Royal Purple

Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: News

Nolan

Poorman

Two months after the deaths of UW-Whitewater professor P.B Poorman and senior Kelly Nolan, few conclusions have been drawn from their cases.

--Kelly Nolan--

Detectives from the Madison Police Department continue their investigation into the death of 22-year-old Nolan.

Nolan vanished after a night out drinking with friends on State Street on June 23. Her decomposed body was found two weeks later on July 9 in a ditch 10 miles south of Madison.

"The status of the investigation is that it is still ongoing," Officer Mike Hanson of the Madison Police Department said. "There are two full-time officers from Madison and two sheriffs deputies from Dane County working on the case. It is a matter of talking to a lot of people and reviewing the evidence."

Many questions still remain and few details have been released in Nolan's case. The coroner has withheld the cause of death, and it is not known if Nolan was sexually assaulted.

Nolan was a senior in the College of Arts & Communication, and her Facebook account listed her as both public relations and graphic design majors.

"She was pretty quiet and shy, but very friendly," Joe Pariso, a senior journalism major who took persuasion and graphic design classes with Nolan last semester, said.

A memorial fund has been set up by Nolan's graduating class of 2003 at Waunakee High School. Donations can be sent to the St. John's Memorial Fund for Kelly Nolan, 209 South St., Waunakee, WI 53597. A memorial tree has already been donated, and monetary donations are still being accepted for a permanent memorial.

--P.B. Poorman--

Paula "P.B." Poorman, a UW-Whitewater psychology professor, was killed in a car crash on I-90 near Edgerton on June 27 by an alleged drunk driver.

Nineteen-year-old Samantha Young, from Mount Horeb, is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle as a result. Young's jury trial begins Oct. 12.

"This is a huge loss to our campus family," Interim Chancellor Richard Telfer said in a news release. "Dr. Poorman was a leader not only in her department, but also on campus and in the region. In addition to being a caring and effective teacher, P.B. served as a mentor for many undergraduate researchers and coordinated the analysis of the 2005 Campus Climate Study. We send our sympathy to her family and friends. Her colleagues, students and friends on campus will miss her greatly."

The university created a "Book of Remembrance" for Poorman online. Faculty, students and former classmates have signed the book, leaving memories for others to read.

"When I think of P.B., I see a fast-moving woman, intensely energetic, single-minded in her determination, and probably wearing a Hawaiian shirt," Paula Mohan, a political science professor, wrote in the online book.

"If people become the sum of all of their experiences, P.B. was a fusion of such an amalgam of contradictory and disparate influences that she couldn't help but be totally unique and multi-layered, and she was. Though she has passed on, it is impossible to think that someone of her energy and spirit is gone and as long as the causes she cares about are still being fought, she never will be," she added.

Poorman, in addition to teaching numerous psychology classes, was involved with the University Task Force on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Issues (LGBTQ).

"She was funny, curious, generous and lively," said Marilyn Annucci in the "Book of Remembrance." "Sitting beside her made learning and experimenting so much fun. I also admired her for her commitment to LGBTQ social justice issues and for her research and writing on battering in lesbian relationships."

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