Humanizing Our Professors:Keith West, Ph.D., Natural Science
Some might find fulfillment in a job that provides financial stability and lifetime experience. For Professor West, however, why have one exciting job when you can have several? Over the years, Professor West served as a National Park Ranger, oversaw an ice rink and bowling alley, served as a museum educator, and taught in every grade starting from third grade all the way to high school. He considers his crowning achievement to be his time at Marinette campus. As Professor West said, “The 20 years I spent on the Marinette campus have been the most rewarding of my career.”West is a professor of natural science at the Marinette campus with many educational accomplishments. He got his Bachelor of Arts degree in history at Western New Mexico University, followed by a Master of Science in Geography at the University of Idaho, and finally, his Ph. D. in Geography at the University of Milwaukee.With his two decades of experience at the campus and years of working in K-12, his biggest advice to teachers is to not let materials or methods get stale. Try new things without exiting your comfort zone. For the classroom environment itself, he advocates engaging with students and never being afraid of leaving behind old methods and trying new ways to interact with your students!Whenever Professor West is not traveling; investigating landscapes, battlefields, and old buildings; or just reading a book by a stream, he is working hard on his career and his research. Currently, he is focusing on how environmental education can be more accessible to a wider range of people. For his work in Natural Science, one of his favorite parts of his subject is maps! They always grab his attention and can provide a plethora of information. Yet there is one thing about his field that always interested him. As he said, “I’ve always been fascinated by how certain groups of people come to identify so strongly with a particular place that they feel that it is necessary to defend it.”No matter if he is driving around on a Zamboni or walking through the forests as a ranger, Professor West has been a profound influence on students over his decades of work. Yet, for Professor West, there is always more to learn out there. His favorite quote comes from a Shakespeare play Hamlet’s titular character. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” His own wisdom is just as incredible. As he said about the quote, “The universe is a much bigger place than any of us can conceive. Never believe that there isn’t anything more you can learn.” There is way more out there. Never stop learning.
The Driftwood #33: Faculty Profiles
—Aidann Woodcock, Profiles Editor
UWGB’s Spring Break is March 13-17, and even if you have to work instead of sitting on a sunny beach in the Bahamas, it’s important to take advantage of the lack of classes and practice some self-care. You’ll need to rejuvenate so you are ready to finish the second half of the semester as strongly as you can. (Without saying “finish strong,” because that’s grammatically incorrect. Rant over.). According to Lifehacker.com, “Self-care helps prevent burnout, reduces the negative psychological and physical effects of stress, and helps you focus on what is true and important.”
Do you need a quick and cute gift for a friend but want it to be homemade? Try crochet kits! These individual sets sell cheap, so the only real thing you’ll be spending is your time and heartfelt effort. And who wouldn’t love that?
One night while at my family’s house for dinner, my brother presented a project to my husband; he’d purchased a steel model kit from our local crafts store, a tank, but figured out shortly after that it was more work than he thought it would be. My husband accepted, having put together a few already, including a replica of an old Farmall tractor, a train set, and a mail truck. The process is more tedious than difficult, but it’s well worth the shiny little display piece.
Metal Earth® models consist of a few steel sheets with perforated, pre-cut parts. To put them together, you simply snip them from the cut-out and bend the tabs into place, creating a 360° replica of anything from a Transformer to the Golden Gate Bridge, both of which will surprise you with their stunning detail. And unlike the plastic models of today, these are highly affordable with costs ranging from $5 to $30. So, if you’re ready to make this your ultimate hobby, I advise you to pick up a pair of tweezers. Your fingers will thank me later.
If there’s one plant someone can grow by mistake, it’s a potato. All you have to do is forget about it for a few weeks, and the next thing you know, there’s more eyes in the room than you can hide from. Whether you want to capitalize on your mistake or simply grow them on purpose, here are some tips you don’t want to forget.
