Friends in high places

If you walk down the main corridor of Academic Hall on the Southeast Missouri State University campus, you will see the gold-lettered titles painted on the impressive solid-wood doors behind which top administrators do their jobs.

A first-time visitor might, based on the impressiveness of the various office entrances, jump to the conclusion that the door marked "Associate to the President" leads to the most important administrator on campus. In a way, leaping to that line of thinking might not be too far off.

The man whose office is behind the "Associate to the President" door is Art Wallhausen, who is retiring in August. Wallhausen first came to the campus 24 years ago as the news services coordinator. His next title was assistant to the president. He became associate to the president in 2000.

Since 1984, Wallhausen has worked with six of the university's 17 presidents: Bill Stacy, Robert Foster, Kala Stroup, Bill Atchley, Dale Nitzschke and current president Ken Dobbins. It is a remarkable salute to Wallhausen's demeanor and institutional knowledge that all six of those presidents chose to rely on his wisdom and professionalism.

I have only known Wallhausen for the past 14 years that I have been in Cape Girardeau. I can't think of any other public official who has been so forthright and accommodating of a newsman's probes -- sometimes into sensitive areas -- as Art Wallhausen. Not only has he provided, over and over, the answers to questions, he has done the university and readers of the Southeast Missourian a great service by putting those questions into context and perspective.

Of course, the fact that Wallhausen's father was a Sweet Springs, Mo., boy has resonated with me over the years. His father and mother were married in Immanuel Lutheran Church, which was cattywampus from the house on Locust Street where my wife grew up. In my opinion -- based on 43 years of experience -- anyone with a Sweet Springs connection has a good head start.

From time to time Wallhausen and I have exchanged bits of information about our love for seashore vacations, his in Rhode Island and mine on the Oregon coast. As we near the turning of the calendar to August, I hope for Art and his wife all the best, and that would have to include a nice, long stay at the cottage in Rhode Island.

Art Wallhausen is one of the pillars at Southeast. He will be missed.

n

If you ever have the occasion to take a complaint from the mayor of Chaffee, Mo., go for it. She has the nicest way of letting you know you really goofed up.

That's what happened with Sunday's editorial, which was intended as a compliment to the civility that blossomed between Mayor Loretta Mohorc and former police chief Jesse Chisum as the town struggled with natural disasters in addition to the ongoing problems of running any town.

So here's what happened. I managed, in the editorial, to give the mayor a different first name. And I also managed to misspell her last name. It can't get much worse than that.

I'd like to say there's a good excuse for the errors. In plain words, there is no excuse whatsoever. Looking back, I can't imagine what was buzzing through my brain when I wrote the wrong first name and gave Mohorc and extra R. Even calling the compound error a "senior moment" doesn't do it justice.

When Mayor Mohorc called Monday morning, I was already painfully aware of what I'd done, thanks to the magic of e-mail. I braced for a well-deserved upbraiding. But the mayor was super-gracious about what had happened, and we had a friendly conversation that included a promise to run a correction in Tuesday's paper. I'm throwing in this abject apology in the hopes the mayor will sense the seriousness I attach to such stupid mistakes.

And, for God's sake, will all those who proofread this page please make sure I haven't lost any more neurons? Make sure the mayor's name is right!

R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.