Grain & Chaff

Something to say

Four faculty from the Classics Department gave papers at the 98th annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West South April 4-6 at the University of Texas, Austin. Assistant professor Teresa Ramsby spoke on "Ovid Tristia 4.2 and the Spectacle of Barbarian Bodies" and professor Kenneth Kitchell organized a panel on the animal life of the Greek polis.

Kitchell spoke on "Animals within the Walls - Enemies, Pets and Love Gifts." At the same session, assistant professor Debbie Felton spoke on "Man into Beast: Shape Shifting Shamanism and Magic Spells in Greek Folk-Lore." Kitchell also spoke on "The Case of the Exploding Latin Student - Moving from Latin II to Reading 'Real' Latin." Assistant professor Brian Breed delivered a paper on "Portrait of a Lady: Propertius 1.3 and Ecphrasis." ... Professor William Meeks and assistant professor Andrea Nahmod of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics gave invited addresses at the Fifth Conference on Geometry and Topology presented by the Journal of Differential Geometry May 3-5 at Harvard University. Meeks discussed "The Minimal Surface Revolution and Differential Geometry" and Nahmod talk was "On Wave Maps."

Button-down exchange

Peter M. Haas, professor of Political Science will be a visiting professor at Nuffield College, Oxford University during Oxford's Trinity Term (May-June 2002). He will give public lectures, engage with students and faculty, and continue writing a book on the evolution of multilateral environmental governance.

Hail to the chiefs

Amherst College president Tom Gerety announced last week that he will step down at the end of June 2003 after nine years of leading the college. In a letter to the college community, he called the job at Amherst "the most challenging and rewarding" of his career and said he was "eager to follow up on abiding interests" that he's put off over the years ... Former Anthropology professor and associate provost for undergraduate education Johnetta Cole has accepted the presidency of Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C. Cole had been president of Spelman College in Atlanta before retiring in 1997. She starts July 1. ... A little ways to the south on the same day, former director of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences Andrew Sorensen will become president of the University of South Carolina. Sorensen has led the University of Alabama since 1996.

Athletes' feats

Junior Mattie Newell was named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Northern Division All-Conference first team April 30. She scored a team-high 43 goals this season and drew a campus single-season record 12 penalty shots. So far in her career, Newell has scored 79 goals and had 16 assists with 27 penalty shots. ... In the College Towne Classic April 29, two University students dominated the five-mile race. Kelly Anne McKeown, a graduate student in Exercise Science, posted a 33:15 time, well over a minute faster than the women's second-place finisher. McKeown was one of the area's top finishers in last year's Boston Marathon and was running her first race since a September injury. Jason Reed, a senior Math major, won the men's category with a time of 28:54. Junior Psychology major Ryan Brogan also put in a good showing, finishing third with a time of 29:52.