Students in Biology 211: Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity gather soil and detritus samples in the woods above campus. By quantifying invertebrate species diversity in samples from several different forest settings, they set out to determine whether there was a correlation with aboveground plant species diversity. (photo by Janna Minehart ’13)

From thought into action
Take an idea and make it a reality. That’s the challenge Andy Greenfield ’74 issued to students in his “practical entrepreneurship” course, Thought Into Action. Although students were not awarded university credit, they received mentorship from a marketing professional and the chance to see their ideas come to fruition.
    The students: those possessing an entrepreneurial spirit, the maturity to test their real-world skills, and the commitment not only to the monthly, 5-hour Saturday class, but also to the projects. The teacher: Greenfield, entrepreneur and founder of Greenfield Consulting Group, a qualitative marketing research firm in Westport, Conn.
    Each class began with a lecture, followed by group discussion. Students would leave with a plan for their next steps. Between classes, Greenfield offered individual phone and e-mail consultations in which he would assess students’ progress and help them troubleshoot.
    From campus-based change to aiding people in Ghana, all of the projects this past semester trended toward a socially oriented theme.
    Some students, like Stephani Nummelin ’12, came in with larger-than-life intentions. “I wanted to get everyone into college,” Nummelin recalled. Greenfield helped her hone her idea, develop a plan, and set into motion a program through which Colgate students will help local high schoolers with the college application process. He also coached her in working with high school administrators.
    As with any idea, obstacles arise when turning theory into practice, so projects evolved. Christov Churchward ’10, co-president of the composting club, set out to make composting a part of campus culture. In achieving this goal, he also became a leading force in getting approval for the new campus community garden, in which composting will play a role.
    Matt Shafman ’10 will continue to develop his business plan to create a social network–based fundraising website after graduation. Through Giveglobe.com (which hasn’t yet gone live), people who are trying to attain a goal, like quitting smoking, can place bets on themselves. If participants accomplish their goals, they will keep the money they pledged; if not, the money will go to their charity of choice. Shafman said Greenfield helped him structure what he called his “jumble of ideas” and stressed the importance of clarity in his marketing strategy.
     In addition to Greenfield’s advice, students benefited from the class dynamic. “The brainstorming sessions helped me think, not just about my own project, but I also got to listen to others and get different perspectives,” Shafman said.
    The class also created a sense of personal accountability. “It was a lot of help, if for no other reason than to give external motivation,” Churchward said. “There is no way I could have achieved this on my own.”
    Greenfield will continue to mentor students from the class as he prepares for the 2010–2011 seminar. He is motivated by the belief that “a key role of the university is to prepare people to change the world.” He also hopes that more alumni will follow his lead by returning to Colgate to share their knowledge. “It is about giving students the skills and experience of making something happen, and that is one of the most empowering feelings someone can get.” For more information about this program, contact Tennille Haynes at thaynes@colgate.edu.

Class and county partnership
Madison County mental health officials said they are thrilled with a website built for them by students taking a computer course taught by Professor Alexander Nakhimovsky. The website will be a valuable resource for county residents seeking information about programs and services for individuals with disabilities, said James Yonai, director of the county’s Mental Health Department.
    Yonai and other county representatives attended a rollout of the website at an April meeting at the Colgate Inn. Also attending were four first-year students — Jake Caldwell, Alex Bahr, Sarah Bassett, and Laura Johannet — who helped finalize the design and site architecture. The students had worked with their classmates on design approaches as part of the course Computers in Arts and Sciences.
    “We worked as groups and narrowed it down to this version,” said Caldwell. “We hope it is something that everyone will be able to use and to navigate easily.”
    Yonai singled out Caldwell during the presentation for his leadership and interpersonal skills in seeing the project to such a positive conclusion.
    Nancy Joerger, special education parent advocate with Community Action Partnership (CAP), met with the class back in February to outline the project and coordinate the county’s role. “Jake and the other students were so easy to work with and so incredibly helpful,” she said.
    Nakhimovsky said he thought the students learned the course materials better because they had a greater degree of involvement. “Some had a very useful experience in interacting with real-life ‘customers,’ responding to their needs, and understanding their background,” he said.
    Bahr and the other students said that they also learned more about the county in which they now live, and about the services it makes available.

Debate Society hosts first international tournament
In March, the university’s Debate Society hosted its first-ever worlds-style tournament, which drew participants from around the world and from around the country. The International Intervarsity Debate Tournament received high grades from both participants and judges.
    The 24 teams that competed during the March 27–28 competition were from the University of Sydney (Australia), Rhodes University (South Africa), University of La Verne, Cornell University, Williams College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, University of Vermont, King’s College, and Ohio Wesleyan University. The 22 judges came from as far away as Malaysia and Ireland for the inaugural invitational.
    “We would love to thank Colgate for all the work they have done,” said Bronwyn Cowell, of the University of Sydney. “The tournament has been excellent fun.”

