Lawrence University News

Two Lawrence alumni named Future 15 Young Professionals

A pair of Lawrence University graduates are among this year’s Fox Cities Future 15 honorees.

Marty O’Donnell and Jake Woodford, 2008 and 2013 Lawrence graduates, respectively, were selected from among 25 semifinalist who were chosen from an initial pool of dozens of nominees.

The Future 15 awards are part of the Pulse Young Professionals, a program of the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and the Fox Cities Regional Partnership, in collaboration with The Post-Crescent. All of the honorees will be recognized March 1 at the Young Professional Awards banquet at the Outer Edge in downtown Appleton.

The program recognizes young business and community leaders for their efforts in work, civic and charitable causes. Future 15 recipients are chosen based on their dedication, strong sense of vision for the Fox Cities and understanding of the importance of volunteering and giving back.

“Having Marty and Jake selected for this year’s Future 15 speaks highly of Lawrence and the Fox Valley. It’s a positive reinforcement of how many of our alumni remain in the Fox Cities after graduating and make a positive difference in the community,” said Mark Breseman, associate vice president of alumni and constituency engagement. “Our current students and alumni continue to make an impact through so many different ways. Many of them make the transition from volunteering, performing and competing to providing enthusiasm, new insights and entrepreneurial mindsets to their chosen profession.”

O’Donnell is the conductor of the Lawrence Academy of Music Symphonic Band, a position he’s held since 2015. He also teaches band at Gerritts Middle School in the Kimberly Area School District. As a cooperating teacher for Lawrence student teachers, O’Donnell has hosted music education practicum students and rehearsal techniques classes with his middle school bands.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, O’Donnell has served as director of the Neenah Community Band since 2010 and he is the co-founder, president, treasurer and guest conductor of VENTO Winds, a professional-level, audition-only adult wind band based in Northeast Wisconsin.

A talented trombonist, O’Donnell has performed with more than a dozen ensembles in the Fox Valley as well as the College Band Directors National Association Honors Band, the Wisconsin National Band Association Collegiate All-Star Band and the United States Navy Band.

Woodford serves as assistant to Lawrence President Mark Burstein as well as secretary to the university’s Board of Trustees. He coordinates the activities and communications of the Board, manages major institutional projects, conducts research and analysis, as well as facilitation, plans and implements university initiatives, supports collaborations between Lawrence and local/regional government and manages the university’s real estate.

An Appleton native, Woodford joined the Burstein administration in 2013 shortly after earning a degree in government from Lawrence. He has since led a number of significant institutional projects, including a comprehensive review of the university’s parking infrastructure, policies and procedures; negotiated a 305-acre conservation easement for Bjorklunden, Lawrence’s “northern campus” in Door County; co-chaired the writing of the university’s current strategic plan; and led the relocation of historic house on the university campus to the City Park Historic District.

Active in the greater community as well, Woodford serves as Lawrence representative to the city of Appleton’s Downtown Mobility Study planning process, recently completed a two-year term on the board of directors of the Rotary Club of Appleton, is a member of the board of directors of the Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust and is a commissioner on the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Appleton.

O’Donnell and Woodford are the 12th and 13th Lawrence graduates and/or employees who have been recognized since the Future 15 program was launched in 2011. Past honorees are:

2017— Fanny Lau ’14; Elyse Lucas ’10; Paris Wicker ’08; Oliver Zorrow ’10
2016 —Jamie Cartwright ’14; Carolyn Armstrong Deorosiers ’10; Jennifer Dieter ’03; Josh Dukelow ’02
2015— Nathan Litt ’08
2014 —Monica Rico, associate professor of history
2013 — Korey Krueger, ’95

For this year’s program, past Future 15 winners narrowed the original pool of nominations to 25 semifinalists. Nomination forms with information about the candidates — excluding their names and personal details — were rated by community leaders, accounting for 90 percent of the decision. The final 10 percent was determined by votes collected online by The Post-Crescent.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Historian Jerald Podair’s book on Dodger Stadium recognized with pair of national honors

The “hits” keep coming for Lawrence University historian Jerald Podair’s 2017 book “City of Dreams: Dodger Stadium and the Birth of Modern Los Angeles.”

