On the Hill

Former Campus Editor Assumes Top USA Today Post

John Hillkirk '78, editor of the Campus newspaper during his student days, assumed the No. 2 post at USA Today in April. Formerly managing editor of the newspaper's Money section, Hillkirk is now executive editor at the nation's top-selling newspaper.

Hillkirk has been a writer and editor at USA Today since the newspaper was founded in 1982. Prior to that, he was a business reporter in Rochester, N.Y., and Pittsburgh. He has co-authored three books. Xerox: American Samurai was published in 1986 and chosen as one of Business Week's ten best business books of the year. Grit, Guts and Genius was published in 1990. Both books were co-authored by Gary Jacobson of the Dallas Morning News. In 1991 Hillkirk co-authored a book with former Ford Chairman/CEO Donald E. Petersen. A Better Idea: Redefining the Way Americans Work was published by Houghton-Mifflin.

With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA Today is available worldwide.

Jan Hyatt, Ron Cole Earn Teaching Awards

Assistant Professor of Dance Studies Jan Hyatt '87 and Associate Professor of Geology Ron Cole '87 received Allegheny's highest teaching awards at the College's annual Honors Convocation in the spring. Hyatt received the Julian Ross Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Cole the Thoburn Foundation Award for Innovative Teaching.

The Julian Ross Award, established by the Allegheny Alumni Association, is presented annually to a faculty member who, in the opinion of faculty, students, and alumni, demonstrates excellence in teaching. The award honors the memory of Julian Ross '23, who served as a professor of English at the College for forty-three years.

In more than two decades at Allegheny, Jan Hyatt, who retired this year, served as what one nominator called "a grand architect" of the dance studies program. She also designed summer programs in dance for children, worked with high school teachers and students, taught ballroom dance classes to adults, and joined in collaborative efforts with colleagues in fields as diverse as philosophy and neuroscience.

"Her energy is limitless," says a colleague. "Her commitment to educating people is boundless." One of the students who nominated her notes that "Jan lives the way she teaches. She embraces every class, every book, every dance, and makes each moment count. She teaches students to get the most out of everything by doing so herself."

The Thoburn Foundation Award, which Ron Cole received, recognizes an Allegheny faculty member for creative course development, innovative instruction, and general excellence as a teacher. Members of the Thoburn family, through the Thoburn Foundation for Education, established the honor in 1994. More than fifty members of the Thoburn family have attended Allegheny, making it the College's largest family.

Innumerable students can testify how Cole's lessons helped ensure their success in graduate school and in their careers, whether they were geology majors or not. "Ron's commitment to student learning was not limited to the students interested in serious geology research or his particular areas of focus," says one student. "Students with a wide variety of majors benefited from Ron's genuine interest in promoting the role of science and the interaction between physical science and society."

Another student says, "His genuine love of earth science drives his quest to bring each student to the maximum possible level of understanding of the scientific concepts. His enthusiasm is such that students often find themselves developing a thirst for more."

Model NATO Team Wins Top Honors For Third Straight Year

Diplomacy, know-how, and determination have netted Allegheny's Model NATO team first-place honors for the third year in a row.

Allegheny students represented France this year and won the prestigious Best Delegation title at the annual conference. Several students won individual awards as well.

The 19th Annual National Model North Atlantic Treaty Organization Conference was held at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in February. The annual competition simulates the proceedings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and provides a unique opportunity for university and college students to study the role, structure, and activities of NATO.

For many Allegheny students the Model NATO conference is a singular opportunity for personal growth in their undergraduate education. "This has been the best experience I've had at Allegheny College thus far," says Rob Utter '06.

Participating in Model NATO is the culminating experience of a unique course at Allegheny, European Security and NATO, which offers an introduction to NATO and current European security problems.

Allegheny College students who participated in the 19th Annual Model NATO Conference included Andrew Chrzan '05, Arthur Craig '04, Kerry Ann Fraas '04, Melissa Maceyko '04, Kelsey Oakes '05, Benjamin Orndorff '06, Maria Patsy '05, Lauren Rodgers '04, Eric Shuty '04, and Robert Utter '06.

Dominic Randazzo '05 and Irena Saric represented Ukraine as a Partnership for Peace country and received the Most Authentic Award. Nicholas Rossmann '04 served as secretary general of NATO—the top student-run position at the Model NATO conference—and received the Leadership Award. Heather Andersen '04 was part of last year's team and served as chair of the nuclear planning group this year.

College Wins Prestigious Heuer Award

As a result of an application submitted by the College's neuroscience program, Allegheny was one of only two independent colleges and universities to receive the fourth annual Heuer Award for Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Science Education from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC).

