departments

In Brief

Sugaring Time Again; Former President Writes Autobiography; Alum Signs with Baseball Team; News from the Nursing and Business Administration Departments and more.

Making Their Mark

Learn about how our community members engage in writing, presentations and exhibitions.

Past as Prologue

Explore Haystack, a portal to the history of Colby-Sawyer College.

Colby-Sawyer Courier

Keep up with campus news from students' perspectives through the Colby-Sawyer Courier.

Solidus

This new literary magazine features creative writing in many genres by current students and alumni, faculty and staff, and a few friends and partners.

Q&Alumni

Find out what Colby-Sawyer alumni have been up to since graduation.

Currents: news in brief

Hard Work in Free Enterprise

On April 11, the Colby-Sawyer Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won the League 5 Regional Competition, as they did in 2011 and 2009. Next stop: Kansas City, Mo., in May for the national competition.

The regional championship team, advised by professors Jody Murphy and Bill Spear, includes Kim Morrill, Chao Lu, Tyler Hendrickson, Nick Ciarlante, Erin Dunican, Mike Laskowski, Morganne Sterl and Julianna Tang.

Founded in 1975, SIFE is an international organization that is student-run at the college level and works to educate people in the college and surrounding communities about different aspects of business, such as skills, finances and ethical decisions.


State Senator Houde Backs New Bill on Concussions

April 10, 2012 - State Sen. Matthew Houde pushed a bill on athletic concussion awareness and treatment through the Senate last year, but came up short when the legislation reached the House education committee.

Now Houde's back, again with Senate approval, and this time he believes the bill will pass, thanks in part to increased awareness of the issues. He's got support from the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association, whose executive director helped craft this year's version of the legislation, and the state school boards association.

"It codifies the policies that the school boards and NHIAA recommend and it extends those requirements to youth sports," said Houde, a former Hanover High and Dartmouth College football player. "Not long ago, the mentality was that if you got your bell rung, you shook it off and got back in there. Now, we're seeing the real risks of that, especially if you get whacked in the head again. It affects not only your ability to play but also your ability in the classroom," Houde added.

Under the legislation, youth league and high school athletes and their parents would have to sign a form indicating they reviewed a head and sports injury information sheet distributed by their school district.

Once play begins, coaches, certified athletic trainers and health care providers who suspect that a player has sustained a head injury in a practice or game would have to immediately remove them from competition. The player wouldn't be permitted to return to action until he or she is evaluated and given written authorization by a health care provider.

More than 30 U.S. states have similar laws on the books and some even require that a neurologist be consulted, although Houde's bill isn't that specific, which is one of the reasons it's supported by NHIAA Executive Director Pat Corbin, who was invited by Houde to consult on the legislation.

Corbin said concussions have become "a hot button issue" and that he's heard horror stories about states passing legislation that wasn't practical to implement. "I'm not a big proponent of over- legislating anything, particularly medical practice," said Corbin, who's in his sixth year on the job and whose organization includes 89 Granite State high schools.

"But the word from our national body was that legislation's going to come one way or another, so if you can get involved up front, you can avoid difficulties where it may be rushed and the components were so onerous," he said.

Last year, the House committee allowed the bill to die because a majority of members felt "other groups were studying the issue already," Houde said in an interview yesterday.

The same committee will take up the bill again today at 11 a.m. A pediatrician from Dartmouth-Hitchcock and a former NFL player are expected to testify. Houde works as a Dartmouth-Hitchcock community communications specialist, but his advocacy of the concussion bill is not connected to his job.

While many Upper Valley high schools have certified athletic trainers and physicians present at their contests, that isn't always the case, and certainly not for their opponents.

"More schools in New Hampshire have trainers than ever before, but there are still a lot who don't," said Scott Roy, head athletic trainer at Colby-Sawyer College in New London and who previously worked nine years with Dartmouth's football team. "The challenge is a lot of school districts are strapped for cash and haven't been able to hire one, even on a part-time, contract basis," he said. "We think it's important to have some sort of professionally trained health care provider available, but it's not realistic for the majority of high school sports teams to have specialty physicians on the sidelines."

Houde's bill would limit liability for those involved in concussion recognition, diagnosis and care, provided they acted "in good faith" to comply with the state law and with local school board policies. Corbin said NHIAA coaches already are required to participate in an online concussion education course, which they must pass before being issued a certificate.

Lebanon High Athletic Director Kelley Carey said the school hands out a concussion information sheet that alerts parents and athletes to the symptoms and the school's protocol for handling such injuries. A concussed player must either be cleared by the school's trainer or bring a note to that effect from a physician.

Carey said Lebanon's policy, which would currently satisfy the protocol under Houde's legislation, doesn't specify a that an injured player must consult a particular type of physician, although she hasn't noticed any parents trying to take advantage of that policy.

"We would hope that a foot doctor wouldn't be clearing someone for a concussion," Carey said. "It's not about how quickly we can get (the athlete) back on the field for the good of the team, it's about what's best for the kids in the long term."

