Category: Students

Honors Day October 2012

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The following students received awards during the Honors Day ceremony on October 26, 2012.

Brian Gougeon Prize in Art
McKenna Kring
Corinne MacInnes
Kira Sandiford

Lillian Pringle Baldauf Prize in Music
Bret Linvill
Hannah Shaughnessy-Mogill

Margaret Upton Prize in Music
Morgan Walker

Cooper Award
Amy Jimenez
Arshia Will

Theatre Arts First-Year Student Award
Katelyn Anderson
Jane Huffman

LeGrand Copley Prize in French
Kelsey Donk
Jessica Jankowsky
Katherine Stott
Jose Zacarias

Hardy Fuchs Award
Brock Crystal

Margo Light Award
David DeSimone

Romance Languages Department Prize in Spanish
Samantha Jolly
Jacob Lenning

Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin
Nick Bolig

Provost’s Prize in Classics
Eeva Stout-Sharp

O. M. Allen Prize in English
Allison Kennedy

John B. Wickstrom Prize in History
Samantha Foran

L. J. and Eva (“Gibbie”) Hemmes Memorial Prize in Philosophy
Andy Haughey
Morgan Jennings
Jenna Sexton

Department of Philosophy Prize
Jenna Neumann

Winifred Peake Jones Prize in Biology
Rachael Dandar
Kaitlyn Greiner
Tibin John

Department of Chemistry Prize
Dylan Shearer

First-Year Chemistry Award
Mojtaba Akhavantafti
Jacob Gallimore

Lemuel F. Smith Award
Rachel Horness

Computer Science Prize
Giancarlo Anemone
Guilherme Guedes

First-Year Mathematics Award
Tibin John
Philip Mulder
Fayang Pan

Thomas O. Walton Prize in Mathematics
Jinyuan Huang
Umang Varma

Cooper Prize in Physics
Rasseil Alzouhayli
Caitlin Braun

Departmental Prize in Anthropology and Sociology
Maya Edery
Thomas Jackson
Hannah Shaughnessy-Mogill

C. Wallace Lawrence Prize in Economics
Dorothy Mugubu
Kari Paine

Irene and S. Kyle Morris Prize
Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Katherine Gatz
Drew Hopper
Bret Linvill
Scott Wharam

William G. Howard Memorial Prize
Alexander Werder

Department of Psychology First-Year Student Prize
Elizabeth Hanley
Mara Richman

Marshall Hallock Brenner Prize
Justin Leatherwood

Division of Physical Education Prize
Alexandra Gothard
Dylan Shearer

Maggie Wardle Prize
Emily Lindsay

Gordon Beaumont Memorial Award
Alicia Schooley

Henry and Inez Brown Prize
Cierra Gillard

Virginia Hinkelman Memorial Award
Sashae Mitchell

F. W. and Elsie L. Heyl Scholarship
Ayaka Abe
Reid Blanchett
Eugina Chiang
Robert Hudson
Kyle Sunden
Riley Lundquist
Paige Maguire
Sarah Manski

Posse Scholar Program
Coral Cervantes
Aarronisha Miller
Penelope Owen
Jung Eun Pyeon
Edwin Salvatierra
Jonathan Tavasti
Luisa Togia
Marcela Zaragoza

National Merit Scholars
Hannah Frame
Lucy Mailing
Jordan Meiller

John T. Williamson Scholars
Nana-Yaw Aikins
Marcela Alfaro
Camila Almanza Neumann
Elizabeth Arellano
Tyler Armor
Spencer Bertram
Nakeya Boyles
Rian Brown
Francisco Cabrera
Willina Cain
Jasmine Charter-Harris
Josefina Cibelli
Justin Danzy
Melany Diaz
Andres ElAmin-Martinez
Michelle Escobar
Joana Garcia
Marlytt Garrido
Delfino Gaspar
Immanuel Greene
Jackson Greenstone
Nya Greenstone
Elijah Hamilton-Wray
Michelle Hernandez
Reynaldo Hernandez
Yessica Hernandez
Lucia Herrera
Zachary Hill
Conrad Hipkins-Jones
David Huerta
Kelsey Kerbawy
Jordan Loredo
Samantha Luna
Guadalupe Marin
Mindze Mbala-Nkanga
Belinda McCauley
Lizbeth Mendoza Pineda
Chanice Moore
Aliera Morasch
Laura Moreno
Chelsea Muller
Fernando Nunez
Victoria Osorio
Dylan Polcyn
Andrea Pruden
Braeden Rodriguez
Wendy Rubio
Octavius Sanders
William Shelton
Cassandra Solis
Maria Talanda-Fisher
Nadia Torres
Norma Torres
Krysta Van Dyke
Julia Villarreal
Jasmine Williams
Stephanie Zuniga