“City of Dreams” has been named the winner of the Society for American Baseball Research‘s (SABR) 2018 Seymour Medal as the best book on baseball history or biography published in the preceding year. Podair will be honored March 3 at the SABR banquet in Tempe, Ariz.

Previously longlisted as one of 10 semifinalists for a 2018 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, “City of Dreams” also has been shortlisted and is now one of five finalists for the award, which will be announced Feb. 20 at the PEN America awards dinner in New York City.

Podair learned of the PEN/ESPN finalist selection and the SABR award on the same day only hours apart.

“I received the PEN/ESPN news in the morning, told my wife and went to school. I heard about SABR later that day. I came home and said, ‘you’re not going to believe this,’” said Podair, the Robert S. French Professor of American Studies at Lawrence. “Both of the honors came as very gratifying surprises. I don’t write books to win awards, but it’s wonderful to know what I’m writing is having an impact.”

The Seymour Medal Selection Committee hailed the book as “a superb historical monograph based on extensive, original research and brilliantly written. Podair delineates clearly the connection between the decision to build Dodger Stadium and the intricate machinations and alliances of urban politics.”

“City of Dreams” was selected over four other finalists: “Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character” by Marty Appel: “The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., and Baseball’s Most Historic Record” by John Eisenberg; “Home Team: The Turbulent History of the San Francisco Giants” by Robert Garratt and “Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers” by Debra Shattuck.

Awarded annually since 1996, the Seymour Medal recognizes a book that significantly advances knowledge of baseball and is characterized by understanding, factual accuracy, profound insight and distinguished writing.

Joining “City of Dreams” as a finalist are “Ali: A Life” by Jonathan Eig; “The Arena: Inside the Tailgating, Ticket-Scalping, Mascot-Racing, Dubiously Funded, and Possibly Haunted Monuments of American Sport” by Rafi Kohan; “Sting like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966–1971” by Leigh Montville and “Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels, and the Borderland Dream,” by Joe Tone.

The PEN America awards honors writers and translators whose exceptional literary works were published in 2017. Categories include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, essays, science writing, sports writing and translation. The winner in the sports-writing category receives a $5,000 prize.

In “City of Dreams,” Podair explores one of the earliest owner-city new ballpark negotiations and the subsequent economic and cultural impact. He wrote the book to provide a window into the complex choices cities face as they seek to balance the values of entertainment and culture against those of fiscal responsibility, of private gain against public good.

Lawrence welcomes jazz legend Joe Lovano

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist/composer Joe Lovano showcases his conceptual and thematic ventures Friday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. in a Lawrence University 2017-18 Jazz Series Concert. J

Joining Lovano on stage will be his Classic Quartet bandmates: Lawrence Fields, piano, Peter Slavov, bass and Lamy Istrefi, drums.

Tickets for the performance in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, at $25-30 for adults, $20-25 for seniors, $18-20 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

Lovano’s career has been defined by his creative efforts to find new modes of artistic expression and new ways to define the jazz idiom. With his bandmates, Lovano explores the rich history of mainstream jazz through swing and bebop, driving the edges while honoring the structures of straight-ahead jazz.

José Encarnación, director of jazz studies at Lawrence and an accomplished saxophonist in his own right, calls Lovano “one of my favorites jazz artists of all time.”

“I love every single one of his recordings,” said Encarnacion, who had the pleasure of meeting Lovano in the 1990s while performing at a jazz festival in Puerto Rico with the Bob Mintzer Big Band. “Joe’s music is always fresh, rooted on the tradition but always moving forward with new sounds and adventurous musical stories.”

A 12-time Grammy Award nominee, Lovano won the trophy in 2000 in the best large jazz ensemble album category for his work on “52nd Street Themes.” That same year, he topped both the readers and critics polls in DownBeat magazine as tenor saxophonist of the year. DownBeat named Lovano its jazz artist of the year twice, including 2010 when he captured the magazine’s “triple crown”: tenor saxophonist, jazz artist and jazz group (Joe Lovano Us 5) of the year.

His discography includes 28 albums as leader and more than 50 others as either co-leader or sideman.

Lovano has taught as the Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance as an artist-in-residence at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston.

