April 2011

Month: April 2011

Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” Gets East Asian Treatment in Lawrence Senior Experience Production

William Shakespeare’s classic “The Tempest” gets an East Asian interpretation in four performances May 5-7 of Lawrence University’s theatre arts production.

The story of love, revenge and redemption will be staged at 8 p.m. each day with an additional 3 p.m. matinee on Saturday, May 7 in Cloak Theatre of the Music-Drama Center.

Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 920-832-6749.

The production is a collaborative Senior Experience of 10 graduating theatre arts majors.

“The variety of knowledge and experience brought to the table both on the stage and in terms of design is astounding,” said student director Andi Rudd. “The design of the island and its inhabitants invokes elements of Shintoism, Buddhism and traditional Japanese folklore, while the court and the text of the play remain traditional European.”

The familiar narrative follows Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, now dwelling in exile as a sorcerer on a magical island with his daughter Miranda, the monstrous Caliban and the spirit Ariel. Their island life is interrupted when a shipwreck brings King Alonso and his crew, including Prospero’s usurping brother, Antonio, and Miranda’s future lover, Ferdinand, to its strange shores.

Rudd said the production should provide closure both for the seniors involved in the production as well as this year’s freshman class.

“‘The Tempest’ was one of their Freshman Studies works this year, so hopefully they will find the show to be an entertaining close to their first year at Lawrence as the seniors finish their college careers with this final production.”

Two State Teachers Recognized as Outstanding Educators

Freedom High School English teacher Janel Hauser and Kristan Kliminski, a chemistry teacher at Madison LaFollette High School, will be honored Sunday, May 1 with Lawrence University’s 2011 Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award.

They will receive a certificate, a citation and a monetary award from Lawrence President Jill Beck in ceremonies at the president’s house. In addition, their respective schools will receive $250 for library acquisitions.

Nominated by Lawrence seniors, recipients are selected on their abilities to communicate effectively, create a sense of excitement in the classroom, motivate their students to pursue academic excellence while showing a genuine concern for them in and outside the classroom.

Lawrence seniors Andrew Hawley and Sara Davis nominated Hauser and Kliminski, respectively, for the awards.

An Appleton native, Hauser joined the Freedom High School faculty in 2002, where she teaches freshman English and honors English. She started her teaching career at Brillion High School in 1999.

For the past seven years, she has served as head coach of the Freedom varsity forensics team and as advisor to the National Honor Society. In 2010, she was recognized with the Outagamie County Pre-Action Network Exemplary Service award for her efforts to introduce a program on tolerance and risky behavior into the curriculum. Hauser earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UW-Oshkosh.

In nominating her for the award, Hawley described Hauser’s teaching style as “a breath of fresh air.”

“Ms. Hauser was always upbeat, smiling and energetic,” wrote Hawley, a 2006 graduate of Freedom High School. “She always encouraged me to do my best and had an open door policy without needing to say she had one.”

Kliminski has taught at LaFollette High School since 1994 after spending seven years in the Poynette School District. She teaches all three levels of chemistry in the LaFollette curriculum, including AP chemistry. Prior to this year, she spent 10 years as the advisor to Key Club, the school’s service organization.

Davis cited Kliminski’s passion for her subject matter and her devotion to students In her nomination.

“I never had any teacher who seemed to go so out of their way just to make sure I was understanding the material,” wrote Davis, a 2006 LaFollette High School graduate. “She was able to generate an excitement in me about chemistry, science and learning in general that I never had before.”

A native of Elgin, Ill. Kliminski earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry education and a master’s degree in education administration from UW-Madison.

Hauser and Kliminski are the 55th and 56th Wisconsin teachers honored for education excellence by Lawrence since the program was launched in 1985.

Helen Boyd Named Recipient of State Community Activist Award

Lawrence University lecturer Helen Boyd will be recognized Wednesday, May 4 by the Fair Wisconsin Education Fund with its annual Community Activist Award. Boyd will be one of four recipients honored at the organization’s Milwaukee leadership reception hosted by newly elected Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.

Boyd, who joined the Lawrence faculty in 2008, teaches in the gender studies department as well as in Lawrence’s Freshman Studies program . A nationally recognized voice on diversity issues who has long championed gender equality, Boyd is the author of the books “My Husband Betty” and “She’s Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband.”

In addition to Boyd, Fair Wisconsin will recognize the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees of Wisconsin with its Tammy Baldwin Statewide Impact Award, State Representative JoCasta Zamarripa with its Advocate Award and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center with its Organization Award.