There are unique characteristics of this gift shop that set it apart, including fun dairy facts that are posted throughout the store. There is also a mini book display that has copies of The Firestorm at Peshtigo for sale, which is a nonfiction title that showcases local history. This shop not only shows support to local vendors, but it also provides a welcoming atmosphere and everyday items that are great for thoughtful gifts.Stop by Seguin’s House of Cheese every day of the week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Featured in the photo (above), there is a chalkboard in the store that is labeled “Welcome to Green Bay: Tell us where you are from” that has signatures from visitors from all over the U.S. I thought it was neat that this wall displayed the many visitors that had the chance to explore Green Bay and leave with Wisconsin-made mementos. Another characteristic that displays the overall local support are the signs that are located next to some of the products, which share a description of the company that made it, their mission, and their location in Wisconsin. This down-to-earth store is welcoming and shares the love of buying local, plus helpful customer service. Visit LoCo WisCo Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Something about teen-dramas always keeps me hooked, and this one is no exception. This show puts a fun and unique twist on the concept of werewolves. Wolfblood is about a teenage girl named Maddy who has a deep secret that no one else can know about—this secret, of course, being that she is a “wolfblood.” Unlike werewolves, wolfbloods don’t turn into a humanoid wolf monster; instead they transform into normal wolves. Maddy and her family have to keep this power a secret as normal people see them as monsters. Out of the blue, an inexperienced wolfblood starts attending Maddy’s school, and now she has to teach him how to keep the secret and to stay out of trouble. Each episode, the two have to find ways to keep everyone from finding out what they are, on top of trying to hide their wolfy urges. Wolfblood seems to scratch that inner itch of mine that wants to be free and run in the wild. The show is meant for a younger audience, but that doesn’t keep it from being entertaining; it just makes it easier to digest. The graphics might be old and cheesy, but that just adds to the charm of it. I highly recommend people check it out if fantasy teen-drama is something that one either enjoys or wants to start getting into. Free to watch on YouTube.
Voltron: Defender of the Universe: In 1984, World Events Productions released the first episode of an anime-ish cartoon—a mashup of two series by Japan’s Toei Entertainment—that would take America’s permed mullets by storm. The premise of Voltron: Defender of the Universe was fresh and fun: Five space explorers are sent from Earth to the planet Arus to bring back Voltron, a mighty robot that, as the legend went, had once brought peace to the galaxy. With a new threat looming from a villain named King Zarkon, the Earth explorers know that Voltron may be the galaxy’s last hope. The men (sigh) find Princess Allura and her mentor Coran are the last of Arus’s people, and fortunately, the two are just waiting for five space explorers to drop down out of the sky. Because as luck would have it, they do know where Voltron is—underneath Allura’s own castle, broken up into five robot lions that can join together to form Voltron. The explorers all happen to be men, and for some ungodly reason, Allura hands over the lion keys to all five without wanting to pilot one herself. Never mind that as the daughter of the Voltron force’s last captain, Allura knows more than any of them about how to make the lions roar. Fortunately, explorer Sven has the good sense to get injured and sent to a space hospital in episode four, so my girl Allura could don her pink space suit and join the darn force as she was OBVIOUSLY BORN TO DO. 
Each one of the fives stories featured in Carroll’s debut horror comic anthology features, in some form, woods—ventured into, avoided, emerged from. I first got into Carroll’s work when her short comic 
After her town is besieged by monsters and she is left stranded, high school student Yuna meets Kawachan, a silent, sweet individual dressed in the costume of a local theme park’s mascot. The two become fast friends as they travel through the Japanese countryside, searching for Yuna’s missing friends and family, dodging ravenous monsters along the way. And then there are the opportunistic people they meet along the way, who might prove to be just as dangerous as the monsters. Yuna & Kawachan is a page-turner in every sense of the word, except that, as a webcomic, it doesn’t have pages to flip. Perhaps it’s time to think of a new word for digital properties. Scroller? Page-clicker? Whatever you’d like to call it, with its lovable cast and gripping story, Yuna & Kawachan is one comic you won’t want to put down. Read it for free 
Welcome to the future, where sorcerers and humans fight for power, devils run rampant, and acid falls from the sky. After an encounter with a sorcerer leaves our protagonist, Caiman, with a reptile head and no memory of his past life, he vows to hunt down the sorcerer responsible with the help of his friend Nikaido. This, of course, involves biting the heads of every sorcerer he encounters. Simple, right?
