Thursday, December 19, 2002

College Honors Staff And Faculty For Years Of Service

Chestertown, MD, December 19, 2002 — The President's Office of Washington College, in an annual end-of-year tradition, would like to honor staff and faculty members for their years of service and dedication to the College. This year marks milestones for 23 outstanding employees.
Honored for 10 years of service are: Sarah Feyerherm, Director of Student Development Programs; Kevin McKillop, Associate Professor of Psychology; Jeani Narcum, Director of Financial Aid; Alberta “Bunnie” Blake, Buildings & Grounds; and Lanee Cole-Smith, Head Women's Basketball Coach.
Honored for 15 years of service are: Faye Lowman, Buildings & Grounds; Burton Brown, Office of Public Safety; Jason Rubin, Assistant Professor of Drama; Karen Waters, Buildings & Grounds; and Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development.
Honored for 20 years of service are: Ann Mathews, Lecturer in Music; Betty Starkey, Buildings & Grounds; and Patricia Smith, Office of the Registrar.
Honored for 25 years of service are: James R. Siemen, Professor of Psychology; Edward E. Maxcy, Associate Dean of Students; W. Jeff Chaffin, Director of Reader Services; and Steven Cades, Professor of Sociology. Honored for 30 years of service is John Taylor, Professor of Political Science.
Honored for 35 years of service are: Frank J. Creegan, Professor of Chemistry; Barbara Brown, Dining Service; and Shirley Dorsey, Buildings & Grounds.
Honored for 40 years of service is Harry Wright, Dining Service, and honored for 45 years of service is G. Thomas Shreck, Office of Central Services.
“We are very proud to honor these employees,” said Dr. John S. Toll, president of the College. “Their dedication inspires others and helps us to carry on our 220-year tradition of excellence in higher education.”

Tuesday, December 3, 2002

Sigma Xi Honors Washington College Chapter For Excellence In Science Programming

Chestertown, MD, December 3, 2002 — Washington College's chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, has received both a Chapter of Excellence Award and a Chapter Program Award from the national offices of Sigma Xi, based in Research Triangle, NC. The awards were presented during the second Assembly of Delegates at Sigma Xi's Annual Meeting, November 16, 2002, in Galveston, TX. Alumna Kouri Coleman Miller '96, a physics major now working with NASA's Space Shuttle, accepted the awards on behalf of the College at the November ceremony.
Chapter of Excellence Awards are awarded to chapters for overall outstanding educational programming—such as symposia, speaker series and other public events—during the past fiscal year. Washington College was honored for two science outreach programs developed by its Psychology and Chemistry Departments respectively to serve area secondary and high school students: “Neuroscience in Schools” and “Why Chemistry is Fun.”
Program Awards are awarded to chapters that have organized or hosted a single, outstanding program during the past year. The College's Sigma Xi chapter was honored for its symposium “Barriers to and Opportunities for Women in Science,” whose keynote speaker was Dr. Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation, and the coordinated “Women in Science” lecture series that featured prestigious women scientists across diverse fields.
Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi is a non-profit membership society of more than 80,000 scientists and engineers elected to the Society because of their research achievements or potential. In addition to publishing the journal American Scientist, Sigma Xi awards annual grants to promising young researchers, holds forums on critical issues at the intersection of science and society, and sponsors a variety of programs supporting science and engineering, science education, science policy, and the public understanding of science.
The Washington College Sigma Xi chapter was officially installed in April 2001. The affiliation allows faculty and students to advance scientific education and research through grants; to fund faculty and student projects, travel awards and conferences; and to sponsor visiting scientists and collaborative research.

Monday, November 25, 2002

Washington College Announces Spring 2003 Graduate Courses In English, History And Psychology

Chestertown, MD, November 25, 2002 — Students, educators and mental health professionals are invited to register for Spring 2003 graduate courses at Washington College. The College offers Master of Arts degrees in English, History and Psychology that can help meet requirements for advanced professional certifications. The following courses will be offered during the Spring 2003 semester:
ENG 597-10 Shakespeare: The Later Plays, Monday, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
ENG 599-10 The American Novel, Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
POL 502-10 U.S.-Latin American Relations in the 20th C., Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m. (For U. S. history or non-U.S. history after 1600)
HIS 598-10 U.S. Diplomatic History: 1776-1865, Tuesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
HIS 599-10 Spirit and Flesh: The Christian Church in the Middle Ages, Thursday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
PSY 500-10 Statistics in Psychology and Education, Thursday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
PSY 501-10 Infancy and Childhood, Monday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
PSY 502-10 Biological Foundations of Human Behavior, Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
PSY 572-10 Behavior Modification, Tuesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m. (To be held at the Eastern Shore Higher Education Center)
All classes will be held at Washington College except PSY 572-10 Behavior Modification, which will be held at the new Eastern Shore Higher Education Center located at Chesapeake College's Wye Mills campus. Classes begin January 20 and end May 8, 2003. Final exams are scheduled for May 5-8, 2003. Students must pre-register by December 23, 2002 to guarantee texts. Graduate tuition is $750 per course plus a non-refundable course registration fee of $45. A late registration fee of $150 per course will be assessed for students who register after the first week of classes. Pre-registration forms will be accepted at the Registrar's Office in person, by mail or by phone at 410-778-7299, or by fax at 410-810-7159.
For complete information on Washington College's graduate course offerings, including detailed course descriptions and registration forms, visit http://grad.washcoll.edu online, or contact the Registrar's Office, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620, phone 410-778-7299.

Washington College Announces Winter And Spring 2003 Graduate Education Course Offerings

Chestertown, MD, November 25, 2002 — K-12 teachers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland are invited to register for Winter and Spring 2003 graduate education courses that can help meet requirements for advanced professional certification. The courses will be held on a variety of dates and at various locations, including the campus of Washington College.
The following three-credit courses will be held at Washington College's Chestertown campus:
EDU 529-214 Using Brain-Compatible Methods In The Classroom, February 28 and March 1,2,14-16/ Fridays 6:00-10:00 p.m. and Saturdays/Sundays 8:00 p.m-5:15 p.m.
EDU 536-206 Teaching Readers to Think, April 4-6 and 25-27/Fridays 6:00-10:00 p.m. and Saturdays/Sundays 8:00 p.m-5:15 p.m.
The following three-credit courses will be offered at other locations on the Eastern Shore or in Central Maryland at various dates from January through April 2003:
EDU 520 Classroom Assessment Techniques
EDU 521 Dimensions of Learning
EDU 523 Expanding Student in the Classroom
EDU 524 Instructional Strategies for a Multicultural Society
EDU 526 Styles Of Teaching: Personality Type In The Classroom
EDU 527 Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences
EDU 528 Disability Awareness
EDU 531 Cooperative Discipline
Tuition charge is $675 for each three-credit course, plus a $50 deposit. Classroom materials are included in the tuition charge. For complete course or registration information, call 1-800-433-4740, or register online at www.regionaltrainingcenter.org.
Washington College also offers Master's degrees in English, History and Psychology. Information and detailed course descriptions can be found online at http://grad.washcoll.edu, or by contacting the Registrar's Office, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620, phone 410-778-7299.

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Washington Collge Gospel Choir To Sing At Community Thanksgiving Service November 24

Chestertown, MD, November 19, 2002 — The Washington College Gospel Choir, under the direction of Reverend Eric Scott, will once again join members of the Chester Valley Ministers Association for their community Thanksgiving Service. This event will be held at Christ United Methodist Church on 405 West High Street, Chestertown, Maryland on Sunday, November 24, 2002, at 4:00 pm.
For the past several Thanksgiving holidays, the Gospel Choir has participated in this community service. This event joins together many of the local churches and organizations to celebrate and give thanks during the holiday season.
For more information about the Washington College Gospel Choir, contact Sara Ann Smith at 410-778-7290, or e-mail ssmith5@washcoll.edu.

Thursday, November 14, 2002

Concert Series Hosts Borealis Wind Quintet December 3

Chestertown, MD, November 14, 2002 — The 51st season of the Washington College Concert Series will bring the Borealis Wind Quintet to the College's Tawes Theatre on Tuesday, December 3, 2002. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Single tickets at the door are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and students.
The Borealis Wind Quintet has been acclaimed as one of America's preeminent chamber ensembles, blending the disparate voices of the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn into a balanced yet effervescent chamber music experience. Combining innovative programming with a lively style, the quintet has set themselves apart in the world of chamber music through an irresistible energy and creative arrangements. Their instrumental renditions of opera's finest arias have raised eyes and earned them rave reviews. The Washington Post has praised their “sensitive collaborations that have a sophisticated and cosmopolitan air,” while The Philadelphia Inquirer has said that “they demonstrated the sort of rapport that characterizes the very best chamber playing.” Winner of numerous competitions and awards, the Borealis Wind Quintet has been named one of High Fidelity magazine's “Young Artists to Watch.”
For ticket information and a 2002-2003 Washington College Concert Series season brochure, call 410-778-7839. Season tickets are available for $50.00 per person, and individual tax-deductible patron sponsorships begin at $75.00. Season tickets can be purchased by check or money order through the mail from the Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620-1197.

