Music Man - Kansas Alumni magazine

Music ManGlam rockers, ukulelists, jazz theorists and old-time banjo pickers unite!There’s room for everyone in Thom Alexander’sAmericana band.

BY STEVEN HILL

Jayhawk GenerationsThe University welcomes a new class of legacies to Mount Oread.

BY SALLY HAYDEN

Contents E s t a b l i s h e d i n 1 9 0 2 a s T h e G r a d u a t e M a g a z i n e

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26 ‘ We Have but One Soul’KU’s medical missionaries bringsorely needed surgery and suppliesto the children of Guatemala; the thank-yous they earn are the greatest gift of all.

BY CHRIS LAZZARINO

Cover photograph by Shari Hartbauer

© Shari Hartbauer

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Volume 102, No. 5, 2004

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Lift the ChorusAuthor! Author!

How very pleased I was with the arti-cle by Chris Lazzarino [“So to Speak,”issue No. 3].

I have been inter-viewed a few times inmy life, but never haveI experienced a jour-nalist so well prepared,nor who got so imme-diately to the center ofthe story. His interviewwith me quicklybecame a real conversa-tion, and a very enjoy-able one.

And what a goodwriter he is! As one who deals in words,it always thrills me when someonemakes language crackle and pop asChris does, and who can find the heartof a story and unify its various strands.When so much of the prose we read isleaden and dull, to encounter a writerlike this is a joy. And I don’t say thisbecause I am the topic of the piece; his“Forever Young” is equally compelling.“The fastest of athletes and wisest ofcoaches will neither outrun nor out-smart time.”

That’s a writer! And Earl Richardson’sphotographs are amazingly good, asalways.

Many thanks for a great story.Paul Meier

Professor of Theatre and Film

Laudable legacies

We certainly enjoyed ChrisLazzarino’s story “Where LegaciesBegin” [issue No. 4]. He has remarkabletalent and feel for his subject, and hemade an interesting choice of graduatesto illustrate the wide range of legacies.Our compliments.

Hank, e’50, and LuEllen Hall Paustian, ’50Lawrence

KU connections

What a nice group of memories Ifound in Issue 3, 2004! First there wasFred Six. He and I were in the same class

at Liberty Memorial High School;congratulations to him for receiv-ing a Distinguished ServiceCitation [“They lead by example,”Association]. Another member ofthat class, Paul Coker, was men-tioned on page 39.

Wint Winter was my typingpartner at LMHS. I enjoyed see-ing his picture and reading abouthis continuing football ability[“Glory days,” Sports]. The page11 item about the Pharmacy

School’s future [“Prescription: Growth,”Hilltopics] reminded me that my great-uncle Paul Weidemann graduated inpharmacy in 1905. He is shown in a pic-ture of a pharmacy lab taken about then.Finally there is the picture of Mark Spitz,champion swimmer [“Forever Young”].His grandmother and I were members ofthe same church the year he won sevenOlympic medals. I remember how proudof him she was.

So many memories. As for me, I continue traveling. So far

I have seen 108 countries and have justmade a reservation on an Indian Oceancruise that will add two more Africancountries and five island nations to mytotal. Go Crimson and Blue!

Rosemary Hall Stafford, c’50 Concord, Calif.

Photographic memory

Viewing the photographs in “Relayspast and present” [issue No. 3], I amreminded of a past Kansas Relays, either1936 or 1937. I recall that Betty LouMcFarland, Pi Phi from Topeka, wasQueen of the Relays and had a date thatnight with Gene Venske, University ofPennsylvania, apparently as a reward for

Gene after he defeated GlennCunningham, “The Elkhart Express,”and Bill Bonthron, Princeton, in the milerace. Betty McFarland Kendall, nowresiding in Monterey, Calif., remembersthe occasion well. Her younger sister,Jean Allen, also a KU Pi Phi and widowof the late KU basketball legend BobAllen, now lives in Prairie Village.

I met Glenn Cunningham before therace and asked him to sign my suedejacket. He told me he would, but onlyafter I ran a lap or two around the trackwith him. Glenn’s legs had been badlyburned in a house fire, requiring that herun laps before each race to improve hiscirculation.

During the relays, I was able to meetthe inventor of basketball, Dr. JamesNaismith, and get his autograph. Kansas governor Alfred M. Landon, theRepublican nominee for president, wasalso a spectator at those relays. Hisdaughter, Peggy Anne, was a student on Mount Oread.

Bill SmithPalm Desert, Calif.

Next best thing to being there

The articles in Kansas Alumni are fan-tastic. Even though I’m on the EastCoast, the magazine helps me keep up to date with the happenings on the Hill.Please keep up the good work and thank you.

Michael J. Carper, PhD’04Greenville, N.C.

It won’t be fancy,but it’ll be fun!

Y our editor friendsfeel neglected! Bribery is not beneath us, sowe’re unearthing treasure chests of baublesand trinkets, now offered as prizes forevery letter we publish in Lift the Chorus.Y ou can’t win if you don’t play, so if youhope to find a nifty little whatchamacallitwaiting in your mailbox, drop us a line at1266 Oread Ave., Lawrence, KS 66045.E-mails may be sent to clazz@ kualumni.orgor kualumni@ kualumni.org.

2 LIFT THE CHORUSLetters from readers

4 ON THE BOULEVARDKU & Alumni Association events

7 FIRST WORDThe editor’s turn

8 JAYHAWK WALKWayne’s wheels, Tombaugh’s telescope, the poop on the panther and more

10 HILLTOPICSNews and notes: Meningitis vaccination urged for students; Edwards Campus expands

16 SPORTSLinebackers lead group defense; senior goal-keeper defends soccer’s elite status

44 ASSOCIATION NEWS2004 Ellsworth winners; a Wichita roundup

47 CLASS NOTESNews from classmates

60 IN MEMORYDeaths in the KU family

62 ROCK CHALK REVIEWKelley Hunt breaks out with new CD; writer Thomas Frank finds plenty the matter with Kansas

64 OREAD ENCOREBorder crossings

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September 2004

PublisherDelbert M. Shankel

EditorJennifer Jackson Sanner, j’81

Art DirectorSusan Y ounger, f ’91

Associate EditorsChris Lazzarino, j’86

Steven Hill

Editorial AssistantKaren Goodell

PhotographerEarl Richardson, j’83

Graphic DesignerValerie Spicher, j’94

Advertising Sales RepresentativeJessica Solander, ’05

Editorial and Advertising OfficeKansas Alumni Association

1266 Oread Ave., Lawrence, KS 66045-3169785-864 -4760 • 800-584-2957

www.kualumni.orge-mail: kualumni@k ualumni.org

KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE (ISSN 0745-3345) is publishedby the Alumni Association of the University of Kansas six timesa year in January, March, May, July, September and November.$50 annual subscription includes membership in the AlumniAssociation. Office of Publication: 1266 Oread Avenue,Lawrence, KS 66045-3169. Periodicals postage paid atLawrence, KS.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KansasAlumni Magazine, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS66045-3169 © 2004 by Kansas Alumni Magazine. Non-member issue price: $ 7

KANSAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The Alumni Associationwas established in 1883 for the purpose of strengthening loy-alty, friendship, commitment, and communication among allgraduates, former and current students, parents, faculty, staffand all other friends of The University of Kansas. Its membershereby unite into an Association to achieve unity of purposeand action to serve the best interests of The University andits constituencies. The Association is organized exclusively forcharitable, educational, and scientific purposes.

D E P A R T M E N T S

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■ Exhibitions“Quilts: Imported Fabrics, American Treasures,” through Sept. 26, Spencer Museum of Art

“Pop Goes Godzilla,” through Dec. 16, Spencer Museum of Art

“Diane Arbus: Family Albums,” Oct. 16-Jan. 16, Spencer Museum of Art

■ University Theatre

OCTOBER

1-3, 7-9 “Amber Waves,” by JamesStill, Celebrating 50 Years of Quality Theatre for Young People,Mainstage Series

2 “Still Life With Iris,” by StevenDietz, Theatre for Young People Series

22-24, 26-30 “Lysistrata,” byAristophanes, Inge Theatre Series

NOVEMBER

12-14, 18-20 “Romeo and Juliet,”by William Shakespeare, Mainstage Series

■ Lied CenterOCTOBER

1 Virsky Ukrainian National DanceCompany

7 Flamenco Vivo/Carlota Santana

10 Cypress String Quartet

19 Prague Philharmonia

22 Amazones: The Women MasterDrummers of Guinea

27 The Aquila Theatre Company inH.G. Wells’ “Invisible Man”

30 “Fosse”

NOVEMBER

7 “A Star-Spangled Spectacular,”John Philip Sousa and his band

12 Trout Fishing in America

14 Camerata Sweden

16 Alvin Ailey American DanceTheater

20 Hal Holbrook in “Mark TwainTonight”

■ Academic CalendarOCTOBER

14-17 Fall break

NOVEMBER

24-28 Thanksgiving break

DECEMBER

9 Fall classes end

10 Stop day

13-17 Final examinations


On the Boulevard■ “Five Fish” is among the works featured in“Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence & theVisual Arts,” an exhibition through Sept. 26 atthe Spencer Museum of Art.The pencil-drawndiptych, by Martin Fan Cheng, PhD’75, f ’81,was purchased for the museum by MarilynStokstad, distinguished professor emerita ofart history, in memory of Bob Billings, c’59,longtime Lawrence leader, KU benefactor anddevoted fisherman.

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■ Special EventsSEPTEMBER

28 Memorial tribute to longtime Kansas Union director Frank Burge

OCTOBER

5 Bill Cosby in concert, Allen Field House

8-9 Class of 1964 40-year reunion

8-9 Black Alumni reunion

9 Homecoming Parade

28-30 “In Godzilla’s Footsteps:Japanese Pop Culture Icons on theGlobal Stage,” films, exhibitions, the-atre and lectures celebrating the 50thanniversary of the first Godzilla film

■ Alumni eventsSEPTEMBER

16 Wichita: School of Education professional society

17-18 KUMC Alumni ReunionWeekend, Kansas City campus. For more information, visitwww.kumc.edu/alumni

17-19 Chicago: Group travel to KU at Northwestern football game.For more information, visitwww.kualumni.org

18 Chicago: KU at Northwestern,including pregame Pep Rally

19 Los Angeles: School ofEngineering professional society

20 Palo Alto: School of Engineeringprofessional society

20 Kansas City: Big Blue Monday

24 Alumni Association NationalBoard Meeting

25 Lawrence: KHP Alumni Volunteer Day

25 Lawrence: Texas Tech vs. KU,Memorial Stadium

25 Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, FortWorth, Houston, Los Angeles,Orlando, Philadelphia and Tucson:Texas Tech vs. KU watch parties


OCTOBER

1 Lawrence: School of Education professional society

2 Lincoln, Neb.: Nebraska vs. KUpregame rally


8-9 Lawrence: School of Pharmacy10th annual reception and dinner,Adams Alumni Center


23 Norman, Okla.: Oklahoma vs. KUpregame rally

30 Ames, Iowa: Iowa State vs. KUpregame rally

NOVEMBER

1 San Antonio: Chapter dinner/annu-al meeting

■ Kansas Honors Program

SEPTEMBER

15 Wellington: David Carr, 620-326-3361

20 Sedgwick County: Jason andRachel Purdy, 316-773-6828

22 McPherson: Mary Kornhaus, 620-241-2497

22 Lawrence: Karen Van Blaricum,785-843-4714

27 El Dorado: Michael Coash, 316-321-1140

29 Garnett: Terry Solander, 785-448-6131

29 Winfield: Lucy Herlocker, 620-221-4600

OCTOBER

6 Salina: Pat Thompson, 785-825-5809

7 Hays: Shiela Brening, 785-628-2913

18 Johnson County: Bill and AnneBlessing, 913-327-5454

18 Parsons: Charles and MaryCatherine Brown, 620-421-6066

20 Hutchinson: Terry Edwards, 620-663-7079

Lied Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864- ARTSUniversity Theatre tickets . . . . . . . . .864-3982Spencer Museum of Art . . . . . . . . . . .864-4710Hall Center for Humanities . . . . . . .864-4798Kansas Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864-4596Adams Alumni Center . . . . . . . . . . . .864-4760Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-800-34-H AWKS

25 Manhattan: A. Mark and ToniStremel, 785-537-3253

27 Olathe: Mark and Elaine Corder,913-764-3443

27 Shawnee Mission: Joe Kurtzman,913-341-7162

NOVEMBER

8 Wichita: Martin Bauer, 316-265-9311

9 Junction City: Susan James, 785-922-6366

9 Topeka: Michael and MarciaCassidy, 785-234-5098

15 Kansas City: ChristopherSchneider, 913-573-2851

For more information about Association events,call 800-584-2957 or see theAssociation’s Web site,www.kualumni.org.

■ Hall Center LecturesSEPTEMBER

30 “Security in the New Age of the 21st Century,” Gary Hart, the Lied Center

OCTOBER

28 “The Blank Slate: The ModernDenial of Human Nature,” StevenPinker, the Lied Center

NOVEMBER

11 “The Poet at the Dance,” RitaDove, the Lied Center

First WordB Y J E N N I F E R J A C K S O N S A N N E R

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wonder, gratitude, mischief, affection—emotions no electronic transaction canproperly convey. Many of the faces inthis issue are unforgettable.

And some of them will help you recallfaces from years past. In our annualarray of Jayhawk Generations, you’llclearly see that certain smiles, eyes andKU loyalties run in families. (After 20years, I now see my own classmatesamong the college-era photos of proudmoms and dads.) Free-lance writer SallyHayden, c’78, reminds us of the namesthat belong to those familiar faces as sheprofiles KU descendants who belong tothe Class of 2008.

During this frantic back-to-school season, when classes and meetings andcountless other obligations resume,there is respite in the stories of simpleexchanges that bind us. Reassurancecomes when pure affection allows us to see others more clearly. Author Willa Cather, in her novel Death Comesfor the Archbishop, describes such stillmoments as akin to miracles. Theyoccur, she writes, when “our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is thereabout us always.”

We hope the stories in this issueremind you to look, listen and recognizethe connections that truly matter. �

Thanks to the gadgetry of mod-ern life, many conversationsthese days occur not face to facebut screen to screen. We stare

into ever-shrinking electronic panels onwhich we type and read messages, sortschedules and amuse ourselves withendless, often inane, diversions.

So, in this issue, Kansas Alumni getsback to basics. Our feature stories extolthe virtues of the simpler gifts that con-nected us long before we becamebewitched by twitching type and cursorson flat screens.

Our cover story by Chris Lazzarinodescribes a transforming mission trip to

Guatemala. As stu-dents and health-careproviders from KUMedical Centerencounter poverty anddespair, they alsoaffirm the power ofhope and the healingtouch, which technol-ogy most assuredlyassists but will neverreplace. The KUgroup’s care for thechildren of Guatemalaand their familiesreaches beyond theoperating room andinto the countryside,touching them notonly through medicaltraining but alsothrough simple, heart-felt interaction. Hugs,smiles and simple ges-tures, including thestrumming of a guitar,seal the connections.

Guitars and all theirmusical cousins do thetalking in Steve Hill’sstory of the Americana

Music Academy, whose founder, ThomAlexander, favors music unplugged fromhigh-tech electronics and highfalutinegos. At jam sessions in the academy’shomey Mass. Street quarters or in adowntown bookstore (aptly namedSigns of Life), Alexander, d’99, g’02, andmusicians of all ages gather to share thesheer joy of their art.

These stories capture the essence ofcommunity, and the accompanying pho-tographs highlight the power of thatfirst, most basic tool of expression: thehuman face. In the moments preservedso artfully by Earl Richardson, j’83, ShariHartbauer and Chris Lazzarino, we see

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Dude, where’s my truck?

Someone found a way to keep big manWayne Simien from driving the lane.In June the Jayhawks’ senior center and

player-of-the-year candidate had his pickuptruck stolen from the parking lot of hisLawrence apartment complex. The 1992GMC Sierra, a hand-me-down gift from hisfather, was found in Topeka.

Thieves had swiped Simien’s stereo and mag wheels, his wallet and credit

cards. They scratched out the “Big Dub”and No. 23 engraved in the rear window.They even swapped an old battery for hisnearly new one and installed four flat tires.

“The only thing they left was a Bible in the glove box,” Wayne’s mother,Margaret Simien, told the LawrenceJournal-World. “They should have takentime to read No. 7.”

Commandment No. 7, that is. “Thoushalt not steal.”

Jayhawk Walk B Y H I L L A N D L A Z Z A R I N O


Eye on the sky

Clyde Tombaugh needed glasses. Reallybig glasses. Now the late astronomer’s

namesake spectacle, the 1929-model tele-scope once housed in his namesake obser-vatory, has been recycled to provide a fineold lens for a 1,600 pound telescope beingconstructed near Topeka by the KansasAmateur Astonomers League.

Although the telescope that Tombaugh,c’36, g’39, helped modify and improve aspart of his astronomy master’s thesis hasfinally been dismantled (as has the LindleyHall observatory named in 1980 forTombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto), thenews is good. The area astronomers’league received a $56,000 NASA grant tobuild a new sky palace south of Topeka,where the group intends to locate andtrack asteroids and report findings toHarvard’s Minor Planet Center.

Meanwhile, KU astronomy studentsnow keep their eyes on the night sky byhauling their telescopes to the top of thepress box high above Memorial Stadium—where the stars always come to shine.

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The mythical KU cougar got a boost lastwinter when mountain lion scat was

found on West Campus [“Cat Scat Fever,”issue No. 1]. Now the campus kitty hascompleted the transition from fairy tale tofact: It has its own line of merchandise.

You’ve heard about the ca-ca; now getthe coffee cup.

Mark Jakubauskas, research assistantprofessor at the Kansas Applied RemoteSensing Program, is selling mugs and T-shirts bearing a photograph of the cougartaken with a motion-triggered camera. The blurry image, dismissed by skeptics,

Gear of the Cat

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Surprise party

Beauty sleep we’ve heard of. But abeauty wake-up call is a first.

