Transitions Summer 2009

Transitions Fall/Winter 2007

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Contents Pulisher/Editor Mary Lin Associate Editor Ashley Mains Staff Writers Mary Lin • Ashley Mains • Annabeth McNamara Luisa Walmsley Contributing Writers Randall Amster • Naomi Blinick • Christine Duffy Lorayne Meltzer • Angie Moline Staff Photographers Mary Lin • Ashley Mains • Annabeth McNamara Photo Contributors Lisa Barnes • Naomi Blinick • Natalie Canfield The Official Jeff Carlson Website • Carolyn Chilcote Nick Devore • Becca Deysach • Scott Douglas Suzanne Dhruv • Raina Gentry • Andrea Gold F. Neal Fair • Dick Hanna • Matt Hart • Joel Hiller Robert Hunt • Brad James • Sher Shah Khan Austen Lorenz • Walton Mendelson • Angie Moline Bridget Reynolds • Althea Schelling • Marj Sente Marie Smith • TheK5.com • ChildrenAndNature.org Vice President for Development Joel Hiller (928) 350-4501 • jhiller@prescott.edu For Class Notes and address changes, contact Marie Smith • msmith@prescott.edu Send correspondence, reprint requests and submissions to: Mary Lin Prescott College 220 Grove Ave. Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 350-4503 • mlin@prescott.edu Transitions, a publication for the Prescott College community, is published three times a year by the Public Relations Office for alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty and staff of the College. Its purpose is to keep readers informed with news about Prescott College faculty, staff, students and fellow alumni.

Transitions is available online at www.prescott.edu.

©2009 Prescott College Prescott College reserves the right to reprint materials from Transitions in other publications and online at its discretion.

Prescott College is committed to equal opportunity for its employees and applicants for employment, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or sexual orientation, age, disability, marital or parental status, status with respect to public assistance, or veteran’s status. This policy applies to the administration of its employment policies or any other programs generally accorded or made available to employees.

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The Spirit of Giving: Richard Ach Naomi Blinick: Balancing Ocean Health Student Research, Conservation in Kino Bay Feeding the World Without Warming the Planet In the Best Light: Orientation Photo Prize Stream Ecology Student Research First Ph.D.’s in Sustainability Education Always Learning: Triple Alumnus Robert Hunt Teacher Programs: Head of the Class HUB Keeps Local Bikes Rolling 727 Dameron Drive: An Evolving Oasis Eating Local Natural History Network Earth Day at Prescott College SEED “Greens Up” Campus Where Food Comes From ADGP Goes Paperless Writing from the Natural World Transitions Wins Communicator Awards To Complete Our Streets – Or Not? Catalyst Infoshop: Nurturing Counterculture Art and Ecology: Raina Gentry Growing “Natural Leaders” in Tucson Walking for Peace Joel Hiller: 31 Years of Change

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Faculty Notes Class Notes In Memoriam Last Word

Cover photo: Sea Lions by Naomi Blinick ’09

President’s Corner Dear Friends, As we graduated our first crop of Ph.D. students this past June, I, like most in the audience on that Saturday afternoon, was filled with pride for all that they’ve accomplished in the course of their studies at Prescott College.

And while I also felt hope, I couldn’t help but wonder if we are doing enough to bring our culture into sustainable balance. We’re all aware of the issue of environmental sustainability. But does the constellation of the family seem sustainable? Will the religious fervor that seems to be developing in many parts of the world lead to a sustainable global community?

These are complex and big questions, the answers to which require the integration of knowledge from many disciplines. The environmental scientist alone can’t handle these questions any better than the economist or the sociologist. Each discipline needs to recognize its inherent limitations and to seek to supplement and complement knowledge by joining forces with scholars and activists from other disciplines.

This broad definition of sustainability provides the underpinnings of the Prescott College curriculum. Our institution is composed of areas of study that have semi-permeable membranes, allowing things that need to stay in one area to find safe haven, while allowing ideas and activities to move between the various programs of study. It is this ability to see sustainability from an interdisciplinary angle that allows Prescott College to be highly effective in both understanding complex issues and helping to solve complex problems.

Faculty and students at our field station in Kino Bay, Mexico, understand that the sustainability of the Gulf of California is influenced by a complex web of factors. As a result of their understanding they are doing first-rate research on the environmental issues of the region, as well as working with hundreds of local school children and members of the fishing community to inform and educate about the likely outcomes of particular practices (see story page 2). Sustainability education as provided by our Kino faculty is multilayered and comprehensive, because they know that a serious commitment toward sustainability requires an equally serious commitment to inclusion and integration of stakeholders.

As you read Transitions, notice how unique efforts might at first appear to be disconnected but these activities are actually well integrated within the tapestry of the College. In an era of increased specialization and fragmentation, we’re doing our part to build a more sustainable world.

Warmest Regards,

Leave Your Legacy Help Create A Sustainable Future Visit Prescott College on the Web at

www.prescott.edu Read the latest articles on charitable giving, refresh your memory with our glossary of terms and calculate your income tax deduction for charitable gifts.

The Spirit of Giving “Prescott College allowed me to have a wonderful life, and I am going to support that happening for other people, too. It’s one of the most important things I can do: to support, beyond my lifetime, the values and good I treasure so much.”

– Richard Ach ’73

Read full profile on Richard Ach in the Spring 2009 Transitions at www.prescott.edu/ news/transitions/index.html

Balancing Ocean Health Naomi Blinick ’09 researches fishing impacts, contributes to national policy

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rowing up in Sunnyvale, Calif., Naomi Blinick ’09 lived only 45 minutes drive away from the ocean – 45 minutes too far, that is. Now Naomi lives and breathes her passion for all things marine as a recent graduate and future Research and Conservation Fellow at the College’s Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies in Kino Bay, Mexico.

Naomi first heard of Prescott College when she met alumna Emily Bacon ’06 while they where both working for a marine conservation project in the Seychelles Islands off the east coast of Africa.

Naomi spent nearly half of her three years at Prescott College enrolled in classes down in Kino Bay. While serving as teaching assistant for a Marine Studies class, she was able to participate in an ongoing project that involved sampling bycatch from shrimp trawlers in the region – which led to her Senior Project.

Shrimp trawlers have heavy wooden boards and nets scrape the bottom for two to four hours, up to four times a night.

Trawling is the most destructive fishing method in the world, causing habitat damage and changes to ecological communities. It is also highly indiscriminate and captures everything on the bottom, resulting in huge amounts of bycatch, which can be defined as any catch that is unused or unmanaged. On a shrimp trawler in the Gulf of California, this is any species that comes up in the nets other than shrimp. Every night, thousands of kilos of fish come up in each boat and end up dead and discarded overboard in the Kino Bay region. Sharks, rays, flatfish, even seahorses come up nightly, many of which are juveniles and never get the chance to reproduce.

Bycatch is a global issue in nearly every fishery, yet shrimp trawling has the highest rates of bycatch, averaging 62 percent worldwide, which constitutes to 27 percent of global fisheries discards – approximately 1.8 million tons annually.

Over five years of monitoring, Prescott College has documented 151 different species in shrimp trawler bycatch, with an average rate 79.4 percent bycatch, almost 20 percent higher than the global average. This means that nearly 80 percent of what comes up in the nets is NOT shrimp. Each boat averages approximately three tons of bycatch per night. In Mexico, an estimated 133,000 tons of bycatch are landed annually.

This fishery is driven largely by market demand from the United States. Shrimp is the most important Mexican seafood export in terms of value and employment. The majority of it is exported to the United States, although Mexico only accounts for 7 percent of the 1.2 billion pounds of shrimp imported by the US in 2007. This means that US demand for shrimp not only fuels the Mexican trawl shrimp industry, but many other trawl shrimp industries worldwide, all of which produce bycatch and have varying degrees of regulation and enforcement for bycatch management. That market force has encouraged this industry to con-

tinue to grow in Mexico despite its impacts on small-scale fishers.

One of the most sensitive and controversial issues of shrimp trawler bycatch is the effect on small-scale fishers. In the Gulf, these fisheries are characterized by the use of small, open skiffs called pangas, using a variety of fishing gears to opportunistically target whatever is abundant at the time. In Kino Bay, the smallscale fishery supports the local economy almost entirely. It is composed of approximately 125 pangas, which target sharks, rays, mackerel, mullet, crabs, flatfish, scallops, shrimp, lobster, and octopus, among others.

Fishing is a huge part of the cultural identity in Kino, and in the last several years, the local community has begun to take ownership over the health of their fishing grounds, participating in management decisions for the creation of protected areas and training as scientific divers to monitor commercially important organisms. Millions of dollars have been committed to developing sustainable small-scale fisheries initiatives in the Gulf.

Addressing the trawler bycatch issue, which is presumed to be an underlying cause of stock declines, is necessary to achieve any sort of sustainability for the small-scale fisheries.

Naomi’s advisor, Lorayne Meltzer, suggested a Prescott College student take on the project of researching life history information of the bycatch species collected, as a first step towards quantifying the impact of shrimp trawling on the local, small-scale fisheries. This would build upon five years of data already collected by Prescott College classes describing the composition of the bycatch.

Naomi decided to take on this project, and to explore what it meant to remove such a large amount of biomass, especially juveniles, from the ecosystem. She decided to create a dataContinued on page 4

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base of life history information of the most important species in terms of local commercial value to the small-scale fisheries in Kino Bay. Naomi focused on the overlap between species coming up as bycatch and what ones are of economic importance for local small-scale fishermen. In addition to finding seven species protected by the Mexican endangered species law, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Redlist, or Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), Naomi determined that the bycatch mortality of juvenile sharks and rays, which are particularly sensitive to large-scale extraction, is a direct threat to both fish populations and small-scale fishing communities.

The Mexican fisheries laws are currently being revised, and Naomi’s findings will be included in the recommendations for future management of the trawl shrimp industry in the region.

“In the beginning Lorayne mentioned the possibility of writing a paper to publish or submit for consideration to management decisions, and now the paper is already done” and affecting management decisions, Naomi noted. She had no expectation of that happening before she graduated.

Contributions to this article by Christine Duffy ’09, Mary Lin and Naomi Blinick ’09.

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Student Research & Conservation in Kino Bay

The region around Kino Bay, Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez, boasts rich, diverse and unique desert, marine and island ecosystems, interwoven with a complex cultural landscape.

The Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies, Prescott College’s field station in the region, hosts nearly 100 Prescott College students a year, providing opportunities for hands-on field studies, supporting, conducting and promoting research and conservation in the Midriff Island Region, and facilitating outreach programs in environmental studies for local communities.

The Center’s longstanding relationships with both the rural Mexican fishing village of Bahia de Kino and the indigenous Kunkaak village of Punta Chueca facilitate the inclusion of intercultural perspectives in many of the Center’s classes and activities.

