Colgate Connect - Life of the Mind

Living Writers: New York theme, new online connections
When Colson Whitehead came to campus in September to kick off the fall Living Writers course, his appearance was more of a stand-up comedy show than a public reading.

Colson Whitehead (photo by Janna Minehart ’13)

   The author of Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, and John Henry Days professed that the reason he pursued writing as a profession was because he “didn’t have to wear clothes” or “talk to people.” He said he felt his hands were not suited for hard labor because they were thin and feminine. He also spoke about the difficulty of garnering an audience, proclaiming that he felt like a “microbe in the butt of a gnat trying to catch the attention of an elephant.” Persson Auditorium was filled with people — and laughter — while approximately 60 others watched Whitehead through a live webcast.
   Winner of the MacArthur Fellowship and numerous literary prizes, Whitehead shared a guide for how to become a writer. Only later did the audience find out that the advice was actually a short piece he had written and was not to be taken seriously.
   This year’s course highlights authors whose works are set in New York. “We decided to conceive of the local in terms of the idea of New York — whether New York City, downstate, or upstate,” said professor Jane Pinchin, who co-teaches the course with Jennifer Brice.
   In addition to the undergraduate course, the professors for the first time are teaching a version called LW Online. Nearly 70 parents and alumni signed up for interactive forums — both virtual and in person — that have examined the works of four of the semester’s 10 authors: Whitehead, Michael Cunningham, Andrea Barrett, and Jennifer Egan.
   The four LW Online book club discussions are being webcast live, with the professors fielding questions from participants through a phone-in system. And, while a participant blog is providing an online forum for continued discussion, the personal connections have not been forgotten. LW Online participants were invited to come to Hamilton in November to sit in on the undergraduate course, attend a public reading by Cunningham, and then have dinner with the author of The Hours. At a second event, in New York City in December, participants will again meet the faculty members and each other.

Living Writers professors Jane Pinchin (left) and Jennifer Brice field calls during an online book club. (Photo by Janna Minehart ’13)

    For Brice and Pinchin, another exciting element of LW Online has been learning about family connections and ties to the Living Writers course, which was started by novelist and Colgate English professor Frederick Busch nearly 25 years ago. G. Martin Brogan ’73, who lives in Syracuse, and his daughter, Jane Brogan ’02, who spends a lot of time in New York City working on the World Trade Center project, joined the class together. Two women who took the Living Writers course just last year — Cecelia Menchetti ’11 and Molly Binenfeld ’11 — also signed up to take part in LW Online as alumnae.
    Visit www.colgate.edu/livingwriters for the schedule, more information, and to watch live webcasts of the public readings. Also, check out the Living Writers@Colgate Facebook page to participate in the online discussion.

Colgate Forest will offset university’s carbon footprint
Chile’s Aysén Region of Patagonia will be home to the Colgate University Forest, the result of a 15-year commitment to purchase carbon offsets from Patagonia Sur. The 225,000 native-species trees, planted on 430 acres of land, will offset approximately 5,000 tons (about one-third) of Colgate’s present carbon footprint. The agreement is part of the university’s push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance sustainability.

(photo by iStock/renelo)