Friday, November 8, 2002

Who's Really On First? Former MLB Umpire Talks About The Issues Of Sexual Orientation In Public And Private Life

Chestertown, MD, November 8, 2002 — Washington College's Office of Student Development Programs, Center for the Study of the American Experience, Student-Athlete Mentors, Campus Events and Visitors Committee, and the EROS Alliance present “WHO'S REALLY ON FIRST?”, a lecture by former Major League Baseball umpire Dave Pallone, Thursday, November 21, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Norman James Theatre. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Pallone worked for 18 years as a professional umpire, 10 with the National Baseball league. His 1990 best selling autobiography, Behind the Mask: My Double Life in Baseball, explored his life as a gay man in professional sports. As the third youngest umpire in the game's history, Pallone demonstrated courage and professionalism amidst the adversities, enmities and controversies of Major League Baseball. He has shared his unique perspectives on professional sports and the issues of sexual orientation through numerous television and radio programs, including Larry King Live, The Today Show, Phil Donahue and CBS Morning. In 1995, Pallone appeared on stage with tennis great Martina Navritilova at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for a candid conversation about their personal and professional lives—the first time two prominent, openly gay people in professional sports appeared on stage. Pallone was also featured in ESPN's 1998 documentary, “Homophobia in Sports,” and was recently named as one of the 100 Men of the Century by Genre Magazine. He has brought his program “Who's on First?” to dozens of colleges and universities and, through his work, has made a significant contribution to society by educating and enlightening people to the not-so-openly-discussed realities and issues of sexual orientation.

Thursday, November 7, 2002

Thanksgiving Food Drive: Washington College Fraternities, Sororities And Bands Organize For The Community

Chestertown, MD, November 7, 2002 — Washington College's Inter-fraternity and Pan-Hellenic Councils joined by alumni band Astralyte are cosponsoring a Thanksgiving Food Drive to benefit needy families in the local community. Students, faculty, staff and community members are encouraged to drop off nonperishable and canned food items from now until Friday, November 15 when Astralyte will perform a benefit show with campus band Eveline at Chestertown's Prince Theatre. Bring a donation of food and receive $3 off of the $10 ticket price. The concert starts at 8 p.m. and tickets will be available at the Prince Theatre box office.
Collection boxes will be set up around campus in dormitories and at the Cove, as well as around Chestertown at Acme and Superfresh, Play It Again Sam's on Cross Street, and Shake Down Street Music on High Street. Donations will be distributed by the Kent Family Center to needy families and individuals in the community.
“We are requesting that people donate traditional, nonperishable Thanksgiving foods such as various canned vegetables and mashed potato mixes,” said Amelia Ziegler, office manager for the Kent Family Center. The Center also will accept donations of frozen turkeys, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m to 5 p.m, at 116B Lynchburg St. in Chestertown. Call 410-778-7911 in advance if you plan to drop off a turkey. The Kent Family Center will be taking donations of nonperishable food items and frozen turkeys until Saturday, November 23.
To learn more about the Kent Family Center, visit it on the web at www.kentfamilycenter.org.
Visit Astralyte on the web at www.astralyte.com.

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Somewhere Off The Interstate: Authors Celebrate The Last Great American Places, November 18 In Hynson Lounge

Event marks the November publication of 'A Certain Somewhere: Writers on the Places They Remember'

Chestertown, MD, November 5, 2002 — Beyond the strip-malling of our national landscape, beyond the sprawl of fast-food restaurants and identical outlet stores from coast to coast, is there any place left where you can still escape into a different, quirky, unexplored America?
On November 18, an exceptional group of American writers will gather at Washington College to champion the notion that there is.
“SOMEWHERE OFF THE INTERSTATE: THE LAST GREAT AMERICAN PLACES” will be a kind of literary roadtrip, in which five nationally celebrated authors—Ann Beattie, James Conaway, Wayne Curtis, Michael Dirda, and Thomas Mallon—take their audience into mysterious, meaningful, and exotic corners of our country. The event will celebrate the November publication of A Certain Somewhere: Writers on the Places they Remember (Random House), an anthology in which writers reflect on the qualities that make a place unique—and how those qualities, in many parts of America, are now under threat.
The forum, hosted by Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, will fittingly be held in Chestertown—Maryland's historic colonial Chesapeake seaport—which has been a rallying point for the small-town historic-preservation movement in America. For more than 10 years, the town has been fighting the nation's longest-running battle against Wal-Mart, which has been trying to build a 107,000-square-foot store near Chestertown's colonial center. (Just last week, an appeals court upheld the town's preliminary victory against the retail giant.)
But the discussion on November 18 will range far beyond the Eastern Shore: from novelist Thomas Mallon's tribute to a hidden corner of New York, to Washington Post columnist Michael Dirda's memories of the gritty Ohio town where he grew up, to Ann Beattie's celebration of the acid-green-and-pink garishness of her adoptive home, Key West. These authors' essays, like the others in the collection A Certain Somewhere, originally appeared in Preservation, the award-winning magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“SOMEWHERE OFF THE INTERSTATE,” moderated by Robert Wilson, editor of A Certain Somewhere, will be held Monday, November 18, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in Washington College's Hynson Lounge. The public is invited to this free event. A book signing will follow. The forum is co-sponsored by the College's O'Neill Literary House, Sophie Kerr Committee, and Preservation magazine.
The five participating authors were selected because of their special gift for writing about places:
Ann Beattie—“one of the most talked-about writers of the past two decades,” according to the Associated Press—is the author of more than a dozen books, including such novels as Picturing Will, Another You, and Chilly Scenes of Winter, as well as the recent short-story collection Perfect Recall: New Stories (Simon & Schuster, 2002). Beattie has been a frequent contributor to The New Yorker since selling the magazine her first short story at the age of 25 in 1974. She lives in Maine, Charlottesville, VA, and Key West.
James Conaway, an essayist, travel writer and editor, is the author of 10 books. The latest, The Far Side of Eden: New Money, Old Land and the Battle for Napa Valley, was published in October by Houghton Mifflin. Conaway, the former Washington editor of Harper's, was recently appointed editor-in-chief of Preservation. He lives in Washington, DC.
Wayne Curtis, an accomplished travel writer and essayist, is a contributing editor of Preservation, as well as a frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly. His offbeat and engaging essays have covered topics from the architectural flourishes on Las Vegas casinos, to the harvesting of icebergs, to the last surviving tiki bars. He has written for Frommer's travel guides and for the Discovery Channel, and lives in Peaks Island, ME.
Michael Dirda, winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, has been an editor and columnist for the Washington Post Book World for more than 20 years. The New York Observer has called him “the best book critic in America.” A past Fulbright fellow with a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Dirda is the author of the collection Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments. He lives in Washington, DC.
Thomas Mallon is the author of several acclaimed novels, including Dewey Defeats Truman, Henry and Clara, and Two Moons, as well as nonfiction books that include Stolen Words and, most recently, Mrs. Paine's Garage: And the Murder of John F. Kennedy. As a critic, he has contributed to many publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and GQ, where he served as literary editor. John Updike has called him “one of the most interesting American novelists at work.” He lives in Westport, CT.
Moderator Robert Wilson, editor of the anthology A Certain Somewhere: Writers on the Places They Remember, was the editor of Preservation magazine from 1996 to 2002. Under his stewardship, the magazine won many awards, including the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence. He is the former literary editor of Civilization magazine and has contributed essays and reviews to many publications, including The Atlantic Monthly and The American Scholar. He lives in Manassas, VA. “SOMEWHERE OFF THE INTERSTATE” is a program of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, an innovative forum for new scholarship about American history. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College, the Center explores the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape the fabric of American culture. The Center is interdisciplinary, encouraging the study of traditional history alongside new approaches, and seeking to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large. The Center pursues excellence in the writing and teaching of American history at all levels, and will also develop a leading role in the study of the Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay. For more information about C. V. Starr Center events and programs, visit the Center online http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7156.

The People Have Spoken, But What Did They Say? E. J. Dionne Examines The 2002 Election Results November 19

Chestertown, MD, November 5, 2002 — Washington College's Goldstein Program in Public Affairs presents “THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN: WHAT DID THEY SAY? AN ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEMBER 2002 ELECTIONS,” a lecture by E. J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post syndicated columnist and Senior Fellow with The Brookings Institution, Tuesday, November 19, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Recognized by readers for his incisive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of competing political philosophies, Dionne believes America is about to enter a new progressive era of reform in government and renewed civic activism. Dionne spent 14 years with the New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, and was praised for his coverage of the Vatican. In 1990, Dionne joined The Washington Post to cover national politics. His best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics, was published in 1991 and won The Los Angeles Times book prize. He began his op-ed column for The Post in 1993, and it is now syndicated to more than 90 newspapers. He has been a regular commentator on politics on television and radio. His second book, They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era, was published in 1996. He is the editor of Community Works: The Revival of Civil Society in America (Brookings Press, 1998), and What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment (Brookings Press, 2000), co-edited with John DiIulio, Jr. He co-edited Bush v. Gore (Brookings Press, 2000) with William Kristol, and, most recently, Sacred Places, Civic Purposes: Should Government Help Faith-Based Charity? with Ming Hsu Chen (Brookings Press, 2001). In 1994-95, Dionne was a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and in May 1996, he joined the Brookings Institution as a senior fellow in the Governance Studies Program. His work at Brookings includes chairing, with Jean Bethke Elshtain of the University of Chicago, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife Mary and their three children.
This lecture is sponsored by Washington College's Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, a 1935 alumnus and Maryland's longest serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders in public policy and the media.

