News for the Smith College Community // November 12, 1998
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Peacemaker Will Share His Skills On Sunday, November 15, at 3 p.m., Nobel Peace Prize-winner José Ramos-Horta will give a lecture, "Peacemaking: The Power of Nonviolence," in Wright auditorium. Sponsored by the Smith chapter of Amnesty International, the lecture will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During more than 20 years in exile Ramos-Horta has been the leading voice for the 800,000 people of his homeland of East Timor, which is on an island off the coast of Indonesia. Once under the rule of Portugal, East Timor in 1975 was the object of a violent military takeover by Indonesia. Since then more than 200,000 East Timorese, mostly Catholics, have been executed or starved to death under Indonesian occupation. For his years of advocacy on behalf of East Timor and human rights around the world, Ramos-Horta, along with East Timorese Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. Ramos-Horta has also spoken out in support of human rights in places such as Burma, Tibet, Colombia and Guatemala. The son of a Timorese mother and Portuguese father, Ramos-Horta has long fostered political awareness in East Timor and helped moderate the emerging Timorese nationalism. In 1975 East Timor's pro-independence parties asked him to represent their cause abroad, which he then did for 10 years as a permanent representative to the United Nations. He has consistently denounced Indonesia's invasion and annexation of East Timor and defended the rights of his people to self-determination. Despite world condemnation of Indonesia's annexation, East Timor remains, according to Human Rights Watch/Asia, "a place where arbitrary detention and torture are routine and where basic freedoms of expression, association, and assembly are nonexistent." In his Nobel lecture in Oslo, Ramos-Horta said that "the preservation of the territorial integrity of a country can be achieved only if those in power are sensitive to the basic demands of the many indigenous peoples and nationalities that make up the country. Brute force might silence and keep dormant the dreams and aspirations of a people but the anger simmering for decades will inevitably resurface and break up the country. No amount of force will ever be enough to destroy the will of a people to survive."
Cameron Talk to Honor Alum Sylvia Wolf, associate curator of photography at the Art Institute of Chicago, will give a talk, "Julia Margaret Cameron's Women," Thursday, November 19, at 5 p.m. in the Neilson Library Browsing Room. Cameron, a British photographer who was born in 1815 and died in 1879, was known for her selective-focus portraits of notable Victorians, including Alfred Lord Tennyson and Ellen Terry. The lecture is being presented by Smith's Mortimer Rare Book Room in memory of Elizabeth Power Richardson '43, a book editor who throughout her life collected books and articles by and about Virginia Woolf and the other members of the literary circle known as the Bloomsbury group. Richardson lost her first collection of early editions of Woolf when it dropped into Yokohama Harbor while being shipped from Liberia to Japan due to a new posting for Richardson's husband, an officer in the U.S. Foreign Service. Despite that setback she went on to amass nearly 2,000 volumes and numerous scrapbooks of ephemera, all of which she bequeathed to the Mortimer Rare Book Room. Richardson's meticulously researched Bloomsbury Iconography was published in 1989. A neat historical coincidence links the lecture topic to Richardson's passion: one of Cameron's favorite models was her niece Julia Stephen, mother of Virginia Woolf. Selections from the Richardson collection, including a photograph album belonging to Woolf's father, Leslie Stephen, will be on display in the foyer of Neilson Library at the time of the talk. A public reception will follow the lecture. Part of a bookplate designed by Elizabeth Power Richardson '43, inspired by Duncan Grant's cover for Modern English Artists.
