September 2009

Month: September 2009

“Recipe for America” Author Discusses National “Food Crisis” in Lawrence University Address

APPLETON, WIS. — Author and food activist Jill Richardson discusses the impact of agribusiness and corporate farms on America’s food system and the importance of sustainable agriculture in the Lawrence University presentation “The Global Food Crisis.”

The address, Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Richardson is the author of the 2009 book “Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It.” In her book, Richardson highlights conditions at America’s “factory farms” and argues that sustainable agriculture — where local farms raise food that is healthy for consumers and animals with minimal environment impact — offers the only solution to America’s food crisis. She also discusses the rising grassroots food movement, which is creating an agricultural system that allows people to eat sustainably, locally and seasonally.

A member of the advisory board of the Organic Consumers Association, Richardson is the founder of the blog La Vida Locavore and also writes about food issues for the Web site Daily Kos.

Richardson’s appearance is supported by Green Roots, a two-year long environmental initiative to “green” the Lawrence campus and cultivate ecological habits of mind and disposition, and the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies. Named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.

One of the Real “Best Colleges” – Lawrence University

Lawrence University, called a “liberal arts jewel” by CBS MoneyWatch.com, fared very well in a report this week about popular college ranking systems.

MoneyWatch.com examined the methodology behind the college ranking systems of Forbes, Kiplinger’s, U.S. News and World Report and others, and gave the Forbes ranking system its highest rating. According to MoneyWatch.com, “Forbes actually attempts to measure the quality of education students receive.” The report went on to cite Lawrence as an example of a lesser-known school that scored well with Forbes. Lawrence ranked 41st out of 600 colleges in Forbes‘ second annual report published in August, moving up from 68th place a year ago.

Although no college ranking system is perfect, according to MoneyWatch.com, “We can only recommend one: Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges. Despite its limitations, it comes closest to actually measuring the quality of the education at the nation’s best schools.”

Lawrence University’s New Campus Center Receives “Grand Style” Launch

APPLETON, WIS. — A gala three-day celebration commemorating the official grand opening of Lawrence University’s Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center culminated with an open house on Sunday that drew more than 1,000 visitors from the community for tours of the building and entertainment by Lawrence students.

“The opening of the campus center is a monumental occasion for Lawrence and will serve to deepen our historic relationship with the surrounding community,” said President Jill Beck. “We invite residents of the Fox Cities and beyond to visit Lawrence often; to celebrate achievements, to engage one another in communication and to enjoy the arts and other activities on campus. As a residential liberal arts college, interaction outside the classroom — with other students, faculty and the local and global community — is central to the achievement of our educational mission.”

The weekend festivities began late Friday afternoon with a welcoming ceremony. Addressing a crowd of more than 100 faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the college were Board of Trustee members Jeff Riester ’70 and Don Koskinen ’50, Lawrence President Jill Beck and the building’s namesakes, President Emeritus Richard Warch and his wife, Margot.

As part of Friday’s ceremony, an official portrait of President Warch was unveiled. The portrait will hang in the $35 million, 107,000-square-foot campus center.

The weekend celebration showcased artwork of young Lawrence alumni, screenings of student-produced videos on Lawrence’s sustainability efforts, an activities fair highlighting the campus and community efforts of numerous student organizations and live performances of several student groups, including the Sambistas, a Brazilian percussion ensemble, the folk band Liam O’Brien’s Faithless Followers, the Melee Dance Troupe, the student pep band and a demonstration of the art of Japanese self-defense by the student organization Ninjitsu.

The campus center cinema showed three movies over the weekend that included Lawrence connections. The restored version of the 1923 silent movie “The White Sister” featured a musical score composed and recorded last year by Garth Neustadter ’09 for Turner Classic Movies. The 1926 film “The Black Pirate” featured an original piece of music written by David Werfelmann ’06 as part of his senior experience project. And the documentary “Mary and Bill” told the story of two remarkable and inspiring athletes, Mary Stroebe, a 1940 Lawrence graduate who began competing in triathlons in her mid 80s, and Bill Wambach, a 1946 Lawrence graduate, who competed as a high jumper at the age of 83.

“We were absolutely delighted with the response for the entire weekend, especially the outpouring from the Fox Valley community which expressed such interest and curiosity about the building,” said Lynn Hagee, the campus center project coordinator. “We certainly feel we launched the building in grand style.”

Madison Sculptor Opens New Exhibition in Lawrence University’s Wriston Art Center Galleries

APPLETON, WIS. – Madison sculptor Aristotle Georgiades, who specializes in human-scale size works, delivers the opening lecture for the latest exhibition at Lawrence University’s Wriston Art Center galleries Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. A reception with the artist follows the address. The exhibition runs through Oct. 20.

