College Equestrians To Host IHSA Show

By Cooky McClung, Kent County News

Chestertown, MD, February 28, 2003 — Shota Goto is the embodiment of the Washington College equestrian club's team. He loves horses, he enjoys each second he spends in the saddle, and he believes the club is not only one of the school's best assets, but the perfect answer to his longtime ambition.

'All my life I wanted to ride, but it was much too expensive to even think about doing in the city,' said the 20-year-old sophomore, who grew up in Tokyo. 'When I found out that I could join a club right here at the college to ride horses, I was very excited about it. The first time I got on a horse out at Airy Hill Stables,' he searches for the English translation; 'I cannot explain the feeling. And it is the same every time I ride.'

Goto, whose parents attended the University of Pennsylvania, began learning English at 12 years old. By age 15, he had decided to come to the United States to attend college.

'I was most interested in studying psychology, which is my major, and to learn better English, which I hope I'm doing,' Goto said. 'After high school, I was given a choice of 20 American schools, and I picked Washington College.'

After arriving in the United States in 2001, Goto spent the summer at the University of Toledo in Ohio taking crash courses in American culture.

'I was part of a group of 15 Japanese students who were all going to different colleges. We went to Toledo to learn some about living in America,' said Goto, 'because it is very nice, but very different from Japan.'

While he enjoyed the Ohio school, Goto said he was glad to come to Chestertown. 'Toledo was a little scary,' he confided. 'There were places I didn't feel so safe. Not like here.'

But he admits adjusting to the American way of life in a small college town turned out to be more difficult than he'd anticipated. 'It was hard for me to make friends,' he said frankly. 'I didn't have a roommate my first year, and although I'd studied English grammar and I'd read English a lot, learning to speak it in conversation was hard,' Goto said. 'In places like the dining hall, where a lot of people were talking all at once, I had trouble understanding the conversation. So it was pretty hard.'

Then he discovered the new riding club and life got a whole lot easier and a lot more fun. Ironically, the push a year and a half ago to form a team capable of competing in the prestigious nation-wide Intercollegiate Horse Show Association originated with Caitlin Patton, then a 14-year-old home-schooled student who was auditing classes at the college. With a plan in place to enter the college that fall, Patton believed being a member of a competitive riding club and majoring in writing would allow her to combine her two loves, and allow her to continue showing her horses. Patton approached Washington College professor Kate Moncrief, also an experienced rider, who agreed to become their faculty advisor. From that moment, the club took form. And took off.

With only a handful of riders who had show experience under their belts, and many more, like Goto, who had never actually been on a horse, the club began honing their competitive edge under the tutelage of coach Sandy Griffiths. A graduate of the Fulmer School of Equitation in England, and an instructor at several top Maryland stables, Griffiths understood the odds of working with a less-experienced team. But, despite their collective lack of experience, Griffiths kept her eye on the prize, envisioning her team as competitive challengers. Last year the fledgling club finished the season in sixth place in its region, beating many larger, more- established programs. More than half their riders advanced to the regional championships, and student Annette Bangert led the team to its first appearance in the IHSA National Championship.

'They've done an incredible job in a very short time,' said Griffiths, who says the club currently includes several 'A' show circuit riders and has drawn applicants eager to attend Washington College because of the riding team.

In addition to making impressive competitive strides in less than two years, the riding club has been the impetus to add a 14-week basic horsemanship course, including riding lessons, to the college's curriculum. Geared to novices, the course is open to riders and non-riders.

Last year several team members added another dimension to their club through an innovative method of fund-raising. Several members, including Kerri Davis and Zena Hense, spent many a chilly night on 'baby watch' during foaling season at Thornmar Farm, one of the country's premier thoroughbred breeding farms, just outside Chestertown.

Currently in the upper rankings of its 14-school region, Washington College hosts its first IHSA show with the University of Pennsylvania team on Sunday, March 2 at their training base, Crimson Stables on Route 291 (Morgnec Road.) Nationally renowned trainer Phil Ake, who has horse farms in Church Hill and New York, and his assistant, Jen Shaw, have offered their expertise to school riders and horses, and have provided equipment and valuable technical advice for Sunday's show, which is expected to host at least a dozen teams.

'This show is a very big deal for us,' said Griffiths. 'It's taken a tremendous amount of effort and coordination, and we're counting on it to be very successful.'

Although he's still a long gallop from inclusion in the top tier of their riders, Goto, who remains one of the club's strongest supporters, hopes to compete on Sunday.