Meteor Show a Likely Dazzler The Leonid meteor show is coming soon to the sky near you. Named for the constellation Leo, from which it appears to originate, this shooting-star spectacular occurs annually around November 17. Every 33 years or so it includes enough meteors to classify as a meteor storm, explains Richard White, professor of astronomy. Astronomers see a good chance for a meteor storm this year or next and do not rule out the chance for storms both years. Weather permitting, the Five College Astronomy Department will sponsor shower viewings on the evenings of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, November 16, 17 and 18, from 9 to 10 p.m., in McConnell 406 and from McConnell roof. Meteors are streaks of light produced as extraterrestrial objects burn up due to friction as they pass at high speeds through earth's atmosphere. These objects range in size from microscopic dust particles, which completely vaporize, to chunks of rock that survive passage through the atmosphere and reach the earth's surface as meteorites. Very rarely, thousands to millions of years apart, giant meteorites strike earth, producing huge explosions and leaving impact craters. The most dramatic impacts, like the one 65 million years ago that apparently caused the demise of the dinosaurs, can totally alter the complexion of life on earth. The earliest recorded observation of the Leonid meteor shower comes from Chinese annals in 902 A.D. Astronomers discovered the 33-year cycle after a dramatic "night of the shooting stars" in 1833, when Boston observers reported the peak frequency as being half as dense as snowflakes in an average snowstorm, says White. Unfortunately, detailed predictions indicate that this year's peak frequency will probably occur at 2 p.m. EST on November 17, when Northampton observers will be unable to see it. "We should, however, have a good chance to see many meteors within a day or two of the predicted major event," says White. Back to top of page
Orchestra Seeks Spring Soloists Can you play the pants off a Bach violin concerto? Want to blaze your way though a Rachmaninoff piano concerto with the backing of a full orchestra? On December 10, from 7:45 to 10 p.m., Smith classical instrumentalists and singers will get a chance to perform their favorite showpieces with the Smith College Orchestra when it holds its first Concerto Competition auditions. Student musicians will audition with the orchestra for the opportunity to perform in its spring concert. Participants can perform an entire multi-movement concerto, one movement from a concerto, a single-movement work for instrument or voice and orchestra or an operatic aria or song cycle for voice and orchestra. In choosing a piece, says director Jonathan Hirsh, consider its size, length and suitability for the Smith orchestra. Though the competition is open to all Smith singers and instrumentalists, priority will be given to students studying privately with a Smith or Five College faculty member and those not eligible to play in the Commencement Concert. You don't need to be a current member of the orchestra to compete, but all winners who play orchestral instruments must join the orchestra in the spring, Hirsh says. Winners will be selected by a committee consisting of Hirsh and three musicians from the Five College community. Register to audition by 4 p.m. December 1 in the music department office, Sage Hall. Rules and entry forms are available outside the office. For more information, contact Hirsh at extension 3166 or jhirsh@sophia.
Ergo Argo Do you find that your computer work is giving you a pain in the neck? If so, take time to give you neck and shoulders a break by performing this simple exercise: with your arms down, raise your shoulders up to your ears. Hold this position for a few seconds and then relax your shoulders downward to their normal position. Do this several times when you feel the first signs of tension in your neck and shoulders -- but if you're being treated for neck or shoulder problems, check with your physician first.
In Case You're Wondering... Can the Fine Arts Center renovations -- at an estimated $31 million -- really be the largest capital expenditure in the college's history? Wasn't the Quadrangle a bigger project? The relative figures here are hard to substantiate. The Quad houses were built over a period of 17 years -- from 1920 (Emerson, Cushing, Jordan) to 1937 (Laura Scales, Franklin King) -- so they don't really qualify as a single project. And a search conducted by Archives Specialist Karen Eberhart turned up no clear documentation of construction costs for the 10 Quad houses. The early ones were financed with part of what was called the $4,000,000 Fund and some of the others were built with money from the Fiftieth Anniversary Fund, but treasurer's reports from the period and other documents don't specify amounts of individual physical plant projects.
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Robert Pattee, associate director of facility services at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, has been named director of physical plant at Smith College. He will begin work here on January 4. Pattee attended Cal Poly and completed his B.S. degree at Texas A&M University. Prior to assuming his present position at Cal Poly in 1991 he worked at Glastron Boat Company as a manufacturing and plant engineer and at Southwest Texas State University as assistant director for maintenance management. Pattee's hobbies include flying (he's a licensed pilot), camping, hiking and skiing. He will move here with his family and an entourage that he reports will include two Welsh corgis, two cats, two cockatiels, "a bunch of fish" and a pet rat ** The Smithereens will be featured Friday, November 13, at 5 p.m. on "Every Woman," a segment on Channel 22 News produced by Lydia Kulbida. The segment, filmed last Friday in the Washburn House common room, will include interviews with group members as well as on-camera renditions of "My Romance," "Seven" and an on-the-spot arrangement of the Whitney Houston hit, "I'm Every Woman," the theme song for Kulbida's show. In addition, the Smithereens were invited by Kulbida to go to the Channel 22 studio in Springfield to perform on an afternoon music program or on the station's "Music on the Mountain" show. Kulbida first heard the Smithereens at a benefit that she emceed last month in Northampton. "They were wonderful," she says. ** Michael Gorra, professor of English, wrote the cover review, of Alice Munroe's Love of a Good Woman, in the November 1 New York Times Book Review. Gorra's most recent book is After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie.
