News for the Smith College Community //December 14, 2000
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Smith Ideal for Landscape Studies As a professor at Smith and a 1971 graduate, Ann Leone, professor of French language and literature, understands that the landscape of the Smith campus has been a sacred aspect of the college for generations of alumnae. Her understanding is derived from simple nostalgia and a full comprehension of Frederick Law Olmsted's landscape plan, which together inform one of Leone's passions, the field of landscape studies (LS). Leone, who has written and lectured on the meanings of gardens and landscape in French literature, has been a force behind the attempt to establish landscape studies as a minor at Smith. Next semester, the college will offer its first dedicated landscape studies course, Landscape Studies 100 (LSS 100), a two-credit course with 95 students already enrolled. Landscape studies is an interdisciplinary field that brings cultural analysis to the study of the environment and includes the disciplines of landscape architecture, horticulture, biology, environmental science, urban planning, art, art history and literature. As an academic field, LS first began taking shape in the 1950s and '60s as scholars and individuals realized the profound effect that modern societies can have on the environment. At present, no college or university in the country offers an undergraduate major in landscape studies. "While landscape architecture is too career-specific for a liberal arts college like Smith, we are beautifully positioned to offer landscape studies," explains Leone. "Along with having many alumnae who are distinguished landscape architects, we also have the Botanic Garden and planthouses as working laboratories, extensive library collections, the rigorous Environmental Sciences Program, and the Smith Landscape Master Plan, which is an archive and academic resource, as well as a model of design for an aesthetic and sustainable environment." Smith courses, professors and students already explore topics that are central to LS, Leone points out. In any given semester a dozen courses could eventually be part of the LS curriculum, she notes, such as these spring 2001 offerings-Anthropology 236, Economy, Ecology and Society; Art 161, Design; Biology 204, Horticulture; Comparative Literature 254, Literary Ecology; and Geology 109, The Environment. Each LSS 100 session will feature a lecture that will address interdisciplinary aspects of the field. Nancy Denig, a Smith alumna and landscape architect in Northampton, will give the first lecture on "Common Ground: Bridge Building for Nations, Neighborhoods, and Families." Gretchen Schneider, another Smith alumna, architect and visiting lecturer in the art department, will speak on "Making Time Visible." Other lecturers will include Michael Marcotrigiano, director of the Botanic Garden; Anne Whiston Spirn, Department of Landscape Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; John Davis, professor of art; Douglas Patey, professor of English; and John Burk, professor of biological sciences. The course will include at least one campus field trip. Leone hopes that LSS 100 is the first step for landscape studies at Smith. She acknowledges, though, that a minor would require a full-time faculty. Since landscape studies is a relatively young field, Leone says that potential faculty members would be recent doctoral graduates or scholars just emerging from graduate school. Leone is hopeful that funding will be in place to hire a full-time LS faculty member within two years. While LS may be the college's newest field of study, its Smith roots run deep. In 1914, Smith offered courses that would now qualify for the LS curriculum. The college temporarily housed the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture for Women, a Radcliffe College program established in 1916 to tutor women not admitted to Harvard's Graduate School of Design. The program was moved to Smith in the 1930s and its courses were available to Smith students. Then, 10 years ago, Susan Komroff Cohen '62 and Paula Deitz Morgan '59 submitted a proposal to revive landscape architecture as a field of study at Smith. A faculty committee, convened by Leone, studied their proposal and developed a proposal for landscape studies. "LS bridges the gap between what we have done to our surroundings and what, on the other hand, we dream of having and must have to live a sustainable life. Only a liberal arts college, with its commitment to broad, rigorous, innovative courses of study, can produce the people who bridge that gap," Leone says. Leone and her colleagues on the landscape studies steering committee have received encouragement for the creation of the Smith program from colleagues at the best landscape studies graduate programs in the country. "UC Berkeley, Harvard, Penn, MIT -- they all express amazement that Smith doesn't yet have landscape studies, since we have all the resources," she says. "They tell us that even if a student didn't want a career in landscape studies, the minor would have great value." What also excites Leone is the bipartisan
support that LS has earned at Smith. She notes that whenever
the steering committee meets with college administrators, all
members advocate completely for LS. "It's an ideal interdisciplinary
course of study for Smith College," she concludes. "LS
