Society Of Junior Fellows Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Society Supports Self-Directed Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

Chestertown, MD, March 20, 2002 — Washington College's Society of Junior Fellows (SJF) will celebrate its first decade with an Anniversary Symposium on Wednesday, March 27, 2002, from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the College's Casey Academic Center. The symposium will feature presentations of undergraduate research and scholarship sponsored and funded by the Society.

Founded in 1992 and modeled after Harvard University's Society of Fellows, Washington College's SJF gives undergraduates a taste of academic freedom through the opportunity to pursue their own self-designed and self-directed studies. Membership is open to all upperclassmen that have attained Dean's List status, have a cumulative GPA of 3.4, and have demonstrated leadership qualities through extra-curricular activities and community outreach.

"The Society extends a privilege and an obligation normally reserved for graduate students and faculty," says J. David Newell, chair of the philosophy department and curator of Washington College's SJF program. "Grants are given to SJF members who submit proposals to fund projects that will extend their learning beyond the classroom and the textbook into the realm of the experiential. In turn, these students return to campus and contribute to the intellectual life of the College. It gives undergraduates a taste of the 'real world' of academic research and scholarship."

The average size of a grant is about $3,300, says Newell, and the SJF gives out almost $95,000 per year in total grant money.

The ultimate object of the SJF is to motivate students beyond the classroom, with the goal to empower and to build self-confidence, personal maturity, and competency in undergraduates. Representing about 10 percent of the College's student body, the SJF has created a collegium of students dedicated to the exchange of ideas, motivated to enrich their educational experiences, and setting standards of excellence for the entire student body.

"I like to refer to these students in Platonic terms," says Newell. "They are 'the brightest and the best.'"

The SJF has admitted just over 200 students since its inception. Competition for grants is intense—only about one-third of SJF members receive them each year. It has funded hundreds of projects and internships since its inception and financed travel for students to conduct research in over 18 countries. Recent projects have taken students to Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland and South Africa.

For more information about Washington College's Society of Junior Fellows, visithttp://sjf.washcoll.edu.

Rivlin To Address Dilemmas Of Successful Capitalism March 25th

Chestertown, MD, March 19, 2002 — The Goldstein Program in Public Affairs and the William James Forum as part of the Women In Science Lecture Series present "DILEMMAS OF SUCCESSFUL CAPITALISM," a lecture by Dr. Alice Rivlin, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Brookings Institution, on Monday, March 25 at 4:00 p.m. in Washington College's Norman James Theatre. The public is invited to attend.

Dr. Rivlin has a long and distinguished career in economics in both the public and private sectors. Dr. Rivlin has served as Director and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton Administration, founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, serving from 1975 to 1983, Chair of the District of Columbia Financial Management Assistance Authority, and Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Dr. Rivlin also served as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Coordination at HEW.

A recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, Dr. Rivlin has taught at Harvard and George Mason University. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from Radcliffe College in 1958. A member of the boards of directors for several corporations, she is a past President of the American Economic Society. Dr. Rivlin has written numerous books, the most recent of which is "Reviving the American Dream." She is a frequent contributor to newspapers, magazines and journals, and currently serves as Director of Economic Studies for the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution.

Dr. Rivlin's visit is sponsored by Washington College's Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, named in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, the College's former Chairman of the Board of Visitors and Governors, a 1935 alumnus, and Maryland's longest-serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lecture series, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders experienced in developing public policy.

A Message From President Toll: Alonzo G. Decker Jr. Remembered

Chestertown, MD, March 18, 2002 — With great sadness, I write to inform you of the loss of one of the Washington College's most cherished friends and benefactors. Alonzo G. Decker, Jr., former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Black and Decker Corporation and emeritus member of Washington College's Board of Visitors and Governors, passed away at his home on Monday, March 18. He is remembered by his colleagues at the College as a leaders of great intelligence, vision and kindness who played a major role in Washington College's advance.

A champion of philanthropy who inspired others with his enthusiasm for "the joy of giving," Al Decker served on our Board for nineteen years and was instrumental in raising funds for scholarships and for capital projects, including the Alonzo G. Decker Science Center and the Virginia Gent Decker Arboretum, and, most recently, for an endowed professorship in the natural sciences. During the 1980s, he served as co-chair, with James Price, of the Washington College Campaign for Excellence, raising more than $44 million dollars.

Al Decker was also a generous supporter of other educational and philanthropic causes, serving on the boards of the Johns Hopkins University, Hopkins School of Continuing Studies, and Maryland Institute College of Art and donating more than $1 million to the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

A Baltimore native and son of the co-founder of the Black & Decker Manufactoring Company, Al Decker started his career with the power tool company in 1922 at the age of 14. With an electrical engineering degree from Cornell University, he joined the company on a full-time basis as consulting engineer in 1930, working his way through most departments and eventually becoming chairman of the board. During the 1930s Al Decker served as an engineer in research and manufacturing. In 1940 he was elected to the board of directors, followed by his election as executive vice president in 1956, president in 1960, and chief executive officer in 1964. Four years later he was named chairman of the board. During his ten years as chief executive officer, the company enjoyed its greatest period of growth. Today, Black and Decker is a world leader in the production of devices and technical instruments, with offices in 50 countries.

