This is Vassar...November 2009

Alumna’s Environmental Conservation Association Highlighted in
PBS Documentary Project

As a Vassar College junior in 1953, Elizabeth Titus Putnam ’55 was greatly inspired by a visit to Grand Teton National Park, where she was awestruck by the colorful aurora borealis (or northern lights). After reading about the plight of overtaxed rangers and poorly maintained national parks, she recognized the need to preserve public spaces where nature could be observed and based her thesis on a proposal to create a modern-day student conservation corps. The project amounted to more than just an “A” grade; it was the seed for the Student Conservation Association (SCA), whose college- and high school-aged participants protect and restore national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks, and community green spaces in all 50 states.

Elizabeth Titus Putnam ’55 of the Student Conservation Association

The SCA (originally called the Student Conservation Program, or SCP) placed its first 53 volunteers in Grand Teton and Olympic National Parks in 1957. The organization now boasts 3,200 student participants from across the nation and from more than 30 countries abroad. Putnam’s “student project” has encouraged thousands of green professionals — from park superintendents to urban planners — to pursue a lifetime of environmental stewardship.

Her experiences and contributions are recounted as part of the PBS documentary project “National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” The film aired in October on PBS stations across the country. A portion of the material gathered for the project can be found online.

Photo credit: John Gauvin

Daniel Pereira ’01 Earns Prestigious Teaching Award

Daniel Pereira ’01 has received the 2009 Washington Post Agnes Meyer Teacher of the Year Award for his innovative work with students at the George Washington Community School, a college prep school for students dealing with drug abuse, social anxiety, learning disabilities, and bullying. His nomination for the award came directly from the parents and students of the school, where he also serves as a college counselor.

A double major in English and cognitive science, Pereira realized that a position as a teacher would allow him to indulge his interests in both literature and the brain. After graduation, he took a teaching job at the small private school in Springfield, Virginia created for students who have encountered trouble completing their studies at public schools. Pereira’s school makes sure to keep class sizes low — there are only about 50 students per grade — and emphasizes the importance of creativity as a means of engagement. As an English teacher, Pereira has done his part, designing a curriculum that infuses studies of more classic books and literature with lessons on graphic novels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and iambic pentameter using the music of Run-DMC.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Deva Kyle

Student Poll Worker Training Program Receives Funding Boost

The Dutchess County Citizen Action Network (DCCAN), a nonpartisan program to train and employ poll workers established by Vassar professor Sarita McCoy Gregory, is one of just 11 programs nationwide to receive a 2009 Help America Vote College Program grant by the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC has awarded DCCAN $20,000 to continue the development of the nonpartisan collaboration among Dutchess County colleges and the county’s Board of Elections.

Vassar professor Sarita McCoy Gregory established DCCAN in the fall of 2008 to train college students as poll workers as a response to reports of an estimated shortage of 500,000 poll workers nationwide and 1,300 in Dutchess County. More than 250 students received training last fall and were able to help alleviate the critical shortage of poll workers in Dutchess County. The collaboration includes students from four local campuses: Bard College, Dutchess County Community College, Marist College, and Vassar College.

Photo credit: Ben Rutkowski ’09

Vassar’s Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer Project Now Online

The groundbreaking Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer (ERBC) project, which introduces users to the complex science exploring the connections between environmental factors and breast cancer, is now available online in both English and Spanish at erbc.vassar.edu. The website was based on the first version of ERBC released in June 2006 on a multimedia CD, which was produced by a team of Vassar faculty, students, and technical professionals led by Janet Gray, professor of psychology and director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society.

The project presents research from more than 200 scientific sources published in top-tier medical and environmental journals; informative videos; as well as a glossary, and is used by high schools, medical schools, clinics, doctors’ offices, and individuals concerned about cancer risks. Here, Professor Janet Gray shows off the ERBC CD.

Photo credit: © Vassar College/Noah Fowler ’09

Women’s Volleyball Team Wins Seven Sisters Championship

Head women’s volleyball coach Jonathan Penn has had his share of memorable victories during his 12 seasons leading the team, but one win had always eluded him — until Sunday, October 11. With a 3-0 sweep over Wellesley in the championship of the Seven Sisters Tournament, Penn scored his first — and the program’s third — Seven Sisters title.

