2010 Fall: University of Denver Magazine

Published on February 2017 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 31 | Comments: 0 | Views: 376
of 31
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content

Fall 2010

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

MAGAZINE

N I V E R S I T Y A G A Z I N E

O F

UN I V ER S I T Y O F MAGAZINE

UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

From Road to Rail

Office of the Chancellor

Contents
Features

26
Dear Readers: We are living in interesting times. After years of the war on terror, a series of natural disasters of historic magnitude, a great recession and the abrupt rise of new culture driven by technology and demographics, the sense of global upheaval and imminent broad and deep change in America is almost tactile. It feels as though our nation and the world are once again passing through a time when things are turned upside down, when pressures built up over generations produce a sudden wave that changes much of the life and culture that we’ve known and had expected to continue indefinitely. There have been a number of such periods in our national past: the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Great Depression and New Deal politics, two world wars, the rise of the nuclear age, the civil rights movement and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Throughout, our national character and the values that lie at its roots survived and were refined and clarified by the trial. As an institution that serves the public good, we at DU must do everything possible to ensure that that is the result this time, as well. How do we move to do so? Here are some examples: • We’ve partnered with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to develop the Denver Teacher Residency Program, which will train talented people to teach in our urban schools. This program (which recently received an $8.2 million federal grant) will ultimately train 25 percent of all of the teachers in DPS and could make an enormous difference in the social and economic fabric of the city. (Turn to page 36 to read about one DU-trained educator who is making a difference.) • Colorado’s government is in dire financial condition and is anxiously looking toward the arrival of the financial “cliff ” that will appear when federal stimulus funds run out. The state Legislature has asked DU to conduct a thorough review of the finances of state and local government in Colorado, something that hasn’t happened here since 1959. We will present this study to the Legislature in February, and the report’s findings will inform the critical decisions to be made in the coming years—decisions that must be based on information that is real and reliable, not on conjecture or sound bites. • Within the next decade, the population of those aged 60 and older in the Denver area is expected to approach 600,000, doubling in just 15 years. And the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in Colorado is expected to increase 124 percent by 2025. These are just two aspects of an enormous demographic shift that will change the nature of our society. In response, the University has established a new multidisciplinary Center for the Study of Aging that will couple biomedical and bioengineering research with programs in the social sciences, law, business, public policy and other areas in an effort to extend and improve the lives of the aged and their family members. (Read more about the center on page 8.) • Our Strategic Issues Program report on immigration is gathering steam. The report is the result of 18 months of research and deliberation by a broad-based panel of Colorado citizens, and its 25 recommendations reflect the extraordinary consensus reached by this diverse group. The report, which was sent to every member of the U.S. Congress, is much in demand as the nation heads toward elections this fall. (The report is available online at www.du.edu/issues.) These are just a few examples of our many efforts to work for the public good during these times of great change. In virtually every case, our principal resources are the people of the University community and the intellectual capital concentrated on our campus. We’ve focused these on the points of greatest leverage in the hope of producing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Most important, though, we continue to educate our students for lives of integrity, purpose and significance in a world of continuous change, few boundaries and near total globalization. After all, it is those lives that must ultimately carry our national character and values forward. They will determine the future for all of us.

Plugged In
By Chase Squires

Electric vehicles are more than a hobby for engineering grad student Eva Hakansson.

30 36 40

Return to the Rails
By Todd Neff

The solution to America’s transportation problems could be 100 years in the past.

Testing the Waters
By Richard Chapman

Alumna Kristin Waters is floating reform ideas in Denver’s roughest schools.

Give Me Shelter
By Tamara Chapman

Professor Frank Ascione has discovered a disturbing link between domestic violence and animal abuse.

Departments

44 45 47

Editor’s Note Letters DU Update 8 News $17.5 million gift 13 Arts Theater prof Anthony Hubert 14 Academics Internship grants 17 Q&A Seth Masket 18 History 100 years of DU tennis 21 People Medical librarian 23 Views Humanities Gardens 24 Essay What we wear in this life Alumni Connections Research Sex trafficking Sports Lacrosse player in England

45

Online only at www.du.edu/magazine:

Office of the Chancellor Mary Reed Building | 2199 S. University Blvd. | Denver, CO 80208 | 303.871.2111 | Fax 303.871.4101 | www.du.edu/chancellor

On the cover and this page: DU’s Intermodal Transportation Institute says switching freight and people from the highway to the rail could help solve America’s transportation problems; read the story on page 30. Cover photo by P Phillips/Shutterstock. Photo at left by Fedor A. Sidorov/Shutterstock.

2

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

3

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

Editor’s Note
Our students have a knack for making me feel inadequate. They needn’t even try. Take sophomore real estate major and U.S. Army veteran Neil Duncan, who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan. As I sat behind a desk this summer, rearranging commas and moving a mountain of paperwork, Neil was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with other amputees, advancing the cause of wounded veterans, taking school supplies to African orphans, and proving that he could overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Students like Neil defy adjectives. They are out there changing the world, and I am doing what, exactly? I’m helping to make it possible for them to go out and change the world. I had a powerful reminder of this in May as I sat, riveted, in the audience of TEDxDU, a passionate celebration of thinking and doing, of ideas that could change the world. Many of the speakers have been featured on the pages of this magazine at one time or another; engineering student Eva Hakansson, a TEDxDU presenter, is profiled on page 26. (See all of the TEDxDU presentations online at TEDxDU.com.) My role is to help uncover the stories of remarkable DU people doing remarkable things and to share those stories with the world. (You’ll read more about Neil Duncan in our spring 2011 issue.) Many others join me in this effort, including TEDxDU steering committee member and University of Denver Magazine founder Carol Farnsworth, who is retiring in September after 16 years as vice chancellor of DU’s communications division. Her work, my work and the work of the rest of DU’s communications, advancement and alumni relations team raises funds and raises awareness, making it possible for DU to continue educating students for, as Chancellor Coombe says, “lives of integrity, purpose and significance.” Making it possible for them to move mountains.

MAGAZINE

w w w. d u . e d u / m a g a z i n e
U N I V E R S I T Y Number 1 Volume 11, O F M A G A Z I N E

U N U V I VR S I T T Y OO F I N E E R S I Y F

UN I V ER S I T Y O F MAGAZINE

M A G A A Z I NE MAG ZIN E

Letters

Publisher

UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

OF

U N I U N IR S I T Y T Y F F V E V E R S I O O Z I E M A GM AZ IAN E N U N I V E R S I T Y A G

Carol Farnsworth
Managing Editor

F U N I V E R S I T Y OOF M AM A G A Z I E E GAZINN

Condi controversy

Chelsey Baker-Hauck (BA ’96)
Assistant Managing Editor

Greg Glasgow
Associate Editor

Tamara Chapman
Editor

Wayne Armstrong

Kathryn Mayer (BA ’07, MA ’10)
Editorial Assistants

Elizabeth Fritzler, Deidre Helton (Class of 2012)
Staff Writer

Richard Chapman
Art Director

Craig Korn, VeggieGraphics
Contributors

Wayne Armstrong • Jim Berscheidt • Kim DeVigil • Justin Edmonds (BSBA ’08) • Jeff Francis • Larry Getlen • Kristal Griffith (MBA ’10) • Jeffrey Haessler • John Kloeckner • Rose Lincoln • Doug McPherson • Todd Neff • Nathan Solheim • Chase Squires (MPS ’10) • Lisa Trank-Greene
Editorial Board

Chelsey Baker-Hauck, editorial director • Jim Berscheidt, associate vice chancellor for university communications • Thomas Douglis (BA ’86) • Carol Farnsworth, vice chancellor for university communications • Jeffrey Howard, executive director of alumni relations • Sarah Satterwhite, senior director of development for research and writing • Amber Scott (MA ’02) • Laura Stevens (BA ’69), director of parent relations

Printed on 10% PCW recycled paper

Chelsey Baker-Hauck Managing Editor

The University of Denver Magazine (USPS 022-177) is published quarterly—fall, winter, spring and summer—by the University of Denver, University Communications, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. The University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) is an Equal Opportunity Institution. Periodicals postage paid at Denver, CO. Postmaster: Send address changes to University of Denver Magazine, University of Denver, University Advancement, 2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208-4816.

I am very disturbed to learn that Condoleezza Rice will give the keynote address at the 13th annual Korbel Dinner and receive the 2010 Josef Korbel Outstanding Alumni Award [“Facing Forward, Looking Back,” summer 2010]. There are several other distinguished graduates from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies who have demonstrated honor, integrity and the commitment to improve the well-being of humankind and who deserve this award much more than Condoleezza Rice. As a fellow alumnus of the Korbel School, I am very ashamed to be associated with Condoleezza Rice. While there is no doubt about her intellectual and leadership capabilities, she definitely lacks integrity and the ability to mobilize all the facts before making a major decision, as she most clearly demonstrated prior to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. I am among the critics who believe the Bush administration will be ranked as one of the worst in history. I have met several refugees from Iraq who have deeply suffered as a result of the war there. For Condoleezza Rice to proclaim that there will be democracy in Iraq is totally naive. Given the current situation in Baghdad—where electricity and sewers run very poorly and security forces and sectarian violence loom despite national elections—I personally do not foresee a stable and democratic Iraq any time soon. Instead, in the wake of Condoleezza and the Bush administration’s irresponsible and misguided decision making, thousands of United States soldiers have died, over a million Iraqi civilians have perished, millions more have fled the country as refugees and there are currently over 2 million internally displaced people. As Condoleezza Rice has retreated to academia, violence and instability continue to plague Iraq and the Middle East. While some believe she has earned the outstanding alumni award, I believe

she should be held accountable for her policy decisions in the Bush administration and recognized for both her achievements and failures.

U V VE S I T Y O F U N IN I E R R S I TY O F MAG Z I I E M A G A A Z NN E

Gabriel Kadell (MA ’06) Denver

I totally understand that Ms. Rice is a DU alumna, and it is important to cover her as part of the University of Denver Magazine. What amazes me is how much of a bubble she continues to live in. I was very disappointed to read this paragraph: “Throughout her career, Rice has made history and generated controversy—as the first female national security adviser, as a provost who took aggressive steps to balance the budget, and as the foreign policy adviser who, in the months preceding the Iraq War, first warned about the dangers of smoking guns and mushroom clouds.” You failed to mention that while Rice did “warn” about the dangers of a smoking gun and mushroom clouds, she did so without any sort of valid information to back it up. It was mere conjecture to drum up the fear, uncertainty and doubt necessary to send us to war in a country that we had no business going into. It just makes me ill to read statements like this. I was a fan of hers when she was appointed national security adviser, but by the time she became secretary of state it was clear she was merely a puppet for the Bush administration. How about a cover article about someone who truly deserves it? Madeleine Albright. At least her moral compass isn’t out of alignment.
Brian Garrett (MCIS ’00) Denver

a medical marijuana initiative. Unsurprisingly, in Venice Beach, Calif., as well as other locations, the medical-marijuana cards are handed out like so much candy, with little, if any, regard for a true medical need. The same will happen in Colorado, if it has not already. While I agree that the legalization of marijuana is a separate issue from medical marijuana, the planning for a voter approval of marijuana usage, beyond medical marijuana only, is already under way in Colorado. The effort to legalize marijuana generally, following the approval of medical marijuana by the voters, will follow, just as surely as night follows day. California voters will vote on this very issue this year. To frame the issue as one that simply involves providing marijuana to the medically needy is hardly accurate. This is not a matter of social justice, and the issues go far beyond what is presented in the article.
Richard Parry (BA ’72) Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Radio days

High times

I read, with considerable interest, the article on medical marijuana in Colorado [Q&A, summer 2010]. I was struck by the similarity of the issue in Colorado and California. Voters in both states approved

I read the two letters regarding KVDU in the fall 2009 issue of the University of Denver Magazine. As a former program director and manager of KVDU in the early ’60s, I have a personal interest in this subject. When I first started as a DJ on KVDU, we joked a lot about the poor carrier current signal and the real difficulty in receiving the KVDU signal in Johnson-McFarlane Hall. Eventually, we learned that the transmitting equipment was not working, and the station had not been “on the air” for the entire quarter! I recently corresponded with Sandra Dallas, who was in the School of Journalism while I was at DU. In her book Tallgrass (St. Martin’s Press, 2007), Dallas writes that the J-school classes were taught in a World War II-era wooden structure that came from the Amache Internment Camp in southeast Colorado. It turns out that all those structures, including the home of KVDU, were moved from the camp near Granada, Colo., to DU.
University of Denver Magazine Letters

4

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

5

KVDU proved to be a useful testing ground for those wanting to be on the radio. In that era we were able to experiment with a variety of formats and “try our wings” in broadcasting. Some went on to broadcasting careers. Many others enjoyed the experience and moved on to other endeavors. While we railed against the limitations of the carrier current signal, those technological limitations helped us to experiment and test the limits of the radio medium.
Burnill Clark (BA ’63, MA ’64) Woodinville, Wash.

the bleachers behind the north end zone. The second time was in 1947. When I enrolled in the business school in March 1946, I was given 50 hours of credit for military activities during World War II. The business school at that time was downtown on 15th Street. Because I was on the varsity tennis team I rode the tram to the tennis matches and to practice.
I. Bernard Munishor (BSBA ’48) Denver

hockey stick. No helmets. They cleaned the ice with snow shovels and surfaced with 55-gallon drums on wheels—lots of hard work to prepare the ice for the next period. I remember celebrating wins at the Campus Lounge. Sounds like that has been a longtime tradition for Pioneers hockey fans.
Tom Sand (BA ’62, MA ’70) Dayton, Ohio

Hockey memories

Take the tram

I had two experiences that would be called “Tramway Tech” [Alumni Connections, spring 2010]. The first started when I was 10 years old in 1932 and I would ride the No. 8 tram to see the DU football team play. We saw the games for free by going in a small doorway in the north fence. DU called us the “Knothole Gang” and sat us in the east stands except on Thanksgiving, when DU played CU. Then we were allowed to sit in

I read with great interest the article “Excellence on Ice” in the fall 2009 issue, which brought up a lot of memories of Pioneer hockey. As I grew up in south Denver, I am one of the original fans of the Pioneers. We used to walk, probably beginning in 1949 or 1950, from our home in University Park to the arena for freshman hockey games. They played CU, CC, School of Mines and others. Admission was 10 cents. We most always went home with a broken but useable

Correction The Alumni Connections section of our summer 2010 issue featured a photo of a Pioneers baseball game we mistakenly referred to as a home game. As reader and former varsity baseball player Mike Shepard (BSBA ’92) points out, the picture actually was of an away game at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
Send letters to the editor to: Chelsey BakerHauck, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. Or e-mail [email protected]. Include your full name and mailing address with all submissions. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

9 11 15 16 20 22

TEDxDU conference Ruffatto Hall Stadium dedication Colorado Book Award Advice for parents Law Commencement

The University of Denver Presents

Chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, LLC, Former White House Counter-Terrorism Czar

Richard Clarke, Keynote Speaker

Like other notable dates in history, Sept. 11 is one that will always remind us of a day that changed our lives. During the 2010–11 academic year, the University of Denver will explore why it happened and how society is being challenged to rethink our values. Join the discussion as DU’s Bridges to the Future series hosts 9/11: Ten Years After.

RSVP to [email protected] or 303.871.2357 Watch it live at DU.edu/bridges

6

Wayne Armstrong

Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 7 p.m. Newman Center for the Performing Arts 2344 E. Iliff Ave.

For graduate student Terrie Taziri, just studying public art wasn’t enough. She decided to create and install it—and she did so with a giant avocado on the DU campus in July. Taziri, a master’s student studying visual art and design in DU’s University College, created the 8-by-4 Styrofoam avocado for her capstone project, intending to study how the sculpture changed or enhanced the environment around it. It was first in the Humanities Garden before it moved onto the grass between Penrose Library and the Driscoll Student Center. Read more on Taziri’s blog, http://ttaziri.wordpress.com, and see a video of the installation at www.youtube.com/uofdenver.
University of Denver Magazine Update

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

7

Top News

Gift establishes center for study of aging
By Jim Berscheidt

Accreditation team invites comment about DU
This fall DU will undergo a comprehensive re-accreditation evaluation by a visiting team representing the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The public and members of the University community are encouraged to provide comment about the University in advance of the November visit. For more than two years, DU has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the commission’s requirements and criteria for accreditation. The evaluation team will visit campus Nov. 8–10 to gather evidence that the self-study is thorough and accurate. The team will make a recommendation to the commission about continuing DU’s accreditation status. The HLC is one of six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that provides institutional accreditation on a regional basis. Institutional accreditation—a voluntary process—evaluates an entire institution and accredits it as a whole. Other agencies provide accreditation for specific programs. The commission accredits approximately 1,100 institutions of higher education in a 19-state region. The University has held HLC accreditation since 1914. Submit comments about the University to: Public Comment on the University of Denver, The Higher Learning Commission, 230 S. LaSalle St., Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604. Comments must be received by Oct. 8 and should address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. They must be in writing and signed, should include the name, address and telephone number of the writer, and cannot be treated as confidential. >>www.du.edu/accreditation2010
—Jim Berscheidt

among the largest in the University’s history, will be used in part to establish a center at DU for the study of aging. Betty Knoebel, widow of Denver food-service pioneer Ferdinand “Fritz” Knoebel, announced the gift in May. It includes the B Bar K Ranch—a 996-acre property in Morrison, Colo., valued in excess of $10 million—and a future cash commitment. DU is using the funds to establish the Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging and to support the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management (HRTM) in the University’s Daniels College of Business. The Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging will expand DU’s role in interdisciplinary research on aging and aging-related conditions. Faculty positions will be added in molecular life sciences and bioengineering. When the ranch is sold, DU will apply up to $10 million from the net proceeds to help fund construction of facilities to house the Knoebel Center and support its programs and research. At HRTM, Knoebel’s gift will increase student scholarships, faculty support, industry partnerships and experiential learning programs with the overarching goal of achieving international distinction. The school has been named the Fritz Knoebel School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. “Betty Knoebel’s generosity to DU will benefit both our students and the broader public that we serve,” says Chancellor Robert Coombe. “The population of older Americans is growing rapidly. The work of the Knoebel Center will help to extend the lives of the aged and improve the quality of their lives and those of their family members. We are particularly excited that this gift will usher in an expansion of our partnership with Denver Health. And we are proud that our HRTM program will bear the name of such a prominent business leader.” In 2007, DU and Denver Health agreed to partner on several health care-related research initiatives and programs. “As the graying of America occurs, there is a tremendous need for understanding the processes of aging and the approaches to keep us healthy into old age,” says Denver Health CEO Patricia Gabow. “As an institution that cares for one-third of Denver’s population and as a partner with DU, we see this center for the study of aging as a unique resource for this region DU’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management has been named in that will achieve important advances in this needed area.” honor of donor Fritz Knoebel. Denver native Fritz Knoebel founded Knoebel Mercantile Co., a bakery distributor, in 1929, and built it into the nation’s largest privately owned food-service distribution company. Known as Nobel Inc., it was acquired by Sysco Inc. as a subsidiary in 1982. Fritz Knoebel was chairman of Nobel/Sysco Food Services Co. until his retirement in 1999 at age 90. He died in 2005. Betty Knoebel, now 78, and Fritz Knoebel received honorary degrees from DU in 1992 in recognition of their role in the Denver business and philanthropic communities. “I’m so pleased to be able to honor my husband’s legacy and recognize the nationally ranked programs of the Daniels College, particularly the longstanding reputation and industry partnerships of the HRTM school,” says Betty Knoebel. “Likewise, I want to support the University’s plans to further develop aging-related programs that will improve lives everywhere.”

