Last spring, Nancy Lowry '94 orga- nized a lecture series on the theme of "Spirituality and Human Ecology" for her senior project at College of the Atlantic. Steven Rockefeller, professor of religion at Middlebury College, was COA NEWS the second speaker in the series. We are pleased to be able to print his talk, "Walking in Beauty." The lecture WINTER 1994/1995 COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC BAR HARBOR, MAINE series was supported by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council. "Walking in Beauty" by Steven C. Rockefeller Any comprehensive program of environmental studies includes an inquiry into environmental ethics and the religious dimension of life. Conversely, the study of ethics and the spiritual life is incomplete without consideration of the inter- dependence of people and the non-human realms of nature. In this essay, my primary con- cern is the role of religious experi- ence in shaping human attitudes toward nature and in enriching human life by deepening the inter- action between people and nature. I would like to approach this topic through an initial discussion of environmental literacy. Environmental Literacy A good general definition of envi- ronmental literacy is found in a recent report of the National Commission on the Environment, which was formed by the World Wildlife Fund under the leader- ship of Russ Train. In the report, entitled "Choosing a Sustainable Future," environmental literacy is defined as "the knowledge, skills, and ethical values" that citizens need in order to cooperate in achieving sustainable development and environmental protection. (1) In this definition there are three elements of environmental literacy. An intellectual under- PHOTO: JIM COLANDO standing of ecology and related fields is not enough. One needs Missa Gaia: This Is My Body, etching by Judith Anderson. Gaia is the ancient Earth Mother continued on page 6 Goddess. In the artist's vision, all creatures come from and return to Gaia. President's Message 2 Carpenter's "A Keeper of Campus Highlights 21 INSIDE: Sheep" 11 Saving Species 3 New Dormitory 24 Art and Computers 14 China and Russia Linkups 5 PLUS: Gubernatorial Tributes 16 Professor Gains Senate Seat 6 Debate Photo Spread News Notes 18 12-13 COA News The Newsletter of College of the Atlantic Winter 1994/1995 A Message from the President PRESIDENT Steven K. Katona On Wednesday, September 7, 1994 President Steven Katona welcomed College of the CHAIRMAN OF THE Atlantic's largest incoming class. In his convocation speech, President Katona spoke of the suc- BOARD OF TRUSTEES cesses the college has enjoyed, but also of the challenges that continue to face the institution as Edward McC. Blair it heads towards the 21st century. DEAN OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Karen Cadbury College of the Atlantic began as an effort by concerned citizens from the Bar Har- bor community to bring increased intellectual diversity, environmental awareness EDITOR: Carl Little and economic stability to Mount Desert Island, while still maintaining the island's WRITERS: Kelly Sheets Dickson, special nature and quality of life. Nancy Stevick, lan Helfrich, Carl Little, Etta Kralovec Mooser, The design, purpose and function of this college were unusual, even discomfort- Patti D'Angelo ing. College of the Atlantic had no reputation and it was not clear how its unique degree, a B.A. in human ecology, would be regarded. The college-not just the peo- Special thanks to Karen Cadbury. ple who comprised it, but the institution itself-declared that all was not well in the COA News is published three world and that it was the responsibility of the faculty and students to help "fix" the times a year. It is circulated to problems. alumni, students, parents, and friends of Fixing was needed at the institutional level, where traditional colleges separated College of the Atlantic. knowledge into isolated departments and disciplines. Fixing was needed at the orga- PRINTER nizational level, where theoretical knowledge was imparted unilaterally and hierarchi- Downeast Printing cally from professor to student, with different genders, ages or races often receiving and Graphics disparate portions. And most important, fixing was needed at the ecological and DESIGNER environmental level, where the status quo was producing an alarming range of prob- Z Studio lems that seemed to be accelerating in number. Now, 23 years after the College of the Atlantic first accepted these challenges, the institution, its faculty, staff and students remain committed to the college's origi- COA's logo: nal goals and ideals. By all indicators, including general reputation, rankings in col- What does it mean? lege guides, student satisfaction and achievement, faculty accomplishments, improvement in facilities, successes of graduates and attainment of financial stabili- ty, the college is flourishing. More than ever before, our institution has gained friendship, support and cooper- ation from the communities on Mount Desert Island, throughout the state of Maine and elsewhere. At the same time, our students and staff have gained the respect of Mary K. Eliot designed the colleagues in academia. COA logo in 1971 using pre- Christian symbols found in the The college has achieved a great deal in the years since 1972, and now rests on a Book of Signs. considerably more substantial foundation. Even so, students and teachers who elect to come here still need a bold, pioneering spirit to help put knowledge to work in h new ways. In addition to continuing ongoing programs, we hope to blaze important new is the symbol for tree trails together, including finding better partnerships between economics and ecology and participating in the developing environmental justice movement. We will also strive to communicate our findings more effectively and convincingly to each other, for humans and to our colleagues and to the general public. That is a tall order for all of us and for this institution, but I am confident in our potential to live up to these challenges. Good luck to all of you and thanks for all that for the ocean. you will contribute to College of the Atlantic and the island community during the The three signs are intertwined coming years. in a circle symbolizing the earth and the universe. printed on recycled paper COA NEWS 2 WINTER 1994/1995 Saving the Species: Are We Doing It Right? By Anthony D. Marshall This essay was adapted from a lecture given by Anthony Marshall on October 27, 1994, at College of the Atlantic. Mr. Marshall is the author of the recently released Zoo (Random House). He is a former American Ambassador to Kenya, the Seychelles, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Trinidad and Tobago and the Malagasy Republic. Mr. Marshall also served as the American Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environmen- tal Program in Nairobi. Currently Mr. Marshall is a contributing editor to Condé Nast Traveler Magazine, specializing in wildlife. He is a trustee of a number of educational and cultural institutions, including Brown University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Lincoln Cénter, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American University of Paris. He is vice presi- dent of the Vincent Astor Foundation in New York City. During his visit to the college, in addition to presenting a public lec- ture, Mr. Marshall gave a presentation to students in Steve Ressel's invertebrates class. In fifty years we may have no rain forests. Fifty-three acres of rain forest are lost every minute. Rain forests cover only two percent of the earth's surface, yet they are home to nearly fifty percent of all living things. When species are lost, they are gone forever. The question of species survival is toyed with in conversation, but for the most part it is left to scien- tists-and to future generations-to con- sider seriously. This situation cannot be Man plays God allowed to continue. We must focus on whether he selec- the loss of wildlife and habitat now. tively "saves" Early man, wobbling back to his cave one animal out from the hunt would pick up a sharp PHOTO JON HATCH '95. of a species or rock and, raising it to the wall, make lines-and animals. The Lascaux cave attempts to save drawings dating from 14,000 B.C. are an Anthony Marshall addressing Steve Ressel's invertebrates class in from extinction example of man's first effort to "save" the McCormick Lecture Hall. species-for his visual collection. a whole Collections of live animals date back Man plays God whether he selectively "saves" one animal out of to 4500 B.C. in Persia. About 1100 B.C., a species or attempts to save from extinction a whole threatened threatened or the Chinese built a 900-acre walled park or endangered species. Man claims his superiority, citing lan- endangered for Emperor Wen Wang in the province guage and rational thought, as well as self-awareness. of Ho Nan. This park featured deer, Yet man, the decision-maker, is somewhat careless as to the species. goats, antelope, birds and fish. In the sec- concerns of his own species. Today an estimated 300 million ond century A.D., Roman Emperor Tra- indigenous people in 70 countries are endangered. Over the past jan had a menagerie of 11,000 animals. 100 years, 90 of Brazil's 270 Indian tribes have become extinct. The Aztec Emperor Montezuma created America's first If homo sapien is careless about the survival of his own species, botanical garden in what is today Mexico City. The garden was what care is he taking about saving other species? The choice of staffed by more than 300 people and was populated with pumas, which species should board today's ark is highly discretionary, cougars, snakes and crocodiles, which were kept in cages. limited and often arbitrary. In some cases, we are willing to Medici Popes established a menagerie in the Vatican. Philip spend millions to save one species, such as the condor, which will VI of France started a collection of animals at the Louvre, and cost an estimated $17,000,000 to rescue. England's King Henry I put lions, leopards and camels in a ZOO On the other hand, we know we cannot save all of the plan- in Oxfordshire. They were transferred to the Tower of London et's animal and plant species, estimated to number 33 and a half during the reign of Henry III, where they remained until 1828. million, of which 1,392,485 are identified animal species. Accord- In that year the London Zoo became the first "scientific" zoolog- ing to Edward O. Wilson, environmentalist and entomologist, the ical park. total species population could be as high as 100 million. Opening in 1874, the Philadelphia Zoo claims to be the first Invertebrates, creatures without a backbone, account for 97 zoological park in the United States, although the Central Park percent-perhaps 99 percent-of all living animal species: we Zoo in New York City opened in 1873, and Chicago's Lincoln don't know how many of them actually exist. Also unknown are Park Zoo's records give its opening as 1868-with two pairs of the number of hyperthermophile species in the world. These are muted swans received from the Central Park Zoo. These and mid-water creatures, bacterial microorganisms, which live in hot other early ZOOS were created to amuse the public; there was very water chambers below the earth's surface. little scientific, conservation or educational interest. Mid-water creatures have drawn the attention of the Mon- continued on page 4 COA NEWS 3 WINTER 1994/1995 Marshall, from page 3 terey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Monterey has been Aquariums are also beginning to pay more attention to educa- putting money and effort into exploring the sea's middle depths tion. The Monterey Aquarium's project LIVELINK, scheduled to where hitherto unknown animals live. Among them is the Praya, start up in 1996, will include an Open Ocean exhibit featuring sci- a colonial siphonophore, which can grow to a 130-foot length, entists at work. An interactive program will provide live broad- longer than the blue whale. casts of images to the aquarium's auditorium from a remote oper- We have hardly begun to explore the sea which accounts for ated vehicle (R.O.V.) operating to depths of 3,300 feet on a 4,000- 99.5 percent of our globe's volume. We don't know how many foot-long tether cable accompanied by an optic cable. The R.O.V. species we are losing: there are so many we have never even will collect video images, which will then be sent to a surface ves- known. sel and microwaved up to 70 miles from the ship to relay stations, which in turn will send a relayed signal to the auditorium-live, The aim of conservation should be not to prevent change, but for public viewing. Eventually, satellite capability could provide rather to permit evolution to take place through natural selection. LIVELINK to an even broader audience. Questions arise. Why try to save any animal or plant species in At the Seattle Aquarium, the State of Puget Sound exhibit danger of becoming extinct? For national pride, for economical, was created to improve public understanding and appreciation political, cultural or religious reasons? Should we conserve of Puget Sound and the North Pacific's living resources by dis- because a species is scarce or endangered, or for moral reasons? playing, interpreting and studying the world's aquatic systems. Is the choice of saving so-called "umbrella" species, such as the Salmon are bred and then released down the aquarium's salmon elephant, or "flagship" species, such as the golden-lion tamarin, ladder into the sea. greater pandas and rhinoceros, a proper one? In 1981 the American Association of The emphasis for all National and international conservation programs are critical to species survival. Zoological Parks and Aquariums The goal of Wildlife Conservation Society (A.A.Z.P.A.) initiated the Species Survival wildlife conservationists International (W.C.S.I.), the conservation Program (S.S.P.), "a strategy for the long- arm of the Wildlife Conservation Society term survival of certain endangered ani- mals on an international basis." These should be on habitats: on (formerly the New York Zoological Soci- ety), is to save "fragments of nature." The programs are oriented around master society has 220 projects underway in 64 plans for each taxon, providing institu- ecosystems. countries, ranging from a $1,000 project in tion-by-institution and animal-by-animal Panama to $1 million program to save the recommendations. Currently there are 72 Brazilian rain forest. Sixty percent of all S.S.P.s, which