Ursinus Magazine - Winter 2012

Field Hockey: Centennial Conference Champions

Keeping Up With the Bloggers

Plus: What’s Happiness Anyway?

Field Hockey: Centennial Conference Champions

Keeping Up With the Bloggers

Plus: What’s Happiness Anyway?

URSINUSURSINUSMAGAZINEMAGAZINE

Winter 2012Winter 2012

“So cold was it that even the animals and the birds did not know what to make of it.”From Oscar Wilde’s The Star-Child.Bomberger Hall at nightfall.

In This Issue

On The CoverNorman Rockwell (American, 1894-1998) Winter Blues 1920, Oil on linen, 18" x 25"

On loan to the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College from a private collector.

“Winter Blues” was composed in 1920 for the cover of the Red Cross Magazine. The owner was fortunate to be given this as a gift for her 21st birthday from her father whose female relative is the featured skater in the painting.

Another relative, Ernst, was a fellow artist who worked in advertising and was a colleague to Norman Rockwell. Rockwell gave Ernst this painting in appreciation for the time given by the family member who posed for the work,

thus it has been a part of the family from the time it was executed.

FeaturesWelcome to the Blogosphere 12What do you have to say? We asked alumni to send us their blogs. Discover who is writing about sports, mystery novels, fashion, dermatology, religion and more. Our readers blog about varied and vibrant topics and they’re part of a trend growing in popularity as a way to communicate.

Nothing Short of Amazing 18The field hockey players fought hard and earned their success this season. Head Coach Janelle Benner harnessed the players enthusiasm and led the Lady Bears to win the Centennial Conference Championship and make it all the way to an NCAA national finals.

A Musical Formula 22At 91, Franklin Morris 1941 continues to write and record music. It’s a passion that this former chemist who became a music professor works on every day. As an Ursinus student he was accompanist for the Meistersingers concerts and the Messiah concerts.

Are You Happy? 24Find out more about the pursuit of happiness in our interview with Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion Kelly Sorensen.

Campus News5 Dr. John French conducted his 50th performance of the Messiah in Bomberger Auditorium in December. President Bobby Fong presented him with an engraved conductor’s baton. This year also marked the 25th anniversary year of The Heefner Memorial Organ, played in the performance.

Class Notes

30 Chester Frankenfield 1955 was a Naval lieutenant and meteorologist. He recently learned that a glacier was named for him. The Frankenfield Glacier flows in the Bellingshausen Sea next to Antarctica and due south of Argentina. In 1960, his work was to establish a weather station there. But Frankenfield only became aware of his personalized glacier this past year when he Googled his own name.

Director of CommunicationsWendy Greenberg

[email protected]

EditorKathryn Campbell

[email protected]

Class Notes Editor and Staff WriterEllen Cosgrove Labrecque 1995

[email protected]

Contributing to this IssueJeffrey Morgan, Joan Fairman Kanes, George Widman,

Steve Falk, Jim Roese, Joshua Walsh 2013, Kelsey Bullington Hodge 2014, Audra Lins 2012, Tommy Lavergne, Andrew Clark, John Dowling, Adena Stevens, Brian Garfinkel, Hunter Martin, Abbie Cichowski 2010, Mariana Bergerson 2002,

Cheryl Walborn, Glen Holcombe

DesignJDM Creative Advertising, LLC

www.jdmcreative.com

Chair, Board of TrusteesJohn E.F. (Jef) Corson

PresidentDr. Bobby Fong

Interim Dean of the CollegeAnnette Lucas

Senior Vice President for AdvancementJill A. Leauber Marsteller 1978

Vice President for EnrollmentRichard DiFeliciantonio

Vice President for Finance and AdministrationWinfield Guilmette

Vice President for Student AffairsDeborah Nolan

The mission of Ursinus College is to enable students to become independent, responsible, and thoughtful individuals through

a program of liberal education. That education prepares them to live creatively and usefully, and to provide leadership for their

society in an interdependent world.

Ursinus MagazineVolume CXI, No. 1 Winter 2012

Third class postage paid at Lansdale, Pa. Ursinus Magazine is published seasonally three times a year.

Copyright 2012 by Ursinus College. Editorial correspondence and submissions:

Ursinus Magazine, P.O. Box 1000, Collegeville, PA 19426-1000. (610) 409-3300

or e-mail: [email protected]

PAGE 2 URSINUS MAGAZINE

Dear Friends,

This fall I have had the wonderful op-portunity to meet many of you in an “in-troductory tour” hosted by members of our Board of Trustees. It was launched last spring in Washington, D.C., and continued in June in southern Califor-nia. This August my wife Suzanne and I met a large group of alumni, friends, students, and parents in Boston. In No-vember, we attended a warm reception for Philadelphia-area alumni, and in De-cember we gathered on a rainy evening in New York City. I have been delighted to hear stories about how Ursinus has prepared students, past and present, for lives of purpose.

I hope my formal remarks about our aspirations for Ursinus College proved informative, but I have benefitted most from the one-on-one conversations I had with many of you. You told me how a scholarship enabled you to at-tend Ursinus, how working closely with a faculty member was a highlight of your college experience, and most often, how you forged lasting bonds with classmates. I look forward to meeting more of you during one of the upcoming Welcome Events in Florida, Arizona, Texas, northern California and Chicago.

Ursinus Magazine also enables members of the college to connect and recon-nect with one another. Some of your classmates communicate through blogs, and in this issue of the magazine we bring you samples from this growing social medium. Many of you will enjoy perusing photos of classmates from Homecoming and the many events on and off campus this past fall.

Countless Ursinus alumni cherish their athletic ties to the college. We are proud of our field hockey team for playing in its fourth straight NCAA Division III national semifinals, and in these pages we meet its coach, players and the all-time leading goal scorer in the Centennial Conference.

On the cover we showcase a Norman Rockwell winter scene, one of the many gems in our Berman Museum of Art. Please read about what the Berman has in store for the spring. Through the stories in these pages — including a 91-year-old trained Ph.D. chemist who decided to compose music, a faculty philosophy professor who expounds on the topic of happiness, and profiles of fellow alumni — I hope you will reconnect to Ursinus in a meaningful way.

Go Bears!

Bobby Fong

President

WINTER 2012 PAGE 3

GatewayThe

URSINUS CAMPUS NEWSGatewayThe

URSINUS CAMPUS NEWS

Vice President for Academic Af-fairs and Dean of the College Dr. Judith T. Z. Levy announced her retirement this fall after 15 years of stellar service. Her tireless efforts to improve the academic climate at Ursinus by inspiring and support-ing faculty and students to excel as scholars and learners and to achieve their personal best were celebrated at a campus reception Nov. 30 in the Berman Museum of Art. Faculty, staff and retirees attended to share their good wishes.

“Judy’s love and concern for people

development funds and attracted funding from HHMI, NSF, Merck-AAAS and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She was instrumental in obtaining support for a variety of ac-ademic initiatives from the Freeman Foundation, the Thomas J. Watson Foundation and the Teagle Founda-tion. This scholarly climate empow-ered faculty to support students in competing successfully for national and international awards, including Goldwaters, Udalls, Watsons and a Rhodes in the spring of 2011.”

During Levy’s leadership, the faculty created the Common Intellectual Experience, an enhanced Summer Fellows program and expanded study abroad and internship oppor-tunities. With her support, the Col-lege introduced about 15 new ma-jors and minors as well as enriched course offerings in all departments. Levy also implemented staff and infrastructure support for enhanced use of instructional technology.

Her crucial support of CIE, says Professor Hood, and her establish-ment of the Dean’s Colloquium,

characterizes her leadership style,” says Professor of Politics Steven Hood. Associate Dean Annette Lucas will serve as Interim Dean of the College this spring semester, and a search for a permanent Vice President for Academic Affairs is being conducted by a search committee chaired by Professor of Biology Rebecca Kohn.

Speaking at the campus event to honor Dean Levy, President Bobby Fong noted that Levy was respon-sible for bringing to campus more than 60 percent of the current ac-tive faculty. She implemented new hiring procedures to expand the pool of qualified candidates and instituted the Dean’s Colloquium to mentor new professors, he said. Levy expanded the faculty and course offerings by creating visit-ing professorships for artists and professionals who distinguished themselves in their fields.

“Judy created a climate that enabled faculty research to flour-ish,” Fong said. “She introduced pre-tenure leaves, increased faculty

FAREWELL AND CONGRATULATIONS TO DEAN JUDITH LEVY

Continued on Page 4


faculty sherry hours and Baden dinners are some of the instruments she used to move beyond bureau-cratic entrenchment to encourage and support collegiality among faculty members.

“The significance of these efforts was acknowledged by a distinguished Columbia scholar who recently visited campus,” says Hood. “The scholar noted how engaged faculty members were in a discussion of the Italian poet Dante, even though most faculty members had no for-mal training in the works of Dante. She was amazed that the conversa-tion among faculty members never went to ‘shop talk’ and that all were engaged in a discussion of Dante’s Inferno. Judy’s steadfast desire to keep faculty members engaged in common intellectual pursuit that crosses disciplinary boundaries has played a key role in building a liberal-arts culture among the faculty and has had a corresponding impact on the way we think about the college community.”

Dean Levy, a scientist and scholar in her own right, holds her undergrad-uate degree from Goucher College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. Faculty, staff and trustees showed their appre-ciation with messages, which were presented to her in a scrapbook.

“You can look back on your tenure as our dean and know that you have made a real difference in the quality of faculty and the quality of faculty life at Ursinus,” wrote Professor of History Hugh Clark.

ate and going on to achieve success in the development profession and financial services industry.”

A graduate of DePauw University and a certified financial planner, Gadson has more than 25 years of experience in financial services and nonprofit fundraising. His blend of gift planning expertise and fund-raising experience, combined with his success in managing profitable financial services businesses, make him a strong addition to the Ursinus advancement team.

During his three years at Washing-ton College, Gadson successfully oversaw fundraising efforts while working to develop a solid planned giving program. He implemented several life income agreements while closing additional major gifts. Gadson also held planned giving and major gifts positions at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. He has held senior director po-sitions in investment and financial planning at such prestigious firms as SEI Investments in Oaks, and Phoenix Charter Oak Trust Company and Fleet Investment.

Charitable gift planning is reward-ing, he says. “It’s wonderful when somebody with a passion for some-thing coupled with philanthropic intent can make a huge impact. I

Professor of English Patricia Sch-roder 1974 chaired the search com-mittee that recommended Dean Levy. Schroder recalled that Levy had told the committee that the curriculum needed more attention to the arts and more interdisciplin-ary programs. When she arrived as dean she set Academic Council to begin filling in those two gaps almost immediately.

“With her support and encourage-ment, we created a new core cur-riculum, added the CIE and ILE programs and created the diversity requirements,” Schroeder wrote. “She also spearheaded the commit-tee that developed majors in Art, Dance and Theatre. Finally, she authorized the development of a host of interdisciplinary programs, from Environmental Studies to American Studies to Biochemistry.

Our curriculum today is shaped very differently, and with her guid-ance and vision, we have turned a regional school known only for its pre-med program into an up-to-date, nationally recognized liberal arts college.”

Trustee Robert E. Keehn III 1970 thanked Levy for all that she had done for Ursinus. “Under your leadership Ursinus College has made major strides academically through the development of a chal-lenging curriculum and top-notch professors.”

