A new vision for “waste”


Bill Jorgenson ’65 (left) and a colleague in a lab where anaerobic digesters mix manure and organic waste to generate power.

As the world searches for alternative sources of energy, Bill Jorgenson ’65 is exploring an option that he acknowledges is not particularly glamorous: cow poop and garbage. Jorgenson is the managing partner of AGreen Energy LLC (AGE), an organization that has developed a process to not only generate sustainable energy from what would otherwise be waste, but also to maintain the viability of small farms.
    The process is fairly simple: farmers can install large anaerobic digesters on their farms that mix manure and organic waste, such as leftover food from a mess hall. An enzymatic process releases methane from the manure, and the methane can then be cleaned and burned to power a generator. “The farmers only use about 10 percent of the electricity they create; then the other 90 percent, they sell up to the grid,” explained Jorgenson. “A small farm of 300 to 500 head of cattle can heat somewhere around 300 homes” — which means that the farmers earn extra income.
    AGE’s process is designed to maximize the use of resources in other ways as well. The leftover mixture of manure and feedstock can be recycled as a high-efficiency, low-pollution fertilizer. Also, because all generators lose some energy to heat from friction, AGE has designed a method of capturing that heat and feeding it into greenhouses. “The farmers will be growing vegetables in the wintertime,” explained Jorgenson. “The largest single cost that you have when running a greenhouse is energy. This is free, though, because it is the heat from the generator that would otherwise be wasted.”
    The organization is currently working with small dairy farmers in Massachusetts to build the first pilot projects, and Jorgenson’s goal is that AGE’s system will one day assist small farmers across the country.
    Although he and his partners only started AGE in 2006, Jorgenson has bountiful experience at every level of the agri-food and renewable energy fields. He is an expert on the biofuel industry, with which he has been involved nearly since its inception. Jorgenson has also managed the operations of the Quaker Oats Company in Latin America, advised universities and even countries about sustainable development, and founded his own consulting business, SJH and Company, which advises the world’s largest agri-food companies on issues like developing more efficient agriculture. He even patented a process, later acquired by John Deere, for tracking food products all the way from the farm to the table, which is critical when tracking food-borne illnesses like salmonella to their source.
    For Jorgenson, AGE is something of a culmination of all that he has done so far, “and it comes at a time when everybody says you should retire.” Instead of retiring, “which has no appeal to me at all,” he said, Jorgenson is splitting his time between his consulting work with SJH and Company, and the AGE project. He relishes the challenge of working one day with the world’s largest corporations to design a more water-efficient method of growing tomatoes, and the next day with small farmers trying to ensure that their businesses can survive into the next generation.
    “Usually everybody wants to do things big,” Jorgenson observed. “What’s the end economic benefit, and when will somebody come along with a big treasure chest of money and buy you out? Well, in this case, the buyout is that the next generation gets to keep the farm.”

— Jason Kammerdiener ’10


From the director’s chair
Seasoned Hollywood director Mel Damski ’68 talks to the Scene about the changing landscape of movies and television.


(photo by Alan Zenuk)

In a time when the flick Jackass 3D opens as the number-one box office hit, director Mel Damski ’68 wonders where that leaves him. His recently released movie, Legendary (starring Patricia Clarkson, Danny Glover, and wrestling superstar John Cena), tells the story of a high school student who joins the wrestling team as a way to reunite his family, which has been torn apart by the death of his father. The film exemplifies one of the signatures of his work, which he described as focusing on the human experience.
    “The studios only want to make movies that make a lot of money; they’re not interested in little prestigious films,” Damski said. “And maybe that’s why it’s harder to get people to leave their TV sets to go to the movies — you have to find some big event thing to get them there.”
    Legendary is faring better on DVD than it did in the Cineplex. “What that tells me is, the Legendary audience is totally happy to watch a film on their home TV, and it takes something more than that to get them to go to the theater,” he said.
    Damski has built his long career directing television shows and movies. Starting with Barnaby Jones and The Bionic Woman, he’s also worked on a number of David Kelley sensations like Picket Fences, The Practice, Ally McBeal, and Boston Public.
    He just finished producing and directing the fifth season of Psych, a comedic crime series on the USA Network. “For the most part, it’s very lighthearted, but still based on real people and the foibles we see in ourselves,” Damski said.
    Although he wishes that crude movies and action films weren’t the ones breaking weekend box-office records, Damski said he doesn’t dislike them, and believes that the changing landscape has had the positive effect of driving older writers from the silver screen to the small screen. “There are so many channels that there’s more good television available now than ever, and there are some terrific writers in television. These are people who in the ’20s would have been playwrights and in the ’40s would have been writing movies.”
    Acknowledging that there is a certain amount of ageism in Hollywood, Damski said he plans to stay in the game as long as possible. “I have been very blessed to do what I love, and I’m still doing it at 64 years old. How many people have had as much fun going to work every day as I have?”
    If the time does come that Damski is no longer in demand, he said he won’t spend his time on the golf course or playing bridge — he’ll devote himself to charity work. In the meantime, he’s created a website called Lonelyasparagus.com, to address childhood obesity, and he is president of Lyrique Wine Company. “Well, that’s not helping the world,” he admitted. “Maybe a little … one sip at a time,” he joked.

