Four Feet Below Zero
It's a rare day when you can't coax a smile out of Tony Marin (PPD), but Feb. 12 was one. Record cold broke a water main; the evidence was a skating pond in Lunder parking lot. A week's worth of probing and pumping in unprecedented cold weather unearthed a broken T-joint up near East and West quads, with water flowing downhill through an electrical conduit that also contained a 12,470-volt cable. Once the breach was identified, on Feb. 20, it took the crew 14 more hours--till 1 a.m.--to make the repair and test water service to more than a half dozen affected buildings. Crew chief Gus Libby credited John McCutcheon, Dale DeBlois, Ralph Corbin, George Lizzotte, Carl Russo, Harvey Fredette, Tony, and a crew from Donald J. Gurney Inc. with the save. No resting on laurels for these guys--the next week Gus and the crew were back at it digging up a water main in front of the PPD offices.

Price Was Right
Anyone see Peter Newberry '03 of Woodland, Minn., clean up on "The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular" Feb. 12? You wouldn't have known he's a Colby senior because, though he wore a Colby shirt to the first day's taping, Bob Barker and Peter's opponents were probably happy that he wasn't still wearing it two days later, when he got to be a contestant. He won $74,787 worth of stuff--a travel trailer and then the showcase, which included two motorcycles and a motorboat. The Baker Scholar, economics and mathematical sciences double major was wearing a Colby sweatshirt when WABI-TV, the CBS affiliate in Bangor, ran an interview with him after his big win.

Amicus Online
Presidents at Amherst, Bowdoin and Colby spearheaded the filing of an amicus curiae brief signed by 28 highly selective colleges asking the Supreme Court not to prohibit consideration of race as a consideration in admissions decisions. The court was to consider the matter April 1 when it heard two cases involving admissions at the University of Michigan. If you haven't seen it, the full brief is available at www.colby.edu/president. It says the colleges have a "compelling educational interest" in enrolling diverse classes.

Obscure U?
The Feb. 16 Sunday Boston Globe carried a long sports feature that asked whether an "undersized linebacker" from "Obscure U." could "make it in the NFL." Eric DeCosta '93 was the linebacker, Colby is the institution and the answer was "yes"--insofar as DeCosta is the youngest director of college scouting in the National Football League. Seven years into his NFL career as a scout, DeCosta was named director of college scouting for the Baltimore Ravens this winter, giving him just three months to get ready for the April 28 NFL draft.

NESCAC Says Nix to News
Last fall when U.S. News & World Report asked colleges and universities for information to rank athletics programs, Bro Adams and other presidents of the New England Small College Athletic Conference schools said "Whoa." In February NESCAC issued a statement in which the presidents raised concerns with regard "both to the validity of such rankings and to their effect in influencing our own priorities." The statement says: "We are strongly opposed to such an undertaking." The presidents unanimously agreed not to provide the information about athletics to U.S. News and asked not to be included in the magazine's assessment. The full statement is available at www.nescac.com.

Caring About Caring About Kids
George Mani '06 and Claire Jimenez '06 were pictured and quoted in the Feb. 9 Morning Sentinel representing 220 student volunteers who venture out to spend a couple of hours each week mentoring youngsters at the Alfond Youth Center and 11 other sites in the area. A single mother whose two kids benefit from time with George and Claire told reporter Colin Hickey that the program and the volunteers have enhanced the lives of her children, "and that brings a smile to her face."

Let Her Be
That's the conclusion of Natalie Harris (English) in an essay she published in the Feb. 14 Chronicle of Higher Education. "‘Let her be.' Three simple words spell out a path so difficult for parents like me to follow, parents who commit the common error of overinvolvement," she writes, relating the advice to teaching, too.

Daisey Doozy
"College exists not as a career path, but as a place where you can discover your passions. Use it that way--don't neglect the opportunity you have to discover what you are truly called to do." We couldn't have said it better ourselves, but that is actually a quote from Michael Daisey '96 in the Jan. 15 New York Post. Daisey, who gained a measure of fame with his one-man show titled "21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ amazon.com," (the book with that title is now available at amazon.com) was interviewed about the importance (or unimportance) of choosing a major. In the article and the book, Daisey talks about the independent major in aesthetics he completed at Colby. For more on Mike Daisey visit www.colby.edu/colby.mag/issues/win02/daisey/.

Two Trustees Re-Upped
Two familiar names were read when the Board of Trustees Nominating Committee made its report in January. Robert Diamond '73 and Douglas Schair '67 both were elected to four-year terms on the board beginning at Commencement 2003. Diamond, who comes to meetings from London, spent nine years as a trustee before the mandatory year of rest last year; Schair, who comes from Falmouth, Maine, spent eight years before his break.

Full Monty Successor
Billy Bush '94, a first cousin to the president and currently a correspondent for "Access Hollywood," is an heir apparent. Not to the presidency but to Monty Hall's role as host of a new generation of "Let's Make a Deal." Billy, who knew something about the full Monty as a student, continues his career in entertainment. NBC is reportedly producing five episodes with him as host and emcee with airtime expected this spring.

Moore on Lovejoy
Greg Moore, editor of the Denver Post, has been tapped and has accepted a term on Colby's Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award selection committee. After 16 years at The Boston Globe, seven as managing editor, Moore was named editor at the Denver Post last year. A long profile in the Nov. 18 Editor & Publisher said he's made history there. "With The Sunday Denver Post & Rocky Mountain News' circulation now at 789,137, Moore's arrival makes the combined Sunday paper the largest in the country, perhaps ever, with an African American as editor."

Students Making News
Tennessee Watson '03, a Jan Plan intern at Maine Public Radio, had a substantial story on Maine Things Considered Jan. 13. She reported that some laid-off workers in Maine can't afford state retraining programs because those programs last longer than federal unemployment benefits. The story is online at www.mainepublicradio.org/search; search for "Tennessee." . . . The December issue of Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener has a cover story on the program "Cultivating Community," which combines agriculture, education and service to promote organic living. The author is Alice Torbert '06, and the writer's credit says she grew up on a small farm in Whitefield, Maine.

Green Intentions
One of four new buildings proposed in the strategic, long-range "Plan for Colby" is an Alumni and Development Center that would give alumni a more central spot on campus and would create new administrative offices to free up room for faculty offices on the academic quadrangle. Currently in design, the center is the first higher education building in Maine registered for the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. The LEED program sets rigorous standards for energy efficiency and environmentally responsible design and aims to combat "greenwashing"--false or exaggerated claims about how environmentally friendly a building is. Buildings earn LEED points for things like recycled building materials, a changing room and shower for bike riders, energy efficiency, and waste reduction. For information about the program and a list of registered projects visit www.usgbc.org.

Getting Ahead
An Environmental Protection Agency Self-Disclosure Initiative was begun last year to help avoid non-compliance penalties through an environmental self-audit and follow up. Bruce McDougal (personnel) recently received word that Colby met all the provisions of the program and, as a result, is now on a low-priority inspection list. So, unless there's some problem, Colby won't be scheduled for an EPA or DEP multimedia inspection until December. Physical Plant Department leaders and staff, science division faculty and staff, other administrators, and consultants worked hard to make this program pay off for Colby. Job well done.