UNK Today l Fall 2009

Significant milestones cele-brated

Just a few weeks ago, on “Move-inDay 2009,” students traveled to UNKfrom all 93 counties in Nebraska, 47states and 46 countries. A lot hashappened since then. With more than1,700 students living on campus, andan enrollment of 6,650 overall, it is nosurprise that there are few dullmoments and that time passes quick-ly. I’m very pleased to report that ourfall enrollment increased for the sixthyear in a row and was the highestsince 1999. Graduate enrollment wasparticularly strong. Solidifying that upward trend requires a contin-uing commitment from the entire campus community, and I amgrateful for everyone’s support.That support has also made possible the significant milestonesUNK has celebrated, most recently the opening of Antelope Hall in2007, Nester Hall in 2008 and the completion of the campus’sCentral Utilities Project. In fact, in the last eight years, we havestarted and, in most cases, have completed $91 million in campusprojects. On October 2nd we celebrated again. On a clear, cool,very windy day, friends and colleagues gathered for the formal re-opening of Bruner Hall of Science. Technically it was not a re-opening because, in spite of the extensive renovations, the buildingnever closed. In many respects it would have been easier to razethe old structure; in reality, however, that was not an option. Wecertainly could not do without the teaching of sciences for twoyears. And the cost of constructing a new building would have pro-duced a much smaller, less functional facility. So, in true UNK tra-dition, the more difficult road was chosen because it ultimately wasbetter for our students. The endurance and perseverance havepaid tremendous dividends. Bruner Hall of Science became worthyof the faculty and students who have long made our science pro-grams hallmarks of excellence. In short, the quality of the buildingfinally caught up to the quality of the scientists within.If you have not recently had a chance to do so, I hope you willmake time soon to visit campus. I think you will be impressed withBruner Hall of Science and other renewal projects, and inspired bythe overall strides we are making to become a bigger and betterUniversity.My best regards to each of you. Go Lopers!

FROM THE CHANCELLOR

3UNK’s Industrial Distribution program is the third largest andone of the top programs in the country. See page 14.

10Gold Torch Society, the Alumni Association’s women’s men-toring program, celebrated its 10th anniversary inSeptember with featured alumni speakers from Alaska andCalifornia. See page 8.

12Awards at Homecoming went to 12 alumni. Five receivedDistinguished Alumni Awards, five were inducted into the AthleticHall of Fame, one received the Gary Thomas Distinguished MusicAlumni Award and one was honored as the Don Fox ChemistryLecturer. See pages 9-11.

500Want to have your own UNK Loper license plate? TheAlumni Association is collecting names to reach that numbersince the Nebraska Legislature passed legislation to allownon-profit organizations to create their own license plates.Five hundred is the minimum number required to purchaseplates. See page 5.

1,236Graduation ceremonies in December, May and July added1,236 new alumni. See page 6.

ENROLLMENT REACHES 10-YEAR HIGH

BY THE NUMBERS

Enrollment at UNK increased this year for the sixthconsecutive year. Fall headcount was 6,650, the highestsince 1999 and an increase of 1.6 percent over last

year. Aggregrate student credit hours – the course-load thatstudents take – also rose by 0.6 percent.

Students have come to UNK this year from all 93 coun-ties in Nebraska, 47 states and 46 countries. The most inter-national students come from Japan 191, China 130, SouthKorea 36, Nepal 24, Colombia 19, Cote D’Ivoire 17, Mexico17, Bahamas 10 and Saudi Arabia 9.

Growth is particularly strong at the graduate level as UNKofferings continue to attract students who seek career orpersonal development through advanced education. Totalenrollment in graduate programs increased by 12.5 percent.

Freshman, although down overall to 969 students, waslarger than the groups that entered in 2006 and 2007.Undergraduate transfers also increased by 14.4 percent to334, the highest since 2005.

The average ACT score by freshmen is the highest everachieved by an entering class.

Chancellor Doug Kristensen expressed optimism aboutthe numbers. “It is certainly good news that UNK’s overallmomentum continues with significant growth in the totalnumber of students served. This has been a very challengingyear for all students, as the economic downturn complicatestheir choices about attending or continuing in college. Tomore than hold our own in that kind of environment is a realachievement.” �

Sincerely,

Douglas A. Kristensen, J.D.Chancellor

ON THE COVEROne of the features of the Bruner Hall of Science project

is the Planetarium, Nebraska’s newest star theater. TheNASA-equipped facility features a state-of-the-art projector,the Zeiss Starmaster ZKP 4. Each of the six thousand stars isindividually projected on the dome with fiber optic technolo-gy and full computerized controls that allow past or futureastronomical displays with the push of a button. Photo is byTodd Rundstrom. �

A$14.5 million William E.Bruner Hall of Sciencerenovation and additionthat has been in the

works for the past year and half,opened to students and facultywith the beginning of fallsemester. The new facility fea-tures classrooms, laboratoriesand research space to house thedepartments of physics, biology,chemistry and the health sci-ences program.

Physics occupy the first floor,biology the second and thirdfloors and chemistry the fourthfloor. Health sciences will belocated in the new addition. Theaddition will also be home to anew planetarium. The planetari-um is the only phase of the con-struction project not completed.It will be finished by November.

Dr. Robert Rycek, interimdean of the College of Naturaland Social Sciences, said thecompletion of the state-of-the-art project is “a tremendous stepforward for the campus. The sci-ences have always had facultyand students working togetherand this building will enhancethose experiences.”

The Bruner project was com-pleted in two phases. The firstwas a total renovation of theexisting 87,500-square-footBruner building and the demoli-tion of Mary Morse LectureHall. The second was the con-struction of a 26,000-square-foot addition that features newlaboratories, ‘smart’ classrooms,a herbarium and a new planetar-ium.

That two-story addition wasconstructed north of Bruner inthe area occupied by MaryMorse. There is a court-yard area between thetwo buildings thatcan be used as an

outdoor classroom or for otherfaculty and student activities.

The building also features abrick sculpture by Nebraskaartist Jay Tschetter of Dentonthat depicts the four disciplineshoused inside. The 14x20-footsculpture is located on the westexterior wall.

Dr. Rycek pointed out thatthe Bruner building was totallyfunctional during theprocess. “Not only was itunique but it tooktremendous cooper-ation among thefaculty, stu-dents, theconstruc-t i o ncom-

pany and the campus facilitiesstaff to accomplish that duringthe past year and a half. Thatwas truly remarkable.”

A major feature of the projectis a new planetarium that fea-tures a 24x30-foot dome. Theplanetarium will be used toteach physical science, earth sci-ences, physics classes andastronomy. The Physics

Department received a$551,000 grant from

NASA for planetariumequipment. Dr. Jose

Mena-Werth, pro-fessor of

physics andp h y s i c a l

science,s a i d

the planetarium is the mostadvanced in Nebraska and oneof the best in the Great Plains.

Dr. Rycek said another grantfrom the NU Foundation provid-ed funds to renovate the obser-vatory on the roof of Bruner.That grant was used for newequipment and for upgrades.

“All of our needs were metexcept four biology labs whichwill require additional funding,”Dr. Rycek said. The universityis working with the NUFoundation to raise money tosupport those labs that are thekey to the research and learningthat takes place. Alumni andfriends who have an interest inassisting with this project cancontact Kristin Howard, directorof development for the NUFoundation, at 308-698-5276 orkhoward@nufoundation.org. �

Bruner Hall of Science$14.5 million project will enhance education

CAMPUS NEWS

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 1

GRAND OPENING: Health science students hold the ribbon, student body president and student

regent Cade Craig holds the bow while Drew Prososki and NU vice president for university affairs Pete

Kotsiopulos cut the ribbon at the grand re-opening of Bruner Hall of Science.

Jim Rundstrom ’64Alumni Director Emeritus

Editor

One feature of the BrunerHall of Science projectis a 31-foot by 14-footmural that was installed

on the west side of the building. “On the Shoulders of Giants’

was designed and constructedby Jay Tschetter and TomMeyers from Images in Brick inDenton. They installed the 2,650bricks in August.

The art deco-style piece ismade up of four quadrants witheach of the sciences – biology,chemistry, physics and healthsciences represented.

Physics focuses on forces atnuclear and sub-atomic levels.The physicist beholds an atomof carbon to imply the humanbasis of scientific inquiry; sci-ence is not nature itself; butmankind’s conceptualizationand organization of it.Chemistry focuses on the bondsbetween and among atoms. Thechemist holds a moderatelycomplex molecule involved inphotosynthesis. The transitionfrom subatomic to molecular issuggested along the borderbetween physics and chemistry.

T h e

transition from chemistry tobiology focuses on the extreme-ly complex DNA strands.Several diverse life-formsemerge from the strand. Thebiologist ponders the potentialof understanding the code oflife, maybe even creating it.

The penultimate stage ofmitosis segues upward to thelevel of the whole human organ-ism. The schematic human formcontains numerous connec-tions to majors in the healthsciences. This form

reaches toward the caring healthscientist, indicating the interac-tive nature of these professions.The form also reaches upwardwith a balletic gesture implyingthe human impulses of culturalrefinement and scientific striv-ing to comprehend the stars.

The shell at the center touch-es on all four sciences, anchorsthe composition and symbolizesnumerous things like

gradual, continuing develop-ment that builds upon what haspreceded it; cyclical nature ofhistory which doesn’t repeat, itrhymes; mathematical economyof organic design; and secretslocked within nature, the mysti-cal still point of the turning wall.

The project is part of theState of Nebraska’s art programthat stipulates one percent of the

budget for newbuildings is setfor artwork. �

On the Shoulders of Giants

�Project is partof the State ofNebraska program topromote thearts in newbuildings

CAMPUS NEWS

2 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

2,650 brick mural on Bruner depicts four sciences

ART PROJECT: Chancellor Doug Kristensen addresses the crowd at the dedication of Bruner Hall ofScience. Behind the Chancellor is a brick mural that describes the departments housed in the building.

LOOKING BACK: Built in1965, this photo showsBruner Hall of Science beforethe addition and renovation.

Dr. William R. ‘Bill’Nester, who may be bestremembered for leadingKearney State College’s

transition into the University ofNebraska, died June 24 at hishome in Cincinnati. He was 81.

Dr. Nester was named presi-dent of Kearney State in 1983and retired as chancellor of theUniversity of Nebraska atKearney in 1993, two years afterthe college became part of theuniversity system.

The tenure of Dr. Nester washighlighted by progress at alllevels across campus – academi-cally, in professional develop-ment, in service programs and inthe building of learning and liv-ing facilities.”

In his 10 years of leading thecampus, Dr. Nester oversaw theconstruction of University

Residences North and South, theOckinga Center, Health andSports Center, the Peterson-Yanney Carillon and the CopeFoundation.

HE ALSO played importantroles in many other renovationsand additions that included A.O.Thomas Hall, Calvin T. RyanLibrary, West Center’s eastwing, the Museum of NebraskaArt, Copeland Hall, theNebraska Safety Center, theCommunications Center and theNebraskan Student Union.

University president James B.Milliken said, “Bill had a greatvision of what the campus couldbe, how much stronger it couldbe as part of the university sys-tem, what an important role itcould play as a predominatelyundergraduate, residential cam-

pus and how well it could servethe people of Nebraska.”

Chancellor Doug Kristensenmourned the loss of a greatfriend of the campus community.“He leaves a legacy of total com-mitment to students and highereducation. For this reason, hewas a perfect fit for UNK and thegreater Kearney community. Heprofoundly touched the lives ofthousands of people and ourcampus, in particular, was thebenefactor of his wise andreasoned leadership.”

IN SEPTEMBER, theuniversity honored the for-mer chancellor by namingthe new residence hall theWilliam Nester Hall com-plex.

Dr. Nester’s wife, MaryJane, who was an important

ambassador of the campus dur-ing the Nester presidency, died

in 2005. �

h In Memory âChancellor Nester led KSC to UNK

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 3

UNK has received morethan $178,000 in fundingfrom the University of

Nebraska Foundation’s annualgrants program.

“Given the current financialclimate, we’re especially pleasedto award grants in support ofprojects aligned with campus pri-orities and the university’s over-all strategic framework,” saidBrian Hamilton of Grand Island,a member of the University ofNebraska Foundation’s board ofdirectors and chairman of thegrants committee.

“We’re extremely thankful forthe ongoing and generous sup-port from donors acrossNebraska and the country whomake this support possible.”

The College of Natural andSocial Sciences and its depart-ment of physics and physical sci-ence received a grant of$128,725 for new telescopes andaccessories for the UNK obser-vatory located on the roof ofBruner Hall of Science. This sup-port enhances instruction and

research opportunities for classesin astronomy and earth science,reaching more than 300 studentseach year.

Support for the observatoryalso extends the university’s out-reach activities to schools in theregion and to the general public.The observatory is open to thepublic for scheduled events andprograms throughout the year.

THE COLLEGE ofBusiness and Technologyreceived a grant of $50,000 forthe industrial distribution pro-gram in the department of indus-trial technology. The financialsupport will enrich industrial dis-tribution instruction and providepractical learning opportunitiesfor students that mirror opera-tional realities they will find inactual business settings.

The university’s industrialtechnology department is theonly program in Nebraskaaccredited by the NationalAssociation of IndustrialTechnology at the undergraduate

level and is one of only 55 pro-grams of its kind in the nation.Earlier this year, the programwas named one of the top in thenation by the University SalesEducation Foundation, and it wasthe only Nebraska program listedin Selling Power Magazine’s listof top national and internationalprograms.

UNK Chancellor DouglasKristensen expressed apprecia-tion for the grants.

“Much of what we do at UNKis dependent upon the generosityof friends and alumni and, ofcourse, the University ofNebraska Foundation,”Kristensen said.

“TAXES ALONE cannotbear the entire financial burden;therefore, we are especiallygrateful for the recent funding tosupport projects that willadvance our priorities, enrichopportunities for students andenhance teaching capabilities.”

The University of NebraskaFoundation’s board of directors

awarded $1.17 million across theuniversity system for the 2009grants program.

Much of the annual grantresources are made availablefrom unrestricted donations tothe foundation. The chancellorssubmit proposals annually for thegrant money, and the proposalsare aligned with the university’sstrategic framework, as outlinedby the University of Nebraskapresident.

For a complete list of thegrants awarded to the Universityof Nebraska for 2009-2010, visitnufoundation.org.

The University of NebraskaFoundation is a private, nonprof-it corporation that has raised pri-vate gifts to support theUniversity of Nebraska for 73years.

Last year, it provided morethan $130 million—the mostever—for students, faculty, aca-demic programs, research, andfor campus and buildingimprovements on all four cam-puses. �

CAMPUS NEWSSciences, Industrial DistributionReceive $178,000 from NU Foundation

Thanks to the educationCarolyn Wagner Snyder’64 and her motherFlorence Wagner ’70

received at Kearney StateCollege, their lives changed.

Now Carolyn wants to help cur-rent students. She has created afund with the NU Foundationfor students who work in theCalvin T. Ryan Library.

“The education each of usobtained from KSC was criticalto the quality of our lives,”Snyder said. “My motherreceived her bachelor’s degreein her middle life but earlyenough to influence manyaspects of her teaching career.”

She said she is making thegift to honor her mother and tobegin to thank UNK for theopportunities both of them had

because of their education.Her annual gift will be

awarded to a student working inthe library who is at least a soph-omore and who graduated froma Nebraska High School. Herroots were in family farms inNortheast Nebraska and Snyderworked in the library while shewas a student.

