Solid Gold
Colby magazine and its editors received a gold medal for “periodical staff writing” from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Nearly 50 college magazines were entered in the annual competition; only two got the gold. Sixty-three magazines competed for the general interest magazine awards (“for captivating college and university magazines”) where Colby magazine took one of three bronze medals. Congratulate editors Sally Baker (now at Harvard), Kevin Cool (now at Stanford) and Steve Collins ’74 and Bob Gillespie (for a long time, we hope, still at Colby). And, for the overall award, salute designers Brian Speer and Leo Pando.

Making History
The March 22 U.S. News & World Report lists this item as one of the 17 great moments in e-mail history: “September 1983—Colby College becomes one of the first institutions of higher education to assign E-mail accounts to all students.”

Building Bridges
The Bridge invites interested alumni to join their coalition: Gays, Bisexuals, Lesbians, Transgendered and Allies (GLBTA) United. This initiative is part of a trend as students and alumni of colleges and universities across the country are forming GLBTA networks, sponsors
say. The Colby Bridge maintains a home page at http://www.colby.edu/bridge/ (listing events and resources and promoting an understanding of sexual orientation) and maintains an alumni bulletin board at http://www.colby.edu/bridge/bridgealumni.html (providing a forum where alumni and students can discuss their concerns and ideas). Interested individuals may visit the Web pages, call The Bridge office at Colby (207-872-3635) or e-mail bridge@colby.edu. This initiative was organized by Paul Berube ’00, Scott Sophos ’82 Ward Briggs ’73 and Jeff Stone ’73.

Wildlife Sanctuary
Five women from the senior class planned a backcountry getaway for spring break, and folks at Everglades National Park assured them when they reserved Nest Key, “you’ll have the island (eight miles offshore) to yourselves.” Returning to camp from a kayak trip the following afternoon, they noticed a person on the dock. He was naked. About 20 people were milling around, half of them in the buff, some in front of and some behind lights and cameras. It seems some skin magazine (Penthouse or Hustler, they were told) also wanted to get away from it all. Our students were not impressed. They negotiated territorial rights and made the intruders pick up their beer cans before they left. “It was surreal,” said one. “You think you’re in the middle of nowhere; you paddle out to an island and there’s a cooler of Bud Light and 20 naked people standing around.”

Best Remembering
When emeritus professor Bob Reuman died two summers ago, so many former students, colleagues and friends asked, “is there anything I can do?” that his wife, Dorothy, suggested contributions for a Philosophy Department reading group. First semester, two professors and seven students read Philip Hallie’s Tales of Good and Evil, Help and Harm and met weekly at Dan Cohen’s house to talk about it. Second semester the group expanded to 14 and meals were arranged on campus. “It’s been great,” said Cohen. “I expect this to be a permanent part of the Philosophy Department.”

Moosecellaneous Heather L. Davidson ’99 (Lakeville, Conn.) was a two-year recipient of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship for academic excellence in environmental policy studies. She graduated magna cum laude with an environmental anthropology independent major. . . . Ira Sadoff (English) is a Guggenheim Fellow—one of 179 chosen from 2,800 applicants this year, and one of just seven poets among the winners. His latest collection, Grazing, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize last fall. . . . Seniors Jane Chamberlain (Jackman, Maine) and Kerry L. West (Evanston, Ill.) were selected as Teaching Assistants in Austria, a program administered by the Fulbright Commission. Kerry had to decline her award, having already accepted a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship for Germany.

YAHOO!
Colby is once again listed as one of America’s 100 Most Wired Colleges by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine. The College is ranked 57th in the third annual listing, which touts six other NESCAC colleges in the top 100. A note on Colby says: “Professors have access to on-line photo rosters of students, so they can identify who’s snoozing in the back of the class.” Case Western, MIT and Wake Forest took the top three spots.

OOPS!
Those blue outdoor security alarm boxes have been in place for six years and, happily, never used. At least not until late April, when a fifth grader from Belfast couldn’t resist. He later wrote the security office to say he was very sorry and promised that if he ever returns to Colby he’ll behave himself. Getting to the part of the adventure he’ll doubtless long remember, he added: “I have to compliment you on your speed of getting to the scene. It was very fast and the security guard was very understanding.”