5 Library Reopens / 16 Tari Cummings ’99 / 18 Nursing Expansion / 28 Class Notes

Bell Tower Bell Tower The Alumni Magazine of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith

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The Woodru� family turns tragedy and loss

into possibility and hopeThe Woodru� family turns tragedy and loss

into possibility and hope

Quiet Heroes

Quiet Heroes

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COVER PHOTOGRAPH by Kat Wilson ’96

Among the more than 80 registered student organizations on the UAFS campus—ranging from academic honor societies to cultural clubs to religious and political organizations— is the UAFS Slacklining Club, which favors sunny spring and fall afternoons for its “meetings” under the oaks on the campus green, where members like junior nursing major Liz Ellenbarger (left) and senior biochemistry major Jennifer Harvey balance improbably on a length of stretchy nylon climber’s webbing tensioned between two trunks.

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IN THIS ISSUESUMMER 2013 volume 4, number 1

14

2 FROM THE CHANCELLOR A change in role and scope

4 GRAND + WALDRON successful campaign | winning screenplay | library reopens | Nüshu script | Linda Williams Palmer exhibit | guitar class | Project Dream | WATC | Underground Ink

9 SNAPSHOT STEM Posters at the Capitol

11 5Q Lacey Neissl-Clark ’08, justice of the peace

12 SENSE OF PLACE The Bell Tower

14 KNOWLEDGE BASE Crystal Bridges Museum

15 EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY Mandy Osburn ’95, accountant / musician

16 LIONS LOWDOWN Tari Cummings ’99 | LionOnTheLoose | community champions | Post-season wrap | new fl oor

features

18 ADVANCING BY DEGREES In the face of national demand for a better-prepared nursing workforce and

improved patient outcomes, UAFS grows its BSN program. by Kelly Brooks

24 87 DAYS Miller McNeil Woodruff was only with his family for a brief time, but his legacy lives

on as his parents turn tragedy into possibility and loss into hope. by Sally Flecker

28 ALUMNI + FRIENDS farewell to Zack | class notes | in memoriam | Through Diligence to Victory | call for nominations | Laurence Luckinbill ’52 | Once Upon a Homecoming | new email | Justin Huss ’08

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2 BELL TOWER summer 2013

Find Us on the Web! Can’t wait six months for your next issue of Bell Tower? Follow us at belltowermag.blogspot.com for exclusive web-only content!

From the Chancellor

A Change in Role and ScopeThe process begins to offer master’s degree programs

It pleases me to write this letter to highlight one of the most signifi cant milestones to occur for the Univer-sity of Arkansas - Fort Smith since I became chancellor seven years ago.

First, I applaud the leadership of Dr. Donald Bobbitt, president of the University of Arkansas System, and the system Board of Trustees for approving at its last meeting the opportunity for UAFS to make an applica-tion for a role and scope change. Successful completion of the approval process will al-low UAFS to offer master’s degree programs, beginning with a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration.

The role and scope change is very excit-ing for UAFS and the greater Fort Smith region. The ability to grant master’s degrees, along with a new library to support them, shows we are meeting the needs of our region’s citizens. Throughout the process, we received vast community support from the region’s healthcare, business, and donor professionals, many of whom are alumni.

The new role and scope for UAFS fi ts with the University’s vision, connecting education with careers.

In our Five-Year Strategic Plan, we said we planned to explore the feasibility of graduate programs to be implemented based on the region’s economic demands. The ap-proval of this master’s degree program will serve as a forward step in this direction. The new degree also fi ts with the UAFS mission, preparing students to succeed in an ever-changing global world while advancing economic development and quality of place.

The role and scope change will be vet-ted by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education before going to the Higher Learn-ing Commission, a process that will take approximately two years.

Dr. Ray Wallace, provost and senior vice

chancellor, said UAFS developed a compel-ling case for the change. He and his aca-demic team designed a very solid fi rst degree program in Healthcare Administration. The degree will be completely online and will be open to those holding undergraduate degrees in the healthcare or business fi elds.

From my perspective as chancellor, this change will expand the university with the same dramatic effect as the change from Westark to UAFS. I hope all of you are proudly hearing our lion Numa roaring!

With Lion Pride,

PAUL B. BERAN, Ph.D.Chancellor

With Lion Pride,

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Remembering the past,

building the future.

uafsalumni.com/brick • (479) 788-7920

Celebrate your induction into the ranks of UAFS alumni by adding your name to UAFS

history! Solidify your lifelong connection to the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith with

a brick in Lion Pride Square on the Donald W. Reynolds Campus Green. Your gift is tax

deductible and will serve as a lasting tribute to your time as a Lion! Price for recent

graduates is $125 within 12 months of graduation date.

Bell TowerSummer 2013

Volume 4, Number 1

The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith

CHANCELLORPaul B. Beran, Ph.D.

VICE CHANCELLOR FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

Marta M. Loyd, Ed.D.

CONTRIBUTORSKelly Brooks, Evin Demirel, Sally Flecker,

Wanda Freeman, Jaime Hebert,Jessica Martin, Liz Snyder, Ty Stockton,

Zack Thomas

PHOTOGRAPHERSCory S. Krasko, Zack Thomas, Kat Wilson

ART DIRECTORJohn Sizing

www.jspublicationdesign.com

ADVISORY BOARDDr. Paul B. Beran, Chancellor;

Dr. Ray Wallace, Provost; Dr. Marta M. Loyd, Vice Chancellor for University

Advancement; Mark Horn, Vice Chancellor for University Relations;

Je� Harmon, Director of University Marketing & Communications

BELL TOWER is published semi-annually by the

University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Alumni

Association, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913,

for alumni, friends, and faculty of the University.

Tel: (877) 303-8237. Email: alumni@uafs.edu.

Web: www.uafsalumni.com.

SEND ADDRESS CHANGES, requests to receive

Bell Tower, and requests to be removed from the

mailing list to alumni@uafs.edu or UAFS Alumni

Association, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913.

LETTERS ARE WELCOME, but the Publisher

reserves the right to edit letters for length and

content. Space constraints may prevent publication

of all letters. Anonymous letters will not be published.

Send letters to belltower@uafs.edu or Bell Tower

Magazine, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913.

Views and opinions expressed in Bell Tower do not

necessarily refl ect those of the magazine sta¡ or

advisory board nor of the University of Arkansas –

Fort Smith.

Contents ©2013 by the University of Arkansas –

Fort Smith.

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Remembering the past,

building the future.

uafsalumni.com/brick • (479) 788-7920

Celebrate your induction into the ranks of UAFS alumni by adding your name to UAFS

history! Solidify your lifelong connection to the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith with

a brick in Lion Pride Square on the Donald W. Reynolds Campus Green. Your gift is tax

deductible and will serve as a lasting tribute to your time as a Lion! Price for recent

graduates is $125 within 12 months of graduation date.

03_UAFS_SU13.indd 3 7/22/13 8:25 PM

4 BELL TOWER summer 2013 ”“ “This isn’t a man’s world; it’s a professional’s world, and it’s a world of teams.”—Chemical engineer Maggie Kelly ’02, who spent two years at UAFS in what was then called the pre-engineering program before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree (and who does just fi ne, thank you, in her traditionally male fi eld).

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THE EMAIL HIT Bryce Albertson’s inbox on June 15, 2012. His screenplay was an of-fi cial selection in the Las Vegas International Film Festival. He called all his friends —at6 a.m. on a Saturday.

Only after he set down the phone did Al-bertson ’12 wonder what “offi cial selection” meant. He read the whole email this time. He’d won fi rst place.

Don’t try to pin him down for a plot summary of Paper Empires, which he wrote for a class at UAFS. He’ll only say it’s about two kids trying to escape the realities of their lives— an abused girl and a young boy un-able to save his drowning brother.

The festival was a blur of bands and beverages. On stage, Albertson recalled the day his teacher called him an idiot in front of his eleventh grade class. He held the crystal award and smirked. The crowd roared. Now he’s working with Dark Highway Pictures, rewriting the script to make it more “Hollywood-friendly.”

Albertson is a teacher himself—ninth-grade English in crime-ridden Pine Bluff, Ark. It’s not easy. “I have a student that was raped,” he says, “students that are in gangs.” They don’t give a rip about sonnets.

He turned in his resignation this spring, then changed his mind. “I had one student with a 7 percent in the class. She’s up to 54 percent,” he says. He’ll go before the school board and bring his students’ writ-ing. He believes in them. There’s no idiots here. —Jaime Hebert

‘No Idiots Here’

THE UAFS FOUNDATION’S $50 million Giving Opportunity campaign came to an of-fi cial close Dec. 31, not only reaching its goal, but actually exceeding it by 14 percent, rais-ing a total of $56,895,040 for the university.

A focused and sustained fundraising effort that weathered not only the death of Chancellor Joel Stubblefi eld in 2005 but also the economic downturn of 2008-2009, the campaign began in 2004 with an incred-ible $5 million “lead gift” from Mrs. Donnie Pendergraft.

The so-called “silent phase,” during which leaders worked quietly to get what amounted to a good headstart on the cam-paign, raised $31 million and lasted until March 2009, when the campaign was publicly announced.

Under the direction of Marta Loyd, Ed.D., vice chancellor for university ad-vancement and executive director of the

Foundation, the campaign was led primarily by volunteer members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors—including co-chairs Neal Pendergraft, Robert Young III, Bill Hanna, Bob Miller, and the late Sam M. Sicard, along with Jimmy Bell, Doug Babb, Gina Clark, H. Lawson Hembree, and Chris Whitt. The number of gifts totaled 12,240 from 2,889 different donors, nearly 80 percent of whom had never before given to UAFS.

That huge increase in donor base bodes well for the university’s future, as do the whopping 168 percent increase over the course of the campaign in private scholar-ship dollars awarded per year and a similar increase in the Foundation’s total assets to roughly $70 million—money that makes the difference between just getting by on state funding and tuition revenue and really striving for excellence. —Zack Thomas

Campaign Tops Ambitious GoalCampaign Tops Ambitious Goal

$56.9m!Grand+Waldron

CAMPUS NEWS AND NOTES

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^WITH ITS GRAND REOPENING APRIL 3, Boreham Library—freshly renovated, more than doubled in size, and boasting a 40,000-square-foot Learning and Research Center addi-tion—ushered in a new era for UAFS.

The library—whose original 29,000 square feet of space housed only four computers and three typewriters for student use when it opened in 1987—now offers a 24-hour study lounge, 214 computer terminals, and charging stations and wi-fi service throughout for today’s wire-less devices.

Chancellor Paul B. Beran, Ph.D., described the completion of the $14.2 million expansion and renovation as the “capstone on our transformation” into a full-fledged regional university that will better serve a 21st century student body and support economic development.

