AlumNotes Nominate Distinguished Alumni at www.mnstate.edu/alumni 1990s
Tenley (Anderson) Dvorak ’88 (elementary education) taught 10 years, the most recent with Washington County Schools. She married Rick Dvorak in 1999 and became a stay-at-home mom. Her children are 10, nine and eight. Her life is full of games and practices. Marya Glur ’88 (music industry) is a tour manager for performing artists such as Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard from “American Idol,” Hot Tuna, Montorey Jazz Festival on tour and Mel Tourne. Karen Schaan ’88 (f inance/ business administration) is among 16 North Dakotans serving as Peace Corps volunteers. She’ll f inish her two-year service in Macedonia in December. She is a business and community development volunteer and trains the community in grant writing, graphic design, computer and software use and English education. She’s worked with the Red Cross in youth leadership and children’s story hour and helps organize an international choir festival. She lives on one of the oldest and deepest lakes in the world, with an antique theater from 3rd century B.C. minutes from her apartment. Sherry (Flickinger) Kempel ’89 (e l e m e nt ar y e du c ation) ’98 (special education) taught in Cass County, Fargo and West Fargo; tutored Juvenile Detention Center and Prairie Psychiatric summer school; and supervised student teachers at MSUM. She’s been a homemaker and mother since 2000.
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Howard Fisher ’ 92 (sp e e c h communication) graduated in 2012 from Ohio University with a Ph.D. in journalism, successfully defending his dissertation, “Don't Let the Girls Play: Gender Representation in Videogame Journalism and the Influence of Masculine Hegemony, Media Filters, and Message Mediation.” He also earned a master’s in mass communication at Texas Tech University. He’s taught radio production, magazine writing, writing for communication, news writing and radio drama at the University of Scranton since 2009. He’s married to Suzanne (Ness) Fisher ’95 (anthropology). They met at MSUM and married in 1994. Suzanne received an A.A. degree in ecotourism and adventure travel from Hocking College in 2008. She’s membership services assistant at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. They are joined by twoyear-old Freyja, who is very excited to be a Baby Dragon! Bret Hummel ’99 (art) and his Minn e ap o lisbased design firm created a mobile game called “Bumpin’ U g l i e s .” T h e free game app was released in September for IOS (iPhone, iPad, iPods) with an Android
Alumnews Fall 2012
version following shortly after. Bumpin’ Uglies is a puzzle like game that allows players to navigate their ugly by sling shooting them through different colorful worlds. When their ugly finally get to the end of the world, it bumps with another ugly and creates bumplings, which are a mix of both uglies’ physical traits. Physical traits for uglies are customizable. Hummel’s company star ted working on creating the game last fall. The goal was to appeal to a broad audience, ranging from seven-year-olds to 30-somethings. You can find more information on Bumpin’ Uglies at http://bumpinugliesgame.com.
2000s Amber Ferrie ’02 (accounting) was promoted to the senior manager level in t h e Far go Eide Bailly, LLP office. Ferrie, CPA/ABV/CFF, CMAP, specializes in valuation and transaction advisory services. She’s been with the firm since 2005. She and her husband Joel have two children, Hudson and Boden, and reside in Moorhead. Hilary Jones ’02 (psychology) is the founder and director of Girls Rock! Rhode Island, a nonprofit that helps girls and women empower themselves through music. She’s been a research and education specialist at Day One, violence prevention coordinator at the Rhode Island Department of Health, and project coordinator at Health Kids
Rhode Island. In 2008, she received her doctorate in behavioral science psychology and is a part-time faculty member in URI’s Psychology and Women’s Studies departments. She received the Women of Achievement Award in 2012. Tera Larson ’05 (early childhood/elementary education) is the new ECFE and pre-school instructor in Alexandria. Previously, Larson was an elementary reading teacher in the Alexandria School District. She’s engaged to Ben Anderson, who works in sales. She enjoys walking, reading, spending time with family, and making crafts. Erik Meyer ’09 (ceative writing/English) worked for the Fargo Public Schools and is an owner of The Red Raven Espresso Parlor downtown Fargo. He’s created a wordpress describing a Fargo dystopia at www.fargone2125.com, and does animation work related to the site. A crowd funding effort is now up at www.indiegogo.com/2125ish and includes the work of a small team working to make near-future office humor come to life! Mariah (Harper) Olson ’12 (early childhood special education) is the new ECSE teacher at Braham Elementary. She lives in Bethel with her husband. Ashley Simmons ’12 (special education) will take over the ECSE program at Nisswa Elementary School from longtime teacher Bev Petersen, who retired. She and her husband, Marly, moved to Baxter from Moorhead.