Featured Articles

Reception today will welcome Vicki Lord Larson

Program connects students with area employers

Nathan Miller receives science research award

Forensics team wins state title for 13th year straight

Campus campaign: Faculty and staff make generous response

National Geographic photographer to be March 14 Forum speaker

New WUEC show features student performers

Students help with 'Empty Bowls' fund-raiser

Donald Mash to speak at spring commencement

Program connects students with area employers

	At left, UW-Eau Claire seniors Jessica Zank (in light suit) and Maureen Fox listen to Joe Hegge, vice president of education at Chippewa Valley Technical College, during a College Connections session March 1.
UW-Eau Claire alumni Suzie Slota '94, left, executive director of the Childrens' Museum of Eau Claire, and Ken Lee '79, director of human resources at Luther Midelfort, were among the area employers who met March 1 with students in the College Connections program. (Photos by Rick Mickelson, TLTDC)

Students from UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout and Chippewa Valley Technical College are part of a new program to meet and network with area professionals while learning about career possibilities in the Chippewa Valley. More than 100 students from the three institutions applied, and 30 were selected to be part of College Connections, a collaborative pilot program aimed at preventing "brain drain" from the region. The participants meet monthly this semester with leaders from area businesses, non-profit agencies, health care and industry. "The program was marketed to students with an interest in jobs or internships in the Chippewa Valley or those who want to stay here after graduation," said Jeanne Skoug, director of Career Services at UW-Eau Claire. "The large number of applicants tells us there is strong interest in living and working here." The program is sponsored by the regional economic development agency Momentum Chippewa Valley in partnership with Manpower, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout and Chippewa Valley Technical College. Full story.

Nathan Miller receives science research award
Dr. Nathan Miller, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, has been awarded a $23,218 Cottrell College Science Award for his research titled "Probing the temperature structure and geometry of hot star x-ray emission." Miller said the award will allow him to apply a number of different new computational techniques to the analysis of hot star X-ray data. "I will be working with two UW-Eau Claire students each summer for the next two summers to apply these tools," he said. Through the CCSA program, faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions are challenged to explore new areas of science, make new discoveries and initiate new research programs that can be continued by external as well as institutional support. Full story.

Forensics team wins state title for 13th year straight

Some members of the UW-Eau Claire forensics team were photographed holding their awards following a November tournament. Pictured are (l-r) Rachel Mayasich, Dan McNeely, Amy Oldakowski, Andy Bevernitz, Abby Czeskleba, Betsy Schroeder and Hilary Rasmussen.

For the 13th year in a row, the UW-Eau Claire forensics team claimed the championship at the Wisconsin State Intercol-legiate Forensics Tournament held on the Ripon College campus Feb. 9-20. UW-Eau Claire took first place with 204 points, Ripon College took second place with 113 points, and UW-Madison took third place with 80 points. In addition to the team win, UW-Eau Claire will be sending two of its team members, senior Kelly Bender, New London, and junior Betsy Schroeder, Le Center, Minn., to the Interstate Oratory Contest in Boston, Mass. According to Karen Morris, director of UW-Eau Claire forensics, each state is allowed to send two representatives to the contest, and this is also the 13th year in a row that both representatives have come from UW-Eau Claire. Full story.

Campus Campaign: Faculty and staff make generous response during 2004-05 effort
Since the beginning of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation's Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence campaign in 2000, more than $750,000 has been received from faculty, staff and emeriti. In addition, the Foundation has received documentation from 31 members of the campus community regarding gifts through their estates. In a letter to the campus community, 2004-05 Campus Campaign co-chairs Bill and Jeannie Harms thank friends and colleagues for the generous response from nearly 300 faculty and staff members during this year's Campus Campaign. Read the Harmses' letter to faculty and staff.

National Geographic photographer Jodi Cobb
to be March 14 Forum speaker
Photographer Jodi Cobb's presentation "Hidden Worlds" will be the featured Forum presentation at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 14, in Schofield Auditorium. As a staff photographer for the National Geographic Society, Cobb has worked in more than 50 countries, primarily in the Middle East and Asia. She was one of the first photographers to cross into China when it reopened to the West, traveling 7,000 miles in two months for the book, "Journey into China." Her travels also have taken her into Israel and the West Bank and into Saudi Arabia to document the hidden lives of women in that culture. Her book, "Geisha: The Life, the Voices, the Art" (1995), explores the hidden world of women in Japan. Cobb has been a major contributor to six National Geographic books, and her contributions to National Geographic magazine include 24 articles. Her photographs have been exhibited at the International Center of Photography in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and other major galleries in the United States and abroad. Full story.

New WUEC show features student performers

Senior mass communication major Alex Drogseth produces and hosts "Blugold Performance of the Air," a new WUEC radio program that airs Tuesdays at 6 p.m. (Photo by Rick Mickelson, TLTDC)

UW-Eau Claire student performers are showcased weekly in a new program, "Blugold Performance of the Air," on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on 89.7 WUEC-FM. The program is hosted by UW-Eau Claire student Alex Drogseth, who is producing the program using concert recordings done by UW-Eau Claire's Teaching and Learning Technology Development Center. Upcoming featured performance groups and program dates include the Symphony Orchestra (March 8), Jazz Ensemble I (March 15) and the Wind Symphony (March 22). In addition to presenting the selections and providing background about each week's featured performers, Drogseth will highlight upcoming arts and cultural events at UW-Eau Claire.

Students help with 'Empty Bowls' fund-raiser

Senior art major Julie Abraham holds one of the more than 400 ceramic bowls students are creating for the upcoming "Empty Bowls" fund raiser. (Photo by Susan O'Brien, art & design)

Ceramics students from the UW-Eau Claire's art & design department are once again pitching in to help fight hunger in the Chippewa Valley. The students, under the direction of assistant professor of art & design Susan O'Brien, are donating more than 400 hand-made ceramic bowls to the Feed My People Food Bank for its upcoming "Empty Bowls" fund-raiser. Student coordinators of this year's project are senior Tiffany Bailey, Bagley, and junior Glen Skolaski, Verona. Senior Rebecca Ouimette, Minocqua, designed the poster for the event. "Empty Bowls," a benefit supper of soup, specialty breads and desserts, will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1314 East Lexington Blvd., Eau Claire. Full story and ticket information.

Donald Mash to speak at spring commencement
Former UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Donald Mash will deliver the "Charge to the Class" during this spring's morning and afternoon commencement ceremonies in Zorn Arena. Spring commencement will be held Saturday, May 21, at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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 Julie Poquette at poquetjm@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.