Off the Wall

Week Four

Spring

20 April 2009

Annual Earth Day Shines

Complimentary Bike Cleaning and Tune-Ups

On Saturday April 18th attendants of COA’s annual Earth Day extravaganza were asked to consider this question. That day they were supporting local businesses, buying used books and other knickknacks and listening to the Big Moose Band on the Red Bricks. The event saw lots sunshine and smiles. For the kids there was story time and arts and crafts from recycled materials, all while learning about how they can best help the planet. For the graduates of story time there were panel discussions on sustainability, outdoor education, green business, green energy and what to consider when buying and selling food. Ben Cowie-Haskell a COA graduate of 1984 was the speaker of the day. Cowie-Haskell is the superintendent of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, New England’s only national marine sanctuary. Overall the day was a success and everyone placed their trash in the proper receptacle.

Photos Courtesy of Rebecca Woods

Island Community Members Mingle with Students

Sections A. Inside the Bubble B. Outside of the Bubble C. Op-Ed D. Events

E. Wellness Corner G. Arts & Literature H. The Docket

Thorndike Used Book Sale

Inside the Bubble

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Commencement Speaker Announced

-David Hales It gives me the greatest pleasure to confirm that Dr. Steven K. Katona has accepted the invitation of the Class of 2009 to give the Commencement Address at our ceremonies on June 6, 2009. Steve was President of COA when the class of 2009 entered. He has a lifetime of accomplishments as a scholar, administrator and environmentalist, and it was in recognition of his reputation nationally and internationally that the graduates selected him for this key role in the 2009 Ceremony.

Many of you are well acquainted with Steve, and have benefitted from his leadership and example. Nevertheless, a summary biography is below.

I know you will join me in welcoming him to Commencement 2009 in this very special role.

--Steven K. Katona, PhD, was one of College of the Atlantic’s four founding faculty members. He taught courses in marine biology, evolution and ecology at the college from 1972 until 1993, when he became the college’s fourth president, serving until 2006. In 1972, Katona also founded Allied Whale, College of the Atlantic’s marine mammal research group.

Since retiring from COA, Katona has become associated with the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is an adjunct senior scientist consulting on several projects, including a scientific overview of climate change and the marine environment and the effects of climate change on marine fisheries. He has also been active in exploring ways of communicating climate change to aquarium audiences. With Greg Stone ‘83, and an international team of marine scientists, he’s also heading a project sponsored by the aquarium, Conservation International and the National Geographic Society to develop an Ocean Health Index that evaluates how the ocean is responding to human activities, including conservation actions.

Additionally, Katona is working on developing research and demonstration programs that advance the use of renewable energy, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles and “smart” vehicle-to-grid power systems for Maine and New England.

Under Katona, COA made sustainability a central focus, initiating the green design of what ultimately became the Kathryn W. Davis Student Residence Village, creating a zero-waste graduation and emphasizing the importance of renewable energy for all the college’s electricity. The college also expanded its reach, both internationally and locally, adding Beech Hill Farm and the Edward McC. Blair Marine Research Station on Mount Desert Rock and the Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island, and bringing in the Davis Scholars from the United World College system.

Steven K. Katona was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received a BA in 1965 and a PhD in 1971, from Harvard University, both in biology. His dissertation on the ecology of marine zooplankton provided the first demonstration that chemical pheromones regulated the reproductive behavior of copepods. While at Harvard, Katona received a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Southampton, England.

As a research scientist Katona was instrumental in discovering that markings on the tails of humpback whales and the fins of finbacks are individualized. By keeping a photographic document of the tails and fins of these whales, scientists can now study the behavior, social groupings and migration patterns of individual whales.

Katona is married to painter and arts curator Susan Lerner, who also served on the faculty at College of the Atlantic, teaching literature, the arts and women’s studies. They have twin sons, David, Bates College ‘02 and Nicholas, Wesleyan University ‘03.