Sixth-year Raiders football coach Chris Childs said coaches and players are more aware of concussion symptoms than in the past. The culture is shifting, he noted, from one where athletes try to hide their head injuries to one where they look out for not just themselves but for each other.

"I have kids come up to me and say, 'You may want to check on this guy, because he's acting weird in the huddle,' " Childs said. "Depth (on team rosters) isn't great around here for anyone and you want to have all your kids available, but you definitely don't want them to have issues with their brains down the road."

Registered nurse Susana Gadsby is the coordinator of Dartmouth- Hitchcock's Sports Concussion Program. She said roughly 100 athletes were seen in 2010 and 125 in 2011. So far in 2012, 45 such patients have come through the program, which has mandate both to treat patients and promote awareness.

"We encourage baseline neurocognitive testing so that we have that information to compare data against if they do get injured," said Gadsby, adding that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 750,000 Americans annually suffer concussions related to sports. "We're not just talking about a 'ding'," he said. "We have kids who come see us after a series of small concussions and they've gone from an A student to a C student. It's because the concussions have built on themselves and he can't manage A's anymore."

Gadsby said she supports Houde's bill because it helps reinforce the seriousness of concussions to the public. "It's not necessarily that you can get one concussion and your whole life is over," she continued.

"But we need to pay attention and let (athletes) recover the way they do with an ankle sprain. Kids are going to hit their heads on the playground and while skiing as well as in contact sports, but the concern is that they're put back into games without the proper rest and care," Gadsby said.

-Tris Wykes, staff writer, Valley News


What Employees Want, Colby-Sawyer Grads Have

Ten Colby-Sawyer students went to a job fair on April 4 in Manchester. What does it turn out that recruiters are looking for? Candidates "with good logic, reasoning, problem-solving and customer-service skills." Sounds promising for graduates with a liberal arts education combined with the professional preparation that comes from Colby-Sawyer's internship requirement! See what Colby-Sawyer student Samantha Rober had to say about the day in the Union Leader.


Top Notch Nursing Students

Every one of Colby-Sawyer's graduating senior nursing students this year qualified for membership in the college's Nursing Honor Society. Congratulations to our outstanding student nurses!


Tight Focus

On March 29, the day after a public event showing the new BBC film “America in Pictures, The Story of LIFE Magazine”, photographer John Shearer, founder of the Photography and Design Program at Columbia University's School of Journalism and former LIFE staffer, visited a photography class to discuss his work, the future of the art, the merits of Canon vs. Nikon, and the story he covered that meant the most to him – a 1972 piece in Alabama that never ran at all. After, he critiqued Colby-Sawyer photography students' work. He was generous with his time and feedback and the afternoon was truly a special opportunity for students to spend time with a great photographer and human being.


Not Just Another Face in the Crowd

Freshman Pat Parnell, a member of the U.S. Paralympic team, won the adaptive standing slalom national title with a combined time of 1:36.77 at Waterville Valley Resort, N.H. Here is included in Sports Illustrated's column Faces in the Crowd.


The woman behind the scenes at Pentucket: Amy Beaton '07 serves as McNamara's lead assistant

Amy Beaton '07 is a seventh- and eighth-grade English teacher in Haverhill, Mass. She played basketball for Colby-Sawyer and now she's part of one of the North Shore's most successful programs; the head coach calls her a great role model full of fire and passion. Read about Amy's work here in this article from the Newburyport News.


Tap the Sap

It's that time of year again! A photo of Associate Professor of Natural Sciences Nick Baer checking the college's sap buckets was in the Concord Monitor on March 7.


Former College President Writes Biography

Louis Vaccaro oversaw the college's transition to a senior instituion during his six-year administration, which began in 1972. Read more about his latest endeavor here.


Chris Hartery '10 Signs with Las Cruces Vaqueros

Hartery finished his Colby-Sawyer career as one of the best baseball players ever to don a Chargers uniform. In his final season at Colby-Sawyer, Hartery led the team and the entire conference with six triples. The six triples ranked him 13th in the nation. In addition to his single season accomplishments, Chris has made a lasting impact in the Colby-Sawyer record books. He ranks first all-time in triples (17), tied for second in doubles (29) and fourth in runs batted in (115). Chris also ranks fifth in runs (112) and hits (145), while ranking sixth in homeruns (13) and in walks (56).

Read more about his continuing adventures in baseball here.


'World Coming Down' Examines and Challenges Contemporary Society

PORTLAND, MAINE, Feb. 3, 2012 - Two visionary local artists, Neill Ewing-Wegmann and Eric Peterson, present a body of work focused on the deterioration and eventual collapse of Western industrial, political and social structures. This show comes at an interesting point in time. Consider current events: the Occupy Movement, high unemployment rates, environmental degradation, and the upcoming presidential election. This new year, 2012, is seen as a harbinger of doom and destruction. The Mayan calendar is busy counting down to the end date, 12-21-12. There is an electricity in the air, an expectation of change. “World Coming Down” captures this tension, in each artist's pieces and in the contrast of their aesthetic sensibilities.

