Rick Peterson

Author: Rick Peterson

Award-Winning Actress Explores Connection between the Arts and the Human Spirit in Two Lawrence University Events

Award-winning actress and Lawrence University graduate Megan Cole shares her passion for communication, empathy and the connection between healthcare, the arts and the human spirit in a pair of programs during a visit to her alma mater.

Cole, who has appeared in more than 100 lead roles in theatre productions across the country, presents “Illness, Stigma and Being Female” Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Reading excerpts from their own writings, Cole will deliver first-person voices of five women who have suffered from stigmatizing illnesses that are particular to the condition of being female. Illustrated with accompanying slides, the program confronts the feeling of being seen as “different” while showing that the gap between the “self” and the “other” is largely illusory.

On Friday, Jan. 23, Cole performs the one-woman show “The Wisdom of Wit, an adaptation of Margaret Edson’s ‘Wit'” at 8 p.m. in Stansbury Theatre of the Music Drama Center. Ticket prices, at $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office, 920-832-6749. Tickets also will be on sale in the Stansbury Theatre Box Office one hour before the start of the show that evening.

Cole originated the lead role of distinguished English professor Vivian Bearing, later played by Judith Light, among others, in “Wit’s” premiere in 1995 at South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, Calif. She later performed the role in productions in Seattle, Houston and Austin.

Awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for drama, “Wit” follows the journey of Bearing’s profound and humorous reassessment of her life after being diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer and her treatment in an experimental chemotherapy program at a major teaching hospital.

Cole’s work in the theatre has been recognized with two Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Awards and three Los Angeles Drama-Logue Awards. In addition to her stage work, she has made numerous television guest appearances, including roles on “ER,” “Seinfeld,” “The Practice,” “Judging Amy,” and “Star Trek,” among others.

Working in “Wit,” and hearing others’ tales of their own experiences with illness and death, inspired Cole to design an education course entitled “The Craft of Empathy” to show doctors-in-training how to use actors’ techniques to empathize with their patients. The course eventually led Cole to an appointment as a visiting professor of health and society at the University of Texas – Houston, where she continues to conduct workshops for health care students and professionals on the importance of empathic communication between caregivers and patients.

Active with the educational outreach wing of the Compassion in Dying Federation, Cole gives frequent public talks on the human face of health care and recently co-led the conference “Living Well and Dying Well” at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. She is presently working with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on a series of educational tapes of oncologists relating to the personal aspects of cancer care.

A native of Waukegan, Ill., Cole earned a bachelor of arts degree magna cum laude in English from Lawrence in 1963. She makes her home today in Nehalem, Ore.

Cole’s appearance is sponsored by Lawrence’s biomedical ethics, gender studies and theatre arts departments.

Historian Ronald White Opens Lincoln Exhibition at Lawrence University with Lecture on Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

Noted historian and author Ronald C. White, Jr. helps launch a six-week visit of a traveling exhibition on Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to abolish slavery Thursday, Jan. 22 at Lawrence University.

Based on his 2002 best-selling book of the same name, White presents “Lincoln’s Greatest Speech” at 4 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. His address is the first of a three-past series in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation,” which will be on display in Lawrence’s Seeley G. Mudd Library from Jan. 21 – March 5. White’s address, the 2004 Marguerite Schumann Memorial Lecture, is free and open to the public.

A professor of American intellectual and religious history at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, White has drawn critical praise for his book, which carefully examines Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Delivered on March 4, 1865, six weeks to the day before he died, the address was the last major speech of Lincoln’s life and came to be regarded as his epitaph, according to White.

In his book, White places Lincoln’s brief remarks in historical context, demonstrating how Lincoln attempted to shape public sentiment through the power of eloquent and carefully calculated rhetoric. The address was only 701 words long — 505 of which were monosyllabic — but it mentions God 14 times, includes four Scripture quotations and evokes prayer four times.

White, who earned his Ph.D. in religion and history at Princeton University, has written or edited five other books, including “Liberty and Justice for All: Racial Reform and the Social Gospel.”

The “Forever Free” exhibition will be displayed on the second floor of the library on two 75-foot-long sectioned panels featuring reproductions of rare historical documents, period photographs and illustrative material, including engravings, lithographs, cartoons and miscellaneous political items.

The exhibition has been organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The exhibition was been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Why Are We the Way We Are? Renowned Psychologist Explains in Lawrence University Convocation

Acclaimed author and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, whose views on the role of biology in determining human behavior has produced best selling books and raised scientific eyebrows, discusses the concept of nature vs. nurture Tuesday, Jan. 20 in a Lawrence University convocation. Pinker presents “The Blank Slate” at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. He also will conduct a question and-answer session at 2 p.m. in Riverview Lounge of the Lawrence Memorial Union. Both events are free and open to the public.

Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts on the workings of the human mind, Pinker sparked widespread debate with his latest book, “The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction in 2003 and recipient of the American Psychological Association’s William James Book Prize and the Eleanor Maccoby Book Award.

In “The Blank Slate,” he explores why what he says is the extreme position — that cultural and environmental influences are everything — is so often seen as moderate and the moderate position — that human behavior is innate — is seen as extreme. According to Pinker, the brain at birth is not simply a blank slate but a genetic history of humankind.

As an experimental psychologist, Pinker’s early interests focused on visual cognition and language, particularly language development in children. In 1994, he published the first of his four books, “The Language Instinct,” in which he made the case that language is a biological adaptation. The New York Times Book Review included it on its Editor’s Choice list of the 10 best books of that year.

In 1997, Pinker explained how people think, feel, laugh, question and enjoy in his second book, “How the Mind Works,” which became a best-seller, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and was named one of the 10 best books of the decade by Amazon.com. Two years later, he published “Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language,” which chronicles his research on regular and irregular verbs as a way of explaining how human language works.

A native of Montreal, where he earned his undergraduate degree at McGill University, Pinker, 49, has spent much of his academic career bouncing between the psychology departments of Harvard University, where he earned his doctorate, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he conducted a postdoctoral fellowship. After a year of teaching at Harvard, he returned to MIT in 1982, where he remained until last year, returning to Harvard as the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology.

In addition to his numerous book awards, Pinker has been named one of the “100 Americans for the Next Century” by Newsweek magazine and been a recipient of the National Academy of Sciences’ Troland Award and the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award.

Lawrence University Historian Examines Paradoxes of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation

Was President Abraham Lincoln acting on purely moral grounds when he issued his famous proclamation that ended slavery in the United States? Lawrence University historian Jerald Podair argues Lincoln’s motivation was driven by more than repugnancy for the institution of slavery.

Podair presents “Back Door to Freedom: The Paradoxes of the Emancipation Proclamation,” Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m.in the Wriston Art Center auditorium on the Lawrence campus.

Podair’s address is in conjunction with the traveling national exhibition, “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation,” which is on display in the Lawrence library until March 5. Both the lecture and the exhibition are free and open to the public.

Podair will explore the pragmatic reasons behind Lincoln’s decision, examining the Emancipation Proclamation not merely as a moral gesture of idealism but as a war measure to preserve the Union by destroying the Confederacy’s capacity to make war through its most important asset — slave labor. Podair argues part of the United States’ peculiar genius lies in its ability to produce leaders like Lincoln, who understood that pragmatism and self-interest may not be paradoxes after all.

A specialist on 20th-century American history, urban history and race relations and the author of the 2003 book “The Strike That Changed New York: Blacks, Whites and the Ocean Hall-Brownsville Crisis,” Podair joined the Lawrence history department in 1998. Promoted to associate professor in 2003, he earned his Ph.D. at Princeton University.

Traveling National Exhibition on Lincoln Makes Six-Week Stop at Lawrence University

A traveling exhibition examining President Lincoln’s efforts toward the abolition of slavery during the Civil War will make its only appearance in Wisconsin during a six-week stay in Lawrence University’s Seeley G. Mudd Library.

Lawrence, one of only 40 sites in the country the exhibition will visit, hosts “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” Jan. 21, 2004 – March 5. The exhibition will be located on the south end of the library’s second floor.

Displayed on two 75-foot-long sectioned panels, the exhibition features reproductions of rare historical documents, period photographs and illustrative material, including engravings, lithographs, cartoons and miscellaneous political items.

The exhibition is divided into distinct sections starting with young Lincoln’s America in the early 19th century. Covering the next 30 years, it also chronicles the spread of slavery into the western territories, the war to preserve the Union, the Emancipation Proclamation, the role of black soldiers in the Civil War and the final months of Lincoln’s life. Enhancing the exhibition will be a display of collections from Lawrence’s own Lincoln Reading Room.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Lawrence is sponsoring a series of public lectures, highlighted by an opening address by noted historian and author Ronald C. White, Jr.

Based on his best-selling 2002 book of the same name, White will present “Lincoln’s Greatest Speech,” Thursday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. A professor of American intellectual and religious history at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, White has drawn critical praise for his book, which takes Lincoln’s brief — it was only 701 words in length — second inaugural address of 1865 and places the remarks in historical context, demonstrating how Lincoln attempted to shape public sentiment through the power of eloquent and carefully calculated rhetoric.

