Reflections on Rejection

Puzzle Master

John Cunningham ’00 is a research editor specializing in arts and culture at Encyclopaedia Britannica in Chicago. He also creates the monthly crossword puzzle for local retailer, Marbles: The Brain Store. Two of Cunningham’s puzzles will appear in a book of literary-themed crosswords to be published by Penquin in 2011. Not long ago, Cunningham spent the weekend at the famous American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, about which he wrote a delightful blog. Talk about challenging puzzles! Lucky for “K” alums, Cunningham has tentatively agreed to create a Kalamazoo College-themed crossword to appear in an upcoming issue of LuxEsto. Stay tuned!

Behind the Scenes

The February 26 Community Reflection held in Stetson Chapel titled “Behind the Scenes” featured several College staff members sharing a bit of their lives beyond the campus. Terri Raich, who splits her work week between the Center for Career and Professional Development as an operations assistant and the Mail and Copy Center as a coordinator, said Kalamazoo College’s “liberal arts attitude changed [her] perspective” and helped her embrace her daughter’s decision to live simply “off the grid.” Tim Baker (pictured), advancement services director, focused his message on giving energy and support to interests about which you are passionate. In Tim’s case, these include writing romance fiction (which he’s done for many years) and engaging in both Karate (he’s earned yellow belt-status) and Akido (blue belt). Breigh Montgomery ’06, assistant director for the College’s Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning, spoke about her philosophy of social responsibility. She encouraged the audience to “find the linkage between things you’re good at and things you’re passionate about.” Paul Manstrom, facilities management director, talked about his close relationships with his staff. As a “‘K’ Dad,” he also stressed the importance of stress management methods for students, emphasizing a positive perspective and promising that “Spring is just around the corner.” Community Reflections is held each Friday—Weeks 1-10 during Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters—in Stetson Chapel, beginning at 10:50 AM. Everyone from the campus and surrounding community is invited to attend. The March 5 Community Reflection, “Reflections on Rejection,” which is co-sponsored by the Center for Career and Professional Development and the Counseling Center, focuses on the type of rejections common to many college students, such as graduate school applications, summer jobs, and the internship you really wanted. Speakers will reflect on how these very normal experiences help us to grow. (Text and photo by Elaine Ezekiel '13)

Service-Learning Saluted

Kalamazoo College has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction by The Corporation for National and Community Service. It’s the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.
      Six colleges and universities have been recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Honor Roll with Distinction and 621 schools named as Honor Roll members.
      Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.
      Kalamazoo has been named to the Honor Roll of Distinction each year since its inception in 2006.
      “We are delighted that ‘K’ students have received this federal recognition once again,” said Alison Geist, director of the Mary Jane Stryker Underwood Institute for Service-Learning at Kalamazoo College. “Service-learning is a vital part of the K-Plan. It contributes greatly to students’ development as critical thinkers and activists, and helps make them wonderful ambassadors to the Kalamazoo community and beyond.”
      According to Geist, more than 600 Kalamazoo College students -- about half of the on-campus student body -- work in the community every year, most through service-learning courses. More than 150 students also earn minimum wage through federal work-study placements, or work as “volunteers” committing at least two hours per week throughout each term. She said co-curricular programs run by the Underwood Stryker Institute are coordinated—and frequently designed—by “K” student leaders who hold Civic Engagement Scholarships through the Institute.
      “Thanks to endowed scholarships, Kalamazoo students are increasingly able to weave summer community-based research internships and externships that focus on social justice and community change into their K-Plans,” she said.
      The Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning at Kalamazoo College was established in 2001 with an endowment from “K” trustee Ronda Stryker and her husband, Bill Johnston to honor her grandmother, Mary Jane Underwood Stryker.
      Kalamazoo joins Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Delta College as the only Michigan institutions on the 2009 Honor Roll with Distinction. Kalamazoo and Oberlin are the only Great Lakes College Association members on the Honor Roll with Distinction, with GLCA member-college Ohio Wesleyan University as one of the six Presidential Awardees.
      More than three million students performed more than 300 million hours of service in 2009, according to the “Volunteering in America” study released by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.
      The Corporation oversees the Presidential Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