The project, led by MAHG Architects of Fort Smith and CDI Contractors of Little Rock, broke ground in June 2011. It was funded in part with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Depart-ment of Commerce, $2 million in federal stimulus money, smart refinancing of bonds, and more than $1 million to date in private gifts. —Wanda Freeman

The newly renovated and expanded Boreham Library oers a more modern look as well as advanced research and study facilities

Boreham Library Reopens for Students

^points of prideDecorated with four awards at the annual state convention for the Arkansas Nursing Students’ Association, students and advi-sors of the UAFS chapter including Kathy Tull, named Student of the Year; Ashley Mayfield, who won the Courageous Heart Award and the Financial Excellence Award; and Dana Reeves, named Chapter Adviser of the Year.

Presented to UAFS Chancellor Paul B. Beran, Ph.D., the Silver Beaver Award from the Westark Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the highest award that a local council can bestow on an individual. Recipi-ents are adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council and their community. Beran served as president of the Westark Council for three years and now sits on its Board of Directors.

Featured in the January issue of Access, a national publication from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, “S.T.A.M.P. of Approval: The Use of Specifically Targeted Antimicrobial Peptides in the Reduction of Dental Caries,” a paper by UAFS alumni Leah Beckum, Rebekah Hinkle, and Terri West. The three 2012 graduates of the dental hygiene program presented their research last spring at the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Commended with the Outstanding Lawyer Citizen Award from the Arkansas Bar As-sociation and the Arkansas Bar Foundation, Wyman R. “Rick” Wade, Jr., Fort Smith attor-ney and UAFS adjunct faculty member. The award is given in recognition of outstanding participation in and excellent performance of civic responsibilities and for demonstrat-ing high standards of professional compe-tence and conduct.

Named the 2012 Urban Forestry Profes-sional of the Year by the Arkansas Urban Forestry Council, Alison Litchy, who serves as urban forester for UAFS and the City of Fort Smith. Working with UAFS since 2009, Litchy manages the day-to-day care of the University’s arboretum. In 2009, UAFS was the first university in Arkansas to earn Tree Campus USA status from the Arbor Day Foundation and has earned it every year since.

Published by Arcadia Publishing as part of its postcard history series, Fort Smith, a book researched and written by assistant profes-sor of English and rhetoric Dr. Kevin Jones that depicts the history of the city through nearly 200 postcard views of people, places, events, and businesses.

(continued on page 7)

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6 BELL TOWER summer 2013

Lost, Burned, or BuriedThe past and sad future of the Nüshu script

The men of Jiangyong County, in the Hunan province of China, didn’t think much of the wispy, delicate writing of the women they lived with, didn’t much bother to listen when it was spoken or sung. In fact, according to Dr. Ann-Gee Lee, “If the men heard them singing it, they would know, ‘Oh, that’s just another woman complaining!’”

And that was exactly the point. “If it was written, women could gripe all they wanted in their little diaries, and the men would look at it and say, ‘That’s just scribbling,’” says Lee, assistant professor at UAFS. “Men dismissed it because, ‘That’s not real men’s writing.’”

But to women, that script, called Nüshu, was more than just a convenient way to complain. It was the only independence they could find in a world where men ruled and women, who were rarely allowed to learn to read or write the region’s primary language,

quietly obeyed.Despite—or maybe because of—their

bound feet and confined lives, the women of Jiangyong invented their own written lan-guage and then kept it essentially secret from men for as much as a thousand years.

In her office, Lee, who studies Nüshu, holds up a Chinese fan. Vertical lines of deli-cate, mosquito-leg writing fill one side. The flip side is marked with the heavy, masculine symbols of traditional Chinese. “Here is Chinese. Chinese was called Hanzi, which is men’s writing. And so Nüshu is literally ‘women’s writing.’”

Nüshu’s origins are a mystery. “There are a lot of different myths,” says Lee. “One girl maybe snuck into her brother’s lessons and copied what he wrote, not really knowing how to write it. Or somebody created their own system as a way to rebel.”

Women hid the script in plain sight on

embroidered cloth, painted fans, or weaving. Many passed a San Chao Shu, a cloth-bound scrapbook, to their married Jiebai Zhimei, or sworn sisters.

In the 1930s and ’40s, when the invading Japanese discovered the mysterious script, they worried, rightly, that it could be used as a secret code and did their best to snuff it out. Later, in the 1960s and ’70s, Nüshu came into the crosshairs again. “Mao himself tried to suppress it,” says Lee. “There’s a story of a woman at a train station. The Red Guards saw she had all this writing and said ‘She’s a spy!’” Or a witch. The writing was burned, the woman arrested.

Today, only a few scholars can still read and write Nüshu. It’s a dying language. A museum in Jiangyong houses a tiny collec-tion of Nüshu artifacts. But most Nüshu was lost, burned, or buried with women who took their San Chao Shus to the grave.

Maybe that was the plan all along, though. Because, as any Jiangyong woman knows, the best way to ensure your secret language stays secret is to hide it, of course. —Jaime Hebert

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Vertical lines of delicate Nüshu cover a replica Chinese fan. Created

by women in the Hunan province, the mysterious script remained

in use for perhaps 1,000 years.

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Big BeautiesArt, science, and history come together in Arkansas Champion Trees: An Artist’s Journey, an exhibit by alumna Linda Williams Palmer opening Sept. 8 on the UAFS campus. Palmer, a longtime Fort Smith resident who now lives and works in Hot Springs, has traveled 7,000 miles since 2007 to research Arkansas’s “champion” trees—the biggest specimens of their respective species in the state—later creating vivid colored-pencil drawings from selected photographs. Among them are images of a soaring shortleaf pine near Hamburg, the biggest in the country; a bald cypress standing in a dry swamp with its knees exposed, the biggest known tree of any specie in Arkansas; and a massive white oak in Dardanelle, in whose shade state and Cherokee leaders signed a treaty in the early 1820s. —Wanda Freeman

White Oak, Yell County

Bald Cypress, Arkansas

Shortleaf Pine, Ashley

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(continued from page 5)Detail: Leaves,

Shortleaf

^Honored with a Charlie Award by the Flor-ida Magazine Association for their article “Coping with Millennials on Campus,” which appeared in the international business magazine BizEd in 2011, Dr. Steve Williams, dean of the College of Business; Dr. Jim Beard, head of the Business Administration Department; and Dr. Margaret Tanner, head of the Accounting, Economics and Finance Department. The Charlie is the top award in the competition.

Selected as the new chair of the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Continuing Legal Education, Lynn Lisk, program direc-tor and associate professor in the UAFS Legal Assistance/Paralegal program. The committee oversees the certification of continuing legal education programs in the state.

Printed in the Autumn 2012 issue of The Musical Times, Dr. Stephen Husarik’s “Musi-cal Direction and the Wedge in Beethoven’s High Comedy, Grosse Fuge Op. 133.” Husarik’s work argues that the famously esoteric work is in fact intended as a spoof. The project involved a National Endow-ment for the Humanities grant and travel to Krakow and Vienna in order to see sketches and manuscripts associated with the work.

Lauded at the state, regional, and national levels of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the UAFS produc-tion of the the original play Drømnium, written by theatre director Bob Steven-son, which won national-level awards for Outstanding Production of a Devised Work, Distinguished Lead Deviser/Director of a Devised Work, Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Lighting Design, Distinguished Performance by an Actress, Outstanding Sound Design, and Outstanding Perfor-mance and Production Ensemble.

Awarded a whopping 47 ADDYs by the Fort Smith chapter of the American Advertis-ing Federation, UAFS students, who won Special Judge’s Awards, several profession-al-level medals, and many more in student categories, and UAFS sta� members Carl Hulsey, Laura Wattles, Jessica Martin, Champ Williams, and Peter Cullum, who took home medals for the Season of En-tertainment brochure, the UAFS Traditions Book, the UAFS Viewbook, and a series of television commercials. Graphic design assistant professor Colin McClain won the Outstanding Educator Award, and Kelby Franklin of Mansfield won the Best of Show award in the student category.

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Strumming for STEMStudents get amped for guitar building class

STEP ONE: BUILD YOUR own guitar. Step Two: Rock out. Does this sound like a typical university course? It does to stu-dents in an Electronics Special Topics class taught by John Martini and Kerrie Taber. On the fi nal day of class, some students were strumming their guitars, while others were adjusting the strings, perfecting the tun-ing, or testing the intonation. Says Martini, “The students design their own headstock, we teach them a little bit about CADD, they cut it out, and they make it. They have to do all the work themselves.” And that’s only the headstock. Students also sand the body, put on the frets, and do all the soldering and electronics.

Electronics student Kyle Helms says, “I just took this class so I could build a guitar. It costs a little more. We had to pay for the guitar kits.” The guitar is the hook for many students, but there’s a bigger purpose here: Science, Technology, Electronics and Math, also known as “STEM.” The class’s Bachelor of Science students recently applied their STEM knowledge when they presented a paper on guitar manufacturing at a research symposium.

Oh, and that guitar? Martini and Taber score each one, but Helms wasn’t worried about its performance. “Some guys played mine Sunday at church,” he says. “They said it was pretty good.” —Jaime Hebert

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Students test out the guitars they built in an Electronics Special Topics class last fall.

Dreaming ItVisions of a college education became more real for a group of students from Fort Smith’s Darby Junior High last year when members of the Chancellor’s Leadership Council developed Project Dream, an out-reach initiative that prompted the young-sters to set their futures in tile.

Combining a community mosaic art project with a mentoring component – each child designed a tile depicting an im-age from his or her future – Project Dream dovetailed perfectly with an existing after-school program at Darby and with goals of the Western Arkansas Education Renewal Zone, says Director Jennifer Jennings Davis.

The UAFS-based ERZ partners with 35 schools in 11 districts across six coun-ties, collaborating with educators from pre-school through college and sharing resources to improve learning experiences.

“We do something with Darby four times a year – two times we go there, and two times we bring them here,” Davis says, emphasizing the importance of the cam-pus visits. “They literally ‘go to college.’ They need to envision themselves doing that. They need to know that a college educa-tion is an option.”

Forty-seven Project Dream students visited campus Oct. 4, 2012, crafting their tiles under the guidance of 26 UAFS stu-dent mentors, and returned Nov. 6, 2012, to unveil their assembled mosaic.

Today, that mosaic can be seen in the entry of the Fullerton Building. And in a few years, you might cross paths with some of the artists, making literal their dreams.—Wanda Freeman

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UAFS BELL TOWER 9

“DON’T COME TO WATC thinking you’re just going to get out of high school half a day.”

This advice comes from Zack McClain, who knows what he’s talking about. He just received his diploma from Van Buren High School, a week after he walked away from the UAFS commencement ceremony with an Associate of Applied Science in General Automotive Technology.

That’s right: McClain got his college degree before he graduated from high school, all because he attended the Western Arkan-sas Technical Center at UAFS, commonly known as WATC (rhymes with Yahtzee). “I was able to complete my entire degree plan before commencement, so I had 73 college credit hours.”

McClain is only the fourth WATC stu-dent to receive a college degree while still in high school. And the kicker is that McClain didn’t pay for those credit hours, one of the biggest advantages of the program. As Mc-Clain says, “Free college. There’s no other way to put it.”