Enlightened Leadership Scholars
Shahir Azhar
Johanna Drentlaw
Yessica Hernandez
Madeline MacWilliams
Ivy McKee
Megan Malish
Brian Raetz
Alexandra Smith
Cassandra Solis
Kelly Treharne

Alpha Lambda Delta
Jasmine An
Giancarlo Anemone
Caroline Barnett
Kate Belew
Caitlin Braun
Lee Broady
Haley Cartwright
Colin Cepuran
Savanna Chambers
Margarette Clevenger
Riley Cook
Rachel Dandar
Callie Daniels-Howell
Kelsey Donk
Samuel Evans-Golden
Rina Fujiwara
Kaitlyn Greiner
Elizabeth Hanley
Mariah Hennen
Jordan Henning
Jenna Holmes
Jane Huffman
Morgan Jennings
Tibin John
Allison Kennedy
Faiz Khaja
Emily Kotz
McKenna Kring
Tessa Lathrop
Jacob Lenning
Samuel Linstrom
Corinne MacInnes
Scott Manski
Alexandra Morris
Philip Mulder
Fayang Pan
Maria Rich
Mara Richman
Andrea Satchwell
Hayley Smith
Shang Sun
Tyler Tabenske
Elizabeth Uribe
Austin Voydanoff
Scott Wharam
Luke Winship

MIAA Academic Honor Roll
Keaton Adams
Maxwell Ammerman
Samuel Amoabeng
Giancarlo Anemone
Ashley Arnoldi
Nicholas Beam
Nicholas Bolig
Amanda Bolles
Olivia Bouchard
Travis Braun
Caitlin Braun
Megan Burns
Erin Campbell
Edward Carey
Reid Carlson
Cody Carr
Brandon Casto
Brock Crystal
Rachel Dandar
Ryan Davis
Mark Denenfeld
Abigail DeOchoa
David DeSimone
Calee Dieleman
Alexander Dombos
Querubin Dubois
Alexander Ducoffe
Nathan Eddy
Taryn Edsall
Mark Fortelka
Angela Frakes
James Frye
Jacob Gallimore
Lindsey Gaston
Mark Ghafari
Alexandra Gothard
Emily Gray
Alexandra Groffsky
Guilherme Guedes
Ellen Hallgren
Jacob Hansen
Kelsey Hassevoort
Kenneth Heidel
Bonita Hazel
Jordan Henning
Andrew Herman
Robert Hilliard
Ryan Hoffmann
Chaz Hyatt
Michael Ignagni
Philip Jackson III
Zachary Janes
Tibin John
Kelsey Johnson
David Kamerman
Caleb Kline
Michael Korn
Rebecca La Croix
Michael Lamrock
Rory Landis
Allison LaRose
Colin Lauderdale
Jacob Lenning
Colleen Leonard
Evan Levine
Christine Lewis
Tobias Lobeda
Kevin Lodewyk
Dane Macdonell
Amanda Mancini
Christopher Manning
Scott Manski
Megan Martinez
Caitlin McCarthy
Dylan McGonnell
Bradley Merritt
Colin Mervak
Matthew Mills
David Morris
Alexandra Morris
Courtney Nartker
Alexander Noble
Agust Olafsson
Michael Page
Adam Peters
Rachel Pitzer
Jonathan Powers
Lindsey Repphun
Maria Rich
Mara Richman
Camryn Romph
Peter Rothstein
Kira Sandiford
Jacob Schell
Julia Schroeder
Colleen Schuldeis
Eric Schuman
Dylan Shearer
Meredith Sherrill
Paula Silverman
Eric Silverstein
Dalton Simancek
Madeline Sinkovich
Alison Smith
Charlotte Steele
Alexandra Stephens
Nicholas Sweda
Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Lilian Taylor
Meghan Turner
Jackson Vaughn
Stephanie Verbeek
Jon Vigi
Samantha Voss
Kaitlyn Welke
Alexander Werder
Riley Wetzel
Scott Wharam
Joseph Widmer
Jonathan Wolbert
Nicholas Yedlin
Marc Zughaib

MIAA Team Awards
Men’s Basketball
Men’s Cross Country
Men’s Soccer
Men’s Tennis
Women’s Golf
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Tennis
Women’s Volleyball

Confronting Terrible Stories

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“Remembering Maggie Wardle” was the theme of the Week 4 (Oct. 5) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Featuring an annual speech by Ann V. and Donald R. Parfet Distinguished Professor of English Gail Griffin, the reflection remembered those in our community who face daily violence as well as the history of K’s own struggle to become a place free of violence.

