tower magazine
DESCRIPTION
The Tower is published by Kutztown University twice a year for KU alumni and friends of the university.TRANSCRIPT
Summer 2011
K U T Z T O W N U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E
page 8page 8
CURIOSITIES OF THE KU CAMPUS
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS KU FOUNDATION UPCOMING EVENTS BACK TO CLASS
EVERY 150YEAROLD INSTITUTION
HAS ITS SHARE OF HISTORIC TREASURES. Some are buried beneath layers of history; others are in plain sight, like the Old Main Bell now proudly on display in the center of campus.
In this issue of the Tower, we feature a collection of photos capturing little details that make KU unique – from wooden barbells to telescopes, unused telephone booths to beautiful architectural adornments.
We visit with Barry ’72 and Barbara ’74 Sokol, who started a business and defined their own history. The biography of Dr. Mary St. John ’62 examines her life and the foundation of the Marine Science Consortium – now a successful summer study program. We also travel with Mazie Ziegler ’34 as she takes us on a world tour of memories.
In the end, these are the true treasures of Kutztown University – the valued individual contributions of all who come here to learn, teach and serve.
This year, we are facing one of the most challeng-ing times in the history of Kutztown University. As
economic pressures on this nation continue to impact higher education, our resolve remains to provide a quality education and be a regional center of excellence and a valued partner of businesses and our community.
Ultimately, the success of our students is our primary concern, and the university is working to do everything possible to ensure that their educational experience is not hindered as we face the challenges ahead.
Best Regards,
GLENN GODSHALL ’75, M ’90 Director of Alumni Relations
Once a year, outstanding graduating
seniors are recognized for their
accomplishments in research, origi-
nal artwork, artistic performances,
literature or meritorious writing in
other fields, athletics and service to
the KU community.
Pictured (from left with KU
President F. Javier Cevallos in
center) are recipients of this year’s
gold, silver and copper medals:
Josh Dannin has seen his artwork
exhibited in juried and invitational
shows nationally and internationally.
His art has traveled across Canada
in a special touring exhibition and
has been presented in a show in
Seoul, South Korea.
Christina Yesenofski has had her
work exhibited in prestigious galler-
ies in New York City and Chicago
and at The State Museum of
Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. In 2009,
she was honored by the faculty of
the Department of Fine Arts with
the Sharadin Award for Distin-
guished Achievement.
Christina Taylor helped the
Pennsylvania German Cultural
Heritage Center stabilize and con-
serve more than 1,000 books in
its collection. Additionally, her
artwork has been exhibited at galler-
ies and shows in New York and
Philadelphia.
Jessie Horning is honored for her
original, high-quality artwork and
outstanding service to the community.
She served as the co-director of the
Eckhaus Gallery in Kutztown, which
is supported by the Kutztown Univer-
sity Foundation, assisting with every
aspect of running the nonprofit
gallery. Her artwork also has been
exhibited in New York.
Luna McMahon conducted origi-
nal research on the artwork in the
margins of medieval manuscripts –
in particular, plant themes, which
revealed hidden references to love,
sacrifice and remembrance. Her
research has been presented at several
academic conferences, including the
Moravian College Medieval Under-
graduate Conference in 2010, and has
received favorable support from schol-
ars in the field.
Alison Koser is a double major in
physics and mathematics. Her under-
standing of cutting-edge research in
quantum physics drew the attention
of researchers at the University of
Chicago and at The Pennsylvania State
University, where she worked as a
research assistant. Additionally, Koser
has been an active volunteer in many
community projects, including Habitat
for Humanity.
Irelyn Akers worked to renew interest
and participation in the university’s
literary art magazine Essence. Beginning
in her freshman year, and later as co-
editor, she helped to redefine the mis-
sion and vision of the publication and
improve the magazine’s editorial con-
tent. As a result of her leadership, the
magazine won the 2009 University and
College Design Association’s “Best
Student-Produced Work.”
