TE UNIVER MEDICINE Ny Founding Dean Reed Stringham eflects on Two Decades f Health Education Bee The University helped provide Janice Olson White with the tools she needed to graduate: financial aid, academic counseling, self-esteem. The self-esteem was most useful. “When you feel good about yourself and you like yourself, you can move mountains,” said Ms. White, a nontraditional student with a troubled past. Ms. White, a 35-year-old single mother, graduated magna cum laude in June with a Spanish degree. As one of the commencement speakers, Ms. White had the opportunity to thank the professors, counselors and fellow students who helped her through school. Little in Ms. White’s history foretold such a conclusion to her college career. > Campus Currents > Medicine Man 6 WSUAA News 7 Alumni Update GRIMY GAMES — Homecoming 1994, Oct. 15-22, will feature muddy games for students and cleaner fun for alumni. Former Addict Eams Degree A REEL FUN — Kayla Miles, 2, of South Ogden, hopes to hook one of the 400 fish planted in the Ada Lindquist Plaza pond during the Junior Cats Fishing Derby held May 12. The event, sponsored by the Young Alumni Council, lured 45 children and their alumni parents to campus. For 14 years, Ms. White A FINAL GOODBYE —Some 2,000 graduates left the University after commencement exercises. Diets and Publications <DINO MIGHT — The University gave management of the Eccles Dinosaur Park to Ogden City in April after the park added four new dinosaurs to the exhibit. Postmaster Send address changes to: University Times Weber State University Ogden, UT 84408-3701 ou may have heard the story about the man who was so thin he disappeared when he turned sideways. University Times is not quite that slim, but the publication did tighten its financial belt this year. Limited state funds and an enrollment decline forced the University to cut expenses for non-classroom activities. This slimmed-down version of University Times is one result. We’ ve cut pages, reduced colors and streamlined production. But we haven’t eliminated our commitment to quality. Our award-winning staff will continue to bring you interesting stories about alumni, faculty, staff and students. We’ll tell you about campus events, show you photographs of campus life and let you know what your former classmates are up to. Your publication will be thinner, but we’re determined to make every issue worth your time. Think of the new University Times as a publication on a diet. There may not be as much to hold, but what’s left is worth looking at. We hope you like what you see. foi fe Craig V. Nelson Editor abused alcohol and drugs. She recalls always being strung out, drunk or hung over. “Basically, I didn’t have any goals in life,” she said. “I felt worthless and didn’t feel I had a future.” When she realized she was jeopardizing her son’s future as well, she decided to change. “T loved him and wanted to be a better mother than I had been,” she said of her son who is now 16. “I saw him growing up without me and I knew he needed me. I just looked at him one day and woke up.” She stopped drinking and “shooting up” cocaine and a year later enrolled at the University so she could replace her dead-end job with a career. Ms. White, who barely graduated from high school, surprised herself by getting good grades her first year. Then she got a C on her first Spanish test and burst into tears in class. Anthony Spanos, associate professor of foreign languages, educational system, Utah State University and Iowa State University. WSU Committed To Undergraduates Drug Addict International Winners A Trait that earned the University the 1993 Newcomen Society Award — a “commitment to quality undergraduate education” — will continue as the institution’s core value, President Paul H. Thompson told faculty and staff. At a spring meeting, Dr. Thompson reiterated the institution’s commitment to quality teaching. “By the turn of the century, Weber State will be the university of choice for undergraduate education in its region,” Dr. Thompson said. “It will be a center of learning for students, faculty, staff and New Buildings Blind Reader took her aside and suggested she take some classes to improve her study habits. Ms. White said he also “gently suggested” that she talk to someone at the Women’s Educational Resource Center. Counselors there and in the community helped her resolve the issues that led her to drug and alcohol abuse. She said they helped her repair damage caused by sexual abuse in her childhood and by a dysfunctional family life. Ms. White said she did not overcome her low self-esteem problem overnight. In fact, it took her almost as long as it did to earn her degree — nearly five years, Now she feels confident she can accomplish anything she sets out to do. She hopes to get a master’s degree and doctorate so she can provide counseling to others. “Everyone needs at least one other person to say, “You can do it,” she said. “People at Weber State did that for me. Now I want to do that for others.” (This article by Joan O’ Brien appeared in the June 9 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. Reprinted with permission.) Donors Give $50,000 ToWSU Dale and Adele Young of Brigham City have donated $50,000 to the University’s College of Education. The donation is the first part of a $100,000 pledge. The Youngs also fund the Dale W. and Adele C. Young Nursing Scholarship Endowment. Mr. Young, Class of °38, and his wife