View from the Chair
Biochemistry at Beloit
Faculty Update
Seminars
Course Enrollments
Honors
Student Research Presentations
Off-Campus Experiences
Declared Majors in Chemistry and Biochemistry
Majors - Class of 1995
Alumni News Notes
Bill Brown, Chair, Department of Chemistry
What impresses me about this past year is the reach of our staff
to audiences beyond the view of the Turtle Mounds that are such
a central point of our campus. This is not to diminish the extent
of our activities in the department in particular and on the campus
in general. But there is a lot more to our story.
In September, George and Rama attended a Gordon Research Conference
in Germany (as Rama points out, in a monastery in Southern Bavaria)
on Visualization in Science Education. It is worth noting that
George and Rama were the only attendees from non-graduate level
institutions. Rama describes this conference in most enthusiastic
terms. Given the stimulation from this conference, he took the
initiative to acquire for Chamberlin Hall a sophisticated UNIX-based
computer workstation equipped with 3D-graphics processing for
use by both faculty and students in teaching and research projects.
The centerpiece of George's professional work continues to be
his collaboration with Prof. Art Ellis at UW-Madison on an NSF
funded grant for "Development of a Materials-Oriented General
Chemistry Course." The scope and significance of curricular
materials generated by this collaboration can be judged by the
conferences and workshops George has been involved in to "spread
the word," as he puts it. Credits include an ACS Great Lakes
Regional Meeting, several NSF-sponsored conferences and workshops,
Gordon Conferences, the Biennial Chemical Education Meeting, the
International Conference on Chemical Education, an ACS national
meeting, and a National Academy of Science Conference on Undergraduate
Education in Science. Closer to home, George again presented his
"Chemistry for Kids," a two-week summer program for
two sections of a sixth grade class.
George, Brock, and Laura continue to "spread the word"
on our General Chemistry program. The big news for Brock is that
NSF has funded the ChemLinks Coalition, a five-year program for
which Brock is project director, "to develop, test, and disseminate
theme-based modules that emphasize active and collaborative learning
strategies." As the June 1994 issue of Beloit magazine points
out, this is the largest federal grant Beloit has ever received.
Roc's collaborative program with Rush University continues to
grow and to benefit both Rush and Beloit. Three Beloiters are
now in Rush's Ph. D. program in Biochemistry and a fourth is nearing
completion of an M.D./Ph.D. program. Further, three Beloiters
will be doing internships at Rush this summer. Roc's research
on vitamin C and aging was given national coverage in USA Today,
22 October 1994, with the headline "Twice Daily Vitamin C
May Be The Key." As is our style at Beloit, this research
was done in collaboration with four students. That's part of our
success, isn't it - getting student involved?
For Bill, September '94 brought publication of "Organic Chemistry,"
a text on which he has been working for the past four years. Whereas
his previous books have been for students pointing toward careers
in the allied health sciences, this one is aimed squarely at chemistry
majors and those who require a full year of organic chemistry
as preparation for careers in the biological and health sciences.
This Newsletter is our way to tell you what we have been doing.
In return, we ask you to keep telling us what you are doing. Laura
is the editor of this issue of the Newsletter. Send information
to her, or to any one of us. We are anxious to hear from you.
Contents
Roc Ordman, Chair, Biochemistry Program
It has been an exceptionally successful year for the College and
the Biochemistry Program. The number of students expressing an
interest in the Biochemistry major continues to climb since the
email/gopher system began two years ago. The assistance of so
many alumni interacting with present majors through email, through
comments available through the gopher database, and through internships
which alumni have arranged, has resulted in a level of excitment
and ambition among present majors which is noted by everyone who
visits - alumni and prospective students. At present, there are
about 18 students per year interested in the biochemistry major.
Successes of our current majors - Mark Brockman off to Harvard,
Ashley Eversole to Yale, Brett Summers finally deciding on Washington
University after offers and trips throughout the nation - reflect
not only the quality of our students and instruction, but also
the contribution of internships arranged through our alumni and
networking.
Several news items may be of interest:
First, because of the success, distinction, and cohesiveness of
the biochemistry majors and alumni, the Development Office decided
to allow a fundraising drive for the Biochemistry Program. This
is the first time in the history of the College that money was
asked from majors in a particular area for a specific major. The
checks are rolling in as I write this, and it is very gratifying
to know that the current majors will have an easier time thanks
to the generosity of so many of you reading this. To both those
who have given and those who cannot afford to yet, my thanks for
your thoughts and letters. Knowing the students and alumni of
Beloit College is by far the greatest reward of a teaching career
here.
Second, the cooperation between Rush and Beloit College continues
to flourish and pay dividends for our students. Dean Aguiar, Kay
Dennis, and Brian Pfister are all in the Ph.D. program there presently,
and Eric Brown is nearing completion of his M.D./Ph.D. Four faculty
and students from Rush came to Beloit this spring to present a
workshop on in situ hybridization with sixteen participants, and
three Beloit students are doing internships there this summer.
A variety of agreements are presently being negotiated to provide
the Biochemistry Program with a talented pool of incoming minority
students from the Chicago area, and opportunities for early acceptance
to graduate and medical school at Rush.
Third, wide publicity of the success of Beloit College is attracting
students who come to Beloit specifically to study biochemistry.
Chemistry's recognition and funding by NSF for over $2 million
for the ChemLinks Coalition, Biology's Bioquest recognition, and
the Biochemistry's email/gopher success, combined with our enthusiastic
students and alumni, are spreading the word that Beloit is the
place to be. This year a talented prospective student called me
in March to complain that he had been waitlisted for admission
next fall - the first time in 18 years I have had such a call!
Other prospectives enter my office to report that they have been
told that Beloit is "one of the best places in the Midwest
to study biochemistry."
The big failure of the year was Project Enhance. In cooperation
with two highly talented teachers in Chicago and with Rush University,
I tried this year to raise $20,000 each from industrial foundations
to sponsor an annual summer science program for talented midwestern
minority high school students - a program to develop a pool of
well-prepared students for Beloit and industry. Unfortunately,
despite assistance from many biochemistry and chemistry alumni
in approaching the industries, the first response was very poor.
This summer, we will be reviewing our strategy and trying again
for next summer. Project Enhance will provide 6 weeks of summer
science and laboratory experience for students after 9th and 10th
grades,followed by an internship at the sponsoring industry after
11th grade. It is the prospect of arranging the internships at
the companies which seemed to put off many industrial foundations.
If any of you reading this would be interested in helping to set
up such an arrangement with your employer, that is, finding a
six-week summer internship for an 11th grader in your city three
years from now - please let me know so we can coordinate on getting
this program going next year. With the changing demographics of
our nation, attracting talented minority students to Beloit is
a major goal of the entire College, and particularly of the Biochemistry
Program.
Visits this year by so many of you - Brian Davis, Blaine Kloeckner,
Dean Aguiar, Bill McIvor, David Virshup, and many others - pass
on the excitment of science and medicine to our present students.
Donations, internship opportunities, and email messages bring
the sense of belonging to a Beloit tradition to today's majors.
It is thanks to the efforts of all of you reading this that our
College continues to prosper in money, equipment, and most of
all, students and opportunities for those students. Thank you
all!
Contents
William H. Brown B.A. St.Lawrence University
Professor and Chair M.A. Harvard University
Ph.D. Columbia University
At Beloit since 1964
As I reflect on this past academic year, two events stand out
as particularly important and satisfying; the publication of Organic
Chemistry in August 1994 (described below), and the Directorship
of the Beloit seminar to the University of Glasgow, fall term
of 1994 (see Seminar section).