Kids to “K”

Bringing the World to “K”

Hegel International

The largest international philosophy conference devoted to critical social theory hosted in Kalamazoo will occur February 26 and 27 in the Kalamazoo College Mandelle Hall Olmsted Room.  The central topic of the conference is Hegel’s concept of freedom, his claim that social institutions make freedom possible.  Scholars from England and France will join leading US scholars to discuss Hegel’s idea that one cannot be free alone but only in social relations of mutual recognition.  The Friday night keynote address is given by the world’s leading Hegel scholar, Robert Pippin, member of the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought and recipient of the Andrew M. Mellon Foundation’s “Distinguished Achievement Award.”  On Saturday, leading scholars in Critical Social philosophy will examine Hegel’s account of how social institutions make free agency possible.  The conference is open to the public and supported by the departments of philosophy and eligion at Kalamazoo College and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. "Conference presenters are already receiving inquiries about the papers they will share this weekend," says conference organizer Chris Latiolais, associate professor of philosophy at Kalamazoo College. "The conference is certainly recognized as important in the field of critical social theory as far away as Europe, and the proceedings may weell be published in a special edition of Inquiry, a premier scholarly journal in philosophy."

Sappho's Illustrator

Acclaimed artist Julie Mehretu '92 will be honored at the annual dinner benefiting the nonprofit Grabhorn Institute on April 27 in the Arion Press Gallery in San Francisco. Grabhorn was formed in 2000 in order to preserve and perpetuate the use of one of the last integrated type-foundry, letterpress printing, and bookbinding facilities in the United States, and is the owner of Arion Press and M & H Type. Mehretu is illustrating an Arion edition of Sappho’s poetry, to be published in Greek and English. Her exhibition “Grey Area” opens at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in May. Read more about Julie Mehretu and how to attend the April 27 event.

Declare!

More than 350 Kalamazoo sophomores crowded into the Light Fine Arts Building lobby on Feb. 4 to declare which of the College’s 29 majors they will pursue. Declaration of Majors Day, or “DOM” Day, begun in 2003, has become a prominent event on the campus calendar, according to Sophomore Class Dean Elizabeth Manwell. “DOM Day simultaneously gives sophomores an academic home and sets them on a path toward graduation,” said Manwell, an assistant professor of classics. “It also lets them stand in the spotlight.” Joining them in the annual scrum were dozens of faculty, staff, and seniors who dished up equal helpings of advice and congratulatory cake. In the weeks leading up to DOM Day, seniors hosted campus gatherings to give sophomores the inside-scoop on potential majors, minors, and concentrations. Although sophomores can switch majors later, DOM Day is a required event for ones who have not previously declared a major (the vast majority). Colleen Watt ’12 had been trying to choose between Spanish and history. She said DOM Day “definitely made me think hard about where I was going, and the initiative to change my path,” She chose history. If only all tough decisions were supplemented with cake. Pictured are sophomores Obi Nnebedum (chemistry), Nic West (physics and chemistry), and Kelsey Hassevoort (biology) sporting their “I Declared” stickers. (Copy by Elaine Ezekiel ’13; photo by Tony Dugal)

Music (and Math) Man

Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science Department and Associate Professor of Mathematics Eric Barth, Ph.D., has received a grant from the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) to explore formal connections between two areas of intense interest to him: mathematics and music. With his GLCA New Directions Initiative grant, Professor Barth will work to develop mathematical and computational models for music theory and analysis. “My goal is to elucidate patterns and correlations that emerge from collections of musical compositions, with the aim of identifying characteristic properties in a composer’s work not apparent from minute analysis of individual motifs and isolated pieces.” Barth’s research, titled “Scientific Computation to Computational Musicology,” draws on his undergraduate training in classical and jazz music performance, Ph.D. work in numerical mathematics, and research background in statistical mechanics. Barth earned a B.A. degree in music and both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from University of Kansas. He spent three years as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Associate at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University before coming to “K” in 1997. Each year, he teaches courses in differential equations and complex variables, as well as several sections of calculus and one or two physics courses. He also plays tenor saxophone with the nearby Gull Lake Jazz Orchestra. The GLCA New Directions Initiative is funded by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Initiative’s focus is to support the renewal and continued professional growth of liberal arts faculty members. A particular emphasis is to help faculty members think outside traditional boundaries and divisions of their discipline and of typical faculty work, in order to broaden intellectual perspectives, stimulate innovation in pedagogy, and pursue singular explorations.

