class notes 4

Michele Clark graduated in August 2005 with a doctorate in musicology from the University of North Carolina. During her graduate studies, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for the 2002-2003 academic year to research the archives of Vienna, Austria. In 2004 she received a UNC Dissertation Completion Fellowship, a competitive merit award given to doctoral students in their final year to aid in the completion of their dissertation. She is an adjunct professor of music history at North Carolina Wesleyan College.

Rebecca Burwell is a doctoral candidate in sociology at Loyola University, Chicago. Her areas of study include gender, family, religion and social policy. Her dissertation focuses on motherhood in Cuba, with special attention to women’s survival strategies during the Special Period. In addition, she has taught as an adjunct instructor in the sociology departments at Dominican, North Park and Loyola Universities.

In August 2005, Julie Claypool moved to San Jose, CA, to accept a teaching position at Valley Christian High School, where she instructs seniors in Advanced Placement English. She lives in nearby Campbell and has enjoyed her students, new friends, and California's green winters.

Amy S. Pierce is a Research Associate at UTEK Corporation and serves as the editor for its corporate newsletter, TechTransfer News, in Tampa, FL. She is a member of the Brandon Poet’s and Artist’s Guild, and writes poetry, short stories, personal essays, and motivational quotes. She owns and operates A.S.P. INK and its site, www.amyspierce.com.

Steven Johnson was selected to participate in The National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for College and University Teachers, held on the Ferrum College campus in June. From a range of disciplines and at campus and community locations, the Institute examined Appalachian issues that link regional study to the liberal arts.

Don Lawrence and his wife recently had a son (see “Future Alumni”). Lawrence graduated in May 2006 from Azusa Pacific University with a master’s degree in college student affairs. He has been admitted to Claremont Graduate University to begin doctoral studies in higher education administration.

Karon (Bedell) Zablonski and her husband completed the adoption of their son Eric from Guatemala (see “Future Alumni”) in March 2006. After spending nearly 10 years working as a speech-language pathologist, Zablonski loves being a stay-at-home mom to Eric. She and her husband are active in Immanuel Baptist Church in Baltimore, MD, where they sing on the worship team and lead an infertility/pregnancy loss support group. Friends can reach them at zabfamily06@verizon.net.

Nate Ball finished his master’s degree in library science in May 2005 and is working as an elementary school librarian at Spencer Elementary School in Savannah, GA. He and his wife, Esther (Carpenter ’95) had their first child (see “Future Alumni”) and Esther is a stay-at-home mom.

Christine Black has been working in Moorestown, NJ school district for the past eight years, in the special education department. She primarily works with children with multiple disabilities and autism. She writes, “Two years ago, I was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. It was controlled for 14 months, before I was put on the kidney transplant list. This past April 14^th, I celebrated one year since my kidney and pancreas transplant in 2005. It has been an amazing year. I received a gift from someone I’ll never meet and have a second chance at life. I would encourage everyone to check into the option of becoming an organ donor. You could save many lives. For more information, check out www.donors1.org. Enjoy and treasure your lives!”

Francine Mousseau graduated this spring from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine.

Patrick Pascall has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the Buffalo (NY) Police Department. He has also been promoted to the rank of major in the U.S. Army Reserves. He writes, “For the past three years I have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan with Special Operations Command working as a Civil Affairs Officer, assisting the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan in building their governmental structure. My team established the very first neighborhood councils, and worked to build local police forces from the ground up.”

Patricia Sayre has received a Fulbright Scholarship to Tanzania for 2006-2007. The Fulbright Grant is the most prestigious scholarship awarded by the U.S. Government. The grant funds students to go abroad for one year to engage in independent research, study and work. Competition for this honor is extremely fierce, with over 6,000 applicants vying for scholarships annually. Sayre is working on a combined bachelor’s/master’s degree in nursing from Pace University. Her goal is to become a more effective international healthcare provider, to develop a thorough understanding of comparative healthcare problems, and to achieve a greater appreciation for world health. “This project will show me how to make valuable contributions toward HIV prevention and allow me to foster ties between the medical community in the United States and people of different cultures,” she writes.

Karen Behm received her master’s of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. She is working at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as a chaplain.

Angela (Bence) Butler is a stay-at-home mother to her son Preston (see “Future Alumni”). Her husband is a printer at a Seattle, WA, printing company. Angela would love to hear from friends. She can be reached at aabutler321@yahoo.com.

Daniel P. Jones received his master’s of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. He was one of the recipients of the Jagow Prizes in Homiletics and Speech.

Brent and Ruth (Bulkeley) Gilbert live in Gainesville, VA with their sons Stephen and Peter. Ruth taught kindergarten for four years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Brent has been working for the American Bible Society as a software engineer for the past five years. He has also worked on a writing career on the side, and has operated his own music-based Web site, TRudATmusic.com, since 2001, and has contributed articles and reviews for several other Web sites. Last year, he published an article for the first time in HM Magazine. As of March 2006, Brent serves as the senior editor of CMCentral.com, one of the largest Christian music sites on the Web. Friends can reach Brent or Ruth via e-mail at rnb4399@hotmail.com.

Stephen Dalbey is married (see “Down the Aisle”) and has a new daughter (see “Future Alumni”). His family resides in Essex Junction, VT.

Courtney Howard is a global studies teacher in western New York. She is completing a master’s degree in social justice, peace and reconciliation. This year she began working with the Uganda Conflict Action Network as the Midatlantic Regional Coordinator. Uganda-CAN is a transcontinental advocacy campaign working for peace in northern Uganda. She spent time in Uganda and worked with others to organize the western New York GuluWalk Day, a march for peace and benefit concert in Buffalo, NY. Participating Houghton alumni and students included Patty Peperato ’97, Annie Valkema ’88, Jessica McDonnell ’07 and Kathleen Matthews ’07. Visit www.ugandacan.org or contact Courtney at courtneyhoward@adelphia.net.

Milieu welcomes readers' comments.—Ed.