50 Hours Later: Holy Broman Lonestar Republic and Cult of the Pink Shoe claim 2018 trivia contest crowns

The Holy Broman Lonestar Republic Presents: Cardboard Davy Crocket Remembers the Alamo won its second straight off-campus title while Cult of the Pink Shoe easily won the on-campus team title in Lawrence University’s 2018 Great Midwest Trivia Contest that ended on midnight Sunday, Jan. 28.

The 53rd edition of the 50-hour contest that is webcast on the campus radio station, WLFM, attracted an estimated 700 players, including some from Spain, France and the Netherlands.

Students answering phones during the trivia contest in the WLFM studios — Nearly 90 off-campus and on-campus teams kept the phone lines busy during Lawrence University’s 53rd annual Great Midwest Trivia contest.

The Minneapolis-based Holy Bromans racked up 1,305 points in successfully defending its title to edge Get A Load Of That Sandwich (Get A Load Of It!) Get A Load Of That Sandwich (That Sandwich!) Look At That Sandwich (Look At It!) Get A Load Of That Sandwich (Get A Load Of It!) Look At That Sandwich (Look At It!) Woo! (Woohoo!) Woo! (Yeah!) Woo! (Woohoohoo!), which finished with 1,285 points. Caillouigi placed third among 74 off-campus teams with 1,185 points.

WLFM: It’s Our Station So We Win (1,027 points) and Trivia Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Nips, The Nipples of Knowledge Return (980 points) placed second and third, respectively among a dozen on campus teams.

The Holy Bromans were awarded a cardboard bra for its winning effort, while Cult of the Pink received a troll doll for its first-place finish among on-campus teams.

2018 on-campus team trivia winners — Members of the Cult of the Pink Shoe team gathered for a photo in the wee hours of the night after winning the on-campus team title in the 2018 Great Midwest Trivia contest.

For the first time since 2014, no teams were able to answer any of the final hour “garruda” questions, including the contest finale “Super Garruda”: In the Tanzanian city whose name is an anagram for “A Salad Smear,” there is an intersection of two roads near the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco. One road shares the first name with the former Supreme Chief of the Gogo and the other road is named for a Tanzanian Sultan whose skull’s return is discussed in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. On the wall in front of the intersection there are three large legibly scrawled words in English, what are they? The answer was “The Jungle, Bob.”

“Radiolab” founder, co-host Jad Abumrad discusses “Gut Churn” in Lawrence convocation

The creator and co-host of “Radiolab,” one of the country’s most popular radio programs, explores what it means to innovate and how it feels to create something new in a Lawrence University convocation

Jad Abumrad presents “Gut Churn” Thursday, Feb. 1 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The address, the third in Lawrence’s 2017-18 convocation series, is free and open to the public. A question-and-answer session will immediately follow the address.

Jad Abumrad holding a light bulb — Jad Abumrad is the founder and co-host of the popular program “Radiolab.”

In Abumrad’s world, “gut churn” is that radical uncertainty that is a key component of any creative process that pushes the envelope. He applied that philosophy in launching “Radiolab” on New York radio station WNYC in 2002. What began largely as a science program has evolved into an exploration of broader issues — sport, the death penalty, counter-terrorism and most recently the U.S. Supreme Court — examined from less conventional angles.

The show, which combines cutting edge sound-design, cinematic storytelling and a personal approach to explaining complex topics, is nationally syndicated to more than 500 stations and its podcasts attract nearly two million listeners.

Skeptical of today’s mainstream media, Abumrad prefers “journalism that forces you to experience what someone else is going through” to articles that focus on telling you whether what someone said is right or wrong.

In an interview with The Guardian, Abumrad explained his approach to “Radiolab.”

“There is an ocean of difference between explanation and experience and I feel what I’m always trying to do is cross the ocean. I’m trying to get to the experience.”

“Radiolab” show has been recognized twice—2010 and 2015—with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, which honors “the most powerful, enlightening and invigorating stories in television, radio and online media.”

Abumrad himself was honored in 2011 as MacArthur Fellow, commonly known as “the genius grant.” In recognizing him, the MacArthur Foundation hailed Abumrad for “inspiring boundless curiosity within a new generation of listeners and experimenting with sound to find ever more effective and entertaining ways to explain ideas and tell a story.”

