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Today 

FALL 2013 

Fall 

at Macalester 

Scenes from today, images from yesterday / SEE PAGE 26

MacalesterToday 

FALL 2013 

Features 

10 

The Beez Kneez 10 

Erin Rupp ’04 delivers honey by bike and educates people 

about bees. 

9 Professors, 4 Answers 12 

Behind the bios of our newest tenure-track faculty 

Keeping Secrets 22 

Is privacy even possible in the age of the Internet? 

Fall at Macalester 26 

Scenes from today, images from yesterday 

12 

All the Right Moves 32 

Jon Chen ’11 shows his ballroom skills on the national stage. 

Art Supplier 34 

Beth Bergman ’73 and her Wet Paint art supplies store are 

beloved Grand Avenue fixtures. 

We have an app for that. 

Been wanting to access Macalester Today on 

your iPad? Now you can. Just go to the App Store 

and search for Macalester Today. You’ll enjoy all the 

stories from the print edition plus video, audio, 

and photo extras. 

ON THE COVER: Girls football game at Macalester, 1964 (photo from Macalester Archives) 

32 

22 

(TOP TO BOTTOM): REBECCA DEJARLAIS ORTIZ ’06, DAVID J. TURNER, MARTIN HAAKE, DAVID J. TURNER

Staff 

EDITOR 

Lynette Lamb 

llamb@macalester.edu 

ART DIRECTOR 

Brian Donahue 

CLASS NOTES EDITOR 

Robert Kerr ’92 

PHOTOGRAPHER 

David J. Turner 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Rebecca DeJarlais Ortiz ’06 

Jan Shaw-Flamm ’76 

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS 

David Warch 

MACALESTER COLLEGE 

WATERCOLOR: CORA TROUT ’16 

4 

Departments 

Letters 2 

Household Words 3 

Summit to St. Clair 4 

Watercolorist, wiffle ball, Wilson, and more 

Class Notes 36 

Mac Weddings 40 

In Memoriam 45 

Grandstand 48 

CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

David Deno ’79 

PRESIDENT 

Brian Rosenberg 

DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS 

Gabrielle Lawrence ’73 

MACALESTER TODAY (Volume 101, Number 4) 

is published by Macalester College. It is 

mailed free of charge to alumni and friends 

of the college four times a year. 

Circulation is 32,000. 

FOR CHANGE OF ADDRESS, please write: 

Alumni Relations Office, Macalester College, 

1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105-1899. Or 

call (651) 696-6295. Toll-free: 1-888-242-9351. 

Email: alumnioffice@macalester.edu 

TO SUBMIT COMMENTS OR IDEAS, 

Phone: 651-696-6452. Fax: 651-696-6192. 

Email: mactoday@macalester.edu 

Web: macalester.edu/alumni 

40 

Macalester Today is printed 

on Rolland Enviro 100, a 100 

percent recycled paper. Our 

printer, Bolger Printing of 

Minneapolis, is FSC certified.

Letters 

Loved last issue 

I am writing to commend you on an outstanding 

Summer 2013 issue of Macalester Today. 

The articles, from “Mental 

Health Advocate” to “The 

Winemakers” to “Guiding a 

Poet’s Press,” were varied and 

fascinating—so much so that 

I read the issue from cover to 

cover in one sitting. I also enjoyed 

the high-quality photographs 

that illustrated the 

articles, the photos from Reunion 

and the global images 

from the Study Away Photo 

Contest. What a wonderful 

showcase of the accomplishments 

of the greater Macalester community. 

Erika Reich Giles ’70 

Mercer Island, Wash. 

Watch your plurals 

Not the first time you have done it, but perhaps 

the most ironic. In the short piece on 

“Math whizzes” (Summer 2013) you again 

failed to correctly use data as a plural form. 

I suppose this is a losing battle as even NPR 

fails to use data in the plural. 

Frank Cerny III ’68 

East Aurora, N.Y. 

More winemakers 

After getting the latest Macalester Today cover 

story (“The Winemakers,” Summer 2013), we 

thought we should mention that two older 

alumni have a winery in Eastern Montana, 

growing University of Minnesota grapes and 

making all kinds of interesting wines. Check 

us out at tongueriverwinery.com. 

Bob Thaden ’70 and 

Marilyn Urban Thaden ’70 

Miles City, Mont. 

Love The Week 

I just read your article about Steve Kotok ’92 

(“Making it Through The Week,” Summer 

2013) and had to laugh, thinking of my introduction 

to that magazine. I had subscribed 

to Time for more than 50 years and had come 

to the point of giving it up. I looked at other 

newsmagazines but found nothing I wanted. 

At that time I was reading a novel in which 

the main character had health issues that 

meant she could no longer read the New York 

Times, so she cancelled her subscription and 

started getting The Week. I had never heard of 

it, so I went to the library to find if there really 

was such a magazine. There was, they got out 

a few back issues for me, and I’ve been reading 

it ever since. So hurray for Steve Kotok 

and The Week. To discover 

his link with Macalester was 

a real plus. 

Virginia Leach Mouw ’42 

Tumwater, Wash. 

Frosh loves Mac 

This op-ed appeared in The 

Mac Weekly (Sept. 27, 2013) 

and is excerpted with permission 

of the author. 

Okay, I’ll admit it. I never 

planned on actually attending 

Mac. To be honest I only 

applied because of the name. Applying to 

Macalester added a sense of refinement to 

the long list of colleges to which I applied. It 

worked out fabulously for me: I’m now in the 

throes of love for Dear Old Macalester. 

The food’s great, my classes challenge me, 

and I wouldn’t change a single thing about any 

of my three professors. The wide variety of 

clubs and student orgs that vied for my attention 

at the Org Fair left me in awe. 

The diversity here is wonderful. I love the 

variety of viewpoints and the sense of community 

I feel here. Also, Mac students say 

what they mean and how they feel. The consensus 

occasionally leans too far left for my 

tastes, but it is refreshing to meet other opinionated 

people who aren’t afraid to let others 

know that they actually have opinions. 

At Mac I’m able to engage in conversations 

that actually interest me, conversations 

in which I can learn through a variety of lenses 

and perspectives. 

After being here for just a month, I’m able to 

say I consider myself lucky to attend Macalester. 

Cole Yates ’17 

Owensboro, Ky. 

LETTERS POLICY 

We invite letters of 300 words or fewer. 

Letters may be edited for clarity, style, 

and space and will be published based 

on their relevance to issues discussed 

in Macalester Today. You can send letters 

to llamb@macalester.edu or to 

Macalester Today, Macalester College, 

1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105. 

Fall 

TWEETS 

A selection from Mac’s Twitter account 

Tim Nelson @timnelson_mpr 

Macalester makes HuffPost list of “Colleges 

Most Obsessed With Squirrels”: http:// 

blogs.mprnews.org/oncampus/2013/09/ 

is-macalester-college-obsessed-withsquirrels 

James Lindgren @JMasonL 

You know you like geology when you volunteer 

your weekends to camp in freezing 

weather and love it! 

Annie Knit Modesitt @modeknit 

Sitting and knitting and watching the 

students go by... (@ Macalester College) 

Maggie Burks @maaaaaggieburks 

Macalester College offers free bagpipe 

lessons available to all students. 

Anthony Granai @AGR802 

Roll off bed, food, class, food, class, homework, 

basketball, food, homework, food, 

sleep. Repeat Monday-Friday. 

Naomi @umwhatthe 

Painted the rock! Cross that off my bucket 

list :) 

Brennan Meier @bmeier831 

Was reading a book and realized that the 

author used hegemony wrong. 

Daniel Casey @winslowbobbins 

Hey, Macalester College’s chant made it 

in here! I love that chant! “7 Memorable 

Sports Chants” http://shar.es/yxx38 

Anna Cavallo @eatreadwriterun 

A college course on THE HUNGER GAMES 

as a window to modern social issues? Well 

done, Dear Old @Macalester. 

Sarah @SSilbz 

Do you think Macalester would notice if I 

secretly kept a micro pig in my dorm? 

This is a serious question. 

2 MACALESTER TODAY

Household Words 

Ten Years 

PHOTO: SHER STONEMAN 

BY BRIAN ROSENBERG 

After ten years in my office, I decided 

recently that it was time to do a bit 

of housecleaning. 

The drawers and cabinets yielded 

some mildly interesting pieces of accumulated 

flotsam: something called a “musical can 

kilt,” for those occasions when one wants to 

hear “Scotland the Brave” while downing a cold 

one; a Charles Dickens action figure, probably 

in anticipation of The Avengers II; and two Karl 

Egge bobblehead dolls, because, really, just one 

Karl Egge isn’t enough. I discovered, 

too, that I could wear a 

different Macalester–themed 

item of clothing every day for 

the rest of my life without ever 

doing laundry. 

I have the paint bucket trophy 

claimed annually by the 

winner of the Macalester–Hamline 

football game, a tartan deerstalker 

cap given to me by John 

B. Davis, and a vuvuzela, or plastic 

horn, presented to me by our 

“Afrika!” student organization 

and which I am forbidden to 

play, either at home or at work. 

My years at Macalester are 

exhaustively documented in 

photographs: in a nightcap, a 

headband, and a football jersey; 

with Kofi Annan, Paul Farmer, 

Chris Kluwe, and a cow; smiling, 

eating, and staring into the 

distance as if contemplating the mysteries of 

the cosmos. Truly, I have done it all. 

More interesting than any physical memorabilia 

I encountered were the virtual treasures 

in my email inbox. Searching for the word appalled, 

I found 54 items; outraged yielded 137; 

furious turned up 186. I confess that I did not 

check to see how many times these words appeared 

multiple times in the same message, 

so my count might include some repeats. 

Surprisingly, fulminating appeared only twice. 

Four syllables are a lot to spit out when one is 

apoplectic. 

I had forgotten—or chosen to erase from 

my memory—the pithy message that skipped 

all niceties and simply began with this forceful 

greeting: “You politically correct #%!!*#&%!” 

This particular gentleman, so far as I can tell, 

had no previous relationship with Macalester, 

though I seem to have given him a reason to 

establish one. 

I don’t mean to make light of anyone’s 

fury—well, maybe I do—but the truth is that 

after a decade in a college presidency one becomes 

surprisingly inured to these sorts of fusillades. 

Presidents get both credit and blame 

for many things with which they had little to 

do, and the key to maintaining one’s sanity 

and humility is to remain relatively unaffected 

by either praise or criticism: to separate the 

president from the person and to focus not 

on the response to what one did yesterday 

but on the opportunities to do better today 

and the day after that. That has always been 

and remains the way I approach my work at 

Macalester. 

It is also important to recognize what an 

enormous privilege it is to be part of an institution 

with the history and mission of a 

great liberal arts college. For nearly a century 

and a half, skilled and dedicated people have 

educated students from around the world to 

become successful and make a positive difference 

in the lives of others. Generous donors 

and volunteers have supported that work with 

gifts of resources and time. We live in an age 

when cynicism and even despair come too easily, 

but to fail to be inspired by this is to fail 

to appreciate the best of which human beings 

are capable. 

Three items in particular, all visible as I sit 

at my desk in Weyerhaeuser Hall, speak powerfully 

to me of my good fortune. 

One is a photo of the members 

of my senior staff. Granted, in 

this particular image their heads 

are photoshopped onto the bodies 

of the Starship Enterprise 

bridge crew, but still, there they 

are, reminding me how much I 

have benefited from the talents 

of my coworkers. 

The second is a black-andwhite 

photograph, probably 

taken around 1940, of Charles 

Turck at work at his desk in 

Old Main. He is smiling, and 

pressed to his ear is the handset 

of a black rotary telephone. 

Absent President Turck’s principled 

and visionary leadership 

for nearly two decades, Macalester 

would be a different and 

lesser place and my job much 

less rewarding. 

And the third is a handwritten letter from 

Vice President Walter and Joan Adams Mondale, 

thanking me for my service to the college. 

With apologies to our archivist, the original of 

that one will always stay with me. 

To the Mondales, my colleagues, and all 

in the community at whose pleasure I serve 

Macalester College: thanks for the chance. 

BRIAN ROSENBERG is the president of Macalester 

College. After 10 years, and much urging 

from the Board of Trustees, he is spending the 

fall on sabbatical. 

FALL 2013 3

Summit to St. Clair 

CAMPUS NEWS SUMMARY 

OLD MAIN 

WATERCOLOR 

At Highlander Bookstore last summer we 

were delighted to find this watercolor (right) of 

a detail from Old Main. Imagine our surprise 

at discovering the artist was none other than 

Cora Trout ’16 (Columbia, Mo.), a French 

major who has been an artist “ever since I 

could hold a pencil.” Trout—with her mother, 

Carlynn White Trout ’82, as business manager—started 

her own line of greeting cards 

a year ago. So far Old Main has been Trout’s 

only Macalester subject. But that could 

change, she says, as she has time to tackle 

more Mac architecture. 

Cora Trout ’16 

PHOTO: DAVID J. TURNER, WATERCOLOR: CORA TROUT ’16 

4 MACALESTER TODAY

PRESIDENT WILSON 

On the heels of last winter’s controversial 

ice rink project, Mac’s new student leader 

wants to come to consensus. 

Kai Wilson ’14 (West Hartford, Conn.) never took 

part in student government in high school, but 

he’s now the president of the Macalester College 

Student Government (MCSG). 

How did the political science major’s interests 

take such a turn? It goes back to Wilson’s first year 

at Macalester, when he decided to join MCSG “to 

understand the workings of the college and find a 

way to be a part of it.” 

An initial involvement eventually led to his 

becoming part of last year’s finance group, where 

Wilson was heavily involved in determining— 

with student input—how to spend the extra fee 

money MCSG found itself with. 

A vote determined the most popular project 

to be an outdoor ice rink, which ultimately proved 

controversial with facilities staff as well as with 

some students. Nevertheless, Wilson and other 

student leaders saw it through, and the ice 

rink opened last February on Shaw Field. 

Ironically, Wilson never skated on the rink 

he worked so hard to build: It opened the day 

he left for a study abroad semester in Turkey. 

