Spring 1984 - Digitized Resources Murphy Library University of ...

'Mr. Wizard' to receive alumnus award (cont'd)
of a dramatic finish when the
balloon is sucked into the jar, and it
poses all kinds of interesting problems
about how to get it out. And
it's easy for children to produce."
When "Watch Mr. Wizard" was
cancelled in 1965, Herbert moved to
another project. A series of half-hour
special science programs for adults
called "Experiment" was aired on 16
noncommercial television stations
but lasted only a year.
Herbert took a break from broadcasting
the next five years, spending
his time writing and producing
classroom science films. Then came
two more projects--an unsuccessful
attempt to reintroduce Mr. Wizard
on NBC in the early 1970s, and "Mr.
Wizard Close-Ups," a series of 30second
inserts for children.
Now, besides the new Mr. Wizard
show on Nickelodeon, Herbert
produces "How About." a series of
80-second programs geared toward
adults. His wife, Norma, is in charge
of syndication and marketing for
"How About," which is seen on
more than 100 television stations
across the country.
Donald Herbert Kemske in 1940
Herbert produces his programs
from his Canoga Park, Calif., home
studio, a specially-designed garage
stacked with boxes of scientific
paraphernalia ranging from vacuum
pumps to volcano models.
He works at an exhaustive pace.
His head writer and researcher, Joe
Walders, describes Herbert as a
perfectionist who will do anything
for the benefit of the show. "It's
amazing what he knows," says
Walders. ''I'll come up with what I
think is an original idea and it's
something h!'l's done 20 years ago."
Herbert says the new shows really
haven't changed much from the old
days except they're in color and deal
with more than one subject to step
up the format. He said the biggest
single change in science since the
early shows is the evolution of
computers. Space has also grown
from science fiction to science fact.
"We were there at the introduction
of the space era," he remembers.
"Now we do some of the same
principles, but we certainly don't
bother saying, 'Gee, maybe someday
we'll go to the moon' because we've
already been there and beyond."
Herbert says his biggest satisfaction
from sharing his knowledge is
helping youngsters regard science
as pleasurable, but discounts the
notion he's led students into
science careers. "No half-hour television
show in black and white is
going to have that influence," he
says. "But it may have at least made
them aware of the opportunities."::
Post-season competition highlights winter sports
by Kennan Timm
For the second straight winter
sporting season all seven of the
UW-La Crosse athletic teams were
represented in post-season competition.
One of the top individual performances
came from Jerry Kollross of
the men's swimming team. Kollross,
a senior from Greendale, Wis., concluded
his career by leading the
Indians to a 10th-place finish at the
NAIA Championships and an 18thplace
finish at the NCAA Division III
Championships. Kollross became
UW-L's first individual event national
champion in men's swimming since
1965. Kollross established two
school and national records at the
meet by winning the 50- and 100yard
freestyle events.
The UW-L women's basketball
team continued its long history of
success as they posted its ninth
straight 18-victory season with a 19­
8 record. The team also advanced to
the title game of the NCAA Division
III Great Lakes Region. Senior
Donna Freese of Lancaster, Wis.,
concluded her"Career at UW-L as the
all-time leading rebounder and the
seventh all-time leading scorer with
1.101 rebounds and 912 points,
respectively.
While the women's basketball
team was enjoying its season so
were the men hoopsters under
veteran head coach Burt McDonald.
Men's basketball finished their eighth
15-victory season in the last 10
years by tallying a 15-13 record.
Sophomore Paul Denny of La Crosse
led the team in scoring and in
rebounding with 12.8 points and 5.8
rebounds per game, respectively.
The UW-L wrestling team had
another fine season by placing fifth
at the WSUC Championships and
placed in a tie for the 25th position
at the NAIA Championships. Sophomore
Bret Corner from Cedarburg
was named the team's most valuable
performer as he won the 142-pound
title at the WSUC Championships
and placed sixth at the NAIA
Championships to accord AII­
American honors.
The men's gymnastics team,
paced by three individual event
champions at the NAIA Championships
hosted by UW-L, placed
second in the final national men's
7
gymnastics meet sponsored by the
NAIA. According national champion
honors from UW-La Crosse were
Todd Tveita of Brooklyn Park, Minn.,
on the still rings; Jim Brick of
Milwaukee, on the parallel bars and
Rob Genadek of St. Louis Park,
Minn., on the horizontal bar.
The women gymnasts also found
success at the national level as
three athletes won All-American
honors. UW-L, which placed second
at the NCAA Division III Championships
and sixth at the NAIA
Championships, featured a balanced
squad this past season. Named AII­
Americans from UW-La Crosse were
Brenda Wanke of Wausau; Val Smith
of Rhinelander; and Joanna Jaquith
of Stevens· Point.
The UW-L women's swimming
team under first-year head coach
Bette Chambers also peaked at the
end of the season as the team
placed eighth at the NAIA
Championships. Pacing UW-La
Crosse at the national meet was
senior Joan Kapellas of Onalaska,
who placed fifth in two events and
seventh in another event.