2013 better newspaper contest entry: reporting on local education

Thursday, October 4, 2012 -

INSIDE

Single copy — $1Thursday, October 4, 2012 Ripon, WI 54971

Ripon Commonwealth Press Issue No. 40www.RiponPress.com Serving the Ripon community since 1864

Our Views

Business

More than foodPick ’n Save long has offered more than just groceries. Its latest innovation? A photo studio right in-house.

See page 14

Better late ...It took longer than the team would have liked — about four games longer — but the Red Hawk gridders have a win.

See page 19

RC’s futureMessitte charts pathWondering what might be in store for Ripon College during the new president’s tenure? Zach Messitte hints at what his priorities will be.

See page 3

2011Wisconsin WeeklyNewspaperof theYear

Sports

Say what?Former CIA director in town? Come ask him anything you want while he is visiting — just don’t ask anything about the CIA.

See page 4

by Ian [email protected]

Assuming the city of Ripon budget is passed as is, citizens will see little difference between the 2012 budget and next year’s edition.

What will be noticed, though, is a slight tax increase — a few dollars for the average home — and a reduction in the number of hours Ripon’s senior center director works.

But beyond that, it appears it will be business as usual.These alterations came to light this week as the proposed 2013

budget was released in preparation for the Common Council’s first discussion on it Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

“This year’s budget was not as challenging as last year’s, because we did not need to face the cuts from the state we had last year,” City Administrator Lori Rich said, referring to shared-revenue cuts from the state going into 2012.

With that in mind, city staff tried to craft a budget with as few cost increases as possible.

“We did try to keep the budget flat — that was our goal this year,” she said, noting this was possible in part due to health-care costs that will not go up for 2013. “It came in very favorable this year.”

AN OVERVIEWThat didn’t mean the budget went completely unaltered, though.

City budget includes few changes from ’12

College welcomes 13th presidentCIA PROFILE

ZACH MESSITTE

by Tim Lyke

[email protected]

Memo to Ripon College students, faculty,

staff and friends: Don’t worry about the new

guy on Merriman Lane.

The CIA has checked him out.

Zach Messitte’s dossier is in order.

So says his good friend and former top spy

George Tenet, who served as CIA director

under presidents Bill Clinton and George W.

Bush from 1997 to 2004.

Tenet visited Ripon Saturday to speak at

Messitte’s inauguration on the lawn of Har-

wood Memorial Union.

Now a managing director at the merchant

bank Allen & Company in New York City,

Tenet spoke with the Commonwealth 45 min-

utes before delivering his speech about Ripon

College’s 13th president.

“Zach talked to me about coming to Ripon

[before he was named in March,]” Tenet

said. “I thought it was a great opportunity

and strongly urged him to do it. I thought he

would make a profound difference in a small,

liberal arts college. “I thought his youth and energy would con-

nect with the kids immediately and I thought

he would bring a certain energy that would be

decisive. And I also believe that education is

his life and what a great opportunity to come

New guy checks out with the CIA

Fire chief takes job in Arizona after less than year

by Tim [email protected]

Few attending Ripon Col-lege’s inauguration of President Zach Messitte saw the winged wonder soar over Lane Library, Smith and East halls because they were fac-ing Harwood Union.

But had any of the honored guests seated on the build-i n g ’s p o r c h gazed up they w o u l d h ave s p o t t e d a n o c c u r r e n c e that even the most detailed special-event planners couldn’t have orches-trated.

Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Kirkland was about to place over Messitte’s head the ceremonial presidential medal-lion and chain of office, climax of the investiture that officially inaugurated Ripon College’s

13th president.Suddenly, a hawk appeared in

the sky, maybe peering down on the proceedings.

Was it a red-tailed hawk?A Ripon Red Hawk?Perhaps biology Professor

Skip Wittler would know, but i t s m y s t e r i -ous if ephem-eral presence bestowed an exc l ama t ion p o i n t t o a 90-minute cer-emony marked by dignity, so-l emni ty and joy.

The weath-er was perfect.

Presidents of colleges, as

well as alumni from many oth-ers, offered their well wishes on behalf of their institutions.

