enron101 - creighton

Of Threshers, Cobblers andIambic Pentameter Feeling ‘Alive’ in Nepal Teaching About Terrorism

Enron101:Lessons from a

Corporate Scandal

Winter 2003

Creighton at 125:The Curriculum The Business of Quilts Nuclear Waste:

Whose Problem is It? Toys & Gender

Departments

Visit the magazine online at:www.creightonmagazine.org

4 Letters to the Editor

5 University NewsNew VP NamedCam Enarson, M.D., M.B.A., joinsCreighton from Wake Forest University asthe new vice president for Health Sciencesand dean of the School of Medicine.

Healthy ChurchesCreighton occupational therapist ShirleyBlanchard has designed a wellnessprogram specifically for African-Americanwomen that is being implemented throughlocal churches.

40 Development NewsPattee Gives BackForever grateful for the opportunity toattend Creighton University, James Pattee,MD’53, and his wife, Jane, have made a$50,000 unrestricted gift to the School ofMedicine.

44 Alumni NewsCalifornia DreamerCreighton alumna Teresa Heger Onoda,BA’75, is living a dream — paintingCalifornia landscapes.

Humanitarian EffortJeffrey Goodman, MD’71, travels to Iraq toprovide medical care as a volunteer withthe International Medical Corps.

55 The Last WordWriter Mary Kay Shanley, BA’65, headsback to the classroom and finds theexperience very revealing.

Executive Editor: Stephen T. Kline(402) 280-1784 [email protected]: Rick Davis(402) 280-1785 [email protected] Editor: Sheila Swanson(402) 280-2069 [email protected] Visit the magazine online at:www.creightonmagazine.org

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The CurriculumTakes ShapeIn the early years, a debate

centered on electives versus traditional liberalarts education.

Building the Creighton of the FutureNew strategic and master plans set an ambitious course for growth.14

WINTER 2003U n i v e r s i t y M a g a z i n e

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Creighton University Magazine’s PurposeCreighton University Magazine, like the University itself, is committed to excellence and dedicated to the pursuit of truth in all its forms. The magazine will becomprehensive in nature. It will support the University’s mission of education through thoughtful and compelling feature articles on a variety of topics. Itwill feature the brightest, the most stimulating, the most inspirational thinking that Creighton offers. The magazine also will promote Creighton, and its JesuitCatholic identity, to a broad public and serve as a vital link between the University and its constituents. The magazine will be guided by the core values ofCreighton: the inalienable worth of each individual, respect for all of God’s creation, a special concern for the poor, and the promotion of justice.

The Business of QuiltsCreighton professor develops

Quilt Price Index as quilts sell for record prices.

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Whose Problemis It, Anyway?A journalist and a philosopher

examine the issue of high-level nuclear wastedisposal.

AP

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Toys and GenderWhy you may want to rethinkyour holiday shopping list.

And, Advent symbols ... powerful spiritualreminders.

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Creighton at 125

Part II

Features

A Season of Hope and Excitement

MessageUniversity

President

from the

Warmest holiday greetings to you! As I write this, the fall colorshave disappeared from the Jesuit Gardens and the harbingers ofwinter are evident. Shortly, the campus will come alive with thelights, sights and sounds of Christmas. Students are wrapping up

what from all accounts has been a highlysuccessful semester.

As mentioned in my last column,Creighton has a very healthy enrollment.The freshman class was up 16.5 percentand academically well prepared, retentionwas well above the national average at 88 percent, and all of our professionalprograms were well subscribed. Thebottom line being, Creighton’s enrollment

for fall 2003 was the largest in our history — 6,559 students! Theyare a wonderful group of young people.

On Sept. 2, we celebrated Creighton’s 125th birthday. At a newsconference, we rolled out the new Campus Master Plan. Ourobjective is to create a contemporary city-sited campus in a park-likesetting and to provide a cutting-edge learning and livingenvironment to benefit our students as well as the entire Creightoncommunity. What we will achieve will advance Creighton into thefront rank of the nation’s faith-based and student-centereduniversities, with broad-based initiatives to enhance academicexcellence, health care education and delivery, as well as anenriched campus life. Details of the Master Plan may be found inthe story that begins on Page 14. I hope that you will save this issueof the magazine for future reference as our plan unfolds.

Three features of that plan are already in evidence: the newHixson-Lied Science Building that connects a totally renovatedRigge Science Building with the renovated and expanded CrissBuildings (see Fall issue); the on-campus soccer field is “in play”and garnering rave reviews for its design and surface; and, much tothe delight of the students, town homes are rising out of the BurtTower site like crocuses in springtime. And anticipation is buildingas the Creighton Bluejays prepare to play men’s basketball in thenew Qwest Center Omaha arena to a record-setting crowd of seasonticket holders.

As I wrote in my last column, we have much to celebrate as wereflect on the achievements of the past decades and the presentwellness of the University. Since then, there is more good news:

• Creighton was ranked No. 1 among Midwestern comprehensiveuniversities in U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s BestColleges” for 2004. This is the sixth time in eight years that wewere ranked No. 1! In that same edition, Creighton’s exceptionalundergraduate research and creative project opportunities weresingled out. Of all institutions evaluated by U.S. News, only 39merited this distinction. Creighton was in the company of thenation’s finest institutions.

• Creighton was also listed in the Princeton Review’s best 351 colleges,from the more than 3,500 universities and colleges surveyed. Thepublication puts Creighton on the “top twenty” lists in areas offaith development, civic and community service and our city-to-institution (“town-gown”) relations with the city of Omaha.

National recognition such as this, along with so many otherfindings and rankings, fortifies our belief that Creighton is“regionally dominant and nationally prominent” in what we do as the finest comprehensive Jesuit university in the country.

Finally, I am very pleased to announce that our energeticmanagement team is now complete. Dr. Cam Enarson is the newlyappointed dean of the School of Medicine and vice president forHealth Sciences. Dr. Enarson comes to us from Wake Forest School of Medicine. I am confident he will continue to nurture theresearch, education, patient care and service across all of the units in the Creighton University Medical Center. Dr. Enarson waswelcomed with the news that Creighton’s Medical School was arecipient of the prestigious Association of American MedicalColleges Award for Outstanding Community Service for 2003.Congratulations to all involved in bringing such distinction to the University!

The future is bright. The vision is focused. The direction is clear.Thank you for making this possible.

Please enjoy this issue of the Creighton University Magazine.May this season of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa fill your

home with joy, hope and renewal. May it bring you the peace andthe presence of our common God.

All seasonal blessings.

John P. Schlegel, S.J.

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Dietitians Fit the BillAfter reading Dr. Robert P. Heaney’s editorial

“Why Nutrition Doesn’t Make it Onto Medicine’sRadar Screen,” (Summer 2003) which discussedhow physicians don’t have time to educatethemselves or patients about nutrition, Ithought to myself, wouldn’t it be wonderfulif there was a profession in which someone’sjob was to educate people regarding nutritionand how it impacts our health.

Then I remembered that in my career as aregistered dietitian, I am doing that on a dailybasis. It is frustrating that there was nomention of RDs in Dr. Heaney’s article.

I have been fortunate in my career to workwith health professionals who truly value

dietitians and their knowledge andunderstand how nutrition impacts health.With increasing demands on physicians, Iwould encourage them to refer those patientsin need of nutrition education to a dietitian.

Jennifer Schulte, RD, LMNTOmaha

Where’s the Diversity?The cry today in most universities, including

CU, is diversity. My question is,“Where is it at CU?” Of late, we wereconfronted with Kelly and Mack (seeSpring 2003). In the Summer 2003issue, we were given Bergman’s Jesus,Scripture and the Ethics of War. MaybeBergman can crawl into the minds ofBush, Hillary Clinton, Bin Laden,Hussein, even Christ. But us lesserfolks have a bit of trouble doing this,and we prefer to look adversity in the

eye, and even punch the nose that is situatedbetween each eye. Let this letter be the first tolaugh heartily at him, as did the severalsensible letters to the editor in the samementioned issue about Kelly and Mack.

Jeff and Judy Webster (see Letters, Spring2003) ought to find a better country than wherethey currently reside. Their unwillingness toaccept the truth tells of their unfamiliarity withthe Constitution of both the U.S. and the stateof Florida. It is evident they prefer to ignorethem and/or change them to suit their fantasies.

How about a little diversity in yourmagazine? Do not let it become a wasteland.

Hugh J. Manhart, BS’55Omaha

C H R I S T M A S A T C R E I G H T O N —

125 years in the making

The 18th annual Christmas at CreightonMall-lighting and Christmas blessing ceremony in front of

St. John’s Church beginning at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 2.Sponsored by Creighton’s Inter Residence Hall Government (IRHG).

www.creighton.edu/IRHG

Of Threshers, Cobblers andIambic Pentameter Feeling ‘Alive’ in Nepal Teaching About Terrorism

Enron101:Lessons from a

Corporate Scandal

Fall 2003

Advancing Science at Creighton

Creighton Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Eating Disorders in Children

4Winter 2003

Publisher: Creighton University; Rev. John P.Schlegel, S.J., President; Lisa Calvert, VicePresident for University Relations. CreightonUniversity Magazine staff: Stephen T. Kline,Executive Editor; Rick Davis, Editor; SheilaSwanson, Associate Editor; Pamela A. Vaughn,Features Editor. Editorial Advisers: ChristineWiseman, J.D.; Greg Johnson; Diane Dougherty;Rev. Donald A. Doll, S.J.; Ruth Purtilo, Ph.D.;Tamara Buffalohead-McGill; and Jayne Schram.

Creighton University Magazine (USPS728-070) ispublished quarterly in February, May, Augustand November by Creighton University, 2500California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178-0001.Periodicals postage paid at Omaha, Nebraska,and additional entry points. Address all mail toPublic Relations and Information, Omaha, NE68178. Postmaster: Send change of address toCreighton University Magazine, P.O. Box 3266,Omaha, NE 68103-0078.

For more enrollment information, contact theUndergraduate Admissions Office at1-800-282-5835, [email protected].

To make a gift to the University, contact theDevelopment Office at 1-800-334-8794.

For the latest on alumni gatherings, contact theAlumni Relations Office at 1-800-CU-ALUMS(800-282-5867) or check online atwww.creighton.edu/alumni.

Send letters to the editor to Rick Davis [email protected]; fax, (402) 280-2549;Creighton University, Office of Public Relations,2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178.

Update your mailing address or send alumni news(births, weddings, promotions, etc.) electronicallythrough www.creighton.edu/alumni, call 1-800-334-8794 or mail to Development Office,Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza,Omaha, NE 68178.

Visit the magazine website atwww.creightonmagazine.org

www.creighton.edu

Copyright © 2003 by Creighton University

Recycled and Recyclable

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U n i v e r s i t y M a g a z i n e

Editortothe Letters

Creighton University named Cam E.Enarson, M.D., M.B.A., dean of Creighton’sSchool of Medicine and vice president forHealth Sciences.

Enarson joins Creighton from WakeForest University School of Medicine, wherehe was senior associate dean and associateprofessor of public health sciences andanesthesiology. He began his new duties atCreighton this fall.

“Dr. Enarson is highly regarded as anaccomplished physician, teacher and

successful medicalschool leader. Hewill continue tobuild on Creighton’sexceptional medicalschool, healthsciences programsand researchinitiatives. He hasboth medicaleducation andbusiness expertise,

which makes him ideally suited to lead ourmedical school and health sciencesenterprises into a new era of growth, serviceand prosperity,” said the Rev. John P.Schlegel, S.J., Creighton University president.

Creighton is committed to providingstudents with the best medical educationand training while embarking on cutting-edge health and scientific research.Reflecting this commitment is Creighton’snew $55 million expansion and renovationof its science instructional and researchspace, including expanded research space inthe Criss Buildings. The $18 million Hixson-Lied Science Building, which opened inearly 2003, is central to Creighton’srecommitment to science education. TheScience Building fosters learning amongundergraduate and professional healthsciences students and faculty.

“I am excited about the opportunity tocome to Omaha. Creighton is clearly ‘on themove,’ and I look forward to working withstudents, faculty and staff in all the HealthSciences schools to facilitate continuedgrowth in research, education and clinicalservice,” Enarson said.

Creighton University Ethics ProfessorsRuth Purtilo, Ph.D., and Amy Haddad,Ph.D., won the 2003 Alpha Sigma NuNational Jesuit Book Awards competition inthe Health Sciences divisionfor their book HealthProfessional and PatientInteraction.

The National Jesuit BookAward was established andendowed by Alpha Sigma Nu,the national Jesuit honorsociety, in 1979. It wasfounded to recognizeoutstanding scholarlypublishing achievement byfaculty and administrators of

Creighton Celebrates 125th BirthdayAs Creighton began a yearlong celebration of its 125th anniversary on Sept. 2, Creighton

President the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., announced one of the most ambitious campusexpansion plans in the University’s history. The news conference coincided with Creighton’s125th birthday celebration. The University first opened its doors on Sept. 2, 1878. For moreinformation on Creighton University’s campus expansion plans, see the story on Page 14. Formore information on Creighton’s yearlong 125th anniversary celebration, please visithttp://www.creighton.edu/125_anniversary or see the ad on the back cover of the magazine.

Creighton President the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., left, blows out the candles on Creighton’s birthdaycake with students John Schwietz, president of the Creighton Students Union (CSU), and Tracy Slump,CSU’s vice president for finance, at the Sept. 2 birthday celebration and news conference.

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CU ProfessorsReceive NationalJesuit Book Award

the 28 U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities.“It is a high honor to win this award

because the books are judged by a group ofthe authors’ peers and it is a distinct awardfor scholarship,” said Peg Fennig, directorof Alpha Sigma Nu.

Purtilo is the director of Creighton’sCenter for Health Policy and Ethics and is

the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. CrissProfessor of Clinical Ethics. Shealso is a professor of physicaltherapy in the CreightonUniversity School of Pharmacyand Health Professions.

Haddad is the associatedirector of the Center forHealth Policy and Ethics and afaculty member in Creighton’sSchool of Pharmacy and HealthProfessions.

Enarson NamedMedical Dean, VPfor Health Sciences

Enarson

5Winter 2003

University News

Eugene C. Rich, M.D., has been invitedby Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of theU.S. Department of Health and HumanServices, to serve on the Advisory

Committee onTraining in PrimaryCare Medicine andDentistry of theHealth Resourcesand ServicesAdministration. Hewas nominated forthis position byseveral nationalinternal medicineorganizations.

As part of thiscommittee, Rich, Tenet HealthcareEndowed Chairholder and professor andchair of Creighton’s Department ofMedicine, will provide advice andrecommendations on a broad range ofpublic health programs under the Public Health Service Act and theHealth Professions Education PartnershipAct of 1998.

Throughout his career, Rich has beenactive in research, academic administration,and public policy concerning medicaleducation and primary care. His researchexplores the influence of the practiceenvironment on health professionaldecision-making. He is the author of morethan 100 publications in this area.

The committee is made up of 23practicing health professionals from acrossthe U.S. who are involved in training andteaching, including faculty fromeducational institutions. Business, labor andhealth insurance interests also arerepresented on the advisory committee.Rich will serve a three-year term.

“I am honored and pleased to serve inthis manner, and to represent CreightonUniversity Medical Center on this nationalcommittee,” Rich said. “Therecommendations we make will helpSecretary Thompson with matters ofsignificance concerning public health.”

JayWalk Raises Funds for Jesuit Middle SchoolThe Creighton Students Union, in cooperation with Creighton University and the Creighton

Prep Student Council, hosted a benefit walk/run for Omaha’s Jesuit Middle School on Sept.27. More than 400 walkers and runners participated in the JayWalk and $6,000 was raised forthe Jesuit Middle School of Omaha. JayWalk participants began the walk/run at CreightonPrep and finished on the Creighton University campus. Pictured above are William P. “Pat”Kelsey III, DDS’76, in the gray sweatshirt, and his wife, M. Nan (Kersenbrock) Kelsey, BS’74,DDS’78, in the dark blue Creighton sweatshirt.

Rich

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)has awarded Creighton University MedicalCenter a $1.13 million grant to study the codependence of calcium and phosphoruson bone health. The NIH grant will be used for human clinical trials to investigatethe effect of calcium and phosphorussupplementation in osteoporosis suffererswho receive bone building therapy. Thestudy will be conducted by Robert P.Heaney, BS’47, MD’51, an internationallyrecognized expert in the field of bonebiology and calcium nutrition, over the nextfour years. Heaney, the John A. CreightonUniversity Professor, is a principal scientistat Creighton’s Osteoporosis ResearchCenter.

The NIH grant follows recent research byHeaney that indicates osteoporosis can beaddressed more effectively by takingnutritional supplements containing both

calcium and phosphorus, rather thancalcium alone. Other research studiessuggest that the safest way for osteoporosispatients to meet their needs for bothcalcium and phosphorus is to use a sourcethat provides both nutrients, such as dairyproducts and/or a calcium phosphatesupplement. Other data indicate that theremay be a phosphorus deficiency among thepopulation most prone to osteoporosis thatis often overlooked.

“The NIH grant will enable us to conductdefinitive research that will determinedifferences between calciumsupplementation with and withoutphosphorus,” Heaney said.

Calcium phosphates have been widelyused in pharmaceutical products for manyyears because of their excipient properties.(Excipients are necessary inactiveingredients in a formulation for makingtablets.) As a result of the NIH grant andother research, the nutritional value ofcalcium phosphates in dietary supplementsmay become more widely recognized andmore widely used.

