(From left) Maine’s first lady Karen Baldacci and President Elaine Tuttle Hansen enjoy  a remark by Doris Vincent, administrative assistant in the Dean of Students Office. During the seventh annual Kick-Off breakfast of the Bates Office Professional Network Jan. 27, Mrs. Baldacci offered highlights of work and family life with Gov. John Baldacci during 27 years of marriage. In introducing Mrs. Baldacci, Bates President Elaine Tuttle Hansen noted similarities between the first lady’s work on issues of education, literacy, nutrition, and gardening and many of the initiatives and goals of Bates. Staff members in the audience, Hansen noted, are vital to every aspect of the College’s efforts to prepare students who are “ethical and respectful, self-aware and self-confident but also able and eager to work well with others.” This mission “has never been more important to the state of Maine and the world,” Hansen observed, as she thanked Mrs. Baldacci for providing a special opportunity for members of BOPN to learn more about the great fit between her work and theirs.