EphNotes

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR WILLIAMS ALUMNI, PARENTS, AND FRIENDS

Volume 8, Number 4, June 2003

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COLLEGE NEWS

COLLEGE ACCEPTS MOST SELECTIVE CLASS IN 23 YEARS

A record number of applicants sent Williams’ admission rate for the Class of 2007 down to just 20 percent, its lowest in 23 years. The College accepted 1,092 of the 5,341 who applied; a year ago, 1,122 of 4,930 applicants were admitted. To date, 533 admitted students (260 men and 273 women) have accepted Williams’ offer of admission. The SAT composite average of 1410 is the highest in the College’s history. American students of color comprise 29 percent of the class; another six percent of the class is international. Approximately 45 percent of the class will receive financial aid from Williams.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases/03042802.html

COMMENCEMENT TO FEATURE HUMAN GENOME PIONEER ERIC LANDER, HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS

A leader in today’s genomic revolution, Dr. Eric Lander of MIT’s Whitehead Institute will deliver the principal address at the College’s 214th Commencement on Sunday, June 8. Lander was one of the lead scientists on the sequencing of the human genome, a massive 13-year project completed in April, two years ahead of schedule. Speaking at Saturday’s Baccalaureate service will be Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. In addition to Lander and Ifill, honorary degrees will be conferred on Michael R. Beschloss '77, political historian; James MacGregor Burns '39, Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer and Williams’ Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government, Emeritus; Monica Lozano, president of the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States; Thaddeus Lott, a leader in elementary school education; and Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases/03042804.html

Turf Field honorS Lamb

Williams has begun planning the construction of an all-weather turf field on upper Cole Field to be completed by spring 2004. Funds for the nearly $2 million project came in honor of retiring men’s lacrosse coach Renzie Lamb, for whom the field will be named. The project includes lights and bleachers, and will be used by varsity and junior varsity lacrosse, field hockey, and soccer teams, as well as intramural teams and community athletics groups.

> SEE http://www.williamsrecord.com/wr/?view=article&section=news&id=4565

WHAT’S A WILLIAMS TUTORIAL?

Nothing more than Mark Hopkins and a student on that venerable log, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/chronicle/

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STUDENT AND ALUMNI NEWS

REUNION WEEKEND 2003 fast approaching

Reunions are just around the corner, June 12-15. Check out the link below for details on all of the weekend’s events. The schedule includes lectures, hikes, a discussion with President Morty Schapiro, class dinners, the Annual Meeting -- and “can’t miss” Class Parade. Members of the 50th reunion class of 1953 and the 25th reunion class of 1978 can link to information about their classes’ special gatherings.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/alumni/events/reunion_weekend.php

Rubenstein On Pulitzer-Prize winning reporting team

Grace Rubenstein ’01 was on the news team from the Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Mass. that won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage. Rubenstein was joined by Shawn Boburg ’00, who was recognized in the last edition of EphNotes, in documenting the tragic drowning of four boys.

mideast coverage nets npr’s shuster Overseas Press Club award

Veteran National Public Radio correspondent Mike Shuster ’69 has earned The Overseas Press Club 2002 Lowell Thomas Award for radio coverage of international affairs in his series "The Mideast: A Century of Conflict.” The seven-part series, called one of “the most painstakingly researched news series in NPR's history” by NPR officials, details the history of the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians through interviews with leading historians of the area.

> SEE http://www.npr.org/about/people/bios/mshuster.html

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FACULTY NEWS

Mathematician Adams honored with National teaching Award

Francis C. Oakley Third Century Professor of Mathematics Colin Adams has been honored with the prestigious Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers from Baylor University. A dynamo in the classroom who has done important research in knot theory, Adams has helped bring Williams’ math department to national prominence, with almost three times as many majors per capita than the national average. The award comes with a prize of $15,000, and Adams will deliver a series of lectures at Baylor in September.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases/03042803.html

Read an interview with Adams, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English Robert Bell (the 1998 winner of the Cherry Award), and Assistant Professor of Religion Denise Buell on teaching at Williams.

> SEE http://www.williamsrecord.com/wr/?view=article&section=features&id=4526

shepard chosen for fellowship in fiction

Part-time lecturer in English Karen Shepard ’87 has been awarded the Doris Roberts-William Goyen Fellowship in Fiction by the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. Shepard has published two novels, the most recent of which, "The Bad Boy's Wife," is forthcoming from St. Martin's Press. The grant of $3,000 will allow Shepard, who has also written for Vogue and The Atlantic Monthly, to continue work on new material.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases/03031001.html

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COOL WILLIAMS WEBSITES

a little bit of WILLIAMS for your desktop

Look no further than the download section of the alumni website! Click below to find screensavers of Williams images, MP3 files of College songs, icons for AOL Instant Messenger and more.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/alumni/downloads/

Coming to or going from Billsville?

Eph drivers unite! Use the online alumni rideboard to ask for or offer a ride into or out of Williamstown. Perfect for Reunions and Commencement.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/alumni/rideboard

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EPH SPORTS

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS SIGN SCOTT FARLEY

“Mr. Everything” Scott Farley ’03 signed a free agent deal with the New England Patriots after impressing coaches at a rookie mini-camp. Farley, the son of Williams head football coach Dick Farley, primarily played safety at Williams, but also saw significant time as wide receiver, punter, and kicker. The Patriots are listing the Coca-Cola Gold Helmet New England Div. II-III Player of the Year as a strong safety.

> SEE http://www.williams.edu/athletics/news.php?id=1145

Sports Shorts

Williams is all but assured of winning its seventh Directors’ Cup (formally known as the Sears Cup) in the award's eight-year history, holding a commanding 985.25 to 665.5 lead over second-place College of New Jersey midway through the spring standings. The Ephs should shatter the all-time Div. III Sears Cup point record, which Williams set last year with 989.

The two-time defending national champion men’s tennis team fell 4-0 to Emory in the national final. This year’s young squad battled down a tough road to the championship match, beating No. 1 Gustavus Adolphus and No. 4 UC-Santa Cruz…After falling to Emory in the national semifinals, women’s tennis came back to beat Amherst 5-4 for third at NCAAs…Women’s crew took a disappointing fifth at New Englands after a strong qualifying race. Men’s crew was fourth at the same race…Making its eighth consecutive trip to nationals, golf ended 16th in the country, led by Matt Slovitt ’06 in 34th…All-New England performers Austin Lehn ’03 and Jabe Bergeron ’04 helped baseball reach the NESCAC Final Four…Softball advanced to the NESCAC championship game before falling to Tufts 4-1…Women’s lacrosse fell in the NCAA regional final to rival Middlebury 5-1…A deep Women's Track and Field team took eighth at NCAAs, behind national title-winning performances from Healy Thompson '03 in the shot put and Jenn Campbell '05 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Men's Track and Field took three athletes to nationals, and all three placed in the top-10, netting the team 23rd place.

FOR MORE EPH ATHLETICS NEWS, go to

http://www.williams.edu/athletics/news.php

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YOUR WILLIAMS CONNECTIONS

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Alumni Travel http://www.williams.edu/alumni/continuing_education/travel_opportunities.php

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Campus Calendar http://www.williams.edu/cgi-bin/calendar/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal6&

Eph Sports http://www.williams.edu/alumni/news/sports.php

Williams News http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases/index.html

The Williams Record http://www.williamsrecord.com/wr/

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