Washington College Announces Recipients Of 2003 Schottland Business Leadership Awards

Local College Seniors Sweep Top Business Honor

Chestertown, MD, April 23, 2003 — The Washington College Department of Business Management has announced the recipients of the 2003 Schottland Business Leadership Awards. The program grants one first place award of $5,000 to a graduating senior, with the promise of an additional $10,000 toward graduate school at an accredited business college if the winner accepts a position with an American corporation for at least two years. Two $1,000 second place awards are also given. Senior Dean Zang of Earleville, MD, has been chosen to receive the first place $5,000 award, and Clayton Swears III of Earleville and Laura Wayles Wilson of Worton, MD, will receive the second place awards upon graduation this May 18.
The Schottland Business Leadership Award was established at Washington College in 1999 by Stanley A. Schottland, retired CEO and Chairman of American Packaging Corporation, citing the need to foster innovation and excellence in American business. The Schottland Award competition is open to any Washington College student who meets the academic, moral and leadership criteria. Applicants are judged by the College's President's Advisory Council.
First-place winner Zang is a business management major with a minor in political science. Currently serving as president of the College's Student Government Administration, Zang has been acknowledged for both his initiative and proactive role in building cooperative relationships with the Mayor and Council of Chestertown to better handle issues between college students and the town. In his spare time he strikes a balance between his academic, extracurricular and professional i
nterests, and has worked to become a certified residential and commercial Realtor®. After graduation, he intends to work in real estate development and sales and while preparing to apply for MBA. programs. He has been very involved in the Washington College community as a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity, Order of Omega National Greek Honor Society, the Washington College Democrats, Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and the College's chapter of Toastmasters International. He is the son of Dean and Diane Zang of Earlville.
Swears, a business management major with an economics minor, is the son of Clay and Anne Swears of Earlville. President of Washington College's chapter of the Sigma Beta Delta National Business Honor Society and a member of the Cater Society of Junior Fellows, WC Rugby Team and Spanish Club, Swears has a keen interest in finance and investment and has interned with the Corporate Finance Institute in Chestertown. He plans to attend law school.
Wilson is a double major in business management and international studies and has been active on campus as a sister of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, founder and president of Women's Club Lacrosse Team, a senator with the Student Government Association, and as a member of the Cater Society of Junior Fellows, the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, and the Order of Omega. After graduation, she plans to spend the summer visiting Europe then return to apply for graduate programs in international affairs and business. She is the daughter of John and Laura Wilson of Worton.
“Three finer students could not have been chosen for the award,” said Dr. Terrence Scout, Chairman and Ferris Professor, Department of Business Management. “Dean Zang is already an entrepreneur. Clay Swears has all A's in college, and Wayles Wilson has extensive international experience. The future of American business is in good hands with these three.”

Washington College Announces Summer 2003 Graduate Education Course Offerings

Chestertown, MD, April 23, 2003 — K-12 teachers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland are invited to register for Summer 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 526-230 Styles Of Teaching: Personality Type In The Classroom, June 16-20
EDU 527-222 Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences, July 21-25
EDU 531-230 Cooperative Discipline, August 4-8
EDU 535-206 Mentoring Teachers in a Professional Learning Community, June 23-27
The following three-credit courses will be offered at other locations on the Eastern Shore or in Central Maryland at various dates from June through August 2003:
EDU 520 Classroom Assessment Techniques
EDU 521 Dimensions of Learning
EDU 522 Encouraging Student Responsibility and (Self) Discipline
EDU 523 Expanding Student in the Classroom
EDU 524 Instructional Strategies for a Multicultural Society
EDU 528 Disability Awareness
EDU 529 Using Brain-Compatible Methods In The Classroom
EDU 530 Cooperative Classroom: Kagan's Instructional Practices
EDU 536 Teaching Readers to Think
All courses are for graduate credit from Washington College. Tuition charge is $675 for each three-credit course, plus a $50 deposit. There are no additional college fees. 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.