In addition to White’s address, two other public lectures will be conducted during the exhibition’s stay. Lawrence University associate professor of history Jerald Podair will present “Back Door to Freedom: The Paradoxes of the Emancipation Proclamation” Feb. 3, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wriston auditorium. Lawrence assistant professor of English Faith Barrett will deliver the address “Drums Off the Phantom Battlement: American Poets and the Civil War,” Feb. 10, 2004 at 4 p.m. in the Wriston auditorium.

In collaboration with the Appleton Public Library, a series of book discussions, led by Lawrence faculty members, also will be held while the exhibition is here. The schedule includes: Jan. 28, James McPherson’s “Ordeal by Fire,” led by historian Rex Myers; Feb. 18, Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” led by assistant professor of history Monica Rico; and March 10, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” led by Susan Richards, director of the Lawrence library. All three programs will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Appleton Public Library’s lower level.

“We are certainly excited about the many opportunities the ‘Forever Free’ exhibit provides, both for our students and the community at large,” said Richards. “Through the format of a traveling exhibit, we are able to support teaching and learning in a way we typically haven’t done before while also enabling us to showcase some of the outstanding books and documents in our own Lincoln Reading Room.

“We hope that the topic itself, Abraham Lincoln’s own struggle to come to terms with the abolition of slavery, will entice interested members of the community to visit the Lawrence library, see this high-quality exhibit and hear some excellent speakers. It has been fun working with the Appleton Public Library on this project as well and we look forward to joining forces with them again to provide the Fox Cites with other unique opportunities like this in the future.”

The exhibition itself and all other lectures and events associated with it, are all free and open to the public.

The “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” exhibition has been organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The exhibition was been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities.

Lawrence University Graduate Confirmed as New Ambassador to India

David Mulford, a 1959 graduate of Lawrence University, has been named the United States’ newest ambassador to India.

A well-known investment banker and current chairman of Credit Suisse International, Mulford was confirmed by a voice vote of the U.S. Senate this week to serve as the next American envoy to India. He replaces Robert Blackwill, who left New Delhi after a two-year term, to join the National Security Council.

Nominated for the ambassador’s post by President Bush in November, Mulford previously had served as under secretary for international affairs in the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr.

A native of Rockford, Ill., Mulford earned a Ph.D. from Oxford University after leaving Lawrence and has written two books on Africa. In 1984, Lawrence awarded Mulford an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at its commencement ceremony. A standout football player and track athlete as an undergraduate, he was inducted into Lawrence’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

Before joining the government, he was the chief investment adviser to the Saudi Arabia Monetary Fund and a consultant on foreign debt issues.

BusinessWeek Cites Private College Tuition Plan Among Best of 2003

Lawrence University is among a group of colleges that was collectively cited in the December 15 issue of BusinessWeek for launching what the magazine hails as one of the best new products of 2003.

The Independent 529 Plan, a tax-advantaged plan for families to save for tuition at more than 200 participating private colleges, was one of 30 new products highlighted by the publication in its annual list of new and innovative products.

Lawrence was among an original consortium of 50 institutions involved in designing the financial plan, which was launched in September, 2003 after winning approval from both Congress and the IRS.

“In spite of the widespread availability of financial aid, families were growing increasingly uneasy about their ability to finance a high-quality education at Lawrence or one of the other top colleges in the nation, so we felt this program would allow them to secure today’s tuition prices for their children’s future educations,” said Steve Syverson, dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence. “The program takes a lot of the guesswork out of planning for financing a top-notch private education.

“We are naturally delighted that BusinessWeek has chosen to include this program on its Best of 2003 list,” Syverson added. “Obviously they join us in seeing this as a real winner of a concept.”

Lawrence is one of only three private colleges in Wisconsin currently participating in the Independent 529 Plan. For more information, visit www.independent529plan.org or call toll-free 888-718-7878.

Lawrence University Biologist Awarded $200,000 Grant for Zebra Mussel Study

The impact of the exploding non-native zebra mussel population on the ecosystem of the bay of Green Bay will be the focus of a three-year study conducted by Lawrence University associate professor of biology Bart De Stasio starting in March 2005. The research project will be funded by a $206,000 grant De Stasio was awarded by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

A specialist in aquatic biology, especially predator-prey interactions, De Stasio will combine advanced computer modeling with field study research to determine the effects the exotic invader is having in Green Bay on the populations of phytoplankton, benthos, zooplankton and fish species.