According to Jamie Pair, WATC’s as-sistant director, the program is free because it’s funded by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education and participating school districts. “We serve high school ju-niors and seniors in six counties from 21 high schools. That’s about 500 students per year.” All students get hands-on career training plus textbooks, transportation, and supplies.

Area high school students learn about the program through open houses or from guidance counselors. They complete an application, then make a Next Step visit to the center. “We like to show them all the fun things they could be doing,” says Pair.

It was this visit that hooked McClain. “That’s where I really got my taste of WATC,” he says.

McClain believes any driven student can go far with WATC’s assistance. He’s com-ing back to UAFS in the fall to pursue an electrical engineering degree with the help of the Boreham Engineering Scholarship. “It’s

opportunity,” he says. “If you show up here and you’re willing to work, anyone at this entire university is going to try to help you. It’s an amazing feeling, and it does pay off.”

During his time in WATC, McClain became involved with Skills USA, a national organi-zation that lets students apply their technical skills in a series of competitions. McClain won gold awards at the state level his junior and senior years, and placed 15th in the nation last year. He’s going back for a third round in just a few weeks and is

enthusiastic about the doors that could open for him as a result.

But most importantly, the competition gives McClain the chance to show his ap-preciation to and for UAFS. “I represent this university, and I feel the obligation to do my best and to represent in the best way pos-sible.” McClain also hopes to show the next batch of WATC students what’s possible. “I know kids that threw away their WATC opportunity, and it’s really sad to see it,” he says. “There’s no three strikes and you’re out. You fail, and you’re done.” —Jaime Hebert

‘Free College’WATC o� ers high school students the college experience at no cost

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On Feb. 6, Jessie N. Cunningham, Chris Arnold, Kevin Tran, and Theva Chanthaseny took time to pose for a picture with Gov. Mike Beebe at the state capitol. The UAFS students were among 90 undergraduates from 14 universities across the state to present their research at the STEM Posters at the Capitol event in Little Rock.

The event allowed students to present their research to state o� cials, the media, fellow STEM undergraduates and faculty, and the public. “I know we have some outstanding work being done by our students,” said Dr. Mark Arant, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. “This will give UAFS a chance for that work to be seen by others across the state.”

SNAPSHOT

Former WATC student Zack McClain entered the workforce with an associate degree ...before graduating high school.

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IF YOU WEREN’T LOOKING for it, you could miss the nondescript door to the basement of the Gardner Building, the one labeled “Underground Ink” with a hand pointing down. Makes you wonder what’s behind that door. Head inside and walk down the short fl ight of steps, as the hand directs, and take a step back in time. You’re in the letterpress and book arts studio.

Letterpress? Isn’t that how books and newspapers were printed before computers made it easy? That’s the impression most people have. Spend a few minutes at Under-ground Ink, though, and you’ll see letter-press is more than getting words to paper. In letterpress and book arts, it’s all about the experience of the printed word.

Katie Harper, associate professor of graphic design and book art, is the reason students are professing their love for print-ing presses. When she fi rst came to UAFS

in 2008, she had a Vandercook press and a vision of a studio dedicated to the craft of fi ne printing that began to take shape with a donation from a local printer: “I went to Cal-vert McBride, and Bill Calvert took me back to this huge warehouse,” Harper says. “We got eight cabinets of type. He’d been storing it all this time just in case somebody could put it to good use. He just didn’t want to trash it, and I’m so glad he didn’t.” Then came grant writing. And moving from the 175-square-foot space in the Ballman-Speer Building to a much larger area in the basement of the Gardner Building. Then in 2009, the UAFS letterpress studio became reality.

Student work takes center stage at Underground Ink, where words literally surround you. Invitations to campus events, fi nal projects, student résumés, even Christ-mas cards, are created by students immersed in a world of tactile letters and timeworn

presses. Students of graphic design, art, his-tory, and languages take these classes, pur-portedly to learn the techniques and vocabu-lary of letterpress and book arts, yet they’re also learning something more valuable.

In a modern world of busy schedules, constant connection, “hurry up and fi nish,” students in the letterpress studio learn the art of slowing down, as well as the value of a mistake. In fact, Harper says, “I’m pretty convinced students learn more from doing it wrong. Doing it right is easy. Do it wrong, and you learn a lot more about the materials, methods, and the creative ways to get around a problem.”

Sure, almost anyone can print out 1,000 copies of a computer-created document. It may even look good. But there’s something about the feel of fi ne paper, the texture the letters make, that creates a siren call for some UAFS students. So if you happen to pass that unassuming door, follow that pointing fi nger. Discover for yourself how the techniques of the past bring words to life and life to words.—Jaime Hebert

Feeling WordsUAFS letterpress studio teaches the art of slowing down

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“Doing it right is easy. Do it wrong, and you learn a

lot more,” says Harper.

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UAFS BELL TOWER 11

5Q‘A GOOD VOICE FOR THE PEOPLE’Lacey Neissl-Clark ’08

It was a crazy 2012 for Charleston native Lacey Neissl-Clark ’08. She’d parlayed her bachelor’s in business administration into a promising career as a loan o�cer at Arvest Bank, and she was busy planning her August wedding to Josh Clark. As if that wasn’t enough, when a friend who knew of Lacey’s po-

litical interests suggested she run for Franklin County’s Jus-tice of the Peace, she threw her hat in the ring and launched a political campaign. Watching her name scroll across the screen on Election Day with a victory margin of 54 percent to 46 percent over her opponent made all the stress worth it.

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1What on Earth prompted you to run for Justice of the Peace of Charleston?

I’ve always been interested in politics. I thought this election would be a good way to get my foot in the door. I was born and raised in Charleston, so I have a high respect for the people who live there. I really thought I could be a good voice for the people. All my friends asked, “Why are you doing this?” But then they’d be wearing my button anywhere I asked them to. We all got together and did a door-to-door campaign. That reached a lot of voters. Now my friends think it’s impor-tant, too. With our age sometimes we get cast aside, but our vote and voice count just as much.

2So, what does a justice of the peace actually do?

I represent District 9 of Charleston. I sit on the quorum court, the governing body of the county. There’s no mayor or anything like that here, so we decide on budget and development. JPs work closely with the county judge to fix issues … but I can’t fix a traffic ticket in Franklin County! We work

on the issues people feel need change: county roads, the jail, things like that. I really enjoy performing marriage ceremonies on the side; it’s a fun perk to the job. But at the end of the day, I’m representing the people who elected me, and working with the other JPs to bring the voice of the people to the county level.

3Once the people tell you what they want, what do you do with that

information?

If it’s something many people come to me and are passionate about, I’ll try to get it on the agenda for the quorum court meetings. You get a lot of people with the same issues over and over. “I want my road paved,” things like that. Practical things. I’m working to get a gazebo built as a memorial for all the veterans of the foreign wars at the Charles-ton courthouse. A lot of people are on board with that idea.

4You beat the incumbent, who was there for at least 12 years.

How did that feel?

I’m not going to lie, it felt good! He had

served the county for a long time, and a lot of people felt there needed to be some new blood, maybe some younger blood with some different ideas. They had trusted him for so many years. It’s really a humbling feeling knowing that they trust me just as much. He did provide a good service to the county, and we appreciate his service.

5What are you looking forward to as a justice of the peace?

There’s still a lot to learn. I’m elected for two years, so I don’t have to worry about running another election until next year. I’m going to learn as much as I can about how to better serve my county. It’s a lot of fun getting the younger generation involved. People our age ask me questions, and I feel like I can bridge that gap a little bit. And the weddings have been pretty fun! I’m very lucky to be able to do something I really love. The people of Charleston trust me to represent their best interests in things they feel passionate about. I just hope they feel I’m doing a good job.—Jaime Hebert

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12 BELL TOWER summer 2013

The Bell Tower: Putting a Ring on ItFrom its place of honor at the center of campus, the majes-tic Donald W. Reynolds Bell Tower o� ers a presence both vis-ible and audible. Every hour on the hour comes a Westmin-ster chime from its lofty chamber, and on special occasions, the tower’s three swinging bells issue a celebratory peal that people a mile away can hear. In this fashion, the bell tower serves as an icon for UAFS and extends a beckoning call to the community at large. Head carillonneur and music history

professor Stephen Husarik, Ph.D., says the tower, with its 43 bells, ranks 16th nationally among nontraditional instru-ments. And while purists might disapprove of its electronic workings, we can’t imagine our campus green without the bell tower. Indeed, we can barely imagine how campus looked – or sounded – before it came along. (But if you really want to know, check out the back cover of this issue.)

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1. Chamber: The bell chamber resides near the peak of the nearly 109-foot tower. From there, a ladder trip brings you to the para-pet surrounding the clock, which is topped off with a dome. Joel Stubblefi eld, who was Westark president at the time of the tower’s construction, insisted on a dome instead of a pyramid-shaped steeple, Husarik says.

2. Carillon bells: Built in 1995, the bell

tower operated for nearly a decade with only 42 ringers before No. 43 was added in 2004. The newcomer nudged us up a notch in the national rankings, where true carillons can have as few as 23 bells, and also enhanced musical capa-bilities. All of the Flemish-style bronze bells were cast at the Paccard-Fonderie de Cloches in Annecy, France.

Besides the chimes that sound every hour between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily, the tower keeps a busy perfor-mance schedule: “The rate of productivity is incredible,” Husarik says. Since its incep-tion, the carillon has presented nearly 1,000 live performances and more than 3,000 recorded performances.

3. Bells big and small: Weighing in at a hefty 1,418 pounds and keeping company with chimes as feathery-light as 28 pounds, this giant ringer contributes to the bell tower’s 10th-place ranking in total bell weight by the Guild of Caril-lonneurs in North America. Number and weight rankings are within the nontraditional category: “We’re listed as an electronic instrument,” says Husarik, explaining that a traditional carillon is operated mechanically, while ours oper-ates via fi ber optic cable.

All of the bells are inscribed to honor people important to the university’s history, includ-ing the university’s founder

and past presidents through Stubblefi eld. The biggest bell bears the name of Donald W. Reynolds—whose foundation commissioned the tower, plaza, and campus green—as well as the expression “He did it his way.”

4. Strikers: Carillon bells remain stationary and silent until struck by a moving striker or clapper. These exterior strikers are driven electronically, by live or recorded composi-

tions that musicians create on a piano. “The performer plays on a standard keyboard that sends an electronic signal via fi ber optic cable up to a translator box at the top. Each signal then goes to a particular bell and tells the striker to strike,” Husarik says.

“We have essentially a music box—a player piano,” he says. But despite that self-effacing admission, Husarik argues that performing on any carillon requires great compositional talent, since electronic instru-ments demand a certain digital fi nesse.

For Chancellor Paul B. Beran’s investi-ture in 2006, Husarik adapted and played a processional tune, “A Chancellor’s Investi-ture March,” composed for the occasion by Aime Lombaert, the carillonneur for the city of Brugge, Belgium.

