HEADLINES

Famous trees take root on the Hill
Theatre Arts professor garners Kennedy Center award
Biology grads present posters, two head for med school
Muses give women voice in student production
Distinguished Teaching Award to Sociology Professor
Armstrong receives teaching grant
Seniors, faculty, alumni recognized at Honors Convocation
Awards top Reunion Weekend activities
Green Terror reach for CC Championships, four-peat for women's golf
Hill Happenings

Despite strong winds, cold rain and dark skies, Earth Day was a hopeful occasion on campus, as members of the Environmental Action Club gathered with faculty, staff and administrators to plant two of 19 sapling trees donated by various academic departments.

Becky Wilde '05 and Michelle Runaldue '06, club co-presidents, gathered the group in a circle for a brief ceremony before helping Grounds Director Phil Boob dig new homes for a Tidal Basin Japanese Cherry, donated by the President's Office, and a Bartram's Lilac, donated by the English department. Both trees will grow and blossom between Hill Hall and the gazebo nicknamed Carpe Diem.

"This week we have already had a once-in-a-lifetime speaker, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, come to visit. While he was here, he spent some time talking to our McDaniel community about how important it is to fight indifference. Indifference is not just dangerous to humanity, but it is also dangerous to our environment," said Michelle. "This tree planting celebration represents a seed of hope being planted right here in the heart of our campus. Hopefully the wind of our community will carry these seeds to many individuals to help fight environmental indifference."

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Elizabeth van den Berg's foot kicks out to one side and then another as her arms arch over her head in jumping-jack fashion. Circling her on the understage of Alumni Hall are 12 students, whose flailing arms and bare feet loosely mimic their mentor's movements.

The beat quickens – one…two…three… becomes fiftyfiftyonefiftytwofiftythree.

Fifteen minutes later, her students loosened and warmed up, the activity changes to humming yoga-style, then a few stretches and suddenly the assistant professor of Theatre Arts is tossing pillows, each shaped like a different symbol in the phonetic alphabet. "My little teaching tools" she calls them.

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Kevin Carter and Ian Loper (left) both graduated from Liberty High School. Two years ago, with five other students, they formed a Stocks and Finance Club and moved into a suite in Daniel MacLea.

The two Biology majors became interested in research with Associate Professor of Biology Randall Morrison focusing on what is believed to be a new pigment cell in the panther chameleon, Furcifer pardalis.

They won summer internships to do cancer research in University of Maryland labs in Baltimore. And on August 11, Kevin and Ian will spend their first day as medical students at the University of Maryland. Hopefully, by then, they will have found housing and finished relaxing summers – Ian and friends plan a cross-country road trip and Kevin is headed for Ocean City's beaches.

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When Lindsay Stewart began researching Greek theatre, she didn't find the Greek plays very inspiring.

Then she discovered the poetry written by the women of ancient Greece. Much of their work had been lost when the Great Library of Alexandria burned – but then much of it may have been burned anyway, merely because these were women, Lindsay said.

What remains are fragments – one or two lines, part of a verse – of the vast works of Sappho, and to a lesser degree Korinna, Melina and others.

"I re-arranged the fragments into a ritual celebrating the voice of women," said the senior Theatre Arts major whose acting talent took her to the finals in Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival competition in January.

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Associate Professor of Sociology Lauren Dundes (left) received the Distinguished Teaching Award at McDaniel College's Honors Convocation May 1.

The award, given every other year, was established by Baltimore Alumnae of the Sigma Sigma Tau sorority in 1961. The recipient is chosen by undergraduate juniors and seniors.

Dundes, who joined the faculty in 1996, is not only a dynamic and dedicated classroom teacher but a prolific researcher and author of academic papers. In the past five years alone, she has published thirty articles in some of the most well respected juried journals in her field. Even more impressive is the fact that sixteen of those articles list students as co-authors, often before Dundes' own name.

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Music students, majors and non-majors alike will benefit from a teaching enhancement grant awarded May 1 to Associate Professor of Music Robin Armstrong (left).