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Georgiades’ exhibition, “Accidentally on Purpose,” features salvaged materials as well as existing objects that have been repurposed into expressive sculptural forms. Made from common materials, his sculptures reference people’s continuous desire to move through life with purpose.

“I see these repurposed objects as a metaphor for our human need to adapt and change directions when confronted with obstacles or failures,” said Georgiades, a professor of sculpture in the art department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work will be shown in the Kohler gallery.

Sama Alshaibi, a native Palestinian-Iraqi woman who moved to the United States as a young girl, reveals her conflicting heritage in the Hoffmaster gallery exhibition “SUMOUD,” which translates to “steadfastness.”

A photographer and assistant professor of art at the University of Arizona, Alshiabi uses photography and film to explore notions of exile, war, forced migration and female identity in trying to identify with a history she feels disconnected with as well as honor and continue a legacy she has been denied.

The Leech gallery features “Portraits from the Permanent Collection,” a selection of works from the Wriston galleries’ holdings, including three Paul Strand photogravures of Mexican peasants from the 1930s. Representing a variety of media, the exhibition looks at the ways portraits can be both a visual and psychological representation of a sitter’s character.

Wriston Art Center hours are Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday from noon – 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays. For more information, call 920-832-6621.

Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition Produces Two Winners

APPLETON, WIS. — In the end, it was a split decision.

The tightly contested Lawrence University Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition produced two winners, with “Sustainable Lawrence A” video, produced by Kaushal Malde ’11, Nate Grady ’11, and Kevin Gabrielsen ’11 earning the judges’ panel vote, while “Sustainable Lawrence B,” produced by Stephen Anunson ’10, Katie Langenfeld ’10, Carolyn Armstrong ’10, Molly Preston ’10, and Oren Jakobson ’11 was the winner of the online popular vote.

Producers of “Sustainable Lawrence A” received the grand prize of $3,000 and will have their video shown on the Documentary Channel. The team that shot “Sustainable Lawrence B” was awarded $500 for winning the popular vote.

The contest’s third finalist, “Lawrence Growing Green,” produced by Tom Coben ’12 and Rosie Graber ’12, finished a close second in both the popular vote and the judges’ vote.

Serving as guest judges for the competition were: President Emeritus Rik Warch, Elizabeth Benson ’69, Joseph Brooks ’03, Tom Boldt, Mary Burns ’62, Julie Fricke, Marti Gillespie, Cal Husmann, Julie Lindemann, Brent Peterson, John Shimon, and Theodore Steck ’60.

Watch the winning videos here.

Lawrence University Officially Opens $35 Million Campus Center with Weekend Celebration

APPLETON, WIS. — After nearly 20 years of discussions, planning and revisions, the most ambitious building project in Lawrence University history and one of the most environmentally friendly higher education buildings in all of Wisconsin will bask in the spotlight of a grand opening ceremony.

Lawrence will commemorate the completion of the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center with a weekend celebration beginning Sept. 18-20, culminating in a community open house on Sunday, Sept. 20 from 1-4 p.m.

A ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. Friday (9/18) featuring Lawrence President Jill Beck and the Warches will officially open the $35 million, 107,000-square-foot campus center.

The building honors Lawrence’s 14th president, who led the college from 1979 until his retirement in 2004, and his wife. His 25-year tenure is second only to that of Samuel Plantz (1894-1924) in the college’s 162-year history.

In addition to tours of the building, the community open house on Sunday will feature student music and dance performances, an alumni art exhibition and a screening of the documentary film “Mary and Bill,” which tells the inspiring story of two remarkable athletes: Mary Stroebe, a 1940 Lawrence graduate who began competing in triathlons in her mid 80s, and Bill Wambach, a 1946 Lawrence graduate, who competed as a high jumper at the age of 83. Rik and Margot Warch will be on hand to greet visitors from 2-3 p.m.

Lawrence will provide free shuttle bus service to the campus center for Sunday’s open house from the Soldier’s Square and City Center parking ramps in downtown Appleton. Signage will be posted at each ramp’s main entrance.

Warch-Campus-Center_blog.jpgA complete weekend schedule can be found here.

According to Beck, the building has surpassed expectations.

“The design of the campus center is so clever,” said Beck. “From the front, it blends magnificently with other campus buildings. From the back it almost blends seamlessly with nearby Sage Hall, and that’s helped with the sense of coherence. We’ve linked both sides of the campus together. We’ve got the academic hub and the social hub on each side of Lawe St. and the designs make it all seem very harmonious and attractive.”