Organic Chemistry
Although I had done some preliminary work on this text prior to
1990, serious work began during my tenure as Director of the 1990
Glasgow seminar. The time seemed right. Further, I found it stimulating
to compare my concepts of presenting organic chemistry with the
quite different concepts on which Glasgow's program is based.
Work progressed well through the next few years. The final manuscript
was submitted to Saunders College Publishing in the fall of 1993,
and the text was published in August 1994. For those of you who
pay attention to these kinds of things, the book has an official
publication date of 1995, a fact having to do with the particular
ways of the publishing industry.
It is a beautiful book, and the first organic text to incorporate
fully the user-friendly graphics style of present general chemistry
texts. The effect is created by over 250 pieces of full-color
art work drawn by J/B Woolsey and Associates, by a wealth of photos
showing organic chemistry as it occurs in everyday life, and by
50 pieces of stereoart drawn to reinforce the concept of organic
chemistry as a three-dimensional science. When viewed using the
stereoglasses packaged with the text, molecules literally pop
out of the page. While not the first use of stereoart in an organic
text, we are the first to use it in such a dramatic and effective
way. The introductory chapter on Covalent Bonding, for example,
includes stereoviews of chair and boat cyclohexanes, adamantane,
and twistane. The chapter on Chirality has stereoviews of the
enantiomers of lactic acid and 2,3-pentadiene. Included in later
chapters are stereoviews of the hemicarcerand used by Don Cram
to trap cyclobutadiene, the crown ether 18-crown-6, the anomeric
glucopyranoses, cholesterol and cholic acid, ribonuclease A, myoglobin,
deoxyhemoglobin, and finally B-DNA.
By special arrangement with Cambridge Scientific, Saunders also
makes available student-priced editions of ChemDraw and Chem 3D.
Students find that manipulating three-dimensional models with
this software is fascinating and instructive, and also addictive.
Other items in the "student support package" (as it
is called in the business) are:
· Student Study Guide written by Brent and Sheila Iverson
of the University of Texas-Austin.
· 1001 Ways to Pass Organic Chemistry, that number of questions
in multiple-choice format by Shelton and Janet Bank of SUNY-New
York.
· Pushing Electrons by Daniel Weeks of Northwestern University.
· Organic Polymer Chemistry: A Primer by Bruce Novak of
the University of Massachusetts.
It is gratifying that the book is so beautiful, the support package
so impressive, and market acceptance so positive. But the warm
fuzzy for me has been setting my pedagogy to paper and seeing
the project to completion.
George Lisensky B.A. Earlham College
Professor Ph.D. California Institute of Technology
At Beloit since 1980
George taught General Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry in the
fall and Chemical Equilibrium (a class of 40) and Instrumental
Analysis in the spring. He continues to work with Arthur Ellis
at UW-Madison on their National Science Foundation grant for "Development
of a Materials-Oriented General Chemistry Course." While
many introductory chemistry courses focus on small molecules,
gases, and liquids, solids are an important part of our materials-intensive
world. Virtually every topic discussed in a general chemistry
course can be illustrated with examples and concepts from materials
chemistry. Teaching General Chemistry: A Materials Science Companion,
published by ACS books, has now gone into its second printing.
Part of the project involves spreading the word as you'll notice
from the list of talks and workshops below. You can find a picture
of George in Chemical and Engineering News, "Chemistry Curriculum
Reform Focuses on Content, Technology, and Pedagogy," August
29, 1994, page 35.
George has had a VERY busy year. He presented a half-day workshop
on "Semiconductors and Laboratory Demonstrations," assisted
by Laura Wright ('85), at the NSF Solid State Chemistry Program
for Undergraduates and College Faculty, SUNY Binghamton. They
also gave an invited paper at the ACS Great Lakes Regional Meeting.
Along with Manish Patel, ('94), he organized and presented a National
Science Foundation workshop for future leaders of additional Materials
Science Workshops. This program brought 20 college and university
chemistry teachers from around the country to Beloit for a three
day workshop. These faculty are currently holding their own NSF
funded workshops with the program administered through Beloit.
An entire poster session at the Solid State Chemistry Gordon Research
Conference was devoted to the project's work on using materials
science to teach general chemistry. The team presented and defended
11 posters simultaneously. George served as a technical advisor
and presenter during the filming of four half-day activities for
part of the American Chemical Society satellite broadcast for
National Chemistry Week last November. George presented two half-day
workshops on teaching general chemistry using solids at the Biennial
Chemical Education Meeting, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.
He also helped organize a session and gave a talk on the "Chemistry
of Light Emitting Diodes." George presented two half-day
workshops on teaching general chemistry using solids at the International
Conference on Chemical Education, Inter-American University, San
Juan, Puerto Rico. George attended the American Chemical Society
National Meeting in Washington, DC as an invited speaker in a
session on chemical demonstrations. Dale Moore, a UW-Madison graduate
student, presented a joint research paper on the "Photoluminescent
Properties of Cadmium Selenide Coated with a Photoactive Cobalt
Coordination Complex: A Transduction-Based Dioxygen Sensor."
George also presented a poster at the Gordon Research Conference
on Visualization in Science Education, in Irsee, Germany that
he and Rama attended. At the Gordon Conference on Innovations
in the Teaching of College Chemistry in Ventura, CA, Brock and
George presented a poster on "Why We Continue with Lab-First
General Chemistry." George also had an invited exhibit at
the National Academy of Sciences during a conference on Undergraduate
Education in Science. George and Brock spent a day at North Central
College telling representatives of the Associated Colleges of
the Chicago Area about Beloit's introductory chemistry course.
Recently, George presented a three-day NSF Chautauqua Workshop,
"Superconductors, Semiconductors, and Metals: Bringing Solids
into Introductory Chemistry Courses," at the University of
Pittsburgh.
George's current projects include a CD of movies and animations
due out this summer for use with the Materials Science Companion.
David Gan ('97) and Manish Patel ('94) worked with George last
summer, as will Jill Gettings ('96) this summer.
George also found time last summer to again teach science at College
for Kids for two weeks (two sections of a sixth grade class) and
to lead a faculty contra dance at the fall conference.
Alfred Bram Ordman B.A.Carleton College
Associate Professor Ph. D. Univ. of Wis.-Madison
Chair, Biochemistry Program At Beloit since 1977
Roc continued his standard teaching load of Biochemistry and Microbiology
in the fall, and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and Chemistry
117 in the spring. Enrollments in the Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology courses have grown substantially as a result of the growing
number of biochemistry majors. Between teaching, advising more
than 50 students interested in the biochemistry major, arranging
internships for more students than ever, and managing the gopher/email
systems of the biochemistry major, daily life presents steady
challenges for time management. His big thrill this year was the
October 22, 1994 headline of USA Today "Twice Daily Vitamin
C May Be the Key", reporting the publication in AGE of research
on vitamin C which Roc performed with biochemistry majors Gavin
King, Michael Beins, Brett Summers, and Jennifer Larkin. That
headline led to numerous radio, newspaper, and magazine articles
of their recommendation to take 500 mg of vitamin C twice daily,
and 400 iu of vitamin E once daily, to reduce the risk of many
age-associated diseases. Among the coverage was a feature on Roc's
research in his alumni magazine in time for his 25th college reunion
this summer. Roc also attended the ACS meetings in Washington,
DC last summer with Rama and George where he presented two papers
on the Email/Gopher system and the Curriculum of the Biochemistry
Program.