Monday, November 4, 2002

Averting War, Defeating Terror: Townsend Hoopes To Discuss Mideast Dilemmas November 12

Chestertown, MD, November 4, 2002 — Washington College's C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents “MIDDLE EAST DILEMMAS,” a lecture by Townsend Hoopes, Senior Fellow of Washington College and a recognized authority on foreign policy and international security. The talk will be held Tuesday, November 12, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. in the Casey Academic Center Forum. The event is free and the public is invited to attend this timely and important discussion.
Hoopes will address two challenges currently facing U.S. foreign policymakers: the need to destroy the al Qaeda network and the concurrent need to forge workable, peaceful relations between the West and the majority of Islam. Hoopes regards Iraq as a problem, but not an urgent threat to U.S. security. He believes a preemptive war aimed at removing Saddam Hussein would further inflame ant-American feeling in the Arab world, quite possibly overturn U.S. allies in the region, and undermine the prospects for holding together an effective coalition against al Qaeda. In his view, the U.S. must make a determined new effort, in concert with other major nations, to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, which remains the root cause of destructive anti-Americanism in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world.
Hoopes has had a long career in government service and as a partner in the international consulting firm of Cresap, McCormick and Paget. From 1965 to 1967 he served as Principal Deputy for International Security Affairs at the Pentagon and later as Under Secretary of the Air Force (1967-69). Subsequently, he served as President of the Association of American Publishers, Co-Chairman of Americans for SALT, and Director of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations. He is author of numerous works on international affairs and contemporary history, including The Limits of Intervention (Vietnam War), The Devil and John Foster Dulles, and Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal (coauthored with Douglas Brinkley), which won the 1992 Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize. Townsend Hoopes on Arms Control, a collection of his essays and speeches, was published in 1987, and FDR and the Creation of the UN (coauthored with Brinkley) was published in 1997.
The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience offers many lectures on American history, culture and politics. Contact Kees deMooy, Program Manager for the C.V. Starr Center, at 410-810-7156, or visit http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu for a list of upcoming events and lectures.

Thursday, October 31, 2002

Wingate History Lecture To Explore Slavery And The Making Of Atlantic Trade November 14

Chestertown, MD, October 31, 2002 — The Conrad M. Wingate Memorial Lecture at Washington College presents “SLAVERY IN THE MAKING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD,” a lecture by James Walvin, Professor of History at the University of York, U.K., Thursday, November 14, 2002 at 7:30 p.m in the College's Casey Academic Center Forum. A book signing will follow this free public event.
Professor Walvin is a historian of black slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. He received his B.A. from Keele University, an M.A. from McMaster, and his D.Phil. from the University of York, where he now serves as Professor of History. Professor Walvin most recently served as a Gilder Lehrman Fellow in New York City, but is also the recipient of numerous other fellowships, including an Andrew Mellon Fellowship, a grant from the Social Science Research Centre at the Australian National University, and a fellowship in the Royal Historical Society. He is also the editor of the journal Slavery and Abolition. Professor Walvin has authored, co-authored, and edited more than thirty books on the Atlantic slave trade, English social history, and the history of football (“soccer” to Americans). His book Black and White: The Negro and English Society, 1555-1945 was the recipient of the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize in 1974, and his work Quakers: Money and Morality was named a “Notable Book” by the New York Times Book Review in 1998. Professor Walvin's latest project is Island Peoples: A History of the Caribbean, which will be published by Random House.
The Conrad M. Wingate Memorial Lecture in History is held in honor of the late Conrad Meade Wingate '23, brother of late Washington College Visitor Emeritus Phillip J. Wingate '33 and the late Carolyn Wingate Todd. He was principal of Henderson (MD) High School at the time of his death at age 27. While a student at Washington College, he was president of the Dramatic Association, president of the Adelphia Literary Society and vice president of the Student Council in 1922-23.

Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Carville In The Crossfire: College Hosts An Open Political Discussion With James Carville November 20

Chestertown, MD, October 30, 2002 — Washington College's Harwood Lecture Series presents “Carville in the Crossfire,” an open, panel discussion of today's biggest political issues featuring political strategist, author, and CNN CROSSFIRE co-host James Carville squaring off with Washington College faculty and students on the left and on the right side of the political spectrum. Moderated by John Harwood, Washington editor of the Wall Street Journal, the panel discussion will be held Wednesday, November 20, 2002, at 5 p.m. in the Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Called the Ragin' Cajun with a punchy attitude and a spitfire tongue hotter than Tabasco, Carville is America's best-known political consultant and Democratic Party pundit. Making his early reputation by turning underdog campaigns into victories, Carville came into national prominence in 1992 by guiding Bill Clinton to the Presidency and was honored as Campaign Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants for his leadership of Clinton's “War Room” Little Rock campaign headquarters. After the Clinton victory, Carville began to focus on other projects, including foreign campaign consulting, writing, and public speaking. With his wife Mary Matalin, an Assistant to President Bush and Counselor to Vice-President Cheney, he co-wrote the bestselling All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President.
Carville's next books—We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives; And the Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr—became bestsellers as well. Suck Up, Buck Up…and Come Back When You Foul Up, Carville's latest literary effort, co-written with CROSSFIRE co-host Paul Begala, details strategies for fighting and winning in business, politics, and life.
The Harwood Lecture Series in American Journalism is sponsored by the Richard Harwood Endowment Fund, established to honor the distinguished career of the late Washington Post columnist and ombudsman Richard Harwood, who served as both a trustee of and a lecturer in journalism at the College.

Monday, October 28, 2002

Washington College Unveils New Multimedia And Technology Learning Center

Chestertown, MD, October 28, 2002 — Washington College has unveiled a redesigned and updated multimedia and technology-learning center for the campus. The former Beck Computing Center in William Smith Hall not only has a new look but also a new purpose. Now renamed the Beck Multimedia and Technology Learning Center, the lab will offer technology-training workshops in a multifunctional Windows and Macintosh environment. On Tuesday, October 29 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. the College's Office of Information Technologies held a Technology Showcase to celebrate the Center's grand opening.
New Apple iBooks and Gateway laptop computers have replaced the old Macintoshes. Technologies such as state-of-the-art digital video editing workstations, digital video and digital still cameras, and a DVD/VCR unit are new additions to the Center. The Center also has a networked DeskJet Color printer that any workstation can print to. Scanners and a black-and-white laser jet printer are also available. The software available in the Center includes Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Flash, iMovie, PhotoShop, Microsoft Office, and much more.
“It's not just another appealing public computing center,” said Sharon Sledge, the Assistant Director of Academic Computing and IT Support Services. “It's a dedicated Multimedia and Technology Center. The Center's goal is to provide learning opportunities that help the Washington College community make effective use of new technologies.”
The Center is setup to support traditional instructor-led training and strives to provide just-in-time training that is specific to the needs of the learner. There will be instructor-led workshops on everything from how to use MacOS X and Windows XP to creating and editing web pages, digital movies and other multimedia content.

Friday, October 25, 2002

Tracking The Ever-Changing Bird Populations, A Lecture By Conservationist Chandler Robbins, November 5

Chestertown, MD, October 25, 2002 — Washington College's McLain Program in Environmental Studies and the Center for the Environment and Society, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE KENT COUNTY CHAPTER OF THE MARYLAND ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, present “Tracking Our Ever-Changing Bird Populations: What Do We Know, What Can we Do?”, a lecture by Chandler S. Robbins, Research Wildlife Biologist with the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The talk will be held Tuesday, November 5 at 5 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
An ornithologist and biologist with the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center since 1945, Robbins has led the effort to monitor populations of nongame birds, and in 1966 developed the North American Breeding Bird Survey to track population trends of birds across the continent to provide essential data for conservation decisions. After surveys revealed that many migratory songbirds were in decline, Robbins was part of a research team who studied the status of bird habitats in the 1980s, revealing, among other factors, that many bird species require large, unbroken tracts of undeveloped land to breed and rear young. More than a scientist, Robbins is a passionate conservationist who has passed on his enthusiasm to generations of Americans, authoring one of the most popular birdwatching field guides used since the mid-1960s.
“Chandler Robbins is a pioneer in this field, and we plan to honor his contributions to birdwatching and conservation at this talk,” said Wayne Bell, Director of the Center for the Environment and Society and Kent County Coordinator for the Maryland/DC Breeding Bird ATLAS Project. “A recent report from the Audubon Society revealed that urban expansion and loss of open space, including both forests and grasslands, have placed 25 percent of North America's bird species in trouble or decline. Clearly, Robbins' commitment to biodiversity and preserving natural habitat is as critical now as it was 35 years ago when he began the Breeding Bird Survey.”