IT WAS there that she founda career that was rewarding.“Without a doubt, the librarianshad a major influence in myfuture,” she said. Snyder saidthat their roots are in a family

farm in northeast Nebraska. After graduating, Snyder

went to the University ofDenver where she received amaster’s degree in Librarianshipin 1965. She had a long career asa library administrator at UNL,Indiana University Bloomingtonand Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale where she served asDean of Library Affairs.

“I understand and greatlyappreciate the importance ofcontributing resources to helpothers obtain an education andenhance the quality of theirlives,” she said. �

� Carolyn WagnerSnyder ’64 createsfund to honor hermother and theircollege education

Scholarship to assist C.T. Ryan Library students

Addressing growing web-based resourcesCalvin T. Ryan LibraryCAMPUS NEWS

4 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

As the landscape of informa-tion access and scholarlypublishing changes,

libraries including UNK’s CalvinT. Ryan Library are adapting tomeet the needs of its users in thebrave new online world. Thelibrary recently restructured one ofits faculty positions to devote full-time attention to managing itsgrowing collection of web-basedresources. In January 2009, JonRitterbush joined UNK’s facultyas its first Electronic ResourcesLibrarian.

DURING THE first half of2009, the library activated accessto 18 new electronic resources,benefitting from its participationand partnerships with other agen-cies. Two of these new resources,STAT-USA and USA TradeOnline, provide access to detailedeconomic data collected by theU.S. Department of Commerce.Subscriptions to these databasescan be cost-prohibitive, butbecause the Calvin T. RyanLibrary is a federal governmentdepository, visitors to the libraryenjoy free access to these databas-es. UNK has also benefitted fromthe efforts of the Nebraska LibraryCommission, which negotiateswith many database vendors onbehalf of all Nebraska libraries.Because of these cost savings,UNK is able to maximize accessto those electronic resourceswhich complement the research

needs of students and faculty.In the short-term, Ritterbush

has focused his attention on thepublic launch of a new electronicresource management (ERM) sys-tem. “With ERM, we’ll be betterable to track subscriptionrenewals, license agreements, andusage statistics for the 100+ freeand fee-based online resources wecurrently offer to researchers,”said Ritterbush. “More important-ly, library users will benefit froman improved website interface by

which to locate databases most rel-evant to their field of study.”

As UNK expands its onlinecourse offerings, the library isseeking additional onlineresources to support the needs ofstudents and instructors who maynever set foot in Kearney. “Thefuture of electronic resources inlibraries lies in new collectionswhich are just now being digi-tized,” said Ritterbush. “Primaryhistorical documents, art images,and multimedia collections are

being developed but many requiresome form of access fee or annualsubscription. Our challenge willbe to stay abreast of these newresources and allocate theresources necessary to connectlibrary users with these new toolsat their point of need.

To learn more about giving,visit www.nufoundation.org orcontact Kristin Howard, directorof development for the NUFoundation, at 308-698-5276 orkhoward@nufoundation.org. �

INTERFACE: Senior Holli Beckmann from North Platte and Jon Ritterbush, Electronic ResourcesLibrarian, are improving the Calvin T. Ryan Library through electronic enhancements.

Former KN EnergyCEO/President Larry Hall’64 was the 2009 Ron

Landstrom Executive inResidence honored guest inApril.

Hall delivered an addresstitled “Moving Forward: NotBusiness as Usual” to students,faculty and guests, visited class-es, met with the College ofBusiness and TechnologyStudent Advisory Board and washonored at a reception.

Hall said “the education atKSC established a solid founda-tion for me.”

Hall encouraged students toopen their eyes and ask ques-tions. “We have thrived fromambition and hard work. Newjobs come from entrepreneurs.This is still the land of opportu-nity. Use your head and yourminds,” he said.

When Hall was the presi-dent/CEO of KN Energy, thecompany served two of thelargest natural gas markets in theUnited States and was the sec-ond largest producer of naturalgas liquids in the country. Hallwas recognized by FortuneMagazine for his leadership of

one of the four most admiredFortune Magazine 500Companies in its industry for hisvision, values and leadershipprinciples.

Once retired, Hall startedCPS Investments, LAC inDenver with two former KNEnergy executives. In 2001,CPS purchased four city blocksadjacent to the 380 acre DenverCity Park, including two hospi-

tal buildings and a parkinggarage. The hospital complexwas demolished, and more thanone million square feet of con-dominium, townhouse andapartment space, worth $150million, was constructed.

Hall is a partner of a realestate development group that isseeking new opportunities incommercial and residential realestate development in the U.S.

and Mexico. Hall, who received the

Alumni AssociationDistinguished Alumni Award in1989, is a former member of theKearney State FoundationBoard and currently serves as atrustee of the University ofNebraska Foundation.

Business faculty memberMarsha Yeagley, who coordinat-ed the event, said having Hallback on campus was a tremen-dous opportunity to take advan-tage of his vast experiences. “Hehas broad accomplishments inlaw, energy, executive-levelmanagement, investments entre-preneurship and leadership,” shesaid.

The Ron LandstromExecutive in Residence programis named for the 1953 graduateand former business professorwho died in 2008. Funding forthe program came from a gift offormer student Jerry Taylor andhis wife Jeanne, who donatedthe money to the University ofNebraska Foundation to honorthe contributions Landstrom hadmade to the university and tostudents during the 38 years hewas a faculty member. �

ENERGIZING: Larry Hall ’64 (second from left) encouraged stu-dents to open their eyes and ask questions when he was honoredat a reception on campus. Hall is pictured with Chancellor DougKristensen, Tim Burkink, dean of Business and Technology, and JonAbegglen, vice president NU Foundation.

‘This is still the land of opportunity. . . ’Larry Hall ’64:

Professor John Hastingsof the Department ofComputer Science and

Information Systems was thelead author on a paper thatreceived the “Best PaperAward” in the decision tech-nologies and service sciences atthe Hawaii InternationalConference on SystemSciences.

Dr. Hastings has workedwith two professors from theUniversity of Wyoming for thelast decade to developgrasshopper management deci-sion software intended for agri-cultural producers and pestmanagers.

The software is calledCAsed-based RangeManagement Advisor

(CARMA). “It is easy and sim-ple to use,” Dr. Hastings said.“Ranchers can just plug in theirlocation in the computer,answer some simple questionsregarding grasshopper infesta-tion, and the software providesthem with several recipes whatto do. If a treatment is suggest-ed, CARMA provides a choiceof most economically and envi-ronmentally sound options.”

CARMA provides servicesto Wyoming, Nebraska, SouthDakota, North Dakota,Montana, Colorado, newMexico and Oregon. Fundingcomes from the U.S.Department of Agriculture,Animal and Plant healthInspection Service, PlantProtection and Quarantine. �

Hastings: Recognition forgrasshopper study

During the 2009 session ofthe Nebraska State Legislature,lawmakers passed legislationallowing Nebraska non-profitorganizations to create their ownNebraska vehicle license plates.For an annual fee of $70, sup-porters of an organization will beable to proudly display their loy-alty on the bumpers of theirautomobiles.

The UNK AlumniAssociation is proceeding withthe design of a “University ofNebraska at Kearney” plate.The statute requires that 500paid registrations be submittedfor plates to be printed.

The program is still in earlystates of development. At thistime, the names of interestedalumni and friends are being col-lected. Those who provide theirname and email address will be

kept up to date on the develop-ment of the UNK plate and willbe given an opportunity to offi-cially sign up when enoughnames have been collected. Yourstatement of interest is not acommitment.

If you are interested in a plateor just information on this pro-gram as it develops, please con-tact Alumni Director, Lucas Dartat 308-865-8474 orLDART@nufoundation.org. �

NOT ACTUAL DESIGN

CAMPUS NEWS

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 5

Nebraska Legislatureapproves non-profit plates

Faculty members whoretired during the 2008-09 year were honored atthe annual Celebrating

Excellence ceremony lastspring.

Dr. David Amstuz served 40years in the PhysicsDepartment. Polly Amstutz wasa faculty member of theMathematics Department for 30years.

Lyle Colsden’s 40-yearcareer included teaching in theDepartment of Family andConsumer Science andVocational and TechnicalEducation. He also was assis-

tant to the Dean of the Collegeof Business and Technology.

Dr. Dick Ashman spent31years with the NebraskaSafety Center and the IndustrialTechnology Department. Aftera career as a high schoolteacher and coach, Ron Bovillbegan his career at UNK in1999 as a teacher and recruiterin the Teacher EducationDepartment.

Kent Emal spent 41 years onthe staff in speech pathology.

Dr. Don Envick joined thestaff in 1987. He created anddeveloped the IndustrialDistribution program in the

Department of IndustrialTechnology. Dr. Bruce Forsterjoined the staff in 2005 as deanof the College of Business andTechnology.

Dr. Randall Heckman beganhis career at UNK in theMathematics Department in1971. He was department chairfrom 1994 to 2001.

Dr. Laurence ‘Tuff’ Hiltonhad been a professor in theDepartment of CommunicationDisorders since 2000.

Since 1978, Dr. SandraLebsack served as a facultymember in the BusinessManagement Department.

Dr. Finnie Murray, Jr. joinedthe staff as vice chancellor forAcademic Affairs and StudentLife in 2004. He also was inter-im director of international edu-cation.

Nancy Peek was a memberof the English Department andDepartment of Family Studiesand Interior Design during hercareer that began in 1986.

OTHER STAFF memberswho retired were Elaine Gokie,Registrar’s Office; RileyOestreicher, custodian; andBill Shafer, grounds supervisorand auto mechanic. �

CAMPUS NEWS

Retiring faculty, staff honored for serviceCelebrating Excellence

ΦΓΔ ΧΟ ΦΓΔ ΧΟOne door closes on a sororitanother door opens for a fra-

One sorority closed itschapter on campus andone fraternity received its

official charter last spring.Chi Omega, the oldest sorority

on campus, closed its chapter inApril.

THE NATIONAL director ofcommunications Laura Lee Jonessaid that after several years ofdeclining membership, the ChiOmega chapter found itself withtoo many chapter responsibilitiesand too few members to sustainoperations.

Chi Omega began on campusas Juanita sorority when UNKwas Nebraska State NormalSchool at Kearney in 1910. Thename was changed to Delta Pi

Beta in 1944. The sorority affiliat-ed with Chi Omega as ZetaChapter in 1962. It was the sec-ond group to go national.

The new fraternity, PhiGamma Delta was colonized inApril 2008 and will be officiallyknown as Nu Kappa chapter atUNK.

There are now seven socialfraternities and five sororitiesFraternities include Alpha TauOmega, Sigma Phi Epsilon,Sigma Tau Gamma, Pi KappaAlpha, Delta Tau Delta, PhiGamma Delta (newly chartered)and Sigma Lambda Beta.Sororities include Alpha OmicronPi, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta,Lambda Theta Nu and SigmaLambda Gamma. �

UNK’s three graduationceremonies during the2008-09 academic yearadded 1,236 new alumni

to the university.

IN December, 412 receiveddegrees. Dr. Ronald Roskens,president emeritus of theUniversity of Nebraska, was thecommencement speaker. Therewere 647 spring graduates. Dr.Clifford Trump ’59, was the

commencement speaker. Dr.Trump was also a member of theGolden Anniversary class thatwas recognized at that springevent. Summer commencementin July had 177 graduates.

Professor emeritus Dr. DonWelch ’54 was the commence-ment speaker. Dr. Welch was anEnglish professor for 38 years,retiring in 1997. He continued toteach in the Department ofPhilosophy until last spring. �

6 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

UNK Today largest in historyWith 32 pages, this issue is the largest magazineever produced by the Alumni Association. Thepublication is printed twice yearly and is alsoavailable at UNK.edu. Send your news, storyideas and suggestions for any alumni-relatedactivity to Alumni Director Lucas Dart atLDART@nufoundation.org.

NEW ALUMS: By gradu-ating in May, Greta Lierman,Jessica Feese and Tessa Millsare among the newestmembers of the alumniassociation.

Three graduation ceremoniesThree graduation ceremoniesin 2009 add 1,236 alumniin 2009 add 1,236 alumni

Along sought-after pieceof property on the eastside of campus hasbecome property of

UNK.

THE PARCEL, which iscomprised of the west end ofthe 800 block between 25th and26th Streets, had been part ofthe O. G. ‘Bob’ Saunders estatesince Saunders passed away in2007. The university was givenpossession of the property inAugust.

The property is divided intothree sections – lawn on the

north, an occupied building onthe south and a small parking lotin the middle. The building hashoused a number of businessthrough the years including acampus café and, most recently,a book store.

Dr. Barbara Johnson, vicechancellor for business andfinance, said plans for the devel-opment in the area are in the pre-liminary stages.

Dr. Johnson said the universi-ty will work with consultants todevelop a full-blown entrance tothe campus on the east. “Wehave a long way to go to recon-

figure the plan.” Because anychanges in traffic flow in thearea will involve city streets anda state highway, planning for thearea will involve the City ofKearney and State HighwayDepartment as well as the uni-versity, she said.

PLANS FOR the removal ofthe unoccupied building areunderway. “We will proceedvery cautiously to demolish thebuilding,” Dr. Johnson said.“The roof is so fragile that it’s aconcern for the safety of peoplewalking by.” �

UNK has again earned aranking in the top tier ofthe U. S. News andWorld Report listing of

the Best Universities-Masters,public and private in theMidwest. UNK was rankedagainst 139 universities across12 states in the category.

FOR THE third consecutiveyear, UNK ranked 15th amongall public universities at themaster’s level in the Midwest.

“At UNK we appreciate theaffirmation of our mission asdemonstrated in these widely-followed rankings,” ChancellorDoug Kristensen said. “UNKcontinues to focus on buildingup its strengths – high academicstandards, faculty accessibility,student achievement and suc-cess, in and out of the class-room.”

The overall ranking is a com-posite of scores in several com-

posite of scores in several spe-cific categories. UNK measuresequal to, or better than, the aver-age of its Board of Regentsdefined peer group in eight ofeleven scores.

Compared to last year’sscores, UNK improved its grad-uation rate from 55 to 56 per-cent, increased its number ofclasses with fewer than 20 stu-dents from 37 to 39 percent,

reduced the number of classeswith more than 50 students fromsix to five percent, and increasedthe number of freshmen whorank in the top 25 percent oftheir high school graduatingclass from 36 to 38 percent.UNK’s average freshman reten-tion rate of 81 percent and thepercent of faculty who are fulltime, 91 percent, are also note-worthy, especially in compari-son to its peers.

“WE PAY attention to theseand other university rankingsbecause of their importance tomany prospective students andtheir parents in choosing a uni-versity experience,” said Dr.Charles Bicak, senior vice chan-cellor for academic affairs andstudent life. “We are pleasedeach year to see an upward trendin most of the indexes thatreflect UNK’s commitment tostudents and their success.” �

With the completion ofupgrades on Mantor Hall,work has now begun onMen’s Hall as UNK continuesits renovation of all studenthousing facilities.

Mantor Hall was closedlast year to undergo a $4 mil-lion renovation of restrooms,replacement of plumbing andupdates for the sprinkler sys-tem. Other changes includedthe front entryway, updatedlounges and painting and tilework in the rooms.

Mantor Hall, built in 1965,now houses more than 250students, the ThompsonLearning Center and the PhiGamma Delta fraternity.

This year, Men’s Hall hasbeen closed for similarupgrades. It will be ready foroccupancy in the fall of 2010.