These award winners are joined by
four additional outstanding students
honored for their academic achievements
and service to the community.
NEWSNOTES
AN
D
Competing nation-
ally with top research-
ers from around the
country, both have
received grants from
one of science’s most
prestigious research
funding agencies: the
National Science
Foundation. NSF’s
grants are given to
the most promising
faculty after a rigorous
peer-review process.
KU students will
assist both researchers
in their work.
In the case of Oakley, that means
stepping aboard a research vessel
and taking to the sea. “These are
the types of research programs that
allowed me to find my place in
science,” she said. “And this is the
kind of opportunity I want to give
my students.”
Though Das’ research will remain
firmly locked in the algorithms of
his computer, the experience of
applying physics and mathematics
to answer a theoretical, but possible,
Dr. Kunal Das, a physicist in KU’s
Department of Physical Sciences,
and Dr. Adrienne Oakley, a marine
geologist in Physical Sciences, are
both doing externally funded
research to help other scientists
better understand our planet –
and the smaller universe of quantum
mechanics.
Das is applying theoretical quan-
tum mechanics to enable something
that truly seems like magic: the
transfer of a group of ultra-cold
atoms from one place to another
without ever being at any intermedi-
ate points. On the drawing board,
physicists say this is
possible. Das wants to
show how.
Oakley will leave her
classroom to explore the
sea floor between Hawaii
and Guam to find out
when the magnetic north
pole switched to magnetic
south during the Jurassic
period in a quest to answer
the questions of when
and how the Earth’s
poles reverse.
problem will give his students a greater
insight into how groundbreaking dis-
coveries are made in the 21st century.
“The beauty of my research is that it
points the way to actual experiments.
I have a colleague at The College of
William and Mary who is developing
such experiments to implement and
test my theoretical results,” he said.
“This research allows my students to
apply the quantum mechanics they
learn in class to real problems in nano-
technology and atomic physics.”
NEWSNOTES
AN
D
Reading Area Community College and
other KU teams, Margaret Haines ’12,
Kelsey Godfrey ’11, Justin McCurdy ’10,
MBA ’12 and Michael Grimm M ’12
(pictured left to right) developed the
winning entry.
Their “uTriv Challenge” idea would
use a smartphone application to keep
score and create immediate rankings
during a game of team trivia played
against other patrons in restaurants
and cafes. Similar entertainment games
on the market depend on paper and
pencils to gather the answers and
keep score.
Matthew Todd ’11 and his brother
Ryan, who took a break from his KU
studies during the spring semester, won
for “Arty’s Online Grocery Store.” The
brothers say their business plan points
the way to buying groceries online, thus
eliminating the cost of operating a
brick-and-mortar supermarket.
The GRKIZ is a public-private
partnership working to increase jobs
in Berks County, Pa., by assisting tech-
nology companies with new business
ideas.
KU students won top honors in the Greater
Reading Keystone Innovation Zone (GRKIZ)
Business Idea Challenge held this spring with
their business plan for “uTriv Challenge.”
Competing against teams from Alvernia
University, Albright College, PSU-Berks,
Summer 2011
FEEATURUUREEEE
IF YOU ARE LIKE MANY ALUMNI, YOU
LOVE LEARNI NG ABO U T T H E HISTORY
OF O UR UNIVERSI T Y. As you stroll across
campus, it is inevitable that something will catch
your eye – a carving or sign that seems out of place,
a fountain or statue that brings back wonderful
memories. With nearly 150 years of rich history,
there are many untold stories.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
MAZIE
ZIEGLER ’34
lives, still inde-
pendently, in a
cheery, white
clapboard house
in Lehighton,
Pa. Diminutive
and with lovely white hair, she
gets around with a walker and
is surrounded by glass bric-a-
brac, quilts and other mementos
of her many travels. At 98, she’s
a bit hard of hearing, but her
mind is sharp, her eyes are
bright and her memories
are plentiful.