Laura E. Parmentier B.S. Northland College
Assistant Professor and Ph.D. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Martha Peterson Junior Professor in the Sciences At Beloit since
1991
This has been an exciting year! Laura taught Organic (Chem 230)
in the Fall and Scientific Literature and Pharmacology in the
Spring. The Pharmacology course, really an organic-based drug
design/medicinal chemistry course, took a short field trip to
attend a seminar at UW-Madison this spring given by Craig Townsend,
Professor at Johns Hopkins University, on the ene-diyne antibiotic
calicheamicin.
Although Laura was not teaching Chem 117 this year, she still
had the opportunity to talk about Beloit's lab-based introductory
chemistry course. Laura traveled to Florida for a Project Kaleidoscope-sponsored
consulting visit to help Florida Community College at Jacksonville
redesign their chemistry and physics curricula. Early March is
a lovely time to visit Florida!
This summer Laura is working with Kim White ('96) on a sociology
research project studying academic women in science. Kim is a
Chemistry and Sociology double major, so this is a lovely way
for her to integrate the two disciplines and for Laura to try
something new. After attending the 19th Annual Wisconsin Women's
Studies Conference entitled "Women Shaping Science, The Environment,
Society: Images, Activism, Transformation," with Margaret
Moore ('96, Biochemistry major, Women's Studies minor ) this fall,
Laura has been looking for more ways to combine chemistry with
other disciplines.
Brock Spencer B.A. Carleton College
Kohnstamm Professor of Chemistry Ph. D. Univ. California-Berkeley
At Beloit since 1965
Brock continues to teach Chemistry 117 in its new format and was
able to offer the "capstone" seminar on The Challenge
of Global Change for the environmental studies minor this year.
The big news is that the $2.7 million National Science Foundation
grant for which Brock is the project director has been funded.
Over the next five years the ChemLinks Coalition of 15 liberal
arts colleges and research universities will develop, test, and
disseminate theme-based modules (on chemistry and the environment,
chemistry and technology in society, the molecular basis of life)
that emphasize active and collaborative learning strategies. Thus,
Beloit College will be in the forefront of the NSF Division of
Undergraduate Education initiative for "systemic change"
in the chemistry curriculum. As project director for one of four
such grants that have been funded, Brock participated in a symposium
on "NSF-Catalyzed Change" sponsored by the Division
of Chemical Education at the American Chemical Society's National
Meeting in Anaheim in April. He also organized and chaired a joint
meeting of the ChemLinks Coalition with the Modular Chemistry
Coalition on April 21-23 in St. Paul. Last August Brock was host
site coordinator for a Project Kaleidoscope Regional Colloquium
on Revitalizing Introductory Science and Mathematics Courses held
at Beloit College. He has given presentations on Beloit's Chemistry
117 at that Colloquium, as a keynote speaker at the annual meeting
of the Middle Atlantic Association of Liberal Arts Chemistry Teachers
at Hood College in October, and with George Lisensky at the Gordon
Research Conference on "Innovations in the Teaching of College
Chemistry" (for which Brock was Vice-Chair) at Ventura, California,
in January and at a day-long workshop for the Associated Colleges
of the Chicago Area in May. Brock has served as a curriculum consultant
this year at Lafayette College, Roosevelt University, and the
University of Michigan-Dearborn. He published research articles
on molecular orbital calculations for a [Au6Ni12(CO)24]2- cluster
(Inorganica Chimica Acta, 1994, 227, 269-283) and for a series
of metal-acetylide complexes (Journal of Organometallic Chemistry,
1994, 472, 247-255).
Rama Viswanathan B.S. Bombay University
Associate Professor M.S. Indian Inst.of Technology
Ph.D. University of Oregon
At Beloit since 1983
I had a quiet but productive year. Teaching Quantum Chemistry
(in Fall) and Thermodynamics and Kinetics (in Spring) kept me
quite busy, especially since the enrollment in both the courses
was unusually large (>10 students each) by Beloit standards!
Highlights of the year in terms of my professional development
included a presentation at the ACS National Conference in August,1994
(held in Washington, D.C.,) on a software front-end for access
to information from on-line library catalogs on the Internet (--in
case you are wondering what this has to do with chemistry, it
was part of a session titled "What chemists need to know
about computers and computing."). George Lisensky and I also
had a most interesting and productive trip to Germany in September,
where both of us attended (and presented posters at) a Gordon
Conference on applications of new visualization technologies in
science education. The conference, held in the typical intimate
style of all Gordon conferences (except for the fact that this
one was held in an authentic monastery with attached brewery in
Southern Bavaria), was neat in the sense that a number of prominent
scientists from Europe made presentations, including Gerd Binnig
(Nobel for Scanning Tunelling Microscope) and Robert Huber (Nobel
for X-Ray Crystallography of Proteins). In addition, W. Kraetschmer
gave a compelling first-hand account of his group's success in
the first bulk synthesis of fullerenes from soot! It was also
an opportunity for us to learn about and compare the (very different)
cultures and practice of science education in Europe and the U.S.A.
We visited and stayed overnight with Dr. Ingo Hussla (the father
of Jesko Hussla, '93) in Cologne en route to the conference and
enjoyed a two hour detour to the Oktoberfest in Munich at the
end of our trip, with Dr. Brent Wurfel '82 serving as host and
tour guide. I came away from the conference convinced of the importance
of visualization (of both models and experimental data) in science
education and even managed to sell the idea to my colleagues in
Chamberlin Hall (Division I), with the result that we have just
ordered a sophisticated UNIX-based computer workstation equipped
with a high-powered 3D-graphics hardware processing card and a
20-inch color monitor. We hope that both students and faculty
will be able to use the workstation effectively in research projects.
The computer is due to arrive any time, and I anticipate a busy
summer setting it up on our high speed ethernet network and installing
the graphics software!
Contents
Dr. David Virshup, '77, from the Molecular Biology Program at
the University of Utah, spoke on his research on DNA replication
in eucaryotes as well as about admission to graduate programs
in three presentations in the department in November.
Beloit College again hosted the Girls and Women in Science Program,
directed by Kathy Green, in November. Brenda Waller, '93, visited
from Idaho to participate in the Women in Science Alumnae Panel.
Pharmacist Nancy Souert, 87, spoke to the Molecular Biology class
this spring about her current research on protein expression.
Dr. Reed Tarwater, Eli Lilly Research Laboratories, presented
a seminar entitled "A Brief Introduction to the Development
of Pharmaceuticals" in April.
Dr. Wallis Calaway, from the Materials Science and Chemical Technology
Division at Argonne National Laboratories visited in April and
talked to the Scientific Literature class about internships at
Argonne and gave a seminar on his research entitled "Trace
Analysis Using Lasers and Ion Beams." Carrie Tuit, '96, worked
with Dr. Calaway in the summer of '94.
Glasgow Seminar-Fall 1994 Professor Bill Brown
Carolyn and I enjoyed our 1990 stay in Glasgow so much that we
were eager to return in '94 to renew acquaintances, and to learn
even more about this country so rich in heritage and natural beauty.
We arrived 22 August, a week ahead of the students, and arranged
temporary accommodations at The White House, Clevenden Crescent,
a somewhat ostentatious address near the University in a
quiet, secluded part of older Glasgow. We made it our home until
the end of September when we moved to the home of Kevin &
Fiona Murphy in Shawlands, a suburb on the southwest side of Glasgow.
Kevin, an aquatic biologist, was on sabbatical leave in Brazil
to consult on projects of land reclamation and use.
