from Tom and Jann Rudkin of Los Gatos, Calif., provided key support for the renovation. Spooner Library in 1900.

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P.O. BOX 928LAWRENCE, KS 66044-0928

www.kuendowment.org

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KU Giving Issue 4