With any luck he will get to enjoy the results 

of the other, smaller projects that MCSG hopes 

to complete this year with remaining rollover 

funds. Among the possibilities: campus murals, 

grills outside the Campus Center, more bicycle 

racks, and improved student org websites. 

Whatever MCSG accomplishes this year, 

Wilson hopes it can first change its “image as 

gatekeeper.” He says, “We’re not an extension 

of the administration. We try to use our best 

judgment and get student input in how funds 

are used. It’s all about compromise and consensus 

with MCSG.” 

Kai Wilson ’14 

PHOTOS: DAVID J. TURNER 

Sustainable landscaping: Many areas of campus are being converted to 

attractive, sustainable landscaping that incorporates more native plant species and 

minimizes the use of fertilizers and pesticides. The planting of drought-tolerant 

and low-water use plants is reducing the use of potable water in landscaping, while 

greater use of pervious pavements is cutting down on storm water runoff. 

FALL 2013 5



New Board 

of Trustees 

Members 

MACALESTER’S Board of Trustees 

welcomed two new members last 

summer: Dr. Patricia Elizabeth “Liz” 

Hume ’92 and Aukse Jurkute ’98. 

After double majoring in Law 

and Society and Spanish at Macalester, 

Hume graduated 

from the Boston 

University School 

of Medicine. She 

has worked as an 

attending physician 

at the San Francisco 

Free Clinic since 

2005. 

Jurkute majored 

in economics, 

mathematics, and 

Eastern European 

and Russian Area 

Studies at Macalester 

and works today 

as an investment banker for Bank of 

America Merrill Lynch. She has lived 

in London, New York, and Hong Kong 

during her 15-year career with the 

company. In 2012 she moved to Moscow 

to run corporate and investment 

banking for the region. 

Hume and Jurkute replace outgoing 

trustees 

Melvin Collins 

’75 and Per 

von Zelowitz 

’94. The two 

new trustees 

were elected 

to three-year 

terms, joining 

the nearly 

three dozen 

leaders who 

serve as the 

Dr. Patricia Elizabeth 

“Liz” Hume ’92 

college’s governance 

body. 

Aukse Jurkute ’98 

FBY SOPHIE NAVARRO ’16 

FOOTBALL AND TRACK STAR Konnor Fleming 

’15 (Charlotte, Vt.) went into last month’s 

Travis Roy Wiffle Ball Tournament expecting to 

continue a six-year family tradition and have a 

fun weekend. 

Then, with his team one out away from sealing 

a 3-0 victory and a fly ball hit deep to centerfield 

that looked like it was going over the wall, 

Fleming made a desperate flip-over-thefence 

catch. 

His teammates mobbed him in celebration, 

and over the following days media 

would mob him as well. It turns out that 

Fleming’s “amazing game-ending catch” 

was caught on video, which went #2 on 

SportsCenter, garnered more than 750,000 

YouTube views, and became the talk of the 

country thanks to Huffington Post, USA Today, 

CNN, and The Today Show. 

Held every August in Vermont’s Little 

Fenway—a miniature replica of the Boston 

Red Sox’s hallowed grounds—the Travis 

Roy Wiffle Ball Tournament serves as a fundraiser 

for the Travis Roy Foundation.That 

WIFFLE BALL 

HERO 

foundation supports spinal cord injury research 

and patients. 

The ongoing success of the event is reflected 

by an expanding tournament field (over more 

than 30 teams competed this summer) and a significant 

increase in the amount of money raised. 

This year’s tournament raised over $500,000, an 

event record. Fleming says he considered the attention 

his catch drew an opportunity to bring 

further awareness to the cause. 

“I’m happy to have had my 15 minutes of 

fame, I suppose,” he says. “And happy that it 

hasn’t been just for me but also to benefit the 

Travis Roy Foundation.” 

Assistant football and track coach Marc Davies 

says he was not shocked by Fleming’s catch 

and subsequent humility. “I thought it was really 

cool, but I also was not surprised,” he says. 

I mean it’s typical Konnor. Nothing gets in his 

way. Not a wall, nothing. 

“He thinks anything is possible. He goes after 

anything that he sets his mind to. He was 

one of our top recruits because of his character 

and personality. He’s a phenomenal leader.” 

Reprinted with permission from The Mac 

Weekly (Sept. 13, 2013). 

PHOTO: MEG PORTER 

6 MACALESTER TODAY

NEW IN 

INDIA 

PHOTO: ANNE MAVITY (LEFT), LYNETTE LAMB 

Political science major Emma van Emmerik ’14 (Amherst, Mass.) 

spent spring semester in Pune, India. There she took part in the Alliance 

for Global Education’s Contemporary India program, which includes 

an internship as a core part of its requirements. 

Van Emmerik’s research focused on the information married adolescent 

women are given about sexual and reproductive health. She 

took classes at Fergusson College, where the program is based, lived in 

a nearby home, and had many other adventures. The following excerpt 

is from early in her stay, when she met a group of adolescent girls living 

in a nearby slum. (To read more, go to studyabroadpune.tumblr.com.) 

On Saturday morning I joined a Minnesota acquaintance on a 

visit to ASHA, a small Pune organization she supports that works 

with girls living in a slum to help them stay in school. 

We headed off to the slums by the Parvati Temple. This visit 

was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. We 

went to the homes of three girls who have passed the 10th standard 

to meet them and their parents. The walk through the slums 

up to the homes was steep, the houses building off one another. 

We entered the first home and I was barely able to hide my 

shock at the size of the living space. It was about as big as one 

of my bathrooms back home—and four people live there. It was 

extremely tidy. The mother, brother, and the girl stood against 

the kitchen wall, while we visitors us sat on the one bed two feet 

away. One of the ASHA directors began by asking the girl how old 

she was, what grade she was in, what her favorite subjects were, 

and what she wants to be when she grows up. She answered: Sixteen, 

loves English, and wants to become a doctor. 

Then she asked the translator to thank the girl’s mother for 

supporting the girl in her studies. It was a powerful moment to 

see the pride on the mother’s and girl’s faces when they saw that 

we understood the significance of her determination and success 

in pursuing her education. I could not believe that I was witnessing 

such an important moment in her life. 

While we walked among the girls’ homes, we developed quite 

a following of children. Girls approached me, sticking out their 

hands for a handshake and asking me my name. Young boys 

yelled out, “How are you?” and an elderly woman asked me in 

English how I liked India. At times I felt as if I was intruding on 

their lives and homes, but my curiosity and pure enjoyment from 

these interactions surpassed those feelings. 

We made our way back to the temple where the girls meet 

weekly, and there they were, playing and laughing. Once we entered 

they started asking me my name and smiling at me. Did 

I mention that they are gorgeous? They wear beautiful colors, 

have glossy hair, bright eyes, and smiles that I can’t stop thinking 

about. 

The girls sat in a circle, with individuals standing up to do 

small performances for us. One girl began with singing—she had 

a lovely voice and was so brave to sing in front of strangers. Then 

a small 11-year-old girl stood up and began twisting her hands 

and hips in a beautiful dance. Many others followed, beaming 

with pride as we applauded them, amazed at their talents. 

My Minnesota friend asked me if I’d be interested in volunteering 

with the girls’ group as an English tutor. After meeting 

them I can’t imagine not going back. 

FALL 2013 7



A GAZELLE AND 

FLESH-EATING BEETLES 

I 

IN AN UNEXPECTED PART of their summer research, a couple of 

biology students found themselves driving two coolers of frozen gazelles 

from Wichita, Kan., to Macalester’s histology lab. 

McKenna Bernard ’14 (Mt. Vernon, Iowa) and Samantha “Sam” 

Zimmerman ’14 (Northampton, Mass.) had spent the summer working 

with biology and geology professor Kristi Curry Rogers, a vertebrate 

paleontologist best known for her study of 

dinosaur bones. 

But this particular summer Curry Rogers and her 

student researchers were instead studying the bones 

of modern animals, from a gazelle to a skink. “We’re 

working on modern animals for their insights into 

dinosaurs,” says Bernard. “By studying the bones of 

modern animals, we get a better idea of how accurate 

our theories of dinosaur growth may be.” The modern 

animals they studied came from a zoo, where 

they have good records of each animal’s age. When 

an animal dies at a zoo—in this case, the Sedgwick 

County Zoo in Wichita—the carcass is frozen and may be released 

for research to qualified laboratories. 

Histology is the study of bones at the microscopic level. To be 

prepared for histological study, the animal carcasses were first taken 

to the Science Museum of Minnesota, where the flesh was removed 

by flesh-eating beetles. That took several weeks, depending on the 

animal’s size. 

Back in the lab, Zimmerman and Bernard took thin slices of 

various bones to study, noting growth rates, periodic cessations of 

growth (marked by lines in the bones similar to tree rings), and the 

relative abundance of blood vessels, as recorded by holes in the bone. 

When the zoo called to offer the gazelle, Zimmerman and Bernard 

volunteered for a quick road trip to Wichita to pick up the animal—and 

a few surprises. As they were packing 

up, the zoo veterinarian looked up from the deep 

freeze to ask, “Would you like a flamingo?” 

McKenna Bernard 

examines a thin section 

of lizard bone. 

Other summer science research projects at 

Macalester included: 

• Searching for less expensive ways to make thin 

films to harness solar energy 

• Using DNA and a scanning electron microscope 

to identify microscopic crustaceans from the St. 

Croix River 

• Using eye tracking equipment to determine how 

people read and what placement is most effective 

• Investigating how copper interacts with proteins 

in the body, where too much or too little copper 

threatens health 

• Exploring how inflammation gone awry can result 

in chronic pain 

Sam Zimmerman 

returns a properly 

preserved and labeled 

river otter carcass to 

the lab freezer. 

PHOTO: DAVID J. TURNER 

8 MACALESTER TODAY

LONGTIME 

EMPLOYEES 

DEPART 

M 

Jimm Crowder 

MACALESTER LOST nearly a century’s worth of institutional memory 

last summer when longtime employees Dan Balik, Jimm Crowder, and 

Mark Dickinson wrapped up their Macalester careers. All three had been 

college employees for more than three decades. (Dickinson tops the list 

with 37 years—41 years, if you include his four years as a student.) 

Balik, the former registrar and director of international research, and 

Crowder, who led Macalester’s international recruitment program, both 

retired. Former facilities services director Dickinson took a new position 

as manager of the Becketwood Senior Cooperative in Minneapolis. 

Dan Balik 

Mark Dickinson 

Construction on the studio 

art building should be 

complete by January, 

allowing faculty and staff 

to move into their offices 

before Spring 2014 classes 

begin. The project involves 

an extensive renovation 

and expansion of existing 

classroom and studio space 

and the addition of a new 

third floor. The building will 

feature a terracotta design 

on its east wall facing 

Shaw Field. 

PHOTO: (BOTTOM) DAVID J. TURNER 

FALL 2013 9

10 MACALESTER TODAY 

PHOTO: DAVID J. TURNER

The Beez Kneez 

An environmental studies degree led 

Erin Rupp ’04 to a career producing 

honey and educating kids about the 

importance of bees. 

TEXT & PHOTOS BY REBECCA DEJARLAIS ORTIZ ’06 

It’s a sunny August morning in Minneapolis, and deep in a Theodore 

Wirth Park meadow, Erin Rupp ’04 is leading the search 

for a missing queen. 

After several unsuccessful leads amid mounting uncertainty, 

her group spots the queen. “There she is—you found 

her! She’s huge!” Rupp says. The five students in her class are 

equally excited. “That’s so wonderful,” says one, her relief palpable. 

When a beekeeper like Rupp goes into a honeybee hive, tracking 

down the all-important queen bee is always a priority. “We check our 

hives every 7 to 10 days to make sure the queen is still alive,” she says. 

The Wirth Park location is part of the network of eight host sites 

and 45 hives that Rupp helps maintain through her work at The Beez 

Kneez, a Minneapolis-based business that provides honey and honeybee 

delivery, production, and education. A self-described “informal 

science teacher,” Rupp is a firm believer in experiential education: the 

more people she can persuade to put on beekeeper suits, the better 

she’s doing her job. 

She developed that philosophy while studying geology and environmental 

studies at Macalester, and today it defines her work at The 

Beez Kneez, which she runs with partner (and Beez Kneez founder) 

Kristy Allen. For Rupp, hands-on learning—watching the bees at work 

inside their hives—is the best way for students to understand both the 

intricate structure of how bees live and the significance of their role in 

our food system. 

As most people know, that role is now in peril. Honeybees pollinate 

a third of everything we eat, and while much of our food system has 

been mechanized, machines can’t replace bees. Commercial agriculture 

farming practices mean the number of North American acres needing 

pollination is at an all-time high, yet the number of hives has declined 

significantly. Large fields of homogenous crops make it impossible for 

bees to pollinate one location year-round, leading commercial beekeepers 

to move hives around the country from crop to crop. With hives 

thus concentrated, diseases spread more easily among bees often already 

weakened by pesticides. 

In Rupp’s words, it’s a stressful time to be a honeybee. “They’re in 

trouble,” she says. “They do such important work for us. To have the 

whole system rely on something so tiny is fascinating. If honeybees die, 

we lose reasonably priced fruits and vegetables.” 

Hence Beez Kneez’ mission: to revive the hive. Rupp and Allen met 

and honed their mutual passion for beekeeping at western Wisconsin’s 

Foxtail Farm, though so far their own work has been centered in Minneapolis. 

It’s a surprisingly rich environment for bees, Rupp explains, 

because the city’s many gardens, flowers, and urban green spaces provide 

a diverse habitat in which bees can flourish. 

There’s also a growing interest in beekeeping. New Minneapolis 

ordinances make beekeeping easier by allowing residents to maintain 

hives on their roofs without getting neighbors’ approval. Enrollment 

has surged, too, in a University of Minnesota beekeeping course that 

Rupp herself took a few years ago. Those trends are steps in the right 

direction, says Rupp. “With increasing numbers of people growing food 

in the city, we need to talk more about that ecosystem,” she says. “Pollinators 

are a critical part of it.” 

