{"id":134703,"date":"2020-07-01T16:51:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T20:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=134703"},"modified":"2020-07-03T11:04:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T15:04:30","slug":"announcing-the-15-most-viewed-bates-stories-of-2019-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/01\/announcing-the-15-most-viewed-bates-stories-of-2019-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing the 15 most-viewed Bates stories of 2019\u201320"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For our final edition of BatesNews<\/em> of the 2019\u201320 college year, here\u2019s a look at the 15 stories with the most views, starting on July 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stories reflect joy \u2014 welcoming new students in August \u2014 and sadness, with the college\u2019s wrenching transition to remote learning in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They reflect accomplishment \u2014 such as national recognition for our Fulbright program \u2014 and community resilience, as Bates faculty, staff, and students stepped up to meet the challenge of remote learning with both resolve and humor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They reflect the celebration and poignancy of a historic Commencement, the unbridled fun and exuberance of a mid-winter Puddle Jump, and the compassion and scientific power exhibited by a famed Bates honorary degree recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates, in a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. In the 2020 list of Bates faculty and staff book recs, some good reads for a trying time<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page views: 2,862<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 6:28<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
Sitting on an Adirondack chair near Lake Andrews, the Bobcat reads his favorite title, Bates Magazine<\/em>. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the 24th Good Reads<\/em> compendium of Bates faculty and staff reading recommendations, a new adjective pops up: timely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could describe Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic<\/em>, a sobering nonfiction account by David Quammen of past disease outbreaks. Or Fahrenheit 451<\/em>, Ray Bradbury\u2019s classic warning against censorship. Or, perhaps, The Nightingale <\/em>by Kristin Hannah, set in World War II France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But of course, the Good Reads list contains titles for any taste. You can learn about the current moment, or escape it, or simply sit down with a good book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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14. Bates College graduates 463 in historic virtual Commencement ceremony<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 2,941<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 4:25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Phyllis
Wearing a face mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael Murray, the Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics, carries the mace on May 11 during the taping of portions of the 154th Bates Commencement. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Seen by more than 10,000 viewers around the world, the Class of 2020 emerged from the tumult of their abbreviated senior year to graduate May 31 on a triumphant note, as the college conferred bachelor\u2019s degrees on 463 seniors in a ceremony delivered via livestream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopeful words, always a familiar part of graduations, took on greater meaning this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe future belongs to human beings who can hold justice at the center of their truth. And you all \u2014 you graduates of now \u2014 are rare, promising human beings,\u201d said artist Vanessa German, who delivered Commencement Greetings that were very much in the current national moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are the bridge generation. You are bridging a past of fastness and desperate injustice to a future that is so eager for your open heart, your brilliance, your capacity to be emotionally available, courageous, vulnerable, and a rocket ship of perseverance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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13. Shields up! Bates helps to ease PPE shortage<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page views: 2,956<\/strong>
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\"\"
Andrew Mountcastle, assistant professor of biology at Bates, wears a face shield incorporating 3D-printing technology. Mountcastle has helped coordinate a team of staff and faculty who are printing visors to ease a shortage of such personal protective equipment. (Courtesy of Andrew Mountcastle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among the early stories of COVID-19 was the creative response by Americans to the shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health workers and first responders. Andrew Mountcastle, an assistant professor of biology whose teaching and research often employ three-dimensional printing, was among staff and faculty at three Maine colleges who are using three-dimensional printers to make PPE components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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12. Picture Story: Puddle Jump 2020<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 2,977<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 1:07<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Students plunge into Lake Andrews during the 2020 Puddle Jump. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 2020 Puddle Jump was held Jan. 31, an enticing B.C. (Before Covid) day of calm winds and a jump-time temperature of 40 degrees, Established 45 years ago and now overseen by the Bates Outing Club (itself celebrating the centennial of its 1920 founding this year), the Puddle Jump, in the words of one of its founders, represents a chance for \u201cexuberance\u201d in winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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11. King Arthur\u2019s Susan Reid \u201979 and Borealis\u2019 Jim Amaral \u201980 help new bakers go with the dough during COVID<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page views: 3,303<\/strong>
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\"Susan
