Summer 2011

K U T Z T O W N U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E

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CURIOSITIES OF THE KU CAMPUS

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS KU FOUNDATION UPCOMING EVENTS BACK TO CLASS

EVERY 150YEAROLD INSTITUTION

HAS ITS SHARE OF HISTORIC TREASURES. Some are buried beneath layers of history; others are in plain sight, like the Old Main Bell now proudly on display in the center of campus.

In this issue of the Tower, we feature a collection of photos capturing little details that make KU unique – from wooden barbells to telescopes, unused telephone booths to beautiful architectural adornments.

We visit with Barry ’72 and Barbara ’74 Sokol, who started a business and defined their own history. The biography of Dr. Mary St. John ’62 examines her life and the foundation of the Marine Science Consortium – now a successful summer study program. We also travel with Mazie Ziegler ’34 as she takes us on a world tour of memories.

In the end, these are the true treasures of Kutztown University – the valued individual contributions of all who come here to learn, teach and serve.

This year, we are facing one of the most challeng-ing times in the history of Kutztown University. As

economic pressures on this nation continue to impact higher education, our resolve remains to provide a quality education and be a regional center of excellence and a valued partner of businesses and our community.

Ultimately, the success of our students is our primary concern, and the university is working to do everything possible to ensure that their educational experience is not hindered as we face the challenges ahead.

Best Regards,

GLENN GODSHALL ’75, M ’90 Director of Alumni Relations

CONTENTS

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KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

816

Once a year, outstanding graduating

seniors are recognized for their

accomplishments in research, origi-

nal artwork, artistic performances,

literature or meritorious writing in

other fields, athletics and service to

the KU community.

Pictured (from left with KU

President F. Javier Cevallos in

center) are recipients of this year’s

gold, silver and copper medals:

Josh Dannin has seen his artwork

exhibited in juried and invitational

shows nationally and internationally.

His art has traveled across Canada

in a special touring exhibition and

has been presented in a show in

Seoul, South Korea.

Christina Yesenofski has had her

work exhibited in prestigious galler-

ies in New York City and Chicago

and at The State Museum of

Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. In 2009,

she was honored by the faculty of

the Department of Fine Arts with

the Sharadin Award for Distin-

guished Achievement.

Christina Taylor helped the

Pennsylvania German Cultural

Heritage Center stabilize and con-

serve more than 1,000 books in

its collection. Additionally, her

artwork has been exhibited at galler-

ies and shows in New York and

Philadelphia.

Jessie Horning is honored for her

original, high-quality artwork and

outstanding service to the community.

She served as the co-director of the

Eckhaus Gallery in Kutztown, which

is supported by the Kutztown Univer-

sity Foundation, assisting with every

aspect of running the nonprofit

gallery. Her artwork also has been

exhibited in New York.

Luna McMahon conducted origi-

nal research on the artwork in the

margins of medieval manuscripts –

in particular, plant themes, which

revealed hidden references to love,

sacrifice and remembrance. Her

research has been presented at several

academic conferences, including the

Moravian College Medieval Under-

graduate Conference in 2010, and has

received favorable support from schol-

ars in the field.

Alison Koser is a double major in

physics and mathematics. Her under-

standing of cutting-edge research in

quantum physics drew the attention

of researchers at the University of

Chicago and at The Pennsylvania State

University, where she worked as a

research assistant. Additionally, Koser

has been an active volunteer in many

community projects, including Habitat

for Humanity.

Irelyn Akers worked to renew interest

and participation in the university’s

literary art magazine Essence. Beginning

in her freshman year, and later as co-

editor, she helped to redefine the mis-

sion and vision of the publication and

improve the magazine’s editorial con-

tent. As a result of her leadership, the

magazine won the 2009 University and

College Design Association’s “Best

Student-Produced Work.”

These award winners are joined by

four additional outstanding students

honored for their academic achievements

and service to the community.