Monte Carlo Night

When Living Can’t Say Itself

Senior English major Claire Eder has won The Lyric magazine's national college poetry contest for her sonnet "The Good Book."  The Lyric is the oldest magazine in North America in continuous publication devoted to poetry written in traditional forms—like the sonnet. Eder recently received Honors on her Senior Individualized Project, a collection of poems written in both English and French.  She wrote the winning poem for The Lyric in Writer-in-Residence Diane Seuss’ “Advanced Poetry” class last spring.

The Good Book

Leaves, torn from above, now line the ground.
A hard wind brought them low all out of season,
and with a rotting-thread sewed them to earth, bound
to let the life-ink dry, give way to reason.
Gone the volume that affirmed the lines
of branches pointing to the sky, volume made of two-
dimensional things, arranged along a spine
to take up space, to fill the field of view.
Dead leaves, dead text, live once again in me,
and in your living stoop to say my own.
Your Author, who by saying brings to be,
has left the room, and I am all alone.
Now, gone mute, I take you from the shelf;
my living, though it’s tried, can’t say itself.

Thought Leader

Energy Check

Recyclemania Cycles Back

Recyclemania has descended on Kalamazoo College again. The annual college and university competition in which institutions nationwide compete to recycle the most materials and minimize waste output stretches for 10 weeks from late January into early April. This year, 595 colleges and universities, representing approximately 5 million students and 1 million faculty and staff from 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada will take part in a friendly competition and benchmarking tool intended to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. Last year, 510 institutions collectively recycled or composted nearly 70 million pounds of waste.  Kalamazoo joined the competition in 2004 and has finished at or near the top of numerous categories in the years since. In 2009, in per capita categories based on numbers of students and staff, “K” finished first in bottles and cans recycled, second in corrugated cardboard, tenth in paper, and second in total pounds recycled. “K” also finished fifth in percent of overall campus waste recycled. Long-time “K” recycling coordinator Rob Townsend says he takes particular glee in beating the big schools, particularly the Ivy Leagues. “It is almost like March Madness,” he said. “I look at who we compare with and make my own Sweet 16.”  In addition to placing numerous recycling containers around campus, Townsend and his staff of student workers carryout “dorm storms” going door-to-door in residential halls to remove recyclables, answer questions about what to recycle, and to let students know how well “K” is doing in the competition. Recyclers also team up with other programs on campus to drive awareness and participation, and preach the benefits of reducing overall waste. “Do you really need to print that email?” asks Townsend. “And how about buying drinking water in two-gallon jugs instead of 12-ounce bottles?”  This year, “K” residence halls will compete against each other in a side bet to see which ones achieve the greatest percentage of recycled consumables and waste minimization. Crissey and Severn will join forces against dual competitors Trowbridge-Dewaters and Hoben-Harmon. The seven Living Learning houses will also compete. According to Townsend, prospective “K” students learn about RecycleMania and Kalamazoo’s other sustainability efforts through the College’s Admissions Office. New students receive recycling packets when they arrive on campus in order to encourage their involvement.“Kalamazoo students and staff come to appreciate the recycling effort here,” Townsend said. “It becomes second nature to them.” For more on Recyclemania nationally, visit www.recyclemania.org.

Boobus and Bunnyduck Are Here

Bugs Matters

First Food in Star Song

The late Larry Barrett--English professor of World War II ship captain, provost and K-Plan founder--was also a fine poet. He wrote poems but never published them. His friend and colleague, Professor Emeritus of English Conrad Hilberry, submitted some of Barrett's poems posthumously to the Hudson Review. Two were published in the journal's autumn issue. "Night Watch" is, in a sense, a Christmas poem with wind and a child's cry;"I know you are down there" may be a bare-knuckled hard drinking cousin of Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening."

