Connecting the dots

Transcription

Connecting the dots

Sports News
Pamela Druger | Chair of the Accounting Department
Faculty Focus
Coach Johnsen retires after 20 years
In his quiet yet determined manner, Larry Johnsen served the Augustana athletic department, and primarily the Vikings’ football teams, for the past 20 years. Whether he was asked to coach defense or offense or even lead the team
as head coach for a season, the program never skipped a beat. Fellow coaches describe him as “a rock of stability.” •
“Whether it was guiding the program to a CCIW championship and NCAA national playoff berth during the challenging
times of Coach Schmulbach’s illness or the changes in leadership during his tenure, Coach Johnsen’s consistency—
grounded in the principles of hard work, fundamental development, a team-first attitude and integrity—kept the foot
ball ship afloat and ‘riding high’ for over two decades,” says Jim Barnes ’81, Vikings’ head football coach. • During his
time at Augustana, Johnsen was an integral part of a Viking program that compiled an overall record of 154-46 for a
winning percentage of .770 and a mark of 121-24 in the CCIW for a winning percentage of .834. • But Johnsen was
about more than just winning. “The principles and character he stamped on this program will serve Augie football well
into the future,” Barnes adds. “And the ripple effect of the hundreds of lives he mentored and positively influenced, in
cluding my own, will send better citizens, husbands and fathers out into the families and communities of our world.”
Was it really 56 years ago?
They were known as the Fabulous ’51ers. Augustana’s 1951 baseball team boasted the
college’s most successful year on the diamond to date with a record of 10-2, thanks in part to
some, well, fabulous hitting. Bob Brunell ’52 averaged .500 for the season, followed by four
teammates slugging .400 or above.
As a result of the efforts of Richie Erickson ’51, several members and friends of the team
returned to campus last April for a special reunion. In addition to those pictured below, at left,
Dale Baraks ’53, Edwin Blaser ’50, Dr. Bill Johnson ’51, Louis Nachbauer ’52 and Dr. Ken
Tillman ’54 attended the reunion.
A dinner reception at the Wilson Center and a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Brunner
Field at the Duane R. Swanson Stadium gave the former Vikings an opportunity to share
favorite memories of their time at Augustana.
1951
IAN FLETCHER ’09
Erickson says the weekend reunion held many wonderful experiences, including a guided
tour of campus by Kai Swanson ’86, executive assistant to President Steve Bahls. But
talking with teammates he
hadn’t seen in 56 years about
Sports shorts
their playing days and unforget
• The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)
able coach, Lenny Kallis, was
awarded senior basketball players Drew Wessels and Kim
certainly the highlight. “Lenny
Rymer the Jack Swartz Award in recognition of their athletic
Kallis seemed to me to make
and academic excellence during the winter sports season.
everything and everyone he
Wessels was a business administration major and carried a
touched a little bit better,”
3.53 GPA. Rymer had a 3.58 GPA with majors in psychology,
Erickson says. “He accomp
biology and pre-physical therapy.
lished extraordinary things
• Both the National Association of Basketball Coaches
with ordinary players.”
and D3hoops.com named Drew Wessels to the All-Midwest
Region team. In addition, he was one of 10 finalists for the
annual Jostens Award, which is given to the NCAA Division
1951, left to right: Richie Erickson ’51, Jack Kidder ’52, Bob Brunell ’52, Wally Soderstrom
III player who best combines athletics, academics and com
’53, Dick Jones ’51, Bill Barclay ’53, Jim Weigand ’52 and Dave Hopley ’54.
munity service.
• The National Wrestling Coaches Association selected
2007, left to right: Richie Erickson ’51, Jack Kidder ’52, Bob Brunell ’52, Wally Soderstrom
seniors Mike Kerr and John Parkhurst for the NCAA Divi
’53, Bill Barclay ’53 and Dave Hopley ’54. (Dr. Jim Weigand ’52 did not attend the reunion and
sion III Wrestling Scholar All-America team. Kerr majored
Dick Jones ’51 is deceased.)
in German, finance and international business and had a
3.18 GPA. A psychology and speech communications major,
Parkhurst also carried a 3.18 GPA.
2007
12 Augustana Magazine | Summer 2007
From left: Curt Hurd ’07,
Pamela Druger and
Barbara Ruane ’07
Connecting the dots
Some things are natural combinations, like snow on a winter’s day in the
midwest and philosophy majors at a liberal arts college. Other great combinations
are not so obvious, such as accounting and Augustana College. In truth, talented
and principled accounting majors have been graduating from Augustana for
decades. But this past year, two students’ accomplishments put the spotlight on the strength of this relationship between a liberal arts education and preprofessional training. >
Summer 2007 | Augustana Magazine 13
During her sophomore year, Barbara Ruane
’07, an accounting major with a sociology minor,
became curious about internships with the
Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), and the
rule-making bodies of the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board (GASB). When
Dr. Robert Swieringa ’64, who has published
more than five dozen books and articles in the
accounting field, returned to campus in the fall
of 2005 to discuss the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, Ruane became even more interested in an
internship. Swieringa had served as a member of the FASB from 1986-1996 before being named a dean at Cornell University.
Fewer than 20 FAF internships are granted
each year. Applicants come from schools across
the country, with some possessing a bachelor’s
and some a master’s. Barb applied, interviewed
and was granted a one-year internship with the
GASB, one of the nation’s top accounting intern
ships. She will see at the national level how the
The accounting knowledge was critical, of
course. What separates the types of leases and
how that influences reporting is a cornerstone
of the project. But it was her total approach
to the problem—looking past the rules to the
outcomes—that distinguished her performance.
A candidate can pass the CPA exam with just the
knowledge, but an accounting professional needs
the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills,
set against a background of ethical and just
behavior, to be an asset to society.
Curt Hurd ’07, honored as the Outstanding
Accounting Student for 2007, also possesses
these qualities. Instead of the internship route,
Curt applied for graduate programs in accounting
at Notre Dame University, Northern Illinois
University and The Ohio State University (OSU).
He was accepted at all three schools.
Dr. Robert Chabot of OSU’s Fisher College of
Business was truly impressed with Curt. After
Curt was accepted, Chabot nominated him
for a full-time graduate fellowship. A student
•••
The value of studying accounting at a liberal arts college like
Augustana may not be obvious at first glance, but it doesn’t
take long to see the benefits to all.
government determines appropriate methods
of accounting for its resources. Her duties will
include researching and assisting in projects
that will shape the future of reporting for govern
mental entities.
Barb wasn’t looking for the internship to fill a
void in her resumé. McGladrey & Pullen, LLP had
already offered her an internship. And Barb had
completed an internship with Deere & Company
in 2006, resulting in an offer of a full-time
position upon graduation.
It was during her internship at Deere that the
connection between professional training and
the integrative approach of the liberal arts
became an obvious asset. In her weekly reports,
she discussed the details of a concept, such as
lease accounting, and then analyzed the out
comes to see if the approach could mislead or
misinform investors. Barb connected the dots
between the classroom knowledge, the analytical
work she had performed, and the impact of that
work on the financial reporting for the company.
She examined the ethics of the impact and under
stood what must be disclosed to ensure trans
parency in the reporting process.
cannot apply for this directly; he or she must
be nominated by a faculty of the program in
their field of study. The fellowships are awarded
to deserving candidates through a highly
competitive process that focuses on academic
records, letters of recommendation, statement
of purpose, GMAT scores and potential to be
successful in the chosen graduate program.
After successfully championing Curt’s
fellowship, Chabot contacted the accounting
department at Augustana to see if there were
any more students like Curt. To his knowledge,
no other Augustana graduate had applied to
Ohio State’s master’s in accounting program.
He liked what he saw in Curt and is actively
pursuing a stronger connection with the college
to encourage more interest in OSU’s program.
What made Curt such an impressive
candidate? His technical knowledge was strong.
His additional majors of economics and business
displayed his dedication to getting all that he
could from his studies. But it was also his ability
to integrate the qualities of a liberal arts student
with the mastery of the discipline that made him
stand out.
Curt demonstrated that mastery when he and
another student tackled a research topic that was
theoretical rather than practical for an advanced
accounting course. The paper explored the con
cept of principles-based accounting, including
the emphasis from international constituencies.
This is an unusual and often uncomfortable
topic for accountants as it looks at a world that
is dependent on a deeper analysis of a situation
rather than a knowledge of specific rules and
guidelines. Curt and his partner presented an
excellent analysis of the pros and cons of the
different approaches.
It would be easy to see Barbara and Curt as
exceptions and not representative of the program
as a whole. While they certainly are distinguished,
they are not unusual.
Through the years, both the public and private
worlds of accounting have recognized the type
of students Augustana’s accounting program
graduates. Deere & Company heavily recruits
from the program, competing for majors by
offering internships and often full-time positions
prior to the students’ senior year.
Recently, three alumni from the class of 2005
presented a panel discussion on graduate
programs. Caleb Brainerd from Northern Illinois
University, Dan Rooney from the University of
Chicago, and Mike Clark from the University of
Iowa stated how well prepared they were because
of the education they received at Augustana. All
three had multiple offers from the Big 4 account
ing firms upon receiving their master’s.
The world needs ethical stewards of the
resources that entities control. These stewards
need sound training in the technical aspects of
their role, an ability to think critically about the
appropriateness of existing rules and regulations,
an imagination that creates alternative approach
es, and a character that never fails to stand on
an ethical platform and values integrity above
success. The value of studying accounting at a
liberal arts college like Augustana may not be
obvious at first glance, but it doesn’t take long to
see the benefits to all.
Seal cams reveal
underwater secrets
By Lee Nelson
Kiersten Madden ’02 never dreamt she would be attaching
video cameras to male fur seals to track their behavior.
She never imagined living four months with strangers in a remote research station near Antarctica, either. >
During her sophomore year, Barbara Ruane
’07, an accounting major with a sociology minor,
became curious about internships with the
Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), and the
rule-making bodies of the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board (GASB). When
Dr. Robert Swieringa ’64, who has published
more than five dozen books and articles in the
accounting field, returned to campus in the fall
of 2005 to discuss the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, Ruane became even more interested in an
internship. Swieringa had served as a member of the FASB from 1986-1996 before being named a dean at Cornell University.
Fewer than 20 FAF internships are granted
each year. Applicants come from schools across
the country, with some possessing a bachelor’s
and some a master’s. Barb applied, interviewed
and was granted a one-year internship with the
GASB, one of the nation’s top accounting intern
ships. She will see at the national level how the
The accounting knowledge was critical, of
course. What separates the types of leases and
how that influences reporting is a cornerstone
of the project. But it was her total approach
to the problem—looking past the rules to the
outcomes—that distinguished her performance.
A candidate can pass the CPA exam with just the
knowledge, but an accounting professional needs
the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills,
set against a background of ethical and just
behavior, to be an asset to society.
Curt Hurd ’07, honored as the Outstanding
Accounting Student for 2007, also possesses
these qualities. Instead of the internship route,
Curt applied for graduate programs in accounting
at Notre Dame University, Northern Illinois
University and The Ohio State University (OSU).
He was accepted at all three schools.
Dr. Robert Chabot of OSU’s Fisher College of
Business was truly impressed with Curt. After
Curt was accepted, Chabot nominated him
for a full-time graduate fellowship. A student
•••
The value of studying accounting at a liberal arts college like
Augustana may not be obvious at first glance, but it doesn’t
take long to see the benefits to all.
government determines appropriate methods
of accounting for its resources. Her duties will
include researching and assisting in projects
that will shape the future of reporting for govern
mental entities.
Barb wasn’t looking for the internship to fill a
void in her resumé. McGladrey & Pullen, LLP had
already offered her an internship. And Barb had
completed an internship with Deere & Company
in 2006, resulting in an offer of a full-time
position upon graduation.
It was during her internship at Deere that the
connection between professional training and
the integrative approach of the liberal arts
became an obvious asset. In her weekly reports,
she discussed the details of a concept, such as
lease accounting, and then analyzed the out
comes to see if the approach could mislead or
misinform investors. Barb connected the dots
between the classroom knowledge, the analytical
work she had performed, and the impact of that
work on the financial reporting for the company.