A $17.5 million gift,

Pioneers Top 10

Tips for maintaining a healthy relationship
1. 2. 3. Recognize that great relationships take effort. Make your relationship a priority. Go out on a date once a week.
Andrey Milkin/iStockphoto

TedxDU showcases what DU has been doing in the world
Regan Linton (pictured) was one of 18 speakers and performers at “TEDxDU: a Celebration of DUing” May 13 at DU’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts. The DU master’s candidate in social work, who has used a wheelchair since a 2002 car accident injured her spinal cord, is a member of Denver’s Physically Handicapped Actors and Musical Artists League. “In my life I sometimes feel disappointed that I don’t have enough time, energy or womanpower to dedicate to all of the amazing causes, passions and initiatives that exist out in the world,” Linton says. “But [this] event gave me a sense of peace, knowing that each of us can continue to focus our energies on what we do best because there are so many extraordinary people out there covering the other bases.” More than 900 people attended TEDxDU, an independently organized event licensed by TED, an organization that arranges for leading thinkers to share “ideas worth spreading.” TED stands for technology, entertainment and design—three areas TED officials believe shape the world’s future. The speakers and performers—about half of whom were affiliated with DU—discussed some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as combating poverty, getting clean water to those in need and creating widespread policy change. >>TEDxDU videos online at TEDxDU.com
—Media Relations Staff

4. 5. 6. 7.
Wayne Armstrong

Learn a new hobby together. Make time each day to talk as friends. Compliment and thank each other. When you need to talk about a difficult issue, set aside a specific time to do it when you will both be able to listen well. Get help as soon as you think you might need it (check out websites like www. loveyourrelationship.com; www.TwoOfUs.org; and www. rhoadesconsulting.com). Do your part to be the best partner you can be.

Wayne Armstrong

8.

9.

10. Learn more about ways to communicate.
Compiled by Galena Rhoades, Howard Markman and Scott Stanley of DU’s Center for Marital and Family Studies

8

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

9

Alumni
alumni.du.edu/alumnisymposium
Return to campus and discover the joy of learning again. Featuring keynote addresses by two prominent DU alumni: Jami Miscik, MA ’82

SY M P O S I U M
October 1-2, 2010

Classes begin in new Ruffatto Hall
The University’s newest building, Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, opened in June. Courses began in the building June 14, and faculty and staff moved into the new home of the Morgridge College of Education throughout the summer. Construction began a year ago on the 73,568-square-foot, $21.6 million building located on the corner of Evans Avenue and High Street. The building is the result of a gift from Mike and the late Joan Ruffatto and the Morgridge Family Foundation. It is named after the Ruffattos’ daughter, Katherine (BA biology ’05). Jane Loefgren, the primary architect in the design of Ruffatto Hall, says the building has been constructed to provide spaces for collaboration. Ruffatto Hall houses approximately 75 faculty and staff. It also houses the John and Tashia Morgridge Sr. Literacy Intervention Clinic, the Marsico Institute for Early Learning and Literacy, the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education, the James C. Kennedy Institute for Educational Success, the DU Learning Effectiveness Program and Disability Services.
—Kim DeVigil
Wayne Armstrong

REFLECT. DISCOVER. LEARN.

President and Vice Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Iraq ambassador to head Korbel School of International Studies
Christopher Hill, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, has been named dean of the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. His appointment began Sept. 1. Hill served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq since 2009; prior, he was assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He also served as ambassador to the Republic of Korea. He worked in the Senior Foreign Service for more than 30 years. “If one considers his tremendous experience and great success as a Foreign Service officer and diplomat, it’s apparent that this is just the sort of career for which we are educating our students at the Korbel School,” says Chancellor Robert Coombe. “He’s going to be a great dean.” In 2005, Hill was selected to lead the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. He served as U.S. ambassador to Poland (2000–04), ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia (1996–99) and special envoy to Kosovo (1998–99). He also served as special assistant to the president and senior director for southeast European affairs in the National Security Council. Earlier in his Foreign Service career, Hill served tours in Belgrade, Warsaw, Seoul and Tirana and worked on the State Department’s policy planning staff and in the department’s Operation Center. While on a fellowship with the American Political Science Association he served as a staff member for Congressman Stephen Solarz, working on Eastern European issues. He also served as the State Department’s senior country officer for Poland. Hill graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, with a BA in economics. He received a master’s degree from the Naval War College in 1994. Hill received the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award for his contributions as a member of the U.S. negotiating team in the Bosnia peace settlement and was a recipient of the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations for his work on the Kosovo crisis.
—Jim Berscheidt

Andrew Rosenthal, BA ’78

Editorial Page Editor, The New York Times

Alumni Relations
10
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

Courtesy of U.S. State Department

University of Denver Magazine Update

11

One to Watch

Arts

Joel Portman, international studies/business
A full plate and busy schedule are nothing new for Joel Portman. Through DU’s undergraduate/graduate dual degree program, he completed his bachelor’s degree in international studies in June 2010 and will receive his MBA in June 2011. Originally from St. Louis, Portman has dabbled in a little bit of everything during his time on the DU campus, including positions at the Center for Multicultural Excellence and on the Undergraduate Senate. In 2006 he founded Never Again!, a student organization that raises awareness about the Holocaust and current genocide in countries such as Sudan and Rwanda. In 2008 he studied abroad in Israel. “He works tirelessly, and in doing so he’s brought a different level of awareness to his peers,” says Kerrie Rueda, assistant director of Campus Activities. In St. Louis, Portman is the assistant scoutmaster of his old Boy Scouts troop, Troop 310. He helped young boys muster the courage to complete swim tests during the Dad ’N’ Lad program held at Camp Famous Eagle in July. This summer Portman also interned at the Build-A-Bear Workshop corporate headquarters in St. Louis, where he learned about international business firsthand. “It was a great opportunity,” says Portman, who is considering careers in diversity consultation and international business operations once he receives his MBA. “It’s been great to see how what we’re learning in the classroom applies to the real world beyond the work I’m doing at DU.” Portman received the University of Denver Pioneer Award, the University’s most prestigious student recognition, in 2010. He says becoming part of the campus culture has changed the way he thinks about his future. “The things I’m involved with now are not at all the things I’d thought I’d be involved with,” he says. “The way my life might go is not at all the way I thought it might when I started at DU. I just had a lot of phenomenal opportunities to get involved, learn new things and meet new people who have really shaped my interests and helped me develop a passion for making the world a better place.”
—Deidre Helton

Getting in on the act
By Greg Glasgow

Whether

CHANCELLOR’S

INNOVATION FUND
FUNDING INNOVATION • FUNDING EXCELLENCE • FUNDING DU

INVEST IN OUR FUTURE INVEST IN OUR STUDENTS
The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund, supported by your annual gift, strengthens scholarships and priority programs for our students.

To contribute to DU, please use the enclosed envelope or visit

WWW.GIVING.DU.EDU

University Advancement 2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208-7500 303-871-2311 800-448-3238

they end up becoming great actors or not, every kid can benefit from taking an acting class, says DU theater Assistant Professor Anthony Hubert. “Most human beings are extremely insecure, and we wear all these masks to try to cover that insecurity, to appear strong,” he says. “I think theater teaches you how to recognize the mask. It teaches you not how to diminish your ego to the point where you’re insignificant, but it teaches you how to integrate your ego into the ensemble. It teaches you how to deal with suffering, how to deal with joy, how to deal with pain, how to deal with pleasure—how to deal with all the things that life throws at you.” Four years ago, shortly after coming to DU, Hubert and his wife, Jamie Roehrig-Hubert, founded the Rocky Mountain Conservatory Theatre, a youth theater company that runs summer camps and weekend workshops at DU. The camps ran for three years in Margery Reed Hall before moving to the Newman Center for the Performing Arts this summer. Kids ages 6–17 come from as far away as Mexico and Germany (though most are from Denver) to study acting basics and stage their own versions of musicals such as West Side Story, Guys and Dolls and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Campers learn all aspects of putting on a show; each day is divided into several classes with rotating activities, such as acting, music, dance, art and rehearsal. Hubert (pictured center during a lesson) has been working with kids for 25 years, but he’s an accomplished theater professional in his own right. He’s directed 20 plays and starred in 16 others, and he was a guest star on TV shows such as “Sins of the City,” “Safe Harbor” and “Sheena.” A playwright as well, he just finished writing a screenplay about his father. “I grew up in the projects in Atlanta, Georgia, from sparse means, to put it nicely,” he says. “I used to go to all these summer camp programs that were for kids of low means. I remember people coming out from IBM and from Xerox and all these companies that would say things to inspire us to strive for a better life. I couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘When I grow up I’m going to come back and I’m going to talk to people the way they talk to us.’ It was very inspiring to have that experience.” Hubert now looks to inspire other young people in the same way. Whether he’s working with DU students or his theater campers, he says it’s rewarding to see their skill and confidence grow. “A young life, you see the hope. They have so much hope and they believe in the impossible sometimes, and it becomes the possible because of that lack of knowledge of the world,” he says. “You want to try to guide them to achieve whatever they can imagine.” >>www.rmctonline.com
University of Denver Magazine Update

Wayne Armstrong

12

Jeffrey Haessler

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

13

Academics

Granting opportunities
By Kathryn Mayer

Athletic training facility, soccer field dedicated
Athletes at the University of Denver have some new exercise equipment to break in this fall. The Pat Bowlen Training Center—named for the Denver Broncos president and CEO and DU Board of Trustees member—opened in May during a ceremony at the Ritchie Center. Bowlen donated $1.5 million toward the $6.3 million project. The training facility was constructed simultaneously with CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium, which was dedicated in April. The $9.2 million complex includes a stadium, lighted playing field, and strength and conditioning center for the Pioneers’ Division I student-athletes. The field is named for CIBER Inc., an international IT outsourcing and software implementation and integration consultancy based in Greenwood Village, Colo. The training complex is located beneath the stadium seating and is attached to the west side of the Ritchie Center. The complex includes warm-up areas, weight lifting, cardio and rehabilitation stations, 12 Olympic lifting stations, a video screening room and a 66-yard turf track for speed and agility training.
—Media Relations Staff
Wayne Armstrong

Sara Shanahan

DU by the Numbers

couldn’t have landed a more perfect job. The senior biology major with minors in psychology and neuroscience spent her summer working in the genetics of taste lab at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Specifically, she studied the bitter taste bud and whether “our ability to taste bitter affects our diet and overall lifestyle.” Perhaps more exciting for her is that the museum is the first in North America to have a community-supported lab, meaning museum visitors are recruited to participate. Although the lab is funded by the National Institutes of Health, it’s run by volunteers, lab techs and interns like Shanahan. But her experience wouldn’t have happened without a gift she received from DU. This year, Shanahan (pictured at left) was one of eight undergraduate students who received a $2,500 grant for an internship that normally would be unpaid. “Many students work at summer jobs to earn money rather than take internships that would further their career development,” says John Haag, internship director in DU’s Career Center. “The grants allow deserving students to intern in situations that matter to their future.” Committee members choose students they expect to grow professionally and personally throughout the course of the internship, explains Ruth Prochnow, who runs the grant program. More than 50 students apply each year. “Even though it’s very rewarding to have the financial help from the grant, I feel the recognition alone was a great payoff,” Shanahan says. She says teaching the public about the world of genetics was “heartening.” “I think the hard sciences like biology and chemistry are often stereotyped as being cold and difficult to understand by those who don’t focus study on them,” she says. “When I applied for this internship, I was really aiming to break down that wall.” The program is a “win-win for both the student and for the organization,” Prochnow notes. Students have worked in locations ranging from Denver and Duluth, Minn., to Kuwait and Kenya. “It gives them much better focus on where they do or do not want to take their careers,” she says. Not to mention giving them an edge in a tough job market that’s making internships more desirable than ever. Students with internship experience “undeniably” are more employable when they graduate, Prochnow says. “Internships are the new entry-level jobs.” Senior international studies major Lauren Hartel was another of this year’s grant awardees. She worked for Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit humanitarian organization that delivers donated medical supplies overseas. Within the first four weeks of her internship, she wrote a $25,000 grant proposal on her own. “It’s been an amazing opportunity for me because I have a direct mentor who oversees my work and makes sure I am getting firsthand experience,” says Hartel, who got the internship primarily to learn how to write grants. The internship program began about 10 years ago, says Mary Michaels Hawkins, director of the DU Career Center. It was based on an idea Chancellor Robert Coombe had while he was provost. “He’s always had a strong focus on internships,” Hawkins says. Since its inception, the program has been funded by a $20,000 annual allocation from the provost’s office. “It’s just great to support the students,” Hawkins says.

University College*
Graduate students

1,100 160

Undergraduate students

Lifelong learners through the noncredit Enrichment Program and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

2,600 50 7

Number of U.S. states represented by students

Number of countries represented by students

Newmans give to arts at DU
Robert and Judi Newman, best known at DU for the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts, have pledged a leadership gift to further arts programs and other initiatives at the University. Half of their commitment is designated for graduate students in the Lamont School of Music. Starting in the 2010–11 academic year, one graduate student in voice and one in another Lamont program each will receive a $25,000 stipend. It is a way for Lamont to attract high-caliber students and compete with the top music programs in the country. “Bob and Judi Newman have helped us put Lamont on the map in so many ways—first with their leadership in building the world’s finest music facility, secondly by serving on our visiting committee, and now with a major gift for scholarships, stipends, professorships and program needs,” says Joe Docksey, director of the Lamont School of Music. “We are all grateful to be working in such a wonderful place largely made possible by such generosity.” The Newmans say they are very proud of how the Newman Center has been embraced by the community. Now it’s time to keep it well maintained and help the Lamont School of Music achieve its vision, they say. “Arts education is the core of what we hope to achieve with our philanthropy. The goal is to provide wider access to students in all forms of music study and choral groups,” says Robert Newman, a DU trustee. The Newmans also pledged support so Lamont’s opera program can stage a second production each year. Their gift supports the dean of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the women’s golf program as well. “By doing this, we hope to expose people to arts and education,” Judi Newman says. “We hope others might follow us.”
—Kristal Griffith

Graduate programs offered

10 40 9

Graduate certificates offered

Languages available to study

Wayne Armstrong

Average age of enrolled students

37

*DU’s school of professional and continuing studies Compiled by Michael McGuire, assistant dean for administrative operations at University College

14

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

15

Q&A

DU poet wins Colorado Book Award
DU English Professor Bin Ramke has received a Colorado Book Award for his recent offering Theory of Mind: New & Selected Poems (Omnidawn, 2009). The awards, given out by Colorado Humanities and the Colorado Center for the Book, were announced June 25. They recognize outstanding contributions by Colorado authors, editors and photographers in a number of categories. This year 146 books were entered in 13 categories. Ramke beat out the other four poetry category finalists, including one of his former students. Dan Beachy-Quick (BA English ’95) was a finalist for his book This Nest, Swift Passerine: A Poem (Tupelo Press, 2009). “This award was gratifying because of the quality of the other books under consideration,” Ramke says. “I am pleased to be associated with the Colorado Center for the Book and the Colorado Humanities—it is good for us who work in colleges and universities to be reminded of the accomplished and dedicated people also engaged in literature and scholarship in the rest of the community.” Ramke has been with DU since 1985 and currently teaches poetry to undergraduate and graduate students. He also edits the Denver Quarterly and has authored an additional nine books of poetry.
—Nathan Solheim
Wayne Armstrong Wayne Armstrong

Seth Masket on the 2010 midterm elections
Interview by Kathryn Mayer

ment has had to make many drastic spending cuts to balance its budget. Many Coloradans will be thinking about declining funds for public education and other areas when they head to the polls. Because of the criticism President Obama has received on his response to the BP oil spill, do you predict this issue will hurt Democrats this year? It’s difficult to say what, if any, effect the BP oil spill will have on Democratic prospects this fall. Many congressional Democrats have been arguing for many years for tighter regulation of the petroleum industry and for limits on offshore drilling, and those arguments are certainly gaining traction. On the other hand, voters may simply blame Democrats because they are the party in power right now. Nonetheless, if BP is successful in largely stopping the leaks, the issue will fade from the headlines, even if the environmental impact will be felt for many years. If the GOP reduces the Democratic majority to just a few seats in the House and Senate, do you see President Obama pivoting and taking a more centrist approach? President Obama has shown himself to be very pragmatic and not interested in taking on fights he can’t win. Working with a narrower Democratic majority, he would likely still push a solid Democratic agenda but would likely make a number of concessions to Republicans. As Republican numbers increase in the Senate, so does their ability to sustain a filibuster.

Q A

On the Road

You don’t have to visit Denver to reconnect with your alma mater, DU is coming to you this fall. Please join us for an evening of light hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and the opportunity to mingle with fellow alumni, university leadership, and staff. Look for us this fall as we travel to the following areas:

Q A Q A

What would you say is the No. 1 issue for the upcoming elections?

The No. 1 issue remains the economy. It’s the issue that put Obama in the White House, and it’s the one on which he and his fellow Democrats are being evaluated and will be held accountable. By most measures, the economy has been improving this year, but voters will be thinking about whether it’s been improving quickly enough.

Q A

You’ve done extensive research on the effects unemployment has had on midterm elections and found that there hasn’t really been much correlation between the two. But doesn’t unemployment tie into the state of the economy? There are many different aspects of the economy, only some of which seem to affect people’s vote choices. The level of unemployment, however important it is to many people’s lives, doesn’t seem to particularly affect midterm elections. In 1982, President Reagan was overseeing an unemployment level near 10 percent. However, Republicans only lost 26 House seats that year, which is just about the average over the past 60 years. What are the key issues facing Coloradans this cycle?

Milwaukee, WI
September 30, 2010 6:00- 8:00 p.m. The Iron Horse Hotel
www.theironhorsehotel.com

Q A

What is your prediction for the fall?

Salt Lake City, UT
October 7, 2010 6:00- 8:00 p.m. Lugano Restaurant The Radda Room
www.luganorestaurant.com For more information, please visit www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheroad or call 1-800-448-3238, Ext. 0

Voters tend to think about the recent past when casting their votes. The results of the election will hinge on how strongly the economy improves over the next few months. Democrats are almost sure to lose seats in the Congress, but faster economic growth can mitigate some of those losses. Should the economy stumble back into recession, that could certainly lead to a Republican takeover of both chambers.

