Tabor College Provost

Ressler Notes

We have reason to be proud of our many distinguished alumni. I recently became aware of one of them, Dr. Luciano L’Abate, an alumnus from the class of 1950 who has distinguished himself in the in field of psychology. What caught my attention was the fact that Dr. L’Abate had been selected to receive the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Professional Contribution to Applied Research for 2008.

This significant honor deserved a congratulatory call from me, I thought. And so I did. Before I called, I reviewed his resume. I was even more impressed when I saw the scope of what he has done in the 58 years since he graduated from Tabor.

Dr. L’Abate spent his professional life largely in the academic world. He has authored and been coauthor of over 300 papers, chapters, and book reviews in professional and scientific journals. He has authored, been co-author, editor, and co-editor of 42 books, three books are in press, two book proposals are under editorial consideration, and another book is in progress. His work has been translated into Chinese, Danish, Finnish, French-Canada, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Spanish languages. Four books have been published in his native Italy. Two translations are used as textbooks in the Department of General Psychology at the University of Padova.

The awards he has been given from around the globe are too many to list here.

We had a delightful conversation in which he told his story of being brought to the Tabor from Italy with the help of a scholarship from MCC in 1948. I ended by asking what advice this 80 year old, highly successful, proud alumni of Tabor could give to me, the provost and academic dean.

I must say I was not prepared for his answer, not from an 80 year old retired academic (sorry for the stereotype). His advice to me – make sure your students learn to work with the internet.

The conversation that I thought was about to end took off in a direction I was not anticipating. For the next 30 minutes, he shared his conviction that all disciplines, even the future of the field of psychology, would be revolutionized by the internet. He personally has been championing the development of a mid-level professional practice called Structured On-line Intervention. Dr. L’Abate challenged us to consider developing a master’s degree in the area, certain that there is a need for professionals who can help people using on-line technology.

What Dr. L’Abate foresees is not the elimination of psycho-therapy as a profession but a new way of helping millions who are suffering and can be reached in new ways.

I sense he is right. All students will need new knowledge and skills as the internet continues to revolutionize how we function. The question in my mind is whether we have the educational imagination and the will to get there before our students.

Academic Affairs

Dr. Lawrence Ressler had an article entitled, “I Finally Read Menno: Lessons from Reading Menno Simons” published in The Mennonite on January 6, 2009

Advancement

Jim Elliott completed an experiential internship as part of his graduate studies at Kansas State University researching the possible establishment of a presidential advisory board at Tabor College.  A proposal will be presented to the Advancement Committee of the Board of Directors at its February meeting.

Jim also preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church on January 18.

Art and Design

Chin Hee Shin’s work (Choon San) Spring Mountain was accepted for the Quilt National -09 Exhibit and will be on display in the Cultural Arts Center, Athens, OH from May 23 through September 7, 2009. The Quilt National has showcased the contemporary quilt as art form for 30 years.

In addition, the quilt “Imago Dei” has been on display at the 9th Quilt Nihon Exhibition at the 2008 World Quilt Festival in Shanghai, China.

Another work, Caleb, has been accepted to Nothing New, National Juried Show, hosted by Textile Center Minneapolis, MN June 19 – July 31, 2009.

During Interterm, Shin-Hee finished her commission work-Banners for Countryside Covenant Church at McPherson. Those two banners’ are 5 feet by 10 feet each painted on canvas. The theme of the banner is “Seek First the Kingdom of God “and” the Righteousness.”

Biology

Dr. Karrie Rathbone did a

preaching assignment on Missions at Canton United Methodist Church, May 2008

She just returned from an interterm trip to Belize, A field based Tropical Field Ecology trip.

Jordan Nuss completed his senior research project – diversity of benthic stream organisms, January 2009 and Ben Ruzinsky will complete his senior research project – Zebra Mussel research, Spring 2009.

CMBS

Peggy Goertzen presented at the joint convention of two national organizations, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and the German Russia Heritage Society, August 2, 2008, in Casper, Wyoming on the topic “German Newspaper Research with Particular Reference to Germans from Russia.”

