FOCUS - Andrews University · Saddam Hussein has been systematically brutaliz-ing his people for decades. Saddam mur-dered all of his political opponents, some-times pulling the trigger

FOCUS

IN FOCUS

I’ve never really had any great hobbies,or even average ones for that matter.Growing up, I tried collecting stamps

and coins, but was generally more successfulcollecting bruises and scrapes while playingwhichever sport was in season.

I did collect matchboxes for a few years dur-ing my childhood. Not Matchbox Cars. Thatwould have been too cool and so mainstream.Instead, I collected matchbooks, the little dis-posable kind that restaurants and hotels giveto patrons—and apparently to the children ofpatrons, who might be inclined to torch thefamily dining room or their nearest sibling.Fortunately, I never showed these instincts

and, in fact, rarely lit the matches. I credit Smokey the Bear.After a time, some friends of my parents began to hunt matchbooks for

me. They’d bring me matches from exotic places like China and India,Germany and France. Las Vegas. It was nice for a while, staring at the for-eign words and pictures, and smelling (when I would occasionally lightone) the strange chemicals on these imported matches.

But it was about this time that I tired of matchbox collecting. I guess I’dreally come to think that the matchbooks should represent places where I’dbeen and things that I’d done, like eating at nearly all the House of Flavorsrestaurants in Michigan. I hadn’t been to China or Germany and the collec-tion didn’t quite seem like mine anymore. So I gave it up.

Oh, I still have the matches, but now I use them for fairly practical pur-poses—campfires, candles and bathroom odors.

Given my own shoddy-hobby life, I was amazed at the number of inter-esting and impressive hobbies that came to light when we put out the wordthat we were going to feature the leisure pursuits of our faculty and staff inthis issue of Focus. Folks from all over campus were sharing their inter-ests—various needlecrafts, wide-ranging artistic endeavors, and unusualcollections of all types.

In the end, we settled on six of these hobbies, showcasing those that areeither particularly unique and/or generally rise above the level of the aver-age “hobbyst.” In most cases, these individuals have achieved true expertise.

And not a matchbox among them.

THEANDREWS UNIVERSITY

MAGAZINE

FOCUSEDITOR

Ivan Davis (MA ‘92)

ASSISTANT EDITORPatricia Spangler

INTERN & EDITORIAL ASSISTANTHelen Robinson

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSRebecca May (BA ‘77)Katie Shaw (BA ‘00)

Brent Geraty (MA ‘91)

WRITERSMarjorie Frakes

Katie Shaw (BA ‘00)

PHOTOGRAPHERSJoseph FrakesErin Heldstab

Sarah Spangler (BT ‘02)

ANDREWS UNIVERSITYPresident: Niels-Erik Andreasen (MA’65, BD ‘66)

Vice Presidents forAcademic Administration: Patricia B. Mutch (BS ‘65)University Advancement: David A. Faehner (MA ‘72)

Student Services: Frances Faehner (BSW ‘76)Financial Administration: Edward E. Wines

Enrollment Management: Stephen Payne

Editor’s Office: (269) 471-3316Email: [email protected]

Office of Alumni Services: (269) 471- 3591Email: [email protected]

www.andrews.edu

FOCUS (ISSN 1077-9345) is published quarterly,free of charge, for alumni and friends of AndrewsUniversity, an institution owned and operated bythe Seventh-day Adventist Church. The maga-zine’s address is FOCUS, Office of UniversityRelations, Andrews University, Berrien Springs,MI 49104-1000. Copyright 2004 by AndrewsUniversity. Reproduction in whole or part withoutpermission is prohibited. Printed by The HamblinCompany, Tecumseh, MI. Periodicals postage paidat Berrien Springs, MI, and at additional mailingoffices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes toFOCUS, Office of Alumni Services, AndrewsUniversity, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0950.

WARNING: Close CoverBefore Striking

CONTENTS

On Their Own Time: Faculty and Staff Hobbies

Joseph, Her Storyby Katie Shaw

A Friend in High Placesby Helen Robinson

Be-Fore There was Tigerby Katie Shaw

What a Waterfull Worldby Marjorie Frakes

Armed and Decorousby Marjorie Frakes

Creating Sound Wavesby Helen Robinson

WINTER 2004 FOCUS 3

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Greg Constantine (BA ‘60), Artist in Residence and Professor of Art, wielding one of his handcrafted shepherd’scrook “golf clubs.” Photographed by Erin Heldstab.

LETTERS

Just a brief comment concerning "Loveyour (Iraqi) neighbor” (Letters, Fall 2003).First, let’s not forget that the Seventh-dayAdventist Church had established theMedical Cadet Corp during WWII totrain our youth in medical treatment sothat when we were drafted we wouldserve in that capacity. We live in a worldwhere war and other horrible things hap-pen and we can and should show ourChristian character no matter where weare. I am currently serving in Baghdad asa medical officer and have had the oppor-tunity to witness not only to our soldiersbut also to the many Iraqi citizens I havegiven medical care to. As Christians, weare part of society and have a role to playwithin it, even in time of war.

Gaddiel D. Rios, MD (BS '90)CPT, MC,USA

Squadron Surgeon2nd ACR, US Army

Imagine my surprise to see a picture ofmy great-grandfather, Reu Hoen, in yourarticle on the original science building oncampus! That is probably only the secondpicture I have ever seen of him from thatera. Family legend has always been thathe designed that building; how interest-ing to read the full story behind it!Thanks to Meredith Jones-Gray!

It was nice to see the artists using it sowell during my attendance there andnow how sad to see it go.

H. Edwin Stickle, MD (BIT ’88)

In response to Marlin A. Field’s letterto the editor in the Fall issue of FOCUS, Iwould argue that during the recent IraqiWar the United States were acting aspeacemakers and loving their neighbors.

If I witnessed the brutal beating of aman by another man, would it beimmoral for me to intervene on behalf ofthe victim? American intervention in Iraqis essentially the same thing. SaddamHussein has been systematically brutaliz-ing his people for decades. Saddam mur-dered all of his political opponents, some-times pulling the trigger himself. Hemurdered hundreds of thousands of hisown people, the Kurds in the north andShiites in the south. He used chemicalweapons on civilians including womenand children. Saddam started a meaning-less eight-year war with his neighbor Iranthat cost the lives of more than a millionpeople. He invaded his neighbor Kuwaitand again exported his torture, brutalityand evil to another nation. When aninternational coalition attempted toremove him, he fired missiles into Israelin an effort to start a general Arab/Israeliwar, knowing that Israel possesses anarsenal of nuclear weapons.

Please, before you protest against thisWar, think about the number of peoplewho lost their lives because of SaddamHussein. In my opinion, Saddam hadgiven up his rights to sovereignty, andmoral people everywhere should havelooked for an opportunity to remove sucha monster from power.

It might be forgivable if people whowere subjected to the unspeakable hor-rors that Saddam unleashed were to ask,“where is God?” I would prefer to ask,where was man? Where were theChristians of the West when, to para-phrase Gen 4:10, the blood of hundredsof thousands of dead Iraqis called outfrom the ground?

No nation has the resources to inter-vene everywhere in the world, but doesthat make it immoral to intervene any-where in the world? If America has thedetermination to see a decent regimeestablished in Iraq, then in the comingdecades I believe we will see an Iraqidemocracy thrive and be taken for grant-ed just as we take the democracies ofGermany and Japan for granted. I thankGod for the brave men and women ofthis country who gave everything theyhad so that the people of Iraq could enjoysome of the blessings we in the West takefor granted.

Douglas Elsey (MDiv '97)

4 FOCUS WINTER 2004

ET CETERA

WINTER 2004 FOCUS 5

Focus wants to know…about you!Name

Address

City/State/Zip

Telephone

Email

Degree(s) received from Andrews

Year(s) of Graduation or years attended

Current Occupation/Employer

Location (City/State)

Special contributions to church or society, professional develop-ment or promotions, additional degrees or certificates, travel,hobbies, volunteer work or anything else interesting about youor your spouse.

…about your familyName

Degree(s) received from Andrews

Year(s) of Graduation or years attended

Current Occupation/Employer

Location (City/State)

Children Date of birth

Feel free to submit a snapshot or family portrait for publica-tion. Either black and white or color is acceptable; prints willbe returned upon request. Thank you for keeping us informed.

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RUSSIAN RIVER CRUISE from Moscow to St. Petersburg July 5-18 (14 days), with a precruise option to Helsinki, July 1-6, and a post-cruise option to the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, July 18-25. This tour will include a visit to Zaokski TheologicalSeminary.

SOUTH PACIFIC TOUR, September 26-October 21 (26 days in Austrailia and New Zealand with an optional four days in Fijii).Australia will include the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney area with Sabbath at Avondale College. In New Zealand we will visitboth the North and South Islands to include Christchurch, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Rotorua, Auckland and the Bay of Islands. InFiji we will visit Fulton Adventist College.

SOUTH AFRICA TOUR, November 1-18 (18 days), will include Johannesburg, Pretoria, Kruger National Park, Swaziland andZululand, the Garden route from Port Elizabeth to Capetown, and four days of sight-seeing in the Capetown area, to includeHelderberg College.

For detailed information or to reserve space, contact Dr. Merlene A.Ogden at 269-471-3781 or email [email protected].

Two of the three buildings that com-prise the Science Complex sustainedwater damage following an early morn-ing thaw of a frozen fire hose line onTuesday, Feb. 3, 2004. The university’splant service and custodial crews beganworking on the site around 3:30 a.m.,when the leak was discovered.

The damaged buildings, Price Halland Halenz Hall, house the biologydepartment and the chemistry and clini-cal lab science departments. The frozenfire hose line that broke apart as it wasthawing is located at the top of thenorthwest stairwell.