'I'm not experienced yet, and I just walk and trot right now,' Goto explains. 'I'm not very good at riding yet. But I always have a lot of fun on a horse.'

The IHSA show begins at 9 a.m. on March 2. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Washington College Capital Campaign Poised To Surpass $90 Million

Chestertown, MD, February 27, 2003 — The Campaign for Washington College is close to surpassing $90 million in total funds raised, and has reached $89.2 million as of March 1, 2003—over $17 million raised above the original five-year $72 million goal. With 10 months remaining in the fund drive, the Campaign will continue to raise all it can by its slated completion on December 31, 2003.

The Campaign's recent fundraising successes have been spearheaded by the College's Milestone Council, a group of 22 alumni, trustees and other College supporters convened last fall and chaired by College trustee Thomas H. Gale of Centreville, MD. The Milestone Council has been instrumental in securing several major gifts that push the Campaign closer to the $90 million mark. Significant recent support includes $1.7 million from The Hodson Trust; $500,000 from two anonymous individuals and $300,000 from the Davenport Family Foundation for the College's new science center; $200,000 from The Starr Foundation for scholarships; $100,000 from an anonymous foundation for Geographic Information Systems equipment in the Center for the Environment and Society; and $100,000 from the Thomas H. and Barbara W. Gale Foundation. The College also recently received a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation for teacher education programs conducted by the Center for the Environment and Society in conjunction with the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

One of the top priorities of the Campaign's Milestone Council during the coming months is funding $19 million for the planned 45,000-square-foot new science center and for renovations to the existing science buildings. In addition to the gifts above, more than $365,000 has been raised for the new building through the work of the Joseph H. McLain Memorial Committee, chaired by former Washington College chemistry professor and alumnus John Conkling '65. The McLain Committee hopes to raise $1 million to name the three-story, glass atrium in the new science center.

Speaker To Discuss The 2000 Presidential Election And The Context Of American Suffrage March 4

Chestertown, MD, February 25, 2003 — Washington College's Guy Goodfellow Memorial Lecture presents “Election 2000 and the Limits of American Democracy,” a lecture by Alexander Keyssar, Professor of History and Social Policy, Harvard University, on Tuesday, March 4, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The lecture is free and the public is invited to attend.

While the conflict with Iraq and the war on terrorism have preoccupied our nation since September 11, 2001, before that fateful day few subjects commanded our attention more than the controversy surrounding George W. Bush's upset of Al Gore for America's top political position. Dr. Keyssar is the author of the 1986 book, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, which was named the best book in U.S. history by the American Historical Association and the Historical Society and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Award. In his lecture, Dr. Keyssar will examine the 2000 presidential election in the light of his research on the history of suffrage in America. Although the history of suffrage has been portrayed as a steady and gradual extension of the franchise to broader categories of American society, Dr. Keyssar argues that this history has been consistently challenged by doubts about democracy itself, resistance to expansion of suffrage, and by measures meant to reduce opportunities to vote. The 2000 election brings to the forefront the questions of disenfranchisement, the limitations of the Electoral College, and the role of the Supreme Court in presidential selection and has caused Americans once again to consider the strengths and weaknesses of democracy in the United States, who has the right to a voice, and how the voices of American citizens should be balanced in the election of their leaders. Dr. Keyssar will offer insights into those debates and suggest how our political process will continue to evolve from its contentious foundations.

The Guy F. Goodfellow Memorial Lecture Series was established upon Dr. Goodfellow's death in 1989 to honor the memory of the history professor who had taught at Washington College for 30 years. The intent of the endowed lecture series is to bring a distinguished historian to campus each year to lecture and spend time with students in emulation of Dr. Goodfellow's vibrant teaching style.

Washington College To Launch New Transdisciplinary Program in Geographic Information Systems

Chestertown, MD, February 25, 2003 — A $123,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and an anonymous $100,000 foundation grant will help Washington College establish an new transdisciplinary Geographic Information System (Trans-GIS) program at the College. Trans-GIS is state-of-the-art computer-based technology for community and environmental planning, resource management, and business planning. The Trans-GIS program will be structured to include students from across the College's curriculum—computer science, business management, environmental science, archaeology, sociology, history and other disciplines—working with faculty to create a computer-based graphic and analytical GIS tools useful to the Eastern Shore region.