“As a child, instead of playing
with dolls, I made believe that I
was traveling around the world,”
she said.
The Lehighton native loves
to talk about her life, especially
her many travels across the
world during a time when most
Americans, especially ones from
her hometown, preferred
domestic travel.
She has set foot on nearly
every continent, was an
exchange teacher in post-World
War II Germany, rode camels
became captivated
by international
travel. When the
opportunity to
become a Fulbright
Exchange teacher came along
the next year, Ziegler relished
the opportunity to experience
Germany and live as the
locals did.
Upon her arrival in Bonn,
she found the students in her
classes polite, respectful and
eager to learn. Germany, at that
time, was still rebuilding after
World War II, and the ruins
and rubble of shattered build-
ings were everywhere, including
the local railroad station, which
had only one small working
part at the time.
“One woman I met was still
living alone in a basement, but
the German woman I stayed
with was living in a new home,”
Ziegler said.
During that time, she had
little contact with other
Americans but was able to
travel throughout Germany
and Austria in the company
of German speakers. Later,
she took classes in German
at Bonn University and devel-
oped the confidence to travel
independently – not just during
the exchange year, but through-
out her life.
“I went all around Europe on
my own. The world was much
different then,” she said.
Traveling also provided
her with the opportunity to
in Egypt and Australia and
visited a hospital for sick and
injured elephants in Thailand.
Ziegler graduated from high
school in 1930 and studied
library science with minors in
math, French and English at
Kutztown State Teacher’s
College. In 1935, she earned
certification in elementary edu-
cation and spent most of her
career as a high school librarian,
with stints as an elementary
school teacher.
She enjoyed her work, but it
was always a means to get on a
plane, bus, ship or train and see
the world. Early in her career,
she contemplated earning a
Ph.D. but chose to spend that
money traveling – sometimes
on her own, sometimes with
group tours.
In the late ’40s and early ’50s,
she traveled primarily through-
out North America with her
family, other teachers and friends
– seeing the sights and even
venturing all the way down
to Mexico via car trips.
Then in 1953, she took a
guided tour of Europe and
A WORLD OF EXPERIENCE
FROM THE EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS TO THE STEAMY JUNGLES OF
THAILAND, JOIN THIS REMARKABLE ALUMNA AS SHE SHARES HER
PERSONAL JOURNEY BACK IN TIME AND ACROSS THE GLOBE.
BY:
M ELI S S A
N U RC Z Y N S K I
PHOTOGRAPHY:
J O H N
S T ER LI N G
R U T H
indulge her passion for
music. She attended the
opera often, including a
Wagner festival, enjoyed
“The Sound of Music” tour
of Salzburg and attended
the famous Passion Play in
Oberammergau, which is
performed every 10 years,
in both 1960 and 1980.
Through it all, Ziegler
witnessed the cold war
firsthand and remembers
traveling to Berlin on a train
with blacked-out windows
to prevent passengers from
seeing into Communist
East Germany. Decades
later, she again visited
Berlin just after the Berlin
Wall fell, choosing not to
grab a piece of the rubble
as a souvenir.
“Many people were tak-
ing stones from the wall,”
she said, “but I didn’t know
what I’d do with a stone.”
This intrepid traveler
also took a ship through
the Panama Canal, visited
China, marveled at the pyr-
amids, cruised the Caribbean,
walked down the bustling
streets of Mexico City and
was saddened by the poverty
of Haiti.
Throughout the years,
she did it mostly on her
own, and she has no regrets
– save one.
“I missed Antarctica,” she
said in a playfully wistful
voice.
“A s a child, instead of playing with dolls, I made believe that I was traveling around the world.”
BARRY SOKOL ’72 is standing in the
loft of SOLO Laboratories, Inc. in
Kutztown with its birds-eye view
of his company’s production line. Below,
workers make customized foot supports
– orthotics – that are prescribed to keep
people in better step and to ease their
foot, ankle, knee and back pain.
