Saturday, September 25, 1999

CIA Official to Give Talk On Campus October 6th

Chestertown, MD — Robert D. Vickers Jr. of the National Intelligence Council will speak on issues facing the CIA, Wednesday, October 6 at Washington College. The lecture, "The CIA in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities," will be held in the Hynson Lounge at 7:30 p.m.

Mr. Vickers joined the Agency in 1969. He has worked in divisions covering China and the Far East, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. In 1984 he was appointed the National Intelligence Officer for Latin America, where he remained until 1987, when he became the Deputy Director, Office of African and Latin American Analysis. He moved into the field of imagery analysis in 1990. Since 1996 Mr. Vickers has been the National Intelligence Officer for Warning.

Mr. Vickers' talk is sponsored by the Louis L. Goldstein Program in Public Affairs. It is free and open to the public.

Friday, September 10, 1999

Washington College Concert Series Season Opens With Eugenia Zukerman

Chestertown, MD — In its 48th season, the Washington College Concert Series is featuring five musical performances throughout the academic year, including a renowned flutist who frequently appears on CBS Sunday Morning as arts correspondent.

Internationally acclaimed solo flutist Eugenia Zukerman opens the Concert Series on Tuesday, September 28th. She will be performing with pianist Dennis Helmrich. Also scheduled for the season are the Wihan Quartet on October 25th, Bonnie Rideout on Scottish fiddle and viola on January 27th, the Ethos Percussion Group on February 27th, and Goldina & Loumbrozo on piano on March 24th.

Season tickets for the entire series are $40.00 per person and can be ordered by mail from Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620. Single admission tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for youth 18 and under. All concerts are held in Tawes Theater of the Gibson Performing Arts Center on the Chestertown campus. With the exception of the 4 p.m. matinee performance of Ethos Percussion Group, all performances start at 8:00 p.m.

Recognized by the Boston Globe as "one of the finest flutists of our time," Eugenia Zukerman is known for her elegant, artistic phrasing, brilliant agility and graceful stage presence. The New York Times critic gushed: "Her musicanship is consummate, her taste immaculate, and her stage presence a sheer pleasure!"

She has led a many-faceted life as a flutist, novelist, screenwriter, and television commentator. Since 1980 she has traveled around the country interviewing artists in her role for CBS Sunday Morning. Meanwhile, she has pursued her musical career, appearing as soloist at major American festivals, collaborating with other musical artists, and performing as an emsemble player. She also serves as artistic director of the prestigious Bravo! Colorado, Vail Music Festival, scheduled each summer.

Wednesday, September 8, 1999

Poet Gerald Stern to Visit WC

Chestertown, MD — Poet Gerald Stern, winner of the 1998 National Book Award for Poetry, will give a public reading at Washington College on Thursday, September 16. The reading will begin at 8 p.m. in the Sophie Kerr Room of Miller Library.

Often heralded as the modern-day Walt Whitman, Stern has garnered praise for possessing a deep emotional sensibility and for wholeheartedly embracing the paradoxical nature of life. He writes, according to critics, "with enormous authority and intensity of the lot common to humanity -- of aging and death, of the tenderness of love, of family and friendship."

The author of nine books of poetry, Stern was 48 years old when his first collection, Rejoicings, appeared in 1973. His latest compendium, This Time: New and Selected Poems, received the 1998 National Book Award for Poetry. Among other awards, his works have received the Paterson Poetry Prize and the Melville Caine Award from the Poetry Society of America.

Stern's honors include the Paris Review's Bernard F. Conners Award, the Bess Hokin Award, the Ruth Lilly Prize, four National Endowment for the Arts grants, the Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Jerome J. Shestack Poetry Prize from American Poetry Review, and fellowships from The Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He has taught at numerous universities and spent 13 years on the faculty of the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Thursday, September 2, 1999

WC Semester Begins With Into the Streets Service Project

Chestertown, MD — Washington College freshmen went "Into the Streets and Into the Community" on August 29, learning how to give back to their new home even before classes began. More than 300 new students and group leaders ventured out across the region to perform service learning projects as part of the college's freshman orientation program.

The idea to use a large-scale service learning initiative as part of orientation was developed by two Washington College students, sophomore Gia Grier and senior Katie Preen. The students would get an introduction to the local area and their fellow classmates, while becoming familiar with the value of service learning. Grier and Preen attended a Campus Outreach Opportunity League conference last March and came back resolved to introduce all new students to community service, said Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development.

"We wanted to jump-start the service aspect of campus life," said Preen, who estimated that 85 percent of incoming freshmen participated in the event. "We are really happy with how it turned out. We're hoping everyone had a good time and gained some incentive to continue service work."

"They were determined this would happen and submitted a proposal to include this activity in the orientation program," said Sawyer. "They really did a lot to make it happen."

Freshmen are often "bombarded with information" during orientation activities, according to Sawyer, so the "Into the Streets" program allowed the new students to "use energy, be physical, get off campus, and bond with each other." Sawyer said Grier and Preen worked throughout the summer on the "Into the Streets" project. They contacted potential service sites, wrote letters to new students, trained orientation leaders, arranged transportation, designed shirts, and created a positive atmosphere for success.

While participating in the project, new students learned about a broad spectrum of community organizations. Some freshmen and upper-class orientation leaders built wildlife boxes, cleaned beaches, and toured a farm museum at Turner's Creek in Kennedyville, while others restored trails and shorelines at Eastern Neck Island in Rock Hall, Echo Hill Outdoor School in Betterton, Camp Fairlee Manor in Fairlee, and Millington Wildlife Preserve in Millington. Other groups worked to preserve wetlands at Horsehead Wetlands Center in Grasonville, and some students served lunch at Magnolia Hall Nursing Center in Chestertown. Students also volunteered their efforts at Adkins Arboretum in Tuckahoe State Park, Pickering Creek Environmental Center in Easton, and Wye Island in Wye Mills.

"I was very proud, as well as happy, to see all the incoming students who turned out to do meaningful service activities in the Kent County community," said Grier. "I hope that this project will mark the beginning of a great year in service learning and will spark the interest of students who may not have previously been active in service."

Additionally, Sawyer said, instructors teaching Community, Nation and World seminars, required for freshmen, were asked to incorporate the community service project as a component for the course and to link the students' service experience to their studies.

"I think the project has made a major difference in the community," said Sawyer. "The new students offered valuable volunteer help, they learned about service projects and the significance of the sites, and hopefully they found a good cause to serve again."