1. College to implement new emergency notification system
Bates will begin testing a new emergency notification system in September that will send information and instructions simultaneously to the entire campus community through e-mail, cell phones and telephone landlines. www.bates.edu/x165754.xml

2. Thoughts on national college rankings debate
A national debate about college guide rankings prompted an op-ed in the Lewiston Sun Journal by Bates' head of institutional research and analysis. Jim Fergerson points out the limitations of simple answers to complex questions and offers helpful Web sites. www.bates.edu/x165389.xml

3. Reunion 2007 slide show
Reunion can be a roller coaster ride. You roll into the past to revisit shared Bates memories. Then, just heartbeats later, here comes an exhilarating chance to create new connections and learn something new about Bates today. Check out the photos, citations and good times.
www.bates.edu/x165280.xml

Reunions past, and Reunion 2008 www.bates.edu/reunion.xml

4. Davis Foundation awards $255,000 for new writing program
As Bates prepares to begin its first academic year with a new set of core educational requirements, a Maine foundation 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. www.bates.edu/x165437.xml

5. Lewiston named 'All-America City'
Most of us know Lewiston as our home for four years, and as a field of study and action for a Bates education. This summer, the city received national recognition by becoming one of 10 municipalities designated an All-America City in an annual competition sponsored by the National Civic League. Lewiston is the first Maine city to win the honor in 40 years. The last winner was Auburn, in 1967. www.bates.edu/x165436.xml

6. More than 9,500 contributed to Bates Fund this year
Thanks to the generosity of more than 9,500 alumni, parents, and friends, the Bates Fund reached a record total of almost $4.3 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. While endowed funds are invested to ensure the College's future strength, the Bates Fund acts as a "living endowment" allowing 100 percent of the funds raised to support today's needs. In fact, the money raised this year provides the same benefit as $85 million in new endowment. Our sincere thanks to all of our Bates Fund volunteers, as well as Alumni Fund chairs Joel Goober '70, Karen Goober '68, and Jennifer Guckel Porter '88, and to Parents Fund chairs Mike Bonney '80, P'09 and Alison Bonney '80, P'09 for leading the effort.

7. Harward Center awards 2007 community partnership grants
Eight Bates faculty and staff members have been awarded grants by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships to support community-based educational work. www.bates.edu/x164816.xml

8. Campus construction update
Read the latest on the major building projects: the new dining Commons, new student housing and the Alumni Walk. www.bates.edu/x165124.xml

9. Opportunity to make tax-advantaged gift from IRA continues
The clock is ticking! If you're thinking of taking advantage of the IRA Rollover provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to make your gift to Bates, you must act by December 31, 2007.  For more information about this great way to give, please call Erin Martin at 207-786-8373.

10. Searchable Muskie database now online
The Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Project at the Muskie Archives has launched a searchable database of more than 400 interviews done with family, friends and career associates of the late Sen. Muskie between 1998 and 2007. This oral history project is one of the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken about a modern political figure. The interviews offer insight into a remarkable array of topics, from such high-profile national events as the Iran hostage crisis to the individual histories of many small Maine towns. The full text of the interviews, as well as select audio files, can be found by following the "Muskie Oral Histories" link at: digilib.bates.edu

11. Weisskopf '08 defeats U.S. squash champion at Pan Am Games
Could Ricky Weisskopf '08 still be improving? That appeared to be the case last week at the Pan Am Games, where Weisskopf earned the most impressive win of his career while competing as the No. 1 player on El Salvador's national squash team. www.bates.edu/x165513.xml

12. Bates People in the News
As summer got under way, there was a worldly flavor to Bates' appearances in the news. Jonathan Adler '00, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at Northwestern, spoke to Australian public radio about the therapeutic role of personal stories. Bates popped up in two national Associated Press pieces: close to home, one cited the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area as a midcoast attraction, while the other announced that geology professor Dyk Eusden '80 will take part in a celebrity cruise to Norway led by radio star Garrison Keillor. Finally, previewing a Dickens Society gathering in Montreal, The Gazette described English professor Lillian Nayder's research in defense of novelist Charles Dickens' much-maligned wife. www.bates.edu/bates-in-the-news.xml