truly brings together the arts and the sciences." The college's new parking structure on West Street, adjacent to Garrison Hall, is nearing completion. The garage, with 352 spaces, is expected to open in mid-January, though its elevator will not be installed until later that month. The garage will provide 82 spaces for students, 10 for visitors, five for carpooling vehicles and 10 handicapped spaces -- eight inside and two outside. The remainder of the spaces will be reserved for faculty and staff. The Office of Public Safety will handle the distribution of student spaces, which will be offered first to students who were unsuccessful in September's parking lottery. Open to members of the Smith community from 1 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, the garage will be available to the public (in white-lined spaces only) from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. weekdays and from 5 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Monday. As is true in other campus parking lots, spaces for faculty and staff will be lined in white; visitors in blue; and students in green; handicapped spaces will be marked with the handicapped symbol. There will be no overnight parking on the roof level, and the roof may also be closed at other times, such as during snow and/or ice storms. A pedestrian crosswalk has been added on West Street at the entrance to the garage. The college expects to petition the state for a pedestrian-activated traffic light at that crosswalk, similar to those on Elm Street at John M. Greene Hall and Bedford Terrace. Ground was broken last March for the three-story, four-level garage, which was designed by Arrowstreet, Inc., of Somerville. The firm's project designer for the garage was Emily Mowbray '87. Constructed of precast concrete, steel, glass and zinc, the building features a striking windowed elevator tower that is approached through a glass-enclosed foyer. Images of the building may be viewed at www.smith.edu/campusops/parking_garage/#. Once the elevator is installed and other finishing touches have been completed, an informal inaugural event will be held to officially launch this significant addition to Smith's parking options. Memories of College Day The following story appeared in
the December newsletter of Northampton's R. K. Finn Ryan Road
Elementary School, in the "Spotlight on Grade 4" section.
It was written by two fourth-grade students who visited Smith
during National College Week. A student choir from the Martin
Luther King, Jr., Elementary School of Washington, D.C., and
students from other Northampton elementary schools, also visited
that day. At 9 a.m. on October 25, we went to Smith College so we could participate in College Day. College Day is a day when all the fourth-graders and fourth-grade teachers from the Northampton district get together to go to Smith College. For one morning, we were allowed to take the courses that the college students do. Anyway, back to the agenda. Our class and Mrs. Tumal's class got on an enormous yellow bus and rode to the Smith campus. When we got there, we were told to go to the Ainsworth Gym. We walked up endless stairs, finally arriving at the gym. We went in to be welcomed by an eruption of voices from other fourth-graders in Northampton, from Jackson Street, Bridge Street, and Leeds School. There was a woman who told us we had to go to Sage Hall for a concert. So we walked to Sage Hall and found our seats. The seats were very comfortable. Students from Martin Luther King, Jr., School sang songs. They sang very well. When they sang their last song, we all stood up and clapped. Then we left Sage Hall. Next, we went to Scott Lounge for our storytelling class. At our storytelling class, we made a story after we met a storyteller. I don't know his name. First we created characters, made up their problems and finally came up with conclusions. We made a colossal story with very unusual characters such as Derek, Kory, Max the Dog, his mom, I Am A Hog, I Own A Hanky, and the Aliens. It was very funny. After that, we walked to the geology lab where we waited for another class to finish their workshop. When they were finished, we sat down and the teacher told us to study the fossils in front of us. We studied them and then he told us to name some of the fossils. There was [ammonite], ferns, teeth, and all sorts of stuff. It was fascinating. Then we walked over to Scott Gym for a snack. I talked with my friends. We had cookies and apple juice. After a few minutes, we went to the buses to go back to school. We had left around 9 a.m. and had returned to school around noon. When we got back, we got ready to go home. We had half-days because it was Parent Conference Week. Now you know my story of Smith College. It was so much fun. In the future, I hope they invite us again. Little Pioneers Get a Big Dose of Smith Sports During the Smith versus St. Lawrence College basketball game last month in Ainsworth Gymnasium, 11-year-old Mike Supernaw watched the game from his post just behind the team bench as he filled water bottles for team members and listened in on the coaches' consultations. For that one night, Supernaw was the assistant to the basketball team manager, a privilege of his membership in the Little Pioneers Club, a group of area youngsters -- Smith athletics fans mostly -- invited to get involved with the colleges' teams. During halftime of the game, other Little Pioneers, boy and girl athletes from Smith's Campus School and the kids of faculty, staff and friends, filled the court to shoot baskets, some lofting the ball from mid-court. It was the children's second event in the Little Pioneers program. Their first event was an orientation on November 11, during which 29 young athletes and would-be competitors from 4 to 13 years old, joined the club. Little Pioneers is more than just a fan club. There are the monthly newsletters and the autographed pictures of athletic teams, the typical rite of membership for most fan clubs. The members also receive discounts toward the annual Smith Athletics Kids' Night Out. But Little Pioneers are invited to be part of the teams at sporting events, providing water sustenance when needed and bantering with the players as they come in off the floor. Little Pioneers also get to attend monthly events, like a Banana Split Party with the swim team and the delicious S'More Night. The Little Pioneers Club was organized by the athletic department as