News for the Smith College Community //November 16, 2000
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President Simmons Moves On From a November 8 letter from President
Ruth Simmons to the Smith community: Most members of the Smith community learned the sad news that President Ruth Simmons is leaving Smith at the end of the year to become president of Brown University when they read this letter, distributed to all students, faculty and staff on the morning of November 9. But some had read about Simmons' impending appointment at Brown on the Web edition of the Brown Daily Herald -- the student newspaper -- as early as the evening of November 7, in Daily Jolt postings that resulted from that news story, in a brief speculative story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on November 8, or in the New York Times on the morning of November 9. The untimely release of the story made it impossible for an orderly notification of the campus to take place and caused an unavoidable "worst-case scenario" -- the news got out before the letters from Simmons and Shelly Lazarus, board of trustees chair, were delivered. Coordinating the official communication about Simmons to some 4,000 people on campus, major donors to the college, 40,000 alumnae and others with strong Smith ties, in a three-day period, all the while attempting to keep a lid on the story, was a complicated undertaking. Since the vote of the Brown trustees that would officially elect Simmons was not to take place until the afternoon of November 9, Brown officials were insistent that any public suggestion before that time that she was to become president of Brown would be premature. But placing a successful embargo on such a significant story is difficult at best and, as it turned out, impossible, after enterprising Brown students were able to break the story, which got the media ball rolling. No matter how the news was delivered, it will not be easy for the Smith community to reconcile Simmons' departure. As Lazarus said in her letter to the community, Ruth Simmons' accomplishments at Smith have been many. "Her oversight of the planning process that has resulted in many important initiatives, her leadership of the campaign, and the attention she has drawn to Smith's outstanding faculty, students, and programs have ensured that Smith's future remains bright," the letter says. Plans are moving forward for the transition:
On July 1, Provost John M. Connolly will become acting president
of Smith and will serve until a new president is able to take
office. Mary Patterson McPherson '57, Smith trustee, vice president
of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and former president of Bryn
Mawr College, has agreed to chair the search for a new president;
and further details about the composition of the search committee
and the process are expected soon. And, as Lazarus pointed out,
"In the coming months, we will have several opportunities
to celebrate Ruth Simmons' many accomplishments at Smith." Students Cast First Votes, Still Await By Eunnie Park '01 On the night of Tuesday, November 7, Election Day 2000, hundreds of Smith students converged on Davis Ballroom to await the announcement of the new president of the United States. Several students settled in their seats, munching pizza and chips, downing soda and chatting, all while watching CNN Live broadcast on a giant television screen at one end of the ballroom. As results from each state were tallied and announced, the ballroom was flooded with simultaneous cheers and groans. Charged debates erupted between friends. Questions darted about the room. Those debates are likely still going on as the country awaits, more than a week after the election, an announcement of its new president. At Davis, the atmosphere of excitement and suspense on November 7 was indicative of the overall enthusiasm of Smith students for this year's election, notes Katie McShane '01. "Smith women were talking about and thinking about the election," she says. McShane, a member of the Smith Voter's Coalition and a driver for the shuttle to and from the voting site, was very impressed with the Smith community for its tremendous interest in the election and high voter registration. "I found it very inspiring," says McShane. She explains that it's especially important for students to vote in elections so that politicians will address issues of concern to students. "If we vote, we will be heard. If we don't, no one cares what we think. That's the way democracy works." "I think it's our civic responsibility [to vote]," emphasizes Susan Yun '01. "I think it's good that Smith encourages students to vote and makes it so easy for us to vote. Because part of our education is learning to care about things that affect us." Yun, who caught a ride on the shuttle to the voting site, notes that Election 2000, her first voting experience, was more exciting because it was shared with others. "It was an awesome experience being in the van with a group of people who were all voting at a presidential election for the first time," she says. Not every Smith student was passionate about Election 2000. Kami Cott '04 says she voted for Vice President Al Gore only to "cancel out one person from Idaho [her home state] -- a sure Republican state." Though she was at Davis Ballroom that night, following