July 2007

Waving from 1,000 feet

Capt. Adam Cuquet ’00 will have an unusual view of this weekend's Dayton air show — from the cockpit of his B-2. The industrial engineering technology graduate, who flew B-1's in Afghanistan, started flying the stealth bomber two years ago (shown right with graduates from the initial training program, below at a flyover at a St. Louis air show). He sent this note to tell UD of his pending visit:

How have my favorite professors and staff at UD been doing? Unfortunately in the past seven years I have not been able to stop through Dayton to say hello; next weekend will be my closest attempt at that. I am flying the B-2 out of Whiteman Air Force Base (Missouri) in the wake of another engineering technology graduate from UD, Gavin Ketchen ’84 (MCT). I will be doing a fly-by at the Dayton air show on Saturday, July 28. We will not be landing; we have to continue up to Oshkosh for a fly-by at their air show as well. That's the downside of flying an airplane with extended range capability — you usually have to fly back home the same day instead of staying to enjoy whatever event you are supporting. ... I hope all is well with each of you and, if you were planning on going to the air show next Saturday, I'll be looking for you from 1,000 feet above!"

by Michelle Tedford 07-25-07

Your mother won't make your bed

But the advancement staff will, and for an event like Citirama 2007, they'll go the extra mile. To set the stage for the free home show Aug. 2-5 in the South Student Neighborhood, Susan Sauer, assistant vice president of development, and Debbie Trimbach, administrative assistant, rented a van and drove three hours to the IKEA store in Canton, Mich. Advance online research showed that for $12.99 each, they could buy quilt covers with pillow cases to dress 55 twin beds in Citirama's five new townhouses and four renovated homes. It was the best deal in two states.

Trimbach, a veteran IKEA shopper, was thrilled to discover that in the store, two quilt cover patterns were on sale for $5.99. "Oh my gosh, we're saving $7 apiece. We were so excited."

They piled the linens and 55 rolled pillows into four shopping carts, each woman pushing one cart and pulling another. "At the checkout everyone hated us," Trimbach said, noting that they had to spring for IKEA shopping bags at 59 cents each "to schlep everything out to the van. The drive home, we could barely see out the back."

After Citirama concludes, the linens will be repackaged and sold to students and UD employees. Any unsold items will be donated to a homeless shelter.   In the meantime, Trimbach is weighing whether the linens will need to be ironed before the big event.

Photos -- Top: Debbie Trimbach (right) with student worker Michelle Fink. Bottom: Paula Sideras

by Deborah McCarty Smith 07-24-07

When doing the right thing goes all wrong

A male passenger kept "flipping out on" a female driver on I-83, their car veering "all over the road," according to a driver who called 911. That caller, passed from operator to operator and jurisdiction to jurisdiction, entered "a bureaucratic wonderland," according to a Baltimore County, Md., official.

The incident came to light when Anne Snodgrass '91 reported on it for WBAL-AM in Baltimore. The report led not only to embarrassment for local and state officials and new training for emergency operators. It also landed Snodgrass, who broadcasts using the name Anne Kramer, the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting for large market radio stations, beating out thousands of other entries. Her station also won an Overall Excellence Award. She'll travel to New York City Oct. 15 to accept her award.

Your can hear her award-winning report, "Going Around in 911 Circles," in two parts here: Part 1 and Part 2 (mp3 format).

by Matthew Dewald 07-20-07

Far-reaching Flyer family

When planning a party, remember two things: children of all ages love the water, and the Hangar bowling alley doesn’t stock shoes sizes under 5.

Dozens of sock-footed children ran through the union's game room as adults munched pizza and played pool during the family reunion for all 85 descendants of Ralph and Mary Balzer of Pennsylvania. Jim Yokajty ’84 of Bellbrook, Ohio, organized the reunion on campus because the University means so much to his family, which includes 14 UD grads.

"Plus, it's all in one place," he said. "We don’t have to leave campus. We get to see cousins we haven't seen in forever and meet the kids who we've only seen in birth announcements."

Attendees ages 5 months to 71 years swam at RecPlex, picnicked outside the McGinnis Center and slept in Lawnview apartments. Saturday's picnic games included a word scramble that spelled their family motto, first muttered by a cousin who'd had too much fun on Brown Street: "We're related together."