"Glorious Praises": Washington College Gospel Choir To Hold Annual Holiday Concert

Chestertown, MD, October 25, 2002 — The Washington College Gospel Choir, under the direction of Reverend Eric Scott, will hold their annual holiday concert on Saturday, November 16, 2002. This concert will be held on campus in the Norman James Theatre. The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. Admission for this concert is $2 per person, with children 12 and under FREE. The concert is open to the public.
According to Gospel Choir Advisor, Sara Smith, this concert promises to be a very exciting one. “Since the concert is being held early this year, we plan to encompass not only the Christmas holiday but Thanksgiving as well,” said Smith.
The choir, now in its fifth year at the College, is made up of students from many states, as well as students from other countries. Several students from Japan participate in the choir as well as students from Pennsylvania, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Alaska. The choir also includes local staff members.
“This is a marvelous way for you and your family to begin the celebration of the holidays,” said Smith. “If you have not had an opportunity to come out and hear this choir, please mark your calendar, and come join us for a wonderful time of praise and celebration. You will be very glad you came!” If you would like more information about the Washington College Gospel Choir, please contact Sara Ann Smith at 410-778-7290, or e-mail ssmith5@washcoll.edu.

Thursday, October 24, 2002

Maritime Lecture To Discuss Women And The American Whalefishery, November 7

Chestertown, MD, October 24, 2002 — Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and Sultana Projects, Inc. present “QUAKER WIVES AND CAPE HORN WIDOWS: NEW ENGLAND WOMEN AND THE AMERICAN WHALEFISHERY,” a lecture by Lisa Norling, Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. This free talk will be held Thursday, November 7, 2002, in the College's Hynson Lounge, starting at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
The author of Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New England Women and the Whalefishery, 1720-1870, Prof. Norling will discuss the role of women in the American whaling industry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that sent hundreds of ships and thousands of men to distant seas on voyages lasting up to five years. Through sources such as women's and men's letters and diaries, shipowners' records, Quaker meeting minutes and other church records, newspapers and magazines, and censuses, Prof. Norling explores the often-overlooked side of this industry, reconstructing the lives of the “Cape Horn widows” left behind onshore and the impact that whaling had on these women's lives and gender roles.
Prof. Norling's talk concludes the 2002 Maritime Lecture Series sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience in partnership with Sultana Projects, an organization that provides unique, hands-on educational experiences in colonial history and environmental science on board Chestertown's reproduction 18th century Schooner Sultana. Contact Kees deMooy, Program Manager for the C.V. Starr Center, at 410-810-7156, or visit http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu for a list of upcoming events and lectures.

Townsend Hoopes Appointed Senior Fellow At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, October 24, 2002 — Washington College's Board of Visitors and Governors is pleased to announce the appointment of Townsend Hoopes as Senior Fellow of the College who will be associated with the College's C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. With a long career in government service and consulting, Hoopes is a recognized authority on foreign policy and international security.
“Tim Hoopes will bring a wealth of experience to the C.V. Starr Center, both as an historian and as a former shaper of American foreign policy,” said Ted Widmer, Director of the C. V. Starr Center. “In particular, he will help us to probe a topic of the utmost importance to the American experience—the history of our strategic and diplomatic relationships with the rest of the world.”
At the end of World War II, Hoopes served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services in the House of Representatives (1947-48); then as a staff aide to three Secretaries of Defense: James Forrestal, General George Marshall and Robert Lovett (1948-53). For several years thereafter, he was a partner in the international consulting firm of Cresap, McCormick and Paget. He returned to government service as Principal Deputy for International Security Affairs at the Pentagon (1965-67) and as Under Secretary of the Air Force (1967-69). Subsequently, he served as President of the Association of American Publishers, Co-Chairman of Americans for SALT, and Director of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations.
His book The Limits of Intervention (Vietnam War) won the Overseas Writers Award for Best Book on Foreign Policy in 1970; his biography, The Devil and John Foster Dulles, won the 1973 Bancroft History Prize; and another biography, Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal (coauthored with Douglas Brinkley), won the 1992 Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize. Townsend Hoopes on Arms Control, a collection of his essays and speeches, was published in 1987, and FDR and the Creation of the UN (coauthored with Brinkley) was published in 1997.
Hoopes is a graduate of Phillips Andover Academy, Yale University and the National War College. As a Marine Lieutenant in World War II, he participated in the assault and capture of Iwo Jima and the initial occupation of Japan. He and his wife Ann live in Chestertown.

Friday, October 11, 2002

One Land, Two Peoples: Washington College Hosts Symposium On Middle East Affairs October 24

Chestertown, MD, October 11, 2002 — Washington College's Goldstein Program in Public Affairs will present the symposium “One Land, Two Peoples: Conflict in the Middle East,” on Thursday, October 24, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend this timely and important discussion.
To be moderated by Dr. Tahir Shad, Director of Washington College's International Studies Program, the symposium will feature four panelists immersed in the complexities of the political, strategic, economic, ethnic and religious issues that divide Israel and Palestine, as well as the entire Middle East region. The panel will comprise Nubar Hovsepian, Associate Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania; Scott B. Lasensky, a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Assistant Director of the Council's U.S./Middle East Project, and a foreign policy analyst specializing in international politics, American foreign policy, and the Middle East; Haim Malka, a research analyst specializing in Palestinian-Israeli issues at The Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy; and Janine Zacharia, Washington correspondent since November 1999 for The Jerusalem Post who has covered the Middle East from a U.S. perspective, including the Clinton Administration's efforts to broker peace deals between Israel and her Arab neighbors, and the Bush Administration's evolving policy toward the region.
The symposium is sponsored by Washington College's Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, a 1935 alumnus and Maryland's longest serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders in public policy and the media.

Wednesday, October 9, 2002

Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. To Speak At Washington College October 16

Dedication of Chester Riverkeeper Boat Set for Afternoon

Chestertown, MD, October 9, 2002 — The Chester River Association (CRA) and Waterkeeper Alliance will formally inaugurate the new Chester Riverkeeper Program and dedicate the Riverkeeper's vessel during ceremonies beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Town Landing in Chestertown, Wednesday, October 16, 2002. Waterkeeper Alliance founder and president, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will join CRA president Andrew McCown to dedicate the 20-foot boat. Newly appointed Chester Riverkeeper Eileen McLellan will use the vessel as part of her work to revive and preserve the health of the Chester River and the living resources it supports. Citizens of the Chester River watershed and the general public are invited to attend the dedication.
Kennedy and McLellan will be the featured speakers at a free public forum, "Riverkeeping: A Vision for the Chester", to be held from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Hynson Lounge at Washington College. McCown and Dr. Wayne Bell, director of Washington College's Center for Environment and Society, will introduce a discussion of the challenges of local stewardship for our waterways and the progress Waterkeeper Alliance member programs have achieved in reversing the decline of impaired rivers. The forum will conclude with a question and answer period.
The Chester River Association has linked citizens of Kent and Queen Anne's Counties in efforts to protect and promote the health of the Chester River for more than 16 years. In 2001, CRA announced its acceptance into Waterkeeper Alliance and its plans to bring a Chester Riverkeeper to the watershed by fall 2002. Through financial support, volunteer efforts and the ongoing commitment of individuals, foundations and businesses throughout the area, CRA met that objective, announcing the appointment of Dr. Eileen McLellan as Chester Riverkeeper in August.
Waterkeeper Alliance is the fastest growing environmental organization in the Americas. With more than 90 Waterkeeper programs spanning North America, Latin America and Europe, and prospective groups in Australia, England and Japan, Waterkeeper Alliance celebrates and actively supports the link between healthy waterways and healthy communities. The Alliance connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. The Waterkeeper concept started on New York's Hudson River where a coalition of commercial and recreational fishermen mobilized in 1966 to rescue the Hudson from its polluters. In 1983, these local activists launched the first Riverkeeper program, constructed a boat to patrol the River, and hired the first full-time public advocate for the river. As a result of this work, a river that was once dead for large stretches in 1966 is now one of the richest bodies of water in the North Atlantic. The Hudson's miraculous recovery has helped make the Waterkeeper program an international model for ecosystem protection.
In addition to the October 16 dedication, the CRA also will host the second annual "Celebrate the Chester: The Great Pumpkin Party" on Saturday, October 19. The Party kicks off at 1:30 p.m. to welcome McLellan as the Chester Riverkeeper and to celebrate the beauty and bounty of the Chester River with food, prizes and educational programs. A flotilla of vessels will arrive at the Town Landing in Chestertown to deliver its cargo of pumpkins, as well as flowers and other fall produce picked up from landings up and down the Chester River. The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.
The celebration of the Chester will continue that evening at 8 p.m., when Chesapeake Scenes, joined by special guest Tom Wisner, will evoke the beauty and magic of the river in music and words in a concert at the Prince Theatre. All proceeds from the concert will benefit the Chester Riverkeeper Program. Tickets are available through the Prince Theatre box office by calling 410-810-2060.