“The ultimate goal of having the Trans-GIS program at Washington College is twofold,” said John Seidel, assistant professor of anthropology and environmental studies, who will develop the program. “First, Trans-GIS will enable Washington College students to learn and understand GIS technology, which is rapidly being applied to subjects ranging from mapping the historical past to planning sustainable futures. Familiarity with GIS will make them more competitive in and prepared for today's technology-based fields. Secondly, Trans-GIS will be a resource in the region through which Washington College students under faculty supervision can become involved in real-world projects that address significant environmental and social concerns on the Eastern Shore.”

The Trans-GIS program will be administered through Washington College's Center for the Environment and Society, which is coordinating outreach programs for the Eastern Shore, such as the recently implemented Rural Communities Leadership Program developed in collaboration with the University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Service and funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

“The Center is especially interested in the working landscapes of the Delmarva Peninsula,” said Dr. Wayne Bell, director of the Center for the Environment and Society. “GIS is a powerful analytical tool that helps us assess how land uses such as agriculture, forestry, and conserved open space are distributed in the region today and, through more informed planning, how such working landscapes can be sustained in the future.”

The Trans-GIS program is made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, founded by the son and daughter of the famed business entrepreneur, banker and philanthropist Andrew Mellon in honor of his memory. The Foundation currently makes grants in six core program areas: higher education, museums and art conservation, performing arts, population, conservation and the environment, and public affairs.

Washington College Concert Series Hosts The Lyric Brass Quintet March 3rd

Chestertown, MD, February 20, 2003 — The 51st season of the Washington College Concert Series welcomes the Lyric Brass Quintet to the College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center, on Monday, March 3, 2003. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Single tickets at the door are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and students.

Since forming in 1998, the Lyric Brass Quintet (Elisa Koehler & Kevin Dines, trumpets; Larry Williams, horn; Stan Wilkerson, trombone; and Andrew Spang, tuba) has distinguished itself as one of the premier brass chamber groups in the region. Winners of the 2000 Baltimore Chamber Music Competition, they performed at Baltimore's ARTSCAPE Festival of the Arts, and their debut CD, Daydreams, Desires and Diversions, was released the same year to critical acclaim. They have been featured artists on the Baltimore Composer's Forum, the Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust Concert Series, and at the Foxboro Orpheum in Boston. Last season they performed Eric Ewazen's concerto grosso, Shadowcatcher, with the Peabody Wind Ensemble and were featured artists on Virginia's Catch a Rising Star Concert Series. The Lyric Brass Quintet is sponsored, in part, by Stu's Music Shop in Westminster, MD, and serve as artists in residence at the Goucher Summer Arts Institute. Most recently, the Quintet's second recording, Christmas Around the World, was released in December 2002. The members of the Lyric Brass Quintet are strongly committed to education. They have given clinics and master classes at festivals and schools throughout the country.

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.

Speaker Tells Of Lincoln's Struggle With Depression February 12

Chestertown, MD, February 12, 2003 — In honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents a lecture by Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of the forthcoming book The Melancholy of Abraham Lincoln. Shenk's lecture will be held on Wednesday, February 12, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Shenk's book, which will be published by Viking Press in 2004, brings a fresh and unexpected perspective to the often-mythologized life of the sixteenth president. An essayist who has written extensively about both history and mental illness, Shenk has spent the last five years working on a book that will chronicle Lincoln's lifelong struggle with depression. “Everyone who knew Lincoln said that his ‘melancholy' was one of his most striking characteristics,” Shenk says. As a young man, Lincoln's friends feared he would kill himself. And even as he rose in business and politics in his 30s and 40s, he was often consumed with despair. Lincoln was elected president in 1860, at age 51.

Shenk says that psychiatrists who have examined Lincoln's history agree that a diagnosis of major depression would apply. But Shenk warns against easy labels and diagnoses. “To really understand Lincoln's melancholy, you have to look at his whole story,” Shenk says. “And when you do, you see how this problem also underlay some of his great strengths-including his determination to do meaningful work and his deep and complex faith.”

Shenk's lecture, “Fiction, Not Fantasy: Shaping a True History of Abraham Lincoln,” will describe what he has discovered about Lincoln, as well as his experience conceiving, researching, and shaping his book. “Lincoln is one of the most written about human beings in the history of civilization,” Shenk says. “And this makes him a great subject for students of the biographer's techniques and of the role that mythic stories have in a culture.”

Shenk's essays and articles have appeared in Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and the New York Times, as well as in the national bestseller Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression. He has worked as an editor or correspondent at the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and The Economist. He has been a Rosalynn Carter Fellow in Mental Health Journalism at the Carter Center, and currently teaches writing at New York University and the New School. He lives in New York City.