Plant Services Director Richard Scott

estimated that thousands of gallons ofwater flowed into the buildings, affect-ing approximately 80 percent of thethird floor, and leaving inches of water

in the amphitheaters located onthe lower levels.

In addition to numerousclassrooms and offices, theNatural History Museum andseveral labs (including those forchemistry and biology) arelocated in Price and Halenzhalls. Fortunately, the thirdbuilding in the complex,Haughey Hall, which housesthe Math, Physics, andEngineering Departments, wasnot damaged.

Although the property damage wasunfortunate, the university is thankfulno one was injured.

CAMPUS UPDATE

6 FOCUS WINTER 2004

Philip Bess, professor of architecture atAndrews University, likes to give his stu-dents real-world experience. The bestway to do this is to involve his studentsin various communities for urban-designcharrettes. A charrette is a concentrated,collaborative design process that brings avariety of people together to devise plansor solutions to a given problem.

In September 2003, Bess and eight stu-dents arrived in the town of Billings, Mt.,to help produce a master plan of propos-als for preserving and improving the areawithin a 10-block radius of Cobb Field, aminor-league ballpark which is also beingrenovated. The visit was initiated andsponsored by the Blue RibbonCommittee, appointed by Billings mayorChuck Tooley. Committee member RandyBishop decided to contact Bess after read-ing his book, “City Baseball Magic: PlainTalk and Uncommon Sense about Citiesand Baseball Parks.”

The group stayed in Billings for ninedays and began to develop a master planfor the neighborhoods around Cobb Field,approximately 900 acres, which includes alarge medical area, half of the MontanaState University-Billings campus, and sev-eral residential neighborhoods. The stu-dents gathered “wish lists” from area resi-dents, the goal of the visit being to arriveat the basic themes that would guidedevelopment of a master plan for Billingson their return to Andrews.

A good rapport was built with thecommittee and residents involved in giv-ing the AU team feedback. “The planningcommittee was absolutely wonderful, aswere the residents who gave feedback,”said Brandt Hay, a fifth-year architecturestudent who was part of the team. “Wewere received with open arms and asmile, and, as time went on, the receptionwe received grew warmer still.”

Bess and his students made several rec-ommendations to the Blue RibbonCommittee, including implementing theuse of roundabouts, converting two main

one-way streets to two-way, and placinga median down a main thoroughfare.After presenting their final suggestions inDecember, several committee memberstold the AU team that their plan exceed-ed the quality of proposals done in thelast decade for the city by professionalurban design firms.

Last year’s Urban Design class focusedon a project closer to home, the neighbor-hoods and streets of Berrien Springs.Plans for improvements to the town’spublic area were presented at a series ofmeetings held at the Berrien SpringsCommunity Library. Seeing their sugges-tions become a reality in either Michiganor Montana would be exciting for the stu-dents; however it will be a challengesince the proposed changes will requirepublic funding, most likely through bondissues. “Although the property values,city tax revenues, and tourism wouldimprove with these changes, it’s some-times hard for city residents to realizefuture benefits and pass the bond,” Haysaid.

Randy Siebold, assistant professor ofteaching and learning and specialist ininstructional technology, has been work-ing hard to make online courses exciting.After doing research, he concluded thatmost first-time online courses are boringand static. “Most teachers take theirmaterials from a classroom course andput them online,” he said. “When youdon’t have personal interaction, the lec-tures tend to be stale.”

Siebold and a group of professors andstaff got together and outlined what theythought would make a good onlinecourse. They called and visited web sites

of several other schools and organiza-tions when doing their research, includ-ing the American Federation of Teachersof Distance Education, Florida Gulf CoastUniversity, and the Adventist VirtualLearning Network, for advice as to howto make these courses more stimulating.They then synthesized their findings intosomething that would work for Andrewsstudents. During this process, theMission-Infinity Model was created. Thismodel combines the “thinking” and“doing” stages by having the mission asthe core purpose.

The group was made aware of a grantthrough the Michigan CollegesFoundation and SBC Ameritech, andreceived $10,000 in late 2002 for an initial

website to help teachers and other uni-versities learn how to implement excitinginteractive courses. They have nowdesigned a web site to be a handbook foronline courses. Students at Andrews havebegun taking these new courses througha web course tool, or WebCT. Currentlythree nursing courses are being offeredthis way, as well as a training class famil-iarizing professors on campus with theimplementation of online courses.

Siebold and graduate students workingon curriculum and instruction degreesplan to continue doing research to makethis website as user-friendly as possible.

CAMPUS UPDATE

WINTER 2004 FOCUS 7

CAMPUS UPDATE

The Creative Arts Festival showcasedcampus and community artists. Thelibrary hosted many of the gallery showsand demonstrations, one of whichincluded basket weaving with JanetHelsley of St. Joseph, Mich. (left).

The ‘ol Korean Dance Company fromChicago performed in the HowardPerforming Arts Center on Monday, Feb.23 (right).

Other concerts at the Howard Centerincluded a Wind Symphony VespersConcert on Friday evening (bottomright), and the Lake Union Choral &Orchestra Music Festival concert onSabbath afternoon (middle left).

The English department performedRobert Harling’s Steel Magnolias (bot-tom left). The play featured (l-r) MindyBerlin, Marjorie Susens Frakes, BeverlyStout, Laura Whidden Wetterlin, KylaMarden Steinkraus, and Kari GibbsProuty (not pictured).

8 FOCUS WINTER 2004

CAMPUS UPDATE

WINTER 2004 FOCUS 9

During the 2003-2004 school year,Andrews University began a new tradi-tion on their campus. After months ofpreparation, memorizing lines, garneringsupport from businesses in the surround-ing communities, and getting more andmore excited about the potential for wit-nessing, the First Annual Easter Passion

Play debuted on Sabbath, April 19. Theplay’s participants were amazed by thecommunity’s response to the event. Over2,500 tickets had been reserved ahead oftime and nearly 700 VIP tickets had beendistributed, but the university did notexpect the crowd of about 1,800 thatshowed up for the last performance, opento those without tickets. In all, an estimat-ed 5,000 showed up to experience thisinteractive, real-life version of the PassionWeek events.

Planning for this year’s play has beenunder way for several months and,because of the large volume of attendeesthat Andrews expects this year, the playhas been adapted to run for two daysinstead of one. Individuals, families, and

church and school groups are encouragedto reserve tickets early and plan to attendthis free event.

Ron Whitehead, director of theSeminary’s Center for Youth Evangelismand the Easter Passion Play faculty spon-sor, is excited about the second year ofthis endeavor. “We see this as our Eastergift to the community,” he said. As headof Pathfinder camporees, Whitehead hasfacilitated several passion plays in thepast. “We seek to make this experience as

real as it can be.”Nearly 450 youth

are currentlypreparing andpracticing to beguides, beggars,angry mobs, disci-ples and govern-ment officials. Theoutdoor scenes willinclude an authen-tic Middle Easternmarketplace, thebetrayal inGethsemane,Pilate’s judgment,and the crucifixion.A sound-and-lightshow in the

Johnson Gymnasium will end the playwith Jesus’ resurrection. Six students andtwo staff members have been cast in therole of Jesus. Kareem Shaw of Florida,and David Oakley and Bryan James ofBerrien Springs were cast in this role lastyear and will return this year along withJohn Hood and Jason Calvert of BerrienSprings; Jay Oetman of Michigan;Rodrigo Correa of New York, and BenJuhl of Elkhart, Ind. “Because we are for-tunate enough to be blessed with aninternational student body, we are able topresent a diverse representation ofChrist,” Whitehead said.

Performances on Sabbath, April 10, willbegin at 3 p.m. and continue every 30minutes until 7 p.m. On Sunday, April 11,

performances will begin at 10:30 a.m. andcontinue every 30 minutes until 6 p.m.Free tickets can be obtained now by call-ing 800-YOUTH2U or 269-471-8380, fax-ing 269-471-8355 or e-mailing [email protected]. Include yourname and the number of tickets you willneed. The play will only be cancelled dueto weather if there is lightning; otherwise,bring your umbrella just in case andenjoy the performance.

The Easter Passion Play is sponsoredby the Center for Youth Evangelism, theSeventh-day Adventist TheologicalSeminary, Andrews University, PioneerMemorial Church, the Lake UnionConference, the Adventist Book Center,WAUS 90.7-FM and WFRN 104.7-FM.

For information about and pictures oflast year’s play, log on to: http://passion-play.andrews.edu.

MichiganCampusCompact(MCC)announcedin January2004 thatDemetraAndreasen,communityrelationscoordinatorfor Andrews

University, would be honored with anMCC Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award. This prestigious annualaward is the highest MCC bestows onfaculty and staff in the state of Michigan.

Andreasen, wife of university presidentDr. Niels-Erik Andreasen, has been desig-nated by peers as the faculty/staff personon campus who made the most outstand-ing contributions in the area of communi-ty service-learning. This award recognizesthe influence on or engagement of stu-dents to be involved in community serviceor service-learning through modeling,instruction, and/or special projects.

Andreasen is known to “practice whatshe preaches” in her work as communityrelations coordinator. She has coordinatedthe United Way Day of Caring efforts fora number of years, as well as serving onnumerous community boards. Facultyand staff at Andrews know they can callon Mrs. Andreasen to inquire about serv-ice projects for students. Communityorganizations such as United Way andHabitat for Humanity often contact herwhen they need assistance from the cam-pus family. She serves as a role model forthe Andrews University community.

Michigan Campus Compact is a state-level nonprofit organization that pro-

motes the education and commitment ofMichigan college students to be civicallyengaged citizens.

Dr. Gary Burdick, associate professor ofphysics, was recently awarded the SigmaXi North Central Regional YoungInvestigator Award for 2004.

