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Phil Burgess is a local expert on fossils and geology. Phil Burgess has a heavy hobby. This Prairie du Chien resident collects fossils of all shapes and sizes. He is so passionate about his hobby that he has collected more than 70,000 pieces. Burgess catalogs his specimens in a professional manner and eventually plans to place them in museums where other people can study them and appreciate their intricate, eye-catching designs. The home of Phil and Donna Burgess is like a museum itself, with many glass cases and even an entire room dedicated to fossils and geology, along with a garage full of boxes of rocks. Burgess collects the fossils by asking property owners in advance for permission, and also by visiting areas where road or housing construction is occurring. Landowners seldom turn him down once he explains to them what he is doing. His goal is to go on field trips as frequently as he can since the eastern part of the state is being rapidly paved and built over as it is lost forever to the unplanned growth of urban sprawl. He says he feels like a little kid in a candy store when he is in a quarry. He has been collecting most of his life, where ever he can find accessible places. "It's almost compulsive," he says. "I want to salvage as much of our natural history as possible." His enthusiasm for rocks and what is preserved in them also extends to the necessary scientific research needed to correctly identify what type of ancient creature is retained in the stone. He does a lot of the research himself, but sometimes sends specimens to museums and universities for assistance. He does have some pieces which have yet to be identified, including some ancient forms of coral. Burgess has assembled a collection of corals which include a number of different species. When you think of corals, the first thing that comes to mind is swimmers scuba diving among the reefs in ocean waters in the world's tropical zones. However, northeastern Wisconsin contains abundant coral remains at certain localities. But why does coral occur in Wisconsin? About 415 million years ago, much of the state was submerged beneath a warm shallow sea during what geologists call the Silurian Period. Large coral reefs flourished in what is now the Door Peninsula, and thick layers of limestone were formed which contain the fossilized corals and other organisms. Erosion by glaciers during the last Ice Age left many of the corals strewn across the landscape. The collected coral specimens required treatment including acid etching to bring Salvaging natural history out their beauty, with some of the corals resembling a giant wasp's nest and others looking like tangles of linked chains. After their preparation, the corals are mounted for display or study. Burgess knows more about fossils and geological history than most, and he is more than willing to share his knowledge. He has even had groups of teachers, geologists, and students, and local clubs tour the collection in his home. Burgess can quickly tell anyone interested about the bedrock geology of Wisconsin Ñ he knows all about the dolomite, sandstone and shale of the Prairie du Chien group of the Ordovician formation of the Phanerozoic period, and about the granite and diorite of the lower Proterozoic rocks in the Precambrian period. He knows what types of fossils should be found where. He can identify fossils often simply by looking at them, and he knows how many millions of years ago the creatures lived. He even often knows about the structure and make of the animal's or plants bodies. In summary, he loves his hobby. Spring and fall are his main collecting times, and he spends countless hours the rest of the year cataloging and researching the pieces he has found. Burgess is a Prairie du Chien native who works at 3M.

Step one in The War on Terror: Afghanistan War veterans recognized: Part 5 Today's article on Afghanistan concludes my war series. I have taken you from World War II to the "forgotten war" (Korea) to the turmoil of Vietnam to the political struggle of the Gulf War and now to the "war on terror."  Step 1: Afghanistan President George W. Bush's first step in his "War on Terror" is to dethrone the Taliban regime from power in Afghanistan. After that, it's all up to debate. Dean Mara, 34, of Prairie du Chien, is not into politics, but he said that the war on terror might be too broad of a problem to tackle. "I think there will always be a terrorist," he said. "We could end up going too far. To an extent, I think it's good." Mara, a National Guard member, said that the war in Afghanistan is definitely a worthy cause. He said that the Afghanees that he met were happy to see the Americans there because they got more freedoms. Women did not have to cover their face, people could listen to the radio and watch TV at any volume and so on. Mara remembers a 70-year-old man that was just happy to get the opportunity to work. "The people of Afghanistan were controlled more by the Taliban," Mara said. "We could tell most of them were happy." He also remembers the other hor rors of third world Afghanistan. The 829th had a meeting every night to discuss their progress. They were told one night that 10 kids had been by an exploding mine that was actually set by their parents to protect the food in the garden from being stolen. A couple of the kids were in very bad shape, but not all were injured. "That's natural over there. There will always be mines," Mara said. "The Russians left a lot behind." Russia had occupied Afghanistan and fought a large war in the 1980s to keep it. They eventually lost it and the Taliban took over in time. There were so many old mines that could go off at any time that a soldier could not go off the road. The roads were sometimes hazardous as well. Mara said the back tire of a truck set