Professional Documents
Culture Documents
U N I V E R S I T Y O F
MAGAZINE
N I V E R S I T Y O F
A G A Z I N E
UN I V ER S I T Y O F
MAGAZINE
UNIVERSITY
MAGAZINE
26 Plugged In
Electric vehicles are more than a hobby for engineering
Dear Readers: grad student Eva Hakansson.
By Chase Squires
We are living in interesting times. After years of the war on terror, a series of natural disasters of historic magnitude, a great
recession and the abrupt rise of new culture driven by technology and demographics, the sense of global upheaval and
imminent broad and deep change in America is almost tactile. It feels as though our nation and the world are once again 30 Return to the Rails
passing through a time when things are turned upside down, when pressures built up over generations produce a sudden The solution to America’s transportation problems could be 100
years in the past.
wave that changes much of the life and culture that we’ve known and had expected to continue indefinitely. There have
By Todd Neff
been a number of such periods in our national past: the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Great Depression and New
Deal politics, two world wars, the rise of the nuclear age, the civil rights movement and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Throughout, our national character and the values that lie at its roots survived and were refined and clarified by the trial.
36 Testing the Waters
Alumna Kristin Waters is floating reform ideas in Denver’s
As an institution that serves the public good, we at DU must do everything possible to ensure that that is the result this roughest schools.
time, as well. How do we move to do so? Here are some examples: By Richard Chapman
• We’ve partnered with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to develop the Denver Teacher Residency Program, which will
train talented people to teach in our urban schools. This program (which recently received an $8.2 million federal grant) 40 Give Me Shelter
will ultimately train 25 percent of all of the teachers in DPS and could make an enormous difference in the social and Professor Frank Ascione has discovered a disturbing link between
domestic violence and animal abuse.
economic fabric of the city. (Turn to page 36 to read about one DU-trained educator who is making a difference.)
By Tamara Chapman
• Colorado’s government is in dire financial condition and is anxiously looking toward the arrival of the financial “cliff ”
that will appear when federal stimulus funds run out. The state Legislature has asked DU to conduct a thorough review
of the finances of state and local government in Colorado, something that hasn’t happened here since 1959. We will pres- Departments
ent this study to the Legislature in February, and the report’s findings will inform the critical decisions to be made in the
coming years—decisions that must be based on information that is real and reliable, not on conjecture or sound bites. 44 Editor’s Note
•W
ithin the next decade, the population of those aged 60 and older in the Denver area is expected to approach 600,000,
doubling in just 15 years. And the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in Colorado is expected to increase 124 percent
45 Letters
by 2025. These are just two aspects of an enormous demographic shift that will change the nature of our society. In
response, the University has established a new multidisciplinary Center for the Study of Aging that will couple biomedi-
47 DU Update
cal and bioengineering research with programs in the social sciences, law, business, public policy and other areas in an 8 News $17.5 million gift
effort to extend and improve the lives of the aged and their family members. (Read more about the center on page 8.) 13 Arts Theater prof Anthony Hubert
•O
ur Strategic Issues Program report on immigration is gathering steam. The report is the result of 18 months of research 14 Academics Internship grants
and deliberation by a broad-based panel of Colorado citizens, and its 25 recommendations reflect the extraordinary 17 Q
&A Seth Masket
consensus reached by this diverse group. The report, which was sent to every member of the U.S. Congress, is much in 18 History 100 years of DU tennis
demand as the nation heads toward elections this fall. (The report is available online at www.du.edu/issues.)
21 P
eople Medical librarian
These are just a few examples of our many efforts to work for the public good during these times of great change. In virtu- 23 V
iews Humanities Gardens
ally every case, our principal resources are the people of the University community and the intellectual capital concentrated
on our campus. We’ve focused these on the points of greatest leverage in the hope of producing the greatest good for the 24 Essay What we wear in this life
greatest number of people. Most important, though, we continue to educate our students for lives of integrity, purpose
and significance in a world of continuous change, few boundaries and near total globalization. After all, it is those lives that 45 Alumni Connections
must ultimately carry our national character and values forward. They will determine the future for all of us.
Online only at www.du.edu/magazine:
Research Sex trafficking
Sports Lacrosse player in England
On the cover and this page: DU’s Intermodal Transportation Institute says switching
freight and people from the highway to the rail could help solve America’s transportation
Office of the Chancellor problems; read the story on page 30. Cover photo by P Phillips/Shutterstock.
Photo at left by Fedor A. Sidorov/Shutterstock.
Mary Reed Building | 2199 S. University Blvd. | Denver, CO 80208 | 303.871.2111 | Fax 303.871.4101 | www.du.edu/chancellor
2 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Update 3
U N I V E R S I T Y O F
onstrated honor, integrity and the com- DU alumna, and it is important to cover her cal marijuana, the planning for a voter
Students like Neil defy adjectives. They are as part of the University of Denver Magazine. approval of marijuana usage, beyond medi-
Editorial Assistants mitment to improve the well-being of
out there changing the world, and I am doing what, Elizabeth Fritzler, Deidre Helton (Class of 2012) humankind and who deserve this award What amazes me is how much of a bubble cal marijuana only, is already under way in
exactly? Staff Writer much more than Condoleezza Rice. As she continues to live in. Colorado. The effort to legalize marijuana
I’m helping to make it possible for them to go out and change the Richard Chapman a fellow alumnus of the Korbel School, I was very disappointed to read this generally, following the approval of medical
I am very ashamed to be associated with paragraph: “Throughout her career, Rice has marijuana by the voters, will follow, just as
world. Art Director Condoleezza Rice. While there is no made history and generated controversy—as surely as night follows day. California voters
I had a powerful reminder of this in May as I sat, riveted, in the Craig Korn, VeggieGraphics doubt about her intellectual and lead- the first female national security adviser, as a will vote on this very issue this year.
audience of TEDxDU, a passionate celebration of thinking and doing, of ership capabilities, she definitely lacks provost who took aggressive steps to balance To frame the issue as one that simply
Contributors
ideas that could change the world. Many of the speakers have been featured Wayne Armstrong • Jim Berscheidt • Kim integrity and the ability to mobilize all the budget, and as the foreign policy adviser involves providing marijuana to the medi-
on the pages of this magazine at one time or another; engineering student DeVigil • Justin Edmonds (BSBA ’08) • the facts before making a major decision, who, in the months preceding the Iraq War, cally needy is hardly accurate. This is not a
Jeff Francis • Larry Getlen • Kristal Griffith as she most clearly demonstrated prior to first warned about the dangers of smoking matter of social justice, and the issues go far
Eva Hakansson, a TEDxDU presenter, is profiled on page 26. (See all of the guns and mushroom clouds.”
(MBA ’10) • Jeffrey Haessler • John Kloeckner • the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq beyond what is presented in the article.
TEDxDU presentations online at TEDxDU.com.) Rose Lincoln • Doug McPherson • Todd Neff • in 2003. You failed to mention that while Rice Richard Parry (BA ’72)
My role is to help uncover the stories of remarkable DU people doing Nathan Solheim • Chase Squires (MPS ’10) • I am among the critics who believe did “warn” about the dangers of a smoking Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Lisa Trank-Greene
remarkable things and to share those stories with the world. (You’ll read the Bush administration will be ranked gun and mushroom clouds, she did so with-
as one of the worst in history. I have out any sort of valid information to back it Radio days
more about Neil Duncan in our spring 2011 issue.) Editorial Board
Chelsey Baker-Hauck, editorial director • met several refugees from Iraq who have up. It was mere conjecture to drum up the I read the two letters regarding KVDU in
Many others join me in this effort, including TEDxDU steering fear, uncertainty and doubt necessary to send the fall 2009 issue of the University of Denver
Jim Berscheidt, associate vice chancellor deeply suffered as a result of the war
committee member and University of Denver Magazine founder Carol for university communications • there. For Condoleezza Rice to proclaim us to war in a country that we had no busi- Magazine. As a former program director and
Farnsworth, who is retiring in September after 16 years as vice chancellor Thomas Douglis (BA ’86) • Carol Farnsworth, that there will be democracy in Iraq is ness going into. manager of KVDU in the early ’60s, I have a
vice chancellor for university communications • It just makes me ill to read statements personal interest in this subject.
of DU’s communications division. totally naive. Given the current situation
Jeffrey Howard, executive director of alumni
in Baghdad—where electricity and sewers like this. I was a fan of hers when she was When I first started as a DJ on KVDU,
Her work, my work and the work of the rest of DU’s communications, relations • Sarah Satterwhite, senior director of
development for research and writing • run very poorly and security forces and appointed national security adviser, but by we joked a lot about the poor carrier current
advancement and alumni relations team raises funds and raises awareness, Amber Scott (MA ’02) • Laura Stevens (BA ’69), sectarian violence loom despite national the time she became secretary of state it was signal and the real difficulty in receiving the
making it possible for DU to continue educating students for, as Chancellor director of parent relations elections—I personally do not foresee a clear she was merely a puppet for the Bush KVDU signal in Johnson-McFarlane Hall.
Coombe says, “lives of integrity, purpose and significance.” stable and democratic Iraq any time soon. administration. Eventually, we learned that the transmitting
Instead, in the wake of Condoleezza How about a cover article about equipment was not working, and the station
Making it possible for them to move mountains. Printed on 10% PCW recycled paper
and the Bush administration’s irresponsi- someone who truly deserves it? Madeleine had not been “on the air” for the entire quarter!
The University of Denver Magazine (USPS 022-177) is ble and misguided decision making, thou- Albright. At least her moral compass isn’t I recently corresponded with Sandra
published quarterly—fall, winter, spring and summer—by sands of United States soldiers have died, out of alignment. Dallas, who was in the School of Journalism
the University of Denver, University Communications,
over a million Iraqi civilians have per- Brian Garrett (MCIS ’00) while I was at DU. In her book Tallgrass
2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. The
University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) is an Equal ished, millions more have fled the country Denver (St. Martin’s Press, 2007), Dallas writes that
Opportunity Institution. Periodicals postage paid at Denver, as refugees and there are currently over the J-school classes were taught in a World
CO. Postmaster: Send address changes to University of
Chelsey Baker-Hauck Denver Magazine, University of Denver, University 2 million internally displaced people. High times War II-era wooden structure that came from
Managing Editor Advancement, 2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208-4816. As Condoleezza Rice has retreated I read, with considerable interest, the the Amache Internment Camp in southeast
to academia, violence and instability article on medical marijuana in Colorado Colorado. It turns out that all those struc-
continue to plague Iraq and the Middle [Q&A, summer 2010]. I was struck by tures, including the home of KVDU, were
East. While some believe she has earned the similarity of the issue in Colorado and moved from the camp near Granada, Colo.,
the outstanding alumni award, I believe California. Voters in both states approved to DU.
Wayne Armstrong
2344 E. Iliff Ave.
Like other notable dates in history, Sept. 11 is one that will always remind us of a day that changed our lives.
During the 2010–11 academic year, the University of Denver will explore why it happened and how society is being For graduate student Terrie Taziri, just studying public art wasn’t enough. She decided to create and install it—and she
challenged to rethink our values. Join the discussion as DU’s Bridges to the Future series hosts 9/11: Ten Years After.
did so with a giant avocado on the DU campus in July. Taziri, a master’s student studying visual art and design in DU’s
University College, created the 8-by-4 Styrofoam avocado for her capstone project, intending to study how the sculpture
changed or enhanced the environment around it. It was first in the Humanities Garden before it moved onto the grass
RSVP to scp@du.edu or 303.871.2357
between Penrose Library and the Driscoll Student Center. Read more on Taziri’s blog, http://ttaziri.wordpress.com, and see
Watch it live at DU.edu/bridges a video of the installation at www.youtube.com/uofdenver.
A $17.5 million gift, among the largest in the University’s history, will be used in part to
establish a center at DU for the study of aging.
Betty Knoebel, widow of Denver food-service pioneer Ferdinand “Fritz” Knoebel, announced the gift in May. It includes the
This fall DU will undergo a comprehensive re-accreditation evaluation by a visiting team representing the
Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
The public and members of the University community are encouraged to provide comment about the
Tips for
maintaining
B Bar K Ranch—a 996-acre property in Morrison, Colo., valued in excess of $10 million—and a future cash commitment. University in advance of the November visit.
DU is using the funds to establish the Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging and to support the School of Hotel, Restaurant For more than two years, DU has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the commission’s a healthy
requirements and criteria for accreditation. The evaluation team will visit campus Nov. 8–10 to gather evidence that
and Tourism Management (HRTM) in the University’s Daniels College of Business.
the self-study is thorough and accurate. The team will make a recommendation to the commission about continuing
relationship
The Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging will expand DU’s
DU’s accreditation status.
role in interdisciplinary research on aging and aging-related con-
The HLC is one of six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that 1. R ecognize that great
ditions. Faculty positions will be added in molecular life sciences provides institutional accreditation on a regional basis. Institutional accreditation—a voluntary process—evaluates an
and bioengineering. When the ranch is sold, DU will apply up to
relationships take effort.
entire institution and accredits it as a whole. Other agencies provide accreditation for specific programs. The com-
$10 million from the net proceeds to help fund construction of mission accredits approximately 1,100 institutions of higher education in a 19-state region. ake your relationship a
2. M
facilities to house the Knoebel Center and support its programs The University has held HLC accreditation since 1914. priority.
and research. Submit comments about the University to: Public Comment on the University of Denver, The Higher Learning 3. Go out on a date once a week.