Washington College awarded Alonzo Decker the Award for Excellence in 1986 and an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree in 1997.

Al Decker will be remembered for his philanthropic fervor—"Don't give until it hurts," he used to say, "Give until it feels real good!"—and for his devotion to his wife of more than 50 years, Virginia Gent Decker. The Deckers have served as exemplars of grace and generosity for us all. Al will be greatly missed.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to Virginia Decker and our gratitude to her for sharing her husband with the Washington College family.

Funeral arrangements will be announced as soon as details are available.

Experiencing Place: Journeys Home Lecture Series, Washington College Welcome Author, Advocate Tony Hiss

Chestertown, MD, March 14, 2002 — The "Journeys Home" Eastern Shore Lecture Series welcomes author and environmental advocate Tony Hiss on Wednesday, March 27, 2002, speaking on "The Experience of Place." The talk will be held at the Historic Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD, starting at 7:30 p.m. It will be facilitated by Robert B. Anderson of Sustainable Strategies, Centre Hall, PA, advisor in strategic services regarding food and agriculture marketing. Tickets are $10 per individual, half-priced for students.

Hiss also will present the lecture, "Landscapes that Work: Beyond the Experience of Place," at Washington College on Thursday, March 28, at 5 p.m in the College's Norman James Theatre. The lecture is sponsored by the College's Center for the Environment and Society and C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. The presentation will explore the value that we place on the natural world and give new insights into how those values translate into vibrant, safe and environmentally sound communities.

Hiss became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1963, and since 1994 has been a Visiting Scholar at New York University, first at the Taub Urban Research Center, and now at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He is the author of eleven books, most recently Building Images: 70 Years of Photography at Hedrich Blessing and The View from Alger's Window: A Son's Memoir.

His other books include the award-winning The Experience of Place, a work generally credited with originating the concept, "sense of place." He also authored (with Robert D. Yaro) A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Metropolitan Area (with Robert D. Yaro), which received front-page coverage from The New York Times in 1996. His forthcoming book, From Place to Place, about solving America's transportation and sprawl problems, has received underwriting grants from four foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Hiss wrote the vision statement for Amtrak's new Great American Station Foundation, launched in December 1996. He also wrote the report that, at the beginning of the 1990s, launched New York State's 100-mile-long Hudson River Valley Greenway initiative, and was part of the 1997-1998 Metropolitan Initiative Project, sponsored by the President's Council on Sustainable Development. Hiss consults frequently on changing regional growth patterns and on imaging the future through alternate development scenes, threats mapping, ecostructure mapping, and environmental simulation. Hiss lives in New York City with his wife, novelist Lois Metzger, and their 10-year-old son, Jacob.

"Journeys Home" is co-sponsored by the Washington College Center for the Environment and Society, the Adkins Arboretum, the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, the Wildfowl Trust of North America and the Maryland Center for Agroecology. Information and tickets can be obtained by contacting Andrew Stein, Center for the Environment and Society, Washington College, 410-810-7151; or Ellie Altman, Executive Director, Adkins Arboretum, 410-634-2847.

What Makes American Architecture Unique? Talk March 20

Chestertown, MD, March 14, 2002 — The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the Department of Art, and the Art History Club at Washington College are proud to host Robert Duemling—Senior Fellow and Lecturer in the College's Department of Art, and former Director of the National Building Museum, Washington, DC—speaking on "Making Architecture American: Thomas Jefferson to Frank Lloyd Wright," Wednesday, March 20, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Casey Academic Center Forum. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Did any architects, particularly early in our nation's history, consciously set out to create "American" architecture? Have any done so since? And is there anything particularly "American" about what has been built in this country? Duemling will address these questions.

Duemling is a former career diplomat and museum director, now retired, devoting his time and energies to a variety of philanthropic projects. Duemling spent his youth in Ft. Wayne, IN, and San Diego, CA. He attended Yale University, earning a B.A. degree with honors in 1950, and an M.A. in 1953. In 1950, he was awarded a Henry Fellowship to study at Cambridge University, England, and from 1953 to 1957, Duemling served as an air intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, with the Pacific fleet and in Japan, attaining the rank of lieutenant (senior grade).

In 1957, Duemling entered the Foreign Service, commencing a 30-year career, specializing in political affairs and the East Asian region, with assignments in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching (Borneo), Osaka and Tokyo. He also served as executive assistant to the head of the East Asian Bureau of the State Department, and subsequently served in a similar capacity with the Deputy Secretary of State. Other postings abroad included Rome, Ottawa (deputy chief of mission, 1976-80), and as Ambassador to Suriname (1982-84).

