Winter 2003 ■ Volume 92, No. 2

PublishersCindy Paavola ’84 BS, Director

of CommunicationsMartha Van Der Kamp, Executive

Director, NMU AlumniAssociation

Development FundVirginia Zinser

EditorKaren Wallingford ’02 MA

News DirectorKristi Evans

Graphic DesignCam Hadley ’82 BFA

Editorial AssistantJan Marana

Alumni Relations StaffDeanna Hemmila ’88 BSWendy CarlsonRobyn Stille ’00 BSLuAnne Thursten ’93 BS

Contributing WritersMiriam Moeller ’00 BA, ’02 MARyan Sjoholm ’99 BS

E D I TO R ’ S N O T E

Horizons, the magazine for alumni and friends ofNorthern Michigan University, is published threetimes a year (winter, spring/summer, and fall) by theCommunications and Alumni divisions of NorthernMichigan University.

Funding is provided by Northern Michigan University,the NMU Alumni Association, alumni, and friends.Subscriptions are available at $15 per year, $7.50 forNMU retirees. Views expressed are not necessarilythose of the NMU Alumni Association.

Letters Policy: Unless noted as “not for publication,”communications to the editor are considered for pub-lication. Letters will be printed as space permits andmay be edited for space and clarity. Please limit yourcomments to Horizons magazine or to topics men-tioned in the magazine. Mail to: Editor, Horizons,Northern Michigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Ave.,Marquette, MI 49855; fax: 906-227-2722; e-mail:horizons@nmu.edu.

Northern Michigan University is an affirmativeaction/equal opportunity institution.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Horizons,Office of Communications and Marketing, NorthernMichigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue,Marquette, Michigan 49855. Third-class postage paidat Midland, Michigan 48642. Correction

On page 5 of the fall 2002 issue of Horizons, we incorrectly listed Mark Curtis underthe College of Professional Studies. Mark is the dean of the College of Technologyand Applied Sciences. —KW

Last night, the temperature in Marquette reached a record low of 22

below zero. The night before last was balmy in comparison—only 15

below—but that didn’t seem to bother a group of NMU students who

gathered between Payne and Halverson Halls for a game of broomball.

Now I’ve lived here long enough that it didn’t really surprise me to

learn that many of these students were running around Payne/Halverson

field in shirt sleeves. Heck, just the other day I saw a man who was jog-

ging wearing shorts and a t-shirt and another man shoveling snow, who

was wearing, well, less than that. But when someone from a substantially

warmer climate asked me how on earth someone could run around in

sub-zero temperatures without full Arctic gear, let alone live here during

the winter, I didn’t even pause before saying, “Things are just different

up here.”

I have to admit that part of me was just looking for a quick, easy

reply, but it got me thinking about how living in the Upper Peninsula

and working at NMU has changed my own perceptions of college stu-

dents and college student life.

About six years ago, I interviewed an NMU faculty member for a

profile and asked her what motivated her to stay at Northern. Without

hesitation she said it was the students. She said that most students who

come to study here are different. Heartier. Driven. Of course there are

motivated, driven college students all over this country, but what sets

NMU students apart, I think, is the environment.

Things are different up here. The temperatures are a little colder, the

snow banks are a little taller, and the winters last a little longer. And the

people who live here or come to live here, either as students, faculty, or

in other professional capacities, can’t help but be affected by the environ-

ment. NMU students graduate and go on to live their lives, but in many

ways, regardless of where they go, this place stays with them.

The stories in this issue reflect that. Some of the people you’ll read

about inside have followed an unexpected or unpredictable path. Some

have followed a predictable path that has taken them in an unexpected

direction. But they all share a singular, driven, entrepreneurial spirit—the

same kind of spirit that faculty member described to me all those years

ago. The stories in this issue, I believe, embody the essence of what it

means to be an NMU student and an NMU alum. Enjoy.

—KW

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3

D E PA R T M E N T S

2 Campus News

14 Alumni Association

16 Sports

18 Development Fund

20 Keeping Track

Contents

F E AT U R E SThe road to IditarodLiving in a one-room cabin with no electricity, no running water, and 60 dogs in themiddle of Alaska isn’t what most people would call an ideal living situation. ButTherese (Greene) Bartlett ’91 BS wouldn’t have it any other way.

6

Two men and a truckIn high school, Brig ’86 BS and Jon ’88 BS Sorber were like most of their peers,holding part-time jobs to earn extra spending money. The brothers probably neverimagined that their home-grown high school business would evolve into a multi-milliondollar company.

10

ON THE COVERPeter and Therese (Greene) Bartlett leading their team of sled dogs at the 2002 Idita-rider, afundraiser that allows fans to bid on the opportunity to ride with a musher for the first 11 miles ofthe race. The man riding on the Bartlett’s sled paid $800 for the experience. Photo by Steven Nowers.

Harvesting the entrepreneurial spiritPolitical science professor Bill Ball has spent four of last five summers in Thailandteaching classes and studying how governments in the region are working to helpmigrant workers pull themselves out of poverty through training and incentives forstarting small-scale industrial operations.

13

C A M P U S N E W S

2 H O R I Z O N S

A new accreditation modelNMU officially accepted into AQIP program

NMU enrollmenthits 9,000Northern Michigan University’s finalfall enrollment hit 9,000 for thefirst time since 1981.

This represents a gain of 423students, or 4.9 percent, over fall2001. Credit hours have alsoincreased to 114,000 this semester,up more than 5,000 credit hours, or4.6 percent, over last year.

“This has been a long recoveryfrom the closure of K.I. Sawyer (AirForce Base) and its devastatingimpact on enrollment, but we havecompletely overcome those losses,”said Paul Duby, associate vice pres-ident for institutional research.

Duby added that Northern is“on track” to reach its futureenrollment goal.

“It will not be easy, but therange of 10,400 by 2005 is attain-able with an all-out effort from theuniversity community,” he said.

Olson Library receivesexcellence awardNMU’s Lydia Olson Library wasselected as a runner-up for thestate’s top library award.

The Library of MichiganFoundation awarded the 2002 StateLibrarian’s Excellence Award to theGenessee District Library. FremontDistrict Library and Olson Librarywere awarded citations of excel-lence as the runners-up.

The selection panel praisedthe library staff and cited its uniquerole in the implementation and on-going support of Northern’s technol-ogy initiative. “The library and itslibrarians assumed the leadership ina new initiative, which certainly isnot a traditional library function,”according to the selection commit-tee’s nomination review.

orthern Michigan Universityhas received notificationfrom the Higher Learning

Commission of its acceptance intothe Academic Quality ImprovementProject (AQIP) and has received anextension of its accreditation until2009-10.

The notification officially movesNorthern from the traditional HigherLearning Commission (formerlyNorth Central Association) model ofaccreditation to the AQIP program, asubdivision of HLC. Accreditation, aswith the previous NCA accreditation,remains in effect as long as NMUremains active in the organization anddemonstrates commitment to qualityimprovement. AQIP differs from theHLC model in its focus on “continu-ous quality improvement.”

“Its focus is not on a smallcommittee documenting what we’vedone in the past 10 years but ratheron broad-based consensus on whatwe plan to do in the future,” said

Leonard Heldreth, associate provostfor academic affairs and NMU’sAQIP coordinator.

“You work on projects on athree-year cycle, not 10 years, whichmakes more sense for today’s con-stantly changing society,” he added.

Northern has already completedtwo phases of the AQIP accredita-tion process—a campus-wide onlinesurvey of faculty and staff lastSeptember, and a “campus conversa-tion day” in November, which wasattended by more than 500 NMUfaculty and staff members and gen-erated more than 79 “provocativeproposals” for improvement.

Of the 79 proposals created atthe campus conversation, five toeight will be selected by NMU andpresented to AQIP and otherschools for criticism and response inFebruary. From these, three will beselected as NMU’s “quality improve-ment projects” to be worked on overthe next three years.

N

zra Pound fans and literatureenthusiasts can now experiencewhat it would be like to hold a

letter from the poet in their handscourtesy of a book recently publishedby the NMU Press.

Ezra Pound’s Letters to WilliamWatt is a collection of personal cor-respondence written by Pound from1956-58 while he was institutional-ized in St. Elizabeth’s Hospitalinsane asylum. While other volumesof Pound’s letters are published infacsimile, this book appears to be

the first to printhis letters in theirentirety and intheir originalform—completewith Pound’s idio-syncratic spellingand punctuation and his hand-writ-ten corrections and notes betweenthe lines and in the margins.

The second book publishedrecently by the NMU Press is PoemsSacred and Profane, a collection ofWatt’s own poetry.

Hot off the NMU Press

E

If not, your next visit to NMU might come sooner than you think. Ifyou’d like to see the latest pictures of campus, Northern’s Web site nowoffers a virtual campus tour in an effort to showcase NMU facilities andthe campus environment for those outside the Marquette area.

The tour features building photos and information. There are also360-degree panoramas of some facilities that allow users to rotate thecamera angle and zoom in or out.

Daric Christian, NMU associate professor of art and design, devel-oped the tour. It is available at www.nmu.edu/tour.

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 3

Have you been to campus lately?

Committee formed at Northern torecommend cost-saving measures

n response to a recently-approved executive order thattrims $1.3 million from

Northern’s state appropriations forFiscal Year 2003, which ends June30; the possibility of additionalexecutive orders between now andSeptember; and dim appropriationsprospects for the next fiscal year,NMU established a Budget Alterna-tives Committee on campus.

The BAC is charged with rec-ommending budget reductions, costavoidance opportunities, operationalsavings, and identifying additionalrevenue that total $8.5 million forFiscal Year 2004 and $4.25 millionfor Fiscal Year 2005. The committeewill deliver its recommendations toPresident Judi Bailey by March 1.

The Northern MichiganUniversity Board of Trustees heard apresentation on preliminary budget-cutting recommendations as part ofits Dec. 12-13 meeting.

“We outlined our tentative planfor absorbing the impact of the exec-utive order so that we can achieve abalanced budget,” said Mike Roy,

NMU vice president for finance andadministration. “It involves eliminat-ing one and a half positions that arevacant, decreasing the designatedappropriations to university-support-ed programs, and reducing the cen-tral budget and divisional budgets.”

Personnel savings through thetwo positions and the existingSeverance Incentive Plan willamount to $348,000. Roy saidadministrators are proposing a 2.5percent across-the-board reductionin appropriations designated specifi-cally for such operations as theSuperior Dome, the U.S. OlympicEducation Center, and NorthernInitiatives. The combined reductionwill be about $44,000.

Central budget reductions—infunds for capital equipment replace-ment and learning technologies—will amount to $400,000. Divisionalbudgets will also be adjusted down-ward by a total of $100,000, in pro-portion to their percentage of thebase budget, as follows: academicaffairs, $72,800; finance and admin-istration, $21,600; and the presi-

dent’s division, $5,600.Roy added that some of the

adverse financial impact of the exec-utive order will be offset byincreased tuition revenue fromenrollment growth that exceededprojections. The additional tuitionand fee revenue will account for$407,000 of the reduction.

The recommendations werepresented to the board for informa-tion and discussion purposes.However, as the NMU board recon-vened for the second day of itsmeeting, members learned that asupplemental appropriation billpassed in Lansing. The bill, whichhas since been signed by the gover-nor, restored 0.5 percent in one-timefunding to higher education—$260,000 to NMU.

Gavin Leach, associate vice pres-ident for finance and planning, saidNMU will adjust its budget-cuttingproposals based on the supplementaldevelopment. A revised budget,including final cost-saving proposals,will be presented to the board forapproval at its February meeting.

I

C A M P U S N E W S

4 H O R I Z O N S

College of Arts and Sciences

Woodcock study involves NMUfaculty, studentsA three-year study on the survival,habitat use, and fall movements ofthe American woodcock in UpperMichigan recently received a$201,000 grant.

NMU biology professor JohnBruggink is the principal investigatorfor the Michigan study. His workwill represent part of a regionaleffort, with parallel studies inMinnesota and Wisconsin.

The research will help deter-mine the influence of hunting onthe woodcock, a migratory gamebird. Bruggink said the bird’s popu-lation has declined by 1.6 percentper year since 1968.

The research will involve attach-ing transmitters to woodcocks in areasthat are open to woodcock huntingand areas that are closed to it. Thebirds will be monitored throughoutthe fall, and the causes of any deathswill be determined when possible.