Our 14 students arrived on 29 August. Our first week was introduction
and acclimation. Among other things, I advised them always carry
an umbrella - if it isn't raining in Glasgow, it soon will. And
I told that them that if they find currency bills confusing, it
is because there are four banks in Britain authorized to issue
currency: The Bank of Scotland, The Royal Bank of Scotland, the
Clydesdale Bank, and the Bank of England. (Trivia question: how
many institutions in the US are authorized to issue currency?)
The Monday following students' arrival I am sure will stand out
as a highlight of their early impressions of Scotland. Not only
was the coach trip that day a striking introduction to the Wars
of Independence and reigns of James IV-VI, but the weather was
as clear and as fine a day as I have ever seen in Scotland. The
trip began at the Bannochburn Historic Centre with a fine 15 minute
video and time to visit the site of Robert The Bruce's defeat
of the English in 1314. From there it was a short bus ride into
Stirling, a guided tour of the Castle and time to wander its grounds.
What I wouldn't give to return in 2000 to see the Great Hall with
its hammerbeam ceiling restored to the times of James IV-V. We
ended the day at the Wallace Monument on the outskirts of Stirling.
The "Talking Head" audio-visual presentation of Wallace
telling his story and his confrontation with Edward II, the Hammer
of Scotland, is stunning! To finish the trip in style, we climbed
the 246 narrow steps of the spiral staircase (a left-handed spiral,
as is common in Britain) to the top of the cathedral-spired tower
for a spectacular view. Trivia question: why are fortress and
castle staircases designed to spiral in a left-handed manner?
A. Scottish Studies
The fall term at Glasgow University begins 6 October, and to keep
our students busy and occupied through the month of September,
the University created for us a special four-week preterm program
of Scottish history, literature, and archaeology. The archaeology
component included an orientation lecture from Prof. Alex Morrison,
Chair of Archaeology, and then two full-day coach trips, the first
to selected sites along the Antonine Wall, the second to a group
of sites important in the prehistory and early history of Western
Scotland.
Our walks along the Antonine Wall were led by Prof. Hanson, an
author of a definitive work on the origins and function of the
Wall. To give you some background on the Wall, we go back to AD
43. It was then that the Romans invaded Britain and quickly conquered
Lowland England. Then, in a series of campaigns in the 70s and
early 80s, Wales, North England, and Scotland up to the Highland
Line were overrun. By about 100, however, Scotland had been abandoned,
and in the early 120s the Romans constructed Hadrian's Wall across
the Tyne-Solway isthmus in northern England. Over 15 years later,
while modifications to Hadrian's Wall were still taking place,
the new emperor, Antoninus Pius, decided to reconquer Scotland.
He abandoned Hadrian's Wall and built a new one across the Forth-Clyde
line. Some 37 miles long, the Antonine Wall was just under half
the length Hadrian's Wall, but unlike the latter, which was mainly
built of stone, this one was wholly of turf. Why build this Wall?
Reasons are uncertain. Prof. Hanson suggested that perhaps Antoninus
Pius needed military prestige, so that the advance may have been
undertaken for propaganda purposes. There is also evidence of
native unrest in North Britain at the time, which might have stimulated
renewed military action.
We ended the trip in Bearsden at a Roman fort and adjoining bath
house. The existence of a fort has been known since the mid-18th
century, but detailed knowledge results from extensive excavations
between 1973-1978. In an annex attached to the east side of the
fort was found a well-preserved bath house, the drains from which
served to flush the sewer channels inside the adjacent communal
latrine. In discussing the latrine, Prof. Hanson instructed us
in some of the techniques used by archaeologists in deciphering
the patterns of diet of the soldiers of this fort, which seems
to have been predominantly vegetarian. Think about the latrine
itself, Prof. Hanson suggested. No toilet paper. Rather, each
soldier had a handled-sponge. At this point he made a frame shift
to the crucifixion of Jesus. To Jesus on the cross, a Roman centurion
offered a sponge dipped in vinegar. Was it an act of kindness,
as we are given to believe, or was it an ultimate insult?
The Scottish history and literature component of our preterm program
went into orbit under the combined leadership of Douglas Gifford
and Ted Cowan. Ted is the newly-appointed Head of Scottish History
and Douglas is Head of Scottish Literature. Each is one of those
remarkable persons whose grasp of time and place, whose power
to create vivid images through the spoken word, and whose range
of knowledge is staggering. The focus of Scottish Literature is
the great trilogy "A Scots Quair" by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
That of Scottish History was on prehistory and formation of the
nation, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment and Industrial
Revolution.
A highlight of our studies with Douglas and Ted was a 3-day reading
party in Edzell, a small village near the east coast of Scotland.
Reading parties are something unique to the Scottish or perhaps
British manner of education. A group goes to an off-campus site
and becomes fully involved in reading-discussing for periods of
a few days to as much as a week. The site chosen for our reading
party was at small hotel in Edzell. Days were long and crammed
with visits to sites that made more meaningful to us our readings
in both history and literature, from ancient hill forts and carved
Pictish stones to 12th century castles now in ruins to Glamis
Castle, the birthplace of the Queen Mother. Evenings consisted
of videos and then follow-up group discussions with Ted and Douglas
feeding off each other and the group. Sunset Song and the Gibbon
trilogy came alive through Douglas' words and insights. And the
perspective of other peoples and other times came alive to us
through Ted's words at places like the Circle of Standing Stones
and the fortress castle of Kildrummy. A truly memorable experience.
B. Science and the Environment in Scotland
During the 10-week Martinmas term of the University, our students
took three courses, two of their choosing. The third was Science
and the Environment in Scotland, designed for us by Ian Pulford
of the Department of Chemistry, Division of Agricultural, Food
& Environmental Chemistry. Ian's research interests include
a project in Egypt in the vicinity of the Aswan Dam investigating
irrigation and soil management as a means to reclaim land for
sustainable agriculture. A second project, in conjunction with
the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, is a study
of the distribution of radionuclides in coastal areas of Scotland
due to discharge into sea waters by the Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
Plant in Sellafield on the west coast of England. Still a third
project is the uptake of heavy metal ions by plants and trees
and the possibility of using such means to reclaim derelict land
now contaminated with heavy metal industrial wastes. Ian was recently
interviewed on BBC-1, complete with a laboratory demonstration,
on preliminary results and potential implications of this study.
Our program consisted of eight field visits and discussions, each
intended to highlight specific issues of concern to the environment
of Scotland and the United Kingdom.
7 October Introduction and overview of environmental issues in
Scotland
12 October Clyde River Purification Board, East Kilbride
19 October Carbans Sewage Treatment Works, Wishaw
26 October Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive
9 November The Museum of Lead Mining, Wanlockhead
16 November Loch Lomond: University Field Station, Rowardennan
23 November Hunterston Nuclear Power Station, Ayrshire
30 November Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Center,
East Kilbride
As written work, each students was required to (1) prepare a brief
summary of the environmental issues dealt with on each visit,
(2) construct a diary record of the visits, and (3) write a 10-15
page paper discussing any aspects of one of the following issues
with reference to the Scottish and UK environment: Land Use, Water
Quality, Energy Production, Industry.
C. My Teaching Responsibilities in Chemistry
The Chemistry program at University of Glasgow is organized around
a curricular plan quite different from the American model. It
is characterized by a different packaging of material, far greater
concentration on chemistry, and far less study in areas other
than chemistry. Given this curricular organization, it is unlikely
that any person visiting Glasgow for less than the full year would
be given anything other than auxiliary duties, which was exactly
what happened to me in 1990, to George in 1992, and to me again
in 1994.
