Chapman Magazine Spring 2012

Page 1

Get

Creative! Chapman innovators show what it takes to shape bold thinking.


Trail of Gold

Publisher: James L. Doti President

Executive Editor: Sheryl Bourgeois Executive Vice President for University Advancement

Managing Editor: Mary A. Platt platt@chapman.edu

Editor: Dennis Arp arp@chapman.edu

Art Direction: Noelle Marketing Group

Editorial Office: One University Drive Orange, CA 92866-9911 Main: 714-997-6607 Circulation: 714-744-2135 www.chapman.edu Chapman Magazine (USPS #007643) is published quarterly by Chapman University. © 2012 Chapman University. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Orange, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Chapman Magazine One University Drive Orange, Calif. 92866-9911 The mission of Chapman University is to provide personalized education of distinction that leads to inquiring, ethical and productive lives as global citizens.

Chapman Magazine is printed on recycledcontent paper.

Like 19th-century pioneers, students in Professor Steven Gjerstad’s University Honors interterm class trekked the vast Badwater Basin of Death Valley in January. But rather than gold, they were digging for economic history, which they found during their primitive-camping, hiking and study experience. The course was created and led by Gjerstad, Ph.D., an economist and Chapman presidential fellow, as well as Eric Schniter, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate professor, and adjunct faculty member Joy A. Buchanan ’10 (MS ’11). The Gold Rush is fascinating to economists because it’s a condensed example of how an economy moves from subsistence to great wealth, Dr. Gjerstad said. “The Gold Rush set California on a different path than other places,” he added. For some students, the experience elicited more visceral reactions. “I could not imagine the feeling and the absolute soul-crushing doubt (miners) felt rolling into this valley with a horse and wagon,” said Matthew Earle ’14. Photo by Dr. Steven Gjerstad

On the Cover Using a polar coordinates filter, multiple images and some Photoshop magic, photographer Sarah Lee, Class of ’12, offers an imaginative view of Memorial Hall and the other buildings of Chapman University’s historic core. To go inside the creative process of other Chapman thinkers, turn to page 18.


IN THIS ISSUE UP FRONT 2

President’s Message

3

First Person: Who Shot Gabrielle Giffords?

CHAPMAN NOW 5

Chapman in Partnership to Create School of BioPharmacy

5

New Doctorate Launched in Computational Science

6

History Journal Captures National Award

6

Dancers Earn Fourth Straight Title

6

Bellwether Moment for MBA Students

6

Can-Do Victory for Film Team

7

Debut of eVillage Gives Entrepreneurs a Place to Grow Their Ideas

7

Center for the Arts Meets Funding Goal

8

Chapman Chatter

9

Seen and Heard

FEATURES 14 Leader of Note: William Hall Looks Ahead as He Celebrates 50 Years at Chapman 26 Mano en Mano: The College of Educational Studies Builds a Winning Partnership 32 The Godfather of Steampunk: Professor Jim Blaylock helps create a literary genre that becomes a worldwide phenomenon

ALUMNI NEWS 40 ‘Chapman in the Blood’: Mary Belle (Taylor) Carter, Class of ’51, Heads a Family of Panthers 41 Class Notes 44 Miss America Experience ‘a Dream’ for Noelle Freeman ’11 44 Daniel Bury ’11 Boldly Explores a New Frontier With Shatner Video

DEPARTMENTS 12 Sports: Brian Rauh ’13 Has Major-League Aspirations

10 Miranda May End Up a Cop-Show Casualty

13 Lloyd Joins Dad in 500-Win Club

11 Ask the Experts: Will Pumped-Up Gas Prices Persist?

36 In Memoriam: Donald P. Kennedy, Thomas J. Liggett, Robert Gray, Richard Doetkott, Katherine Darmer, Louise Booth

COVER STORIES 18 Get Creative: Chapman Innovators Show How to Foster Fresh Thinking 24 Making Magic Happen on the ‘Aha!’ Pathway


CHAPMAN

p r e s i d e n t ’s m e s s a g e

As We Explore, May We ‘Remain Children All Our Lives’

Approaching education with a spirit of adventure helps us to discover our passions in life.

In The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization, which Dwight Lee and I included in our book The Market Economy: A Reader, F. A. Hayek makes a powerful case that legislators risk inhibiting innovation when they limit freedom of action. I mention it here because I think his theory of creativity — that only through experiences that challenge existing conceptual frameworks can new knowledge come into being — is particularly relevant to higher education and the pursuit of lifelong learning. However difficult creativity is to quantify, one need only watch a child at play to recognize the inherent thirst for knowledge that runs deep within us all. This creativity is nurtured through experiences that challenge us to view the world in diverse ways. This is why I encourage all students to experiment with many disciplines, even those outside of their comfort zones. Approaching education with a spirit of adventure helps us to discover our passions in life and to become innovators in our chosen fields. Opportunities for engaging the creative imagination abound at Chapman University — enhanced by strong interdisciplinary partnerships between each of our seven schools and colleges. We will continue to strengthen interdisciplinary education as an important component of our university’s unique vision and identity. And I will continue to encourage all students to dream big, broaden their perspectives and have fun. I am reminded of a favorite quote by Albert Einstein that graphic design major Chase Conching ’14 incorporated into his runner-up entry in this year’s Chapman University commemorative poster contest: “The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” Regards,

James L. Doti

Board of Trustees OFFICERS Donald E. Sodaro Chairman Doy B. Henley Executive Vice Chairman David A. Janes, Sr. Vice Chairman David E.I. Pyott Vice Chairman Scott Chapman Secretary Zelma M. Allred Assistant Secretary TRUSTEES Wylie A. Aitken The Honorable George L. Argyros ’59 Donna Ford Attallah ’61 Raj S. Bhathal James P. Burra Phillip H. Case Irving W. Chase Arlene R. Craig Jerome W. Cwiertnia Kristina Dodge

2

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

James W. Emmi H. Ross Escalette Paul Folino Dale E. Fowler ’58 Barry Goldfarb David C. Henley Roger C. Hobbs William K. Hood Mark Chapin Johnson ’05 Jennifer L. Keller Parker S. Kennedy Joe E. Kiani Joann Leatherby Charles D. Martin James V. Mazzo Sebastian Paul Musco Harry S. Rinker James B. Roszak The Honorable Loretta Sanchez ’82 Mohindar S. Sandhu James Ronald Sechrist Allen L. Sessoms Ronald M. Simon Ronald E. Soderling Glenn B. Stearns R. David Threshie Emily Crean Vogler

Karen R. Wilkinson ’69 David W. Wilson EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES Judi Garfi-Partridge Reverend H. Ben Bohren, Jr. Marcia Cooley Reverend Don Dewey James L. Doti Kelsey C. Smith ’05 Reverend Stanley D. Smith ’67 Reverend Felix Villanueva Reverend Denny Williams TRUSTEES EMERITI Richard Bertea Lynn Hirsch Booth J. Ben Crowell Leslie N. Duryea Robert A. Elliott Marion Knott Jack B. Lindquist Randall R. McCardle ’58 Cecilia Presley Barry Rodgers Richard R. Schmid

Board of Governors OFFICERS Judi Garfi-Partridge Chair

Melinda M. Masson Executive Vice Chair Thomas E. Malloy Vice Chair Douglas E. Willits ’72 Secretary GOVERNORS George Adams, Jr. Marilyn Alexander Margaret Baldwin Marta S. Bhathal Kathleen A. Bronstein Kim B. Burdick Michael J. Carver Eva Chen Rico Garcia Kathleen M. Gardarian Lula F. Halfacre Sue Kint Scott A. Kisting John L. Kokulis Dennis Kuhl Stephen M. Lavin ’88 Jean H. Macino Richard D. Marconi Betty Mower Potalivo Nicholas R. Reed Jerrel T. Richards Daniel J. Starck

GOVERNORS EMERITI Donald A. Buschenfield Gary E. Liebl EX-OFFICIO GOVERNORS Sheryl A. Bourgeois James L. Doti

President’s Cabinet Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos Julianne Argyros Joyce Brandman Heidi Cortese Sherman Lawrence K. Dodge Onnolee B. Elliott (M.A.’64) Douglas K. Freeman Frank P. Greinke Lynette M. Hayde Gavin S. Herbert General William Lyon Hadi Makarechian Anthony R. Moiso The Honorable Milan Panic Lord Swraj Paul James H. Randall The Honorable Ed Royce Susan Samueli Joseph Schuchert, Jr. Ralph Stern David Stone Roger O. Walther


BY TOM ZOELLNER

CHAPMAN

first person

Who Shot Gabrielle Giffords?

D

O COMMUNITIES UNDER STRESS CREATE THEIR OWN RANDOM BURSTS OF VIOLENCE, IN THE SAME WAY THAT MOUNTAINTOPS CREATE THEIR

OWN THUNDERSTORMS OUT OF HIGH-FLOWING AIR CURRENTS?

T

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.

he question has long intrigued social scientists. The criminologists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling advanced the famous “broken windows” theory in 1982, postulating that the breaking of a single window in an abandoned building encourages the rapid breaking of all the windows because a certain cosmic permission has been given for vandalism. The question of how geography shapes the psyche is worth examining a year after the Jan. 8, 2011, Safeway shootings in Tucson, Ariz. The months leading up to the attempted assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords were unusually paranoid ones. I saw the tension up close, because Tucson is my hometown, and I worked on my friend Gabrielle’s campaign as a speechwriter, watching as her face was all over television and outdoor ads portraying her as the embodiment of a government that was wrecking the local economy. There was a feeling in Tucson that I did not recognize. Much has been made of the website put up by Sarah Palin’s political action committee (with target markets over the districts of vulnerable Democrats, including Gabrielle’s) and the newspaper ad for her opponent calling on his supporters to help him shoot an M-16 at a fundraiser. I think these gestures are unimportant

in themselves — in dubious taste but certainly not the motivating reason why the paranoid schizophrenic Jared Loughner brought a gun to the Safeway with the intention of assassinating Gabrielle. What they were, though, were symptoms of the larger causes of Tucson’s unease: a fragile economy, a fear of illegal immigrants, a toxic political culture that favors passion over reason, and the disconnected neighborhoods of newcomers where loneliness festers and lack of concern for one’s neighbor becomes a habit. This is the environment in which the punitive and ridiculous law SB 1070 was passed, requiring local police to demand the immigration papers of anybody they stop who appears to fit a suspicious profile — such as a Latino who happened to dress down that day. Loughner was suffering from a grave mental illness, but he was not living in a world made entirely of his own delusions. He could still hear and see what surrounded him, and those surroundings helped him formulate a plot against a specific target: Gabrielle Giffords. The slime was directed at her personally, but it was only a convenient channel for the fear that the American dream was lost and that a crisis was at hand. Studies of schizophrenics have revealed that their hallucinations are shaped and even governed by the culture that surrounds them. What Loughner saw of public life in Tucson was one of general fear and outrage, with one solitary woman, her face in constant media view in sinister cast, being branded as the responsible party for all the misery. Small windows were being cracked that year in Tucson. Permissions were being unwittingly given. Gabrielle’s office window was broken out by a pellet pistol in March after a series of angry “town hall” meetings on the healthcare bill. Gabrielle confessed to her husband that she feared somebody would bring a gun to a public event and shoot her. Tucson was abruptly sobered by the bloodshed at the Safeway. Flowers and cards were showered on the lawn outside the hospital where Gabrielle lay. The mourning over this chilling, pointless act brought the city together in a way that would have been unfathomable in the ugly days of the 2010 congressional election. It was almost as if, deep down, we remembered we share a destiny with each other. And we all wondered quietly if we could have somehow done more to prevent our civic air currents from massing into thunderclouds.

Tom Zoellner is an associate professor of English at Chapman University and the author of A Safeway in Arizona: What the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State and Life in America. A version of this article originally appeared in the online magazine Zócalo Public Square.

SPRING 2012

3


CHAPMAN

in-box

‘A Great Mix of Stories’ I recently read the latest edition (fall/winter 2011) of Chapman Magazine and really enjoyed the articles. I thought it had a great mix of stories from not only Chapman, but from the surrounding community. As an Orange resident and Chapman graduate (undergrad and MBA), I just wanted to say thanks for The Future Bright Ideas, Bold Vision producing such a nice publication. DAVID P. GILL ’07, (MBA ’11) ORANGE, CALIF.

‘So Many Memories’ Student Pool Makes Splashy Debut

T

he Masson Family Beach Club was dedicated March 2, and it’s already hard to remember how Chapman University students got along without it. “We don’t need a thermometer to know how warm it is these days,” said Jerry Price, Ph.D., vice chancellor and dean of students at Chapman. “We can tell by how many students are in or around the pool. They’re ecstatic to have this resource to enjoy.” The new pool and recreation space, located a beach ball’s throw from the student residence halls, first opened for use in December. Coupled with the recent addition of the Student Union in the renovated Argyros Forum, the Masson Family Beach Club gives students a new space to relax or study between classes, to meet friends or make new ones, and to generally enjoy the social component of the Chapman experience. The Beach Club was made possible by a gift from the Masson Family Foundation. “The popularity of this new facility underscores the value students place on recreation, fitness and an active lifestyle,” Dean Price added.

What a joy to get (the fall/winter 2011) issue of Chapman Magazine. The pictures on pages 24 and 25 (of Don Jarman ’50 and other classmates) brought back so many memories. I roomed with Doug Corpron ’50, plus sang with him and Johnny Miller ’50 in a trio. I’m so proud of Chapman in many ways. Keep up the good work. HARSH BROWN ‘50 COLUMBIA, MO.

Tell us what you think! Send us your feedback about Chapman Magazine or anything else related to Chapman University. We especially welcome reflections on the Chapman experience. Send submissions to magazine@chapman.edu Please include your full name, graduation year (if alumnus/a) and the city in which you live. We reserve the right to edit submissions for style and length.

Chapman Magazine is online. Check it out at www.chapman.edu/magazine 4


CHAPMAN

now

Chapman in Partnership to Create School of BioPharmacy

A

collaboration between Chapman University and Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) will launch a new School of BioPharmacy, to open in fall 2014, pending national accreditation. The jointly operated school will focus on preparing graduate pharmacists for professions in biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry as well as for modern pharmacy practice. “This is a remarkable opportunity,” said James L. Doti, Ph.D., president of Chapman University. “It builds on KGI’s innovative professional master’s and postdoctoral programs and close biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry ties, and takes advantage of Chapman’s strengths in computational sciences and entrepreneurship.” The new Chapman-KGI School of BioPharmacy, to be located at first on the KGI campus in Claremont, Calif., will reorient the Doctor of Pharmacy degree toward crucial developments in pharmacogenomics. The program will reflect rapidly developing changes in the field, including the growth of personalized medicine, the delivery of biomolecules, changes in drug and device development, and progress in clinical trials and team-based operating environments.