She examined the ethics of the impact and under
stood what must be disclosed to ensure trans
parency in the reporting process.
cannot apply for this directly; he or she must
be nominated by a faculty of the program in
their field of study. The fellowships are awarded
to deserving candidates through a highly
competitive process that focuses on academic
records, letters of recommendation, statement
of purpose, GMAT scores and potential to be
successful in the chosen graduate program.
After successfully championing Curt’s
fellowship, Chabot contacted the accounting
department at Augustana to see if there were
any more students like Curt. To his knowledge,
no other Augustana graduate had applied to
Ohio State’s master’s in accounting program.
He liked what he saw in Curt and is actively
pursuing a stronger connection with the college
to encourage more interest in OSU’s program.
What made Curt such an impressive
candidate? His technical knowledge was strong.
His additional majors of economics and business
displayed his dedication to getting all that he
could from his studies. But it was also his ability
to integrate the qualities of a liberal arts student
with the mastery of the discipline that made him
stand out.
Curt demonstrated that mastery when he and
another student tackled a research topic that was
theoretical rather than practical for an advanced
accounting course. The paper explored the con
cept of principles-based accounting, including
the emphasis from international constituencies.
This is an unusual and often uncomfortable
topic for accountants as it looks at a world that
is dependent on a deeper analysis of a situation
rather than a knowledge of specific rules and
guidelines. Curt and his partner presented an
excellent analysis of the pros and cons of the
different approaches.
It would be easy to see Barbara and Curt as
exceptions and not representative of the program
as a whole. While they certainly are distinguished,
they are not unusual.
Through the years, both the public and private
worlds of accounting have recognized the type
of students Augustana’s accounting program
graduates. Deere & Company heavily recruits
from the program, competing for majors by
offering internships and often full-time positions
prior to the students’ senior year.
Recently, three alumni from the class of 2005
presented a panel discussion on graduate
programs. Caleb Brainerd from Northern Illinois
University, Dan Rooney from the University of
Chicago, and Mike Clark from the University of
Iowa stated how well prepared they were because
of the education they received at Augustana. All
three had multiple offers from the Big 4 account
ing firms upon receiving their master’s.
The world needs ethical stewards of the
resources that entities control. These stewards
need sound training in the technical aspects of
their role, an ability to think critically about the
appropriateness of existing rules and regulations,
an imagination that creates alternative approach
es, and a character that never fails to stand on
an ethical platform and values integrity above
success. The value of studying accounting at a
liberal arts college like Augustana may not be
obvious at first glance, but it doesn’t take long to
see the benefits to all.
Seal cams reveal
underwater secrets
By Lee Nelson
Kiersten Madden ’02 never dreamt she would be attaching
video cameras to male fur seals to track their behavior.
She never imagined living four months with strangers in a remote research station near Antarctica, either. >
Left to right: At the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
base on Bird Island, Kiersten Madden ‘02 logs
research data. • Madden had as much time as she
needed to photograph this elephant seal basking
in the sun. • With video camera attached, this fur
seal is ready to dive. • Fur seal pups are just too
cute. • Even scientists undergo safety-training
exercises aboard the BAS-owned RRS James Clark
Ross research vessel.
But these unconventional experiences just heightened
Madden’s conviction to pass on her love of nature to her
future college students. After earning a doctorate in marine
science later this summer, she hopes to find a faculty
position at a midwestern liberal arts college.
Her doctorate comes from the University of Texas, where
she spent her first year on the main campus in Austin. The
past four years, she lived in Port Aransas to work and study
at the university’s Marine Science Institute.
“I wasn’t originally looking to make a five-year commit
ment, but after my second year, I changed from the master’s
degree program to the doctorate program,” Madden says. “I
knew this is what I wanted to do, and I thought it would be a
fun experience.”
The Springfield, Mo., native came to Augustana with an
interest in physical therapy, but changed her focus after her
sophomore year.
“Dr. Kevin Geedey—my advisor at Augie my junior and
senior years—was one of the most influential people in
helping me pursue a graduate degree in marine science,”
she says candidly. A summer aquatic biology course at
scholars for the two weeks we are in residence. There is
something about field work that can get under the skin and
for some, enter the blood.”
He believes that’s what must have happened to Madden.
“It was clear to me by the end of the two-week program
that Kiersten had begun to imagine what a life dedicated
to the study of nature might be like. Given her intellectual
curiosity, drive and love of the field, her success comes as no surprise to me.”
While at the Marine Science Institute, Madden traveled
to distant lands on research and study expeditions. The
most recent was a longer-than-expected stint on Bird
Island, South Georgia, a tiny island north of Antarctica. In
recent years, it’s become a popular destination for cruise
ships because of the abandoned whaling stations and large
concentration of seals and penguins—estimated at tens of
thousands.
“The biggest shock was that I was originally supposed
to go for only three weeks, but it turned out to be four
months,” Madden says. “Bird Island isn’t an easy place to
travel to—it took us a week to get there—and there wasn’t
Courses at Green Wing are a world apart. Students live, study and work
without the distraction of e-mail and television. We truly become a
community of scholars for the two weeks we are in residence. dr. kevin geedey
Augustana’s off-campus Green Wing Environmental Labora
tory with Geedey sparked her interest in ecology. That’s when
she knew she wanted to pursue a career in ecology and
animal behavior.
Madden kept her major in biology, but quickly changed her
minor to environmental science. Geedey considers it a blessing to have the opportunity to
help someone like Madden find what she really wants to do
in life.
“Courses at Green Wing are a world apart,” Geedey says.
“Students live, study and work without the distraction of
e-mail and television. We truly become a community of
a ship available to pick me up till then.” From September to
January, she lived and worked in a small British research lab
and housing facility with seven others.
While on the three-mile-long island, she and two fellow
American researchers outfitted male fur seals with data
loggers and video cameras to track the seals’ underwater
journey to find food. Scientists on the island have been
monitoring the seals for many years and attempting to under
stand more about their foraging behaviors.
The video camera that was attached to the fur seals was
designed to record the environment immediately in front
of the diving animal, while the data logger was designed to
record the seals’ movements in three dimensions, how fast
their flippers stroked, their swimming speed and other data.
Small satellite tags were also fastened to the animals to
help researchers locate them to retrieve the equipment. No
one had done this type of experiment on Antarctic fur seals
before.
Of course, attaching the apparatus to the animals was
an experiment in itself. Researchers used what look like
giant butterfly nets to capture the more than 200-pound,
assertive seals and then jumped on top of the animals to
keep them subdued.
The seals were then put under with the help of a portable
anesthetizing machine and gas masks. Strict animalhandling protocols were always followed, Madden points
out. The video camera and data logger are kept in place by
aluminum cradles. The cradles are attached to a wet-suittype material called neoprene, which is glued to the fur with
a special adhesive. When the animals molt each year, they
shed the glue and any signs they were part of a research
project.
Obtaining this information is important, Madden says,
because scientists need to learn more about the eating
habits of the fur seal, which plays a key role in the ocean’s
food chain.
“There are over 65,000 breeding Antarctic fur seals on
Bird Island alone and, as you can imagine, they consume a
large amount of resources in the area,” Madden explains.
“Understanding what, where, when and how they are hunting
will help us better understand how they interact not only
with their prey, but also with other predators. Ultimately,
this will improve our ability to manage these amazing
animals and ensure that they continue to recover from their
previously over-exploited state.”
Out of seven attempts, only two of the recorders came
back with actual data. Some flooded and one fell off.
“Research is a lot of trial and error,” Madden says. “On
the two that did work, we retrieved a lot of interesting
information. We’re still in the process of going through the
data and making sense of it.”
As director at the Marine Science Institute and Madden’s
advisor on the seal project, Dr. Lee Fuiman has seen only
great things from his student.
“She impressed me right from the start with her ability
and eagerness to learn new skills, whether they be detailed
manipulations of data in spreadsheets or sophisticated
multivariate statistical analyses,” he said. “She is incredibly
productive. She excels in everything she does and exceeds
every expectation.”
He commented, too, that he doesn’t know how she has so
much energy for everything.
“Beyond academics and research, Kiersten seems to fill
This Antarctic fur seal
is equipped with a
video camera (head),
satellite tag (side) and
data logger (back) to
provide researchers with
new information about
the seal’s underwater
behavior.
Left to right: At the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
base on Bird Island, Kiersten Madden ‘02 logs
research data. • Madden had as much time as she
needed to photograph this elephant seal basking
in the sun. • With video camera attached, this fur
seal is ready to dive. • Fur seal pups are just too
cute. • Even scientists undergo safety-training
exercises aboard the BAS-owned RRS James Clark
Ross research vessel.
But these unconventional experiences just heightened
Madden’s conviction to pass on her love of nature to her
future college students. After earning a doctorate in marine
science later this summer, she hopes to find a faculty
position at a midwestern liberal arts college.
Her doctorate comes from the University of Texas, where
she spent her first year on the main campus in Austin. The
past four years, she lived in Port Aransas to work and study
at the university’s Marine Science Institute.
“I wasn’t originally looking to make a five-year commit
ment, but after my second year, I changed from the master’s
degree program to the doctorate program,” Madden says. “I
knew this is what I wanted to do, and I thought it would be a
fun experience.”
The Springfield, Mo., native came to Augustana with an
interest in physical therapy, but changed her focus after her
sophomore year.
“Dr. Kevin Geedey—my advisor at Augie my junior and
senior years—was one of the most influential people in
helping me pursue a graduate degree in marine science,”
she says candidly. A summer aquatic biology course at
scholars for the two weeks we are in residence. There is
something about field work that can get under the skin and
for some, enter the blood.”
He believes that’s what must have happened to Madden.
“It was clear to me by the end of the two-week program
that Kiersten had begun to imagine what a life dedicated
to the study of nature might be like. Given her intellectual
curiosity, drive and love of the field, her success comes as no surprise to me.”
While at the Marine Science Institute, Madden traveled
to distant lands on research and study expeditions. The
most recent was a longer-than-expected stint on Bird
Island, South Georgia, a tiny island north of Antarctica. In
recent years, it’s become a popular destination for cruise
ships because of the abandoned whaling stations and large
concentration of seals and penguins—estimated at tens of
thousands.
“The biggest shock was that I was originally supposed
to go for only three weeks, but it turned out to be four
months,” Madden says. “Bird Island isn’t an easy place to
travel to—it took us a week to get there—and there wasn’t
Courses at Green Wing are a world apart. Students live, study and work
without the distraction of e-mail and television. We truly become a
community of scholars for the two weeks we are in residence. dr. kevin geedey
Augustana’s off-campus Green Wing Environmental Labora
tory with Geedey sparked her interest in ecology. That’s when
she knew she wanted to pursue a career in ecology and
animal behavior.
Madden kept her major in biology, but quickly changed her
minor to environmental science. Geedey considers it a blessing to have the opportunity to
help someone like Madden find what she really wants to do
in life.
“Courses at Green Wing are a world apart,” Geedey says.
“Students live, study and work without the distraction of
e-mail and television. We truly become a community of
a ship available to pick me up till then.” From September to
January, she lived and worked in a small British research lab
and housing facility with seven others.
While on the three-mile-long island, she and two fellow
American researchers outfitted male fur seals with data
loggers and video cameras to track the seals’ underwater
journey to find food. Scientists on the island have been
monitoring the seals for many years and attempting to under
stand more about their foraging behaviors.
The video camera that was attached to the fur seals was
designed to record the environment immediately in front
of the diving animal, while the data logger was designed to
record the seals’ movements in three dimensions, how fast
their flippers stroked, their swimming speed and other data.
Small satellite tags were also fastened to the animals to
help researchers locate them to retrieve the equipment. No
one had done this type of experiment on Antarctic fur seals
before.