The construction ofAntelope Hall and the NesterHall complex were the firststages of UNK’s comprehen-sive plan to address studenthousing. Antelope Hall, builton the site where Ludden Hallwas located, opened inAugust 2007. It houses 160students. The Nester Hallcomplex replaced Case Hallwhen it opened in August2009. It houses 172 students.�

America’s Best Colleges of 2010UNK Ranking in the Top Tier CAMPUS NEWS

Long-sought property acquired

MantorHallcompletionexpandshousing

jAnnual Campaign calls coming

In the coming weeks, a UNK student will be calling you as part of our 2009

Annual Fund campaign.The Annual Fund supports each UNK college by

providing scholarships, technology to enhance classrooms, and investments in

faculty development. Thank you in advance for taking our call and considering

a gift to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Your generous support will help

provide opportunities for UNK students now and for generations to come.

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 7

VISION: Tracy Lungrin ’97explains her vision board - amotivational tool used to plansteps to achieving a person’sultimate future.

MISSION: Stephanie Vogel ’89MSE ’96, Judith Spohr ’63, JudgeKaren Lueck Hunt ’63 andMichelle Widger ’90 take timeout of their 10th year celebra-tion to discuss the importanceof maintaining the program’ssuccess.

GOLD TORCH: At the tenth annual Gold Torch mentoring program in September, alumni mentors and student mentees gather to celebratetheir accomplishments, engage in motivational activities and provide a creative learning environment to motivate future generations. FrontRow: Laura Housholder, Michelle Hermesch, Judith Spohr, Judge Karen Hunt, Claire Bryan, Jenny Gierhan, Briana Duncan and Teresa Ingram.Second Row: Amy Graham, Jill Wicht, Brittany Weinandt, Thea Baum, Molly Dodson, Christa Spencer, Caryn Vincent, Kelli Cavenah, LexieHollertz and Lisa Hibberd. Third Row: Erika Redfern, Katie Grant, Ashlie Baker, Katiana Meyer, Kayanne Hamling, Amanda Olson, TeresaCousins, Angela Boerson, Samath Bohl, Lindsey Wendt, Surabhi Bhattarai, Teresa Arens, Chelsey Cook, Susan Gierhan, Kathy Manley and Kerri

Jo Bellamy. Back: Tracy Lungrin, Kristin Howard, Jana Seier, Nancy Osterbuhr, Allisa Kern, Teresa Porter,Cyndi Bahler, Wendy Clark, Lisa Ellis, Alicia Myers, Bonnie Payne and Kendra Sibbernsen.

Women gather from across the United StatesGold Torch 10th Year Celebration

The Alumni Association’swomen’s mentoring pro-gram, Gold Torch Society,celebrated its 10th

anniversary in September.Gold Torch Society was creat-

ed by Dr. Stephanie HueftleVogel ’89 MSE ’96 when shewas assistant director of theAlumni Association to providementoring and networkingopportunities for undergraduatewomen. Each fall 25 womenalumni are selected for their per-sonal and professional accom-plishments in their careers towork with 25 undergraduate stu-dents. The annual weekend ofactivities includes professionaland personal sessions, socialsand a banquet.

Dr. Vogel, who now lives inLincoln, was honored at the 10thanniversary banquet for her lead-ership in starting the program.

The Honorable Karen LueckHunt ‘63, and Judith HenggelerSpohr ’63 of Burbank,California, were featured speak-ers at the reunion.

Judge Hunt is a retiredSuperior Court judge fromAnchorage, Alaska, and a pastGold Torch Society member. Hercareer as a lawyer and a judgehas resulted in a wide array of

recognitions including beingnamed one of the 25 most power-ful people in Alaska in 1997.

Spohr is a retired elementaryteacher who spent 37 years in theEast Los Angeles School District.She is a past president of theUNK Alumni Association. Herphilanthropy has resulted in avariety of programs that havebenefited scholarship programs,the Gold Torch MentoringProgram, Foster Field improve-ments and the SouthernCalifornia Endowment designedfor student scholarships and theC. T. Ryan Library.

Both are past Gold TorchSociety members and both havereceived the AlumniAssociation’s DistinguishedAlumni Award.

Current Director MichelleWidger ’90, assistant director ofthe Alumni Association, coordi-nates the event. “Through theyears, Gold Torch has been one ofthe most valuable programs of theassociation,” Widger said. “Life-long friendships have been devel-oped and through the mentoringprocess, lives have been changed.The program has provided greatopportunities not only for studentsbut for the alumni who have par-ticipated as well.”�

8 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

CAMPUS NEWS

Five athletes will beinducted into the UNKAthletic Hall of Fame

during the 2009 Homecomingcelebration. They will behonored at the 29th annualawards banquet on October16 and at the football gameon October 17.

T h efive are Jill

McCas l in -T i m m o n s’98, EDS’02of Lincoln;M a r t i nS e g o v i a’95 ofG a r d e nC i t y ,

Kansas; Al Sheffield ’75of Grand Island;Danielle Shum-Stowell’97, MSE’99 ofGardner, Kansas; andKeith Staehr ’68 ofKimball.

JILL MCCASLIN-TIMMONS was a three-time All-American insoftball as a second base-

man. As a sophomore in1995, she hit .494 to set a

team record leading theLopers to a 30-5 season. Shewas a second team NCAADivision II All-American. As ajunior, McCaslin-Timmonswas a third team selection andwas RMAC Most ValuablePlayer for the second year.

That season, UNK finishedfourth in the nationaltournament. As a sen-ior, she was a secondteam All-Americanafter hitting .333. TheLopers qualified for the

national tournament fora second consecutive

year. For her career,McCaslin-Timmons set

school records for batting aver-age, doubles and stolen bases. Hercareer batting average was .400.In addition, McCaslin-Timmonswas an Academic All-Americanand earned a NCAA post-gradu-ate scholarship. Earlier this year,she was named to the RMAC All-Centennial team chosen to recog-nize outstanding athletes andcoaches of the conference’s 100years of existence. She is a specialeducation coordinator at LuxMiddle School in Lincoln.

MARTIN SEGOVIA was athree-time All-American inwrestling at134lbs. Hewas fifth in1993 andnational run-ner-up in 1994and 1995.Segovia was1995 MidwestR e g i o nWrestler of theYear. Thatyear he alsowas team captain and the UNKMale Athlete of the Year. Duringhis wrestling career, UNK hadtwo top ten NCAA finishes andhosted the 1995 national tourna-ment. After graduating, Segoviareturned to his home town,Garden City, Kansas, he taughtsocial studies, was a central officeadministrator and coachedwrestling. He was two-timeKansas Class 6-A High SchoolCoach of the Year and compiled a119-16 dual coaching record ineight years. Since 2004, Segoviahas been elementary assistantprincipal.

AL SHEFFIELD was a twosport and four-year letterman,football and baseball from 1971 to1975. He also was a long-timehigh school coach. As a defensivesafety in football, Sheffield wasnamed to the Nebraska CollegeConference team

three times. He led the team ininterceptions for three years.When he graduated, he held therecord withJim Zikmundwith four inter-ceptions in onegame and hehad 17 careerinterceptions.For two years,he returnedpunts andkickoffs. Hewas NAIA All-American honor-able mention in football. In base-ball, the centerfielder led the teamin hitting as a senior with a .333average. He was selected to theall-conference team and theNAIA District 11 team. Sheffieldcoached football and basketballfor 32 years at Adams Central andGrand Island Northwest beforeretiring in 2008.

DANIELLE SHUM-STOWELL was at two-time All-American volleyball player andtwice was Rocky MountainAthletic Conference MostValuable Player during her careerfrom 1993 to 1996. A 5-10 setter,Shum-Stowell had 6,248 careerassists. She was only the thirdplayer to have more than 6,000

assists inN C A ADivision IIhistory. Shum-Stowell ledUNK to twoElite Eightappearances in1995 and1996. The

Lopers hadback to back 36win seasons in

1994 and 1995. Earlier this year,she was named to the RMAC All-Centennial team chosen to recog-nize outstanding players andcoaches of the conference’s 100

years of existence. Earlier

this summer, she and her hus-band, Mike, coached a KansasCity club team, KC Power16, to a national champi-onship.

K E I T HSTAEHR was a twosport athlete from1964 to 1967 and asuccessful coach. Asan athlete, Staehr let-tered four years inboth football andtrack. In football, hewas a running backand defensive back onteams that compiled a 30-5

record andwon threec o n f e r e n c ec h a m p i -onships forcoach AlZikmund. The1967 teamwas the lastu n d e f e a t e dLoper squad.

Staehr also ledthe team in

punting with a career average of42.6. He was the team’s leadingpunt returner as a junior andsenior. In track, Staehr washurdler and jumper. Staehrcoached football 33 years.From 1968 to 1971 he com-piled a 32-6 record winningthree conference champi-onships at North Loup Scotia.He was also head track coach.From 1972 until his retirement in2000, he coached at Kimball HighSchool compiling a 187-119-1record. He had 10 teams qualifyfor the state playoffs. Staehr washead coach of Nebraska ShrineBowl becoming the first person toplay and then be head coach ofthat event. Staehr officiated highschool basketball for more than25 years working the statetournament several years. Heis a 2009 inductee into the

Jill McCaslin-Timmons

MartinSegovia

DanielleShum-Stowell

Al Sheffield

Keith Staehr

HOMECOMING 2009

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 9

CAMPUS NEWS

6 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

Five alumni were recognizedduring 2009 Homecomingactivities in October. They

were honored at the 29th annualHomecoming Awards Banquet.

Tom Buecker ’73, LaVernFranzen ’67, MA’73, EdD ’95,Ron Larsen ’66, and TeresaKowalski Porter ’80 receivedDistinguished Alumni Awards.John Clinch ’62 received the JimRundstrom Distinguished AlumniService Award.

TOM BUECKER ofCrawford is curator of the FortR o b i n s o nMuseum and arenowned his-torian. He isthe author offour bookson westernand fron-tier mili-tary top-ics. HisF o r tRobinson and theAmerican West, 1874-1899 and Fort Robinson

and the American Century,1900-1948 are the first full-length history books of FortRobinson. The first book

details the establishment of thefort, military activities, death ofCrazy Horse and the CheyenneOutbreak of 1878-79. The secondis a continuation of the fort detail-ing the last years as a cavalry post,quartermaster remount period,WWII war dog training, Germanprisoners of war, USDA beefresearch and the beginnings of FortRobinson State Park. He was co-

author of The Crazy HorseSurrender Ledger.

Buecker’s Water-Powered Flour Mills inNebraska is a comprehen-sive study of the use of

Nebraska waterways topower flour milling, once a

vital industry in the state.Buecker is active as a par-

ticipant and speaker in histor-ical societies.

His contributions have been recog-nized with a number of regionalawards.

LAVERN FRANZEN ofHastings is a professional educatorwho had a 41-year career atCentral Community College. Hebegan as an accounting instructorin 1967 and retired as president in2006.

During his career he also servedas dean of instruction of the GrandIsland campus from 1987 to 1996and vice president of CentralCommunity College /president ofthe Hastings campus from 1996 to2002 before being named collegepresident in 2002.

Franzen held many positionswith several professional affilia-tions which include President ofthe Nebraska Association forRetarded Citizens; President of theNebraska Vocational Association;Board Chair of the Hastings Area

Chamber ofC o m m e r c e ;President of theH a s t i n g sE c o n o m i cDevelopmentCorporation;Board Chair ofthe MaryL a n n i n g

H o s p i t a lFoundation; and

member of the NebraskaWorkforce Investment Board forsix years.

Franzen has received theNebraska Department ofEducation Elaine Stuhr Leadershipand Advocacy Award, theNebraska Community CollegeSystem Chief Executive Officer’sAward, Phi Theta Kappa LifetimeAchievement Award and Adult &Continuing Education Associationof Nebraska Outstanding AdultEducator Award.

RON LARSEN of Kearneywas long-time co-owner of Bob’sSuper Store and has been deeplyinvolved in community activities.After college,Larsen was a

math teacher in Ralston andHoldrege before returning toKearney in 1971.

He served 16 years on theKearney City Council and wasKearney mayor for four years. Hewas a board member of theNebraska League ofMunicipalities for eight years,chairman of the Buffalo CountyEconomic Development Councilfor 12 years, board member ofGood Samaritan Hospital for nineyears, board member of The GreatPlatte River Archway, advisoryboard member of Wells FargoBank for 15 years, a board memberof YMCA and the Kearney AreaChamber of Commerce.

Larsen was capital campaignchair of theK e a r n e yYMCA andhelped raise$2.5 millionfor expansion.He was capitalcampaign co-chair for theN e b r a s k a

F i re f igh te r sMuseum in Kearney and helpedraise $1.5 million for that project.Larsen was one of two foundingmembers of the Kearney SoftballAssociation and served as presi-dent for 16 years.

As a member ofthe KearneySertoma Club,he hasserved inall offi-cer posi-tions. In2 0 0 5 ,Larsen wasrecognized asaDistinguishedGraduate ofKearney HighSchool by theKearney PublicSchools Foundation.

He currentlyserves on

Nebraska Public Power Board.TERESA KOWALSKI

PORTER isPresident/CEO/Owner of ISYSTechnologies in Denver. She hasan extensive sales and manage-ment background in the technol-ogy industry spanning 29years. She began her career inaccounting and finance,moved into sales and market-ing and eventually into the role

of building,managingand growingtechnology-based organ-i z a t i o n s .I S Y STechnologies isan engineeringand informationt e c h n o l o g yservices com-

pany providing services to theFederal government and publicsector. ISYS specializes in sup-porting the efforts of theDepartment of Defense andHomeland Security. In 2009, ISYSwas selected as one of the out-standing small business companiesin the U.S. Small BusinessAdministration’s Region VIII.Recently, ISYS received theAdministrator’s Award of

Excellence

Tom Buecker

LaVernFranzen

TeresaKowalskiPorter

Ron Larsen

HOMECOMING 2009

10 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

CONTINUEDPage 11

Kearney physicianDr. DeAnn Psota’84 was honoredby the Chemistry

Department as the 29thannual Dr. Don Fox lec-turer at Homecoming.

Each year since1980, the ChemistryDepartment has beeninviting alumni backto honor Dr. Don

Fox who was achemistry facultymember and chairmanfrom 1935 until hisretirement in 1973. Dr.Fox died in 2003 at theage of 98.

Dr. Psota, a nativeof Ravenna, attended

a two-year college inMinneapolis and

received adegree as am e d i c a llaboratorytechnician.W h i l eworking atthe KearneyC l i n i c

Labo ra to ryshe returned tocollege at UNKmajoring in

chemistry/biochemistry withhopes of going to medicalschool.

After graduating frommedical school at UNMC, Dr.Psota completed a three-yearresidency in pediatrics. Shereturned to Kearney Clinic in1992 to begin her medical prac-tice. �

M i l l a r dSouth HighSchool musicteacher RexBarker ’81 wasnamed the

2009 recipi-ent of theG a r y

T h o m a sDistinguishedMusic Award at Homecoming.

Barker is director of bands andhead of music department atMillard South along with being theinstrumental music coordinator forMillard Public Schools. He is pres-ident of the Nebraska MusicEducators Association and hasserved as president, marching bandchair and A-AA Class representa-tive for the Nebraska StateBandmasters.

Barker has been a guest conduc-tor for the Fort KearneyConference Honor Band, UNKFestival Band, Omaha WindSymphony, The UNO HonorBands and Pioneer ConferenceHonor Band. He was selected bySchool Band and Orchestra maga-zine as one of “50 Directors WhoMake a Difference” in 2001.

The Millard South Music

Department consists of marchingband, concert band, symphonicband, wind ensemble, two jazzbands, various small ensemblesas well as four choirs, two swingchoirs, two orchestras and chamberorchestra.

The music department hasreceived many national recogni-tions. It was awarded a GrammySignature School designation in1999. It was the sweepstakesaward winner at the 2009Orange Bowl field competitionand parade which earned themthe opportunity to perform theirmarching show as part of the pre-game ceremonies. They alsoearned a similar honor in 2004 atthe Alamo Bowl. They placed firstin the 2000 Holiday Bowl Paradein San Diego.

