Many Medalists
Brian Speer and Karen Oh '93 each have won 1997 bronze medals for their Colby design work from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Brian was cited for his design of the spring 1997 cover of Colby (the Echo cover), and Karen's medal was for her editorial design in the spring 1996 issue of the magazine. To the credit of Anestes Fotiades '89, Keith McGlauflin and others, Colby's Web site received a bronze medal, and the Blue Light alumni news site, managed by Carole Fuller, got a silver.

Timeless
The recent reconstruction of the Miller Library clock prompted library archivist Nancy Reinhardt to search for early items on the timepiece. A January 16, 1953, item in the Waterville Sentinel recalls that the clock faces and hands were installed in 1939, when the library was built, but that its hands were motionless for seven years awaiting the arrival of the operating mechanism. Meanwhile, the hands were fixed at 8 o'clock, the time when daily classes began.

When George Taught Geo
Registrar George Coleman of the Magnificent Mustache recently got an e-mail message from a former student, Sue Turner '66, who remembered having taken Geo 101-02 from George in 1963-64. She said she was "mad" when she entered the course because she had misread the Catalogue but, within two sessions, was "hooked" on rocks and very nearly changed her major. She stuck with Spanish and is now teaching at the College of Charleston. "I realized," she said in her note, "that I had told everyone else how much I loved your class, but I never told you."

Distinguished Indeed
Students' affection for the Senior Class Teaching Award choice was much in evidence May 8, when the 1997 recipient, Paul Greenwood, gave the traditional Spotlight lecture. A large audience of students and faculty (and Paul's parents, as surprise guests) heard the popular teacher exhort the community to establish a student honor code and also to raise consciousness on understanding the importance of preserving the world's ecological system. Paul is the fourth Teaching Award winner, named each year by the graduating class.

Students Honor Staff
Student Association president Josh Woodfork '97 and vice president Graham Nelson '98 paid special tribute to Thelma Plusquellic at the year-ending All College Recognition Luncheon in May. Thelma, who plans to retire soon, has arranged this annual luncheon for many years. She was cited for her devotion to all students and, especially, for her behind-the-scenes help to student leaders. She's been secretary and receptionist and friend of Colby students since 1972.

Viens Is Alumni Director
Margaret Felton Viens '77 has accepted the position of director of alumni relations, effective July 1. A splendid choice. She replaces Sue Conant Cook '75, who has moved on to become associate director of planned giving.

Moosecellaneous
Adam Elboim '97 and East Quad raised nearly $1,200 with their silent auction, all to benefit Waterville High youngsters headed to college. . . . Maineists will want to know that, of the 44 Colby students who earned better than 4.0 averages in the first term, 12 are from Maine. That's 27 percent of a population that makes only 12 percent of the total. Better still, four of seven freshmen with these lofty averages are Mainers. . . . The Chronicle of Higher Education says that colleges that disdain magazine rankings might want to think twice before writing them off. A new study has found that students who use rankings are more likely than their peers to earn top grades.

To Name a Few
Dick Sewell's play The Poet's Notebook will have its world premiere at The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles during the upcoming season. Set in Florence in 1849, the play is directed by Deborah Lawlor. . . . Suisheng Zhao (government) has received a $7,000 grant from The University Professors Program at Boston University to support his work on its Pacific Rim Project. . . . Ira Sadoff (English) will represent Maine in an anthology titled Writing America, to be published by the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA asked Ira to contribute his poem "Pemaquid Point" (from Emotional Traffic, David Godine, 1991) to the anthology, which will include work by one former NEA Literature Fellow from each state.