Q A

Colorado has weathered the recession somewhat better than other states, but it’s still taken a great toll. The state govern-

Seth Masket is an associate professor in DU’s political science department who specializes in political parties, campaigns and state legislatures. He is the author of No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures (University of Michigan Press, 2009).

16

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

17

History

Advantage DU
By Richard Chapman

DU Archives

A century

DU Archives

ago, the University competed in four intercollegiate sports—football, basketball, baseball and tennis. Today, while basketball flourishes, football has been scrubbed and baseball sent down to the minors as a club sport. Tennis, meanwhile, enters its second century quietly racking up accolades with forehands, backhands and serves. In nearly every decade since 1910—the acknowledged beginning of DU tennis according to the athletics department—DU net stars have notched championships and captured awards. They’ve earned athletic and academic All-America honors, won titles in prestigious state and national events, pioneered and promoted the sport, and been inducted into DU and Colorado halls of fame. All this in a century in which the sport of tennis struggled against race, gender and opportunity barriers, adjusted to major changes in equipment, rules, dress and comportment, and became internationalized to the point that last season only 25 percent of DU’s varsity tennis players hailed from the United States. Adam Holmstrom of Sweden, perhaps DU’s top player ever, finished his DU career in 2007 as the 37th best college player in the nation. He earned Division I All-America Though DU didn’t have an intercollegiate women’s tennis team until the 1970s, women played honors for the first time in school history and dominated recreational tennis on campus as far back as the early 1900s. the record book for career singles wins (112–23), doubles wins (100–27) and winning percentage (.828). Holmstrom’s era was a far cry from tennis in its early days, when the game was primarily an elite East-Coast activity played on grass courts in exclusive private clubs and dominated by the Ivy Leagues. At DU, it was a pedestrian pursuit on rough courts donated by The Denver Post. Even so, the University excelled, fielding a strong enough team to capture the Rocky Mountain Conference from 1917 to 1921. Conference affiliations shifted frequently over the decades, but DU was always at the top of the game, winning titles in the Big 7, Colorado Tennis, Colorado Athletic, Continental Divide and Skyline conferences, the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Sun Belt Conference, in which DU competes today. “We had three concrete tennis courts,” recalls Alvie Willis (BSBA ’55, MA ’70), whose legendary 1950s-era team dominated the decade. “No lights, no indoor facilities, white balls, wood racquets. I used Jack Kramer and Davis Tad [racquets] until they quit making them.” Willis, who continues to win 75-and-older tournaments even today, was DU’s No. 1 in 1954 and ’55. His doubles partner, Clayton Benham, dominated as DU’s No. 1 in 1951 and ’52 and was inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Another member of that ’50s team, No. 2 Jack TerBorg, went on to win six major Colorado Women’s player Debbie Gersten (BSBA ’95) singles titles. And the team’s No. 5 player, Irwin Hoffman, became a teaching pro and helped reaches for a shot. develop a junior program that today attracts thousands of Colorado youngsters annually. Both were inducted into the Colorado Tennis Hall of Fame. Another Colorado hall of famer, Carlene Petersen Chrisman, coached DU’s first women’s team, starting in 1974 and continuing for 10 seasons.

DU Archives DU Archives

A mid-1960s men’s team poses for a portrait.

In 2007, Adam Holmstrom (BSBA ’08) became the first NCAA Division I All-American in DU history.

“It was a rough beginning,” she recalls. “The first season we shared warm-up [outfits] with the women’s gymnastics team. They’d take them off and clean them up and we’d wear them.” The team had money for balls, travel and an occasional meal, but nothing for footwear, racquets or strings. A team mother sewed uniforms, and the weeds on the courts sometimes were so bad that opposing teams refused to play. “But I got encouragement and support from the University and wonderful students to work with,” she says. “What was special was that women were given the opportunity to compete, and they hadn’t been given that before.” Under Chrisman, the Pioneers won the Colorado Tennis Conference, the AIAW district title and the Continental Divide Conference. In October, she’ll be inducted into the DU Athletics Hall of Fame. Today, DU has state-of-the-art outdoor courts at its Stapleton Tennis Pavilion—completed in 1998— and competes on a national level. The women’s team in 2009–10 was ranked as high as 34th in the nation and the men 25th. The Ivy League’s best men’s team finished 65th.
University of Denver Magazine Update

18

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

19

Parent to Parent

People

Encouraging successful roommate relationships
Fortunately, most roommate relationships work out well. Usually you just have to get used to living with a “messy” person or someone who is obsessed with neatness. Conflicting sleep schedules, varying musical tastes, etc., also can be problematic. However, much of the time wonderful lifelong friendships begin during the college years. There are some common elements that make life with roommates successful—or not. Here are some topics you might consider discussing with your kids regarding life on campus: • Every shared living experience involves give and take. • Encourage them to try to be the kind of roommate they would like to have. • Tell them to consider that their roommates have to put up with them and their stuff also. • Open, honest communication can go a long way; weekly meetings can help a lot. • Some things just come with the territory; patience, love and forgiveness can be key. • Help them think through what they can tolerate and what their limitations are. • Remind them that they will not have their roommates forever. • Share your story—were you a Felix Unger? An Oscar Madison? How about your roomies? • Encourage them to be willing to discuss University policies, i.e. “live the code.” • RAs and the housing department can help when conflicts seem irreconcilable. As parents of college students, our role is to try to help our kids become independent problem solvers. As tempting as it can be to become involved because we want to rescue them, we often help the most when they see us as a resource and a sounding board.
DU Parents Council member John Kloeckner and his wife, Carol, live in Broomfield, Colo. Their son David will be a junior in the fall of 2010.
Tim Ryan

Body of knowledge
By Larry Getlen

ammi hyde interviews
Help us build the future of DU, one student at a time Every year, we rely on alumni volunteers to help us conduct Ammi Hyde Interviews in cities across the country. The Hyde Interview allows the University to admit students who embody DU’s core values and who can succeed in our challenging academic environment. Join us in November and January for this unique opportunity to make a difference at DU.
Rose Lincoln/Harvard University

Contact Andy Losier at the Office of Admission: 1-800-525-9495 [email protected]
20
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

To Volunteer:

students are very bright to get into medical school. But they’re totally ignorant of medical literature.” This provocative statement comes from one who should know. Lucretia McClure (MA ’64) learned her trade at the University of Denver’s School of Librarianship (now the Library and Information Science Program) and is now one of the oldest practicing librarians in the Medical Library Association (MLA). As a medical librarian, McClure is charged with knowing the full breadth of medical research materials old and new— from journals to textbooks to specific articles on any medical subject—thereby serving as an essential resource for a doctor in need of crucial information. “I see medical students who have not been given the instruction in college they used to give,” says McClure, who spent almost 30 years at the Edward G. Miner Library at the University of Rochester Medical Center and now works at the Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where she has been for nearly 15 years. Now 85, she takes the one-hour flight to campus from her home in Rochester, N.Y., every week and stays at her apartment in Boston. “It’s presumed that anybody in college is computer literate and doesn’t need help,” she says. “But they do, because there’s so much wonderful old medical literature, and students who never look at it are missing what makes medicine so rich.” McClure grew up in Denver, attended the University of Missouri and moved to Rochester with her husband in 1951. As their two sons got older, McClure wanted a career. She enrolled at DU in part because she and the boys could stay with her mother while she attended school. After college, McClure returned home to Rochester. In 1964 she got a job at the Miner Library, where she worked for almost three decades, eventually rising to the position of director. She became eminent in the field, serving as president of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries and the MLA and sitting on the New York State Board of Regents Council on Libraries. Along the way, she became a prominent advocate for her profession: fighting hard to secure funding, speaking at industry events and representing the MLA’s position on various issues. McClure’s husband passed away in 1992 and she retired a year later, but when a friend at the Countway Library asked for her assistance on a project, she couldn’t say no. She became a Countway employee shortly thereafter, and she has been there ever since. “She’s the quintessential librarian and a fountain of knowledge,” says Judith Messerle, the former director of the Countway Library. “Lucretia understands the literature of medicine and the history of the field, so she can talk the same language as doctors and medical students. And because she knows the literature, she’s an incredible sleuth. She can find the hardest answer.” McClure has thought about retiring again, but she understands from experience that an attempt at retirement could be just the next step on what has been a long, distinguished and rewarding career. “As soon as I retired the first time, I got calls asking me to do things,” she says. “I figure the same thing will happen again—something will come my way that I hadn’t planned. So I figure that I’ll find out when I retire what’s out there.”

“Medical

University of Denver Magazine Update

21

Views

Law Commencement speaker shares words from the heart
The University of Denver’s Commencement speakers often offer words of advice: work hard, dream big, stay true to your ethics. But as the Sturm College of Law Class of 2010 prepared to graduate on May 22, one classmate offered them something even bigger: a lesson in living life itself. Frank Bingham—selected by his classmates as the ceremony’s student speaker—graduated after overcoming a tragedy so great few could imagine it. During his first year of law school in November 2006, a drunk driver crashed into him and his family as they crossed a downtown Denver street. Only Bingham survived. He lost his wife, Becca, and their two children, Macie, 4, and Garrison, 2. Standing on the stage before his class, Bingham said the most important thing is to remember how interconnected everyone is and how to appreciate small things. “I started law school as a husband and father, but before the end of my first semester, Becca and Macie and Garrison were gone in an instant,” he told the hushed audience at DU’s Magness Arena. “The bottom line is life is uncertain and anyone’s life can change in the blink of an eye.” The graduating class of about 375 wore white ribbons on their graduation gowns in support of Bingham and in remembrance of his family. Bingham, proving how resilient the human spirit can be, announced to the class that after years of grieving and learning to move on, he is again engaged to be married. “Hope, faith, forgiveness and love can survive even the worst that life can throw at us,” he said.
—Chase Squires

Quiet reflections

Photograph of Harper Humanities Gardens by Wayne Armstrong

Chase Squires

A GREAT EDUCATION DRIVES GREAT DREAMS
A DU Gift Annuity is a great way to help make dreams come true.
Beloved DU social work Professor Eleanor Barnett devoted her life to helping others. She set up a number of gift annuities that supplemented her income and upon her passing created a lasting legacy at DU. Through her generosity, more than 70 students have been able to pursue their dream of becoming a social worker.
“It’s been a privilege receiving the Barnett scholarship and knowing alumni care about the success of students like myself,” says recipient Liz Covarrubias. “DU has prepared me well for my plans of working internationally on health, education and economic issues relating to women.”

Office of Gift Planning 1.800.448.3238 or 303.871.2739 E-mail: [email protected]

“Moving water…

www.giftplanning.du.edu

has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river.” — Rodreck Haig-Brown

22

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

23

Essay

What we wear in this life
By Lisa Trank-Greene

I arrive

Ion-Bogdan Dumitrescu/Getty

in Los Angeles for my mom’s 78th birthday, her first birthday in 55 years without my dad. The first 30 minutes in the house are odd and difficult—I’m looking for my dad asleep on the couch, his simple hospital bed in the corner of the dining room, opening his soft blue eyes and saying, “Hi, sweetheart,” as if I hadn’t lived away from L.A. for 25 years. My mom bought herself fuchsia and purple dahlias and put them around the house. She tells me she let herself open presents that had arrived early, instead of waiting until her birthday. “Why not enjoy the presents for as long as possible?” We take ourselves out to a new French bistro and pretend we’re on the Left Bank, surrounded by handsome waiters joking with each other in French. I tell the waiter it’s my mom’s birthday, and she is serenaded in a combination of French and Portuguese. The next morning, after breakfast and a visit from my mother’s next-door neighbor, Mom and I head upstairs to the guest room. My mom sits down on the daybed with a yellow legal pad. I slide open the closet door. His clothes hang waiting, but not for him. I stand in front of the clothes and sigh. My mom says she doesn’t really feel anything, since he’d stopped wearing most of them long ago. We sort through his sweaters first. I choose two for myself, a red wool V-neck and a brown cashmere pullover. I count them out and my mom writes it down, wanting to record what we are giving away. Next are his shirts, which make me remember something I always loved about my dad—the way he kept his shirts clean and pressed despite a full day of hard work. The subtle stripes and tight plaids, the creases that have held despite his not wearing them for a number of years. I put aside a paisley print shirt in red, brown and green—my mom’s favorite. I’m glad I’m the only one his shirts will fit: my brothers too tall, my husband too broad, my nephews too cool. We move on to his short-sleeved shirts, the ones he wore most of the time, first at the store and then at his watchmaker’s station. He liked the open feeling of the short sleeves and also didn’t wear a tie or jacket at the office—one of the perks of working for himself. A rhythm begins—clothes off the hangers and onto the bed. Counted and then moved to another part of the room. We get to his pants. Khakis, wool gabardines, various slacks. Even a pair of cruise ship whites that makes my mom and I giggle. All are perfectly folded over steel and plastic hangers but obviously have not been worn in a very long time. Lines of dust rest along each crease. But in the middle of the neat order, a pair of jeans appears. His jeans, a pair of Levi’s, with the belt still in the loops. Somehow the pants seem warm and the denim very soft, but not worn out. The belt left in the loops is out of place, nothing my father would have done. He would have pulled the belt out and hung it up with the others on the hanger designed for that purpose. The weight of the belt, a black Pierre Cardin, offers a form that is no longer here, no longer form-able. I run my hands down the jeans and cry. When my father arrived alone in Toronto, after a train, a boat and then another train took him away from the Nazis, he owned one outfit of summer clothing. In the end, this is the list, a final tally of my dad’s clothing: Five sweaters, two sweater vests Eight pairs of shoes, one pair of slippers Three pairs of pajamas Twelve short-sleeved shirts Ten long-sleeved shirts Twenty-two pairs of pants, one pair of Levi’s jeans Fifteen ties and eight belts, two pairs of suspenders Three sweatshirts and three zip-up jackets Ten sport jackets and five suits, including the suit he wore to my wedding

I choose a tie for my husband, with my dad’s knot still in it. The clothes are all out. I proceed to pull down an old slide projector. Endless travel bags. Shoe polish kits. Old perfume and faded yarmulkes. Empty watch repair envelopes, the ones I used to carefully log in my dad’s record book when I was old enough to be trusted with the task. Two hours later, the closet is empty. I tell my mom I’ll take care of the rest, not wanting her to have to watch the clothes get placed into black garbage bags. I fold the clothes and put them inside the bags, six in all. Before I close the bags, I put my head close to the openings and take in one last deep breath. I carry the bags down and place them neatly in a corner of the garage. They will be picked up sometime next week. We wear clothes for many reasons: to keep us warm or cool, to communicate to the world a story of who we are. I’m happy that as I slip my arms into the few pieces traveling home with me, I will feel the memory of his arms having entered in and out of these same sleeves many times. I will wear my dad’s story in the form of a red V-neck sweater, a brown cashmere pullover and a paisley raw silk shirt, another way of keeping his story going. But I have to wonder: How long will it take for the form of his life, which is in every piece of clothing, to take the shape of another? If I was walking down the street in Los Angeles, or in Colorado, would I recognize a shirt, a sweater, his softly worn Levi’s on someone else’s body? Will I look for them? For him in them? How far will his clothes travel? And what will I feel toward that person lucky enough to wear my dad’s clothes—kinship? I hope I will, and to that I add: Amen.

24

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

25

e
26

Electric vehicles are more than a hobby for engineering grad student Eva Hakansson.

By Chase Squires

Photo illustration by Wayne Armstrong

Even before she can remember, Eva Hakansson was building things. “I was 2 years old when I got my first pair of scissors, because I was always taking everyone else’s to make things,” she says. “I’m told when I was 4 years old, I built a model nuclear power plant out of cardboard boxes and cans.” But her real passion didn’t emerge until her later years … when she turned 6. She virtually grew up in her father’s workshop while he pounded metal on metal, grinding his own parts and crafting handmade racing motorcycles. Fast-forward to 2010 and Hakansson—with a toolbox of self-taught engineering skills and a competitive and inquisitive spirit—is pursuing a mechanical engineering master’s degree at the University of Denver’s School of Engineering and Computer Science. Between calculus and engineering classes, the 29-year-old Swedish native who speaks three languages and already has written a book on hybrid cars is hard at work chasing her dream of breaking the world speed record for electric motorcycles. When she’s not studying, Hakansson and her husband, Bill Dubé, are holed up in their workshop, which is crammed with lathes and drills and welding torches and electrical components of every size. Scavenging the parts they need from eBay and Craigslist, they hunt down sponsors and travel the world in search of the next breakthrough technology. And what they can’t scavenge, borrow or buy, they make. Nothing is ever finished, she says. There’s no project that can’t be improved. The electric bikes she and her husband develop are in a constant state of change. In June, the couple’s ElectroCat became the first electric motorcycle to conquer the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a grueling 12-mile, twisting, turning uphill motor race to the 14,100-foot summit of Pikes Peak outside Colorado Springs, Colo. Although she was sidelined for the run after a crash in testing that left her with a metal plate in her arm, Hakansson already is plotting her next mission: a run at the world speed record for electric motorcycles on her new custom cycle, a sleek rocket of a beast dubbed KillaJoule. “It’s human nature. People have always wanted to go fast. Everyone wants to go faster,” she says.

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Update

27

Wayne Armstrong

H
28

Hakansson’s passion doesn’t end with motorcycles. An environmental scientist before she moved into racing and electric vehicles, Hakansson first delved into water management. She came to realize that anyone can have clean water if they have enough energy. Deserts that border oceans can desalinate the seas. Landlocked scorched plains can bloom if there’s the energy to transport water. Polluted rivers can be made clean with enough energy. The only thing that can’t be replaced is the energy itself. There has to be a better way to build batteries, to make vehicles run more efficiently, to generate and deliver energy, Hakansson says. Conserve that one resource, find a better way to use energy, and the rest of the world’s problems fall into line. A competitive spirit seems to be part of Hakansson’s DNA. As a child she was eager to learn from her parents, both engineers, and to keep up with her two older brothers, both now engineers as well. Her house in Nynäshamn, Sweden, was a hive of activity. Her brothers were the disassemblers, taking things apart to learn how they worked, while her father toiled in his shop crafting his racing cycles. “When I went to high school, I was already very much into science because of my brothers. My oldest brother had won the school’s science competition. He traveled to Germany and London and got these awards. So I had to beat him,” she says. “I won the contest twice.” While she was writing a book in 2007 (loosely translated from Swedish: Hybrid Cars, The Future is Now) she tracked down Dubé, a government research scientist who designed the world’s quickest electric-powered motorcycle. Dubé’s low-slung racing machine boasts 500 horsepower and hits 60 mph in less than a second. “I just wanted to use a picture of his electric motorcycle,” she recalls. But they were kindred spirits, incessant tinkerers and designers, absorbed in what would become for both an extremely expensive “hobby.” She finally met him in Los Angeles. Two years later they were married, and Hakansson found herself in a Denver suburb with a husband, a garage full of industrial metal-shaping equipment and a

O

passion to go faster. While she’s never shied away from getting her hands dirty, Hakansson also values the classroom. “There is so much I want to do, but I realized I simply didn’t have enough knowledge, and in particular I didn’t have the engineering math I needed. Newton was able to figure out calculus on his own. Most of us can’t do that,” she says. “And if you don’t understand calculus, you’ll never be a good engineer. This is too expensive to do by trial and error; it has to be engineered.”