I met early on with Professor Joe. Connoly, head of 3rd year organic,
and arranged duties as a Demonstrator in the organic laboratory.
What is a Demonstrator, I wondered? It goes like this. For the
laboratory of 60 students, there are normally two members of staff
present, along with four or five graduate students. I was in addition
to the two members of staff, which meant, as far as I could tell,
that I was to watch and contribute where and when I could.
I felt useless the first weeks because I knew nothing about the
operation of their storeroom, or their safety procedures, their
system for storage and dispensing of reagents, the extended projects
in which students were engaged, etc. Students caught on pretty
quickly that I did not know much about these things and didn't
ask about what I didn't know. They realized pretty quickly, however,
that I could help in discussing the relevant organic chemistry,
the interpretation of spectral unknowns, reaction mechanisms,
library resources, etc. As the term progressed, it became common
for students to approach me in both the laboratory and the library
with questions.
I also did some work with Professor John Carnduff, head of 1st
year chemistry. First year chemistry at Glasgow is divided into
two courses. Chemistry 1 is the core course for chemistry and
science majors. General Chemistry is a remedial course for students
with poor preparation. I chose to work with this latter group
in what are called "workshops". The 50 or so students
in a workshop are given a set of problems and put to work. The
three or four members of staff present then respond to raised
hands with individual help. Then at 5-10 minute intervals throughout
the period, solutions are put on the board. For problems not completed
in class, students could find solutions posted within a few days
following the workshop. I did enjoy this work, but often came
away with the feelings of being able to do so little for students
who needed so much.
D. Will we return to Scotland?
If not as Director of a future seminar, then certainly at least
as tourists. We have now seen Scotland twice in late summer, fall,
and early winter. We would like to visit next in the spring when
the rhododendron and rape seed are in full bloom, or in mid summer
when the days are longer for visits to the off-coast islands of
Skye and Mull and Islay. But then, if you have ever been to Scotland,
you will know why we want to return. And if you haven't been there,
do consider it.
Contents
1994-1995
FALL
117 General Chemistry.................................................................70
230 Organic Chemistry I...............................................................43
245 Quantum Chemistry.................................................................9
250 Inorganic Chemistry.................................................................7
300 Biochemistry..........................................................................21
380 Senior Seminar........................................................................9
385 Senior Thesis...........................................................................1
394 Research.................................................................................5
_______
Total 165
SPRING
117 General Chemistry.................................................................62
220 Chemical Equilibrium.............................................................40
235 Organic Chemistry II..............................................................29
240 Thermodynamics and Kinetics...............................................12
275 Biotechnology and Molecular Biology....................................31
280 Scientific Literature.................................................................25
360 Instrumental Methods of Analysis............................................5
375 Advanced Topics: Pharmacology............................................6
380 Senior Seminar........................................................................7
385 Senior Thesis...........................................................................6
394 Research.................................................................................5
_______
Total 228
Contents
Departmental Awards
JOHN H. NAIR AWARD honors an alumnus (Class of 1915) and provides
membership in the American Chemical Society for one or more seniors
who plan careers in chemistry.
Ann Miller '95 Megan Reich '95
WILLIAM J. TRAUTMAN AWARD in PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY (Professor at
Beloit 1921-1947) given to a senior doing outstanding work in
physical chemistry.
Timothy Korter '95
EDWARD C. FULLER AWARD in CHEMICAL EDUCATION was established by
the majors in the Class of 1982 in honor of Professor Fuller and
is given to a junior or senior who has done outstanding work as
a teaching assistant.
Ashley Eversole '95
MERCK INDEX AWARD is given to an outstanding senior and consists
of a copy of the Merck Index from the publisher.
Mary E. Riley '95
CRC PRESS FRESHMAN CHEMISTRY AWARD recognizes outstanding work
by a first-year student and consists of a copy of the Handbook
of Chemistry and Physics from its publisher, the CRC Press.
Vanja Klepac '98
WALTER S. HAVEN FELLOWSHIP supports a student research project.
Timothy Korter '95 Ann Miller '95
Eleanora Reber '95
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
sponsored by the Division of Polymer Chemistryrecognizes outstanding
work in introductory organic chemistry course by providing a subscription
to Organic Chemistry and a video tape about polymers.
Christopher Maeda '97
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY JUNIOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY AWARD recognizes
a junior who demonstrates promise in the area of analytical chemistry
by providing a year's membership in the ACS Division of Analytical
Chemistry and a subscription to the journal Analytical Chemistry.
Caroline Tuit '96
J. CARL WELTY AWARD is awarded by the biology faculty to an outstanding
student who contributed most to the department.
Mary E. Riley '95
SUMMA CUM LAUDE Bryony Melville
MAGNA CUM LAUDE Ashley Eversole
Eleanora Reber
CUM LAUDE Ann Miller
Megan Reich
Erica Severson
DEPARTMENTAL HONORS Mark Brockman - Biochemistry
Ashley Eversole - Biochemistry
Wenyi Feng - Biochemistry
Timothy Korter - Chemistry
Bryony Melville - Biochemistry
Ann Miller - Chemistry
Eleanora Reber - Chemistry
- Anthropology
Mary E. Riley - Biochemistry
Bretton Summers - Biochemistry
Honor Societies
Phi Beta Kappa Ashley Eversole '95
Bryony Melville '95
Megan Reich '95
Michael Beins '96
Dawn Miller '96
Caroline Tuit '96
Mortar Board Mark Brockman '95
Megan Reich '95
Contents
This year our students again had great opportunities to gain professional
experience by presenting their research at various programs and
publishing their papers in the school magazine "The Beloit
Biologist". Their topics give an indication of the outstanding
research performed by our undergraduates. Following are the papers
printed and presentations given:
The Beloit Biologist, Volume 13, 1995
Mark A. Brockman - Biochemistry '95
Ribozymes and Anti-Sense RNA: The Future in Aids Vaccines (work
done at Beloit College, Department of Biology)
Mary E. Riley - Biochemistry '95
Anticipation in Parkinson's Disease Kindred: A Case Study (work
done at the Johns Hopkins University, Department of Neurology)
Ashley Eversole - Biochemistry '95
Deoxyspergualin Weakens the Humoral Immune System by Inhibiting
HSP70 Chaperoning of NF-KB (work done at Bristol-MeyerSquibb PRI,
Seattle, WA)
Bretton Summers - Biochemistry '95 & Janet Strong-Gunderson
Biosurfactant Production: Stimulation through Contaminant Exposure
(work done at Environmental Sciences Division of the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN)
Wenyi Feng - Biochemistry '95
Chronic Infection of Hepatitis B Virus (work done at Beloit College,
Department of Biology)
Erica Severson - Biochemistry '95
The Impact of Estrogen on the Environment: Are We Over-Feminizing
the World? (work done at Beloit College, Department of Biology)
Gaoussou Diarra - Biochemistry '95
A Chemotherapeutic Strategy for Trypanosomiasis: Inhibition of
Glutathione (work done at Beloit College, Department of Biology
and CNRS Section Paris V in France)
Beloit College 19th Annual Student Symposium, April 1995
Peter Allen - Biochemistry '96
Optimal Conditions for Activity of N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase
I from Cultured Lepidoteran Insect Cells (work done at Beloit
College, Department of Biology)
Mark Brockman - Biochemistry/Philosophy '95
Development of a Novel Retrovirus Vector for the Human Gene Therapy
of Malignant Brain Tumors (work done at the Human Gene Therapy
Research Institute, Des Moines, IA)
Ashley Eversole - Biochemistry '95
Deoxyspergualin Weakens the Humoral Immune System by Inhibiting
HSP70 Chaperoning of NF-KB (work done at Bristol-MeyerSquibb PRI,
Seattle, WA)
Nora Reber - Chemistry/Anthropology '95
Analysis of Production of Gottschall Anthroseds: A Chemical Hypothesis
(work done at Beloit College, Department of Chemistry)
Megan Reich - Chemistry '95
Organic Carbon Preservation: Evidence for the Oxygen Effect (Work
done at Beloit College, Department of Chemistry)
Mary E. Riley - Biochemistry '95
Anticipation in Parkinson's Disease Kindred: A Case Study (work
done at the Johns Hopkins University, Department of Neurology)
Bretton Summers - Biochemistry '95
Biosurfactant Production: Stimulation through Contaminant Exposure
(work done at Environmental Sciences Division of the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN)
The Pew Undergraduate Research Symposium at Washington University
at St. Louis, Oct. 29-31:
Carrie Clothier - Biochemistry '97
"Estrus Termination in Female Guinea Pigs"
David Gan - Biochemistry '97
"The Evolution of t-RNA"
Kristie Mather - Biochemistry '97
"Some Preliminary Studies of Protein Expression in E. coli"
Contents
Nate Allen '97 is spending the summer at UC-Berkeley doing kinetics
and computational chemistry, and hopes to participate in the Department
of Energy's Science and Engineering Research Semester program
at Lawrence Berkley Laboratory next fall.