Since 2008, Fair Wisconsin has recognized individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of LGBT equality in Wisconsin.

DownBeat Magazine Honors Lawrence Saxophone Quartet, Composer Garth Neustadter ’10

The short history of the current iteration of the Lawrence University Saxophone Quartet could be told in one word: successful.

When four Lawrence University saxophone students decided in the spring of 2010 to combine their talents to perform interesting music at a very high level, they had no idea just how rewarding that decision would prove to be.

The latest in a long line of successful ensembles in the conservatory’s saxophone studio, this quartet — seniors David Davis, Sussex, and Sumner Truax, Chicago, Ill., junior Will Obst, St. Paul, Minn., and sophomore Phillip Dobernig, Mukwonago — won the annual Lawrence Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition last fall.

LU Saxophone Quartet: David Davis, Sumner Truax, Will Obst and Phil Dobernig

In March, they shared first-place honors in the annual Wisconsin Public Radio-sponsored Neale-Silva Young Artists competition in Madison.

And the nec plus ultra came this month via DownBeat magazine, which named the quartet its 2011 undergraduate college winner in the classical group category of its 34th annual Student Music Awards.

The classical group award was one of two Lawrence musicians received. Garth Neustader, a 2010 graduate, earning outstanding performance honors in the magazine’s undergraduate college jazz arrangement category for his work on “Tenderly.”

The awards were announced April 26 in DownBeat’s June edition. Known as “DBs” and presented in 12 categories in four separate divisions (junior high, high school, performing high school and college) the DownBeat awards are considered among the highest music honors in the field of jazz education.

“With their dedication and initiative, David, Sumner, Phil and Will are truly deserving of their success,” said Steve Jordheim, Lawrence professor of music and an award-winning saxophonist himself. “Though they’ve played together only one year, they have presented three full recital programs and premiered several works by Lawrence student composers. Their commitment to, and high level performance of, the art of chamber music is inspiring.”

The quartet was recognized based on a live recording of a diverse program they performed last fall that included Greg Wannamaker’s “Speed Metal Organum Blues,” “Just a Minute, Chopin” by Adam Silverman and “Quatuor pour Saxophones” by Jun Nagao.

Members credited the quartet’s success to a combination of chemistry, technique and great mentoring.

“Our personalities really allow us to work well together,” said Truax, who plays alto sax in the quartet. “Our rehearsals are very efficient because we don’t have a problem telling each other what we think needs to be fixed.”

“The way we rehearse is very methodical,” said Obst, the group’s baritone saxophonist. “We’ve informally devised a step-by-step process to work on intonation, rhythm, balance or phrasing.”

“I attribute much of our success to having truly amazing teachers,” added Davis, soprano saxophonist. “If it was not for the dedication and intense care and knowledge of Mr. Jordheim and Ms. (Sara) Kind, I would not be half as good as I am now.”

While thrilled with their DownBeat recognition, Dobernig said it’s important to keep the honor in proper perspective.

“One thing that we’ve found from doing competitions is that different judges have contrasting musical preferences that influence their decisions,” said Dobernig, the group’s tenor saxophonist. “The reality is that we played very well, and there were, without a doubt, many other groups that played very well. It’s certainly exciting, though, because of its prestige and national recognition.”

Although Davis will graduate in June, that doesn’t mean the quartet was a one-year wonder.

“We have a couple different possibilities in mind for the future,” said Truax. “All of us will be in the area next year, so we will continue to perform together. The plan is to enter some major national and international chamber music competitions in the future and if things go well, we’re definitely open to the idea of making a career out of it.”

Neustadter, a first-year graduate student pursuing music composition at Yale University, was honored for his arrangement of the 1946 Walter Gross ballad “Tenderly,” a jazz classic that has been recorded by more than 80 major artists. He wrote his five-minute arrangement for studio orchestra and vocalist near the end of his senior year at Lawrence last spring.

“I’ve written a lot of original music but wanted to try my hand at arranging a ‘classic,’” said Neustadter, who won four DB awards in composition, jazz performance and classical performance while a student at Manitowoc Lutheran High School. “‘Tenderly’ has been successful through the ages because it retains the sophisticated elegance of the great ballads without sounding ‘dated’ or ‘old-fashioned.’ With such a wealth and variety of previous recordings and arrangements, it was somewhat intimidating and difficult to bring a ‘fresh’ compositional voice to the arrangement.

