June 2007

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Open house series at Middlebury College observatory July 5, 11, 18 and 25: “On Thursday evening, July 5, and Wednesday evenings July 11, July 18 and July 25, from 9-10:30 p.m., the Middlebury College Physics Department will hold its annual series of open house nights at McCardell Bicentennial Hall’s rooftop observatory, weather permitting. There is no set program; the public is invited to come anytime during these hours. Admission is free.”

Gray treefrog gets second billing: “Jim Andrews, a herpetologist at Middlebury College, says it is a rare student who can pick out a gray treefrog on a tree when the frog is not calling. Gray treefrogs are masters of disguise. Their bumpy, gray, patterned skin makes them look like a clump of lichen on the bark of a tree. Further, their skin changes color from white to green to dark gray, allowing them to blend in to their surroundings even better. (Yes, gray treefrogs can be green.)”

For more on frogs and snakes in Vermont, see Andrews’ online Vermont herpetology atlas:

http://www.middlebury.edu/herpatlas

Middlebury at forefront of higher ed carbon neutrality movement: “Now come the nation’s colleges and universities, putting a stamp of intellectual gravity on the carbon-neutrality movement. By Wednesday [6/20], 300 presidents — about 7.5 percent of those eligible — had signed on to a pledge to make their campuses climate neutral. … Middlebury College is at the forefront. “

Middlebury’s Bill McKibben in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise: “Next month, more than a billion people are expected to watch the huge global warming concerts that Al Gore is staging on every continent. But my guess is that the few dozen young people who recently gathered on a town green in Lebanon, New Hampshire may sway the future at least as much.

“Those college kids were the advance guard of ‘Climate Summer,’ an effort to make global warming a central issue in the next presidential campaign. They will be trailing candidates, canvassing voters and, in early August, marching across the state with thousands of local residents. And in the process they’ll be trying to upend conventional political wisdom, which is that the environment is always a second-tier issue, trailing jobs and health care and foreign policy. It’s a tough sell — but there are real signs that this year may be different on the campaign trail.”

Can algae help achieve carbon neutrality? Two Middlebury students hope to find out: “Within the movement toward carbon neutrality, many have turned to corn, soybeans and cow manure to produce biofuel and reduce emissions. At Middlebury College, two students think that algae may provide another natural source. One of them, Bobby Levine, a Middlebury College senior, first heard about using algae to offset carbon emissions two years ago from Netaka White, director of Vermont Biofuels Association. Levine decided to apply the technology to help reduce Middlebury College’s power plant emissions.”

Middlebury College announces recipients of 2007 Fellowships in Environmental Journalism: “Administrators of the Middlebury College Fellowships in Environmental Journalism have announced the recipients for 2007. The newly established program, designed to support intensive, year-long reporting about environmental issues by journalists at the start of their careers, annually selects 10 journalists — two of whom are Middlebury College seniors whose projects will contribute to senior work for the baccalaureate degree.”

Middlebury College Language Schools to begin summer session June 15: “Residents of the Middlebury community and visitors to the area can expect to overhear a diverse mix of languages again this summer: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Friday, June 15, marks the beginning of the Middlebury College Language Schools’ summer sessions, known internationally for a rigorous approach to the teaching of languages and cultures.”

Middlebury’s Potomac Theatre Project moves to New York for summer 2007: “The Potomac Theatre Project, which has been based in Washington, D.C., under the direction of Professors Cheryl Faraone and Richard Romagnoli since 1987, will present its 21st repertory season Off Broadway during the summer of 2007.”

The long way home: Biking — from Vermont: “As Mike Mommsen’s classmates at Middlebury College in Vermont loaded luggage into their parents’ minivans or caught rides to the airport on the last afternoon of spring semester, Mommsen threw his leg over his Alan racing bike and started pedaling home — all the way to Minnesota.”

Middlebury College Language Schools to begin summer session June 15: “Residents of the Middlebury community and visitors to the area can expect to overhear a diverse mix of languages again this summer: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

“Friday, June 15, marks the beginning of the Middlebury College Language Schools’ summer sessions, known internationally for a rigorous approach to the teaching of languages and cultures.”

Clinton wows crowd Addison Independent: “MIDDLEBURY — Bill Clinton spoke slowly and took deep breaths during his address at Middlebury College on Sunday. He didn’t have a script and his message was achingly simple: genetically, he said, all human beings are 99.9 percent the same.”