May, 1982 College of the Atlantic Nonprofit Organiz. Bar Harbor, ME 04609 U.S. Postage Paid Bar Harbor, Me. Permit #47 COA News Dr. René Dubos 1901-1982 Dr. René Dubos, bacteriologist, environmentalist and a founding trustee of College of the Atlantic, died in New York City, February 20 on his 81s st birthday. A dedicated research scientist with a deep compassion for the human condition, Dr. Dubos personified the values of human ecology. In his writings, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize in 1969, he stressed the connections between all living things: "Microbes exhibit a profound resemblance to man in their physical makeup, in their properties, in their response to various stimuli. They also display associations with other living things which have perplexing and revealing analogies with human societies." Dr. Dubos believed that education should illuminate this interconnectedness and produce "experts of aims, that is people who can think creatively, rather than simply experts of means." In a message for the 1981-82 COA catalog, he wrote: "Training people so that they can think about human problems in a creative way is extremely difficult. Nobody knows how to do it, and my suspicion is that it cannot be done unless we introduce into our educational system some kind of formula where students learn to deal with problem solving. For as soon as one deals with problem solving or anything concerning human life, one understands that a solution cannot be solved solely by technology. Rather a solution will demand that one have a sense of history, consider the socioeconomic forces and reflect the dreams of people." To help COA realize its vision of an educational cur- riculum devoted to the study of human ecology, Dr. Dubos generously lent his name, inspiration and efforts. College of the Atlantic was fortunate to count such an outstanding person among its friends. Dubos Photo by Lawrence Moberg Reason For Optimism will soon be overpopulated and its resources depleted; food shortages will be catastrophic; pollution will alter the climate, René Dubos was an optimist about the human spirit and its capacity for poison the environment, rot our lungs, and dim our vision. I survival. The following is excerpted from the final article he wrote. It believe, as do many others, that industrial civilization will appeared in the April issue of United Magazine, a publication of United Airlines. eventually collapse if we do not change our ways - but what a big if this is. As I lie here in a hospital bed in my 81st year, I am Human beings inevitably alter the course of events and more convinced than ever that life can be celebrated and en- make mockery of any attempt to predict the future from an joyed under the most trying and humbling of circumstances. extrapolation of existing trends. In human affairs, the logical The warmth of parents hugging their children, the fath- future, determined by past and present conditions, is less omless joy of smiling faces, the sensate pleasures of a stroll important than the willed future, which is largely brought down a country lane, or through the bustling diversity of a about by deliberate choices - made by the free will. Our city street have not been increased by education or civilization. societies have a good chance of remaining prosperous But the disarray and disenchantment so common in because they are learning to anticipate, long in advance, the technological societies reveal the extent to which many of us shortages and dangers they might experience in the future if fail to take advantage of this innate ability to appreciate the they do not take technologically sound preventive measures. simple wonders of life. Abundance of goods, physical comfort, A key to overcoming the passivity born of pessimism is and control of disease are clearly not sufficient to bring about to remember that the really important problems of our times individual happiness and harmonious social relationships. are not technical. They originate in our thoughts, our uncer- Everywhere in the countries shaped by Western civi- tainties, or our poor judgement concerning parascientific lization, the amenities of existence are threatened by environ- values. Unclear values allow us to accept the possibility of mental degradation and the impression that humankind has nuclear war for reasons of national prestige when every lost control of its affairs. The deteriorating conditions in our sensible person knows that the inevitable result of nuclear cities, our adversarial relationship with nature, the futile warfare would not only be immeasurable damage to every occupations that waste our days are - unnecessarily and living and inanimate thing on earth, but also the virtual unconsciously - determined more by technological collapse of Western civilization. imperatives than by our choice of desirable human goals. At the Center of Human Environments at Wave Hill in To rediscover our innate celebration of life, the first Riverdale, N.Y. that bears my name, we have begun obstacle to be overcome is the widespread belief that things documenting stories of how single individuals have started are going from bad to worse and that little can be done to movements that successfully changed the social and biological reverse the trend. environments around them. Lakes and rivers once given up Certainly great tragedies do exist. Paradoxically, how- for "dead" have been rejuvenated, as have the communities ever, much contemporary gloom comes not from actual tragic that flank them. The assumption behind our forums on energy situations but from the prospect of social and technological conservation and land development is that by using the five difficulties