Featured Articles

Anonymous alumni couple make
$1 million estate gift to UW-Eau Claire Foundation

Putnam Park trail closed after partial collapse

29th annual holiday music concert set for Dec. 7

BBC to broadcast play by Tess Onwueme

Giving thanks --
Justin Greenwood making progress

New issue of Wisconsin Ideas online

United Way/SECC update

Notice regarding health insurance premiums

Anonymous alumni couple make $1 million estate gift to UW-Eau Claire Foundation
An anonymous alumni couple has named the UW-Eau Claire Foundation as the sole beneficiary of their $1 million estate, designating that the gift be used to create an endowed scholarship fund for high-achieving UW-Eau Claire education students.

“We are grateful to these donors, both UW-Eau Claire education graduates, for their generosity,” said Carole Halberg, Foundation president. “We also are honored that through this university they will leave their legacy by encouraging high-achieving students to become tomorrow’s teachers.”

Both donors have been teachers, Halberg said. They have seen firsthand the important influence that teachers have in students’ lives, and they are troubled that relatively low teaching salaries cause many of today’s top university students to pursue other professions, she said. Full story.

Putnam Park trail closed after partial collapse

A portion of the Putnam Park trail fell into the Chippewa River last Tuesday. Terry Classen, director of facilities planning and management, said they are cautioning people to stay away from the area.

The Putnam Park walking trail along the south bank of the Chippewa River has been closed until further notice after a section of the trail and river bank collapsed following heavy rains.

The trail collapse occurred several hundred yards west (down river) of where Little Niagara creek flows into the Chippewa River. It was discovered around noon last Tuesday, said Terry Classen, director of facilities planning and management at UW-Eau Claire.

Approximately 25 feet of the trail has collapsed so far and the area remains unstable, Classen said. He said temporary barricades and tape have been put in place to block entrance to the trail. More permanent barricades will be erected soon, he said. Full story.

29th annual holiday music concert
The UW-Eau Claire’s music and theatre arts department and the UW-Eau Claire Foundation will present their annual holiday gift to the community at 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, when six music ensembles will perform the university’s 29th annual Holiday Concert in the festively decorated Zorn Arena.

“This concert has been the university’s and foundation’s gift to the Eau Claire community for nearly three decades,” said Chancellor Donald Mash. “It is our way of sharing our talent and expressing our appreciation for the excellent relationship the university enjoys with the Chippewa Valley.”

The free concert will feature both individual and combined performances by the Wind Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra, the Symphonic Choir and Women’s Concert Chorale, and the Concert Choir and The Singing Statesmen. Full story.

Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance at the Service Center, (715) 836-3727, or online.

BBC to broadcast play by Tess Onwueme
The award-winning Nigerian playwright Tess Onwueme, a professor of English at UW-Eau Claire, has contracted with BBC World Service Drama in London to adapt her play, “Shakara: Dance Hall Queen” (2001), as a one hour radio play to be broadcast in 2004.

The play will be produced in Nigeria next March and April, Onwueme said. She will be on sabbatical next semester and plans to be in Nigeria for the production.

“Shakara,” which won the Association of Nigerian Authors coveted drama prize in 2001, is one of 13 published plays by Onwueme. The play is about mothers and daughters and their struggle for identity, power and control. It takes place in a modern city which is sharply split between the rich and the poor. Full story.

Giving thanks
Justin Greenwood making progress
UW-Eau Claire Blugold linebacker Justin Greenwood is saying words and had his neck collar removed recently, according to his family's Web site.

Greenwood, who continues to recover at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., after suffering a head injury during a Sept. 27 football game, passed the neurosurgeon's assessments with flying colors and was able to take off the neck collar last Tuesday, his mother Glenda wrote on the Web site.

The Web journal entry followed a similarly uplifting report only days earlier that said Greenwood spoke for the first time since his injury.

During his speech therapy session Nov. 15, Greenwood said his name, counted to 10 and recited the days of the week in order, according to the Web site.

"I can't believe it," wrote Glenda. "I have been patiently waiting for this day for some time now. You can't even imagine how this fills my heart with joy and my eyes with tears."

For more details about Greenwood's progress or to leave him or his family a note of encouragement, check out the Caring Bridge report.

New issue of Wisconsin Ideas online
The fall 2003 issue of Wisconsin Ideas is available online.

Wisconsin Ideas is a news magazine for UW System faculty and staff. It highlights the teaching, research and public service done throughout the UW System and informs faculty and staff on issues and trends in higher education.

Due to budget limitations, the publication has been redesigned for e-mail and online formats. We welcome your questions and feedback at wisconsinideas@uwsa.edu.

United Way/SECC update
There's still time to "Invest in What Matters"
As of Nov. 21, university employees have contributed a total of $26,286 in cash and pledges to the United Way campaign. The total received for the SECC is $7,848.50 in cash and pledges.

There still is time to send in your pledge card with a donation. If you wish to make a contribution but have lost your pledge card, e-mail or call Barb Bowers at 836-3871 to request another card.

Notice regarding health insurance premiums
Some employees have expressed confusion as to when health insurance premium deductions under the three-tiered structure will be implemented. Read this document for clarification.

University Bulletin
Published weekly during the fall and spring semesters 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.