The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 18

The Capital Times Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006 C2 Harvard prof calls McKay a pillar Petition: Buiy new power line Safety, property values cited Gates McKay Wire Safe hopes a milelong portion of the line that passes Savannah Village subdivision in Waunakee will be buried. The group cites safety concerns and worries that the line could hurt property values. By Aaron Nathans The Capital Times All students of African-American literature and history owe a debt to Nellie McKay, said Henry Louis Gates a noted scholar and author. McKay, a former chairwoman of the department of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died on Sunday after a lengthy battle with liver cancer.

Gates, chairman of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University, was coeditor with McKay on the Norton Anthology of African American Literature, released in 1997. It is widely regarded as the definitive collection of works by American black authors. Its a sad day for all of us who love African-American literature and culture, said Gates in a phone interview on Monday night. In 1997, Time Magazine selected Gates as one of the 25 Most Influential Americans.

Nellie McKay was one of the pillars of our field, he said. Gates noted that McKay was trained at Harvard, and was part of a generation that brought literary criticism of black authors into English and American history departments at historically white universities. The anthology, which covers 250 years of history, includes such writers as Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker. It includes such works as the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave," and W.E.B. Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk.

Without Nellie, that project would not have come to fruition," Gates said. All students of African-American studies who use the Norton anthology owe a huge debt to Nellie McKay. Gates said he and McKay planned the anthology together, reading the entries, choosing them, and editing the text. Gates and McKay were the general editors, but there were 11 editors in all. Gates said McKay was a great peacemaker among 11 monumental egos." I wanted to nominate her for the Nobel Peace Prize," Gates said.

I loved her very much, and Ill miss her dearly. In 1988, McKay was offered the chairmanship of the African-American studies department at Harvard, and turned it town to stay at Madison, said Phil Certain, former dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison. McKay recommended Gates for the job. He won the position, and has been there ever since. I will be eternally grateful for Nellie McKay as one of the individuals who recommended me for the job which has brought me so much happiness and proved to be so rewarding, Gates said.

Every time he tried to return the favor, he said, her reply was, No, Im happy in Madison. After The Capital Times published her age as 75 on Monday, several readers wrote to suggest that was unlikely. The age came from personnel records at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters and Science. Nellie was sort of ageless, said Frances Smith Foster, professor of English and womens studies at Emory University, and an editor on the anthology. McKay walked to work from her Monroe Street area home almost every day, she said.

She always looked the same until she got ill. Foster said she had been with McKay when she died. A steady stream of visitors came by her room at HospiceCare in Fitchburg on Saturday, she said. She described McKay as a great mentor to students. She made Madison a place where people were happy to go and visit and work.

And then she would work you really hard. The University of Wisconsin Foundation is accepting gifts in McKays memory for the Lorraine Hansberry Visiting Professorship Fund. Checks may be made out to the UW Foundation with In Memory of Nellie McKay on the memo line. They can be sent to: University of Wisconsin Foundation, US Bank Lockbox, Box 78807, Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807. E-mail: anathansmadison.com By Ann Marie Ames Correspondent for The Capital Times WAUNAKEE Some residents are hoping to bury a proposed high-voltage power line in signatures.

Wire Safe Wisconsin, a group that has organized to fight a 138-kilovolt line proposed by the American Transmission is circulating a petition in an attempt to bury a segment of the high-voltage transmission line that will pass through Waunakee. The proposed line would connect the North Madison Substation in the town of Vienna with the Huiskamp Substation in the town of West-port. According to ATC, the line is necessary to support a power grid that is operating near capacity in Dane County. Within weeks, ATC will take a proposal to the Public Service Commission to get the commissions approval to run the transmission line along Highway 113 and County I. The proposed line would pass Waunakees newest school, Arboretum Elementaiy, which is scheduled to open for the 2006-07 school year.

Wire Safe claims it is not trying to nix the entire 8-mile project. Rather, it hopes a mile-long portion of the line that passes Savannah Village, a subdivision along Arboretum Drive in Waunakee, will be buried. The group cites safety concerns along with a fear that a high-voltage line could hurt property values in their The petition opposes high-voltage lines and encourages the Waunakee Village Board to mandate that any power lines over 69 kilovolts within village boundaries be buried. ATC has stated that burying this portion of the line would increase the cost of the estimated 1 1 .4 million project by $4 million. Robin Steams, founding member of Wire Safe, argues that the cost would be minimal if divided among energy consumers throughout Dane County.