NEWSNOTES

AN

D

Competing nation-

ally with top research-

ers from around the

country, both have

received grants from

one of science’s most

prestigious research

funding agencies: the

National Science

Foundation. NSF’s

grants are given to

the most promising

faculty after a rigorous

peer-review process.

KU students will

assist both researchers

in their work.

In the case of Oakley, that means

stepping aboard a research vessel

and taking to the sea. “These are

the types of research programs that

allowed me to find my place in

science,” she said. “And this is the

kind of opportunity I want to give

my students.”

Though Das’ research will remain

firmly locked in the algorithms of

his computer, the experience of

applying physics and mathematics

to answer a theoretical, but possible,

Dr. Kunal Das, a physicist in KU’s

Department of Physical Sciences,

and Dr. Adrienne Oakley, a marine

geologist in Physical Sciences, are

both doing externally funded

research to help other scientists

better understand our planet –

and the smaller universe of quantum

mechanics.

Das is applying theoretical quan-

tum mechanics to enable something

that truly seems like magic: the

transfer of a group of ultra-cold

atoms from one place to another

without ever being at any intermedi-

ate points. On the drawing board,

physicists say this is

possible. Das wants to

show how.

Oakley will leave her

classroom to explore the

sea floor between Hawaii

and Guam to find out

when the magnetic north

pole switched to magnetic

south during the Jurassic

period in a quest to answer

the questions of when

and how the Earth’s

poles reverse.

problem will give his students a greater

insight into how groundbreaking dis-

coveries are made in the 21st century.

“The beauty of my research is that it

points the way to actual experiments.

I have a colleague at The College of

William and Mary who is developing

such experiments to implement and

test my theoretical results,” he said.

“This research allows my students to

apply the quantum mechanics they

learn in class to real problems in nano-

technology and atomic physics.”

NEWSNOTES

AN

D

Reading Area Community College and

other KU teams, Margaret Haines ’12,

Kelsey Godfrey ’11, Justin McCurdy ’10,

MBA ’12 and Michael Grimm M ’12

(pictured left to right) developed the

winning entry.

Their “uTriv Challenge” idea would

use a smartphone application to keep

score and create immediate rankings

during a game of team trivia played

against other patrons in restaurants

and cafes. Similar entertainment games

on the market depend on paper and

pencils to gather the answers and

keep score.

Matthew Todd ’11 and his brother

Ryan, who took a break from his KU

studies during the spring semester, won

for “Arty’s Online Grocery Store.” The

brothers say their business plan points

the way to buying groceries online, thus

eliminating the cost of operating a

brick-and-mortar supermarket.

The GRKIZ is a public-private

partnership working to increase jobs

in Berks County, Pa., by assisting tech-

nology companies with new business

ideas.

KU students won top honors in the Greater

Reading Keystone Innovation Zone (GRKIZ)

Business Idea Challenge held this spring with

their business plan for “uTriv Challenge.”

Competing against teams from Alvernia

University, Albright College, PSU-Berks,

Summer 2011

FEEATURUUREEEE

IF YOU ARE LIKE MANY ALUMNI, YOU

LOVE LEARNI NG ABO U T T H E HISTORY

OF O UR UNIVERSI T Y. As you stroll across

campus, it is inevitable that something will catch

your eye – a carving or sign that seems out of place,

a fountain or statue that brings back wonderful

memories. With nearly 150 years of rich history,

there are many untold stories.

PHOTOGRAPHY:

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A KU History Tour

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MAZIE

ZIEGLER ’34

lives, still inde-

pendently, in a

cheery, white

clapboard house

in Lehighton,

Pa. Diminutive

and with lovely white hair, she

gets around with a walker and

is surrounded by glass bric-a-

brac, quilts and other mementos

of her many travels. At 98, she’s

a bit hard of hearing, but her

mind is sharp, her eyes are

bright and her memories

are plentiful.

“As a child, instead of playing

with dolls, I made believe that I

was traveling around the world,”

she said.