Awareness is best raised through inquiry education or teaching 

through doing, says Rupp. Through Community Bees on Bikes, the educational 

component of Beez Kneez, Rupp teaches students of all ages. 

(“Anyone over age five can put on a bee suit,” she says.) With each class 

she goes over the basics before heading into a hive, so the group is ready 

to recognize a drone from a queen or a worker bee. 

To ease neophytes’ nerves, she runs through standard safety precautions: 

wearing a protective beekeeper suit, using a smoker to mask 

the bees’ communication with each other, and encouraging students to 

step away from the hive if they need a break. “Erin is very genuine and 

welcoming,” says Allen, “so people are able to work in the beehives with 

more comfort and ease.” 

Along with teaching, Beez Kneez also opened a honey house in 

Minneapolis this summer, funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised 

nearly $40,000. Beez Kneez’ honey sales—all delivered by bicycle— 

support its programming and host sites, so owning a honey house will 

allow the organization to boost its production and expand its reach. 

They’ll also rent out extracting equipment to hobby beekeepers. 

Given the many projects in store for Bees Kneez, it’s no surprise 

that Rupp recently decided to leave her day job teaching at the University 

of Minnesota’s Bell Museum of Natural History to focus full time 

on her new enterprise. 

It’s a leap, but during the transition there’s one certainty: The nearly 

four dozen hives—with 50,000 bees—will keep her busy. Each hive 

produces roughly 120 pounds of honey per season, so in the summer 

Rupp has her hands full teaching classes and maintaining hives. During 

the winter and spring she develops and advertises classes, fulfills honey 

orders, applies for grants, and maintains the organization’s yellow and 

black bike fleet. 

New educational partnerships and audiences—including potential 

collaborations with Minneapolis Public Schools—are also being developed. 

Her eventual goal, says Rupp, is to use bees as a teaching tool 

in as many academic fields as possible. “Basic honeybee curriculum is 

mostly experiential and scientific, but there are also connections with 

math, literacy, and geography that I’m excited to develop,” she says. “I 

want to set up more opportunities for kids to succeed with learning— 

through bees.” 

REBECCA DEJARLAIS ORTIZ ’06 is a staff writer for Macalester Today. 

WEB CONNECT: thebeezkneezdelivery.com 

FALL 2013 11

9Professors 

4 

Answers 

Behind the bios of our newest tenure-track faculty 

> 

Macalester is enjoying a bumper crop of new tenuretrack 

faculty members this year. Eight assistant professors 

began work this fall, with one more to join 

the faculty in January. In the interest of getting to 

know these nine better than their vitae might allow, 

we asked them some probing questions. As you will 

read, they’re a typically fascinating Macalester bunch. 

PHOTOS BY DAVID J. TURNER 

12 MACALESTER TODAY

Morgan 

Adamson 

Media and Cultural Studies 

How did you first get interested in your 

academic field? 

As a junior at UC–Santa Cruz, I took an 

introductory film studies course and was 

hooked. I became obsessed with studying 

film traditions outside the Hollywood norm, 

such as documentary and avant-garde 

cinema. These cinemas opened up new 

worlds for me, and I started to look at film 

as an art form. 

Why were you drawn to a teaching 

intensive position? 

For me, teaching and research are never 

entirely separate practices. While teaching 

I gain insights into my research that I 

would never have seen without the dialogue 

created in the classroom. The reverse is 

true as well. It was important for me to be 

at an institution that values undergraduate 

education, and I was drawn to Macalester 

because of the opportunity to work closely 

with talented undergraduates. 

What’s your favorite app and why? 

My favorite app right now is called “Freedom.” 

It actually turns off your Internet 

connection for a limited period. Although 

social connectivity is a wonderful thing, 

sometimes I find it’s important to turn off 

all the noise in order to focus. 

What is one of your favorite books and why? 

One of my favorite academic books is Ian 

Baucom’s Specters of the Atlantic: Finance 

Capital, Slavery, and the Philosophy of History 

(Duke, 2005), a wonderful piece of cultural 

criticism that weaves together history, politics, 

and philosophy into a beautiful work 

of nonfiction. Moreover, it’s an excellent 

example of the kinds of insights a humanities 

scholar can bring to some of the most 

pressing issues of our time.

Peter 

Bognanni ’01 

English 



It happened at Macalester College. I had 

been writing for myself since I was a kid, but 

I never had the courage to share my work 

until I took Intro to Creative Writing with 

Wang Ping. The professors I studied with 

at Macalester taught me that writing didn’t 

have to be something I just did for fun; it 

could be a meaningful act of communication 

with the world. Of course, it also didn’t hurt 

that my mother was a librarian. I think she 

checked out half the fiction section for me 

before I left for college. I remember staring 

at the stacks of books in our house and 

thinking “I want to make those.” 

Do you have a first day of school ritual? 

I like to wear a tie on the first day (complete 

with tie bar). If I’m a little rusty in the 

classroom, there’s a chance the students 

will be distracted by my aura of sartorial 

authority. Also, when I first started teaching 

as a graduate TA, I was often mistaken for a 

student. The tie was a key part of my “teaching 

costume.” At this point, it’s half talisman, 

half security blanket. 

Describe the most interesting object in 

your office. 

Hanging majestically from my thermostat 

is the medal I won at Literary Death Match. 

LDM is a live writing competition, and my 

victory there is the closest I will ever get to 

becoming an Olympian. My hope is that it’s 

intimidating to all who pass through my door. 


The book I have re-read more than any other 

is Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I 

love it for its breadth of imagination, its dark 

humor, and its enduring social consciousness. 

It proves that the only real rules for 

fiction are the ones you make yourself. 

14 MACALESTER TODAY

Julie 

Chadaga 

Russian Studies 



I grew up in a Russian-speaking immigrant 

family that fled the Soviet Union as refugees 

when I was eight. We settled in Connecticut 

and for years I tried to assimilate. At Wesleyan 

University I took classes in Russian 

literature and worked as a Russian teaching 

assistant. After graduation I worked as 

a translator in Moscow during an unstable 

but fascinating time of transition there. I felt 

an urgent need to study this land so I could 

create a little island of understanding for 

myself. 

Why were you drawn to a teaching 

intensive position? 

At Wesleyan I had amazing teachers who 

inspired me; a lot of my teaching methodologies 

I learned from them. People often put 

teaching and scholarship in opposition to 

one another, but when I was a grad student 

at Harvard my scholarly work really took off 

once I started teaching. I got a new sense of 

purpose and felt more energized. 

Do you have a first day of school ritual? 

I hand out index cards and ask students to 

write down what they hope to learn in the 

course as well as a favorite quotation or 

book title. This helps me learn something 

personal and meaningful about them right 

away; plus, I’m a big fan of in-class writing 

as a way to generate ideas and this gives 

students writing practice. 


your office. 

An IBM Selectric typewriter, which sits on its 

own little table along the north-facing wall. It 

was in my office when I arrived, and I cherish 

it as a kind of museum piece, a haunting 

material trace of an obsolete technology. 

Maybe it’s also my own little gesture of defiance 

addressed to the culture of novelty and 

disposability in which we live.

Steve 

Guglielmo 

Psychology 



Since high school I’ve been interested in 

thinking about what makes a behavior right 

or wrong and how we can know the truth of 

the matter. Philosophers have been thinking 

about these questions for millennia, but the 

intractability of the philosophical questions 

seems too great—I’m pessimistic about being 

able to solve the question of what really 

is (im)moral. I’ve also long been interested 

in thinking about everyday decision-making, 

or how we all weigh information and make 

judgments about our own and others’ behavior. 

Pursuing the field of social and moral 

psychology was a natural way to blend my 

interests. 


Yelp. It’s a great way to get a rough snapshot 

of people’s opinions about all sorts of businesses. 

It makes it much easier to explore a 

new city or neighborhood. The only downside 

is that once you become reliant on it, as I 

have, you begin to doubt your own intuition. 

Tell us one unexpected thing about yourself. 

I’ve run two marathons. After each one I told 

myself that I wouldn’t run another. If I’m foolish 

enough, I might try another one next year. 


A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess 

because it poses deep and continually relevant 

questions about morality, punishment, 

and the balance between individual- and 

societal-level control of behavior. You wind 

up unsatisfied at the end of the book, which 

is perhaps unsurprising given that these 

questions have no easy answers.

Zeynep 

Gursel 

International Studies 



I got my bachelor’s degree in literature but 

after graduation I ended up teaching at an 

international high school in Kuala Lumpur, 

Malaysia. My class had students of 20 different 

nationalities and I soon came to realize 

that their complex cultural identities were 

as much a part of their readings as was the 

Shakespearean text in front of them. This 

realization led me to cultural anthropology. 

Why were you drawn to a teaching intensive 

position? 

I was told that Macalester hires teacher 

scholars. Because I am a social scientist 

and don’t need a lab, I don’t feel like I’m 

choosing between teaching and research. I 

became very excited about the opportunity to 

teach Macalester students because I’m impressed 

by how self-motivated they are and 

by the tremendous array of experiences they 

can have on campus and around the world. 


When I was a child one of my favorite games 

was playing school with my younger sister. 

She has forgiven me, she says, for always 

casting her as the student and myself as the 

teacher, for making her wear a uniform for 

our “classes,” and even for having her sit in 

rows of chairs otherwise filled with stuffed 

animals. Somehow we both wound up 

becoming educators. Today we regularly talk 

about our students and how we can make 

our courses better. 


your office. 

On my office wall are two photographs taken 

last June by photographer Gülsin Ketenci 

during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, 

Turkey. Gülsin is part of the Nar Photography 

Collective, an independent photo agency in 

Istanbul that specializes in social documentary 

photography. These two photographs 

remind me to think about how international 

news is constructed and for what purposes 

it gets mobilized. Who shapes how different 

audiences see “the world as it is” and why 

does it matter? This is one of the core questions 

behind my scholarship.

Rivi Handler- 

Spitz 

Chinese 



As a freshman at Columbia I enrolled in 

Chinese 101 out of curiosity. I loved the 

class—I’m still in touch with the professor— 

but after a year I still couldn’t express myself 

clearly. So I signed up for second-year 

Chinese. One thing led to another, and soon I 

found myself living in Shanghai, then Taipei, 

drawn onward by a growing fascination with 

Chinese language and culture. 

What’s your favorite app? 

The Chinese dictionary Pleco 


I haven’t had a professional haircut since age 

16: I cut my own hair. 


My favorite book is The Prime of Miss Jean 

Brodie by Muriel Spark. I first read this book 

in middle school and have reread it several 

times since. Miss Jean Brodie is a charismatic 

teacher at a girls’ school in Scotland. 

The students hang on her words, inspired, 

transfixed. But she is a Fascist. And as the 

girls fall under her spell, troubling ethical 

and political questions emerge, as does a 

conflict with the school’s principal. I love this 

book because it considers different views on 

teaching and makes the reader both identify 

with and criticize each point of view. In my 

own teaching, I try to inspire students as did 

Miss Brodie, but whereas she provided pat 

answers, I aim to incite my students to ask 

questions. By introducing them to Chinese 

literature and culture, I hope to stimulate 

students to rethink their ingrained habits of 

mind and to raise questions and seek meaningful 

answers.

Arthur 

Mitchell 

Japanese 



Though my profession is Japanese literature, 

I only became a reader in college. I 

initially wanted to major in philosophy and 

computer science, but ultimately found 

that literary study was a way to pursue the 

abstract questioning and analytical rigor of 

these disciplines within the context of social 

problems and human predicaments. I chose 

Japanese literature because the language is 

fascinating. 


I was born in Tokyo, Japan, almost 7,000 

miles from where I grew up in Westchester, 

New York. 


your office. 

I have a print of Japanese carp on my wall. 

Carp—or koi—is a traditional Japanese 

motif, but this print was produced by a 

Muslim artist in Hawaii, so has a subtly 

foreign flavor to it. 


Right now I’m reading Tricia Rose’s Black 

Noise (Wesleyan, 1994), one of the first academic 

studies of hip-hop culture. I love the 

edginess and originality of her scholarship.

Marcos 

Ortega 

Biology 



Teaching has always interested me because 

my mother taught elementary school for 30 

years and she influenced my life profoundly. 

I envisioned myself becoming a teacher like 

her until I attended Grinnell College and 

began to ponder pursuing a career in academia. 

I felt that entering academia would 

not only allow me to influence students as 

she did, but also to show them how an education 

can change the trajectory of one’s life. 


position? 

Ever since Grinnell, I had considered 

pursuing a teaching intensive position following 

graduate school. I changed paths 

slightly during my graduate and postdoctoral 

careers because I loved the challenges of 

research, but soon returned to my roots by 

teaching at Harvey Mudd College. There 

I felt re-inspired, working with motivated 

students in the classroom and the lab. That 

experience sealed the deal for my return to a 

liberal arts college. 


The only apps on my phone are from when 

my son hijacks it, thus all my apps are for 

toddlers. I do enjoy playing Star Wars Angry 

Birds though. Love me some Star Wars. 


One of my favorite books is The Giving Tree 

by Shel Silverstein. My mom read that book 

to me when I was little and it reinforced that 

she would always be there for me, regardless 

of the situation or her sacrifice. I would 

not be at Mac if not for my mom. 

20 MACALESTER TODAY

David 

Shuman 

Mathematics and Statistics 



I’ve loved math since I was in kindergarten, 

but my specific interests continue to evolve 

around a number of different application 

areas (e.g., electrical engineering, operations 

research, economics) that all use 

some form of mathematical modeling. 


position? 

Primarily for the increased interaction with 

students and the value placed on education. 

I went to a boarding high school where 

I had small, interactive classes with teachers 

who were also my athletic coaches, debate 

team and community service advisors, 

and house counselors. The impact they had 

on me was indelible. 


A podcast organizer called Downcast. I’m 

a huge consumer of podcasts of all types. 

My subscriptions include multiple podcasts 

each on sports, news, politics, science, 

technology, cooking, and photography. 