Widely considered one of the most productive fisheries in the Great Lakes, Green Bay had been studied extensively prior to the invasion by zebra mussels. But De Stasio’s study will be the first to explore the dramatic changes the coastal ecosystem of Green Bay has undergone since zebra mussels were first discovered there in 1992 and only the third of its kind on the entire Great Lakes basin.

The research project will have three main objectives. One will be to identify information gaps in existing data by conducting field studies on key components of the lower food web at sites that were investigated extensively prior to the zebra mussel invasion as well as analyzing unpublished data from that time period.

The research project will have three main objectives. One will be to identify information gaps in existing data by conducting field studies on key components of the lower food web at sites that were investigated extensively prior to the zebra mussel invasion as well as analyzing unpublished data from that time period.

The study’s third objective will involve the construction of a dynamic energy/mass balance-flow ecosystem model of Green Bay that can be used for comparison with current modeling efforts done for the Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake in New York.

“Green Bay is an ideal site for this project because of the abundance of good data that had been collected by other scientists and researchers prior to the arrival of the zebra mussel,” De Stasio said. “This study will provide a great opportunity to collect new data and create ecosystems models that will be invaluable to others who are also studying this problem. We want to establish collaborations with researchers at Cornell University and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources so we can determine the impact the zebra mussel is having on similar ecosystems not just in northeast Wisconsin but throughout the entire Great Lakes region.”

The grant will enable two Lawrence students to join De Statio as technicians and summer research assistants each year of the study as well as support one graduate student at UW-Green Bay.

With the support of a 1995 National Science Foundation grant, De Stasio previously established a baseline data set for ecological and genetic dynamics to measure the impact of zebra mussels on the Lake Winnebago watershed.

Native to the Caspian Sea region of Asia, the fingernail-sized zebra mussels are believed to have arrived in the Great Lakes via ballast water discharged from a transoceanic vessel into Lake St. Clair, near Detroit in 1988. Since their discovery, they have spread rapidly to all of the Great Lakes and waterways in many states, as well as Ontario and Quebec. By 1998, they had reached Lake Winnebago.

While most of the biological impacts of zebra mussels in North America are not yet known, information from Europe suggests zebra mussels have the potential to severely impact native mussels by interfering with their feeding, growth, locomotion, respiration and reproduction. They are notorious for their capabilities to colonize water supply pipes of power plants, public water supply plants and other industrial facilities, constricting flow and reducing the intake capacity in heat exchangers, condensers, fire fighting equipment and air conditioning and cooling systems.

A 1982 Lawrence graduate, De Stasio earned his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. He joined the Lawrence biology department in 1992 and was named a recipient of the Appleton Joint Rotary Clubs’ 1998 “Cutting Edge” award for leadership and innovation in education.

Two Lawrence University Actors Selected for Irene Ryan Regional Competition

Exceptional performances in Lawrence University’s recent production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” have earned students Brendan Marshall-Rashid and Matt Murphy invitations to the 2004 Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition as part of the annual American College Theatre Festival.

Marshall-Rashid, a senior from Petoskey, Mich., and Murphy, a sophomore from Eagan, Minn., will be among 200 student actors participating in the five-state regional competition January 13-18, 2004 at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill.

In Lawrence’s four-show production staged last month, Marshall-Rashid played the leading role of Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, while Murphy portrayed Autolycus, a vagrant thief who ends up aiding the princess of Sicilia and the prince of Bohemia.

Participants in the regional acting audition vie for two $500 scholarships and the chance to advance to the ACTF’s national auditions at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., next spring.

The ACTF was founded in 1969 to recognize and celebrate the finest and most exciting work produced in college theatre programs and provide opportunities for participants to develop their theatre skills. Conducted since 1972, the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship was established in the will of the late actress, best known for her role as the lovable and feisty Granny Clampett on the TV hit show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Lawrence University Violinist Wins State Strings Competition

Lawrence University violinist Claude Halter won the senior division of the 2003 Wisconsin American String Teachers Association (ASTA) competition Saturday, Nov. 8 held at the University of Wisconsin. A junior from Vicennes, France, and a student of assistant professor Stephane Tran Ngoc, Halter performed the first movement of the Sibelius’ “Violin Concerto” and Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz-Scherzo.” He earned $100 as a first-place prize.

By winning the state competition, Halter qualifies for the semifinals of ASTA’s national competition, which will be conducted by audio tape of state performances. A jury will select participants to perform in the national finals, which will be held March 11-13, 2004 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.