the election results with the crowd of enthusiasts, Cott says she was not terribly excited about her first voting experience. "I'm pretty apathetic about politics," she notes. "If other people weren't so fired up about it, I probably wouldn't have voted at all." For her part, Tanya Skypeck '02 explains that she filled out an absentee ballot for California, her home state, because she wanted to have a say in the election of her congressman. As for the presidential election, Skypeck, who is a George W. Bush supporter in a sea of student Gore supporters, says "it was very intimidating to be in the minority." Despite what she calls a "mob mentality" toward Bush among Smith students, Skypeck claims that, in general, her first voting experience was positive. "People have been watching debates and having discussions over meals. It's really exciting to be with people who do care. This is going to be remembered for ages. And here we are, understanding it and participating in it and appreciating it. It's so monumental and historical, and people here really do understand that." Smith Gives $150,000 for Renovation Smith College recently pledged $150,000 toward the completion of the Northampton High School expansion and renovation project. The donation is particularly timely because unexpected costs, such as asbestos abatement, had resulted in cutting planned features, such as a fully equipped media lab, says Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins. "This pledge will allow us to achieve most of our goals. It's great news for the school," said Higgins in announcing the gift. "We are very grateful for Smith's willingness to invest in the city's schools." Smith's donation reflects a long history of supporting educational excellence and working in partnership with Northampton's public schools. Smith students often perform their practice teaching in the schools while Northampton High School students take advanced classes at Smith. This past year, when the high school was experiencing space problems because of the construction, the college loaned classroom space to the school. Earlier this semester, Smith donated 25 computers to Northampton High School to offset budget cuts because of the renovation costs. "Supporting the high school building project seemed an ideal way to support academic excellence and our productive partnership with Northampton's public schools," says Ann Shanahan, chief public affairs officer. "This is just another connection we wanted to make, and this was the time to do it." Smith's contribution will help the city in seeking reimbursement from the state and will result in an estimated $300,000 in additional money from the School Building Assistance fund. Two Poets to Read From Their Works On Tuesday, November 28, poet, translator, scholar and activist Eleanor Wilner and award-winning poet Constance Merritt will read from their works at 7:30 p.m. in Neilson Browsing Room as part of the Poetry Center's reading series. Wilner, who has received many honors, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, is one of the most vital and original voices in American poetry, according to a Poetry Center press release. "Committed to issues of peace and justice, and known for what poet Alicia Ostriker has called 'visionary amplitude and revolutionary intelligence,' Wilner eschews the confessional mode and instead aims to give voice to the voiceless, to 'reverse the spell' of greed, violence, and fear." On the faculty of the MFA Program at Warren Wilson College since 1989, Wilner makes her home in Philadelphia, though she has been visiting writer in Hawaii, Iowa, and Japan, and is this year's Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in-Residence at Smith. Merritt was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and educated at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prize nominations and an Academy of American Poets College Prize. Her first collection of poems, A Protocol of Touch, was on the Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry and was published this year. Wilner, who was a Miller Prize judge, called her "a poet to defeat categories, to oppose 'the tyranny of names' with a poetry that sets its own terms of encounter...tender and austere, formal and intimate at once." The reading will be followed by a booksigning session. For more information, contact Cindy Furtek in the Poetry Center office at ext. 4891 or Ellen Doré Watson, director, at ext. 3368. Students As Leaders Wear Many Hats By Eunnie Park '01 Students who hold leadership positions on campus are at the forefront of student life and interaction. Through their positions, they dedicate hours of their extracurricular time to improving and enriching the lives of their fellow students. Ammara Yaqub '01, president of the Student Government Association (SGA), hopes to use her position this year to focus on issues of diversity on campus and to develop methods of increasing cultural awareness among students. Toward those goals, says Yaqub, the SGA is working to bridge the cultural gap between students by offering a sensitivity workshop for first-years and seniors. "You can be a freshman from New York City or from the deep South," says Yaqub, referring to the wide range of backgrounds from which Smith students come. "We want everyone to be on the same footing." For