“The whole reason we do this is to promote electric-powered vehicles. The only way we can do that is to make something really fast and really powerful and really sexy. Something
serve the common good and advance the science the world needs. “Eva’s innovative approach to problem solving is inspiring and emblematic of how we strive to educate our engineering students to tackle the great challenges facing our global community,” Shoureshi says. “Eva is a true pioneer in the field of electric vehicles and is a tremendous ambassador for our engineering program, where one of our key areas of focus is the development of optimized energy systems using renewable resources.”

Of course, knowing her way around a drill press helps, too. At 5-foot-2, she looks at home in racing leathers, muscling one of her bikes in and out of a trailer, cranking on winches and lugging batteries. Hakansson says marrying the math and science with hands-on experience pays the biggest benefits. A square hole is easy to draw on an engine design with a computer-assisted design program. But in the metal shop, drilling a square, flat-bottomed hole is a daunting task. Engineers who understand how a concept translates from blueprints to bolts can best turn ideas into reality. “What I like about DU is the overall attitude. They want people to succeed, they want you to do something,” Hakansson says. “My advice to students: ‘Do something.’ You can write every paper in the world, but if you go out and build something, future employers can see it. It’s something they can look at. You don’t just tell them you can do it, you show them.” Rahmat Shoureshi, dean of the engineering school, says Hakansson’s passion for energy efficiency and innovation exemplifies what the University does best: finding solutions that

that will make your neighbors notice.”
addresses all this in pragmatic fashion. People like powerful vehicles, she reasons. People don’t care what makes a vehicle powerful. “The whole reason we do this is to promote electricpowered vehicles. The only way we can do that is to make something really fast and really powerful and really sexy. Something that will make your neighbors notice,” she says. “Everybody wants the fastest, the biggest. If people don’t believe electric vehicles are fun to drive, they won’t buy them. Guilt only sells so many electric cars.”
Watch a video of Eva Hakansson’s TEDxDU presentation at TEDxDU.com

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

t

The near-term barrier for Hakansson and her team lies on 30,000 acres of scorched, lifeless earth on the Bonneville Salt Flats, 120 miles west of Salt Lake City: the 176 mph speed record for an electric motorcycle. The next goal is 400 mph. And after that, Hakansson simply wants to see the world convert to electric vehicles and ditch the polluting, inefficient gasoline engine. She

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

29

o understand the marriage of transportation and land use, look no further than a pair of old maps—in this case, maps of Denver, though they could just as easily be those of Des Moines or Detroit. In 1900, Pitner & Fergie’s Official Map of Denver depicted a downtown webbed with streetcar lines. Lonelier spurs reached out along dirt roads in various directions, to what were the fringes. One such line tracked south to Evans Avenue and then east to the DU campus. Another went south along Broadway to Hampden Avenue in Englewood. But by the time the Hotchkiss Map Co. printed its Map of Denver and Surroundings in 1952, not a single streetcar line remained. The “surroundings” dwarfed the old downtown. In Denver and throughout the United States, the automobile had reshaped the landscape.

T

“We built an awful lot of highways and automobiles because gas was selling for 29 cents a gallon,” says Gilbert Carmichael, a former federal railroad administrator and founding chairman of the board of directors of DU’s Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI). “When you get a cheap fuel, you get a system based on it.” Americans still love their cars. But the sprawling human landscapes cars have enabled are now costing us $87 billion a year in wasted fuel and lost productivity—$750 for every U.S. traveler. That’s about a week’s worth of fuel as well as time, the Texas Transportation Institute says. And the problems don’t stop there. The American Society of Civil Engineers has projected a $115-billion-a-year shortfall for road and bridge maintenance and improvements in the next five years. The transportation sector, powered overwhelmingly by liquid

(petroleum) fuels, accounts for one-third of U.S. greenhousegas emissions, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). Though fuel prices have dipped because of the recession, oil remains a finite resource. The U.S. imports 60 percent of what it burns, thereby sending more than $25 billion a month to overseas coffers, says the EIA, and a healthy portion of those imports come from politically volatile regions. In the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama said that “our continued dependence on fossil fuels will jeopardize our national security. It will smother our planet. And it will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk.” America’s challenge is to keep people and goods moving at low cost, with minimum congestion, and with as little environmental

and geopolitical impact as possible. The answer for Denver and elsewhere, land-use and transportation planners increasingly agree, is to shift back to the nation’s roots on the rails, despite the high cost of trains that move people as opposed to goods. “In this case, there are bad solutions and worse solutions,” says Thomas Finkbiner, a longtime transportation executive and senior chairman of the ITI board of directors. “The consensus shortcut that people are coming to recognize is the modal switch. The one thing you can do in terms of improved productivity is switch both freight and people from the highway to the rail.” Such a switch would have impacts far beyond people’s choices in how they get from point A to point B. A return to the rails would, like previous transportation revolutions, reshape American landscapes and redefine American life.

Return to the Rails
By Todd Neff

The solution to America’s transportation problems could be 100 years in the past.
Steve Crise /Transtock/Corbis

30

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

31

T

here are four primary modes of transportation: air, water, rail and road. We use them in two ways: to move ourselves (passengers) and to move stuff (freight). On the freight side, matters are more settled. Nearly half of U.S. freight, measured in ton-miles, moves by rail, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). About half of that is coal, followed by grains, chemicals, foodstuffs and fuel. The fastest-growing area of freight transport, intermodal, involves moving metal containers roughly the size of 18-wheel truck trailers. Such containers arrive on ships with 2,500 of their ilk stacked in a multicolored LEGO mélange. The containers, transferred to rail, can then ride double-stacked on low-riding flatcars. They are transferred to trucks for the final legs of their travels. Intermodal freight has grown explosively as manufacturing has globalized. From 1980 through 2008, according to the DOT, intermodal shipments by rail grew from 3 million containers to more than 11.5 million. Rail is the most efficient way to move freight over land. Carmichael says the classic “steel wheel on a steel rail” configuration is almost frictionless, able to move a ton of freight more than 400 miles on one gallon of fuel. A 2009 Federal Railroad Administration study comparing rail and truck fuel efficiency showed that, depending on the route and the commodity carried, railroads are up to 5.5 times more fuel-efficient than trucks. Depending on the type of freight and the distance hauled, a single cross-country intermodal double-stack train can replace 280 trucks and save up to 80,000 gallons of fuel. Yet the rail freight system faces problems, Finkbiner says. Rail infrastructure is wearing down, and it’s not clear how to finance its rebuilding and upkeep. At the same time, consolidation of the freight system has shrunk the freight rail network from nearly 165,000 miles in 1980 to nearly 94,000 miles in 2008, mainly via the removal of redundant freight tracks. But such tracks are looking less and less redundant. The U.S. Department of Transportation expects tonnage on the nation’s rail system to increase 88 percent by 2035. And that’s not even taking passenger rail increases into account.

Breakdown of U.S. freight by mode (in ton-miles)

45 percent

Rail

37 percent

Truck

18 percent <1 percent

Water

Air

Source: Research and Innovative Technology Administration, 2003

y contrast, America’s passenger transportation systems beg not only for enormous investment, but also for strategies related to land-use development and allocation of resources. The U.S. highway network extends roughly 160,000 miles. It was a key driver of postwar development patterns and the popularity of suburban living. In the 1950s, 57 percent of metropolitan-area residents lived in central cities. By 1970, the figure had fallen to 43 percent, and by 2000 it was just 30 percent. Steve Rudy, director of transportation planning for the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), which is responsible for the region’s transportation-funding priorities, expects at best a 10 percent expansion of the area’s road network in the next 25 years. In that same span, an additional 1.5 million people will

Fuel Gallons Consumed

B

join the region—tantamount to another Salt Lake City moving to Denver, Rudy says. Rudy’s DRCOG colleague Jill Locantore, a senior landuse planner, says the Denver of 2035 will be about the size of Washington, D.C., today. “[D.C. has] mass transit, but also a lot of congestion. Regardless of what we do, it’s going to be more congested,” Locantore says. “I think the question for policymakers and taxpayers is how much do we want to invest in providing alternatives?” At D.C. scale, we’ll still need to get around, as well as buy things arriving on trucks with which we’ll continue to share the road. While hybrid-electric vehicles (combining electric and internal-combustion engines) and all-electric vehicles will cut back on fuel consumption, they won’t reduce traffic. And the impacts of electric vehicles on land-use patterns remain unclear. If people can drive an electric vehicle 50 miles on a charge and then plug in while at work, they could still live in distant exurbs and continue postwar development patterns, Rudy says. “I don’t think that’s what any of us want to see,” he says. What’s more, Rudy says, long-distance electric-car commuters could stress the electric grid during peak daytime hours—rather than charging at night and serving as distributed “vehicle-to-grid” power generators by day, as some envision. Vehicle-navigation technology may soon help congestion, though. Randal O’Toole, a transportation analyst and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, suggests that more advanced versions of adaptive cruise control—available now, and with which cars can stay a fixed distance behind the car in front of them—could allow for a tripling of vehicles on the roads. “Increased automobility will lead to increased decentralization of cities,” O’Toole says, adding that the net effect would be a continuation of the postwar trend toward suburbanization and falling population density in urban areas. Such a view goes against urban-planning conventional wisdom, though, which now views higher-density development as the best long-term answer to America’s transportation conundrum. DRCOG believes at least half of new housing and 75 percent of new jobs by 2035 ought to be in urban centers, Rudy says.

s_oleg/Shutterstock

That means creating places in which people can shop for groceries, get kids to school or go to work without having to get in their cars. In addition to economic trends—principally the price of gasoline—demographic and cultural trends seem headed toward higher density, too, says Katherine Iverson, interim director of the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute at DU’s Sturm College of Law. Less than one-third of American households will have children mid-century, she says, resulting in “a much older population, with much less demand for an Ozzie-and-Harriet-style single-family home with a family yard.” In the nearer term, Locantore adds, empty-nester baby boomers and young people choosing to remain childless or waiting longer to have kids tend to prefer urban lifestyles. “They want amenities close by. They don’t want to have to drive everywhere,” Locantore says.

Rail vs. truck fuel consumption by distance traveled
1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 <300 300-500 500-1000 1000-2000 >2000

Route Distance (Miles)

Source: Federal Railroad Administration, 2009

32

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

33

Tyrone Turner/National Geographic Society/Corbis

Do you approve of the federal government’s investment in high-speed rail?
Take the poll: www.du.edu/magazine

I

n cities across the country, light rail has become a linchpin of land-use and transportation planning. In Denver, 122 miles of light rail and commuter rail known as FasTracks—for which voters approved a 0.4 percent Regional Transportation District sales-tax hike in 2004—eventually will connect the hub of Denver’s Union Station with Denver International Airport, Boulder, Longmont, Wheat Ridge and Golden. FasTracks is both a reaction to metropolitan Denver’s current urban form and a means of shaping its future. By deliberately establishing fixed transit arteries, as railroad and highway planners once did, RTD’s marquee project is an attempt to steer growth toward higher density and away from sprawl. “I think FasTracks and the transit-oriented development that it’s instigating are the biggest things that are changing the transportation land-use configuration in the Denver metropolitan area,” says Professor Andrew Goetz, chair of the DU geography department. The transit-oriented development surrounding south Denver’s Englewood Station, which opened in 2000, offers a taste of what could be the future for dozens of FasTracks stops—and, for that matter, transit-oriented developments around the country. Just north of Hampden Avenue and Santa Fe Drive, the development is a cluster of retailers, restaurants, a fitness club, the Alexan City Center apartment complex, the Museum of Outdoor Art and the Englewood civic center. Just beyond the eastern edge of the multistory development is a Wal-Mart and a handful of other big-box stores. Robert Corona, who works in downtown Denver, was just getting off the train at Englewood one recent afternoon. He had driven his Jeep less than a mile to the station’s park-and-ride lot and
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

taken the train downtown. “It beats the hell out of paying gas money,” he says. Thirteen years ago, Corona would have been outside an abandoned shopping mall. The 1.3 million square-foot Cinderella City was demolished in 1998 to make way for the development. Englewood still owned the land underneath it, says Harold Stitt, an Englewood senior planner. That fact provided unusual sway in pressing developers otherwise cool to the idea of integrating RTD’s planned light-rail stop, Stitt says. Englewood officials considered the work of transit-oriented development pioneers such as Portland, Ore., and the San Francisco Bay Area, “learning about [transit-oriented development] almost at the same time as developers were,” Stitt says. While the impact on property values is hard to quantify, Stitt says the city believes land as far as a half mile away from the station sells at a premium. Indeed, a recent survey by Denver real estate investment group Grubb & Ellis showed that apartment seekers are willing to spend 4 percent more on rent for apartments within a quarter mile of a light-rail stop. Developers pay a 25 percent premium for land in such areas, too, the study found. DRCOG’s Rudy calls the development “the first and greatest initial [local] example of a different way to develop, one where freeways are not the primary driver. Now all of a sudden, you have a way to say, ‘There’s a different way we can develop.’ Now that you’ve got some transit, you’ve got an inkling of what you could do.” But light rail comes with a catch. It is expensive: $80 million a mile being a typical figure, including the rolling stock, says Richard Gilbert, a Toronto-based transportation analyst and co-author of

the book Transport Revolutions. RTD’s FasTracks program, initially budgeted at $4.7 billion, is now slated to cost $6.5 billion, the result of ballooning costs. At the same time, plummeting sales tax revenues have left RTD with a shortage of funds to complete the project. “That’s a perfect storm, when costs escalate and revenues decrease,” says RTD FasTracks spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas. To build the system out by 2017 as planned, RTD needs to fill a $2.4 billion budget gap, Tonilas says. The RTD board recently decided to delay a ballot issue asking voters to approve a second 0.4 percent sales-tax increase. But without that money and a $1 billion assist from the federal government, FasTracks won’t be finished until 2042, RTD officials say. Denver is not alone. The Maricopa Association of Governments—the DRCOG of greater Phoenix, Ariz.—would like to expand the 20-mile light-rail system it opened in late 2008, says Eric Anderson, the association’s transportation director. As has been the case with Denver’s southerly light-rail lines, ridership has exceeded expectations, with the line carrying 34 percent more passengers in 2009 than anticipated. The region would like to build another 37 miles of local rail, Anderson says. Money is lacking, though. “Revenues are down, and costs turned out to be quite a bit higher than in the plan,” Anderson says. Indeed, passenger rail’s high costs don’t end when construction wraps up. Amtrak carried about 27 million passengers in fiscal 2009 but needed $1.5 billion from the federal government to cover operating and capital shortfalls. Light rail in the United States is heavily subsidized by taxpayers. O’Toole calculates that light rail costs eight times the price per mile as urban driving. “Huge subsidies are required to make these modes of transit attractive to people,” he says. O’Toole says buses, if less sexy, are cheaper to buy and operate and don’t force transportation planners to predict financial needs, development patterns or ridership decades into the future. “With bus transit, you see where people are going and you go that way,” O’Toole says. Gilbert points to trolley buses—buses on an electrified network in places like Cambridge, Mass., and Vancouver, B.C.—as a promising alternative to light rail at one-tenth the cost. “They’re not quite as good as light rail, but you can deploy a lot more of them,” Gilbert says. “They’re very energy-efficient, quiet, and relatively inexpensive.” rethinking of transportation systems—and, by extension, land use—can’t stop at the metropolitan boundary’s edge. Long-distance travel also is at a crossroads. In the coming decades, Gilbert believes domestic U.S. airline travel will increasingly cede to regional high-speed rail links—to the extent that the number of airports will shrink 80 percent to 90 percent by mid-century. Fuel cost will be the main challenge, Goetz says. It takes an immense amount of power to plow through the atmosphere at more than 400 mph, leaving energy-packed—and, analysts believe,

A

increasingly pricey—liquid fuels the only option into the foreseeable future. But if Gilbert is right, regional high-speed passenger rail will be the biggest threat to airlines. The Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus package jump-started the decades-old vision of a U.S. high-speed rail network, spending $8 billion on 13 regional highspeed rail efforts, with the promise of $5 billion more over the next five years. Carmichael says that as rail takes hold, commuter planes and many domestic flights will eventually disappear. Investing in a high-speed passenger rail network of 100-mile to 600-mile-long intercity corridors “builds on the successful highway and aviation development models with a 21st century solution,” but one focusing on “a clean, energy-efficient option,” according to the Department of Transportation’s strategic plan for high-speed rail. One of the proposed routes extends from Cheyenne, Wyo., through Denver south to Albuquerque, N.M., and El Paso, Texas. The Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Rail Authority currently is developing plans for passenger rail lines along the state’s I-25 and I-70 corridors. To Carmichael, it’s a familiar vision. He has been advocating something he calls the “Interstate II” for years now. The system would add 30,000 miles of high-speed railways to existing rights of way to create “a 21st century intermodal transportation system for passengers and freight.” Regions around the country submitted $55 billion in requests for the $8 billion in high-speed rail regional stimulus funding. The largest recipients were California ($2.25 billion for a Los AngelesSan Francisco route) and Florida ($1.25 billion for a Tampa-Orlando link). A web of regional high-speed rail networks would be expensive. O’Toole estimates the latest plan would cost $150 billion to build, and that’s assuming that certain regions settle for trains topping out at 110 mph rather than 220 mph. Complicating matters, Finkbiner says, is that most of the rights of way, not to mention the rails themselves, are privately owned by freight carriers. “The freight carriers are steeling themselves for the shared usage of mainline routes for railroads,” he says. How America’s collective transportation choices will shape future maps, one can only guess. But in 2006, nearly six decades after the University of Denver campus saw its last streetcar, the first light-rail train arrived. Rather than running along Evans Avenue, it rode on the southeast rail line, 19 miles of tracks built as part of RTD’s $1.6 billion T-REX project to improve the Interstate 25 corridor south of the city. Passengers boarding across Buchtel Boulevard from the Ritchie Center are downtown in 17 minutes. Perhaps one day the line will link up with high-speed rail to destinations across the country. It depends as much on priorities as it does on money, Carmichael says. “An ethical transportation system, that doesn’t kill people and doesn’t waste fuel and doesn’t pollute the air, is what we ought to be building,” he says. “One that uses each mode—water, rail, highways and airways—in its most efficient way.”
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

34

35

Testing the
Waters
E
By Richard Chapman Photography by Justin Edmonds

Alumna Kristin Waters is floating reform ideas in Denver’s roughest schools.

