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State-of-art computer system up and running
efficiently in Prairie du Chien School District
The Prairie du Chien School District recently installed a
state-of-the-art computer system and the district now has one of the top
computer systems in the state. "There are some large corporations that haven't
gone to this yet," said Joe Ruskey of Dependable Solutions Inc. of Prairie du
Chien. Ruskey, along with Rich Kelly of Kelly Creation Computers of Prairie du
Chien helped install 160 new IBM computers, revamped the entire computer
infrastructure and switched the district's network system from a Novell platform
to Microsoft. Ruskey and Kelly also upgraded 260 existing computers to current
technology. The system has been up and running for approximately four months now
and the improvements speak for themselves. "The district has stabilized not only
the network operating system but the computer desktop performance for the
students and staff," said Ruskey, who noted that Prairie du Chien's system had
deteriorated and became very unstable over the years with inefficient computer
use and an unreliable network that experienced networkwide outages on a regular
basis. Since the completion of the new installation, there have been no outages
in more than four months. "They're just fantastic," said high school media
specialist Denise Strudthoff of the new computers and network system. "There are
no problems. There is uniformity and much more confidence in the network for
students and the professional development of teachers." "It's been fabulous,"
said chemistry teacher Pat Fischler. "It's unreal, there are 27 students here
[in one particular lab] up and running and working on their projects with no
computer problems." Fischler agreed with Ruskey and Kelly who said that before
the recent installations and upgrades there was a lot of frustration on the part
of teachers and students. Ruskey said, for example, that teachers told him that
in the past it had been hard to schedule lab time because the system was so
unreliable and that one never knew when there would be an outage. If an outage
occurred, teachers would have had to revamp their lesson plan on the spot. "Some
teachers gave up," said Kelly. "Now they're scheduling as much lab time as they
can because the system runs so well." Kelly said that the new system is a big
advantage to staff and students. "The students here are way ahead of the game,"
Kelly said. "They will be prepared for whatever they encounter in college."
Another advantage to the new system is that it is uniform district wide so that
students going from B.A. Kennedy to Bluff View, for example, will already be
familiar with the system and how it works. They won't have to learn a whole new
system. Ruskey said that the installation of the 160 new computers and the
conversion process was not easy and took place over five months. The students
were the priority and the 160 new computers went directly to labs for them.
Older computers that the district had were upgraded and distributed to the
teachers. The high school received 70 new computers, Bluff View got 60 and B.A.
Kennedy received 30. The purchase of the new computers, along with the
installation and network conversion process cost approximately $175,000, much of
which was financed through the State Trust Fund Loan program. With the new
system up and running efficiently, the district is now in the support phase.
Kelly and Ruskey split time so that one of them is in the schools everyday as
lead consultants. There are also two interns from Southwest Technical College,
B.J. Birkholz and Chip Nies, who have been working in computer support during
those times when neither Kelly nor Ruskey are there. "There is always somebody
here," said Kelly. "And, Joe and I always have cellphones for an emergency if
the need arises. That way, we can give the district their best dollar spent."
One high school senior, Zach Stark, also works 1.5 hours per day in support of
the computer network. "What we have implemented here at Prairie du Chien is such
a state-of-the-art that this would look phenomenal on their resumes," said Kelly
about the two interns. In the ever-changing world of computer technology,
keeping a system up to speed as state-of-the-art can be quite a challenge and
requires a good deal of planning. Ruskey and Kelly said that they will be
conducting yearly evaluations of future needs. Right now, they are working on
budgeting for the technology needs of the district and developing an immediate
and a long-term plan by which the district can continually phase out old
technology and phase in new in order to maintain the highest level without going
through a major overhaul of the type that was just completed. Ruskey and Kelly,
both of whom have children who are students in the district, said that the
school board should be commended for moving along and implementing this computer
project, which will not only benefit the students and staff but can benefit the
public as well. In fact, there will be an open computer lab in room 109 at the
high school for the public every Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and every
Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There is a one-time user fee of $10. In
addition, Ruskey and Kelly have fixed up 70 of the district's five to
six-year-old computers for sale to the general public. The computers will be
sold for $25 apiece and the monitors will be sold for $10 each. Kelly said that
these computers will make good entry-level computers or second computers.
