mosaics - university of missouri...2 arts & science winter 2003 on the cover: show-me opera...

44
University of Missouri-Columbia The College of Arts and Science Winter 2003 mosaics mosaics journeys discovery of

Upload: others

Post on 03-Apr-2020

2 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

University of Missouri-Columbia � The College of Arts and Science � Winter 2003

mosaicsmosaics

journeysdiscoveryof

Page 2: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

2 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalistsChristina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri River while preparing forthe role of Sacagawea in MU’s original musicaldrama, Corps of Discovery. Page 16.COVER PHOTO BY BRIAN KRATZER

mosaics is published annually for alumni and friends of the College of Arts and Science atthe University of Missouri-Columbia. EDITOR Nancy Moen, 317 Lowry Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, (573) 882-2209. E-mail: [email protected] PHOTOGRAPHERS Sarah Becking, Brian Kratzer, Chris Detrick, Dan GloverART DIRECTOR Blake Dinsdale

JOURNEYS AND DISCOVERIESBy Dean Richard B. Schwartz

On Sept. 14 many of us attended the second Mizzou on Broadway per-formance at the York Theatre. While in New York I was also able to seethe recent IMAX film of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the subject of

our Corps of Discovery: A Musical Journey, which will premiere May 2 to 4, 2003.The story of the Corps, its journey and its captains is compelling for a number of reasons,all of which will be highlighted and reinforced in the course of the bicentennial com-memorations. I hope you will plan to follow our work dealing with this journey as wepresent it in whole or in part (beginning at Monticello on Jan. 17, 2003).

Psychologists are increasingly interested in the concept of the individual’s personaljourney and in the elements that constitute it. Comparisons have been drawn with fic-tional narratives and the shape taken by such narratives. Fictional narratives, includingcomic narratives, are usually built upon conflict, and it is interesting to note that a num-ber of psychologists have argued that the most important elements in our own lives turnout to be those events that have involved personal challenge.

Many years ago at a scholarly conference I was sitting with the principal speaker, oneof the most distinguished scholars in the world — the past president of our society, aman who had received nearly every form of recognition available within our profession.He was then in his 70s. After he delivered his address he sat down, turned to me andwhispered, “Thank God that that’s over.” I realized then that it never “gets easy,” not for those who aspire to always do their best and who build their lives on such aspirations.

While each of us remembers his or her college experience with fondness, we alsoremember it with pride as we reflect on the challenges we faced and surmounted, andthe personal growth and development that resulted from our actions. This issue ofMosaics focuses upon the personal journeys of our students, alumni and faculty, and thediscoveries that resulted from those journeys.

As the existentialist philosophers used to say, we find out who we are as we movethrough life, making choices. Such decisions and the efforts that they entail advance theplot of fictional narratives just as they advance the lives of real people. We become whowe are by embracing the journeys before us and electing the path that brings out the bestin us. I hope you will enjoy the stories that follow in these pages and that you will sharein the pride of accomplishment that characterizes them. The members of the extendedfamily that constitutes the College never cease to amaze and inspire us, and what followsis only a small portion of the events in a small portion of that family’s individual lives.And they are all true.

FEATURESJourneys of Discovery .........................16Rediscovering Lewis and Clark in Music.17Theatre Sets the Stage .......................20History Shows Past, Warts and All .....21Lewis and Clark Slept Here, But Not There ................................22

Wilderness Etchings .........................23The Probability of Moving Mountains...24Bickel Wins National Vocal Title..........26Fuel for the Future .............................28Door-Opening Discoveries Begin

With Basic Science...........................30Fingerprints on the Frontier ................32Firm Commitment..............................34Filmmaker, Peacemaker ......................36All Talk, Action Too............................38Spontaneous Altars.............................39So Students Can Soar..........................40The World Is His Workshop ................42

dean’s letter

Pamela Legendre, center, artistic director of Corpsof Discovery, and the principal singers of Act 1 cel-ebrate after their March performance at theKennedy Center. With Legendre, from left, are KoryBickel, Neal Boyd, Dean Southern and RyanMacPherson.

The College gratefully thanks the A&S AlumniOrganization for financial assistance with the pro-duction of Mosaics magazine.

Page 3: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 3

montage

PEACEFUL PICTURE

MORE THAN 5.5 MILLION PEOPLE

in Japan saw in print thebeauty of MU’s Jesse Hall and

the Columns, thanks to the Peace StudiesProgram. A photo of the Quadrangle wasfeatured in January 2002 on the front pageof the daily Tokyo newspaper SeikyoShimbum.

The photo accompanied a story aboutan award made by the Friends of PeaceStudies to Daisaku Ikeda, president of aninternational peace organization. Thegroup named Ikeda a DistinguishedHonorary Member of its board of direc-tors.

Seikyo Shimbum began in 1951 as atwice weekly newspaper and maintains amission of spreading uplifting human-interest stories, based on a humanisticBuddhist philosophy.

The text about the award praisesIkeda’s work, whose philosophy on peaceis part of the undergraduate course and theHonors College course. Bill Wickersham,president of the Peace Studies board of

directors, acknowledges that academicprograms in the United States have beenaffected by Ikeda’s “dedicated and sus-tained efforts for world peace.”

In addition to recognizing major inter-national peacemakers, the Friends of PeaceStudies group supports MU’s PeaceStudies Program through financial contri-butions and by attracting noted speakersto campus.

IN THE TRENCHES

TWO SUMMERS AGO AT A DIG IN

Athienou, Cyprus, Erin Walcek’sgroup of aspiring archaeologists

— her “trench” in archaeology terminol-ogy — discovered what she considers themost exciting find of her life. On the lasthour of digging, just before the final day,Walcek’s excavators found a cache of sixlimestone statues.

The sight was beautiful to anyone whohas experienced a dig. Statues were lyingin various positions among all sorts of potsand a few terra cottas. As the team keptdigging, another leg or arm of yet anotherstatue would appear.

“Once you uncover a nice find likethat, you can’t leave it exposed to the ele-ments and possible looters,” she says. Sothe dig and the excitement continued intothe night.

After digging in Cyprus for six sum-mers, Walcek embarked on a new adven-ture in fall 2002 at the American Schoolof Classical Studies in Athens, where sheis the recipient of the coveted BrunildeRidgway Fellowship. The location andfellowship give her access to a tour ofevery archaeological site in Greece,including excavations at Corinth.

Even as a high school student, Walcekhad an interest in ancient cultures and thestudy of Latin. That, plus her MU coursework toward a doctoral degree, preparedher for the grueling six-hour test in Greektranslation, history, art and archaeology,which helped win the competitive fellow-ship. She later learned she also won aFulbright.

“As a career, the best aspect of archae-ology is that it offers you a chance totravel,” Walcek says. The traveling scholaris using her ancient Greek and modernGreek while working on her spokenGreek.

When she returns to MU, she will diginto another project: the research for andwriting of her dissertation that will resultin a PhD in art history and archaeology.

Doctoral candidate Erin Walcek, top far left, gath-ers her trench mates near their dig in Athienou,Cyprus. Walcek is the recipient of two prestigiousawards for archaeological study in Athens.

The cutline in this Tokyo newspaper says the MUcampus was established in 1839 and is praised asa school of peace studies in the heartland of theUnited States. The head shot is of Daisaku Ikeda, apeace studies award recipient.

Page 4: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

COOPER ON CAPITOL HILL

EVEN IN WINTER, THE THOUGHT OF

summer school is never far fromHarris Cooper’s thoughts.

Considered a national expert on issues ofsummer school, Cooper answered a call inJune to take questions at a Senate hearingon the importance of summer school to stu-dent achievement.

Sens. Christopher Dodd, HillaryRodham Clinton and Jeff Sessions wereseeking hard evidence that summer schoolworks, and the professor of psychologicalsciences who has analyzed 93 summer pro-grams was ready for their questions.

In his research, Cooper studied reme-dial, enrichment and acceleration pro-grams and found they have roughly thesame impact: they all work. The averageachievement test scores of remedial sum-mer school students show a jump of about5 percent to 10 percent over the scores ofstudents who don’t go to summer school.

The senators wanted to know whichstudents benefit from summer school andif lower-income students are among thosewhose achievement level rises. Cooper’sstudies indicate that all groups of studentsbenefit from summer programs.

“Summer school programs are effectivefor lower-incomestudents,” Coopersays, “but the pro-grams have aneven greaterimpact on middle-class kids.” Hecan identify twopossible reasonsfor that statistic:programs in mid-dle-class districtsmay be betterfunded; and mid-dle-class kidsgoing for remedialinstruction oftenhave specificdeficits to over-come, whilepoorer kids comewith clusters ofdifficulties.

What is impor-tant for the pro-grams to beeffective are small classes thatallow teachers touse innovativetechniques, aswell as somethingpretty basic — air

conditioning. “Most kids still don’t enjoy going to

summer school,” Cooper says, “but a cer-tain amount of the stigma has disappeared,so more kids are going.”

Four months after the Senate hearing,Cooper learned that he and colleague JeffValentine had received $1.5 million fromthe Department of Education to operate“quality control” for the What Work’sClearinghouse. Cooper and Valentine willdevelop standards for assessing the qualityof education research and will judge howthe standards are applied in reports thatsummarize evidence on the value of educa-tion policies and practices.

The clearinghouse is a central part of abipartisan effort in Washington to ensurethat educational practices are based onsound scientific evidence.

“These are exciting times for educa-tion researchers,” Cooper says. “It's anhonor to be among those working for posi-tive change.”

DUELING TRUMPET HONORS

AN MU TRUMPET STUDENT AND HIS

teacher are the first student/pro-fessor combination ever to win a

national Yamaha Young Performing Artistsaward. It’s hard to say who was moreexcited — junior Patrick McGinthy or hismentor, Assistant Professor StephenBottom — over McGinthy’s May 2002win. McGinthy was one of only eight win-ners nationally. He was selected in thetrumpet division. Bottom won the sameaward in 1994.

“The Yamaha competition is one of thebiggest competitions of its kind for this agegroup (16-21),” Bottom says. “I feel like adad whose kid has excelled in the sameevent or sport.”

The award gives McGinthy first prefer-ence at becoming a professional YamahaPerforming Artist and Clinician. And per-formance is what he hopes to do aftergraduation, eventually in the St. Louis

montage

With his research expertise in summer school programs, Harris Cooper leads aDepartment of Education "quality control" clearinghouse.

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

4 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Page 5: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

montage

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 5

area. “Playing for people is what I dobest,” he says.

The honor also carries some endorse-ment perks, not quite of the scale thatMichael Jordan receives of course, butgood for a music student. McGinthy willreceive promotional assistance and expo-sure from Yamaha.

For the competition, entrants wererequired to submit a taped performanceand a résumé. McGinthy won with hisperformance of the first movement of“Sonata for Trumpet and Piano” by PaulHindemith, a work used to demonstrateability and tone quality. Adrienne Price ofColumbia played the piano.

Although Bottom has his own share ofnational and international competition vic-tories, this is the first time one of his stu-

dents has won a national honor. It was also Bottom’s first year teaching

at MU, and he sees a special quality in thisstudent, who has the talent and the workethic required to win competitions.“Patrick practices more than any studentI’ve ever had in a teaching career thatspans three different universities.”

The compliments are mutual becauseMcGinthy says the duo “click” as teacherand student. “He’s one of the best teachersI’ve ever had,” McGinthy says.“Everything he tells me to do seems towork.”

The two have played duets but havenever performed together.

THE SUM OF GOOD THINGS

WITH MORE THAN 550 FACULTY

members in the College,Mosaics magazine usually

doesn’t feature campus awards, focusinginstead on national and international

recognition of A&S faculty and students.But an unusual occurrence in the math-

ematics department demands notice. Forseven consecutive years, faculty membersin math have acquired a William T.Kemper Fellowship for Excellence inTeaching. That’s a campus record. Only10 of the fellowships are presented eachyear.

The mathematics winners are LoukasGrafakos in 2002, Paulette Saab in 2001,Yuri Latushkin in 2000, Ira Papick in1999, Nakhle Asmar in 1998, PeterCasazza in 1997 and John Beem in 1996.

The awards are presented with a flour-ish as Chancellor Richard Wallace and acontingent of media fling open the doorduring class. Most professors are leftspeechless while their students applaudand news of the $10,000 stipend sinks in.It’s a golden moment.

Often the most compelling reasons forselecting the honorees come from the stu-dents themselves. A former student of

Stephen Bottom, left, won the national trumpetperformance award in 1994 that his studentPatrick McGinthy captured in 2002.

PHOTO BY CHRIS DETRICK

Page 6: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

6 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Grafakos — who now teaches mathemat-ics at another university — wrote that hemakes a difference in the life of studentswho struggle.

Saab, the only woman in the group ofmathematics Kemper Fellows, was nomi-nated for, among other strengths, her dedi-cated work to increase the number ofwomen in mathematics and the sciences.

Included with the nomination forLatushkin was another telling studentcomment about quality teaching: “Yourealize that you just took a magic ridewith a master…, and that you had anopportunity of a lifetime.”

