Media Coverage of Lafayette, Jan. 27, 2006

The following is a selection of recent media coverage of Lafayette:

International, national, and regional media
Business Week,Investor’s Business Daily, Sunday Business (Great Britain), Kansas City Star, Toledo Blade, Orlando Business Journal, Charlotte Business Journal
The research of Mark Crain, William E. Simon ’52 Professor of Political Economy, is featured in leading business publications and mainstream media on both sides of the Atlantic, including Investor’s Business Daily (Dec. 9), Business Week (Dec. 5), Great Britain’s Sunday Business (Oct. 9), Kansas City Star (Dec. 23), Toledo Blade (Nov. 25), Charlotte Business Journal (Sept. 30), and Orlando Business Journal (Sept. 29). Crain is author of a report entitled “The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms” that was funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and released in September by its Office of Advocacy. The peer-reviewed study estimates the total cost of federal regulations and its distribution among different sectors of the economy and among firms of different sizes. The results indicate a disproportionate regulatory compliance impact on small business. Small businesses typically face a 45 percent greater burden than their larger business counterparts.

Enrollment Management Report
The summer orientation program and first-year student experience are featured in Enrollment Management Report (Dec. 1). “Wondering what your institution can do to liven up its orientation program? You might want to take a lesson from Lafayette College (Pa.),” the article begins. “For the past two years, the college has made ‘Imaging America’ the theme of its orientation and first-year experience for the freshmen classes. The program is unique in that it uses art-based pedagogy.Faculty are reporting that students are more engaged – and that’s key to retaining them – plus students are showing more compassion for others.”

ABC, CNN, New York Times, Los Angeles Times
“ABC World News Tonight” (Nov. 27) and “Lou Dobbs Tonight” (CNN, Oct. 17) featured interviews with Helena Silverstein, associate professor of government and law, about parental consent requirements on abortion. “On Moral Grounds, Some Judges Are Opting Out of Abortion Cases” (N.Y. Times, Sept. 4) and “Abortion Effort Isn’t Untested” (L.A. Times, Nov. 2) also feature her expert commentary.

New York Times, Nov. 19
“Life After Near-Death: A Normalcy in Football” features David Nelson ’06, who helped lead the football team to a Patriot League title after nearly losing his life in the summer while attempting to protect a friend during an altercation near his home.

American Society for Engineering Education, October
The engineering program’s supportive environment for women students, accessible faculty, and opportunities for hands-on learning through an Engineers Without Borders service project are featured in “Circle of Support” (October) in the American Society of Engineering Education’s Prism magazine. The article highlights the Lafayette experience of A.B. engineering graduate Jenny Moerschbacher ’05 as it looks at engineering programs that have successfully helped their women students feel more welcome. “I liked that I could have an effect on people’s lives,” says Moerschbacher of the Honduras service project.

New York Times, Oct. 23
“For Some College Graduates, a Fanciful Detour (or Two) Before Their Careers Begin” spotlights Lafayette students. “At Lafayette College, in Easton, Pa., many more seniors have applied for community service programs like the Peace Corps and Teach for America in the last two years.”

MSNBC, Sept. 21
“Justice Stevens is Key to High Court’s Future” features the expert commentary of Bruce Allen Murphy, Kirby Professor of Civil Rights, on aging Supreme Court justices’ reluctance to step down from the bench. “Murphy said it is natural that a justice would be reluctant to give up his place on the high court. ‘The reasons are very human: the ailing justice does not want to admit that their life will be ending, does not want to give up power, holds out hope that they will recover, does not want to tip the voting balance of the Court in another direction by leaving, and as an independent life-tenured member, does not have to retire until he or she chooses,’ Murphy explained.”

CNN, Sept. 17
“CNN Saturday” featured Donald L. Miller, MacCracken Professor of History, in a live interview on the task of rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Miller, author of City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (Simon & Schuster, 1996), discussed parallels between Katrina’s devastation and Chicago’s Great Fire of 1871, which left one-third of the city’s population homeless. He also provided perspective on the same topic in the cover story of the Sept. 11 New York Times Week in Review section.

Philadelphia Daily News, Sept. 14
“Keeping the Faith” features Curlee Raven Holton, professor and head of art and director of Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute, and his work with the American artist Faith Ringgold, a Caldecott Award-winning author and illustrator fo children’s books as well as accomplished quiltmaker.

Spotlight on Students in Their Hometown Newspapers
Gazette (Chevy Chase) (Md.), Jan. 4
For James Higgins ’08 of Bethesda, this year’s winter break from college classes will be anything but usual. Higgins is planning to travel to Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands with 23 other Lafayette students from Tuesday to Jan. 16 to take a special course called “Medieval Architecture in Northern Europe” during the interim session between regular semesters. Higgins will learn first-hand about the technical accomplishments of medieval builders and will study Roman architecture, the foundation on which medieval architecture is based. A Walt Whitman graduate, Higgins is the son of Robert and Janet Higgins of Bethesda.