Longitudinal Lightning

Just how good is a Kalamazoo College education? Want to know for sure? Then directly test students before and after they’ve completed the K learning experience. Test them for their gains in these abilities: to think critically, to reason analytically, to write well, and to solve problems. After all, those skills will come in handy for life after college. And gains in those abilities are the reasons we go to college in the first place and the outcome we seek from the experience.
                Measure directly! If you wanted to know how a medicine (or a diet or an exercise regimen) affected a person’s blood pressure, you wouldn’t just ask him how he felt afterwards, or make conclusions based solely on the way he looked. Instead, you’d use a monitor to read the person’s blood pressure. Direct measures require the courage to face real results. So kudos to K for its continued engagement with the Collegiate Learning Assessment (not all colleges have the guts).
                The CLA is a rigorous test that directly measures gains in the four abilities listed above. No multiple choice involved here! Instead students complete a “performance task” in which they are asked to solve a real-world problem using evidence from a document library. They also write two essays, one in which they make an argument and another in which they critique an argument.  The CLA factors for variations in individuals’ innate abilities in order to isolate and measure a single variable: the effect of a particular college educational experience on student gains in the ability to think, to reason, to write, and to solve.
                In 2005 Kalamazoo College administered the CLA to two groups (or cohorts)—its freshman (class of 2009) and seniors (class of 2005). Results showed that a Kalamazoo College education provides gains far greater than expected in those four endpoints.  Compared to other CLA participating institutions (all blinded, because self improvement, more than comparison, is the purpose of the CLA) K results were among the best—“nearly peerless” (the 99th percentile) according to Professor of Biology Paul Sotherland.
                The College corroborated these results in a second separate-cohort (or “cross-sectional”) study. Excellent results—supported by additional studies—were great news. But the College never rested on any laurels. Rather, it carefully studied its CLA data to determine if the robust results occurred broadly among all majors and, if not, what curricular changes might be most effective to ensure outstanding gains for all K students. In other words, even though direct outcome measures show “K” to be nearly peerless, how can it continue to improve on what it already does well?
                Now come the first longitudinal data—testing the same group of students as freshmen and as seniors. And the results confirm those of the cross-sectional studies: gains far above expected in all four abilities. According to Sotherland, “about two times greater than average gains at the other 25 institutions reporting longitudinal data.” Once again, he says, K is “peerless.” And, as before, the College continues to ask itself tough questions, relentlessly working to improve. Kudos K!

Presidential Recognition

Provenance Prover

Woodcarver Lamidi Fakeye Dies

Prominent Nigerian wood-sculptor Lamidi Olonade Fakeye, a recent visitor to Kalamazoo College, died on Christmas night in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, at age 81. The cause of death was reported as complications from prostate cancer surgery. He was buried at his home town, Illa-Orangun, according to Muslim rites.
      Born in 1928, Lamidi Fakeye became the fifth-generation of his famous family to practice woodcarving. His work revolved around traditional Yoruba social and mythological subjects, which he began studying under his father at age 10. In addition to carving plaques, figures, and large sculptures, he created veranda posts and doors that grace dozens of Yoruba palaces, Catholic churches, and civic and commercial buildings in Nigeria and around the world. In 1973, he carved magnificent doors for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
      Fakeye held his first exhibition in Nigeria in 1960. In 1978, he joined the Obafemi Awolowo University, formerly known as University of Ife. His international career began in 1962 with studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in France, and as artist in residence at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Through the years, he served as artist-in-residence at many universities and colleges throughout the United States and other countries. His numerous international honors included the 2008 UNESCO Living Human Treasure Award.
      Fakeye visited Michigan often to create and exhibit his work at WMU, Michigan State University, Hope College, Kalamazoo College, and elsewhere. He was appointed Kellogg Visiting Artist for Michigan in 1999. In October 2009, he visited Kalamazoo College to talk about his life and work, and to demonstrate his art form in a series of appearances at “K,” WMU, and the Kalamazoo community. In October 2009, he visited Kalamazoo; talked about his life and work, and gave demonstrations of his art form in a series of appearances at “K,” WMU, BACC and elsewhere in the Kalamazoo community.
      Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran and her husband, professor of African Languages and Literatures Ọlásopé “Sopé” Oyelaran, met Fakeye when they were on the faculty at University of Ife in the 1970s, and came to know him affectionately as “Baba,” Yoruba for “elder.” They were visiting in Nigeria when word of their friend’s death reached them.
      “Baba’s death remains a shock and source of great sadness to us,” she said. “We managed to get to Illa for the closing prayers at his interment and to offer condolences to his family and friends.” Read more about Lamidi Olonade Fakeye and view some of his work at “The Carver Among Us,” an online gallery created in 1999 by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Copenhagen Connections