are active supporters of Heritage Theater in Brigham City. They donated land for a 20-acre park in Perry in 1989, and have provided scholarship funds for the Mormon Church community members, where all are expected to think, contribute and excel.” The Newcomen Society of the United States honored the University last year for its commitment to quality undergraduate education in the liberal arts and sciences and a variety of vocations and professions. The Newcomen Society said the University has “a tradition of honoring excellence” and is “known for its small classes and the commitment of its faculty and staff to students.” The Newcomen Society also praised the University for sponsoring the nation’s only undergraduate literature conference and developing a “Writing Across the Curriculum” program that is “a model for many other universities.” The Newcomen Society is a non-profit organization based in Exton, Penn., that honors achievement in American business and society. The University joined Princeton University and Notre Dame as 1993 recipients of the award. ™ international experience and help the former Soviet-satellite state improve health services. The Weber State group worked with doctors and nursing students at The Children’s Center for Radiological and EcologyDependent Diseases. They hosted _ a workshop at the Institute for Medical Studies at Chernovtsy University and visited the Cardiocenter of Chernovtsy, the City Hospital and the Children’s Regional Center. Couple Donates Scholarship Money Jack and Nancy Behnken, president and treasurer respectively of American Nutrition Inc., makers of “Atta Boy” dog food and other animal products, have donated $10,000 for scholarships in engineering technology. The interest from the donation will fund one scholarship per year. Mr. and Mrs. Behnken, though not alumni, are members of the Wildcat Club. Mr. Behnken was a guest lecturer in the Ralph Nye Executive Lecture Series in the College of Business & Economics and has helped with the ASWSU Crystal Crest Campus Awards program. Mr. and Mrs. Behnken live in Ogden. Campus Adds Two Buildings Construction workers are adding two major buildings to the campus this summer. An $11.7 million student services building will be the largest addition and will house several student-related services including admissions, registra- tion, financial aid and academic advisement. The 375-foot-long, two-story structure will be located between the Shepherd Union and Miller Administration buildings. Workers expect to complete the building by August 1995. Workers also have almost finished a $2.7 million addition to the Marriott Health Sciences Building. The addition will be two stories high and mirror the architectural design of the Marriott Building. The 18,000square-foot structure will be terraced in a hillside between the Marriott Building and the Swenson Gymnasium. It will house dental hygiene and clinical laboratory technology. g 4 TEXT TALKER— For four hours a day, Clix Byrne opens the eyes of understanding for blind students by reading, out loud, their textbooks. Volunteer Becomes Eyes of the Blind Clix Byrne has read more textbooks than a college librarian. In the past 20 years, he has turned the pages of some 600 volumes. And he has read every single word — out loud. | Mr. Byrne, a 72-year-old Navy veteran, acts as the “textbook voice” for blind students at the University. Each morning, he sits alone in a soundproof studio making audio recordings of the books he reads. The titles are enough to daunt even the most determined of readers — “Transformations of Consciousness,” “Foundations of Parasitology,” “Structure Cobol.” But Mr. Byrne not only reads the words, he also explains the graphs and describes the pictures on each page. Campus administrators estimate he has helped about 150 students receive a college education. “Clix Byrne probably is the most educated person on campus,” said Jeff Morris, coordinator of the University’s services for the physically challenged. “He has read across every field of endeavor from freshman to graduate studies .” Mr. Byrne devotes four hours a day to recording books. Since _ | | 1974, he estimates he has spent almost 30,000 hours reading for the blind. “It makes my brain dizzy and my voice hoarse,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to quit. I enjoy my job.” Cindi L. Vega, a sophomore in elementary education, said Mr. Byrne’s textbook readings are the key to her academic success. She listens to the recordings and meets with Mr. Byrne after class to review professors’ handouts and visual aids. In her geology class, Ms. Vega had to identify 12 different rocks each week. She finished the assignment before many sighted students, she said, because Mr. Byrne repeatedly described the rocks to her in terms she could not mistake. g Nursing Students Visit Ukraine Four nursing students and two faculty members spent two weeks this spring in Ukraine evaluating hospital patients and Chernobyl survivors. The group provided healthcare information, medical supplies, hygiene kits, toys and 600 hand-made quilts to five hospitals in Chernovtsy, Ukraine. Their visit was the first step toward an exchange program that would give nursing students ‘Unitrust’ Gift Totals $120,000 Janet S. Sessions, a volunteer with the University’s Alumni Association, has donated $120,000 to the University through a “unitrust.” A “unitrust” provides income for donors while they are alive and