The board of trustees established the comprehensive fee for 2004/2005 as $40,400, a six percent increase over the current fee. The action was taken at the mid-winter meeting of the board held on campus on Saturday, Feb. 14.
In other board action, the College was authorized to solicit proposals from architects for the renovation of Proctor Hall and Starr Library. Starr Library will become vacant when the new library opens in May of 2004.
Jason Fleishman '04 died suddenly on Feb.1, only one day after he celebrated the completion of his studies at the annual ski-down for mid-year graduates. Fleishman was stricken by a form of meningococcal disease known as acute bacterial septicemia---a condition in which his blood was infected by bacteria.
Services were held in Colorado during the following week, and an on-campus memorial service was held on Monday, Feb. 16. Fleishman was a neuroscience major from Vail, Colo. He was involved in a number of community service activities, including service as a board member of the Epilepsy Foundation of Vermont. A former president of the Ski Patrol at the College's Snow Bowl, and an emergency medical technician, Fleishman was active in planning the traditional ski-down event that he participated in shortly before he was taken ill.
In an all-campus e-mail President McCardell said, "The loss of this energetic, caring, compassionate young man will be mourned by all of us who had the privilege to know him, and will be felt by all those whose lives will be diminished because Jason's own life has been cut so tragically short."
A health advisory was issued to the campus community in the days following Jason Fleishman's death to alert those who may have had close contact with him to be aware of symptoms that might indicate the onset of the meningococcal disease that claimed his life. College physician Mark Peluso said the disease is only transmitted through close contact with an infected person.
Working with Porter Hospital and the Vermont Department of Health, the College's health center contacted people who were thought to have been in close contact with Fleishman before he died to advise them of the possibility of exposure and to recommend preventative measures. According to Peluso, transmission of the disease would most likely be recognized after 10 days from the time of exposure. As of Feb. 16, no further cases have been reported.
Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana Morosini Reeve '84 will jointly address the class of '04 as speakers at Middlebury's commencement ceremonies on May 23. Reeve, an actor whose most remembered film role was that of Superman, suffered an injury in a horse riding accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Chairman of the Dana and Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, Reeve has been a vocal advocate for research and treatment of spinal cord injuries. See /students/commencement for additional information about commencement.
Remember the Bio Bus? It was converted to run on waste vegetable oil by a group of Middlebury students who took it on a cross country tour last summer to demonstrate the feasibility of using vegetable oil instead of diesel fuel. It's back in the news.
Several California newspapers carried stories in January about Hot Buttered Rum, a bluegrass group that purchased the bus on eBay from the Middlebury students. According to a story in The Oakland Tribune, the bus, which has more than 200,000 miles on it, replaces an old van that the group used until it broke down. "It's given them an economical way of getting back on the road [they get their veggie oil free after restaurants use it and throw it away] while at the same time exemplifying their environmental activism and progressive political philosophy," said the story.
Meanwhile, two other Middlebury grads are planning to reprise the idea of converting a bus to bio fuel and taking it on a long journey. According to The Middlebury Campus newspaper, February 2004 graduates Dan Whitmore and Luke Farrell have purchased a bus locally that they are refitting with beds, a living room, a generator, and a refrigerator with the intention of driving it south, through the Americas, to Tierra del Fuego. The students hope to elevate awareness of the economic viability of bio diesel fuel, especially in less developed countries.
One hundred seventeen students began their Middlebury careers in February with a series of orientation events designed to integrate them into the College community and register them for classes. A talent show, square dance, and a day at the Snow Bowl were some of the highlights of the orientation experience.
"Febs," as these students are affectionately known, are accepted for admission during the preceding year's admissions process, but they do not enroll until midway through the following academic year. The program originated more than a decade ago to allow the College to fill spaces on campus that were vacated by students studying abroad during the spring semester.
The new Febs engaged in a variety of activities during the semester when they otherwise would have started college. Travis Baker, for example, worked on rehearsals and casting for his play "Thick," which he wrote during his senior year in high school. The play opened this month off Broadway for a three week run at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York. Out of 1,000 entries, his play was one of three to be produced out of the 10 winners in a contest for young playwrights.
Middlebury College has received the Excellence in Energy Efficiency Award from Efficiency Vermont, a statewide energy efficiency utility. The award was developed to recognize an organization that has effectively partnered with Efficiency Vermont to fully integrate energy efficiency into its organizational practices. Middlebury has consulted with Efficiency Vermont on a number of construction projects, including a new library currently under construction, a new dining and residence hall, and a chilled water plant.
When completed, the new library will save $35,000 in energy costs annually due to energy efficiency measures applied to building construction and lighting. These efforts will also reduce the College's annual production of carbon dioxide by 500,000 pounds.
Corinne Balint '04 has been selected to receive a research grant from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Balint's proposal, titled "Investigating a putative role for FimA in Streptococcus mutans adherence to endothelial cells," was selected as one of 300 chosen for funding from 1,300 applications submitted under the society's Grants in Aid of Research program for 2003.
Sigma Xi is a nonprofit membership society of approximately 75,000 scientists and engineers including nearly 200 Nobel Laureates.