In addition to a biology graduateassistantship the grant helped to fund,several NMU undergraduate studentsare participating in the project by tak-ing a field experience course.

The study was made possible bythe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,the Michigan Department ofNatural Resources, the WeblessMigratory Game Bird research pro-gram, and NMU.

Chemistry professor spends 10months at Johns HopkinsDuring her 10-month sabbatical atJohns Hopkins University inBaltimore, NMU chemistry profes-sor Suzanne Williams was exposedto the process of getting new phar-maceuticals to the market. She alsobecame familiar with state-of-the-artinstruments that will allow her todesign experiments for NMU stu-dents and her own research projects.

To set up her sabbatical,Williams contacted the head of alaboratory investigating potentialdrug candidates for HIV. Based inthe biology department at JohnsHopkins, this lab has a contractwith a pharmaceutical company.

“HIV virus proteins mutateoften and change form, so they arealways looking for new drugs thatwill trigger the right response,” shesaid. “I used thermodynamics tostudy drug binding to virus proteins.In order for a drug and protein tointeract effectively, they need favor-able energy. The principles of energyflow dictate the success of a drug.”

Williams used a calorimeter tomeasure heat exchanges. NMU hadrecently obtained two of theseinstruments, so Williams was eagerto gain some hands-on expertise intheir function and capabilities—expertise she could share with stu-dents and colleagues.

“While I was at Hopkins,progress was made toward a newdrug,” Williams said. “A molecule wasdesigned that, in theory, would workas a drug against an HIV protein.”

Scientists in Tokyo then synthe-sized the drug molecule and sent itback to Johns Hopkins to test its

interaction with the viral protein.“It was a great experience,”

Williams said. “I plan to share asmuch as I can with my studentsbecause they love examples of thepractical applications of what theyare learning in the classroom.”

NMU Center for EconomicEducation revitalizedNorthern Michigan University hasrevitalized its Center for EconomicEducation in the hope of preparingUpper Peninsula youth to becomeeffective participants in the globaleconomy. As a member of a state-wide delivery network coordinatedby the Michigan Council on Econ-omic Education, the NMU centerwill develop and implement courses,workshops, and materials for K-12students.

“We are going to help teachersintroduce economics into the cur-riculum by incorporating the vocab-ulary into activities they are alreadycompleting in the classroom,” saidTawni Ferrarini, NMU economicsprofessor and center director. “Econ-omics dominates every aspect of ourlives. It’s not just part of politics,business, or commerce. It’s alsostrategic thinking through life interms of the costs and benefits ofanything we do.”

In October, Ferrarini receivedthe Outstanding Rookie Award from

College updates

American woodcock

Suzanne Williams

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 5

the National Association of Econ-omic Education. Two months earli-er, she assumed the role of centerdirector.

NMU first established a centerfor economic education in the early’80s. Ferrarini said the revitalizedversion will enhance Northern’spresence in and impact on theUpper Peninsula.

College of ProfessionalStudies

Clinical laboratory sciencesprogram reaccreditedClinical laboratory sciences atNorthern Michigan University hasbeen reaccredited at the bachelor’sand master’s level for seven years—the longest term available. A site visitreport submitted to the NationalAccrediting Agency for ClinicalLaboratory Sciences failed to identifya single deficiency, concern, or sug-gestion for improvement.

NMU is one of only a fewschools in the country to offer bothassociate and bachelor’s degrees inCLS. In 1997, it was singled out bythe national publication, LaboratoryMedicine, for setting a standard thatenables students to climb the “per-fect career ladder.”

“The real selling point for ourprogram is that all of the credits stu-dents earn in the first two years aredirectly applicable to the four-yeardegree because we only have to artic-ulate within this one institution,”said Lucille Contois, CLS director.

An added strength is Northern’saffiliation with the world-renownedMayo Clinic. Both Mayo andMarquette General Health Systemssupport the baccalaureate program.

Affiliations for the associate degreeinclude several Upper Peninsula hos-pitals and one medical facility inDuluth. Contois said the depart-ment enrolls about 100 students.

Sociology and social workdepartment offers new minorThe sociology and social workdepartment at Northern MichiganUniversity began offering a 22-creditgerontology minor this semester.

According to Patricia Cianciolo,associate professor in the sociologyand social work department, manyschools are developing gerontologyprograms due in large part to thegrowing numbers of older adults inour society.

In addition to the job opportu-nities in the area, Cianciolo said thata gerontology minor can help dispelmyths and stereotypes about agingand the elderly.

Advanced law enforcementdiploma now available The NMU criminal justice depart-ment began offering an advancedlaw enforcement diploma thissemester. This adds a credential forthose who successfully complete theexisting in-service training availableto certified police officers and otherlaw enforcement personnel.

Participants will earn a diplomaafter accumulating 16 credit hours.

College of Technology andApplied Sciences

HVACR program keeping pacewith rapidly changing fieldNMU students in the heating, venti-lation, air conditioning, and refriger-ation program are learning about theimpact of technology on the field.

“HVACR today isn’t what iswas when their parents might havegone into the profession,” saidEugene Stenberg, professor in thetechnology and occupational sci-ences department. “Every day thereis something new.”

In order to keep current, stu-dents preparing to graduate fromthe HVACR program have beenattending seminars put on by Temp-erature Systems, Inc., of Green Bay.The seminars deal with everythingfrom modifications of current prod-ucts to the handling of products justhitting the market.

“When I started in this field at19, I learned what I didn’t alreadyknow by doing my job every day,”Stenberg said. “It isn’t like that any-more. It’s all computer controllednow. Those who know how to workwith the new technology are goingto succeed.”

College of Business

Business professor receivesnational honorNMU busi-ness professorCarol A.Johnson hasbeen namedthe 2002NationalBusinessEducationAssociationTeacher ofthe Year.

The committee praised Johnsonfor being instrumental in replacingthe NMU office administrationbachelor’s degree program with anoffice systems program.

Carol Johnson

T h e r o a

herese (Greene) Bartlett ’91 BS calls herhome a glorified doghouse. Located inWillow, Alaska, it’s a single room—16x24—with plank flooring, no running water and,

until just recently, no electricity. The furnishings arebasic—an oil stove, refrigerator, bed, sofa, chair, anddesk. Pots and pans hang from the ceiling, dog harnesseshang from the walls, and dozens of dog booties dry bythe stove. Life in Alaska is simple by necessity. It’s a lifenot many would choose. But if you ask Therese, she’lltell you she’s living an ideal life in an ideal location. Sheand her husband, Peter, built their cabin and startedMawg-Dawg Kennel with the goal of becoming a com-petitive Iditarod kennel.

The Iditarod—popularly called The Last Great Raceon Earth—was started in 1973 by Joe Redington, Sr.,and is the longest sled dog race in the world. Although

the official length of the race is 1,049 miles, the truemiles run around 1,150. The race is held the firstSaturday in March and alternates annually between asouthern and a northern route. It takes each team of 12to 16 dogs and their musher anywhere from 10 to 17days to travel from Anchorage, in south central Alaska,to Nome on the western coast of the Bering Sea.

The most common type of dog you’ll find runningin the Iditarod is the Alaskan Husky, which is the type ofdog the Bartletts breed. While not a recognizedAmerican Kennel Club breed, many mushers think ofthe Alaskan Husky as more of a hybrid dog. Some call ita Siberian Husky with part setter, wolf, sight hound, orany other breed of dog that would give it speed andendurance for racing. Regardless of what goes into anAlaskan Husky, they all share two traits: they are allnative to Alaska, and they all love to run—and run fast.

T

d t o I d i t a r o dHad you asked Therese ten years ago what her ideal

life would look like, sled dog racing probably would havebeen the furthest thing from her mind. After graduatingfrom Northern with a degree in mathematics, she went onto get a master’s in applied mathematics from MichiganTech. While at Tech, she went to a talk about statisticalresearch on whale populations off the coast of Alaska andthought that would be an interesting area to pursue, so shechanged her concentration to statistics. She was well onher way to a career in mathematics education, working asa mathematics instructor at both St. Norbert’s College inWisconsin and NMU, when a seemingly arbitrary decisionset her life on a very different course.

In 1995, she went to see the U.P. 200, just as hun-dreds of other spectators like her do each year. It was herfirst exposure to sled dog racing, but for Therese itbecame more than just something to do on a Fridaynight. She followed the race through and then volun-teered at a local kennel to learn more about the sport.She learned about caring for and training the dogs andgot her first experience riding on a dog sled.

“My adrenaline was pumping—I was amazed at howmuch power a dog team has,” she said. “It always lookedso easy, but those dogs are really strong and love to run.After I spent some time doing it, I was just hooked.”

But it was more than just the adrenaline rush thatdrew Therese into the sport—it was also the symbioticrelationship she felt with the dogs.

“When you’re out in the wilderness, it’s quiet, andit’s just you and the dogs. They’re relying on you, andyou’re relying on them. Sometimes it just takes a lookand you know you’re communicating. And to have awhole team doing that is really awesome.”

So in 1997, after Therese had learned that LibbyRiddles was looking for someone to help manage her dogkennel, she packed up and headed north to Knik, Alaska.

With Riddles, shewould be learningfrom one of the best.In 1985, Riddlesbecame the firstwoman to win theIditarod and has runthe race a total of sixtimes. In addition toher Iditarod experi-ence, she has racedin Europe’s largestsled dog race, the Alpirod, and has done both sprint andmid-distance racing. Among the many lessons gleanedfrom Riddles’ war stories, Therese learned the importanceof preparation and foresight while out on the trail.

“You might think you are only going on an hourrun, but in the Alaskan wilderness, anything can happen.I left Libby’s place with an appreciation of Alaska and thebeauty and diversity the state has to offer.”

Three months after moving to Alaska, Therese mether future husband, Peter, who had just moved fromMaine to start his own Iditarod kennel. Peter was also inimpressive company, staying with Joe Redington, Sr., thefather of Iditarod.

After working with Riddles for a year, Theresejoined forces with Peter and started Mawg-Dawg Kennelin 1998. The couple was married in December of 2000.While some mushers will develop a kennel by purchasingan entire team, the Bartletts wanted to breed their own.They started by purchasing a few key dogs from some ofthe top mushers in the area and now have a thriving ken-nel of more than 60 dogs. Therese said it’s a longerprocess, but definitely worthwhile.

“We start training the dogs from the time they’repuppies,” she said. “We play with them, take them for

By KAREN WALLINGFORD ’02 MA

Therese Bartlett with brothers Waylonand Willie.

walks, develop their minds. We bond with them, so they know every-thing about us and we know everything about them.”

Training the dogs involves a combination of strength, endur-ance, and speed training. The dogs start running in harnesses whenthey are around 6 months old and generally are ready to partici-pate in some of the shorter, one- and two-hundred mile raceswhen they are between 1 1/2 to 2 years old. The ideal Iditarod rac-

ing dog is anywhere from 3 to 6 years old although Therese said it’snot unheard of to have some 9-year-old dogs still racing.Not only do the dogs need to be physically fit, the mushers have to

be in top physical condition as well. Maintaining control of the teamand maneuvering the sled around corners and trees requires bothupper- and lower-body strength. Therese said the number one rulefor any musher is to not lose his or her team, so maintaining con-trol of the team is crucial.

“If you lose a team, it can be very dangerous for the dogsbecause then they have no resistance—they’re going on their own

momentum. If one of the dogs slips or gets tangled, it can do someserious damage, so you always try to hang on no matter what.”

“No matter what” means that occasionally a musher spendssome time dragging behind his or her team. Therese admitsthat she has spent a fair amount of time dragging behind herteam, but she has only lost a team once during a training run.The team was quickly recovered, and no damage was done.

After six years of breeding, raising, and training dogs, theBartletts finally realized their dream and entered Peter in the 2002

Iditarod. While Therese also has her eye on running the race,financing the kennel, not to mention the race itself, has

prohibited the couple from entering two teams. In addi-tion to the $1,500 the Bartletts spend each month ondog food, the combined cost of the entry fee, supplies,food, and equipment needed to run the Iditarod cantotal up to $25,000. Most successful mushers have cor-

porate sponsors to help defray the majority of the raceexpenses, and while the Bartletts are continually sending

out proposals, they have yet to secure such sponsorship.