Heart Song

Project Grant

Kalamazoo College has received a $2.1 million project grant from the Arcus Foundation that will fund programming plans for the first two years of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College. The grant also will fund the hiring of the Center’s executive director, academic director, and support staff.  The Center will help develop leaders who will advocate for a society which gives individuals and groups fair treatment and equality of opportunity. It will offer students an array of programs, including lectures by individuals who are recognized nationally and internationally for their work in the field of social justice; short-term residencies for scholars, artists, and activists who will interact with the campus and the local community; opportunities for the development of new courses and leadership programs in the area of social justice and human rights; and conferences that address major issues related to the creation of a more just world. The Center will be located on the Kalamazoo College campus on the corner of Academy and Monroe streets in the building formerly occupied the L. Lee Stryker Center.

Science Grant for Stellar Study

Assistant Professor of Physics Arthur Cole has received a Single Investigator Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. The approximately $42,000 grant will support a project titled “Determination of Gamow-Teller Strength Distributions and Electron Capture Rates for Nuclei (A~40-65) in Pre-supernova Stars.” The money will be used to purchase two computers and fund three students who will collaborate in the research. Scientists (and students) will systematically calculate electron capture rates at stellar temperatures and densities, part of an effort to understand the evolution of stars. Research Corporation for Science Advancement, created in 1912, is America’s second-oldest foundation and the first dedicated solely to science. RCSA awards foster the professional growth of faculty to ensure that many students will have the opportunity to participate in high quality research during their undergraduate years.

Sustainability Scholarship

As architects for the recently completed renovation of Weimer K. Hicks Student Center, Tower-Pinkster touches the social lives of Kalamazoo College students nearly every day. Now, through the TowerPinkster Sustainability Scholarship, the Southwest Michigan-based architectural and engineering firm will touch five “K” students in a meaningful financial way. Tower-Pinkster will award $2,000 to a student who has an interest in sustainability issues each academic year for the next five years, starting in 2009-2010.  Financial need will be considered. This year’s recipient is Anne Weir ’10, an economics major from Saline, Mich., who is currently working on a Senior Individualized Project focusing on the economics of sustainability. Anne, who is also the current student commission president, studied abroad during her junior year in Aberdeen, Scotland. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school, possibly in the field of public policy as it pertains to sustainability. Here, she is pictured with TowerPinkster CEO Arnie Mikon. Congratulations, Anne! Thank you, TowerPinkster!

Nobel Connection

The announcement of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine was particularly thrilling for Diane DeZwaan ’05. The Nobel winners—Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak—are the three top people in the telomere/telomerase field, the scientific area in which DeZwaan is engaged in her fifth year in the lab of Brian Freeman at the Institute of Genomic Biology (University of Illinois). DeZwaan knows and has worked with both Blackburn and Greider, who, with Szostak, discovered in 1984 telomeres and telomerase. Telomeres are strands of DNA attached to the ends of chromosomes that protect the chromosomes during cell division. As division recurs the length of these protective strands shortens; thus telomeres are intricately connected to cellular aging. Telomerase is the enzyme that makes telomere strands (and, Lachesis like, apportions their lengths). Inappropriate telomerase levels may be associated with diseases linked to premature cellular aging (low levels) or the cellular immortality characteristic of cancers (high levels). Since the initial 1984 discovery, telomere/telomerase matters have emerged as more complex. Says DeZwaan: “Our lab takes a different perspective on the dynamics of the telomere maintenance pathway, which has led to debate with many leaders in the field (including Dr. Blackburn) about the actions of telomerase at the telomere. After my latest two publications, Dr. Blackburn has become interested in our lab’s point of view regarding the role of molecular chaperones in these actions,” adds DeZwaan, “and we have begun an active collaboration. I’ve worked with Dr. Greider quite recently as well. She served as the editor of my latest paper in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences. It’s so neat and inspirational to be involved with two women scientists so highly regarded in their field of work!”

