Staff Spotlight

  1. March 20, 2006

    Spotlight: Stamping for soldiers

    Once a month for the past two years, friends have gathered at Bonita Kothe’s home to create handcrafted cards to send to soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Happy to receive them, the soldiers, in turn, can write on the blank cards and mail them back to loved ones in the United States. (Photo by…
  2. March 13, 2006

    Spotlight: Arriving at the station

    Weighed down with duffel bags and suitcases, students introduce themselves to roommates while they anxiously familiarize themselves with new surroundings. The sudden influx of people triples the city’s population overnight. (Photo by Bob Vande Kopple) But this is not Ann Arbor, Dearborn, or even Flint. All of this activity takes place more than 200 miles…
  3. March 6, 2006

    Spotlight: U-Movie master

    On the second floor of the Frieze Building is a film library that puts any Blockbuster to shame. Boasting more than 10,000 DVDs and a slew of films in an array of formats—from laserdisc to 16- and 35-mm—the collection spans the golden age of filmmaking. (Photo by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services) “I think it…
  4. February 20, 2006

    Spotlight: Music comes to life

    When the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (A2SO) plays a jazzy passage that grows into an energetic, vigorous movement at its March 11 show in the Michigan Theater, Erika Nelson will be watching and listening with particular anticipation and interest. Nelson (Photo by Lin Jones, U-M Photo Services) That’s because Nelson, a marketing assistant for the…
  5. February 13, 2006

    Spotlight: Dressing the set

    From an ornate chair to curtains hanging on a wall, a hand mirror, a decorative painting, even a match used to light a cigarette—all must be placed with care for actors or dancers who require props to help set the stage. University Productions Properties Master Arthur Ridley, right, and undergraduate music student Michael Lowney prepare…
  6. February 6, 2006

    Spotlight: Plant professional

    A workday for Paul Girard is no ordinary 9-5 at the office. Instead, the transparent glass walls of a greenhouse and the great outdoors are his workstation. As caretaker of the conservatory at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens (MBG) and Nichols Arboretum, Girard spends his days working with plants—getting his hands dirty, learning lessons in horticulture…
  7. January 23, 2006

    Spotlight: Canine choreography

    Sit. Stay. Roll over. These are common commands that most dogs learn to obey. But dance? Tell that to most dogs and you may receive a blank stare. Sturtz, as Peter Gunn, and Chimo (Photo by Mark Sturtz) For Peg Ash Sturtz, dog dancing is a shared love with her 2-year-old Alaskan Malamute, Chimo. Dog…
  8. January 15, 2006

    Spotlight: Been there, done that

    It has taken Pat Hodges nearly 20 years of service as a University employee to become a jack-of-all-trades. (Photo by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services) And although she claims to be a master of none, Hodges, executive assistant to the dean of the School of Art & Design (A&D), has mastered the art of flexibility…
  9. January 9, 2006

    Spotlight: Harboring the Hopwoods

    Surrounded by thousands of books and hundreds of top literary journals fanned out in a small room in Angell Hall, you would think Andrea Beauchamp would be inspired to pen her own novel or fictional work. (Photo by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services) Save for an occasional short story or article, however, Beauchamp is content…
  10. December 12, 2005

    Spotlight: Delivering on a promise

    Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night—not even a slick loading dock—can keep Mail Services from delivering a package. (Photo by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services) Bill Griffin, Mail Services assistant manager, says at 9 p.m. the night before Thanksgiving a United States Postal Services (USPS) worker indicated he thought the loading dock was…