Sequel (Summer '10) by Paul Smith's College

Sequel PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE THE COLLEGE OF THE ADIRONDACKS SUMMER 2010

a day in the life 24 hours on campus, in photos.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

HOLD THE (ROAD) SALT

[ table of contents ] Paul Smith’s College

Summer 2010

On the cover: Danny Barbone, a student in the Draft Horse Management class, works with Fee and Lady on Friday, March 26. PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL BUCKOWSKI

[ DEPARTMENTS ] To Our Readers

Faculty & Staff Notes

Our Adirondacks

Shore Lines

Evergreens

Q&A

Spaces

How To

Alumni Life

Class Notes

Parting Shot

Write to Sequel: PSC Alumni Office PO Box 265 Paul Smiths, NY 12970-0265 Fax: (518) 327-6267 E-mail: alumni@paulsmiths.edu

CONNECT WITH US:

Sequel | Summer 2010

20 14 5 Veni, vidi, VIC College works with state to keep Paul Smiths VIC alive in the face of budget cuts. 6 Shore lines Paolozzi Center opens … sustainability degree on the way … woodchips fly at Spring Meet … skiers, snowshoers, canoers excel.

14 Growing trend Permaculture is taking root in the Adirondacks, and Paul Smith’s is showing the way with workshops and courses. 20 A day in the life Business hours? Never heard of ’em. There’s something going on here practically 24 hours a day, every day – and two photographers prove it on a round-the-clock assignment.

Sequel PAUL SMITH’s COLLEGE THE COLLEGE OF THE ADIRONDACKS SUMMER 2010

President John W. Mills, Ph.D. Managing Editor Kenneth Aaron Director of Communications kaaron@paulsmiths.edu Institutional Advancement Staff Stephanie M.R. Colby Director of Annual Giving Jamie Dyer Major Gifts and Grants Officer

Mary L. McLean Director of Events and Conference Services Randi Rabideau Alumni Relations Coordinator Amy White Director of Advancement Services Andrea Wilcox Institutional Advancement Assistant Contributors Paul Buckowski Kim Smith Dedam George Earl Chris Morris Chance Perks ’10

Zack Rosenberg Elizabeth Stearns-Sims Rand Snyder ’10 Randall Swanson

DESIGN Maria M. Stoodley Printing Service Press Connecticut / Scott Smith ’77 Wethersfield, Conn. Trustees of Paul Smith’s College

5 27 How-to: Worm compost Chance Perks ’10 shows how to let worms do the work in your compost pile.

28 Foreign affairs Paul Smith’s might be the College of the Adirondacks – but our faculty and students are constantly broadening their horizons with research and other projects overseas.

Stuart H. Angert Paul M. Cantwell Jr. Paul F. Ciminelli Jim Gould James E. Himoff Anthony L. Johnson Pieter V.C. Litchfield Caroline D. Lussi ’60 Edward J. McAree Charles B. Morgan Lee Quaintance Thomas Rosol ’74 E. Philip Saunders James L. Sonneborn Nora Sullivan Joan H. Weill Katharine H. Welling

Trustees Emeriti

Donald O. Benjamin ’56 Ralph Blum ’54 John T. Dillon ’58 C. Convers Goddard William B. Hale Calista L. Harder John W. Herold ’65 M. Curtiss Hopkins ’48 Frank M. Hutchins Sheila Hutt Charles L. Ritchie, Jr.

Honorary Trustees W. Peter Ahnert ’64 Stirling Tomkins Jr.

Printed on recycled paper.

Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement.

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ to our readers ]

Our town

that’s me over there, climbing the wall. Literally – our new climbing wall, which opened in January. That shot was taken at 9:06 p.m. on March 25, about an hour and six minutes into the photo shoot for this issue’s cover story: 24 hours on campus. A lot of people asked me what the heck I expected to find on campus in the middle of the night. The answer: plenty. It’s easy to forget, if you don’t live here,

that Paul Smith’s College is a community – a place that exists for education, yes, but when the classes end, people live and work here, too. I hope you get a sense of the spirit that’s present here every day through these shots. Now that it’s summer here, our students are still active – just not necessarily on campus. As we headed to press, word started rolling in about several students and recent alums who headed down to the Gulf Coast to participate in the

oil spill cleanup or monitor its effects on wildlife; their experiences were just beginning as we went to press, but we’re hoping to share their stories with you in the next issue.

Kenneth Aaron | Director of Communications

[ FACULTY & STAFF NOTES] Forestry and Natural Resources Andrew Egan, dean, co-

authored two papers: “Residual stand damage associated with four common harvesting methods in New England,” Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, and “Challenges to sawmill businesses in New England and New York State,” Journal of Forestry … Jorie Favreau, associate professor, presented three papers at the Northeast Assn. of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ annual meeting: “Two-lane highways in the Adirondacks act as movement barriers for flying squirrels,” with Eric Holt ’09; “Advice from conservation officers for college students who wish to become conservation officers”; and “Snowshoe hare movements in the Adirondacks,” with Jessie Gardner ’10. Additionally, with Celia Evans, associate professor, presented “The Adirondacks as an Educational Laboratory for Science Education at the Baccalaureate Level,” Adirondack Research Consortium conference. … Elizabeth Harper, adjunct instructor, co-authored “Field guide to the

Sequel | Summer 2010

amphibians of the Eastern Arc Mountains and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya,” Camerapix Publishers International. (With David Patrick, assistant professor/director of the Center for Adirondack Biodiversity.) Additionally, Patrick co-authored two papers: “Population structure and movements of freshwater turtles across an urban-rural gradient,” Landscape Ecology; and “Effective culvert placement and design to facilitate passage of amphibians across roads,” Journal of Herpetology … Daniel Kelting, associate professor/executive director, Adirondack Watershed Institute, and Corey Laxson, AWI research associate, coauthored “Cost and effectiveness of hand harvesting to control the Eurasian watermilfoil population in Upper Saranac Lake, New York,” Journal of Aquatic Plant Management. Additionally, both produced a report, “Review of Effects and Cost of Road De-icing with Recommendations for Winter Road Management in the Adirondack Park,” for AdkAction.org.

Hospitality, Resort and Culinary Management Chef John Roe served as a culi-

nary judge at the New York State SkillsUSA competition, Syracuse …Anne Sterling, lecturer, completed her master’s of gastronomy degree at the U. of Adelaide (Australia) … Ernest Wilson, dean, served as a judge at three competitions: the New York State Regional Lodging Management Program, Albany; the American Hotel & Lodging Association National Lodging Management Program, Orlando, Fla.; and, with Chef David Gotzmer, the New York State ProStart Culinary Competition, Albany … Joseph Conto ’85 has been appointed director of the hospitality program.

Science, Liberal Arts and Business Prof. Karen Edwards com-

pleted her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction at SUNY-Albany … Diane Litynski, associate professor/director of the business management and entrepreneurship program, presented “Scientist

to Seamstress – the many faces of an Entrepreneur” to students at Edwards-Knox H.S., Russell, N.Y. … Curt Stager, professor, presented results of research on S. Africa’s climatic history (conducted with students Jay White and Christiaan King) at a meeting of the European Geophysical Union in Vienna in May.

Other faculty and staff Mike Beccaria, systems librar-

ian, and Heather Harrison, public services librarian, presented “Improving Visual Web Experience: Using Deepzoom and Photosynth to Improve Patron Experiences” at the Computers in Libraries 2010 conference, Arlington, Va. Beccaria also presented “Can’t We Write a Little Script for This? Managing Serials Data and xISSN” at the North American Serials Interest Group annual conference … Gail Gibson Sheffield, dir. of assessment and teaching excellence, completed her Ph.D. in education through Capella U. … Loralyn Taylor, registrar, presented “Beyond Retention: Challenges in Promoting

[ OUR ADIRONDACKS ]

VIC gets a new lease on life

ne of the North Country’s most popular attractions, the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center, is just a half-mile from campus. The state-run center sits on college-owned land, but really, the relationship to Paul Smith’s is even tighter than that: over the years, countless classes have used the VIC’s marshes, streams and forests for research and observation. So over the winter, when New York’s ongoing fiscal woes threatened to shut down the VIC, the college set to work on saving it – first by calling together local groups seeking a way to keep this local treasure open, and now by negotiating with the Adirondack Park Agency to buy the 16,000-square-foot visitor center itself. “The VIC is one of this community’s most important resources,” said Dr. John Mills, Paul Smith’s president. “Our students would be able to continue using the VIC’s land for field research, even if it closed. But the thousands of people who are drawn to the area every year, many of whom get their first taste of the Adirondacks from the VIC, would lose that experience. The Adirondacks would be hurt, too, from this lost opportunity.” The threat to the VIC arose when the park agency, faced with significant budget cuts, announced plans to close the centers in Paul Smiths and Newcomb. The savings are $129,000 in the next fiscal year and about $583,000 the year after; under the plan, the VIC’s extensive trail network would shut, along with the exhibit building. The college’s purchase clears the way for other groups to keep those trails open and the building in use. APA spokesman Keith McKeever says the services and programs provided by the VICs are well received. But with every agency being asked to scale back, the visitor centers – not part of the APA’s core mission – wound up on the cut list. “In these very difficult times, tough choices have to be made and, regrettably, the VICs are being proposed to be phased out,” McKeever says. Public reaction was swift. Paul Smith’s called together a well attended roundtable on the future of the local VIC; following that meeting, the non-profit Adirondack Park Institute took the lead on developing a task force to save the VIC. The Institute’s Greg Hill is heading a subcommittee of that group that is trying to settle the VIC’s future mission. “We’re looking to establish world-class facilitation and provision of outdoor recreation, education and research opportunities in the Adirondack

Student Success,” at Student Success and Retention seminars at Duquesne U., Pittsburgh, and the U. of Chicago; and “Internet Delivery of Training for Faculty, Staff and

Students,” at the annual conference of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, New Orleans … TRIO-SSS staffers Monica Buriello

Nancie Battaglia

Park,” says Hill, who is also executive director of the Adirondack North Country Association. “We’re not just interested in re-creating the VICs. We’re looking at this as an opportunity to establish something new and unique, while simultaneously paying homage to what the VICs have stood for.” The college’s purchase of the state-owned building at the VIC, which could be complete this year, removes a big obstacle to finding a group, or groups, willing to take over the site. Because the college can’t afford to operate the center without new revenue, the park institute’s work remains crucial. “Without the concern for what is going to happen to the buildings themselves, it allows for a much more focused effort as to how they will be operated in the future,” Mills says. “The park institute can concentrate on opening the trails, for example, and attempting to find other revenue-generating uses for the facility.” Martha Van der Voort, the park institute’s executive director, agrees. “I think there are many, many pieces to this puzzle,” she says. “But the sticking point right from the start in terms of planning was the disposition of the building.” For Andy Flynn, a former APA staffer who has led local support for the VIC, efforts by Paul Smith’s College and others are key. “The Adirondack Park belongs to the people of the state of New York,” he said. “If the people that live here and the people that visit here don’t have an opportunity to learn about the park, it can’t survive.” – CHRIS MORRIS

(counselor), Katherine Glenn (staff coordinator) and Courtney Walton (academic skills coordinator) presented “Right on the Money: Creating a Successful Financial

Literacy Program,” at the annual conference of the Assn. for Equality and Excellence in Education, Puerto Rico. … Travis Zedick ’03 was named Campus Dining Services manager.