Many of Zach and Julia Mes-sitte’s family attended from Maryland, Alabama, New York and Illinois; none drew more

3 For an editorial related to this story, see “Following

year-long search, RAFD Chief David Bathke resigns after 10 months,” page 4.

ZACH MESSITTE, 13TH president of Ripon College, addresses the many well-wishers who turned out Saturday for his inauguration. Tim Lyke photo

3 Also see: ‰ “RC president outlines tenure in alumni call,” page 3. ‰ “Interview with ex-CIA director was a ‘slam dunk’ for his friend Zach,” page 4. ‰ More photos on page 18 and at www.RiponPress.com


After more than a year of hard work, it was Dec. 19, 2011, when Ripon Area Fire District (RAFD) officials finally found the guy to lead their department.

“I think he has the right per-sonality to both be a public image to the community and to lead the department,” RAFD President Joel

Brockman said at the time of new Chief Da-vid Bathke.

And the feel-ing appeared mutual.

“This is the brass ring, and I’m very honored to be here,” Bathke said at the time, explaining that, though he applied for po-

sitions nation-wide, “I’m from Wisconsin and want to stay in Wisconsin. I’m a country boy.”

Times have changed.

On Monday, less than 10 months removed from introducing himself to local fire-fighters, Bathke again stood in front

of the rank and file — and informed them he was leaving.

Bathke starts Dec. 3 at the Hells-gate Fire Department, based in Star Valley, Ariz.

He’s given the RAFD a 60-day notice, effective Tuesday night, when the RAFD board met.

The board, however, tried to change his mind unsuccessfully.

“We gave him the option at two minutes to 7 [p.m.] to change his

mind, but he didn’t take it,” Brock-man said. “We’re parting on good terms — and we still wish we had him.”

MOVING ONThough Bathke will be staying

on for two months, his departure puts the RAFD board back in hir-ing mode — a position it was in for

See COLLEGE/ page 18

See CIA/ page 18

RIPON HIGH SCHOOL student Jordan Krentz gets a face full of puffy Cheetos and whipped cream from student Zach Kutz during a Homecoming pep rally. For many more photos, see this week’s Education section — pages 12 and 13. Aaron Becker photo

See CHIEF/ page 17

See BUDGET/ page 17

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attention than the couple’s smil-ing, well-mannered boys clad in red ties and brown bowler hats: Sam, 10, and Jules, 8.

Guest speaker and former CIA Director George Tenet spoke admiringly of his pro-tege, while both he and Messitte double-teamed an attack against current conventional wisdom that a liberal-arts education is too expensive and outdated.

Tenet compared reacting to intelligence matters with hav-ing a broad understanding of the world that a Ripon College education affords.

Both, he said, require prac-titioners to be able to analyze a world that is becoming increas-ingly complex, continuous and interdependent.

“... We are at an important moment when people are ques-tioning the importance of liberal arts education,” he said. “What is the sense, they say, of train-ing young men and women if they cannot find a job? To all the specialists who chant, ‘We got jobs,’ Zach and I would say, ‘Yes, but the men and women of Ripon College have futures.’”

In his inaugural address, Mes-sitte explained he wanted to be a college professor and president because of the power a college

to a great place at a young age, relatively, and see if he can put all his ideas into practice to grow the institution. So I thought he was terrific.”

Messitte, 44, likely was encouraged by the advice from his mentor, a man most address as “Director Tenet” but who Ripon’s president fondly calls “Meat.”

The two men have been friends since 1990, when they first met after former U.S. Sen. David Boren, D-Okla., hired Messitte to be press spokesman for the U.S. Senate Select Com-mittee on Intelligence.

Tenet was staff director of the committee, overseeing 40 to 50 personnel.

But he was immediately im-pressed by the young man with shoulder-length hair, fresh out of Bowdoin College.

“You know how when you connect with someone, you know you’ve made a connec-tion?” Tenet said. “We connected instantly.”

The new hire “was special,” his former boss recalls, “even as a very young man.

