Good Food, Good Word
Each year when parents drop their first-year students off on Mayflower Hill, Dining Services has a display that includes the "Send a Sweet" table, where moms and dads can arrange to have treats sent to students for birthdays, exams, whatever. This year a Class of '06 mother who approached the table said she wasn't interested in sending sweets to her daughter. She had heard that Colby's food service was so good, she wanted her daughter to send food home instead.

Strongest Link
September 12's Morning Sentinel revealed what we already knew: Patricia Crandlemire Murphy (PPD) is not the weakest link. In fact she was the strongest when she won a round of the television show The Weakest Link. The show aired on September 13 on the daytime version of the program, with host George Gray.

Best of the Best
Best Buddies promotes one-to-one friendships between college student volunteers and individuals with intellectual disabilities. This summer the Colby Chapter received Best Buddies International's highest honor at the organization's annual leadership conference in Houston. Congrats and thanks to Laura Shufelt '03 and Jill Wentzel '03, who are carrying the torch for the "Outstanding Chapter" this year, and to Monika Thiele '97, who founded Colby's Best Buddies chapter, Maine's first, in 1995-96.

Turnaround Credit
Chris Arnold '92 got kicked out of honors English in high school but credits "an incredibly strong English department at Colby" for motivating him, according to a profile in the Scarsdale Inquirer. Arnold, now one of 80 correspondents worldwide who report for National Public Radio, took to writing in English classes at the same time he was getting his on-air start at WMHB.

Sign of the Pranksters
August 27, the day that first-year students headed to campus for the rites of orientation, travelers headed north on Route 95 were greeted by a hand-painted banner tied to the Brunswick exit sign. The sign directs motorists to that town's liberal arts college. The banner said: "Colby--the Way Bowdoin Should Be."

Kash, on a Looming Lack of Cash
With the headline "Budget deficit outlook only gets worse," Kashif Mansori (economics) might be credited with helping keep the "dismal" in the dismal science with his September 5 op-ed in the Bangor Daily News. Kash gives a lucid overview of how the federal budget is likely to play out over the next 10 years and concludes: "The bitter truth is that we are probably going to have to scale back the untouchable spending items, as well as reverse recent tax cuts."

Shedding Light on the Dirty War
Ariel Armony (government) had a hand in the State Department's August release of thousands of classified documents that shed light on the grim period in Argentine history known as The Dirty War. Ariel, who is spending this year as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, wrote a section of the Freedom of Information Act request. The release was delayed twice by the Bush administration, and Ariel calls the recent development a "big time declassification." The New York Times reported that the documents detail widespread summary executions, torture, and kidnappings from 1976 through 1983.

Walking with Whitman
There is something about the poetry of Walt Whitman that simply defies a classroom," Karen Karbiener (English) told The Christian Science Monitor in an August 6 article. That's why "Whitman and New York," the class she has taught at Columbia University the past two summers, uses the city as a classroom. On Mondays, Karbiener holds a traditional class on the Columbia campus. On Wednesdays, she roams the city with her students, stopping at landmarks from Whitman's life to read his poetry aloud. "He embraced all of New York," Karbiener says. "He was fascinated with the dirty and the clean."

Mink Frogs Go a-Courtin'
For three years Cathy Bevier (biology) has been studying the calling, territorial behavior and physiology of the small, mottled, mink frogs in a Mercer pond. This summer, she and four students have visited them at 1 a.m. armed with headlamps, chest waders and bug spray. "We want to learn how persistent they are in their aggressive behavior," she said about the male frogs in an August 4 Morning Sentinel/Kennebec Journal profile. "One would assume that the more times they're out in the pond, the better chance they have of finding a female--just like the more nights a guy hangs out at a singles' bar, the greater his chances of picking up a date."

Building Complex
When the renowned architect Benjamin Thompson, designer of Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and Harborside in Baltimore, passed away this month, obituaries in papers across the country noted that he had designed buildings at Harvard, Brandeis, Amherst and Colby. His contribution to Colby was the Hillside residence halls. "It is a wonderful example of its type and time and greatly under-appreciated at Colby," said Joe Feely (PPD). "Possibly the most skillfully sited complex of buildings on the campus."

Wherewolves of London
Lost in London, alums Scott Bixby '01 and Tim Wiswell '01 asked directions from a stranger. The stranger turned out to be Dave Mitchell '04, in the English capital on the CBB-London program. Not only did Dave get them oriented, he put them in touch with economics program faculty director Patrice Franko, who invited them to a CBB Night at the Pub, with host Scott Reed '95. Bixby then resumed his travels around Europe; Wiswell proceeded to Moscow for job interviews.

CCAK Is Model Program
Not only does Colby Cares About Kids provide positive role models for area children, the program is now a national role model for other mentoring partnerships between college students and communities. America's Promise features CCAK's training manuals, guidelines and more at www.americaspromise.org/HigherEducation/tools2002.cfm. "Attachments such as a brochure to market the program to students, applications and background check forms, a mentor training guide and evaluation forms make this a robust tool for any community wanting to solidify its relationship with a neighboring college," the group says.

Sign of the Pranksters
August 27, the day that first-year students headed to campus for the rites of orientation, travelers headed north on Route 95 were greeted by a hand-painted banner tied to the Brunswick exit sign. The sign directs motorists to that town's liberal arts college. The banner said: "Cobly--the Way Bowdoin Should Be."