Tag Archives: Winter 2012

Muhlenberg in the News

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ABC News – Muhlenberg alum Ben Walls ’11 is quoted on protesting at Occupy Philadelphia.

The New York Times – Associate Professor of Media and Communication Dr. Jefferson Pooley is quoted about authenticity in the media.

The Washington Post – Director for the Institute of Jewish-Christian Understanding, Reverend Peter A. Pettit, is quoted about an upcoming Mel Gibson movie about a Jewish military hero.

The Philadelphia Inquirer – An article on college polling institutes mentions Muhlenberg’s Institute of Public Opinion directed by Professor of Political Science Dr. Christopher Borick.

Knoxville News Sentinel – A report on Muhlenberg Professor of Art Scott Sherk’s art exhibit of soundscapes in Knoxville called “Mapping Sound.”

Harrisburg Patriot-News – Professor of Economics Dr. George Heitmann wrote an op-ed piece on President Obama.

Detroit Free Press – Alums Robert and Carolyn Buzzard are mentioned as having attended ’Berg’s homecoming as honorary alumni for a chemistry partnership they’ve created for students.

Broadway World – Reports that Kathryn Burke, exhibitions & collections manager of the Martin Art Gallery, was a show juror at The State Theater Center in Easton.

Variety – Alum Steven Grossman ’00 is named one of Hollywood’s New Leaders in management.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Assistant Professor of African American Studies and History Kim Gallon is mentioned for leading a discussion on Africana Studies.

CBS News – Assistant Professor of Theatre & Dance Troy Dwyer is mentioned for his First Year Seminar on drag theory and performance.

Courier Times – Pearl S. Buck, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and humanitarian, is mentioned as having found sponsors for a young man to attend Muhlenberg.

NOTABLE: Political science professor Chris Borick quoted or interviewed more than 20 times in a three-month period.

Eight arts-related mentions

Three mentions of Media and Communication Professor Paul McEwan’s book Bruce McDonald’s Hard Core Logo

Campus Community Mourns Robert Wood

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Muhlenberg trustee Robert Wood died October 29 after a long fight with brain cancer. He was 67. Although Wood, an Allentown businessman, was a graduate of Cornell University, the Wood family has been associated with Muhlenberg for many decades. In 1948, Wood’s family business, Wood Dining Services – at the time run by Wood’s father, Milton “Scotty” Wood – provided Muhlenberg with its first food dining services, a partnership that still continues after 63 years. Since its founding, Wood Dining Services had become the fourth-largest food-service company in the nation. In 2001, the company was purchased by the Sodexo Group, one of the largest food-service management companies in the world. Wood worked at Sodexo through 2009. The new campus restaurant at Muhlenberg, dedicated in August 2010, is named the “Ilene and Robert Wood Dining Commons,” after Wood and his wife.

The College benefitted from Wood’s generosity in other areas as well. Muhlenberg’s athletic stadium, built in 1999, is named Scotty Wood Stadium, and Bob Wood served as a chair for another of his father’s namesakes, the Scotty Wood Tournament, the annual men’s and women’s basketball tournament that began in 1982 at Muhlenberg.

Wood and his wife dedicated much of their lives to charitable work. “Bob could have hired servants to do anything he wanted done,” says Muhlenberg President Randy Helm. “Instead he chose to serve others.” Wood also was involved with the Harry C. Trexler Trust, the Allentown Art Museum and the United Way of the Lehigh Valley. It also was not at all rare to find Wood conducting unplanned acts of charity for those in the area who needed it most, and there are many nonprofit organizations throughout the Lehigh Valley that have been effected by Wood’s altruism.

Helm sums up Wood’s character best when he says, “He was unfailingly kind, unfailingly generous, always ready with a good idea, a kind word, an offer of help…he had so much to be proud of but was always modest.” A memorial service was held for Wood on November 2, in Egner Memorial Chapel.

Business Professor Monitors the Arts’ Vital Signs

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Students who sign up for Roland Kushner’s classes are often surprised when he breaks out his guitar to sing a song related to the day’s lecture. But Kushner, an associate professor of business who teaches classes in management, strategy and arts administration, says he has always had “a natural affinity for the arts.” That’s a passion that served him well as co-author of the latest edition of the National Arts Index, a prestigious annual compilation of 81 national-level economic indicators that measure the health and vitality of arts across the United States.

