1. Mark your calendars for Homecoming Sept. 19-21
Come back to Bates -- September 19-21, 2003. Plan an end-of-summer vacation around Homecoming Weekend -- a lovely time to be on campus, with warm days, crisp evenings and the first hints of fall color in Maine's lush foliage. Highlights of the weekend include a faculty-led book discussion, an a cappella concert, and cheering Bobcat athletes on. Classes ending in '4 and '9: Your class reunions will be held June 11-13, 2004. www.bates.edu/homecoming-2003.xml

Help make it a weekend to remember by attending Reunion Planning Workshop on Sunday, September 21 during Homecoming Weekend. Register on-line for more information about the Reunion Planning Workshop. www.bates.edu/x27375.xml

Look for information in next month's BatesNews about Parents and Families Weekend -- October 31-November 2.

2. Bates Fund reaches record high
With the help of more than 9,000 alumni, parents, and friends, the Bates Fund ended the fiscal year June 30 at $3,103,855 -- a new high-water mark for the Fund. The Parents Fund accounted for almost $620,000 of dollars raised, while the Alumni Fund came in at just under $2.5 million. Kudos to the following classes, whose members achieved the highest participation rates for their decade:

1925: 100%                1976: 52% 
1935: 81%                 1983: 50.2% 
1948: 81.6%               1993: 42.5% 
1953: 80%                 2001: 29% 
1963: 64.4% 

Many, many thanks to everyone who helped make this year a real success. And remember ... it's never too early to make a gift for the new fiscal year! https://transact.bates.edu/pay/development/index.phtml?alum=1

3. U.S. chemistry leaders hold Undergraduate Research Summit
Organized by Dana Professor of Chemistry Tom Wenzel, the Undergraduate Research Summit at Bates welcomed 50 leaders in chemistry research from U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations. The gathering examined issues involved in sustaining chemistry research at primarily undergraduate institutions. www.bates.edu/x38144.xml

4. Planned Giving Web pages get new look
As of July, Bates Planned Giving Web pages have cleaner text, new photos, and a more organized format. Also look for detailed information about gift specifics, user-friendly tables that summarize gift characteristics, and a link to enable users to try out their own draft calculations for the various gift types using PG-Calc software. Tools on the PG-Calc page will also enable users to e-mail their calculations to us directly, if they wish, and/or request more information. Feedback, suggestions and comments are welcome! They should be directed to Planned Giving Coordinator Susan E. Lauenstein, slauenst@bates.edu. www.bates.edu/planned-giving-home.xml

5. Grant helps Bates senior take research to postgraduate level
Thanks to a National Science Foundation grant program, a Bates neuroscience major took part in a kind of intensive research this summer that could prove decisive in the next chapters of her life. The NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program aims to immerse promising students in research to a depth more typical of the postgraduate world. Bates' Sara Trace is one of 14 students from across the nation who, with NSF support, participated in the Summer Research Program in Lifespan Developmental Psychology at Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green. www.bates.edu/x38140.xml

6. Reorganization produces Office of College Advancement
As of July, colleagues in Development, Alumni Relations and College Relations have joined together into a new office called the Office of College Advancement. This organization is the norm at most liberal arts colleges.

Here is the basic information: Alumni Relations has moved to Lane Hall and has combined with the Bates Fund staff to form a new department -- Alumni and Parent Programs. This department is headed by Kimberly Hokanson. Leadership Giving and Planned Gifts have moved to Alumni House. Dennis Brown is now Director of Principal Gifts. He remains in Lane Hall. The name of the Office of College Relations has been changed to Communications and Media Relations. No phone numbers have changed.

7. Museum art tours Hartford, D.C., Kansas City
Organized by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Hartford, Conn., the exhibition "Marsden Hartley" is currently on a three-museum national tour. The exhibition opened at the Wadsworth last January, and is currently at the Philips Collection, in Washington, D.C., through September 7. The exhibition then travels to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Kansas City, where it will be on view from October 11, 2003 through January 11, 2004. This comprehensive exhibition, boasting more than 100 paintings and works on paper from collections all over the country, includes 100 drawings from the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection at the Bates College Museum of Art. Bates also loaned painting materials including a palette and paint vials. Hartley (1877-1943) was born in Lewiston and a significant collection of his works on paper and personal effects is housed in the Museum of Art.

8. Listen to the sounds of Bates
Our "Sounds of Bates" Web page has been re-designed with added audio selections. You can listen to multiple variations on traditional Bates favorites including the "Alma Mater," "Bates Smoker," and "Bates Victory." You can also hear various audio samples from the music department. QuickTime required. www.bates.edu/sounds.xml

9. Good reads
Looking for a good book? Better yet, looking for a book recommended by your favorite Bates professor or staff member? Look no further than the seventh annual Non-Required Reading List , compiled by Director of the College Store Sarah Potter '77 and her staff. This year's summer reading list comprises more than 250 titles suggested by some 75 Bates faculty and staff. "This project reaches a wide audience: Lewiston-Auburn community members, our Web-watchers, summer program participants, parents, alumni, students, and many others," Potter says. "The titles are always wonderful and varied, and the contributors are always quite thoughtful in their written recommendations." www.bates.edu/x29904.xml