Early this spring, a gathering of parents sat in the west stands of DU’s Magness Arena and beamed as 73 high school seniors from Denver’s Bruce Randolph School accepted their diplomas. Bruce Randolph was one of more than a dozen Denver high schools that held graduation ceremonies in Magness, but this event on a sunny day in May was more than just another springtime rite of passage. It was a progress point, a high-water mark in Denver’s efforts to fix its failing schools and a report card to educators on techniques that work. Back in 2005, Bruce Randolph was one of the worst schools in the state. Gang rivalries had turned the building into a battleground, recalls former principal Kristin Waters. Veteran administrators had clamped down hard, which suppressed the fighting, but they weren’t able to focus on academics. “In some classrooms teachers were doing a good job, working hard and making progress with kids, but in most classrooms students were not learning,” says Waters, who served as principal from 2005 to 2009. “Students were not being served.” Waters got the job of turning things around. Her attack plan was twofold: first, get the district and the union off her back; and second, emphasize classroom expectations, accountability and confidence in the kids. That was key, she says, and the reason she retained only six of the school’s 45 teachers when she came in as principal. Those who didn’t unequivocally express belief in the students’ ability to succeed were replaced. Five years later, on May 18, 2010, the first group of Randolph students who started under the Waters regime walked across the stage and accepted diplomas. Nearly 97 percent of the school’s seniors graduated that day, with the few who missed the cut working to fulfill remaining requirements by mid-June. Compare that to the graduation rate for Denver Public Schools as a whole—76.9 percent. Moreover, nearly 95 percent of Bruce Randolph’s seniors got into college. All in a school where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches, the district’s measure of poverty; where only seven seniors speak English as their primary language; and where only two seniors have parents who graduated from college. Overwhelmingly, Bruce Randolph’s seniors are the first in their families to get a high school diploma. “You pushed back,” Waters proudly reminded the seniors at commencement. “You tested us on whether we would stick to our high expectations. We did. And by late November of that first year you recognized that we were going to help you learn and keep pushing you and not back down.”

36

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

37

The Bruce Randolph turn-around system of pushing kids hard was among the reasons Superintendent Tom Boasberg, Board of Education Chair Nate Easley Jr. and a slew of DPS officials attended the Randolph commencement. And why The Denver Post carried the story on the front page of its local section. It was also why the Randolph class of 2010 chose Waters as its commencement speaker. The click-click-click of her high heels in the hallway and her ever-present smile were indelible symbols of what they’d been through and how much progress they’d made. “The kids would hear those high heels and you could see everyone sitting up a little straighter in their chairs because they knew Dr. Waters was coming into the room,” recalls Jessica Chandler, an eighth-grade language arts teacher. “She’d come in, pull up a seat and talk to the students. It wasn’t just sitting back taking notes. She wanted to be involved. Always with a big smile; you could tell she loved being in the classroom.” Sixth-grade language arts teacher Stewart Amos remembers Waters’ style as charismatic, hands-on and fair. “She never raised her voice, she just told people what they needed to do,” he says. “She was our leader. We were a team, but you knew that what she said went.” Cesar Cedillo, who succeeded Waters as principal in 2009, remembers Waters’ work ethic. “She was always the first one here and the last one to leave. Saturdays, Sundays, she would have her car parked out front. She had these cool pink tennis shoes she’d wear whenever she got tired of high heels. The kids would say, ‘Hey, those are tight.’ “And she was always beaming. Nothing got her down.” Not even her struggle to win waivers from district and union rules so she’d have greater freedom to make the changes she thought best, particularly as to budget, hiring and school calendar. They were modest changes, Waters says, but the effect was huge. “They let us go into the classroom and start guiding.” Waters’ turn-around plan not only put Bruce Randolph School on a new trajectory, it also generated original research—a case study on her first year at Bruce Randolph—that in 2006 earned her a doctorate from DU’s Morgridge College of Education. Three years later her efforts got her promoted to Superintendent Boasberg’s office, where as assistant to the superintendent for reform and innovation she oversaw charter schools, innovation schools—which use the state’s Innovative Schools Act to make adjustments similar to the ones at Randolph—and performance schools, which are new schools created from the ground up. Waters was praised for her accomplishments in school reform during a special visit in 2009 by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and feted as a “transformational leader”

T

T

by Rocky Mountain PBS. In July 2010, she accepted a new job with DPS as instructional superintendent, guiding high school principals in becoming better leaders. “The two things that have the most impact on a student’s learning are the teacher and the school leader that supports that teacher,” she says. “If we don’t have excellent teachers and leaders, none of the other things are important.” Waters’ new mission underscores the fact that as much as anyone in DPS, she has come to symbolize school reform and the formula behind it: goals, high expectations, accountability and unwavering confidence in kids’ ability to achieve. “We didn’t put programs into place,” Waters, 46, says of her efforts at Randolph. “The programs weren’t it. We had high expectations and we supported them. Yeah, I know. Every school has high expectations. No, they don’t. At Bruce Randolph every kid went into AP language and composition. Every kid! Not only the kids who were prepared; every student went in. Now that’s a high expectation.” Teaching isn’t rocket science, she says to anyone willing to listen. And it isn’t sweeping changes and new laws. It’s figuring out where students are, building on that and not dumbing things down as you go along. “You keep pushing and you keep providing the support so they can be successful,” she says. Sounds simple, but stare into the byzantine world of public education and you don’t have to look far to find a labyrinth of process, crushing rules, resistance to change, conflicting messages, suspicion, anger, vested interests and enough edu-babble to qualify as a foreign tongue.

“We have our principal trainings and everyone talks the talk, but they can’t always go back and do it,” Waters complains. “They struggle with saying, ‘OK teachers, go look at your assessments, look at the results, group your students, see what they’re missing, teach that.’” Not much rocket science there. More like a primer on the mechanics of teaching, but an important piece that reformers such as Waters and Boasberg believe needs to be reinserted as broadly as possible while the chance is at hand. Pressure on Colorado schools to perform has come barreling down from the Obama administration in the form of the $3.4 billion that states are competing for in the Race to the Top school turn-around program, and Secretary Duncan has been aggressive in calling out everyone from teachers to the schools that train them. In May, teacher tenure reform took center stage in the Colorado Legislature, and Denver Public Schools Board of Education meetings often roil with sharp disagreements. Boasberg isn’t deterred. “That’s natural,” he told the Denver Board of Realtors in April. “Change is tough. But the status quo is unacceptable.” Which is why he has Waters on his team. “She does a great job at challenging the status quo in a determined and passionate way,” he says. “When Bruce Randolph was one of the worst schools in the state, she took it on. She said, ‘Here’s what I need,’ and it was the right request.’” Waters is the first to admit that innovative schools aren’t for everyone. She’s careful to counsel teachers who want greater control about what getting their wish really means. “Helping them do what they want to do pushes on schools in the system everywhere, and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable,” she says. The process requires urgency to get things done but also patience so no adult is left behind. “She wasn’t looking for perfect teachers,” recalls Greg Ahrnsbrak, high school physical education teacher at Bruce Randolph and the school’s union representative. “She was looking for teachers who were willing to get better and grow with their students.” But in a reasonable way. For years, Ahrnsbrak says, principals were under so much pressure to get students’ math scores up that they forced math into everything: physical education, art and all the electives. When Waters came in, Ahrnsbrak steeled himself for more of the same, politely asking how she wished him to work math into teaching volleyball. “Dr. Waters just looked at me and said, ‘Why would I want you to do that? That’s not your job.’” Ahrnsbrak was instantly impressed. “She didn’t know anything about PE, but she knew about teaching. She could break down the mechanics. I was amazed at the eye she had.” Five years later, if you ask Ahrnsbrak and other Randolph faculty members

W

what made Waters a great principal, you get a long list that begins with charisma, moves quickly to mentoring teachers and culminates in building morale. The litany goes on: Be direct and hold people accountable for the results—not the talk, the results. Have a plan and push it hard. Make decisions based on what’s best for the kids, not the adults. “You’ve got to be an administrator, building manager, PR person, do the books, be a disciplinarian—and most importantly, you’ve got to be an instructional leader,” says Ahrnsbrak, a 17-year DPS veteran. “How many people can wear all those hats? What we’re asking principals to do is really almost impossible.” Which is why institutions such as DU’s Morgridge College of Education focus on equipping graduates with the skills to make a difference in some of DPS’ roughest schools. The Morgridgebased Ritchie Program for School Leaders, which in May produced its seventh group of graduates, combines a heavy dose of internship with classroom courses to prepare principals for low-performing schools in Denver and Adams counties. Another initiative at Morgridge, the Denver Teacher Residency Program, this summer launched its second wave of students whose five-year track is aimed at developing skills for Denver’s high-needs classrooms. With the help of an $8.2 million federal grant, the program aims to produce 75 teachers a year when it hits its stride. “The relationships that were built through the Ritchie program paved the way for the Denver Teacher Residency,” says Morgridge Assistant Professor Susan Korach. “Denver wanted to be a true partner instead of a university saying, ‘No, this is our program and we’ll prepare your teachers.’ [DPS] knew that we believed in sharing the work.” Other DU programs also are helping meet DPS needs, including a Morgridge partnership with the Daniels College of Business to produce MBA students able to apply business expertise to public schools. Better include a course in herding cats, Waters quips. She fumes at how slow even effective steps can be and how urgent the needs are. “You only get one shot at these kids and then they’re gone,” she says, already thinking of how else DU might lend its educational legerdemain to DPS difficulties. Maybe expertise in continued mentoring, she muses—some ongoing way to help teachers get better and to make sure good teachers stay teachers instead of jumping into administration to advance their careers. “Once they’re trained, they’re dumped off in the schools and what happens to them?” she says. “Is the support we provide as a district meeting their needs? Sometimes, but a lot of times not.” Waters’ voice trails off as the wheels turn. She’s noodling a solution, working out a better way of looping back to DU the lessons of what’s working in DPS classrooms and what isn’t— where teachers and principals feel prepared and where they don’t. It’s school reform at its simplest: a dedicated educator reaching into a thicket of intellectual thorns for a good idea. “There needs to be ongoing dialogue,” Waters says decisively. She doesn’t have all the details yet, but she will. For now, it’s a matter of pushing hard, solving problems and not backing down. For the kids, she emphasizes. Always for the kids.
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

38

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

39

Professor Frank Ascione has discovered a disturbing link between domestic violence and animal abuse.

Give Me Shelter
F
rom his modest office in Craig Hall, home to DU’s Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW),

By Tamara Chapman Photography by Wayne Armstrong

A

Professor Frank Ascione thumbs through a volume of data about animal abuse in domestic violence settings. He points to a child’s drawing—a Noah’s ark of family pets. Here a chick, there a pup, here a hamster, there a kitten. The drawing depicts dearly departed family pets, casualties of cruelty and violence. The executive director of GSSW’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection, Ascione is one of the nation’s leading researchers on the dynamics of domestic violence, child abuse and animal maltreatment. His work is full of disturbing revelations, but one conclusion never ceases to shock: Animals are often used to control and manipulate abuse victims. Ascione sums it up this way: “Do what I say or the kitten gets it.”

psychologist by training, Ascione came to DU in summer 2009. He holds GSSW’s American Humane Endowed Chair, established to foster the emerging field of animal-assisted social work and to research the bond between humans and animals. Since arriving in Colorado, he has put his expertise to good use. In early 2010, he testified before the Colorado General Assembly in support of legislation ensuring that, in cases involving domestic violence, pets and livestock can be included in civil protection orders. A few weeks later, Gov. Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 80 into law, making Colorado one of a handful of states with such legislation on the books. For Linda Newell, the state senator who sponsored SB 80, Ascione’s testimony provided the evidence needed to convince skeptics. Colorado lawmakers, after all, are known for a Western-hued pragmatism that considers animals property and property rights sacred. “On the floor, I went up to people, starting to talk with them about the bill. I had a few just look at me and start to laugh,” Newell recalls. “‘Oh my gosh, now we’re having protection orders for pets. What kind of deal is that! I have better things to talk about.’” Then Ascione shared his research. To illustrate his data, he relayed a simple story, stripped of sensational details. He is careful not to traffic in what he calls “violence porn,” no matter how much the occasion begs for lavish adjectives and adverbs. The story went like this: An abused woman went to a shelter. She left her dog at home. Her husband smuggled an audiocassette tape to her—a recording of her dog being tortured. She packed her bags, she left the shelter, and they never saw her again. “You could have heard a pin drop,” says Newell, recalling the testimony. “What helps with legislators in committee is the data and the story,” she adds. “We looked for a story, and what was very difficult was finding a story where the survivor was willing to testify. They don’t want to relive it, they don’t want to go there mentally again, rehash it all. … When Dr. Ascione got up and gave his story about the woman, never to be seen again, never to be heard of again, that was exactly what we needed.” For Amy Miller, public policy director for the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a supporter of SB 80, Ascione’s research confirms the human toll of animal cruelty. “It’s a method used to intimidate, threaten or coerce a child or adult victim,” she says. “It sends a really clear message that, ‘You’re next. I will do this to this living being, and if you don’t do what I tell you to do … if you don’t come back to me, I will chop up the dog and send it to you in packages.’” “That,” she adds, “was an actual case.”
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

40

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

41

A

scione’s work on animal cruelty and domestic violence began more than 20 years ago at Utah State University, where he served on the psychology faculty. While evaluating materials related to humane education—a concept that aims to increase compassion—he was asked by an animal welfare advocate for some insight into children who are cruel to animals. He couldn’t offer much. “Except for some psychoanalytic clinical literature, which was primarily case-study literature, I couldn’t find anything in child psychology that focused on this phenomenon,” he recalls. Curious, Ascione launched a research project to explore the issue. His first efforts yielded few results, largely because his methodology proved unwieldy. Then he began comparing data from the general population with information gathered from special populations. Within the general population, he learned, only about 5 percent of parents reported that their children engaged in some form of animal cruelty. The percentage increased among children served by mental health clinics. “It jumped to 20 percent to 25 percent,” he says. “But it still was a low-frequency behavior, comparable to vandalism or fire-setting.” Ascione and his research team kept probing. “We decided in order to study this phenomenon more effectively, we probably should look to environments where the likelihood of this behavior is higher.” They began with juvenile detention facilities and residential treatment programs focused on mental health issues. They hit pay dirt once they began interviewing a handful of children who had accompanied their mothers to domestic violence shelters.

“In some instances, the abuse was purposefully done in front of the children. The children were made to watch.”
“What we found in this very preliminary study,” Ascione explains, “was that many of the children at the domestic violence shelters not only engaged in animal abuse themselves, but they were exposed to often horrific animal abuse, perpetrated by their mothers’ partners, whether it was a father or stepfather or boyfriend.” Ascione then launched a small-scale study of 38 women entering a shelter in Utah. “One of the basic questions we asked was, ‘Do you have pets?’ because I could find no data on the demographics of pet ownership among women entering shelters for intimate partner violence,” he says. “We discovered that 74 percent of the women had companion animals in their homes. And that’s comparable to the national statistics on pet ownership in families where there are school-age children. It’s between 70 and 90 percent. It’s typically the highest pet-owning demographic in the country.” Through a series of follow-up questions, Ascione and his team attempted to discover whether these pets had been harmed, threatened or killed by the women’s partners. “We were startled by the number of women who said yes to the question,” he says. Troubled and intrigued, Ascione went on to study 100 petowning women at five different Utah shelters. This time he recruited a comparison group of another 100 women, all of whom

had pets and all of whom reported that their adult relationships were violence-free. Of the comparison group, Ascione says, 5 percent said they had pets that had been harmed or killed. Of the shelter women, 54 percent reported that a pet had met a similar fate. By this time, Ascione’s research was attracting international attention. “That study,” he says, “served as the basis for a study in Australia, where a doctoral student at Monash University asked to use the same assessment instrument that I developed.” She also focused on 200 women—100 from domestic violence centers and 100 from a comparison group. In the latter group, not one woman reported that she had had a pet harmed or killed, but of the domestic abuse victims, 53 percent claimed their pets had experienced violence or cruelty. “Very, very similar results,” Ascione notes. “Different country, different culture in some ways, but it just confirmed that this was not an isolated phenomenon. It wasn’t a Utah phenomenon—this was something that probably is more pervasive.” Another finding from Ascione’s studies suggested that the phenomenon had alarming repercussions for children. More than 60 percent of the children in shelters whose families had pets had been exposed to animal abuse. “In some instances, the abuse was purposefully done in front of the children. The children were made to watch. It’s very clear from the examples that these women shared with us that these were not accidental episodes of animal abuse. … In some cases these were methodical ways of frightening and terrorizing members of the family.”