City Council reviews taxes collected, sewer
complaints
About half a dozen citizens sat through a routine City Council meeting
waiting for agenda item no. 17: a sewer backup claim for damages against the
City brought by Terry Neisius. The Neisius' home suffered damage when a city
sewer main backed up into their home while undergoing routine maintenance and
cleaning by city crews. The Neisius' claim has not been paid by the City, and
when the City has brought such claims before their insurance carrier, the
company has denied payment because they say the city does its duty maintaining
the sewers properly, therefore they are not negligent and not liable. This
creates a frustrating problem for some homeowners. Candy Miller, who lives on
south Tenth Street was also at the meeting. She said that the sewer has backed
up into her home four times over the past several years, but she has never been
paid damages. She says the problem is the City's fault, not hers, and that a
neighbor of hers has had a similar problem. Mayor Cheryl Mader and several of
the Council members were sympathetic towards these complaints. "The City should
not deny responsibility," said Mader, noting that in the Neisius' case, the
backup was directly related to an activity undertaken by the City (sewer
cleaning). Mader felt that this would show cause and effect, and therefore the
City's insurance would have to pay the claim. Both city attorney Thomas Peterson
and wastewater treament department head Terry Meyer disagreed, saying that the
insurance company only looked for negligence on the part of the City, and if
they didn't find any, they would deny the claim. Peterson stated, however, that
he had not read the policy regarding this matter. Meyer said that there are
nearly thirty miles of sewer in the city, and he cannot prevent every kind of
problem. The Council tabled the matter, with instructions to Peterson to check
the city's insurance policy on this matter and report to them at the next
meeting. Sixth district alderman Jack Kluesner admonished Peterson not to delay
the matter. Neisius, Miller and the others left the meeting with no answers.
Other items reviewed by the Council included a report on tax collection made by
Gary Koch, city administrator and clerk/treasurer. Koch said that the City had
collected $4,831,000 in property taxes, an increase of $122,000 over last year.
Koch noted that although there was only a moderate property tax increase,
citizens are concerned. He also noted that delinquencies have risen by $245,000
this year, and that rising delinquencies appears to be a general trend that the
City must concern itself with. After a closed session, the Council also approved
a modified contract with Local #40 of the Wisconsin Council of the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The new contract has some
changes in it. For example, new employees will be subject to a siX month
probation instead of four months, and setting up a required co-payment for
health insurance premiums for employees.
Meeting offers jump-start for Self-Help Housing
About eight curious people turned up for an informational meeting about Self
Help Housing held at City Hall Monday night. While some might consider such a
small turnout discouraging, organizer Dale Klemme was pleased. Klemme heads the
non-profit Community Development Alternatives Inc., which is spearheading the
Self-Help Housing effort in Prairie du Chien. Only four more families are needed
to sign-on to begin the project, and Klemme believes he is getting close to
filling the quota. He says that two families are now enrolled in the project,
and four are carefully considering signing up. The meeting was intended to offer
detailed information on the program, which offers very low interest loans to
qualifying families to buy lots and build new homes. The only catch is that
families must spend 30 hours a week actually working on building their own and
others homes, labor that creates equity of about $15,000 per family per home. "People
should be beating down my door for this opportunity," Klemme remarked during the
meeting, which sometimes felt more like a motivational seminar. Klemme knows
that people feel skeptical about their abilities to build their own home, and
that may prevent them from participating in Self-Help. "Many people don't think
they are handy with a hammer or a saw," Klemme added. But he said that
determination was a more important quality to the success in Self-Help, noting
that the most successful group to participate in the program overall is single,
female heads of household. "Anyone can build a house, they just need support,
and we offer that," Klemme said. Support comes in the form of a professional
construction supervisor and fellow participant builders. Klemme says that the
groups that are formed by those participating in the program support one another
and help guide the building process. No one can move into their house until all
of the houses are completed. Representatives of the regional U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the government agency that sponsors the program, were also on hand
at the meeting to answer questions and fill out applications. People attending
the meeting wondered where they could buy lots and what types of homes they
would be able to build within the program. According to Klemme, a selection of
about three similar home designs will be offered to participants to choose from,
according to how many bedrooms they need. While the houses are not exactly the
same, they are generally simple but attractive ranch-style homes or split-levels
‹ homes that are not too complicated to build. Lots can be selected that are
generally in the Prairie du Chien area, but they do not have to be within the
city. They must be within a short drive of one-another, so families can work
together without wasting too much time on driving. When completed, the houses
will have a value of approximately $110,000. Jeff Welch and JoLee Bolund have
been accepted into the Self-Help program. "We've been renting for years," said
Jeff. " The couple is searching for a lot in the Eastman area where they plan to
build a three bedroom home. "A new home will be more efficient, and in the long
run it will save us money," JoLee added.
