Mystery sound, a clue to missing Tech grad?

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis., June 21, 2001 -- Search crews scoured ravines near the Hillside Fish Shop, on Hwy. 35 near the Trempeleau River, for signs of a missing Southeast Minnesota Tech grad, said Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand. Two people, a woman at home and a fisherman, reported independently that they heard a crash near the restaurant between 7 and 7:30 a.m., Sunday. The Hillside is downhill from the Chicken Valley Road ridge, where Ricky Popp, 25, of Winona, was last seen after attending an all-night fund-raising party. He was on his motorcycle.

WSU tutor named to Montessori post

WINONA, Minn., June 21, 2001 -- A tutor at Winona State University, Les Hittner, was named operations director at the Bluffview Montessori School. Hittner holds a master's in educational leadership from Winona State. His university tutoring was during his master's work.

What profs' office decor says and does

WINONA, Minn, June 21, 2001 -- At the beginning of his sophomore year at Winona State University, Steve Boron learned some shocking news: His girlfriend was pregnant. She also was a sophomore at Winona State. They had been dating for a little more than a year and talked casually about getting engaged. But there were obstacles. Both were working 30 hours per week to finance their education, some weeks more. In addition, they both were trying to manage a full course load. Then there were the usual apartment chores. Keeping their relationship on track was challenge enough at the moment.

EXPANDED COVERAGE Reporter: Lauren Osborne To protect privacy, Steve Boron is not the student's real name in this story.

"Things were getting really rough," said Boron. "I loved her to death, but we were straining to keep our relationship afloat. It seemed like we had to pencil each other in just to talk." Realizing their relationship was suffering severely, Boron confronted his girlfriend. She admitted she also was busy with school, work and home life but that her strong feelings for him had not faded. In the headon conversation, she said she might be pregnant. The two bought a home pregnancy test and consulted a physician. Both confirmed their suspicions. "The news hit us when we were down," Boron said. "It was hard to swallow. We had no idea what to do or where to go next." Enter Gloria McVay, a Winona State University accounting prof. Boron had recently changed his major to accounting and was falling behind with homework due to the stresses of jobs and the relationship. Concerned about his grades, Boron felt obligated to explain his lagging performance to McVay, one of his new professors.

He said that McVay seemed laid back and understanding in the classroom. Boron hoped she would sympathize with his problems enough to allow him an extension on several assignments. He made an appointment. To his surprise, he felt completely comfortable sharing his problems with her -- as if she were his aunt or mom, he said: "It was really strange. I went in, sat down and felt utterly at ease about everything. I've never felt that way in a professor's office -- no matter who it is."

Whether students and professors realize it, Boron said, faculty office environments influence student-teacher relationships. Had McVay's office been cold, dull and drab, Boron said he would have been nervous and less inclined to share the truth about why he'd fallen behind. Because McVay's office was warm, bright and cozy, however, he felt comfortable and open.

Research by psychologists and communications professionals points to a connection between environment and interpersonal relationships. Scott Jones, who studies and writes about business communication, contends that environment, particularly colors, invokes personal connotations for many people. Also, he says, color denotes certain ideals, values and feelings. Warm reds, oranges and yellows are perceived as more cheerful, active and happy than cooler blues, purples and grees. In printed material, for example, warm colors highlight bold positive statements. Likewise, he writes, cooler colors are more effective when reserved for making or supporting less important points in printed material.

McVay agrees. She believes her comfortable office environment helps her form positive relationships with students. In fact, she decorated it last year with that in mind.

At her desk with her legs crossed and her folded hands resting on her lap, the only female professor in Winona State's accounting department mentioned Boron as evidence of the importance of creating a comfortable office environment. She pointed across the room to a child's toy tractor and a box of Kleenex and cited them as welcoming signs. "I keep a full box of Kleenex in here for crying students," she said. "I've had young men come talk to me about their pregnant girlfriends or fights they had with their parents. You have to be ready for that."

To enhance the comfort of her office, McVay has hung an intricately carved wooden clock against the recently painted off-white walls, replaced the tan university carpet with a plush Oriental rug and placed six species of philodendrons in clay pots on desktops, countertops and wooden shelves maintenance staff custom built for her when she moved in last August. "I wanted to make it feel inviting, warm and comfortable - like a living room," she said.

Although McVay understands it's not her job as an accounting professor to help solve students' personal problems, her motherly instinct -- sharpened by her own three sons, now in their 20s -- often takes over when students approach her with personal troubles. "Student-teacher relationships most definitely start in the classroom," she said. "But it should continue into the office, and I try to create a warm, open transfer."