Washington College Announces 2003 Summer Field School In Archaeology

Chestertown, MD, April 23, 2003 — The Washington College Department of Sociology and Anthropology is offering a six-week summer archaeological field school from June 2 to July 11, 2003. The eight-credit program—open to both college students and adults—will teach excavation and lab techniques; remote sensing; artifact identification, dating and analysis; and mapping and surveying of archaeological sites using both theodolite and GPS. Hands-on fieldwork at local colonial-era sites will be augmented by lectures and special presentations, laboratory work, and trips to regional sites and museums.
The course will be taught by Dr. John Seidel, assistant professor of anthropology and environmental studies and an expert on Maryland archaeology, underwater archaeology and historic preservation. Activities will be split between the excavation site and the Washington College Public Archaeology Laboratory housed in the College's restored colonial-era Custom House on the Chester River.
Interested students are encouraged to apply early. Limited housing on the Washington College campus may be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Students must enroll in ANT 296 Section 10 and 11, Archaeological Field School. Each section carries four credits. Tuition for the eight-credit program is $2,080, excluding housing costs. Other costs include approximately $45 for texts and $20 for tools. For more information and registration forms, contact Dr. John Seidel at 410-778-7756, or via e-mail jseidel2@washcoll.edu.

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

Chestertown, MD, April 21, 2003 — Students, educators and mental healthcare professionals are invited to register for Summer 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. English classes begin May 5 and end June 12; history and psychology classes begin June 2 and end July 26. The following courses will be offered during the summer:
ENG 506-10 Literary Romanticism in the US, Tuesday/Thursday, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
ENG 597-10 Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats, Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
HIS 514-10 Modern America: The U.S. since WWII, Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
HIS 598-10 Economic History of Medieval Europe, Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
HIS 598-11 Stalinism in Russia, Tuesday/Thursday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
PSY 502-10 Biological Foundations of Human Behavior, Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
PSY 570-10 Introduction to Counseling, Monday/Wednesday, 12:00-2:30 p.m.
PSY 598-10 Drugs and Behavior Tuesday/Thursday, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
All summer classes will be held on Washington College's Chestertown campus. Students must pre-register by May 19 for courses in history and psychology to guarantee texts. The Bookstore will be open 6:00-7:00 p.m. on May 5-6 and June 2-3 for students to purchase their texts. Graduate tuition is $750 per course plus a non-refundable course registration fee of $50. 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, 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 To Honor Actress Linda Hamilton, Alumnus Roy Ans At 221st Commencement, May 18