“He had unique gifts. He looked at the world with a sense of awe and interest that you don’t see in many young people. He had a real energy and a real pas-sion for the world.”

Messitte also had a passion for Georgetown basketball. After work, he and Tenet occasionally

News

education can provide. “The vibrancy of our society

depends on the continued health of our educational system,” he said.

Responding to a recent News-week cover story that answered “yes” to its headline, “Is College a Lousy Investment?,” Messitte was direct and passionate.

“Newsweek is wrong. Col-lege is worth it. It is a great investment,” he said. “In the past three months, I’ve met with dozens of Ripon College alumni. I’ve heard inspiring stories that

speak to the importance of a liberal arts college education.”

But he conceded that col-leges such as Ripon must be creative in identifying ways to assure that college is affordable through “innovative pathways to education.”

These may include such in-novations as summer education, multi-disciplinary studies, year-round internships and greater use of interactive technology, Messitte said.

Ripon College’s challenges, he concluded, will be to grow its

endowment, renovate buildings, attract outstanding students and fairly compensate faculty and staff.

“We must work together,” Messitte said. “... We need to celebrate our successes but we also need to be constantly thinking about ways to make our college and our society better.

“Thank you. I am so proud to be here today.”

COLLEGE/New Ripon College president: College is a ‘great investment’ continued from page 1

CIA/Messitte is passionate about his work continued from page 1

would get a bite to eat and then go watch the Hoyas.

They’ve even played basket-ball together.

“Zach has an infectious per-sonality,” Tenet said. “We love sports; we used to go to basket-ball games together. We talked about politics. We talked about the world.”

Although Tenet was Messitte’s supervisor, their relationship was more of a friendship. “I guess I

was maybe 9 or 10 years older than him, so we were both pretty young and so it was like older brother/younger brother rather than a boss and mentor kind of thing,” Tenet said.

Working together on a day-to-day basis, Tenet came to ap-preciate his “younger brother’s” enthusiasm.

“All I remember was all this energy, passion, probing, ques-tioning and fun,” he said.

Tenet believes Messitte’s personality, coupled with his pro-fessional experience, makes him perfectly suited to lead Ripon College into the future.

“His potential was clear as a young person,” Tenet said. “I couldn’t have charted his career, what he’s done: he’s worked as a journalist, at the U.N., go off and teach, get his Ph.D., run a radio program — this guy’s done everything.”

“FIRST LADY” JULIA Messitte applies a little sunscreen to son Jules, 8, while Sam, 10, reads his program. Tim Lyke photo

AMONG ATTENDEES was David Wil l iams, recently retired vice chancellor at University of Wisconsin-Stout and Ripon College’s former interim president.Tim Lyke photo

RIPON COLLEGE ASSOCIATE Dean of Faculty and Registar Michele Wittler, class of ’76, leads a procession of alumni, who include, visible to her left, Ripon resident Gordon Minch, ’50.

Tim Lyke photo

FORMER CIA DIRECTOR George Tenet edits his speech minutes before giving it. Tim Lyke photo

DELIVERED by mouse?

riponpress.com

Thursday, April 4, 2013 - Page 1

INSIDE

Single copy — $1Thursday, April 4, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971


Our Views

Senior sevenFor these girls, it’s their last — and best — chance to do what no Tiger softball squad has done before: go to state.

See page 17

Root beer returningIt’s not quite ready yet, but construction is well underway for Ripon’s new A&W restaurant.

See page 13

Sports

Business

Online academyWant a peek behind the curtain of what the Ripon Police Department does every day? Find out, only on the web.

See page 4



Kleefisch Lt. governor visitedCould the next president come from Wisconsin? The state’s lieutenant governor gives her opinion during a visit to Ripon last week.

