2003 Great
American Think-Off Finalist Biographies
DO
WE REAP WHAT WE SOW?
Arthur
Yuwiler was born in Mansfield, Ohio and moved to Los Angeles in late
childhood. After receiving a BS in Chemistry at UCLA he married Alice
Lubin (some 52 years ago) begetting three delightful children and 5 grandchildren.
When he received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1956 they blew what money
they had for four months in Europe, finally returning to take a post-doctoral
position at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. He spent 4 years in
Ann Arbor as a research biochemist at the Mental Health Institute at the
University of Michigan then returned to California as Chief of Neurobiochemistry
Research at the VA hospital in West L.A. In 1977, he was made a Research
Scientist by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
His membership in professional societies includes the American Association
for the Advancement of Sciences, American Chemical Society, the American
Society of Biological Chemists and Molecular Biologists, American Society
of Neurochemistry, New York Academy of Sciences, International Society
for Neurochemistry, Sigma Xi, Society for Biological Psychiatry, Society
for Neuroscience, the CINP and he is a Fellow of the American College
of Neuropsychopharmacology. As a scientist he has served on numerous committees
and authored a number of articles and books.
In addition to his scholarly work he has written fiction and poetry. In
1951, To get the money for a suit so he could marry Alice, he sold a short
piece to Astounding Science Fiction. He has since published a number of
pieces, winning prizes for his stories and poems. Since retirement he
has cultivated his interest in drawing, painting and wood sculpture. Arthur
Yuwiler was born in Mansfield, Ohio and moved to Los Angeles in late childhood.
After receiving a BS in Chemistry at UCLA he married Alice Lubin (some
52 years ago) begetting three delightful children and 5 grandchildren.
When he received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1956 they blew what money
they had for four months in Europe, finally returning to take a post-doctoral
position at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. He spent 4 years in
Ann Arbor as a research biochemist at the Mental Health Institute at the
University of Michigan then returned to California as Chief of Neurobiochemistry
Research at the VA hospital in West L.A. In 1977, he was made a Research
Scientist by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
His membership in professional societies includes the American Association
for the Advancement of Sciences, American Chemical Society, the American
Society of Biological Chemists and Molecular Biologists, American Society
of Neurochemistry, New York Academy of Sciences, International Society
for Neurochemistry, Sigma Xi, Society for Biological Psychiatry, Society
for Neuroscience, the CINP and he is a Fellow of the American College
of Neuropsychopharmacology. As a scientist he has served on numerous committees
and authored a number of articles and books.
In addition to his scholarly work he has written fiction and poetry. In
1951, To get the money for a suit so he could marry Alice, he sold a short
piece to Astounding Science Fiction. He has since published a number of
pieces, winning prizes for his stories and poems. Since retirement he
has cultivated his interest in drawing, painting and wood sculpture.
David
Shapiro is 46 years old and lives in Seattle, Washington with his
wife, Jennifer, and 6-year old daughter, Amelia. He is an instructor at
Cascadia Community College in Bothell, Washington, where he teaches, among
other things, introduction to philosophy classes. He grew up in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania and lived for a number of years in Minneapolis, where he
earned his undergraduate degree at the U of MN and first heard about the
Great American Think-Off. David has had a variety of careers in his life;
prior to becoming a teacher, he - at various ages and stages in his life
- wrote jokes for stand-up comedians, was a developer of corporate training
materials, and had a free-lance writing business. His entry in this year's
Great American Think-Off came out of a philosophy class final project.
David had his class write entries for the Think-Off and submit them. As
a way to model what he thought was a good essay - and to participate in
an anonymous in-class Think-Off with his students - he also wrote an entry.
He is delighted to say that in the in-class Think-Off, his entry was not
chosen to be a finalist. He reckons this means either that his students
are harder judges than those in New York Mills and/or that a number of
his students (notably those who won the in-class Think-Off) failed to
complete their assignments - which was supposed to include sending in
the essays to the national competition.
Brad
Buschette, 35, is one of those guys who has held about fifteen jobs,
all of which have stunk. He is now gainfully employed as a stay-at-home
dad, the toughest job he has ever had; also, just coincidentally, the
only job he has had that has been worth doing. In his free minutes, he
enjoys collecting stamps from Canada, working on computers, and collecting
marbles. His one claim to fame is finding his previously unknown plate
re-entry on the two-cent Arch issue of Canada. He isn't even the greatest
thinker in his house, which consists of a wife, Karen; daughter, Abby;
tow cats, Crombus and Fitch; two hamsters, Pokey and Socky; and a fish,
Gino.