Recently Prescott College students have made truly significant contributions to science and conservation by documenting seabird nesting activity, quantifying the impacts of shrimp trawler bycatch mortality, and creating GIS maps for an island management plan.

Jordan Ford ’11 is working through a “Research Experience for Undergraduates” grant with Dr. Mike Oskin of University of California, Davis, on a project to refine theories regarding the geologic evolution of the Gulf of California. The students in the 2007 Marine Conservation class participated in an historic and successful effort to eradicate rats off of San Pedro Martir Island.

Tom Fleischner and his classes continue to work on shorebird monitoring projects in the estuaries, and Lorayne Meltzer and her classes and Senior Project students continue to quantify the diversity and ecological and economic impacts of bycatch associated with shrimp trawling. In addition, the field station maintains projects to monitor weather, cetacean sightings, seabird nesting populations on Alcatraz, and invertebrate populations in Estero Santa Rosa.

Feeding the World Without Warming the Planet Dr. Tim Crews contributes to major paper designed to spur international policy changes, bring agriculture and the environment into greater balance

by Mary Lin

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he ability to replenish soil, a major contributing factor to the Agricultural Green Revolution of the past 60 or so years, has made it possible to feed billions of people where doing so would have been impossible in centuries past.

But current approaches to nutrient enrichment are incurring environmental costs, including significant contributions to global warming, which should be carefully examined and potentially regulated by policymakers across the globe.

That’s one conclusion of a coalition of scientists including Dr. Tim Crews, head of Prescott College’s Agroecology program, in a paper published this June in the prestigious international journal Science.

“Nutrient Imbalances in Agricultural Development” summarizes research examining nitrogen and phosphorus movement into and out of farms in Sub-Saharan Africa, China and the US. While nutrient inputs are “inadequate to maintain soil fertility in parts of many developing countries, particularly in SubSaharan Africa,” they contribute to “excessive and environmentally damaging surpluses in many developed and rapidly growing economies,” like China and the US, the article asserts, where regional and national policies contribute to these patterns of use, and the environmental consequences.

Harvested crops remove crucial nutrients – nitrogen and phosphorus, in particular – from soils, with fertilizer the major pathway of replenishing these nutrients worldwide. In Africa, nutrient replenishment is inadequate, which leads to a cycle of increased depletion of soils and a situation where 250 million people are chronically malnourished.

In developed nations like China and the US, much of those

nutrients end up in places where they weren’t intended, including waterways, oceans, and in the atmosphere. The authors argue for increased nutrient supplementation in places like Africa and further research into nutrient replenishment strategies in developed nations, paired with closer monitoring of runoffs and environmental consequences, as well as implementation of proven interventions.

Changes in diets of livestock, improved timing and placement of the nutrients in replenishment regimes, and the preservation and restoration of riparian vegetation strips are necessary short term remediations, but authors stress the need for “bolder efforts” to redesign agriculture, citing the use of perennials in cropping systems (a long-term research interest of Dr. Crews).

“More generally, policies supporting nutrient additions should be targeted toward food security objectives early in agricultural development, but those systems should be monitored for changes in soil quality and nutrient losses as well as for yields,” the authors conclude.

“As food security is approached, more attention should be paid to other outputs of agricultural systems – their effects on air and water, on biological diversity, on human health and well-being – and to the ecological and agronomic processes that control them.”

When asked about the ramifications of the publication, Dr. Crews asserts that “this study underscores some challenges we face that are only going to become more severe as the human population continues to grow, and people in rapidly growing economies like China increase their meat consumption.

“There are many short-term improvements that policy makers can encourage and farmers can adopt that will improve the efficiency of fertilizer use. In the long-term, however, I believe we will need to make some very significant changes in how we grow food, and what kinds of diets we expect, if we are going to maintain adequate yields and safeguard ecosystem services of clean water, a stable climate, biodiversity, and sustainable agricultural productivity.”

The full article can be found in the June 19th edition of Science.

In the Best Light PC awards first annual prize for best Orientation photo The Prescott College Department of Marketing and Public Relations is proud to announce the winner of the first annual Orientation Photo Contest. Althea Schelling ’11, Cultural and Regional Studies student with a breadth in Arts and Letters, submitted several beautiful images. In the end we chose a black and white composition featuring a backpack-toting student walking through water. Althea will receive a $50 prize for her efforts. Many thanks to all the students who submitted photos. It was not the easiest decision to choose one winner!

All submissions have a home in our multimedia library for use in future College publications.

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A Stream Runs Through It Stream Ecology students perform original research

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welve students in Dr. Angela Moline’s Stream Ecology class undertook independent research projects on the upper Verde River near Paulden, Ariz., this past spring, making some surprising finds and laying groundwork for further research.

“We were surprised to find lower insect diversity than we expected,” noted Dr. Moline. The class found very few species of mayflies or caddisflies, which may have been due to the limited area sampled.

Mayflies and caddisflies are of special interest to stream ecologists because they are not highly pollution tolerant. An abundance can signify a pristine stream ecosystem.

The group was also surprised to learn that the fish population has been declining rapidly.

A fish survey in 1994 found over 3000 Sonoran suckers and desert suckers. A similar survey in 2004 found just over 100 individuals of these two species. The decline in the fish population on the Verde River has been drastic,” she said. Similar declines are being observed in the Colorado River in Grand Canyon.

Students collected and identified seven species of fish: native Sonoran sucker, desert sucker, gila chub, and the non-native largemouth bass, red shiner, common carp, and green sunfish. Students also encountered non-native bullfrogs and crayfish.

The student scientists conducted stomach analyses of largemouth bass and found that their diet consists primarily of crayfish, which are not native to the western United States and were likely introduced by anglers who used them as bait.

The densities could have been because crayfish shells do not break down during digestion like other prey species (smaller fish and insects).

Heidi Black ’09 examined the relationship between the Shannon-Wiener Diversity of the insect population and stream flow (or stream discharge). Elizabeth Worcester ’09 looked at the change in insect richness at different stream sites along the length of the Verde River. Kyle Eckes ’09 and Ben Hoeschen ’10 focused their research on mayflies (Ephemeroptera) and caddisflies (Trichoptera), respectively.

Other students focused their research on native and exotic fish in the upper Verde River. Zach Summit ’10 and David Sutherland ’10 worked with fisheries biologists John Rinne and Albert Silas from the US Forest Service. The fisheries research indicates that fish populations in the Verde River have declined significantly since 1995 due to low flows and the lack of floods.

Jessica Roth ’10 and Amylee Thornhill ’10 found otter 6

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signs at all four sites sampled. They found that otters eat primarily crayfish in the Verde River.

Carin LeFevre ’09 and Chris Rigby ’10 studied the composition of riparian vegetation at four sites along the Verde River. The students found that the canopy varied widely from site to site, but that velvet ash (Fraxinus velvitina), cottonwood (Populus fremontii), peachleaf willow (Salix amygdaloides), and saltcedar (Tamarix sp) were common.

Jessica Pierson ’10 looked at the combined effects of drought and groundwater pumping on three wetlands in the Verde River watershed. Jessie compared the “greenness” at Del Rio Springs, Williamson Valley Cienega, and Greenwell Slough in 1994 and 2001. She used a Geographical Information Systems database (GIS) to calculate NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) at the three sites. She found that all three sites were slightly less green in 2001 than in 1994.

The stream ecology class sampled the Verde River almost weekly in March and April. The Nature Conservancy was very generous in granting access to the Verde River Springs for the research.

Students had the opportunity to interact with scientists from The Nature Conservancy (Kim Schonek, project manager), the Center for Biological Diversity (Joanne Oellers M.A. ’08, biologist), and the US Forest Service (Dr. John Rinne and Albert Silas, both fisheries biologists). Students visited the Verde River with Ms. Oellers and Ms. Schonek.

Elizabeth Worcester will continue her stream ecology projContinued on page 27

Prescott College Awards First Ph.D.s in Sustainability Education

By Mary Lin

Ph.D. Thesis Presentations The Butterfly Effect: Engaging a Curriculum to Help Heal the Community of All Beings. Dr. Terril Shorb shared research results of his case study of graduates of the Sustainable Community Development (SCD) Program he developed at Prescott College in 1996. The research offers glimpses into how the graduates used the SCD Butterfly Curriculum to help frame their work of sustaining their local communities.

Sustainability: Quality of Life for Artisans Practicing the Fair Trade Business Model. Dr. Linda R. Edwards presented on issues and opportunities for artisans and consumers defined

by Fair Trade practices.

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rescott College graduated its first ever crop of doctoral students and awarded the first-ever in the nation Ph.D.s in Sustainability Education Saturday, June 6, 2009. Graduates include: Dr. Janice Crede of Maple, Wis.; Dr. Henry Ebarb of Prescott, Ariz.; Dr. Jane Nichols of Cullowhee, N.C.; Dr. Terril Shorb of Prescott, Ariz.; Dr. Linda Edwards of Richmond, Va.; and Dr. Chad Thatcher of Grand Junction, Colo.

Each of the graduates presented on their thesis during a threeday Sustainability Education Symposium featuring renowned global thinkers Dr. Chet Bowers, author of, among other books, A Global and Ecological Critique (Complicated Conversation) (2005), and Mr. Jeffrey Ball, Environmental News Editor for the Wall Street Journal. The College also unveiled plans for the Journal of Sustainability Education.

Ph.D. Program Cohort 2 students William Crowell Ph.D. ’11, Jordana DeZeeuw Spencer Ph.D. ’11, and Ming Wei Koh Ph.D. ’11 presented on the Journal, an online, open-access publication which will embody the multiple dimensions of sustainability, and present cutting edge scholarship and initiatives in this everevolving field.

Sustainability Education focuses on preparing educators for no less than the task of educating others on the relationship between humans and the natural environment and developing practical skills for creating a civilization which honors the balance between them. Each student in the Ph.D. program at Prescott College is encouraged to, after rigorous research, define sustainability for him or herself and define how he or she will put it into practice in real-life situations. Graduates of a Ph.D. program in Sustainability Education may incorporate sustainability within another field or work directly as sustainability educators, in private, public, and nonprofit settings. The scope of the topics which students in the program tackle is broad. The following Ph.D. thesis presentations give some examples.

Sustainable Development Guidelines for a Desert Community that Meets the Needs of the Elderly and People with Disabilities. Dr. Jane L. Nichols presented on sustainable urban development and planning for community, using a neighborhood in North Phoenix as a model. Dr. Nichols is Assistant Professor of Interior Design and Gerontology at Western Carolina University, holds masters degrees in Design: Facilities Planning and Interdisciplinary Studies, and Gerontology, from Arizona State University.

Population Control, Immigration Law, and Water Issues.