Papick is credited with teaching anunusual course with a mysterious name,The Terrible Beauty of Mathematics. Theclass is a unique exploration of mathemati-cal ideas with highly motivated first-yearstudents. Imagine the creativity, enthusi-asm and preparation needed for that.

For years Asmar led a mathematicsSummer Enrichment Camp for junior- andsenior-high students that consistentlydrew high ratings. A parent wrote thatAsmar’s program took “two young womenwho had real math reluctance and turnedthem into serious mathematics students.”

No one should start a day at 3 a.m.,which is when Casazza frequently headsto his office. He lectures nationally andinternationally on the theme that mathe-matics can and should be interesting, andstudents say his classroom demonstrationshelp them understand calculus.

Beem, collaborating with Papick andcolleagues from the College of Education,works on teacher-training projects thatprovide comprehensive preparation forteachers of middle school mathematics.That effort has dramatically influencedmathematics curricula statewide.

Department Chair Mark Ashbaugh mayhave the answer for the record accumula-tion of Kemper Fellows. “The departmentvalues good teaching,” he says.

COME BACK TOSWALLOW HALL

WITH NEW TOP HATS IN PLACE,Swallow Hall looks prettywell-dressed both outside

and inside. The historic building onFrancis Quadrangle wears two newly con-structed “witches hat” towers — replace-ments for the original towers that weredestroyed by a tornado in the 1930s.

Those tower tops and a recently com-pleted exterior restoration haven’t goneunnoticed. The city of Columbia citedSwallow Hall as one of 10 “most notablehistoric properties” of 2002. The awardcommends examples of historic preserva-tion in the community. Swallow Hall wasone of the first buildings constructed on

the Quadrangle after the 1892 fire thatconsumed Academic Hall, leaving only theColumns.

Of course, historic preservation is not anew activity inside the restored building.Swallow Hall houses the Department ofAnthropology and the Museum ofAnthropology, noted for the preservationand display of anthropological treasures.

As early as 1885, MU began accumulat-ing ethnographic materials. The Museumof Anthropology is the only such museumin the state and one of the few in theMidwest.

In addition to enhancing the researchand teaching needs of this University andserving as the state’s archaeological cura-tion facility, the museum is one interesting

montage

Page 7: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

montage

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 7

place to visit.Among the impressive holdings are mas-

sive archaeological collections that are rec-ognized nationally among the mostimportant holdings of prehistoric material.The collection contains the largest holdingof prehistoric Missouri artifacts in theworld.

Visitors to the museum find views ofMissourians from thousands of years ago.They can observe ceramic vessels, workedstone pieces, copper implements andceramic effigies of animals among theattractive displays of items dating from9000 B.C. to modern times.

Currently missing from the museumdisplays is an exceptional example of ahawk mummy. The piece is on loan toanother fine facility on the Quadrangle,the Museum of Art and Archaeology. Butthat’s another story.

RHYME AND REASONFOR KIDS

LIKE HER OWN BOOK CHARACTERS,Dorothy Anne Daley, AB ’71French, faced the fears of child-

hood and the trying tribulations of grow-ing up. Now she writes about them asDandi Mackall, children’s author fromWest Salem, Ohio.

Her books have sold 3 million copies forreaders from preschoolers to young adults.

Mackall knows her prospective read-ers. She targets their interests by age withfiction and nonfiction books of rhyme,mystery and humor. Wild Thing, a teennovel out in March 2002 — and one ofMackall’s favorite books — is about a girlwho’s great with horses but not at easewith humans. “I suppose there’s a lot ofme in my heroine,” she says.

No, No, Noah for preschoolers is partof a new series aimed at helping childrenovercome common fears. The book fea-tures a monkey who doesn’t want to boardthe ark and who tickles Mackall’s ownfunny bone with monkey observationssuch as: “Is this whole trip necessary?”

An 11-book series, Puzzle ClubMysteries, was animated and aired nation-ally on television. Her Kids Are StillSaying the Darndest Things, with anintroduction by Art Linkletter, led to aseries with similar titles ... About Moms,... About Dads, and about many otherthings.

Mackall teaches book writing for theInstitute of Children’s Literature and con-ducts writing workshops nationally. Shehas written articles for numerous maga-zines, including Family Circle, Parenting

and Today’s Woman. She writes from herrural home, where she lives with her hus-band, three children, one horse, a dog, acat and two newts.

A NEW YORK NICHE

TWO DOCTORAL STUDENTS IN

theatre know firsthand theexcitement that emerging play-

wrights feel when their original work isperformed on stage in New York.

Plays written by Kate Berneking Kogutand David White made their New Yorkdebuts through the Mizzou on Broadwayshowcase at the York Theatre Sept. 14.The students are part of MU’s Writing forPerformance program, which nurturesdeveloping playwrights.

Kogut’s short plays, Truckers andParents, reflect her observation that peo-ple don’t easily fit into niches, such as theplumber with a doctoral degree in philoso-phy or the veterinarian who studies musi-cal theatre in college.

Kogut says Truckers was inspired by anarticle in an herbal gardening magazinethat recounted truck drivers discussing theuse of herbs in recipes and swappingthyme and basil cuttings. The play won anational new play competition sponsoredby the Association for Theatre in Higher

Two new tower caps and exterior renovations col-lect a historic preservation award for Swallow Hall.The building houses the Department ofAnthropology and the Museum of Anthropology.

Using the pen name Dandi Mackall, Dorothy AnneDaley writes for young readers. A recent novelincludes the horses who enrich her life.

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANDI MACKALL

Page 8: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

8 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Education and was first alternate in the2000 Kennedy Center Theatre Festival.

White’s play, Trash, is an Ozark folktale of friendship and understanding, andthe first in his series of plays set in the fic-titious town of Last Chance, Mo. In thatlocale along the Missouri and Arkansasstate line, folk-artist Winter uses junkyardtrash to create works of art.

White admits that he spent many for-mative years “running amok in the hills ofsouthwest Missouri,” which had a signifi-cant impact on him as inspiration for writ-ing. “The Ozarks and its inhabitantscontinue to call me back,” White says.

Heather Carver, assistant professor inthe department’s Writing for Performanceprogram, says Mizzou on Broadwayattracts students to the department andencourages their creativity. “Our maingoal is to give students as much opportu-nity as possible,” she says.

For MU theatre students, that means ataste of the Big Apple.

SELFISH GIANTEARNS HUGE HONOR

IT WAS A GIANT STEP IN CHILDREN’S

theatre for a local writer and an artis-tic director when their original musi-

cal won a national award. Russ Brown, a former staff member of

the theatre department, and Jill Womack,

AB ’84 theatre, create and produce origi-nal plays for children.

That love of working with young actorsrose to a new level when Brown’s originalscript and score for The Selfish Giant wonthe 2002 New Visions, New VoicesFestival sponsored by the Kennedy Center.

In May, Brown and Womack traveled tothe Kennedy Center to produce a stagedreading of the musical with a company ofprofessional actors.

The work was one of six new children’splays to be performed at the KennedyCenter in what many consider the TonyAwards for children’s theatre. The SelfishGiant was selected from hundreds of plays submitted and was the only musicalchosen.

Brown adapted The Selfish Giant forthe stage from an original Oscar Wildefairy tale by the same name. He wrotethe dialogue, and the music andlyrics for 12 songs in just twoweeks. The story centers on a giantwho attempts to keep children fromplaying in his garden and thus bringson years of winter. Eventually, thechildren help spring reappear in thegarden.

The accomplishment is amazing con-sidering that Brown never had musiclessons or acting lessons and can’t readmusic.

Womack, AB ’84, describes Brown’smusic for Giant as “lush.” She tested thenew work through her children’s theatrecompany, Theatre Reaching Young Peopleand Schools. Columbia schoolchildren andsome MU students formed the cast for theone-hour production, which made itsdebut in December 2001.

“Columbia is a thriving community forthe arts,” Womack says, “and the kids inthis town are insanely talented. The tripto the Kennedy Center really putTRYPS in the national spot-light.” Her request forfunding from the Missouri

Arts Council resulted in the means tolaunch such entertainment. TRYPS ranksNo. 1 for funding among all theatre appli-cants statewide.

For four years, Brown coordinated pro-motion of MU’s theatre productions.That changed in Augustwhen he began work on amaster’s degree in stagecombat at WesternIllinois University.

The partnership con-tinues. Writer anddirector are work-ing long dis-tance on a newadaptationbased on ThePrince andthe Pauper.

montage

Kate Jeffries and Jeff Lange rehearse Trash, play-wright David White’s original play, presented Sept.14 at the York Theatre in New York City.

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

ILLUSTRATION BY RUSS BROWN

Page 9: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 9

montage

HE LOVED LEARNING

IN A BREAK FROM TRADITION, THE

procession of graduates for the 2002commencement in the College of Arts

and Science was led — not by a graduat-ing student — but by the parents of stu-dent Charles Linnenbringer. It was aproud and moving event for the Wildwood,Mo., couple as they led the traditionalmarch and later accepted a posthumousdiploma in the name of their son.

Linnenbringer was the type of studentwho keeps professors motivated. When hegraduated from high school, he alreadyknew he wanted to earn a doctoral degree.He just hadn’t decided on the area of

study. Starting as an English major,

Linnenbringer discovered he lovedlearning and enjoyed the diversity ofsubjects. He declared majors inthree areas and continued toexpand his interests through othersubjects.

In five years, Linnenbringercompleted most of the course workto earn a bachelor’s degree in jour-nalism and an A&S bachelor’sdegree with four majors — psy-chology, English, classical studies

and history. One can only imagine thestudy hours involved in that work load.

Then Linnenbringer’s world becameeven more complicated. In July 2000, ill-ness forced him to return to his St. Louisarea home for treatment, where doctorsdiscovered he had leukemia.

After a bone marrow transplant andtwo near-fatal cases of graft vs.

host disease, Linnenbringerre-enrolled for a final

semester to finish hisremaining course work

in psychology and jour-nalism.

“He was driven,” hisfather, Jerry

Linnenbringer, says. “He

wanted to get his degrees.” Just two weeks after returning to cam-

pus, Linnenbringer experienced an attackof graft vs. host disease and died March 12after five weeks of hospitalization.

A&S Associate Dean Ted Tarkow andRob Logan, Tarkow’s counterpart in jour-nalism, set in motion a plan to honor thisremarkable student. Both deans checkedwith faculty members and the registrar’soffice to waive the remaining credit hours.

The faculty and administrators agreedthat awarding Linnenbringer’s degreeswas an appropriate celebration of an extra-ordinary academic achievement.

So on that beautiful Sunday afternoonon May 19, Mary and Jerry Linnenbringerwalked in Charles’ place, accepted hisdiplomas and watched as the HearnesCenter graduation crowd rose in a stand-ing ovation to their son.

As a postscript to the story, one ofCharles’ MU friends, alumna SaraKanevsky, Arts ’01, of St. Louis, is leadingfund-raising activities in his name for bone

marrow transplantations and research.Visit her Web site at www.bike4bonemarrow.org.

WHAT THE FROGMAN HEARS

IN THE SOUNDS OF A SUMMER NIGHT, the big talkers out there are insectsand frogs who croak, chirp, hum and

otherwise vocalize. It may be a jumble of sounds to the

untrained, but Curators’ Professor ofBiological Sciences Carl Gerhardt listenswith ears attuned to messages in acousticcommunication.

Gerhardt hears and studies encodedmessages. Those take the form of adver-tisements for romance, statements ofaggression, declarations of territory, callsto back off and distress calls that hedescribes as “nearly screams.”

The genus Gerhardt studies is Hyla,North American tree frogs, which areborn with the ability to recognize soundpatterns.

By investigating the nervous system ofthe uncomplicated tree frogs, he can deter-mine what helps frogs recognize differentsound patterns. Gerhardt’s research onsound-pattern recognition is important forthe study of human health and speech, andis supported by a $1.1 million grant fromthe National Institutes of Health.

He has found similarities in frog com-munication and human communication.“At some level human babies are likefrogs,” Gerhardt says. “Infants withoutlinguistic experience can tell basic speechsounds apart, and frogs can discriminatetheir own sounds without experience.Japanese babies, for example, can hear the“r” and “l” sound distinction, but becausethis is not reinforced when they hearspeech, the ability is lost as they grow.”

His new book, AcousticCommunication in Insects and Anurans,collected praise from reviewers who call ita “tour de force” spanning cellular neuro-

Working toward an A&S bachelor’s degree withfour majors as well as a journalism degree wasnormal for Charles Linnenbringer, who is remem-bered as a remarkable student.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JERRY LINNENBRINGER

Page 10: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

10 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

montage

physiology to evolution. Gerhardt wrotethe book with Franz Huber of Seewisen,Germany, and the two authors are consid-ered the foremost authorities in insect andanimal communication.

In another coup, a paper by Gerhardtand one of his doctoral students, MarkBee, won the Frank A. Beach ComparativePsychology Award for the best paper pub-lished in The Journal of ComparativePsychology in 2001. Studying learning inbullfrogs, they showed that the frogs wereable to identify their neighbors’ calls afterrepeated hearing.