See page 3

RHS has left the building

ASHLEY JOHNSON, LEFT, gets a kick out of Alissa Balke striking an Elvis pose during a tour of Sun Studio in Memphis, where “the king of rock ’n roll” was discovered. Balke is holding the actual Shure 55 microphone formerly used by the 18-year-old from Tupelo, Miss., who visited Sun Studio during the summer of 1953 to record a song for his mother. Behind them is a blown-up photo of the “Million Dollar Quartet” — Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins — who gathered in that same recording studio room one historic evening in December 1956. Tim Lyke photo

SITTING ON THE steps leading to the stage that for 31 years housed the Grand Ole Opry are Sarah Salas and Michael Becker. Tim Lyke photo

Student musicians return from trip to Tennessee


First, a woman who looked to be in her 80s got out of her seat, moved to the back of the room and started dancing.

Then a nearly 90-something resident shuffled away from her walker and began conducting the band in tandem with Ripon High School (RHS) band director Sandy Polcyn.

Finally, an aging audience member raised her hand, inter-rupting the concert to declare: “In my seven years of living here I have never been so thoroughly entertained.”

Someone forgot to tell the elderly residents at Kirby Pines Retirement Community in Mem-phis, Tenn., they are too old to be digging music performed by teenagers.

So 91 RHS band and choir students were the beneficiaries of

their enthusiasm last week during a six-day bus trip to Memphis and Nashville.

Upon seeing people in wheel-chairs tapping their toes, white-haired heads nodding and the extemporaneous conductor begin swaying with the music, a resi-dent leaned over to a Ripon parent chaperone seated next to her and whispered in his ear.

“You know, not all of the people here are well, mentally,” she explained.

But what the Kirby Pines resident failed to realize was that music is not an intellectual pursuit.

It is a soulful experience, one that stirs the heart rather than the brain.

And that’s the lesson learned by the students, their 12 parent chaperones and maybe even rein-forced to the trip’s leaders, RHS band and choir teachers Sandy

See TENNESSEE/ page 11

Board members

easily keep their seats


For three weeks this winter, it probably felt a little silly for staff to call the place they worked at “Sheltered Village.”

It’s hard to have a village of just one person.But, from late January through mid-February, that’s all there was at Ripon’s

north-side care facility for those with severe cognitive disabilities.It had been open since 1985, when it was founded by Diverse Options (then

called “Ripon Area Service Center”) and operated as the “Ripon Area Resi-dential Center.” Once, as many as 59 individuals with disabilities lived there.

But Sheltered Village’s population had been dwindling for some time.It’s last resident finally moved on Feb. 12, when Sheltered Village of-

ficially closed.Now, its residents have been shoehorned into other care situations —

sometimes assisted living, sometimes group homes.Its staff also have been scattered to the wind.For those staff, working at Sheltered Village was more than a job.“Definitely,” said Lisa Zimmerman, a social worker who used to work at

At a glanceD. Scott

D. Olson

G. Rodman

G. WetzelJ. SpergerB. Reilly

22.2%

19.3%

18.7%

15.2%13.4%11.2%

333

This shows the percentage of each candidate’s share of the total votes cast Tuesday — not necessarily the percentage of voters who voted for him, because voters could select up to three candidates.

by Aaron [email protected]

After 13 hours of local vot-ing, the Ripon Area School Board remains unchanged.

The three incumbents up for e lec t ion in the spring race Tuesday k e p t t h e i r seats, holding off challeng-es from three o t h e r a r e a residents. The candidates ran for seats “at large,” mean-ing the top t h r e e vo t e -getters would win.

I n c u m -bents David Scott (772), David Olson ( 6 6 9 ) a n d Gary Rodman ( 6 5 0 ) c a m e in first, sec-ond and third place, respec-tively.

Challeng-ers Gary Wet-z e l ( 5 2 8 ) , John Sperg-e r ( 4 6 5 ) a n d B r i a n Reilly (390) fell short in fourth, fifth and sixth place.

That’s according to unoffi-cial reporting from the city of Ripon and the several surround-

David Olson

Gary Rodman

David Scott

Sheltered Village places its last resident, closes

Controlled burn incident leads to RAFD shining light on billing


Last fall, the Ripon Area Fire District (RAFD) was called out to a report of a field in flames.

Little did they know it was a legal, controlled burn.

But, because they had a bill-ing policy in place that said they must charge the property owner when called to a fire, the property owner — who was well within his rights to burn — was billed.