— Aleta Mayne


Getting the job done



Imagine you’re leading a group project. Will everyone agree on how to proceed? Probably not. Will some people speak up more than others? Likely. Will everyone do what’s expected? Maybe. Will interpersonal dynamics impact progress? Most definitely. In the end, how well the team accomplishes its goal will depend in large part on your leadership approach. Why?
    “Group dynamics are challenging, because they are fluid, and the energy and focus is always shifting, so managing a team effectively requires alertness and finesse,” said Robert Klein ’72, a social psychologist who teaches education, psychology, and business management at Western New England College. With that notion in mind, he designed a new leadership development tool that has caught the attention of corporations, colleges, and the analytical psychology community alike.
    It’s called the Klein Group Instrument for Effective Leadership and Participation in Teams (KGI). The KGI can be used independently, but also complements the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the personality inventory most commonly used by organizations for individual staff development. Inspired by his extensive experience providing group training in the mental health field and by his doctoral studies in educational psychology at Harvard, Klein devoted more than 12 years to developing the KGI, consulting with noted human development psychologists in a painstaking research and testing process.
    The KGI helps people assess their strengths and weaknesses by illuminating patterns of behavior. First, you take a 20-minute online survey (at CAPT.org) that asks questions about your tendencies and preferred ways of operating in a group setting. You receive a personal profile that outlines your skill levels in four main areas: leadership (ability to influence other members and guide the group), negotiation orientation (ability to discuss issues constructively and reach agreement), task focus (ability to help analyze, organize, and complete the task), and interpersonal focus (ability to attend to “people issues”). The report gives you a score in each area, and specifies behaviors that you enjoy (such as “finding fresh, creative ways of doing things”) as well as those that could help you grow (such as “be aware of people who haven’t contributed to the discussion and invite them to share their ideas”).
    The theory behind the KGI is unique; it relates those four skill areas dynamically. In a nutshell, if there is disagreement on a team, people lose focus on the task, so the leader must simultaneously pay attention to and employ a variety of negotiating skills for both task and people issues. The report shows how your energy normally flows in those efforts.
    As Klein explained it: “Ultimately, the model enables you to explore less-frequently used behaviors to facilitate your growth. It’s like steps in a staircase. As you go up, you get psychologically adapted to carrying out new behaviors, and you learn a strategic process to refine your skills. When you have a successful experience, your view of your effectiveness both as a leader and a team member changes. You get more confident, and the way others view you changes. It’s transformative, and we’ve seen some remarkable things happen for people.”
    Published by an organization that does the Myers-Briggs assessment, the KGI is gaining traction, being administered at companies like PriceWaterhouseCoopers by trained facilitators worldwide. At Western New England College, Klein developed a related course, Leadership and Group Skills, and created a pilot program to instruct first-year students. His presentation at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland (the KGI and the Myers-Briggs are both based in Jung’s theories), led to a recent appointment on its long-term faculty.
    Klein takes huge satisfaction in his work. “My goal was to empower people, to help them acquire leadership and social skills. I developed an instrument that can do just that — it’s a wonderful feeling.”