The Millard Public Schoolshave been named in the Top 100Places for Music Education in2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006.

As a UNK student, Barker wasin marching, concert and symphon-ic bands with Dr. Ron Crocker, theorchestra with Dr. Gerald Feese,the college choir with Dr. MyronOsterberg, the Choraleers with BillLynn and the jazz ensemble withDr. Jim Payne. �

Certificate which acknowledgesISYS’ nomination as the SmallBusiness Contractor of the Year.

Before joining ISYSTechnologies, Porter was Vice

President of Operations atSoftec Solutions; Director ofBranch Operations forC o m p u w a r eCorporation/DPRC; AccountManager at Analysts

International; and AccountManager at UNISYS

Corporation. Porter serves as amentor in UNK AlumniAssociation’s Gold Torch Society.She has been involved in theWomen’s Vision Foundation ofColorado where she is part ofthe Wise Women Council.

JOHN CLINCH has

played key roles the developmentof the UNK Alumni Associationand the NU Foundation. Whileserving on the Alumni Association

board of direc-tors, he workedon such proj-ects as securingthe AlumniHouse andexpanding itssize for greateruse. As presi-dent of the

A s s o c i a t i o n ,Clinch played a key role in creatingthe first full-time alumni director in1987. Clinch also served as presi-dent of the Kearney State CollegeFoundation. It was during his term

as president that thef o u n d a t i o n

merged with the University ofNebraska Foundation in 1992.After that merger, Clinch served onthe board of directors of UNF until1998. For that service and theservice to KSC AlumniAssociation, he received theFounders Award in 1993. Clinchand his wife Barbara continue toserve as trustees of UNF.

Clinch is also active in theGrand Island community. He is apast board member of St. FrancisMedical Center and past presidentof the St. Francis Medical CenterFoundation; past president ofGrand Island Rotary Club, pastchurch board president; foundingmember of the Grand IslandAthletic Booster Club; and paststate board member of theFellowship of Christian Athletes.

Clinch,who owns Clinch

Financial with his wifeBarbara, has been active inregional, state and nationalfinancial services boards.He is a life member of theMillion Dollar Round Tableand currently serves asthe president of theSociety of FinancialService Professionals,Lincoln Chapter. �

John Clinch

HOMECOMING 2009

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 11

Rex Barker

Dr. DeAnnPsota

Barker ’81 receives Thomas award

Distinguished Alumni CONTINUED from page 10

Dr. DeAnn Psotahonored by chemistry

Members of the Class of1959 gathered on cam-pus in May during

commencement week to cele-brate their 50th anniversary.

Events on Thursday, the firstday of the reunion, included areception and tour of theCollege of Education building,a luncheon in the Ron andCarol Cope stadium overlook-ing Foster Field, a campus tour,and a dinner and social atGrandpa’s Steakhouse.

Class members were offi-cially recognized by the uni-versity at Friday’s spring grad-uation ceremonies. For the firsttime in history, Dr. CliffTrump, a member of the hon-ored class, gave the com-mencement address to nearly800 graduates. Following grad-uation, those attending wereguests of Chancellor DougKristensen at a luncheon. Anafternoon reception at theAlumni House concluded theevents.

Dr. Trump of Charleston,West Virginia, chancelloremeritus of the State CollegeSystem of West Virginia, has adistinguished career in highereducation. He was vice presi-dent for administration atIdaho State University andpresident of Black Hills State

University in South Dakota. Hereceived the UNK AlumniAssociation’s DistinguishedAlumni Award in 1987. Hiswife, Karen Stuhr, is also aclass member.

Miriam CasanovasKarpovics traveled from herhome in La Paz, Bolivia, toattend the reunion. Eventhough she attended what wasthen Kearney State Teachers

College, she said “I was veryfortunate to have attendedKearney. I have very fondmemories of my classmates,and the very dedicated, profes-sional and friendly professors.I am always thankful toKearney where I decided Iwanted to become a teacher, aprofession I love, and whichhas given me so much workand so much satisfaction.”

Karpovics’ career includedhigh school and universityteaching. She was distin-guished by the Spanish ambas-sador for promoting Spanishculture and by the Boliviangovernment for the social workshe did with her students.

Others who traveled fromout of state to attend were MaxBeyersdorf, Tucson, Arizona;Douglas Miller, Churchton,Maryland; Dr. Gary and ElaineHolm Smidt, Lakeville,Minnesota; and Dale andKathy Freeman Taylor, Aurora,Colorado.

Beyersdorf was a physicaltherapist in North Platte beforeretiring to Arizona. Millerspent most of his career withthe federal government.Among his assignments waswith the White House SecurityOffice for the President. Healso was director of securityfor the James ForrestalBuilding for the Department ofEnergy and security oversightanalyst for the Office ofDefense Programs and theDepartment of Energy.

Dr. Smidt was a physicaltherapist and a professor at theUniversity of Iowa. He alsoserved as director of physicaltherapy educational programs.and was the editor of theJournal of Orthopedic andSports Physical Therapy. Dr.Smidt is a member of the UNKAthletic Hall of Fame and hasreceived the AlumniAssociation’s DistinguishedAlumni Award. �

MILESTONE MOMENTS: The class of 1959 reunite during the Spring 2009 commencement. Thosewho attended include: Jerry Bydalek, Claire Boroff, Gary Smidt, Elaine Holm Smidt, Douglas Miller, JanVandewerker Powers Eickmeier, Kathleen Freeman Taylor, Keith Brown, Miriam Casanovas Karpovics, DaleTaylor, Max Beyersdorf and Dean Martin.

Golden anniversary for golden memoriesFEATURE

� Class of 1960 �Your Golden Anniversary reunion will beMay 6-7, 2010. Plan now to attend! Watch for details in January, 2010!

Class of 1959 gather for 50-year reunion

12 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

WARM WELCOME: Dr. Cliff Trump ’59, chancellor emeritus ofthe State College System of West Virginia, gave the spring com-mencement address to nearly 800 graduates. Alumni presidentBrenda Christensen ’83 welcomed the Golden Anniversary alumnito Kearney.

What if the University ofNebraska could domore to attract and

keep young people in the state?What if we could improve

global education and give everystudent an opportunity formeaningful international experi-ence?

What if the university couldinspire a “start up” business cul-ture in Nebraska and help diver-sify the economy?

These and many more ques-tions drive the Campaign forNebraska, a comprehensivefundraising campaign to meethigh-priority opportunities andneeds on all four campuses ofthe University of Nebraska.

Officially announced on Oct.16, 2009, Campaign forNebraska provides the opportu-nity for the University ofNebraska Foundation to engagealumni and others interested inthe quality and success of theUniversity of Nebraska.

Since plans began for thecampaign in 2005, more than$600 million has been raised orcommitted toward the goal ofreaching $1.2 billion by 2014.

But goals aside, universityleaders say increasing the num-ber of alumni who give is per-haps more important. All gifts ofany amount apply toward thecampaign and provide alumniand friends of the universityopportunities to give back toareas across the state that meanthe most to them.

Doug Kristensen, chancellorof the University of Nebraska atKearney, said the Campaign forNebraska is important for help-ing students and for building onthe momentum already under-way at UNK.

“Our top priority in theCampaign for Nebraska is finan-cial aid for students, both high-achieving and those for whom

college costs or family financialcircumstances prevent access toa university education,”Kristensen said. “Scholarshipsoffer one of the most direct waysto influence a student’s collegeexperience.”

Additionally, the campaignwill focus on raising money forendowed faculty positions atUNK while keeping the focuson students.

“The campus’ goal is toenhance the quality, scope and

breadth of UNK’s curriculum byendowing faculty chairs andprofessorships,” Kristensensaid. “It is critical for a teachinguniversity like UNK to attractfaculty whose interests andactivity transcend traditionalboundaries.”

A nimble curriculum will bea result of that focus, buildingcollaboration in teaching andresearch in areas where facultyinterests and expertise convergeacross college and departmentboundaries, he said.

A campaign goal of $50 mil-lion has been established atUNK to create endowed schol-arships, faculty chairs and pro-fessorships, academic support toencourage collaboration inteaching and research, and sev-eral enhancements to UNK’sresidential campus. Meeting thisgoal would triple the amount of

money the campus typicallyraises in private support.

“This is the beginning ofsomething that will make a bigdifference on this campus,”Kristensen said, “and the thou-sands of students who will comethrough here. It will improveand transform this campus.”

James B. Milliken, presidentof the University of Nebraska,said priorities of the overallcampaign include student schol-arships, faculty recruitment and

retention, research and academicprogram support.

“This campaign is focused onopportunities for students, onexpanding research in areas weare already renowned and onmaking a difference inNebraska,” he said. “The cam-paign will continue to build onthe university’s tremendousmomentum.”

Students are an importantreason for the campaign. Risingcosts and reduced state supportmake scholarship support criti-cal to ensure all students haveaccess to an education.Scholarship support is alsoneeded to improve global educa-tion by giving every undergrad-uate an opportunity for mean-ingful international experiencesthrough travel, internships,research opportunities or servicelearning.

The best and brightest stu-dents need the best and brightestfaculty. Campaign for Nebraskastrives to increase available pro-fessorships which are proven toattract great teachers andresearchers from top schoolsand retain the talent we have—all while increasing the overallquality of the university.

Campaign for Nebraska alsoprovides the focus on opportuni-ties to noticeably improveresearch and academic pro-grams, especially in areas inwhich the university is alreadydistinguished. These areasinclude cancer research andtreatment, agriculture and lifesciences research, waterresearch and policy, early child-hood education, informationtechnology, and architecturalengineering and construction.

The campaign is the universi-ty’s third comprehensive cam-paign. The Nebraska Campaignbetween 1977 and 1980 raised$51 million, and the last majorcampaign, Campaign Nebraska:One University, One Nebraskabetween 1993 and 2000 sur-passed its initial goal of $250million by raising $727 million.

Clarence Castner, presidentof the University of NebraskaFoundation, said the university’shistory of successful campaignsis attributed to individuals andorganizations in Nebraska andacross the country who careabout the university’s ability toserve people.

“During the last campaign,the vision and generosity of ourdonors resulted in 1,000 newstudent scholarship funds, near-ly 100 endowed faculty supportprogram funds and the construc-tion or renovation of 20 facili-ties,” Castner said. “This raiseseveryone’s expectations forwhat a new campaign canachieve for students, teachers,research programs and the citi-zens of this state who under-stand the importance of a greatstatewide university system.”

Learn more about theCampaign for Nebraska at cam-paignfornebraska.org. �

� Top priority atUNK is financial aidfor students

By Gary Reber ’86Director of Publishing

NU Foundation

Foundation kicks off $1.2 billion campaignMaking a difference

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 13

FOUNDATION

UNK’s industrial distribu-tion program has beennamed as one of the top

programs in the country. The pro-gram made The University SalesEducation Foundation’s TopUniversity Sales Program list.

Dr. Don Envick who retired inMay, established the four-yearindustrial distribution degree pro-gram at UNK. Since its inception,it has become the third-largest inthe nation.

There have been more than 600graduates, and graduates have a 99percent placement rate.

The program is accredited bythe National Association ofIndustrial Technology, one of only55 accredited programs in thecountry and the only accreditedprogram in Nebraska.

“UNK is leading the way forthe state in sales and education,”said Jeanne Frawley, USEF direc-tor. “A true national differentiatorfor the UNK program is the focuson technical sales.”�

Doug Koster ’95, who forthe past 18 years hasorganized and hosted anumber of basketball

tournaments for young men andwomen under the umbrella ofMr. Basketball, has pledged$19,500 a year to UNK for thenext 10 years.

That $195,000 gift to the NUFoundation will assist men’sbasketball, women’s basketball,volleyball and wrestling. A por-tion also goes to the Health andSports Center facility.

EACH OF the four sportswill receive $2,500 a year, atotal of $10,000. The other$9,500 covers rental and eventcosts of using the Health andSports Center along withimprovements to the facility.

Athletic director JonMcBride said among theimprovements made with previ-ous gifts from Koster areupgrades in lighting, messageboards and fan amenities. Kosterhas already been making annualgifts of $10,000.

For the past 18 years, Kosterand his staff have hosted events

such as Mr. BasketballInvitational Tournament, MissBasketball InvitationalTournament, Mr. BasketballSlamfest and Miss BasketballShootout for high school athletesalong with youth tournaments.

Koster’s Mr. BasketballInvitational and Miss BasketballShowcase are prominent sum-

mer tourneys that draw elitehigh school players and collegerecruiters from across the coun-try.

THE MIDWAY Snow Jamtournament last March is thelargest of Koster’s events. Theweekend event featured 333games and 222 teams from 40

Nebraska communities and sixstates on sixteen courts inKearney and Elm Creek andAxtell. “Not long ago, I couldn’thave imagined that we’d evenbe able to line up enough offi-cials and scorekeepers to pull offa tournament this big,” Kostersaid of the Midway Snow Jam.�

Mr. Basketball’s Slam Dunk

� Mr. Basketball giftto assist basketball,volleyball, wrestling,Health and SportsCenter

FOUNDATION

Doug Koster ’95 pledges $195,000 for athletics

Doug Koster ’95

Industrial Distribution: One of the nation’s top programs

14 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

DENVER EVENT: IndustrialDistribution alumni attended analumni dinner with seven internslast summer. Pictured here areColton Shifflet ’02, Amy Dix ’03and Andy Bonczynski ’02.

Samantha Chessmore’s husband’s parents recognizedFamily Day

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 15

ALUMNI NEWS

At Family Day in October,this year’s award went tostudent Samantha

Chessmore’s husband’s parents,Peggy and Todd Chessmore.

Originally from Hibbing,Minnesota, Chessmore, themother of two, is majoring inSpanish and aviation and carriesa 3.9 GPA.

On her application for theaward, she wrote “I have anamazing family. What makesmy family special is their com-mitment to education. I wasafraid to attend college becauseno one in my family had evengraduated from high school. Ididn’t know how to go aboutregistering. My inspiring father-in-law signed me up to take theACT exam.” Both Todd ’82 andPeggy ’80 are UNK graduates.

“Peggy has been an inspira-tion to me in so many ways.”Chessmore said. “Not only hasshe taught me the importance ofeducation and supported me, shehas also shown me that it is pos-sible to have a family whileattending a university and toexcel to your fullest potential. Itmakes me happy that because oftheir good example, their lovefor each other and their love foreducation, I can follow in theirfootsteps. I know they are proudof me. I hope that someday mylittle girls can look back at myeducation and be proud also.”

Several other honoredfamilies also haveUNK alumni ties

ABBIE OLSON of Dalton,

a psychology major, wrote that

her family has taught her to

value honesty, integrity, leader-ship and accountability. She has

three sisters and is the daughter

of Steve and Cindy Olson ’77.

Olson’s mother, her aunts

and uncles have attended UNK.

She said, “UNK is very special

to us. My grandmother and

grandfather, Aldon and Mary

Ann Sobieszczyk of Kimball

met at UNK when it was

Nebraska State Teachers

College and they were studying

for their teaching degrees.”JUSTIN DRUDIK of

Juniata, a sports administra-tion/business administrationmajor also has brother Adam

attending UNK. Both are mem-bers of the football team. Justinwrote, “My parents haveinstilled hard work and disci-pline in our lives by constantlysetting an example in their ownlives. His parents are Janet andRon Drudik. Janet earned a mas-ter’s degree from UNK in 1985

WACO and BILL PHIPPSof Kearney, son and father, areboth seniors at UNK. Waco ismajoring in industrial distribu-tion. He wrote, “I talked my dadinto returning to UNK and fin-ishing his degree after 22 years.I couldn’t be prouder of mydad!”

