OWL&SPADE T H E M A G A Z I N E O F W A R R E N W I L S O N C O L L E G E FALL 2011
Shrine to San Antonio de Padua, a site studied by anthropology professor Ben Feinberg during his sabbatical in Mexico
MAPPING ANCIENT TRAILS CHARISMATIC MICROFAUNA RESTORING NATIVE LANDSCAPES MFA PROGRAM CELEBRATES 35TH ANNIVERSARY
OWL&SPADE T H E M AG A Z I N E O F WA R R E N W I L S O N CO L L E G E
Editor John Bowers
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT FALL 2011
Designer Martha Smith Contributing Writer Ben Anderson Alumni Relations Director Rodney Lytle ’73 Contributors Debra Allbery Richard Blomgren Alice Buhl Mary Craig Melissa Ray Davis ’02 Ally Donlan Ben Feinberg Alex Howard ‘11 Jack Igelman Julie Lehman Rosie McDermott Rachel Rudi ’12 Kathryn Schwille MFA ‘11 Tina Wolfe Copy Editors Jennie Vaughn Jane Weis ALUMNI BOARD 2011-12 President Melissa Thomas Davis ’71 President Elect Mike Nix ‘70 Past President Susannah M. Chewning ‘87 Secretary Lin Orndorf ‘87 Class of 2012 Dennis Thompson ‘77 Donna Kilpatrick ‘88 Christine Toriello Walshe ‘01 DruAnna Williams Overbay ‘61 Tim B. Deuitch ‘83 Samuel E. Ray ‘56 John Wykle ‘61 Class of 2013 Peggy Burke ‘56 Faris A. Ashkar ‘72 Barbara Withers ‘66 Dan Scheuch ‘90 Gretchen Gano Schwartz ‘92 Wade Hawkins ‘07 Cheryl Harper ‘69 Class of 2014 Julianne Delzer ‘94 Mark Demma ‘99 Nancy Allen ‘64 Bo Walker ‘74 Erica Engelsman ‘03 Clipper Holder ‘86 Bill Miller ‘51 Graduating Student Representative Robin Criscuolo DeButts
Five years ago I came to Warren Wilson with much in common with our first-year students: eager to join our dynamic college community and full of hope and possibility for the journey ahead. The beginning of the academic year is always an exciting time, and this year is no different. The promise of what the coming months will bring to students, faculty and staff alike is a feeling I will always cherish each August. While I’m ready to focus on the year ahead, I am also reflecting on the year behind. Warren Wilson had several milestones this past year. For example, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Swannanoa Gathering, which has been welcoming lovers of music and dance to campus since 1991. Our acclaimed MFA Program for Writers also celebrated an anniversary, its 35th. Yet another notable anniversary is on the horizon this spring: the 50th anniversary of Warren Wilson’s official establishment as a four-year institution. The College continues to receive accolades from many sources. Warren Wilson recently was named one of 25 private college “Best Buys” by Fiske Guide to Colleges 2012, the sixth time in eight years it has received this distinction. The College was ranked No. 4 on the list of Sierra magazine’s “Coolest Schools,” having been named to this list each year since its inception in 2007. And Warren Wilson is among 16 colleges on The Princeton Review’s 2012 Green Rating Honor Roll—the only private college in the Southeast on the honor roll as a result of receiving the highest possible green rating of 99. Additionally, 2010-11 was a successful fundraising year for the College, as you will see in the annual report included in this issue. Our endowment remains strong, with steady growth over the past several years. We are proud of our progress, but most of all we are grateful for the involvement of those of you who care deeply about the College and are integral to its success. Warren Wilson is fortunate to be a healthy, vibrant institution with a bright future. Looking ahead, we will turn our attention to raising funds for a new academic building, following the course set by our five-year strategic plan and continuing to stay focused on our unique Triad of academics, work and service. For the past five years, I have been proud to call Warren Wilson home. On behalf of the entire College community, I thank each and every one of you for your continuing support. My best to you in the year ahead,
Sandy Pfeiffer Mission The mission of Warren Wilson College is to provide a distinctive undergraduate and graduate liberal arts education. Our undergraduate education combines academics, work and service in a learning community committed to environmental responsibility, cross-cultural understanding and the common good.
www.warren-wilson.edu/~owlandspade Owl & Spade (ISSN Spring/fall publication: 202-707-4111) is published twice a year (spring, fall) by the staff of Warren Wilson College. Address changes and distribution issues should be sent to alumni@warren-wilson.edu or Rodney Lytle, CPO 6376, PO Box 9000, Asheville, NC 28815. Printed on Rolland Enviro100 Print paper (made with 100% postconsumer waste and processed totally chlorine free). Printed with vegetable oil-base inks. Compared to virgin paper, using this paper saved 81 trees, 29,261 gallons of water, 56 min BTUs of energy (224 days of power for an average American household), 7,049 pounds of emissions, 3,758 of solid waste recycled instead of landfilled!
On the Cover The miraculous shrine to San Antonio de Padua in San Bernardino, Oaxaca, where anthropology professor Ben Feinberg studied an ancient trail system. During the height of foot-based commerce, the shrine attracted thousands of pilgrims.
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FACULTY & STAFF NEWS
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FEATURES
10 RESTORING NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS WITH THE LANDSCAPING CREW MAPPING THE ANCIENT TRAILS OF THE SIERRA MAZATECA COLLABORATING ON CHARISMATIC MICROFAUNA MFA PROGRAM FOR WRITERS CELEBRATES 35TH ANNIVERSARY FRONTIERS YET UNKNOWN: THE HISTORY OF WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
COVER: MAPPING ANCIENT TRAILS
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MFA BOOKSHELF
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WEEKEND@WILSON
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ALUMNI NOTES
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ANNUAL REPORT
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CHARISMATIC MICROFAUNA
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FRONTIERS YET UNKNOWN
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TR IA DNE WS 2011 Commencement “The sun shines on this class.” Warren Wilson College President Sandy Pfeiffer was on target when he spoke those words right after the last of 197 bachelor’s degrees had been conferred on the Class of 2011. And in somewhat of a surprise, his observation was accurate not just figuratively, but literally as well. After a rainy Friday evening and dark clouds early Saturday, the sun began to break through just as the 2011 Commencement ceremony got under way. Over the next couple of hours the College managed to squeeze in another dry Commencement despite a somewhat ominous weather forecast. The Class of 2011 ended up as the second largest in Warren Wilson history, trailing only the total of 201 graduates in 2010. As Pfeiffer noted, the College’s newest graduating class is a “diverse and ambitious group,” with job plans ranging from GIS technician to English teacher and travel plans varying from Cuba to Switzerland. In her commencement address, oceanographer Sylvia Earle observed that the graduates will be going out into a much different world from the one she came from in the 20th century. “I come from a different planet,” she told the graduates, referring to the fact that the world today is vastly altered from that of her formative years. For one thing, she said, the world’s population “has more than tripled in my lifetime.”
“We seem to take the planet for granted,” Earle said, noting that over the past century humans have fully demonstrated they “have the power to modify the nature of nature. We have the capacity to eliminate species and ecosystems.” The good news, she said, is that “for the first time, we can identify that we’ve got a problem. We have the answers; we’re the only ones who can figure it out.”
Sylvia Earle
Because of that reality, Earle is optimistic about the future. “I’m a hope-aholic,” she confessed. “We have a hope for the future, and this is the time; we can do something about it. “We should prize who and what we are. The worst thing would be for nature to let us slip through her fingers.” This year’s highest senior honors went to Hannah Jacobs, Pfaff Cup winner, and Victoria Wiener, Sullivan Award recipient. Top teaching awards went to sustainable forestry professor Dave Ellum (faculty) and rental/renovations supervisor Paul Bobbitt (staff). Chelsea Gandy was chosen by her classmates to deliver the class remarks, which included a quote, a wish and the story of her somewhat harrowing encounter with the Warren Wilson cattle herd. Her recounting of how she talked to the agitated cows prompted Earle to refer to Gandy as the cow whisperer.
Students receive undergraduate research awards Seven students who presented their research at the annual meeting of the N.C. Academy of Science in March have been awarded Derieux Prizes for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. The following students received prizes for original research: Alissa Gore, first place, and Taija Ventrella, second place, chemistry and biochemistry; Amy Wagner, first place, and Octavia Sola, third place, zoology; Jesse 2
Rickard, first place, and Linden Blaisus, second place, environmental science; and Laurel Thwing, second place, botany. Over the years Warren Wilson students have won more N.C. Academy of Science awards for papers on their research than students from any other college or university in the state. A total of 11 Warren Wilson students presented results of their original research at the 2011 meeting.
New academic center Enriched with resources like a sustainably built campus, gifted faculty and staff, and an inspiring natural environment, Warren Wilson prepares students for a life of leadership in the 21st century. In order to continue doing so, the College must create a new academic center to replace Carson Hall. The physical structure will be modern, adaptable and designed to foster collaborative, interdisciplinary learning. It will be a social sciences hub with classrooms, laboratories and offices; in addition, it will provide dedicated space for the top-ranked MFA Program for Writers. As with all new construction on campus, work on the new academic center will follow the College’s green building policy and meet the highest standards. Fundamentally, the new academic center is going to be a bricks and mortar structure, but what it will provide our students goes far beyond that. The state-of-theart, environmentally sensitive center will support and expand our unmatched educational mission of academics, work and service. The benefits to students will be meaningful and numerous. As we look for ways to further advance our mission, we will keep you informed as planning progresses on the center. For more information, contact Richard Blomgren, vice president of advancement, admission and marketing, at 828.771.2050. OWL & SPADE
TR IA DNE WS Lengnick named to the USDA–National Climate Assessment Team In summer 2011, sustainable agriculture professor Laura Lengnick began her sabbatical working as a visiting scientist in the USDA National Program Office – Global Change Research Program. In the course of her work, she will research and recommend practices that are likely to improve the ability of agriculture to successfully manage the increased variability in temperature and rainfall, extreme weather events and novel pests associated with the climate change impacts currently underway in the U.S. “I see my work with USDA as a platform for broadening a new and vitally important area of research and education that is widely recognized as the defining issue of this century—adaptation to climate change,” Lengnick says. Lengnick’s work will also contribute to the development of mitigation and adaptation options for U.S. agriculture to be included in the third National Climate Assessment, scheduled for release in 2013. The NCA is a program of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which
Laura Lengnick
coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The goal of the program is to provide relevant science-based support for effective decision-making by policy makers and technical advisors working on both regional and national scales. On the Web: globalchange.gov
Presidential Search Process An update from Alice Buhl, search committee chair The search to identify candidates to replace retiring Warren Wilson President Sandy Pfeiffer is now well under way. In April the Board of Trustees appointed a search committee; shortly thereafter, the search consultants, Jane Gruenebaum and Jackie Mildner of Isaacson, Miller, visited campus to talk with students, faculty, staff and administrators. The presidential search scope approved by the search committee in June includes a description of the College today, the leadership challenges for the new president and the qualifications and experience expected of candidates. The scope document is available at warren-wilson.edu/president/ search/. Since June, the search consultants have contacted many potential candidates and others who may have suggestions of candidates. At its July meeting the committee was impressed with the strong quality of the initial candidates applying for the position. The committee meets again in September to review candidates who seem most promising. Those individuals will be invited to an off-campus interview with committee members in October. In November the two or three most highly qualified candidates will be invited to campus for interviews with students, faculty, staff and administrators. Until that time, however, the names of all candidates will be kept confidential. The committee expects to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees in December. FALL 2011
MFA graduates receive Stanford fellowships Two MFA Program for Writers graduates have been awarded Wallace Stegner Fellowships at Stanford University for 2011-2013. Helen Hooper, a 2009 graduate in fiction, and Chiyuma Elliott, a 2010 graduate in poetry, are among the 10 writers recently named as recipients of this fellowship. Fellows are regarded as working artists, intent upon practicing and perfecting their craft. Notable past Stegner Fellows include Wendell Berry, Raymond Carver, Philip Levine, Robert Pinsky and Tobias Wolff, as well as numerous Warren Wilson MFA faculty including Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Samantha Chang, Stacey D’Erasmo, Ehud Havazelet, Dana Levin, Eric Puchner and Alan Shapiro.