"Allegheny College is honored to receive the Heuer Award, not only because of the prestige associated with the recognition, but because this award calls much-needed attention to the importance of rigorous undergraduate science education," says President Richard Cook. "Clearly, scientific research—especially when pursued with a commitment to interdisciplinary exploration—must be a priority if American ingenuity is to be applied to solving the world's most pressing problems."

The CIC/Heuer Awards program, funded by the Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Foundation, builds on the documented achievements of independent colleges and universities in undergraduate science education. Each institution receives a $10,000 prize that may be used for further enhancement of its science programs.

The award recognizes the College's neuroscience major, which grew from one graduate in 1997 to thirty-five in 2003 and which provides a wealth of opportunities for undergraduates while at the same time reaching out to high school students and even middle school students through summer camps and visits to local schools.

Student Wins Top Essay Award

Rachel Williams '04 received the top honor in the undergraduate essay award competition sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Women's Studies Association.

Her essay, "The Third Wave and the Third World: New Methodologies for Change," began as a paper in her women's studies class with Director of Women's Studies Judith Rose, who then suggested Williams enter the essay into the competition.

"Rachel wrote on a topic that not a lot of people write about," Rose says. "And she focused on a lot of the issues that made it interesting."

The essay discusses the third wave of feminism and also examines feminist issues in the Third World. "Poverty and hunger, basic survival issues, these are not typically thought of as feminist issues, but they are," Williams says. The double major in political science and women's studies hopes to continue to work on issues related to feminism and the Third World post-graduation.

Language Prof Joins Middlebury

Just one year ago Jing Wang arrived at Allegheny to teach Chinese. It wasn't as much of an adjustment as you'd think. "I studied in Beijing," says the assistant professor of modern languages. "And half of the time northern Beijing is covered in snow, too."

It didn't take long for Wang to be recognized for her exceptional teaching. This summer she was invited to teach at Middlebury College, long recognized as perhaps the premier institution in the country for language studies. While teaching summers at Middlebury, Wang still calls Allegheny her academic home.

Wang's career at Allegheny comes at a time when the knowledge of Chinese is more important than ever. In addition to being spoken by a fifth of the world's population, Chinese is the second most frequently used language on the Internet.

Wang says that the Chinese language's reputation for being difficult to learn is undeserved. "I get people who study Spanish and Chinese," she says, "and say Chinese is easier because you don't have to conjugate the verbs. If you can read 500 characters, then seventy-three percent of all Chinese literature is open to you. Read 1,500 and you're literate. Read 3,000 and you can read anything. It's different, not difficult."

Students Bask in 15 Minutes of Fame

When NBC's Today show crew took to the sidewalk outside their studio for commentary last March, their eyes fell upon a patch of blue and gold—a crowd of students headed to a conference and decked out in Allegheny gear from head to toe. When a reporter asked where they came from, she turned to freshman Jessica Pryor.

"Allegheny College!" Pryor and her fellow Gators answered all at once.

"I was kind of upset because it was the Saturday Today show," says Pryor, who was hoping for a larger audience. "Pittsburgh didn't get it, but Cleveland and California did."

Nevertheless, the Saturday audience is nothing to sneeze at. That morning an estimated 2 million people saw the Allegheny group. "People were stopping us on the street," Pryor says. "Our cell phones were ringing off the hook."

What brought these students to New York City was a trip, sponsored by the College's Office of Diversity Affairs, to the Western Pennsylvania Diversity Consortium, which meets on a monthly basis to see how schools like Penn State, Clarion, and Allegheny can retain their diversity.

Before the trip, students were asked to read books on the Harlem Renaissance in preparation for a visit to the Harlem Renaissance Museum.

"I'm in a political science class that has a lot of history in it," Pryor says. "But that's not the history I can relate to. We went to this jazz club in Harlem, and it was like stepping back in time."

by Jason Peck

First-Year Class Breaks Records

Allegheny College welcomes a larger class of first-year students—about 650—this fall than in any year in more than two decades. Furthermore, the record-breaking class is as academically strong as ever.

College officials knew they were in for a banner year when application numbers shattered the records. In order to accommodate increased demand for information about Allegheny, the College had to double the number of campus visit programs.

In the eighteen months since Vice President for Enrollment Scott Friedhoff joined Allegheny, the most striking similarity he has observed in the characteristics of students who seem to excel at Allegheny is the unusual combinations of interests they possess, and that's exactly the message he's been sharing with new prospects.

"Allegheny is an excellent choice for individuals who want to discover new interests, or who have already discovered that they want to grow in multiple areas," says Friedhoff. "Rigorous pursuit of unusual combinations of interests, skills and talents is the essence of the Allegheny experience, and parents and students increasingly seem to recognize the long-term value of this approach to education."

Mideast Interns Explore "Eco-Peace"

This summer the College welcomed four student interns from the Middle East (two Jewish Israelis, one Arab Israeli, and one Palestinian) who participated in the U.S.- Middle East Environmental Leadership Exchange (ELE), supported by the U.S. State Department's Educational and Cultural Bureau.