The Lehighton native loves

to talk about her life, especially

her many travels across the

world during a time when most

Americans, especially ones from

her hometown, preferred

domestic travel.

She has set foot on nearly

every continent, was an

exchange teacher in post-World

War II Germany, rode camels

became captivated

by international

travel. When the

opportunity to

become a Fulbright

Exchange teacher came along

the next year, Ziegler relished

the opportunity to experience

Germany and live as the

locals did.

Upon her arrival in Bonn,

she found the students in her

classes polite, respectful and

eager to learn. Germany, at that

time, was still rebuilding after

World War II, and the ruins

and rubble of shattered build-

ings were everywhere, including

the local railroad station, which

had only one small working

part at the time.

“One woman I met was still

living alone in a basement, but

the German woman I stayed

with was living in a new home,”

Ziegler said.

During that time, she had

little contact with other

Americans but was able to

travel throughout Germany

and Austria in the company

of German speakers. Later,

she took classes in German

at Bonn University and devel-

oped the confidence to travel

independently – not just during

the exchange year, but through-

out her life.

“I went all around Europe on

my own. The world was much

different then,” she said.

Traveling also provided

her with the opportunity to

in Egypt and Australia and

visited a hospital for sick and

injured elephants in Thailand.

Ziegler graduated from high

school in 1930 and studied

library science with minors in

math, French and English at

Kutztown State Teacher’s

College. In 1935, she earned

certification in elementary edu-

cation and spent most of her

career as a high school librarian,

with stints as an elementary

school teacher.

She enjoyed her work, but it

was always a means to get on a

plane, bus, ship or train and see

the world. Early in her career,

she contemplated earning a

Ph.D. but chose to spend that

money traveling – sometimes

on her own, sometimes with

group tours.

In the late ’40s and early ’50s,

she traveled primarily through-

out North America with her

family, other teachers and friends

– seeing the sights and even

venturing all the way down

to Mexico via car trips.

Then in 1953, she took a

guided tour of Europe and

A WORLD OF EXPERIENCE

FROM THE EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS TO THE STEAMY JUNGLES OF

THAILAND, JOIN THIS REMARKABLE ALUMNA AS SHE SHARES HER

PERSONAL JOURNEY BACK IN TIME AND ACROSS THE GLOBE.

BY:

M ELI S S A

N U RC Z Y N S K I

PHOTOGRAPHY:

J O H N

S T ER LI N G

R U T H

indulge her passion for

music. She attended the

opera often, including a

Wagner festival, enjoyed

“The Sound of Music” tour

of Salzburg and attended

the famous Passion Play in

Oberammergau, which is

performed every 10 years,

in both 1960 and 1980.

Through it all, Ziegler

witnessed the cold war

firsthand and remembers

traveling to Berlin on a train

with blacked-out windows

to prevent passengers from

seeing into Communist

East Germany. Decades

later, she again visited

Berlin just after the Berlin

Wall fell, choosing not to

grab a piece of the rubble

as a souvenir.

“Many people were tak-

ing stones from the wall,”

she said, “but I didn’t know

what I’d do with a stone.”

This intrepid traveler

also took a ship through

the Panama Canal, visited

China, marveled at the pyr-

amids, cruised the Caribbean,

walked down the bustling

streets of Mexico City and

was saddened by the poverty

of Haiti.

Throughout the years,

she did it mostly on her

own, and she has no regrets

– save one.

“I missed Antarctica,” she

said in a playfully wistful

voice.

“A s a child, instead of playing with dolls, I made believe that I was traveling around the world.”

BARRY SOKOL ’72 is standing in the

loft of SOLO Laboratories, Inc. in

Kutztown with its birds-eye view

of his company’s production line. Below,

workers make customized foot supports

– orthotics – that are prescribed to keep

people in better step and to ease their

foot, ankle, knee and back pain.

