Winter 2000 - Digitized Resources Murphy Library University of ...

Alumni help to welcome freshmen
The 3rd Annual Freshmen Send-Offs were
held in six cities this year: La Crosse,
Milwaukee, Rochester, St. Paul, Madison
and Wausau. More than 75 students and 170
parents, alumni and staff attended the events.
The Send-Offs were an extension of the
New Student Registration Program, according to
Janie Spencer, director of alumni programs. flOur
goal is to help students and their parents make a
smooth transition during the first semesferat
UW-La Crosse," she explains.
Feedback from the event has been positive.
Those attending said "Enthusiasm for school
was obvious"; "It reinforced my sense that
UW-L staff is eager and available to help new
students - that the transition to college will happen
in a smooth organized way" and "It made
me feel more comfortable and ready for my first
year. The alumni and staff encouraged me to get
involved in clubs and other activities but not too
many."
Special thanks to the following alumni and
staff for their support of these events:
La Crosse
Alumni: Jill Blokhuis, Jennifer Ehlenfeldt, Bruce Friell, Karrie
Jackelen, Matt Jurvelin, Rod Hughbanks and Roger
Vandermus.
Staff: Mandy Anderson, Doug Hastad, Wayne Jacobson, Angie
Kellogg, Lou Markwith, Mick Miyamoto, JanieSpel1cer, Larry
Ringgenberg, Petra Roter and Kim Vogt.
Milwaukee
Alumni: Erin Bowditch, Kim Prell-Lietka, T.J. Lofgren, Julie
Pedretti and Christine Johnson.
Staff: Chris Bakkum, Marcia Johnson-Sage, Lou Markwith,
Janie Spencer and Karla Stanek.
Rochester
Alumni: Scott Hogen, Carrie Miesbauer, Marv Ramsay, Jim
Verbout and Frank Vondrashek.
Staff: Sharie Brunk, Lou Markwith, Mike Nelson, Diane
Schumacher, Janie Spencer and Kim Vogt.
Kim Vogt, interim associate dean, UW-L College of Liberal Studies, center left; Sharie Brunk, '93 &
'96, UW-L Academic Discovery Lab, center; and Scott Hogen, '88, Mayo Clinic; talk with fleW freshmen
during the Rochester, Minn., Freshmen Send-Off last summer. The events aim to ease the transition
to college life for students and parents.
St. Paul
Alumni: Dennis Engh, Judy Chelstrom, Vince Chelstrom
Emily Schroeder-Orvik.
Staff: Ruthann Benson, Lou Markwith and Janie Spencer.
Madison
Alumni: Sharla Evers, Jamie McClendon (Student Alumni
Ambassador), Lori Peppard, Todd Poss and
Staff: Jon Hageseth, Mike Nelson and Janie Spencer.
If you're interested in supporting these events in 2001,
contact Janie Spencer toll free at 1(877)895-2586 or e-mail: alumni@uwlax.edu.
Wausau
Alumni: Mary Dorsch, Kelly Hannan (Student Alumni
Ambassador), Matt Jurvelin and Adam Mueller (Student Senate
President).
Staff: John Magerus, Larry Ringgenberg and Janie Spencer.
UW-La Crosse Alumnus / Winter

Accountancy alums rank high
Virchow Krause & Co. hires many
UW-L grads
W-L'S accountancy students have been leaders
UW System and the nation in passing the Certified
UPublic
Accountant (CPA) exam during thepasffive
years. That has helped some alums land a job with a
Wisconsin company.
Since 1994, UW-L accountancy students have achieved a
37.9 percent pass rate of all four parts of the exam for firsttime
candidates. In the UW System, that's second only to UW­
Whitewater students who had a 38.4 percent pass rate; UW­
Madison ranked third with 36.4 percent. The numbers are
well above the national pass-rate average of 14.1 percent during
the same period.
The good rnarks speak highly of the UW System's students
and programs, says Ken Winter, chair of the UW-L
accountancy department. "Our students are passing four parts
of the exam at a rate double the national average," notes
Winter. "This suggests that the strong competition among UW
systernschools works. The state is producing a lot of high
quality accountants."
Virchow Krause & Co. LLP (VK) couldn't agree more.
VK has hired nearly 50 UW-L graduates in the last decade and
a half. They work in Madison, Milwaukee, Elkhorn,
Bloomington, Lake Geneva, Janesville, Green Bay and
Appleton.