Gail Griffin stands next to “Maggie’s Bench” next to Stetson Chapel
Gail Griffin by “Maggie’s Bench” next to Stetson Chapel.

Outside on the quad, purple and white fabric adorned trees on the Quad to commemorate National Intimate Partner Violence Awareness Month. More than 100 students, staff, and faculty with purple ribbons affixed to their lapels read fliers that listed the warning signs of abusive or potentially abusive relationships. The Reflection also served as a remembrance for the campus events of Friday, Oct. 18, 1999 when NeeNef Odah ’01 fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, Maggie Wardle ’02 and then himself. In 2010, Griffin published The Events of October: Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus, a book about the violence and its aftermath.

Andrea Johnson ’15 and Brittany Worthington ’14, co-leaders of POWER, the feminist student group on campus, introduced Griffin who said although this might be the last time she presents this lecture, it’s important to continue to talk about this difficult topic. “So much of education means confronting those terrible stories,” she said. She then recounted details of the circumstances leading to the murder-suicide from both Odah’s and Wardle’s perspectives. She unraveled the assumption that Odah was an imposing misogynist, but rather a mild young man who was “one of us.” She also described Wardle as a fun-loving athlete rather than a weak victim of abuse. “Women don’t get beaten because they are weak or stupid,” she said.

Chaplin Liz Candido ’00 invited the audience to encircle Wardle’s commemorative bench outside the chapel for a moment of silence. Wardle’s mother, step-father, and grandmother were all in attendance, and they encouraged students to remember Maggie by speaking about violence on campus.

Community Reflection is part of the Chapel Program at Kalamazoo College and offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM in Stetson Chapel. The campus community and general public are invited. Reflection will not be held during Week 5 (Oct. 12) due to Fall Quarter break. But Week 6 (October 19) Reflection will be “Politics and Public Service: K-Plans and Career Paths,” which will feature a panel of K alumni working in the areas of politics or public service reflecting on how their K-Plan continues to inform their lives and careers.

[Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13]

Temporary Shelter

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Community Reflection participants from Week 3
Participants in Week Three chapel included (l-r): back row, Arik Mendelevitz ’15; Liz Candido ’00 and Joan Hawxhurst; front row, Rachael Vettese ’15; Craig Isser ’13 and Emilie Harris-Makinen ’13.

“Perspectives on Sukkot: Celebrating a Quest for Solace and Community” was the theme of the Week Three (Sept. 28) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Jewish Student Organization, the reflection educated the audience about the Jewish holiday Sukkot and the metaphors it provides in a pilgrimage towards maturity and self-awareness.

JSO President Craig Isser ’13 offered a “crash course” on Sukkot. He said it is a harvest holiday that Jews celebrate by building a sukkah, or temporary hut, which commemorates biblical times when the Hebrew people escaped from Egypt and wandered through the desert for 40 years with no permanent housing. He said Jews decorate the sukkah with corn husks and other fall harvest staples. JSO Co-Vice Presidents Rachael Vettese ’15 and Arik Mendelevitz ’15 spoke about the history and personal importance of the holiday. They announced that JSO planned to continue their annual tradition of building a sukkah during the weekend on the quad.

“Go sit in our sukkah, and let your mind wander,” said Vettese. “Enjoy the breeze, and smell the leaves as they are changing.” Emilie Harris-Makinen ‘13 said she is not Jewish, but she has found a comforting home among her Jewish friends at K. She said the sukkah is an idea to which people of any faith can relate. “Life can be hard at times, and it can be a really big challenge,” she said, “but even the slightest shelter, whether it’s a sukkah, or just the arms of another person can help you through the bad times.”

