"Josephine," an image by award-winning photographer Alexandra Strada '10.

Titled “Josephine,” the photograph above appears on a website announcing Alexandra Strada ’10 as winner of the 2011 InFocus Photography Award.

Brooklyn resident Strada has shown her work in group exhibitions at the National Museum of Iceland and the Gerald Peters Galleries in New York City and Santa Fe, N.M. At that last location, in a 2011 exhibit whose 29 artists also included Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol and other large names, “Josephine” was called the show’s most intriguing image by a reviewer for a statewide arts magazine.

Part of a series shot over three years at Clover Manor, an Auburn nursing home, “Josephine” (the subject’s family name remains confidential to protect her privacy) was also among Strada images in the 2010 Senior Exhibition at Bates.

Alex Strada '10, photographed by Jolie Ruben.

“I photographed the objects that residents brought with them to what’s potentially the last room they’ll ever live in,” says Strada, whose day job is as associate photo editor for Time Out New York. “I was so surprised by what I found, and so excited by these little details that see only so many eyes.”

As a photographer, Strada is drawn to the out-of-the-way and unfamiliar. (It’s a tendency that extends to her choice of medium — she shoots on film.) With the still image, “you can contemplate for so long something that’s simple and small, and that holds so much weight. In everyday life, it’s really hard to do that,” she says.

“Photography is such an important tool for slowing down and looking around, and thinking about our existence.”

The Senior Exhibition culminates the senior thesis process for art and visual culture majors in the studio art track (Strada undertook both the studio and art history tracks), and she calls the thesis “one of the most important experiences that I’ve ever had.”

Student artists spend their last year at Bates building a cohesive body of work for the exhibition, much as they would as professional artists. Faculty advisers Pamela Johnson and Robert Feintuch, says Strada, “made my body of work flourish and develop over the year.”

But she also credits Elke Morris, who teaches photography, with crucial encouragement early in her Bates career. “She gave me an exhibition in Chase Hall Gallery,” Strada says. “To get that kind of recognition at that time boosted my confidence so much. At first I wasn’t going to be an art major, but her instruction and her support really made me want to pursue it.”

The InFocus Award was established in 2008 by Ontario resident Michelle Collins to support emerging photographers. “I’ve always appreciated art,” says Collins, “and I think it’s important to invest in what you love. It’s especially important to invest in young people.”

The award includes $1,000 (U.S.), which Strada will put toward a new medium-format Mimiya camera.

Lindsay Thomson ’10, West Hartford, Conn.

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Kevin Thorson ’10, Storrs, Conn.

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Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan ’10, Topsham, Maine

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Emily Pressman ’10, New Canaan, Conn.

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Brianna Bakow ’10, Lexington, Mass.

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Emily Grady ’10, Littleton, Mass.

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George MacDonald ’10, Ossining, N.Y.

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Emaan Karamatullah ’10, Karachi, Pakistan

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All-American Nordic skier Sylvan Ellefson '09 wears a St. Christopher medal for a bit of good luck to complement a rigorous training regimen.

While Sylvan Ellefson ’09 hasn’t banished sweets or Commons crispitos from his diet, he’s honed an understanding of what his body needs to perform at peak level.

“I was definitely not conscious of eating a balanced diet my first year here,” says Ellefson, a Nordic skier from Vail, Colo., who won All-America honors at last year’s NCAA Skiing Championships. “But in the past two years I’ve really realized what it means.”

Now, he and his teammates consider Bates Dining Services to be part of their team. “Commons does a great job of providing us with the food we need for how we train,” Ellefson says.

For example, when the Nordic team travels during carnival season, their van carries Commons-provided food like granola, breads, fruits, and yogurt. Not for the skiers’ major meals — they get meal money for that — but for quick post-race nutrition. “Your body recovers more quickly if you get food right after a race,” explains Sam Evans-Brown ’09, Ellefson’s teammate.

When it comes to establishing healthy food routines, the teammates support each other, says head coach Becky Flynn Woods ’89. “It’s about getting into the right habit. For example, the skiers racing later in the day will take time in the morning to prepare food, like PB&Js, for everyone to eat right after the races.”

These days, the Nordic team’s training is especially motivated, what with Bates hosting this season’s NCAA Championships, March 11–14. For Ellefson, a Colorado-raised skier not recruited by any Division I schools out West, his competitive cup runneth over. “I’m proud to race as a Bobcat,” he says. “I love it in Maine.”

An alpine enthusiast growing up, Ellefson and his Vail Mountain School soccer buddies took up cross-country skiing to stay in shape during the winter. As a high school sophomore, he won skimeister as the best performer in Nordic and alpine events. By then, he knew his forte was Nordic so he dropped alpine, comparing it to choosing soccer over baseball when, as a little kid, he “couldn’t hit the ball off the tee.” But as a relative latecomer to Nordic skiing, Ellefson came East for college when Division I schools passed him up.