It has been nearly 28 years since Barry

and his wife, BARBARA ’74, along with

two other people, began the company in a

small building that had no electricity or BY:

MARY ELLEN ALU

PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN STERLING RUTH

ORTHOPEDIC COMPANY THRIVES ON

“SERVE OTHERS, LOVE OTHERS”

PHILOSOPHY

KU COUPLE LEAD SUCCESSFUL

running water. Sales that first year were

$64,000.

Now, SOLO Laboratories operates out

of a large building on South Laurel Street

with more than 50 employees. Sales have

grown to greater than $6 million annually.

On this weekday morning, Barbara

joins her husband at the lab to share their

inspirational story – from the halls of

Kutztown State College to teaching

careers and, finally, success in business.

“When Barry and I think about

our life’s journey, we are in awe,”

Barbara said.

“‘Serve Others, Love Others’ is more

than the company motto,” Barry added.

“Though it forms the acronym for the

company name, it reflects our Christian

philosophy in doing business. I wanted

a name that would remind

me every day of what we’re

all about.”

The couple’s roots are

in Kutztown, where they

both grew up. Though

they knew each other as

children – Barbara said

her husband caught her

attention in fourth grade

– the two did not date

until they were at college,

studying for their degrees

in education.

For a year, the Sokols

team-taught at the Topton

Lutheran Home, helping

troubled youngsters tran-

sition into mainstream

classes. Barbara stayed on

for five years, until she

left to raise their family.

Barry left to teach in the

Brandywine School Dis-

trict and then moved on

to pharmaceutical sales

and medical sales.

In the early 1980s, Barry found himself

at odds with his employer. Distraught, he

turned to his church pastor for guidance.

The resulting conversation led to the

founding of SOLO Labs in 1983.

The couple, who had lived frugally,

put up $25,000 from equity in their

home, set up the business and began

scouting for clients. Barry said he used

a compass and drew a 100-mile radius

with Kutztown as the center.

“I personally went door to door to meet

all the foot doctors in the area,” he said.

Through proven quality and professional

customer service, little by little, the

company began to grow.

At its inception, the company made

125 pairs of foot supports a month. Now,

4,000 to 5,000 pairs are shipped each

month to doctors throughout the nation.

Part of the company’s success stems

from the quality of the work. While

the national industry average is 20 to

25 percent on returns, SOLO’s return

is less than 5 percent.

For employees, the company

provides good wages, benefits and

working conditions and is closed on

Sunday. Utmost, said

the Sokols, SOLO is

service oriented, with

employees trained to

listen well to their cus-

tomers. “We treat

people with respect,”

Barry said.

Recently, the company

took another giant step

forward to help ease

patients’ pain and cut

the waiting time for

their custom orthotics

to less than half by

developing a computer-

ized foot scanner that

will model a foot in

digital 3-D.

In the past, doctors

needed to use impression

foam or plaster bandages

to create slipper casts of

both feet, let them dry

and ship them off to

SOLO. Not only are

plaster castings messy, but they can

also be inaccurate or get damaged in

shipping. Today, with SOLO’s new

foot scanner, the whole process takes

minutes instead of days.

“We are probably best recognized

throughout the industry for our continu-

ing technological innovations,” Barry

said proudly.

With the company on solid ground,

Barry and Barbara are looking to

retire. Barry said he is content to “step

back and give the next generation an

opportunity to take SOLO to the

next level.”

Looking back, the Sokols insist they

don’t want to be remembered for build-

ing a financially successful company,

but rather for how well they treated their

employees and customers.

“Ultimately, the Lord weaves the tap-

estry of our lives,” said Barbara.

“I WANTED A

NAME THAT

WOULD REMIND

ME EVERY DAY

OF WHAT WE’RE

ALL ABOUT.”