Mary Ann Pevas, a Winona State econ prof, also recognizes the importance of extending relationships with students beyond the classroom. But technology sometimes gets in the way, she said. With most students relying on e-mail to expedite communication with classmates and professors, she rarely sees students in her office. "Students don't like to talk face to face anymore," she said. "All they do is e-mail."

Because few students visit her office, Pevas took the liberty to decorate it how she pleased. To avoid clutter, which she said distracts her, she organized her text and reference books to fit neatly on a seven-shelf unit and added a bit of color to the white walls by hanging up a few framed photos of Notre Dame and a poster by a Spanish artist. The rest of the office is plain. And Pevas' thoughts about it are simple: "This is my office -- not the students' office."

Winona State senior Tristan Irhke, who is studying human resources management and business administration, had Pevas for an introductory economics course a few years ago -- when Pevas' office was down the hall from its current location. Ihrke remembers the walls, desk and shelves being bare. Although Irhke visited Pevas' office only about five times during the semester, she recalls being slightly intimidated by its plainness. "But I was intimidated by her in class too," Irhke said.

Pevas was skeptical about the extent to which her frugal decor influences her relationships with students. If anything, she said, it sends a clear message to students and co-workers that she means business: "It says that I'm tidy, that I'm organized, and that I'm serious about my work and about my work space."

Although serious about his responsibilities as chair of the Winona State history department and president of the university's faculty association, Alex Yard cannot claim to be tidy. It would be more natural for lightning to strike his Minne Hall corner office than for a student to catch a glimpse of desk or floor space not hidden by books, papers or unopened mail. Newspaper clippings and old "to do" notes blanket bulletin boards, books that don't fit on the ceiling-high wooden shelves sit stacked on the floor and a half-dozen dirty coffee mugs perch precariously on the edge of Yard's desk. "When stuff starts growing in them," he said, "I put them over here until stuff dries and you can clean them."

Despite the challenge of finding an open chair to sit in, Yard notes that students still visit. Some look around, some comment on the clutter, but most, he said, ask questions, get the information they need and jet. Which doesn't bother Yard. "I'm a busy guy," he said. "I don't have a ton of time for students who feel the need to get comfy in my office and chat." Nevertheless, about 10 students a day drop in, according to the department secretary, whose office is adjacent to Yard's.

Yard believes his mess helps him form out-of-class relationships with students. "They see I'm informal, and they relax," he said.

Brian Hanson, a senior photography student, understands Yard's reasoning but said he rarely felt comfortable in his office because the clutter was too distracting. "I know the man's busy," Hanson said. "But I don't know how he got anything done in that office."

Yard attributes his disarray to the office size. Were the office bigger, he'd be able to store and organize more books and files, he said. But would he? "Would I have more stacks of stuff if I had more room? Probably," he said.

Don Salyards, an econ prof, maximized the space in his small corner office in Somsen Hall and is perfectly content with the way it looks and also on how it affects his relationships with students. Although the office is small, the ceilings are unusually high -- and covered with framed pictures. Salyards has pictures of everything: Lambeau Field, a gazebo he helped build, old rental properties that have since been torn down and make into campus parking lots, his grandpa. He's got Packer posters, old National Geographic covers, a Japanese fan, a piece of the Berlin Wall, an Indian blanket and Twins Homer Hankies from two World Series games. Everything's on the wall.

Instead of being distracting, Salyards said, his variety of artwork, photographs and posters appeal to many different kinds of people. Students often strike up conversations about where Salyards found the pictures, what they mean and why he brought them to his office. It's a good way to break the ice with new students, he said.

Also, because his walls and desk feature personal items most people would keep at home, Salyards believes visitors get a strong, immediate sense of who he is, where he's been and what he likes. "It's all me, all my stuff," he said. "It means something to me."

Salyards said he would have liked to keep some of his decor at home, but his wife wouldn't let him. She thought, for example, the bright yellow table in one corner was too obnoxious for any home setting.

Maria Kujawa, a junior music student took Salyards basic econ class her freshman year, remembered the yellow table being the first thing she noticed when she dropped by Salyards' office early in her first semester about an upcoming test. "It was great," she said. "I knew right away this guy was cool -- and bold. It makes that kind of statement. It really does."

Salyards admits he wasn't considering student feelings when he chose his office decor, he's glad his funky taste has comforted at least one student. "To some professors, an office is just an office," he said. "But to me, an office is a habitat, and what you do with your habitat can show students that professors are people -- just like them. That's what's important."