Susan Reid \u201979, a chef, editor, and senior recipe tester at King Arthur Flour, is also playing counselor to the tens of thousands of newly minted American home bakers. (Photograph by Andrea Brown)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Susan Reid \u201979, a chef, editor, and senior recipe tester at the legendary King Arthur Flour, and Jim Amaral \u201980, founder of Maine-based Borealis Breads, explained the economics and existentialism of the pandemic baking boom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe feel of dough is really soothing and therapeutic,\u201d Reid said. \u201cWhen I am shaping bread it is like a Zen experience,\u201d Amaral said. \u201cIt\u2019s calming and you feel like you\u2019re doing something constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like other COVID-related consumer supply issues, flour wasn\u2019t scarce, but the consumer packaging was. With some commercial bakeries closed, Amaral said that, if anything, there\u2019s probably more available on the wholesale market. \u201cI\u2019m sure there is an excess of flour sitting around in 50-pound bags.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10. Bates professors\u2019 humorous movie-trailer videos brighten the move to remote learning<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 3,341<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 3:07<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A scene from the video trailer for Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochem Andrew Kennedy’s course \u201cMechanisms of Memory.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Humor during a pandemic? Yes, thanks to Bates professors like Andrew Kennedy, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who posted a trailer \u2014 the cinematic variety, not the kind you tow \u2014 for his course \u201cMechanisms of Memory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by Kennedy to make her own trailer, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience Michelle Greene took the humor a step further for her course on neuroethics, producing \u201cThe Classroom Is Not Enough,\u201d taking on the cinematic James Bond aesthetic (albeit substituting coffee for the British spy\u2019s martinis).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But seriously, folks: The trailers\u2019 self-effacing whimsy helped put their students a bit more at ease. \u201cI strongly believe in humor to rebuild the community in my class and to put students in a positive mindset moving forward,\u201d said Greene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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9. Picture story: Orientation week for the Class of 2023<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 3,454<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 1:18<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Moments
Jasper Beardslee \u201922 of Miami assists Scarlett Wang \u201923 of  Beijing during an Orientation surfing trip at Popham Beach on Aug. 30, 2019. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of three stories in our top 15 about the Class of 2023\u2019s arrival on campus, this picture story followed the newest Bates students from Opening Day on Aug. 26 to Opening Convocation on Sept. 3 \u2014 nine days for the 501-member class to settle in, meet new friends, start sports and activities, get a taste of Bates academics, and explore Lewiston and Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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8. Video: Bates professors share what hasn\u2019t changed during remote learning<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 3,961<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 3:07<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zoom quickly became an important tool during remote learning, not only for instruction but also for telling stories. Bates Communications videographer Theophil Syslo checked in with faculty about what had changed, and what hadn\u2019t, during remote learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strong bond between students and their professors hadn\u2019t weakened, they said. \u201cI still care about my students \u2014 as individuals, people on an intellectual and personal journey,\u201d said Su Langdon, visiting assistant professor of psychology. \u201cI still want them to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the students were still diving into schoolwork. \u201cI am still teaching a community of students that are enthusiastic about learning the Japanese language,\u201d says Lecturer in Japanese Keiko Konoeda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks is impressed. \u201dI\u2019ve got to give it to them,\u201d she says of her students. \u201cThey\u2019re pulling through. They are absolutely stepping up to the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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7. Hope abounds as Fulbright offers awards to 10 Bates seniors and young alumni<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 4,453<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 5:02<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Recently offered a Fulbright Open Study\/Research grant, Caroline Caldwell \u201915 received a Watson Fellowship her senior year at Bates. (Courtesy of Caroline Caldwell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of two stories in the top 15 about Bates\u2019 robust Fulbright program, this story, from May, announced that 10 seniors and young alumni had been offered grants for English-language teaching or research abroad in 2020\u201321.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all 10 accept the awards \u2014 and travel is permitted come fall \u2014 they will travel to nine countries scattered around the globe, from Brunei to Colombia to Montenegro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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6. Bates ranks No. 1 nationally in Fulbright student awards for 2019\u201320<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 4,698<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 3:31<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eden
Eden Rickolt \u201920 (right) of Landenberg, Pa., now applying for a 2020\u201321 Fulbright, poses with her Fulbright mentor, Carolina Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia, assistant professor of art and visual culture, in Rickolt’s visual art thesis studio in the Olin Arts Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In February, Bates learned that it was the No. 1 producer of Fulbright Student awards among all U.S. liberal arts colleges for the 2019\u201320 award cycle. At the time, 24 young alumni were engaged in Fulbright-sponsored teaching and research experiences worldwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two dozen Fulbright Student awards are the most ever by a U.S. liberal arts college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the announcement, the pandemic put a halt to many of the Fulbrighters\u2019 experience. Still, the experience they did have was historic and nearly unique, says Lecturer in English Robert Strong, the director of national fellowships at Bates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile many had their grants cut short, they were deep into the globe at the start of a global pandemic. So they\u2019ve had a unique and valuable view into the international ability to respond to crisis. No doubt, they will carry this lesson, with whatever hopes and disappointments came with it, forward into their work improving the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5. Slideshow: Hour by hour with the Class of 2023 on Opening Day<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 5,225<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 5:45<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Move-In