Dr.Tony (Henry) Ebarb earned his B.A. in 1984 from Prescott College and J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. Has worked as a Judge Pro Tem for three years and a prosecutor for five years. Has lived in Prescott for 37 years and has been rumored (in his words) to be one of Prescott College’s “most prolific donors and fund raisers.”

Nature Immersion: A Model of Sustainability Education.

Dr. Janice Crede’s research focuses on the human-nature connection and finding ways to reconnect people with the natural world. Prompted by her belief that Mother Nature is the supreme educator, she developed a nature immersion model of sustainability education which has proven to be extremely effective. She is currently employed as the Campus Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Sustainable Adventure Travel: A Catalyst for Creating Global Connections and Understanding. Dr. Chad Thatcher is the Director of the Mesa State College Outdoor and International Adventure Programs in Grand Junction, Colo. He holds a master’s degree in Education and has taught adventure, experiential, and international education for the past seven years.

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The Unfolding Story of Nature For soon to be triple alumnus Robert Hunt ’94, M.A. ’00, Ph.D. ’13, it really is about the journey

By Mary Lin

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t wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Prescott College “triple alumnus” Robert Hunt ’94, M.A. ’00, Ph.D. ’13 is a lifelong student – in more ways than one.

“I love watching students grow into each topic, their expectations usually exceeded. I consider every one to be my teacher as well,” he said.

A self-described “braggart for nature,” Robert loves the moment when, “exposed to the workings of natural systems and their species, a student’s eyes and heart are forever opened to the countless, unfolding stories around them. Their view of the universe is immeasurably richer. Even the ordinary is dramatic,” he said.

After earning his bachelor of arts from Prescott College in Environmental Studies and Natural History (emphasis in field ecological studies of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts and Sky Islands), he completed his master’s in ES in Field Natural History in 2000, emphasis on teaching natural sciences at the college level. Now enrolled as a Ph.D. student in Sustainability Education, he’s focusing on Borderlands Conservation.

Robert’s involved with every level of education at Prescott College. Not only does he serve as adjunct faculty for the Resident Degree Program at Prescott College, teaching Natural History and Ecology of the Southwest, Concepts in Ecology, Wetlands Ecology and Management, Ecology of the Mojave Desert, and Explorations in the Sierra Madre, Mexico – he also serves as a mentor in both the Resident and Adult Degree Programs.

He’s mentored students in Monarch Butterfly Conservation, Ecology, Natural History, Naturalist Field Skills, Wetlands Ecology and Management, Corridor Ecology, and Wildlife Conservation.

But that’s not all – he’s also taking on teaching online with Moodle courses, Concepts in Ecology and Ecological Economics. “[Although] I am used to teaching field trip oriented courses,” he notes, he enjoys the challenge of making the translation to the online environment.

“My students still get into the field often, especially if I can design field exercises well enough to translate into the student’s own bioregion. Moodle is just the start. As time goes by more and more electronic delivery systems will be developed for distance learning. The trick is to ‘play’ with the system. Use it to your full advantage, and when you do not comprehend an aspect of it, ask me. I’ll somehow figure it out with you,” he encourages students and mentees.

As member of a Sufi tariqa (Islamic order), Qadiri-Rifai, Robert credits his spiritual endeavors with inspiring his work and life. “My Sufi teacher reminds me constantly that my students are actually MY teachers. Thus, this is my approach to teaching.”

Robert also works as a field biologist for the environmental consulting firm EcoPlan Associates, conducting surveys and habitat assessments for threatened and endangered species throughout the Southwest, as field botanist and ornithologist for the US Forest Service, the US Geological Survey, and the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory. He has extensive experience in plant and animal work in virtually every habitat and geography in Arizona and northern Mexico and has published his research in several different publications.

Move to the Head of the Class Prescott College’s 30 teacher prep programs approved by Board of Education The Arizona State Board of Education in Phoenix approved all of Prescott College’s Teacher Preparation Programs in full at the Board’s April 27 meeting, according to Dr. Deborah Heiberger, who co-led the certification process on behalf of Prescott College.

“I am truly gratified that the years of hard work and attention to state accreditation and approval requirements by 8

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Prescott College faculty and staff resulted in this unanimous validation of our programs,” said Dr. Heiberger, who serves as the College’s Associate Superintendent for Professional Preparation Programs and Core Faculty in the College’s Adult Degree and Graduate Programs.

Prescott College Teacher Prep programs include B.A. and M.A., and Post-Degree Teacher Certification in a range of program areas including: Early Childhood Education; Early Childhood Special Education; Elementary Education; Secondary Education; Special Education in Learning Disability, Mental Retardation, and Serious Emotional Disability; and School Guidance Counseling.

HUB Keeps Local Bike Riders Rolling If you haven’t heard, bikes are cool

By Annabeth McNamara ’09

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t’s a quiet Tuesday afternoon on the Prescott College campus on Grove Avenue in Prescott, but the shed behind the Student Services building is teeming with mechanics.

Although cars surround them, most of these mechanics don’t know anything about engines. Some don’t know the first thing about mechanics.

That’s because they’re at HUB, Helping Understand Bicycles, a bicycle cooperative working out of Prescott College’s Facilities Department, and they’re here to learn how to fix or build their own bikes, themselves. The cooperative differs from a bicycle shop because a person with no prior know-how can walk in, put together their own bicycle using manuals and skill sharing, and walk away from the space with a working knowledge of their new bicycle – and a new bike.

People utilize HUB to patch a flat, learn the anatomy of their bicycle, fix their derailleur, use a wrench they don’t have at home, or fix their brakes. Folks also stop by to figure out why their bicycle makes that funny noise. Others, just to hang out when the weather is nice.

Hanging out is the name of my game. I sit next to the CD player, which creates a lively soundtrack for the waltz of people and bike parts flowing around the space. I count two work-study students, three women, two men, one kid, and a dog, though it’s hard to keep track as people filter in and out. A student, Sam, is taking off his brake levers so he can put his handlebars back on.

“You realize your handlebars are upside down, don’t you?” someone asks.

Sam Brodnax ’12 assures him that he wants them that way. I ask Sam how he feels about HUB. He replies, “I love it! I love that this is a part of my college.” He moved to Prescott this fall,

from Austin, Texas, where the Yellow Bike Project is located, one of a slew of coops that has popped up since Tucson’s Bicycle Inter-Community Art and Salvage (BICAS) got the movement started. (BICAS is what HUB would look like if it died and went to heaven, in a giant warehouse with a recycled bicycle art section.)

Sam was surprised and excited to find a similar space in Prescott. “Why do I appreciate HUB so much? It gives everybody an opportunity to ride a bike because they’re free, free, free!” He loves bicycles simply because they’re fun.

“There’s a lot of different aspects to them. And they don’t need gas, just muscle.” He and another student flex their arms and repeat together, “Muscles!” Once Sam’s handlebars are on straight, he puts the wrench he borrowed back in the toolbox and rolls off.

“Just watch you don’t fly over your handlebars and poke an eye out on those brake levers!” Robin Brodsky ’09 calls after him.

Carin LeFevre ’09 sits down next to me in between helping a woman refurbish a used wheel. Carin’s attitude is a blend of bicycle-love and street-tough. Her curly hair and wiry frame match. Before I can ask her a question, she’s up and helping another student. Mechanic work is a male-dominated (pre)occupation, which leaves many women in the dark about their rides.

With a little encouragement, women and trans-gendered folks have become a presence at HUB, utilizing the weekly women and trans safe-space hours each week.

We compare our bicycle’s sexiness. Just then, a weathered looking couple rolls in and start wrenching on their sole means of transport, hailing Carin and Robin by name. Work shifts are Continued on page 27

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Dameron Drive: An Evolving Oasis The Ecohood founded by Prescott College alumni and students grows deep roots

by Annabeth McNamara ’09 “What’s the word for a rainbow when it isn’t created by rain?”

Dan Quinn ’08 stands in the unframed door, stroking his beard. He has been writing poetry in between the million morning distractions that have him both contentedly busy and slightly overwhelmed.

I shake my head and continue sculpting clay onto the wall in fingerpaint fashion. I’m making a mess. The entire property is a bit of a pigsty, a peaceful chaos.

Though it’s early spring, cob cold-frames, which act as mini greenhouses, are filled to bursting with delicate greens. Corn, grown and harvested last summer, has been milled for cornbread for the weekly potluck. Dan’s hand-crank clothes wringer stands by the gate, past the wood-fired horse trough hot tub, a deluxe treat during frigid midwinter nights.

There are plans to catch rainwater off the roof to feed the chickens in catchments that will pose as mock grain silos. A new chicken fence using wood from a forestry clearing effort and steel from a local, recycled source bends around the enclosure.

Littered amongst the mulch are all sorts of organic matter and chickens busily aerating, fertilizing, de-bugging the soil, and producing floral, deep yellow eggs.

The cottage, a converted workshed, is a marvel of natural building. Natural paints swirl and sparkle with local mica, harvested from nearby Diamond Mountain. Salvaged wood from the beetle-infested forests nearby have been cut and sanded into astonishingly aesthetic countertops, bed frames, and shelves.

What started as a partnership’s permaculture pipedream has morphed into a visionary’s quest for community and urban agriculture, where growing and raising food, natural building, and living sustainably rule. The old mining cabin and workshed has become a community project where people learn, share, and create life.

“We’re changing City code before our community team, including LEED architect and former Arcosanti architect, Jeff Zucker, continues recycling the original house. Then we can build a dome home ...”

Dan’s contagious smile lights up at the thought of his passion: earth building. He plans to replace the run-down house with a Super Adobe Earthbag dome made with soil mined from the property. The yard is gradually being landscaped into berms and swales.

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When Dan opened up the project to the community, workers flooded in. Some are college students, conducting independent studies and using this space as lab and classroom. Others are friends from the neighborhood, volunteering for the space that serves as local library, soup kitchen, meeting space, and retreat.

Two local sustainable farming projects, Prescott Food Revolution, founded by alum Nick Mahmood ’00, and Karma Farm, a collective of Prescott College and Prescott community members, are turning as much yard as possible into garden space.

Some fads seem to spread like cancer or virus: devouring, replicating, and moving on. The Ecohood is more like a ripple, the way a heartbeat travels through water. Immediate neighbors have warmed up to the idea and are allowing their yards to be inhabited by small-scale agriculture livestock and gardens. PC teacher Andy Millison’s ’97, M.A. ’02 property, two blocks down, is its own sort of urban paradise, complete with a miniature rooster and a drainage basin for monsoon waters. Across from Andy’s is Jesse Pursley’s ’00 yurt-bedecked ranch, which has the flavor of Mongolia.

Yet folks involved warn not to romanticize the notion of living and working in community. Projects that bring folks together inevitably lead to miscommunication and struggle. But somehow it’s all working. Writes Dan in a recent newsletter, “Through our efforts, we seem to have crossed some bridge to a place of confidence, skilled work, and working well ... nearly everything we choose, take on, or plan, seems to move forward.” There’s something real and meaningful going on here; folks are growing and learning how to work together.