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German Department Film A filmed version of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss will be shown Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m. in Seelye 106. The film, sponsored by the German department, is being shown in conjunction with a lecture, "Der Rosenkavalier: An Oedipal Comedy?" by Ruth Klüger, William Allan Neilson Professor in German Studies. The lecture, sponsored by the German department, will be presented Monday, November 16, at 4:30 p.m. in Seelye 106. Admission Preview Prospective students of color will attend an Office of Admission Fall Open House on Monday, December 7. Guests and their parents will get to tour the campus, attend a class, hear from CDO and financial aid representatives and attend a panel discussion about diversity at Smith. Boston-area students will arrive December 6 and spend the night with hostesses in the houses. Thanks to all on campus for your support of this program. Information Day Interested in challenging, exciting work that will put your social concerns into action? Learn about such careers when the Smith College School for Social Work holds an information session on Saturday, December 5, at 2 p.m. in Wright auditorium. The dean, the directors of financial aid and field work and currently enrolled students will describe and answer questions about the school's mission, academic program and student life. Refreshments will be served. This event is open to the public. Winners All The prizes and winners from the November 6 United Way lottery were a free Smith College Club lunch for Amy Riesner, a bottle of Smith College wine for Bill and Muriel Gilbert, a $50 Eastside Grill gift certificate for Diane Benoit, two Academy of Music tickets for Michael Trombley, a reserved parking space for Pat Mahar, a massage by Lynn Koerbel for Jeane Anastas, a State Street Fruit Store fruit basket for Paul Davis, a $5 Davis Center gift certificate for Betty Nanartonis, a $20 Packard's gift certificate for Karen LeHouiller, a Kenneth Fearn Beethoven CD for Kiki Smith, a $25 LaSalle Florist gift certificate for Patricia Boryczka, pizzas and soda from Bob's King Street Mobil for Sue Stano, a Jane Bryden Hugo Wolf Moorike Lieder CD for Maria and D.K. Banerjee and a Katherine Schneider print for Randy and Cathy Bartlett. Winners at the Benefits Fair ergonomics table were Yvonne Swinington, Eric Weld, Liz Anderson, Irene Martin, Joe Bacis, Eric Brewer, Pat Wheeler, Nancy Asai, Ruth Bishop and Gail Hoover. December Scheduling All members of the college community are reminded that events may not be scheduled during the pre-examination period (December 16-18) and formal examination period (December 19-22). No events held during these periods will be announced in AcaMedia. SSC/CA Review To better serve the scholarly community, the Sophia Smith Collection and College Archives over the next six weeks will interview a range of past and present patrons to learn how reference services can be improved. If you have done research in either collection and are willing to be interviewed or make suggestions in an informal phone conversation or e-mail, please call or write Susan Barker (ext. 2971; sbarker@library. smith.edu). Students ITS Workshops Information Technology Services is offering the following student workshops during the week beginning November 16: "Formatting an Academic Paper," "Introduction to PowerPoint," "Introduction to Excel 7" and "Beyond E-mail and Web Surfing." See www.smith.edu/its for more information and to register. (Enrollment is limited, so register today.) ITS is also now designing its second-semester workshops; send your topic ideas to 4ITS@smith.edu. Smoke-Out November is "Great Smithie Smoke-Out" month. Bulletin boards and bathroom stuffers in the houses will tell all about it. Health Services is offering a multi-session, quit-smoking group for students; for information or to register, call extension 2824. CDO Deadlines Résumé deadlines this week: November 16 for Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Goldman Sachs Investment Research and Prudential Preferred Financial Services; November 17 for Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Further information is available in the CDO library. Drop off materials at the CDO. Thanksgiving Dinner Students staying on campus during Thanksgiving break are invited to join a local Smith College alumna and her family for a holiday dinner on Thursday, November 26. Each family hosts two or three students and provides transportation to and from dinner. To participate, call Cynthia Allen '83 at 665-8547 by November 20. |