— Rebecca Costello


Bikes Belong



Tim Blumenthal ’77 grew up riding bikes in New York City’s northern suburbs. He delivered the Daily Item on his Raleigh 3-speed and rode his bike to Rye High. At Colgate, one of his first dates with his wife-to-be, Lise Berlind ’77, was a bike ride around Hamilton on Peugeot 10-speeds.
    Since graduation, he has written about cycling, edited national bike magazines, and served as NBC’s consultant on bike racing at the last seven Summer Olympics. Today, he is one of the nation’s leading advocates for biking.
    Blumenthal leads the movement to promote cycling as president of the Bikes Belong Coalition, an organization with a $3 million annual budget supported by nearly 500 bike suppliers and retailers.
    “When people ride bikes, great things happen,” said the lanky Blumenthal, 55, who was dressed in a conservative dark suit at this year’s National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. “You counter obesity, reduce road congestion, and cut air pollution. Communities where people feel comfortable and safe riding bikes tend to be desirable places to live.”
    Among those bike-friendly communities is Boulder, Colo., where Blumenthal lives and commutes six miles daily by bike. At Bikes Belong, he also oversees a $2 million foundation that during the past year provided key support to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, as well as grassroots organizations that are building bike facilities such as mountain bike trails in South Dakota and Florida or promoting biking through local advocacy groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
    “The bike industry wants to get more people on bikes, more often,” he said.
    Blumenthal moved to Boulder in 1994 to become director, and sole full-time employee, of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). When he left 10 years later to lead Bikes Belong, IMBA had a staff of 23, and an annual budget of $2.5 million.
    Last spring, he traveled to Washington to kick off an online campaign to get a million Americans to sign a pledge of support for biking at www.peopleforbikes.org. By mid-October, 150,000 cyclists had signed up in a database he hopes to tap for support for federal spending on bike infrastructure improvements in the next federal transportation bill.
    An estimated 46 million Americans ride each year, but only 250,000 are affiliated with bike groups, Blumenthal said. “There’s a huge gap between those who like riding bikes, and the number who stand up to tell their mayor or member of Congress that it’s important to develop places to bike that are safe, convenient, and appealing.”
    Blumenthal, meanwhile, still finds time to ride. He’ll take his Fuji road bike for 40 miles up into the hills outside Boulder. He commutes on a Specialized Sirrus and takes his full suspension Trek on single-track in the Rockies.
    In July, he headed for the Pyrenees to ride a leg of the Tour de France, before the racers completed the course. It was a 112-mile jaunt, with 10,000 riders, that ends with a 5,000-foot ascent to the Tourmalet — one of the legendary race’s most grueling climbs.
    “If I can get out for two hours these days, I’m lucky,” he said. “Riding that stage of the tour in ninety-degree weather was super-tough but an amazing experience — as much a psychological test as anything. But, any day I get to ride is a happy day.”

— David McKay Wilson


In the know: Hiking principles



Steve Parker ’74, an avid hiker, skier, and former Boy Scout leader, logged nearly 2,000 miles hiking last year. He mostly hikes in the Pisgah National Forest and trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. If his boots could talk, they’d recount tales of Mount Mitchell in -41° F wind chill, and walking among wild horses at Mount Rogers, Va.
    At Colgate, Steve was a winter sports director for the Outing Club, treasurer of Sigma Chi, and member of the Washington Study Group. He lives in Matthews, N.C., and hikes with his children, Eric, Allison, and Stuart. He shares some tips:

Getting started
First, get a physical and get in shape. Try to walk or run daily, exercise to strengthen your torso muscles, drink plenty of water, and adopt a diet that will lower your Body Mass Index to below 25.
    Hike with a partner or club to make the experience safer and more enjoyable. There are plenty of organizations that can get you started, from the Outdoor Education Program if you’re on campus, to the Appalachian Mountain Club, Adirondack Mountain Club, and the Sierra Club.
    Learn how to use a map and compass, and know first aid. Good reference sources for these skills — even for adults — are The Boy Scout Handbook and The Boy Scout Fieldbook, as well as Backpacker magazine and www.backpacker.com.

Dress for success
Because mountains expose the hiker to rugged terrain and weather that can change in an instant, the right clothing is imperative.
    Boots should be sturdy, properly fitted, and moisture controlled.
    In cold weather, to counter the dangers of sweating and then chilling as well as hypothermia, wear moisture-wicking clothing and dress in layers. In winter, start off slightly underdressed, wearing a wicking base layer against the skin and a hard-surfaced fabric shell and pants as an outer layer to protect against the wind; add intermediate layers as needed. A hat, gloves, and extra socks should be worn to stem heat loss from both the extremities and the body core.

