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In the News

• The First Annual Brian C. Olson Memorial Golf Classic
• Stargazing and jazz mingle at PLU
• Acclaimed authors highlight Fall Lecture Series
• PLU announces promotions, faculty appointments
• Forest Foundation research projects underway
• PLU 2010 advances to the final year of planning
• PLU People
• Published Corner

Family and friends of Brian Olson at the first annual tournament

The First Annual Brian C. Olson Memorial Golf Classic
Family and friends of Brian Olson at the first annual tournament On a warm, sunny first day of June in Boise, Idaho, 128 friends, colleagues and family members of the late Brian C. Olson ’83, teed off at Ban Bury Golf Club to honor his memory, and to raise money for both the Mountain States Tumor Institute (MSTI) and a trust fund established for Brian’s sons, Daniel, 9, and Benjamin, 5.

Supported by many local companies, the tournament raised $29,000 for MSTI education and screening for colorectal cancer and $5,700 for the trust fund. The fundraiser included a silent auction and lunch and was covered in the local media by Boise NBC affiliate KTVB.

Olson’s family was grateful for the efforts.

“Brian was an awesome individual. He was truly loved,” said his mother, Clarene Johnson ’56. “Brian had a servant’s heart, and cared about people. This is a wonderful thing his friends have done to honor that.”

Bob Olson ’57, Brian’s father, also attended the event. Bob said he was overwhelmed by the response of the community.

“It was very touching to see how many people came out to honor Brian and raise money for this great cause,” he said. “We knew how much he enjoyed the community, but the outpouring of emotion and support from his friends and co-workers was so special. We know they really loved and miss him too.”

Among those on the golf tournament organizing committee along with Brian’s mother and father were his brothers David Olson ’83, Knut Olson ’90, as well as Mary (Boyd ’81) Olson and Todd Kraft ’84. Golfers included Robert Pedersen ’70 and Chris Jones ’76.

The second annual Brian C. Olson Memorial Golf Classic is scheduled for June 7, 2002, in Boise, Idaho.

Brian died of colon cancer on Nov. 28, 2000, at age 39. He was an avid supporter of PLU and the Alumni Board, including serving as its president, since 1991. For information about colorectal cancer, visit www.preventcancer.org/colorectal.htm

OPENING NIGHT: The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra kicks off Jazz Under the Stars.

Stargazing and jazz mingle at PLU
Pacific Lutheran University invited the public to hear great music at its outdoor amphitheater, then view the stars at its state-of-the-art W.M. Keck Observatory. The Jazz Under the Stars program kicked off the first of six concerts in mid-July with a performance by the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra. Featuring high intensity jazz, tight harmonies and a lush, dynamic sound, the group showcased the skills of some of the leading women jazz artists in the Pacific Northwest. Numbers included blistering blues, progressive and mainstream jazz, bebop standards, swing, Latin and funk grooves.

After each concert, Keck Observatory was open for a public stargazing. Complimentary star charts were distributed at each performance. The observatory on lower campus has a 16-inch reflecting telescope and five 8-inch telescopes used to track and photograph asteroids for research.

The free concerts, sponsored by Starbucks Coffee, KPLU, the music department and Summer Sessions, were held in the amphitheater outside the Mary Baker Russell Music Building. David Joyner, PLU’s director of jazz studies, emceed most of the concerts. Performances included tenor sax Chuck Stentz (with David Joyner, Wayne Bliss, Maria Joyner), the Ryan Taylor Trio, Bill Ramsay, FWM (Wayne Bill and Frank Seeberger) and Jay Thomas.

Robert N. Bellah will kick off the 2001 Fall Lecture Series

Acclaimed authors highlight Fall Lecture Series
Robert N. Bellah will kick off the 2001 Fall Lecture Series PLU has announced the speakers for this year’s Fall Lecture Series.

“We have a unique group this year,” said Paul Menzel, Provost. “They are all very sought-after speakers.”

Tuesday, Sept. 25, Robert N. Bellah will present, “The Vocation of a Christian University in a Globalized World.” The event is this year’s Heather Koller Memorial Lecture, and will be held at Chris Knutzen Hall at 7:30 p.m. Bellah, eminent professor of sociology emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley, is the author of “Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life” and “The Good Society.” Bellah is also the recipient of the National Humanities Medal in 2000.

As a part of the 2001 National Conference on Religion and Science, John Polkinghorne will present “Cosmology: Mind and Purpose Behind the University” on Tuesday, Oct. 4. Polkinghorne, a professor of mathematical physics and cosmologist at the University of Cambridge, is the author of “The Quantum World” and “Reason and Reality.” Also the author of “The Faith of a Physicist,” Polkinghorne has had a longstanding intellectual interest in the relationship of science and theology.

