BatesNews: February 2013
In this issue:
1. Multimedia: “Bates was my early decision choice,” President Spencer tells WRBC hosts
2. In Berlin on New Year’s Eve, two Bates debaters waited join “elite of elite”
3. Pettigrew Hall temporarily closed for repairs after flooding
4. Remember the name of this squash phenom: Abdel Khalek ’16
5. Kate Detwiler ’95 plays key role in confirming new African monkey species
6. Video: Come along on the Arts Crawl
7. Fire on the mountain, thanks to Bates Outing Club’s sky lanterns
8. Sophomores’ letter opposing tar sands proposal is finalist in national competition
9. Makman ’14 among first nationwide to receive new language scholarship
10. Memoriam page shares information about the passing of alumni and friends
11. Bates in the News
1. Multimedia: “Bates was my early decision choice,” President Spencer tells WRBC hosts
President Clayton Spencer’s interview on student radio station WRBC-FM touched on a range of topics, including the obligation of a liberal arts college to help graduates get a job and what responsible investing looks like. Lest those topics seem a tad stuffy for a student radio show called Chin Wags and Grab Bags with DJ Nosebleed and Friends, Spencer rose and dipped to her hosts’ level as needed.
2. In Berlin on New Year’s Eve, two Bates debaters waited to join “elite of elite”
On New Year’s Eve in Berlin, Bates debaters Catherine Djang ’13 and Ben Smith ’13 were listening to a countdown of a different sort. Along with 384 of the world’s best debate teams, they waited to hear if they were among the elite teams to “break” into the elimination rounds of the World Universities Debating Championship.
3. Pettigrew Hall closed for repairs after flooding
The academic building Pettigrew Hall is closed for repairs and remediation after a Feb. 9 flooding incident caused by a student’s act of vandalism. The flooding has displaced faculty and staff and damaged floors, carpets, furniture and walls as well as equipment in the college’s Digital Media Studios.
4. Remember the name of this squash phenom: Abdel Khalek ’16
In sports, a loss can be more telling than a win. First-year squash player Abdel Khalek of Cairo, Egypt, sailed through his initial Bates squash season with a 10–0 record in NESCAC and a 17–1 overall record. The only blemish — the tell-tale loss — was his hard-fought 3–1 loss to fellow Cairo native Ali Farag of Harvard, the 2012 College Squash Association national champion.
5. Kate Detwiler ’95 plays key role in confirming new African monkey species
Known as a lesula, the monkey was recently confirmed as a distinct species by Kate Detwiler ’95, who did the genetic tests needed to make the case, and her fellow primate researchers, who gave it the scientific name, Cercopithecus lomamiensis.
6. Video: Come along on the Arts Crawl
A relatively new addition to the Bates arts calendar now in its third year, the annual Arts Crawl showcases the college’s diverse and energetic campus arts scene.
7. Fire on the mountain, thanks to Bates Outing Club’s sky lanterns
A century ago, Bates students hauled logs and tar barrels up Mount David for massive bonfires. Fire on the mountain is still a part of Bates life, thanks to an occasional Bates Outing Club tradition known as Children of Midnight, this time featuring the launch of sky lanterns.
8. Sophomores’ letter opposing tar sands proposal is finalist in national competition
Two sophomores who wrote to a Maine congressman opposing a proposal to pipe so-called tar sands oil across the state will head to New York City in March to present and defend the ideas in their letter. The other finalists in the letter-writing competition hail from Berea, Carleton and Swarthmore colleges and Chatham University.
9. Makman ’14 among first nationwide to receive new language scholarship
Isabel Makman ’14 is in St. Petersburg, Russia — and will stay there till spring thanks to a competitive scholarship from CIEE, an international education and exchange program designed to enable serious, academically focused students to pursue deep language acquisition.
10. Memoriam page shares information about the passing of alumni and friends
This new Memoriam page shares information about the Bates men and women who have died in the past year and who will be remembered at the Alumni Memorial Service at Reunion. This year’s service is Sunday, June 9.
11. Bates in the News
The media describe the career arc of newspaperman Brian McGrory ’84, The Boston Globe‘s new editor. Way out west, The Oregonian says the Web application Your Brandlive, developed by Fritz Brumder ’01, lets retailers add social media component to their online product demos (yep, Ron Popeil meets Facebook). Meanwhile, Drew Gallagher ’11, a Teach for America educator in Washington, D.C., talks to his hometown paper, The Sun of Lowell, Mass., about his teaching awards.
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