Of course, attaching the apparatus to the animals was
an experiment in itself. Researchers used what look like
giant butterfly nets to capture the more than 200-pound,
assertive seals and then jumped on top of the animals to
keep them subdued.
The seals were then put under with the help of a portable
anesthetizing machine and gas masks. Strict animalhandling protocols were always followed, Madden points
out. The video camera and data logger are kept in place by
aluminum cradles. The cradles are attached to a wet-suittype material called neoprene, which is glued to the fur with
a special adhesive. When the animals molt each year, they
shed the glue and any signs they were part of a research
project.
Obtaining this information is important, Madden says,
because scientists need to learn more about the eating
habits of the fur seal, which plays a key role in the ocean’s
food chain.
“There are over 65,000 breeding Antarctic fur seals on
Bird Island alone and, as you can imagine, they consume a
large amount of resources in the area,” Madden explains.
“Understanding what, where, when and how they are hunting
will help us better understand how they interact not only
with their prey, but also with other predators. Ultimately,
this will improve our ability to manage these amazing
animals and ensure that they continue to recover from their
previously over-exploited state.”
Out of seven attempts, only two of the recorders came
back with actual data. Some flooded and one fell off.
“Research is a lot of trial and error,” Madden says. “On
the two that did work, we retrieved a lot of interesting
information. We’re still in the process of going through the
data and making sense of it.”
As director at the Marine Science Institute and Madden’s
advisor on the seal project, Dr. Lee Fuiman has seen only
great things from his student.
“She impressed me right from the start with her ability
and eagerness to learn new skills, whether they be detailed
manipulations of data in spreadsheets or sophisticated
multivariate statistical analyses,” he said. “She is incredibly
productive. She excels in everything she does and exceeds
every expectation.”
He commented, too, that he doesn’t know how she has so
much energy for everything.
“Beyond academics and research, Kiersten seems to fill
This Antarctic fur seal
is equipped with a
video camera (head),
satellite tag (side) and
data logger (back) to
provide researchers with
new information about
the seal’s underwater
behavior.
When she has time, Kiersten
Madden ‘02 enjoys photographing
wildlife. She photographed this
king penquin at Grytviken, an old
whaling station across the bay from
the King Edward Point research
station on South Georgia.
every waking hour, from community service to sports,” he
adds. In Texas, she played in sand volleyball leagues and
taught Sunday School.
Church, community service and sports have been
important to Madden since childhood. And while attending
Augustana, she played volleyball all four years. She still
feels a strong connection to the college and the people she
met there. And she never imagined that her experiences
at Augustana would help guide her to earning a doctorate
or traveling to such destinations as Antarctica, Alaska and
Australia.
“Going away from home to attend college was
a big step in life for me,” she says. “And then to
go to Texas for grad school the past five years
was an even bigger step. But I’m ready to come
back closer to home.”
Madden’s general interests are in behavioral
ecology—understanding how an animal’s
behavior is adapted to meet the needs of a
particular environment—and not specifically
related to marine species. There are many
research questions related to this that she’d
like to tackle in the midwest. “I’m also very
interested in trying to bring my marine science
knowledge back to the midwest and helping
people who live a thousand miles from the coast
understand the effects of their decisions on the
world’s oceans,” she says.
Wherever she ends up as a professor, she will
embrace public outreach.
“Throughout my career, I’ve tried to share my
story with as many people as possible,” she
explains. “There currently is a large disconnect
between the world of academia and the general
public. It’s particularly important that we try to
bridge the gap that exists between university
educators and those teaching in high school and
middle school.”
Since her research took her to various
faraway places, Madden has been asked many
times to do presentations at schools in and
around Port Aransas.
“Just sharing information about what I do
hopefully encourages others to have an interest
in our natural resources,” she says. “Eventually,
I’d love to establish programs that bridge this gap and
allow professors, as well as college students, to share their
knowledge with the general public. It’s one of my missions.”
Those interested in viewing Kiersten Madden’s written
and photographic updates on life at Bird Island Research
Station may visit www.utmsi.utexas.edu/staff/fuiman/
TeamFuiman/Kiersten.htm.
Lee Nelson is a freelance writer in DeWitt, Iowa.
The Senior Inquiry advantage
Shared inquiry is nothing new at Augustana. For
decades, students and faculty have been collaborating
to find answers and discover new knowledge. The
college’s new Senior Inquiry program builds on that
tradition to further strengthen students’ academic
experience.
Senior Inquiry is a capstone project in
which students integrate learning from
throughout their Augustana education
to inform a substantial inquiry related to
their major. Research is defined broadly,
and projects may take many forms: an
art major may complete a show of work;
a business major may produce a market
analysis based on an internship; a biology
major may work with a faculty member on
a project funded by the National Science
Foundation. Each academic department
determines the nature of the Senior Inquiry
experience for its majors.
“Regardless of the topic, Senior Inquiry
will require students to employ the skills of
analysis, synthesis and evaluation that are
essential to their education at Augustana
and to the lives of service and leadership
that they will lead after they leave our
campus,” says Dr. Jeff Abernathy, vice
president and dean of the college.
What distinguishes Senior Inquiry from
previous shared inquiry is its reflective
component. Throughout the experience,
students will reflect on the value and
impact their inquiry might have on a
number of levels: to themselves and their
education, to meaningful work in their
lives and to a larger community. This
community may be a scholarly group or a
neighborhood or the global community. In
short, Senior Inquiry is a disciplined and
customized process in which student and
professor link learning and community and
critically reflect on the two as a whole.
”While many colleges and universities
provide research opportunities to their
students, Augustana is the only school
I’m aware of that requires reflection,”
Abernathy says. “This reflective component
truly transforms the research experience
at Augustana.”
Currently, almost 45 percent of
Augustana’s students conduct research or
another type of academic inquiry under the
guidance of a faculty member. Through the
Senior Inquiry program, the college seeks
to make the experience of research and
reflection an expectation for all. Abernathy
predicts that most of the students who
started their first year in the fall of 2006
will complete a Senior Inquiry project.
To support this increased emphasis on
faculty-student collaboration within the
majors and reduce class size, Augustana
has hired 41 additional full-time faculty
members. The renovation of Carlsson Hall,
which began in June, includes office and
meeting space for Senior Inquiry. The
recently dedicated Guehler Biochemistry
Laboratory, a preeminent teaching and
research laboratory in the Science Build
ing, is another resource supporting the
college’s commitment to Senior Inquiry.
To understand the benefits of Senior
Inquiry, it’s important to note what
employers and graduate schools look for
in recent graduates. Surveys show that
employers and graduate schools seek
those with the following characteristics:
strong critical-thinking and problem-
Dr. Stephen Hager, associate professor of biology, recently
published a paper in The American Biology Teacher that
presents an identification key to the rodent prey in owl
pellets. Deanna Rybak ’07 collaborated with Hager by
illustrating anatomical features of rodent skulls for the
paper. Before Hager offered her this opportunity for shared
inquiry, Rybak was planning to pursue genetic counseling
after graduation. But once she completed the drawings, the
biology major with an art and biochemistry minor realized
she wanted to study biological illustration instead. She will be a student in the University of Illinois at Chicago’s
Biomedical Visualization graduate program in the fall.
When she has time, Kiersten
Madden ‘02 enjoys photographing
wildlife. She photographed this
king penquin at Grytviken, an old
whaling station across the bay from
the King Edward Point research
station on South Georgia.
every waking hour, from community service to sports,” he
adds. In Texas, she played in sand volleyball leagues and
taught Sunday School.
Church, community service and sports have been
important to Madden since childhood. And while attending
Augustana, she played volleyball all four years. She still
feels a strong connection to the college and the people she
met there. And she never imagined that her experiences
at Augustana would help guide her to earning a doctorate
or traveling to such destinations as Antarctica, Alaska and
Australia.
“Going away from home to attend college was
a big step in life for me,” she says. “And then to
go to Texas for grad school the past five years
was an even bigger step. But I’m ready to come
back closer to home.”
Madden’s general interests are in behavioral
ecology—understanding how an animal’s
behavior is adapted to meet the needs of a
particular environment—and not specifically
related to marine species. There are many
research questions related to this that she’d
like to tackle in the midwest. “I’m also very
interested in trying to bring my marine science
knowledge back to the midwest and helping
people who live a thousand miles from the coast
understand the effects of their decisions on the
world’s oceans,” she says.
Wherever she ends up as a professor, she will
embrace public outreach.
“Throughout my career, I’ve tried to share my
story with as many people as possible,” she
explains. “There currently is a large disconnect
between the world of academia and the general
public. It’s particularly important that we try to
bridge the gap that exists between university
educators and those teaching in high school and
middle school.”
Since her research took her to various
faraway places, Madden has been asked many
times to do presentations at schools in and
around Port Aransas.
“Just sharing information about what I do
hopefully encourages others to have an interest
in our natural resources,” she says. “Eventually,
I’d love to establish programs that bridge this gap and
allow professors, as well as college students, to share their
knowledge with the general public. It’s one of my missions.”
Those interested in viewing Kiersten Madden’s written
and photographic updates on life at Bird Island Research
Station may visit www.utmsi.utexas.edu/staff/fuiman/
TeamFuiman/Kiersten.htm.
Lee Nelson is a freelance writer in DeWitt, Iowa.
The Senior Inquiry advantage
Shared inquiry is nothing new at Augustana. For
decades, students and faculty have been collaborating
to find answers and discover new knowledge. The
college’s new Senior Inquiry program builds on that
tradition to further strengthen students’ academic
experience.
Senior Inquiry is a capstone project in
which students integrate learning from
throughout their Augustana education
to inform a substantial inquiry related to
their major. Research is defined broadly,
and projects may take many forms: an
art major may complete a show of work;
a business major may produce a market
analysis based on an internship; a biology
major may work with a faculty member on
a project funded by the National Science
Foundation. Each academic department
determines the nature of the Senior Inquiry
experience for its majors.
“Regardless of the topic, Senior Inquiry
will require students to employ the skills of
analysis, synthesis and evaluation that are
essential to their education at Augustana
and to the lives of service and leadership
that they will lead after they leave our
campus,” says Dr. Jeff Abernathy, vice
president and dean of the college.
What distinguishes Senior Inquiry from
previous shared inquiry is its reflective
component. Throughout the experience,
students will reflect on the value and
impact their inquiry might have on a
number of levels: to themselves and their
education, to meaningful work in their
lives and to a larger community. This
community may be a scholarly group or a
neighborhood or the global community. In
short, Senior Inquiry is a disciplined and
customized process in which student and
professor link learning and community and
critically reflect on the two as a whole.
”While many colleges and universities
provide research opportunities to their
students, Augustana is the only school
I’m aware of that requires reflection,”
Abernathy says. “This reflective component
truly transforms the research experience
at Augustana.”
Currently, almost 45 percent of
Augustana’s students conduct research or
another type of academic inquiry under the
guidance of a faculty member. Through the
Senior Inquiry program, the college seeks
to make the experience of research and
reflection an expectation for all. Abernathy
predicts that most of the students who
started their first year in the fall of 2006
will complete a Senior Inquiry project.
To support this increased emphasis on
faculty-student collaboration within the
majors and reduce class size, Augustana
has hired 41 additional full-time faculty
members. The renovation of Carlsson Hall,
which began in June, includes office and
meeting space for Senior Inquiry. The
recently dedicated Guehler Biochemistry
Laboratory, a preeminent teaching and
research laboratory in the Science Build
ing, is another resource supporting the
college’s commitment to Senior Inquiry.
To understand the benefits of Senior
Inquiry, it’s important to note what
employers and graduate schools look for
in recent graduates. Surveys show that
employers and graduate schools seek
those with the following characteristics:
strong critical-thinking and problem-
Dr. Stephen Hager, associate professor of biology, recently
published a paper in The American Biology Teacher that
presents an identification key to the rodent prey in owl
pellets. Deanna Rybak ’07 collaborated with Hager by
illustrating anatomical features of rodent skulls for the
paper. Before Hager offered her this opportunity for shared
inquiry, Rybak was planning to pursue genetic counseling
after graduation. But once she completed the drawings, the
biology major with an art and biochemistry minor realized
she wanted to study biological illustration instead. She will be a student in the University of Illinois at Chicago’s
Biomedical Visualization graduate program in the fall.