Sigma Xi, the Scientific ResearchSociety, is a nonprofit membership organ-

ization ofmore than70,000 scien-tists andengineerswho areelected tothe Societybecause oftheirresearchachieve-ments orpotential.

Each year, four national YoungInvestigator Awards go to persons whohave had great scientific achievementwithin the first ten years of receivingtheir doctorate degree.

A member of the Andrews Universityfaculty since 1999, Burdick has remainedactive in his research of lanthanide spec-troscopy, the study of optical propertiesof the lanthanide elements. Lanthanides,which appear at the bottom of the period-ic table of elements, are important fortheir florescent and phosphorescent prop-erties. These light-emitting materials arefound in things such as televisions andcomputer screens.

Dr. Margarita Mattingly, chair of thephysics department at Andrews, ispleased to have Burdick on her staff.

"We're proud of his research achieve-ments. Research plays a huge role in ourdepartment," she said. Research in thedepartment is important not only for fac-ulty, but for students as well and Burdicktries to get everyone involved. "Gary hasalways made research a priority, for stu-dents, as well as for himself," Mattinglystated.Students involved in his researchcan gain valuable experience for theirfuture careers or degrees.

This is the second time in six years thatan Andrews University professor hasbeen chosen for the Sigma Xi YoungInvestigator Award. In 1998, Dr. MickeyKutzner, also an associate professor ofphysics, received the award for hisresearch in theoretical atomic physics.

ElizabethWatson,associateprofessor ofsocial work,and NealVanderWaal,1962 alumand adjunctfaculty, co-authored abook titled"Looking for

the Good." The book's central theme dealswith changing your outlook from negativeto positive. "We want people to be touchedemotionally," Dr. Watson said. "People maygo through a trauma, and change tem-porarily, but they will only make a perma-nent change based on experience and com-mitment. They can change the world bychanging themselves and the way theyapproach people. People respond to posi-tives and react to negatives."

FACULTY & STAFF

10 FOCUS WINTER 2004

FACULTY & STAFF

After 35 years of service at AndrewsUniversity, WALTER DOUGLAS retired inJanuary 2004. Douglas served as chair ofthe church history department and aprofessor in the department of history ofreligion in the Seventh-day AdventistTheological Seminary.

Having a love for learning, Douglasreceived his bachelor, master’s, and abachelor of divinity degrees fromAndrews. He also received a Master ofSacred Theology from McGill University,Quebec, Canada, and a doctorate fromMcMaster University, Ontario.

He has been recognized by Who’s Whoin Religion in America and was honoredwith Andrews University’s highestscholarly award, the John NevinsAndrews Medallion in 1993. Douglas hasbeen a contributor to a number of reli-gious magazines and has coauthoredand contributed to several books.

In retirement, Douglas plans on stay-ing just as busy as he has in the past. Hewill continue to serve as senior pastorfor the All Nations Adventist Church inBerrien Springs and remain active in theSeminary.

NEWTON HOILETTTE, former vice presi-dent for student services and associate

professor of educational psychology andcounseling at Andrews University, retired

in 2003 after taking a call toFlorida where he is now serv-ing as pastor for two churches.He returned to Andrews inJanuary for a farewell partyand to say goodbye to stu-dents and friends.

He earned his bachelor’sdegree in theology from WestIndies College in Jamaica andreceived a master’s degree inreligion and a doctor of edu-cation degree from Andrews.

Hoilette has traveledthroughout the United States,Canada, and Bermuda, con-

ducting seminars on stress management,family life issues, and career develop-ment. He is listed in Who’s Who AmongHuman ServiceProfessionals. In March1998, the AdventistStudent PersonnelAssociation recognizedhis work and presentedhim with the “Excellencein Administration”award, and in 1999, theyshowed their apprecia-tion for his 15 years ofdedicated service toAdventist education.

On Feb. 7, studentsand colleagues gatheredin the BurmanAuditorium for a formalroast honoring Dr.Hoilette. Timothy Nixon, campus chap-lain, emceed the evening. SpencerCarter, acting dean of men; FrancesFaehner, current vice president for stu-dent services; Renee Copeland,Hoilette’s former secretary; and a host ofother friends paid tribute to Hoilette bytelling funny stories and anecdotesabout Hoilette. At the roast, Hoilette

became the first recipient of the BlackLegacy Award presented by the Black

History Committee.ALLEN FREED, manager of

housing administrationand employee at Andrewssince 1996, retired inJanuary. Born in Canada,Freed received a bachelorof theology from CanadianUnion College in Alberta,Canada and a master's ofpublic health from LomaLinda University. Prior tocoming to Andrews, Freedserved as a pastor andchaplain in Canada beforetaking a call to serve inPakistan for six years. Hethen came to Andrews and

earned a PhD in Religious Education. Inhis retirement, Freed plans on travelingto Canada and Arizona with his wife tospend some time with family. He alsoplans on enjoying his hobbies of golfand gardening. While retirement is nice,Freed has already noticed a problem."There's twice as much time and half asmuch money," he joked.

WINTER 2004 FOCUS 11

When she’s not managing the history departmentoffice, Terri Fivash writes historically accurate and emo-tionally moving accounts of biblical stories.

“Ibelieve that we can’t appreciate what Godcan and will do in our lives until we realize thatbiblical characters were imperfect just like you

and me.” Terri Fivash (BA ’84, MA ’86 in History), office man-ager for the History and Political Science Department andmother of two, was tired of reading sermonized and histori-cally inaccurate Bible stories. Instead of resigning herself tofrustrated reading, she decided to take matters into her ownhands and write a historically accurate narrative of Joseph,which portrayed him as a real person, not an example of sinor virtue.

Research for her story began in the late 1980s and finished

in 1991. Writing was put on hold when she became a mother,and she didn’t begin to write seriously on this story againuntil 2000. “I started the book several times in the mid-1990s,”said Fivash, “but it wouldn’t come.”

In April 2000, the author’s husband, Keith Calkins, aninstructor in the Intermediate School District’s Math andScience Center on campus, told her that Jeannette Johnson fromthe Review and Herald Publishing Association would be oncampus and was looking for individuals with book ideas. Sheset up an appointment to meet with the Review team duringtheir visit and, after pitching her idea for Joseph, was asked for

ON THEIR OWN TIMEFaculty and staff find TIME outside of their work for the university toINDULGE some pretty serious pursuits. Our writers examine just a few ofthese happening HOBBIES.


by Katie Shaw

Joseph,HerStory

Robert Schwab, professor of management, has been coun-ty highpointing all over the Midwest.

Mt. Shasta, Mt. Whitney, Mt. Rainier, and Mt.Hood. These are just a few of the hundredsof mountains Robert C. Schwab, professor of

management, has climbed in his lifetime. “Mountains aremy passion,” he says. “That’s where my heart is.”

But when Schwab began working at AndrewsUniversity more than 30 years ago, he left the mountainsbehind to move to Berrien County where the highest pointis 938 feet above sea level. At first, all he could do waswait for summer when he could travel to the mountains,but more recently, his love for high points has led him to anew hobby and a new passion—county highpointing.

About three years ago Schwab joined the CountyHighpointers Association, a group of amateurs nationwidewho are interested in county highpoints. Since then he’sbecome the third most active member in the organization.County highpointing is exactly what its name implies: get-

a completed manuscript by August of that year. Fivash spentApril and May updating her research and then spent any-where from eight to sixteen hours per day writing during thesummer of 2000. The book’s acknowledgement reads: “A veryspecial thanks goes to my husband and boys for their patiencethe summer Mommy was ‘in Egypt.’”

Fivash finished Joseph: A Story at midnight of Labor Day,

2000. She submitted the final manuscript to theReview and the book was published in 2002,nearly two years after she had met with Johnsonand her team to pitch the idea. The book sold5,000 copies its first year and a second printinghas been run.

But she hasn’t stopped there. Two other Biblestories have been researched and writing hasbegun, including a book about Ruth and Boaz,and a series on King David.

Fivash has a network of helpers for her writing.Dr. Leona Running, former Seminary professor,checks her Hebrew and historical accuracy; Dr.Alice Williams, director of academic assessment

and Fivash’s sister-in-law, serves as an advanced reader; andher boys are eager listeners to her stories. “They serve as mybarometer as to whether the story is moving or not,” she said.“If they get restless, other readers probably will too!” In theevening, she reads aloud from her current writing project. “It’sa good way to catch awkward sentences and word combina-tions that don’t immediately make sense.”


by Helen Robinson

A Friendin HighPlaces


ting to the highest natural point of a county. Thisisn’t as easy as it may sound. In the West, itmeans serious mountain work. And even in theflatlands of the Midwest, county highpointersface numerous challenges, such as access issues,hunting reserves, and cold temperatures.

Schwab tells about a county highpoint locatedinside a military base in Indiana. It took threemonths of correspondence before he finallyobtained permission to enter the base with prop-er identification. Once inside, an escort of sol-diers accompanied him as he went searching forthe highest natural mound.

Before Schwab became involved with countyhighpointing, most of the Midwest remaineduninvestigated. Geared with topographic maps, ahand-level instrument, and his Global Positioning System(GPS). Schwab has done careful research and analysis insearch of the highest point in each county. He’s knocked onnumerous doors to ask permission to wander through beanfields and corn-fields. Currently,Schwab hasmapped 154 vir-gin counties—counties no oneelse has donebefore. For eachone of those, he’s written up a trip report posted on the orga-nization’s website so that other county highpointers can referto the groundwork he’s already done.