— BARRY SOKOL

Last summer, DR. MARY MOBLEY ST. JOHN ’62, dean

emerita of the Department of Geography/Earth Science, spent

two weeks in Nova Scotia bird watching, hiking and enjoy-

ing ocean views – demonstrating that a well-lived life is

one that is defined by participation, not sideline observation.

“Last year I moved into a continuing care retirement

community, and although there are many activities there,

I enjoy taking birding tours across the country,” said

Kutztown’s past provost and vice president of academic

affairs (1987-89). “I have always had an

interest in nature and the natural sciences.”

The hands-on philosophy also defined

her teaching career. An early proponent

of experiential learning, St. John was part

of the original team of academicians who

founded the Marine Science Consortium

in 1968 – an initiative that makes it

possible today for Kutztown, 11 other

Pennsylvania colleges and universities

and West Virginia University to offer a

comprehensive, hands-on and feet-wet

marine science program.

“I started appreciating nature at an

early age,” says St. John. “Growing up,

we camped and hiked around the U.S.

We slept in tents, so we got close to the earth. Rocks and the

weather always fascinated me, so when I got to Kutztown

State Teacher’s College in the late ’50s, I majored in geogra-

phy and earth science.”

She parlayed that education into teaching physical geogra-

phy and general science to middle school students. In 1968,

St. John was hired by Kutztown State College to teach

oceanography and physical geography and to help organize

the consortium along with Millersville State College and

several other colleges. Today, KU is a charter member of the

Marine Science Consortium.

“Those were exciting days when we would take groups of

students to our first field station in Lewes, Del.,” she says.

“We worked from a decommissioned Coast Guard station

and then moved to an old fish-canning factory.”

St. John served as the consortium’s director of opera-

tions for the Wallops Island Project during the early

1970s and was instrumental in obtaining its current site

in Virginia. Later, she became its academic vice president.

What began as a rudimentary field station on surplus

government property is now a bustling science center

adjacent to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

It features dormitories, labs, a cafeteria, classroom build-

ings, a science library, a 50-foot research vessel, two

40-foot barges, several small boats and

kayaks. A sister field station is located on

the salt marshes on Chincoteague Bay.

At each venue, geological, physical, chemi-

cal and biological investigational research

and education of the terrestrial, marsh and

marine environment are ongoing.

“In those early days, students were

studying beach erosion and doing 24-hour

tidal stands. One important research project

of the consortium was water quality of

coastal waters as affected by the sewage

disposal from the city of Philadelphia,”

she said.

Those studies were a precursor to the

research Kutztown students participate in

at the consortium today: marine mammal physiology;

environmental management issues of the coastal zone;

beach erosion defense; and coastal pollution.

While St. John reflects pleasantly about her time

developing the consortium, she has not visited the facility

in 30 years. “As new opportunities opened for me profes-

sionally as an associate dean at Kutztown in 1974, I

moved forward to complete my doctoral studies. Later,

I became dean of academic services (1982-87) and then

acting provost and vice president of academic affairs,”

she said.

“I’m happy that what a couple of us began back in

the late ’60s and early ’70s has become an established

academic facility 40 years later,” she said. “It was a lot

of work for us in the beginning, but worthwhile.”

FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE MARINE SCIENCE CONSORTIUM, PROFESSOR

OF OCEANOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND DEAN EMERITA ARE

JUST A FEW OF HER MANY TITLES.

— D R . M A RY M O B LE Y

S T. J O H N ’62

B Y :

P H O T O G R A P H Y :

Ketter brings more than 20 years of

advancement experience to the post. Most

recently, he served as director of develop-

ment at The Pennsylvania State University-

Harrisburg, where he was responsible for

managing and leading the Capital College’s

efforts. Prior to PSU-Harrisburg, Ketter was

the vice president of institutional advance-

ment at Delaware Valley College in

Doylestown and served in development

posts at Albright College and Valley Forge

Military Academy & College. He also joins

the KU Foundation with international expe-

rience, having served as a consultant and

university lecturer in the Sultanate of Oman.