Chestertown, MD, April 21, 2003 — Actress Linda Hamilton will be the keynote speaker at Washington College's 221st Commencement on Sunday, May 18, 2003. In recognition of her accomplishments on stage and screen, Hamilton will receive an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts. Alumnus Roy P. Ans '63 also will be honored with the Alumni Citation of Excellence, presented by the Washington College Alumni Association in recognition of meritorious service to the College. Commencement begins at 10:30 a.m. on the campus lawn (in case of rain, Cain Gymnasium). The ceremony will be simulcast in the Tawes Theatre of the Gibson Performing Arts Center.
Among the highlights of this day are the announcement of the George Washington Medal and Award, the highest academic honor bestowed by the College, and the Sophie Kerr Prize—the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation. A talented graduating senior will receive a check for $61,000 this year, the 36th year that the prize has been awarded.
On the stage and screen, Hamilton is an icon of feminine beauty, physical strength and psychological fortitude. Whether she appears in blockbuster films or independents, in psychological thrillers or romantic comedies, her acting resonates with intelligence and compassion. Best known for her performances the critically acclaimed Terminator movies, Hamilton has a deep connection to the Eastern Shore and to Chestertown. Born in Salisbury, Hamilton began acting at an early age, inspired by her parents' love for the arts. “My mother took some of her fake costume jewelry apart and made a crown for me. I swear I found myself. I'll never forget the joy of that crown,” she recalled from a childhood appearance as Sleeping Beauty. From those early experiences, she says, “acting decided to have its way with me. I loved it; I always loved it.”
After graduating high school in 1974, Hamilton enrolled in two acting classes at Washington College, where she performed in student productions and became involved with the Kent Players, a community theatre group. After two years, she decided to go to New York where she joined the famous Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and studied Method Acting. After appearing in numerous student stage productions, she made her professional debut with a small role on the daytime television drama Search for Tomorrow. In 1979 she moved to California to pursue screen and television acting and got her first big break in 1984, when she played the part of Sarah Connor in James Cameron's The Terminator. From 1987 to 1989, she came to fame as Catherine Chandler in the popular television drama Beauty and the Beast. The show earned her Emmy, Golden Globe, and People's Choice Awards nominations, and in 1989, Hamilton returned to Washington College to receive an Alumni Citation at the College's 207th Commencement.
In 1990, Hamilton reprised her role as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, and since has appeared in several movies for both screen and television, including A Mother's Prayer (1995), for which she received a Cable Ace Award and a Golden Globe nomination, Dante's Peak (1997)—earning her a Blockbuster Award—and the 1999 drama The Color of Courage for which she garnered a 2000 Golden Satellite Award.
Hamilton's latest projects include stage as well as screen, appearing in Final Questions, a play by Blanche Roberts, and in Lou Shaw's Worse Than Murder, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Between her stage projects she shot the short film Wholey Moses, which debuted this past February, and the television movie Silent Night, which aired in December. Currently, Hamilton and her children live in Malibu, CA.
Alumni Citation recipient Roy P. Ans, M.D. '63 spent much of his career ushering new babies into the world, and, since retirement from his ob-gyn practice, has been helping the College usher is a new era of science education. As a high school senior from Long Island, NY, Ans heard about a small college on Maryland's Eastern Shore from his biology teacher. He enrolled as a chemistry major and learned the approach to scientific investigation that put him on the path to success in the medical profession. He graduated with distinction, attended medical school at New York Medical College, and developed a highly successful obstetrics and gynecology practice in Florida.
Since his retirement in 1992, Ans has turned his energy toward his alma mater, playing an active role as a generous supporter of the College's summer undergraduate research program, as well as contributing to various capital projects. Twice he has chaired the Annual Fund, continues to help with admissions efforts in Florida, and has offered valuable insights as a member of the Visiting Committee. Now he is playing a leadership role in raising funds for the College's new science building. His dedication to Washington College is helping to raise a new generation of students committed to advancing scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity.

Shore Poetry Contest Winners To Be Honored April 24 At Washington College's O'Neill Literary House

Chestertown, MD, April 17, 2003 — The winners of the 2003 Eastern Shore Poetry Contest will be honored in a public reading and awards presentation at Washington College's O'Neill Literary House on Washington Avenue in Chestertown, Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Eastern Shore County Arts Councils of Talbot, Caroline, Queen Anne's, Kent and Cecil counties, the annual Eastern Shore Poetry Contest invites submissions in all age groups from children to senior citizens. Erin Murphy, a lecturer in English and visiting associate director of the O'Neill Literary House, served as this year's judge.
The winners of the 2003 Eastern Shore Poetry Contest in the category of Children and Youth, Grades 1-8, are: First Place, “ Life Story” by Will MacIntosh of Chestertown (Kent School, Grade 5); Second Place, “Teachers at Night” by Benjamin Dryer of Elkton (Kenmore Elementary, Grade 5); and Third Place, a tie between “When I Moved Away” by Kristin Henry of Stevensville (Bayside Elementary, Grade 5) and “The Wolf” by Elizabeth A. Sughrue of Grasonville (The Key School, Grade 6).
The 2003 winners in the category of Students, Grade 9-12, are: First Place, “Three A.M.” by James Barlow of Millington (Queen Anne's County High School, Grade 12); Second Place, “Halfway Point to the Middle of Nowhere” by Christina M. Sughrue of Grasonville (The Key School, Grade 11); Third Place, “Daybreak” by Anna Rubin of Neavitt (St. Michael's High School, Grade 12).
The 2003 winners in the category of Adults, Age 18-59, are: First Place, “Autumn” by Ann E. Dorbin of Trappe; Second Place, “I Cannot Lift This House” by James Dissette of Chestertown; and Third Place, “Synesthesia” by Maggie Creshkoff of Port Deposit.
In the category of Seniors, Age 60 plus, the following take the 2003 awards: First Place, “Pop Ziegler,” and Second Place, “On Leaving a Marriage,” both by Dr. Ann Hennessy of Rock Hall; and a Third Place tie between “Kent Island Blues” by Alex Johnson of Chester, and “The Old Darnell Farm” by Mary C. Godfrey of Sudlersville.
“I was impressed by the quality of work submitted, and by the variety in the entries,” Murphy said. “The themes of the winning poems range from nostalgia about the development of the Eastern Shore to theories on why teachers are scary at night. Some made me think, some made me laugh, and all of them made me glad to have so many talented writers in our part of Maryland.”