They’ve been a nice way for me to stay 

more connected with American culture 

while living abroad for the past three years. 


your office. 

In my home office I have a series of personalized 

autographed pictures from Ted Williams, 

Carl Yastrzemski, and Ray Bourque, 

three Boston sports legends. 

PHOTO: COURTESY DAVID SHUMAN

Amazon tracks your purchases. 

Google sifts your email. And Uncle Sam 

may be monitoring your international 

calls. Is privacy even possible in the 

age of the Internet? 

BY JOEL HOEKSTRA > ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARTIN HAAKE / LINDGREN & SMITH 

Like many college students, Jesse Russell ’14 (Eden Prairie, Minn.) logs onto Facebook 

several times a day. He posts status updates, sends messages to friends, and 

uploads photos and videos. But he’s careful to monitor what he and others post on 

the social-media site—and who in his network can see his activity. For example, 

though Russell is 21, the legal drinking age, he says, “I don’t want a lot of pictures of 

me on Facebook holding a beer.” He reviews everything that others post on his timeline 

and controls who can access each post (friends see party pix; Grandma doesn’t). 

“I grew up around technology,” says Russell, a political science major. “I love computers and 

how much they can help people. I love that we can use digital technology to improve communication 

and even save lives. But we also have to be careful with how we use it.” 

As digital technology seeps into every aspect of modern life—from cell phones to cars, entertainment 

to cooking—our ability to maintain the privacy of personal information is increasingly 

threatened. We no longer assume our Google searches are anonymous. We never know exactly who 

views our Tweets or YouTube videos. Some of us worry that marketers are mining our data for commercial 

purposes—or that government officials are reading our emails. Hackers lurk everywhere. 

Privacy may indeed be under attack. But where did our notions of privacy originate? What’s a 

reasonable level of privacy to expect in the digital age? And shouldn’t we acknowledge that often 

the biggest threat to our privacy is, well, ourselves? 

Shouldn’t we acknowledge that often the biggest 

threat to our privacy is, well, ourselves? 

FALL 2013 23

“Privacy isn’t about whether the information is out there. 

Privacy is about what gets done with it.” —Jesse Russell ’14 

What Orwell Didn't Predict 

Assaults on privacy routinely make headlines in the media. But reaction 

among the general public has been harder to gauge. When reports were 

published last May indicating that the National Security Agency was 

monitoring, among other things, international communications made 

by private U.S. citizens, many Americans reacted with concern rather 

than outrage. 

Days later, news broke that the U.S. Postal Service routinely photographed 

every piece of mail, capturing information about the addressee 

and sender, if not the actual contents inside. The postmaster general 

suggested such information was in fact collected, but rarely analyzed. 

Again, public reaction was muted. 

George Orwell, author of the dystopian novel 1984, warned us 

decades ago about the dangers of the government tracking personal 

information. But the writer failed to anticipate that our behaviors and 

movements might someday be assiduously followed by commercial 

ventures as well. Last spring the New York Times reported that the highend 

retailer Nordstrom was using customers’ cell-phone connections 

to its Wi-Fi network to track buyers’ paths between departments. The 

information, though tracked anonymously, according to Nordstrom, 

monitored how much time customers spent in each area. (The retailer 

has since ended the surveillance, according to news reports.) 

And cell-phone data isn’t the only information companies are eager 

to assess. In 2012 the Times revealed that mass merchandiser Target 

could mill digital data from past purchases at its stores with enough accuracy 

to predict when a particular customer was pregnant, linking such 

information to their Guest ID so that coupons would automatically be 

dispensed for related goods such as baby food and maternity wear. 

“Most of us don’t like the idea of someone tracking our data and 

collecting our information,” says philosophy professor Diane Michelfelder, 

who teaches a course on ethics and the Internet. “We worry that 

our data may be used to harm us in some way.” Says Russell, who participated 

in Michelfelder’s course last fall, “Privacy isn’t about whether 

the information is out there. Privacy is about what gets done with it.” 

A Right to Privacy? 

Changes in technology have given rise to privacy concerns for more 

than a century, says political science professor Patrick Schmidt. In 1890 

Boston lawyers Samuel Warren and [future Supreme Court justice] 

Louis Brandeis published a persuasive essay in the Harvard Law Review 

arguing that individuals who had not sought the spotlight had a legal 

right to privacy, or, as Brandeis later put it, a “right to be left alone.” 

(Some scholars believe the article was written in response to the rise of 

both photography and yellow journalism and their potential intrusions 

into people’s lives.) 

“What courts defended in the 19th century was essentially a ‘your 

home is your castle’ kind of doctrine,” Schmidt says. “At home, you 

could expect privacy—from the public and from the government.” Photographers 

couldn’t nose a lens through your curtains. Reporters—and 

the government—couldn’t enter your home without permission or a 

police warrant. 

That view prevailed until the 1960s and 1970s, when Americans 

began to realize the many ways their privacy was affected by what happened 

outside their homes. Then nation was rocked by revelations that 

President Richard Nixon was using the government’s resources to spy 

on civil rights demonstrators and Vietnam War protestors. Certainly 

some citizens saw that as a legitimate reason to encroach on privacy— 

an effort to protect the nation from radicals. But Idaho Senator Frank 

Church thought otherwise, leading an effort to investigate a shadowy 

government entity that few Americans had ever heard of, the National 

Security Agency. Peter Fenn ’70, a staffer on the Senate Intelligence 

Committee led by Church, remembers, “People did feel violated. They 

didn’t think their mail should be opened. They were worried about people 

listening in on their phone conversations.” 

The Church Commission ultimately led to government curbs on 

information gathering. But neither Church nor anyone else anticipated 

the Internet age and its potential privacy perils, according to Fenn, now 

a political-communications consultant based in Washington, D.C. “We 

didn’t even consider digital technology,” he laughs. “That wasn’t even 

part of our vocabulary. We were only concerned about the Postal Service 

reading our mail and people tapping pay phones.” 

Nixon failed to persuade most Americans that sometimes privacy 

must be sacrificed for the public good. (Few citizens liked the idea of 

spying on Americans—even if those people disagreed with their political 

views.) It would take 9/11 to reshape that view: The war on terror, 

the public agreed, occasionally necessitated some infringements on personal 

privacy and liberty. 

Trading Privacy 

In the wake of 9/11, federal officials argued that privacy rights needed 

to be balanced with security needs. Privacy is important, went the line 

of reasoning, but the fight against global terrorism occasionally requires 

some trespass on privacy rights. So now we surrender to searches at the 

airport. And when we discover that the U.S. Postal Service photographs 

every piece of our personal mail, we only shrug. We’ve willingly traded 

some rights of privacy for the possibility of security. 

In fact, giving up privacy often has public and personal benefits. 

Philosophy professor Martin Gunderson points to public health as an 

arena where, in recent years, privacy rights and the public weal have 

been reevaluated and rebalanced. Prior to the spread of HIV/AIDS in 

the early 1980s, many bioethicists focused on patient rights, arguing 

that those rights were sacrosanct. “Privacy was pitted against public 

health,” Gunderson says. 

As HIV ripped through the gay community, however, officials at 

the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere argued that getting access 

to information about patients was vital to stopping the spread of 

the disease and educating the very community being decimated by the 

plague. GLBT advocates worried that collecting patient information 

would result in the “outing” and persecution of closeted gay men. But 

ultimately, Gunderson says, CDC officials managed to protect personal 

privacy and access the data they needed to track HIV. 

More recently, Google has used web search data to help health officials 

predict the spread of influenza across the United States. Private 

anonymous searches are being used to benefit the public at large. Public 

health officials can respond with vaccines and PSA. A net gain, right? 

No technology can match the spark of intimacy 

that occurs when two humans connect and reveal their 

private thoughts and opinions. 

24 MACALESTER TODAY

“I would rather stand by my morals and let my 

views be out there than censor myself.”—Michael Abramson ’15 

Giving up privacy can benefit us personally, too. Making your profile 

public on Facebook allows old high school friends to find you—possibly 

resulting in reconnection, a social gain. Allowing Google to track 

your searches can result in browser ads serving up deals on the very 

products or services you’re seeking—a potential money- or time-saver. 

The pros of sharing personal information on Facebook and Twitter 

outweigh the cons for English major Michael Abramson ’15 (Atherton, 

Calif.). In fact, his experience interning at two 

tech startups—one in Palo Alto and 

another in St. Paul—suggests 

that digitally sharing information 

may be essential to 

his future employment. 

“Having a developed social 

media presence is a very 

valuable thing,” Abramson 

says. “If you’re someone 

my age and you’re not doing 

social media, that can 

be a detrimental. It’s a job 

skill at this point.” 

Abramson regularly 

posts controversial articles 

as a way of provoking 

discussions among his 

friends— timing his posts 

to maximize visibility and 

click-throughs—so the 

popularity of his posts can 

be measured. Does he worry 

that a prospective employer 

may someday sift through 

those posts and scrap his resumé based on 

his views? Nope. “If a future employer is unwilling to hire me because 

of my opinions, I’m okay with that,” Abramson says. “I would rather 

stand by my morals and let my views be out there than censor myself.” 

Disclosure and Dataveillance 

But even 9/11 couldn’t do what the Internet and social media would 

eventually do: allow us to share our lives’ most private details in public 

forums. Political science professor Adrienne Christiansen remembers 

posting opinions and personal information to online bulletin boards in 

the early days of the World Wide Web. Often she used a pseudonym. 

Sometimes she pretended to be a man. “Those were the days when people 

on the Internet wouldn’t know if you were a dog,” Christiansen, who 

teaches a course in cyberpolitics, says. “That was half the fun.” 

The details Christiansen shared online led one user to accurately 

guess that she was a professor—in St. Paul. Christiansen didn’t mind 

(the two eventually met and became friends), but that provides an unforgettable 

reminder that the hints we drop online can be used to build 

profiles of us that are astonishingly spot on. The size of the Internet 

doesn’t guarantees anonymity either. The needle in the haystack that 

is personal data can be easily found. A few years ago researchers mined 

anonymous search data released by Internet service provider AOL to 

accurately identify several users. “We reveal so many things about our 

lives online,” Christiansen says. “A lot of the privacy breaches that people 

worry about are ones that we created ourselves.” 

The Mirage of Privacy 

More and more, we’ve come to understand that online privacy is 

an illusion. Once we’ve hit “send” on the email, posted the video 

to YouTube, submitted the online comment, or uploaded the document 

to Dropbox, we’ve essentially relinquished control: Our private 

information is now subject to the vagaries of weak passwords and 

murky privacy policies. The information can 

be forwarded, copied, analyzed, 

and—thanks to improvements 

in digital-storage technologies—potentially 

accessed 

for generations. 

“I think most first-year 

students are aware that 

what they post to Facebook 

will live forever,” says computer 

science professor 

Shilad Sen. Services like 

Snapchat, which allows 

users to send photos that 

disappear within seconds 

of reaching the user, are 

increasingly popular, Sen 

notes, precisely because 

they lack permanence. 

But what about the 

data we don’t share, the 

information about our behaviors 

and habits that we 

don’t want disseminated? 

Analysis of cell-phone data 

could reveal that you travel to Las 

Vegas at least once a month—a precious morsel of marketing data that 

might be sold to a hotel chain desiring your patronage. Cars are now 

outfitted with computers that can track speeds and other driving details, 

notes philosophy professor Michelfelder. Should your insurance 

company have access to such data? What if you were in an accident 

caused by a speeding driver? Would that change your mind? What if 

sharing your driving data could lower your premiums? Trading privacy 

can pay handsomely. 

There are plenty of reasons to welcome the spread of digital technology 

and the miracles it has wrought. Amazon knows what we like 

to read. Facebook automatically tags photos of our friends so we don’t 

have to. Someday our coffeemakers may switch on the second they 

sense we’re stirring in bed, and our medicine cabinets may call the pharmacist 

when our prescriptions are getting low. But for the time being, 

no technology can accurately read our minds. No technology can match 

the spark of intimacy that occurs when two humans connect and reveal 

their private thoughts and opinions. 

“I like talking to people more in person these days, especially with 

all the NSA stuff,” says Russell, the political science major. He’s less 

interested in cultivating Facebook friends. “If someone wants to get to 

know me,” he says, “I hope they want to get to know me in person.” 

JOEL HOEKSTRA is a writer based in Minneapolis. He profiled San Francisco 

cultural affairs director Tom DeCaigny ’98 in the Spring 2012 issue 

of Macalester Today. 

FALL 2013 25

Fall at Macalester 

SCENES FROM TODAY, IMAGES FROM YESTERDAY 

Zachary Avre ’14 (inset) 

and Andrew Keefe ’13 

won Truman scholarships 

for graduate study. 

Freshmen handbooks 

from 1931 (blue) and 1956; 

current campus fall scenes 

26 MACALESTER TODAY

Clockwise from right: Freshmen 

orientation early 1960s; Orientation 

1965; Student handbook 1892; Earl 

Bowman ’60, who later served as 

Macalester’s Dean of Students 

FALL 2013 27

Clockwise from top: 1890 football 

team; pin won by members of 

1925 football team, only Mac 

team to ever win the MIAC championship; 

1945 football schedule; 

early 1900s photo of C.L. Koons 

and Clarence Baker; Orientation 

1972; Homecoming pin 1967; 

1909 football team 

28 MACALESTER TODAY

Clockwise from above left: 

Orientation 1972; girls’ 

football 1964; Homecoming 

button 1947; fall scene today 

FALL 2013 29

From top: Fall scene 2012; students arriving for Freshmen Week 1939; undated photo of football team playing on former field behind Old Main 

30 MACALESTER TODAY

From top: 1926 football 

game on the old field, 

showing the former gymnasium; 

Homecoming pin 

1933; Orientation 1965 

FALL 2013 31

All the Right 

Moves 

Jon Chen ’11 first learned to dance at Macalester. 

Now he’s showing his ballroom skills on the national stage. 