Director of the Center for Career and Professional Development Joan Hawxhurst said she came to Judaism later in life when she adopted her husband’s faith. She said the holiday reminds her that home is with the people she loves. “Our real shelter, our real security,” she said,” is not a welcome home or a plot of land we own, the permanence that we can’t guarantee. In the end, the real home is not a place.” Chaplain Liz Candido ’00 spoke about her experience transitioning from college to adulthood. She described K as a passing shelter. “You are all living in sukkot—temporary booths,” she said. Each audience member received strips of paper with which those decorating the sukkah would link in decoration of the hut.

Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited.

[Story by Elaine Ezekiel ’13.]

Having “The Talk” Across Campus

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“Let’s Talk about Sex” was the theme of the Week Two (Sept. 21) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Co-sponsored by the Counseling Center, the reflection aimed to raise awareness about fostering communication, creating healthy relationships, and sexual encounters. Six participants discuss Week 2 Community Reflection

Director of Counseling Pat Ponto spoke first, announcing third and fourth week “Sex Weeks” featuring various forums discussing sexual health and social issues in K dorms. Ponto says working in the counseling center has offered her insight into the student’s perspective concerning sex. She says the two keys to good sexual experiences are intentionality and transparency. Counseling Center Psychologist Deb Rose said she wanted to debunk the myth “There’s no such thing as bad sex.”

Allie VanHeest ’13 introduced the new student group S3A, the Sexual Safety and Support Alliance. The team of six female K students provides a confidential peer-to-peer support network especially meat to help those affected by sexual assault. “I’m excited by the simple fact that this alliance now exists. To be a part of this group of women is even more empowering for me,” she said. Sexual Health Awareness Group’s Co-President Colin Cepuran ’13 delivered a speech about opening up conversational space surrounding sex culture at K. “We need virgins, introverts, party animals, first-years, seniors, and all the rest of you to be able to talk about their sexual needs,” he said. “Acceptance is rooted in understanding.”

Rachael La Barbera ’15, Craig Isser ’13, and Counseling Psychologist and Training Director Danielle Standish spoke about their respective experiences attempting to relate to K’s “hookup culture,” receiving a sexual education, and finding fulfillment within a marital relationship. Finally, Counseling Center Clinical Director Alan Hill informed the audience about an upcoming discussion he will be leading about men and sex. Attendees received copies of the Sexual Health Bill of Rights brochure.

Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited. The next reflection will be held on Friday of Week Three, (September 28), entitled “Perspectives on Sukkot: Celebrating a Quest for Solace and Community.” Co-sponsored by the K Jewish Student Organization, the event will celebrate Sukkot, a pilgrimage festival. JSO members will reflect on the importance of this festival in the faith and the metaphors it provides for creating a dwelling place in our own pilgrimage towards maturity and self-awareness. [Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13]

K Recycling Program Puts Others to Shame

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The website thebestcolleges.org has ranked Kalamazoo College #6 on its list of “11 College Recycling Programs That Put All Others To Shame.”

The website cites K for being “a perennial top finisher in Recyclemania,” the national competition for college and university recycling programs, and for a recycling department that “oversees the export of about a ton of food waste a week to a local pig farm, as well as the recycling of calculators, batteries, electric motors, and all other e-waste.”

K’s student run “Bat Cave” also gets a shoutout, as the place where student volunteers answer questions and run the REP Room, or Resource Exchange Program, where they recycle textbooks, mirrors, Christmas lights, pens, lamps, and much more.

K Psychology Professor and Student Publish Collaborative Research

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Siu-Lan Tan, John Baxa and Sally Warner in the Olmsted Room at Kalamazoo CollegePsychology professor Siu-Lan Tan and K alumnus John Baxa ’09 published a book chapter on their video game research in the book Interdisciplinary Advancements in Gaming, Simulations, and Virtual Environments (published in 2012 by IGI Global, edited by R. Ferdig and S. de Freitas). Their research focuses on the role of music and sound effects on video game performance in gamers with different levels of expertise. It is based on collaborative work between Tan and Baxa beginning in his sophomore year, continuing through his Senior Individualized Project, and extending beyond his graduation. Baxa is currently a graduate student pursuing a degree in Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University, where he will learn video game design and may be able to implement their research on sound design in future video games. Baxa (right) is pictured with Tan (center) last April, at her Lucasse teaching award presentation. Also shown is Sally Warner ’08 (left), who worked with Tan for three years to co-organize service-learning projects and assisted her on a book manuscript. Warner is currently working on a Doctorate in curriculum, instruction, and teacher education at Michigan State University.