Women’s basketball player CrystalKemp got exactly that on her birthday inJune, when TV morning show “Good DayLive” showed up bright and early with acamera crew and a team of stylists totreat the junior forward/center to aKnock Knock Makeover.

Kemp’s mother, Janice, arranged thesurprise visit, broadcast live by the LosAngeles-based program. Pride in Crystal’saccomplishments on the court (she ledthe Jayhawks in scoring and was namedMVP last season) and in the classroom (a4.0 GPA landed her on the 2003-’04Academic All-Big 12 first team) promptedthe request. Crystal has also helped hermom battle health setbacks in recentyears. “She’s been my strength, my joyand my hero,” Janice says.

“To be honest all the basketball thingsdon’t matter,” Crystal adds. “I put myfamily first. That my mom called me herhero is something I can take to my grave.”

The jokes are on them

Right Between the Ears” (formerlyknown as “The Imagination Work-

shop”) is the centerpiece of live program-ming (not counting countless hours of on-air fund drives) produced by Kansas PublicRadio (formerly known as “KANU”).

Yes, names change, as do the times, butfunny doesn’t, and KPR’s “merry brand ofpranksters” recently waltzed home fromthe International Radio Programming &Promotion Awards in New York City withthe Grand Award for Best EntertainmentProgram. “Right Between the Ears” alsoreceived two Gold World Medals, as BestComedy Program and Best On-AirPersonality/Humor. And the honors keptrolling in at the Silver Microphone Awards,where KU’s spoof was named NationalBest of Show.

With their excellence certified with glis-tening hardware and awkwardly-namedawards, and their lofty standing establishedby both tradition and reputation, one ques-tion remains: Must the pranksters nowpoke fun of themselves?

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was bolstered by droppings Jakubauskasdiscovered nearby. A Michigan lab paid totest the scat’s DNA confirmed it camefrom a cougar, the first solid evidence in acentury of mountain lions in Kansas.

Proceeds from online sales of cougartchotchkes at cafeshops.com/kucougarwill fund further DNA testing to pinpoint

the critter’s gender and genetic origin.Meanwhile, Jakubauskas is reserving judg-ment, even as he gets reports of cougarsightings all over Lawrence.

“People see all sort of things—UFOs,Sasquatch, Jesus on a bread mold,” he says.“Until you get proof, it’s hard to establishanything definitively.”

“

LSAT: Take two

Partway through the fourth of five 30-minute sections, law-school hopefuls who weretaking the Law School Admissions Test June 14 in the Burge Union were suddenly

halted by a power outage, brought on by one of the many storms that rumbled throughLawrence this summer. A suitable replacement site could not be quickly located, so thetest was—horror of horrors—scrapped. Time to start over.

Indeed, the test was offered again a couple of weeks later, and no lingering mentalbreakdowns have been reported. And if you’re going be a lawyer, you have to be tough.After delaying the stress-inducing LSAT thanks to a prairie boomer, could a thunderingjudge really be so intimidating?

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Hilltopics B Y S T E V E N H I L L


Meningitis afflictsabout 2,500 Americansannually, and 10 to 15percent of cases are fatal.College students living ingroup housing are athigh risk for the disease,which can be spreadthrough saliva. First-yearresidents are especiallyvulnerable. A 2001 studyin the Journal of theAmerican MedicalAssociation found thatfreshmen living in resi-dence halls make up only4 percent of the U.S. col-lege population butaccount for 31 percent ofmeningitis cases in col-lege students. Five to 15students die from the dis-ease every year, andmany more are left withbrain damage and othersevere disabilities.

At Watkins, doctors,nurses and other medical staff membersstabilized Marso for

transport to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Fromthere, he was flown by helicopter to theUniversity of Kansas Hospital. Doctors creditBritton’s quick action for saving Marso’s life.

“What Clay did was so important,” says LeahLuckeroth, c’80, m’86, the senior student healthphysician at Watkins who led Marso’s care.“People with meningitis can die in as little as fourhours. You don’t have time to mess around.”

Marso spent a week in intensive care battlingfor his life. After the crisis passed, he still facednearly four months in the hospital’s burn unit,where he received therapy for extensive tissuedamage, a side effect of meningitis. He alsoendured several surgeries, losing toes and fingersto amputation. His rehabilitation, begun in lateAugust, may take six months to a year.

Marso’s was not the first case of bacterial

■ Hospitalized since April, when bacterial

meningitis nearly took hislife,Andy Marso now faces

a long rehabilitation. Hisparents and his brother

Dan, who has transferredto KU, have been by his

side throughout theordeal. “All that matters isthat Andy’s alive,” says hismother,Virginia, who shutdown her Minnesota lawpractice to care for her

son,“and that people havemade it possible for us to be here with him.” A

student’s harrowing four-month strugglewith bacterial meningitis has promptedthe University to redouble its efforts toeducate the campus community about

the potentially deadly disease.Andy Marso, j’04, was just days from finishing

his journalism degree when he fell ill with flu-likesymptoms while covering a baseball game for theBasehor Sentinel. By the next morning, April 28,the St. Cloud, Minn., senior was too sick to getout of bed. When fellow Pearson Hall residentClay Britton, c’04, checked on Marso, he knewhis friend was suffering from something far moreserious than stress or flu. He rushed Marso toWatkins Memorial Health Center, where doctorsdiagnosed the 22-year-old with bacterial menin-gitis, an infection that causes swelling of the lin-ings around the brain and spinal cord.

Preventive medicineMeningitis vaccination urged for students as new

alumnus recovers from near fatal bout with infection

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sorority houses and a private residence hall nearcampus to raise awareness about meningitis’warning signs: high fever, nausea, headache, stiffneck, sensitivity to light and, in some patients, a skin rash.

The need for education in addition to vaccina-tion is not lost on Andy’s mother, Virginia Marso.Like many people involved in Andy’s care, shecredits Clay Britton with saving her son’s life.That’s something the vaccine alone could nothave done: Menomune doesn’t guard against thestrain that nearly took her son’s life.

“I’ve really been stressing that, yes, we need totell kids to get vaccinated, but we also need totell kids to be responsible for their friends, forthe people who live around them,” Marso says. “Irefer to Clay Britton as the lifesaver. He was thedifference between life and death.”

Malcolm Gibson, general manager and newsadviser for the University Daily Kansan, hasclosely followed his former student’s progressthroughout the four-month ordeal. He, Luckerothand others set up a fund to help pay health careexpenses not covered by Medicaid and insurance.(Contributions can be sent to The Marso Fund,PO box 44-2111, Lawrence, Kan., 66044-8932.)

“We were expecting a call that night that hehad died,” Gibson says, recalling the first terrify-ing hours of Marso’s long road to recovery. “He would have died had Clay not acted quickly.The lesson here is that students have to look out for students. If someone appears sick, payattention.”�

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Seating planNew building sets stage for growth

at KU’s K.C. campus

Perhaps it’s a testament to KU’s confi-dence in the drawing power of theEdwards Campus: Why else would plan-ners venture to schedule the ribbon-cut-

ting for a new building on a Friday afternoon in the vacation month of August—a Friday the13th, no less?

Actually, formal dedication of the $17.8 mil-lion Victor and Helen Regnier Hall was merelythe final event in “A KU Campus Grows,” a weeklong celebration of the suburban campus.Some 1,200 people stopped by 127th Street and

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meningitis this year in Kansas. In January, thedisease struck two Pittsburg State students andkilled a 20-year-old Wichita State student. (Apart-time student at KU’s Edwards Campus con-tracted the disease last fall and recovered.) Theoutbreak prompted a letter from Gov. KathleenSebelius, g’80, asking the Kansas Board ofRegents to “take steps to protect Kansas studentsfrom meningitis.” During spring semester, KUposted information in dorms and instructedR.A.s to educate residents about the disease.

Several states, including Missouri, Oklahomaand Wisconsin, require college students to bevaccinated for meningitis or sign a waiver. Manycolleges are taking steps on their own to makevaccination part of the admissions process,Luckeroth says.

At KU, Marso’s case has led to renewedemphasis on meningitis education. In August,Myra Strother, chief of staff at Watkins, sent an e-mail to every student recommending that anyonewho lives in group housing—including dorms,scholarship halls and Greek houses—receive thethree-year Menomune vaccine, and advising allstudents to learn about meningitis and considervaccination. Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway hasalso focused attention on Marso’s case, discuss-ing it in his convocation speech and in an Aug.30 e-mail to the University community. His mes-sage: Take care of yourselves and one another.

“There is a tendency for young people to thinkthey are sort of immortal,” Hemenway says. “The

lesson here is that there are illnesses thatcan kill you as a young person, and youhave to be concerned about yourself butalso you have to be concerned about help-ing your fellow students.”

Students appear to be listening. At sum-mer orientation, 588 incoming freshmenopted to take the Menomune shot, more

than twice the number who did so lastsummer. Vaccinations at Watkins haverisen dramatically this fall, too: 352 stu-dents received shots in August, upfrom 95 last August.

“We can hardly keep up,”Luckeroth says. “We’ve had goodresults from the e-mail.”

But Menomune guards against onlyabout 70 percent of meningitis strains.That’s why Student Health Services will give presentations this fall to staffmembers and students in Universityhousing complexes, fraternity and

“There are ill-nesses that cankill you as ayoung person. ...Y ou have to be concerned aboutyourself and yourfellow students.”—C hancellorRobert E.Hemenway

instruction, and offices for 30 facultymembers and 15 administrative staff.

With the new building in place, Clarkwants to double enrollment and degreeofferings in the next five to 10 years.Currently 2,200 students (most of themin graduate programs) can choose from25 degree offerings. New undergraduateand graduate degrees are planned inbusiness, public administration, socialwelfare, developmental psychology andinformation technology. A studentunion will open next spring in a build-ing adjacent to campus, and plans callfor a third building twice the size ofRegnier. That building would double thesize of the Edwards’ library and makespace for a degree completion programin business and a school of informationscience and technology.

Edwards will continue catering toworking professionals pursuing graduate

degrees, but Clark also sees great poten-tial for growth in community-collegetransfer students looking to completethe last two years of bachelor’s study.

“We will always be a campus that hasmore graduate than undergraduate pro-grams,” Clark says, “but we also have aresponsibility to make sure that peoplein Johnson County who want to com-plete a bachelor’s degree at KU haveaccess to that.”

Private donations and public bondsfunded Regnier, and its completion ful-fills a major goal of KU First, theUniversity’s $600 million fund-raisingcampaign. The Hall Family Foundationof Kansas City gave $5 million and theVictor and Helen Regnier CharitableFoundation of Leawood pledged $3 mil-lion. The Roy A. and Joan DarbyEdwards family, for whom the campus isnamed, also provided support.�

Juanita Strait welcomed many KU students into her home at 1346 Louisiana St.,where she lived for 60 years before her death in 2002.Thanks to a bequest from Strait and a $500,000 gift from two alumni, the home will continue to host students

as a community center for the nearby scholarship halls.Tom, c’73, and Jann Rudkin, c’73, of Sunnyvale, Calif., pledged $300,000 to renovate

the 112-year-old home and grounds, which Strait and her late husband, ReginaldStrait, professor of physical education, bequeathed to the KU Endowment Associationalong with half of their estate.The renovated house will offer space for scholarshiphall events and the lawn will feature park benches and a green space dedicated to the Straits.The community center will be named for Jann Rudkin’s parents, Robertand the late Wilna Crawford, who died Aug. 31.

The remaining $200,000 of theRudkins’ gift will renovate the firstfloor of Spooner Hall.The area willbecome the Commons, a collaborationbetween the Natural History Museumand the Hall Center for Humanitiesthat is designed to foster research andeducation on the relationships betweennature and culture.The space will beused for symposia, public lectures andprograms, and gatherings for faculty,staff and students.

KU First

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■ Regnier Hall is the first stage in Vice Chan-cellor Robert Clark’s $70 million growth plan for the Edwards Campus.

Quivira Road in Overland Park to tourthe 82,000-square-foot building, the firststep in a planned $70 million expansion.Afterward, they could listen to theKansas Brass Quintet, catch a HallCenter for the Humanities lecture or visitwith men’s basketball coach Bill Self.

None of it would have been possiblebefore completion of Regnier Hall, whichfeatures a 240-seat auditorium that, forthe first time, allows Edwards to hostlarge events.

“Everything we did had an intellectualand cultural component to it, which isthe new thing we’re bringing to cam-pus,” says Robert Clark, vice chancellorat Edwards. “The auditorium allows usto do musical performances from theLied Center and the Kansas City Sym-phony, lectures from the Hall Center andSpencer Museum of Art.”

The result is a campus that feels morelike a “micro-snapshot of a majorresearch university,” Clark says, and lesslike a commuter campus.

Since Clark arrived in 1997, enroll-ment has grown 23 percent. But growthwas limited in the past two yearsbecause the original campus building,the 55,000-square-foot Regents Center,was near capacity.

Regnier doubles classroom, office andcomputer lab space at Edwards. Thebuilding features 21 classrooms, withthree computer classrooms dedicated to

Sound salvation

KU’s record collection lives to playanother day.

The Archive of Recorded Sound, atreasure trove of 250,000 rare record-ings threatened by lack of funding(“Song Sung Blue,” issue No. 2) in Augustreceived a $7,250 grant from theBellavia Foundation of St. Charles, Ill.

The funding rescues a program thathas relied on private donations since itseparated from the KU Libraries in the198 0s.The money will allow the archiveto expand its offerings, increase accessi-bility to students and faculty members,and continue preserving the collectionin digital format.

Sarah Hamilton, g’03, visiting lecturerin the musicology program’s music his-tory division, applied for the grant.

“I’m excited I was able to initiate thisproject, and hopeful that with increased,daily access, instructors universitywidecan incorporate archive activities intotheir coursework,” Hamilton says.“It issuch an important resource, and it hasbeen so inaccessible for way too long.”

The sound archive, one of the 10largest in the country, includes theRichard F.Wright jazz archive, donatedby late KU jazz legend Dick Wright,f ’53, g’56, and the Seaver OperaCollection, gathered by James Seaver,professor emeritus of history and long-time host of “Opera Is My Hobby.”

Update

LIBERAL ARTS

Liberal to honor alumni poets The late William Stafford, c’37, g’46,

and B.H. “Pete” Fairchild, c’64, g’68, twoboyhood residents of Liberal who grewup to become distinguished poets, willbe celebrated Oct. 16 when Liberal HighSchool renames its library the Stafford-Fairchild Library.

“It is always an honor to be associatedwith William Stafford,” Fairchild says.“He was not only a great poet, he was agreat American.

“It’s also an honor for me becausewhen I grew up in Liberal, the citylibrary and high school library meanteverything to me. I don’t know how Iwould have survived without thoselibraries.”

Stafford, who died in 1993, wrotemore than 60 books of poetry andprose. His major collection, TravelingThrough the Dark, won the NationalBook Award in 1963. He also served asthe poetry consultant to the Library ofCongress, the position now known asthe poet laureate.

Stafford always held Kansas in highregard, said his son Kim Stafford, whovisited campus in 2003 to read from hismemoir, Early Morning: Remembering MyFather, William Stafford.

“It wasn’t just a good place,” Kimwrote of his father’s stories aboutKansas. “It was the one and only good life.”

Fairchild lives now in Claremont,Calif. His fourth book of poems, EarlyOccult Memory Systems of the Midwest,won the National Book Critics CircleAward for poetry in 2003. W.W. Nortonwill publish a new edition of his secondbook of poems, Local Knowledge, in fall 2005.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Lifelong learning foundationchooses KU for new institute

The University’s continuing educationprogram will host one of the firstMidwestern locations of a nationallyprominent lifelong learning institute.

The Bernard Osher Foundation ofSan Francisco will provide $300,000 tofund the KU Osher Lifelong LearningInstitute, one of 50 Osher institutesnationwide that focus on the educationalneeds of people 50 and older.

KU faculty members and communityinstructors began teaching courses thisfall. Spring and summer sessions arealso planned.

“We will offer rich programming in

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■ Poets William Stafford and B.H.“Pete” Fairchild in Riverside, Calif., in the mid-’8 0s. LiberalHigh School will name its library after the native Kansans in October.


areas such as international culture andhistory; Lawrence and Douglas countysocial, political, environmental and his-toric issues; literature, culture and thearts; science, health and religion; and anarray of other courses in which peoplewill participate for intellectual stimula-tion and the pure joy of learning,” saysMarvin Hunt, c’89, g’92, assistant deanof continuing education and director ofthe new institute.

Plans call for collaborations withother Osher institutes around the coun-try, Hunt says, and with University andcommunity organizations such as theLied Center, Brandon Woods RetirementCommunity, the Lawrence Arts Centerand the Kansas Historical Society.

For more information on Osher pro-grams, phone 785-864-5823 or toll-free877-404-5823.

STUDENT-FACULTY EXCH ANGEKU formalizes cooperation

with Fort Leavenworth

The University entered its firstexchange agreement with a military institution when Chancellor Robert E.Hemenway signed a memorandum ofunderstanding in August with Lt. Gen.William S. Wallace, the commandinggeneral of the U.S. Army CombinedArms Center at Fort Leavenworth.

KU has formal agreements toexchange faculty and students withdozens of universities around the worldand has cooperated informally with FortLeavenworth for years. The agreementstrengthens both institutions’ ability totrain future military and civilian leaders.

“The war on terrorism highlights thenation’s need for leaders with a soundknowledge of the world and the capabil-ity to apply that knowledge,” Hemenwaysaid. “Fort Leavenworth can teach itsstudents tactics and strategies in thefight against terrorism. KU can teachthem about the culture, faith and historyof the people and the lands where ter-rorism originates. Together, by sharingknowledge we can give students at eachinstitution a stronger, more comprehen-sive education.”

■ THE DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS hired a new direc-tor in August.William Lacy, a former White House political directorfor President Ronald Reagan who was also Sen. Bob Dole’s politicalstrategist for 10 years, will head the institute. He succeeds lawdean Stephen McAllister, c’8 5, l’8 8 , who served as interim directorafter Richard Norton Smith resigned in October.