Edge of Eden The deadline for submitting to the art and literary magazine Edge of Eden is April 22. This is an annual publication showcasing the talents of current COA students, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to publish your best works.

Please email submissions or clarifying questions to Alicia Hynes (ahynes@coa.edu)

Glass Blowing Offered at COA

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- Linda Perrin

“There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.”

--Courtesy of Emile Zola A new course is being offered to the college this term.

Joining 2D Drawing, Intro to Arts and Design, and Pottery is: Introduction to Glassblowing. Ten brave souls are trying their hands, mouths and lungs at the ancient art. The class is taught by Linda Perrin, a local glass artist. Perrin started her own studio with the help of her husband Ken, over a decade ago in the village of Hulls Cove on MDI. As demand for their work increased and the realization of creating a public access glassblowing studio became possible, the couple moved the glass blowing studio, furnace and all, to a large warehouse space in the old part of downtown Ellsworth.

It is here that the beginning glass blowers of COA meet once a week, learning how to create functional and expressive objects out of molten glass. It is with great pleasure that the Perrins share their technical, historic, creative and entrepreneurial lessons of a lifestyle made from blowing bubbles. For weekly updates on the adventures and progress of this class visit: www.atlanticartglass.blogspot.com, where the motto is “Don’t Suck”, and the poet and craftsmen inside each of these courageous students will have this unique opportunity to shine.

News in Brief

Stephen Byrne and Linda Grecco Photo Courtesy: Linda Perrin

Life Drawing Studio The long awaited life drawing sessions are finally happening!

-Real live model and drawing benches/easels provided -Bring your own materials (though word on the street is that there is some spare charcoal floating around the studio) Every Wednesday, 7-9 pm, in Studio 3

- Sasha Paris For a senior project, one student invented robots which will walk through walls and incessantly pinch students Email Julie Olbrantz if you have further questions who don’t do their dorm chores or attend house dinners.

Another senior invented a TAB-dishware detector which will scan the campus daily, gather stolen crockery and cutlery, and wield dead fish against people caught hoarding it.

Rumor: There are no hippies at COA. The herpetology class built a shrine to Anura the frog goddess and Urodel the salamander god, where they have been seen praying for divine memory-jogging during next week’s lab practical.

Outside the Bubble

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For those seeking some mental stimulation, Alice Anderson (Off The Wall co.Editor) endorses the following sites

www.academicearth.org -- This website includes thousands of video lectures from top scholars around the world. Interested in learning something new, or hearing more about your favorite subject, this site is a great resource. www.americanrhetoric.com --Database of and index to 5000+ full text, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events. American Rhetoric is an excellent source for pulling direct quotes from recent political speeches. http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php -- This website is an incredible resource for those interested in accents and impersonations. It is a database of people from all over the world reading the same paragraph. Most recordings also have a text translation into the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Op-Ed

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lective, deliberately unheeding ignorance. Not a fantasy.

To be sure, the plot and the claims made by the movie - Poorva Rajaram are fantastic -- fantastically untrue, that is. Rather, it coSlumdog Millionaire is a precocious movie. It promises opts the motifs of realism. The movie’s fast-paced editmuch -- the kinda rehashed underdog story; a let’s just ing, Dutch angles and jump-cuts combined with the say new location; previously unprecedented amounts of setting give rise to gritty, graphic imagery are very much insiderly knowledge; an epic class-climb out of povthe antithesis to filmic fantasy. Boyle’s glossy “realism” erty; advances in storytelling with new improved, nonsteps close to picking up on something remotely acculinear plots; a fresh, non-formulaic look at the East. rate in the texture of life in Mumbai -- but its concerns Ben Kingsley didn’t receive his fateful call from Danstop there. More egregiously still, it possesses a hollow ny Boyle -- instead, real, live Indian actors were cast. triumphant chauvinism that lauds its myopia as Promising, no? somehow path-breaking.

Outsourcing the American Dream

“It was well-made and heart-warming!”

I suppose it’s best to let sleeping slumdogs lie.