At HRTM, Knoebel’s gift will increase student scholarships, Commission, 230 S. LaSalle St., Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604.
faculty support, industry partnerships and experiential learning Comments must be received by Oct. 8 and should address substantive matters related to the quality of the
Andrey Milkin/iStockphoto
programs with the overarching goal of achieving international institution or its academic programs. They must be in writing and signed, should include the name, address and
distinction. The school has been named the Fritz Knoebel School telephone number of the writer, and cannot be treated as confidential.
>>www.du.edu/accreditation2010
of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.
“Betty Knoebel’s generosity to DU will benefit both our
—Jim Berscheidt
students and the broader public that we serve,” says Chancellor
Robert Coombe. “The population of older Americans is growing
rapidly. The work of the Knoebel Center will help to extend the
lives of the aged and improve the quality of their lives and those
TedxDU showcases what DU has been doing 4. Learn a new hobby together.
of their family members. We are particularly excited that this in the world ake time each day to talk as
5. M
Wayne Armstrong
friends.
gift will usher in an expansion of our partnership with Denver
Health. And we are proud that our HRTM program will bear the Regan Linton (pictured) was ompliment and thank each
6. C
name of such a prominent business leader.” one of 18 speakers and performers at other.
In 2007, DU and Denver Health agreed to partner on sev- “TEDxDU: a Celebration of DUing” hen you need to talk about
7. W
May 13 at DU’s Newman Center for
eral health care-related research initiatives and programs. a difficult issue, set aside a
the Performing Arts. The DU master’s
“As the graying of America occurs, there is a tremendous specific time to do it when you
candidate in social work, who has
need for understanding the processes of aging and the will both be able to listen well.
used a wheelchair since a 2002 car
approaches to keep us healthy into old age,” says Denver Health accident injured her spinal cord, is et help as soon as you think
8. G
Wayne Armstrong
CEO Patricia Gabow. “As an institution that cares for one-third a member of Denver’s Physically you might need it (check
of Denver’s population and as a partner with DU, we see this Handicapped Actors and Musical Art- out websites like www.
center for the study of aging as a unique resource for this region ists League. loveyourrelationship.com;
DU’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management has been named in
honor of donor Fritz Knoebel.
that will achieve important advances in this needed area.” “In my life I sometimes feel disap- www.TwoOfUs.org; and www.
Denver native Fritz Knoebel founded Knoebel Mercantile pointed that I don’t have enough time, rhoadesconsulting.com).
Co., a bakery distributor, in 1929, and built it into the nation’s largest privately owned food-service distribution company. Known energy or womanpower to dedicate
o your part to be the best
9. D
as Nobel Inc., it was acquired by Sysco Inc. as a subsidiary in 1982. to all of the amazing causes, passions and initiatives that exist out in the world,” Linton says. “But [this] event gave me
partner you can be.
Fritz Knoebel was chairman of Nobel/Sysco Food Services Co. until his retirement in 1999 at age 90. He died in 2005. Betty a sense of peace, knowing that each of us can continue to focus our energies on what we do best because there are
Knoebel, now 78, and Fritz Knoebel received honorary degrees from DU in 1992 in recognition of their role in the Denver business so many extraordinary people out there covering the other bases.” 10. L earn more about ways to
More than 900 people attended TEDxDU, an independently organized event licensed by TED, an organiza- communicate.
and philanthropic communities.
tion that arranges for leading thinkers to share “ideas worth spreading.” TED stands for technology, entertainment
“I’m so pleased to be able to honor my husband’s legacy and recognize the nationally ranked programs of the Daniels College,
and design—three areas TED officials believe shape the world’s future. The speakers and performers—about half of
particularly the longstanding reputation and industry partnerships of the HRTM school,” says Betty Knoebel. “Likewise, I want to whom were affiliated with DU—discussed some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as combating poverty, Compiled by Galena Rhoades,
support the University’s plans to further develop aging-related programs that will improve lives everywhere.” Howard Markman and Scott Stanley
getting clean water to those in need and creating widespread policy change. of DU’s Center for Marital and
>>TEDxDU videos online at TEDxDU.com Family Studies
—Media Relations Staff
Wayne Armstrong
October 1-2, 2010
Ruffatto Hall, opened in June.
Courses began in the building June 14, and fac-
ulty and staff moved into the new home of the Mor-
gridge College of Education throughout the summer.
Whether
dual degree program, he completed his bachelor’s degree in international studies in June 2010 and will receive they end up becoming great actors or not, every kid can benefit from taking an acting class,
his MBA in June 2011. says DU theater Assistant Professor Anthony Hubert.
Originally from St. Louis, Portman has dabbled in a little bit of everything during his time on the DU “Most human beings are extremely insecure, and we wear all these masks to try to cover that insecurity, to appear
campus, including positions at the Center for Multicultural Excellence and on the Undergraduate Senate. In
strong,” he says. “I think theater teaches you how to recognize the mask. It teaches you not how to diminish your ego to
2006 he founded Never Again!, a student organization that raises awareness about the Holocaust and current
the point where you’re insignificant, but it teaches you how to integrate your ego into the ensemble. It teaches you how to
genocide in countries such as Sudan and Rwanda. In 2008 he studied abroad in Israel.
deal with suffering, how to deal
“He works tirelessly, and in doing so he’s brought a different level of awareness to his peers,” says Kerrie
Wayne Armstrong
Rueda, assistant director of Campus Activities. with joy, how to deal with pain,
In St. Louis, Portman is the assistant scoutmaster of his old Boy Scouts troop, Troop 310. He helped how to deal with pleasure—how
Jeffrey Haessler
young boys muster the courage to complete swim tests during the Dad ’N’ Lad program held at Camp Famous to deal with all the things that
Eagle in July. life throws at you.”
This summer Portman also interned at the Build-A-Bear Workshop corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Four years ago, shortly after
where he learned about international business firsthand. coming to DU, Hubert and his
“It was a great opportunity,” says Portman, who is considering careers in diversity consultation and international business operations once he wife, Jamie Roehrig-Hubert,
receives his MBA. “It’s been great to see how what we’re learning in the classroom applies to the real world beyond the work I’m doing at DU.” founded the Rocky Mountain
Portman received the University of Denver Pioneer Award, the University’s most prestigious student recognition, in 2010. He says becoming part Conservatory Theatre, a youth
of the campus culture has changed the way he thinks about his future.
theater company that runs
“The things I’m involved with now are not at all the things I’d thought I’d be involved with,” he says. “The way my life might go is not at all the way
summer camps and weekend
I thought it might when I started at DU. I just had a lot of phenomenal opportunities to get involved, learn new things and meet new people who have
workshops at DU. The camps
really shaped my interests and helped me develop a passion for making the world a better place.”
—Deidre Helton
ran for three years in Margery
Reed Hall before moving to
the Newman Center for the
Performing Arts this summer.
CHANCELLOR’S Kids ages 6–17 come from
INNOVATION FUND
FUNDING INNOVATION • FUNDING EXCELLENCE • FUNDING DU
as far away as Mexico and
Germany (though most are from
Denver) to study acting basics
and stage their own versions of
musicals such as West Side Story,
Guys and Dolls and Charlie and
INVEST IN OUR FUTURE the Chocolate Factory. Campers
learn all aspects of putting on a show; each day is divided into several classes with rotating activities, such as acting, music,
INVEST IN OUR STUDENTS dance, art and rehearsal.
The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund, supported by Hubert (pictured center during a lesson) has been working with kids for 25 years, but he’s an accomplished theater
your annual gift, strengthens scholarships and professional in his own right. He’s directed 20 plays and starred in 16 others, and he was a guest star on TV shows such as
priority programs for our students. “Sins of the City,” “Safe Harbor” and “Sheena.” A playwright as well, he just finished writing a screenplay about his father.
“I grew up in the projects in Atlanta, Georgia, from sparse means, to put it nicely,” he says. “I used to go to all these
summer camp programs that were for kids of low means. I remember people coming out from IBM and from Xerox and all
these companies that would say things to inspire us to strive for a better life. I couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years
old, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘When I grow up I’m going to come back and I’m going to talk to people the way
To contribute to DU, please use the enclosed envelope or visit they talk to us.’ It was very inspiring to have that experience.”
WWW.GIVING.DU.EDU Hubert now looks to inspire other young people in the same way. Whether he’s working with DU students or his
theater campers, he says it’s rewarding to see their skill and confidence grow.
“A young life, you see the hope. They have so much hope and they believe in the impossible sometimes, and it
University Advancement becomes the possible because of that lack of knowledge of the world,” he says. “You want to try to guide them to achieve
2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208-7500
whatever they can imagine.”
303-871-2311 800-448-3238
>>www.rmctonline.com
Wayne Armstrong
whether “our ability to taste bitter affects our diet and overall lifestyle.” Ritchie Center. Bowlen donated
Perhaps more exciting for her is that the museum is the first in North America to have a community-supported lab, meaning $1.5 million toward the $6.3 mil-
museum visitors are recruited to participate. Although the lab is funded by the National Institutes of Health, it’s run by volunteers, lion project. Graduate students
lab techs and interns like Shanahan.
The training facility was
constructed simultaneously with
1,100
But her experience wouldn’t have happened without a gift she
CIBER Field at the Univer-
received from DU. This year, Shanahan (pictured at left) was one of eight
sity of Denver Soccer Stadium,
Undergraduate students
undergraduate students who received a $2,500 grant for an internship
that normally would be unpaid.
which was dedicated in April. 160
The $9.2 million complex
“Many students work at summer jobs to earn money rather than includes a stadium, lighted playing Lifelong learners through the non-
take internships that would further their career development,” says field, and strength and condition- credit Enrichment Program and
John Haag, internship director in DU’s Career Center. “The grants allow ing center for the Pioneers’ Divi-
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
deserving students to intern in situations that matter to their future.” sion I student-athletes.
Committee members choose students they expect to grow The field is named for 2,600
professionally and personally throughout the course of the internship, CIBER Inc., an international
explains Ruth Prochnow, who runs the grant program. More than 50 IT outsourcing and software Number of U.S. states represented
implementation and integration by students
students apply each year.
“Even though it’s very rewarding to have the financial help from the
consultancy based in Greenwood
Village, Colo. 50
grant, I feel the recognition alone was a great payoff,” Shanahan says. She
The training complex is located beneath the stadium seating and is attached to the west side of the Ritchie Center.
says teaching the public about the world of genetics was “heartening.” The complex includes warm-up areas, weight lifting, cardio and rehabilitation stations, 12 Olympic lifting stations, a Number of countries represented
“I think the hard sciences like biology and chemistry are often video screening room and a 66-yard turf track for speed and agility training. by students
stereotyped as being cold and difficult to understand by those who don’t
focus study on them,” she says. “When I applied for this internship, I was
—Media Relations Staff
7
really aiming to break down that wall.”
Graduate programs offered
The program is a “win-win for both the student and for the Newmans give to arts at DU
organization,” Prochnow notes. Students have worked in locations 10
ranging from Denver and Duluth, Minn., to Kuwait and Kenya. “It gives Robert and Judi Newman, best known at DU for the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing
them much better focus on where they do or do not want to take their Arts, have pledged a leadership gift to further arts programs and other initiatives at the University. Graduate certificates offered
careers,” she says.
Not to mention giving them an edge in a tough job market that’s
Half of their commitment is designated for graduate students in the Lamont School of Music. Starting in
the 2010–11 academic year, one graduate student in voice and one in another Lamont program each will
40
making internships more desirable than ever. Students with internship receive a $25,000 stipend. It is a way for Lamont to attract high-caliber students and compete with the top
music programs in the country. Languages available to study
experience “undeniably” are more employable when they graduate,
Prochnow says. “Internships are the new entry-level jobs.”
“Bob and Judi Newman have helped us put Lamont on the map in so many ways—first with their leader- 9
Wayne Armstrong
ship in building the world’s finest music facility, secondly by serving on our visiting committee, and now with
Senior international studies major Lauren Hartel was another of
a major gift for scholarships, stipends, professorships and program needs,” says Joe Docksey, director of the Average age of enrolled students
this year’s grant awardees. She worked for Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit Lamont School of Music. “We are all grateful to be working in such a wonderful place largely made possible by
humanitarian organization that delivers donated medical supplies such generosity.” 37
overseas. Within the first four weeks of her internship, she wrote a $25,000 grant proposal on her own. The Newmans say they are very proud of how the Newman Center has been embraced by the commu-
“It’s been an amazing opportunity for me because I have a direct mentor who oversees my work and makes sure I am getting nity. Now it’s time to keep it well maintained and help the Lamont School of Music achieve its vision, they say.
firsthand experience,” says Hartel, who got the internship primarily to learn how to write grants. “Arts education is the core of what we hope to achieve with our philanthropy. The goal is to provide wider
The internship program began about 10 years ago, says Mary Michaels Hawkins, director of the DU Career Center. It was based access to students in all forms of music study and choral groups,” says Robert Newman, a DU trustee. *DU’s school of professional and
The Newmans also pledged support so Lamont’s opera program can stage a second production each year. continuing studies
on an idea Chancellor Robert Coombe had while he was provost.
Their gift supports the dean of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the women’s golf program as well. Compiled by Michael McGuire,
“He’s always had a strong focus on internships,” Hawkins says. Since its inception, the program has been funded by a $20,000 assistant dean for administrative
annual allocation from the provost’s office. “By doing this, we hope to expose people to arts and education,” Judi Newman says. “We hope others operations at University College
might follow us.”