■ DON HAGEN, executive vice chancellor at KU MedicalCenter since 1995, will retire at the end of the year. BarbaraAtkinson, executive dean and vice chancellor for clinical affairs forthe School of Medicine, will succeed Hagen.Atkinson will continueto serve as dean, a streamlining move intended to make the center’s bureaucracy “moreefficient and more effective,” says Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway.

■ A $ 1.3-MILLION GRANT from the U.S. Department of Education will fund develop-ment of a two-year remedial reading course by the KU Center for Research on Learning.Researchers will develop a four-semester curriculum for ninth- and tenth-graders who lagbehind their peers in reading ability. Director Don Deshler met with President Bush andfirst lady Laura Bush earlier this year to tout the center’s literacy programs.

■ BILL NARAYAN, principal investigator on adecades-long research project studying the HIVvirus at KU Medical Center, won a $3-million grantfrom the National Institutes of Health in July totest a new DNA vaccine intended to replaceexpensive antiretroviral therapy for HIV patients.Narayan, professor and chairman of microbiology,molecular genetics and immunology, will use thegrant to test the vaccine on monkeys. If those tri-als succeed, clinical trials on humans may follow.The new vaccine is designed to stop the spread ofHIV in people who are already infected with thevirus, which causes AIDS.

■ SEN. DAVID ADKINS, c’8 3, l’8 6, joined the KU Medical Center in June as vice chan-cellor for external affairs.The Leawood Republican has served in both houses of the KansasLegislature and will conclude his final Senate term in January. He will oversee alumni andcommunity relations for the Med Center and is expected to work closely with other KUstaff members in government relations and University marketing.

■ EDWARD O.WILEY, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and curator offish at the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, received the GibbsAward for Excellence in Systematic Ichthyology from the American Society of Ichthyologistsand Herpetologists in June. The award, which recognizes Wiley’s contributions to the field,is the most prestigious peer-awarded recognition in the field.

■ FULBRIGHT AWARDS went to nine students and six faculty members from KU this year. Since the acclaimed scholarship program began more than 50 years ago, morethan 38 0 KU students and 260 faculty members have won Fulbrights to study and travel in some 140 countries.

Milestones, money and other matters

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Sophomore quarterback Adam Barmann,the star attraction of media day, dutifullyanswers question after question. After halfan hour of discussing the offense he

hopes to lead and the daunting task of replacingBill Whittemore, KU’s inspirational leader thepast two seasons, Barmann glances toward thedoor. His escape route is clear.

Not so fast, Adam. One more quick question?“Sure,” he says, politely but, understandably,without much enthusiasm.

It’s about the defense. Specifically, the line-backers. You see them as much as anybody,watching them from across the line every day inpractice. Are they are as good as advertised?

Barmann suddenly beams.“Those guys,” he says, “are awesome! I always

see Banks and Nick flying around, making plays

■ Linebackers (l to r) Nick Reid, Gabriel Toomey

and Banks Floodman aretalking the talk; coach Mark

Mangino has no doubtthey’ll walk the walk.

... They’re a great line-backer corps. They give ustrouble, no matter whatalignment we’re in.”

The hope, though, isthat a resurgent defense—led by junior linebackersGabriel Toomey (who satout some contact drillswhile recovering fromshoulder injuries thatslowed him late last sea-son), Banks Floodman andNick Reid—gives the otherteam plenty of trouble, too.

That didn’t happen atthe Tangerine Bowl, thesweet postseason treat thatturned sour when NorthCarolina State rompedthrough the KU defendersfor 653 yards and a 56-26victory in Orlando. Theloss was a bummer endingfor a magical season, inwhich a 6-6 mark in thebrutal Big 12 was goodenough to qualify the spir-ited Jayhawks for their firstbowl game since 1995—

ancient history in college athletics.With coach Mark Mangino’s program entering

its third season, usually a critical point of devel-opment for teams on the rise, expectationswould be high for this season. Which they are.Except, the Jayhawks might improve and still notwin as many games as they did last year, not withone less game to play and a schedule that is con-sidered one of the country’s toughest, with eight2003 bowl teams.

“Yeah, well, I like the schedule,” Floodmansays. “I’m looking forward to it, and so is every-body else on this team.”

Which is precisely what Mangino wants tohear. His linebackers will be leaders on the field,as expected, and now they’re stepping up as lead-ers in the locker room, too.

“I would not tell you that it is a highly talented

Lunch bucket brigadeLinebackers return with gritty style

that emphasizes teamwork, toughness

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“[T he linebackers] are probably the toughest and most tenacious kids on defense.They are just a gritty, tough bunch of kids.” — C oac h Mark Mang ino

group of linebackers,” Mangino says,“but what I will tell you is that they areprobably the toughest and most tena-cious kids on defense. ... They are just agritty, tough bunch of kids.”

Last season, Toomey, Floodman andReid combined for 347 tackles, morethan half the team’s total. Toomey, KU’smost-valuable player on defense in hisfirst season, was a transfer who becamean instant star. He was named second-team All-Big 12, and is a likely contenderfor first-team honors this season.

He says he plans to spare his bodysome pain and punishment by using hishands, instead of his shoulders, to shedblockers.

“The way I have been playing tooktoo much of a toll,” Toomey says. “Havethose huge collisions when necessary,but not when it’s not necessary. But as ofnow, I’m 100 percent. I sat out all spring.I’m ready to hit.”

Toomey gets a huge gift this season:the return of defensive tackle TravisWatkins, whose strength on the interiorline should free the middle linebacker toface more running backs and fewerguards. Toomey’s wingmen, Reid andFloodman, will also benefit from animproved line that can help them avoidthe clutches of offensive tackles.

None of the trio weighs more than235, and none are taller than 6-4. Not

exactly small, but they aren’t huge by Big 12 standards.

“I was 220 last season,” Reid says,“and I’m 235 now. And I’m going to tryto play with a little more emotion. I wantto be a great example for the team. I’mnot going to back down from anybody.”

Says Mangino: “We have more speedand a little more nastiness.”

Floodman—like Reid, honorable men-tion All-Big 12 last season—says he andthe other linebackers emphasized speedand quickness in training, with the hopeof getting more defenders on the ball.

Also in the mix is junior Kevin Kane,considered such an equal by coachesand teammates that he was listed as astarter on Mangino’s preseason depthchart. He didn’t displace one of theother three; Mangino listed four line-backers, for a total of 12 defenders.

Kane, in fact, started at middle line-backer for the season-opening victoryover Tulsa, and nearly returned an inter-ception for a touchdown. Toomey playedmuch of the game at outside linebacker,as did Reid and Floodman.

“The reason I putfour linebackers in thereis because we have fourstarting linebackers, weare going to use them indifferent packages andwe are going to usethem a lot,” Manginosays. “Banks playsbecause he has greatheart. He is a good foot-ball player, but histoughness and leader-ship define him. Gabe isa guy that has a lot oftalent. We have to keephim healthy. Nick is justa tough customer. He’llhit you in the mouth. Hefears nobody.

“And Kevin Kane is just a steady guy,day in and day out. He shows up, a blue-collar guy, brings his lunch bucket, doeswhat you ask of him and makes a lot ofplays.”

If that sounds like an odd compli-ment for Kane, remember that Manginocomes from the steel-mill culture of west-ern Pennsylvania and Youngstown,Ohio. He respects nothing as much as“lunch-bucket” guys who always showup and never back down.

“I notice that those guys are alwaystogether, wherever you see them,”Barmann says. “They’re a close-knitgroup of players, and they’re all playingwell individually and as a group. It’s not an accident that it’s worked out that way.”�

◆ ◆ ◆

Exceeding goalsSenior goalkeeper near perfect

as soccer’s final defense

Meghan Miller’s game-actionphotograph in the soccermedia guide says it all: Atthe top of her leap, Miller,

KU’s record-setting senior goalkeeper,has both hands ready to catch a shot ongoal; the ball is as high as the crossbar,yet Miller, 5-10, has it easily measured,while a Baylor player struggling to scoreis outclassed on the play.

That Bears forward should not take it personally: With 11 shutouts and agoals-against average last season of 0.75 (a GAA of 1 is the benchmark fortop keepers), plus shutouts in theJayhawks’ first four matches this year,Miller dispatches most attackers withouttheir prize.

“The first thing with Meghan is just

■ Sophomore Adam Barmann (l, above) and junior JasonSwanson (r), friendly quarterback rivals, share a laugh duringmedia day Aug. 11.

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back,” and that they won’t “surprise” anygood teams, as they did last year.

“Obviously we had a great year lastyear,” Miller says, “and it’s importantthat we build on that. If we go to theSweet 16 once and then fall to the bot-tom of the Big 12, everyone is going tobe like, ‘Oh, it’s a fluke.’”

Francis, in his sixth season as headsoccer coach, knows the Jayhawks’chances of defending that hard-earnedprestige are buoyed by the presence ofthe program’s best keeper, who is enter-ing her senior season, by his estimation,fit and fired up. He says her talent, and astrong backline anchored by senior StacyLeeper, give him some luxury in sendingmore forwards, midfielders and even theoccasional defender on the attack.

Soccer is a game of rhythm andmomentum, and a misguided attack canquickly turn into an embarrassing mis-take. KU’s defense rarely lets that hap-pen, no matter how relentlessly Smithand her scoring colleagues attack.

“We’ve got some good athletes backthere, and we like to press a bit ondefense, put a lot of pressure on theball,” Francis says. “And no matter what happens, when they do get downto the goal, eventually they’ve got to beat Meghan, which isn’t an easy thingto do.”�

■ GoalkeeperMeghan Millerrecorded a career-record 19 shutoutsin her first threeseasons, and addedfour in four gamesto start her seniorseason.“It’s alwaysgreat to have a lowgoals-against aver-age, but if we winevery game and thescore is 8-7 everytime, that’s fine with me.”

her physical presence,” coach MarkFrancis says. “She’s intimidating, she’svery good in the air, her shot stopping isvery good, and for somebody who hasthe height and size that she has, she’sactually quick, too.

“She brings all those elements you’relooking for.”

Miller, a four-year starter from Seattle,might well be the most dominant posi-tion player among all KU team sports,yet she remains, to all except the grow-ing ranks of attentive KU soccer fans,almost unknown. The team’s star is jun-ior forward Caroline Smith, KU’s all-timeleading scorer, who was named to multi-ple All-America teams after her sopho-more season. Sophomore defender HollyGault was named to a freshman All-America team, and both Gault and Smithwere picked for the preseason All-Big 12team—an honor inexplicably notbestowed on Miller, who was the Big12’s co-keeper of the year last season.

“I think Meghan’s been a little bitunderrated, whether it be in the confer-ence or nationally,” Francis says. “Withthe job she’s done for us, she hasn’t really received as much recognition asshe should have.”

That’s already changing: After Millerand her teammates shut out Nevada-LasVegas and BYU in season-opening roadgames, Miller was named Big 12Defensive Player of the Week. She

earned the same honor last Octoberwith back-to-back shutouts at Iowa Stateand Missouri.

“Our philosophy on defense is, ‘Don’tlet anybody score,’” Miller says. “It’s assimple as it gets.”

The Jayhawks advanced to the NCAATournament’s Sweet 16 in 2003 andwere nationally ranked in numerous pre-season polls; after their first two victoriesthis year, the Jayhawks received theirfirst-ever top-10 ranking, at No. 9 inSoccerBuzz magazine. Francis and hisplayers acknowledge the “targets on our

UpdatesWith strong senior leadership and depth at every position, the volleyball

team hopes to gather momentum off the success of last season, when theJayhawks qualified for their first NCAA Tournament (including a first-round sweep of Long Beach State) and finished third in the Big 12. Returning veterans include seniors Jill Dorsey, Lindsey Morris,Ashley Michaels and Ashley Bechard;junior Josi Lima; and sophomore Jana Correa.

The men’s basketball team opened its season early with four exhibition games (alleasy victories) in British Columbia, Canada.The Jayhawks, who will be highly rankedin national polls, officially begin their season with “Late Night at the Phog” Oct. 15. ...Erin O’Neil, former assistant coach at Auburn, is the new women’s golf coach. Shereplaces Megan Menzel, a second-year coach who resigned in July to spend moretime with her family. In O’Neil’s four years as an Auburn assistant, the Tigers finishedin the NCAA Top 10 three times. She was a four-year letterwinner at Georgia, andhas qualified for seven U.S.Amateur Championships and two U.S. Opens.

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FootballSEPTEMBER

25 Texas Tech

OCTOBER

2 at Nebraska9 Kansas State (Homecoming)23 at Oklahoma30 at Iowa State6-7 at Texas A&M

NOVEMBER

6 Colorado

13 Texas

20 at Missouri

VolleyballSEPTEMBER

22 Texas Tech

25 Texas

29 Nebraska

OCTOBER

2 at Baylor

6 Kansas State

9 at Colorado

13 at Iowa State

16 Missouri

20 at Oklahoma

27 Iowa State

30 at Kansas State

NOVEMBER

3 at Missouri

6 Oklahoma

10 Baylor

12 at Nebraska

17 at Texas

20 Texas A&M

24 at Texas Tech

27 Colorado

RowingOCTOBER

3 at Head of the Oklahoma,Oklahoma City10 at Head of the Rock, Rockford, Ill.31 at Head of the Iowa, Iowa City

NOVEMBER

6-7 at Head of the Chattahoochee,Gainesville, Ga.

12 Sunflower Showdown

Men’s golfSEPTEMBER

20-21 Kansas Invitational

OCTOBER

4-5 at Windon MemorialIntercollegiate, Lake Forest, Ill.

22-24 at Nelson-StanfordInvitational, Palo Alto, Calif.

NOVEMBER

1-2 at The Prestige, La Quinta, Calif.

Women’s golfSEPTEMBER

24-26 at McHaney Invitational,Lubbock, Texas

OCTOBER

4-6 at Price’s Give ’Em Five, LasCruces, N.M.

11-12 Marilynn Smith SunflowerInvitational

17-19 at Razorback Invitational,Rogers, Ark.

TennisSEPTEMBER

24-26 at Hurricane Invitational,Tulsa, Okla.

OCTOBER

2-10 at All-American prequalifying,qualifying and championships,Riviera, Calif.

15-17 at Notre Dame FallInvitational, South Bend, Ind.

Cross CountrySEPTEMBER

25 at Roy Griak Invitational,Minneapolis, Minn.

OCTOBER

2 at Cowboy Jamboree, Stillwater,Okla.

16 at NCAA Pre-Nationals, TerreHaute, Ind.

SoccerSEPTEMBER

24 Nebraska

26 Colorado

OCTOBER

1 Texas Tech

3 Baylor

8 at Missouri

15 at Oklahoma State

17 at Oklahoma

22 at Texas A&M

24 at Texas

29 Iowa State

Sports Calendar

■ Senior volleyball player Jill Dorsey

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P h o t o g raphs b y E arl R i c hard s o n

AMERICANA MUSICACADEMY FOUNDER

THOM ALEX ANDERWANTS TO CREATE A

MUSIC SCHOOL WHEREEVERY ONE CAN JOINTHE BAND— RIGHT

HERE IN RIVER CITY

BY STEVEN HILL

In a makeshiftrecording studiotucked beneaththe third-storyeaves of an

old Mass. Street ram-bler, AmericanaMusic Academyfounder ThomAlexander is ready tomake musichistory. Inthe nextroom, a quartet

of eighth-gradeboys, into their fourth

week of mastering a single three-chord song under the tutelage of

instructor Corey Merritt, steamrollfor the zillionth time through the

AC/DC classic “Highway to Hell.” Julyheat presses through every crack in the

weather-beaten siding as a window air-conditioner pants vainly to keep pace,

double-teamed by Kansas summer and thehigh-watt fire of tube amps and teen-age

boys in the throes of a first-degree rock ’n’ roll meltdown.

The musicians—strangers outside thisroom—strive for impassivity, poker facesbetraying shyness as much as cool.Alexander, d’99, g’02, blows through theirreserve like a cyclone in a closet, snagging aneeded connector from the snake’s nest of

cords tangled on the floor, plugging injacks and rooting out bugs until he

announces we’re go for burn. Theboys in this nameless band are

about to cut their first CD.Two quick takes

and a rough mix later,it’s done. Each youngmusician gets a disc, a one-hit wonder destined for air-

time in Mom’s car on theride home, for heavy

rotation in thebedroom CDmachine. Theycrowd into thecontrol roomto hear theplayback:

Every missednote or dragged

beat draws winces.Alexander will have none

of it. “Don’t worry,” he says bois-terously. “Sounds great!” Merritt,lead guitarist for the glam rock out-fit Vibralux, grins and bobs his headto the beat, and now the boys are smil-ing, too.

Says Merritt, “What we’ve learnedfrom AC/DC is, ‘Simplicity rocks.’”

◆ ◆ ◆

Simplicity is what Thom Alexander’smusic is all about. Defining preciselywhat that music is, well, that’s morecomplicated.

“Our mission is to promote Americanroots music,” says Michael Paull, assistantdirector of the nonprofit school. “Butalmost anything is fair game anymore,because any music brought fromother countries that’s here longenough becomes Americanroots music. It’s not justold-timey

country or bluegrass; it’s jazz, rock ’n’roll, rhythm and blues.”

To many, the term “Americana” meanstraditional folk and mountain music:banjo and dulcimer and the mournfulfiddle, tragic, tearful tales of train wrecksand mine disasters and lovers who meetan early end.

But wander around the AmericanaMusic Academy and you find a collegestudent practicing jazz scales on a pianodownstairs, a group of toddlers andmoms interacting in a music apprecia-tion class, a pair of 8-year-old girls learn-ing ukulele, a 50-year-old father takingguitar lessons with his teen-age son.

Or a group of eighth-graders playinga 20-year-old rock classic by anAustralian band whose lead guitaristfavors schoolboy uniforms onstage.

“Rock ’n’ roll is in a very real sense

roots music, because by now it’s got a50-year history behind it,” Alexandersays. “American roots music, as I defineit, for the most part comes from thestreets and the farms.”

