Kristopher Lee Anstine, born in Sedalia, Mo., has worked for University Archives for 5 years.  He graduated High School in Smithton, Mo., then spent two years at Westminster College in Fulton and took basic and intermediate Russian courses at Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif, Kris  achieved and AA degree for State Fair Community College in Sedalia and a BA in Interntional Studies (European) from the University of Missouri—Columbia.  While he was a student at UMC Kris worked in the Physical Processing Unit.

Kris loves animals, but his current lease does not allow him to have pets.

In his leisure time, Kris enjoys reading science fiction/fantasy, historical fiction, classics, but does not limit himself to those genres.  One of his favorite authors is Bernard Cornwell.  Kris likes to cook and bakes “a mean pie.”  Having recently read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kris is interested in researching sustainable and local agriculture. And, he reiterates, he likes to read.

Hobbies include cooking and reading foreign language materials, cultural subject matter, world religions and geography.  “I speak a little bit of a lot of different languages, and am more or less fluent in several.  My brother and I are researching building our own straw-bale house.”  Kris also likes to listen to jazz, standards, classic rock and old-school country.

Where is the coolest place Kris has been?  “Plzeň, Czech Republic, birthplace of Pilsner beer.”

Asked who should portray him in a movie of his life, Kris replied: “I once had someone tell me I looked like John Lithgow in the movie “Buckaroo Bonzai”; I still don’t know if that was intended as a compliment.”

Anything else? “I’m a closet James Taylor fan… and I was in glee club in high school…”

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Gena Scott, of the Libraries Development Office, was born in Mexico, Mo.  She has worked for MU for over 12 years and at MU Libraries for over 8 years.  Gena holds a Bachelor of Educational Studies and Master’s degree in Educational and Counseling Psychology from MU; and is currently working on “what I hope will be a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.”

The animals in Gena’s life include a dog named Carson and two cats—Ernie and Versace.

In her leisure time, Gena enjoys reading and watching movies, traveling with her family, swimming and knitting.  Hobbies include quirky movies and U.S. history. “I have 5 adult children (3 are stepdaughters) and 4 step grandchildren and I enjoy being involved in their lives.”

The coolest place Gena has ever been is Germany.  “The castles are wonderful.

Who should Gena like to portray her in a movie? “Kermit the Frog.”

Gena left us with one final comment:  “I love working for the MU Libraries. I get to meet a lot of interesting and intelligent individuals.”

Wayne Sanders, in the Catalog Dept. at Ellis, was born in Saint Louis County, Mo.   He has worked for MU Libraries for 14 years, 8 years full time.  Wayne holds a B.A. in History & Anthropology from Vanderbilt University, an M.A. in Anthropology from MU and an MLS (Master of Library Science), also from MU>

Wayne’s animal companions include 2 German shepherds (mother & son), 2 cats  (1 calico & 1 black) and fish   His leisure time pursuits include: “organizing (duh!), playing with the grandkids; relaxing (the antithesis of the former two), visiting, and the occasional adult beverage.”  Wayne’s hobbies are genealogy and fishing.

Where is the coolest place he’s ever visited? Hawaii   

 

Ryan McAllister, who works at UMLD, was born in Fayette, Mo. “It was the closest hospital to Brunswick, Mo., where I grew up.”  Ryan has worked for MU Libraries since March 2005 having begun his career here as student staff.  Ryan holds a B.A. in Classics and is pursuing teaching.

 

Ryan has “a cross-eyed, barn cat named William Wallace Spartacus Casper McAllister. He goes by Wallace.”  Ryan enjoys watching movies (preferably not horror), listening to music (anything but country, though Garth Brooks is acceptable), and running.

 

Ryan’s hobbies?  “I am a huge tennis fan: Go Federer! I also am a huge Mizzou football and Chiefs fan. I enjoy languages, especially Latin and Italian. Actually, I like all things Italian. I also enjoy traveling, cooking, and food in general. Some would say I am obsessed with In-N-Out burger; I will neither confirm nor deny this, though I did once spend 50 dollars on a cab ride just to make a trip there.”

 

The coolest place Ryan has ever visited is Villa Jovis, Capri, Italy.  “It was the villa of Emperor Tiberius and has a grand view of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. There is also a spot where he could dispose of unwanted slaves, and the Blue Grotto is not too far away.”

 

We asked Ryan who should play him in a movie.  “People have told me I remind them of Jason Biggs and Seth Rogen, though I think I would prefer Sacha Baron Cohen.