5. Rockers: The carillon includes three bells that can be “cut loose” to serve as peal bells on special occasions. Driven to and fro by pulley-like rockers, these swinging bells sound when rocked so that the inside surface strikes a clapper. In peal mode, they can’t be played rhythmically or to a tune as they can when stationary. “Peal bells can be heard a mile away,” says Husarik. “We only use them for celebratory purposes, like graduations and convocations.”

6. Trap door: While electricians and grounds crew workers have to climb 90 feet up a spiraling catwalk to the bell chamber—and then ascend a ladder to reach the parapet and clock above—the bells come in through a spacious trap door.

7. Air vents: Designed like a giant wind tunnel, the bell tower draws air upward into the chamber—which at 90 feet above ground gets mighty hot on a summer’s day, Husarik says—while the shielded fans expel the air through the chamber windows.

8. Screened windows: The bell chamber is an open-air affair, with windows covered only by a wire mesh screen. Sized and posi-tioned with acoustics in mind, the window openings allow the sound of the chimes to travel to distant listeners without injuring the ears of people just below. The screens also protect the bell chamber by keeping out all but the most unfortunate birds.—Wanda Freeman

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Knowledge Base

WITH THOUSANDS OF works to view and miles of trails to walk, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art seems to challenge as well as beckon. A first-time visitor to the sprawling Bentonville site—200,000 square feet of indoor space situated on 120 acres—might understandably wonder: How can I possibly take it all in?

We asked Alana Embry, a UAFS adjunct faculty mem-ber who volunteers at Crystal Bridges, for a little insider in-sight. She shared her thoughts and a few savvy tips.

“You see something new every time,” says Embry, suggest-ing that perhaps taking it all in is beside the point. That being said, there are ways to make the most of your visit. Here are her suggestions.

Plan Ahead. Check the Crystal Bridges website, crystalbridges.org, so you’ll know what to expect and can

plan accordingly. You’ll find all kinds of helpful information: museum hours, announcements of special exhibitions,

descriptions of the permanent collection, trail details, maps

and directions, guest services, the Eleven restaurant menu, instructions for becoming a member or requesting group or audio tours, and more.

Explore. Crystal Bridges opened in 2011 with 2,000 works in its permanent col-

lection, which spans five cen-turies of American art. Since

then, according to Laura Jacobs, communications director, the museum has collected 600 more works.

“We’re always adding new works. … And we rotate art quite often,” Jacobs says.

So, if you feel as if you’re missing something, Embry suggests going off the grid a bit and exploring.

“Sometimes there are little hallway rooms that you might miss unless you walk around. People often miss an installation of Jenny Holzer tiles that can be found outside in its own courtyard,” Embry says. She also recommends exploring the grounds, where you’ll find a Robert Indiana Love sculpture and other outdoor works.

Jacobs suggests wearing good walking shoes so you can hit the trails for ever-chang-ing, always-unique art experiences.

“The trails are beautiful at every time of year,” she says. “Each new season offers a brand new landscape.”

Jacobs’ ideal day at Crystal Bridges ends at sundown at Skyspace, a structure at the end of the Art Trail by James Turrell. Called The Way of Color, the work provides a view of the sky altered by stunning light effects that change depending on the weather and natural light conditions.

Take Your Time. Embry suggests setting aside at least two hours for your visit – and if possible, spread-ing your visit over two days. Keep in mind that events and special exhibits may require an admission fee, while general ad-mission to the museum and grounds is free.

If you want to beat the crowds, Embry says, the best time to arrive is when the museum first opens at 11 a.m. You could have lunch at the restaurant, Eleven, which is open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and still be ahead of the heavy afternoon traffic.

Embry says the museum is especially busy on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – so for the crowd-shy, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday may be better. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. It’s open until 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday, and until 6 p.m. on the other days. —Wanda Freeman

Rosie the Riveter, by Norman Rockwell

Views at ElevenA savvy take on Crystal Bridges, inside and out

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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

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Standing Explosion (Red), by Roy Lichtenstein

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UA Fort Smith BELL TOWER 15

If only for a few moments, the music moves the crowd gathered in the senior center’s din-ing hall. Some sit with eyes closed, swaying

slightly, transported to a time and place where they were younger, stronger. One man likes to get up and dance. He’s still got the moves.

For many folks in Fort Smith-area nursing homes and senior centers, listening to Mandy Osburn ’95 (UC) play piano and sing is a much-anticipated event, a welcome reprieve from days otherwise filled with predictable routines.

“It started with our church,” says Osburn, whose day job, so to speak, is directing the financial operations of the UAFS Foundation. A small group would visit assisted living centers and nursing homes. Caroling during the holiday season was a hit with both the singers and the residents. Soon, Osburn was visiting facilities monthly to perform on her own.

“They love all the old hymns,” she says. “‘I’ll Fly Away’ is definitely their favorite. ‘Amazing Grace’ is another. It’s neat just to see their faces.” After a performance, Osburn chats up her audience.

She brings along her kids, ages 2 and 8. Her shy 8 year old protests gently with a quiet “Oh, mom!” when she’s asked to mingle, but soon relents.

It’s clear the residents enjoy the performanc-es, and Osburn can usually expect to get a few more “gigs” from audience members, although she doesn’t perform for money—just to enter-tain. Lately, she’s sung and played for weddings, conferences, and special days like the National Day of Prayer and Mother’s Day. “It’s mostly through word of mouth and people who have heard me sing at the nursing homes,” she says.

It’s remarkable that so much talent could be little more than a hobby, but Osburn is actu-ally trained as an accountant, not a musician. Although she began taking piano lessons at 7, and started singing at 13, she mostly performed at her church. Since then, her career and her singing have stayed separate.

That’s okay with Osburn, though. She’ll gladly take her audience “to a land where joys will never end” as long as they keep asking her to. —Jaime HebertZ

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EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY Mandy Osburn, Accountant/Musician

It is remarkable

that so much

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but Osburn is actually trained as an accoun-tant, not a musician.

^Mandy Osburn at

Legacy Heights Retirement Center,

Van Buren.

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16 BELL TOWER summer 2013

Lions Lowdown UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS - FORT SMITH ATHLETICS

TARI CUMMINGS ’99 NEVER PLANNED to be a star basketball player at Westark. Nor did she plan to parlay that experience into a career where she’s again emerging as a star. Some-times, it seems, long-term planning is overrated, especially when you have the competitive drive, perseverance, and people skills that Cummings has shown on the way to becoming an assistant coach for the University of Arkansas Lady Razorbacks basketball team.

As a senior at Pocola (Okla.) High School, Cummings’ top choices were Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas. But right before signing day, the self-described “headstrong” 5’11 post player rebelled against her parents’ wishes, signing with what’s now Texas State University, and quickly regretting it. “I woke up in the middle of the night and was like, ‘Oh my gosh—what have I done? I can’t go there.’” And so she landed at Westark, playing for coach Louis Whorton.

Cummings left two seasons later as a two-time captain, the program’s third all-time leading scorer, and a 1999 All-American. She battled interior players down low, averaging more than 20 points and almost 10 rebounds, and she fought recurring knee injuries, including three ACL tears. “I remember my coaches having to hold me back because I only knew one speed.”

Cummings next played for Oklahoma State, where she was an all-Big 12 per-former, graduated in 2003, and returned to Fort Smith to work for USA Truck, Inc., en route to launching her own business. But that course changed in 2003 after a spot on the Lady Lions’ coaching staff opened. Whorton pursued her as the best contender for the job: “I told her she needed to get away from that cushy desk job and come coach with me.”

Although Cummings had never seriously considered coaching, she decided the opportu-nity was too good to pass up—and it was. In her four years, she mentored three All-Americans and helped lead teams to two Final Four appearances in the NJCAA national tournament.

Now, after stints in Cincinnati and Houston, Cummings and her 12-year-old daughter Tiya are again close to family in Fayetteville. And in two years there, Cummings’ recruiting efforts are helping take Arkansas from occasional SEC contender to perennial powerhouse. That’s the plan, and this time Cummings has good reason to stick to it. —Evin Demirel

Not Quite as Planned

On the LooseTHERE WILL SOON BE a lion on the loose in the horse racing world, and it’s all because of a Fort Smith woman’s love of the UAFS Lions.

Chances are if you’ve gone to any of the Lions games, you’ve seen Wanda Srygley.

“My husband and I went to all the bas-ketball games,” she says. “He passed away in 1989, but I still go.”

Her interest doesn’t end with basketball. She attends nearly every athletic event at the school and has endowed several schol-arships. Every Christmas she prepares a home-cooked meal for each team, including the cheerleaders and pep band.

“You wouldn’t believe it—the pep band kids are the biggest eaters,” she says.

She even named a horse for the student-athletes.

“I told the kids I’d name a horse for them,” she says, and when the next foal was born, she made good on her promise. She named the filly UAFSLions.

That beautiful gray mare never raced on the track; she injured a leg and wasn’t able to compete. But she became a brood mare, and her first foal was born at the end of January.

“Her name is LionOn-TheLoose,” Srygley says.

“She’s a darling little filly—she’s roan with

a blaze on her face.”Watch for her

in 2015 at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark.; Louisiana Downs in Bossier

City, La.; and possi-bly the Fair Grounds

in New Orleans.“She’s an early foal,

so she’ll probably run as a 2 year old,” Srygley says.

Until then, look for Srygley at Lions games in the 2013-14 season.

“I have not missed a volleyball game,” she says. “I don’t know what I’m watching, I have no idea what’s going on, but I clap when everyone else does and stand up when every-one else stands up.” —Ty Stockton

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Cummings coaching the Lady Razorbacks in the 2012-13 season

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UAFS BELL TOWER 17

THE LATEST MINI-MAKEOVER OF THE PLAYING SURFACE AT the Stubblefield Center will be as fleeting as its predecessors, so catch it while you can. “Every couple of years you have to resurface the floor, and this was the last time you could do that without re-placing the wood,” recalls UAFS graphic designer Peter Cullum, who was tapped to design the new look in 2011. Out went the one-color Lion logo and paint-only details, and in came the elegant shadow of Numa pouncing behind the center-court “UAFS” —plus the use of a stain for both Numa and the … uh, paint. See a time-lapse video of the process at uafs.edu/about/refinish. —Wanda Freeman

Shadow Play

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Creating Champions in the Classroom, in the Community, and in CompetitionUAFS AND THE ATHLETIC department staff are staunch advocates of the NCAA’s three-pillar model for the development of well-rounded student-athletes. Two columns fall under the scope of coaches and professors, but the students-athletes are doing a little schooling of their own when it comes to community engagement. This new breed of good will ambassa-dor reads to kindergartners, works at school fairs and summer camps, goads principals into double-dutch jump rope contests, and teaches timid base-runners how to steal second with state-of-the-art equipment: a garden hose and a Slip ‘N Slide. They reach out to friends in the Fort Smith area for help with cancer awareness events like Dig Pink, Pink Zone, and Batting for a Cure and donate to national charities like Susan B. Komen, Kay Yow, and Make-a-Wish. With the help of area elementary school students, more than 6,000 toys were collected for the Salvation Army during the annual Toy Toss, which won top accolades from the Heartland Conference. Take away the wins, take away the 3.0 cumulative GPA for athletics, and these friendly humanitarians would still deserve the label “champions.” —Liz Snyder

Proud of the PrideTHE LIONS AND LADY LIONS HAD MUCH to roar about throughout the 2012-13 season. Lady Lions volleyball finished the year with a perfect conference record of 14-0, securing the conference champion-ship and reclaiming last year’s conference tournament title. Senior Heidi Luks racked up numerous honors, including All-Confer-ence, Conference Tournament MVP, and Heartland Conference Player of the Year.