If the street happens to be a suburbancul-de-sac that harbors a garage band ora city corner that showcases rap or doo-wop, fine. That’s Thom Alexander’sAmericana: Simple. Eclectic. Inclusive.

Like any good teacher, he wants hisstudents to play well, but even more, hewants them to play together. “Buildingcommunity through music” reads themotto emblazoned on Americana’sbumper stickers and T-shirts.

“These day kids are either booked upwith things their parents have plannedor they’re busy playing video games,” hesays. “There’s not much interaction inour society. Everything has worked

down to sitting in front of a screen.”And it’s not just kids, says Lynn

Snyder, a Kansas City software engineerwho plays in the folk band Carry On.Snyder also serves on Americana’s boardof directors and drives to Lawrence forthe twice-weekly community jams theschool sponsors.

“Back when I was young, when it gothot we’d sit on the front porch andinvite the neighbors over for lemonadeor martinis. People entertained eachother after dinner with their homemademusic. Then air conditioning and TVcame along, and now people don’t sit ontheir porches anymore. So I think a lotof us are really hungry for a way to gettogether and just be together.”

That’s why Americana puts beginnersof all ages in group classes. That’s whythe school sponsors the jams, one at theschool and one at Signs of Life book-store downtown. That’s why studentssing in nursing homes and go holidaycaroling.

“The idea is to get people used to per-forming together, to pick up a guitar andnot worry whether they sound like JimiHendrix or not,” Alexander says. “Thisisn’t the Berklee School of Music, whereyou have to have a high level of expert-ise. This is music for the people.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Alexander started Americana in2001 with 45 students he’dgathered while teaching guitarfor seven years at Harmonic

Arts, a Lawrence music store. A fan ofthe Old Town School of Folk Music inChicago, Alexander had dreamed ofstarting a school of his own that wouldfunction much like that venerable folkinstitution, which lists Roger McGuinnand John Prine among famous alumnibut also offers affordable classes for chil-dren and other beginners.

Old Town promotes concerts and a summer folk and blues festival andalso serves as a hub for the regionalroots scene. “If you’re looking for some-thing a little out of the norm, you gothere first,” Alexander says. “Even if

“I have a real problem with ego in music. My attitude is, ‘Why can’t we all just play together?’

It’s important to me that people feel comfortable, that anyone can join in, no matter what

their skill level.”—Thom Alexander


�■ Alexander makes learning fun for

8-y ear-old ukulelists Grace Miller and ErinFisher (p. 20) and records eighth-graders

Chance McKinney (p. 22) and Martin Melick(above) in Americana’s studio. Emily Russell,

d’64, g’72, Craig Pelligreen and Karl Birns, g’91,jam at Signs of Life bookstore. Instructor

Dan Rempel works with Roeland Park seniorSean McCue and Josephine Michener.

they don’t have it, they’ll know whereyou can get it. We want to be that kind of center for Kansas.”

Concerts, workshops with nationallyknown musicians and affordable classesfor musicians of all talent levels arealready part of Americana’s repertoire;acquisition of more spacious quartersdowntown (Alexander is bidding toshare the old Carnegie library at Ninthand Vermont streets with otherLawrence music and dance groups)would let the school expand those offer-ings. Alexander also wants to compile afolk and blues archive of recordings andoral histories of Kansas musicians. Hebelieves the archive will documentKansas history and help preserve genresof music that are in danger of disappear-ing. “American folk music mirrors ourhistory because it’s topical, it’s of themoment. If you want to know the atti-tudes of the people, listen to the music.”

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 23

In the first year, Alexander’s original45-student roster swelled to 350 andthen, in the second year, to 900. In2004, close to 1,500 people will take les-sons in piano, guitar, mandolin, fiddle,banjo, harmonica, dulcimer; they’ll dis-cover the intricacies of West African per-cussion, clog dancing and R&B horncharts. Thirty teachers, roughly half withKU connections, will guide a wide rangeof students, from young ukulelists to sea-soned musicians studying the advancedmusical calculus of jazz theory.

◆ ◆ ◆

At Signs of Life, a dozen musi-cians circle a grand piano andtake turns calling songs from a notebook of lyrics and chord

charts Alexander put together. Guitarsdominate, but there are also mandolin,harmonica and even a crosscut saw.

An appealing catch-as-catch-can aura pervades the group: Alexander’s ragtagband.

They begin with a classic blues,“Waiting On a Train” by the yodelingbrakeman, Jimmie Rodgers, then tackle“Under the Boardwalk.” College-age kids in puca shells and frayed ball capsstrum along with graybearded men inBermudas. Alexander calls out keychanges and chords, takes an occasionalturn on lead vocals and wields a meanbottleneck slide. The gospel tune “I’ll Fly Away” segues into “Blue Moon.”Thursday-night strollers, initially puzzledby the sight of so many minstrels, beginto wander in off Mass. Street and soonare singing along.

Alexander got his first guitar for his seventh birthday in 1963, and heand guitars have been joined at the hipever since. His first musical interestswere Andy Williams and The Beatles—a

hint, perhaps, of his eclectic adult tastes.He has always been a musical outsider,especially growing up in California(where the sun always shined and surfmusic reigned supreme) with a yen toplay the blues. His distaste for a jam tactic known as “cutting heads,” a showy bit of one-upmanship in which


skilled guitarists put less adept playersin their place, contributed to his demo-cratic approach to jamming now, whenhe has the chops to cut plenty of heads himself.

“I have a real problem with ego inmusic,” Alexander says. “My attitude is,‘Why can’t we all just play together?’” Atthe Americana jam sessions he sees to itthat everybody does. “It’s important tome that people feel comfortable, thatanyone can join in, no matter what theirskill level.”

That inclusiveness, friends say, is partof Alexander’s generous personality. Butit’s also a key element in roots music,one that bridges cultures and continents,according to Clarence Bernard Henry, anassistant professor of ethnomusicologywho has invited Alexander to lecture hisstudents on jazz and blues.

“It’s what ethnomusicologistsdescribe as functional and communal,this idea that you don’t have to be a for-mal musician to participate in the music-making process,” Henry says. “You canclap, sing; everyone is welcome. Thomallows people to participate, and weneed that in this society, in this day andage, for people to enjoy music as an art-making process.”

In Western culture, Henry explains,music is too often formalized. Whenonly trained musicians play and the restonly listen, something is lost: “We’re allmusical. We whistle, we sing in theshower; it’s a part of our everyday lives.What Thom is doing makes peopleaware of that. We need the active inputof people for music to continue to bevibrant. Without it, music is nothing.”

Alexander and his wife, Gina, movedto Lawrence in 1993 because the schoolsystem seemed a good fit for their son,

A.J., who has autism. “The plan when wearrived was that I’d never pick up myguitar again,” Alexander says. “I wasdone with music.” From eighth grade on he’d knocked around California inbands, playing on Army and Navy basesand in San Francisco during the heydayof punk. He’d tired of the grind, the lowpay, the long odds. He was ready tohang up his six-string for good.

In Lawrence, he found himself drawninto a lively music scene. UnlikeCalifornia, his new home was a placewhere musicians were welcoming andopen. He began teaching at HarmonicArts as a way to support his family whileworking on his education degree. AndA.J.’s response to music therapy—“Itmade all the difference,” Alexander says—inspired him to find a way to makemusic more a part of his life, not less.And to do the same for others.

Americana’s music therapy program,which employs three alumni of KU’sacclaimed music therapy program, isamong the music school’s most success-ful grant winners, attracting $10,000from the Helen S. Boylan Foundation ofCarthage, Mo. Also winning grant sup-port is the Community MandolinProgram, which, starting this fall, willgive free mandolin lessons to low-income children. Those who completethe course will also receive a mandolin,

purchased with grants from The PluckedString Foundation of Kensington, Md.,and by donations from string-maker J.D’addario & Co. D’addario, instrument-maker Gibson and Mike KellyMandolins also donated instruments foran Oct. 1 silent auction fundraiser.

At a time when public schools areshifting the cost of music education tostudents, the mandolin program bringsmusic to kids who otherwise could notafford it. Music therapy helps those withmental-health problems connect withthemselves and others. And Americana’scommunity-based programs, such as thejams where anyone can join the band,put more and more people in touch withthe joy of music.

“There are very few people who can’tlearn an instrument, even if it’s just akazoo,” Alexander says, beaming as hiscircle of friends plays on without him,filling Signs of Life with song. “If you’remaking music, it’s enhancing your life.You don’t have to be great at it. If youcan play three chords and that makesyou happy, that’s what’s important.”

It’s that simple.�

�■ Dozens of musicians (including Jennifer Bryan, right) stopped by

Americana for a backyard jam session on the eve of the state picking and fiddling

championships in August.

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 25

For more information on Americana Music Academy’s classes and programs, call 785-830-9640 or

visit www.americana-music.org

My Spanish teacher reaches acrossour small table, takes hold of my Guatemala travel book andgazes at the cover photograph oftwo girls wearing colorful Mayan

dresses and balancing baskets of tourist trinketson their heads. Nancy Lopez smiles and says inSpanish simple enough even for me to understand,“I know them! They are friends of my children!”

Just that quickly, a realization of the obvioustowers over me: The children of Guatemala, so beautiful in photographs and all-too-often soheartbreaking in person, are not anonymoustourist-book subjects or lost waifs. They do notexist only to help their weary mothers sell textilesand beads in parks and on street corners. They arenot simply the unfortunate masses of desperatecircumstance who, by their eagerness to be helped,make strangers from America feel better aboutthemselves.

They have friends. They have hometowns. They have hope.

And sometimes, not much else.

Medical students follow in a saint’s centuries-old tradition of health care for Guatemala’sunfortunate children

BY CHRIS LAZZARINO

Photographs by Shari Hartbauerand Chris Lazzarino

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Luis. Yasmine. Joshua. Mabel.These are some of theGuatemalan children who gatherwith their families before day-

break on a Sunday morning, Aug. 1, atthe sprawling Obras Sociales del HermanoPedro (Social Works of Brother Peter), achurch, orphanage, hospital and resi-dent-care facility that covers an entireblock in the heart of Antigua, Guate-mala, about an hour’s drive from themegalopolis of Guatemala City.

Antigua—not to be confused with theidyllic island of the eastern Caribbean—isan intriguing old city, one of the oldestin the Americas. A team of KU doctors,nurses, medical students and their fami-lies and friends has traveled from Kansasto volunteer here for a week, and dozensof Guatemalan families have madetreks—if not so lengthy, certainly morearduous—in search of medical care theycan find nowhere else.

Their timing is not an accident.“Obras,” as it is commonly known, andits affiliated volunteer organizations hus-tle to get the word out literally across thecountry when teams of doctors from theUnited States or Europe plan to visit. Inthis case, the foreign medical profession-

als are from KU, on an outreach triporganized by medical student DougCowan, c’02, president of a studentgroup called KUMC InternationalOutreach, and University Relations photographer Shari Hartbauer, both ofwhom are veterans of many trips withthe Kansas City-based Medical MissionsFoundation.

Some members of the KU travelingparty arrived in Guatemala a week ear-lier, to study Spanish in Antigua’s world-famous language schools. The rest flyinto Guatemala City late on a Saturday,July 31, and the entire group assemblesat 7 the next morning to begin a longweek that will, in one way or another,change all of us.

The KU group consists of 10 medicaldoctors, including ear, nose and throatsurgeons assembled by Doug Girod,chair of otolaryngology and the trip’smedical director; 11 medical students(some of whom are already qualifiedhealth-care professionals, including nurses and a pharmacist); seven nurses;and a PhD student in audiology who is a certified speech pathologist. Also inthe traveling party are lay volunteers and family members.

We are greeted at Obras by operating-room chief Dolores Sian. She helps usunderstand the history: This huge placelooks and feels old, but it is so only inspirit. This is the modern realization of acaring tradition begun in the 17th centuryby a Franciscan brother named Pedro deSan José de Bethancur. Hermano Pedrowalked Antigua’s cobblestone streets ring-ing his bell, asking for assistance for theneedy. “We have but one soul,” HermanoPedro told the citizens. “If we lose it, itcannot be recovered.”

Founded in 1643, the site’s first hos-pital for men and boys was destroyed byearthquake in 1773. The hospital wasrebuilt in the mid-19th century, but wasagain destroyed by earthquake in 1976.The site remained a ruin until 1985,when the Franciscan Order established aprivate orphanage for disabled, aban-doned and malnourished infants.

In the years since, Obras has resumedits role as a home for medical, humani-tarian and spiritual outreach. In 2002,during his visit to Guatemala, Pope JohnPaul II declared Hermano Pedro a saintof the Catholic Church.

“Their families can’t take care ofthem, so they come here,” says operat-ing-room secretary Anabela Morales DeAjú. “Little babies in boxes. They are lefton our steps in the night. Here, they takecare of them. They do great work.”

Minutes into the tour, our spirits arehollowed by despair. It is a Sundaymorning, and the residents, many ofwhom are severely disabled and men-tally handicapped, are slowly gatheringin their glass-walled, open-roofed wardsto share breakfast and begin a Sabbaththat will offer rest for no one who worksor lives here. They watch us closely.They have seen us before. They see usvirtually every week, newcomers plan-ning to do good works. These patientsand residents remind us of our limita-tions.

“It feels so good to help people getwell,” Doug Cowan said the afternoonbefore, as we relaxed in our eleganthotel, overlooking immaculate gardensand a cobalt-blue swimming pool. “Youdo what you can, and you feel you did

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an excellent job and did a lot of greatthings for people, but you will also leavewith an empty feeling.”

Cowan knows this from personalexperience. Like the other medical stu-dents on the trip, he has just completedhis first year of medical school, yet hehas already traveled on nine trips withthe Medical Missions Foundation. Hetraveled twice each to Romania, Cuba,Mexico and the Philippines, and hemade a trip to China. His warning isvalid, but on that warm, luxuriousSaturday afternoon, it perhaps did notfeel real. Now we see that his predictionwill be painfully accurate.

During our tour, medical studentNick Algarra, a 43-year-old certified regis-tered nurse anesthetist and native ofColombia, translates for Dolores Sian.He also offers his own gentle words ofwisdom: “Lay hands on everybody youtreat.” Algarra is asking the professionalsand students to break down barriers oflanguage, culture and status. His wordswill echo with each of us every day.

Here inside Obras, we see thewretched, the poor, the discarded. Oursenses are bombarded with smells wewould normally associate with a third-rate nursing home, and everywhere we

see people for whom even hope is ask-ing too much. And yet they smile.Everywhere, there are smiles.

◆ ◆ ◆

When the tour ends, andafter we have been for-mally welcomed by FatherJosé Contrán, we tear into

the bags we brought with us, luggagestuffed with donated medicines andequipment. Some will be unloaded andorganized in the hospital’s surgical suite;the rest will travel with the doctors,nurses and students assigned to spendthe week at family-practice clinics in thenearby villages of San Antonio AguasCalientes and Santa Catarina.

As the bags are unpacked and theoperating rooms prepped for a busyweek, hopeful patients and their familiesfill every hallway and waiting area.Triage will consume the entire day, andmany of our group will not return to thehotel until well after the dinner hour.But none of us forget that the patientshave been waiting even longer, sitting forhours, their stoic children having to benudged to accept offers to play or drawwith some of the KU volunteers.

■ Antigua sights (this page) included womendressed in colorful garments; a landmark archthat once served as a private walkway forcloistered nuns; and the hulking V ol c án Ag ua, adormant volcano that looms over the southside of town. On their first morning together,Jayhawks (p. 28) gathered for a photo outsidethe Obras church, hospital and orphanage.Beautiful Y asmine (p. 27) was one of the manyunforgettable children who welcomed the KUtravelers, as did squawking parrots (photodetail, p. 26) at the group’s hotel.

There is a polite boy named LuisRicardo, who seems nervous and shywhile other boys scamper merrily. Whenthe coloring pads come out, though,Luis, the boy who will steal my heart,eagerly begins writing and coloring hisname. He is given an outline of theUnited States, with Kansas highlightedin the middle, and carefully colors ourcountry in lovely shades of green. LittleYasmine gently corrects my Spanishvocabulary while her older brother, asilent boy named Joshua, chases a bean-bag ball being thrown down a hallway.

And there is another Luis, who willwin all of our hearts. He is deaf, and heis a bundle. He is our first reminderabout happiness—how we need not be physically whole to be spirituallycomplete.

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After his first few hours in theoperating rooms, medical stu-dent J.T. Gertken comes to thebreak room to gather his

thoughts. He cradles a cup of thick black coffee, sipping carefully becausehis hands are trembling. He is jazzed.

“We just had a really hard year; thisreminds us why we are doing this, why we want to practice medicine,”Gertken says.

Like other students assigned to theO.R., Gertken, c’02, is in the midst of hisintroduction to surgery’s “continuation

of service,” including triage, pre-op, sur-gery, post-op and, finally, discharge.

“Our system is so automated; theynever really get a complete feel for all it,”says surgeon Doug Girod, the trip’s med-ical director. “This is a wonderful oppor-tunity to really see that entire process, allso compact and accessible.”

Even after just a few hours of surgery,Girod announces that he is thoroughlyimpressed by the hospital’s competence.Though the KU team had to pack andhaul many hundreds of pounds of medicines and equipment—thanks inlarge part to tireless efforts of KU nurseSheila Sewing, who single-handedlyarranged for many of the donations—the facilities here in Obras are good,clean and efficient.

An anesthesiologist from GuatemalaCity has been hired to join the team andoversee two nurse anesthetists; all of theKU doctors had to submit their résumésto examiners from the Guatemalanhealth authorities; and, though studentswill enjoy exceedingly rare opportunitiesto get close to the action, none of themwill be allowed any responsibilitybeyond the most basic procedures, andat every step they will closely supervised.

And yet there remains a certain free-

dom that is cherished by the Americans.When the old desktop computer breaksdown (yes, the computer), Girod sketches the surgical schedule by hand.There are no insurance forms to fill out.Stacks of supplies and racks of equip-ment look to be outdated by our stan-dards, yet everything comes together in a harmonious tribute to simplicity.