8 H O R I Z O N S

Emmie (lead)A 5-year-old, 47-pound

leader, Emmie has run theIditarod three times.

Inca (lead)A 5-year-old, 46-pound

leader, Inca is tough asnails with speed to boot.

She and Sting make agreat pair.

Gremlin (point) A 4-year-old, 47-pound, perfect

specimen of a sled dog. He was anice surprise on Iditarod 2002—thefarther he went, the better he got.

Sting (lead)A 5-year-old, 45-pound

wonder, Sting is the topdog in the kennel. He’sthe main leader along

with Inca. He ran lead theentire Iditarod 2002.

Meet the Mawg-Dawg Dogs

Dover (lead or point)A 3-year-old, 40-poundleader, Dover is a real

crowd pleaser. She lookslike a puppy, but works

really hard. She‘s anexceptional young dog.

Dog NamingIn order to keep track of their growing number of dogs, theBartletts developed a theme system to name each litter. Puppiesfrom one litter, for example, were named after each of the TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles.

Dog Mushing TermsLead dog or leader: The dog or pair of dogs that run in front of theothers.

Point dog: Dog or dogs that run directly behind the leader.Sometimes referred to as swing dogs.

Wheel dogs or wheelers: Dogs placed closest to the sled.Wheel dogs pull the sled out and around corners or trees.

Team dog: Any dog other than those described above.

Once they are able to get a corporate sponsor, both Thereseand Peter will be able to train full time with their dogs, which willalso increase their chances for success in the Iditarod. In additionto a number of smaller sponsors, Therese helps finance the cost ofthe kennel, race entry fees, and the necessary equipment byworking full-time as a paralegal in Anchorage. She trains with thedogs every night after work. Peter trains full time with the dogs inthe winter, and during the summer, he supplements the couples’income by taking on construction jobs.

If there’s one constant in the Iditarod, it’s that anything can hap-pen, and Peter experienced the cruelty of the unexpected first handduring Iditarod 2002. Part way through the race, he lost his team.

“There are some really dangerous stretches of trail in that race,and one of them is very icy—you’re going back and forth on theseswitchbacks. He saw a tree coming and he knew he was probablygoing to lose the turn. He hit the tree, flew back about five feet,and the team was gone. You’re heart just sinks,” Therese said.

Fortunately a musher ahead of Peter saw his team coming withno driver and was able to secure his own team so he could stop andsecure Peter’s. Peter recovered and caught up to his team, finish-ing the Iditarod in 26th place—an impressive finish for a rookie.

The Bartletts are hoping to improve their standing inIditarod 2003, but this year Alaskan mushers are at a distinctdisadvantage. An unseasonably warm winter has caused thecancellation of a number of races that mushers use to traintheir Iditarod teams and has even resulted in moving the start ofthis year’s Iditarod from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Right now,Therese said, it’s a game of wait and see.

Developing an Iditarod kennel takes a lot of workand dedication, but Therese said she wouldn’t have itany other way.

“When you get home and play with your pup-pies, pet your dogs, and go out on a run, you forgetall that work, and it’s just fun.” ■

For more information about Mawg-Dawg Kennel, Therese and Peter main-tain a Web site at http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/mawgdawg/home/.

Max (wheel or team)A 3-year-old, 60-poundpowerhouse. Max is a great wheel dog with a hearty appetite.His vocal “cheerleading” was areal morale booster during

Iditarod 2002.

Raphael (team)A 2-year-old, 47-pounddog. Raphael is one ofthe best of the TeenageMutant Ninja Turtlelitter.

Shredder (lead or point)A 2-year-old, 50-pounddog, Shredder is fastand has a crazy attitude.He is learning to runlead, but is an asset

anywhere in the team.

Tango (team)A 5-year-old, 47-pound team dog.Tango is friendly and fun to haveout on the trail. She is always doingher job. She finished Iditarod 2002.

Snap (team)A 3-year-old, 54-poundteam dog, Snap is thecomedian of the kennel. Heloves to “attack” his foodbowl. He keeps everyone

smiling.

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 9

10 H O R I Z O N S

TWO

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 11

By KRISTI EVANS

hen brothers Brig ’86 BS andJon ’88 BS Sorber startedhauling brush and trash to

earn spending money in high school,they had little idea that their humbleentrepreneurial venture would spawn amulti-million dollar residential and com-mercial moving company. Or that theywould both attend Northern to pursuediverse careers, only to see their pathsmake a full circle back to the family busi-ness in Lansing. Or that a service origi-nally carried out from the bed of a 1967Ford pickup would expand to a fleet of750 vehicles.

Perhaps you’ve seen their likenesses onthe identifiable white trucks. Actually,they bear little resemblance to the stickfigures in the company logo, but theSorber siblings are the original Two Menand a Truck.

Most new business enterprises requiresome amount of start-up capital. ForBrig and Jon, it was $200 to purchasethe green pickup from Michigan StateUniversity Extension.

“We used to have lawnmowers inback and people started asking us tohaul things for them,” Brig recalled.“We put a sign up, posted an ad on aboard at Meyer Thrifty Acres, and ranads in the local paper. Originally wecalled ourselves Men at Work (after the’80s Australian band), then switched toTwo Men and a Truck.

W

MEN.. . AND A TRUCK

12 H O R I Z O N S

“Ourmom handdrew the

logo on anapkin and put

it in a cookie jar.After every job, $3 went into thatcookie jar for advertising.”

They had a winning formula: acash business with very little over-head. Jon said he and Brig madebetter money than their friends whohad paper routes, worked in restau-rants, or held other typical school-age jobs. After hauling brush andtrash for a year or two, they movedon to appliances and furniture.

“When we went to college, thecalls kept coming in,” Jon said.“Our mom hired a couple of guysand bought a bigger truck to keepthe service going. When we wenthome for breaks, we always had ajob to go back to.”

Brig, who is the elder brother bythree years, earned a geography degreein land use regulation from NMU.After a brief return to Lansing withlingering questions about what to dowith his life, Brig moved back toMarquette. He worked at Prudentialwhile his wife, Francine (Balduc) ’86BS, established Two Men and a Truckin Marquette. His mother had fran-chised the business in 1989. This wasabout the same time Jon began work-ing for the General Motors loss pre-vention program after graduatingwith a dual major in law enforcementand security administration.

Both men eventually answeredthe call to return to the moving busi-ness, which had blossomed into afull-fledged family affair. Theirmother was the CEO and a memberof the International FranchiseAssociation board of directors.Though no longer involved in the

day-to-day operations, she maintainsa busy public speaking schedule.Their sister is the company president.Brig is the head of the licensingdepartment, in charge of bringing innew franchises. Jon is president ofthe Lansing and Grand Rapids fran-chises. Each occupies a seat on theTwo Men and a Truck board.

Brig said working in close prox-imity has strengthened, not strained,the family dynamic. “You have tohave total trust in each other. Wemaintain that trust by being honestand keeping the lines of communica-tion open,” he added. “We are con-stantly bouncing ideas off each other.”

Two Men and a Truck hasgrown to 118 franchises in 25 states.It will soon expand internationallyto Taiwan, and officials are exploringsimilar options in Australia and NewZealand.

When asked what accounts forthe company’s steady ascent, theSorbers credit the company’s corephilosophy of top-quality customer

service and two other factors: theirknack for surrounding themselveswith intelligent people who sharetheir faith in the system; and a col-lective perseverance that enabledthem to rise above the naysayers.

“There were a lot of peoplewho said it couldn’t be done,” Brigexplained. “Jon and I got the busi-ness started. When my mom left herstate job after more than 20 years,cashed in her 401Ks and got rakedin taxes in order to invest in keepingit going, people thought she wascrazy. When my wife Fran and Istarted the Marquette franchise, theysaid it wouldn’t work.

“When the company reached alow point due to growing pains andother difficulties, my sister came onboard to tighten up the franchiseagreements. Basically, they thoughtour family didn’t stand a chance ofbreaking into the moving marketbecause it was so entrenched. But ourgoal was simple: take something anddo it better. That’s what we did.” ■

Two Men and a Truck President Melanie Bergeron (left), Brig Sorber, Jon Sorber, andfounder/CEO Mary Ellen Sheets. In the middle is the company mascot, “Truckie.”

Harvesting theentrepreneurial spirit

By KRISTI EVANS

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 13

While researching family farm operations in thePhilippines several years ago, political scienceprofessor Bill Ball struck up a conversation

with his motorcycle taxi driver. The man had obtained hiscycle through a government training program but lived ona subsistence-level rice farm with 47 members of his imme-diate and extended families. He invited Ball for a visit.

“I told them they should consider expanding andstarting a piggery because the government would givethem the money for the first two breeder pigs,” Ball said.“They followed through and were doing pretty well until aflood and pneumonia struck. The government doesn’t usu-ally offer welfare, but it is pretty lenient when people havea disaster. The family was able to keep the piggery going.”

Such incentive-based entrepreneurial programs arenot unusual in the region. Ball has traveled to Thailandfour out of the last five summers to teach businessadministration and human resource management courseson a part-time basis. When he’s not in the classroom, heshifts into political economist mode, studying govern-ment incentives for small-scale industrial operations.

Ball said that subsistence-level rice farmers in Thailandspend two months per year planting and harvesting, leaving10 months when they could be doing something else toprovide additional income for their families.

“Many don’t because they lack the skills or the start-

up resources,” he said. “The government recognizes thisand offers training programs to teach them a new skill.”

For example, many Thais are reluctant to master thecraft of weaving because they cannot afford a loom. So thegovernment began offering a week-long training session,dorm-style housing, and meals for about 50 cents a day.

“Not only do they learn the basics of weaving, theprogram also teaches them business and accountingskills,” Ball said. “The government even gives them aloom when they complete the program. It’s not entirelyfree; they have to pay the cost back gradually as they sellsome of their products. But it gets them started.”

Participation in these programs is not limited tofarmers. In fact, virtually anyone is eligible to sign up.The initiative has been so successful in Thailand that itmoved out from under the Department of Ministryumbrella and became its own entity: the Department ofSmall-Scale Industrial Promotion. The program now runsextension offices in different provinces, not just Bangkok.

Ball became intrigued with the region in college, buthis specific interest in Thailand is not just professional—it’s personal. Ball’s wife, Phannee, is a native of the coun-try. She was a university professor and came to the UnitedStates of pursue an educational doctorate degree. Theymet through a Thai student organization. Now a Mar-quette realtor, she still has relatives in Southeast Asia. ■

Alumni are getting the word outGrassroots effort sees growth

14 H O R I Z O N S

i. I’m Rick Popp ’88 BS, 90MPA, the new NMU AlumniAssociation president. I am

honored to have this position andhope to hear from many of youabout what services and events youvalue most about the Association andwhat you’d like to see the Associationprovide in the future.

Since being named to theAlumni Board in 2000, I’ve spentmore time thinking about Northernand its impact on my life than Ihave in a long time. One idea thathas really taken on more meaning isthis: When each of us was a student,some alum—often unbeknownst tous—did something that enabled usto have a more enriching collegeexperience.

Alumni did thisfor us through theircontinued involve-ment with Northern,either through finan-cial support, helpingwith professionalopportunities, or even just toutingtheir own success as a product ofgoing to Northern, which enhancedNMU’s regional and national repu-tation and our sense of pride ofattending the same school.

To those alumni who supportedNorthern in the 1980s, when I wasa student, thanks.

Let’s carry on the tradition ofhelping current and future NMUstudents. You don’t have to do some-thing monumental, time-consum-

ing, or expensive, but do somethingas a way of honoring those alumniwho—known or anonymously—supported you.

I look forward to hearing fromyou. If you have a comment or aquestion you’d like to ask, please e-mail me at rpopp@twmi.rr.com.

—Rick Popp, President NMUAlumni Association

P R E S I D E N T ’ S N O T E

A L U M N I A S S O C I A T I O N

grassroots effort is sproutingamong Northern alumni will-ing to help ensure that

NMU’s mission does not get lostamidst today’s often confusing dis-cussions about higher educationissues. Alumni are assisting Northernby speaking on the university’s behalfto current and prospective students,parents, and community members,and by writing to state legislators.