hope to save 100 animals by the year 2000. W.C.S.I. projects are focused on the rain forest. Zoos can be a tool for teaching conservation. Zoo Atlanta Saving the species: are we doing it right? We have some had a ten-fold increase in visiting student groups between 1988 good ideas, but most animal collections rate a failing grade, and 1989, which was attributed to teachers' changing perception except for an increasing number of American Association of of the ZOO as an educational resource rather than just a place to Zoological Parks and Aquariums-accredited ZOOS and aquari- have a break from classroom routine. ums. If accreditation becomes more universally required for One of the highest priorities at ZOOS must be to teach teach- zoos, then the A.A.Z.P.A. could aggressively establish a unified ers. At the Bronx Zoo, there is a rain forest, "Jungle World," a position for standards governing captive wildlife collections. huge building housing everything from millipedes to proboscis They could also strengthen their primary mission as education monkeys from Borneo, where mechanical logging of mangrove and conservation organizations. forest habitat threatens to squeeze out the remaining 2,000 pro- There are six regional ZOO associations in the world, of which boscis population. The jungle lab in "Jungle World" is a facility the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums is set up to teach teachers, where they may hold classes with but one, with a membership of 164 accredited ZOOS and aquari- wildlife surrounding them. ums out of the world-wide total of 1,200. The association also The Minnesota Zoo has a behind-the-scenes tour, which oversees several Species Survival Programs for breeding, and offers a choice of three topics: conservation (with examples of there are ten other breeding programs world-wide. In order to local and global wildlife); animal behavior (how does a wolf pack deal with the wide range of issues concerning species preserva- determine leadership?); and animal management (seeing how tion, far greater coordination is needed among all of the zoologi- applied science solves management issues in captive environ- cal organizations than exists at the present. ments). The emphasis for all wildlife conservationists should be on In 1989, the St. Louis Zoo opened "The Living World," an habitats: on ecosystems. Unless we conserve, preserve and education center, which combines high technology and live ani- restore nature, all species are endangered. College of the mals, presenting a unified view of how life evolved. "The Living Atlantic joins research-such as is undertaken by Allied Whale- World" is an impressive mass of computer stations, interactive with the need to preserve habitat. Faculty, students and video systems, films and numerous species of live animals. researchers at the college have concluded that most environmen- Teachers at St. Louis Zoo's Conservation Learning Academy tal problems stem from human actions and behavior, and they produce their own course work. For example, from the master are right. menu for a library jukebox console containing 70 VHS tapes and We must not continue to nibble at our environment as a 72 discs, teachers can create their own original tape and place mouse does cheese. We should take action to "save" what is material from the console in any sequence they wish. good for our world, not what we selfishly-or arbitrarily-think An increasing number of ZOOS are speeding up their focus on is good for us. Wildlife is losing its struggle to survive in the education by creating new facilities and establishing new pro- wild. Humans must now act constructively. Zoos and aquari- grams. College of the Atlantic's emphasis on teaching the teach- ums have a major role to play in educating the public and in ers of tomorrow brings together this combination of fact and providing creative answers to some of the dilemmas of conser- purpose. vation. COA NEWS 4 WINTER 1994/1995 College of the Atlantic Establishes Link with China College of the Atlantic Philosophy Pro- fessor John Visvader and Academic Dean Richard Borden were recently invited by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to give presentations on sustainable development and human ecology at a conference held in Beijing, China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has established an Asia-Pacific center for human ecology training. Visvader and Borden attended the academy's first sum- mer training institute, which included a two-week certification course on sustain- able development. The course was attend- ed by Chinese professionals, urban and regional planners, educators and govern- ment officials. Visvader, Borden and Luc Hens, director of the human ecology program at the Free University of Brussels, were the principal foreigners giving presentations. The institute is linked to "China's Philosophy faculty member John Visvader and Academic Dean Richard Borden in China. Agenda 21," a white paper on the coun- try's population, environment and devel- fields became of interest to the Chinese Borden's presentation highlighted the opment in the 21st century. The agenda when Dr. Rusong Wang, the academy's development of human ecology as an was adopted in March 1994 by the Peo- director of systems ecology, visited the educational, research and applied per- ple's Republic of China. The Academy of college in 1992. spective worldwide. He also spoke about Sciences plays an important role in pro- the ways in which College of the Atlantic viding ecological planning advice on a Professor Visvader's background is in phi- has been using computer-based technolo- variety of large-scale projects, such as losophy of science and human ecology; he gies such as Geographic Information Sys- developing a sustainable development is also a student of Chinese philosophy. tems (G.I.S.) to facilitate regional partici- plan for northern China and the creation His presentations in Beijing focused on pation in development planning. of a 500-square-kilometer nature and the relationships of Eastern and Western "There seems to be intense interest recreation area in the Guangdong views of science, ecology and technology. in the uses of human ecological Province. "I see this collaboration as a wonderful approaches for planning the future of The academy has begun to train peo- opportunity to get our students involved in China," said Borden. "It was an honor ple in ecological applications, the use of the pioneering environmental planning for us to be invited to take part in the new technologies and the development of that is now taking place in China," said Vis- creation of this scientific and policy pro- methods of collaborative regional plan- vader. He believes that the development gram." He noted that discussions about ning. College of the Atlantic's local, state plan formulated by the academy will be an student and faculty exchanges with and international programs in these influential model for the 21st century. China are now underway. and with Russia In November 1994, a group of 21 researchers, scientists and edu- demic Dean Richard Borden, a member of M.E.T.E.P.'s board of cators from Russia came to College of the Atlantic to take part in directors, spoke on the psychology of environmental decision- a "Risk Assessment and Environmental Management" seminar. making; J. Gray Cox, faculty member in political economics, led a The three-day intensive event was sponsored by the United States workshop on "Reaching Agreements on Risk"; Isabel Mancinelli, Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.), the Academy who teaches community and land use courses, lectured on growth for Educational Development (A.E.D.), the Maine Education and management and regional planning; and Ted Koffman, the col- Training Export Partnership (M.E.T.E.P.) and the college's Cen- lege's director of government relations, gave an overview of the ter for Applied Human Ecology (C.A.H.E.). College of the Atlantic's ECO/ECO (Economics and Ecology) The Russians represented a number of organizations, includ- Forum and the Maine Environmental Priorities Project. ing the Moscow Medical Academy, the Industrial Ecology Insti- Chemistry professor Donald Cass discussed case studies of the tute and the Russian Cities Union. Laboratory directors, senior role of chemistry in risk assessment, and Gordon Longsworth researchers, doctors and teachers were among the participants. '91, director of the college's Geographic Information Systems The course provided the basic information for understanding (G.I.S.) laboratory, demonstrated the use of overlay technology the process of risk assessment. Participants learned the use of this in community decision-making and planning. tool for establishing environmental policy and developing envi- The Maine Education and Training Export Partnership course ronmental regulations. Case studies and field visits provided a lasted three weeks. College of the Atlantic worked in partnership context for the practical application of risk assessment for the with Robert G. Gerber, Inc., a geological engineering firm locat- management of the environment. ed in Freeport, and Medical Care Development in Augusta to Seven members of College of the Atlantic's faculty and staff present the workshop. gave presentations and led discussions and group workshops. Aca- COA NEWS 5 WINTER 1994/1995 Walking in Beauty, from page 1 practical training and competencies that include problem-solving skills and the social and political skills that are necessary to get things Caring for the Environment done. This line of reasoning leads to the concept of caring for the environ- An environmentally-literate citizen also needs a clear set of ethical ment. The notion of "caring for" carries with it the connotation of values that begins with a respect for nature and includes intergenera- vital concern and personal relationship. It also suggests protecting, tional responsibility, protection of biodiversity and a commitment to nurturing, tending and healing. These attitudes and values are essen- live sustainably. tial if human beings are to halt the degradation of the environment, The formation of a social conscience governed by an informed help restore the damaged ecosystems and protect biodiversity. sense of what constitutes responsible behavior in relation to the envi- These observations suggest that the imperative to "respect and ronment is of critical importance to any strategy for addressing the care for the community of life" is a very good first principle of envi- growing ecological ills that afflict the planet and our society. Human ronmental ethics and sustainable living. In addition, religious experi- behavior is governed to a large extent by the attitudes of people and ence may deepen the attitudes and feelings of respect and care in a the values about which they really care. Scientific knowledge, new way that can profoundly affect human behavior. Under the impact of technologies, government regulation, green taxes and international religious experience, respect may become a reverence for life and agreements all contribute to the process of changing human behavior. care may become a strong sense of responsibility rooted in an attitude However, ethical reflection and religious experience are also needed of compassion and love for all beings. in order to achieve a major social transformation that has a clear, cre- Indeed, a good argument can be made that religious experience is ative and life-affirming direction. the ultimate source of the attitudes of respect and care, which are regarded by many as the cornerstone of environmental ethics. The Expanding the Idea of Community environmental movement is strengthened when it is rooted in person- In discussing what religious experience can contribute to the cause of al religious experience and supported by institutional religion as well environmental protection and restoration, it is helpful to begin with as good science. It is no accident today that a growing number of the moral imperative: "Respect and care for the community of life." environmental activists are turning to retreats with a spiritual orienta- (2) This is the first principle of the International Union for the Con- tion in order to cope with burnout and to deepen their vision and servation of Nature of the United Nations Environmental Pro- commitment. (3) gramme's World Conservation Strat- egy. The emphasis on "the commu- Natural Religious Experience nity of life" in this principle gives the the awakening What kind of religious experience has the power to generate World Conservation Strategy a very respect and care for the larger community of life, and to deepen important holistic and global per- of faith is not so these attitudes into reverence and compassion? The kind of experi- spective. ences that are affective in this regard may be designated as various Moral values reflect what people much the result forms of faith experience. However, it needs to be made clear that judge to be good and bad in human behavior. In general what people of grasping intel- faith experience is not limited to the institutional religions. I am con- cerned primarily with what may be called natural religious experi- view as morally good is behavior that lectually some ence. protects and sustains the community The religions do not have a monopoly on the religious dimen- or communities to which they spiritual or sions of life. Institutional religions may help to awaken, nurture and belong and upon which they are direct the natural religious sensitivities and sentiments in people, but dependent for their survival and moral truth as of religious experience can and does blossom quite apart from any insti- well-being. By referring to the whole community of life-not just the being touched tutional framework. What is distinctive about personal religious experience is that it human community-the ethical prin- and grasped by involves the deeper center of human personality, and it engages the ciple underlying the World Conser- whole person-feeling, thought and will. This deeper center is called vation Strategy indicates that the truth. the heart in the Bible and the heart-mind in much Asian thought. humanity is part of nature and that Furthermore, the awakening of faith is not so much the result of the community to which people grasping intellectually some spiritual or moral truth as of being belong embraces the whole bio- touched and grasped by the truth. Intellectual analysis may contribute sphere. This expansion of the idea to the experience, but it is not the whole of it nor the essence of it. In of community implies a radical the act of faith, the whole self is possessed by the object of faith in a extension in the scope of moral con- fashion analogous to the way the beauty and wonder of the beloved cern and responsibility. possesses the heart of a lover. For example, regarding the experience The verbs "respect" and "care" that led him to his ethic of reverence for life, Albert Schweitzer com- are also important terms in this ethi- ments: "True knowledge consists in being gripped by the secret that cal imperative. At a minimum, everything is will-to-live... (4) respect involves showing regard and The thinking of Aldo Leopold, the early ecologist and founder of consideration. In the World Conservation Strategy, it also connotes a contemporary environmental ethics, was radically transformed by sense of the inherent worth or value of the community of life. Just as watching "a fierce green fire dying in [the] eyes" of a wolf that he had respect for persons implies regard for their rights, so respect for the foolishly shot as a young forest ranger.