“This is an opportunity to learn whatyou have to have to get by,” Girodexplains. “The reality is, we don’t neednearly as much as we have to work withback home.”

As the morning’s surgeries progress, Iremember my friend Luis Ricardo, theboy who drew the United States in ver-dant hues. I scan the schedule, and see aLuis. I find him in Pam Nicklaus’ operat-ing room, where she is mildly concernedwith the size of his swollen adnoids.Nicklaus, m’84, tells me she alreadycleaned Luis’ ear canals and fitted himwith ear tubes; I realize he was shy, atleast in part, because he could not hearvery well. She removes his tonsils and,finally, the adnoid glands.

I want to help Luis in the post-oprecovery room, which is about fourstrides from his operating room, but heis thrashing around on his bed as hecomes down from the anesthesia andhas to be restrained. “It’s scary to seethem come out of it,” says BruceBanwart, a pediatric physician at KansasCity’s Children’s Mercy Hospital who

“It feels so good to help people get well. You do what you can, and you feel you did an excellent job and did

a lot of great things for people, but you will also leave with an empty feeling.” —Doug Cowan

■ Surgeons (l to r, above) Keith Sale,Andrew Celmer and Doug Girod, with medical student Doug Cowan (right) assisting with retraction, performed one of the week’s more complicatedoperations on a man’s jaw and neck.The colorful scrub hats, offered for sale as hospital fundraisers, were purchased by most members of the KU operating room teams.

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quick lunch in the hallway, Luis openshis eyes and scans the room. He seesme, and weakly extends a slowly-open-ing hand.

He smiles thinly and mouths thewords, “Amigo. Amigo.”

◆ ◆ ◆

The next day, it is the other littleLuis who will become the star ofthe trip. Profoundly deaf, he can-not be fitted with a hearing aid

by audiology student Gabriel Bargenuntil his ears are cleaned. Like so manyof these children, Luis has endured ter-rible ear infections. “We are seeingchronic ear diseases we don’t see nearlyas much in the States,” Girod says.“Usually they are treated with antibioticsor tubes in the ears. Here, they becomechronic ear problems.”

Luis is feisty. Not only is he deaf, buthe communicates with a private sign lan-guage used only by himself, his deaf par-ents and deaf grandmother. He is given amild tranquilizer; as the physicians andnurses wait for it to take effect, lay volun-

■ Patients and their families (above) waitingto be seen by KU physicians lined mazes ofhallways inside Obras. Cowan, the trip’s stu-dent organizer, carried a young patient (left)from the operating suites to the recoveryroom. Lay volunteer Travis Langner calmedLuis (below) with his guitar.

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has joined the KU group on this trip.“But Luis is doing fine.”

As soon as he is allowed, Luis’ fathercomes to his son’s side. He caresses hisforehead and worries aloud that Luis ishot. “Tiene calor,” the man says, glancingmy way. He does not know I am not adoctor. I tell Steven Simpson, a KU pul-monologist who is another of the post-op physicians, what Luis’ father justsaid, and Simpson, m’83, immediatelychecks for himself.

“Luis is fine,” he tells me, and thensmiles and nods at the father.

Later, as his father takes a break for a

teer Travis Langner fetches the guitar hebrought to the hospital.

With nurse Sheila Sewing cradlingLuis, Langner strums a few chords. Luisreaches for the guitar, and Langner, c’03,encourages him to pluck the strings.They are convinced that Luis can hearsome of the low sounds (which the audi-ologist confirms). Luis finally calms, soGirod tries to clean his ears. But evenwith doctors and nurses holding him,Luis squirms determinedly. Giroddecides it is too dangerous to continue.

So Luis is anesthetized and wheeledinto Nicklaus’ operating room. She latersays it is the first time in her career thatshe has seen a child anesthetized for anear cleaning, but she adds that thebuildup in his ears was horrendous.

Soon after lunch, though, Luis hasrecovered, and he is dressed and wait-ing outside Bargen’s audiology clinic. She hopes Luis and his aunt can wait,because her translator has not yetreturned from lunch. Luis makes it clearthat waiting is not on his agenda, soBargen sends for medical student ScottMullen, c’02, a fluent Spanish speaker.

Luis bounds into the little room andwatches attentively as Bargen mixes twodifferent clays that will interact and,when applied to the warmth of the earcanal, quickly harden and form a mold.

Mullen is speaking with Luis’ aunt, ayoung woman named Isabel, and hereports that she is telling him Luis hasbeen deaf his entire life, except for onemoment: A classmate had once been fit-ted with a hearing aid, and Luis put it on himself.


“He could hear really well,” Isabelsays, through Mullen’s translation. “Sohe’s very excited.”

While we wait a few minutes for themold to harden, Bargen shows a tablefull of supplies that have been donatedfor this trip: hearing aids (28 in all), tubsof specialized clays and 3,000 batteries.“I wish I had another hearing aid to givehim,” she says, “because I’m sure itwould help that side, too. But I justdon’t have enough.”

Luis, though, is anything but disap-pointed. He cannot hear her, he cannotunderstand her, and he would not careanyway. He is, at this moment, the mostexcited soul in all of Obras.

The time has arrived. Bargen runs a small plastic tube through the claymold, then affixes the other end to thehearing aid. She fits the earpiece in Luis’left ear, then secures the amplifierbehind his ear.

“OK,” she says, “we’ll turn it on.”She gently touches a switch and says,

“Luis? Can you hear me?”And there comes a smile, the biggest,

broadest, happiest smile you can imagine.

Aunt Isabel says a few words, andLuis turns to her, hearing his aunt’s

voice for the first time. He cannot stopsmiling, but when he turns back towardBargen, Isabel’s face drops just a little. Itseems she is processing the reality of thesituation: Her charming nephew hasnever heard language, and there won’tbe hordes of professionals swarmingthrough their little hometown to teachhim to speak and comprehend Spanish.

I turn my attention from the aunt andinstead focus on Luis. It is good to beyoung, when everything is exciting andtroubles do not extend beyond themoment. Luis showers us with hugs. We are rich.

◆ ◆ ◆

One person on our trip doesnot avoid the heartbreak bylooking away.

While inspecting a clinic siteduring the slow week before most of theKU group arrived, Algarra and his wife,Kim, stopped for lunch in a tiny restau-rant in a tiny village. Nick, a friendly,bilingual conversationalist, saw a 10-year-old boy sweeping up. “I asked him whyhe wasn’t in school,” Algarra says. By thetime their meal was done, the Algarraswere following the boy across the street

and up a dirt path between plots ofscraggly corn.

A few hundred yards back from thestreet, they entered the family home: atiny strip of dirt and mud, a few tinshacks, sick and shoeless children. Bythe time he left Guatemala a week later,Algarra had enrolled all of the school-agechildren in the local school, paid theirtuition and fees (40 quetzales a year perchild, or about $5), rounded up medi-cines for a girl with an infected ear and aboy who suffers from seizures, and deliv-ered clothes and toys. Each time he tookalong others from the KU group andwith every trip the shock worsened andhis affection grew.

“I just took my own children outshopping for their school supplies,”Algarra said from his Lansing home aweek after our return, “and I got this ter-

rible twinge … these outrageous pricesfor the shoes my son wanted, I realizedwe could send all of those kids to schoolfor a year, or buy all of their school sup-plies for a year, just for the price of theseshoes.”

The extended Lopez family of SanLorenzo de Cubo consists of 12 chil-dren, two mothers (they are sisters), andat least one grandmother. There are noadult males. Their horrifying conditionwill stay with all of us who visited, andtheir plight was one of the most educa-tional, broadening experiences of theentire journey. But it was not everything.

■ Fitted with his first hearing aid, Luis gave audiologist Gabriel Bargen the best payment a health-care provider can hope for: a thank-you kiss from a grateful child.

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Algarra, a nurse anesthetist whorecently retired from the Army, says heenrolled in medical school because hesimply wants to know more about thethings he is already doing. While over-seeing anesthetized patients in the oper-ating room directed by surgeon JulieWei, he was offered countless learningopportunities.

“To me, surgery is beautiful,” Wei saysto the students who have gatheredaround her during a challenging earoperation. “It’s like a dance.”

In the next room, other students arewatching surgeons Doug Girod, KeithSale and Andrew Celmer work their way through a delicate operation on anelderly woman with a cyst—or so it wasthought—on her neck. In this case, thehospital’s antiquated imaging equipment

did not reveal what would have beeneasily detected at KU: Her cyst was, infact, a slow-growing tumor attached toher carotid artery. Any attempt to removethe tumor would risk extreme bloodloss, and would likely not be attemptedin the States, either. She is sewn up withthe growth still on her neck, the onlyoperation of 62 that did not go asplanned.

During four days of outreach clinics,the KU team saw nearly 500 patients,and countless medicines were dispensedby Matthew Caldwell, PharmD’03, apharmacist and first-year med student.Logistics were flawless, and even a grandbanquet came off with flair.

The credit goes to KUMCInternational Outreach, a 2-year-old stu-dent group that has organized only oneprevious trip, last spring to Belize.Cowan, the group’s president and thetrip’s principal organizer, says the groupmust rely on first- and second-years,because no medical student will havetime for the endless hours of organiza-tion and fundraising by the third year of school.

“This was a full-time job for Doug forsix weeks,” Girod says, “and it was halftime for the previous three months. It’sabsolutely incredible, the amount ofwork that went into this. Now the key isto find someone to pass the baton to.”

Algarra, for one, plans to return. Heand his family will visit Antigua duringnext year’s spring break. He plans todeliver plenty of clothes and toys for theLopez children, and bring enoughmoney to pay for another year of schooland supplies. He says he also plans tofind a social service agency that will helphim locate a small plot of land whereproper housing can be built, and thefamily can make payments on an actualhome of its own.

The children seem to sense that theirAmerican friend’s commitment is real,because as we start the car on the streetdown the hill from their disheveledhome, they wave and smile and saysomething about next year. We, too,smile and wave, until Algarra translates a small boy’s final shout to us.

“He said, ‘Next time you come, pleasebring me some pants.’”

We fall silent, pondering this last pleaof hope. Not for surgery, not for medi-cine, not for housing or school.

For pants.Cowan was right: We leave with an

empty feeling.�Editor’s note: This story and photo-

graphs are collaborations between KansasAlumni and KU Med, the official magazineof KU Medical Center.

■ Medical student Nick Algarra (above) rallied to the aid of the Lopez family’s poverty-stricken children (left, above and right).

For more information about KUMCInternational Outreach and Nick Algarra’sefforts to provide long-term assistance forthe Lopez family, visit www.kumcio.org.

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Association

Clay Blair David Dillon Michael Shinn

The Alumni Association’s annual fall trib-ute to University service will occur Sept.24, when the Association and its Boardof Directors honor this year’s winners of

the Fred Ellsworth Medallion during a dinner atthe Adams Alumni Center. The three alumni areClay Blair, b’65, EdD’69, Olathe; David Dillon,b’73, Cincinnati; and Michael Shinn, e’66, ShakerHeights, Ohio.

Created in 1975, the Ellsworth medallion hon-ors longtime Association leader Fred Ellsworth,c’22, who was known as “Mr. KU.” He retired in1963. Each year, a committee of representativesfrom the Chancellor’s Office and the Alumni,Endowment and Athletics associations meets tochoose the recipients from nominations submit-ted by KU alumni and friends.

Blair is a residential and commercial real estatedeveloper in Johnson County and owner of ClayBlair Services Corp. He also co-owns First WatchRestaurants, a nationwide chain.

As a University donor, Blair helped establishKU’s Edwards Campus in Overland Park in the

early 1990s, when the Clay BlairFamily Foundation provided theland at 126th Street and QuiviraRoad that would become hometo KU’s thriving suburbanKansas City home. He is aformer member of the Edwards

Campus Advisory Board. Blair is a CampaignKansas Leadership donor and a ChancellorsClub member.

Blair also served KU as a membr of the Schoolof Education Advisory Board, and became anadvocate for higher education statewide as amember of the Kansas Board of Regents, whichhe chaired for two years, retiring in 2003. He cur-rently chairs the state’s Research EnhancementCorp., which oversees construction of the KULife Science Research Laboratories on WestCampus in Lawrence, the new biomedical facilityat KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., andresearch structures at Kansas State and WichitaState universities. In August Gov. KathleenSebelius, g’80, appointed Blair to the state’s newKansas Biosciences Authority.

As an Alumni Association life member, Blairhas participated in Kansas City chapter events.He and his wife, Janet, were honorary co-chairs ofRock Chalk Ball 2001 and they have been bene-factors of the ball, an annual Kansas City eventthat draws 1,000 alumni and raises money to

Fred Ellsworth,c’22, led the

Kansas Alumni Association for

39 years as exec-utive secretary.The medallion

honors hisexample of

service to theUniversity.

For Old KUAlumni earn Association’s highest honor for

volunteer service to their alma mater


■ The annual ’Hawk Week celebration was launched with the Association’s Ice Cream Social,where incoming freshmen and other interested students gathered at the Adams AlumniCenter for fun and fellowship before trekking to Traditions Night in Memorial Stadium.Among the evening’s highlights were balloon creatures, Big Jay’s chair rides and the debut ofthe Spirit Squad’s new uniforms.

fund student scholarships. In 2004 theball’s focus changed from supportingin-state and out-of-state National MeritScholars to support academicallytalented young Kansans.

Dillon is chairman of the board andCEO of The Kroger Co. in Cincinnati.After earning his law degree fromSouthern Methodist University, hejoined the Dillon Companies inHutchinson in 1976, working for theKing Soopers division in Denver. Heworked at various positions in the com-panies, ultimately returning toHutchinson and becoming vice presi-dent of Dillon Companies in 1983 andpresident in 1986. He was named execu-tive vice president of The Kroger Co. in1990 and was elected president andchief operating officer in 1995. Hebecame chairman and CEO in July, suc-ceeding Joseph A. Pichler, assoc., formerKU dean of business.

For the KU Endowment Association,Dillon is a trustee and former chair ofthe Greater University Fund AdvisoryBoard, on which he served from 1984 to1989. From 1988 to 1992, he served onthe Campaign Kansas National Counciland Steering Committee, and was aSpecial Gift donor.

Dillon currently serves on the Schoolof Business Board of Advisors.

He and his wife, Dee, are life mem-bers of the Alumni Association, mem-bers of the Chancellors Club, and long-time participants in alumni and athleticsactivities in Hutchinson and throughoutthe nation. As a student he led the cam-pus as student body president.

Shinn, a certified financial plannerand a personal finance columnist forAfrican-American newspapers, retired in1998 after successful career with GE.After he received his MBA from CaseWestern Reserve University in 1972, hebegan working in GE’s miniature lampdepartment in Cleveland in 1979 andheld various engineering and manage-ment positions until 1976, when hejoined Ford Motor Co. He served inthree managerial roles at Ford beforereturning to GE in 1979 as a programmanager. He oversaw the development

of entry-level recruiting programs forvarious GE businesses in the westernUnited States and Asia.

For KU, Shinn has served on theSchool of Engineering Advisory Boardand established the Mike ShinnEngineering Scholarships for minoritystudents at KU. He is a KU First majordonor and a member of the ChancellorsClub and the Elizabeth Watkins Society.An Alumni Association life member, heserved on the national Board of

Directors from 1978 to 1983, co-chairingthe Black Alumni Committee and help-ing establish Career Days for black stu-dents.

As a student, Shinn received a dean’saward for outstanding achievement andwas an Academic All-American as co-cap-tain of the football team. He also wasselected to the All Big Eight team andserved on the Civil Rights Council on campus. �

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We all scream for...

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 45


Association

Roundup to uniteWichita Jayhawks Oct. 16 event to raise funds

for students, clinical programs

Amariachi band and Jayhawkpinatas will greet alumni whoattend the Jayhawk RoundupOct. 16 in Wichita. The papier-

mâché mascots, including a giant bird,will be available for purchase, and a tigerpiñata will be available for pummeling,according to Sue Shields Watson, d’75,leader of the local volunteer team thathopes to build on last year’s successfulroundup.

“We’ll make room for everyone whowants to come,” says Watson, who was

elected to the AlumniAssociation’snationalBoard ofDirectors in

July. “We’re much further along this year,and it’s great to have a local event forJayhawks that generates interest in KU’smedical programs in Wichita.”

Janet, d’75, and David Murfin, b’75,e’75, hosts of last year’s event, again willwelcome Jayhawks to their stables. The festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m. at14515 E. 13th St. North; individual tick-ets start at $100, and corporate sponsor-ships are available. Following the dinnerand auction, a local band known as“Grateful Not to be Dead” will change the musical repertoire from mariachi topopular “oldies.”

The 2003 roundup drew nearly 450alumni and raised $51,000 to support KUscholarships for Wichita students andclinical education programs at the Schoolof Medicine’s Wichita campus.

To request an invitation or additionalinformation, call Lynn Loveland, develop-ment director for the medical school inWichita, (316) 293-2641. �

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 47

Class NotesB Y K A R E N G O O D E L L

1933Winifred “Pete” Wright

Danenbarger-Wilson, ’33, makes herhome in Concordia.

1938Richard Stark, c’38, recently won a

gold medal for his performance singing“Old Man River” in the Senior Olymicsin Las Cruces, N.M., where he lives.

1940Dean Ritchie, e’40, recently was hon-

ored by the Rotary Club of Wichita forhis donations to the Rotary InternationalFoundation.

1943Ruth Kelley Hayden, c’43, serves as a

Youthville ambassador for AtwoodUnited Methodist Church.

1947Max Falkenstien, c’47, recently

received the Curt Gowdy ElectronicMedia Award from the NaismithMemorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Maxlives in Lawrence, where he has been abroadcaster of Jayhawk sports for morethan 50 years.

Richard Rogers, l’47, serves as a U.S.District Court judge in Topeka, where herecently was named a Paul Harris Fellowby the downtown Rotary Club.