“It’s just great to support the students,” Hawkins says.
—Kristal Griffith
Wayne Armstrong
for his recent offering Theory of Mind: New & Selected Poems (Omnidawn,
2009).
ment has had to make many drastic spending cuts to balance its bud-
The awards, given out by Colorado Humanities and the Colorado
Center for the Book, were announced June 25. They recognize outstanding get. Many Coloradans will be thinking about declining funds for public
contributions by Colorado authors, editors and photographers in a number education and other areas when they head to the polls.
of categories. This year 146 books were entered in 13 categories.
Ramke beat out the other four poetry category finalists, including one
of his former students. Dan Beachy-Quick (BA English ’95) was a finalist for
his book This Nest, Swift Passerine: A Poem (Tupelo Press, 2009).
Q Because of the criticism President Obama has received on
his response to the BP oil spill, do you predict this issue
will hurt Democrats this year?
“This award was gratifying because of the quality of the other books
A
under consideration,” Ramke says. “I am pleased to be associated with the It’s difficult to say what, if any, effect the BP oil spill will
Colorado Center for the Book and the Colorado Humanities—it is good
have on Democratic prospects this fall. Many congressional
for us who work in colleges and universities to be reminded of the accom-
Democrats have been arguing for many years for tighter regulation
plished and dedicated people also engaged in literature and scholarship in
of the petroleum industry and for limits on offshore drilling, and
the rest of the community.”
those arguments are certainly gaining traction. On the other hand,
Wayne Armstrong
Ramke has been with DU since 1985 and currently teaches poetry
to undergraduate and graduate students. He also edits the Denver Quarterly voters may simply blame Democrats because they are the party in
and has authored an additional nine books of poetry. power right now. Nonetheless, if BP is successful in largely stopping
—Nathan Solheim the leaks, the issue will fade from the headlines, even if the environ-
Q
mental impact will be felt for many years.
What would you say is the No. 1 issue for the upcoming
elections?
On the Road Q
to Republicans. As Republican numbers increase in the Senate, so
leadership, and staff. You’ve done extensive research on the effects
does their ability to sustain a filibuster.
Look for us this fall as we travel unemployment has had on midterm elections and found
to the following areas: that there hasn’t really been much correlation between the two.
Q
But doesn’t unemployment tie into the state of the economy? What is your prediction for the fall?
Milwaukee, WI
September 30, 2010
A There are many different aspects of the economy, only some of
A
6:00- 8:00 p.m. which seem to affect people’s vote choices. The level of unem- Voters tend to think about the recent past when cast-
The Iron Horse Hotel ployment, however important it is to many people’s lives, doesn’t ing their votes. The results of the election will hinge on
www.theironhorsehotel.com seem to particularly affect midterm elections. In 1982, President how strongly the economy improves over the next few months.
Reagan was overseeing an unemployment level near 10 percent. Democrats are almost sure to lose seats in the Congress, but faster
Salt Lake City, UT However, Republicans only lost 26 House seats that year, which is just economic growth can mitigate some of those losses. Should the
October 7, 2010
about the average over the past 60 years. economy stumble back into recession, that could certainly lead to a
6:00- 8:00 p.m.
Lugano Restaurant Republican takeover of both chambers.
The Radda Room
www.luganorestaurant.com
A Colorado has weathered the recession somewhat better than specializes in political parties, campaigns and state legislatures. He is the author of
www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheroad
No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize
or call 1-800-448-3238, Ext. 0 other states, but it’s still taken a great toll. The state govern- Legislatures (University of Michigan Press, 2009).
DU Archives
By Richard Chapman
A century ago, the University competed in four intercollegiate sports—football, basketball, baseball and
tennis. Today, while basketball flourishes, football has been scrubbed and baseball sent down
to the minors as a club sport. Tennis, meanwhile, enters its second century quietly racking up accolades with forehands,
backhands and serves.
DU Archives
In nearly every decade since 1910—the acknowledged
beginning of DU tennis according to the athletics
department—DU net stars have notched championships
and captured awards. They’ve earned athletic and academic
All-America honors, won titles in prestigious state and
national events, pioneered and promoted the sport, and
been inducted into DU and Colorado halls of fame.
All this in a century in which the sport of tennis
struggled against race, gender and opportunity barriers,
adjusted to major changes in equipment, rules, dress and
comportment, and became internationalized to the point
that last season only 25 percent of DU’s varsity tennis
players hailed from the United States.
Adam Holmstrom of Sweden, perhaps DU’s top player
ever, finished his DU career in 2007 as the 37th best college
player in the nation. He earned Division I All-America
honors for the first time in school history and dominated Though DU didn’t have an intercollegiate women’s tennis team until the 1970s, women played
recreational tennis on campus as far back as the early 1900s.
the record book for career singles wins (112–23), doubles
wins (100–27) and winning percentage (.828).
DU Archives
Holmstrom’s era was a far cry from tennis in its early days, when the game was primarily A mid-1960s men’s team poses for a portrait.
an elite East-Coast activity played on grass courts in exclusive private clubs and dominated by
the Ivy Leagues. At DU, it was a pedestrian pursuit on rough courts donated by The Denver Post. “It was a rough beginning,” she recalls. “The first season we shared warm-up [outfits] with the women’s gymnastics
Even so, the University excelled, fielding a strong enough team to capture the Rocky Mountain team. They’d take them off and clean them up and we’d wear them.”
Conference from 1917 to 1921. The team had money for balls, travel and an occasional meal, but nothing for footwear, racquets or strings. A team
Conference affiliations shifted frequently over the decades, but DU was always at the top of mother sewed uniforms, and the weeds on the courts
the game, winning titles in the Big 7, Colorado Tennis, Colorado Athletic, Continental Divide and sometimes were so bad that opposing teams refused to
Skyline conferences, the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), the National play.
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Sun Belt Conference, in which DU competes “But I got encouragement and support from the
today. University and wonderful students to work with,” she
“We had three concrete tennis courts,” recalls Alvie Willis (BSBA ’55, MA ’70), whose says. “What was special was that women were given the
legendary 1950s-era team dominated the decade. “No lights, no indoor facilities, white balls, opportunity to compete, and they hadn’t been given that
wood racquets. I used Jack Kramer and Davis Tad [racquets] until they quit making them.” before.”
Willis, who continues to win 75-and-older tournaments even today, was DU’s No. 1 in 1954 Under Chrisman, the Pioneers won the Colorado
and ’55. His doubles partner, Clayton Benham, dominated as DU’s No. 1 in 1951 and ’52 and was Tennis Conference, the AIAW district title and the
inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Continental Divide Conference. In October, she’ll be
Another member of that ’50s team, No. 2 Jack TerBorg, went on to win six major Colorado inducted into the DU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Women’s player Debbie Gersten (BSBA ’95)
singles titles. And the team’s No. 5 player, Irwin Hoffman, became a teaching pro and helped reaches for a shot.
Today, DU has state-of-the-art outdoor courts at
develop a junior program that today attracts thousands of Colorado youngsters annually. Both its Stapleton Tennis Pavilion—completed in 1998—
were inducted into the Colorado Tennis Hall of Fame. and competes on a national level. The women’s team in
Another Colorado hall of famer, Carlene Petersen Chrisman, coached DU’s first women’s team, starting in 1974 and 2009–10 was ranked as high as 34th in the nation and
DU Archives
Tim Ryan
“Medical
used to living with a “messy” person or someone who is obsessed with neatness. Conflicting students are very bright to get into medical school. But they’re totally ignorant of medical
sleep schedules, varying musical tastes, etc., also can be problematic. However, much of the literature.”
time wonderful lifelong friendships begin during the college years. There are some common This provocative statement comes from one who should know. Lucretia McClure (MA ’64) learned her trade at the
elements that make life with roommates successful—or not. Here are some topics you might
University of Denver’s School of Librarianship (now the Library and Information Science Program) and is now one of the
consider discussing with your kids regarding life on campus:
oldest practicing librarians in the Medical Library Association (MLA).
• Every shared living experience involves give and take.
• Encourage them to try to be the kind of roommate they would like to have.
As a medical librarian, McClure is charged with knowing the full breadth of medical research materials old and new—
• Tell them to consider that their roommates have to put up with them and their stuff also. from journals to textbooks to specific articles on any medical subject—thereby serving as an essential resource for a doctor
• Open, honest communication can go a long way; weekly meetings can help a lot. in need of crucial information.
• Some things just come with the territory; patience, love and forgiveness can be key. “I see medical students who have not been given the instruction
• Help them think through what they can tolerate and what their limitations are. in college they used to give,” says McClure, who spent almost 30 years
• Remind them that they will not have their roommates forever. at the Edward G. Miner Library at the University of Rochester Medical
• Share your story—were you a Felix Unger? An Oscar Madison? How about your Center and now works at the Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard
roomies? Medical School, where she has been for nearly 15 years. Now 85, she
• Encourage them to be willing to discuss University policies, i.e. “live the code.” takes the one-hour flight to campus from her home in Rochester, N.Y.,
• RAs and the housing department can help when conflicts seem irreconcilable. every week and stays at her apartment in Boston.
As parents of college students, our role is to try to help our kids become independent
“It’s presumed that anybody in college is computer literate and
problem solvers. As tempting as it can be to become involved because we want to rescue them, we often help the most when they see us as a resource
doesn’t need help,” she says. “But they do, because there’s so much
and a sounding board.
wonderful old medical literature, and students who never look at it are
DU Parents Council member John Kloeckner and his wife, Carol, live in Broomfield, Colo. Their son David will be a junior in the fall of 2010. missing what makes medicine so rich.”
McClure grew up in Denver, attended the University of Missouri
and moved to Rochester with her husband in 1951. As their two sons
A GREAT EDUCATION
DRIVES GREAT
DREAMS
A DU Gift Annuity is a great way
to help make dreams come true.
Beloved DU social work Professor Eleanor Barnett devoted
her life to helping others. She set up a number of gift annuities
that supplemented her income and upon her passing created
a lasting legacy at DU. Through her generosity, more than
70 students have been able to pursue their dream of becoming
a social worker.
“Moving water…
Office of Gift Planning has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and
1.800.448.3238 or 303.871.2739 knowing alumni care about the success of students like myself,”
E-mail: gift-planning@du.edu says recipient Liz Covarrubias. “DU has prepared me well for associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand
my plans of working internationally on health, education and shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river.”
www.giftplanning.du.edu
economic issues relating to women.” — Rodreck Haig-Brown
I arrive
Ion-Bogdan Dumitrescu/Getty
in Los Angeles for my mom’s 78th birthday, her first birthday in 55 years without my dad. The first
30 minutes in the house are odd and difficult—I’m looking for my dad asleep on the couch, his
simple hospital bed in the corner of the dining room, opening his soft blue eyes and saying, “Hi, sweetheart,” as if I hadn’t
lived away from L.A. for 25 years.
My mom bought herself fuchsia and purple dahlias and put them around the house. She tells me she let herself open
presents that had arrived early, instead of waiting until her birthday. “Why not enjoy the presents for as long as possible?”
We take ourselves out to a new French bistro and pretend we’re on the Left Bank, surrounded by handsome waiters
joking with each other in French. I tell the waiter it’s my mom’s birthday, and she is serenaded in a combination of French
and Portuguese.
The next morning, after breakfast and a visit from my mother’s next-door neighbor, Mom and I head upstairs to the
guest room.
My mom sits down on the daybed with a yellow legal pad. I slide open the closet door. His clothes hang waiting, but
not for him. I stand in front of the clothes and sigh. My mom says she doesn’t really feel anything, since he’d stopped
wearing most of them long ago.
We sort through his sweaters first. I choose two for myself, a red wool V-neck and a brown cashmere pullover. I count
them out and my mom writes it down, wanting to record what we are giving away. Next are his shirts, which make me
remember something I always loved about my dad—the way he kept his shirts clean and pressed despite a full day of hard
work. The subtle stripes and tight plaids, the creases that have held despite his not wearing them for a number of years. I
put aside a paisley print shirt in red, brown and green—my mom’s favorite.
I’m glad I’m the only one his shirts will fit: my brothers too tall, my husband too broad, my nephews too cool. We
move on to his short-sleeved shirts, the ones he wore most of the time, first at the store and then at his watchmaker’s
station. He liked the open feeling of the short sleeves and also didn’t wear a tie or jacket at the office—one of the perks of
working for himself.
A rhythm begins—clothes off the hangers and onto the bed. Counted and then moved to another part of the room.
We get to his pants. Khakis, wool gabardines, various slacks. Even a pair of cruise ship whites that makes my mom and I
giggle. All are perfectly folded over steel and plastic hangers but obviously have not been worn in a very long time. Lines
of dust rest along each crease.
But in the middle of the neat order, a pair of jeans appears. His jeans, a pair of Levi’s, with the belt still in the loops.
Somehow the pants seem warm and the denim very soft, but not worn out. The belt left in the loops is out of place, I choose a tie for my husband, with my dad’s knot still in it.
nothing my father would have done. He would have pulled the belt out and hung it up with the others on the hanger The clothes are all out. I proceed to pull down an old slide projector. Endless travel bags. Shoe polish kits. Old perfume
designed for that purpose. and faded yarmulkes. Empty watch repair envelopes, the ones I used to carefully log in my dad’s record book when I was
The weight of the belt, a black Pierre Cardin, offers a form that is no longer here, no longer form-able. I run my hands old enough to be trusted with the task. Two hours later, the closet is empty. I tell my mom I’ll take care of the rest, not
down the jeans and cry. When my father arrived alone in Toronto, after a train, a boat and then another train took him wanting her to have to watch the clothes get placed into black garbage bags.
away from the Nazis, he owned one outfit of summer clothing. I fold the clothes and put them inside the bags, six in all. Before I close the bags, I put my head close to the openings
In the end, this is the list, a final tally of my dad’s clothing: and take in one last deep breath. I carry the bags down and place them neatly in a corner of the garage. They will be picked
up sometime next week.