   Colgate is the first of 12 universities that will ultimately comprise Patagonia Sur’s University Conservation Circle. In addition to carbon offsets, the arrangement also provides the university with a research site for students and faculty, and a place to collaborate with member universities on research as well as the development of sustainability initiatives.
   Patagonia Sur is a for-profit company that “invests in, protects, and enhances scenically remarkable and ecologically valuable properties in Chilean Patagonia.” It was founded by Warren Adams ’88, who also created PlanetAll, the first social-networking website, which was acquired by Amazon in 1998. After traveling to Patagonia, he was motivated by the region’s incredible natural beauty to apply his business acumen toward acquiring, conserving, and protecting large tracts of pristine land there, culminating in the 2007 establishment of Patagonia Sur.
   The pact between the company and the university is just one part of Colgate’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, submitted to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in September. Colgate’s goal is to become carbon neutral by 2019 (the university’s bicentennial), through 27 proposed on-campus projects.
   For purposes of the ACUPCC, climate neutrality is defined as having no net greenhouse gas emissions, to be achieved by minimizing those emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions.
   “Our aggressive time frame makes sense in terms of good global citizenship as well as Colgate’s academic mission,” said President Jeffrey Herbst, “and it is also fiscally responsible.”
   Of the plan’s $8.1 million one-time implementation cost, $7.3 million is earmarked for a future, necessary upgrade of Colgate’s aging heating plant that will ultimately eliminate consumption of fuel oil #6 on campus and lower the university’s annual heating expenditures.
   The innovative plan also includes several low-cost, high-impact strategies to encourage behavior changes in offices and residence halls. It suggests the purchase of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, potential use of wind and solar power, adaptive computer power management, and increased on-site composting.
   Many of the ideas in the plan were investigated by Colgate faculty, students, and staff, particularly through the committees and subcommittees of the Sustainability Council. Carbon-reduction strategies were researched in courses such as Community-based Study of Environmental Issues and Global Change and You. In addition, 10 groups involving more than 100 students actively promote sustainable practices on campus.
   John Pumilio, Colgate’s sustainability coordinator, organized the yearlong planning effort, which followed the compilation of a comprehensive university-wide inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, and involved dozens of community members.

Alien earthworms invade
It’s hard to imagine the common earthworm as an “alien invader,” but those near Colgate are not native to North America, and it’s been found that they could be harmful to the environment. The presence of exotic earthworms has led to a host of potential concerns, including a change in the carbon and nitrogen cycles as well as the accelerated breakdown of organic material on the forest floor surface. These changes often reduce habitat for animals, decrease nutrient availability, and contribute to soil erosion.

(photo by iStock/Maria)

   Colgate professors and students have been working to better understand the spread of exotic earthworms in the region. Most recently, geography professor Peter Klepeis and his former student, Dara Seidl ’10, have published a study in the journal Human Ecology that helps uncover the human dimensions of earthworm invasion. It has since garnered the attention of BBC News and many other media outlets.
   Setting the stage for Klepeis and Seidl’s study, in 2009, biology professor Tim McCay and his team explored how soil characteristics in the Adirondacks — the largest unbroken temperate forest in the world — affect the incidence of invasive earthworms. McCay’s research, published in the Northeastern Naturalist, confirmed his hunch that people are key players in the earthworm story.
   McCay called on Klepeis to take a closer look at the role of humans, who have been identified as the main culprits of earthworm dispersal. People spread earthworms both inadvertently — via horticulture, land disturbance, and in the tires and underbodies of vehicles — and voluntarily, through composting and the improper disposal of fish bait.
   Despite humans’ negative impact on forest ecology, a survey by Seidl and Klepeis showed that only 17 percent of residents in Webb, N.Y., (located in the western Adirondacks) know that earthworms in the town are exotic invasive species. In fact, the use of earthworms in gardening and composting is perceived as beneficial to ecosystem services, and using worms as fishing bait is part of the region’s culture.
   The authors concluded that mitigating the introduction of exotic earthworms in the Adirondacks requires not only information campaigns about the problems they cause, but also efforts empowering people to change their behavior, such as the provision of non-live bait and proper disposal methods of unused earthworms.

Summer research: Hamilton to Ethiopia
Summer in Hamilton tends to be more dormant than the academic year, but this past summer, tucked away in laboratories and library corners, Colgate students were making life-changing discoveries as they assisted professors with their research. Here’s a glimpse into a few of those pockets of campus:

• It’s the size of a bread box, runs on 9-volt batteries, is about the weight of a cell phone, and could help home owners conserve energy. This device in development at Colgate will detect the R-value, or thermal resistance, of wall insulation. Michael Michonski ’12, the fourth in a series of students who has been part of the project, is researching the device’s accuracy, stability, mobility, and consistency in Professor Beth Parks’s physics lab, and in homes around Hamilton. Michonski is continuing his summer research for his senior physics project.

Michael Michonski ’12 tests a prototype of a device that measures the R-value of a wall to determine the effectiveness of the insulation in this Hamilton home, while his adviser, Professor Beth Parks, looks on. (photo by Andrew Daddio)

   Colgate has submitted an application to patent the technology, which Parks hopes to license to a local company that could manufacture it for homeowners.