Loewenstein ’12 named Newman Civic Fellow Social work major Laura Loewenstein, a senior from Rio Rancho, N.M., has been honored by Campus Compact as a Newman Civic Fellow. The Newman Civic Fellows Awards “recognize inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.” Some 135 students from 30 states were honored as civic fellows. Loewenstein is an active member of the campus and local community. For the past two years she has served as a Bonner Leader on the Service Crew, coordinating service trips and supporting the College’s alternative break program. She also has co-facilitated semester workshops that explore social issues through direct service, policy analysis and educational sessions with community experts. 3
TR IA DNE WS Watson siblings honor their parents with endowed scholarship The John and Inez Watson Scholarship was established in 2010 by the seven children of John and Inez Watson: Wilmer, Neva W. Newlin, Reva W. Dietrich, Dale, Lowell, Gary, and Cheryl W. Davenport. Five of the children graduated from Warren Wilson: Wilmer ’51, Neva and Reva ’53, Dale ’56 and Lowell ’63. Cheryl transferred in 1968 after two years at Warren Wilson. Additionally, one granddaughter, Karen W. Marberger, graduated from WWC in 1974; another granddaughter, Elaine D. Thoms, attended for two years before transferring in 1966. The family created the scholarship to honor their parents, who were strong supporters of education. Although they never went to college themselves, John and Inez Watson’s highest priority was that their seven children get a college education. “This scholarship is a wonderful way to memorialize our parents. They dedicated their lives to the success of their children and community,” says Neva. “Education was the biggest component of their plan
for success. The family resources were dedicated to us. The memory of their selfless sacrifice and hard work is very humbling.” The Watson siblings value the education they received while attending Warren Wilson and hope their generous remembrance of their parents will help students who otherwise might not be able to attend the College. “With this scholarship, perhaps we can make a difference in whether a person goes to college. Our parents were interested in educating children for a principled life of meaning,” Neva says. Dale adds, “If they had had the opportunity, I think they would have chosen to go to college.” The John and Inez Watson Scholarship is awarded based on satisfactory academic records and demonstrated financial need. If you would like to honor the memory of a loved one by supporting current and future Warren Wilson students, please contact the advancement office at advancement@ warren-wilson.edu or 828.771.2042.
John and Inez Watson
“With this scholarship, perhaps we can make a difference in whether a person goes to college. Our parents were interested in educating children for a principled life of meaning.” –Neva W. Newlin
Learning from Coal Professors Paula Garrett, Robert Hastings and Jeff Keith are drawn from the three academic divisions within the College— fine arts & humanities, natural sciences and social sciences, respectively. They see different things when they look at a lump of coal. In the spring semester they worked together with students in a course titled “Learning from Coal” to integrate their understandings of this critical natural resource and consider how it can play a role in creating a more sustainable future.
Students interacted with filmmakers, musicians and authors who have deep connections to the Appalachian coalfields. The class visited Coal River Valley, W.Va.— a battleground between green energy advocates and companies that practice mountaintop removal mining. By the end of the course, students synthesized their work through multimedia projects integrating themes from the class and exploring how coal relates to society, economics and the environment.
The class learned that this ancient rock is combustible in multiple ways. Humans burn it, of course, for energy, but the fuel has also been at the heart of explosive labor disputes, hundreds of years of conflict over air quality, and contemporary debates about climate change and mountaintop removal mining.
This course, made possible by a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, has pushed both students and faculty to think across the curriculum in an effort to learn from a resource often taken for granted.
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“Looking back on the interdisciplinary team teaching experience in the class, I am struck by how the opportunity to work collaboratively with instructors from other disciplines has changed my view of both teaching and learning,” Hastings wrote in the course report. “What was really interesting was how flexible the students were in adapting to different knowledge transfer processes.” Students in the course generated content for a course website where you can tour a mountaintop removal site in West Virginia, listen to a set of interviews about coal ash ponds in Arden or read about the College’s old coal crew. You can find it on the Web at learningfromcoal.org.
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TR IA DNE WS Generous gift surprises Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church By Julie Lehman
In the spring, Rev. Steve Runholt, pastor of the Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church (WWPC), received the phone call that pastors only dream of. It was Jay Lee, longtime friend of the College and financial advisor, telling Steve that in their combined estate, Mildred McMican and Mary Katherine Scarbrough had given the church an unrestricted gift of $105,000. “I was stunned,” Rev. Runholt says. “This is the single largest gift the congregation has ever received. I’m not sure I can adequately convey what Mildred and Mary K’s gift means to us. With careful stewardship, it’s an investment that will support the life and ministry of the church for years to come. We are humbled and grateful beyond words.” McMican and Scarbrough each came to Warren Wilson in their middle years after careers in other places. It was a good fit for each, as the College stood for the same qualities—academic achievement, work and service—that both women had exemplified throughout their lives. Mary K, as she liked to be called, was one of six children from a hard-working, music-loving Tennessee family. From her childhood, she showed the traits of responsibility, good judgment and caring for others. As a teacher of Latin and a school guidance counselor in Knoxville, she worked hard, saved her money and helped her younger siblings go to college. Investing time and energy to help others in need was a lifelong pattern. Mary K continued the practice of helping students her entire life, offering not only financial support, but also her personal interest and friendship. After retiring from teaching in Knoxville, Mary K came to Warren Wilson, where she worked in the admission office for many years. Noted for her accuracy, attention to detail and commitment to confidentiality, she was often called upon to serve as the secretary to task forces and administrative committees. She had a particular interest in international students and reached out to FALL 2011
students from many places. She was acclaimed as an excellent cook; an invitation to dinner at her home was prized by students and friends alike. Mary K was active in the WWPC, particularly in the women’s organization. She retained her love for music, singing in the church choir and attending musical events in Asheville. WWPC Music Director Steve Williams writes, “When she could no longer drive at night, Mary K asked if she could continue to participate by coming to the Sunday morning rehearsals. Of course I said yes, because I knew how much she loved singing with the choir. With her background as a Latin teacher, she helped me with English translations for our anthems. It wasn’t easy for her, however, to accept the fact that ‘sung’ Latin and ‘spoken’ Latin were not always pronounced the same. After a quick and subtle glance of disagreement, she would always give in to my directions.” The daughter of a minister, Mildred McMican grew up in Iowa and attended public schools and college there. She graduated from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, where she remained a member of the staff working in the registrar’s office and teaching. When World War II began, she went to Washington, D.C., to work for the U.S. Coast Guard. This was followed by several appointments as a registrar at Oberlin College, Washington University and Inter-American University. She became interested in conditions among minority groups and spent 13 years working for a Presbyterian mission in Mena, Ark., serving the Choctaw Indians. It was after this that McMican came to Warren Wilson, where she served as
registrar until her retirement. She was recognized for her meticulous work and patience and approached her role on campus with a kind, gentle spirit toward colleagues and students. However, McMican was able to take a hard line when necessary. “Miss McMican told me on occasion, ‘I’ve just been a meanie,’” says current registrar Christa Bridgman ’76. “She didn’t like having to be firm but knew it was necessary and in the best interest of the student.” Both McMican and Scarbrough were dedicated to the College, giving their days and many evenings to work on its behalf. “The ladies were so helpful to me. The day of my first add/drop, they both showed up at 4:30 p.m. and stayed with me late into the evening until we had everyone re-settled in their requested classes,” says Bridgman. “They told me, ‘We know what you’re up against, so here we are!’” In their retirement years, McMican and Scarbrough shared a home near the College for a time, then moved to nearby Givens Estates. They were family to each other and considered the church their extended family. They appreciated the support and friendship of members of the College and church communities; the feeling is mutual. The church and College remain grateful for their enduring participation in the life of both. Their generous bequest speaks to their loving, unselfish spirits. 5
TR IA DNE WS A Convocation address you must read On Thursday, August 18, Rachel Rudi, a senior sociology/anthropology major from Vermont, addressed the College at 2011 Convocation with these words.
The term “to study” is from the early 12th century, of the Latin studium, meaning “application,” originally “eagerness.” This, in turn, is from studere, “to be diligent” or “to be pressing forward.” The Proto-Indo European prefix steu- means “to push, stick, knock, beat.”
There are the rocking chairs by the Admissions Office. Sunset at Night Pasture. Stories from our crew bosses’ wild days. Gladfelter coffee. Faculty and staff who learn your name and get to know your story. Banjos. Fresh milk before sunrise. The couches in the library. Little plastic toys glued to rooftops. Flowering trees. Birdsong. Dirty hands. Different languages. Piglets. Wood smoke in winter. The sound of the trains. Work boots.
creeks flow into our river. Being able to say, “Yeah, I’ve read Freud.” Learning that the trains at the bottom of the hill traveling west carry wood chips, and those traveling east carry coal—and learning what that means. Explaining the queer identity to your Midwestern grandparents. Hearing about the hundreds of organic farms in Western North Carolina but learning why so many natives go to Waffle House, not the garden, for breakfast. Knowing that that’s how you spell “hydrofracking,” no matter how red that squiggly little underline is in Microsoft Word. Hearing an 8 a.m. lecture on the Holocaust and knowing your grandfather was somewhere in the middle of it. Having that allknowing, all-powerful professor tell you that your creations—and, by extension, you—are excellent. Learning why and how your heart beats. That moment you catch yourself not saying you’re learning how these things work, but that you know how they work. Academics are as layered and chaotic as you are, and there are infinite ways to study them.
But all of this will be context, not the meat, of your days. These are the things that cushion us during difficulty, that enhance happiness exponentially, the things that comfort. You will celebrate these blessings in various ways—I’m sure you’ve already begun—and they will make life brighter. But what makes it shine in the first place?
A “test” is a vessel used to study precious metals. The original verb form of “test” is the “act of ascertaining the quality of metal by melting it in a pot.” With these origins in mind, “to test” yourself today is to understand what composes your knowledge, how it functions and what inside of it makes it shine.