CNN's Woodruff And WSJ's Hunt To Discuss Media Coverage Of American Politics, April 30

Chestertown, MD, April 15, 2003 — Washington College's Harwood Lecture Series in American Journalism presents “NEW MEDIA: HOW CHANGES IN NEWSPAPER AND TELEVISION AFFECT COVERAGE OF AMERICAN POLITICS,” a discussion with Judy Woodruff, host of CNN's Inside Politics, and her husband Al Hunt, Wall Street Journal columnist and co-host of CNN's Capital Gang, Wednesday, April 30, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center. The discussion will be moderated by John Harwood, National Political Editor of the Wall Street Journal. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Judy Woodruff and Al Hunt are one of Washington, DC's best-known media couples, together following the daily political pulse of the nation. Woodruff, a 30-year veteran of broadcast journalism, joined CNN in 1993 and hosts the network's daily political roundtable Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff. In addition, Woodruff co-anchors CNN's special coverage of political conventions and summits. She has covered politics and campaigns for most of her career. Before joining CNN, Woodruff was the chief Washington correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and from 1984-1990 she anchored public television's award-winning documentary series Frontline. Prior to joining the NewsHour, Woodruff was chief Washington correspondent for NBC's Today. She also served as NBC News' White House correspondent from 1977-1982, covering both the Carter and Reagan administrations. Woodruff came to NBC News as a general assignment reporter in Atlanta in 1975. From 1970-1974, she was a correspondent for WAGA-TV, a CBS affiliate in Atlanta, where she reported on the state Legislature for five years and anchored the noon and evening news. Her book, This is Judy Woodruff at the White House, published in 1982, documents her early experiences as a political journalist.
In 1997, Woodruff won the News and Documentary Emmy Award for outstanding instant coverage of a single breaking news story for CNN's coverage of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. In 1996, Woodruff and CNN colleague Bernard Shaw won the Cable ACE Award for Best Anchor Team for their work on Inside Politics. In 1995, Woodruff won the Cable ACE for Best Newscaster. In 1995, the Freedom Forum awarded Woodruff and her journalist husband, Al Hunt, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism. In 1994, Woodruff became the first recipient of the National Women's Hall of Fame President's 21st Century Award. That same year, she and her husband were named “Washingtonians of the Year” by Washingtonian magazine for their fundraising work to fight spina bifida.
Al Hunt is the executive Washington editor of The Wall Street Journal and, has been a panelist on CNN's Capital Gang since 1988. Previously, Hunt was a member of the long-running Novak, Hunt & Shields, the weekly CNN program featuring in-depth interviews with top newsmakers. In 1993, he became the Journal's executive Washington editor, writing the weekly editorial page column, Politics & People, and directing the paper's political polls. He is president of the board of directors of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and a director of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., a Dow Jones subsidiary. Hunt has also served as a periodic panelist on NBC's Meet the Press and Washington Week in Review on PBS, as well as a political analyst on the CBS Morning News. He is co-author of the American Enterprise Institute's The American Elections of 1980, The American Elections of 1982, The American Elections of 1984, and the Brookings Institute's Elections American Style. Hunt was the recipient of the William Allen White Foundations national citation in 1999. Presented annually, the citation is one of the highest honors in journalism. Before graduating from college, Hunt worked for the Philadelphia Bulletin and the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal. In 1965, he became a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York, before transferring to its Boston Bureau in 1967, then to the DC bureau in 1969.
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 Washington College.