“We had a resident that did nothing legally wrong and we ended up billing because we got called out to a fire by somebody not doing the billing,” RAFD President Joel Brockman said.

Needless to say, the indi-vidual was less than pleased about that fact, and RAFD board members agree.

It’s one rea-son tha t the board agreed to shine a light on its billing procedures — all of them — at its Tuesday meeting.

“Because it was not a fair policy and he was not doing anything legally wrong, we needed to clear up what we need to bill for and what we do not bill for, and why,” Brockman said.

Step by step, the board went

through every scenario for which it might bill, and evalu-ated whether it should — and how much it should charge in

those circum-stances.

“[We need] to get a clear and precise vi-sion of what t h e d e p a r t -ment wants to charge for and does cha rge

for,” Brockman said, noting the department currently has “dif-ferent resolutions to charge for different [things] in different documents” and that it’s not

“We needed to clear up what we need to bill

for and what we do not bill for, and why.”RAFD president Joel Brockman

See BOARD/ back page

See CLOSES/ back pageSee RAFD/ page 15

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Polcyn and Allison Zeitler. Whether performing within

eyesight of Graceland, peek-ing into a dressing room at the Grand Ole Opry, holding Elvis’ microphone at Sun Record Stu-dio, touring the Blues haunts of historic Beale Street or entertain-ing about 300 K-5 elementary children, the Ripon musicians appreciated again and again the power that music — be it blues, country or rock ’n roll — holds over emotions.

After touring the Country Music Hall of Fame, Polcyn pointed out to the students that many of the members were their age when they began seriously pursuing their music.

“You, too, can follow your dreams,” she told them.

During the trip, which began Friday, March 22 and ended Wednesday, March 27, students:

‰ Received performance tips from faculty clinicians at the Illinois-Wesleyan University-Bloomington School of Music;

‰ Visited Sun Studio, where Elvis Presley was discovered and the site of the impromptu jam session of the “million-dollar quartet:” Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jer-ry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins;

‰ Performed for about 200 seniors at the Kirby Pines Retire-ment Community;

‰ Toured Memphis’ historic Beale Street, home of blues clubs and the house once occupied by “father of the blues” W.C. Handy;

‰ Viewed the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where the Rev. Martin

Luther King Jr. was assassinated 45 years ago today (Thursday);

‰ Visited the interactive Rock-N-Soul Museum to see how slave chants evolved over time into country, blues and rock music;

‰ Gave a mini-concert on the plaza in front of Graceland before touring Elvis’ mansion, its grounds and his final resting spot;

‰ Performed in the atrium of Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, before viewing exhibits to see artifacts used by hall-of-fame inductees. Few students realized that before their concert began, record-label executives filed past them on their way to a private “showcase” in an adjacent theater that fea-tured up-and-coming bands and vocalists;

‰ Walked along Nashville’s historic Broadway Avenue, where every nightclub fea-tured live bands — even on the Monday afternoon when Ripon students watched as a steady stream of wannabe stars played the honky tonks for tips in hopes of achieving stardom;

‰ Attended “The Best of Country Music Show” that featured several instrumental-ists and vocalists who used to perform with the late Tammy “Stand By Your Man” Wynette. Although Ripon students and other audience members cheered the professional performers, the most enthusiastic reception was saved for on-stage selections by Ripon’s Cantabile ensemble and the “Acafella” quartet of Manny

Nelson, Chase Niederkorn, Nick Retzlaff and Derek Rodriguez;

‰ Received a backstage tour of Ryman Auditorium, home for 31 years of the Grand Ole Opry radio show;

‰ Gave a concert to a gym full of about 300 K-to-fifth grad-ers, who enjoyed the Ripon’s singing and playing so much that toward the end of the concert, a second grader was moved to raise her hand and ask: “Could you play one more song?”

‰ Toured Belle Meade, an actual plantation that includes a 160-year-old Greek Revival man-sion;

‰ Line danced to live country music at the Wildhorse Saloon, a three-level historic warehouse transformed 19 years ago into a 66,000-square-foot live music and dance destination in Nash-ville’s historic club district.

