Weber State College Comment, June 1985, page 10 photo courtesy of Kasius family “Non-traditional” students doing well never too. old, too late,” said Geneva Peterson (Continuing Education) of the non-traditional students my. . Ou’re it’s never she works with. Her focus is on recruiting nontraditional students, or adult learners. Who are non-traditional students? Basically anyone over the age of 22 who enrolls in college. Close to 40 per- cent of all college students are now over the age of 25, and by 1992 it is predicted that that proportion will rise to 50--percent. “The thing we want to stress is that adult learners. are not Peterson. ‘There is help from various offices on adult learners are growing alone,” said and support campus and in numbers. Lote Aiumna honored with memorial fund And it’s never too late,” she said. Jim Aikens returned to school at age 47 after the factory he had worked in for 25 years closed down. He was at home with his children most of the time and spent four days per week at their school as a parent volunteer. Aikens entered the education program at WSC after a friend suggested that he become a teacher. “I’ve never -|regretted doing it and it’s probably the smartest move I’ve ever made,” he said. “Elementary education is where the real action and excitement is. If an adult had to do everything a firstgrader does, they'd win the Nobel Ist undergraduate JSC has established a memorial fund for social work in the name of the late Cora Kasius, a former WSC student. The “Cora Kasius Memorial Fund for Social Work Education” was created “Anybody who thinks he can’t do it is sadly mistaken because you actually know more than you think you do,” said Jim Aikens (above) about adults going “back to school.” Prize.” said Aikens. Weber State does “everything in its power to serve the students,” he said. WERC (Women’s Educational Resource Center) was especially helpful to me because the young people on campus don’t understand the problems of older students, said Aikens. Five alumni join UMT staff conference a big success a schizophrenia, horror and the infamous past of Ogden’s 25th Street were just some of the subjects covered by the first undergraduate research conference in the west. The conference, held at Weber State, drew participants from six western states. Dr. Joseph Horvat, director of the conference and a faculty member in the psychology department, said that participation in the conference exceeded what similar first-year meetings usual- ly draw. “It obviously points to a need,” Hor- vat said. Fv: WSC alumni have been chosen to staff the Utah Musical Theatre summer season. Gary Bird, a 1976 communications graduate will direct the broadway musical “Annie.” Jeffrey T. Crivello, a 1976 graduate in theater arts, has been chosen as lighting designer for all three of the company’s shows this summer. John Morris, a 1985 graduate in theater arts, is one of Weber State's most outstanding graduates in recent years. He will serve as an assistant to the technical director of the summer company. Mark Peterson, also a 1985 theater arts graduate, will serve as the company’s marketing director. The Utah Musical Theatre is an independent summer stock company sponsored by Weber State and funded through government and corporate grants and donations. It was formerly known as the Golden Spike Repertory Theatre. : “The new name reflects the effort we are making to reach audiences throughout Utah and the west” said managing director, Dr. Ronald Ladwig. “Whether it was Golden Spike Repertory Theatre, or now, Utah Musical Theatre, our summer company has always had very high produc-tion values. With a new name and a new direction we want to increase those by getting the finest artistic staff possible. And, as is so often the case, many of the finest people available were from Weber State.” The research social sciences sociology, law and other areas. Ron Baxter, presented was in the including psychology, enforcement, history Jodi Turner, a 1978 theater arts graduate will serve as _ assistant marketing director for the company. an Weber noted Presidential professors named railroad State, went English through that student when Ogden in at the the late 1800's it created “quite a bar and lady (prostitute) situation.” Some houses of prostitution made up to $30,000 a month, Baxter said, and gamblers and drug dealers were ov professors have been singled out as the top teaching ptofessors this year and will receive “Presidential Distinguished Professor” awards, President Rodney H. Brady common. announced. “There was a murder a day at one point in time within a three block Dr. Inge Adams, associate professor of foreign language; Dr. Eugene Bozniak, professor of botany; Dr. Thomas R. Burton, professor of English; Dr. C. Daniel Litchford, Jr., professor of distributive technology; Dr. Rosemary Conover-Phillips, associate professor area,” he said. He said that the Chinese who were brought in to build the railroad in- troduced opium to the area and built extensive underground tunnels to hide dos from law authorities. of anthropology; Baxter said, “Even now there are rumors that there are tunnels all under 25th Street.” Horvat said the college plans to continue the conference on a yearly basis. sions, associate Dr. Gene professor A. Ses- of history; and Dr. Ronald L. Wooden, professor of music, cash will award, allowance each a receive $1,000 a $2,000 expense to be used for professional development and a Presidential Citation plaque. The award is given annually to outstanding faculty who are “knowledgeable and up-to-date in their field and excel in effective, quality teaching,” Dr. Brady said. He said, “These people represent the many high quality, effective faculty /- members on the Weber State campus. They have proven their abilities to effectively communicate to students and to motivate them toward continued learning outside the classroom.” Funding for the award is provided by Flying J. Inc., the George S. and Delores Eccles Foundation and other private donors. at the college to honor the former Weber Academy student, who attended from 1912-1914, and to upgrade educational opportunities in the Weber State social work department, said development director Don Spainhower. - Kasius was the editor of Social Casework the then leading magazine in that discipline, from 1947-1964 and is credited with having helped shape the direction of social work writing and research. She has led professional institutes and seminars in various countries, and in 1950-51 she served as Lecturer in Social Work at the School of Social Work in Amsterdam. She also led discussion groups at sessions of the International Conference of Social Work and was an active consultant for many international social workers. For several years she was responsible for the publication of Casework Papers and wrote the book Nancy Clark, Social Worker. She was also a consultant for many plays, movies and television presentations that concerned social work. She is also credited with improving social work education on graduate and undergraduate levels. Kasius was active in the development of the Council on the Social Work Education and served on committees of various other national social work organizations. When she retired she received the “National Conference on Social Work” award. Elinor Zaki of Averill Park, New York, served as an associate editor with Kasius from 1950-1964, and:took her place when she retired. Zaki said, “She was a remarkable lady and very astute in assessing what kinds of material should be published and in helping authors get their material in proper shape so it could be published.” Zaki said that because of Kasius’ work nationally and internationally she was well known and well respected. “She was a very good thinker for the profession as well as a very good editor,” she said. Spainhower said that the endow- ment would be used to purchase books and periodicals, to fund scholarships or fill other related educational needs in the social work department.