• The background and behavior of a water utility director in California, compared to that of one in New York City, may impact the utilities we use. Ted Carey ’13, Noah Goldberg ’12, Louisa Jelaco ’13, and Onnalee Kelley ’12 assisted political science professor Manny Teodoro with research on water utility management. Teodoro is studying the backgrounds, experiences, attitudes, management, and political behavior of utility administrators in order to advance knowledge of utility leadership and what factors help utilities succeed.
   The students contacted and interviewed scores of CEOs and directors of utility companies about their work and positions. The first-of-its-kind study, sponsored by the Water Research Foundation, asked questions relating to how effective the executives feel in doing their jobs and about their career paths. An online question-naire followed the interviews. Later, the students coded all of the answers and identified patterns in the data.
   Teodoro has been conducting on-site interviews at various locations around the country and plans to present the study’s results at a conference next year and in a published report.

• The forests in northern Ethiopia are disappearing as the country develops its agriculture. So, striking a balance between Ethiopians’ livelihoods and preserving biodiversity is the challenge, said Lindsay Shepard ’12, who has been assisting religion professor Eliza Kent.

   Professors Catherine Cardelus, Tsega Etefa, and Peter Scull are collaborating with Kent on an interdisciplinary project to develop an educational conservation program in partnership with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC).
   “The EOTC has done some impressive sustainability efforts with preserving the forests and the indigenous trees,” Shepard said, explaining that such efforts gain support from the church’s theology. Google Map images showing the churches encircled by small patches of lush forest, which are surrounded by vast areas of brown farmland, bring Shepard’s point into focus.
   Shepard also looked into the ways in which ecotheology is incorporated into various indigenous groups’ belief systems and gauged how receptive the community would be to sustainability and forest conservation efforts.
   The hope is that the Colgate team’s work will inform northern Ethiopian community members how they can most effectively maintain the patches of indigenous forest protected by Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

President Herbst’s summer intellectual travels
It was a busy summer for President Jeffrey Herbst, who was pursuing intellectual opportunities and contributing to conversations on global affairs.
   In July, Herbst was among a group of university presidents around the nation who visited Israel to participate in a program sponsored by Project Interchange, a nonprofit educational organization that brings opinion leaders and policy makers to Israel for learning. The 17-member delegation of university presidents met with their executive counterparts at institutions including Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, and Al-Quds University. They received in-depth briefings on research initiatives and discussed opportunities for academic exchange. Because the program also addressed complex issues facing Israel, the delegation met with senior government officials, including Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
   Teeing up his forthcoming book, Herbst co-authored an article on ForeignPolicy.com that explores the causes of mass violence within nations. The article, titled “The Fault Lines of Failed States: Can social science determine what makes one state fail and another succeed?” was posted in August. It suggests that while every country and societal division is unique, there are three critical issues that can determine the prospects for conflicts within a nation: governance, democratization, and globalization.
     Herbst and co-author Greg Mills, director of the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation, explore these issues in an attempt to answer why some countries can manage societal divisions while others are plunged into violence by these same kinds of fault lines. The authors and longtime collaborators participated in a yearlong project with other experts who examined the nature of conflict and the role that these fault lines play — in countries including Africa, India, Yemen, Brazil, and Iraq. The result of the research is a book, edited by Herbst, Mills, and Terence McNamee, called On the Faultline: Managing Tensions and Divisions Within Societies, which is due out in January.
   Then, in September, Herbst shifted his focus to another area of the globe. Editors at the New York Times invited him to weigh in on an important issue regarding the internationalization of higher education: How can American scholars and universities maintain their academic freedom when interacting with China? The story was well-timed: 18 Chinese students arrived this fall as members of the Class of 2015, the largest contingent from that country in Colgate’s history. According to the Times, there are more undergraduates studying in the United States from China than from any other country in the world.
   “American universities should aggressively defend academic freedom while actively engaging with China,” Herbst began. He called on American diplomats and elected officials to protest restrictions on academics who have been stymied by the Chinese, and to highlight “the negative effects on China in setting up barriers for academic research and exchange.” On balance, he added: “We should also seek to improve America’s own good but not perfect record in allowing critics to visit our country.”
   Read about and comment on the debate at www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate.

