1. Commencement 2004 on the Web
Commencement 2004 on Memorial Day saw the most notable change in tradition since 1971, the year President Hedley Reynolds, urged by the senior class, moved the exercises from the Lewiston Armory to the steps of Coram Library. This year, rather than offering one lengthy keynote speech, brief remarks were offered by all four honorary degree recipients: Rita R. Colwell, former National Science Foundation head; David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of race and class in America; Milton L. Lindholm '35, beloved dean emeritus of admissions; and John C. Whitehead, philanthropist and chair of the agency directing Lower Manhattan's post-9/11 rebuilding. Our Web coverage features video clips of the speakers along with transcripts of their talks and citations; lots of photos by Phyllis Graber Jensen; plus a Q-and-A photo session with nine graduates, who tell of their most helpful Bates friends and mentors. www.bates.edu/commencement.xml

2. First silent auction for Reunion
For the first time in Bates history, the annual Reunion Weekend (June 11-13) will feature a silent auction. Hosted by the class of 1994, the auction will feature an eclectic range of items including original arts and crafts, distinctive merchandise and services, adventure and travel opportunities, gourmet meals, tickets to cultural and sports events, and more. All reunion guests are invited to attend the event. With proceeds to benefit the College as part of the 1994 10th Reunion Gift, this is a wonderful – and fun! – opportunity to support Bates. For more details on the auction, and to see pictures of the exciting items to be featured that evening, go to: www.bates.edu/reunion-silent-auction-2004.xml

3. Don't forget to get your new Bates ID card
If you are an alumna/us who uses Bates facilities and you hold a pre-2004 Bates ID card, please go to the Access Control Office in the ground floor of Chase Hall, across from the bookstore. A new card will be made while you wait. The office is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. During Reunion Weekend, the office will be open 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 12. If you have never held a card but want one, first contact Alumni and Parent Programs at (207) 786-6127. Since 1996, Bates policy has been to restrict use of the indoor athletic facilities to specific categories of the Bates community -- primarily Bates students, alumni, faculty and staff. In mid-2004, the College installed new technology that provides for better security. You will need these cards to use the athletic facilities starting mid-August. www.bates.edu/x47830.xml

4. Bates receives $1.2 million grant for research, science education
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced May 18 that it has awarded Bates College a grant, Bates' fifth from HHMI, for $1.2 million to support science education. www.bates.edu/x51115.xml

5. Wanless wins NCAA shot put title
Liz Wanless won the women's shot put at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a meet record throw to claim her second national shot put championship. www.bates.edu/x51426.xml

6. Career Services office enjoys banner spring
In the last four weeks, the Office of Career Services has added more than 190 jobs and internships into the Bates-specific online database (eRecruiting). Job postings have dramatically increased, and alumni and parents are letting us know when opportunities arise within their organizations much more than in the past. OCS thanks all alumni and parents who encourage their employers to seek out Bates candidates. Read about one particular week in March when Bates alumni brought fantastic career opportunities to campus. www.bates.edu/x51414.xml

7. Short Term starts here, goes everywhere
Bates students registering for Short Term might jot down the location of their class in a notebook or Palm Pilot, but they soon realize that a classroom is often just the starting point for a five-week adventure. www.bates.edu/x51033.xml

8. 'A Tale of 3 Hearts' wins national honors
As we have always been told, heart disease is America's number one killer. Peter Moore '78, executive editor of Men's Health magazine, won a 2004 National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with a powerful first-person account of his heart troubles. The ASME/Columbia award honors excellence in service journalism, stipulating that "the advice or instruction presented should help readers improve the quality of their personal lives." Awards were announced in May. Read Moore's July 2003 story at: www.menshealth.com/cda/article/0,2823,s1-3-124-136-541,00.html

9. Alumni, Trustees honor Andrews '74, Plavin with new facilities
Alumni, alumni parents and friends of Bates College have raised more than $600,000 for the creation of dance studios and a cardiovascular fitness center in the college's Merrill Gymnasium. Read the story at: www.bates.edu/x51423.xml

A 23-minute video homage to Marcy Plavin -- "35 Years of Bates Dance" -- was created by David Iverson and his daughter Laura Iverson '01. It was shown at a May luncheon in honor of Marcy Plavin and her husband, Leonard. Watch the video at: www.bates.edu/plavin.xml

10. This month in Bates history: College Bowl champs return for Reunion 1993
In spring and fall 1961, Bates teams on the College Bowl TV quiz show reeled off seven straight victories, retiring as the winningest undefeated team in the show's 1959-1970 run. In June 1993, the teams reunited at Reunion, and before a large alumni audience in the Chapel viewed film of two shows (vs. Muhlenberg and Wheaton) and faced off for a quiz. The secret to their success? The famous Cultural Heritage courses, according to Alan Schwartz '61, now the Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School. "We started out reading the ancient Greeks and finished up reading Freud," he told The Associated Press back in 1993. "We were pretty well-read." Story and photos from 1961 and Reunion 1993: www.bates.edu/x51261.xml

11. Bates People in the News
The Coalfield Progress of Norton, Va., called Ernest Ern '55 "a man with decades of service to the University of Virginia" in its April 20 report on Ern's appointment as interim chancellor of the campus in Wise. Meanwhile, The Boston Globe was among international news organizations covering the wedding of Lawton "Lane" Bourn '90 and longtime partner Stuart Wells, of Rowley, as the couple tied the knot on the first day of legalized same-sex marriage in the Bay State. Another alum, up-and-coming songwriter Josh Fix '99, told the San Francisco Chronicle about a symphony he wrote at Bates. Closer to home, the Portland Press Herald was there as Michele Dionne '76 talked with George Bush about mummichogs and invasive species during a presidential media event at Wells National Estuarine Research,where she is research director. www.bates.edu/bates-in-the-news.xml