College of
Letters and Science
The College-at-the-Core
Spring 2013
UW-Stevens Point College of Letters and Science ● Newsletter
Students partner with our
community
By Nick Boehm
Each year UW-Stevens Point students serve the greater good of Central Wisconsin
while simultaneously gaining real-world experience in their field. The collaboration
between academics and the community has proven especially rewarding for one
student. Alexandrea Ollhoff, a Biology student from Merrill, Wis., extended her
education beyond the classroom by participating in several academic and extracurricular activities that will make a positive impact on Central Wisconsin.
Ollhoff spent last summer working for the Central Wisconsin Resiliency Project. The
project works to identify and foster cooperative efforts in Central Wisconsin aimed at
creating an environmentally, socially and economically secure future. Community
development focuses on food, energy, ecosystems, waste and water. By working at
Alexandrea Ollhoff
community gardens, Ollhoff was able to combine her academic knowledge to meet the
needs of the Stevens Point community. She donated fresh produce to the HOPE Center
and provided outreach to young people by encouraging involvement with sustainable community development.
“We had preschoolers come to the gardens and we taught them where their food came from,” said Ollhoff. “They
were amazed.”
At the 2012 College of Letters and Science Undergraduate Research
Symposium, Ollhoff presented her project, “Just Wheat a minute! Hormonal
analysis in tall and short Wheat lines.” The presentation featured research she
conducted on food genetics. “It’s good to get the community involved and
inform citizens,” Ollhoff said.
Ollhoff’s research recently received a grant from the United Soybean
Board, which allowed her collaboration on soybean genetic research with
Biology Associate Professor Devinder Sandhu to be published in Functional &
Integrative Genomics. “The soybean is a Wisconsin state crop, so it’s nice to
increase knowledge about it. It’s also good to know your research will help
people locally,” said Ollhoff.
In addition to sharing her findings locally, Ollhoff had the opportunity
to represent UW-Stevens Point by presenting a poster at the International
Plant & Animal Genome Conference in San Diego, Calif. The Plant & Animal
Genome Conference expands on recent developments and future plans
for plant and animal genome projects. With an attendance of nearly 3,000
people this year, Ollhoff had the opportunity to network with global scholars,
professionals and government agencies on behalf of UW-Stevens Point and
the community.
Ollhoff’s participation in extra-curricular activities resulted in a successful
undergraduate experience at UW-Stevens Point. Her academics and
community involvement have been awarded through grants and scholarships
and ultimately have led her to an interest in graduate research in horticulture,
Ollhoff in Biology lab.
plant genetics and plant sciences.
Making Our Point: A Civility Initiative
By Nick Boehm
Civil engagement is a prerequisite to a successful
democratic society. Unfortunately more often than we like to
admit, our political initiatives subject ourselves to
counter-productive combative arguments, falling off track of
our initial debate and ultimately losing the ability to articulate
the issues we face.
The College of Letters and Science is launching “Making
Our Point: A Civility Initiative,” a program that will discuss how
UW-Stevens Point and our nation should model civil discourse.
The event will take place on Constitution Day, September 17,
2013.
“Our objective is to work for a conception of civil discourse
that is grounded and consistent with the overall goals of higher
education,” said Assistant Dean Dona Warren.
Making Our Point: A Civility Initiative, will blend certain
ideas from existing civility programs such as “Speak Your
Peace,” a community-held organization that started in
Duluth, Minn., and has since moved to areas of Central
Wisconsin including Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point.
The main purpose of Speak Your Peace is to urge citizens to
communicate in a respectful and effective way.
“UW-Stevens Point’s goal is to use civil discourse as a way
for learning rather than a training program to be kind,” said
Dean Chris Cirmo.
The project was awarded the Bringing Theory to
Practice Grant by the Association of American Colleges and
Universities. The grant will allow for a formal inauguration in
fall 2013 through a workshop, during which an invited speaker
will introduce administrators and members of Faculty Senate
and the Student
Government
Association to
the principles
guiding the
program’s civility
initiatives.