For more information about C. V. Starr Center events and programs, visit the Center online athttp://starrcenter.washcoll.edu, or call 410-810-7156.

Father Of A Nation: College Hosts Public Exhibit Of Washington Art And Artifacts February 13-28

Chestertown, MD, February 12, 2003 — In honor of George Washington's 271st birthday, Washington College has opened it archives and assembled its collection of George Washington images and artifacts for public viewing. The exhibit titled “FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY, FATHER OF OUR COLLEGE,” held in the lobby of the College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center, is free and open to the public daily, except Sundays, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., from February 13 to February 28, 2003.

Approximately 15 special items selected from over 75 in the College's archives of Washingtonia will be on display, some for the first time in many years. Items on exhibit include a 1784 copy of College founder William Smith's, “An Account of Washington College”; a 1789 commission for Chestertown's customs collector signed by President Washington himself; and various 19th century Washington-inspired busts, lithographs, prints and embroidery.

For the last four months, a small group from the Washington College community has worked to catalog artwork and historical items owned by the College which feature George Washington. This exhibit highlights the College's unique connection to the first president while displaying some unusual historical items rarely seen by the public.

Washington College—the first college chartered in the new nation—was founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, who consented to give his name and financial support to the College, and who served five years on the Board of Visitors and Governors before beginning his presidency. The Washington legacy is kept alive on campus in many ways, including the Washington Scholars Program, the Honor Code, a leadership development program, curricular offerings, and the academic programming of the College's C. V. Starr Center for the American Experience.

This exhibit was made possible by the Washington College's President's Office and the Campus Events and Visitors Committee.

Will Japan Go Ballistic? O'Neill Literary House Launches Spring Tea & Talk Series February 25

Chestertown, MD, February 10, 2003 — Washington College's O'Neill Literary House Tea & Talk Series kicks off its spring lecture series on Tuesday, February 25 at 4 p.m. with “Japan Going Nuclear?,” a talk to address the likelihood of Japan developing nuclear weapons in response to current tensions with North Korea and in its region. The talk will be presented by Dr. Andrew Oros, assistant professor of international studies and political science at the College. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Dr. Oros specializes in the international and comparative politics of East Asia, theories of international relations, and foreign intelligence and espionage. He has published articles in Japan Forum, Public and International Affair, Intelligence and National Security, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, and numerous other journals. His report “Can Japan Come Back?” was published recently in a Japanese newspaper.

The Tea & Talk Series will continue on March 18 with “Strings Attached,” a poetry reading and Celtic harp performance by Meredith Davies Hadaway, Vice President for College Relations at Washington College. Hadaway has played the harp in local and regional venues, and has traveled to Ireland as a guest artist for the Clifden (Connemara) Community Arts festival. She is currently a candidate for a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from Vermont College.

On April 22, Polly Kuulei Sommerfeld, a lecturer in drama at Washington College, will present “What's Equity Got to Do With It?”, a Q&A focusing on the challenges faced by professional actors.

The Tea & Talk Series provides opportunities for college faculty and staff to share their areas of expertise with the college and with the surrounding community. All talks are held at theO'Neill Literary House on Washington Avenue in Chestertown. Tea is served at 4 p.m.; talks begin at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.

In Memoriam: Dr. Stephen N. Jones, Trustee Of Washington College

Chestertown, MD, February 5, 2003—The Washington College community is saddened by the loss of Dr. Stephen N. Jones, who passed away Sunday, February 2, at his Rockville home. Dr. Jones was a highly dedicated and effective member of the College's Board and was much admired and beloved by his colleagues. His presence will be greatly missed.

Born and raised on a Rockville farm, Dr. Jones received his medical degree from Georgetown University and began his medical career as a country doctor more than 50 years ago. When he retired in 1995, his expertise was widely recognized and he was well respected as the founder and leader of a group practice of 10 physicians. When he opened his practice in 1950, there were few internists and even fewer specialists in what was then the little town of Rockville; as was the manner of doctors of the era, house calls were his specialty, a practice that he continued even in the later years of his career. Dr. Jones was an internist who specialized in cardiology. In the early 1970s, he was instrumental in organizing Holy Cross Hospital's "heartmobile," an emergency response van equipped with heart-monitoring and diagnostic equipment. During his long career, he also found time to work as a clinical instructor at Georgetown University's medical school and to serve on the board of regents of both the medical school and the University. In 1992, the Montgomery County Medical Society named him Clinician of the Year.

