Short Takes
MAY 4, 1998
Outstanding Graduating Senior Man
The year's Joel Wiegert Award given to the outstanding graduating senior man goes to Cory Papenfuss, 22, an electrical engineering major from Juneau. Not only does Papenfuss graduate with a 4.0 GPA, his enthusiasm and willingness to contribute to the academic success of his fellow students is an inspiration, according to both his professors and friends alike. Papenfuss has been actively involved in the Alaska Student Rocket Program, in which students from UAF participate in designing, constructing and launching sounding rocket payloads from nearby Poker Flat. His creativity in the rocket lab is equaled by his passion for music. Papenfuss is a member of the UAF Wind Ensemble Concert Band where he plays the French horn, and he is involved with the Fairbanks Light Opera Theater. A true Alaskan, in his spare time, when he gets it, Papenfuss enjoys camping, hiking and fishing.
Contact: Cory Papenfuss, (907) 456-7997 or e-mail ffcmp2@uaf.edu
Outstanding Graduating Woman
The 1998 Outstanding Graduating Woman, Danielle Stone, 20, is a 1994 Lathrop High School graduate and the recipient of the Marion Frances Boswell Award. In addition to her close to perfect GPA, Stone is a member of numerous honor societies on campus, including the Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Honor Society) where she was the president for 1997-98, Chi Epsilon (National Civil Engineering Honor Society) where she also was the president for 1997-98, and she was named an All American Scholar 1997. She is the author of two papers on cold weather engineering research, one of which she presented to a national meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. Stone will get her bachelor's degree in civil engineering with a GPA of 3.97. In addition to her full academic schedule, Stone has been active in the Fairbanks Light Opera Theater, Kids Voting Project, Student Drama Association and the League of Women Voters, while holding down as many as two and three jobs at a time to pay her way through college.
Contact: Danielle K. Stone, (907) 452-8663, or email fsddk2uaf.edu
Biology Student With Wild Schedule
Some people seem to have at least 25 hours in a day, and Tim Stallard is one of them. Stallard, who graduates this spring with a bachelor of science degree in biology, is an avid mountaineer and outdoorsman from Woodland, Calif. Stallard is currently the vice president of the Alaska Alpine Club and in the spring of 1996 he climbed Denali, the same year his friends and fellow UAF students Randy Baten, Mark Neiro and John Slage died in an avalanche while climbing the Castner Glacier. In memory of his friends, Stallard helped raise money to create the Baten-Neiro-Slage Memorial Fund. Money from the memorial is used to purchase quality winter camping equipment for UAF students while at the same time educating them to the challenges back country travelers face. The equipment can be rented from the Student Activities Office, where Stallard runs the Outdoors Adventure Program which provides Alaska wilderness experiences for UAF students. Stallard is one of 25 graduates this spring being recognized with a 1998 Graduation with Leadership Honors award, signified by the crimson cord he and the other leadership award winners will wear at Commencement.
Contact: Tim Stallard (907) 474-0929.
1998 Graduating Class One of UAF's Largest
As of April 29, the number of students approved for graduation during UAF's 76th Commencement was 1,071. Finals statistics may change after final grades are posted at noon, May 7. Some students may be ineligible to graduate after semester grades are totaled and verified. Here's a snapshot of the graduating class:
Number of women: 579
Number of men: 492
Average age of the graduating class: 31
Youngest graduate:
Lisa V. Valetsky, 20, Bachelor of Business Administration, economics
Oldest graduate:
Albert E. Noe, 60, Bachelor of Arts, earth science
Number of degrees: 1.071
- 120 certificates
- 160 associates
- 575 bachelors
- 178 masters
- 38 doctorates
Minority breakdown:
- 175 American Indian/Alaska Native
- 52 Asian
- 25 Black
- 23 Hispanic
- 769 White
- 27 Other
IS/DPD/5-4-98/98-060shortake