DRUMROLL, PLEASE; MARK GADSON JOINS URSINUS ADVANCEMENT STAFFMark Gadson joins the Ursinus Advancement staff as Executive Director of Planned Giving. “I absolutely believe in the mission of small liberal arts colleges,” says Gadson, who comes to Ursinus from Washington College in Mary-land where he was the Director of Development and directed the planned giving program. “I’m a good example, majoring in music performance as an undergradu-

The Heefner Organ before the renovation of the auditorium. See story on page 5.

Mark Gadson, Ursinus Executive Director of Planned Giving

Continued from Page 3

discovered the importance of phi-lanthropy as a vehicle for change,” he says. As a trained percussionist, music remains a passion. “My favorite thing is playing drum set and jazz.” Gadson lives in West Chester, Pa., with his wife and two children. The family pursues sailing with zeal, spending as much time as possible on their sailboat Dream Catcher on the Chesapeake.

HEEFNER ORGANA recital to celebrate the 25th an-niversary of The Heefner Memorial Organ at Ursinus College featured College Organist Alan Morrison this October. The 62-rank organ has become a part of the Ursinus culture and is the backdrop and source of accompaniment for many programs and ceremonies in Bomberger Hall, such as Baccalaureate and Convoca-tion. It was a gift of Mrs. Lydia V. Heefner of Perkasie in memory of her husband, Russell E. Heefner. They were the parents of the late William F. Heefner 1942, an attor-ney and former chair of the Board of Trustees. The organ was dedicated on Nov. 19, 1986. Also that day, the William F. Heefner Chair of Music was established, and Professor of Music John H. French was named to that chair, a position he holds today. Mr. Heefner, who had been a student organist, was the first to play the organ publicly, performing “Toccata” and “Fugue in D. minor”, by Johann Sebastian Bach. A dedica-tory concert was given on the new organ by John Weaver, director of music at the Madison Avenue Pres-byterian Church in New York City, and head of the Organ Department at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. “A thrill ran through the standing-room-only crowd,” it was written in Ursinus Magazine. “This sound was not merely large, it was immense.”

The new organ, which is actually the second pipe organ in Bomberger Hall, was built by hand by Austin Organs of Hartford, Conn. Austin worked on the tonal qualities with Dr. French and Mr. Heefner. The

WINTER 2012 PAGE 5

FACULTY BOOKSGabrielle Principe, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, explores the consequences of children’s modern lifestyles — their homes, schools, toys, and pastimes — on brain development in her new book, Your Brain on Childhood: The Unexpected Side Effects of Classrooms, Ballparks, Family Rooms and the Minivan. In it she writes, “If you wanted to design a way of life that was exactly counter to the needs of developing brains, you would invent something like modern childhood.” She relies on scientific evidence from a diverse array of fields to make that case that children’s overscheduled, tech-nology centered, and standardized testing lives are at odds with their brains’ evolutionary expectations. Principe advocates kids to get in touch with nature, wipe the calendar clean, and turn off technology. Children learn best when they are allowed to play, explore, experi-ment, and figure things out on their own. Your Brain on Childhood works so well because Principe, a developmental psychologist and a mother, writes about the latest scientific findings as well as personal experience. The tone of the book is conversational with funny stories about her life sprinkled throughout. And because most parents will never find time to read long scientific journals, Principe’s concise, smart, summaries of these studies seems all the more important. The solution, she argues, is merely to design children’s lives to work with how evolution has prepared their developing brains, and not against it.

Sibling Revelry: Brothers and Sisters in American HistoryProfessor of History Dallett Hemphill reminds us that the importance of siblings is often overlooked in the history of the American family. In her book, Siblings - Brothers and Sisters in American History, published this past summer (2011) by Oxford University Press, she shows how siblings have helped each other and leaned on one another, in the face of the dramatic political, economic and cultural changes of the 18th and 19th centuries.

This is the first book devoted “to the broad history of sibling relations, spanning the long period of transi-tion from early to modern America,” according to the publisher. Based on a wealth of information, from family letters and diaries, to portraits and other period images, to children’s stories and advice books, Siblings traces the evolving role the sibling relationship has played in American families. In Colonial America, sibling relations provided an egalitarian space within the larger patriarchal family and society. After the Revolutionary War, “fraternity” was celebrated more openly, along with the ideals of liberty and equality. By the pre-Civil War decades, sibling relations helped to provide order and authority in

a democratizing nation. Hemphill concludes that “each of the different societies that accompanied and succeeded each other in the first half of American history relied on the sibling relationship to supply an important cushion – both against the sharp edges of that society’s particular compromise between freedom and order, and for the jarring knocks of transforma-tion in the larger political, economic and cultural systems.” At all times, adult siblings worked to preserve the links between their families, generally enjoying each other’s company in the process. Hemphill teaches in the American Studies, History, and Women’s and Gender Studies programs at Ursinus College. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University with a Ph. D. from Brandeis University. Research on the book was funded by fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Winterthur Museum and Library.


Tiggett-James also implored students to balance course loads so they could adapt to the extracur-ricular environment in college. As a student at Ursinus, Tiggett-James participated in the gospel choir and Sankofa Umoja Nia (SUN) where she was co-founder. She was emphatic in insisting students recognize that “when you come to college, it’s not just about studying.” By balancing their course loads and planning their requirements for their college careers in advance, students would gain the knowledge they needed to succeed academi-cally, emotionally and socially at Ursinus.

By Joshua Walsh 2013

WHICH FORK EVENTA dining and etiquette event spon-sored by Career Services and UC SIFE (Student Involved in Free Enter-prise) offered a networking hour this fall for students who met and talked with alumni. Among those who par-ticipated were Megan Helzner 2008, who works for the National Museum of American Jewish History where she is a Group Experiences and Sales Manager. Also attending were Tom Shivers 1989, Executive Vice President at Healthcare Solutions and Leah Sakowski 2009, a Regional Sales Analyst with Kraft Foods.

Seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshman enjoyed a delicious three-

course meal while learning the do’s and don’ts of dining during an interview.

REDEMPTIVE POWER OF MUSICEmmanuel Jal visited Ursinus Nov. 15 on behalf of UC STAND, the Arts and Lectures Foundation, and the International Relations Department. Through unimaginable struggles, Jal managed to survive and emerge as a world-famous recording artist with a hit record under his belt. The Ursinus performance began with Jal singing his hit song “We Want Peace,” which inspired the campus community inside Bomberger Hall to stand and clap in unison.

Jal shared his moving and powerful story with the audience and raised awareness about the conflict in Sudan. Through music and spoken word, he detailed his experiences beginning with his recruitment as a child solider and the trials and tribulations he faced at a very young age. He explained to the audience how even the most basic necessities were not met while he was a child soldier and elaborated on this by saying that at one point he contem-plated eating his dying best friend.

Jal eventually was rescued by a British aid worker named Emma McCune, who illegally smuggled him into Kenya where he was sent

3,593 pipes made of different types of metal and of wood, were installed over the summer of 1986, and installation and voicing took several months. The organ has three manuals and 77 stops in four divisions and operates through an electropneumatic action system in which air is pumped through a series of ducts from the basement. The organ was one of the first Austin built that uses an electronic memory system.

In 1995, Alan Morrison, a Phila-delphia organist, was appointed official organist at Ursinus College. The recording artist and educator is the Head of the Organ Depart-ment at The Curtis Institute of Music and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. He frequently conducts master classes sponsored by the American Guild of Organists. His recitals as part of the Heefner Organ Recital Series are highly anticipated. Pro-fessor French plays at most College events and programs, and a roster of internationally acclaimed guest artists and some students play the organ as well.

“The Heefner Memorial Organ has greatly enhanced our music pro-gram,” says Dr. French. “Not only is the instrument used for Convo-cations and special events, but it has served in an amazing capacity as an accompanying instrument for great choral works — compositions that we might not have performed without this magnificent resource.”

In December, Dr. French conducted his 50th performance of The Messiah in Bomberger Auditorium. President Bobby Fong presented him with an engraved conductor’s baton. This year also marked the 25th anniversary year of The Heefner Memorial Organ, played in the performance.

By Wendy Greenberg

BALANCE AND BROADENDr. Tarika Tiggett-James 1999, former member of the Board of Trustees and Clinical Lead and Family Physician in the Adult Medical Unit at The Brownsville Multiservice Family Medical Center in the Bronx, NY, spoke to a gathering of 20 students at Unity House on Sunday, Nov. 21 about her path to a successful career. She was invited to speak by The Office of Multicultural Services and The Minority Association of Premedi-cal Students (MAPS).

Balancing course loads and broad-ening curricula were major themes of her discussion. She described Ursinus as “a launching pad for endless possibilities,” and encour-aged the students present, mainly freshmen, to make their curricula as broad as possible. She pointed out that students can major in anything they desire and still enter into a variety of graduate programs provided they had taken the core requirements of that institution.

Students network and dine together at a business etiquette event sponsored by Career Services and UC SIFE.

Dr. Tarika Tiggett-James

WINTER 2012 PAGE 7

received gifts that had been donated.The mission of the America Reads tutoring program, directed by Paulette Patton, is to inspire young students to achieve through the example of their mentors. A college education may seem out of reach to many, but a goal of the program is that interaction with Ursinus stu-dents will motivate the young stu-dents and make their dreams seem more tangible. The visit to Ursinus also provides the group with the rare opportunity to experience the atmosphere of a college campus. The tutoring initiative between Ursinus, Norristown and Pottstown students is entering its 14th year.

STUDENT-ATHLETE EARNS ACCOLADESFootball player Shane Eachus 2012 was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Division III team, which recognizes student-athletes with grade point averages above 3.3. Eachus, a media and communication and psychology major who had a 4.0 GPA, was an All-Centennial All-Academic selection this season. He made 22 tackles and forced a fumble as part

to school. It was through McCune and education that he began to understand the conflict in Sudan and come to terms with his own horrific experiences. Shortly there-after, McCune was killed in a car crash and Jal turned to music as a form of therapy.

By 2005 he had become an inter-national sensation in the recording industry. Today he raises awareness through his music and by visiting schools and campuses across the world. His story and music seemed to touch the Ursinus audience. Many students stayed after the concert to shake his hand, take a picture with him or purchase his soon-to-be-released album.

By Kelsey Bullington-Hodge 2014 and Audra Lins 2012

BUSINESS STUDENTS COMPETEUrsinus Business and Economics students successfully competed in the Business Early Leaders Case Competition at the University of Rochester Simon School of Busi-ness this fall. Ursinus competed in this annual competition along with students from Reed, Oberlin, Dickinson, Bard, Hobart and Wil-liam Smith, Elimira, Utica, Ripon and Allegheny colleges, the U.S. Military Academy, St. John Fisher, University of Rochester, and the College of Wooster.

The competition brings together current students from various un-dergraduate institutions to simu-late decisions faced by business leaders across the globe. Students Zana Mathuthu of Philadelphia and Thad Gregory of Montclair, N.J., were on the first place Team. Students Tim Jordan of Westford, Mass., and Morgan Vandermast of Waterford, Va., were on the second place team. Students Grace Buchele of Georgetown, Texas, Julia Fox of Wycoff, N.J., Elizabeth Hooper of Columbia, Pa., Daniel Horowitz of Broomall, Pa., Rebecca Kamm of St. Johns, Fla., and Philip DeSim-

one of Chapel Hill, N.C., were on a team designated with an honorable mention.

AMERICA READS HOLIDAY PARTY HOSTED BY URSINUS TUTORSNorristown and Pottstown area elementary school students were treated to the annual Holiday Extravaganza at Ursinus College as part of the America Reads tutoring program Dec. 2 in Wismer Lower Lounge.