The 10 essentials
These emergency preparedness items should be packed for most hikes: water; pocket knife or multi-tool; first aid kit; trail food; rain gear (including a pack cover); extra clothing; flashlight; fire starter; map and compass; and sun protection.

Hitting the trail
If you’re a beginner, go on hikes organized by a club, park staff, or outdoor equipment store to learn how to gauge your ability, and to plan and execute hikes. Start at a state or national park with well-marked trails of varying ability levels.
    Go online before a trip to find out what parks and routes work well with your skill level, time constraints, and equipment. Learn the disciplines of setting departure, turnaround, and return times and sticking to plans. Leave a copy of your hike plans with a friend or family member and an action plan to follow if you do not return on time.
    Finally, be courteous to animals and the environment. “Make no scents” to attract animals and follow the “leave no trace” principles of environmental stewardship.
    Now, go take a hike!

What do you know? If you’re an expert in an area of your field or avocation and would like to share your sage advice, e-mail scene@colgate.edu or write to the Colgate Scene, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346.


Nabbing criminals down in Belize


Robert Kelty ’95 (right) was interviewed in an episode of America’s Most Wanted for his role in bringing a fugitive to justice. (photo by U.S. Department of State)

Colgate alumni may not be featured frequently on the TV show America’s Most Wanted, yet last winter, Robert Kelty ’95 hit international television as part of the program’s 999th episode. But fear not — he was not one of the featured fugitives. Kelty was on the right side of the law, discussing his role in capturing Robert Snyder, a convicted sex offender who had fled from the United States to Belize.
    Snyder’s capture was by no means the first time that Kelty — a special agent with the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, and regional security officer for the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan, Belize — had helped bring a fugitive to justice. “Of the 136 fugitives worldwide returned by Diplomatic Security” in 2009, explained Kelty, “my office sent back 19 to the United States.”
    In fact, the U.S. Marshals Service honored Kelty and his staff with the Investigative Excellence Award at the 12th Annual International Investigators Conference in May. They were the first Diplomatic Service agents to ever receive the award, which recognized their efforts in locating and capturing another fugitive, Patrick Brown, accused of a 1995 murder in Boston.
    Brown’s case had required a great deal of investigative legwork. “My office initially received information on Brown from our counterparts in San Jose, Costa Rica,” explained Kelty. “Although that lead went cold, we were able to use fingerprint records to confirm that Brown had previously been arrested in Belize, and developed additional leads from that arrest file.” Kelty and his team collaborated with the Belize Police Department to track the fugitive, and on February 5, Brown was finally arrested on a pier in the port town of Punta Gorda, Belize.
    “He was only steps away from the boat that was to take him back into hiding,” recounted Kelty. Instead, “Brown was finally returned to the United States to face justice after fifteen elusive years on the run.”
    Although nabbing fugitives has attracted the spotlight, Kelty’s work features other responsibilities as well. “First and foremost, I am responsible for protecting our ambassador, our diplomatic staff, and the embassy from acts of terrorism, crime, and even natural disasters,” Kelty explained in an article by the Westport News.
    It wasn’t until his senior year at Colgate, when he was a part of the Washington Study Group, that Kelty began to realize what he wanted his career to be. He worked as an intern in Senator Christopher Dodd’s office and with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) while on the study group.
    His experiences and the network he built at the DEA were instrumental in finding his first job with DynCorp, a company doing contract work with the agency. Kelty told the Westport News that since joining Diplomatic Security, he has worked a presidential inauguration, traveled to China with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and was a security officer at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, before the 2004 Olympics.
    Kelty has been at his post in Belize since 2008, but is slated for a move in 2011, although he does not yet know where his new assignment will be.
    “In the Foreign Service, it is impossible to know where you are going to be tomorrow, no less where you are going to be in ten years. So, wherever I am, as long as my wife, Margaret, and my daughter, Rachel, are with me, I am sure life will be great!”

— Jason Kammerdiener ’10


Q & A with Marisa Gard Rastetter ’96, triathlete and attorney

Was it a surprise to see yourself on the fall cover of USA Triathlon Life?
I was totally shocked. I didn’t know until I saw e-mails from friends and my coach congratulating me. It’s definitely an honor.