BY ERIN PETERSON > PHOTO BY DAVID J. TURNER 

In the soft light of the vast Cinema Ballroom, Jon Chen ’11 and 

partner Nadine Messenger are putting the finishing touches on 

their performance for an upcoming ballroom showcase. 

Chen, in a ragged black tank top, wide-legged dance pants, 

and Cuban heels, sharpens his back-spot turns, crossovers, and 

rondés as his partner, a fellow dance instructor, does the same. A competitor 

in the American rhythm category, Chen focuses on the chacha, 

rumba, East Coast swing, bolero, and mambo. His performance is 

smooth and powerful, and for Chen, it’s serious business. With strong 

performances in ballroom competitions across the country, he and 

Messenger are beginning to attract attention. “I eat, breathe, and sleep 

dance,” Chen says. “If you want to be successful, that’s what you’ve got 

to do.” 

Although he’s now a rising star in the world of ballroom, Chen had 

no real dance experience when he arrived at Macalester from Danville, 

California—unless you count watching the TV show So You Think You 

Can Dance? His first year in college he joined Bodacious, Macalester’s 

hip-hop team, but by sophomore year he longed for more. Cinema Ballroom, 

just steps from the Macalester campus, seemed like a perfect 

opportunity. “I couldn’t say, ‘Oh, it’s too far,’ because it was right across 

the street,” he says. “There was no excuse.” 

He was a quick study, though admittedly undisciplined at first. But 

by his senior year Chen realized that with a bit more effort, he could 

turn a hobby into a full-time pursuit. Once he’d landed a teaching position 

at the studio he began funneling his earnings into competition 

costs—Latin shirts and pants, entry fees, travel expenses. 

Soon he and Messenger were competing monthly from California 

to Florida. In competitions, they perform on stage with several other 

couples and are evaluated by judges on everything from posture and 

timing to “line”—the stretch of the body from head to toe. 

Competing has involved a steep learning curve, says Chen, both for 

the performances themselves and for the rigid expectations for each 

aspect of a dancer’s appearance. “Your hair needs to be shellacked, essentially. 

You’re expected to tan. Guys need to wear a specific type of 

clothing appropriate for the material—for Latin dances, for example, 

the clothes must be tight and revealing; we’re expected to be dressed 

to the nines,” he says. 

Appearance is important in part because judges must make snap 

decisions, scoring dancers whom they may have seen for only minutes. 

Given the choice between two pairs who perform equally, they’ll happily 

choose the duo that has put real effort into their appearance. 

The pair’s best performance came in August, when they won top 

prize in the “Professional Rising Star American Rhythm” category (and 

third in the more rigorous “Open Professional” division) at the Heart 

of American Dancesport Championship in Kansas City. They’ve also 

made the finals in the “Open” category at both the San Francisco and 

California Opens. Chen’s next big challenge comes in November, when 

he and his partner head to Columbus for the Ohio Star Ball. He expects 

they’ll continue their upward trajectory there. 

Although serious about improving his skills, Chen is just as excited 

about teaching. Working one-on-one with students (including some 

Macalester faculty) and watching their progress is rewarding for both 

parties. “Students have so many excuses about why they can’t dance— 

too old, too fat, two left feet,” he says. “But when I help them check 

something off their bucket list or do something they never thought 

they could do, it makes me incredibly happy.” 

Chen credits his Macalester education—where he earned a political 

science degree—for helping him hone his teaching. “I gave so many 

presentations and participated in so many discussions that I really 

learned how to repackage information for diverse audiences,” he says. 

So today, whether his clients are 14 or 84, preparing a wedding dance 

or just learning a new skill, he wants them to come away feeling they’ve 

truly accomplished something. 

Many might scoff at his work, Chen acknowledges, given that competitions 

rarely lead to riches. Even a victory barely nets the dancers 

$1,000. But for him, the long hours and demanding work is worth 

it—not just for those moments in the limelight but for the many opportunities 

dance has given him to make a difference in people’s lives. 

“There are people who make lots of money,” he says. “I don’t, that’s 

true. But I’m so happy doing this. It’s one of the most rewarding things 

I’ve ever done.” 

ERIN PETERSON is a regular contributor to Macalester Today. 

32 MACALESTER TODAY

Jon Chen ’11 and 

dance partner Nadine 

Messenger practice 

for competition at St. 

Paul’s Cinema Ballroom, 

where Chen 

also teaches lessons. 

FALL 2013 33

Beth Bergman ’73 

combines her creative 

and entrepreneurial 

sides as owner of 

Wet Paint. 

34 MACALESTER TODAY 

WEB CONNECT: wetpaintart.com

SUPPLIER 

Beth Bergman ’73 and her Wet Paint store are beloved Grand Avenue fixtures. 

INTERVIEW BY JAN SHAW-FLAMM ’76 > PHOTO BY DAVID J. TURNER 

Owner: Beth Bergman ’73 

Business: Wet Paint Artists’ Materials and Framing, 1684 Grand Ave., St. Paul 

Years as owner: 29 

Number of art materials at Wet Paint: 35,000 

Favorite art supply: Must she choose just one? “Paint, of course, and I love paper. Paper can be a work of art in itself. 

There are subtle differences between a paper made in a mill in Montreal and one made in Italy or Asia. And brushes! A 

handle that’s weighted just right with a beautiful finish and just the right hair with the perfect ‘snap.’ It’s very tactile 

and you miss out on that if you buy online.” 

Industry honors: Bergman was inducted into the International Art Materials Association Hall of Fame at this year’s 

annual conference, held in Minneapolis. 

Mac in the ’70s: “It was the [late art professor Jerry] Rudquist era. Studio art was a nice blend of learning techniques 

and developing subject matter and what you wanted to say. It was meant to nurture your art and teach you how to see.” 

Evolution from art major to art materials: After graduating, Bergman spent eight years working for a Fortune 500 

company in St. Paul while spending her evenings painting in a shared studio space. At 30 she decided to work for Hugh 

Huelster ’74, founder of Wet Paint. “So it was only natural that when Hugh was ready to sell a few years later, I would 

buy the business.” 

Giving back: Bergman has donated money to the Studio Art renovation and expansion project in the Janet Wallace 

Fine Arts Center, so that future student artists will have great facilities in which to learn and create. 

JAN SHAW-FLAMM ’76 is a staff writer for Macalester Today. 

FALL 2013 35

Class Notes 

BY ROBERT KERR ’92 

MACALESTER TODAY publishes all 

class notes that we receive. You can 

send us your note by: 

MAC AROUND THE WORLD 

EMAIL: mactoday@macalester.edu 

THE POSTAGE-FREE REPLY CARD 

found in copies of the magazine 

mailed to alumni in the U.S. 

REGULAR MAIL: Class Notes 

Editor, Communications and Public 

Relations, Macalester College, 1600 

Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105-1899 

DEADLINES FOR CLASS NOTES: 

Feb. 1 for the Spring issue; 

May 1 for the Summer issue; 

Aug. 1 for the Fall issue; and 

Nov. 1 for the Winter issue. 

PHOTO POLICY FOR CLASS NOTES: 

We publish one photo per wedding. 

We do not have space to 

publish baby photos. 

We welcome photos of alumni 

gathered together anywhere in 

the world but cannot guarantee 

to publish every photo. We publish 

as many as space permits. 

Photos must be high-resolution 

(300 dots per inch) or approximately 

1MB or greater in file size. 

If you have a question about your 

class note, call Editor Lynette Lamb 

at 651-696-6452. 

Dylan Keith ’07 and Curran Hughes ’07 teamed up in September in Kabul, Afghanistan, to facilitate a 

UC–Davis/USDA workshop at the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture. The workshop concerned training 

Ministry of Agriculture personnel how to develop and use IT in agricultural extension. 


At a recent Oral Health Summit held by the Minnesota 

Department of Health, several Macalester grads learned of their 

shared interest in public health dental care. Pictured (from left) 

are Sarah Wovcha ’89, Dr. Rochelle Avent-Hassan ’73, Merry Jo 

Thoele ’88, and Hannah Quinn Rivenburgh ’10. 

1949 

The Class of 1949 will be celebrating 

its 65th Reunion June 6–8, 2014. See 

macalester.edu/alumni/reunion. 

1954 




1959 




1964 




Patricia Wallace Ingraham retired 

this past summer after seven 

years as the founding dean of the 

College of Community and Public 

Affairs at Binghamton University. 

She was previously distinguished 

professor of public administration 

at Syracuse University, where she 

also served as director of the Alan 

K. Campbell Institute and the 

Government Performance Project. 

1965 

To raise funds for his charity, 

Out of the Shadows (dedicated to 

educating combat veterans with 

posttraumatic stress disorder), 

Bob Mullen plans to become the 

first climber ever to ascend all 

54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot 

mountain peaks in one season. 

Bob will post his progress on 

the organization’s website 

(outoftheshadowsvets.com). 

1967 

Mark Burns is celebrating 15 years 

with the law firm he cofounded 

in 1998. 

1968 

Ruth Lee Copp reports that she 

loved her 45th Reunion this past 

36 MACALESTER TODAY

June. She sent a postcard to her 

father thanking him for sending 

her to Macalester and hopes that a 

friend’s son will enroll in 2014. 

Evelyn Early is retired after serving 

as a diplomat in Morocco, Syria, 

the Czech Republic, and Sudan, 

and teaching anthropology at the 

Universities of Houston, Notre 

Dame, and New Mexico. She is 

author of the ethnography Baladi 

Women of Cairo, Egypt: Playing with 

an Egg and a Stone and co-editor 

of the third edition of Everyday 

Life in the Muslim Middle East 

(forthcoming, Indiana University). 

Evelyn hopes to work with a 

nongovernmental organization on 

Middle East issues. Amelia-Aleene, 

the daughter Evelyn adopted from 

Honduras, is now 22. 

Paula Laube retired from Planned 

Parenthood of the Heartland in 

January 2013. She joined Dave 

Laube ’61, Carol Frikke Laube ’63, 

Doug Laube ’66, Janet Johnson 

Laube ’66, Sara Laube Kurtz 

’73, and Ed Laube ’67 at the high 

school graduation of Ed’s daughter 

(and Paula’s niece) Emma, who 

is now a member of Macalester’s 

Class of 2017. 

1969 





Gerald Nordley published two 

novels, The Black Hole Project and 

To Climb a Flat Mountain, under 

the name G. David Nordley with 

variationspublishing.com in 2012. 

The novels are based on pieces that 

appeared in Analog Science Fiction 

and Fact magazine. 

Laura Golderer Raysbrook 

welcomed her second grandson, 

Owen Robert Raysbrook Crocker, 

on Aug. 13, 2012. 

1970 

Since retiring from the San 

Antonio Express-News in 

2007, Michael Greenberg 

has “accidentally” become a 

playwright. His first full-length 

effort, a play about Vietnam 

veterans titled Three Views of a 

Waterfall, was staged in Bastrop, 

Texas, in 2011. He has also 

written three 10-minute plays, 

one of which will be produced in 

January, and is at work on a fulllength 

one-character play. 

1971 

The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, 

Neb., has announced plans to open 

its second exhibition space named 

in honor of benefactors Karen 

and Doug Riley. The Karen and 

Doug Riley Contemporary Artists 

Project Gallery will feature work by 

emerging and mid-career artists 

Classmates Rick Ahern ’66 (left) and Buff Bradley ’66 

reconnected this summer in St. Paul. They spent a morning 

strolling around the Macalester campus to see all the changes 

that have taken place since the 1960s. 


Macalester alumni gathered at the North Carolina home of 

Neil DeGroot ’81 and his wife, Joanne DeGroot ’82, in August 

2013. Pictured are (standing, from left): Brian Turner ’81, Steve 

Sollien, Neil DeGroot ’81 and Paul Gralen ’82 and (seated, from 

left): Carlynn White Trout ’82, Joanne Johnson DeGroot ’82, and 

Elizabeth Orr. 

from America and abroad. Doug is 

the owner of DRG Technologies; his 

family foundation has supported 

more than 200 organizations and 

projects. 

1972 

Lee Reading has retired from a 40- 

year career in outdoor education 

and residential camping. He lives 

in Black Mountain, N.C., with his 

wife, Ann Lutz. Lee looks forward 

to visiting Macalester in July 

2014 while in the Twin Cities to 

compete in the Disc Golf World 

Championships. 

1974 

The Class of 1974 will be 

celebrating its 40th Reunion June 

6–8, 2014. Reunion chairs are Hugh 

Huelster (bilady@visi.com) and 

Kristin Midelfort (midelfort@alumni. 

macalester.edu). See macalester. 

edu/alumni/reunion. 

1975 

Ronald Eisenberg has been 

selected for inclusion in the 2013 

edition of Florida Super Lawyers 

magazine. Ron is chair of the estate 

planning, trust, and administration 

practice with Henderson, Franklin, 

Starnes & Holt, P.A. 

1977 

Kent Meyer has been called to 

serve as acting senior pastor of 

Zion United Church of Christ 

in Le Sueur, Minn. He and his 

wife, Deb, previously served as 

co-pastors at St. Luke’s United 

Church of Christ in Eitzen, Minn., 

for nine years. Kent spent the past 

five years serving as an adjunct 

faculty member in the Religion 

and Philosophy Department at 

Viterbo University. 

The Tico Times reported that 

Catherine Thayer Nicholson, 

Costa Rica’s honorary consul to 

Minnesota, traveled in August 

to Costa Rica with her daughter 

Laura and two other Girl Scouts 

who were working on a project to 

promote conservation and raise 

awareness of the birds that migrate 

between the northern United 

States and Central America. 

1980 

“I’ve gotten the distinct message 

that I have to slow down,” writes 

primary care internist and clinician 

educator Thomas Jaeger. He has 

begun practicing Ashtanga yoga 

and Insight Meditation. 

Seth Turner continues to write 

music. His current project is “Love 

Psalms Song Cycle.” 

FALL 2013 37

Class Notes 


facility. He continues as president 

of Axiom Communications, the 

full-service marketing company 

based in Secaucus, N.J., which he 

founded in 1998. 

