COA Volume 2 I Number 2 SUMMER 2006 The College of the Atlantic Magazine COA MISSION LETTER FROM THE EDITOR College of the Atlantic enriches the liberal arts tradition through a The house I live in was built as a restaurant, distinctive educational philoso- and some say speakeasy, overlooking the phy-human ecology. A human Penobscot River as it opens onto Penobscot ecological perspective integrates Bay. From time to time, earlier residents come knowledge from all academic back to see the river from our porch again, disciplines and from personal maybe pick some blueberries and reveal experience to investigate, and another story or two. A few weeks ago, the ultimately improve, the relation- granddaughter of the first owner, now in her ships between human beings and 80s, came to show us some old photographs. our social and natural communi- She spoke about the food her grandfather ties. The human ecological served, how he could buy all the produce he perspective guides all aspects of needed from local farmers. For milk, he could rely on the COWS that education, research, activism and grazed on the fields leading down to the river. interactions among the college's Today, that pasture has grown into a tall spruce forest, and the sum- students, faculty, staff and mer restaurant has become a year-round home whose pantry, I must trustees. The College of the confess, is no longer supplied by Stockton Springs farms. Economics Atlantic community encourages, and convenience have streamlined our lives. It means that even in win- prepares and expects students to ter, someone like me can buy tomatoes and spinach on my way home gain the expertise, breadth, from work and have a fresh salad for dinner. At what price? values and practical experience The last issue of COA Magazine included an article about Beech Hill necessary to achieve individual Farm with this statement: "despite transportation costs, organic food fulfillment and to help solve from California is cheaper: the scale is larger and wages are lower." In problems that challenge this issue, in an article about the work of Kerri Sands '02 in helping local communities everywhere. farms with their business plans, Loie Hayes '79 writes, "Without work- ing farms, rural communities wither." COVER: Underlying just about everything else in these pages - Elsie Flemings "Afternoon" by JoAnne '07 writing about her climate change work, the menacing happenings in Carpenter, COA faculty member in art and art history. the novel excerpt contributed by Tawanda Chaibkwa '06, certainly the 2006, oil on canvas, 46" X 42" story about the work of Deb Soule '81, growing and preparing medici- nal herbs through Avena Botanicals, and the inspiring letter from our BACK COVER: new president, David Hales-is the question of how we will choose to "Cows in Vermont: Landscape balance the dissonance implied by these two statements. III" by Coltere Savidge '06, oil on canvas, 18" X 24," was first Donna Gold shown in his senior project exhibit, "Portraits of Cows: A Stockton Springs Study in Oils." Savidge, who is September, 2006 currently working in Vermont, says that through his portraits of COWS in the Vermont land- scape, "I am constantly returned to my home in Vermont, and to the people whose lives revolve around such animals. Cows, that support families by providing milk and beef, take on human qualities on the canvas and further connect me to the Vermont landscape." features COA The College of the Atlantic Magazine Volume 2 Number 2 SUMMER 2006 EDITOR Donna Gold Letter from the president ~ p. 2 EDITORIAL BOARD David Hales talks about human ecology John Anderson Sarah Barrett '08 Inquiring Eyes ~ p. 6 Richard J. Borden Noreen Hogan '91 Journal excerpts from the Watson year of Jennifer Hughes Michelle Lawrence '09 Sarah Drummond '05 EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Bill Carpenter Exaltation Moments ~ p. 10 ALUMNI CONSULTANTS A conversation with David Hales Shawn Keeley '00 by Kelly Dickson, MPhil '97 Jill Barlow-Kelley COPY EDITOR One Last Homework Assignment ~ p. 12 Jennifer Hughes Jeffrey Sachs instructs COA's '06 graduates DESIGN Mahan Graphics An Education for the 21st Century ~ p. 14 PRINTING BY JS McCarthy Printers, Augusta, Maine Don Straus' engagement with human ecology Following Her Joy ~ p. 16 COA ADMINISTRATION Deb Soule '81 and Avena Botanicals by Donna Gold David Hales Kelly Dickson, MPhil '97 President Alice Eno David H. Fischer Kenneth Hill Appropriate Scale ~ p. 20 William G. Foulke, Jr. Academic Dean, Timothy Fuller, '03 Kerri Sands '02 helps preserve farmers, farms and Associate Dean for James M. Gower Academic Services their communities by Loie Hayes '79 Life Trustee John Anderson George B. E. Hambleton Associate Dean for Charles E. Hewett Classic Stillness ~ p. 24 Advanced Studies Sherry F. Huber John N. Kelly The paintings of JoAnne Carpenter David Feldman Trustee Emeritus Associate Dean for Philip B. Kunhardt III '77 Academic Affairs Elizabeth & Peter Loring Making decisions in the best interest of the Andrew Griffiths Susan Storey Lyman institution ~ p. 27 Administrative Dean Life Trustee Suzanne Folds A COA oral history interview with Millard Dority Sarah Luke McCullagh Associate Dean for Sarah A. McDaniel '93 Student Life Stephen G. Milliken Karen Waldron Philip S. J. Moriarty departments Associate Dean for Faculty Phyllis Anina Moriarty William V. P. Newlin BOARD OF TRUSTEES Daniel Pierce Samuel M. Hamill, Jr. Helen Porter Chairman Cathy L. Ramsdell '78 COA Beat p. 3 Trustee Emeritus Elizabeth D. Hodder John Reeves Class Notes p. 36 Vice Chair John Rivers Casey Mallinckrodt Hamilton (Tony) Faculty & Community Notes p. 40 Vice Chair Robinson, Jr. Walter Robinson, M.D. Ronald E. Beard Remembering p. 43 Henry D. Sharpe, Jr. Secretary Life Trustee Leslie C. Brewer Clyde E. Shorey, Jr. Treasurer Life Trustee Donald B. Straus TRUSTEES Life Trustee Edward McC. Blair, Sr. Baobabs in Heaven ~ p. 30 Life Trustee Cody van Heerden Eliot Coleman John Wilmerding Novel excerpt by Tawanda Chabikwa '06 COA is published twice each year for the College of the Atlantic community. Poetry ~ p. 34 Please direct correspondence to: by Sarah Mercedes Boucher, MPhil '06 COA Magazine College of the Atlantic 105 Eden Street Graduation Reflection ~ p. 44 Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 by Salahaldin Hussein '06 Phone: (207) 288-5015 email: dgold@coa.edu www.coa.edu This publication is printed on recycled paper. Chlorine free, acid free manufacturing process.