Both artists are graduates of Colby-Sawyer College and have exhibited separately in a number of venues and different shows since 1999. This will be their first show together.

Ewing-Wegmann's work is vibrant and abstract: candy-colored texture morphing into toxic neon, oozing sludgy factories with grinning radioactive sugar skulls, plastic-looking landscapes merging with billowing smokestacks and wild fires.

Peterson's work is darker and more rendered, macabre illustrations that suck you in with each minute detail. Space-age dinosaurs guzzle down the remnants of a desiccated planet; demonic figures slurp up fast food and sport good ol' boy ten-gallon hats.

“I continue to use the knowledge I gained through my fine arts and graphic design courses as a backbone for the evolution of my artwork,” says Peterson, a 2000 graduate. He began as a graphic design major in 1996, but was always partial to the fine arts and the self-expression that it encourages. A participant in the annual student art show year after year, Peterson was also involved in set building for the drama productions. As his focus shifted to sculpture, he was able to put his skills to use working in a professional sculpture studio in Wilmington, Del., for eight months, contributing to several major public works by the artist Charles Parks.

Neill Ewing-Wegmann, who graduated in 2002 with a B.F.A. in graphic design, with secondary study in painting with (retired) Professor John Bott.

"I always knew I wanted to work as an artist my entire life. The small and intimate nature of CSC really helped me to mature and focus my artistic skills and explore my options as a young artist," he says. "The academics of the school gave me a wider base of knowledge with which to explore and draw from as I created new works of art.

"I reflect on my time in the art department as a happy and important chapter in my life. As soon as Sanctuary Gallery offered me this show and said I could hand pick my co-exhibitor, I knew it had to be Eric," adds Ewing-Wegmann. "After all these years, to be able to once again collaborate with another CSC student was very fulfilling. Eric's and my work complement one another, and this show feels like a great success for us. I'm glad I can share our story with other Colby-Sawyer alumni."

The juxtaposition of these two painters' work fosters a feeling of open dialogue that the audience has been invited to take part in. “World Coming Down” is not a lecture; there will be no soapbox, no brow-beating. This is a chance to be engaged by work that is relevant to our time, work that is intelligent without being stuffy, confrontational yet not bogged down by the seriousness of its subject matter.

-Carrie Anne Vinette

For more information
www.neillewingwegmann.com
www.facebook.com/events/306520849373262

Contact
Carrie Anne Vinette (207) 828-8866
Carrie@sanctuarytattoo.com


Principal Tapped for Edmunds Elementary Schoool

BURLINGTON, VT., Feb. 28, 2012 - The interim leader of Burlington's Edmunds Elementary School will step into the job on a permanent basis if the city school board approves her selection March 13.

Shelley Mathias was selected as the top candidate for the job after a search that incorporated input from parents, teachers and administrators, according to Superintendent of Schools Jeanne Collins. "Dr. Mathias is the right fit for Edmunds Elementary School at this time. She blends listening to the community and parents with bringing in new ideas. ...She has been an effective Interim principal and will now be able to continue that work in the coming years. I am pleased to recommend her for the position."

Mathias has worked as interim since last summer and was a finalist in the 2011 search for a principal at another Burlington school, the Integrated Arts Academy at H.O. Wheeler. She was formerly principal of Hyde Park Elementary School in Lamoille County. Her background also includes work as a teacher and gifted and talented student coordinator, as well as jobs in the business world.

Mathias has a doctorate in education policy and leadership from the University of Vermont, a master's in education from Johnson State College, a master's in business administration from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor's in business administration from Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H.

"I am absolutely thrilled to be staying at Edmunds Elementary School," Mathias said in statement. "I have really enjoyed getting to know this community. I am happy to know that the work the faculty has identified as needed for next year can now move forward with continuity and commitment. We have a great faculty, student body, and parents who are committed to this school and our children."

  • From the Burlington Free Press

Sodexo Employees Nominated for Employee of the Year at Colby-Sawyer College

Three employees of Sodexo, which provides diing services at Colby-Sawyer Colleges, have been nominated by college community members as the 2011 Employee of the Year. The nominees include Michael Heffernan, Cheryl Lawson and Teresa Gallagher.Read more in the Concord Patch.


Nursing News

Assistant Professor Judy Joy was recently named as President elect for the New Hampshire Nurses' Association. She will serve in that capacity for one year prior to ascending to the President role in 2013.

Adjunct Assistant Professor Mary Beth Moran (Nursing) recently completed an 18-week intensive on-line course at the Genetics Institute of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The course prepares nursing faculty to teach in the area of applied genetics, which is now listed as a competency in the Essentials of Baccalaureate Nursing.

Associate Professor Shari Goldberg (Nursing) is on sabbatical leave this spring working on her doctoral dissertation for the University of Massachusetts at Lowell's nursing doctoral program.