The curriculum is planned to equip graduates to become licensed pharmacists with sophisticated knowledge of the applied life sciences for modern health care practice, and experience with therapeutics, therapy management, and regulatory affairs to shape discovery in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The school’s vision reflects the ways in which pharmacists are increasingly asked to shoulder a primary role in matching drugs and therapies to a particular patient or strain of illness, as well as translating their clinical expertise into drug discovery in industry. “The Chapman-KGI School of BioPharmacy will embrace this change in the profession,” said Sheldon Schuster, Ph.D., director and professor of biochemistry at Keck Graduate Institute. “Current advances in genomics and the growing convergence of therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices are creating new opportunities for pharmacists in the life-sciences industry and modern clinical practice. This new school will help prepare highly qualified individuals to take advantage of those opportunities.” The two universities have begun a national search for an entrepreneurial founding dean with experience in pharmacy education and industry. The first classes for the Chapman-KGI School of BioPharmacy will be held on the KGI campus in Claremont, while Chapman pursues construction of a 120,000-square-foot Science Center in Orange. The new Science Center will house Chapman’s portion of the School of BioPharmacy and the university’s Schmid College of Science and Technology. The Chapman-KGI School of BioPharmacy is expected to grow to a full enrollment of 320 students.

C

hapman University’s Schmid College of Science and Technology has announced a new Ph.D. program in computational science, making Chapman one of the few universities in the world to offer degree programs in this cutting-edge field at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. Approved by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in early December, the new program will be offered in fall 2012 and is accepting candidates now. “This program will be known nationally and internationally as a model for science education and research,” said Chapman Chancellor Daniele Struppa.

New Doctorate Launched in Computational Science Computational science combines methods and techniques from mathematics and computer science with other science disciplines to create new knowledge and understanding. Computer modeling and simulation — the tools of computational scientists — have become recognized as engines of economic growth and scientific advancement. A Ph.D. in computational science prepares students for employment in academia, scientific research laboratories, private industry and government agencies. “The complexity of the 21st century cannot be viewed through the lens of a single discipline,” said Michael Fahy, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and computer science and associate dean in the Schmid College of Science and Technology. “Our scientists Michael Fahy, Ph.D. and researchers will be both in the classroom with our freshmen and in the laboratories with our graduate students.” Chapman has been laying the groundwork for establishing a niche program in the sciences since 2006, and an internationally known team of physicists and computational scientists was hired a year later. The MS degree in computational science was introduced in 2009.

SPRING 2012

5


CHAPMAN

now

History Journal Captures National Award

V

oces Novae, Chapman University’s online history journal, has won the prestigious 2011 Nash History Journal Prize for Best E-Journal from Phi Alpha Theta (PAT), the National History Honors Society. This is the second time that the student-edited Voces Novae has won this national award. The winning issues contained edited versions of a massive oral history project undertaken by Alpha Mu Gamma, Chapman’s PAT chapter, to document the university’s rise to prominence over the past 20 years. The students interviewed key administrators, professors, and alumni.

After technical training from Pam Ezell ’81 and Dan Noah ’05 of Panther Productions and Jana Remy (MFA ’87), associate director of instructional technology, the students made the project their own, says Professor Lee Estes, Ph.D., faculty advisor to the journal. “The result is a tribute to the students’ extraordinary efforts. They stepped up to the plate from the beginning and persevered until this large project was put to bed,” Dr. Estes said. To see a video on the making of the oral history project, visit www.chapman.edu/magazine.

Bellwether Moment for MBA Students

A

Top row, from left: Kristen Mabry ’15, faculty adviser Alicia Okouchi-Guy, Christopher Babcock ’14, Joseph Chantry ’14 and Chelsea Rush ’15. Bottom row, from left: Amanda Sullivan ’15, Christine Bulgozdi ’13, Katelin Wollner ’13, Katherine Barnum ’12, Sarah Sheade ’12, Katie Sellars ’14, Sasha dee Dayoan ’14, Nicole Broch ’12 and Lindsay Cross ’12.

Dancers Earn Fourth Straight Title

F

or the fourth year in a row, Chapman University’s Dance Team won first place at the USA Collegiate National Championships held March 18–19 at the Anaheim Convention Center, earning the Divisions II & III Open Dance Championship. The team was led by Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor in the Department of Dance, who called it “a special win.” Team members are Christopher Babcock ’14, Katherine Barnum ’12, Nicole Broch ’12, Christine Bulgozdi ’13, Joseph Chantry ’14, Lindsay Cross ’12, Sasha dee Dayoan ’14, Kristen Mabry ’15, Chelsea Rush ’15, Katie Sellars ’14, Sarah Sheade ’12, Amanda Sullivan ’15 and Katelin Wollner ’13.

6

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

team of MBA students from Chapman University’s Argyros School of Business and Economics won second place and a $3,000 cash prize in the MBA Global Innovation Challenge, the world’s largest and most established From left, Bryce Ricks, Kelsey Wuornos, Doan Tran business innovation competition. and Geoff Northup. As part of their award the students got to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 27. In addition, the corporate sponsor for the Chapman team announced that it will implement the students’ innovation plan. The Chapman team competed in the finals against teams from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter, which took first place. The Chapman team of Doan Tran, Bryce Ricks, Kelsey Wuornos and Geoff Northup advanced to the finals by winning first prize in its category, creating a product development case for General Electric.

Can-Do Victory for Film Team

A

n ad for Campbell’s Soup earned five students from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts the grand prize in a national college competition. The ad created by the Chapman students depicts a child going to extremes to get a bowl of soup. The students bested a heavyweight field that included teams from UCLA, Pepperdine, Los Angeles Film School and the New York Film Academy. Earning the grand prize were Chapman film production students Sten Olson ’15 , Adolfo Kahan ’14, Jonathan Amato ’15, Jordan Evans ’15 and Hannah McDonald ’15. A trip to the South By Southwest Film Festival was among the prizes. Each team member also won a high-definition camera presented by MOFILM President Andy Baker, who called their spot “totally TV-ready.” Top row, from left: Sten Olson ’15, Adolfo Kahan ’14, MOFILM President Andy Baker, Jonathan Amato ‘15 and Jordan Evans ’15. Bottom row, from left: Adjunct Professor Frank Chindamo, Hannah McDonald ’15 and Adjunct Professor Marla Schultz.


A HOTHOUSE FOR START-UPS The opening of eVillage gives entrepreneurs a place to grow their ideas.

W

hen business major Nicole Rosanwo ’14 first walked into Chapman University’s eVillage, a cutting-edge nesting home for entrepreneurial start-ups, she could see the writing on the wall — literally. The interior walls of the newly restored vintage house that is home to eVillage are coated in “Idea Paint” — write-on-wipe-off wall paint that encourages brainstorm scribbling, a canvas for idea-churning entrepreneurs. Rosanwo, an undergraduate in the Entrepreneurs in Residence program, arrived to find that the business folks she had been assigned to shadow had been busy discussing and sketching out their thoughts on the idea walls. “It’s inspiring to see them working on their own ideas. You could tell there was a lot of buzz. You really just want to be

a part of it,” Rosanwo said in March, during a festive luau-themed open house to unveil the new South Glassell facility. Although it functions within the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics in the Argyros School of Business and Economics, eVillage is partnered with a business accelerator called K5Launch and TriTech, a small business development center. Applicants accepted into eVillage receive a variety of resources, from seminars and workshops to on-site mentoring and 24/7 access to facilities. It’s a 12-week program aimed at preparing participants for their moment of truth: a pitch meeting with potential investors. Budding entrepreneurs from the community may apply for entry to eVillage, but the companion student programs are reserved for Chapman University students

Chapman student Carl Waniek ’12 and Taryn Rose, CEO of ISHAPEIT Inc., are among those pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams at eVillage.

with an interest in entrepreneurial studies, projects or business start-up ideas of their own. “My mission is for Chapman to be the place where entrepreneurs, innovators and students collaborate,” said Richard Sudek, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics and chairman emeritus, Tech Coast Angels. “We hope that those who go through eVillage and launch their companies come back as mentors, so we create a thriving entrepreneur ecosystem.”

Center for the Arts Meets Funding Goal

An artist’s rendering shows the Center for the Arts, which will feature acoustics by Yasuhisa Toyota, who has “tuned” more than 50 landmark concert halls worldwide.

T

he planned $64 million Center for the Arts at Chapman University has achieved full funding, President Jim Doti announced Feb. 24 during his annual State of the University Address. Groundbreaking on the center is planned for June.

Chapman achieved the funding goal by meeting an anonymous $32 million matching grant — the largest gift in the history of the university. The state-of-the-art theatre “will enhance the Chapman experience on campus, build bridges to the vibrant Orange County arts community and elevate the College of Performing Arts to new heights and prominence,” said William Hall, Ph.D., founding dean and artistic director of the Center for the Arts. The 1,050-seat center will accommodate full-scale Broadway-style productions, ballets, symphonies and operas as well as provide a new home for the annual student revue American Celebration. A $5 million gift from the Kay Family Foundation will help make the center one of the most technologically advanced in the nation, equipping it with streaming capabilities so performances can be viewed around the globe. SPRING 2012

7


Chatter MILEY MANIA All it took was a single blog post to a celebrity gossip site: Someone claimed to have the inside scoop that Miley Cyrus was enrolling at Chapman University. Faster than a Hannah Montana wardrobe change, the news went viral — rocketing through the blogosphere, racing through the Twitterverse, until less than two days later the “news” had been viewed by more than 11 million distinct site visitors, according to the Web-monitoring service Vocus. After two months, the item is at 25 million views and counting — never mind that it is completely untrue. Chalk it up to another Internet hoax and the sobering lesson that you just can’t believe everything you read on the Web. But then you knew that already.

SLING BABY What would you do for a chance to get your ad team’s TV commercial idea into the primest time of all — a slot during the Super Bowl? If you’re Justin Folk ’00, you let the director sling-shot your 15-month-old son toward a backyard jungle gym so he can snatch a bag of Doritos from the hands of a brat. That’s the concept that snagged Folk and his colleagues the top spot on USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad Meter, and with it a $1 million bonus prize from Doritos. Of course, no amount of fame or fortune could entice Folk to endanger his son; the sling-shot part was all done digitally. But that was really his baby, Jonah, earning laughs as the star of the 30-second spot. When the flying-baby idea was first floated, Folk’s reaction was, “You’re out of your mind — but could it be my son?” As his co-workers on the project gathered for a Super Bowl viewing party, Folk and his family opted for a quieter setting. “We just kind of had a place for the kids to run around,” he said. No slings attached.

MOVING ON UP Anyone who’s had to pack up a household’s worth of clothes and move them to a new home knows what a nightmare that can be. For Pat Cavins, the household is the Costume Shop in the Entertainment Technology Center at Chapman University, and the packing included more than 10,000 costumes and about 3,000 pairs of shoes. Luckily, the new Palm Avenue warehouse and offices to which she and some of her College of Performing Arts colleagues moved in January offers lots more space to design and build sets, dye and sew fabric and, yes, store costumes. “The move wasn’t traumatic at all,” said Cavins, who loves the new digs. This is the second such move since she started at Chapman 12 years ago. “That first one,” she said, “was our dress rehearsal.”

THE THREE TENORS Los Angeles Opera presented two special performances at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels in March, and the event turned into a Chapman University alumni reunion. Three graduates of Chapman’s Conservatory of Music performed solos in The Festival Play of Daniel, conducted by James Conlon, the internationally acclaimed music director of L.A. Opera who holds an honorary doctorate from Chapman. Tenors Robert MacNeil ’93, Ashley Faatoalia ’06 and Ben Bliss ’09 were featured in the production, with Bliss in the title role. One reviewer praised all the soloists for “their considerable individual talents” and “exceptionally beautiful voices.” And now let us add our voice: Bravo! From left, Ashley Faatoalia ’06, Ben Bliss ’09 and Robert MacNeil ’93 share a moment with L.A. Opera maestro James Conlon, who holds an honorary doctorate from Chapman.

8

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


Seen Heard &

“As

a creative artist, the most important thing you can do is to transcend your own fear and encourage collaborators to do the same.” Steven Bernstein, cinematographer on films such as Monster, Underworld and Half Baked, speaking to a Dodge College winter interterm class on staging and filming stunts.

“Of course there is some legal justification for the position Nixon was taking. He was drawing on Lincoln and FDR. And to me, sadly, the Nixonian view might be even more prominent in the aftermath of 9/11, where things like torture and our violation — blatant violation — of our international treaties have become the norm rather than the exception.” John Dean, former White House counsel to President Nixon, reacting to a news clip of Nixon saying, “When the president does it that means it’s not illegal.” Dean spoke during a January symposium at the School of Law that marked the 40th anniversary of Watergate.

“The charity work I imposed on my athletes helped eliminate some of the self-absorption. It helped them to understand themselves better as community leaders.”

“Particle physics largely is an attempt to understand nothing. Once we understand the vacuum, the rest is kind of trivial.” David Gross, Ph.D., Nobel Prize-winning physicist, speaking at the Sandhu Conference Center.

Leigh Steinberg, sports superagent on whom the film Jerry Maguire was based, speaking to entrepreneurship students in Beckman Hall.