1986 

Daniel O’Phelan taught English 

in the Bronx, N.Y., through the 

New York City Teaching Fellows 

program. He is pursuing a master’s 

in education at St. John’s University. 

Three Macites had a spontaneous and serendipitous reunion in Nara, Japan, in August. Pros Seng ’10 

(left), Louis Hendrix ’13 (center), and Benjamin Eagan-Van Meter ’14 (right) met outside Nigatu-do 

Hall, one of Buddhism’s most sacred shrines in Nara, the 1,000-year-old spiritual capital of Japan. 

Pros teaches English in rural South Korea, Louis is interning at the Netherlands Consulate in Osaka, 

and Ben just finished his studies at Sophia University in Tokyo. 

1987 

Susan Parsons Strachan has been 

named legal community outreach 

specialist at the Washington State 

Bar Association. She has worked 

with the WSBA both before 

and after graduating from the 

University of Montana School of 

Law in 2008. 

1982 

David Nelson is back in Minnesota. 

He offers oneness circles (“a 

blend of consciousness and 

community”) and presents 

workshops on connecting to nature 


and to one’s own essential nature 

(newearthmentor@gmail.com). 

Rand Robinson has been named 

a U.S. Agency for International 

Development program officer in 

Uganda. He previously spent a year 

and a half in northern Afghanistan 

A group of Macites gathered together in Oregon last August, 

and had a great time visiting Seaside and nearby communities. 

Shown here (standing, from left): Gail Otterness Baker ’65, 

Pamela Ertsgaard Lien ’65, Dorothy Beatty Gerard ’65 , Margee 

Johnson Wheeler ’64, Elizabeth Gackle Davis ’65, and Carole 

Chinn-Morales ’65; (seated, from left): Evelyn Harm Headen 

’65, Janet Rudberg Hall ’65, Betty Green Risser ’65, and 

Barbara Schueler Colliander ’65. 

working as a counterinsurgency 

advisor to senior European and 

American officers. 

1983 

Susana Lorenzo-Giguere wrote 

an article in June for the Legal 

Intelligencer, the country’s oldest 

law journal, on the Department 

of Justice’s first enforcement 

action under the Americans with 

Disabilities Act involving bias 

against individuals with hepatitis B. 

Susana is an attorney advisor with 

the Disability Rights Section, Civil 

Rights Division at the DOJ. 

Allen Smart has been named 

chair of the National Advisory 

Committee for the national County 

Health Rankings and Roadmaps 

project, an initiative led by the 

University of Wisconsin. Allen is 

also director of the Health Care 

Division at the Kate B. Reynolds 

Charitable Trust. He received 

a Naomi Morris Distinguished 

Alumni Award from the University 

of Illinois at Chicago School of 

Public Health last spring. 

1984 




Ron Simoncini has been appointed 

president of the Meadowlands 

Area YMCA. Under his leadership, 

the organization has announced 

plans to open its first full-service 

1988 

After 13 years at Best Buy, Kevin 

Matheny has accepted a position as 

group vice president, technology, 

at Digital River, where he will lead 

the API team. 

1989 


its 25th Reunion June 6–8, 2014. 

Reunion chair is Ian Scheerer 

(ian.scheerer@gmail.com). See 


Karen Echo Leighton Humber and 

her husband, Fred, were appointed 

co-pastors of Peninsula Church 

of the Nazarene in Long Beach, 

Wash., in July. Karen looks forward 

to bringing her background as a 

teacher specializing in dyslexia 

and her 17 years’ experience as an 

associate pastor in Portland to bear 

in her new position. 

1991 

Brian Bull received the Best 

Reporter Award from the Ohio 

Associated Press for his coverage of 

business, economics, and human 

interest stories with WCPN- 

FM, a National Public Radio 

Affiliate serving Cleveland and 

northeastern Ohio. Since moving 

to Ohio, Brian, his wife, Margaret 

Bull ’96, and their children have 

been visited by Tom Burrell ’89 

and Sherri Middendorf ’90. 

Peter Clark is co-author of the 

second edition of Learn Cocoa on 

the Mac, an introduction to the 

38 MACALESTER TODAY

Mac computer’s programming 

framework. 

1992 

Jason Coulter and his wife, Mary 

Kay Devine, announce the birth of 

daughters Cecilia Marie Coulter and 

Eleanor Frances Coulter on May 

19, 2013. Cecilia and Eleanor join 

siblings Lucy (8) and Charlie (5). 

1994 


celebrating its 20th Reunion 

June 6–8, 2014. See macalester. 

edu/alumni/reunion. 

Amelia Derr received her doctorate 

this year and has been hired as 

an assistant professor in Seattle 

University’s Department of 

Anthropology, Sociology, and 

Social Work. She lives in Seattle 

with her sweetheart and their son. 

1995 

Jenny Kehl has been named 

director of the Center for Water 

Policy and endowed chair of the 

School of Freshwater Sciences 

at the University of Wisconsin– 

Milwaukee, where she is a tenured 

professor. 

1997 

When Curtis Stauffer started 

his new job at the Louisville, Ky., 

Metro Department of Community 

Services and Revitalization last 

March, he was surprised to find 

fellow alumnus Andy Bates ’91 in 

the next office. 

1999 

Josh Collins planned and oversaw 

the grand opening festivities of 

the newly renovated Union Depot 

in St. Paul last December. He is 

now director of communications 

and media relations with the 

Minnesota Department of 

Education. Josh and Holly Moe- 

Collins ’98 live in New Brighton, 

Minn., with their three children. 

During a recent town hall event 

in South Africa, President Barack 

Obama personally recognized 

and thanked Fred Swaniker for 


Friends since they were first-years in Turck Hall, Max Edwards ’13 

(left) and Michael Costigan ’13 met in New York recently for brunch 

before Max headed to Boston and Michael to San Francisco. 

his work as founder and chief 

executive officer of the African 

Leadership Academy. In June the 

ALA graduated its fourth class of 

young aspiring African leaders. 

2000 

Molly Bennett and Paul Hattingh 

of London welcomed a son, Adam 

Bennett Hattingh, on Feb. 7, 2013. 

Continued on page 42 > 

Introducing the NEW & Improved MacDirect 

Use our online alumni 

directory to: 

• Find old friends 

• Find alumni in your industry 

• Read classmate news 

• Post class notes and photos 

USE MACDIRECT TODAY! MACALESTER.EDU/ALUMNI/MACDIRECT 

FALL 2013 39

Mac Weddings 

2 

3 

1. Reed Andrews ’08 and Anna Chastain Andrews ’08 were married 

on June 1, 2013, in Morton, Ill. 

2. Gretchen Wolf ’02 and Chris Burgess were married on May 

18, 2013, in Minneapolis. Mac alumni in attendance were Jack 

Stuckmayer '57, Nicholas Berning '02, Edward Chidothe '03, and 

Haris Aqeel '04. 

3. Arlonda “Loni” LaReaux-Addison ’86 and Terry Addison, a 

former Macalester administrator, were married on June 29, 2013, in 

Modesto, Calif. 

4. Sylvia Ferguson ’12 and Samuel Kidder were married on June 22, 

2013, in St. Louis Park, Minn. 

1 

4 

40 MACALESTER TODAY

5 

67 

5. Thomas Martin ’76 and Susan Hughes were married June 

28, 2013, in Maine. 

6. Jane Turk ’02 and Brendan Themes were married Oct. 13, 

2012, in Stillwater, Minn. Jacob Gelfand ’02, Kelsey Wolf ’02, 

and Allison Veen ’03 attended the ceremony. 

7. Elizabeth Hutchinson ’05 and David Kruger ’04 were 

married June 8, 2013, in Minnetrista, Minn. Macalester 

Chaplain Lucy Forster-Smith officiated, and many Mac alumni 

attended the celebration. 

SEE MORE PHOTOS: download our ipad app at the iTunes store 

FALL 2013 41

Class Notes 


Four Mac grads gathered in Chicago recently at the annual 

dinner for AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. All four are 

AVODAH alumni. Shown here are (from left): Lily Gordon-Koven 

’11, Sarah Moskowitz ’09, Abby Citrin ’11, and Hannah Gelder ’08. 

> Continued from page 39 

Molly leads the editorial team at a 

custom publishing agency. 

Eli Effinger-Weintraub’s one-act 

play “Brittle Things” premiered in 

August at the 2013 Minnesota 

Fringe Festival. 

Eli McKenna-Weiss completed a 

residency in internal medicine at 

Baystate Medical Center, where 

she planned to spend the summer 

working as a hospitalist. 

2001 

Katie Fleming Capecchi and Dan 

Capecchi announce the birth of 

Peter Fleming Capecchi on April 

28, 2013. Peter joins older brothers 

Luca and Elliot. 

Takara Matsuu-Tsuzaki moved 

from Tokyo to Washington, 

D.C., with her husband and their 

greyhound in September. 

2002 

Laura Bartlow and Bengo Mrema 

’00 moved to Liverpool, England, 

in September. 

Nicole Miceli looked forward 

to graduating from the William 

Esper Two-Year Meisner Acting 

Conservatory in New York City. 

2004 


celebrating its 10th Reunion June 

6–8, 2014. Paul Odegaard is chair 

(paul_odegaard@hotmail.com). See 


2005 

Miryam Farrar Chandler received a 

PhD in political science from Ohio 


The members of a September 2013 Mac alumni tour to Bhutan placed prayer flags during one of their hikes. 

42 MACALESTER TODAY

BOOKS 


Excerpted from Penumbra: 

The Premier Stage for African 

American Drama by 

Macelle Mahala ’01 

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS, 2013). 

Michael Kasten ’85 met up with Macalester baseball coach Matt 

Parrington at a baseball showcase in Long Island, N.Y., where 

Michael’s son Sam was demonstrating his skills. 

State University in August. She 

lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her 

husband, Will Chandler, and their 

son, Henry. 

Emmy Higgs Matzner is now 

training and events coordinator 

for the STEP-UP program at 

AchieveMpls. 

2006 

Anna Everett Beek received a Hill 

Scholarship from the American 

School of Classical Studies in 

Athens to spend last summer 

studying archaeology and art in 

Greece. 

Cara Haberman and Jedediah Fix 

’05 have moved to Dakar, Senegal. 

Nicholas Reynolds works for the 

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 

and is part of LLS Georgia’s Team 

in Training program. He plans to 

run in the New Orleans Marathon 

on Feb. 2, 2014, to raise awareness 

of leukemia, lymphoma, and other 

blood cancers. 

Amanda Westley Ziegler and 

her husband, Jesse, welcomed 

a daughter, Solveig Grace, on 

December 3, 2012. 

2009 


its 5th Reunion June 6–8, 2014. 

Co-chairs are Jake Levy-Pollans 

(jlevy.pollans@gmail.com) and Alex 

James (agmjames@gmail.com). See 


Luke Franklin started the PhD 

program in Slavic literature at the 

University of Kansas this fall. He 

was awarded a Foreign Language 

and Area Studies Fellowship in 

Russian. 

Rachel Murray completed a 

master’s degree at the University 

of Arizona, where she worked 

on a project to estimate seasonal 

rainfall in the southwestern 

United States during interglacial 

periods. She has begun her first 

year as a PhD student at Southern 

Cross University in Lismore, 

Australia, where she plans to 

investigate whether local estuaries 

contribute to the production of 

greenhouse gases. 

Rebecca Solano ’09 married 

Jeffery Hay, Jr. in April 2013. 

Bernd Verst has left Google to join 

the small YCombinator startup Sift 

Science, where he hopes to “bring 

machine learning to the masses 

to solve problems such as fraud 

detection.” 

Penumbra’s location inside an African American 

community center is an indication that the 

company’s theatrical work is part of a larger 

conversation...In Penumbra’s production of A Raisin 

in the Sun, for instance, the theatre created opportunities 

in the form of post-show discussions and symposia for 

audiences, scholars, and community members to enter 

into conversations about the legacy of segregation and the 

continuance of racially discriminatory housing practices 

and economic policies...This is what makes seeing a play 

at Penumbra radically different from seeing the same 

play anywhere else. 

Jeremy Hance ’02, Life Is 

Good: Conservation In An 

Age Of Mass Extinction 

(Createspace, 2011) 

Jeffrey Hassan ’73 And Eric 

Mahmoud, Best In Class: 

How We Closed The Five Gaps 

Of Academic Achievement 

(Papyrus Publishing, 2013) 

Kate Hopper ’95, Ready 

For Air: A Journey Through 

Premature Motherhood (U Of 

Minnesota, 2013) 

Tate Jones ’85, Images 

Of America: Fort Missoula 

(Arcadia Publishing, 2013) 

A. Kiarina Kordela, Professor 

Of German And Russian 

Studies, Being, Time, Bios 

(Suny Press, 2013) 

Macelle Mahala ’01, 

Penumbra: The Premier Stage 

For African American Drama 

(U Of Minnesota, 2013) 

Jeremy Meckler ’10, Still 

Dots (Colpa Press) 

William G. Moseley, 

geography chair, with Eric 

Perramond, Holly Hapke, and 

Paul Laris, An Introduction 

To Human-Environment 

Geography (Wiley Blackwell, 

2013). 

Joseph M. Schreiber ’97, 

Devils Walk Through Galveston 

(Snr Creative, 2013) 

Amy Thielen ’97, The New 

Midwestern Table: 200 

Heartland Recipes (Clarkson 

Potter, 2013) 

FALL 2013 43

Class Notes 

COME SEE THE NEW MAC 

BY GABRIELLE LAWRENCE ’73, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS 

I have a different perspective on 

Macalester than most of you; 

after all, my office window overlooks 

the Bell Tower, and every 

day I watch a parade of students 

march by. For many of you, the 

Mac experience is like a great 

book you read when you were young: It was terrific and changed your 

life forever, but now it’s history and back on the shelf. My Macalester 

book is still open, though, and I’m adding new chapters every day. 