Along with accountancy grads, VK hires those in bUSIness
and marketing. UW-L alumni serve in a variety of the
company'spositions: accountant, senior manager, network
administrator, staffing coordinator, marketing director, operations
manager and partner, to name a few.
VK participates in the accountancy Career Day held on
campus and contributes funds for an accountancy scholarship
each year. VK alums are also active in UW-LAlurnni
Association activities such as the Freshmen Send-Off in
Madison, Marching Chiefs Alumni Band and the Alumni
Association board of directors.
'80 grad cited for excellence
Sara Slayton, '80,
has received the 2000
UW-L Academic
Staff Excellence
Award. Slayton started
teaching childhood
education parttime
on campus in
1983. She's been on
campus since - but
she's done more than
teach.
Slayton served on
a campus advisory
committee on establishing
child care for
students. Astudent Sara Slayton, front, has received the 2000 UW-L
survey showed strong Academic Staff Award.
interest in the service,
and Slayton was tabbed to establish the program in 1984. For five years,
Slayton orchestrated the facility while maintaining a half-time teaching load.
In 1989, she became a full-time academic staff lecturer.
Slayton consistently receives some of the highest student evaluation
scores in the educational studies department. "She teaches what she preaches!'hotesAssistantProfessor
Barbara Chaney, who teaches the other early
childhood classes.
18 UW-La Crosse Alumnus / Winter 2000-01
Virchow Krause & Co. has hired nearly 50 UW-L graduates since the mid-80s. Among the alumni in the company's
Madison office are: first row Amy Kasten, '97: Karla Thompson, '94; Nicole Kersten '94; Cari Michel, '91; second
rOW= Lynn Reader, '92; Laura Geurink, '95; Josh Meinen, '99; Brent Wagner, '98; Josh Ganshert, '99; Gretchen
Rodefeld, '90; third row: Julie Schwingel, '85; Renee Meinholz, '93; Keven Gagermeier, '97; Tim Herlitzka, '92; Zak
Bloom, '97; Mike Hartmann, '97; and fourth row: Patty Zibrowski, '80
Virchow Krause hires our grads
Virchow Krause & Co. knows the high quality of UW-L graduates. Here's the list alumni the company has
hired since the mid-80s:
Madison
James Antony '92
Zachary Bloom '97
Jacqueline (Robinson) Crespo '93
Sarah (Schroeder) Deischer '94
Randy Dummer '86
-----T)awnIKarasjFlscher '97
Kevin Gagermeier '97
Joshua Ganshert '97
Laura Geurink '95
Suzanne Harris '88
Michael Hartmann '97
Vicki (Vogel) Hellenbrand '90
Timothy Herlitzka '92
Amy Kasten '97
Nicole Kersten '94,
Dominic Landretti '00
Joshua Meinen '99
Renee (Bong) Meinholz '93
Cari (Carraher) Michel '91
Lynn Reader '92
Gretchen (Keller) Rodefeld '90
Julie Schwingel '85
Karla (Roth) Thompson '94
Brent Wagner '98
Patricia (Bush) Zibrowski '80
Milwaukee
Christa (Kinyon) Baldridge '99
Arlene Feucht '00
JeHrey Hertel '94
Melanie (Simonson) Lang '96
Renee (Sems) Messing '78
Tori (Zimmer) Morrow '99
Corey Tremaine '97
Kristin Wachs '99
Jamie (Payton) Ward '89
Grad oversees La Crosse's
summer festival
Alum heads Air Force PR
Appleton
Christopher VanStraten '95
Bloomington
Jeffrey DeYoung '86
Mark Kiecker '98
Elkhorn
Gregory Brown '86
Dennis Raabe '88
Green Bay
Michelle Somenske '94
Michael Teske '95
Janesville
Douglass Haworth '99
Lake Geneva
Susan (Hanson) Halpern '90
A 1976 graduate was named commodore of Riverfest,
La Crosse's summer festival. Art Fahey oversaw the fiveday
festival, which, Fahey says, has grown into one of
the area's best festivals.
Fahey said his toughest job was trying to keep it a
secret that he was going to receive the honor. He was getting
questions from co-workers at the La Crosse Center,
where he is director, for weeks before the banquet where he Art F h
was officially introduced. a ey
Fahey and his wife, Shelley (Steinmann), '75, have been
involved with the city's other major festival- Oktoberfest. He is a past president
of the Oktoberfest Board of Directors
Col. Douglas D. McCoy, Jr., who attended from 1970-73,
has been named director of public affairs for headquarters
air combat command at Langley Air Force Base in
Virginia. He has served in a variety of public affairs positions
and commanded an Armed Forces Radio and TV
Service squadron.