A former PC student, world-traveler, and poet, Dan renounces credit for what is becoming the talk of the neighborhood. “I couldn’t do it without everyone’s help,” he says. A steady stream of helpers, friends, children, and strangers trickle past the welcome sign painted on the wall. They come to get Continued on page 27

Eating Local Supports Local Farms Farmers Market and Community Supported Agriculture programs serve as marketplace

By Erin Lingo ’08

All of the farmers in the local Farmers Market grow locally on a small scale, on no more than 20 acres. Most use less than five.

Because of this, their livelihood depends on selling directly to the consumer through the Farmers Market and Community Supported Agriculture programs.

Each year, more than three million consumers shop, and more than 30,000 farmers sell, at US farmers markets – a $1 billion nationwide direct-marketing industry. Between 1980 and 2004 the number of farmers markets in the United States more than doubled, from less than 1500 to more than 3700!

These farmers markets play a very important role in strengthening local food systems by providing a market for small farms.

Small family farms not only reconnect a community with the source of its food, but they are also much better for the environment than industrial-scale farms.

Farmers that grow on less than 100 acres are much more like-

ly to farm bio-intensively – that is, to get the most amount of yield possible from their small farms, which, when done properly, enriches the soil, strengthens the fields’ resistance to pests and viruses, and prevents soil erosion. Other sustainable practices frequently implemented include: efficient water use; focus on heirloom, or climate-appropriate produce; fair labor practices; and the rejection of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Each farmers market sets its own rules and guidelines. The Prescott Farmers Market maintains high expectations for its vendors because this is what the community expects. While farmers are not required to be certified organic or use any specific practices, they are required to sell only those produce items that they grew within the state of Arizona.

There is no reselling permitted, so customers of the market can trust that anything they see is grown by the person who is selling it, and that any questions they have can be answered honestly.

The Prescott Farmers Market also provides a Community Booth for “backyard gardeners” who find they cannot eat all they grow.

Any vendors selling prepared food or craft items must use a percentage of locally grown agricultural products in their goods.

Each year, more consumers realize the benefits of eating fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables. The simple practice of buying vegetables from the farmer who grew them can be an incredibly rewarding as the consumer starts to reconnect with the time-honored tradition of knowing from where one’s food comes. You can find out more about the Prescott Farmers Market or how to become a vendor at www.prescottfarmersmarket.org.

Erin Lingo ’08 studied the relationship between the health of societies and the production and consumption of food before being hired on as coordinator of the Prescott Farmers Market and the members-only Community Supported Agriculture Program that meets weekly at the College’s Crossroads Café.

Making “Natural” History Great resources available at Natural History Network Interested in natural history and natural history education? So were the students, faculty, and alumni of Prescott College who helped found, and currently run, the Natural Tom Fleischner History Network.

“As humanity becomes increasingly alienated from the natural world, a self-reinforcing cycle of ignorance has been created.

Fewer people learn about natural history, which in turn creates a generation with even fewer people who can teach natural history,”

Tom Fleishcner explains in his paper “Natural History Renaissance,” co-authored by Stephen C. Trombulak, Journal of Natural History Education, 1:1-4 (2007).

“We call for a change to break this cycle, a change that we hope will be furthered by the creation of the Natural History Network and the Journal of Natural History Education.”

The Network promotes the value of natural history by discussing and disseminating ideas and techniques on its successful practice to educators, scientists, artists, writers, the media, and the public at large.

The Journal of Natural History Education, an online peerreviewed periodical, can be found at www.jnhe.org. Eventually, according to Tom, the Natural History Network will host a full array of resources on its Web site, www.naturalhistorynetwork.org.

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“Every Day Is Earth Day” at Presc

Joanne Oellers M.A. ’08

President Dan Garvey

Pramod Parajuli (R) tries a new

Ellen Abell chats with student volunteers.

Hoy Johnson show off “Hoytees

Face painting brought color to the crowd.

Remedy kept the crowd on their toes.

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cott College

Eleni Dines ’11 with Warrior.

The First Earth Day

bike.

s.”

College Grant writer Marj Sente reflects

Erin Lingo ’08 helps a CSA member.

“The weak are already dying – trees, fish, birds, crops, and people. On April 22, we start to reclaim the environment we have wrecked.”

This was the comment printed on the back of the 1970 Earth Day program. I was a student at the Williamsport Area Community College in Pennsylvania and a member of its Environmental Action Committee. We were responsible for planning a full day of activities for the first Earth Day observance – teach-ins, discussions on environmental issues, and movies including Our Flick, a film about local pollution shot by a member of our committee.

This past April, Prescott College’s 2009 Earth Day activities demonstrated how far the observance has come while reminding me of how little we humans have accomplished. The earth is still dying, and we must continue to reclaim the environment we have wrecked. – Marj Sente

Ben Mancini of EV Solar chats sun power with Gary Nye and Leslie Blum.

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SEED “Greens Up” Campus M embers of Prescott College’s SEED (Sustainability Exploration and Education Development) Committee are seeing the results of their efforts in “green” projects sprouting up across the College.

In January 2007, Prescott College President Dan Garvey was one of the first 100 or so signatories to the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), committing Prescott College to create a timeline for becoming “climate neutral”; reducing college greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. Within the year, Prescott College students had begun a preliminary energy audit and a task force including students, staff, and faculty was formed to begin developing strategies for achieving climate neutrality.

The Prescott College SEED Committee was created in April of 2008 and since then has implemented a number of social, ecological, and economic sustainability initiatives funded by student sustainability fees. Sustainability coordinator, Luisa Walmsley ’08, was hired in July of 2008. SEED encourages Prescott College students, staff and faculty to propose and receive funding for projects that advance sustainability.

footprint reduction including retrofitting buildings, renewable energy, and carbon offsets. A task force of students, staff, and faculty is currently conducting a detailed energy use audit of the campus, creating a climate neutrality policy and developing a Climate Action Plan.

Several of their conclusions were presented to the SEED Committee, which funded $23,500 in carbon reduction projects including recommended building retrofits and replacement of older thermostats with programmable ones. These tasks are scheduled to be completed by September of 2009.

In addition to climate initiatives, Prescott College has invested in many other sustainability projects including environmentally sustainable computer technology, upgrading to blade servers with the support of SEED. These servers “virtualize” the hardware, compressing it into a smaller space and saving up to 40 percent of the energy required to run a conventional server.

The limited residency Adult Degree and Graduate Program has also developed a paperless process for contracts and evaluations with support of SEED (see Saving Seven Trees). Prescott College is home to the nation’s first Ph.D. Program in Sustainability Education, which received startup funding to launch the first online, peer-reviewed Journal of Sustainability Education in the country (June 2010). Prescott College President Dan Garvey will serve as guest editor for the first year. The Ph.D. Program also hosted the First Annual Sustainability Education Symposium on June 3–5, 2009, featuring internationally renowned authors Chet Bowers and Jeffrey Ball. Mr. Bowers has written on a wide range of environmental and sustainability issues and Mr. Ball is the Environmental News Editor for the Wall Street Journal.

Dissertations from graduating students were also presented.

Students also received funding for projects that demonstrate Prescott College’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Resident Degree Program Senior Allison Trowbridge ’09 completed a visual art display demonstrating the importance of protecting Yavapai County’s Verde River (see page 15), which was exhibited in the Prescott and Prescott College Libraries. Adult Degree Program student Carolyn Chilcote ’10 worked with Prescott College’s Ironwood Tree Experience project to teach youth in Tucson about sustainable agricultural systems (see page 15). Resident Degree Program student Catie Armstrong ’11 received funding to build a bicycle enclosure with recycled materials for Prescott College’s Helping Understand Bicycles (HUB), an open-access bike collective (see page 9). The enclosure protects bicycles and bike components.

For more information on SEED, and for updates on SEED projects and SEED-sponsored opportunities, please visit the SEED website at www.prescott.edu/seed.

Where Food Comes From In a course called Achieving Carbon Neutrality at Prescott College, undergraduates continued to work on an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from building energy use, ground transportation, and air travel. They explored solutions to carbon 14

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Carolyn Chilcote ’10 uses SEED funds to introduce urban preteens to sustainable farming Carolyn Chilcote ’10 learned to appreciate her upbringing on

a farm in New Hampshire from a whole new light when she brought a group of urban preteens in Tucson to visit a local organic farm.

The kids were enrolled in the Ironwood Tree Experience’s Get Outside program.

“This is also the first project I have worked on involving kids rather than adults. It was very refreshing,” Carolyn observed.

“They surprised me in several ways: They knew more about sustainable living than you think they would. They’re extremely enthusiastic and creative thinkers. And they’re surprisingly willing to embrace hard physical labor.”

Many of the students showed an interest in returning to the farm and possibly working there as an intern in the future, she said, noting “the expedition provided a much more visceral and meaningful experience of sustainable agriculture than a classroom setting could have.”

Formerly a branch manager for Wells Fargo, Carolyn became interested in environmental studies after participating in an Earthwatch Expedition to Costa Rica where she assisted field sci-

entists in gathering data in support of sustainable coffee farming.

Throughout her time at Prescott College Carolyn has also worked with Suzanne Dhruv, M.A. ’05 of the Ironwood Tree Experience on the coordination of the local farmers market in Tucson, “working with the vendors, farmers and ranchers at the market I learned a great deal about the practical aspects of growing and marketing sustainable foods.

“It seemed like the next natural step to share this information and these experiences with the younger generation.”

A Confluence of Creative Writing and Ecology Allison Trowbridge ’09 serves as a “wellspring” of inspiration to Verde River preservation advocates It was one of those days in Prescott when the wind rushes through town like a dry monsoon, driving the cold into any permeable surface. Allison Trowbridge ’09 was worried that conditions were too cold for the lesson she’d planned.

They had just come from visiting a library exhibit Allison helped create with funds from the College’s sustainability, or SEED, committee, to educate the public about the endangered Verde River. But now the class was exploring Watson Woods,

Saving Seven Trees Paperless processes funded in part by SEED reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saves trees and resources

New software for implementing electronic forms and workflows in the Adult Degree and Graduate programs not only increase the efficiency of the office, but reduce resource use significantly, according to ADGP Dean Paul Burkhardt.

The program is expected to save 600 pounds of paper, or seven trees, per year, and eliminate the need for 400 gallons of gasoline, the release of 5700 gallons of wastewater, and 15,400 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions into the environment.

The software allows for electronic signatures and tracking of documents with automatic reminders to signers to act, creating PDF versions of all forms available to any signer along the path.

“The final document is cosmetically similar to our current forms,” Paul explained, making for seamless implementation for current students.

