1. Bates earns high marks for environmental sustainability
Bates was in many national news reports this week after receiving a top score, along with 10 other U.S. colleges and universities, in a "Green Rating" system developed by test preparation organization Princeton Review and ecoAmerica, a nonprofit environmental marketing agency. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-01

See a news report by ABC affiliate WMTW TV-8: www.wmtw.com/video/17062528

2. New alumna wins Jack Kent Cooke graduate scholarship
Shawna-Kaye Lester '08 of St. Catherine, Jamaica, has won a prestigious and lucrative graduate scholarship from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. A double major in biological chemistry and Spanish at Bates, Lester will use her award to pursue an ambitious sequence of graduate programs to hone her leadership skills in healthcare management. Her multiyear Cooke scholarship is worth up to $50,000 annually for up to six years. Her award is the sixth major graduate award won this year by a Bates student working with campus scholarship and fellowship programs. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-02

3. Summer program for math, science students going strong in second year
Squeezing the equivalent of two semester-long courses into just six weeks, the second annual Hughes Summer Scholars Program at Bates has been a real academic workout for the students involved. "But the program really focuses on giving support and making sure that we have the resources we need to succeed," says one of the first-year students taking part in the program. The program aims to bring into science and mathematics a wider range of students, including students from groups underrepresented in those fields. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-03

4. Biology professor wins NIH grant for respiratory research
Bates biologist Ryan Bavis will use a grant from a division of the National Institutes of Health to advance understanding of why exposing animals to oxygen-rich environments early in their development adversely affects their respiratory functioning later in life. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-04

5. Did You Know?
A new study by the National Science Foundation reconfirms previous analyses showing that top liberal arts colleges produce a disproportionately high number of graduates who go on to earn doctorates in science and engineering. It also shows Bates as a particularly high source of such Ph.D.s — in the top 50 of all colleges and universities nationwide, based on percentage of graduates. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-05

6. Looking forward to 2008-09, Amandla! reviews successes of past year
The Bates College organization that cultivates solidarity among students of African descent, Amandla! has announced its officers for the 2008-09 academic year. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-06

7. Thompson named head baseball coach
Edwin Thompson, a former Division I and professional baseball player from Maine, has been named head baseball coach. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-07

8. Bates alumnus named to rowing team for Beijing Olympics
Andrew Byrnes '05 has been named to the Canadian Men's Eight for this month's Olympic Games in China www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-08

9. Bates People in the News
Bill Walsh '86, a former Washington reporter for New Orleans' Times-Picayune, excoriated the state of political journalism in remarks carried in a Web exclusive by American Journalism Review. The Portland Press Herald talked with economics professor James Hughes about Americans' dwindling sense of job security. Finally, as described by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the Rev. Peter J. Gomes '65, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and pastor of Memorial Church at Harvard University, celebrated his 40th anniversary in the ministry. www.bates.edu/go/news/2008-08-09