The Lions basketball team finished the season 16-12 overall, claimed the confer-ence championship, and placed second in the conference tournament, led by seniors Djordje Stojanovic, who was named First Team All-Conference, and Dijon Farr, Con-ference Defensive Player of the Year.

From the baseball Lions, senior Madi-son Beaird was named First Team All-Con-ference while senior Adam Baker and freshman Ozzie Hurt were added to the All Heartland Conference Gold Glove Team.

Men’s cross-country, anchored by All-Conference juniors Ta’Baris and Ta’Taris Earnest, took third in the conference meet, while the women took fifth, led by All-Conference freshman Katy Carter.

And we can’t forget the tennis teams, which produced four All-Conference standouts: junior Amy Belanger and fresh-men Jorge Salazar, Matt Tabler, and Chris Ramirez, who was also named Conference Co-Freshman of the Year.

Congratulations go out to all UAFS student-athletes. —Jessica Martin ’10

Lions basketball players load a truck with toys collected during the 2012 Toy Toss.

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In the face of national demand for a better-prepared nursing workforce and improved patient outcomes, UAFS grows its BSN program

ADVANCING by ADVANCING

by ADVANCING

DEGREESADVANCING

DEGREESADVANCING

by KELLY BROOKS

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ADVANCINGDEGREES

ADVANCINGDEGREES

ADVANCING DEGREES

Jennie McClain stands in the

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Arkansas Children’s

Hospital, where she now works as a patient care manager.

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20 BELL TOWER summer 2013

ike many in her profession, Jennie McClain ’94, ’07 was drawn to nursing for the job security it offered. With a newborn son and a struggling marriage, McClain needed to earn a living—and fast. It was the early 1990s, hospitals were paying large sign-on bonuses for nurses, and McClain thought, “Hey, I could do that.” She couldn’t have been more right.

Throughout McClain’s associate degree program at Westark, “our instructors would say things like, ‘When you go back and get your bachelor’s…’ They planted the seed for my higher education,” she says. In 1994 she graduated with her associate degree, became licensed as a registered nurse, and began working in the newborn nursery at Fort Smith’s

Mercy Hospital. Even though she had a new job and was now a single mom to 3-year-old Logan, she immediately started working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

McClain is a standout in Sebastian County, where only 19 percent of nurses without a graduate degree hold a BSN; the remaining 81 percent have a certifi-

cate, diploma, or associate degree as their highest level of education. Statewide, 30 percent have baccalaureate-level education and 70 percent have less.

That means Arkansas has a long way to go to meet the Institute of Medicine’s recommended goal of having 80 percent of the RN workforce hold a bachelor’s degree by 2020. The recommendation comes from the IOM’s landmark report The Future of Nursing, initiated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and released in October 2010, which outlines a blueprint for the nationwide future of nursing.

Stepping UpAt UAFS, the Carolyn McKelvey Moore School of Nursing has stepped up to the challenge, growing its BSN program while slowly phasing out the Associate Degree in Nursing.

Since the BSN program was launched in 2008, “interest in the associate degree began to plummet, and interest in the BSN skyrocketed,” says College of Health Sciences Dean Carolyn Mosley, Ph.D., who is a nurse herself.

The first class of 20 BSN students arrived in 2008. Now the college accepts 120 new students into the program each year. With nearly 700 future nurses enrolled at UAFS, the

Carolyn Mosley, Ph.D., dean of the College of Health Sciences, is overseeing the expansion of the BSN program, which can now accept an additional 20 students each semester.

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^program could have a huge impact on nursing care in the Fort Smith area.

Why? Research has shown that higher levels of nurse education lead to better patient outcomes, particularly lower rates of patient mortality and increased rates of rescue when complications arise.

For example, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that surgical patients in hospitals with Magnet status (a special recognition for nursing excellence, including having a high proportion of nurses with BSNs)

have 14 percent lower odds of inpa-tient death and 12 percent lower odds of failure-to-rescue.

A similar study in the Journal of Nursing Administration found that every 10 percent increase in the proportion of BSN nurses on the hospital staff was associated with a 4 percent decrease in the risk of death.

This kind of evidence is what spurred the IOM to recommend that 80 percent of the RN workforce have BSNs by the year 2020. Other leading health care organizations have joined to rally for the cause, including the Tri-Council for Nursing, which issued a consensus statement in 2010 for all RNs to advance their education, stating that “without a more educated nursing workforce, the nation’s health will be further at risk.”

Advancing by DegreesBut obtaining that higher education—with all the time, money, dedication, and energy that is required—can be a challenge for a working nurse.

Nursing student Shannon Wil-liams practices inserting an IV on a nursing lab manikin.

Generous gifts from Fort Smith’s Benefit Bank and Mrs. Donnie Pendergraft are responsible for the expansion of UAFS’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, allowing an additional 20 students to enroll each semester.

Gifts from Benefit Bank will be used to purchase a high-fidelity adult patient simulator and establish the Benefit Bank Endowed Professorship of Nursing.

Pendergraft’s gift creates two addition-al endowed professorships—the Douglas O. Smith, Jr., Endowed Professorship of Nurs-ing and the Jim L. Hanna Endowed Profes-sorship of Nursing—and provides funds to reconfigure the Simulation Lab in the Pen-

dergraft Health Sciences Center, including the addition of six new simulators.

While the gifts certainly benefit UAFS, their true impact will reach far beyond campus, where demand for registered nurses nationwide outstrips universities’ ability to produce them. Graduates of the UAFS nursing program enjoy a 100 percent employment rate.

Demand for more nursing slots comes not just from hospitals and doctors, but also from the students themselves. Com-petition is so sti� that currently only about 30 percent of applicants to the UAFS nurs-ing program are admitted.

So, with demands so high, why don’t

nursing programs just expand to meet the need? In large part, expansion is limited be-cause of the di�culty in finding doctorate-level nurse educators. Well-paid nursing jobs are so readily available that there is little incentive for RNs to pursue graduate-level education.

And that’s where endowed professor-ships—one of the key goals of the Giving Opportunity campaign—come in. By o�er-ing additional compensation and improved opportunities for scholarship, endowed po-sitions help UAFS compete for those highly sought-after educators—and, ultimately, improve the quality of healthcare in our region. —Wanda Freeman

Gifts Help Nursing Program Meet Demand

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22 BELL TOWER summer 2013

For McClain, the transition was slow going. After 10 years in the program, she still didn’t have her degree. But that year, when her mother passed away, McClain

decided to make a change. “I looked at my life and thought, ‘Life is short. You have

to go after you want.’ So I decided to make education my priority,” she says. She promptly left her job and enrolled in the RN-to-BSN online completion program at UAFS.

“It was awesome,” she says. “It pushed me over the precipice from being a nurse to being a professional nurse.”

Bachelor’s degree in hand, McClain began a new job working nights in the neonatal intensive care unit at Arkan-sas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock in 2007. She started at the RN II level, which requires at least one year of nurs-ing experience, but quickly moved into an RN III position, which includes advanced responsibilities such as serving as a preceptor for new nurses and leading quality improve-ment initiatives.

“I noticed a big difference between the professionalism of associate’s nurses and bachelor’s nurses when I got the degree, but it was really when I got promoted to RN III that I could really tell a difference,” says McClain. “I had a much deeper understanding of my professional obligations and what it means to be a member of a profession. I felt myself strictly adhering to professional standards, getting more into reading research articles, increasing accountability,

increasing informational literacy.”This difference is easily perceived by those at all levels of

the nursing profession.As Mosley notes: “Anyone who has worked in a hospi-

tal setting or administrative role—which I have—can tell the difference when nurses have a bachelor’s degree. The two-year degree focused only on technical skills. Those with a four-year degree pair their technical skills with thinking, analysis, public health, case management, and leadership. They have better critical thinking, research, and manage-ment skills.”

Professionals PreferredHospitals and health care facilities are quick to recognize the skills that baccalaureate-level nurses bring to the table.

“We know that the trend in hiring practices is that hos-pitals prefer BSN graduates. Prospective students recog-nize that. Hospitals recognize that,” says Mosley.

Job prospects for BSN graduates are fantastic, par-ticularly in the South, according to a 2012 survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Two-thirds of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the South have a job offer by graduation day; 92 percent received a job offer within six months. These offers are flowing in from the 39.1 percent of employers that require new hires to have a BSN and the 77.4 percent that have a strong preference for BSN program graduates.

The Pendergraft Health Sciences building, home of the Carolyn McKelvey Moore School of Nursing.

22_UAFS_SU13.indd 22 7/22/13 3:34 PM

^But what about the money? Nurses who have a BSN can

expect higher wages than their ADN counterparts, even when employed in the same role. For example, in 2008 staff nurses with a BSN earned 6.9 percent more than those with an ADN ($63,382 vs. $59,310), and at 13.6 percent the dispar-ity is even greater among first-line management nurses ($75,144 vs. $66,138).

A bachelor’s degree is also a crucial steppingstone for aspiring nurse educators and advanced practice nurses. For those who want to teach or become a nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife, or clinical nurse special-ist, a master’s degree is needed in order to take that next step in their career.

McClain is among them. She graduated with her master’s degree in nursing education in July and already has plans to earn a Ph.D. in the near future. Meanwhile, she teaches a pediatric clinical rotation for UAFS nursing students and has been promoted to patient care manager in the neonatal ICU at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

“I have no plans to leave Children’s anytime soon, but I’d like to teach in the future,” she says.

Growing DemandShe’s on a track to a high-demand career: The country needs more doctorate-level nurse educators to teach in-creasing numbers of baccalaureate students if we’re ever to have 80 percent of our RN workforce equipped with a BSN education.

Health care leaders, hospitals, and nursing students themselves are pleading for more openings in BSN pro-grams. Yet, with more than 52,000 qualified applicants turned away from entry-level baccalaureate nursing pro-grams in 2012, our nation’s nursing schools don’t seem to be able to keep up.

Mosley explains that, despite the nursing shortage and the need to supply nurses to the community, UAFS simply can’t meet the demands.

“It’s hard to find enough faculty and to fill out the clini-cal nursing space to put those students in. That restriction is nationwide, it’s an obstacle just about every nursing school has to address,” she says. And she’s right: More than 60 percent of all nursing schools cite faculty vacancies and lack of clinical space as major obstacles to expanding their bacca-laureate programs.

