Robert Hislope, assistant professor of
political science, visited Macedonia in November and gave three lectures on international
affairs at St. Cyril and Methodius University at Skopje, and one lecture on
ethnic politics at the Democratic Leadership Conference (sponsored by the
Council of Europe) in Ohrid, Macedonia.
His most recent article on Macedonia's
politics appears in the January issue of Ethnic
and Racial Politics. Also, Hislope has been invited to speak at the Woodrow
Wilson International
Center for Scholars in Washington.
The title of his presentation is “Shaking off the Shakedown
State? Crime and Corruption in Post-Ohrid
Macedonia.”
Prof. Klein’s Idol interest
As if Doug Klein didn't have
enough to do as director of the Center for Converging Technologies, associate
dean for information technology and professor of economics, he has taken on
another vital role: photographer of the Idol.
Since the early 20th century,
the statue of the Chinese stone lion (now just west of Achilles Rink) has
served as the painted totem of student affiliation, loyalty and emotion. Since
2001, Klein has captured about 40 of the paint jobs.
In Times letter, Lundquist weighs in on ‘legacies’
Dan Lundquist,
vice president for admissions and financial aid, authored a letter (below) in The New York Times responding to a Feb.
13 Times article in which Middlebury
College officials defended the admissions treatment of “legacies” (descendants of alumni and others connected with a college).
'Legacy' Admissions and Fairness
To the Editor:
Re: “Of Sheepskins and Greenbacks” (news article, Feb. 13):
Selective college admission has
been a hot topic for many because the stakes seem so high and the process so mysterious.
Its elusiveness, lack of
predictability and apparent lack of fairness fuel public frustration and fascination.
John M. McCardell Jr., the
president of Middlebury College, is right when he says the admissions process entails
'imperfect human beings exercising their imperfect judgment in rationing a
scarce commodity.'
Like much in life, college
admissions isn't fair and cannot be made fair.
There is no universal yardstick by
which a rich and varied applicant pool can be judged.
Can formulas and goals help guide
the selection process? Yes. Should they drive the process? Absolutely not.
That's where Mr. McCardell's
implication of sensitively and professionally applied equal unfairness for all
comes into play.
Dan Lundquist
Union College
Wanted: students for Steinmetz
The Charles P. Steinmetz Symposium, the annual
showcase of student scholarly, creative and research achievement, is set for
Friday, May 9, and Kimmo Rosenthal, dean for undergraduate education, is urging
faculty to encourage student participation.
Last year's symposium drew more than 300 students.
Most of the Steinmetz sessions, and the honorary
banquet and orchestra concert, will be Friday, May 9, with classes cancelled to
accommodate the program. Because this year's symposium is being held on a
weekend shared with both Prize Day and Parents' Weekend, the poster session
will be on Saturday, May 10, from 9:30 to 11
a.m.,
prior to the Prize Day ceremony.
An expanded program book will have session
information and an abstract for each student participating in standard
presentations or poster sessions, and some equivalent for performing and visual
arts students. There will be a web-based sign-up. Like last year, student submissions and
faculty endorsements will be simultaneous. Faculty will be notified when the
site is ready.
Laramie Project opens Tuesday, Feb. 25
characters she plays in The Laramie Project.
The Laramie Project, the moving story of bigotry
and tolerance as told by the people of Laramie,
Wyo., after the 1998 murder of Matthew
Shephard, a gay college student, opens Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Yulman Theater.
The play, by Moises Kaufman and members of the
Tectonic Theater Project, is directed by Lloyd Waiwaiole, who has long list of credits
as costume designer.
“Our actors really got into this
show,” Waiwaiole recalls of the rehearsals, many of which were emotionally wrenching
for the students. “Usually you have to spoon-feed [as a director], but this is
academic theater and they have learned a lot [about their own sense of
tolerance].
“It's exciting to see the light
bulbs go on,” he said. “I call my rehearsals 'Realization 101.'”
Of the universal appeal of the
play, one of the most widely produced in current American theater, Waiwaiole
says, “If you have loved and lost someone, you can relate to Laramie.“
Shephard's death became a national
symbol of intolerance, but for the people of Laramie
the event became deeply personal, and it is their voices we hear in this
stunningly effective theater piece.
Kaufman and members of the Tectonic
Theater Project made six trips to Laramie
over the course of a year and a half to conduct more than 200 interviews with
the townspeople.
The play chronicles the life of
the town of Laramie in the year
after the murder, using eight actors to embody more than 60 different people in
their own words – from rural ranchers to university professors. The result is a
complex portrayal that dispels the simplistic media stereotypes and explores
the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we
are capable.
The three-act play and the story
is told through the interviews. The first act introduces the actors, the
townspeople and the crime itself; the second act concerns the trial of the
first perpetrator, the shifting opinions and the media attention; and the third
focuses on the bitterly unforgiving leniency of Shephard's parents, who
condemned the killer to a life of remembering that their son died by his hand.
Laramie runs
Feb. 25 through March 1 at 8 p.m.,
and March 2 at 2 p.m.
For tickets and information, call
the Yulman Theater box office at (518) 388-6545.
African Company Presents Richard III
Opening March 4 at Yulman Theater,
The African Company Presents Richard III is based on the real story in 1821 of the
first black theatrical group in America
as it battles racial prejudice with violent interpretations of white theater.
The troupe's motto: “Say ya Shakespeare like ya want.”
Written by Carlyle Brown, the play
is directed by Joanne Yarrow.
African Company runs March 4 through March 8 at 8 p.m., and March 9 at 2
p.m.