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Richason, chairman of geography department at College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is a hearty and self-assured man of demonstrated abilities. One thing is not is a musician, and doesn't hesitate to admit that has a tin ear. But an early foray into music field suggests much about man and how has come to personify geography at Carroll. It seems that at time of his junior high school graduation, volunteers were needed to fill out program. Well, I wanted to be on that platform on graduation day, Richason recalled in his home one evening this spring. So I told them, 'Sure, I can do something. I can play clarinet.' Trouble was, I couldn't really play clarinet at all. Predictably, performance was a disaster, with young Richason hopelessly and cacophonically out of step with his accompanist. The reaction of those assembled must have been one of confusion and even derision, but in laughter-filled retelling, Richason doesn't dwell on that. It was clearly just a funny thing that happened on way to life. And if things are worth having, seems to say, it may be necessary to stick one's neck out to get them. All of which goes a long way toward explaining why College, a church-affiliated liberal arts school 30 miles west of Milwaukee with a full-time enrollment just over 1,250, has a geography department that is highly regarded by many experts in field. The department is creation of Doc Richason; built it from scratch. And while has had enthusiastic support of Carroll's administration, it seems likely that a man less sure of his mission would not have had that advantage. Richason went to in 1952, having developed and interpreted aerial photographs for Army and having taught briefly at J. Sterling Morton Junior College in Cicero, Illinois. Trained as a geographer (AB and MA, Indiana University; PhD, University of Nebraska), was hired as Carroll's one-man department of geology and geography. Now, a quarter of a century after his arrival in Waukesha, his threeman geography departmentthere is no geology department any more is perhaps Carroll's proudest boast and principal claim to distinction among many good, small liberal arts colleges in Midwest. In promotional literature, Richason and geography get equal billing with College's (unsubsidized) championship football team. He was president in 1976 of National Council of Geographic Education and a recipient of its distinguished service award. He's such an able teacher, says Morris Spencer, dean of College and vice president for academic affairs, he was encouraged to keep dreaming and building. I doubt department would have developed if hadn't been here. I can't talk enough about Ben Richason. Probably most distinctive aspect of Richason's department is its use of an elaborate audio-visual-tutorial (AVT) method developed for teaching introductory courses, which cover physical geography. (A student commencement speaker, elaborating on theme Carroll College Is..., included in her recital the geography department audio-visual-tutorial course.) In addition, authorities in geography education rate department highly for its breadth and sophistication in a discipline whose areas of interest are almost limitless. Richason uses AVT method for Geography 101, Weather and Climate, and 102, Maps and Landforms. Instead of attending standard lectures and separate laboratory sessions, students learn in individual booths where lectures and
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