It has been nearly 28 years since Barry
and his wife, BARBARA ’74, along with
two other people, began the company in a
small building that had no electricity or BY:
MARY ELLEN ALU
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN STERLING RUTH
ORTHOPEDIC COMPANY THRIVES ON
“SERVE OTHERS, LOVE OTHERS”
PHILOSOPHY
KU COUPLE LEAD SUCCESSFUL
running water. Sales that first year were
$64,000.
Now, SOLO Laboratories operates out
of a large building on South Laurel Street
with more than 50 employees. Sales have
grown to greater than $6 million annually.
On this weekday morning, Barbara
joins her husband at the lab to share their
inspirational story – from the halls of
Kutztown State College to teaching
careers and, finally, success in business.
“When Barry and I think about
our life’s journey, we are in awe,”
Barbara said.
“‘Serve Others, Love Others’ is more
than the company motto,” Barry added.
“Though it forms the acronym for the
company name, it reflects our Christian
philosophy in doing business. I wanted
a name that would remind
me every day of what we’re
all about.”
The couple’s roots are
in Kutztown, where they
both grew up. Though
they knew each other as
children – Barbara said
her husband caught her
attention in fourth grade
– the two did not date
until they were at college,
studying for their degrees
in education.
For a year, the Sokols
team-taught at the Topton
Lutheran Home, helping
troubled youngsters tran-
sition into mainstream
classes. Barbara stayed on
for five years, until she
left to raise their family.
Barry left to teach in the
Brandywine School Dis-
trict and then moved on
to pharmaceutical sales
and medical sales.
In the early 1980s, Barry found himself
at odds with his employer. Distraught, he
turned to his church pastor for guidance.
The resulting conversation led to the
founding of SOLO Labs in 1983.
The couple, who had lived frugally,
put up $25,000 from equity in their
home, set up the business and began
scouting for clients. Barry said he used
a compass and drew a 100-mile radius
with Kutztown as the center.
“I personally went door to door to meet
all the foot doctors in the area,” he said.
Through proven quality and professional
customer service, little by little, the
company began to grow.
At its inception, the company made
125 pairs of foot supports a month. Now,
4,000 to 5,000 pairs are shipped each
month to doctors throughout the nation.
Part of the company’s success stems
from the quality of the work. While
the national industry average is 20 to
25 percent on returns, SOLO’s return
is less than 5 percent.
For employees, the company
provides good wages, benefits and
working conditions and is closed on
Sunday. Utmost, said
the Sokols, SOLO is
service oriented, with
employees trained to
listen well to their cus-
tomers. “We treat
people with respect,”
Barry said.
Recently, the company
took another giant step
forward to help ease
patients’ pain and cut
the waiting time for
their custom orthotics
to less than half by
developing a computer-
ized foot scanner that
will model a foot in
digital 3-D.
In the past, doctors
needed to use impression
foam or plaster bandages
to create slipper casts of
both feet, let them dry
and ship them off to
SOLO. Not only are
plaster castings messy, but they can
also be inaccurate or get damaged in
shipping. Today, with SOLO’s new
foot scanner, the whole process takes
minutes instead of days.
“We are probably best recognized
throughout the industry for our continu-
ing technological innovations,” Barry
said proudly.
With the company on solid ground,
Barry and Barbara are looking to
retire. Barry said he is content to “step
back and give the next generation an
opportunity to take SOLO to the
next level.”
Looking back, the Sokols insist they
don’t want to be remembered for build-
ing a financially successful company,
but rather for how well they treated their
employees and customers.
“Ultimately, the Lord weaves the tap-
estry of our lives,” said Barbara.
“I WANTED A
NAME THAT
WOULD REMIND
ME EVERY DAY
OF WHAT WE’RE
ALL ABOUT.”