“The events are very hard to write about. I make everything become fiction … to create a distance that allows me to approach the subject because it is so horrible and I am so involved in it.” Alicia Kozameh, Argentine author and former political prisoner, on why she expresses her experiences in fiction rather than biography. She spoke at Leatherby Libraries as part of the Fowles Series. SPRING 2012

9


INQUIRING

Undergrad Research

MINDS

AT CHAPMAN

Miranda May End Up a Cop-Show Casualty But some interesting findings emerged. In Dragnet, which first “You have the right to remain silent.” ran in the ’50s but was revived 1967–70, “hardly an episode went There was a time when those words resonated with just about by without the warning being thrust into the ears and memory every American who owned a television set. of viewers,” the participants say in their research paper. “Next to the pledge of allegiance, the Miranda rights may be By contrast, In Hill Street Blues’ debut season of 1981– 82, the most familiar common litany of the baby-boomer generation, there were 13 on-camera arrests with just one full Miranda thanks to TV,” said an editorial in Broadcasting & Cable magazine recitation. And since the Dickerson ruling in 2000, Miranda after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000 gave its warnings have been even less own nod to the influence prevalent, the researchers note of television. in their paper, published in The court ruled in the 2000 2011 by the Cleveland State case Dickerson v. United States Law Review. that defendants should continue For instance, CSI premiered to have Miranda rights at least in 2000 and in its first season in part because the warning we aired 52 arrests, with only one know from dozens of cop shows Miranda warning. is so thoroughly ingrained in In the conclusion to their American culture. paper, Sayers, Talwar and But Chapman law professor Dr. Steiner ask: “If Miranda Ronald Steiner, Ph.D., wondered: continues disappearing from Is the perception outdated? Do popular culture, how might modern “police procedurals” a future Supreme Court make time for Miranda like they reevaluate the importance did in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s? of Miranda and the holding So he launched a research of Dickerson?” project to find out. And what They conclude: “The better participants than Miranda warning might undergraduate students in disappear as easily as television Chapman’s Dodge College shows that are canceled and of Film and Media Arts? quickly forgotten.” “Part of their study Beyond the effects of their experience is to look at the legal research, the student development of a genre over participants say the project time,” said Dr. Steiner, who in itself influenced them. Sayers addition to constitutional law now works as a licensing and criminal procedures classes The ’60s cop show Dragnet, starring Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, helped producer at Seattle-based Big teaches Freshman Foundations put the Miranda warning at the forefront of the pop-culture consciousness. Fish Games, where she often and honors courses at Chapman. takes on issues of intellectual He recruited Becky (Bauer) property. Meanwhile, Talwar has earned a law degree from the Sayers ’09 and Rohit Talwar ’07, both film production students University of Arizona and is an associate at the Tucson firm Stubbs who had taken his Foundations course Intro to Law. & Schubart. “It’s always interesting to study how popular culture influences As a postscript, Talwar recently had another Miranda moment. the law, and vice versa,” Sayers said. At a screening of the recently released comedy 21 Jump Street, he Her charge was to consider cop shows that aired shortly after noted that a plot twist involves one of the young cop characters the original Miranda case in 1966 — Dragnet and Adam 12 being saying he can’t remember the Miranda warning specifically because the two mainstays. Talwar took shows of more recent vintage, TV shows these days don’t include the whole recitation. including Law & Order, CSI, Bones and The Shield. Later, when the character and a partner make an arrest, they’re As they watched episode after episode, they measured arrests able to recite the entire warning. against Miranda rights recitations, and they took notes on whether “That was quite a surprise,” Talwar said. the warning helped shape the story. Perhaps like so many recycled Hollywood concepts, Miranda In all, they watched 173 episodes. will get a chance to make a pop-culture comeback after all. “I think I was seeing Joe Friday in my sleep,” Sayers said. 10

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


Ask THE EXPERTS Will Pumped-Up Prices Persist?

W

hen gas prices rise even slightly at the pump, U.S. consumers feel it instantly in their wallets. So as per-gallon costs reached all-time highs for March, the impact sent shock waves that are likely to reverberate throughout the summer and right up to Election Day in November. Why have prices jumped so sharply this year, and what are the prospects for relief? We put the questions to James J. Coyle, Ph.D., director of global education at Chapman University. Dr. Coyle is an expert on issues of the Middle East and U.S. energy policy. His energyrelated blog is at eurasianenergyanalysis.blogspot.com.

1

they’re putting 70,000 new cars on the road every day. That’s not replacement cars, that’s a net increase each day. And we are really on the edge technologically. In Russia, they’re drilling in Siberian oil fields that are only accessible three months out of the a year because the conditions are so harsh. But when prices are high enough, that kind of drilling becomes commercially viable. In the short term, any increase in supply, regardless of where we drill, will drop the prices, though it’s important to remember that there really is no such thing as a domestic or world market. That’s a fallacy; it’s all one market. So we can increase tar sands production in Canada, and that will get us enough oil so that China can add another 70,000 cars to the road.

What factors are to blame for the recent price hikes?

First, there’s the ever-increasing need for fuel by China and secondarily by India. On top of that, there’s been an increasing need for petroleum products in Europe, which has experienced one of the biggest cold snaps in history. These factors push up demand, and when you combine them with a decline in production from Libya, Syria and even Iraq, prices go up.

2 “A big part of the answer is conservation, which doesn’t have to mean people riding everywhere on bicycles. It can mean things as simple as checking your tires.” JAMES J. COYLE, PH.D., DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL EDUCATION, CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY

3

What needs to happen for gas to become more affordable? The usual answer is drill, baby, drill, but in fact the domestic amount of recoverable oil suitable for production as gasoline offers just a short-term solution. We’re talking about ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) in Alaska, off the coast of California and some other places. That can provide relief for 10 years, maybe 20. So it becomes clear that a big part of the answer is conservation, which doesn’t have to mean people riding everywhere on bicycles. It can mean things as simple as checking your tires. If everyone in the U.S. kept their tires properly inflated, we’d see a 5 percent reduction in the use of gasoline. That might not sound like a lot, but we consume 20 million barrels of oil a day. Five percent would equate to an extra million barrels of oil.

So when will we get relief at the pump? I hate to be pessimistic, but as long as demand for oil continues to grow worldwide, we can anticipate higher prices. In China,

4

Taking a longer view, are there opportunities for improvement? There are a couple of possibilities that provide some hope. One is biofuels. Researchers are really starting to experiment with the growth of algae and other things that could be burned for energy — not to put gas in your tank but to generate electricity so oil can be freed up to use for gasoline. Also, we’re looking at a possible revolution in natural gas. Ten years ago, if you looked at natural gas, you said, “How long before we run out?” It was a scary possibility. Then lo and behold, in 2002 they perfected a technique for getting gas from shale through fracking, and it’s now estimated that the U.S. will be self-sufficient in natural gas, and for the first time since the ’60s become an energy exporter. This is the most viable source of hope, because other technologies are just too immature.

11


CHAPMAN

s p o rt s

By Doug Aiken ’99, ’09

MAJOR PLAYER

H

e is the current in a long lineage of dominant Chapman University aces, the latest in a history that dates back to former National League Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones ’72. He is Brian Rauh ’13, and while he is the newest sensation, his credentials say he is also the best Chapman has seen in a long time. Not only has the junior righthander twice been a first-team AllAmerican, but he was named NCAA Division III Pitcher of the Year as a freshman and led the nation in strikeouts as a sophomore. Along the way, he compiled a record of 24–0 in 2 ½ seasons before his record was finally blemished by a 2–0 loss to Rutgers-Newark University of New Jersey on March 11. “I honestly don’t know how that happened,” Brian Rauh ’13 says of his 24-win streak, compiled over his first 2 ½ seasons at Chapman.

Photo by Richard Matamoros

12

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


“It’s really not as difficult a decision as you’d think,” Rauh says. “Organizations like the Royals, Yankees and Diamondbacks have all talked about paying for my school and housing when I come back. Plus, this is the year I have some leverage. If I wait until my senior year, they’ll give me two grand and buy me a plane ticket and that’s pretty much it.” It sounds like the business major has even tossed a complete-game three-hitter already figured out the economics of against Pomona-Pitzer College in his third baseball — and the art of the negotiation. start. But he didn’t become a regular in Plus, he’s spent time talking to former the Chapman rotation until two-thirds Panther players such as Kurt Yacko ’11, of the way through his freshman year. who left Chapman after his junior year Now he’s projected as a pro pitching only to return and earn his degree on the prospect. And the first words Coach Colorado Rockies’ dime. Tereschuk uses to describe Rauh are However, Rauh has some unfinished “fierce competitor.” business on his mind before his Chapman For his first start of 2012, against days are done. Last May, he led the Panthers Whittier College, more than a dozen to the NCAA Division scouts showed up III Championships but at Hart Park. As a For the latest news on was forced to exit the junior, Rauh is draft Chapman sports teams, visit series opener with an eligible for the first www.chapmanathletics.com. elbow injury that time since high shelved him for the rest school and will of the tournament. Without him, Chapman likely be one of the first Division III reached the national championship game players selected in Major League but had to settle for second place after Baseball’s First Year Player Draft in June. falling to Marietta College (Ohio). “It’s hard not to think about it because That loss is a particularly heavy every time I throw a pitch 12 (radar) guns burden for Rauh. go up behind home plate,” says Rauh. “I “I was upset that I couldn’t be out think about (being drafted) a lot because there and be a leader,” he says. “It’s hard it’s always what I’ve wanted to do.” thinking that last game might have gone He’s a business student, and a good differently if I had been out there.” one. Last year, he was named to the Especially now that his career-long Capital One Academic All-District VIII victory streak is over, there’s one win baseball team with a 3.57 grade-point that matters most to Rauh. average. So how difficult would it be for “I just want to get back (to the him to leave school early to pursue his championships) and win that last game.” dream of playing pro baseball?

rn Brian Rauh ’13 never set out to ea 24 straight victories, but he does have championship dreams and big-le ague aspirations.

I

500-WIN CLUB IN D A D S IN O J LLOYD tory d her 500th career vic

Lloyd earne m’s ty softball coach Janet er coach in the progra hen Chapman Universi tched by only one oth ma e ton les of mi a ing ed nk ch thi was recently, she rea s no wonder that she her, Lisle Lloyd. So it’ history — her late fat carry on the achievement. ing and I’m the one to him in the run-up to the one that got it go s wa he re, he 't isn “Even though he per. d The Panther newspa University, 12–3, at the tradition,” she tol thers topped La Sierra Pan the en wh , 19 b. Fe to 1998. e cam 0 Win No. 50 534 games from 1983 father, Chapman won r he r de d. Un sai k. she Par ” al er, El Camino Re doing it togeth d I think about it as us an , ir wins together, ch the coa of 6 at 15 gre a ing s “He wa r seasons, achiev fou for m de tan in ch coa 2002. Actually, the two did Lloyd passed away in ickly nal title victory. Lisle tio na 95 ention, though she qu 19 att the of ter ing includ Janet was the cen nt, me mo e ton les mi r On the night of he she said. to her players. do it for themselves,” shifted the focus back , but I wanted them to me for it do to ing “They were try going.” now we can just keep “I’m glad it’s done, so

W

Photo by Adam Ottke ‘13

honestly don’t know how that happened,” a modest Rauh said of his unbeaten streak. “I owe a lot to my team and my catchers. It’s nice to have those guys behind you that you trust in. They’ve always picked me up.” It was an incredible streak while it lasted, prompting unrealistic expectations every time he took the mound. Yet, Rauh has maintained a simple approach. “I just really want to win that next game.” Expectations were not always so high for Rauh, who was largely unheralded out of high school. It was his older brother, Jeff, who drew attention from pro scouts and earned a scholarship to pitch for the University of San Diego. “We recruited the heck out of Jeff,” says Chapman coach Tom Tereschuk. A year later, the Panthers landed his younger brother and got more than they anticipated, aided by a growth spurt that saw Brian go from 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds as a high school junior to 6 –1, 185 when he enrolled at Chapman in fall 2009. Still, as the Lake Forest, Calif. native embarked on his first season at Chapman, he was not high on the Panthers’ depth chart. “Coach T. called me soft,” Rauh recalls. “That made me mentally tough. The word ‘rattled’ is not in my vocabulary anymore.” Sure, he won his first two starts and

Panthers softball coach Janet Lloyd holds the game ball after her 500th career victory Feb. 19.


By Drew Farrington

During his 50 years at Chapman, Bill Hall has compiled scores of golden moments, and he sees more on the horizon.

Leader of Note


I

t was never Bill Hall’s intention to make the pope cry. Bringing the Chapman University Choir to the Vatican for a concert was privilege enough. It’s a privilege Hall has enjoyed seven times, including in 2001, when he was invited to conduct a gargantuan concert for the most holy of audiences. For that performance, the Chapman choir joined 13 others, all led by Chapman graduates — 800 total singers — and the Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta in performing Verdi’s Requiem at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.

Photo by McKenzi Taylor

But it was during a 1983 Vatican visit that Hall and the Chapman singers brought tears of joy to the eyes of Pope John Paul II. After the choir’s regular concert was finished, the pontiff put his arm around Hall and in his heavy Polish accent asked, “Now won’t you sing something just for me?” Hall led the Chapman choir in Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus, the pope’s favorite choral piece. Tears on his cheeks, the pontiff said jokingly to Hall, “You leave your choir with me, and take mine with you.” “I wasn’t thinking,” Hall said in his mellifluous bass. “I said, ‘No thank you, I’ve heard your choir.’ He absolutely died laughing.” For most people, this would be the singular, defining moment of a lifetime. For Hall, founding dean and artistic director of Chapman’s planned Center for the Arts, it’s just a memorable aria in a magnum opus-sized life. That life now includes 50 years at Chapman University, with the golden anniversary to be celebrated Jan. 19, 2013 in Memorial Hall. JOIN IN THE CELEBRATION Friends, colleagues and alumni will gather to pay Chapman University is planning a 50th tribute to the man and his substantial influence. anniversary celebration as big as the In the meantime, to see what the legacy of an icon accomplishments of William Hall, DMA, looks like, walk into his office, around the baby founding dean of the College of Performing grand piano and shelves stacked with books and Arts and now dean and artistic director of music, and take a look at the walls. the Center for the Arts. Peruse photos of Dean Hall on stage with Events are still taking shape, but you can Tony Bennett, performing with Carol Burnett and bet the celebration Jan. 19, 2013 in Memorial Hall will include lots of music and stories. So Frederica von Stade, posing with President Nixon save the dates, because everyone’s invited – after leading the choir at Pat Nixon’s funeral. Then especially alumni who have been influenced examine a letter from the premier of New South by Dean Hall over the years. Wales, Australia, gushing over a performance by Event details will be posted to a special Bill Hall’s group at the Sydney Opera House, as well Hall 50th anniversary celebration page on as lifetime achievement awards from Arts Orange Facebook (www.facebook.com/Bills50th), County and the American Choral Director’s where you can comment and post photos Association. Then there’s the image that stands on the wall. You’re also encouraged to email out among all others: Bill Hall and the pope, photos to sandymcdaniel@aol.com, or mail them to 8651 Palm Ave., Orange, Calif. sharing a laugh like old friends, which isn’t too 92865 so they can be scanned and returned. far from the truth — Hall performed for him seven times before John Paul’s death in 2005. Continued on next page

Among the accomplishments of Dean William Hall during his 50 years at Chapman: leading a choir of 800 voices, including all Chapman soloists, in a concert for Pope John Paul II in 2001 and spearheading the drive to develop a new 1,050-seat Center for the Arts, to be built on campus. To view more choir photos and other images through the years, go to www.chapman.edu/magazine

15


Continued from previous page

Hall is the longest-serving dean at Chapman, having been named to lead the School of Music (now the Conservatory of Music) in 1991. Before taking his current position, he served as the founding dean of the College of Performing Arts. It’s appropriate to credit Dean Hall with the progress of Chapman’s performing arts program, but the truth is he has done much more. He brought professional experience, passion and fearlessness to what was then Chapman College. As the choral program grew, it brought Chapman with it.

