Warch Campus Center garners three awards

The Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center was named one of Wisconsin Builder magazine’s 2009 Top Projects. The program recognizes construction developments that, according to the magazine, “have made a difference in their communities, triumphed despite tricky circumstances or introduced a new technique to the industry, among other reasons.”

In December, Fox Cities Magazine, in its annual “Great Spaces Great Places” contest, named the Warch Campus Center the winner in its “Best New Construction” category. The Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association recognized the $35 million, 107,000-square-foot building with its Concrete Design Award for the 11-county Northeast Region.

Grant Aids Suicide Prevention Training

The J.J. Keller Foundation, Inc. awarded Lawrence a $25,130 grant to coordinate suicide prevention training by mental health experts for Fox Valley area school districts and youth-serving nonprofit organizations.

Under the direction of Kathleen Fuchs, director of counseling services and adjunct associate professor of psychology, the grant will help train key personnel to better recognize early warning signs of suicide risk and connect young people to existing mental health services for earlier and more effective intervention and treatment.

The Keller grant supplements a three-year $300,000 grant Lawrence was awarded last October by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to implement a  comprehensive initiative designed to lower suicide risk and enhance protective factors among Lawrence students.

Lawrentians give back to the community

More than 120 Lawrence students and alumni participated in the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on January 18. Student volunteers assisted nearly a dozen different programs and agencies in the Fox Cities. Coordinated by Lawrence’s Volunteer and Community Service Center (VCSC), this year’s efforts had students doing a variety of projects including painting and renovating, cleaning, meal preparation and working with elementary school students and the elderly.

During events coordinated by the LUAA Board’s Community Engagement Committee, Madison area alumni volunteered at the Community Action Coalition Food Recovery Program, sorting more than 200 boxes of food to be distributed among area food banks. Chicago area alumni teamed up with Chicago Cares, working with Chicago middle school students at the Marillac House to teach and discuss non-violent conflict resolution techniques.

Musicians from the conservatory model for students in the Introduction to Drawing class held in the 2-D Studio in the Wriston Art Center. The musicians played and posed in shifts. “It was an incredible experience to have the musicians playing and our 23 art students drawing for three solid hours,” said Julie Lindemann, assistant professor of art. “It was something we always wanted to do, and we’ll defi nitely do it again.” In the photo, Brian Courage ’11 on bass and Jake Crow ’10 on sax belt out a tune. In the foreground is John Shimon, assistant professor of art.

Kudos for Community Service

For the fourth consecutive year, Lawrence was named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

In the past year, more than 600 Lawrence students contributed more than 12,000 service hours to service-learning and volunteer programs. Among the initiatives for which Lawrence was recognized was the establishment of a partnership with the Pragati Foundation in Bangalore, India, for summer teaching opportunities with underprivileged middle school students; the Confidence and Determination in Youth (CADY) student organization that provides younger students an inspirational, college-like experience in learning and the Lawrence Assistance Reaching Youth (LARY) Buddies, a mentoring program for at-risk elementary students.

“Preparing students for lives of responsible citizenship is a tenet of a Lawrence education, and I am gratified that the dedicated efforts of our students here in our community and elsewhere once again have earned national recognition,” said President Jill Beck. “I commend the students on their efforts to impact the greater community in a positive manner during their time here, as well as Alan Parks, our Pieper Professor of Servant Leadership and the other faculty and staff members who assist them in those efforts.”

Lawrence is one of only four Wisconsin institutions named to the Community Service Honor Roll every year since the program was launched in 2006.

Student Duo Recognized at Model UN Conference

Angela Wang ’12 and Angela Ting ’11 earned the “Best Delegation” award as members of Lawrence’s Model United Nations team at the recent 50th annual Midwest Model United Nations Conference in St. Louis, Mo.

Lawrence’s eight-member delegation represented El Salvador in the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. Wang, a sophomore from Forest Hills, N.Y., and Ting, a junior from Malaysia, represented the General Assembly Third Committee. They were awarded Best Delegation honors for their work debating the provision of humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict situations.

The regional conference drew more than 900 students from nearly 80 colleges and universities throughout the Midwest.

Molecular Biologist Named to Genetics Society of America Board

Beth De Stasio ’83, professor of biology and Raymond H. Herzog Professor of Science, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Genetics Society of America.

In announcing her appointment, the GSA cited De Stasio’s commitment to “training undergraduate students — both majors and non-majors in science — to become more conversant and comfortable in understanding recent advances in biology.” Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America is the professional membership organization for geneticists and science educators. It promotes research in genetics and facilitates communication among geneticists worldwide on current and cutting-edge topics in genetics research.

