Going the Distance - College of Arts and...

Going the Distance

Students and faculty use their skills to help people from Kansas to Botswana, Iraq to India — and learn plenty along the way

This issue is printed on 30 percent recycled-content paper with eco-friendly soy ink. The paper is certified by SmartWood to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.

faculty member helped Kansas high school teachers enliven their teaching. You’ll read about the impact of an ROTC cadet and interdisciplinary studies major on our nation. And you’ll hear how faculty in geology, biology, and journalism and mass communications reached out to people in India, Botswana, and Kenya, respectively.

Enjoy these articles and more, and thank you for supporting the College of Arts and Sciences. Please stop by to say hello when you are on campus, and let us know if you can help.

Best wishes,

Brian Spooner, dean

A New Name

Starting with this issue, our alumni newsletter (formerly Connections) is bearing a new name: Influences. We feel this name more fully describes the impact you — our alumni and friends — have on the College. Through your support, you have a tremendous influence on the people, projects and research discussed in each issue.

With your help, the people profiled here are having their own powerful influence — teachers on their students, alumni in their fields, and students in their future career paths. Thank you for being a positive influence in the College of Arts and Sciences. We hope the College has played a similar role in your life.

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the summer 2010 edition of Influences, the newly renamed College of Arts and Sciences alumni magazine. In the last issue (winter 2009), I introduced myself, sharing my long history at K-State, and outlined my goals for the year, during this ongoing financial crisis. As you read this, we have now completed the academic year, with continued student success and faculty achievement, and I have agreed to remain as dean for another year.

You are probably all familiar with the land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach in the College (and the University). While the concepts of teaching and research are usually well understood, outreach is often somewhat confusing to the general public. What is it? At what levels does it take place? Is it regional, national or global?

This issue of Influences will provide insight into these questions with articles on outreach within Kansas and at national and international levels. You’ll learn how an English

2 INFLUENCES — SUMMER 2010

Cover: K-State biology students, shown in a tree-trunk canoe, traveled with a group to Botswana, aiding with grassland ecology and sustainability research.

Going the Distance

Students and faculty use their skills to help people from Kansas to Botswana, Iraq to India — and learn plenty along the way

CONTENTSSISTER SAVANNA: Biology students, faculty feel at home in the tallgrass of Botswana

RESEARCH GETS REAL: Assistant professor works with locals in India for clean water

DOING WHAT SHE CAN: Faculty member translates research on HIV/AIDS into student learning

CAMP SHAKESPEARE IN 4 SIMPLE STEPS: English professor helps Kansas high school teachers bring the bard to life

GIVING THE GLOBE: Alumna and her husband fund a student’s first trip abroad

WHAT RIGHT LOOKS LIKE: Nationally honored ROTC cadet serves his country and university

A HOMECOMING: 2010 Alumni Fellows travel back to where it all began

FRIENDS AND ALUMNI Brian Spooner, DeanJoseph Aistrup, Associate DeanBeth Montelone, Associate DeanAlison Wheatley, Assistant DeanJuanita McGowan, Assistant DeanSheila Walker, Director of Development, K-State FoundationTracy Robinson, Development Officer, K-State FoundationDamon Fairchild, Development Officer, K-State Foundation

Dean’s Office: (785) 532-6900K-State Foundation Development Office: (800) 432-1578 or (785) 532-6266

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Produced by New Boston Creative Group, LLCManhattan, Kansas

www.newbostoncreative.com

Photos by David Mayes, K-State Communications and Marketing Photography; the K-State Alumni

Association; and story subjects

www.k-state.edu/artsci

How You CAN HElp: Support scholarships and funding for K-State’s Institute for Grassland Studies

wHAt Your MoNEY will Do: 1) Send students to Botswana for grassland sustainability research 2) Support local research at the Konza Prairie

to Support GrASSlAND StuDiES At K-StAtE: Damon Fairchild, development officer, [email protected], 800-432-1578

The Things That Grow Once in Botswana, the enormous oaks the students were used to seeing on the prairie were replaced with bulbous baobab trees, but waist-high grasses rippled in the wind on the Okavango Delta just as they do on the Konza. “There are a lot of similarities as far as conservation issues,” Hartnett said. “The encroachment of woody plants due to the suppression of fire and climate changes, land development and land management — they’re all things the Konza and the southern African savanna have in common.” Invasive species are an issue for both ecosystems, too. In the prairie, Chinese bush clover spreads easily in large colonies, crowding out more important native plant species. A variety of invasive species also threaten native vegetation in Botswana, where ideal growing conditions are scarce.


Southern Africa is about a half a world away from Kansas. Despite that fact, the two locales have more similarities than you might think, especially when it comes to the native grassland ecosystems. It’s just that Botswana is a little more…wild. David Hartnett, University Distinguished Professor of biology at K-State, knows a thing or two about the grassland ecosystem — on both continents. He served as the director of the Konza Prairie Biological Station from 1995 until 2005, and made his first trip to Botswana in 1999. A subsequent sabbatical spent at the University of Botswana from 2002 to 2003 gave him time to lay the groundwork for a study abroad program that would bring K-State students to Africa, allowing the universities to partner on grassland ecology and sustainability research. The program received supplemental funding from the National Science Foundation, through the Konza Long Term Ecological Research Program. The Institute for Grassland Studies at K-State paid the airfare for the six undergraduate and graduate students accepted into the summer 2009 course, cutting their out-of-pocket expenses in half.