income to the University after they die. The donation will provide money for faculty development, scholarships and equipment purchases in the microbiology department. Mrs. Sessions previously donated $75,000 to the University through a “unitrust.” g Students Win International Title Students at the University have built an electric car that is more economical than gasolinepowered vehicles, a feat that helped them win the international “1994 Hybrid Electric Vehicle Challenge” in June. The victory gave the University its second international title in the three-year competition. Last year, Weber State placed second in its class. Besides winning first-place overall in its class competition, the 11 University students also won first place in three individual categories: best range vehicle, most energy efficient hybrid electric vehicle and lowestemissions vehicle. g Founding Dean Gave Two Decades of Service To Improve Health-Care Quality in Rural Utah by Mark Saal hen Reed M. Stringham stepped down as dean of the College of Health Professions last July, he left in his wake educational programs that have benefited thousands of what he calls the “geographically disabled.” For more than two decades, Dr. Stringham made it his personal practice to prepare _ qualified health-care professionals — especially for small towns. Dr. Stringham recalls that when he first became dean of the college, more than tongues were depressed in small-town health _ care. Rural hospitals were dying and doctors were moving away. ee HEALTH EDUCATOR— Founding Dean Reed M. Stringham reviews with Julie Arslanian, nursing department office supervisor, his efforts to build a statewide program of health education. “I feel very fortunate. Most people don’t have the opportunity to start from ground zero.” And Weber State was contribut- ing to the problem. “Students would come into the city to go to school and never go back,” Dr. Stringham said. “In essence, our training programs were taking health-care people _ out of the places that needed them most.” The solution was to develop an outreach program that took training to small towns, according to Dr. Stringham. If students could get health-care training in their hometowns, he reasoned, they would stay and “the health-care level would then rise.” In 1973, the University began offering nursing programs in small towns. Today, most of the disciplines in the College of Health Professions have outreach programs. Dr. Stringham believes the outreach programs have been effective. Larry Putnam, administrator of a rural hospital and medical center in southern Utah, agrees: “Our success over the past five years has nothing to do with money or high-tech equipment. Our success is based on the ability to homegrow nurses and keep them in the area.” Mr. Putnam says that in the five years the University has offered nursing programs in southern Utah, the hospital has created a mobile clinic, added four physicians, built a birthing center and offered many additional health services. “The bedrock of our small health-care system is the quality of registered nurses trained through Weber State,” Mr. Putnam says. Dr. Stringham believes one of the strengths of the University’s College of Health Professions is this emphasis on rural students. “We're not as hung up on academic tradition,” Dr. Stringham said. “We focus on industry needs and the student.” Dr. Stringham was founding dean of the College of Health Professions. He was hired in 1969 to create a health school, and he has been the driving force behind the college since then. “There was no allied health program in the state at that time,” Dr. Stringham recalls. “I feel very fortunate. Most people don’t have the opportunity to start from ground zero. “What I feel best about is setting a vision for our faculty and staff in creating quality health-care education and quality health-care personnel,” said Dr. Stringham. Although he vacated the dean’s post last July, Dr. Stringham stays busy. He continues his part-time dentistry practice, and he’s preparing to return to the classroom in September. “T like to teach,” Dr. Stringham said. “That’s one of the reasons | stepped down.” Dr. Stringham plans to use interactive computer programs in his classes to discuss human dignity, an area he believes health care has ignored for too long. “How many times do we see a doctor’s waiting room overflowing because he scheduled patients at the same time?” Dr. Stringham asked. “How many times have we called patients by their ailment, rather than by name — ‘That gall bladder down in 211°? We don’t really pay much attention to the dignity of one another.” Dr. Stringham sees big changes on the horizon. He hopes allied health-care personnel — those not on the physician level — become active participants to make these changes. “We need to restructure the way we deliver education and look ahead with vision to the future,” he said. gy Alumni Select New Officers Dale C. Campbell of Ogden was elected 1994-95 president of the University Alumni Association this spring. Mr. Campbell graduated from the College of Business & DaleC. Campbell Economics in 1971. He is director of business development for R&O Construction, a general contractor company based in Ogden. Mr. Campbell also is corporate president of Real Estate Exchange in Ogden. He has served on the board of directors of the Ogden Breakfast Exchange Club, the Wildcat Club and the Weber County Planning Commission. He is a