In 2016, Abumrad created a spinoff program he called “More Perfect” which is based on cases from the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court and how they affect people’s everyday lives.

A native of Tennessee, Abumrad earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, where he studied creative writing and music composition. Prior to launching “Radiolab,” he composed music for films and reported on and produced documentaries for a various local and national public radio programs, including NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”

Dangerous Speech Project researcher leads Polvony series presentation

The benefits, costs and limits of free speech as well as the social consequences when the limits of free speech are violated will be examined in a Lawrence University presentation.

Cathy Buerger, a research and communications associate with the Dangerous Speech Project, presents “Dangerous Speech: A Global Perspective” Monday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center cinema. The event is free and open to the public.

Any form of expression — speech, text or images — that has the potential to increase the risk that its audience will condone or participate in violence against members of another group is considered dangerous speech. The term grew out of observations that divisive rhetoric rises steadily before outbreaks of mass violence. The dangerous speech often is similar regardless of country, culture or historical period.

Buerger, who serves as managing editor of the Journal of Human Rights, joined the Dangerous Speech Project last September. Her research with the DSP focuses on global responses to dangerous and hateful speech as well as the process of identity formation among those who choose to respond to such speech.

Beyond her work with the DSP, Buerger is also a research affiliate with the Economic and Social Rights Research Group at the University of Connecticut, where she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology.

Buerger’s appearance is part of the Povolny Lecture Series in International Studies. Named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the series promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions. It is presented in collaboration with the office of diversity and inclusion.

Lawrence’s brush with Hollywood set to hit the big screen

For J.R. Vanko, it was “the chance of a lifetime to be a part of something incredible.”

The “it” was a genuine feature-length, professional film shot on the Lawrence University campus where he was a student.

Vanko was one of numerous Lawrence students who seized the opportunity to get involved with the filming of the movie “Bucky and the Squirrels” when the production team brought its cameras and actors to campus.

Written and directed by award-winning Hollywood veteran Allan Katz, “Bucky and the Squirrels” is a mockumentary about a one-hit wonder rock band from Appleton that vanished in a plane crash in the Swiss Alps. Fifty years later, the aircraft is discovered with the Squirrels still inside — frozen alive. The film includes cameo appearances by Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”), Mike Farrell (“M*A*S*H”), Richard Lewis (“Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Raquel Castro (“Empire”).

Bucky” (Rated PG, 83 minutes) begins a 45-screen theatrical run Friday, Jan. 26 beginning in the Midwest and spreading west. A national digital/DVD release will follow later in the spring. It will be shown in Appleton at both the Valley Grand Cinema and Hollywood Cinema. Beyond Appleton, the film will be shown at Wisconsin theatres in Delafield, Green Bay, Madison, Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Sheboygan.

J.R. Vanko and Allan Katz — J.R. Vanko ’13 worked with writer/director Allan Katz as the production designer on the movie “Bucky and the Squirrels.”

Katz and Jill Lover, a 1993 Lawrence graduate and professional actor who plays therapist Dr. Adams in the film, will be in Appleton for the Saturday (1/27) evening screening at the Valley Grand Cinema as part of a Lawrence special event.

A theatre major at Lawrence, Vanko served as the production designer for the film, overseeing set design and all of the artistic design elements of the film.

Documentary filmmaker and 1972 Lawrence graduate Catherine Tatge, who was serving as an artist-in-residence at the time helping to get Lawrence’s new film studies program established, had seen Vanko’s theatre work and thought his skills could translate perfectly for the film industry. She encouraged him to consider applying for the production designer position.

“I jumped at the opportunity to try something new,” said Vanko, a 2013 Lawrence graduate. “The opportunity allowed me the experience of working with professionals in the film industry and challenging myself as an artist. The chance to design for a film that had the potential to be distributed nationally was the chance of a lifetime to be a part of something incredible.”

Vanko was working as an apprentice at the American Theater Company in Chicago when Katz called him in June 2013. He recalls the conversation fondly.

“Allan said, ‘Hi Jonathan, I want you to be the production designer for my new film. Do you have a team?’ I will always remember that call as one that changed my life. This film allowed me to challenge myself as a designer in a professional setting, taking what I had learned in my theatre program and apply it to a film setting.”