The Brewers (13-5) won the title in resounding fashion, sweeping Wellesley 25-20, 25-21, 25-15. It was Vassar’s first Seven Sisters Championship since 1993; the win avenged a five-set loss to Wellesley in the 2007 championship match.

Senior Sarah Potts (pictured) and freshman Hilary Koenigs were named to the All-Seven Sisters Tournament Team as a result of their outstanding play during the tournament.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Robin Deutsch

Music Department Enlivens the Campus with Fall Concerts

The Vassar Department of Music will present eleven concerts during the month of November, including faculty and senior recitals, guest events, and vocal and instrumental ensemble concerts, and will host three concerts in December, showcasing jazz, orchestral music, and the traditional “Service of Lessons and Carols.”

Unless otherwise noted, the programs will all take place in the Martel Recital Hall in Skinner Hall of Music at Vassar. All programs are free and open to the public; no reservations are needed for general seating.

Photo credit: Kara Lyn

November Speakers at Vassar College

Eleanor Berger ’64 will lead a group walk on Thursday, November 5, starting at the Vassar College Bookstore, at 3:00 p.m.; at 4:00 p.m. the group will return to the bookstore to listen to Berger’s presentation on her book Stepping Out: A Tenderfoot’s Guide to the Principles, Practices, and Pleasures of Countryside Walking. Read more about the book.

Later that same day, at 5:30 p.m., noted biographer Richard Aldous will give this year’s C. Mildred Thompson Lecture, sponsored by the history department, in a talk titled “Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship.” Aldous is a professor of history at University College Dublin and the head of the University College Dublin School of History and Archives. He is currently at work on a study of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, to be published by Hutchinson in 2011. His many other books include The Lion and the Unicorn, a critically acclaimed study of the rivalry between William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, and the bestseller Great Irish Speeches. Professor Aldous’s talk, to be given in Sanders Auditorium (room 212), is free and open to the public. Learn more about Aldous.

Aaron Lansky is the founder and current president of the National Yiddish Book Center, based in Amherst, Massachusetts on the campus of Hampshire College. The center, founded in 1980, is dedicated to the preservation of books written in Yiddish; the center’s library now consists of over a million volumes. Lansky, who dropped out of graduate school at the age of 23 to begin his book-rescue project, tells his story in Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued A Million Yiddish Books, which Publishers Weekly described as “a testimony to his love of Judaism and literature and his desire to make a difference in the world.” On Wednesday, November 11, at 5:30 p.m., Lansky will give a talk about his book and his work in Sanders Auditorium (room 212). Discover the National Yiddish Book Center.

Alexandra Berzon ’01 (pictured) was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service last spring for her exhaustive reporting for the Las Vegas Sun about fatal construction working conditions on the famed Las Vegas Strip. The series of more than 50 stories and editorials also earned her the Scripps Howard Award for Public Service Reporting, and several regional awards. On Monday, November 16, Berzon will deliver a lecture titled “Reporting the Local News: How a Vassar Grad Won the Pulitzer Prize in an Era of Newspaper Decline” at 5:30pm in Sanders Classroom Spitzer Auditorium, Room 212. The talk is sponsored by the Urban Studies Program and is free and open to the public. Read an interview with Berzon, conducted by fellow Pulitzer recipient Matthew Brelis ’80 for the VQ.

Delhi Noir is the latest installment in the international noir series of anthologies published by Akashic Books. Launched by the success of Brooklyn Noir, the original title published in 2004, each anthology features all-new short stories set in a particular location. Contributing writers Meera Nair, Mohan Sikka, and Hirsh Sawhney (who also edited the anthology) will give a reading from Delhi Noir in Sanders Auditorium (room 212) on Tuesday, November 17, at 5:00 p.m. The reading is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Faculty and the South Asian Students’ Alliance, and is free and open to the public. Learn more about international noir.

Photo credit: Leila Navidi