Cover girl: Marisa Gard Rastetter ’96 in the fall Speed Issue of USA Triathlon Life (photo courtesy of USA Triathlon)
What race were you running in the picture?
The ITU Short Course Triathlon World Championships in Budapest in September.

Did you get to explore Budapest?
Yes, we were in Europe for about two-and-a-half weeks. We started in Barcelona, did the race in Budapest, and then went to Croatia, Montenegro, and Paris. We then flew from Paris to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to race in the U.S. Nationals. I placed tenth, which qualified me for the U.S. team for world championships next year. It’s in Beijing on the Olympic course, so it’ll be an interesting race.

What does your training involve?
I train between fifteen to twenty hours a week. I work out every day and generally do at least two of the three sports in a triathlon. One day a week I’ll do all three. I lift weights twice a week and do pilates one day. When I  trained for the ironman distance — I’ve done Ironman Utah and Ironman Canada — I was training thirty-five hours a week. I was fit!

Would you like to try the Ironman Hawaii?
I am on my quest to get there. I’ve missed qualifying three times by less than a few minutes. One year I got a flat tire; it took me about seven minutes to change my tire, and I missed the slot by one minute and thirty seconds. Another year I lost my energy and fell from first to fourth in the last three minutes of the race — the first three women got the slots.

How long have you been doing triathlons?
I did my first race in 1999 and fell in love. It’s an addictive sport because everybody is on this high after finishing. I moved to San Diego a year later, and one of the reasons is because it is known as the U.S. triathlon capital.

What is one of your racing goals?
For next year, World Championships in Beijing, it would be awesome to be in the top three. So I’ll work on my speed and I’ll focus on my weakness, which is running.

How do you become a faster runner?
It’s basically putting yourself through pain in your workouts and increasing your pain tolerance. And working on technique. I try to run more on the mid to forefront of my foot and lean forward.

What mental preparation do you do before a race?
Weeks before, when I’m laying in bed, I go through each event in my mind. For the swim, I think about my stroke and how it’s going to feel. I even breathe how I’m going to breathe. I visualize running out of the swim and my transition: pulling off the cap, my goggles, the top of my wet suit, running up to transition, putting on my sunglasses, my helmet, clip the helmet. I visualize pushing hard on the bike and my next transition. On the run, I visualize my form and the finish.

What have been some of your favorite races?
I did the Long Beach triathlon; that’s where I grew up. I stayed with my parents, did the race, and I won overall female. That same year, I did the Los Angeles triathlon. I was in the middle of downtown Los Angeles with thousands of people, and I got called up when they announced that I was the overall female winner. That was very special.

What do you do professionally?
I’m an attorney at a nonprofit called the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program. I run a legal clinic for low-income people who have HIV and AIDS.

— Aleta Mayne


AVID educators


(photo by Shireen Hamdan)

They admit it sounds a bit cliché, but Eric Wolf Welch ’94 and Stephanie Pickard ’98 are on a mission to revive the American dream. Chance brought the two alumni together as teachers in the social studies department of J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Va., where they now work to prepare their students to attend college through a program called AVID.
    The school lies on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., serving a student population predominantly from low-income and immigrant families. Nearly 60 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Welch and Pickard recognize that the aspirations at such a school are just as high as anywhere else, but often go without the resources needed for achieving them. “A lot of parents want their children to go to college, and students want to go,” said Pickard, “but they don’t understand how the system works.”
    That is why, five years ago, Welch brought AVID — which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination — to the school. “What motivated me to get into teaching is the same thing that motivated me to bring AVID here,” explained Welch. “I wanted to help kids find their dream.” The program has been implemented in schools nationwide for more than 30 years, and is designed to mentor students who have ambitious college goals but lack the support necessary to reach them.
    Welch coordinates the program at both the high school and middle school in the district, while he, Pickard, and several other instructors teach AVID classes. In those classes, students learn skills like effective note-taking, how to work in groups, and how to plan their high school course load to prepare for applying to college. What makes AVID stand apart from other programs, according to Pickard, is that “AVID is not to motivate kids; they’re already motivated. It is to help those who already have that will, and to teach them the way to succeed.”
    For Welch and Pickard, this means much more than simply teaching an additional course. For instance, they were able to arrange for three of their students to enroll in a mentoring program at the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama. “In March, which is Women’s History Month,” explained Welch, “those students went down to the State Department with Michelle Obama, and got to meet Hillary Clinton at a ceremony about women in foreign policy.”
    “Things like that are about access,” added Pickard. “These are kids who don’t have access to anything, so AVID helps them meet people who provide them with something like an understanding of a government system, or even a letter of recommendation.”
    Maintaining such a program is a constant challenge for Welch and Pickard, who are confronted with very real time and budgetary restrictions as they try to promote opportunities like student trips to colleges, businesses, and college fairs. Their students, however, must contend with the most significant challenges. In addition to the typical struggles faced by teenagers, many AVID students have had to confront tragedies, such as the murder of a family member, eviction, and even rape, as they work toward going to college.
    Despite the monumental struggles the students face, the AVID program in the Falls Church district has a 100 percent success rate in sending graduates to either two-year or four-year colleges — a testament to the efforts of both students and instructors.
    “We have also been trying to promote the liberal arts as a way of holistically educating themselves,” explained Pickard.
    “The kids are tired of hearing me and Stephanie talk about Colgate. Hopefully we’ll get a couple to Colgate at some point,” Welch added.