The event was coordinated by seniors Daria DePaul and Garrett Washington, to bring together students from the Christian Net-work Outreach Church and Centro Cultural Latinos Unidos, Inc. After-school programs and the 34 Ursinus students who tutor them Monday through Friday in Nor-ristown and Pottstown. The young students and their Ursinus mentors decorated stockings and ginger-bread people and made holiday ornaments and cards. The students

President Bobby Fong cuts loose with students during a “flash mob” performance at the Kaleidoscope Theater. Dance as a field, much like many arts and arts institutions, is heading to a future where its applicability to other aspects of the world will be much needed, says Peter DiMuro, who is a visiting dance artist this year and organized the event.

of an Ursinus team that finished 6-4 this season. “It was a really nice surprise,” says Eachus.

Away from the field, he is the editor of the school newspaper and belongs to the Theta Chi and Psi Chi honor societies. He is also the lead announcer for men's basketball games on the Ursinus College Sports Network. Eachus is the 19th student athlete from Ursinus to achieve Academic All-America honors and the first from the football team to be named an AAA since Chuck Odgers was a two-time first-team selection during the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

Eachus is the seventh Ursinus athlete to be named to the first-team. “I’m just glad that I am able to represent Ursinus and our foot-ball program in a way that I think shows what we are all about here. It's about success on and off the field, and it definitely was great to feel recognized for what I have done in my time here,” Eachus says. “This place has been great to me and I think that the award speaks as much about those who’ve helped me along the way like my parents, coaches and teachers as it does about me,” he adds. “I've been very blessed.”

HENRY ’48 & JUNE PFEIFFER WING: LENFEST GALLERY AND COSGRAVE WORKS ON PAPER STUDY ROOMModern Impressions: Japanese Prints from the Berman & Corazza CollectionsLenfest Gallery, through March 25

Curated by Matthew Mizenko, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Japa-nese and East Asian Studies, Ursinus College & Frank L. Chance, Associate Director, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania, this installation features a selection of images from a collection of more than 300 modern Japanese woodcut, etch-ing and silkscreen prints. The works are gifts to the permanent collection by Muriel and Philip Berman and Dr. and Mrs. Leo Corazza. The Bermans actively collected prints in their travels to Japan. Dr. Corazza 1945, acquired his works through service in the military in the Far East and through a long association with The Red Lantern Shop. A major exhibition of these works, funded

by a grant from the Freeman Foundation, was mounted in 2005 and was accompanied by a scholarly catalogue, which is available for purchase.

Picture Making: Recent Acquisitions in PhotographyCosgrave Works on Paper Study Room, through June 1.

In July 2011 the Berman Museum of Art staff and art faculty re-viewed an important collection of photographs that were made available to museums and educational institutions. A selection of 17 photographs by significant figures in the field was acquired from the Randall Plummer and Harvey S. Shipley Miller collec-tion and will be used for teaching, study and exhibition. In honor of the retirement last May of Donald E. Camp, Visiting Profes-sor of Art, William Earle Williams, Professor of Fine Arts at Haverford College, donated 12 images that cover the breadth of photographic processes. Included in this installation are images

by Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, Frank Herrmann, Erich Salomon, Margaret Bourke-White, Paul Strand, Edward Stei-chen and George Hurrell.

MAIN GALLERY:RE-IMAGINING THE DISTAFF TOOLKITJanuary 24 through April 1 curated by Rickie Solinger, Ph.D.Funded in part by Dorothy Nofer 1951, and an anonymous donorOpening Reception: Sunday, Jan. 29, 2 to 4 p.m.

Award-winning historian and curator Rickie Solinger writes about her exhi-bition Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit: “Each work of art in [this exhibition] has, at its visible core, a tool that was impor-tant for women’s domestic labor in the past. The old tool becomes the fulcrum for a contemporary work of art. … Dis-taff artists have placed these objects and others at the center of their work: a wash-board, a dressmaker’s figure, graters, doi-lies, an advice book, cooking pans, a bas-ket, a garden hoe, dress patterns, a rolling pin, buckets, darning eggs, a work glove, a needle threader, rug-beaters, ironing boards, mason jars, a telephone.

The Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art Exhibitions on View

Tom Cohen, Battle Ax, digital print, wood, 2007.


WINTER 2012 PAGE 9

Artists whose work is represented in this exhibition include Betye and Alison Saar, Lisa Alvarado, Dave Cole, Judy Hoyt, Larry Ruhl and Flo Oy Wong, among others. The exhibition will serve as a core “text” for educational partnerships on- and off-campus, in-cluding an Arts & Lectures Committee-funded project, “Work-shopping the Everyday.” This collaborative project involving the Museum, and Art, English and History departments, will entail guest artists leading workshops in concert with Ursinus faculty, and working across the disciplines.

UPPER GALLERY:“HOLDING THE EYES AND SOUL”: OBJECT AND VIEWER IN 2012 February 15 through April 1Opening Reception: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

During the late medieval and early modern periods, what one saw was only part of the picture. The mechanics and philosophy of seeing and comprehending the visual were at the very core of

experience in cultures shaped by what scholars have called their “ocularcentrism,” or eye-centeredness. In this exhibition curated by Michelle Ermatinger-Salas 2012, we are invited to view piec-es from the Berman Museum’s permanent collections through the lenses of early modern viewing theories and practices. The teachings of the notable Renaissance art theorist Alberti guide our viewing of a work by contemporary Philadelphia-based artist Cliff Lamoree. Eighteenth and 19th-century portraits address us as “speaking likenesses” who still reach out to 21st century view-ers from centuries past. Other works that represent the breadth of genres and chronological periods in the Berman’s collections have been selected to exemplify the kinds of object/viewer trans-actions that characterized early modern understandings of those relationships.

Exhibition receptions and programs are free and open to the general public. Contact

610.409.3500 for more information.

The Berman Museum joins with the Ursinus Communications Department to invite you to particpate in Collegeville on Camera: two days in early March devoted to capturing on-camera “views” of Collegeville that epitomize it as our home community.

Take Your Best Shot

Collegeville on Camera Days - March 2-3, 2012

Ursinus students, staff, faculty and alums, and our teacher- and student-partners in local K-12 schools are invited to submit one photograph each (taken either on Friday, March 2 or Saturday, March 3, 2012) to the Museum for exhibi-tion and/or possible publi-cation in Ursinus Magazine. For more information on the project and on how to sub-mit your photographs, please contact Susan Shifrin, Associ-ate Director for Education at the Berman Museum of Art ([email protected]).

Also this spring, the Berman Museum, members of the Collegeville community and various groups on the Ursinus

campus will join together to prepare for the second annual Com-munity Partnership Parade, a project that builds community col-laboration and partnership through art-making, team-building and community engagement. The Collegeville on Camera project will feed into the Community Partnership Parade.

Visit us on the web to participate atwww.ursinus.edu/collegevilleoncamera

HomecomingHomecoming20112011

A fun and festive Homecoming 2011 took place the weekend of Sept. 23-25. On Friday evening, seven new inductees were welcomed into the Ursinus College Hall of Fame for Athletes.

Richard Barrett 2001 - Baseball, BasketballPaula Fronckowiak Krupa 1986 - LacrossePeter Hinckle 1999 - FootballMegan Larkin 1998 - Basketball, Soccer, LacrosseLisa Newmaster Hogan 2000 - SoftballSkip Werley P'09 - Coach Men's BasketballMike Piotrowicz 1978 - Baseball, Basketball, Blanche B. Schultz '41 Award


Despite the Saturday clouds, a wonderful crowd of alumni, parents, students and friends celebrated and reunited with fellow classmates and others from the Ursinus community. More than 200 people enjoyed a taste of the Blues & Brews celebration and music from the Blues Factor. A loyal crowd cheered the Bears on to victory in the Homecoming football game and Ursinus College alumnae triumphed over students in the women’s lacrosse game.

WINTER 2012 PAGE 11


WINTER 2012 PAGE 13

More than eight million Americans publish personal blogs on the internet, according to the Pew Research Center. So just what exactly is a blog? An interactive diary, in short. To blog is to maintain the equivalent of a journal, but online. Blogging sites have soared in popularity in the last decade as a public space for anyone who wants to write, reveal, explain or explore the subject of their fancy. If you are bitten by the blogging bug, you will need to find a website such as www.blogspot.com to begin your writing journey.

Many Ursinus alumni are citizens of this expanding world of bloggers. We were curious as to what they were writing about. What we discovered were blogs that reflect the eclectic interest and the expertise of our graduates. Our graduates are blogging on topics spanning from film and fashion to faith and food.

“I am excited to see the variety of blogs from Ursinus alumni,” wrote Nancy Nonini 1974, who has a blog on the retirement years. “Thank you for this opportunity.”

Read on for a sampling of blogs that are packed full with useful information, insight, opinion, emotion, as well as touches of humor. If you start your own, let us know!

BlogospherethetoBy Ellen Cosgrove Labrecque 1995


Enos Russell 1964Blog Address: www.enosrussellblog.comTopic: Science Fiction Writing

Russell wasn’t always a writer. He taught math in private independent schools for years and today is an online facilitator for the University of Phoenix. But in recent years he caught the writing bug. He and his wife Enid, 1966, write four to six hours together daily. The couple, who live in Texas, are collaborating on a paranormal mystery series for tweens titled, The Ghost in my iPad. His first novel, Dangerous Awakenings, was requested by several agents and editors.

Earlier this year, Russell realized he wanted a platform to share insight into his self-published novels and short stories. Voila! A blog was born. Russell’s books focus on paranormal, mystery and thrillers. His blog helps explain character mo-tivation as well as give more details on the places they inhabit.

“I needed a place to share a few chapters on current work and provide readers with a discussion of my characters,” he says. “It allows me to write about what I like to write.”

“The blog is at the heart of my marketing efforts,” says Russell. “That’s the only place my readers can see the platform and appreciate what drives my stories.”

Nancy Nonini 1974Blog Address: www.retirementeducationplus.com/blog Topic: Retirement

Nonini has always had a phobia about writing. “Writing is painful and painstaking for me,” says Nonini. “But because I feel like I am helping people, I persevere. I enjoy that I can help people prepare for retirement by providing useful tips to make the process less frustrating and ways to avoid common mistakes. My blog covers topics from Social Security to estate planning to positive aging. It is much more information than opinion.”

Mary Katherine Roberts 2004Blog Address: hystericalquestforspawn.blogspot.comTopic: Fertility Treatments and Issues

“My husband and I had been going through fertility treatments unsuccessfully for a few months,” says Roberts. “Like many others in infertility land, we thought it best not to tell people about it. It seems to be a very taboo topic. But, after the third treatment failed, I was an emotional wreck. My writing became an outlet. Infertility can be very isolating since no one really talks about it. If I can shed some light on the topic, dispel some rumors, and occasionally make someone chuckle, I’m there. If anyone ever finds themselves in this desperate situation, I want them to know they are not alone.”

Blogospheretheto

WINTER 2012 PAGE 15

Anupy Singla 1990Blog Address: www.indianASapplepie.comTopic: Indian Cooking and Reconnecting with Healthy Food

“I am a born columnist,” says Singla, who lives in Chicago. “Everything I see and do, I feel like I need to write and reflect on. My blog enables me to be introspective along with writing about food. I want parents to realize that they can feed their kids healthier foods easily. Kids love healthy food. Their little bodies crave it. BUT we as parents are overworked and use that as an excuse not to feed our kids the foods they need to be productive healthy adults. This blog is about putting the excuses aside. We need to reconnect ourselves and our kids with real food.”

