Win Rate Up
Strong evidence of Colby's growing popularity is found in a recent
survey that refutes an outdated opinion that Colby often loses admission
candidates head-to-head against top college competitors. The survey shows that
Colby takes 61 percent in direct competition with Bates, 29 percent with
Bowdoin, 16 percent with Williams, 17 percent with Wesleyan, 78 percent with
Trinity, 25 percent with Middlebury, 71 percent with Hamilton and 72 percent
with Connecticut College.
Admissions Smasher
When Colby received 278 round-one early-decision applications last year,
most thought it was a record that would stand for awhile. Not so. Admissions
dean Parker Beverage reports that this year's round-one action, which
closed November 15, reaped 305 applicants, an astonishing new high. Round-one
ED applications have nearly tripled since 1992, when 111 were received. And, at
this writing, the number of regular admissions applications appears headed for
yet another record.
Ah, Sweet Victory!
It's hard to say how good it felt to savor December's 2-1 victory over
Bowdoin in men's ice hockey. In recent years, the Polar Bears rarely have met
defeat in Alfond Arena. Better still, some 80 former Colby players were on
hand to observe the 40th anniversary of the opening of the rink and, the next
day, to duel in an alumni game. And we can be proud of the Colby student fans
who behaved themselves after a handful spoiled the match by repeatedly throwing
objects on the ice during the 1994 home match with Bowdoin. Salute student
leaders and lots of administrators who laid careful plans to insure good
conduct.
Salute Scholars
A tip of the mortar boards to the four winners of Phi Beta Kappa
Scholarship Awards, presented by the local chapter and awarded on Family
Weekend. They are Heide Girardin '97 (Jay, Maine), Noah
Owen-Ashley '97 (Essex Junction, Vt.), Brigette Krantz '98
(Springfield, Mo.) and Emilie Archambeault '98 (Sunnyvale, Cal.).
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We Don't Stay Home
Colby is second among all of the nation's colleges and universities in
the percentage of students studying abroad. A survey by the Institute of
International Education published by The Chronicle of Higher Education
shows Colby, with 18.6 percent of its students enrolled in foreign programs,
topped only by Carleton College, at 20.2. In actual numbers of students in
study abroad programs, Colby ranks third among the top 15 undergraduate
institutions with 318 students, behind St. Olaf College with 454 and Carleton
with 386. The only other NESCAC colleges listed in the top 15 are Bates (15.3
percent), Middlebury (14.6 percent) and Bowdoin (13.2 percent). The most
popular destinations of all U.S. students studying abroad are, in order, the
United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Germany. Nationally and at
Colby, far more women students (63 percent) study abroad than men.
Cornering the Market
Debra Spark (visiting professor, English) has been named the 1995
recipient of the John C. Zacharis First Book Award for her novel, Coconuts
for the Saint (reviewed in Colby, April '95). The award, funded by
Emerson College and named for the college's first president, honors the best
debut book published by a Ploughshares writer, alternating annually between
fiction and poetry. Last year's award for poetry went to Colby's Tony
Hoagland for his work, Sweet Ruin.
Moosecellaneous
Gene Chadbourne of the physical plant department has uncovered the
original plan, dated October 19, 1939, for the Sloop Hero weather vane atop
Miller Library. It was drawn by the master architect for the Mayflower Hill
campus, J.F. Larson, in a three-inch-to-one-foot scale. Sheathed in copper, the
finished vane is 10 feet wide and seven feet tall. . . .
The Colby Museum of Art has met the rigorous standards of accreditation by the
American Association of Museums. The label will give the museum enhanced
international credi-bility and professional standing.
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Web Weaving
The number of visitors to Colby's World Wide Web site has increased
dramatically over the past year. This year's use is 10 times that of the year
before with nearly half (48 percent) of the traffic from off campus. Folks have
been looking in from every state and 60 foreign countries, including Argentina,
Croatia and Indonesia. Most popular are pages for the library, admissions,
alumni, communications, WMHB, the Echo, math and computer science,
chemistry and religious studies. Several hundred candidates for the next
freshman class filed applications using the Internet.
To Name a Few
Dean of Faculty Bob McArthur has been named to the board of
overseers of the State of Maine Bar. . . . Paul
Machlin (music) recently was interviewed by ABC News (New York) regarding
the collection of Fats Waller tapes that's been donated to Wesleyan. Paul has
been doing some research and work on this
collection. . . . Associate Dean of Students Jan
Arminio is co-author of a research article in the January issue of the
Journal of Student Personnel Administrators. . . .
Margaret Viens '77 has been promoted from assistant to associate
director of annual giving. . . . Karen Bourassa's
new title as Manager of Scheduling and Facilities will better identify her role
to the folks who arrange the hundreds of special meetings and events that take
place on campus every academic year.
Drama Pioneer Feted
Gene Jellison '51, director of dramatics at Colby for a period shortly
following his own graduation, recently was honored by the Performing Arts
Department, marking the occasion of his 45th Colby reunion year. Mark
Benbow, Roberts Professor of English Literature, Emeritus, prompted the
special recognition. Mark recalls that Gene laid the ground work for the late
Irving Suss in giving high visibility to drama at Colby. The
department dedicated its recent production of Hamlet to Gene and honored
him at a dinner prior to the November 30 performance.
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