KEEp tHE GrASSlANDS GrowiNG

Biology students, faculty feel at home in the tallgrass of Botswana

The Desire to Understand Over the years, several groups of researchers from Botswana and South Africa have had the opportunity to visit the Konza Prairie and discover new ways to apply research in their home environment. This time around, K-Staters were able to visit with the Africans on their turf. “We spoke with professors about their research and toured their lab facilities; it was a great opportunity to interact with other scientists,” Parsons said. “The discussions we had with the researchers there helped us form all kinds of ideas for research,” Carter said. “I think there is some great potential for collaborative research in the future.” Hartnett obviously agrees, as he hopes to someday establish an endowment through the Institute for Grassland Studies that will support student scholarships in an exchange program, as well as a visiting faculty program. “Our plan is to have the study abroad course every other year, but the support from the Institute for Grassland Studies is what makes this trip feasible for students,” Hartnett said. “We depend so much on grasslands, we ought to understand the human activities or environmental factors that sustain or degrade them. The global perspective this program provides is a great thing for students to have.”

The Residents Both the tallgrass prairie and the African savanna are home to large grazing animals. Of course, the diversity of species in Africa is a little more extensive. “On the Konza, major herbivores are restricted to bison, deer and cattle,” said Sheena Parsons, a 2009 program participant working on her master’s in biology. “In Botswana, you’re talking about a diversity of animals like elephants, rhinos, zebras and more, in addition to livestock.” Of course, you also have to watch out for the animals that aren’t so keen on plant life as their source of sustenance. The students and Hartnett were accompanied by an armed escort whenever they went out into the bush. “It’s the most amazing thing, like you’re somewhere ancient,” said Dan Carter, another 2009 program participant. Carter is pursuing his Ph.D. in biology, and is studying tallgrass prairie restoration and plant communities. “It’s a very humbling feeling. I mean, there are things out there that could eat you!”

The Neighbors “Grasslands are the most important ecosystem to humans in terms of food production,” Hartnett said. “Of course, in Africa, there’s a much more direct link between grasslands and human livelihood. Things like drought have a huge impact there.” The Konza Prairie is surrounded by farms and ranches, and is about as isolated as a preserve can be in the Midwest. The African savanna is surrounded by many different tribes and ethnicities, whose main source of income is raising livestock, as the savanna is not ideal for crops. “There’s a relationship between humans and the ecosystem that you have to figure out in order to maintain balance,” Carter said.

K-STATE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES 5

Sheena Parsons joins in a local dance.

Dan Carter and Sheena Parsons (middle row) tour the savanna with fellow students.

Students wade through the tallgrass toward a baobab tree.

The Issue In much of eastern India, the groundwater is made unsafe by naturally occurring arsenic. (Yes, you read that right — arsenic. In the water.) Complicating the situation even more, the arsenic levels range wildly from one spot to another. Originally from the region himself, Datta is no stranger to the issue. He spent several years researching the problem in Bangladesh before shifting his focus to India (a less studied area) in 2008, when he arrived at K-State. “The EPA and the World Health Organization have set the maximum contaminant limit for arsenic to 10 parts per billion for drinking water. So anything above that is understood to be toxic,” Datta said. “But we are seeing from less than 10 to about 4,000 parts per billion. That’s a staggering number — a number that can cause a big impact.” Just how big an impact? For locals who drink from wells with arsenic-contaminated water, the consequences can be as serious as birth defects, cancer, paralysis, organ failure, and death. “They live there, they drink the water, their family members drank that water for years,” Datta said. “They’re suffering from it. They want to know what they can do about it.” And the threat is certainly not confined to India and Bangladesh. According to UNICEF, approximately 100 million people worldwide are at risk due to arsenic-contaminated drinking water.

Left: A local woman pumps water from a well in West Bengal, India.

Above: The first symptom of health problems from arsenic-contaminated drinking water is typically lesions on the hands and feet.

Research Gets Real


Assistant professor works with locals in India for clean water

Imagine your biggest problem — the hardest thing you’ve ever had to face. Now consider what life would be like if your greatest struggle was the lack of clean, safe water. If you couldn’t so much as take a drink without risking your life. This scenario is all too real for the people of West Bengal, India, according to Saugata Datta, Ph.D., assistant professor of geology. “In many river deltas of the world, especially in Southeast Asia, one of the biggest issues is access to clean water,” Datta said. “Wherever we have any pollution issues with that natural resource, it directly creates a major impact on the population.” Which is why Datta is pouring his energy into research that can help Bengalis find clean water for their families. For Datta and Andrew Neal, master’s student in geology, it’s not simply about working with samples in the lab (though there’s plenty of that involved). It’s about using their science to give these people answers — to make their lives better.

tHE GoAl: Education about the threat of arsenic in drinking water; clean, safe water worldwide

How it HElpS K-StAtE: Sending students abroad for valuable field experience; bringing K-State to the forefront of research, education and policy on safe drinking water

How You CAN HElp: Contribute funding to send geology faculty and students to developing countries for additional research

to Support tHiS rESEArCH: Sheila Walker, director of development, [email protected], 800-432-1578

FilliNG A NEED

The Plan In June 2009 and January 2010, Datta and Neal traveled to West Bengal to examine the problem up close, taking sediment and water samples and meeting the local people. Datta and Neal have three main goals: 1) learn why the arsenic is occurring and why it is distributed so unevenly, 2) empower Bengalis to identify and avoid contaminated areas, and 3) mitigate the contamination. While mitigation is the end game — and the next phase of the project — so far, their focus has been on research and education. “That’s what it all boils down to: educating locals to understand the problem and how they can…not necessarily fix it — that’s the ultimate goal — but get around it in the meantime,” said Neal, who came to K-State from Georgia to work on this project.

The PeoPle Datta is adamant that he, Neal, and fellow researchers must work closely with the locals to address the issue. “If you don’t connect to the people, I’m skeptical about how much work you can do there,” Datta said. “You have to work with them to find a solution for them.” This means having Bengalis show them wells they know (or suspect) are contaminated, because they know the area better than anyone. And they are more than happy to pitch in. “I was just amazed at the quality of the people, on a personal level — how friendly they were,” Neal said. “The kids carried around all my supplies; they wouldn’t let me carry anything. Then when I got back the second time, they were running over, yelling my name, and they were already eager to help.” Thanks to government efforts, most citizens are aware of the threat of arsenic in wells. The problem is that they don’t know what to do about it. With the local government painfully low on funding, researchers such as Datta and Neal are stepping in to offer answers. They provide inexpensive testing kits, and teach the people to look for traits, such as sediment color and texture, that can help identify the contamination. “We are trying to get more interest among the women and the children of school-going age,” Datta said. “These women are not formally educated, but when it comes to this type of suffering, they have a huge voice and they can really articulate the message very clearly to their neighbors and their own families.”