Schwab has many stories to tell about his adventures. Hismost memorable experience in Michigan occurred in MacombCounty, where the highpoint is located inside the FordAutomotive Proving Grounds. “I think they probably decidedto let me in because this was the last county I needed to com-plete the state of Michigan,” he writes in his trip report. “Aftersigning liability waivers and clearing the security gate, I metBarney, who has been a test driver there for 23 years. Wehopped into his van and headed out onto the track, where weencountered several drivers testing new and experimentalvehicles.

“Barney took me up the 29% grade track that they’ve builtup to a circle on the top of Twombly Mountain. This circleconnects to three other tracks. Looking down the 60% slope is

like looking down a ski jump. Only the most rugged 4WD andmilitary vehicles are tested there.

“Barney waited in the van while I quickly surveyed the area.The top has been altered, but the highest remaining ground

appears to be onthe south side ofthe hill, rightnext to theguardrail. Barneythen took me ona brief tour of the

grounds and ofcourse a lap around the banked oval at a modest 95 mph. (Hesaid some of the cars out there were running around 150 mph!)Obviously roaming pedestrians do not belong within thesegrounds, so my experience was very special.”

Schwab was the first county highpointer to complete all ofMichigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, earning him the title“Midwest Highpoint King,” and he is recognized as an expertin Midwestern highpoints. He has completed 907 counties,more than 28 percent of the 3,142 counties in the UnitedStates, and the counties he’s completed stretch from coast tocoast. “I’ve taught for more than 30 years,” Schwab says. “Butthe thing I’ll probably be remembered for is something weirdlike this.”

Mountains are my passion...that’s where my heart is.

““

Art professor Greg Constantine (and FOCUS cartoonist—seeback cover outtake) brings history and folklore to life withhis reproduction of original golf clubs.

Greg Constantine (BA ‘60), artist in residence andprofessor of art, is a golf enthusiast. Not in thespend-every-waking-minute-on-the-course kind

of way, although he does enjoy his time on the links. Hislove affair with the sport began as a 12-year-old caddy inWindsor, Canada. But lately, his life seems to be filled withthis pastime in the form of handmade shepherds’ crooks andaged paintings of Scottish sheep herders. Being a true artist atheart, he has taken his hobby and his talent, and made themone.

Legend agrees that the game of “golfe” began in Scotlandaround the eleventh or twelfth century. Folklore from thattime period tells of shepherds playing a game with either astone or a carved wooden ball which they hit with theircrooks, aiming for rabbit holes. Similar games have been doc-umented around the same time period in Holland, France,and Italy. However, they lack the key element: the hole.

Golf was outlawed in 1457 in Scotland by King James IIbecause he believed it posed a threat to national defense;archers were putting down their bows and taking up theirclubs. Not until almost fifty years later with the Treaty ofGlasgow was the ban lifted, with King James IV himself tak-ing up the sport. Golf was reserved for the wealthy thenbecause clubs and balls were so expensive. Early golf ballswere made out of sewn leather stuffed with wet feathers andtook a long time to make. The first set of clubs consisted oflongnose playclubs for driving, grassed drivers (or fairway

clubs) for medium-range shots, spoons for short-range shots,niblicks (similar to a wedge), and a putting cleek.

Constantine has given his imagination free reign of hishobby and about four years ago, he began experimenting with“shepherdsticks,” shaping them into his idea of the first golfclub. The stick sports the curved crook that most are familiarwith, but a bulge, much like a club head, is carved into thecrook. “My theory is that, perhaps, one day a shepherd wascarving himself a new crook,” Constantine mused. “Therecould have been a knot in just the right place, forcing him tocarve around it. Maybe he was embarrassed by the bulgewhen he went to play with his buddies, but they weren’tlaughing for long when his stone would go farther andstraighter.”

Constantine has created around twenty of these “shepherd-sticks,” as he calls them. He patented the design in 2000 andon each stick he writes the name of a Scottish links course, thepatent number, and then signs it. The sticks have been shownby Constantine at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando,and A. J. Bonar of AJ Golf School in California and North


Be-ForeTherewas Tiger

by Katie Shaw

Carolina bought several to aid in his instruction of the historyof golf. Barney Adams, CEO of Adams Golf in Texas, also hasa Constantine shepherdstick. “I saw him at the show and hewas very intrigued with the club,” Constantine said.

Constantine has also used his artistic ability to create aseries of ten paintings, some of Scottish shepherds playinggolf. He even painted King James II at St. Andrews golf courseissuing his proclamation banning golf. While visitingScotland, he researched traditional shepherd dress from thattime, and sketched landscapes of famous golf courses. Hispaintings are created to look as if they’re from the 14th centu-ry and then antiqued by using a crackled technique.

Golf has been a relaxing pastime for Constantine and hisfriends. He says that his love of the game is “fifty percentsocial interaction and fifty percent sport. Even though I wantto improve my score and skill, I like the Scots’ attitude towardgolf. When asked how their game scored, they would answereither ‘The course was good to me today,’ or ‘The course wasnot good to me today.’” He sees his paintings and his shep-herdsticks as a creation of historical fiction, but also a kind oftherapy. “My father was a carpenter by trade, so I oftenthought of him while I worked,” he said. Painting for him iseffortless and golf is therapeutic. “Art is a result of the life youhave lived.”

Walking into Dan Tilstra’s home, one is immedi-ately confronted by a collection of paintings. Apainting depicting a pink house stares down

from one wall of the living room and a somewhat impression-istic depiction of a California landscape graces another. In thedining room, Christmas scenes line the walls.

At first one might think Tilstra is merely an avid collec-tor of watercolor paintings, but they are actually his own.“I’ve been involved in drawing and stuff like that since

preschool,“ says Tilstra. His mother noticed an early interestin art and an unusual clarity in his drawn figures at an earlyage. At Rio Lindo Academy in Calif., however, Dan had hisfirst introduction to watercolors. The first year, he had a classin oil painting. The second year, the class focused on watercol-or painting. Dan took an immediate liking to the watercolor


by Marjorie Frakes

What aWaterfullWorld

Development officer Dan Tilstra sees his world throughwatercolored glasses.

class. While at Pacific Union College, Angwin, Calif., Tilstratook a watercolor class from Vernon Nye. This further sparkedTilstra’s interest in watercolors and taught him new processes.

Tilstra’s current projects certainly keep himbusy. He is working on future plans to teach awatercolor class every other Thursday nightwith another watercolorartist in the area. He has alsodisplayed his work in localgalleries and exhibits (onecurrently in Saugatuck,Mich., a small tourist townan hour north of BerrienSprings). Tilstra says he istrying to paint more than hehas in the past. He doesn’twant to say when he gets older, “I wish I paint-ed more. Now is as good a time as any.” Themore Tilstra paints, the more confident hebecomes.

As often as possible, Tilstra and his familyspend part of their summer at the MendocinoBiology Field Station, a two-week program thatfocuses on biology and art. Tilstra enjoys goingto the Mendocino seminar because his pre-

ferred method of inspiration is painting on location. Thequaint little town of Mendocino is used in many of his paint-ings. Tilstra says he finds it more inspiring to work on locationbecause he has access to all the senses and a lot of input.

Tilstra uses two basic techniques in his paintings. One formfollows a mixed-media format, and is created using watercol-

ors and then tracing over the completedpicture with pen and ink, creating shad-ows and definite lines. His other methodis a straightforward watercolorapproach. The brushstrokes are looseand free, and the created scene hasindefinite borders.

The thing Tilstra finds most rewardingabout his hobby is feeling good about afinished project. It is exciting to achievethe goal he intended to accomplish.Tilstra says there is always a momentwhen he realizes, “I think this is going towork.” At that point, the projectbecomes a painting, not just a randomcollection of colors. Even if its value isnot completely realized at the time, the

image has been captured.Tilstra always saves his paintings unless they are sold or

given away. Once, while painting in a field in Mendocino,Tilstra had finished a realistic painting, and noticed bushesbeside him with light and dark contrast. Wanting to capture thecolors, he quickly created a painting with lots of pigment and

rich color. The entire painting took ten or fifteen minutes.Although he didn’t immediately like it, he didn’t throw it away.He eventually ended up painting on the other side of it. Sometime later, while preparing for a show, he was getting ready tomatte the painting on the other side. His wife, Karen, suggestedthat he put the painting of the bushes in the show instead. Aftermatting and framing, it became his favorite painting of thegroup because it was so different from all the rest.

So, Tilstra continues to sharpen his pencils and capturescenes. “I’ve got to put the paint down in such a way that youlook at it and say ‘That’s a house.’ It’s not a house, it’s a pieceof paper. But I’ve got to fool your eye to make you think it’s ahouse.


The brushstrokes are looseand free, and the created scene

has indefinite borders.

English professor Bruce Closser pursues his Arthurian inter-ests beyond the classroom.

Bruce Closser doesn’t remember exactly how hebecame interested in his craft. He remembers lookingat the screen of a fireplace, made up of a series of

rings, and thinking it might be interesting to try different meth-ods of attaching rings together. He experimented with a varietyof strategies and materials. Washers were too thick and too big.Washers attached to cloth were both expensive and heavy. Aftercompleting one sleeve of what he later intended to be an entireshirt, Closser found that it weighed about ten pounds and hadcost quite a lot. Finally, however, he hit on a much more work-able method.

He found that by wrapping wire around a metal rod he couldthen cut the wire into rings. He developed a frame to wind thewire around and experimented with bigger and smaller rings,finally settling on 1/4-inch rod and 17-gage electric fence wire.For about ten dollars, he could purchase half a mile of wire. Hehas since attached the rod to a drill motor, making the job easierand faster. And what, you may well wonder, does Closser make?Paying homage to days long gone by, Closser fashions his collec-tion of rings into chain mail.