member of the chambers of commerce in Ogden and Salt Lake City. University alumni also elected Jon J. Greiner, Class of 75 and °76, as vice president. UPDATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Mr. Greiner has worked for the Ogden City Police Department for 20 years. He also has served as an officer in the Army Reserve for 15 years. Others elected to the executive committee are Edie George, Class of ’69; Patricia Moore, Class of ’74; Melinda Roylance, Class of ’94; Randy Skanchy, Class of ’77; and Ron Wheelwright, Class of ’82. Alumni also elected Dorothy Carty, Class of ’43, as president of the Emeritus Alumni Council; Paula Wright, Class of *90, as president of Young Alumni Council; and Angela Morris, Class of °96, as president of the Student Alumni Ambassadors. @ Reunions Set For TwoClasses The first class to graduate after Weber College became a state school and the first fouryear graduating class will hold separate reunions Oct. 21-22 as NEWS part of Homecoming Week. Activities for the classes of 1934 and 1964 will include an awards banquet, entertainment, a reception, a Homecoming Ball, and “plenty of chances to renew acquaintances,” said Dick Davis, associate director of the Alumni Association. Homecoming Week will run Oct. 15-22 and will feature the traditional “Family Night” activity with craft displays, contests and family activities. Homecoming events also will include a 5K race, parade, mud volleyball and a football game between the Wildcats and the University of Montana. Interested alumni may obtain more information by calling the WSU Alumni Association at (801) 626-7535. @ License Plates Fund Scholarships Some 150 alumni are supporting University scholar- THE 50s Karlyn F. Brett, ’54, Spokane, Wash., was recognized as a nationally certified teacher of piano by the Music Teachers National Association. Ms. Brett is an independent music teacher, choir director, organist and composer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Spokane. Steven R. Mecham, ’58, Ogden, was named superintendent of the Weber County School Board, Utah’s fifthlargest school district. Previously, he was associate state superintendent of public instruction. ships through the purchase of a Wildcat license plate. The Utah license plates feature a logo of a Wildcat. They may be purchased for a donation of $40. Alumni can designate which scholarship they wish to fund with their donations. The license plate may be renewed each year with an annual $40 donation, said Edie George, executive director of the Alumni Association. Those interested in purchasing a “Wildcat” license plate should send $40, their name, address and daytime phone number and the college or area THE 60s Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Andrew W. Clements, ’63, Norfolk, Va. was selected Reserve Sailor of the Quarter at Naval Air Reserve, Naval Air Rick Bojak, ’73, West Jordan, Utah, was selected as an Outstanding Teacher of the Year in the Jordan School District. Mr. Bojak is a psychology teacher and head football and track coach at West Jordan High School. He received $1,000 from Kennecott Corp. | they wish to fund to Wildcat Pride, WSU Alumni Center, | Ogden, UT 84408-3701. The Alumni Association will mail to alumni an authorized, signed tax commission form that may be presented to the county assessor for the plates. County property tax and state licenseplate fees will be additional charges. More information may be obtained by calling the Alumni Association at (801) 626-7535. @ Station, in Memphis, Tenn. Mr. Clements was recognized for outstanding professional accomplishment, proficiency, leadership, initiative and military bearing. J. Howard Van Boerum, ’59, Salt Lake City, was awarded “Engineer of the Year” for 1993 by the Utah Engineers Council. Mr. Van Boerum has been a registered professional engineer for 25 years. He is president and chief executive officer of Van Boerum & Frank Associates, a mechanical and civil engineering firm located in Salt Lake City. College in Newport, R.I. Mr. Smania completed the 10-month course in strategy and policy, national security decisionmaking and joint military operations. He joined the Navy in October 1972. THE 70s Blaine Wm. Smith, ’70, Ogden, has been appointed to head the collection division of the Utah State Tax Commission. Mr. Smith has been the director of the agency’s operations division. Navy Commander David J. Smania, ’72, Newport, R.I., graduated from the Naval War Duane D. Walker, ’75, Honolulu, Hawaii, vice president of patient services and executive director of the nursing institute at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, has been appointed senior director of clinical affairs and associate dean of development for the University of Hawaii’s School of Nursing. Prior to his job in Hawaii, he was associate hospital director and director of nursing at Stanford University Hospital in Stanford, Calif. Robert M. Atwater, ’75, Washington, D.C., is the acting director of the fraud investigations branch of Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington, D.C. Mr. Atwater is a recipient of the 1992 Investigative Excellence Award from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA). He was elected as president of FLEOA for the next three years. Navy Commander Don B. DeCaria, ’76, Misawa, Japan, recently reported for duty at Naval Security Group Activity in Misawa, Japan. THE SOs Robert L. Bateman, ’84, Salt Lake