FOR SOME, IT'S A DEGREE OF CARING

**	After receiving his degree May 21, 68-year-old Michael G.
Viise will leave for a job that no other University graduate can
claim:  he will become a colonel in the Estonian army and head of
the chaplain's corps.

	Viise immigrated to America with his family in 1949, five
years after they fled Estonia because of the threat of Soviet
invasion.  A graduate of New York's Wagner College, where he earned
a bachelor's degree in history and political science, Viise
(pronounced "visa") became an ordained Lutheran minister.  

	After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1954, he entered the Air
Force as a chaplain.  He retired after 30 years of service in 1985
and began pursuing graduate work in history at U.Va.  He will be
earning a doctorate in history after completing a dissertation on
the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church under the Nazis and
Communists from 1940 to 1991.  

	"I have a love/hate relationship about the Russians," Viise
admits.  "I don't hate the culture, but I hate what their
imperialist views have brought."  While researching his thesis, he
returned to Estonia, and found that he was an oddity in his home
land.  "Going back was a strange experience.  I speak the language,
but for the past 50 years I haven't shared any experiences of my
country so the natives consider me an outsider," he said.

	While in Estonia, he was invited to start a chaplain service
for the army.  After securing permission from the U.S. State
Department, Viise agreed to help the army, out of a compassion for
his native land.  "Conditions are not good in Estonia.  This is not
something I'd do for pay alone," he said.  Noting that his pay will
only be approximately $325 a month, he observed, "I'll probably
spend that plus more just on housing alone."  He and his wife have
agreed to spend a year there.

	For more information, Viise can be reached at (804) 979-5835.

**	Because the sounds of bombs filled five-year-old Miev Heak
with fear, she was glad when her family fled Cambodia.  During their
flight, her mother gave birth to twins, whom she reluctantly decided
to give up for adoption.

	Sponsored by a church, the family eventually arrived in
RICHMOND, VA., where her father soon found employment putting
insulation in homes and making grocery carts.  Although her parents
never pursued higher education, Heak's older brother and sister
attended Virginia Commonwealth University and J. Sergeant Reynolds
Community College.  

CARING -- Page 2

	A graduate of Richmond Community High School, Heak chose to
enter the U.Va. nursing school.  "I wanted a practical career and I
want to contribute something," she reflected.

	The graduate-to-be has been active in a number of
activities, including the On Target Leadership program through the
Dean of Students Office.  She has also served as a multicultural
facilitator and been active in the Asian Students Union and the
nursing school student council.  "I think it is important to gain a
different perspective and to increase awareness of other cultures,"
she said.  She hopes to find a nursing job in Richmond.  For more
information, contact Heak at (804) 979-0087.

**	As a police officer walking the streets, Marty Burke had a
hard time understanding why a seemingly minor point in the law would
allow criminals to walk free.  With his soon-to-be acquired U.Va.
law degree, he hopes to educate rank-and-file police officers about
the law.

	"As I became educated about the process of law, I learned
why the rules are in place.  As pro bono work, I want to help police
officers know about the law.  Maybe that will help them in search-
and-seizure drug cases.  I may not be making arrests anymore, but if
I can help get criminals in jail and not walk away free, then I'll
still be making a contribution to society that way," Burke said.

	Son of William and Elizabeth Burke of BIRMINGHAM, AL, Burke
is the first of his immediate family to go to college.  He earned a
B.S. in accounting from the University of Alabama at Birmingham
while working full-time as a police officer.  Every day he would
report to work at 10:30 p.m., work the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift,
attend day classes, then fall in bed at 4 p.m. to grab a few hours
of sleep.  Often he would have to squeeze in time during the day to
testify in court.  Comp-time and vacations were spent studying for
exams. 

	Injured more than once when making arrests, Burke often
realized the potential for personal harm.  "I had some close calls.
Sometimes when I'd be driving home, I'd realize that if one little
thing had gone wrong, I would have gotten it," he remembered.

	After graduation, he will clerk for a federal judge in
Montgomery, AL.  At the end of that one-year commitment, he plans to
practice civil defense litigation at the Balch and Bingham law firm
in his hometown.  

	"Obtaining my law degree would not have been possible
without the support of my family," he said.  Burke has been grateful
for the notes and cards filled with best wishes and money from his
cousins, aunts and uncles.  His father works two jobs as a plumber
and his mother holds a part-time job.  "My parents always told me
they wouldn't have much to leave us, but they would try to give us
an education that would stay with us forever," Burke remembered.  

	His grandfather, a welder and pipe fitter, also inspired him
to pursue higher education.  "My graduation is a great
accomplishment for my whole family.  I'm just sorry my grandfather
will not be here to see me graduate," Burke said.  His relatives
from Alabama plus his wife, Lori, whom he married while in law
school, will celebrate on May 22.  For more information, contact
Burke at (804) 977-0689.


CARING -- Page 3

**	Bill Randall reversed roles when he decided to enter U.Va.'s
nursing school.  A lieutenant colonel in the Army stationed at U.Va.
for five years as a professor of military science, he was a
department chairman and an academic counselor to hundreds of Army
ROTC students.  In 1993, however, he became a student, entering the
nursing school's second-degree program.

	Since coming to Virginia in 1988, he has enjoyed
volunteering with the Greene County Rescue Squad.  "I have truly
enjoyed interacting with people and giving service.  I enjoy nursing
because it provides an opportunity for spiritual nurturing as well
as physical caring and comforting," he said.  After graduation he
expects to secure a position in gynecology-oncology.

	Being a student has not been a new experience for Randall,
who retired after 27 years in the military.  At 28 he earned his
first degree, a bachelor of arts in English from Auburn University.
Over the years he has added a master's in English from Duke
University and an associate degree in computer science and a
bachelor's in management/computer information systems from Park
College in Missouri.  

	Although he has been a student at several institutions and
taught at many Army schools, he has enjoyed working toward a
master's degree in nursing.  "I've never regretted my decision,"
said the 48-year-old.  A career service man who had two tours of
duty in Vietnam, Burke said it was not a disadvantage to be an older
student in the nursing program.  He expects to graduate with a 3.5
grade-point average.

	For more information, contact Randall at (804) 985-2633.



May 4, 1995