- Chronological Listing
December 30, 2000
CBS EVENING NEWS
Smith President Ruth Simmons' values, noted anchor Russ Mitchell
in an extended profile, "were shaped by hard work, a loving
family, and a heart that told her to believe in herself no matter
what. For 30 years, she has been trying to pass on those values
to her students." [www.cbs.com]
December 27, 2000
USA TODAY
In a lengthy cover story, USA Today profiled Smith President
Ruth Simmons, describing her as "opportunity personified."
Simmons' appointment to the presidency of Brown University
the first black president of an Ivy League institution
"represents a breakthrough in terms of the recognition of
people for their ability," noted Shirley Ann Jackson, president
of Rennselaer Poytechnic University. "It's a very significant
milestone in a much longer journey," observed Stanley Ikenberry,
president of the American Council on Education. [www.usatoday.com]
December 22, 2000
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
As he approaches his final weeks in office, President Clinton
is considering invoking his presidential powers to grant pardons
to prominent figures facing legal trouble. But speculation is
also brewing about whether President George W. Bush might grant
a pardon to Clinton if he ever were to be convicted of any impeachment-related
crimes. Government professor Don Robinson: "Will
Bush pardon Clinton? I doubt it, but who knows? It would be a
fairly spectacular act. Would Gore have pardoned Clinton? We'll
never know." [www.csmonitor.com]
December 19, 2000
BOSTON GLOBE
An article on the increase in Americans earning college diplomas
was accompanied by a photo of 86-year-old Ada Comstock Scholar
Anne Martindell, walking across the Smith campus in conversation
with a traditionally aged undergraduate. [www.boston.com/globe]
December 17, 2000
(ALBANY) TIMES-UNION
Smith writer-in-residence Kurt Vonnegut has been named
State Author for New York, a two-year honor that Gov. George
Pataki will bestow upon him at a ceremony in Albany in January.
In a profile of the former Albany-area resident (from 1947 to
1950 he lived in Schenectady County and worked as a public relations
writer for GE), the Times Union described Vonnegut as struggling
with writing even today. "Everybody should write to find
out who they are and where they are," Vonnegut advised.
"Right now, though, I'm thinking I want to turn the typewriter
into a musical instrument because I can really play it. I do
finger exercises in the morning and hope something else will
come out." [www.timesunion.com]
December 15, 2000
WBUR "THE CONNECTION"
Associate Curator of Rare Books Karen Kukil joined
Professor Lynda Bundtzen from Williams College and "Connection"
host Christopher Lydon for a discussion of new scholarship on
Sylvia Plath. The occasion for the program was the publication
of "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950
1962," edited by Kukil. The new volume begins in 1950, when
Plath was preparing to matriculate at Smith, and continues through
the summer of 1962, just prior to her suicide at age 30. [www.wbur.org]
December 13, 2000
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
The Texas Rangers' signing of shortstop Alex Rodriguez to
a 10-year, $252 million contract spotlighted the imbalance between
baseball's rich and poorer teams, a situation that concerns economist
(and baseball fan) Andy Zimbalist. "Baseball has
to deal with its financial imbalance," Zimbalist told the
Monitor. "Something needs to be done, and this is one more
piece of evidence that baseball is out of whack." [www.csmonitor.com]
December 13, 2000
NEW YORK TIMES
While shortstop Alex Rodriguez's $252 million, ten-year contact
with the Texas Rangers drew allegations of extravagance, economist
Andy Zimbalist demonstrated some of the business reasons
it makes sense at least for the team's owner. What's less
clear, Zimbalist argued in an op-ed, is how Major League Baseball
expects to maintain healthy competition and, by extension,
public interest when the richest teams increasingly dominate
the championships. "[A]s happened in the Subway Series,
inequality has gone too far. Too many Americans, feeling left
out, will yawn and turn away." [www.csmonitor.com]
December 7, 2000
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
During meetings with alumnae in Atlanta, Smith President
Ruth Simmons took time to visit Benjamin Mays High School,
where the vast majority of students are African American. Stepping
out of her college-president role, Simmons became "part
motivational speaker, a tipster with inside information and a
big sister to an invited group of students, mostly females, who
are college bound." Simmons exhorted the students to resist
attempts to channel them toward less challenging coursework.
"If you want to achieve at the highest level," she
told them, "you have to study broadly. "Don't work
just for grades. If you learn, that's worth much more to you
than a grade. Recognize the value of what you have and take advantage
of it." [www.ajc.com]
December 4, 2000
THE NATION
In the last 15 years, noted historian Lawrence Glickman,
consumer culture has become a focal concern of social historians.
Glickman reviewed "An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism
Won in Modern America," positioning it as the successor
to Daniel Horowitz's "still-impressive but less wide-ranging
'The Morality of Spending' (1985)," once "the definitive
survey of the history of modern American consumer society."
[www.thenation.com]
December 3, 2000
BOSTON HERALD
In its quarterly Learning section, the Boston Herald showcased
Smith's Ada Comstock Scholars program, which is celebrating
its 25th anniversary this year. To date, more than 1,400 "Adas"
women beyond the traditional college age whose educations
had been interrupted earlier in their lives have graduated
from Smith and gone on to careers in fiends ranging from education
to medicine, from financial services to the arts. Economist Randall
Bartlett praised the contributions that Adas make in the
classroom and to the Smith community at large: "Adas aren't
afraid to challenge a faculty member or to ask an embarrassing
question. They don't worry about being uncool. They are hungry
to learn and, in their hunger, they challenge us all to go farther,
press deeper." [www.bostonherald.com]
December 3, 2000
WALL STREET JOURNAL
In a new twist on the corporate recruiting process, investment
banking and consulting firms are increasingly using standardized
tests to assess candidates' skills. Employers say the tests provide
multiple ways for prospective employees to demonstrate their
capabilities. But Paula Zimmer, employer relations director
at Smith's Career Development Office, was dubious. "I don't
believe standardized tests measure students' business savvy or
intelligence," she noted.
December 2000
TOWN & COUNTRY
Under the headline "Creative Charity," Town and
Country highlighted 18 possibilities for philanthropic holiday
gifts among them Smith's Ada Comstock Scholars program
for women beyond the traditional college age. "You can send
one Ada, as they're known often a grandmother or single
mother to school part-time for one year for $12,000 in
tuition costs, and full-time for $24,000, or endow a permanent
scholarship in the name of the woman you love for $1 million.
For $600, you can cover the costs of an Ada's books and supplies
for a year."
December 2000
MONEY
With more Americans than ever earning six-figure incomes,
a growing segment of our population could rightly be dubbed the
"ultra middle class." In an article headlined "What
is Wealth?," cultural historian Daniel Horowitz noted
that members of today's middle class, whether "core"
or "ultra," would be virtually unrecognizable to their
counterparts from the 1940s or 1950s. The post-war folks would
be "stunned" by how the middle class lives today, Horowitz
observed, "by the size of their houses, by their cosmopolitanism,
by the role of women, by their [racial and religious] diversity
and by the informality in their styles and their dress."
[www.money.com/money]
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