 

Other interesting facts we learned about Ryan: “I can blow self sustaining bubbles and do the worm. I make something called sausage bread; it’s pretty awesome. I took a screw from the set of E.R. I was once, unknowingly, interviewed for the O’Reilly Factor when I was in NYC; they asked my brother the question initially; he had to turn to me for the answer.”

Charlotte Mustain, who works in Serials Check-in within Technical Services, hails from Ashland, Mo.  Charlotte graduated from Southern Boone County High School in Ashland and has worked for MU Libraries for 33 years.

Charlotte has a dog named Buddy, and enjoys camping and reading.  In her leisure time she likes to work on genealogy and do other historical things.

Where is the coolest place she’s ever visited? The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone

Charlotte thinks Sophia Myles should play her in a movie.

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Renee A. Ratna works in Interlibrary Loan at the Health Sciences Library and has been with MU Libraries for a little over three years.  She is originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas.  Renee holds a Bachelor’s degree with a major in Library Science from MU.

Renee has two cats, Sebastian and Gracie, both adopted from Second Chance.  “Actually, it was at the Thanksgiving Feast at Ellis Library two years ago that I met Sebastian (who was brought in by Second Chance).   I thought he was gorgeous and had a bit of a regal air about him.  It was fate that brought us together!!”

Leisure pursuits include reading, watching a little TV, shopping, and decorating, and Renee says her hobbies are antiquing, traveling, dancing, visiting museums, and movies.  In a movie of her own life, Renee would like to see Sandra Bullock portray her.  “I like the way she portrays some of her characters – sweet, and maybe a little quirky.”

India is the coolest place Renee has ever visited.  “It was a very busy, colorful and exciting place to visit.  Also, a bit mysterious.  I loved the bazaars, the graciousness of the people, the spicy food (although I missed having salad –  salad over there does not include lettuce, dressing or croutons!) and the colorful clothing.     The custom of having tea around 3:00 pm was a daily ritual that I really enjoyed.  I will never forget my visit to the Taj Mahal.  It was a beautiful and ethereal sight to behold.”

In closing, Renee left us with some thoughts on modern technology: “I really do appreciate the technology we have today.  I can’t imagine not having a cell phone handy at all times, or visiting the internet for directions.  However, I find it sometimes a bit overwhelming to try and keep up with the constant changes.  Maybe that’s why I enjoy taking a break now and then from ‘modern life’ by going to antique stores, flea markets and museums!”

Jee Davis, in the Catalog Dept., was born in Mokpo, South Korea and has worked for MU Libraries for two years and about 3 months.  Her education includes a BA in English and English Literature and a Master’s of Science in Information Science.

 

Jee owns a big dog named Boobie.  She says she used to travel the world in her leisure time, but now enjoys fantasy football and watching sports (basketball, baseball and football).  One of Jee’s hobbies is Korean knotting.

We asked Jee where the coolest place she had ever visited was.  She replied, “I traveled so many cool places in the world, so I am going to pick at least two cities: Barcelona and Prague. There are many fantastic buildings by Gaudi in Barcelona (some pictures of Gaudi buildings: http://images.google.com/images?q=gaudi%20barcelona&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=vi). Ever since I visited the city I have become a fan of Gaudi.  

“Prague is another cool city that I visited. The architectural style there is very different from the Western Europe. There are many fun things happening on the street every day such as puppet shows, flea markets, live music, etc. People are super nice in Prague, at least ten years ago or so.”

Shannon Cary, in Administration, was born right here in Columbia, Mo.!  She has worked at MU Libraries for about 5 years.  Her education includes an English degree from MU, a Masters in English from Auburn University and an MLS from Louisiana State University.  The team mascot was a tiger at all three schools!

Shannon has a cat named Cereal, and enjoys playing with her two boys, reading, watching movies, yoga, cooking and baking.

“probably one of the coolest things I did was see Pink Floyd’s The Wall performed at the Berlin Wall (or what was left of it) in 1990.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_-_Live_in_Berlin

In a movie of her life, Shannon would like to be portrayed by Sandra Bullock.

Yasuyo Knoll, who works in Circulation / Photocopy at the Health Sciences Library, was born in Kawaguchi, Saitama prefecture, Japan and has worked at MU for 10 years. Yasuyo’s education includes Urawa Jitsugyo High School (Saitama, Japan), Associate degrees in Education, Japanese Literature, and Library Sciences at Seitoku College (Chiba, Japan), and a BA degree in Anthropology at UMC. 