That first epiphany. That first A. Pouring your heart into an essay and receiving praise. Walking through a forest and being able to identify each thing that grows. Seeing your hometown through a new theory. Learning what your vote counts for. Coming upon a sentence that so perfectly describes something you’ve felt for your entire life but have never been able to articulate—and learning to articulate it on your own. Stumbling through a conversation in French. Determining the month by observing the stars. Learning the history of Swannanoa. Learning which
I’m going to guess that some of you, despite your being here now, aren’t thrilled about pursuing academics. In high school I considered some things to be worth learning but many others unworthy of my time. I had no desire to be an accountant—I still don’t—so what use do I have for economics? I wouldn’t touch the doorknob of a chemistry classroom with a ten-foot pole. I wanted to be a singer, a writer, a photographer, journalist, teacher, activist, politician. Surely, these things weren’t hinged on such dry topics.
We are all lucky to be here. You will find so many simple but significant wonders at this college. So many things to rely on, things to make you whole, things that grace your every day. You know what those are— they’re a part of why you’ve come.
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But I grew up, and the complexity of it all began to unfold before me. The realization of this world’s interconnectedness was like watching metal turn from liquid to filigree. Each droplet on its own is only a hot, gray, free-flowing droplet, but dozens in symbiosis forge strong and intricate art. Songs require words; words require imagery. Imagery suggests information; information, knowledge; knowledge, freedom. Each strand adds to the finished piece; each strand shines. Just like a craftsperson cannot complete their art without attention to every interlocking nuance, an expert cannot comprehend their specialty if isolated from other fields. You are here to study each brilliant strand. If you are here long enough, and if you invest enough energy into this new life of yours, four things will almost certainly happen: You will miss home. You will be so glad that you are here, away from home. You will start to wonder where home is. You will wonder what makes a home, anyway. I once heard a native Cherokee speaker describe his language as a home for truth. Some Cherokee verbs, he said, have over 20,000 possible conjugations. Plants are given names that describe their appearance and use. The word for “meteor” can be translated literally into “fire-panther,” the translation of “policeman” into “he catches them finally and conclusively,” or the name of an area, “the water is all gone from here.” A home for truth is not a house of true things where all inside is white, and everything outside is black. “Truth” means “faithfulness, the quality of being true.” A home for truth is a vessel for the things we learn to be most deserving of our faith and trust. Imagine living in a place where every word was so steeped in its own detail and use, where the very mention of a place or event was a transmission of its history—and how this would require every word to rely on every other word: an artful web of language. How vibrant that community would be. We don’t give our verbs enough care to let them facilitate over 20,000 OWL & SPADE
TR IA DNE WS different intentions. The Cherokee came to understand the truth of their surroundings, and the language they crafted reflects that wisdom. You are here to hone the connotations of your words into more than surface-level definitions. This is college: the process of testing your words and actions. “To push, stick, knock, beat.” When I first read these words in an etymological source, I had to think: How is something so physical at the root of studying? “Eagerness.” “To be pressing forward.” Three years ago today, in my first year at Warren Wilson College, sitting in one of those orange seats, I did not grow eager at the thought of my desk. Homework was never about determination. But staring at this word’s derivation now, the logic falls into place. “To push, stick, knock, beat.” Take the truths you are taught here, the truths you take for granted, the truths you grew up hearing. Roll up your sleeves and push into their sources, question them, knock them around, push them, prod them, dedicate yourself to them, lean into them, let them collapse beneath you and force you to rebuild. See if what you think you know best holds water in a new context. Can a song exist without molecules? Can a tree exist without gravity? Can a grandmother exist without history? Can a word exist without geography? You learn the answers through testing, studying, living. The Cherokee, with their attention to the detail and purpose of their surroundings, knew the things they studied. Their language reflects these certainties, with every word encompassing something’s essence. You are here to study the world and develop a language of your own, one that ascertains the quality of your values, one that can lasso the lessons of life, one that will only refine as you age. That is a thoroughly visceral obligation. Hammer your truths until they are level and strong and worthy of your faith; use them to explore all that is known and unknown; put it to the test of a lifetime. Warren Wilson College is your anvil. Make this place your home for truth.
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Service Day 2011 By Ben Anderson
If spring semester at Warren Wilson has Work Day, then the start of fall semester has its counterpart in Service Day. As with Work Day, several hundred students, faculty and staff come together on Service Day to work on various outdoor projects. A major difference is that the work projects are located in the greater community, rather than on the 1,100-acre campus. Another is that the vast majority of student workers at Service Day are new to the school, thus making the day an introduction to the surrounding community as well as to an aspect of the College that has been central to its mission for half a century. As in 2010, this year’s Service Day focused on hunger and food security issues in Asheville and Buncombe County. Statistics show that one in six Western North Carolina residents seek food assistance each year, an even higher figure than the national average of one in eight. In response to that daunting statistic, the 20 work locations on Service Day included Manna FoodBank and Loving Food Resources, as well as school and community gardens. Morris’ Community Pavilion provided the morning meeting place for the hundreds of Service Day participants. Each of the work sites had its own supply of tools at the ready, as marked by a staked cardboard sign. As recorded music rang out from the pavilion, writing professor Gary Hawkins began walking toward the pavilion from the nearby parking lot and simply said, “Time to go.” Yes, it was indeed time to go for the roughly 350 students, faculty and staff directly involved in Service Day. And the projects they were assigned to work on were as varied at the work sites themselves, from building a fence to protect the garden and chickens at Isaac Dickson Elementary
School to constructing a raised-bed garden at Loving Food Resources Food Bank. A relative latecomer to the long list of sites this year was the nearby Evergreen Community Charter School, where education professor Annie Jonas presided over the work of 16 students in her FirstYear Seminar. As most of the students toiled in the school’s garden under a hot August sun, Evergreen environmental education coordinator Terry Deal also was excited to show a visitor some important work being done inside by other Warren Wilson students. The students were busy organizing a pantry to provide food, clothing and school supplies to less fortunate members of the community. Dean of Service Cathy Kramer summed up what Service Day is intended to achieve for new students as they embark on their academic journeys at Warren Wilson: “For our new students, this day is an opportunity to get to know their new community,” she said, “laying the groundwork for their civic engagement over the next four years.” Based on their work on Service Day 2011, the newest contingent of Warren Wilson students certainly seems headed in the right direction.
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TR IA DNE WS Fiske guide names WWC among 25 “Best Buys” In an era of rapidly rising college costs, the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2012 has named Warren Wilson as one of the nation’s 25 “Best Buys” among private colleges and universities for the sixth time in eight years. According to the 2012 guide, schools “qualify as Best Buys based on the quality of the academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance”—or as the book also puts it, “outstanding academics with relatively modest prices.” With tuition and fees of under $27,000 for the 2011-12 academic year, the College is rated as “inexpensive” in relation to other private colleges and universities in the selective guide. In its narrative, the Fiske guide notes, “Success at Warren Wilson is measured not only by grades, but by community service and a sense of stewardship…. The College promotes global perspectives, puts students to work on the campus farm, and makes service-learning a central part of the educational experience.” In addition to giving the College high marks for its academics, social life and affordability, the Fiske guide gives Warren Wilson the highest possible rating for its overall quality of life for undergraduate students.
Cross and internship program receive Pelican Award Never mind that Warren Wilson is located hundreds of miles from the coast—Stan Cross and the internship program he manages have received a major award from the N.C. Coastal Federation. The program and Cross, education coordinator of the Environmental Leadership Center, have received the federation’s Pelican Award as the Central Coast Education Partner of the Year. The award is given in recognition of “exemplary achievements and actions in protecting and restoring coastal resources” in North Carolina. In highlighting the efforts of Cross in managing the internship program, the federation observes that he “has been a leader in his field at Warren Wilson for 11 years and makes strong personal connections with students and professors alike. Warren Wilson sends interns to the federation each summer, and they just keep getting better. As long as the federation continues to partner with Stan and Warren Wilson, summertime education programs will continue to grow.”
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” The federation is a fantastic organization that has provided our students with meaningful learning experiences year after year that have directly enhanced their academic pursuits—particularly in environmental education and environmental studies.” –Stan Cross
Cross notes that Warren Wilson interns have provided about 400 hours of work each summer, or thousands of hours of “student work and service to improving the environmental health and integrity of the central N.C. coast. The federation is a fantastic organization that has provided our students with meaningful learning experiences year after year that have directly enhanced their academic pursuits—particularly in environmental education and environmental studies.”
Stan Cross
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FACU LT Y &S TA FFN E WS Geography/global studies professor David Abernathy contributed an entry titled “Handheld Devices” in the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Global Studies, edited by Helmut Anheier and Mark Juergensmeyer. Biology professor Paul Bartels coauthored the article “Allometry and Removal of Body Size Effects in the Analysis of Tardigrades” in the Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. Bartels also coauthored “Ramazzottius bellubellus, a New Species of Tardigrada from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park” in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Bartels also presented “Water Bears: The Final Chapter” at the annual Discover Life in America Conference. In April, art professor Dusty Benedict presented a paper, “The Evolution of a Capstone Course at a Small, Rural, Liberal Arts College,” at the Foundations in Art: Theory and Education national conference. Amanda L. Moore ’09 and biology/ environmental studies professor Amy Boyd coauthored “Vascular Flora of the Warren Wilson College Campus” in CASTANEA: Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society. Environmental Leadership Center (ELC) education coordinator Stan Cross is the lead author of the National Wildlife Federation’s report Going Underground On Campus: Tapping the Earth for Clean, Efficient Heating and Cooling. In addition, the North Carolina Coastal Federation honored Cross with the Pelican Award on behalf of the ELC Internship program. The award recognizes the efforts of the ELC staff and students who have spent summers working to help protect and preserve North Carolina’s coastal region.
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Biology professor Jeff Holmes completed the seven-week marine biological laboratory summer course in microbial diversity at Woods Hole, Mass. The course is designed for microbiology scientists who want to isolate, cultivate and initiate research programs with a diverse range of microbes. Holmes was one of 20 students and the only faculty member invited. His tuition was funded in part by grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Moore Foundation. English professor Carol Howard is serving as Black Mountain Center for the Arts board chair and chair of the Graduate Student Essay Prize Committee of the Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Education professor Annie Jonas successfully defended her dissertation and completed her doctorate in educational leadership from Western Carolina University. Her dissertation is titled “Practices of Two Experiential Teachers in Secondary Public Schools in an Era of Accountability.” Music professor Kevin Kehrberg presented “Albert E. Brumley of Powell (Missouri): TwentiethCentury Composer” at the Society for American Music 37th Annual Conference.