NIH Awards CU $1.13 Million forCalcium Study

Rich to Serve onNational HHSAdvisory Committee

6Winter 2003

University News

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Creighton Ranks No. 1 Among BestMidwest Universities

Creighton University is listed No. 1 in theU.S. News & World Report magazine 2004rankings of Midwest comprehensiveuniversities.

It is the 17th straight year CreightonUniversity has been ranked at or near thetop of U.S. News & World Report magazine’s“America’s Best Colleges” edition.

In addition, U.S. News lists Creightonamong 39 prestigious national institutions as having an excellent “UndergraduateResearch/Creative Projects” program.Creighton was the only Catholic school to be so honored. Independently or in smallteams, students in such programs arementored by a faculty member when doingintensive or self-directed research or creativework that results in an original scholarlypaper or other product that can be presentedon or off campus.

“This return to the No. 1 ranking is areflection of Creighton’s careful strategicplanning for growth and increased national

recognition of our academic excellence. Itvalidates that Creighton students enjoy ahigh-quality academic and campusexperience. It also adds momentum to ourenterprise at a time when record numbersof students are enrolling at Creighton, andwe are steering Creighton into a new era ofgrowth, service and prosperity,” saidCreighton President the Rev. John P.Schlegel, S.J.

Several factors appear to have boostedCreighton to the top spot: “We have a clear

advantage in academic reputation, due toour exceptional faculty. And we have asignificant edge in the rate of alumni giving.For example, last year was a strong fund-raising year for us in spite of the weakeconomy,” Fr. Schlegel said.

“This fall, our entering freshman classhas the highest academic profile in the

Creighton NamesThree Executives toBoard of Directors

Creighton University has named threeexecutives to its Board of Directors: Ivor J.(Ike) Evans, Constance M. Ryan and Gail M.Werner-Robertson, BA’84, JD’88. They begantheir four-year terms in October.

Evans is president and chief operatingofficer of Union Pacific Railroad and adirector of the Union Pacific Corporation;Ryan is president of Streck Laboratories; andWerner-Robertson is founder and presidentof GWR Companies.

“On behalf of Creighton’s Board ofDirectors and Creighton University, wewelcome these executives who bring a broad array of talents and expertise toCreighton’s board. Together with CreightonPresident Fr. John P. Schlegel, S.J., we willcontinue to build on Creighton’s momentumof growth and success,” said William A.Fitzgerald, chairman of Creighton’s Board of

Directors andchairman and chiefexecutive officer ofCommercial FederalBank.

Prior to joiningUnion PacificRailroad, Evansserved with GeneralMotors Corporationbeginning in 1965and held key operating positions withseveral divisions, including Chevrolet, Buickand Delco Products. In 1985, he becamepresident of Blackstone Corporation, anautomotive industry manufacturer. Evansthen joined Emerson Electric Company,where he held a number of executivemanagement positions including senior vicepresident.

Evans is a director of Cooper Industries,and the immediate past chairman and adirector of the American Association ofRailroads.

In 1992, Ryan was named president ofStreck Laboratories, an Omaha-based

manufacturer of quality control products forclinical laboratories with distributionchannels across the United States and in 42countries. She joined Streck in 1982 and hasheld various sales positions, including vicepresident of sales. Prior to Streck, Ryan wasa medical technologist for the University ofNebraska Medical College.

Werner-Robertson is founder andpresident of GWR Companies, whichincludes GWR Investments, GWR Financialand GWR Law. GWR Companies combineprofessional, financial and investmentservices to enable clients to succeed infinancial matters.

University’s history. Students of this caliberdo their research, and a consistently highU.S. News & World Report ranking is one ofthe many reasons students chooseCreighton,” Fr. Schlegel said. “However,magazine rankings only tell part of thestory. We encourage students to makecampus visits when evaluating schoolsbecause that’s the best way to judge thequality of a university.”

The U.S. News category, Universities-Master’s, reflects the schools’ missions,providing a full range of undergraduate andmaster’s-level programs and in Creighton’scase, doctoral programs. The criteria areacademic reputation, graduation andretention rates, faculty resources, studentselectivity, financial resources and alumnigiving. The category includes 573 schools.

Creighton also is cited as outstanding byother publications, including Money,Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and Peterson’sBest 311 Colleges. Princeton Review Inc. rankedCreighton among the nation’s top 351colleges and universities. Princeton Reviewcited, among other things, Creighton’s “toptwenty” national ranking among schoolsthat have developed excellent relationshipswith their surrounding communities.

Evans Ryan Werner-Robertson

Creighton was the only Jesuit school

ranked No. 1 by U.S. News.

7Winter 2003

University News

School of MedicineEmmet B. Keeffe, MD’69, received

Creighton University’s Alumni Merit Awardfor the School of Medicine on Sept. 26.

After graduating from Creighton’s Schoolof Medicine, Keeffe completed hispostgraduate training in internal medicineand gastroenterology at Oregon HealthSciences University. He then served as astaff physician at theOakland NavalRegional MedicalCenter, andcompleted two yearsof research trainingin hepatology at theUniversity ofCalifornia, SanFrancisco. He joinedStanford UniversitySchool of Medicinein 1995, where he currently is chief ofhepatology, co-director of the LiverTransplant Program and a professor ofmedicine.

Keeffe has served on the boards of theAmerican Liver Foundation and theAmerican Digestive Health Foundation, aswell as on the editorial boards of severalprofessional journals. He has been veryactive in national organizations in his fieldand has held several leadership positions.He is past president of the American Societyof Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Keeffecurrently is president-elect of the AmericanGastroenterological Association and willserve as its president in 2004-2005.

School of Pharmacy and HealthProfessions

The School of Pharmacy and HealthProfessions presented its 2003 Alumni MeritAward to Sr. Mary Therese Gottschalk,BSPha’60, on Oct. 3.

Sr. Gottschalk is the president and chiefexecutive officer of Saint John HealthSystem in Tulsa, Okla. She also is presidentof Marian Health System, one of the largestnonprofit Catholic health care organizationsin the United States.

Born in Bavaria, Germany, Sr. Gottschalkentered the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother

in 1952 and came to the United States the following year. She earned her bachelor of science degree in pharmacy atCreighton and her master of science degreein hospital administration from Saint LouisUniversity.

Sr. Gottschalk hasreceived severalawards, including anhonorary doctorateof humane lettersfrom the Universityof Oklahoma. She isa Fellow of theAmerican College ofHospital Adminis-trators, a member ofthe Catholic HealthAssociation board of directors and pastpresident of the Oklahoma HospitalAssociation and the OklahomaConfederation of Catholic Hospitals.

School of LawNebraska Gov. Michael O. Johanns,

JD’74, received the School of Law’s 2003Alumni Merit Award on Oct. 10.

Johanns was sworn into office asNebraska’s 38th governor on Jan. 7, 1999. InNovember 2002, he became the firstRepublican to be re-elected governor of

Nebraska since 1956. As governor, Johannshas promoted an agenda of tax relief, lessgovernment, building the economy,protecting families and ensuring the health,safety and success of Nebraska’s children.

Johanns beganpracticing law at thefirm of Cronin &Hannon in O’Neill,Neb., then moved toLincoln, Neb., wherehe joined the lawfirm of NelsonJohanns MorrisHoldeman and Titus.He sought publicoffice for the firsttime in 1982 and was elected to a four-yearterm on the Lancaster County Board ofCommissioners. In 1989, Johanns waselected to the Lincoln City Council. He then served as mayor of Lincoln from 1991-98.

Johanns serves on several nationalgovernors’ organizations and meets withinternational leaders to promote their use ofNebraska agricultural products. TheAmerican Coalition for Ethanol recentlypresented him its Political Award for hisefforts to raise awareness of the benefits ofethanol and to increase its use.

In an effort to help those who chooseto practice public interest law andprovide legal assistance throughemployment in public interest law firms,Creighton University’s School of Lawhas established the Loan RepaymentAssistance program.

The program is designed to encouragenew law school graduates to providelegal assistance, through employment inspecific public interest legal settings, topeople of limited financial means whocannot otherwise afford legal assistance.Salaries at these types of positions areoften far below what can be madeworking in a law firm.

Through the generosity of Creightonalumnus William L. Harding, JD’48,

initial funds for the program wereprovided to ease the financial burden ofnew graduates in exchange for theircommitment to and completion ofpracticing a number of years in publicinterest law. The first checks were mailedto seven graduates last summer.

“The Harding Loan RepaymentAssistance Program is one way in whichwe are pursuing our Jesuit mission ofservice to the community. By supportingsome of our recent graduates who havechosen public service, we hope toencourage more to follow their path,”said Patrick Borchers, dean of CreightonUniversity’s School of Law.

According to Borchers, the HardingLoan Repayment Assistance Programwill help make other students, who maynot enroll in the program, aware of theneed for assistance to the poor, andtherefore encourage them to provide probono service.

Keeffe

Sr. Gottschalk Johanns

Loan RepaymentProgram Sends OutFirst Checks

Alumni MeritAwards Presented

8Winter 2003

University News

Dan Harbeke ... author.The Creighton senior smiles and shakes

his head.“I’m just a 21-year-old kid who goes to

college,” Harbeke says sheepishly. “Now, allof a sudden, I’m an author.”

Indeed. Harbeke’s book, Get In! How toMarket Yourself and Become Successful at aYoung Age, was released by Rowman &Littlefield Publishing Group in October.

Harbeke says the idea for the book camefrom classmates and friends at Creighton,who often asked: “How do you network?”“How do you get in with a certain companyor profession?”

“There’s nothing written by people myage geared for people my age about howyou get your foot in the door,” Harbekeexplains.

So, on a flight back to Omaha fromChicago, Harbeke scratched out, “on a littlesheet of paper,” some ideas that eventuallybecame the outline of his 128-page book.

The book is geared toward high schooland college students.

“I try to give them some simple

Henry T. Lynch, M.D., hereditary cancerexpert and professor of medicine atCreightonUniversity MedicalCenter, has beenselected to receivethe Ellen BrowningScripps MedalAward.

According to DeeSilver, M.D., chair ofthe Ellen BrowningScripps MedalAward SelectionCommittee, theguiding principle of the committee is torecognize an individual each year who has made a significant contribution to the

Creighton StudentWrites Book onNetworking

networking techniques and principles,”Harbeke says. “I’m no expert; I just try to letthem know about the opportunities that areavailable. I try to give them the straight-up— here are some things you may want tothink about.”

The book’s conversational style isevident, with chapter headings like “How toTalk the Talk and Walk the Walk,” “Like aGood Scout, Be Prepared,” “The Key toSuccess” and “Get Off Your Butt.”

The Fargo, N.D., native is majoring inmarketing and political science at

Creighton. He’s been president of KiewitResidence Hall’s governing council and theAlpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. He’salso been involved in Creighton’s FreshmanLeadership Program (honored as MaleLeader of the Year in 2000-2001), CreightonStudents Union and the crew team.

In high school, Harbeke was active instudent government and attendedleadership camps in South Dakota and,later, in Australia. It was through thesecamps that Harbeke made connections tothe publisher.

Harbeke banged out the manuscript, on aborrowed laptop, at home last winterduring Creighton’s holiday break. Hemailed it to friends and business leaders heknew for their feedback, and then flew toWashington, D.C., in May to deliver themanuscript to the publisher, which hadalready agreed to the book deal.

“It was actually pretty easy,” Harbekesays. “The book came from the manyconversations I’ve had; I just wrote them alldown.”

Harbeke is excited about the book’srelease, and has already arranged for booksignings in Omaha and North Dakota. Buthe’s still not entirely comfortable with the“author” moniker.

“I’m very humbled by it,” he says.

Harbeke discusses his new book, which wasreleased in October.

Lynch ReceivesScripps Medal Award

care of patients and the advancement ofmedical science.

“Dr. Henry Lynch is certainly an exampleof this spirit and was selected for hisresounding contributions to ourunderstanding of the genetic determinantsof cancer,” Silver said.

Lynch manages a database of thousandsof family pedigrees tracing varioushereditary cancers. His detailed historiesand tissue collections have provided theevidence leading to the discovery of genemutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2mutations that contribute to hereditarybreast cancers, rare strains of colorectalcancers in Native Americans, and the strain of hereditary nonpolyposis coloncancer dubbed the Lynch Syndrome in his honor.

In addition to the Scripps Medal Award,Lynch has received the Bristol-Myers SquibbAward for Distinguished Achievement in

Cancer Research, the American Associationof Cancer Research/American CancerSociety award for research excellence incancer epidemiology and prevention, theBrinker International Award for BreastCancer Research from the Susan G. KomenBreast Cancer Foundation, and theAmerican Cancer Society Medal of HonorAward for research in hereditary cancer andits clinical translation to patient care. Earlierthis year, Evanston NorthwesternHealthcare Center in Evanston, Ill., named aHenry T. Lynch, M.D., distinguishedlectureship in his honor.

The first Ellen Browning Scripps MedalAward was given in 1979 to cardiologistEugene Braunwald, M.D. Other pastrecipients of this award include transplantpioneer Thomas A. Starzl, M.D., Nobel Prizerecipient Stanley B. Prusiner, M.D., andformer U.S. Surgeon General C. EverettKoop, M.D.

Lynch

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9Winter 2003

University News

Purcell Named ViceChair of Tax Committee

Thomas J. Purcell III, BSBA’72, associateprofessor of accounting and professor oflaw at Creighton University, has beennamed vice chair of the Tax ExecutiveCommittee of the American Institute ofCertified Public Accountants (AICPA). Hewill start a two-year term as chairman ofthe panel in October 2004.

The Tax Executive committee is the taxpolicy and standards setting body of theAICPA and represents AICPA members ontax matters being considered by Congress,the IRS, the Department of Treasury andother public groups. The committee alsooversees the work of the AICPA TaxDivision, which is comprised of AICPAmembers who have a significant interest intaxation and many of whom serve on theTax Division’s committees, technicalresource panels and task forces.

Purcell has served as a member of theAICPA’s governing Council, the TaxExecutive Committee, the Pre-certificationEducation Executive Committee, the TaxAccounting Committee, the Tax PolicyCommittee and on numerous tax taskforces, as well as chair of the Tax Section’sStrategic Planning Task Force and chair ofthe Tax Section’s Operations Task Force.

CUMC Receives $1.7 Million Center of Excellence Grant

The Office of Health Sciences’Multicultural and Community Affairs andCreighton University Medical Center’sSchool of Medicine have received a three-year $1.7 million grant as a Center ofExcellence (COE) from the U.S. Departmentof Health and Human Services HealthResources and Services Administration(HRSA). Creighton is one of only 11universities throughout the U.S. to receive a COE grant.

The COE program serves as a catalyst forinstitutions seeking to train students fromminority groups in order to build a morediverse health care work force. Creighton’sOffice of Health Sciences’ Multicultural andCommunity Affairs will use COE funding to

focus on boosting the academicperformance of underrepresented minoritymedical students, encouraging medicalschool graduates to provide health care tounderserved people, and raising therecruitment and retention rates of minorityfaculty in the School of Medicine.

“With the COE grant, we can continueour commitment to recruiting, educating,developing and challenging the potential ofminority students and faculty, thusimproving the quality of health care to thediverse U.S. population,” said Sade Kosoko-Lasaki, M.D., associate vice president forHealth Sciences’ Multicultural andCommunity Affairs.

Creighton HostsInternational Congresson Dental Ethics

“Rights, Access and Justice in Oral HealthCare” was the focus of the 5th InternationalCongress on Dental Law and Ethics, hostedby Creighton University Medical Center lastsummer. This is the first time the congresshas met in the United States.

At the congress, a CU 125 event,participants and speakers from around theworld discussed how to improve access to

dental care.Keynote speaker David Satcher, M.D.,

Ph.D., the 16th surgeon general of theUnited States, spoke at the congress. Satcher seeks to broaden the meaning oforal health to mean more than just teeth.According to Oral Health In America, AReport Of The Surgeon General, there aremyriad conditions affecting the craniofacialcomplex, including diseases of the gums,throat, tongue and lips that are often takenfor granted.

“Oral health is inextricably linked to ourgeneral health and well-being, and as such,deserves our attention with regard toproviding proper dental care for childrenand adults,” Satcher has said.

In Oral Health in America, Satcher alsoreports large disparities in dental disease byincome. More than 100 million children andadults lack dental insurance, more than twotimes the number who lack medicalinsurance. Many children have not seen adentist prior to entering kindergarten. Painand suffering due to untreated oral diseasesin children can lead to problems in eating,speaking and learning.

Other discussion topics included justicefor underserved populations, patients’rights and the role of education inadvancing justice in oral health care.

Author and New York Times columnistWilliam Safire, winner of the 1978Pulitzer Prize for distinguishedcommentary, visited Creighton on Sept.18. Safire was in Omaha to deliver theNebraska Humanities Council’s 8thAnnual Governor’s Lecture in theHumanities. Safire answered questionsfrom Creighton students and otheraudience members at the Lied EducationCenter for the Arts in the general area of“The Government and the Press.”

Safire was a White House adviser andspeechwriter in the Nixonadministration. The conservativecommentator joined the staff of The NewYork Times as a political columnist in1973. He also writes a Sunday column,“On Language,” which has appeared inThe New York Times Magazine since 1979.

This column on grammar, usage andetymology has led to the publication of10 books and made him the most widelyread writer on the English language.