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ shore lines] Moth math

or all their glory, silkmoths are tough to spot. Spattered with a rainbow of colors and having wingspans up to six inches, they put to shame the flitty white things most people think of when you mention “moth.” Janet Mihuc, associate professor and director of the biology and environmental science programs, wants to put silkmoths on the map – literally. Until July 30, she is asking New Yorkers who live anywhere north of Saratoga Springs to report silkmoth sightings on a form available for download. She will compile the results and add them to the Adirondack AllTaxa Biodiversity Inventory, a project coordinated by the college seeking to catalog every species in the park. Most of the moths are nocturnal and live for just a week as adults. “Many people have never seen one simply because they have such a short adult life span, they are only attracted to certain light sources and they have no chemical protection against predation, so they are juicy targets for birds or small mammals,” Mihuc says. They’re also falling prey to a parasitic fly introduced to control gypsy moths. So the time to catalog them is now, she says. “A decade ago, a survey like this would have been much more difficult, but easy access to photos, information and correspondence via the Internet make this survey a reality and a learning opportunity for participants,”

Prof publishes park pix

a boy growing up outside of New York City, James Kraus would regularly cross a bridge spanning the filthy Hackensack River – and long for something purer. Kraus, who spent 30 years as a Paul Smith’s professor before retiring a decade ago, found the nature he was looking for in the Adirondacks. He’s showcased his affection for this place in “Adirondack Moments” (Firefly Books, $29.95), a book of his nature photographs published last October. The photos, taken in all four seasons across a span of

30 years, are coupled with Kraus’ brief observations. “Each one of those shots has a story,” says Kraus, who toiled more than two decades in search of a publisher. The whole time he searched, though, he continued shooting. “That was probably

the most important thing,” he says. “I look back at the photos I had in ’88 and I am glad it wasn’t published.” “Adirondack Moments” is available through the college’s bookstore, (518) 3276314, and other retailers. – Kenneth Aaron

Congressman honors TRIO success U.S.

Rep. Bill Owens (left), D-Plattsburgh, paid a visit to campus this spring to mark TRIO Day, a nationwide celebration of the federally funded student success program. Owens, who won a bruising race in the 23rd District in November 2009 that garnered national attention, is no stranger to Paul Smith’s – he served as the college’s attorney for several years.

Mihuc says. – Kenneth Aaron

» For more information:

www.projectsilkmoth.org.

Sequel | Summer 2010

KENNETH AARON

Paolozzi Center opens

fter years of working in cramped quarters and borrowed lab space, the Adirondack Watershed Institute has a place to call home: The $2.4 million Countess Alicia Spaulding Paolozzi Environmental Science and Education Center, which opened this winter. AWI’s Executive Director Dan Kelting, below, said ideas for new research have already been generated by having faculty and staff under one roof as opposed to being scattered in multiple buildings. “We’re able to have those random conversations – you never know what will pop out of them,” he says. The building is named for the Countess, who had a home in the Adirondacks and died in 2002. The foundation she established donated $1 million to the project, which sits on the shores of Lower St. Regis Lake on the site of the former Harriman House. In addition to offices for the Center for Adirondack Biodiversity and the Adirondack Research Consortium, the building also includes an up-to-date lab on its first floor; AWI, which researches the health of Adirondack waters and is a parkwide resource to keep them clean, will be able to process many water samples in-house it previously had to ship out.

There’s a map for that So,

what are you doing this summer? It’s probably not as cool as what our fisheries and wildlife students are up to. And you can see for yourself at this interactive map, posted here: http://bit.ly/bhDmzJ. Nathaniel Child is in California surveying spotted owls with the U.S. Forest Service. Caitlin DeGrave is in Alaska researching why eider populations are decreasing. Rachael Hauser will be bottle-feeding baby deer at a Texas ranch. And those are just a few examples of the far-flung places that Smitties are lending their talent. Prof. Jorie Favreau, who posts the map every summer, says that ducks and sea birds seem to be this year’s theme. “Our hard-working FWS students are building a reputation across the country as wildlife technicians who get the job done well,” she says. “Whether its camping in the snow, hiking in harsh conditions, or being able to handle fish and wildlife in a professional manner, their employers are pleased and our students are helping to make a difference.” – Kenneth Aaron

– Kenneth Aaron

courtesy of sarah norton

» Are you a student with a summer fisheries

or wildlife job that isn’t posted? Send it to jfavreau@paulsmiths.edu.

New sustainability degree coming in fall

eople talk a lot about sustainability these days – and Paul Smith’s is giving grads the tools to do something about it. A new program in natural resources sustainability will launch in the fall. Ultimately, it might attract as many as 60 students, said Andrew Egan, dean of the School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “There are no other real programs like this,”

says Egan. The major was developed by looking at industry needs and coming up with a curriculum that will give students a grounding in a range of topics, such as community-supported agriculture, green construction and even the politics of alternative energy. “We’re not trying to train wind-power techs,” he says. “The graduate of this program is someone who is going to be agile, who is broadly

educated and can translate what it means to be sustainable to the community.” Students graduating with a sustainability degree could take advantage of several opportunities, such as being a sustainability coordinator for a corporation or community, working for a renewable energy company or continuing to graduate work in the sciences or law. – KENNETH AARON Sequel | Summer 2010

[ shore lines]

Fish out of water

Pat Hendrick

Summer school, Adirondack style

ulinary student Tom Morris puts the finishing touches on an ice sculpture he carved in front of the Joan Weill Adirondack Library in February. He used ice taken from Lower St. Regis Lake. Morris, the chef du cuisine at the Mirror Lake Inn, was invited by Prof. Sarah Longley to make the sculpture.

ell, this should be interesting: Axe throwers and banjo pickers, converging on campus this summer. They’ll be here for a pair of inaugural summer programs. For the first, the Adirondack Woodsmen’s School, they’ll learn the skills that have made our woodsmen’s teams so formidable (see story to the right). The school, co-sponsored by Stihl Inc. and Carhartt, is aimed at high schoolers and college students looking to train with some of the best woodsmen in the business and learn about the rugged traditions at the heart of the sport. (Note to fantasy-campers: This is aimed at men and women up to their mid-20s. Sorry.) The school is split into two sessions, from July 11-17 and July 18-24. College credit is available. One session costs $1,095; full tuition is $1,995. For more info: www.paulsmiths.edu/ woodsmenschool. The second new program, the Mountain Arts Gathering, will feature a lineup of nationally known musicians at this weeklong music camp (July 18-24) for adults. Kary Johnson, the camp’s director, will be joined by fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger, guitarist Bethany Waickman, flutist Grey Larsen and several others for workshops, jam sessions, and more. – Kenneth Aaron

» For more info:

www.mountainartsgathering.com.

Sequel | Summer 2010

KENNETH AARON

Lumberjacks, -jills thrill

By PHOTOS BY PAT HENDRICK

Scenes from the 2010 Spring Meet, which drew nearly 2,000 people to campus this April to watch the Super Bowl of collegiate lumberjacking.

the end of this year’s Spring Meet, Smitties left the competition in the sawdust. The biggest collegiate lumberjack competition in the sport made its way to Paul Smith’s on April 23-24, and the college’s women’s and jack-and-jill teams placed first. The Paul Smith’s men’s team, the defending champ, took third in front of more than 1,500 spectators on an unusually warm April weekend (it snowed a foot the next week, though). Additionally, Paul Smith’s students won the men’s and women’s divisions of the Stihl Timbersports Northeast Collegiate Challenge, as well as a collegiate Ironjack competition. Smitties Jon Preston and Rosalie Santerre took the Stihl Timbersports titles. Preston, who graduated in May, will move on to the overall college championship in Salem, Ore., in August. If he wins, he’ll get an automatic berth on the pro circuit. (There’s no equivalent women’s competition; Santerre, who stepped into the competition at the last moment after a teammate was injured, won equipment.) And Tyler Rothe has earned a trip to Alaska, where he’ll compete in the Ironjack Series against other pros. Both Rothe and Preston are holding out hope that they might be able to make a go of the pro tour. “Maybe it’s not real profitable,” says Preston. “But it’s a lot of fun.” “When you can’t chop any more, that’s when you go to a 9-5 job,” Rothe adds. Preston’s winning performance will air on ESPNU on Friday, July 23, at 7:30 p.m. (EDT). His turn in Oregon will run Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. (EDT). – Kenneth Aaron

SPRING sports roundup Woodsmen – In addition to hosting the annual Spring Meet (p. 8), the team competed in two other meets. The men’s, women’s and jack-and-jill teams each won their divisions at SUNY-Cobleskill, while the men took first and the women second at the SUNY-ESF meet. MEN’S BASKETBALL – The Bobcats ended the season winning their final two games and three of their last five. The team also garnered several Sunrise Conference awards: first-year student Steven Edwards was the conference’s Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-Sunrise Conference second team, after having been Player of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week once. Fellow frosh Ryan Hingston was twice named Rookie of the Week. Additionally, the team was given the Sportsmanship Award. This was the college’s last season as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics; in the fall, the college is rejoining the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – The team is heading into a rebuilding phase; after several tough seasons marked by injuries and small rosters, the women will compete

at a club level before returning to conference competition. NORDIC SKIING – Coach Stefan Bibb ‘09 led a talented group to several top-10 finishes. At the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association’s Eastern regionals, Matt Piper placed seventh in the 10-km Classic race and followed that by finishing third in the 10-km freestyle (skate). And after placing among the top three biathletes at the Empire State Games, Annie Jardin skied at regionals the following two days, placing 13th in the 10-km Classic race and 14th in the 10-km freestyle race. Both competitors went on to Rumsford, Maine, to compete in nationals. Piper finished 20th in the 1.4-km sprint and Jardin 24th; in the 8.5-km freestyle, Piper placed 16th, with Jardin taking 29th. STRIDERS (SNOWSHOEING) – Paul Smith’s won the International Snowshoe Championship, in Lachine, Quebec, for the seventh time since 2001. The college’s men’s, women’s and mixed relay teams each placed first in their division. MARATHON CANOE TEAM – All four members of the college’s state-champion four-person canoe team returned this year – and with

RAND SNYDER

ABOVE: Lacey Jaquette and Jenn Haas leap off the awards podium at the 2010 United States National Snowshoe Championship, held in March outside of Syracuse. RIGHT: Sunrise Conference Rookie of the Year Steven Edwards.

a victory in the Canton Canoe Weekend’s relay event, they held onto that title. – ELIZABETH STEARNS-SIMS Pat Hendrick

Who says campus is just for college? Hold your next corporate retreat, family reunion, conference or camp in the Adirondacks. Accommodations in air-conditioned suites and other residence hall rooms include Internet access; dining plans available. Space available from the end of May through mid-August. Start planning your next Adirondack experience now!