Col. Douglas D. McCoy

9O Rick Bender, Janesville, has been named
vice president of the institutional trust department
of the Firstar Capital Square Office in
Madison.
Katherine Bundalo, Elm Grove, has been
promoted to director of academic advising for
Alverno College.
Carrie (Sargent) Hersh, Milwaukee, is
director of non-profit employment and training center
for Milwaukee Hospitality Employment
Partnership. She says after a decade, she is finally
utilizing her public administration degree. "Better
late than never!" she notes.
Mark Hinze, Chicago, received a doctor of
podiatric medicine from the William M. Scholl
College of Podiatric Medicine in May.
Karla Miller, '90 & '98, De Pere, has been
named program coordinator for recruitment at the
UW-Green Bay Career Services Office. In addition to
career counseling, she will be working with the oncampus
recruiting program, career fairs and Web
site development.
Teresa Schaefer-Pleger, '90, and Thomas
Pleger, '91, live in Appleton. They both work at the
University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley. Teresa is an
associate lecturer of learning skills; Thomas is an
assistant professor of anthropologyI archaeology.
Thomas received the Appleton Area Rotary Clubs
2000 Cutting Edge Award in Higher Education for
UW-Fox Valley in May 2000. He has also been elected
president of the Wisconsin Archaeological
Survey for 2000-2001.
Sandra Brewer, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.,
91 recently accepted a position as a Fish and
Wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, New Jersey Field Office. She is the Natural
Resources Damage Assessment and Restoration
(NRDAR) Program coordinator for the state. The
NRDAR Program ensures that environmental polluters
pay compensatory damages for clean up and
restoration of natural resources injured through the
release of hazardous chemicals.
Forrrest Pecha has received a master's in
sports medicine and excersise physiology. He then
received a grant to the Steadman-Hawkins
Foundation in Vail, Colo., and continued on as an
employee. More recently, he accepted the position
as the conditioning, strength coach, and athletic
trainer for the u.s. Slolom Ski Team. He will be
with them for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
His father is Merlin Pecha, '65.
Rebecca Guimon-Romens, '92, and Tony
92Romens, '93, live in Fort Atkinson. They met
at the end of their freshman year. They dated for
seven years, before marrying four years ago. They
have two children, Matthew (2) and Taylor (1).
Paul Michael has moved back to La Crosse
to take a job as a case manager with Big
BrothersIBig Sisters.
Michelle Juehring, Davenport, Iowa., has
93joined Lee Enterprises as manager of special
events marketingI special projects.
Ann Kemper,
Germantown, is a human
resources representative for
Metavante Corp.
Ryan Wilson, Fond du
94Lac, has been named sports
information director at Ripon
College.
Ryan Wilson
Friends from the '70s
These five alumni, the women all former Delta Zetas, reunited this summer to visit and share stories.
They are, from left to right: Sherry (Polenska) Nutt, '71, a physical education teacher and
department chair at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee; Patty (Marquardt) Larson, '72, a middle
school principal in central Wisconsin; Sally (Richards) DuBois, '71, an elementary and physical
education teacher in Wasilla, Alaska (she was 1999 Alaska Teacher of the Year); Joseph A. Nutt,
'72, a category-project manager at Harley-Davidson Inc. custom vehicle operations division in
Milwaukee (that's Joe's cycle): and Carol (Brecher) Kennedy, '71, a physical education teacher at
Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha and a Wisconsin Badgerette coordinator for 25
years.
Eric Affeldt, Burnsville, Minn., received a
95doctor of podiatric medicine from the William
M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in May.
Christopher Eckerman, Chicago, received a
doctor of podiatric medicine from the William M.
SchollCollegeofpodiatficMedicirie-ifiMay.
Shelly (Longhorn) Lewis, '95, Port
Washington, has been promoted to manager of tax,
legal and business advisory practice at Arthur
Andersen in Milwaukee.
Jacquelyne Mumm, Middleton, worked at
St. Joseph's Hospital Nuclear Medicine in
Marshfield following graduation until May 1997.
Then, she accepted a position with LUNAR Corp. in
Madison as an applications specialist. She traveled
the country extensively training bone density software.