Cook Leads National Physics Association

In February, former Lawrence University Professor of Physics David Cook assumed the role of president of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the country’s premier national organization and authority on physics and physical science education.

Cook, who retired as Philetus E. Sawyer Professor of Science in 2008 after 43 years of teaching in the Lawrence physics department, will serve as AAPT’s president in 2010 and past president in 2011. First elected to the association’s executive board in 2007, Cook is the fi rst Lawrence faculty member ever to serve as AAPT president and the fi rst from any Wisconsin college or university since 1955.

Founded in 1930, the AAPT is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Md. It has more than 10,000 members in 30 countries.

McFerrin returns to Lawrence


Ten-time Grammy winner Bobby McFerrin joined the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble, Studio Orchestra and Hybrid Ensemble in Memorial Chapel for the United States premiere of “Migrations: One World, Many Musics.” Composed by Fred Sturm ’73, Kimberly Clark Professor of Music and director of jazz studies, “Migrations” was commissioned in 2007 by McFerrin and the NDR Big Band in Hamburg, Germany. The work is a “musical plea for world unity” that illustrates both the distinct and shared characteristics of indigenous music from 18 countries on six continents. Brian Pertl ’86 had worked with Sturm on the project prior to joining Lawrence as dean of the conservatory. He joined McFerrin and Sturm on stage playing the didjeridu and jaw harp.

Choral Concert Features Tribute to Jennifer Fitzgerald

The Feburary Lawrence choral concert featured the American premiere of Associate Professor of Music Joanne Metcalf’s “O Shining Light,” a musical tribute to her former colleague and friend, Jennifer Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald taught at Lawrence first as postdoctoral fellow and then as an instructor of music before dying of cancer in 2007 at the age of 32. While at Lawrence, Fitzgerald was active in exploring new, interdisciplinary forms of composition.

In composing the tribute to Fitzgerald, Metcalf said she tried to create the impression “of a profoundly beautiful outer light, such as that of the stars, that reflects back the beauty of one’s inner light.”

Peter Oswald’s “The Storm or ‘The Howler,’” an appalling mistranslation of Plautus’ Roman comedy “The Rope,” was the Winter Term play performed by the Lawrence University Department of Theatre Arts. Venus’ demi-goddesses try to “persuade” two pimps to change their ways. From L to R: Christopher Skinner ’13, Audrey Goodman ’11, Ben Serreau-Raskin ’11 and Amanda Martinez ’12.

LSO Premieres Asha Srinivasan’s “Doubt”

The world premiere of composer Asha Srinivasan’s “Doubt” highlighted the Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra’s February concert.

“Doubt” was originally written as Srinivasan’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Maryland. The text and the music reflect Srinivasan’s deeply personal thoughts on capital punishment. An assistant professor of music at Lawrence, Srinivasan draws from both her Western musical training and her Indian heritage in creating her compositions. Raised with Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India, Srinivasan integrates aspects of the Carnatic style into the Western music idiom.

Familiar Name Crowned Trivia Champ

In the closest finish since 1986, the Bank of Kaukauna edged Trivia Pirates Aargh to win the off-campus championship in Lawrence’s 45th annual Great Midwest Trivia contest. A mere five points separated the two teams. For the Bank of Kaukauna it was its 10th straight title — and its 12th overall. In the on-campus team contest, the Lawrence Undead: Alumni with Nothing Else to Do, grabbed the title, ending an eight-year reign by Bucky’s Banastitudinal Bicorn Bibliognostic Beadsmen. During the 50-hour contest, 66 off-campus and 14 on-campus teams fielded 326 questions touching on all things obscure and irrelevant. Trivia Grand Master Drew Baumgartner ’09 said, “It’s the kind of release everyone needs. You spend the rest of your life going to bed at reasonable hours and only remembering the things that are important. The Lawrence trivia contest is the exact opposite of all that rationality. Sometimes a change is good.”

Wocelka Retires

Corinne Wocelka will be retiring this spring after a 33-year career in the library. Wocelka started at Lawrence as circulation assistant in 1976. A year later she became the acquisitions librarian, and in 1985, she was named director of technical services. In that role Wocelka was responsible for the acquisition and processing of all materials added to the library collections. Peter Gilbert, director of the Seeley G. Mudd Library, said, “If you can find anything in the library, it’s because of Corinne. We’ll miss her excellent work, high standards and attention to detail.”

Justin Berkowitz ’10 as Candide and Catrina Poor ’10 as the Old Woman in a scene from the conservatory opera “Candide,” performed in March.