(5) This was not primarily an community of life implies acknowledging that humanity has certain intellectual experience. Leopold's whole being was gripped by a new basic, moral responsibilities for protecting the biosphere. awareness that led him to begin, as he put it, "thinking like a moun- In part these responsibilities grow out of the moral obligations tain," that is, holistically. people have to other people and future generations. However, if Leopold's experience with the wolf has a religious quality and other life forms possess intrinsic value quite apart from their utilitari- power; it was, in a sense, a conversion to the earth. As described in an value to people, then they may be said to have certain rights of the book The Home Planet, many of the American and Russian astro- their own which people should honor. It is the task of environmental nauts also underwent a kind of conversion to the earth as a result of ethics to clarify these rights. COA NEWS 6 WINTER 1994/1995 seeing our planet from outer space.(6) preserve the heritage of the past for The experience of being grasped often strikes a person as an The Navajo call future generations. insight or revelation, but it is not knowledge in the strictly scientific The Vietnamese Zen master sense. It may, however, be a direct realization of aspects of reality for this harmony Thich Nhat Hanh has an effective which science is no substitute, just as a scientific understanding of a with nature way of trying to awaken children to a Mozart concerto is no substitute for the direct and immediate experi- sense of interdependence, which he ence of enjoying Mozart's music. No amount of scientific information nizhoni- hopes will lead to natural piety. He is a substitute for actually looking into the fierce green eyes of a wolf passes out tangerines or oranges, but or seeing an Earthrise from the moon. (7) "walking in before he permits the children to bite into the fruit, he asks them if Two Aspects of Religious Experience beauty." they can see the tree on which the Keeping these reflections in mind, it is possible to distinguish two fruit grew, the sun that warmed the general aspects of faith experience which are significant for environ- tree, the blue sky that held the sun, mental ethics. On the one hand, there are direct appreciations and the rain that nourished the tree, the mystical intimations of belonging to the universe and of the presence workers who picked the fruit, the of the sacred that awaken feelings of gratitude, humility, trust, peace, truckers who shipped it to the mar- courage, joy and caring. On the other hand, there is the moral aspect ket, etc. Then he invites the children of religious experience-the experience of being grasped by and com- to bite into their fruit. (12) mitted to a unified vision of the moral ideal that deepens the sense of We are in the universe and the purpose and meaning in life and strengthens the sense of caring and universe is in us. This is the meaning of interdependence. Thich Nhat responsibility. These two aspects of religious experience interconnect Hanh wants us to feel this truth as well as think about it. He suggests and overlap. that we begin our meals with this meditation or prayer. Regarding the first or mystical aspect of faith experience, one can find many examples drawn from both Eastern and Western tradi- In this food, tions. While the majority of the examples cited in what follows are I see clearly the presence from nineteenth- and twentieth-century sources, some are from much of the entire universe earlier historical periods. The citations reflect various dimensions of supporting my existence. religious awareness and different ways of expressing them. When the meal is finished, he suggests that we might recite: Being a Part of Nature First of all, there is the direct realization of being a part of nature, The plate is empty. involving a profound sense of belonging to the larger totality, which My hunger is satisfied. is the Earth and, beyond that, the great dynamic process that is the I VOW to live cosmos at large. for the benefit of all beings.(13) An ancient Navajo chant goes: Humanity and nature are interdependent and our destiny is to be The mountains, I become part of it.. sustained by, and to be sustaining members of, the larger earth com- The herbs, the fir tree, I become part of it... munity as well as the human community. "Walking in beauty." The morning mists, the clouds, the gathering waters, I become part of it. An Expansion of the Self The wilderness, the dew drops, the pollen.. Another closely related religious theme concerns the way that the I become part of it. (8) sense of belonging often leads to the liberating feeling of an expan- sion of the self. For example, the seventeenth-century Japanese poet As religion scholar Joseph Epes Brown points out, chants such as Bunan (1602-1676) writes: these are designed to bring the participant to the realization, "I am the universe. We are not separate, but are one." (9) To live with this The moon's the same old moon, awareness in harmony with nature is the objective of Navajo spiritu- The flowers exactly as they were, ality. The Navajo call it nizhoni-"walking in beauty." (10) -Yet I've become the thingness A Sioux prayer concludes: Of all the things I see! (14) Grandfather Great Spirit The American philosopher John Dewey points out in Art as Expe- Fill us with the Light. rience that objects of aesthetic beauty are pervaded by a qualitative Give us the strength to understand, unity that has the power to awaken in people a heightened sense "of and the eyes to see. belonging to the larger, all-inclusive, whole which is the universe in Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives which we live." This sense of unity, he argues, explains "the religious to all that live. (11) feeling that accompanies intense aesthetic perception." Dewey writes: Living with this expanded sense of family involving a feeling of We are, as it were, introduced into a world beyond this community with all life is "walking in beauty." world which is nevertheless the deeper reality of the world in The sense of belonging to a community with a larger whole may which we live in our ordinary experiences. We are carried out be expressed in the form of what the American philosophers George beyond ourselves to find ourselves. I can see no psychological Santayana and John Dewey called "piety toward nature." Santayana ground for such properties of an experience save that, some- described piety as "reverent attachment to the sources of how, the work of art operates to deepen and to raise to great [humanity's] being," including family, ancestors, country and the clarity that sense of an enveloping undefined whole that whole natural cosmos. Piety toward nature includes feelings of inter- accompanies every normal experience. This whole is then felt dependence, respect, gratitude and a high sense of responsibility to as an expansion of ourselves. (15) COA NEWS 7 WINTER 1994/1995 Walking in Beauty, from page 7 An Ecological Self hypothesis. This theory, advanced by two scientists, James Lovelock What Dewey has described is an experience of what some environ- and Lynn Margulis, argues that the Earth functions like a single living mental philosophers like Joanna Macy call the ecological self.(16) being with its own From the ecological perspective, there is no sharp separation of self consciousness and and world. The truth is continuity, not dualism. The self is in the The consciousness of intelligence. Gaia was world and the world is in the self. Each being is both a unique individ- the name of the ual and also interrelated with the other beings that constitute its envi- the sacred is an awareness ancient Greek Earth ronment. Each being is a unique expression of the totality, which Mother Goddess, and involves a fourteen-billion-year-lon process of cosmic evolution. of a reality that is at Lovelock and Mar- This realization can lead to a profound sense of identification gulis make the point with the larger world as has been movingly expressed by the Aus- once mysterious, awesome that the Earth is, in tralian conservationist John Seed. He writes: and wonderful. fact, an indivisible ecosystem that is a As the implications of evolution and ecology are superbeing. internalized there is an identification with all Such ideas life Alienation subsides 'I am protecting the rain regarding the Earth forest' develops into 'I am part of the rain forest pro- have been one reason tecting myself. I am that part of the rain forest recently for the revival of emerged into thinking. '(17) interest in ancient Goddess traditions, Some environmental philosophers refer to the ecological self as especially those the Great Self, and they also envision the entire world as one's which identify the extended body. The eleventh-century Chinese Confucian philosopher Earth with the body of the Goddess, and the mind and heart of the Chang Tsai gave moving expression to this view in the following dec- Goddess with the governing principle of the Earth. One leader of laration of his faith: the contemporary Goddess movement, Starhawk, writes in a poetic vision: Heaven is my father and earth is my mother, and even such a small being as I finds an intimate place in Earth mother, star mother, their midst. Therefore, that which fills the universe I You who are called by regard as my body and that which directs the universe a thousand names, I regard as my nature. All people are my brothers and May all remember sisters, and all things are my companions.(18) we are cells in your body and dance together. In this statement one finds a profound sense of belonging to You are the grain nature, natural piety, an expansion of self and a sense of community and the loaf with other beings. That sustains us each day. Turning to another theme, for those in the Neo-Platonic tradi- You are the embrace that heartens tion-like the Romantic poets and American Transcendentalists-the And the freedom beyond fear experience of belonging to the whole was expressed in visions of Within you we are born, nature as an organic unity pervaded by one great divine Spirit and in we grow, live and die- exquisite feelings of oneness with the infinite life of this organic total- You bring us around the circle ity. For example, the early nineteenth-century English poet to rebirth, Wordsworth writes in "Tintern Abbey": Within us you dance Forever. (21) And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with joy Cosmic Trust and Mystical Faith Of devoted thoughts, a sense of sublime Another important aspect of the mystical side of faith is cosmic trust Of something far more deeply interfused, or a profound sense of the meaning and value of life coupled with Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, inner peace. One finds this cosmic trust expressed in Starhawk's And the round ocean and the living air, poem when she writes that the Goddess is "the embrace that heart- And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; ens/and the freedom beyond fear." A motion and a spirit, that impels John Dewey found that his natural piety and mystical sense of All thinking things, all objects of all thought, belonging to the whole reconciled him to the tragic side of life. Para- And rolls through all things.(19) phrasing the King James version of the Book of Job, he wrote: "We know that though the universe slay us still we may trust." (22) Mystical faith includes the experience of the Great Yes to life aris- In the same spirit, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of the "Over- ing in the human heart in spite of all the suffering and evil that can soul," the heart of the universe, within which all beings are contained overwhelm the human spirit with fear and despair. It is precisely the and interconnected. He asserts that, "We live in succession, in divi- letting go of egotism, the expansion of the self and the unification sion, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the with the larger whole that sustains the Great Yes to life and gives men whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and and women courage, faith and peace. particle is equally related; the eternal One." (20) Abandoning egotism and letting go may appear frightening, like falling into an abyss, but it is the way of liberation. This is well illus- The Goddess Earth trated in a story that I once heard from a Pure Land Buddhist priest. The idea of nature as a living organic unity pervaded by intelligence In the course of crossing the Pacific Ocean on a freighter, a sailor fell and spirit has been revived today in scientific garb by the Gaia overboard. No one saw him fall into the sea, and when the other COA NEWS 8 WINTER 1994/1995 sailors discovered what had happened, they figured it was too late to of the sacred lead to expressions of ethical concern and responsibility. rescue him. However, when the accident was reported to the Captain, As Schweitzer's thinking is further explored, it is appropriate to focus he insisted on returning to look for the sailor, even though eighteen attention specifically on another general aspect of faith experience, hours had already elapsed. the moral side. The boat reversed course and returned across the ocean. To everyone's astonishment, they found the sailor, lying on his back in The Moral Dimension the water sound asleep. He was rescued and brought to the Captain's The moral dimension involves being grasped by and committed to a quarters. The Captain asked him