The nexT sTeP Originally funded by supporting grants from the Geological Society of America, Tulane University and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Datta hopes fervently that he can carry on this work, recruiting additional graduate and undergraduate students. And Neal, who will graduate in December 2010, may continue with the project if he pursues his Ph.D. “The major thing is the funding. We are submitting more grants to keep working on this issue. Getting there (to India) is half the battle,” Datta said. The project also welcomes private support. For now, Datta and Neal are gratified to have been able to help the people of West Bengal in some way. “Just to know that I can do something that in the long run will be beneficial to them and other people…it’s a great feeling,” Neal said.


Andrew Neal with local kids.

Saugata Datta tests a West Bengal well for arsenic.


Above: Nancy Muturi educates orphans and other at-risk kids in Kenya about HIV/AIDS.

Right: Muturi and K-State students in Aggieville, encouraging testing for HIV/AIDS.

Faculty member translates research on HIV/AIDS into student learningDoing What She Can

Kenya to Kansas Muturi grew up in rural Kenya and graduated from the University of Nairobi. Her first job was with the Kenyan government, handling public communication about reproductive health, which eventually led her to the University of Iowa, where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, both in mass communications. While working on her Ph.D., Muturi earned a fellowship with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which made her even more interested in health communications. In 2005, she arrived at K-State, and has made several trips back to Kenya to study how public education does — or does not — impact behavior. “Right now, my focus is on people 60 years old and above in Kenya,” Muturi said. “There are many older people who are getting infected, and they’re not normally targeted by communications campaigns. One reason is the perception that ‘these people are older, so they know all about this.’ Also, they don’t see themselves as a group at risk. We must acknowledge cultural values and norms, but also educate everybody about risky behaviors.”

Nancy Muturi, assistant professor of journalism and mass communications, is one of the quiet combatants in the worldwide battle against HIV/AIDS. Muturi’s research focus is communication strategies to change behaviors that spread HIV/AIDS in her native Kenya, which has one of the highest infection rates in the world. What she learns there, she shares directly with her K-State students in various courses. Together, they apply this knowledge to build public awareness of sexually transmitted diseases in Kansas communities, and to other problems that can be solved with better education and targeted messaging. Potential clients — primarily nonprofit or governmental agencies — frequently seek out the class for help.

Use What You Know to Help “The client knows the topic, so we invite them into our classroom to educate us, then we design communications materials to help them,” Muturi said. “I use a community service-learning approach. Students work directly with the client, then we design a strategic plan and try to implement it. At the end of the project, students have a portfolio they can show prospective employers.” Muturi’s calm demeanor and solid experience translate into let’s-roll-up-our-sleeves action for her students. For instance, a recent class helped people in Manhattan and at K-State get tested for HIV/AIDS; over 100 people were tested in three days. The students also conducted a journalism workshop to help sensitize local journalists to the problem of HIV/AIDS in the region.

Know that Kids fear shaKespeare. Teenagers grow up knowing more Shakespeare than they realize these days. Some of the most popular teen movies in the past decade have been based on works like “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” So you wouldn’t think that, when faced with these works in school, kids would approach them with abject fear. “Oh, they’re scared of it!” said Denise Uhlrich, an English teacher at Chase County High School in Cottonwood Falls, Kan. “I have to tell them that Shakespeare only made it through the eighth grade. And that he got married at 18 because his girlfriend got pregnant, and started writing plays to support his family. After that, it’s a little easier for them to relate.” But Uhlrich, who has been a teacher since graduating from K-State in 1986 with her bachelor’s degree in secondary education, still has to battle her students’ notion that there is a language barrier to overcome. “There’s this idea that Shakespeare’s language is too hard, even though only a small percentage of his vocabulary is obsolete,” said Donald Hedrick, professor in K-State’s Department of English. “Shakespeare is often taught as something high-class that has prestige value — and if you understand it, you’re lucky.”

Create a Camp that teaChes teaChers. Hedrick, who teaches Introduction to Shakespeare at K-State, had been to various workshops and conferences that focused on taking Shakespeare “from the page to the stage,” finding ways to reach students that would increase their level of comprehension and appreciation. He wanted to bring those kinds of tools to K-State, and worked with Charlotte MacFarland, associate professor in theatre, to write a grant proposal that they then submitted to K-State’s Center for Engagement and Community Development. The result was the summer 2009 Camp Shakespeare on the K-State campus, led by Hedrick and MacFarland, as well as two teachers from Manhattan High School. The grant funding paid room and board for 10 Kansas high school teachers to attend the weeklong course. “We brought in Ralph Cohen, from the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia,” Hedrick said. “We crossed boundaries between English and theatre, and came up with a lot of practical ideas that would inspire educators and help them think in theatrical terms.”


English professor helps Kansas high school teachers bring the bard to life

Local students act out a dramatic scene at the camp.