Mike Beins '96, will be at Texas A&M University in the Department
of Biochemistry and Biophysics working on telomerase, particularly
on the directed mutagenesis of the RNA subunit of the telomerase.
Yun (Nina) Chen '96, will be at Tufts University researching Lymes
Disease with Dr. John Leong.
David Gan '97, is doing research in cell biology at a cosmetic
company on Long Island this summer. He will study antioxidants
and their effects on skin, gap junctions and apotosis.
Yutan Getzler '98, is going to spend some time completely disconnected
from science. He will be working as a counselor at a summer camp
in Northern Pennsylvania.
David Gordon '98, is working at a veterinary clinic this summer.
Vanja Klepac '98, will be doing research on antibiotics at the
pharmaceutical company PLIVA in Zagreb, Croatia.
Kelly Knudson '97, is traveling to Chile this summer to do archaeological
research.
Katie Lager '98, is employed at a souvenir shop at the Brookfield
Zoo.
Chris Maeda '97, is going to Rush University this semester, continuing
the successfull cooperation between Beloit and Rush University
in Chicago.
Kristie Mather '97, has received an NSEP Undergraduate Scholarship
for a year of study in Ecuador this spring. She is the first Beloit
student to be selected for this highly competitive scholarship.
This summer she will be at the University of Chicago.
Dawn Miller '96, spent the spring semester doing environmental
research in Costa Rica and will be getting married in August.
Margaret Moore '96, has a summer research position at the Nassau
County Research Department Microbiology Laboratory.
Srebrenka (Koko) Robic '97, will be doing research on the transcription
factor rho and its function as a DNA/RNA helicase at the Institute
of Molecular Biology of the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Kamesh Surendran '96, will spend next semester doing research
at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Carrie Tuit '96, was selected for a Keck Geology Consortium summer
research project in Montana.
Stacy Turner '95, will be married in August and is waiting to
see which graduate school her fiance will attend before deciding
where to look for a job.
Lina Tze '96, is doing research in molecular biology at the University
of Alabama in Birmingham this summer. She will be participating
in the Oak Ridge science semester next fall.
Kevin Welch '96, will spend this summer at the Iowa State University
studying the brain development of the south american opposum,
using stereoimmunochemistry.
Melanie Whalen '98, will be working as a summer technician at
G.E. Plastics in Ottawa, IL.
Contents
Spring 1995
Nicole Adderley '96 Biochemistry Nassau, Bahamas
Nathan Allen '97 Chemistry Milwaukee, WI
Peter Allen '96 Biochemistry Briggsville, WI
Michael Beins '96 Biochemistry Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kelley Bradley '96 Biochemistry Lakewood, CA
Jesse Burch '97 Chemistry Petersham, MA
Mark Burleigh '95 Chemistry Oneida, NY
Jennifer Calcaterra '96 Biochemistry Scottsdale, AZ
Yun "Nina" Chen '96 Biochemistry Arlington, VA
Gary Chiu '97 Biochemistry Stafford, TX
Jason Collier '96 Biochemistry Boulder, CO
Tanya Danner '97 Biochemistry Chicago, IL
Gregory Ehrendreich '97 Biochemistry Ashland, WI
Wenyi Feng '96 Biochemistry Shanghai, China
David Gan '97 Biochemistry Penang, Malaysia
Alison Green '96 Biochemistry Madison, WI
David Gordon '97 Chemistry Decatur, IL
Bartram Gottschalk '97 Biochemistry Minneapolis, MN
Sarah Keiser '96 Biochemistry Cedar Rapids, IA
Gavin King '96 Biochemistry Brodhead, WI
Vanja Klepac '98 Chemistry Zagreb, Croatia
Kelly Knudson '97 Chemistry Council Bluffs, IA
Kham Lee '96 Chemistry Milwaukee, WI
Amy Jo Litscher '96 Chemistry Lake Mills, WI
Christopher Maeda '97 Biochemistry Hilo, HI
Kristie Mather '97 Biochemistry Richland, MI
Andrew Matzen '96 Biochemistry Dallas, OR
Dawn Miller '96 Chemistry Suisun City, CA
Margaret Moore '96 Biochemistry Garden City, NY
Bianca Mothe '96 Biochemistry Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Nathaniel Olsen '98 Chemistry St. Paul, MN
Srebrenka Robic '97 Biochemistry Zagreb, Croatia
Laura Sasse '98 Biochemistry Waukegan, IL
Michelle Semple '96 Biochemistry Spokane, WA
Kamesh Surendran '96 Biochemistry Kitwe, Zambia
Caroline Tuit '96 Chemistry Kansas City, MO
Lina Tze '96 Biochemistry Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Robert VanOrder '98 Chemistry Mandeville, LA
Gregg Ward '98 Biochemistry Nassau, Bahamas
Kevin Welch '96 Biochemistry Adel, IA
Kimberly White '96 Chemistry West Allis, WI
Matthew Whiting '96 Chemistry Rockville, MD
Kristine Zimmerman '96 Biochemistry Wheaton, IL
Contents
Mark Brockman - Des Moines, IA. Biochemistry (departmental honors)
and Philosophy.
During the summer of 1993, Mark completed a summer internship
in the Animal Virology Department at the American Type Culture
Collection (ATCC) in Rockville, Maryland. While at the ATCC, he
assayed viral stocks for mycoplasma contamination using PCR and
began DNA sequencing of several mycoplasma strains. During the
summer of 1994, he obtained an internship at the Human Gene Therapy
Research Institute in Des Moines, Iowa, where he helped develop
a novel retrovirus vector system for use in the human gene therapy
of brain cancer. This project, under the direction of Dr. Ken
Culver, utilized the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene
to transfer gancyclovir resistance to cancer tumors in vivo. Mark
will be attending graduate school next year, studying Virology
at Harvard University. He plans to complete his Ph.D. and eventually
research gene transfer techniques in gene therapy and vaccine
strategies for infectious disease. While at Beloit, Mark was Senior
Class Treasurer, a member of Mortar Board honor society, and a
four year letter winner on the Varsity Soccer team.