— Jason Kammerdiener ’10


Soccer pro to doctor-in-training



The oppressive summer heat envelops Glenn Volk ’09 as he squats on the crude concrete floor at a clinic in the Punjab region of Pakistan. Beside him, a mother cradles her lifeless-looking baby, who seems to have barely any strength left to make it through the night. Volk quickly diagnoses the child as severely dehydrated, and administers an oral rehydration solution. Within minutes, the baby begins to cry and show signs of life.
    “It was a humbling experience,” Volk said, looking back on that day. “It makes you feel grateful and very lucky to be born in America.”
    As part of the medical staff of Dr. Eduardo Dolhun and his Doctor’s Outreach Clinic, Volk recently spent 10 days working with Team Rubicon, a humanitarian effort to aid Pakistanis whose homes, livelihoods, and health were impacted by the major flooding that began there in late July.
    But Volk hasn’t been in the medical field for long. After graduating from Colgate, the former captain of the 2008 Raiders soccer team had embarked on a promising professional soccer career. He spent a year in Puerto Rico and then started for the Louisville Lightning during the 2009–2010 season as a midfielder. But then, he switched gears, choosing medicine over soccer when — instead of renewing his contract for 2010 — he accepted a position with Dolhun, a family practice physician in San Francisco who offers a pre-medical internship for post-baccalaureate students planning to attend medical school.
    “It was an uphill struggle to play soccer,” Volk explained. “I still love the sport, and I love to play, but medicine has always been on the back burner for me. It’s great to have the ability to help everyone.”
    In Pakistan, Volk worked alongside Dolhun and Team Rubicon’s paramedic to treat victims of the flooding, administering a rehydration solution called Drip Drop that Dolhun himself, an expert in cholera, developed. The group saw up to 1,000 patients a day, which made it a “challenge just seeing everybody,” Volk said. “We went to places where no medical aid could go. We sometimes had to hike to patients, and it was hard having to leave even though there were still more patients to see.”
    Often, the team had to change clinic locations in the middle of the day due to security concerns, because many places suffered, in addition to the weather, from suicide bombings.
    When his parents sent a picture of Volk at work in Pakistan to his former Colgate geography professor Ellen Kraly, she proudly shared the news of what he was doing with other departments on campus.
    “I miss Glenn every day here in the geography department,” Kraly said of Volk, who had taken her Medical Geography and Disease Ecology course, describing him as “so engaged ... the very best listener, and very kind.”
    Now back in the States, Volk is finishing his medical school prerequisites at the University of San Francisco and plans to take the MCAT next year.
    “I still have some time before that, though,” he said, “so hopefully I can travel some more and help out wherever I’m needed.”

— Elizabeth Stein ’12


Colgate seen

The spirit of alumni sporting their Colgate gear is seen here, there, and everywhere around the globe. Where was your latest spotting? On a Machu Picchu trek? At a mini-reunion in Pocatello? An election polling site in Houston? We’re collecting photos of Colgate sightings around the world. Send them to scene@colgate.edu.