Take Smith Home The Office of Admission invites all students to participate in the "Take Smith Home" program. Student ambassadors can help regional alumnae with recruitment efforts at any time between Thanksgiving through the end of spring break by visiting their high school or middle school to speak with prospective applicants, contacting prospectives by telephone or participating in an alumnae-sponsored student function. Training will be provided. The house with the highest percentage of participation will win $100 for the house treasury and all fall-term participants will attend a pizza party in January. (Melanie Moultry, ext. 7060; mmoultry@sophia.smith.edu.) Study Abroad Junior Year Abroad applications are available at the Office for International Study, Clark Hall; applications for independent study abroad will be available beginning November 18. Applications for JYA and Smith-affiliated programs are due February 1; those for other programs are due February 15. The IS office has open hours Tuesday and Wednesday, 2-3:30 p.m., Thursday, 3-4:30 p.m., and Friday, 9-10:30 a.m. Informational meetings are held Mondays at 4 p.m. International Internships The International Internship Fund enables students, particularly those in a Junior Year Abroad or Independent Study Abroad program, to pursue an internship abroad. The internship should provide some practical experience complementing the student's academic interests. Awards may not exceed $2,000. A list of previous projects is available at the Office for International Study, Clark 305. (Elizabeth Lee, ext. 4905). Mellon Fellowships The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funds fellowships for the first year of graduate school to help exceptionally promising students prepare for careers in teaching and scholarship in humanistic studies. The application request deadline is December 7; ap-plicants must take the GRE by December 1. For more information, see department chairs or inquire at the CDO, Ada Comstock office or senior class dean's office (23 College Hall). Lee Mall Crawl On Saturday, November 21, the Office of Student Affairs is sponsoring its final mall visit of the semester, this one to the outlet mall in Lee, Massachusetts, which features such stores as J Crew, Nautica, Calvin Klein and The Gap. The bus will leave John M. Greene Hall at 9 a.m. and head back to campus at 3 p.m. Sign up (first-come, first-served) Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in College Hall 24. Sign-up deadline: noon, November 20. NY Career Consortium The NYC Consortium on Careers, being held January 10-13, 1999, is a chance to explore the world of work in New York City. A cooperative program between the Smith Club of New York City and the CDO, it offers informational visits to worksites with alumnae in a variety of career fields and three nights' lodging in the home of an alumna. There is a $75 fee. Information and applications are available at the CDO help desk. Application deadline: November 17. Study Abroad Guidelines Students may obtain copies of the new booklet about independent study abroad in 1999-2000 at the Office of International Study, Clark Hall, third floor. CORO Fellowship The CORO Fellowship in Public Affairs is a nine-month, full-time, postgraduate training program. Forty-eight fellows are chosen annually to work in different fields, environments and locations alongside leaders in a variety of areas. For applications and more information, call CORO at (212) 248-2935 or see www.coro.org. Application deadline: February 5, 1999. Thanksgiving Housing Students wishing to remain on campus during Thanksgiving vacation (Wednesday, November 25-Sunday, November 19) must complete a vacation-housing request form in the Office of Student Affairs (College Hall 24) by 4 p.m. Friday, November 20. The following houses will be open during Thanksgiving break: Chase, Cutter, Dawes, Duckett, Friedman, Gillett, Lamont, Lawrence, Morris, Northrop, Talbot, Tenney, Tyler, Ziskind and 150 Elm. Students who live in any other house and who wish to remain on campus during the break must make arrangements to stay in an open house. All dining facilities will close after breakfast on November 25, when bag-lunch provisions will be available to all students. A modified brunch for students staying on campus during the break will be offered in Cutter/Ziskind dining room on November 29. A $20 fee will be charged for Thanksgiving-break housing. Half the fee will help cover the cost of housekeeping; the other half will be refunded once students return their vacation-period house keys. Keys may be picked up during regular office hours on November 23 and 24 at the Office of Student Affairs and must be returned to the Business Office (College Hall 5) by 4 p.m. December 4. Health-Services Hiatus Health Services will close at noon, Wednesday, November 25, and reopen at 8:30 a.m., Monday, November 30. Students needing emergency care during Thanksgiving break should go to Cooley Dickinson Hospital. |
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