“Winning the DB continues to be a huge honor,” Neustadter added, “and I’m indebted to the jazz program at Lawrence for fostering such an atmosphere of collaboration, as well as to [director of jazz and improvisational studies] Fred Sturm for his continued mentorship and guidance.”

The two awards push Lawrence’s total to 19 DBs — including eight in the past five years — since DownBeat launched its student music awards competition in 1978. This year’s competition drew a total of 964 ensemble and individual entries for all categories in all four divisions.

Senior Leonard Hayes Wins National Piano Competition

Lawrence University’s Leonard Hayes, a senior from Dallas, Texas, won the recent Young Artists’ Division of the 2011 Tourgee Debose National Piano Competition conducted at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.

This was Hayes’ second first-place showing in the competition having previously won the Tourgee Debose’s sophomore division in 2009.

Hayes received a first-place prize of $1,000 for his winning performance of Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata Op. 90,” Cesar Franck’s “Poco Allegro and Fugue” and two movements from George Walker’s “Piano Sonata No. 2.”

A third-place finisher in the 2010 National Association of Negro Musicians’ Piano Scholarship competition, Hayes studies in the piano studio of Catherine Kautsky.

Lawrence University Joins the Appleton Compassion Project

What does compassion look like?

The Appleton Compassion Project is a community art project led by inspired by Richard Davidson, PhD — a University of Wisconsin-Madison brain researcher who has studied people who practice compassion. Davidson’s research demonstrates that compassion can be learned and can be practiced as a skill. “A little more joy might be within everyone’s reach,” Davidson said.

Beginning last fall, more than 10 thousand Appleton K-12 art students and hundreds of others in the community received a 6-inch-by-6-inch white panel (tile) on which to portray their idea of compassion. More than five hundred tiles were distributed to Lawrence University student organizations, academic departments and offices at Lawrence. “It is our hope that as many members of the Lawrence community as possible will take a moment to have a conversation about the nature of compassion and to produce a visual image on a panel,” said Jonathan R. Vanko, a sophomore at Lawrence and president of the Lawrence University Community Council. “Through the Appleton Compassion Project, we have a unique opportunity to collaborate with others and to connect Lawrence with the Appleton community, bringing many of our neighbors to campus.”

The exhibition opens Sunday, May 1, noon – 4 p.m. at Jason Downer Commons. The Trout Museum of Art, 111 W. College Ave., and the Appleton Area School District are sponsors of the Appleton Compassion Project. The Trout Museum’s gallery space will also feature compassion tiles from more than 10,000 Appleton Area School District students.

Gallery Hours:
Jason Downer Art Gallery
Tuesday – Saturday: 1:30 – 4 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Monday

Trout Museum of Art
Tuesday – Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday: 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Closed Monday

For more information about the Appleton Compassion Project, visit www.appletoncompassion.org or search for Appleton Compassion Project on Facebook.

Lawrence University Named one of Nation’s “Greenest” Colleges

For the second straight year, Lawrence University’s commitment to sustainability has earned it inclusion in “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 311 Green Colleges.”

The guidebook, released Wednesday, April 20, recognizes 308 U.S. and three Canadian colleges and universities that have demonstrated exemplary efforts toward environmental responsibility.

Developed with the U.S. Green Building Council, the second edition of the 220-page guidebook highlights colleges that have demonstrated an above average commitment to sustainability in terms of campus infrastructure, activities and initiatives.

The guide profiles the nation’s most environmentally-responsible campuses, spotlighting each institution’s ecological commitment based on several criteria, including building certification using the USGBC’s LEED certification program, use of renewable energy resources, formal sustainability committees and recycling and conservation programs.

Lawrence was cited for its Green Roots environmental initiative, which promotes environmental awareness on the campus and the Committee on Environmental Responsibility, which facilitates dialogue among students, faculty, administrators and community members about the direction Lawrence should take on its path to sustainability.

Other factors include the Warch Campus Center’s LEED Gold certification by the USGBC, the student-run sustainable garden that provides fresh produce to the dining hall, the composting of all food prep waste and the college’s vibrant environmental studies program which draws faculty from 11 different departments and focuses on research projects that lead to solutions for real world environmental problems.

The guide also cited Lawrence students for developing position papers for the Sierra Club, conducting amphibian, bird and water quality surveys for Menasha’s Heckrodt Wetland Preserve and working at New London’s Wind River Bird Rehabilitation Center.

Most recently, Lawrence finished 10th nationally among 363 colleges — and first among 15 Wisconsin colleges — in the 2011 Recyclemania competition’s per capita recycling category (39.15 lbs/person).