Colgate hosts campers from around the globe
Hundreds of talented athletes and musicians from all over the world got a taste of college life at Colgate — from residence hall living to communal meals at Frank — last summer. Campers came from such countries as Singapore, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Guatemala, and the Netherlands.
   The Eastern U.S. Music Camp returned for its 36th successful season. Musicians of all levels, ages 10–18, honed their skills in campus practice rooms and studios, and performed for the public at Brehmer Theater.
   Colgate also hosted SoccerPlus, a renowned and rigorous camp for 11- to 17-year-olds. The camp’s CEO and founder, Tony DiCicco, currently coaches the Boston Breakers of Women’s Professional Soccer and has an international following. SoccerPlus drew approximately 200 participants from 12 nations for each of the two weeks it was on campus. With 2,984 fans, the organization’s Facebook page was abuzz with reports of fun and challenging times at Colgate.
   Finally, the All American Lacrosse Camp brought 80 male and female athletes to campus between June 26 and July 13. Twenty players from Manchester, England, joined participants from across North America.
   “The appeal is the community,” said camp director Bill Hardy. “It’s safe, clean. You turn on the lights in the stadium and look down the valley… It’s just a beautiful place.”
   Ian Murphy ’10 was one of several athletes who played for the Raiders after attending the All American summer camp, and Hardy predicted that others may have a similar goal.

Syllabus

WRIT105/FSEM148: Colgate Talk
Margaret Darby, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric
MWF 9:20 a.m., Lathrop 401

Course description: A number of people, both professionals and students, hold jobs that require speaking and writing about Colgate University. This course for first-year students samples writings that consider Colgate as both theme and organizing principle. The topic for discussion is Colgate itself — its real events, controversies, and ideals — and, at the same time, the individual student’s response to Colgate in light of the past. Students learn how to analyze texts through traditional rhetorical questions: What intellectual claims are made? What values are attributed? What audiences are addressed? Students develop new powers of persuasion by studying the interaction of language, autobiography, others’ points of view, and local cultural knowledge.

On the reading list: Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference; David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen, Writing Analytically; the Colgate Scene; www.colgate.edu; and the Colgate Maroon-News

Class visitors: People who write and speak about Colgate for admission (staff and student tour guides), communications, advancement, and the Maroon-News.

Homework: Students must prepare a piece of writing for nearly every class meeting.

The professor says: “This course teaches students how to use writing to think more effectively. Its goal is the student who habitually says, ‘OK, that’s what I wrote in my rough draft, but what do I really mean?’ Its reward is a useful strategy for saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Not easy, but satisfying — and fundamental to an elite education.”

Live and learn

Last summer, I had the pleasure of helping to run a pilot youth camp on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe. Other participants were Maggie Dunne ’13, Kelsey John ’13, Brenton Um ’11, and Lauren Miller ’11.

We went as representatives of Maggie’s nonprofit organization, Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrichment Project (LPRCEP). Pine Ridge is one of the most impoverished U.S. counties, so there are very few enrichment opportunities for children.

With monies from fundraisers, individual donors, and the university’s Native American Studies Program, we worked with representatives from the National Indian Youth Leadership Project (NIYLP), Wings for America, the Oglala Sioux Housing Authority, and Re-Member, to bring a modified version of NIYLP’s Project Venture to 8- to 13-year-olds from the reservation.

Activities during the five-day camp ran the gamut from archery, softball, kickball, and mural painting, to hikes through the Badlands and discussions with Lakota elders. These activities brought out the best in the campers, who were enthusiastic about all of the activities and really came out of their shells. By the end of the week, it felt like the kids were virtually running the camp, as evidenced by their excitement to set up impromptu games.

We worked long, hard days to keep the campers engaged, and in the process, we learned valuable lessons about the children — and ourselves. It took a lot of perseverance and faith to ensure the camp was enjoyable for all.

All three graduates agreed that the camp was a fantastic capstone to our Colgate careers. Meanwhile, I’m envious that Maggie and Kelsey can take this experience back to campus to share it with classmates and professors.

— Will Cawthern ’11