Despite the words of our school song, Macalester is not “ever the 

same.” Even though nobody truly wants things to stay exactly the 

same, we are nostalgic for the experiences and places that meant so 

much to us. We want to walk back into a memory, open the book, and 

return to that meaningful passage. 

Do you remember your first day at Macalester? Did your parents 

drop you off with a suitcase, a typewriter, and a desk lamp as mine 

did? Or maybe you came with a laptop and an ipod, or you arrived 

straight from the airport, hoping your boxes had arrived. Did you 

meet your roommates and RAs, attend freshmen camp, and stand in 

long lines in a hot gym to register for classes? Or did you meet with 

your faculty advisor and register on-line? 

For all of us as freshmen, every day was a new challenge, an exciting 

and sometimes overwhelming introduction to adulthood. And 

this hasn’t changed. The 550 first-year students who arrived last 

month are just as nervous, wide-eyed, and determined to succeed as 

we once were. What’s changed? They bring different stuff, lots of it, 

and their parents stick around for another day or two. 

Even if you just graduated five years ago, the campus has 

changed—and it’s beautiful. It’s the same 53 acres in the middle of 

a residential neighborhood, but newer buildings have replaced older 

ones, while inviting open spaces remain, where students gather to 

read, flirt, and debate—sometimes all at once. 

The faculty is impossibly young and brilliant and the curriculum 

includes more than 800 courses, including some subjects I’m sure 

were only recently invented. English, Political Science, Economics, 

Psychology, and Biology are still the most popular majors. Students 

are not looking through card catalogs late at night; instead, computer 

access to an enormous database is instantly available. But they are 

still toiling away in chemistry labs; still hiking through the Ordway 

Nature center; still engaged in late night, pizza-fueled discussions. In 

all areas, Mac students are still digging into the essential questions 

about our world and sorting out their beliefs and values into a framework 

for their lives. 

Of course Macalester is not “ever the same”—who would want 

it to be? Nobody would wish the school back to the days when each 

dorm hall had just one telephone, when the running track was suspended 

over the basketball court, or when the stage couldn’t contain 

the entire orchestra. And no ones misses the old meals: Today’s cafeteria 

food is actually good. 

In other words, it’s a better school now than it was even a few 

years ago. But that does not diminish our own experiences. This is 

something to celebrate, to be proud of. 

And that might be hard for us. Macalester alumni share a unique, 

some might say quirky, identity. We are skeptical optimists who share 

common values and experiences and a quiet commitment to making 

the world a better place. No beanies, no rah-rah, no class colors, 

no bragging. We don’t tend to be joiners, which is fine because you 

needn’t join anything to be part of Macalester. You’re already a member, 

and it’s a wonderful group to belong to. 

I’m proud of the way our college has changed and strengthened. 

Yes, it’s different, but look more closely: Frisbees are still being tossed, 

the rock still needs painting, first-year students still travel in clumps. 

Stop by the next time you’re in town. Connect with some favorite 

professors (they’ll probably remember you). Come to a concert, have 

lunch in the Campus Center, chat with the students. 

It’s not the same; of course not. But the most important things 

are stronger than ever. It’s still your school. 

Allison Wegren received an MFA 

in textiles from the University of 

Kansas last spring. She spent the 

summer as a fibers instructor at 

Belvoir Terrace, a girls’ fine arts 

summer camp in Lenox, Mass. 

2010 

Natalie Khuen received the 2013 

Rose Brand Scholarship to study 

scenic design at the University of 

California–San Diego. 

Krista Moore earned a master of 

international security degree with 

concentrations in intelligence, 

the Middle East, and North 

Africa from Sciences Po in Paris. 

She plans to explore career 

opportunities in Washington, D.C. 

2011 

Since moving to Washington, 

D.C., earlier this year, Martha Coe 

has begun working at the Bank 

Information Center. 

Princeton in Africa Fellow Kwame 

Gayle will spend 2013–14 teaching 

history and geography at Maru- 

A-Pula, an independent school 

in Botswana. Kwame previously 

spent two years teaching English 

in Japan. 

Manon Gentil and Jorge Banuelos 

welcomed a daughter, Emilia, on 

March 2, 2013. 

2013 

Emily Murphy and Madisen 

Stoler are among 138 volunteers 

undertaking a year of service with 

the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. 

Emily is a client services assistant 

with Open Arms of Minnesota 

in Minneapolis, and Madisen is 

visitor service coordinator with 

Escuela Verde/TransCenter for 

Youth in Milwaukee. 

44 MACALESTER TODAY

In Memoriam 

1935 

Ann Cussons Schrader, 98, of 

Anoka, Minn., died Aug. 16, 

2013. She had retired from a 

career in education. Mrs. Schrader 

is survived by two daughters, 

two granddaughters, two greatgrandsons, 

and a brother. 

1937 

Jean Reynolds Thompson, 98, 

of Boulder, Colo., died June 7, 

2013. She was activities director 

at the Guardian Angels Senior 

Care Center in Elk River, Minn. 

Mrs. Thompson is survived by 

two daughters, six grandchildren 

(including Jonathan Oltmans ’95), 

and 10 great-grandchildren. 

1938 

Lucille Mason Heaton, 95, 

died May 21, 2013. She was a 

schoolteacher in St. Paul and 

Williams, Minn., and taught 

English to immigrants after 

her retirement. Mrs. Heaton is 

survived by three daughters, a 

son, 19 grandchildren, 34 greatgrandchildren, 

and two greatgreat-grandchildren. 

Virgil A. Olson, 96, of Cambridge, 

Minn., died June 4, 2013. He was 

a minister, a seminary professor 

at Bethel Seminary, dean of Bethel 

College, and executive secretary of 

the World Mission Board Baptist 

General Conference. Mr. Olson 

is survived by his wife, Alma, 

two daughters, a son, and many 

grandchildren. 

1939 

Victor G. Lowe, 98, of Mahtomedi, 

Minn., died July 17, 2013. He 

worked at the St. Paul Companies 

and was manager and chief 

executive officer of the Minnesota 

Rating Bureau. Mr. Lowe is 

survived by a daughter, a son, 

eight grandchildren, 17 greatgrandchildren, 

four great-greatgrandchildren, 

and a sister. 

1940 

Hazel Harvey Lawton, 94, of 

Fairmont, Minn., died June 17, 

2013. She taught music and 

English and also assisted her 

husband in his ministry for 45 

years. Mrs. Lawton is survived 

by two sons, six grandchildren 

(including Darren Plath ’89), and 

eight great-grandchildren. 

1941 

Donald O. Spaeth, 93, of St. Paul 

died June 24, 2013. He served in 

the U.S. Navy Air Corps during 

World War II. After working 

in sales and merchandising for 

Northwestern Jewelry Co., Mr. 

Spaeth formed the Don Spaeth 

Co. in 1954. He was serving 

as president of the Roselawn 

Cemetery Board of Trustees at 

the time of his death. Mr. Spaeth 

is survived by his wife, Barbara, a 

daughter, and a son. 

1942 

John A. Hanner, 93, died July 24, 

2013, in Bayport, Minn. He served 

in Europe during World War II 

and retired in 1981 after 28 years 

with 3M. He also owned a farm in 

Wisconsin, where he raised cattle 

and grew crops and pine trees. Mr. 

Hanner is survived by his wife, 

Doris, a daughter, two sons, seven 

grandchildren, and three greatgrandchildren. 

Charles H. Ludwig, 93, of Seattle 

died June 16, 2013. 

1943 

Charles D. Cannons, 92, died 

May 28, 2013, in Edgewater, Fla. 

He is survived by a daughter, 

four grandchildren, and a greatgrandchild. 

Robert B. Tubbesing, 92, of Red 

Wing, Minn., died July 16, 2013. 

He served overseas in the Air 

Force during World War II and 

worked for the City of Red Wing 

for 30 years, rising to the position 

of clerk-treasurer and retiring in 

1984. Mr. Tubbesing is survived by 

his wife, DeLoris, three daughters, 

a son, four grandchildren, and 

eight great-grandchildren. 

1946 

Margaret Johnson Kiriluk, 88, of 

Bloomington, Minn., died recently. 

She was a teacher for 34 years. 

Andrea Walsh Wieland, 88, 

died May 6, 2013, in Rochester, 

Minn. She taught kindergarten 

in Rochester for nearly 30 years, 

raised funds for P.E.O. charities 

by operating a bed and breakfast 

in her home, and organized and 

managed a camp for youth with 

disabilities. Mrs. Wieland is 

survived by two daughters, a son, 

and two grandchildren. 

1947 

Phyllis Martin Enright, 87, of 

Sautee Nacoochee, Ga., died March 

14, 2013. She was a homemaker 

and taught remedial reading. 

Mrs. Enright is survived by her 

husband, Jack, three daughters, 

three sons, 12 grandchildren, and 

five great-grandchildren. 

Ruth MacDougall McCartin, 86, 

died Nov. 4, 2012, in Dana Point, 

Calif. She worked in department 

store and newspaper display 

advertising and taught first-grade 

and alternative charter high 

school students. Mrs. McCartin 

is survived by four sons, nine 

grandchildren, and a greatgranddaughter. 

Audrey Croft Sincerny, 82, of 

Ashland, Ore., died April 7, 2013. 

Robert H. Wise, 93, of Lincoln, 

Neb., died July 10, 2013. He 

served in the Army Air Corps 

during World War II and worked 

in sales and management for 

Prudential Insurance for 36 years. 

Mr. Wise is survived by his wife, 

LaVonne, three daughters, six 

grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren. 

1948 

James H. Anderson, 92, died July 

24, 2013, in Winona, Minn. He 

served in the Army during World 

War II and fought in the Battle of 

the Bulge. He retired in 1985 after 

25 years as executive director of 

the Winona YMCA. Mr. Anderson 

is survived by two daughters, a 

son, a granddaughter, and a sister. 

Carol Nelson Nichols, 86, died 

Aug. 19, 2012, in Colorado. She 

is survived by two daughters, 

four grandchildren, two greatgrandchildren, 

a sister, Mary 

Ann Nelson Anderson ’62, and a 

brother. 

Howard W. Wegner, 89, of 

Waconia, Minn., died July 22, 

2013. He served in the Army in 

the Pacific during World War II, 

attaining the rank of sergeant. 

He taught at several schools in 

Minnesota, coached basketball and 

football, and was a middle school 

counselor and driver’s education 

instructor in Little Falls, Minn., 

from 1966 until his retirement 

in 1984. Mr. Wegner is survived 

by his wife, Doris, a daughter, 

six grandchildren, four greatgrandchildren, 

and a sister. 

1950 

Elizabeth Holdhusen Butzer, 84, 

of Mankato, Minn., died July 

24, 2013. She volunteered with 

numerous organizations, including 

MRCI, hospice, and Kids Against 

Hunger. Mrs. Butzer is survived 

by six daughters, six sons, 29 

grandchildren, and 14 greatgrandchildren. 

J. Robert French, 89, of Roseville, 

Minn., died April 24, 2013. He 

served on a destroyer in the Pacific 

during World War II and was 

assistant principal of White Bear 

High School from 1957 to 1985. 

Jean Meyer Hoisington, 82, of 

Shoreview, Minn., died June 

12, 2013. She retired in 1995 as 

onsite program manager for the 

Executive Development Center 

at the University of Minnesota’s 

Carlson School of Management. 

Mrs. Hoisington is survived by her 

husband, Bob Hoisington ’50, three 

daughters, a son, 21 grandchildren, 

two great-grandchildren, and a 

sister. 

Margaret R. Nelson, 86, of Sun 

City West, Ariz., died April 22, 

2013. 

George A. Sincerny, 87, of 

Ashland, Ore., died Sept. 1, 2012. 

Jerome E. Wagner, 89, of 

Roseville, Minn., died June 15, 

2013. He served with the U.S. Navy 

in the Pacific during World War II 

and later in the Navy Reserves. Mr. 

Wagner taught biology at Anoka 

High School for 40 years, worked 

for several years for the Science 

Museum of Minnesota, and served 

on the board of the Minnesota 

Zoo. He is survived by his wife, 

Barbara Lindeke, five daughters, 

six sons, 29 grandchildren 

(including Amelia Nielsen ’08), 

11 great-grandchildren, a sister, 


1951 

Spencer B. Schuldt, 83, died 

July 29, 2013. A senior scientist 

at Honeywell Research Center 

for 30 years, Mr. Schuldt held 

several patents and received the 

Sweatt Award. He was also a 

published composer and arranger. 

Mr. Schuldt is survived by his 

wife, Norma, five children, 10 

FALL 2013 45

In Memoriam 

grandchildren, a sister, and a 

brother. 

1952 

Jerome S. Emerson, 85, of Sun 

City West, Ariz., died June 25, 

2013. He was a junior high school 

principal with the North St. Paul, 

Minn., schools for 32 years. Mr. 

Emerson is survived by his wife, 

Margery Rock Emerson ’52, a 

daughter, and a son. 

Harry Hanson, 84, of Bloomington, 

Minn., died recently. He is 

survived by two daughters, a son, 

six grandchildren, two greatgrandchildren, 

and two sisters. 

William R. MacMillan, 83, died 

Feb. 24, 2013, in Dallas. He is 

survived by his wife, Becky, seven 

children, and two grandchildren. 

Thomas G. Phillips, 82, died April 

28, 2013. He was a former rector 

at the Episcopal Church of the 

Ascension in Stillwater, Minn. Mr. 

Phillips is survived by his wife, 

Priscilla, two daughters, two sons, 

nine grandchildren, and a greatgranddaughter. 

Claire Buckeye Warrant, 83, 

of Kasota, Minn., died June 9, 

2013. She worked at, and later 

came to own, Bonnie’s Apparel. 

Mrs. Warrant is survived by her 

husband, George, three daughters, 

two sons, 14 grandchildren, and 

five great-grandchildren. 

1953 

Harriet Dunning Silver, 80, of 

Plymouth, Minn., died Aug. 10, 

2011. She was a schoolteacher 

in Wayzata, Minn., before her 

retirement. Mrs. Silver is survived 

by five daughters, three sons, 17 

grandchildren, and two greatgrandchildren. 