RHS sophomore Peter Gauth-ier insisted after the Memphis blues tour of the trip was com-plete and the group was going to Nashville that he would have nothing to do with country music.

But that final night in “Music City,” he, too, shared the hard-wood floor with Zeitler, Polcyn and his classmates, boot scoot-ing to songs made famous by the likes of Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

Such is the power of a song, the students learned; it can evoke emotion among young, old and even the most hard-core naysayer who underestimates the power of music to soften even the hardest of hearts.

TENNESSEE/continued from page 1

STEPHANIE YOST MARVELS at just a few of Elvis Presley’s many gold records.

LUCAS EBERHART LETS students use his sticks to bang on his drum. They had just watched the RHS Band perform at their school, the Bradley Arts Academy in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Helping the children is chaperone Sally Brewer.

DUSTIN DEIKE PHOTOGRAPHS the site where civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was slain 45 years ago Thursday. James Earl Ray, who lived in a boarding house across the street from the motel, fired the gun that killed King as King stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The front of King’s white Cadillac is visible in the left edge of this photo. The motel has since been converted into a civil rights museum.

LEFT, DURING THE final night of their six-day visit to Tennessee, students filled the dance floor of the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville to learn several line dances. Right, choir director Allison Zeitler directs her singers across the street from Graceland, which sits on Elvis Presley Boulevard. After giving brief concerts, RHS band and choir members rode shuttle busses over to the mansion, where they toured Elvis’ home as well as his trophy room, his father’s office, racquetball building, patio and pool, and the grave sites of Elvis, his parents — Vernon and Gladys — and his aunt, Minnie Mae.

JUMPING FOR JOY on Memphis’ Beale Street are, from left, Alissa Balke, Abby Rosenau, Lydia Wargulas, Esther Rodman, Alexia Walleser, Eliza Morris, Rachel Bradshaw, Alicia Abraham and Aubrey Schoff.

CHAPERONE TREVOR Hanke examines exhibits near the trumpet and saxophone played by “The Memphis Horns.”

CHOIR DIRECTOR Allison Zeitler photographs an exhibit in Elvis’ trophy room.

ALICIA ABRAHAM, left , and Caroline Brumley visit with a resident at Kirby Pines Retirement Center.

To view about 50 more photos, go to RiponPress.com, click on “Photos” in the top navigation bar, and then click on “Tennessee trip for RHS musicians.”

Education

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Thursday, May 30, 2013 - Page 1

INSIDE

Single copy — $1Thursday, May 30, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971


Our Views

On to state!A whole herd flock bunch of Tigers will represent Ripon High School this coming week at state competitions.

See page 19

Fun for allPlaygrounds are great for kids — unless your child has a disability. But one local park will fit their needs now, too.

See page 7

Sports

Area

End of an eraFor generations, Riponites have been able to turn on a local station and hear a local radio show. It seems those days are gone.

See page 4



Packers Two visit RiponIn green-and-gold withdrawal? A pair of Packers will visit Ripon today (Wednesday) to help hype a local dealership.

See page 3

Alleged grad day

gun threat may lead to charge

A weekend of ...

Celebration and commemoration

Agnesian: RMC not a money-makerBudget woes may mean staff snipped in schools

“We’re required to buy next year’s goods and

services at last year’s prices, and the math just doesn’t work out.”Richard Zimman, superintendent


As a little boy growing up in Ripon some 45 years ago, Jeff Paulson vividly recalls Memorial Days past.

“I can reflect sentimentally on being the kid scrambling for shall casings during the 21-gun salute, the scout marching in the parade, the baritone player in the junior and high school bands ...” he said Mon-day morning.

Only on Memorial Day 2013, the little boy had grown up to become a veteran, having returned from serving as a medical pilot in Afghanistan a little more than a year ago.

Dressed in his flight suit, the former chief war-rant officer 2 for the U.S. Army National Guard gave

the address from the Village Green stage, just five blocks east of his Thorne Street home.

At age 57, he noted how many things hadn’t changed from his childhood, including the self-sacrifice that young people make as they serve in the military.