how he had managed to survive for unified vision of the moral ideal. When such a faith is so deep as to thirty-six hours in the ocean. The sailor responded: "When I fell into have the effect of unifying the self and creating a profound sense of the sea, I watched the boat disappear. Losing all hope, I surrendered harmony between self and world, it becomes religious in quality, myself to the deep, and I was held up." generating a distinctively religious sense of meaning, purpose and This tale about losing all hope is a story about breaking free of the peace in the midst of life's busyness and turmoil. The moral life is prison house of the ego with its fears and of achieving union with the fully developed in and through the emergence of such a religious Great Mystery that Buddhism calls absolute nothingness and Emerson moral faith. terms the Eternal One. It is a variation on the Easter theme of the The nature of the moral ideal changes and evolves with history. paradoxical relation of death and new life. However, the attitudes of love and compassion have been a persis- tent universal theme for thousands of years in great religious moral An Awareness of the Sacred visions. Much of the meaning of this ancient theme for life in the Finally, as some of the passages cited indicate, when these various twenty-first century will be found by developing our understanding mystical intuitions and intimations are fully developed, they awaken a of democratic and environmental ethical values. Schweitzer's philos- sense of the sacred, which is a distinctively religious awareness. The ophy of reverence for life is a good place to begin on the environ- consciousness of the sacred is an awareness of a reality that is at once mental side. mysterious, awesome and wonderful. The sacred is not a thing or being among the other things that make up the universe. For this reason, it defies objectification and conceptualization, and when we speak about it, we must use imagina- tive vision, poetic images, symbols and metaphors. However, if we are prepared and open, it can touch and take possession of our hearts, making itself known. It can reveal itself in and through sunlight on water, in the night sky and in the midst of intense struggle when we are faithful to the truth. Or it can speak to us in the silent depths of our own being when we have withdrawn our attention from the busy- ness of the world to listen with inward concentration. The awareness of the sacred is a consciousness of the divine. The sense of the sacred is especially important for environmental ethics insofar as nature or certain aspects of nature are viewed as sacred or directly related to the sacred. Underlying every ethical sys- tem there is an immediate sense of the presence of value, of some intrinsic good, some end in itself, which merits and commands respect, restraint and care. This immediate sense of value is deepened by religious experience into the sense of sacred presence, that is, something mysterious, awesome and wonderful before which a human being feels compelled to respond with reverence, humility and gratitude. ART The world religions all share a sense that there is something sacred about persons, and respect for the dignity of persons is as close to a universal human value as there is, even though it is sadly too often not practiced. Some religious traditions have found the presence of the sacred in all life forms, and within many religions there are traditions that affirm the inherent goodness and sacredness of the entire creation. It is such traditions that provide a religious foundation for environmental ethics. With respect to the kind of religious experience that we have been considering, the sacred is often identified with the mysterious source of the universe, out of which it has emerged, within which it is contained and by which it is sustained every moment. Even though it is transcendent in certain respects, the sacred is also immanent. It sur- Steven Rockefeller is the author of. John Dewey: Religious Faith rounds us, and it is within us and all beings. and Democratic Humanism and co-editor of Spirit and In this regard, Albert Schweitzer's philosophy of religious experi- Nature: Why the Environment Is a Religious Issue. He ence and his ethic of reverence for life are especially important. recently served as a member of the National Commission on the Schweitzer, who was a master musician and physician as well as a Bib- Environment. lical scholar and philosopher, found the sacred in the mystery of life Professor Rockefeller is a member of the Governor's Council of wherever it appears. For Schweitzer, to belong to nature is to be part Environmental Advisors in Vermont and of the Commission on of a great cosmic process pervaded by a sacred mystery that is mani- Environmental Strategy and Planning of the International Union fest in the flowering of life in all its many forms. for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. He is pres- The sense of belonging, the expansion of the self and intimations ident of the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor, Maine. COA NEWS 9 WINTER 1994/1995 Walking in Beauty, from page 9 Albert Schweitzer's Reverence for Life moral life can fuse with the mystical, and the secular can be integrat- For Schweitzer, the discovery of the sacredness of life begins with ed with the sacred. inwardness and self-knowledge, with an encounter with the awesome The words of Father Zossima, a Russian Orthodox priest in Dos- and wonderful mystery of life within oneself. When a person has toevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, provide a fitting conclusion to these been grasped by the sacredness of the spark of life that is his or her reflections. Zossima counsels: inmost being, Schweitzer contends, he or she will spontaneously begin to feel sympathy for the suffering and struggle of other living Love all God's creation, the whole and every grain beings. If, then, a person chooses to affirm and to nurture this of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. impulse, a reverence for all life will begin to grow. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If Schweitzer's choice of the word reverence to describe his attitude you love everything, you will perceive the divine mys- toward life is significant. One dictionary appropriately defines rever- tery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to ence as "respect tinged with awe." Reverence, then, is more than just comprehend it better every day. (27) respect. As Schweitzer uses the term, it has the connotation of respect deepened by a sense of the sacred. "Walking in beauty." The miracle of life, in Schweitzer's view, merits a response of rev- 1 Choosing a Sustainable Future: The Report of the National Commission on the erence, and he envisions the ethical life as growing out of this rever- Environment (Covelo, CA: Island Press, 1993), p. 33. ence. He writes that "a [person] is ethical only when life, as such, is 2 Published in Partnership by IUCN-The World Conservation Union, sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow man, UNEP-United Nations Environment Programme, and WWF-World Wide and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of Fund for Nature, Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living (Cov- help." (24) For Schweitzer, then, a religious sense of the sacred is elo, CA: Island Press, 1991). essential for the development of a moral faith for our time. 3 The Positive Futures Project, which is headed by James Thornton, is an Schweitzer's faith in the ideal of reverence for life involves a example of an organization set up to provide retreat opportunities and spiritual training for an environmental activists as well as business leaders. profound realization of the intrinsic value of all life quite apart from Telephone: 505-894-0641\6. its utilitarian value for human beings. This awareness of the sacred- 4 Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization, trans. C.T. Campion ness and intrinsic value of other life involves a powerful rejection of (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1987), p. 325. Italics added. the anthropocentrism that has been so characteristic of Western 5 Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac (New York: Ballantine Books, 1966), ethics and modern civilization in favor of a more holistic view. A p. 137. sense of the sacredness of all life provides the strongest possible 6 Kevin W. Kelly, ed., The Home Planet (New York: Addison-Wesley Pub- foundation for an expanded sense of community with all life and lishing Company, 1988). 7 See also Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World (New for faith in an environmental ethic of care for the Earth and protec- York: Free Press, 1967), p. 199. tion of biodiversity. 8 Cited in Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, eds., Earth Prayers From Schweitzer formulated his philosophy of reverence for life as Around the World (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991), p. 5. Europe was sliding into World War I. He predicted that only an awak- 9 Joseph Epes Brown, "I Become Part of It," in D.M. Dooling and Paul ening to our identity as members of the whole community of life and Gordon-Smith, I Become Part of It (New York: Parabola Books, 1989), p. 20. to the ideal of reverence for all living beings would save European civ- 10 "Navajo, Surgeon, Pioneer," in New York Times, February 17, 1994, Sec- tion C, p. 1. ilization from destroying itself. As the twentieth century draws to a 11 Earth Prayers From Around the World, p. 184. close, one must conclude that he may well be absolutely right. 12 Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step; the Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Charles Darwin, in The Descent of Man, noted that humanity's Life (New York: Bantam Book, 1991), pp. 21-22. sense of ethical concern and responsibility had gradually expanded 13 Thich Nhat Hanh, Present Moment, Wonderful Moment; Mindfulness Verses over the centuries from families to tribes, to nations and races, and for Daily Living (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1990), p. 48, 51. eventually to the whole species. He then speculated that humanity 14 Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto, eds., and trans., The Penguin Book of might eventually embrace a "disinterested love for all living crea- Zen Poetry (Chicago: Swallow Press, 1977), p. 76. 15 John Dewey, Art as Experience, in John Dewey: The Later Works, 1925-1953 tures." (25) (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987), Vol. 10, pp. 198-99. Almost a century later, Albert Einstein had a similar vision that 16 See Joanna Macy, World as Lover; World as Self (Berkeley, CA: Parallax summarizes much that has been discussed here. He writes: Press, 1991), ch. 17. 17 John Seed, as quoted in J. Baird Callicott, "The Metaphysical Implica- A human being is a part of the whole called by us uni- tions of Ecology," in J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames, eds., Nature in verse, a part limited in time and space. He experiences him- Asian Traditions of Thought (Albany: SUNY, 1989), p. 64. self, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the 18 As quoted in Tu Wei-Ming, "The Continuity of Being: Chinese Visions of Nature," in Callicott and Ames, eds., Nature in Asian Traditions of rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delu- Thought, pp. 73-74. sion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal 19 The Complete Poetical Works of Wordsworth (Boston: Houghton Mifflin desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our Company, 1932), p. 91. task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening 20 Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Over-Soul," in Essays: First and Second our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and Series (Mount Vernon, N.Y.: Peter Pauper Press, n.d.), p. 138. the whole of nature in its beauty. (26) 21 Starhawk, as quoted in Earth Prayers From Around the World, p. 14. 22 Dewey, "Experience and Nature, in The Later Works, Vol. 1, pp. 313-14. Growth and Transformation 23 Albert Schweitzer, Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography, trans. C.T. Campion (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1933, 1949), p. 157. In order to free ourselves of the delusion of egotism, of which Ein- 24 Ibid., pp. 158-60 stein speaks, methods of growth and transformation are needed. Reli- 25 As quoted in Roderick Frazier Nash, The Rights of Nature: A History of Envi- gious ritual, poetry and the arts, study, prayer, meditation and psy- ronmental Ethics (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), p. 44. chotherapy can all help. However, in the final analysis, the most effec- 26 As quoted in Roger Walsh, "The Ecological Imperative," in ReVi- tive form of spiritual practice is living a loving and compassionate life sion: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation, Fall 1993, Vol. 16, no. 2, in our everyday lives. What Martin Buber called I-thou relations can p. 51. See also J. Goldstein, The Experience of Insight (Boston: New Science Library/Shambhala, 1982). open human beings up to the divine dimension of reality as no other 27 Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, trans. Constance Gar- practice. When caring and compassion spring from the heart, self-giv- nett and ed. Ralph E. Matlaw (New York: Norton, 1976), p. 298. ing can become a profoundly liberating form of self-realization, the COA NEWS 10 WINTER 1994/1995 "Not a Test of Reality": William Carpenter's A Keeper of Sheep by Patti D'Angelo '91 Readers of William Carpenter's first novel have asked whether the events described in it could really have happened. Set in the years when AIDS was first identified, A Keeper of Sheep traces the hysteria that saturates a summer community on Cape Cod when the residents discover that someone with the disease has entered their idyllic enclave. "The novel is not a test of reality," Carpenter answers, "It's more a metaphor for fear and phobias." Carpenter portrays with humor and sensitivity both the disin- tegration of a community infiltrated with fear and the coming of age of the narrator, college student Penguin Solstice. A Keeper of Sheep opens with the expulsion of Penguin from Dartmouth College for setting fire to a fraternity where a rape occurred. Boarding a bus for her summer home in fictitious Squid Harbor on Cape Cod, she is returning to a family broken by divorce. Penguin becomes a