Chester Riverkeeper Takes To The River In September

First Riverkeeper on Major Maryland Tributary of Chesapeake Bay

Chestertown, MD, October 9, 2002 — The Chester River Association (CRA) has named Dr. Eileen McLellan as Chester Riverkeeper. As Chester Riverkeeper, McLellan will serve as a guardian and advocate for the river and its living resources. She will be headquartered with the Center for the Environment and Society in Washington College's 18th century Custom House on the Chester Riverfront. Her primary mission will be to remove the Chester River from the list of Maryland's impaired waterways. Classified as a Category 1 scenic river, the Chester has been rated "impaired" because of degraded water quality from non-point source pollution, primarily in the form of nutrients.
Rapid development in Kent and Queen Anne's Counties, one of the fastest growing corridors in the state, is impacting the rural character and compromising both water quality and biodiversity in the watershed. Through programs and actions designed to promote citizen stewardship of the river, McLellan will seek to halt the decline and begin to revive the river by addressing nutrient pollution and habitat degradation. She will work to empower all citizens in the watershed to hold those in authority accountable for the impact of their decisions on water quality and for the enforcement of environmental policies and laws.
Announcing the appointment, CRA President Andrew McCown stated, "We were fortunate to have a significant number of highly qualified applicants apply for the Riverkeeper position. In the end, we concluded that Eileen was uniquely suited to become an effective guardian and voice for the Chester River."
McLellan earned a doctorate in geology at Cambridge University in England, has conducted fieldwork throughout the U.S., and has many years of experience working with watershed groups. For the past three years, she has helped watershed groups in the Pacific Northwest secure funding and technical assistance for restoration projects. She has an in-depth knowledge of the Clean Water Act and has helped develop the EPA's TMDL (total maximum daily load) standards for impaired waters. With two segments of the Chester River scheduled for TMDL development this year, McLellan plans to work with citizens throughout the watershed to design TMDL plans that will restore the river's health. During her five-year tenure as a professor at the University of Maryland-College Park, McLellan conducted research on wetlands and watershed management and created the College Park Scholars in Environmental Studies program. As Chester Riverkeeper, she will continue to work as an educator, with the public, with local elementary and secondary schools, and with Washington College students through CRA's partnership with the Center for the Environment and Society.
Founded in 1986 by a group of citizens from Kent and Queen Anne's Counties, the Chester River Association is an advocate for the Chester River and the living resources it supports. CRA promotes stewardship of the Chester River watershed-its forests, marshes, fields and streams-as well as an understanding of the river's place in the economic and cultural life of our communities. It seeks to educate the public about a broad spectrum of river-related issues through public forums, recreational and educational activities, and a yearly river journal. CRA's water quality monitoring program, Chester Testers, has established the first long-term measure of water quality at 14 sites along the river. The Chester River Association has sought to articulate the link between actions on the land and the declining health of the river. Its volunteer Board of Directors includes watermen, farmers, educators, elected officials, biologists, architects, artists, writers and photographers.
CRA hopes that the Chester Riverkeeper program will serve as an example for protecting other Maryland waterways, and indeed, that hope is already becoming a reality. Watershed protection groups on the Patapsco, Severn and South Rivers have recently announced initiatives to bring Riverkeepers to their own waters in the near future. McLellan articulates her vision for the Chester River this way: "Ten years from now, I hope other communities will look to us as a model of how to implement the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement at the local level. That would mean that everyone in the watershed is aware of their connection to and dependence on the Chester River-and I say 'dependence' because there is a real connection between a healthy river, vibrant communities and a sustainable economy. More than awareness, I would like to see all of the river's citizens live their daily lives in a way that respects that connection and dependence. We will need everyone whose life touches the Chester River to become 'riverkeepers' who make sound choices that will protect our natural resources and quality of life for future generations."
For more information on the Chester River Association and the Chester Riverkeeper program visit www.chesterriverassociation.org, or call the CRA office 410.810.7445.

Tuesday, October 8, 2002

One Million Dollar Anonymous Challenge Grant Pushes Washington College Capital Campaign Over $84 Million

Chestertown, MD, October 8, 2002 — A $1 million anonymous challenge grant and a gift of $300,000 from Board Trustee Daryl Swanstrom for the new science center, coupled with fiscal-year-end gifts totaling more than $1.3 million and a bequest of $700,000 from the late William Matthews of Boca Raton, FL, have pushed the total funds raised by the Campaign for Washington's College to more than $84.5 million. Surpassing its original $72 million, five-year goal, the Campaign will continue to raise all it can by its original completion date of December 31, 2003.
Other recent significant gifts include $100,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the Rural Communities Leadership Program, to be organized and conducted by the Washington College Center for the Environment and Society. This is the first time the College has received support from this distinguished national funding source.
“The College's capital campaign has had tremendous momentum, carrying us well beyond our expected goals,” said Jack Griswold, Chair of the Campaign for Washington's College. “Our newly convened Milestone Council, a distinguished group of 22 alumni, trustees and other College supporters chaired by College trustee Thomas H. Gale, will keep this momentum going and will work hard to push the Campaign forward in the coming year.”

When Bones Talk: Bioarchaeology And The African Diaspora

Chestertown, MD, October 8, 2002 — The Washington College Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Anthropology Club, the Black Student Alliance, the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, and the Gamma Chapter of Maryland of Lambda Alpha present BIOARCHAEOLOGY AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, a lecture by Michael L. Blakey, National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary. This free talk will be held Thursday, October 17, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the Casey Academic Center Forum. The public is invited to attend.
With a crossdisciplinary background in human anatomy and anthropology, Dr. Blakey will discuss how archaeology works with such disciplines to discover how humans lived in the past and were affected by their living conditions. An Adjunct Professor in Anatomy at Howard University College of Medicine where he had for many years been Curator of the W. Montague Cobb Human Skeletal Collection, Dr. Blakey currently directs the New York African Burial Ground Project involving interdisciplinary study of 400 skeletons of Africans enslaved in 18th century New York City. In addition to his field work, he has taught at Spelman College, the University of Rome, Columbia University, and Brown University, and has served as a Research Associate in Physical Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. He is a past President of the Association of Black Anthropologists, a member of the Executive Council of the Society for Medical Anthropology, United States Representative to the Council of the Fourth World Archaeological Congress in Cape Town, and Permanent Representative to Washington for the African Bureau of Education Sciences in Kinshasa and Geneva. Dr. Blakey earned his B.A. at Howard University and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Thursday, October 3, 2002

Father of the Man: Robert Mooney Debuts New Novel October 24

Chestertown, MD, October 3, 2002 — Robert Mooney, Director of the Creative Writing Program at Washington College, will debut his new novel Father of the Man (Pantheon Books, 2002) in a public reading on Thursday, October 24, 2002, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. A book signing and reception will follow. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
The October 24 reading begins a seven-city book tour for the release of Father of the Man. For the complete list of times and locations for readings and booksignings, click here. Father of the Man is a multi-layered novel about the love between a father and son, husband and wife, mother and child, and the living and the dead. The novel is set in post-Vietnam America, in a closely-knit community of Irish-Americans in Binghamton, NY. Bus driver Dutch Potter, a proud WWII veteran, who has spent 12 years caught between despair and hope, waiting for news of his son Jom who has been MIA in Vietnam. After a violent argument at home over his role in his son's enlistment, Dutch is driven to a last desperate act, taking hostage the passengers on his bus route in an armed standoff with federal authorities to force an answer from the government about his son's fate. It is during this standoff that the plot brings an unexpected answer to Jom's postwar fate. Father of the Man has been called “an affecting, eccentric, poignantly realistic novel about a lost man's hopeless and tragic attempt to erase or at least recover his past,” by award-winning fiction writer Ron Hansen. Novelist Larry Woiwode observes that “very few novels reach, in the way Mooney's does, for understanding and reconciliation between generations—specifically the gap that widened over the war in Vietnam.”
A nominee for the Pushcart Prize and author of numerous published works of short fiction, Mooney began his writing apprenticeship in 1979, while living in Oregon. Realizing he needed more guidance to develop his writing, he returned to his home state of New York to apprentice with novelist John Gardner who taught creative writing at the State University of New York-Binghamton. He worked a year-and-a-half with Gardner before his death in 1982. After receiving his Master of Arts in 1983, Mooney taught as an adjunct faculty member at SUNY-Binghamton and took workshops with novelist Larry Woiwoode, who succeeded Gardner. After Woiwode left SUNY-Binghamton, Mooney became director of the creative writing program where he continued until 1997, when he moved to Chestertown to direct Washington College's Creative Writing Program.