In 2001, Dr. Jones was invited to become a Member of the Board of Washington College, an opportunity that he graciously and enthusiastically accepted. He became a dedicated member of the Committee on Development and the Committee on Financial Affairs; he was particularly effective in focusing on important problems and in finding useful solutions. Most of all, he was a considerate colleague who set a tone of cooperation, and made it a joy for others to work with him.

In this sad hour, his many friends at Washington College would like to honor his memory and accomplishments and to send our thoughts to his family. Dr. Jones is survived by his wife Ann, four children, and 10 grandchildren.

—Dr. John Toll, President of the College

Lecture Explores The Consequences Of Global Warming And The Impact Of Rising Sea Levels April 25

Chestertown, MD, February 5, 2003 — Washington College's Center for Environment and Society and Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, present “Global Climate Change and the Impact of Rising Sea Levels,” a lecture by Stephen Leatherman, Ph.D., Director of the International Hurricane Center at Florida International University, on Friday, April 25, 2003, at 4:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. Originally scheduled in February but cancelled due to inclement weather, this event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Leatherman is an internationally recognized authority on coastal storm impacts, beach erosion, and the effects of sea level rise. His talk will address the effects that global warming will have on weather patterns, storm severity and coastal areas that might experience rising sea levels. He has authored or edited 16 books and over 200 journal articles and technical reports on coastal issues, and was the on-screen host and co-producer of the “Vanishing Lands” documentary film that won three international awards.

A faculty member of Florida International University's Department of Environmental Studies, Dr. Leatherman also directs the university's International Hurricane Center, (IHC), an interdisciplinary research center focused on the mitigation of hurricane damage to people, the economy, communities and natural environment. The IHC promotes an interdisciplinary, large-scale disaster research agenda to address this vulnerability, involving disciplines such as architecture, business, economics, engineering, finance, geosciences, insurance, political science, sociology, and urban planning in a long-term, integrated research program to help coastal regions mitigate hurricane exposure.

President Of Verizon Maryland To Speak About Developments In The Telecommunications Industry April 9

Chestertown, MD, March 18, 2003 — Washington College's J.C. Jones Seminar in American Business presents “The Exciting Changes Taking Place in the Telecommunications Industry,” a talk by William Roberts, President and CEO of Verizon Maryland Inc., Wednesday, April 9, 2003, at 7 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. Originally scheduled in February but cancelled due to inclement weather, this event is free and open to the public.

William Roberts was named President of Verizon Maryland July 1, 2000, and oversees all of the company's local telephone operations in Maryland. Roberts began his career with C&P Telephone in 1980 as a business office manager. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in operations, human resources, marketing, public affairs, and government relations. Roberts serves as a member of the Maryland Economic Development Commission; board member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; the Foundation for the National Archives; the Greater Baltimore Alliance; the Greater Baltimore Committee; the Kennedy Krieger Institute; the Living Classrooms Foundation; the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education; the Maryland Chamber of Commerce; and the National Aquarium in Baltimore. He also serves on the board of trustees for Harbor Hospital Center, Villa Julie College and Morgan State University Board of Regents. Roberts also mentors homeless men at the Gospel Rescue Mission. Born and raised in Unionville on the Eastern Shore, Roberts graduated in 1977 from Morgan State University with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He and his family reside in Chevy Chase, MD.

Have We Gone Too Far? ACLU President On National Security Vs. Civil Liberties At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, March 18, 2003— Washington College presents Nadine Strossen, President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on “Protecting Civil Liberties and National Security After 9/11: How to Strike a Balance.” This event is free and open to the public.

Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law at New York Law School, has served as President of the ACLU since 1991, and has written, lectured and practiced extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties and international human rights. The National Law Journal has twice named Strossen one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” and in 1998, Vanity Fair included Strossen in “America's 200 Most Influential Women.” Since becoming ACLU President, an unpaid, volunteer position, Strossen has made more than 200 public presentations per year and comments frequently on legal issues in the national media. She was a regular guest on ABC's “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher and is a weekly commentator on the Talk America Radio Network. In October 2001, Strossen made her professional theater debut as the guest star in Eve Ensler's award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, during a week-long run at the National Theatre in Washington, DC.

Strossen's writings have been published in many scholarly and general interest publications (approximately 250 published works). Her book, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights (Scribner 1995), was named a “notable book” by the New York Times and was republished in October 2000 by NYU Press. Her co-authored book, Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (NYU Press 1995), was named an “outstanding book” by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. Strossen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College in 1972 and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1975. Before becoming a law professor, she practiced law for nine years in Minneapolis, MN, and New York City.

The talk is sponsored by Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, 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.