Most recently she was promoted to senior
customer support productengineer.
craig Acker, Tallahassee, Fla., is back in
96school pursuing a master's in exercise physiology
at Florida State University. He works as an
assistant strength and conditioning coach for the
football team and men's and women's track and
field. He had the honor of working with the national
championship football team last year, as well as
the 2000 women's ACC championship team. He
hopes to complefe themasfer'sinspi'ing2DOl.
Tiffany Bachmann has relocated from
Milwaukee and now works at UW-Madison in the
endocrinology and reproductive physiology program.
Joel MacIntyre, Minneapolis, has been promoted
to branch manager at First Twin Cities
Mortgage Corp.
Robert Morris, Key Biscayne, Fla., received a
doctor of optometry from Ohio State University in
June. He has elected to do a one-year fellowship in
ocular diseases at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at
the University of Miami, Florida.
Susan D. Morris, Key Biscayne, Fla., earned
a juris degree from Ohio State University in May.
She has joined Stokes and Murphy in Atlanta.
Tami Powell recently moved to the Spring
Grove, Mrrin.,-Dorchester, Iowa, area and started
work as the assistant Web editor at Luther College
in Decorah.
Lani J. Ross, Fort Worth, Texas, was one of
10 Fort Worth teachers to be honored as RadioShack
Teacher Scholars for 2000. Ross is in her fourth year
of teaching science and social studies at Fort
Worth's International Newcomer Academy.
Brent, '97, and Chelsey A. (Brown), '98,
97Nedland, live in Westby. Brent has accepted a
position with the Trane Co. in La Crosse as a financial
analyst in the technology procurement department.
Mindy Kriefski, Crown Point, Ind., has
returned to the Midwest after spending two years
working in North Carolina. She is engaged to
Matthew Goudy.
Kim Van Antwerpen, West Allis, is
98ty control chemist with Pierce Milwaukee Inc.
Brad Pittman, '98 & '99, Bowling Green,
Ky:, finished a master's in sport administration in
December 1999 and a year-long internship at the
University of Iowa in July 2000. Pittman received
his first "real job" as assistant facilities coordinator
for intercollegiate athletics at Western Kentucky
University.
Mark Powers, Valparaiso, Ind., is in his second
year of law school. He plans to graduate in
2001.
Stefani Parr, Eden Prairie, Minn., is a case
99manger at Jewish Charities in Mrrinetonka.
Damon Tillman, Lake Orion, Mich., is a
product engineer with A.M. General.
UW-La Crosse Alumnus! Winter 2000-01 19

W. Carl Wimberly stands by the former North Hall. which has been renamed in his honor to recognize his 40 years of
service to the university.
North Hall named--for-long-time educator
North Hall has been renamed W. Carl Wimberly Hall to honor the longest-running academic vice chancellorin the UW System.
Carl Wimberly's 40 years of service to UW-L- as a professor,
dean and vice chancellor and acting chancellor ­
was recognized by renaming North Hall in his honor.
"He was the continuity of academic excellence at La Crosse,"
says former Chancellor Judith Kuipers, who recommended the
change to the UW System Board of Regents.
Wimberly retired as vice chancellor in 1992. He joined the
faculty in 1953 as an instructor of political science.Along with
teaching, he held numerous administrative positions, including
director and later dean of the College of Arts, Letters and
Sciences, before being appointed vice chancellor in 1973. He
served as acting chancellor following Kenneth Lindner's resignation
in 1978 until Noel Richards' appointment in 1979.
Wimberly, 75, says he is pleased his name is on the building
that houses the social science departments, the English
IUW-LI
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
1725 State Street
La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601
Address Service Requested
department, and the College of Business Administration. "I
hope it will also honor all those faculty who served at the same
time I did," he explains.
Since retiring, Wimberly has remained active with the university.
He served as president of the UW-La Crosse Foundation
for more than two years, and is currentlya member of the
Foundation's Board of Directors. "His career as an educator and
leader on carnpl1S and his generosity to the Foundation makes
him more than deserving of such recognition," says Foundation
President Lou Markwith.
North Hall was built in 1974 as a much-needed classroom
facility. It was simply named for its position on the north edge
of the campus and not for any individual. The official name
change took place during a special ceremony Oct. 28.
Attention Parents -
If the address label lists a son or daughter who no
longer lives here, please send the UW-L Alumni Office
the correct address. Send to: UW-LAlumni Office,
1725 State Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601.
Non-profit Org.
u.s. Postage
PAID
La Crosse, Wis.
Permit No. 545