Safire Visits Creighton

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William Safire spoke at Creighton inSeptember.

10Winter 2003

University News

CU ProfessorDevelops HealthyChurch Project

Shirley Blanchard, Ph.D., is on a mission.The assistant professor of occupational

therapy at Creighton is dedicated toproviding African-American women inOmaha with a community-based, culturallyrelevant health education program.

To that end, she developed the HealthyChurch Project and is teaming with localchurches to spread her message of healthand fitness.

“Is this my ministry?” Blanchard asksrhetorically. “I think it is.”

Blanchard’s calling came from a researchstudy she conducted last March on obesityamong African-American women in Omaha.

As part of the study, Blanchard surveyedsome 400 women, and she kept getting thesame question: “What can you do to help uswith our health?”

Was it a divine calling?“God sometimes comes to people when

you least expect it,” Blanchard said. “AndHe expects you to use your knowledge tohelp others.”

So Blanchard got to work.She already knew that African-American

women have the highest mortality rateamong all ethnic groups for stroke, heart

disease, cancer and diabetes — all of which,to some extent, are affected by diet andexercise.

Through her research, Blanchard foundthat “the No. 1 problem” in terms of obesityin African-American women was “physicalinactivity and emotional cues to eating.”

She began developing an easy-to-usehealth and fitness manual designedspecifically for African-American women.And she knew exactly where she wanted toroll it out: local churches.

“That’s where there’s a connection,”Blanchard said, “and there’s support.”

She began with Omaha’s Salem BaptistChurch and is now working with Greater St.Paul Church of God in Christ. The supporthas been incredible, she said.

“Pastor Joseph Shannon Sr. of Greater St.

Paul is an excellent role model for hischurch,” Blanchard said. “He exercises,maintains a healthy weight andunderstands the importance of prevention.”

Sylvia Coleman, a registered nurse andmember of Greater St. Paul, has workedwith Blanchard to establish and coordinatethe program. The program objectives weremodified to meet the church’s mission, andother health care providers and studentspursuing health care careers volunteer theirservices.

Blanchard’s program lasts one year.Monthly Wednesday meetings are reservedfor health education. Topics have rangedfrom nutritional cooking to stressmanagement. Participants, who nowinclude men and adolescents, also weigh inand set new weight-loss goals for the monthahead.

Blanchard’s message is simple:“I have two expectations,” she said. “I

ask them to walk 30 minutes, three to fivetimes per week and to drink four to eightglasses of water per day. That’s it.”

The results?“It’s going beyond my expectations,” said

Pastor Shannon, who plans to incorporatethe program into the six other churches heoversees. “We’ve had one parishioner wholost 15 pounds and another lost 12 pounds.The success stories are all over the place.”

Coleman arranged walking teams to takeadvantage of a walking path Blanchardmeasured off outside the church. Teammembers motivate each other andencourage attendance at the monthlymeetings and weekly weigh-ins — whichBlanchard religiously attends.

“I go to every weigh-in,” Blanchard said.“It’s important for them to see that I’mcommitted to the program.”

She talks about meal portion sizes andalternatives to fatty, high-cholesterol foods.But she’s not preachy. “All food is goodfood,” she said. “I’m asking for two lifestylechanges: drink more water and walk.”

Blanchard would like to see the programexpand to include other ethnic groups andchurches. “Research shows that Hispanicand Latino women mirror African-American women in terms of obesity andhealth disparity,” she said.

“Shirley is an incredible person,” saidPastor Shannon. “She has a passion forwhat she’s doing.”

Callone Elected to Higher LearningCommission Executive Committee

Patricia R. Callone, vice president for Institutional Relations at Creighton University,has been elected to a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the board of

trustees for the Higher Learning Commission of the NorthCentral Association of Colleges and Schools. Callone’s termruns until Aug. 31, 2006.

The Higher Learning Commission is part of the NorthCentral Association of Colleges and Schools and is committedto developing and maintaining high standards of excellence.

The association, founded in 1895 as a membershiporganization for educational institutions, is one of six regionalinstitutional accrediting associations in the United States.Through its commissions it accredits and grants membershipto educational institutions in the 19-state North Central region:Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,

Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, NewMexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Callone

11Winter 2003

University News

“I have two expectations.I ask them to walk ... and to

drink four to eight glasses ofwater per day. That’s it.”

—Shirley Blanchard, Ph.D.assistant professor

of occupational therapy

Creighton BlossomsThe vibrant colors that flowered across Creighton’s campus this past spring and summerhave faded with the chill of winter. But, in the photos below, we bring a little bit of nature’sbrilliant display back to life, as we wait for the show to begin again next spring.

All photos by C. Petit

12Winter 2003

Top, from left: From the Reinert Alumni Memorial Library deck toward the Hixson-Lied Science Building, infront of the Humanities Building, by the fountain, near Gallagher Hall.

Bottom, from left: In the Jesuit Gardens, up close, in front of the Reinert Alumni Memorial Library, leadingto the Skutt Student Center, by the Administration Building, along the Skinner Mall.

13Winter 2003

“God gave us memories so that we might have roses in December.”

— Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie

(1860-1937)

14Winter 2003

Creighton University has laid thegroundwork for the most ambitiouscampus expansion in its 125-yearhistory. Like the earth-movingequipment already traversing thecampus, the University is on the move.

At Creighton’s 125th anniversarykick-off celebration this fall, UniversityPresident the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J.,unveiled an impressive campus masterplan, which will transform theUniversity’s strategic priorities intoaction and complement Omaha’sdowntown renewal.

Schlegel envisions that when all thedust — literally — settles, Creighton

will offer students, faculty and thecommunity a model urban campus in averdant, park-like setting. Already inprogress, “the planned learning andliving environment will help advanceCreighton into the highest rank of thenation’s faith-based and student-centereduniversities,” he said at a Sept. 2 newsconference marking Creighton’s 125thbirthday.

The capital project will encompassstate-of-the-art academic buildings; adynamic student residentialneighborhood; a sports venue withsoccer and baseball fields; expandedgreen space; redefined campus entries

and borders; and a more unified,aesthetic, community-oriented campus.

Campus boundaries will be CumingStreet to the north, Cass Street to thesouth, 17th Street to the east and 32ndStreet to the west. The University’sgrounds now cover approximately 90 acres; the expansion effort will addanother 20 acres.

Creighton originally took root on aseven-acre site deeded by the foundingfamily: brothers Edward and JohnCreighton, and their wives, sisters MaryLucretia and Sarah Emily Wareham.Composed of five pieces of propertypurchased from five different parties, the

Building theCreighton

of theFutureBy Therese Vaughn

Creighton President the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., stands on the roof of the Administration Building, with a view of the east edge of campus and downtownOmaha behind him. Thanks to efforts by the city and Creighton, this area is poised for dramatic growth.

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15Winter 2003

Building the Creighton of the Future

original site cost $12,000 back in 1878.Today, standing on “The Hill” and

looking eastward, you may catch aglimpse of tomorrow’s campus alongwith the rising sun. The time has neverbeen better for Creighton to extend itsphysical borders. Just as the Universityhas grown up with the city of Omaha, itis committed to growing ahead with thecommunity during this historicopportunity. Creighton’s 125-yearpartnership with Omaha providescommon ground and an uncommonvitality from which to launch thecomprehensive plan.

With the new, neighboring $291 millionQwest Center Omaha arena and conventioncenter and surrounding upsurge oflodging, shopping and recreationinfrastructure in the area, the riverfrontis seeing even more of a developmentboom than when Omaha was a raucousprairie town. The arena and conventioncenter, which will host Creighton men’sbasketball home games, will increasethe University’s visibility as it drawsthousands of locals and tourists intodowntown Omaha.

“The first thing you see as you come into Omaha from the east is ourAdministration Building, which is nowlighted at night,” Schlegel said in aninterview.

Even the planning process itself, whichspanned five years and involved students,faculty, staff, administrators, boardmembers, alumni, neighbors and thewider community, served to strengthenCreighton’s connections withdowntown Omaha.

“We’ve been coordinating ourplanning efforts with the city. Responsefrom the business community has beenextremely positive. Campus expansionwill provide an excellent opportunityfor the University to further networkwith Omaha’s corporate, private andcivic enterprises,” Schlegel said.

According to Schlegel, Creighton’simmediate neighbors also support thecampus master plan. Localneighborhood associations haveembraced the initiative. The GiffordPark Association, which is west of themain campus and proximate to theCreighton University Medical Center,has been particularly supportive. “The

Midtown Development Program is alsovery complimentary of our plan,”Schlegel said.

At the September news conference, Schlegel congratulated Nebraska Gov.Mike Johanns, JD’74, and Omaha MayorMike Fahey, BA’73, who were bothpresent and are both Creighton alums,for attracting and assisting business andindustry to invest in downtown Omaha.“I believe it is important to statepublicly that much of Creighton’smotivation to embark on such ahistorically dramatic expansion wastriggered by the dynamic developmentand renewal of downtown Omaha,”Schlegel said.

Likewise, Creighton’s investment inits own future demonstrates its leadership,support and commitment toward itswider community. The project maybecome a model for cooperative publicand private development at other urbaninstitutions across the country.

In plotting the course for campus

renewal, planning was orientedaccording to the same principles thatlaunched Creighton 125 years ago:intellect and faith, technical progressand enlightened judgment, spiritedinnovation and enduring Jesuit values.

The campus master plan will beimplemented in coordination withProject 125, the University’s strategicplan, which was rolled out last spring.

The University’s strategic, fiscal andcampus master plans are aligned,Schlegel said.

The vision statement for allinstitutional planning maintains that“Creighton University will be a nationalleader in preparing students in a faith-based setting for responsible leadership,professional distinction and committedcitizenship.”

Priorities of the University’s strategicplan steered development of thecampus master plan. “We haveembarked upon the most ambitiouscampus expansion in Creightonhistory,” Schlegel said. “Guiding ourgrowth is a newly promulgatedstrategic plan, which charts a path toadvance Creighton into the first ranks ofthe nation’s institutions of higherlearning. We will direct our efforts toeach of the following strategies over thenext years:• Enhance Creighton’s national identity

and focus its dedication to its mission;

• Nurture Creighton’s academicexcellence;

• Create a diverse human communityof students, faculty and staff;

• Provide a dynamic living-learningenvironment for Creighton students;and

• Ensure overall financial stability forthe University and its schools andcolleges.” (See “Charting a Course,”Page 16.)

Schlegel calls it a “willed future” —strategic, financial and campus masterplanning that is visionary, yetpragmatic; realistic, yet futureresponsive. Campus development willbe implemented in three or four phases,spanning 10 to 12 years. Each phase willbe freestanding and part of the overallstrategic framework.

“The plannedlearning and living

environment willhelp advance

Creighton into thehighest rank of

the nation’s faith-based and

student-centereduniversities.”

— The Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J.


Strategic Priority ATo enhance Creighton’s national identityand focus its dedication to its mission.

• Master Plan Response: In order tofoster a vibrant Jesuit presence oncampus and extend opportunities forfaith-based spiritual growth to faculty,staff, students and alumni, the campusmaster plan calls for expandedconferencing and retreat facilities andfor a consistent identity through signage,architectural details and symbols.

Strategic Priority BTo nurture Creighton’s academicexcellence.

• Master Plan Response: In order todevelop outstanding, integratededucational programs, the master planindicates the development of new andupgraded academic facilities as wellas signature identities for individualschools and colleges. Creighton’sacademic excellence will also beenhanced through a new visitor’scenter/student services facility foradvising, career counseling andplacement services.

Strategic Priority CTo create a diverse human communityof students, faculty and staff.

• Master Plan Response: To cultivate asense of global community on campus,the master plan provides for a varietyof spaces — academic, athletic, socialand recreational — appealing to diversestudent populations. In addition, themultiuse facilities will enhanceopportunities for interaction amongfaculty, staff and students.

Charting a CourseThe campus master plan addresses Creighton’s strategic priorities, setting a

course to advance the University into the first ranks of the nation’s faith-based andstudent-centered institutions of higher learning.

Already under way, the campusexpansion is propelling Creighton’sacademic excellence and nationalidentity to unprecedented levels ofdistinction. Schlegel said the newHixson-Lied Science Building is “aprototype of the first-class buildings thatwe will construct.”

The building is the centerpiece of the$55 million initiative to revitalizeCreighton’s undergraduate and healthprofessions science facilities. Dedicatedlast spring, the new six-story structure,along with extensive renovations to theadjoining Rigge and Criss sciencebuildings, will comprise an exciting,interdisciplinary hub for students andfaculty.

The Hixson-Lied building adds 67,000square feet of usable space, providingmultipurpose, high-tech classrooms;multimedia lecture halls; and fullyequipped laboratories.

Among the nation’s premieruniversities in scientific, preprofessionaland health-related education and research,Creighton is home to nationally acclaimedundergraduate science programs, andworld-renowned researchers are housedin the Creighton University MedicalCenter. Creighton undergraduates enrollin the sciences at a pace nearly five timesthe national average. Undergraduatestudents have the unprecedentedopportunity to participate in researchprograms normally reserved forgraduate students. Enrollment in theseprograms has doubled in the past fiveyears, outpacing available lab space.

The Integrated Science Center notonly will provide critical facilitiesupgrades, it will make Creighton anational model for cross-disciplinaryprograms that foster collaborationamong students and faculty at theundergraduate, graduate andprofessional levels. In addition, thecenter will bring together world-classinvestigators with converging avenuesof research; increase extramuralfunding; and promote intra-institutionalpartnerships, all of which canprofoundly affect science.

Completion of the Integrated ScienceCenter is a key factor in enhancingCreighton’s national academic profile.

Also pivotal to the campus master

Strategic Priority DTo provide a dynamic living-learningenvironment for Creighton students.

• Master Plan Response: To create acampus that addresses the wholestudent — his or her uniqueacademic, social, emotional,physical and spiritual needs, themaster plan recommends enhancedresidential options, including amultiuse academic neighborhood; a“one-stop shop” student servicescenter; enhanced technologicalresources; a state-of-the-art sportscenter; expanded green, openspaces for recreation and reflection;improved parking; optimalsecurity; a campus loop road andshuttle system; and a more unified,aesthetically-pleasing, functionalenvironment.

Strategic Priority ETo ensure overall financial stability for the University and its schools andcolleges.

• Master Plan Response: To buildthe University endowment and linkbudgeting to strategic planning, themaster plan calls for deferredmaintenance for existing facilities,as well as the careful phasing ofcapital projects.

Below, an architectural drawing ofthe new junior/senior housing

already under construction to theeast of the current ball fields.

16Winter 2003

17Winter 2003


“The townhouses are primarilydesigned to retain an upperclassmanpresence on campus. Juniors andseniors have a mentoring role, aleadership role to play for freshmen andsophomores,” Schlegel said. “Currently,we have very few (upperclassmen)living on campus. The east campusneighborhood offers a tremendousopportunity to develop a more close-knit community among all students.”

In creating “a dynamic living-learningenvironment for Creighton students,”the campus master plan includes a newsports venue with soccer and baseballfields at the east terminus. Completedthis summer and currently “in play,” thesoccer field represents a rallying pointfor students, alumni and the community.The Bluejays’ new home will matchtheir national soccer reputation whileproviding Omaha and the region with amajor new site for city, state and regionaltournaments and for community eventssuch as summer concerts, art shows andyouth marching band contests.

A 5,000-seat soccer stadium andadditional infrastructure will take shapeas the year progresses. Within walkingdistance for students and Bluejay fanswho live and work downtown, the $12 million soccer stadium will furthersupport Creighton’s connection todowntown Omaha and the widercommunity. It also will be home to stateand regional tournaments at all levels,including NCAA post-season competition.Schlegel anticipates that the soccerstadium will be the premiere soccerfacility in the nation.

Additional athletic facilities, includingbaseball diamonds and tennis courts,also would be concentrated at theeastern edge of campus.

Cultivating a park-like setting within itsmetropolitan locality, Creighton plans toexpand its green space. The campusmaster plan includes grassy lawns,trees, pleasant walkways, plazas andfountains to create a more cohesive,inviting campus. In addition, a unifiedtheme among lampposts, benches anddistinctive signage will provide a senseof continuity and identity. Even thecarefully planned flowerbeds are part ofthe University’s “willed future.”

“Landscaping is now planned,”

Schlegel said. “Much of what we’re doingis indigenous to this part of Nebraska —the grasses, trees and shrubs — so theycan handle the dry and wet cycles.”

While the campus will be greener, theUniversity embraces its location amidstthe hustle and bustle of downtownOmaha. “Creighton is an urbaninstitution; it’s who we are,” Schlegelsaid. “We are proximate to downtown;we are on Cuming Street, which is nowa vital thoroughfare.” The enrichedpark-like campus will present anattractive oasis within Creighton’sincreasingly busy neighborhood.

The response to the campus masterplan, particularly the external response,has been extremely positive, Schlegelsaid. “Everyone from the governor tothe mayor to the chairman of the boardhas been very enthusiastic. Much of thecity administration, downtown Omaha,local interest groups and alumni haveendorsed the plan.”

According to Schlegel, the campuscommunity is equally excited. “Mystudent breakfasts tell me that it’s verypopular with the student body. Sciencefaculty are particularly pleased with thenew Integrated Science Center,” he said.

When asked how the campusexpansion, construction and renovationefforts will be financed, Schlegel said,“The most important response is how itwill not be funded — it will not be fundedthrough student tuition.” Privatebenefaction through individuals andfoundations, as well as some bond monies,will underwrite the revitalization project.

