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Newsbriefs
Ford Hall, Smith's new state–of–the–art
$73 million facility, continues to take shape. The 140,000–square–foot
building will be the new home for the Picker Engineering Program, computer science,
chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology. The projected completion date is
fall 2009. For more on the project go to www.smith.edu/fordhall.
Photo by Dick Fish.
Extensive and meticulous renovations to Smith's
Haven House earned honors from the Northampton Historical Commission in June.
The $5 million renovation of the three–story student residence on Elm Street
was completed in 2007.
Smith College gave all incoming students their first
reading assignment this summer: Natasha Trethewey's Pulitzer Prize–winning
volume of poetry exploring the complex memory of the history of the American South.
Trethewey’s book, Native Guard, published in 2006, seeks to create a lyrical
memorial to one of the first, and often overlooked, black regiments assembled in
the Civil War. As part of their orientation to Smith, incoming students gathered
among their new housemates on campus in early September— in groups led by
faculty members and administrators, including President Carol Christ— to
discuss the summer reading assignment.
Lynn Oberbillig, director of Smith athletics,
was recently named chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division
III Management Council, a prestigious post that guides the group responsible for
that division's decisions on college sports nationwide. Oberbillig, who is currently
serving as the council's vice chair, will take over the chair next year.
Smith is cutting greenhouse gas emissions with
its new $11.5 million environmentally efficient power system (referred to as "CoGen" for
cogeneration). The new system, which produces heat and electricity for the campus,
replaces the college's 60–year–old steam boilers. Smith will now
need to purchase only a fraction of its power from outside sources, making the college
less vulnerable to rising energy costs, according to Gary Hartwell, project manager.
Further, the efficiency of the cogeneration system will reduce the college's
dependence on fossil fuel and cut the college's greenhouse gas emissions by about
30 percent. The plant has started its testing and is scheduled to go online in October.
Smith junior Etta Grover–Silva of Arcata, California,
finished sixth in the nation in the pole vault, with a vault of 12 feet, 2˝ inches
(3.72m), at the May 2008 NCAA Division III women's track and field championships
at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. She also earned her All–American
honors there. Earlier in the month, Grover–Silva claimed the New England pole
vault champion title with a jump of 3.75m at the Open New England Track and Field
Championships at the University of New Hampshire.
As part of its commitment to the environment, Smith
recently created the position of environmental sustainability director and
appointed Dano Weisbord to the post. He began his work in August, leaving his position
as senior project manager at the Boston firm CLF Ventures. Weisbord will be responsible
for coordinating Smith's integration of sustainable principles and practices
into campus operations. |
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