Jane Loedding Schroeder ’83, who started the family trend in 1979, is keeping it going; daughter Mary is applying to be in the Class of 2012.

by Michelle Tedford 07-09-07

Art to live by

Emily Ahrens is an experimenter this summer.

"I usually do highly realistic things. This is my chance to explore different mediums," said Ahrens, one of UD's summer student artists in residence. "I'm taking on photography and I've never really worked with it this intently before."

Student artists are adding their personal touch to the campus through this developing new student job. "The program has grown from one artist last year to eight artists this year," said Susan Byrnes, ArtStreet director. "Last year, work was created only for Campus South. This year, original student artwork will be installed in Campus South, ArtStreet, Virginia W. Kettering Suites, Marycrest and Marianist Halls."

The artists are free in their creativity but Ahrens, who is photographing hands, insists, "It's not free reign."

"They want us to keep in consideration that these people have to live with this art," the junior fine art major said, adding that she began her creative process by group discussions of what public art is and is suppose to do. "At the beginning it was a lot of thinking."

The blessing of recent renovations to dormitories leaves fresh spaces, but not always the homey feel. "Many of our residence halls, while serving as suitable places to live, can seem sterile or impersonal," Byrnes said. "We hope that student artwork will make the living spaces seem more individualized, colorful, meaningful and cared about."

by Johnnie Kling ’09 7-10-07

Inventing Dayton

The second cohort of engineering technology students from Shanghai Normal University arrived on campus Monday and was ushered into American culture with a July Fourth barbecue and Dayton Dragons baseball game.

At a welcome reception July 3, the 13 students introduced themselves by sharing a bit about themselves and their aspirations. Yu "Allen" BingQian, who plays piano, hopes to communicate through his budding English skills as well as music. Wu "Sophia" Jia Jia said she heard wonderful things about Dayton from her friends in the first cohort, who returned home after UD's graduation and participated in a second ceremony at SHNU. Chen "Roro" Lihua explained her unusual name; "roro" is "meat" in Chinese, as well as a term used for a girl with a lot of baby fat.

A manufacturing technology major, Chen plans to be an inventor. She traveled to Dayton, she said, because, "I want my life to become much more meaningful. In a different culture, you learn much more (about people and their needs). As an inventor, a new environment can spur creativity."

Already aware of Dayton's creative past, she's set to join the ranks of those who invented the parachute, pop-top can and airplane.

by Michelle Tedford 07-05-07

In the sculptor's hands

Artist Robert Lepo displays a hand cast in bronze, a portion of a new statue of Mary that will be installed this summer outside Marianist Hall. The 11-foot-tall statue depicts Mary in the context of the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracles. Her exhortation, "Do whatever He tells you," is a key element of Marianist spirituality.

The statue is a gift of alumnus Joseph Quatman '38, whose father founded the American Society of Ephesus to restore and preserve important burial places and tombs of saints. Mr. Quatman commissioned the LepoWorks studio in his hometown of Lima, Ohio, to create the statue of Mary for his alma mater. Made of 108 different pieces and weighing nearly a ton, the statue will be welded together, coated with patina and installed in time for the Feast of the Assumption Aug. 15.

Summer school ... for teachers

It's summertime, when teachers go back to school ... and sometimes into (simulated) space. More than 100 teachers from throughout the Miami Valley are participating this summer in math and science academies offered by the West Ohio EXCEL Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education.

University of Dayton mathematics professor Becky Krakowski and Wright State University physics professor Beth Basista co-direct WeExcel, using more than $1 million in grant money from sources including the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Department of Education to provide one-to-three-week teacher professional development institutes. Teacher can choose from 17 topics ranging from "Natural Selection and Evolution" to "Geometry and Spatial Sense."

The partnership aims to strengthen the appreciation of the relationships among science, mathematics, technology and society and providing hands-on learning that Ohio teachers can take back to their classrooms.

At workstations, from left: teachers Cathi Thomas, Andy Larson and Greg Boucher conduct experiments about the Challenger Space Shuttle at the Dayton Challenger Center. At right is UD geology professor Michael Sandy, who taught the Earth, Moon and Sun Systems academy in June.

by Deborah McCarty Smith 07-03-07