Ashley Biess ’09
Throughout the Senior Inquiry experience, students will reflect on the
value and impact their inquiry might have on a number of levels: to them
selves and their education, to meaningful work in their lives and to a larger community.
Dr. Stephen Warren, assistant professor of history, and
James Beatty ’08 worked together on a Senior Inquiry
proposal, which then led to a prestigious national award.
Beatty won a Donald Anderson Fellowship from Augustana
as well as a SHEAR/Mellon Undergraduate Fellowship
from the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at
the University of Pennsylvania. He has joined nine other
undergraduates in Philadelphia this summer, each of
whom will conduct original research on early American
history. Beatty’s project, “Interpreting the Shawnee Sun,”
is a collaborative endeavor with a Shawnee elder named
George Blanchard. Surviving copies of the newspaper
date to 1841. The Shawnee Sun marks the first attempt to
translate the Shawnee language into script. Thanks to the
work of Beatty and Blanchard, scholars will know more
about this unique window into American Indian-missionary
relations before the Civil War.
solving skills; ability to be a self-starter
and work well with a team; motivation
to explore new ideas; and effective
communication skills. Senior Inquiry
projects help students hone each of these
skills. Another benefit of Senior Inquiry is
that students will have a tangible way to
demonstrate to employers and graduate
schools that they have mastered these
important skills.
Dan Pearson ’07 majored in biochem
istry and pre-medicine, and minored in
chemistry. His project involved the cause
of cisplatin resistance in ovarian carcinoma
cells, which is caused by protein accumula
tion in the cell. He will attend St. Louis
University School of Medicine this fall.
“My research experience allowed me
to synthesize everything I’ve learned at
Augustana the past three years,” Pearson
says. “We faced problems as research went
on, and I was able to solve them using the
knowledge I had gained.”
Pearson says the experience showed
him that he was able to work by himself
but was open to seeking help when
needed. And whereas with some Senior
Inquiry projects it may be more challenging
to find a reflective component, his research
topic did not present this problem. “Our
research directly affects the global com
munity because the information we’ve
developed will be applicable throughout
the world and hopefully will improve the
lives of many people,” he explains.
Kristin Maki ’07, an English and history
major, explored liminality and the gothic
novel for her Senior Inquiry model.
“Liminality is defined by the spaces
adjacent to it, and it doesn’t have any
characteristics of its own,” Maki explains.
“It’s a transition. So I studied how literal
thresholds create liminal space in gothic
novels.”
Dr. Joe McDowell, associate professor
of English, says Maki’s topic was even
more reflective than most because limin
ality has connections to psychological
realities, anthropological realities, politics
and history, and it opened all those
different fields for her.
“The gothic, I discovered, is a tool to
understand the liminality and to under
stand liminal states of life, and that’s how
I came to understand the state of life I’m in
right now,” Maki says.
For his Senior Inquiry model, philosophy
major Kyle Ferguson ’07 focused on the
founder of existentialist philosophy, Søren
Kierkegaard, and his influence on contemp
orary fiction writer John Updike. As a
result of the experience itself, Ferguson
believes he changed as a student and as
a person. “I’m better able now to pose a
precise research question and a response
to that question,” he says. “I think I can
better articulate a pretty complex view.”
By implementing Senior Inquiry,
Augustana expands on a tradition of collab
oration in a strong liberal arts curriculum.
The reflective component challenges
students to make the connection between
their interests and talents and the needs of
the world. The experience and the results
are intended to help guide and position
students long after they leave Augustana.
‘Do what you love’
Dr. David Walton ’98 practices medicine in one of the United States’ premier hospitals and in a Haitian clinic
in one of the world’s poorest areas. Graduating from Augustana, he has seen more misery and death than
someone should. Yet, it’s his choice. His calling. Through Partners in Health, Walton brings health care to
the impoverished. Continuously navigating between prosperity and poverty is emotionally draining, but
rural Haiti is where Walton has experienced the most important and meaningful moments in his life. In his
words, “Haiti has humbled me, brought tears to my eyes and lit a fire in my heart.”
Ashley Biess ’09
Throughout the Senior Inquiry experience, students will reflect on the
value and impact their inquiry might have on a number of levels: to them
selves and their education, to meaningful work in their lives and to a larger community.
Dr. Stephen Warren, assistant professor of history, and
James Beatty ’08 worked together on a Senior Inquiry
proposal, which then led to a prestigious national award.
Beatty won a Donald Anderson Fellowship from Augustana
as well as a SHEAR/Mellon Undergraduate Fellowship
from the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at
the University of Pennsylvania. He has joined nine other
undergraduates in Philadelphia this summer, each of
whom will conduct original research on early American
history. Beatty’s project, “Interpreting the Shawnee Sun,”
is a collaborative endeavor with a Shawnee elder named
George Blanchard. Surviving copies of the newspaper
date to 1841. The Shawnee Sun marks the first attempt to
translate the Shawnee language into script. Thanks to the
work of Beatty and Blanchard, scholars will know more
about this unique window into American Indian-missionary
relations before the Civil War.
solving skills; ability to be a self-starter
and work well with a team; motivation
to explore new ideas; and effective
communication skills. Senior Inquiry
projects help students hone each of these
skills. Another benefit of Senior Inquiry is
that students will have a tangible way to
demonstrate to employers and graduate
schools that they have mastered these
important skills.
Dan Pearson ’07 majored in biochem
istry and pre-medicine, and minored in
chemistry. His project involved the cause
of cisplatin resistance in ovarian carcinoma
cells, which is caused by protein accumula
tion in the cell. He will attend St. Louis
University School of Medicine this fall.
“My research experience allowed me
to synthesize everything I’ve learned at
Augustana the past three years,” Pearson
says. “We faced problems as research went
on, and I was able to solve them using the
knowledge I had gained.”
Pearson says the experience showed
him that he was able to work by himself
but was open to seeking help when
needed. And whereas with some Senior
Inquiry projects it may be more challenging
to find a reflective component, his research
topic did not present this problem. “Our
research directly affects the global com
munity because the information we’ve
developed will be applicable throughout
the world and hopefully will improve the
lives of many people,” he explains.
Kristin Maki ’07, an English and history
major, explored liminality and the gothic
novel for her Senior Inquiry model.
“Liminality is defined by the spaces
adjacent to it, and it doesn’t have any
characteristics of its own,” Maki explains.
“It’s a transition. So I studied how literal
thresholds create liminal space in gothic
novels.”
Dr. Joe McDowell, associate professor
of English, says Maki’s topic was even
more reflective than most because limin
ality has connections to psychological
realities, anthropological realities, politics
and history, and it opened all those
different fields for her.
“The gothic, I discovered, is a tool to
understand the liminality and to under
stand liminal states of life, and that’s how
I came to understand the state of life I’m in
right now,” Maki says.
For his Senior Inquiry model, philosophy
major Kyle Ferguson ’07 focused on the
founder of existentialist philosophy, Søren
Kierkegaard, and his influence on contemp
orary fiction writer John Updike. As a
result of the experience itself, Ferguson
believes he changed as a student and as
a person. “I’m better able now to pose a
precise research question and a response
to that question,” he says. “I think I can
better articulate a pretty complex view.”
By implementing Senior Inquiry,
Augustana expands on a tradition of collab
oration in a strong liberal arts curriculum.
The reflective component challenges
students to make the connection between
their interests and talents and the needs of
the world. The experience and the results
are intended to help guide and position
students long after they leave Augustana.
‘Do what you love’
Dr. David Walton ’98 practices medicine in one of the United States’ premier hospitals and in a Haitian clinic
in one of the world’s poorest areas. Graduating from Augustana, he has seen more misery and death than
someone should. Yet, it’s his choice. His calling. Through Partners in Health, Walton brings health care to
the impoverished. Continuously navigating between prosperity and poverty is emotionally draining, but
rural Haiti is where Walton has experienced the most important and meaningful moments in his life. In his
words, “Haiti has humbled me, brought tears to my eyes and lit a fire in my heart.”
Medical School,” he says, “but it started in the streets of La
Paz, Bolivia, on Latin America term.”
Walton arrived at Harvard Medical School in the fall of
1998. Unlikely as it now must seem, he had no idea who Dr.
Paul Farmer was.
As Walton describes it, “the fates were with me.” It was
only his second week at Harvard when he met Farmer, the
founding director of Partners in Health, an international
charity organization that provides free health-care services
and takes on research and advocacy activities on behalf
of those who are sick and living in poverty. Walton heard
he needed a research assistant. And although Farmer’s
secretary warned him about Farmer’s perfectionism and
Dr. David Walton ’98 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston
To this day, Walton believes no one has run as fast as he did between Erickson Residence Hall and Sorensen
Hall on the day of his calculus final in the fall of ’94. Walton was in his room in Erickson when the phone rang.
“David?” It was his calculus professor Dr. Jon Clauss. “We’re taking the final now.”
There are no words to describe how Walton felt. Panicked
doesn’t come close. It was his first term. His first final
exam. He came to Augustana, he says, with low academic
confidence. He wasn’t afraid to ask for help, and Clauss had
always made himself available to guide Walton through the
complex concepts, but calculus still terrified him.
When Walton reached Sorensen, he was out of breath
and completely flustered. Clauss stopped him at the door
to the classroom. He told Walton to collect himself, to relax
and assured him he would have time to finish the exam.
“I went in and got an A- in that class,” Walton says. “It
was the hardest A- I ever fought for, and the one I’ll always
remember. It was a turning point for me. I knew if I could
do this, I could do anything.”
It was the beginning of a remarkable four years at
Augustana that culminated in being named Academic AllAmerica in 1998 in honor of his achievements in the class
room and as a sprinter on the track team. “You knew he was
going somewhere,” says Dave Wrath ’80, assistant director
of athletics/media and alumni relations.
Indeed he was. During Walton’s senior year, both Harvard
and Stanford’s medical schools came calling. Walton was
aware of both medical schools’ reputations, but he had a gut
feeling that Harvard would be the right fit for him. It was the
same feeling he had had about Augustana four years before.
T
he summer after Walton’s first year at Augustana,
the pre-medicine/Spanish major enrolled in the college’s
summer Spanish program in Ecuador. While in Cuenca,
Ecuador, he was struck by the discrimination the indigenous
people suffered at the hands of the majority, particularly in
regard to access to health care.
During the fall of his senior year, Walton visited La Paz,
Bolivia, on Latin America term. Again, he was moved by
the lack of health care available for the poor. He wrote his
senior thesis about his experience in La Paz, an epiphany
he calls it, as he began thinking about health care as a
fundamental human right.
“My vision didn’t become clear until I reached Harvard
tendency to always be in a hurry, Walton applied and got
the job. He spent long hours researching texts for articles
Farmer was writing.
“I learned a great deal about tuberculosis, HIV, typhoid
and other infectious diseases because one of my main
responsibilities was to find scholarly references for these
topics, in addition to social and economic rights, gender
inequality and poverty,” Walton says. “He also taught me
how to write for scholarly publications, which has proven
to be incredibly useful over the years, as we have written
articles and book chapters together.”
Walton found his mentor in Farmer, a man who has
devoted his life to transforming health care on a global
scale by focusing on the world’s poorest and sickest
communities through Partners in Health. After his first and
second years at Harvard, Walton spent his summers as a
research assistant in Haiti with Farmer and the Partners in
Health team, and there his current life began to take shape.
Photos of Dr. David Walton in
Haiti by Katina Van Sinderen;
photo of Walton in Boston
by Tara Morris; photos of
patients in Haiti by Walton.
Below, left: Walton had
“the privilege of caring” for
Louides Devoisier for four
years. He died of congestive
heart failure last year.