“This project will provide immediate improvement in the student, mentor/advisor, faculty, and staff experience. ADGP staff and faculty will be able to provide more student-centered advisement and support rather than troubleshooting and tracking documents, thereby improving the service provided to students and increasing staff job satisfaction.”

In addition to the social sustainability benefits, this solution significantly reduces physical resources required for current processes. In other words, a significant reduction in paper usage, transportation costs, postage, fax and copier toner, and physical storage.

The project was live by May, with the undergraduate Adult Degree Program study contract as the first document converted to the new platform.

The ADGP offices will measure the amount of paper and other supplies used going forward as compared to prior years and implement student, staff, and faculty satisfaction surveys to measure social impacts.

one of the Verde’s tributaries, and Allison had her doubts. These at-risk youth weren’t used to spending long amounts of time in the woods. Usually they’re not allowed.

The group walked beneath a canopy of cottonwoods and Continued on page 16

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Continued from page 15

Allison’s fears ceased as quickly as the wind. The air was still, warm, and smelled of sunshine. They’d be able to understand their place within the bigger picture of the watershed after all.

A reverent quietude settled over the group. Reverent quietude probably isn’t a phrase often used to describe the behavior of these kids, but Allison felt comfortable.

“They’re so appreciative that someone is paying attention to them and treating them as though what they have to say is valuable,” she said. “These young adults deal with intense issues worthy of putting on paper. They dive right into their topics fearlessly. They’re really courageous, and they compliment each other’s writings.”

The students continued walking silently down the greenway trail, observing through all their senses. Allison assigned the observation exercise so the students could learn about themselves by observing what they observe, leading to insights into self.

Moving slowly, ducking under branches, they rounded a bend in the trail that brought them to the edge of Granite Creek.

A shrill scream punctured the silence. A snake, big around and long, was moving across the path.

Uproar ensued. The class couldn’t stop talking, sharing every snake story they knew. They began teasing each other, pointing to sticks and shouting, “Oh my God, snake!” and screaming.

Allison didn’t mind their antics. The snake was just what they needed in order to remember the day.

During their visit to Allison’s exhibit, The Verde River: Green

Heart of Arizona – Endangered Desert Jewel, the students viewed photographs of the Verde, with its lush green banks and dark blue waters, and its wildlife. They read poems by local poets displayed amongst photographs and information.

According to Michelle Harrington, Rivers Conservation Manager at the Center for Biological Diversity, the city of Prescott says they have a mitigation plan that will protect the river from the impacts of pumping the aquifer that feeds the Verde River. The City claims that by moving the well for the pipeline farther up the wash away from the Verde, the River will not be adversely affected. Simple illustrations in the display showed how moving the well would only delay impacts.

“The city has not yet produced a comprehensive, scientifically verifiable mitigation plan for which the citizens have repeated and reasonably asked,” said Harrington. The Verde has attracted the concern of national conservation organizations, including American Rivers, which included the river in its 2006 list of the country’s top 10 endangered rivers.

Creative writing. At-risk youth. Ecological conservation. Allison has succeeded in drawing them together into a potent, cohesive project. She was inspired to work with these kids after a positive experience teaching them in the course “Writers in the Community. Being the sort of person who gets excited over good poetry collections or editing anthologies, she wouldn’t be satisfied simply teaching ecology – she had to add words to the mix.

Allison’s work with the Center for Biological Diversity has given her experience working with an environmental non-profit as well as understanding water policy. She has gained experience in developing materials to effectively communicate with the public on conservation issues. Prescott College’s environmental studies curriculum has prepared her to face a complexity of issues based on the reality that “every group involved has different stakes and interests in the fate of the Verde River.”

Allison grew up in western Washington, spending time outdoors, hiking with her family and gaining an appreciation for wildlife. Living in Arizona, she’s more aware of the complex issues surrounding our precious water resources. As her project nears completion, Allison reflected on her experience: “A lot of people working together toward one purpose can do beautiful things.”

A Conflluence of Creative Writing and Ecology by Annabeth McNamara ’09.

Transitions Wins Again The College’s magazine scoops up Communicator Awards for content and presentation The Summer 2008 and Winter 2008/09 issues of Prescott College’s Transitions each won 2009 Communicator Awards of Distinction from the International Academy of the Visual Arts. With thousands of entries received from across the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals, according to literature from the organization.

Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations, and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio.

Each year about 450 entries are honored with Awards of Distinction in the Print Material category.

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To Complete Our Streets – Or Not?

By Lisa Barnes M.A. ’09

I

magine the following scenarios: it’s a beautiful, sunny day, just the right temperature, no wind – a perfect day to take the bike to work or school. You head off, leaving the car in the garage. The next day, (let’s say it’s Saturday morning) you discover you need a loaf of bread, and a bit of leg stretching wouldn’t hurt either. You enjoy local birds singing and fresh air on a walk to the grocery store.

It would be nice to be able to say that these scenarios are commonplace, but that depends on where you live, especially in the US. The freedom to choose walking or bicycling instead of driving a car exists only in communities that understand the value, and importance, of “complete streets.”

What are complete streets? They are roadways that safely and conveniently accommodate all travelers, regardless of age, ability, and mode of travel. While that may sound logical, the majority of roads built in the US since World War II have been designed first and foremost to move as many cars as fast as possible, giving little or no thought to those who may be traveling via other modes.

This is definitely the case here in Prescott, Ariz. While some of the larger streets are receiving sidewalks and bike lanes in conjunction with reconstruction projects, many other streets have inconsistent, poorly maintained, or non-existent facilities for walking and bicycling.

Local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization Prescott Alternative Transportation (PAT) hosted a Complete Streets Town Hall this past March. The intent was to encourage real conversation about transportation planning and how a complete streets policy, which would require all streets to be built for all travelers, might impact this town. A panel of experts representing various perspectives discussed a variety of issues and answered audience questions.

Those in favor of complete streets commented on how having safe and convenient accommodations for bicycling and walking encourages more people to choose these modes of travel more often. It is not uncommon for some elected officials to flip this around and say that there are not enough pedestrians and bicyclists in town to justify building facilities for them.

Other pro-complete streets arguments address the fact that communities that plan primarily for travel by automobile will end up with degraded air and water quality, an unhealthy citizenry, congested and unsafe streets, and a segment of the population that is essentially discriminated against – those who do not drive a car, whether by necessity or by choice (some data shows

up to 30 percent of the population in some communities).

The most common concern coming from those who are not entirely convinced about the value of complete streets is how to pay for them, a constant concern for municipalities, regardless of how the street looks or what modes of travel it accommodates.

But adopting a complete streets policy does not cost money; it simply helps define the values a community holds, including whether all citizens deserve the right to choose how to move themselves around.

There are also some who feel that bicyclists don’t pay into the funds that pay for streets, as most street construction money comes from gas taxes. This indicates a flaw in how the funding streams have been developed, not an excuse for not accommodating all citizens.

Besides, don’t we all pay some taxes that end up supporting things we don’t agree with? That is the nature of our system of government. In Prescott, as in many other communities, there is currently a sales tax that helps to pay for street projects. If some of those funds don’t also pay for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, isn’t that simply unfair?

Prescott Alternative Transportation staff and volunteers are currently finalizing a report of the Town Hall’s proceedings. It reflects the presentations made by the panelists as well as captures the comments and questions raised by audience members.

It also provides additional insight and commentary that wasn’t addressed at the Town Hall due to time constraints. In the end, it is the conclusion of PAT that a complete streets policy is still worthy of pursuing for the City, or, preferably, for the tri-city central Yavapai County region. The environmental, public health, social equity, and quality of life benefits outweigh funding concerns.

Lisa Barnes, M.A. ’09 earned her degree through a fellowship with Prescott Alternative Transportation, where she serves as Executive Director. PAT works towards a bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly central Yavapai community. Lisa can be contacted at lisa@prescottbikeped.org.

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Nurturing Counterculture

By Annabeth McNamara ’09

“I don’t go in there. I’m afraid to,” my friend responds when I tell her I’m on my way to the Catalyst Infoshop. “What goes on there, anyways?” she asked.

I walk down to the McCormick Arts District to find someone who might know.

I turn onto McCormick and stop at the first building on the right, painted a cheerful red, walk past the outdoor stage and under a sign that reads “100% Volunteer-Powered.” I nod a greeting to a man in the shade by the door; walk into the dim space crammed with books and other merchandise. Even the floor is covered with varnished book pages. I walk into the next room, full of people waiting for vegetables to finish baking.

I sit down beside Yorke, a man in his mid 20s with a soft grin who’s been volunteering and living at the Catalyst for the past two semesters.

When asked what an infoshop is, Yorke hands me a zine, or do-it-yourself magazine on infoshops. In an article, Chuck Munson explains, “There are infoshops in just about every big city in North America. Infoshops have been described as ‘a cross between a radical bookstore and a movement archive.’ Infoshops have been around for years and are generally thought to have originated in Europe, especially Germany where there were over 60 at one time. They were nurtured by the squatting, autonomist, punk, and anarchist movements. European, especially German infoshops,” the article continues, “function as community centers, and maildrops for groups outlawed by the state.”

“For me, it’s all about disseminating hard-to-find information, especially on anarchy,” Yorke adds. “But the Catalyst’s not necessarily an anarchist-run space.” Food Not Bombs, Really Really Free Market, Metaphysical Discussion Group, and Black Mesa Indigenous Support also use the space, among others.

“As we’re a community space, we’re open to anyone who wants to use the space,” Yorke said. There are also frequent music performances. Anyone can incorporate service learning, community service, or Independent Studies into volunteering.

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“Living in Prescott, I saw how essential it is to have a radical community space in such a conservative town,” Yorke said. “I view the Catalyst as a hub for radical groups to have a center. Having a central location can create a more cohesive local movement for social and ecological justice.” Our conversation was then cut short.

Three o’clock p.m.: must head to the square for Food Not Bombs.

Everyone takes off on foot or bicycle, while Rayanne Phillips ’10 stays to watch the shop. A tall woman with cropped hair and dusty Carhartt overalls, she carries herself with an air of respect and power.

Her interest in radical literature began, she explains, when she became “allergic to fiction” and started volunteering at Left Bank Books, an anarchist bookstore. “The more I learned, it was like a rabbit hole, crazier than cyberspace,” she shared. “Because I’m accountable and a part of this oppressive system, the first step is to understand it, to know it.”

She describes how most activism for justice is being organized by individuals and groups of folks with little or no income who come at oppression from a first-hand perspective. Phillips purses her lips and looks off into space before continuing. “A lot of people come to the Catalyst for services, when the space is actually about resources and alternative information. The space is whatever people make it to be,” she said, “As long as it’s through consensus.”