At UAFS, approximately 200 baccalaureate nursing students need clinical placement each semester—and that doesn’t include the handful of associate degree students at the school as well. “We use every health care facility in the

Fort Smith area. We have a relationship with all of them and a representa-tive from each facility that serves on the School of Nursing’s advisory board,” Mosley says.

In addition, a portion of each student’s clinical hours is spent in a simulations lab, where they learn skills with high-tech manikin patients. The school has 18 full-time nursing faculty and even more part-time adjunct faculty, and yet the number of qualified, interested prospective students far surpasses the number of available spots.

“We can maybe add another 20 students, but it’s dif-ficult,” says Mosley.

For BSN graduates like McClain, the rewards are enor-mous: job security, good salaries and benefits, opportuni-ties for advancement or further education—and a fulfilling career where their work makes a real, tangible difference in people’s lives.

“I love the flexibility of being a nurse,” says McClain. “There are so many options and so many paths that you can choose. If I get tired of the NICU, I could do surgery or a clinic or be a school nurse. It’s an ever-changing, dynamic field. It doesn’t get stagnant. It changes, so you have to keep up. That’s one of the things that I like.”

Nursing student Amanda Simmons checks simulated vital signs on one of the nursing lab manikins.

Job prospects for BSN graduates are fantastic,

particularly in the South. Two-thirds of baccalaureate-

prepared nurses have a job offer by graduation day.

UAFS BELL TOWER 23

23_UAFS_SU13.indd 23 7/22/13 3:34 PM

The family releases balloons (right) to honor Miller’s memory on his birthday.

ON FIRST MEETING PATRICK WOODRUFF ’01 AND HIS WIFE MEREDITH , you might not suspect that they are quiet heroes. Like most heroes in our midst, they appear to be everyday people. Patrick is a big, strong teddy bear of a guy, with a thoughtful way about him. He played baseball at Westark College, where he earned an Associate of Arts in 2001, and also at the University of Arkansas, Fayette-ville, where he earned a business management degree. In the deep blue eyes that he has passed down to his children, he has a twinkle.

Meredith, who met Patrick in her senior year at UA, is vivacious with long, straight hair and deep dimples. She’s comfortable in a way that suggests no one she

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days24 BELL TOWER summer 2013

24_UAFS_SU13.indd 24 7/22/13 8:11 PM

Miller McNeil Woodruff

was only with his family

for a brief time,

but his legacy lives on

as his parents turn

tragedy into possibility

and loss into hope

25_UAFS_SU13.indd 25 7/22/13 8:12 PM

26 BELL TOWER summer 2013

meets remains a stranger for long. Unless you inquire about the ball cap with the logo that

looks like five mountain peaks or the wristband that says “I’m with Miller,” what you won’t know immediately about Patrick and Meredith Woodruff is how much they know about heart-break.

The logo and wristband represent the Miller McNeil Woodruff Foundation, which the Woodruffs started not long after they turned 30. At 30, it’s easy to be fully absorbed in what’s right in front of you—developing a professional life, say, or beginning a family. Patrick is a bank vice president. Meredith works as an account executive for a local television station. They’ve started their family. Where and why do the Woodruffs find the time to spearhead a foundation?

The Miller McNeil Woodruff Foundation’s purpose is to fund research and support families affected by Spinal Muscular Atrophy—a neurodegenerative disease you’ve probably never heard of. And yet it’s the number one genetic killer of children under the age of 2.

In SMA, a vital gene—the survival motor neuron gene—is abnormal or missing. This gene is responsible for the production of a protein that keeps spinal motor neurons healthy. Without it, they die. In turn, voluntary muscles, which are not getting signals from the nerve cells, weaken and begin to waste away. There is no cure, only managing symptoms to keep complications at bay.

ONE IN 40 PEOPLE CARRIES THE SMA GENE. IF BOTH parents are carriers, their child has a 50 percent chance of becoming a carrier, but only a 25 percent chance of inheriting two SMA genes and being affected by the disease. Which is no comfort at all when your child is in that 25 percent.

The Woodruffs’ story begins with the March 2011 birth of their second child, Miller McNeil Woodruff. Meredith had blogged throughout her pregnancy, so the birth was anticipat-ed not only by the family and 3-year-old brother Cole, but by friends and virtual acquaintances far and wide. And, oh, Miller was a sweet thing. That tender, indescribable baby scent. Ten tiny perfect fingers and ten perfect toes. Rosebud lips. Wide and serious blue eyes.

The family settled into the newborn routine. Meredith’s mother, a retired nurse, came to help. When she changed Mill-er’s diapers or dressed him, she would talk in a teasing voice,

saying, “I wish you would wiggle around more,” or, “Kick your little legs.” Finally, Meredith confronted her mother: Did she think something was wrong?

“She said, ‘Well, I just wish he moved around more,’” re-members Meredith. Miller was three weeks old.

Once the concerns had been voiced, neither Patrick nor Meredith could brush them away. They took Miller to the pediatrician that next day. Still, waiting for the doctor to come in, Meredith felt silly. She was sure he would look at Miller and tell them to be thankful for their “laid-back” baby.

Only that’s not how things went. Even from the doorway, the pediatrician could see some-thing was wrong. He put his hand under Miller’s back. The baby lay limp with his legs falling to either side. The Woodruffs could read the grave concern on his face as he told them he was sending them directly to the hospital for tests. They didn’t know yet what was wrong, but they knew it wasn’t good. This was their first moment in what would become a strange new world.

And yet, they adjusted. They spent a week at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, where Miller underwent blood work, an MRI, an EKG, and a muscle biopsy. The week ground on in a wearying routine. Some of the tests, as

well as Miller’s noticeable lack of muscle tone, pointed toward a muscular disease. The Woodruffs began to get used to the idea that they would be raising a child who would probably never walk.

They had no more than reconciled themselves to that prog-nosis, when they had to reach inside and find the grace to deal with news worse than any parent should ever have to hear.

The fifth day in the hospital, Miller underwent an EMG, or electromyography, to measure electrical activity between the muscles and the nerve cells that control them. The Woodruffs weren’t worried. The EMG seemed simply another test to rule things out. Meredith remembers glancing out the window as Miller lay on the table, noticing dark clouds gathering, and thinking bad storms were coming.

She had no idea how bad.Suddenly, the doctor wheeled around. She was sorry to tell

them, she said, getting straight to the point: Miller had Spinal Muscular Atrophy. With what amounted to a flash flood of information, she explained how Miller’s muscles and nerves were dying off. SMA Type 1 is the most severe form, appearing

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Arkansas Children’s Hospital receives a donation of

$100,000 raised by the Miller McNeil Woodru� Foundation

in just over a year.

26_UAFS_SU13.indd 26 7/23/13 2:40 PM

UAFS BELL TOWER 27

within the fi rst six months of life. Babies like Miller, she told them, don’t usually live to see their fi rst birthday.

“That hit hard and out of nowhere,” says Meredith. “Not through any of the process did it ever cross our minds that he was going to die.” But even in that anguished moment, Mer-edith felt bad for the doctor, having to give parents such bad news. Later, she and Patrick would feel similar compassion for their parents, who were not only losing a grandchild, but who would have to watch their own children undergo a heart-rending loss.

“From that moment on,” Meredith says, “we knew all we could do was make sure whatever life Miller had was a good one.”

The Woodruffs returned home with Miller to what they called their new normal—an oxygen tank and compres-sor to help him breathe easier, a pulse oximeter to measure the saturation of oxygen in Miller’s hemoglobin, and a suction machine to clear fl uids and se-cretions from his mouth and airways. In babies with SMA Type 1, weakness of the chest wall muscles makes it dif-fi cult to take a deep enough breath or clear secretions with a cough, leaving them vulnerable to pneumonia and lung collapse.

As soon as they heard the news, friends and family mobilized. Pat-rick’s parents were nearby. Mer-edith’s mother practically moved in. Friends formed a “meal train.”

“It was a revolving door,” says Patrick. For the rest of the spring, Meredith says, “We just hung out

with Miller. Everyone wanted to see him. My mom said it was almost like he was holy.”

Early in the morning of June 23, 2011, Miller died peacefully in his mother’s arms. “He lived too short a life, but a very good life. He was never sick, and we never had to watch him suffer,” Meredith wrote. His memorial service was June 28, on what would have been his three-month birthday. More than 750 people attended.

The Woodruffs could have let themselves fall into a black hole of grief. Having Cole helped some—gave them a reason to get out of bed in the morning. When she was pregnant with Cole, Meredith had a friend whose daughter was stillborn.

“My heart hurt for her that she wasn’t going to get to hear Mamie’s name called out,” she remembers.

This is one of the reasons they created the Miller McNeil Woodruff Foundation. It gave them a way to carry on Miller’s name and his legacy, as well as make a positive difference by

raising awareness, funding research, and offering support to other families faced with the challenge of SMA. Within seven months of Miller’s death, the foundation had received $40,000 in donations.

“The foundation reassures us his life was full of purpose,” Meredith says.

These days, they get to hear and say Miller’s name quite frequently. The fi ve peaks on their baseball caps represent Miller’s monogram—MWM—with the Ms forming the two

arms of the W. The catchphrase “I’m with Miller,” printed on wristbands, also serves as the name of their web-site: imwithmiller.com. They’ve established an annual fundraiser, Cupcakes & Cocktails, to celebrate his March birthday. The fundraiser has raised upwards of $180,000 each year and has been wildly, unexpect-edly popular. “We thought 250 people would be awesome,” says Patrick of their initial ambition. By the time of the fi rst event, they had sold more than 800 tickets. Sponsors and dona-tions keep the costs to a minimum. Ninety-nine percent of the money the foundation raises goes to chari-ties, including Circle of Life Hospice, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Families of SMA. In September 2012, the Woodruffs presented a $100,000 check to the hospital to establish the Miller McNeil Woodruff Endowment for Neuromuscular Disorders to support clinical care, research, and education for

affected children and families. “Miller lived 87 days,” says Patrick. “But he’s still working

his magic.”The Woodruffs also do a balloon release each year privately

with Cole to celebrate Miller’s birthday. This year, though, the balloon release included a new baby sister, the healthy and strong Mattie.

“She’s been a blessing,” says Meredith. “She’s been able to heal our hearts in a way nothing else could have. She certainly hasn’t replaced Miller. There is no replacing, never will be, for him. But she’s renewed our spirits.

“We’re making our way through. It will be something we live with for the rest of our lives. And I know that we’ll have ups and downs forever,” adds Meredith. “Miller literally touched people of all ages across the entire country. How a tiny baby that just lived 87 days can do that is beyond me. That’s an angel. He had a purpose. He came with that, and he fulfi lled it. And he went on his way.”

The Woodru� s during their brief time with Miller.

arms of the W. The catchphrase “I’m with

The Woodru� s during their brief time with Miller.