Miller Time

After years of on-the-job experience, countless hours of study, and close scrutiny by Dutch masters, Alisa Crawford ’91 can now claim to be the only American who is a professional Dutch miller—and one of the few female professionals worldwide. Alisa, who was profiled in the May 2009 BeLight, recently returned from the Netherlands where she earned certification from the Netherlands’ Professional Cornmillers Association. She returns to “DeZwaan,” the 248-year-old, seven-story tall working Dutch windmill in Holland, Mich., that she has operated since 2002. “The Swan” is the only authentic Dutch windmill operating in the United States. Now it has the only certified American miller at the controls.

Alumna Artist on PBS

Julie Mehretu ’92 was featured on season five's episode four of national public TV’s “Art in the 21st Century.” Episode four, titled “Systems,” focuses on artists who tackle projects that are vast and complex. Mehretu is shown creating a large work about the history of market-based capitalism.  The one-hour episode aired Wednesday, October 28. You can read an interview with Mehretu here. She has had major art exhibits around the U.S. and has a commission for a major mural in the New York building going up at the site of the World Trade Towers disaster. Among her awards are the Berlin Prize, from the American Academy in Berlin (she was a Fellow there at the same time as David Barclay, the Margaret and Roger Scholten Professor of International Studies); the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award; and the American Art Award from the Whitney Museum of American Art. She lives in New York City and Berlin, and is the subject of a recent ArtMag essay.

High Honors

The Kalamazoo College Alumni Association conferred its annual awards during Homecoming this past weekend. David H. Wilson ’69 received the Distinguished Achievement Award; Vernon R. “Ven” Johnson ’83 received the Distinguished Service Award; and Billie Fischer, Ph.D., professor emerita of art and art history, received the Weimer K. Hicks Award. Wilson is a former filmmaker who founded the Museum of Jurassic Technology (Culver City, Calif.), an ineffable “collection” of questions on the meaning and motive of museums. For his work with the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Wilson received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (the so-called “genius grant”). He lectures about his work around the world and has been featured in major publications. Johnson was a tennis standout for the Hornet tennis team. He won the MIAA conference title in singles and doubles three consecutive years and was MVP of the conference his senior year. The prominent Detroit-area attorney has continued an ardent supporter of Hornet athletics. For many years he has hosted an annual alumni-varsity tennis tournament in Detroit. That festive occasion, followed by a party for families and friends, has steadily grown and now attracts some 30 alumni tennis players. Fischer distinguished herself in class (a Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship Award for Excellence in Teaching, the College’s most prestigious pedagogical honor) and was very involved in the lives of students outside of class (a Frances Diebold Award). She’s a fixture at athletic events and student plays and musical performances. She also is active in countless community organizations and projects. She received the Community Medal of Arts award from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo in 2005. She lives near the College and, even though she’s retired, continues to participate in the Summer Common Reading program for incoming freshman.

Green Grade

The grades are in and Kalamazoo College has received a solid “B” for its campus sustainability efforts. The Sustainable Endowments Institute has released its 2010 report card traking green initiatives at 332 institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada. Schools received grades in nine categories: Administration, Climate Change and Energy, Food and Recycling, Green Building, Student Involvement, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities, and Shareholder Engagement. Kalamazoo’s report card reveals the grade that the College received in each category, as well as survey data that went into each grade. “Sustainability is a campus-wide effort and that’s certainly reflected in this report card,” said Facilities Management Director Paul Manstrom. Paul praised Vice President for Business and Finance Jim Prince, Nick Kelly in Facilities Management, Mark Wilson in Sodexho Food Services, and former Sustainability Coordinator Marcquel Pickett ’08 for their efforts to gather info and respond to SEI survey questions. Kalamazoo received an overall grade of C- in 2009. This year, 26 schools received an A-, the highest grade awarded. In its fourth year, the College Sustainability Report Card is the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Its aim is to provide accessible information for schools to learn from each other’s experiences and establish more effective sustainability policies.