1955 

Alice Hunter Tannehill, 79, of 

Delaware, Ohio, died July 5, 2013. 

She was a kindergarten, nursery 

school, and Head Start teacher. 

Mrs. Tannehill is survived by her 

husband, Robert, two daughters, 

a son, seven grandchildren, five 

great-grandchildren, two sisters, 


1956 

Bette George Gates, 79, of 

Spokane, Wash., died Aug. 8, 

2013. She was a schoolteacher, a 

military wife, and a member of 

the National Association of Legal 

Secretaries. Mrs. Gates is survived 

by her husband, Tom, a daughter, 

two grandchildren, and sister Mary 

George Hood ’53. 

Edward P. Klucking, 84, died Aug. 

1, 2013. He served in the Navy 

during the Korean War and taught 

at Central Washington University, 

retiring in 1994 after 34 years. 

A specialist in paleobotany, Mr. 

Klucking developed a method 

of identifying fossilized leaves 

based on their venation patterns. 

He is survived by two daughters 

(including Sara Klucking ’91), two 

sons, five grandchildren, three 

sisters, and a brother. 

Lawrence A. Schlick, 82, of 

Wauwatosa, Wis., died June 14, 

2013. He won many awards for 

photography during his 12 years as 

photo editor at the Worthington 

Daily Globe. He taught at Brookfield 

Academy from 1969 to 1996 and 

at Mercy Academy for several 

years. Mr. Schlick is survived by 

his wife, Patricia Cramer Schlick 

’57, three daughters (including 

Mary Schlick Peveto ’87), a son, 

Michael Schlick ’84, and seven 


Joan Michelson Thorsen, 78, of 

Mound, Minn., died May 16, 2013. 

She taught kindergarten in the 

Minneapolis Public Schools for 

more than 30 years. Mrs. Thorsen 

is survived by her husband, Floyd, 

a daughter, two sons, seven 

grandchildren, and a sister. 

1958 

Richie A. Olson, 76, of Virginia, 

Minn., died Sept. 5, 2013. In 

1960, during his first year as a 

coach, Mr. Olson led the Edgerton, 

Minn., high school boys’ basketball 

team to the state championship. 

Although the Flying Dutchmen 

were competing against much 

larger schools from across 

Minnesota, the team emerged 

undefeated at the end of the 

season. Mr. Olson also coached 

basketball and served as an athletic 

director in Virginia, Minn. He is 

survived by a brother. 

Oliver G. Titrud, 86, died March 

22, 2013. He taught college courses 

in science, botany, and nutrition at 

numerous institutions and was the 

author of several books. Mr. Titrud 

is survived by three daughters, 

four sons, 16 grandchildren, seven 

great-grandchildren, and a sister. 

1959 

Leslie Reinhardt Reindl, 76, died 

May 14, 2013. She is survived 

by her husband, Wilhelm, 

two daughters, and seven 


Barbara Terp, 83, died July 9, 

2013, in Kailua, Hawaii. She taught 

in Minneapolis and in the Miami- 

Dade, Fla., Public Schools. She also 

founded Camp Coco, a summer 

camp for underprivileged youth. 

Mrs. Terp is survived by three 

children, six grandchildren, three 

great-grandchildren, and a sister. 

1960 

Margaret “Peg” Page McCubbin, 

75, of Chisago Lakes, Minn., 

died July 13, 2013. Peg was an 

elementary school teacher, a 

farmer, and a tutor in the Chisago 

Lakes, Minn., school district for 

many years. She is survived by a 

brother. 

Sandra Soderman Smith, 74, of 

Grand Forks, N.D., died July 15, 

2013. She was an English teacher 

and a stay-at-home mother. Mrs. 

Smith is survived by three children 

and six grandchildren. 

1962 

JoAnn Hurd Chapman, 73, of 

Waterloo, Iowa, died June 20, 

2013. She was vice president of 

nursing and patient care services 

at Covenant Medical Center until 

1989 and served as executive 

director of the Visiting Nurses 

Association. Mrs. Chapman 

is survived by two sons, three 

grandchildren, a great-grandchild, a 

sister, and a brother. 

Richard W. Ruffcorn, 72, died July 

12, 2013. He served as a lieutenant 

in the Air Force, worked as a 

certified public accountant and 

controller, and became involved 

in nursing home administration, 

emergency medical services, and 

nursing later in his career. Mr. 

Ruffcorn is survived by his wife, 

L. Carlene Ruffcorn, two sons, 

five grandchildren, a sister, and a 

brother. 

1963 

Michael J. Johnson, 72, of Great 

Falls, Va., died July 29, 2013. He 

is survived by his wife, Susan 

Lundberg Johnson ’64, daughter 

Anne Johnson ’96, and a son. 

1964 

Alice Maki Lanyk, 70, died May 

4, 2013, in Casper, Wyo. She 

founded the business Heartfelt 

Designs, taught fiber arts, and 

created pieces that were exhibited 

at the Nicolaysen Art Museum and 

sold around the country. She also 

taught in Montessori schools and 

retired from the Natrona County 

School District in 2012. Mrs. 

Lanyk is survived by her husband, 

James, two daughters, two sons, 

and four grandchildren. 

1966 

Richard W. Mannillo, 68, died 

July 25, 2013, in Boston. He was 

an entrepreneur who launched a 

variety of small businesses. Mr. 

Mannillo is survived by his wife, 

Paula McKibbin Mannillo ’66, 

two daughters (including Lynn 

Mannillo Anderson ‘91), a son, 

three grandchildren, and a brother. 

1967 

Charles R. Hanson, 68, of 

Minnetonka, Minn., died May 

18, 2013. During a 40-year career 

as a golf professional, he worked 

at Oak Ridge Country Club and 

Minnetonka Country Club. Mr. 

Hanson is survived by his wife, 

Joanie, three stepchildren, nine 

grandchildren, and a greatgranddaughter. 

Roger E. Lake, 67, of White Bear 

Lake, Minn., died Nov. 29, 2012. 

He did wildlife and plant research 

for the Minnesota Department 

of Natural Resources, retiring 

in 2003. Mr. Lake received an 

award from the Minnesota Native 

Plant Society for his research on 

rare plants, and was also active 

in efforts to improve the quality 

of Minnesota’s waterways. He is 

survived by a son and a sister. 

1968 

Virginia Moyle Pezalla, 66, of 

Oak Park, Ill., died Nov. 6, 2012. 

During a 40-year career she taught 

science to high school and college 

students, retiring in 2012 after 18 

years at Robert Morris University. 

She wrote an influential paper on 

the thermoregulatory behavior 

of dragonflies as well as the 

textbook Animal Behavior: Conflict, 

46 MACALESTER TODAY

Cooperation, and Communication. 

Mrs. Pezalla is survived by her 

husband, Paul, three daughters, 

two grandchildren, a sister, and 

two brothers. 

1972 

Clara M. Niiska, 61, of St. Paul died 

June 2, 2013. 

1973 

Sally Purintun Savage, 61, 

of Pullman, Wash., died July 

11, 2013. She was a senior 

assistant attorney general with 

the Washington State Attorney 

General’s Office. She served 

Washington State University for 

nearly 30 years in a variety of 

administrative positions, including 

chief legal counsel, university 

counsel, and vice president in the 

areas of administration, university 

relations, and advancement. Mrs. 

Savage also served as president 

of the Washington State Bar 

Association Foundation. She is 

survived by her husband, David, 

three children, two grandchildren, 

two sisters, and a brother. 

1975 

Kathleen Troxell Sellew, 60, 

of Falcon Heights, Minn., died 

Aug. 22, 2013. For more than 30 

years, she devoted her career to 

strengthening higher education in 

the developing world. She worked 

with agencies in Latin America, 

Africa, and Papua New Guinea 

and led development projects 

sponsored by Harvard’s Latin 

American Scholarship Program, 

the Asia Development Bank, and 

the U.S. Agency for International 

Development. Mrs. Sellew worked 

as associate director of the Office 

of International Programs at the 

University of Minnesota until 

2008 and the next year received 

the university’s Award for Global 

Engagement. Mrs. Sellew is 

survived by her husband, Philip 

Sellew ’75, a son, her mother, and 

a sister. 

1977 

Karlynn Goltz Rayment, 58, died 

June 12, 2013. She is survived by 

her husband, Andrew Rayment ’75, 

and two sons. 

Other Losses 

YWCA, and Planned Parenthood of Minnesota. She also 

cofounded the Minnesota Women’s Fund, served on the 

boards of numerous foundations, educational institutions, 

and other organizations, and took an interest in women’s 

and environmental issues. “She was a very gracious woman 

and unpretentious,” says her nephew, Minnesota Gov. 

Mark Dayton. “Her father was a prominent minister at 

Westminster Presbyterian Church so she comes out of that 

sense of faith and service. She just exemplified that. She was 

so selfless.” Macalester College President Brian Rosenberg 

discovered her kindness firsthand 10 years ago while 

enduring a series of nerve-wracking interviews, one of which 

included dinner at her brother-in-law Bruce Dayton’s house. 

“She knew it was a pressurized situation. She did everything 

to make me feel relaxed and at ease. I never met anyone who 

was so consistently kind and modest,” Rosenberg says. “In 

my job, you get to know a lot of generous people. But even in 

that group, she really stood out as so happy to do good.” Mrs. 

Dayton is survived by four daughters and nine grandchildren 

(including Theodore Clement ’06). 

Mary Lee Dayton, 88, former chair of Macalester’s Board 

of Trustees and a generous donor to the college, died Aug. 

21, 2013, at her home in Wayzata, Minn. Mrs. Dayton was 

a community leader and philanthropist who chaired the 

boards of the Minneapolis Foundation, the Minneapolis 

Ronald A. McKinley, 64, former coordinator of American 

Indian Programs at Macalester, died July 21, 2013. Mr. 

McKinley founded a number of nonprofits, including the 

Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, which promotes 

racial equity in education. He also chaired the board of Mixed 

Blood Theatre, helped connect the philanthropy community 

with the Native American community, and mentored 

emerging leaders, including MMEP’s current executive 

director, Carlos Mariani Rosa ’79. Mr. McKinley is survived by 

his wife, Devin, two daughters, and two granddaughters. 

FALL 2013 47

Grandstand 

ESSAY 

The Anxious, Empathic Writer 

BY ANDY STEINER ’90 

LAST SPRING I LAY MY DOCTOR’S EXAM TABLE, hooked up to 

an ECG machine. Embarrassed, anxious, even a bit tearful, I rapidly 

explained to the kind doctor, and then to the nurse, as she affixed 

a handful of sticky probes to my chest, “I’m writing this book and I 

interviewed a young woman who had a heart attack. She’s fit, around 

my age, a marathoner, but she had a heart attack, and her symptoms 

weren’t typical at all. I know it’s probably just heartburn but I keep 

thinking I’m having one, too. . . ” My words faded off, uselessly. 

I was making a scene, and when my ECG results came back normal, 

as in “Take some antacid,” instead of feeling relieved I felt even more 

embarrassed. I blew my nose, thanked the doctor for her time, and 

slunk out of the clinic, feeling as if I were wearing a scarlet H for 

hypochondriac. 

Turns out, the experience was all in a day’s work. 

For most of the last year I’ve been researching and writing a book 

that tells the stories of people who have lived through significant life 

challenges, including the loss of a job or home, serious chronic illness, 

the death of a child, or (see above) a major heart attack. The people I 

interviewed have been open and forthcoming, exhaustively detailing 

their traumas, and, most importantly, explaining how they’ve managed 

to incorporate these losses into their lives and keep going. 

Despite having been a journalist long enough to know better, 

I entered this project blithely, convinced everything would be fine, 

confident in my ability to play the objective reporter. Yet there were 

times in the midst of my research when I felt as if I’d been sucked into 

the vortex of my subjects’ situations, witnessing the crushing pain 

of the grieving parent or the depressing disorientation of life with a 

malfunctioning heart. 

Then tragedies in my own life and the lives of my loved ones began 

to add to my stress. Within a span of months my beloved father-in-law 

and niece both fell ill and died. Thinking about their deaths still makes 

me feel hollowed out and sad. 

In the muddle of my own grief there were days when working 

on the book left me depleted and exhausted. But as I continued to 

transcribe interviews and write, a sense of peace began to seep in. My 

subjects’ honest accounts of how they imperfectly yet bravely faced 

down life-shifting events were both awe-inspiring and comforting. 

These were real people who found they could thrive despite major 

traumas. If they could do it, then so could I. 

Even armed with that knowledge, though, there were times—such 

as during my anxious doctor’s visit—when I stumbled in the face of 

tough realities. I’m human and fallible, after all. Then, as evidence of 

my own fallible life continued to build, as I witnessed some of the 

saddest moments I could imagine, I noticed that I’d begun to develop a 

different awareness of life’s difficulties. Some of that awareness, I know, 

comes from my own experiences; the rest comes from empathetically 

witnessing the pain of others. 

Sure, life would be easier if we could just sail through it, free of 

struggle or sadness. Like most people, that’s the kind of life I once hoped 

for. And there’s still a part of me that wishes that life for my daughters. 

But lately I’ve come to believe that an unblemished life is incomplete. 

I recently came across a quote from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, author 

of On Death and Dying: “The most beautiful people we have known 

are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known loss, and 

have found their way out of the depths. Beautiful people do not just 

happen.” I love that sentiment because it says what I’ve believed for 

years: The most compassionate people are those who’ve struggled. 

Even the most amazing lives have some ugly edges. Back in college, 

I gave the man who is now my husband a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit, 

a favorite childhood book in which a once plush stuffed toy becomes 

real only after having his whiskers loved off. Life wears us down. It’s 

inevitable. But that’s what makes us beautiful—and real. 

ANDY STEINER ’90 is a St. Paul–based writer and editor. Her latest book, 

How to Survive: The Extraordinary Resilience of Ordinary People, will 

be published in 2014 by Think Piece Publishing. 

ILLUSTRATION: ERIC HANSON 

48 MACALESTER TODAY

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