Paul J. Magnarella, peace and justice studies professor, delivered a series of lectures on human rights to the Road Scholars program at Montreat College; he wrote a review of Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes by W. A. Schabas for the International Journal of World Peace; and he authored the book Human Rights in Our Time published by Peace & Justice Press. The book, which is designed for college students and general readers, offers an introduction to the development and current status of human rights around the world. Outdoor leadership/environmental studies professor Mallory McDuff is currently editing a book on churches and climate change to be published by New Society Publishers in spring 2012. The contributors include a farmer, a climate scientist, teachers, clergy, activists, academics and directors of non-profits from diverse denominations within the Christian faith. Outdoor leadership professor Ed Raiola authored “Earl C. Kelly: Education for What is Real” in Sourcebook of Experiential Education: Key Thinkers and Their Contributions, published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Creative writing professor Catherine Reid presented two papers, “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell: The Writing Workshop” and “Where Science and Justice Meet: The Necessity of Environmental Writing,” at the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. 9
Restoring native ecosystems with the Landscaping Crew By Tina M. Wolfe
Since the United States Forest Service began the Southern Appalachian Germplasm Project in 1998, Tom LaMuraglia and the Landscaping Crew have been assisting the agency in propagating native plant species. The Arboretum Field, just east of the campus sawmill, was included as one of the project’s original three trial sites. “The Forest Service was trying to find a way to stimulate local production of native plants to use on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in surrounding national forests,” LaMuraglia said. “Our focus on developing a native landscape on campus has continued, as have contracts with the Forest Service.”
“The goals of this plan are to eliminate pollution of mowers and to provide an environment that creates wildlife habitat and improves aesthetic beauty.” –Tom LaMuraglia Background photo: Sorghastrum nutans or Yellow Indian Grass in the Fortune field Inset: Students at 2011 Work Day sowing native plants in the Arboretum Field.
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were selected for specific characteristics including wildlife benefit, rapid growth or nitrogen-fixing capacity, cool and warm season grasses (interest all year), visual quality and restoration suitability.
Assistant landscaping supervisor Renée Fortner inspecting Pityopsis graminifolia plot
The following story, “Warren Wilson’s Native Grasses Project,” was originally published in the June issue of The Laurel of Asheville.
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magine the benefits of not having to mow the lawn. I’m not talking about having someone else do it for you. I’m talking about replacing it altogether with native grasses and wildflowers, or at least consider implementing them into the landscape to minimize the use of non-native species and the labor required to maintain them. Aside from saving time, the benefits of a natural, native landscape—residential and commercial—are convincing. They are native plants and therefore well suited to the soil and environment; they create habitats for insects and wildlife; they eliminate the need to mow (i.e., saving both the environment and money); and they help reestablish the natural ecosystem. But where does one obtain these native species? The Southern Appalachian Mountains make up a distinct eco-region. According to the United States Forest Service (USFS), plants and seed of species native to this bioregion are either unavailable or available only in small quantities commercially. Seeing the need to utilize local seed from plants that have evolved in this particular area over millennia, the USFS launched the Southern Appalachian Germplasm Project in 1998. The project aims to identify, collect, propagate and restore select species into our area forests. The Landscaping Crew at Warren Wilson recently teamed up with the USFS on a project to propagate and grow 11 species of native grasses (five grasses and six forbs) for restoration projects within national forest property. The grasses and forbs (broad-leafed wild herbs found in meadows and fields)
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Grasses such as Indian Grass, Little Bluestem and Deer-tongue Witch Grass along with Wild Indigo, Partridge Pea, Black-eyed Susan and Maryland Golden Aster have been planted as a future seed collection bank on campus and at the USFS Beech Creek Nursery in Murphy. Both parties hope this project will also shed light on the potential for these species as ornamental landscape plants and stimulate commercial propagation by outside growers. The Landscaping Crew has a long history in the use of native plants in the landscape. On campus, the 47-member student crew has been replacing exotic (non-native) plantings with these native plants and flowering forbs for years. Difficult-to-mow hillsides have become beautiful natural habitats for birds, insects, bees and small animals. Landscaping supervisor Tom LaMuraglia oversees the project along with assistant landscaping supervisor Renée Fortner. “The native grasses were here but not utilized in a horticultural environment,” says LaMuraglia. “People are getting away from the golf course mentality, removing turf and putting in meadows.” The crew, including Anna Murray ’10, tediously tended 40,000 tiny plugs in a small greenhouse and the growing has since expanded to larger plots on campus. Seeds are reserved for future propagation and the crew is working on utilizing even more native species. While the environmental advantages of native grasses in commercial and residential landscapes are many, the practical reasons are equally compelling. Grasses such as purple muhly grass, with its feathery plumes of glowing purple-pink inflorescences, mixed with Wild Indigo or other flowering annuals or perennials can create quite a show. “The goals of this plan are to eliminate pollution of mowers and to provide an environment that creates wildlife habitat and improves aesthetic beauty,” says LaMuraglia. Many of these plants are available through local nurseries such as Growing Native, Carolina Native and Meadowbrook Nursery, to name a few.
The green scene Q Sierra magazine ranks the College as No. 4 on their 2011 list of “Coolest Schools”— college and universities recognized for their efforts to stop global warming and to operate sustainably. The College has appeared on the annual list ever since it was launched by Sierra in 2007. The only other school in the Southeast to make the 2011 list is Appalachian State University, at No. 12. “When students take what they’ve learned in the classroom and proceed to get their hands dirty in the real world, they realize the potential they have to make a difference. We’re thrilled to highlight these forward-thinking schools for emphasizing environmental responsibility, and for teaching, inspiring and empowering students to effect real change,” says Sierra editor-in-chief Bob Sipchen.
Q The Princeton Review’s 2012 Green Rating Honor Roll includes Warren Wilson among 16 colleges and universities nationwide. WWC is the only private college in the Southeast on the honor roll, having received the highest possible green rating of 99. According to The Princeton Review, “criteria for the green rating cover three areas: whether the school’s students have a campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable; how well the school is preparing its students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges; and the school’s overall commitment to environmental issues.” 11
Mapping the Ancient Trails of the Sierra Mazateca By Ben Feinberg Photographs by John Dudas In this story, anthropology professor Ben Feinberg chronicles his 2010-2011 sabbatical in Southern Mexico.
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enaro Martínez turned suddenly as we descended through the pine forest below the peak of Cerro Pelón back down towards his village of San Bernardino. “It was on this part of the trail, right around here . . .” he said, pointing with the machete, which had been much-used today to clear our path up the mountain. And then he told a long, elaborate story about another arriero (muleteer) of years past, a humble old man who had encountered a mysterious stranger on the trail who had asked him if he could borrow a small sum of money. Long story short: the arriero was persuaded, and the stranger unexpectedly returned the money many times multiplied with interest, but later that day the extra coins had melted away, since they were magical, like the stranger himself—who was none other than the Lord of the Mountain, the extraordinary Chikon Tokoxo, in disguise. The tale complete, I recorded the coordinates of the spot where this transaction had occurred on a GPS device, and Genaro, Juvenal, John and I resumed our trek. This was just one of the many marvelous stories I heard in January, as I carried out anthropological research about the ancient trail system of the Sierra Mazateca region of Oaxaca, in Southern Mexico. The Sierra Mazateca is relatively remote, far from major cities and centers of commerce and government. For much of its history, this isolation, coupled with the region’s absence of mineral wealth, enabled the Mazatecos to maintain a certain measure of autonomy, along with their language and a distinctive set of cultural practices. Close to 200,000 people live in the Sierra Mazateca, and most of them speak the Mazatec language, a tonal tongue known for the fact that it comes accompanied with a completely parallel “whistle speak” version; anything that can be said can also be whistled. The region’s largest town, Huautla de Jiménez, became internationally famous in the 1950s, when Life magazine published an article about the great shaman and oral poet María Sabina, who, like hundreds of other Mazatec curanderos, used psylocibin mushrooms to cure her patients. In the 1960s, thousands of counter-cultural visitors came to the mountains to consume mushrooms, and María Sabina became a national Mexican icon, the subject of films, rock ballads and even an opera. She died in 1985, but her fame has not lessened, and her image and that of the “little ones who spring forth” appear everywhere in Huautla as symbols of town pride and identity on taxis, in tortilla shops and on murals on the elementary schools. I have written extensively about María Sabina, the Mazatec religion and worldview, and mushroom tourism in a number of books and articles, especially in The Devil’s Book of Culture (University of Texas Press, 2003).
But my experiences living in Huautla and traveling, often by foot, with my Mazatec friends, especially my indefatigable guide and compadre Juvenal Casimiro, led me to explore another aspect of Huauteco identity that is equally important if not quite as exotically glamorous as the mushroom religion. Until the 1950s, there were no roads into the Sierra Mazateca, and the task of hauling the area’s sole export—coffee— to market in Teotitlán, and returning with sacks loaded with goods for local markets, went to hardy arrieros, who led teams of mules and often carried enormous loads themselves for great distances up and down steep and rocky trails. Huautla, in the heart of the Sierra, was a city not of indigenous farmers but of indigenous merchants, famed for their entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity, who integrated the region through their ceaseless trekking, just as the chants of María Sabina, words crawling like the armadillo and soaring like the eagle as they named and gave meaning to every fold of the land, integrated the region on a more spiritual level. Juvenal’s father was an arriero, and every week he hiked from Huautla to Teotitlán and back,13 hours each way. He also made a weekly trek to the remote jungle town of Matzozongo, located 4,000 feet straight down at the bottom of a steep canyon. Ten hours away from Huautla by foot, Matzozongo may not have been very accessible, but its soil supported a rich strain of coffee, and in the ’50s and ’60s, when government policies boosted coffee’s price, its residents had enough of an income to make its weekly market a worthwhile destination for highland merchants. Juvenal brought me to Matzozongo many times, and I was able to witness, in this tropical paradise, how much his father—a lifeline who brought clothes and textiles every week for 30 years—was loved and respected. But while images of María Sabina continue to proliferate, the history of the arrieros and the trails they walked on is being lost as trucks push mules into obsolescence. One evening in 2008, over a glass or two of the local moonshine, Juvenal and I
Feinberg at the summit of Cerro Pelón with guides Juvenal Casimiro Rodríguez and Genaro Martinez
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The history of the arrieros and the trails they walked on is being lost as trucks push mules into obsolescence. Juvenal and I decided to walk the ancient Camino Real, recording the route with a GPS and collecting stories along the way. Our end result would be an interactive map, which not only would serve as a resource for preserving Mazatec history and place names.
Feinberg with Genaro Martinez, Juvenal Casimiro Rodríguez and friends in San Bernardino before continuing to the Cerro Pelón
decided to work together. We would walk the ancient Camino Real, recording the route with a GPS and collecting stories along the way. Our end result would be an interactive map, which not only would serve as a resource for preserving Mazatec history and place names, but could also be used by local communities if they wished to promote alternative development strategies, such as ecotourism. The project would also contribute to anthropological understandings of 20th-century Mexican indigenous communities by demonstrating that, contrary to conventional wisdom, they were not homogeneous villages of small farmers rooted in place, but also included active travelers and entrepreneurs. In 2010 Warren Wilson granted me a sabbatical to pursue this project; in January 2011, my research partner, John Dudas, and I arrived in Huautla to make connections and begin mapping this ancient trail system. Everywhere I went, Huautecos shared their memories of this just-past lifestyle. In his kitchen, Celerino recalled the years of his youth, when he would buy animals in Teotitlán to resell in Huautla. He would leave well before dawn to hike up 3,000 feet to San Bernardino at the edge of a wild 14
pine forest, then 2,000 feet up to Cerro Pelón, the high point of the mountains. At that point, the journey had just begun, as Celerino plodded up and down across numerous steep valleys to get to Huautla. In those days, certain towns were full of highwaymen who preyed on the merchant trains, and arrieros carried ground chiles to cast into bandits’ eyes.