Christopher Michael 2011Blog Address: recentlyviewedmovies.blogspot.com Topic: Movie ReviewsMichael wanted a blog that captured and categorized the many films he had seen. “I came across some primary sources relating to film history while working in library ar-chives, and wanted to get deeper into these sources,” says Michael, currently at work on his master’s degree in Library and Information Science at Drexel University. “Posting about my discoveries in the archives has been a great way to learn more about film history.”

Sarah Elizabeth Weaver 2007Blog Address: www.thestrengthoffaith.comTopic: Faith Matters

Weaver says blogging has become a creative way for her to share and reflect on her life. The tagline of her blog is “Finding Balance in My Life” and that is what she hopes to accomplish. “Maybe I will help someone else find balance along the way,” says Weaver. “I feel like so much of blogging comes out of my ministry as senior pastor of Rehoboth Congregational Church in Rehoboth, Mass. It has created a lot of bridges in my life and the connections I have made are truly priceless.”

Josh Krigman 2011Blog Address: krigman.blogspot.comTopic: Life in New York

Krigman started blogging when he moved to Brooklyn as a way to both keep track of his experiences and get his writing out into the world. “It’s mostly about my experiences in New York. A small moment I use as an excuse to make jokes. I’d like to be a comedy writer. Maybe theatre, maybe TV. Whatever makes people laugh.”


Daniel Reimold 2003Blog Address: www.collegemediamatters.comTopic: College Media and Journalism

Reimold’s research passion for student media at the college level was an interest initially triggered by his experience running The Grizzly. “During graduate school, I noticed that while the professional press and high school journalism received a ton of blog and scholarly attention, the campus press did not,” says Reimold. “College Media Matters was my effort at beginning to fill this Grand Canyon-sized gap. Blogging even led to my trip to Iraq this past summer to study student journalism. A staffer at a university there offered me an exclusive on the launching of the first post-Saddam independent campus newspaper. When I finished the blog series, my interest in learn-ing more about the students’ efforts lingered. More than a year and thousands of dollars in grant fund-ing later, I was on the ground in Iraq.”

Sabir Peele 2008 Blog Address: mensstylepro.comTopic: Men’s Fashion

Personal style has always been a top priority for Peele. As an undergrad, his dapper dress stood out among the sea of flannel shirts and baseball caps at Ursinus. His blog, which he started in November 2010, doesn’t just showcase his own wardrobe, but helps men pick out theirs as well.

“Men’s Style Pro’s main goal is to help men improve their personal style without breaking the bank,” Peele says. “American men have let their style fall by the wayside and I want to be the person to help start a revolution of true gentleman.”

Peele has some fashion cred to accompany his advice. He was voted the “Fan Favorite” in Esquire magazine’s 2010 Best Dressed Man Contest. He won the popular vote with more than 18,000 hits. This made him an automatic Top 5 finisher and earned him a spot in the September 2010 issue. In addition to his blog, he also writes his own style column for The Philadelphia Examiner website, covering everything from socks to new sleek cars.

There is one fashion topic though, Peele is smart enough to avoid: women’s clothes.

“I know what looks I like and what colors go well,” he says. “But I know better. I’m not too keen on making any comments at all.”

Dr. Anthony Perri 2000Blog Address: perridermatology.com/blog Topic: Dermatology: The Skin You’re In

“It’s my goal to develop an online resource of dermatology that can be understood by the general public, but technical enough to be of value to a health professional. I am the featured der-matologist on the television show “Top Docs of Houston” that airs every week on our Houston Fox affiliate. I usually reference the blog with the topic I’m discussing that week. The fluidity of a blog allows me to maintain information that is up to date and thoroughly covers every dermatologic concept. It is a great resource for many of my patients.”

Blogospheretheto

WINTER 2012 PAGE 17

Bryan Stafford 2011 Blog Address: bryanmstafford.blogspot.comTopic: Video Games

Stafford doesn’t consider playing video games a hobby. He considers it a lifestyle.

“My blog is about video games as an art form and video game culture as a whole,” he says. “I started almost a year ago. I had gained a lot of knowledge over the years about the video game medium, and it would be wrong not to share this knowledge with others.”

Stafford may be kidding, but his video game expertise is no joke. His childlike enthusiasm as a gamer has grown through the years, and his blog posts reflect this devotion. He reviews new games, different systems and makes passionate arguments about obscure video game topics such as superheroes that should be turned into games. This is something that hard-core gamers could either appreciate or debate. Although his blog is geared toward a niche audience of game enthu-siasts, Stafford hopes this will someday change. “I hope that my blog will cause at least one person to gain a greater respect for the video game medium.”

Paul Schneider 2011Blog Address: scleadershipacademy.org/blog Topic: Student Athletes

When Schneider started working for the non-profit Sports Challenge Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C., it was a good exercise to begin writing. “We use sports as a tool to develop and empower the next generation of leaders,” says Sch-neider. “Through my blog, I showcase effective and successful leaders in all fields and professions and explore general leadership topics. I love the freedom and focus that comes with blogging.”

Jonathan Verlin 1988Blog Address: www.jverlin.com Topic: The Philadelphia Public School System

“Teaching is the thin blue line standing between civilization and chaos,” says Verlin, an English and Technology teacher at South Philadelphia High School. He is also an instructional technologist. “It’s a service to humanity. It takes time, energy and it takes courage. Still more, it requires character and a manifestation of moral truth. This then is the true business of the world in which we teach and live.”


Nothing Short of AmazingNothing Short of Amazing

Ursinus Field Hockey Wins Centennial ConferenceUrsinus Field Hockey Wins Centennial ConferenceBy Kathryn CampbellBy Kathryn Campbell

WINTER 2012 PAGE 19

“We have a good mix of personalities and we mesh really well together.”

Nicole Hanby 2012

TThe motto for the Ursinus field hockey team this season was Earn It. They did just that, winning the Centennial Conference Championship.

They were young and unproven. And after two tough losses early in the season, clouds of doubt were gathering about the chances of a championship for the Bears field hockey team.

“This year was a tremendous year of growth for each and every stu-dent-athlete,” says Head Coach Janelle Benner. “After losing a large senior class of seven starters from the 2010 season, they all knew the challenge they had in front of them.”

But the scrappy and smart young players were up for the fight. Ben-ner harnessed their enthusiasm and led the Lady Bears to win the Centennial Conference Championship and make it all the way to compete in the NCAA tournament.

“The thrill of winning and the experiences made during the sea-son are ones that can never be taken away,” says Alyssa Thren 2012, the all-time leading goal scorer in both the Centennial Conference and Ursinus College history with 107 career goals. “This season has been an unforgettable one. Being able to bounce back from a few key losses in the beginning of the season and making it to the

NCAA national finals game has been an amazing feat. Out of the four years I have been a part of the Ursinus field hockey tradition, this year has been especially emotional and exciting.”

The road to each victory was hard won, says Benner, who worked with assistant coaches Ashley Pultorak, Megan Yoder 2011 and Jen-nifer Bayzick 2011. Their goal was to get the girls to play in unison and approach every game with a singular fierceness.

“The girls had to put in so much hard work,” says Benner. “I felt those two early losses were an opportunity for us to grow as a team.”

Though general practices would run afternoons from 3:30 to 6, the team sometimes split into two groups for more exacting drills and competitions. Coaches were put on the team shoulder-to-shoulder with the players for the test of competing against them.

“With the team, there is never a dull day,” says Nicole Hanby 2012, who nicknamed her hockey stick Purple Rain. “Every day is differ-ent and always fun. We have a good mix of personalities and we mesh really well together. We have some that love to sing, some that are quiet and some that like to crack jokes. Practices are a lot of fun, but all of the girls are really competitive and love to win.”


“This year was a tremendous year of growth for each and every student-athlete,” says Head Coach Janelle Benner. “After losing a large senior class of seven starters from the 2010 season, they all knew the challenge they had in front of them.”

Benner and her coaching staff worked to get the players out of their comfort zones.

“In my eyes, this was a young team because after losing se-nior players last year we had to re-evaluate who we were as a team,” she says. “We had a different style now and we had to figure out how to connect and come together after the adversity of tough losses.”

It took the girls a few games to find their stride on the play-ing field. “But once we got it we worked together really well,” says Jenn Pappas 2013, who plays defense. “It was rewarding to prove everyone wrong and win the Centennial Confer-ence Championship. It was even more rewarding to beat Messiah 3-1, since they our usually are toughest opponent.”

The Lady Bears went on to beat Salisbury, the top seeded team in the regional tournament, in overtime to reach the NCAA national finals. “It was a great experience to be part of such a big accomplishment and I am really proud of how our team fought for every win this season. It wasn’t always easy, but we made it work,” says Pappas.

No one was sure exactly what personality this year’s team would take on, says Laura Moliken, Director of Athletics. But by the end of the journey this season they had evolved into champions.

“As they progressed through the season, they became a team that never quit and, regardless of the game situation, worked as hard as they could to find a way to win,” says Moliken. “That characteristic was highlighted during their amazing post-season run to return to the final four which produced some of the most exciting wins in the history of Ursinus Field Hockey.”

Head Field Hockey Coach Janelle Benner.

WINTER 2012 PAGE 17WINTER 2012 PAGE 21

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION • APRIL 19-21, 2012Please join us as we inaugurate Dr. Bobby Fong as the 15th President of Ursinus College on Saturday, April 21 at 11 a.m. in the Floy Lewis Bakes Center field house. Remarks will be given by Dr. James M. Gentile, CEO and President, Research Corporation for Science Advancement. (Advance registration is required.)

Please check the Schedule of Events for the four-day celebration showcasing students, faculty, alumni and the community as we officially welcome Dr. Fong and his family. Dr. Fong’s decision to come to Ursinus was based on his love for liberal arts colleges and Ursinus’ reputation for academic excellence. For additional information please go to www.ursinus.edu/inauguration.

Planned Events• COSA (Celebration of Student Achievement)• Faculty & Staff expo• Inauguration breakfast and reception• Installation ceremony• All campus reception• Community partnership parade• Student art exhibition opening reception • College Choir/Meistersingers Concert• Field hockey alumni game

April 21 • Ursinus campus breakfast• The Installation Ceremony of Dr. Bobby Fong• Reception• UCDC dance performance

T H E I N A U G U R A T I O N O F

Bobby Fong, Ph.D.Reimagining the Liberal Arts: Celebrate, Rededicate, Anticipate


Franklin E. Morris 1941 took a left turn from chemistry to spend a lifetime composing. At 91, he’s still recording and publishing his work. Though his resumé is highlighted by a bachelor’s and doc-torate in chemistry, Morris decided against spending his days in the laboratory. His choice to pursue his first passion of music led Morris on a prolific seven-decade career as a composer.

Trading in Bunsen burners for pianos and synthesizers was a de-cision he’s never regretted. In fact, he continues to spend each day surrounded by music. “Being a composer was something I had to do,” says Morris, who has composed over a thousand symphonies since the beginning of his career which saw him spend almost 40 years as a music professor at Syracuse University.

To put that eye-popping number in perspective, Beethoven only composed nine.

“Everything has changed since I began composing. At first, I only used piano. I was a piano player first and foremost. Nowadays, no one uses pianos to compose. Including myself.”

Morris began playing piano when he was just 6 years old. Just a few years later, he started dabbling with composition, writing a rhapsody for a Philadelphia-based contest that was seeking original songs. Music remained a passion for Morris through-out his youth, but his father insisted that he choose a career path where he could make a consistent living. That’s where chemistry came in.