Burlington County Times (Willingboro, N.J.), Jan. 4
Lafayette students Thomas Struck’06 (Mount Laurel, N.J.), Natasha Washlick ’08 (Mount Laurel, N.J.), and Lindsey Calla’06 (Medford, N.J.) will study abroad during winter break. Struck will go to Spain and Portugal, Washlick to Hawaii, and Calla to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Peter Winsky ’07(Medford, N.J.) took a special six-week course in London last summer.

Sunday Times (Primos, Pa.), Dec. 25
For Madalyn Booth ’08 (Wallingford, Pa.), this year’s winter break from college classes will be anything but usual. Booth will travel to Greece and Italy with 23 other Lafayette Students on Dec. 28 and plans to return Jan. 11 after taking a special Lafayette course called “Back to the Roots of Western Civilization” during the interim session between regular semesters. Booth, a graduate of Strath Haven High School, class of 2004, will study first-hand two great pillars of civilization that form the intellectual and spiritual foundations of the western world and will encounter the enduring force of these cultures up close.

Daily Local News (Pa.), Dec. 22
Marquis Scholar Rachel Heron ’09 of Downingtown earned four first-place finishes and was named best overall speaker at the St. Anselm Forensics Tournament held by St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on Nov. 5. Heron led the Lafayette Forensics Society to victory at the tournament. She won first place in all her events: prose reading, poetry reading, dramatic interpretation, and the dramatic duo event with Mark Kokoska ’08 of Bloomsburg. She also won the trithon competition, an award based on cumulative rankings for the tournament’s best overall speaker.

Darien Times (Conn.), Dec. 22
Matthew Phillips ’07, son of Christopher and Jennifer Phillips of Darien, is one of 23 students who will travel to Hawaii from Jan. 2 to 20 to take a course called “The Geologic Evolution of the Hawaiian Islands.” He is a mechanical engineering major and graduate of the King & Low-Heywood Thomas School.

Greenwich Citizen (Conn.), Dec. 16
For Elizabeth Jenkins ’07 of Greenwich, this year’s winter break from classes will be anything but usual. Jenkins, who is majoring in psychology, is planning to travel to Spain and Portugal with 35 other Lafayette students from Jan. 3-21 for an international concert tour of the Lafayette College Choirs during the interim session between semesters. The choirs’ performances will be part of a course called “Choral Music: Window to Culture” led by Nina Gilbert, director of choral activities. Students will rehearse and perform in interactive concerts with host choirs and conductors. The tour will be enhanced by cultural, literary, and historical studies. Guest speakers will address history, politics, architecture, religion, and language, as well as specialized musical issues.

The Westfield Leader (N.J.), Dec. 15
After completing a summer job as a third-grade teaching assistant, Whitney Laird ’07of Westfield discovered a passion for early childhood education. “I fell in love with teaching,” she says. “I feel that teaching is such a great job. It provides you with so many opportunities to make a difference in a child’s life.” The psychology major served an internship at Lehigh Valley Child Care on College Hill. She gained experience and knowledge in the field through her work in the center’s pre-kindergarten room. The experience was overseen by Susan Basow, Dana Professor of Psychology.

Princeton Packet (Princeton, N.J.), Dec. 13
Princeton Township’s sister city, Pettoranello di Molise, Italy, was always a part of Alisandra Carnevale’s life. Her father immigrated with his parents and sister when he was just 13 months old in 1952, and he has always told her stories about life in the town. But Pettoranello increasingly has become an important part of Carnevale’s daily thoughts. She is writing her senior thesis on the folklore of Pettoranello and the way it has shaped the lives of its residents and its former residents who immigrated to Princeton. The project has been part of Carnevale’s plan since before she began college. While visiting Pettoranello in the summer before her first year at Lafayette, she watched the annual Feast of St. Mary’s Assumed in the Sky. She says she was awed by the strong sense of community and deep religious beliefs revealed in the rite. That moment, Carnevale says, is when she decided to begin a significant study of the town

Daytona Beach News Journal (Fla.), Dec. 12
Ten diverse personalities move into a house and must figure out ways to co-exist. It may sound like a plot line for a television reality show, but for former Daytona Beach resident Bryan Culbertson ’07, it is reality. This fall, he moved into the Reeder Scholars House. There, he and his nine housemates engage in debates and discussions about subjects as wide ranging as guilt, animal rights, and music. “It has been my best semestermainly because of the people I am living with,” he said. “People are moving around talking, debating concepts from classes. There’s much more action going on than in a normal dorm.”

Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, N.Y.), Nov. 28
Sarah Martinak ’08 (Endicott, N.Y.) served as an EXCEL Scholar working with Chip Nataro, assistant professor of chemistry. Nataro’s project examines the properties of a group of compounds called ferrofenalphospense ligands.

Sunday Times (Primos, Pa.), Nov. 27
Her summer experience gave Jenna Bratz ’06 (Springfield, Pa.) a distinctive opportunity to explore complex mathematical theorems and learn what it is like to be a research mathematician. A person of many talents – she’s a standout midfielder on the varsity field hockey team as well as a member of Phi Beta Kappa – Bratz did research on Cayley graphs and the connections between group theory and graph theory. She was part of a four-student group conducting the research in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates at Lafayette. “This summer opened my eyes,” says Bratz, who had always thought she would go into teaching after college. “Now I see what mathematicians do. I know what research is, should I want to go that route. It helped me see the other career paths I could take with math.”

The Progress (N.J.), Nov. 24
Megan Conway ’06 of North Caldwell has joined the Reeder Scholars Program. She is a 2002 graduate of West Essex Regional High School in North Caldwell and is the daughter of Richard and Volma Conway. The Reeder Scholars program will hold dinner discussions and organize activities both on and off campus. It is Lafayette’s newest intellectual residence experience and is in the development stage.

MaizePress-Enterprise (Bloomsburg, Pa.), Nov. 21
Marquis Scholar Mark Kokoska ’08 of Bloomsburg conducted research that will be used to develop models of how fish swim. Kokoska’s work eventually will be used by scientists who investigate the origin of vertebrae and other questions surrounding fish locomotion. Chun Wai Liew, associate professor and head of computer science and Rob Root, associate professor of mathematics, composed half of a team of researchers recently awarded a four-year, $956,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for the study. As a computer science major Kokoska collaborated with Liew and two other students as part of Lafayette’s EXCEL Scholars program

The Courier News (N.J.), Oct. 20
Margaret Tammaro ’08of Dunellen learned what a future in academic research might be like through Lafayette’s EXCEL Scholars program. A biochemistry major, she performed experiments with Yvonne Gindt, assistant professor of chemistry,on protein folding, which could lead to a greater understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes. She submitted her findings in the form of a manuscript to the scientific journal Biochemistry. “It’s a lot of trial and error. Here things don’t always work out. We don’t know what we’re going to get, and sometimes we’re not even sure if the method is going to be the correct one to find what we’re looking for,” Tammaro said. “But the unknown makes it exciting.”

The Summit/Chatham Independent Press (N.J.), Oct. 12
Cadance Hinkle ’07 of Summit took a three-week course in France examining the novels of America’s expatriate writers as part of the College’s course, A Moveable Feast: American Writers in Paris. Hinkle and 16 other students immersed themselves in French culture, examined different cultural forces that shape Parisian and American lifestyles, and toured world-famous sites such as the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Château de Versailles. Hinkle graduated from Summit High School in 2003.

The Suffolk Times (N.Y.), Oct. 6
Caitlin Kelly ’08 of Cutchogueis a member of the new Reeder Scholars program at Lafayette. The “intellectual residence” program offers housing to 11 students in a former fraternity house, where members hold dinner discussions a couple of times a week and organize activities on and off campus. Caitlin recently received the Rexroth Prize in German and works as a German language tutor. She is also a member of Biology Club and Association of Lafayette Feminists, sings with the College Choir, and serves as a student host. Caitlin, a 2004 graduate of Mattituck High School, is the daughter of Tim and Marnie Kelly.

The Dundalk Eagle (Md.), Oct. 6
Christopher Loeffler ’06, a 2002 Dundalk High School graduate, worked this summer as an intern at Valley National Group, a financial services company in Bethlehem, Pa., where he learned virtually every aspect of the company’s client consultation process.

Stratford Star (Conn.), Sept. 22
Patrick Zboray ’07of Stratford served a summer internship at the professional services firm BDO Seidman LLP in New York City under the guidance of David Berliner ’83, a partner in the firm’s financial recovery services practice. Zboray also is a Trustee Scholar at Lafayette.

Suburban News (Village Gazette), (N.J.), Sept. 21
For Kiira Benzing ’07 of Ridgewood, a three-week study abroad course in France examining the novels of America’s most renowned expatriate writers provided dramatic cultural insights that reached far beyond the books. She and 16 Lafayette classmates attended daily classes taught by David Johnson, associate provost, and Bryan Washington, associate professor of English. She is adding to her experience this semester through another study abroad program in France. “Having looked at the two different cultures and then transplanting myself and using my French language knowledge in this very different culture has made me a little more worldly,” she says.