Other men told me about how one windswept pasture, about halfway along the route, was the site of executions. According to the law, village authorities were supposed to present serious offenders, rapists and murderers to the state authorities in Teotitlán. But up until around 1970, they preferred not to. A group of local officials on horseback would force criminals to OWL & SPADE
walk, their hands tied tightly behind their backs, to El Cuartel, where they would be summarily hanged. I have not yet mapped and photographed El Cuartel, but I will on my return journey. During my January trip, my greatest revelations came in San Bernardino. While Huautla was the greatest Mazatec city, San Bernardino, whose residents speak Nahuatl (the Aztec language), was like the greatest Mazatec truck stop, a natural stopping point at the edge of the descent into the outside world. The town had its own arrieros, like Genaro, who as a teenager decades ago hauled 40 liters of pulque (cactus beer) in a hollowed-out goat carcass every Sunday morning to the market at San Jeronimo. But it also lived off of its services to merchants who needed food and shelter. San Bernardino’s shrine, with its miraculous idol of San Antonio del Padua, was a pilgrimage site, and thousands of people visited the site during an annual fiesta in order to receive blessings for their harvests. At San Bernardino, as at other sites, sacred and commercial geographies became intertwined. But when the road came, the engineers decided to bypass San Bernardino, and the merchants stopped coming. Fifty years later, this is an impoverished village in deep decline. Women like Genaro’s wife, Elia,
still can whip up a mean mole sauce and serve visitors like me the rare tempescuintle beans three different ways, but there are no pilgrims or traders. San Bernardino has become a place where, according to the voluble young taxi driver who ferried me back to the highway through the lentil soup afternoon fog, people who leave for new lives in the cities of the north never come back, not even to visit. And since the unpredictable weather of recent years, which the driver attributed to global climate change, has decimated the town’s single cash crop—flowers—youth have even less reason to stay. Juvenal, John and I walked and mapped the eastern ascent of the Camino Real from Teotitlán, through San Bernardino, and then, with Genaro’s help, to Cerro Pelón, on narrow trails that were often lost in tangled vegetation. But at every point we could see the former extent of the trail, when it was a three- to five-meter wide road, upon which armies marched and huge teams of mules and donkeys ferried thousands of kilos of coffee out of some of the nation’s greatest plantations. But now there were no people, only iguanas and spiders. Next year, we shall complete the project, and hope to provide the Mazatecos with a new way of looking at their history and their relationship to the land, in the past, the present, and the future.
The project would also contribute to anthropological understandings of 20th-century Mexican indigenous communities by demonstrating that, contrary to conventional wisdom, they were not homogeneous villages of small farmers rooted in place, but also included active travelers and entrepreneurs.
Feinberg interviews Don Julio Pineda, a Mazatec farmer and businessman, in Pineda’s temascal (steam room) along the trail from Huautla.
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Collaborating on charismatic microfauna By Jack Igelman
Ramazzottius belubellus
Senior biology major Laura Miess’ undergraduate capstone project is to collect and catalog bear species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. To find them, she must climb trees, gather moss and examine the samples under a microscope. Of course, these bears aren’t the noble and furry ones that are the signature of the park. These are the type you’ve probably never heard of; they’re microscopic, otherworldly. She’s looking for tardigrades, minute water-dwelling animals that are affectionately known as water bears. And though they may not be so cute and cuddly, Miess adores them.
Laura Miess ’12 gathers canopy moss to analyze for waterbears.
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er work with tardigrades is the focus of her Natural Science Seminar (NSS)—a requirement for graduation. Beginning in their junior year Miess and fellow students in the sciences identify an area of interest and team up with a faculty member; over the course of their senior year, students develop a hypothesis, conduct research and prepare a report. The NSS concludes with a public presentation. “It’s one of the most successful pieces of the science program,” says Paul Bartels, professor of biology/environmental studies and chair of the natural sciences division at Warren Wilson College. “It’s our best opportunity to demonstrate and teach how science is done.” Miess is collaborating with Bartels, a tardigrade expert, and together they are contributing to the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI)—an ambitious effort to inventory all of the living organisms in the GSMNP. Over the course of a decade, Bartels and his students have identified nearly 80 species of tardigrades in the park. Miess will be the first to collect tardigrades from the forest canopy, and there is a real possibility she could find a new species. Her collaboration with Bartels is a learning experience producing useful science, and it is serving as a model to help accomplish one of the most comprehensive biological inventories ever attempted. Launched in 1998, the ATBI is a joint project of the GSMNP and Discover Life in America (DLIA), a non-profit based at park headquarters dedicated to the ATBI’s management. The objective of the quest is to tally the estimated 100,000 species of
living organisms in the park; experts believe that a better understanding of the abundance and distribution of living things may shed light on various threats to the park, such as invasive species, habitat loss, human impact and pollution. That knowledge can help managers develop more effective stewardship efforts, education programs, and ultimately help preserve and protect the most visited national park in the nation. Thus far, the ATBI has cataloged over 17,000 species—from the mega flora and fauna of the park such as tulip poplars and elk on down to the tiny and obscure such as tardigrades and other microorganisms. Researchers have identified over 7,000 species that were unknown to the park and 910 organisms that are new to science— including 41 spiders, 78 species of algae and 21 new species of tardigrades. Still, that leaves roughly 80,000 species yet to be counted. “ ‘How do you think you are going to do all of this?’ That’s a question I hear pretty often,” admits DLIA executive director Todd Witcher. In fact, he believes that the alliance with Warren Wilson is an example of how to engage scientists, students and volunteers in the herculean task. “It has really answered an unknown about how to do this.” When Bartels heard about the ATBI more than a decade ago, he approached the park and asked how the College could contribute to the project. Trained as a zoologist, Bartels admits he has always been drawn to odd and unusual creatures, not necessarily the
Echiniscus virgincus
warm and fuzzy ones. So water bears—also known as moss piglets—are right up his alley. “Tardigrades get mentioned, but they’re seldom investigated. I just remember thinking as a student that they are such cool animals,” says Bartels. Under a microscope, the tiny, yet virtually indestructible animals eerily resemble a larger mammal shrunk and trapped in a tiny universe. With four pairs of stubby legs and a rounded back, their lumbering locomotion and ability to move their head independent from their bodies makes them look like, well, bears. To Bartel’s surprise, the GSMNP biologist asked his opinion of water bears at their initial meeting. As it turns out, the park had already connected with Diane Nelson, a tardigrade expert at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in Johnson City. While she understood the taxonomy and collection techniques, Nelson and the ATBI needed people to collect the samples. “It was a match made in heaven,” says Bartels, who now considers ETSU’s Nelson a mentor. The two have co-authored several papers together and continue to share knowledge about water bears. Until then, the only research on tardigrades in the park was a single published study that had identified three species. At the time, Nelson reckoned there may be up to 70 species of water bears in the Smokies. “We know all about big species; we pay attention to them.
Macrobiotus egg
Echiniscus viridissimus
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Doryphoribius minimus
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To catch a water bear To discover a new species of tardigrade all you need are samples of their habitat and a microscope. And maybe a sailboat. In June 2011 biology/environmental studies professor Paul Bartels, a tardigrade expert, completed a month-long, water-based sabbatical in the Bahamas to collect tropical marine tardigrade samples. His expedition was aboard the Water Bear, a 25-foot namesake vessel that Bartels restored. “What I love about sailing is that you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. When it’s done right, it’s an exercise in extreme self-sufficiency,” says Bartels, who began sailing in college and is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain. “Plus, the ocean is where I first fell in love with biology.” Joined by his son, Bryan, and wife Margo Flood, for portions of the journey, Bartels is hopeful that the samples collected from subtidal sands and sediment will yield new species and aid in unraveling the mysteries of tardigrades and other obscure animals with similar characteristics. “Marine tardigrades are lessknown than freshwater ones,” he says, explaining that of the 1,000 or so known species of tardigrades, less than 200 are within the marine subgroup. Since the marine species are the ancestral kin of freshwater tardigrades—like the ones Bartels has examined in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—his research will help sort out their evolutionary history and add to the knowledge base of nearshore ecosystems and marine biodiversity.
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Microorganisms are a group we know very little about,” explains Bartels. “It is a wide open field. Every species is another entity to learn about. It’s really been a gold mine for us.” In the last 10 years, 13 WWC students, including Miess, have focused their NSS on tardigrades or other species connected to the ATBI. Miess, from Buffalo, N.Y., was drawn to the College by an eye-catching brochure during her senior year in high school. After sitting in on a class during a campus visit, she was hooked. “I was really surprised by the dedication of the professors,” says Miess, who was also thrilled about the high-level student research. Growing up on 55 acres of woods inspired her to develop an interest in nature. She recalls a seventh-grade science project on insects: “The two-week project turned into an entire year.” So it may be no surprise that she’s come full circle exploring the woods investigating diminutive creatures. Having worked on the Biology Crew, she was familiar with Bartels’ interest in tardigrades. When she approached him about studying water bears for her NSS, he agreed. Miess brought another valuable skill to the table. While working on the Landscaping Crew, she learned to ascend trees using the technical gear of an arborist. Since tardigrades had yet to be studied in the GSMNP’s forest canopy, she was able to put a unique spin on her project by zeroing in on lichen samples in an American beech tree stand in the park. “We don’t really know what’s up there,” she says, adding that there is urgency to her research since beech trees have been impacted by non-native insects and the spread of a destructive fungus. “Since the canopy of the beech trees isn’t very high, I’m not sure if the ecological conditions there will vary much from lower on the tree, but anything’s possible,” Bartels says. Students are not the only ones Bartels has inspired; high school science teachers have also been coached by Bartels to incorporate tardigrades in their lesson plans. From the lens of an educator, water bears may be a symbol of how little we know about the web of life—not only what lives on the planet but what is right in our backyards. “Water bears are so alien to people that they have a big impact,” Bartels says. “They’ve given me a platform to talk about broader biodiversity FALL 2011
issues. The ecological questions have started to pose themselves; the world continues to open up for me and my students.” In 2007 Bartels was recognized as the Outstanding Scientist for Biodiversity Education by Discover Life in America. Bartels believes that as a practicing biologist, he’s more effective in the classroom. Each student’s research has added important information, often including new species, to the ATBI. One student, Ryan Exline, was a co-author on one of Bartels’ papers. “Some of our students are putting in massive amounts of time and doing master’s level research work—their work is remarkable,” Bartels says. “We’ve had phenomenal success and recognition for the NSS. Our students might consider it a rite of passage, but I think most consider it a highlight of their academic career.”