Roxann
Sorenson was born in Glenwood, MN in 1947. At the age of four her
family moved to the Twin Cities as her father recognized the value of
education for his four daughters. His wish came true when Roxann received
a scholarship to Hamline University. There she studied as a studio art
major. After working several years, post university, Roxann decided to
move back to the family farm in Alexandria and become a full-time artist.
Over the next three decades of her life, Roxann found herself planting
trees, gutting and remodeling the farmhouse, making porcelain pots, painting,
going to countless art fairs, volunteering and finally earning a K-12
license to teach art. Roxann continues to live a quiet, full, rich life
in the country. She journals as encouraged by Julia Cameron's book "The
Artist's Way". It is through this writing and contemplation that
she has been inspired to write and submit essays to the Great American
Think-Off for many years. After a decade of dedication to Great American
Think-Off essays, Roxann feels she is reaping the benefits of following
her heart and trusting in the Universe.
Arthur
Yuwiler was born in Mansfield, Ohio and moved to Los Angeles in late
childhood. After receiving a BS in Chemistry at UCLA he married Alice
Lubin (some 52 years ago) begetting three delightful children and 5 grandchildren.
When he received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1956 they blew what money
they had for four months in Europe, finally returning to take a post-doctoral
position at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. He spent 4 years in
Ann Arbor as a research biochemist at the Mental Health Institute at the
University of Michigan then returned to California as Chief of Neurobiochemistry
Research at the VA hospital in West L.A. In 1977, he was made a Research
Scientist by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
David
Shapiro is 46 years old and lives in Seattle, Washington with his
wife, Jennifer, and 6-year old daughter, Amelia. He is an instructor at
Cascadia Community College in Bothell, Washington, where he teaches, among
other things, introduction to philosophy classes. He grew up in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania and lived for a number of years in Minneapolis, where he
earned his undergraduate degree at the U of MN and first heard about the
Great American Think-Off. David has had a variety of careers in his life;
prior to becoming a teacher, he - at various ages and stages in his life
- wrote jokes for stand-up comedians, was a developer of corporate training
materials, and had a free-lance writing business. His entry in this year's
Great American Think-Off came out of a philosophy class final project.
David had his class write entries for the Think-Off and submit them. As
a way to model what he thought was a good essay - and to participate in
an anonymous in-class Think-Off with his students - he also wrote an entry.
He is delighted to say that in the in-class Think-Off, his entry was not
chosen to be a finalist. He reckons this means either that his students
are harder judges than those in New York Mills and/or that a number of
his students (notably those who won the in-class Think-Off) failed to
complete their assignments - which was supposed to include sending in
the essays to the national competition.
Brad
Buschette, 35, is one of those guys who has held about fifteen jobs,
all of which have stunk. He is now gainfully employed as a stay-at-home
dad, the toughest job he has ever had; also, just coincidentally, the
only job he has had that has been worth doing. In his free minutes, he
enjoys collecting stamps from Canada, working on computers, and collecting
marbles. His one claim to fame is finding his previously unknown plate
re-entry on the two-cent Arch issue of Canada. He isn't even the greatest
thinker in his house, which consists of a wife, Karen; daughter, Abby;
tow cats, Crombus and Fitch; two hamsters, Pokey and Socky; and a fish,
Gino.
Roxann
Sorenson was born in Glenwood, MN in 1947. At the age of four her
family moved to the Twin Cities as her father recognized the value of
education for his four daughters. His wish came true when Roxann received
a scholarship to Hamline University. There she studied as a studio art
major. After working several years, post university, Roxann decided to
move back to the family farm in Alexandria and become a full-time artist.
Over the next three decades of her life, Roxann found herself planting
trees, gutting and remodeling the farmhouse, making porcelain pots, painting,
going to countless art fairs, volunteering and finally earning a K-12
license to teach art. Roxann continues to live a quiet, full, rich life
in the country. She journals as encouraged by Julia Cameron's book "The
Artist's Way". It is through this writing and contemplation that
she has been inspired to write and submit essays to the Great American
Think-Off for many years. After a decade of dedication to Great American
Think-Off essays, Roxann feels she is reaping the benefits of following
her heart and trusting in the Universe.