Convocation 2009

The class of 2013 includes 391 students from many states and countries, and their first moment together occurred September 16 at the 2009 convocation. They experienced the annual international flag ceremony, which celebrates the geographical diversity of the "K" family and participated in the ritual of recognition--a kind of communion (diversity in time travel) with the College's ancestral fellowship in learning. That ceremony was written by President Allan Hoben (1922-1935) and first recited by an incoming class in 1927. Alumnus Harold Decker '67 described how Kalamazoo College "made changes in me that helped me make a difference in the world." The former interim president and CEO of the American National Red Cross was part of the Worldwide Measles Initiative, which has reduced disease mortality by 70 to 90 percent. Alumnus Rick Halpert '69 congratulated incoming freshmen on the wisdom of their decision to attend "K." And that's just the beginning of the process, he added. "K" is a place (or rather, in Halpert's words, a "family") associated with the the formation of wisdom--"knowing what to do when no one knows what to do"--and a strong value system that can accommodate lifelong learning and life's constant of change. Because of Kalamazoo College, he said, "You will soar in good times, cope with bad times, and, most importantly, live a happy life."

Generation One

Some 15 percent of students in the incoming Kalamazoo College Class of 2013 are the first in their immediate families to attend college. On Wednesday morning many of them—accompanied by parents, grandparents, and even siblings—attended a “First Generation” brunch in the Hicks Student Center to hear about the many opportunities and programs at “K” that await them. “Welcome is a word you will hear a lot of today and in the week ahead,” said Vice President of Student Development and Dean of Students Sarah Westfall. “We are delighted that you are here.” Students and families heard from President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, staff members from several campus departments, and older students who are themselves “G1” students. President Wilson-Oyelaran encouraged students “to be open to exploration” during the year ahead, and asked parents “to roll with the punches” as students explore, discover, and often change their intellectual passions. Staff members from the College’s Mary Jane Stryker Center for Service Learning, Center for Career Placement and Development, and Student Development outlined some of the programs that are available to G1 students, including Council of Independent Colleges/Wal-Mart Foundation grants that help meet costs of discovery externships and career internships. Three students talked about their experiences as G1 students at Kalamazoo. “I’m proud to be the first in my family to attend college,” Evan Bontrager '11 said. “But I feel no different than other students here. My message is that you can be whatever you choose to be.” Kalamazoo staff (some of whom were the first in their families to attend college) and current G1 students will meet regularly with first-year G1 students throughout the academic year to smooth their transition to college life and help them succeed at Kalamazoo. The photo shows incoming freshman Luis Barsuto-Jimenez (center) with his mom and Professor of Mathematics John Fink.

Comet Seed

Were some of life’s building blocks formed in space and delivered to earth by comet? That’s a theory that’s gained support from the recent discovery of glycine in dust samples collected by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft from a comet called Wild 2 (pronounced vilt-2).  Stardust reached its Wild rendezvous at the edge of our solar system in January 2004 and there collected its samples of comet gas and dust, which were returned by capsule to earth some two years later (a round trip of some  3 billion miles). Alumna Jamie Elsila ’96 is a member of the scientific team at Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Md.) that, since the capsule’s return, has analyzed the samples. The team discovered glycine in the samples and recently confirmed its extraterrestrial origin. Elsila is the lead author of a paper on the research which will be published in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science. Glycine is an amino acid used to make proteins, the fundamental molecules of life. The discovery gives rise to other tantalizing questions. How many other planets in addition to earth may have been seeded from space with chemicals essential for life? How widespread is life and in what various forms might it exist? You can read an article on the research at Physorg.com and see a BBC interview that features Dr. Elsila here. She is the lead author on paper on this subject that was highlighted in Chemical & Engineering News.