Gaoussou Diarra - Bamako, Mali. Biochemistry. Gaoussou spent last
summer working with John Jungck on the application of fuzzy logic
as a classification tool to the physico-chemical properties of
the codon coding for the amino acids. He will be spending the
next five years in graduate school in Milwaukee. Gaoussou was
an avid soccer player. He was absolutely convinced that two good
hours of soccer was much better then midterms or finals. Gaoussou
plans to be a teacher and researcher in the molecular sciences.
He loves to discuss ideas with people, but is not too excited
about following rules. His favorite pick up word is: "We
don't need no stinky rules."
Ashley Eversole - Boulder, CO. Biochemistry (departmental honors),
Magna Cum Laude, self designed minor titled Individualism and
Collectivism. Last summer Ashley went to Seattle to work at Bristol-Myers
Squibb with Jeff Cleaveland, class of '84. At Beloit she has been
a teaching assistant for General Chemistry, Chemical Equilibrium,
Genetics and Biometrics. Ashley's honors include 8 semesters of
Dean's List, Bushnell Award for Creativity in Mathematics, Ferwerda
Science Scholarship and Fuller Award for Excellence in Chemical
Education. She plans to take a year off school and go to Sweden
to work with Ebbe Nordlander '86. At the University of Lund, Ashley
will be working on a project to synthesize metalloproteins in
conjunction with the University of Agriculture in Copenhagen.
She has been accepted to the Ph.D. program in the Department of
Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University for the
fall 1996.
Wenyi Feng - Shanghai, China. Biochemistry (departmental honors).
Wenyi was a transfer student from Fudan University in Shanghai
where she was studying management science. After she came to Beloit
in 1993, she became strongly interested in the biological and
chemical sciences, and she finished her B.S. in biochemistry in
two years. Last summer she was at Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring
and Research Center in New Mexico, working on a solid sampling
project with Beloit alum Thomas Tisue ('61). She attended the
annual local Nuclear Society meeting and was exposed to many fields
of environmental science. Wenyi also helped the center develop
their immunology program. She is determined to pursue her study
of immunology, and in the coming year she will be working at the
Department of Immunology at Northwestern University Children's
Memorial Hospital. She is also planning to enroll in a Ph.D. program
in immunology.
Timothy Korter - Oglesby, IL. Chemistry (departmental honors)
and Literary Studies. Tim will be starting a Ph.D. program in
physical chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall,
although he will begin his research in July. His research group
is working with ultra high resolution laser spectroscopy, and
one of his first research projects will be the design and construction
of a new Ti-Saphire laser system. After completing his Ph.D.,
Tim plans to work in industry. Tim received the 1995 William Trautman
award in physical chemistry.
Bryony Melville - Madison, WI. Biochemistry (departmental honors),
Summa Cum Laude. Bryony spent last year on exchange at Glasgow
University in Scotland. She did research on the development of
a new potential antibiotic while overseas. She hopes to return
next year and enter a 3 year Ph.D. program in Britain. Eventually
she hopes to return to complete an M.D. in the US. Her future
goals include teaching at medical school, research and most definitely
clinical work. While at Beloit, she participated in Chelonia one
year and placed at conference in both swimming and cross-country.
She received a NAASCP award and was elected Phi Beta Kappa upon
graduation.
Ann Miller - Kalona, IA. Chemistry (departmental honors) and Anthropology,
Cum Laude. Ann spent the last two summers doing chemistry research
at Grinnell College. At Beloit she was a teaching assistant for
General Chemistry. She was the recipient of the 1994 American
Chemical Society Junior Analytical Chemistry Award and 1995 John
H. Nair Award for seniors planning careers in chemistry. For her
research Ann was also awarded Walter S. Haven fellowship. Ann
was accepted into the graduate program in chemistry at the University
of Virginia but is deferring for one year. After Beloit she will
spend a year at home, hopefully at a job in chemistry. She will
spend that time gaining experience and hopefully money. Ann plans
to attend graduate school in chemical archeology or forensic science.
Eleanora Reber - Indiana, PA. Chemistry (departmental honors)
and Anthropology (departmental honors), Magna Cum Laude. Nora
was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year. In a research
project that combined both of her majors, Nora used the chemistry
department's GC/MS to analyze artifacts from the Anthropology
Museum's collection. She also was the Laboratory Director for
Professor Bob Salzer's Gottschall site dig in southwestern Wisconsin.
Nora received a prestigious and highly competitive National Science
Foundation Graduate Fellowship for graduate work in archaeological
chemistry at Cornell University, which she plans to take up after
a year's break to explore other things.
Megan Reich - Waterford, WI. Chemistry, Cum Laude. Megan spent
the summer of her sophomore year doing research at Notre Dame
University. After her junior year she did research in chemical
oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle. Megan
was a teaching assistant for general, organic and analytical chemistry,
a resident assistant, and secretary of the graduating class. She
was awarded the 1992 CRC Freshmen Chemistry Award and the Susan
Fulton Welty Award for environmental science. Megan was elected
Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board . She had offers from several
graduate schools in oceanography , but is deferring for a year.
Mary ElizaBeth Riley -Champaign, IL. Biochemistry (departmental
honors). Beth spent the last summer doing research on Parkinson's
disease at the John Hopkins Medical School. She was captain of
the Division III Cross Country team in 1994 as well as Academic
All-American and Academic All-Conference in 1994. She was captain
of the Track team in 1995. Beth was secretary, alumni contact
and house manager of the Theta Pi Gamma sorority and IFPC Vice-President
in 1993. She was awarded the1995 Merck Index Award in Biochemistry
and J. Carl Welty Award for significant contributions to the biology
department.
Anthony Runkle - Lena, IL. Biochemistry. Tony came to Beloit from
Northern Illinois University and Highland Community College. During
the summer of 1994, he worked for a plastics
manufacturing company and was offered a position there upon graduation.
His senior seminar, "MAKING MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLECULES: CREATION
OF
POLYURETHANE FOAM BY A POLYMER REACTION", described some
of his experiences which led to his interest in working in the
plastics industry for a career.
Erica Severson - Winnebago, IL. Biochemistry, Cum Laude. Erica
spent last summer working as a lifeguard at a camp for inner city
children. Next fall she plans to get a job in a research position.
Erica chose to diversify her career at Beloit by participating
in Chelonia for three years and being active in Gold Key. Erica
plans to further her career in research and may choose to attend
graduate school.
Bretton Summers - Washington, DC. Biochemistry (departmental honors).
Brett participated in a special project under the direction of
his major advisor Alfred Ordman involving metabolic studies of
vitamin C. An article from this study was published in AGE magazine
with Brett as a co-author. He spent last summer and the fall 94
semester performing original in situ bioremediation research under
the direction of Dr. Janet Strong-Gunderson at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. He was accepted and plans to attend the Washington
University Ph.D. program in molecular microbiology and microbial
pathogenesis after which he would like to work in industry. During
his undergraduate career he participated in a number of intramural
sports and the Jazz Ensemble. He was a staff writer for the campus
newspaper and a member and officer in the national fraternity
Tau Kappa Epsilon.
Contents
In this year's news notes, we have information from many sources:
word of mouth, email, and responses from last year's newsletter
response page. Please do keep us informed of what you are doing.
It's great to discover the many adventures that we all are having.
1937 Barbara Roth of Chapel Hill, N.C., is busy with historical
research and writing.
