TL20071008-01 "Oct. 8, 2007 www.thetowerlight.com The Towerlight Published by and for the students of Towson and Baltimore -- twice-weekly Monday Now on TheTowerlight.com: View a slideshow of Family Weekend, video �Word on the Street� and video of �Freestyle Friday�... Persevering through painting Patrick Smith/The Towerlight Graduate student Dan Keplinger looks at one of his paintings in his studio in the Center for the Arts where he creates his artwork. Keplinger, who was born with cerebral palsy, was featured in the Academy Award winning documentary �King Gimp,� and will be showcasing his MFA thesis �In Whose Words?,� in the CFA Holtzman MFA Gallery through Oct. 27. Fisher dean resigns Sharon Leff Editor in Chief Gerald Intemann, dean of the Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, sub-mitted his resignation Wednesday evening. �It�s a personnel issue. Without giving too much detail, it had been discussed a little bit, but until someone does resign you can�t really say anything,� acting provost James Clements said. Intemann served as dean for seven years. In an e-mail sent out to faculty and staff Wednesday night, Clements wrote that Intemann�s resignation is effec-tive immediately and in the inter-im, acting associate dean Howard Kaplon has administrative author-ity for the college. �I met Friday morning with the chairs within the Fisher College and with the college council, and we�re already talking about doing a national search profile for the new dean,� Clements said. He said an acting dean will be appointed in the next couple of days to �get us through the next couple months.� �I think we will try to get an ad [for the dean position] out by the end of the month,� he said. �I [have] asked the chairs to start thinking about the profile they�d like to see of a search committee.� Intemann�s position isn�t the only vacancy in the Fisher College. Over the summer, associ-ate dean Katherine Denniston left the College when she accepted the position of associate provost. According to an ad on the Towson Web site, review of appli-cations for that position will begin Oct. 15. Despite Intemann�s departure, Clements said the pace of the College will not slow. �The College has very strong faculty. They�re doing great work and they�re going to keep on doing that work,� Clements said. Intemann was unavailable for comment. Graduate student Dan Keplinger presents MFA thesis, continues to pursue his calling Alex Plimack Arts Editor On the fourth floor of the Center for the Arts, at the end of a sunlit hallway, exists a small studio. The walls are lined with complet-ed pieces of self-expression, some knee-high, others rising above vis-itors� heads. The floor is stained with paint that missed its mark. The paintbrushes, handles covered with chipped paint, gather in used coffee cans. On the ledge of the sole window overlooking Osler Drive sit crude, yet paradoxically refined sculp-tures. Underneath, photographs are plastered: digital self-portraits of the studio�s main resident. It is here that Dan Keplinger, artist and Master of Fine Arts thesis can-didate, creates. It is here that serves as a reminder of the triumph of the human spirit. Keplinger was born with athetoid cerebral palsy. Though he requires a wheelchair and paints with a headstick, Keplinger is the typical 30-something artist who�s dealt with his fair share of bullshit in this cruel world. Funny. Sarcastic. Focused. Dedicated. Keplinger paints because it was what he was born to do, and his painting has brought him Baltimore notoriety and Oscar gold. When Keplinger was 12 years old, filmmakers Susan Hannah Hadary and William A. Whiteford began doc-umenting Keplinger�s life. After film-ing for 13 years, the footage became the 1999 documentary �King Gimp,� See KING, page 18 "