(518) 327-6430 • www.paulsmiths.edu/conferences Sequel | Summer 2010

[ EVERGREENS]

Prof. Joe Conto ’85 with a laptop running Skype, the video-conferencing software that he uses to bring guest speakers to class.

LIVE

(but not in person)

Prof finds that when guest speakers arrive via Internet, the Skype’s the limit Photo KENNETH AARON| 10 by Sequel

Summer 2010

By kim smith dedam

ur hospitality graduates go far in the industry: for more than 60 years, they’ve been putting down stakes around the world.

But

this year, when some of those alums returned to campus to talk to current students, they didn’t have to move an inch – because they were here virtually, having beamed in with Skype. “That kind of connectivity is a real boon for a rural college,” says Prof. Joseph Conto ‘85, director of the hospitality program. He tested the software in his Hospitality Seminar this year, saying, “it worked not only easily, but very well.” Skype, which lets users make free voice and video calls over the Internet, has become a worldwide phenomenon. As of last fall, the service claimed more than 500 million accounts; the service, now owned by eBay, keeps colleagues, families and friends connected across continents and oceans. And by dialing in well-connected alumni right into his classroom, Conto turned Skype into a vital educational tool on campus. “The students were simply thrilled having the opportunity to speak with people in the industry anywhere in the world,” he says. “It makes one less barrier between our students and the hospitality industry.” Norbert Kupinski ’95, director of member events at The University Club in Washington, D.C., jumped in without hesitation. “I thought it was a great opportunity. I remember it was always great to get the word first-hand,” says Kupinski, recalling his own experiences with guest speakers as a student. With his image glowing on a flat screen television at the head of a classroom in the Joan Weill Adirondack Library, Kupinski gave students a quick tour of his workplace. “It was really great showing them the room known as the Presidents’ Room,”

he says. “It’s one thing to say former U.S. President William Howard Taft was the first president of the University Club; it’s another thing to show them the portrait on the wall,” Kupinski says. Despite the remove, the discussion flowed freely between Kupinski and the class. One student peppered Kupinski with questions about breaking into marketing, even without a specialized degree. “A hospitality degree doesn’t necessarily mean you have to work in traditional hotel management roles,” Kupinski responded. The high-tech visit was a far cry from his own days on campus. “When I was at Paul Smith’s, we didn’t even have e-mail,” he muses. The chats gave students a window into the daily routines of several alums; sometimes, the speakers drew from whatever issues they were working on at the moment. Besides Kupinski, guests were piped in from the Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas and the New York Yacht Club. For years, Conto has brought talented grads back to campus as part of his seminar. But getting them here typically involves logistical challenges: time off needs to be arranged, transportation needs to be coordinated. There’s the expense, too, of course. Skype has opened instant possibilities. “Suddenly you can connect to anyplace in real time,” Conto says. “Distance and scheduling become non-problems.” Miles Gifford, who graduated in May with a degree in hotel, restaurant and

tourism management, gave the Skype lessons a five-star review. “I like the way Joe is using this because he can focus each lesson – food and beverage, for example – and then bring in the expert, someone actually working in real time on what we’re learning,” Gifford says. “It worked perfectly. We can’t go and talk to these guys - this is a way we can kind of have that experience.” Conto sees the technology becoming a larger part of the Paul Smith’s career placement process. “We were also finding that this is a great way for people in the industry who would like to recruit our students to get access to them,” he says. Kupinski agrees wholeheartedly. “While you might have somebody you don’t like on paper, in front of a camera, they can wow you on their personality,” he says. “Job interviews are changing, too. Companies are tightening their belts and not flying people from one city to another. This can provide an important screening mechanism.” The you-are-there availability can also be a boon to the student looking for work, Kupinski says. “When you’re looking for a job, you’ll be able to find somebody who is already at work in the field. It lends itself to the ideals of Paul Smith’s in that it’s hands-on.” S

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ EVERGREENS]

cutting back

Long after the snow melts, road By kim smith dedam

hey’re an increasingly common sight to drivers in the Adirondacks: orange-tinted pines, shrunken shrubs and sick birch trees. And what they suggest of soil and water beneath is disquieting. The damage was likely caused by road salt. And this spring, Dr. Daniel L. Kelting, executive director of the college’s Adirondack Watershed Institute, published one of the first comprehensive reviews of scientific literature documenting salt’s impact on the environment. Corey Laxson, a research associate at the AWI, coauthored the report. “Heavy use of road salt as the primary chemical de-icer in the park is a great concern,” says Kelting, a professor of natural resources at the college. The work, funded by AdkAction.org, a private advocacy group, was released in February and could change the way winter roads are cleared in the Adirondack Park. “Most of the running water in New York flows out of the Adirondacks and protecting it was

the very reason the Adirondack Park was created,” says Ernest E. “Lee” Keet, chairman of AdkAction.org’s Water Quality Committee. “What we started in 2010 has had a net positive effect on what we do with our roads.” The state’s current winter-maintenance policies date to the early 1980s, when the DOT made salt the snow control method of choice after tons of sand had settled in rivers, lakes and ponds. Current standards recommend keeping pavement clear when a storm begins to prevent snow and ice from bonding to asphalt. Sodium chloride – NaCl, or ordinary table salt – is the primary chemical used to clear roads and fend off that hardpack. And while the rate of salt use is decreasing, thousands upon thousands of

tons are still used every year; last winter, state road crews used 148 pounds of salt per mile for each lane of traffic in New York, down from 197 pounds per lane mile the winter before. Cutting that even further is a goal for the state’s Department of Transportation, which has begun working with AdkAction.org. “We want to stay connected to the group working here,” says Bob Winans, maintenance-programs manager for the DOT. “Our goal is always to use less salt, not only for environmental reasons, but for cost considerations as well.” Salt represents a huge expense that doesn’t end once it goes on the road. Kelting reported that vehicle damage from salt comes to $11.7 billion nationally, in addition to a $27 billion toll on road surfaces,

RYAN E. PEDONE

Sequel | Summer 2010

k on salt

road salt leaves its mark bridges and cement. And then there’s the environmental impact. Kelting presented evidence that salt is building up in Adirondack lakes adjacent to roads. The lakes with the three highest chloride levels are each alongside well-traveled roads: Lake Colby in Saranac Lake, Lower Cascade Lake on the mountain pass from Keene to Lake Placid, and Upper Cascade Lake. Chloride levels in each of those lakes exceed 40 milligrams per liter. Wilderness ponds miles from any roads, in contrast, have just 0.7 milligrams of chloride per liter. Salty water is dense and sinks to the bottom of lakes. Research done elsewhere has shown that these saline layers prevent water from turning over in the springtime. This essential circulation cycle brings oxygen to fish and other lake-bottom organisms. Drinking water is also threatened, Kelting says; of the 321,284 acres of surface water in the Adirondack Park, 56 percent is adjacent to state roads and 69 percent is adjacent to local roads. “This is the major source of drinking water for thousands of people in the Adirondacks,” Kelting says. “If salts accumulate, then we can start to have drinking water problems.” The concerns have already spurred other places to act. In Oregon and Washington State, for example, tests showed that by pre-treating roads with

brine (salt dissolved in water), snowplows needed to make one-third fewer trips; the salt water results in less spread of salt into the nearby ecosystem than conventional road salt. In Boulder, Colo., liquid antiicing chemicals were half the cost of conventional sanding and de-icing. In May, on the day after Commencement, Kelting presented his report to a group of town and state officials, environmental activists, road supervisors and a contingent from the DOT. The message: Come up with a plan before it’s too late. Kelting suggested developing a map identifying the most delicate ecosystems along roadways, and then developing a park-wide strategy for winter road management based on that. Brine, extra training for road crews, and the creation of a so-called Adirondack Road Weather Information System to determine road maintenance as needed by each storm were among the suggestions. A task force of scientists, town and state department heads, and stakeholders from environmental groups and lake associations will meet again in July to develop a more formal winter road maintenance strategy for the Adirondack Park. S Dan Kelting, executive director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute, is raising awareness of the effects of road salt on the environment.

KENNETH AARON

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ EVERGREENS]

growing Plant your own eco-friendly garden, even in the harshest climes

By George Earl

the North Country’s unforgiving climate, farming, landscaping or gardening can be, well, a tough row to hoe. To make it work, many rely on pesticides, fertilizer and greenhouses – tactics that can be expensive, or bad for the environment. But permaculture, a movement beginning to take root in the Adirondacks, is an alternative to modern agriculture and gardening practices that brings nature and food production into harmony. Paul Smith’s is helping lead the way locally: Tom Huber, an instructor at the college and director of the TRIO-SSS program, has organized a campus permaculture program that has included workshops and a two-week certification course. Although the term may sound esoteric, the concepts behind permaculture are, literally, down to earth. Permaculture’s practical ideas are behind chestnuts, currants, arctic kiwis, and many other fruits and vegetables recently planted in the North Country without MiracleGro, Roundup or other artificial support. This may sound too good to be true, but by following some basic guidelines you can also turn your landscape or garden into an edible wonderland. And stay environmentally friendly at the same time. “Human beings are not separate from ecosystems, so we have to be deliberate about how we affect our environments,” says Keith Morris, a Vermont-based permaculture educator who led a daylong workshop in May at which the first phase of an edible forest garden was planted. Try it yourself. Here are a few suggestions offered at that workshop: X Plant a walnut tree. Not only are walnuts and other nuts good for you –