off a mine one time. If it had been the front tire, the truck would have been caught in the explosion. There was even a mine field about 200 yards from the fox holes that Mara manned at their base. He said it did help for defense. "Some people don't realize how good we have it over here until they see a third world country," he said. Mara does enjoy seeing different parts of the world. He said he joined the National Guard because of "the sense of adventure, going places and seeing things and being part of a team." Mara joined the National Guard in January 1988 at the age of 20. He was in the 829th Engineer Utilities Division out of Richland Center. Mara went to six weeks of basic training at Fort McCoy until he went to Fort Leonerd Wood in Missouri for electrical school. Fort Leonerd Wood is one of the main engineering schools for the National Guard in the U.S., according to Mara. When Mara was on inactive duty for about three years, he had 10 weeks of training to be a cook. He was a cook in Somalia and Haiti. Mara was activated in early November 2001 for duty in Afghanistan. He left on Dec. 7, 2001 for a base called "K-2." For reasons of national security, Mara was not able to disclose the exact location. They landed on Dec. 15. Another young man named Lucas Kramer was one of the 64 men in the 829th with Mara. He was a 20-year-old who had joined the National Guard at the young age of 17. He had also had training in Fort McCoy and Fort Leonerd Wood. The tasks of Mara and Kramer were to do upkeep on the "K-2" base. They put in a sewer water line, maintained the plumbing and electrical facilities and did some carpentry work. They stayed near the base a majority of the time. The only project they had outside of the base was the water line project, and they had U.S. troops patrolling the area with the Afghanees patrolling a perimeter outside of the U.S. forces. Mara and Kramer felt relatively safe on base. Kramer said the Apache helicopters made him feel safe. "There was a lot of protection," he said. Both were tense though when there were rumors that the Taliban were planning to attack their base. Nothing ever happened, but they had to do drills when they first got to "K-2" so they knew where to go in case of an attack. "You have a scheduled place to go in case something happened. You have to know your sector of fire [so you did not shoot your own guys]," Mara said. At times, Mara said he could hear gunfire outside of the base. There was a target practice range set up, but sometimes there was gunfire when there was no practice scheduled. "You never knew if the U.S. was doing target practice or if it was enemy fire," he said. There were sometimes attacks attempted on the base that failed, but they did not know about it initially. "There were rocket attacks that happened," Mara said. "We didn't know about it until one day after though. It was always about a mile or two from our base." "K-2" military personnel executed night attacks on known Taliban locations. They had planes with night vision scopes that would take out enemy vehicles, Kramer said. They had to do this to keep their safety net in check. There was a Taliban tunnel system not far from their base Mara said. There were a line of holes to the surface that stretched about a mile or two. Each hole was separated by 100 feet. Mara and Kramer went to Kandahar in March 2002, one week after Operation Anaconda took place, the one that overthrew the Taliban government. Only four other people from the 829th were with them. They had to be separated and fly down to Kandahar every other week because of the limited seating on the planes that were used for other units. "Certain people had to get down there for Operation Anaconda," Mara said. The 829th was asked to turn a cafeteria into a hospital. Tents were being used as a hospital. "Tents weren't sanitary," Kramer said. "Sand storms would blow sand and dust into the tents." The army, thus, wanted a sanitary hospital. The walls of this cafeteria in the Kandahar airport terminal were bare and the wiring was horrible. The 829th repaired this, made patient rooms and blood storage rooms. The 829th did such a good job at this task as well as others that Mara was awarded the Bronze Star earlier this summer for his leadership in finishing these tasks in a timely manner. The 829th left Afghanistan on June 7. They flew to Germany, than Baltimore and finally came home on June 14, Flag Day. The 829th received a warm welcome home. Mara and Kramer said that everyone was very supportive. Kramer did not care if he was recognized or not. He was just happy to be home and thankful to everyone for their prayers. "I don't care for getting recognition," Kramer said. "I would rather just go on like nothing was happening. It was my duty and I did it." They were happy to see the patriotism though. Mara remembers leaving the O'Hare Airport in Chicago for "K-2" and people were yelling out, "Go get 'em!" Kramer said that even though there was not as much flag waving before Sept. 11, that does not mean that Americans did not appreciate what they have. "I think everyone had patriotism. They just didn't display it." he said. "You don't have to wave a flag to be patriotic." Kramer is not scheduled to go back to Afghanistan and he is not disappointed about that. He said he would like to finish his degree in Technology Education at UW-Stout and become a teacher in this area. He is a third year freshman with only one credit right now, due to being called to active duty. "I woke up from a big dream," he said. "Now I have to start all over again." The 829th at the Kandahar airport before their departure back to the United States. The 829th left Kandahar on June 7. They did many plumbing and electrical tasks during their service in "K-2" and Kandahar. Mara received a Bronze Star for his leadership in completing these tasks.