Alumni can stay informedabout higher education issues byreceiving the What’s New, NMU?electronic alumni newsletter;attending forums held on campus,alumni events, or CommunityConnection gatherings; or simplyby asking an Alumni Association

staff member or an NMU adminis-trator about higher education issues.

Today, a college education—whether it be a diploma or certifi-cate, or an associate, bachelor’s, ormaster’s degree—has never beenmore important to opening careerdoors. Alumni play an integral role

in helping Northern distribute theinformation needed for others tomake informed decisions about high-er education. If you’re interested inbeing a part of this endeavor, pleasecontact the Alumni Association toll-free at 1-877-GRAD NMU or by e-mail at alumni@nmu.edu.

Rick Popp (left) with his sons, Isaiah andSam, and his wife, Sue (Willson) Popp’90 BS.

Alumni Association Services Survey

W H AT D O Y O U T H I N K about the programs and servicesthe NMU Alumni Association provides? What programs and services

would you like to see the Alumni Association offer?

L O G O N to www.nmu.edu/alumni and fill out our online AlumniAssociation Services Survey. All of the information collected will beanonymous and confidential. This is your chance to tell us your ideas andlet us know how we’re doing.

Carry on a tradition

H

A

Where in the worldare these alumni?

Can you help uslocate the

followingpeople?

Dennis Damon ’70 BAJohn Gebauer ’71 BSDaniel Kalinowski ’75 BSCarol Rydell ’75 BSJennifer Hopkins ’80 BSSheila Stack ’82 BSCatherine Hughes ’85 MALinda Marx ’85 BSMark Flannery ’86 BSAndrew Shively ’92 BSSuzanne Kelley ’94 BSSteven Langner ’96 BSMark Roby ’96 Dipl.Allison Mack ’98 BSKevin Sheard ’98 BS

If you can help us, please drop us anote at alumni@nmu.edu or call ustoll free at 1-877-GRAD NMU.

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 15

L O S T A L U M N I

The following people have recentlyjoined as lifetime members of theNMU Alumni Association. Thank you.

John Bottum ’48 BASandra Smith ’65 BSPatrick ’66 BA and Ann ’69 BA CashinKatherine Wagester ’67 BSSusanne Homant ’69 BA, ’81 MBAMichael ’69 BS and Kathleen (Williams)

’70 BS MayhewJohn Cozzuol ’70 BSRichard Little ’71 BSNorman Bradbury ’73 BSWilliam Krauss Jr. ’73 BSGene ’74 BS and Susan (Marcella) ’77 BS

Autio Henry Motes ’74 BSDouglas ’76 BS and Gail MillerMichael Nardi ’76 BS

Kyra Fedetz ’77 BSNPaul Kuyper ’77 BSJoseph Holman III ’78 BSPeter Biske ’79 BSAnn Van Dyke ’79 BSJudith (Sanders) Voorheis ’80 BSGary ’81 AB, ’84 BS and Kimberly

(Ericson) ’87 BS BrunswickWayne Hanmer ’82 BMEBarbara (Lukkarinen) Ball ’84 BSDaniel ’84 AT, ’85 BS and Christine

(Marceau) ’86 BS BoylePaul Cook ’86 BSCharles Roberts ’86 BSDebra Ackley ’87 BSBrian Hawkins ’87 BSDavid Peyton ’87 BSLisa Kupfer ’89 MARobert ’89 BS, ’93 MAE and Lisa Mariucci

Amy Molinaro ’89 BSNCarol Moore ’90 BSPamela Pomeroy ’90 MAERhonda (Komsi) Sprague ’91 BSJenny St. Martin ’93 BSBob Tebeau ’95 BSRachel Wisniewski ’96 BSChad Devereaux ’97 AS, ’99 BSTodd Schuster ’94 BS, ’98 MAJacob LaValley ’99 BSBrendan Bailey ’00 MSJanel ’00 BS and Tim ’00 BS MarshallTimothy Freiberg ’01 BSRyan Kieszkowski ’01 BS

To learn about the benefits of being alifetime member, visit us on our Website at www.nmu.edu/alumni, e-mailus at alumni@nmu.edu, or call us at1-877-GRAD NMU.

L I F E T I M E M E M B E R S

These awards recognize alumni who have received an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, oreducation specialist degree from Northern and who have been a positive influence ontheir professions or their communities through public service, or who have distinguishedthemselves through outstanding achievements that place them above the norm.

The Alumni Association is currently accepting nominations for the following awards:

Alumni Service AwardAn NMU alumnus/alumna whose volunteerism, contributions, and/or recruitmentefforts on behalf of NMU are above the norm.

Alumni Civic Leadership AwardAn NMU alumnus/alumna whose volunteer service to his or her community has beenoutstanding for a minimum of 10 years.

Distinguished Alumni AwardAn NMU alumnus/alumna who is outstanding in his/her profession and has madesignificant contributions to society or his/her profession.

Outstanding Young Alumni AwardAn NMU alumnus/alumna under 36 years of age who has demonstrated achieve-ments in service to NMU, professional success, civic involvement, business, politicalarenas, or other notable activities.

Nomination Deadline: April 15, 2003

Awards are given once per year during Homecoming weekend. Nominations must be submitted bysomeone other than the recommended recipient and are valid for three years. For complete awarddescriptions and nomination instructions, visit our Web site at www.nmu.edu/alumni, e-mail us atalumni@nmu.edu, or call 1-877-GRAD NMU.

The mission of the Northern Michigan University Alumni Association is to cultivate a strongtradition of involvement and loyalty among alumni, students, friends, and community while advancingthe interests of the university.

NMU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARDSN O W A C C E P T I N G N O M I N A T I O N S

alentine Manada’s drive tosucceed began in one of themost unlikely places at one of

the most unlikely times: SouthCentral Los Angeles when Manadawas just 15 years old.

Horrified by the violence thatdictated his life and the lives ofthose around him, the NMU seniorand Wildcat football player left hissingle-parent home—with his moth-er’s blessing—and sought a calmer,safer existence eight hours north ofLos Angeles in Turlock, California.It was here that Manada began anew life with some family friends.

“I knew that life had to bemore than straight violence all thetime,” Manada said. “I knew thatmy only chance for survival was toleave. Who knows what I’d be doingif I had stayed in L.A. I’d probablybe dead by now.”

That is not to say that Manada’slife was instantly better in Turlockthan it was in Los Angeles. Althoughthe family friends he lived with sawthat he always had food and shelter,he was basically on his own. And forManada, being on his own meantthat he was without his mother.

“At first, leaving my mother andmy home to move so far away wasn’ta big deal to me,” he said. “I was justtrying to do my own thing, trying tosurvive. But I missed my mother, andour relationship suffered because wearen’t the way that moms and sonsshould be with each other. I wasmaking my own choices and learningfrom my own mistakes and successes.I learned at the age of 15 what somepeople may not learn in their life-time: the real world comes quick.”

Manada turned to sports when

he was a sophomore in high schoolto take his mind off of the realworld that was waiting for himwhen he stepped off school grounds.He began wrestling and playingfootball and eventually found him-self at another crossroads.

“I was going to go into theservice so that I could get money forcollege,” Manada said. “But then Idecided I would try football and seeif I could get a scholarship, and hereI am today at NMU.”

Before coming to Northern,Manada attended junior college inModesto, California, fine-tuning hisfootball skills and study habits to getthe grades he needed to play andsucceed. In addition to balancingthe time requirements of being botha student and an athlete, Manadaalso had to worry about paying thebills, so he took a job as a part-timemanager at a Blockbuster videostore. After two years in junior col-lege, Manada was offered a scholar-ship to attend Northern. Onceagain, he picked up and moved torealize another dream.

“A football scholarship,”Manada said, “is like a piece of meatthrown into a pen of hungry ani-mals. All these hungry animals arefighting and brawling for the prize,but only the strongest, the fastest,and the best wins. I was hungryfor that scholarship because Iknew that it would take mewhere I wanted to go.”

Wildcat football coachDoug Sams is, to say the least,pleased with Manada’s decision toattend Northern—both for the playhe has gotten from the defensiveback and for the potential that he

sees in the young man.“Valentine is a student athlete a

coach can really take pride in seeingsucceed on and off the field duringhis collegiate experience because he’sovercome some bumps along theway and he’s worked hard to be whatand where he is today,” Sams said.

Today football has becomemore than just a release from day-to-day stresses for Manada, it hasbecome a teaching tool and a modelagainst which to measure life.

“My football players are myfamily,” he said. “I reach out to

16 H O R I Z O N S

S P O R T S

Taking life in stride

V

them and talk to them and theycome to me, especially the youngerplayers, when they have somethingthey need help working out. Theylook to me for advice, and I try toteach them.”

Manada said that teaching isthe perfect profession for someonewho learned the hard knocks of lifeon his own, and something he iseager to do once he earns his sec-ondary education degree.

“I have to be a teacher so that Ican give back to the kids,” Manadasaid. “So that I can help try andpush them toward the right roadsbecause I know what the wrongroads are. I had to learn all of thaton my own, but there is no reasonthat any other kid has to. At leastnot a kid who is a student of mine.

“Kids need teachers who reallycare about changing someone else’slife and who take the initiative tohelp kids who are on the edge, like Iwas. They need somebody to tellthem the truth from the start; theyneed a role model.”

Manada found his own rolemodels while he was out on hisown. It is something he credits tohis success more than his owninner will and outer strength.

“My [high school] wrestlingcoach was always there for me,and the couple I lived withwas also really cool,” Manadasaid. “These people looked

out for me and were alwaysthere. Sure, I still had bad expe-

riences. I’ve been through situa-tions much worse than anything I

will experience for the rest of mylife. But I’m glad I got these experi-ences at an early age. Things couldbe worse than they are right now; Ijust take whatever comes in stride.”

—Ryan Sjoholm ’99 BS

Life lessonsCasey Young’s dad would be proud. The 2002 foot-ball season was a good one for his son, a defen-sive back who was second among the Wildcats insolo tackles (46), third in overall hits (82), secondin interceptions (3 for 42 yards), and a teamleader who was instrumental in helping Northernto a 6-5 record under new coach Doug Sams.

Young dedicated the season to his father, BobYoung ’74 BS, who died of a heart attack just astraining camp was set to begin last August.Immediately following his father’s death, Youngconsidered not playing his senior year.

“I didn’t know what to do at first,” saidYoung. “All I wanted to do was to be there to helpmy mom and my younger brother.”

But Young’s family and Gladstone, Mich., community members went onthe offensive to convince him that his dad would have wanted him to play.

“Ironically, Dad had to make the same decision when his father died,”said Young. “He had a scholarship and was playing football at Ashland, but hemoved back to the U.P. to take care of his mother.”

After talking to family members and his father’s closest friends, and withthe encouragement of his mother, Young agreed that playing and dedicatingthe season might honor his father and be a good way to get through thegrieving process.

“Nobody loved football more than my dad,” Young said. After moving back to the U.P., the elder Young came to Northern to fin-

ish his degree, playing football and studying to be a schoolteacher—as hisson does today. Following a brief career in teaching, Young’s father went towork at Mead Paper where he stayed for the remainder of his career. Hebecame a longtime youth football coach, and recently had a Gladstone sportsfield named in his honor.

Many Gladstone community members continued to honor Young byattending his son’s games.

“My parents went to almost every game throughout my entire athleticcareer. I missed looking up and seeing my dad in the stands, but he wouldhave been thrilled to see my fan section—there were about 40 people whocame up every game to cheer me on.”

Young described his football style as “old school,” saying, “I just like tohit people. I try to be the toughest person on the field.”

When asked if he’s ever played on the offensive side, Young smiles.“Yeah, but I still hit people and that wasn’t always the best thing.”

Sams agreed that hitting is Young’s forte. “He has a relentless physicalstyle with a knack for getting in the right spot to forcefully take players down.”

Young said he’s learned some tough life lessons this year. “Now, whenever Iface hard decisions, I think, ‘What would my dad do?’ That keeps me connectedto him. I’m using his life as my example.”

—Cindy Paavola ’84 BS

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 17

Collision Repair and AutoRefinisher’s Endowed ScholarshipEstablished by the NMU collisionrepair technology program in honorof Weldon Hart and MichaelLibick. The scholarship will beawarded to a student in the colli-sion repair technology program whois in his or her first to third semes-ter and has at least a 3.00 cumula-tive grade point average.