It wasn’t uncommon for an abuser to buy a child an animal, wait for the attachment to form and then kill the animal, sometimes with the child watching. A few weeks later, the scenario would play out again. “We don’t know yet what those repeated experiences of loss and replacement, loss and replacement, might do to a child in terms of their attitudes toward living things,” Ascione says, noting that some survivors develop acute empathy, while others go on to become abusers themselves. If that finding wasn’t horrifying enough, Ascione also learned that the presence of pets in the house often kept domestic violence victims from seeking help. Of those women who had reported that their pets had been harmed or threatened, 34 percent said concern for their pets kept them from going to a shelter. “More than one in three said this was an obstacle to getting to safety sooner than they did,” Ascione says. Count Angela McMahan among them. Several years ago, on an evening when her husband’s violence escalated beyond endurance, McMahan checked into a hotel to sit out the fury. Unfortunately, she found little peace at the inn. That’s because she worried all night about the scene back home, where her husband remained with her two best friends— sisters Jessie and Jasmine, the tail-wagging offspring of a retriever mom and a black-Lab dad. “To hurt me,” she explains of her exhusband’s motives, “they ended up being hurt.” McMahan returned home and stayed with her husband for more of the same—more emotional abuse and more violence. Then one day, she recalls, “I literally woke up facedown in the garage in a

Defining animal abuse
Philip Tedeschi, clinical director of the Graduate School of Social Work’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection, knows exactly how much animals mean to people. “We have, in this country, probably 70 million people who have dogs. There’s no health care plan that has that many people in it. We have more children who will grow up with a companion animal this year than with a father,” he says. Armed with a $200,000 grant from the Animal Assistance Foundation, Tedeschi aims to honor that bond by improving the way society deals with animal abuse. Along the way, he hopes to make a difference in the lives of humans as well. Working with Frank Ascione—the institute’s executive director—and project manager Jim Pyle, Tedeschi is spearheading work on the twoyear LINK project, named for the connection between violence to people and violence to animals. The project calls for a detailed examination of how first responders and other professionals handle animal abuse cases, from inception to final disposition. “We have many calls for investigation and very few that get formally addressed,” Tedeschi explains. “We might see thousands of animal cruelty investigations, but very few of them come to the attention of the criminal justice system or the courts. We’re interested in why that happens.” Tedeschi suspects that the failure to reach resolution on so many abuse cases stems from systems problems. Too many agencies and professionals lack a structured way of defining, identifying and addressing abuse. “In the early days of domestic violence intervention, there was a phenomenon that was quite similar to this. You had a high prevalence of domestic calls and officers needing to make a determination on site as to what was happening and how to resolve the situation,” Tedeschi says. “The result was that many of these cases never ended up getting identified as family violence or intimate partner violence.” In 2009–10, the first year of the study, the research team delved into how animal abuse cases are addressed by the many different professions likely to encounter them. These include animal control officers, law enforcement professionals, veterinarians, child welfare workers and animal shelter workers. The problems these professionals face became immediately apparent. Take the task confronting an animal control officer. “These officers have to try to distinguish which cases warrant a more significant criminal justice response, which are appropriate to get a summons or a ticket, and which just get a warning,” Tedeschi says. To make decisions easier, it helps to have data, much the way criminal justice professionals and social workers have data about, say, sex offenders. Someone who flashes a passerby is not in the same category as someone who molests a child. “Already we know that we probably have in the neighborhood of at least 10 distinct types of animal abuse profiles,” Tedeschi says. The categories run the gamut from hoarders who simply can’t care for the dozens of critters they’ve collected to psychopaths who torture animals. In the project’s second year, the LINK team aims to establish best practices to support investigations and interventions. “We’re not just trying to gather data,” Tedeschi says. “What we’re trying to do is embed practices within the unique disciplines’ own standards of training and professional competencies so that they become institutionalized as a practice.” Here’s what that might look like. Say a child welfare worker is called to investigate a particular household. She should know, Tedeschi says, “to look at the health of the animals, at whether there’s evidence of abuse or fear in those animals. … That’s relevant on a lot of levels—one being the animal’s welfare, which is in and of itself a worthy cause.” Should the child welfare worker see signs of animal maltreatment, that may help trigger an intervention—even if there are no signs of child abuse. As Tedeschi notes, “Kids see animals in their homes as members of their family. If we have kids who are growing up in a home where a member of their family is chronically starved, chronically beaten, chronically neglected or targeted, this is a tremendous level of family violence.”
—Tamara Chapman

42

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

43

pool of my own blood. … I don’t know how long I was out.” She called an emergency shelter, hoping to find respite for herself and the dogs. The overextended facilities had barely enough room for another human victim, but they certainly couldn’t accommodate two large pets. “As a matter of fact,” she recalls, “I was told to leave them, just leave them and get out. That obviously wasn’t an option for me. … I just wasn’t going to leave them.” McMahan didn’t leave them, but she did begin making plans to escape the “’til death do us part” clause of her nuptial vows. By the time her divorce became final two years later, the three survivors had their share of battle scars. “We all left with a limp,” she says.

49 51 53 54 58

Reunion recap Quotable notes Book bin Pioneer pics Announcements

A

fter Ascione began sharing his data and recounting similar stories at national conferences, he started fielding phone calls from animal welfare and domestic violence agencies. They wanted to know how to establish programs for all the victims of domestic violence. “I’m the ivory tower person, the number cruncher,” Ascione says, “but what I realized was that if people are calling Frank Ascione for advice about this topic, there must be a void in information.” To remedy that, Ascione sought a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to interview 41 organizations addressing the issue. Half were animal-welfare organizations, half were domestic violence agencies. His goal was to answer, in one handy volume, the major questions associated with operating programs for humans and animals. What legal issues must be resolved to accommodate people and pets? What screening tools work best? What costs are associated with the enterprise? “My rationale was, why should each agency have to reinvent the wheel?” Ascione says. The entire print run of Ascione’s resulting handbook, Safe Havens for Pets: Guidelines for Programs Sheltering Pets for Women Who Are Battered, was mailed to every domestic violence agency in the country. Today, the book is out of print but a PDF is posted at The Zero (www.vachss.com), a website maintained by Andrew Vacchs, a child protection attorney and consultant. (The book also can be downloaded at www.humananimalconnection.org.) The resource has played a significant role in expanding services nationwide. In fact, Ascione says, information collected by the Denver-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence indicates that pet-sheltering programs are increasing substantially. “The last we heard, from the 2008 directory, was that over 700 or 800 agencies have some kind of pet-sheltering program available,” Ascione says. “I suspect had they done that survey in 1998, it would have been only a handful of agencies.” To give this momentum an adrenaline boost, the American Humane Association, which supports human-animal bond research at GSSW, launched its Pets and Women’s Shelters program in February 2008. Known as PAWS, the program aims to help shelters incorporate accommodations for animals, whether on site or in partnership with animal welfare and fostering agencies. In spring 2010, PAWS took its campaign to the general public by pursuing grant money from Pepsi’s Refresh Project, a widely
University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

Angela McMahan’s shelter, Arising Hope, is a safe haven for abused women and their pets.

publicized promotion that urges consumers to vote for the initiatives they consider most worthy. To garner public support for its grant bid, the association tweeted about the campaign on its Twitter feed, talked it up on Facebook and posted an educational YouTube clip featuring pop singer and former American Idol judge Paula Abdul. As domestic violence and animal-welfare advocates see it, this kind of publicity could translate into much-needed awareness and assistance. One day, they hope, no woman will need to subject herself to danger because she’s worried about a pet.

T

oday, more than two years after she divorced her husband, Angela McMahan operates Arising Hope, a domestic violence shelter she founded with women like her in mind. It welcomes pets—big dogs, little dogs, antisocial cats and assorted damaged critters suffering from post-traumatic stress. “We all cohabitate, the pets and the people,” she says. In its first year, Arising Hope offered beds to 19 women, five children, two teens and four pets. In its second year, the numbers jumped to 23 women, 15 children, four teens and 11 pets. One of the cats living at Arising Hope even bequeathed the shelter a litter of kittens. It’s not always a peaceable kingdom—sometimes a little fur flies—but for the survivors seeking safety at Arising Hope, it represents a second chance at a normal life. For Ascione, the emergence of shelters like Arising Hope and the passage of legislation like SB 80 represent a scholar’s dream come true. What could be better than seeing data put to work? “Sometimes I’m asked, ‘How do you do this?’” he says, “and my only answer is, it has been so satisfying to see research findings translated into programs that promote human welfare.”

DU Archives

The Homecoming queen hopefuls of 1968 pose for a portrait. Homecoming this year is Oct. 14–17. If you can tell us more about this image or have any Homecoming photos of your own to share, please let us know.

Watch a video about DU’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection at www.du.edu/ magazine

44

University of Denver Magazine Connections

45

The classes
1941
Barbara Jo (Floto) Jacks (attd. CWC 1941–42) left the Women’s College to work as a secretary in the security department of a Denver Montgomery Ward store. In 1943 she moved to Wendover, Utah, to marry Master Sgt. Robert Jacks. The couple moved to Denver in 1946 and lived there for 60 years. Barbara has two daughters and now lives in SunnyBrook Assisted Living in Fairfield, Iowa, where her roommate is Twila (Heston) Cebulski (BA ’45). The two have kept in touch for 68 years.

on the Western Slope and its environmental effects. Previously, two of Elizabeth’s plays were chosen for the annual Roaring Fork Playwriting series and were given full performances in Aspen in 1985 and 1986. Elizabeth is married to former Denver attorney Maxwell Aley; she has four children and four grandchildren. Twila (Heston) Cebulski (BA ’45) has two children and seven grandchildren. With her husband, Stan, who worked for AT&T, she spent many years in New York City. Twila now lives in SunnyBrook Assisted Living in Fairfield, Iowa, where her roommate is Barbara Jo (Floto) Jacks (attd. CWC 1941–42).

1949

Patricia (Tool) McHugh (BF ’49) of Sacramento, Calif., had her watercolor paintings on display at Park Fine Art in Sacramento. The show, An Aquarian Connection, ran April 1–May 10, 2010.

1963

1951

1942

Roberta (Bivans) Winn (BS ’42) of Woodland Park, Colo., is a retired Denver Public Library librarian. She now works for a nonprofit that assists senior citizens. Barbara shared her memories of Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. A librarianship student at the time, Roberta remembers hearing the news on the radio with her classmates.

Elizabeth (Berg) Aley (BA ’45) of Paonia, Colo., wrote the one-act play Paradox Colorado, which was given a staged reading in Aspen, Colo., in December 2009. The Hudson Reed Ensemble read the play, which deals with the proliferation of gas drilling

1957

Classified information
In hopes of helping DU graduates market their businesses to one another and find service providers within the University community, the Alumni Relations office is creating a classified ads section as part of the ePioneer alumni network. Interested alumni can join the online network and place an ad describing the services they offer. The new section comes in response to alumni requests for a resource for reaching out to other DU graduates. “We would like to enhance the brand that ‘Pioneers hire Pioneers,’” says Cynthia Hyman, associate director of alumni career programs. By signing up to join the classifieds section, alums also will become part of the Professional Network, a mentoring service that allows them to become a career resource for students and other alumni. With approximately 625 people currently involved in the Professional Network, the Alumni Relations office anticipates the classifieds section will increase the occurrence of DU graduates networking together and ultimately working with one another. “We just want you to reconnect,” Hyman says. “We hope you value your degree, and we want you to know we still value you.” >>www.alumni.du.edu
—Deidre Helton

Chuck Yim Gee (BSBA ’57) of Honolulu, Hawaii, has been reappointed to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents for a five-year term from 2010–15. The autonomous body of 15 regents oversees a statewide system of 10 campuses with an enrollment of more than 58,000 students. In September 2009 Chuck’s textbook World of Resorts: From Development to Management was published by the AH&LA Educational Institute.

Rexford Thompson (MSW ’64) and Joyce Thompson (MSW ’61) moved to Key Biscayne, Fla., in October 2009 to be closer to their youngest daughter and family in Coral Gables.

1969

1960

Richard Hupp (BS ’60) of South Bend, Ind., received the distinguished service award from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. Richard worked in rubber product manufacturing for 45 years. He and his wife, Gini, have six children and eight grandchildren.

Deborah (Becker) Pignatelli (BA ’69) of Nashua, N.H., has served on the governor’s executive council in New Hampshire since 2005. She was a state senator from 1992– 2002. She has two sons, Adam and Ben.

1971

Joanne Aaronson (BA ’71) of Reston, Va., is an intuitive life coach through her own company, Life Transformation LLC. In December 2009 she was ordained as a spiritual, nondenominational minister to help individuals in corporate America find balance and

Wayne Armstrong

1945

Barbara (Peters) French (BA ’47) of Anaheim, Calif., has taught creative writing for the North Orange County Community College District for the past 18 years. She was named teacher of the year in 2003. She spent 11 years acting on radio shows at KLZ-CBS in Denver before getting married and moving to California. In 2009 she published Someday Street, a novelized memoir about growing up in Denver during the Great Depression. Barbara has two sons, three granddaughters and two greatgranddaughters.

1947

JoAnn (Corbett) Huff (BA ’51) of Albuquerque, N.M., founded the Kiwanis Club of Albuquerque’s annual Christmas toy drive for children in need. A former schoolteacher, JoAnn also is a greeter at the Albuquerque International Sunport and an usher at the Albuquerque Little Theater. She has worked on the New Mexico arts commission and numerous boards and governor’s panels. She received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women in 1990 and the lifetime achievement award from the New Mexico Commission of the Status of Women in 2004.

Marlow Ediger (EdD ’63) of North Newton, Kan., will have his biography included in the 2010 edition of Who’s Who in the World. He recently published articles or has articles forthcoming in Reading Improvement, the Journal of Virginia Science Education, Montana Mathematics, Hawaii Mathematics Teacher, College Student Journal and Education. Marlow was reappointed as a member of the editorial board of Edutracks, a professional educational journal published in India.

Innkeepers Jim and Diane Peiker
Just as the castles of yore protected their inhabitants from enemies, Castle Marne protects its guests from the hectic, technology-tweaked pace of modern life. There are no cell phones ringing here, no televisions blaring, no computer cursors blinking, begging you to type what’s on your mind. Instead there is a grandfather clock softly chiming the hours, aging photos and knickknacks inviting your unhurried perusal, thick walls blocking out the noise of the traffic outside, and a jigsaw puzzle in the sunlit tower, where guests can while away an afternoon matching colors and shapes, no high-speed connection or electrical outlet needed. “We wanted to take the house back to the way it was and really create a storied experience for folks who come to stay,” says Jim Peiker (BSBA ’57), who bought the dilapidated 1889 building in Denver’s City Park West neighborhood in 1988 and spent five months turning it into a bed-and-breakfast inn. Peiker and his wife, Diane (Carpenter) (BA ’57), run the nine-room inn with their daughter, Melissa, son-in-law, Louie, and three grandchildren, ages 11, 14 and 15. Jim and Diane live in the carriage house right behind the castle; Melissa, Louie and the grandkids live six blocks away. “Everybody cooks, everybody cleans, everybody does all of the jobs,” Peiker says. “It’s a three-generation family business.” It was in another American recession that the Peikers first hatched the dream of owning their own bed and breakfast. “My daughter and I were both out of work—this was ’87, ’88—quite literally we were standing in the unemployment line,” Peiker says. “We looked at each other and said, ‘There’s got to be something better than this.’” They looked into restaurants, bars, copy shops and oil-change centers, but they kept coming back to the bed-and-breakfast concept. And once they discovered Castle Marne, they were hooked. It took six months to pull the financing together and almost as long to renovate the mansion, but the Peikers imbued the house with a Victorian-era charm that keeps visitors coming back. For Peiker, the real magic of Castle Marne is the community it creates. Strangers around the breakfast table often become friends, he says, and the couple has seen many of the same faces coming back to stay, year after year. “I joke about the whole concept of six degrees of separation; around here we only have about three,” he says. “It’s fascinating the way that everything fits together.” >>www.castlemarne.com
—Greg Glasgow

1964

1954

Harry Gee (MM ’54) of Terre Haute, Ind., is a music professor emeritus at Indiana State University. His wind orchestrations of works by Beethoven and von Weber have been performed by the Brazil, Indiana, Concert Band. Harry has music published by Ludwig-Masters and Kendor Music.

Mary Peace Finley (BA ’64) of Boulder, Colo., is an award-winning children’s book author. Her latest book, The Midnight Ride of Blackwell Station (Filter Press, 2010), is a book of historical fiction that follows the actual events of May 1886, when Blackwell Station in southeastern Colorado was hijacked, moved three miles and set down in a spot that overnight became the town of Lamar, Colo. Mary has worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language and as a scriptwriter for the PBS nature series “Marty Stouffer’s Wild America.” Her four previous historical young-adult novels set in southeastern Colorado have earned her the Top Hand Award from the Colorado Authors League, the Colorado Book Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award from the Publishers Marketing Association and the EVVY Book Award.

46

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Connections

47

harmony. She also founded Josan Press to support her inspirational writing; its first release was The Circle of Life: A Journey Through Grief to Understanding. James Hudspeth (BA ’71) moved to Taylor Falls, Minn., in 1974 to teach special education. He met and married his wife, Christine, in 1976; they have two children, Ira and Erin. James has been volunteering in schools since he retired in 1985. He is a 100-percent-disabled Vietnam War veteran and remembers the turbulent times at DU during the war.

Ted Zerwin (MSW ’71) of Westminster, Colo., published Managing and Raising Money That is Not Your Own: Financial Management and Fundraising in Non-Profit Organizations (Vandeplas Publishing, 2009). The book draws on Ted’s 25 years as president and CEO of the Arthritis Foundation’s Rocky Mountain chapter. Ted is an associate clinical professor in DU’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies.

Jerry Wartgow (PhD ’72) of Golden, Colo., has been named interim chancellor of the University of Colorado-Denver. Jerry previously served as superintendent of Denver Public Schools, head of the Colorado community colleges system and interim dean of DU’s Morgride College of Education.

1972

Michael Ruddy (BSBA ’72) authored Conflicts With Interest (Rodeo Publishing, 2010), a thriller set in the world of homebuilding and construction. Michael spent 40 years in the construction business, and his experiences inspired many of the events of the story. He lives in Boulder, Colo., with his wife, five children, dog and horses.

Dinah Lewis (BSBA ’73, JD ’81) was named the new chief financial officer and director of the Finance and Administrative Services Department for Broward County, Fla. She previously spent 10 years in private law practice in Denver and served as director of administrative services for Lee County, Fla.

1973

Margaret “Bunny” Nicholson (MSW ’73) of Denver was recognized by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter for her work helping abused and neglected children. Bunny’s 41-year career includes work as a child protective services caseworker, supervisor, therapist, trainer, researcher and program director, including a stint as director of the Family Center, a national child abuse and neglect demonstration project. Ritter conferred the recognition in his office on April 29, 2010, with Bunny’s colleagues, family and friends in attendance.

Reunion recap
James Beverly

1975

Storyteller Caroline Stutson
As she was writing her latest children’s book, Cat’s Night Out (Simon & Schuster, 2010), Caroline Stutson (BA ’62) didn’t give much thought to the poor fellow who would end up illustrating the thing. “In my mind I had all these cats with flip-flops and all these costumes, and I never thought how hard that would be for an illustrator—to have 20 cats dancing,” she says with a laugh. Born from Stutson’s love of cats, dancing and New York City, the picture book is a counting tale that tells the story of what 20 footloose felines get up to once the human beings have gone to bed in the Big Apple. “Traditional [counting books] are often from one up to 10 and sometimes back down again to one,” Stutson says. “But I wanted to think of something different, so I made this one counting by twos going up to 20. Each time a couple of cats come out and they go through the samba and the waltz and the boogie and the twist—there are 10 different dances that the cats are doing in the middle of the night in the city.” Stutson has been writing picture books for kids since 1993; her titles include By the Light of the Halloween Moon (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1993), Pirate Pup (Chronicle Books, 2005), Night Train (Roaring Brook Press, 2002) and Cowpokes (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1999). She says she had at least 100 rejections before she finally sold her first book. “[A literary agent] came to Denver for a conference, and I sent her some things in advance,” Stutson says. “She handed them all back to me at lunch and said, ‘There’s one poem in here that I like, and if you could turn it into a book I could sell it.’ I think I stayed up all night doing that, and that was my first published book.” A theater major with a minor in education, Stutson honed her storytelling skills as a kindergarten teacher, owner of her own puppet show business and a member of the Littleton, Colo., chapter of Spellbinders, a volunteer group that tells stories to children. “It’s been fun, and it keeps me in touch with which stories work and which don’t,” she says of her Spellbinders service. “I don’t tell my own stories, but I tell adaptations of books. I think kids are just great, and especially when they’re young, they’re so excited about everything—if you can get their attention at that age, my hope is that they’re going to be readers for the rest of their lives.” >>www.carolinestutson.info
—Greg Glasgow

Phil Goodstein (MA ’75) of Denver published The Ghosts of University Park, Platt Park, and Beyond (New Social Publications, 2010), a history book about the University’s influence on Denver’s social, political, economic and legal life and ghost sightings in buildings including Mary Reed and the Chamberlin Observatory. Phil is a well-known Denver historian who has written several books on area history. M. Emily Miller (BA ’75, MA ’79) has lived in Santa Fe, N.M., Missoula, Mont., and Moab, Utah (where she currently resides), since her days at DU. She has worked primarily in Africa since 2000, doing agribusiness, trade and marketing development. She hopes to hear from her classmates of 1975. Nancy (Cook) Spade (BA ’75, MA ’76) is a second-grade teacher in Pacific Grove, Calif. She has two college-aged children, Matt and Anna.

