1. Results of 20-year Bates study on optional SATs
In a milestone 20-year study of its well-known policy for optional SATs for admission, Bates College has found no differences in academic performance or graduation rates between submitters and non-submitters. The findings of the study are being presented Oct. 1 in Milwaukee at the 60th national conference of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling. www.bates.edu/x58748.xml

2. Elephants or donkeys: Which breed is better for business?
The Boston Bates Business Network’s first event in its 2004-2005 series will try to answer this very question on Tuesday, Oct. 5. The elephants will be represented by Darrell Crate '89, chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Representing the donkeys will be Barbara Raths '96, former chair of the Maine Democratic Party, while Jon Marcus '82, editor of Boston Magazine, will try to keep a rein on things. BatesNews is recording the debate and will provide streaming video on the Bates Web site within two days of the event. We will notify you by e-mail as soon as it is up. To register to attend the debate in Boston and for event details, click here: www.bates.edu/x49703.xml

3. Parents and Family Weekend Oct. 8 – 10
The weekend begins Friday with most classes open to visitors, a student research poster session, Modern Dance Company and Bates a cappella concerts, and athletic contests against Williams College. Saturday morning, President Elaine Tuttle Hansen and key Bates leaders explain why the College is launching a $120 million fundraising effort—The Campaign for Bates: Endowing our Values. Weekend highlights include the Bates Parents & Family Association Fall Breakfast Gathering, the Dana Faculty Symposium, open houses and athletic contests, the closing performance and reception of the Wenda Gu exhibit in the Museum of Art, the annual Amandla! cultural extravaganza and much more. See: www.bates.edu/parentsweekend-bates.xml

4. BatesStar kick-off dinner Oct. 18
BatesStar, the Bates student leadership group, will kick off the new academic year with a dinner featuring President Hansen on Monday, Oct.18. The goal of the BatesStar program, which last year attracted 80 members of the Class of 2004, is to help seniors learn about the "inner workings" of the College and to understand about how they can stay connected to the College in the years after graduation. For further information on BatesStar, contact Kate Hamann, Alumni and Parent Programs Coordinator, at khamann@bates.edu.

5. 'Marcy Plavin: 35 Years of Bates Dance' on Maine Public Television Oct. 24
Maine Public Broadcasting will air the documentary video celebrating Marcy Plavin and Bates dance which was produced in conjunction with the 35th reunion of the Bates Modern Dance Company in May. The documentary is a tribute to the success of the Bates dance program and to the defining qualities of a liberal arts education as seen through the eyes of Marcy's students. The half-hour program, introduced by President Hansen, will air at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, throughout Maine.

6. Homecoming Weekend Oct. 29-31
The fall is the perfect time to come back to Bates! Join us for Homecoming Weekend activities including the special Harvest Dinner Program "Bates Plans for the Future," cheering on the Bobcats vs. Colby, and the grand opening of the Marcy Plavin Dance Studios and the Bert Andrews '74 Room, a cardiac fitness facility. There is also a Reunion Planning Workshop for alumni from the classes of '45, '50, '55, '60, '65, '70, '75, '80, '85, '90, '95 and '00. For more details on Homecoming Weekend, visit: www.bates.edu/homecoming-2004.xml

7. Did You Know?
Bates women have won the NCAA Maine "Woman of the Year" honor in three of the last five years. They are: Amanda Colby '00 (volleyball), Peggy Ficks '01 (field hockey and softball) and this year's winner, Liz Wanless '04 (volleyball and track and field). For a story on Wanless, go to: www.bates.edu/x58317.xml

8. Ideas requested for National Day of Service
Service to community is a hallmark of the Bates tradition. On Saturday, April 23, 2005, Bates alumni, students, parents, families and friends will gather for the first-ever National Day of Service in cities across the United States. Each project will be different: local groups might help restock a food pantry, plant a community garden, help build a Habitat for Humanity house, or clean up a park. Each project will provide an opportunity for Bates people to gather, work together and socialize, while helping their neighbors. John Jenkins '74 and former trustee Linda Gramatky Smith '64 are co-chairing this national alumni event. For more information and to share your ideas and get involved, go to: www.bates.edu/x58388.xml

9. Lend a hand—or ear—to a Bates student
There are 3,500 very generous alumni and parents who have volunteered to speak with Bates undergraduates about their careers, employers, graduate and professional schools and locales, and to offer advice on a variety of job and application matters. If you have volunteered, thanks! If you wish to join the growing number of OCS Alumni Career Advisors, please update your online record and check off "OCS Advisor" on your form. Read about the Career Advisory service: abacus.bates.edu/career/alumni/can.html

10. Convocation highlights
We have had a number of requests to read the remarks delivered in early September by President Hansen during Convocation, and by Charles A. Dana Professor of Theater Martin Andrucki during the annual Matriculation Dinner. To find links to these remarks and a slideshow on the start of the 2005 academic year, go to: www.bates.edu/x58447.xml

11. This Month in Bates History: The Fire of 1947
In October 1947, fires in southern and coastal Maine burned 205,678 acres—equivalent to a mile-wide swath from Kittery to Fort Kent—leveling nine communities and destroying 1,000 houses. Sixteen deaths were attributed to the natural disaster, the worst in Maine history. Nearly 300 male Bates students volunteered to fight the fire, and were dispatched by a state Disaster Committee to towns like Richmond, Kennebunk and Cornish. Meanwhile, female students held fire watches on campus and at Thorncrag, raked leaves away from residence halls, and collected clothing donations for the Red Cross. Three accounts—two written in '47, one looking back after 50-plus years: www.bates.edu/x58737.xml

12. Bates People in the News
As the campaign season hits the home stretch, political scientist John Baughman comments on absentee voting and Bates archivist Chris Beam hosts a Kerry campaign stop by fellow Vietnam vet and former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland. The Boston Herald applauds a theatrical collaboration by faculty classicist Lisa Maurizio and John Ambrosino '01, while fencing, egg farming and health care research put other alumni into the spotlight. Finally, President Emeritus Donald W. Harward describes to Psychology Today a new approach to dealing with the national increase in student depression, anxiety and binge drinking on campus. www.bates.edu/bates-in-the-news.xml