Established in 1983, the Kutztown

University Foundation’s work is to secure

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and an

MBA from Kutztown University. Addi-

tionally, Ketter is at the dissertation stage

for his Ph.D. in public administration from

Penn State.

“I am pleased and excited to become part

of the KU Foundation team and work to

advance the mission of Kutztown University.

The foundation team and the faculty and

staff at the university have been very wel-

coming and are eager to help to advance the

philanthropic culture at the university and

secure the much-needed resources to help

today’s and tomorrow’s students.”

UPDATE

philanthropic support to advance the

mission of Kutztown University. This

philanthropic support spans the needs of

scholarships, research, facilities and

extracurricular activities. Currently, the

foundation is in a campaign: Setting the Stage for Sesquicentennial, the Campaign Celebrating 150 Years of Kutztown University.

This comprehensive campaign seeks support

for the Schaeffer Auditorium and Sharadin

Art Building projects, the Pennsylvania

German Cultural Heritage Center, scholar-

ships and unrestricted/restricted support to

enhance the quality of KU.

Ketter holds a bachelor’s degree in

economics from the University of Iowa, a

master’s of public administration from the

Lighting The Way

NOTES

NOTES

NOTES

The last issue featured the latest improvements to the Marine Science Consortium

in Wallops Island, Va. To find out more about this unique program and its history,

turn to and read about founding member Dr. Mary St. John ’62.

HINDSIGHTREVEALED

INMEMORY

Elements by Keigwin & Company

Tickets available on June 24SPECIAL ALUMNI DISCOUNT!

Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul Gerald Clayton

Calder Quartet & So Percussion Wycliffe Gordon: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong

Mayhem & Majesty by Squonk Opera Shemekia Copeland

Alex Mitnick and the Kaleidoscope Band

KU Christmas Spectacular featuring The Snowman

Charlotte’s Web by Theatreworks USA

PASSIONATE ABOUT FUN!

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL VS. CHEYNEY

7 p.m. Keystone Arena

PEP RALLY AND FIREWORKS9 p.m. Alumni Plaza

Don’t miss “The best of woodstock concert” by Classic Albums Live.saturday, Nov. 5 inSchaeffer Auditorium at 6:30 p.m.

2011PeaceLove

Homecoming

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 ALUMNI GATHERING

9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wiesenberger Alumni Center

ELECTRONIC MEDIA MIXER10:30 a.m.

Rickenbach Learning Center Studio LC 4

KU CARNIVAL AND CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL

An Old-Fashioned Good Time!

Featuring pony rides, a petting zoo, midway games, inflatables & more!

11 a.m.-1 p.m. Keystone Fieldhouse

FOOTBALL VS. BLOOMSBURG1 p.m. University Field

Purchase tickets at the gate for this great fall classic.

Halftime activities feature the crowning of the 2011 Homecoming King & Queen.

“THE 5TH QUARTER” ALUMNI PARTY

4-6 p.m. South Dining Hall

&

Be sure to stop by the KU Student Bookstore Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for all your

Maroon and Gold needs.

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

15200 Kutztown Road

Kutztown, PA 19530-0730

BEST EVER KU GRID SQUAD READY FOR 2011

SEPTEMBER 3 at Saint Anselm TBA

SEPTEMBER 10 at Mercyhurst Noon

SEPTEMBER 17 ✶ Lock Haven 6 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 24 ✶ Cheyney 1 p.m.

FAMILY DAY

OCTOBER 1 at Shippensburg 1 p.m.

OCTOBER 8 ✶ East Stroudsburg 1 p.m.

OCTOBER 15 at Millersville 7 p.m.

OCTOBER 22 at C.W. Post 1 p.m.

OCTOBER 29 at West Chester 1 p.m.

NOVEMBER 5 ✶ Bloomsburg 1 p.m.

HOMECOMING

NOVEMBER 12 ✶Gannon 1 p.m.

✶

2011 KUTZTOWN