Get the Kids out of their seats. When Uhlrich found out about the opportunity, it seemed like the kind of experience she couldn’t pass up. “I’d always loved Shakespeare,” Uhlrich said. “I grew up playing around with it, reading the plays into a tape recorder, having fun with the language.” But despite the love of playing with Shakespeare at home with her friends, Uhlrich dreaded studying his work when she was in high school. It’s a lot of the reason why she chose to teach the subject so differently from the way she’d learned it. “It was awful; we just sat there in class and read it straight out of the book,” Uhlrich said. “You’re sitting there, reading ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ the girls on one side of the room, the boys on the other, and never the twain would meet. The way they advertised the camp, finding ways to help us motivate students to get up and act things out, it was how I’d been doing things for years.” Daily activities included warm-up and language exercises, acting out short scenes, interacting with residents at a local retirement community, and working with local high school students. “One of the exercises that I loved was having the kids bop each other with a rolled-up piece of paper in time with the rhythm and feel of the words,” Uhlrich said. “They’re more able to understand pronunciation and emphasis, and they realize when something is supposed to be said or acted with more force.”

watCh the students beCome fans. Uhlrich took her new bag of tricks back to the classroom for the fall 2009 semester. She got a group of kids to sign up for a chance to act out the “play within a play” scene in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” “It was fantastic,” Uhlrich enthused. “These kids ranged from special-needs kids to straight-A students and everything in between. I had both boys and girls. And now they’re like my Shakespeare experts — they’ll explain things to other students in the class.” “Once high school students get over this hurdle, they can find some amazing things,” Hedrick said. “Reflection on life is very valuable, and literature is a great way to find that.” Hedrick has traveled to Chase County High School at Uhlrich’s request and performed workshops with her students. Uhlrich is hoping to devote herself to a full-length play in the near future. “This has completely renewed my teaching and it’s reinforced my method of getting the students up and out of their seats to learn,” Uhlrich said. “The kids can’t wait to do this. I think it’s created Shakespeare fans for life!”

“It’s reinforced my method of getting the students up and out of their seats to learn. I think it’s created Shakespeare fans for life!” — Denise Uhlrich


William Shakespeare, the camp’s inspiration.

Uhlrich’s students rehearse “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.”

A lAStiNG lEGACY

Giving the Globe

BENEFACtorS: Glenda and Don Mattes

GiFtS: • $1 million Glenda Garrelts Mattes and Donald A. Mattes International Travel Award bequest • Additional funding every few years to send an Arts and Sciences student abroad

EStABliSHED: 2007

to Support Your pASSioN: Sheila Walker, director of development, [email protected], 800-432-1578


The Savvy Adventurers Glenda, ’65 B.S. medical technology, and her husband, Don, an MIT alumnus, are bona fide globetrotters. They’ve explored Japan, Ecuador, Chile and Norway. They’ve kayaked in Antarctica, sailed in the Aegean Sea, and biked through India. They even called England home for a few years. Now retired in Boston after successful careers — Glenda in medical technology and real estate, and Don in electronic design and management — they had long considered how they could support Glenda’s alma mater in a way that was meaningful to them both. Their passion for travel seemed a fitting choice. Glenda, in particular, felt transformed by her first international excursion, a 1964 Europe trip through President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s People to People program. She was a K-State undergraduate at the time. “It was a life-changing experience. I grew up, I did what I could do with the money I had, I traveled by myself,” she said of the journey, which included a visit to the Berlin Wall. “It changed my perspective on the world.”

Just one year ago, Jason Collett — ’10 B.S. geography, secondary major in natural resources and environmental sciences — had never even laid eyes on the ocean. However, the summer of 2009 saw him not only visiting a coastline for the first time, but taking in the vastness of the Great Barrier Reef.

The First-Time Traveler In his month-long trip to Australia, Collett collected data on tree frogs in the Daintree Rainforest, volunteered with a group dedicated to preserving a local bird called the cassowary, and spotted humpbacked whales migrating to warmer waters. He did things he never could have done if he wasn’t so far away from his own backyard. According to Collett, there was simply “no chance” the trip would have been possible without the Glenda Garrelts Mattes and Donald A. Mattes International Travel Award. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them, and this is probably the best experience of my life, so I owe them a lot,” Collett said.

Alumna and her husband fund a student’s first trip abroad

Glenda and Don Mattes, kayaking in Antarctica, January 2010.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them, and this is probably the best experience of my life, so I owe them a lot.” — Jason Collett

A New Future Glenda and Don realize that the effects of Collett’s journey will continue to unfold over the coming years. “What we hope is that in the decisions he makes, he will have broader perspective in making them. That he’ll have not just a Kansan view or an American view, but a world view,” Don said. If Collett’s plans are any indication, his travels certainly accomplished that much. “This has changed my life forever, and it has even changed what I’m going to pursue as an occupation,” said Collett, who is beginning a master’s program in security studies at K-State this fall. The program focuses on national security, international affairs, and world politics. With many future trips like Collett’s on the horizon for students in the College, Glenda and Don only wish they could extend the gift even further. “If we could make this opportunity available to every single student at K-State, we would,” Glenda said. “I think it would change the world if every American got out of this country and saw what the rest of the world was like.”

Giving the Globe

Jason Collett in Australia’s Daintree Rainforest, where he researched the habitat of local tree frogs.


Scholarships in Motion Hoping to spark similar reflection in today’s students, the couple committed to a $1 million bequest for Arts and Sciences students who couldn’t otherwise afford international travel and who haven’t traveled abroad. But on top of that future commitment, they decided to donate additional funds to send students abroad now — with Collett as the first recipient. “I wanted to be a part of the experience,” Glenda said. “We’re trying to change these kids’ lives, and we want to see if it’s working.” For Glenda and Don, that means putting the chosen students right in the thick of a new culture. “I want them to have home stays, I want them to meet the locals; I don’t want them to travel with a gaggle of kids,” Glenda said. “The idea was that Jason was in a foreign country and immersed in the culture,” Don reiterated. And immersed he was, traveling solo for the bulk of the trip. He swapped stories with strangers. He had a two-week home stay with a retired couple. And for the first time in his life, this Kansas native felt what it was like to be the outsider. “I had significant culture shock. When I first went up to a cashier, and they asked me a question, I didn’t quite get the lexicon. I definitely had a different accent than everybody, and I didn’t know what was going on. That was a really eye-opening experience for me. I’ll never forget that.” That realization was exactly what Glenda and Don had hoped for. “He figured out that he was a foreigner as soon as he got off the plane,” Glenda said. “I read that in his post-trip essay, and I thought, ‘That’s what we were trying to accomplish.’”