Ultimately, Morris spent nearly a decade studying and working in chemistry. After graduating from Ursinus in 1941, he moved to Cambridge to pursue doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology.

While at Ursinus, Morris says he stayed active musically, even with his days inundated with chemistry homework. “I performed at Ursinus during all four years as a sort of unofficial helper for Dr. [William] Philip whenever he needed an accompanist for some official event such as the Meistersinger concerts, the Messiah concerts,” says Morris. “I also took it upon myself to give a group of solo piano concerts with lectures at noontime in

MusicalFormula

AMusicalFormula

A

By Andrew Clark

WINTER 2012 PAGE 23

Bomberger for anyone of the student public. For a paid regular salary, I played for an hour of dancing called ‘rec hall’ five days a week, every evening. This was the dance pop music of the day, in contrast to the noon concerts, which were classical.”

The desire to pursue music stayed with the Phoenixville native even as he embarked on his graduate studies. As he worked toward his Ph.D., Morris began studying musical composition with noted composer Water Piston at Harvard. Just one year af-ter finishing his degree, Morris decided to give up chemistry. It wasn’t where he belonged. Music was his new career.

Morris spends his days at his home in Syracuse, N.Y., where he began working as a professor in 1951. Since retiring from the academic circuit 25 years ago, Morris continued to compose on a daily basis. Right now, Morris is focused on cataloging his music on the internet.

“I’m really concentrating on putting all of my music online to share it with the world,” says Morris, whose works are now avail-able for download at the website for the American Music Center. “A typical day up to February of this year was to compose the 1,009 electronic works I had about finished by then. In mid-Feb-ruary, I had a minor event that sent me to a rehab center until the middle of May. Since then, besides exercising and the ordinary routines of living, I’ve been working on, if possible, getting all my musical works online.”

When it comes to Morris’s compositions, there is a striking nature to its sound, much of his music taking on an electronic, almost fu-turistic nature. A wide range of composers have influenced Mor-ris over the course of his career, from a number of his contem-poraries to the likes of Stravinsky. “The list is endless,” confesses Morris when asked about who has impacted his work.

Being on the cutting edge of the music scene was a trademark of sorts for Morris’s career. He was known for composing multimedia events and live-action performances to accompany his symphonies. Throughout his time at Syracuse, Morris was also known for giving annual performances of his own composi-tions. From pianos and violin sonatas to arrangements for string quartets, Morris had a penchant for writing pieces for nearly every instrument. Following his retirement from Syracuse University in 1985, Mor-ris began building a studio at his home to continue composing. It was the perfect fit for Morris. Rather than traverse across town, he could compose music just one room away.

“At my home, I have this studio that is so crowded with equip-ment,” says Morris. “I just sit down and I have all of these dif-ferent prerecorded sounds to work with, they’re all stored in this machine. All I have to do is simply touch a button and start trying different sounds.”

The evolution of technology has been an immense help to his work, he says. Rather than spending countless hours labor-ing over a piano, struggling to find the perfect combination of chords, Morris is able to easily tinker with myriad sounds in his studio. According to Morris, this has led to his prodigious production.

“There was a time where it could take you forever just to write one symphony. But with the way technology is now, it’s possible to sit down and write a symphony in one day. I’ve been able to write 1,000 symphonies. Years ago, there was no way that would be possible.”

Franklin Morris’s music catalog can be found at www.amc.net/franklinmorris

Andrew Clark is a law student and writer based out of Boston. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and The Boston Globe, among other publications.

Photo Courtesy Syracuse University Archives


Why is there so much current debate about happiness in philosophy and psychology right now? Don’t we all know what it is?

You would think so. But it turns out that we’re not very good at saying what activities make us happy. There’s an interesting study about this. A researcher asked people to list what makes them hap-py. People wrote down things like relaxing and watching TV. Then the researcher asked the same people to carry around pagers; when the pager beeped, they were to write down what they were doing at the moment and how they felt. Interestingly, the two lists didn’t match! The second list — the list where people reported experienc-ing highly fulfilling mental states — tended to include activities that were challenging, not relaxing, and activities that required highly focused attention and energy. So what we say offhand makes us most happy isn’t necessarily what actually makes us most happy!

So we don’t predict well what specifically will make us happy. But at least we all know what happiness is, don’t we?

There’s debate about that, too. If asked what happiness is, most of us

would probably say it’s about having positive mental states. That’s probably the dominant cultural view right now: many people think we have all that’s worth having when we have great mental states. But on further reflection, there’s more to want. Consider a case from philosopher Thomas Nagel about a deceived businesswoman. She thinks her business is thriving, her spouse is loyal, and her kids love her. But in reality, the business is tanking because an employee is embezzling, her husband is cheating on her, and her kids only fake affection because they want to borrow the car. She definitely has positive mental states, but most of us think her life is not re-ally going well. Even if we call her “happy,” we all have reason to want more than that. Maybe we could say that her well-being — a broader concept than “happiness” — is not very high. There are core things she wants in life, and she’s not really getting them; so she doesn’t have high well-being.

But that seems to make her well-being dependent on things that are outside her — things that are out of her control.

Yes. And that’s the way older cultures have often thought about well-being: external stuff matters, not just internal stuff. Even if you

Happiness. To some, it’s elusive and to others, instantly accessible. Exploring the basis of what makes some people happy, and others less so, has been studied for centuries. Aristotle scratched his head over it and modern-day philosophers do, too. Students who took CIE with Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion Kelly Sorensen recently used “The Sci-ence behind Your Smile” by Daniel Nettle. Sorensen writes and teaches about ethics: ethical theory, biomedical ethics, environmental ethics and metaethics. He also works on Kant, the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion. His work has appeared in The Journal of Philosophy, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Kantian Review, Bioethics, and the Journal of Medical Ethics. In this interview, Sorensen shares some of his own thoughts on defining happiness. To see a live interview with Sorensen visit news.ursinus.edu/ursinus-magazine.

Professor Kelly SorensenOn the Complexities of Happiness

WINTER 2012 PAGE 25

have great positive mental states — a great internal show between your ears — you might not have high well-being if you’re not getting what you want, like the deceived businesswoman.

But indeed, some people think instead that our contemporary cul-ture’s view is correct: all that matters is the internal show between your ears. We even have a saying for it: What you don’t know won’t hurt you.

So the current debates about happiness and well-being are mostly about this issue?

Well, there is a third view worth thinking about. Maybe there are some things that raise our well-being even when we don’t much enjoy or want them. Knowledge, achievement and freedom seem to raise our well-being, even in those instances where we may not welcome them. My freshman physics teacher told the class, “You now know Maxwell’s equations, and your life is better for it,” even though at the time few of us in that high-pressure engineer-ing and pre-med weed-out course enjoyed knowing, or wanted to know, Maxwell’s equations. Formerly oppressed people who find

themselves newly free may experience negative mental states, and sometimes even want to go back to their oppressed situation; but still, something seems to have gotten better for them when they are freed. On this third view about happiness and well-being, things like knowledge and achievement and freedom make a contribution to our lives that can outrun whatever mental states and preferences we have about them.

Is the pursuit of happiness overrated? Should happiness or well-being be a goal?

Some people think so. There is data that suggests that we tend to trip over our own shoelaces if we try to pursue happiness directly. We may well have better lives if we pursue, with zest and focus, meaningful projects. People who do so seem to be better off on any of the three accounts above: such people have more positive men-tal states, they more often get what they want, and they have rich human goods like knowledge and achievement and freedom in their lives.

See our interview with Kelly Sorensen at news.ursinus.edu/ursinus-magazine

“Knowledge, achievement and freedom seem to raise our well-being, even in those instances where we may not welcome them.”

20 Tips on Happiness

Th

e m

ost

po

wer

ful w

ay to in

crease your short-term feelings of happiness is to perform ran

do

m acts o

f kin

dn

ess to o

ther

s, or

to sen

d a letter o

f gratitude to someone you care about. Five such acts in a week will

increa

se y

our

hap

pin

ess

for

up

to t

hr

ee m

on

ths.

•

Sports facilities

and community

centers increase a community’s

overall happiness

factor

The happier

you are, the more antibodies your body

will generate –

UP TO

50% MORE.

A 2005 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey showed people ages 20-24 are sad for 4 days per month. Those aged between 65-74 are sad only 2.3 days per month.

Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better. Even “faking” a smile can lead to feeling happier.

The more you hug your children,

the happier

they will be as adults.

Happier people are more likely to retain theirrelationships.

Money buys happiness.

Those who can

afford to have their

basic material needs

taken care of are

happier than those

who cannot.

Physical activity promotes happiness. Certain studies showed that after exercising for 20 minutes, 3 times a week, happiness levels increased by 10-20% in all subjects just after 6 months.Happy people generally earn more than unhappy people.

Your genes and family

upbringing account for

only half of your happiness levels.

People in relationships

are usually happier

than people who

are single.


20 Tips on Happiness

Th

e m

ost

po

wer

ful w

ay to in

crease your short-term feelings of happiness is to perform ran

do

m acts o

f kin

dn

ess to o

ther

s, or

to sen

d a letter o

f gratitude to someone you care about. Five such acts in a week will

increa

se y

our

hap

pin

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up

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hr

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on

ths.

•

Happiness has a fragrance. Clinical experiments on body odor have proved your scent changes

between when you are stressed or happy.

In the United States, the number of people with clinical depression is 3 to 10 times more common than it was for their

grandparents at the same age.

Sports facilities

and community

centers increase a community’s

overall happiness

factor

The happier

you are, the more antibodies your body

will generate –

UP TO

50% MORE.

Dancing increases your happiness.

The most powerful way to increase your long-term feelings of happiness is to understand

your strengths and talents, or life purpose, and to work on sharing

those parts of yourself with others.The U.S. ranks #16

on the list of the happiest countries in the world –

despite being one of

the wealthiest.

Your outlook on life, and what you choose to do with your life, can account for 40% of your happiness levels. This includes your friendships, work and participation in your community.

Several studies have shown

that a pet can reduce blood pressure

and stress, promoting health

and happiness.

A mere 20 minutes of exercise, three days each week will increase your happiness by

10 to 20 percent after six months.

WINTER 2012 PAGE 27


For more information on how a Charitable Gift Annuity might help you realize your philanthropic and financial planning needs or receive a confidential, personalized illustration, please contact:

Mark P. Gadson, CFP Executive Director of Planned GivingUrsinus College Office of Advancement601 E. Main Street • Collegeville, PA 19426(610) 409-3164 • [email protected]

Note: The above rates are for illustration purposes only and may vary based on the date of gift and other monthly adjusted factors. Annuities may not be available in all states at the time of this publication.

The Charitable Gift Annuity The Charitable Gift Annuity

Safe. Secure. Sensible.Safe. Secure. Sensible.

SELECTED ONE-LIFE ANNUITY RATESAnnuitant Age Rate 72 5.4% 75 5.8% 80 6.8% 85 7.8% 90+ 9.0%

SELECTED TWO-LIFE ANNUITY RATESAnnuitant Ages First Second Rate 75 76-77 5.1% 80 80 5.7% 80 84 6.0% 85 85 6.7% 85 89 7.2% 90 90 8.2% 93+ 93+ 8.8%

WINTER 2012 PAGE 29

President Bobby Fong enjoyed a busy season of meeting Ursinus friends and family this fall. More than 100 alumni, trustees, par-ents, students, and friends met at the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston to welcome President Fong in August. The event, hosted by Trustee Cynthia Fisher 1983, was the largest gathering of its kind in the Boston area to date. In November, more than 130 alumni, trustees, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends attended our Philadelphia Welcome Event at the Philadelphia Country Club making it the largest National Tour event this year. Patricia Cosgrave, Ursinus parent and Trustee, hosted the event. During President Fong’s remarks that evening, he emphasized the impor-tance of ensuring a quality education for current students through alumni support and engagement with the College. Both events, as well as a recent event in New York City hosted by Trustee Rev. Harold C. Smith 1955, are part of a larger series of National Tour visits President Fong will be making this year to meet with various members of the Ursinus family. The events are open to all who are interested in attending. For more information on President Fong’s tour, or to reserve your spot for upcoming events in 2012, please visit www.ursinus.edu/nationaltour.