1948Corlyn Holbrook Adams, ’48, co-

authored The Brokaw-Smith Family Story,which was published earlier this year.She lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

William Nichols, e’48, and his wife,Martha, celebrated their 60th anniver-sary recently. They live in Cheyenne,Wyo.

1949Wilmer Tanner, PhD’49, continues to

do research at the Monte L. Bean LifeScience Museum at Brigham YoungUniversity, where he was the museum’sfirst director. He lives in Provo, Utah.

1950Davis Ritchie, b’50, was honored

recently as a donor to the RotaryInternational Foundation. He lives inWichita.

1951Eugene Balloun, b’51, l’54, received a

Distinguished Alumnus Citation lastspring from KU’s School of Law. He’s apartner in the Kansas City law firm ofShook, Hardy & Bacon.

Thomas Foster, e’51, was honoredearlier this year for his volunteer servicesto the Visiting Nurse Association ofAmerica, where he’s been active with theMeals on Wheels program for manyyears. His home is in Dallas.

Ellis Hawley, g’51, a retired historian,makes his home in Iowa City, Iowa.

Lois Walker, c’51, d’54, recently visited the Vermont Studio Center,where she received a grant to paint. Her home is in Amityville, N.Y.

1954William Patterson, c’54, is an emeri-

tus professor of French and linguistics atTexas Tech University in Lubbock.

1957George Klein, g’57, wrote Dissensions,

a novel about geo-intrigue in academe.He makes his home in Sugar Land,Texas, where he’s president and CEO ofSed-Strat Geoscience Consultants.

Frank Mastin, e’57, is a principal inTree Frog Associates in Tucson, Ariz.

1958Warren Riekenberg, e’58, makes his

home in Urbandale, Iowa.

Maurice Wildin, e’58, is a professoremeritus of mechanical engineering atthe University of New Mexico inAlbuquerque.

1959John Davis, b’59, is retired in

Naperville, Ill.

1960Harry Bailey, g’60, PhD’64, is a pro-

fessor emeritus of political science atTemple University in Philadelphia. Helives in Coral Springs, Fla.

Donald Rush, e’60, makes his home inPittsburgh, Pa., where he’s retired.

1961Terril Hart, c’61, m’65, is CEO of the

Indian Health Board of Minneapolis. Helives in Minnetonka, Minn.

Earl Thompson, e’61, received anaward of merit earlier this year fromASTM International, a management sys-tem for the development of voluntarystandards for materials, products, sys-tems and services. He is a consultant inJacksonville, Fla.

1962Bill Kurtis, j’62, was executive produc-

er of D-Day: The Secret Massacre, whichaired last summer on the HistoryChannel. Bill owns Kurtis Productions inChicago.

John Myers, d’62, g’67, works as aneconomic development specialist for thecity of Topeka.

1963Dennis Benner, b’63, is an executive

coach with ISTE in Rancho Palos Verdes,Calif.

Hoite Caston, c’63, wrote, producedand directed D-Day: The Secret Massacre,which aired recently on the HistoryChannel. He lives in Independence.


Class Notes

Nelson Davidson, b’63, makes hishome in Magnolia, Texas.

Kenneth Lawrence, e’63, is retiredfrom Crane Carrier Co. He lives in Tulsa.

Lawrence Wright, c’63, l’66, serves asa senior legal adviser for the U.S.Department of State. His home is inKeller, Texas.

1964John Durbin, PhD’64, recently

received the Civitas Award from theUniversity of Texas-Austin, where he’s aprofessor of mathematics.

Bertram Fairchild, c’64, g’68, is pro-fessor of English at California StateUniversity. He lives in Claremont.

Stephen Peters, d’64, lives in Salado,Texas, where he’s retired.

1965Karen Love Dale, c’65, was honored

recently for her volunteer work as ateacher technologist in Coronado, Calif.

1966Thomas Croat, g’66, PhD’67, recently

received a medal for plant explorationfrom the National Tropical BotanicalGarden. He’s P.A. Schulze Curator ofBotany at the Missouri Botanical Gardenin St. Louis.

Edward Kangas, b’66, has beenappointed to the board of directors ofEDS. He lives in New Canaan, Conn.

Randolph Neil, c’66, owns NeilCreative Media in Prairie Village. Herecently retired as president of theAmerican Philatelic Society.

Richard Wier, b’66, g’67, is retired inOverland Park.

1967John Vratil, d’67, l’71, is a partner in

the Overland Park law firm of Lathrop& Gage. He lives in Leawood and washonored recently by the Kansas BarAssociation for his service to the legalprofession.

1968David McClain, c’68, recently was

named acting president of the Universityof Hawaii. He lives in Kailua.

Ronald Smith, e’68, is retired inAustin, Texas.

1969Joseph Fix, c’69, PhD’77, recently

became president and chief operatingofficer of CyDex, a Lenexa pharmaceuti-cal company. He lives in Lawrence.

Richard Hellman, m’69, serves astreasurer of the American Association ofClinical Endocrinologists. He lives inLeawood and has a medical practice inNorth Kansas City.

1970Christine Childress Mauerer, c’70, is

president of Foxx Equipment Co. inKansas City.

Robert Peebler, e’70, lives in Houstonand is president and CEO ofInput/Output in Stafford.

Joyce Schulte, b’70, will retire this fallafter 32 years with the Internal RevenueService. She lives in Littleton, Colo.

Walter Thompson, c’70, ownsThompson’s Clock Manor in OverlandPark.

1971Gregory Barker, c’71, practices law at

Barker Law Offices in Wichita.Peter Goplerud, c’71, l’74, recently

was named dean of the Florida CoastalSchool of Law in Jacksonville.

Richard Jones, b’71, is site managerfor Banta Global Turnkey. He lives inLeominster, Mass.

Rolland Olds, d’71, practices emer-gency medicine in Fairhope, Ala. He livesin Point Clear.

1972Joseph Collins, ’72, co-authored the

fifth edition of Standard Common andCurrent Scientific Names for NorthAmerican Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles,and Crocodilians. He and Suzanne RyseCollins, ’82, make their home inLawrence.

Douglas Fisher, c’72, is managingpartner of NewPort Partners in PeachtreeCity, Ga., where he lives.

Charles Fogarty, c’72, g’76, teacheshigh-school English in Los Angeles.

Michael Moffet, j’72, l’75, serves onthe Kansas Corporation Commission.He lives in Lawrence.

Allyn Risley, e’72, is retired inHouston.

Kathryn Warren, c’72, works as awriter in Glencoe, Ill.

1973Lewis “Pete” Heaven, c’73, l’77, was

honored recently by the Kansas BarAssociation for his service to the legalprofession. He practices at the OverlandPark firm of Lathrop & Gage.

Leslie Kurtenbach Mills, j’73, is apatent and trademark secretary atComplete Patenting Services in SanRafael, Calif.

Tonda Rush, j’73, l’79, owns AmericanPress Works in Arlington, Va.

Christopher Samelson, g’73, PhD’78,works for Motorola in Phoenix.

1974Ron Brozanic, j’74, manages voice

services for West Teleservices. He lives inOmaha, Neb.

Marc Colby, b’74, is a managing part-ner of New England Financial inWichita.

Stephen Gasper, c’74, g’77, managesaccounting for Halliburton in Houston.

James Jones, g’74, recently became adirector at E-Loan Inc. He lives in Alamo,Calif.

Cary Rayment, g’74, is president andCEO of Alcon. He lives in Colleyville,Texas.

Anita Bitikofer Schimmel, c’74, doesreal-estate consulting with KellerWilliams Clients Choice Realty inColorado Springs.

William Walker, c’74, manages appli-cation engineering for FKI Logistex inFort Worth, Texas.

1975Kathy Larsen Bruner, j’75, works as

an administrative assistant at TimberlineElementary School in Aurora, Colo.

Curtis Diebel, b’75, is president ofDiebel’s Sportsmens Gallery in KansasCity. He lives in Overland Park.

Marvin McIntosh, m’75, lives in

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 49

Kansas City, where he’s medical directorof the Community House of Wellness.

Eric Meyer, j’75, directs academicoperations at the University of Illinois inUrbana. He lives in Champaign.

1976Gary Bernhardt, c’76, m’79, practices

medicine with Family Health GroupChartered in Overland Park, where healso owns a Mr. Goodcents store withhis wife, Nancy.

Kathryn Ann Kosier Chrobot, n’76,directs risk management at theUniversity of California-Davis. She livesin Sacramento.

Tyrone Means, l’76, recently wasselected for membership in the AlabamaLaw Foundation Fellows Program. He’sa partner in Thomas Means Gillis &Seay in Montgomery.

Richard Rothfelder, c’76, recently waselected president of the Harris CountyMayors and Councils Association. He’smayor of Southside, Texas, and a partnerin the business litigation law firm ofRothfelder & Falick.

Terry Sharp, g’76, directs finance forthe city of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He livesin Plantation.

Kenneth Stone, j’76, coordinatesonline production for SignOnSanDiego.com. He lives in La Mesa, Calif.

Brad Sullivan, c’76, m’79, practicesmedicine at Midwest Women’sHealthcare in Kansas City. He lives inLeawood.

Marshall Wade, b’76, manages lossprevention for Yellow Roadway inOverland Park.

Roger Ward, c’76, chairs the curatorialdivision of the Norton Museum of Art inWest Palm Beach, Fla.

Mark Watson, c’76, g’78, is city man-ager of Temple, Texas. His son, Kevin, isthe third generation of his family tostudy for a master’s in public administra-tion at KU. Mark’s father, the late BufordWatson, was longtime city manager ofLawrence.

1977David Davenport, l’77, a distinguished

professor of public policy and law at

Pepperdine University in Los Angeles,recently was appointed to the CaliforniaPerformance Review Commission.

Randy Fassold, j’77, works as a specialinvestigator for U.S. InvestigationsServices in Overland Park. He lives inOlathe.

Michele Kocour, j’77, does public rela-tions for Southwest Airlines inScottsdale, Ariz.

Vernon Mills, m’77, practices medicinein Lansing. He lives in Leavenworth.

Marjorie Rothschild, g’77, g’80, is sci-ence chairman at Raleigh Egypt HighSchool in Memphis, Tenn.

Steffen Van Keppel, j’77, lives inHouston, where he’s managing directorfor Refco.

Stacey Butler Yurkovich, d’77, g’87, isprincipal of Prairie Trail Junior High

Class Notes


School in Olathe. She lives in Shawnee.

1978Michael Meacham, l’78, g’98, is an

associate professor in the department ofhealth policy and administration andassociate director of the MHA programat Pennsylvania State University inUniversity Park.

Rick Riffel, d’78, works as a middle-school principal for USD 325. He lives inPhillipsburg.

Loren Taylor, j’78, g’87, recently was elected president of the Council of Alumni Association Executives. He’spresident and CEO of the University ofIllinois Alumni Association at Urbana.

1979Betsy Healy, b’79, received a degree

last spring from Whittier Law School ofCosta Mesa, Calif. She lives in Placentiaand directs procurement at Van LawFoods in Fullerton.

Bernard McCoy, j’79, received an

Emmy recently from the Ohio ValleyChapter of the National Academy ofTelevison Arts and Sciences for outstand-ing investigative reporting. He anchorsthe news at WBNS-TV in Columbus.

Susan Strong Morgenstern, j’79, isvice president at Dye, Van Mol &Lawrence in Nashville, Tenn. She lives inHendersonville with her husband,Ronald, ’79.

Barbara Koenig Sturner, j’79, worksas a public affairs officer for the FederalEmergency Management Agency inKansas City.

1980Kevin Carpenter, c’80, is a financial

planner for New York Life in Seven Hills,Ohio.

Brian Thomas, c’80, lives in Princeton,N.J., where he’s a principal at PrincetonConsulting International.

1982Sue Strunk Krenger, n’82, is a nurse

at Mercy Health Center in OklahomaCity.

William Menezes, ’82, works as assis-tant business buyer for the Denver Post.

Curtis Moore, c’82, manages produc-tion for G&K Services in Kansas City. Helives in Ottawa.

Janet Murguia, c’82, j’82, l’85, recentlyreceived a Distinguished Citizen Awardfrom the National Conference forCommunity and Justice. She is executivedirector and chief operating officer of theNational Council of La Raza, a Hispaniccivil-rights organization. Janet makes herhome in Washington, D.C.

Mark Neves, ’82, is a client executivewith Immedient Corp. in Overland Park.He lives in Olathe.

1983Marilyn Smith, c’83, manages cor-

porate human resources for the SpencerReed Group in Overland Park. She lives in Olathe.

Leonid Yurovsky, e’83, g’84, directs

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 51

network deployment for AT&T inMiddletown, N.J. He lives in Ocean.

1984Derek Hinton, j’84, is CEO of TIES in

Tulsa, Okla.Brian Levinson, j’84, g’94, directs

organizational communications forCentex Homes in Dallas. He lives in FortWorth.

Sheryln Wyatt Manson, d’84, is acommunications leader with GEInsurance Solutions in Overland Park.She lives in Lenexa.

1985Todd Covault, d’85, g’96, EdD’02, is

an assistant superintendent at the Crete-Monee Community School District inCrete, Ill. He lives in Steger.

Dallas Delaney, e’85, was namedBlack Engineer of the Year recently byBlack Engineer magazine. He managesnew products at Abbott Laboratories inAbbott Park, Ill.

Lori Elliott-Bartle, j’85, teaches journalism at the University ofNebraska-Omaha.

Daniel Mock, c’85, is a manager withSprint in Overland Park. He lives inOlathe.

Scott Roulier, d’85, president ofrealEsmart, makes his home in Ramona,Calif.

BORN TO:Tom, ’85, and Margaret McShane

Rowe, b’87, l’90, daughter, Kelly Marie,March 3 in Leawood, where she joinstwo brothers, Alexander, 6, andNicholas, 2. Tom is a manufacturers’ rep-resentative with Mac McClain andAssociates, and Margaret practices law atCommerce Bancshares.

1986Steven Andert, e’86, is a senior vice

president and manager of electrical engi-neering with William Tao and Associatesin St. Louis. He lives in Manchester withhis wife, Helen, and their three sons.

Leslie Borden, d’86, g’94, works asclinical coordinator at ProfesssionalRehabilitative Services in Kansas City.

She lives in Lansing.Ramona Deegan Ellis, c’86, is a realty

officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairsin Wewoka, Okla. She lives in Shawnee.

Robert Greenwood, j’86, makes hishome in Burke, Va. He’s vice president ofpublic affairs for the National PACEAssoc. in Alexandria.

Robin Miles, l’86, is a partner in theHouston law firm of Bracewell &Patterson.

1987Julie Abels, j’87, works in international

market development and strategic plan-ning with Delta Airlines in Atlanta.

John Clever, l’87, is assistant directorof athletics at the University of Oregonin Eugene.

Karen Hatlestad Fernengel, g’87,PhD’95, is dean of nursing at St. MaryCollege in Leavenworth.

1988Kathryn Anderson, c’88, j’88, is

deputy director and chief operating officer of Cultural Tourism DC inWashington, D.C.

Laura Andre, c’88, a’91, lives inAlbuquerque, where she’s an assistantprofessor at the University of NewMexico.

Sally Streff Buzbee, j’88, recentlybecame chief of Middle East News forthe Associated Press based in Cairo,Egypt.

Marcia Nelson Fries, s’88, s’90, is anopen adoption counselor with theIndependent Adoption Center. She livesin Wake Forest, N.C.

Rex Johnson, j’88, g’98, lives inShawnee. He’s senior manager forCapgemini in Leawood.

Fredric Scheff, g’88, g’97, recentlyjoined the faculty of Rhode IslandCollege as an adjunct studio voiceinstructor. He lives in East Greenwich.

1989Steven Huff, b’89, g’91, is vice presi-

dent of information technology atCommerce Bank & Trust in Topeka. Helives in Overland Park.

Randall Patton, b’89, lives in Lake


Class Notes

Barrington, Ill. He’s a director at AllstateInsurance.

1990Mark Taylor, c’90, g’94, practices

emergency and critical-care medicinewith American Animal Emergency. Helives in Boca Raton, Fla.

Robert Winterer, j’90, is a marketingliason for Edward Jones in St. Louis.

BORN TO:Thomas, b’90, l’94, and Sue

Schwartzburg Mills, j’90, daughter,Grace Anne, Sept. 21 in Lafayette, Colo.,where she joins a sister, Holly, 2.

1991Mallory Buck Bryan, c’91, g’98, works

as a speech language pathologist forUSD 501 in Topeka. She lives inBerryton.

Steve Cooksey, c’91, is president ofStonebridge General Contractors in

Richardson, Texas.Kimberly O’Neal, b’91, works as a

management information analyst withthe Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Shelives in Lawrence.

Jeffrey Siegal, j’91, teaches and coaches at Buffalo Grove High School inBuffalo Grove, Ill. He lives in Wheeling.

Geoffrey Wehrman, e’91, is a techni-cal lead for SGI in Eagan, Minn.

BORN TO:Rich, j’91, and Wendy Poindexter

Cornell, c’91, daughter, AudreyElizabeth, April 26 in Lawrence, whereshe joins a brother, Evan, 4. Rich is a dis-trict sales coordinator for AFLAC.

Mark, j’91, and Susan Shaffer Fagan,j’92, son, Max Lawrence, June 3 inLawrence, where he joins a sister, Erin,who’s 2.

Rita Collins Shaffer, j’91, n’01, andMatthew, c’93, m’00, son, MaxwellClark, March 10 in Salina, where he joins

two brothers, Nicholas, 9, and Samuel, 4.

1992Del Kimball, j’92, owns DMS

Marketing in Kansas City.Tari Baker Parmely, d’92, works as a

specialist at Stowers Institute for MedicalResearch in Kansas City.

Ronald Roecker, j’92, recently wasnamed vice president of communica-tions for the National Academy ofRecording Arts & Sciences in SantaMonica, Calif. He lives in HermosaBeach.

Ikuko Tokunaga, j’92, g’95, managesmarketing for Paltek in Yokohama,Japan.