Five sweaters, two sweater vests We wear clothes for many reasons: to keep us warm or cool, to communicate to the world a story of who we are. I’m
Eight pairs of shoes, one pair of slippers happy that as I slip my arms into the few pieces traveling home with me, I will feel the memory of his arms having entered
Three pairs of pajamas in and out of these same sleeves many times. I will wear my dad’s story in the form of a red V-neck sweater, a brown
Twelve short-sleeved shirts cashmere pullover and a paisley raw silk shirt, another way of keeping his story going.
Ten long-sleeved shirts But I have to wonder: How long will it take for the form of his life, which is in every piece of clothing, to take the
Twenty-two pairs of pants, one pair of Levi’s jeans shape of another? If I was walking down the street in Los Angeles, or in Colorado, would I recognize a shirt, a sweater,
Fifteen ties and eight belts, two pairs of suspenders his softly worn Levi’s on someone else’s body? Will I look for them? For him in them? How far will his clothes travel? And
Three sweatshirts and three zip-up jackets what will I feel toward that person lucky enough to wear my dad’s clothes—kinship?
Ten sport jackets and five suits, including the suit he wore to my wedding I hope I will, and to that I add: Amen.
By Chase Squires
Even before she can remember, Eva Hakansson was building things.
“I was 2 years old when I got my first pair of scissors, because I was always
taking everyone else’s to make things,” she says. “I’m told when I was 4 years old, I built
a model nuclear power plant out of cardboard boxes and cans.”
But her real passion didn’t emerge until her later years … when she turned 6.
She virtually grew up in her father’s workshop while he pounded metal on metal,
grinding his own parts and crafting handmade racing motorcycles.
Fast-forward to 2010 and Hakansson—with a toolbox of self-taught engineering
skills and a competitive and inquisitive spirit—is pursuing a mechanical engineering
master’s degree at the University of Denver’s School of Engineering and Computer
Science. Between calculus and engineering classes, the 29-year-old Swedish native who
speaks three languages and already has written a book on hybrid cars is hard at work
chasing her dream of breaking the world speed record for electric motorcycles.
When she’s not studying, Hakansson and her husband, Bill Dubé, are holed
up in their workshop, which is crammed with lathes and drills and welding torches
and electrical components of every size. Scavenging the parts they need from eBay
and Craigslist, they hunt down sponsors and travel the world in search of the next
breakthrough technology.
And what they can’t scavenge, borrow or buy, they make.
Nothing is ever finished, she says. There’s no project that can’t be improved.
The electric bikes she and her husband develop are in a constant state of change. In
June, the couple’s ElectroCat became the first electric motorcycle to conquer the Pikes
Peak International Hill Climb, a grueling 12-mile, twisting, turning uphill motor race to
the 14,100-foot summit of Pikes Peak outside Colorado Springs, Colo. Although she
was sidelined for the run after a crash in testing that left her with a metal plate in her
arm, Hakansson already is plotting her next mission: a run at the world speed record
for electric motorcycles on her new custom cycle, a sleek rocket of a beast dubbed
KillaJoule.
Photo illustration by Wayne Armstrong
“It’s human nature. People have always wanted to go fast. Everyone wants to go
faster,” she says.
O
The only way we can do that is to make
A competitive spirit seems to be part of Hakansson’s DNA. that,” she says. “And if you don’t understand
As a child she was eager to learn from her parents, both engineers, calculus, you’ll never be a good engineer. This is too expensive to
and to keep up with her two older brothers, both now engineers do by trial and error; it has to be engineered.”
something really fast and really powerful
as well. Her house in Nynäshamn, Sweden, was a hive of activity.
Her brothers were the disassemblers, taking things apart to learn
and really sexy. Something
how they worked, while her father toiled in his shop crafting his
racing cycles. Of course, knowing her way around a drill press helps, too. serve the common good and advance the science the world needs. that will make your
“When I went to high school, I was already very much into At 5-foot-2, she looks at home in racing leathers, muscling one of “Eva’s innovative approach to problem solving is inspiring
science because of my brothers. My oldest brother had won the her bikes in and out of a trailer, cranking on winches and lugging and emblematic of how we strive to educate our engineering neighbors notice.”
school’s science competition. He traveled to Germany and London batteries. Hakansson says marrying the math and science with students to tackle the great challenges facing our global
t
and got these awards. So I had to beat him,” she says. “I won the hands-on experience pays the biggest benefits. A square hole is community,” Shoureshi says. “Eva is a true pioneer in the field
contest twice.” easy to draw on an engine design with a computer-assisted design of electric vehicles and is a tremendous ambassador for our
addresses all this in pragmatic fashion. People like powerful
While she was writing a book in 2007 (loosely translated from program. But in the metal shop, drilling a square, flat-bottomed engineering program, where one of our key areas of focus is
vehicles, she reasons. People don’t care what makes a vehicle
Swedish: Hybrid Cars, The Future is Now) she tracked down Dubé, hole is a daunting task. Engineers who understand how a concept the development of optimized energy systems using renewable
powerful.
a government research scientist who designed the world’s quickest translates from blueprints to bolts can best turn ideas into reality. resources.”
“The whole reason we do this is to promote electric-
electric-powered motorcycle. Dubé’s low-slung racing machine “What I like about DU is the overall attitude. They want
powered vehicles. The only way we can do that is to make
boasts 500 horsepower and hits 60 mph in less than a second. people to succeed, they want you to do something,” Hakansson
something really fast and really powerful and really sexy.
“I just wanted to use a picture of his electric motorcycle,” says. “My advice to students: ‘Do something.’ You can write
Something that will make your neighbors notice,” she says.
she recalls. But they were kindred spirits, incessant tinkerers and every paper in the world, but if you go out and build something, The near-term barrier for Hakansson and her team lies on
“Everybody wants the fastest, the biggest. If people don’t believe
designers, absorbed in what would become for both an extremely future employers can see it. It’s something they can look at. You 30,000 acres of scorched, lifeless earth on the Bonneville Salt
electric vehicles are fun to drive, they won’t buy them. Guilt only
expensive “hobby.” don’t just tell them you can do it, you show them.” Flats, 120 miles west of Salt Lake City: the 176 mph speed record
sells so many electric cars.”
She finally met him in Los Angeles. Two years later they were Rahmat Shoureshi, dean of the engineering school, says for an electric motorcycle. The next goal is 400 mph. And after
married, and Hakansson found herself in a Denver suburb with a Hakansson’s passion for energy efficiency and innovation that, Hakansson simply wants to see the world convert to electric
husband, a garage full of industrial metal-shaping equipment and a exemplifies what the University does best: finding solutions that vehicles and ditch the polluting, inefficient gasoline engine. She Watch a video of Eva Hakansson’s TEDxDU presentation at TEDxDU.com
28 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 29
T
o understand the marriage of transportation and land use, “We built an awful lot of highways and automobiles because gas (petroleum) fuels, accounts for one-third of U.S. greenhouse- and geopolitical impact as possible. The answer for Denver and
look no further than a pair of old maps—in this case, maps was selling for 29 cents a gallon,” says Gilbert Carmichael, a former gas emissions, according to figures from the U.S. Department of elsewhere, land-use and transportation planners increasingly agree,
of Denver, though they could just as easily be those of Des federal railroad administrator and founding chairman of the board of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). Though fuel is to shift back to the nation’s roots on the rails, despite the high
Moines or Detroit. directors of DU’s Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI). “When prices have dipped because of the recession, oil remains a finite cost of trains that move people as opposed to goods.
In 1900, Pitner & Fergie’s Official Map of Denver depicted a you get a cheap fuel, you get a system based on it.” resource. The U.S. imports 60 percent of what it burns, thereby “In this case, there are bad solutions and worse solutions,” says
downtown webbed with streetcar lines. Lonelier spurs reached out Americans still love their cars. But the sprawling human sending more than $25 billion a month to overseas coffers, says the Thomas Finkbiner, a longtime transportation executive and senior
along dirt roads in various directions, to what were the fringes. One landscapes cars have enabled are now costing us $87 billion a year EIA, and a healthy portion of those imports come from politically chairman of the ITI board of directors. “The consensus shortcut
such line tracked south to Evans Avenue and then east to the DU in wasted fuel and lost productivity—$750 for every U.S. traveler. volatile regions. that people are coming to recognize is the modal switch. The one
campus. Another went south along Broadway to Hampden Avenue That’s about a week’s worth of fuel as well as time, the Texas In the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President thing you can do in terms of improved productivity is switch both
in Englewood. Transportation Institute says. Obama said that “our continued dependence on fossil fuels will freight and people from the highway to the rail.”
But by the time the Hotchkiss Map Co. printed its Map of Denver And the problems don’t stop there. The American Society of jeopardize our national security. It will smother our planet. And it Such a switch would have impacts far beyond people’s choices
and Surroundings in 1952, not a single streetcar line remained. The Civil Engineers has projected a $115-billion-a-year shortfall for will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk.” in how they get from point A to point B. A return to the rails
“surroundings” dwarfed the old downtown. In Denver and through- road and bridge maintenance and improvements in the next five America’s challenge is to keep people and goods moving at low would, like previous transportation revolutions, reshape American
out the United States, the automobile had reshaped the landscape. years. The transportation sector, powered overwhelmingly by liquid cost, with minimum congestion, and with as little environmental landscapes and redefine American life.
30 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 31
T here are four primary modes of transportation: air, water,
rail and road. We use them in two ways: to move ourselves
(passengers) and to move stuff (freight). On the freight side,
Breakdown of U.S. freight
by mode (in ton-miles)
matters are more settled. Nearly half of U.S. freight, measured
in ton-miles, moves by rail, according to the U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT). About half of that is coal, followed by
grains, chemicals, foodstuffs and fuel.
The fastest-growing area of freight transport, intermodal,
involves moving metal containers roughly the size of 18-wheel
truck trailers. Such containers arrive on ships with 2,500 of their
ilk stacked in a multicolored LEGO mélange. The containers, Rail Truck Water Air
45 percent 37 percent 18 percent <1 percent
transferred to rail, can then ride double-stacked on low-riding
flatcars. They are transferred to trucks for the final legs of their Source: Research and Innovative Technology Administration, 2003
travels.
Intermodal freight has grown explosively as manufacturing
has globalized. From 1980 through 2008, according to the DOT, join the region—tantamount to another Salt Lake City moving to
intermodal shipments by rail grew from 3 million containers to Denver, Rudy says.
more than 11.5 million. Rudy’s DRCOG colleague Jill Locantore, a senior land-
Rail is the most efficient way to move freight over use planner, says the Denver of 2035 will be about the size of
land. Carmichael says the classic “steel wheel on a steel rail” Washington, D.C., today.
configuration is almost frictionless, able to move a ton of freight “[D.C. has] mass transit, but also a lot of congestion.
more than 400 miles on one gallon of fuel. Regardless of what we do, it’s going to be more congested,”
A 2009 Federal Railroad Administration study comparing Locantore says. “I think the question for policymakers and taxpayers
rail and truck fuel efficiency showed that, depending on the is how much do we want to invest in providing alternatives?”
route and the commodity carried, railroads are up to 5.5 times At D.C. scale, we’ll still need to get around, as well as buy
more fuel-efficient than trucks. Depending on the type of freight things arriving on trucks with which we’ll continue to share
and the distance hauled, a single cross-country intermodal the road. While hybrid-electric vehicles (combining electric and
double-stack train can replace 280 trucks and save up to 80,000 internal-combustion engines) and all-electric vehicles will cut back
gallons of fuel. on fuel consumption, they won’t reduce traffic. And the impacts of
Yet the rail freight system faces problems, Finkbiner says. electric vehicles on land-use patterns remain unclear. If people can
Rail infrastructure is wearing down, and it’s not clear how to drive an electric vehicle 50 miles on a charge and then plug in while
finance its rebuilding and upkeep. At the same time, consolidation at work, they could still live in distant exurbs and continue postwar
of the freight system has shrunk the freight rail network from development patterns, Rudy says.
s_oleg/Shutterstock
nearly 165,000 miles in 1980 to nearly 94,000 miles in 2008, “I don’t think that’s what any of us want to see,” he says.
mainly via the removal of redundant freight tracks. But such What’s more, Rudy says, long-distance electric-car commuters
tracks are looking less and less redundant. The U.S. Department could stress the electric grid during peak daytime hours—rather
of Transportation expects tonnage on the nation’s rail system to than charging at night and serving as distributed “vehicle-to-grid”
increase 88 percent by 2035. And that’s not even taking passenger power generators by day, as some envision. Rail vs. truck fuel consumption by distance traveled
That means creating places in which people can shop for
rail increases into account. Vehicle-navigation technology may soon help congestion, groceries, get kids to school or go to work without having to 1400
though. Randal O’Toole, a transportation analyst and senior fellow
32 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 33
Tyrone Turner/National Geographic Society/Corbis
Do you approve of the federal government’s investment in high-speed rail?