For starters, the movie’s narrative is inept. It turns the dodgy processes that lead us to know what we know into an entirely explainable, crystalline set of incidents.

An unexplored religious riot, regular encounters with death, clueless American tourists, angry schoolteachers: the movie’s writers take dramatic license an alarming number of times with an alarming number of things.

The artistic license is not just restricted to the story, the camera has an unnerving way of focusing on crowds. It insists on gleefully dragging itself around the train station as it were the most captivating thing in the world.

I’ve never wanted to communicate such a profound feeling of “been there, done that” to the camerawork of a movie. The illustrious Lonely Planet school of cinematography had me in an elongated ocular stupor.

The movie has a rather blatant yearning to be considered “well-made” and win awards. Its makers are far too precocious not to include racy camerawork, an elaborate plot that creates all kinds of tensions and an oh-so-likable hero. However, Boyle upping the raciness and stylistic prowess of the film should be cause for worry -- surely it heightens the risk of entrapment by the movie’s beating-all-odds fuzziness. This fuzziness comes from a deceitful place. The movie has a less than flattering relationship with, err, accuracy and fact.

It supports an enormous socio-economic untruth: that making one’s way out of slum is a matter of serendipitous encounters with gameshows, guns, riots and hapless tourists.

“It addresses poverty” My objection is not that is depicts poverty -- I have no wish to hide from the (no doubt discerning) eyes of the West that such crippling poverty exists. Yet the movie trivializes it; poverty is just another backdrop like a pretty mountain or the world of horse racing. No thought is spared for any systemic causes of poverty and no acknowledgment is made of its own complicity in the oligopolies of the movie studio system that deal in billions of dollars. In short, the American Dream has finally been outsourced. In these times of recession and financial collapse, who will believe that the underdog story is still possible in the West? New backdrops, new possibilities: happy cash registers.

Seen any good movies lately? Fallen asleep in the theaters and felt jipped of six bucks? Tell Off The Wall your opinions on recent movies, and enlighten your peers. At any rate, incite a debate! (we love debates)

“It’s just fantasy, it doesn’t have to be realistic” For all its precocious intent, the movie smacks of a se-

Any thoughts, opinions, editorials, critiques, and reviews can be sent to offthewall@coa.edu

Events

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‘Nature of Poland’ at the Blum - Donna Gold

The Blum Gallery continues its spring series of shows by seniors with the Nature of Poland, featuring photos

by Matt McInnis and ethnography by Mike Kersula.

The exhibit explores Poland as a country of contrasting environments, from moss-covered old growth forests to smoggy industrial wastelands. It runs from April 27 to May 9 with an opening Wednesday, April 29 from 4 to 6 p.m. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The exhibit came about following the annual United Nations conference on climate change hosted by Poland last December. Kersula and McInnis attended the meetings-but with more than the treaty process on their minds. They wanted to understand how people of a post-socialist society connect to nature.

Kersula, of Bellows Falls, VT, worked on ethnography at COA. Having studied in Poland in high school and college, he is fluent in Polish. McInnis, of Portland, ME, took a more objective eye, looking for the aesthetic moments that would frame the contemporary Polish sense of nature.

JANUSZ KORBEL: Self-proclaimed radical environmentalist Janusz Korbel has fought for years to expand the Bialowieza National Park.

The combination of the pair was a powerful one. During their ten-week sojourn, they sometimes waited SILESIA: Abandoned coal mines and steel factories are hours for the proper conjunction of light and setting, a common view on the train ride through the industrial while also spending days speaking to various individuals. Says Kersula, “sometimes people were quite amused with our questions, like ‘What does nature mean in Polish?’

It’s not a question people usually ask.”

But such questions led to some fascinating discussions-and striking photographs.

The two talk about their time with Janusz Korbel, a journalist-turned-activist. Speaking about the forest, Korbel recalled to Kersula the story of an engineer, “a developer destroying nature. He starts to cry and says that he remembers from his childhood a beautiful river. And now, this river looks like a wide road, you know, it’s completely destroyed, and he starts to cry. So it shows very clearly that if we feel some connection with nature, it has value for us. Then we can protect it.”

