Super Bowl research receives national media attention

Chuck Tomkovick, Patty Traczyk and Rama Yelkur worked on Super Bowl advertising research that received recent national media attention. (UW-Eau Claire photo by Rick Mickelson)

Two UW-Eau Claire faculty members received extensive attention from national and regional media in January for their work on the first known Super Bowl advertising effectiveness study of its kind. Chuck Tomkovick, professor of management and marketing, and Rama Yelkur, associate professor of management and marketing, were interviewed by reporters from a variety of media outlets because of their research into what makes Super Bowl advertisements likeable and the success of movies promoted during the Super Bowl. In addition to local media outlets, the research has been featured by Fortune magazine, Forbes magazine, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, The Washington Times, the News-Tribune from Puget Sound, Wash., National Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Radio. Tomkovick and Yelkur collaborated with students for several years on their Super Bowl research. Tomkovick, Yelkur and Patty Traczyk, a May 2002 graduate who is now a marketing specialist with Hormel, will have their work published in the Journal of Advertising Research this year. Full story.

UW System President Katharine Lyall announces retirement
UW System President Katharine C. Lyall announced her retirement at a press conference in Madison Feb. 4, marking the end of one of the longest and most productive presidencies in the history of the UW System. Lyall, 62, said she would stay until her replacement arrives or until Sept. 1 at the latest. In September, Lyall, an economist, will begin a year’s appointment as a visiting senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Palo Alto, Calif. "I’ve always said Katharine Lyall possesses the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job," said UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Donald Mash. "Being the president of a major university system is difficult even in the best of times. She has provided strong leadership at the UW System level while allowing campus leaders to do what is best at their individual institutions." Read more about Lyall's announcement on the UW System Web site. Also read the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram articles, "Lyall to resign from post as UW System president" and "Replacing Lyall may be costly" (free online registration required).

Return to Wisconsin: It just got easier for kids, grandkids of alumni
Scott and Sharon (Yeager) Kobasick, 1987 UW-Eau Claire graduates who now live in Pennsylvania, would love for their daughters to attend their alma mater. UW-Eau Claire's new Return to Wisconsin initiative may just make that possible. Read more about this program that offers discounted out-of-state tuition to the children and grandchildren of UW-Eau Claire alumni who live outside Wisconsin and Minnesota.

School of Education receives national service-learning award
UW-Eau Claire is the 2004 recipient of the Best Practice Award for Service-Learning in Teacher Education from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education National Service-Learning in Teacher Education Partnership. The award recognizes how the School of Education has used UW-Eau Claire’s commitment to service-learning to develop and implement innovative service-learning opportunities for pre-service teachers, said Katherine Rhoades, associate dean of Education, who co-wrote the award proposal with Cynthia Gray-Mash, an associate professor. UW-Eau Claire is one of only five public universities or colleges in the nation that requires students to engage in service-learning as a degree requirement. Students must engage in 30 hours of service, consult with faculty advisers before, during and after the experience, and write a reflection on the experience. Most students extend their time involvement far beyond the minimum. Full story.

Bobby Seale opens spring Forum series
Bobby Seale, an architect of one of the most important social change movements in American civil rights history, will speak Thursday, Feb. 12, at UW-Eau Claire. Seale’s presentation, “Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party,” will open the spring Forum series at 7:30 p.m. in Zorn Arena. One of the founders of the controversial Black Panther Party for Self Defense (1966-74), Seale explores the interconnectedness of current civil-human rights issues with the world’s ecological problems, new-millennium political issues and global economics. Full story and ticket information.

New IT certificate available to all majors
UW-Eau Claire students can now pick up a “mini-minor” about computing in organizations, thanks to a recent decision in the College of Business. The curriculum committee recently voted to open the Certificate in Information Technology, which is offered by the management information systems department, to all university students. The 12-credit certificate program formerly was only available to business students. Knowledge of computing is necessary to be effective in just about any pursuit today, said Thomas Hilton, professor of MIS and department chairman. “Many organizations and individuals are disenfranchised to some extent because they lack technological understanding and skills. We hope to help people acquire the skill to use computers confidently and to interact with computing professionals effectively.” Full story.

George Simpson Jr.

Article recounts “rest of story” about Simpson family history
In December, gifts totaling $10 million from the estate of Lt. Col. George L. Simpson Jr. to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation and the Eau Claire YMCA made top headlines in the media around Wisconsin. (Read original gift story.) What did not make the headlines, however, was the interesting history of the family behind the gifts. A recent Eau Claire Leader-Telegram article tells the "rest of the story" of this family whose members hadn't lived in Eau Claire for over 50 years. (Free online registration required to access article.)

 

Gift boosts total raised for Carson Park turf project
RCU Services Corp. has contributed $100,000 through the UW-Eau Claire Foundation to help pay for installation of artificial turf and a new scoreboard at the Carson Park football field. The gift brings to $500,000 the total amount committed to the $800,000 project. An effort to replace the current natural grass at Carson Park with artificial turf began last fall as a result of concerns about the condition and safety of the playing surface due to heavy use. Other commitments to the Carson Park Turf Committee have been $300,000 from the UW-Eau Claire Student Senate, to be paid over the next 10 years from student segregated fees, and $100,000 from Chippewa Valley Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. When the Student Senate voted last October to help fund the artificial turf project, it set a May 1, 2004, sunset date on fund raising for the remaining dollars needed. If all $800,000 needed is not raised by that time to allow completion of the project for the fall 2004 football season, the commitment of student funds would be reconsidered. The RCU Services Corp. gift is recognized as a contribution to the Foundation's ongoing Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence Campaign. Full story.

Professor Emeritus Richard deGrood dies
Richard J. deGrood, professor emeritus of philosophy and religious studies at UW-Eau Claire, died peacefully of cancer at his home on Sunday, Feb. 8. He was 68. deGrood retired from UW-Eau Claire in 2001 after 26 years of teaching and mentoring in the philosophy and religious studies department. He was chairman of the department and spent three semesters teaching at Harlaxton University in England. He earned his bachelor’s degree at St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minn. He then spent four years studying at the North American University in Rome. For eight years he served as a Catholic priest in Minnesota. He later received his Ph.D. from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. deGrood is survived by his wife, Deirdre, three children, a granddaughter, brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews. The family has requested that memorials be directed to the Richard deGrood Study Abroad Scholarship through the UW-Eau Claire Foundation. A funeral Mass will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Newman Parish, at the Ecumenical Religious Center at UW-Eau Claire. Friends may express condolences in an online guest book.

Work begins on riverbank stabilization project

Work began Jan. 19 at the site of the Chippewa River bank stabilization project on the UW-Eau Claire campus. Trees and other vegetation are being cleared from the project site, which includes 1,200 feet of riverbank along Garfield Avenue from the pedestrian bridge to the Putnam Park Parking lot. Removing the vegetation now should strengthen the riverbank until the next phase of the project can begin after commencement in the spring, said Andy Soll, vice chancellor of business and student services. (UW-Eau Claire photo by Rick Mickelson) Full story.
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