The second edition of the Index, published last winter by Americans for the Arts, is based on data compiled between 1998 and 2009. It measures indicators such as artist income, volunteering at arts-related organizations, arts-related employment, attendance levels at events and copyright applications.

The breadth of the Index makes it a valuable tool for leaders of arts organizations and policymakers. “The arts have always needed advocacy and support in the United States,” says Kushner. “That is why it is vital for us to ask the question, ‘How are the arts doing?’”

In some ways, the Index found, the answer to that question is “relatively well.” In the past decade, for instance, non-profit arts organizations grew at a faster rate than any other non-profit sector. In fact, between 2003 and 2009, a new nonprofit arts organization was founded every four-and-a-half hours on average, according to the Index. During that time, there also was a 23 percent increase in the number of tourists who visit arts events or take advantage of arts activities across the nation.

A number of Muhlenberg students assisted Kushner in conducting his research. Alumnus Ariel Fogel ’11, says the project allowed him to combine his two majors—behavioral economics and music. Fogel worked on the early stages of the “Local Arts Index,” which uses many of the same indicators as the national index to provide a community-by-community comparison of the nation’s arts sector, allowing each participating community to see how they compare on a national scale.

Kushner says the arts have always played a critical role in his professional life. Since moving to the Lehigh Valley from Canada in 1980, he has supported and been a leader in numerous local arts organizations. He was Managing Director of Bethlehem’s Musikfest from 1984 to 1987 and Director of Development for the Bach Choir of Bethlehem from 1987 to 1990. For seven years, before joining the Muhlenberg faulty in 2006, he led Kushner Management Advisory Services, where he counseled organizations in the arts and other sectors. It was while running this company that Kushner became involved in co-authoring the Index.

Kushner is also a musician who sings and plays acoustic and electric guitars, the long-necked mandolin and the piano. He plays his own material and occasionally performs in venues throughout the Lehigh Valley. On campus, Kushner played an integral role in designing and implementing the new arts administration concentration within the business major, which he expects will have attract about a dozen students each year. Now, along with Randy Cohen, his co-author and Vice President of Research at Americans for the Arts, Kushner says he looks forward to seeing just what impact the Index has on arts in the United States.

He says he hopes the study will “elevate the conversation” about the importance of the arts and will also help legislators, appointed officials and funders as they make arts-related decisions. “The arts are in our hearts; they are in our souls. They motivate so many people and there are so many communities that rely on the arts. They are a part of our identity.” And, as it turns out, they’re also a perfect fit for a Muhlenberg business professor.

The Last Word

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It’s not the Red Doors, although those are nice. It’s not the close-knit community, which is there and much better than the alternative. It’s not the diversity, yet that is desirable and growing. None of these things made Muhlenberg for me. It’s vocation that makes Muhlenberg what it is.

The word vocation grows out of the Latin vocare, “to call.” Many religions have an understanding of vocation, but it is the Lutherans who have a special curiosity about living one’s vocation. For Lutherans, vocation drives a person to hear a call, follow it, and spend a life trying to understand it. Vocation is not solely a “religious thing.” It operates through many walks of life – relationships, employment, and studies. It calls to us, beckons us, and yearns for us. It touches all of us, whether we desire it to or not.

During my years at Muhlenberg, and because of the nature of my job, people told me things. I’ve appreciated that trust. A student once revealed that the medical track that was expected had given way to an arts dream that had to be pursued. Another once confided that leaving Muhlenberg was the only way to pursue the major that was burning inside. This is what vocation does with a person – it calls to them until they must follow. The call comes not from the outside, but from within.

Some think that changes like those are a sign of failure and that Muhlenberg should work harder to retain these students. No. These are success stories, not failures. Muhlenberg does well to be open to these types of decisions. President Helm often quotes Plutarch to the incoming students at Opening Convocation – “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Bravo, Muhlenberg, for having the courage to reject the rote rehearsal of family and cultural expectations that demand allegiance to conformity.