A public
forum will be
held after
the workshop
that officially
announces
the university’s
civility initiatives, recapitulates the principles of civil discourse,
and illustrates the principles of civil discourse with a panel
discussion centering upon a controversial issue.
The forum is supported by a number of university affiliates
including the Student Government Association, the Office
of Academic Affairs, the College of Letters and Science, the
university student Democratic Party adviser, the university
student Republican Party adviser, and the Community
Foundation of Central Wisconsin.
Making Our Point: A Civility Initiative is an example of how
UW-Stevens Point is using its resources to improve standards
of living. Students and the community should expect these
initiatives to improve classroom and everyday political
discussion.
Health care is focus of national
conference held on campus
UW-Stevens Point offered its resources to the Central Wisconsin community this
year by hosting the Center for Small Cities National Conference. The conference
was part of the UW-Stevens Point Healthy Communities Initiative, which aids in the
university’s goal to provide partnership for thriving communities.
The Center for Small Cities National Conference brought academics, small city
elected officials and health care professionals to UW-Stevens Point to discuss the
development, needs and problems affecting small cities. Led by co-directors Ed
Miller from Political Science and Robert Wolensky from Sociology and Social Work, the
conference will be included in the center’s published proceedings.
This year’s theme was health care for small communities. Local health facilities
joined UW-Stevens Point including Aspirus, Marshfield Clinic, Ministry Health Care and
Delta Dental in tackling issues that concern small communities.
The conference included keynote speaker Richard Cooper’s presentation titled
“Who Will Care for Tomorrows Children (and their Parents)?”, as well as featured
speaker Ira Moscovice’s “The Impact of Health Care Reform on Rural Health” and Patrick Remington’s “Can Rural Countries Rule
in Health Rankings?”
The conference offered a wide range of topics including “Technology’s Impact on Health in Small Cities and Rural Areas:
EMR, Social Media, and Telemedicine”,” Recruitment of Health Professionals in Small Cities and Rural Areas,” and “Mental Health.”
The Center for Small Cities National Conference is one way the College of Letters and Science strives to support a healthy
community. The college will continue to leverage its resources in the future by teaming up with local, regional and national
programs to follow their thriving community initiative.
Meeting the needs of the citizens of Wisconsin
By Chris Cirmo, COLS dean
Chris Cirmo
With this issue of the COLS newsletter, the college continues to highlight its
traditions in teaching, scholarship and service to our community, region and
nation. What has become most evident this year is the pivotal role the college
plays in driving the intellectual and economic engine of our state. With the Healthy
Communities Initiative, the very real possibility of a new science building, and
our move toward alternative modes of educational delivery, we are responding
to national calls for better access to educational resources. In this effort, we are
engaging the region and nation with two truly unique and nationally prominent
conferences: the Center for the Small City conference on “Providing Health Care
to Small Cities and Rural Areas, and the first International Aquaponics Society
Conference. Both of these will be held at UW-Stevens Point and represent the
best of what we do to bring important educational and service assets to citizens.
We also highlight service to the intellectual community through the “Making Our
Point” initiative, a grant through the dean’s office focusing on civil discourse. This
initiative puts front-and-center our role in providing, as faculty members and leaders,
examples of how civil discourse and civil behavior in our classrooms and on campus
encourages intellectual curiosity and real learning. And as usual, we focus on
our students and their own work with members of our faculty in areas of soybean
research and in international outreach to South America. Our role as an intellectual
hub for the region is enhanced by these activities, which are the very reason for our
existence in serving our constituents.
Student selected for prestigious international internship
By Nick Boehm
Through hard work, persistence and a passion to embrace other cultures a UW-Stevens Point student was selected for a
prestigious internship at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Megan Van Sambeek, a native of Darboy majoring in international studies and Spanish, is currently representing UW-Stevens
Point through a 10-week internship offered by the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
“My experience in Montevideo has been more than I could ever
imagine,” Van Sambeek said. “Montevideo is a really great city where
something is always happening, and since Montevideo is in the southern
hemisphere the weather is great right now.”