“Hard to believe that a frog paperwould win the hearts of comparative psy-chologists,” Gerhardt says of the achieve-ment. “This is an honor because FrankBeach is a giant in this field who influ-enced many biologists as well as compara-tive physiologists.”

So much for those lazy, summer nightswhen nothing much seems to be happeningin your back yard beyond a piercing elec-tric zing.

BUTTER WITH THAT?

ANEW DEGREE OPTION IN FILM

studies is getting a two-thumbs-upfrom students. The departments of

Romance languages and literatures,English, and German and Russian studieshave combined forces to offer a minor infilm studies.

Students registering for film classes,however, shouldn’t anticipate movie enter-tainment. This popular field of study isacademic, leaning more toward La DolceVita than Roman Holiday.

In Professor Glenn Pierce’s Italian filmclasses, film viewing is accompanied byassignments on developing theses thatmust be defended.

“This is not the Gene Shallot variety offilm criticism,” Pierce says. “We do analyt-ical discussion of film. The students con-sider sound, imagery and mise en scène

(how the scene is constructed).” In the same manner that literature

reflects society, film study is another wayof exploring culture, history and politics,and of enhancing literary appreciation.Fellini, for example, is considered an out-standing literary figure.

“The movies come from a wide range ofnational cinemas and include everythingfrom Hollywood blockbusters to low-bud-get indies,” says Roger Cook, chair of theFilm Studies Program. They also representall periods of the history of film, from thesilent era up to recent releases.

After completing the prerequisite infilm analysis, students may select coursework in American film or cinema trendsworldwide. Elective courses explore filmstatements on crime, gender, literature andpolitics as expressed through movies fromnumerous countries.

English Professor Nancy West teachesAmerican crime films of the 1930s and1940s, which she considers especiallyappropriate to teach in an English depart-ment.

“Many of the crime films are based onhardboiled literature or on tabloid stories,and the screen writers were often the

writers of the original stories or workedon the newspapers that originally pub-lished the stories,” West says.

“So the genre raises fascinating ques-tions about the dissemination of stories,such as what happens when a story movesfrom tabloid to film. It’s also a genre thatfrequently demonstrates a fascinationwith the pleasures of language.”

For language students, there’s an addedbonus to the study of cinema. While ana-lyzing films from a linguistic point of view,they also improve their ear trainingthrough film dialogue such as I conti nontornavano.*

*Translation from La Dolce Vita:“There was a mistake in the bill.” This isthe equivalent of “Nobody’s perfect” fromSome Like it Hot, and it has the sameeffect. It’s the last line. The audiencealways cracks up and sits there laughing asthe lights come up.

Even the lazy sounds of a summer night are filledwith communication. Researcher Carl Gerhardt dis-covers that North American tree frogs are interest-ing conversationalists who add to his informationon sound patterns.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CARL GERHARDT

Page 11: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 11

montage

VOILA! AMERICAN ART

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ADRIENNE

Hoard may not speak French fluently, but apparently her

paintings do. Hoard’s abstract art was selected for a

three-week exhibit in April as the openingexposition of the new Maison des États-Unis at the University of Caen in Basse-Normandie.

The university established the culturalcenter to introduce the French to the workof American artists through annualexhibits. Speakers at the opening cere-monies called the center a “window on theUnited States in our region.”

Certainly, the French know how to cel-ebrate such an event. Hoard’s one-personart show of 16 pieces was feted with achampagne reception in the Palace ofWilliam the Conqueror, where she wassurrounded by dignitaries.

“This opportunity offers me an openinginto the European community,” Hoardsays. She has exhibited previously in Italy,South Korea and South Africa.

Hoard was pleased to note that fellowpainter and friend Manuel Hughes, whoholds an MU master’s degree from 1965,was on hand for the opening festivities.Hughes and family took the bullet trainfrom Paris to Caen to attend.

Hoard and Hughes met in New YorkCity in 1974 when Hoard received a grantfrom the New York State Council on theArts and Hughes was working in NewYork. “We becamegood friends and com-municated frequentlyas home folks fromMissouri,” Hoardsays.

Following theopening exhibition,large posters ofHoard’s work wereauctioned to facultyand staff.

At the opening of her three-week exhibit of art in France, Adrienne Hoardwas delighted to encounter longtime friend and MU alumnus ManuelHughes, a painter living in Paris. Hoard’s abstract work, at left, included16 pieces.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ADRIENNE HOARD

Page 12: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

montage

BUILDING STORIES

BEFORE HE COMMITTED HIMSELF TO

art and architectural history, KeithEggener wanted to write novels. A

summer internship spent researching andworking on a 19th century house turnedhim on to a career in architectural history.

Now an assistant professor of art andarchitecture, much of Eggener’s appetitefor acquiring knowledge through researchrevolves around objects as material culture.

“Understanding the strangeness of thepast can help us keep a perspective on ourselves by showing that much of whatwe regard as natural is culturally con-structed,” he says. The artifacts also serve as a reminder that “We too will seemodd to people just a few generations downthe line.”

Architecture not only represents soci-ety and history to Eggener, it helps shapethem. To explore his view, he beganresearching public space in American

cities as well as architecture and death. After living in Las Vegas, Eggener

noticed how public space increasinglyturned into semipublic space, such as hotel lobbies, restaurants, theme parksand shopping malls. He then looked at how public space in many cities has dimin-ished. “Without public space, a countryloses its foundation of democracy,”Eggener says.

His recent research examines architec-ture and death. Eggener is trying to coverevery perspective of death, ranging fromcemeteries and haunted houses to concen-tration camps and what he calls “thememorialization of architecture.”

In other research, Eggener has studiedarchitect Luis Barragan, considered themost influential Mexican architect of the20th century.

Eggener wanted to tell the storiesbehind the Gardens of El Pedregal, the1,250-acre residential subdivisionBarragan built in 1945 south of MexicoCity. He traveled to Mexico City andGuadalajara, analyzed site remains andrummaged through archives in the UnitedStates, Mexico and Switzerland.

The work paid off when LuisBarragan’s Gardens of El Pedregal waspublished and garnered excellent reviews.Like those novels Eggener had hoped towrite, it tells a good story.

ANOTHER STEP

ALUMNUS TIM KAINE STEPPED UP

the political ladder in November2001 when the citizens of

Virginia elected him to the state’s secondhighest office. Lt. Gov. Kaine previouslyserved as mayor of Richmond, Va., and asa member of the city council there.

His MU mentor, retired economicsProfessor Whitney Hicks, bristled at thereports of Kaine’s victory in some EastCoast newspapers. They had listedKaine’s law degree from HarvardUniversity but neglected to mention his

1979 MU bachelor’s degree in economics.Hicks knows the benefits of a good foundation.

Kaine is a civil rights attorney whoentered public life and established a

12 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Keith Eggener’s writing and research interests com-bine in his new position as assistant editor of TheBuildings of the United States. The 58-volumeseries is co-produced by the Society of ArchitecturalHistorians and by Oxford University Press.

PHOTO BY SARAH BECKING

Page 13: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

montage

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 13

record of achievement through his work asa public official in Richmond.

GREAT SCOTT SCHOLARSHIP

IN A ROOM FILLED WITH MOVIE POSTERS

of George C. Scott’s work, seniorCharles Willis heard the announce-

ment Oct. 8 that he was the first recipientof the George C. Scott MemorialScholarship in the theatre department.

A surprised Willis walked to the frontof the room, where he accepted a framedcertificate and a handshake from anotheractor — Scott’s son, Campbell Scott.

Scott, who is also a director and pro-ducer, visited campus as an artist in resi-dence in the theatre department andattended a campus showing of his filmHamlet. He made the scholarship presen-tation on behalf of the Episcopal Actors’Guild of New York, which led the fund-raising efforts for the scholarship endow-ment. Mart Hulswit, executive director ofthe guild, says he expects the number ofscholarships to increase as donations to theScott memorial continue to arrive.

George C. Scott, who died in 1999, hadhis first role on the MU stage in 1950 andmade his film debut in 1959 in TheHanging Tree. He won an Oscar for hisportrayal of Gen. George S. Patton in the1970 classic Patton. Among his most mem-orable television roles was his 1984 inter-pretation of Scrooge in A ChristmasCarol.

The announcement of Willis’ awardreceived a burst of applause from the the-atre students assembled. A National MeritScholar from Racine, Wis., Willis won anAmerican College Theater FestivalMeritorious Achievement Award inJanuary 2002 for lighting design for IDream of Flying. He has starred innumerous MU plays, including Truckers,which played at the York Theatre in NewYork as part of the 2002 Mizzou onBroadway showcase.

Willis plans to pursue a master’s degree

in fine arts and a professional career intheatre.

The Scott Scholarship is the second the-atre scholarship that carries a recognizedbox-office name. Tom Berenger, AB ’71theatre, established a scholarship that hasbeen awarded for several years.

MESSAGE FROM QATAR

DURING A THREE-MONTH TOUR OF

duty in Afghanistan, alumnusCol. Tom Hulsey flew into

Bagram, Afghanistan, on a night resupplymission in the combat zone. He was hold-ing a Mizzou flag and calls the action “astatement” from the “Al Udeid, Qatar,Chapter” of the MU Alumni Association.

Hulsey is vice commander of the 379Air Expeditionary Wing in Qatar and waspart of the most active air refueling wingin the Southwest Asia theater. The unitflew airplanes over Afghanistan in supportof Operation Enduring Freedom combatmissions.

While living in tents 7,000 miles fromhome and working 14- to 16-hour days,Hulsey says he never heard a complaintfrom the 1,800 airmen and officers whoform the 379th, even during June and July,when temperatures surpassed 120 degreesin the shade.

A 1974 graduate, Hulsey spent fouryears in MU’s Air Force ROTC programand was commissioned throughDetachment 440. The flag Hulsey carriedover Afghanistan belongs to Lt. Col. MarkBentele, medical group commander at AlUdeid. Bentele attended MU as an under-graduate for three years, then took earlyadmission to dental school at theUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City.

Aerospace Studies Chair Col. A.J.Briding invited Hulsey to Mizzou’sHomecoming Oct. 26 and was delightedwhen the C-130 pilot agreed to attendactivities sponsored by the program.

Charles Willis, left, accepts a congratulatory hand-shake from actor Campbell Scott, son of the lateGeorge C. Scott. Willis is the first recipient of theGeorge C. Scott Memorial Scholarship in the theatredepartment.

PHOTO BY CHRIS DETRICK

Page 14: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

montage

14 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

UNIVERSAL INTERESTIN A GALAXY FAR AWAY

THE PLANETS WERE ALIGNED. THE

telescopes were positioned.Jupiter would pass close to the

light coming from a quasar. With those ele-ments in place, an international team ofastronomers led by physics AssociateProfessor Sergei Kopeikin was ready for agroundbreaking experiment.

Such a planetary alignment in distantgalaxies that was to occur on Sept. 8,2002, would not happen again for anotherdecade.

The team had a chance to test AlbertEinstein’s theory that the speed of gravityis equal to the speed of light at 186,000miles per second, something that has neverbeen proven. The speed of gravity has goneunmeasured since Einstein devised hisfamous equations in 1916 because scien-tists previously didn’t have the propertechnology.

About two years ago, Kopeikin pre-sented his idea to use the alignment ofJupiter and a collection of quasars to mea-sure the speed of gravity, and his ideaquickly caught on.

Kopeikin and colleagues used a net-work of radio telescopes around the worldto obtain a “stereo” collection of gravityfield distortion caused by the propagationof gravity effect. They used equipmentlocated in New Mexico, the Virgin Islands,Hawaii and Germany to watch as lightfrom Jupiter tugs at light streaming pastfrom a distant quasar.

Media across the country and aroundthe world carried news of the unique project. Kopeikin was surprised at thenumber of reporters worldwide who con-tacted him.

In January, Kopeikin reported theresults: “We have determined that gravi-ty’s propagation speed is equal to the speedof light within an accuracy of 20 percent.”The scientists found that Einstein was on

target but had neglected to include a slightbending of radio waves in his calculations.

In the future, scientists can use thisresearch for technological improvementsin such areas as telecommunications andspace navigation.

Take a minute to tell us how we’re doing. We value your comments because we wantMosaics magazine to be the best it can be.

1. How would you rate the overall quality ofMosaics magazine?■■ Excellent ■■ Good ■■ Fair ■■ Poor

2. What kinds of articles would you like to see inMosaics magazine? Check all that apply:■■ Teaching ■■ Research■■ MU experts on national issues ■■ Nostalgia■■ Student life ■■ Alumni profiles ■■ Updates on Columbia and campus life■■ Other _____________________________

3. If you could change one thing about Mosaicsmagazine, what would it be? ______________

___________________________________

Name _______________________________

Spouse’s name _________________________

Address ______________________________

City_____________State ____ZIP ________

Home address _________________________

Business address ________________________

Phone _______________________________

Student ID number______________________

E-mail address _________________________

■■ Send information about the MU AlumniAssociation.