“We’ve been at war for half their lives.” Eighteen-year-old freshmen have been citizens of a nation fighting two wars for the last nine years, points out Lt. Col. R. Scott Bridegam, head of the Department of Military Science and K-State’s Army ROTC program. While they realize they will likely be leading troops in combat when they graduate and are commissioned as officers, these freshmen naturally have a lot to learn. A major piece of Bridegam’s strategy to prepare them: cadets like 32-year-old Chad Maulsby, cadet battalion command sergeant major and May 2010 graduate in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in international studies and political thought. Maulsby shows the younger cadets “what right looks like” and can tell it like it is about life in the Army. “Guys like Chad make programs like ours much stronger — he’s got six and a half years of experience in the Army,

two combat tours in Iraq, and he was a noncommissioned officer (NCO),” Bridegam said. “Kids coming right out of high school really learn a lot from someone like him.” “I bring a sense of reality about what the Army is,” Maulsby added. “As an NCO, my job was to mentor and develop young soldiers that came straight from basic training and help them grow in the Army. It’s basically the same role now.” For his part, Bridegam works constantly to help his 154 cadets balance a typical college life with the knowledge that one day soon, they will be responsible for the lives of fellow soldiers. “You know, I want all our students to have the ‘college experience,’ including Chad, because that’s part of becoming a well-rounded officer. But we always know that when students leave here, with their gold bar and that degree, they are going to lead America’s best in combat. We’re a country at war.”


What

Right Looks Like

Nationally honored ROTC cadet serves his country and university

“Guys like Chad make programs like ours much stronger. Kids coming right out of high school really learn a lot from someone like him.”

— Lt. Col. R. Scott Bridegam

Left: Lt. Col. R. Scott Bridegam and ROTC Cadet Chad Maulsby (also pictured above) in front of Gen. Richard B. Myers Hall, home to the Department of Military Science.

three Pillars

An Outstanding Soldier…and Student

15K-STATE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

In fact, Bridegam points out that K-State’s military-friendly vibe (created by proximity to Fort Riley and local commitment to supporting the troops) is one of the three “pillars” that have put K-State into the top 10 percent of the 273 ROTC programs in the country. “We have 100-percent access to all of Fort Riley’s world-class training facilities — there are only 10 divisions in the Army today, and one of them is right here,” Bridegam said. “For years now, the commanding generals of the First Infantry Division and Fort Riley have treated K-State like a part of Fort Riley. And the military-friendly community of Manhattan and K-State is key because there are so many schools that do not have that type of environment.” The other two pillars are the strong support of donors (please see page 16), and strong upper-class leaders like Maulsby. “We have donor support like the Saunders Excellence Fund and the Perkins Excellence Fund that allow us to have opportunities like training exercises out of state, mentorship programs, commissioning ceremonies, and our military formal. These things are all extras at K-State that many other colleges just don’t have,” Bridegam said. “Plus, we have so many good cadets in our senior class who mentor our freshmen. If a guy like Chad Maulsby, who has two combat tours, says to an underclassman, ‘Hey, what you’re learning here is serious,’ it’s very difficult to tell yourself that this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. So having those folks in our program puts a little extra emphasis on the gravity of what they’re doing.”

A Nevada, Mo., native, Maulsby enlisted in October 2001, rising to the rank of staff sergeant. For years, he took college classes when and where he could. He enrolled at K-State in 2007 through the Army’s Green to Gold program, which helps qualified enlisted soldiers earn their degrees. Maulsby also qualified for the highly selective active duty option — only 200 soldiers nationally make the grade each year — which allowed him to draw a paycheck while finishing his degree. Maulsby was ranked 49th in a class of 4,783 cadets nationwide in 2010. The rankings are based on GPA (his was 4.0), physical training and leadership skills. This spring, he received the prestigious General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award and represented K-State at the Virginia Military Institute as the top cadet in the Wildcat Battalion. To top it all off, he also won the Daedalion Foundation Award and Scholarship as one of the Army’s top three aviation cadets in his nationwide graduating class. His next assignment is Fort Rucker, Ala., for Army Flight School. Choosing K-State was an easy decision for Maulsby, his wife Shyra, and their three children. “K-State is near Fort Riley and my family liked the area — it’s a wonderful area, with excellent schools. And K-State was very flexible in accepting the credits I’d earned before I got here.”

wHAt You CAN Do: Contribute to the success of ROTC cadets

wHAt tHEY NEED: Financial support for living expenses, leadership activities and more

wHo to CoNtACt: Art DeGroat, director of military affairs, [email protected], 785-210-6570

Damon Fairchild, development officer for the College of Arts and Sciences, [email protected], 800-432-1578

lEArN MorE ABout rotC: Lt. Col. R. Scott Bridegam, [email protected], 785-532-5175