caregiver for Arnold Fratorelli, the AIDS- afflicted lover of Joshua Brand, a neighbor and old family friend, who has brought the composer to Squid Harbor in early summer so that he can complete his final piece, "A Keeper of Sheep," a musical composition based on In some ways, a poem by turn-of-the-century Por- tuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. (Literary says the author, scholar Harold Bloom recently pro- claimed Pessoa one of the ten greatest Penguin is a writers in the world in his book The conglomerate of Western Canon, recognition that sur- prised even Carpenter, who is a great past students admirer of the Portuguese writer's verse.) who have taken The mosquitoes are thick in Squid Harbor, and soon an unfounded fear of PHOTO JON HATCH '95. his Autobiogra- contamination from bites spreads phy writing through the community. Penguin's new stepmother, who in age and actions is William Carpenter, author of A Keeper of Sheep. class. more like an older sister, champions a divisive proposal to spray the nearby fun at her world and at the same time exposes her vulnerability marsh, a place sacred to Penguin. What as an emerging adult. once was a protected refuge now becomes a threat in the eyes of Carpenter, whose three books of verse have won several presti- some community members, who abandon environmental ethics gious awards, including the Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize in their pursuit of safety. from Northeastern University, notes that the novel grew out of a "I wanted to cut through that thin layer of human sophistica- certain need that poetry couldn't satisfy. "The spaces between tion and show how fragile our social and environmental graces poems began to frustrate me. I wanted control of that space to are," Carpenter comments. "When faced with the fear of death, keep the reader's attention engaged for an extended period of everyone becomes primitive." time," he says. "I have a rule about poetry: never say anything in Explaining his reason for using the young woman Penguin a poem that's been said before. Of course, in a novel you have to Solstice as the narrator, Carpenter observes, "Penguin is not deal with the non-poetic aspects of life; you have to get the char- innocent-I don't like that word. She is intellectually pure, trying acters dressed and fed. It wouldn't be realistic otherwise." on ideas that make her courageous. I've always thought that A Keeper of Sheep received favorable reviews in The Washington political theory is best stated by the young, because it is selfless Post, New York Newsday and the Village Voice. In a notice that for them." appeared in the January 1, 1995, issue of The New Yorker, the reviewer called Carpenter's prose "unobtrusive and gorgeous." Through the character of Penguin, Carpenter pays tribute to the Carpenter has created an engaging story, rooted in chilling passionate student discourses that took place on college campus- reality, that explores our most basic and noble traits. A Keeper of es in the late 1980s, including those at College of the Atlantic's Sheep is, in every respect, a keeper. All College Meetings. In some ways, says the author, Penguin is a A 1991 graduate of College of the Atlantic, poet and essayist Patti conglomerate of past students who have taken his Autobiography D'Angelo is a recipient of a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant. The writing class. award supports her current work on a book about her experience living In the character of Penguin, Carpenter has perfected a style with a Native American Cree community in northern Quebec. D'Angelo and voice for a young woman born in the midst of the Vietnam works for the Maine Community Foundation in Ellsworth as a program War who comes of age during the Reagan years. Penguin pokes assistant. COA NEWS 11 WINTER 1994/1995 ast spring, nominees for the Maine gover- L nor's race began coming to College of the Atlantic to meet with staff and faculty members and students. Many early hopefuls-Tom Allen, Richard Barringer and a host of independents-met with college groups That Political Se and consulted with President Katona. Ted Koffman, director of government tions at the college, organized the first debate of the Maine gubernatorial race, which took place on Monday, September 12, in the Gates Community Center auditorium. The four candi- dates, Susan Collins, Joseph Brennan, Jonathan Carter and Angus King, took part in the debate, which was spon- sored by the college's ECO/ECO (Eco- nomics and Ecology) Policy Forum, a statewide group of business people, environmentalist and state regulators. Trustee John Kelly welcomed the audience to the college. Don Carrigan, program director for Maine Public Tele- vision, moderated the debate, which focused on the state's economic and The candidates: (left to right) Joseph Brennan, Jonathan Carter, Susan Collins and Angus King. environmental policies, including prob- lems related to the loss of ozone, and forestry and fisheries issues. The debate was broadcast on public television on September 14. The panel of questioners consisted of Dan Boxer, environmental attorney from the law office of Pierce, Atwood, Scribner, Allen, Smith and Lancaster in Portland, Maine; Peter Cox, cofounder and former editor of the Maine Times; and Marilyn Hotch, a Rockland attorney working with Pine Tree Legal Assistance, who serves on the National Safe Drinking Water Act Advisory Council to the Environmental Protec- tion Agency. All three questioners are members of the Maine Environmental Priorities Project. A second panel of commentators included Cathy Ramsdell '76, a trustee of College of the Atlantic, who is financial officer at the Island Institute in Rockland, Maine; Barbara Chesley, from Durham, Maine, a member of the board of judicial review; and Jim Robbins, vice presi- dent of Robbins Lumber Company in Searsmont. The winner? Angus King-and the people of Maine, according to an editorial that appeared in The Ellsworth Weekly. "Thanks to debates like Philip Conkling the one at College of the Atlantic," wrote editor (left), director of the Earl Brechlin, "Maine voters can see beyond Island Institute in sound bites and are well on their way to mak- Rockland, Maine, ing more educated and informed choices when and Steven Katona, the time comes to cast their ballots." president of College of Herewith a visual record of the debate. the Atlantic, compare notes on the debate. COA NEWS 12 WINTER 1994/1995 son photos by Jon Hatch '95 and Wayne Petersen '98 Democratic candidate Joseph Brennan speaks with trustee Cathy Ramsdell '76 at the reception following the debate. Dan Boxer (left), debate panelist, speaks with Angus King. Michael Zboray-Martin '95 speaks with Angus King in the Newlin Gardens after the governors debate. Head of Campus Buildings and Director of Government Relations Ted Koffman (left) and panelist Peter Cox (right) Grounds Millard Dority donned a listen as moderator Don Carrigan outlines the debate procedure. headset to help coordinate the debate. COA NEWS 13 WINTER 1994/1995 Visiting Professor Wins Seat in Maine State Senate Jill Goldthwait, a visiting professor of political science at Col- lege of the Atlantic, was elected State Senator for District 5 in Maine, a seat formerly held by Ruth Foster of Ellsworth. Goldth- wait is also the Maine State Senate's lone independent, in a sen- ate that is nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. This past fall, in the midst of her campaign, Goldthwait co- taught "Community Workshop: Mount Desert Island Leader- ship and Issues" with Ronald Beard, an educator at the Universi- ty of Maine Extension Service, an associate professor at College of the Atlantic and a Bar Harbor town councilman. First taught by Beard and College of the Atlantic trustee Donald Straus five years ago, the course was designed to show PHOTO JON HATCH '95 how small communities are run and how decisions are made locally. By observing the work of selectmen from the towns on Mount Desert Island and by attending local planning board Visiting faculty member and Maine State Senator Jill Goldth- meetings, the ten students in the class were able to study local wait listens as student Traci Hickson '98 makes a point in political decision-making firsthand. the Community Workshop class. Goldthwait was a member of the Bar Harbor Town Council for nine years, serving as chairman for eight of them. She equates running a public meeting to being a parent. "In the Mount Desert Island Hospital and as president of the Maine council, it is important that everyone feels that they have a piece Municipal Association. of the action." Goldthwait says that the students in her class at College of Goldthwait's public service started early, when, in her 20s, she the Atlantic helped her to view local government with fresh joined the Peace Corps and served as a public health aide on eyes. She feels that her teaching experiences will come in handy Tonga in Polynesia. On her return to the United States, she when she begins her new job as State Senator. "I know that joined a project in Washington, D.C., devoted to increasing the working in the senate will expand my opportunities to bring number of minority students enrolled in medical schools. In together individuals to examine public issues, state government recent years, she has worked as an emergency room nurse at the and the interactions of policy-makers." Introducing Friends of the Arts College of the Atlantic's Friends of the Arts was established last year to raise funds to help support the presentation of educa- tional programs on the arts, exhibitions throughout the school year and a special series of art shows every summer. The first year of operation for Friends of the Arts was a most exciting and reward- ing experience. The group presented an ambitious series of exhibitions in the Ethel H. Blum Gallery, beginning with a show of contemporary sculpture by Richard Beck- man and images of Haiti by Haitian-born artist Marilene Phipps, who read a selec- tion of her award-winning poems as part of the opening reception. In July, the gallery exhibited sculpture and watercolors by four Mount Desert PHOTO TAMMIE PACKIE Island artists, Katherine Bell, Ellen Church, Sara Weeks Peabody and John Pierrepont. More than 200 people came to Katherine Bell discusses sculpting tools with fellow sculptor Melita Westerlund. the preview. In conjunction with the July exhibition, Friends of the Arts sponsored a Maine photographers, Sharon Arnold, Trustee Maurine Rothschild, chair of stone-carving demonstration by sculptor Jeremy Barnard, George Daniell, Jack Led- Friends of the Arts, invites you to join. Bell, which was underwritten by a grant better and Lynn Sage. Contributors will receive information from the Joan Whitney and the Charles In September, the Marbella Gallery in about art exhibitions throughout the year Shipman Payson Charitable Foundation. New York City mounted an exhibition of and will be invited to all openings and spe- The summer season came to a grand watercolors by Ethel H. Blum, the pro- cial events. Call the development office for finale with a photography invitational that ceeds from which benefitted the Friends of further information (207-288-5015). featured the work of five contemporary the Arts. COA NEWS 14 WINTER 1994/1995 Art, Ecology and Computers by Kelly Sheets Dickson With the ever-growing rise in personal computer use in devel- oped countries of the world, it is only natural that some artists will choose the electronic medium as a design tool. But what Dou- glas Barkey, College of the Atlantic's new faculty member in graphic design, does with a computer is quite out of the ordinary. Since arriving at the college in August, Barkey has devoted considerable time to his art, most of which takes the form of laser or dye sublimation prints. "I am interested in removing, rese- quencing and recontextualizing the public images found in the media," Barkey says. To this end, he collects visual "spectacles" of society-mostly men and women in intimate embraces-from tabloid magazines, romance novels and movies. He scans the images into the computer's hard drive and manipulates them on the monitor screen, freezing the images to permit closer analysis. The obscurity of some of Barkey's work can be frustrating for the viewer, but this frustration is offset by an intriguing desire to uncover hidden connections within the collage of images. In one print, a satellite picture of the Earth is set against a backdrop of a nuclear explosion. Centered over the Earth is a photo of a female breast. A rocket erupts from the top of the earth, and a repeated image of a human face anchors the bottom of the print. "I'm subverting these mass media images, making it obvious COURTESY THE ARTIST how ridiculous they often are," Barkey explains. At the same time, he says that he hopes to create new meaning and a new esthetic out of everyday visual spectacles. Rowing Upriver-Remando en el rio, 1994, laser print by Douglas Barkey. lthough his family is from the United States, Barkey grew up in assignments Barkey encourages students to learn to express their Argentina. For the past three years, he served as the director of ideas clearly before they move on to complex projects. Altos de Chavon (The School of Design) in the Dominican Repub- This winter Barkey is offering a class in interactive digital lic. There, he supervised the operation of the school, its gallery images. He also showed his work in the college's faculty art show. and the artist-in-residence program. "Whether you're a biologist, a social worker or an educator, you Barkey's first artistic endeavors were in clay, but while a stu- have to know how to communicate in a way that is easily grasped," dent at the University of Iowa, he became attracted to the field of says Barkey. "Students who will major in design also need to have a digital design. He received an M.A. in sculpture in 1987 and built-in respect for the environment." At the same time, he notes, M.F.A. in photography in 1988. "I still do some traditional pho- "It's important to train artists who can critique culture and who tography, but it usually ends up on my computer assembled with understand the issues surrounding human ecology." another type of print," Barkey says. Kelly Sheets Dickson is a graduate student at College of the Atlantic. She This fall Barkey taught graphic design and photography at holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her College of the Atlantic. He also set up a state-of-the-art electronic studies at the college focus on effective uses of media