Out of the Blue for Parents, August 2009

Colby Tweets; Become A Follower
Twitter, one of the fastest-growing social networking sites, now offers regular tweets from Mayflower Hill. Sign up to follow Colby by visiting Twitter.com, clicking "find people," and typing colbycollege (you must be registered). Colby posts short (140 characters, max) updates referred to as "tweets" about everything from big events on campus to alumni in the news. It's an almost effortless way to keep up with your alma mater.

Students, Sustainability, and Video
A project spearheaded by Steve Erario '10 is making Central Maine more sustainable in five areas: local food, education, waste, energy, and transportation. Watch a five-minute insideColby video about the project. For the second year, Colby students are growing produce in the Student Organic Garden and bringing it to the campus dining halls (video). This year the garden was moved to Runnals Hill to make room for a wider range of produce (video).

Research Retreat at The Forks
More than 100 students stayed at Colby this summer conducting research with faculty mentors. In late July 70 of these students and 17 professors retreated to The Forks, Maine, for a daylong research symposium featuring student talks and poster presentations. After dinner Scott Murchie '81, a planetary geologist at the forefront of Mars research, discussed the possibility that water, or life, might have existed on the Red Planet. Day two of the retreat offered a choice of whitewater rafting on the Kennebec River with Rob Peabody '96, owner of Crab Apple Whitewater, or a hike led by Associate Professor and Department of Biology Chair Russell Johnson. A list of student presentations and abstracts are available online.

Holly Hauls In A Dizzying Grant
Associate Professor of Mathematics Jan Holly received a $200,000 grant—her second from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—to continue her research on the inner ear and the issues of dizziness and imbalance. The grant will allow her to hire more students and perform more experiments. Read more in the Morning Sentinel.

Colby Runners Dominate
Colby alums and current students teamed up to win the Around Mount Desert Island Relay July 4. Dan Vassallo '07, Bob Glotfelty '08, John Waller '07, and Chris DeRoo '09 were joined by Ben Ossoff '10, Mike Bienkowski '10, Katrina Gravel '10, and Will Supple '11 from the current Colby cross country teams. More. ... In the San Francisco Marathon's second Half Marathon, July 26, Jessica Minty '06, a standout in women's track while at Colby, placed third with a time of 1:17.48. Minty runs professionally for ZAP Fitness ... In the Beach to Beacon 10K run August 1 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, which attracts some of the best runners from around the world, Colby cross-country runner Mandy Ivey '10 placed 5th among Maine women.

Webb of Malarial Knowledge
When CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° was putting together a program on malaria, Eliza Browning '02, who works on the show, thought of Professor of History James Webb and the review she had read in the summer 2009 Colby magazine of his new book, Humanity's Burden: A Global History of Malaria. Browning, who called Webb "one of my favorite former professors" asked Webb if he would contribute to the show's Web site—and the piece now appears online.

September Events
Two events loom in September. Welcome to the City events will take place September 9 in 14 U.S. cities and in London and Tokyo, introducing young alumni to their new cities and to fellow alums who inhabit them. Details will become available soon. Family Homecoming Weekend is early this year—September 25-27—and will include the second annual tailgate competition at the Colby-Williams football game. See an up-to-date schedule of events and register online.

Alum at Center of Uighur Controversy
Jeff Daniels '00's documentary film The 10 Conditions of Love about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer is in the spotlight after a Chinese official tried to yank it from the Melbourne Film Festival. The Uighur people, Muslims in western China, are concerned about their culture being subsumed by the Han Chinese. Daniels said in a GuardianUK blog, "Ironically, the one country that wants to silence my film gave it press I could never afford." Read about the controversy in his blog post, Picturing the Plight of the Uighurs.

Parents of Alumni Set Two New Records
Colby went to parents with a budgetary challenge, and parents did their part toward filling the gap by contributing $977,375 to the Colby Fund for Parents. The participation rate of current parents was 33.8 percent, and the rate for parents of alumni was 29.3 percent. Parents of alumni set two new records, increasing the dollars raised by 13.2 percent and the number of donors by 11.9 percent. Colby parents have much to be proud of. We cannot thank you enough for making gifts—large and small.

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