Kara Page

A May permaculture workshop brought several people to Paul Smith’s. The garden they planted near the soccer field on Rt. 86 has been named “Gould’s Garden,” for Prof. Emeritus Gould Hoyt, who planted the area for years. Kara Page

wing trend they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids – but they also offer shade in summer and habitat for wildlife. The trees also secrete a chemical that inhibits the growth of weeds and other trees beneath it. Many varieties have commercial value as well, with mature black walnuts fetching more than $50,000. “Who knows what the stock market is going to do?” Morris says. “Hardwoods will always be valuable.” (Of course, you’ll have to wait at least 50 years for a return on your investment. In the meantime, you’ll have plenty of nuts.) X Don’t plant your food crops in rows – plant in “guilds” of companion species instead. This confuses pests by making it harder for them to find their host plant. It also results in what Morris calls better “resource partitioning.” For instance, groundnuts and Jerusalem artichokes can be harvested together, and many beans and greens can be planted over root crops because they are harvested sooner. Morris is a fan of fragrant plants and

herbs, like garlic, onion and rosemary, not only for their culinary zest but because they disperse pests through what he calls “aromatic confusion.” He’s not talking about the olfactory blockade caused by your garlic breath – rather, the aroma wafting about the garden disorients garden slugs, caterpillars and other nuisances. X Graft a pine nut tree onto a native white pine root. This is not for beginners, but Morris says this hybrid results in a tree with the potential to thrive in the Adirondacks while producing crunchy, high-value pine nuts. Entrepreneurs could set up stands along Route 73 and other popular travel corridors offering Adirondack pine nuts to tourists, similar to stands found in the Southwest. Other hardy non-natives with the potential to thrive in the North Country include the pecan, currant and the seaberry, which grows as far north as the arctic tundra. The seaberry holds special promise, Morris says, because it is considered a “superfood”

Dominika Mikulska

by some nutritionists. High in antioxidants and fatty acids and reputed to decrease the risk of cancer and heart disease, Russian cosmonauts have even taken seaberry juice into space and used its oil to protect against cosmic radiation. Morris believes plants like the seaberry and arctic kiwi, which can have more vitamin C than a dozen oranges, can help reduce the North Country’s dependency on imported citrus products. It’s part of what he calls an “Adirondack regional initiative” to create self-sustaining communities – the entire basis behind permaculture. “It’s all about creating resilient, durable communities,” Morris said, “and creating better relationships in food production systems.”

» Want to learn more? Sign up for a two-

week certification course at Paul Smith’s in permaculture design, August 8-20. Course content & objectives available at http://www.permacultureactivist.net/ DesignCourse/PcSyllabus.htm. For regisS tration info: thuber@paulsmiths.edu.

Timber

titan

MATT BUSH ’86

Age: 43 Now living in: Croghan, N.Y. Hometown: New Bremen, N.Y. Family: Wife, Jill. Children: Anna, 13; Karl, 10. Owner: Bush Enterprises, a sawmill and logging operation. Education: Paul Smith’s College, surveying/forestry, 1986 Hobbies: Anything outdoors – especially hunting and fishing Stihl Timbersports hot saw record: 5.085 seconds on a 19-inch log, set in 2003

Sequel | Summer 2010

[Q & A] INTERVIEW By Kenneth Aaron | Director of Communications

peak softly and carry a really, really big chainsaw: So goes Matt Bush ’86. Bush, whom ESPN called a “legendary timberman” after capturing the first Stihl Timbersports World Championship in 2005 against competitors from 13 other nations, recently returned to campus to give a demonstration as part of Stihl’s Northeastern Collegiate Challenge. The world-record holder in the hot saw slowed down a bit for a few questions. You’re semi-retired from competition, but you sure seemed to be in mid-season form when you were here. What’s your workout regimen? The physical work I do every day keeps me in shape. I believe strongly in mental training, and this has helped me a lot. Especially during those long drives (20-plus hours) to some of the Timbersports shows.

Say I want to start training for the hot saw – what do I need to remember? You need to know each and every part of the hot saw so you can fix it yourself when traveling (because your mechanics are never around when you need them). You need to know step-by-step exactly how everything will go and how to correct errors immediately when things don’t go as planned.

How did you get your start in lumberjack sports? I grew up around it – logging and woods work, and by watching small local competitions and the state Woodsmen’s Field Days in Boonville.

Your business is lumber. What’s the most satisfying part of the job? The most satisfying part of my work is that I’m the boss and I’m the only person to answer to. Also, I can do everything from start to finish – cut the trees, truck and saw the logs, deliver the lumber, build the building (if I have to), and see the finished product when I drive by. I get to see a lot of buildings that I’ve been a part of and its good to know that they’ll still be here long after I’m gone.

Your chainsaw is ridiculously heavy. Ridiculously powerful. It’s awesome. My hot saw weighs around 70 pounds. It was built by myself and D&D Power Sports, whose owners know me and offered to help with a hot saw. They’ve been my primary sponsor over the years, especially in that event. The cost today for a hot saw would be thousands of dollars - $5,000- plus. My saw is approximately 100 horsepower and runs on a single cylinder. Do you ever look at athletes making millions of dollars and say, “Those guys couldn’t last a day in a Timbersports event?” Unlike most professional athletes that focus on only one event, Timbersports and other lumberjack competitions include many different events, each requiring unique skills and techniques that a competitor must know and have.

If you could do something else, what would it be? I could do anything else I wanted to now, but I enjoy what I do. “Once you get sawdust in your bellybutton, you never get it out.” Do your customers ever recognize you? Do they ask for demonstrations? Some customers who don’t already know me will recognize me once they see me. Most don’t ask for demonstrations but I have done some presentations for organizations. The top of my garage, where we used to live, has turned into a trophy room and some people like to see that.

Courtesy Stihl Timbersports

Razor-sharp axes, giant chainsaws – those things are dangerous. What’s the worst injury you ever received? Fortunately, I never had a big injury from woodchopping or lumberjack sports. I have been sewn up probably a dozen times – my shin, my big toe (twice), my thumb, my hands, my knees. How do you think Paul Smith’s prepared you for life? While at Paul Smith’s College, I learned a lot about people. I was on the Woodsmen’s Team both years. Gould Hoyt, who was the coach of the woodsmen’s team, was a big help early in my career with encouragement and advice. What professional accomplishments are you proudest of? Winning the world championship during the last year that I competed professionally; being the only American to win the endurance competition at the Great Outdoor Games in Lake Placid; being the overall champ in Boonville for 13 years; winning the Lumberjack World Championships for 3 years in a row; and for making the finals at least once of every chopping and sawing championship that I’ve entered at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in Australia. You have two kids. Are they training to be lumberjacks and jills? My son Karl is 10 and my daughter Anna is 13. Karl has been training and will compete this year at a few shows. Anna has shown some interest in the sport, but isn’t ready to compete yet. S

Portrait: Kenneth Aaron

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ SPACES]

GREENHOUSE Y

es, spring comes late to the Adirondacks. But there’s one place on campus where you can get a blast of summer even when there’s 10 inches of snow on the ground in April (like, sigh, this year): the greenhouse, a Quonset-hut-shaped plastic dome near the facilities building. Randall Swanson, an associate professor who teaches several arboriculture and horticulture classes, shows us around.

1 The 70-foot-long, 20-foot-wide greenhouse is covered by a double layer of ultraviolet-protected polyethylene plastic. Air pumped between the plastic layers provides the insulation. The greenhouse was originally built in 1987, but the foundation has since been replaced twice and the cover has been replaced four times. 2 This tube runs the entire length of the greenhouse. It is an air sock that distributes the heated air coming from the propane furnaces located just inside the entrance. The heating and venting are automated; the furnace comes on when the temperature drops below 66 degrees, and the side vents open and draw in cool air when the inside temp reaches 82 degrees. 3 Michael Moore, in the second year of the arboriculture & landscape management program, is watering marigolds that he started from seed. Each student in the Greenhouse/Turf Practice course is responsible for growing different types of annual flowers that are displayed at the spring graduation ceremony. The students also learn to propagate other plants from seeds, stem cuttings, tubers, bulbs, and grafted rootstocks. 4 Today’s class is the lab portion of the course, which is required for arboriculture and landscape management majors. Many of these students are about to receive associate degrees. It’s the end of the semester, so they are helping with some end-of-season maintenance. 5 These pipes are part of the misting system for one of the propagating beds. 6 Students are allowed to keep some of the plants they grow. On the Monday after graduation, the flowers and other plants not taken home are sold to faculty and staff. They go quickly – the greenhouse gets cleared out in under an hour. The proceeds go to purchasing seeds and other supplies for next year.

Sequel | Summer 2010

4 3

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ cover story ]

A day in the life of Paul Smith’s College By Kenneth Aaron | Director of Communications Photos By Kenneth Aaron and paul buckowski

lot can happen in

24 hours.

We have the proof: starting at 8 p.m. on March 25, two photographers set out to chronicle a complete day at

Paul Smith’s College.

The challenge wasn’t finding things to capture out.

– but deciding what had to be left

Here’s some of what they saw.

< L-R: Molly Newman, Curt Stager and Kary Johnson perform “Take Me Home, Country Roads” at Open Mic Night, which is held every other Thursday. “There’s so many unique things you see people do,” says Newman, 20, a hotel and resort management student. “It’s really rewarding.” 20

Sequel | Summer 2010

< John Bishop, a DJ at WPSA, doesn’t necessarily look like he’d be into Motown. But the classics get him going. “I’m not so much into the new stuff. I’m more into older music,” says Bishop. “I absolutely love DJ-ing. Because I get to play some music that I like as well as music that other people like. So everybody can have a little bit better day.”

Facilities staff arrive on campus before

dawn and stay until 11:30 p.m. Jamylin Gardner takes care of one of the day’s last tasks - cleaning the maintenance building. “I like being around all the kids,” she says. “Everybody’s friendly. It’s just a nice place to work.”

< If you’re up until 2, then dinner at 6 might as well be lunch. So from 9 until 11:30 p.m. SundayThursday, Lakeside Dining Hall serves fourth meal. Tonight, Jeff Bellaire, Howard Winkler, Joshua and Jennifer Robtoy, Sidney Cushing Jr. and Michael Leonard dine on mozzarella sticks and french fries. Sequel | Summer 2010

Allie Sikora is writing a paper for

her forestry management class in the 24-hour room at the Joan Weill Adirondack Library. It’s not due for another week, but she’s in the mood to stay up. She comes fairly often; without Internet at her Easy Street apartment, the 24-hour room is a good place to get online. “Yesterday, I was here until about 2:45,” she says. Will she go home tonight? “I don’t know. Probably. I’ll take a shower in the morning.”

> Some may still be on breakfast, but prep for dinner at the student-run St. Regis Café has already begun. Stephen Angrisano (left) cuts pears into brunoise for pear compote, and Jeff Gorski chops garlic to be roasted for mashed potatoes that will be paired with a strip steak.