AN EARLY START

William Hall and Chapman choir members performed for Pope John Paul II seven times over the years, including in 1992, when the pontiff shared a light moment with the group. Among those pictured with Dean Hall are John Nuzzo, Class of ’93 (far left), Alan Depuy ’94 and associate conductor Don Morris.

William Dawson Hall knew from an early age he wanted to perform. At age 3, Hall began piano lessons and was entranced, determined he would be a concert pianist. By 12, the Whittier, Calif. resident had landed a lesson with Southern California piano pedagogist Fanchon Armitage. “I’ll never forget it,” Hall said. “She said, ‘You have magnificent hands. Too bad you have no talent.’” Hall was crushed. “She said, ‘You misunderstood me. You’re talented musically, but you’ll never be a concert pianist.’ But I’m only 12 years old,” Hall recalled arguing. “She said great pianists are born, and in a sense she was right. It took me a long time to forgive her.” Though dejected, Hall took Armitage’s words to heart and shifted his musical focus. While a senior at Whittier College in 1956 Hall formed the professional group he would lead until 2003: The William Hall Chorale. He was 22 and already bringing artists together to rise through the ranks of the growing choral scene. The 1950s and ’60s saw an explosion in the popularity of choral music, and William Hall and his Chorale were right there alongside the likes of The Robert Shaw Chorale and The Roger Wagner Chorale. How did a 22-year-old have the self-assurance to start a group of such a high caliber? He credits confidence gained from his piano background, “even though I had big hands and no talent,” he said with a laugh. “In my early career, I knew I was destined to do something musically.”

Preparing for a 1965 concert, Hall confers with, clockwise from left, Franz Brightbill ’68, Al Brightbill ’68, John Miller, Mic Bell ’68, Kaye Grobee ’70 and voice teacher Rita Cohn.

After being signed by the William Morris Agency (followed shortly by Columbia Artists Management), touring the country, living the life of a professional musician, Hall still pushed the Chorale to new heights, and it became one of the most well-known and prolific groups in choral music circles. Over its 47-year history, the Chorale performed in 589 cities throughout the U.S. In China the group sang at the Great Hall of the People. In Lithuania, Hall was knighted by officials of the capital city, Vilnius. The Chorale performed with the San Francisco Ballet, the Boston Pops and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Recordings, collaborations, and awards — the list of accolades is encyclopedic. All of this was accomplished while he pursued a parallel life in higher education. It was a natural fit for a young man who had long craved knowledge, especially as it related to his passion for music.

Hall trades gifts with the Yugoslavian minister of culture before a performance in 1973. From 1965 through 1989, the choir performed many concerts behind the Iron Curtain. Among the students pictured are Pamela Bertin, Ron Doiron ’75, Pauline Asaro ’77 (MA ’82), Roger Lindbeck ’73 and Joyce Allan ’74.

16

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

After graduating from Whittier College, Hall went to USC for his DMA, and in 1963 he joined the faculty of a little-known institution in Orange called Chapman College. “I asked for a one-year contract,” he said. “I was working on my doctorate, with a big tour lined up. I said to myself, ‘I don’t think I want to teach.’” That quickly changed. “It was the excitement of the students, plus the atmosphere at Chapman. I realized that I loved to teach.”


Hall’s passion. “Bill saw the love of music in me and brought it out and made it more so. He helped me realize my passion at a deeper level. He has a history of being able to see talent in people.”

DOING THE HUSTLE Not just looking to grow the Department of Music but the college as a whole, Hall began, in his words, “hustling.” After just four short months of rehearsal with his choral students, he took them to perform at as many Southern California high schools as possible. “It was greatest recruiting tool I’d ever thought of,” he said. “We’d let our choir kids talk to the high school kids about our programs. We got more kids this way than we did singing.” He kept the choir busy with festivals, conventions and competitions. “It was great for this little school that was starting to grow. We could fail — and we did fail many times — but the times we succeeded were really fun.” In 1965, Hall took the Chapman University Choir to Europe for the first time. The group tested its limits, performing 28 concerts in 31 days. But the experience electrified the students. “We didn’t realize what we were doing, but the students would talk to their friends about the excitement of touring. We began getting mobbed with kids,” Hall said.

Jonathan Talberg ’91, director of choral, vocal, and opera studies at Cal State Long Beach, calls Hall an old-school teacher with exceedingly high expectations “It was a personal and profound educational experience,” Talberg said. “He was a wonderful teacher and mentor to me.” Hall’s skill as a teacher and choral director translated to administrative success after he was named dean of the School of Music in 1991. He led the process that saw the music, dance and theatre programs all gain accreditation. He also oversaw the $12 million MILLION campaign that led to the construction of CoPA’s home, Oliphant Hall, completed in 2004.

CHAPMAN’S 1,050-SEAT, $64

JEWEL WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST TECHNICALLY

ADVANCED VENUES IN THE

His current goal is to build a world-class musical theatre program at Chapman, and Hall is confident that within three years the program will be among the largest and best in the West. All he needs now is a venue, and it’s already well on its way.

In September, Chapman will break ground on Hall’ s crowning achievement: the Center for the Arts. . The 1,050-seat, $64 million jewel will be one of the most technically advanced venues in the nation. Acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, celebrated for his work on Disney Hall and other high-profile venues, will bring his expertise to the Center

NATION

The European tour became a choral tradition — a particularly impressive feat considering the political climate of the time. From 1965 to 1989, the choir repeatedly sang behind the Iron Curtain. “They were awful times,” Hall said. “But as singers and performers, we were blessed. No other group could go to those countries.” On one trip, the choir toured a cathedral in Kiev. Realizing who they were, an employee of the cathedral asked Hall and his students to perform. They began a Slavonic prayer. Within minutes, a thousand people from the nearby houses and stores had poured through the doors. “We sang the same piece probably half a dozen times,” he said. “A woman came up to us in tears, and in broken English she asked, ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘We’re from Southern California. These are my students.’ She said ‘No, these are angels. We haven’t heard music in this cathedral in 62 years.’”

By taking on the challenges of his new role as dean and artistic director of the Center for the Arts, Bill Hall is adding to a legacy measured by more than the building projects he has overseen, the number of tours he has taken or the volume of recordings he has made. Over his 50 years at Chapman, Hall has brought leadership, prestige and success, and the university will forever be in his debt. He remains humbled. “I’ve been blessed with music,” he said. “We’ve had incredible things happen here.” That might be the understatement of the past 50 years.

The group had 25 or more experiences like that, Hall said. After one concert at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the choir was preparing to leave when the manager told them they had to come back. The audience was stomping the floor and still applauding. “So at 10 at night, we walked back on stage, and sang the concert all over again,” Hall said.

DISTINGUISHED VOICES Among those testing their musical mettle under Hall’s tutelage was John Nuzzo ’89, a tenor who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera. Two others were Louis Lebherz ’71, who spent 16 seasons as the principal bass of Los Angeles Opera, and Stacey Tappan ’95, famed lyric coloratura soprano. Gene Peterson ’99 (MA ’06), associate director of choral activities at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, remembers

Throughout Hall’s half-century at Chapman, his enthusiasm has inspired generations of choir members, his students say.


Get

Stories by Dawn Bonker

Creative!

Plot

complication

rising action

18

“I want to take you through this so you can build your own process and your own tools,” Professor Ross Brown, a network TV veteran, CHAPMAN MAGAZINE tells his writing students as they work to create a sitcom on the fly.


Forget blind inspiration, Chapman innovators say.

Dig deep, do the work and you’ll spark the kind of ingenuity we need now more than ever.

omposer Shaun Naidoo, DMA, is explaining how he wrote the sweeping fanfare for Chapman University’s 150th anniversary last year. He taps out a few notes on the piano in his Oliphant Hall office, mentions Aaron Copland and talks about style and pacing. Then he steps back to his desk, pauses and reveals something unpredictable about his work practice, something personal and a bit abstract. “I tend to look at a piece of music as a landscape,” the Chapman University assistant professor of music says, spreading his arms wide over his large gray desk, gazing down as if a blank sheet of scoring paper lay before him. “I feel like I’m looking at the passage of time. It’s about time, really. It’s about sound in time.” In a seminar room, Chapman film and television professor Ross Brown is “breaking a story” with his students, crafting a sitcom plot on the fly. “What’s the complication?” Professor Brown asks. He pushes for five possible plot twists. The students dig deep for fresh thinking and riff on each other’s

Composer Shaun Naidoo, a Chapman music professor, finds inspiration in landscapes and thunderstorms, but sometimes, he says, you just have to pick a note and get going.

ideas, learning fast that the exercise is hard work. “This is one of the harder things to learn,” the professor tells them. Continued on next page

Photo by Max Kosydar ‘13

SPRING 2012

19


T

“Question everything.”

he distinguished reputation of Chapman theoretical physicist Yakir Aharonov, Ph.D., winner of the Presidential Medal of Science and the Wolf Prize, can understandably intimidate students. But they’d best be ready to work, not shy away, when he’s in the room. He has been known to walk out of a classroom when students failed to ask questions. “The most important thing is to question,” says Aharonov, the James J. Farley Professor in Natural Philosophy. “Question everything.” The creative act may be a delight, and the “Aha!” moment its reward, but the process is no lark. It is arguably the most challenging human endeavor, demanding heart and hard work, along with an endless supply of scratch paper and those proverbial back-to-it drawing boards. But it brings art, literature, new medicines and technology into our lives, not to mention clever gizmos that make coffee faster or help an arthritic person peel a carrot. Yet many leaders, from business people to professors, are wondering if we aren’t losing our creative touch, made skittish by a brutal economy, jammed up with a national mood of anxiety and stunted by a less-than-innovative “just survive” mentality. A fretful, hand-wringing national conversation suggests as much. Researchers offer evidence that American creativity scores are falling, sparking a flurry of media stories like Newsweek’s “The Creativity Crisis.” The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities cited the ability to create and innovate as “central to guaranteeing the nation’s competitiveness.” Recently the networking site LinkedIn revealed that “creativity”

was the most overused buzzword among its 135 million user profiles. (“Fast-paced,” a leader just a year ago, fell off the top 10 list entirely.) This winter Education Week reported that several states — California among them — were considering legislation or reforms to standardized testing that would add a creativity index to their school evaluations. This burst of conversation is a good first step, says Elizabeth Rieke, executive director of the Center for Childhood Creativity, a think tank project of the Bay Area Discovery Museum. The center has positioned itself as a creativity advocate, and will soon begin its own original research on the topic in partnership with the neuroscience department at the University of California, San Francisco. “It’s a really hopeful sign,” Rieke says. And it comes not a moment too soon because just about everything is at stake. “It’s the economic imperative,” she says. “The workplace is only going to get more complex, and complexity requires problem-solving, and problem-solving requires creativity.”

A COMMON THREAD

What is creativity? There are many answers, including “making new connections,” “finding a use for new technology” and “solving an immense problem.” But there is a common thread that runs throughout all the definitions: the imperative to ask questions. And don’t think that’s a task just for dreamy-eyed artists, says Matthew McCarter, Ph.D., management professor in the Argyros School of Business and Economics. In negotiations, getting to “yes” is a master work of creativity, too. McCarter tells the story of working for a nonprofit agency in an Eastern European city where bribes were the modus operandi of real estate transactions. His agency wanted to purchase a building but was reluctant to pay a bribe for the privilege. Negotiations dragged on with city officials, the expected kickback becoming the sticking point. Finally, one of the negotiators asked why the money was needed. As it happened, the city needed five buses to shore up its overwhelmed public transit system. The agency donated the buses, skirted the bribe, won community confidence and bought the building. “He asked the question no one else was asking. He asked the why,” McCarter says. Such curiosity still drives Professor Aharonov, who at age 80 is one of the world’s leading theoretical quantum physicists and teachers of the subject. Big questions push him to take on some of the greatest mysteries of the universe. Sitting in the office of Chancellor Daniele Struppa, Ph.D., who is also a noted mathematician, Professor Aharonov points to a clutch of formulas written on a corner of the white board that spans one wall. “I asked Daniele to explain something to me,” he says, unwrapping a bit of chocolate candy.

Theoretical physicist Yakir Aharonov can get so profoundly focused on a problem that it’s like he slips into another level of consciousness. “I’m deep in my mind,” he says.

Photo by Max Kosydar ‘13


The formulas are a brief explanation of the profound mathematical advances made by one of the chancellor’s own mentors many years ago. It was not straight up Aharonov’s alley, but you never know when little side trips can lead to surprises, he says. That’s why he demands questions. Even the so-called “stupid questions.” “Out of the effort to try to find something to ask, you start to do your own thinking. (Students) get the freedom, the confidence, after the first question,” he says. Over at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, questions are an essential part of the simmering process in Professor Brown’s class, deep in the serious business of trying to be funny. And while it may not be quantum physics, it’s still mental gymnastics, says screenwriting major Chiara Colicino ’13. “It’s really hard to be creative. You’re creating a problem that didn’t exist and then solving it,” Colicino says. The class’ problem of the moment is sketching out a plot for the popular ABC sitcom Modern Family. Brown gave them a bare-bones starter — it’s Lily’s birthday and a party is planned. He peppers them with questions — What’s the rising action? What’s worse than private humiliation? Public humiliation in front of your family, says one student. Good! Hey, how about if the pony rented for the party dies? Dead pony, screaming toddlers? Um, maybe not for this show. They keep going, and that is the main thing. “I want to take you through this so you can build your own process and your own tools,” Brown tells them.