City, was certified as a qualifying member of the 1992 Million Dollar Round Table, an international independent association of life insurance agents. Navy Lieutenant Sophia G. Conerly, 84, Annapolis, Md., received the Navy Achievement Medal. Ms. Conerly was cited for superior performance of duty while serving as the administration department head and aviation safety officer at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. She is currently assigned at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland. Coast Guard Lieutenant Spencer L. Wood, ’84, Huntington, W.Va., received the Navy’s Letter of Commendation for his superior performance of duty while assigned at Coast Guard Marine Safety Office, Huntington, W.Va. He joined the Coast Guard in January LOTS: Silvio K. Pezzopane, ’85, Lakewood, Colo., has earned a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Oregon. Mr. Pezzopane’s dissertation was titled “Active Faults and Earthquake Motion in Oregon.” He is working for the U.S. Geological Survey in Lakewood, Colo. Michael C. Bouy, 86, Layton, Utah, conducting business at Pacific Marcom, is relocating to Melbourne, Australia, as a business representative for several local and national manufacturers. Mr. Bouy was also a speaker and panelist on the topic of “Regional Partnerships for Global Market” at the Australasia-Pacific Forum on Composite Materials. He has received awards of excellence from the International Association of Business Communicators and has been published by several industrial magazines. Marine Lance Corporal Keith P. Dowd, ’86, Norfolk, Va., received the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. Mr. Dowd was recognized for his honest and faithful service during his threeyear assignment at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Brian P. Garrett, ’°87, Walnut Creek, Calif., graduated from the School of Optometry at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Garrett teaches in the Primary Care Clinic at the Berkeley Clinic. While a student, he received many awards for excellence in primary care optometry. THE degree from Pacific Western University in New Orleans, La. Mr. Vicars opened a sign language studio in Ogden. The studio offers seminars, training, and advice to those who are interested in sign language. Navy Ensign Kelly S. Hurst, *93, Norfolk, Va., was recently commissioned upon graduation from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) Program at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Mr. Hurst completed naval science courses as well as a full academic schedule. He participated in annual summer training aboard ships and at shore installations. 90s Coast Guard Seaman Aaron E. Horton, ’90, Cape May, N.J., graduated from the Coast Guard Recruit Training Center. Mr. Horton completed general military subject training toward qualification in one of the Coast Guard’s 26 occupational fields. Tristan Larkins, ’90, Preston, Idaho, was selected to receive the Sallie Mae First-Year Teacher Award recognizing her outstanding performance as a new elementary and secondary school teacher. Shawn M. Maynard, ’90, Ogden, was promoted to district manager of US Vision for the Ogden City Mall. Mr. Maynard is responsible for overall operations of 15 stores in Utah, and in eastern and western Idaho. Previously, he worked for Knighton Optical in Ogden. Don Rupe, 794, Salt Lake City, has joined Coldwell Banker marketing department as an advertising assistant. Mr. Rupe will be responsible for coordinating several Coldwell Banker Premier Realty marketing programs. Previously, he was affiliated with Mountain Fuel as a customer service representative. Readers wishing to submit Alumni Update items may mail them to: Editor, University Times, Weber State University, Ogden, UT 84408-1010. Include name, address, graduating class, current address and spouse’s name. If a spouse graduated from Weber State, include the year of graduation. Black and white photos may be submitted. University Times is published by the Public Communications Department, Weber State University, Ogden, UT 844081010 for the Alumni Association. Address all correspondence to the Editor. Mailed third-class non- profit at Ogden, UT 84408-1010. William G. Vicars, °92, Ogden, has earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Services Ronald D. Cantera, EXECUTIVE Epiror Craig V. Nelson, Epiror Printed by WSU Printing Services 7 Pocket Your Own Wallet-Sized Wildcat The Weber State University Alumni Association is pleased to announce MBNA America as the new administrator for the Weber State University Alumni Association MasterCard* program, available exclusively to Weber State University alumni and students. As one of the nation’s leading credit card issuers, MBNA America is renowned for providing superior benefits, backed by unparalleled service. The Alumni Association worked closely with MBNA to develop a credit card program that fits the unique needs of our alumni and students. Look for information in your mailbox about the new Wildcat card. We encourage you to study the card’s benefits and features and apply today for the new card. For more information, call the Alumni Association at (801) 626-6564. *MBNA Weber State University Ogden, UT 84408-3701 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED is federally registered service mark of MBNA America Bank, N.A. US eric Be POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 151 Ogden, Utah