Miller Library Receives Large Collection Of Books On Medieval And Renaissance Literature And Culture

Chestertown, MD, October 3, 2002 — Washington College's Clifton M. Miller Library is pleased to announce that it has received an extraordinary collection of books on Medieval and Renaissance literature and culture courtesy of Dr. Werner Gundersheimer, former director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. The gift represents a significant addition to the Miller Library's collection.
The 985 volumes, from Dr. Gundersheimer's private research library, are now being sorted and cataloged to be added to the library's stacks, said William Tubbs, College Librarian. He credits former Washington College dean Dr. Barbara Mowat, Director of Academic Programs at the Folger Library, and Professor Colin Dickson with helping to secure this collection for the College.
“We are very honored to be the recipient of this gift, and it will greatly add to our resources,” Tubbs said. “Our faculty and students studying history, philosophy, art, sociology and political science will benefit from the depth and breadth of this collection of books.”
As a noted scholar of early modern French and Italian history, Dr. Gundersheimer hopes to pass on his appreciation of Medieval and Renaissance culture to generations of students in the liberal arts and sciences.
“I went to a liberal arts college, and so did my wife and two sons. I chose Washington College to receive this collection because it is one of the historic representatives of liberal education in our region, and because its collecting needs and my books seemed like a good match,” said Dr. Gundersheimer, who directed the Capitol Hill-based Folger Library from 1984 to 2002. A graduate of Amherst College, Dr. Gundersheimer earned his M.A. and Ph.D degrees at Harvard University, and taught at several universities. Before joining the Folger, he was Chairman of the Department of History and Director of the Center for Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I believe in the value of a liberal education, as preparation for a life of personal and intellectual growth, and as the basis of an informed, independent-minded citizenry,” he said. “Early modern Europe, which is the central focus of my library, holds the beginnings of our modern society in almost every area. As an historian, I maintain that you cannot really know who you are without understanding where you came from; and for Americans, that means knowing something about medieval and early modern Europe.”

Monday, September 30, 2002

Lelia Hynson Pavilion Suffers Extensive Damage After Fire

Chestertown, MD, September 30, 2002 — The Lelia Hynson Pavilion, part of the College's waterfront facilities, suffered extensive damage in a fire early Sunday morning, September 29th. At approximately 3 a.m. a passing motorist reported seeing flames. The Chestertown Fire Department arrived on the scene at 3:10 and battled the blaze until it was extinguished at approximately 4:30 a.m. The damage to the facility is very significant.
Washington College Public Safety officers had been on the scene earlier at 11 p.m. Saturday evening after the conclusion of a student gathering. The officers returned to the Pavilion at 1:20 a.m. making routine rounds, and did not observe anything out of the ordinary during those visits. Preliminary reports suggest the fire may have been electrical in origin but investigation is ongoing. The Pavilion will be closed for the foreseeable future.
No one was injured as a result of the fire.

Friday, September 27, 2002

The Race To Save The Monitor: A Maritime History Lecture At Washington College October 10th


Chestertown, MD, September 27, 2002 — Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and Sultana Projects, Inc., present THE RACE TO SAVE THE MONITOR, a maritime history lecture by John Broadwater, Ph.D., Manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. The lecture will be held Thursday, October 10, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
The Civil War brought many advances in weaponry, including naval technology, and the U.S.S. Monitor represented a radical departure from traditional warship design. Powered by steam alone and constructed almost exclusively of iron, the ship's novel low-profile design, heavy armor and revolving gun turret set the stage for modern naval warfare. With the exception of her famous engagement with the Confederate ironclad Virginia at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the Monitor's brief career was uneventful, and shortly after midnight on December 31, 1862, the Monitor sank in a gale off Cape Hatteras, lost at sea less than a year after her launch. But the Monitor did not fail to impress ship designers and naval personnel around the world: the U.S. Navy built more than 60 Monitor-type vessels during the Civil War, and similar ships were built in other countries.
Dr. Broadwater is the Chief Scientist of the Monitor Expedition 2002 and has been the Manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary since 1992. A diver since 1969, Dr. Broadwater has participated in shipwreck dives and investigations throughout the United States and in more than a dozen countries. He also volunteered his services as an archaeologist for expeditions to the Monitor in 1974, 1979 and 1983. Between 1978 and 1989, as Senior Underwater Archaeologist of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, he directed the Yorktown Shipwreck Archaeological Project, which culminated with the complete excavation of a British ship sunk during the last major battle of the American Revolution. A well-known author and lecturer, Dr. Broadwater wrote “Secrets of a Yorktown Shipwreck” for the June 1988 issue of National Geographic, and the book Kwajalein, Lagoon of Found Ships, which chronicles shipwreck investigations in the Marshall Islands. On August 5 of this year, under his direction, the Monitor Expedition successfully raised the ship's unique 160-ton turret from 240 feet of water off of Cape Hatteras. The turret is now submerged in a special tank at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA, in order to slow its decay and to allow special research and preservation measures. Dr. Broadwater's lecture will describe the efforts being taken and what remains to be done to save and to preserve the historic Monitor.
Dr. Broadwater's lecture is the third in a four-part Maritime Lecture Series sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience in partnership with Sultana Projects, an organization that provides unique, hands-on educational experiences in colonial history and environmental science on board Chestertown's reproduction 18th Century Schooner Sultana. The series will conclude November 7, 2002, with a lecture by Lisa Norling, author of Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New England Women and the Whalefishery, 1720-1870, discussing the role of women in the American whaling industry. Look for coming announcements or contact Kees deMooy, Program Manager for the C.V. Starr Center, at 410-810-7156, or visit http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu for a complete program of events.

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Novelist John Vernon To Read From His Works September 26th


Chestertown, MD, September 24, 2002 — Washington College's O'Neill Literary House and Sophie Kerr Committee welcome American novelist John Vernon, author of, among other books, LaSalle, Peter Doyle, A Book of Reasons, and, most recently, The Last Canyon. Vernon will read from his works Thursday, September 26, 2002, at 4:30 p.m. in the Sophie Kerr Room, Miller Library. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Born in Cambridge, MA, Vernon attended Boston College and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. Currently, he teaches creative writing, modern literature and literature of the American West at the State University of New York, Binghamton. His latest novel, The Last Canyon a novel set in 1869 that follows the ill-fated journey of a Civil War veteran and nine companions who explore the length of the Colorado River from Wyoming to the Grand Canyon has garnered critical praise in the genre of historical fiction.

Expert To Discuss Abstract Expressionism In The Art World And The Civil Rights Movement October 9


Chestertown, MD, September 24, 2002 — Washington College's Department of Art, the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs present COMPETING INTERPRETATIONS OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM IN THE ART WORLD AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, a lecture by author, art historian and activist David L. Craven, Ph.D., Wednesday, October 9, 2002, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
A professor of art history at the University of New Mexico and a member of the Interdisciplinary Board of the university's Latin American Institute, Dr. Craven is an expert in Critical Theory, as well as in 19th- and 20th-century art and culture of Latin America, the United States and Europe. He has written catalog essays for several museums both in the United States and abroad. These include Mythmaking in the McCarthy Period for the Tate Gallery in England (1992); an essay for the Norman Lewis exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (1998); and an essay for the show La Rebelión Informalista: 1939-1968 at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía of Madrid (1999). In addition, he has written over 100 articles and reviews and, at present, serves on the international advisory board of the journals ArtefFacto and Third Text. His recent books include Abstract Expressionism and the Cultural Logic of Romantic Anti-Capitalism: Dissent during the McCarthy Period (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and Art and Revolution in Latin America, 1910-1990 (Yale University Press, 2002).

Pianist Scott Beard To Open Concert Series October 9


Chestertown, MD, September 24, 2002 — The 51st season of the Washington College Concert Series will open Wednesday, October 9, 2002, with a performance by pianist Scott Beard. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Tawes Theatre, Daniel Z. Gibson Performing Arts Center, on the campus of Washington College.
Scott Beard is coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Shepard College in Shepherdstown, WV, and holds a degree in piano performance from Peabody Conservatory and the University of Maryland. Beard has performed to critical acclaim as a recital and orchestral soloist throughout the United States, Canada, England, Ireland and France. He specializes in the music of famed nineteenth-century pedagogue Theodor Leschetizky and has released a CD recording, Leschetizky: Piano Treasures. His second recording is an all-Chopin CD titled Chopin: Poet of the Piano.
A champion of French music, Beard has participated for many years in the France Piano Internationale Festival and Competition held at the Schola Cantorum. At the 1994 Festival he received the Rousell Foundation prize for the best performance of that composer's works. In July 1998 and in 2000 he was awarded the jury prize for the best performance of a work by a French composer as well as the jury prize for Baroque music.
For ticket information and a 2002-2003 Washington College Concert Series season brochure, call 410-778-7839 or 800-422-1782, ext. 7839. Season tickets are available for $50.00 per person, and individual tax-deductible patron sponsorships begin at $75.00. Single tickets at the door are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and students. Season tickets can be purchased by check or money order through the mail from the Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620-1197.