EMBRACE RISK

If the questions unleash startling answers, quirky ideas and butterflies in the stomach, that’s probably a good thing. Painter and photographer Lia Halloran, assistant professor in Chapman’s Department of Art, reads uneasy feelings as sign posts on the road to creative moments. “I would have to say that most of my projects that have come to fruition — that I end up feeling confident about — have come from this moment of being embarrassed or being on unsure footing,” says Halloran, whose art is influenced by her fascination with motion, science and space, as well as her lifelong love of skateboarding. As an example, Halloran describes a time when she was starting to toy with a new idea for an experiment in long-exposure photography. “I was out to lunch and someone said, ‘What are you going to do today?’ I said, ‘Oh, I’m going to strap a light to my body and skateboard in the dark.’ And I was immediately embarrassed by what I had said. I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this sounds so hokey.’” Continued on next page

Chapman’s environment is uniquely ripe for creative collaboration, says English Professor Anna Leahy. Photo by McKenzi Taylor

Try This! Make Practice a Habit

Creative behaviors should be practiced in whimsical ways so that when real challenges come, the brain is ready, says Stefan Mumaw ’96, co-author of Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain. One of his favorites is to challenge a meeting room full of people to repurpose an orange traffic cone. How can that universal symbol of caution be turned into an object of welcome? The brain doesn’t care that the challenge is goofy. “All it knows is that there was a problem and you found a solution.”

ASSUME NOTHING

Even the laws of physics should be challenged, says Jeff Tollaksen, Ph.D., associate professor, and director of the Center of Excellence in Quantum Studies at Chapman. “You have to untangle all the assumptions you have; that’s where progress gets blocked. In physics, for example, we assume A and B and C are true. And maybe it isn’t always so. For me, creativity is a process of becoming aware of all the mechanisms in your mind. They’re there for protective reasons. But in fact, they’re shutting off our aliveness, our creativity.”

Whether you call it daydreaming, meditation, prayer or deep thinking, make time for it every day, says the Rev. Gail Stearns, Ph.D., dean of Chapman’s Fish Interfaith Center and Wallace All Faiths Chapel. Neuroscience research finds that contemplative practices help connect both sides of the brain, Dean Stearns says. It can be simple as “just sitting for a minute and listening to sounds,” she says. Or it can be profoundly focused. Professor and theoretical physicist Yakir Aharonov, Ph.D., says his best ideas come to him when he is so completely centered on a problem that he slips into a state in which he is uncertain if he is awake or dozing. “Things are very strange … I’m deep in my mind,” he says.

Take a

Breather


T

Photo by Klea McKenna

Most of Professor Lia Halloran’s successful art projects have sprung from moments “of being embarrassed or on unsure footing,” says the painter and photographer.

he eventual result, though, was Dark Skate, a critically acclaimed collection of long-exposure photographs that were exhibited in Boston, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and London. The collection was cited by The New York Times as “ephemeral, midair graffiti, as fun to look at as it surely was to make.” For Chapman alumnus Stefan Mumaw ’96, co-founder and creative director for Reign, a boutique advertising agency, a bit of fear gets his happy feet going. “If it doesn’t scare you, then most likely it’s an idea that has been around in some form,” says Mumaw, author of Chasing the Monster Idea (Wiley, 2011). “The truth is that original ideas are scary. No one’s done it, so you have to prove that it’s OK.” But be sure to bring reflection to the bullpen of bold ideas, he warns. Mumaw tells two pizza stories to illustrate his point. One is a success story about Domino’s rise from the ashes when it launched an ad campaign confessing that its pizza stunk and needed revamping. “That was as brave and risk-rattled as you can get,” Mumaw says. But it worked because it hit on a truth everyone already knew — the old pizza was crummy, and to pretend otherwise wouldn’t win over consumers, he adds. Then there’s Mumaw’s pizza tale from early in his own career, when he was designing an ad campaign for a bug exterminator. He thought it would be kind of hip to use all those wide open spaces on pizza delivery boxes to plant exterminator ads with slogans like, “Bugs can hide anywhere, be prepared.” He planned 22

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

to give the boxes free to pizza parlors, and the exterminator liked the idea. The pizza purveyors? Not so much. It was a dead-pony moment that got away.

PLACE MATTERS

Mumaw says his mistake was not showing the pizza box idea to others early in the process and getting second opinions. He still enjoys noodling around with wacky ideas — to a point — but in an environment where collaboration can work out the bugs, so to speak. “You have to be willing to fail often, but early in your process. Then you can throw out ideas that are too far out there, vs. ideas that are durable. Fail often, but fail early. Failing late is how people get fired,” he says. Good advice, says Rieke at the Center for Childhood Creativity. Her group also studies the research related to adult creativity in the workplace, and researchers are finding that a period of free expression followed by one of deep thought is a mighty duo. She describes the combination as a workplace that welcomes divergent thinking — “It can be informal around a doughnut cart, or it can be more formal in meeting rooms.” But such a workplace also provides, literally and otherwise, quiet spaces for reflection so good ideas can be polished and others set aside.


That’s precisely the environment Associate Professor of English Anna Leahy, Ph.D., found when she came to Chapman four years ago. Universities naturally bring together people with divergent ways of thinking, but she found Chapman’s environment uniquely ripe for creative collaboration. “I’ve taught at a lot of other places, and it’s way easier to try things out here,” she says. “And it’s also easier to get a response like ‘Yeah, great idea. But it’s not going to work.’” That’s OK, though, because at least it’s an atmosphere where ideas are considered rather than left to wither in departmental silos or administrative murk. “I think we’re actually the perfect size to encourage creativity,” Professor Leahy says. “I’ve only been here four years, and I’ve been amazed how many conversations I’ve had with faculty outside my department that have actually led to something.”

I’m a big believer in trying to create microenvironments of people who have audacious, unconventional ideas and allow them an environment in which ideas can thrive. That’s why universities were created thousands of years ago — to put people together to think. Chancellor Daniele Struppa

Among the happy results are Poetry Week, which includes programming from schools and departments across campus, and Tabula Poetica, a series that features readings by guest poets and that branched out last year to add music and art to its roster of activities. But all the music, brainstorming, art, writing, collaborating and inventing wouldn’t happen at all if it weren’t for a welcoming atmosphere that allows them to flourish, says Chancellor Struppa. He is keen to enrich that atmosphere at Chapman. “I’m a big believer in trying to create micro-environments of people who have audacious, unconventional ideas and allow them an environment in which ideas can thrive,” Struppa says. “That’s why universities were created thousands of years ago — to put people together to think.” To think, yes, but also to create — music, pictures, poems, jokes, resolutions to disputes and explanations for the many mysteries of the universe. It all can be grand — “It’s play,” Struppa says. It all can be hard — “I was very nervous about that fanfare,” Naidoo says. It takes practice, work, time, courage, deep breathing and more time. All that, and there’s no guarantee the results will succeed. But ultimately, is there really any other work we do that matters quite so much?

Try This! Create

EWcitement

School psychologist Libby Barnish ’09 (Ed.S. in school psychology) says nothing boosts the creative spirit like

jumping into a hornet’s nest of trouble and getting plenty of problem-solving practice. She works at Locke High School in Los Angeles, which was one of the nation’s most troubled high schools before it was transformed by the charter school operator Green Dot. She credits the forward-thinking curriculum at Chapman’s College of Educational Studies for preparing her for the challenge of a place like Locke. “We’re constantly creating a wheel that wasn’t there before,” Barnish says, describing Green Dot’s system of overhauling a school. “It’s easier to have change in an environment where people are excited to hear what your part of the solution is.”

Kids

Help the

Praise children’s efforts, says Shari Young Kuchenbecker, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Chapman

and author of Raising Winners (Times Books, 2000). “Effort is something a kid can always make. Say, ‘I really love the time you spent making your drawing. I really appreciate the details you put into it.’ When you think something is genuinely creative, say so. But don’t’ say it all the time. That makes them think they have to perform.” Dr. Kuchenbecker says. “Tell them you love the work they do and the time they invest. Honor their process. That will keep them enjoying it.”

Just Start

AlreadX

When students lament that they have writer’s block or just can’t get started, composer and music professor Shaun Naidoo, DMA, doesn’t stand for it. “I tell them, ‘How about a G sharp? Write down a G sharp and take it from there.’”

SPRING 2012

23


The design of the Fish Interfaith Center and Wallace All Faiths Chapel inspires the Rev. Gail Stearns, who says she draws focus just from being in the building.

Photo by McKenzi Taylor


reative moments may feel like a surprise. “Something just clicked,” people often say. But those breakthroughs aren’t lucky events that happen out of the blue. The road to the best discoveries is paved with trial and error, reading, study, research, life experiences, brainstorming and even factors of physical environment, say creativity experts. Consider the following paths that led to creative moments for Chapman University thinkers. The Rev. Gail Stearns, Ph.D., dean of the Fish Interfaith Center and Wallace All Faiths Chapel, has long worked at creating meaningful worship services and interfaith events. It’s a building process, shaping music, words and format, says Dean Stearns, author of Open Your Eyes Toward Living More Deeply in the Present (2011, Wipf & Stock Publishers). At Chapman, she was literally inspired by the building in which she works. Impressed by the center’s design, Dean Stearns started studying the physical experience of being in the building, which features an award-winning design by AC Martin Partners. She noticed how the long, narrow hall produced a unique kind of focus. And the sounds outside fell away, creating a natural transition into the chapel, which opens into a space of light and color. That led her to wonder what it might be like to shape a service in the same way. She tried it with the university’s remembrance on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The event opened quietly, transitioned to a period of wide-ranging readings, music and stories, then closed with a hopeful act, inviting all in attendance to leave unsigned wishes for peace amid the candles and water elements that had been incorporated into the service. The architecture continues to inspire, she says. “We’re always thinking k a lot in h t about how you do that with a program. That’s a huge creative process for me. I “ ow h t I think a lot about how to use works, space and silence to create that inspiration.” u o ab e s Film and television professor Ross Brown had been working hard. A u o t , successful comedy writer and producer whose credits include The Cosby Show and and The Facts of Life, Brown decided to try something new, so he went back space to graduate school and wrote a play. silenceethat Stepping outside his usual genre was “liberating.” The play was a darkly at comic exploration of dysfunctional family life in a thinly veiled setting based to cre tion.” on Brown’s own childhood and adolescence. When it was staged at The a inspir Pasadena Playhouse, he paced around the theatre neighborhood, fretting. What if members of his family showed up? What if they were appalled? What if they even leaped up on stage in protest and shouted that this wasn’t how it happened at all? Right then Brown’s heap of worry morphed into a new idea, and the concept for his next play was born. Now he’s finishing up 99% True, a play in which the family members satirized do in fact rise from the audience and take the stage. Composer Shaun Naidoo, DMA, assistant professor of music, was bored driving home to California from Montana, and things were getting pretty dull when he hit Utah. Long, straight roads are good for daydreaming — and storm watching. He started paying attention to what appeared to be multiple thunderstorms playing about on the horizon. “I started imagining: What if weather was intelligent and all these storms were sentient beings? What if they were intelligent, interacting systems?” Back home, he kept coming back to the idea. The result was the percussion composition Sentient Weather, a musical piece lush with thunderous and watery sounds. The work was premiered by the New World Symphony Percussion Consort in Miami and has also been performed at Chapman University.

Think

outside

bubble

the

The road to discovery is paved with trial and error.

To sharpen your creativity, it pays to do calisthenics with that big muscle between your ears, says Stefan Mumaw ’96, author of Chasing the Monster Idea and co-author of Caffeine for the Creative Mind. Practice on little problems and you’ll stay nimble for the big ones. Here are a few fun challenges Mumaw has tossed out at creativity conferences and on his Facebook page, Caffeine for the Creative Mind:

• Design the ultimate desk. Think about the desk’s function. Neither money nor reality matter. One group imagined floating in a giant bubble, with all of their desk stuff bobbing around them. Cool, huh? Well, it’s taken. Think up your own.

• Back at your real desk, grab whatever supplies are in reach and make a monster. Write, draw or color the items as needed, but only use the stuff within reach. The monster should be freestanding when you’re done.

• Create a big-deal holiday for May. It must be fictitious, happy and come with traditional acts to be performed or garb to be worn in honor of the holiday.

works

Fail often, but fail early in the process. Failing late is how people get fired.

Original ideas are scary but also exciting, says creative consultant Stefan Mumaw ’96, author of Chasing the Monster Idea.

SPRING 2012

25


Photo by Lori She pler

Teacher Bertha Picasso-Luna ’03 sees the effectiveness of El Sol’s dual-immersion approach in students who are “bi-literate” — able to think in abstractions in both Spanish and English.

Mano en

Mano By Scott Martelle

Working as one with El Sol Academy, Chapman’s College of Educational Studies helps dual-language students shine. 26

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


classroom in a riot of noise before quickly se t tling down on a thick rug pat terned with le t ters, colors and shapes. Te acher Bertha Picasso-Luna ‘ 03 takes her place, too, on a low plastic chair in front of them. Af ter a couple of minutes she opens up a picture book and begins re ading aloud, dramatically emphasizing key words and meowing like a cat or snorting like a pig when the characters call for it.

The classroom lies in the heart of Santa Ana, and virtually every word in the classroom — spoken and written — is in Spanish, including the La Gallinita Roja (The Little Red Hen) book Picasso-Luna is reading. By the time these students reach fourth grade here at El Sol Science and Arts Academy, their classes will be conducted half in English and half in Spanish. When they reach Eighth grade, the final year at the school, classes will be taught almost entirely in English, a progression that will send students on to high school with academic fluency in both English and Spanish, regardless of their birth language. It is this dual-immersion approach that supporters of El Sol credit with helping the 11-year-old charter school in a low-income neighborhood post standardized test scores far above public schools in the surrounding Santa Ana Unified School District. The approach is heavily influenced and nurtured by a symbiotic relationship with Chapman University’s College of Educational Studies (CES). Seven of El Sol’s 32 teachers are Chapman alumni, says El Sol executive director Monique Daviss. This is the result of a relationship in which Chapman relies on El Sol for some student training assignments while El Sol uses Chapman faculty and programs for advanced staff teacher training. El Sol’s academic success has brought it recognition within the dual-immersion and charter school movements, and even among visitors from overseas schools looking to adopt dual-immersion programs in their home countries. “We consider ourselves a lab,” Daviss says as she leads a tour through the fenced complex of portable classrooms and other buildings a few blocks northwest of downtown Santa Ana and

about four miles from Chapman’s campus in Orange. In that sense, Chapman is a lab partner. “We think there are a lot of opportunities for that relationship to grow, and to feed and inform educational practice, teacher training — all of those kinds of things. We want to demonstrate it’s possible for kids to achieve at high levels when they wouldn’t necessarily do so in another situation. It takes a whole bunch of work on everybody’s part.” Graduating teachers who specialize in bilingual education is a niche within Chapman’s teacher-education program, says CES education director Michael Madrid, Ph.D., who also chairs El Sol’s board of directors. “The ones we produce are very, very good,” he says. “They get picked up right away.” Continued on next page

Michael Madrid, education director at Chapman’s College of Educational Studies, works closely with El Sol executive director Monique Daviss and also chair’s the school’s Board of Directors.