Sequel | Summer 2010

The Academic Support Office is one of the college’s busiest. Here, Dan

Hausner (right) helps two students with trig. “A lot of students come into <

Campus Safety Officers Chad Bryant (left) and

tutoring saying they’ll never understand the class,” Hausner says. “Within

Chris Ayres (right) on a late-night patrol through a

a few weeks they are passing tests and doing great. It’s amazing how

residence hall. They’re looking for anything amiss,

much difference an extra hour or two a week can make.”

but on this night, practically nobody is awake.

Kyle Wagner stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing an English

paper due today – only to wake up and find that it needed more work. So he headed to the Writing Center in the library to fix it. “I was lucky because I was done an hour early, so I thought I could use a catnap,” he says.

Sequel | Summer 2010

Before getting a bachelor’s degree, every student must

complete a Capstone Project. “What’s most satisfying is to see students start with a tiny seedling of an idea and develop it into a project that sparks their enthusiasm, demands their time and focus, and whets their intellectual curiosity,” says Prof. Karen Boldis, leading a Capstone Planning class. “Students learn, over the course of the process, the demands of scholarship.” > Megan Long leads Fee and Lady during the Draft Horse Management class. “I really like horses, and we learn to log with the horses, which is another option in the forestry profession many people don’t think a lot about,” Long says. “At this point, we’re not logging with them yet. We’re practicing circles, backing the horses, and other ground driving techniques.”

> James Lubas (l.) bores a hole as he learns to brace and cable trees during an arboriculture lab. “When I get a job out of school, I will feel confident because I have done these things before and not just sat in a classroom,” Lubas says. “I am so fortunate to be experiencing these things.”

Sequel | Summer 2010

The woodsmen’s team doesn’t win trophies with axes picked up

at the nearest hardware store. They’re precision instruments. Brett McLeod, the team’s coach, hones a blade before a meet. “It takes about an hour to hone each axe using four different stone grits,” he says. “When I’m done, it should be sharp enough to shave with. And, yes, that’s how I test ‘em.”

The movement studio in the Saunders Sports Complex gets a lot of use – Pilates, yoga, and, here, martial arts.

In this photo, Ken Whitelaw, director of information technology, has blocked a punch thrown by student Christiaan King (facing camera), and is in the middle of performing a leg-sweep takedown as a counter-measure.

Sequel | Summer 2010

Matt Parker (r.) and Seth Crevison (l.) come out of the water near Bloomingdale

after the season’s first practice for the marathon canoe racing team. “That was only the second time I’ve paddled in water that froze the boat and you,” Crevison says. “I was thanking God we did not fall in the water. And I was very excited to be on land again.”

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ HOW TO]

diet for worms

emember that ant colony you had as a kid? Those ants never did anything for you. A worm colony, on the other hand, could turn your organic waste into rich, nourishing compost. Chance Perks, a 2010 graduate, teaches us how the lowly worm can help you recycle.

/ Shred and

moisten the newspaper, which is great low-cost worm bedding. The worms will live off this material at the start; eventually you’ll add material such as vegetable peels, fruit and coffee grounds. PHOTOS BY KENNETH AARON

2 1 . You won’t need much to start: A shallow, watertight, aerated

box with a lid (we’re using an old drawer), shredded newspaper, a spatula to stir the mix and a healthy colony of composting worms. We’ve mail-ordered Eisenia foetida - red wigglers – which are a lot better at decomposition than plain old earthworms. The amount of waste you can add depends on the size of your colony. In general, a bin this size can handle a daily supply of coffee grounds, and later up to a pound of other organic waste weekly.

/ When you start, the box will look like the

one on the right. Once the worms begin working, though, castings will accumulate (left). The box won’t smell – really – but you will need to tend to it regularly. Too little food is better than too much food. After a month or two, dispose of the castings or mix with water to make a nutrient-rich tea for plants.

4 . Make a fluffy nest for the worm colony out of the shreds. Leave a

As long as you monitor the moisture, air and food levels, the pH should stay slightly acidic. If the bin does begin to smell, mix in some dry shredded paper to add more air space so good bacteria can grow and stabilize again.

depression in the nest in which you can put the worms, which will arrive in a large ball of soil. Break the ball open, but don’t separate the worms. Cover with more shredded newspaper.

– Text by Chance Perks ’10

Sequel | Summer 2010

Road Foreign projects take these faculty, students abroad

Sequel | Summer 2010

d scholars By Kenneth Aaron | Director of Communications

ure, Paul Smith’s College is the College

of places Smitties have gone over the past year: in

of the Adirondacks. But our faculty and

addition to these projects, students have planted

students cast their nets a lot more widely

trees in Iceland, potatoes in Uganda and studied

than that. Every year, they set forth across

the culinary arts in Italy. It’s a trend that’s likely

the country and even the globe, doing research,

to continue.

participating in service projects and becoming part of a community far away from the Blue Line. In the coming pages, you’ll read about some of these projects. But these stories are just a sample

“The world is an increasingly interconnected place,” says Richard Nelson, the college’s provost. “And so is the workplace, which increasingly transcends national boundaries.”

Finding science’s place K ids who grow up surrounded by nature often come to love it. But getting them to love science, too, and understand the relationship between the two – well, that’s a whole other bridge to cross. For several years, Dr. Celia Evans has worked with an international group of researchers who study how students in rural or native cultures learn and value science, and how their cultural beliefs mesh with Western science concepts. This spring, Evans traveled to the Altai Republic in Russia under a National Science Foundation grant to continue that work, meeting with students, teachers and other officials in the region. In general, research shows

most students lose interest in science around middle school. Attachment to place, however, can live a lot longer – just ask Evans about her own childhood experiences camping in Ontario’s provincial parks. “Whether it’s a city or a rural place, an emotional attachment can help people develop a stewardship ethic and environmental awareness. But interest in ecology may not be the natural extension of attachment,” she says. “Activities in school or community that relate important aspects of people’s lives to science can help provide the context and familiar setting to make naturelovers want to learn science.” She spent about two weeks in Altai with project leaders from the University of New Hampshire, where the research team worked mostly on building relationships rather than hitting the ground running. (“If you’re going to do work in native cultures, or any culture you don’t belong Courtesy of Celia Evans

JAMIE PHILLIPS Celia Evans (above) spoke with students and teachers in the Altai Republic as part of her research; below, a class that she visited.

to for that matter, you have to know that you are the ‘learner’ in order to really build partnerships and collaborations,” Evans says. “You need to work together to build research questions that also address their concerns, their interests.”) Ultimately, Evans hopes research findings can shape science curricula while cementing the value of place-based education, something she says Paul Smith’s College does especially well. “When you link the process of inquiry to place, it puts everything into context. We do it here all the time,” she says. “I believe that’s the most powerful way to allow construction of knowledge. And I think there’s huge value in learning what’s around you.” Sequel | Summer 2010

Photos Courtesy of david patrick

Prof putting brakes on chameleon decline T David Patrick with a pair of boots he wore while tracking chameleons in Tanzania.

he only place on the planet where the Fischer’s chameleon is found in the wild is in the East Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. Dr. David Patrick fears there may soon be no place left to find them. Those chameleons, some of the world’s rarest, are valuable commodies in the pet trade. And they are likely being harvested at an unsustainable rate. So Patrick, backed by a National Geographic grant, traveled to the remote rainforest last summer to determine how many chameleons are being harvested annually, how many are left, and, ultimately, what to do about it. Because some of these species, found “in a single patch of forest on top of an isolated mountain range,” will soon face extinction if better controls aren’t put in place, Patrick says. Reptiles are big business – Americans own more than 4.8 million snakes, lizards and other species. Tanzania is a major source of certain chameleons, and while the country has established quotas on how many can be harvested annually, it is unclear whether those quotas are sustainable; the species that are counted as part of the quota are not necessarily counted well, and many species that are harvested for export aren’t counted at all. A rickety enforcement network and thriving black market compound the problems. “Accessibility to resources in many places in Tanzania is high – there is a functional road network - and the government lacks the funds to police all of the country,” says Patrick, director of the college’s Center for Adirondack

KENNETH AARON

Biodiversity. “Because of this, there is still a great deal of illegal trade going on in ivory and other wildlife products out of East Africa, including Tanzania.” Patrick is working with a team of Tanzanian and U.S. researchers to understand not only the ecological impacts of collection but also the socio-economic factors behind the trade. “The solution to this problem may well lie in the local communities themselves,” Patrick says. For a chameleon that might fetch $200 in a pet shop, a villager might get $2, if not less, to collect it, Patrick says. (Tanzanian per capita income is about $350 a year.) If the locals understand what the animals are worth and can receive a fair amount for them, the blackmarket trade might shrink, Patrick says. The most economically valuable chameleons are already in short supply; Patrick saw only one adult male during when he was there last summer, despite heading into the field on 27 nights trying to complete a census. Considering that the yearly quota on the variety is 500, “that’s a worrying trend,” he says. The chameleons’ very habitat is in danger, too, making it that much more important to get in the way of their decline. Logging and conversion of forest to tea and sisal plantations have already swallowed vast swaths of the East Usambaras. Saving the chameleons is worth the effort, says Patrick, who conducted his census under the cover of darkness, when they are easier to spot. With binocular vision, the ability to change color, and prehensile tails, Patrick remains amazed by these reptiles. “When you have one gripping your finger it’s like looking at something out of prehistory,” he says. What he’s really worried about, though, is whether they’ll be around in the future. – David Patrick contributed to this story.

Planting a seed for something bigger

hen Andrew Egan went to the Dominican Republic last fall, he expected to talk shop about mahogany trees. They’re a native crop, and one that the government there hopes to re-introduce on plantations as the natural supply dwindles. After spending two weeks on the ground with the U.S. Agency for International Development, though, it became clear to Egan that help with forestry techniques is just part of what the island nation needs to make plantations thrive. Egan, dean of the college’s School of Forestry and Natural Resources, was invited to the Dominican last year as part of USAID’s Farmer to Farmer program, which provides technical assistance from experts here to growers abroad. That assistance is needed in many places, especially in the Dominican countryside, which lack even basic silvicultural knowledge. Other obstacles are more deeply rooted, though, and he’s hoping that Paul Smith’s might be able to help with finding solutions. In some areas, for example, impoverished villagers have resorted to slash-and-burn tree harvesting on government-controlled land. Then they’ll plant the land until it’s drained of productivity and move on. It’s a problem that Egan worked on firsthand in Nepal, where officials empowered local communities to take care of governmentowned forestland. The model is simple: locals get control. “But you have to understand that we’re doing it in such a way that not only are you going to rely on these landscapes, but your children and your grandchildren as well. Your own survival depends on it, to a large degree,” Egan says. “And once you do that, people feel

Courtesy of ANDREW EGAN

ownership.” Egan and another professor, Brett McLeod, returned this summer, with an eye toward getting others at Paul Smith’s involved. Dr. Rafael Ledesma Schoowe, director of the Farmer to Farmer program in the Dominican Republic, is hoping that happens. Academic programs at the island’s Jarabacoa School of Forestry could benefit, he said, from Paul Smith’s input. These types of opportunities are more than just academic diversions, Egan says; increasingly, they’re crucial to future success. “I think it’s good for our students and it’s good for our faculty to understand forestry in its broadest sense,” says Egan, who also sees opportunities for recreation, adventure tourism and ecotourism students to work on. “Because in a lot of ways, the world is getting smaller. Our graduates may be working in Brazil instead of in Bangor, and I think the more they understand and appreciate whatever the situation is in other countries – be it the social, political, biological, physiographic or silvicultural situation – the better prepared they’re going to be for the types of jobs they’re going to be looking at 2, 3 or 4 years down the road.” RIGHT: Andrew Egan and Brett McLeod (not pictured) are connecting the college to forestry and recreation opportunities in the Dominican Republic. ABOVE: Hopes to build on ecotourism are hampered by pollution near Santo Domingo, the capital.