Highly competitive by nature, Ellefson describes his mother, Tashina, as a “tremendous” athlete. His late father, Lyndon, who helped found the sport of skyrunning — high-altitude, long-distance running — died in 1998 when, on a training run near Cervinia, Italy, he fell into a hidden snow crevasse, dropping 75 feet to his death.

Sylvan Ellefson is well-aware of his father’s reputation as a highly motivated competitor who pushed himself hard. “I feel that if I can do something really well, I can carry on his legacy,” he says. “In my case that’s Nordic skiing.” Looking ahead to his post-Bates racing career, he wants to “get to that level,” referencing the accomplishments of Nordic alums like Justin Freeman ’98, a 2006 U.S. Olympian, “and then do better.”

Ellefson’s specialty is freestyle, like skating on skis, and he earned trips to the NCAA Championships in both 2006 and 2007. Last year was a breakthrough season, as he won freestyle races at the season-ending carnivals at Williams and Middlebury, the first-ever wins for a Bates Nordic skier on the Eastern Collegiate Skiing Association circuit. At the 2008 NCAA Championships, Ellefson finished fourth in the 10K freestyle, one of only three Americans, and the only Division III skier, in the top 10.

While Ellefson targets another top-five finish, teammate Evans-Brown, a Spanish major from Gilmanton Iron Works, N.H., is so eager to qualify for his first NCAAs that he spent last summer in Argentina, living with a government official who’s a cross-country enthusiast, so he could train on snow. “I had easy access to skiing and was well-fed,” he says. “Lots of meat, for breakfast, lunch, snacks.”

There, he earned a reputation as “the kid who always eats,” and Evans-Brown estimates that he and Ellefson will take in 6,000 to 9,000 calories a day while training hard. That’s more than triple the typical daily diet of 2,500 calories — if not quite the famous 12,000-a-day regimen of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

While the Nordic team tends to frequent Italian restaurants on the road for a good balance between protein and carbs, “what you eat right before a race is not so important, I think,” Evans-Brown says. What’s critical is “fueling yourself well while you’re training.”

At a recent campus meal, Ellefson and Evans-Brown are joined by Nicole Ritchie ’09 of East Dummerston, Vt. Twice an All-American rower as well as a skier, she has begun to avoid processed food. “A friend is doing a thesis that focuses on corn syrup,” she says. “I’ve been reading over her shoulder. The amount of energy going into producing corn syrup is pretty disgusting.”

In the new dining Commons, Ritchie gravitates toward local products: apple cider from Greenwood Orchards, chocolate milk from Oakhurst Dairy, and hamburgers from grass-fed, Cold Spring Ranch beef (see page 16) for her training fuels. She also frequents the vegan bar.

“Making your own food choices takes a lot of different economic and environmental issues into your hands,” says Ritchie. “It’s really cool that Commons supports us in making these decisions.”

By Andy Walter, photograph By Phyllis Graber Jensen

Why did you decide to major in physics?

I’ve always enjoyed thinking about things larger than the world we live in. It has always fascinated me that we are able to study and understand what is way beyond our physical reach, and I always wanted to be a part of trying to understand that.

I’ve been really interested in being an astronaut since I was in third grade. This got me interested in science and physics, and now that I’m older I’m still trying to pursue my dream of becoming an astronaut.

Tell me about your research projects.

Last year I did an independent study titled “Stellar Structure” under the instruction of physics professor Eric Wollman. We did lab work measuring the properties of stars and light sources. We also derived and applied four fundamental equations for the physical structure of stars, and verified an existing solar model using these four equations.

I’m also writing my thesis in astronomy — more specifically in stellar structure. I’m constructing a computational model of a star, and from there I hope to be able to model some unconventional stars. I’m still working with Professor Wollman.

During summer 2008 you took part in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Indiana University in Bloomington. What were you doing?

I did theory work in two-dimensional quantum mechanics — the study of systems of particles on the atomic scale. I was at a desk doing a lot of computer programming. I really enjoyed it. Not only did I learn a lot and get good programming experience, but also was able to see the professional physics field first hand.

What is your impression of the future of women in physics?

At Bates I’ve never experienced any issues with being a woman in physics. While I think there still are people in the physics world who look down on women trying to make their way in that field, my impression is that the vast majority of people don’t consider gender, just the person’s work itself.

I think many of the stereotypes of women in science are being overcome and women are not being judged or held back nearly as much as they used to even 30 years ago. Of course I won’t know any of this for sure until I’m out in the field myself.

What makes you good at what you do?

I’m very persistent and will not give up until I am completely satisfied with my results. This is especially important in the lab. You need to be patient and willing to try things 20 times to get them right. This also helps with long problem sets, because you can’t give up on those until you figure out the answer.