Students and faculty aren’t alone in their appreciation of the NSS; DLIA’s Witcher says, “I consider the work of Paul and his students on the ATBI to be a model—one that we would really like to mimic.” He envisions that other colleges will follow WWC’s lead to help inventory some of the more obscure groups of organisms identified as high priority research targets, like odonata (dragon and damselflies). In addition to the NSS students, over 50 other students have been involved with the ATBI through classroom projects and work crews. Matching a taxonomic expert (who are in very short supply) with experienced field biologists and students may be the ticket to overcome the challenge of collecting and cataloging species in one of the most biodiverse places on earth. “The work of Paul and his students has really kept the ATBI going,” says Witcher. “They’ve really accomplished some great science.”
In the last ten years, 13 students have focused their Natural Science Seminar (NSS) on tardigrades or other species connected to the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 2001 The relationship between vertical moss height and tardigrade diversity by Indika Somaratne 2002 A correlational analysis of community structure in meiofaunal assemblages by Sharon Fabrega 2003 A comparison of adaptations in territorial and aquatic tardigrades by Scott Steinbrueck 2005 The effect of limestone on aquatic tardigrades in the GSMNP by Kristal McKelvey The effect of pH on the survival of the aquatic tardigrade Hypsibius dujardini by Saba Alemayehu Tardigrades of rock lichens in the GSMNP by Suzy Dobbertin
2006 Community comparison of tardigrade populatons from the Anakeesta formation and Thunderhead sandstone by Sheree Ferrell 2008 The effects of offhighway vehicle (OHV) traffic on stream microinvertebrate populations in the Tellico River Watershed by Tommy Otey Morphological and genetic analysis of a tardigrade from the GSMNP by Ronnie Anderson Meiofauna as a pH bioindicator in the GSMNP by Meg Phillips Tardigrade long-term exposure to specific pH values by Stephanie Thompson Extraction of moss-dwelling microturbellarians by Emily Brigham 2009 Stage class life history analysis of the tardigrade Thulinius stephaniae by Annie Dubois
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MFA Program for Writers By Debra Allbery
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n June 29, nearly 200 alumni, students, and past and present faculty of the MFA Program for Writers gathered on campus to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the nation’s first lowresidency MFA program. This summer also marked the program’s 30th anniversary at Warren Wilson, having relocated here from Goddard College in 1981. The gala provided the culmination of the annual alumni conference and a chance to include others in the lively conversations, the deep sense of community and the renewal of commitment to their art. The slogan on T-shirts, tote bags and coffee mugs was an appropriate one: Write Revise Dance Repeat. The morning was devoted to a series of sessions called “Five Questions”: three pairs of veteran faculty and longtime friends interviewed each other in front of the assembled alumni, students and other faculty. Robert Boswell and Tony Hoagland, Stephen Dobyns and Tom Lux, and Heather McHugh and Ellen Bryant Voigt offered wide-ranging discussions on aspects of the writer’s craft while providing illuminating (and often hilarious) anecdotes about the program’s history, the differences between
celebrates
35th anniversary
poets and fiction writers, and the abiding friendships the program fosters and sustains. The afternoon began with concurrent panels: editors and faculty represented in the recently-published A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers Discuss Their Craft and the forthcoming The Ragpicker’s Guide to Poetry discussed their contributions to those volumes and invited questions from the audience. Poet Steve Orlen, a faculty member since 1980 who died last year, was honored in the next hour with colleagues and former students offering tributes to his life and work. Live and silent auctions in Morris’ Community Pavilion followed, with offerings ranging from signed first editions and original art to vacations in Vermont, Vancouver and Paris. Thanks to the generosity of the graduate community as well as those present from the College, Friends of Writers raised almost $10,000 for the program’s scholarship funds. The day concluded with a banquet featuring a slideshow from the program’s history; a brief account of the program’s origins by founder Ellen Bryant Voigt; a
Photo by Alissa Whelan
MFA faculty present program founder Ellen Bryant Voigt with a walking stick adorned with messages and mementos.
“What holds us together, what makes this, is our passion for our art. It’s as simple as that.” –Ellen Bryant Voigt
commemorative poetry reading drawn from archived recordings of Agha Shahid Ali, Tom Andrews, Larry Levis, Steve Orlen and Renate Wood; as well as musical performances by alumni and faculty. In honor of her leadership and vision, Ellen was presented with a walking stick adorned with messages, mementos and gifts from scores of esteemed writers who have taught in the program over its 35-year history. If the celebration documented the rich development of the Warren Wilson MFA over time, it also emphasized the program’s remarkable constants in ambition and achievement: the steady emphasis on the writer’s craft, an unwavering commitment to excellence and the close-knit community it fosters and sustains. “What holds us together, what makes this,” Ellen said to those assembled at the banquet, “is our passion for our art. It’s as simple as that.”
Photo by Alissa Whelan
Back, L-R: Reginald Gibbons, Mary Szybist, Maurice Manning, Mary Leader, Alan Williamson, Sarah Stone, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Marianne Boruch, Karen Brennan, Adria Bernardi, David Haynes, Robin Romm, Kevin McIlvoy, Stephen Dobyns, C. Dale Young, Debra Allbery, Jeremy Gavron, Joan Aleshire, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Alex Parsons, Heather McHugh. Front, L-R: Pete Turchi, Tony Hoagland, Jennifer Grotz.
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OWL & SPADE
Ellen Bryant Voigt on the history of the MFA Program
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n the summer of 1975, a proposal for the first-ever low-residency graduate program in writing was approved by the Goddard College Board of Trustees. The first residency was convened in January 1976, with 17 students and three faculty members. The last Goddard residency was in July 1980. By November, as the college continued to struggle with overwhelming financial debt and potential loss of its accreditation, the entire faculty and MFA Advisory Board had resigned as a body and recommended to the trustees that the program be closed. We were ready to take our place in history, perhaps alongside the equally short-lived and passionate experiment that once was Black Mountain College. Our students, however, refused to let the story end or consider educational
alternatives; self-organized and stubborn, they would wait for us to resurface in a new location. Around that same time, hearing about us from faculty member Louise Glück (who was giving a reading at Warren Wilson), WWC President Reuben Holden said simply, “Why don’t you come here?” Other institutions repeated a similar offer, but Ben’s had no fine print, no riders or codicils, and we also intuited immediately a natural fit with the mission of Warren Wilson. The hiatus was brief: the low-residency MFA Program for Writers already had a design, a reputation for excellence, an experienced faculty and an eager student body of 35. The first residency in Swannanoa was held in July 1981, with the newest Goddard alumni as our honorary guests. What we celebrate collectively every five years is a remarkable community of writers, begun in the Green Mountains of Vermont and
”What we celebrate collectively every five years is a remarkable community of writers...What we honor continuously is the achievement of its individual members, their indelible, distinctive poetry and fiction.” –Ellen Bryant Voigt
reincarnated in the Blue Ridge, at Warren Wilson. What we honor continuously is the achievement of its individual members, their indelible, distinctive poetry and fiction.
MFA program ranked No. 1 nationwide
MFA for Writers class of January 1979 Back row, L-R: Michael Ryan, Donald Hall, Geoffrey Wolff, Raymond Carver, Faye Kicknosway, Marita Garin, Tobias Wolff, Robert Hass, Barbara Greenberg Front row, L-R: Stephen Dobyns, Louise Glück, Linda Nemec Foster, Gloria Still, Heather McHugh, Janet Bloom, Jane Shore, Deborah Tall, Ann Blackmur, Lisel Mueller, (Not pictured: Ellen Bryant Voigt)
Poets & Writers magazine has once again named the MFA Program for Writers as the top-ranked low-residency program in the country. “National recognition is gratifying,” Program Director Debra Allbery said, “but what matters most to us is how well we measure up to our own high standards. The fact that that measure is determined by our community as a whole—students, faculty, Academic Board—is central to our success. Everyone in the program is invested in, and involved in, making it the best it can be.” On the Web: warren-wilson.edu/~mfa
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“Five Questions”
An excerpt from the MFA Anniversary Gala’s The MFA’s 35th Anniversary Gala began with three interviews between veteran faculty, each of whom have taught with the program for at least 20 residencies: Robert Boswell (Boz) and Tony Hoagland, Stephen Dobyns and Tom Lux, and Heather McHugh and Ellen Bryant Voigt. In this excerpt from the first conversation, Tony and Boz discuss how they each came to writing, and about being graduate students together.
Tony: Let’s go back. You were a psychologist,
Tony: Unlike you, I had no profession
you were working in California, you had a house on Malibu, on the beach, and you were making money. Life was sweet, you were helping people—and you gave it all up to go study fiction. Tell us a little about that choice—let’s call it a crisis, to dramatize it, a stanza break. Tell us about that move.
in store. Poetry was simply an obsession. I wasn’t good at it, and I screwed up everything else on a daily basis. But my
Boz: Well, I wasn’t actually a
psychologist—I was a counselor, and it wasn’t Malibu, it was Mission Beach. And I was accidently saving money. I had a girlfriend who was lovely and made a lot of money, and it seemed like the ideal life— but I was miserable. The turning point for me came when I was lying on the beach and reading The Collected Stories of John Cheever, and I read “The Housebreaker of Shady Hill.” It’s a funny story, but I started crying because the end of the story basically says that you don’t have to be a thief (in this case), that you’re on this earth because you choose to be, that you can do what you want with your life, and that you’re not beholden to the bones of your father or anyone else—you can do what you want. I can remember. I paced all weekend. I didn’t sleep. And then I sent away for applications. I decided to go to graduate school, decided to change my life.
relationship with poetry stayed rich. Poetry was always there for me when I went to it, and I actually had an attention span where it was concerned. It was a kind of default progress for me to keep on writing it, to keep on studying it and to try to get better. Boz: When we were in graduate school,
what was clear from the get-go was that you were the model for the serious student—you were passionate—it’ll surprise you all to hear that he was opinionated. And I can remember talking to one of our peers—I had teased you a little in workshop before we really knew each other, and she told me, “I’m surprised you did that. We’re all sort of afraid of Tony.” But I realized it was because you came ready to engage in some serious way. Now it’s 30 years later, we’ve taught at four institutions together, we still teach at a couple of them together, and I feel like you’ve still got that fire. So, is that fire merely the product of deep psychological wounds, or [laughter] can you tell us how you keep that flame burning? Tony: I don’t remember myself as
frightening, though I was, I guess, a little intense. I certainly don’t remember myself as being very talented. I had to work really, really hard at poetry and had to figure things 22
out, because other people in that program were truly talented. I didn’t have anything special except, you know, my wounds, and my weird idea that poetry had the answers. I don’t think I had other systems to fall back on. For you, family has always been terrifically important. You are foolishly, deeply loyal. You have an authentic sense of the region you come from, whereas I have almost no sense of family, I don’t come from a particular region, and when poetry came to me, as a teenager, I was in an impoverished state of disorientation. So, those poets I was reading really became my family: Philip Larkin, Frank O’Hara and Ray Carver—they became my reference points for how to relate to the world, how to bear it, how to process it, how to think, how to feel—all those things. I was like the boy in the bubble; poetry became my oxygen. And in many ways, for me, poetry is still a reliable source of reasons to live and also ways to have fun. I think I’ve kept my fire by teaching a lot—by teaching and remembering for myself, even if my students aren’t listening, why this is a humanly important activity. I have a foolish conviction that poetry is still important to the world, to human nature, and capable of making it deeper and better and more selfknowing. I haven’t found anything better to believe in.