L to R: Kara Culgin ’08, Katie Castino ’08, and Mary Beth King ’08, co-presidents of Colgate’s Washington State Alumni Club, risk getting gobbled up by the Fremont troll under the Aurora Bridge in Seattle.


We bent the rules for Sara Margaret Gilbert ’03 (left) and Eleanor Finnegan ’03, who may not be wearing Colgate gear in this picture of them in Marrakesh, Morocco, but the truck says “Colgate” in Arabic!
 
Maroon'd...
in Maui


(iStock Photo)

Mark Nozette ’71 tries to escape to his home near Makena Beach, on the south coast of Maui, three times a year. Here are his thoughts for travelers:

Beaches… Many of the best, and quietest, beaches are in south Maui, near Wailea and Makena: Big Beach, Kama’ole Beach Park, Makena Landing, and the red sand beach of Onelui. In west Maui, Kapalua Beach is one of the most beautiful. To the north, H.A. Baldwin is spectacular. En route to Hana, the black sand beaches in Wai’anapanapa State Park are truly unique.

Golf courses… Those with the most breathtaking views are in Wailea, Kapa-lua, and Kaanapali.

Day trips… Haleakala’s active volcano, rising more than 10,000 feet, is most spectacular at sunrise or sunset. The trip up, by car or bike, allows a view of upcountry Maui, which is entirely different in climate and topography from the rest of the island. Hana is the epitome of old Hawaii, although the narrow and curvy Hana Highway is a challenge, particularly to complete round-trip in one day. Paia, an old sugar plantation town in Kahului, has shops, galleries, and beaches.

Cuisine… Maui has wonderful restaurants, many specializing in seafood and fusion cuisine. Capische? and Sorrento’s are among the best. Renowned local chef David Paul has returned to open David Paul’s Island Grill in Lahaina. And at the perennial favorite Mama’s Fish House, patrons will sometimes see fishermen carrying in their catch.

Accommodations… The Four Seasons and Grand Wailea in Wailea as well as the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua are world-class. In Lahaina, the Plantation Inn is the island’s leading bed and breakfast, with an excellent French restaurant.

Have tips for people who might be maroon’d in your town? Write to us at scene@colgate.edu and put Maroon’d in the subject line.
 
Shirt tales

God’s Quad Squad



Rhyme-master Mark Shiner, university chaplain and Catholic campus minister, coined the phrase “God’s Quad Squad” during a brainstorming session. Shiner (pictured right) and his cohorts Rabbi Steve Nathan, associate university chaplain and director of Jewish life, and Ann Zinsmeister, office manager, sported T-shirts with the slogan at this year’s orientation to welcome the Class of 2014.
 
My picture of Colgate


(photo by Andrew Daddio)

My absolute favorite place on campus is a spot in the woods way above the buildings. First, go up the road between Frank Dining Hall and West Stillman, pass Chapel House on your right, and then you’ll see the cemetery on your left. Keep going straight to the end of the road. After the cemetery road ends, walk across the old ski hill and keep heading straight. You’ll come to where a stream runs under the hillside. When you reach a wide path that heads to the right, you are on the cross country ski trail that later turns left and runs high along a ridge on the same hill. Before the path turns left, you will see a gully on your right with the stream at the bottom. Go down the slope to the right to reach the stream. In the gully, there are ferns bordering the stream with a tiny waterfall.
You have arrived.
    It is a very peaceful place. I used to spend Easter afternoons there. Winter was most often still in control but was slowly and inevitably losing its power. It was like watching deadly winter die from the slowly approaching reign of the sun, hence symbolic of eternal life, which is the central message of the resurrection and Easter. I would write poetry there while watching the waterfall.
    On the way back to the campus, I would stop and visit Chapel House. You can enter through the large left-hand door to the chapel itself. Or, on a very cold day, I recommend visiting the library with the beautiful fireplace mantelpiece depicting Old Testament stories in bronze. Pick out a good book, something you wouldn’t normally read, and sit by the fire in one of the chairs. Or go in the music room and put on a favorite like Handel’s Messiah. The cares of the world will melt away.

— Jackie Downing Mulrooney ’79


Share your own favorite verbal “picture” of Colgate: scene@colgate.edu or Colgate Scene, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346.