Yasuyo has three dogs: Blue (a black Lab), Sam (a black Lab mix) and Momo (a Shiba inu).  Yasuyo also owns two American short hair cats, Satsuki and May.  Leisure time is spent gardening and hobbies include baking.  Yasuyo is also interested in farm animals and wants a small petting zoo at home in the future.

Yasuyo thinks the coolest place she has ever visited is the Great Wall in China (not its namesake, the restaurant in Columbia).

Who should play Yasuyo in a movie?  “Audrey Hepburn.  She got black hair like mine. (^_^) “

 

Michael Hopkins, from the Journalism Library, was born in Farmington, Mo.  He has been a staff member for 3 years, but worked for four years prior to that as a work-study student.  Michael holds a BA in Computer Science from MU.

Michal owns a cat named Franklin and spends much of his leisure time watching movies, listening to music or reading.  His hobbies include playing guitar, music of any kind and screen printing.

Michael thinks the coolest place he’s ever visited is Washington, DC.

Michael Edward Holland, Special Collections, Archives & Rare Books (SCARaB), hails from Oklahoma City, OK.  Michael has worked for MU Libraries for 13 years, before which he worked 8 years as University Archivist at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.  Before that he was the Assistant Director of the Local Records Division of the Texas State Archives & Library in Austin, Texas.  Michael’s education includes:  Classen High School, Oklahoma City; B.S. in Chemistry and Physiology, Oklahoma State University; MA in European History, Oklahoma State University, doctoral work in the History of Science at Johns Hopkins University; NEH fellowship in book conservation and preservation at Yale.

When asked about pets, Michael replied “Cats are the limbs of Satan and I have eschewed them since 1995.”

Michael spends his leisure time reading history and also crime thriller fiction and listening to Delta and Mid-West Blues.

The coolest place he’s ever visited? “Moscow, it has the brooding and somber spirit that allows one to feel the presence of Rurik Grand Dukes and Tsars such as Ivan the Terrible and the early Romanovs.  A very different feel from St. Petersburg which is much more like a Western European City.”

We asked what actor (living or dead) should play Michael in a movie of his life.  He replied, “I think a movie of my life would be an amazingly uninteresting and tedious film, but probably Charles Laughton.”

What else should we know about Michael?  “In November my wife, Debbie, and I will have been married 29 years; we met while I was the high school chemistry teacher and she was the high school librarian.”

Our Staff Spotlight recipients for July 2009 are Colleen Smith and Daniel Akins.

Kathryn “Colleen” Smith was born in Mountain Grove, Missouri, but she never lived there. Colleen received  a B.F.A. in Art from Culver-Stockton College.

Colleen began working at Ellis Library in the Gifts section of Acquisitions in February 1989. She took a position in the Cataloging Dept. in 1991. She quit to stay home with the kids in 1999. She worked from home for MOBIUS for 5 years. While working for MOBIUS, Colleen worked on deduping and other cataloging projects for many of the MOBIUS clusters throughout the state. She started back at Ellis full-time again in November 2006.

 

Colleen has had 15-year-old Silkie since kittenhood.  Her family recently adopted a 3-year-old Border Collie mix named Shadow.  Shadow’s job is to help fill the void that will be left in their house when daughter Sarina leaves for college at UMKC in the fall.  A tall order for a small dog, but he’s so sweet he might just pull it off.

Colleen loves to read with her children.  Thanks to daughter Brittany, she believes that she has read every book that there is in the Midway Heights Elementary Library about dinosaurs (some of them more than once!).

 

Colleen is the nursery attendant for the 8:00 a.m. service at Broadway Christian Church (Yes, that’s right. She gets up early on Sunday mornings to go to church and play with babies!).  She is also a member of BCC’s Chancel bell choir which typically performs at the 9:30 and 11:00 services once a month during the school year.

 

Colleen likes gardening.  She considers her flower gardens to be Heirloom gardens because so many of the flower bulbs and plants have been given to her by her mother and grandmother.  Anyone who also likes gardening and would be interested in exchanging plants is invited to contact her.

 

Colleen has not done a lot of traveling, but the “Praying Hands” sculpture in Webb City, MO (birthplace of Colleen’s husband, Randy) is pretty awesome. Conceived and constructed by Jack Dawson when he was a college student, the 32-foot hands are a reminder of the simple but profound act of prayer.

 

Colleen doesn’t think she would want a movie to be made of her life, but thinks that Lily Tomlin could do a tour with a comedy act based on it. She’s sure that her family could supply Lily with plenty of material!