Chem Prof Receives Grant Supplement

Kalamazoo College Associate Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge has received a federal economic stimulus grant to supplement her existing research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The original grant of $191,087 for a project titled “Mechanism-based Inhibition of P450 2D6 by a Piperazine-containing Compound” was awarded in December 2008. The grant funds research on cytochrome P450 enzymes and their role in drug metabolism, work that may benefit patients taking multiple medicines. In July, Dr. Furge’s application for a supplement of $135,581was funded with federal economic stimulus dollars allocated to the NIH. The supplement will accelerate the pace of research and promote job creation (criteria for the supplement program) by providing funds for to hire a full-time research associate. Hers is the first grant awarded to a Kalamazoo College faculty member using federal economic stimulus funds. Other proposals have been submitted to the National Science Foundation by “K” faculty. Furge’s research may one day contribute to medical understanding and prevention of adverse drug reactions in people who must take multiple medicines. Often, these interactions are caused when one drug inactivates an enzyme responsible for the processing or metabolism of a co-administered drug. Cytochrome P450 is one of a group of enzymes in humans that interferes with the activity of other drug clearing enzymes. Her research will involve use of modern liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, computer aided modeling of drug-enzyme interactions, and basic drug metabolism studies.

A Fiske Best Buy

Kalamazoo College has been named one of the 44 “Best Buy” schools by Fiske Guide to Colleges 2010. Written by Edward Fiske, former education editor of the New York Times, the Fiske Guide annually rates more than 300 top American colleges and universities. The revised and updated 2010 edition features 20 public and 24 private “Best Buy” institutions of higher learning selected on the basis of cost data, academic offerings, and life-style information. In addition, the book lists each school’s strongest majors and programs, candid tips from current students, a self-quiz to help students understand which college is right for them, information on how to apply, and “Overlap” listings to help students expand their options. “Many students, parents and high school counselors recommend the Fiske Guide as a respected resource because it accepts no consulting, advertising, or other fees from colleges,” said Kalamazoo College Dean of Admissions Eric Staab. “By rating Kalamazoo as a ‘Best Buy,’ the Fiske Guide tells prospective students and parents what our alumni have known for years: that a ‘K’ education is a great investment.”

Make Stuff's Happening

Kalamazoo College's Make Stuff student organization aims high. On June 12, 2009, at 3 PM the club launched its first homemade high altitude balloon from campus, complete with web cam and GPS information sent over HAM radio. The flight reached some 80,000 feet and lasted just under 90 minutes. The balloon was retrieved in Marshall, Michigan. Check out the group's web site here (with cool photos and video) and a great aerial shot of the campus taken from the balloon.

Freedom and Flexibility

New students will enter “K” this fall under a Kalamazoo Curriculum that provides them more freedom to design their curricular pathways. After several shared requirements (far fewer than the previous curriculum’s), students are free to choose liberal arts courses with the flexibility to explore and develop their intellectual passions. They will accomplish this in collaboration with their academic advisors. The new curriculum requires a major, proficiency in a foreign language, a senior individualized project, and five physical education activity courses. The new curriculumalso requires a set of “shared passage” seminars (one each taken as a freshman, sophomore, and senior) that provides students a common experience. Continuing students may opt into the Kalamazoo Curriculum by completing a workshop and filing a plan at least two terms prior to graduation. The Kalamazoo Curriculum is part of the K-Plan, which continues to provide opportunities in international and intercultural engagement, career and professional development, and learning by practice. Research on more flexible curricula strongly suggests that the freedom of the Kalamazoo Curriculum will help students and faculty more effectively achieve their educational objectives. Students’ common experiences (particularly the shared seminars) will help students integrate the breadth of their liberal arts choices. First-year “shared passage” seminars focus on college-level writing, critical thinking, intercultural understanding, and information literacy. Sophomore seminars consider particular topics or issues from multiple perspectives, foster effective communication (written and spoken) and cross-cultural inquiry, and prepare students for participating in study abroad and living in an interdependent world. Senior seminars are disciplinary or interdisciplinary. The former integrate students’ experiences around a particular major. In interdisciplinary seminars, seniors from diverse majors apply their particular training and perspectives to a topic or problem.

11 A.M. Community Reflection: Naw Ruz--Baha'i New Year, Stetson Chapel

8 P.M. Kalamazoo College Jazz Band in Concert, directed by Associate Professor of Music Tom Evans, Dalton Theatre, LAC

Final Exams Begin