By Abbie Cichowski 2010 Assistant Director of Alumni Relations & Advancement Outreach

President Fong Meets Alumni on National Tour


Class Notes1937Harold Goldberg reports he recently enjoyed his great granddaughter's first birthday party. He also has two great grandsons named Jordan and Parker.

1950George Saurman was honored by the Board of Directors of Montgomery County Senior Adult Activities Center (SAAC) for his achievements and his contributions to the community. They renamed the Ambler facility the George E. Saurman Campus of Ambler SAAC.

1954Floyd Fellows reports he continues to work on his daughter's movie, Angel of Courage, and hope it's done by January or February, 2012.

1955Beverly Tyrrell Crane Dubee reports with sadness that her husband Joseph A. Dubee passed away on Dec. 10, 2010.

1964Suzanne Honeysett McKinny was posthumously inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame on Oct. 29, 2011. McKinny umpired 35 years at the high school level, 30 years at the collegiate level and 20 years at the international level. She also served on the Philadelphia Umpiring Board.

1965Timothy T. Cope, M.D., retired from his critical access family medicine group in rural Vermont. He now volunteers at a clinic for patients without medical insurance and internationally, most re-cently at the Hillcrest AIDS/TB Center in Durban, South Africa.

1978William “Bill” Hutchins, Jr. and his wife Mary (Skrzat) Hutchins report that Bill continues to work as an employee benefit consultant for RM Associ-ates in Wilmington, Del. He also enjoys officiating Delaware high school football in the fall. Mary is Executive Director for Historic Kennett Square and continues to oversee the economic growth and de-velopment of Kennett Square. They are waiting the birth of their first grandchild in in January.

Nina B. Stryker, chair of Obermayer’s Trusts and Estate Practice, moderated a panel discussion,

“Fundamentals of Estate Administration” at a Pennsylvania Bar Institute program this past September. The discussion emphasized tips from practicing attorneys on problem areas such as properly preparing documents and meeting dead-lines in filing inventories, accounts, tax returns and other documents.

1981Louis DiNardo will join the Exar Corporation, based in Fremont, Calif., as President and Chief Executive Officer, this January. DiNardo was pre-viously a Partner at Crosslink Capital, a stage-in-dependent venture capital and growth equity firm based in San Francisco.

1982Traci Davis was inducted into the National La-crosse Hall of Fame on Oct. 29, 2011. Davis was a four-year member of the St. Paul's School for Girls (Md.) field hockey, basketball and lacrosse teams. She was an All-American in both field hockey and lacrosse at Ursinus, and went on to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team (1979-1989); the U.S. Touring Team (1981, 1984); and the U.S. World Cup Team (1986). She was also captain of the U.S. team for the Canadian national tournament in 1985. As a club player, Davis played for South 1, Philadelphia Colleges 1 and Lax World. She was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 1999 and the St. Paul's School for Girls Hall of Fame in 2001.

Gerald DeFruscio was named Associate Commis-sioner of the Athletic 10 Conference. DeFruscio will oversee the A-10 Men’s Basketball Champi-onship and work administratively on regular sea-son scheduling, television selections and the A-10 men’s basketball officiating program. Additionally, he will oversee the conference marketing, licensing and branding efforts. DeFruscio spent the past four years as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. He assisted in all facets of basketball opera-tions and worked directly with player development, scouting, and was active in the Pacers’ community outreach programs.

1985Elizabeth Rubino was named Executive Vice Presi-dent of Human Resources and Workplace Services at QVC in West Chester, Pa.

Raine MacKinstry Fussner has worked for Merck for 25 years. She also ran the Boston Marathon this year and enjoys spending time with her five chil-dren and husband.

1991Matt Campbell was recently honored by the New Jersey State Association of Student Councils as Administrator of the Year. Campbell is serving his sixth year as principal of Shawnee High School In Medford, N.J. He lives in Haddon Heights with his wife, Tricia, and their four children.

1992Rob Gilfillan is the founder of Cenero, a privately held business-to-business service firm. The compa-ny has specialized in all aspects of audio visual and video conferencing solutions for mid-size firms to international enterprise organizations.

2000Thomas Howard began a new position as Lead Support Engineer for opensky.com at its Manhat-tan headquarters in November 2011. OpenSky is a social shopping site that helps people discover and buy products recommended by expert curators, in-cluding Martha Stewart, chef Bobby Flay and Trav-el Channel host Andrew Zimmern. OpenSky was recently ranked in Forbes' Top 100 Most Promising Companies list, and was featured on NBC’s Today show and The Martha Stewart Show.

2001Richard A. Bechtel II was selected as a Rising Star by Maryland Super Lawyers and will be featured in the January 2012 edition of Baltimore Magazine. Bechtel is an attorney with Gessner, Snee, Mahoney & Lutche, P.A. in Bel Air, Md. His primary focus is on real estate, representing property owners and real estate developers in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area on a wide range of land use and zoning matters. Kristin Franks Vinciguerra is an Advertising Sales Manager at Roman Press, publishers of Today’s Hospitalist Magazine, in Chalfont, Pa. She also helps her mother with her Italian import business.

2003Jessica (Marmon) Crowell is an adjunct professor at Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, Pa., in the Graduate School of Professional School Counseling.

WINTER 2012 PAGE 31

The interview with Dr. Gerald Edelman is hope filled and informative. However, I was surprised to read his narrow characterization of Ursinus as a “preparatory school for two careers: religion and medicine” in the 1950s. While many entered those, then, largely male dominated fields, there are more graduates who found satisfying careers in business, engineering, education and athletics to name a few. We were smart enough and prepared well enough “to pick up the professional issues later.”

The wonderful achievements of presidents Strassburger and Fong were and are possible because of the foundation laid by earlier genera-tions of educators who utilized the most progressive education methods of the era. From the time Freeland Seminary was established to educate women to the present day, Ursinus has emphasized the liberal arts. We were ably taught in the lecture hall and the laboratory to think critically, communicate effectively and explore the larger world in creative ways. The professors who taught philosophy, the social sciences, language and history helped us develop a social conscience and nurtured an ethos of service. So while we celebrate the best that Ursinus is, let us not minimize its long history.

Joanne Heckman Blyler, B.S. Biology, 1952

Responding to Ursinus MagazineWe welcome and encourage letters from our readers. This note from alumna Joanne Heckman Blyler is in response to the interview with Gerald M. Edelman, M.D., Ph.D. 1950

Joseph M. DeSimone 1968 was the 2008 recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. He was given the 2010 AAAS Mentor Award, honoring DeSimone's dedication to advancing diversity in the chemistry PhD workforce.

DeSimone Presents Research in

Nanomedicine

DeSimone Presents Research in

Nanomedicine

Joseph DeSimone 1968 spoke at the prestigious conference, TED-MED, in San Diego Oct. 25 to 28. TEDMED, a for-profit organi-zation whose mission is to advance health and medicine through innovation, featured presentations on cutting-edge achievements in science and technology. DeSimone presented his research in nanomedicine, including PRINT technology, a technique invented by DeSimone’s research team to produce nanoparticles of specific sizes and shapes. Apple co-founder Steven Wozniak and athlete Lance Armstrong spoke on the same program.

DeSimone, an Ursinus Trustee and parent, is the Chancellor’s Emi-nent Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Chemical En-gineering at North Carolina State University. DeSimone is also an adjunct member at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. DeSimone has published over 270 scientific articles and has 120 issued patents in his name with over 120 patents pending. In 2005 DeSimone was elected into the National Academy of Engi-neering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


A South Pole Adventurer Gets His Name on the MapChester Frankenfield 1955

Some people have benches, trees or playgrounds named in their honor. The more famous among us are honored with bridges and buildings. But a glacier in the South Pole coined with your moni-ker is something few can claim.

Chester Frankenfield 1955 is one of those people. The Franken-field Glacier flows in the Bellingshausen Sea next to Antarctica and due south of Argentina. It was named for the former Naval lieutenant and meteorologist in 1960 after he established a weath-er station there. But Frankenfield only became aware of his per-sonalized glacier this past year.

“I was Googling my name,” says Frankenfield with a chuckle. “To my surprise I found an entry for a Frankenfield Glacier in Antarc-tica and discovered the glacier was named after me!” Frankenfield wrote to the U.S. Geological Survey asking about the glacier. They confirmed it was named after him along with a side note: the organization that was in charge of naming glaciers back in the 1960’s never informed any of the people of their glacier namesakes. “Other people could have glaciers named after them and they might not know it as well,” he says.

It was through treacherous work and trail blazing that Franken-field earned the honor of having a glacier named for him. While serving in the Navy, Frankenfield traveled on an icebreaker ship

that penetrated the Bellingshausen Sea. The crew’s mission was to become the first to reach Antarctica from this area of the coast.

Leaving from Welling-ton, New Zealand, in January 1960, the ice-breaker encountered rough weather and

heavy seas. Many on the crew ended up violently ill, but Franken-field was one of the lucky ones. “I didn’t get seasick, but ice break-ers are not comfortable ships regardless,” he says. “In the slightest sea they roll sideways, and then in rough seas it is much, much worse.”

The ship finally reached its destination a month later. There Fran-kenfield helped establish the automatic weather station on Thur-ston Island in the Bellingshausen Sea. It records temperature, pressure and surface wind data.

Graduating from Ursinus in 1955 as a math major with a Bachelor of Science, Frankenfield didn’t intend to become a meteorologist. Instead, he went to work for the National Security Agency as a cryptanalyst. He enlisted in the Navy in April 1957 and received a certificate in Applied Meteorology. Frankenfield volunteered to spend a year at McMurdo Naval Air Facility in Antarctica serving as the station meteorologist and flight forecaster during the sum-mer months.

“The first thing I saw when I stepped off the plane was Mount Ere-bus, an active volcano that rises almost 13,000 feet,” says Franken-field. “To see this wonderful white cone with these vivid blue skies behind was one of the most thrilling sites that have remained with me throughout my life.”

After his first stint, Frankenfield was ready to put his South Pole exploration behind him. But his commander, pleased with his performance on the world’s coldest continent, sent him back one more time the following January. This is the trip that would even-tually put his name on the map.

“To be honest, setting up the weather station was just another day’s work,” Frankenfield recalls. “But getting from my living hut to my mess hall with 40 knot winds and -40 degree temperatures, that was much more of a challenge!”

After leaving the Navy in 1960, Frankenfield went to Palo Alto and worked as a programmer for a small computer company. He continued to work in computers until retiring in 1998. Today he runs a small income tax business.

Frankenfield and his wife of 48 years, Patricia, travel all over the world and have proudly made it to all seven continents. The couple has traveled with fellow 1955 Ursinus graduates Norm and Ethel Pollock. They have remained friends since their Ursinus days and even kept in touch during Frankenfield’s time in Antarctica.