MARRIEDMichael Nuffer, c’92, and Hilary

Brown, h’94, April 3 in Lawrence, wherehe owns Michael Nuffer Construction.Hilary works for Full Circle Farm inKansas City.

BORN TO:Kimberly Cochran Boyette, j’92, and

Richard, daughter, Caroline Ann, June 2in Ballwin, Mo., where she joins a broth-er, Luke, who’s 2. Kimberly manages ter-ritory sales for American Century.

Melanie Mans Potts, c’92, andMichael, son, Nash Anthony, June 10 inDallas, where he joins a brother, Major,2. Melanie is assistant principal atStonewall Jackson Elementary School.

1993Scott Douglass, e’93, is a partner in

the Dallas firm of Armstrong-Douglass.Kent Eckles, c’93, directs spectrum

policy for Electronic Warfare Associatesin Arlington, Va. He lives in Alexandria.

Chad Gunther, b’93, is an investmentanalyst with Waddell & Reed inOverland Park.

Todd Jensen, d’93, works as a seniorsales representative for ICOS. He lives inPapillion, Neb.

Patti Mason, p’93, is a pharmacist atDeGoler Pharmacy in Kansas City.

Kirk McCabe, c’93, practices law withPeterson & Associates in Kansas City. Helives in Shawnee.

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 53


I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 55

Fred Neis, n’93, g’97, directs theemergency department at the CarolinasMedical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Michelle Smith Pursel, c’93, managesclient relations for EdFund inLeavenworth.

James Willbanks, g’93, PhD’98, is asupervisory professor in the CombatStudies Institute at the U.S. ArmyCommand & General Staff College atFort Leavenworth. He wrote AbandoningVietnam: How America Left and SouthVietnam Lost Its Way, which recently waspublished by University Press of Kansas.

BORN TO:Chris, c’93, and Jane Beall Beckwith,

c’93, daughter, Phoebe Jane, March 25 inTulsa, Okla., where Jane teaches school.

Katy Regan Jennings, j’93, andMatthew, c’97, daughter, Allyson, May 8in Leawood. Matthew is a sales represen-tative for LabOne in Shawnee Mission,and Katy manages national sales forInfinity Broadcasting.

Kristey Slyter Williams, d’93, g’98,and Joe, son, Holt, Sept. 11 in Augusta,where he joins two sisters, Sydney, 6,and Sadie, 3.

1994Travis Berkley, c’94, e’94, manages

LAN support services at KU. He and JillSchwartz Berkley, s’91, s’93, make theirhome in Lawrence.

Julie Stephanchick Chaney, b’94,manages employee development andfinancial services at the University ofPhoenix. She and her husband, Ernest,live in Chandler.

Brandon Devlin, c’94, is a senior sys-tems administrator at NorthropGrumman in Leavenworth. He lives inLawrence.

Michael, e’94, and Jennifer MurrillMyers, c’98, make their home inSuperior, Colo., with their sons, Grant, 3,and Garrett, 1.

Mark Main, c’94, works as a managerat McKinsey & Co. He lives in ParkRidge, Ill.

Joshua Mistler, c’94, is an associatewith the Stolar Partnership in St. Louis.He lives in Columbia, Ill.

Brook Moody, c’94, works at LaQuinta, where he’s regional director ofsales. He lives in Merriam.

Karen Korte Rose, c’94, is a solutionconsultant at ePartners in Tampa, Fla.

Shannon Schwartz, j’94, directs proj-ects at Knowledge Networks in MenloPark, Calif. She lives in Mountain View.

ADOPTED BY:Marion, p’94, and Gretchen Miller

Evans, p’94, adopted a son, Reese Paul,Feb. 17 in Knoxville, Tenn, where they’reboth pharmacists at Bi-Lo Pharmacy.

BORN TO:Buran, c’94, and Stacey Anderson

Ayuthia, e’95, daughter, KaitlynElizabeth, Dec. 10 in Mount Horeb, Wis.Buran is an information technology proj-ect manager at Sentry Insurance inBrookfield, and Stacey is a project man-ager with Affiliated ConstructionServices in Madison.

Brandon Devlin, c’94, and Andria,son, Conor William, June 7 in Lawrence,where he joins a brother, Sean, 2.Brandon is a senior systems administra-tor with Northrop GrummanInformation Technology at FortLeavenworth.

Kevin Kennedy, c’94, and Tina, son,Eric Dee, June 11 in Callaway, Md.,where he joins a brother, Ryan, 3, and asister, Meghan, 1. Kevin is a cost teamlead with Naval Air Systems Commandin Patuxent River.

Cory, c’94, l’98, g’98, and JulianneLeeland Lagerstrom, b’98, son, DavidLeeland, Dec. 21 in Shawnee Mission.Cory works for Aspen WealthManagement, and Julianne is a health-care representative at Pfizer.

Katherine Greenwald Parks, g’94,and Thomas, daughter, EmmaKatherine, Feb. 17 in Charlotte, N.C.,where she joins a brother, Patrick, 2.

James, c’94, and Candice Eberle

Class Notes


Westphal, j’95, son, Joseph Cullen, June8 in Overland Park. James is president ofWestphal Consulting, and Candice isvice president of Clear ChannelEntertainment.

1995Jason Greenwood, j’95, directs mar-

keting for Abercrombie & Kent, a luxurytravel company. He lives in Arlington, Va.

David Hanks, c’95, is a flight test engi-neer for Advanced InformationEngineering Services in Lexington Park,Md. He lives in Great Mills.

Loren Jantz, b’95, works as a salesconsultant for Novartis Pharmaceuticals.He lives in Broken Arrow, Okla.

Ben Miller, PhD’95, recently becameassistant coach of men’s basketball atSouthwest Missouri State University inSpringfield.

BORN TO:Catherine Trujillo Becker, b’95,

and Patrick, son, Carson, Jan. 13 inLenexa. Catherine is a manager with

KPMG in Kansas City.Jeffrey Nichols, c’95, l’99, and

Meghan, son, Nathan, March 2 inLenexa. Jeffrey practices law withWallace, Sanders, Austin, Brown inOverland Park.

Tyson, ’95, and Rebecca WilsonSchroeder, c’99, g’04, son, HoldenBlake, Jan. 14 in Yarmouth Port, Mass.

1996James Ferguson, c’96, practices law

with Vanliner Insurance. He lives in St.Louis.

Christopher Frison, f’96, is seniorproject designer for the Douglas Groupin Houston.

Tasmin Mills, c’96, works as a small-business resource officer for Sun TrustBank. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Matthew Ritchie, c’96, is president ofR-Con Corp. in Wichita.

BORN TO:Sherman Reeves, c’96, and Rebecca,

daughter, Morgan Elizabeth, May 14 in

Durham, N.C., where Sherman is anophthalmology resident at the Duke Eye Center.

1997Clifton Railsback, e’97, supervises

production at Mallinckrodt Baker inPhillipsburg, N.J. He lives in Bethlehem, Pa.

Keri Russell, c’97, j’98, is employerand outreach coordinator for theUniversity of Nevada-Las Vegas.

MARRIEDAimee Riss, c’97, g’99, to Benjamin

Strobl, June 5 in Mission Hills. They livein Fairway.

BORN TO:Joseph, c’97, and Neah Bay Downs

Douglas, c’99, son, Edward Artic, April29 in Evanston, Ill., where he joins abrother, Jackson, 3.

Kimberly Clevenger Van Auken, b’97,and Matthew, e’98, daughter, HaileyMaureen, Dec. 31 in Fort Collins, Colo.

Administration in Kansas City. She livesin Shawnee.

Kris Humbarger, b’00, is a manage-ment consultant for J.R. Bechtle & Co. inOak Brook, Ill. He lives in Bensenville.

Michael Pace, c’00, practices medicineat the Medical Center of Independence.He lives in Independence, Mo.

Jennifer Roszell, j’00, works as anaccount executive for Lavidge &Baumayr Advertising in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Troy Waymaster, c’00, is a retail creditanalyst at Daimler Chrysler Services. Helives in Plano, Texas.

MARRIEDKathleen Corry, f’00, to Kevin Parker,

June 26 in St. Louis. Katie is an interiordesigner with the Lawrence Group, andKevin is an area manager withCountrywide Loans.

Jeff Dreiling, b’00, and Brandi Byram,j’00, May 14 in Brookeside, Mo. He’s an

account executive for Omnidox, andshe’s a media supervisor for Bernstein-Rein. They live in Prairie Village.

Kris Humbarger, b’00, to IngaVollertsen, March 22 in Eutin, Germany.He works for J.R. Bechtle & Co. in OakBrook, Ill., as a management consultantfor European companies with U.S. sub-sidiaries.

2001Debra Berkowitz, c’01, edits publica-

tions for the Corporate Executive Boardin Washington, D.C. She lives inAlexandria, Va.

Seth, b’01, and KimberleeSmithyman Bouska, c’01, make theirhome in Hillsboro, Ore.

Kyle Kovac, d’01, works as a policeofficer for the Kansas City, Kan., PoliceDepartment. He lives in Bonner Springs.

Melissa Long, j’01, directs communica-tions and education for the Home

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 57

Kimberly is a healthcare representativefor Pfizer, and Matt is an engineer withAnode Systems Co.

1998Bryant Bremer, n’98, practices law

with DeHay & Elliston in Dallas.Neal Dolbeare, c’98, is a retirement

investments specialist with AmericanCentury Investments in Kansas City.

Catherine Hogan, j’98, manages mar-keting for Merrill Lynch Capital inChicago.

Erin Hubert, c’98, j’98, is websitemanager for HOK in Kansas City.

Brian O’Mara, c’98, practices law withLerach Coughlin Stoia & Robbins. Helives in La Jolla, Calif.

Christopher Vincent, c’98, is a fixed-income trader with American CenturyInvestments in Mountain View, Calif.

1999Aaron Bolton, l’99, teaches Spanish

at Duchesne High School in St. Charles,Mo.

Nathan Prenger, c’99, is a networkengineer with Sprint in Overland Park.

Matthew Richards, l’99, practices lawwith Barber Emerson in Lawrence.

Michael Schindler, b’99, c’03, is vicepresident of CinePartners Entertainmentin Los Angeles. He lives in Mission Viejo.

MARRIEDTresa Smith, d’99, to John Vogel, Feb.

21. They live in Olathe, and she worksfor Merck & Co.

2000Stacy Abernethy, j’00, is a sales

representative for Hallmark Cards inKansas City.

Jenna Arbuckle, c’00, does academicadvising and counseling at theUniversity of Oregon in Eugene.

Robert Bishop, b’00, sells real estatewith ERA Manning & Associates inLenexa. He lives in Westwood.

Jason Bredemeier, d’00, g’02, teaches at Falls City Middle School inFalls City, Neb.

Jean Donaldson Dodd, a’00, g’03, isan architect for the General Services

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 59

Builders Association of Greater Austin.She lives in Austin, Texas.

Jacob Morgan, c’01, is a quality con-trol technician for Intervet. He lives inOlathe.

Michael Randall, e’01, works as anapplication programmer/analyst for theKansas Department of HumanResources. He commutes to Topeka from Lawrence.

Callie Shultz, b’01, g’03, directs mar-keting and health and safety for theAmerican Red Cross in Lawrence.

Jeremy Tamsett, c’01, is a researchassistant with the education group at theCenter for Nonproliferation Studies atthe Monterey (Calif.) Institute ofInternational Studies.

Carrie Waters, c’01, works as aspeech and language pathologist atPremier Therapy Services in Kansas City.

Dylan Wright, e’01, is a hardwareengineer at Adtran in Phoenix.

MARRIEDBrandon Miller, d’01, and Jamie

Goode, d’01, g’02, July 17. They live inKansas City, and Jamie teaches math atLiberty Junior High School.

2002Natasha Andrews, f’02, works at

Wells Fargo Bank in Las Vegas.Brian Carpenter, c’02, supervises

group remarketing for Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Merriam. He lives in Shawnee.

Sarah Donahue, d’02, directs aquaticsat Southern Methodist University inDallas.

Richard Ehinger, g’02, teaches mathand science and is assistant varsity girls’basketball coach at Gulliver Prep HighSchool in Miami.

Ryan Gertsner, b’02, is a commercialloan officer at Bank of Blue Valley inOverland Park. He lives in Leawood.

Kelli Olberding Nichols, b’02, is agraduate assistant at KU. She commutesto Lawrence from Olathe, where she and her husband, Justin, c’01, maketheir home.

Megan Norris O’Byrne, c’02, worksas a data analyst at the Mayo Clinic inRochester, Minn.

Kerry Tubbs, j’02, coordinates market-ing for Ferrellgas in Liberty, Mo. He livesin Westwood.

Roland Weibel, e’02, is a graduateresearch assistant at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology in Cambridge,Mass.

MARRIEDJoshua Swank, b’02, and Jill Schryer,

d’03, May 30. He’s a special projectscoordinator for the KU Athletics Corp.,and she works for Waddell & Reed inShawnee Mission. They make their homein Lenexa.

2003Charles Broyles, b’03, is a financial

representative with Broyles FinancialServices in Arlington, Texas. He lives inFort Worth.

Michael Frisbie, e’03, works as a soft-ware engineer with GarminInternational. He lives in Olathe.

Brian Jones, j’03, is a marketing asso-ciate with SmithBucklin in Chicago.

Nicole LeClaire, e’03, works as anengineer for Henderson Engineering.She lives in Shawnee Mission.

Bradley Schoonover, c’03, is a catas-trophe claims representative for FarmersInsurance Exchange in ShawneeMission. He lives in Lawrence.

Amy Wong, c’03, works as a cytotech-nologist at Gyne-Path Laboratory in LosGatos, Calif. She lives in Burlingame.

BORN TO:James Lord, e’03, and Melisa, son,

Caleb Hunter, April 25 in Lawrence,where James is a staff engineer withHoss and Brown.

2004Eric Braun, b’04, is a staff auditor at

Emerson in St. Louis. He lives inBallwin.

Jessica Bush, b’04, manages projectsfor Butler National in Olathe. She lives inOverland Park.

Michael Dalbom, ’04, is a sales profes-sional with Pulte Homes. He lives inLenexa.

Aimee Damashek, ’04, works as a

coding analyst at Menorah MedicalCenter in Overland Park.

Lee Hendricks, l’04, g’04, practiceslaw with Stumbo, Hanson andHendricks in Topeka. He commutesfrom Lawrence.

Jay Quickel, g’04, manages productsfor Hallmark Cards in Kansas City.

Jared, c’04, and Rebecca HarveyTodd, ’04, celebrated their first anniver-sary Aug. 8. They live in Lawrence.

Kim Zarate, j’04, works for theCerner Corp. in Kansas City. She lives in Bonner Springs.

MARRIEDAdam Riha, c’04, and Melissa

Baraban, ’05, April 30. They live inLawrence.

Rachael Moore, c’04, to JoshuaDeBoy, March 6 in the Caribbean atTurks and Caicos. They live in Omaha,Neb., where Rachael works with WellsFargo and Joshua is a captain in the U.S. Army.

School Codes Letters that follownames in Kansas Alumni indicate the school fromwhich alumni earned degrees. Numbers showtheir class years.

a School of Architecture and UrbanDesign

b School of Businessc College of Liberal Arts and

Sciencesd School of Educatione School of Engineeringf School of Fine Artsg Master’s Degreeh School of Allied Healthj School of Journalisml School of Lawm School of Medicinen School of Nursingp School of Pharmacys School of Social WelfareDE Doctor of EngineeringDMA Doctor of Musical ArtsEdD Doctor of EducationPhD Doctor of Philosophy(no letter) Former studentassoc. Associate member of the

Alumni Association

In Memory


1920sElva McMullen Gamble, f ’23, 103,

April 27 in Lake Ozark, Mo. Survivingare four grandchildren, nine great-grand-children and two great-great-grand-children.

Mildred Newby Gauert, f ’28, May 6in Albuquerque, N.M. She taught musicin Kansas City and is survived by a son,William, c’54, m’58; a sister, MaryNewby Reavis, ’36; two grandchildren;and four great-grandchildren.

1930sJean “Toddy” Haines Barteldes, c’37,

88, May 27 in Lawrence. She is survivedby her husband, Ben, c’36; two sons,Ben, c’63, g’70, and Chris, d’69, g’77;and five grandchildren.

Charlotte Leuenberger Ellis, n’37, 91,Jan. 20 in Ogden, Utah. She is survivedby a son, John, m’70; two daughters, oneof whom is Margaret Ellis Rostkowski,g’71; seven grandchildren; and twogreat-grandchildren.

Lois Moon Garver, d’31, 94, Aug. 10in Wichita. She had lived in Kansas Cityand is survived by two daughters, JudithGarver Slawson, ’57, and Sandra GarverRemsberg, c’59; 10 grandchildren; and10 great-grandchildren.

Dorothy Bangs Goodpasture, c’36,89, May 27 in Wichita, where she servedon the Board of Education and was pres-ident of the Kansas Association ofSchool Boards and a member of theNational School Boards Association. Sheis survived by her husband, Carter; twodaughters, one of whom is DorotheaGoodpasture Schultz, c’62; two sons,one of whom is Hewitt, m’69; a sister;eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Waldo Graber, e’38, 93, March 30 inLiberal, where he was field engineer withPanhandle Eastern Pipeline. Survivingare two sons, Robert, e’69, g’73, andNeal, e’73; a daughter, Patricia Graber

O’Brien, n’64; two brothers; a sister; nine grandchildren; and two great-grand-children.

J. Fred Harris, c’38, 91, March 23 inKansas City. He was retired from a careerwith Ford Motor. Several nieces andnephews survive.

Virginia Huntington, c’38, g’58, 86,April 28 in Tempe, Ariz. She was on thefaculty at Arizona State University. Aniece survives.

Mary Nan Steel Meade, c’39, g’56,86, July 7 in Covington, Ky. A sister,Charlotte Steel Tuttle, f’41, survives.