Bill is majoring in physicalscience. He and his wife are par-ents of four children. Bill wrote,“I was fearful and a bit hesitantinitially at the thought of goingback to college. However, myfamily’s support has been price-less. My kids think it is ‘cool’that their dad is going to collegeat the same time they are, andthey gave me a ‘crash course’ in

Lotus Notes, Blackboard andother technology. They empha-sized ‘It’ll be one of the greatestdecisions you’ll ever make.’”Bill’s parents are Doug andAlice Phipps of Mullen. Manymembers of the family, includ-ing Bill’s mother, attended UNKwhen it was Kearney Sate.

JENNIFER WEGENER ofLindsay is a sophomore elemen-tary major with a perfect 4.0GPA. Her sister Ashley is also aUNK student. Their parentsMark and Sandy farm in theLindsay area.

BRIANA MOHR is an ele-mentary education major fromOmaha and has a 3.9 GPA. Herparents are Mike and Sue. Shewrote, “My parents had to stayat local colleges in Omahabecause of finances. Theyencouraged me to pick a schoolwhere I could take advantage ofthe full college experience.” �

FAMILY DAY: Chancellor Doug Kristensen (left) helps recognize this year’s award winner SamanthaChessmore (right). Chessmore said her husband’s parents, alums Peggy ’80 and Todd ’82 (next toChancellor Kristensen), encouraged her and inspired her to complete her education.

“I have an amazing family. Whatmakes my family special is their

commitment to education.”~Samantha Chessmore

ACalifornian, Jeremey Gee’99 didn’t know muchabout Harvard University

athletics. Now, he is in hisfourth year as assistant trackcoach at the Ivy League school.Gee works with both the men’sand women’s sprinters and hori-zontal jumping events.

Gee had a stellar athletic andacademic career at UNK wherehe was standout in both footballand track. The 5-7, 165 lb.defensive back was a four-yearstarter in football earning all-conference. In track, he was theteam captain, and a RMAC all-conference standout in thejumping events and as a memberof two school record relayteams.

After earning a degree inmath, Gee spent a year coachingat UNK before returning to hishome in Southern California

prior to joining Harvard.He taught and coached at his

alma mater, El Camino HighSchool for four years. Geecoached his track teams to fourSan Diego section champi-

onships and was named Coachof the Year three times for theSan Diego section and twice forthe North County section.

Before coaching at ElCamino, Gee was an assistant

track coach for one of the topprograms in California, JamesLogan High in Union City.James Logan hosts the annualOlympic Development Clinic,the largest learn-by-doing clinicin the nation, at which Gee wasable to work with formerOlympians and Olympic coach-es.

His work there drew theattention of new Harvard coachJason Saretsky. Gee said he wassurprised at the competitivenessof the Ivy League. “Being fromCalifornia, you don’t hear muchabout Ivy League track andfield, but I have enjoyed Ivycompetition, especially theHeptagonal Championships. Ifwe had the resources, I believeIvy League track and fieldwould benefit from traveling tocompete in more meets outsidethe Northeast, showing the restof the country that you can get agreat athletic experience whilereceiving the best education.” �

IVY LEAGUE: From UNK to Harvard, Jeremey Gee ’99, “You canget a great athletic experience while receiving the best education.”

Jeremey Gee ’99 jumps to coaching at Harvard

As part of the RMAC’s100th anniversary cele-bration, UNK athleteshave been named to the

All-Century team. The finalhonor teams were selected in thespring. All those recognizedwere honored at the confer-ence’s Centennial Celebration inJuly.

Five individuals were select-ed to the softball team. DanSimmons was named the all-time coach. He was the Loperhead mentor from 1994 to 2000compiling a 128-14 RMACrecord winning six RMAC regu-lar season titles in seven years.He was conference coach of theyear five times. Second base-man Jill McCaslin was two-timeRMAC Player of the Year and athree time All-American from1995 to 1997. Darcie Berry wasfirst team All-American andfour-time first team RMACselection at second base from1995 to 1999. Amanda Kellywas RMAC Pitcher of the Yearin 1999 when she compiled a20-0 record with a 9.54 ERA, 15

shutouts. She was a two-timeAll-American. Outfielder LauraEspenmiller was a two-timeRMAC Player of the Year dur-ing her career between 1994 to1997.

William Jacome was namedthe top men’s tennis player ofall time. Jacome was a four-timeRMAC Player of the Year from2005 to 2008. He is the onlyfour-time player of the year inany sport in RMAC history.Jacome led the Lopers to fourconsecutive RMAC regular sea-son championships.

Quarterback Justin Colemanwas the only UNK athleteselected to the all-time footballteam. Coleman, who playedfrom 1997 to 2000, was theRMAC Player of the Year in1999 and was the Harlan Hillrunner-up in 2000. Coleman setthe NCAA Division II record forcareer passing yards throwingfor 11,213 yards.

Second baseman CodyLusero represented the Loperson the baseball team. As a sen-ior, Lusero was RMAC Player

of the Year in 2007 when he hit.443 to lead the conference. Healso was a first team All-American that year.

Kami Hehn was selected tothe all-time women’s golf team.Hehn, who competed for UNKfrom 2005 to 2008 was the No. 1player for the Lopers all fouryears and was all-conference in2008. She led UNK to theRMAC tournament champi-onship in 2008 and had the low-est stroke average in UNK histo-ry.

The RMAC is the fourth old-est conference in the countryand the oldest in the westernUnited States. UNK has been amember of the conference since1995. The honor teams wereselected by representatives fromthe conference schools. �

SPORTS RMAC All-Century TeamsLoper players, coaches earn honors

16 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

PreviouslyAnnounced TeamMembers

VolleyballErin Gudmundson‘05, All-Time TopPlayerErin Arnold ‘04Danielle Shum-Stowell’96Rick Squiers, Coachof the Century

Women’s BasketballJessica KedrowskiCarlyle ‘99Jennifer WarnerRamsey ‘97Amy Stephens,Coach of theCentury

Men’s BasketballNick Branting ‘04Nick Svehla ‘03

WrestlingBrett Allgood ‘08Tervel Dlagnev ‘08

For the latest on ALL 16UNK Sports visit

www.lopers.com

SPORTS

The women’s tennis teamhad its most successfulyear in history by reach-

ing the Sweet 16 of the NCAAtournament for the first time butlost to Concordia College ofNew York 5-4. The No. 1 dou-bles team of Katie-MarieOuthwaite, Australia junior, andKristen Messbarger, Kearneyjunior, compiled a 23-2 record.The No. 3 doubles team ofMizuki Takahaski, Japan junior,and Nickola Messbarger,Kearney freshman, went 23-3for the year. The women alsowon the RMAC Tournamenttitle for the second consecutive

year and set a school record fordual wins (17).

On the men’s side, JoshRaymond, Elkhorn freshman,was cited by the ITA(Intercollegiate TennisAssociation) as the CentralRegion’s Rookie Player of theYear.

Jake Saulsbury, a 2008Northwest Missouri State gradu-ate from Lexington, was namednew tennis coach during thesummer. He replaces KentShultz who resigned after twoyears to take a position withUSTA in Jackson, Mississippi.

On Memorial Day weekend

in Texas, four track athletesearned All-American honors atthe outdoor championships. Forthe women, Kelli Dring,Kearney senior, placed sixth inthe long jump with a career best19-10.25. It was her sixth All-American honor. She also wonseven RMAC titles. SamMurphy, Franklin junior,became a two-time All-American by finishing eighth inthe shot put. Drew Onnen,Fairbury sophomore, was fourthin the men’s discus and AllenOsborn, Chadron freshman, waseighth in the 110 hurdles. At theRMAC meet, the women fin-ished second and the men third.

While she has completed hereligibility, Dring will remainwith the Lopers as she will serveas an assistant coach in 2009-10.Also joining the coaching staffwill be Western State graduateJeremy Bubb, one of the topmulti-event athletes in theRMAC the past four years.

Ryan Sheldon, Kearney sen-ior, was chosen RMAC Pitcherof the Year for a second consec-utive season as the Lopers post-ed a 26-32 record and weredenied a third consecutiveRMAC Tournament title. UNKdid win its first two RMAC tour-

nament games before falling toNew Mexico Highlands andeventual winner Colorado State-Pueblo. Third baseman, BlakeCover, Kearney junior, joinedSheldon on the RMAC firstteam.

Former heavyweight wrestlerTervel Dlagnev ’09 captured thebronze medal at the WorldWrestling Championships inSeptember. He qualified for themeet by beating 2008 U.S.Olympian and wrestling legendSteve Mocco at the World TeamTrials in May. He also won goldby beating two of Europe’s topwrestlers at an internationalmeet in Azerbaijan in July. �

Kelli Dring

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 17

TervelDlagnev

The UNK AthleticDepartment is looking formore hits, only this time

it’s on the web. On October 15,Loper fans were introduced to anall new .com experience with therelease of the highly anticipatednew site completely devoted tothe latest in UNK athletics.

In conjunction with a compa-ny called ICS (InternetConsulting Services), a leader inathletic website solutions, UNKlooks to provide the student-ath-letes with a modernized site tohelp promote the success theteams experience year in andyear out.

More than just a sleek newlook, the site will enable staffersto provide fans with up-to-theminute coverage of UNK’s 19NCAA Division II teams. Not

only will fans have access to allthe features they previouslyenjoyed, the new site will featurea user-friendly navigation, livein-game statistics, streamingaudio and video, photo galleries,RSS feeds, recruiting compo-nents, interactive calendars, andmuch more. Fans can sign up fora biweekly newsletter, participatein fan polls, receive text updates,take advantage of corporatesponsor offers or access the offi-cial Facebook and Twitter pages

of the UNK Lopers. “We are extremely excited

about the possibilities the newwebsite will provide” said UNKAssistant Athletic DirectorShawn Fairbanks. “Our student-athletes deserve to have aresource which reflects theirefforts and our fans will enjoyhaving several options to accessinformation about LoperAthletics 24/7.”

The website is powered byInternet Consulting Services

(ICS) and SIDEARM contentmanagement systems. UNKjoins several Division II institu-tions and conferences fromacross the country as a memberof the ICS family. ICS has devel-oped a reputation amongDivision II institutions as a func-tional convenient serviceprovider for the Division II levelfans. �

Loper fans introduced to new website

Athletes, teams, capture awards

Achange in format didn’tdampen the interest in the21st annual Blue Gold

Golf Scramble as 44 six- personteams participated in the athleticfundraising event in June.

After years of hosting twodays of activities, this year’sevent was shortened to one daywith plans for a second event tobe held in February.

It was another successful dayaccording to athletic directorJon McBride.

“From the weather, to theparticipants, to the people at thereception who are just peoplewho like to get together and talkabout the Lopers, it’s all goodand we’re appreciative of thesupport,” McBride said.

McBride said it will take alittle time to get used to a differ-ent format. We need to bepatient about evaluating it.

One of the traditional events

of the two-day Blue Gold, a ban-quet and auction, will bereplaced with a February socialgathering.

“We will have great prizesfor that,” McBride said. “Whatwe hope happens is that it opensit up to a larger universe of peo-ple. For $50 or $100 investment,they will have an entry into win-ning a prize that has traditional-ly been won for hundreds of dol-lars, or a thousand dollars, and Ithink that will be attractive andappealing to people.”

Since it was started by for-mer athletic director DickBeechner, the Blue Gold hasbeen the largest fund raiser forathletic scholarships, raisingnearly $50,000 every year.

The winning team at theMeadowlark Hills golf courseconsisted of Doug King, MikeBryson, Ron Bazata, RichGappa, Paul Baldwin and Rand

Petersen. The winning teammembers at the KearneyCountry club were JohnKlinginsmith, Tom Connely,Dan McGowan, Doug Mitchell,Reggie Davis and DaveRoseberry.

During the event, ChancellorDoug Kristensen announced thekick-off for an endowed schol-arship in memory of long-timesupporter John McDonald whodied May 31. McDonald, 62,died unexpectedly at his homefollowing recent lung surgery.McDonald was the long-timegeneral manager of KGFWradio station and its affiliates inKearney having joined the sta-tion in 1967. Before becominggeneral manager, he and partnerAl Smith were the voices ofLoper athletics.

McDonald was a true friendof UNK athletics, ChancellorKristensen said, who had a pas-

sion for family, friendship,laughter, work and helping oth-ers. Every year, as the Blue Goldmaster of ceremonies,McDonald entertained thosewho attended the event with hiswit and humor. “His death was abig loss not only to the universi-ty but to the entire community.”

His legacy and love for UNKwill live on through the John AMcDonald MemorialScholarship. With the supportand backing of his family, theendowed scholarship will bepresented to a male or femaleathlete who exemplifies theattributes of commitment to aca-demic and athletic achievementand love of serving others.

Information on contributingto the scholarship fund is avail-able by contacting the UNKAthletic Department or the NUFoundation office in Kearney. �

SPORTS BlueGold Golf:One-day format still biggest fundraiser

18 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

KEARNEY COUNTRY CLUBCHAMPS: The winning team atthe Kearney Country Club Golfcourse was Dan McGowan, JohnKlinginsmith, Reggie Davis ’98,Tom Connely, Dave Roseberry’93 and Doug Mitchell ’98.

MEADOWLARK CHAMPS:The winning team at theMeadowlark Golf course wasRand Petersen ’82, Ron Bazata’74, Paul Baldwin, Doug King ’75,Rich Gappa ’88 and Mike Bryson.

SPORTS

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 19

Donors go to bat for base-UNK baseball players are

getting a competitive advantagethanks to private gifts that havebuilt an indoor practice facilityat Memorial Field where Loperbaseball is headquartered.

The new complex makesUNK the only school in theregion with an indoor battingand hitting facility at the field ofplay. The building also housesoffices for the coaching staff,new showers and laundry facili-ties, a computer lab and a largeprojection screen.

“This started off as a placefor batting and throwing, “ saidcoach Damon Day, “then theacademic center and little leaguepartnership came about and itbecame something bigger. Nowwe have a premiere hitting facil-ity right outside of left field.”

Day said, “Without the sup-port of private donors, a facilityof this magnitude does not hap-pen. Donors’ support of our stu-dent athletes is what makes proj-ects like this succeed.”

More than $54,000 was givenanonymously to the Universityof Nebraska Foundation to pro-vide the lead gift for the$230,000 project. Private giftsare still being accepted to com-plete the new building.

Other major donors includeKearney Little League, Dr. BradRodgers and former baseballplayers Ron Jiede ’67 and ScottCruickshank ’86.

Players are seeing the bene-fits of the new facility helpfulalmost immediately. JaredLoschen, a senior chemistrymajor from Kearney who pitch-es for the Lopers, remembersmany practices cut short orcalled off because of bad weath-

er.“Now we are able to practice

every day inside one of thenicest baseball facilities in thisarea,” he said. “In the new facil-ity we are able to practice hit-ting, fielding ground balls andpitching, all in a more game-likeand realistic atmosphere. Thisfacility will be a huge benefitnot only to the current andprospective UNK baseball play-ers, but also for young baseballplayers in the community ofKearney to have a chance tocome to an indoor facility andpractice baseball. We greatlyappreciate all of the donations tothe new indoor baseball facili-ty.”

The new building, like thestadium where it is housed, isavailable to Kearney Little

League teams as well asAmerican Legion teams inKearney.

“We want these teams to usethis,” Day said. “The better thekids do, the better we do downthe road.” A majority of theplayers on the Loper roster arefrom Nebraska and 25 percentof those players are fromKearney,” he said.