The film was produced by Lawrence graduates Tom Hurvis ’60 and his late wife, Julie Esch Hurvis ’61, long-time associates of Katz. The decision to shoot much of the film on the Lawrence campus and around Appleton was to enable Lawrence students to get involved in the production.

J.R. Vanko and Jill Lover — Jill Lover ’93, who portrayed therapist Dr. Adams, shares a light moment on the set of “Bucky and the Squirrels” with J.R. Vanko ’13, who was the film’s production designer.

“Bucky and the Squirrels” provided Lawrence students with the unique opportunity to work hands-on with a large-scale Hollywood film production,” said Amy Ongiri, Jill Beck Director of Film Studies and associate professor of film studies at Lawrence. “Our film studies students already participate in a wide variety of film-related internships off campus while they are in the program, but to have a Hollywood film produced right here in the Fox Valley enabled them to see every aspect of film production up close. This was an invaluable experience for everyone involved.”

Vanko credits his experience with the “Bucky” production for paying dividends in his post-Lawrence life and he remains grateful for the opportunity.

“Many of the skills I learned as a production designer for the film have come into play when building community relationships in my current position,” said Vanko, the director of community engagement at Lifezone 360, a sports/fitness/events programming facility in West Dundee, Ill.

“This film provided an opportunity for so many Lawrence students and alumni and truly set the stage for the tone of our film studies department,” Vanko added. “There are so many higher educational institutions out there today but there are none quite like Lawrence. When I look back on my experiences there and my time on this film, all I can think of is how thankful I am I had four years of transformative opportunities and experiences that changed the way I not only saw the world but the way I saw myself as a professional.”

The ultimate cerebral scrum: Lawrence’s Great Midwest Trivia contest promises 50-hours of maddening fun

Late January in Appleton is not only stocking cap time, it’s thinking cap time.

Senior Jenny Hanrahan has the honor of serving as the head master of 2018 edition of Lawrence University’s Great Midwest Trivia Contest.

Hundreds — thousands? — of minutiae aficionados near and far will don their best thinking caps Jan. 26-28 for the 53rd edition of Lawrence University’s Great Midwest Trivia Contest, the nation’s longest-running tribute to all things unimportant, insignificant and inconsequential.

A year older than the Super Bowl, the 50-hour contest returns with its world-wide webcast Friday at its traditionally quirky 10:00.37 p.m. start time and runs non-stop until midnight Sunday. Featuring nearly 400 of the most difficult questions imaginable, all written by Lawrence student trivia masters, the contest originates from the studio of wlfmradio. Team registration begins at 8 p.m. Friday.

Overseeing this year’s contest fittingly is senior Jenny Hanrahan, a nugget of trivia herself as the younger sister of Jon Hanrahan, the head trivia master of the 2016 contest. Together they are believed to be the only siblings ever to direct the contest, which began in 1966. Jenny also holds the distinction of becoming a trivia master without ever having played the contest herself as a Lawrence student.

“I played trivia as a senior in high school, my brother’s first year as a trivia master. That’s how I knew about it,” said Hanrahan, an anthropology and theatre arts major from Johnsburg, Ill. “I came to Appleton to visit that year. The friend I stayed with was worried because the team I was joining was very intense and she didn’t know if I would like it. But it was the type of zone that I was super into. They were so committed and it was so much fun.

“I came to Lawrence as a student the next year and became a trivia master immediately,” added Hanrahan, a rare four-year trivia master. “I only actually played trivia during high school. Sometimes, when I’m on a break, I’ll sneak into a team’s room and play a few questions just to see if I’m any good at it. I’m usually not.”

Jenny Hanrahan in the WLFM studios — As this year’s head master, senior Jenny Hanrahan will be on the mic to open the webcast of the 2018 Great Midwest Trivia contest precisely at 10:00.37 Friday evening.

Nearly 100 teams — 80 off-campus and 18 on-campus — competed in last year’s cerebral scrum with Madison-based Holy Broman Literary Society. Led by 2013 Lawrence graduate Andrew Kraemer, the team won its first ever off-campus title, finishing 18 points ahead of two-time defending champion Hobgoblins of Little Minds from North Carolina.