The term “chain mail” suggests lengths of chain laid next toeach other with interlocking links. To make these interlockinglinks, Closser winds wire around a rod, clips it off, and removes

it from the rod. He ends up with something that resemblesa long screen door spring. He then clips the wire into

rings with tinsnips. He canmake 500rings inapproximatelyten minutes. In45 minutes toan hour, hecan use all therings. Fivehundred ringswill make an8-by-8 inchsquare.Obviously, anentire garmenttakes atremendousamount ofrings. Closserhas not suc-cessfully takenan exact countof the ringsrequired for ashirt, but he

guesstimates that one shirt contains 16,000 to 18,000 rings. Thetime commitment is also tremendous. The construction of oneshirt, including winding up the rings, can take 120 hours and thefinished product weighs between 20 and 25 pounds.

Closser’s chain-mail craft has sparked the interest of four orfive kids in the area. He has also enticed one or two college stu-dents to learn his trade. Closser says it’s kind of like amaster/apprentice relationship and gives him the chance toexperience what it must be like to share a craft. He says his proj-ects make for great show- and-tell opportunities with kids. Hehas also worn his chain mail while playing in an early musicensemble and has loaned his garments to other people when theoccasion was appropriate.

Closser taught himself this unusual craft, because, he says, “I’msomewhat impatient and there is something fun about figuring itout yourself.” He merely tried different things and found thatthey worked. Later, he confirmed some of his processes by read-ing. Intuitive learning did provide occasional challenges. Asidefrom determining what product worked best to create the rings,Closser also had to determine how to get the garments to hang


by Marjorie Frakes

Armed &Decorous

A musician and craftsman, Physics professor MickeyKutzner is so much more than a one-hit wonder.

Afamiliar Christmas tune floats through the air,the melody carried by one instrument andthen the next, the harmonies coming together

to create a rich Celtic blend. It’s Christmastime atFernwood Gardens, and the Kutzner family is giving amini-concert to those who’ve come out to see theChristmas lights.

Musical performances are not unusual for the Kutznerfamily. Mickey D. Kutzner, professor of physics, plays theguitar and the bagpipes while his wife plays the accordionand the penny-whistle. Their oldest daughter plays thehammered dulcimer and the cello. The second daughterplays the violin—or, more precisely, the fiddle—and theyoungest son plays the fiddle and the guitar. Togetherthey play arrangements ranging from Celtic to old-timefolk to bluegrass to cowboy style. Sometimes Kutzner’s


properly. To make a properly fitting shirt took some adjust-ments. On traditional garments, most armholes are made incircles. Metal, however, is hard to form in circles. So, Closserdetermined that he could either leave a gap under the arm andfill it in with a square turned in a different direction or hecould make the sleeve longer, wrap it under the arm, and fas-ten the gap together. It took trial and error to make it work.One of his early patterns was formed over the shape of a T-shirt.

Although shirts have been his main projects (he’s made a totalof 6 or 7), Closser has also made other items. He once made a“purse” for an individual who noticed one of his shirts at aRenaissance fair. It was made of fabric with an outer lining ofchain mail and a drawstring. He has also made a coif—a gar-ment that fits over the head and shoulders like a mantle. Hehad to work from pictures and modified his garment from the

design. It was pieced to-gether using concentric circles thatgradually grew larger.

Closser confesses that he considers his hobby to be some-thing of “a male version of knitting.” He enjoys having some-thing to do with hands while watching TV or listening tomusic. He especially enjoys watching medieval programswhile working on chain mail and considers it a form of trans-portation back in time.

Although he does not know many people who also embracehis hobby, he does find many interested crafters atRenaissance fairs. The quality and use of their chain mail mayvary, but the interest is certainly there. And, althoughClosser’s craft is a bit of a novelty and he realizes he’s notlikely to pad his retirement fund from its thrilling profits, it issomething he enjoys and appreciates. “Maybe it’s just justifi-cation for daydreaming,” he confesses.

Closser confesses that he considers his hobby to besomething of “a male version of knitting.”

by Helen Robinson

CreatingSoundWaves

father-in-law, DeMonte Chrispens, who grew up on a ranch inwestern Oklahoma, joins in with voice. “The best thing aboutmusic is that it’s created a bond between generations—threegenerations,” Kutzner remarks.

Music has alwaysbeen an enjoyablepastime forKutzner. As achild, he tookpiano lessons andin the sixth gradetook up the trom-bone, but whenhis kids grew older and could play with him, he says itbecame a lot more fun.

The family has been playing together for about five yearsnow. They perform at local churches, weddings, open-mikes,charity organizations, and other social functions. They’veplayed at the Shady Grove Fiddle Festival in Berrien Springs,and more recently the family presented a Celtic-styleChristmas concert at Fernwood Gardens. The children havealso appeared on the show “Kids’ Time” on 3ABN. “To me,the best way to have your kids involved in music is to be aparticipant—not just vicariously,” Kutzner says. “I wouldencourage any parent to do that.”

At the Kutzner home, everyone is responsible for practicingon their own, but when they have a family performance to puttogether, Kutzner finds the music or sometimes makes hisown arrangements. He says it can get pretty noisy, but the

smile on his face shows that he does-n’t mind at all. He remarks that “thesheer joy of beautiful music and cre-ativity is a rush.”

Although most people see musicand physics as unrelated fields,Kutzner sees a connection. One of theclasses he teaches at AndrewsUniversity is Acoustics, and heremarks that his background in musichelps him teach the science of sound.That’s also the reason he becameinterested in trying his hand at build-ing instruments.

About four years ago, Kutzner pur-chased a violin kit and built his firstviolin. It ended up having a nasalsound to it, and Kutzner determinedthat the problem was with the thick-

ness of the wood. Since then he’s built four violins from scratch,applying his knowledge to improve the quality of sound, andcurrently he’s working on a cello. His children get to play thefinished instruments.

Kutzner is highlyinvolved at school,at church, and inthe community.During the schoolday, he can befound in theScience Complex,lecturing in class-

rooms or overseeing experiments in the science labs. OnSabbath mornings, he usually helps lead song service in oneof the children’s Sabbath school classrooms. And on specialoccasions, he and his family provide music for various socialfunctions.

Music is an important part of the Kutzner family, and theirlove and talent for music have given them a way to serve Godand the community.


...the sheer joy of beautiful

music and creativity is a rush.

““

ALUMNI NEWS

PALM SPRINGSThis year Andrews University was wellrepresented at the annual Palm Springs Winter Campmeeting Jan. 30 &31. DWIGHT K. NELSON (MDiv ‘76, DMin‘86) was invited to be the weekendspeaker, preaching Friday night,Sabbath worship sermon, and Sabbathevening vespers. His topic was“America Adrift: The Impending MoralArmageddon.” President NIELS-ERIK

ANDREASEN (MA ‘65, BD ‘66) was invit-ed to teach the Sabbath School lesson forthe campmeeting. Several Andrewsalumni were on the platform, includingWARREN MINDER, former dean of theSchool of Education, and GEORGE

ARZOO (BA '51).

LOMA LINDAOn Sabbath, January 31, nearly 100alumni enjoyed a potluck Sabbath lunchtogether at the Drayson Center on the

campus of Loma Linda University.KIMBER (BA ‘67) and LOUISE (BA ‘73)SCHNEIDER were instrumental in organ-izing the dinner. A large number ofyoung alumni showed their enthusiasmand support by joining the lunch.

Alumni enjoyed seeing slidesof the campus, including thenew Howard Performing ArtsCenter, and pictures of thecampus blanketed in snow.

SAN BERNARDINOCOREY (BS ’93) and KIM

(MEDINA) (BS ‘88, MSPT ‘89)KNOWLTON organized analumni brunch for a fewfriends on Sunday, February1, at Guadalaharry'sRestaurant in San Bernardino.The young gathering included lots of lit-tle "future alumni" to swell the crowd.

LaSIERRAThe hale and hearty braved the rain-storms and gathered for soup and saladat the LaSierra University campus onMonday evening, Feb. 2. LSU PresidentLARRY GERATY (MA ‘63, BD ‘65), sharedsome memorable moments from histime as a student at Andrews.

NAPA VALLEYNapa Valley alums gathered onFeb. 4 for dinner at MarieCallendar's Restaurant. Dr.Andreasen shared campus newsand answered questions. More than40 alumni hope to meet again nextyear, and plan to bring more alumnifriends with them.

SACRAMENTOPaul (member of the Board) andShelly Stokstad graciously hosted acatered meal for Sacramento areaalumni. Thanks also to DON

AMMON (MBA ‘67), President ofAHS, for making the headquarters atri-um available for our alumni dinner. Dr.& Mrs. Andreasen were warmly receivedby alumni in the area.

DONOVAN DAVIS (BA ‘81, MDiv ‘83),pastor of the Southview SDA Church inMinneapolis, Minn., noticed the picturesin FOCUS of alumni gatherings aroundthe country and wondered how to getsomething started in Minneapolis. So he

contacted the alumni office and startedthe ball rolling. He offered the pulpit atSouthview to Dr. Niels-Erik Andreasen,which NEA accepted, and startedspreading the news throughout the con-ference about his special guest, and thealumni gathering to follow. So on Feb.21, Pastor Davis welcomed Dr.Andreasen, filled out the platform par-ticipants with other alumni, and pro-


moted a ministry close to hisheart—Adventist education.

On Saturday evening, Dr. Andreasenhosted a dinner for 32 alumni at aHoliday Inn in Minneapolis. JOSE VEGA

(BA ‘68), one alum who attended, laterwrote: ”Dr. Andreasen’s perspectives onthe future role of Andrews as an institu-tion positioning itself for a global mis-sion were insightful. As a student in themid-1960s, I felt that Andrews Universityexuded a cosmopolitan aura where eth-nic and racial diversity was the normand not the exception. I feel that a lot ofmy education occurred as a result of mycontacts with students from many partsof the world, and not totally from thecourse of study I undertook. My hopefor the future of the university in theMidwest of this nation is that it simulta-neously addresses the needs of two pop-ulations: American youth of all socialand ethnic groups and the youth of thenations of the world.”