— BARRY SOKOL
Last summer, DR. MARY MOBLEY ST. JOHN ’62, dean
emerita of the Department of Geography/Earth Science, spent
two weeks in Nova Scotia bird watching, hiking and enjoy-
ing ocean views – demonstrating that a well-lived life is
one that is defined by participation, not sideline observation.
“Last year I moved into a continuing care retirement
community, and although there are many activities there,
I enjoy taking birding tours across the country,” said
Kutztown’s past provost and vice president of academic
affairs (1987-89). “I have always had an
interest in nature and the natural sciences.”
The hands-on philosophy also defined
her teaching career. An early proponent
of experiential learning, St. John was part
of the original team of academicians who
founded the Marine Science Consortium
in 1968 – an initiative that makes it
possible today for Kutztown, 11 other
Pennsylvania colleges and universities
and West Virginia University to offer a
comprehensive, hands-on and feet-wet
marine science program.
“I started appreciating nature at an
early age,” says St. John. “Growing up,
we camped and hiked around the U.S.
We slept in tents, so we got close to the earth. Rocks and the
weather always fascinated me, so when I got to Kutztown
State Teacher’s College in the late ’50s, I majored in geogra-
phy and earth science.”
She parlayed that education into teaching physical geogra-
phy and general science to middle school students. In 1968,
St. John was hired by Kutztown State College to teach
oceanography and physical geography and to help organize
the consortium along with Millersville State College and
several other colleges. Today, KU is a charter member of the
Marine Science Consortium.
“Those were exciting days when we would take groups of
students to our first field station in Lewes, Del.,” she says.
“We worked from a decommissioned Coast Guard station
and then moved to an old fish-canning factory.”
St. John served as the consortium’s director of opera-
tions for the Wallops Island Project during the early
1970s and was instrumental in obtaining its current site
in Virginia. Later, she became its academic vice president.
What began as a rudimentary field station on surplus
government property is now a bustling science center
adjacent to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
It features dormitories, labs, a cafeteria, classroom build-
ings, a science library, a 50-foot research vessel, two
40-foot barges, several small boats and
kayaks. A sister field station is located on
the salt marshes on Chincoteague Bay.
At each venue, geological, physical, chemi-
cal and biological investigational research
and education of the terrestrial, marsh and
marine environment are ongoing.
“In those early days, students were
studying beach erosion and doing 24-hour
tidal stands. One important research project
of the consortium was water quality of
coastal waters as affected by the sewage
disposal from the city of Philadelphia,”
she said.
Those studies were a precursor to the
research Kutztown students participate in
at the consortium today: marine mammal physiology;
environmental management issues of the coastal zone;
beach erosion defense; and coastal pollution.
While St. John reflects pleasantly about her time
developing the consortium, she has not visited the facility
in 30 years. “As new opportunities opened for me profes-
sionally as an associate dean at Kutztown in 1974, I
moved forward to complete my doctoral studies. Later,
I became dean of academic services (1982-87) and then
acting provost and vice president of academic affairs,”
she said.
“I’m happy that what a couple of us began back in
the late ’60s and early ’70s has become an established
academic facility 40 years later,” she said. “It was a lot
of work for us in the beginning, but worthwhile.”
FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE MARINE SCIENCE CONSORTIUM, PROFESSOR
OF OCEANOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND DEAN EMERITA ARE
JUST A FEW OF HER MANY TITLES.
— D R . M A RY M O B LE Y
S T. J O H N ’62
B Y :
P H O T O G R A P H Y :
Ketter brings more than 20 years of
advancement experience to the post. Most
recently, he served as director of develop-
ment at The Pennsylvania State University-
Harrisburg, where he was responsible for
managing and leading the Capital College’s
efforts. Prior to PSU-Harrisburg, Ketter was
the vice president of institutional advance-
ment at Delaware Valley College in
Doylestown and served in development
posts at Albright College and Valley Forge
Military Academy & College. He also joins
the KU Foundation with international expe-
rience, having served as a consultant and
university lecturer in the Sultanate of Oman.