“This has an immeasurableimpact on our team,” Day said.“I can’t think of 10 otherDivision II teams that have com-plete access to facilities likethis.”

The difference the buildingmade was immediately visibleto the Loper team, Day said.“Our hitters hit more live indoorpitching the first five days ofpractice last season than they

did my first five years here.”“The differences will contin-

ue to be noticed,” he said.Thanks to Jiede, players nowhave a lounge where they canhave team meetings and whereKearney Little League andAmerican Legion teams cangather. The lounge includescomputer stations that allowLoper players to study withouthaving to drive back to campus,and the projection screen helpsthem analyze video of oppo-nents as well as video of theirown performance.

The artificial turf of the prac-tice facility can be divided intothree to six separate stations forhitting and live pitching from apitching mound. An array ofnets can create separate stationsto accommodate the team’s

BASEBALL COMPLEX: Donors gave more than $230,000 to build an indoor practice facility for

baseball, located adjacent to Memorial Field where Loper baseball is headquartered.

After 22 years at UNK andmore than 50 years ofinvolvement in collegiateathletics, Dick Beechner

has stepped down.Beechner was athletic director

from 1987 to 1995 then served asmen’s golf coach for the next 13years.

One of Beechner’s innovationsas golf coach has been the LoperCup, a Ryder Cup style of compe-tition between varsity and alumni

golfers. The event was started 11years ago. This fall the alumni cap-tured the cup after the varsity hadwon the past four years. To recog-nize Beechner’s contributions togolf, the athletic departmentrenamed the trophy to theBeechner Cup.In his eight years asathletic director, Beechner oversawthe move from NAIA into NCAADivision II, the building the Healthand Sports Center, entry into theRocky Mountain Athletic

Conference, a significant increasein fund raising for athletic scholar-ships, the development of theAthletic Learning Skills Centerthat helps athletes keep academicsand athletics in balance and the ini-tiation of the Blue/Gold HonorRoll to recognize athletes for aca-demic success.

As golf coach, Beechner led theLopers to three RMAC titles andmade seven state NCAA SuperRegional appearances. He coached

five All-Americans and wasinvolved with the NCAA DivisionII national committee golf.

Beechner is the executive direc-tor of the Nebraska High SchoolSports Hall of Fame Foundationand treasurer of the Nebraska GolfHall of Fame. He has also been akey member of the KearneyChamber of Commerce’s conven-tional and sports committee. �

Loper Cup renamed for retiring Beechner

20 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

ALUMNI NEWS

KEARNEY: Lisa Brown ’04,Tony Brown ’03, Bryan Kuntz’95, Candy Kuntz ’93 and KristinHoward ’00 take time out oftheir conversation to smile forthe camera at the KASO event.

SIGMA TAU GAMMA: SigTau alumni and friends gatheredin Omaha late this summer.Pictured are Randy Miller ’84,Mark Suhr ’84, Randy McCartney’85, Kent Ockers ’81 and “Li’l Sis”Brenda Christensen ’83.

KEARNEY: Nancy Polk ’73,Bob Polk ’71, Allison Victoria ’99and Joseph Victoria MBA ’01joined Loper alumni at a recep-tion prior to the April KearneySymphony Orchestra concert.

PACIFICNORTH-W E S T :Brigham ’06 andErin Lambley ’05 enjoya glass of Oregon wine duringa tasting party in Oregon.

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 21Fall 2009l UNK Today l 21

BLUE GOLD GOLF: Dr. Mike Heeney, Chuck Bacus ’79 and athletic director, Jon McBride enjoy post-golf conversation in June.

REUNITED: Each yearthe Zetas meet for areunion. This next yearwill be the 75thAnniversary of theZeta’s. Plan on meetingthem the fourth Thursdayof June, 2010. Standing:Mary Lou Kristensen,Betty Cook, Maxine Erpelding, Karen McBride, Betty Friskopp,Marilyn Peterson, Joan King, Colleen Jacobson, Donna Fisher, JoyceWink, Carol McGodan, Dororthy DeLaet. Sitting: SharronAltmaier, Jackie Kegley, Marilyn Winler, Doris Thompson and ShirleyUrwiller.

OREGON: Alumni AssociationPresident, Brenda Christensen’83, and Vance ’67 and CarolynBoelts visit the Methven FamilyVineyards after the bi-annualluncheon in Oregon.

SIGMA TAU GAMMA: LynnTeachwork ’90, Kelli Ann Francis’90 and Barry Wergin ’86 talkabout good times at the Sig TauReunion.

ALUMNI NEWS

Former basketball playerKenzo Maeda ’06 recent-ly was featured by a

Japanese television station forhis work with a professionalbasketball team in Japan.

A native ofJapan, Maedawas a part ofthe 2004-05and 2005-06UNK squads.Both of thoseteams won 23games andmade the

NCAA tournament. Always afan favorite, Maeda, a walk-onguard, played in 23 games dur-ing his UNK career.

He is currently an assistantcoach and interpreter with theTakamatsu 5 Arrows team that islocated on the island of Shikoku.He called it a ‘dream’ job.

Maeda also teaches basket-

ball to children. Maeda said thatplaying basketball at UNK andlearning about how Americancoaches make sports fun, madehim want to use that style ofcoaching to give children inJapan a dream.

Maeda’s wife, NatsumiMorioka ’06, also graduatedfrom UNK. �

In March, the Bill GanzWestern Band will reach amilestone when they performwith the Tucson Symphony

Orchestra Pops series in a pro-gram titled Saddle Up.

“We are honoring our west-ern and ranching heritage byperforming western songs withthe orchestra. These songs haveorigins here in SouthernArizona” Ganz said.

His interest in music of theAmerican West began in 1981when he relocated to Tucson,but his background isdiverse.

After teaching forseveral years, Ganz ’72was taking a summergraduate course in musicat UNL when he met avisiting lecturer from theUniversity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEU),Morris D. Hayes. “At theend of the session, he askedme to become his graduateassistant in choral music atUWEU,” Ganz said.

“During my graduate career,Hayes was president of theAmerican Choral DirectorsAssociation, and I filled as con-ductor for him in his undergrad-uate program, which includedthe University Singers and thefamous men’s group, theStatesmen. “

After earning his master’sdegree in 1978, Ganz returned toNebraska and was named anArtist in Residence by theNebraska Arts Council. “I trav-eled throughout Nebraska giv-ing workshops and demonstra-

tions in song composition andguitar,” he said.

Ganz continued working onhis skills as a songwriter andguitarist, and appeared in manyvenues. “I also began myrecording career at that time,” hesaid. “I was hired to write andrecord music for the BritishBroadcasting Corporation fortheir television documentary,Wheatcutters.

W h e nhe moved to Tucson

for more performance opportu-nities, he began studyingAmerican West music. “Fromthe traditional music of the cow-boys to the music of the silver

screen westerns, I foundelements in the genrethat appealed to me,such as harmonysinging and beautifulmelodies.”

Ganz, who waspart of many west-

ern groups, formedhis own band in 1992. “We’ve

performed at the major resortsand guest ranches here inArizona giving guests all overthe world a taste of our uniquewestern heritage.”

Ganz said one of his dreamshas been to meld genres ofmusic. “One way to achieve that

dream was to have my band per-form with the TucsonSymphony Orchestra. In March,we will be performing in a seriesof three concerts in the Pops!Series. These concerts celebrateour western heritage with musicwritten here in SouthernArizona.

“George Hanson, conductorof the Tucson SymphonyOrchestra, said that there aretwo kinds of music – sincere andnot sincere. Western music is apart of our culture and heritageas well as an art form we cancall our own. I am proud to be apart of this heritage.” �

For western music with Tucson SymphonySaddle up!

STRUMMING ALONG: Bill Ganz, who has a long history asa musician, will perform with his western band at the TucsonOrchestra’s Pops series in March.

Maeda ’06 Brings Loper Athletics to Japan

22 l UNK Today l Fall 2009 Kenzo Maeda 06

FEATURE

1959Verle Dean Brown retired from theCentral Intelligence Agency in 1998 ashead of its Intelligence TechnologyUniversity and retired again in 2008after ten years as assistant professor ofmathematics at East Central College.Since retiring, Dean and his wife, Aneeta,have traveled to Argentina, Mexico andSanta Fe, New Mexico. During 2009,they will travel to Rabat, Morocco, Parisand Madrid.Ken Cook retired from Freeman HighSchool after 50 years as a teacher andcoach. He coached and taught atTrumbull, Douglas, Adams and Freeman.He is a member of the UNK AthleticHall of Fame and the Nebraska highSchool Hall of Fame.

1962Martin ‘Tuck’ Mason was inductedinto the Ventura, California Sports Hallof Fame Class of 2009. Mason coachedat Oxnard High School from 1965 to1976 and at Ventura College from 1976to 1998. During his career at VenturaCollege, his teams won 15 conferencechampionships in men’s and women’strack and field and cross country. Hewas conference coach of the year eighttimes.

1964Bill McGahan MSE’68, EDS’91, long-time teacher and administrator atNorth Platte Catholic Schools, was rec-ognized last spring by the NationalCatholic Education Association at itsnational convention. He was one ofseven honored by the SecondaryDivision of NCEA. He has been a staffmember of NPCS for 43 years, including41 as an administrator.

1966Jo Heckel MAE’71 received theNational Interscholastic SwimmingCoaches Association OutstandingService Award last spring. Heckel wasswimming and diving coach at bothBellevue High School and Bellevue WestHigh School. She began her career atBellevue High after graduating in 1966even though the school had no pool. Asa diving coach, her teams produced a378-86 record in dual meets. Shecoached seven state champions andthree All-Americans and had at least onediver qualify for the state meet in eachof her 32 seasons as coach.

1968Keith Staehr of Kimball was inductedinto the Nebraska High School SportsHall of Fame in September in the coach-ing category. Staehr coached football atNorth-Loup Scotia four years andKimball for 29 years.JJ Toczek MSE’73 of Papillion-LaVistaHigh School was named the 2009Volleyball Coach of the Year by theNebraska Coaches Association.

1970Rich Osentowski of Kearney wasinducted into the Nebraska High SchoolSports Hall of Fame in September in theathlete category. Osentowski was a

three sport star at Ord High School. Hewas an All-American football and base-ball player for UNK.

1971Brad Kernick received the ‘Friend ofKearney Award’ at the Kearney AreaChamber of Commerce annual banquetlast spring.John Makovicka of Ulysses received aDistinguished Service Award from theNebraska School Activities Associationat the 2009 Nebraska High SchoolBasketball Tournament in March.

1972Jim Miller resigned as girls basketballcoach at Omaha Marian High School. Hewill continue as athletic director. In 33seasons, Miller compiled 619 victories, astate record 25 Class A state tourna-ment appearances, three state champi-onships and eight runner-up finishes.

1973Lyle Moeller of Norfolk was namedthe girls cross country 2009 Coach ofthe Year by the Nebraska CoachesAssociation.Carolyn Frederickson Scheidies ofKearney has released a memoir titled‘Tales of A Simpler Time, WisconsinChildhood Remembered. The freelanceauthor’s book is a look back at a moreinnocent time when faith and familywere important values. Information isavailable athttp://idealinhope.com/author/tales.html

1976David Gee, industrial technologyteacher at Grand Island Northwest HighSchool, was one of only 15 high schooltechnology education teachers present-ed with national teacher excellenceawards by the International TechnologyEducators Association.

1978Diane Stork Feldman, learningresource center coordinator in theUNMC College of Nursing KearneyDivision, received the Staff ExcellenceAward for 2009. The award is given foroutstanding customer service.

1980Shane Fruit of Ogallala was honoredby the Nebraska Coaches Association asthe 2009 Boys Cross Country Coach ofthe Year.

Mike McGlade received the DanO’Doherty Award at the 10th annual St.Pius X/Leo Athletic Committee SportsNight in May for his volunteer dedica-tion to the development of youth ath-letics in the Omaha community.

1981Tim Higgins MAE’97 of Grand Islandreceived the first Roy and Ross SpeeceUmpire of the Year Award. The awardwas begun by the Speece family tohonor Roy and Ross, who were induct-ed in the Nebraska Amateur BaseballHall of Fame in the 1980s as umpires.

1982Randy Grier is the principal at ElmCreek High School.Bob Jones is athletic director and headfootball coach at Shepherd High Schoolin Texas.Tim Kick of Dallas has been appointedchief financial officer of eGistics, a lead-ing provider of hosted document man-agement solutions. He is responsible foroverseeing the company’s financial plan-ning and analysis, treasury, audit,payables, receivables and tax functions.Prior to joining eGistics, Tim heldnumerous positions at EDS. Mostrecently, he was CFO of the FinancialServices Industry Group at EDS. He alsohas been CFO of EDS’s business inNorthern Europe and Africa.

JOIN THE LOPER

E-network!Please send your emails to mwidger@nufoundation.org. Be sure to provide your name, address and year of graduation!

Crabtree Warriors

REUNION TIME:Members of the 1981-83intramural group self-entitled“Crabtree Warriors” havetried to reunite every year.This year, they met in KansasCity. The members areBack: Jeff Moyer, TomPeterson, Mike Mellott, DeanCarstens Front: SheldonCrabtree, Jana BarnellFitchett, Julie Baker Lorraine,Deb Freitag Carsten andDoug Simpson.

ORIGINAL: The original members as pictured in the 1981

yearbook included Julie Baker, Jim Chambers, Jeff Moyer, Dean

Carstens, Mike Mellott and Debbie Freitag.

CLASS NOTES

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 23

1987Raymon Johnson is relationship man-ager at Heritage bank in Doniphan. Hehas spent the past 22 years in northeastNebraska in the insurance and bankingbusiness.

1988ShLoe Lentz Maurer became aNational Board Certified Teacher inNovember earning certificating inLiteracy: Reading/Language Arts – Earlyand Middle Childhood. ShLoe was oneof 64 teachers to earn certification inIowa last year. She has taught first gradein Sioux City for 21 years. She and herhusband, Darren, have two daughters,Taylor 17 and Emily 15.

1989Tom Albers has received a nationalaward for his part in a public relationscampaign for Omaha-based companyHome Instead Senior Care. AlbersCommunications Group, along withGLM Communications, received theSilver Anvil Award from the PublicRelations Society of American for havingthe best PR campaign in the country inthe Marketing Consumer Services cate-gory. The Silver Anvil, PRSA’s highesthonor, recognizes outstanding achieve-ment in strategic public relations plan-ning and implementation.Dr. Wade Robinson MSE’92 has beennamed vice president for the Division ofCampus Life and University Relations atWichita State University. He had beenassociate vice chancellor for academicand student affairs at UNO since 2003.Greg Shea is president of the ViaeroEvents Center and the Tri-City Stormhockey team in Kearney. He had beenexecutive director of the Kearney AreaChamber of Commerce. Prior to hischamber position he had been vice pres-ident of the Storm from 1999 to 2008.

1990Dave Colling is again head footballcoach at Kearney Catholic High School.He had been an assistant coach. He pre-viously served as head football coach atKearney Catholic from 1993 to 1995.

1991Joel Poppe is an employment consult-ant with Essential Personnel in GrandIsland.

1992Robert and Beth Krause Caldwelllive in Lincoln where Robert is presidentand CEO of Hampton Enterprises, Inc.They have two children, Anne Lyn 6 andCharles Fredric 1.

Mike Deines is relationship manager atHeritage Bank Grand Island.Gary Smith is police chief for the cityof Emporia, Kansas.Tim Thiele is vice president of FivePoints Bank in Kearney.