Music literature classes at McDaniel serve a broad diversity of students, from music majors with extensive backgrounds to non-majors who have played an instrument for many years to students with no experience whatsoever but an interest in expanding their musical horizons. One of the greatest challenges in teaching these courses is to come quickly to a common vocabulary of music for classroom discussion, according to Armstrong.

With this grant, Armstrong plans to create a Web-based tutorial for students to learn music vocabulary independently and, more importantly, at their own pace.

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Members of the Class of 2005 were honored with academic, activity, and leadership awards at the annual Senior Investiture and Honors Convocation May 1.

Receiving the top senior awards given at the ceremony were Jacob John Michael (left), awarded The Bates Prize for the most outstanding male graduating senior, and Jennifer Sue Dumpert (left), awarded The Mary Ward Lewis Prize for the most outstanding female graduating senior.

Jacob is a Sociology major with minors in Sports Coaching and Criminal Justice. He is battalion commander of the campus ROTC unit, a member of the wrestling team, several honor societies, and treasurer of the Inter-Greek Council. He is the son of Boyd and Denise Michael of Boonsboro, Md.

Jennifer is majoring in Social Work with minors in Gerontology and Sociology. She is active in Greek life on campus, several honor societies and is a member in the Student Alumni Council. She is the daughter of Scott and Nancy Dumpert of East Setauket, N.Y.

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Awards top Reunion Weekend activities

A newly established tradition during Reunion Weekend is the presentation of six awards. The awards will be engraved with the winner's class years and then permanently displayed in Harrison House. When your class is called, we ask that the committee representatives come forward to accept the award.

The Whimsy award goes to the Class of 1955 with 60 alumni and guests returning for their reunion. This award is presented to the class that has the most classmates returning for Reunion Weekend.

The Green Terror award went to the Class of 1960, which has the most classmates making a commitment to the Annual Fund.

The Carpe Diem award, to the class with the greatest increase in the number of donors to the Annual Fund, went to the Class of 1975, who are celebrating their 30th reunion this weekend.

The Class of 1985 won the Green and Gold award for having the more active reunion volunteers than any other class.

The Old Main award was presented to the Class of 1980, which has the highest amount of total commitments to the Annual Fund so far this year.

The Top of the Hill award recognized the Class of 1970, whose members have made the highest overall dollar commitments to McDaniel, a total of $215,955. These commitments are not only to the Annual Fund, but also to buildings, special projects, or to the endowment.

Left bottom photo: Carrie Schuster Oddis '95 and Jennifer Nutley '95

Green Terror reach for CC Championships,
four-peat for women's golf

Championship season has arrived for the McDaniel spring athletes. Before the Green Terror seniors don their caps and gowns, they dress in green and gold for one last push.

Green Terror golf shot strong at the Centennial Conference Championships at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York, Pa. Kelly Cramp '05 (left) and the women's team both captured Centennial Conference Championships, Cramp taking individual gold with rounds of 80 and 82, and the team blowing away the field with a combined 366 and 368. This is the fourth straight title for both Cramp and the women's team.

Brendan Zadrozny '05 leads all men's scoring with rounds of 74 and 78, while the team sits in second with a combined 309 and 320. The men's team plays the third and final round of the Championships May 2 in York.

Full Story on Green Terror spring athletics

• The Multicultural Services Film Series features "And Thereafter" at 7 p.m. May 2 in Room 108 Hill Hall. Free and open to the public.
  
  
• The McDaniel College Art and Art History Department presents the Senior Student Capstone Exhibition May 3 through May 13 in the Rice Gallery. An artists' reception will be held on May 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. Call 410-857-2595 for more information and gallery hours.
  
  
• The spring music concert season wraps up with five McDaniel performances:
  
  Student Chamber Music Ensembles at 7 p.m. May 2 in Baker Chapel
  
  Student Solo Recital at 7 p.m. May 3 in McDaniel Lounge
  
  Jazz Night at 8 p.m. May 5 in Decker Center Forum
  
  College Band Concert at 7 p.m. May 6 on the WMC Alumni Hall Mainstage
  
  Gospel Choir Concert at 7:30 p.m. May 7 in Baker Memorial Chapel
  
  
• Commencement 2005 is at 2 p.m. May 21 in Gill Center. Click here for more information.