an effort to reach out to the community and expose kids to different sports, says Kelly Hart, assistant athletic director. "I feel it's important to expose children to a variety of sports because they find one or more they are particularly interested in pursuing," says Hart. "There are physical, psychological and social benefits associated with participation in sport and physical activity." By partaking of free one-hour sports clinics each month, led by coaches of Smith teams, members of the Little Pioneers Club can become involved in and familiar with various college sports. "They become part of Smith athletics by coming to our events," says Hart. "They seem to be excited." For their part, Smith athletes are also enthusiastic and supportive of the Little Pioneers Club, says Hart. The program enables the kids to interact with the athletes and "helps put athletes in positions as role models to these boys and girls." With activities like Breakfast of Champions with Smith Team Captains, Little Pioneer Fun Run with Track, and the Banana Split Party, the children and athletes have many opportunities to mingle. With the successful start of the Little Pioneers Club, the athletic department is looking for ways the club can grow. The club will be evaluated at the end of the year, says Hart, and the department hopes to open it up to the larger community in the near future. So it's likely that 11-year-old managers' assistants will become a routine sight on the sidelines of future Smith sporting events. UW Nears its Goal, Awards Prizes The Smith College United Way Campaign, now in its tenth week, is well on its way to surpassing this year's $135,000 goal, with more than $133,000 from 528 donors, and contributions still coming in. The campaign's final two drawings awarded 31 prizes to campus contributors. Thomas Norton and Dorothy Salvatore won free lunches at the Smith College Club; Marilyn Schuster, a reserved parking space; Michael Gorra, a $25 gift certificate for LaSalle Florists; Alan Bloomgarden, a $50 gift basket from Mole Hollow Candles; Janice McDowell, a day off with pay; Janet Morris and Adrian Beaulieu, $5 gift certificates for Davis Center; Virginia Van Scoy, a recording, Sonatas, by Monica Jakuc, fortepiano; Stanley Rosko and Suzanne Payne, $25 gift certificates for Packard's; Janet Gracia, a print by Patricia Hayes; Diane Garvey, a recording, Francesca LeBrun Sonatas by Monica Jakuc; Donna Schnopp, a $40 gift certificate for Trellis Works; Laurie Wyman, one month of tanning from Northampton Athletic Club; Sheri Peabody, dinner for two at the Smith College Club; Alan Marvelli, a children's book, Scott Hamilton: Fireworks on Ice, by Linda Shaughnessy; Gail Hayes and Susan Van Dyne, a recording, Symphony No. 9, by the Smith Orchestra and Glee Club; Deb Luekens and Harold Skulsky, a recording, Mozart Requiem, by Smith College choral groups; Dean Flower, a flavored coffee and pastry break for four at Davis Center; Ann Boutelle, a $50 gift certificate for Del Raye Bar and Grill; Andrea O'Brien, a $25 gift certificate for Grécourt Bookshop; Erika Laquer, dinner for two at Green Street Café; Kevin Shea, a night for two at Autumn Inn; Mentha Hynes, a $25 gift pack from Lulu's Hair Salon; Thomas Rohlich, a $20 gas certificate from Steenburgh Realty; Judy Biardi, two bus tickets for a Staff Council-sponsored trip to New York City; Michelle Moye, one-hour massage from Stay in Touch Center for Massage; Richard White, a children's book, Elvis Stojko: Skating From the Blade, by Linda Shaughnessy. Adrian Beaulieu, associate dean of international study, won the United Way Prize of a trip for two anywhere in the United States. The prize-winner is chosen via a drawing from among all Hampshire county contributors of $75 or more. According to Cheryl Donaldson-Davis, who has been involved in the United Way Campaign for 19 years, it's the first time a person from Smith has won the prize, which has been awarded for 10 years. A Warm Place to Walk, Run Beginning Tuesday, January 2, 2001, area residents will have a refuge from the early morning cold in which to carry out their exercise regimens, when the college opens the doors of the Indoor Track and Tennis (ITT) facility to the public for walking and running from 6 to 8 a.m. weekdays. The athletic department receives requests regularly from the public to run or walk on the ITT track, particularly as the weather grows colder, says Lynn Oberbillig, department director. Rarely used by the college during the early morning hours, the facility will likely provide walkers with a welcome alternative to traipsing through the halls of the local malls or working out on the treadmill. "We get requests from track officials, fire and police departments," she says. "When the weather changes, they have very few alternatives. We thought it would be a goodwill gesture to create a time for all to use the track. We like to encourage people to continue exercise programs during the difficult winter months." Participants of the program must enter and leave the ITT only through the glass doors at the facility's entrance and must not go beyond the ITT. Also, they will be required to wear clean shoes on the track, says Oberbillig. The program will be monitored by Tess Collins, a retired teacher's aide who works in the athletic department during the summer. Oberbillig says she's not sure how many walkers/runners to expect during the open hours. "In the beginning it might be 10 or 15 people a day, but I could see that number rising once people learn about this via word of mouth," she says. The athletic department also offers public hours at its outdoor tennis courts during the summer, for a fee. But according to Oberbillig, the ITT open hours will be the department's only free service. Participants in the program will be allowed, on a pilot basis, to park in the Ainsworth parking lot, provided they leave by 8 a.m. when employees begin arriving for work.