Adelaide Armah \u201923 of Accra, Ghana, receives directions from President Clayton Spencer, who welcomed incoming members of the Class of 2023 as they arrived to sign in at Commons on Central Avenue. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second story in the top 15 about the Class of 2023\u2019s arrival, this one featured reporting by writers Doug Hubley and Emily McConville and photography by Phyllis Graber Jensen to capture Opening Day in words and images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Arriving Monday, the Bates Class of 2023 steps into a \u2018world of new connections\u2019<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page views: 5,996<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 4:51<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Move-In
Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Leigh Weisenburger awaits the start of the President\u2019s Welcome Address to members of the Class of 2023 and their families on the Library Quad. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Story No. 3 about the new class, this one gave an overview of 501-person cohort, which was selected from the largest applicant pool in Bates history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new students arrived to embark on a Bates journey that, in a conventional sense, has a specific terminus: Commencement four years hence, on May 28, 2023. In another sense, a Bates journey is timeless \u2014 a mindset that lasts \u201cfor as long as they wish,\u201d said Professor of Sociology Emily Kane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Announcing Bobcat339: A student-invented molecule with pharmaceutical promise<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 7,150<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 4:16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Last
Haoyu Sun \u201919 displays the pivotal page 39 of her lab book where the synthesis of Bobcat339 is described. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Created by students in the lab of Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Andrew Kennedy, a molecule with a Bates inspired nickname, Bobcat339, has the potential to govern the function of genes related to memory loss and genes that aid and abet the spread of cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriella Chua \u201918 is the lead author of the paper, published in 2019, describing the creation of Bobcat339. For Chua, the name \u201cBobcat339\u201d says something about the positive mindset needed to do research. \u201cYou can work as hard as you want, and things might still not turn out well. All the compounds that we tested could just as easily have not worked,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it does work out, as with Bobcat339, Chua says it\u2019s good to be grateful \u2014 and a bit humble. \u201cBobcat339 is the product of really hard work and great relationships, but there\u2019s also a splash of good luck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That splash, she say \u2014 the idea that something, sometimes, can tip the scales in mysterious ways\u2014 \u201cmakes me excited and optimistic for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chua is now in the Tri-Institutional Program in Chemical Biology, jointly sponsored by Weill Cornell Medical College, The Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Picture Story: A community rallies as students depart campus<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 7,554<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 1:44<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
On March 16, Christine Bourdeau \u201921 (right) of Milton, Mass., says goodbye to Alex Gailey \u201922 of Berkeley, Calif., near midfield on Garcelon Field.  (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The sudden and rapid evacuation of 1,700 students from campus just five days in March was like a peacetime Dunkirk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the COVID-19 public health crisis unfolding in early March, Bates still hoped to continue in-person classes through the traditional end of the semester in April. But that would not happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are at a pivotal moment with respect to both the spread of the COVID-19 virus and our ability as a college to take proactive, rather than reactive, steps,\u201d said President Spencer in her announcement, on March 13, that Bates would transition to remote learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy heart goes out to all of our students. The members of this community share a seriousness of purpose, a generosity of spirit, and a commitment to educating students who will be ethical and effective actors in the world. This moment of challenge and uncertainty calls on all of these qualities and more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. \u2018Food for the soul\u2019: Dr. Anthony Fauci recalls his 1993 Bates Commencement visit<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Page Views: 8,005<\/strong>
Average Time on Page: 5:03<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Anthony Fauci listens to his Bates honorary degree citation during Commencement on May 31, 1993, as Bates Trustee Jeannette Packard Stewart \u201946 stands ready to present his hood. Both are wearing red AIDS-awareness ribbons. (David Wilkinson for Bates College)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-seven years ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci, wearing academic regalia with a red awareness ribbon pinned to his gown, stood on the porch of Coram Library on Commencement Day to receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his great contributions to the understanding of HIV and the creation of successful strategies for combating AIDS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today a household name applauded for his guidance during the coronavirus pandemic, recalls his 1993 visit warmly. It was, he says, \u201cfood for the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he is now, Fauci in 1993 was praised for his wisdom and empathy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then-President Donald Harward saw, in Fauci, a scientist who exemplified elements of what a Bates education could and should offer in the coming years and decades: more opportunities for undergraduate research, greater engagement between the ivory tower and human communities \u2014 someone who was \u201cintentionally addressing robust human challenges\u201d through \u201cresearch that had its scope broadened to community dimensions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflecting a momentous and historic Bates year, here are the 15 most-viewed Bates News stories of the 2019\u201320 academic year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":133988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"bates_author_byline_override":"","_estimated-read-time":"","_post-template":"\/usr\/local\/webserver\/webpve\/htdocs\/new-www.bates.edu\/wp-content\/themes\/b\/news\/single-big-header-image.php","_header-color":"#000000","_photo-credit":"Phyllis Graber Jensen","_header-effect":"parallax","override_related_with_tag":"","_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,11009],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-the-college"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134703"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134737,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134703\/revisions\/134737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}