The computer labs at the high school, as well as at Bluff View and B.A.
Kennedy, are now full of students working effectively to complete their
assignments with no fear of a network outage or other such problems that
frequently occurred in the past.
Triplets
overcome deadly syndrome
Kirsten Reichmann and her husband Jason, a Prairie du Chien couple,
received the happy news that they were going to have their second baby
in June 2003. In August, they received the startling news that they were
going to have triplets! Their babies, identical twin boys, Isaac and
Jonah and sister Madalyn are healthy and active now at 14 months of age.
The triplets have an older brother, Jacob, who is almost three. Having
natural triplets (the couple used no fertility enhancing therapy) is
very unusual. According to a recent study, triplets occur in only 1 per
7,000 to 10,000 births in the U.S. So the Reichmann's definitely had
some very unusual odds working for them. The couple felt that the odds
had turned against them after an ultrasound at 16 weeks revealed that
the twin boys Kirsten was carrying had a rare and dangerous condition
called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). With TTTS, identical
twins share a placenta inside the womb, and inside the placenta the
babies also share blood vessels - the babies circulatory systems are
connected. This abnormal condition can lead to a situation where one
twin receives (called the recipient) more than its share of blood and
nutrients, while the other twin (called the donor) does not receive
enough. This puts each baby at risk. The donor twin will eventually die
from lack of blood and nutrition while the recipient baby may die from
getting too much blood which causes heart failure. In Kirsten's case,
with triplets, the toxic environment created in the womb by the death of
one or both of the twins would also threaten the third baby's survival.
There are only 3,800 cases of TTTS reported in the U.S. annually. After
receiving the TTTS diagnosis, the Reichmanns were understandably shocked
and frightened. Kirsten was put immediately on bed rest. Because of
carrying triplets and twins with TTTS, she was much larger than a woman
would usually be at her stage of pregnancy. She was carrying excessive
fluids and sometimes had trouble breathing. Their doctor at Gundersen-Lutheran
Hospital in La Crosse, Dr. Theodore Peck, did several things to help the
couple. He explained their options, which included doing nothing and
losing the babies, or trying amniocenteses to reduce the fluid the
recipient baby was getting. They chose the final option ‹ trying an
unusual laser surgery procedure which would disconnect the twins' shared
blood supply. He put them in contact with the Twin to Twin Transfusion
Syndrome Foundation and helped them find a Milwaukee physician who is
one of the few doctors who performs the laser surgery. Dr. Julian De Lia,
a surgeon at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Milwaukee, had
helped a couple from Mauston with TTTS pregnancy that Dr. Peck had
encountered a few years ago. Three weeks later Kirsten and her family
went to St. Joseph's for the surgery that was their best chance of
saving their babies lives. Kirsten says she does not like to think about
the surgery. She felt worried and stressed about the safety of her
babies and herself. Her surgery was delayed for two hours as doctors
searched for a position in which Kirsten could lay and breathe as she
found it difficult to breathe laying on her back. During her surgery,
Dr. De Lia cut a 10'' opening in Kirsten's abdomen and pulled the uterus
with the babies gently out of the abdominal cavity to locate the
placenta that the twins shared, which was in the rear portion of the
uterus (posterior placenta). Using a laser laparoscope, the surgeon
essentially cauterized the blood vessels the twins shared leaving only
the blood vessels that were not shared. They also took about two liters
of amniotic fluid from the womb, reducing Kirsten's bloating. Kirsten
remained in St. Joseph's for five days after the surgery. She was
worried because she could not feel the babies moving. The doctor had
said that the donor twin was only 40 percent the size of the recipient
twin. But ultrasound revealed that all of the babies had come through
the surgery well, alleviating the family's worst fears. The triplets
were delivered about a month early on December 19, 2003, all of them
healthy. Little triplet Madalyn was born first, and weighed 3.15 pounds.