The 2001 Conference on Religion & Science will be conducted in interactive distance video with Princeton Theological Seminary. Polkinghorne’s 4 p.m. talk at the Columbia Conference Center is free to all with a PLU ID or any student ID. For others the afternoon conference fee is $10. The teleconference segment, an address by theologian Wentzel van Huyssteen, emanates from Princeton at 2 p.m.

This year’s Raphael Lemkin Lecture will be given by Mahmood Mamdani 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Scandinavian Cultural Center. Mamdani is the author of a noted recent book on genocide in East/Central Africa, “When Victims Become Killers.” The endowed Raphael Lemkin Lecture is given annually at PLU on some historical or contemporary dimension of genocide.

Kathleen Woodward will present, “The Faces of Shame,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in the Nordquist Lecture Hall, Xavier Hall. Dr. Woodward is director of the Walter Simpson Center for the Humanities and professor of English at the University of Washington-Seattle. She is the author of numerous books, including “Aging and Its Discontents: Freud and Other Fictions” and the forthcoming “Circulating Anger and Other Feelings.”

Roger Fouts will present, “Chimpanzee Gestural Language: Implications for Darwinian Realities and Cartesian Delusions,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, at the Scandinavian Cultural Center.

Fouts is professor of psychology and director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute at Central Washington University. He has been a part of Project Washoe since 1967. His book, “Next of Kin,” was named one of The 100 Best Books of 1997 by both the Los Angeles Times and Publisher’s Weekly.

For more about the Fall Lecture Series, go to encore!

PLU announces promotions, faculty appointments
This summer, PLU announced promotions and new faculty appointments for the 2001-2002 academic year. According to Paul Menzel, provost, there were 17 tenure track appointments: 12 are women, and three of those women are in academic fields usually lacking female candidates.

“We’re pleased with the increasing gender diversity,” Menzel said “Our numbers are very good, compared to other schools. We’re also happy about the different training and experiences the new faculty will bring to PLU.”

The new faculty appointments are as follows in the Division of Humanities: Claudia Berguson, visiting instructor of Norwegian; Kathlyn A. Breazeale, assistant professor of religion; Janet Besserer Holmgren, visiting assistant professor of German; Maria J. Lightner, visiting instructor of Spanish; Paul Manfredi, Instructor of Chinese; Deborah A. Miranda, Assistant Professor of English; Solveig C. Robinson, visiting assistant professor of English; Marit Trelstad, assistant professor of religion; Helen T. Williams-Ginsberg, visiting assistant professor of French.

New faculty appointments in the Division of Natural Sciences are: Charles Anderson, professor of chemistry; Grayson L. Capp, visiting professor of Chemistry; Donald E. Lacky, visiting assistant professor of mathematics; Jessica K. Sklar, assistant professor of mathematics; Matthew J. Smith, assistant professor of biology; Jeffrey L. Stuart, associate professor of mathematics; Ying Tang, assistant professor of computer science.

New faculty appointments in the Division of Social Sciences are: Veeda Gargano-Ray, visiting assistant professor of anthropology; Kelly Goedert, assistant professor of psychology; Michelle Ceynar Rosell, assistant professor of psychology; Priscilla Anne St. Clair, assistant professor of economics.

The School of Business adds Surjit S. Chhabra as visiting assistant professor of business and Fern Zabriskie, who received the appointment as Zulauf Distinguished Visiting Professor of Business.

The School of Education appoints Matthew Barritt as assistant professor of education and Mardean Francis as visiting assistant professor of education.

The School of Nursing appointed Marilyn Newcomer Culp, Martha A. Driessnack and Bernadine K. Flynn as assistant professors of nursing. Emily B. Mize was hired as clinical assistant professor and recruitment, admission, and progression coordinator for the graduate program of nursing. The School of Nursing is also welcoming Gerd Melsaeter, dean of the Oslo College of Nursing, Norway, as their visiting international scholar.

This year, PLU welcomes three visiting international scholars from China: Lirong Pang, professor of Chinese language; Xuehong Tang as administrator and lecturer for international programs; and Chenguang Chang as an associate professor in foreign languages.

Also added to the faculty this year is Chris D. Ferguson as dean of information resources.

There were also promotions, effective in September 2001.

Promotions to associate professor were: Raydell Bradley, music; Joanne Lisosky, communications; Lisa Marcus, English; and Steve Starkovich, physics.

Promotions to professor were: Edward Inch, communications; Jon Nordby, philosophy; David Seal, English; Deborah Tannehill, physical education; and Barbara Temple-Thurston, English.