Idea of self-sacrifice alive among today’s vets

RHS teacher to grads: ‘Experience the wonder’


No diplomas were dis-pensed at Ingalls Field last weekend until Ripon High School (RHS) seniors got a mini-seminar on English literature, Greek mythology, philosophy and American his-tory.

The 146 members of the RHS class of 2013 attending the graduation ceremony on a brisk and windy Saturday morning were warmed by words of encouragement of-fered by several speakers.

Garnering the biggest laugh was emcee Lincoln Wurtz, who replaced his mortarboard with a top hat as he solemnly began his speech: “Four score and seven years ago...”

As classmates giggled, he put his graduation headgear back on and continued.

“One-hundred, fifty years ago and people still remember Abraham Lincoln’s speech,” he said. “I doubt any of you will remember [my speech] by dinner time tonight.”

Wurtz reminded seniors seated in front of him on the track, as well as par-ents, family and friends in the bleachers, of the Greek mytho-logical character, Sisyphus.

Legend has it the gods

by Aaron [email protected]

A custodian, early childhood teacher and a pair of art teachers could see their positions reduced as part of possible budget cuts in the Ripon Area School District.

Those and other changes are part of the 2013-14 bud-g e t r e c o m -m e n d a t i o n s from the Bud-get Planning T e a m ( S e e chart on page 15 for the full breakdown).

School Board members are expected to act on a preliminary budget for the upcoming school year at the regular June meeting, Monday, June 17.

“We are required to have a [preliminary] budget in place by the time the fiscal year begins on

July 1,” Superintendent Richard Zimman said.

According to a memo given to board members, the district faces more than $400,000 in re-quired budget cuts for 2013-14.

“It’s the same story we’ve had all along,” Zimman said.

“ We ’ r e r e -quired to buy n e x t y e a r ’s g o o d s a n d services at last year’s prices, and the math jus t doesn’t work out. We come up short

because the price of everything keeps going up.”

The forecasted budget deficit is due to state budget restrictions “that don’t keep up with the cost of rising prices,” he said.

For example, $50 in groceries won’t buy as much this year as


Even under Agnesian Health-Care’s new leadership, Ripon Medical Center (RMC) is not a

self-sustaining operation — at least not now.

That’s a primary reason Agne-sian is exploring some level of affiliation with Berlin-based Community Health Network

(CHN), according to Agnesian’s top official.

“We are losing money to-day,” Agnesian President Steve Little said last week Tuesday at a Ripon Noon Kiwanis meet-ing. “Ripon Medical Center as a stand-alone hospital cannot make money. It cannot be vi-able until we get Community Health Network to work [better] with us.”

This was one of several top-ics Little touched on during a rapid-fire talk, ranging from RMC’s new hospital to provid-ers it offers.

Little joked how a Ripon resident prodded him recently about the proposed affiliation with CHN.

“‘Are you trying to con-quer the world?’” Little said of what the person asked. “We are not trying to conquer the world. Agnesian HealthCare has its limitations, like any other health-care [company].”

But no one will win, he ex-


A stepped-up police pres-ence was palpable at last week Saturday’s Ripon High School graduation ceremony after a re-cent Ripon High School senior allegedly threatened last week to bring a gun to the event.

The student, who completed his senior year last week, likely will be referred for a charge of disorderly conduct — a state-level misdemeanor — in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court.

He is not yet being named because he has not been charged as of press time.

The situation developed rap-idly, Ripon Police Capt. Bill Wallner said, noting police first heard about it Thursday.

“A student at school had made some comments that there would be some kind of surprise at graduation,” Wallner said, not-ing this information was shared by numerous students. “Some other students started getting concerned about those state-ments and reported them to the school resource officer [Randy Butters].”

“We were concerned because we had a special event and a number of our students and their families were concerned about it,” Ripon High School Principal Dan Tjernagel said. “A combination of [Assistant Principal] Rick Bunge, officer Randy Butters and I looked into it and talked to a number of students throughout the day on Thursday.”

The initial investigation into this comment led to little tan-gible evidence of a threat.