River Ridge, Seneca 3rd-graders score way above state average on reading test
River Ridge and Seneca third-graders scored far above the state average on the 2002 Wisconsin Reading Comprehension Test. A whopping 97.3 percent of the 37 River Ridge School District third-grade students scored in the proficient and advanced categories on the 2002 reading comprehension test, compared to 74.1 percent of third-graders statewide. Likewise, 90.9 percent of Seneca's 22 third-grade students scored in the proficient and advanced categories. "We had no students score in the minimal or basic categories and we feel very proud about that," said River Ridge District Administrator Mike Murphy. "It's a team effort. We've had great parental support, very conscientious teachers offering individualized instruction and a great group of students." "This is proof that SAGE (the Student Achievement Guarantee Education program) does work," said Seneca Superintendent Ron Welch, who noted that the SAGE program, which reduces class sizes and changes teacher strategies, was in effect in the third grade at Seneca for the first time last school year. "We feel real good about the reading scores and efforts of our students as well as the efforts of our teachers and the reading program." While pleased by the high reading scores, Welch said that a bit of caution is needed because percentages at small schools such as Seneca, who had 22 third-graders in 2002, can show significant fluctuation from time to time. Prairie du Chien and Wauzeka-Steuben third-graders scored slightly below the state average. Of the 89 Prairie du Chien School District third-graders, 70.8 percent scored in the proficient and advanced categories. Of the 22 Wauzeka-Steuben third-grade students, 68.2 percent scored proficient or advanced. "Reading comprehension is a fundamental skill for further academic achievement and the vast majority of our students did quite well on this year's test," said Wisconsin Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. While the 2002 scores represent a very slight decline from the previous year, Burmaster stressed that the five-year trend shows good performance and steady improvement toward the state's reading goals. "Our goal is for all third-graders to have the reading skills to score in the proficient or advanced levels," Burmaster said. "Scores on the Wisconsin Reading Comprehension Test move up or down slightly from year to year, but the gains we see over time tell a story that supports our emphasis on reading in the early grades." Of the 57,259 public school third-graders who took the 2002 Wisconsin Reading Comprehension Test, 74.1 percent scored proficient or advanced, compared with 76.5 percent last year. Another 13.9 percent of students scored in the basic level, 5.5 percent scored at the minimal level and 6.5 percent of all third-graders enrolled were not tested. Five years ago, 9.3 percent of all third-graders did not take the test and 64.8 percent scored in the proficient or advanced levels. Burmaster noted that a preliminary analysis of reading test scores for the 30 schools that have been a part of the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education program since its inception shows steady gains on average between 1998 and 2002. "We know that SAGE makes a difference in the academic achievement of students in those schools," Burmaster said. "Early learning opportunities that include smaller class sizes in elementary grades, a focus on rigorous reading instruction and devotion to quality teaching throughout a student's academic life are major parts of the formula to raise academic achievement for all students." The statewide reading test was administered to public school third-graders in March. Results reflect responses to 62 multiple-choice and two short-answer questions based on three reading passages. Under state law, the 3,368 students who scored in the minimal proficiency level on the Wisconsin Reading Comprehension Test must be evaluated to determine if they need remedial reading or other services. On the 2002 test, 351 schools had no students scoring in the minimal level, and 52 of those schools had all of their third-graders scoring in the proficient and advanced levels. Of all test-takers, 1,626 students (2.8 percent) earned all 67 reading comprehension test points. The statewide average score was 54.6 points out of a possible 67 points on the reading comprehension questions. Burmaster cautioned against judging a school or an entire school district based on the results of one test given to third-graders. "The vast majority of our third-graders demonstrate very good reading achievement. These test scores give us valuable information about how our students are doing and where we should focus our efforts to improve academic achievement," Bur-master said. "Our investments in early learning, including SAGE, and our support for strong reading instruction will help close the achievement gap and ensure that all children gain the academic foundation and skills they need for a successful future."