Take the poll: www.du.edu/magazine
the book Transport Revolutions. RTD’s FasTracks program, initially increasingly pricey—liquid fuels the only option into the foreseeable
budgeted at $4.7 billion, is now slated to cost $6.5 billion, the result future.
of ballooning costs. At the same time, plummeting sales tax revenues But if Gilbert is right, regional high-speed passenger rail will
have left RTD with a shortage of funds to complete the project. be the biggest threat to airlines. The Obama administration’s 2009
“That’s a perfect storm, when costs escalate and revenues stimulus package jump-started the decades-old vision of a U.S.
decrease,” says RTD FasTracks spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas. high-speed rail network, spending $8 billion on 13 regional high-
To build the system out by 2017 as planned, RTD needs to fill speed rail efforts, with the promise of $5 billion more over the next
a $2.4 billion budget gap, Tonilas says. The RTD board recently five years. Carmichael says that as rail takes hold, commuter planes
decided to delay a ballot issue asking voters to approve a second 0.4 and many domestic flights will eventually disappear.
percent sales-tax increase. But without that money and a $1 billion Investing in a high-speed passenger rail network of 100-mile to
assist from the federal government, FasTracks won’t be finished until 600-mile-long intercity corridors “builds on the successful highway
2042, RTD officials say. and aviation development models with a 21st century solution,” but
Denver is not alone. The Maricopa Association of Govern- one focusing on “a clean, energy-efficient option,” according to the
ments—the DRCOG of greater Phoenix, Ariz.—would like to Department of Transportation’s strategic plan for high-speed rail.
expand the 20-mile light-rail system it opened in late 2008, says Eric One of the proposed routes extends from Cheyenne, Wyo., through
Anderson, the association’s transportation director. As has been the Denver south to Albuquerque, N.M., and El Paso, Texas. The
case with Denver’s southerly light-rail lines, ridership has exceeded Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Rail Authority currently is
expectations, with the line carrying 34 percent more passengers in developing plans for passenger rail lines along the state’s I-25 and
2009 than anticipated. The region would like to build another 37 I-70 corridors.
miles of local rail, Anderson says. Money is lacking, though. To Carmichael, it’s a familiar vision. He has been advocating
“Revenues are down, and costs turned out to be quite a bit something he calls the “Interstate II” for years now. The system
higher than in the plan,” Anderson says. would add 30,000 miles of high-speed railways to existing rights of
Indeed, passenger rail’s high costs don’t end when construction way to create “a 21st century intermodal transportation system for
wraps up. Amtrak carried about 27 million passengers in fiscal passengers and freight.”
I n cities across the country, light rail has become a linchpin of taken the train downtown. 2009 but needed $1.5 billion from the federal government to cover Regions around the country submitted $55 billion in requests
land-use and transportation planning. In Denver, 122 miles of “It beats the hell out of paying gas money,” he says. operating and capital shortfalls. for the $8 billion in high-speed rail regional stimulus funding. The
light rail and commuter rail known as FasTracks—for which voters Thirteen years ago, Corona would have been outside an Light rail in the United States is heavily subsidized by taxpayers. largest recipients were California ($2.25 billion for a Los Angeles-
approved a 0.4 percent Regional Transportation District sales-tax hike abandoned shopping mall. The 1.3 million square-foot Cinderella O’Toole calculates that light rail costs eight times the price per mile San Francisco route) and Florida ($1.25 billion for a Tampa-Orlando
in 2004—eventually will connect the hub of Denver’s Union Station City was demolished in 1998 to make way for the development. as urban driving. link).
with Denver International Airport, Boulder, Longmont, Wheat Ridge Englewood still owned the land underneath it, says Harold Stitt, “Huge subsidies are required to make these modes of transit A web of regional high-speed rail networks would be expensive.
and Golden. an Englewood senior planner. That fact provided unusual sway in attractive to people,” he says. O’Toole estimates the latest plan would cost $150 billion to build,
FasTracks is both a reaction to metropolitan Denver’s current pressing developers otherwise cool to the idea of integrating RTD’s O’Toole says buses, if less sexy, are cheaper to buy and operate and that’s assuming that certain regions settle for trains topping out
urban form and a means of shaping its future. By deliberately planned light-rail stop, Stitt says. and don’t force transportation planners to predict financial needs, at 110 mph rather than 220 mph. Complicating matters, Finkbiner
establishing fixed transit arteries, as railroad and highway planners Englewood officials considered the work of transit-oriented development patterns or ridership decades into the future. says, is that most of the rights of way, not to mention the rails
once did, RTD’s marquee project is an attempt to steer growth toward development pioneers such as Portland, Ore., and the San Francisco “With bus transit, you see where people are going and you go themselves, are privately owned by freight carriers.
higher density and away from sprawl. Bay Area, “learning about [transit-oriented development] almost at that way,” O’Toole says. “The freight carriers are steeling themselves for the shared
“I think FasTracks and the transit-oriented development that it’s the same time as developers were,” Stitt says. Gilbert points to trolley buses—buses on an electrified net- usage of mainline routes for railroads,” he says.
instigating are the biggest things that are changing the transportation While the impact on property values is hard to quantify, Stitt says work in places like Cambridge, Mass., and Vancouver, B.C.—as a How America’s collective transportation choices will shape
land-use configuration in the Denver metropolitan area,” says the city believes land as far as a half mile away from the station sells at promising alternative to light rail at one-tenth the cost. future maps, one can only guess. But in 2006, nearly six decades
Professor Andrew Goetz, chair of the DU geography department. a premium. Indeed, a recent survey by Denver real estate investment “They’re not quite as good as light rail, but you can deploy a lot after the University of Denver campus saw its last streetcar, the first
The transit-oriented development surrounding south Denver’s group Grubb & Ellis showed that apartment seekers are willing to more of them,” Gilbert says. “They’re very energy-efficient, quiet, light-rail train arrived. Rather than running along Evans Avenue,
Englewood Station, which opened in 2000, offers a taste of what could spend 4 percent more on rent for apartments within a quarter mile and relatively inexpensive.” it rode on the southeast rail line, 19 miles of tracks built as part
be the future for dozens of FasTracks stops—and, for that matter, of a light-rail stop. Developers pay a 25 percent premium for land in of RTD’s $1.6 billion T-REX project to improve the Interstate
transit-oriented developments around the country. Just north of
Hampden Avenue and Santa Fe Drive, the development is a cluster of
such areas, too, the study found.
DRCOG’s Rudy calls the development “the first and greatest A rethinking of transportation systems—and, by extension,
land use—can’t stop at the metropolitan boundary’s edge.
Long-distance travel also is at a crossroads. In the coming decades,
25 corridor south of the city. Passengers boarding across Buchtel
Boulevard from the Ritchie Center are downtown in 17 minutes.
Perhaps one day the line will link up with high-speed rail to
retailers, restaurants, a fitness club, the Alexan City Center apartment initial [local] example of a different way to develop, one where
complex, the Museum of Outdoor Art and the Englewood civic freeways are not the primary driver. Now all of a sudden, you have a Gilbert believes domestic U.S. airline travel will increasingly cede destinations across the country. It depends as much on priorities as it
center. Just beyond the eastern edge of the multistory development is way to say, ‘There’s a different way we can develop.’ Now that you’ve to regional high-speed rail links—to the extent that the number of does on money, Carmichael says.
a Wal-Mart and a handful of other big-box stores. got some transit, you’ve got an inkling of what you could do.” airports will shrink 80 percent to 90 percent by mid-century. “An ethical transportation system, that doesn’t kill people and
Robert Corona, who works in downtown Denver, was just But light rail comes with a catch. It is expensive: $80 million a Fuel cost will be the main challenge, Goetz says. It takes an doesn’t waste fuel and doesn’t pollute the air, is what we ought to be
getting off the train at Englewood one recent afternoon. He had mile being a typical figure, including the rolling stock, says Richard immense amount of power to plow through the atmosphere at building,” he says. “One that uses each mode—water, rail, highways
driven his Jeep less than a mile to the station’s park-and-ride lot and Gilbert, a Toronto-based transportation analyst and co-author of more than 400 mph, leaving energy-packed—and, analysts believe, and airways—in its most efficient way.”
34 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 35
Testing
the Waters By Richard Chapman
Photography by Justin Edmonds
Alumna
Kristin Waters
is floating
E Early this spring, a gathering of parents sat in the west stands of DU’s Magness Arena and beamed as
73 high school seniors from Denver’s Bruce Randolph School accepted their diplomas.
Bruce Randolph was one of more than a dozen Denver high schools that held graduation
ceremonies in Magness, but this event on a sunny day in May was more than just another springtime
rite of passage. It was a progress point, a high-water mark in Denver’s efforts to fix its failing schools
and a report card to educators on techniques that work.
reform ideas Back in 2005, Bruce Randolph was one of the worst schools in the state. Gang rivalries had turned
the building into a battleground, recalls former principal Kristin Waters. Veteran administrators had clamped
in Denver’s down hard, which suppressed the fighting, but they weren’t able to focus on academics.
roughest “In some classrooms teachers were doing a good job, working hard and making progress with kids,
but in most classrooms students were not learning,” says Waters, who served as principal from 2005 to
schools. 2009. “Students were not being served.”
Waters got the job of turning things around. Her attack plan was twofold: first, get the district and the
union off her back; and second, emphasize classroom expectations, accountability and confidence in the
kids. That was key, she says, and the reason she retained only six of the school’s 45 teachers when she
came in as principal. Those who didn’t unequivocally express belief in the students’ ability to succeed
were replaced.
Five years later, on May 18, 2010, the first group of Randolph students who started under the Waters
regime walked across the stage and accepted diplomas. Nearly 97 percent of the school’s seniors gradu-
ated that day, with the few who missed the cut working to fulfill remaining requirements by mid-June.
Compare that to the graduation rate for Denver Public Schools as a whole—76.9 percent.
Moreover, nearly 95 percent of Bruce Randolph’s seniors got into college.
All in a school where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches, the district’s
measure of poverty; where only seven seniors speak English as their primary language; and where only
two seniors have parents who graduated from college. Overwhelmingly, Bruce Randolph’s seniors are the
first in their families to get a high school diploma.
“You pushed back,” Waters proudly reminded the seniors at commencement. “You tested us on
whether we would stick to our high expectations. We did. And by late November of that first year you rec-
ognized that we were going to help you learn and keep pushing you and not back down.”
36 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 37
T The Bruce Randolph turn-around system of pushing kids hard by Rocky Mountain PBS. In July 2010, she accepted a new job with “We have our principal trainings and everyone talks the talk, what made Waters a great principal, you get a long list that begins
was among the reasons Superintendent Tom Boasberg, Board of DPS as instructional superintendent, guiding high school principals but they can’t always go back and do it,” Waters complains. “They with charisma, moves quickly to mentoring teachers and culminates
Education Chair Nate Easley Jr. and a slew of DPS officials attended in becoming better leaders. struggle with saying, ‘OK teachers, go look at your assessments, look in building morale. The litany goes on: Be direct and hold people
the Randolph commencement. And why The Denver Post carried the “The two things that have the most impact on a student’s learn- at the results, group your students, see what they’re missing, teach accountable for the results—not the talk, the results. Have a plan and
story on the front page of its local section. ing are the teacher and the school leader that supports that teacher,” that.’” push it hard. Make decisions based on what’s best for the kids, not
It was also why the Randolph class of 2010 chose Waters as its she says. “If we don’t have excellent teachers and leaders, none of the Not much rocket science there. More like a primer on the the adults.
commencement speaker. The click-click-click of her high heels in the other things are important.” mechanics of teaching, but an important piece that reformers such “You’ve got to be an administrator, building manager, PR
hallway and her ever-present smile were indelible symbols of what Waters’ new mission underscores the fact that as much as anyone as Waters and Boasberg believe needs to be reinserted as broadly as person, do the books, be a disciplinarian—and most importantly,
they’d been through and how much progress they’d made. in DPS, she has come to symbolize school reform and the formula possible while the chance is at hand. you’ve got to be an instructional leader,” says Ahrnsbrak, a 17-year
“The kids would hear those high heels and you could see every- behind it: goals, high expectations, accountability and unwavering Pressure on Colorado schools to perform has come barreling DPS veteran. “How many people can wear all those hats? What
one sitting up a little straighter in their chairs because they knew confidence in kids’ ability to achieve. down from the Obama administration in the form of the $3.4 we’re asking principals to do is really almost impossible.”
Dr. Waters was coming into the room,” recalls Jessica Chandler, an “We didn’t put programs into place,” Waters, 46, says of her billion that states are competing for in the Race to the Top school Which is why institutions such as DU’s Morgridge College
eighth-grade language arts teacher. “She’d come in, pull up a seat efforts at Randolph. “The programs weren’t it. We had high expecta- turn-around program, and Secretary Duncan has been aggressive in of Education focus on equipping graduates with the skills to make
and talk to the students. It wasn’t just sitting back taking notes. She tions and we supported them. Yeah, I know. Every school has high calling out everyone from teachers to the schools that train them. a difference in some of DPS’ roughest schools. The Morgridge-
wanted to be involved. Always with a big smile; you could tell she expectations. No, they don’t. At Bruce Randolph every kid went into In May, teacher tenure reform took center stage in the Colorado based Ritchie Program for School Leaders, which in May produced
loved being in the classroom.” AP language and composition. Every kid! Not only the kids who Legislature, and Denver Public Schools Board of Education its seventh group of graduates, combines a heavy dose of internship
meetings often roil with sharp disagreements. with classroom courses to prepare principals for low-performing
T
Sixth-grade language arts teacher Stewart Amos remembers were prepared; every student went in. Now that’s a high expectation.”