1993Bill Baasch is plant manager of CaseNew Holland in Grand Island.Michele Adams Ohlmann, a physicaltherapist at Madonna RehabilitationHospital in Lincoln, has been namedinpatient therapy manager.

1994Todd Hilyard, principal at CozadMiddle School since 2001, was named

2010 Middle School Principal of the Yearby the Nebraska State Association ofSecondary School Principals. Melissa Matthews Zorn is controllerat American Foods Group LLC inGibbon. She had worked 14 years inGrand Island with JBS as an accountingclerk and assistant controller.

1995Rik Devney is principal at HuntingtonElementary School in Lincoln. He hasbeen with the system since 1996.Scott Geiger is branch manager and vicepresident of business development andlending for Geneva State Bank in Kearney.Michele Roberts is associate athleticdirector/senior woman administrator atUNO.

1996Air Force Maj. Jeffrey Autrey is anoptometry flight commander assignedto the 355th Medical Group, AerospaceMedicine Squadron at Davis-MonthanAir Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Heearned his doctorate in optometry in2000 from Southern College ofOptometry in Memphis.Brian Baer was elected president ofthe Professional Photographers ofNebraska in April. He is owner of BaerPhotography in Kearney.

1997Amy Kruse Almquist ’97 earned hermasters of science degree in curriculumand instruction in August 2008 fromDoane College. She is an English teacherat Grand Island Senior High School. Sheand her husband, Robert ’97, have twochildren, Dylan and Kara.Ryan Zabawa is principal at ParkMiddle School in Lincoln. He had beenan associate principal at North Star HighSchool in the Lincoln system.

1998Jill Widdowson Macek has been pro-moted to supervising senior accountantwith McDermott & Miller in Grand Island.Paula Schaaf Hans is the news mediaspecialist for Aurora Public Schools inColorado. She and her husband, Josh,have a son, Lucas Thomas, who was bornDecember 17, 2007.

2000Elizabeth Edwards Sherbeckreceived the 2009 Time WarnerNational Teaching Award along withEnglish co-teacher Debra Sharp andEnglish student teacher ColleenMcBride. They accepted the award inWashington D.C. in June. Only 15entries were selected from across thenation. Elizabeth is a seventh grade spe-cial education teacher at Pound MiddleSchool with the Lincoln Public Schools.

2002Dianne Keiter of Kearney graduatedfrom the University of Missouri-Columbiain May with a Master of Arts in InformationScience and Learning Technologies.Mike Skeen is director of business devel-opment for Duncan Thompson Group inKearney.

2003Jonathan Brandt of Kearney is anattorney with the law firm of Anderson,Klein, Swan and Brewster of Holdregeand Kearney. He received his law degreefrom NU College of Law in 2007.Beth Swift Dye is the new head bas-ketball coach at Omaha Marian HighSchool. For the past two years she hasbeen co-head coach. She is also ateacher and head tennis coach.Corey Fisher MSE is the high schoolprincipal at Ravenna.Duana Freeman is a claims advocatewith UNICO in Lincoln.Thomas Mezger has been named anassociate of the Casualty ActuarialSociety. He is a senior actuarial analyst atSelective Insurance. He lives in BuddLake, New Jersey.Dr. Laron and his wife, AmandaKamler Williams have moved toLubbock, Texas, where Laron is an assis-tant professor of political science atTexas Tech University.

2004Andrea Hiatt Buckley is a staff attor-ney with Iowa Legal Aid. She works inthe Northwest Regional office in SiouxCity. Prior to joining Iowa Legal Aid, shewas in private practice with Klass LawFirm in Sioux City.Emily Gusso is an assistant women’sbasketball coach at South Dakota StateUniversity. She also is recruiting coordi-nator and academic coordinator.Beth Keller works for D3 Interiors ofOmaha.Dr. Corey Timperley practices at theMosier/Timperley Chiropractic Clinic inLincoln. She graduated from the ParkerCollege of Chiropractic in Dallas.

2005Andrea Andersen is a sales representa-tive for Vertical Pharmaceuticals in Houston.Dr. Chelsey Lynn Clemans receivedthe doctor of optometry degree fromSouthern College of Optometry inMemphis. She practices as an associateat Kosunick & Scott in Cleveland. Tyler Erwin MSE’05 is an assistantbasketball coach at UNO.Christa Mary Sindelar of GrandIsland received her doctor of optometrydegree from Southern College ofOptometry in Memphis.Jillian Tangeman Wendburg is a stu-dent at the University of Missouri atKansas City in the InterdisciplinaryPh.D. program in English. She also oper-ates her web design business, RuralDesigns.

Alumni are among UNK’s best recruiters andthe university could use your assistance.There are many ways you can assist in attract-

ing prospective Lopers.� Make a point to visit with students andfriends about your experience at UNKand encourage them to give us a look� Encourage them to check us out on theweb at www.unk.edu

� Send their names, addresses and highschool information to the admissionsoffice

1-800-KEARNEYadmissionsug@unk.edu

Help Them –EXPERIENCE KEARNEY

24 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

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ALUMNI!www.unk.edu/alumniFacebook Group:UNK/KSC Alumni Association

CLASS NOTES

Tom and Shelly Paulsen Gifford ’98of Kansas City, Missouri, are parents of adaughter, Alexis Kay, born March 31.Matthew and Brooke Tesar Gilliland’97 of Geneva are parents of a son,Rylan Matthew, born February 8. Theyalso have a daughter, Alyssa Marie 7. Mattis the fleet supervisor for NebraskaPublic Power District and is based out ofthe York Operations Center. Brooke is astay at home mother.Cody ’03 and Jessica StevensGoodrich ’05 are parents of a daugh-ter, Emma Jo, born June 10.Heather and Justin Hall ’00 of Mindenare parents of a daughter, Emma Mae,born April 24.Patrick and Kelli Craig Hamilton ’00of Saint Paul, Minnesota, are parents of adaughter, Sydney Jo, born June 1. Theyalso have a daughter, Samantha 2.Barry Dee and Lorraine Marie DayHiebner ’94 of Henderson are parentsof a son, David Robert, born March 4.Ben ’01 and Kelli O’Connor Holl ’02of Kearney are parents of a son, ElijahJames, born January 6.Dr. Aaron and Elissa Bosley Hurd ’98of Knoxville, Tennessee, are parents of ason, Jacob Michael, born December 12.Aaron is in his fourth year of general

surgery residency at the University ofTennessee Medical Center. They alsohave a son, Lucas.David ’07 and Karrie Kucera Huryta’07 of Ravenna are parents of a daugh-ter, Maggie Jo, born May 11.Geri and Kelly Jasnoch ’05 of Kearneyare parents of a daughter, Hailee Renee,born May 2.Traci and Scott Javins ’98 of Kearneyare parents of a daughter, Emma Grace,born July 13.Desiree and Jordan John ’03 ofElkhorn are parents of a daughter, AshlyKaye, born April 3.Joseph ’01 and Tara CoughlinJohnson ’02 of David City are parentsof a son, Alexander Michael, born March30. They also have a son, Will.Jamie and Kenton Jurgensen ’99 ofOmaha are parents of a son, BraydenCooper, born May 4.Brian ’01 and Dana McCrackenKaslon ’97 of Kearney are parents of adaughter, Mariah KayAnn, born February26. They also have McKaleigh, 3.Joe and Becky Brekel Klute ’03 ofKearney are parents of a son, AydenJoseph, born July 2. Kenneth and Jessica Knapp ’00 ofColorado Springs are parents of a son,James Kenneth, born April 15.Scott ’97, MSED’05 and Tawnia

Wood Krause ’97, of Kearney are par-ents of a daughter, Kennady Laine, bornOctober 23, 2008. Scott is a teacher andcoach at Sunrise Middle School, Tawnia iscontroller at Baldwin Filters.Brad ’98 and Kristina Myers Krohn’98 of Kearney are parents of a daugh-ter, Breckyn Taylor, born April 10.Sid and Rochelle Hunt Krueger ’91of Kearney are parents of a son, SpencerEdward, born December, 2008. They alsohave a daughter, Madaline.Chad and Cami Myers Kruetzer ’01of Amherst are parents of a daughter,Cami Jo, born April 30. They also have adaughter, Claire Mylee.Lonnie ’05 and CassondraRustemier Kvasnicka ’04 of Kearneyare parents of a son, Liam Levi, bornAugust 3.Jill and Justin Lacey ’01 of Burleson,Texas, are parents of a daughter, MadilynLee, born May 25.Don and LeAnn Schluntz Leidig ’04of Phillipsburg, Kansas, are parents of ason, Caleb Donald, born June 29.Amanda and Kim Lewis ’90 of Kearneyare parents of a son, Micah Landon, bornMay 28.R D ’97 and Jenny ButterbaughLong ’98 of Shawnee, Kansas, are par-ents of a daughter, Natalie Joy, bornMarch 4.Kasey and Jennifer Ziegler Loschen’04 of Franklin are parents of a daughter,Emelene Mae, born March 29.Ryan and Lindsay Roper Lund ’06 ofKearney are parents of a daughter,Hailey Isabella, born February 20.Lindsay is a music teacher at KearneyCatholic School.Tom ’03 and Leah Skorupa Mezger’04 of Bud Lake, New Jersey, are parentsof a son, Alexander Francis, born April 9.Robert and Trena Dejmal Miller ’05of Elm Creek are parents of a son,Madox Robert, born February 17.Theyalso have a daughter, Madelynn. Trena isan elementary teacher with KearneyPublic Schools.Jason ’04 and Heather GintherMitchell ’05 of Haysville, Kansas, areparents of a son, Hayden John, bornFebruary 1.Kristin and Sean Murphy ’94 ofLincoln are parents of a daughter, LeytonElizabeth, born March 8.Nathan ’01 and Jami Mitchell Olson’01 of David City are parents of a son,Caelan Zane, born November 30, 2008.They have two other children, Valori 4and Neil 2.Jarod and Samantha JonesOsmotherly ’08 of Kearney are par-ents of a daughter, Abbie Marie, bornMarch 20. They also have a daughter,Emma.Galen and Kellie Bendix Pfeiffer ’96of Lincoln are parents of twin daughters,Madelyn Kay and Gabrielle Paige, bornMay 13. Troy and Virginia Dietz Rainforth’01 of Doniphan are parents of a son,Bladen Wayne Maurice, born March 5.They also have a daughter, Logan Rose 2.Brian ’93 and Tricia Legg Regelin’94 of Cozad are parents of a daughter,Whitney Kaye, born June 14.JoAnna and Jeremy Ringlein ’00 ofKearney are parents of a son, BriceMichael, born May 27. Brandon and Tara Ferguson Rood’99 of Cheyenne, Wyoming, are parentsof a daughter, Devaney Lynn, bornAugust 31, 2008.Stuart and Amanda Muchow Rood ’04of Kearney are parents of a daughter,Kinleigh Ryne, born July 24.Susan and Jason Rowling ’94 ofDavidson, North Carolina, are parentsof a daughter, Abigail Grace, born June 1.

Troy ’00 and Janisha Jurgens Ruda’01 of rural Cozad are parents of adaughter, Lauryn Grace, born February24. They also have a son, Dawson Amos 2.ReDonna and Patrick Russell ’97 ofKearney are parents of a son, JoshuaLaVon, born March 31.Sherri and Scott Schlegel ’96 ofBruning are parents of a daughter, OliviaMarie, born April 21, 2008. They havetwo other children, Blake 6, Ashley 4.Kevin ’94 and Jane RoselandSchuster ’00 of Omaha are parents ofa son, Hudson David, born February 3.They also have a son, Brody 3.Jeremey ’02 and Jesica Butler Shiers’04 of Ansley are parents of a daughter,Adeline Lillian Mae, born May 4.Christine and Chris Smutney ’02 ofOmaha are parents of a son, AndrewJohn, born May 6.

CLASS NOTES

UNK Today, official alumni publication of theUniversity of Nebraska at Kearney is pub-lished two times a year by the AlumniAssociation, Kearney, Nebraska 68849. Thirdclass postage paid, Kearney, NE 68847.

Phone: (308) 865-8474 FAX: (308) 865-8999 E-mail: LDART@nufoundation.orgInternet: http://www.unk.edu/alumni

BOARD OFDIRECTORS OFFICERSBrenda Christensen ’83, President - MindenChad Rutar ’97, President-elect - OmahaBryan Kuntz ’95, Secretary - KearneyMaureen Nickels ’74, Past-President - ChapmanLarry Feather ’66, Trustee - Grand Junction, CO

DIRECTORSEXPIRING 2009Fred Arnold ’83 - FairburySue Batie ’73 - Cypress, CACandy Fernau ’96 - Dallas, TXAndy Romatzke, J.D. ’01 - OmahaRobert Warren ’64 - McMinnville, ORDeb Schwenka ’76 - MindenStephanie Hueftle Vogel ’89 - Lincoln

EXPIRING 2010Cynthia Schug Bahler ’94 - LamarDoug Burritt ’95 - OsceolaDenise Strother Christensen ’80 - KearneySteve James ’77 - Danville, CALanny Jorgensen ’63 - Tucson, AZBryan Kuntz ’95 - KearneyHolly Nikels ’93 - Bettendorf, IANancy Yurges Osterbuhr ’95 - Minden

EXPIRING 2011Barb Lehmkuhl Estes ’74 - KearneyDean Jindra ’85 - PapillionDee Dee Schutte Kitzelman ’90 - KearneyAndrea Walton Miller ’02 - ScottsbluffBen Rowe ’03 - KearneyRyan Samuelson ’02 - Phoenix, AZTroy Schleiger ’95 - LincolnCandy Thompson Walton ’97 - Vermillion, SDRyan Tworek ’98 - Newport Beach, CA

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STAFFLucas Dart ’97 - Executive DirectorMichelle Widger ’90 - Assistant Director and Assistant Editor Jean Starman - Office AssociateJim Rundstrom ’64 - Editor & DirectorEmeritus

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26 l UNK Today l Fall 2009

Ty Wisdom is a teacher and coachwith the Fremont Public Schools.

2006Erin Brosz Byrd is the volleyball coachand a middle school teacher at MillardWest High School. She has been a grad-uate assistant at UNO the past twoyears.Laura Erb has been promoted to sen-ior accountant in the Kearney office ofMcDermott & Miller, P.C.Tom Schlund graduated in May with amasters of education with a focus inhigher education and administration andstudent affairs from Texas TechUniversity. He is a residence hall coordi-nator at the University of Missouri.Amy Steger MSE’06 is an insuranceagent with Missouri Farm BureauInsurance in Blue Springs, Missouri.

2008Andrew Bennett is a graduate stu-dent in cultural foundations of educa-tion with a concentration in disabilitystudies at Syracuse University.Amanda Bugbee teaches in GrandIsland Public Schools at the EarlyLearning Center as an Early ChildhoodEducator.Stein Elting is a graduate student atDoane College working on master ofarts degree in management.Sarah Gibbs is quality assurance coor-dinator with the Women, Infants andChildren Program in Kearney.Brian Malicky is studying physicaltherapy at UNMCJoseph Nowaczyk is a national prod-ucts specialist with Precision Industriesin Omaha.Shawn Patsios works at Bank of theWest in Kearney.Katie Peters works in customer serv-ice at Valley Medical Management inLoup City.Katherine Rich of Brady is a revenueagent for the Nebraska Department ofRevenue.Luis Segura of Kearney is a design-er/project manager for Continental FireSprinkler Company.Emily Stoltenberg is a businessteacher with Arcadia Public School.Amber Nabity Vlasnik is a mathteacher at Lincoln Southeast High School.She had been teaching in Houston.Danell Will is activity director at GoodSamaritan Society in Gibbon.