Van Sambeek’s internship supports Public Diplomacy, the office
responsible for disseminating information to the Uruguayan public,
organizing cultural events and acting as the official liaison between the
Uruguayan press and the U.S. government. They create news releases,
hold news conferences and are involved in programs taking place
off embassy grounds, such as the U.S.-Uruguayan Fulbright Program,
the U.S.-Uruguayan Alianza English immersion program for Uruguayan
schools and a series of prominent speakers at universities throughout the
city.
“I have been very happy with my internship in the Embassy,” Van
Sambeek said. “I have been learning a lot about the newly reformed
education system and U.S./Uruguayan relations, and have been
involved with the Fulbright program and Education USA that sends
U.S. Embassy in Uruguay
Uruguayan scholars to study in the United States. Overall I would say the
best part about this internship is that I have gotten a sneak peek into
what my future might possibly look like as a Foreign Service officer. “
Her travels, including Xalapa, Mexico, with the Rotary Youth Exchange Program as well as study abroad experiences in
Valladolid, Spain and Cuba through UW-Stevens Point, has prepared her for this once in a lifetime internship experience. But
perhaps the most rewarding accomplishment is yet to come for Van Sambeek. The internship for the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay
gives Van Sambeek a peek into what her future will look like upon graduation at UW-Stevens Point and pursuing a career as a
Foreign Service Officer.
www.uwsp.edu/cols
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Middle school students learn
aquaponics through collaboration
Bayfield student works on aquaponics
project.
Middle school students in Bayfield, Wis. had the unique opportunity to
design a recirculating aquaponics system with assistance from the UWStevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF).
Students in Dave Doering’s 7th grade class worked with traditional
tools and modern problem solving skills to successfully complete the
project, conducted in the Technology and Engineering Department at
Bayfield High School.
“This is a great example of the Technology and Engineering Education
Curriculum,” said Doering. “Students still use power tools and have to
understand working drawings, but instead of building a small shelf, they’re
applying their newly acquired skills to grow plants and fish.”
The class visited the Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility
where project mentor and NADF Facility Operational Manager, Greg
Fischer, showed the students biofilters and explained the nitrogen cycle.
Fischer also displayed the types of fish the students would be working with
including perch, lake herring, and a student favorite - lake sturgeon.
Tax change to benefit IRA donors
As a part of the “fiscal cliff” deal finalized in January 2013, Congress resurrected the popular IRA Charitable Rollover that
had expired at the end of 2011. For those not familiar with it, the IRA Charitable Rollover tax-law provision allows investors 70½
years or older to transfer as much as $100,000 a year from an individual retirement account directly to a qualified charity without
having to count any of the transfer as taxable income. When done according to the rules, this transfer counts toward the
taxpayer’s required minimum distribution for that year.
Before the law ended in 2011, several UW-Stevens Point supporters had taken advantage of the opportunity to manage their
distributions while supporting the university in various ways, including building scholarship endowments, supporting research
and helping to fund student group activities. They found it an easy way to meet their charitable goals. As it stands now, the law
is currently scheduled to sunset at the end of 2013. It is unclear if it will be reinstated at that time, so it is important for donors
who may wish to utilize the rollover option to keep that in mind while making IRA distribution decisions for the year. For more
information on this option, consult with a trusted financial adviser or tax planner. To read more about the legislation, visit the IRS
website at www.irs.gov.
www.uwsp.edu/cols
Nick Boehm, Newsletter Editor
For information on creating a legacy at UW-Stevens Point or creating one for
a friend, mentor or loved one, please contact Julie Smith at
715-346-2406 or email julie.smith@uwsp.edu. Thank you for your consideration.