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28 BELL TOWER summer 2013

Alumni+Friends

1950sJoAnn Foster ’58 and Harry Foster ’58 will be moving into

a retirement apartment in New

Braunfels, Texas, in August. Harry

will continue teaching Old Testa-

ment Studies at Texas Lutheran

University while JoAnn enjoys her

watercolor painting activities. The

couple has four grandchildren and

one great-grandchild.

1960sCharles Cotten ’61 serves as

director of the John Ben Shep-

perd Public Leadership Institute

on the University of Texas of the

Permian Basin campus, where he

helps develop leadership educa-

tion programs for high school and

college students. “I played baseball

with Jim Jay, whom you just put in

your Hall of Fame as a basketball

player. He was a heck of a baseball

player too,” he says. “We played

under Coach Breedlove.”

John R. Cross ’62 welcomed

his second granddaughter, Finn

Sehoke Cross, on March 3, 2013,

joining his first granddaughter,

3-year-old Peyton Talise. He writes

that both girls’ middles names are

Seminole, Sehoke meaning “to

stand up or

stand for,” and

Talise meaning

“beautiful

waters.”

1970s Rev. Douglas K. Beasley ’79

married Jolene Rankin of Mul-

berry, Ark., on July 10, 1982. He was

ordained in December 1988 and

attended Southwestern Baptist

Theological Seminary from 1995

to 1996. He has been a Southern

Baptist Minister

of Music for 33

years serv-

ing churches

in Arkansas,

North Carolina,

and Oklahoma.

He is currently

the associate pastor/music/se-

nior adults at Lake Village Baptist

Church in Lake Village, Ark. In 2012

he helped charter the Iota Mu

chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity

at UAFS. He writes, “I consider

these fine young men the sons I

never had.”

Doug Carson ’76 graduated

from the University of Arkansas,

Fayetteville, law school, where

he was the student works editor

for the Arkansas Law review and

was on faculty from 1982-84. He

is celebrating his 30th year with

Daily & Woods, PLLC, where he is a

senior partner.

Troy A. Hawkins ’70 earned

his Bachelor of Architecture from

UA Fayetteville in 1974. He moved

to Tulsa, where he spent 14 years

practicing architecture before

DROP US A LINE!Let us—and the people you went to school with—know what you’ve been

up to! Please take a few minutes to sit down and tell us what’s been

going on since your time at UAFS, Westark, or FSJC. Tell us about your

job, your family, your hobbies, your adventures, your plans—whatever you

want to share with other alumni. We love to get photos too, and we’ll hap-

pily run them in this section.

Be sure to include your name (and your name while you were in school

if it has changed since then) and the year you graduated or the years

you attended. Email your class note to alumni@uafs.edu or mail it to

Alumni O�ce, UAFS, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913.

Beginning any new project can be a daunting task, but having the right leader can make all the di�erence. The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith was fortunate to

have Zack Thomas as the first executive editor for Bell Tower. Sadly, this issue is his last, as he moves on to new ventures as managing editor at the University of Central Florida Foundation.

Zack came to UAFS in 2009 and literally started this maga-zine from scratch. Cover design, content, even the name itself were all a result of his e�orts. He successfully navigated the political environs to create and lead editorial board meetings. He wrote a hefty share of the columns and features, took most of the photographs, managed the budget (quite successfully, in fact), and worked closely with designers and printers to see each issue through from start to finish. And regardless of how all that sounds, this is a drastic oversimplification of all that is involved. Zack was essentially a one-man team, but this was never evident in the publication. He was adept at finding partners and allies to help him produce a superior product.

Bell Tower wasn’t Zack’s only responsibility, either. He was also responsible for the Foundation’s website, the Foundation’s newsletter Advances, the alumni e-newsletter Lion Lines, and the Foundation’s quarterly Personal Update newsletter. He also served as the speech-writer and coordinator for all Foundation donor events, groundbreakings, and new building dedications.

We are grateful to Zack for his dedicated service to UAFS and its Foundation. He has allowed us to tell our story to alumni and friends both near and far. His writing and photography had a voice of its own, one that was engaging, interesting, and enjoy-able, and quickly became the voice of Bell Tower itself. Beyond his technical skills, Zack was just a great guy to work with.

Thanks, Zack, and best of luck in your future endeavors!

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UAFS BELL TOWER 29

WWW.UAFS.COM

relocating to Florida, where he

owned his own firm for 25 years.

Hawkins retired in 2010 and still

visits the Fort Smith and Fayette-

ville areas whenever he can.

District Judge Wayland A. Parker II ’77 retired on Jan. 1,

2013, after serving 22 years on the

bench. He has now joined Walters,

Gaston, Allison & Parker, Attorneys

at Law, in Greenwood, Ark.

1980sLori (Loum) Patten ’88 has

lived in the Tulsa/Bixby, Okla.,

area since 1990. She is the charge

nurse in the post-anesthesia care

unit recovery room at St. John

Broken Arrow (Okla.). She holds

national certification as a Certified

Perianesthesia Nurse and was

recently awarded the Perianesthe-

sia Excellence in Clinical Practice

Award for the state of Oklahoma.

She has been married for more

than 21 years and has two children

ages 18 and 9.

Melissa Myers Sudbery ’83–’85 transferred from Westark

to University of Arkansas at Little

Rock, where she received degrees

in Spanish and English. Melissa re-

members her first Spanish teacher

at Westark, Nancy Zechedrich:

“She made learning the language

interesting and fun,” she says. After

graduating from UALR, she went

to work at the University of Arkan-

sas for Medical Sciences Medical

Library before becoming a Spanish

teacher at John L. McClellan High

School in Little Rock in 1995.

Melissa and her husband, William

“Bill” Sudbury, currently reside in

Fort Walton Beach, Fla., where she

teaches at the high school.

1990sJoann Erwin ’90 received her

bachelor’s degree in health care

administration in 2000. She is

contracted with the U.S. Depart-

ment of Labor as a field nurse for

the workers compensation pro-

gram working with injured federal

employees in Northeast Okla-

homa. Her career as a registered

nurse has included medical/surgi-

cal, psych, home health, hospice,

extended care management, and

case management. She writes,

“At present, retirement is not in

my plans because I continue to be

fulfilled utilizing the degree that I

received there many years ago.”

Maurice Je�ers ’99 gradu-

ated from Saint Louis University

in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree

in criminal justice. He has played

11 seasons as a professional

basketball player overseas—

competing in Spain, Germany,

Switzerland and Argentina.

He currently resides in St. Louis,

Mo., with his wife and daughter.

Tom Turner ’91 has been

married for 17 years and has four

children. He is employed by Oxane

materials in Van Buren as an op-

eration manager.

2000sKaren Armstrong ’08 will be

starting her fifth year as a high

school special education teacher

at Spiro High School in Oklahoma

this August.

Christine (Ales) Heaps ’02

completed her Bachelor of Music

in Music Therapy from South-

western Oklahoma State Univer-

sity in 2005.

She immedi-

ately moved

to the Phoenix

area, where

she works as a

music therapist for children with

disabilities and operates her own

business, Heaps Music Studio.

Christine married Joshua Heaps

on March 12, 2011.

Charlotte Henry ’07 received

a Master of Science in Counseling

at Mid-American Christian Univer-

sity in Moore, Okla., in 2010. She

is currently employed as a case

manager for LINC Works, which

partners with Full Employment

Council and the DSS Division of

Family Services in Kansas City, Mo.,

and is studying for the National

Counselor Exam. She writes that

her long-range goal is to become

director of her own nonprofit

organization, while her short-range

goals include buying a new home

and adopting a sibling group.

Erin Hetherington ’07 and

Je� Willis ’07 were married in

September 2010 at Esperanza

Mansion in Keuka Park, N.Y.

Erica (Bray) Hutchison ’01 received a master’s degree

in counseling from the Univer-

sity of Arkansas in 2006. She is a

licensed professional counselor

and registered play therapist,

and recently opened a private

practice in Fort Smith. Playful Path

Counseling, LLC, specializes in play

therapy for children, adolescents,

and families.

IN MEMORIAM

KA

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Dr. Anna Kasten Nelson ’52

attended Fort Smith Junior

College for two years after high

school. Her time here was short,

but it was a starting point for

the distinguished work she

would go on to do after she

graduated from the University of

Oklahoma in 1954 and received

her master’s. Nelson’s educa-

tion didn’t stop there; she would

earn her doctorate in history from

George Washington University.

After earning her doctorate, Nelson was appointed to the National

Study Commission for the Papers of Congress, which would become

one of her numerous appointments and accomplishments. Nelson

is most known for her e©orts and work to declassify government re-

cords that she saw as sources of our nation’s history. She had many

opportunities to fight for the cause – serving on the advisory com-

mittee for the State Department’s publications department, sitting

on the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board after

an appointment from President Bill Clinton, and testifying before

Congress multiple times on freedom-of-information practices and

principles. In 2009, Nelson’s continuous e©orts were rewarded with

a lifetime award from the American Historical Association. Before

her death on Sept. 27, 2012, Nelson served as Distinguished Historian

in Residence at American University. The editors of the 1951 Numa

wrote of Anna, then Anne, saying, “Anne will be remembered most

for her pleasant smile and her willingness to help.” Her life’s work is

an example of her willingness to help, and we will remember her life

and legacy for years to come.

29_UAFS_SU13.indd 29 7/22/13 7:37 PM

30 BELL TOWER summer 2013

Alumni+Friends

‘Through Diligence to Victory’Each year countless people contribute their e� orts, time, vision, and fi nan-cial support to continue helping UAFS grow in greatness. And as the University grows, so does the number of quality alumni who, upon graduation, continue to rep-resent the University as ambas-sadors throughout the community, state, and country.

In 2010 the UAFS Alumni Associa-tion began o� cially recognizing these outstanding individuals with the Diligence to Victory Award, the highest alumni honor bestowed by the University.

This honor gets its name from the motto of the fi rst class at Fort Smith Junior College—“Through diligence to victory.” Recipients are alumni who have distinguished themselves through service to their community, state, or nation, or whose outstanding leadership in their business or professional lives exemplifi es this motto.

More than anything, the Diligence to Victory Award is a way to recognize those who quietly and humbly dedicate their suc-cess to UAFS and seek to pass their success on to future UAFS alumni.

Previous recipients include Randy Wewers ’58, former UAFS Foundation Board member and creator of the Lucille Speakman Legacy Endowment for UAFS faculty; Peggy Raynor Weidman ’73, UAFS Board of Visitors chair and charter mem-ber of the Chancellor’s Coalition for the Visual Arts; and Stacey Jones ’71, associate vice chancellor for campus and community events. —Jessica Martin ’10.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONSDo you know a past student who has developed a continuing relationship with the University? Does this person stay involved with UAFS by volunteering their time, attending events, or con-tributing fi nancial support? Has this person had a successful career marked by signifi cant personal achievement? Does this person show dedicated and unwavering devotion to UAFS? Then you may know the recipient of the 2013 Diligence to Victory Award.