Learning from, laughing through, first year mistakes

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“Taking Chances, Making Mistakes, and Getting Messy: A Reflection on Learning from Experiences,” was the theme of the Week One (Sept. 14) Community Reflection in Stetson Chapel. Sponsored by the Chapel Program, Student Chaplains offered their advice to the audience of mostly first years about learning lessons the hard way on campus. K Chaplain Liz Candido ’00 introducing both the new crew of chaplains and the weekly Community Reflection hour, which she called a forum “reflecting on our ideals; not just saying we believe things, but learning to live in integrity with those things.”

2012-13 K student chaplains at Stetson Chapel
K Student Chaplains, 2012-13

Student Chaplain Justin Leatherwood ’13 spoke about how an accidental prank war beginning his freshman year escalated into elaborate hijinks involving feeding beans to sleeping roommates and setting up a complex booby trap over a bed. These experiences, he says, helped solidify his closest friendships. “We did some pretty weird stuff freshman year,” he said. “Had we all been worried about showing our true colors, none of this awesome stuff would have happened. As we head into this new year, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, or do those strange things you love doing.” Student Chaplain McKenna Kring ’15 shared a more serious roommate anecdote from her first year about the mistake of not speaking up when problems arise. She stressed the importance of communication. “Don’t avoid,” she said, “communicate.”

Katie Ring ’15 spoke about her first non-A grade; Darren Clarke ’13 read from an essay about the mistake of unquestioning selflessness; Sam Rood ’15 extolled the virtues of sobriety after a night full of mistakes; Molly Anderson ’15 recalled her repetitive mistake of forgetting her room key; Theo Cambert ’15 talked about making the mistake of prioritizing Frisbee over academics; Alicia Schooley ’13 warned first-years to learn to socialize with professors while erring on the side of formality. Lastly, five other chaplains read submissions from anonymous upperclassmen about their biggest mistakes made at K.

Community Reflection offers a unique forum for discussion, worship, performance, and community expression each Friday at 10:50 AM (refreshments at 10:30) in Stetson Chapel. The entire campus community and general public are invited.

Story and photo by Elaine Ezekiel ’13.

A “Life Changing” Summer in Haiti

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Roxann Lawrence and Amy Jimenez with a young patient in Haiti
Roxann Lawrence (left) and Amy Jimenez (right) with a young patient in Haiti.

Kalamazoo College juniors Roxann Taneisha Lawrence and Amy Jimenez recently had what Roxann calls “a life changing experience,” courtesy of the College’s Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) and Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL). They spent much of their summer interning at Grace Children’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

“Through the CCPD, ACSJL, and Grace Hospital, Amy and I were able to have one of the most rewarding summers of our lives,” said Roxann. “We were delighted to see social justice working through an international perspective.”

Here is Roxann’s account of their summer internship.

Grace Children’s Hospital is a flagship ministry of International Child Care serving children diagnosed with such things as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malnutrition. With an unparalleled dedication to changing the circumstances of the poor through preventative and curative health care, GCH/ICC is greatly appreciated for their commitment to these children and their families throughout Port-au-Prince and neighboring cities.

We were given the opportunity to work in an organization with a myriad of integrated community projects and chose to work in different departments. Bearing in mind the communication barriers, we worked with the Community Inclusion/Rehabilitation Program, human resources and public relations.

Being involved in the Community Inclusion Program was a life changing experience. We saw children and their families displaced after the earthquake in January 2010 and living in tent cities. Many of them had mental and physical disabilities. After undergoing a two-day intensive training with some physical therapists from the United States and orienting ourselves about the program and the communities it serves, we looked forward to going out in the community.

Despite the level of poverty that stared us in the face when we entered the tent cities, smiling faces greeted us in Haitian Creole “Bonjou” (Good Morning) or “Bonswa” (Good Evening), often by children playing mab (marbles). We walked passed dozens of USAID gray-colored tents packed with families and toddlers pointing at us and repeating “Blan, blan, blan!” We later learned that “blan” was Haitian Creole for foreigner. On many occasions, we were jumping from rock to rock to avoid stepping in the sewage and garbage that littered the slumped tent cities.