Courtesy of Caroline Stutson

1976

Pat Ferullo Halperin (MSW ’76), who has retired from private practice, lived aboard a ship called the Reflection for 2½ years with her husband, “Captain Ray.” Their travels took them from Maine to Key West with visits to Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake, then on to the Bahamas. The couple has traded that lifestyle for “cruising on land” in an RV. Heraldo Muñoz (MA ’76, PhD ’79) of New York City has been appointed the assistant secretary-general and assistant administrator and director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme.

Doris Finnie-Shade (BA ’41) remembers paying her tuition when she was a student at the University of Denver in the late 1930s—$75 per quarter. “But that kind of money was just as hard to come by as $25,000 or whatever it is today,” said FinnieShade, one of about 300 alumni, faculty and staff who gathered June 4 for the Emeritus Tea, an annual celebration in which alumni who return to DU for Ernest Moore (BS ’60) and Joan Moore their 50-year class reunion are inducted into Pioneer Alumni Legends (PALS), a group for alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago. And Finnie-Shade recalled dancing—between classes. Yes, organized dancing, sometimes as early as 10 a.m. “We’d dance upstairs in the student union building—it was on Evans back then, it’s burned down now. There’d be between 50 and 100 of us up there dancing and having a grand Roger Poulson (BS ’50) and Peter Firmin, professor emeritus time. That’s where I met my second in the Daniels College of Business husband,” said Finnie-Shade, who was the first female editor of the DU yearbook. LeRoy Marx (BA ’49, MA ’52) didn’t get to attend those dances. When he was a student, Marx said, DU’s student union building was a makeshift room in the basement of the Carnegie Library. “About all you could do was get a drink and a sandwich,” he said. “And upstairs there was a little room that was the bookstore, nothing at all like the one we have today. That one is really nice.” Several alumni recalled DU being much different before World War II than after. “Before the war it was a playhouse; we frolicked,” said Gwendolyn Scott (BFA ’48, MA ’68), who remembers playing touch football in intramural sports. “The art club, the Daubers, we had a fine time. But after the war, when the GIs came, school got a lot more serious, and we started studying more.” Marvin Meyers (BA ’56, MA ’59) recalled working for $1 an hour in the maintenance department. “I installed heating units and threaded pipe, all kinds of things,” Meyers said. “But DU was a great school for me. It was a place to think, to learn, to analyze, and it taught me how to assist others.” Meyers has spent much of his career advocating for people with disabilities and veterans and still talks with Colorado legislators about issues affecting both groups. Perhaps it was people like Meyers that Chancellor Robert Coombe had in mind when he told the group that DU sets students off on “a path of purpose and significance.” “I know all of us can point to DU alumni who have changed lives,” Coombe said. “The measure of a university is its alumni, and we’ve graduated some extraordinary individuals.”
—Doug McPherson

James Beverly

48

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Connections

49

Roy Wilson (MA ’76, MS ’83) wrote a paper, “The Third Way of Agent-based Social Simulation and a Computational Account of Emergence,” that is slated for publication in the peer-reviewed online Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation.

the NEA and the NEH. His feature film Mana: Beyond Belief premiered at the Lincoln Center in New York in 2005 and has won awards at several film festivals. He is married to writer and photographer Theadora Brack. David Molden (BS ’77) of Denver received the 2009 Scientist of the Year award from the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research. David is deputy director general for research at the International Water Management Institute. The award recognized his leadership in bringing the issue of water scarcity to prominence in the policy arena worldwide. David has had long-term assignments in Egypt, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Lesotho and Botswana and short-

term assignments in China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico and South Africa. Melanie (Livengood) Tem (MSW ’75) is director of the Waiting Child Program at Adoption Alliance, a nonprofit child placement agency in Denver. She also has a second career as a writer. Her short story collection In Concert (written in collaboration with her husband, Steve Rasnic Tem) was published in spring 2010 by Centipede Press, and her play Comfort Me With Peaches was produced in May at the Academy Theater in Meadville, Pa. Melanie also is a professional storyteller. The Tems have four adult children and four granddaughters.

1979

1977

David Ballentine (PhD ’79) of Overland Park, Kan., published Gunbird Driver: A Marine Huey Pilot’s War in Vietnam (Naval Institute Press, 2010), in which he recalls his experiences as a young pilot flying an armed UH-1E with Marine Observation Squadron Six in Vietnam. Craig Runde (MLL ’79) of Saint Petersburg, Fla., is the author of Developing Your Conflict Competence (Jossey-Bass, 2010), the third book in his series on leadership and conflict management. Other titles in the series include Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader and Building Conflict Competent Teams. Jack Weinberg (BSBA ’79) of Glencoe, Ill., was honored in May for his support of the Loyola University Health System. Jack received the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service for his philanthropic support, advocacy, community outreach and volunteerism on behalf of the health system. Jack and his wife, Sheila, founded Pro Consulting Associates Ltd., a business consulting firm in Glencoe.

Roger Manley (attd. ’77) is the director of the Gregg Museum of Art and Design at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He has worked as a curator for more than 40 other institutions, including the Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland and the Illinois State Museum. A photographer, filmmaker and writer, Roger has received fellowships from

Lorie Bohm Klumb (MSW ’82) is manager of volunteer services at Denver’s PSL/Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. Lorie also serves on the planning committee for Metropolitan State College of Denver’s new MSW program, which is slated to begin in fall 2011. Lorie served on DU’s Graduate School of Social Work staff from 1997–2009, most recently as director of outreach.

Quotable notes
Thank you to everyone who responded to the spring issue’s question of the hour: What was your favorite on- or off-campus eatery and why? “There wasn’t much eating out going on for me when I was at DU, but I have fond memories of a few meals at Canino’s and an occasional swing by Rocky Built.” Caroline MacLachlan Stutson (BA ’62) Littleton, Colo. “Chipotle was my favorite restaurant because those big old burritos satisfied even the most ravenous hunger! I’m so happy that Chipotle has made its way to the East Coast. Every Chipotle has a picture titled ‘Chipotle #1— Evans Avenue’ hanging near the counter. I smile every time I see it!” Allison (Noblett) Coyne (BA ’98) Alexandria, Va. “Pete’s—great breakfast meetings with fellow students.” Suzanne Peters Payne (MSW ’94) Lafayette, Colo.

1984

Nancy Sarchet (MSW ’84) of Platteville, Colo., retired in May after 25 years working in public education. A past president of her school board, she also served on the executive committee of the Colorado Association of School Boards.

Cinematographer Robert Smith
Today he’s a seven-time Emmy winner who’s well-known for his work on TV shows and commercials, but Robert Smith (BA ’85) didn’t always want a career in show business. He started at DU as a music major but changed his mind and decided to study film and video instead. He graduated with a degree in mass communications and a minor in art. As a child, Smith admired his father, a weekend nature photographer who built his 9-year-old son his own darkroom. Smith started a photography program at his middle school, then discovered his love for cinematography in high school. “I realized as I got older that I didn’t care for the introverted process of still photography,” he says. While at DU, Smith produced a documentary about the University’s theater department. He also wrote movie reviews for the Clarion. He met the Denver Broncos photography staff and landed a filming job with the team, where he captured John Elway’s first year as a Bronco. “These were pre-video days,” Smith explains. “Frame by frame, coaches would analyze plays until the film broke or melted.” From there, Smith interned with a motion picture and television rental house. A few years later he started his own business, Lightsmith Electrical and Grip Co. By the 1990s, Lightsmith had become Colorado’s second-largest lighting rental company, thanks to Smith’s advocacy for local film production. But Lightsmith doesn’t limit itself to local projects; the company supplies equipment to production companies all over the world. Smith’s resumé is heavy on TV commercials—he has partnered with the Colorado Lottery, Denver Film Festival, cable channel Encore and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few. He even filmed a series of commercials for John Hickenlooper’s first mayoral campaign. Smith has seven Emmy Awards for his work on local and national television commercials. Despite his expertise with commercials, Smith still has the movie bug. He served as director of photography on the 2007 independent feature Skills Like This, which was filmed in Denver and won the Audience Award at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The movie follows a young man who decides to quit writing and start robbing banks. According to Smith, “It’s about a bunch of affable screwups.” Smith moved to Los Angeles with his family in January 2000. He has worked on TV shows for Comedy Central and Animal Planet, as well as on commercials for American Crew hair products and K-Swiss shoes. Although he spent years educating himself in video production, Smith sees his success as a result of his ambition. “I learned early on that education is a very important part of one’s personal growth,” Smith says. “But it’s what you do with your knowledge and talents that helps you succeed in life. I still enjoy what I do for a living after 30 years.”
—Elizabeth Fritzler

1985

1981

David Black (MBA ’81) of Spokane, Wash., is a real estate executive with Black Realty Inc. He stays busy raising two boys and participating in sports including skiing and swimming.

Rebecca Woulfe (BFA ’85) of Lakewood, Colo., is the founder and CEO of Acadium Inc., an educational technology company that has found ways to harness the power of the cell phone for use in education. Rebecca and her team have designed a system that uses the cell phone as an audience response device so learners or seminar attendees can actively participate in the class or seminar.

1986

Mark Ward (MBA ’81) of Newton, Iowa, has been appointed vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at the University of Dubuque. Mark previously was the associate provost of Trinity Christian College.

1982

Naomi Nakano-Matsumoto (MSW ’86) of Sunnyvale, Calif., was selected as California’s 11th state senate district’s woman of the year for 2009. A social services advocate for 27 years, Naomi has served since 2005 as executive director of West Valley Community Services, a nonprofit that provides food, shelter and emergency assistance to more than 4,000 local residents annually. Naomi also serves on the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits leadership team, the Housing and Community Development Advisory Commission of Santa Clara County and the United Way Silicon Valley board of directors, and she is the director at Midori Kai, a professional organization for Japanese-American women.

Courtesy of Robert Smith

“The original Chipotle. Back then the burritos were muy grande!” Reid Husmer (BSBA ’96) Littleton, Colo. “Len and Bill’s, because beer and good company was always there.” Nancy (Cook) Spade (BA ’75, MA ’76) Pacific Grove, Calif.

Diane Keller (MSW ’82) was promoted to senior campaign manager of the Steier Group, a national fundraising and development firm based in Omaha, Neb., that specializes in feasibility studies and capital campaigns. Diane works out of the Steier Group’s Denver office and has managed numerous projects including church, high school and community projects. Before joining the Steier Group in 2005, Diane served as a medic in the U.S. Army and spent 16 years working in development with Catholic churches in Denver.

1987

Carol Harvey (MBA ’87) of Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., is the executive secretary of the Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs. She acts as a liaison between native tribes and the state of Colorado. Carol previously was an energy attorney in Santa Fe, N.M. Grayson Hoberg (MBA ’87) is the chief executive officer of Dakota Prairie Organic Flour Company in Harvey, N.D. His company makes 70 flours from 40 different grains,
University of Denver Magazine Connections

50

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

51

specializing in organic and gluten-free flours. The company has been operating since 2004 but expanded in 2009 with an $11 million facility and equipment investment. Hoberg runs Dakota Prairie with his brother, Eric. Alan Willenbrock (MBA ’87) is vice president and financial adviser for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Tucson, Ariz. He has more than 24 years of experience in the financial services profession. Alan has been a member of a number of professional and civic organizations, including the Greater Arizona Development Authority. He was recognized in 2004 as a leader of the global investment profession by the CFA Institute.

1989

Jingyi Song (MA ’89) is an associate professor of history and philosophy at State University of New York at Old Westbury. Her book Shaping and Reshaping Chinese American Identity: New York’s Chinese During the Depression and World War II was published in 2010 by Lexington Books. Gary Turner (MA ’89) of Soldotna, Alaska, has been confirmed by the Alaska state legislature for a second three-year term on the State of Alaska Select Committee on Legislative Ethics. Gary also chairs the senate ethics subcommittee. He is the college director and CEO of Kenai Peninsula College, a unit of the University of Alaska.

flight commander (director) of the Mental Health Clinic at Peterson Air Force Base. Previously, Steve served as program director for domestic violence programs, director of mental health clinics, director of drug and alcohol abuse programs, deputy director of a college counseling center at the Air Force Academy, director of a family support center and executive officer for a general officer. But the biggest challenge of the past 19 years was beating the odds of surviving two rounds of surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2004 and then learning daily life over again.

Book bin
Harry MacLean (JD ’67) wrote The Past is Never Dead: The Trial of James Ford Seale and Mississippi’s Struggle for Redemption (Basic Civitas Books, 2009) with history and the present day in mind. Contemporary racial conflicts heavily influenced his nonfiction legal drama, which carefully examines concepts of justice and humanity in the Deep South. The story is a detailed account of a long-overdue trial. Ku Klux Klansman James Ford Seale was arrested in 2007 for assisting in the torture and drowning of two black youths. But he committed the crime in 1964, more than 40 years before his arrest. That the case took so long to come to trial—and the fact it came to trial at all—are evidence of the difference in racial attitudes between 1960s Mississippi and the state today, MacLean says. “There could have been two defendants in this case: James Ford Seale and the state of Mississippi,” he writes. “Seale for kidnapping and murder and Mississippi for complicity.” The gap between the crime and conviction represents Mississippi’s painful struggle with racism. There was no physical evidence during Seale’s trial—and hardly any witnesses testified—but the state still felt a duty to prosecute. Despite this tug-of-war relationship between progress and tradition, MacLean still tries to portray Seale as a human being influenced by the deep-seated racism of his Southern culture. MacLean, a lawyer and best-selling author, lives in Denver. He graduated magna cum laude from DU and has written several true crime books, including the best-selling In Broad Daylight, which won an Edgar Award and was made into a TV movie starring Brian Dennehy and Marcia Gay Harden. The Past is Never Dead has been nominated for Stanford University’s William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.
—Elizabeth Fritzler

1991

1988

Sandy Reay (MCIS ’88) and her fellow songwriters of Colorado Sandstorm Music released I Wanted to Fly, a collection of songs with the theme of space and time travel. Sandy wrote or co-wrote all 14 songs on the CD. She lives in Monument, Colo.

1990

Steve Allred (MSW ’90) has been serving men, women and their families in the U.S. Air Force since 1990. With Holly, his wife of more than 25 years, and their four children, he’s been stationed in Japan, Oklahoma, Colorado, Washington, Guam and Texas. Now based in the Colorado Springs, Colo., area, he’s a lieutenant colonel serving as

Sue Eilertsen (MSW ’91) received an excellence in practice award at the Colorado Summit for Children, Youth and Families. She was honored for her service and dedication to helping the children of Colorado and for making the community a better, safer place for families. Sue won the award as a member of the family visitation center unit, which she supervises at the El Paso County Department of Human Services in Colorado Springs, Colo.

?
Which alum worked for the Denver Broncos?
Country

The answer can be found somewhere on pages 45–58 of this issue. Send your answer to [email protected] or University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. Be sure to include your full name and mailing address. We’ll select a winner from the correct entries; the winning entry will win a prize courtesy of the DU Bookstore. Congratulations to Al Batten (MS ’72) for winning the summer issue’s pop quiz.

Contact us
Tell us about your career and personal accomplishments, awards, births, life events or whatever else is keeping you busy. Do you support a cause? Do you have any hobbies? Did you just return from a vacation? Let us know! Don’t forget to send a photo. (Include a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope if you would like your photo returned.)
Question of the hour: What song most reminds you of your college years? Name (include maiden name) DU degree(s) and graduation year(s) Address City State Phone E-mail Employer Occupation ZIP code

What have you been up to? (Use a separate sheet if necessary.)

Post your class note online at www.alumni.du.edu, e-mail [email protected] or mail your note to: Class Notes, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816.

52

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Connections

53

Pioneer pics
Dan Shrader (BSBA ’63) is pictured in front of the Mayan pyramid El Castillo (the Castle) at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. “It is 79 feet high and was built around A.D. 800. It served that community for about 500 years,” Shrader writes. “I am now retired and my wife and I visited El Castillo and three other ancient sites in Mexico in February 2010.” As you pioneer lands far and wide, be sure to pack your DU gear and strike a pose in front of a national monument, the fourth wonder of the world or your hometown hot spot. If we print your submission, you’ll receive some new DU paraphernalia courtesy of the DU Bookstore. Send your print or high-resolution digital image and a description of the location to: Pioneer Pics, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816, or e-mail [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name, address, degree(s) and year(s) of graduation.

Susan Nofziger (MSW ’91) has a private counseling practice in Louisville and Boulder, Colo., with a special interest in relationships and other adult issues. Erin (Wilde) Stang (MSW ’91) works at the University of Colorado at Denver Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center in Aurora, Colo.

Recycler Reid Husmer
Wayne Armstrong

Tricia (Jones) Bernhardt (MEPM ’92) of Larkspur, Colo., is a project manager for Tetra Tech, an environmental consulting firm. Tricia, who has 26 years of experience in environmental permitting, is the project manager for the Genesis Solar Energy Project in Southern California. Tricia and her husband, Reve, have four grown children and volunteer regularly at the Casa Guatemala orphanage in Guatemala.

