Featured Articles

First group of UW-Eau Claire students to leave soon for study in South Africa

Lucretia Mattson appointed to state accounting board

Chancellor Mash addresses Regents

Concert Choir enjoys extraordinary European tour

Classified Staff Scholarship awarded

Free music and film planned for week two of Summer Session

UW-Eau Claire low brass groups featured at international meetings

Summer hours for select campus offices and services available online

First group of UW-Eau Claire students to leave soon for study in South Africa
UW-Eau Claire students interested in studying abroad during the summer have an exciting new destination option - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Thirteen students from a variety of disciplines, the first group from UW-Eau Claire to visit South Africa, will leave later this month and spend five weeks learning about a country and society in transition.

Wake-up call — Karl Markgraf was greeted by an interesting four-legged friend at the entry to his hut during his visit to South Africa.

Karl Markgraf, director of the Center for International Education, visited the KwaZulu-Natal University campuses in both Durban and Pietermaritzburg last year when the CIE was first looking into arranging a study abroad opportunity in Africa. He said that a quality educational system, political stability, safety and good infrastructure, such as nearby hospitals, were among the prime factors he considered when choosing a location.

The UW-Eau Claire students studying in South Africa will live and take classes at the University of KwaZulu-Natal International School.

"South Africa quickly emerged as a country that had all that, and the KwaZulu-Natal region is one of the most beautiful, culturally diverse and interesting places I have ever visited," said Markgraf, noting that the area is home not only to the Zulu people and Afrikaners, but also to the largest population of Indians outside of India. "In addition, the program offered by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's international programs office fit well with UW-Eau Claire's curriculum and clearly offered a superb learning opportunity for our students." said. Full story.

Lucretia Mattson appointed to state accounting board
Lucretia Mattson, associate professor of accounting, has been appointed as a professional accounting member to the Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board by Gov. Jim Doyle. Mattson is well known nationally and in Wisconsin as a leader in the accounting profession. Most recently, she served on the Governing Council of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) from 2001 to 2003. In 2000, she was honored with both the UW-Eau Claire Excellence in Teaching Award and the UW-Eau Claire Excellence in Service Award. It was the first time in the history of the university that an individual won both awards in one year. Full story.

Chancellor Mash addresses Regents
The UW System Board of Regents agreed on the need to work throughout the coming year to implement actions suggested during the board's year-long study of the university's future, a report approved by the board at its June 11 meeting.

The final report reflects a year of work and the input of hundreds of people who identified and assessed challenges to, and opportunities for, public higher education in Wisconsin .

UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Donald Mash urged the board to consider the very real effects its recommendations in their study could have as the university enters a budget cycle that could set priorities for years to come.

"We could consider this a crossroads with some difficult choices to make," Mash said. "Our budgets reflect an unmistakable trend. We are heading in a direction that is bad for this state. We have to talk about the fact that with modest investment, we can grow our enrollments." Full story.

For more news and information from the Regents' June 10-11 meeting, check out these links:
Regents approve annual budget, tuition rates
UW System Board of Regents re-elects leadership
Remarks to the Board of Regents

UW-Eau Claire Concert Choir enjoys extraordinary European tour
The UW-Eau Claire Concert Choir, conducted by Gary Schwartzhoff, recently returned from a tour of Spain and France.

Highlights of the choir's performance schedule included a concert at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and a concert for World War II veterans in Caen, France. Both of these concerts, as well as several others, were planned as part of the 2004 American Celebration of Music in France.

Prior to these special performances, the Concert Choir began its European tour in Spain, with three concerts in Madrid and two in Barcelona. Full concert itinerary.

The Concert Choir performed for 300 World War II veterans at the Abbaye de Cerisy-la-Foret (built in 1080) in Caen, France, the center of some of the fiercest fighting in the liberation of 1944 and home to Le Mémorial de Caen, an award-winning peace memorial and World War II museum.

Gary Schwartzhoff and Concert Choir members Joshua Andrew, Nicole Peters and Christina Burgess were greeted by a World War II veteran from Baraboo.

Four Concert Choir members (Amanda De Pons, Margaret Aspinwall, David Fehr, Daniel Sinclair) participated in a special performance of Gabriel Fauré's "Requiem" at Omaha Beach, a D-Day commemoration performed by an international choir of singers and musicians from all the World War II allied countries.

Classified Staff Scholarship awarded
UW-Eau Claire senior Joshua Hertel recently was awarded a $500 Classified Staff Scholarship. Recipients of this scholarship, which is funded by donations from permanent classified and administrative staff, must be nominated by staff members and be full-time students. This is the second year that the scholarship was awarded.

Hertel, who will graduate in May 2005, has a double education major in music and mathematics. Following graduation, he plans to teach in Wisconsin for three to five years and then pursue a master's degree.

David Grabowski of the Teaching and Learning Technology Development Center nominated Hertel on behalf of the TLTDC staff. Grabowski said that Hertel's performance as a student worker at the TLTDC "has been nothing short of stellar." Full story.

Free music and film planned for week two of Summer Session
Singer-songwriter Matt Wahl will present a free outdoor concert on the UW-Eau Claire Campus Mall at 7 p.m. Monday.

Matt Wahl spent three years in an office cubicle before giving up the corporate life for the open road. Living his dream of touring and playing music full time, Wahl has created a down-to-earth, light-hearted acoustic rock-folk sound that appeals to any age. Drawing from such artists as Gordon Lightfoot, Harry Chapin and Jimmy Buffet, he mixes lyrically meaningful original songs with fun cover tunes.

Also on campus during the week of June 21 are these free Summer Session Programs:

• "Raising Arizona" (1987) will continue a festival of films by Joel and Ethan Coen, screening Tuesday and Thursday at noon and 7 p.m. in Davies Theatre.

• Jazz combos will play during lunch in the open air, from noon to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday on the Central Campus Mall. A variety of grilled lunch items will be sold.

Summer Session Programs continue through Aug. 5. A complete schedule of events is available online.

UW-Eau Claire low brass groups featured at international meetings
The UW-Eau Claire Trombone Choir performed last week at an international meeting, while the euphonium/tuba ensemble, BASSically BRASS is preparing for a trip to Hungary in July.

The Trombone Choir, under the direction of assistant professor of music Phillip Ostrander, performed at the International Trombone Association Conference at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, during the week of June 14. Associate professor emeritus Rodney Hudson was featured as guest conductor of the ensemble.

BASSically BRASS, led by professor of music Jerry Young, will perform at the International Tuba/Euphonium Conference in Budapest, Hungary, during the week of July 20. BASSically BRASS, the only American university euphonium/tuba ensemble on the conference program, will be featured in a special concert at the Buda Palace and also will present an official conference concert at the famous Franz Liszt Conservatoire. Earlier in this special trip to Europe, BASSically BRASS will give performances in Geretsried, Germany, and at the Andechs Monastery, near Munich.

Summer hours for select campus offices and services available online
Summer hours for UW-Eau Claire Dining Services, Davies Center, Crest Wellness, Higherground and University Police can be found online. Once on the "Hours of Operation" Web page, click on a specific time period to obtain information for that week.

Summer Bulletin
Published weekly during the summer session by the UW-Eau Claire News Bureau. News items and notices should be sent to the News Bureau, Schofield 201, by 10 a.m. Monday for publication in the following week’s issue. E-mail submissions to Liz Wolf Green at greenew@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.