The J. Donovan JacksonMemorial EndowmentEstablished in memory of formerNMU dean of continuing educa-tion J. Donovan Jackson by hisfamily, friends, and former col-leagues. This endowment will pro-vide annual scholarships toNorthern hockey players for springor summer session classes. It willalso provide annual support to the

music department for thepurchase of musical

arrangements orother needed

items forNorthern’spep band.

TheJilbertDairyScholarshipEstablished by Jilbert Dairy,the scholarship will beawarded over a four-yearperiod to a self-identi-fied student from anUpper Peninsulafamily in the agri-culture business ora profession relat-ing to agriculture.

The Luella R.JohnsonEducationScholarshipEstablished in memo-ry of Luella R.

(Raymond) Johnson ’33 LC, ’56BS to honor Johnson’s love of teach-ing. The scholarship will be awardedto a student with a 3.00 grade pointaverage who is majoring in elemen-tary education and is scheduled forstudent teaching.

Investing in studentsScholarships at Northern Michigan University

D E V E L O P M E N T F U N D

Since the start of This Decisive Season: The Campaign for Northern Michigan University, 85 new scholarships have beenendowed. Northern’s scholarships are worth more than $400,000 annually to NMU students and have an overall investmentvalue of more than $5 million to the university. Here is a sampling of scholarships created during This Decisive Season.

18 H O R I Z O N S

The International Student FundNorthern received a $100,000 campaign gift from an anony-

mous donor couple for the purpose of establishing an InternationalStudent Fund in May 2002. The fund will provide both scholarship assis-

tance and emergency grants to Northern’s international students. “Many of the international students who come to school in the United States

are able to come because their family, home village, or extended family has madean investment in them to get an American education,” said John Weting, directorof NMU’s International Affairs Office. “But sometimes something happens, and

the family can no longer support the expense of their child’s internationaleducation, so this endowment will help those international students

who are serious about completing their NMU degree but forwhatever reason can no longer

afford to do so.”

The Sten Taube/John HughesEarth Science Award

Retired geography professors Sten Taube ’61BS and John Hughes of Marquette taught a

combined 56 years at Northern. Additionally threeof Taube’s four children and all four of Hughes’ chil-

dren as well as his wife received NMU degrees.When it came to giving back to NMU, Taube and

Hughes knew just where they wanted their gift to go—therecently resurrected earth science program within the geog-raphy department.

The Taube/Hughes Earth Science Award will be present-ed annually to a student majoring in earth science or sec-ondary education/earth science. The award will go to theapplicant with the highest grade point average in one of

the earth science majors or to the student with thehighest overall grade point average in the event of a

tie. The minimum GPA to qualify is 3.30.

The Alumni Leaders Scholarship Fund for EntrepreneursIn 2002, the corporate gifts committee of the NMUDevelopment Fund set a goal to endow a fund that willprovide scholarship awards to students of any major withfinancial need who express a desire to one day own theirown business or seek to be a leader in business.

“The members of the committee felt that part of our suc-cess in business was due to our experience and educa-tion at Northern,” said Mike Nelsen ’63 BA, aretired Amoco Oil Company executive andDevelopment Fund trustee and committeemember. “We wanted to create a scholar-ship to assist NMU students in obtain-ing their degrees and give them achance at the same kind of businesssuccess we’ve enjoyed.”

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 19

A welcome investmentSentiments from an NMU scholarship recipient

Michael Simpson ’02 BS wrote to NMU’s annual fund director, Barbara Burri’92 BS, last fall to tell her how much his scholarship meant to him. We’veexcerpted portions of Simpson’s letter to highlight one of the many waysscholarship dollars help students achieve their academic goals.

I wanted to send you a letter expressing my gratitude for being awardedthe Rutherford/Lewis Graduate Scholarship. My academic life didn’t startout very promising. I originally went to Alma College in 1988 fresh outof high school with the status of Army scholar/athlete of the year, an All-State status in basketball, and an ego to match. After two years of playingbasketball, partying, and chasing girls, I was dismissed for poor scholar-ship. Having a wise set of parents, they told me since I didn’t value myeducation I could enjoy the benefits of working in the real world. (I didn’tthink they were so wise at the time.)

Having been raised on a farm, I was taught the value of a strong workethic, so I was never without a decent job. I started out working variousjobs until I found a job working at a sporting goods store, where I workedmy way up to assistant manager. I was being moved around to variousstores in Michigan and working 16 hours a day until it finally became toomuch, as they told me I would be transferred out of state. This started methinking about how nice it would have been to graduate seven years previ-ously and been working in a field that was more to my liking.

I eventually landed a job working at a large RV dealership sellingcampers and making a good living, but I was not happy. After four yearsof battling between money and my serenity, I decided to listen to what Iwas taught by my mother and father. My parents were both lucky to grad-uate from high school. My father’s dad passed away when he was fifteenand left him and my uncle to take care of the family farm. Because of thehardships of my parent’s time, they wanted me to have the opportunitiesthey never had. As a cocky, 18-year-old kid, I didn’t realize how importanteducation was—for more reasons than simply drawing a better paycheck.

This brings me back to why I’m writing. Having completed my bach-elor’s degree over the summer where I took 25 credits, the joy of thataccomplishment was almost as much as the headaches of studying 12-16hours a day all summer in 90 degree heat. If I hadn’t known what it waslike working 16 hours a day at something that wasn’t enjoyable for all thoseyears, I wouldn’t have had the discipline to finish something that was. Byyour gracious scholarship to me, which allows me to complete a master’sdegree, it feels like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders.

I can assure you that the opportunity you have afforded me will beput to very good use. You see, it wasn’t just me you gave this scholarshipto, it was to all the hard-working farmers and Simpson family memberswho never received the opportunity. I intend to someday pay it back toothers in some way because I know how much it has meant to me.

—Michael J. Simpson

The Roy Lawrence MemorialScholarshipEstablished by the family and friendsof Roy Lawrence. The scholarshipwill be awarded to U.P. high schoolgraduates who are majoring in nurs-ing and demonstrate financial need.

The Jim Melka and Knute WolfMemorial ScholarshipEstablished by employees of FreiChevrolet in memory of Jim Melka,a parts man, and Knute Wolfe, anautomotive technician, both employ-ees of Frei Chevrolet. The scholarshipaward will be given to students inNMU’s automotive services program.

The Reinhart Foods, Inc.,ScholarshipEstablished by Reinhart Foods, theseannual awards will be presented totwo full-time students with a mini-mum 3.00 grade point average whoare majoring in any culinary arts orhospitality management program orare student employees of Northern’sdining services department.

The Stabile/Day’s Inn/ComfortSuites/Hudson’s Classic GrillScholarshipEstablished by Frank and LindaStabile, owners of two Marquettearea hotels and developers ofWestwood of Marquette, and by Jimand Lisa Stabile. This annual schol-arship is awarded to a junior or sen-ior majoring or minoring in hospi-tality management. The scholarshiprecipients may also be considered fora paid hotel or restaurant manage-ment internship with one of theWestwood of Marquette properties.

Note: There are two types of scholarships atNorthern, endowed and annual. An endowedscholarship requires a gift of $10,000 fromwhich the general interest is used to fund thescholarship award. An annual scholarship is onewhere the entire balance is available for awards.

Pre-1960sLouis Taccolini ’52 BS, ’63MA of Marquette is a retiredteacher. He writes that heand Keith Kepler ’54recently completed a 525mile hiking and bird-watching trip through sevenEuropean countries. Theysaw 135 different speciesand hiked an average of15.2 miles per day.

60sJohn Bayerl ’62 BS of Marquette retiredafter working for more than 30 years asa school counselor, mostly with the AnnArbor Schools, and more than 20 as anadjunct lecturer with the leadership andcounseling program at Eastern MichiganUniversity. He has taken a “retirementjob” as the director of the NMU K-12Michigan school guidance counselingprogram. jbayerl@nmu.edu

Errol Moffatt ’63 BS of Rome, N.Y., is aretired international airline pilot. Heworked for US Airways.

Kenneth Bureau ’65 BS of Fridley,Minn., is a senior property manager atGoldmark Properties of Bloomington,Minn. He is in charge of residential and

commercial properties in Minnesota,Iowa, and Nebraska. kjb2438@msn.com

Don Keskey ’68 BA recently joined thelaw firm of Clark Hill PLC’s Lansingoffice, where he will be practicing in theareas of telecommunications, energy andutilities, administrative, transportation,and environmental law. Prior to joiningClark Hill, Don served as AssistantAttorney General for the state ofMichigan for 25 years.

Susanne (Wendt) Homant ’69 BA, ’81MBA of Tallahassee, Fla., is working onher doctorate in public policy and publicadministration. Suehospice@aol.com

Albert Lord ’69 BS of Allen Park is acredit union manager for A & P FarmerJack Credit Union in Redford.alord2@comcast.net

Robert Miller ’69 BS of San Jose, Calif.,is in his sixth year as an arts commis-sioner for the city of San Jose.RHBMiller@aol.com

Charles Wurrey ’69 BS of Kansas City,Kan., was named Distinguished TeachingProfessor by the University of MissouriSystem, where he is a professor of chem-istry and executive associate dean of theCollege of Arts and Sciences.

70sRuth (Shipman) Bratcher ’70 BS ofRacine, Wis., is a learning disabilitiesand reading teacher for Fox River MiddleSchool in Waterford.

John Fallon III ’70 MAE of Potsdam,N.Y., has served as the president of theState University of New York at Potsdamsince 1998. fallonja@potsdam.edu

Don Saunders ’70 BS of Greenvilleretired after teaching math for 32 1/2years for the Greenville Public Schools.He also served as president and chiefnegotiator for the Greenville EducationAssociation. donsa@iserv.net

John Bruno ’71 BME of Valparaiso, Ind.,is a funeral director and embalmer forthe Moeller Funeral Home.

Frank DeMare ’71 BS of Grosse, Ill., ispresident of ProCoil Corporation, a sub-sidiary of National Steel Corporation.fdemare@procoil.com

Kenneth Engelbrecht ’71 MA of Aurora,Colo., is head of the Earth andAtmospheric Sciences department atMetropolitan State College in Denver. Hewrites that he and his wife maintain acottage in the Upper Peninsula and tryto get back whenever they can.

Frank Witgen ’72 BS of Erie, Pa.,earned the Chartered RetirementPlanning Counselor designation fromAmerican Express Financial Services. Healso received the President’s recognitionaward from the company. This isWitgen’s second such citation.

Mary Sivula ’72 BS of Petoskey receivedthe 2002 Outstanding Person in Educationaward, representing East Jordan SchoolSystem. The award is given for above-and-beyond excellence in teaching.

Scott Goetz ’73 BS of Spring, Texas, isthe principal of Coop Elementary, which isin the Houston Independent SchoolDistrict. Coop Elementary received anexemplary rating from the Texas EducationAgency for academic performance.

Richard Hull ’73 BS of Sioux Falls, S.D.,is the owner and president of JohnstoneSupply. rick.hull@johnstonesupply.com

Robert Leonard ’73 BS of Carpinteria,Calif., is a senior manufacturing engineerwith Helix Medical. rleonards1@cox.net

Timothy Moran ’73 BS of Green Bay,Wis., is athletic director at SouthwestHigh School.

John Quarton ’73 BS of Waterford is aclinical psychologist at John QuartonP.C. He writes, “I’m still here with twochildren and living on a lake inWaterford, Mich., and loving what I do!”

Richard Cairns ’74 BS of Menominee is

K E E P I N G T R A C K

20 H O R I Z O N S

the owner and manager at CairnsApartments. He writes, “NMU has helpedme immensely. Without a degree I amsure I’d still be working in a factory.”Duffer_11@hotmail.com

Mary (Latus) Nash ’74 BSN ofBirmingham, Ala., is the executive direc-tor of the University of Alabama atBirmingham Hospital.

Joann (Imislund) Picard ’74 BS ofBlowing Rock, N.C., was promoted tomanager of Dress Barn. health4u@goboone.net

Jacquelyn Ingram ’75 BS of Chicago,Ill., is a coordinator for the sports andentertainment division of Seiu Local 1.She writes, “I’m honored to have goneto NMU. The friends that I made atNorthern are my friends for life.”jmingram@aol.com

Anne (Conklin) Winjarski ’75 BSN ofLinden is a registered nurse at St.Joseph’s Hospital in Flint.