Photo by McKenzi Taylor

Photo by McKenzi Taylor

I

t’s the end of the school lunch bre ak, and t wo dozen kindergarteners enter the

27


In Synch Madrid became personally involved in El Sol because the school’s focus synched with how he believed bilingual educations should be pursued. He first learned of the school about eight years ago when one of his students referred him to her father, who was then an El Sol board member. They had lunch, and Madrid was quickly persuaded to become involved. “It’s a place where, in my opinion, bilingual education is done correctly,” says Madrid, who spent more than 30 years in public education before joining Chapman. “It’s a model. All the components are what they should be to produce a good program. “Academically they could probably compete with any school in Orange County.” Chapman’s link with El Sol provides a crucial connection between campus instruction and real-world experience. For instance, two Chapman CES faculty members — Margie Curwen, Ph.D., and Anaida Colon-Muñiz, Ed.D. — are studying the effects on student performance of El Sol’s extended-day program, with about 400 enrolled students. The school and after-care program are separate organizations with different staffs, but they work together on homework and other assignments so the care providers can help students during homework time. Madrid says Chapman hopes to increase its involvement with El Sol. Already, Chapman students have worked in developing thematic instruction at El Sol, while others worked on an enrichment program in literature. “It’s more a partnership program than us saying, look, we need a spot to train our teachers,” Madrid says. That has led to jobs, too. “A majority of their student teachers who come through here, we wind up hiring them,” Daviss says. “So now you have teachers who have a relationship with the institution, the institution has a relationship with the school, and everybody is talking the same language. We can all elevate together.” El Sol’s mission is to graduate eighth-graders who are fully literate in both English and Spanish. Most of its students are drawn from the surrounding neighborhoods but about 20 percent are the children of Orange County government workers or other professionals — mostly of Latino heritage — who want their children to be fluently bilingual. It’s good for the students, too, Madrid says. “There’s an abundance of evidence” indicating that students educated in dualimmersion programs do better on standardized tests than English-only students, he adds.

28

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

Some 70 percent of El Sol students have Spanish as their first language, says Daviss. And, reflecting the community, about 80 percent of the families have low enough incomes to qualify their children for free lunch programs. “The majority of the families here really struggle” financially, says Daviss, who became executive director seven years ago.

Measuring Up While use of standardized tests to compare schools invites a political debate, El Sol’s scores on the California Academic Performance Index (API) was 880 for the 2010-11 school year, compared with 740 for the surrounding Santa Ana Unified School District. The statewide average through grade six was 809 and for grades seven and eight, it was 778. That means El Sol’s students were performing at much higher levels on those standardized tests than most of their peers in other schools. Charter schools themselves remain controversial. Supporters point to the relative freedom such schools enjoy by not being part of a larger, bureaucratic system, and that their status as independent schools let them introduce programs —


and use outside funding — not available to traditional public schools. Critics, though, point to test results that show charter schools often do no better, and sometimes worse, than public schools. In some districts, they also tend to siphon off the better students — and those whose parents are more involved in their education — resulting in something akin to academic segregation. Daviss says that’s not the case with El Sol. The vast majority of students are drawn from the nearby neighborhoods, where parents treat El Sol as their neighborhood school. Regardless, El Sol’s success is clear. And key, says Daviss, is El Sol’s focus on building community, and its partnerships with Chapman and other entities help it sustain programs, from a legal clinic with help from the Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the Public Law Center, to a nurse-based family health clinic with the help of Share Our Selves, UC Irvine and Hoag Hospital. That enables El Sol to offer health care for families (most of whom have no insurance coverage), legal assistance, afterschool child care until 6 p.m., and evening and Saturday courses for about 200 adults, both parents of students and

people from the neighborhood. One Saturday a month, Second Harvest distributes food to about 100 families. And parent volunteering is part of each student’s commitment. All of this helps build strong links between school and home. And the students thrive. “We have a lot of things we can offer families,” Daviss says. “We are maybe able to build a community, and be responsive in ways that other schools struggle with.” El Sol’s success also is fodder for the debate over how much influence external distractions, from family illness to kids going home unsupervised after school, have on students’ abilities to learn. “If this is an issue, then let’s just take care of it, and that way we’re all going to rise to the occasion,” Daviss says. “We have both the luxury and the challenge as a charter school to be able to be responsive and be quick on our feet. As wonderful as that is, it’s a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. Once you take that on, you can’t walk away from it.”

El Sol considers itself an academic lab, and in that sense Chapman is a lab partner.

El Sol’s mission is to prepare students who are fully literate in both English and Spanish by the time they graduate eighth grade. SPRING 2012

Photo by Lori Shepler

Continued on next page

29


Photo by McKenzi Taylor

El Sol students are succeeding, as measured by their scores on standardized tests, which are much higher than those achieved by most of their peers in other schools.

‘ We All Grow Together’ El Sol’s per-pupil expenditure for 2010 –11 was $8,122, compared with $9,060 for Santa Ana Unified, according to Daviss and the California Department of Education. El Sol gets the same per student rate from the state, but also has been able to tap into parent volunteers for classroom repairs and the partnerships and foundations for programs. “Chapman provides us with staff development opportunities that would be very expensive” for El Sol to have to contract for, Daviss says. “The expertise, the critical feedback, the analysis that (other schools) hire consultants for, we get through our partnerships. So we all grow together.” Picasso-Luna, the kindergarten teacher, has been part of that growth. She grew up in a Santa Ana home in which Spanish was the primary language, and has vivid memories of being told by Santa Ana Unified teachers in the 1980s that she was not to speak Spanish in school. When she decided to go to Chapman as a 31-year-old mother of two, she knew she wanted to focus on helping young Spanish speakers.

“I looked back to when I was in third grade and struggling, and was wondering why can’t the teacher tell me in Spanish? I know she speaks Spanish,” Picasso-Luna says during a morning break, with children zipping back and forth in the playground. “I thought, when I grow up, I’m going to be a bilingual teacher.” She became a mother first, and took classes sporadically at Santa Ana College, a local two-year school. After her second child was born, she began to get serious about working toward her dream and entered Chapman through a scholarship program. While studying, she learned about El Sol and enrolled her young son in the school’s kindergarten. Picasso-Luna believes she can see the program’s effectiveness within her son, whom she describes as “bi-literate,” able to think in abstractions in both languages – something that would have been harder to achieve in an English-only setting. “I had no idea we would find a place like El Sol,” Picasso-Luna says.

“It’ s more a partnership program than us saying, look, we need a spot to train our teachers.”

30

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


Photo by Lori Shepler

“Chapman has been the biggest advocate for our type of programs,” says teacher Bertha Picasso-Luna ’03.

Both Chapman and El Sol emphasize a collaborative approach to thematic teaching, using “a lot of visuals, and we do a lot of organizing.”

SPRING

Photo by McKenzi Taylor

After doing her student teaching at Santa Ana’s Washington Elementary, a year-round school in which instruction is in English, Picasso-Luna transferred to El Sol seven years ago. Since then, she has had several student teachers from Chapman, and other college students have visited her classroom for fieldwork projects. Both Chapman and El Sol emphasize a collaborative approach to thematic teaching, using “a lot of visuals, and we do a lot of organizing,” she says. “The students and I were talking about the similarities between Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln, that primarily they did the same thing, they talked about equality. So you try to make those connections.” Picasso-Luna said she learned that approach at Chapman. “It makes for a good partnership,” she says. “Chapman says, ‘Let’s look out of the box and what we can offer these students.’ Chapman has been the biggest advocate for our type of programs. In every way they support us.”

31


Chapman Professor Jim Blaylock had no idea he was helping to invent a genre when Unearth magazine published his first steampunk story, The Ape-Box Affair, in 1978. Now, he allows, “I think the genre has inspired writers of a very high quality.�

32


Illustration by J.K. Potter for Subterranean Press

By Mary Platt

Photo illustration by Ryan Tolentino

Chapman English professor Jim Blaylock co-created a literary genre that has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. im Blaylock’s tiny office in the basement of Wilkinson Hall, bedecked with quirky art and barely large enough to contain his desk and packed bookshelves, is one of the more modest professorial abodes on campus. The tall English professor welcomes you into his lair with a friendly twinkle in his eye, and in a moment you’re swept up in his tale: a creation myth that’s no myth at all; an origin legend that is completely true; a story of places, people and machines that never existed and yet, to his readers, are as real as the floor they stand on and the air they breathe. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Blaylock — along with his friends and fellow writers K.W. Jeter and Tim Powers — invented the “steampunk” literary genre that has become a worldwide cultural, fashion and music movement. If you’ve seen the 1999 movie Wild Wild West, or the recent Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies, or the films The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Van Helsing, you’ve experienced steampunk: It’s fantasy or speculative fiction that postulates an alternate past (usually a Victorian setting) in which anachronistic machines are powered by the technology available in that era, usually clockwork gears and steam. Blaylock, Jeter and Powers met while they were students at Cal State Fullerton, all

in the orbit of the great science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, who taught at CSUF. Jeter’s Morlock Night (1979), Powers’ The Anubis Gates (1983) and Blaylock’s Homunculus (1986) pioneered steampunk before the genre even had a name. It was Jeter, in a letter to the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus in 1987, who coined the term: “Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like ‘steampunks,’ perhaps ...”

Blaylock’s novels and stories have garnered a legion of fans and much praise. His first steampunk novel, Homunculus, won the Philip K. Dick Award, and his second, Lord Kelvin’s Machine (1992), was a World Fantasy Award finalist. Several of his other short stories and books have also been nominees or winners of the World Fantasy Awards, Mythopoeic Awards and other honors. Interest in his work has skyrocketed in recent years with the growing popularity of the steampunk movement worldwide. Continued on next page

The 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams, advances steampunk as a cultural and fashion movement.

SPRING 2012

33


q&A with the godfather Chapman Magazine: Who or what were your literary influences at the time of steampunk’s emergence?

From James Blaylock’s The Ebb Tide (Subterranean Press, 2009) One of the ships was the length of a yacht, and might have been completely built for all I could see in that dim light, with a shape that reminded one of an oceangoing prehistoric monster — finny appendages and convex, eye-like portholes. The other vessel was smaller, just a shell, really, of a similar craft. Some distance away stood a third craft, exceedingly strange and unlikely, a sort of elongated orb standing on bent iron legs — apparently an underwater diving chamber. It had nothing of the diving bell about it, but was altogether more delicate, built of what appeared to be copper and glass, and probably capable of independent movement, if the jointed, stork-like legs and feet were any indication.

Jim Blaylock: I’d been reading a lot of P.G. Wodehouse and Robert Louis Stevenson, so to a degree it was a mix of the two in my early style. I was young, and I think I shed that sort of mimicry later on. But I was so enamored of Victorian fiction that I wanted to play in that sandbox. K.W., Tim and I had all read a lot of Victorian lit at CSUF, and we liked the extravagant trappings of that era. K.W. talked me into reading some interesting books about Victorian life — Henry Mayhew’s London Underworld, for example, which is just packed with the coolest stuff. CM: We read a lot about all three of you being mentored by Philip K. Dick. JB: We all lived very near each other. Phil had an apartment in downtown Santa Ana, and K.W. lived across the street and around the corner from him. Tim lived at 16th and Main in Santa Ana, and I lived in Orange. I hung out with Phil when I had the opportunity; K.W. and Tim much more so because they lived in the neighborhood. On Thursday nights lots of people would congregate in Tim’s apartment on Main Street, including Phil, and talk about whatever came up. So I got to know Phil very well.

I often see references to Phil having “mentored” the three of us — but when we hung out, it was much more often the case that we’d talk about cats and rock ’n’ roll and stereos and cars and that kind of thing — just pals. Certainly if we’d read a good book we’d recommend it to the others, but it wasn’t as if we were always sitting around talking about the craft. We also spent a certain amount of time hanging around O’Hara’s Pub in Orange, the three of us. But our hanging around together was mostly just fun and companionable, not scholarly. Nowadays, if I need to brainstorm, I’ll call Tim and offer to buy a pizza if he’ll drive out to talk plot. But in those days, it was not so much of that. CM: Did you even consider, in those days, that what you were writing was a unique genre? JB: No, we still didn’t consider it a genre at all. It never occurred to me I would write more of it. But there were many people — and Locus magazine in general — who thought that because we were all friends, lived in the same area and had all published this stuff, that somehow we were all up to something. After I published Homunculus, I suppose I started thinking in those terms. Then I wrote a novella called Lord Kelvin’s Machine, which grew into a novel that was published in the early ’90s. And by that time the term steampunk was in wide use, especially in Europe. CM: The Europeans seemed to pick it up first, and they were the ones who started expanding the genre into fashion, music and lifestyle. Did you go to meet your fans in Europe?

Illustration by J.K. Potter for Subterranean Press

JB: Yes, the movement ricocheted from its small literary beginnings here and really grew up in Europe. Everything seems to be hip in Europe before it’s hip here! Around 1993 I was invited to speak at the University of Bologna in Italy; their Department of Utopian and Dystopian Studies was presenting a conference on steampunk as revisionist history. They actually dedicated a day to my work — which I thought was kind of funny. My books, I guess, are “revisionist history” because I was this kid from Anaheim who’d read too much

34

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


of Steampunk Stevenson and Dickens and got his idea of history strictly from the literature of that time, not from studying the era. They offered to send me 8 million lire, which at the time was probably worth about $30, so I had to miss that. Tim and I did eventually go to Europe, where there were serious steampunk contingencies that wanted to meet us. But the movement didn’t really pick up in this country until around 2008, when they held the first steampunk convention here in the U.S. CM: It’s become extremely popular now in the U.S. One of the fastest-growing contingents at San Diego’s annual Comic Con, which is probably the biggest popculture gathering in the world, is the steampunk fan group. They always show up in full regalia — goggles, leather jackets, bustles, buckles and all. JB: Last year I was the guest of honor at SteamCon in Seattle, and there were more than 2,000 people there. There were huge, beautiful art shows, robot dogs walking around — it was amazing. In fact I was awarded their very first Airship Award, a steampunk award, and I also received the It’s All Your Fault Award, which made me very happy. But out of the thousands there, probably only a very small percentage knew of the literary origins of steampunk. Virtually everyone was more interested in the art, costumes, weapons-making — stuff which, I have to say, is all exceedingly cool. I went around like everyone else, gawking at everything. But in the dealers’ room, there was one dealer selling books, and 30 dealers selling goodies. When it bounced back to the U.S. from Europe, people just weren’t as enthusiastic about the literature as they were about the products.