seniors, she says, "it would be something that would remind them that they are going out into the real world." Meanwhile, Erin Wallace AC and Adrienne McAlpine AC, as Ada Comstock Scholars class copresi-dents, hope to foster cohesion within the class and to improve the Ada Comstock program's communication and interaction with the college. Wallace's ideas include expanding the Ada affiliate program and organizing an orientation for first-year Ada scholars. "When a first-year Ada moves into a house we want to make sure that she receives the same welcome and has the same access to the house as traditional students," she says. "I know that sounds simple enough, but it doesn't always happen. We would like to see the class coming together and supporting each other as a class, but at the same time coming together as students in common with the rest of the school." Typically, student leaders at Smith wear a succession of different hats. Katie Winger '01, senior class president, has served as senator, athletic representative, Head of New Students (HONS) and member of the Smith College Council on Community Policy for two years and is captain of the softball team this year. As senior class president, Winger aims to enhance her classmates' fun and relaxation while increasing unity among seniors. "Number one on my list is just helping seniors have fun," she says. "I would like to be able to plan activities for seniors that will allow them to relax, enjoy themselves and time with friends in their class." Because many seniors are uncertain about their plans after graduation, Winger says issues around getting a job and pursuing post-graduation plans need to be addressed. However, she says, equally important is "realizing to live in the moment and not stressing too much about what is to come." Yaqub, during her years at Smith, has served as chair of the Diversity Board and class president and has been on the Judicial Board. While fostering cultural awareness is a long-term goal for Yaqub in her SGA role, one of her recent goals was to inspire campus involvement in the November 7 U.S. presidential election. Toward that effort, SGA organized screenings for students of the presidential debates in Wright Hall auditorium, followed by open discussions. "Presidential elections are a big deal," Yaqub says. "They are the only elections we'll see in our time here." Though she doesn't plan to enter politics right after graduation, Yaqub says there "may be something political later." For now, she plans to pursue work in investment banking. For her part, Wallace, who enrolled at Smith after 10 years in the financial business, plans to earn a graduate degree and work in the field of gerontology after graduation. Her leadership experience at Smith includes positions as the Rally Day chair and as copresident of the Ada class last year. Winger says she plans to work in a design studio after Smith, maybe get an MBA and then "begin the difficult road of freelance graphic design." For now, though, she's focused on her present position as senior class president. "I would like the senior class to be able to donate a meaningful and long-lasting class gift," she says. "And further down the road, I am planning to give a rip-roarin' speech at commencement!" Local Author to Speak at Forbes Library Elinor Lipman lives and writes fiction in Northampton. Among her works are Isabel's Bed and The Inn at Lake Devine, about which New York Times Book Review critic Lore Dickstein wrote: "Like an inspired alchemist, Lipman has converted serious subjects into humor." On Sunday, November 19, at 2 p.m., Lipman will talk about her fiction and answer questions at the first of this year's "Sundays at Two" presentations, sponsored by the Friends of Forbes Library and Smith College. The free, public event will take place in the Calvin Coolidge Room at Forbes Library. Describing her work, Lipman has said, "If I'm going to create a world and be its god, then I want to be a benevolent one. If I create characters and come to love them, why torture them? Why let their children drown? Accordingly, my work sits under a banner that proclaims it 'romantic comedy.'" And what do her readers want? "I believe they want to feel better when they finish a book than when they start it," she says. "They want to be amused, moved, befriended, included." Born and raised in Lowell, Lipman graduated from Simmons College, where she studied journalism, and began writing fiction in an adult education workshop at Brandeis University. As she started to submit manuscripts to publishers, "I knew exactly what I wanted from the process. I wanted my stories read in class; I wanted people to laugh and to think I was talented. I wanted my teacher's praise. I wanted critical and popular success." Considering that since her first book in 1987 Lipman has had half a dozen of her works of fiction published, including her most recent, The Ladies' Man: A Novel, and has several novels in development as films, she appears to have a firm grip on that critical and popular success. Grant to Fund Five College Center Five Colleges Inc. has been awarded a $25,000 "focus grant" by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that will support its Center for Crossroads in the Study of the Americas (CISA). Specifically, funds from the NEH grant will be used to develop an