A home filled with love
Colleen and Wade Dull both come from large families. Colleen has 10 siblings and Wade has seven. Now they have a family with 10 children. "We just like to have the kids around," Colleen said. "When I was growing up, I remember that playing with other kids in your family was fun," Wade said. Colleen and Wade have been married for 26 years. They had four children of their own before they adopted. Colleen has been a teacher at North Crawford for her entire career, since 1978. She said that her experiences as a teacher made her want to help the children she adopted. "I've seen a lot of kids go through unstable homes," she said. "There are a lot of kids who need stability." The Dull's oldest child is Jesse, 22. He is now in San Antonio, in the Air Force. Aheren is next at 21. He goes to Marquette University. Then there is Bailey, 18 at the end of July. The youngest of the Dull's birth children is Codie, 14. They adopted Brittany, 13, in November of 1998. She had come to live with them as a foster child in August 1997. They brought in Amber, 13, and Katie, 9, to live with them as foster children in November 1999. They adopted them in August 2000. They recently took in three foster boys who are 1, 3 and 4 years old. The birth mother's rights have not been terminated yet, so the Dulls asked that their names not be released. The Dulls said that it is a different experience to adopt an older child, because they have been through a lot more trying times. "It's harder sometimes," Colleen said. "Some of these kids have been seriously neglected." The Dulls are licensed as a foster home by Wisconsin. It is required if someone wants to take care of children for a short or long term. They adopted through Catholic Charities out of La Crosse and the state of Wisconsin. They were assigned a social worker to let them know of possible adoptees. A child is put in a foster home if a judge thinks that the problems in the original home can be solved. The child could be put up for adoption if their birth parents are seen as unable to care for them. The Dulls said that sometimes a person can love their kids, but they just might not have the resources to care for them. Colleen has an analogy to explain how a parent is not able to take care of their children despite the love they have for them. "Katie loves horses, but that doesn't mean she could take care of them," Colleen said. Amber and Katie's father lives in La Crosse and they still stay in contact with him. "He loves his kids, he was just unable to take care of them," Colleen said. "The father wasn't capable of keeping a job." Brittany also visits her grandparents, who had taken care of her for a short time after her birth parents put her up for adoption. Brittany was born in Wyoming. Her grandparents in Wisconsin took custody of her and her brother and sister when Brittany's birth parents were seen as unable to care for them. Brittany's grandparents did a home study to determine the most stable home for the kids to go to. They chose the Dull's home for Brittany. Brittany's grandparents decided to separate Brittany and her siblings. Colleen said that the grandparents thought there was too much rivalry. "They thought it would be the best for her, but I feel they were wrong," Colleen said. Brittany adapted well, the Dulls said, but she missed her brother and sister. "We asked to take all of her siblings, but it didn't work out," Colleen said. "She was feeling left out from her sibling group." Amber and Katie also have siblings that they were split up with. The Dulls again tried to keep the siblings together. Their siblings, two boys, were initially put in a different foster home. They had adjusted to their situation, and the county agent did not want the boys to readjust to a new situation. Colleen and Wade said that it is a mistake to split up adopted siblings. It gives them a chance to talk to their siblings about problems they may be having. Moving a foster child from home to home is also an unfortunate situation, the Dulls said. Amber and Katie had lived in five homes in two years before the Dulls adopted them. "They were having a real struggle with what was normal," Colleen said. Colleen and Wade said that Amber especially had a hard time adapting to her new home. She was standing up to the Dull's authority and often became mad at them. Colleen said that Amber's "temper tantrums" were frightening to the other kids. "We were thinking, 'what are we getting ourselves into?'," she said. The Dulls said that Amber was trying to test their love for her when she became infuriated. She wanted to see if they would give up on her like the other families. "The more temper tantrums she threw, the more she started to realize that we weren't going to give up on her," Wade said. The Dulls were resilient though. They wanted Amber to stay, but they wanted to make sure that the feeling was mutual. Colleen tested her on this. "I told her that you can choose to stay," Colleen said. "I gave her the phone number of the county agent and told her she could get out if she wanted to." Amber did not call. The Dulls said that she calmed down after that incident. Now Amber is a good student. "She's almost a straight ÔA' student," Colleen said. The Dulls have had a lot of help raising their 10 kids, they said. Colleen's parents are only a mile away from their home. Her mother has 50 grandchildren, so she is used to dealing with large families. "There were a lot of people to call on if we needed help," Colleen said.