KENNETH AARON

Sequel | Summer 2010

Putting a rare gorilla on the map

KENNETH AARON

The

Cross River gorilla is almost extinct. It lives in Nigeria and Cameroon’s shrinking forests, and as those disappear, so do the creatures – just 300 remain, making the Cross River gorilla the most endangered great ape of all. Cheryl Joyce isn’t the most obvious choice to help save the apes. As a Paul Smith’s professor who teaches classes in geographic information systems, she doesn’t have experience bushwhacking through dense jungles or chasing wildlife with a dart gun. But her expertise in software that can combine reams of data with computerbased maps is exactly what the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Cameroon branch needed to help it get a handle on the Cross River gorilla’s plight. Joyce spent nine weeks in the seaside town of Limbe last spring, training the group how to use ArcView GIS, widely used professional mapping software. It’s a lot more versatile than the GPS unit on your dashboard. For example, town assessors might use it to come up with a map showing, say, all three-bedroom houses in a town worth more than $200,000. Or archaelogists can plug in data about their finds and show where they unearthed pottery made during a certain time. In Cameroon, researchers are using it to store data relating to ape sightings, and predict their movement, population sizes and other information. Ultimately, they hope to use that information to convince the government to protect the remote areas inhabited by the apes. “The best part was just sitting down with

Sequel | Summer 2010

these guys and teaching them this stuff,” says Joyce, who led training sessions on the latest version of the software (the one they were familiar with was a decade out of date) and even left behind a pair of donated laptops. “And they were really happy to learn it – they were really excited to have somebody that was interested, and cared.”

PHOTOS Courtesy of Cheryl joyce

TOP: Cheryl Joyce. ABOVE: Wildlife Conservation Society workers in the field, tracking the Cross River gorilla.

The field staff Joyce worked with is responsible for covering an area about the size of Connecticut. “We use GIS on a daily basis in our work,” says Aaron Nicholas, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Takamanda-Mone Landscape Project. “We now have a much firmer GIS base in place which will help our field staff get more involved with data analysis and reporting, as well as designing surveys. I am already seeing that some of our field staff are much more confident in the use of GIS which can only be a positive development

for everyone working in our project.” Joyce used a $1,500 grant from the Forestry Faculty Endowment Fund, which was started with a grant from Sterling Tomkins, as well as another faculty development grant to help pay for the trip. “Hopefully, I’ve opened doors to students that want to go,” Joyce says; Nicholas says that’s a possibility. While Joyce never made it into the jungle, her trip was still arduous. It was 90 and humid for the duration of her stay; she needed to put down a gallon of water every day. She was sideswiped by a motorcycle. On her fourth night in Limbe, Joyce was walking with a friend who got mugged. She made an open-sea journey to Nigeria in a skiff shorter than a Subaru in order to train WCS staff there. She lived with the threat of malaria, because the drugs made her so ill she had to quit taking it. (In fact, she left the country two weeks early, partly because she’d completed her work but also because the rainy season, and mosquitoes, were about to set in.) So, conditions were hard. They’re worse for the apes. “It’s frightening with the rapidity these areas are going into decline,” Joyce says. “It’s depressing, really. Getting people to enforce the restrictions is really difficult. I have a better appreciation for what the Wildlife Conservation Society is facing.” “We’ve already lost so many species, and anything we can do to help would be greatly appreciated,” she says. “These species were here before we were – we should be giving them a break.”

PHOTOS Courtesy of CURT STAGER

The core of climate change

lobal climate change may be a reality, but when it comes to global understanding of what that means, not everyplace is equal. Take Africa, for example, which is home to a billion people but lacks extensive research that will help climatologists make predictions for the future. And in a place where agrarian cultures stand to face drastic alteration from climate change, those predictions assume great importance. “When people talk about climate change, most of the research that’s done on the likely climatic and environmental effects focuses on the Northern Hemisphere. But not so much the southern half of the planet. And when you do that you get an incomplete picture of global environmental change,” says Dr. Curt Stager, a natural sciences professor who traveled to South Africa with two students last summer to uncover geological clues about what climate change might bring there in the future. The students, Christiaan King and Jay White, helped Stager bring back sediment samples from the bed of Lake Verlorenvlei on the Western Cape. Their goal was to show how previous changes in temperature affected rainfall and water levels on the lake in the past; by understanding those relationships, they can make better predictions about future

changes. Their work was funded by the National Science Foundation, a federal agency that supports basic scientific research. The samples – long tube-like cores of lake mud dating back 2,000 years – yield clues to the area’s past based on pollen and algae trapped in the sediment, as well as shells left behind by marine life and other organic material. At this point, too few samples have been taken to draw many firm conclusions about the area’s past climate. But if today’s prevailing climate models are validated by what Stager, King and White have found so far, drastic changes are in store. “If global climates do continue to become warmer, a reduction in Antarctic sea ice is going to result along with a poleward contraction of westerly winds, meaning that a lot less rain is going to be hitting the Western Cape,” says White. “And that would result in a huge loss of fresh water for the region.” “Water is already scarce there,” King adds, “so the local economies and unique natural habitats down there can’t afford to lose much in the future.” S Prof. Curt Stager (tan cap, right) works on lakebed core samples in South Africa with students Jay White (right) and Christiaan King (above, left).

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ alumni life]

[

2010-11

Alumni Events

]

Calendar August

November

Paul Smith’s College Clambake

NYC Alumni Reception

Sunday, Aug. 22

Monday, Nov. 15

Hagaman, N.Y.

New York City (Concurrent with the International Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Show.)

Hosts: Dave ’61 and Linda Eaton.

Torch Club, New York University. September

Homecoming & Brian W. Smith ’95 Memorial Basketball Game

January 2011

Saturday, Sept. 25

Wednesday, Jan. 19

Campus.

Verona, N.Y. Turning Stone Resort & Casino.

October

Society of American Foresters Alumni Reception Thursday, Oct. 28 Albuquerque, N.M. Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

NYSAPLS Alumni Reception

All dates are tentative and subject to change. Contact Us » For additional information, please contact: Randi Rabideau Alumni Relations Coordinator, Office of Alumni Relations Phone: (518) 327-6253 E-mail: rrabideau@paulsmiths.edu

Sweet time at Sugarbush

ugar on snow: Good. Sugar on rain: Not so much. But that didn’t stop a few hundred people from turning out for the college’s annual Sugarbush Breakfast in April, where they scarfed down breakfast prepared by culinary students (and some of the season’s maple syrup harvest, of course). This year, the maple syrup started early – it was running by February – but the spring’s unusually warm temperatures deserted us by the end of syrup season. Check the next issue of Sequel for the date of next spring’s breakfast! PHOTOS BY KENNETH AARON

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ CLASS NOTES ]

50s

Kenneth E. Brown ’50 has fond memories. Ruth (Weston ’51) Woodward would like

to say hello to all you great students who have rented cabins since 1978. J. Robert “Bob” Incas ’52 is presently

assembling recipes for a cookbook. He says there are never too many of them, and that this one will be written with humor interspersed. Robert V. Kramer ’53 retired from full time

employment as executive director of exports for the Besse Forest Products Group. He is still active, working as a consultant to a major world-class piano manufacturer. John G. Swift ’53 and his wife, Frances,

celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 31, 2009. They had a nice snowstorm in Virginia in December and it reminded him of similar winter days at Paul Smith’s. F. Joseph McCranels ’54 recently visited classmate John A. “Jack” Perry ’54 in

Sarasota, Fla. Jack showed him great hospitality. Joe realized his goal of saltwater fly fishing and says, “What a kick!”

James V. Stabile ’59 has been retired since

Eric J. Backman ’55 spends most of his time

60s

from April through November in the Schroon Lake area. His address there is 856 Adirondack Road, Adirondack, NY 12808 and phone number is (518) 532-7050. Richard A. Day ’56 and his wife, Sally,

state that other than growing older and enjoying their seven great grandchildren, they are fine. They have so many happy memories of Paul Smith’s and miss visiting the area. David M. Hunter ’57 graduated from the

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1959 with a B.S. in wood technology. He retired from Georgia - Pacific in August 1996 and currently resides in Lawrenceville, Pa., with his wife, Lois, whom he married in 1955. They have four children and 11 grandchildren. Richard J. Olsen ’59 retired from Palisades

Interstate Park Commission. He is selling real estate, fishing, golfing, skiing and enjoying his grandchildren.

1995 but is still writing outdoor columns for two New Jersey Sunday newspapers.

John J. McDonald ’60 earned his B.A. at

Morehead (Ky.) State College and his M.S. Ed. at SUNY-Cortland. He taught American history and government. John was an assistant coach for baseball and was also the head coach in 1961 and 1964. He was also varsity soccer coach in North Syracuse Central Schools for 29 years. His wife, Catherine, taught in the same school district. They have three children who are all grown and are all teachers. John teaches at a college, Erin is a high school teacher and Jennifer teaches at a middle school. George H. James ’61 would like to know if anyone has heard from Wesley V. Fish ‘61 or Axel Ingvaldsen ’61. Noel J. Smith ’63 owns the Saratoga Arms

Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with his wife and daughter.

Send us your class notes. Fax to (518) 327-6267, mail to PSC Alumni Office, P.O. Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970 or e-mail alumni@paulsmiths.edu.