In the spring of 2008, the previous “anchor” volunteers, the people who had been mostly responsible for the Catalyst, left for other projects. New volunteers stepped in at a crucial moment, and had to decide whether they wanted more books or more people. They chose people. “What’s happened is a lot more community involvement,” said Phillips.

“These days you see a lot of mentoring: elder to youth, youth to elder, volunteer to volunteer, peer to peer. With Infoshops, it’s all about finding first-source knowledge, while deconstructing the media, in order to create a framework for self-determination,” said Phillips.

At present, the Catalyst focuses on creating seeds for smallscale examples of post-capitalist structure. It still needs to pay the rent, though. Infoshops sell books, zines, and t-shirts, to support the community which wants literature normally excluded from mainstream libraries and bookstores, and to pay the bills.

We hear someone walk in the front door. “Hello!” Phillips calls out, hopping up. “We’re just doing an interview in here.” I hear what sounds like a mother and child introduce themselves.

“We have kids books in the corner. Here’s the book of really big trains. Or here, wait–” I hear Phillips walk out the front door to the free box, a sort of donation thrift store. “Here’s one of my favorite books, and it was in the free box! It’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

The child exclaims in delight. I peer around the corner. A mother, father, and son stand in the light from the window as the child admires his new book from the seat of his plastic car stroller.

“Normally we don’t allow cars in here,” Phillips chided.

“He’s a very good driver,” his mom said, grinning. As she turns to go, she said, “We just love your little store.”

Art as Ecology Prints and paintings by Raina Gentry ’96 explore places where the psyche and the natural world meet

R

ough and cool, sharp and round, veined with mauve and gold. Leaves and botanical fragments, coiling and merging with the limbs of pensive females.

On viewing the textures and colors weaving through Raina Gentry’s ’96 sensual artworks, it’s no surprise to learn that she earned a degree in Environmental Philosophy from Prescott College, where she also taught Rock Climbing from 1996 to 2000. One feels the years of close observation of the natural world – and of the places where the human mind and heart meet in nature.

Born and raised in Southern California, Raina moved to Arizona to attend Prescott College, staying on as an outdoor guide for several adventure companies in the state and to teach rock climbing courses.

Raina’s “organic” approach to art making, incorporating printmaking, life drawing, collage, and painting, is “heavily influenced by [her] education at Prescott College.

“Each canvas is a playground for the psyche,” she says, “evolving naturally and intuitively without structure or expectation about the final outcome, with the meaning of the works revealed often many years later.”

Complex layering of media and symbology with a focus on the human form taps into and expresses universal themes “that many people can identify with,” she said.

Raina uses digital media to recycle images from one artwork to another the way elements are recycled in an ecosystem, and the way we recycle aspects of our own psyches. Artistic influences evident in her work include Frida Kahlo, Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Gaugin, and contemporaries Barbara Rogers, Deborah Donelson, Dae Rebeck, Joe Sorren, Kim Goldfarb, and Gwyneth Scally, to name a few.

Her artwork can be found in Arizona at the Jerome Artist

Cooperative Gallery in Jerome, at Bohemia In the Lost Barrio in Tucson, the Page Springs Cellars Wine Tasting Room in Cornville, the Arizona Handmade Gallery in Flagstaff, and Arts Prescott artist’s cooperative on Whiskey Row in Prescott, Ariz.

Contact Raina at monsoon.raina@gmail.com or visit www.raintree-studios.com.

Natural Leaders Bloom in Tucson Two Ironwood Tree Experience teens chosen for National Conference This past May Ironwood Tree Experience (ITE) participants Matt Clark, 16, and Wulf Steklis, 15, were accepted into the Natural Leaders Summit hosted by the national Children and Nature Network. The teens caught the judges’ eye with a creative video emphasizing the importance of connecting youth with nature and a resume highlighting their experiences and skills. Applications poured in from across the country and only 30 youth were accepted.

“Having two teens accepted from the same area and program is amazing,” said Suzanne Dhruv M.A. ’05, Co-Director of the Ironwood Tree Experience, a project of Prescott College’s Center for Children and Nature in Tucson. “Both Matt and Wulf have demonstrated great leadership skills and interest in exploring and learning about our community through experiences in nature.”

Matt Clark completed the ITE Get Experience and Expeditionary Experience and is currently in the ITE

Mentorship Ecoprogram. Wulf Steklis has been with ITE since the first Ecoprogram in partnership with Pima County (the Jr. Naturalist program), continued with Get Outside, Get Experience, Expeditionary Experience, and is currently in the Mentorship Ecoprogram.

Both students received an all expense paid trip to the Headlands Institute in the Bay Area, June 5–7, to work with young people from around the country, ages 15 through 29, in creating a vision and action plan or expanding the Natural Leaders Network.

“This will be a milestone event in the movement to reconnect all children with nature,” Suzanne said. “They will do a fine job representing Tucson, Prescott College, Ironwood Tree Experience, and Center for Children and Nature.”

For more information about ITE, visit www.ironwoodtreeexperience.org.

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Sacred Peace Walk

Prescott students get behind the scenes and on the ground with decades-old activist movement

I

n the bright dry desert, they walked. Bearing bright and ragged banners, they walked. Protesters, students, mothers and fathers, scientists and educators, joined in the vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

This past April, 10, 2009, Prescott College students, faculty member, and two local peace activists joined the annual nonviolent protest in an annual trek across the Nevada desert to the nation’s primary nuclear test site.

According the website of the parent organization, The Nevada Desert Experience, since the 50s individuals have mounted protests against nuclear warfare in the Nevada desert, initially challenging testing which impacts the Western Shoshone Nation’s homelands. By the 1980s the walks had become an annual affair focused around international spring holidays. The Sacred Peace Walk reflects the mission to stop nuclear weapons testing through a campaign of prayer, education, dialogue, and nonviolent direct action.

As with previous walks, participants adhered to a strict code of nonviolence in which they strive to be respectful in their interactions with police, military personnel, and site workers.

“This experience was powerful on so many levels, and even life-changing in many ways,” said Prescott College Peace Studies faculty Randall Amster, who participated with students from the new Ecology of War & Peace class. “The integration of cultural and ecological issues, interfaith practices, and nonviolent activism represents the essence of creating a more just and peaceful world, and reflects the values of Prescott College.”

Austen Lorenz ’10, competence Environmental Studies, observed that “the most powerful part of the Sacred Peace Walk was seeing how beautifully different religions and cultures came together to compliment one another, and how sharing a single vision can bring a wide range of people together.”

Lema Mikkelsen ’10 noted, “the peace walk was so inspiring and fun – I’m already thinking about the next one!”

The walkers embarked from Las Vegas after a short service at the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue on Martin Luther King Boulevard. They arrived at the Mercury entrance to the Nevada 20

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Test Site on April 12, 2009, for a sunrise ceremony led by Western Shoshone National Council Member Johnnie Bobb and an Easter Mass led by Father Louis Vitale.

They were joined by other peacemakers for a vigil at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nev., bringing attention to the mission of unmanned aerial systems that have been deployed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The two-day vigil at Creech Base included a “stations of the cross” ceremony on Good Friday, as well as an action of civil disobedience the day before in which 14 peace activists were arrested when they entered the base with pizza and water in an attempt to hold a dialogue with the military personnel stationed there.

Among those arrested were Fr. Vitale (Nevada Desert Experience, Pace e Bene), Kathy Kelly (Voices for Creative Nonviolence), members of Catholic Workers houses in New Mexico and Iowa, and local peace activist Dennis DuVall (Prescott Peace Action). All were released on their own recognizance after spending the night in jail with Las Vegas court dates set for early June.

Following the mass arrests at Creech Base, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviewed Father Vitale, noting that this was the first protest action specifically targeting the drones on US soil. To date, US drones (nicknamed the “Predator” and the “Reaper”) operated from Creech Air Base have been blamed for 700 civilian deaths and the creation of over 500,000 refugees in Pakistan alone, according to recent estimates.

The walk continued through the Nevada desert and culminated at a Peace Camp on traditional Shoshone lands near the entrance to the Mercury test site, known as “the most bombed place on Earth.”

At the test site, 9 men and twelve women were arrested for “crossing the line” at the main entrance, while more than 30 others blocked the road in support of the line crossers. Nevada Desert Experience organized an Easter Mass outside the entrance, which was celebrated before the group act of civil disobedience.

Police and protesters conversed before and during the arrests Continued on page 27

Thirty-One Years of Change Vice President of Development Joel Hiller steps down, reflects on three decades of service

Although he won’t be in the little cottage by Butte Creek on a daily basis as he’s been for the past two years, the Prescott College habit and lifestyle isn’t that easy to quit, Joel reports.

He reflects back on his years of service: Besides VP of Development, what other positions have you held at the College?

As the first Dean of the College, I was a slice each of Paul Burkhardt, Steven Corey and Jack Herring combined. We were smaller, but the challenges were exciting. We were candidates for accreditation, creating its own set of problems.

Developing academic programs, hiring faculty, building and balancing a budget, leasing and occasionally acquiring property as enrollment grew – in 18 years there was never a dull moment.

When President Doug North left in 1992, the Board of Directors decided to experiment with a co-presidency. I was asked to serve as one of the co-presidents on an interim basis and then permanently with another colleague. It was a tumultuous period. When it became obvious the co-president concept wasn’t going to work, my counterpart resigned, and I was asked to serve as interim until a new president came on board.

What are the highlights of your time as Dean?

I was fortunate to hire Anabelle Nelson as first full-time Director of the Adult Degree Program which we collaborated on developing into a full-fledged program. Subsequently, I was able to support her in creating the Center for Indian Bilingual Teacher Education (CIBTE).

I like to think the Kino Bay Center exists in part because of my support. Certainly the efforts of people including Doug Hulmes ’74 and Alan Weisman early on, and Lorayne Meltzer, Ed Boyer and Tad Pfister ’03 are the reason Kino is such a success story.

As Dean of the College, I worked with Ellen Cole, Dean of Master of Arts Progam on program design and implementation – getting it approved internally and then accredited. I

also established The Tucson Center. We didn’t have lots of financial resources during the 80s, but we accomplished a great deal, including regaining our accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission.

I’m certainly pleased with the continued evolution and flourishing of the arts programs and am honored to have played a role in the renovation of the Sam Hill Warehouse – to have been Dean when the first issue of Alligator Juniper was published and now to see performance arts an important part of the curriculum. I facilitated purchasing Sam Hill with the dream from the get-go that it would someday be a dedicated arts facility.

Years before, I held art shows in the lobby and Chapel at 220 Grove Avenue. I felt it essential for students to experience art in whatever way we could. Some of those exhibits included important local and regional artists and in 1986, a 20-year retrospective of fine art photography by alumni and faculty.

Why is this place special to you?