With striking vistas of the Fox River and vast, light-filled spaces, the four-story building showcases the scenic beauty of its location. Among its amenities are:

• a 134-seat cinema, featuring state-of-the-art lighting, projection and sound

• a logo merchandise store

• a campus post office

• a convenience store and cafe

• dining services and catering facilities run by Bon Appétit Management Company

• meeting space for students and student groups

• 12 reservable venues to accommodate up to 500 guests

In planning the building, a goal of earning LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “Silver” certification was originally sought, but now college officials are hoping the campus center will receive “Gold” certification, the second highest designation on the green building four-level certification system. A review by the U.S. Green Building Council is currently underway and certification results are not expected for several more weeks.

If the Warch Campus Center is LEED certified Gold, it would become the first higher education facility in Wisconsin to achieve that level of certification and one of less than 25 buildings of any kind in the state to be certified Gold according to the Green Building Certification Institute, which administers project certification for commercial and institutional buildings.

LEED certification provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving energy savings and water efficiency, reducing CO2 emissions, improving indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources.

Among the Warch Campus Center’s environmentally friendly features are:

• a partially vegetated roof system of soil and green plants to absorb rainfall and decrease storm water runoff.

• low-flow plumbing fixtures to reduce water consumption by more than 30 percent by standards mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

• heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems designed to be 21 percent more energy efficient than industry standards require.

• wood certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council that has been harvested with environmentally and socially responsible forest management practices.

• more than 20 percent of all materials used in the building were extracted regionally (within a 500-mile radius)

• adoption of a Green Cleaning program which involves the use of LEED-certified cleaning products and recyclable paper products

• formaldehyde-free interior building materials to ensure healthful indoor air quality.

In addition, more than 96 percent of construction waste for the building — seven million pounds worth — was recycled and saved from being deposited in a landfill.

Construction of the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center is a key component of Lawrence’s current $150 million “More Light” capital campaign. It was made possible by a $16 million leadership gift from an anonymous donor in August, 2006. Work on the center began in June, 2007.

KSS Architects of Princeton, N.J. was the design architect of the campus center and Uihlein-Wilson Architects, Inc., of Milwaukee was the architect of record. The Boldt Company of Appleton served as the project’s general contractor.

Lawrence University Grad Discusses 50th Anniversary of the Laser

APPLETON, WIS. — Thomas Baer, a 1974 Lawrence graduate and one of the nation’s pioneers in the development of laser applications, returns to campus to deliver the address “LaserFest! The 50thYear Anniversary of the Laser” Friday, Sept. 18, at 3 p.m. in Youngchild Hall Room 115. The physics colloquium is free and open to the public.

Tom-Baer_blog.jpgBaer, the executive director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center at Stanford University and president of the Optical Society of America, will discuss the 50-year history and impact of the laser since its first demonstration in 1960.

Credited as an inventor on more than 60 patents, Baer has been active in numerous scientific areas employing optics, among them atomic and molecular spectroscopy, ultra-fast lasers, solid-state lasers, and laser scanning fluorometry of blood cells.

He has enjoyed a successful career spanning both academia and industry beginning with Spectra-Physics, Inc., where he spent 11 years in various positions, including vice-president of research. He co-founded a new company in 1989, Spectra-Physics Laser Diode Systems, which used his research to commercialize diode and solid-state laser instruments.

As vice president of research at Biometric Imaging, Baer was instrumental in developing laser applications in the areas of AIDS monitoring, bone marrow transplant therapy and blood supply quality control.

In 1996, he founded Arcturus Bioscience, Inc., which pioneered the field of microgenomics — the precise molecular analysis of microscopic tissue samples. He served as the company’s chairman and CEO until 2005, leaving for his present position at Stanford.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in physics from Lawrence, Baer earned a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in atomic physics from the University of Chicago.

Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition Winner Announced Tonight

APPLETON, WIS. — The votes are in and the winner of the Lawrence University “Sustainable Lawrence Student Video Competition” will be announced Thursday evening (9/17) in a special awards ceremony at 7 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center. The event will include a public screening of the video.

Three videos were selected as finalists for the competition, which was designed to highlight the unique and innovative ways that Lawrence is working toward environmental sustainability. The winning video was selected in an online vote by

students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The winning student video team will receive a first-place prize of $3,000 and the opportunity to see their video featured on the Documentary Channel.

State of the University: President Beck’s Annual Matriculation Convocation Opens Lawrence University’s 161st Academic Year

APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University President Jill Beck officially opens the college’s 161st academic year as well as the 2009-10 convocation series Thursday, Sept. 17 with the matriculation address “The State of the University: Challenges and Opportunities.” The convocation, at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, is free and open to the public.