that have not yet occurred and may never E's - ecology, economics, energetics, es-thetics, and ethics materialize. We are collectively worried because we accept - Homo sapiens can create "humanized" environments that the highly inaccurate predictions that, if demographic and are stable, profitable, pleasurable, and favorable to the health technological growth continues at the present rate, the earth of the earth and the growth of civilization. The finished globe contains an acryllic and relief map of the continents and oceans. National borders and meridians have been deleted to simulate the appearance of earth from outer space. Than estimates the project took 350 hours to complete and cost $350. A Spirit Of Place From the time of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to the present, the Maine experience has inspired poetry of national and international importance. This spring COA and the Uni- versity of Maine at Augusta are sponsoring a series of eight poetry presentations celebrating the richness and continuity of Maine poetry. Entitled "A Spirit of Place: 200 Years of Maine Poetry," the project is directed by COA faculty member and poet Bill Carpenter. The presentations which include readings and inter- pretations of classical and contemporary poetry focus on the major themes of life in Maine: community and isolation, nature's beauty, and the perennial vision of an escape from civilization. Poets whose works will be read and discussed include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edward Arlington Robinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Lowell, May Sarton and Robert P.T. Coffin. Student Project Each event is led by a group of noted Maine writers with As an independent study project during the Winterim, guest performers. COA graduate and performing artist, Jack- COA junior Than James designed and constructed a five-foot- son Gilman, will assist in the 2 p.m. presentation on June 6 at diameter globe. The beautifully finished styrofoam, paper the South Solon Meeting House, South Solon. Other May maiche and polyurethene sphere will hang in the stairwell of and June presentations include: the Turrets grand hall following completion of the building's Sunday, May 16, 2 p.m. Wendell Gilley Museum, restoration this spring. Southwest Harbor Than was inspired for his project by a globe that hung in Sunday, June 13, 2 p.m. Alna Meeting House, Alna his family home in Pennsylvania. "I wanted to create some- Friday, June 18, 7:30 p.m. Haystack School, Deer Isle thing to leave at COA that would be both a work of art and The project is supported by a grant from the Maine a useful learning tool," he said. "I also wanted to expand my Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the own knowledge of geography." Humanities. Drawing Workshop Cambridge artist/naturalist Clare Walker Leslie spent two days at the college this spring instructing students in naturalist drawing. Clare is the author of several books on drawing including Notes from a Naturalist's Sketchbook and Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning. She is pictured above (center) with students from the workshop. whales have now been identified by fluke photographs. This is the third year that members of Allied Whale have made the April trip to Bermuda, a predictable stop-off point for some humpbacks on their spring migration. In addition to photographing whales, the research crew did plankton studies of whale feeding grounds and compiled literature references of Bermuda whale sightings recorded in local newspapers and historical documents. Bermuda diver and underwater archaeologist Teddy Tucker arranged the ABC interview. He has worked closely with Allied Whale on the fluke identification project since its inception in 1977 and captains the boat chartered for the research. The 1982 Bermuda Project was organized with the help of Northeast Harbor summer resident, Francis W. Pea- body, and funded by a gift from the E.S. Hooper Foundation. COA On ABC Four members of Allied Whale, COA's marine mammal research group, will be featured in a segment of ABC's Graduation "American Sportsman" scheduled to air in Spring, 1983. Thirty-seven students will receive the Bachelor of Arts in Steve Katona, Greg Stone, Lisa Baraff and Judy Beard were Human Ecology at COA's 10th graduation ceremony, filmed and interviewed by Peter Benchley during an April trip Saturday, May 29. Weather permitting, the commencement to Bermuda to photograph humpback whale flukes. exercises will be held at the outside shrine beginning at 2:00 The trip was part of Allied Whale's on-going research on p.m. A reception will follow. the migration patterns and social habits of humpback whales. Dr. Leo Marx and Ed Kaelber will deliver the Photographs of the distinctive patterns on the underside of commencement addresses. Dr. Marx was a trustee of the humpback whale flukes make it possible to identify and track college for six years and is currently the Keanan Professor of individual animals. American Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1977, Steve and COA alumnus Scott Kraus Ed will give his final address as COA's president. On July 1, published the first Humpback Whale Catalog containing he will step down after 12 years at the college. photographs of nearly 120 individual whale flukes. A new The traditional graduation night dance and celebration catalog, containing 1000 additional photographs, was will begin at 9:00 p.m. at the Jordan Pond House. Graduates published in 1980. The pictures, collected from professional and friends of the college are welcome to attend. marine biologists, whalewatchers, yachtsmen, oceanographers and fishermen document sightings of individual whales and The inauguration of Dr. Judith Swazey as help plot migration and social patterns. Current estimates COA's second president will take place on Saturday, place the number of humpback whales in the western North October 9. Further information will be forthcoming Atlantic between 2,000 and 4,000. Over 1600 individual during the summer. Alumni News spring term. In February, Rebecca May prepared and shipped COA alumni will gather at the New England Aquarium a whale skeleton to the Whale Center in Oakland, California. on Saturday, June 19 from 10:00 4:00 p.m. to discuss the As part of her internship, she took the skeleton to schools and formation of an alumni organization. Ed Kaelber will be on museums in the San Francisco Bay area. On the east coast, hand for a few farewell remarks and to introduce his suc- the "whalemobile" visited the Mariner's Museum in Newport cessor, Judith Swazey. Contact Albie Smith in the News, Virginia and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, Development Office for luncheon reservations. All alumni are D.C. welcome. COA English instructor, Bill Carpenter, will be the poet- Alexandra Brown and Garrett Conover presented a in-residence at the Stonecoast Writers' Conference this slide show at COA on their month-long 400-mile winter summer at the University of Southern Maine. Bill received a snowshoe trek on the St. John and Allagash waterways. national award for poetry in 1981 for his book The Hours of North Woods Ways, their educational guiding service, begins Morning and the 1982 Poetry Award from the Black Warrior its second season this spring with two trips on the St. John Review for his poem "New York City." River. Garrett and Alexandra will continue guiding trips on A singing lobsterman from Stonington, two French other Maine rivers through early October. fiddlers, a Downeast moose caller and two Passamaquoddy Jackson Gilman has been touring this spring with "Just Indians performed a lively program of dance, music and Around the Corner," a children's theatre group. Based in storytelling February 4 at COA. The program was part of a Boston, the group travels throughout New England presenting five-day folk art tour of rural Maine schools coordinated by shows on Native Americans and nutrition. "NBC Evening anthropology instructor Judith Blank. A follow-up of the Pride Magazine" recently filmed a special on the group, so look for of Maine Fair, the tour was designed to broaden awareness of Jackson's TV debut as "garbage" in May. Maine's cultural traditions. It was supported by a grant from John Biderman completed his Masters degree in the National Endowment for the Arts. Journalism at the University of Michigan last June and is now Bill Hammond of Lee County, Florida, presented a working as Managing Editor in the Public Information workshop for educators on "Whole Brain Learning," February Department of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation 26 and 27 at the college. Arranged by environmental in White Plains, New York. education instructor Peter Corcoran in cooperation with the After spending some time at the Harvard herbarium in Maine Audubon Society, the workshop attracted over 50 Cambridge this winter, Dave Folger has left for an island off teachers and educators from across the state. Cape Cod to work on a seabird nesting management project COA received an unrestricted $400 grant from the for Massachusetts Audubon Society. Sears-Roebuck Foundation, part of more than $6,000 distributed to 11 privately supported colleges and universities in Maine. Peter Lekouses, Bangor representative of the Sears- Briefly Roebuck Foundation, presented the check to Ed Kaelber at Ed Kaelber will receive two honorary degrees from the college on January 29. Maine colleges this spring. On May 8, he will give the graduation address at Husson College and receive a Doctor of Humane Letters. Unity College will also honor Ed with a The 1982 edition of VOICES, COA's Doctor of Higher Education degree. magazine of the arts is now available at the college. For a copy, send $2.00 to VOICES, College of the Whales on Wheels, COA's marine outreach program, Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609. traveled west to California and south to Virginia during the the Graduate Program Lecture Series July 7, 8:00 p.m. WATER: FRIEND OR FOE John Clark, Director of the Coastal Resources Program of the Conservation Foundation July 14, 8:00 p.m. THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS Stephen Born, Professor and Chairman of the Urban and Regional Planning Natural History Museum Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison Location: College of the Atlantic, Rt. #3, Bar July 21, 8:00 p.m. WHO SHALL LIVE: Harbor ALLOCATING SCARCE MEDICAL RESOURCES Judith Swazey, President-elect of Hours: 10-4 daily, mid-June - Labor Day College of theAtlantic Admission: $1.50, adults The Graduate Program Lecture Series will be held .50, 12 and under in the Turrets, first floor. Programs: 10:30 - 11:30 Participatory natural history program for all ages. Summer Forum 1:30 - 2:30 Guest lecturer, slide July 28, 8:00 p.m. ORIGINS OF WAR Dr. program, or instruction in the Marvin Harris, Professor of Anthropology, use of field guides Columbia University August 4, 8:00 p.m. STRATEGIES FOR PEACE James Ogilvy, philosopher and consultant for the Stanford Research Institute, Stanford, California August 11, 8:00 p.m. To be announced August 18, 8:00 p.m. ISSUES OF ARMS summer 82 CONTROL Paul Warnke, lawyer and former administrator of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for the Carter Administration The Summer Forum Lecture Series will be held at the Bar Harbor Club, Bar Harbor.