Waters’ style as charismatic, hands-on and fair. Boasberg isn’t deterred. “That’s natural,” he told the Denver schools in Denver and Adams counties.
“She never raised her voice, she just told people what they Teaching isn’t rocket science, she says to anyone willing to listen. Board of Realtors in April. “Change is tough. But the status quo is Another initiative at Morgridge, the Denver Teacher
needed to do,” he says. “She was our leader. We were a team, but you And it isn’t sweeping changes and new laws. It’s figuring out where unacceptable.” Residency Program, this summer launched its second wave of
knew that what she said went.” students are, building on that and not dumbing things down as you Which is why he has Waters on his team. “She does a great job students whose five-year track is aimed at developing skills for
Cesar Cedillo, who succeeded Waters as principal in 2009, go along. at challenging the status quo in a determined and passionate way,” Denver’s high-needs classrooms. With the help of an $8.2 million
remembers Waters’ work ethic. “She was always the first one here “You keep pushing and you keep providing the support so they he says. “When Bruce Randolph was one of the worst schools in the federal grant, the program aims to produce 75 teachers a year when
and the last one to leave. Saturdays, Sundays, she would have her car can be successful,” she says. state, she took it on. She said, ‘Here’s what I need,’ and it was the it hits its stride.
W
parked out front. She had these cool pink tennis shoes she’d wear Sounds simple, but stare into the byzantine world of public edu- right request.’” “The relationships that were built through the Ritchie
whenever she got tired of high heels. The kids would say, ‘Hey, those cation and you don’t have to look far to find a labyrinth of process, program paved the way for the Denver Teacher Residency,” says
are tight.’ crushing rules, resistance to change, conflicting messages, suspicion, Waters is the first to admit that innovative schools aren’t Morgridge Assistant Professor Susan Korach. “Denver wanted to
“And she was always beaming. Nothing got her down.” anger, vested interests and enough edu-babble to qualify as a foreign for everyone. She’s careful to counsel teachers who want greater be a true partner instead of a university saying, ‘No, this is our
Not even her struggle to win waivers from district and union tongue. control about what getting their wish really means. program and we’ll prepare your teachers.’ [DPS] knew that we
rules so she’d have greater freedom to make the changes she thought “Helping them do what they want to do pushes on schools believed in sharing the work.”
best, particularly as to budget, hiring and school calendar. They were in the system everywhere, and that makes a lot of people Other DU programs also are helping meet DPS needs,
modest changes, Waters says, but the effect was huge. “They let us go uncomfortable,” she says. The process requires urgency to get including a Morgridge partnership with the Daniels College of
into the classroom and start guiding.” things done but also patience so no adult is left behind. Business to produce MBA students able to apply business expertise
Waters’ turn-around plan not only put Bruce “She wasn’t looking for perfect teachers,” recalls Greg to public schools.
Randolph School on a new trajectory, it also generated Ahrnsbrak, high school physical education teacher at Bruce Better include a course in herding cats, Waters quips. She
original research—a case study on her first year Randolph and the school’s union representative. “She was fumes at how slow even effective steps can be and how urgent the
at Bruce Randolph—that in 2006 earned her looking for teachers who were willing to get better and needs are. “You only get one shot at these kids and then they’re
a doctorate from DU’s Morgridge College of grow with their students.” gone,” she says, already thinking of how else DU might lend its
Education. But in a reasonable way. For years, Ahrnsbrak educational legerdemain to DPS difficulties. Maybe expertise in
Three years later her efforts got her says, principals were under so much pressure to continued mentoring, she muses—some ongoing way to help
promoted to Superintendent Boasberg’s office, get students’ math scores up that they forced math teachers get better and to make sure good teachers stay teachers
where as assistant to the superintendent for into everything: physical education, art and all instead of jumping into administration to advance their careers.
reform and innovation she oversaw charter the electives. When Waters came in, Ahrnsbrak “Once they’re trained, they’re dumped off in the schools and
schools, innovation schools—which steeled himself for more of the same, politely what happens to them?” she says. “Is the support we provide as a
use the state’s Innovative Schools asking how she wished him to work math into district meeting their needs? Sometimes, but a lot of times not.”
Act to make adjustments similar teaching volleyball. “Dr. Waters just looked at Waters’ voice trails off as the wheels turn. She’s noodling a
to the ones at Randolph—and me and said, ‘Why would I want you to do solution, working out a better way of looping back to DU the
performance schools, which are that? That’s not your job.’” lessons of what’s working in DPS classrooms and what isn’t—
new schools created from the Ahrnsbrak was instantly impressed. where teachers and principals feel prepared and where they don’t.
ground up. “She didn’t know anything about PE, but It’s school reform at its simplest: a dedicated educator reaching
Waters was praised for her she knew about teaching. She could break into a thicket of intellectual thorns for a good idea.
accomplishments in school reform down the mechanics. I was amazed at the “There needs to be ongoing dialogue,” Waters says decisively.
during a special visit in 2009 by U.S. eye she had.” She doesn’t have all the details yet, but she will. For now, it’s a
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Five years later, if you ask Ahrnsbrak matter of pushing hard, solving problems and not backing down.
and feted as a “transformational leader” and other Randolph faculty members For the kids, she emphasizes. Always for the kids.
38 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 39
Professor Frank Ascione has
discovered a disturbing link
between domestic violence
and animal abuse.
Give Me Shelter
By Tamara Chapman
Photography by Wayne Armstrong
F A
rom his modest office in Craig psychologist by training, Ascione came to DU in summer 2009. He holds GSSW’s
American Humane Endowed Chair, established to foster the emerging field of ani-
Hall, home to DU’s Graduate
mal-assisted social work and to research the bond between humans and animals.
School of Social Work (GSSW), Since arriving in Colorado, he has put his expertise to good use. In early 2010, he testi-
Professor Frank Ascione thumbs through fied before the Colorado General Assembly in support of legislation ensuring that, in cases
involving domestic violence, pets and livestock can be included in civil protection orders. A
a volume of data about animal abuse in few weeks later, Gov. Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 80 into law, making Colorado one of a
domestic violence settings. He points to handful of states with such legislation on the books.
For Linda Newell, the state senator who sponsored SB 80, Ascione’s testimony pro-
a child’s drawing—a Noah’s ark of family vided the evidence needed to convince skeptics. Colorado lawmakers, after all, are known
pets. Here a chick, there a pup, here a for a Western-hued pragmatism that considers animals property and property rights sacred.
“On the floor, I went up to people, starting to talk with them about the bill. I had a few
hamster, there a kitten. just look at me and start to laugh,” Newell recalls. “‘Oh my gosh, now we’re having protec-
The drawing depicts dearly departed tion orders for pets. What kind of deal is that! I have better things to talk about.’”
Then Ascione shared his research. To illustrate his data, he relayed a simple story,
family pets, casualties of cruelty and
stripped of sensational details. He is careful not to traffic in what he calls “violence porn,”
violence. no matter how much the occasion begs for lavish adjectives and adverbs.
The executive director of GSSW’s The story went like this: An abused woman went to a shelter. She left her dog at home.
Her husband smuggled an audiocassette tape to her—a recording of her dog being tortured.
Institute for Human-Animal Connection, She packed her bags, she left the shelter, and they never saw her again.
Ascione is one of the nation’s leading “You could have heard a pin drop,” says Newell, recalling the testimony.
“What helps with legislators in committee is the data and the story,” she adds. “We
researchers on the dynamics of looked for a story, and what was very difficult was finding a story where the survivor was
domestic violence, child abuse and willing to testify. They don’t want to relive it, they don’t want to go there mentally again,
rehash it all. … When Dr. Ascione got up and gave his story about the woman, never to be
animal maltreatment. His work is full of seen again, never to be heard of again, that was exactly what we needed.”
disturbing revelations, but one conclusion For Amy Miller, public policy director for the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic
Violence and a supporter of SB 80, Ascione’s research confirms the human toll of animal
never ceases to shock: Animals are often
cruelty. “It’s a method used to intimidate, threaten or coerce a child or adult victim,” she
used to control and manipulate abuse says. “It sends a really clear message that, ‘You’re next. I will do this to this living being, and
victims. Ascione sums it up this way: if you don’t do what I tell you to do … if you don’t come back to me, I will chop up the
dog and send it to you in packages.’”
“Do what I say or the kitten gets it.” “That,” she adds, “was an actual case.”
40 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 41
“In some instances, the abuse
was purposefully done in front
A scione’s work on animal cruelty and domestic violence began
more than 20 years ago at Utah State University, where he
served on the psychology faculty. While evaluating materials related
of the children. The children had pets and all of whom reported that their adult relationships
were violence-free.
Of the comparison group, Ascione says, 5 percent said they
It wasn’t uncommon for an abuser to buy a child an animal,
wait for the attachment to form and then kill the animal, sometimes
with the child watching. A few weeks later, the scenario would play
to humane education—a concept that aims to increase compas-
sion—he was asked by an animal welfare advocate for some insight
were made to watch.” had pets that had been harmed or killed. Of the shelter women, 54
percent reported that a pet had met a similar fate.
out again.
“We don’t know yet what those repeated experiences of loss
into children who are cruel to animals. By this time, Ascione’s research was attracting international and replacement, loss and replacement, might do to a child in
He couldn’t offer much. “Except for some psychoanalytic clin- “What we found in this very preliminary study,” Ascione attention. “That study,” he says, “served as the basis for a study in terms of their attitudes toward living things,” Ascione says, noting
ical literature, which was primarily case-study literature, I couldn’t explains, “was that many of the children at the domestic violence Australia, where a doctoral student at Monash University asked to that some survivors develop acute empathy, while others go on to
find anything in child psychology that focused on this phenom- shelters not only engaged in animal abuse themselves, but they use the same assessment instrument that I developed.” become abusers themselves.
enon,” he recalls. were exposed to often horrific animal abuse, perpetrated by their She also focused on 200 women—100 from domestic violence If that finding wasn’t horrifying enough, Ascione also learned
Curious, Ascione launched a research project to explore the mothers’ partners, whether it was a father or stepfather or boy- centers and 100 from a comparison group. In the latter group, not that the presence of pets in the house often kept domestic violence
issue. His first efforts yielded few results, largely because his meth- friend.” one woman reported that she had had a pet harmed or killed, but victims from seeking help. Of those women who had reported that
odology proved unwieldy. Then he began comparing data from the Ascione then launched a small-scale study of 38 women enter- of the domestic abuse victims, 53 percent claimed their pets had their pets had been harmed or threatened, 34 percent said concern
general population with information gathered from special popula- ing a shelter in Utah. “One of the basic questions we asked was, experienced violence or cruelty. for their pets kept them from going to a shelter. “More than one in
tions. Within the general population, he learned, only about 5 per- ‘Do you have pets?’ because I could find no data on the demo- “Very, very similar results,” Ascione notes. “Different country, three said this was an obstacle to getting to safety sooner than they
cent of parents reported that their children engaged in some form graphics of pet ownership among women entering shelters for different culture in some ways, but it just confirmed that this was did,” Ascione says.
of animal cruelty. The percentage increased among children served intimate partner violence,” he says. “We discovered that 74 percent not an isolated phenomenon. It wasn’t a Utah phenomenon—this Count Angela McMahan among them.
by mental health clinics. of the women had companion animals in their homes. And that’s was something that probably is more pervasive.” Several years ago, on an evening when her husband’s violence
“It jumped to 20 percent to 25 percent,” he says. “But it still was comparable to the national statistics on pet ownership in families Another finding from Ascione’s studies suggested that the escalated beyond endurance, McMahan checked into a hotel to sit
a low-frequency behavior, comparable to vandalism or fire-setting.” where there are school-age children. It’s between 70 and 90 percent. phenomenon had alarming repercussions for children. More than out the fury. Unfortunately, she found little peace at the inn.
Ascione and his research team kept probing. “We decided in It’s typically the highest pet-owning demographic in the country.” 60 percent of the children in shelters whose families had pets had That’s because she worried all night about the scene back
order to study this phenomenon more effectively, we probably Through a series of follow-up questions, Ascione and his team been exposed to animal abuse. home, where her husband remained with her two best friends—
should look to environments where the likelihood of this behavior attempted to discover whether these pets had been harmed, threat- “In some instances, the abuse was purposefully done in front sisters Jessie and Jasmine, the tail-wagging offspring of a retriever
is higher.” ened or killed by the women’s partners. “We were startled by the of the children. The children were made to watch. It’s very clear mom and a black-Lab dad. “To hurt me,” she explains of her ex-
They began with juvenile detention facilities and residential number of women who said yes to the question,” he says. from the examples that these women shared with us that these husband’s motives, “they ended up being hurt.”
treatment programs focused on mental health issues. They hit pay Troubled and intrigued, Ascione went on to study 100 pet- were not accidental episodes of animal abuse. … In some cases McMahan returned home and stayed with her husband for
dirt once they began interviewing a handful of children who had owning women at five different Utah shelters. This time he these were methodical ways of frightening and terrorizing mem- more of the same—more emotional abuse and more violence. Then
accompanied their mothers to domestic violence shelters. recruited a comparison group of another 100 women, all of whom bers of the family.” one day, she recalls, “I literally woke up facedown in the garage in a
42 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 43
49 Reunion recap
pool of my own blood. … I don’t know how long I was out.” 51 Quotable notes
She called an emergency shelter, hoping to find respite for
herself and the dogs. The overextended facilities had barely enough 53 Book bin
room for another human victim, but they certainly couldn’t accom-
modate two large pets. “As a matter of fact,” she recalls, “I was told
54 Pioneer pics
to leave them, just leave them and get out. That obviously wasn’t an 58 Announcements
option for me. … I just wasn’t going to leave them.”