Moving the team’s home base to Minneapolis this year, Kraemer said they have players coming from five states in defense of their title. Kraemer himself will be flying in from Austin, Texas, to join his teammates.

As for becoming back-to-back champions, Kraemer conceded, “There are a lot of really good people out there, a lot of good teams. But we are going to try our best. We’ve picked up a couple of incredible people who fell in love with the game and have a real passion for it.”

“It’s so stupidly fun in the most irrational way. I can never explain it because I don’t even know why I love it so much.”
— Jenny Hanrahan 2018 trivia head master

When the final results were announced last year and Holy Broman Literary Society was declared the off-campus champions, Kraemer said the team was nothing short of ecstatic.

“We all jumped up at two in the morning shouting in my Madison and screamed so loud that a dog in the apartment actually got scared and threw up.”

While off-campus participation has remained strong through the years, one of Hanrahan’s goals for this year’s contest is to engage more students on campus and have at least one team in every residence hall.

“There’s always been a culture of stress at Lawrence; I don’t have time for anything,” said Hanrahan. “It’s not necessarily a negative reaction, but often the response is ‘I don’t have time for it,’ because trivia can be time consuming. But the great thing about playing trivia is that you can dedicate as much or as little time to it as you want. We hope the RLAs (residence life advisors) can make sure there is a space for people to play if they want to play.”

Group shot of 2018 trivia masters — Head master Jenny Hanrahan (standing) and her fellow trivia masters will oversee this year’s contest.

For more than five decades, Lawrence’s Great Midwest Trivia contest has been intoxicating sleep-deprived players of all ages with its mix of ridiculously difficult questions, eclectic music and completely useless prizes. Like a Super Garruda, the impossible question is “Why?”

“It’s so stupidly fun in the most irrational way,” said Hanrahan. “I can never explain it because I don’t even know why I love it so much. But when I played it the first time, I was immediately hooked. It’s just the weekend for forgetting everything else.”

“Once I became a trivia master, it’s still stupidly fun in a different way,” she added. “There is that excitement and pride in helping to run the contest. It’s especially exciting talking to alumni that this has meant the world to for decades. I’ve heard some describe it as their ‘homecoming.’”

According to Kraemer, the trivia contest’s attraction is all about the chance to the outside world on pause for a while.

“For the other 363 days of the year, you have to be another person, so for the two days of the contest, you get to devote yourself to something that’s totally fun.”

For any trivia novices contemplating a toe dip into the contest, Hanrahan offers some practical advice from the head master’s chair.

“First thing is it’s worth it to play, whether you’re with a super committed team or you just want to hang out and see what it’s all about. Know that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s 50 hours! You need to allocate your time and resources accordingly. Make sure you schedule someone to answer questions during that 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. time period. Most importantly, you have to have an open mind to be able to enjoy it, otherwise it’s so overwhelming and daunting. If you come in, ready for strange things and different things, you’ll have an amazing time.”

Following trivia tradition, Lawrence President Mark Burstein kicks off the contest by asking the first question, which by tradition is always the final — and virtually unanswerable 100-point “Super Garruda” — question from the previous year’s contest.

Any trivia team worth their laptop will start the 2018 contest by knowing the answer to this opening whopper: A number of Lawrentians have taken trips to China to study sustainability. In the third city visited on their 2015 trip, there is a bar on the 10th floor of a building near the intersection of Minquan Road and Fushui North Road. In the fifth issue of a magazine they distributed last July, which features a pink robot on the cover, what artist is shown on page 8? (Dickid).

Bring on the madness.

The Princeton Review names Lawrence one of the country’s “best bang for your tuition buck” schools

Lawrence University has been named one of the nation’s best colleges for students seeking a superb education with great career preparation and at an affordable price by The Princeton Review.

Lawrence was profiled in the education services company’s just-published 2018 edition of its annual guide “Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck.” The guide lists colleges alphabetically, not ranked 1-to-200.

This is the fourth year in a row Lawrence has been included in the “Colleges That Pay You Back” guide.

“I love that Lawrence has been included in this book yet again,” said Ken Anselment, dean of admisssions and financial aid, “because it underscores the lifetime of benefits that a Lawrence education provides.”

