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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

"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.