Jonah, the recipient twin, was next at 3.7 pounds. Isaac, the donor
twin, had nearly caught up to his brother Jonah in weight; Isaac was 3.5
pounds. Suddenly the family went from one child to four. Kirsten credits
the help of her parents, Lois and Ole Peterson and her mother-in-law,
Barb Reichmann, with helping the family through the crisis, and now
helping with childcare. In order to cope with three one-year-old babies
and a nearly three-year-old toddler, Reichmann says she sticks to a
tight schedule. Meals, play times, naps and bedtime all follow a daily
routine in which even diaper changes are scheduled. "We have to be
organized to keep everybody happy and the household functioning,"
Kirsten says. Kirsten and her family want to help build awareness of
TTTS. They know that most people, even many doctors, have never heard of
it. That means that families may lose their babies if the syndrome is
not recognized and diagnosed. "If someone is pregnant and they are
really large and they are not getting any prenatal care, they need to go
to a doctor because something could be wrong," Kirsten said. She also
urges the importance of ultrasounds, which help reveal not only TTTS but
other problems or birth defects. The Reichmann's are also appreciative
of the help and support they received from the Twin to Twin Transfusion
Syndrome Foundation (www.tttsfoundation.org). The Ohio-based foundation,
started by a mother who lost a baby to TTTS, provided a lot of useful
information geared towards parents dealing with TTTS. They also helped
the family with the cost of hotel stays in Milwaukee during Kirsten's
surgery. The Reichmann's know how fortunate they are, and that their
story could have had a very different and sad ending. "We're just very
lucky," Kirsten said.
State Champion!
To see a 275-pound heavyweight do a victory cartwheel is one thing,
but to see Mike Lenzendorf win a long awaited championship is one that
won't be forgotten. Lenzendorf managed to escape in double overtime to
defeat Abbotsford/Colby's Chuck Madden 5-4 for the WIAA Division 2 State
Championship, the first-ever State Championship in wrestling at Prairie
du Chien High School. "I had to do something. I thought I had used all
my energy escaping. I had to do something, I couldn't do a back flip,
but a cartwheel was good enough. This is one of the greatest feelings in
the world. I worked so hard for four years and I finally got the job
done," said Lenzendorf following his history-making victory. "The entire
arena was rooting for him," said Coach Mel Dow. "It was incredible."
From his first match of the season, it was evident that Lenzendorf had
an extra amount of steely-eyed determination as he worked toward his
ultimate goal of winning the State Championship. Anything less was not
even considered as he flattened one opponent after another all season
long en route to an eventual 44-0 record, which included 28 pins. The
pin ratio is even more astounding considering that Lenzendorf received
nine forfeits on the season. "He's perfect," said Dow of Lenzendorf's
44-0 season record. "He told me last year that he would never let
(losing) happen again." Lenzendorf finished fourth at State a year ago
after having misread the score in his semifinal match. Dow said that
Lenzendorf wrestled conservatively in his final two matches at State to
make sure that he won without taking any unnesessary risks. In his
quarterfinal match, Lenzendorf pinned Mike Zeidler of New Berlin
Eisenhower in 1:40, but in both his semifinal and final matches,
Lenzendorf went into double overtime before pulling out the victories.
On Friday night, he beat Medford's Joe Puehls 2-1 to get to the finals
for the first time. On Saturday night, Lenzendorf escaped Madden with
just 17 seconds left in double overtime to take the most thrilling
victory of his career. Leading 4-3, he was penalized for stalling with
five seconds left in the third period to send the championship match
into overtime. The score remained tied at 4-4 and the match went into
the second overtime. Lenzendorf's first attempt at an escape in the
second overtime failed but his second succeeded big time. When the match
was over, Lenzendorf cartwheeled in celebration and into Prairie du
Chien wrestling history and lore. Besides Lenzendorf, Prairie du Chien
State qualifiers Zach Elliott and Casey Bode represented Prairie well.
In his first match, Zach Elliott dropped a 12-4 decision to Joe Steffen
of Osceola. It was the sophomore Elliott's second trip to State. In his
first trip to State, sophomore Casey Bode won his preliminary match
against Dan Stumpf of Pewaukee 9-0. Bode fell to eventual state champion
Jon Lechleitner of Stanly Boyd in the quarterfinals. Bode then came up
short in a great match to Nick Bartley of Kewauskum 7-2. Bode finished
in the top eight at State. |
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