Communications

Dr. Aleen Ratzlaff will be on a sabbatical in spring. She will be working on several projects, but the primary one will be an oral history project: “The Black Communities of Cowley County, Kansas.” Heather Ferguson, director of the Cherokee Land Rush Museum in Arkansas City, and she will be collecting and documenting the stories of African Americans who have lived in Cowley County. It is her goal to gather and record stories of people’s lives for educational and historical purposes.

Ruth Neufeld, a TC student majoring in history, will be her research assistant.

Communication Majors completed CO412 Senior Seminar. Seven students conducted original communication research projects and made presentations January 28.

Continuous Improvement and Effectiveness

Dr. Cherry Stucky attended AQIP Systems Appraiser Training in Lisle, IL on November 11-14, 2008. This enables her to know the expectations of Appraisers. It will also equip her to review other schools systems portfolios in the coming year.

Library

Robin Deich Ottoson presented a paper at the Mid-America Conference on History at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, on September 27, 2008. The title of the paper was “An Examination of Mennonite Brethren Attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 1947-2007.”

She continues her doctoral studies at Kansas State University.

Gari-Anne Patzwald continues her research as an independent scholar, presenting “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 in Small Towns and Rural Areas of Upstate New York” on September 26, 2008 at MSU. The paper was part of the Session “In the Wake of the Great War.”

She also contributed a chapter, “The select few: the Megiddo message and the building of a community,” in Religion and the Culture of Print in Modern America, edited by Charles L. Cohen and Paul S. Boyer (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, 2008). In addition, she wrote, “Further Reflections on Saving Books,” Perspectives on History 46, no. 6 (September 2008).

Literature and Language

Christopher Dick presented a paper entitled, “Shaking the Iceberg:

Metaphoric Loss in the German Translation of _The Sun Also Rises_” at the 13th Biennial International Hemingway Society Conference, June 9-15 in Kansas City.

He is the lecturer for the Dr. Richard G. Kyle Faculty Lecture on March 9 2009. The title of the lecture is “Interpreting Hemingway: The German Translation of A Farewell to Arms”.

School of Adult and Graduate Studies

Tona Leiker attended the Summer Training Session hosted at Tabor College and became a Kansas Award for Excellence Examiner for 2008.

She attended the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Fall Semi-Annual Meeting where new Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing Education were adopted by the membership present.

She also attended the Fall NLN Education Summit as part of dissertation scholarship work in San Antonio, TX.

Interterm Travel

Dr. Frank Brenneman and Jeanelle Herrel led a group of 5 students and 3 guests on a SE Asia trip. Church work in Thailand was the primary focus of the trip. Included on the trip was Aaron Phillips, whose parents served as missionaries there for 18 years.

Dr. Karrie Rathbone and Vance Frick took 12 Tabor students to Belize for a biology interterm experience. The focus was on biology and ecology.

Dr. Karol Hunt led a group of 5 Tabor students and 6 guests to Louisiana for a week of voluntary experience with MDS and a week with Samaritans Purse.

Dr. Doug Miller, was co-leader of a trip to the Middle East along with Patty Shelly and a group from Bethel College. The group of 27 included 4 Tabor students and 10 students from Bethel. Other participants included Dr. Holly Swartzendruber, and Keith and Judy Harder. Among the places they visited were Jerusalem, Dead Sea Region, Mediterranean Sea, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee and Bethlehem.

Dr. Richard Kyle led 33 Tabor students on the Europe trip. The group traveled to Munich, Zurich, Paris and London.

Spring Off-Campus Study

Rebekah Paulus is in the Best Semester Middle East Studies Program through CCCU (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities).

Two students are doing the Carson Semester in the spring semester. The Carson Semester is a program of the Carson Center in which students participate in a mission organization and get a semester’s worth of credit. Tyler Suderman is in the TREK Program, serving in Lithuania. Alana Settle is involved in the Mission and Disciple Service program in Denver, Colorado.