The exhibit contains large photos, of up to 24 by 30 inches, and interview excerpts and translations. To see more of McInnis’ images, visit www.mattmcinnis.com.

‘On a Phantom Limb’ Maine Premeire at COA

Third Annual Alumni Art Show

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- Donna Gold Birds and cyborgs will splash across the movie screen at College of the Atlantic’s Gates Community Center on Tuesday, April 28, when Nancy Andrews offers the Maine premier of her latest film, “On a Phantom Limb.” The film, partially funded by her Guggenheim Fellowship, is an exploration of the postmodern condition through the metaphor of a bird-woman.

The evening, which begins at 7:30 p.m., also includes performances by COA’s visiting artist Laure Drogoul, accompanied by COA faculty member in music, John Cooper.

Andrews, faculty member in video and performance art at COA, creates films that are collage-like narratives composed of drawings, animation, puppetry and live action. In this one, Andrews tips her hat to the influences of Edgar Allen Poe’s canon, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, and other explorations of the relationship between nature, science and the mystical.

Andrews has been making films for more than 20 years. Her films are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Flaxman Film Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She recently completed a trilogy composed of “Monkeys and Lumps,” “The Haunted Camera” and “The Dreamless Sleep.”

Drogoul, who will also be performing during the evening, holds an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and has performed throughout the East Coast and exhibited at Delaware Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Cleveland Performance Art Festival and P.S. 122 in New York City. She creates multi-disciplinary performances, music, film and dance and works in a wide range of visual media including large-scale sculpture and installation. She currently resides in Baltimore. The Maryland Institute College of Art recently presented a major solo show of her sculptures, interactive works and performances.

The Tuesday, April 28, Maine premier showing of “On a Phantom Limb” begins at 7:30 in Gates Center. It is not intended for children.

Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 26 A multimedia exhibit of alumni working in painting, sculpture, installation, photography, animation and more, curated by Xander Karkruff ‘06. Image is Fire, a book by George Bennington.

Trustees Invade Campus

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- information provided by Anna Murphy

President’s report ACM Report Alumni Association Report

9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

College of the Atlantic Program Developments and Discussion Trans-Atlantic Agriculture Partnership Green Business Incubator 10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Break

10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Watson Fellowship Presentation Thursday, April 23, 2009 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Finance Committe, President’s Office Will Thorndike, Chair

Friday, April 24, 2009

8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Investment Committee, Straus Room Dan Pierce, Chair 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Academic Policy Committee, Straus Room Nina Moriarty, Co-chair

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Lunch, Great Hall

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Development Committee, Straus Room

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.

Committee on Student Life, Straus Room Casey Mallinckrodt, Co-chair Saturday, April 25, 2009

8:00 a.m. Gates Continental Breakfast 8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

Call to order Approval of the minutes of the February 7 board meeting Approval of degree candidate

Approval of resolutions

Chair’s remarks

10:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Committee Reports: a) Development Committee 1. Annual Fund 2. Capital Campaign Schedule and Organization 3. Planned Giving Update b) Academic Policy Committee c) Investment Committee d) Finance Committee e) Committee on Student Life f.) Council of Advisors Ad Hoc Committee g.) Whale Museum Ad Hoc Committee

11:30 a.m. Executive Session Board of Trustees next meeting: Friday, June 5 Commencement on Saturday, June 6, 2009

Wellness Corner Where Am I Coming From?

- Jonathan Appleyard

“Cheeky little bastard,” I thought, smiling. A lot like I was when I was 12, and increasingly like I am at 59.

David had asked his father if I really thought the tasty, gluten-free crackers could pass as Holy Communion.

“Is he for real?” It’s an interesting question. I am more curious to explore the question than I am to answer it.

E1 OPEN FOR BUSINESS – NO, we have no bananas!