CM: Is that changing now — are people starting to pay more attention to the books? JB: Happily, now there are some young, really dynamite steampunk writers who are selling heaps of books, and they’ll be read well outside the science fiction community. They’re bound for larger things: Gail Carriger and Cherie Priest and a number of others. There’s an Israeli writer, Lavie Tidhar, who wrote The Bookman; he’s amazingly good. I think the genre has inspired writers of a very high quality, very fresh ideas, to make use of the larger trappings of steampunk to write very interesting books. CM: Your books seem so cinematic — have any been optioned for films? JB: In 1999, when the movie Wild Wild West was coming out, I was talking with a Sony producer about Homunculus, which he thought would make a good film. But he made it clear that Wild Wild West would have to be very successful if any money was going to be invested in steampunk films. And unfortunately the movie tanked. After that we messed around with the idea of a couple of other of my books, but nothing has ended up being produced. It’s very difficult to get any project to come to fruition in Hollywood. But it’s really heartening to me to look at a book like Tim’s great pirate fantasy On Stranger Tides, which took 20-plus years before it became a movie (Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides).

Blaylock’s next book, The Aylesford Skull, will be published in January 2013.

CM: What’s next for you? JB: I have a young adult novel that will come out this summer, and the novel I’m currently working on, The Aylesford Skull, will be out in January 2013. Then there’ll be reprints of Homunculus in February and Lord Kelvin’s Machine in March. CM: Do fans know you as the father of steampunk? JB: Locus had a photo of me on the cover, and unfortunately they called me the Grandfather of Steampunk. I prefer the Godfather! But I have to put in a disclaimer: Tim, K.W. and I all cooked this stuff up together. I stole ruthlessly from both of those guys.

During a recent book-signing event, Professor Jim Blaylock is shown with fellow steampunk pioneer Tim Powers, who has taught as an adjunct professor of creative writing at Chapman.

SPRING 2012

35


CHAPMAN

in memoria m

DONALD P. KENNEDY A globally recognized business leader and one of Chapman University’s most ardent supporters, Donald P. Kennedy passed away March 24. He was 93. The generosity and leadership of Kennedy and his wife of 65 years, Dorothy, can be seen throughout the Chapman campus. Their key support helped create the Chapman University School of Law, which makes its home in Donald P. Kennedy Hall. A longtime officer and member of the Chapman Board of Trustees, Donald Kennedy most recently served as a trustee emeritus. He is also the namesake of the Donald P. Kennedy Intercollegiate Athletics Program at Chapman, and he established the Kennedy Chair in Law, now held by Dean Tom Campbell, and the Kennedy Chair in Economics and Law, held by Professor Bart Wilson. “We have lost a champion,” President Jim Doti said in announcing Kennedy’s passing to the Chapman community. “I do not use the word ‘champion’ lightly. Don Kennedy left an indelible imprint on our university. We are truly blessed to be the beneficiaries of his legacy.” Beginning in 1948, when he joined Orange County Title Co., his grandfather’s firm, Kennedy also made an indelible mark on the local, national and international business landscape. The company would become First American Financial Corp., and under Kennedy’s leadership it grew from less than $1.5 million in revenue in 1957 to more than $8 billion in 2006. “When Dad started with First American, the company had one office in one county, and now it has hundreds of offices throughout the world,” said Parker S. Kennedy, First American’s chairman, Donald Kennedy’s son and a member of the Chapman Board of Trustees. “He saw the opportunity for growth and worked tirelessly to create a great company. I couldn’t have asked for a better dad, and the company couldn't have had a better leader.”

36

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

Donald Kennedy, whose family roots in Orange County date to 1873, attended Santa Ana High School and graduated in 1940 from Stanford University, where he was a member of an NCAA championship golf team. After serving in the Navy during World War II and taking part in landings in Southern France, he graduated from the law school at USC. Kennedy served First American in a number of roles before being named president in 1963 and chairman of the board in 1993. He was named chairman emeritus in 2003, a title he maintained after retiring from the Board of Directors in 2008. Still, Kennedy consistently went to his office at First American’s Santa Ana campus until age 90. “I was truly privileged to sit on the Board of Directors of First American Financial when Don was chairman,” President Doti said. “It was there that I began to understand the depth and breadth of those attributes that explained the caliber of his leadership: how he always insisted on quality; how he used humor to lighten up a tired discussion or tone down an argument; and perhaps most important, how he treated everyone with the utmost respect.” A committed philanthropist, Kennedy supported dozens of organizations focused on Orange County. In addition to the leadership he and Dorothy have provided to Chapman, Kennedy was a past chairman of the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts and served on the boards of South Coast Repertory and the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, among others. In 1999, the same year Kennedy Hall was dedicated at Chapman, Donald Kennedy was named “Man of the Century” by Orange Coast magazine. Kennedy is survived by Dorothy; his son, Parker Kennedy; two daughters, Elizabeth Myers and Amy Healey; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.


THOMAS J. LIGGETT The Rev. Dr. Thomas Jackson Liggett, an internationally recognized leader in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), former president of the Christian Theological Seminary and a trustee emeritus of Chapman University, passed away March 27 at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, Calif. He was 92. The Rev. Liggett was elected to the Chapman Board of Trustees in 1988 and served until 2000, when he became a trustee emeritus. President Jim Doti remembers the Rev. Liggett — fondly known as “T.J.” — as a visionary adviser. “Among his most notable contributions was his integral involvement in crafting our mission statement. And when an earlier proposed mission hit a roadblock, it was T.J. who helped give me not only a better perspective of the situation but also a strategy for moving forward,” President Doti said in a message announcing the Rev. Liggett’s passing.

The university’s spiritual pillar was also aided by the Rev. Liggett, who helped formulate Chapman’s dean of the chapel position. “In doing so, he inspired a new vision for what a spiritual leader can bring to our university,” President Doti said.

The Rev. Liggett was instrumental in the 1993 covenant between The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the university, which affirmed the two institutions’ shared values celebrating diversity, an ecumenical spirit and the belief that all people are of infinite worth. President Doti said the Rev. Liggett often wrote to him following trustee meetings, offering both praise and candid comments, and that his unique perspective as a leader in higher education was a particular gift. “His wise perspective has been invaluable in helping us address various challenges facing the university,” President Doti said. The Rev. Liggett became president of Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis in 1974, leading that institution as it developed a global perspective on Christian faith. He served there until 1986. He is survived by his son, Thomas Milton Liggett, and daughter, Margaret Liggett of Laurel, Md.

ROBERT GRAY Robert Gray, a member of the Chapman University President’s Cabinet for many years and co-founder of St. John Knits, died Feb. 28. He was 86. President Jim Doti remembered Gray as a personal mentor and a dedicated friend of the university. “I was privileged that he became a very special friend,” he said. “Bob was also a mentor to me. He was truly a man of wisdom who helped inform my world view. The leading entrepreneur, who with his wife, Marie, founded St. John Knits, was always there to give advice and counsel. I marveled at his entrepreneurial instincts and often reflected on the incredible success of St. John Knits under his and Marie’s leadership.” St. John, was founded in 1962 by Robert and Marie, who saw it as a way to pay for a Hawaiian honeymoon. St. John soon evolved

from a small family operation to the global luxury brand known today, favored by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Robert and Marie gave generously to the university, supporting the scholarship fund, the Robert and Marie Gray Collegiate Rowing Center and the Robert and Marie Gray Victory Way at the entrance to the Lastinger Athletics Complex. When the couple appeared on Dialogue with Doti and Dodge, the conversation was so full that two episodes were taped. “While we’ve lost a very special friend, Bob’s legacy will endure at Chapman,” President Doti said. “At our next event at the Gray Rowing Center, we will observe a moment of silence in his honor.” In addition to his wife, Gray is survived by children Michael, Guy and Kelly Gray;

grandchildren Robert, Matthew, Shane and Trevor Gray, Jena Gray Gunderson and Crystal Gray McGregor; and greatgrandchildren Eliot and Ezra Gunderson. The family asks that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to Chapman University in Gray’s memory.

SPRING 2012

37


CHAPMAN

in memoria m

RICHARD DOETKOTT

38

He was a charismatic professor, Lincoln expert, nationally recognized public speaking teacher and textbook author. But when Professor Richard Doetkott’s passing was announced, it was his beloved trademark greeting that flooded the Chapman University Facebook page and comforted many at a campus memorial service that followed. Alumni from throughout the decades posted their Facebook tributes with “A full Mickey Salute,” referencing the professor’s whimsical way of greeting students and friends with hands atop his head in a mock Mickey Mouse pose. At the March 3 memorial, friends, alumni and colleagues

helped initiate Chapman Radio, American Celebration and the first audio-visual program as well as early film and television courses. In addition, he was the technical consultant for the Rose Center in Westminster, coordinated the West Coast Conference for Corporate Communications held at Chapman in 1994 and made film and television appearances. A talented speaker, he was the featured presenter at two major events in spring 2011, including the Wilkinson College lecture “An Evening with Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address, What You Didn’t Know.” He also delivered a lecture in the

The professor affectionately known as “the Speech God” told Chapman Magazine in a 2010 interview that his most important milestone was the development of his popular Com 101 class 20 years ago. “There’s always a method to my madness, but there’s always madness in my method, too,” Doetkott said, explaining the energetic exercises and impromptu dance routines he put students through to help them build confidence and a natural style. Alumni of his classes swore by the techniques. “Professor Doetkott’s Com 101 class made me into the public speaker I am

all joined in a Mickey salute in his honor. The salute was always more than a bit of fun, said Lance Lockwood, who taught with Doetkott for 10 years and co-authored Introduction to Public Conversing with the professor and his widow, Pat Doetkott, Ph.D. “Dick made sure to teach me to never take myself too seriously,” Lockwood said. Professor Doetkott died Dec. 21 of a heart attack. He was 75. He joined Chapman in 1964, and his many projects included helping launch the Department of Communication Studies with the late Professor Richard Watson. Professor Doetkott also

Town and Gown Lunch at the Forum series. He was famous for setting up his chair and portable shade cover around campus, ever ready to converse with faculty and students. In the classroom, he infused his teaching with a flair for theatricality. It wasn’t unusual to see him dressed in a toga or period garments that would have been worn by Clarence Darrow or Stephen Douglas. He frequently portrayed historical figures as he discussed different types of oratory. “He was someone who made Chapman, Chapman,” President Jim Doti said.

today,” said Sharaf Mowjood ’05, now an assistant producer with Rock Center with Brian Williams at NBC. “I still use the tactics I learned in that class in my day-to-day life.” Speaking at the memorial, Michael Immel ’75 described Doetkott as “a master teacher who helped students become effective speakers.” To honor the professor, President Doti announced at the memorial that the recording studio at Chapman’s Panther Productions will be named the Richard and Patricia Doetkott Studio.

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE


KATHERINE DARMER Chapman University School of Law Professor Katherine Darmer, a legal scholar who was often at the forefront of marriage equality issues and a founding board member and chair of the legal team of the Orange County Equality Coalition, passed away Feb. 17. She was 47. In the days following her death, a candlelight vigil in her memory was held on the steps of the law school, and The Orange County Register created a page within its online site for reflections and comments that poured in from the legal community and friends throughout the country. Professor Darmer will be remembered for both her passion in the classroom and her leadership in the community, said Chapman colleague Timothy A. Canova, the Betty Hutton Williams Professor of International Economic Law. “Katherine was a fearless colleague, a fighter for justice and champion of civil liberties. As a teacher, scholar, public voice and activist, Katherine gave her time and talents to the cause of helping others. She was strong, determined, effective, brilliant. When she saw oppression and injustice,

whether in society or in her own workplace, she worked for justice. She was a friend, mentor, and inspiration to so many. We miss her already and will remember her always,” Professor Canova said.

In 2004, Professor Darmer was co-editor of the book Civil Liberties vs. National Security in a Post-9/11 World. In addition, she co-edited the book Morality and the Law, published in 2007. Professor Darmer’s other scholarship focused primarily on Fifth

Amendment and national security issues as well as marriage equality, Proposition 8 and equal protection. She was a frequent speaker and media commentator on Proposition 8 and marriage equality and the war on terror. Before joining Chapman’s full-time faculty in 2000, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted public corruption, violent gang and narcotics cases. In 1998, she served as lead counsel in a three-month criminal RICO trial that resulted in numerous convictions. To honor the professor, Chapman’s Student Bar Association has renamed its Professor of the Year Award the M. Katherine Baird Darmer Outstanding Professor of the Year Award. The award is traditionally presented in April. “Katherine was beloved by the students and was an excellent classroom teacher,” said Jayne Taylor Kacer, associate dean for student affairs and administration. Professor Darmer is survived by her husband of 12 years, Roman Ernest Darmer, and their two children, Lia and Locke.

Chapman people,” said David Moore, director of planned giving. “When I hear a name or historical reference, her book, with its meticulous index, is the first place I look.” A graduate of Indiana State University, Louise Booth completed her postgraduate work at the University of Southern California. After teaching English, speech, drama and history for 35 years, she retired to devote her time to historical research and writing. As chair of the Centennial Committee of the Orange County Historical Society, she worked for four years planning an array of public events and was managing editor of The Centennial Bibliography of Orange County, California. In addition, she published six historical

monographs, three of them on the Civil War. In 2001, she published her Chapman history book, which won the 61st annual Western Book Exhibition award.