McMahan didn’t leave them, but she did begin making plans
to escape the “’til death do us part” clause of her nuptial vows. By
the time her divorce became final two years later, the three survivors
had their share of battle scars.
“We all left with a limp,” she says.
DU Archives
“The last we heard, from the 2008 directory, was that over 700 or It’s not always a peaceable kingdom—sometimes a little fur
800 agencies have some kind of pet-sheltering program available,” flies—but for the survivors seeking safety at Arising Hope, it repre-
Ascione says. “I suspect had they done that survey in 1998, it would sents a second chance at a normal life.
have been only a handful of agencies.” For Ascione, the emergence of shelters like Arising Hope and The Homecoming queen hopefuls of 1968 pose for a portrait. Homecoming this year is
To give this momentum an adrenaline boost, the American the passage of legislation like SB 80 represent a scholar’s dream Oct. 14–17. If you can tell us more about this image or have any Homecoming photos of
Humane Association, which supports human-animal bond research come true. What could be better than seeing data put to work?
at GSSW, launched its Pets and Women’s Shelters program in “Sometimes I’m asked, ‘How do you do this?’” he says, “and
your own to share, please let us know.
February 2008. Known as PAWS, the program aims to help shelters my only answer is, it has been so satisfying to see research findings
incorporate accommodations for animals, whether on site or in part- translated into programs that promote human welfare.”
nership with animal welfare and fostering agencies.
In spring 2010, PAWS took its campaign to the general public
Watch a video about DU’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection at www.du.edu/
by pursuing grant money from Pepsi’s Refresh Project, a widely magazine
Wayne Armstrong
at KLZ-CBS in Denver before getting been performed by the Brazil, Indiana, in southeastern Colorado have earned her
Elizabeth (Berg) Aley (BA ’45) of Paonia, married and moving to California. In 2009 Concert Band. Harry has music published the Top Hand Award from the Colorado house back to the way it was and
Colo., wrote the one-act play Paradox she published Someday Street, a novelized by Ludwig-Masters and Kendor Music. Authors League, the Colorado Book Award, really create a storied experience
Colorado, which was given a staged reading memoir about growing up in Denver during the Benjamin Franklin Award from the for folks who come to stay,” says
in Aspen, Colo., in December 2009. The the Great Depression. Barbara has two Publishers Marketing Association and the
Hudson Reed Ensemble read the play, which
deals with the proliferation of gas drilling
sons, three granddaughters and two great-
granddaughters.
1957 EVVY Book Award.
Jim Peiker (BSBA ’57), who bought the dilapidated 1889 building in Denver’s City Park West
neighborhood in 1988 and spent five months turning it into a bed-and-breakfast inn.
Chuck Yim Gee (BSBA ’57) of Honolulu,
Peiker and his wife, Diane (Carpenter) (BA ’57), run the nine-room inn with their
Hawaii, has been reappointed to the Rexford Thompson (MSW ’64) and Joyce
University of Hawaii Board of Regents Thompson (MSW ’61) moved to Key daughter, Melissa, son-in-law, Louie, and three grandchildren, ages 11, 14 and 15. Jim and
James Beverly
Through Grief to Understanding. and Fundraising in Non-Profit Organizations Jerry previously served as superintendent of was recognized by Doris Finnie-Shade (BA ’41)
(Vandeplas Publishing, 2009). The book Denver Public Schools, head of the Colorado Colorado Gov. Bill
remembers paying her tuition when
James Hudspeth draws on Ted’s 25 years as president and community colleges system and interim dean Ritter for her work
(BA ’71) moved CEO of the Arthritis Foundation’s Rocky of DU’s Morgride College of Education. helping abused and she was a student at the University of
to Taylor Falls, Mountain chapter. Ted is an associate clinical neglected children. Denver in the late 1930s—$75 per
Minn., in 1974 professor in DU’s Josef Korbel School of Bunny’s 41-year quarter.
to teach special International Studies. 1973 career includes “But that kind of money was
education. He met Dinah Lewis (BSBA work as a child protective services caseworker,
just as hard to come by as $25,000
and married his ’73, JD ’81) was supervisor, therapist, trainer, researcher and
wife, Christine, in 1972 named the new chief program director, including a stint as director or whatever it is today,” said Finnie-
1976; they have Michael Ruddy (BSBA ’72) authored financial officer and of the Family Center, a national child abuse Shade, one of about 300 alumni, faculty
two children, Ira Conflicts With Interest (Rodeo Publishing, director of the Finance and neglect demonstration project. Ritter and staff who gathered June 4 for the
and Erin. James has been volunteering in 2010), a thriller set in the world of and Administrative conferred the recognition in his office on April Emeritus Tea, an annual celebration in
schools since he retired in 1985. He is a homebuilding and construction. Michael Services Department for 29, 2010, with Bunny’s colleagues, family and
100-percent-disabled Vietnam War veteran spent 40 years in the construction business, Broward County, Fla. friends in attendance. which alumni who return to DU for Ernest Moore (BS ’60) and Joan Moore
and remembers the turbulent times at DU and his experiences inspired many of the She previously spent 10 their 50-year class reunion are inducted
during the war. events of the story. He lives in Boulder, years in private law practice in Denver and into Pioneer Alumni Legends (PALS), a
1975
James Beverly
Colo., with his wife, five children, dog served as director of administrative services group for alumni who graduated 50 or
and horses. for Lee County, Fla. Phil Goodstein (MA ’75) of Denver published
more years ago.
The Ghosts of University Park, Platt Park, and
Beyond (New Social Publications, 2010), a And Finnie-Shade recalled
history book about the University’s influence dancing—between classes. Yes,
on Denver’s social, political, economic and organized dancing, sometimes as early
“Before the war it was a playhouse; we frolicked,” said Gwendolyn Scott (BFA ’48, MA
Light of the Halloween Moon (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1993), Pirate Pup (Chronicle Books,
Pat Ferullo Halperin (MSW ’76), who has ’68), who remembers playing touch football in intramural sports. “The art club, the Daubers,
2005), Night Train (Roaring Brook Press, 2002) and Cowpokes (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, retired from private practice, lived aboard a we had a fine time. But after the war, when the GIs came, school got a lot more serious, and
1999). She says she had at least 100 rejections before she finally sold her first book. ship called the Reflection for 2½ years with her we started studying more.”
“[A literary agent] came to Denver for a conference, and I sent her some things in husband, “Captain Ray.” Their travels took
them from Maine to Key West with visits to Marvin Meyers (BA ’56, MA ’59) recalled working for $1 an hour in the maintenance
advance,” Stutson says. “She handed them all back to me at lunch and said, ‘There’s one poem
in here that I like, and if you could turn it into a book I could sell it.’ I think I stayed up all Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake, then department.
night doing that, and that was my first published book.” on to the Bahamas. The couple has traded that “I installed heating units and threaded pipe, all kinds of things,” Meyers said. “But DU
lifestyle for “cruising on land” in an RV. was a great school for me. It was a place to think, to learn, to analyze, and it taught me how to
A theater major with a minor in education, Stutson honed her storytelling skills as a kindergarten teacher, owner of her own puppet
show business and a member of the Littleton, Colo., chapter of Spellbinders, a volunteer group that tells stories to children. assist others.” Meyers has spent much of his career advocating for people with disabilities and
Heraldo Muñoz (MA ’76, PhD ’79) of New
“It’s been fun, and it keeps me in touch with which stories work and which don’t,” she says of her Spellbinders service. “I don’t tell York City has been appointed the assistant veterans and still talks with Colorado legislators about issues affecting both groups.
my own stories, but I tell adaptations of books. I think kids are just great, and especially when they’re young, they’re so excited about secretary-general and assistant administrator Perhaps it was people like Meyers that Chancellor Robert Coombe had in mind when he
everything—if you can get their attention at that age, my hope is that they’re going to be readers for the rest of their lives.” and director of the Regional Bureau for Latin told the group that DU sets students off on “a path of purpose and significance.”
>>www.carolinestutson.info America and the Caribbean of the United “I know all of us can point to DU alumni who have changed lives,” Coombe said. “The
—Greg Glasgow Nations Development Programme.
measure of a university is its alumni, and we’ve graduated some extraordinary individuals.”
—Doug McPherson
From there, Smith interned with a motion picture and television rental house. A Mark Ward (MBA ’81) of Newton, Iowa, local residents annually. Naomi also serves were muy grande!”
few years later he started his own business, Lightsmith Electrical and Grip Co. By the has been appointed vice president for on the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits
academic affairs and dean of the college at leadership team, the Housing and Community Reid Husmer (BSBA ’96)
1990s, Lightsmith had become Colorado’s second-largest lighting rental company, thanks
the University of Dubuque. Mark previously Development Advisory Commission of Santa Littleton, Colo.
to Smith’s advocacy for local film production. But Lightsmith doesn’t limit itself to local
was the associate provost of Trinity Christian Clara County and the United Way Silicon Val-
projects; the company supplies equipment to production companies all over the world. College. ley board of directors, and she is the director “Len and Bill’s, because beer and good
Smith’s resumé is heavy on TV commercials—he has partnered with the Colorado Lottery, Denver Film Festival, cable channel Encore at Midori Kai, a professional organization for
company was always there.”
Japanese-American women.
and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few. He even filmed a series of commercials for John Hickenlooper’s first mayoral
campaign. Smith has seven Emmy Awards for his work on local and national television commercials. 1982 Nancy (Cook) Spade (BA ’75, MA ’76)
Diane Keller (MSW ’82) was promoted to Pacific Grove, Calif.
Despite his expertise with commercials, Smith still has the movie bug. He served as director of photography on the 2007 independent
feature Skills Like This, which was filmed in Denver and won the Audience Award at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The
senior campaign manager of the Steier Group, 1987
a national fundraising and development Carol Harvey (MBA ’87) of Indian Rocks
movie follows a young man who decides to quit writing and start robbing banks. According to Smith, “It’s about a bunch of affable screwups.” firm based in Omaha, Neb., that specializes Beach, Fla., is the executive secretary of the
Smith moved to Los Angeles with his family in January 2000. He has worked on TV shows for Comedy Central and Animal Planet, as in feasibility studies and capital campaigns. Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs. She
Diane works out of the Steier Group’s acts as a liaison between native tribes and the
well as on commercials for American Crew hair products and K-Swiss shoes.
Denver office and has managed numerous state of Colorado. Carol previously was an
Although he spent years educating himself in video production, Smith sees his success as a result of his ambition. projects including church, high school and energy attorney in Santa Fe, N.M.
“I learned early on that education is a very important part of one’s personal growth,” Smith says. “But it’s what you do with your community projects. Before joining the Steier
knowledge and talents that helps you succeed in life. I still enjoy what I do for a living after 30 years.” Group in 2005, Diane served as a medic in Grayson Hoberg (MBA ’87) is the chief
—Elizabeth Fritzler the U.S. Army and spent 16 years working executive officer of Dakota Prairie Organic
in development with Catholic churches in Flour Company in Harvey, N.D. His company
Denver. makes 70 flours from 40 different grains,
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Wayne Armstrong
Erin (Wilde) Stang (MSW ’91) works
Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.
at the University of Colorado at Denver
“It is 79 feet high and was built around A.D. 800. It Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center in
served that community for about 500 years,” Shrader writes. Aurora, Colo.
“I am now retired and my wife and I visited El Castillo and
three other ancient sites in Mexico in February 2010.”
As you pioneer lands far and wide, be sure to pack your
1992
Tricia (Jones)
DU gear and strike a pose in front of a national monument, Bernhardt
the fourth wonder of the world or your hometown hot spot. (MEPM ’92) of
If we print your submission, you’ll receive some new DU Larkspur, Colo.,
is a project
paraphernalia courtesy of the DU Bookstore. manager for
Send your print or high-resolution digital image and Tetra Tech, an
a description of the location to: Pioneer Pics, University of environmental
Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO consulting firm.
Tricia, who has
80208-4816, or e-mail du-magazine@du.edu. Be sure to
26 years of experience in environmental
include your full name, address, degree(s) and year(s) of permitting, is the project manager for the
graduation. Genesis Solar Energy Project in Southern
California. Tricia and her husband, Reve,
have four grown children and volunteer
regularly at the Casa Guatemala orphanage in
Guatemala.
Deaths
Reid Husmer (BA international business ’96) despises clutter. When he feels his
Terry Fowler (JD ’92) of Denver
1960s co-authored the book Law and Mental life is disorganized, he cleans. He boasts that his home has achieved a bare minimum
John Meier (MA ’60, PhD ’65), Redlands, Calif., 4-14-10 Health Professionals (American Psychological of efficiency—TV, couch, kitchen table, bed. His 7-year-old son’s room, though, is a
Martha Sue (Groening) Perry (BA ’66), Bisbee, Ariz., 3-7-10
1930s Susan Frank (BA ’69), Chicago, 2-11-10
Association, 2006), a thorough review of the
laws in the state of Colorado as they relate to
different story.