Paula (Mathias) Broullire ’76 BSN ofNiagara, Wis., is a school nurse atNiagara Public Schools.

Michael Greer ’76 BA of Boston worksat the William S. Haynes Flute Companyin Boston. He recently had a visit fromDr. Elda Tate, his flute teacher at NMUand good friend. They had lunch andcaught up on “NMU music departmentstuff and had a good time.”magreerflutes@msn.com

John “Biff” Jackson ’76 BS ofWatertown, S.D., has worked in theinsurance industry for the past 16 years;for the last 12 he has also coachedhockey in Watertown. Before he wentinto the insurance industry, he taughtand coached high school basketball,football, track, and baseball in Waverly,S.D.; Hartford, S.D.; and Whiting, Iowa.John is a senior claims representative atIMT Insurance. nmubiff@hotmail.com

Mark Lovell ’77 BS of Pittsburgh, Pa., isa neuropsychologist and the director ofthe UPMC Center for Sports Medicineconcussion program. He is working on a$3 million, five-year study withresearchers and doctors at the Universityof Pittsburgh and Carnegie MellonUniversity that is designed to objectivelystudy the effects of single and multiple

concussions on athletes’ brains. Theirresearch is being funded by a grant fromthe National Institutes of Health.

Daniel McAdams ’77 BS of Grand Rapidsis the owner of the DMA Group, aninvestment management firm.dmcadams@ameritech.net

James Nyquist ’77 MM of Saginawretired after 29 1/2 years of teachinginstrumental music in the Saginaw PublicSchools. He is currently a lay ministerand principal of S.S. Peter & PaulCatholic School in Saginaw.J.Nyquist@chartermi.net

Kaaren (Hagen) Ness ’79 MAE ofCrystal Falls retired from the Gwinn AreaCommunity Schools.

Mark Rizzardi ’79 BFA of Minneapolis,Minn., is a graphic design instructor inMinneapolis. He writes, “My wife Tia andI visit Marquette every summer for thesuperior view.”

Stella Sandy ’79 BS ofLakewood, Colo., is an auditdirector at the Departmentof the Interior, Office of theInspector General. Shewrites, “As a late bloomer Igraduated at 35 and am nowtop management. Lookingforward to retirement.Thanks, NMU!”

80sDavid Brothers ’80 BS of Port Deposit,Md., teaches 5th grade at Rising SunElementary School. He is also head var-sity basketball coach at Elkton HighSchool in Elkton.

Kenneth Cloutier ’80 BS of Harshaw,Wis., is a certified public accountant andpartner with Wipfli, Ullrich, Bertelson.

David Killinger ’80 BS of Pulaski, Wis.,retired after teaching technical educationfor 22 years at Pulaski High School. Heserved as department head, coached base-

ball and basketball, and refereed footballand basketball. He was also an adviser forthe Vocational Industrial Clubs of America.

Mark Pauluzzi ’80 BS of Ballwin, Mo., isa senior account executive for AlterTrading Corporation. In September 2002,he and his wife had a son, JamesAnthony. Their daughter Grace will be 3in January. Mark writes, “I can’t wait toshow them where their dad went toschool as well as the many spectacularsites the U.P. has to offer.”Mark.Pauluzzi@altertrading.com

Laurie (Burry) Blondy ’81 BSN ofNorthville is a legal nurse consultant andowner of Medlaw Advantage Service. laurieblondy@comcast.net

Shirley (Dishaw) Beck ’82 BSN ofCrystal Falls was the 2002 recipient ofthe Dickinson Community HospitalMichigan Nurses Association StaffCouncil Achievement Award. She is acritical care staff nurse at DickinsonCommunity Hospital.

William French ’82 BS of Santa Maria,Calif., retired from the United States AirForce as a senior master sergeant in 1990,and in September 2002 he retired fromthe Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department,where he was a deputy sheriff.

Beverly (Crandell) Hutchinson ’82 BSNof Rockford is an operating room staffnurse at Spectrum Health.Bch619@aol.com

Carol Krumbach ’82 BS of Northville isthe executive director of college advance-ment at St. Clair Community College.

Jeanette Maki ’82 AB, ’86 BS of Gwinnretired from a 36-year banking careerand now volunteers at the Gwinn-SawyerChamber of Commerce as acting directorand president. The chamber was recentlynominated for the 9th annual Governor’sService Awards. Jeanette was also hon-ored recently as the 2002 MarquetteCounty Volunteer of the Year. jeanettemaki@chartermi.net

Kim Schieldknecht ’82 BS of Milford,Ohio, is president of Clermont Financial.kim@clermontfinancial.com

Thomas Baker ’83 BSN of Fort Gratiot isa nurse anesthetist at Sinai GraceHospital. tbak2@juno.com

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 21

22 H O R I Z O N S

K E E P I N G T R A C K

Bill Balog ’83 BS of Austin, Texas, isdirector of global human resources, infor-mation technology at Dell Computer. Hiswife Sheila (Greig) Balog ’81 BS, ’82MAE is director of career services in theSchool of Architecture at the Universityof Texas at Austin. wbalog@aol.com

Kathleen Duritza ’83 BSN ofUniontown, Ohio, is a registered nurse atChildren’s Hospital Medical Center ofAkron. She is working on a two-yearnational project through the March ofDimes to develop informational andemotional support material for parentswho go through the neonatal intensivecare unit experience.

Leah Hocking ’83 of Brooklyn, N.Y.,performed the role of Magda in theBroadway production of Dance of theVampires. She has appeared in The Roadto Hollywood at Goodspeed Musical’sNorman Terris Theatre and on Broadwayin The Wild Party, Jekyll & Hyde, Grease,and Guys and Dolls. Her off-Broadwaycredits include Forbidden Broadway andInside Out.

Eric Luttinen ’83 BA of Ishpeming wasnamed to the All-America Team of TheAmerican Funds Group of mutual funds.

Lee Morrison ’83 MAE of Toronto,Ontario, Canada, is vice president andchief operating officer for CanadianExecutive Services Organization.lmorrison@ceso-saco.com

Stella Beck ’84 AB of Marquette is asecretary with Marquette General HealthSystems Employee Assistance Program.tanabar1260@yahoo.com

Matt Dubie ’84 BSN of Oshkosh, Wis.,graduated from St. Mary’s University ofMinnesota with a master’s in nurse anes-thesia with a 4.0 grade point average.He currently practices as a certified reg-istered nurse anesthetist for AnesthesiaServices of the Fox Valley.mjdubie@excite.com

Barry Hosking ’84 BS of Green Bay,Wis., is vice president for First BankersCorporation, based in Indianapolis, Ind.bhosking@firstbankers.net

Gordon Post ’84 BS of Grosse PointeFarms writes that he has been marriedfor 10 wonderful years to his wife

Patricia and has two children, ages 4 and6. He received his master of businessadministration from Central MichiganUniversity and is currently an automotivesales manager at Meikle Automation.

Linda (Potter) Rosenkranz ’84 BS ofNashville, Tenn., is assistant director ofcampus recreation at VanderbiltUniversity. After developing an outdoorrecreation program for Vanderbilt 13years ago and opening a $1.6 millioncenter in 1997, she was able to hire afull-time outdoor recreation professionalto supervise and help the program con-tinue to grow.

Diane Walker ’84 BSN of Wausau, Wis.,is a registered nurse at Wausau Hospital.She works as a cardiac rehabilitation anddiabetes educator.

Greg Hunt ’85 MBE of Norway is in his6th year as director of bands with theNorway-Vulcan Area Schools. The directorsof District 14 Michigan (western U.P.)School Band and Orchestra Organizationelected Greg Teacher of the Year in 2000and appointed him the director of the2000 District 14 Honors Jazz Band. Heand Norway Choral Director Dawn(Spanton) Pierce ’83 BME were involvedin overseeing the construction and admin-istration of a $4 million Fine Arts Centerthat was completed in 2001. Greg and hiswife Diana have three daughters, ages 15,12, and 9. ghunt@norwaymi.com

Steve Marietti ’85 BS of Brooklyn Park,Minn., is an accounts receivable managerat Universal Hospital Services inBloomington. spmarietti@attbi.com

Leslie Cory ’87 BS of Marquette is anassistant professor in technology andoccupational sciences department atNMU. lshoe@nmu.edu

Joyce (Derocher) King ’87 BS ofGladstone received the 2002 DistinguishedFaculty Award from Bay de NocCommunity College in Escanaba, whereshe is a computer applications instructor.

Dave Peyton ’87 BS of Farmington Hillsis director of visual effects at GTN, Inc.uppeyts@aol.com

James Vass ’87 BS, ’88 MBA ofWaterford is a computer programmer atKeane, Inc. jr-vass@comcast.net

Katherine (Pedo) Bond ’88 BSN ofMunising is medical case manager andowner of Independent RehabilitationConsultants.

Peggy Sue (Borch) Crawford’89 BS of Frankenmuth is anassociate professor of theHealth Wellness Division atDelta College. She competedin the Miss Fitness UniverseContest in the Czech Republicand came in 7th placeoverall. She placed 3rd in herfitness routine category.pscrawfo@alpha.delta.edu

Gerard Holzman ’89 BS of Seattle,Wash., is a principal at Everett PublicSchools.

Keith King ’89 BS of Studio City, Calif.,was named counsel for the InternationalHouse of Pancakes Corporation in LosAngeles. keithki@ix.netcom.com

Tim Lambrecht ’89 MAE of Alma wasthe Michigan winner and regional semifi-nalist in the NASDAQ/National Councilfor Economic Education Excellence inEducation Teaching Awards. He teachessocial studies at Ithaca High School andis the department chairperson. lambrech@edzone.net

Jim Lewan ’89 BS of Spring Grove, Ill.,is a global manufacturing engineer withBaxter Healthcare Corp. In October 2002he and his wife had a son, Jayden Lee.jim_lewan@baxter.com

Douglas Tew ’89 BS of New Berlin, Wis.,is a fire fighter and paramedic for theGreenfield Fire Department.dtew@wi.rr.com

Gregory Zajac ’89 BS of New Berlin,Wis., is an account executive with BlissCommunications. He writes, “I enjoy mycareer and living in the Milwaukee areawith all its professional and collegesports, cultural activities, and fantasticfestivals.”

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 23

Andy and Matt Jones have turnedtheir passion into a profession. At21 and 23 respectively, the Jonesbrothers own and operateCasualties, a skate- and snow-boarding store in Marquette.

Andy and Matt grew up inMarquette, learning to snow-board in the early 1990s, whenthe sport wasn’t very popular yet.Over the years, the brothersworked in snowboard retailstores, and Andy started a spon-sorship with a major snowboard-ing company. Matt got a sponsora few years later.

“That opened up opportuni-ties and got me into the businessof selling snowboards,” Andysaid. “We learned retail when wewere in high school.”

Andy, a senior marketingmajor at NMU, has been a busi-nessman since he was 14 years old, working as a discjockey at high school dances, church gatherings, andwedding receptions.

Matt and Andy enrolled at Northern in 1998 and1999 respectively, and while Matt has since stopped attend-ing, Andy is planning to graduate in December 2003.When enrolled at NMU, they both worked full-time atMarquette Mountain—Matt as the snowboard hill manag-er and Andy as a snowboarding instructor. By the spring of2000 both of their contracts at Marquette Mountain werecoming to an end and they needed something to do.

“One day it just hit us that we wanted to open asnowboard store,” Andy said.

They realized they wanted to be their own bosses, sothey started a business plan. Since they had been in thesnowboarding business for quite some time, the brothersknew the right people, and it wasn’t hard to convincecompanies to send them products. All they needed wasmoney and space.

“We found this location[505 N. 3rd Street] and startedgoing to town,” Matt said.

The brothers didn’t want torely on their parents for money,and they had no established cred-it, but despite these obstacles,they tried to get a loan on theirown. Andy said it was reallytough in the beginning, but withthe help of the Chamber ofCommerce and the SmallBusiness Administration, theywere able to finance the business.

Another challenge was find-ing a way to differentiate theirstore from the other snowboard-ing stores in town.

“We needed to bring in anew image—a young image,aggressive,” Andy said.

