On August 13, Middlebury College Language Schools commencement speaker Edward P. Djerejian, former ambassador to Israel and Syria and assistant secretary of state of Near Eastern affairs under Presidents Clinton and Bush, focused his remarks on United States diplomacy in the Middle East. Two years ago, Djerejian was asked by Secretary of State Colin Powell to chair a public diplomacy advisory group to answer the question "Why do they hate us?" referring to the citizens of Arab nations.
The commission issued a report on Oct. 1, 2003 titled "Changing Minds, Winning Peace." Djerejian said the commission found a severe lack of knowledge and understanding about the U.S. and its culture among residents of Islamic nations. Citing what he called the Woody Allen syndrome---90 percent of life is just showing up---Djerejian said "we are not showing up, and our public diplomacy is highly deficient."
A key factor that contributes to the poor state of U.S. relations with the Arab world, according to Djerejian, is the lack of language proficiency among diplomats. He praised Middlebury's language and cultural immersion approach, and said "there are far too few [foreign service] officers able and willing to communicate publicly in the languages of the region."
Noting that graduates of Middlebury's Language Schools had accepted the challenge of learning the languages and cultures of other nations, Djerejian said, "I think the future of our country, in many ways, is in the hands of people like you." Read a transcript of the speech at /about/pubaff_port/general_info/addresses/default.htm.
Patricia Manley, associate professor of geology, has been selected to receive the Outstanding Educator Award for 2004 from the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG). The award honors well-established college or university teachers who have played a significant role in the education and support of women geoscientists both within and outside the classroom.
According to AWG, examples of this support include "encouraging women to enter and continue in a geoscience career, providing opportunities for field and laboratory experience, and serving as a positive role model." Honorees are also selected on the basis of their contributions as professionals, involvement with professional societies or groups, and participation in science education programs in their communities.
A faculty member at Middlebury since 1989, Manley received her doctorate in marine geology and geophysics from Columbia University. For more information about the Association of Women Geoscientists and its award program, see http://awg.org/eas/awards.html.
With the arrival of August comes the college rankings season. Two are now out.
The Princeton Review, which bases its rankings on interviews with randomly selected students at each institution and from online student responses, ranked Middlebury number one in the category "school runs like butter." Parade magazine noted this in its Aug. 15 edition.
This year's U.S. News & World Report best colleges issue, which is dated Aug. 30, ranks Middlebury 11th among national liberal arts colleges. The College was ranked seventh last year. In the past decade, Middlebury has risen as high as fifth (1999), and has ranked consistently among the top dozen or so liberal arts colleges in the survey. Officials at Middlebury and many other ranked liberal arts colleges note that small variations in data submitted from year to year can shift the rankings sharply from one year to the next, making quality comparisons among closely ranked institutions difficult. See www.usnews.com.
According to a story that aired on WPTZ television, PBS French cooking maven Julia Child, who died on Aug. 13 at the age of 91, was once a secretary at Middlebury's Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Her husband was the official Bread Loaf photographer for several years. Child made connections at Bread Loaf that resulted in her first cookbook contract in 1961. She credited her Bread Loaf experience with helping to make her cookbooks more vivid. See http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/3659490/detail.html for a transcript of the story.
College vending machines have recently been equipped with a product called VendingMiser*, which saves as much as an average of 46 percent per year on energy that would otherwise be used by the machines. The technology works by turning off electricity until someone approaches the machine to use it. Farrell Vending, of Burlington, Vt., which supplies Middlebury's vending machines, is one of the first such companies to adopt VendingMiser*, a product of USA Technologies, as an energy management measure.
Middlebury's office of student fellowships and scholarships reports that 29 students were awarded major fellowships and scholarships during the 2003-04 academic year, including two Watson fellows, a Truman scholar, seven Fulbright fellows, and two Goldwater scholars. An additional 10 students won other research grants or academic awards.
Brian Hoyer '04, an international studies major, for example, was one of two students nationally to receive the first annual Forum for Undergraduate Research Awards for his senior thesis. Titled "Nipe, Nikupe: Dependency, Reciprocity, and Paradoxes of Food Aid in Lugufu Refugee Camp, Kigoma, Tanzania," Hoyer's thesis was judged one of the best examples nationwide of undergraduate student research in education abroad. He will present his findings at the annual conference of the Forum on Education Abroad this November in Santa Fe, N.M.
Victims of Hurricane Charley will soon receive a shipment of surplus dorm furniture from Middlebury College. The effort, which was coordinated by Assistant Director of Custodial Services Linda Ross, is part of a program under which more than 2,100 pieces of dorm furniture and twin mattresses from six different residence halls have been distributed this summer to regions where the supplies are needed. The furniture became available because of a scheduled replacement of dormitory furnishings in some residence halls. Working through a recycling cooperative and two charitable organizations, the College arranged for furniture items to be packed by a local moving company, and sent to areas where they are needed.
Shipments to the hurricane-ravaged areas of Florida began immediately following the disaster as 1,500 pieces of furniture from two residence halls were loaded onto nine tractor trailers owned by the international charity Feed the Children, and shipped to their regional distribution center in New Jersey. From there, some of these wooden furnishings and metal bed frames were sent to hurricane victims in Florida, while others went to other locations throughout the U.S. to support homeless shelters and low-income, first-time homeowners.
President emeritus John McCardell and Bonnie McCardell have taken up residence in their home in Beaufort, S.C., where they will spend most of their time during John's sabbatical. Anyone interested in visiting Beaufort can register online for an alumni college course to be taught by John from Jan. 13-17, 2005. For a course description and registration information, see /offices/alumni/alumni_travel/mccardell_beaufort.htm. The course is open to all.