A
fter receiving his medical degree from Harvard
in 2003 and then taking a year off to work in Haiti, Walton
began his residency at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s
Hospital. He was one of the first candidates to be selected
for the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity
and Internal Medicine, created to provide formal targeted
training for physicians interested in providing health care
to underserved populations around the world.
Today, at the age of 30, Walton divides his time between
Boston and Haiti, traveling between the two every six weeks
or so.
“The emotional upheaval of going back and forth is the
most difficult part,” Walton says. “Here, everything is at your
disposal, at the click of a mouse. In Haiti, the resources are
limited. You have to ride in a tap tap [truck] full of boxes,
beans and goats just to get to a patient’s house so you can
treat him. The medicine is the same; it’s just the path that
is different. The information you gain in one place comple
ments your experience in the other.”
Medical School,” he says, “but it started in the streets of La
Paz, Bolivia, on Latin America term.”
Walton arrived at Harvard Medical School in the fall of
1998. Unlikely as it now must seem, he had no idea who Dr.
Paul Farmer was.
As Walton describes it, “the fates were with me.” It was
only his second week at Harvard when he met Farmer, the
founding director of Partners in Health, an international
charity organization that provides free health-care services
and takes on research and advocacy activities on behalf
of those who are sick and living in poverty. Walton heard
he needed a research assistant. And although Farmer’s
secretary warned him about Farmer’s perfectionism and
Dr. David Walton ’98 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston
To this day, Walton believes no one has run as fast as he did between Erickson Residence Hall and Sorensen
Hall on the day of his calculus final in the fall of ’94. Walton was in his room in Erickson when the phone rang.
“David?” It was his calculus professor Dr. Jon Clauss. “We’re taking the final now.”
There are no words to describe how Walton felt. Panicked
doesn’t come close. It was his first term. His first final
exam. He came to Augustana, he says, with low academic
confidence. He wasn’t afraid to ask for help, and Clauss had
always made himself available to guide Walton through the
complex concepts, but calculus still terrified him.
When Walton reached Sorensen, he was out of breath
and completely flustered. Clauss stopped him at the door
to the classroom. He told Walton to collect himself, to relax
and assured him he would have time to finish the exam.
“I went in and got an A- in that class,” Walton says. “It
was the hardest A- I ever fought for, and the one I’ll always
remember. It was a turning point for me. I knew if I could
do this, I could do anything.”
It was the beginning of a remarkable four years at
Augustana that culminated in being named Academic AllAmerica in 1998 in honor of his achievements in the class
room and as a sprinter on the track team. “You knew he was
going somewhere,” says Dave Wrath ’80, assistant director
of athletics/media and alumni relations.
Indeed he was. During Walton’s senior year, both Harvard
and Stanford’s medical schools came calling. Walton was
aware of both medical schools’ reputations, but he had a gut
feeling that Harvard would be the right fit for him. It was the
same feeling he had had about Augustana four years before.
T
he summer after Walton’s first year at Augustana,
the pre-medicine/Spanish major enrolled in the college’s
summer Spanish program in Ecuador. While in Cuenca,
Ecuador, he was struck by the discrimination the indigenous
people suffered at the hands of the majority, particularly in
regard to access to health care.
During the fall of his senior year, Walton visited La Paz,
Bolivia, on Latin America term. Again, he was moved by
the lack of health care available for the poor. He wrote his
senior thesis about his experience in La Paz, an epiphany
he calls it, as he began thinking about health care as a
fundamental human right.
“My vision didn’t become clear until I reached Harvard
tendency to always be in a hurry, Walton applied and got
the job. He spent long hours researching texts for articles
Farmer was writing.
“I learned a great deal about tuberculosis, HIV, typhoid
and other infectious diseases because one of my main
responsibilities was to find scholarly references for these
topics, in addition to social and economic rights, gender
inequality and poverty,” Walton says. “He also taught me
how to write for scholarly publications, which has proven
to be incredibly useful over the years, as we have written
articles and book chapters together.”
Walton found his mentor in Farmer, a man who has
devoted his life to transforming health care on a global
scale by focusing on the world’s poorest and sickest
communities through Partners in Health. After his first and
second years at Harvard, Walton spent his summers as a
research assistant in Haiti with Farmer and the Partners in
Health team, and there his current life began to take shape.
Photos of Dr. David Walton in
Haiti by Katina Van Sinderen;
photo of Walton in Boston
by Tara Morris; photos of
patients in Haiti by Walton.
Below, left: Walton had
“the privilege of caring” for
Louides Devoisier for four
years. He died of congestive
heart failure last year.
A
fter receiving his medical degree from Harvard
in 2003 and then taking a year off to work in Haiti, Walton
began his residency at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s
Hospital. He was one of the first candidates to be selected
for the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity
and Internal Medicine, created to provide formal targeted
training for physicians interested in providing health care
to underserved populations around the world.
Today, at the age of 30, Walton divides his time between
Boston and Haiti, traveling between the two every six weeks
or so.
“The emotional upheaval of going back and forth is the
most difficult part,” Walton says. “Here, everything is at your
disposal, at the click of a mouse. In Haiti, the resources are
limited. You have to ride in a tap tap [truck] full of boxes,
beans and goats just to get to a patient’s house so you can
treat him. The medicine is the same; it’s just the path that
is different. The information you gain in one place comple
ments your experience in the other.”
These siblings have an HIVpositive parent but they are,
fortunately, HIV negative.
In Haiti, he is one of five doctors and three nurses seeing
300 to 400 patients a day Monday through Friday at a clinic
in Lascahobas. On the weekends, he visits those who are too
sick and weak to come to the clinic. A few patients live near
the dirt road, but usually he treks along dusty footpaths in
the humid heat to reach his patients, and then hikes back
to the road late in the evening. Some people he can help;
others, he cannot. For them, Walton and the rest of the
Partners in Health team work together to allow the patient
to die with dignity. For Haitians, that means to die without
pain, without hunger and with a roof over their head.
Most of Walton’s patients suffer from HIV, tuberculosis
and other infectious diseases. Many have curable or at least
survivable diseases, but in Haiti—due to poverty, political
unrest and lack of education—people die from the same
diseases that no longer impact most countries. They are
victims, Walton says, of being poor and not having the basics
of life—food, clean water and adequate shelter.
It’s difficult for Walton to understand the apparent indiffer
ence of those who live in comfort to the people who are dying
needlessly in Haiti and other parts of the world.
Tara Morris is a Boston-based photographer and one of
Walton’s close friends. When asked to photograph Walton
for Augustana Magazine in Brigham and Women’s Hospital
(BWH) in Boston, she was emphatic about depicting Walton
accurately. “David has entrusted me with heart-wrenching
personal stories, and a photograph of him smiling amongst
the hustle of BWH would be a mocking and inaccurate
portrait of a man who genuinely struggles with this contrast,”
Morris said. “I assure you as a confidante of David’s that he
finds very little to smile about when discussing the gross
inequalities that he has dedicated his life to minimizing.”
To create awareness of Partners in Health and of life in
Haiti, Walton accepts about five speaking invitations a year,
something he truly enjoys doing. He also takes exceptional
candid photographs of his patients, which have been display
ed in various venues. This, of course, is in addition to the
many articles and book chapters he’s written.
In one article, Walton wrote: “While U.S. pet owners
spend nearly $3 billion annually on veterinary care, the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
societies report that most of last year’s 13 million deaths
from infectious disease could have been prevented at a cost
of $5 per person…. Sometimes I wonder if we see the poor
as another species.”
For the first time since he graduated, Walton returned
to Augustana last spring to present a convocation about
his medical work, human rights and health care. He also
exhibited some of the photographs he has taken in Haiti. At
the exhibit’s reception, he talked about his photographs and
recalled some of the men, women and children by name in
describing their circumstances. He had to stop momentarily
when talking about Louides Devoisier, a man who had died
recently of congestive heart disease. Theirs was obviously
more than a doctor-patient relationship.
“The Haitians teach me things every day,” he concluded.
“They are an amazing people. They face adversity daily;
yet they face this adversity with an incredible amount of
strength and perseverance. I try to imagine what I would
do if faced with their circumstances—the poverty, hunger,
unemployment, deplorable living conditions. Frankly, I
don’t believe I would have the wherewithal and strength to
continue to struggle day in and day out…to go days without
eating, to have your kids sleep on a dirt floor and when it
rains they sleep in the mud. Yet they bear these crosses and
continue to fight, always hoping and praying that they can go
from ‘unbearable’ poverty to ‘bearable’ poverty.”
W
alton’s medical work in Haiti comes as no
surprise to Dr. Paul Olsen, Walton’s track coach and
English professor at Augustana. “On the track and in the
classroom, David was special,” Olsen says. He remembers
the conference meet during Walton’s sophomore year when
he pulled his hamstring in the 200 meter trials after already
qualifying for the 100 meter finals. “The next day in the 100
finals he was, of course, unable to run, but he limped to the
finish because he knew his team could use his one point,”
Olsen says. “He knew only one way to do things—all out!
In the classroom, his written and oral presentations were
impeccable: organized, articulate, scholarly and—most of
all—passionate.”
Dr. Jon Clauss, associate professor of mathematics,
describes Walton as one of the most optimistic students he has known in 14 years at Augustana. “Like many of the
students that we are lucky to attract to Augie, he was moti
vated by a true desire to understand, whether it was the
principles of calculus, Latin American politics, cellular
biology or any of the other subjects that sparked his curiosity,” Clauss remembers.
“But what really set him apart from his peers was that,
from the day I first met him, he treated me as a respected
equal. He understood that students and faculty are engaged
in this learning endeavor together. His passion for learning
and living just made him downright fun to be around. He’s
the kind of person that makes people like me want to
dedicate their careers to a place like Augustana.”
While Walton was on campus to talk about his work in
Haiti, a pre-medicine student asked him what he needed
to do to follow in his footsteps. “Do what you love,” Walton
replied. “There will be ways for you to help formally or
informally in Haiti. If you need help, find me…I’ll be there.”
A Haitian mother rests with
her child, a victim of mal
nutrition. “Working in Haiti is not glamorous, and we see
very difficult things, like this
image,” says Dr. David Walton,
“and that’s why it’s important
to show it.”
Editor’s Update: Dr. David Walton finished his residency
at the end of June, and is now completing his third and
final summer of classes in a summer-only Master of Public
Health program at Harvard School of Public Health. He has
accepted a position as associate physician in the Division
of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. Along with Partners in
Health, BWH will support his medical work in Haiti, where
he will be nine months out of the year. Walton will be a
hospitalist at BWH the remaining three months. For more
information about Partners in Health, go to www.pih.org.
These siblings have an HIVpositive parent but they are,
fortunately, HIV negative.
In Haiti, he is one of five doctors and three nurses seeing
300 to 400 patients a day Monday through Friday at a clinic
in Lascahobas. On the weekends, he visits those who are too
sick and weak to come to the clinic. A few patients live near
the dirt road, but usually he treks along dusty footpaths in
the humid heat to reach his patients, and then hikes back
to the road late in the evening. Some people he can help;
others, he cannot. For them, Walton and the rest of the
Partners in Health team work together to allow the patient
to die with dignity. For Haitians, that means to die without
pain, without hunger and with a roof over their head.
Most of Walton’s patients suffer from HIV, tuberculosis
and other infectious diseases. Many have curable or at least
survivable diseases, but in Haiti—due to poverty, political
unrest and lack of education—people die from the same
diseases that no longer impact most countries. They are
victims, Walton says, of being poor and not having the basics
of life—food, clean water and adequate shelter.
It’s difficult for Walton to understand the apparent indiffer
ence of those who live in comfort to the people who are dying
needlessly in Haiti and other parts of the world.
Tara Morris is a Boston-based photographer and one of
Walton’s close friends. When asked to photograph Walton
for Augustana Magazine in Brigham and Women’s Hospital
(BWH) in Boston, she was emphatic about depicting Walton
accurately. “David has entrusted me with heart-wrenching
personal stories, and a photograph of him smiling amongst
the hustle of BWH would be a mocking and inaccurate
portrait of a man who genuinely struggles with this contrast,”
Morris said. “I assure you as a confidante of David’s that he
finds very little to smile about when discussing the gross
inequalities that he has dedicated his life to minimizing.”