For the next decade, scaffolding andsteel may be common landmarks onCreighton’s campus. But just as Omaha’sfirst settlers looked out upon wind-swept prairies and beheld a future ripewith opportunity, the University againhas set its sights on new horizons.Through the far-reaching campusdevelopment project, Creighton willextend its frontiers of education, researchand service into the 21st century.

About the author: Therese Vaughn is afreelance writer living in Omaha.

plan and strategic vision is improvingthe living environment for Creightonstudents. “A goal in our strategic plan isto provide services, programs andenvironments that support studentlearning,” Schlegel said. Positive studentlife and campus experiences are criticalto the excellence of Creighton.

The campus experience extendsbeyond work in the classroom, clinic or lab.

Today’s students arrive at collegewith luggage, laptops and evermoresophisticated expectations. Additionally,Creighton’s increasing enrollmentrequires enhanced living opportunitiesto keep pace with the needs of enteringfreshmen. With a near 100 percent capacityin campus housing, new residence hallsare critical for the University to continueon the path of its planned growth.

Through new housing; recreation,athletic and common spaces; and amore spacious, attractive campus,Creighton will provide an environmentthat is educationally, emotionally,physically, socially and spirituallysupportive — an environment that issteeped in the Jesuit tradition of curapersonalis or care for the whole person.

“We believe residence halls are morethan just buildings — they are vitalextensions of the learning environment,”Schlegel said.

With this in mind, Creighton isconstructing a multipurpose academicneighborhood to include townhouse-style apartments; pleasant new social,dining and recreational spaces;expanded academic facilities; and safetyand security enhancements. The eastcampus neighborhood also will featurea new visitor center/student servicesfacility, creating convenient “one-stopshopping” for academic advising, careerand placement services. New conferencefacilities will round out Creighton’s eastcampus, allowing the University to hostretreats for students, faculty, staff,alumni and visitors throughout the year.

The first phase has begun withresidences for juniors and seniors. Thenew housing, intended to complementexisting neighborhood and campusstructures, will aid in student retention.Completion is planned for the fall of2004.

18Winter 2003

initiatives that would thrive when theenvironment improved. John AndrewCreighton not only underwrote thecontinued existence of the school; in 1892, he established Creighton’s medical schooland financed construction of a hospital at10th and Castelar (the forerunner toCreighton University Medical Center),creating a university in deed, not simply inname. In 1898, the Rev. Michael P. Dowling,S.J., resumed the duties of rector-president(he also was here from 1885-89) and providedenergetic leadership for the next decade.

John Andrew and Fr. Dowling establisheda vibrant partnership that transformed theUniversity into a dynamo. When JohnAndrew died in February 1907, and MichaelDowling moved on to a new assignment one

year later, they bequeathed a thrivinginstitution to their successors. The robustUniversity boasted a large liberal arts college(which maintained a high-school division),professional schools for medicine, law,dentistry and pharmacy, and programs inpost-baccalaureate studies.

Symbolically, Creighton Universityreached maturity (21 years of age) in 1899;it had endured a tempestuous childhood, butduring early adulthood, historical tradewinds began to blow. Subsequently, itcelebrated its 30th birthday as a financiallysecure, stable, proud Jesuit Americanuniversity, but one constantly on guard,defending the Ratio Studiorum against theonslaught of American educational reformersled by the likes of one Charles Eliot.

— Parl— Two —The sense of achievement gained from

producing the first graduating class atCreighton University evaporated quickly.The Panic of 1893 ushered in a nationaldepression that ravaged the institution’sfinances. Once again, the college entered thedoldrums — and the Missouri Provinceconsidered shuttering the school.

Moreover, the depredations of the anti-Catholic American Protective Associationcontributed to a siege mentality and furtherdisheartened spirits. The boom of the 1880sended with the bust of the 1890s, and forcedCreighton University to start over again atthe dawn of the new century.

Yet, as in the previous decade, theUniversity did not merely survive thedownturn: It actually nurtured new

TheCurriculumTakesShape

A Creighton College Catalogue from the early 1880s.

By Dennis N. Mihelich, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History, Creighton University Historian

19Winter 2003

The Curriculum Takes Shape

systems of study:

This is precisely the method followed inMoslem countries, where the Koranprescribes the perfect education to beadministered to all children alike. ...

Another instance of uniform prescribededucation may be found in the curriculumof the Jesuit colleges, which has remainedalmost unchanged for four hundred years,disregarding some trifling concessions to

natural sciences.

The insult provoked an instantresponse from the “humanists,”including Catholic and Jesuit educators.

Catholic educator Ruth Everettchastised Eliot for his comments,arguing that “professors of the Jesuitcolleges keep up with the times.” Sheclaimed, “To-day forty-seven per cent.[sic] of the students’ time is given tomodern studies — proportioned duringfour years to the study of English,mathematics, modern languages, andnatural sciences.” For her, thedisagreement hinged “on the age at

required courses down to the high-school level.

In 1893, Eliot chaired the NationalEducation Association’s Committee ofTen, which advocated the creation of achoice of four different courses of studyfor high schools. Then, in 1899, in theAtlantic Monthly, Eliot published anarticle describing the application andexpansion of the elective system. Heconcluded the scholarly analysis with aflippant remark about prescribed

At the time of Creighton’s coming ofage, at least four distinct groups werearguing over the nature and purpose ofa college curriculum at the dawn of the20th century.

Historian Herbert Kliebardcategorized the contending parties inAmerican education as: (1) the“humanists,” who defended the“ancient tradition” — this wouldinclude the Jesuits and the RatioStudiorum, the Jesuit code of liberaleducation that entailed the rationalstudy of the liberal arts and sciences; (2)the devotees of the “child-studymovement,” who wanted to reform thecurriculum to match “the natural orderof development in the child”; (3) the“social-efficiency educators,” whowished to use science to create a “coollyefficient, smoothly running society”; and(4) the “social meliorists,” who wantedto use the schools to affect social change.

Harvard University President CharlesEliot was among the most vocal ofAmerican educational reformers. Headded a distinctive element that made“electivism” — that is, the studentdeciding which courses to take —central to the debate.

At Harvard, Eliot had abolishedrequired classes for seniors by 1872, forjuniors by 1879, for sophomores by1884, for freshmen by 1885, and hadeven proposed the elimination of

College of Arts, reading room, circa 1911.

A Creighton classroom in 1888.

which the student is deemed competentto elect for himself.” Jesuits believedthat the undergraduate lacked thematurity to choose courses wisely andneeded to develop as “a thinker and areasoner” before specializing inprofessional school.

Soon the Rev. Timothy Brosnahan, S.J.,the former president of Boston College,complained that Eliot ignored theevolution of the Ratio Studiorum, observing:

The man whose whole education has beenspecial or elective is as pitiable an object as

a hollow-chested acrobat who can tossbarrels with his feet. Both have undergone

‘training for power,’ both have made athorough study of a few things, but both

will remain to the end of their dayseducational curiosities.

Creighton also joined in the fray,immediately publishing in the 1899-1900Catalogue a 13-point defense of the RatioStudiorum. The copy asserted “that theaim of a truly liberal education is theharmonious development of all thefaculties, the careful training of mindand heart, the formation of character,rather than the actual imparting ofknowledge and the specific equipmentfor a limited sphere of action.”

The Catalogue went on to stipulate“that there are some branches of studyabsolutely necessary in any scheme ofliberal education,” and “that youngstudents are not the proper judges of thestudies essential for a systematic andthorough development of theirfaculties.” The statement alsoproclaimed “that religion should not bedivorced from education; that moralityis impossible without religion and thatis far more important than knowledgefor the welfare of the individual and thesafety of society. The commonwealthneeds good men more than it needsclever men.”

While the controversy swirled, aconference of Catholic colleges met in

20Winter 2003


In the late 1800s, as schools likeCreighton came into their own,American educators engaged in aspirited debate over what constitutedthe best educational system for thisgrowing country.

Among the hotly contested issues:electivism, in which students selectedtheir own courses, versus traditionalliberal education, which requiredcoursework in certain prescribedacademic disciplines.

Educational reformers like CharlesEliot, pictured below at right,championed an expanded electivesystem. The Harvard Universitypresident and chairman of a nationaleducation committee derided Jesuit

colleges, stating that their curriculumhad remained “almost unchanged forfour hundred years.”

Educators like the Rev. TimothyBrosnahan, S.J., pictured below at left,responded in kind. The Jesuit andpresident of Boston College comparedthose educated solely by electives to“hollow-chested acrobats,” who canperform a few feats but “remain ...educational curiosities.” In contrast, hesaid a liberal education develops “allthe faculties” of a student.

Creighton even addressed the issue,weighing in on the merits of liberaleducation in its 1899-1900 Catalogue,the beginning of which is shownbelow.

The Great Educational DebatePh

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Chicago in 1899, resulting in the creationof the Association of the CatholicColleges of the United States (ACC),which became the Catholic EducationAssociation (CEA) in 1904. Today, theNational Catholic Education Associationis the largest private professionaleducation organization in the world.

Efforts to standardize educationaloperations and increase efficiencyspread across the nation, as thefounding of the National Association ofState Universities, 1896, and theAssociation of American Universities,1900, attest.

Despite erroneous newspaper reportsto the contrary, the Chicago meetingsaw no attempts to offer more sciencecourses nor to increase the number ofelectives in Catholic colleges. But themeeting did pass a resolution: to warn“apathetic college men in some states[who] are allowing their educationalrights to be filched from them byunscrupulous and secularizingeducators.”

The resolution referred to the earlystages of accreditation. With the rise ofso many colleges, curricula andstandards, elite schools started looking

for ways to certify programs — andsetting entrance requirements.

In 1884, for example, the University ofNebraska established entrancerequirements and began accreditinghigh schools that met its standards. In1889, only 12 high schools in the statecould send their graduates to theUniversity of Nebraska withoutexamination.

At the turn of the century, HarvardUniversity dropped all Catholic schools,except Georgetown and Notre Dame,from its list of schools whose studentscould enroll in its law school without

21Winter 2003


Imagine you are a Creightonstudent enrolled around 1900.

You are most likely from Omaha —or another small Nebraska town,though you might be in the minorityhailing from Iowa.

Chances are about three to one thatyou’re enrolled in the academicportion of the school (to prepare youfor college) rather than in college itself.

You are probably one of about 40students in your classroom, as Creighton’sbelt-tightening with the times meantthat your professor was holdingclasses at about the top capacity.

Still, as you look around yourclassroom (taking just a moment’sbreak from the ongoing lecture of astern pedagogue), you might noticethe newly installed electric lights.What’s more, the street you crossed toget to class was probably alreadynewly paved with brick.

As a Creighton student, it isunlikely you would have heard much

in class about Charles Darwin, who isbusy rocking the scientific world withthe astounding theory of evolution.

If you’re an out-of-town student inthe fall of 1906, you might be roomingat St. John’s Hall, at the corner of 25thand California streets.

Your day? It probably consists ofrising early, with the college openingat 7:30 a.m. By lunch, you’re ready fora bite at the Beanery at St. John’s Hall.You’ll likely put in a full day, witheight classes.

Will you be asked to recite in classtoday? Probably not. Creighton, likeits counterparts across the country, isleaning more and more towardlecture, rather than the old form ofrecitation on the part of the students.

Classes will likely meet untilmidafternoon (half-days on Saturdays,followed by confession), at whichpoint, it being spring, you may headout for an intramural game ofbaseball.

Imagine you’re a Creighton student ... Darwin NotDiscussed

Creighton Historian Dennis Mihelichtells us that neither the University’schroniclers nor the official course ofstudy make reference to “the majorreligious controversy of the era,Darwinian evolution.”

In the 1870s, American Catholicscholars “only occasionally”discussed the issue of evolution, butwhen they did “it was to wield theshillelah with vengeance.”

During the following decade,some Catholics followed LiberalProtestants in abandoning theiropposition to the theory. Forexample, in 1896, Fr. John Zahn,CSC, of the University of NotreDame, wrote Evolution and Dogma,which argued that no conflictexisted between religion andscience.

In 1898, however, Pope Leo XIIIargued otherwise. He issued TestemBenevolentiae, warning againsterroneous ideas of faith in theUnited States; Fr. Zahn withdrewhis book from print.

At the time, Creighton Collegedid not teach specific science classesin biology or geology (the fossilrecord), and Fr. William Rigge’sresearch in astronomy did not dealwith the origins of the universe;thus, the controversy seemingly hadno impact on Creighton’scurriculum.

— Creighton Catalogue, 1899-1900

22Winter 2003


(Sr. M. Bonaventure and Sr. M.Camillus) to teach two of the sections.

The arrangement continued into the1909-10 academic year, and the sisterstaught syntax and Greek rudiments,Latin, English and mathematics. By thattime, Creighton College also employeda Mrs. C. Burkhard as a vocal musicteacher, and the medical school hadhired Mary Strong, M.D., as“Demonstrator in Obstetrics.”

Part of what made enrollment shootup at Creighton was the creation of the“Special Classes” category, whichattracted 26 students by 1906. Studentsin that group usually were skilled inEnglish and mathematics, but not inGreek or Latin. Some of them wereolder-than-average students who hadlittle formal education and neededspecial tutoring; for example, a 29-year-old evangelist was enrolled who wantedformal training in “sacred oratory.”

At the other end of the spectrum, thecollege introduced an honors program,consisting of special study beyond theordinary work of a class, for poetry(sophomores) and rhetoric (juniors).

At the same time, the Americanmodel of education continued to affectthe Ratio Studiorum. In 1902, CreightonCollege divided itself into departmentsand began to abandon Jesuitterminology. The “High School orAcademic Department” consisted offour years of study; “Humanities,”which had been the first-year, college-level class, became the last year of highschool, and the three years of collegebecame the freshman, sophomore andjunior-senior years.

Overall, the new curriculum called fora student to enter elementary school atage 7, study seven years and enter highschool at 14, then college at 18. Theadministration also arranged collegeclasses into the “essential” branches —Latin, Greek, English, mathematics andastronomy — and the “non-essential”branches — modern languages, physics

at all; and degrees could even bebought” — the ACC feared that staterequirements could signal the demise ofCatholic colleges.

But likely as not, the students ofCreighton College were oblivious to thecontroversies surrounding education intheir day. Probably, watching the eightgraduates at commencement seated

on the stage of theCollege Hall (thethird-floorauditorium in today’sAdministrationBuilding) providedthe highlight of 1899.

During the era,total enrollmentincreased, so much sothat by 1904 theCreightonadministration had tocreate four divisionsof Third Academic —the first year of highschool — and to hiretwo Sisters of Mercy

examination. The United States Bureauof Education, national educationorganizations and state governmentsjoined the accreditation crusade.

Although Creighton’s Fr. WilliamRigge understood the legitimacy of thesituation — “Indeed, it was a notoriousfact that sometimes degrees were givenin branches the student had not studied

First graduating class from Creighton College in 1891.

The College of Law dean’s office in 1914. One of the first professional schools at Creighton, after themedical school, the law school was established in 1904 by John A. Creighton.


and chemistry. In order to advance tothe next year, a student had to passexaminations in all essential branches.

Non-essential electives also includedvocal music — and, by 1901, “courses ofinstruction in typewriting withRemington and Smith PremierMachines” for students so inclined.

The young college received alukewarm review from the UnitedStates Bureau of Education in 1902.Though the assessment did notdenigrate the program, it alluded moreto weaknesses than strengths.

“The standard in the classics andmathematics [was] ... fully equal to thatof any school in the state,” the reportasserted. However, while the “people ofOmaha have been remarkably generousin gifts for the scientific departments,”the review noted that the Creightoncollection was not “extensive” and theschool gave “less attention ... to scientificstudies by the faculty than is the case inthe State University or other secularschools.”

Similarly, the faculty library’s 7,000volumes seemed adequate, but fundsfor acquisitions ($200 per year)remained “too limited.” Moreover,although the curriculum paid “aboutthe usual amount of attention” tophilosophy, logic and ethics, “a markedcontrast” existed in comparison “withthe best universities of the time”: the“course is almost wholly prescribed,”

extolling his undergraduate experience;his opening epistle evaluated hisHarvard class of 250 students from allover the United States:

... from what I have thus far seen of themin and out of class I have not the slightesthesitation in saying that Creighton men

who take advantage of their opportunitiesneed have no fear in competing with thesefellows whom President Eliot would haveus believe vastly superior in training to

the students of Jesuit colleges.

His concluding letter maintained thesame tone, arguing that while Harvardmay have better facilities and a greatervariety of classes, his years there “onlyserved to convince me the more firmlythat for the undergraduate Creighton ismuch to be preferred to Harvard.”

that is, required, rather than elective.On the other hand, Creighton College

received a personal, glowing reviewfrom the home of the electiverevolution. Paul L. Martin, who hadobtained his A.B. at Creighton in 1902,entered Harvard Law School that fall.Over the next three years, he wroteeight letters to Creighton’s Fr. Dowling

and applied these general statements“in such a way that any boy theychose to admit could qualify,” onecontemporary observed.

The 1893 Course of Studyemphasized the need for strictgrading; that is, assigning “a certaindefinite amount of matter to eachclass, thus preventing one class fromtrespassing on another,” according toa chronicler.

Furthermore, at a time when thelecture system rapidly eclipsed therecitation system at secular colleges,Creighton’s revised course of studyalso demanded that, “Prelection(student discourse related to a professor’slesson) should be strictly carried outby the professors of all classes.”