within nonprofit design studio. While his own work may be enigmatic, in class environmental groups. College Given Boat for Research Mr. James D. Abeles, of Seal Harbor and Bernardsville, New rently being outfitted to carry passengers. The college hopes to Jersey, has donated the Beliseau IV, a lobsterboat-style yacht, to have the boat in service in the spring of 1995. College of the Atlantic. The 34-foot boat will be outfitted as a research vessel. "The boat is a great asset and will benefit our ongoing marine research projects enormously," said President Steven Katona. "With this donation, Mr. Abeles has helped to create an opportunity for the kind of hands-on training in the field that is essential for our marine studies and research programs." The Beliseau IV will allow students and faculty, as well as researchers with Allied Whale, the college's marine mammal research group, to cover a wider geographical area in their stud- ies. The vessel holds enough fuel to enable the faculty to com- plete trips to areas 40 miles offshore. PHOTO: PETE TRAVERS/COURTESY THE BAR Mr. Abeles has been coming to Maine for more than 12 years. Now retired, he says he spends as much time on the HARBOR TIMES water as he can. "I am very pleased that College of the Atlantic can make use of the vessel," Mr. Abeles said. The boat is cur- The Beliseau IV, College of the Atlantic's new research vessel. COA NEWS 15 WINTER 1994/1995 Educator and philanthropist, Dr. Edward J. Meade, Jr. (1931-1994) helped improve educational opportunities in the United States throughout his most distinguished career. Dr. Meade joined College of the Atlantic's Board of Trustees in 1985 and became chair of its Academic Policy Committee in 1989. In the following text, Etta Kralovec Mooser, director of the college's Teacher Education Program, salutes the legacy of this committed educator. Edward J. Meade, Jr.: A Remembrance and a Tribute by Etta Kralovec Mooser I was a faculty member at College of the Atlantic for two years fashion, he was able to translate the technical details of teacher cer- before I met Ed Meade. He was flying to Maine for a Board of tification to the board and make it interesting to boot! His com- Trustee meeting and I volunteered to meet his plane at the Bangor ments about the state of American education often served to set the Airport. Since I had never seen him, I watched the incoming pas- stage for whatever programmatic changes he proposed. sengers intently, looking for a New Yorker in the crowd. At last, I Ed spent his life pondering questions of education. I am certain spotted the only person in a trenchcoat: it was Ed. that his life-long dedication to education was one of the primary In the time it took us to drive to Brewer, on the other side of reasons he was so attracted to College of the Atlantic. He knew edu- Bangor, Ed brought me up to date on the latest movies, a new line cational innovation when he saw it-and he could spot "practice as of pastrami at Katz's deli and a miserable road construction project usual" posing as innovation a mile away. He often told me of his on Fifth Avenue. By the time we hit Ellsworth, I knew all about the high hopes that the college might "break the mold." new faculty at my alma mater, Teachers College. I always felt that Ed's interest in education came from his deep It wasn't until the final stretch into Bar Harbor, however, that I commitment to social justice. In an age when liberal ideas are being began to get a sense of Meade's vast knowledge, skills and experi- challenged from all sides, Ed was an unabashed liberal. He believed ences. In that half hour, Ed filled me in on all the national educa- in the ideals of equal educational opportunity and of the possibility tion committee meetings he had chaired or attended in the last few of using the schools to improve the life chances for all children. In a months and what the essence of those meetings had been. By the 1985 speech on the reform of teacher education, Ed shared his time we arrived at the college, I felt that I had read three education vision: journals cover to cover and had interviewed all the luminaries in my field. That day was the beginning of a relationship that served as my For this society to find such a talent for teaching, to edu- most important and closest professional liaison at the college. cate and train it for teaching, and to allow it to properly serve the children and adolescents in our schools is no small College of the Atlantic's Teacher Education Program is overseen task. It will require a new vision, a new understanding and a by the Teacher Education Advisory Panel (T.E.A.P.). Consisting of new commitment by all of us. trustees, local educators, faculty and students, the panel sets aca- demic policy and directs the development of the program. As chair Ed lived a life of commttment. He served as an inspiration to of the panel, Ed Meade helped members avoid falling into the "easy me and reminded those of us at the college who were lucky think" that characterizes much educational reform, returning us to enough to work with him that a life dedicated to service is a life the central questions of what it means to be an educated person in well-lived. the context of human ecology and how that translates into what it means to be a good teacher. Etta Kralovec Mooser, faculty member in education at College of the The chair of the advisory panel has an important function to Atlantic, was recently interviewed on "Alex Molnar On Education," a call- in program produced by Wisconsin Public Radio. An editorial she wrote serve as an advocate for the Teacher Education Program to the on homework was recently printed by several Maine newspapers. Board of Trustees. In that role, Ed was magnificent. In his typical Allied Whale News by Nancy Stevick '81 On May 19, 1994, a humpback at Scripps Laboratory in La the waters south of Sequin North Atlantic Humpback)- whale washed up on Great Jolla, California. Dendanto has Island, near Boothbay Harbor, more than half of the number Island, Massachusetts. Using the co-authored a work on the pop- Maine. Study of these samples identified in the North Atlantic distinctive markings of the ulation structure of North will not only allow researchers Ocean in the previous twenty flukes, scientists identified the Atlantic finback whales, based to determine familial relation- years. YONAH is an interna- whale as a four-year-old male on analysis of mitochondrial ships, but will also assist them tional collaboration designed to known as "Incubus." DNA from finbacks sampled in in fine-tuning their analysis determine the status of the Researchers from Allied Whale the Gulf of Maine, Gulf of St. techniques. North Atlantic humpback popu- and students from the college Lawrence, Greenland, Iceland, This season's samples, along lation using photo-identification participated in the necropsy of Norway and the Mediterranean. with photo-identification data and genetic analysis. This infor- the whale alongside marine Research into mitochondrial from the North Atlantic Fin- mation is critical to the develop- mammal researchers from DNA is a new and exciting field; back Catalogue, will also enable ment of management policies across New England. The Allied data collected will assist Allied Allied Whale researchers to for the humpback, which is an Whale group retrieved the Whale and other research examine how the sex of a fin- endangered species. YONAH skeleton, which is now being groups in answering many ques- back affects habitat selection, project research in Bermuda is prepared for display in the foyer tions about finback whales in the whale's movements and its the subject of a feature article of the Gates Community Center the North Atlantic. associations with other individu- in the December 1994 issue of auditorium at the college. Allied Whale continued its als and groups of finback The Lamp, magazine of the In September, research asso- own finback genetic research by whales. EXXON Corporation. ciates Daniel Dendanto '90 and obtaining a record 17 biopsy Allied Whale staff have now In mid-November, Allied Megan McOsker '89 attended samples during a trip to Brier identified more than 2,500 indi- Whale hosted the North the Third Marine Mammal Island, Nova Scotia. In Septem- vidual humpback whales from Atlantic Marine Mammal Asso- Symposium on Genetics held ber, biopsy samples were taken photographs taken during the ciation Conference. Organized from a mother and calf pair in YONAH project (Years of the continued on page 17 COA NEWS 16 WINTER 1994/1995 In Memoriam: Charles Deering McCormick Charles Deering McCormick, a supporter and friend of Col- lege of the Atlantic, died in May in Miami, Florida. Mr. McCormick and his wife, Nancy, contributed to the campaign to build the Thomas MAINE S. Gates, Jr. Community Cen- MORRISON ter, dedicated in July 1993. CHEVROLET The center's lecture hall is named the C.D. and Nancy McCormick Lecture Hall in their honor. Mr. McCormick was active in many civic, charitable and social organizations. A life trustee of Northwestern Uni- versity, he served from 1955 to 1980 as the university's board secretary. After graduating from Yale University in 1938 and PHOTO COURTESY MRS. NANCY MCCORMICK. prior to World War II, McCormick was employed by the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. During the war, C.D. McCormick, Coconut Grove, Florida, February 22, 1993. he was a lieutenant comman- der in the Navy, assigned to Santa Cruz Islands. ed in the Mt. Desert Island Deering, founder of the Deer- the newly commissioned air- "Deering McCormick community; and as he felt that ing Harvester Company, which craft carrier USS Hornet in spent all the summers of his the college represented a year- became part of International December 1941. As a radar life, except during World War round resource, he was an Harvester, now Navistar. watch officer early in the war, II, in Seal Harbor," said chair- enthusiastic supporter." The college joins McCor- he played a role in helping man of the College of the McCormick was the son of mick's wife, Nancy, his broth- General James Doolittle lead Atlantic Board of Trustees the late Marion and Chauncey er, Brook, and their families a surprise air attack on Edward McC. Blair, a cousin Deering McCormick, philan- and friends in mourning his Tokyo. In late 1942, he sur- of Mr. McCormick's and a thropists who supported the death. vived the sinking of the Hor- classmate of his at the Groton Art Institute of Chicago. His net during the battle of the School. "He was very interest- great-grandfather was William Personnel News Sarah Cary Robinson, of jects and special events coordi- president of the Mount Desert son School in Bar Harbor. Steuben, Maine, has joined the nator at, respectively, Lord & Island Bicycling Association, Roberts will be attending the development office as director Taylor and B. Altman & Co. in replaced Courtney Llewellyn University of Minnesota Veteri- of the Annual Fund. Prior to New York City. Wright replaces '92, who left to take a teaching nary School next fall. coming to the college, Robinson Meg Maiden, who has been in position at the Conners-Emer- was a career agent for Connecti- charge of writing foundation cut Mutual Life Insurance Com- grants at the college. Allied Whale, from page 16 pany. She served as a develop- Rob Rochon and Steve Lam- by Robert Bowman, a research president of College of the ment associate at the Jackson Laboratory and as assistant bert have joined the college's associate at the college, the con- Atlantic and an authority on director of the Regional Capital buildings and grounds staff. ference focused on photo-identi- marine mammals, moderated Robert Nolan has been made fication techniques. Panelists for the panel. Campaign at Smith College. She assistant director, replacing the keynote forum included Finally, Allied Whale's Adopt- received her A.B. in geology and Scott Kraus 77, director of the a-Whale received a plug from an environmental studies from Clark Stivers, who resigned Bowdoin College. last year. Right Whale Consortium Cata- unusual quarter: in lieu of gifts, logue and a researcher at the the cast of Sunset Boulevard, Marnie Wright, of Northeast Jeff Desmond-Miller '92 and New England Aquarium; David which opened at the Minskoff Harbor, has become a member Jennifer Roberts '93 have tem- Mattila, senior scientist at the Theatre last year, chose to of the development staff as a porary appointments as coun- Center for Coastal Studies in donate money to ten of their foundation officer. Wright was selors in the admission depart- Provincetown, MA; and Judy favorite charities, including associate features editor at Town ment. Desmond-Miller, who Allen, associate director of Allied Whale. Quite fittingly, & Country Magazine; prior to studied bicycling societies Allied Whale and director of the they adopted "Scarlip O'Hara." around the world on a Watson that she served as special pro- North Atlantic Humpback Nancy Stevick is a research associate Fellowship two years ago and is Whale Catalogue. Steve Katona, with Allied Whale. COA NEWS 17 WINTER 1994/1995 News Notes Judith Allen, director of the attended an "Introduction to college's computer services, is Public Programming" work- the coauthor with Steve shop in Washington, D.C. The Katona and three other writ- program was sponsored by the ers of "Regional and Sexual Office of Museum Programs Differences in Fluke Pigmenta- of the Smithsonian Insti- tion on Humpback Whales tution. Clendaniel, the only from the North Atlantic representative from a Maine Ocean." The paper was pub- museum, was selected from lished in The Canadian Journal applicants across the country. of Zoology. She also was awarded a Tech- A photograph of faculty mem- nical Assistance Grant from ber Elmer Beal's mussels with the Institute of Museum Ser- mustard sauce appeared in vices to help underwrite her Gourmet Magazine, as part of stay in Washington. The grant an article on Maine coast includes follow-up support to restaurants. The entree is a implement program ideas and favorite that is served at his strategies for the museum. restaurant The Burning Tree Environmental law teacher in Otter Creek. Beal's course Kenneth Cline was recently areas at the college are ethnol- appointed to the National ogy, anthropological theory Conservation Governance and traditional music. Committee of the Sierra Club. Faculty member in literature This nine-member committee William Carpenter was a guest is charged with carrying out faculty member at the conservation planning, coordi- PHOTO: D. JAMES DEE Haystack