To create awareness of Partners in Health and of life in
Haiti, Walton accepts about five speaking invitations a year,
something he truly enjoys doing. He also takes exceptional
candid photographs of his patients, which have been display
ed in various venues. This, of course, is in addition to the
many articles and book chapters he’s written.
In one article, Walton wrote: “While U.S. pet owners
spend nearly $3 billion annually on veterinary care, the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
societies report that most of last year’s 13 million deaths
from infectious disease could have been prevented at a cost
of $5 per person…. Sometimes I wonder if we see the poor
as another species.”
For the first time since he graduated, Walton returned
to Augustana last spring to present a convocation about
his medical work, human rights and health care. He also
exhibited some of the photographs he has taken in Haiti. At
the exhibit’s reception, he talked about his photographs and
recalled some of the men, women and children by name in
describing their circumstances. He had to stop momentarily
when talking about Louides Devoisier, a man who had died
recently of congestive heart disease. Theirs was obviously
more than a doctor-patient relationship.
“The Haitians teach me things every day,” he concluded.
“They are an amazing people. They face adversity daily;
yet they face this adversity with an incredible amount of
strength and perseverance. I try to imagine what I would
do if faced with their circumstances—the poverty, hunger,
unemployment, deplorable living conditions. Frankly, I
don’t believe I would have the wherewithal and strength to
continue to struggle day in and day out…to go days without
eating, to have your kids sleep on a dirt floor and when it
rains they sleep in the mud. Yet they bear these crosses and
continue to fight, always hoping and praying that they can go
from ‘unbearable’ poverty to ‘bearable’ poverty.”
W
alton’s medical work in Haiti comes as no
surprise to Dr. Paul Olsen, Walton’s track coach and
English professor at Augustana. “On the track and in the
classroom, David was special,” Olsen says. He remembers
the conference meet during Walton’s sophomore year when
he pulled his hamstring in the 200 meter trials after already
qualifying for the 100 meter finals. “The next day in the 100
finals he was, of course, unable to run, but he limped to the
finish because he knew his team could use his one point,”
Olsen says. “He knew only one way to do things—all out!
In the classroom, his written and oral presentations were
impeccable: organized, articulate, scholarly and—most of
all—passionate.”
Dr. Jon Clauss, associate professor of mathematics,
describes Walton as one of the most optimistic students he has known in 14 years at Augustana. “Like many of the
students that we are lucky to attract to Augie, he was moti
vated by a true desire to understand, whether it was the
principles of calculus, Latin American politics, cellular
biology or any of the other subjects that sparked his curiosity,” Clauss remembers.
“But what really set him apart from his peers was that,
from the day I first met him, he treated me as a respected
equal. He understood that students and faculty are engaged
in this learning endeavor together. His passion for learning
and living just made him downright fun to be around. He’s
the kind of person that makes people like me want to
dedicate their careers to a place like Augustana.”
While Walton was on campus to talk about his work in
Haiti, a pre-medicine student asked him what he needed
to do to follow in his footsteps. “Do what you love,” Walton
replied. “There will be ways for you to help formally or
informally in Haiti. If you need help, find me…I’ll be there.”
A Haitian mother rests with
her child, a victim of mal
nutrition. “Working in Haiti is not glamorous, and we see
very difficult things, like this
image,” says Dr. David Walton,
“and that’s why it’s important
to show it.”
Editor’s Update: Dr. David Walton finished his residency
at the end of June, and is now completing his third and
final summer of classes in a summer-only Master of Public
Health program at Harvard School of Public Health. He has
accepted a position as associate physician in the Division
of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. Along with Partners in
Health, BWH will support his medical work in Haiti, where
he will be nine months out of the year. Walton will be a
hospitalist at BWH the remaining three months. For more
information about Partners in Health, go to www.pih.org.
Life outside the classroom
It would be very
unfortunate if
there’s a student
who just attends
classes, says Ken
Brill ‘82, assistant
dean of students.
No two students spend their four years at Augustana in
quite the same way. Their academic programs may be
similar but their experiences outside of class will vary
greatly because of the plethora of available extracurricular
activities. Students will be drawn to what interests them
or they may seek unfamiliar territory as a way to challenge
themselves. Whatever they choose, they will gain valuable
skills and experiences to draw from long after they leave
Augustana.
On average, Augustana students join two or more of the college’s 200 clubs and organizations during their first year. Choices range from social, religious, political, performing arts, athletic and recreational groups, not to
mention student government, departmental and profes
sional organizations, honorary societies, service organi
zations, and fraternities and sororities.
Opportunities to get involved include a debate team,
choirs, instrumental ensembles, theatre and dance productions, a student newspaper, a student radio station,
equestrian club, ultimate Frisbee club, swing dance club,
crew club, Web Guild, Viking Volunteer Corps and Intervar
sity Christian Fellowship—just to name a few.
“It would be very unfortunate if there’s a student who
just attends classes,” says Ken Brill ’82, assistant dean of
students.
Over the past 23 years, Brill has worked with hundreds
of students to develop and manage campus programming
for students. He directs CUBOM (College Union Board
of Managers) and the Multicultural Programming Board
(MPB), which combine for 270 programs a year, including
concerts, movies and guest speakers. Twenty-two students
sit on CUBOM’s executive board, and 14 are on the MPB
executive board. CUBOM is also supported by 70 to 80
students who serve as committee members.
“As they program activities for their peers, students
become more confident and learn a variety of competen
cies,” Brill says. “They learn all aspects of event planning.
They learn how to lead groups, delegate, work as a team,
promote programs effectively, evaluate programs, even how
to manage a budget.”
Three main reasons why students are attracted to this
kind of experience, Brill says, are (1) a chance to learn
lifelong skills, (2) an opportunity to serve the Augustana
community, and (3) an opportunity to be recognized.
“It’s recognition whether they put it on their résumé
or they develop relationships with other students, faculty
members and administrators who watch them develop,
recognize their efforts and say ‘good job,’” Brill explains.
W
hen he attended Augustana, Chris Coulter ’94
honed his leadership skills as a member of the Phi Omega
Phi social fraternity and other organizations such as the
Student Government Association (SGA). Thirty percent of Augustana’s students are members of one of 12 social
fraternities and sororities on campus. SGA initiates proposals that benefit the student body, encourages student
leadership on campus, and promotes positive relations
between college administration and students.
“No matter what career you pursue after Augustana,
whether it’s medicine, law, business, etc., you will be in
volved in some sort of extracurricular organization which
will contribute to your personal and professional growth,”
says Coulter, who works in sales and business development.
“My experience at Augustana provided me with a good
roadmap in how to balance my daily professional respon
sibilities with those outside of the office.”
Another influential component of student life that trad
itionally attracts students from all disciplines is athletics.
Augustana offers intramural activities and fields teams that
compete in intercollegiate club sports. In addition, more
than one-third of Augustana students are members of the
college’s 21 NCAA Division III varsity athletics teams, which
have won more conference championships than any other
school in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin—
169 total.
Jennifer Smith ’04 Paul ran cross country and track for
four years for the Vikings. She has coached the Davenport
North (Iowa) High School girls cross country and track
teams for the last two years. Last fall she received Coach of
the Year honors in her region of the state for her girls’ 2006
cross-country season.
“Participating in cross country and track at Augie
allowed me to learn the true meaning of teamwork, cope
with defeat and conflict, take pride in accomplishments,
grow into a leader, and make exceptional friends,” Paul
says. “Combining extracurricular activities with my class
room experiences provided endless opportunities after
graduation.”
A
s a college affiliated with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, Augustana is committed to
meeting the spiritual needs of all its students. The Office
of Campus Ministries is the primary resource for students
seeking spiritual guidance by providing opportunities for
worship, learning and service during the school year.
College Chaplain Richard Priggie ’74 reports a steady
increase in the number of students participating in religious
life since his arrival eight years ago. He sees trends in
Augustana’s ministry that reflect trends widely identified by
those involved in ministering to the Millennial Generation
(ages 18-30).
“Students more and more see their faith as putting their
beliefs into action that is helpful to those in need,” Priggie
notes. More Augustana students are committing to an
Alternative Spring Break Service Trip, either to Appalachia
or to help out with Hurricane Katrina Relief. The Office of
Campus Ministries sponsors both service trips.
The Millennial Generation also seems increasingly
excited about “ancient new” forms of worship; that is,
ancient ways of praying and worshipping that are led with
freshness and passion, according to Priggie. Augustana’s
Wednesday evening worship in Ascension Chapel is the
college’s fastest-growing service and arguably the most
traditional, featuring silence, song and Holy Communion.
Heartways retreats, offered three times a year, are regularly
overbooked, with students enjoying ancient forms of prayer
such as lectio divina (praying with scripture), walking the
labyrinth and meditation.
Students’ faith-based experiences, within programs
on campus or during trips to areas of need, can be lifechanging, perhaps in more obvious ways than that of
other extracurricular activities. But any of Augustana’s
extracurricular opportunities can play a significant role in
extending the college’s academic program and developing
students’ lifelong pursuits.
Life outside the classroom
It would be very
unfortunate if
there’s a student
who just attends
classes, says Ken
Brill ‘82, assistant
dean of students.
No two students spend their four years at Augustana in
quite the same way. Their academic programs may be
similar but their experiences outside of class will vary
greatly because of the plethora of available extracurricular
activities. Students will be drawn to what interests them
or they may seek unfamiliar territory as a way to challenge
themselves. Whatever they choose, they will gain valuable
skills and experiences to draw from long after they leave
Augustana.
On average, Augustana students join two or more of the college’s 200 clubs and organizations during their first year. Choices range from social, religious, political, performing arts, athletic and recreational groups, not to
mention student government, departmental and profes
sional organizations, honorary societies, service organi
zations, and fraternities and sororities.
Opportunities to get involved include a debate team,
choirs, instrumental ensembles, theatre and dance productions, a student newspaper, a student radio station,
equestrian club, ultimate Frisbee club, swing dance club,
crew club, Web Guild, Viking Volunteer Corps and Intervar
sity Christian Fellowship—just to name a few.
“It would be very unfortunate if there’s a student who
just attends classes,” says Ken Brill ’82, assistant dean of
students.
Over the past 23 years, Brill has worked with hundreds
of students to develop and manage campus programming
for students. He directs CUBOM (College Union Board
of Managers) and the Multicultural Programming Board
(MPB), which combine for 270 programs a year, including
concerts, movies and guest speakers. Twenty-two students
sit on CUBOM’s executive board, and 14 are on the MPB
executive board. CUBOM is also supported by 70 to 80
students who serve as committee members.
“As they program activities for their peers, students
become more confident and learn a variety of competen
cies,” Brill says. “They learn all aspects of event planning.
They learn how to lead groups, delegate, work as a team,
promote programs effectively, evaluate programs, even how
to manage a budget.”
Three main reasons why students are attracted to this
kind of experience, Brill says, are (1) a chance to learn
lifelong skills, (2) an opportunity to serve the Augustana
community, and (3) an opportunity to be recognized.
“It’s recognition whether they put it on their résumé
or they develop relationships with other students, faculty
members and administrators who watch them develop,
recognize their efforts and say ‘good job,’” Brill explains.
W
hen he attended Augustana, Chris Coulter ’94
honed his leadership skills as a member of the Phi Omega
Phi social fraternity and other organizations such as the
Student Government Association (SGA). Thirty percent of Augustana’s students are members of one of 12 social
fraternities and sororities on campus. SGA initiates proposals that benefit the student body, encourages student
leadership on campus, and promotes positive relations
between college administration and students.
“No matter what career you pursue after Augustana,
whether it’s medicine, law, business, etc., you will be in
volved in some sort of extracurricular organization which
will contribute to your personal and professional growth,”
says Coulter, who works in sales and business development.