 

Just in case you didn’t know, Ruthe Morse (who also works in Cat. Man.) is Colleen’s sister. Their brother, Sam, is the manager of the Peace Nook.  Their older sister, Dorothy, who now lives in Kansas, is a Mizzou alumnus and worked at the Journalism Library when she was a student here.

 

Colleen and husband Randy will celebrate their 24^th wedding anniversary in October.  In addition to 2 daughters, Sarina 18 and Brittany 10, Colleen also has a step-son, Collin, who lives in Tulsa with his wife, Maura, and 2 sons: Sean and Aidan. They will turn 3 and 2 in October.

 

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Daniel Akins, originally from Mexico, MO, worked off-and-on at various jobs at MU while hewas enrolled in school.  Since earning his Bachelor’s in General Studies he has been working for MU Libraries (about 7 years) and works at UMLD, on of the University’s remote storage facilities for library materials.

Daniel has two cats and enjoys hiking, praciticing Tai Chi and playing video and other kinds of games.  He also likes learning new things, listening to music and playing around with his computer.

Asked where is the coolest place he’s ever visited, Daniel replied: “I spent about a week in Penang, Malaysia.  It was a lot of fun with wonderful people and great food.”

Daniel thinks Charlie Chaplin would best portray him in a movie of his life.

Our Staff Spotlight recipients for June are Rebecca Graves and Mathew Stephen.

Rebecca S. Graves was born in Buffalo, New York and has worked for  MU Libraries for 12 1/2 years.  Currently serving as an Information Services Librarian at the Health Sciences Library, she holds a Bachelors degree in English, a Masters in Library Sciences and is widley travelled and a compulsive reader.

Rebecca and her family have 3 cats named Aisha, Chubby and Nike, plus a dog named Miko.  Rebecca spends her leisure time reading, enjoying the company of family and friends, dancing, bike riding and hiking with the dog.  Her hobbies include reading about history, science and human behavior/anthropology, belly dancing, plants & birds.

Rebecca has difficulty choosing one place in her travels to highlight.  When pressed, she responded “I’m going with Istanbul, Turkey.  It’s such a wonderful blend of East and West, past and present.”

In a movie of her life Rebecca feels she should be portrayed by Jodie Foster.

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Mathew Stephen, originally from Alamogordo, New Mexico, works in LTS and has been wtih MU Libraries for 3 1/2 years. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering.

Mathew assures us that  there is no such thing as leisure time when you have kids.  “The little time I do have I try catching up on the TV shows I don’t have time to watch during the week.”  His biggest hobby is collecting Legos.

Mathew believes the coolest place he has ever visited is Thailand, and that he should be played by Nicolas Cage.  He says he’s “been told I look a little like Nicolas Cage.  Ok, you can stop laughing now.”

Born in Hinsdale Illinois, Amy Louise Lana has woked for Mizzoue for 4 1/2 years, and at MU Libraries for 3. Amy works in the Acquisitions Department.

Amy holds a BA in Classical Archaeology from the University of Evanston, an MA in Classical Studies with an emphasis on Greek language and literature from Loyola University-Chicago, and is ABD on a PhD in Greej /archaeology at Mizzou.

Amy’s hobbies include reading, sports and gardening. In her leisure time she enjoys reading and watching NFL football.

Three cats allow themselves to be called Amy’s pets: K’Eleyr (18), Pandora (5), and Robin (2-ish–he was a stray).

Amy thinks the coolest place she has ever been is Greece; she spent a summer there on an archaeological dig site at Stymphalos, and a year on a Flubright scholarship which included digging at the site of Ancient Corinth.

Amy would like to have Audrey Hepburn portray her in a movie of her life.

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Stephen Paul Clayton was born in Kansas City Missouri. Steve works at Journalism in the Newspaper Library, and has worked for MU Libraries for 8 years–this time around. He previously worked for MU Libraries for 10 years, from 1986 to 1996.

Steve graduate from Parkwood Centrial High School in St. Louis in 1972, matriculated from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, TN in 1976, and finished Graduate School at MU in 1986.

Steve has three cats: Mulder, Curby and Hyacinth.

Steve’s hobbies include stamp collecting, opera nd classical music, architecture and the history of the United States presidents. In his leisure time he enjoys reading, cooking, political activities, music and painting.

The coolest place Steve has ever been is Quebec City, Canada, and he thinks either Bob Newhart or Harvey Korman would best portray him in a movie.