However, Annemarie Newman, spokeswoman for ATC, said high-voltage lines are under state jurisdiction, and out of the villages control. If Waunakee were to require undergrounding of this portion of the line, the $4 million in increased cost would be shared by everyone in Dane County, Newman said. Despite the size of the increase, the village of Waunakee does not have the jurisdiction to impose rate hikes outside of the village. That is why ATC is under state jurisdiction. Stoughton schools head picked Hotter will lead on interim basis By Karyn Saemann Dibble said the board met Correspondent for The Capital Times STOUGHTON A longtime Watertown superintendent with professional and family ties to Stoughton will head the Stoughton Area School District through July.

The School Board on Monday night voted to hire Suzanne Hotter, 65, as interim superintendent as it searches for a permanent replacement for Myron Palomba, who abruptly resigned last month. Hotter will begin Feb. 1 School Board President Nic tique map business, is a former social studies teacher and guidance counselor at Stoughton High School. Two of her five children graduated from the school, and she worked as the districts special programs coordinator from 1984 to 1986. One of her seven grandchildren is in kindergarten this year in Stoughton.

I still know some people there and I have always had great respect for the district, Hotter said. Dibble said the district has begun working with the Wisconsin Association of School Boards to find a permanent replacement for Palomba. Mary Gavigan, the districts assistant superintendent for instructional services, has been acting superintendent since December. Hotter, who now lives in the tiny eastern Dane County village of Rockdale, said in an interview today that her husband, who now runs an an BIHTIIS with Hotter Monday night and we were very impressed with her qualifications-and how she presented herself. Honors bestowed on Hotter in her many years in education include the 2004 Outstanding Educator Award from the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.

To be recognized by her peers was extremely meaningful, Hotter said. Its just an extra nice thing. Hotter was superintendent for the Watertown Unified School District from 1990 to 2002. Prior to that, she was an elementaiy principal and director of curriculuiy and instruction in that district. She said she retired in 2002 to spend more time with her family.

She came out of retirement for a few months in 2003 to serve as ah interim superintendent in Evansville. Hotter said she aspired to be a superintendent because she wanted to be in a position to make changes and improve education on a broader scale. As interim superintendent in Stoughton, she said, one of her primary duties will be to offer insights, as an outsider, about ways that the district can improve. That means some good listening on my part, to all staff, about ways that things can be made even better, she said. This Weekend Onlyl January 28-29 10-4 rona, a daughter, Jan.

22. WAHL, Megan and Seth, Marshall, a daughter, Jan. 23. ST. MARYS HOSPITAL AGUINAGA, Tanya and Rudy, Mauston, twin sons, Jan.

22. BELMONT, Mr. and Mrs. Waylon, Wauzeka, a son, Jan. 23.

BUSKAGER, Kristin and Eric, Sun Prairie, a son, Jan. 22. GARDNER, Heidi and Tony, Cottage Grove, a son, Jan. 23. KNEEBONE, Rikki, and AVERY, Gerald, Madison, a daughter, Jan.

23. POWERS, Amy and Chad, DeFor-est, a son, Jan. 23. Mother-infant visiting hours are set by mothers at both hospitals. Fathers, grandparents and siblings may visit any time at both For a listing of births and deaths for the past week, see www.madi- son.com.

MERITER HOSPITAL BENDER, Anne and Matt, Madison, a son, Jan. 23. DICKEY, Alex and Corky, Sun Prairie, a daughter, Jan. 23. HARTMAN, Jessica, Sun Prairie, a daughter, Jan.

23. KHOMYK, Zoya and Mykola, Madison, a daughter, Jan. 22. MARSH, Caroline and Brett, Cross Plains, a daughter, Jan. 23.

MARTINEZ, Eugenia and Fabian, Sun Prairie, a daughter, Jan. 23. RADECKE, Angie and Chad, -Stoughton, a daughter, Jan. 23. REYES, Michelle and Juan, Sun Prairie, a son, Jan.

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