2009Ted Stein is the Centra AthleticCenter Director in Miles City, Montana.Centra is Miles City CommunityCollege’s recreation center as well as acommunity center. He is also assistantto the athletic director.

BirthsJesse ’04 and Kelli McBride Arens’04 of Kearney are parents of a son,Dane Stephen, born July 3.Sarah and Reid Ayres ’04 of Hastingsare parents of a daughter, Kiley Anne,born May 7.Shane ’03 and Jodi SvobodaBendfeldt ’04 of Gibbon are parents ofa daughter, Natalie Ann, born March 19.Aileen and James Beyer ’99 of Omahaare parents of a daughter, Lea Aileen, bornMay 26. James is manager, risk services, forLincoln Financial Group in Omaha.Chris and Katie Woltman Blair ’03of Kearney are parents of a son, JohnCarter, born May 18.Nathan ’07 and Megan AndersonBlazek ’06 of Kearney are parents of adaughter, Madelyn Grace, born March 13.Adam ’00 and Jill Balk Bolling ’01 ofPleasant Valley, Missouri, are parents oftwins, Willie Reese and Wyatt Matthew,born August 12.

Ben ’02 and Emily Ohm Brachle ’03of Omaha are parents of a son, GabrielChristopher, born May 12.Scott ’99 and Shannon PetersonBruha ’00 of Kearney are parents of adaughter, Payton Leigh, born March 10.Michael and Tally ZimmermanBruning ’98 of Omaha are parents of adaughter, Noelle, born April 4. Tally is asecond grade teacher with WestsideCommunity Schools.James and Jenny Cook Chan ’00 ofGolden, Colorado, are parents of a son,Caleb James, born January 7.Neal and Lauri Hofmann Chandler’96 of Pleasanton are parents of adaughter, Lily Mae, born February 27.Adam ’02 and Brandi SlocumCharter ’02 of North Platte are par-ents of a son, Levi Kenton, born April 6.Adam is a police officer with the city ofNorth Platte.Jason ’00 and Kari Stubbs Cover ’99of Humboldt are parents of a son, CalebRussell, born July 8.Kim ’99, MAE ’04 and Lucas Dart’97 are parents of a daughter, Morganborn May 26. They also have a son,Nolan, and daughter, Lydia. John and Tammy DingwerthDahlstrom ’95 of Omaha are parentsof a daughter, Avery, born February 27.They also have a son, Jackson.Rik ’95 and Prudence SchwartzDevney ’94 of Lincoln are parents of adaughter, Alydia Michelle, born May 20.They have two other daughters, Adelicia10 and Isabella 6. Rik is principal atHuntington Elementary School inLincoln. Prudence is the executive direc-tor of children at Lincoln First Churchof the Nazarene.Judd and Danielle Woehrle Dickman’97 of Lexington are parents of a daugh-ter, Jayden JoAnn, born June 28.Tony ’97 and Lindsey GreggDeitering ’97 of Sidney are parents oftwin daughters, Lucy Anne and Lily Jane,born June 4.Chanel and Erik Estes ’01 of ColoradoSprings are parents of a son, Evan Kent,born May 29.Terry and Jeanne Czarnick-Evans’87, MSE’03 of Columbus are parentsof a daughter, Gabriella Dorothy, bornNovember 11.They have two otherdaughters, Anastasia and Clarissa. Jeanneteaches at Twin River Public School.Andy ’94 and Monica Graham Falk’93 of Pleasanton are parents of a son,Baron Lincoln, born June 28.Jacob ’00 and Tiffany FeldmanWeiss ’08 of Kearney are parents ofson, Maxton Richard born May 12.Jacob is an Assistant Professor at UNK.Katie and Ryan Fitch ’06 of Kearneyare parents of a daughter, Paige Rebecca,born March 12. Brooke and Michael Ford ’05 ofKearney are parents of a son, MilesMichael, born February 7. Michael is anelementary teacher with Elm CreekPublic Schools.Morgan and Tara Redlinger Fouts’06 of Elm Creek are parents of a son,Jacob Alan, born February 2.Luke ’06 and Amanda BroadfootGarringer ’07 of Kearney are parents ofa daughter, Addison Leigh, born June 16.Brent ’04 and Kathryn Alt Gehring’04, MSEd ’06 are the parents of a son,Aiden James, born July 22. Brent is abusiness teacher and assistant boys bas-ketball coach at Bellevue East. Kathrynis a speech pathologist Papillion-LaVistaSchools.

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News

COMMENCEMENT: When Chris Lyons graduated with hisMBA from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, he was selected todeliver the student commencement address. The theme ofcommencement was The Broadening Concept of ScienceWithin Our Environment. Chris is pictured here with his son,Charlie, and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, who is administrator forNOAA in the cabinet of President Barrack Obama. Chris andhis wife, Danielle, have recently moved to Omaha where he isglobal account manager for Gexpro.

Alumni

Send your update for UNK Today to:UNK Alumni Association, Campus Box 21,Kearney NE 68849-6120 or email us yourupdates to MWidger@nufoundation.org

What’s happening? CLASS NOTES

Fall 2009l UNK Today l 25

John and Tamara Kanode Snider ’01of Kearney are parents of a son, AftonWesley, born May 29.Andrew ’04 and Leah Lewis Stade’02 of Kearney are parents of a son,Alexander Wayne, born March 11.Jason ’02 and Amanda Stark ’02 ofHazard are parents of a daughter, JennaLynn, born February 1. Jason ’99, MAE’03 and Mandy CrileStubbs ’99 of Kearney are parents of ason, Jake David, born March 20. Mandy isa licensed mental health practitionerand Jason is a teacher with AmherstPublic Schools.Elizabeth and Paul Sutton ’08 UNMC-Kearney Nursing are parents of a daugh-ter, Brandi Elizabeth, born March 21.Paul attends Cleveland Chiropractic inKansas City, MO.Jeff ’04 and Jessica Nickel Talkington’04 of Seward are parents of a son, ElijahNickel, born June 24.Ross and Amy Riddle Tessendorf ’96of Omaha are parents of a son, TyMichael, November 1, 2008. Amy is aspeech-language pathologist with BlairCommunity Schools.Kully ‘00 and Amanda LarsonThatcher ’07 of Kearney are parentsof a son, Kayl Lin, born July 7.Kimberly and Joshua Townsend ’04 ofKearney are parents of a son, GavinJohn, born June 4.Jeff and Jauni Dennis Tracy ’94 ofKearney are parents of a daughter, TorrieRyAnn, born February 20.Leland and Krisha Niemoth UdenMSE’97 of Kenesaw are parents of adaughter, Abigail Grace, born February11.John ’95 and Crystal SchemmVanderbeek ’00 of Kearney are par-ents of a son, Daniel James, born June13. Vanderbeeks are parents of sonsAnthony and Joseph and daughter,Lindsey. John teaches at Sunrise MiddleSchool. Crystal runs an in-homeChristian daycare.Mike and Kelli Anderson Vohland’02, MBA’03 of Kearney are parents ofa daughter, Delaney Grayce, born May17.Drew and Karle Sander Von Seggern’97 of LeMars, Iowa, are parents of twindaughters, Kirsten Ann and LaurenElizabeth, born November 19, 2008.Karla is a fourth grade teacher withSioux City Community Schools.John ’01 and Lee Ramey Webber’00 of Kearney are parents of a son,Joshua Bennett, born June 30. They havetwo other children, Mary Grace 3 andJacob Joseph 2.Michael ’00 and Darcy BraunWeides ’00 of Lincoln are parents of adaughter, Anney Olivia, born March 20.Ed ’92 and Lynette Kerr WiltgenMAE’00 of Kearney are parents of ason, Christian Jacob, born February 2. Edis a restaurant owner and Lynette a sec-ond grade teacher at Park ElementarySchool.Sara and Tom Zikmund ’01 of Almaare parents of a son, Barrett James, bornJune 6. They have two other children,sons, John, 7 and Brett, 4.

MarriagesCraig Beaman ’08 and Emily VencilJune 27 in Kearney. Becky Benson ’09 and Matthew HoweAugust 15 in Central City.Sarah Burbach ’05 and Russ RaleyJuly 10 in Lincoln.Sheri Clayton ’04 and Ted SpomerJune 6 in Hordville. They live inChandler, Arizona.Heather Crouch ’06 and ChasePlaczek ’08 August 22 in Kearney.

Angelie Dickmeyer ’07 and JustinAnson August 2, 2008. They live in NorthPlatte where Angelie is employed byDHHS as an adult protective servicesworker.Brian Fast ’07 and Jenna Allen August8 in Kearney.Adam Fjell ’03 and Sara Holland June13 in Bellevue.Ashley Hammer ’07 and ZacharyLarson September 19 in Holdrege.John Harvey ’07 and Jordan LundgrenMay 9 in Glenwood, Iowa.Pauline Johnson ’92 and Scott Davis July25 in Elba. They live in Colorado Springs.Adam Knecht ’06 and Jessica ReganJuly 10 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.Sara Korus ’07, MS’09 and HeathOberg ’06 in Kearney. Sara is a speechlanguage pathologist with LexingtonPublic Schools and Heath is afarmer/rancher near Farnam.Crystal Lentell ’08 and TrentGeorgiana June 20 in Kearney.Gwen Maliszewski ’05 and AdamRathman ’08 August 29 in Kearney.Jeremy McFarland ’08 and HeatherTrubey August 15 in Grand Island.Lindsey Meier ’09 and TrentonLilienthal August 1 in Grand Island.Samantha Munoz ’04 and JasonWilley August 22 in Grand Island.Kelli Obermiller ’09 and JasonRademacher September 26 in Loup City.Robert O’Neill ’07 and SheresaScholten August 1 in Orange City, Iowa.Brooke Peterson ’03 and Matt LarsonNovember 15, 2008 in Omaha.Cameron Push ’09 and AraneaSpencer August 15 in Grand Island.Max Simonson ’04 and MaggiMcDermott August 29 in Grand Island.Tim Sladek ’07 and Kelly Norrie May30 in Geneva.Kristin Steinbeck ’03, MS’06 andBrian Chamness September 19 inKearney.

Mike Sunderman ’80 and CathyTrowbridge June 20. Mike is in his fifthyear as athletic director at Madison HighSchool. He has been coaching and teach-ing at Madison for 22 years.Kylie True ’08 and Ryan Hulme July 28in Cairo.Charlie Wilson ’08 and Shelby MullerSeptember 12 in Kearney.Mary Lois Wohlgemuth ’09 andMatthew Athley ’09 June 14 inMinden. Both attend Barry UniversitySchool of Law in Orlando, Florida.Audra Young ’07 and Brian Haas ’07May 30 in Kearney. Shawntelle Young ’02, MBA’04 andBret Bowman July 25 in Kearney.Shawntelle is a trust officer at PlatteValley State Bank.

DeathsMark Anderson ’98 of Minden diedAugust 24. He was 55.Doris Russom Bowers ’31 ofPennsboro, West Virginia, died July 17.She was 99.Margaret Bradley ’70 of Ravennadied July 19. She taught school for 33years. She was 75.Joel Brinkman ’87 of Loveland,Colorado, died May 26. He was 48.Robert H. ‘Bob’ Busteed ’53 ofRochester, Minnesota, died December 5,2008. He was 78.Sgt. Justin Duffy ’00 died June 2 inIraq when the Humvee he was drivingwas struck by a roadside bomb. He was31.John Eckhout ’69 of Amherst diedJune 9. He was 61.Reinhold J. ‘Reiney’ Ehly ’42,MSE’71 of Kearney died April 14. Hewas a financial officer at UNK until hisretirement in 1983. He was 89.Dr. Jess Enns of Kearney died May 17.He was sociology professor at UNK

from 1970 until his retirement in 2006.He was 70.B. R. ‘Bud’ Farm ’53 of Portland,Oregon, died August 27. He had servedfor many years on the NorthwestAlumni Association board of directors.He was 78.Harold Fothergill ’84, MBA’86 ofGrand Island died May 9. He was 68.Virginia Herbert George ’32 ofSidney died July 5. She was 95.Rebecca Adams Green ’92 ofSteamboat Springs, Colorado, died June13 from a drowning accident in FishCreek. She was 40.Norman Haldiman ’62 of Lincolndied March 26. He was 69.Marjorie Hollingsworth Harbaugh’43 of Albuquerque died February 21.She was 87.Jessie Hervert ’61 of Kearney diedJuly 31. She was 95.Barbara Shull Ulm Houston ofOmaha died June 24. She was 77.Shirley Shaffer Houston ’56,MSE’69 of Minden died April 13. Shewas a business education teacher for 35years and retired from UNK as an asso-ciate professor of business in 2000. Shewas 72.Edward Kielbasinski of Kearney diedAugust 19. He was a broadcasting pro-fessor at UNK in the 1980s. He was 57.Dan Leibee ’58 of Buffalo, Wyoming,died March 27. He was 73.Ron Mousel of McCook died July 13.He had been an attorney in McCooksince 1973. He was 68.Kenneth Phillips ’52 of Beatrice diedJuly 30. He was 87.Lori Jorgensen Phillips ’96 ofKearney died as a result of injuriesreceived in an automobile accident June18. She was 35.Noel Olin ’61 of St. Paul diedSeptember 6. He was 70.Lilah Owen Read ’67 of Hastings diedApril 17. She was 95.John ‘Jack’ Rohrs ’59 of Kearney diedAugust 13. He was a physics professor atUNK for 25 years. He was 78.Wayne Rudolph of Hastings died July1. He was 68.Jeanne Cremeen Saathoff ’70 ofGrand Island died May 19. She was 60.Ruth Lindekugel Shaughnessy ’66of Hastings died July 27. She was 65.B. David Sinclair of Kearney diedAugust 18. He was an English professorat UNK for 39 years, retiring in 2006. Hewas 68.Kenneth Smyers ’52 of Kansas Citydied March 24. He was 80.Lloyd Softley ’54 of Alliance died May16. He was 77.Charles Stevenson MAE’70,EDS’89 of Los Angeles died July 22. Hewas 68Glendoris Stickney ’68, MSE’74 ofRavenna died July 5. She taught elemen-tary and special education for 51 years.She was 83.Jeffrey ‘Jeff ’ Stoppkotte ’89 ofKearney died March 11. He was 50.Jeffrey ‘Jeff ’ Timm ’86 of Kearneydied August 6. He was 47.Natalie Peppler Walter ’71 ofOmaha died August 21. She was 60.Don Whitacre ’58 of Kearney diedApril 6. He was 76. �

The first book written byMike Burrows ’79 hasbeen released. ThePower of Influence,

L i f e - C h a n g i n gLessons from theCoach is the story ofFisher DeBerry’scoaching era at the AirForce Academy.Burrows interviewedplayers and othersassociated with theAir Force programduring DeBerry’s 23years as the Falcon’shead coach.

DeBerry is thewinningest coach inservice academy his-tory, but his success hasbeen measured by the kind ofpeople his players havebecome. Faith, family and foot-ball – these are priorities in hislife and the themes of his book.

Burrows said that all of therevenue generated from the

sale of the book will go direct-ly to Fisher’s foundation. That

foundation was createdto aid children ofsingle parent fami-lies.

Rudy Ruettiger,college footballplayer whose lifeinspired the movie,Rudy said the bookwill encourage tothink differentlyabout the peopleyou meet . . . youhave the power toinfluence them for alifetime.”Burrows has been a

sports writer for the DenverPost for more than 10 years.Prior to that he was a sportswriter for the Colorado SpringsGazette for 13 years.

Copies of the book areavailable atwww.FisherDeBerryFoundation.org. �

Mike Burrows ’79 releasesbook on Air Force football

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