■■ Update my address.

■■ Please take me off the Mosaics mailing list.

Tell Us What You Think

Return to Mosaics magazine, 317 Lowry Hall, Columbia, MO 65211.

E-mail comments to the editor at [email protected]

Astronomers worldwide watched the skies on Sept.8 as a team of researchers led by Sergei Kopeikinconducted an experiment to test Albert Einstein’stheory on the speed of gravity.

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

Page 15: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

montage

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 15

Name _________________________

______________________________

Address _______________________

______________________________

City/State/ZIP __________________

______________________________

E-mail address __________________

______________________________

Class year ______________________

Student # ______________________

Phone _________________________

Spouse attended MU.

Spouse’s name ___________________

______________________________

Make your check payable to: MU Alumni Associationor charge

Visa MasterCard DiscoverCard # ________________________

Expiration _____________________

Signature ______________________(Required for credit card use)

Check your membership status on the mailing label. If you are a nonmember,

return to Alumni Association Membership,123 Reynolds Center, Columbia, MO. 65211

or fax to (573) 882-5145

J O I N

Individual, Annual ........... $35Individual, 65 or older ...... $25Mr. and Mrs., Annual ....... $50Mr. and Mrs.,65 or older ... $35

A portion of your membership dues helps fund the Collegeof Arts and Science.

Show your support of A&S byjoining the MU Alumni Association.

AN

Alumni of the Year Award •Gary A. Tatlow, AB ’62 psychol-

ogy, JD ’64, and Marilyn SilveyTatlow, AB ’62 French, advocates of thearts and benefactors of Mizzou onBroadway. Their support helped create aunique literary-theatre showcase thatprovides MU student playwrights andactors an affiliation with the YorkTheatre in New York City.

Distinguished Alumni•Helgi Gunnlaugsson, MA ’85,

PhD ’92 sociology, nationally known inhis native Iceland as a scientist, educatorand expert in social issues. He is active inthe policy and legislative process inIceland, where he serves on theScandinavian Council of Criminology.

•Christopher A. Jensen, BJ ’89,MA ’91 communication, internationalmodel based in New York City with theFord Agency. With the assistance of 18agents in 11 countries, he has worked forPolo Ralph Lauren, Versace, NiemanMarcus, Saks Fifth Avenue,Bloomingdales, Macy’s and Eddie Bauer.

•Kathryn N. McFarland, MA ’71,PhD ’76 chemistry, divisional vice presi-dent of Synthroid for AbbottLaboratories. She is one of the fewwomen executives in the pharmaceutical-chemical industry and is known as amentor who paves the way for women inscience and management.

•Sandra W. Rackley, BS Ed ’59,MA ’60 speech and drama, dean ofundergraduate studies at Florida StateUniversity. An educator for more than 30years, she is a recognized expert on inter-racial-intercultural communication.

•Joseph W. Westphal, PhD ’80political science, chancellor of theUniversity of Maine System, former act-ing secretary of the Army and formerassistant secretary of the Army, wherehe directed the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers. He previously worked assenior policy adviser for water at theU.S. Environmental Protection Agencyand was a senior member of theWashington law firm Patton Boggs, LLP.

•Gary Williams, AB ’73 biologicalsciences, MD ’78, MA ’79 medical physi-ology, practices medicine in the ruraltown of Hawkinsville, Ga., where heprovides cardiology and internal medi-cine services to that underserved area of4,154 residents. He previously workedin clinical pharmacology with theSquibb Institute for Medical Research.

Distinguished Service•Joseph E. Warden, BS BA ’67

accountancy, and Linda C. Warden,benefactors of Tiger Spot, the glass-tilemosaic installed in Lowry Mall. Theirsupport helped Paul Jackson, MFA ’92,and art students create Tiger Spot andopen the project to children and adultvolunteers as a community art event.

Honorary Alumni•Christopher “Kit” Bond, United

States Senator and former governor ofMissouri, who has become a champion ofthe life sciences in this state and on thiscampus.

A&S Awards 2001

A&S Award recipients, from left, are Marilyn andGary Tatlow, Joseph Westphal, ChristopherJensen, Kathryn McFarland, Gary Williams,Sandra Rackley, Helgi Gunnlaugsson, and Lindaand Joseph Warden. Not pictured is U.S. Sen.Christopher Bond.

PHOTO BY ERNIE GUTIERREZ

Page 16: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

16 WINTER 2003

Students, faculty and alumni will present a gift to the nation in May withthe world premiere of Corps of Discovery: A Musical Journey. MU com-missioned and is producing the original musical drama to commemoratethe Lewis and Clark expedition. Concert versions of the work receivedstanding ovations at the Kennedy Center, in Weill Recital Hall atCarnegie Hall and at national Lewis and Clark bicentennial activities inCharlottesville, Va.

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

Page 17: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

DISCOVERY THROUGH EXPLORATION

is a journey all students take. AtMU, young singers on the cusp of

discovery have found a unique adventurein music.

After two years of creation, planning,practice and early appearances, MU’sCorps of Discovery will make its worldpremiere May 2, 3 and 4 at the MissouriTheatre in Columbia.

The decision to mount this productionwas a watershed moment for MU’s Schoolof Music and Department of Theatre.Universities — even those with largemusic programs — don’t normally under-take projects of this magnitude.

Using its own students, faculty andalumni who are opera professionals, MUcommissioned and is producing thenation’s musical drama featuring theLewis and Clark expedition.

“The members of the Lewis and Clarkexpedition played a significant role inshaping American history,” says AssistantProfessor and Artistic Director PamelaLegendre, “and Corps of Discovery pro-vides an entertaining musical forum forrediscovering that journey.”

The strength of the project rests in thedepth of the collaboration: Voices by MUShow-Me Opera; orchestra and artistic

direction by the School of Music; sets,staging and costumes by the Departmentof Theatre; and checks for historical accu-racy by professors in the departments ofhistory and anthropology.

MU commissioned composer MichaelChing, artistic director of OperaMemphis, and librettist Hugh Moffatt ofPullman, Wash., to write the score andtext.

Their new composition falls into agenre called musical drama, which crossesthe traditional lines of opera and musicaltheatre. With music that is melodic, mem-orable and at times complicated, Corps ofDiscovery broadens the artistic reach ofthis University.

Ching shakes his head in disbelief atthe connections MU used to book concertperformances on prestigious nationalstages and in Missouri at the Governor’sMansion. Concert versions presented inMarch at Carnegie Hall and at theKennedy Center drew standing ovations.

Julia Stemper, project manager for theKennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, saysthe “extraordinary performance” thereattracted double the audience expected fora weekday evening. “The audience of 800people was as entranced by the opera as Iwas,” she says.

Legendre calls the musical drama“striking and impressive,” with “pro-found musical moments.”

As part of MU’s collaboration withprofessional opera, Ching has worked asscholar in residence with music composi-tion students, and Moffatt with theatre

students interested in writing for perfor-mance.

Both composer and librettist are enjoy-ing what they call “unprecedented” col-laboration with professors of music,theatre, history and anthropology, and thesupport of University administrators.“This type of collaboration, particularlywith theatre and music, is rare andrefreshing,” Ching says.

Ask Ching if Corps of Discovery islikely to be the next Les Misérables, andhe’ll smile, letting you make an assump-tion. He’s more likely to offer a compari-son to West Side Story, but it’s obviousthat Corps of Discovery is America’sstory set to music, and that Ching wouldlove to see it performed nationally in operaand musical theatre venues.

HISTORY CELEBRATEDIN WORDS AND IN SONG

Corps of Discovery was a militaryexpedition. If these men were inmusic class, they would have sung

together,” Legendre says to her assembledsingers during a practice session as theperformers finish slightly off beat.

Her humor relieves the tension at theend of a lengthy rehearsal. Practices arefun, but they are serious business, too.There’s an electricity in the air becausethe alumni singers have returned to cam-pus in the principal roles, and they singfull voice with the company of undergrad-uate and graduate students. The studentsare obviously enjoying the interaction

“You don’t expect to find this depth of quality singing at a small music school.” — Michael Ching, composer

Rediscovering Lewis and Clark in Music

Corps of Discovery:A Musical Journey

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

The principal singers from Act 1 of Corps ofDiscovery enjoy the surroundings of Carnegie Hallafter their concert performance. They are RyanMacPherson, left, as Meriwether Lewis, DeanSouthern as William Clark, Kory Bickel as JohnPotts and Neal Boyd as York. PHOTO BY NANCYMOEN

B y N a n c y M o e n

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 17

Page 18: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

18 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

with professionals. Tenor Ryan MacPherson, BES ’97, as

Capt. Meriwether Lewis uses his voiceand posture to convey authority on stage.A few measures into his singing, listenersunderstand why MacPherson’s résumé isso extensive for such a youthful performer.His strong voice easily carries above thecompany ensemble. MacPherson is a vet-eran performer of numerous opera compa-nies, most recently with New York CityOpera.

Lewis’ exploration counterpart, Capt.William Clark, is played by DeanSouthern, MM ’93, a seasoned performerwho teaches voice and opera at theUniversity of Akron and is workingtoward a doctoral degree. Southern’screamy baritone and gentle stage personamark Clark as a compassionate leader ofthe Corps. In his position as captain, Clarkknows how to keep the men on task. Hesings an order — “For one week, nowhiskey for them” — that routinely gath-ers chuckles from the audience.

Two recent music graduates, tenor NealBoyd, 2000, and baritone Kory Bickel,2002 — both winners of national colle-giate vocal championships as MU students

— sing featured roles. Boyd plays Clark’s slave, York, with a

dignity that tugs at the heart. In themelodic “York’s Aria,” Boyd sings abouthis childhood as a playmate of Clark andabout his eventual realization that he is aservant, not a free man. In the role, Boydbalances MU’s production with his sched-ule as a graduate student at the NewEngland Conservatory of Music in Boston.

Bickel juggles the MU practice and per-formance schedule while working towarda master’s degree at Indiana University,where he won a role in that university’sfirst opera of the season. In Corps ofDiscovery, he sings the role of John Potts,a German-born member of the Corps whodisplays the potential for conflict amongthe Corpsmen with their varied ethnicbackgrounds.

Bickel appreciates the bond the stu-dents have formed with the alumni. “It’swonderful to work with professionals insuch a close setting,” he says. “We workwith them in rehearsals and concerts, rideon buses and planes with them. We havemade connections that we will take withus everywhere. Do you know how benefi-cial that is to students, performing a new

work in New York and Washington, D.C.?You don’t do that at all schools.”

A STORY OF DISCORDAND HARMONY

Some of the finest moments of thismusical drama appear in its por-trayal of the discord and harmony of

life among the members of the Corps andthe tribes they encountered.

Act 2 features Sacagawea and membersof her nation and other tribes. Mezzo-soprano Alicia Miles, a senior vocal perfor-mance major, and soprano ChristinaBonsall, BM ’02 vocal performance, sharethe role of Sacagawea. Miles spent thesummer singing in productions at SeagleMusic Colony in New York; Bonsall is amaster’s student at Indiana University.Through music, the two women conveySacagawea’s dilemma of living with herown people and justifying her help withthe Corps.

There’s unexpected humor in this river

Clay Baker, left, Neal Boyd and Dean Southern per-form Act 1 from Corps of Discovery on stage inWeill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. The Show-MeOpera troupe of students and alumni received astanding ovation.

PHOTO BY PAUL JACKSON

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

Page 19: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 19

saga, too. Laughter ripples through theaudience during a celebration at the St.Louis tavern known as La Tigresse (anearly reference to Missouri’s fascinationwith tigers). Stories told by the returningmembers of the Corps enlighten the audi-ence to an embarrassing wound sufferedby Lewis, who was mistakenly shot in thehindquarters by one of his own men.

Judging by applause, early audiencesfelt a strong affection for the duet byLewis and Clark who are joined by thespirited company in “The River.” Thesong celebrates another star of this pro-duction — the Missouri River.

Like the movement of that river, Corpsof Discovery is setting its own course forthe future. A concert version performedJan. 17 in Charlottesville, Va., helpedopen the national Lewis and Clark bicen-tennial.

The Missouri Department of Tourism ispromoting the musical drama as Missouri’scontribution to the Lewis and Clark com-memoration. Ching and Moffatt expectthe premiere to attract music writersnationally as well as representatives ofmusic publishing firms. And OperaAmerica requested two full productions onJune 13 and 15 for its national conventionin St. Louis. That performance atMissouri Baptist University is open to the public.

Fortunately, a musical work doesn’tend with a premiere. MU will continue touse this unique achievement to attract thestate’s and nation’s finest student musi-cians because, as Bickel says, not allschools undertake such nationally visibleprojects.

And because learning is a journey ofdiscovery.

PHOTO BY BRIAN KRATZER

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

After superb auditions, Christina Bonsall, left, andAlicia Miles learned they would share the role ofSacagawea. Bonsall graduated in May and is a mas-ter’s student at Indiana University. Miles is a juniorwho recently won her division of the state NationalAssociation of Teachers of Singing competition.