The learning that takes place here is extraordinary. Our graduates do meaningful and important work. We may not graduate celebrities or individuals that create great financial wealth, but their work brings good to the world. We really do support our students in helping them take responsibility for their learning. For many, that’s transformative.

Despite having been deeply challenged by some relationships over the years, the relationships at Prescott College have contributed to making my life as rewarding and satisfying as it’s been.

You left the College for a period. When was your next significant contribution?

I returned to the College as a consultant to fundraise for the Crossroads Center in 2002.

When Ralph Phillips was hired as Development Director we established an excellent rapport. He advocated keeping me on after the Crossroads Center campaign. When Ralph Continued on page 23

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Faculty News Jeanine M. Canty, M.A. ’00, Ph.D. In May 2009, Jeanine gave a presentation at the Denver Green Festival entitled Environmental Justice = Human Justice. It was the first Green Festival in Denver (they have been held in Washington, DC, Seattle, and Chicago) and had over 21,000 attendees. She also presented at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE) doing a workshop: Race, Oppression, and Environmental Justice, in San Diego.

Tim Crews, Ph.D. Dr. Tim Crews, Resident Degree Program faculty member in Environmental Studies and Agroecology, was busy in February giving talks to regional groups on a range of sustainability topics. He spoke to the Yavapai County Chapter of the Arizona Archeological Society on Farming on Sunlight: Agroecological Strategies of Pre-historic Farmers in the Arid Southwest. For the annual meeting of the Diablo Trust and ranching and environmental collaborative group in Flagstaff, he spoke on What are Ecological Services, and Could they Save the Day? As part of an ongoing lecture series on water in the Southwest, Tim presented at Sharlot Hall Museum on Agriculture, Irrigation, and the Six Million Person Camping Trip (in reference to Arizona).

Jeff Fearnside, M.F.A. Jeff Fearnside, managing editor of the Prescott College’s literary journal, Alligator Juniper, and advisor of the student newspaper, The Raven Review, has had several pieces of his creative writing published or accepted for publication this past academic year. Two poems appeared in the online journal Protestpoems.org, while a personal essay appeared in Etude: New Voices in Literary Nonfiction. He has poems forthcoming in If Poetry Journal and The Los Angeles Review as well as short stories forthcoming in Eureka Literary Magazine, Cantaraville, and Arroyo Literary Review. Finally, his fiction chapbook Three Tales of Love, Sex, and Magic was named a finalist in Spire Press’s Special Prose Chapbook Contest.

Delisa Myles, M.F.A. Delisa Myles was involved in the film project Dance Down River, an 18-day river trip down the Grand Canyon with Human Nature Dance Theatre. The 30-minute nature/dance film premiered at Cline Library at NAU in April 2009. The film will be shown at the Sam Hill Gallery Series in Fall 2009. Human Nature Dance Theatre was also awarded the Otto Rene Castillo Award for Political Theatre in summer of 2008. Delisa continues to teach half-year at Prescott 22

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College and freelance in choreographic and teaching projects around the country.

Terril Shorb, M.A., Ph.D. ’09 Terril Shorb’s essay on a personal response to the climate change crisis will appear in an anthology called Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories About Global Warming. The book is a joint effort of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Penguin Classics publishing. Terril, Core Faculty member of the Adult Degree Program, wrote about reducing household water use and setting out more water pans to slake the thirst of wild creatures who live near or pass through the small lot surrounding his home in Prescott.

Priscilla Stuckey, M.A., Ph.D. Dr. Priscilla Stuckey presented a paper April 19, 2009, at Ohio Northern University’s international conference “Recreate, Replace, Restore: Exploring the Intersections between Meanings and Environments,” sponsored by ONU’s Working Group on Religion, Ethics, and Nature. The conference brought together scholars of environmental science, ethics, philosophy, architecture, English, and religious studies from North America and around the globe to reflect together on how humans relate to the rest of nature. Dr. Stuckey’s paper titled “Knowing Earth: Animist Refigurings of Western Epistemology” explored how relating to other nature beings as “persons” challenges Western ways of knowing. Dr. Stuckey is Associate Faculty and former Chair of Humanities in Prescott College’s distance master of arts program.

Harris Sussman, Ph.D. Former faculty member Harris Sussman (Hal Lenke) was given the Outstanding Service Award from the Bay State Council of the Blind, an organization for people who make a difference in the lives of blind people, for helping blind people in Russia. He and his wife Svetlana run the only project in the US that helps blind students and professionals in Russia: the MN Adamov Memorial Fund. http://mnadamovfund.org/.

Vicky Young, ’95, M.Ed., M.Ed., M.A., Ph.D. Vicky Young was notified on April 28, 2009, that she has been selected to serve on the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)/ United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Living Donor Committee. There are eight new appointees to the national OPTN/UNOS Living Donor Committee. The three-year term for appointees starts on July 1, 2009, and the Committee will meet together in Chicago on September 21, 2009.

Vicky donated her kidney on April 28, 2004, to a friend. In

addition, that same year, Vicky’s granddaughter was a recipient of skin transplants on her torso after she was accidentally burned. Through the Donor Network of Arizona (DNAZ), Vicky is a trained community volunteer advocating for people to consider organ and tissue donation. She participates in the local tricity DNAZ group, whose membership consists of donor recipients (e.g., heart, kidney, liver), living donors, those waiting for organ transplantation, and their family members.

The Living Donor Committee considers issues relating to the donation and transplantation of organs from living donors to recipients. The committee makes recommendations to improve the process of living donation and transplantation. The OPTN brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients, living donors, and donor families to develop national organ transplantation policy. The OPTN is managed by the UNOS under contract with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation.

Summer flowers in Prescott College’s Barbara McClintock Garden Change continued from page 21

resigned two years later, I was asked to step in as interim director. People in the office at that time had a total tenure of 12 months. When a national search didn’t find anyone thought to be a good fit, Dan Garvey and Steven Corey asked if I would just do the job, and I reluctantly agreed.

I thought if I could grind away for a while, others that followed might find greater opportunity and success. Only time will tell.

With growing expectations and demands for a muchimproved development effort and a major campaign on the horizon, I believe stepping aside now is in the best interest of the College and for me personally.

What will your role be after your successor is hired?

Once my successor is on board, I’ll return to a role similar to what I did previously, as an independent contractor. I’m better prepared to ensure someone else’s success than lead the charge.

Specifically, I’ll be working as an independent consultant for major gifts and grants. Marj Sente is a highly competent grant writer, and I hope to continue to work closely with her on big projects like campus development and expansion and some special interests of mine like Kino and the arts. I hope to work closely with Marie Smith and maintain relationships with alumni I’ve known for 10, 20, 30 years. I’d love to introduce our new President to our nationwide network of alumni and parents.

I’m honored to have again served the College and look forward to continuing my association with the College. I’m quite confident the best is yet to come.

Interview by Ashley Mains M.A. ’10

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Class Notes Natalie Canfield ’03 Hi all! I have been living in Long Beach, Calif., for the last three years and thought my time here was nearing an end, but the Universe had other plans. I begin a Masters program at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education in the fall. My program is in Higher Education and Organizational Change (HEOC).

The HEOC program “emphasizes a steadfast belief in the transformatory nature of higher education as an institution of social change.

The goals of HEOC are to conduct research and generate scholarship aimed at furthering a critical understanding of higher education and its role in society.” (Quoted from the UCLA website. Check it out!!) http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~heoc/.

Upon graduation, I hope to understand student experience and what motivates graduates to make positive social change.

In the future, I would like to create a consulting business to help other colleges create or enhance programs to inspire their students to do the same! I would love to hear from you!

My email address is nataliecanfield@ucla.edu and I get to keep it forever!

Jeff Carlson ’91 For those of you who haven’t heard, my second novel, Plague War, did not win the Philip K. Dick Award at Norwescon last weekend. In a firstever tie, the PKD went to David Walton’s Terminal Mind and AdamTroy Castro’s Emissaries For The Dead. Nevertheless, I had a fantastic time at the four-day convention, making lots of new friends and contacts, and it really is just an honor to be nominated. The awards ceremony was especially great, classy, and fun. Here’s my cosmic booby prize: Spanish publisher Minotauro has declared La Plaga (Plague Year) a bestseller in their country, which means my American publisher is suddenly in a rush to change my byline to “Jeff Carlson, International Bestselling Author.” Wow! Overall, it’s been an amazing week and a half. Also exciting, charts compiled by one of Spain’s book chains has Antidoto (Plague War) at #1 right now on the very top of the heap ... and that’s in hardcover as a mainstream novel. Fun photos (with more to come) at http://www.jverse.com/blog/index.html.

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Nick Devore ’10 Konichiwa, greetings from Hokkaido, the north island of Japan. I did a month-long ski trip in Japan filming with Sweetgrass Productions. Their film will be coming out this summer. Check it out. I posted some cool photos and a story on my website, please check it out if you’re interested: www.nickdevore.com. Stay tuned for more updates. Be well, and blessings from Japan, home of the kindest people on earth and some of the deepest snow.

Becca Deysach ’99 I am thrilled to announce the grand opening of my very own writing studio! Ibex Studios: Adventures in Creative Writing offers twicemonthly postcard prompts, online workshops, word smithing services, and custom writing adventures to people all over the continent. For folks in the Pacific Northwest we also offer unique in-town and field-based workshops in a safe, sup-

portive, and adventurous atmosphere. As this studio was greatly influenced by my time at Prescott College, it is heavily placebased, and seeks to offer connection to human and ecological communities. Please explore all of our offerings at www.ibexstudios.com. Thank you! Peace and good writing. 971-227-0305.

Scott Douglas ’95 I’m producing a documentary with Greg Miller ’95 and Brian Lilla ’93 – three Prescotteers putting their minds to work and hearts on the line.

Patagonia Rising is a frontier story of water and culture, engineering and power, and the sustainable alternatives that could meet demands of the developing Chilean nation. We’ve been in preproduction for a while and plan a shoot in October through November 2009 in Chile. Needless to say it’s a tough time to raise funds for something like this, but we’re putting our mountaineering tenacity to the test and starting to gain on it, getting more support and expanding our footprint.

To learn more, watch a trailer or make a donation, please visit http://www.motionmedia.org/filmography/patagonia.html.

Andrea Gold ’75 Prescott College alumna Andrea H. Gold, President of Gold Stars Speakers Bureau in Tucson, Ariz., recently released her new e-book for speakers, coauthored with speaker and husband Gary Yamamoto.

The Business of Speaking: Proven Secrets to Becoming a Million Dollar Speaker e-book is 265 pages, just released in January 2009. This powerpacked e-book helps newer speakers or those thinking of speaking to consider and set up the many areas involved in the business of speaking, from positioning, promotion and working with speakers bureaus, to marketing, sales and product creation. You can read sample pages and check it out at: www.goldstars.com/products/008.html.