We conducted a number of tests with the children to see how much they have improved since their last check-up and also visited each patient once per week. It was self-fulfilling and empowering to see children responding to treatment in a positive light. Usually treated as outsiders because of superstitious beliefs in Haitian folklore, the children and their families were set on fitting in.

The people living in the tent cities were resilient and creative, despite the dilapidated housing, land and air polluted environment that surrounded them daily. On some of our visits with the nurses to the mobile clinics, we witnessed creativity at its best. With the lack of monetary resources, ICC/GCH established mobile clinics in different tent cities to accommodate families that are unable to come to the hospital. Instead, the hospital goes to them. These mobile clinics are used mainly to vaccinate and weigh babies, and educate community members about birth control methods, nutrition and sanitation. Without a standard scale to weigh the babies, community members made crème-colored cloth bags and the babies were put in them and placed on a scale that hung to a tarpaulin.

Amy and I were given the opportunity to give tours to other teams. Usually, these were North American religious-based groups who have had some form of relationship with the organization. From time to time, there were one or two persons who were returning to Haiti, but majority of the team members were new. A typical tour would consist of taking them to different departments at GCH/ICC and explaining to them the services that they provide to the community.

From public relations, we moved on to human resources, where we spent most of our time doing administrative work, from filing and retrieving information and documents to managing and string files. Something that we are really proud of was the pre-orientation package that we were asked to prepare for North American groups who were coming into Haiti. After spending countless of hours reading, observing and interacting, we made a pre-orientation packet that will now be given to all groups who are coming to Haiti through ICC.

Without a doubt, this has been the best summer of my life. It was a challenging, but nonetheless great learning experience. Other than helping me to see social justice working through an international perspective, it reinforced the importance of community participatory service to community development and change. What I have experienced working with ICC/GCH will continue to have a positive impact on me as I passionately pursue a life dedicated to serving and working with marginalized groups. I’ve thought about what I have learned here at Kalamazoo College, and it was fascinating to translate theory into actual practice. At that time, I became even more grateful for my K experience. We would recommend every K student to apply for this internship. This was a summer well spent.

Both of us are extremely thankful to CCPD and the ACSJL for providing us with this great opportunity to learn and grow as social justice leaders of today and tomorrow.

Roxann Taneisha Lawrence ’14 majors in Anthropology and Sociology with a concentration in Public Policy and Urban Affairs. From Westmoreland, Jamaica, she is currently on study abroad in Strasbourg, France. Amy Jimenez ’14 also majors in Anthropology and Sociology, with a second major in Theatre Arts. Originally from Compton, California, she is currently on study abroad in Varanasi, India. During her sophomore year, Amy was a Civic Engagement Scholar through the College’s Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service Learning working at El Sol, a bilingual elementary school in Kalamazoo.

K Connection Spans 30 Years in Internship

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Cassandra Fraser and Michael Paule-CarresCassandra Fraser, Class of 1984, is a chemistry professor at the University of Virginia. This summer she hosted Michael Paule-Carres, Class of 2014, in her laboratory, where he did research for his Senior Individualized Project. “It was kind of scary to contemplate that 30 year gap!” wrote Fraser, who had a good antidote for any mild “gap fear.” The formula included the excellence of the lab work Paule-Carres conducted. “He synthesized and characterized a luminescent polymer that will be used to make oxygen nanosensors for wound diagnostics, tumor hypoxia imaging, and other medical uses,” Fraser explained. And for extra measure, a few funny photos were added. “We took some research group pictures, including some of Mike (right) and me together, the Kalamazoo College chemists. We even attempted to make K’s with our bodies, not so successfully mind you, but maybe it’s the thought that counts.” Mike has returned to campus for the beginning of men’s varsity soccer practice.

 

One if by land, 70 if by LandSea

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Sarah Werner and her family from Clinton TownshipAbout 70 first-year students—including Sarah Werner and her family from Clinton Township, Mich., photographed here—arrived August 16 to begin their Kalamazoo College journey via LandSea, an optional 18-day wilderness backpacking, climbing, canoeing, glad-I-brought-my-bug spray experience in Adirondack State Park, a six-million-acre tract in northern New York. After checking out their gear, the campus, and each other, participants pile onto a bus and head east at 7PM for a nine-hour overnight trek. A team of student and staff leaders awaits their arrival in New York. Welcome, bon voyage, and good luck LandSea 2012 participants. We’ll see you back here on Sept. 3!