“I get to the point with my son where his room has too much stuff, because kids
Georgia (Marrs) Gellert Penfield (BA ’37), Seattle, 1-5-10
the mental health profession. like a toy for five minutes and then put it aside,” Husmer says. “Adults aren’t that
Lois Roslund (BA ’37), Denver, 4-2-10
1970s different; they love their toys, too. They’ll just pile them in the garage instead of their
John Osborn (MBA ’73), Denver, 3-27-10 Mike King (JD ’92) of Parker, Colo., has
1940s David Schump (MBA ’76), Windsor, Colo., 5-2-10 been named the executive director of the
bedroom.”
Alice McClain (BA ’40), Bozeman, Mont., 3-15-10 Colorado Department of Natural Resources And when adults want to get rid of their toys, they can call Husmer’s company
Dale Mitchell (MT ’79), Loveland, Colo., 3-31-10
William Jolly Jr. (BA ’43), Richardson, Texas, 1-11-10 (DNR). Mike previously was the deputy Gone For Good, which he started from his home in 2008 and now runs from a
director of the DNR. Prior to that he was
Barbara Ann (Bidwell) Winn (BA ’43), Lubbock, Texas, 10-8-08
Melvin Farver (BS ’45), Fort Collins, Colo., 12-31-09
1980s assistant attorney general in the natural
storefront in Littleton, Colo.
The premise is simple: Husmer and his employee, Jonathan Inaba, will come
Paul Braun (MBA ’82), Denver, 3-15-10 resources section of the Colorado Attorney
Robert DeNier (BS ’47), Durango, Colo., 4-14-10 to your house and, for a price, haul away a roomful of junk. The philosophy is more
Scott Whitsett (BA ’82), San Francisco, 4-21-10 General’s Office.
Jack Horan (attd. ’47–’53), Greenwood Village, Colo., 2-5-10 involved: There is value in what others throw away, and there also is a responsibility to
Jeannine Hiester (MA ’86), Denver, 1-21-09
Shirley Suson (BA ’47, MA ’50), Denver, 2-26-10 the environment.
Stephen McCeney (MA ’87, PhD ’94), Denver, 3-27-10
Margaret (Anderson) McClary (BA ’48), Fort Morgan, Colo., 3-31-10
1993 “We’re an eco-friendly hauling company,” Husmer says. “A lot of companies will
Warren Chandler (BA ’49), Westminster, Colo., 5-22-10
John Fertig (BS ’49), Rio Rancho, N.M., 9-24-09
1990s Stephen Shanor (JD ’93) of Roswell, N.M., haul things from your house. We sort through it and try to resell it. If we can’t, we
Virginia Newton (PsyD ’99), Boulder, Colo., 3-28-10 has been elected president of the state bar donate it to charity. If we can’t do that, we break down the materials—wood, metal,
of New Mexico. Stephen is a partner in the foam—and give it to our recycling partners, instead of it going into a landfill.”
1950s Faculty and Staff Roswell office of Hinkle Hensley Shanor For the business to thrive, Husmer has built fruitful relationships with professional
Harold Lane (BS ’50), Centennial, Colo., 1-31-10 and Martin LLP, where he works primarily organizers, Realtors, recyclers and charities (the Epilepsy Foundation is a sizeable
Laurance Herold, geography professor emeritus, Denver, 3-30-10
Richard Tosaw (JD ’50), Sherwood, Ore., 9-16-09 in the areas of medical malpractice, general
Pamela Landon (MSW ’67, PhD ’75), professor of social work, Las liability, water law and real estate transactions.
beneficiary). Customers get 30 percent of resales after 30 days—a figure that has ranged
Frances (Hall) Goe (BA ’52), Denver, 12-18-09
Cruces, N.M., 9-27-09 Stephen and his wife, Heidi, have three from $30 to $300—and Husmer says he’s been surprised by how many items he’s been
Irian Bounds (BA ’53), Edmonds, Wash., 3-24-10
William McIntyre, assistant professor of art (1963–77), Broomfield, children, Katelyn, Andrew and Matthew. able to resell.
Margaret (Schurch) Klovdahl (BSBA ’54), Estes Park, Colo., 3-22-10
Colo., 2-2-10 “You go on Craigslist or eBay, and it’s amazing what people will buy. What’s not
Norman Leake (BSBA ’54), La Conner, Wash., 4-9-10
Elaine (Petersen) Lorenz (BS ’57), Laguna Woods, Calif., 3-26-10
Michael Palij (MA ’57), Lawrence, Kan., 1-21-10
1996 valuable to you is valuable to someone else,” he says. “Instead of just dumping it away,
we can give it a better home.”
Rebecca (Watson) Hudson (JD ’96, LLM >>www.goneforgoodstore.com
Duane Pearsall (BS ’57), Denver, 4-11-10 ’97), former assistant secretary for lands
Vance Park (BSBA ’58), Schuylerville, N.Y., 2-8-10 —Jeff Francis
and minerals management of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, has joined the
54 University of Denver Magazine Fall 2010 University of Denver Magazine Connections 55
law firm of Welborn, Sullivan Meck and department of Jewish Family Service of co-chair of the Maryland Residential Green income school-aged children with a week’s Michele McCandless (MSW ’05) of Beth Wilson Llovet (MSW ’07) is a clinician
Tooley P.C. in Evergreen, Colo. Rebecca Colorado. She is a field instructor for social Building Council. William is joined in the worth of free clothes to encourage school Englewood, Colo., has been promoted on an adult unit at the Colorado Mental
has more than 30 years of legal and policy work students at DU and Metropolitan business by his wife, Gina, a certified interior attendance and self-esteem. It has served more to director of the University of Denver Health Institute at Fort Logan, a Denver
experience in the fields of conventional and State College of Denver and serves on decorator. They have a 3-year-old son, Aaron. than 2,000 Denver children since opening in Disability Services Program, where she has psychiatric hospital.
renewable energy, natural resources and advisory boards at DU, Metro and Denver’s September 2008. worked for more than nine years. She has two
federal environmental law. Prior to her job at Senior Companion Program. grandsons, Connor, 5, and Foster, 2. Aaron Shipman (MSW ’07) is a training
the Department of the Interior, she served as 1998 specialist at the Denver STD/HIV Prevention
the assistant general counsel for energy policy
at the U.S. Department of Energy in the
James Lough (PhD ’97) of Savannah, Ga., has
published his second book, Spheres of Aware-
Allison (Noblett) Coyne (BA ’98) of
Alexandria, Va., and her husband, George,
1999 Wes Riesmeyer (MA Training Center. Aaron also co-authored
Christopher Johnson ’05) and his wife, a new course, “Using Focus Groups for
George H.W. Bush administration. ness: A Wilberian Integral Approach to Literature, welcomed their second son, Gavin Paul, (MRECM ’99) of Jennifer, welcomed Adapting Effective Behavioral Interventions,”
Philosophy, Psychology, and Art (University Press on Feb. 26, 2010. Gavin joins older brother Chicago joined their first child, Hadley for the Centers for Disease Control and
of America, 2009). He is the chair of the writ- Jackson, 4. Allison teaches preschool education Capgemini Consulting Katherine, on Jan. 21, Prevention for use by the National Network
1997 ing department at Savannah College of Art and for Arlington public schools. as a lead consultant in 2010. The family resides of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers.
Amelia Daniel Caudle (MSW ’97) of Design. the business process in Arlington, Va.
Winston-Salem, N.C., is the mother of two Christopher McGee (JD ’98, MBA ’98) is outsourcing group. Athena Terry (MSW ’07) is a clinical social
boys, Ellis, 7, and Bailey, 4. She is a PRN William Zahler (BSBA ’97) of Baltimore president of Prepaid Incentives, a provider of Christopher previously worker in the emergency department at
therapist for behavioral health resources at
Forsyth Medical Center and works in the
spent 20 years in the construction and
development business before forming his
prepaid debit cards branded with corporate
logos for use as sales incentives and employee
was managing director of facilities planning and 2006 Denver Health Medical Center. She lives in
strategic sourcing for United Airlines. Breanne Berch (BSBA ’06) of Santa Monica, Denver with her partner and their 1½-year-
outpatient substance abuse and mental health own company, Zahler Construction and rewards. Chris lives in Draper, Utah, with his Calif., married Robert Blesse on Dec. 12, old daughter.
treatment facility. She also is a contract social Development LLC. William formerly worked wife and three children. Leila Johnson (BS ’99) of Rio Rancho, N.M., 2009, at a private residence in Aspen, Colo.
worker for Carolina Adoption Services. for Artery Homes, Struever-Rouse Homes is the founder of the Spirit Driving Institute,
Designer Traci Tisserat 2003 degree from Northwestern University in undergraduate students. Chris is director
Wayne Armstrong
Sarah Moore Curry (MSW ’03) and Patrick Illinois, serves as a district representative of admissions and an assistant professor at
Curry welcomed daughter Amelia Ann on for Congresswoman Betsy Markey in Wilmington University in Delaware.
It started with a name, but it’s become a business. March 7, 2009. Sarah works part time as Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
a social worker at a life-care community Sara (Becker) Forist (MSW ’08) is a victim
In 2008, University of Denver alumna Traci Tisserat (BA
center in Fayetteville, Ark., and Patrick is an Jessica Ham (MSW ’06) of Parker, Colo., advocate for the Children’s Advocacy Center
’05) and friend and roommate Shawna Sambrano came up with accounting controller at the WACO Title Co. has been an elementary school social worker in Holland, Mich.
the idea to start a business and call it “TraSh Bagz.” for Douglas County, Colo., since 2006. Her
That was the easy part. The hard part was coming up with a triplet girls—Nora Cate, Adelyn Sophia and Elizabeth Rouillier
business to match. 2004 Emma Grace—were born May 13, 2009. (MA ’08) married Scott
Being artistic helped. So did being socially conscious and Amy Bishop (MSW ’04) of Denver is the Stiegman on July 16,
active. The germ of an idea grew into a business. The two take SB94 education advocate for Colorado’s 17th Hillary Jonas (MSW ’06) of Yelm, Wash., is a 2010. She works for
Judicial District. medical social worker at a home health agency, St. Stephen Catholic
old, discarded handbags and use a variety of techniques and
assisting people with new and chronic illnesses. School in New Orleans
media to turn them into works of art. It’s haute couture with a Azusa Kijima (MSW ’04) lives in Toronto She also addresses end-of-life issues, providing as a middle school math
green twist: trash to treasures, handbags to handiwork. and works at a children’s aid society in grief counseling and crisis intervention. She and science teacher, eighth-grade coordinator,
The creations are Cinderella stories in themselves—bags Ontario. She’s worked in children’s services and her husband are enjoying life with their graduation coordinator and coordinator of
collected from vintage clothing shops and closets across the since graduation. son, Cody, who was born in 2008. religious education.
region turned into glamorous pieces decked out in sparkles and feathers and hot pinks and zebra stripes.
Amanda Wagner (MSW ’06) works as a
“All of them are one of a kind,” says Tisserat, displaying a host of bags piled up in the swank Chrysalis Boutique in Centennial, Colo., south
of Denver. “You’re never going to see someone with the same bag. You get one of our bags, you know it’s something special, and you’ve done
2005 mental health professional at Saint Joseph’s 2009
Laura Folkwein (MSW ’05) is program Mercy Care Services in Atlanta, providing Amy Salins (MSW ’09) works as a youth
something good for the environment by recycling a bag.” director at Growing Home, a small nonprofit psychiatric care to the city’s chronically home- advocate and case manager for New Horizons
Tisserat, 26, and Sambrano, 32, toil as much as 20 hours a week, sometimes more, on the complexities of designing, creating and marketing in Westminster, Colo., that houses the less and mentally ill. Amanda and her husband Ministries in Seattle. She calls her work with
their creations, which sell for about $40 to $200 each in boutiques, mobile “trunk shows,” private “purse parties” and online. The pair partners homeless, feeds families and cares for have a 2-year-old daughter, Alexandra. the organization, helping homeless and street-
with area charities, donating 10 percent of their profits back into the community. children. In spring 2010, Folkwein planned involved young people get off the streets, “a
to fulfill her requirements for ordination as true blessing.”
The two hope to make the company their full-time vocation soon. Deals are in the works to get TraSh Bagz in more stores in Denver, with an
eye toward cities across the country. They’ve already seen orders come in from as far away as Hawaii. a pastor in the United Church of Christ, a 2007
progressive Protestant denomination. Meg (Spohn) Bertoni (PhD ’07) married
But it all goes back to that one night when two friends dreamed of starting a business. As the labels on the bags note, “TraSh Bagz is a unique
handbag company established over a cheap bottle of wine by an artist and designer who have an extreme passion for fashion and individuality.”
Seth Iniguez at the Bindery Space in Denver 2010
Eva Klemens (MSW ’05) is a mental health on July 17, 2010. The couple resides in Idaho Kyle Reppert (BS ’10, MS ’10) married
>>www.trashbagz.com therapist with Imagine Behavioral Health Springs, Colo. Ashton Luhrs on Dec. 12, 2009, in Denver.
—Chase Squires Services in Lafayette, Colo. Kyle works for the KPMG accounting firm in
Denver.
DU Photography Department
Mentoring Join the Professional Network and share your career We’re trying to get to know our alumni better while developing
experience and advice with current DU students and alumni. possibilities for future articles. Please send us your ideas. We would
>>www.du.edu/studentlife/career especially like to hear about readers who:
• work in the nuclear energy industry
Local Chapters Just moved to a new city and don’t know any- • are HRTM graduates