Alumna donates memorabilia from Heart Mountain war relocation camp Clarice Chase Dunn, Madison, a 1937 UW-Eau Claire graduate, has given to the university her collection of essays, letters, photographs and news articles about life at Heart Mountain School in Wyoming, where she taught English in 1942-43. These sad keepsakes help tell the story of the more than 112,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated at relocation camps like Heart Mountain shortly after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan in 1941. Full story. At left, Clarice Chase Dunn holds a polished stone that is a piece of Heart Mountain, given to her by students she taught at the war relocation camp in the early 1940s. (UW-Eau Claire photo by Janice Wisner)

Josh Kinsman (UW- Eau Claire photo by Rick Mickelson)

Geology major heads for Antarctica

UW-Eau Claire sophomore Josh Kinsman, a geology major from La Valle, leaves April 12 for a once-in-a-lifetime voyage and a chance to participate in a marine geology research project to find out why the Antarctic Peninsula is warming faster than other parts of the world. Kinsman is one of seven students and seven faculty members from the United States and Canada chosen for the National Science Foundation-funded expedition to the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The project is headed by Eugene Domack, who taught at UW-Eau Claire for one year before joining Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he is a professor of geology. Full story.

Doug Dunham, assistant professor of physics, and senior physics major Sara Chamberlin use equipment in the Material Science Center. (UW-Eau Claire photo by Rick Mickelson)

Science departments create Materials Science Center
Through its new Materials Science Center, UW-Eau Claire is providing students with more opportunities to work on research relating to materials science and finding new ways to assist local industries. Faculty and students in the departments of biology, chemistry, geology, physics and astronomy already were working on materials science research projects and using instruments that are often found only at large research institutions, said Doug Dunham, assistant professor of physics and director of the Materials Science Center. The new center will provide a more coordinated approach to research and course work, make it easier for industries to seek help from the university, and help faculty secure funding to acquire additional state-of-the-art instruments, Dunham said. Full story.

UW-Eau Claire alumnus injured in Iraq Marine Cpl. Jesse Sorkness, a UW-Eau Claire 2002 criminal justice graduate, was injured April 6 in fighting in Ramadi, Iraq, and is being treated at a hospital in Germany. See reports on the Web sites of two Eau Claire television stations, WQOW and WEAU, and in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

Chancellor Donald Mash

Budget cuts mean lost opportunities at UW-Eau Claire
Dramatic cuts to the UW System budget in recent years have left UW-Eau Claire struggling to maintain the quality of education it provides to current students — and unable to pursue initiatives that would benefit the region and the state, said Chancellor Donald Mash in an article published in the spring 2004 issue of Wisconsin Ideas, an online UW System news publication. Mash cited a UW-Eau Claire–UW-Marathon County nursing initiative that may not get past the talking stage despite its potential to help address Wisconsin's critical nursing shortage. "The decline of state funding is compromising our public university system’s ability to produce the critical economic, social and civic capital Wisconsin requires,” Mash said. Full story.

Signe Ortiz weaving in 1985 (UW-Eau Claire photo)

Signe Ortiz dies at 91
Signe Ortiz, associate professor emerita of art at UW-Eau Claire, died March 19 in Walnut Creek, Calif. She was 91. Ortiz, who lived in Eau Claire until the summer of 2003, taught in the UW-Eau Claire art department from 1959-79. While on the art faculty and following her retirement, Ortiz completed numerous commissioned weavings and fiber sculptures for display both in and outside of Eau Claire, including pieces for Eau Claire’s Midelfort Clinic (created in memory of Ortiz’s father, Dr. Christian Midelfart, the clinic’s founder), Grace Lutheran Church and the Ecumenical Religious Center adjacent to the UW-Eau Claire campus. Her works also were displayed at St. Olaf College and Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., and Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Ortiz is survived by her sons, Mark Ortiz, Kannapolis, N.C., and Victor Ortiz, Walnut Creek, Calif. A memorial service and interment will be this summer in Eau Claire at a time and location still to be determined. Those interested can contact Victor Ortiz at (925) 937-7332 or vortiz@strategicprojectsolutions.net for details about the memorial service. Full obituary (free online registration required).

Martin Mogensen

Mogensen lecture honors slain educator’s career
Martin Mogensen, a 1952 UW-Eau Claire alumnus, believed teaching was the highest calling. Mogensen’s career in education was cut short in 1969 when, at the age of 46, he was killed by a troubled junior high school student. Now his family is honoring his career by establishing the Martin Mogensen Education Lecture through gifts to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation. Dr. Gerald Gutek, professor emeritus and former dean of the School of Education at Loyola University in Chicago, will be the featured speaker at the first Martin Mogensen Education Lecture on Wednesday, April 21, at 4 p.m. in the Dulany Inn of UW-Eau Claire’s Davies Center. Full story. The Mogensen family gifts are recognized as contributions to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation’s comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence. The five-year campaign, which seeks private support for UW-Eau Claire’s people and programs, runs through June 2005.

Alumni success stories

Music alumnae lead State Honors Music Project Linda Petersen ’80, Karen (Sands) Johnson ’78 and Connie (Harding) Root ’76 all hold leadership positions with Wisconsin's nationally known State Honors Music Project. Full story.

Female coach likes high school AD post Terri Risch '85, Mishicot High School athletic director for the past three years, is one of only two female athletic directors in the school's conference and in Manitowoc County. Full story.

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In this new section of e-View, UW-Eau Claire alumni and friends have the chance to show how much they know about their alma mater — AND win great Blugold prizes! Each issue of e-View will include a new UW-Eau Claire-related trivia question. e-View subscribers can e-mail their answers to the Blugold Trivia mailbox, and all correct responses will be entered in a drawing for a prize. This month's prize is a UW-Eau Claire alumni baseball cap (pictured at left). The name of this month's winner will be published in next month's e-View.

April's Blugold Trivia question:

Which U.S. president visited UW-Eau Claire just seven months before his election to our nation's highest office?

Think you know the answer? E-mail it, along with your name and class year, to trivia@uwec.edu. You'll be notified by e-mail if you are this month's winner!

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ALUMNI EVENTS