College To Honor Author William Warner, April 18

Scholarship in His Name Recognizes Student Environmental Writing

Chestertown, MD, April 15, 2003 — Washington College will honor William W. Warner, acclaimed author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Beautiful Swimmers, on Friday, April 18 at 5 p.m. with the dedication in the College's Custom House of a plaque recognizing recipients of the William Warner Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship was established by friends of the College to be presented to a Washington College junior in recognition of an aptitude for writing about nature and the environment.
“William Warner is one of the nation's most distinguished environmental writers, and he is a great inspiration to our students who aspire in their lives, through word and deed, to protect our world's natural resources,” said Dr. John S. Toll, president of the College. “The William Warner Prize will assist those worthy students who may one day follow in his footsteps.”
Warner has been a Senior Fellow of Washington College since 1985, when he was honored by the College for his classic work on the environment and people of the Chesapeake, Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay, originally published in 1976. Warner went on to write Distant Water: The Fate of the North Atlantic Fisherman, in which he studied the environmental impact of ocean-going factory fishing ships in the North Atlantic. In 1999, Warner published Into the Porcupine Cave and Other Odysseys, a book of 10 essays recounting life-shaping events in his growth as a naturalist, from wanderings in the wild with his step-grandfather to adventures in Patagonia and Hawaii. For this he received the Washington College Literary Prize in April of that year. Warner has also written many articles on nature for such journals as The Wilson Quarterly, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, and Atlantic Naturalist.

Washington College To Award Nation's Largest Undergraduate Literary Prize May 18

Talented Senior to Walk Away with $61,000

Chestertown, MD, April 15, 2003 — This May at Washington College, a graduating senior will receive not only a diploma and hug from mom and dad, but also a check for $61,000 in recognition of promise in the field of writing and the literary arts. The Sophie Kerr Prize—the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation—will be awarded at Washington College's 221st Commencement on Sunday, May 18, 2003. Approximately 20 Washington College student writers working variously on novels, short fiction, nonfiction and poetry, will vie for this coveted prize. The competition is limited to Washington College seniors.
The Sophie Kerr Prize was established by the will of the late Sophie Kerr, who began her career as a Woman's Page editor for the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph and Pittsburgh Gazette and as managing editor of the Woman's Home Companion. During her lifetime, Ms. Kerr was a prolific writer who authored more than 100 stories and 23 novels. Her stories appeared in most of the popular American magazines of the first half of the twentieth century, including the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Saturday Review of Literature, McCall's and Newsweek.
Born in Denton, Maryland, Ms. Kerr used Maryland's Eastern Shore region as the backdrop for many of her stories. In 1942, as part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Washington College, she was invited to campus to accept an honorary degree along with Eleanor Roosevelt. When Ms. Kerr died at age 84 in 1965, her will revealed an abiding regard for her honorary alma mater, and she left the bulk of her estate to Washington College. The terms of the will specified that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor.” During the 36 years that the Sophie Kerr Prize has been awarded its worth has varied from $9,000 to $65,000. It is believed to be the largest undergraduate cash prize in the country and among the largest literary awards in the world. Former Sophie Kerr Prize winners are now published novelists, poets, journalists, editors and teachers. For more information about the Sophie Kerr Legacy at Washington College, visit http://lithouse.washcoll.edu/.

American Icon: National Portrait Gallery Director On George Washington And Gilbert Stuart, April 23