Exploring eastern Europe is next on the Frankenfield’s list. In keeping with the spirit of his South Pole days, they travel with ad-venture groups hiking upwards of five or six hours a day. “I know a relaxing cruise is probably in our future,” says Frankenfield. “But we hope it is still a ways off.”

By Ellen Cosgrove Labrecque 1995

WINTER 2012 PAGE 33

2006Debbie Jensen received her Ph.D. in Molecu-lar Biology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Hematology/Oncology.

2008Timothy L. Frey graduated from the Villanova University School of Law with his J.D. in May 2011. 2009Kristi Mader Blust received her Master of Arts in School Psychology from Towson University.

2010Roger Lee was published in the December issue of Dance Magazine. He also earned his master’s in Arts Administration with a concentration on com-munications from Drexel University in December. He hopes to go into the public relations/communi-cation realm of the arts and culture field. Keith Page signed with the Cheshire Jets of the English Basketball League club. Page was born and brought up in Manchester, England.

Alex Wang is serving in the Peace Corps in a re-mote mountain community, El Rebelde, in cen-tral El Salvador. He directs a clean water project, a

health clinic project and a few food projects for his community.

2011Josh Krigman produced a play called Pure Midnight that was shown at the Abingdon Theatre in New York City. The 10-minute comedy was about rac-ism in the workplace. The play was filmed and can be found on YouTube.

Saumya Kurup is a Junior Research Scholar at the New York University Center for Dialogues: Islamic World, U.S. and the West. Prior to her employment, she took part in the Bard College Globalization and International Affairs Program for the summer of 2011, in which she interned at the NYU Center for Dialogues and took evening classes, and received a Certificate of Intensive Study in International Af-fairs from Bard College.

BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS

1993Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Saravanos, a daughter, Anastasia Zoe, on Dec. 20, 2010. 1995 Mr. and Mrs. Drew Seibel (Stephanie Casperson), a son, Nathan Samuel, on Aug. 24, 2011.

1996Mr. and Mrs. Doug Schuessler (Kelly Portser), a son, Maxwell Jacob, on March 12, 2011.

1997 Mr. and Mrs. Drew Seibel (Stephanie Casperson), a son, Nathan Samuel, on Aug. 24, 2011.

1998Mr. and Mrs. Brian Melinger (Monica Binkley), a daughter, Emily Rose, on Sept. 29, 2011.

2000Mr. and Mrs. Michael Beisser (Stephanie Sullivan) a daughter, Morgan Elizabeth, on Nov. 29, 2011.

Mr. and Mrs. Chad Friedman (Jamie Hurvitz) a daughter, Samantha Rose, on April 5, 2011.

Mr. and Mrs. Vram DerOhannessian (Stephanie Restine), a daughter, Quinn Kathryn, on May 12, 2011.

Mr. and Mrs. Karl Schreiter (Jennifer Hansen), a son, Calvin William, on July 15, 2011.

2001Mr. and Mrs. Michael Wineburg (Cara Riley), a daughter, Molly Catherine, on Feb. 17, 2011.

Hire Ursinus InternsUrsinus students are looking for hands-on

experience related to their majors or career

interests. By hiring Ursinus interns you gain

additional support for activities and special

projects from highly-motivated students.

They will offer fresh perspectives and new

ideas and you’ll garner recognition on campus.

Ursinus interns are highly qualified and

talented candidates for you to recruit &

evaluate for future full-time positions.

Post your internships at www.uccareernet.com, call 610-409-3599 or email [email protected]

Environmental Studies major Tom Jablonowski interned at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.


A Passion for MarketingJennifer Cohen 2005

Jennifer Cohen discovered one of her passions by chance as a student tour guide at Ursinus. “I was essentially doing marketing for the school and loved it,” says Cohen. “I was telling potential students why this college was great and why they should come here. I realized I was passionate about working in a marketing field someday.”

Fast-forward six years, and Cohen isn’t just working in the field of marketing, she is president and founder of her own market-ing company, Something Creative LLC. Founded in 2008, Some-thing Creative works with companies on their digital strategies and social media marketing, showing them how to use tools such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs effectively. One of Cohen’s biggest clients is Uniball Pen, which agreed to run its marketing cam-paign entirely through Facebook. The company began with a give away campaign of 10,000 pens a day for 90 days to drive custom-ers to their page. In the course of the campaign, Uniball fans on Facebook soared from 1,000 to over 70,000.

“Everybody was pleased with the results and it ended up to be a successful campaign,” says Cohen. “Because the campaign was through social media, we were able to give Uniball feedback im-mediately.”

After graduating from Ursinus with a Bachelor of Arts in Com-munications, Cohen received her masters in Public Relations from Rowan University in 2006. At Rowan, she worked as a graduate assistant in the Office of University Marketing where she honed her skills. Before starting Something Creative, Cohen worked as the social media coordinator at Rita’s Water Ice, as well as a social media specialist for other public relations firms such as Foster Web Marketing, which worked with attorneys and small law firms.

Cohen soon realized she had the drive and de-termination to work on her own.

“The few agencies I worked with were great,” says Cohen. “But I really got my fill of the cor-porate world. I thought I could make it work with my own company.” A natural extrovert, Cohen is also an avid speaker and presenter in the marketing and social media world. Her presence on the web is everywhere. She has starred in webinars, writes her own blog, jencohen14.wordpress.com, and has appeared as a guest on podcasts and radio shows.

In a field where you can always be at work, Cohen’s limitless energy and enthusiasm is a perfect match. This fall, Cohen sat on a

social media panel at the prestigious Pennsylvania Conference for Women. The panel focused on women in small businesses and was moderated by Tory Johnson, a Good Morning America contributor. Johnson is founder of the company Spark and Hustle, which helps women start their own businesses.

“The caliber of speakers that were there were truly amazing,” says Cohen about the conference, which included Gloria Steinem. “I was honored to be asked to be a part of it and met women such as Patricia Miller, the founder of Vera Bradley. She is such an inspi-ration to me.”

In addition to speaking at conferences, Cohen also encourages stu-dents to become future entrepreneurs. As an adjunct professor in the Professional Communications Department at Philadelphia Univer-sity, she teaches classes on public relations and media writing.

“Jen is such a go-getter,” says Mary Beth Kurilko, interim chair of the Professional Communications Department at Philadelphia University. “She has proved to be such a wonderful teacher and her students have given her such amazing feedback.”

By Ellen Cosgrove Labrecque 1995

Jennifer Cohen

Founded in 2008, Something Creative works with

companies on their digital strategies and social media marketing,

showing them how to use tools such as Facebook, Twitter

and blogs effectively.

Tower Society Member Rev. Harold Smith:

Still Serving Others

WINTER 2012 PAGE 35

At Ursinus, a foundation was laid on which the Rev. Harold C. Smith 1955, built a lifetime of service. An undergraduate of many talents, he majored in economics and history, and was editor of The Lantern literary magazine. But it was the emphasis on reflection at Ursinus that influenced Smith and inspired his spiritual side. Smith’s fondest memory of Ursinus is study time in the lounge in Freeland Hall “when we actually sometimes studied, but had great conversation, music and lessons on life.”

The lessons on life taught him well. Smith graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in business and was or-dained after studying at Union Theological Seminary. He spent 42 years at the YMCA Retirement Fund, serving in various roles before his 1983 appointment as President and Chief Invest-ment Officer. In his 17 years as president, the fund grew from 17,000 members, to 75,000 members, and increased in assets from $400 million to $3.75 billion. Smith served as a member of the YMCA of the USA International Committee and director of the World Federation of Associations of YMCA Secretaries in Geneva, Switzerland. He retired in 2000, and in 2001 he was inducted into the YMCA Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, his spiritual side was as active and successful as his professional side. From 1958 to 2000 he served as voluntary se-nior pastor of the Unity Hill United Church of Christ in Trum-bull, Conn. And, he made it possible for others to benefit from the education he had received. The Harold C. Smith Scholarship Fund helps UCC students interested in attending Ursinus College.

He not only supported the Board Challenge in memory of for-mer President John Strassburger, but also supported the Taking Our Place Campaign in 2007. A generous supporter of Ursinus College, the Kaleidoscope rehearsal studio bears his name, and a Biblical verse from Samuel: “David, (wearing a linen ephtod), danced before the Lord with all his might.”

Another biblical verse, from Joshua, has guided his life: “Choose you this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will service the Lord.” Explains Smith, “Every minute we face this choice and every choice I make I try to set in that framework.”

A Trustee Emeritus of Ursinus, Smith, loves the Tribeca neigh-borhood in New York City where he lives, reading and listening to classical music.

The Ursinus College Board of Trustees established The Tower Society in 1991 to recognize those who have made planned gifts

or notified the College of their bequest intentions. The name is especially appropriate because the funds for building Bomberg-er Hall were given by the College’s first benefactor, Robert Pat-terson of Philadelphia. Before his death in 1893, he contributed more than $50,000 to build Bomberger Hall, and at his death, a bequest of $150,000 established an endowed fund that assured the survival of Ursinus through its early years.

The support of thoughtful alumni and friends of Ursinus who include the College in their estate plans continues to be a signifi-cant factor in preserving the excellence of an Ursinus education for future generations of students. The Board of Trustees, there-fore, has directed that planned gift and bequest donors receive

special recognition as members of The Tower Society, and that they receive a lapel pin to signify their membership.

For more than 100 years, Bomberger Hall, with its tower rising above the campus, has symbolized the ideals and aspirations of generations of alumni and friends. Today, as in days past, this visible landmark remains the cornerstone of Ursinus College. Through the Tower Society, the Board of Trustees now honors more than 770 alumni and friends who have made commit-ments to provide the future financial security on which Ursinus depends.

Main photo: Harold Smith / Inset photo: During a New York City Welcome Event for Dr. Fong, Harold Smith talks with

Senior Vice President for Advancement Jill A. Leauber Marsteller 1978.


When I was an Ursinus student, if someone had told me that I would have the opportunity to go to Tanzania for work, I would have laughed. And even after landing my dream job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hippos and giraffes remained creatures I only read about.

But last spring, I was notified that my application to the Depart-ment of the Interior - International Technical Assistance Program (DOI-ITAP) was accepted. I was going to Tanzania! I would travel with nine other Department of the Interior workers from the Na-tional Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our job was to teach local residents how to design and build signs for the newly developed Wildlife Management Areas (WMA).

The WMAs are designated to conserve habitats for wildlife but also provide the local people with jobs and revenue from tour-ism and sustainable use of the resources. The history of wildlife conservation in Tanzania began when colonial laws controlled the management of wildlife resources. Due to this “top-down” ap-proach to conservation, integration of wildlife conservation into rural areas was not a priority.

As a result, Tanzania saw a decline of its wildlife. Factors that contributed to this decline included poverty, flour-ishing markets for wildlife products, increased human population and a rise in demand for bush meat. Added to that was a lack of trained personnel and financial re-sources to do conservation work, as well as local people’s negative attitude towards conservation. Much of the wildlife in unprotected areas became scarce. In response to this loss of wildlife, the government began to empha-size collaboration with local communities as part of a protected areas management strategy.

The reason behind WMAs emerged from the idea that when local communities develop a sense of resource ownership and realize the tangible benefits that can be

attributed to wildlife conservation, they will become more invest-ed in conservation issues.

The DOI-ITAP team was energized to be a part of this plan and volunteer their expertise. We had many long conference calls to plan logistics including figuring out which tools to bring and deciding what resources such as electricity and water would be available at the field sites. We also created a sign design that was “elephant proof ” and developed a schedule to teach the funda-mentals of sign design and construction in three short weeks.