1946 Lynn Lawson published a book "STAYING WELL IN A TOXIC
WORLD: Understanding Environmental Illness, Multiple Chemical
Sensitivities and Injuries, Sick Building Syndrome", issued
by Noble Press. She edits the Canary News, a newsletter of the
Chicago-area support group for environmental illnesses. Before
publishing the book she was an editor in Northwestern's university
relations department and public relations chair of Human Ecology
Action League.
1969 Richard Gilbertsen conducts pharmaceutical research for Parke-Davis
in Ann Arbor, specializing in arthritis, autoimmunity and inflammation.
1969 James W. Kirchner of River Forest, IL, has spent 15 years
in marketting and strategic planning for Baxter Healthcare.
1971 Jim Zega, Ft. Washington, PA, is married and has two children
and is a research fellow at Merck Research Laboratories.
1974 Dennis Ole Wik spent the summer on Little Diomede Island
between Alaska and Siberia, building a heliport to serve the Eskimo
village of Inalik.
1977 Hank Seifert is head of the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis
tract of the Integrated Graduate Program at the Medical School
at Northwestern University.
1977 Dr. David Virshup MD, from the Molecular Biology Program
at the University of Utah, gave three presentations including
chemistry seminar and a workshop on admission to graduate programs
in November, 1994. His research is on kinases and phosphotases
of T-antigen in $V40, and regulation of DNA replication in eucaryotes.
1978 Stephen Hulme has relocated to Paris to work in the economic
and strategic planning department of Elf Atochem. He is responsible
for strategic planning for four central divisions. Hulme was also
mentioned as a "rising star" in the Aug.3 edition of
Chemical Week.
1982 Brian Davis spoke in Brock's environmental course, visiting
from the Forestry Program at UW-Madison, where he is a post-doc.
1982 Elizabeth Dietmeyer is still working with the Army Crime
Lab, although she is currently on maternity leave to celebrate
the March 18 birth of her daughter, Sean Carrie Johnson.
1983 Ken Katzen is on the teaching faculty at North Texas Health
Science Center. He has been active in healthcare reform having
been to Washington D.C. and met with most of the legislators from
Texas. He and his wife have three sons, ages 5, 3, and 4 weeks.
1983 Blaine Kloeckner visited in April laden with fruit from his
home in Florida, where he runs his own business, Star Brite Service
Center. He spoke with classes about life in the "real world."
1983 Bill McIvor is living in Beloit once again ; he is a cardiac
anesthesiologist at Mercy Hospital In Janesville.
1983 Joseph Verdi welcomes new daughter, Laura Jane. Mom and baby
are doing great and he is "higher than a kite."
1985 Michael Wirt has decided to remain at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine to complete a degree in medicine, after completing
a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular pharmacology. He has also
accepted a second post-doctoral research position conducting functional
magnetic resonance imaging with the department of radiology. "What
does this really mean?...four more years in beautiful Bronx, New
York!"
1986 James Lacock spent 3 years in the Peace Corps in Cameroon,
West Africa, at a rainforest project, and travelling around the
world. He is now enjoying medical school at Michigan State University
where he is a National Health Service Corps Fellow.
1986 Bryan Mehlhaff has completed his residency training in Urological
Surgery at the Albany Medical Center Hospital, and plans to remain
at this site while his wife completes her fellowship training
in Infectious Disease. They have a 15 month old daughter Grace
and are expecting a second child in October.
1986 Paschal Sciarra Jr.,Sheboygan,WI, has been awarded a patent
for his unique method for the rapid manufacture of truck brake
blocks and disk brake pads, resulting in friction and wear properties
superior to materials produced traditionally. He was also the
Pine Hills 1994 First Flight Champion and "player of the
year" runner-up at the Sheboygan Country Club.
1987 Won Sok Lee is attending the Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School getting a master's degree in divinity. Ultimately he plans
to get a Ph.D. in The New Testament.
1987 Krista Van Vleet is a graduate student in anthropology at
the University of Michigan. She is currently in Bolivia doing
her field work for her thesis.
1988 Having received his doctor of podiatric medicine degree from
Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, Peter Tsang is
a resident at the North Chicago Veterans Administration Hospital.
1989 Barry D. Elswick reports that he finished medical school
ranked 17th in a class of 170 at the University of Health Sciences/The
Chicago Medical School. In the same time he also obtained a Master's
degree in Nutrition. He is currently in the emergency medicine
residency program at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.
1989 William Hipple is a product specialist with Silvon Software,
Inc., in Westmont, IL.
1989 Shao Chyi Lee says that medical school was like a dream,
she is just waking up... She has an M.D. attached to her name,
no biggy! Shao is moving to St. John's, Newfoundland and will
be a resident in Family Medicine there for the next two years.
1989 David Mitchell dropped by for a visit in September 1994 after
completing his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at UT-Austin, where he mastered
X-ray crystallography of proteins, working with many variants
of hemoglobin and decarboxylases. He is now in Minneapolis doing
post-doctoral research at U. of Minnesota on the structure of
toxic shock syndrome-associated proteins.
1990 Christopher Smith, New Haven, is still pursuing a Ph.D. in
applied math at SUNY-Stony Brook and an M.Div. at Yale Divinity
School. He is an adjunct assistant professor in chemistry and
mathematics at College of New Rochelle.
1990 Jill Covert has received her Master's degree in molecular
and cellular immunology from the veterinary science program at
UW-Madison.
1990 Linda Zuckerman expects to finish her Ph.D. at the University
of Chicago by the first of the year and has accepted a post-doctoral
position at UCSF.
1991 Yoon Hang Kim began working in Dr. Ross' lab on Gz, a G protein
that is relatively unknown. Their goal is to find an effector
for Gz and try to elucidate the function of the protein. Vena
and Yoon got married in January in a small family wedding. They
will be in Texas doing research for one year and then head back
to Wisconsin to complete his M.D.
1991 Caroline Schauer, a chemistry graduate student at SUNY-Stony
Brook, has received a departmental Outstanding Student Teacher
award for her work as a teaching assistant in organic chemistry.
1991 Christy Plummer Slye is now working for Nalco in Napa Valley.
She and her husband have bought a house and are experiencing the
"pains" as well as the pleasures of home ownership.
1992 Anthony Chi is working at the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office as a patent examiner and is attending law school part time.
1992 Aline Schimmel has a new job as a laboratory technician in
molecular biology at Princeton University.
1993 Steve Chan is employed at Enviropace Ltd. in Hong Kong, a
chemical waste treatment plant. He plans to begin work on his
Master's degree in Environmental Management this fall.
1993 Anna Applebaum Sigworth completed her Master's degree in
Chemistry at Bowling Green State University and is currentl working
at Spectra Group Limited, a photoscience company in Maumee, OH.
1993 Brenda Waller completed her cumulative exams in Analytical
Chemistry at the University of Idaho and is ready to be nominated
as a Ph.D.candidate.
1994 Ranil Abeysinge is doing graduate work at the University
of Rochester.
1994 Peggy LaBarge of St.Louis has been in Switzerland for four
months working at Ciba Geigy research laboratory in Basel.
1994 Amina Mirza works for RMT Inc., a testing laboratory in Madison,
WI.
1994 Sudha Pavuluri is finishing her Master's degree in biochemistry
and genetics at Newcastle University and will begin medical school
in September at the University of Nottingham "and hopefully
that will be all the degrees I end up getting!!"
Nancy Devino has accepted the position of Director of the Committee
on Undergraduate Science Education at the National Research Council.
Liz Gron has joined the faculty at Hendrix College in Conway,
Arkansas.
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