Chestertown, MD, April 15, 2003 — Marc Pachter, director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery and an influential figure in the international museum world, will give the inaugural lecture of a new series on American art sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Washington College Department of Art. Pachter's lecture, “The Making of an American Icon: George Washington and Gilbert Stuart,” will be held Wednesday, April 23, at 5 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
In the new series, “American Pictures,” each lecture will explore the cultural and historical meanings of a single important image. Pachter's subject, the famous “Lansdowne” portrait of Washington painted by Stuart in 1796, is an especially appropriate choice, both because of the College's connection to the sitter and Pachter's own connection to the painting.
In 2001, when the Lansdowne portrait—which had been on loan to the Smithsonian for decades—was threatened with sale by the aristocratic English family that owned it, the potential loss of such a major treasure made national headlines. Pachter canvassed the country looking for a donor to save the picture, and finally, after appearing on NBC's Today show, secured a $30 million gift from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to purchase it and send it on a national tour.
Pachter's appearance at Washington College, however, will be the first time he has given a major public lecture on the Lansdowne portrait, which he believes helped to define the American presidency. A full-length depiction of Washington in his second term, it is, Pachter says, “a visual document comparable to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
The New York Times has called Pachter “the Smithsonian's resident philosopher.” In a 30-year career there, he has served as counselor to the secretary, chairman of the institution's 150th anniversary celebration, and acting director of the National Museum of American History, among other roles. He has represented the Smithsonian at many international conferences, and last year delivered one of the prestigious Slade lectures at Oxford University (“Museums: Sacred Places in a Secular Age”). In 2000, he became director of the National Portrait Gallery, where he is currently overseeing a major renovation and expansion. Educated at Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley, Pachter has authored or edited books including Abroad in America: Visitors to the New Nation, Champions of American Sport, and Telling Lives: The Biographer's Art. He has been a frequent commentator, host, and interviewer on CBS, Voice of America and C-SPAN, and conducted a series of public interviews for the Smithsonian with such figures as Umberto Eco, Katherine Graham and Walter Cronkite.
The “American Pictures” series will continue in the fall, on a date to be announced, with a lecture on James McNeill Whistler by David Park Curry, curator of American arts at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and creator of an upcoming Whistler exhibition at the Freer Gallery.
For more information about C. V. Starr Center events and programs, visit the Center online at http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu, or call 410-810-7156.

Custom House Exhibit: Camera Paintings Of Home April 4-18

Chestertown, MD, April 8, 2003 — Washington College's Center for the Environment and Society presents “SENSE OF PLACE: CAMERA PAINTINGS OF HOME,” a photography exhibit by artist Penny Knobel-Besa, at the Custom House, 101 S. Water Street, Chestertown. The exhibit is free and open to the public daily Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., April 4 to April 18. A closing reception will be held Friday, April 18 at 4 p.m.
Knobel-Besa is a freelance photojournalist, playwright, and director. In 1991 she was named Maryland Photographer of the Year. Her photos often appear in the national award-winning literary magazine, The Antietam Review. She has been a press photographer for the Cumberland Theatre, and her photos regularly appear in the Cumberland (Maryland) Times-News. From 1994 until 1998 she worked as a playwright-director producing a children's musical and establishing a theatre arts academy. She also has written and filmed several short independent films. Since May 1998, she has focused on photography, pursuing projects as diverse as an 18,000-mile road trip across North America to shooting social commentary photos in Vienna, Austria. One specialty that Knobel-Besa has developed is shooting photographs that look like paintings, the subject of the exhibit “SENSE OF PLACE: CAMERA PAINTINGS OF HOME.”
“I shoot candid shots with fast film, rarely use a tripod, and sometimes shoot from a moving vehicle,” she said. “A consistent comment is, ‘These look like paintings,' yet none of the photos are computer enhanced or manipulated in any way. I don't use filters. Rather, I look for those natural effects of light. Photography is all about catching the light in a dynamic way.”
Her recent solo exhibitions include the Maryland Ornithological Society at Wisp Resort, the Cumberland Theatre Arts Lobby, and St. Paul in Lavantial, Austria.
To learn more about events and programs 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.

A Brighter Day: Washington College Gospel Choir To Hold Annual Spring Concert April 12

Chestertown, MD, April 4, 2003 — The Washington College Gospel choir, under the direction of Reverend Eric Scott, will hold its annual spring concert on Saturday April 12. The concert will be held in the College's Martha Washington Square (Casey Academic Center Gallery in case of rain) starting at 4:00 p.m. Admission for this concert is free and the public is invited to attend.
"This is a marvelous way to celebrate spring and the coming Easter holiday," says Gospel Choir Advisor Sara Ann Smith. "The choir has added many new songs to its repertoire, and the concert will delight all who attend. Please mark this date on your calendar and plan to attend. We will make sure that you have a 'Brighter Day.'"
Now in its fifth year, the Washington College Gospel Choir is made up of students from many states, as well as students from other countries. If you would like more information about or want to share in the praises of the Washington College Gospel Choir, contact Sara Ann Smith, 410-778-7290 or ssmith5@washcoll.edu.