Andrea Gold also works with many speakers and celebrities.

She recently booked Jeff Salz ’74, another Prescott College alumnus, for speaking engagements in the Bahamas and in Austin, Texas. She met Jeff AFTER Prescott College, in the context of the meetings industry. It’s a small world! Andrea H. Gold, President, Gold Stars Speakers Bureau, 520-742-4384, andrea@goldstars.com, www.goldstars.com.

Otis Kriegel ’94 I have started a website called The K5 (www.TheK5.com) to help parents through the challenges of raising their elementary school age children. The site is made up of short videos that address different topics important to parents such as tips on how to improve reading comprehension, solve math problems, how to prepare for a parent/teacher conference, and easy to make school lunches. The site also has a more traditional blog called The K5 News, and an “ask the expert” service called Ask The K5.

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Kestrel Plump ’07 Both Kestrel Plump and Katherine Nelson ’06 are working at an organization called Urban Tree Connection (http://www.urbantreeconnection.org/). The organization builds gardens on abandoned lots in the projects of Philadelphia and teaches the residents in the neighboring lots how to grow food. Read more on page 18 of Grid magazine’s April issue at: http://gridphilly.com.

Gary Polacca ’96 Gary Polacca received the March 2009 Outstanding Alumnus Award from Northland Pioneer College. Gary attended Northland before earning his bachelor’s degree at Prescott College, and later a master’s at NAU. Northland Pioneer College honors outstanding graduates who have used their degree or training to succeed in the pursuit of a career or educational goal and who support and promote life-long learning. To read more about Gary’s dedication to learning, visit www.npc.edu/node/1178.

Billy Reutter ’06 Billy is the owner of Ecoquest Adventures, a cultural submergence travel program where you can make a difference! breutter@ecoquestadventures.com.

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Tom Robinson ’73 Just returned from fabulous three-week Grand Canyon raft trip with Angela Garner ’72, Dave Meeks ’73, Steve Huemmer ’73, Bruce Sargent ’73, Lauren Sargent ’08, and Will Stillwell, among others. tom.seattle@gmail.com.

Nay Wall (Harzewski) ’00 After graduating from PC and traveling around, working at Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, and living in Jackson Hole, San Diego, and Wilmington, I was accepted into the Physician Assistant master’s program at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore. I graduated in 2006 and married a sweetheart of a man from North Carolina two weeks later. We moved to Santa Cruz, Calif., shortly thereafter, so I could begin work in surgery with an orthopedic spine doctor. We have enjoyed surfing at the point break down the street in our free time. On March 14, 2009, we were excited to welcome our son, Conner Eric Wall into the world.

He is a sweet mellow baby and we’re really having fun being parents. Life is good! We’d be happy to see any other PC folks in the area or passing through. nayvh@yahoo.com.

Stream Ecology continued from page 6

ect research into her Senior Project research, studying the benthic (stream bottom) invertebrate community and along the stream margins. Reduced flows in the Verde River, either through dewatering from groundwater pumping or the extended drought, could alter the insect community. Elizabeth hypothesizes that different insect communities live in the benthos and stream margin. Therefore, a reduction in stream flow could decrease overall insect diversity in the upper Verde River.

“It is interesting that Butte Creek started running during the winter and provided us with an immediate outdoor classroom for our discussion of sediment transport,” Noted Dr. Moline. It also provided a location to conduct a leaf decomposition experiment.

“Then, on the last day of lecture for the stream ecology class Butte Creek dried up.”

Poetry.

Thank you to Angie Moline for contributing to this article.

HUB continued from page 9

frequently populated by people from the homeless shelter down the street. Many rely on bicycles and feet as their sole means of transport. Some are establishing lives after time in prison and could never afford a functioning bicycle otherwise. They’re here for a bicycle so they can get a job that’s too far away to walk.

“These people are just trying to survive,” Robin says, shaking his head. HUB is a compassionate resource that simultaneously builds community as people build bicycles.

HUB is run by work-study students and volunteers who maintain steady hours despite chaotic academic schedules. “It’s just us, five or six students juggling school and the HUB thing,” says Robin. “But getting paid to work at a community bicycle space is pretty rewarding. It opens you up to the greater community.”

Before I go, I ask Robin what’s the best thing about working at HUB. He raises his chin and smiles, arms crossed over his chest.

“It gets me on my bicycle more,” he says. “And it makes me look cool.

“Because, if you haven’t heard, bikes are cool.”

Urban Perm continued from page 10

their hands grubby, fill bellies with fresh veggies, organize a project, or lay in a sun-drenched hammock.

The property is an oasis, an evolution of ideas birthed into reality. If Prescott’s “barrio” is the heart of the city, the Ecohood is its heartbeat. If there is such a thing as a rainbow made without rain, then 727’s soil is the black gold at the bottom of the rainbow. To see is to believe: stop by during the day, or for the potluck, Wednesdays at 6 p.m. Sign up for the newsletter or contact Dan at danquinn@quinncom.net.

Peace Walk continued from page 20

in a cordial and respectful manner, and the line crossers were released promptly, as is the tradition after more than two decades of protests there.

The Prescott community represented the largest group in attendance, and plans are underway for participating in next year’s walk.

“We will keep going back until our nation abandons the ways of war,” said Amster. “We owe that much to ourselves, people around the world, and future generations as well.”

Thanks to Randall Amster for contributing to this article.

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In Memoriam Fern Davye Fern Davye, Lecturer in the Luminosity of Language, made her final exit from the stage of life on April 30, 2009, at Hospice Family Care in Prescott, Ariz. She was born to Ben and Zelia (Strauss) White on May 6, 1951, in Amityville, N.Y. Fern was a friend of the College, lecturing and co-teaching, and has many friends here.

For the past 17 years Fern traveled the country for 250 days a year, electrifying audiences with her carpetbag of 500 exemplars of luminous language – poetry, fiction, essays, theatre – by hundreds of contemporary writers.

“It’s pretty hard to put a period at the end of the fabulous runon sentence that was Fern ... Sentence, punctuation, sound.

Fern was her own unforgettable poem.”

– Former faculty member Alan Weisman

Fern would perform each piece in several languages, “then immediately navigate each one, revisiting the work with the audience ... about its form and content, its architecture, its choreography,” according to the Marymount Santa Barbara website. She

unlocked the richness of literature for audiences, introducing them to works by Octavio Paz, Adrienne Rich, Wislawa Szymborska, LiYoung Lee, Galway Kinnell, Alice Munro, Edwidge Danticat, Yusef Komunyakaa, Lucille Clifton and Arundhati Roy, among others. Her performance/lectures were described as “… an experience with the exultation of a jazz riff, the intimacy of a cello sonata played at midnight, the astonishment of a triptych painting.”

Fern is survived by her brother, Bram White, his wife Barbara and nieces Jenna and Lissa of California; her nephews Keegan and Blake Miller, the sons of her late sister Rissa and their father Warren Miller and his wife, Bronwyn, of Prescott. Also by an adoring circle of friends, mostly in Arizona, affectionately known as The Tribe. All will miss her amazingly buoyant and richly zany spirit, her extremely clever wit and her deep, rich, generous heart.

She always reminded those around her how we are supposed to live: by wringing every last drop out of every moment. We’ll never see the likes of her again – she was that original.

Memorials may be made to the Prescott Public Library, 315 E. Goodwin, Prescott, AZ 86303, or Hospice Family Care, 100 E. Sheldon Street, Suite 100, Prescott, AZ 86301.

Visit Fern’s guestbook and share a memory with the family at http://www.ruffnerwakelin.com/memorials.asp?page=mdetail&id=799.

If you would like to join our Legacy Society and plan to include us in your estate plan, we would like to thank you and answer any questions you have.

Please contact Joel Hiller, vice president for development, at (928) 350-4501 or jhiller@prescott.edu

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The Last Word

Uncommon Education Sam Henrie’s engaging chronicle of the history and philosophy of Prescott College includes many voices in the retelling

By Mary Lin

I

nstitutional memory is a curious thing. Often the individuals most passionate in their loyalty and support for an organization can appear to be talking about entirely different institutions altogether.

Upon reading Uncommon Education, Sam Henrie’s engaging chronicle of Prescott College (Wheatmark 2008), it would seem that, perhaps more than most institutions, the College owes its existence to these oft-conflicting passions and visions of a few charismatic individuals. Charles Parker and James Stuckey come to mind. Sam’s book reveals that it owes equally as much to students, staff, faculty, and alumni who rallied together at moments of genuine crisis, earning it national media attention as a hub for free thinkers in the 60s, as “The College that Wouldn’t Die” during the 70s, and who have helped usher in the era of stability, prosperity, and growth of the last decades.

Well-loved emeritus faculty member Sam Henrie charts Prescott College’s journey from avant-garde college of the 60s to a leader in interdisciplinary, experiential and sustainability education for the 21st century, using the voices of those who led the way.

“I’m writing this by the light of a kerosene lantern, listening to the latest in a series of monsoon season rainstorms pounding on the red tile roof above me.

Having crawled out from under my mosquito net to write this, I am braving moths, mosquitoes, bats, and risking malaria, encephalitis, and possibly vampiric transformation. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather risk it for than you guys.”

Alumni reflect on the skills learned which fueled their own passions – for farming fish in the desert, taking on New York City bureaucracy, and tackling civil rights issues working with undocumented individuals in the fiery Sonoran desert outside Tucson.

Individuality and collective action, testing oneself in nature and in society. One is tempted to scan the text for the essential traits, the combination of qualities and strengths which both define the College and underlie the deep passion which alumni profess for it. Perhaps student Philip Waite said it best: “During times when having a college degree no longer ensures one of also having employment, a lot can be said for a school where survival and adaptability rank high among academic priorities.”

Sam Nyal Henrie, Ph.D., Faculty Emeritus in the College’s Cultural and Regional Studies department taught at Prescott College from 1971 to 1997, when he transferred to emeritus status.

He currently limits his teaching areas to philosophy and religion while he pursues research and writing. Over the course of his tenure, he taught Writing, Music, Art History, Latin-American Studies, Education, and Cognitive Psychology. His extracurricular activities include parenting five children, promoting educational innovation, working with the physically challenged, wilderness activities, singing, composing music, restoring historic homes, and writing both fiction and nonfiction.

– Maggie Quaid ’75 in a 1977 letter to Prescott College alumni

Uncommon Education is more interesting than one imagines a book of this type should be. Earthy and honest accounts of student and faculty adventures in the wilds of the Southwest, Mexico, Honduras, and Manhattan interweave with philosophical treatises from alumni and faculty on adventure education, the sanctity of life, and the factual summaries of the history of some of the College’s landmark programs.

These include the Center for Indian Bilingual Teacher Education, Wilderness Orientation, and Centaur Leadership Services, the College’s equine learning program.

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