Swimming & Diving Basketball Squash Track and Field Dwight W. Pogue, professor of art,
was recently invited to partipate in the print exhibition Then
and Now at Bradford College of Art in Yorkshire, England. The
exhibition, on display in Cartwright Hall through February 11,
2001, features works produced by artists who have contributed
to the development of printmaking from the 1970s to the present.
Several major British artists-David Hockney and Michael Rothenstein,
for example-have either studied or taught at Bradford College.
Pogue taught at Bradford as a Fulbright scholar from 1975 to
1977. His prints in Then and Now are a color lithograph, "Bradford
Boys," made in 1977, and "Queen of the Night Forever,"
a print made this year that features the night blooming cereus,
which is on view at the Smith College Club. William Campbell, horticulturist emeritus and director of the Botanic Garden for 34 years, died on October 31, at the age of 98. As Botanic Garden director, Campbell oversaw the Lyman Conservatory and taught horticulture at Smith. Campbell was awarded the Smith Medal in 1978 for his service to the college and community. A native of Scotland, Campbell migrated to Northampton in 1928 after having graduated from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh with a specialty in horticulture. He also served at one time as the director of the Gardens of the Nations, the rooftop garden at Radio City in New York. 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 Weather Alert Winter Party 2000 Flu Vaccines The Refrigerator Door Smith TV Interterm Athletic Events Faculty and Staff AKP Faculty Fellowships Students Final Examinations Grade Reports Book Buyback Examination Workers SCIPI Internships Study-Abroad Programs CDO Workshops Technological Problems Submission of Papers On-Line Evaluations Study-Abroad Deadlines Attention January Graduates Take Smith Home Student Positions Open |
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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, January 8 Interterm begins Tuesday, January 9 Meetings/Workshops Other Events/Activities Wednesday, January 10 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Thursday, January 11 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Workshop Smith TV, a student-operated, closed-circuit broadcast written, produced, performed, directed, and used by students. All students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend and help plan the network. (See notice.) 7 p.m., Nonprint Resources Center Other Events/Activities Friday, January 12 Performing Arts/Films
Meetings/Workshops Other Events/Activities Saturday, January 13 Other Events/Activities Sunday, January 14 Religious Life Monday, January 15 Performing Arts/Films
Meetings/Workshops Tuesday, January 16 Performing Arts/Films Workshop Internships: How to find the one you want where you want it. 3 p.m., CDO Weight Watchers at Work 1-3 p.m., Neilson Browsing Room* Other Events/Activities Wednesday, January 17 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Thursday, January 18 Performing Arts/Films
Meetings/Workshops Meeting Smith TV, a
student-operated, closed-circuit broadcast written, produced,
performed, directed, and used by students. All students, faculty
and staff are welcome to attend and help plan the network. |
Friday, January 19 Performing Arts/Films
Meetings/Workshops Saturday, January 20 Other Events/Activities Basketball vs. Wheaton. 6 p.m., Scott gym* Sunday, January 21 Religious Life Monday, January 22 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Tuesday, January 23 Performing Arts/Films
Meetings/Workshops Workshop Interviewing: Talking with an employer effectively and comfortably. 1:30 p.m., CDO Wednesday, January 24 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Thursday, January 25 Performing Arts/Films
Meetings/Workshops Meeting Smith TV, a
student-operated, closed-circuit broadcast written, produced,
performed, directed, and used by students. All students, faculty
and staff are welcome to attend and help plan the network. Friday, January 26 Performing Arts/Films Meetings/Workshops Saturday, January 27 Interterm ends Sunday, January 28 Performing Arts/Films Religious Life Exhibitions |