StEp up For rotC

Retired Col. Duane Saunders, ’61 B.S. physical education, ’81 M.S. adult education, rose through the officer ranks of the U.S. Army, then revolutionized the field of physical therapy. He parlayed his ingenuity and tenacity into 25 patents and inventions used for decades in the treatment of spinal cord and back disorders. And Saunders and his wife Bonnie have given back handsomely to K-State: Among many other gifts, they donated $1.5 million to establish Saunders Barracks, a beautiful, brand-new housing community for 24 ROTC cadets in Jardine Apartments. Saunders doesn’t dwell much on why he gives, but when pressed, he’s clear on his motives. “I could sound corny and say it goes all the way back to how you feel about the country and how important it is to have a strong military…and I love K-State.” A farm kid from Downs, Kan., Saunders relished his ROTC experience at K-State. After graduating, he went on to physical therapy school at Mayo Clinic, and then worked throughout his military career to improve treatment for soldiers. He went on to establish a very successful private practice in physical therapy, wrote four physical therapy textbooks, patented and developed many medical devices, and eventually sold his company in 2007. In 2004, he met Lt. Col Art DeGroat (now retired), who was then head of the ROTC program and is now K-State’s director of military affairs. (K-State is the only university in the country with such a position.) Saunders reports on the meeting with a grin: “I was so overwhelmed with Art, I immediately donated money to ROTC.” He established the Saunders Excellence Fund, which serves the head of K-State Army ROTC as a discretionary fund to promote the development of outstanding future officers. “There are a lot of extracurricular activities that ROTC cadets can participate in, if we have the money to send them — ranger training in Iowa, the Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico, and so forth,” Saunders said. Support from people like Saunders has meant that ROTC retention rates are up because many financial needs are being met, and the cadets can spend a little less time raising money. “Also, our ability to score really well on the nationwide Order of Merit list is based on all kinds of things — number one is GPA, number two is leadership acumen,” Bridegam said. “Now our cadets get to focus more on going to school, getting a high GPA and increasing their leadership skills.” Saunders, Bridegam and DeGroat are now working to enlist the aid of other K-State friends and alumni to help offset the cost of living in Saunders Barracks, which runs about $1,500 more per year than a traditional residence hall. The three believe that the experience of living near others who have made a similar commitment to national service will hugely benefit ROTC cadets. “This is an opportunity for those who have raised their right hand to serve their country to live in K-State’s premier living accommodations,” Bridegam said.

Retired Col. Duane Saunders and wife Bonnie are staunch supporters of K-State’s ROTC program.


Saunders BuiLdS NeW hOme for ROtC Cadets

A HomecomingThe Honorable Maritza Segarra

The Honorable Maritza Segarra, Junction City, Kan., is making history in her career. Segarra, ’84 B.A. humanities and modern languages, is the first woman ever to sit as a district court judge for the Kansas 8th Judicial District. She is also the first-ever Latina district court judge in Kansas. All of this following 16 years as a practicing attorney, after her graduation from Washburn University School of Law. When asked about the best part of her return visit to campus, Segarra didn’t hesitate. “It was interacting with the students. I was pleased with how eager they were to share my experiences. They really asked a lot of thoughtful questions,” she said of meeting both pre-law and women’s studies students. For Segarra, like Myers, the ties to the university run deep. She is a board member for the Friends of McCain Auditorium, and she visits campus often. “I bleed purple. It’s funny because my husband (Tim Fegan) is from KU and my stepson (Chris Fegan) just graduated from K-State in December,” she laughed. “I have such a strong connection to K-State because when I came from Puerto Rico, everybody was so nice and helpful to me. It’s always just been wonderful to go back. It’s kind of like going home.”

Dennis T. Myers, D.D.S.

In an era of constant job-hopping, Dennis T. Myers, D.D.S., Parkville, Mo., is the rare exception who found his path and stuck to it. Myers, ’69 B.S. biology, graduated from

the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry in 1970 and has been practicing dentistry ever since. That adds up to a 40-year career in Kansas City and northeast Kansas. As for how K-State helped shape that career, Myers is clear about the biggest influence: the people. “The college experience is obviously about the

academics, but the people at K-State — my fellow students and a few of the professors — had a greater influence on me than I think I realized at the time,” Myers said. A Wildcat through and through, he is active in the K-State Alumni Association, a member of Presidents Club and Ahearn Club, and a supporter of his former fraternity, Delta Upsilon. To Myers, the link seems natural. “I’m from an old K-State family. My dad played baseball there as a catcher. And my uncle was a pitcher on the same team. All three of my children (Chris, ’93; Whitney, ’95; and Denise) have been there. My fiancée, Kim Eastman, is also a big K-State fan.” Despite his success and deep connection to the university, Myers was still surprised by the honor. “I was taken aback and flattered to be considered for it. It was wonderful.”

2010 Alumni Fellows travel back to where it all began

For most professionals, college is the start of it all. The place where they find their footing, and choose a field that stirs their passion. The K-State Alumni Fellows program is about annually celebrating graduates who turn that passion into notable success. For the 2010 College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Fellows, who visited campus in late February, it was a welcome return to a place that feels like home.

“I have such a strong connection to K-State because when I came from Puerto Rico, everybody was so nice and helpful to me.”

— Maritza Segarra



1960sRev. Wally Shultz, Canyon Lake, Texas, ’60 B.S. history, is a retired member of the United Methodist clergy, having spent 27 years serving churches in various towns. He and his wife, Loretta — who is retired after 27 years in teaching — spend a great deal of time volunteering in the community. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.

Brenda Fisher Robert, Modesto, California, ’62 B.A. English and ’66 M.A. English, earned her Ph.D. from George Mason University. She is retired from her position as vice president of instruction at Modesto Junior College.

Louis L. Sherman, Louisville, Kentucky, ’62 M.S. continuing music education, was honored with Bethany College’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. The award recognized his decades-long career in music education at the high school and university levels. He and his wife, Mozelle, have two children, four grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Richard Shores, Bella Vista, Arkansas, ’62 M.S. chemistry and ’66 Ph.D. chemistry, is an assistant professor of chemistry at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Donald W. Janes, Frisco, Colorado, ’63 Ph.D. zoology, is retired after 50 years of teaching, administration and research. He remains very active in volunteer activities, including the Vail Valley Music Festival. He has four children, who are all living in Colorado.

Paul Rhine, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ’63 M.S. physics and ’71 Ph.D. physics, has published three books on energy savings in transportation and is currently conducting research at the California Institute of Technology.

George E. Ryan, Old Lyme, Connecticut, ’63 B.A. sociology, served as a United States Air Force officer in logistics from 1963 to 1974, a logistics analyst for the Department of Defense from 1975 to 1984, and a quality analyst from 1985 to 2001. He and his wife, Joan, are now retired.