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

Everclear To Perform At Washington College's Lifetime Fitness Center October 5


Chestertown, MD, September 18, 2002 — Everclear, the Portland-based alternarockers, will perform Saturday, October 5, 2002, at 8 pm. in Washington College's Lifetime Fitness Center. Doors open at 7 p.m. Special guest to be announced. Tickets are $25 for general admission and are on sale now through all TICKETMASTER locations, or by calling TICKETMASTER at 800-551-SEAT.
Everclear—fronted by the irrepressible Art Alexakis—debuted in 1993 with the release of World of Noise. Widespread popular success followed when the band signed with Capitol Records and released Sparkle and Fade in 199), kick starting the band's career. In 1997 So Much for the Afterglow rocketed the band into stratospheric heights and sold over two million copies in the United States alone. Afterglow put them in the Top Five of Billboard magazine's Modern Rock Tracks chart three times for the songs “Everything to Anyone,” “I Will Buy You a New Life” and “Father of Mine.”
In 1998, the band was chosen “Alternative Artist of the Year” and won Billboard's “Modern Rock Artist of the Year” award. The year 1999 brought them a Grammy nomination in the Rock Instrumental category for “El Distorto de Melodica.” Their remake of Thin Lizzy's1970's black-t-shirt-mall-rat classic, “The Boys Are Back in Town,” was featured on the soundtrack to Detroit Rock City. In 2000, the Portland-based trio released the pop-inflected Songs From An American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile (earning platinum) followed later that year by a harder-rocking companion, Songs From An American Movie, Vol. 2: Good Time For A Bad Attitude. Washington College is their first stop on a fall 2002 tour.
The concert has been organized by the Washington College Student Events Board and the Student Government Association.

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

Washington College's Center For The Environment And Society To Develop Rural Communities Leadership Program 2002-2003


Pilot Program Will Support Sustainable Rural Economy, Character for the Shore

Chestertown, MD, September 17, 2002 — The W. K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded Washington College a grant of $100,000 to develop a Rural Communities Leadership Program for the Eastern Shore of Maryland. To be conducted by the College's Center for the Environment and Society in collaboration with the University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Service, the pilot program, beginning this fall, will become a model for creating and sustaining local leadership in order to encourage and to maintain the rural character, resource-economy and heritage of the Shore.
Widely recognized as a unique environmental and cultural region, the Eastern Shore has been a major agricultural area since Colonial times (the landscape is currently comprised of 53 percent productive farmland), but its proximity to the growing sprawl of the Washington-Baltimore-Philadelphia corridor has brought related pressures to covert its rural land for development.
“Our region faces the prospect of losing its rural economy and its abundant natural resources due to developmental pressures,” said Dr. Wayne Bell, who is overseeing the project as the Director of the Center for the Environment and Society at Washington College. “The hope is that through the Rural Communities Leadership Program, we can promote the smartest of the smart growth for our region through a network of leaders who represent and are stakeholders of the Eastern Shore's communities.” This network will be grassroots, explained Bell, comprising people from various sectors of the Eastern Shore region—farmers, watermen, community planners, environmentalists, developers and builders, and business people—who understand the region's special sense of place and can coordinate their activities on a regional and local level.
A Community Forum scheduled for November 23, 2002, will launch the pilot program, by identifying and recommending the participants for the initial leadership program council. Beginning in January 2003, participants will meet monthly to deliberate on issues such as economics, community character, the environment and natural resources. In addition, participants will make at least one field trip to see first-hand how other communities have confronted and resolved similar challenges to those facing the Shore. As a pilot study, the participants will assist in evaluating the individual classes and overall program.
“There are two beneficial, long-term results from these leaderships programs,” said Dr. Philip Favero of the Institute for Governmental Service, who will serve at the Program's day-to-day coordinator. “First, individuals' skills and knowledge in the various issues affecting rural communities, from development to the environment, will be increased and enhanced. Secondly, and equally important, are the trusting, cooperative relationships developed between the participants that carry beyond the classes into the communities and their professional positions. This is a longer-term outcome, but one that is absolutely essential so that the knowledge gained will be the basis of region-wide action, policy and planning.”
Washington College students, joined by selected registrants from the Washington College Academy for Lifelong Learning—the college-affiliated adult education program—will participate in the Rural Communities Leadership Program through a special course, “Sustaining Rural Communities,” during the spring 2003 semester. The course and project will be integrated in several ways, but the key will be having the class meet with the program council once a month.
“This project is an example of expanded community engagement of Washington College,” said Bell. “It is a two-way endeavor that creates a professional academic resource for the Eastern Shore and enables students to learn first-hand about outside issues that will challenge them after their graduation.”
The $100,000 grant for this pilot program was W. K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, MI. Established in 1930 by W.K. Kellogg, the cereal industry pioneer, the Foundation has continuously focused on building the capacity of and enabling individuals, communities, and institutions to solve their own problems.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

Of Piracy And Privateers: A Maritime History Lecture At Washington College September 19


Chestertown, MD, September 10, 2002 — The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College presents "The Pirate and the Gallows; or, A Tale of Two Terrors," a lecture by Marcus Rediker, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, Thursday, September 19, 2002 at 7.30 p.m. in Washington College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Rediker is the author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750, and, with Peter Linebaugh, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic. He is the recipient of the American Studies Association's John Hope Franklin Prize, the Organization of American Historians' Merle Curti Social History Award, and most recently, the International Labor History Award.
Rediker's lecture is the second in a four-part Maritime Lecture Series sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience in partnership with Sultana Projects, an organization that provides unique, hands-on educational experiences in colonial history and environmental science on board Chestertown's reproduction 18th Century Schooner Sultana. The series will continue this fall with a lecture October 10, 2002, by John Broadwater, internationally known underwater archaeologist and manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, established to preserve the sunken ironclad U.S.S. Monitor; and a lecture November 7, 2002, by Lisa Norling, author of Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New England Women and the Whalefishery, 1720-1870, discussing the role of women in the American whaling industry.
Look for coming announcements or contact Kees deMooy, Program Manager for the C.V. Starr Center, at 410-810-7156, or visit online at http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu for a complete program of events and times.

Tuesday, September 3, 2002

Need To Get A "Life After Liberal Arts"? Here's How


Chestertown, MD, September 3, 2002 — The Washington College Alumni Council will host its Fall LIFE AFTER LIBERAL ARTS (LALA) symposium on Saturday, September 14, 2002, at 2:00 p.m. in the Hodson Hall Study Lounge. LALA programs are designed to bring to current Washington College students and graduates a panel of successful alumni who share their experience and relate the factors that influenced their career paths and goals. This Fall's LALA panel will feature alumni in the fields of environmental education, lobbying, and estate and financial planning. The public is invited to this free event.
Erin O'Neal '91 is Director of Education for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Working from the Foundation's Philip Merrill Environmental Center in Annapolis, MD, O'Neal is responsible for training field staff educators and planning summer courses for teachers on the Chesapeake Bay. An American Studies major, O'Neal's first job after graduation was as assistant field hockey and lacrosse coach at Towson State University. She currently serves on the College's Visiting Committee.
Alumna Brigid Kolish '98 is a legislative assistant for Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc., where she supports clients in healthcare and biomedical research and their related funding issues. Before joining VSA, Kolish served as a legislative assistant for appropriations in the office of Representative Alan B. Mollohan, a senior Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee from West Virginia. During her three years with Rep. Mollohan, Kolish managed his work on the Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary; and District of Columbia Subcommittees while tracking the Agriculture and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bills. Before joining Mollohan's staff, Kolish, a native of Baltimore, interned for Maryland State Senator Perry Sfikas during the 1998 Maryland General Assembly. She earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Washington College, where she served as president of the Student Government Association. She is currently a member of the College's Alumni Council.
Geoffrey M. Rogers '80 earned his bachelor's in political science and served as a class president and member of the SGA while at Washington College. He is currently executive vice president and director of Delaware operations for The Glenmede Trust Company, N.A., where he oversees the day-to-day operations of Glenmede's Delaware office, which he launched in June 1999. Rogers brings more than 18 years of estate planning and financial services experience to this position, and prior to joining Glenmede, he served as vice president for Scudder Private Investment Counsel, responsible for new business development. Rogers has also served as a vice president with the Wilmington Trust Company, and Delaware Trust Company. In addition to serving on a number of professional organizations, he is President of the Board of Trustees for Sanford School, Chairman of the National Foundation of Open Space and Facade Preservation, and Director of the Delaware Council on Economic Education. He and his wife, Sheryl, are the parents of freshman Geoffrey Rogers, a member of the Class of 2006.