During service in Washington, he was principal negotiator for assembling the foreign military components of the Sinai peacekeeping force (1981-82), and director of the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Organization (1985-87).

Duemling retired from the Foreign Service in 1987 to accept the position of President and Director of the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, a post he held for six and one-half years. His current philanthropic commitments include the National Gallery of Art (Vice Chairman, Trustees' Council), National Cathedral (Building and Grounds Committee), National Tennis Foundation (Trustee), Cafritz Foundation (Advisory Committee), Winterthur Museum and Gardens (Academic Affairs Committee), and the Washington National Monument Association. His former associations include the boards of Washington College and the American Friends of Canada.

Duemling is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, and a member of the Metropolitan and Alibi Clubs of Washington, and the Century Association of New York. He is married to the former Louisa duPont Copeland, and they reside in Washington, DC, and Worton, MD.

Senator John McCain To Deliver Straight Talk On Politics And The Media April 22nd At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, March 12, 2002 — The Richard Harwood Program in American Journalism at Washington College presents "STRAIGHT TALK ON POLITICS AND THE PRESS" with John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona, on Monday, April 22, 2002, at 4 p.m. in Washington College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Named one of the "25 Most Influential People in America" by Time magazine in 1997, Sen. McCain is many things—former presidential candidate, an outspoken independent conservative and a fighter and survivor in both politics and war. The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain attended the U.S. Naval Academy. Graduating in 1958, he was commissioned an ensign in the Navy and became an aircraft carrier pilot. In 1967, during a tour in Vietnam, he was shot down and held a prisoner-of-war by the North Vietnamese for five years (1967-1973), much of it in solitary confinement. He retired from the Navy as a Captain in 1981 after serving as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate. When an Arizona House seat opened up in 1982, McCain announced his candidacy and beat five opponents to win the Republican primary. He went on to win the seat and served two terms in the House before being elected to the Senate in 1985. He was re-elected to a third Senate term in November 1998.

Throughout his public career, McCain has been a vocal opponent of big government, wasteful spending and special interests. He fought for 10 years to pass a line item veto to reduce pork barrel spending, and he has been a persistent proponent of lower taxes, genuine deregulation and free trade. He has become one of Congress' most respected voices for a strong national defense and sound foreign policy, and he is considered one of the leading defenders of the rights of Native Americans. Most recently, he has led the change to reform the campaign finance system, co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to ban unlimited "soft money" contributions that corporations, labor unions and individuals now give to national political parties. Formally known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, the bill has been signed by President Bush but now faces legal challenges on many fronts.

Sen. McCain's visit 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 was a Trustee and a lecturer in journalism at Washington College.

Defeating Stigma In Our Shore Community: April 10th Roundtable To Focus On Reducing The Stigma Of Mental Illness

Chestertown, MD, March 11, 2002 — Washington College, Mid-Shore Mental Health Systems, Inc. (MSMHS), and Crossroads Community, Inc. are pleased to host "DEFEATING STIGMA," a roundtable discussion on changing public attitudes about mental illness. The program will be held Wednesday, April 10, 2002, at 3:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge.

The event is free and all are invited to join the discussion and reception to follow.

"Mental health care providers often lament lack of public support for their work and inadequate reporting of mental illness by the news media," said Nancy Zinn, Executive Director of MSMHS. "At this roundtable, distinguished members of the news media and state and local mental health officials will discuss ways that they might work together, in their independent roles, to reduce stigma and increase public understanding."

The panel will by moderated by award-winning author and advocate for the disabled, Hugh Gregory Gallagher. Well-known for his acclaimed critical biography of Roosevelt, "FDR's Splendid Deception," Gallagher also has authored the autobiographical "Black Bird Fly Away: Disabled in an Able-Bodied World" and "By Trust Betrayed: Patients, Physicians and the License to Kill in the Third Reich". Joining Gallagher will be Haynes Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; Denise Riley, Executive Editor, The Star-Democrat, Easton, MD; Oscar Morgan, Director, Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration; Linda Raines, Executive Director, Maryland Mental Health Association; Roger Harrell, Health Officer for Dorchester County and President of MSMHS; Janice Brathwaite, Director, Chesapeake Rural Network-On Our Own; and Lt. Gary Foster, Commander, Centreville Barracks, Maryland State Police.

MSMHS is a private not for profit 501(C)(3) organization serving the five Eastern Shore counties of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot. Incorporated in 1993 through a collaboration of the five county governments and mental health stakeholders, MSMHS strives to improve the provision of mental health services through effective coordination of services with consumers, family members, providers and community leaders.

Crossroads Community, Inc., is a private not for profit organization that provides services and develops supports that empower individuals with mental health needs to live, learn and work in their communities. Crossroads has been serving the mid-Shore community since 1984.