Paul E. Berube, Carbondale, Illinois, ’64 B.A. pre-medicine, is a retired obstetrician and gynecologist. His wife, Jill, is a clinical social worker.

Caroline (Miller) Thorington, Bethesda, Maryland, ’65 B.A. art/humanities, works as an artist. A recent show at The Arts Barn in Gaithersburg, Maryland, featured prints of her Star Series.

William A. (Andy) Hemphill, Kansas City, Missouri, ’67 B.S. physical education, went on to earn his master’s in counseling, as well as his certification in middle school and high school administration. He retired in June 2009 after 42 years in education. He has three children and eight grandchildren.

Frederick K. Erickson Jr., Corbett, Oregon, ’69 B.A. economics, earned his M.B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1975, and is a certified public accountant.

FRIENDS AND ALUMNI1930s

Joye Ansdell, Manhattan, Kansas, ’32 B.S. journalism and mass communications, earned her M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1939, her B.L.S. from the University of Chicago in 1946, and her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1958. She retired from the K-State Department of English in 1981, and now volunteers at Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community.

1940sCharles Wagoner, Redding, California, ’40 M.S. chemistry, is retired after more than 55 years of teaching college chemistry. His late wife, Evelyn Stener, ’41 B.S. English, passed away in 2005 after 64 years of marriage.

Dorothy May Reed, Salina, Kansas, ’46 B.S. math and science, is retired and volunteers at her local senior center.

Max Houston, Wichita, Kansas, ’47 B.S. geology, is retired.

Edgar J. “Pete” Engelken, Denver, Colorado, ’49 B.S. journalism, is retired. He is a past president of the Rotary Club in Aurora, Colorado, and stays active by playing tennis.

1950sE.A. Darrow, Centennial, Colorado, ’50 B.S. geology, is retired.

Elaine H. Watt, McCordsville, Indiana, ’51 M.S. speech, is a retired speech and communications instructor, having held positions at K-State, the University of Omaha, and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She was also a radio and television script writer in Omaha.

Mary A. Hall, Topeka, Kansas, ’52 B.S. English with a minor in history, went on to earn her M.S. in library science in 1954 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is now retired and fills her free time with learning new things. Her latest passion is working with bonsai plants.

Lewis Theil Bloom, Wichita, Kansas, ’54 B.S. chemical science, is a retired radiologist and has three sons.

Robert A. Boyd, Hill City, Kansas, ’57 B.S. technical journalism, has worked as the publisher and co-editor of the Hill City Times since October 1961, and was president of the Hill City Rotary Club three times. He also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in the late ’50s and early ’60s. All four of his daughters are K-State graduates.

William Whitney Hicks, Columbia, Missouri, ’57 B.S. political science and ’58 M.S. economics, earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1965. He is a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Missouri, and is married to Marjory Bearg (’57 B.S. human ecology).

Donald A. Filby, Wichita, Kansas, ’58 B.A. art and ’62 M.A. art, is retired from his career as a teacher. He is proud to report that all three of his sons are K-State graduates.


1990sStephen R. Johnson, Pella, Iowa, ’94 Ph.D. biology, is a freelance/prairie ecologist, and a member of Friends of Konza Prairie.

Greg Roberts, Manhattan, Kansas, ’94 B.A. modern languages, B.S. physics, is a research scientist for Scripps in San Diego, California. He spent 2008 as a visiting researcher with Météo-France. He and his wife, Mari Polletta, were married in August 2008.

Jason T. Van Gotten, Denver, Colorado, ’94 B.S. kinesiology, is the owner of Vango Home Inspections. He also recently took in an international student from Saudi Arabia.

James Norris, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, ’96 M.S. physics, is a program manager at EchoStar. His wife, Junell Norris, ’06 B.S. psychology, is a human resources assistant for the U.S. Geological Survey.

2000sDeborah Madden Brannon, Denver, Colorado, ’00 B.A. journalism and mass communications with an emphasis in public relations, co-owns Elite Meeting Planners. EMP plans corporate meetings and events all over the world. She and husband Shawn Brannon married in January 2009.

Jenni (Kaul) Riegel, New Haven, Missouri, ’01 B.S. political science, recently served as the southern region director for then-U.S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof (Mo.). She and husband Chad have a daughter, Kaylee.

Rebhi Bsharat, Indianapolis, Indiana, ’02 M.S. mathematics and ’07 Ph.D. applied statistics, is a research scientist at Eli Lilly and Company.

Johnny Coomansingh, Minot, North Dakota, ’02 M.A. geography and ’05 Ph.D. geography, is an assistant professor of geography and coordinator of the geography program at Minot State University. He has two sons, one of whom graduated from K-State in nutrition science.

James Armbrust, Savannah, Georgia, ’03 B.S. journalism and mass communications, is an account executive for WSAV-TV, the local NBC affiliate for the Savannah area.

Travis Weigel, Wichita, Kansas, ’03 B.S. political science, is a financial advisor at Waddell & Reed.

Laura A. Barton, San Diego, California, ’05 occupational health psychology certificate, is the head of human systems integration at the North Island naval air station.

Erika (Curtis) Birk, Medicine Lodge, Kansas, ’05 B.A. journalism and mass communications with an emphasis in public relations (and minors in Spanish and international studies), works at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and is married to fellow K-State alumnus Brett Birk (’06 B.S. mechanical engineering).

Stephen R. Smith, Topeka, Kansas, ’69 B.A. geography and secondary education, sells AMSOIL synthetic lubricant, as well as AGGRAND natural organic fertilizers. He has two daughters, Stephanie and Nicole, and three grandchildren.

1970sRichard L. Hartman, Portland, Oregon, ’71 B.A. social science and ’72 B.A. business administration, is a captain for US Airways and is retired from the United States Navy Reserve.