OWL & SPADE
M FA B O O K S H E L F Awards and works by MFA for Writers alumni Dwayne Betts ’10 His memoir, A Question of Freedom, was published by Avery/Penguin and won an NAACP Image Award. Betts’ first poetry collection, Shahid Reads His Own Palm, won the Beatrice Hawley Award and was published by Alice James Books. Mary Bonina ’85 Clear Eye Tea, a poetry collection, has been published by Cervena Barva Press. Julie Bruck ’86 Brick Books will publish her new poetry collection, Monkey Ranch, in the spring. Lewis Buzbee ’82 His most recent novel, The Haunting of Charles Dickens, won the Northern California Book Award and was nominated for an Edgar Award. Shannon Cain ’05 Her story collection, The Necessity of Certain Behaviors, won the $15,000 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and will be published by the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Don Colburn ’92 His poetry chapbook, Because You Might Not Remember, is out from Finishing Line Press.
Susan Kolodny ’93 Mayapple Press has published her poetry book, After the Firestorm.
Kenny L. Cook ’91 A new story collection, Love Songs for the Quarantined, won the Spokane Prize and is being published this fall.
Ethna McKiernan ’04 A third book, Sky Thick With Fireflies, has been published by Salmon Poetry in Ireland. She received a 2011 Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for Literature.
Julia Nunnally Duncan ’84 A new poetry collection, At Dusk, is out from Old Seventy Creek Press. Michelle Gillett ’82 The Ledge Press has published her chapbook, The Green Cottage. Faith S. Holsaert ’82 Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC, edited by Holsaert and five other veterans of the Civil Rights movement, has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award and was featured in a full-day conference at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
Marcia Pelletiere ’93 Miracle with Roasted Hens, a book of poetry, is forthcoming from Spit, Bite Press this spring. Nate Pritts ’00 His fourth full-length poetry collection, Big Bright Sun, was published by BlazeVOX. His third collection, The Wonderfull Yeare, was published by Cooper Dillon. Natalie Serber ’05 Shout Her Lovely Name, a story collection, comes out in the spring from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Arlene Swift Jones ’95 Her memoir, God, Put Out One Of My Eyes, which depicts her life as the wife of a CIA agent in Cyprus, has been published by Antrim House Books.
How did you find out about Warren Wilson College? TWO WAYS YOU CAN HELP US RECRUIT WONDERFUL STUDENTS t Refer a student to us. If you know of a great fit for Warren Wilson College, please give us that student’s contact information and we will follow up. t Sign up as a college fair volunteer in your area. This will only take a few hours of your time. Also, it is fun and easy and helps us out immensely.
New students are our future.
CALL 800.934.3536 or EMAIL ADMIT@WARREN-WILSON.EDU FALL 2011
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Frontiers Yet Unknown At the beginning of the fall semester, I sat down with Richard Blomgren, vice president of advancement, admission and marketing, to ask about his YLJLU[S` JVTWSL[LK ÄST WYVQLJ[ ¸-YVU[PLYZ @L[ <URUV^U! ;OL /PZ[VY` VM Warren Wilson College.” Blomgren, with a rich background in theater, ^VYRLK ^P[O H^HYK ^PUUPUN WYVK\JLYZ 1VOU +PZOLY HUK :[L]LU /LSSLY [V WYVK\JL [OL OPZ[VY` KVJ\TLU[HY` ;OL ÄST L_WSVYLZ [OL *VSSLNL»Z VYPNPUZ as a 19th-century mission school and details its evolution into a four-year ZJOVVS -H`L .YHU[ )PSS 7\SSTHU HUK :[LWOLU *VSSPUZ UHYYH[L [OL ÄST –John Bowers, Editor
What inspired your idea for the history documentary?
/V^ KPK `V\ [\YU [OL PKLH PU[V H documentary?
What has most surprised you about story telling in a documentary form?
In separate settings, but around the same time, trustee Deborah Bailey and alumna Betty Nelson ’62 used almost identical words in describing how they felt we were letting our history slip away. That there should be a way to capture and share the genesis of the College and some of the folks who made us what we are. A few days later, I watched Ken Burns’ “The Civil War.”
The College archivist, Diana Sanderson, had for many years provided a presentation of iconic images from the past during employee and student orientations. Between Diana and the Burns’ documentary style, I thought there was an idea to be realized. Diana commissioned Max Hunt ’11, one of her work crew students, to work on a script. In true Warren Wilson fashion, Max over-achieved and produced a three-hour script—we could afford 30 minutes. So, we distilled his work into a feasible, affordable scope. We gathered John Disher, a local filmmaker who has worked on many of our admission videos, and Steven Heller, a sound designer and father of a 2003 graduate Drew Heller. The rest is history.
That folks are moved, that there are tears. The most rewarding moment came from an email from Betty Nelson ’62, one of the project’s catalysts. She wrote:
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I’ve now watched the film several times and still cannot get through it without tears in my eyes. Most important of all is the story—the whole story—showing some of the bad times as well as the good; it is awe-inspiring. I’m with Billy Edd Wheeler ’53—I am inspired by our students and have been over the years. They seem to pick up on the importance of the Triad and live it both on campus and off, carrying it to the far reaches of the world. I am proud to have had the opportunity to learn from such a place as Warren Wilson College.
OWL & SPADE
Watch ¸-YVU[PLYZ @L[ <URUV^U! ;OL /PZ[VY` VM Warren Wilson College” at youtube.com/warrenwilsoncollege.
Clockwise from top: Asheville Farm School kitchen Math classroom Milking cows Classroom benches
FALL 2011
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Weekend
@ Wilson 2011 During a hot weekend in June, the campus became a hive of activity. Alumni, families and friends came to learn how to raise chickens, weave a basket, catch a bug or make jewelry. Over 30 workshops were offered, including the perennial favorites of blacksmithing and the chemistry magic show as well as new offerings like wine tasting and beekeeping. In addition to classes, participants had opportunities to catch up with classmates, run on the trails, listen to good music and, of course, eat some Warren Wilson barbecue. Plan to join the fun in 2012. On the Web:
warren-wilson.edu/weekend
FALL 2011
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ALU M NI NOTE S ’50s Nancy Morrison ’53 would like to hear from the classes of ’52 and ’53. She wishes everyone happiness. Ron Jenkins ’59, Don Calfee ’59, Danny Starnes ’59, and Phil Coleman ’59 have been playing as a foursome in the Alumni and Friends Annual Golf Tournament at Homecoming for the past 12 years. For the past five years, they have been getting together in the spring for two days of fun, fellowship, and golf, taking turns hosting the event.
’60s Joy (Ritchie) Powers ’61 and Scott Powers are looking forward to seeing everyone at Homecoming in October, where the Class of ’61 will be celebrating their 50th reunion. They hope all of their class and others will be there too. Mark your calendars now. Nancy Coleman Mace ’66 is living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with her husband, Tom, and three companion animals. Her part-time work includes therapeutic music with the elderly, which is a real joy. She and Tom volunteer with their local American Red Cross chapter, where they are co-coordinators of community education, and they also volunteer with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Her playtime includes reading, RVing, singing and enjoying the outdoors.
’70s Sherry Lee ’78 works at the Haywood Medical Center in Clyde as a certified diabetes educator. For the past two years, she has gone on mission trips to Peru—to Yurimaguas in 2010 and Lima in 2011. She has two granddaughters, Avery (7) and Kyrie (3); they are her joy. She would love to hear from classmates at sherry. leecde@gmail.com.
’80s Robert Wright ’81 continues to live in Tullahoma, Tenn., with his wife of 28 years, Karen. He continues to work in the social work field. They have five daughters and three
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grandchildren. Robert would enjoy hearing from classmates. Hard to believe it’s been 30 years! Kathy Robinson White ’82 has moved to the mountains after 24 years at the beach in Fort Lauderdale. She loves it except for the four days last winter she was snowed in. She and fellow alumni Lori Cahill Johnson ’82 and Eric Johnson ’80 recently went horseback riding together in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She would love to hear from anyone in the Gatlinburg-SeviervillePigeon Forge area. Mark Adams ’84 is leaving Case Western Reserve University to take a job in San Diego, Calif., with the J. Craig Venter Institute. Lisa Hart’s ’85 first published children’s book, a weaving of the Anishinabe Prophecy of the Seventh Fire titled Children of the Seventh Fire—An Ancient Story for Modern Times, is due out this year.
Mark McDonald ’85 and Sharon Yeoh ’86 are having a phenomenal Year of the Rabbit! They’re celebrating their silver anniversary together, their youngest graduating from high school and on her way to McGill University in Montreal, and their oldest starting a social media company at age 21. Susannah Chewning ’87 was recently promoted to senior professor of English at Union County College in New Jersey. Lin Orndorf ’87 is a full-time student in A-B Tech’s sustainability technologies program. She is on the President’s List with a 4.0 GPA and was recently inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges. Beth (Mann) Woodard ’89 has been ordained into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and will serve as associate pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Hickory. Beth received a master of divinity degree from Wake Forest University Divinity School in 2008. She and her husband, Mark, live in Hickory with their two children, George (17) and Fiona (13), and can be reached at bwoodard67@ gmail.com.
’90s
00s
Gregory T. Wilkins ’90 has been selected to serve a three-year term on the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Board in Minnesota. He also accepted a position on the Greater Mankato Diversity Council, whose mission is to enhance Mankato’s commitment to creating an inclusive and welcoming community through diversity education. He has also been honored by the Rainbow Health Initiative, a Minneapolis-based organization that works to advance the health and wellness of LGBTQ communities. They awarded him first prize in their annual photo contest for his photograph “Kisses to Good Health.”
Jordan Arico ‘00 graduated last June from De Anza College in California with a degree in child development and now teaches preschool at Head Start in San Rafael. Her school is located in a homeless shelter, and the parents of some of her students are in a residential drug rehab center nearby. Jordan finds her work to be challenging but very rewarding.
Frances Becker ’91 just returned from three weeks in Alaska with three of her church friends. She had a blast and encourages all alumni to go see this beautiful state. Say hi to her at febedgehill@hotmail.com. LouAnne Roberts ’97 continues to live in Manhattan and enjoys daily bike rides through Central Park to get to work. As a family nurse practioner she specializes in pre- and post-travel medicine. She relives her semester in India, among other places she has since traveled, on a daily basis while preparing her patients for their upcoming adventures. She will return to India this fall. Colleen Moulton ’98 and her husband, Carl, welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Madeline Kelly, into the world on May 31. They live in Boise, Idaho, where Colleen leads the nongame bird program for the state fish and game department. Molly K. (Burnett) Varley ’98 completed her doctorate in history at the University of Montana in May and is a visiting assistant professor of history at Meredith College in Raleigh. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, Craig, and her daughters, Penelope (5) and Madeleine (3). She’d love to reconnect with old friends in the area at mv169121@gmail.com.