Page 20: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

THINK OF THE MODERN MUSICALS

of Broadway and the images thatevoke their music: Phantom of

the Opera has its half mask and dungeonhideaway, Lion King its stylistic animalsand Les Misérables a street urchin andbarricade.

As set designer for Corps of Discovery,theatre Professor Patrick Atkinson facedthe challenge of creating a memorable setto fit the rather small stage of the MissouriTheatre and evoke symbolism for theopera. With a company of 30 singers onstage and 30 instrumentalists in theorchestra pit, there isn’t much room forscenery.

Atkinson needed a set that would workwith the continuity of the production and“maintain the pace.” Because the musicaldrama itself runs about 2 1/2 hours inlength, he wanted to conserve time byeliminating set changes. That ruled outany sweeping landscapes to depict loca-tions.

Instead Atkinson designed a setstraight out of the pages of history, usingthe map that Meriwether Lewis himselfhad drawn. The Missouri River and theroute of the Corps of Discovery form thebackdrop of this opera.

To indicate the changes in locale,

Atkinson uses props. Bar stools, tables,barrels and crates set the scene for Act 1 ata tavern in St. Louis. Squash-drying rackstransport the audience to the NativeAmerican camp in Act 2. Flags and othervisuals in Act 3 mark the return of Corpsof Discovery to Washington, D.C., at theend of the voyage.

Staying with this abstract theme, cos-tume designers James Miller and KerriPackard also looked for simplicity.

“The telling of the story should be atheatrical experience,” Miller says of theopera set and costume design.Audiences have to bring their imagi-nations and be a part of it. This isnot a movie.”

Miller, who alsodirects the staging,says St. Louis in the1800s was the“outpost ofnowhere”with just 725inhabitantsand certainlynot a place offashion. Act 1 opensat the tavern — La Tigresse— where members of theCorps gather after their voyage tointeract with the local citizens.

Although the Empire clothingstyle was in vogue in Europe, Millersuspects that few St. Louisians ormembers of the Corps had access to thelatest fashions. He will dress the com-pany in clothing variations ranging from1795 to 1804. Buckskin, fringe and

beading will be in greater evidence thanthe raised waistlines of the Empire period,and, like the set design, the costumes willbe subtle, tending toward the abstract.

Theatre Sets the Stage

ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES MILLER

ILLUSTRATION BY PATRICK ATKINSON

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

Patrick Atkinson’s set design, left, features theMeriwether Lewis map. Costume designer JamesMiller envisions clothing, right, that can beadapted for singers who perform dual roles, such asNative Americans and St. Louis bar patrons.

20 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Page 21: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 21

History Shows thePast, Warts and All

IT’S OPERA. SOMEBODY HAS TO DIE,”history Professor Jeffrey Pasley says ofMeriwether Lewis in MU’s produc-

tion of Corps of Discovery. He was specu-lating about how the musical drama wouldtreat Lewis’ death on stage.

Pasley’s connection to the musicaldrama is academic. He is the chief adviserwho made sure Corps of Discovery stayedon course historically.

Pasley knows that the eyebrows of his-torians across the nation will go up at thethought of a musical drama about theLewis and Clark expedition. Historianstypically have reservations about showinghistory through pop culture. They agonizeabout issues of conquest, discovery andexploration with, as Pasley says, “whiteguys discovering things” that previouslyexisted.

Despite the flaws connected with the 1804 expedition across America,Pasley says it’s all right to treat theLewis and Clark story as a heroic eventas long as “we don’t sign off on every-thing they did.”

Because there are two distinct sides tothis story of exploration — that of the

Corps and that of the Native Americannations — there was potential for goingadrift with the story line.

Several advisers, including representa-tives of Shoshone, Mandan and Hidatsatribes, worked with librettist HughMoffatt. They helped to eliminate simplifi-cation of issues and to avoid the use ofclichés that distort reality.

Pasley searched for anachronisms. In anearly draft of the libretto, he found a ref-erence to someone as a “civil servant.”The civil service didn’t exist then, so thatpart of the dialogue was scratched.

Later, Pasley questioned oneCorpsman’s dream of settling down and

having a familywhen the voyageended. “A bittoo 21st cen-tury,” Pasleyconcluded. Buthe didn’t strikethe statementbecause “itcould have hap-pened.”

Therein liessome of thedilemma foradvisers — howmuch artisticliberty to allow.“With opera,you have thefreest hand,” Pasley says. “Remember,people are breaking into song here.”

While guarding against stereotypes,Pasley allowed latitude in elements of theLewis and Clark story that are unknown.One of those areas is the role ofSacagawea, the Native woman who helpedguide the Corps.

The composer and librettist acknowl-edge that their advisers have beenextremely tolerant of their portrayal ofSacagawea, which they describe as fic-tional. Pasley, in turn, was impressed withthe amount of material taken directly fromthe explorers’ journals.

Writing a historical libretto isn’t easy.Moffatt spent a year researching the expe-dition. He read about two dozen books onthe subject, interviewed numerous peopleand consulted his advisers to maintain theintegrity of the story.

Judging historical accuracy isn’t easyeither. Pasley began preparing for life as ahistory scholar in childhood, visiting his-toric sites with his grandfather, and heconfesses to being a “history nerd.”

Now a respected author, Pasley wroteThe Tyranny of Printers and for his effortearned kudos from the St. Louis Post-

Dispatch, which named it a “best book”of 2001. Tyranny explores the world ofnewspaper publishing 200 years ago,around the time Lewis and Clark pushedoff on their voyage of discovery.

In his work with the musical drama,Pasley checked some difficult facts that hecalls the “warts” of history: the confronta-tion of the Corps with Native Americans,the relationship of the United States gov-ernment and the tribes, and Clark’s own-ership of York, a slave who was the onlyunpaid member of the Corps.

Pasley gives the libretto good grades fortreating the cultural issues in as sensitive amanner as possible. The story, he says, ispolitically correct. “This is the last greatWestern story that people think is OK tolove. Sacagawea, a woman and NativeAmerican, is portrayed as a hero, andLewis and Clark went with the intentionof getting along.”

As for the staging of Lewis’ death?Well, no good storyteller would give awaythe ending.

Jeffrey Pasley used his knowledge of history tocheck the libretto of Corps of Discovery for itsaccuracy. The professor is known as a Jeffersonianexpert.

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

Page 22: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

22 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Lewis and ClarkSlept Here, But Not There

THE APRIL 2002 NATIONAL

Geographic magazine was a trea-sured issue that flowed like a

meandering river through the departmentsin the arts and sciences.

Capturing the attention of MU facultyand staff was the magazine’s public unveil-ing of a unique set of maps of the 1804Missouri River territory explored byLewis and Clark. The maps are the resultof diligent work in the labs of the geogra-phy department’s research and mappingunit, the Geographic Resources Center.

Assistant Director James Harlan andhis team — including 37 students — cre-ated the computer-generated maps thatshow the Missouri River as seen by Lewisand Clark. With the data collected and thecomputer technology, the maps are as accu-rate as yesterday’s information and today’stechnology can make them. Harlan saysthat the surveyor data measures in accu-racy to one link from the surveyor's chain,or 7.92 inches. That’s INCHES!

Cathy Salter of Columbia, a formerteacher of geography and history, wrotethe accompanying article from the per-spective of the 21st century. With elegantdescription, she reminded readers that theMissouri River of 1804 was a formidableand unfettered waterway coursing alongforested banks.

Although the topic may seem benign,the maps roiled the waters with contro-versy when Harlan’s depiction of theexploration route, especially the camp-sites, left some small towns high and dryin history.

It’s common knowledge that the config-uration of the rivers changed considerablyduring the 200 years after Lewis andClark. Harlan estimates that the

Mississippi River shifted east dramaticallyat the confluence with the Missouri River,by at least one or two miles.

His maps reproduce the course andislands of the Missouri and Mississippirivers in relation to the state of Missouri.While doing that, they show that sometowns initially presumed to be on the routewere never visited by the explorers. Newslike that can be upsetting for mayors plan-ning to put their communities on the mapwith bicentennial activities.

Harlan attests to the accuracy of hismaps and understands the angst of commu-nity leaders whose dreams of historiccampfires were extinguished with the newdocuments. “It’s community pride,” hesays. “These communities will have to re-evaluate some of the folklore to align withthe reality of what happened with Lewisand Clark.”

To re-create the route, Harlan usedinformation from various sources, includ-ing the explorers’ journal entries andsketches, 18th century French and

Spanish survey documents, as well as sur-vey notes from the General Land Officegathered a decade after Lewis and Clark.He added to that some modern three-dimensional relief and combined it withsatellite images showing land-cover infor-mation.

The data emerged as detailed images ofthe Missouri River in the early 1800s as itran throughout the region that nowencompasses Missouri, Illinois, Kansas,Nebraska and Iowa. And for 37 students,the project was an opportunity to partici-pate in geographic research and mappingthat has changed the course of history.

View the Lewis and Clark explorationmaps online at http://lewisclark.geog.mis-souri.edu.

Giving students experience in mapping was animportant part of Jim Harlan’s maps of the 1804Missouri River area that greeted Lewis and Clark.Publication of the maps in National Geographicmagazine was an added bonus.

PHOTO BY NANCY MOEN

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

Page 23: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

Wilderness Etchings

SOLVENTS, ACID AND INK PERMEATE

the air in Professor BrookeCameron’s classroom and studio

where she teaches print-making to art stu-dents who are learning the techniques oflithography, etching and wood cutting.

During her studio time, Cameron workson her own etchings — a collection oflandscapes from the Lewis and Clark jour-ney. It’s a subject that has fascinatedCameron most of her adult life.

A car ride on the Interstate 70 bridgespanning the Missouri River cemented herplans to create etchings of the line of bluffsat Rocheport, Mo. The expanded projectwill include views of most of the Corps ofDiscovery route through Missouri.

Etchings are multiple originals, eachhand-printed, signed and numbered by theartist. Cameron begins with a design thatshe works through a coating onto a metalplate. She exposes the plate to acid thateats into the metal and holds the ink.Prints can then be “hand-pulled” on apress.

Cameron’s etchings portray the landand water that welcomed Lewis andClark. For interest, she is adding some ofthe explorers’ own sketches to each piece.

Cameron surmises that most of the bet-

ter sketches she’s using were done byClark. The drawings Lewis made are notas exact.

“Some of the sketches have the charmof cave drawings,” she says. As an example,Cameron points to drawings of an Indianpictograph and an animal that is probablya goat. Both sketches look as though theycould have been taken from a cavewall.

Other drawings of a fish andof leaves are intricate and beauti-fully executed. A sketch of akeel boat used by the Corps ismeticulously drawn, butLewis’ profile of aNative American boy isout of proportion withthe boy’s eye placed toohigh on hishead.Cameron fitsher favoritesof the Lewisand Clarkdesigns —including the boy —into the blank spotsof the landscapeswhere the bouldersand vegetation end.

In addition to researching the explor-ers’ drawings through the Missouri StateHistorical Society, Cameron consulted MUgeographer Jim Harlan and Missouri con-servationist/historian James Denny andinvestigated the watercolors of Swissartist Karl Bodmer, who painted scenes

from theroute in the

1830s. Her respect

for the work ofthose men grew

as she gathered material.Harlan showed her the

route; Denny supplied datesand times; and Bodmer pro-vided inspiration. Now it

will take two ormore years for

Cameron tocomplete her

own journey ofdiscovery

through art.

To give layers of meaning to her etching, below,of a Lewis and Clark landscape, Professor Brooke

Cameron includes some of the explorers’ ownsketches, including the sketch of a Native Americanpictograph, above.

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 23

iscoveryD J o u r n e y s o f

Page 24: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

24 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

Life has been an uphill

climb for Professor Nancy

Flournoy. A statistician

with an international reputa-

tion, Flournoy is as adroit at

hiking mountains as she is at

making sense of mountains of

statistical research.

In her personal life, she has

her own Sherpa guide to direct

her over the geographic moun-

tains she faces. Among her

recent hiking conquests is the

Himalayan base camp of Mount

Anapurna, a hike from 3,000

to more than 13,000 feet.

It’s obvious that Flournoy

enjoys challenges. Ballet keeps

her agile. She doesn’t consider

hikes satisfying unless they

take 10 days. Mountainous ter-

rains draw her like a compass

needle seeks magnetic north.

The local hiking trails are barely a warm-up for sta-tistician Nancy Flournoy, who prefers hiking morechallenging routes with mountainous terrain. Theclinical trials she designs are equally as challenging.

THE PROBABILITYOFMOVINGMOUNTAINS

PHO

TO

BYSA

RA

HBE

CK

ING

Search the lengthy listof experienced, pub-lished statisticiansamong the academicgroups in NorthAmerica, and youmay find just fivewomen. Flournoy isone of the five.