We may have a new annual gatheringon the calendar of the alumni office!

Why do more than 60 alumni volunteersstay up past midnight on Friday night?A night otherwise known in ourAdventist subculture as a quiet night athome with the family, maybe getting to

bed a little early? The answer is, theylove the chance to rub shoulders withcurrent Andrews students at the 'til mid-night café, held for 10 Friday eveningsduring the winter. In its (11th) season,the Alumni House is opened to Andrewsstudents from 8 p.m. 'til midnight (hence

the name) to enjoy the cozy, homeyatmosphere of the Alumni House, andalumni volunteers cheerfully volunteerto serve the students hot chocolate.

It takes a minimum of six volunteersto staff the café, because the averagecrowd on a Friday evening is well over

100 students. “I did nothing butmix hot chocolate from 8 p.m.to midnight but we had fun”says BRENDA SIEBOLD (att.) “It’sso nice to see students enjoyingthe beginning hours of theSabbath together.” SARAH

FUSTÉ (BA ’00, MAT ’02) says,“The best part of volunteeringwas being able to provide acozy place for students thatmight otherwise not have a“home” to go to on Fridaynight. Working the café wasmore fun than being a waitresswould be and I loved that the

volunteer kitchen staff got to drink asmuch hot chocolate and eat as manycookies as we wanted!”

ALUMNI NEWS


ALUMNI NEWS

RUIMAR (BA ‘85), MARGARETH (att.), Larisson, and MelissaDePaiva were excited about becoming missionaries. Originallyfrom Brazil, they had spent almost five years living and study-ing at Andrews University. After attending Mission Institute inJune 2002, they headed for the island nation of Palau, wheretheir years of study could be put to good use. From August 2002

to December 2003, Ruimar pastored the Koror Church andMargareth taught church school in Palau. The family earned thelove of the church members and was befriended by the queen ofPalau and many others in the wider community.

On the night of December 22, 2003, an intruder broke intotheir home intent on theft. One by one, as the family wasaroused from sleep, the robber attacked them until all weredead except ten-year-old Melissa. Abducted by the attacker,Melissa was released after a harrowing twenty hours and toldthe story to the police. Within a few hours, the perpetrator wasin custody.

The entire nation of Palau was shaken by this horrendoustragedy. The government ordered the country’s flags lowered tohalf-mast and a state funeral to be held on Monday, December29. As the news flashed around the world via e-mail and phone,Adventists everywhere joined in prayer for the bereaved, espe-cially for Melissa. The General Conference sent ANN HAMEL

(MA ‘94, PhD ‘97), former missionary and licensed psychologist,from Berrien Springs, Michigan, to support the grieving familyand other missionaries on Palau. The remarkable story of thefuneral is best told by one who was there—John Rutledge, anattorney with the State Government of Koror. Following areexcerpts from his e-mailed report.

The memorial service was held yesterday at 4:00 p.m. The ceremonywas long but remarkable. Just as I was about to stand and yell"enough already!" (the thing ran 4 hours!), Ruimar's mom (RUTH

DEPAIVA, MAT ‘80, MA ‘84, PHD ‘98) did something so intenselyselfless that I simply broke down and wept.

She took the microphone without warning or announcement andshowed us a level of forgiveness we'd all do well to strive for. In theweek she was here in Palau, she met with Justin Hirosi, the man whomurdered her son, daughter-in-law, and only grandson. She prayedwith him. And she let him know that she'd already forgiven him.

Then, having just learned that Justin's mother was at the service,she asked Mrs. Hirosi to join her. Mrs. Hirosi, unable to walk on herown, was aided to the stage by her brother and several neighbors.Ruimar's mom hugged her so warmly that the casual observer mighthave believed the two were long-lost friends. Together, they stepped tothe microphone and Mrs. DePaiva announced that they were "bothmothers grieving for lost sons." You could have heard a pin drop.

Mrs. DePaiva went on. She implored the Palauan community toremove any shroud of blame that might otherwise cover Justin's family.She declared that the DePaivas do not blame Justin's family for thetragedy (and that no one else should either). "We raise our children; weeducate them," Mrs. DePaiva said. "We teach them right from wrong.That is all we, as mothers, can do. They have their own minds."

The high chief of the island where the tragedy occurred came to themicrophone. He expressed shame, regret, and sorrow on behalf ofJustin's family, his clan, and his entire tribe. The high chief explainedthat Justin's family and clan, though of meager means, had sold manyof their belongings and now desired to deliver $10,000 in cash toMelissa for her college education.

Melissa has been so extraordinarily strong throughout this processthat it's left us all in awe. When asked where she'd like to go to live,Melissa said: "I'd like to stay here in Palau." Imagine everyone's sur-prise. Her grandmother then explained that staying here wasn't possi-ble. "Okay," Melissa said. "But I'll be back someday; I'll come back asa missionary."

A memorial service was held at Pioneer Memorial Church onMonday, Jan. 12, 2004. Melissa is currently enrolled in the fifthgrade at Ruth Murdoch Elementary School and living with herpaternal grandparents, RUTH and ITAMAR (MA ‘80, DMin ‘83)DEPAIVA. Donations to assist with her educational expensesmay be sent to:

Melissa DePaiva Trust Fundc/o Institute of World MissionSeminary S-203Andrews UniversityBerrien Springs, MI 49104-0220.


Larisson, Margareth & Ruimar DePaiva

“I’ll Come Back”

HAROLD (BA '43) and FERN (WAGNER)(BA '44) CALKINS are enjoying theirretirement years in Loma Linda,Calif. Harold served as president ofthe Southern California Conferencefrom 1972-81, and also as president ofthe British Union 1981-86. Haroldauthored the book Master Preachers’Devotional Habits and Fern compiledIt's Your World—Vegetarian Cook Book.They have two grown sons, Kent andROSS (MDiv '77).

LOIS PRATT (BS '66) is retired andlives in Miamisburg, Ohio. Shetaught nursing for 20 years atKettering College. She also workedfor General Motors Corporation as anindustrial nurse and worked in thematernity ward at Hurley Hospital.Later, she was coordinator with spe-cial services for the county HealthDepartment in Flint, Mich. Her hus-band, Roger, passed away five yearsago. He served as dean of studentaffairs at Kettering College for 20years, and principal at AdelphianAcademy for 20 years. They havetwo daughters, Karen Grimes andDarlene Alvarado.

GARY (MDiv '71) and Joyce (White)Councell live in Manassas, Virg. Garyis in his 35th year of service as a U.S.Army chaplain. He is director ofinformation, resource management,and logistics in the Office of the Chiefof Chaplains. Gary and Joyce havebeen married almost 40 years andhave three grown children, BrendaJohnson, Terry and Larry.

DENNIS DEAN TIDWELL (BA '72) andhis wife, LILA (GOERTZEN) (BS '71)live in Bangkok, Thailand. Dennis isregional program manager forHabitat for Humanity International,where he supports HFHI's programsin the Mekong River Countries. Lilahas been published in the AdventistReview.

RON ODEN (att.) was sworn in asmayor of Palm Springs, Calif., onNov. 25, 2003, in what the Palm DesertSun called "what may be the largestcrowd ever to attend the swearing-in.More than 650 piled into the PalmSprings Convention Center to wit-ness what many fervent attendeeswere calling an unprecedented over-haul of city leadership." His previousjob was executive director of DesertCareer College in Palm Springs.

DEREK C. BOW (MA '87) was named"Author of Excellence" by Guide maga-zine in recognition of his contributionsto the publication. He has writtennumerous stories for Guide, includinga series titled "Armed for the Service,"a story about the life of James E.Johnson, former assistant secretary ofthe Navy, who became an Adventist.Derek recently completed a specialissue on the heavenly sanctuary thatwill be published in May 2004. He andhis wife, Norma, live in Alabama,where Derek is associate professor ofEnglish at Oakwood College.

PATRICIA COVE (MAT '89) is principaland teacher at Bella Coola AdventistAcademy in Hagensborg, BritishColumbia. Bella Coola is the second-oldest school in Canada. She has beenpublished in the Adventist Review.

CHARITY (NETTEBURG) PITTON (BA'95) is a distance-learning teacherwith Adventist Education for the 21stCentury (AE21). Her husband, JOHN

(BA '93, MDiv '95) is a youth pastorfor the Florida Conference, serving atthe Winter Park SDA Church. Charityand John have two young sons,Tobias and Seth.

ALEKSANDAR (MA '99) andDRAGOSLAVA (MA '99) SANTRAC livein Belgrade, Serbia, where

Aleksandar is academic dean andprofessor of theology at BelgradeTheological Seminary (BTS). He hasalso completed a PhD in philosophyat Belgrade University. Dragoslava isworking as registrar and professor ofBiblical Languages, also at BTS.

ORLANDO S. COPELAND (BA '03) is aReserve Lance Corporal in theMarine Corps. He recently completed12 weeks of basic training at ParrisIsland, South Carolina. The trainingculminates with an intense and vig-orous 54-hour non-stop team evolu-tion program.

CLASS NOTES


LIFE STORIES

Daniel A. Augsburger (Mdiv ’66; formerfaculty) died February 25, 2004, in St.Joseph, Mich. He was born July 31, 1920,in Lausanne, Switzerland, the son ofUlysse A. and Ruth L. (Jeanlouis)Augsburger, Dr. Augsburger completedhis undergraduate studies at theUniversity of Grenoble in Switzerland,and later earned a BA in Theology andHistory from Washington MissionaryCollege. He later attained an MA inGerman and his PhD in RomanceLanguages from the University ofMichigan. In 1976, he earned a Dr.es. ofSciences Religieuses from the Universityof Strasbourg.