The teams finally met in Dar Salaam to finalize logistics with an amazing in-country support team from the PAMS Foundation. After many meetings we were anxious to get to work in the field. My field site partner, a retired sign shop supervisor from Yosemite National Park, and I spent three weeks living and working in a remote village near Sikonge, Tanzania. Between the two of us, we had many years of experience teaching, designing, building and installing a variety of entrance and directional signs; however, our experience in Ipole Wildlife Management Area was life changing.

Designing and building signs in a location that doesn’t have regu-lar access to electricity and where locals that don’t speak our lan-guage was not simple. Instead of using a router, a tool that carves the letters in the sign, much of the work was done with hand chis-els. Simple conversations, that would normally take a few minutes, took a few hours once the interpreters properly translated them. Despite these challenges, we built and installed several signs that the villagers were extremely proud of. After completing the signs, their ownership and recognition of the tangible benefits that can be attributed to wildlife conservation was evident.

I gained an immense appreciation for the resources and opportu-nities that we have in our country but also a tremendous admira-tion for the people and natural resources of Tanzania. Weeks of bucket baths, squatting in a hole to go to the bathroom, being attacked by Tsetse flies, eating freshly slaughtered chicken soup for breakfast, and having dinner in the dark can make anyone

A Good Sign: Working to Conserve Wildlife at Home and AbroadMariana Bergerson 2002

A Good Sign: Working to Conserve Wildlife at Home and AbroadMariana Bergerson 2002

Continued on Page 39

WINTER 2012 PAGE 37

Krissy Mearns 2009 and Jonathan Mihail were married on Jan. 8, 2011.

Maura Strauman 2002 and Jeffrey Finklestein were married on Aug. 16, 2008.

Kevin Curl, M.D. 2007 and Robyn Yates were married on May 29, 2011.

Paige Anna Miller 2002 and James Barry Armour were married on Sept. 24, 2011. The bride’s father is Stephen K. Miller 1975.

Christy Maurer 2002 and Wendell Reid were married on Sept. 4, 2011.

We welcome news of Ursinus weddings! Please continue to send information and photos to

Ursinus Magazine, P.O. Box 1000, Collegeville, PA 19426. Digital photos can be e-mailed to [email protected].

Ursinus Magazine reserves the right to reject publication of photos which are not of publishable quality. We regret that we are not able to return print

photographs. The wedding date must be given and the group photograph should include only Ursinus alumni.

Please sign onto the Ursinus Online Community: www.ursinus.edu/alumni for full captions including names of the Ursinus alumni pictured

in the photo. A second option for brides and grooms is to send a close-up for the magazine, and a group shot for the Online Community.

Questions can be addressed to the Office of Alumni Relations, 610.409.3585, or by e-mailing [email protected].

Join us on Facebook where 2,750 like the Ursinus page.

www.facebook.com/ursinuscollegeFollow us on Twitter where Ursinus has 341 followers.

www.twitter.com/ursinuscollege

Weddings


2003 Mr. and Mrs. Neil Crowell (Jessica Marmon), a daughter, Sarah Addison, on Aug. 17, 2011.

2004Mr. and Mrs. John Goss (Nicole Masi), a daughter, Layla Grace, on April 6, 2011.

MARRIAGES & COMMITMENTS

2001Kristin Franks and U.S. Army Major Gregory Vinciguerra were married on June 17, 2011.

Katrina Milton and Eric Edmonds were married on Oct. 1, 2011.

2002Christy Maurer and Wendell Reid were married on Sept. 4, 2011.

Paige Anna Miller and James Barry Armour were married on Sept. 24, 2011.

2003Jessica Marmon and Neil Crowell were married on Dec. 6, 2008.

2005Anthony T. Virtue and Dr. Shannon B. Myerswere married on Sept. 10, 2011.

2006Dr. Shannon B. Myers and Anthony T. Virtue were married on Sept. 10, 2011. 2009Krissy Mearns and Jonathan Mihail were married on Jan. 8, 2011.

2011Alyse Donnachie and Sean Johnston were married on June 3, 2011.

DEATHS

1933Kermit B. Mohn died July 3, 2011.

1934Louree Remsburg Diskan died Oct. 8, 2011

1935Mrs. Margaret (Paxson) “Peg” Brian, M.D., died November 13, 2011.

1936Alma Ludwig Johnston died Nov. 27, 2011.Dr. Eugene J. Bradford, Ph.D., died August 16, 2011.

1938William G. Ridgway, M.D., died Sept. 27, 2011.

1940Kathryn E. Nagle died Aug. 29, 2011.Betty (Bickhart) Bonos died Nov. 30, 2011

1941Emilie (Pollock) Maxton died Nov. 1, 2011.

1943Robert Donald Melson died Sept. 29, 2011.

1944Rev. Dr. J. Richard “Dick” Hart died Oct. 8, 2011.Margaret “Peggy” (McKinney) Matlack died Nov. 20, 2011.

1947Marjorie (Coy) Coddington died Sept. 26, 2011.Eugene Starr Massey, Jr., died Nov. 18, 2011.

1948Richard E. Wentz, Ph.D. died Sept. 25, 2011.Phyllis Bright Rogers died Nov. 1, 2011.

1949Virginia M. (Boone) Molden died Dec. 11, 2011.Stanley H. Gilbert, M.D., died Dec. 4, 2011.Rev. Charles C.W. Idler III died Aug. 28, 2011.Rev. Richard E. Kneller died Sept. 17, 2011.

1950Richard Clinton Cherry died Nov. 8, 2011.Harold “Hal” O. Gross, Jr., died Nov. 5, 2011.

1951James L. Johnson died Aug. 21, 2011.

1952Dr. Robert “Bob” Kreamer died Sept. 24, 2011.

1954Dr. Robert A. Bernhard died Sept. 10, 2011.

1955Joseph A. Dubee died Dec. 10, 2010.

1959E. James “Jim” Reichert died Sept. 30, 2011.

1961John A.“Wash Tub Al” Walton died Sept. 6, 2011.

1967William Philips died May 19, 2011.

1972Frank W. Bronchello died Oct. 24, 2010.

1973Samuel B. Heyser died Sept. 18, 2011.

1979Wendy E. Casebeer Caylie died Sept. 11, 2011.

1980Carol Lea Roman, M.S.S., died May 16, 2011.

2008Daniel T. “Dann” Manela died Oct. 16, 2011.

IN MEMORIAM Indiana P. Finch, died Sept. 26, 2011. She is the mother of Kelly Finch, Trustee

Delphine (aka Galvin) Cloake died Dec. 13, 2010. Friend of the College.

Nellie Louree Remsburg Diskan 1934 died Oct. 8, 2011. Her son, Lance K. Diskan 1968 writes; “My mother was valedictorian of the Class of 1934. In 1933 my father helped found The Lantern, to which I also contributed more than thirty years later. Af-ter graduating Ursinus, my parents continued (my father’s) education at Temple University, where he earned his M.D. degree, while mom became a teacher. My parents were devoted to one another in body, mind and spirit for the rest of their lives. Mutual respect and affection colored their shared lives, with countless acts of public service and self-sacrifice marking their individual lives.”

WINTER 2012 PAGE 39

Are you a young alum who would like to be more connected to Ursi-nus? Members of the Ursinus Advancement Department are current-ly working with a group of dedicated young graduates to form a Young Alumni Council that will engage young alumni in a variety of ways.

“Our relationship with the College does not end at Commencement, but it can be challenging to find ways to ensure recent graduates re-main engaged and connected to Ursinus,” says Council Member Heather Potts Brown 2002.

“The launching of the Young Alumni Council has created a platform to generate new opportunities for social and educational program-ming, networking and fundraising activities with a primary focus on young alumni. I am excited to be a part of this newly formed group and to find ways to impact the success of the College.”

Council member Amanda D’Amico 2007 is also ex-cited about the future of this group, citing her deep af-finity for her alma mater. “We care about what’s going on at Ursinus!”

The council now consists of 40 members, six of whom will lead the council as co-chairs of three subgroups: Social, Fundraising and Outreach. Staff and coun-cil members alike are excited to watch this group grow both in size and influence. Please contact us at [email protected] for more information or to join the council. The group intends to hold its first

event on or around Alumni Weekend in June, so be on the lookout for event invitations within the next few months.

“As Ursinus alumni, the number-one responsibility is to advance our alma mater, whether it is sponsoring a Career Services alumni panel, attending an event or supporting the Ursinus Annual Fund,” says Christina Bender 2007. “As young alumni, we are the next gen-eration of leaders. The Young Alumni Council is our leadership op-portunity to increase volunteer and giving participation. Our in-volvement is an investment in the future; it is our way to leave a meaningful legacy at Ursinus.”

By Chelsea Sproul, Assistant Director of the Annual Fund, Advancement Department

Abbie Cichowski 2010, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations & Advancement Outreach,President Bobby Fong, Heather Potts Brown 2002 and Christopher T. Glowacki 2003

at The Philadelphia Country Club Nov. 2.

Young Alumni Get Involved!

miss the comforts home. The daily struggle to keep a thatched roof over your head and food on the table in the small villages of Tanzania is not on par with the opportunities for a college educa-tion and a good job in the U.S.

Despite all of these challenges, the people I worked with in the villages were happy and had an incomparable work ethic. We worked 12-13 hour days and then were welcomed into their homes for dinner.

I’ve had the opportunity work in National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges across the country. The U.S. has tremendous beauty and natural resources that many of us take for granted. I work at an urban National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia, which has the largest freshwater marsh in Pennsylvania and over 80 species of birds that nest there as well as a visitor center that is bustling with urban youth experiencing nature for the first time. I’ve worked on the Pacific Northwest Coast at Willapa Bay NWR which has old growth forest on a 5,000 acre island and the mar-bled murrelet, an endangered species. I’ve also worked at Lava Beds National Park in California, which has the largest concen-tration of Lava Tube Caves in the lower 48 states.

All of these experiences are dwarfed compared to working in an area and looking up to see giraffes, hippos, baboons, elephants, saddled-billed storks and water buffaloes among many other in-credible wildlife species. Still, after seven flights and 3,000 miles driving on bumpy back roads that turned into mud pits every time it rained, I was ready to go home. I was sad to leave behind such a beautiful country and newly formed friendships. While my fellow conservation workers in Tanzania and I may be many miles apart and face different but daunting conservation issues, it is comfort-ing to know that someone on the other side of the world is work-ing hard to protect the natural and wild places. Future generations hopefully will not only be able to read about in books, but know that wild places exist and have the opportunity to see in person. I am honored to have played a small role in the bigger picture of conservation efforts that are taking place around the globe both at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia and in Ipole Wildlife Management Area in Tanzania.

Mariana Bergerson 2002 is a Refuge Ranger/Visitor Services Spe-cialist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. She works at The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum in Philadelphia, PA.

Continued from Page 36


View from the CloudsThis scenic aerial view of the campus was taken by photographer George Widman this fall. Can you find your dorm room?

WINTER 2012 PAGE 41

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URSINUSMAGAZINE

“The thrill of winning, and the experiences made during the season are ones that can

never be taken away,” says field hockey standout Alyssa Thren 2012. She is the

all-time leading goal scorer in Centennial Conference and Ursinus history with 107 career goals and has the two highest goals scored in a season (34 in 2009 and 2010).

Thren was named third team All-America and First Team All-Region the past two

years. She carries a 3.6 grade point average with an Exercise and Sports Science major

and a minor in coaching.Story on Page 18

Ursinus Magazine - Winter 2012

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