Vocation doesn’t stop there. Vocation is often linked to passion but if it were merelypassion, it would have no power at all. Passion burns out quickly; it is fine for a sports fan, an amateur painter, or a wedding night, but it isn’t sustainable. It comes and goes, has its own agenda, and has little regard for its host. Sometimes passion causes more harm than good, clouding judgment, trading the endurance of commitment for the fire of the moment. Vocation, the call, sustains and remains. It is in no hurry, and is tempered by time and patience. It cajoles, haunts, and demands. It sometimes makes “passion” an eagerly anticipated alternative, but even this isn’t it for Muhlenberg.

People have shared powerful truths about themselves. Truths from deep within, only occasionally revealing themselves, but always there, looking for some relief, some outlet, some companionship that assuages it’s loneliness and gives it voice. These are the truths that we all bear, the truths about ourselves that vocation seeks to release, if we aren’t afraid. The call is only part of the action of vocation, the real work is the submission, the waiting, the patience to see where it will go and the courage to stick with it. It isn’t enough to hear a call, you have to do something, prove it to yourself and to your sense of yourself. That takes work.

Where does Muhlenberg fit in all of this? The College not only encourages vocation, but it has one itself, one that it struggles with, and continues to grow into each day. I’ve been most impressed with the College when it has held on to its people lightly, just enough to catch the unexpected fall, but not so much as to interrupt the growth that comes from the fall itself. The College is at its best when it holds us like small birds – enough to give a chance to grow, but not enough to prohibit flying.

Vocation holds us like that – if we’ll let it.

The College, since the time of its founding, is at its best when it seeks less to create and control, but has the courage to let go, step back, and watch creation happen in its midst. That is the College’s vocation.

Muhlenberg is a great place because it knows this, but needs to remind itself to trust that impulse. Muhlenberg has been generous enough to hold me and my family just that gently – to discover what we needed to become ourselves, and, when the time came, to fly.

Muhlenberg has done this for thousands before us and will do so far into the future. I’ve learned virtually everything I know about vocation from my time at Muhlenberg, and so this is my last offering to you. The College’s vocation is to be steadfast as vocation calls to all of her charges. It’s not the Red Doors, or the community, or the diversity that is vocation, but all of these things emerge from it. A call heard more than 160 years ago, a call to proclaim and demonstrate grace in the world, is what drives Muhlenberg to be what it is, and always will be. Thank you friends, for everything.

Keep listening.

Bredlau began his tenure as Muhlenberg’s chaplain in 2000. He left to pursue a new career in business.

In Memoriam

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1939

Emil Poeltl died on August 26, 2011. He is survived by daughters, Anita Strahs and Claire Pish. He was predeceased by his wife, Clara.

1941

Hon. James F. Brown died on September 29, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Jean; sons James lll and Timothy; and daughter, Helen Gildein.

Rev. Ralph R. Hellerich died on October 24, 2011. He is survived by his son, Karl; and daughter, Karen. He was predeceased by his wife, Viola Rose.

1942

Rev. Edwin E. Wisser died on October 20, 2011. He is survived by his daughters, Barbara Glass, Karen Sargent ’72 and Cynthia Murphy. He was predeceased by his wife, Ruth.

1943

Dr. Irving R. Plotnick died on November 14, 2010. He is survived by sons, Richard, Bennett, Stephen, Gary and Daniel. He was predeceased by his wife, Estelle.

1944

Arlin Eric Bubeck died on November 8, 2010. He is survived by his wife, Mary; and daughter, Ellen Louise Laurent.

Arlington L. Lewis died on August 28, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Norma; and daughters, Marianne Yeakel and Ellen Miron.

Raymond K. Pierce died on October 21, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Susannah; and daughter, Carol Landvater.

Edward C. Stiles died on October 12, 2011. He is survived by his son, Bruce. He was predeceased by his wife, Lucille.

1946

Dr. William R. Beisel died on August 12, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Betty; daughters, Ruth Piccolella and Beth Beisel; and sons, Kirk, Dan and Carl.

1947

John R. Bogert died on September 1, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Joan; and four cousins.