Picture This

Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Jon Keenan is exhibiting 10 photographs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Japanese Pavilion depicting the Tsushima River Festival, in conjunction with the restoration project of the legendary 17th century Tsushima Festival folding screen through April 1.


Short Story Phenom

Associate Professor of Humanities Craig Greenman's short story Flying to Paris was published in Temenos, a literary journal published by Central Michigan University. A number of his other stories have been accepted and are awaiting publication in various literary journals: “My Baby Takes the Mourning Train,” in Blue Stem; “Oedipus K.,” in Petrichor Machine; “Terrorists,” in Perceptions; and “The Rainbow Curve,” in the Little Patuxent Review (in their social justice-themed issue).


Down to Business

Assistant Professors of Business Administration Jody Murphy and Chris Kubik brought the Investment Management class to visit financial sites in New York City including NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For the first time, Colby-Sawyer students were allowed to visit the floor of NYSE Euronext to meet with designated market makers.

The SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team, along with Professor Murphy and Assistant Professor of Business Administration Bill Spear (Business Administration), are planning to compete at their regional competition in New York City in April.

Professor Kubik (Business Administration) is teaching a new course “Fair Trade” he designed. The course has an optional field study in Costa Rica.


Focusing on How Students Learn

The Teaching Enrichment Center, directed by Professor of Exercise and Sport Sciences Jean Eckrich reported 45 attendees present for the January 2012 workshop based on the book How Learning Works, 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching with Dr. Marie Norman, Associate Director at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, as well as an adjunct anthropology professor in the History Department at Carnegie Mellon University. This workshop did not focus on learning how to teach, but rather on how students learn, and it gave participants the opportunity to examine the mechanisms of learning in order to understand why particular pedagogical approaches are more effective than others, when they are most effective to use, and how to adapt them to new contexts.


Poetry in Motion

Asst. Professor of Humanities Ewa Chrusciel was a contributor at a recent Jubilat reading and says she was honored to read with James Tate and Dara Wier among other fine poets! Watch the video of her reading here.


A 'Benevolent Maniac' with a Mission

John Pelech '02 is founder and CEO of Poly Recovery in Portsmouth, NH. “Our sustainable recycling program is the first of its kind in the country as far as we know,” says Pelech. Read more about Pelech's work to educate business owners about sustainable recycling here.


A College Neighbor Welcomes Students

Colby-Sawyer students looking for a quiet place to study for finals found it at the First Baptist Church right next to campus. New pastor Charles Glidewell had the idea to open the church's doors to students for late-night study sessions during finals week, and the invitation was accepted by scores of students.

Piles of snacks and drinks were provided by church members, Wii and other games offered study-break fun, and quiet and group study rooms were available Monday-Thursday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Church volunteers appreciated the thank-you poster students made and were impressed by their studiousness. A Colby-Sawyer thanks to our neighbor for this generous act of hospitality!


Study by New Faculty Member in Mass Communication and Society

Featured in the latest issue of Mass Communication and Society, a study that finds frequent readers of a daily newspaper tend to be more trusting of others was conducted by Masahiro Yamamoto, assistant professor of Humanities at Colby-Sawyer College, and Douglas Hindman, associate professor of Communication at WSU. Read more here.


Public Health Students Attend Symposium, Meet U.S. Surgeon General

Members of Assistant Professor of Nursing Shari Goldberg's Introduction to Public Health course attended the Global Health Symposium at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011.

Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, U.S. Surgeon General, delivered a keynote address which covered many public health initiatives targeting issues including youth violence, obesity, tobacco use, mental issues including suicide, and medication adherence.

"It was a very informative and enjoyable evening for all of us," says Professor Goldberg, adding that her students appreciated hearing about Dr. Benjamin's journey to her current position as well as about her responsibilities as the overseer of the 6,500 uniformed public health officers in the U.S Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.


Student Leaders On and Off Campus

Students Ashley Reynolds and Tyler Hendrickson were selected to be part of the inaugural class of Leadership College, a program of Leadership New Hampshire (LNH). They were asked to join based on their demonstrated achievement, community and campus leadership, and background qualifications.

The two-day program will take place in Manchester, N.H.

Nearly two decades ago, LNH was created in response to recommendations to "identify emerging talent; motivate emerging leaders concerning statewide issues and perspectives; build the expectation that they will take on leadership roles on statewide issues; and develop a network for effective leadership."


Poly Recovery owner John Pelech '02 finds new uses for clients' waste

Innovative business owner John Pelech '02 is making headlines AND a difference in his hometown of Portsmouth, and fellow Colby-Sawyer grad Mike Mooney '02 is in on the action as sales manager and chief recycler at Poly Recovery. Read more here.


Students to Present at Conference

Lauren Broderick '13, a Child Development major, and Christina Winnett '13, a Psychology major, will attend the National Association of Campus Activities Northeast Regional Conference in Hartford, Conn., in November to present "Weekend Programming: Taking It to the Next Level."