Page 25: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 25

Still, the highest praise one can giveFlournoy is recognition that her statisti-cal models are elegant. As the new depart-ment chair in statistics, Flournoy joins the10 men and one woman who formMizzou’s small but impressive unit.*

Flournoy is at ease teaching, research-ing and speaking as an expert in an areadominated by men. As a statistician, she isknown internationally for her innovativework in sequential experimental design.In layman’s terms, that means she helpsresearchers design statistical methods forclinical trials.

For the classical model used in trials,researchers assign proven treatments tosome patients and new treatments to oth-ers, then compare the results. The twotreatment regimens, for example, are acombination of drugs and radiation, withthe dosages, rates and schedule fixed.Everyone on one treatment arm gets thesame combination.

“It’s a carry over from agriculturalexperiments, which gave birth to the fieldof statistics,” Flournoy says of the method.“You plant in the spring and harvest in thefall.”

But because patients come into a studyone at a time, researchers often prefer touse the information as it develops. “Wewant to change the type of treatment wegive — dosages perhaps — as the studyprogresses,” she says.

In Flournoy’s sequential model, treat-ment combinations are likely to change. Asinformation surfaces, the dosages may bemodified to optimize treatment accordingto what is best for the patient. Flournoycontrols the chances of error through theuse of mathematical algorithms.“Statistical methods are designed to con-trol your chances of being wrong,” shesays.

Sometimes, as in the recent case of the

clinical trials on hormone replacementtherapy, the treatment stops early, whichmay be more efficient and better for thepatient.

NOBEL CONTRIBUTIONThe most memorable clinical trials thatFlournoy designed were for the bone mar-row transplant team of E. DonnallThomas at the Fred Hutchinson CancerResearch Center in Seattle. Her biostatis-tics work there played a significant role inthe transplantation research that laterearned Thomas a Nobel Prize.

After a series of clinical trials, Flournoycompleted a retrospective of the trialmethods. That look back is what moti-vated her to develop experimental designsto produce improved methods.

Flournoy’s methods are highlyregarded by her peers. Valerii V. Fedorovof GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals, alsoa distinguished researcher in experimentaldesigns, calls her work “mathematicallyelegant.” He says her results will have animpact on many important, practical prob-lems in the drug-development industry.

Flournoy is a sought-after speaker atnational and international conferences insuch locations as Hungary, Spain,England, Croatia, France, Russia, Wales,Mexico and India. She presented the open-ing address for and ran the joint confer-ence on multiple statistical integration forthe American Mathematical Society andthe Institute of Mathematical Statistics. She holds the title of Fellow in five scien-tific organizations, is an elected member ofthe International Statistical Institute andserves as associate editor for the Journalof Statistical Planning and Inference andfor Communications in Statistics.

In August, Flournoy left a position atAmerican University in Washington,

D.C., to lead Mizzou’s statistics depart-ment and to seek collaborative work withthe many life sciences and social sciencesresearchers at MU.

“I have broad interests and need anenvironment with stimulation from thesciences, medicine and other areas,” shesays. “It was time for me to find that.” Asa statistician seeking collaboration, sheunderstands the advantages of working ona campus known for its critical mass in lifesciences research.

While developing statistical contentacross the sciences at MU and lecturinginternationally, Flournoy has other goals.She wants to spread information about theexcellent quality of the statistics faculty.Finally, she will continue to serve as amentor to students — especially womenwho seek careers in statistics — so shewon’t be the only woman at the meetings.

Check These Statistics*Few small departments have as manydistinguished faculty members as MU’s statistics department. Of the12, two are Fellows of the American Statistical Association,three are Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, three areelected members of the International Statistical Institute, oneis a Fellow of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement ofScience, one is a Fellow of theWashington Academy of Science andone is a Fellow of the World Academyof Art and Science.

Page 26: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

26 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

PHOTO BY NANCY MOEN

Kory Bickel never dreamed he'd be preparing for a career in opera. He planned tobecome a vocal music teacher. Winning a national collegiate vocal championship changedhis major and his life. Mizzou on Tour will feature Bickel singing his award-winningrepertoire in a showcase performance March 22 in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Bickel Wins National Vocal Title

Page 27: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 27

KORY BICKEL REMOVES HIS TUXEDO

jacket and leans back against theconcert grand piano in

Whitmore Recital Hall as his baritonevoice envelopes the audience. The hall isfilled for Bickel's senior recital.

People have come to hear what anational collegiate vocal champion soundslike. Few who are gathered that eveningknow that hiding behind that champion'svoice is a young man who suffers from severe stage fright.

“I hate performing, but I love it morethan anything on earth,” Bickel says. Theoperatic vocalist had to conquer the symp-toms of stage fright — sweating, racingheart and even nausea — to win the vocalcompetition of the Music TeachersNational Association in March.

Bickel won the state of Missouri andregional championships, giving him entryto the quest for the collegiate title. Thatjourney began with an eight-hour car ridefrom Columbia to Cincinnati for nationals.

Bickel was exhausted when he arrived.He had just spent two weeks in intenserehearsals for the musical drama Corps ofDiscovery, participated in two perfor-mances and continued rehearsing for theapproaching national competition.

At his warm-up in Cincinnati, Bickel’svoice cracked on every piece. He was inagony. Thinking he wasn’t hydrated, hechugged water. He was powerless to stophis mind from centering on those voicecracks that are devastating to a performer.

Jo Ella Todd, Bickel’s vocal coach andmentor, who traveled to nationals withhim, advised her panicked student toremain silent for the evening. So Bickelstopped talking at 6 p.m. and resorted torehearsing his songs mentally. He usedonly hand signals and head nods to commu-

nicate.After 12 hours of sleep, he again drank

water — 12 to 15 bottles — and at 1 p.m.walked into the competition area to beginhis 35-minute repertoire. For the first timein the MTNA competition he would per-form for an audience rather than just ajudge.

He began singing, scanning the faces infront of him. The people were just fivefeet away, nearly close enough to touch. Asusual when he starts singing, his paniceased. He saw people smiling and noddingto the music. A woman in the back rowclosed her eyes as she listened, sending anemotional message that directly affectedhim. At that instant, he loved performing.

“I left everything in that room that Ipossibly could,” Bickel says of the perfor-mance. He knew he had done well.

INSPIRATIONBickel started as a freshman at Mizzouwith no formal vocal training. He’s theyoungest of five children in a familyheaded by a Baptist pastor and says therewasn’t extra cash available for splurgeslike voice lessons. To earn spending moneyin Columbia he sang as a cantor forCatholic and Lutheran churches in town.

The greatest inspiration in Bickel’smusic experience is Todd, whom he con-siders an extraordinary teacher and rolemodel. All the MU professors, he says, taketime to get to know their students, and“with Ms. Todd, compliments must beearned.” He knew that was good for him.

When Todd accepted Bickel as a newvocal student, she was pleased to have astudent with a “natural raw instrument,”one who didn’t need to be “untrained.”

She took him through the basics. At theend of that year, after Todd had taughthim to understand his voice, they startedbuilding. By his sophomore year Bickelhad enough confidence to change hisdegree from teaching to vocal perfor-

mance. In the summers he took lessons from

Associate Professor Ann Harrell to gainanother perspective. Todd, he says, taughtas a performer, Harrell as an educator.Bickel loved the mix.

He was encouraged by Todd’s interna-tional professional experience. She hadworked in Europe for much of her career,singing for 11 years with the Munich StateOpera and for six years with the SalzbergRegional Opera. As a vocal teacher, specif-ically of opera, she looks for young talentand enjoys “building a human being whocan take it.”

“I needed a good education from profes-sors who would teach in a warm, invitingatmosphere, and that’s what I got,” Bickelsays.

Bickel graduated in May 2002 with adegree in vocal performance and is pursu-ing a master’s degree at IndianaUniversity. In his first audition there, hefurther validated his national title by win-ning a role in Don Giovanni, Indiana’sopening opera of the season. Todd was inthe audience.

Kory Bickel, center, sings the role of John Potts at aconcert performance of Corps of Discovery in WeillRecital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Christina Bonsall asSacagawea is at right, and Ryan MacPherson,singing Capt. Meriwether Lewis, is at left.

Bickel's mentor Jo Ella Todd plays Rosina in a 1973production of The Barber of Seville with AssociateArtists Opera Company, now the Boston Lyric Opera.

Page 28: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

PHYSICS PROFESSOR PETER

Pfeifer is on to somethingthat could shake up theautomotive industry andreduce the nation’s dan-gerous dependency on Middle East oil.

While studying the internal structureof activated carbon, Pfeifer and his inter-national team of collaborators discoveredthat the material they created containedcarbon nanopores in the form of a highlyconvoluted network of uniform channelspenetrating the carbon.

Since the 1980s, scientists had thenotion that nanopores might exist, butthey had not proved that theory until now.Nanopores resemble small tunnels withstorage capability for molecular-size mate-rials. The labyrinth gives the tunnels ahigh storage capacity and facilitates rapidloading and unloading.

For the automotive industry, Pfeifer’sresearch on carbon nanopores is the earlywork that could produce a material used tostore fuel — such as methane — in alter-native fuel vehicles.

Much of the excitement surroundingthis research lies in the safety factor. Thecurrent method of storing methane is insteel cylinders under extreme pressure. Ifcylinders were used as fuel tanks for auto-mobiles, they could explode like a bomb ina collision.

“Our material would allow methane tobe stored at a safer, significantly lowerpressure, reducing the risk of an explosionif the vehicle were in an accident,” Pfeifersays. It is also lightweight, easy to manu-facture in large quantities and relativelyinexpensive.

Some scientists estimate that our planetcontains a 10,000-year reserve of cleaner-burning methane gas that could be har-nessed as an alternative energy source toreplace the gasoline used in internal com-bustion engines.

Pfeifer believes a commercially usablecarbon nanopore storage product formethane gas could be on the market in fiveto 10 years if this were made a nationalpriority. With retrofitting, it is possible,he says, for service stations to handlemethane storage and fueling for cars withfuel cells.

The carbon nanopore discovery waspublished in the March 2002 issue ofPhysical Review Letters, the journal ofthe American Physical Society. Since then,Pfeifer has been amazed at how well theword of his research has spread. Previousresearch in alternative fuels often metwith disinterest or even resistance. Pfeiferspeculates that the prospect of loweringthe nation’s dependency on foreign oil hashelped focus attention on the project.

The slowness in alternative fuel devel-opment, he says, “is not a lack of promis-ing technology. It’s due to a lack of strongeconomic and political driving forces.”

As science news organizations and thepopular press spread Pfeifer’s researchresults, the volume of his e-mails fromenergy companies and from organizationsinterested in alternative fuels expandsnationally and internationally.

“The idea has generated a lot moreinterest than I expected,” Pfeifer says. “Tomake a potential contribution in a majorbreakthrough for improving life on thisplanet doesn’t happen every day for aphysicist. I take great delight in being

Fuel for the Future“To make a potential contribution in a major breakthrough for improving life on this planet doesn’thappen every day for a physicist. I take great delight in being able to do that.” — Peter Pfeifer

28 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

B y N a n c y M o e n

Page 29: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

able to do that.” Pfeifer is also pleased with the national

and international collaboration he experi-enced. His research colleagues are cen-tered at the University of New Mexico,Edwards Air Force Base and Los AlamosNational Laboratory, and at scientificinstitutes in France and Spain.

When Pfeifer wrote the paper, his col-laborators, who produced the samples, sawthe big picture. Pfeifer is the theorist anddata analyst who, with FrançoiseEhrburger-Dolle in France, coordinated

the project. Working with computationsin such areas as X-ray scattering, gasabsorption and atomic-resolutionmicroscopy, he deduced from the data thespatial arrangement of the pores deeplyburied in the carbon.

Pfeifer is used to collaborative efforts inhis scientific research with fractal struc-tures. He spent the summer at Los AlamosNational Laboratory working on a biologi-cal physics project that could help preventlung disease.

With 10,000 scientists, engineers andsupport staff on site, the Los Alamos expe-rience was as thrilling for him as workingin Florence, Italy, is for an artist.

Art and Science Intersect

Peter Pfeifer’s daily world of atomsand neutrons changes a bit at din-ner each evening when his wife

asks for details about Peter’s day at theoffice. His explanations are artist-friendly, built on parallels to what anartist might notice.

It’s no coincidence that this scientistuses art metaphors to explain his work infractals — rough surfaces that mirroreach other in repeating patterns. Peter’swife, Therese, is an artist, and theiryounger daughter Helen, is an aspiringartist. During his summer research pro-ject at Los Alamos, Peter was accompa-nied by Therese and Helen, whoconvinced him to find living quarters inSanta Fe, the Florence of New Mexico.While Peter researched lung diseasethrough biological physics, mother anddaughter investigated the art world.

Therese’s work in portrait and land-scape art wins awards and exhibitionspace. Helen is a college art major whoseeyes don’t glaze over when her dad talksabout physics experiments in fractals.She’s considering combining her interestin art with a degree in physics.

Clearly, both the scientist and theartist can see the beauty of Pfeifer’sresearch.