Christine Walshe ’01 and her husband, Andrew, welcomed their twin daughters, Cruz Layla and Elle Landon, into the world on May 11. Lara Lustig ’02 earned her master of arts in teaching from Western Carolina University in May and is thrilled to be a sixth-grade math teacher at Charles D. Owen Middle School in Swannanoa. Drew ’02 and Amelia (Uffelman) Walton ’04 are still living in Charlottesville, Va., with their awesome son, Asher. After receiving his master’s degree in nursing from UVA and working as a critical care nurse, Drew has now started the family nurse practitioner program at UVA. They are happy as clams! Brian Alexander ’03 received an Emmy Award for a public service announcement for Homeward Bound, where he serves as CEO. Homeward Bound serves homeless people in the Asheville area. Rebecca Rudicell ’05 completed her doctorate in microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is starting a postdoctoral position studying HIV vaccines at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Jessica Giles ’07 and her partner, Ben, run an asparagus and berry farm in southwest Virginia. They are the proud parents of two St. Bernards, Miles Giles (2) and Thurgood Morsel (3).
OWL & SPADE
A LUM NILO S S E S Katie Walsh ’07, Anna Chollet ’07, Marc Weller ’07, Will Weaver ’10, and a visiting Ryan Nepomuceno ’07 are all doing some porch sitting in New Orleans, eating some red beans and rice, and reading the Owl & Spade. Cheers! Candice Caldwell ’08 was married to Shayne Day on Oct. 24, 2010, on the Swannanoa River at the Hidden River Farm near WWC. Candice has been working in the art and theater departments at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in northeast Georgia for the last two years, running their Cirque program, which presents original circusthemed theatrical productions. In August she began work on an MFA in theater costume design at West Virginia University in Morgantown. Visit her design website: candicecaldwell.weebly.com. Kaitlin Tripi ’08 and her husband, Brian, are traveling around the world and writing about it on their website, twobackpacksoneworld. com, as they go. They would love for anyone who is interested to check it out. Pat Addabbo ’08 raised over $1,500 for the Adaptive Sports Center, running 227.5 miles during a 24-hour fundraiser in Colorado.
Warren Wilson College
Pauline Thrift ‘40 June 29, 2011
Julio M. Guisasola ‘45 July 24, 2011
Janet Norton ‘42 June 26, 2011
Rue McKinney ‘49 June 15, 2011
Grace Greene ‘44 May 9, 2011
William S. Walden ‘54 April 5, 2011
Jannette Dillard ‘45 April 7, 2011
Martha L. McLean ‘75 May 3, 2011
Orena Reeves March 12, 2011
Michael J. Noe ‘77 February 19, 2011
Ora Fox August 6, 2011
Hana B. Staub ‘08 May 31, 2011
Asheville Farm School Paul R. James ‘37 July 5, 2011 Kirby H. Wright ‘37 March 23, 2011 Clinton S. Robertson ‘37 May 13, 2011 Frank J. Greene ‘42 April 15, 2011 Grady H. Mallonee ‘42 July 2, 2011
Asheville Normal and Teachers College Mary Lyda ‘27 June 3, 2011
If you are aware of a loss we have failed to acknowledge, please contact Rodney Lytle, Alumni Relations Director, at 828.771.2046 or rlytle@warren-wilson.edu.
Mary Burns ‘32 June 30, 2011 Mary Wray ‘36 May 9, 2011 Beatrice McCutchen ‘38 February 15, 2011 Mary Wilson ‘39 February 16, 2011 Helen Smith ‘39 April 11, 2011 Faye McBee ‘39 June 30, 2011
FALL 2011
Dorland-Bell School Valerie Guthrie ‘30 May 13, 2011
Faculty
Mary W. Kenyon May 17, 2011 Roger D. Stuck June 11, 2011 Olga M. Ahrens February 23, 2011
Friends
Jeanne A. Beck June 27, 2011
Julio M. Guisasola died July 24, 2011. Born in Matanzas, Cuba in 1925, Julio received a scholarship to attend Warren Wilson and graduated in 1945. He worked for the College until 1957, when he moved to Michigan to attend Eastern Michigan University. As an engineer, Julio worked on the Apollo space program at Bendix Aerospace Corporation in Ann Arbor, and then for Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., as facilities director. Julio returned to Warren Wilson in 1976 to serve as facilities director and worked at the College until his retirement in 1990. Julio and Clotilde, his wife of 63 years, had two children, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Julio had a love for people and having fun. He and Clotilde were active folk dancers who taught dancing for many years at the College. Julio was a leader in the Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church and College Chapel, as well as in the greater Asheville/Buncombe County area. Julio will be missed by those who had the privilege of working with him and enjoying his stories of coming to America and making a new life, and his stories of meeting the love of his life, Clotilde. He made many long lasting friendships and will be remembered as someone who worked hard and lived well. Roger D. Stuck died June 11, 2011, at the North Carolina State Veterans Home in Salisbury. Born in Ventura County, Calif., in 1924, Roger was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he served from 1942 to 1946. He graduated from California Polytechnic University with a bachelor’s degree and from North Carolina State University with a master’s degree, both in engineering. Roger taught physics at Warren Wilson from 1947 to 1986. From 1970 to 1972 he served as dean of students. Roger and his wife, Christine, had two children and four grandchildren. Roger and Christine were members of the Swannanoa Valley Presbyterian Church and Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church and College Chapel. Roger and Dr. Henry Jensen laid out the plans for the Warren Wilson cemetery. Roger’s love for the church, along with his strong sense of faith, kept him always eager to talk about religious concepts. Roger was a professor with a keen sense of discovery of abstract science. He will be remembered by his students who had the privilege to learn from one of the best in the field of physics. Roger has been honored at the College with the Roger Stuck Service Scholarship.
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The strength of our academics, the quality of our work, and the depth of our service are all the direct result of those who support us year after year. We are reminded every day of the gifts we receive of time, energy, ideas, and financial resources. Because of this commitment from our community, we are able to remain flexible during these changing times while keeping our heritage at heart.
Warren Wilson College 2010-2011 Annual Report
Students are at the center of everything we do. They engage fully in academics, develop a strong work ethic on their work crews, and make a heartfelt effort to make a difference beyond Warren Wilson through service. Through the Triad, our students develop a well-rounded sense of how to make the world a better place.
The College cannot survive on tuition alone. The kind of support that we received in 2010-11 allows us to continue to provide our students with a meaningful, one-of-a-kind education. One of our highest fundraising priorities is financial aid for bright and deserving students. This year, ten new scholarship funds were established by generous donors. In total, we received $1,097,400 toward scholarships in 2010-11.
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Thanks to your generosity, 2010-11 was a successful fundraising year. We received a total of $3,546,246 from loyal alumni, friends, parents, students, bequests, churches, foundations and other organizations connected to the College. Even during a time of economic hardship for many, it is clear you believe in Warren Wilson. We are grateful for the confidence you place in our College and appreciate your ongoing support.
The Warren Wilson College Fund, which annually supports our educational Triad of academics, work and service, exceeded its goal in 2010-11 by almost $37,000. Nearly 1,500 donors contributed to the fund this year, an increase of almost 9% from last year. We are fortunate to have a strong community of support that, together, make such a difference for our students. Thank you!
Many individuals have committed to preserving Warren Wilsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy for future students by joining the Warren Wilson College Circle, the Bannerman Society or both. Those who join the Circle contribute $1,000 or more annually. In 2010-11, 176 donors were recognized in the Circle. Members of the Bannerman Society have chosen to leave the College in their estate plans or made other deferred gift arrangements. In 2010-11, the College received $1,060,905 from bequests and other planned gifts. FALL 2011
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Make a gift to Warren Wilson and get guaranteed income
for life
Through Dec. 31, 2011, gifts to the College made from traditional individual retirement accounts can be made with no tax or early
In these uncertain times, a gift
withdrawal penalty.
annuity is a way to guarantee an
Certain restrictions apply.
income for life. A gift annuity to
Contact Don Harris
Warren Wilson College could help
or Janet Doyle
you while supporting current and
at 828.771.2042.
future Warren Wilson students. To learn more about this win-win gift opportunity, call Don Harris or Janet Doyle at 828.771.2042. You can email Don at dharris@warren-wilson.edu or Janet at jdoyle@warren-wilson.edu.
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HATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE? A new job, a new home, a wedding or birth of a child? Please take a few minutes to
let us know about the latest developments in your life by filling out this form. Please print clearly and indicate dates and/or places of events so we get the facts straight. We generally refrain from publishing events that are expected to occur in the future to avoid any mishaps. If you have a picture of an event or child, please send it along. R I would like the news below printed in the Class Notes section of the Owl & Spade. R It is not necessary to print this news in Class Notes. Name (Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.) ___________________________________________________________________ Class ______________ Street address ______________________________________________________________________ City ______________________ State ____________ Zip _________________ Country __________________ Email _______________________________________ Home phone ________________________ Office phone _______________________ Cell phone _____________________________ Job title _______________________________________ Company _____________________________________________________ Marital status ________________________ Spouseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name _____________________________________________________________ Class Notes News: Please limit to 50 words or less. Alumni Office reserves the right to edit for space and content. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please fill out this form and send it to: Alumni Office, Warren Wilson College, CPO 6324, PO Box 9000, Asheville, NC 28815-9000 'BY t BMVNOJ!XBSSFO XJMTPO FEV 32
OWL & SPADE
Return to campus and reconnect with all that made your time here special. Reminisce with classmates, feast on barbecue, kick up your heels square dancing, run the Homecoming 5K or simply relax in a rocking chair. Regardless of how you spend your time here, be sure to…
return, reconnect and reminisce.
HOME
COMING
2 0 1 1 Sept 30–Oct 2 Reunion Dinners Alumni in classes 1940-1959, 1961, 1966 and 1986 will celebrate reunions on Saturday, October 1. For more information about your reunion, visit tinyurl.com/WWCReunions. If you have questions concerning Homecoming, please email alumni@ warren-wilson.edu, call 866.992.2586, or visit warren-wilson.edu/homecoming.
The GAR—1940s and 1950s The GAR continues at the Holiday Inn. Social hour will be 6-7 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Fran Whitfield will continue to host the hospitality room. Class of 1961—Golden Reunion The Class of 1961 50th reunion dinner will be held in the Fellowship Hall. A meet & greet is at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Class of 1966—45th Reunion The Class of 1966 will celebrate its 45th reunion in the Cow Pie Café in Gladfelter at 6 p.m. Class of 1986—Silver Reunion The Class of 1986 25th reunion festivities will take place in Bryson Gym with cocktail hour starting at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner and dancing. The dance is open to all alumni.
FALL 2011
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Commencement 2011 Graduate Cait Coffey shares the love with her dog, Ronan, at Commencement on Sunderland Lawn. Cait is now working at Green Mountain College in Vermont.