William McKale, Wakefield, Kansas, ’71 B.S. history and ’73 M.A. history, is the director of Fort Riley Museums.

Jerry E. Rife, Ewing, New Jersey, ’71 B.S. music education and ’72 M.M. music (clarinet performance), is chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Rider University. He and his wife, Leslie, have a daughter named Whitney, and he has been the conductor for the Blawenburg Band since 1985.

Jody (Johnston) Portuese, Manhattan, Kansas, ’76 B.S. wildlife biology, earned her M.B.A. from Wichita State University in 1980 and owns Bluestem Financial Management, an accounting firm in Manhattan. She is married, has four children, and volunteers with Red Cross disaster relief.

1980sSusan (Brink) Parker, Overland Park, Kansas, ’81 B.S. journalism and ’83 M.S. education, is president and CEO of Parker Communications Group. She also served as the 2009 chair of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce. She married Marshall Parker in 1978.

Sheri (Sneed) Young, North Kansas City, Missouri, ’81 B.A. journalism and mass communications (advertising), is the editor of the recently published book “Going Clear, Doorway to the Divine” by Sharon R. Stone, D.D. She also co-owns KC Wellness Zone, which offers massage and energy therapy.

Daphne Ulveling, Omaha, Nebraska, ’87 B.S. psychology and ’90 M.S. counselor education and educational psychology, is a volunteer at St. Leo the Great Parish, and has two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.

Rodney D. Wilson, Wichita, Kansas, ’88 B.S. economics, earned his M.B.A. from Wichita State University in 1995. He is now the vice president of customer relations for Precision Pattern Inc. in Wichita.

Susan Faler, Emporia, Kansas, ’89 B.S. journalism and mass communications with an emphasis in public relations, is a membership services manager at Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. She has two daughters.

Jill Warren, Freiburg, Germany, ’89 B.A. modern languages and ’92 M.A. modern languages, is the head of business development for Continental Europe at Lovells LLP, an international law firm. She and husband Johannes van Oosten, ’91 M.A. modern languages, have three children: Saskia, Sibrand and Fiona.

continued on back page

Please return the card inserted in this issue so we can update fellow alumni and friends

on your life since graduation!FRIENDS AND ALUMNI

Save the Date!

I n v i t a t i o n t o f o l l o w

Kansas state university is committed to nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnic or national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, ancestry, disability, military status, veteran status, or other non-merit reasons, in admissions, educational programs or activities and employment, including employment of disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era, as required by applicable laws and regulations. responsibility for coordination of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning title Vi of the Civil rights act of 1964, title iX of the education amendments of 1972, section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973, the age discrimination act of 1975, and the americans with disabilities act of 1990, has been delegated to the director of affirmative action, Kansas state university, 214 anderson hall, manhattan, Ks 66506-0124, (phone) 785-532-6220; (ttY) 785-532-4807. r 04/22/08

College of Arts & SciencesOffice of the Dean117 Eisenhower HallManhattan, KS 66506-1005

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Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #525

Manhattan KS 66502

FRIENDS AND ALUMNI continuedShannon (Phillips) Horton, Manhattan, Kansas, ’05 B.S. psychology, was recently married.

Bumsub Jin, Oswego, New York, ’05 M.S. mass communications, is an assistant professor of PR at the State University of New York Oswego.

Lance Ridpath, Concord, Virginia, ’05 M.S. statistics, is a statistician at B&W in Lynchburg, Virginia. He married Holly Cash in June 2008.

Chris Smith, Kansas City, Missouri, ’05 B.S. kinesiology, is a spinal cord injury recovery specialist at Quest to Walk.

Jessica (Jepson) Steel, Manhattan, Kansas, ’05 B.S. interdisciplinary social science with an emphasis in social work, works in sales at The MASTER Teacher Inc in Manhattan. She and husband Curt married in April 2008.

Jessica Dozark, Omaha, Nebraska, ’06 B.S. kinesiology, earned her M.A. in physical activity in health promotion at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009.

JonRoss Noble, Lincoln, Nebraska, ’06 B.F.A. new media design, is a web specialist at the University of Nebraska.

Brian Tadtman, Overland Park, Kansas, ’06 B.S. political science, graduated in May 2010 from University of Colorado at Boulder Law School. He married Katherine A. Buchanan, ’07 B.A. psychology with a minor in women’s studies, in February 2010. She earned her master’s in education from Grand Canyon University. Brian works for McDowell, Rice, Smith and Buchanan on the Plaza in Kansas City. Melissa (Ebert) Thompson, Topeka, Kansas, ’06 B.A. journalism and mass communications, is the community investment associate for the Topeka Community Foundation. She married Lance Thompson in April 2008.

Allison (Daniels) Dickinson, Ottawa, Kansas, ’07 B.S. sociology, works as an intensive supervision officer.

Travis Hudson, Addison, Texas, ’07 B.S. print journalism, is an editor and producer for the Dallas Morning News.

Kedra James, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, ’07 M.A. English, is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of Alabama, where she also works as a graduate teaching assistant.

Lacee Gassmann, Kansas City, Kansas, ’08 B.S. kinesiology, is pursuing her doctorate of physical therapy at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is engaged to Mike Nolan, ’09 B.S. political science.

Sarah B. Hayes, Overland Park, Kansas, ’08 B.S. sociology, works for Country Club Bank in Kansas City, Kansas.

Jonathan Wooddell, Prairie Village, Kansas, ’08 B.S. social science with a minor in journalism, is a technical consultant for Sprint. He is married to Amy Gardner, and is a steel guitarist in a band.

Who: AnyonewhogavetheCollege $250ormoreinfiscalyear2010

When: Evening of Thursday, Oct. 28

Where: K-StateAlumniCenter

Why: Toshowourappreciationforyour support!

Eisenhower Circle of E xcel lence Celebrat ion

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