Proctor Ritchie, e’39, 86, May 24 inEastborough, where he had owned theRitchie Corp. Surviving are his wife,Betty; two sons, one of whom is Hale,e’66, b’66; a daughter; two brothers,Dean, e’40, and Davis, b’50; sevengrandchildren; and five great-grand-children.

Jay Wanamaker, c’34, 92, June 9 inTopeka, where he owned WanamakerInsurance. He is survived by his wife,Judy; a daughter; a son, Stephen, b’70,g’71; a brother; five grandsons; and twogreat-grandsons.

Ben Williamson, e’33, g’40, 97, June 1.He lived in Troy, where he ownedWilliamson Surveying and Engineering.Survivors include a daughter, PatriciaWilliamson Dill, d’62; two sons, one ofwhom is Robert, e’68, g’73; seven grand-children; and six great-grandchildren.

1940sClemeth Abercrombie, b’49, 79, July

23 in Lawrence. He was president ofBarnard State Bank and CitizensNational Bank in Minneapolis. Survivingare his wife, Barbara; two sons, Clemeth,a’75, and John, b’79; a sister, RuthAbercrombie Pickrell, d’52; and twograndchildren.

Jack Beebe, c’40, l’47, 85, May 26 inMcPherson. He is survived by his wife,Marjorie; a son; two daughters, one of

whom is Lydia, j’74, l’77; a stepson; abrother; 10 grandchildren; and fourgreat-grandchildren.

Betty Jane Hamilton Coulter, ’45,June 30 in Leawood. She is survived byher husband, Frank; a son; a daughter; abrother, G.K. Hamilton Jr., c’41; twograndsons; and a great-granddaughter.

John Fisher, b’42, 83, June 6 in ElDorado, where he owned an auto dealer-ship. He is survived by a daughter, KayFisher Abernathy, d’69; two grandchil-dren; and four great-grandchildren.

Hugh Gillin, c’49, May 4 in San Diego,where he was an actor. He is survived byhis wife, Jan; three sons, one of whom isTimothy, c’72; a daughter, Marcia GillinCook, assoc.; four grandchildren; and agreat-grandson.

Frank Godding Jr., a’43, 82, June 3 inTopeka, where he was an architect. He issurvived by a brother, George, ’47; and asister, Lorraine Godding Bodin, j’53.

Sue Ann Overton Groff, c’41, 84,March 25 in Sioux Center, Iowa. She hadlived in Topeka and is survived by herhusband, James, b’41; a daughter, KyleGroff Rader, c’74; six grandchildren; andtwo great-grandsons.

Jack Issacs, p’49, 81, Nov. 11 inOklahoma City. He owned pharmaciesin Coffeyville and is survived by a son,John, p’76; a stepson; a daughter; a stepdaughter, Connie Nehrbass, d’63; a brother, Dale, EdD’53; a sister; fourgrandchildren; and three stepgrand-children.

LaVerda Berg Johnston, ’41, 83, May4 in Russell. She was a retired nurse andis survived by her husband, Myron,assoc.; a brother; and two sisters.

Dineen Somers Robb, c’47, 79, June10 in North Newton. She is survived bytwo sons, John, b’75, and Joseph, b’82;and five granddaughters.

Warren Rugan, c’47, 81, July 30 inEllinwood. He is survived by three sons;a daughter, Sharon Kay Rugan Theimer,

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 61

h’75; and 10 grandchildren.Carl Unruh, e’43, May 23 in

Pasadena, Calif., where he worked forC.F. Braun & Co. Surviving are his wife,Jane, two daughters and three grand-sons.

1950sArthur Brewster, c’53, l’56, 72, July

3 in Amarillo, Texas, where he was aretired landman. He is survived by adaughter; a son; a brother, James, c’56,l’58; a sister; and four grandchildren.

Judith Veatch Brewster, f ’52, 74, May 31 in Amarillo, Texas. She is sur-vived by a daughter; a son; a sister, Joan Veatch Hankammer, j’46; and four grandchildren.

Myron Johns, ’59, 67, May 20 inBozeman, Mont. He had been presidentand founder of Hospital DevelopmentInc. Survivors include his wife, Sharon,two sons, two daughters, his mother,three stepchildren and 13 grandchildren.

Leander “Lee” Hamilton, c’54, l’56,75, June 21 in Olathe. He was the eldestgrandchild of the late KU basketballcoach Phog Allen. Survivors include twodaughters, a son, two sisters, six grand-children and a great-grandson.

Joan Wilson Rice, ’51, 74, June 7 inNorton, where she directed the NortonManor. She is survived by her husband,Melvin, b’51, d’60; two daughters, DianeRice Taylor, c’74, and Lori Rice Powlas,b’76; and three grandchildren.

1960s Lewis Anderson, b’62, 69, May 26 in

Asheville, N.C., where he was retiredfrom Eastman Kodak. He is survived byhis wife, Sandra; two sons; his mother;two sisters, one of whom is SharonAnderson Henderson, c’65; and threegrandsons.

Nancy Miller Elder, d’65, g’66, 61,June 15 in Topeka. She is survived byher husband, Mike, c’65, m’69; two sons;and a grandson.

Jorge Li, PhD’66, Jan. 15 inCupertino, Calif. He is survived by hiswife, Maria; and two daughters, one ofwhom is Audrey, f’93.

A. Rodger White, c’61, in Calgary,

Canada, where he worked for MobileOil. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy,two daughters and a granddaughter.

1970sLaurie Krogh, c’74, g’76, 51, May 17

in Reno, Nev. She taught at Mercy HighSchool in San Francisco for many yearsand is survived by a sister, Linda KroghRussell, d’69, g’71.

Mary Mershon Miller, d’79, 46, July28 in Lawrence, where she was a librar-ian at KU. Survivors include her hus-band, Marty, d’88; a son; and a daughter.

JoAnn Seiglar Wright-Wochner, d’75,g’77, l’80, 53, June 7 in Jacksboro, Texas.She lived in Frisco and had been ateacher and an attorney. She is survivedby her husband, Gene, a stepson, herfather and a sister.

1980sJanet Bowen, c’88, 40, May 26 in

Olathe. She is survived by two sisters,Judith Bowen Rounda, d’79, and JillBowen Guenther, ’83.

Thad Wooster, c’89, 41, July 11 inSalina. He is survived by his father; twobrothers, Nickelson, j’82, and Scot, c’96;and his grandmother.

THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITYJoseph Burckhalter, 91, May 9 in

Suntree, Fla. He was KU’s first chair ofmedicinal chemistry and taught in thedepartment until 1960. Surviving are hiswife, Julia; two sons, one of whom isDavid, c’66; a daughter, Jane BurckhalterDickinson, PhD’93; and two grandsons.

Frank Burge, 82, July 3 in Lawrence,where he was director of the KansasUnion from 1952 until 1982. He over-saw four major additions to the Unionand orchestrated the building’s recon-struction after it was gutted by arson in1970. KU’s satellite union is named forhim. He was KU’s first employee of theyear and was a recipient of the FredEllsworth Medallion, the AlumniAssociation’s highest award for uniqueand significant service to the University.His wife, Gladys, survives.

Vivian Rogers, g’72, 84, June 14 inWest Hartford, Conn. She founded the

Adult Life Resource Center at KU andwas assistant dean of ContinuingEducation. Later, she directed the Centerfor the Education of Women at theUniversity of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Amemorial has been established with theKU Endowment Association. She is sur-vived by a daughter; two sons, WilliamMcCoy, ’80, and Bernard McCoy, j’79;and three grandchildren.

William Smith, 88, May 29 inLawrence, where he was former dean ofengineering and a professor emeritus ofengineering. A memorial has been estab-lished with the KU EndowmentAssociation. He is survived by his wife,Carol; two daughters, Susan SmithPinero, c’64, and Sally, ’74; a son,William, e’74, m’77; six grandchildren;and two great-grandchildren.

Pawel Szeptycki, 69, Jan. 30 inKansas City. He lived in Lawrence,where he was a professor of mathematicsfor 40 years. He is survived by his wife,Teresa; two sons, Leon, c’85, and Paul,c’86; a brother; a sister; and four grand-children.

Richard Tessel, 60, July 18 inLawrence, where he was a retired profes-sor of pharmacology and toxicology. Heis survived by his wife, JulieBramschreiber, g’98; a son; three daugh-ters; and three grandchildren.

Nona Tollefson, 67, June 26 in Topeka.She lived in Lawrence and was a profes-sor of psychology and research educa-tion. She had received the Chancellor’sAward for Teaching Excellence and theBudig Teaching Award and had beeninducted into the Kansas Women’s Hallof Fame. A memorial has been estab-lished with the KU EndowmentAssociation. She is survived by a daugh-ter, Elizabeth, ’90, and two sons, one ofwhom is John, d’91.

Robert Wilber, c’57, m’61, 68, June19 in Prairie Village, where he was aninstructor of gastroenterology. He is sur-vived by his wife, Glenna RichardsWilber, d’57; a daughter, Lori WilberChristopher, j’83; a brother; and sixgranddaughters.

piano and played for 45 minutes.Afterward, he had one more question.

“He said, ‘What are you doing? Iwant to make a record with you, andI don’t want to change a thing.’”

Maybe it was the Kansas connec-tion that drew Fundis, a Baldwinnative, to Hunt, who grew up listen-ing to blues, gospel and jazz recordsin her parents’ Emporia home. She’dalready developed a keen ear formusic at 10, when she began takingpiano lessons with a flamboyantmusic teacher named Mary BurkeNorton, who taught her how to readmusic and play two-fisted boogie-woogie style piano.

“New Shade of Blue,” her collabo-ration with Fundis and his fellowGrammy winner Gary Nicholson,showcases the same rollicking pianoand powerhouse vocals that drew

fans to Hunt’s first two recordings and her liveshows. But it also signals a new stage in hercareer.

Long pigeonholed as a blues performer, Huntcovers more musical ground than ever on “NewShade of Blue.” Varied arrangements allow hergospel, jazz and boogie-woogie influences toshine; Hammond B3 organ, slide guitar and R&B-style horns complement her piano playing.The real treat, though, is Hunt’s voice, which onereviewer aptly describes as “liquid gold.” Alwaysunder control, her singing ranges impressivelyfrom throaty growl to delicate falsetto withoutonce seeming to strain.

For the first time, Hunt co-wrote and recordedmaterial by other songwriters (notably “TheWord” by the Beatles and Jesse Winchester’s“That’s What Makes You Strong”). A duet withDelbert McClinton, who rips it up with Hunt onthe Billy Burnette/Gary Nicholson song “DealWith It,” brings yet more collaborative energy to the disc.

The changes are “a natural evolution,” not acalculated move to boost her appeal, Hunt says.

“I’m not trying to change anyone’s view of me,

Kelley Hunt went into the stu-dio with Garth Fundis in2002 hoping only to con-vince the highly respected

Nashville record producer that a pairof songs she’d written could be hits for

Trisha Yearwood and other country stars Fundisworks with.

“He listened and then said, ‘Do you have anymore songs?’” recalls Hunt, ’79. “I’ve been wait-ing 20 years to hear that question.”

Since releasing her self-titled debut in 1994,the Lawrence singer and piano player has estab-lished herself as a fan-favorite at blues festivals. Atorrid touring schedule (she averages 150 dates ayear) and performances on “A Prairie HomeCompanion,” “Beale Street Caravan” and othernational radio programs helped bring her bluesand R&B material to a larger audience. Big-timesuccess and a record contract with a major label,however, have remained elusive. Rather thancede creative control, she turned down severaloffers and chose in 2000 to release a live albumof new material, “Inspiration.”

In the studio with Fundis, Hunt went to the

Rock Chalk Review


CO

UR

TES

Y H

EAT

HER

BO

HN

Still blueHunt’s first studio CD in a decade

sets old roots to new music

■ Kelley Hunt will promote her new CD,“New Shade of Blue”

(Coda Terra Entertain-ment, $15.50), with a

Nov. 27 appearance onthe radio show Prairie

Home Companion.

and I feel like all the songs on this CDare authentic to what I’ve been doing allalong. I went with the songs I felt werebest for me.”

Live performance is where she getsher creative spark. The heavy touringschedule, a necessity for an artist withrelatively modest sales, can be a grind.But it can also be invaluable when itcomes to selecting material.

“I know I’m going to be out in publicsinging these songs night after night,”Hunt says. “How am I going to feelabout doing these songs? How fun arethey going to be to sing?”

Judging by the high time she has on“New Shade of Blue,” big fun indeed.�

—Steven Hill

◆ ◆ ◆

OREAD READER

Rightward ho!Frank examines state’s,

nation’s conservative shifts

In his 1896 essay “What’s the MatterWith Kansas?” William Allen White,1890, ripped his state’s embrace ofPopulism, a backlash movement

that radicalized farmers fed up with debt

and deflation, low cropprices and high inter-est rates. Spurred byagitators like MaryElizabeth Lease, whourged them to “raiseless corn and morehell,” farmers took tothe streets and the vot-ing booth, replacingincumbents withPopulists. Whitedeemed them fools.

In What’s the MatterWith Kansas? HowConservatives Won theHeart of America,Thomas Frank, ’87,invokes White’s essayto ponder a paradox: How did Kansas,once among the most radical states,become an electoral lock for Republicansand a hotbed for conservative causes?

The answer, Frank persuasivelyargues, is the Right’s “systematic erasureof the economic” from political debate.As in White’s day, the masses are inrevolt against the elites. But now,inflamed by hot-button issues such asgay marriage, abortion, school prayerand evolution, the backlash elects politi-cians who “talk Christ” but “walkCorporate.” Professing solidarity with

working- and middle-class vot-ers, these pols enact policies(tax and capital gains cuts,environmental and corporatederegulation) that favor therich. This curious logic—“thetangled reasoning that leads ahardworking citizen of animpoverished town to concludethat voting for George W. Bushis a way to strike a blow againstbig business”—confounds tradi-tional political wisdom thatpeople vote their pocketbooks.

How did Kansans get fooledagain? Conservatives have con-vinced us that economics don’tmatter, even as our familyfarms fail, our small towns

decline, and our wages stagnate, Frankcontends. Democrats, embracingClinton’s tactic of “triangulation,” playinto the trap by minimizing the eco-nomic differences between the parties.

Frank’s wry skewering of political chi-canery extends far beyond the state line.“This is not just the mystery of Kansas,”he writes, “it’s the mystery ofAmerica.”�

—Steven Hill

■ What’s the MatterWith Kansas?

By Thomas Frank

Metropolitan, $24

Sci-fi in Seattle

The KU-based Science Fiction andFantasy Hall of Fame has a home at the

new Science Fiction Museum in Seattle.James Gunn, j’47, g’51, professor emeri-

tus of English and director of the GunnCenter for the Study of Science Fiction atKU, founded the Hall in 1996 in coopera-tion with the Kansas City Science Fictionand Fantasy Society. It inducts four peopleeach year for outstanding contributions tothe genre.

The move to Seattle provides space forexhibits.The Hall of Fame section consistsof an elegant glass-tiled wall bathed in eerie

blue light, each tile memorializing aninductee with a picture and a short list ofaccomplishments.Video touch screens letfans review biographical information onUrsula K. LeGuin, Jules Verne, Isaac Asimovand other Hall members.

A project of Microsoft co-founder PaulAllen, the Science Fiction Museum openedin June alongside the Experience MusicProject. Located in a visually stunning FrankGehry building near the Space Needle, it’sfilled with iconic Sci-fi memorabilia such asDarth Vader’s helmet and Star Trek gear.

May it live long and prosper.�—Brian Blankenship

I S S U E 5 , 2 0 0 4 | 63

■ KU’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall ofFame finds a permanent home at Seattle’sScience Fiction Museum.

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lineage, will call the Hill home.Lynda and her husband, Howard, aUMKC graduate, are the parents ofSydney, a senior, and Emily andJake, both sophomores.

Not to be outdone, Lynda’s sis-ter, Mickie Peppes, and her hus-band, Greg, both Mizzou alumni,are the parents of Steve, a KU sen-ior; Matt, a junior; and Sara, a freshman.

Lynda and Mickie’s parents,Sheldon and JoAnn Hollub, havewatched six of their seven grand-children become Jayhawks. The seventh, 8-year-old Jordan, is theTigers’ last hope.

Lynda says the Hirsekorn-Peppessaga merely proves that KU and MUfolks can get along—but not withouta few gentle jabs. Freshman SaraPeppes reports that the family’s KU-MU flag flies above the porch ongame days, and her parents duti-fully cheer for both teams, exceptwhen the two face each other. Then,Sara says, “My brothers and I like totease my parents that, no matterwho wins the game, the KU part ofthe flag is always on top.”

All six cousins grew up inKansas, so the in-state tuition at KU

made the rebellion easier for patient and practi-cal parents to tolerate, says senior SydneyHirsekorn: “They all thought it was hilarious thatwe’d all end up going to their rival school.” Herdad shows off his KU-MU license plate (“AHouse Divided”), and he occasionally wears aJayhawk shirt, but her mom reportedly remainstrue to Tiger fashion—down to the striped tail on her car.

Time will tell whether the six Jayhawks will beas generous as their forebears when it comes tofuture rivalries, but Sara’s parting comment sug-gests they might need to mellow with age: “Bythe way,” she says of the cousins’ college alle-giance, “K-State was never an option!”�

B Y J E N N I F E R J A C K S O N S A N N E ROread Encore

Most families expectto cope with teen-age rebellion, butthe Hirsekorn-

Peppes clan in Lenexa has endured a veritable mutiny—with plenty ofgrace and a mere modicum of teasing.

Lynda Hirsekorn, a University ofMissouri alumna, wrote the KansasAlumni Association this summer

to inform KU loyalists of a fam-ily trend: This fall, her three

children and their threecousins, all of Missouri

■ Front row (l to r):Sara Peppes, SydneyHirsekorn and Emily

Hirsekorn; back row (l tor): Steve Peppes, Matt

Peppes and JakeHirsekorn.


Half-dozen cousinsIgnoring two generations

of tradition, six MU descendantsmake their home on the Hill

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Documents

Music Man - Kansas Alumni magazine