“My experience at Augustana provided me with a good
roadmap in how to balance my daily professional respon
sibilities with those outside of the office.”
Another influential component of student life that trad
itionally attracts students from all disciplines is athletics.
Augustana offers intramural activities and fields teams that
compete in intercollegiate club sports. In addition, more
than one-third of Augustana students are members of the
college’s 21 NCAA Division III varsity athletics teams, which
have won more conference championships than any other
school in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin—
169 total.
Jennifer Smith ’04 Paul ran cross country and track for
four years for the Vikings. She has coached the Davenport
North (Iowa) High School girls cross country and track
teams for the last two years. Last fall she received Coach of
the Year honors in her region of the state for her girls’ 2006
cross-country season.
“Participating in cross country and track at Augie
allowed me to learn the true meaning of teamwork, cope
with defeat and conflict, take pride in accomplishments,
grow into a leader, and make exceptional friends,” Paul
says. “Combining extracurricular activities with my class
room experiences provided endless opportunities after
graduation.”
A
s a college affiliated with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, Augustana is committed to
meeting the spiritual needs of all its students. The Office
of Campus Ministries is the primary resource for students
seeking spiritual guidance by providing opportunities for
worship, learning and service during the school year.
College Chaplain Richard Priggie ’74 reports a steady
increase in the number of students participating in religious
life since his arrival eight years ago. He sees trends in
Augustana’s ministry that reflect trends widely identified by
those involved in ministering to the Millennial Generation
(ages 18-30).
“Students more and more see their faith as putting their
beliefs into action that is helpful to those in need,” Priggie
notes. More Augustana students are committing to an
Alternative Spring Break Service Trip, either to Appalachia
or to help out with Hurricane Katrina Relief. The Office of
Campus Ministries sponsors both service trips.
The Millennial Generation also seems increasingly
excited about “ancient new” forms of worship; that is,
ancient ways of praying and worshipping that are led with
freshness and passion, according to Priggie. Augustana’s
Wednesday evening worship in Ascension Chapel is the
college’s fastest-growing service and arguably the most
traditional, featuring silence, song and Holy Communion.
Heartways retreats, offered three times a year, are regularly
overbooked, with students enjoying ancient forms of prayer
such as lectio divina (praying with scripture), walking the
labyrinth and meditation.
Students’ faith-based experiences, within programs
on campus or during trips to areas of need, can be lifechanging, perhaps in more obvious ways than that of
other extracurricular activities. But any of Augustana’s
extracurricular opportunities can play a significant role in
extending the college’s academic program and developing
students’ lifelong pursuits.
Rivers run
through it
A
Text and photographs Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk, professor of biology
drop of rain falls in the Himalayas—abode of the gods—and the cycles of life are
renewed. Flowing as runoff down the mountains, rain and snowmelt feed the streams
that enter the Ganges, most sacred of rivers to Hindus, and other rivers on their way to
the Bay of Bengal. • Winding through the Gangetic Plain, the rivers are used, misused,
worshiped and polluted by residents of the world’s second largest nation. The people of
India view the rivers so intimately that the core of the dominant religion is inseparably
tied to their existence, linking cultural strength and environmental threat in a paradoxical
union. • A recent journey along the Ganges allowed Augustana students to see and begin
to understand this contradiction.
The spring 2007 term in India was a new international
program for Augustana. Directed by Augustana’s Dr.
Pramod Mishra and facilitated by Mishra’s wife, Tulsa
Basnet—natives of India and Nepal who speak the major
languages—the program exposed 22 students to three
courses: Anglophone South Asian Literature by Mishra;
South Asia and Modernity by Dr. Warren Fincher; and my
course, Applied Ecology.
Our travels took us to 16 major locations and innumerable
side trips totaling nearly 5,000 miles. What follows are high
lights of three places—Varanasi, the Sundarbans, Sikkim
and the Himalayas—that made major impressions upon
the students. In their early journal entries, students
recorded a range of emotions from surprise at the trash in
major cities, frustration with the slow pace of services to
admiration for the beauty of the countryside. As students
gained insight into the Indian culture, their frustrations
were tempered by an understanding that led to acceptance
of the realities they encountered.
Varanasi
After visiting the exotic and erotic sandstone temples in
Khajuraho, we arrive in Varanasi (Banaras) by train in
mid-March and settled into Hotel Alka overlooking the
river on Meer Ghat, one of a series of concrete levees or
ghats protecting the city from the power of the Ganges in
flood. Varanasi has been the religious capital of Hinduism
throughout history and may be the oldest continuously
inhabited city in the world. Our 16-day stay in Varanasi is
the longest of all our stops in India, and students have time
to form strong opinions, ranging from respect for ancient
traditions to discomfort with the extreme poverty.
Students learn early that although “Mother Ganga” is
considered sacred, it doesn’t necessarily mean the river
is protected with environmentally sustainable behavior.
Although some 10 percent of all people in the world live in
the basin of the Ganges and its tributaries, there is almost
no waste treatment of human sewage in India, and this is so
in Varanasi. Numerous drainage pipes, visible during a boat
ride, drain raw sewage directly into the river, sometimes
raising the bacterial count to more than 300,000 times
the level acceptable in the United States. To this is added
cremated remains and sometimes whole human bodies,
as well as dead animals. Holy men, children under 16 and
women who die in pregnancy are granted burial directly
in the sacred river. Yet it is routine to see people on the
ghats bathing and washing clothes, children swimming and
pilgrims collecting water in plastic bottles to take home.
One of those who recognizes this dilemma is Dr. Veer
Bhadra Mishra, a 67-year-old Hindu priest and retired
professor of hydraulic engineering at Banaras Hindu University. We visited V.B. Mishra (no relation to our
program director) at the Sankat Mochan Temple where
he is the mahant (headman). Mishra explained to us the
Editor’s Note: From Sept. 1
through Oct. 13, the Augustana College Art Museum presents, as part
of a season of exhibitions
with an international focus,
Augustana College Faculty
Collect Overseas. Items
collected by faculty on
Augustana’s international
terms will be on display.
Rivers run
through it
A
Text and photographs Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk, professor of biology
drop of rain falls in the Himalayas—abode of the gods—and the cycles of life are
renewed. Flowing as runoff down the mountains, rain and snowmelt feed the streams
that enter the Ganges, most sacred of rivers to Hindus, and other rivers on their way to
the Bay of Bengal. • Winding through the Gangetic Plain, the rivers are used, misused,
worshiped and polluted by residents of the world’s second largest nation. The people of
India view the rivers so intimately that the core of the dominant religion is inseparably
tied to their existence, linking cultural strength and environmental threat in a paradoxical
union. • A recent journey along the Ganges allowed Augustana students to see and begin
to understand this contradiction.
The spring 2007 term in India was a new international
program for Augustana. Directed by Augustana’s Dr.
Pramod Mishra and facilitated by Mishra’s wife, Tulsa
Basnet—natives of India and Nepal who speak the major
languages—the program exposed 22 students to three
courses: Anglophone South Asian Literature by Mishra;
South Asia and Modernity by Dr. Warren Fincher; and my
course, Applied Ecology.
Our travels took us to 16 major locations and innumerable
side trips totaling nearly 5,000 miles. What follows are high
lights of three places—Varanasi, the Sundarbans, Sikkim
and the Himalayas—that made major impressions upon
the students. In their early journal entries, students
recorded a range of emotions from surprise at the trash in
major cities, frustration with the slow pace of services to
admiration for the beauty of the countryside. As students
gained insight into the Indian culture, their frustrations
were tempered by an understanding that led to acceptance
of the realities they encountered.
Varanasi
After visiting the exotic and erotic sandstone temples in
Khajuraho, we arrive in Varanasi (Banaras) by train in
mid-March and settled into Hotel Alka overlooking the
river on Meer Ghat, one of a series of concrete levees or
ghats protecting the city from the power of the Ganges in
flood. Varanasi has been the religious capital of Hinduism
throughout history and may be the oldest continuously
inhabited city in the world. Our 16-day stay in Varanasi is
the longest of all our stops in India, and students have time
to form strong opinions, ranging from respect for ancient
traditions to discomfort with the extreme poverty.
Students learn early that although “Mother Ganga” is
considered sacred, it doesn’t necessarily mean the river
is protected with environmentally sustainable behavior.
Although some 10 percent of all people in the world live in
the basin of the Ganges and its tributaries, there is almost
no waste treatment of human sewage in India, and this is so
in Varanasi. Numerous drainage pipes, visible during a boat
ride, drain raw sewage directly into the river, sometimes
raising the bacterial count to more than 300,000 times
the level acceptable in the United States. To this is added
cremated remains and sometimes whole human bodies,
as well as dead animals. Holy men, children under 16 and
women who die in pregnancy are granted burial directly
in the sacred river. Yet it is routine to see people on the
ghats bathing and washing clothes, children swimming and
pilgrims collecting water in plastic bottles to take home.
One of those who recognizes this dilemma is Dr. Veer
Bhadra Mishra, a 67-year-old Hindu priest and retired
professor of hydraulic engineering at Banaras Hindu University. We visited V.B. Mishra (no relation to our
program director) at the Sankat Mochan Temple where
he is the mahant (headman). Mishra explained to us the
Editor’s Note: From Sept. 1
through Oct. 13, the Augustana College Art Museum presents, as part
of a season of exhibitions
with an international focus,
Augustana College Faculty
Collect Overseas. Items
collected by faculty on
Augustana’s international
terms will be on display.
difficulty of obtaining adequate political support to clean
the river. Although technical guidance and funding have
been readily offered by several nations, including the United
States, Sweden and Australia, political will, or lack of it, in
Delhi and perhaps locally somehow seems to thwart what
he knows is necessary. Extensive plans were drawn up
many years ago for sewage treatment for Varanasi, but very
little has been accomplished. Mishra acknowledges that
unless Hindu mythology is fused with scientific insight, a
new environmental ethos is unlikely for Ganga and the rest
of India.
These thoughts were comparable to those shared by Dr.
Vandana Shiva, internationally acclaimed environmentalist,
who spoke to us in Delhi when we had supper at her
natural food restaurant during our first week in India.
These conversations helped our students understand that
the Western emphases on technological solutions and big
money are not always acceptable or applicable in other
parts of the world.
The M.V. Sarvajaya served as
home base during our threeday cruise in the Sundarbans
on the Bay of Bengal.
The Sundarbans
Weeks later, after spending a few days in Kolkata (Calcutta),
we journey south for a three-day boating excursion in the
Sundarbans (“the beautiful forest”), a delta on the Bay of
Bengal. Formed by the drainage of the great rivers of the
Gangetic Plain, the delta extends across southern Bangla
desh. The area appears quiet and peaceful but the intense
forces of evolution are at work everywhere. Among the 84
species of plants here are 34 species of true mangroves
representing 70 percent of the mangrove diversity in the
world. More than 200 species of birds have been recorded in
the Sundarbans, including seven of 13 species of kingfisher
native to India. Mammal species number about three dozen,
and at the top of the food chain is everyone’s favorite, the
royal Bengal tiger.
Regarding tigers (the local population is currently about
300), my trusty handbook tells me, “They are good swim
mers, drink saline water, are more hardy and agile and eat
anything from fish to human beings.” Whew, thank good
ness for our sturdy ship, the M.V. Sarvajaya with its two
decks, diesel engines and comfortable bunks. The students
thoroughly enjoy this change of pace and the chance to
lounge in the cooling breezes of the estuary while reading
or journaling.
So rich and important is this estuarine forest that it was
declared a tiger reserve in 1973, a national park in 1984,
a World Heritage Site in 1987 and a UNESCO Biosphere
Reserve in 1989. Still, the more than four million people
living here make their living through cultivation, honey
gathering, prawn seed (baby shrimp) collection, timbering
and fishing. Some of these activities combined with
increased salinity (due to shifts of fresh water flows) and
sewage pollution are long-term threats to the viability of
this estuarine ecosystem.