Forest Foundation research projects underway
PLU students will study topics ranging from mothers in prison to youth suicide with grants through the S. Erving Severtson/Forest Foundation Research Fellowship Awards.

Four research projects were funded for the first year of the program. Each student will receive $2,000 plus $500 for travel and other expenses.

Selection was based on the thoroughness of the proposal, ability to complete the research, significance of research, certainty of publication and other factors. All research will be completed by May 2002.

The recipients, their topics and faculty mentors:

Eric Steiger, The Ideological Connections Between Radical Pacifists and Traditional Peace Church Members As Forged During Resistance to WWII Selective Service Drafts, Beth Kraig, history.

Katie E. Luther, Parenting in Prison: Incarcerated Women and Their Children, Joanna Higginson, sociology.

Danielle Cook, An Investigation of Toddlers’ Word Comprehension: A Partial Knowledge Perspective, Wendelyn Shore, psychology. Berit Olsen, Youth Suicide: The Roles of Burden to Family, Individual/Reproductive Potential and Reproductive Potential of Family Members, R. Michael Brown, psychology.

A $500,000 grant from the Forest Foundation in support of the Campaign for Pacific Lutheran University created the Severtson awards, as well as a scholarship program for students in the School of the Arts in honor of Richard D. Moe, emeritus dean of the School of the Arts.

Severtson graduated from Pacific Lutheran College in 1955. He was a longtime psychology professor and vice president and dean for student life from 1987 until he retired in 1999.

PLU 2010 advances to the final year of planning
The campus community is energized as the PLU 2010: The Next Level of Distinction long-range planning process advances on schedule. Now in the final year of planning, the campus conversation shifts to Academic Distinction and Fiscal Strategies.

The PLU 2010 spring forums hosted by Identity/Constituency and Community Commissions were a tremendous success. Students, faculty, and staff had three opportunities to respond to background papers and related questions in facilitated dialogues surrounding four topics: Beyond the Lutedome; Lives of Service, Leadership and Care; Welcoming a Diversity of Persons and Ideas; and Fostering Campus Connections. Final commission reports were drafted over the summer and are available online.

The Fiscal Strategies and Academic Distinction Commissions have composed study papers and will engage the campus in dialog throughout the fall. Afternoon sessions of the Faculty Fall Conference are dedicated to the notion of distinctiveness and the commission will report their findings at a special meeting of the faculty September 28.

“The issue of academic distinction has already provoked lots of talk, lively analyses of strengths and challenges, and much effort to frame the things that make PLU’s academic program unique,” said Lynn Beck, who is dean of the School of Education and member of the PLU 2010 writing team. “This year I suspect we’ll focus on going beyond who we are now to imagining who we want to be in the next decade.”

Following the Academic Distinction events the Fiscal Strategies Commission will host conversations surrounding university resources and also begin constructing the next long-range financial plan for the university.

“The past year has provided a terrific chance for the campus to engage in thoughtful conversations about who we are and who we’re becoming,” said Beck. “This year promises more of the same.”

To read background papers, final reports and to learn more about the PLU 2010: The Next Level of Distinction long-range planning process visit: www.plu.edu/~plu2010.

PLU People

Five alums join admissions staff
Five new counselors have been hired in the Admissions Office—all are recent PLU graduates. During their first few months on the job, they have been learning a new perspective about all the work that goes on behind the scenes. If you would like to put a face with a name and see which territories each of our new counselors will be covering, please visit the Admissions Web site www.plu.edu/~admi/contact.html. You are also invited to stop by and visit any of the new counselors.

The new counselors are: Lisa Dahlgren ’01 from Soldotna, Alaska, who played basketball for PLU and was a communications major with a minor in business; Stacy Coulson ’01 from Florence, Colo., a sociology major with a minor in art history who also worked in the library and the archives; JooHee Berglund ’01 of Battleground, Wash., who majored in political science and English writing; Makena Ogata ’01 of Hawaii, a business administration major with a concentration in finance and Brian O’Hanlon ’00 of Puyallup, a political science major with music and history minors.

Published Corner

PLU alum NANCY PAGH '85 recently had her book, “At Home Afloat: Women on the Waters of the Pacific Northwest,” co-published by the University of Calgary Press and the University of Idaho Press.

Considering accounts written by Northwest Coast marine tourists between 1861 and 1990, Pagh examines the ways gender influences the roles women play at sea, the spaces they occupy on boats and the language they use to describe their experiences, their natural surroundings, and their contact with native people.

The text serves to make fresh and relevant links between scholarship in diverse areas of inquiry, such as Western Canadian and American history, feminist geography, post-colonial theory, and women and environments.

Pagh will be reading from her book at the University of Washington Bookstore in Seattle Nov. 2.