So they created an atmos-phere that would speak to the

younger boarding and skating crowd by decorating theirstore with barbed wire, brand-name signs, and by play-ing music suited to a variety of tastes. After threemonths of hard work Casualties Skate & Snow openedon July 1, 2000.

“Fortunately from the day we opened we have beendoing well,” Andy said. “Right now we’re doing awe-some. We’re taking care of people. Every day I work, Isee somebody who has been here before.”

Among the reasons for the store’s success is that Andyand Matt are doing something they love and they are justas active at snowboarding and skateboarding as their cus-tomers. But that doesn’t mean they’ll do this forever.

“Our goal is to do it until it’s not fun anymore,”Matt said.

“There are a lot of things I want to do,” Andy said.“We are making opportunities for ourselves.”

—Miriam Moeller ’00 BA, ’02 MA Photograph by Kim Marsh ’80 BS

CasualtiesA N D Y J O N E S

Matt (left) and Andy Jones standing outside theirskate- and snowboard shop, Casualties.

K E E P I N G T R A C K

90sTom Baranowski ’90 BS of Birminghamis a regional sales representative forTerminal Supply Company. tbaranowski@comcast.net

Holly Gottschalk ’90 BS of Ferndale isan associate with the Litigation PracticeGroup of Clark Hill PLC in Detroit.

Janet (Mingay) Nyman ’90 BSW ofMatthews, N.C., is a supervisor at All-TelCorporation. Nyman@alltel.net

Elizabeth Bussiere ’91 BS of Marquetteis an accountant manager for theMichigan Department of Corrections. Shehas three children and three grandchil-dren. lizbussiere@hotmail.com

John Stocker ’91 BS of Bensenville, Ill.,and his wife, Lauri (Alimenti) Stocker’90 BS, write that they are avid DetroitRed Wing fans. They attended the finalgame of the Stanley Cup playoffs at theJoe Louis Arena and a hockey puck landedin John’s drink cup during the secondperiod of the game. John is vice presidentof engineering at Chicago White Metal.

Patti (Brown) Brinkley ’92 BA ofSchaumburg, Ill., is a figure skatingcoach at Park District of Highland Park.pattyskate@attbi.com

Seanan Holland ’92 BS of Oceanside,Calif., is a major in the United StatesMarine Corps and an instructor at MarineMedium Helicopter (Training) Squadron164, Camp Pendleton, California.seananh@sbcglobal.net

Amy (Peyok) Morris ’92 BS ofSheboygan, Wis., is a homemaker. Shewas previously employed as a medicaltechnologist.

Marcelaine Lu Wininger ’92 MA ofHoughton earned her master instructordesignation from The NationalAssociation of Flight Instructors. Sheowns Agate Beach Aviation at HoughtonCounty Memorial Airport. She is also amaster skydiver, a high school teacher,and she serves as an Aviation SafetyCounselor for the Grand Rapids FlightStandards District Office.

Melodie (Depuydt) Anderson ’93 BS ’01MA of Clare is a campaign communicationspecialist and proposal writer for develop-

ment and alumni relations at CentralMichigan University. Her husband JayAnderson ’88 BS is the instructionalcoordinator of industrial trades for the M-TEC at Mid Michigan Community College.

R. Gregory “Greg” Corace III ’93 BS,’98 MS of Seney is a refuge forester atSeney National Wildlife Refuge, UnitedStates Fish and Wildlife Service. He actsas Refuge research liaison and hastaken the lead in Kirtland’s Warblerresearch and management and forestrestoration. He is also a doctoral candi-date in the School of Forest Resourcesand Environmental Science at MichiganTechnological University, where he isstudying the biogeography and conser-vation biology of grassland and shrub-land birds in the Upper Midwest.

Erin (Weber) Holloway ’93 BS ofRacine, Wis., is communication managerfor Johnson Diversey. Erin.weber-holloway@johnsondiversey.com

Jay Jerome ’93 BS ofOakdale, Minn., is a databasemarketing consultant withWest Group. He writes,“1993 Mock Trial partici-pants (Minneapolis,Milwaukee): Where are you?”jtj_duluth@yahoo.com

Shannon Killinger ’93 BS of Green Bay,Wis., obtained her master of businessadministration degree from theUniversity of Wisconsin. She is a seniorcompliance auditor at American MedicalSecurity in Green Bay.

Michelle (Olson) Lussow ’93 BS ofAppleton, Wis., is an import sourcinganalyst for Jansport. She works directlywith Asian manufacturing facilities forthe Jansport backpacks and travelsfrequently to Europe and Asia. Herhusband is Bret Lussow ’93 BS.Michelle_M_Lussow@vfc.com

Gerri (Harris) Mariano ’93 BS ofCaledonia is an accounting manager atEnvirotronics, Inc. GLHM@aol.com

Michele (Van Zee) Strube ’93 BS ofWoodridge is a homemaker with two chil-dren, ages 3 and 1. Her husband JonStrube ’93 BS is a buyer, seller, andassistant vice president of Strube Celeryand Vegetable Company, a business thatis run jointly by 12 members of Micheleand Jon’s family. Michele works part-timeat the company, dealing with humanresources issues. michelestrube@msn.com

Linda (Pittsley) Vande Voort ’93 BS,’99 MAE of Rochester Hills is an elemen-tary special education teacher at PineKnob Elementary in Clarkston.teea@gbpackersfan.com

Kendra (Seney) Knox ’94 BSN of Vassaris a home care nurse with Visiting NursesAssociation. She is married with twochildren, ages 5 and 7, and visitsMarquette three to four times a year.

Sean Krabach ’94 BS of Redford is thedirector of event operations for the 2003Junior Olympic Games.nmualumni@msn.com

Laurie (Let) Kunz ’95 BS of Appleton,Wis., is a kindergarten teacher inSeymour, Wis. lalett@yahoo.com

Julie Milewski ’95 BS of Ionia is an 8thgrade science teacher at Ionia MiddleSchool. Her husband John Milewski ’95BS is a computer technician at the sameschool. They were married after meetingas RAs at NMU in 1993. John was inHunt Hall and Julie was in Payne Hall.They recently purchased their first home.themilewskis@aol.com

Greg Wood ’96 BS of Pittsburgh, Pa.,successfully defended his dissertationprospectus in October 2002 and is nowABD in history at the University ofPittsburgh. gwood64@hotmail.com

Rebecca Benson ’97 BS of Alden is a 1stgrade teacher. Her husband Brad Jensen’95 BS is a watershed coordinator.

Stephen Forsha ’97 BS of Jefferson City,Mo., completed a master of businessadministration degree from WilliamWoods University, Fulton. He is a readi-ness officer in the United States Army.SFMichigan@aol.com

Deanna (Frisk) LaCosse ’97 AB, ’01CER of Champion is a licensed practicalnurse at Marquette General Hospital. She

24 H O R I Z O N S

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 25

is currently pursuing a bachelor of sci-ence in nursing at NMU.

Meghan Marsden ’98 BS of Aurora, Ill.,is director of annual giving at theNorthern Illinois University Foundation.She writes, “My fundraising career beganat NMU when Barbara Burri ’92 BS hiredme as a student caller in 1995. I havebeen raising funds for the Iowa StateUniversity Foundation as associate direc-tor of annual giving since 1998. I beganmy new job on August 15, 2002.”Meghan_marsden@hotmail.com

Joe Nagy ’98 BS of St. Clair Shoresworks in transportation logistics at C.H.Robinson Company. His wife Nicole(Seeley) Nagy ’97 MA is a speech lan-guage pathologist at Utica CommunitySchools. They welcomed their first child,Brooke Kaitlyn, in August.naggs10@comcast.net

Joan Bernard ’99 BSW of Ann Arborrecently started the master of socialwork advanced standing program at theUniversity of Michigan.jbernardbsw28@msn.com

Daniel Huyck ’99 BS of Copperas Cove,Texas, is an officer in the United StatesArmy. He is married to Amanda(Miettinen) Huyck ’00 BSN.

Erik Johnson ’99 BS of Midland is anenvironmental scientist with McDowelland Associates.

Allison Watkins ’99 BS of San Antonio,Texas, writes that after two years ofserving with the Americorps NationalCivilian Community Corps, she has takena position as an AmeriCorps Vista mem-ber with Our Lady of the Lake University.She is the Program Coordinator for theOLLU Serves work-study program.alwatkins@lycos.com

Mark Wolicki ’99 BS of Chicago, Ill., isa market maker at Botta Capital.Greatrek@aol.com

00sPaul Bergstraesser ’00 MA of Chicago isa teacher and a doctoral candidate atthe University of Illinois at Chicago.

Nicole Partica ’00 BS of Bonita Springs,Fla., is a real estate appraiser at Mathes

Realty Appraisal. npartica95@msn.com

Todd Dooley ’01 BS of Kingsford waspromoted to project manager of the Webdevelopment and information technologyoutsourcing division after one year ofemployment with Cable Constructors inIron Mountain. He and his wife Katie(Beauchamp) Dooley ’00 BS are theproud parents of a daughter, Kalli Grace,born last August.

Ann (Alexander) Golden ’01 BS is ateacher’s assistant for a blind student atCheboygan Public Schools.

Jenn Jurewicz ’01 BS ofEastpointe will be playingwomen’s professionalfootball for the DetroitBlaze, an independentwomen’s football leagueteam. Detroit’s first seasonbegins in March 2003. Shewill be playing cornerbackand wide receiver.Jurewicz78@yahoo.com

Jason Spanier ’01 BS of Kalamazoo isworking toward a master’s degree inearth science at Western MichiganUniversity after a summer of wildlandfirefighting with the United StatesForest Service. mojorisen@hotmail.com

Terri Campbell ’02 BS of Marquette is acorrections deputy with the MarquetteCounty Sheriff’s Department.

Molly (VanDamme) Meyers ’02 BS ofPembine, Wis., is a mathematics andsocial studies teacher at Crivitz HighSchool. She also coaches basketball andvolleyball. Her husband Brett Meyers’00 BS is a social studies teacher atFlorence High School in Florence, Wis.He coaches basketball and track.

Justin Young ’02 BS of Montrose is abusiness systems administrator withOetiker International.nmu_justin@hotmail.com

MarriagesKurt Mustamaa ’91 BSW to ValerieStitzel.

Cynthia Johnson ’92 AA to LanceKennedy.

Linda Pittsley ’93 BS, ’99 MAE to JeffVande Voort.

Jeff Jestila ’94 AS to Kimberly Kester’99 BS, ’01 MS.

Daniel Tibaldo ’94 BS to Rachelle Stein.

Timothy Dawson ’95 BS to Julie Rzepa.

Richard Fraser ’95 to Valerie Martin.

Brad Jensen ’95 BS to Rebecca Benson’97 BS.

Rebecca Klar ’95 BS to Troy Hills.

Laurie Lett ’95 BS to Andrew Kunz.

Lori Nemacheck ’95 BSN to RandyAppleton.

Sarah Thoren ’95 BS to Terrance Tripp.

Rebecca Sager ’96 BS to Luigi Torretti’02 MS.

Kelly Johnson ’97 CER to KennethHeaton.

Lisa Kinnunen ’98 AB to DominicJacobetti III.

Theresa Minkin ’98 BS to Brian Amos.

Amy Giddens ’99 CER to John Lines II.

Daniel Huyck ’99 BS to AmandaMiettinen ’00 BSN.

Jason Mattson ’99 BS to HollySalminen ’99 BSB.

Christine Meyer ’99 BS to AndrewBurnette ’02 BS.

Barbara Parent ’99 AB to GregoryHellman ’01 BSN.

Matthew Vert ’99 BS to DanielleNieminen ’01 BS.

Paul Bergstrasesser ’00 MA to MichelleJarman ’00 MA.

Christy Connors ’00 BS to DanielEtelamaki ’01 BS.

Julie Ellis ’00 BS to Todd Moore.

Ryan Grim ’00 BS to Rachel Linn.

Yasmine Korte ’00 to Donald Cook.

Beth Kosonen ’00 BS to Kraig Nelson.

Robert Lawrence ’00 BS to LaurelMathers.

Jason Yirsa ’00 BSN to KimberlyManninen.

Ann Alexander ’01 BS to ThomasGolden.

Kathryn Ambrose ’01 BS to RyanKnueppel.

Scott Amhaus ’01 BS to Catherine St.Onge ’01 CER.