Meditative and Ghibli-esque, The Girl From the Other Side follows a human girl and her monster caretaker whose touch could curse her. It’s very sweet, and the scenes between the girl, Shiva, and the being she refers to only as Teacher is surprisingly calming. There’s more going on in the broader world around them, of course. Nagabe unravels the workings of our characters’ world slowly, allowing us to learn about the world naturally through our characters—particularly the naive Shiva, who has yet to realize that she has been abandoned by those she loves in the Outside, where cursed beings reside. Nagabe’s artstyle is easily one of the most endearing in manga today. The backgrounds resemble Monet paintings, simple and lovingly rendered. The character designs themselves are just as gorgeous, making The Girl From the Other Side a feast for the eyes as well as the heart..
Brandon Sanderson is renowned in the fantasy community for his interactive style of world-building and the deeply interesting characters he writes. The Way of Kings is no exception and is considered by many to be the first novel of his greatest and possibly longest series. The story follows multiple characters but begins with the protagonist Kaladin as he is branded a slave for being falsely labeled a defector from the military. We follow Kaladin’s journey to his station as a bridgeman in a bridge crew. In the war against another race, the Parshendi, bridge crews carry bridges to span across crevasses but are also on the front lines of battle. It is in this horrible station that Kaladin proves himself a leader, and our unlikely hero is born. Along with Kaladin, the story also follows Shallan, a young girl who seeks to become a ward of the scholar Princess Jasnah, while hiding dark secrets of her family and her past. Will Kaladin find his redemption? Will Shallan’s secrets come to light? Having read much of Sanderson’s work, I would agree with the consensus that The Way of Kings is the start to his magnum opus. As a first act, it is compelling and thought-provoking. This book truly takes the realm of fantasy to new heights. The characters are complex and easy to love, and the world that Sanderson builds is vivid and awe-inspiring. I would definitely recommend securing a copy and hopping aboard this series while it is still growing!
“Winter is coming.” These are the words spoken to the children of House Stark, the rulers of the North of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. It is a morbid reminder that the great summer will end in a bitter cold that will last for decades. Yet a different morbid message arrived well before winter: The death of a friend. Eddard, the head of House Stark, learns that his close companion was murdered, and it falls upon him to discover the truth. Yet the further he digs into the mystery, the more he unravels the secrets of the Kingdom, secrets that threaten the stability of the realm and his family. It becomes a game of plots, of murders, of betrayals, but most of all, of thrones.
After escaping certain death in a city under siege with the help of a turncoat prison guard, vagrant Wilfrid quickly finds themself in the hands of enemy soldiers seeking a way inside. Luckily for Wilfrid, this is just as they planned. Now, they can lead the margrave’s enemies back through the tunnels that run underneath the city in pursuit of the vengeance that they have dreamt about since they were a child.
If you are looking for a unique podcast with just three dudes sitting in a room talking about life, then you have come to the right place. Distractible is a podcast hosted by Mark Fischbach, Wade Barnes, and Bob Muyskens. These individuals are close friends who are usually known for their individual YouTube channels, especially Mark who is famously known as Markiplier. The guys like to come together to share their stories and interesting views on life. The concept of the podcast seems simple as the guys discuss different topics each episode, such as aging and pet stories. Yet they always know how to keep it new and fresh. Since the guys are very close they are really good about matching each other’s energy and getting on each other’s nerves in all the right ways. The humor can be crude and vulgar, but for me, that didn’t take away from the unique and fun conversation. The episodes never fail to make me smile and always seem to get a chuckle out of me. I’m never left feeling bored or unsatisfied while listening to this podcast. I highly recommend you check out Distractible if a discussion podcast with a twist is something that piques your interest.
Rachel Scanlon and McKenzie Goodwin host this hilarious podcast. The two lesbians cover an extreme range of different topics, from talking about queer media, to their own queer experiences. They even have guests on the show who are popular in the queer community, such as fellow comedians and influencers. All of their segments are pretty much exclusively LGBTQ+ and are extremely relatable for anyone in the community. Scanlon and Goodwin riff off each other and their experiences as queer women in ways that have had me crying with laughter. Every one of their hour-long episodes is a total ab workout for me! As podcast hosts, they are everything audiences want them to be and more. They are talented comedy personalities that never lose their relatable edge. Two Dykes and a Mic is a must-listen for everyone and is released once a week. Get ready to laugh, and go find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.