To illustrate her husband’s scientific research innanopores and other fractals, Therese Pfeifersketched this portrait of him through the use ofrepeating patterns.

Peter Pfeifer is experiencing a growing interest inhis work on alternative fuel for automobiles.

PHOTO BY SARAH BECKING

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 29

Page 30: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

30 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

RESEARCHERS DON’T SET OUT TO

develop items like Doppler radaror a replacement for the light

bulb. They start by seeking answers toquestions through basic scientificresearch.

These researchers help improve ourlives by staying in the background withresearch so basic that it may have toremain unpatented — open to the scien-tific community.

They open doors by expanding theknowledge base and building a foundationfor applied research. Basic science, whichis almost entirely a university function,benefits society by exploring the tools thatmay develop new products.

Biology, chemistry and physics are theA&S units whose researchers do basic sci-ence affecting plants, animals, humanhealth, energy and the environment.Success stories from these units point tothe importance of fundamental experi-ments.

Investigations through MU’s chemistrydepartment resulted years ago in patentedmedications that relieve the pain of bonecancer. Chemist Jerry Atwood and co-

researchers William Orr and LeonardBarbour have discovered a method to con-trol the way molecules naturally form,which is considered a milestone by the sci-entific community. The new molecularbuilding blocks could act as refined drug-carrying systems to seek and destroyviruses in the body.

Also in chemistry, Associate ProfessorJack Tanner’s team of molecularresearchers has determined the shape of anantibody that could unlock new treat-ments for the disease lupus. Patients withlupus have unusual antibodies in theirblood. Tanner’s team studies the structureof these antibodies to learn the role theyplay and how they react and interact withDNA. Knowing the shape of an antibodyinvolved with lupus could lead to newpharmaceuticals to treat the condition.

In the biological sciences, Karen Coneand Mannie Liscum collaborate with col-leagues in other MU divisions to identifythe genetic code of maize. That interdisci-plinary collaboration in plant sciences isamong the strongest worldwide. The workmay result in vast improvements in planthealth leading to better food, increased

crop yields and less need for environmen-tally harmful pesticides.

Physics department researchers areexamining a class of organic and inorganicmaterials with potential applications fordeveloping efficient light sources and fordetecting cancer.

The most likely use of light sources willbe for displays in electronics, perhaps instereos, computers and movie screens, aswell as laser sources for compact informa-tion storage and retrieval. Because of thiswork, DVDs of the future will be able tohold eight times as much information asthey currently store.

Quite possibly, the same class of materi-als may work as replacements for the con-ventional light bulb. MeeraChandrasekhar, H.R. Chandrasekhar,Henry White and Kattesh Katti are theinvestigators who are bringing light to thiseffort.

The physicists also are doing researchthat crosses over into the medical field.New optical imaging techniques are beingdeveloped using molecules that selectivelyattach to cancer sites and form opticalantennae for detection by spectroscopy.

Be gin with Ba s i c Sc i e n c e

Door-Op e ningDiscoveriesTHE VISION THAT WILL LEAD TO THE NEXT

DISCOVERIES COMES FROM BASIC RESEARCH

ILL

LU

STR

AT

ION

BYC

ASE

YW

EN

DL

ET

ON

Page 31: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 31

Page 32: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

32 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

FINGERPRINTS ON THEFRONTIER

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

Page 33: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 33

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND THE

popular press have informedreaders about recent discover-ies in genomics. Scientists now

are able to produce maps marking theDNA of plants, animals and humans. Sowhat’s next?

Researchers are working in proteomics,the logical next step, which combines pro-tein research with genomics. Whilegenomics looks at all the genes comprisinga mouse or a human, for example, pro-teomics examines the proteins encoded bythe genes and their function in normal anddisease processes.

Through research, scientists are tryingto learn the correlation between genes andtheir corresponding proteins, whose func-tions and interactions determine every-thing about us from our hair color to ourbody tissue.

With detailed information on proteins,scientists will have a better chance of find-ing treatment options for human diseasessuch as cancer, Alzheimer’s and multiplesclerosis.

“MU will play a significant role in pro-teomics,” says Associate Dean MichaelO’Brien. He predicts that drug companiesand agricultural-products firms will invest

hundreds of millions in proteomicsresearch during the next decade.“Scientific groups that come to the fore-front will be those that can cut throughthe mass of information, identify key pro-teins, characterize them and figure outwhat they do,” he says.

Proteomics research is considered soessential that MU created a ProteomicsCenter in the Chemistry Building with acollection of equipment that doesn’t existat most state universities. Three roboticmachines and two mass spectrometers rec-ognize cells, separate the thousands of pro-teins found in cells and then do a digest ofthe proteins, dividing them into evensmaller pieces that can be identified. In asense, the equipment provides fingerprintsof proteins.

“It is a state-of-the-art facility in termsof ability to do proteomics research,” saysbiological sciences division Chair JohnDavid. “There aren’t many state institu-tions with this type of research in place.”

Some of MU’s key players are profes-sors in the biological sciences. ProfessorJohn Walker serves as head of the pro-teomics facility, and Professor StephenAlexander was first on campus to do pro-teomics research of any extent.

MU’s proteomics team is integratingbiology with analytical chemistry by com-bining protein separation and mass spec-trometry, a combination that Walker calls“highly unusual.”

Walker studies plant growth, examin-

ing phosphate groups that regulateprocesses. He is working to identify theprotein that allows phosphates to turnprocesses on and off.

“Genes are parts lists,” he says. “We’reconnecting that list to the functions. Inorganisms, we understand genes and wecan predict proteins, so we want to com-pare the reality to the predicted.”

Alexander investigates why cellsbecome resistant to drugs and determinesthe ability of cells to repair damage toDNA. Among the possible outcomes forAlexander’s work is the discovery of amethod to modify drugs so cells can’tbecome resistant, or to find other drugsthat will work. In his research on cancerdrugs, he is collaborating with ProteomeSystems Ltd. of Sydney, Australia.

Chemistry Associate Professor MichaelGreenlief joins the proteomics researchersin his role as director of MU’s MassSpectrometry Facility. As the enablingtechnology for proteomics, mass spectrom-etry gives researchers the ability to deter-mine the peptide fragments in a digestedprotein. Once the peptides are deter-mined, researchers can compare theresults to a theoretical digest of a proteinto make an identification.

Even with high-end research such asthis, plans evolve for the future. Onemight ask, when the proteomics mysteriesare solved, what new endeavors will drawresearchers? They will work on the nextwave — metabolomics.

In MU’s Proteomics Center, researchers such as JohnWalker and colleagues can immerse themselves inprojects to identify cell proteins. Assisting their pro-teomics research is a collection of sophisticatedrobotic machines and mass spectrometers.

Page 34: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

34 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

THE NO. 2 MAN AT CANTOR FITZGERALD DISCUSSES THE COMPANY’S

ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF SEPT. 11

CommitmentFirmPHOTO BY NANCY MOEN

Page 35: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 35

AFEW PROFESSORS

and students havean usual businesscard in their wal-lets, given to themby the No. 2 manat CantorFitzgerald. The

cards list Stuart Fraser’s address as 105thfloor, One World Trade Center.

Fraser, AB ’83 history, returned to hisalma mater in May 2002 to talk aboutbusiness strategies and about CantorFitzgerald’s commitment to the families ofits employees who perished at the TradeCenter.

Fraser survives because he had an off-site business meeting planned for Sept. 11.While eating breakfast in front of the tele-vision that morning, Cantor Fitzgerald’svice chairman learned that a plane hadcrashed into the twin towers housing hisoffice.

As he watched the grim news at 8:55and saw the early damage, Fraser’s pagerbeeped. He listened to the recorded voiceof his secretary asking for help: the officewas filling with smoke, and the workersneeded help getting out. Then she addedmore urgently, “Please send help.”

Fraser’s repeated calls never reachedher on the 105th floor of the World TradeCenter or other employees on floors 101through 105. At 8:46:47 the company

computers switched into their backup sys-tem, sending all trading through theLondon office. Cantor Fitzgerald waschanged forever.

“We had no calls from the 101st floor.We believe the people were taken outimmediately,” Fraser says. The averageperson lost to Cantor Fitzgerald was 36years old and had three children.

As the 2002 William Francis EnglishScholar in Residence, Fraser discussed

how and why business was able to proceedat Cantor Fitzgerald. Although he spokethe language of economics in class sessions,the human toll of Sept. 11 kept resurfac-ing, and with good reason. Fraser himselfhired many of the people who died. “Iknew everybody,” he says.

On the Monday before the tragedy,Fraser did what company founder BernieCantor had started as a tradition. Hewalked around to visit employees on allfloors of the business. Now the faces ofthose victims are burned in his memory.

Only 350 Cantor Fitzgerald employeessurvive. The brokerage firm lost 658 peo-ple that day, including one who died in a

hospital burn unit. As the rescue teams searched for vic-

tims and survivors, Fraser worked withCEO Howard Lutnick to determine whowas still living. At the same time, they hadto make tough business decisions. “Weneeded the company to survive,” he says.

Even before the tragedy, CantorFitzgerald took pride in being a people-ori-ented business with a history of annuallygiving 10 percent of its profits to charity.Providing assistance for the victims’ 658families was a logical step.

Lutnick, Fraser and the partnerspledged a minimum of $100,000, possiblyas much as $250,000, tax free from thecompany to each victim’s family. The firmalso pledged 10 years of free health care.Under that plan, the partnership is giving25 percent of its earnings to the survivingfamilies of victims.

The firm’s leaders knew too that therewere other casualties on the company’sfive floors that day: people who operatedthe cafe and shoe-shine services, visitors,the janitorial staff and 60 brokers from asmall, competing firm. Cantor Fitzgerald“adopted” all 200 of those families,awarding them the same benefits as thesurvivors of their own employees throughthe Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund.

Letters of condolence and support forthe firm arrived from all over the world.“It made a huge difference to have peoplesaying they’re behind us,” Fraser says.

Fraser, who started his career on WallStreet at age 21 and is credited withdeveloping the firm’s automated tradingsystem, eSpeed, says he has no regrets atfocusing on the company’s most importantassets — its people.

Letters of condolenceand support for the firmarrived from all over theworld. “It made a hugedifference to have peoplesaying they’re behind us,”Fraser says.

Alumnus Stuart Fraser returned to campus to speakto students about his work with brokerage firmCantor Fitzgerald. Students and reporters, such asMelissa Sheffler of KOMU-TV in Columbia, askedabout the firm’s loss of employees in the destructionof the World Trade Center.

Page 36: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

36 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

STUCK IN ISTANBUL ON A BACK-packing trip, John McHale was introuble. He had missed his flight

and couldn’t speak the language. When astranger noted his plight and helpedbecause it was “the human thing to do,”the lesson stuck.

While he was a doctoral student in thecommunication department, McHale ledan effort in 2001 and 2002 to prevent theexecution of a Missouri prisoner accusedof stabbing to death another MissouriState Penitentiary inmate in 1985.

McHale produced a documentary filmabout Joe Amrine’s unusual case becausehe considered it the human thing to do.Amrine had no history of harming anyone.He was serving a 15-year sentence for rob-bery, forgery and burglary, and all wit-nesses against him had recanted.

“If I turned my back on this case, Iwouldn’t be a conscientious humanbeing,” McHale says.

The film, Unreasonable Doubt: TheJoe Amrine Case, and the cause became apassion for McHale after he watched foot-age of a witness central to the case whorecanted his statement of Amrine’s guilt.

Eventually all three witnesses for the

prosecution said they lied about Amrine’sguilt. Two wanted protection from sexualpredators, which was offered by prisonofficials in exchange for their testimony.The third hoped to remove blame fromhimself by implicating Amrine.

Amrine’s attorney, Sean O’Brien ofKansas City, Mo., says he has never seen acase where the facts were so insufficientto warrant the death of a person. A prisonguard — the only witness with no prisonrecord — testified to Amrine’s innocencefrom the beginning. Now three jurors,including the jury foreman, say they con-victed the wrong man.

The film includes footage of the wit-nesses recanting their testimony. “There isclearly unreasonable doubt about thiscase,” McHale says. “I felt a moral com-pulsion to do something. I have the skill,the knowledge, the equipment and thepeople to work with.”

The people he asked to join him on theproject are Dan Huck, AB ’00 interdisci-plinary studies, and Ryan Wylie, AB com-munication ’01, an independent filmmakerand editor. They had been communicationstudents of McHale.

The film won second place in the

Documentary Open Division of theKansas Film Festival in June 2002. Withshowings in Kansas City, St. Louis,Columbia, Joplin and Springfield, Mo., ittargeted Missouri audiences, but the storyspread nationally and internationally. InEurope, it was featured on BBC NightlyNews in Great Britain and in the LondonIndependent.

The trio of filmmakers, who delivered acopy of the documentary to the MissouriGovernor’s Office and joined death-penalty protesters at the State Capitol,were named 2002 Peacemakers of the Yearby MU’s Peace Studies Program. Theyreceived the award at the film’s premierein Columbia.

Joe Amrine waits behind bars to learnhis fate.