“We continue to make great strides on the sustainability front,” said Jeff Clark, associate professor of geology and faculty associate to the president for the Green Roots initiative. “We’ve conducted a waste audit for campus, have acquired state and utility funding for a windmill at Bjorklunden and have moved to using 100 percent recycled paper across campus. That our efforts are being noticed off campus motivates us to continue to move forward.”

According to a 2011 The Princeton Review study, 69 percent of 8,200 surveyed college applicants said information about a school’s commitment to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the school.

“College-bound students are increasingly interested in sustainability issues,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s senior vice president for publishing. “To that end, we highly recommend the terrific schools in this book.”

The schools selected for the 2011 guidebook were based on a 50-question survey conducted in 2010 of more than 700 colleges across the U.S. and in Canada used to tally “Green Rating” scores scaled from 60 to 99. The 311 schools profiled received scores of 80 or above in that assessment.

“Who Killed the Electric Car” Director Speaks at Lawrence University as Part of Earth Day Celebration

Environmental filmmaker Chris Paine, director of the thought-provoking 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?,” examines the politics, personalities and cold hard cash involved in the return of the electric car in an address at Lawrence University.

As part of the college’s Earth Day celebration, Paine presents “How Many Light Bulbs Does it Take to Plug in an Electric Car?” Tuesday, April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The talk is free and open to the public.

Paine, who tours nationally to speak on behalf of sustainable transportation, will discuss the challenges of electric vehicles to the car industry and the reasons behind their re-emergence.

His latest film, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” is scheduled to make its world premiere on Earth Day (April 22) at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. In “Revenge of the Electric Car,” Paine interviews the CEOs of Renault-Nissan, maker of the electric Leaf, Tesla Motors, which makes a high-performance electric vehicle and former GM vice chairman Robert Lutz, who has become an advocate for the company’s new Chevy Volt.

Paine, who lives in Los Angeles and drives a Telsa Roadster, sees electric vehicles as “something that is fundamentally similar to an iPhone or iPod.” In addition to his advocacy for electric cars, Paine has been active in campaigns to stop deforestation, nuclear testing in Nevada and freeway expansions in California.

Principles of Servant Leadership Examined in Lawrence University Presentation

The principles of servant leadership and how they can be used to build a more just, caring and sustainable world will be the focus of a Lawrence University presentation. Kent Keith presents “The Case for Servant Leadership” Monday, April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center.

Keith, an author and speaker who seeks to help people “find personal meaning in a crazy world,” is the chief executive officer of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership in Westfield, Ind. The non-profit organization promotes the awareness, understanding and practice of servant leadership by individuals and organizations.

A graduate of Harvard University and Rhodes Scholar, Keith is the former president of Chaminade University in Honolulu and the author of the Paradoxical Commandments, which was first published in a booklet for student leaders. He has since published four books related to the commandments, including “Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World.”

The term “servant leadership” was coined by Robert Greenleaf in his 1970 paperback “The Servant as Leader,” in which he argued that the most effective leaders wish to serve rather than command and control.

In 2007, Lawrence received a $1 million gift from the S & R Pieper Family Foundation in Mequon to establish the Pieper Family Servant-Leader Professorship to foster and promote the concept of altruistic leadership at the college. The chair is currently held by Associate Professor of History Monica Rico.

Paul Rusesabagina, Inspiration Behind Film “Hotel Rwanda,” Brings Message of Hope to Lawrence University

The man whose courage during the horrific 1994 Rwandan genocide inspired the Academy Award-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda” brings his message of hope, peace and “never again” to the Lawrence University campus.

Paul Rusesabagina presents “A Lesson to be Learned” Monday, April 25 at 7 p.m. in Stansbury Theatre of the Music-Drama Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Portrayed by actor Don Cheadle in the film, Rusesabagina, 56, is credited with saving the lives of more than 1,200 people during the 100-day killing spree by Rwandan Hutu extremists. As the manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rusesabagina bravely risked his life to shelter and protect those who were seeking refuge from the genocide that killed more than 800,000 people.

Rusesabagina’s life-changing journey from hotel manager to humanitarian has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, among them the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.

He retraces his accidental path to heroism and the 100 days in which he was the only thing standing between his “guests” and death and his subsequent life as a refugee and activist in the autobiography, “An Ordinary Man,” which he co-wrote with 1991 Lawrence University graduate Tom Zoellner. In 2005, he founded the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation to provide support, care and educational assistance for orphans of Africa’s civil wars, genocide and AIDS epidemic.

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