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Beck will discuss the momentum currently underway at Lawrence despite the obstacles posed by the current economic downturn, including the completion of the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center, the College Ave. median garden and the structural and aesthetic renovations of the iconic Memorial Chapel, as well as other innovative initiatives on campus and in the community as a result of faculty and student engagement. The convocation will celebrate the achievements of students, faculty and staff in enacting the mission of the college.

As part of the convocation Jeff Clark, associate professor of geology and faculty associate to the president on the Green Roots program, a campus-wide sustainability initiative launched in the fall of 2008, will provide a progress report after one year of the program and lay out goals for the coming academic year.

Beck, the first woman appointed president of Lawrence, is in her sixth year as head of the college. Since assuming the presidency in 2004, she has focused on strengthening Lawrence’s commitment to individualized instruction, increasing collaborative and complementary activities between the fine and performing arts and the traditional liberal arts and sciences and encouraging more active community engagement by Lawrence faculty, students and staff.

Prior to being named Lawrence’s president, Beck spent eight years (1995-2003) as the dean of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine, where she established the daVinci Research Center for Learning Through the Arts, an interdisciplinary center for research focused on learning across disciplines.

A native of Worcester, Mass., Beck earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and art history from Clark University, a master’s degree in history and music from McGill University, and a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the City University of New York. She served on the faculties of City College of the City of New York and The Juilliard School and has written extensively in the fields of dance history, theory, repertory, and technique, as well as choreographing and directing ballet and modern dance repertory.

Joining Beck on the 2009-10 convocation series are:

• Oct. 20, 2009 – Marcia Bjornerud, Lawrence University professor of geology and Walter Schober Professor of Environmental Studies. A structural geologist, Bjørnerud is the author of the book “Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of the Earth,” a history of the Earth and the toll human activity is exacting on the planet. A recipient of two Fulbright Scholar fellowships, she appears on this year’s series as the first recipient of Lawrence’s new Faculty Convocation Award, which honors a faculty member for professional excellence.

• Feb. 16, 2010 – Adam Werbach, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S., the world’s largest sustainability agency. In 1996 at the age of 23, Werbach became the youngest-ever national president of the Sierra Club. He is the author of the 2009 book “Strategy for Sustainability,” an appeal to the business world to address social and cultural trends as well as environmental and economic ones.

• April 8, 2010 – Rebecca Solnit, award-winning writer and essayist, whose work focuses on issues of the environment, landscape and place. A contributing editor to Harper’s magazine, she is the author of more than a half dozen books, including 2007’s “Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics,” an anthology of nearly 40 of her essays from the past 10 years.

• May 20, 2010 – Robert Hartwell, Vermont State Senator. A 1969 Lawrence graduate, Hartwell has been an advocate for environmental protection and land use issues, including the most comprehensive energy legislation ever enacted in Vermont. He currently serves as a trustee of the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont River Conservancy.

Independent Film Series Featured in Lawrence University Warch Campus Center

APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University is sponsoring a mix of contemporary domestic and foreign independent films in a 10-movie series beginning Sept. 16. All films will be shown at 8 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center cinema, 711 E. Boldt Way, Appleton. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 920-832-6837.

• Sept. 16 — “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” (documentary, 2008): At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Steve “Lips” Kudlow made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it. Their band, Anvil, became the “demigods of Canadian metal.”

• Sept. 23 — “The Garden” (documentary, 2008): South Central Los Angeles farmers are eradicated from their community garden.

• Sept. 30 — “Afghan Star” (foreign documentary, 2009): Four contestants risk it all to become Afghanistan’s favorite singer on “Pop Idol,” but will they win the freedom they hope for in this traditional nation?

• Oct. 7 — “Sunshine Cleaning” (2008): An off-beat comedy in which a single mom, in order to raise tuition money to send her son to private school, starts an unusual business — a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service — with her unreliable sister.

• Oct 14 — “Rashomon” (foreign, 1950): Akira Kurosawa’s classic Japanese crime drama that turns an episode of rape and murder into an intriguing examination of the nature of truth.

• Oct. 21 — “FLOW: For Love of Water” (documentary, 2008): An award-winning investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st century: the world water crisis.

• Oct. 28 — “Sin Nombre” (foreign, 2009): In a fateful journey of unexpected events, Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father to potentially realize her dream of a life in the United States.

• Nov. 4 — “Wendy and Lucy” (2009): Wendy is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. But when her car breaks down in Oregon, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and Lucy.

• Nov 11 — “Bottle Shock” (2008): The story of California’s early days of wine-making, featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has become known as the “Judgment of Paris.”

• Nov. 18 “Cidade dos Homens” (foreign, 2007): Best friends Acerola and Laranjinha discover things about their missing fathers’ pasts that shatter their friendship in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio de Janeiro’s favelas.