More Phactoids: Buried forest, teaching awards, Spielmann on ‘Noon Ball’

The countdown to our 50th anniversary continues. New since our last edition of the Log:
• About 12,000 years ago, the UWGB campus was a cool-weather boreal forest, advancing north as the glaciers retreated. Then, the glaciers came back, burying that forest a few dozen feet below the paths, trees, lawns and roads that occupy the surface landscape today. What excavators found in 1991
• It seemed like the sun always shined on outdoor commencement at UWGB (at a minimum, there was hardly a rainout for 25 years) until that streak stopped. Permanently.
• The University turns 50 this year, and Prof. Harvey Kaye’s Historical Perspectives Lecture Series turns 30 with a visit by a conservative heavyweight.
• With about 2 percent of the state’s professoriate, UW-Green Bay has excelled at winning state-teacher of the year honors, taking about 12 percent of the available statewide awards.
• The musical scene of the old BlueWhale Coffeehouse is fondly remembered by a generation of alumni.
• The old Phoenix Sports Center saw its share of pickup basketball games involving current students, alumni, faculty and staff. No less an expert than the unofficial commissioner of ‘Noon Ball,’ the retired Dan Spielmann, shares memories of favorite players.