- Jonathan Appleyard

I want to try something different this term. Rather than only meeting with students and staff who have made appointments starting on Thursday April 30th, I will also hold open door hours from 1-4 pm in the Wellness Center.

That is why I jumped at the chance to be at COA. I seek out people who ask questions, laugh at assumptions, question answers, and prefer dialogue to agreement. As my mother used to say, “That Jonathan, for every solution, he has a problem.”

If you are interested in reflecting on your life, seeking deeper awareness of yourself, exploring relationships, come on by. Come with friends. All are welcome. No need to plan ahead, the door will be open except when it is shut.

I am at COA as a pastoral counselor, but that is not who I am. Titles make it easy to pigeonhole a person, to pin her or him down as known quantity, to fix an infinite mystery to a specific place and time. Most of us drawn to COA seek a community in which we are known and accepted as the unique individual we are, each of our names is important, and our lives are connected and shaped by an intricate web of relationships. And even more, I believe we seek to be an integral, particular, and peculiar part of one, vast intimate whole.

If someone makes an appointment, the door will be shut for that time.

I don’t believe in institutional religion and I am not hear to talk about religion. Since my life is not shaped by a series of dogmatic statements, I don’t figure that yours is either. The deep questions of life are not settled by belief. It is our deepest beliefs that raise the questions, questions that wake us up and challenge our assumptions, societal norms and habitual reactions.

Life provides me with endless chances to let go of what I know and consider something more. That is what makes getting to know other people so exciting. There is so much more to life and living than what we can discover on our own. I believe that when we share our particular experiences, our individual feelings, responses and reflections, we discover a voice that is deeply rooted. We participate in creating an authentic voice, a singular voice that is ours alone.

This is not easy work. I don’t know why, but we trip ourselves up. Sometimes we pursue questions that lead to dead ends. Along well-worn paths we get turned around. We second-guess ourselves ‘til we are dizzy.

How curious we are.

None of us can tell another how to live, but all of us are capable of listening with compassion. That holy act can make all the difference. “Am I for real? What is holy communion?” How do we connect authentically with one another? I am in Health Center on Thursday afternoon and at jonathanappleyard@gmail.com.

--I was raised in a New England town and spent many hours exploring Connecticut’s rivers and fields and playing every kind of game. In high school and college, disheartened by the United States war in Viet Nam and the environmental crisis and the church’s apparent acquiescence, I ventured from my parents’ religious tradition in the Episcopal Church. Over time I studied and practiced Zen Buddhism, Hinduism and Buddhism, including study in India. Today I call myself a Buddhist Christian who practices contemplative prayer and Yoga.

Arts & Literature Acadia

- Lucy Atkins

1.

Evening at A vernal pool My boots leak But there!

We look Two spotted salamanders intertwining in the leaf litter One scoop with the net and one is alive in my palms smooth skin, wide grinning mouth our eyes light up, smiling back at the fat amphibian 2.

I have spent all week less than ten feet away from another person Now a ten minute bike ride and twenty minute climb it is just me and the pines which kind? oh yes count the needles—three strikes and you’re out— pitch pines Just these stunted trees barely taller than me and rocks lichens and blueberries harmless tongues of fire painting horizontal bands across the mountains I love the fall I must admit I’m still thinking about my looming essay and the laundry soap I need to pick up on the way home but don’t let me take this for granted it’s nice to be here finally alone with space

3.

Someone said that maybe views have a greater impression upon some of us maybe even change our lives I stood atop the Bubble my first day in Acadia sweating in the sun hands smelling tangy from the metal ladders It seemed my sister and I spent more time maneuvering around dainty Japanese tourists packs of overweight and whining children (sunburned) and couples (the patient woman encourages her pudgy boyfriend/husband

G1 ––white running shoes with socks pulled up to his knees) There were a few like me who I determined by their Chacos and polypropylene shirts

but even they were overdoing it

(who needs hiking poles for a stroll like this

always in sight of the parking lot) So in general I avoided eye contact and focused on the sparkling sea spread before me dotted with little white boats and emerald islands and I can’t describe the feeling because I’m sitting here typing this (my legs are falling asleep) but put me back on that mountain or any mountain with a view and I’m gone.