Editor’s Note: McHale received hisdoctoral degree in May 2002 and took aposition in August as assistant professor ofcommunication at Illinois State Universityat Normal.

F I L M M A K E RPEACEMAKER

Looking through the lens, John McHale envisionedcreating a documentary film to tell the story of aMissouri prisoner on death row. McHale’s workearned him awards from a film festival competitionand a group of peacemakers.

Page 37: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

PHOTO COPYWRIGHT 2002 BY The Maneater.REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.

Page 38: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

AS VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL

manager of KMOX Radio in St.Louis, Karen Carroll’s decisions

affect listeners coast-to-coast. The stationreaches 44 states in clear-channel broad-cast every evening and holds a record fortop ratings by Arbitron.

Women executives in broadcastingwere generally unheard of in the 1980swhen Carroll, who attended MU in the1960s, stepped into management. Sheworked her way up after starting in salesand later running a multiple station clus-ter for EZ Communications.

Taking over at KMOX in 1998, Carrolldirected an astonishing growth in revenuefor the AM station that calls itself theVoice of America, Voice of St. Louis and,yes, grrrrr, Voice of the Tigers. With itsall-talk format, KMOX broadcasts MUbasketball and football games.

Under Carroll’s guidance, KMOX con-tinues to test innovative programs. Thestation offers what she calls unique mar-keting opportunities to clients by creatingspecial events, such as a Speakers Seriesand programs that both recognize andserve the community.

Her marketing strategies involve feel-good activities attractive to sponsors. Apopular sports project gives kids and dadsa chance to play catch on the Cardinals’field before a game. A student achieve-ment award recognizes high school stu-dents who are involved in theircommunity.

“We create a product that enricheslives and offers sponsorship opportuni-ties,” she says. Like her station’s recep-tion, Carroll’s philosophy is clear: providewhat listeners need and enjoy.

Carroll’s ideas spring from strong lis-tening and observation skills. “I’ve alwaysbeen a curious person who understands

people and their needs.’’ For this manager, the bottom line is not

only about making money — althoughshe’s obviously good at that. “We have tobe part of the current trends,” she says.“With plenty of choices out there, doingthings the same way isn’t necessarily thewinning way.”

There’s a strong sense of accountabilityin Carroll’s decision-making. The stationwent commercial-free for several daysafter Sept. 11 and again when coveringthe death of sports announcer Jack Buck.

In another demonstration of her man-agement style, Carroll shares credit with

colleagues for good work. She also sendsMU a thank you for assistance with pro-jects that involve collaborations with thejournalism school and the Harry S TrumanSchool of Public Affairs.

“Mizzou is so important to this commu-nity,” she says. “MU has a lot to offer usthat helps improve the product. We lovethe collaboration.”

38 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

All Talk, Action Too

MU alumni in 44 states can experience KarenCarroll’s work through their radios. Carroll is vicepresident and general manager of the St. Louis sta-tion that calls itself the Voice of America.

PHOTO BY ANNE WELLER

Page 39: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 39

SPONTANEOUS ALTARS

spring up likemushrooms along

roadways to mark the sitesof highway fatalities.They were abundant nearGround Zero and at thescene of Princess Diana’sfatal accident. Perhapsyou’ve noted that thememorial “altars” areappearing with greaterfrequency at sites oftragedies.

As memorials and asexpressions of grief, theyare a topic of interest toPaul Johnson, assistantprofessor of religious stud-ies and a historian of reli-gions with a focus onindigenous religions.Johnson views the use ofaltars as a “shared reli-gious grammar.”

In the wake of Sept. 11, Johnson started wandering around Ground Zeroout of curiosity and to pay respects. Hewent to the sites where officials wereerecting a viewing ramp and to some sitesless traveled.

On those back streets, he found clustersof items that people had left: candles, flags,teddy bears, photos, fruit, flowers and reli-gious icons, as well as written messagesand religious texts.

“In the various individual offeringsused to help leave grief behind, I noticed adramatic religious pluralism,” Johnsonsays. “People are trying to find a sharedway to communicate in spite of religiousdifferences.” He speculates that families ofvictims may have an enhanced need toexpress themselves through spontaneous

altars at the World Trade Center becauseof the lack of bodies and the horror of thedestruction.

Unlike formal memorial services, spon-taneous altars are unorchestrated andunofficial, helping to focus emotions andmemory.

Many offerings Johnson spotted are sec-ular in theme. Symbols of pop Americana,such as Mickey Mouse balloons, T-shirtsand caps with high school and universitylogos, sports memorabilia and even colorfulpinwheels, grace some sites. These hands-on religious enactments are not new toreligious expression in America.

“In the broadest sense, we all use mate-rial objects to remind us of the past and toorient us to the present,” he says. “If youhave a fireplace mantle filled with objects

that you carefully dust,you have, in one sense atleast, an altar.”

According toJohnson, the sponta-neous altars show aninteraction with gods orancestors and serve as anattempt to bring memo-ries of the past to bearon problems of the pre-sent. As a side effect,they may also generateunity because the partic-ipants can share anaction even if they haveradically different theo-

logical views.Johnson appreciates the richness of

those differences. Among the religions hestudies are Afro-Brazilian Candomblé —related to Haitian Voodou and CubanSanteria — and the ancestor religion ofthe Afro-Honduran Garífuna. He is theauthor of a newly published book, Secrets,Gossips and Gods: The transformation ofBrazilian Candomblé.

As a scholar, Johnson examines whatthe religions mean to the people and soci-eties he studies.

And in his office, he has assembled can-dles, icons, Garífuna rhythmic instrumentsand Native American symbols. The collec-tion of mementos reminds him of his workand of the people he has met. He considersit a spontaneous altar.

Spontaneous AltarsA visit to Ground Zero inNew York City increased PaulJohnson’s interest in thestudy of spontaneous altarsas expressions of grief. In hisown office, he displays a col-lection of mementos thatserve as a spontaneous altar.

HOW PEOPLE COMMUNICATE THEIR SHARED GRIEF IN SPITE OF RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

PHOTO BY DAN GLOVER

Page 40: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

40 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

So Students Can So

Page 41: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 41

Imagine the storage issues that con-front Thomas Soapes, who headsone of the nation’s most importantarchives. Under his charge are 1.7

million photos, 20,000 films and videos,and nearly 11,000 cubic feet of technicaldrawings and manuscripts.

Soapes directs the management of his-toric materials at the National Air andSpace Museum in Washington, D.C.“We’re highly selective,” he says of thedecisions involved in working with anenormous quantity of materials.

Researchers worldwide use the archivalmaterial that is selected for its uniquenessand historical significance. They rangefrom schoolchildren doing reports tosenior scholars.

But when Soapes met with an MUdevelopment representative, it wasn’t pub-lic acquisitions he wanted to discuss. Hehad a plan to invest some personal finan-cial holdings where the funds could besthelp A&S students.

Soapes, BS Ed ’67, MA ’69, PhD ’73history, directed that $1 million of hisestate be used for scholarships in the artsand sciences. The testamentary gift cre-ates the Thomas F. Soapes ScholarshipFund for students “who exhibit academicpromise.”

Soapes’ experience at MU — the acade-mics and the interactions with a variety ofpeople — was something he wants otheryoung people to have. He came to MU inthe 1960s after graduating from a largehigh school in Independence, Mo.

“We were all alike in high school,” he

says. “There was a sameness typical of the1950s, and coming to MU was an opportu-nity to meet and work with people fromdifferent backgrounds.”

Soapes says that he and his wife, Emily,wanted to put their estate to good usewhen they no longer need the money.“Education is a great door opener,” hesays. “It opened up opportunities I would-n’t have had without it. We want to helpothers have that experience.”

At MU, Soapes learned a lot from work-ing in campus politics. In graduate schoolhe wrote speeches for Christopher “Kit”Bond during Bond’s 1970 campaign forstate auditor. Bond went on to become gov-ernor of Missouri; with a commissionthrough MU’s Army ROTC program,Soapes left for Vietnam as education offi-cer for Long Binh, an Army post 30 milesoutside Saigon. As the USARV educationofficer there, he directed classes, testingservices, exams and education counselingto prepare GIs who were ready to returnto the United States for education.

Returning to the States himself, Soapestook a position as staff archivist and lateras oral historian of the Dwight D.Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kan.,then moved to Hyde Park, N.Y., to directthe Eleanor Roosevelt oral history projectat the Roosevelt Library. During thatassignment he met his future wife, also ahistorian and former chief of the exhibitsbranch at the National Archives.

Later in Washington, Soapes held amanagement position at the headquartersof the National Archives before moving tothe National Air and Space Museum in1990.

And despite this lifelong professionalcommitment to collecting artifacts of his-tory, Soapes says he himself is not a collector.

In his workplace, a historic treasure from Missourireminds Thomas Soapes of his student days at MU.The Spirit of St. Louis hangs in the Milestone Galleryat the National Air and Space Museum inWashington, D.C.

ar

PHOTO BY ALLAN JANUS OF THENATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

THOMAS SOAPES’ ESTATE GIFT IS THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE MILLION-

DOLLAR GIFT ANNOUNCED TO THE COLLEGE SINCE 1999

Page 42: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

42 A RT S & S C I E N C E WINTER 2003

TIMOTHY LYONS’ INTEREST IN

the geological sciences beganwhen he was much youngerthan the students heteaches.

“I can remember being a 10-year-oldholding a piece of sandstone as it crumbledinto powdery white sand,” he says. Lyons’early passion for geology grew into adult-hood. Now a respected expert, teacherand researcher in his field, Lyons hasn’tforgotten the thrill of seeing the GrandCanyon for the first time.

In addition to lecturing, Lyons takes hisstudents on field trips to places such as theGrand Canyon, Florida Keys and the Gulfof California so they can learn about geol-ogy through their own experiences.

“Standing on the south rim of theGrand Canyon, it was easy to hold the stu-dents’ attention as I discussed the 1 billionyears of history stretching out before us,”Lyons says. His penchant for incitinginterest among his students stems from adedication to research, which keeps his

own enthusiasm and knowledge up todate. His investigations focus on two pri-mary themes.

He works to understand the way ele-ments such as sulfur and carbon are cycledin the complex environments of oxygen-deficient ocean basins, and he uses thatknowledge to interpret ancient conditionson the Earth’s surface as recorded in veryold rocks — some more than a billionyears old.

He and his colleagues across the coun-try also have been involved in NASA’s ini-tiative in astrobiology, which explores theorigins of life on Earth and the potentialfor life elsewhere in the solar system.

These research avenues have offeredLyons fortuitous opportunities to spendweeks and months at breathtaking fieldsites such as the Canadian Arctic and theGreat Barrier Reef. One of his primarygoals as a mentor and instructor has beento create similar opportunities for his students.

When field trips are not an option,

Lyons brings the location to the classroomthrough slide presentations. While teach-ing introductory geology, whether to 260students in an auditorium or to 15 in anhonors section, Lyons ends most lecturesby sharing photographs from field areaswhere he has conducted research.

“A slide of me hammering on an out-crop 400 miles north of the Arctic Circlespeaks volumes compared to an isolatedrock in a lab drawer or a photograph sup-plied by the publisher of a textbook,” heexplains.

In their teaching evaluations, studentspraise Lyons for his ability and enthusi-asm, praise that is echoed by hisUniversity. Lyons holds a 2001 KemperFellowship for Excellence in Teaching, oneof MU’s most prestigious awards.

The

WorkshopWorld Is His

B y R a j a h W a l l a c e

Timothy Lyons uses field trips to such spots as theGrand Canyon and the Florida Keys to expand theinterest of his students in their billion-year-oldplanet Earth. PH

OT

OBY

SAR

AH

BEC

KIN

G

Page 43: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

WINTER 2003 A RT S & S C I E N C E 43

Page 44: mosaics - University of Missouri...2 ARTS & SCIENCE WINTER 2003 On the Cover: Show-Me Opera vocalists Christina Bonsall, left, and Alicia Miles draw inspi-ration from the Missouri

University of Missouri-ColumbiaCollege of Arts and Science317 Lowry HallColumbia, MO 65211

NON PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDCOLUMBIA, MOPERMIT NO. 31

A Giftfrom MUCorps of Discovery is MU’s giftto the nation, featuring the stu-dents, faculty and alumni ofMizzou. Enjoy the original musicand experience the adventures ofLewis and Clark as we commem-orate the national bicentennial ofthat expedition across America.

•World premiere: May 2, 3 and 4at the Missouri Theatre inColumbia. Order tickets byphone at (800) 292-9136 oronline at www.concertseries.org/discovery.html.

• St. Louis performances,requested by Opera America,open to the public: June 13 and15 at Missouri BaptistUniversity’s Performing ArtsCenter, 1 College Park Dr., CreveCoeur. Order tickets by phone at(800) 430-2966.

A musical drama featuring the Lewis and Clark expedition,commissioned for the national bicentennial of that journey

Music by Michael ChingLibretto by Hugh Moffatt and Michael Ching

Pamela Legendre, Artistic Director