College is a Big Change from High School

Anjali Schutt, a first-year Colby-Sawyer student from Canton, Mass., wrote an op-ed piece in her local community online newsletter about the differences between high school and college. "One of the great benefits about going to a small school is that you feel so comfortable so fast," she says. "Everyone at Colby-Sawyer knows each other and everyone always smiles and waves at each other." Read more....


Five Months on the Appalachian Trail

Damian Melnicove '14 finished his freshman year at Colby-Sawyer and hit the trail - the Appalachian Trail. He joined high school friends at the halfway point in Pennsylvania. Read about his adventures here.


President Galligan Addresses New London Rotary Club

President Galligan spoke to the New London Rotary Club Aug. 19 at the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club. He offered an update on how the college is working to meet its four strategic themes of Engaged Learning; Linking to the World; Living Sustainably; and Dynamic Devotion to Excellence. The crowd was wowed and impressed by all the great things going on here at Colby-Sawyer.


Professor Mary Mead's Work Featured in Choate Exhibition

Visiting Assistant Professor and printmaker Mary Mead will have work in the exhibition Art of the Unique Print at the Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. The exhibition opens Sept. 21 and runs through Nov. 18, 2011.

Mead, who teaches printmaking at Colby-Sawyer, earned her MFA from the Boston Museum School/Tufts University, and first made prints as a founding member of Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Jct., Vt. Coming into the world of printmaking as a trained sculptor, she seized the chance to immerse herself in multiple printmaking techniques, including stone lithography, intaglio, photo etching, monotypes and several experimental processes after the studio opened in 2001.

Professor Mead says her favorite printmaking processes are monotype, drypoint and lithography, all of which involve, to some degree, drawing. She says that her art has many focal points, but is mostly about her response to internal and external stimuli. “I hope that viewers find enough [in my art] to engage in a visceral conversation with the imagery. The response to art can be non-verbal, emotional,” she says.

Professor Mead has donated work to ArtCetera 2011 in support of The AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, the oldest and largest AIDS service organization in New England. Over the years, ARTcetera has grown to become one of New England's premier art auctions and an essential funding source for AIDS Action. This year's auction will be Oct. 1. Each December Mead donates a work to Anything but Paper Prayers at the Barbara Krakow Gallery in Boston in support of the Boston Pediatric Aids Initiative and The African Aids Initiative.

Visit Professor Mead's web site here.


Katina Caraganis '07 Wins New England AP News Executives Association Award

Katina Caraganis '07 won second place in the Business/Consumer News category of the New England AP News Executives Association Awards. At Colby-Sawyer, Caraganis majored in Communication Studies and minored in Business Administration. As a news reporter for the Massachusetts newspaper The Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise, she covers three communities and their daily happenings.


Melissa Allen '95 Featured as a Rising Chef on the Cape Cod Restaurant Scene

Just passing her year mark as the executive chef at Lyric, Melissa Allen does what most would not. Before acknowledging her own success, she begins to credit everyone in her kitchen for the hard work they've put in to help her visions come to life. Her food speaks loudly with the same sense of heart.

Making sure she gets her bread dough to that perfect texture and elasticity, Allen lights up as she kneads and rolls, remembering how her grandfather used to do the same. When a chef lights up while creating what is likely to be the single most underappreciated part of the meal—the dinner bread—you can only expect to taste some flavors of love in each entrée.

What exactly are the flavors of love? Well, they come from a chef who shows care in every step from start to finish, and is inspired by memories. “When coming up with dishes, I think along the lines of things I enjoy on Cape Cod,” says the Barnstable native. “In summer, I love clam bakes.” This memory translates into an alternative version—with little necks and lobster placed upon a sweet corn risotto.

Being the food mechanic that she is, Allen takes an ingredient like arugula and gives it almost something of star quality in an arugula pasta, or with just a few pancetta crisps and a light layer of pecorino romano cheese in a straightforward salad. “I want it to taste complex, but look simple,” says Allen. Avoiding the impulse to add dozens of elements onto the plate, like a poet carefully choosing words, she selects ingredients that are going to sing. “As an executive chef, you have a chance to create what you want,” says Allen. But as a long-time sous chef herself, she knows it takes a team to make it all happen. - by Jacquelen Mysliweic in Cape Cod Magazine.


Colby-Sawyer Vice President Appointed Examiner for 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Elizabeth A. Cahill, vice president for Advancement at Colby-Sawyer College, has been appointed by Dr. Patrick Gallagher, Director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to the 2011 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Award, created by public law in 1987, is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive.


Peace Corps Diamonds

The Boston Red Sox honored Colby Sawyer Alumna Diane Gallagher at Fenway Park on August 4 during a pregame commemoration of the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary. Gallagher served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cape Verde from 1990 to 1992. This year, the agency honored her lifelong commitment to public service with the 2011 Lillian Carter Award.