Rev. James R. Laubach died on October 2, 2011. He is survived by his sons, James, Jr. ’74, Robert, and Mark. He was predeceased by his wife, Doris; and brothers, Rev. Howard ’42, and Rev. Robert ’35.

1948

Joseph F. Fleischmann died on September 25, 2011.

Leon T. Loch died on September 6, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Ruth; son, Edward; and daughter, Ellen Sheff.

1949

James F. Doorley died on September 20, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Teresa; and sons, William and James. He was predeceased by his sons, Daniel and Thomas; and an infant daughter, Maryanne.

1950

Dr. Paul W. Grunmeier III died on July 5, 2011. He was predeceased by his wife Mary.

Jack W. Morgan died on October 18, 2011. He is survived by his brother, Clarke ’57.

1951

Abraham Aslanides died on October 17, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Dorothea; sons, Dave, George and Jim; and daughter, Sue Straits.

1952

Rev. Francis I. Moyer, Jr. died on November 24, 2010. He is survived by his wife, Joanne; and stepsons, Ronald Martin and David Martin.

Warren Gene Reed died on May 23, 2011, He is survived by his wife, Agnes; daughters, Lori Lloyd and Susan Walton; and sons, Michael and Andrew.

1953

Robert E. Davies died on October 8, 2011, He is survived by his wife, Joan; daughters, Cathy Fialek and Mary Beth Davies. He was predeceased by his son, Mark.

Clyde Mart died on October 1, 2011. He is survived by his son, Eric; and daughter, Vivian Gatta. He was predeceased by his wife, Maureen; and daughter, Lisa.

Phillips Herlyck Paulsen died on February 8, 2011. He is survived by his sons, Phillips and Mike; and daughter, Karen Churry. He was predeceased by his wife, Phyllis.

1954

Lawrence Brooker died on September 5, 2011. He is survived by his sons, Michael, Shawn, Kevin, Timothy, and Christopher. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Elizabeth.

Dr. Harold L. Kruse died on September 2, 2011. He is survived by cousins.

Jack E. Mauser died on October 15, 2011. He is survived by his son, David; and daughter, Debbie. He was predeceased by his wife, Eleanor.

David O. Newcomer died on August 24, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Bertha; son, David; and daughter, Janet Hower.

1955

Ralph J. De Stefano died on August 30, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Joan; daughter, Maribeth Mullen; and son, John.

1956

Ret. Maj. John A. Schray died on June 16, 2011. He is survived by his daughter, Cynthia Schray; and son, John. He was predeceased by his wife, Ginette.

1957

Ted C. Fogas died on September 4, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Gretchen; sons, Bruce, Mark and Michael; and daughters, Susan Joe and Debra Green.

1958

Reginald A. Perry died on September 15, 2011. He is survived by his brother-in-law, Joseph C. Garger and a niece and nephew. He was predeceased by his sister, Gloria.

Joel L. Pitman died on August 13, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Wilma; and daughters, Susan Kinney, Abby Smith, and Carey Pitman. He is also the uncle of Dana Pitman ’00 and cousin of Andrew Pitman ’92.

1959

Frank C. Csaszar died on October 24, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Angela; daughter, Susan; and sons, Jeff and Scott. He was predeceased by his son, Frank, Jr.

1963

David W. Giltner died on October 6, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Elaine; sons, Steve and Thomas; step-daughters, Lorraine Layton and Christine Deutsch; and brother, Philip ’65. He was also the son of the late Franklin Giltner ’32.

Dr. John A. Turtzo died on October 4, 2011. He is survived by his mother, Mary; brothers, Douglas ’64, David, Thomas and Richard. He was predeceased by his father, John ’33.

1967

Dr. Deanne M. Christiansen died on September 25, 2011. She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Mancini.

1975

Marianne F. Windish died on October 13, 2011. She is survived by her husband, Raymond Gleeson; children, Taye Windish and Barrett Windish. She was predeceased by her first husband, Robert Sr.; and son, Robert, Jr.

2007

Laura B. Sheard died on November 13, 2011. She is survived by her parents, Carol and Eugene Sheard; and sisters, Amanda Ryan and Theresa Ulrich.

SPECIAL NOTES

Ann H. Neitzel died on July 6, 2011. She was a former VP of Development & Alumni Relations and a friend of the College.