innovative course introducing first- and second-year students at the five member institutions to new ways of thinking about identity in the Americas. An interdisciplinary team of faculty is meeting this fall to construct the curriculum, which will be based on "modules" that compare experience, literary texts, and other cultural expressions. Rotating among the five campuses from year to year, the new course will use the expertise of faculty specialists at each of the five schools. "What's unique about this course," explains CISA Director Robert Schwartzwald, "is that it will help students explore 'relational' aspects of ethnicity and race; that is, the ways people shape their identities through complicated interactions with others throughout the hemisphere and the world." It will also, he hopes, give students a keener understanding of how people can reach a level of understanding that recognizes and builds upon differences, rather than fears. The goal of the course is to help students acquire the tools they need to be better citizens in an increasingly global society. Participating Five College faculty have primary teaching and research interests in an array of areas and ethnic studies fields, involving the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, Canada, Asian/Pacific rim, women and gender, African-American and Native-American issues, as well as international management and disciplinary specializations in history, Spanish, English, French, art history and the social sciences. Funds from the grant will also enable participating faculty to travel to other colleges and universities to learn more about similar projects that focus on new curricula for the study of the Americas. Following course review and evaluation, plans are to offer the CISA course in spring 2002. RADS Wants Your Recipes From Home Ask students living at Smith what they miss most about home and many will tell you it's Mom's (or Dad's, in some cases) cooking. They know there's nothing like a home-prepared meal made with recipes that have been in the family for years, dishes and foods they've grown up with. With that in mind, Residecne and Dining Services (RADS) is introducing a contest called Recipe From Home that will give students a taste of the home cooking they so fondly miss. The contest works like this:
So whether it's for a simple Jell-O
salad, a mouth-watering vegetarian lasagna or that unforgettable
Peking Duck, tell your parents and family members to get those
recipes ready. RADS wants them. It's far older than you. In fact, its age exceeds the combined ages of any Smith class members, past or present. Its beginning predates the college, the city, and even the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Should it organize a coup to seize possession of the Boston Post Cane, a gold-headed ebony cane presented to the oldest citizen in New England towns, who could fault it? At the very least, it deserves the college's vote for "Most Likely to Endure." It is the Rock, a monolithic, ancient chunk of tonalite now in residence on the front lawn of Garrison Hall. The piece of geological history was unearthed last summer by the construction crew for the new parking facility from its centuries-old burial site. Known as a "floater," the Rock is suspected to have arrived on campus during the last Ice Age via a glacier sliding in from the north. When the glacier melted, the Rock would have been deposited at the bottom of what once was glacial Lake Hitchcock. Lake Hitchcock was one of the largest of the glacial lakes in New England, stretching almost 175 miles from mid-Connecticut to northern Vermont. The Connecticut River generally follows the course of Lake Hitchcock, which drained some 12,000 years ago. "This rock settled precisely at the point where Smith decided to drill for caisson C3," says Gary Hartwell, Physical Plant project manager. Hartwell and John Brady, professor of geology, have become the Rock's unofficial spokespeople. Hartwell explains that caissons are the grid points where the garage's east-west column lines (lettered AC)meet the north-south column lines (numbered 16). The caissons are positioned deep in the soil, where they are supported by bedrock that helps sustain the entire weight of the facility. Caisson C3 is just to the left of where cars will enter the completed garage. "At that point, 14 feet down, we hit the Rock," says Hartwell. "Getting the rock to the surface was quite a project." According to Brady, the Rock is much like the rock that stands alongside the college's outdoor track. Both are Hatfield tonalite, a granite-like rock that occurs only in Hatfield. When the Rock was discovered at the construction site, Brady says it was surrounded by glacial till, the unsorted rocks and sand that are dropped when a glacier melts. Clay was found on top of till, which in turn covered sandstone. , the excavated rock has been transported to Garrison Hall lawn, in close proximity to its longtime home. Are there any plans to move it in the future? Not according to Hartwell. "That rock has moved twice in 25,000 years. The first time was free. This second trip cost $18,000. It's staying put."
Will return next week. Matt Gawron was hired last month for
the important campus positions of supervisor of special events
and assistant manager of building services in the Physical Plant.