When I snapped out of my reverie I became aware of the tourists chattering away fussing with their white gloves adjusting their sunglasses They aren’t looking at the sky the sea the mountains

I’ll try to use words so you can understand (but I hope you’ve experienced it yourself) When I’m on top of a mountain I’m at the center of a circle and the very space I take up grows until it fills the entire circle I’m infinite 4.

I take my friends to Acadia when they visit me from the city Talk like I do this every day When really its only once in a weekend (and that’s if I’m lucky).

What do these “Islanders” do?

Normal—people—things lose their keys cheer at their kid’s swim meet roast a chicken for dinner Does Acadia belong to the weathered red hands the glowing apples in TAB or those who sport crisp pastel t-shirts bought in town for twenty-nine ninety-nine each?

5.

This Sheridan Steele guy Suddenly what he thinks feels wants loves matters a lot

The Docket

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Governance What?

Here’s what’s on the docket for future ACM’s: Week 4: Discussion of the budget planning contingencies (Facilitator TBA)

Open forum for ideas on how to economize the current budget, raise money, and keep the college open and operational. If you feel that you have a great new idea on how to help COA survive the economic crisis then PLEASE come and discuss.

Week 5: Board Report—Action items from the Board Meeting, what was discussed.

Dialogue on how COA supports language studies (Gray Cox) Want to be more active in governance at COA, but not sure where to start? There are a multitude of committees you can join (for more information on specifics, please refer to Appendix 1 of the Operating Model in your Student Handbook pg. 43). The following is a list of the standing committees on which student can (and do) sit on: Academic Affairs Committee (W- 9:30 Library Seminar Room)

Sub Committees: The Educational Studies Committee (W- 3:30 Ed Studies Classroom), The International Studies Committee (F- 11:00 Davis Seminar Room), The Internship Committee (TBA), The Library Committee ( F-1:00 T1), The Museum Committee (2:30 Museum Classroom), Review and Appeals Board (Tu-2:30 Ed Studies Classroom) Campus Committee for Sustainability (W- 2:35 Ed Studies Classroom) Campus Planning and Building Committee (W- 9:00 Gates) The Faculty Meeting* (W- 11:00 Gates) The Personnel Committee (W- 10:00 T1) The Publications Committee (W-2:35 Witchcliff reading room) The Steering Committee (W- 4:10 in the library Seminar Room) The Student Life Committee (W-2:35 in the Leadership Center in Deering)

Sub Committees: The Food Group (First meeting set for Friday of week 5, listen for more updates), The Student Activities Committee (W-10 TAB) *faculty meeting is closed to students

A.Anderson

A. Eshleman Co.Editors

M. Shaw

Working Guidelines of Off the Wall, adopted by Publications Committee, Fall 2008

- Off the Wall is a community-wide publication that seeks within the broadest possible limits to express the complete spectrum of thought at the college. Although Off the Wall is the publication to list governance information, it does not reflect an official voice of any segment of the college population and relies on community input to achieve a well rounded voice.

- Off the Wall prefers signed submission. Contributors may request their name be withheld from the publication or that a pseudonym be used, but this is done at the editor’s discretion. The editor is responsible to review material submitted and make decisions regarding the appropriateness of content. The editor is responsible for the content of unsigned material that is printed.

- Off the Wall has a faculty or staff advisor who is responsible for assisting the editor in making decisions about questionable material. The advisor should have knowledge of Off the Wall and the concerns surrounding its publication. The editor must submit the name of the advisor to Publications and Communications Committee before publication of the first issue of the term.

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Contributors should bear in mind that Off the Wall should reflect a constructive and respectful approach toward other human beings and a thoughtful restraint on the use of resources.