1992

Deaths
1930s 1940s
Georgia (Marrs) Gellert Penfield (BA ’37), Seattle, 1-5-10 Lois Roslund (BA ’37), Denver, 4-2-10 Alice McClain (BA ’40), Bozeman, Mont., 3-15-10 William Jolly Jr. (BA ’43), Richardson, Texas, 1-11-10 Barbara Ann (Bidwell) Winn (BA ’43), Lubbock, Texas, 10-8-08 Melvin Farver (BS ’45), Fort Collins, Colo., 12-31-09 Robert DeNier (BS ’47), Durango, Colo., 4-14-10 Jack Horan (attd. ’47–’53), Greenwood Village, Colo., 2-5-10 Shirley Suson (BA ’47, MA ’50), Denver, 2-26-10 Margaret (Anderson) McClary (BA ’48), Fort Morgan, Colo., 3-31-10 Warren Chandler (BA ’49), Westminster, Colo., 5-22-10 John Fertig (BS ’49), Rio Rancho, N.M., 9-24-09

1960s 1970s 1980s

John Meier (MA ’60, PhD ’65), Redlands, Calif., 4-14-10 Martha Sue (Groening) Perry (BA ’66), Bisbee, Ariz., 3-7-10 Susan Frank (BA ’69), Chicago, 2-11-10

Terry Fowler (JD ’92) of Denver co-authored the book Law and Mental Health Professionals (American Psychological Association, 2006), a thorough review of the laws in the state of Colorado as they relate to the mental health profession. Mike King (JD ’92) of Parker, Colo., has been named the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Mike previously was the deputy director of the DNR. Prior to that he was assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

John Osborn (MBA ’73), Denver, 3-27-10 David Schump (MBA ’76), Windsor, Colo., 5-2-10 Dale Mitchell (MT ’79), Loveland, Colo., 3-31-10

Paul Braun (MBA ’82), Denver, 3-15-10 Scott Whitsett (BA ’82), San Francisco, 4-21-10 Jeannine Hiester (MA ’86), Denver, 1-21-09 Stephen McCeney (MA ’87, PhD ’94), Denver, 3-27-10

1990s

1993

Virginia Newton (PsyD ’99), Boulder, Colo., 3-28-10

1950s

Harold Lane (BS ’50), Centennial, Colo., 1-31-10 Richard Tosaw (JD ’50), Sherwood, Ore., 9-16-09 Frances (Hall) Goe (BA ’52), Denver, 12-18-09 Irian Bounds (BA ’53), Edmonds, Wash., 3-24-10 Margaret (Schurch) Klovdahl (BSBA ’54), Estes Park, Colo., 3-22-10 Norman Leake (BSBA ’54), La Conner, Wash., 4-9-10 Elaine (Petersen) Lorenz (BS ’57), Laguna Woods, Calif., 3-26-10 Michael Palij (MA ’57), Lawrence, Kan., 1-21-10 Duane Pearsall (BS ’57), Denver, 4-11-10 Vance Park (BSBA ’58), Schuylerville, N.Y., 2-8-10

Faculty and Staff

Laurance Herold, geography professor emeritus, Denver, 3-30-10 Pamela Landon (MSW ’67, PhD ’75), professor of social work, Las Cruces, N.M., 9-27-09 William McIntyre, assistant professor of art (1963–77), Broomfield, Colo., 2-2-10

Stephen Shanor (JD ’93) of Roswell, N.M., has been elected president of the state bar of New Mexico. Stephen is a partner in the Roswell office of Hinkle Hensley Shanor and Martin LLP, where he works primarily in the areas of medical malpractice, general liability, water law and real estate transactions. Stephen and his wife, Heidi, have three children, Katelyn, Andrew and Matthew.

1996

Rebecca (Watson) Hudson (JD ’96, LLM ’97), former assistant secretary for lands and minerals management of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has joined the

Reid Husmer (BA international business ’96) despises clutter. When he feels his life is disorganized, he cleans. He boasts that his home has achieved a bare minimum of efficiency—TV, couch, kitchen table, bed. His 7-year-old son’s room, though, is a different story. “I get to the point with my son where his room has too much stuff, because kids like a toy for five minutes and then put it aside,” Husmer says. “Adults aren’t that different; they love their toys, too. They’ll just pile them in the garage instead of their bedroom.” And when adults want to get rid of their toys, they can call Husmer’s company Gone For Good, which he started from his home in 2008 and now runs from a storefront in Littleton, Colo. The premise is simple: Husmer and his employee, Jonathan Inaba, will come to your house and, for a price, haul away a roomful of junk. The philosophy is more involved: There is value in what others throw away, and there also is a responsibility to the environment. “We’re an eco-friendly hauling company,” Husmer says. “A lot of companies will haul things from your house. We sort through it and try to resell it. If we can’t, we donate it to charity. If we can’t do that, we break down the materials—wood, metal, foam—and give it to our recycling partners, instead of it going into a landfill.” For the business to thrive, Husmer has built fruitful relationships with professional organizers, Realtors, recyclers and charities (the Epilepsy Foundation is a sizeable beneficiary). Customers get 30 percent of resales after 30 days—a figure that has ranged from $30 to $300—and Husmer says he’s been surprised by how many items he’s been able to resell. “You go on Craigslist or eBay, and it’s amazing what people will buy. What’s not valuable to you is valuable to someone else,” he says. “Instead of just dumping it away, we can give it a better home.” >>www.goneforgoodstore.com
—Jeff Francis

54

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

University of Denver Magazine Connections

55

law firm of Welborn, Sullivan Meck and Tooley P.C. in Evergreen, Colo. Rebecca has more than 30 years of legal and policy experience in the fields of conventional and renewable energy, natural resources and federal environmental law. Prior to her job at the Department of the Interior, she served as the assistant general counsel for energy policy at the U.S. Department of Energy in the George H.W. Bush administration.

department of Jewish Family Service of Colorado. She is a field instructor for social work students at DU and Metropolitan State College of Denver and serves on advisory boards at DU, Metro and Denver’s Senior Companion Program. James Lough (PhD ’97) of Savannah, Ga., has published his second book, Spheres of Awareness: A Wilberian Integral Approach to Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, and Art (University Press of America, 2009). He is the chair of the writing department at Savannah College of Art and Design. William Zahler (BSBA ’97) of Baltimore spent 20 years in the construction and development business before forming his own company, Zahler Construction and Development LLC. William formerly worked for Artery Homes, Struever-Rouse Homes and U.S. Home in Denver. He is on the boards of the Home Builders Association of Maryland and the Certified Master Builders and Remodelers Council and was the founding

co-chair of the Maryland Residential Green Building Council. William is joined in the business by his wife, Gina, a certified interior decorator. They have a 3-year-old son, Aaron.

income school-aged children with a week’s worth of free clothes to encourage school attendance and self-esteem. It has served more than 2,000 Denver children since opening in September 2008.

1998

Michele McCandless (MSW ’05) of Englewood, Colo., has been promoted to director of the University of Denver Disability Services Program, where she has worked for more than nine years. She has two grandsons, Connor, 5, and Foster, 2. Wes Riesmeyer (MA ’05) and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their first child, Hadley Katherine, on Jan. 21, 2010. The family resides in Arlington, Va.

Beth Wilson Llovet (MSW ’07) is a clinician on an adult unit at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan, a Denver psychiatric hospital. Aaron Shipman (MSW ’07) is a training specialist at the Denver STD/HIV Prevention Training Center. Aaron also co-authored a new course, “Using Focus Groups for Adapting Effective Behavioral Interventions,” for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for use by the National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers. Athena Terry (MSW ’07) is a clinical social worker in the emergency department at Denver Health Medical Center. She lives in Denver with her partner and their 1½-yearold daughter.

Amelia Daniel Caudle (MSW ’97) of Winston-Salem, N.C., is the mother of two boys, Ellis, 7, and Bailey, 4. She is a PRN therapist for behavioral health resources at Forsyth Medical Center and works in the outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment facility. She also is a contract social worker for Carolina Adoption Services. Jennie Winters Creasey (MSW ’97) of Englewood, Colo., has worked for 10 years at the senior solutions/care connection

1997

Allison (Noblett) Coyne (BA ’98) of Alexandria, Va., and her husband, George, welcomed their second son, Gavin Paul, on Feb. 26, 2010. Gavin joins older brother Jackson, 4. Allison teaches preschool education for Arlington public schools. Christopher McGee (JD ’98, MBA ’98) is president of Prepaid Incentives, a provider of prepaid debit cards branded with corporate logos for use as sales incentives and employee rewards. Chris lives in Draper, Utah, with his wife and three children. Mary Overington (MSW ’98) of Lakewood, Colo., is one of the founding members of the nonprofit Clothes to Kids of Denver Inc. The organization’s mission is to provide low-

Christopher Johnson (MRECM ’99) of Chicago joined Capgemini Consulting as a lead consultant in the business process outsourcing group. Christopher previously was managing director of facilities planning and strategic sourcing for United Airlines. Leila Johnson (BS ’99) of Rio Rancho, N.M., is the founder of the Spirit Driving Institute, which teaches entrepreneurs and professionals how to take a spiritual approach to their professional lives. Her self-published book Driving to Success: Let Your Spirit Take the Wheel is available as an e-book. A published version is slated for release in October.

1999

2006

Breanne Berch (BSBA ’06) of Santa Monica, Calif., married Robert Blesse on Dec. 12, 2009, at a private residence in Aspen, Colo. Jamie Grim (BA ’06) was selected as one of the “Outstanding Women in Fort Collins” by the Mildred Arnold Foundation at Colorado State University. Jamie, who has a master’s degree from Northwestern University in Illinois, serves as a district representative for Congresswoman Betsy Markey in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. Jessica Ham (MSW ’06) of Parker, Colo., has been an elementary school social worker for Douglas County, Colo., since 2006. Her triplet girls—Nora Cate, Adelyn Sophia and Emma Grace—were born May 13, 2009. Hillary Jonas (MSW ’06) of Yelm, Wash., is a medical social worker at a home health agency, assisting people with new and chronic illnesses. She also addresses end-of-life issues, providing grief counseling and crisis intervention. She and her husband are enjoying life with their son, Cody, who was born in 2008. Amanda Wagner (MSW ’06) works as a mental health professional at Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Services in Atlanta, providing psychiatric care to the city’s chronically homeless and mentally ill. Amanda and her husband have a 2-year-old daughter, Alexandra.

2008

Designer Traci Tisserat
It started with a name, but it’s become a business. In 2008, University of Denver alumna Traci Tisserat (BA ’05) and friend and roommate Shawna Sambrano came up with the idea to start a business and call it “TraSh Bagz.” That was the easy part. The hard part was coming up with a business to match. Being artistic helped. So did being socially conscious and active. The germ of an idea grew into a business. The two take old, discarded handbags and use a variety of techniques and media to turn them into works of art. It’s haute couture with a green twist: trash to treasures, handbags to handiwork. The creations are Cinderella stories in themselves—bags collected from vintage clothing shops and closets across the region turned into glamorous pieces decked out in sparkles and feathers and hot pinks and zebra stripes. “All of them are one of a kind,” says Tisserat, displaying a host of bags piled up in the swank Chrysalis Boutique in Centennial, Colo., south of Denver. “You’re never going to see someone with the same bag. You get one of our bags, you know it’s something special, and you’ve done something good for the environment by recycling a bag.” Tisserat, 26, and Sambrano, 32, toil as much as 20 hours a week, sometimes more, on the complexities of designing, creating and marketing their creations, which sell for about $40 to $200 each in boutiques, mobile “trunk shows,” private “purse parties” and online. The pair partners with area charities, donating 10 percent of their profits back into the community. The two hope to make the company their full-time vocation soon. Deals are in the works to get TraSh Bagz in more stores in Denver, with an eye toward cities across the country. They’ve already seen orders come in from as far away as Hawaii. But it all goes back to that one night when two friends dreamed of starting a business. As the labels on the bags note, “TraSh Bagz is a unique handbag company established over a cheap bottle of wine by an artist and designer who have an extreme passion for fashion and individuality.” >>www.trashbagz.com
—Chase Squires

2003

Sarah Moore Curry (MSW ’03) and Patrick Curry welcomed daughter Amelia Ann on March 7, 2009. Sarah works part time as a social worker at a life-care community center in Fayetteville, Ark., and Patrick is an accounting controller at the WACO Title Co.

Chris Ferguson (MSW ’08) of Avondale, Pa., successfully defended his dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania in March 2010. He received his doctorate of education in higher education management on May 15. His dissertation was about colleges that use social networking sites to recruit undergraduate students. Chris is director of admissions and an assistant professor at Wilmington University in Delaware. Sara (Becker) Forist (MSW ’08) is a victim advocate for the Children’s Advocacy Center in Holland, Mich. Elizabeth Rouillier (MA ’08) married Scott Stiegman on July 16, 2010. She works for St. Stephen Catholic School in New Orleans as a middle school math and science teacher, eighth-grade coordinator, graduation coordinator and coordinator of religious education.

Wayne Armstrong

2004

Amy Bishop (MSW ’04) of Denver is the SB94 education advocate for Colorado’s 17th Judicial District. Azusa Kijima (MSW ’04) lives in Toronto and works at a children’s aid society in Ontario. She’s worked in children’s services since graduation.

2005

Laura Folkwein (MSW ’05) is program director at Growing Home, a small nonprofit in Westminster, Colo., that houses the homeless, feeds families and cares for children. In spring 2010, Folkwein planned to fulfill her requirements for ordination as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, a progressive Protestant denomination. Eva Klemens (MSW ’05) is a mental health therapist with Imagine Behavioral Health Services in Lafayette, Colo.

2009

2007

Amy Salins (MSW ’09) works as a youth advocate and case manager for New Horizons Ministries in Seattle. She calls her work with the organization, helping homeless and streetinvolved young people get off the streets, “a true blessing.”

Meg (Spohn) Bertoni (PhD ’07) married Seth Iniguez at the Bindery Space in Denver on July 17, 2010. The couple resides in Idaho Springs, Colo.

2010

Kyle Reppert (BS ’10, MS ’10) married Ashton Luhrs on Dec. 12, 2009, in Denver. Kyle works for the KPMG accounting firm in Denver.

56

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

Post your class note online at www.alumni.du.edu, e-mail [email protected] or mail in the form on page 53.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Get Involved Mentoring Join the Professional Network and share your career
experience and advice with current DU students and alumni. >>www.du.edu/studentlife/career

Calling All Experts
We’re trying to get to know our alumni better while developing possibilities for future articles. Please send us your ideas. We would especially like to hear about readers who: • ork in the nuclear energy industry w • re HRTM graduates a • ork in the food and beverage industry w • re working/serving in Iraq or Afghanistan a • ere DU Centennial scholars w • erved in the Peace Corps s • erved in AmeriCorps s

one? Need to expand your professional network? Want to attend fun events and make new friends, or reconnect with old ones? Join a local alumni chapter: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Minneapolis/ St. Paul; New York; Phoenix; and Washington, D.C. New chapters are under way in Houston, the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Southern California. To find out how you can get involved, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 800-871-3822 or visit http://alumni.du.edu/chapters.

friends regularly come together to raise funds for Penrose Library and participate in continuing education initiatives. Regular programs include lectures, teas, special events and book sales. >>http://library.du.edu/site/about/wla/wla.php

Women’s Library Association A group of DU alumni and

program designed for men and women age 55 and “better” who wish to pursue lifelong learning in the company of likeminded peers. Members select the topics to be explored and share their expertise and interests while serving as facilitators and learners. >>http://universitycollege.du.edu/olli

Lifelong Learning OLLI DU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is a membership

Ammi Hyde Interviews DU’s admission department is

looking for alumni volunteers to conduct interviews of prospective students in major cities throughout the country in mid-November and late January. Registration will open in September. Contact Ammi Hyde Interview Coordinator Andy Losier at 303-871-7651 or [email protected] with questions. >>www.du.edu/apply/admission/ammihyde/index.html

Enrichment Program Noncredit short courses, lectures, seminars and weekend intensives explore a wide range of subjects without exams, grades or admission requirements. >>http://universitycollege.du.edu/learning/ep Salon Series DU’s Humanities Institute offers an intimate series at which about 20 people meet in a private home with a faculty member from the Division of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences to learn and exchange ideas. >>www.du.edu/salons Alumni Connections DU on the Road Find out what your alma

Exclusive DU Alumni Offers
ICE HOCKEY Nov. 26 Denver Cup Classic Day 1 Dec. 31 Northern Michigan

Family Pass (4 Tickets) $50 $50 $16 $20 $16 $20

Buddy Pass (2 Tickets) $30 $30 $12 $14 $12 $14

Savings up to $22 up to $22 up to $16 up to $16 up to $16 up to $16

Pioneers, watch the parade, enjoy great food and live music, tour campus and more. >>http://alumni.du.edu/homecoming

Homecoming Come back to campus Oct. 14–17 to cheer on the

Mark Your Calendar

Alumni Symposium Take part in a weekend learning experience on campus during the fourth annual symposium Oct. 1–2. Enjoy a wide variety of class sessions with DU faculty, hear from distinguished keynote speakers and network with alumni and friends. >>http://alumni.du.edu/alumnisymposium DU Law Stars Dinner The annual awards dinner honoring
distinguished alumni and faculty of the Sturm College of Law is Sept. 16 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center. Proceeds benefit the Student Law Office and the DU Law Scholarship Fund. For more information, contact Laura Dean at [email protected] or 303-871-6122.

mater has been doing since you left. See if DU is coming to a city near you. >>http://alumni.du.edu/DUontheRoad

BASKETBALL Nov. 16 DU Women vs Colorado Nov. 18 DU Men vs Colorado State Dec. 5 DU Women vs Vanderbilt Dec. 18 DU Men vs Northern Colorado

ALL NEW SUPER FAN PACK

Pioneer Alumni Network Join
other Denver area alumni for networking events each month. >>http://alumni.du.edu/PAN

One low price gets you 4 or 2 tickets to each of the games listed below! Nov. 19 Hockey vs Bemidji State $84 $48 Dec. 1 Men’s Basketball vs Utah State
For information on season packages, group ticket pricing or schedules call 303.871.GOAL.
*NOTE: Upon processing your ticket order you will be contacted to confirm final payments and ticket pick-up options. All tickets are price level 3 and subject to availability.

in the basement of the Newman Center from 5–7 p.m. Fridays, Sept. 24–Nov. 12. >>www.du.edu/lamont

Flo’s Underground Student jazz ensembles perform free shows

monthly online newsletter features campus news, profiles, an events calendar and more. >>www.scribd.com/uofdenver

Stay in Touch Community News DU’s

Name Address City Phone State ZIP

Pioneer Generations
How many generations of your family have attended DU? If you have stories and photos to share about your family’s history with DU, please send them our way!

ePioneer Online Community

Nostalgia Needed
Please share your ideas for nostalgic topics we could cover in the magazine. We’d love to see your old DU photos as well.

Connect with other DU alumni and friends. Update your contact information, connect to your Facebook page, search the directory and post class notes. Online class note submissions will automatically be included in the University of Denver Magazine. >>http://alumni.du.edu

Contact us

DU class of Payment Card# Signature Check Enclosed

I want to remain on the DU alumni mailing list MC Visa Discover Expiration Date Amex SUBTOTAL $3 HANDLING TOTAL
MAIL TO: Ritchie Center Box Office 2201 E. Asbury Ave. Denver, CO 80208 Fax: 303.871.3905

University of Denver Magazine 2199 S. University Blvd. Denver, CO 80208-4816 303-871-2776 [email protected] www.du.edu/magazine Twitter: DUMagazine

58

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

F11.Fall_full page.p1.indd 1

6/28/2010 1:59:03 PM University of Denver Magazine Connections 59

Find all the Pioneer Athletics schedules at denverpioneers.com.

Local Chapters Just moved to a new city and don’t know any-

Alumni Score Big Savings!

DU Photography Department

Miscellanea

Ancient footsteps

This sandal woven from yucca fibers more than 5,000 years ago is among the artifacts discovered by DU archaeologists at the Franktown Cave in southeast Colorado. The University of Denver Museum of Anthropology received a $6,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in January to organize some of its collections from the Franktown Cave and the Kenton Caves in northwest Oklahoma, which DU archaeologists have been studying for decades. The DU Museum of Anthropology houses more than 6,000 objects from both sites.

60

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010

Wayne Armstrong

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close