As special events supervisor, Gawron oversees the physical operations
of commencement activities, convocations, Rally Day and other
events. Gawron, who lives in Springfield, came to Smith with
more than 20 years of supervisory experience from Baystate Health
System, most recently serving as supervisor and training coordinator
in the system's Environmental Services Operations Department.
Gawron replaces the late Dick Hunter, who for more than 25 years
served as supervisor of special events. Sources of further information, if any, are indicated in parentheses. Notices should be submitted by mail, by e-mail eweld@smith.edu) or by fax (extension 2171). Collegewide College Council Open Meeting Museum of Art Day Trip Tyler Tip-Off Activities Committee Events Students Health Service Closing SSW Information Day Mellon Fellowships Sports Mascot Needed Thanksgiving Break Housing Final Examinations Counseling Workshops Spring 2001 Registration Résumé Web Site Thanksgiving Dinner "Reading Room" Now Open Study Skills Workshops |
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Sources of further information, if any, are shown in parentheses at the end of event descriptions. An asterisk following a listing indicates that the event is open to the public. Admission charges, if any, are listed when known. Items for this section must be submitted on Event Service Request Forms. Monday, November 20 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Other Events/Activities Yoga class Noncredit, for students. All levels. 4:45-6 p.m., Davis Ballroom Tuesday, November 21 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Religious Life Meeting Newman Association. Other Events/Activities Language lunch tables German. 12:15 p.m., Duckett Special Dining Room B Yoga class Noncredit, for students. All levels. 4-5:15 p.m., Davis Ballroom Wednesday, November 22 Lectures/Symposia Thursday, November 23 Thanksgiving Break No events scheduled Friday, November 24 Thanksgiving Break No events scheduled Saturday, November 25 No events scheduled Sunday, November 26 Meetings/Workshops Meeting Amnesty International Meeting Smith African Students Association. All welcome. 4 p.m., Mwangi Basement, Lilly Meeting Feminists of Smith Unite. Religious Life Roman Catholic Mass Fr. Stephen-Joseph Ross, OCD, celebrant, and Elizabeth Carr, Catholic chaplain. Dinner follows in Bodman Lounge. All welcome. 4:30 p.m., Chapel Monday, November 27 Lectures/Symposia Performing Arts/Films Other Events/Activities President's open hours First come, first served. 4-5 pm, College Hall 20 Yoga class Noncredit, for students. All levels. 4:45-6 p.m., Davis Ballroom Tuesday, November 28 Lectures/Symposia Literature at Lunch Michael Thurston, assistant professor of English language and literature, will read selections from writings by Herman Melville and Walt Whitman. Bring a lunch; drinks provided. 12:15 p.m., Seelye 207 Poetry Reading Eleanor Wilner, Grace Hazard Conkling Writer-in- Residence, translator, scholar, activist, and MacArthur Fellow, will read with poet Constance Merritt (see story, page 4). Booksigning follows. 7:30 p.m., Neilson Browsing Room* Performing Arts/Films Film The Perfect Storm. Sponsored by Rec Council. 9 p.m., Wright Auditorium Meetings/Workshops Informational meeting Study abroad in India or Nepal. Discuss several semester- and year-long programs and meet Dennis Hudson, professor of world religions and the faculty advisor for South India Term Abroad (SITA), the Smith-affiliated program in Madurai, as well as other program faculty and staff. Indian food will be served. 5 p.m., Seelye 207 SGA Senate meeting Open forum. All students welcome. 7:15 p.m., Seelye 201 Workshop L'Atelier, a theatre workshop conducted in French by Florent Masse. 7:30 p.m., Mendenhall CPA, T-209 Religious Life Meeting Newman Association. Other Events/Activities Language lunch tables German. 12:15 p.m., Duckett Special Dining Room B Yoga class Noncredit, for students. All levels. 4-5:15 p.m., Davis Ballroom CDO open hours for library research and browsing. Peer advisers available. 79 p.m., CDO Wednesday November 29 Lectures/Symposia Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Meeting MassPIRG. 