Faith and Fact
Gazing at the constellations in the springtime sky, you might pick out Orion and his faithful dog on the trail of a vicious bear. But the lights blinking down on you are more than what — or when — they seem.
    After spending the day with students in Core 106A: Galileo, Church, and Scientific Endeavor, Father George Coyne spoke to a crowd in Love Auditorium in April. In a lecture titled “The Dance of the Fertile Universe: Chance and Destiny Embrace,” the Jesuit astrophysicist, University of Arizona professor, and former Vatican Observatory director pointed out that nearly 1,300 light years separate us from the Orion nebula. So the light we saw during Coyne’s campus visit was produced on a spring evening when Chinese chemists were inventing gunpowder (ca. 710 A.D.).


Jesuit astrophysicist George Coyne (left) speaks to students and visiting faculty in the Galileo, Church, and Scientific Endeavor course. With him is Professor Jeffrey Bary. (photo by Andrew Daddio)

    Coyne mentioned how atoms swirl around one another, combining, splitting, spawning new and heavier elements, and interacting through both necessity and chance while he hinted at the ways in which galaxies and humans came to be.
    When two hydrogen molecules meet an oxygen molecule, they must form water. But must they meet? Destiny and chance have produced three generations of stars since the beginning of time. Coyne argued that the ferment generated enough carbon and other elements to build our own toenails, hair, arms, legs, and ever-more complicated brains. But there is a giant leap from the building blocks of life to life itself, and that is where the scientific becomes philosophical.
    Did God do it? “I don’t know,” Coyne admitted. But if so, “God is a nurturing parent with respect to the universe.” He has created something dynamic, then allowed it to assert its own personality, for better or worse, Coyne explained.
    “I thought he made a lot of concrete arguments using science, and he made a distinction between what he believes versus what he can prove,” said astronomy major Michael Lam ’11 of Coyne’s lecture.
    The lack of a single concrete answer does not disturb Coyne. When scholarship falls short, he has his faith.

Two retire from faculty
Two members of the faculty were recognized at the awards convocation during Commencement Weekend for achieving emeritus status upon their retirements.
    Jerome Balmuth, Harry Emerson Fosdick Professor of philosophy and religion, joined the department in 1954 after graduate work in philosophy at Cornell University. His research focused on the philosophy of language and on the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. As his citation read, “His efforts in hiring and mentoring have had a formative influence on his department, and his work and wisdom have helped make the university what it is today. He has taught more than 9,000 students — nearly a third of Colgate’s living alumni. In his 56 years at Colgate, Jerry invited all of us, colleagues and students alike, into a vigorous and continuing conversation in which age, gender, race, sexual orientation — features that all too often separate us — mattered not at all. Doing so, he has shown us that the life of the mind is not a solitary one, but a communal search for truth. His retirement leaves a lacuna that Colgate cannot hope to fill, but attending to his contributions will continue to remind us of the best that we have to offer our students and each other.”
    Carl Peterson, associate professor and head of special collections and university archivist, began work in the University Libraries’ acquisitions department in 1980. He moved to special collections and archives in 1988 and was promoted to head that unit in early 1994. He holds bachelor’s degrees in English and biology from the University of Alabama, an MFA from Cornell, and an MLS from the University at Albany. His citation recognized his many accomplishments, which included “cataloging and conserving rare books and manuscripts, implementing archival best practices, widening the scope of library exhibits, and acquiring the Weiner collection of George Bernard Shaw material. He pioneered Special Collections as a research and teaching tool for classes, increasing the number of classes taught, and establishing close departmental ties with other Colgate units. Carl was also instrumental in moving our precious collections during and after the construction of Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology. He has been an invaluable member of the library staff and is well known and respected as an expert on Colgate history and traditions.”



Live and learn



In May, students on the spring 2010 Geneva Study Group got a rare peek behind the scenes of an international media organization when they visited Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic.

The 17 students spent a day devoted to “hands-on” journalism, including a master class on the challenges of covering democracy and human rights issues with Russia Services Senior Correspondent Irina Lagunina, and a discussion with Akbar Ayazi, who oversees programming in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq.

“I learned a lot about Russia, and it was nice to learn about current events there and new developments that you wouldn’t see in a textbook,” wrote one student in his visit evaluation.

The visit was part of an extensive set of field trips in western and Central Europe, including to the Auschwitz extermination camp, meant to complete the coursework for International Institutions, the class taught by group leader Barry Shain, associate professor of political science.

The course explores the nature of international institutions, the underlying assumptions of those working in and supportive of them, and their role in shaping relations between states and other international entities. Students also examine the continuing repercussions of the Holocaust and communism in Central Europe.

Shain said he chose the day at RFE/RL because “it gives students a sense of how news not only is a reflection of world events, but is, in a way, created.”

Kathryn Esteves ’11 said she especially enjoyed sitting in on an editorial meeting because “it illustrated the steps taken to develop story ideas.” Mary Beth Spencer ’11 found the meeting “very informative and cool — it was nice to see the organization at work.”