LOUISE BOOTH Louise Booth, a devoted friend of Chapman University and author of the award-winning history book Fulfilling A Dream — The History of Chapman University, passed away Jan. 24. Booth, the wife of 54-year Chapman Professor Don Booth and mother of alumnus David Booth ’82, was famously hospitable to foreign students, new faculty and campus visitors. “Louise was a remarkable woman in so many ways. I will always have warm memories of her spirit, intellect and sense of humor. Her candor was refreshing.” said Chapman President Jim Doti. “Sharp of mind with a passion for local history, Louise was among my favorite

SPRING 2012

39


CHAPMAN

alumni

‘Chapman in the Blood’ By Dennis Arp

lthough Mary Belle (Taylor) Carter, Class of ’51, ultimately earned her degree from another college, she never really transferred her Chapman loyalties. Along with her husband Bob ’51, daughters Linda ’75 and Karen ’76, son Brad, Class of ’81, and granddaughter Sabreena Rodriguez ’13, Mary Belle has “Chapman in the blood,” she said. Mary Belle and Bob Carter, by the fishpond on the Los Angeles campus, September 1950.

She chose Chapman in part because she didn’t want “to get lost in a big school,” and because during a visit to the campus, then on North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, “everyone we saw spoke to us!” Mary Belle was Methodist, but most of her friends at Chapman were Disciples of Christ students, including Bob Carter, the bright and handsome son of a minister. “I was a song leader, and Bob would sit with me in the front row at basketball games,” she said. “Afterward, we would go up the street for ice cream.” Even after Mary Belle transferred to College of the Pacific to major in religious education, she returned often to Chapman to socialize with Bob and other friends, and he drove up to be with her for her Homecoming in October 1950. That’s when he proposed. They married June 13, 1951, and enjoyed 46 years together until Bob’s death in 1997. Throughout Bob’s working life as a Disciples minister and Mary Belle’s as a preschool teacher, they maintained close ties with a host of Chapman friends, and those bonds endure. Mary Belle still corresponds with about 20 of those friends. Each year, Mary Belle travels to Chapman from her home in Calimesa, Calif. for Founders Day, and in 2001 she was invited to participate in the graduation ceremony. Though Chapman’s enrollment has grown from a few hundred in 1951 to more than 6,000 today, Mary Belle said it’s really not that hard to stay connected to the university community. It’s still “like one big family,” she said.

ONE BIG FAMILY Carter family members show their Chapman colors in 1992: from left, Linda ’75; Brad, Class of ’81; Karen ’76; Bob ’51 and Mary Belle (Taylor) Carter, Class of ’51.

40


C L A S S

N O T E S

E-mail your news and photos to alumni@chapman.edu or mail to: Alumni Relations, One University Drive, Orange, Calif. 92866. Any pictures received by mail will be scanned and returned. Class Notes are subject to editing due to space. To post Class Notes and photos online, visit www.alumni.chapman.edu

1960s A Priscilla Barboo Laney,

BA home economics ’69; Ruth Harrington Dempsey, BA home economics ’69; and Lynn Lovejoy Vollgraff, BA home economics ’69, enjoyed a lunch reunion in Camarillo. They roomed together in South Morlan from 1967–1968. Larry Beard, BA physical education ’63, currently resides in Germantown, Md., near Washington, D.C., close to his son, Chris, Chris’ wife, Farah, and grandkids J.P., Sebastien and Anne-Marie.

1970s Candace Vickers, BA communicative disorders ’75 (MS communicative disorders ’78), serves as a clinical faculty member in neurological disorders for Chapman’s Communication Sciences and Disorders program, which was brought back in fall 2009. Candace initiated the Communication Recovery Aphasia program for people with chronic aphasia at St. Jude Medical Center in 1994, and continues to co-direct the program with a Chapman doctoral student and adjunct faculty member, Darla Hagge. Candace was an invited speaker for UCI School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology and Chapman University’s Schmid College of Science and Technology, which co-sponsored the Orange County Stroke Rehab Network conference. Nancy Sue Pearlman ’70 has spent the past year traveling on short press trips to present

ecotourism radio shows and articles in Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, Switzerland and across the U.S. She recently won re-election to the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees and welcomes support of her nonprofit organization at www.ecoprojects.org.

Priscilla Barboo Laney, Ruth Harrington Dempsey and Lynn Lovejoy Vollgraff enjoy a lunch reunion in Camarillo. They roomed in South Morlan 1967– 68 and graduated in 1969 from Chapman with BA degrees in Home Economics.

1990s B Alicia Vargas-Pharis, BA public relations ’99, spent a decade in sports marketing and public relations. Now she has settled down to start a family, giving birth to Reily Alexander Pharis. C Bhavna Ahluwalia, BS psychology ’98, could have “fashionista” added to her impressive credentials. As design director for Dickies Girl for nine years, she launched new brands in Curvey and Workwear and has traveled to international trade shows. She has also designed custom clothing worn by Pink, Madonna, Avril Lavigne, Ashley Simpson and many other celebrities.

A

B

D Jai Naran, BS business administration ’99, (MBA ’02) and his wife, Shakti, recently welcomed twins Khloe Asha and Kaya Mischa to their family. Jaidan Kobe is set to be the fun-loving but cautiously protective big brother. E Marcelo Imbert, BA English ’99, and Cherise (Stack) Imbert, BA English ’00, Chapman sweethearts, have welcomed Riley Bronx Imbert, born May 29, 2011. RBI, as they lovingly call him, is destined to become a future Panther.

C

D

SPRING 2012

41


F

2000s Matt Duffer, BFA film and television production ’07, and Ross Duffer, BFA film and television production ’07, have sold a script titled Hidden to Warner Bros. Pictures. The project marks the brothers’ feature-length directorial debut and is scheduled to begin filming this year. F Derek Wibben, BFA creative writing ’09, is producing an independent short film titled Snow Jacket. He is supported by a network of family and friends, many of whom are alumni of Dodge College. G Marcieanna Jasko, MFA film and television production ’07, married William B. Klaustermeyer in August 2011 at The Hacienda in Santa Ana. Marcieanna works as a Development Coordinator at Indomina Media Inc.

Tiana Cho, BA liberal studies ’05, married Gilbert Loo on December 10, 2011 at the Hawaii Prince Hotel in Waikiki. Many Chapman alumni were on-hand to celebrate with them including Sara Yamamoto, BS business administration ’07, Shelby Hoota ’07, Kristen Nemoto, BA sociology ’06, and Kristina Khau, BS business administration ’07. Tiana is a Counselor at Leeward Community College, and Gilbert works for Alakai Mechanical. Becky Campbell, BA music ’07, got engaged to Tom Odle Jan. 7, 2012. They started dating in May 2009, and plan to get married in summer 2013, after Becky completes her master’s degree in education. The couple live in Costa Mesa.

42

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

Anna Mitchell, BFA creative writing ’08, and Alexander Lane, BFA creative writing ’08, were married Dec. 10, 2011 at the French Estate in Orange. The wedding party included fellow Chapman alumni Alexander Cohen, BA psychology ’08; Enrique Wallace, BFA film production ’08; Jared Merback, BFA film production ’08; Javiera Cartagena, BA political science and Spanish ’08; Savannah Lane, BS biological science ’10; and Nikki (Sepesi) Bachelor, BA political science ’08. Anna works as the admissions specialist in Chapman’s College of Educational Studies, and Alexander will begin work toward his teaching credential at Chapman this summer.

E

Janet Lloyd, BA movement and exercise science ’08, head coach of Chapman University’s softball team for the past 18 years, achieved the milestone of 500 career coaching victories on Feb. 18, when the Panthers defeated La Sierra University at El Camino Real Park. Brandy Beard ’06, BS accounting granddaughter of alumnus Larry Beard, BA physical education ’63, was recently offered a senior accounting position with Fox Studios. Monica Shukla, BS mathematics and communication studies ’06, MS human resources and organizational leadership ’08, recently took on a new position at the Chapman University Office of Alumni Relations as the alumni networks and outreach manager. She previously worked at the Chapman University Career Development Center.

G


H Caroline Lucas (far right)

H Caroline Lucas, BA political science ’09, helped launch a women-owned small business in Armenia, producing and selling handmade stuffed bears. Sales from the Berd Bear project allow local Armenian women to work full-time at the Berd Women’s Resource Center Foundation. Additional income provides training classes in basic computer skills and business for members of the foundation.

Grant Reed, BFA film production ’09, had his film Incest! The Musical win Best Student Film at the Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nev. in early February. Nadia Hamzeh, MFA film production ’09, was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus in Germany, a creative academy and networking platform for up-andcoming filmmakers, as part of the Talent Stage program.

2010s I Brian Drummy, BFA theater performance ’10, has been cast in the North American national tour of Damn Yankees! He is currently touring through 60 cities across the country. He plays Smokey, the catcher for the Washington Senators.

Aung Aye, BS athletic training ’10, was recently hired as an assistant athletic trainer for the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer. Daniel Bury, BFA film production ’11, had his film The Science of Death win the Best Narrative Short Film award at the Festivus Film Festival in Denver in January.

I

Alexander Gaeta, Class of ’11, has had his thesis film, Shoot the Moon, screen in dozens of prestigious film festivals, including six Academyaccredited festivals: Austin, Bermuda, Cleveland, Krakow in Poland, Encounters in England, and the Clermont-Ferrand Int’l Short Film Festival in France. Known as “Cannes for short films,” Clermont-Ferrand is the largest and most prestigious short film festival in the world. Out of 10,000 films submitted, only 75 were selected for the international competition. Shoot the Moon also won the Director’s Choice Award at the Angelus Student Film Festival,

was selected to represent Chapman at the Next Reel Film Festival in Singapore, and Alexander just signed a distribution deal with Short Film Sales in Europe. For more information, check the website at www.shootthemoonfilm.com Roxanne Civarello, BA communication studies ’10, is living in San Francisco and working as the director of alumni relations in the advancement office of an independent school in Pacific Heights. She is building on experience gained at Chapman in Associated Students and Panhellenic, including event planning, board management, social media communications, graphic design and publication production. J Robert Starr, BS computer science and business administration ’11, is working on his Master of Science in High Performance Computing from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is participating in the one-year program on a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship after an 18-month application and interview process. The degree focuses on the practical application of programming techniques on parallel computers, commonly known as supercomputers, to harness the best performance for a variety of scientific applications.

Gursimran Sandhu, MFA film production ’11, had her short narrative film Homecoming nominated as a finalist in the 2011 Director’s Guild of America Student Awards. Her film was also awarded 2011’s Best Short Film at the Bahamas International Festival, and a 2011’s honorable mention at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Christopher Fernandez, MFA film production ’11, had his film Beneath screen at the Big Easy International Festival in New Orleans in late February.

SPRING 2012

J

43


CHAPMAN

alumni

Miss America Experience ‘a Dream’ for Noelle Freeman ’11

M

iss America contestant Noelle Freeman ’11 had advanced through every round of the pageant and after she performed her talent, ballet, she achieved her primary goal of making the top five.

Daniel Bury ’11 Boldly Explores a New Frontier With Shatner Video By Sarah Van Zanten ’11

“I So when she heard her name called as the fourth runner-up, “I was sad, of course, but I was still extremely proud,” she later wrote in her blog. “As time passes, I become more proud of my placement and even more proud to be Miss California.” It’s been quite a year for Freeman, who graduated from Chapman last May with a degree in communications studies /advertising and public relations, won the Miss California pageant in June and was a Miss America finalist in January. She said she has been buoyed by support all along the way, including from members of the Chapman community. “Every text message, encouraging tweet, comment or ‘like’ on Facebook keeps me energized to leave a lasting imprint as Miss California,” she said. And the Miss America experience? “Living out your dream is a crazy feeling,” she said. “It’s something I will hold onto forever.”

44

CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

never thought I would be up at 4 in the morning, sitting in my pajamas at the kitchen table, hours past exhaustion, working on a William Shatner music video,” said Daniel Bury ’11. But there he was on his trusty laptop, manipulating the mouth of Capt. Kirk himself, helping to make the iconic 81-year-old actor as close to a hip rock balladeer as is humanly — and digitally — possible. Creating psychedelic constellations, angry goats and other quirky effects, Bury helped Shatner’s version of Bohemian Rhapsody climb the charts, with more than a million people now having watched the video online. For Shatner, the album of pop cover songs called Seeking Major Tom is another interesting twist in an eclectic career that now includes a turn on Broadway. His first pop album was released in 1968, more than 20 years before Bury was born. And a year ago, the Chapman film production and directing graduate had no idea he would be helping to promote the new album, which features musical contributions from Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and Lyle Lovett. Bury got the gig after posting a link to some of his film and video work on Craigslist. Shatner’s video director saw it and asked him to join the graphic design team. It wasn’t long before Bury became the lead designer for the video. Though he has yet to talk with Shatner, Bury heard from the director that the actor really liked his work. After the intense hours spent on the project, Bury has refocused on promoting the short films he created at Chapman. The Science of Death recently won Best Narrative Short at the Festivus Film Festival in Denver and was accepted into the Fantastic Planet Film Festival in Sydney, Australia. But working on Shatner’s video was certainly quite an escape from reality.


OCTOBER 4–7, 2012

HOMECOMING & FAMILY WEEKEND

■ ■ ■

ChiliFest & Tailgate Chapman 5K Football, Soccer, Volleyball Pumpkin Patch & Carnival

A fabulous weekend for students, CUYA!, alumni, alumni with kids, parents, families and friends!

Top 10 Ways to Connect with Your Alma Mater 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

To connect and get info on all the latest alumni news, programs & activities, visit

Update your address, career & email online or through the new Alumni Directory Project Submit a Class Note & Panthers on the Prowl photo alumni.chapman.edu Register to offer career support for current students & alumni 714.997.6681 Check out regional activities in L.A., San Diego, NYC, the Bay Area & more! Learn about lifelong learning opportunities for alumni 55+ Join our LinkedIn Alumni Association Group featuring 1,000+ jobs Connect with Chapman University Young Alumni (CUYA!) 0–10 years out Participate with a gift to the Elliott Alumni House or Panther Entrepreneur Pride! Tweet about Chapman and your alumni friends @chapmanalum Be a part of the Panther Family Network!


One University Drive, Orange, California 92866 www.chapman.edu

To spark her creativity, Professor Lia Halloran goes to great lengths — and depths. Caves of ancient crystals inspired this untitled work, one of 10 large-scale paintings Halloran is showing in a solo exhibition at Martha Otero Gallery in Los Angeles through the end of May. This piece is 5 feet by 7 feet, done in ink on drafting film, and is part of a series that combines figurative elements with natural forms, all influenced by the growth of crystals in nature. Professor Halloran regularly draws inspiration from the natural and scientific worlds. For a look at her creative process, turn to our cover package of stories that begins on page 18.

PARTING

SHOT


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.