Mountain School of nating the overall conservation Crafts' "Open Door" work- program of the Sierra Club shop in October. This fall, and with setting budgets for Girl with Rabbit, mixed-medium collage by Bonnie Lucas, Carpenter also completed an the club's national conserva- visiting artist at College of the Atlantic this fall. author's tour to promote his tion programs. first novel, A Keeper of Sheep, John Cooper, the college's which will be published this music meister, has composed and Liveability," the confer- can Museum of Natural His- spring in England by Little- original music for a new video, ence will focus on four major tory in New York. The com- Maine: America's Coast, filmed themes: "Conservation Biology mittee selects books that will Brown. Speaking Fire At Stones, a book of poetry on which by Jeff Dobbs Productions in and Human Ecology," "Aes- be included on the associa- Carpenter collaborated with Bar Harbor. The 50-minute thetics and Human Ecology," tion's List of Nature Books for printmaker Robert Shetterly, film was written by Gunnar "The Permeable Family" and Young Readers. The selection will be published in German Hansen and narrated by well- "Population, Development committee is chaired by Carol this year. known broadcast journalist and World Hunger." Anyone Moberg of Rockefeller Univer- Carpenter and Public Jack Perkins. A separate cas- interested in delivering papers sity, who was associated with Affairs Director Carl Little sette of Cooper's soundtrack or attending the conference ecologist and scientist René should contact Coté or Bor- have poems in The Quotable has also been produced. Both Dubos, an early trustee of Col- Moose, a new anthology of video and cassette are avail- den at the college. lege of the Atlantic. Maine writings (University able in the college's Natural Gray Cox, faculty member in Drawing on research on dam- Press of New England), edited History Museum and in stores political economics, gave a selfish eggs that she has con- by Wesley McNair. throughout Maine. presentation on "Communica- ducted in St. Croix, Virgin Faculty member Donald Cass The eighth international con- tion: The Coordinator's Key to Islands, adjunct faculty mem- has led several watertesting ference of the Society for Building Strong Community ber Helen Hess gave an invit- Coalitions" at the 7th Annual and chemistry-training pro- Human Ecology (S.H.E.) will ed talk in a symposium on grams in Mount Desert Island be held in Tahoe City, Califor- Fall Community Health Pro- intertidal fishes sponsored by schools. Cass serves on the nia, October 19-22, 1995. motion Institute in Augusta. the American Society of Maine Advisory Board of the Melville Coté, College of the The program was sponsored Ichthyologists and Herpetolo- national Project W.E.T. Atlantic administrative dean by Maine's Department of gists at UCLA. She has recent- Human Services. (Water Education for Teach- and executive director of ly published articles in The ers). He recently attended a S.H.E., and Richard Borden, Thorndike Library Director Bulletin of Marine Science and week-long course on environ- the college's academic dean Marcia Dworak, who was The American Naturalist. mental organic chemistry at and director of the society's named Outstanding Maine Ted Koffman, College of the the Massachusetts Institute of international programs, Librarian of the Year last Atlantic's director of govern- Technology. attended the society's annual spring, has been appointed to ment relations, has been In December, Dianne Clen- board meeting in October in a one-year term on a volunteer appointed cochair of the 32- daniel, program director of order to plan next year's con- committee of the John Bur- member Environmental Goals the Natural History Museum, ference. Titled "Livelihood roughs Association (J.B.A.), Committee of the Maine Eco- which is based at the Ameri- nomic Growth Council COA NEWS 18 WINTER 1994/1995 (M.E.G.C.). The council was established last year by the Maine legislature to develop, maintain and evaluate a long- term economic plan for the state of Maine. Anne Kozak, director of the college's Writing Center, recently spent two weeks teaching expository writing to fourth and fifth grade students at the Laurel Hill Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island. The inner city children, from Cambodia, the Domini- can Republic, Russia, the Cape Verde Islands and other coun- tries, wrote about their cul- tures as reflected in their cus- toms and the celebration of holidays. PHOTO CARL LITTLE Director of Public Affairs Carl Little attended a two-day Oscar Brand, folksinger and political activist, gives an impromptu concert in William Carpenter's "Attracting National Media" Third World Literature class. Conference presented by the Council for the Advancement ment Karen Cadbury, Aca- dents connected with the Trustee News and Support of Education demic Dean Richard Borden, museum and with Ressel's eco- In November, John Reeves (C.A.S.E.) in Washington, D.C. environmental law faculty logical physiology course and was named recipient of the He has written the foreword to member Kenneth Cline and music faculty member John Bar Harbor Chamber of Com- Monhegan: The Artists' Island by Diana Cohn '85, who has been Cooper's media class. merce's prestigious Cadillac Will and Jane Curtis, to be acting as a liaison between the Visiting faculty member John Award for outstanding com- published by Down East Books two institutions. Mooser is in the spring. Splettstoesser represented the munity service. Reeves, who is working on student-teacher International Association of retiring as president of the Bar The large-scale garden pots placements for COA students Antarctica Tour Operators at Harbor Banking and Trust produced by Lunaform, a com- at the high school. the Antarctic Treaty Consulta- Company, was the first presi- pany co-owned by art faculty Faculty member Chris tive Meeting held in Kyoto, dent of the Chamber of Com- member Ernest McMullen, Petersen conducted research Japan. He is the co-editor of merce when it was formed 25 Phid Lawless and COA gradu- on tropical reef fishes in St. Annals of Tourism Research, vol- years ago. He has been active ate Daniel Farrenkopf '92 Croix with three COA stu- ume 24, no. 2, a special in community work with the were recently featured in Gar- dents: Melita Peharda, from Antarctic issue, a chapter of Mount Desert Island YMCA, den Design magazine. Croatia, Ondra Kopeckny which he co-authored. continued on page 20 Donald Meiklejohn, profes- from the Czech Republic and sor of public policy, contin- Douglas Sward, from Chevy ues to divide his time Chase, Maryland. Petersen between College of the cochaired a symposium on the Atlantic, where he teaches in reproductive biology of dam- the fall, and Syracuse Univer- selfishes with Paul Sikkel of sity, where he teaches in the Oregon State University and Honors Program in the gave a paper at the American spring. He is currently Society of Ichthyologists and researching the First Amend- Herpetologists in Los Angeles. ment and Kantian political He has received a Research philosophy. A high school Experience for Undergradu- good text on government which he ates grant from the National co-authored has gone into a Science Foundation (N.S.F.) second edition. to supplement his current Etta Kralovec Mooser, direc- N.S.F. grant for studying tropi- PHOTO WAYNE GEIST/CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL tor of the Teacher Education cal reef fishes. Program, headed up a College Steve Ressel, director of the of the Atlantic group that Natural History Museum, attended the opening of the helped produce three-minute- High School for Environmen- long "Moments of Ecology" Left to right: Benjamin Rivlin, director, Ralph Bunche tal Studies in New York City for WERU, a community radio in December. She was joined station in Blue Hill, Maine. Institute on the United Nations; Bernice Silk; College of by President Steve Katona, These moments were written, the Atlantic Trustee Leonard Silk; and Frances Degen Dean of Institutional Advance- produced and recorded by stu- Horowitz, President of the City University of New York's Graduate School and University Center. COA NEWS 19 WINTER 1994/1995 the Jackson Laboratory, Col- maps from 1898, retraced his lege of the Atlantic and other life in the Klondike and the organizations. Incoming bank Yukon. She found all the president Sheldon Goldth- places on the maps-and wait, Jr., praised Reeves Rothschild reports that she accomplishments, including even discovered "an old dog keeping the company in the sled at the roadhouse which black through the savings and could have been his!" loans and banking crises. Dr. Leonard Silk, senior Maurine Rothschild lectured research fellow at the Gradu- on her trip to the "Women's ate School and University Rights as Human Rights" con- Center's Ralph Bunche Insti- ference in Asmara, Eritrea, at tute on the United Nations, Pine Manor College, the Isles- received the President's boro Historical Society and Medal from City University of the New England Foundation New York's President Frances for the Humanities. Roth- Degen Horowitz at a recep- schild is currently working on tion on December 15. The an article about her father's medal honors those individu- life in Alaska from 1885 to als who have made "extraordi- 1916. She went to Alaska last nary contributions" to the summer with her husband Graduate School and Univer- and grandson and, armed sity Center and to human bet- with her father's pencil-drawn terment. The inscription on Da on Ice A Chinese woman and her son and I walk across a frozen lake in Maine. Today begins the Year of the Ram. A lone ice fisherman wearing camouflage drops his line into the tingling water and pulls his sled of gear from hole to frozen hole. PHOTO CARL LITTLE In this winter still-life, the blades hiss a mist of white shavings, and we are muffled silhouettes surprising the simplicity A student flies headfirst off the college pier into some chilly water of eternal landscape. Suddenly, the boy at the start of the annual Bar Island Swim. Over 40 hardy stu- lifts his arms and smiles a command for us to dents, staff and faculty-the largest turnout ever-made the swim skate him over the ice. Together, we to the island. And some swam back! move forward. Under this same polished blue bottle of sky swims Beijing, the city the medal reads: "To Leonard Babson College. of Da's birth, half the earth away. Beneath Silk-economist and humani- Carol Wishcamper was the tracery of frozen constellations tarian." In a letter of congrat- awarded The Nature Conser- dart living fish, liquid worlds apart from ulations, another noted vancy's Oak Leaf Award in slippery bait, rubber boots, and Da. economist John Kenneth Gal- honor of her ten years of ser- In a striped cap bright as sunlight, Da laughs braith praised Dr. Silk's "deep vice as a member of the board to catch words, to string them on his and compassionate view of of trustees of the Maine chap- tongue in a foreign alphabet he can taste the economic world." ter. Wishcamper was cited for out loud. "Hut. Hook. Cracking," he says. Last May, Nina Thompson her organization of an inter- Three fish in the net of language, safely, we cross. received her Ph.D. in art his- national committee, which -Candice Stover tory from Boston University. developed a set of criteria for Her dissertation was titled selecting suitable internation- An adjunct professor of writing at College of the Atlantic, Candice "The Triumph of Poverty al projects to support. She Stover won the 1994 Maine Chapbook Competition sponsored by over Fortune: Illuminations participated in donor trips to Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Her collection of poems, from Boccaccio's De Casibus Mexico and Panama, orga- Holding Patterns, was selected by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Virorum Illustrium." She has nized fundraising receptions Oliver. Calling the collection "full of vigor and openheartedness," been teaching a seminar, and public information events Oliver praised the way in which Stover takes "wonderful and success- "The Masters of the Renais- and helped organize and fund ful risks with language, moving not erratically but purposefully out of sance: Leonardo, Raphael, student exchange visits. Wish- the frames of accustomed forms." Michelangelo," and a survey camper continues to serve in Signed copies of Holding Patterns, which was produced and course, "Introduction to the an ex-officio capacity as chair- published by Muse Press, are available in College of the Atlantic's History of Art," at Stonehill man of the campaign commit- Natural History Museum as well as in bookstores throughout Maine. College. This winter, Thomp- tee for the Maine chapter's $5 son will also be teaching at million Maine Legacy. COA NEWS 20 WINTER 1994/1995 Campus Highlights The following listing represents a selection of cultural and educa- tional presentations, workshops and community projects at Col- lege of the Atlantic over the last several months. Theater College of the Atlantic's Theatre Workshop, under the direction of adjunct faculty member Lucy Bell Sellers, performed James Lapine's and Stephen Sondheim's Sun- day in the Park With George this fall-only the second musical in the eleven years of the workshop. The play, which is based on the 19th-century French painter George Seu- rat's pointillist masterpiece A PHOTO: PETE TRAVERS/COURTESY THE BAR HARBOR TIMES Sunday on the Grande Jatte, was directed by Sellers and starred Sarah Yasner '95 and Tom Perry '96. According to Sell- ers, the student actors in the workshop responded "with A scene from the Theatre Workshop's production of Sunday in the Park with George. Note delight" to Sondheim's music, the pointillist sets created by Ernie McMullen and art students. which she called "fiendishly hard, always interesting, with Wild Fox; and Peter Salman- 1928 Antarctic Expedition, tor for stratospheric protec- moments of soaring lyricism sohn, an environmental educa- spoke on exploration in tion, presented a slide talk on that go straight to the heart." tor involved with reestablish- Antarctica in the Gates Com- "The Importance of Human Lighting was by Larry ing puffins on Maine islands. munity Center in November. Ecology in Protecting Strato- Sweet, costumes by Ann Dr. Michael Janson, host Among other accomplish- spheric Ozone" in October. Bohrer 95, Amy George '97 of Boston's "Alive and Well ments, Vaughan competed in and Cynthia Borden- Radio Show, a weekly one- the 1932 Olympics' dog rac- Workshops Chisholm '85, and the sets