Alumna's Art in Exhibit

The artwork of Britt Bair '79 will be part of the exhibition Tidal Connections in Norwalk, Conn., Aug. 20-Sept. 29. Bair graduated from Colby-Sawyer with a Liberal Arts degree and the University of California Riverside with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art and Photography. Her work may be found in private collections from California to New York. Learn more.


Global Explorations

On September 16, eight students representing six majors in the Global Explorations program will fly to Florence with Professor of Humanities Tom Kealy for a semester's study of Italian language, society and culture, nature and world literature. Students will learn in and out of the classroom through weekly cultural activities. Twelve additional students enrolled for the fall in study abroad partnership programs. Many adventures await the adventurous.


Zero Sort Recycling

It's a new recycling world for Colby-Sawyer. As of Aug. 1, Colby-Sawyer community members started seeing posters on campus promoting Zero-Sort recycling. Zero-Sort is Casella Waste Systems' single bin recycling service that keeps more waste out of the landfill.

Recycling program coordinator Janet St. Laurent welcomes the college's move to Zero-Sort with the expectation that human hours spent sorting and wrangling with recyclables will decrease while the amount of materials recycled will increase due to the ease of tossing paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and metal into one bin.


Colby-Sawyer Makes Forbes' List of Top Institutions

Five of the Granite State's colleges and universities were included in the annual Forbes list of the 650 Best Undergraduate Institutions, and Colby-Sawyer made the list at 503.

According to Forbes, colleges that make the list are evaluated on five criteria: post-graduate success, student satisfaction, student debt, four-year graduation rate and competitive awards.

In a Union Leader article, President Tom Galligan said, “We're certainly very pleased to be on the list,” but he downplayed the rankings. While noting that the Forbes list helps earn recognition for the college, it's “the quality of the student's experience at the college” that matters. “What it's really all about is students finding a place where they can excel,” he said.


New London Team Is AMPed Up

NEW LONDON, N.H. - Since becoming New London's recreation director six years ago, Chad Denning has been involved in a number of projects to help encourage healthy and active lifestyles. The goal of his latest project is to tie all of them together.

Team AMP (Athletes' Multisport Partnership), an LLC Denning formed with the help of Colby-Sawyer College graduate Richard Kipp, launched an interactive website this month. Denning hopes Team AMP will help those already committed to active lifestyles stay connected, while encouraging more participation in the 14 outdoor race events he directs each year.

Denning's Winter Wild Uphill Series, Western New Hampshire Trail Running Series and Xterra Stoaked Triathlon -- all staged in and around the Upper Valley -- draw nearly 2,000 competitors each year. "Team AMP is way to get people jazzed about those events, because they're spaced out enough that you could plan your whole training year around them, from January to October," Denning said. "It's also to get people psyched about leading active lifestyles in general."

Team AMP's web site www.teamamp.org was designed by Kipp, a Keene, N.H., resident who helped Denning build the company, to account for much of his grade in a sports management course at Colby- Sawyer this spring. The Team AMP site -- which allows users to post notices of races or other competitions, organize training sessions and participate in forum discussions -- has garnered more than 100 registered users since it launched two weeks ago, Denning said.

Forum topics have ranged from healthy eating to trail condition reports and an "off topic" category, where Denning encourages discourse on "anything and everything."

Denning also posts regular blog updates, offering advice about anything from racing with one's spouse to setting realistic goals while training for endurance races.

"The idea is to get people talking and connecting, no matter what their sport," Denning said. "Maybe someone has been thinking about taking up a sport, but either doesn't know where to start or wants to find a group of people to start with.

"I've noticed that (among) runners, a lot of them who only run on roads like the idea of trail running, but it can be hard for them to make the crossover to trail running. With this site, they can not only find out that there are groups that meet to go trail running in the Upper Valley, but they can ask questions about foot care and things like that before they go out."

To help get potential users onto the site, Denning has organized an "Active Living Campaign" that gives new users the chance to win free event registrations as well as various outdoor gear. Team AMP also offers various levels of membership that include registration vouchers, discounts at local retailers and admission to clinics and discussions about healthy eating and active living. "We're hoping that a lot of people will be encouraged to make lifestyle changes," Denning said. "We're going to have all kinds of clinics with physicians, dieticians, to help other people be healthy and get outside."

Denning is also hoping to recruit area companies to sign their employees up for his events at a discounted rate. He said he's seen research that suggests employees who lead active lifestyles are more productive in the workplace, and that companies who engage in wellness initiatives for employees also save money in other areas.

"I was reading about one large company that studied the effects of enrolling their employees in a wellness programs and they projected to save millions of dollars in health care costs over five years," Denning said. "People that have active lifestyles generally don't get diabetes, and generally go to the hospital less frequently. So companies can save tons on medical costs."

Denning's next venture is to help organize the Big Green Triathlon, which is set to debut as part of the 2012 Dartmouth College alumni week festivities in Hanover. The race will feature a 1-kilometer swim in Storrs Pond, a 30-kilometer bike ride through Hanover and Lyme and an 8-kilometer trail run through the course at Storrs Pond Recreation Area. Registration will be open to all, Denning noted, but he's hoping to see some healthy rivalries sprout within the Dartmouth classes coming back to Hanover for the week.

"There's a lot of triathlons out there, but not a lot in the Upper Valley," Denning said.

"When we thought up the Big Green Marathon, we wanted to make sure it was open to everyone, but we wanted to make sure it was during alumni week so different classes could have at it." Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727- 3306.

-Jared Pendak, Valley News Staff Writer


¡Que Bueno!

Colby-Sawyer has applied, and been accepted, to host a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant for the 2011-2012 academic year. We are in the concluding stages of having an agreement with a particular individual; an offer has been extended to an individual from Mexico, who will live on campus, teach Spanish courses, and take courses and participate in other on-campus programs.


Room to Grow

This spring the college officially acquired the house and property located at 452 Main Street on April 14. This two-family building will be home to 10 Colby-Sawyer students in the fall. Work has already begun on the outside to get it spruced up.


How Does Our Grass Grow? Organically

As classes were ending, preparations of the campus grounds for Commencement were well underway. The grounds crew was hard at work and beginning this spring, in keeping with our sustainability initiatives, the fertilizer used is organic.


SGA Officers Elected

The Student Government Association will move forward with a designated smoking area proposal after a campus vote resulting in support for the plan. Student Government balloting will be electronic next year, saving a substantial amount of paper and time. The Student Government Association officers for 2011-2012 are:

President - Nick Ciarlante '14

Vice President - Courtney Pike '12

Secretary - Leah Foley, '14

Treasurer - Keenan Bartlett, '14


The Teaching President

President Tom Galligan is co-teaching a five-week long Adventures in Learning class entitled "The Supreme Court in United States History." The series began on April 12 and the class is discussing the origin of the Supreme Court of the United States, early Congressional legislation establishing its basic framework, and the proper role of the Court in dealing with important legal and political issues.


President Galligan Out & About

President Galligan was asked by the director of the Marine Affairs Institute and Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island, to speak at Blowout: The Legal Legacy of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster. The April 13 conference convened national leaders, elected officials, legal experts, scientists, Gulf of Mexico residents and economists to examine the law's response to the tragedy to date, to consider issues of tort liability, natural resource damages, and changes to law and regulation contemplated by Congress and the President's National Commission.

Presentations from the conference can be accessed at http://law.rwu.edu/academics/institutes-programs/marine-affairs-institute/symposia. He also created an entry on the subject on the Torts Prof Blog network at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/2011/04/guest-blogger-tom-galligan-water-oil-and-death.html President Galligan was also interviewed and mentioned in an article in the U.S. Law Week (a leading national law publication) entitled Death on the High Seas Act Ruling Opens Circuit Split on Statute's Reach.


Alumni Events

Special thanks to Bobbie '48 and Rich Hopkins for hosting a reception for the college at the Riverside Yacht Club in Connecticut this month. Upcoming events include:

Spring President's Community Forum Meeting: May 19

Adventures in Learning Annual Meeting: May 19

Alumni Reception on June 9 at Stats Bar & Grille in South Boston hosted by owner Jim Statires '01

Alumni Reception at the home of Debbie Bray Mitchell '79: June 16


Art Professor Bert Yarborough's Work Featured in Exhibitions; Expertise Shared in Workshops This Summer

NEW LONDON, N.H., May 2, 2011 – This summer, works by Associate Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Bert Yarborough, who teaches courses in painting and drawing at Colby-Sawyer, will be featured in the following exhibitions:

“Abstract Art Naturally Inspired”

Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, Mass., Through May 29, 2011

“The Tides of Provincetown: Pivotal Years in America's Oldest Continuous Art Colony (1899 – 2011)”

The New Britain Museum of American Art, Conn. (July 15 – Oct. 16, 2011)

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Pa. (Oct. 30, 2011 – Jan. 22, 2012)

The Wichita Art Museum, KS (February 5 – April 29, 2012)

The Cape Cod Museum of Art, Mass. (May 18 – August 26, 2012)

“Visiting Artists Exhibition”

South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Mass., May 27 – July10, 2011

“Recent Work”

artSTRAND, Provincetown, Mass., July 22 – Aug. 10, 2011

Professor Yarborough will also host the following workshops this summer:

“Mixed Media Drawing from the Figure”

Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, Mass., June 6-10, 2011

“Drawing Through the Figure”

South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Mass., June 10-12, 2011

“Painting to Printmaking/Printmaking to Painting”

Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, Mass., Aug. 14-19, 2011


Colby-Sawyer Senior's Research Wins First Place at NHPA Convention

CONCORD, N.H., April 18, 2011 – Psychology major Kelly Vigneault '11 won first place in the research poster competition at the New Hampshire Psychological Association Annual Student Convention held Saturday, April 16 at the University of New Hampshire. She researched The Mozart Effect: Effect of Background Music on Deductive Reasoning Task Performance. Psychology majors from around the state were invited to present posters of their original, cutting-edge research.

Assistant Professors of Social Sciences Courtney McManus and Todd Coy took a group of students to the convention to attend the statewide Psi Chi meeting and workshops such as Surviving and Thriving in Grad School; Getting the Most of Your Psychology Degree Experience; How to Make Yourself Competitive for Grad School and How to Make Yourself Competitive for the Work Place.


Senior Nursing Students Participate in Policy Day

CONCORD, N.H., April 8, 2011 - Colby-Sawyer's 23 senior nursing students participated in Policy Day held in Concord on April 6. The event is sponsored by the New Hampshire Nursing Association (NHNA) and nursing students from colleges across the state attended. The students' fees were covered by the Nursing Department.

The annual event seeks to increase awareness among nurses and nursing students about the process of political advocacy, according to the NHNA, and focuses on legislative lobbying relative to important issues for nursing and healthcare - and how to effectively contact your own legislators on these issues.

Ten Colby-Sawyer students took part in a mock hearing that addressed House Bill 422, which would prohibit vaccinations, including flu vaccinations, in public schools. Those who participated were: Hillary Hudson, Julie Cookish, Kristi Parent, Chelsie Hatfield, Jocelyn Schermerhorn, Ashley Scott, Ashley Brewer, Nicole Felisme, Amanda Connors and Arianna Dawley.

“Students were assigned to support or oppose the bill and develop testimony from the perspective of a citizen or organization,” says Associate Professor of Nursing Shari Goldberg. “In some cases, students had to do research to add depth to their testimony. The students' testimony was described as compelling and a wonderful way to illustrate the process for nursing students across the state.”


Getting to Know You

On April 5 Kathy Taylor, director of career and academic advising, and President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. hosted a New London Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours event at the college. They spoke with area businesses about the college's strategic focus on linking to the world, and how area partnerships and the college's internship program support that goal.


The Starfish Thrower: Katesel Strimbeck '85

March 25, 2011 - Katesel Strimbeck '85 graduated with a degree in Biology and completed her physical therapy training at Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y. Physical therapy, she says, combines her love of science, medicine and movement.

This spring, she made her third trip to Peru to spend two weeks setting up a clinic base in “Chulu” with parts of her team moving into the mountains to set up clinics and see patients there. Read this interview with Katesel, published in Holistic Health, here.


Year-round Learning: Summer and Online Classes Debut

This summer Colby-Sawyer will begin offering online and residential classes to currently enrolled Colby-Sawyer students.

The eight-week term begins June 6 and ends the last week of July with final exams the first week of August.

Students enrolled in the residential session will live a residence hall, may eat in the dining hall if they choose, and be able to enjoy the lakes, mountains and outdoor activities the region offers after an especially long winter. Students were recommended to combine their classes with an internship.

Students living on campus must take a minimum of 9 credits. They must receive permission from the academic dean's office to take fewer or to take more than one online course while in residence.

Colby-Sawyer reserves the right to cancel any class offering which does not enroll sufficiently prior to June 6.

All online courses are taught entirely online using the instructional software Moodle currently used by many Colby-Sawyer professors.

The registration process for the summer online and on-site courses will continue until June 1. Questions? Contact Academic Dean Beth Crockford, Ph.D., at bcrockford@colby-sawyer.edu or(603)526-3761.


Art Professor Bert Yarborough's Work Featured in Solo Exhibition at McGowan Fine Art

McGowan Fine Art announces the opening of “True Romance and Other Fictions” featuring works by Bert Yarborough. The show will run from April 5 to May 6, with an artist's reception on April 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is welcome.

Mr. Yarborough has been a regular figure on the New Hampshire art scene for the past two decades. His paintings are in the collection of the Currier Museum, the Hood Museum & Southern NH University. He has been an interim Art Gallery Director at Colby Sawyer College and Plymouth State University. Yarborough has also been a summer faculty member for the Massachusetts College of Art, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass., and Harvard University. He is an associate professor of Fine and Performing Arts at Colby Sawyer College.

While most of Yarborough's painting is done in a studio, the natural world fills his surfaces with planets, human figures and the beach side birds. Yarborough uses these various constructs as repositories for his rich color combinations and sensual brush stroke.

This show continues his study of the natural world. It is comprised of paintings incorporating imagery derived from drawings and studies executed on the beaches of the Provincelands National Seashore in Provincetown. “The work attempts to stretch the symbolic and the abstract by combining the two with iconographic images such as the sun, birds and water,” says Yarborough.

He has also used this body of work to explore the margin between painting and sculpture. Several works re-introduce figurative elements in combination with multi-media collage materials such as paper, reed and wood. “The use of collage as relief and structure strives to negotiate the distance between painting and sculpture as well as image and material,” Yarborough notes. They are a personal response to the world that surrounds him.

This exhibit will be on display at McGowan Fine Art at 10 Hills Avenue in Concord, N.H. Please call Sarah Chaffee at 603-225-2515 for more information or visit our website at Bert Yarborough True Romance and Other Fictions