Neither Rain, Nor Snow...
Sandy Maisel (government), on leave as a Fulbright Fellow in the Philippines, continues the proud Colby tradition of keeping classes despite awful weather. He and Patrice Franko (economics) drove through a typhoon to his scheduled lecture site in October. He had barely begun to speak before a damp audience when the professor in charge elbowed to the podium to say that the commissioner of education had ordered the school closed.

The Numbers Game
The latest edition of the popular Princeton Review places Colby among the best in a number of its ratings, including a third place, behind Washington & Lee and Haverford, for having the "happiest" students. Colby was spotted ninth on the list for "campus cuisine" and for "beautiful campus." The ratings are derived from actual on-campus surveys of random students. More interesting are Colby's rankings as compared to the 10 other colleges in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Here, Colby shared first place for "accessible professors" with Williams and ranked third behind Amherst and Williams for "interesting professors." Other NESCAC comparisons: Quality of Campus Life (2), Overall Academics (4), Admissions (6) and Financial Facts (4).

Tops in Design
The prestigious University & College Designers Association has selected Colby magazine from among more than a thousand entries for its Award of Excellence. Colby, designed by Brian Speer and Leo Pando and edited by Kevin Cool, was exhibited at the UCDA Design Show in New Orleans this past fall. The specific winning entry was the winter '98 issue.

Dana's the Rage
Even though some of us thought a cruise missile might be the only cure for the unpopularity of Dana Hall, this year's amazing renovations have moved the dorm near the top of the student list of good places to live. Underclass residents who endured the noise and dirt of construction last year were given first pick in the new space this year.

Through Hikers
Earl Shaffer, the first to document a "through" hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1948, made a 50th anniversary trip this summer. At age 79, the much-revered hiker ascended trail-end Mount Katahadin in early October and gave exclusive film rights to his climb to two well-known Colby filmmakers, Abbott Meader (emeritus, art) and Jim "Huey" Coleman '70. Eight people, including Meader and Coleman, made the historic climb, but dozens of hikers, having gotten word that Shaffer was on the trail, were at the top to greet them. Shaffer's 1948 hike of the 2,050-mile trail sparked a renewed interest in hiking and maintaining the now-famous Appalachian route. Among those who met Shaffer along the trail this summer was Parker Beverage's (admissions/financial aid) daughter, Clare Beverage, who finished her own AT through-trip from Maine to Georgia.

Museum Partnership
Colby is participating in a unique partnership of six Maine art museums to promote cultural tourism and education by publishing a guide to art museums and resources in the state. The project, conceived and organized by Bill Jefferson (communications), is made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Davis Family Foundation. The partnership includes museums at Bates, Bowdoin and Colby, the Farnsworth Museum, the Ogunquit Museum and the museum at UMO.

PBK Specials
The Colby chapter of Phi Beta Kappa has chosen four students for its prestigious Undergraduate Scholarship Awards. Honored for their "outstanding achievements" at Colby are juniors Sarah Toland of East Orleans, Mass., and Ryan Jennerich of Morganville, N.J., and sophomores Jeffrey Kahn of Guilford, Conn., and Aura Janze of Swanton, Vt.

To Name A Few
Bill Berlinghoff and Tom Berger (mathematics) are co-hosts of a bi-weekly series of Tuesday evening "hootenannies," informal gatherings for folks who want to sing along, play along or just listen to old-style (but not necessarily old) folk songs made for sharing. Ron Hammond (Dean of Students Office) is helping students create a lending library in the Fairchild Lounge of Dana Hall. . . .Bevin Engman (art) had a solo show of 14 paintings at Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery in Kent, Conn., in the fall. Later, she was one of 56 artists selected from among more than 900 to be shown in the Portland Museum of Art's Maine biennial show. . . . Tom Tietenberg (economics) was selected by the United Nations to head a team of economists that will facilitate the implementation of Article 17 (the emissions trading article) of the Kyoto Protocol to the Climate Change Convention. His team wrote a background report to help fill in the implementation details. Moosecellaneous
The Chronicle of Higher Education almanac edition had a blurb about Colby's new Oak Scholarships. It also lists Colby first in Maine under "top fund raisers." . . . The July/August College Store magazine, in a sidebar to an article on Web marketing, lists Seaverns Bookstore as one of 10 "store web sites worth noting." . . . Did you hear about the Jeopardy! contestant who answered "Colby" when asked where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow went to college? Gotta love it. . . . The Fiske Guide to Colleges, which gives Colby a four-star rating, has a largely flattering description in the text ("Colby offers a quality education and a memorable experience, complete with snowball fights, study abroad, stellar professors, and students equally dedicated to learning and having fun.") . . . Descendants of Martin Keyes, for whom the Keyes Building is named, have sent the College the silver trowel used at the building dedication in June of 1948. It had been given to George Averill, board chair at the time, and his wife. It will reside in the Colby archives. . . . You may have seen that Vanity Fair listed Doris Kearns Goodwin '64 on its un-ranked list of the country's 200 "most influential women."