by hour call-in show on nutrition ing event; coordinated dog The National Trust for Ernie McMullen and his stu- and preventive medicine, team rescue units during Historical Preservation made dents. "If artist George Seurat spoke on nutrition in Septem- World War II; taught Pope their annual trip to College of could only see the way these ber. His visit was co-spon- John Paul II to drive a dog the Atlantic. They toured the human ecologists made order sored by Mt. Desert Island's team in 1981; and entered the Turrets, the college's turn-of- out of a complex and difficult Planned Approach to Com- Iditarod Sled Dog Race thir- the-century chateau-revival musical, he'd be a happy munity Health (P.A.T.C.H.) teen times (his last finish was building. man," wrote Laurie Schreiber program, under the direction in 1990, at age 84). Vaughan Kathleen Rae King, vice in The Bar Harbor Times. of Margaret Scheid '85, and spoke about his upcoming president for development of the League of Women Voters, expedition in Antarctica, to the National American Red Lectures under the leadership of Phyl- make an ascent of 10,302-foot Cross, addressed the annual The Summer Lecture lis Charpentier. Mount Vaughan, named in dinner meeting of the Han- Series hosted an impressive Anselmo Treto Garza, honor of his contributions to cock County Chapter of the series of presentations. Speak- an educator from South the 1928 Byrd expedition. American Red Cross, held at ers included Tony Oppers- Texas, led a discussion on Vaughan is the great uncle of the college in September. dorff, author of Coastal multi-cultural education and COA student Jon Hatch '95. The college took part in Labrador: A Northern Odyssey; environmental issues in Octo- As we go to press, we have a "Yankee Ingenuity: Planning raven authority Bernd Hein- ber. Garza has been actively learned that Vaughan was suc- and Economic Development" rich; Bill Curtsinger, photog- involved with such diverse cessful in his summit bid. He conference sponsored by the rapher for National Geographic; groups as the United Farm- completed the ascent on December Northern New England Chap- and Patti D'Angelo '91, who workers Organizing Commit- 17, two days before his 89th ter of the American Planning spoke on the Cree's opposi- tee, the Southwest Voter Reg- birthday. College of the Atlantic Association and organized by tion to the James Bay Project istration and Education Pro- congratulates him on this extraor- Jonathan Lockman, head of in northern Quebec. Other ject and the Brown Berets. dinary achievement. the Bar Harbor Planning speakers included Steve Per- The talk was sponsored by the Dr. Steve Andersen, for- Office. Several College of the rin, a watershed expert; college's Teacher Education mer College of the Atlantic Atlantic students and faculty Roseanna Rich, an herbalist; Program. faculty member in economics members made presentations, Cherie Mason, author of the Norman D. Vaughan, a and currently the Environmen- as did President Steve prize-winning children's book member of Admiral Byrd's tal Protection Agency's direc- continued on page 22 COA NEWS 21 WINTER 1994/1995 Campus Highlights, from page 21 Katona. In addition, James Judy Allen, Douglas Barkey during the month of October by seniors Alison Belding and Lysen, planning director for and Gordon Longsworth. Lyn in the first-ever exhibition Sarah Yasner. the city of Lewiston, Maine, Mikel Brown, education pro- devoted to alumni artists. The A remarkable exhibition gave a talk on his research on fessor at Colby College and reviewer for the Portland Sun- of College of the Atlantic stu- collaborative housing in Swe- co-author of Meeting at the day Telegram wrote of "An Eco- dent artwork brought the fall den and Denmark. Crossroads, gave the keynote logical Esthetic: Alumni semester to a grand finish. Novelist Cathie Pelletier, speech. Artists" that it "shows that Col- Students from four art classes author of several best-selling lege of the Atlantic graduates showed examples of their novels including, most recent- Art Exhibitions perceptive and witty artists work, which included pho- ly, A Marriage Made at Wood- Bonnie Lucas, visiting who know the value of meta- tographs, graphic design, oil stock, led an informal discus- artist at College of the phor, the haunting of symbol." paintings, drawings and sculp- sion about writing and the cre- Atlantic this fall, showed forty The Thorndike Library ture. The opening included a ative process. collage drawings in the Ethel hosted "The Landscape, the special panel discussion with More than 200 Mount H. Blum Gallery in Septem- Lotus and the Horse: Water- student artists and a presenta- Desert Island area school girls ber. A graduate of Wellesley colors by C.K. Chai" this fall. tion by Stuart Kestenbaum, attended the "Expanding College and Rutgers Universi- Chai, a scientist emeritus at the director of Haystack Moun- Your Horizons-Downeast" ty, Lucas has taught at the Par- Jackson Laboratory, showed 12 tain School of Crafts. conference at the college in sons School of Design in New paintings on rice paper, which For her senior project at early December. This series of York City since 1988. In con- blend aspects of a Western real- College of the Atlantic, workshops, organized by Jan junction with her residency at istic esthetic with traditional Angela Dearborn '94 set out Varnum of the Conners- the college, Lucas gave a slide Chinese watercolor technique. to conduct a "rephotographic Emerson School in Bar Har- talk on making art from found A group of 24 students survey" of various locations in bor, was geared to 6th, 7th material at the Mount Desert from the Conners-Emerson Bar Harbor. She duplicated and 8th grade girls interested Elementary School. School in Bar Harbor were existing antique postcard in learning about career Fifteen College of the given a showing of their art- views of the town, determin- options. A number of College Atlantic graduates from across work in the Blum Gallery in ing as closely as possible the of the Atlantic faculty mem- the country showed paintings, November. The students took vantage point from which the bers led career workshops, collages, photographs and part in a four-week-long after photographer had taken the including Isabel Mancinelli, sculpture in the Blum Gallery school arts program directed original picture. The result, "Bar Harbor Repho- tographed: A Journey Through Old Postcards and Original Photographs," was displayed in the Blum Gallery in December. Concerts Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis, among the nation's foremost performers/inter- preters of traditional music, performed in the Gates Center auditorium in September. The concert benefitted the Mount Desert Island Association of PHOTO: PETE TRAVERS/COURTESY THE BAR HARBOR TIMES Museums and Historical Soci- eties, of which the college's Natural History Museum is a FLANES FROSTED member. The performance was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Joan Whitney and Charles Shipman Payson Charitable Foundation. The legendary folksinger and peace activist Oscar Brand gave an impromptu concert and presentation to William Carpenter's Third World Literature class in October. A victim of blacklist- Fifth grader Ashley Hodkeiwicz sports a headdress she made out of recycled material. She was ing, Brand spoke about cen- one of a group of 24 students from the Conners-Emerson School in Bar Harbor who took part sorship in the entertainment in an after-school art and theater program. industry. COA NEWS 22 WINTER 1994/1995 COA and of the college, Liz McCabe the Community Park, state coordinator for The Summer Field Stud- the compact, called College of ies program celebrated its the Atlantic "a leader in high- 10th anniversary this year er education for the integra- with an afternoon of nature tion of community involve- games, music and dancing. ment into the curriculum." The Bar Harbor Folk College of the Atlantic Orchestra led dances hosted a holiday concert on throughout the day, with a December 17 in the Gates final performance by folk Community Center. Perform- singer Ann Dodson. Barbara ers included the Mount Train, one of the founders of Desert Island Hand Bell the Summer Field Studies Choir and the Chamber Cho- program, cut slices from the rus and the Brass Ensemble 10th anniversary cake. from Mount Desert Island The second annual benefit High School, under the direc- for the Down East Aids Net- tion of Dick Ordway, with work (D.E.A.N.) was held in Louise Pyle at the piano. As a the Gates Center in Septem- grand finale, Jack Perkins, ber. Featuring female imper- well-known broadcast journal- sonators and performers from ist, gave a special holiday read- all over Maine, the evening ing of Clement Moore's "The raised awareness of the AIDS Night Before Christmas," with epidemic and also gathered a musical accompaniment spe- funds to support the cially composed by College of D.E.A.N.'s various health and the Atlantic music faculty educational programs. The member John Cooper. gala was coordinated by Mary Proceeds benefit the Harney '96 and Julie Berberi- Mount Desert Island High an '95. School Scholarship Fund. PHOTO: PETE TRAVERS/COURTESY THE BAR HARBOR TIMES College of the Atlantic has Established last June, this joined the Maine Campus fund provides full tuition to Compact, a coalition of 20 Mount Desert Island High Maine college and university School graduate who has dis- presidents who believe that played exceptional academic institutions of higher educa- merit, citizenship and finan- tion should encourage stu- cial need. The holiday concert College of the Atlantic freshman Caleb Remmerde baptizes his bicy- dents to take on projects that is part of a community-wide cle in Frenchman Bay upon his arrival in Bar Harbor after pedal- serve their local communities, campaign to raise $25,000 this ing some 4,000 miles from his home in Vancouver, Washington. and to make such projects an year to support the MDIHS integral part of undergraduate Scholarship Fund. education. In her evaluation College of the Atlantic Enrollment On the Rise This fall, College of the Atlantic welcomed the largest incom- DOWN EAST ing class in the school's history. For the first time since the college was founded in 1972, the admission office closed its AIDS NETWORK enrollment for the fall term on May 1. Of the 90 students admitted, 70 were first year and 20 transfer. The new students represent a geographically and cul- turally diverse group. Students come from 23 states and 5 for- AIDS eign countries. Ten students are from the west coast, includ- ing Caleb Remmerde, who bicycled from his hometown of Vancouver, Washington, to the college. Maine continues to be the state represented by the largest number of new stu- dents. Fifteen Mainers entered the college in September. "High school graduates are looking for an interdisci- plinary and self-directed education," says Steve Thomas, director of admission at the college. "The college's human ecology focus is proving to be an attractive prospect for stu- dents." Thomas also credits the college's newly-instated early College of the Atlantic students and staff gather at the end of admission plan for the increase in the freshman class. this year's AIDS walkathon in Ellsworth. COA NEWS 23 WINTER 1994/1995 New Dormitory Underway On Friday, October 7, 1994, been featured in such maga- College of the Atlantic broke zines as House & Garden and ground for a $1.5-million, 56- Architectural Digest. He also bed dormitory. The ceremo- oversaw renovation work on ny, presided over by President the Turrets, the turn-of-the- Steven Katona, took place at century chateau-revival build- 86 the site of the new building, ing designed by Bruce Price which will be located at the that houses College of the LS 1600 head of the Turrets driveway. Atlantic's administration The 19,000-square-foot offices and the Natural Histo- facility will be constructed by ry Museum. Nickerson & O'Day of Ban- The new three-story dormi- gor, Maine, the firm that built tory will be made up of two the college's Thomas S. Gates, free-standing sections linked Jr. Community Center. The by a bridge. Each of these dormitory is expected to be wings is comprised of seven completed in time for the small units or "houses" that September 1995 incoming abut each other. These class. "households" are separated PHOTO CARL LITTLE The dormitory was vertically rather than horizon- designed by Roc Caivano of tally and each unit has its own Bar Harbor. A graduate of exterior entrance. There are Chairman of the Board of Trustees Edward McC. Blair and President the Yale School of Architec- also public entrances at the ture, Caivano was an associate ends of each section of the Steven Katona breaking ground for the dormitory. architect in the office of Ven- building. built with non-toxic building existing buildings on campus turi, Rauch and Scott-Smith Unlike the traditional materials. With economy, the to house students. for five years. While there, he block dorms, the new dormi- environment and longevity in The new building will pro- worked on the design for an tory will have the appearance mind, the units are construct- vide enough beds so that all addition to the Thayer School of a small village, with a cen- ed with regional and natural freshmen and international of Engineering at Dartmouth tral cloistered courtyard. Exte- materials with long-lasting students as well as many College and for an art gallery rior details include cedar shin- "kick-ability," such as hemp- advanced students will be able at Temple University. gles and mullioned windows. linoleum floors and northern to reside on campus. Every On Mount Desert Island, In Caivano's words, the struc- white cedar shingles. room is large enough to Caivano has designed the ture "will combine many of The dormitory represents accommodate an extra bed in Wendell Gilley Museum in the architectural features of the first student housing Col- the summer months, which Southwest Harbor, Port in a the area." lege of the Atlantic has ever will make it possible for the Storm Bookstore in The dormitory will include built. Up till now, the college college to expand summer Somesville and a number of energy-efficient lighting and has rented houses in Bar Har- programs. private residences, which have low-flow plumbing and will be bor and has used several pre- COA NEWS Nonprofit Organization College of the Atlantic U.S. POSTAGE PAID 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, ME Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Permit #47 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED