Cornell’s homecoming celebrates the reunion classes of 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2004. Events begin Friday, Oct. 9, and include a pep rally and fireworks in Ash Park, starting at 9 p.m.

Three alumni will be honored at convocation in King Chapel at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. Stephen Grummon, a 1969 graduate, will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award for his notable career  in foreign affairs. Jerry Ringer, class of 1959 and trustee, and Elizabeth Hoyer Beeman, class agent for the class of 1969, will receive the Leadership and Service Award for their many years of service to the college.

Also being recognized during Homecoming is Dyan Smith, wife of John Smith, Class of 1971 and chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees, who will receive Honorary Alumni status Friday during the Alumni Board Luncheon.

New to the slate of events this year is a 5k run Saturday morning beginning at Ash Park at 8 a.m. Registration starts at 7 a.m.

Following the convocation, there will be an open house at the Paul K. Scott Alumni Center at Rood House from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Also on Saturday, Cornell Professor Emeritus of English and Poet-in-Residence Robert Dana will hold a book signing on the Orange Carpet in The Commons from 11 a.m.-noon.  There will be a Homecoming Studio Art Faculty Show reception from 3-5 p.m. in Peter Paul Luce Gallery, McWethy Hall on Saturday. At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday the Faculty Blockbuster Lecture for the One Book, One Campus, One Community Book The Zookeeper’s Wife will be held in Hedges Lounge in the Commons.

Other special activities include the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame  Induction Ceremony Saturday at 8 a.m.; a memorial for Ed Rogers Saturday at 9 a.m. in Allee Chapel; historic campus tours with student re-enactors at 3:30 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and the homecoming football game against Luther, kicking off at 1 p.m. in Ash Park.

Hemelt was named the winner of the Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Dissertation Award for his thesis “Essays in Education Policy: Accountability, Achievement, and Access.”

He will be flown to the APPAM conference in Washington, D.C., this November to accept his award and present his thesis. Furthermore, an abstract of his thesis will be published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

“A national award is not what you expect when you start your new job,” said Hemelt, who is in his first year teaching after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, last spring. “It’s really humbling.”

“This is beyond anything I might have expected,” he added. “Past winners are people whose papers I read all the time.”

Hemelt graduated last spring with a Ph.D. in public policy. His masters and undergraduate degrees were also from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Cornell College is his first full-time college-level teaching appointment.

Universities and colleges are allowed to nominate only one paper for the APPAM award, and Hemelt was nominated a few months ago by his alma mater. Just being nominated, he said, “was an honor in and of itself.”

APPAM is the premiere professional organization for those with Ph.D.s in public policy, economics, and other applied social science disciplines.

Miller and the three other contest winners will read their poems on Sept. 29 at the “Crossroads of the World” together with readings by other poets and literary luminaries.

The prize-winning pieces, selected from nearly 500 entries, represent different Times Square experiences and impressions – from a family of sparrows nesting in an unlikely urban environment to a meditation on intimacy and estrangement inspired by the famous photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square at the end of World War II.

Miller’s writing has appeared in outlets such as Best American Essays, The Yale Review, The Kenyon Review, Salmagundi, Raritan, AGNI, One Story and An Introduction to the Prose Poem. He is also the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Miller, a native of Davenport who has lived in New York since graduating from Cornell, has remained close to his mentor, Cornell Professor Emeritus of English and Poet-in-Residence Robert Dana.

As part of his prize, Miller received $750 and accommodations at the Millennium Broadway Hotel.

For more information, visit timessquarenyc.org/about_us/brightpoetry.html.

Read the L.A. Times story on the event.

Pipe Birds

Sparrows fly in and out a cove atop the corner pole.
Feather ruffle unscrolled, beaks chirping, stitching…

The family stuck like a burr on 43rd and Broadway.
No home-style fantasy like my restaurant. Each week

an at-risk heritage–Moldavian, Iowan, Senegalese–
invited to bake and cook in the kitchen of 35 stoves.

The reality of where a nest can fit, what lineage abide
without falling apart into old recipes needing saving.

Curl of metal curtains. Hidden weave of twigs, wire.
Truck traffic–how does it resound in their little hole?

More vibration than noise? A massage or a message?
Pipe birds exit like bumbling bullets, enter like moles.

“In recognition of her life-long illustrious and exceptional contributions,” read the citation, “to the psychology of women and feminist scholarship, leadership, pedagogy, teaching, and practice.”

The citation further exalts her theoretical contributions to the field and her work as co-chair of the task force that drafted the APA’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Girls and Women.

Professor Enns’ primary interests are in feminist and multicultural pedagogy and feminist psychotherapy. She has taught at Cornell College since earning her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1987.

“I was surprised and honored to nominated for and selected to receive the Distinguished Leadership Award,” said Enns.

“The work that we do as teachers at Cornell requires us to point to interconnections and links between our ‘home’ disciplines and other areas of study,” she added. “I owe Cornell College a great deal for emphasizing the importance of this type of ‘border crossing’ activity and for valuing diverse forms of scholarship and research.”

Cornell is ranked 85th out of the 249 ranked liberal arts colleges.

Even more telling, Cornell is 33rd on the list of liberal arts “Great Schools, Great Prices,” which is based on academic quality and net cost.

“The hallmark of the Cornell College experience is the extraordinary opportunities, in the classroom, on campus, and around the world, for students afforded, in large part, by our distinctive One Course At A Time academic calendar,” said Jonathan Stroud, vice president for enrollment.

“While institutional quality cannot be captured adequately in college rankings, we are nonetheless pleased that Cornell is being recognized fittingly among the nation’s finest colleges,” he added.

Cornell has long been recognized as a top institution, and was included as one of 40 Colleges That Change Lives. The college has also been cited in The Fiske Guide to Colleges as a “Top Financial Find” and was 105^th among all schools in a recent  Forbes ranking, and first in Iowa. The Princeton Review also cited Cornell as among the best in the country.

The full rankings will be released in the Aug. 20 issue of U.S. News & World Report.

The group was one of just 32 chapters to take home the Golden Torch Award, presented to outstanding chapters that are “superb, timely, and go above and beyond the minimum standards throughout the academic year.”  Only a select number of Golden Torch Award nominees are chosen to receive the award based on their devotion to Mortar Board’s three key ideals of scholarship, leadership, and service.

Additionally, the chapter was one of 28 groups to receive a Project Excellence Award, for their immense fundraising efforts for the Cedar Rapids Public Library.  Throughout the 2008-2009 academic year, the chapter held eight different fundraisers (including collecting donations at football games, selling t-shirts, trick-or treating for books, delivering food to dorm rooms, gift wrapping at Barnes & Noble and more) to contribute a total of $2,700 to help repair the flood damage incurred at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

Finally, the chapter was honored with the Most Improved Chapter Award, reserved to annually recognize a chapter that has achieved success during the year in re-establishing and re-invigorating programming and membership.

Chapter President Adam Norton ‘10 and Vice President Jennifer Brown ‘10 were present to accept the chapter’s awards.

Mortar Board is a national honor society that recognizes college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Since its founding in 1918, the organization has grown from the four founding chapters to 227 chartered collegiate chapters with nearly a quarter of a million initiated members across the nation.  The Torch chapter at Cornell College was chartered in 1943 and currently has 27 members.

This is the second year for the Forbes list,  and the second year Cornell has been ranked first in Iowa.

Cornell was also the highest ranked college in Iowa. Luther (118), Clarke (123), GrinnelL (142), and Coe (182) rounded out Iowa’s top five.

The United States Military Academy, Princeton University, and the California Institute of Technology were the top three nationally.

“[A] good college is one that meets student needs. While some college rankings are based partly on school reputation as evaluated by college administrators and on the amount of money spent, we focus on things which directly concern incoming students: Will my courses be interesting and rewarding? Will I get a good job after I graduate? Is it likely I will graduate in four years? Will I incur a ton of debt getting my degree?,” according to the article.

The full article can be read at Forbes.com.

The Cornell theatre department was also ranked 16^th in the nation. Reviews and rankings are based on surveys of students.

“We’re very passionate about the theatre at Cornell, as are our students,” said theatre professor Mark Hunter. “We’re pleased when that passion is appreciated.”

Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are profiled in the annual college guide.

“As many students begin their college search by referencing college guides, we are pleased that Cornell is annually recognized among the nation’s finest colleges in such publications,” said Jonathan Stroud, vice president for enrollment.

“Although we take great pride in the excellence of all of our academic programs, we are nonetheless delighted by the special mention of the college’s dynamic theatre program,” he added.

Cornell has consistently been recognized as a top institution and as highly affordable by various college ranking guides. Cornell was ranked in the U.S. News & World Report’s top tier for liberal arts colleges and was featured as among “Schools to Watch” and “Great Schools, Great Prices.” Most recently The Fiske Guide to Colleges ranked Cornell as a “Top Financial Find” and ranked the art department as one of the best in the nation.

Cornell was also 21st in a Forbes ranking of the best liberal arts schools in nation and 71st among all universities and colleges, and has been named a College of Distinction, and one of the 40 Colleges That Change Lives.

The 44 “Best Buy Schools” are based on the quality of academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance. To determine the list, Fiske researchers combined the cost data with academic and other lifestyle information about each college and university to determine what institutions offer remarkable educational opportunities at a relatively modest cost.

The art department was also recognized by Fiske as one of the top among small colleges and universities. Cornell was one of only 24 art and design departments to make the list.

“The hallmark of the Cornell College experience is the extraordinary opportunities, in the classroom, on campus, and around the world, for students afforded, in large part, by our distinctive One Course At A Time academic calendar,” said Jonathan Stroud, vice president for enrollment.

“While institutional quality cannot be captured adequately in college rankings, we are nonetheless pleased that Cornell is being recognized fittingly among the nation’s finest and most affordable colleges,” he added.

Cornell has consistently been recognized as a top institution and as highly affordable by various college ranking guides. Cornell was ranked in the U.S. News & World Report’s top tier for liberal arts colleges and was featured as among “Schools to Watch” and “Great Schools, Great Prices.”

Cornell was also 21st in a Forbes ranking of the best liberal arts schools in nation and 71st among all universities and colleges, and has been named one of The Princeton Review’s Best 368 Colleges, a College of Distinction, and one of the 40 Colleges That Change Lives.

Thomas, who also formerly served as the Cornell College chaplain, received the 2007 Petersen/Harlan Award from the State Historical Society of Iowa in recognition of his services to historical preservation. He has chaired or served on Mount Vernon’s Historic Preservation Commission for 29 years.

”I was very surprised,” said Thomas of the award. “It’s a special honor when it comes from an organization of your peers and colleagues. That’s one of the nicest things about it. It comes from people who have an appreciation for the field.”

Among his many efforts at preserving Cornell’s history is the Sesquicentennial History he wrote along with Professor William Heywood and a variety of essays on a number of topics concerning Cornell’s history. Thomas also wrote the nomination of the campus for the National Register of Historic Places, and Cornell’s entire campus is now listed on that registry, one of only two in the nation. He’s still an intellectual presence on campus, teaches a course annually, and regularly contributes historical information to anyone who asks.

Thomas started at Cornell in 1967 and officially retired in 1996, but has continued to teach every year since.

In addition to his work at Cornell, he was the first chairman of the Iowa State Historical Department in 1974. In 1977 Gov. Robert Ray appointed him chairman of the Terrace Hill Authority, which transformed the Governor’s mansion into one of the nation’s best examples of adaptive reuse of a historic building. He was also a member of the Iowa review committee for the National Register of Historic Places.

View the story in the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun. 

Saunders, an economics and business major, has been active with the Business Interest Group, Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy, and was part of an entrepreneurship case study with Cornell College President Les Garner this year. She was also recently inducted into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honors society for economics.

“I am grateful for such an honor. Awards such as this demonstrate our community’s unfaltering support for excellence in higher education,” said Saunders. “I hope to prove myself worthy of this award through my graduate work.”

Saunders will pursue a Ph.D. in economics this fall at the University of California-Davis.

The Erroll B. Davis Jr. Minority Achievement Awards are presented annually to honor and recognize outstanding academic achievement and leadership by students at public and private colleges and universities in Alliant in Iowa and Wisconsin. Ten outstanding undergraduate students receive awards each year. The recipients are chosen by their peers and professors based on their individual scholarship, leadership and future career potential.

Feser will spend two weeks on San Salvador Island, Bahamas working with Professor of Geology Ben Greenstein. Her research investigates the impact of the development of a Club Med on shallow marine mollusk communities.

“I am honored to have received a grant from the North Central Section of the Geological Society of America,” said Feser. “I am really looking forward to this project and its results and am excited that GSA is helping to support this research.”

The grant will help support Feser’s fieldwork this summer as part of research towards an honors thesis in the geology department.

Bernthal, a politics and economics and business major, will work this summer with a policy researcher from the University of Nevada- Reno to evaluate private landowner programs and create a green business certification program.

“I’m very excited. This is a good stepping stone to help me get into public policy,” said Bernthal. “It lets me use facts and data in a way that can make a real difference.”

The 10-week program starts June 8 and runs through Aug. 14. Over the course of the summer Bernthal will complete both individual and group activities on environmental policy analysis.

Bernthal credits his professors Santhi Hejeebu, economics and business, and David Yamanishi, politics, with helping him apply for and, ultimately, receive this prestigious award.

“I certainly would have had no chance getting into this program without their help,” said Bernthal.

Seven seniors and 10 juniors were inducted into the inaugural class of the Cornell chapter, also known as the Iota Chapter of Iowa. Members of the honors society will provide tutoring support for courses in economics.

“We are really proud of the academic achievement of these students and delighted that they’ll be helping younger students through our tutoring program,” said Santhi Hejeebu, associate professor of economics and business, and faculty advisor to the Cornell chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon.

Among those elected to the society were juniors Jamie Bernthal, Emily Burnham, Nick Light, Joanna Loewen, Mara Oda, Kevin Pickhard, and Nick Tripp, and seniors Vincent Anderson, Jeff Curran, Griffin LaDew, Yuri Mitchell, Audrey Saunders, and Ben Sebers.

Omicron Delta Epsilon is one of the world’s largest academic honor societies. Omicron Delta Epsilon recognizes scholastic achievement in economics and seeks the establishment of closer ties on campus and between campuses. Currently, Omicron Delta Epsilon has 578 chapters located in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Egypt, France, and United Arab Emirates.

Juniors Nick Selby of Delmar, Alex Riniker of Winthrop, and Kade Parry of West Liberty, as well as sophomore Katherine Schveiger of Maquoketa were named recipients. All four students are Iowa natives.

These four student scholarships are supported by The UPS Foundation’s educational endowment fund. The UPS endowment fund evolved from a $4.2 million grant to the Foundation for Higher Independent Education by UPS in 1974.

The Foundation for Independent Higher Education is the national partner in a network of 33 state and regional funds, which develops resources for private colleges and universities. The 33 member associations of FIHE will receive over $2.2 million to be distributed to over 650 institutions in scholarships.

Announcing the grants, Lisa M. Hamilton, President of The UPS Foundation, said, “UPS is proud of our support to our nation’s independent colleges and universities and the work they do in preparing our nation’s future leaders.”

This conference provided a unique opportunity for undergraduates from across the state of Iowa to present their research to peers, parents, and professors and to discuss and defend their work in an academic atmosphere. Papers this year were divided into several topics, including immigration and discrimination, gender and race, social policy, religion, and issues of mind and body.

A total of 23 students presented papers at the ISA conference. Four awards for student papers are presented to participants: the best paper submitted by a junior or senior, the best paper submitted by a first or second-year student, the best paper on a criminal justice topic, and the best paper integrating theory and research.

The winner of the Manfred Kuhn Award for best paper submitted by a junior or senior was Chris Davids of Cornell College for his paper, “Filling the Gap: An Examination of Body Dissatisfaction of Differences of Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men.”

The winner of the Steve Wieting Award for the paper best combining theory and research was Natalie Turner of the University of Northern Iowa for her paper, “Feminism Hits the Mainstream: Gender, Sexuality, and Comic Book Heroes.”

The winner of the Mary Alice Ericson Award for the best freshman-sophomore paper was Annie Schneider of Cornell College for her paper. “Reimagining South Africa: Feminist Theology and Violence Against Women.”

The winner of the Ward Reynoldson Award for the best paper on a criminal justice topic was Sarah Wittig Galgano of University of Iowa for her paper, Barriers in Reintegration: An Audit Study of Impact of Race and Offender Status on Employment Opportunities for Women.”

The conference included a keynote address by Tanya Golash-Boza of the University of Kansas. In her address entitled, “Age of Exile: Racism and Mass Deportation in the 21st Century” Professor Golash-Boza argues that the United States is currently in an era of mass deportation. Rates of deportation – nearly 1000 people per day – are at their highest point in history. Further, she examines the role that racism in immigration and law enforcement plays in immigration policy and deportation practices.

The Sociology Department at Cornell College wishes to thank Richard Peterson of Cornell College, Kenneth Sanchagrin of the University of Iowa, and Megan Tesene, Justin Stoll, and
Gayle Rhineberger-Dunn of the University of Northern Iowa for serving as judges in the ISA paper competition this year. We are also grateful to Kent McClelland, Char Kunkel, and Mary Beth Stalp for their advice on organizing the meeting, to Cornell student organizers Rebecca Sullens, Candice Kociemba, and David Kugler for their logistical work, and to the organizations who helped fund this conference including the MSS, the Berry Center, and LACE among others.

Wondra, a Russian and international relations major who is fluent in Russian, will perform a side-by-side study analyzing two Republic of Georgia high schools in order to determine effective reforms for urban and rural schools. He will also examine the role foreign aid plays in these schools.

“I know we have a history of excellent Fulbright Scholars at Cornell, and I’m pleased to represent the college in the ranks of past students,” said Wondra.

The study will analyze the effectiveness of educational reform during the current presidential term of Mikheil Saakashvili. Wondra said he will look at family income, propensity to continue on to higher education, the urban-rural difference, funding levels and other indicators in the study.

This won’t be the first time Wondra has represented Cornell overseas. Wondra previously held a three-month Cornell Fellowship in Armenia, where he worked for the U.S. State Department. While there he drafted official communication briefs to Washington on topics such as human rights, economics, judicial proceedings, and local projects. He also participated in fact-finding missions during the protests and military crackdowns that gained worldwide attention in the days following the incarceration of an Armenian parliamentary official. Wondra visited with protesters, a hunger-striker, and a police chief in a region north of Yerevan.

Wondra called his three-month internship “the most rewarding and edifying work experience I have ever had.”

For his Fulbright studies, Wondra hopes to publish his results and begin a career in international policy-making, research and teaching. Though Wondra has never been to Georgia, he adds this experience to his travels and study in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Estonia. He looks forward to this opportunity to directly contribute to policy research and impact the common good. His primary areas of interest are international policy in education and finance.

The study will last approximately 11 months, starting next fall, with the support of the Caucasus Research Resource Center in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. After the study Wondra will pursue graduate study and further research in international relations and political economy with the aim of becoming a professor or serving with the U.S. State Department.

The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The Fulbright Program “aims to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills.”

Associate Professor of English Katy Stavreva, Professor of Music James Martin, and Assistant Professor of English Shannon Reed were all selected by the NEH to receive grants to travel and participate in their respective programs. Only 15 participants are invited to any given seminar.

Stavreva will travel to Prato, Italy to participate in the seminar “Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ and the Medieval World: Literature, History, Art,” which is designed to encourage new readings of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” using interdisciplinary perspectives.

“The NEH seminar will give me an opportunity to pursue my research in a completely new literary context,” said Stavreva. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to study Dante immersed in the language, art, and landscape in which the Commedia was created.”

She added that she planned to use the seminar as a way to lay the groundwork for future Cornell courses taught in Tuscany, Italy.

Martin, who will be participating in his third NEH seminar, will examine “German Exile Culture in California: European Traditions and American Modernity,” at Stanford University. He said he’s excited for the opportunity to return to such an environment.

“Past experience from my previous two fellowships predicts that this will be a very stimulating, intellectual group of scholars,” said Martin. “I consider my fellowship times at Columbia and Princeton to be two of the highlights of my career.”

Reed is slated to attend “Anglo-Irish Identities,” hosted by The Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The seminar is designed to explore cultural, political and ideological identities of the Anglo-Irish over five weeks in June-July.

Reed will use the seminar to make progress on her sabbatical project, a history of reading and its connection to English nationalism. After the NEH seminar, Reed will travel to the Huntington and William Andrews Clark libraries in southern California to continue her research, where both institutions have granted her fellowships to continue her research.

Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and University Teachers are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide college and university faculty members and independent scholars with an opportunity to enrich and revitalize their understanding of significant humanities ideas, texts and topics.

Five scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each have been awarded to business majors of sophomore standing or above who have earned a grade point average of 2.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale and are Iowa residents attending selected independent colleges within the state. The Aegon Scholarship Program is administered by the Iowa College Foundation, which represents 24 independent colleges and universities across Iowa.

Jack Jones, president of the Iowa College Foundation, said this program reflects Aegon’s appreciation of the value of an education in business at Iowa’s private colleges and universities. Aegon’s commitment and support to the students who study at these institutions will help shape the future leaders of Iowa business.

Junior political thought major Matthew Shimanovsky will be KRNL’s general manager, and history and psychology major Ryan Fincham will return as station manager. The station’s advisor is Matt Zhorne.

Sophomore geology major and Spanish minor Natashia Pierce will become Royal Purple editor. Jennifer Rouse is the yearbook advisor.

Junior economics and business major Dane Korthauer returns as business manager for both The Cornellian and Royal Purple.

Media Board meets at least monthly to monitor, guide and advise the student media heads.

The traveling exhibit is part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the ACM. The consortium sponsored the ACM Off-Campus Study Photo Contest, inviting students at ACM colleges to share the images and impressions they gathered from studying in locations around the world.

The traveling exhibit of the ten winning photos and a selection of honorable mention photos is being hosted by ACM campuses through April and will be shown at the ACM 50th Anniversary Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study in Chicago on April 17-18, 2009. The photos also can be viewed on the ACM website at www.acm.edu/photocontest.

Peterson received honorable mention for her photo titled “Shipwrecked!” The winning photos and a selection of honorable mention photos will be on display in the exhibit area in the Commons near Hedges at Cornell College from April 6 to 10, 2009.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Kevin Close of Carleton College for “A Long Car Ride,” a photo taken during his studies in Mongolia and simply described as “One student, one translator, and ten goats.” First, second, and third place prizes were awarded in three categories: people, places, and stories.

The contest judges were Will Pittinos, Web content coordinator at Lake Forest College, and Dave Amrein, director of the ACM Chicago Arts Program. The judges specifically looked for photos that captured a true liberal arts education – a unique, hands-on experience that allows students to step outside of the box and to do so experientially.

The winners in the 2008-09 ACM Off-Campus Study Photo Contest are:

Grand Prize
A Long Car Ride, Kevin Close, Carleton College

People
First place: Freedom, Christina Demenshina, Beloit College
Second place: Learning to Chew, Christopher Ruder, Beloit College
Third place: Drying Persimmons, Ting Ting Yang, St. Olaf College

Places
First place: Climbing the Perito Moreno Glacier, Anna Hainzea, Lawrence University
Second place: Aotearoa, Jen Milius, Knox College
Third place: Weißglas, Erin McBurney, Grinnell College

Stories
First place: Caught in Midair, Po Ling Pauline Chan, Knox College
Second place: Aventura en el fin del mundo (Adventure at the End of the World), Heather Kopec, Knox College
Third place: First Communion in Lourdes, Po Ling Pauline Chan, Knox College

Honorable Mention
Abandoned, Ben Barclay, Carleton College
Dusk, Sarah Diefendorf, Colorado College
Incognito, Tabitha Hrynick, Colorado College
Carnivale, Ellen Kokontis, Knox College
Bula Fiji!, Ashleigh Martinez, Lake Forest College
Rural Transportation, Jeannette Osterweil, Colorado College
Shipwrecked!, Myka Peterson, Cornell College
Stone Town Hopes, Kathleen Quigley, Monmouth College
Botas de hule y pies descalzos (Rubber Boots and Bare Feet), Karen Skadow, Monmouth College
The Spice of Life, Amelia Sternitzky, Ripon College

ACM, a consortium of academically excellent, independent liberal arts colleges, has been a pioneer in off-campus study, operating domestic and international programs since the early 1960s. The current ACM members are Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Colorado College, Cornell College, Grinnell College, Knox College, Lake Forest College, Lawrence University, Macalester College, Monmouth College, Ripon College, and St. Olaf College.

Brachova is a Cornell College senior who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in reproductive biology. She also recently represented Cornell at Iowa Private Colleges Day at the Iowa State Capitol, where she presented a poster based on research similar to what she will be pursuing in the Bahamas.

“Pavla wrote an excellent proposal which was selected for funding in this competitive program,” said Professor of Biology Craig Tepper, who has served as Brachova’s faculty advisor and project supervisor. “This is a well deserved honor for Pavla.”

The grant project, titled “Genetic Analysis of the Millepora-Symbiodinium Symbiosis,” seeks to understand the complex speciation of fire corals. GRC will fund Brachova’s travel and research expenses as she isolates DNA from coral and coral symbiotes. The DNA will then be analyzed in Cornell labs.

The GRC Student Grants Program is designed to support undergraduate honors projects and Master’s and Ph.D. Theses while working at the GRC in San Salvador. GRC is part of The College of the Bahamas.

Brachova and Tepper’s current coral research will be presented at the 13th Natural History Conference at GRC in June.

The National Championship Tournament will be held April 17, 18, and 19, in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Rams compiled their best record of the season, with 7 wins and 1 loss, beating the University of Colorado, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and Central Missouri State University. The Rams also had a split decision with Washington University.

Junior Co–Captains Madeline Roche and Annika Strombom were once again honored for their individual performances as well. Roche was honored as an Outstanding Witness, for her portrayal of a death investigator, while Strombom was honored as both an Outstanding Witness for her portrayal as a news reporter, and an Outstanding Attorney for her advocacy for politician Drew Walton.

The Cornell College Mock Trial Team is made up of juniors Roche, Strombom, Kasun Wijegunawardana ’10, and Kyle Blesener ’10; senior Nic Wondra ’09; and sophomore Eli Wade–Scott.

Watkins’ work for the Sierra Club’s ‘Cool Cities’ clean energy campaign is highlighted in the story, which includes photos taken of the group in New York City’s Central Park.

Other Glamour eco-achievers include actress Alicia Silverstone, chef Alice Waters, model Christine Brinkley, new Director of the U.S. EPA Lisa Jackson, and olympic gold medalist Hope Solo.

Click here to view the online version of the article.

“I hope that Glamour magazine’s feature will encourage everyday women and men that they too can be Green Heroes,” said Watkins. “It was such an honor to be selected to participate in the photo shoot.”

Watkins began working on the Cool Cities campaign in Omaha in 2006. The Cool Cities campaign mission is to work with local governments to implement the goals of the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. Watkins was instrumental in getting the cities of Omaha and Lincoln signed onto the Mayor’s Agreement. She currently heads up the Sierra Club’s campaign work for stronger energy-efficient building codes. Last year, the Cool Cities program was instrumental in bringing about the largest increase in residential energy efficiency in decades. For more information about the Cool Cities campaign visit www.coolcities.us.