23Winter 2003

College of Arts, physics lecture room, circa 1914.

Creighton made changes to itsundergraduate Course of Study in1893, eliminating the preparatorydepartment. All entrants wererequired to have the minimum of asixth-grade education, whichprepared them to pass entranceexams in English grammar, spelling,arithmetic and geography. Thedecision forced some Catholicstudents to go to public school firstbecause they could not do “decimalfractions.”

Another new admission standardat Creighton required “satisfactorytestimonials of good conduct” onbehalf of students transferring fromother institutions. Yet, most Catholicschools, Creighton included, phrased

1893’s Prerequisites: English Grammar to Good Behavior

24Winter 2003

The Business of Quilts

Two years ago, Juli-Ann Gasper, Ph.D.,needed a topic for her sabbatical researchpaper. Inspiration came from herdaughter’s new boyfriend when, duringwhat Gasper describes as a getting-acquainted-bonding-session, the youngman asked what activities interested her.Gasper, associate professor of finance atCreighton, immediately answered, “Quilts!”and proceeded to introduce the boy tothe joy and wonder of patchwork pillow tops.

Impressed with quilting (and theGasper family) the young man returnedhome and forwarded to Gasper an e-mail from a listserv that included a“call for papers” for an academicconference on quilting to be held inLincoln, Neb. “Why not present a paperthere?” he suggested. For Gasper, anactive member of the Creighton CampusQuilters, that was an “aha!” moment.

“I jokingly asked John Wingender,chair of the Finance Department at thetime, if he thought a quilt paper wouldqualify for publication credit in myquest for promotion and tenure. Johnreminded me that quilts are bought andsold. They have prices. He encouragedme to track what quilts are going forthese days — no one had done it before— and write a paper about the rate ofreturn on investment in quilts.”

The topic for Gasper’s paper had

found her: A Price Index Study ofAmerican Quilts.

And so — just as the quilting processrequires her to select and put togethervaried, complex pieces — Gasper begangathering and sorting through quiltprices, with the help of Wingender,Ph.D., and graduate research assistantSarah Collins. When Gasper’sQuilt Price Index is finished,the database will be a helpfultool in the growingphenomenon called ThisBusiness of Quilts.

�Plain or colorful.

Muslin or silk. Utilitarian,lopsided, or sophisticatedworks of art, quilts havebeen part of America’scultural, political andsocial fabric sincePlymouth Rock.

Log Cabin. CourthouseSteps. Sunshine andShadows. Drunkard’s Path.Wild Goose Chase. Their verynames reflect our collectivememories.

Generations of wives andmothers sat by firelight,stitching quilts to keep theirfamilies warm, whileyoung girls carefully

The Business

of

Creighton Professor, with Colleague’s Help,Develops Index to Track Quilts as Investments

By Ozzie Nogg

Gasper and Wingender with some of Gasper’s quilts.Gasper found that “... investing in American quilts

can produce an excellent rate of return.”


XWinter 2003

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appliqued Double Wedding Ringdreams on quilt tops for their hopechests.

During slavery years, members of theUnderground Railroad used quilts tosend messages and mark safe houses ofrefuge and escape routes to freedom.

Before women got the vote in 1920,quilting was their forum. Quilt displaysat agricultural fairs gave voice towomen’s patriotic sentiments andexpression to their views about political,social and economic issues.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt — its 44,000panels as big as 16 football fields andweighing 50 tons — documents the livesits creators feared history would forget.Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in1989, the AIDS quilt is the largestcommunity art project in the world andredefined the tradition of quilt-makingin response to contemporarycircumstances.

After the events of 9/11, the nationwideUnited We Quilt exhibit let artistsexpress grief, anger and sadness inresponse to the tragic loss of human life,and proved, once again, that quilts canbring comfort to those who make themas well as to those who view them.

�As a quilter herself, Gasper sees quilts

as history, storytelling, spirit andcommunity. As a finance professor, sheunderstands that in recent decades —when quilts were acknowledged as artand moved from the bed to museum,gallery and corporate walls — collectorsbegan looking at them in the same waythey looked at paintings. Suddenly,collectors looked at quilts and sawdollar signs.

As American quilts sell for recordprices at auction — some for hundredsof thousands of dollars — morecompanies and individual collectorsview the art form as another real assetinvestment. The real asset market is wellunderstood for photographic prints andpaintings by master artists, but, sincethere are no published studies of quiltprices, their worth as investments is stillunclear.

“That’s why we want to create a priceindex for quilts,” Gasper explained. “Aprice index measures the average priceof an asset. When you buy something

and then sell it, you can easily find yourrate of return. If you bought the item for$100 and sold it a year later for $105,you know you made $5 on a $100investment, or a 5 percent return. But ifyou don’t want to sell the asset to findyour rate of return from owning it — ifyou want to hold that asset for a periodof time — how can you determine therate of return you’re earning? How doyou know how much a long-terminvestment is making?”

If that long-term investment is in astocks and bonds portfolio, the answeris simple. Just turn to the financial page,look up the current price of thatparticular investment, compare that toyour purchase price and calculate thereturn you’d receive if you chose to sell.And, if you wanted to estimate theworth of your entire portfolio, you’dcheck the daily price index for securitiesas a whole. “If the price index went up,”Gasper said, “it’s likely your portfolio’svalue went up, too. If the price indexwent down, then in all probability yourportfolio lost money.”

But what if your portfolio isn’t instocks and bonds, but in art — perhapsin quilts? How can you track dailyprices when there usually is no dailytrade reporting in the art world?

“There’s only one van GoghSunflower, and the lucky owner isn’table to look at the market, see a sale ofthat painting and gauge what hispainting is worth. But, the van Goghowner could check what’s happening,worldwide, in the general trend of OldMaster sales, and get an idea as towhether prices are higher or lower thanthey were a few years ago.”

Average prices. Rates of return.Portfolio worth. Who asks the questionsand wants answers to any of this, anyway?

According to Gasper, “Finance peoplelove to look at the portfolio effects ofadding a new type of asset to aninvestment program. They wonder —when the stock market is down, is thequilt market up? Well, for that answer,they’ll have to wait for our publishedresearch data!”

�Not only the “finance people” will

get answers from Gasper’s report.Individuals who buy quilts for their

own collections, as well as largecorporations with portfolios of art,recognize the potential value ofspectacular quilts and the need to keeptrack of how their “endowments for thefuture” are faring with respect to value.

A case in point? Esprit. Amanufacturer of fashion clothing andaccessories headquartered in SanFrancisco, the Esprit Quilt Collectionbegan in 1972 and soon became knownas perhaps the best collection of Amishquilts in the world. The collection isconstantly added to, re-evaluated andchanged, and today includes an eclecticmix of unusual “maverick” Americanart quilts, all boldly expressive, highlypersonal and eccentric. This masterfulcollection of quilts — ranging in sizefrom doll quilts to large bed quilts — is the only art Esprit displays, and thepieces are placed where visitors canalways get within at least 10 or 12 feet ofeach, even if the quilt hangs in someone’soffice. Obviously, the changing value ofthese quilts is of great interest to thecompany.

Closer to home, on the University ofNebraska-Lincoln campus, theInternational Quilt Study Center eagerlyawaits Gasper’s Price Index, too.Launched in 1997 with a $1 milliondonation and a gift of nearly 950 quiltsfrom collectors Ardis and Robert James,the dollar value of quilts housed in thecenter continues to rise.

In 2002, Lucinda Ward Honstain’sReconciliation Quilt was donated to thecenter by the Jameses. Widelyphotographed and publicized, the quiltholds the world-record price for a quiltsold at auction — $264,000 in 1991 atSotheby’s. Completed in 1867, the quilt’s40 blocks depict scenes of domestic,commercial and political life in theUnited States during the years beforeand after the Civil War, and the work isconsidered an outstanding example of theuse of textiles for the expression ofpolitical sentiments — in this instance,the abolition of slavery.

In 2003, the International Quilt StudyCenter was gifted with the JonathanHolstein Quilt Collection and theHolstein Collection of ArchivalMaterials. Valued at more than $2.2million, the collection numbers more

27Winter 2003


than 400 quilts and hundreds ofresearch documents that rank amongthe top five collections in the worldpertaining to American quilts. The giftwas a joint venture between Holstein, acollector and author, and the Jameses.

The Holstein Collection is one of themost historically important, superlativecollections of Amish quilts ever assembled,and the contemporary works in thecollection comprise perhaps the mostaesthetically important group in existence.In 1971, 60 of Holstein’s abstract artquilts, now belonging to the center, wereexhibited at the Whitney Museum inNew York. Most quilt scholars regardthat exhibit as instrumental in ignitingthe quilt renaissance of the 20th and 21stcenturies. By presenting them on thewalls of a prestigious art museum andby comparing their graphic and painterly

qualities to those found in modern abstractart, the exhibition brought quilts to theattention of an audience that had neverbefore considered them in such a context.

And with that attention, came an up-tick in quilt sales as real assets.

�Since the 1920s, quilt prices have risen

steadily and within the last 15 yearsAmish, Mennonite, early appliqued andalbum quilts have brought prices in thethousands of dollars. To people whogrew up sleeping under grandma’sscrappy Postage Stamp quilt, today’sprices may seem staggering. In the1930s, an exquisite handmade quiltcould be purchased for as little as $8.50.The same quilt today might bring$30,000. These are exactly the kinds ofnumbers Gasper is crunching in herPrice Index.

“We have 35 years of published dataon antique quilts, including theirdescriptions. The data show that in1970, a 1930s Sunburst patternpatchwork quilt was priced at $32. Itthen shows that in 1980, that kind ofquilt was priced at $273. From this, wecan calculate the rate of return fromowning a 1930s Sunburst quilt.”

According to Gasper, an investor canuse these 35 years of prices to figure therate of return on a quilt portfolio. “Youtake the raw average price for each yearand compare that price from year toyear,” Gasper said. “For example, in1969, we show 11 quilts with an averageprice of $42. For 2002, we show 132quilts with an average price of $1,529. If you look at the change from one yearto the next, you see the average pricesometimes goes up and sometimes goesdown. During the 35-year period usedin our study, quilt prices rose, onaverage, 17 percent each year. Comparethat with an average of 9 percent for theStandard and Poor’s 500-stock index, 8.6percent for the Dow and a 6.7 percentprice increase for gold, and you realizethat investing in American quilts canproduce an excellent rate of return.”

Excellent, indeed. As recently as the1980s, antique quilts rarely sold formore than $10,000. The boom of the1990s changed all that. Prices of $10,000and more have become the norm forexceptional pieces, and some fetch sixfigures. Recently, an astronomy quiltwith an image of the galaxy as it wasknown in the late-18th and early-19thcentury sold for $225,000.

Patriotic quilts are extremelydesirable. After the attack on the WorldTrade Center, the country went on apatriotic buying binge. Sales of itemsparticularly emblematic of America —think presidents, eagles or our nationalcolors — rose as much as 50 percent in afew weeks. Even before Sept. 11, a quiltfrom the 1876 Philadelphia CentennialExhibition with flags and GeorgeWashington images was priced above$20,000 and might be priced evenhigher today.

Need more examples?A 1916 cartoon character quilt

called Funny Papers brought $300 in1979. It was eventually auctioned for

The Reconciliation Quilt made by Lucinda Ward Honstain and dated 1867 fetched a record $264,000 atauction in 1991.

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Part of Creighton’s mission statementreads: “Service to others, the importanceof family life, the inalienable worth ofeach individual and appreciation ofethnic and cultural diversity are corevalues of Creighton.” The CampusQuilters is one of many Universitygroups that reflect this mission.

“But,” said a smiling Micki Dukat,executive assistant to the vice presidentfor Administration and Finance, andmember of the Quilters, “we have morefun than most of the other groups withour friendships, both old and new, andour fabric scraps — both old and new.”

While this fellowship of about 30Creighton employees meets regularly tomake personal, individual quilts, theyalso turn their enthusiasm and love ofthe craft to benefit other women lessfortunate. Each year since 1997, theCampus Quilters have created a groupquilt that is raffled during Creighton’sHoliday Spirit campaign — a timewhen the Creighton community strivesto open its heart and extend a helpinghand to underprivileged needy orhomeless people and families.

The winning raffle ticket is drawn inDecember at the Child DevelopmentCenter’s Chili/Soup luncheon. “Everyyear most of us still get emotional aboutgiving the quilt away and giving themoney to charity,” Dukat said. To date,the project has netted more than $3,000,all of which has been donated to theCatholic Charities Shelter for AbusedWomen and Children in Omaha and toPhoenix House in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Clearly, much love is sewn into thequilt along with the fabric, and, in 2002,the Creighton University Committee onthe Status of Women recognizedCampus Quilters for their spirit ofcollaboration, selfless service to others,and for fostering companionship and a

But Gasper warns that the ups anddowns of this emerging market mustalways be considered.

“The Quilt Index looks at thevolatility of returns, and shows thatduring the 35 years under study, stockindices were much steadier than thosefor quilts. During that time period, both

value over five years and recently soldfor $20,000.

Work by significant contemporary artquilters hangs in prestigious galleriesaround the country and can demandbetween $20,000 and $80,000 per piece.

Even these few examples show quiltsnow qualify as top-drawer real assets.

almost $19,000.A 1930 quilt depicting interracial

scenes, including a black doctor caringfor a white patient, sold for a fewdollars in 1960. A collector laterpurchased it for more than $50,000.

Even a relatively modest 1937 floralquilt called Center Medallion tripled in

Campus Quilters Stitch Anniversary Quilt

true spirit of generosity.What’s next on the group’s agenda?

Stitching together Creighton’s 125thAnniversary Quilt. Richard Jizba, head of the reference department atCreighton’s Health Sciences Library and a member of the AnniversaryCommittee, came up with the originalidea for the quilt, which tracesCreighton’s history from 1878 to 2003.Designed by Judy Bergjord, HealthSciences Library, with help from Dukat,the work features blocks representingCreighton’s various schools in colorsestablished by the Intercollegiate Codeto represent different departments oflearning. “A pattern called Barrister’sBlock was a natural choice for the LawSchool,” explained Dukat, “as was Road to Fortune for the College ofBusiness and Tree of Life for the School of Medicine. And, just for fun,we picked Sawtooth Star to representour School of Dentistry.” Velvet for theschool blocks is a gift from Willsie

Cap and Gown, the Omaha firm thatmakes Creighton’s academic regalia.

Other quilt blocks representUniversity vice presidents, and thestudent body is spotlighted in blockscalled Bright Hopes, Friendship Star,Union and CU Bluejay. Top and bottom borders show day and nighttime skylines of campus buildings,and the border surrounding the mainfield includes embroidered names of allof Creighton’s past presidents.

“We wanted signatures for the back of the quilt,” Dukat said, “so we’veattended alumni, student andanniversary events and sold quiltsignatures for $1 each to students, staffand alumni. The money helps defraycosts of fabric and quilting, and thesignatures make the quilt even morepersonal and give it added historicalsignificance.” The Creighton University125th Anniversary Quilt will be onexhibit from Jan. 17 to Feb. 15 atCreighton’s Lied Center Gallery.

Members of the Campus Quilters at Creighton work on the 125th Anniversary quilt. Clockwise frombottom left are Micki Dukat, Barb Epps, Barb Slattery, Liz Gustin, Wendy Maliszewski, Debi Kibbeeand Judi Bergjord.

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the S&P 500-stock index and the DowJones industrial average showed 10years of negative returns, while the quiltindex showed 16 years in which theaverage price was lower than it was theprevious year. The old finance adage —to get higher returns you have to takehigher risks — holds true in the quiltmarket. If you choose the right year tosell your collection, you could make abundle, but if you choose the wrongyear, you could, quite simply, losemoney.”

Other things to consider whendealing with quilts? Preservation andprovenance.

Nancy Kirk of the Kirk Collection is adealer and appraiser of quilts in Omaha.“Quilt preservation is difficult,” shesaid. “Collectors usually keep coins orstamps in bank vaults where they’repretty sure nothing will happen tothem. Paintings and even lithos canhang on walls and, under the rightconditions, suffer no damage. Buttextiles give investors a hard time. Light

fades them. Temperature changes,moisture and air pollutants eat away atquilts, and the damage is irreversible.On top of that, people want to holdquilts, touch them — and touchingthem hurts most of all.”

Kirk also emphasizes the importanceof provenance. “The first thing peopleask about a quilt is — do you knowwho made it? So, document, document,document. A tattered quilt with a storywill sell for much more than a mint-condition quilt with no documentation.If you want to realize a significantreturn on investment, you’d betterknow the history of the quilt.” Bottomline, Kirk advises, “Buy a quilt withyour heart. The only guaranteed returnon investment is the pleasure you’llreceive from having the quilt in yourhome.”

As for Wingender, he is, of course,intrigued by the bear versus bull aspectof quilts as commodities, but admits hehad no particular interest in quiltsbefore he began helping Gasper gatherdata. “Now, I view them in a totallydifferent way,” he said. “I still have thequilt my Swedish grandmother madefor me 53 years ago. And each of mythree adult sons still has the quilts theirgrandmother made for them. I realizehow much of our family history iswrapped up in these quilts. I doubt ifthey’re worth any money, but they haveenormous sentimental value and that’s agood enough reason to treasure them.”

�What is the fascination with quilts all

about? There are many explanations,but perhaps collector Holstein says itbest.

“Quilts exert their great force in ourminds and imaginations because theycombine in single objects so muchinformation of importance to us: thepotent congruence of beauty, sentiment,history, utility and significant function.People were born and died under them.They cover our dreams.”

And if you dream of an investmentwith both esthetic and financial payoffs,quilts may have you covered there, too.

Editor’s Note: Ozzie Nogg is a freelancewriter living in Omaha.

About 15,000 panels of the 44,000-panel AIDS Memorial Quilt are displayed in front of the Rose Bowl inPasadena, Calif., in this 1995 photo. The largest community art project in the world, the quilt’s three-by-six foot panels would stretch for 50 miles if laid end to end.

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Deep in the bowels of the earth off the coast of Sweden, aphilosopher and ajournalist wear hardhats and clutch theiremergency oxygenmasks as they peerdown a borehole to examine a 25-ton canister that one day may holdnuclear waste.

The Disposal of High-Level Nuclear WasteBy Carol Zuegner,Assistant Professor of Journalism

Whose

Problem is It,Anyway?

Zuegner and Fleming

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academic research in science journalismin the 20th century. My role was toexplore how the business and routinesof news-gathering frame complexstories like nuclear waste disposal.Informing the public about the risks isessential, but in many cases, the newsmedia add to the problem of polarizingopinion on risky issues because of theway stories are framed as black-and-white arguments. Citizens becomeconfused, not informed, and solutionsseem impossible. The challenge forjournalists is how to illuminateproblems and help people find solutionswhile remaining fair and balanced.

Values and framing of news aren’t theusual topics included in discussionsabout nuclear waste disposal. Butvalues underlie all the decisions and it’soften through the media that manypeople get the information to make thedecision. The search for a solution todisposing of nuclear waste has to gobeyond technical and scientificcalculations if citizens are to accept therisk. Those calculating the scientific andtechnical risk have to take into accountthe way people view hazards. Riskassessment produces equationsenumerating the probability of accidentsand exposure. For many citizens, thoseequations are multiplied by their ownfears and concerns about catastrophesand ultimate worst-case scenarios.These citizen concerns also need serious

Location of Nuclear PlantsMore than half of the U.S. states have nuclear plants and waste may be transportedthrough as many as 43 states enroute to Yucca Mountain.

The philosopher, Patricia Fleming,Ph.D., and the journalist, Carol Zuegner,Ph.D., trekked 1,509 feet below theSwedish countryside to the Äspö HardRock Laboratory, where scientists fromaround the world experiment withmethods to store nuclear waste thousandsof years into the future. The expeditioncapped a conference where politicians,physicists, philosophers, psychologists,nuclear regulators, industry officials,journalists, and students from Europe,Eastern Europe, the United States andCanada delved into the question of howto make decisions about environmentalrisk — like disposing of nuclear waste.

Deciding how and where to disposeof high-level nuclear waste isn’t only ascientific question, answered by riskassessment equations. The decision onnuclear waste disposal involves social,moral and ethical questions. Societieshave delayed answering those questions,but the growing amount of nuclear wastefrom nuclear power plants and othersources isn’t going away any eon soon.

The Valdoc ConferenceSeeking answers to those questions

led the two Creighton professors to theValdoc conference in Borgholm,Sweden. Valdoc was designed as a“summer school,” where participantsrepresenting all sides of nuclear wastedisposal heard lectures from invitedfaculty on risk, values, the media andother topics before splintering intogroups for discussion.

Philosopher Fleming, senior associatedean in the College of Arts and Sciences,and I, an assistant professor ofjournalism, were among theinternational faculty. Fleming’s researchin philosophy has focused on valuesand science and on environmentalethics. Her own interest in nuclearwaste disposal questions grew out ofonce living nearly in the shadow ofYucca Mountain, the controversialNevada desert site the United States haschosen to entomb its nuclear waste. Inher lecture, Fleming explored the role ofvalues in a complex technical society.

I was asked to join the Valdoc facultybecause of my professional backgroundas a reporter and editor coveringnuclear waste disposal issues and my

attention even though they can’t easilybe quantified, for they are often justifiedby a different value-weighting than thatassigned by risk assessors’ equations.

People don’t view risk as an equation:Studies have shown people are morefearful of catastrophic risks they can’tcontrol despite the improbability of thecatastrophe. For example, people wouldprotest building a nuclear waste sitenear their homes, but they would driveaway from the protest smokingcigarettes and without buckling theirseatbelts. On a technical assessmentscale, the latter are much more likely tokill you than a nuclear accident.

National and Global IssueThere’s reason, of course, to be

concerned about nuclear waste. Theradioactive danger from nuclear wastecan last for hundreds of thousands ofyears. Now, in the United States, spentfuel rods from decades of nuclear-generated power and other uses rest inpools and casks at 131 sites in 39 states.By law, a site can contain only 70,000metric tons, and the combination ofcivilian radioactive waste and DefenseDepartment waste is already almostenough to fill any first site to capacity.As of December 1998, the United Stateshad accumulated 38,400 metric tons ofused or “spent” nuclear fuel fromcommercial power plants alone,according to a report by the Department

31Winter 2003

Source: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management

� Sites storing spent nuclear fuel, high-levelradioactive waste, and/or surplus plutoniomdestined for geologic disposition

32Winter 2003


of Energy. It expected that number tomore than double by the year 2035.Power plants are running out of roomfor what was intended as temporary orinterim storage. At the same time, someregulators are beginning to talk about asecond site for future spent fuel, withinviewing distance of Yucca Mountain.

The threat of terrorism also has uppedthe ante for making a decision. U.S.Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham saidcompelling national interests ofhomeland security and threats ofterrorism were part of his considerationsin 2002 when he recommended YuccaMountain in Nevada as the U.S. site.

Nuclear waste also is a global issue —436 nuclear power plants in 31 countriesare piling up spent nuclear fuel, but nocountry has built a disposal site, accordingto the U.S. Department of Energy.Finland, represented at the Valdocconference, is the first country to gainagreement on a disposal site in Eurajoki,home of the Olkiluoto nuclear plant.Everywhere people are grappling withscientific, political and ethical questionsabout how and where the nuclear wastewill be stored for thousands of years.

The Valdoc conference organizerssought ways to replace the oftenconfrontational nature of risk debateswith a process that involves dialogue,leading to decisions about whether toaccept or reject risks. Now, the debatesoften pit exasperated scientists and riskanalysts against not-in-my-backyardcitizens and protest groups. How to doit differently? Swedish physicist KjellAndersson, the driving force behind theValdoc conference, has been instrumentalin developing a model called RISCOM.

The RISCOM ModelThe RISCOM model seeks

transparency, meaning the process, therisks and the benefits of any risk issueare clear to all involved. Those asked tobear the risks must understand them.And citizens should be actively engagedin making decisions about the risk. Themodel calls for stretching of argumentson all sides, so that scientists, politiciansand citizens understand the values, thepressures and the dilemmas each facewhen attempting to craft a solution tothe risky problem.

Values infuse every aspect of makingdecisions about nuclear waste disposalfrom the timetable to site selection to theproposed method of disposing of thewaste. By including values in thediscussions, the hoped-for result is thatall sides recognize the scientific,economic, social and political realities ofthe risk, creating the best solution.

“You can find a role for values in allnooks and crannies of this issue,”Fleming said.

For example, asking where to disposeof nuclear waste generates questionsabout equity in the distribution of risk.Should a waste site be located wherethere are more nuclear power plants orshould it be located where there are fewerpeople, even those who derive directbenefits from nuclear power? Askingwhen produces questions about ourethical obligations to future generationsand questions about the uncertaintiesabout disposal. Do we have anobligation to take care of this problemnow? Do we wait in case an easier andsafer method of disposal comes up inthe future? Asking how raises questionsabout regulations and regulators andwhether those regulators are trustworthy.

Scientific ModelingWhen predictions must be made

thousands of years into the future,scientists use modeling of a total system

performance and the expert judgmentmethod, where best estimates are basedon possible scenarios — the worst-casescenarios.

“It’s not so easy to collect the kind ofdata at such a complex site to make theprediction needed over a 10,000-yearperiod,” Fleming said. Tests involvingan almost 7-mile tunnel being boredinto the mountain have provided someimportant data, enabling scientists tomodify earlier models. Other measuresinclude thermal tests that generate dataon the effects of heat on water, rockchemistry and rock structure, and therelationships among them.

For now, expert judgment andperformance assessment modelingconsider deep geological disposal as thesafest method for storing nuclear waste.The United States, Sweden and othercountries plan to use that method,where the waste is wrapped in copperor titanium, surrounded by clayimpervious to water and stored at least1,000 or more feet underground in asystem of tunnels. Expert judgment isbolstered by data from experiments andwork by scientists in hard-rock labs likethe one in Sweden.

The Role of EthicsKnowing what we do about people

and the way they are most fearful ofcatastrophic risks they can’t control, is it

A scientist at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain site uses ultra-violet light to study how fluids move throughrock. Water is the biggest enemy of deep geological disposal.

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possible to find a community thatwould accept a nuclear waste site? Oneof the most important ethical issues isdeveloping a morally right way to solvethe environmental problems.

“Many countries have failedpolitically to find a workable solutionbecause they have not paid closeenough attention to the role of ethics,and particularly, the duty to seekinformed consent. Such consent isdifficult to get,” Fleming said.

In the United States, the decision tocontinue investigating Yucca Mountainfor a disposal site has raised stridentprotests in Nevada. The state has suedPresident George Bush, the Departmentof Energy, the Environmental ProtectionAgency and the Nuclear RegulatoryCommission to try to stop the process.Opponents say the federal governmentdidn’t follow its own rules in selectingthe site and that the site is notgeologically right for nuclear waste.Great Britain, France and Canada alsohave run aground in their attempts to

dispose of nuclear waste.In contrast, the Swedish government,

Swedish nuclear regulators and thenuclear fuel company are using theRISCOM model to find a site in theircountry for the spent nuclear fuel fromthe 11 nuclear power plants.

A Different Selection ProcessWhat makes this selection process

different is the government’s pledge togain public acceptance of the waste sitethrough every stage of the process andto involve local governments andcitizens from the start. One potentialarea in northern Sweden has alreadybeen rejected by the local municipality.

An exhaustive public information andcommunication campaign addressedenvironmental, scientific and socialconcerns in concrete and specific ways,involving the community ofOskarshamn on all levels. Oskarshamnhas an advantage as a site because it’salready home to nuclear power reactors,an interim nuclear waste storage siteand the hard rock lab, all of whichprovide about 1,000 jobs for thecommunity of 27,000. Still, the intensivecampaign used scores of meetings andworkshops where community memberswere paid for their time as theyexamined safety and other issues.

The campaign did not just involvemeetings at the city hall. Members tookinformation about the nuclear waste siteto where people were — from marketsto hockey games. Swedish physicistAndersson, one of the developers of theRISCOM model, believes the combinationof transparency, public participation and the creation of arenas for publicdiscourse can add up to a process thatleads to a decision that people canaccept even if it means a nuclear wastedisposal site in their backyard.

A pivotal vote of the Oskarshamnmunicipality council showed the successof the campaign: Council membersvoted 49-1 in favor of continuing the siteinvestigation. Officials are quick to saythis doesn’t mean overwhelmingsupport for locating the waste site inOskarshamn, but they see the vote asone of confidence in the process,including trust in the government andthe power company.

The Role of JournalistsJournalism’s role in the process seeps

into many nooks and crannies as well.The best journalism makes issuestransparent, and journalists areobligated to stretch arguments by seeingand writing about an issue from manyviewpoints, not just from those ofexperts and officials who are easy toquote in digestible sound bites. Acurrent movement called civicjournalism seeks ways to create thosearenas of public participation, at thevery least in news stories that includevalues inherent in issues like nuclearwaste disposal. The story should notbegin and end with only scientificequations or political posturing.

Communities and countries continueto grapple with the problem of nuclearwaste, but the discussions are wideningto include philosophers, journalists andcitizens.

A ‘Thematic Rapporteur’The Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD),an international group based in Paris,asked Fleming to serve as a “thematicrapporteur” at a Forum for StakeholderConfidence in Ottawa, Canada. Her rolewas to observe and comment on ethicalissues in the process that emerged froma week of meetings about storing low-level nuclear waste in Port HopeTownship.

Canada’s new legislation, based on areport from the Seaborn Commission,now recognizes that an “ethicalassessment” be part of the politicaldecision-making process in finding sitesfor the storage of nuclear waste. Thatprocess must involve consultation withNative People about how such a facilitymight affect their traditions and values.

In her report to the OECD, Flemingencourages all those involved in thisimportant issue, from regulators andproducers of nuclear waste toenvironmental activists and locallyaffected citizens, to stay on the high-road of ethics.

“There is a low-road involving theimposition of risk on affected parties,”Fleming said. “But before any countryembarks on it, they should be well-awareof its high social and moral costs.”

From Polar Ice to Yucca Mountain

As far back as the 1950s, U.S.scientists began researching ways tomanage nuclear waste — which canremain radioactive from a few yearsto millions of years.

Disposal options that were studiedincluded: burying it in the oceanfloor, burying it in polar ice, sendingit into outer space and placing it in avery deep hole.

In 1982, the U.S. passed theNuclear Waste Policy Act, whichrequires entombing radioactivewaste in a deep underground facility— known as a geologic repository.

While Congress and PresidentBush, in 2002, approved YuccaMountain as a suitable disposal site,the process is far from over. TheNuclear Regulatory Commission stillmust approve a license applicationbefore construction can begin. TheEnergy Department is seeking thatapproval in hopes of having the siteup and running by 2010.

34Winter 2003

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35Winter 2003

Toys and Gender

So says Creighton’s Isabelle Cherney,Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology.“I’m going to get lots of phone calls,”she said with a laugh that hints of hernative Switzerland.

But don’t worry, macho man, yourson’s not going to get “sissified.” In fact,a kitchen set just might help him oneday become a top-notch quarterback,that most multitasking of all footballpositions.

As for your daughter ... buy her a balland send her outside with it — we needto boost her spatial skills so she can dowell in math and science!

Perhaps she’ll land an engineering jobdown the road.

Be careful what ye give for holiday gifts,Mom and Dad; the toys you wrap withsuch glee on the night before just maybe parking your child’s brain in neutral.

Cherney knows of what she speaks,practically as well as theoretically. A1996 CU alumna, she has two boys —ages 14 and 17 — and can match theharrowing tales of many other parents.For the past 10 years, she’s also studiedthe mental makeup of children,especially as it relates to gender.

Her latest research, published recentlyin Educational Psychology, threw toys intothe mix, studying how little ones playwith toys and whether there are differencesby age, gender and toy preference.

Kids at play aren’t just playing; they’relearning, too. And, it appears, certaintoys elicit “complex play” behaviorsthat just might make your tot smarter.“What we found,” said Cherney, “wasthat the female-type toys were veryconducive to that.”

Thus the Easy-Bake Oven for Junior(hold off on the Tonka). “We werelooking at ... how many sequences can atoy elicit in a child?” Start with a doll,for instance. “In order to be fed, you needto be cooking something on the stove.Then you have to cut it into pieces, youhave to blow on it and put it onto a forkand feed the baby. That is more complexplay than ... with a truck.”

So you’re a man’s

man and you’re

raising your son to

be a boy’s boy?

Well hold off on the

Hulk merchandise

this holiday season,

tough guy; after

reading this, you just

may want to get

your son his very

own ... kitchen set.

Maybe a dolly, too.

By Anthony Flott

Finding the Perfect Toy

Creighton psychology professorIsabelle Cherney, Ph.D., offers thefollowing thoughts and advice fortoy shoppers.• Educational Toys: Parents are

“very concerned abouteducational toys,” Cherney said,“but they really don’t knowwhat it means. I don’t want toput parents down at all. Buthow far can educational toysgo? They don’t do everything.You can’t just put a child infront of a toy and expect the toyto do all of the work.”

• Violent toys: Stay away fromthem; Cherney said they do notstifle aggression as she said isoften touted.

• Video Games: Though they’vebeen shown to improve spatialskills and are popular with theolder kids, you’re limited. Manyof them are violent, and few aremade for girls. Cherney saidboys and girls “both start with ...fairly neutral type” oreducational video games. “Thenit becomes adventure, bloody. Itbecomes quite aggressive, by thetime they’re 11 to 13. Girls, onthe other hand, start with quitefemale-stereotyped games earlyon and then move into the male-stereotyped games. When yougo into a video store ... you seethere’s almost nothing thatfemales would like to see. Thechoices are just very limited.Ask girls what they would likein a video game, and it’s not atall what you find on theshelves.”

36Winter 2003

Toys and Gender

with in favor of the low-tech box it came in.

Chickens and EggsBefore delving deeper into Cherney’s

findings, though, let’s admit that we’renot exactly sure why such differencesexist, or how they came into being. Arethey innate, or man’s own doing?

“It’s a difficult question to answer,”said Cherney. “If you look at evolution,there might be some innate part of that.When you look at the brains in adults,there are different areas that might optfor different types of tasks. But it isunclear how that develops.”

For instance, explained Cherney, boyslove sports-play that enhances spatialskills. Such skills later on can boost mathand science scores. But, she asks, “Is itbecause they like playing, and therefore

their visual skills improve, or is it becausethey have better visual skills that theyenjoy playing? It’s unclear which onecomes first.”

Girls, meanwhile, tend to gravitatetoward inside play and often talk totheir toys. “They’re usually earliertalkers,” Cherney said. “This type ofbehavior seems to elicit more verbalskills, which they later excel in.”

The differences can be exhibited beforechildren can even walk. “You can givetoys that are not toys, that they havenever seen. Normal objects ... and theywill treat that normal thing differently.Boys tend to whack it and manipulate it.They tend to look at its resistance ... froma physical point of view. Girls ... justmanipulate toys in a different way. Theyare more likely to talk to them. They preferstuffed animals they can relate to. They’re

Why It MattersWhy is a study on toys important?

Many at-risk children — especiallyyounger ones — are assessed while atplay. Such moments reflect “a mirror intoa child’s mind,” Cherney said. “Early on,they don’t have the language to tell us,so the only way we can actually inferwhat might be going on in their brain is... by observing behavior. They role-play.They copy what they have learned anddevelop their own little world.”

At-play behaviors of at-risk childrenare compared to those of “normal”children. But what if “normal” isn’t soclear? What we don’t know, Cherneysaid, is if boys and girls play withdifferent toys differently. “It’s an areanobody had ever looked at,” she said.

And what we don’t know could leadto misdiagnoses. A boy might be labeledas lacking complex cognitive abilitiesbecause he never exhibited any suchskills during play. But perhaps he simplywasn’t given the right toys with whichto strut his stuff. Cherney’s work canmake such assessments more reliable.So the research matters.

But it’s also fascinating fodder for anyof us parents who have watched withfrustration as a child has forsaken thehigh-priced toy we bought him to play

FEMALENEUTRALMALE

� Blocks ——————————————�

� Camera———————�

� Car ————————�

� Cash Register ———————————�

� Crayons —————————————�

� Disney Pop-up ———————————�

� Farm ———————�

� Gumball Machine ———�

� Phone —————————————————————�

� Tow Truck —————�

� Bears ——————————————�

� Cash Register ———————————�

� Crayons —————————————�

� Disney Pop-up ———————————�

� Doctor’s Kit —————�

� Farm ———————�

� Gumball Machine ———�

� Lion Puzzle ————————————�

� Nesting Cups ——————————————————�

� Phone —————————————————————�

The Study’s Most Popular ToysBelow are the most popular toys by gender and minutes played from

Cherney’s study of more than 100 children ranging in age from 18 to 47 months.She labeled some 60 toys as “gender neutral,” “male stereotyped” and “femalestereotyped” and then observed the children playing with them.

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37Winter 2003

Toys and Gender

looking for relations even with toys.”Consider the experience of CU grad

Ruth Murray, BSN’80, with four boys,now ages 12 to 21. Murray, who home-schooled each of the boys at one pointor another, was intent her sons beexposed to brain-building toys andshielded from violent ones, like guns.

Her sons’ reaction? “Pow! Pow! Pow!”“We were at a car dealership,” she said,

“and another mother walked in andasked why Sesame Street wasn’t on. She

was evidently an ‘earth mother,’ and Ikind of was at the time, too. Within fiveminutes my child, who had never beenexposed to guns, was hiding behindchairs in the middle of a fake gunfightwith her three children.”

Murray was aghast; Earth Mother justsmiled. “She ... correctly interpreted mygaze and said, ‘You weren’t going to givethem any guns, were you?’ I said, ‘No.’She said, ‘It’s going to happen,’ and shewas right. I found out boys will be boys.”

The StudyCherney discovered the same thing —

sort of. Her research involved more than100 children, ages 18 to 47 months, whoplayed individually for 40 minutes in alarge room with easy access to nearly 60toys. Toys were coded as being stereotypedas “male” (i.e., a tow truck), “female”(nesting cups) or “neutral” (crayons).

Such stereotyping, said Cherney, “isdone mostly by adults and probablyimplicitly passed on to children.”

Play sessions were videotaped;

behaviors were observed and codedlater. Recordings were made of howlong toys were played with, what toyswere played with and how the toyswere played with. “Complexity of play”was determined by the number of“sequences” a child used with a toy. Achild takes a truck and makes a noisewith it (“Vroom, Vroom, Vroom,” saidCherney), qualifying as one sequence.The same child puts a person in thetruck for a second sequence. And so on.

FindingsNow, the envelope please. Among the

study’s more interesting findings:• As alluded to earlier, the highest

levels of play complexity — for girlsand boys — were exhibited whenfemale-stereotyped toys were used.

• On average, boys tend to play marginallylonger with toys than do girls.

• Both boys and girls played most oftenand for longer periods of time with“mechanical toys” — i.e., the phone,camera and cash register (the

Isabelle Cherney in her laboratory at Creighton. Her research is shedding new light on the role gender plays in how girls and boys play with toys.

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Female-stereotyped toys, like this kitchen set, yielded the highest complexity of play among boys andgirls in Cherney’s study.

38Winter 2003

Toys and Gender

most-played with toy). Why? Thinkslot machines. “It’s a reward system,”Cherney said. A gumball machinethat required children to place a ballin a transparent container and press alever to release it also was popular,even though for some it took time tomaster. “They just loved that one. Itwas frustrating at first, then that skillgets developed. You have taughtthem problem-solving, and it hassome innate rewards.”

• Girls spent more than twice as muchtime with puzzles than did boys.“Girls are better on fine-motor skills,and probably throughout their lives,”Cherney said. This may reflect thebetter-developed corpus callosummost females have connecting the twosides of the brain (yes, fellas, there aretwo sides). “Girls tend to use more ...parts of the brain for most activitiesthan boys,” said Cherney. “More menare likely to do things in sequence,and are very good at doing one thingat a time. Like watching television —you talk to them and they don’t knowyou’re talking. Girls are better atmultitasking; they can iron and talkand watch television at the same time.”

• Contrary to expectations, girls did notgravitate toward female toys. Half ofthe 10 toys girls played with thelongest were neutral toys. Anotherthree were boy toys, while just twofemale toys made the list.

• Boys, on the other hand, spent most oftheir time with either neutral or maletoys. Just one female toy, the phone(shocker, huh?) made the boys’ Top10. Stereotypes, Cherney said, seem toaffect boys more than girls. “It reallyconstricts the boys. A lot of studieshave shown that ... fathers have ahard time with the boys playing withtypically female toys. Dolls and dollaccessories. Girls are less stigmatizedin terms of types of toys they playwith. It’s OK for a girl to play withcars and trucks. It’s not OK for boysto play with dolls, typically.

“Maybe that has changed, but franklyI doubt it.”

Holiday GiftsSo what toys do you get the kids for

the holidays this year?First of all, don’t get too many —

children easily become bored with their

toys. Cherney suggests leaving a setnumber of toys out. When they getbored with those, take out the ones instorage. To them, it’s almost like playingwith a new toy.

As for what toys to buy, Cherneyadvises providing “a good mixture ofmale and female toys, no matter thegender of the child. I think the spatialskills are often underestimated in termsof what they learn with those. I thinkgirls should play much more with carsand trucks and baseballs and footballs,because ... that will help them later withmath and sciences.”

Think simple, too. Cherney givesthumbs-up for “good-old toys” likeLegos, blocks and Lincoln Logs. Murraysaid her son once built a guy fromLincoln Logs that, “We rubber-bandedtogether and could do everything aMaster of the Universe or TeenageMutant Ninja Turtle could ever do.”

You don’t want to buy a toy that limitsyour child’s imagination, either. “Buythings you can build on or add to. Likekitchen or farm sets,” Cherney said.

Every quarterback-to-be should have one.

Editor’s note: Anthony Flott is a freelancewriter living in Omaha.

Toys and Gender

39Winter 2003

It sounds odd to hear a priest — anaccomplished spiritual director, no less— proclaim that he’s sick of Christmas.

Not Christmas per se, mind you. Thebirth of Jesus Christ brings the Rev.Larry Gillick, S.J., such joy that he endsa mid-August phone call — temperaturesoutside are topping 100 degrees — with“Merry Christmas.”

No, Gillick is fed up with whatChristmas has come to mean for many— a gift-giving, card-sending, party-throwing, house-decorating, day-after-Thanksgiving-sale, over-commercializationwhose symbols no longer call to mindthat which they are supposed tosymbolize.

“Because we get used to the symbols,we don’t know what they’re symbolsof,” said Fr. Gillick, director ofCreighton’s Deglman Center for IgnatianSpirituality. “Then what happens is youcan say, ‘Well, I don’t know what theoriginal meaning of that symbol is, soI’ll make one up and live with that.’”

Few Catholics — Fr. Gillick estimatesjust 2 percent — know the meaningbehind the Christmas symbols.

So two years ago, he decided to fightback. He began with a talk on Creighton’scampus regarding Advent preparationand various symbolic meanings.

It was so popular he gave it again lastyear and plans to do so once more in 2003.

Advent begins the Sunday nearestNov. 30 and continues until Christmas.According to the Catechism of theCatholic Church, Advent is a time for thefaithful to renew their ardent desire forChrist’s second coming. “By celebratingthe precursor’s birth and martyrdom,the Church unites herself to His desire:‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’”

Does that sound like the Advent orChristmas you know?

If you’re looking for a more spiritualChristmas this year, one in which thesymbols of the season mean something,begin by considering how the earlyChristians marked Christ’s birth.

They didn’t.In fact, said Fr. Gillick, Christmas

wasn’t celebrated for roughly the first325 years of Christianity. “The only

Fr. Gillick lights an Advent wreath candle at St. John’s Church. Candles are one of the symbols of Advent.

Symbols Give Special Meaning to Advent

thing that mattered was that Christ rosefrom the dead,” he said. “Resurrectionwas more important than the birth.”

But early in the fourth century a greatheresy arose — Arianism — denyingChrist’s humanity. It was condemned bythe First Council of Nicea in 325.

One way the Church countered thisheresy, though, was by adapting a pagancelebration to its own message. “If youreally want to emphasize that He (Jesus)was a human, you emphasize His birth,”Fr. Gillick said. “A celebration of a veryhuman person, Jesus of Nazareth. Thenit becomes the birth will lead to deathand then to resurrection. What appearsto be death is actually going to be life.”

The pagan feast adopted involved themarking of the winter solstice. Pagansbrought trees inside their homes anddecorated them with fruits, symbolizingthat even though the sun was “dying,”it would return and there would be life,fertility, again.

Christians took the celebration and“tweaked” it. “While the pagans nextdoor are celebrating fruits ... we willcelebrate that those represent the

fruitfulness of the Christian life,” Fr. Gillick said. “There will befruitfulness in our life. Fertility in thephysical order is going to be transferredto the spiritual order. You have a hugesymbol in our houses of a contradictionof life in the midst of what appears to bedeath, which is exactly the resurrection.

“A real Christmas tree ought to havesome fruit on it. If I were to buy aChristmas tree, I would have packagesof seeds because the seeds are going togrow.”

Consider a few other symbols toponder this season.

Light amid darkness: We see lightseverywhere — wired on houses andtrees; candles in windows; on Rudolph’snose leading the way.

Humility: Charlie Brown’s littleChristmas tree; the little snowflake.Remind you of anyone’s birth?

Reversals of attitude: Scrooge.Wrapped presents: What doesn’t

appear at first glance soon is going to berevealed (think swaddling clothes).

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In July of 1942, Creighton Universitybasketball coach Eddie Hickey offeredJames Pattee, MD’53, a scholarship toplay for Creighton. That followingSeptember, Pattee left his home in Iowawith a bag that contained all of hisclothes, $100 and an opportunity topursue his dreams of becoming aphysician.

“The help I received was essential forme to attend college,” Pattee said. “Notonly did Coach Hickey offer me ascholarship, but he also found a job forme so that I could make some money for meals.”

Grateful for the opportunity to attendCreighton, Pattee and his wife, Jane, havemade a $50,000 unrestricted gift to theSchool of Medicine. Unrestricted gifts

When Beth Nohr grieved the loss ofher parents, Gene and Jean Gondringer,the Creighton and Omaha medicalcommunities joined her.

To memorialize them, Mrs. Nohr andher husband, Rodney, of Yankton, S.D.,established two $25,000 endowed funds,one in Nursing and one in the School ofPharmacy and Health Professions. TheJean Jerman Gondringer, SJN’44, andEugene V. Gondringer, BSPha’49,endowed scholarships celebrate theirlives and their loyalty to Creighton.

Mr. Gondringer grew up on a farmnear Shelby, Neb., and put college on hold to serve in World War II. Followinghis capture in North Africa, he spent 25 months as a prisoner of war inGermany. Out of the military anddecorated with the Purple Heart, the GIBill afforded him an opportunity toattend college. He graduated fromCreighton at age 31.

With Creighton’s expandingenrollment, endowed scholarship supporthelps the University meet the ever-increasing need for student aid. That iswhy the Rev. John G. Holbrook, S.J.,encouraged his nephew, Peter Fornaris, toestablish a scholarship at CreightonUniversity in his parents’ names.

With a gift of $25,000, theJoseph and Carmel FornarisEndowed Scholarship Fund willprovide scholarships forstudents in Creighton’sundergraduate schools andcolleges who demonstratefinancial need to continue theireducation.

“Peter wanted to dosomething in honor of hismother and father, my sister and late brother-in-law,” Fr.Holbrook said. “We talked about a scholarship gift toCreighton, and he felt thatwould be a good way for people toremember them and help students financetheir education.”

The late Joseph Fornaris managed thefirst Merrill Lynch office in Baton Rouge,La. His wife, Carmel, was a homemaker.Today, Peter lives in Baton Rouge andtakes care of his ailing mother. Peter is acontractor who restores old houses.Although neither Peter nor his parentsattended Creighton, the scholarship fundrecognizes Fornaris’ deep respect for theUniversity and the Jesuits.

“During conversations with my uncle,he encouraged me to make a gift toCreighton,” Fornaris said. “My uncle’slong association with Creighton was adriving force behind my decision tosupport the University with a scholarshipfund to help students in need.”

Fr. Holbrook worked at CreightonUniversity for 39 years, retiring last May.He was director of the Department ofPastoral Care at St. Joseph Hospital from1972-1986 after having served for eightyears as a counselor to Creighton

Pattee Gift toBenefit School of Medicine

Fornaris GiftHonors Parents,Helps Students

students in several University divisions.In 1982, he became rector of the Jesuitcommunity and served on Creighton’sBoard of Directors. He also served aschaplain of the School of Dentistry for acombined 20 years. Today, Fr. Holbrook isretired and living at the St. CamillusJesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wis.

This year’s recipient of the Joseph andCarmel Fornaris Endowed Scholarship isCreighton student Stephanie Endsley.Endsley, a senior from Milwaukee, Wis., is

majoring in communications and politicalscience. She met Fr. Holbrook during herfreshman year at Creighton.

“Fr. Holbrook truly impacted myexperience at Creighton,” Endsley said. “I have been awed by his ability to makeeach life he touches a little bit better andinspired by his dedication to servingothers.”

Because of the Fornaris scholarship,Endsley did not have to take out anyloans this year to finance her education.Her tuition and fees are covered by theFornaris scholarship, and she receives freeroom and board as an assistant residentdirector for Deglman Hall.

“Receiving this scholarship has been anhonor. I am grateful to my mentor andfriend, Fr. Holbrook, and to Mr. Fornarisfor his generosity,” Endsley said.

To make a contribution to the Josephand Carmel Fornaris EndowedScholarship Fund, please contact theDevelopment Office at (800) 334-8794,(402) 280-2740 or 2500 California Plaza,Omaha, Neb., 68178-0115.

ScholarshipsCelebrate theGondringers‘ Lives

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Creighton senior Stephanie Endsley is this year’s recipient ofthe Joseph and Carmel Fornaris Endowed Scholarship.

40Winter 2003

Development News

allow the University (or specified schoolor college) the flexibility to directfinancial resources to the areas of greatestneed. Unrestricted gifts are especiallyvaluable to meet the ever-changing, andoften unexpected, challenges of thefuture. These gifts are put to immediateuse and help hold the line on tuition.

Pattee attended Creighton until WorldWar II service interrupted his education.From 1943-1946, he served in the U.S. AirForce. After the war, Pattee attendedLoras College in Dubuque, Iowa, for twoyears. He then returned to Creighton togo to medical school.

Today Pattee is a retired physician andassistant professor of family practice andcommunity health at the University ofMinnesota Medical School inMinneapolis. Throughout his career,Pattee excelled in the practice of medicineand gave his time and talents consistentwith Jesuit teaching — providing care notonly to his patients but also to the poorand elderly in his community. Pattee has

co-authored three books: Medical Directionin the Nursing Home: Principles andConcepts for Physician-Administrators;Alzheimer's Disease: The Family Journey;and The Health Care Future: Defining theArgument, Healing the Debate. (For more

information on Pattee’s books, go towww.northridgepress.com.) In 1998,Creighton’s School of Medicine presentedPattee the Alumni Merit Award.

Pattee also is a former board memberof the American Geriatric Society and apast president of the American MedicalDirectors Association (AMDA). In 1997,the AMDA established the James PatteeAward for Excellence in Education. ThePattee Award recognizes significant

contributions to the educational goals ofAMDA. Pattee was the first recipient ofthe award.

Pattee is quick to credit his wife for hissuccessful career. “With a busy practice, ifyou don’t have the support of yourspouse, it can be very difficult,” Patteesaid. “From the beginning, even when Iwas in medical school and we alreadyhad a couple of kids, Jane nevercomplained. She raised our eight children and was always there for me and the kids.”

The Pattee children are: Ann; Michael,BS’70, MD’74; John, MS’75, MD’78;Mindy; Margaret; David (deceased); Lisa; and Laurie.

“Jane and I feel that if we give backsome of the rewards of our hard work,maybe Creighton will find somebody elsewho can benefit like I did,” Pattee said.“It’s part of Creighton’s mission, to givean opportunity to those unable to affordhigher education, and we fully supportthat mission.”

Mrs. Gondringer, a native of WestPoint, Neb., always cared for others. Afterattending St. Joseph’s School of Nursing,she made her avocation a career. Whenthe Gondringers married in 1949, theymerged their professional and privatelives in Omaha, with Jean and Geneworking together for a period of time atLutheran Medical Center.

Later, Jean served as assistant directorof nurses at Doctors’ Hospital and Geneserved for many years as chief pharmacist

at Lutheran Medical Center. “They werevery dedicated to their hospitals,” Mrs.Nohr said. “If a storm was predicted,Mom would stay at work overnight tohelp. She was a caregiver at the hospitaland in our neighborhood. Dad would notinstall a bedroom phone because hewanted to be wide awake when he took alate-night call. He used the time walkingto the phone to become alert.”

Mr. Gondringer held Creighton in highregard, helping to train Creightonstudents as pharmacists. “My father wasa wonderful teacher,” Mrs. Nohr said.“He would sit and quiz me while I didmy homework.”

Mr. Gondringer died on Jan. 23, 1995,followed by Mrs. Gondringer on Oct. 10,2002.

“My parents’ scholarships will helppeople the same way they did when theywere alive,” Mrs. Nohr said. “I really likehaving my parents’ scholarshipsendowed. They are perpetual.”

To learn more about endowedscholarship programs at Creighton, please contact the Office of Developmentat (402) 280-2740 or (800) 334-8794 or visitwww.creighton.edu/development.

About $300,000 has been raised thusfar for the Richard J. Hauser, S.J.Endowed Scholarship Fund. The fundrecognizes Fr. Hauser’s extraordinaryservices to Creighton University over thepast three decades and provides financialsupport to Creighton students interestedin pursuing careers as youth ministers orCatholic grade school teachers through ajoint program offered by Creighton’sEducation and Theology departments.

Fr. Hauser, former chair of Creighton’sDepartment of Theology (1978-90, 1996-99), is a professor of theology, director ofCreighton’s Master of Arts in ChristianSpirituality program and rector of theJesuit community on campus.

For more information on thescholarship fund or to make a pledge,contact the Creighton University Office ofDevelopment, 2500 California Plaza,Omaha, Neb., 68178-0115, (800) 334-8794,www.creighton.edu/development.

Hauser ScholarshipFund Raises $300,000

Gene Gondringer fills a prescription deliveredby Jean Gondringer.

Grateful for the opportunity toattend Creighton, James Patteeand his wife, Jane, have madea $50,000 unrestricted gift tothe School of Medicine.

41Winter 2003

Development News

Creighton have grown dramatically overthe years. For gifts of appreciated stockowned more than one year, you areentitled to deduct the fair market value ofthe stock without having to report thecapital gains you would have realizedhad you sold the investment. If stock youown has decreased in value, you shouldconsider selling the stock and giving thenet proceeds as your gift. Then, you maybe able to claim a loss on the stock andalso claim a charitable contributiondeduction from the same transaction.Please call me at (402) 280-2180 or (800)334-8794 for the necessary forms andguidance on how to transfer stock andmutual funds to the University.

If you are interested in converting cash,securities or land into a life incomearrangement with Creighton, please call

By Steve Scholer, JD’79Director of Estate & Trust Services

Once again, year’s end will find manyof you answering the calls for supportand evaluating how your gifts can besthelp others. Here are some generalguidelines to assist you with yourplanning:

Gifts made by check and credit cardcontinue to be the most popular way tosupport Creighton. Please note that onlygifts completed by Dec. 31, 2003, can beused to reduce your tax bill due in April2004. Your gift is generally consideredcomplete upon the date of mailing.

Gifts of stocks and mutual funds to

or write for a personalized proposal.Charitable remainder trusts and giftannuities can be ideal for individualswho want to explore ways to increasetheir annual income, realize immediateincome tax benefits and also make adeferred gift to the University.

In early February, the University willsend you a summary receipt listing thetotal amount of your support for the yearand whether you received “any goods orservices” in exchange for your gifts.Generally speaking, the IRS requires youto have this receipt as proof of your tax-deductible contribution.

On behalf of the students, faculty andstaff of Creighton University, thank youfor your continued spirit of philanthropyand willingness to help others. Your giftsare making a real difference.

Some 62 years ago, Thomas L. Brisch,JD’34, started a book collection that hasgrown to nearly 10,000 volumes. This fall,Brisch donated that highly valuablecollection to Creighton University.

The books cover a variety of areasincluding titles on Latin America,Native Americans, railroad history,Western Americana and CatholicAmericana. In addition to the books,the collection contains maps,pamphlets and other historical works.

“The materials in Mr. Brisch’scollection are generally not for casualor leisure reading,” said MichaelLaCroix, director of the ReinertAlumni Memorial Library. “It’sspecialized material that coversspecific topics or areas that will addvalue to the library’s permanentcollection. Some of the material onNative Americans is especiallysignificant because it enhances thelibrary’s collection on that subject. This isimportant because Creighton offers amajor in Native American studies.”

After the books are sorted andcataloged, most will be integrated into the

collection at the Reinert Alumni MemorialLibrary. Some will make their way intothe library’s Rare Book Room.

Brisch, 93, didn’t want the books to besold at auction. Because of his ties to theUniversity, he chose to donate them toCreighton.

“I wanted to know where the books

were going. The collection will have agood home at the Reinert Library,” Brischsaid.

Brisch’s connection with Jesuiteducation began at his high school, St.Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, where

he attended from 1923-1927. He thenattended Loyola University in Chicagofor two years before coming to Creightonto study law. After graduating fromCreighton in 1934, Brisch returned to hisnative Chicago to work for the family’sbrick company. He worked for the BrischBrick Company, becoming its vice

president in 1941, until his retirementin the 1960s. In 1986, he opened abookstore in Galena, Ill., and ran thestore until 1996. It was his honeymoontrip to the west that spurred hisinterest in book collecting.

“I started reading books aboutWestern Americana on that trip in1941. That is when I really becamefascinated with historical books,”Brisch said.

Throughout the years, Brisch hasmade smaller donations of texts,pamphlets and maps to the University,including a collection on the UnionPacific Railroad in 1997.

“Mr. Brisch is truly a bookman’sbookman. His collection containsbooks that would be of great interest

to many collectors. We are very fortunatethat Mr. Brisch thought of donating hiscollection to us,” LaCroix said. “Bookshave been a great pleasure in his life, and we are happy to accept his verygenerous gift.”

Guidelines on Year-End Giving

Brisch DonatesBook Collection toCreighton

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Part of Brisch’s collection contains books on NativeAmerican history.

42Winter 2003

Development News

During his life, Len Leavitt made adifference in the lives of many CreightonUniversity student-athletes. As a lastingtribute to his name, his everlasting beliefin the good that is in everyone and thedesire to see individuals succeed,Leavitt’s family has established the A. Len Leavitt Memorial EndowedScholarship Fund with a gift of $25,000.

“We felt that this was a fitting way forpeople to remember my dad,” said BobLeavitt of Omaha. “He loved CreightonUniversity. He loved what the Universitystood for and the quality of kids thatattended Creighton. And he also lovedthe quality of the coaches and theircommitment to the kids.”

Len was a father figure, friend andmentor to many Creighton student-athletes and coaches. He tirelessly raisedmoney for Creighton athletics and was aJaybacker for nearly 30 years. Len and hiswife, Elsie, also created a family atmos-phere for all of the athletes, making themfeel welcome at their home at all times.

“The Leavitt doors were always open,”said Bruce Rasmussen, Creighton athleticdirector. “Any of the students whocouldn’t make it home for Thanksgivingor other holidays were always invited tothe Leavitt home. He also hired many ofour student-athletes to work for himduring the summer.”

After Len died due to complicationsfrom lung cancer in 1997, his familycontinued to support the University.

“In the past, we have made gifts to theStudent Athletic Support Center and therenovation of the baseball complex,” Bobsaid. “When our pledges were up, mymom and I met with Bruce Rasmussen tofind out where the needs were. Brucesuggested that we consider an endowedscholarship in my dad’s name. My momwas ecstatic about this idea.”

According to Rasmussen, endowedscholarship support is important inmaintaining the stability of Creighton’sAthletic Department.

“When I first came to Creighton in1980-81, scholarship costs for the entireAthletic Department were about $75,000.These costs were a fraction of the AthleticDepartment’s operating budget andcertainly a small fraction of the revenuethat athletics generated,” Rasmussen said.“This year scholarship costs are between$2 million and $3 million. And in contrastto 1980-81, they are now a large part ofour budget and a large part of therevenue that we generate. Our hope isthat the Leavitt Endowed Scholarship andother endowed scholarships in athleticscontinue to grow so that those funds cansupplement our scholarship costs.”

The Leavitt Endowed Scholarship will

help Creighton student-athletes who arein need of financial aid to continue theireducation.

“In his spirit of giving, this scholarshipoffers something back to those studentswho participate in Creighton Universityathletics, which Dad so thoroughlyenjoyed,” Bob said.

To make a contribution to the A. LenLeavitt Memorial Endowed ScholarshipFund or for more information onendowed scholarships at Creighton,please contact the University’sDevelopment Office at (800) 334-8794,(402) 280-2740 or 2500 California Plaza,Omaha, Neb., 68178-0115 or visitwww.creighton.edu/development.

Kent Saylor understands goodinvestments. The Sabetha, Kan., bankerand his wife, Donna, viewed aCreighton endowed scholarship as agood way to invest for the future bysupporting Creighton students whoneed tuition assistance.

The Saylors planned their $50,000gift for the Kent P. and Donna C.Saylor Endowed Scholarship as a wayto return the merit-based scholarshipstheir daughter received. A visit tocampus for Summer Preview 2003, aCreighton orientation that includesactivities for parents, inspired the gift.

Denise Saylor, an Arts and Sciencesfreshman, is a bright student whoapplies herself to her studies. Heracademic achievement and leadershiprecords made her eligible for Creightonmerit awards.

In gratitude for the institutionalsupport, the Saylors resolved to help other students by establishing a need-based scholarship.

“When the University recognizedDenise based on merit, it meant a greatdeal to us,” Kent Saylor said. “Whenschools make commitments to ourkids, we like to make commitmentsback to them. It’s very nice to know

Leavitt’s MemoryHonored withScholarship Fund for Student-Athletes

Gratitude LeadsParents to FundScholarship

that the people at Creighton care aboutour daughter’s education.”

The Saylors’ gift provides a fully-endowed scholarship. The principal,invested in an interest-bearing account,creates an endowment that willsupport Creighton students right away.

“The Saylors are excellent examplesof Creighton parents,” said the Rev.John P. Schlegel, S.J., Creighton’s

president. “They will no doubtencourage the students who receivetheir scholarship to likewise share theirtalents and resources with others.”

The University will award the firstSaylor Scholarship in fall 2004.

If you are interested in establishingan endowed scholarship at Creightonor contributing scholarship support forCreighton students, please contact theOffice of Development at (800) 334-8794 or (402) 280-2740.

Donna, Denise and Kent Saylor

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Winter 200355

Our son is a rocketscientist.

Well, not technically arocket scientist, but thatdescription is close enoughfor those of us who were at-risk-of failure with anythingbeyond Mr. Wizard.Technically, he studies weakgravitational lensing bylarge-scale structure, whichis the small coherentdistortion of backgroundgalaxies due to foregrounddark matter.

That’s why I say he’s arocket scientist.

When he calls home, I ask, “How was work today?” and hesays, “Fine.” Then I ask, “What did you do at work today?” andhe says, “I looked at stuff on a computer.”

As a writer, that’s also what I do, so it seemed like a strongenough bond for me. Then one evening my husband wonderedaloud if we should be able to go into more depth when talkingwith Jason.

Having worked very hard to get a D+ in high schoolchemistry, and having taken only basic math at Creighton, I said,“Definitely not! I don’t see why. What do you think? Maybe.OK.”

And so it was that we went back into college after 37 years tostudy Introductory Astronomy, taught by Adjunct InstructorDavid Kriegler. We would be meeting on Monday nights from6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Rigge Science Building.

Neither Kriegler nor the Rigge Building was around in mycoed days. As well, you could not buy fast-food at the studentcenter or pull a CD-ROM out of your textbook. Girls got introuble if they wore jeans on campus and wearing shorts was, atleast, a venial sin.

Consequently, I was overdressed for my first class. WhenKriegler walked in wearing sandals, shorts and a T-shirt, I began to worry that I might also be out of touch. When acasually dressed coed settled in next to me, visions of our deanof women began dancing around in my head and it wasn’t apretty sight.

But I wasn’t there to critique clothing. Rather, Kriegler said wewere there to consider the interstellar medium, the distributionof galaxies in space and, of course, Einstein’s Theories ofRelativity. Since I had spent a lifetime avoiding any of Einstein’s

theories, this was bad news. “Wewon’t be using advanced math,and we’ll stick pretty much withbasic physics,” Kriegler added.

I slumped down so far in mychair that my husband leaned overand whispered, “Try not to fallasleep.”

“I won’t,” I whispered back. “Ionly slept in philosophy class.”

With that, I whipped out mypencil and paper, ready to takenotes. But, wait! Lights aredimming and a PowerPointpresentation is rolling across a bigscreen up front. I come from the 81/2-by-11, single-spaced, 12-point-

type overhead era. In those days, the instructor stood, back tothe students, reading from the screen while you spent the entirehour trying to figure out which line he or she was on.

By the time I realized Kriegler’s visuals were actuallyinteresting, he’d launched into a discussion of retrogrademotion. I decided to take notes, but what with the lights so dim,I couldn’t see to write. Nobody else was having this problem.However, nobody else experienced the Kennedy assassinations,the Vietnam War or the Carter Administration.

Since we were auditing the course, that learning-for-the-sake-of-learning thing began to sound like a good idea.

Even so, we felt compelled to study. Nights. Weekends.During meals. At work. Instead of watching Seinfeld reruns.Instead of going out with friends. Instead of taking weekendjaunts. We read. We underlined. We typed up notes. We quizzedone another. We took tests and mastered Blackboard (whereyou’ll find course websites) so we’d know whether we werepassing.

In the end, we got A’s, which means we now tell people atcocktail parties that, eventually, our sun will leave the MainSequence and become a Red Giant. Additionally, when Jasoncalls, we ask what he thinks about the accelerating universe, notto mention dark energy.

Even so, I still don’t get Einstein’s Theories of Relativity. Butyou know what? I can live with that.

About the author: Shanley is a freelance writer living in West DesMoines, Iowa. Her son, Jason Rhodes, is a postdoctoral scholar atCalifornia Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

LastThe

Word

Going Back To

SchoolBy Mary Kay Shanley, BA’65

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CalendarofEvents

Feb. 4 — 10th Annual Markoe-DePorresSocial Justice Lecture on Globalization Skutt Student Center Ballroom Speaker: The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, President ofCatholic Charities USA

Feb. 13 — “Women in Ministry to the Poor:Honoring the Legacy of Mary Lucretia andSarah Emily Creighton”Skutt Student Center Ballroom

Feb. 26 — Minority Media Forum

Feb. 28 — National TRIO and EducationalOpportunity Day Skutt Student Center

March 8 — Community at CreightonUniversity – “Models of the Eucharist: A Liturgical Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharist”Skutt Student Center Ballroom Presenter: Monsignor Kevin Irwin, professor oftheology, The Catholic University of America.

March 13 — The Second Vatican Council: Retrospective and Prospective Skutt Student Center

March 27 — Student Honors RecognitionLuncheon Skutt Student Center Ballroom

April 1 & 2 — “Alzheimer’s Disease andAging: Clinical, Pharmacological and BasicScience Update”Qwest Center Omaha and Skutt Student Center

April 13 — “Leadership in the Service ofOthers: A Discussion of ExpandedResponsibilities of Successful Leaders”Gallup University Auditorium Speaker: Barry Z. Posner, dean of the Leavey Schoolof Business, Santa Clara University.

April 15-17 — “Saris, Whistles & Buckets:Justice and Health Through CreativeTechnologies”Skutt Student Center

April 18 — King David Lied Education Center for the Arts – Main Stage

April 20 — 125th Anniversary Concert Lied Education Center for the Arts – Main Stage

April 20 — “The Humane Life,” KenefickChair Luncheon Skutt Student Center Ballroom Speaker: Marilyn Fischer, Ph.D., associate professorof philosophy, University of Dayton.

April 26 — “Behold, I Make All Things New”(Rev. 21:5) Skutt Student Center Ballroom Speaker: Zeni Fox, Ph.D., associate professor ofpastoral theology, Immaculate ConceptionSeminary, Seton Hall University.

May 14 — Baccalaureate Mass, School and College CommencementActivities Various campus locations

May 14 — Graduation Brunch Skutt Student Center

May 15 — Commencement Civic Auditorium

June 11 & 12 — FINALE EVENT Annual Alumni Reunion Weekend and thePresident’s Alumni Picnic

Dates are subject to change. For the latest information, visit Creighton’s 125th Anniversary website: www.creighton.edu/125_anniversary.

125thAnniversary

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