7 p.m., Seelye 110 Meeting Association of Low-Income Students (ALIS). All welcome. 7:30 p.m., Talbot Fussers Religious Life Buddhist service and discussion. 7:15 p.m., Bodman Lounge, chapel Discussion with Baha'i Club about topics relating to the Baha'i faith and life. 8 p.m., Seelye 211 ECC Bible study Topic: What It Is to Be Human. Bring questions, frustrations and curiosities. 10 p.m., Bodman Lounge, chapel Other Events/Activities Classics lunch Noon, Duckett Special Dining Room C Yoga class Noncredit, for students. All levels. 4:45-6 p.m., Davis Ballroom Gaming night with the Smith Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, a time for gamers to gather and play rpgs, eegs, and anything else they're interested in. Probable games include: D&D, Magic, The Gathering, and Lunch Money. 7:30 p.m., Seelye 208. |
Thursday, November 30 Lectures/Symposia Lecture "An Investigation of Bacterial Interaction Forces and Biopolymer Conformation." Terri Camesano, assistant professor of chemical engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 4 p.m., Engineering Building, room 201 Lecture "Women and Popular Theater in Tanzania." Amandina Lihamba, popular theater activist, professor of theater, University of Dar es Salaam, and Fulbright Scholar, UCLA. Sponsors: Comparative Literature Program, theater department, Lecture Committee. Reception follows. 4 p.m., Seelye 106* Lecture "Revisiting Right-Wing
Revolution in Pre-War Japan: Conspiracies and Revolts in the
Era of 'Government by Assassination.' " Stephen Vlastos,
history department, University of Iowa. Sponsor: East Asian languages
and literatures. Lecture "When the Book Talks Back: Reflections on Mama Lola." Karen Brown, professor of sociology and anthropology of religion, Drew University, and author of Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Open lecture for WST 101, Women of Color: Defining the Issues. 7:30 p.m., Stoddard Auditorium* Performing Arts/Films Religious Life Other Events/Activities Language lunch tables Korean, Russian. 12:15 p.m., Duckett Special Dining Room Friday, December 1 Meetings/Workshops Meeting Smith Science Fiction and Fantasy Society. 4:30 p.m., Seelye 208 Religious Life Shabbat services Dinner follows in the Kosher kitchen, Dawes. 5:30 p.m., Dewey common room. Keystone B.I.G. meeting Weekly fellowship meeting of Campus Crusade for Christ. 7 p.m., Wright common room Other Events/Activities Language lunch table Hebrew, with Nathan Margalit. Join us, even if you know only a few words. 12:15 p.m., Duckett Special Dining Room C Alumnae House tea Baldwin, Sessions
and Chase houses and 150 Elm are cordially invited to attend.
Saturday, December 2 Performing Arts/Films Concert Pola Baytolman, piano, will perform works by Schumann. 8 p.m., Sweeney Auditorium, Sage Religious Life Other Events/Activities Sunday, December 3 Performing Arts/Films Film Sixth and final film in the series "International Politics in Hollywood Blockbusters." 5 p.m., Seelye 201* Meetings/Workshops Weekly meeting Baha'i Club. 4:30 p.m., Dewey common room Meeting Amnesty International. Meeting Feminists of Smith Unite. Religious Life Quaker (Friends) meeting for worship. Preceded by informal discussion at 9:30 a.m. All welcome, childcare available. 11 a.m., Bass 203, 204* Other Events/Activities Exhibitions Annual Chrysanthemum Show An outstanding display, featuring mums trained into cascading forms rarely seen outside of Japan, as well as large specimen flowers and hybrids made by Smith horticulture students. Through November 19. Daily 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Lyman Conservatory* "Haiku Winter: Works on Paper," an exhibition by Rebecca Shapiro '85. Through December 22. Alumnae House Gallery* "Agents of Social Change: New Resources on 20th-Century Women's Activism." A display of papers from the collections of eight women activists, recently opened by the Sophia Smith Collection. Through December 31. Morgan Gallery, Neilson Library foyer and Sophia Smith Collection, Alumnae Gym "Labore et Constantia: Rare books from the Dimock Collection at Smith College," curated by Mark Morford and Margaret Eaton-Salners '01. Runs through December 31. Neilson third floor* |