Dr. Augsburger was associated withEMC and Andrews for more than 60years. He first worked as an informantand instructor at EMC from 1942 to1945, where he assisted students inlearning French and also taught classesat the Academy.

From 1945 to 1948 he taught French atthe University of Michigan, where hemet a certain French student, JoycePammel, whom he later married. Thecouple returned to EMC where Dr.Augsburger taught courses in French,and later he became chair of the modernlanguages department. Always an inno-vator, Augsburger developed one of thefirst modern language labs in theMidwest.

Over time, Dr. Augsburger’s courseload came to include classes in religion,ethics, and philosophy, and from 1948until 1960, he served as StudentAssociation sponsor. In addition, he alsoworked as a student recruiter for severalyears, during which he would oftenspend his summers visiting students inIndiana with the intention of convincingthem to make EMC their school of choice.

Interestingly enough, Augsburger wasamong a group of faculty who suggest-ed the name Andrews University, whichwas later adopted as the current title forthe institution.

During part of the 1960s and much ofthe 1970s, Dr. Augsburger was also the

Program Secretary of the AmericanSociety of Reformation Research, wherehe is credited with having significantlydeveloped its membership from only 100to over 2,000 members as a result of hisdesire to involve a broad range of schol-ars of multiple disciplines and faiths.

More recently, Dr. Augsburger devot-ed much of his time to teaching under-graduate courses in historical theologyand business ethics. He also taughtextension schools in France, Englandand Australia.

While at Andrews, Dr. Augsburgerearned many awards, including the

Andrews Medallion (1979), the FacultyAward for Teaching Excellence (1978),the Certificate of Excellence (1972), theTeacher of the Year (1969), and PhiKappa Phi.

In addition to all of his academicaccomplishments, Dr. Augsburgerearned the respect of his fellow faculty,administration and students. His gentleway and concern for people made him awonderful friend to many.

One of his passions included growingroses, of which many varieties are cur-rently tended at his home in BerrienSprings.

Survivors include his wife of over 56years, Joyce (Pammel) Augsburger,whom he married July 29, 1947, inCollonges, France. Additional survivorsinclude a daughter, LYDIE J. REGAZZI

(‘BA ‘70) of Berrien Springs; two sons,MICHEL A. AUGSBURGER (BA ‘77) ofWindsor, Calif., and DANIEL E.AUGSBURGER (BA, ‘78, BS ‘78, MA ‘80) ofBerrien Springs; six grandchildren,MARLA C. MELNICK (BA ‘96) of SanDiego, Calif., Mark D. Regazzi ofBerrien Springs, TRICIA J. JORNADA (BA‘99, MA ‘01) of Windsor, Stephanie M.Augsburger of Santa Rosa, Alisa D.Augsburger of Annapolis, Md., andLeslie K. Augsburger of Annapolis, Md;and a sister, Germaine E. Benezech ofMontepelier, France.


IN MEMORIUMDr. Daniel A. Augsburger1920-2004

CHAD STEINKE (BSA ‘03) and ZAYDA

VASQUEZ (BSA ‘03) were married Dec. 21,2003, in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, andnow reside in Berrien Springs, Mich.

TIMOTHY NEWBOLD (BS '00) and KARLA

GOULART (BA ‘00) were married July2003 in Evanston. Ill. They are currentlyliving in Chicago.

To KARINA (KOEHN) (BS '99) andCHRISTOPHER HALMINEN (BS '97),Whitby, Ontario, Canada, a girl, SophieEden Claire, Aug. 3, 2003.

To AMY (DOUGLASS) (BS ’98) and DAVID

TRIPP (BA ’00), a boy, Brandon Michael,Nov. 7, 2003.

To ERICA (WISE) (BA ‘01, BS ‘01) andJason Hippler, Berrien Springs, Mich., agirl, Nevaeh Alexis, Nov. 8, 2003.

To CYNTHIA (ARVIDSON) (BS ’96, MA ’99)and Daniel Chu, Avon Park, Fla., a boy,Josiah Benjamin, Nov. 18, 2003.

To TRISHA (GALLIMORE) (current stu-dent) and ERIC ELLISON (BA ‘01), BerrienSprings, Mich., a girl, Mairi ShoshannaKyrie, Dec. 31, 2003.

To BRYNJA (SNORRASON) (BS ’96) andIVAN DAVIS (MA ’92), St. Joseph, Mich., agirl, Bryndis Margaret, Jan. 26, 2004.

To KATHRYN (GORDON) and MICHAEL

(Barch) SANCHEZ, Goleta, Calif., a boy,Ethan Anthony Gordon Sanchez, Feb.14, 2004.

To ANNIE (ZAPPIA) (BS '97} and MARK

(MSPT '97) BEARDSLEY , Canadian Lakes,a boy, Benjamin Thomas, Feb. 20, 2004.

BARBARA HELEN PHIPPS (BA ‘39, formerstaff) died Nov. 13, 2003, in St. Helena,Calif. She was born July 1, 1915, inHinsdale, Ill.

In 1919, Barbara’s parents, Burton andNettie Phipps, moved the family fromHinsdale to Berrien Springs and EMC,where Burton served as dean of men whilehe completed his undergraduate degree.

After moving to Bethel Academy inArpin, Wisc., where Burton served asprincipal for four years, the Phippsmoved to Battle Creek, Mich., in 1924,where Barbara’s father also served asprincipal of the academy. In Battle Creek,Barbara became a baptized member ofthe Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In 1929, the family moved back toBerrien Springs, and Burton becameprincipal of the academy there. Later, hejoined the EMC biology department,which he chaired for a number of years.

While in Berrien Springs, Barbaracompleted eighth grade and highschool, and enrolled at EMC, where shegraduated with honors in 1939, complet-ing degrees in English and French, witha minor in German.

After teaching briefly at IndianaAcademy in Cicero, Ind., Barbaraenrolled in the library science depart-ment at the University of Michigan in1941, earning her ABLS degree.

During the 1942-43 school year,Barbara was employed at AdelphianAcademy, in Holly, Mich., where shetaught English and French while alsosupervising the library.

In 1943, she became an assistantlibrarian at the Seventh-day AdventistTheological Seminary in Takoma Park,Md., where her duties included publicservices, reference, and card filing.

In 1945, Barbara returned to EMC asan assistant librarian, serving most ofher time in the reserved book and peri-odical services.

In 1949, Barbara completed her AMLSat the University of Michigan, and dur-ing the last three years of her 16-yeartenure at EMC, she served as headlibrarian.

In 1961, Barbara joined the faculty atPacific Union College, where sheworked in the library and taught in theLibrary Science minor program, a pro-gram that she later headed and that wasaccredited by the California Departmentof Education.

After the Library Science programwas closed, Barbara dedicated herself tothe PUC library’s reference departmentand to its library orientation program.

In 1981, Barbara retired following 20years of service at PUC and 40 years ofdenominational service. She continuedto work part-time at PUC’s library refer-ence desk, and she eventually receivedthe status of associate professor ofLibrary Science Emeritus.

Following retirement, Barbara soldher home in Angwin and moved to St.Helena.

She is survived by two cousins, HarryHouse and JoAnna Crowe, who bothlive in South Carolina.

CHARLES B. HIRSCH (former faculty)died Dec. 25, 2003, in Loma Linda,Calif., following a long illness. He wasborn January 23, 1919, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dr. Hirsch graduated from GroverCleveland High School in Queens, N.Y.,in 1937, and earned his undergraduatedegree from Atlantic Union College in1948. He completed his master’s anddoctorate degrees at Indiana Universityin 1949 and 1954 respectively.

During World War II, Dr. Hirschserved in the medical wing of theUnited States Army, where he achievedthe status of technical sergeant in the1102nd Engineer combat group. Heserved in Normandy, Northern France,

LIFE STORIES


LIFE STORIESthe Rhineland, and Ardennes.

Because of his service during the war,Hirsch received the Bronze Star medalwith an Oak Leaf Cluster. He survivedfive battle campaigns, including thefamous “Battle of the Bulge” in Europe.

Hirsch’s denominational employmentbegan at La Sierra University in 1951,when he became an assistant professorin the social sciences department, wherehe taught history. Later, he became headof the department before joining theWashington Missionary College (nowColumbia Union College) faculty aschair of the history department. In 1960,he became president of that institution.

In 1965, Hirsch became vice-presidentof academic administration at Andrews,a post he held for two years before hiselection as director, department of edu-cation, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Hirsch remained in the educationdepartment of the General Conferenceuntil 1981, when he was elected as ageneral vice-president of the worldheadquarters office, a post he held untilhis retirement in 1985.

For 60 years, Hirsch was married toPatricia Ruth-Hirsch, who died on Jan.4, 2001. In 2002, he married LorraineHudgins.

Survivors include his wife, Lorraine, ofLoma Linda, Calif.; three daughters, SusanHirsch, of Redlands, Calif., Cynthia Bryant,of Heathville, Va., and Judith Hirsch, ofIndiana; and four grandchildren.

GEORGE MERWYN SCHRAM (BA ‘40) diedDec. 15, 2003. He was born July 3, 1915.

After graduating from EMC, Georgebegan a pastoral and radio ministry inMichigan in 1940. That same year hemarried GLENDA ROSE HODSON (BA ‘43).

From 1940 until 1947, George servedin Michigan as a pastor and radio speak-er, working in Hastings, Escanaba,

Ironwood, and Detroit.From 1949 to 1954, he continued his

pastoral and radio evangelist ministry inthe Texico Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists.