Schools chosen for the guide are based on data collected in 2016-17 from surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges. The Princeton Review also factored in data from its surveys of students attending the schools and surveys of school alumni that PayScale.com conducted through April 2017. In all, The Princeton Review used more than 40 data points to tally return on investment (ROI) ratings of the colleges that determined its selection of the 200 schools for the book. Topics covered everything from academics, cost, and financial aid to graduation rates, student debt, alumni salaries, and job satisfaction.

In its profile, The Princeton Review editors praised Lawrence for its “stunning 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio” and “surprisingly large number of international students.” Lawrence students surveyed by the company described Lawrence as a place where “even the smallest idea is considered on a grand scale” and professors “treat us more like academic peers.”

In the career information” section of its profile, the guide gives Lawrence an exceptional ROI rating score of 89. It also cites PayScale.com figures reporting Lawrence graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree have a median starting salary of $48,900 and a median mid-career salary of $100,300.

Among the guide’s lists of special categories, Lawrence was ranked seventh out of 25 selected based on student ratings and responses to survey questions covering community service opportunities at their school, student government, sustainability efforts, and on-campus student engagement as well as the percentage of alumni from each school that reported having high job meaning.

“We salute Lawrence University and all of our Colleges That Pay You Back schools. They stand out for their outstanding academics and their affordability via generous financial aid to students with need and/or comparatively low sticker prices,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief and lead author of the book. “Students at these colleges also have access to extraordinary career services from their freshman year on, plus a lifetime of valuable alumni support.”

Lawrence was previously included in Kiplinger’s list of “300 Best College Values for 2018.”

Director/producer of award-winning documentary “Escarpment” to attend campus screening

What was the land like where Lawrence University’s northern campus — Björklunden — now stands several eons ago?

The award-winning documentary film “Escarpment” will take viewers on a fast-paced journey through billions of years of natural history and the geologic and biologic past of eastern Wisconsin and the Niagara Escarpment region of the Great Lakes.

The screening, free and open to the public, is Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. in Lawrence’s Warch Campus Center cinema. Roger Kuhns, who directed and produced the film, will attend the screening and be available for a question-and-answer session at the end of the film.

Winner of the 2017 Hollywood International Independent Documentary Award, the 92-minute film was shot on location along the entire length of the Niagara Escarpment, with a focus on Door County. Incorporating some animated sequences, it reconstructs ecosystems that existed when the Niagara Escarpment was formed, considers whether dinosaurs ever called what is now Door County home and traces the path of glaciers as well as numerous other major events in the area’s geologic past.

Beyond just its geological narrative, Kuhns made the film as a way to educate, enlighten, and guide society toward better stewardship of the land and its resources while providing a glimpse of what a sustainable future might look like.

Kuhns, who splits his time living in Door County and Mystic, Conn., is a man of multiple interests. A geologist by trade — he holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology from Beloit College and Washington State University, respectively, and earned his doctorate in economic geology from the University of Minnesota — he also writes books and songs, makes movies, and is both a naturalist and a sustainologist.

He has lived throughout the world, including eight years in Africa. An active teacher and workshop leader, Kuhns remains current by conducting science and practicing sustainability as the director of his own company, SustainAudit, LLC.

Last fall, Lawrence received a significant grant to enhance sustainability efforts on campus.

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Lawrence University News

Two Lawrence alumni named Future 15 Young Professionals

Historian Jerald Podair’s book on Dodger Stadium recognized with pair of national honors

Lawrence welcomes jazz legend Joe Lovano

50 Hours Later: Holy Broman Lonestar Republic and Cult of the Pink Shoe claim 2018 trivia contest crowns

“Radiolab” founder, co-host Jad Abumrad discusses “Gut Churn” in Lawrence convocation

Dangerous Speech Project researcher leads Polvony series presentation

Lawrence’s brush with Hollywood set to hit the big screen

The ultimate cerebral scrum: Lawrence’s Great Midwest Trivia contest promises 50-hours of maddening fun

The Princeton Review names Lawrence one of the country’s “best bang for your tuition buck” schools

Director/producer of award-winning documentary “Escarpment” to attend campus screening

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