Sikkim and the Himalayas
For many students, the highlight of the term is our visit to
the tiny state of Sikkim and a trek in the Himalayas. Arriving
in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri, we visit a tea
plantation then make our way by “toy train” to Darjeeling,
experiencing a genuine train derailment (the trains run
so slowly no one is hurt) along the way. After viewing the
breathtaking mountain scenery, including distant Mt.
Everest from Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, we depart for Gangtok,
capital of Sikkim. Days later, after classes and city tours, we
leave in Jeeps on an endlessly twisting road to Yoksum, the
first capital of Sikkim, which serves as our base camp for
”And in the darkness, a thousand miles away in the estuary of the
Sundarbans, the water that had fallen as rain on students in the
mountains far to the north slides quietly into the ocean to merge forever with life and water everywhere. ” Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk
the trek. As we arrive, a torrential cloudburst soaks the city
as well as some students who have had enough of the long
Jeep ride and welcome the cold rain.
Over the next four days, we hike 32 miles, two days out
and two back. The first day is to the village of Bakhim at
9,000 feet elevation. Porters and yaks carry the tents,
sleeping bags, stoves and food, while we carry only our
small packs and personal gear. Our sleep that night is well
earned. The second day for most students is more grueling;
the path seems to take us straight up and a couple are
tempted to quit. Yet with encouragement, they all succeed
in reaching Dzongri at the end of the day at 13,220 feet.
On the third morning, only three students can be persuad
ed to climb to an adjacent hill nearly 1,000 feet higher for
the spectacular viewing of Mt. Kanchendzonga, the third
highest peak in the world. The return trip is much easier
as most of the hiking is downhill. There is even time and
energy for a lecture on soil genesis at the end of the day.
I tell the students that our second day was as hard as
anything on the Inca Trail in Peru that always tests some
students to their physical limits on Latin America term.
The last day is pure enjoyment, and I botanize with our
guide Jusma, enjoying the scarlet rhododendron blossoms
overhead and the pink primulas at our feet as we hike back
to Yuksom. After Sikkim, we depart for Chennai and then
Bangalore in southern India.
Long way home
In our last two days at Christ College in Bangalore, the
students finish their research projects in ecology and
sociology. In ecology they have been working in pairs
all term on projects of their own choosing and present
excellent formal talks, complete with power point presen
tations. Then it’s time for some fun and sun at the fabled
beaches of Goa, the tiny state on the Arabian Sea in south
west India. That visit ends too soon for the students, and we
make the final train ride back to Delhi, where we started 10
weeks ago.
On our last day, students scramble to finish last-minute
shopping, packing and journal entries. The professors hold
a brief session on how to handle the reverse culture shock
common to students returning from international terms.
Some from Latin America term have had difficulty readjust
ing after returning, and we want our students to know what
to expect.
Then it’s time for the last bus ride to the airport and the
15-hour flight to Newark, N.J., by way of Greenland. The
attitude of the students is one of restless contentment. They
have seen and done so much in India that they worry about
how to explain it to the folks back home; but for now it is
enough to simply rest.
And in the darkness, a thousand miles away in the estuary
of the Sundarbans, the water that had fallen as rain on
students in the mountains far to the north slides quietly into
the ocean to merge forever with life and water everywhere.
Augustana students and
professors, along with two
guides, visited the Taj Mahal,
the magnificent mausoleum
completed in mid-17th
century in Agra, India.
difficulty of obtaining adequate political support to clean
the river. Although technical guidance and funding have
been readily offered by several nations, including the United
States, Sweden and Australia, political will, or lack of it, in
Delhi and perhaps locally somehow seems to thwart what
he knows is necessary. Extensive plans were drawn up
many years ago for sewage treatment for Varanasi, but very
little has been accomplished. Mishra acknowledges that
unless Hindu mythology is fused with scientific insight, a
new environmental ethos is unlikely for Ganga and the rest
of India.
These thoughts were comparable to those shared by Dr.
Vandana Shiva, internationally acclaimed environmentalist,
who spoke to us in Delhi when we had supper at her
natural food restaurant during our first week in India.
These conversations helped our students understand that
the Western emphases on technological solutions and big
money are not always acceptable or applicable in other
parts of the world.
The M.V. Sarvajaya served as
home base during our threeday cruise in the Sundarbans
on the Bay of Bengal.
The Sundarbans
Weeks later, after spending a few days in Kolkata (Calcutta),
we journey south for a three-day boating excursion in the
Sundarbans (“the beautiful forest”), a delta on the Bay of
Bengal. Formed by the drainage of the great rivers of the
Gangetic Plain, the delta extends across southern Bangla
desh. The area appears quiet and peaceful but the intense
forces of evolution are at work everywhere. Among the 84
species of plants here are 34 species of true mangroves
representing 70 percent of the mangrove diversity in the
world. More than 200 species of birds have been recorded in
the Sundarbans, including seven of 13 species of kingfisher
native to India. Mammal species number about three dozen,
and at the top of the food chain is everyone’s favorite, the
royal Bengal tiger.
Regarding tigers (the local population is currently about
300), my trusty handbook tells me, “They are good swim
mers, drink saline water, are more hardy and agile and eat
anything from fish to human beings.” Whew, thank good
ness for our sturdy ship, the M.V. Sarvajaya with its two
decks, diesel engines and comfortable bunks. The students
thoroughly enjoy this change of pace and the chance to
lounge in the cooling breezes of the estuary while reading
or journaling.
So rich and important is this estuarine forest that it was
declared a tiger reserve in 1973, a national park in 1984,
a World Heritage Site in 1987 and a UNESCO Biosphere
Reserve in 1989. Still, the more than four million people
living here make their living through cultivation, honey
gathering, prawn seed (baby shrimp) collection, timbering
and fishing. Some of these activities combined with
increased salinity (due to shifts of fresh water flows) and
sewage pollution are long-term threats to the viability of
this estuarine ecosystem.
Sikkim and the Himalayas
For many students, the highlight of the term is our visit to
the tiny state of Sikkim and a trek in the Himalayas. Arriving
in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri, we visit a tea
plantation then make our way by “toy train” to Darjeeling,
experiencing a genuine train derailment (the trains run
so slowly no one is hurt) along the way. After viewing the
breathtaking mountain scenery, including distant Mt.
Everest from Tiger Hill in Darjeeling, we depart for Gangtok,
capital of Sikkim. Days later, after classes and city tours, we
leave in Jeeps on an endlessly twisting road to Yoksum, the
first capital of Sikkim, which serves as our base camp for
”And in the darkness, a thousand miles away in the estuary of the
Sundarbans, the water that had fallen as rain on students in the
mountains far to the north slides quietly into the ocean to merge forever with life and water everywhere. ” Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk
the trek. As we arrive, a torrential cloudburst soaks the city
as well as some students who have had enough of the long
Jeep ride and welcome the cold rain.
Over the next four days, we hike 32 miles, two days out
and two back. The first day is to the village of Bakhim at
9,000 feet elevation. Porters and yaks carry the tents,
sleeping bags, stoves and food, while we carry only our
small packs and personal gear. Our sleep that night is well
earned. The second day for most students is more grueling;
the path seems to take us straight up and a couple are
tempted to quit. Yet with encouragement, they all succeed
in reaching Dzongri at the end of the day at 13,220 feet.
On the third morning, only three students can be persuad
ed to climb to an adjacent hill nearly 1,000 feet higher for
the spectacular viewing of Mt. Kanchendzonga, the third
highest peak in the world. The return trip is much easier
as most of the hiking is downhill. There is even time and
energy for a lecture on soil genesis at the end of the day.
I tell the students that our second day was as hard as
anything on the Inca Trail in Peru that always tests some
students to their physical limits on Latin America term.
The last day is pure enjoyment, and I botanize with our
guide Jusma, enjoying the scarlet rhododendron blossoms
overhead and the pink primulas at our feet as we hike back
to Yuksom. After Sikkim, we depart for Chennai and then
Bangalore in southern India.
Long way home
In our last two days at Christ College in Bangalore, the
students finish their research projects in ecology and
sociology. In ecology they have been working in pairs
all term on projects of their own choosing and present
excellent formal talks, complete with power point presen
tations. Then it’s time for some fun and sun at the fabled
beaches of Goa, the tiny state on the Arabian Sea in south
west India. That visit ends too soon for the students, and we
make the final train ride back to Delhi, where we started 10
weeks ago.
On our last day, students scramble to finish last-minute
shopping, packing and journal entries. The professors hold
a brief session on how to handle the reverse culture shock
common to students returning from international terms.
Some from Latin America term have had difficulty readjust
ing after returning, and we want our students to know what
to expect.
Then it’s time for the last bus ride to the airport and the
15-hour flight to Newark, N.J., by way of Greenland. The
attitude of the students is one of restless contentment. They
have seen and done so much in India that they worry about
how to explain it to the folks back home; but for now it is
enough to simply rest.
And in the darkness, a thousand miles away in the estuary
of the Sundarbans, the water that had fallen as rain on
students in the mountains far to the north slides quietly into
the ocean to merge forever with life and water everywhere.
Augustana students and
professors, along with two
guides, visited the Taj Mahal,
the magnificent mausoleum
completed in mid-17th
century in Agra, India.
Dr. Thomas Banks
Dr. Gary Mann
Dr. Tom Robin Harris
Faculty retirements
Dr. Thomas Banks
Dr. Thomas Banks, professor of classics, retires this year
after 33 years at Augustana. Banks earned his bachelor’s,
master’s and doctorate from the University of Minnesota.
He joined Augustana’s faculty in 1974, teaching courses
in Greek language and literature. He has served as chair
of the classics department since 1976. Respected by his
students and colleagues alike, he won the Sears-Roebuck
Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence in 1989. He has
been elected a member of the faculty senate in every year
in which he was eligible. In 2002, he was appointed the
Dorothy Parkander Professor of Literature. “Students say
that the genius of Dr. Banks’ approach to teaching classics
is that he takes material that might otherwise seem
intimidating or overly erudite and makes it accessible for
all—and fun,” says Dr. Emil Kramer, assistant professor of
classics. “But students are quick to add that he never fails
to convey the profound lessons of classical literature, even
while impersonating a tragic deus ex machina from atop the
desk in Old Main 125.”
Dr. Tom Robin Harris
After nearly four decades at Augustana, Dr. Tom Robin
Harris, professor of music, is retiring. He has taught
Church Music, the Art of Listening, Music Theory and
Composition, organ and harpsichord. He holds bachelor
and master of music degrees from Syracuse University and
the doctor of musical arts from the University of Michigan.
Harris has performed at St. Thomas Church and the Metro
politan Museum in New York City, the Library of Congress
concert hall in Washington, D.C., select universities and
colleges, and too many churches to count. Described as
an “unsung hero” in the Rock Island Argus, Harris’ presenta
tion of the complete keyboard works of Bach from 1982-
1986 numbers among his many contributions to the com
munity. In 1997, he recorded the Historical Harpsichord, a
collection of pieces by Bach performed on a Flemish double
harpsichord. As a composer, Harris has received several
awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers. His harpsichord pieces have been
performed around the world, most frequently in Japan.
Dr. Gary Mann
Dr. Gary Mann, associate professor of religion, joined the
Augustana faculty in 1990 after having served as an ordain
ed pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
A graduate of Luther College and Wartburg Theological
Seminary, Mann received the master’s in philosophy and
doctorate in theological and religious studies from Drew
University. At Augustana, his teaching responsibilities
included courses in theology and both Foundations and
Logos, the two tracks of the college’s honors program.
Mann’s main areas of interest in teaching and research are
constructive theology, Luther studies, and the religious
imagination and spirituality. For his last term at Augustana,
Mann taught Celtic spirituality to students on Ireland term.
“Gary Mann has served the college and the church well
throughout his career,” says Dr. Jeff Abernathy, vice presi
dent and dean of the college. “His contributions to the
honors program and to general education alone have
helped to shape those critical components of an Augustana
education. We will miss the compassion and thoughtful
insight that he brings to all that he does.”

Connecting the dots

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