What happens after Bates?

I’d like to attend graduate school and get a Ph.D. In the long run I would like to be doing astrophysical research somewhere.

— by Erin Bond ’09

As Bates College prepares to begin its first academic year with a new set of core educational requirements, a foundation in Falmouth has awarded the college more than $250,000 to support the requirements’ focus on writing skills.

The grant was received from the Davis Educational Foundation established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.

The foundation gave a three-year, $255,000 grant to help implement programs designed to strengthen writing instruction at Bates. The funds will support faculty development and a new peer tutoring program, as well as formal assessments of Bates’ new approaches to writing instruction.

Accepted by a faculty vote in 2006 and taking effect this fall for the classes of 2011 and after, the new general education requirements represent a significant shift in Bates’ curriculum and teaching methods. For many years, most Bates students have taken a first-year seminar with a writing focus and have written a senior thesis, a major undertaking that brings to fruition much of what they have learned at the college. The new writing program will develop students’ writing abilities through the interim.

“What the Davis Foundation did was help us build a bridge across the river” in implementing the writing-related requirements, says Margaret Imber, a faculty member and member of a team exploring ways to support students and faculty during the transition to the new requirements.

“We were going there in any case,” says Imber, referring to the new approach to writing, “but here was somebody who had the capacity to say, ‘Let us help you get there faster.’”

The peer writing-tutor program, in which experienced Bates students will help fellow students write more effectively, debuts this fall with two components.

One involves the first-year seminars taken by 95 percent of Bates students. These seminars, well-established in the curriculum, are designed to give new students the fundamentals of college-level reasoning, writing and research. The peer tutoring program will attach 15 tutors to certain first-year seminars to serve as a resource for the class.

The other piece of the program is the creation of a pool of 15 writing assistants in the college library five evenings a week — for many students, prime time for doing academic work. “Students will have writing assistants available to them when they’re actually writing their papers,” says Imber, whose team observed similar writing-support programs at other colleges such as Wellesley and Middlebury.

“The numbers show that students are responsive to these programs. And if that’s where they are, that’s where we need to be.”

Davis funds will also support workshops where faculty will explore new techniques for teaching writing at different levels. In addition, the grant will provide opportunities to examine what works best in the peer-tutor program and to assess the writing curriculum as a whole.

Bates’ new “gen ed” requirements emphasize interdisciplinary study, scientific reasoning, laboratory experience and quantitative literacy in addition to writing.

Works in the exhibition range from watercolors to oil paintings, sculptures and oriental-style ink drawings.

In common with almost every Bates senior, art majors must complete a major project as a thesis. Unlike most others, however, their efforts are put on public display.

“What we see every year in the thesis exhibition is a great variety in artistic vision and expression,” said Anthony Shostak, the museum’s education coordinator. “It is the culmination of their studio program and serves as an introduction to the professional art world. Students must prepare their work for exhibition and assist with the installation of the show.”

This year’s participants in the Senior Thesis Exhibition, and their own descriptions of their works, are:

• Maury Dojny, Westport, Conn.: “Cartoonish paintings which defuse humiliating real-life events.”
• Brandy Gibbs, Bethlehem, Pa.: “Exploring pattern through paintings and prints.”
• Emily Girdwood, Andover, Mass.: “Narrative photo-montages.”
• Joseph Kim, Sprague, W. Va: “Traditional Chinese and Korean ink drawings.”
• Gretchen Klausmeyer, Belfast, Maine: “Large drawings, prints and paintings of plant and insect forms.”
• Jennifer Lucas, Melrose, Mass.: “Large-scale abstract paintings inspired by musical and emotional themes.”
• Alicia Moore, Redwood City, Calif.: “Sculpted ceramic and cast-resin deserts: Whimsical hybrids of the works of Wayne Thibaud and Jeff Koons.”
• Suzannah Parsons, South Salem, N.Y.: “Oil paintings and monotypes in an Abstract Expressionist mode.”
• Greg Stones, Clayville, R.I.: “Small watercolors.”
• Beth Whitten, Northport, Maine: “Piscatorial prints and paintings.”

The exhibition opens with a public reception April 5 beginning at 7 p.m.

The Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Further information on the exhibition is available at 207-786-6158.

Bates senior Eben S. Miller of Woolwich will explore the dynamics of African American resistance in Maine beginning with the 17th and 18th centuries, a period of relatively individual-based resistance, followed by protest organized around community institutions in the latter part of the 19th century. The final part of Miller’s talk will consider the stragegies devised by the civil rights movement within Maine as well new directions in social transformation pursued by the contemporary African American community.

Miller, a history major, will base his talk on his honors senior thesis. The lecture is part of an ongoing series of Friday afternoon lectures presented at Bates College.