Atlatl: Anthropology Club To Demonstrate The Ancient Art Of Spear Throwing April 12

Chestertown, MD, April 3, 2003 — Long before fast food and microwave dinners, ensuring daily meals was a labor-intensive activity that required stalking the big game that kept you, your family, village and tribe alive. Washington College's Anthropology Club will demonstrate one of the earliest advances in hunting technology, the Atlatl, in a free public demonstration Saturday, April 12, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the College's Athletic Field. All are invited to attend.

The Atlatl (from the Aztec word for “spear thrower”) is device that imparted incredible mechanical and technical advantage to our prehistoric ancestors. Increasing the spear velocity by 15 times and striking power by 200 times, Atlatls were used worldwide prior to the advent of the bow and arrow. The oldest known Atlatl artifact is more than 19,000 years old, although it is believed that the Atlatl was in common use more than 40,000 years ago. An example of how human technology directly affects the natural environment, the Atlatl provided a tremendous hunting advantage and, conversely, might have contributed to the extinction of many large mammals throughout the world. The power that the Atlatl imparts to the spear is so great that the Aztecs readopted the technology for its armor-piercing ability against the Spanish Conquistadors in the Sixteenth Century. As part of the demonstration, the Washington College Anthropology Club has constructed a seven-foot tall Mastodon to use as a target for the spear throwing demonstrations. As part of this Saturday program, the Anthropology Club also will teach the ancient art of flint knapping, breaking and shaping stones into arrow and spearheads. For more information, contact Lisa Holly, president of the Anthropology Club, at 410-810-8310.

Symposium To Honor Washington College Chemist

Chestertown, MD, April 1, 2003 — The Washington College Chapter of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, and the Women in Science Program present "COPPER IN THE BODY: YOU GOTTA HAVE IT - BUT NOT TOO MUCH", a symposium in celebration of the recent publication of Washington College Professor Rosette Roat-Malone's new text, Bioinorganic Chemistry: A Short Course. The symposium will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Panelists for the event include Professor Valeria Culotta, Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University; Professor Amy Rosenzweig, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology at Northwestern University; and Professor Rosette Roat-Malone. Alice Hogan, Director of the ADVANCE Program of the National Science Foundation will serve as moderator. ADVANCE is a federal program designed is to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce through the increased representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers.

Professor Rosenzweig's research is concerned with determining the three dimensional structures of proteins involved in delivering copper to distinct cellular locations and particular proteins. These proteins, called copper chaperones, are linked to human diseases, including Menkes syndrome, Wilson disease, and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), and are potential targets for new therapeutics. Professor Culotta's work focuses on the role of metal ions in biology and in disease. Researchers in her group have cloned and characterized a number of yeast genes involved in metal trafficking and virtually all of these have human homologues. They have helped to establish a novel paradigm of copper trafficking in eukaryotic cells that involves the combined action of metal transporters and soluble copper carrier proteins. Their discovery of the CCS copper chaperone for the superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD1) has facilitated studies addressing the mechanism by which mutations in human SOD1 lead to the fatal motor neuron disease, ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi is a non-profit membership society of nearly 75,000 scientists and engineers who were elected to the Society because of their research achievements or potential. Sigma Xi has more than 500 chapters at universities and colleges, government laboratories and industry research centers.

College Hosts Free Chinese Dance Workshops

Chestertown, MD, April 1, 2003 — The Washington College Dance Program announces four presentations on Chinese culture by Dr. Mei Hsiu Chan including a lecture on Chinese Lion Dancing on Monday, April 7, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the Casey Academic Center Forum; a workshop in T'ai Chi Ch'uan, the Chinese “soft” martial art (Monday at 4:00 p.m.); a health and relaxation workshop in Chan Style Chi Gong (also known as Qigong) on Tuesday, April 8 at 4:00 p.m.; and a master class in Chinese Classical Dancing (Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.). All workshops are free and will be held in the Dance Studio of the Lifetime Fitness Center. The public is invited to attend. For more information call 410-778-7237.