Dr. Sanford B. Weinberg P’02 died on October 8, 2011. He was employed by Muhlenberg College from 1993 to 2004 as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Professor of Entrepreneurship. He is survived by his wife, Ronelle Genser; daughter, Amy; son, Joseph ’02; and his parents, Florence and Harold Weinberg.

Evan Karp ’02: Weaving a Safety Net for Children

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Accidental injury. It’s the leading cause of death for children between one and 14 years of age. For survivors, it can be a lifechanging event. Just ask Evan Karp ’02. At 13, Karp was rollerblading with friends in Buffalo, N.Y., when he was hit by a car. The accident resulted in a seven-month stay in a rehabilitation clinic in Delaware.

It was during those long, painful months that Karp, the son of a pediatric surgeon, decided to make injury prevention his life’s goal. Last year, his ambition met reality when he created Baby Central U.S.A. (www.BabyCentralUSA.com), a website and smartphone app that provides information to families about child safety and recreation. Karp says the idea for Baby Central came to him during his sophomore year at Muhlenberg, while working on a class assignment to create a business plan. “My passion for child safety, although present since my accident, really blossomed while I was at Muhlenberg,” he says.

A business major concentrating in entrepreneurial studies, Karp came up with a plan for Safety Net, a retail store that sells goods for childproofing homes. While working on his M.B.A at Nova Southeastern University, Karp revisited the initiative and decided that the preliminary version of the company “had too much overhead,” but an online version could be successful and profitable. The plan eventually evolved into Baby Central.

The site and app are built around search technology that can be used to find virtually any child-safety service a parent may need, all of them certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. By zip code, users can search for anything from baby sign-language classes, to toy stores, to birthing centers. And Karp says the medical resources search tool “has been perfected to the point where it is better than both Google’s and Yahoo’s.”

Baby Central provides information on childproofing homes and gives parents the option of buying recommended products directly from the site. It also displays current product recalls and Amber Alerts. “If you need quick answers to questions, Baby Central U.S.A. is an invaluable tool,” Karp says. “Parents can focus on bonding with their baby, enjoying the milestones of childhood, and leave the worrying to us.”

Karp left his mark on ‘Berg before he graduated by working with officials to implement the crosswalks that now go from the main campus to the library and the Center for the Arts. He calls the road without the safety measures as “an accident waiting to happen.”

Now, in addition to managing his company, Karp often goes to schools and other organizations to speak with children about what they can do to stay safe. He says he is becoming increasingly involved in Safe Kids USA, a network of organizations working to educate families about child safety.

What does Karp hope for the future of his company? “It is my plan to soon be able to license the app out to various hospitals so they are able to use it for their own marketing.” The website will soon include interviews with experts on child safety-issues, including retired athletes who will talk about helmet safety and concussion prevention. “If I could prevent one person from sustaining a life altering injury and going through the arduous recovery that I did, I would feel that my business is successful,” Karp says. “I love that I have nurtured Baby Central U.S.A. from infancy and now have seen it through to graduation. I am a very proud father!”

Jennifer R. McLarin ’86, Director • Sean Morrow ’91, Associate Director

Office of Alumni Relations, 2400 Chew Street, Allentown, PA 18104

Phone: 800.464.2374 • Fax: 484.664.3545 • E-mail: bergalum@muhlenberg.edu

An Unexpected Garden

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Seegers is green – from the top down.

Students in Dr. Rich Niesenbaum’s “Sustainable Solutions” class developed and began installing a green roof plan for Seegers Union during the fall semester – a system that uses vegetation to absorb moisture and help reduce precipitation runoff, improve building insulation and absorb carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

The project was funded by a gift from the PPL Corporation, a electricity provider headquartered in Allentown that uses greenroof technology in its own facility.

To build the roof, Niesenbaum’s class delivered and arranged mats, plant beds and small succulents on the Seegers roof. The installation can be seen from the second floor of the Ilene and Robert Wood Dining Commons.

“A college’s architecture, policies, and actions should teach,” says Niesenbaum. “Teaching doesn’t just go on in the classroom, and a building can teach everyday. Let our architecture be part of our pedagogy.”