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ CLASS NOTES ]

Francis J. Hennion ’62 just turned 70 years

old. He is still in great shape and thinks that it is about time to retire and spend time with his wife. Frank will be heading to Alaska this summer for three weeks. He’s looking forward to the 2012 Reunion – the big 50. Bevera (Louden ’62) Bell is retired and liv-

ing in sunny Florida. She retired after 24 years in professional Girl Scouting. She and her husband enjoy their nine grandchildren. Old friends are welcome to visit. You can reach Bevera at bevbell@bellsouth.net. Rudy Zwicklbauer

C. Barre Hellquist ’62 continues to enjoy

retirement but is staying active with work on aquatic flowering plants, especially the potamogeton of the world and water lilies of Australia. He is presently trying to grow as many species of conifers as possible at his home in Massachusetts. William B. Botti ’62 retired from the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources in 1997. He has been working as a private forestry consultant since then. Bill is now serving as executive director of the Michigan Forest Association. He published a book on the history of Michigan’s state forests a couple of years ago. Carlton R. Johnson ’62 stopped at Paul

Smith’s College in November on his way home to Rhode Island, after visiting friends in Parishville. Wayne F. Knipping ’63 and his wife, Kat,

took a two month trip to Montana this past summer. They attended the National Forest Service reunion in Missoula during the second week of September and met one Smitty there: John W. Korb ’56. He has not met anyone in Virginia who went to Paul Smith’s. Wayne is looking forward to the 2010 Reunion. Edward T. Golonka ’63 is looking for class-

mates and brothers from Kellogg House who are going to attend this year’s Homecoming. E-mail him at egolonka@nycap.rr.com. Kenneth L. Nolan ’63 has just completed

a course of treatment (extern of radiation – IMRT) for an aggressive cancer of the prostate without side effects or problems. He did not miss one of his water aerobic exercise classes during treatment. Classes are outside yearround. When the temperature drops into the 30s, Ken may skip a class, but he generally goes all year. Daniel M. Mullins ’63 is semi-retired.

Though he graduated in the hotel field, he has almost 200 acres of woodlots over gas

Sequel | Summer 2010

’66 and Mitsunobu “Michi” Okazaki ’66.

exploration – marcellus shale. Dan, based in Cortland, N.Y., does national presentations and consultation on elder issues and rural community opportunities. Richard Lewis ’63 states that after 37 years

in Maryland he has moved to a smaller home on 2 acres of land in Gettysburg.

David B. Knapp ’64 recently completed the

Penn State Master Gardner Program for Lancaster County and has been enjoying getting back into horticulture as a volunteer. In October 2009 he visited his first roommate at Paul Smith’s College, William R. “Bill” Wall ’65, in Denver, Colo. It was a great time after about a 40-plus-year hiatus! James B. Sink ’64 is enjoying retirement

and is busy with volunteer work with the California Department of Fish and Game. Gary A. Foote ’64 recently visited Shang-

hai, China, and traveled to the Yellow Mountains. This was the fourth trip he’s taken to this beautiful country. Richard C. Peters ’65 retired on Dec. 31,

2009. He is living in the Blue Ridge of Western North Carolina. Richard has been concentrating on Trout Unlimited and fly fishing. Edward H. “Windy” Coon ’66 retired as

a professor at the University of South Carolina. He is still teaching at USC with over 300 students. Ed and his wife, Candy, have been married for over 42 years. He said that she remembers the Paul Smith’s parties. Frank B. Lesniewski ’66 received a call

in January of this year from Mexico; it was G. Frederick Stephens ’66. The former Vermont boy lives in Zanilla, Mexico, with his 51-year-old Mexican bride. He was planning

on visiting Frank on his way to Vermont this spring. Madison “Matt” Cannon ’65 is planning on visiting Frank this summer. Frank recently bought a log home and now lives in the southeast part of the Adirondacks, in Wells. R. Michael Kirkland ’66 is enjoying life

in Tennessee. He has been there for 13 years and says that the winters are a lot milder than at PSC. Michael can be contacted at (865) 924-7779 or rmkchef@aol.com. Albert T. Jenks ’66 has spent 40 years

building and running a cross-country ski area. He plans to retire when the area has sold. Rudy Zwicklbauer ’66 reports that he and Mitsunobu “Michi” Okazaki ’66 recently

became reacquainted through LinkedIn. Rudy, Michi and Mitsukazu “Tommy” Tachibana ’65 were roommates in a rental house on Easy Street during their second year at Paul Smith’s. After being out of touch for several years, Rudy and Michi were able to meet, along with Michi’s wife, Miki, at the Marriott Resort in Palm Desert, Calif., in April.

Mary Susan (Hussey ’67) Dolan is retired

and lives in Florida in a large retirement town. Her three children are back in the northeast but she and her husband spend part of the summer up in New England at the beaches. She has traveled to Paul Smith’s several times and still thinks the area is beautiful. Raymond D. Masters ’67 retired three

years ago from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry Adirondack Ecological Center in Newcomb, New York. He relocated to Red Lodge, Mont., where he is involved in many community projects and is a snowboard instructor at the local ski area. E-mail Ray at Adkmts723@hotmail.com.

Edward J. Bantz ’67 and the brothers

of Epsilon Pi had a Super Bowl party in Orlando, Fla., in February. Edward D. “Ted” Kissane ’68 has

retired after 20 years with the Sheraton Corporation and 15 years as regional vice president with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. He and his wife, Karen, live in St. Albans Bay, Vt. Bruce M. Barrett ’68 moved from

Hawaii to Arlington, Texas, in 2007. His plans are to return to Hawaii within 5 years. The deer hunting that he has done on property in Arkansas has been superb – 135 -160-class deer with bow, black powder and a modern rifle. Bruce still stays in touch with four classmates.

him at wshaw43@comcast.net. Jay S. Witlen ’71 and his wife, Jacki, will celebrate their 30th anniversary of owning Jay’s Bistro in Fort Collins, Colo. Their website is JaysBistro.net. Ralph C. Walsh ’72 retired from Lexmark

at the end of 2009 after nearly 37 years. He is somewhat disorganized right now but has plenty to do, especially when warm weather returns. Ralph has lots of projects lined up and was looking forward to a sombrero ranch horse roundup in May.

Trail markers Deaths Ruth E. (Anson ’48) Davis on Dec. 1,

2009, in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

John J. Hedderman ’48 on Feb. 2,

2010, in Hot Springs Village, Ark.

John B. Henry ’48 on July 10, 2009,

in Sodus, N.Y.

Morgan J. Johnson ’48 on Dec. 7,

2009, in Healdsburg, Calif.

Edward J. Beattie ’73 has completed

his grand slam of all four species of North American sheep this year and has been officially registered as grand slammer # 1550.

Gerald R. Van Duser ’48 on Dec. 16,

2009, in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Robert H. Williams ’48 on July 18,

2009, in Stamford, N.Y.

James B. Kesel ’69 is homesteading in

Gary E. Carpenter ’73 would like you to remember your friend, John W. Rawson ’73, who lost his life in 2008. Gary says

Down East Maine.

the good times will always be remembered.

Charles C. Cross ’49 on Feb. 9, 2009,

Gustave A. Bundt ’69 is now on Social

John A. Dancho ’73 is currently working

Edward G. Dunn ’49 on April 26,

Security disability. He had his first heart problem in September 2006 while on the job and the second in April 2009. Gustave is enjoying his forced retirement. Neal C. Lennstrom ’69 worked for five

years as a union carpenter after graduating from Paul Smith’s while also enlisting in the New York Army National Guard. In 1974 he started his own carpentry company. He retired in 1997 as a lieutenant colonel in Army Aviation and continues as a sole proprietor of Neal C. Lennstrom Construction Management. He started a solar electric business in 2001 and is in the final stages of constructing his fifth church. He says that he has been blessed with two daughters, Tara and Kerri, and three grandchildren: Connor, Emily and Mary Elizabeth (Mae). His bucket list includes a return to Paul Smith’s.

for the State of Florida as a sanitation and safety specialist for the Division of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and Restaurants, in Brooksville, Fla. He has been there for seven years.

science and is a soil specialist for the USFS in Gallatin National Forest and principal of Northern Rockies Soil and Water. He is also co-founder and chairman of Collin’s Coalition. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons, Russell and Collin.

are enjoying their grandchildren. Madison is 21/2 and Brendan is 11/2. They are living in Plymouth, Mass. Walter says that if you are in the area, stop by and say hello. E-mail

in Walterboro, S.C.

2006, in Lakeland, Fla.

Daniel C. Gallagher ’49 on May 2,

2010, in Charletown, R.I.

Wallace L. Goldstein ’49 on April 5, Carlino F. Lagomarsino ’49 on

Sept. 7, 2009, in Hilton Head, S.C. Edward R. Milden ’49 on Dec. 31,

2009, in Spring Lake, N.J.

Francis G. “Gerry” Hambrook ’50

on May 22, 2008, in Center Sandwich, N.H. Nan (Stone ’50) Hutchins on Dec. 4,

2002, in Marcellus, N.Y.

Philip D. Keane ’50 in 2000, in Point

Pleasant Beach, N.J.

Stuart R. McSweeney Jr. ’50 on Oct. 16, 2009, in Henrietta, N.Y. Richard T. Morris ’50 on Nov. 27,

2007, in Massena, N.Y.

James R. Davey ’53 on Feb. 7, 2009,

in Lowville, N.Y.

Kenneth F. Nephew ’70 says that 2010

Walter E. Shaw ’71 and his wife, Robin,

in Omaha, Neb.

2009, in Westfield, Mass.

Thomas J. Keck ’75 has a Ph.D. in soil

70s marks forty years since graduation. He hopes to be with many of the 1970 alumni that weekend. Ken would like to hear from classmates who can reach him via e-mail at knephew1@twcny.rr.com or by mail at PO Box 64, Malone, NY 12953.

Roger L. Cano ’49 on Feb. 26, 2010,

Patricia (Hanlon) Raymond ’75 writes

that she and fellow alums, above, gathered in March in Albany, N.Y. L-R: Mary LaBombard ’75; Ann Reutaman ’74; Hans Visscher; Pat Hanlon ’75; Bob Law ’74. They had a great time reminiscing about the good old Paul Smith’s days, with a special appearance from Hans Visscher, the bartender at the Hotel Saranac from 1972-76. Talk about some great stories…they heard it all from Hans! They are already looking

Lt. Col. Charles G. Randall ’54 on

July 30, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo.

Ronald M. Staring ’57 on Feb. 9,

2009, in Tucson, Ariz.

David B. Jansen ’59 on March 9,

2004, in Plympton, Mass.

L. Carl Mathews ’59 on June 3, 2000,

in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

David A. Doxtader ’60 on March 28,

2009, in Little Falls, N.Y.

Sequel | Summer 2010

[ CLASS NOTES ]

Trail markers Deaths Ronald N. Villeneuve ’60 on Feb. 25,

2010, in Geneva, Fla.

Anthony H. “Tony” Ingersoll ’76 was

Richard J. Burgin ’61 on Nov. 30,

2009, in Delhi, N.Y.