Mei Hsiu Chan, a native of Taiwan, began her dance studies in Chinese Classical Ballet at the age of four and Chinese Martial Arts at eight. She graduated from the College of Chinese Culture where she studied T'ai Chi Chu'an, ballet, modern dance, tap, folk dance, and the many faces of Chinese dance. Dr. Chan toured the world as a dancer and martial artist with world-renowned Chinese Acrobats from Taiwan between 1973-1980. She received her MFA degree in dance at Arizona State University and organized a Classical Chinese Dance Company in 1988 and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Ethnic Woman in the Arts from Arizona State University in 1988. As an artist, she was on the Touring Roster of the Arizona Commission on the Arts from 1988 to 1993. In 2001, she received a Ph.D. degree in Dance and Related Arts from Texas Woman's University. Currently, she is the chair of Performing Arts Department at Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix, AZ.

Dr. Chan has been invited to present her research papers and to teach Chan Style Chi Gung (aka Qigong), T'ai Chi Chu'an, and Chinese dance workshops at the Dance and the Child (DaCI) International Conference, the Nation Conference of the Congress on Research in Dance, American College Dance Festivals, the National Ethnography Form, the National Dance Association 2002 convention in San Diego, the Texas Association for Health, Physical, Recreation & Dance Convention (TAHPERD), and the 44th ICHPER-SD World Congress (International Council for HPERD). Dr. Chan has also toured worldwide to present dance, Chan Chi Gung, and Tai Chi Chuan workshops at schools and universities.

The lion dance is an important tradition in China, dating back to the Han Dynasty (205 B.C.-220 A.D in China); during the Tang Dynasty (716-907 A.D.) it was at its peak where it was performed during religious festivals. If well performed, the lion dance is believed to bring luck and happiness. Although lions are not native in China, they came to the country via the famous Silk Road. Rulers in what is today Iran and Afghanistan sent lions to Chinese emperors as gifts in order to get the rights to trade with Silk Road merchants. The lion dance was not only introduced in China, but also in Korea and Taiwan where it is still a part of festivities such as Chinese New Year, weddings, and the openings of restaurants.

This presentation is partially funded by the Washington College Student Government Association.

Author Kees De Mooy To Present "John Adams In His Own Words" April 17

Chestertown, MD, April 1, 2003 — “My plain writings,” wrote John Adams in 1820, “have been misunderstood by many, misrepresented by more, and anathematized by multitudes who never read them.”

But after nearly 200 years, that may be about to change. On Thursday, April 17, Kees de Mooy of Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience will present “John Adams in His Own Words,” an opportunity to reevaluate the most controversial and cantankerous of the Founding Fathers. De Mooy will read from his newly published book, The Wisdom of John Adams (Citadel Press), a collection of Adams's writings on subjects from patriotism to religion to parenthood. The event, which will be held at 4 p.m. in the College's Casey Academic Center Forum, will be followed by a book-signing. It is free and open to the public.

The nation's second president and a leader of the revolutionary generation, Adams has drawn new attention since the publication of a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by David McCullough. “His accomplishments have sometimes been overshadowed by his peers Washington and Jefferson,” de Mooy acknowledges. “Yet he was a truly heroic figure in his own right – intelligent, passionate, fiercely patriotic, and staunchly committed to the ideals of the United States.”

Adams was also fiercely – some might say stubbornly – opinionated, about everything from politics (“I shall be plagued with piddling politicians as long as I live”) to the French (“Stern and haughty republican as I am, I cannot help loving these people”) to his own shortcomings (“Vanity … is my cardinal vice and cardinal folly”). De Mooy, who is the Starr Center's program manager and a 2001 graduate of Washington College, combed through thousands of Adams's letters, written over a period of more than 70 years, to find the most revealing and colorful passages. He has recently finished a similar volume on Thomas Jefferson, which will be published later this year, and is at work on another on Abraham Lincoln. The Wisdom of John Adams will be available for sale at the April 17 event.

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