The interns continued efforts begun at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, working collaboratively—despite profound religious, cultural, and ethnic differences—to promote sustainable environmental practices. The students participated in internships through Allegheny's Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) and the French Creek Project.

Each of the interns participated in a different project: working with a team of American interns and Department of Transportation workers as part of CEED's Art & Environment Initiative to construct environmental art from recycled road signs; assisting CEED's development of markets for local organic farmers; undertaking the first public health survey of lead poisoning among low-income residents in Meadville and then developing educational protocols; and helping the French Creek Project survey rare and endangered mussels in Pennsylvania's most biologically diverse river.

The goals of the Environmental Leadership (ELE) Program are to promote environmental cooperation among promising young environmentalists from the Middle East and the United States, to provide advanced training to strengthen their future work in the environmental movement in the region, and to strengthen the links between the Israeli and Arab sectors.

Young Voters Are Low Priority For Political Parties

Local political party chairs across the nation are not paying attention to young people, even though an overwhelming majority agree that political disengagement by young people is a serious problem, according to a groundbreaking study co-authored by Associate Professor of Political Science Daniel M. Shea.

The study, "Throwing a Better Party: Local Mobilizing Institutions and the Youth Vote," was conducted by Allegheny's Center for Political Participation and the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. The report was commissioned by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). The 805 party chairs surveyed for the study represent counties containing 87 percent of the nation's population.

Roughly nine in ten party leaders (88 percent) say youth political engagement is a serious problem. A similar portion (93 percent) feel local parties can make a big difference in getting young people involved in politics. But only 41 percent are doing anything specifically to attract young voters.

"There is both disturbing and optimistic news in this report," says Shea, who directs the CPP. "They have the potential to play a major role in rejuvenating participation in America. But many local parties find youth mobilization difficult, so they are ignoring this group. Traditional party activities aren't working for young people, but the party organizations that are trying novel programs, such as unique social activities, interactive Web sites, and peer-to-peer outreach, are having much better success."

Only 8 percent of the party chairs identified young people as the most important demographic for the "long-term success of their party," compared to 21 percent who named senior citizens. Only 12 percent listed young people second, and 18 percent listed them third.

Among the 41 percent of party leaders who claim to have developed specific get-out-the-vote programs for young voters, the vast majority of programs they cited as examples might be dubbed "modest" and "traditional." A common example of a response given was "some people in our party have spoken at area schools." Only a handful mentioned programs that might be considered significant.

The report is available at http://www.allegheny.edu/mobilizing.pdf and www.civicyouth.org. Shea's research has been reported upon by news media across the nation.

Pictured with President Richard Cook are new retirees and employees who have worked for the College for twenty-five years, honored at a reception in April in the College's art galleries. Pictured, from left, are: Bob Schwartz '66, professor of geology; Stephen Lyons, professor of history; George Roland, professor of art; Jan Hyatt '84, assistant professor of dance studies; President Cook; Brenda Metheny, secretary for chemistry, environmental science, and biology; Stephen Bowser, professor of mathematics; and Maureen Hunter Hager, senior associate director of athletics, physical education and recreation. Bowser, Hager, and Hyatt retired this year; the other honorees were recognized for their twenty-five years of service to the College.

The committee chairs of the New York Stock Exchange's Diversity Council, a group of employees that advises senior management on creating and maintaining a diverse workplace, rang the opening bell at the NYSE on July 9. Pictured at center is Allegheny College trustee Robert Marchman '80, who heads the Diversity Council. Marchman started at NYSE as enforcement director, was promoted to managing director, and most recently was promoted to senior vice president of the division of enforcement.

In May environmental science major Maureen Copeland '04 presented Randy Gorske, executive director of The Arc of Crawford County, with a gardening spade to commemorate the "growing" community partnership between Allegheny and The Arc. Copeland's Senior Project created a plan to convert the Experimental Garden, outside Steffee Hall, into a community-service collaboration with The Arc, at the same time incorporating additional bio-intensive agriculture practices at the site. The Arc is a grass-roots organization that works to include children and adults with cognitive, intellectual, and developmental disabilities in their communities.

Women who have benefited from Allegheny College Association scholarships gathered for a dinner celebration in April to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the ACA and its scholarship fund, which was established to provide an opportunity for women who have been out of the classroom for a number of years to continue their education. ACA Scholars are gathered here in front of a quilt that was raffled off to support the fund. The project honored the memory of Nancy Heath, who not only taught and coached for many years in Allegheny's athletics department but also served as the advisor for the ACA scholarship program. After Nancy Heath's death, members of her quilting club made the quilt in her honor using scraps from her quilting bag. They then donated it to the ACA scholarship committee. Barb and Scott Friedhoff won the raffle.