Donald B. Dietrich ’61 on Nov. 30,

2009, in Lebanon, N.H.

Robert S. Rosen ’62 on Sept. 22,

2007, in Naples, N.Y.

John R. Warne ’62 on Feb. 24, 2010,

in Lewiston, N.Y.

William L. Burnett ’65 on Dec. 8,

2008, in Middlebury, Vt.

Wayne G. Gray ’65 on Oct. 9, 2008,

in Sodus, N.Y.

Patrick M. Boylan ’66 on Jan. 12,

2010, in Philadelphia, Pa.

Phyllis A. (Flatt ’66) McIntosh on

March 30, 2009, in Webster, N.Y.

Michael B. Sheridan ’68 on Sept. 8,

2009, in St. Augustine, Fla.

Marshall F. “Bub” Baker ’69 on

Douglas S. Kilgour ’69 on Sept. 26,

2009, in Augusta, Ga.

Richard B. Cross ’70 on Jan. 8, 2010,

in Portland, Maine.

William J. Martz ’70 on Dec. 14, Richard H. Arnold ’71 on May 2,

2009, in Tolsona Lake, Alaska.

They welcomed their second grandchild, Brody, to the family and say, “God is good!”

wanted to share that their son, Kyle, is going to grad school in North Carolina at Western Carolina University. Their daughter, Laura, will be getting her B.A. in May from Cornell University.

Stuart D. Diehl ’80 looks forward to see-

Laurence Rydzewski ’71 on

ing a lot of you at the 30-year reunion.

March 23, 2009, in Pomona, N.J. Stephen L. Drown, II ’72 on March 10,

2010, in West Chazy, N.Y.

Jeffrey L. Montag ’80 would like to say

hello to Sam, Jim, Dan and Dave. He’d like you to give him a call some time.

Edward W. Warfel ’73 on Feb. 12,

2010, in Leola, Pa.

James A. Kleindienst ’80 has been

Mark R. Skakel ’76 on March 27,

2010, in Rutland Town, Vt.

Neil J. Carey ’77 on March 30, 2009,

in Chazy, N.Y.

Kenneth P. Doerseln ’81 on Dec. 9,

2009, in Naples, Fla.

Whitney J. (Hersey ’82) Marten on

Dec. 25, 2009, in Gloversville, N.Y.

Michael J. Caracappa ’84 on Feb. 24,

Sequel | Summer 2010

Joseph F. Halpin ’81 says that not a

80s

2009, in Harrisburg, Pa.

Gail A. (BeGasse ’77) and Richard M. Fisher ’77 are enjoying life in California.

Lori Jo (Hill ’79) and Mark Pursel ’79

May 2, 2009, in Schenectady, N.Y.

on their farm. The girls have moved on. Their eldest, Elizabeth, is in Watertown, N.Y. Katherine is in graduate school in California and Christine is a sophomore at SUNYGeneseo. They said to come visit – there is lots of room for guests! Richard A. George ’81 (a.k.a. Akeim

Ian and Emilie have both graduated from college and are working and living in Boston. Ed joined the Marine Corps and soon will be patrolling the Mediterranean Sea. They are both employed and getting to know each other again.

2009, in Coral Springs, Fla.

Warden ’80 are still in Gouverneur, N.Y.,

recently promoted to assistant director for technology for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Hawaii, American Samoa and Micronesia. He is in charge of nine discipline specialists, in agronomy, forestry, biology, economics, water quality, grazing lands, plant materials and cultural resources.

Constance (Card ’79) and Merrill F. Villmore ’78 finally have an empty nest!

Alan M. Kaplan ’66 on Sept. 13,

2010, in Clarks Summit, Pa.

forward to their next gathering in either Saratoga or Lake Placid. Pat is also excited to report that her niece, Alexandra Hanlon, will be attending Paul Smith’s this September. Alexandra is fortunate to have two aunts and two uncles who are Paul Smith’s alums!

working for USDA-NRCS for 16 years. He celebrated his 50th birthday and 20th wedding anniversary in 2009. His experiences from Paul Smith’s are with him on a daily basis, from surveying to tree identification and memories of classmates and professors. Paul Smith’s has been a blessing in his life. Jim says, “Thank you and God bless.” Sheila K. (Sibley ’81) and Ian M.

Assad) is currently semi-retired after 25 years in construction management all over the U.S. He is living in Edmeston, N.Y. Richard lived and worked at the Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, Utah, this past winter. You can reach him at akeimassad@ hotmail.com.

day goes by that he doesn’t think about you, Paul Smith’s, and the friends at Livermore Five: Michael J. “Dennis” Greenslade ’81 and the other Deadhead, John the pizza man’s son, and Jeffrey D. Kline ’81. Joe says, “God bless you guys.” He also remembers the top of St. Regis on the first weekend, his heart to Pamela S. Leary ’81 at the Globetrotters game and the 1980 Olympics. I miss you, Smitty. Paul Breslin ’81 is the owner of Panther

Hospitality. It is a hotel consulting practice that specializes in development, operations and expert witness. Karen M. Peck-Moniak ’83 would like

for anyone living or visiting South Carolina to give her a shout. She says, “Yankee Fork Volunteers, can you believe it has been 26 years?” Karen also asks Rudd to send maple syrup, at Don’s request. You can reach Karen at (803) 648-8619 or karenpeck@ atlanticbb.net. Andrea L. (Dewey ’89) Urmston wants

everyone to know that we had another amazing turnout for Reunion last June! It was a great weekend full of good times and lasting memories. Stay tuned for information about our 25th reunion in 2014. She says to keep in touch – you can reach Andrea by e-mail at andrea@hvc.rr.com.

90s Christopher Ericson ’90 says that the

Ericson family is doing well! Zack is 14, Tyler is 12 and Eliza is 8. They are keeping Bonnie and Chris busy with chasing soccer games and USSA skiing.

He is always thinking of his fellow Swampys and loves to return to PSC whenever he can. Please e-mail him at cericson3@optonline.net.

00s

Daniel N. (Dino) Palladino ’94 and his

expecting her second child in May 2010.

wife, Randalee, reside in Rochester, N.Y. They have two children, Nataila, 5, and Nunzio, 1. Dan and Randalee are expecting a new baby also. He works at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Rochester and owns the family farm in Pompey, N.Y. James W. Buck ’98 had a great time

visiting with old classmates in June 2009 for Fran McAllister’s retirement. He is looking forward to getting together again soon. Any forest techs from 1998 can drop him a line at jbuck@hvc.rr.com.

Send us your class notes.

Trail markers

Corrin L. (Martin ’00) Nicholas was

Patrick W. Lord ’04 and his wife, Amy, are

enjoying their 5-acre homestead in rural Connecticut with their son Hunter, who is almost 2 years old. Pat continued his career as an environmental scientist with Apex Companies LLC conducting subsurface investigations and remediation projects. He’d like to know where David Kennedy ’03 is. You can reach him at plord@apexcos.com. Adam Reynolds ’03 is currently working for

Walsh Brothers as the assistant project manager on a college dorm project at Salem State College in Massachusetts.

Fax to (518) 327-6267, mail to PSC Alumni Office, P.O. Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970 or e-mail alumni@paulsmiths.edu.

Deaths Todd R. Devereaux ’85 on Dec. 4,

2009, in Camp Hill, Pa.

Stewart D. Jacobs ’88 on April 15,

2009, in Massena, N.Y.

Michael A. Dilworth ’91 on Dec. 2,

2009, in Horseheads, N.Y.

Casey A. Moore ’99 on Jan. 13, 2010,

in North East, Pa.

Chad R. Otrosinka ’99 on Feb. 23,

2010, in Germantown, N.Y.

Craig P. DeRue ’08 on Jan. 28, 2009,

in Fairport, N.Y.

Todd A. Harvey ’08 on March 20,

2010, in Oxford, N.Y.

Mary H. Smallman, former trustee, on

Oct. 26, 2009, in Hermon, N.Y.

Back to school

ome people say, “It’s what you know.” Others say, “It’s whom you know.” At Paul Smith’s College, our who’s who know a lot – and that was the idea behind the first- ever Boomerang event, which brought 13 Hotel, Resort and Culinary Management alums back to campus in April to share some of their hard-won experience with their still-in-college counterparts. The event, co-sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, was planned and organized by current students who stood to gain knowledge from, and make connections with, industry pros. Joe Conto ’85, director of the hospitality program, came up with the concept for the event; he worked closely with Peter Roland, advisor of the college chapter of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), in guiding the students. The returning alumni brought years of experience with them; restaurant owners, chefs, and hotel and club managers were among those who came to the day-long event, which included a meet-andgreet at the student-run St. Regis café followed by a panel discussion, two-hour networking session and a follow-up industry Q-and-A. The day ended with a tasting session, and a barbeque for seniors and alumni. The menu at both those events was whipped up by our own culinary students. More than 100 people turned out for the event, which won rave reviews. None of it would have been possible if not for the wonderful alumni who returned and got into the full swing of things – thank you! Alumni in attendance: Timothy McCormick ’78; Sandra J. Gervais ’80; Erik Palmer ’81; John D’Adamo ’82; Patrick Bassney ’82; Steve Leahy ’85; Pat Raynard ’85; Tim Holmes ’88; Michael Tubia ’98; Travis Zedick ’03; Robert Yourdon ’08; Joseph Pryor ’09; and Keith Otto ’09.

PHOTOS BY KENNETH AARON

Students and alums mingled at the first-ever Boomerang event, held in April. Hospitality, Resort & Culinary Management students heard directly from the source what it takes to make it in the industry.

– ZACK ROSENBERG, Senior, Hotel, Resort & Tourism Management

Sequel | Summer 2010

Sequel Magazine P.O. Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970-0265 Change Service Requested

[ PARTING SHOT ]

A lasting resort

his gem of a brochure came to us from the family of Bernard Swartzman ’53, who died in 2004. The hotel looked like so much fun that we called Lydia Payne, a college friend who knew Phelps Smith as “Uncle Phelps” and stayed at the hotel several summers when she was a girl, for her memories. Here’s a snippet: They had a lot of riding horses, and I used to ride horseback everyday. Then they had tea dancing every afternoon; there was an orchestra that would come up there for the summer. I loved to dance, as did all girls of that age. A great deal of the basement was divided into separate shops. The owners would go hotel to hotel and sell things – expensive, nice things. There was jewelry, and there were Irish tweeds. As a youngster, I really loved those things. But the only thing I remember buying is a Bakelite ring. I just loved going up there in the summer.

» Do you have a Paul Smith’s-related photo, artifact or other item with a story behind it? Share! Drop a line to kaaron@paulsmiths.edu.

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