Established in 1983, the Kutztown
University Foundation’s work is to secure
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and an
MBA from Kutztown University. Addi-
tionally, Ketter is at the dissertation stage
for his Ph.D. in public administration from
Penn State.
“I am pleased and excited to become part
of the KU Foundation team and work to
advance the mission of Kutztown University.
The foundation team and the faculty and
staff at the university have been very wel-
coming and are eager to help to advance the
philanthropic culture at the university and
secure the much-needed resources to help
today’s and tomorrow’s students.”
UPDATE
philanthropic support to advance the
mission of Kutztown University. This
philanthropic support spans the needs of
scholarships, research, facilities and
extracurricular activities. Currently, the
foundation is in a campaign: Setting the Stage for Sesquicentennial, the Campaign Celebrating 150 Years of Kutztown University.
This comprehensive campaign seeks support
for the Schaeffer Auditorium and Sharadin
Art Building projects, the Pennsylvania
German Cultural Heritage Center, scholar-
ships and unrestricted/restricted support to
enhance the quality of KU.
Ketter holds a bachelor’s degree in
economics from the University of Iowa, a
master’s of public administration from the
The last issue featured the latest improvements to the Marine Science Consortium
in Wallops Island, Va. To find out more about this unique program and its history,
turn to and read about founding member Dr. Mary St. John ’62.
HINDSIGHTREVEALED
Elements by Keigwin & Company
Tickets available on June 24SPECIAL ALUMNI DISCOUNT!
Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul Gerald Clayton
Calder Quartet & So Percussion Wycliffe Gordon: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong
Mayhem & Majesty by Squonk Opera Shemekia Copeland
Alex Mitnick and the Kaleidoscope Band
KU Christmas Spectacular featuring The Snowman
Charlotte’s Web by Theatreworks USA
PASSIONATE ABOUT FUN!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL VS. CHEYNEY
7 p.m. Keystone Arena
PEP RALLY AND FIREWORKS9 p.m. Alumni Plaza
Don’t miss “The best of woodstock concert” by Classic Albums Live.saturday, Nov. 5 inSchaeffer Auditorium at 6:30 p.m.
2011PeaceLove
Homecoming
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 ALUMNI GATHERING
9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wiesenberger Alumni Center
ELECTRONIC MEDIA MIXER10:30 a.m.
Rickenbach Learning Center Studio LC 4
KU CARNIVAL AND CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
An Old-Fashioned Good Time!
Featuring pony rides, a petting zoo, midway games, inflatables & more!
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Keystone Fieldhouse
FOOTBALL VS. BLOOMSBURG1 p.m. University Field
Purchase tickets at the gate for this great fall classic.
Halftime activities feature the crowning of the 2011 Homecoming King & Queen.
“THE 5TH QUARTER” ALUMNI PARTY
4-6 p.m. South Dining Hall
&
Be sure to stop by the KU Student Bookstore Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for all your
Maroon and Gold needs.
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
15200 Kutztown Road
Kutztown, PA 19530-0730
BEST EVER KU GRID SQUAD READY FOR 2011
SEPTEMBER 3 at Saint Anselm TBA
SEPTEMBER 10 at Mercyhurst Noon
SEPTEMBER 17 ✶ Lock Haven 6 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 24 ✶ Cheyney 1 p.m.
FAMILY DAY
OCTOBER 1 at Shippensburg 1 p.m.
OCTOBER 8 ✶ East Stroudsburg 1 p.m.
OCTOBER 15 at Millersville 7 p.m.
OCTOBER 22 at C.W. Post 1 p.m.
OCTOBER 29 at West Chester 1 p.m.
NOVEMBER 5 ✶ Bloomsburg 1 p.m.
HOMECOMING
NOVEMBER 12 ✶Gannon 1 p.m.
✶
2011 KUTZTOWN