If you know someone who fi ts the profi le, please take the time to fi ll out a nomination form. The 2013 Diligence to Vic-tory Award will be presented during Homecoming Week at the Alumni Dinner Nov. 9. For more information on award nomina-tions, and for ticket information for the alumni dinner, please contact the Alumni O� ce at 877-303-8237 or alumni@uafs.edu. Nomination forms and a complete list of other Homecom-ing events are available on the website, uafsalumni.com.

Kristin (LaMar) Jones ’07 and

Jacob Jones ’07 reside in Tahle-

quah, Okla., where Jacob is pastor

of Southside Baptist Church.

Kristin, who taught in elementary

schools after receiving her degree,

is currently a stay-at-home mom

for their two children.

Katie (Schluterman) Kratzberg ’07 and her husband

A.J. welcomed baby girl Allie Kate

on Dec. 29, 2012. She weighed

7 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 21

inches long.

Jason Neal ’08 graduated

from South-

ern California

University of

Health Scienc-

es in April 2013

and is currently

a chiropractor at Balkman Chiro-

practic Clinic in Fort Smith.

Lacey Neissl ’08 married

Joshua Clark on August 4, 2012, in

Charleston, Ark. She now works as

a consumer loan o� cer at Arvest

Bank and serves as the newly

elected justice of the peace for

District 9 in Franklin County.

2010sJeremy Brown ’10 and Heather Merrill Brown ’10 welcomed son

Landon Russell

on June 23,

2012. He was

7 pounds, 2

ounces, and

21 inches long. Jeremy is currently

a senior accountant at Arkansas

Best Inc.

Poetry by Alexis Coleman ’12

was published in the spring 2013

issue of Boston’s North American

Review.

Ashley Ann Eubanks ’10

completed a master’s degree in

English with teaching English as

a second language through Ar-

kansas Tech University. In August

2012 she accepted a position as a

visiting lecturer with ATU’s College

of English and World Languages,

which she plans to continue to

hold while pursuing a second

master’s degree in multimedia

journalism. She currently resides

in Russellville and gave birth to her

third child in February 2013.

Aundrea Hanna ’13 has been

accepted into the University of

Arkansas School of Law. “As a

non-traditional student with fi ve

children, I did not have the option

of moving away and focusing all of

my time on higher education,” she

writes. “[The] University of Arkan-

sas - Fort Smith was an obvious

choice, and with criminal justice as

the fastest-growing program on

campus, it was the best decision

I have ever made.”

Valerie A. Kearney ’12 has

accepted a job working for the IT

department of Family and Chil-

dren’s Services in Tulsa.

Katie Kidwell ’12 accepted

a position in corporate sales at

USA Truck after graduating from

UAFS. Recently, she has taken on

the position as chair of public rela-

tions for the Junior League of Fort

Smith, and she says she hopes to

be able to help increase the Junior

League’s involvement on the UAFS

campus.

Courtney Kitterman ’12

joined roughly 3,000 other artists

to have her work displayed in New

York City at the Art Takes Times

Square event. She has also started

Kitterman Design, creating cus-

tom drawings,

paintings and

photography.

She writes that

she has been

researching graduate art schools

and is planning to attend within

the next two years.

William Tyler Lamon ’11 and

Angela Marie Norris ’11 were

married Aug.

25, 2012, in Fort

Smith.

Friends

‘Through Diligence

Each year countless people contribute

In 2010 the UAFS Alumni Associa-

Kristin (LaMar) Jones ’07Jacob Jones ’07quah, Okla., where Jacob is pastor

of Southside Baptist Church.

Kristin, who taught in elementary

schools after receiving her degree,

is currently a stay-at-home mom

for their two children.

Kratzberg ’07A.J. welcomed baby girl Allie Kate

on Dec. 29, 2012. She weighed

7 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 21

inches long.

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UAFS BELL TOWER 31

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Laurence Luckinbill ’52 has acted on Broadway, appeared in major motion pictures, and married into American entertainment royalty. And he wants people in his home state to know something.

“Tell everybody I’m extremely proud of being from Arkansas and being from Fort Smith,” he said. “It was a green, wonderful, magical place to live.”

After high school, Luckinbill enrolled at FSJC, “which was under the grandstand at the stadium at Northside High School,” he noted. “There were maybe 100 students and not too many teachers, but great teachers.”

Afterwards he transferred to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville as a sophomore and entered the pre-med program— whereupon he “flunked every single course.” A chemistry professor, noting how he kept everyone in class entertained, was the first per-son to recommend he study performing arts. He switched majors, crammed in every speech and drama course he could, and breezed to his degree in 1955, quickly settling into life on stage and in film.

He’s still acting at 78, primarily in a series of one-man shows about great Americans: Clarence Darrow, Teddy Roosevelt, and Er-nest Hemingway, to name a few. His film appearances include “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” in which he played the Vulcan Sybok, brother of Spock. And he won an Emmy for writing and producing NBC’s “Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie”—which, as it happens, is

about his in-laws. For the past 33 years, Luckinbill has been mar-ried to Lucie Arnaz.

“Here was this vital woman who just blew my socks right into my ears,” he said. “It was friendship, then quite suddenly it wasn’t, and we got married within about a year-and-change of meeting each other.”

The couple have three children together (plus his two from a previous marriage), they’ve shared the stage, and he calls her the greatest woman he’s ever known. “We never stop spinning,” Luckinbill said. “Absolutely the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me was having a family like this.” —Eric Francis

‘Never Stop Spinning’

Register at uafsalumni.com/homecoming or call 479.788.7920.

Save the Date . November 8-9, 2013n a land far, far away (Fort Smith) there is a King (Numa) who rules a kingdom of 40,000 alumni! Every year the alumni return to his castle (UAFS) for a concert, parade, tailgate, dinner,

basketball games, and so much more ...

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PARA.STYLE “HEAD 1”

What do you do with a degree in historical interpretation? Plenty, if you’re Justin Huss ’08, who is the superintendent at Lake Frierson State Park in Jonesboro, Ark. That’s a degree that took him seven years to earn as a non-traditional student because, as he jokes, “I was on the delayed entry/extended stay program.”

At the time, UAFS was bringing the Drennen-Scott Historic Site back to life. “The house was just sold to the University,” Huss recalls. “We had classes there. We moved artifacts and got to dig through these great discoveries. I learned about the family and gained real-world experience.”

Moving from student to park superintendent took a few steps. As part of the Arkansas State Parks superintendent trainee program “I bounced around the state to di�erent parks. After 17 months, I got the supervisor position at Lake Frierson. The year I applied, I was competing with 360 other people for 18 positions!”

Huss is currently overseeing a major park improvement: the construction of a new trail. With volunteer help, he is working to expand a short trail to 2 ½ miles of hiking and mountain biking fun. As keeper of one of Arkansas’ natural resources, Huss also educates park visitors to be better stewards. He hopes they will connect with the natural beauty of the park instead of wondering, ‘So what? Why should I care?’

As the only uniformed person at the park, Huss has a big job to do. All of it, even pushing paper or unclogging toilets, is worth it to him. “Arkansas has one of the best state park systems in the country,” he says. “I’m proud to be a part of it and enjoy managing the resource. We’re in the forever business. The work we do today will be here long after we’re gone. —Jaime Hebert

Preserving a Lasting Legacy

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Justin Huss prepares to make his rounds at Lake Frierson State Park.

Steven Minks ’10 has married

and welcomed a baby girl named

Savanna since graduating from

UAFS. He has completed his first

year of law school at the Mississip-

pi College School of Law and was

recently sworn in to the limited

practice of law in Mississippi. He

represents children in juvenile de-

linquency cases in the Youth Court

of Rankin County, Miss.

Brock Peters ’12 moved to

Fort Worth, Texas, in the summer

of 2012 to take a financial adviser

position with Merrill Lynch.

Natalie Sly ’11 is currently

working for Sparks Behavioral

Health in Fort Smith.

Edwin Terrell Washington ’11 graduated May 10, 2013, from

Arkansas Tech University with a

Master of Science in college stu-

dent personnel. He married Starki-

cia Wilkerson on June 8, 2013.

Brennan Will ’10 and Eliza-beth Will ’10 recently welcomed

their third child, Grace Chris-

tine. She joins brothers Braeden

Michael, 4, and James Douglas, 1.

The family lives in Oklahoma City,

where Brennan teaches geometry

at Santa Fe South Charter High

School.

As the final step of a complete

website overhaul that began in

August 2011, all UAFS emails are

now required to be in the format

firstname.lastname@uafs.edu.Still having trouble reaching

us? You can always send your

emails to alumni@uafs.edu, give

us a call at 877-303-8237, or stop

by and visit with us in the Alumni

O�ce on the corner of Waldron

and Kinkead. Or, if you’re feeling

particularly old fashioned, send

us a letter to UAFS Alumni, 5210 Grand Ave., PO Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913-3649.

NEW EMAIL!

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Alumni+Friends

32 BELL TOWER summer 2013

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A lot more went into this photo than it may seem at first. During the second annual Alumni Easter Egg Hunt, March 24, 2-year-old Reed Cates was fo-cused strictly on finding enough eggs to fill not only his basket, but also a basket for his 1-year-old sister, Allison. Nor-mally described as a cut-up by parents Misty and Ben Cates, Reed seemed a little too preoccupied with egg hunting to take a photo with Numa and the Easter Bunny. As the event started winding down and all the other children (about 100 in attendance) finished getting their photos, Reed’s family wanted to make sure he got one, too. But this egg hunter was not so sure about the large costumed lion and rabbit waiting for him to say “cheese.” After about 10 minutes of coaxing, coercing, and begging, the family final-ly got him close enough to compose a decent photo. Persuading him to look in the direction of the camera, how-ever, was another hurdle. Finally the photographer found Reed’s code word: flashlight. That got him to look at the camera just long enough to snap the shutter. So in the end, Reed took home two hard-won baskets of goody-filled eggs to share with his sister, and his family got a one-of-a-kind photo of their uncharacteristically serious clown. —Jessica Martin ’10

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Bell TowerUAFS Alumni AssociationP.O. Box 3649Fort Smith, AR 72913

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 479

FORT SMITH, ARK

Lack of parking is usually an issue for most campuses, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case here in 1980. Located literally in the center of campus, this lot allowed students a quick walk to almost any building at Westark. This photo looks south from the center of campus and illustrates just how much the campus landscape has changed over the past 30-plus years.

A look from the same spot today would show a much different picture. In place of a solid bank of trees, the Baldor Technology Center was built across Kinkead Ave-nue in 2000. And before that, this parking lot was wiped out to create the green, including the campus gates,

brick walkways, flowerbeds, and of course, the iconic bell tower. Today UAFS is widely known for its verdant grounds and manicured landscapes, which make for a picturesque if slightly longer walk from parking lot to classroom.

Do you have any photos or memories of your favor-ite spots on campus that may no longer be recognizable today? We’d love to share them in an upcoming issue. We’d also appreciate your thoughts about the magazine, responses to stories, and ideas for future articles. Drop us a line at alumni@uafs.edu or Bell Tower Magazine, P.O. Box 3649, Fort Smith, AR 72913.

A Look Back

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

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