Friday, August 30, 2002

Washington College Welcomes New Faculty For The 2002-2003 Academic Year


Chestertown, MD, August 30, 2002 — As Washington College welcomes 390 incoming freshmen and transfer students, the College is joined by 18 new faculty members for the 2002-2003 academic year, including seven new faculty appointments for tenure-track professorships in economics and environmental studies, mathematics, foreign languages, political science and international studies, biology, and business management.
To tenure-track positions, the College welcomes the following professors this year: Robert Dawson (Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), instructor in economics and environmental studies; Michael McLendon (Ph.D., University of Iowa), assistant professor of mathematics; Lisa Noetzel (Ph D., The Pennsylvania State University), assistant professor of Spanish; Andrew Oros (Ph. D., Columbia University), assistant professor of political science and international studies; Scott Rawls (Ph.D., East Carolina University School of Medicine), assistant professor of biology; Karen Senecal (C.P.A., MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington), assistant professor of accounting; and Susan Vowels (MBA, University of Delaware), assistant professor of business management.
In the physics department, Dr. Karl Kehm (Ph.D., Washington University) has been appointed to a three-year position as assistant professor of earth and planetary science.
Our visiting professors for the 2002-2003 academic year are Sheila Barry, visiting assistant professor of psychology; Kathleen Guidroz, visiting assistant professor of sociology; Lynn Mahaffy, visiting assistant professor of biology; Jennifer O'Neill, visiting assistant professor of art; and Michael Ruscio, visiting assistant professor of psychology.
The College also welcomes the following lecturers: Susan Dorsey, education; Carolyn Becker, Spanish; Christopher Chlumsky and Michael Strauss, music; Renee Zhiyin Dong, Chinese; René Hayden, history; Barbara Romaine, Arabic; and Polly Kuulei Sommerfeld, drama.
The C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience is joined this year by its first visiting fellow, Adam Goodheart. Dr. Michelle Johnson also has joined the College as Field Experience Coordinator for Elementary Education.
"Adding to our faculty resources and maintaining teaching excellence are fundamental goals at Washington College," said Dr. Joachim Scholz, provost and dean of the College. "We continue to attract highly-motivated students, and bringing new faculty and new courses on-line—such as a foreign language course in Arabic and physics' courses in earth and planetary science—helps to expand our students' curricular choices."

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

College To Host Living Shorelines Forum September 13


Keeping Our "Edge" to Preserve the Health of the Chesapeake Bay

Chestertown, MD, August 28, 2002 — The Washington College Center for the Environment and Society, the Upper Eastern Shore Tributary Team and the Chester River Association will host a LIVING SHORELINES FORUM on Friday, September 13, 2002, from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 100 Goldstein Hall on the College's campus. The public is invited to this forum to learn about and discuss various efforts to combat shoreline erosion while maintaining the critical habitat that is necessary for many Bay species.
The beauty of the Chesapeake Bay is tied directly to its bountiful tributaries whose edges and shorelines team with life. As more and more people seek out these distinctive areas to live and to work, there is a risk that the landscape that defines the unique environment of the Bay might be lost as homeowners and businesses opt for shoreline measures for recreation, business and farming that actually threaten and destroy habitat and, with it, the very quality of life that we seek by living on the Chesapeake Bay.
What happens to the environment when we lose "the edge" and what measures can be taken to prevent shoreline erosion? What is the State of Maryland doing to help counties deal with this issue? These questions are critical, both environmentally and economically, and will be addressed at this public forum. Guest speakers will include John Flood, a shoreline design consultant who has witnessed the loss of Anne Arundel County's shorelines to hardened approaches; Kevin Kelly, owner of Environmental Systems Analysis, Inc., in Annapolis, who uses alternative, bio-engineering methods to protect eroding shorelines; and Cornelia Pasche Wikar, a Coastal Hazards Planner with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, who is leading a statewide project to identify the shorelines most susceptible to erosion and the appropriate measures to protect them. Public questions and participation are greatly encouraged.
To learn more about educational events sponsored by the Washington College Center for the Environment and Society, visit the center online at http://ces.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7151.

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Washington College Concert Series Announces Schedule For 51st Season


Chestertown, MD, August 21, 2002 — The Washington College Concert Series, now in its 51st season, has announced its schedule of performances for 2002-2003. All concerts begin at 8 p.m. in the Tawes Theatre, Daniel Z. Gibson Performing Arts Center, on the campus of Washington College. Visit for a campus map and directions.
This coming season will feature performances by:
  • Scott Beard, Piano, Wednesday, October 9, 2002
  • Borealis Wind Quintet, Tuesday, December 3, 2002
  • Jennifer Koh, Violin, Friday, January 17, 2003
  • Lyric Brass Quintet, Monday, March 3, 2003
  • Chris Brubeck's Triple Play, Thursday, May 1, 2003
For ticket information and a 2002-2003 season brochure, call 410-778-7839 or 800-422-1782, ext. 7839. Season tickets are available for $50.00 per person, and individual tax-deductible patron sponsorships begin at $75.00. Single tickets at the door are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and students.
Season tickets can be purchased by check or money order through the mail from the Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620-1197.

Monday, August 19, 2002

"A Sense Of Wonder" Brings The Life Of Rachel Carson To Stage At Washington College September 14


Chestertown, MD, August 19, 2002 — On Saturday, September 14, 2002, acclaimed Broadway, film and television actress Kaiulani Lee will bring the life of environmentalist, biologist and writer Rachel Carson to stage at Washington College in a one-woman show titled "A Sense of Wonder." Cosponsored by the Friends of Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Inc., and the College's Center for Environment and Society, this performance will start at 7 p.m. in the College's Tawes Theatre. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, admission at the door.
September 2002 marks both the 40th anniversary of the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Kent County and of the publication of Carson's landmark work of conservation, Silent Spring.
A marine biologist and zoologist by training, Carson has been called the "patron saint of the environmental movement," and the 1962 publication of Silent Spring brought to public consciousness the dangers of chemical pesticides in the ecosystem while providing impetus to the modern environmental movement. She is considered one of the great poets and writers of the natural world, conveying its sense of beauty and mystery in her best-selling books. Biographer Linda Lear described Carson's writing as "at once scientifically accurate and clear, but with a poetic insight and imagination, one that confidently captured the wonder of nature's eternal cycles, rhythms and relationships."
Forty years after the publication of Silent Spring, Carson's conservation legacy is still strong, inspiring new generations with "a sense of wonder" at nature's beauty and balance, and invoking national stewardship of America's environment.
"Rachel Carson's ideas influenced the lives of many in the service of science and the environment, including mine," says Dr. Wayne Bell, director of Washington College's Center for Environment and Society, the cosponsor of "A Sense of Wonder." Bell, who grew up in Carson's Silver Spring, MD, neighborhood in the 1950s and recalls Carson's taking time to stargaze with him—her 10-year-old neighbor and paperboy—through a telescope in her backyard, will introduce the September 14th performance.
"A Sense of Wonder" was written by actress Kaiulani Lee, who has been touring the United States for over ten years, bringing to audiences the person and perspectives of Carson. Her play has been the centerpiece of regional and national conferences on conservation, education, journalism, and the environment. She has performed it at over one hundred universities, dozens of high schools, the Smithsonian Institute, the Albert Schweitzer Conference, the United Nations, the Sierra Club's Centennial in San Francisco, and at the Department of the Interior's 150th anniversary celebration. Lee has appeared in many on- and off-Broadway plays, and her television and film credits include The Waltons, Law and Order, The World According to Garp and the critically acclaimed PBS film A Midwife's Tale.
The September 14 performance will be preceded by a points-of-light remembrance to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, with a moment of silence and an audience display of individual lights in tribute to those whose lives were lost. Attendees are encouraged to bring a penlight to participate.
A "Roses for Rachel" ceremony will be held immediately after the play in recognition of the 40th anniversary of Silent Spring's publication. A reception will be offered during the intermission, and the Friends of Eastern Neck will have copies of Carson's books available for sale.
Eastern Neck NWR also will host an outdoor biodiversity event, called "The Big B," from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. September 14 at its 2,000-acre-plus Chesapeake Bay island refuge. Carson's famous quotation, "I shall remember the MonarchsY," will be the theme of the day, as Monarch Watch representatives give presentations on Monarch butterfly migration and metamorphosis, and help the public tag migratory Monarchs. In honor of the 40th anniversary of Silent Spring and the refuge's 1962 establishment, miles of access roads normally closed to the public will be open for biking or hiking during the day. Chester River Kayak Adventures will offer exploration of the island's waterways—no equipment or experience is necessary—for a modest fee. "The Big B" event will include guided butterfly walks by the North American Butterfly Association, children's crafts and games, and a "white butterfly" yard sale with proceeds benefiting Monarch Watch.
For further information on the Friends of Eastern Neck and Eastern Neck's 40th anniversary events, or for tickets to "A Sense of Wonder," call Meg Walkup at Eastern Neck NWR, 410-639-7056, toll-free 877-47SWANS, or visit Eastern Neck on the web at http://easternneck.fws.gov.
To learn more about educational events sponsored by the Washington College Center for the Environment and Society, visit the center online at http://ces.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7151.