Brandi Carlson ’01 BS to ThomasPetrocik.

Cortney Cleary ’01 BS to Aaron Ranta’01 AAS.

Marguerite Cowell ’01 BS to CraigMoore.

Tonya Harsila ’01 BS to Michael Irvine

Amy Little ’01 BSN to Bruce Cram, Jr.

Jerome Starkey ’01 BS to ReneePietrangelo.

Rebecca Strom ’01 BS to Chad

Wilkinson.

Bradley Cox ’02 AT to Kara Liubakka.

DeathsClaire (Hulsizer) Brissette ’30 LC,Sept. 28, 2002, Escanaba.

Norma (Johnson) LaFaver ’31 BS, June19, 2002, Albuquerque, N.M.

Josephine (Gambotto) Bogetto ’34 LC,’60 BS, Aug. 12, 2002, Negaunee.

Linnea (Nelson) Negrinelli ’34 LC, ’66BS, Aug. 21, 2002, Gwinn.

Eero Wiitala ’37 BS, July 26, 2002,Marquette.

Edna Kielinen ’38 BS, Oct. 15, 2002,Marquette.

Robert Murphy ’38 BA, Oct. 5, 2002,San Antonio, Texas.

Louise (Basso) Schultz ’40 BS, Jan. 7,2002, Devon, Pa.

Charlotte (McWilliams) Viant ’40 BA,Sept. 11, 2002, Ishpeming.

Orlando Spigarelli ’41 BS, July 17,2002, Iron Mountain.

Leonard West ’41 BS, May 5, 2002,Alamogordo, N.M.

Edwin Olds ’42 BS, June 29, 2002,Naples, Fla.

Ira “Hack” Hanson ’48 BS, Oct. 10,2002, Newberry.

Lawrence Korpi ’50 BA, July 20, 2002,Marquette.

Ellwood Mattson ’50 BS, Nov. 30, 2002,Marquette.

Olive (Lundin) Richardson ’50 BS, Aug.25, 2002, Stambaugh.

Gladys Chamberlain ’51 BS, Oct. 20,2002, Ontonagon.

Clarence Hammer ’51 BA, Aug. 24,2002, Marquette.

Herbert Ladin ’51 BA, Sept. 9, 2002,Escanaba.

Charles Lahti ’51 BS, Aug. 23, 2002,Palm City, Fla.

Joseph McMillan ’52 BS, July 23,2002,DePere, Wis.

Walfred “Mike” Mickelson ’52 BS,Sept. 22, 2002, Marquette.

26 H O R I Z O N S

A L U M N I I N P R I N T

Animals Around the World

Tabby House, 2002

Catherine BeenHansen ’31 LC, ’43MA

Illustrated byDarlene FalkFredrikson ’74 BS

This collection of poems uses rhyth-mic verse and alliteration to giveyoung readers verbal portraits of avariety of creatures—from a hip-popotamus, kikajou, and a brindledgnu to impalas, whirligig beetles,and a great grey kangaroo. Many ofthe animals are represented byDarlene Falk Fredrikson’s pen andink drawings.

The Secret Life of L.E. Ward

iUniverse, 2002

L.E. Ward ’66 BA,’67 MA

A lyric poet andhumanist, L.E. Warduses free verse as well

as traditional forms to portray mem-oirs of his childhood, gay Eros, theancient world, the movies, the artsand literature, the lives of writersand other artists, world paintingsand painters, and human rights.

Lake Superior Country

Arcadia Publishing,2002

Troy Henderson ’97AS, ’99 BA

Most visitors to theUpper Peninsula in

the 19th century had to brave frigidand often perilous Lake Superior togain entrance to the area. LakeSuperior Country follows these earlytravelers, using historic sketches,maps, and photographs to conveywhat it was like to vacation in theUpper Peninsula a century ago.

Eugenie Donovan ’58 BS, Aug. 11,2002, Kingsford.

Gerald Odlund ’58 BS, ’63 MA, Aug. 7,2002, Amasa.

Glenn Karvonen ’61 BS, Oct. 2, 2002,Allouez.

Peter Chevrette ’62 BS, ’77 MS, Aug.11, 2002, Ishpeming.

John Sormunen ’64 BS, ’64 MA, Aug.12, 2002, Gwinn.

Douglas Olien ’65 BS, ’70 MA, July 25,2002, Republic.

Ida Manzetti ’65 BS, July 13, 2002,Hancock.

John Wiig ’65 BS, Oct. 25, 2002, HarperWoods.

Julius Clapp ’66 BS, ’68 MA, ’76 MAE,Aug. 9, 2002, AuTrain.

Frances Ennis ’66 BS, Aug. 12, 2002,Newberry.

Karla (Jorgensen) Carter ’68 BS, Aug.1, 2002, San Francisco, Calif.

Peter Orhanen ’68 BS, July 16, 2002,Marquette.

Allen Schmeltzer ’69 BS, July 13, 2002,Kingsford.

Benjamin DeVoe ’70 BME, Aug. 30,2002, Grand Rapids.

Fred Stearns ’70 BS, Sept. 11, 2002, St.Ignace.

H. W. “Bill” Voigt ’70 BS, ’72 MA, July7, 2002, Jackson.

Joan (Kangas) Vaughan ’71 BS, Sept.14, 2002, Grapevine, Texas.

Lois (Nurmi) Mukavetz ’79 BS, Oct. 23,2002, Marquette.

Terry Ruff ’75 AS, ’77 BS, Oct. 13,2002, Marquette.

Patrick Neill ’77 BS, Aug. 10, 2002,Dearborn.

Anita Mariucci ’79 BS, Sept. 15, 2002,Springfield, Ill.

Anna (Beerman) Menor ’89 Dipl., Aug.28, 2002, Ishpeming

Nikki Harrell ’91 BSW, Sept. 11, 2002,Calumet.

Mark Steinbrecher ’92 Dipl., Aug. 31,2002, Metropolitan.

FriendsRobert “Bob” Girard, July 20, 2002,Marquette. He was employed as a custo-dian at NMU.

Aune (Salmanen) Hautamaki, July 14,2002, Chatham. She was employed infood service at NMU.

Leonard Park, Aug. 6, 2002, Orleans. Hewas employed as an instructor in themaster mechanic program at NMU.

Ellen (Liljeroos) Peterson, Sept. 19,2002, Marquette. She was employed as ahousekeeper at NMU.

Edward “Ted” Sell, July 6, 2002,

Ironwood. He was employed as a contin-uing education and extension adminis-trator at NMU.

Kelly Eastwood, Oct. 11, 2002, Marquette.She was employed in the library at NMU.

Gloria Woodbridge, July 15, 2002,Marquette. She was employed in thehousekeeping department at NMU.

Olive Yonkman, July 7, 2002, Marquette.She was employed in the library at NMU.

Correction: We mistakenly listed RoyLawrence ’79 BS of Albion as deceasedin the fall 2002 issue of Horizons. He isalive and well. Roy Lawrence ’40 ofMarquette died June 12, 2002.

W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 27

Tell us what’s new in your lifeStay in touch with your alma mater! Tell us your exciting news or personalupdates so we can put it in Keeping Track. (Attach a separate page if youhave a lot to say or don’t want to write this small.) Include a recent photo ifyou have one—we may be able to use it.

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Name: ________________________________________________________Last First M.I. Maiden

Home Address: _________________________________________________

City/State/Zip: _________________________________________________

Year of Graduation: ____________________ Major: __________________

Home Phone: ___________________________________________________

Business Name: ________________________________________________

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City/State/Zip: _________________________________________________

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Would you like your e-mail address printed in Horizons? ❑ Yes ❑ No

Send to Northern Michigan University Alumni Association, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855, e-mail to horizons@nmu.edu,

or send via NMU’s WWW page: www.nmu.edu/alumni.

NORTHERN PERSPECTIVE is a guest column open to all alumni, friends, faculty, and current students of Northern Michigan University. We welcome your personal essays, anecdotes,opinion pieces, short-short fiction or fiction excerpts, poetry, or images. Not all submissions will make it into the magazine, and Horizons will not return submissions without a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Text may be edited for space and clarity. If you would like to make a submission to Northern Perspective, send it by e-mail to horizons@nmu.edu,through the Horizons Web site at www.nmu.edu/horizons, or by mail to Editor, Horizons, Northern Michigan University, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, Michigan 49855.Photographs should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi.

28 H O R I Z O N S

NO R T H E R N P E R S P E C T I V E

hen I was a teenager, I had no idea what Iwould end up doing. In the span of myprofessional life, I have changed careers five

times. After getting a BSN back in the early 80s, I start-ed working as a staff nurse at the local hospital. Rightaway I had leadership roles at the hospital and in thenursing union. This led to several different positions inthe hospital.

Ten years later, I started a home health agency. Overthe course of 20 years, the agency evolved into a multi-site, multi-discipline operation with more than 400employees. Eventually, federal regulations changed and Isold the business. I then started a home care consultingbusiness, wrote a book on productivity, and purchased alittle coffee shop.

The common thread that runs through all of thesecareer paths is that none of them would have been possi-ble without the connections I made while at NMU. Ihave been a lifetime member of the NMU AlumniAssociation since the 80s, and my NMU associates,friends, and acquaintances have helped me in manyways: getting jobs, making career moves, starting anddeveloping businesses, as well as the many personal rela-tionships I have enjoyed.

Eventually all of these contacts led me to a grantwriting position at the local Chamber of Commerce,where NMU contacts are imperative to my success. Justlast month while working on a significant grant, I had aconference call with The Association of Counties inWashington, DC, and the staff person on the line was agraduate of NMU. We made an immediate connection,and it made a difference!

So the next time you’re in town, stop in at BrewBakers downtown, enjoy a latte, and ask for me! Duringhomecoming week, home sporting events, the first week ofschool, graduation, and parents weekend, I always hang mygreen and gold banner, put on my NMU sweatshirt, andhang a sign that says, “NMU Alumni Business Owner.”

As for my career, who knows? I am going to stay opento all ideas, and I am sure that I am not done changing.But I am also sure that the core skills and confidence Ideveloped while a student at NMU have prepared me tobe successful in any career I choose to pursue. A lot of youcan probably relate to this because you remember being astudent and thinking you were picking a major that wouldlead to a career that would never change. Certain skillscarry you to the top no matter what the job. ■

Photograph by Kim Marsh, ’80 BS

What’s next?

WBy SANDY SPOELSTRA, ’81 BSN, ’87 MSN

Your Alumni Association is pleased to offer all alumni permanent e-mail accounts. Nomatter where you live, work, or vacation, you can keep in touch with family, friends,and former classmates by accessing your e-mail via the Internet.

Sign up for your account today at http://alumni.nmu.edu.

This service is free to all NMU alumni and is made possible by the loyal support of alumni who have chosen tobecome members of the NMU Alumni Association. To find out more about the Alumni Association and how tobecome a member, please visit our Web site at www.nmu.edu/alumni.

HorizonsOffice of CommunicationsNorthern Michigan University1401 Presque Isle AvenueMarquette, MI 49855

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Permit No. 135

There was no NMU AlumniAssociation when I firstenrolled at Northern...But I am delighted to tell you about the fun

get-togethers that preceded such a group.

We had pep sessions on the high rocks by

the shore and lit bonfires as big as a house.

Sororities had outings at Lautner’s Chalet,

Midgaard, which in Norse mythology means a

place between heaven and earth joined by a

rainbow bridge. When the sun was setting, we

climbed the roof and often saw a rainbow

hanging in the sunset over Lake Superior.

When we ran down the rocky hill on the

way home after dark, we carried torches made

from tin cans and candles. I can still smell the

aroma of the trailing arbutus that bloomed in

the gullies. Walking the shore in the darkness,

the braver girls “streaked” and splashed in the

frigid waters of Lake Superior.

In winter we snowshoed around Presque

Isle. On warmer days, we climbed Pulpit Rock.

The night after commencement, we climbed

Sugarloaf and cooked our supper in the twilight.

I have been a proud life member of the

Northern Alumni Association since the very start.

My sorority always sang the hymn, “Blessed be

the Tie that Binds.” We should sing it now, too!

Dorothea (Schlechte) Johnson ’29 BS,

Alumni Association Member since 1985

Why I’m a memberof the NMU Alumni Association