Between 1954 and 1956, George pas-tored in Albuquerque, N.M., and thenfrom 1965 until 1975, he served as theSouthwest Union departmental secre-tary for Sabbath School, lay activities,radio and TV ministry, communicationsand community services.

In 1975, George became communityservices director for the SouthwesternUnion, and from 1978 to 1979 he was edi-tor of the Southwestern Union Record.

In 1980, George retired. During retire-ment, however, he continued to workfor the Texas Conference in variouscapacities, including positions in theSabbath School department, the person-al ministries and community servicesdepartment, and the disaster and com-munity services department.

Survivors include his wife, GLENDA,of Keene, Texas; a son, Robert Schram,of Flower Mound, Texas; a daughter,Janice Mathews, of Lincoln, Neb.; and agranddaughter, Kerstin Connors, ofFlower Mound, Texas.

ORLYN HAMEL (att.) died on Jan. 9, 2004.He was born Sep. 1, 1947.

Orlyn was a veteran of the UnitedStates Army, and while serving in theSignal Corps with the American forcesin Vietnam was awarded the ArmyCommendation Medal for Heroism with“V” Device.

While serving as a combat photogra-pher on Aug. 16, 1968, Private FirstClass Hamel was accompanying a con-voy when it was attacked by an enemyforce. Although the V-100 command carhe was riding in was clear of the attack,it returned to help repulse the attack.While under intense enemy fire, Hamel

left the protection of his vehicle on twooccasions to render first aid to woundedsoldiers and carry them to the relativesafety of his vehicle.

Orlyn was a certified airline mechan-ic, working primarily on Boeing 747 air-planes. At the time of his death, he wasemployed by Evergreen Airlines inTucson, Ariz.

Orlyn is survived by his father, LYLE

HAMEL (BS ’49); his mother, HELEN

HOAGLAND HAMEL (att.); a brother,Bryan, and a sister, Valerie.


CAMPUS CACHE


Anything that might support AU’senrollment in Aviation Technology getsthe CC’s love.

Model Airplanes

Give the CC a good old-fashioned letterany day over e-mail. Penmanship ain’twhat it used to be….Neither is grammar.

Writing

As long as the CC is pulling the strings.

Puppetry

A fine hobby for all those EMC and AUmemories/pictures!

Scrapbooking

Ah, the sweet sounds of the rock polisher….

Rock Collecting

OK, the CC is just looking for an excuseto say “philately.” Go ahead. Try it.You’ll like it.

Stamp Collecting

The CC is nothing if not a goodAdventist. And good Adventists don’tgo near ham.

Ham Radios

Back when the world was a simplerplace, family trees made some sense.Now, branches just look mangled.Anyone know a good arborist?

Genealogy

Before Y2K, gardening was on theupswing—what if the computer thatcontrols all the tomato plants goes haywire?!—but now the CC is back in theroutine of Friday afternoon shopping atApple Valley market. Plus, the weedsare relentless.

Gardening

They make a big bang. Again, goodAdventists....

Model Rockets

C’mon! That’s not a real hobby.

Matchbox Collecting

The CC’s treasure is stored in Heaven.We don’t need anything else.

Treasure Hunting

She sells sea shells by the sea shore…but the economic outlook isn’t toogood for this shell game.

BeachcombingThe CC still loves to do puzzles, espe-cially the 1000+ piece ones. The CC isdubious, however, that pieces are stillcut with a jigsaw. Sigh.

Jigsaw Puzzles

The poor butcher and baker never madeit to “hobby” status.

Candlemaking

The hard plastic dolls have beenreplaced by soft, cuddly ones … yet theCC’s masculine side is still balking.We’re working on that.

Dolls

There might be more enthusiasm if thename weren’t so misleading. The CC hasa pile of wood that just sits there andgets nothing accomplished.

Woodworking

The CC is a shutterbug and enjoys hav-ing pictures of the kids and grandkidsaround. But Mrs. White wasn’t a big fan.

Photography

“Passion” is all the rage. If you were hoping to read a review of Mel Gibson’s movie, you have come to the wrong place. The CCdoes not plan to plunk down $7 for the big screen version of Christ’s life and death. The CC is intrigued, however, by the public’s reac-tion and debate. It got the CC to wondering? Does our experience, individually or collectively, as followers of Christ create an over-powering or compelling zeal to share the Good News? Does it really? Do we have “passion”? How is Christ’s death for me influencingthe way I relate to my closest family and friends? Are we living the life of service to which each one of us is called? Ponder well.

Campus Craze—Hobby Edition

CAMPUS CACHE

At the beginning of Spring semester, students who signed up for Section 2 of IDSC211: Creativity & The Arts weresurprised to learn that their class was scheduled to meet in the old Art Building. The old Art Building was torndown in October 2003.

One of the classes/demonstrations during AU’s 10th annual Creative Arts Festival (Feb. 23-28) was “BasketWeaving.” You just know that some parent is going to say: “I paid X thousand dollars for you to go to Andrews sothat you could learn how to do basket weaving?!” And you also just know that that parent will not her/himselfknow how to basket weave.

An event billed as the “first annual” Andrews University Music and Worship Conference is coming to AU March25-27, 2004. The CC sees lots of events, whether associated with Andrews or not, billed this way. The CC wonderswhether something that is happening for the first time merits the “annual” label?

The Second Annual (second annual!) Easter Passion Play, April 10-11, 2004, is expected to host as many as 10,000visitors. It is possible that not one of those visitors will be named “Mel.”


Fun-da-mental Facts

Speaking of...

A Frowsy Fallacy

“Our job as a worshipping community is not to criticize other’s moments with God or simply say that one is better than another. Weare called to experience moments like them. We are called to write our own songs, dream our own dreams, and experience God in apersonal way.”~ Tony Wuerfel, in “Music of Our Hearts,” Student Movement (Feb. 26, 2004).

“Apparently we now have a way of electronically awarding worship credit. Leave it to Andrews to find high tech ways to be old-fashioned.”~ Michael Denslow, in “Don’t Read This Editorial,” Student Movement (Feb. 26, 2004).

A hubby is a person whowaits.

A lobby is a placeto wait.

A hobby is something ahubby does while waiting

in a lobby.

Ifirst became interested in tellingstories when I was four years old.Before I could write more than my

name, I was dictating stories into mytrusty tape recorder. At five, my dadhelped me write a narrative aboutAndrews University’s dairy farm. Fromthen on, my love for writing and myexperiences with Andrews Universityhave been connected.

I continued writing short stories andpoems through elementary school andeven got a little of my writing publishedwhile I attended Andrews Academy. Iwrote about my experiences with anempathy belly (a contraption that simu-lates pregnancy) for the Adventist Review,and during my senior year, Insight maga-zine published two of my stories.

It was at Andrews Academy that theseeds were sown for my first publishednovel. Bradley Sheppard, a formerAcademy history teacher (he now teachesat Andrews University), assigned myclass a creative projectcentering on a key eventin American history. Ichose the Salem WitchTrials and wrote a thir-ty-five-page novelladescribing the eventsfrom the perspective ofMercy Lewis, one of the‘afflicted’ girls who con-demned over 150 peopleto imprisonment andtwo dozen to death. The story, entitledThe Madness: A Story of the Salem WitchTrials went on to win grand prize at theBerrien County Arts & Science Expo.

Mr. Sheppard and another academyteacher, Mr. Baker, told me I shouldlengthen the novella and try to get itpublished. However, I was about to grad-uate and had decided to attend AndrewsUniversity and major in English with awriting emphasis. I put aside aspirations

of immediate fame and fortune to con-centrate on school. I wanted to be a pro-fessional author, but I knew the impor-tance of a good education.

At Andrews, I took writing and litera-ture classes that only deepened my lovefor the written word. I often wanted to

settle in front of my laptop and dash offpage after page of inspired (or sometimesnot-so-inspired) writing—only I usuallynever could. I had tests or projects or adozen chapters of The Odyssey to read.There were worships and assemblies toattend, intramural sports to play andwatch, afternoons working at the WritingCenter, and evenings studying and chat-ting at the Gazebo. All these things were

part of the college experience, but Imissed writing. Not the producing ofreports and 10-page essays analyzingJane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, but thejoy of creating something new and beau-tiful, something brimming with meaning,something rich and unique and perma-nent. To craft a sentence that sings, or tofashion a story that can speak to the heartof a reader thousands of miles away, orto build characters with dreams andquirks and real emotions out of a blankwhite page—that is what I love.

Because of this persisting desire to cre-ate, the summer of my junior year I dedi-cated myself to rewriting The Madnessand trying to get it published. I wantedThe Madness to be a tool that 5th through8th grade teachers could use in theirAmerican History classes to expose theirstudents to the incredible events of histo-ry that may only receive a paragraph ortwo in traditional textbooks. It was fasci-nating to research the time period, trialtranscripts, and numerous books thathave been published on the subject.

After I had revised and lengthenednumerous drafts, I sent it offto several children’s pub-lishers. PublishAmerica, asmall firm in Maine, endedup printing it. In the mean-time, for my SeniorResearch Thesis, I’ve startedmy next novel. I believe thatGod gave me a talent, and it

is my responsibility to use it for Him.Whether or not I ever get that fame or for-tune, or even if I never publish anotherbook, I will continue to write, and I havefaith that God will use me somehow forhis own Divine plan.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT


Driven to Madness

“ To craft a sentence that sings, or

to fashion a story that can speak to

the heart...that is what I love.

“

*The Madness can be purchased at the Andrews Universitybookstore and Schug Drug in Berrien Springs, or online atPublishAmerica.com or Amazon.com.

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