March 10, 2005
Etc.
ACTIVE RETIREMENT: If you have seen the most recent Taco Time commercial on TV, or heard it on the radio, you’ve been tuning in on the post-professorial career of Otto Reinert. Reinert, a professor emeritus of English, appears as one of three crusty Norwegian fishermen trying out the restaurant’s fish tacos. He’s the one who yells “Salsa!” in the middle of the ad, and can also be heard speaking Norwegian (his native language) in the radio version. Reinert explains his advertising gig this way:
“My son is very active in a Scandinavian folk dance group, and they were contacted by the ad agency, asking for an elderly man to play the part. My son told me about it, so I auditioned.”
Shooting the 30-second spot took all day, on location in a “low-life dive,” Reinert said. “There must have been 30 people involved; it was strenuous but fun.”
CASE HONORS: The UW picked up 23 awards, including a Grand Gold, in the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) regional competition. The Grand Gold was awarded in the Electronic Media category for the Costco Scholarship Video. Those credited include Sarah Finney, Eric Godfrey, Danielle Genaux, Maureen McDermott, Chris Nordfors, Dana Sullivan, George Zeno and White Noise Productions. Grand Gold winners go on to a national competition. The Burke Museum won a gold in the same category, for its overall Web site. Credited were Gabe Kean, Seb Chevrel, Becca Bennett, MaryAnn Barron, Debra Miller and William Huang.
In the Visual Design, Illustration and Photography category, Alanya Cannon and Michael Croteau took a gold in individual illustrations for the Advancement Communications 2004 Holiday Card., while Ter Ellingson won a silver for a photo of a UW student with a Ghana fisherman. Jo-Ann Sire and John Linse won a bronze in overall publications for the UW Medicine Report to Donors, and the Recognition Gala Event Package also won a bronze. Credited for the latter were Cheryl Nations, Cannon, Meishan Bettendorf, Joanne De Pue, Jean Hayes, Susan Stoddard, and the firms Sarah Conradt Creative and Mel Curtis Photography.
In the Projects category, Conradt and Sire took a gold in fundraising for Campaign UW: Creating Futures Visual Identity Program, while Traditions in Transition won a silver in alumni relations. Credited for the latter were Tricia Thompson, Jan Labyak, Eric Stuve, Wanda Prong, Francois Baneyx, Linse, Sire and Maggie Keech. Winning a silver in public relations was Campaign UW: Creating Futures Campaign Launch. Credited were John Buller, Christine Change, Walt Dryfoos, Jackie Durbin, Debra Friedman, Lynn Hogan, Laurie Houck, Marilyn Mongomery, Nations and Greg Sheridan.
In the Publications category, Sire won gold in Student Viewbook or Prospectus for Insights from Inside, while Social Work got a gold for its Case Statement. Credited for the latter were Kim Isaac, Andrea Hansen, Conradt, Kathryn Hunt and Suzie Fitzhugh.
Silver winners in the same category included were Karin Mellskog, Ann Vandor and Michael Hilliard in student catalogs for the MBA Program Catalog; Nations, Cannon, Hayes, Bettendorf, Stoddard and Conradt in Donor/Fundraising Materials for Establishing Endowments, Securing Futures; and Nations, Cannon, Hayes, Bettendorf, DePue, Stoddard, Conradt and Curtis in Special Event Materials for the Recognition Gala Event Package.
Bronze winners in the category included two for Alumni Audiences: Conradt, Howard Chizeck and Laura Haas for Electrical Engineering Kaleidoscope 2004 and Thompson, Labyak, Stuve, Prong, Baneyx, Linse, Sire and Keech for Traditions in Transition Invitation.
In the Writing category, there were three silvers: Rob Harrill in news releases for VR and Brain Pain, Tom Griffin in Articles for Magazines, Newsletters, Tabloids and Web Sites for “One for the Books” and Griffin, Jon Marmor and Julie Garner in periodical teams for three articles in Columns. There were also two bronzes won in Articles for Magazines, Newsletters, Tabloids and Web Sites: Julie Case and WH Knight for “UW Law” and Nancy Joseph for “Dance for Everyone.” Congratulations to all the winners.
ETHICAL EXCELLENCE: A team of UW undergraduates has won the National Ethics Bowl, besting 35 other teams from colleges throughout the country. Team members Cliff Borjeson, Sahar Manavi, Ron Belgau, Dane McCartney, Scott Brauer and Jeannette Tran were coached by philosophy grad students Ali Hasan and David Alexander.
Though highly competitive, the Ethics Bowl isn’t played with a ball. Sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, it asks the students to take a position on a thorny real-life issue and back up their position with good arguments. For this year’s bowl, the students were given 15 case studies to prepare before the event — cases involving issues such as cosmetic surgery on minors, academic performance-enhancing drugs and government intervention in procreation.
During each round of the competition, they’re asked a question about one of the cases (they don’t know in advance which one) and must give a reasoned response. A panel of judges — most professional philosophers — decides the winner.
This isn’t the first time a UW team has won the national competition; the 2000 team was a champion also. And UW teams placed first in 2003 and 2004 at the regional competition (which is not linked to the national). But this year’s team won despite a handicap: A six-hour flight delay and lost luggage meant they had to compete with little sleep and something less than dress-for-success fashion. Hats off to our athletes of ethics.
FABULOUS FOODIES: If you think the food on campus is pretty good, you’re not alone. Executive Chef Jean-Michel Boulot was interviewed and photographed last month for an upcoming article in Chef Magazine. Another chef, Jim Watkins of McMahon 8, is featured in Food Management’s February issue on serving students seafood. And Watkins is also featured in a story plus recipe on honey.com (http://www.honey.com/foodserv/chef/watkins.html).
CORRECTION: In our last Etc., we mentioned that a UW alumnus, Masayuki Sono, had designed the Staten Island memorial to 9-11 victims. Sono wrote to let us know that another UW alum, Lapshan Fong, was his collaborator on the project. Sono says the memorial was designed by him and materialized by Fong.
Do you know someone who deserves kudos for an outstanding achievement, award, appointment or book publication? If so, send that person’s name, title and achievement to uweek@u.washington.edu