“We basically didn’t have too much about it,” Wallner said. “Eventually we went directly to the student and asked what he said. He denied it ... [and] said he would not be participat-ing in the graduation ceremony anyway because of personal

See GRADS/ page 18 See VETS/ page 17See THREAT/ page 16

See BUDGET/ page 15 See RMC/ page 15AGNESIAN CEO STEVE Little discusses Ripon Medical Center.

Ian Stepleton photo

RIPON HIGH SCHOOL Principal Dan Tjernagel congratulates Adam Meyer, whose yellow cord represents academic excellence. Tim Lyke photo

RIPON VETERAN JEFF Paulson discusses traditions: boyhood memories as well as a nation’s willingness to sacrifice soldiers to uphold its ideals. Tim Lyke photo

3 For more photos from graduation, see page 10.

For more photos from Memo-rial Day, see page 3. Or, for more photos from either event, visit www.RiponPress.com.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

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punished him by requiring him to roll a large boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.

Quoting French philosopher Albert Camus, Wurtz encouraged seniors to imagine Sisyphus smil-ing as he undertook his hellish task.

“The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart,” he said.

“You are at the top,” Wurtz told the students about to gradu-ate, “but life moves on. Like Sisyphus, next year we will have a new set of boulders as we move onto college or the military or the workforce.”

“[A] feeling of accomplish-ment,” he explained, “only comes after the struggle to the summit.”

BE TRUE TO SELFAnother speaker, graduating

senior Zach Kutz, reminded his classmates that while they had many people help them earn their diploma, from here on they alone will be masters of their fate.

“After today you become re-sponsible for making your dream come true,” he said. “You’ll have support systems, but it’s up to you.”

English teacher Pat Osowski picked up on that theme, telling students that despite their efforts they — like attorney Atticus Finch in the novel “To Kill a Mocking-bird” — won’t always succeed.

He also alluded to alleged adulterer Hester Prynne in the novel “The Scarlet Letter,” warn-ing: “Society will judge you harshly if you are different.”

But it’s more important to, like Finch and Prynne, do what you think is right, Osowski said, than to be viewed as a winner. “Be true to yourself.”

He advised students to “experi-ence the wonder and adventure that is around you daily,” even if it means losing the favor of those who seek convention.

DEDICATE SELF TO SERVICEPrincipal Dan Tjernagel told

the story of an elderly man who,

NewsGRADS/Superintendent Zimman: Dedicate your life to others continued from page 1

upon his death, ceded to a young man a gold pocketwatch as a thank you for taking the time to be his friend.

“How do you view time?” Tjernagel asked the students. “What do you value most?”

He added that what students hold most dear can change in an instant, and so they shouldn’t wait to show their gratitude for their good fortune while planning for the future.

Finally, retiring Superintendant Richard Zimman offered three

Zimman said. “Find a job that brings playful joy every day and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

‰ Dedicate your life to others, he said. “Make a positive differ-ence for others.”

Whatever you personally ac-complish, he said. “You’ll be most proud of what you did for others.”

And with that, proud members of the class of 2013 filed up to collect their diplomas and begin the next chapter of their lives.

lessons he learned at this own high-school graduation that have proved to be his “guiding light” for his career as an educator:

‰ “You’ll be wrong a lot as you go through life,” he cau-tioned. “You don’t know it all. So get over it.” Zimman advised the students that if they are open to new ideas and experiences, “every day will be an adventure.”

‰ “Choose a career [in which you can] do something you love,”

GRADUATE HANNA DONATI receives a class flower, the orange gerbera daisy, from junior Kali Kinziger. Tim Lyke photo

LINCOLN WURTZ wears a mini stove-top hat as he begins his speech. Tim Lyke photo

GRADUATION SPEAKERS, IN addition to Superintendent Richard Zimman, are, from left, teacher Pat Osowski, senior Zach Kutz, Principal Dan Tjernagel and senior Lincoln Wurtz. Tim Lyke photo

2013 better newspaper contest entry: reporting on local education

Documents

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city budget

years budget

ripon colleges

ripon community

ripon college students

budget flat

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