The Susquehanna County Independent (Pa.), Sept. 21
Lori Cooper ’07 of Brackney, a graduate of Montrose Area Junior/Senior High School, conducted EXCEL Scholars research to identify neural controls of the pupil in the turtle as a means of gaining a greater understanding of the emerging field of neuroscience. Cooper, a neuroscience major and member of the track and field team, learned that a turtle’s pupils take much longer to dilate than a human’s when exposed to light, and she conducted experiments to discover why with James Dearworth, assistant professor of biology. Their studies could lead to future research in human neural processes and circadian rhythms, the body’s internal clock that controls biological processes such as sleep, hormone production, and temperature.

Patent Reader (White Plains, N.Y.), Sept. 15
Hannah Tuson ’06, a 2002 graduate of Somers High School, co-authored a research paper that has been published by Journal of Organic Chemistry. Tuson, a biochemistry major, collaborated with William Miles, associate professor of chemistry, through Lafayette’s EXCEL Scholars program, in which students conduct research with faulty while earning a stipend.

The Citizen (Bellevue, Pa.), Sept. 7
EXCEL ScholarGreg Herchenroether ’06 of Pittsburgh, a double major in English and art, worked in the art department’s digital media lab on high-level projects for Ed Kerns, Eugene H. Clapp II ’36 Professor of Art. His work included printing several of his paintings onto canvases in a multi-step process to achieve a layered effect; designing and overseeing production of an exhibit brochure; creating scarves on the digital printer using original and Kerns’ designs; and helping Kerns with experimental work using watercolors and acrylic paints he prepared for a New York exhibit. “I always like the kind of process where I get to work on something step by step until the end and I get to see the final work — something that’s tactile, something I can hold and have, something other than a term paper,” says Herchenroether.

Chelmsford Independent (Concord, Mass.), Aug. 25
As Marquis Scholar Laura Hagopian ’06ofChelmsford enters her fourth year of college and begins applying to medical schools, she does so unsure of the particular branch of medicine she will ultimately practice. But if she one day finds herself leaning toward pediatrics, Hagopian will know exactly what’s in store for her thanks to an alumni internship with pediatrician Philip Goldstein ’70 at Pediatric Medical Associates in Rydal, Pa. For four weeks in July, Hagopian shadowed Goldstein as he cared for children in three different clinics located in urban and suburban areas.

Ambler Gazette (Pa.), Aug. 3
Meghan Goodwin ’06of Dresher spent two and a half months in Shanghai, China, learning Chinese while serving an internship with IBM. A double major in A.B. engineering and economics & business, Goodwin learned of the internship through Ann Barnett ’74, business management director for IBM’s data processing outsourcing operation, at Leopard Career Connections Day, a program sponsored by Lafayette’s career services that brings alumni back to campus to give students career advice and networking opportunities.

Other
Doylestown Patriot (Pa.), Nov. 23
Curlee Raven Holton, professor and head of art, is curator of “Paul Keene: His Art and Legacy,” an exploration of the career of this Philadelphia-born artist. “‘Keene’s greatest legacy,’ Holton writes, ‘will be not only his exceptional works of art but also his humanity and his faith in the potential of each individual to express his or her particular genius.’”

Chronicle Tribune (Marion, Ind.), Oct. 27; Telegraph (Dixon, Ill.); Journal Record (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Oct. 19; Post-Tribune (Gary, Ind.), Oct. 13; Builder Online, Oct. 13; The Times (Munster, Ind.), Oct. 13
Ed Seifried, professor of economics and business, is quoted in a number of articles based on talks given as part of economic forums hosted by banks. He told business leaders and others that the recent national boom to the construction industry may decrease soon, leaving a potentially dangerous hole in already-shaky economic conditions. But while the housing bubble may burst and short-term interest rates will continue to rise, he said, the United States can weather an overall drop in housing prices. “‘Even if we have a slip-up in the economy, we still live in the best economy in the world,’ Seifried said. ‘If we have a recession, your lifestyle will barely change a bit.’”

The Times Record (Brunswick, Maine), Sept. 19
Lafayette is included in a list of colleges with strong geology programs in the College Advisor Weekly column.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.), Sept. 8
An article reviews “Master Artists Master Printers” and “Work by African American Artists from the Experimental Printmaking Institute’s Collections,” two exhibits drawn from the collection of the Experimental Printmaking Institute directed by Curlee Raven Holton, professor and head of art. The exhibits are “a wonderful surpriseThat’s because visitors will not only find quality works that exemplify the best in modern-day printmaking techniques, but the added bonus that many of them were created by some of the most talented and esteemed African-American artists working today.”