ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE LIBRARY 1111111111111i~I1filll1fil11r~w113 1696 01138 2387 ~1111111111111 [ FAREWELL TO THE LIBERTY TREE The 400-year-old Liberty Tree, beloved by generations of Annapolis students, finally succumbed to age and storm damage .......................14 READING, WRITING & S!JOHN'S COLLEGE POKEMON Thro groups of St. John's alumni ANNAPOLIS ·SANTA FE are involved with alternative schools that stress student-initiated learning ..................................... 16 RECENT GRADUATES COOL JOBS Dane Owen (SF98) imports Japanese arts and antiques; Hillary Fields (SF97) writes romance nov- Deirdre O'Shea (A98) thinks for Priceline.com.................. 2L 24, 28 How the Santa Fe art tutorials work. .... ........ 8 From the Bell Towers: The search for a new p..resident in Santa Fe; Newton's apple comes to SJC; Philanthropia reports success in fundraising; the College Creek shoreline gets a new marsh ............ 2 The Finding the music in ancient Greek. .......................... 9 ~chola1·sn11>: Annapolis tutor Beate Ruhm von Oppen has been working to uncover the actions and motivations of a hero of the German resistance ................................... 10 Alumni Profiles: Patti Nogales (A82) has written a book about metapnors; William Lang (A69) is a rare book librarian ................ 12" 22 ru.uia_puu.:::i, news of what's to come in Santa Fe ......... .. (JJ ..0 ..0 Q ~~c~~·.~·~·· Association: Awards of 1'. a.1.uu.uu., how the -5"' C2 Class ... 20 ............................... 7 Frolll the Bell To-wers ... NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE APPROVED •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Presidential Search Underway overnance Committee of the the Polity of the college in accordance Committee. Second, that the Tilles (A59); Jonathan Zavin (A68); oard of Visitors and with the committee's recommenda­ Management Committee will have Charles Watts (Board member and for­ Novernors, chaired by Glenda tions. The amendment reads: executive authority over the college mer president of Bucknell University); Eoyang (SF76), met this fall and pro­ Effective January !, 2000, there shall as a whole with respect to certain Eric Salem (A77, Annapolis faculty posed some changes in the way the be a Management Committee for the matters, outlined below, but not over representative); David Levine (A67, college is administered. The commit­ college composed ofthe Presidents curricular matters assigned to the Santa Fe faculty representative); and and Deans ofboth campuses. The Instruction Committee. The tee's proposals were presented on ex-officio, Harvey Flaumenhaft, Chair ofthe Management Committee Management Committee will lead col­ both campuses in October and dis­ Annapolis dean, and James Carey, will be appointed annually by the lege-wide strategic planning efforts; cussed by the faculty and staff. Santa Fe dean. The committee is Members of the committee also visit­ Board of Visitors and Governors. coordinate advancement efforts on charged with recommending a candi­ ed each campus and met with faculty, With the advice ofthe Committee, and the two campuses, including external date or candidates and with consulting staff, students, alumni, and adminis­ in a collegial manner, the Chair shall relations and publications that repre­ with "all ... appropriate persons on trators to answer questions. The pro­ exercise executive authority over the sent the college as a whole, develop­ both campuses." Final candidates will posals centered around an amend­ college as a whole with respect to mat­ ment initiatives, and capital cam­ ters assigned by the Board of Visitors paigns; approve policy for financial meet with members of the faculty and ment to the Polity that would estab­ and Governors. All otherprovisions of aid and admissions for each campus; lish a Management Committee to with the Instruction Committee on the Polity, including the duties ofthe oversee alumni relations efforts; man­ oversee certain college-wide matters. both campuses. According to Presidents and Deans, will remain in age a process for consolidated "While recognizing the importance of Ms. Anderson, a national search has fall force and effect, except as resource planning, including review having two presidents, one for each begun, with an advertisement in the modified hereby. This provision will of campus-specific budgets, prepara­ campus, the committee attempted to Chronicle ofHigher Education and let­ terminate in five years from the date tion of a college-wide budget, and address issues of concern about col­ ters to the presidents of more than a ofits adoption unless renewed by an implementation of a college-wide hundred liberal arts colleges to solicit lege unity and effective strategic plan­ affirmative vote ofthe Board of information management system. nominations. Alumni are invited to ning. The process entailed much dis­ Visitors and Governors in the year With the resignation of John cussion of arguments for and against prior to its expiration. Agresto as president in Santa Fe, the forward ideas for nominations to Ms. the proposals. The Board also passed several Board also appointed a search com­ Anderson (c/o Division of Medical After presentation of the major resolutions. First, that Christopher B. mittee to look for and recommend a Education, Association of American arguments at the meeting of the Nelson (SF70), president of the new president. Search Committee Medical Colleges, 2450 N St. NW, Board of Visitors and Governors in Annapolis campus, will serve as the members are: Brownell Anderson, Washington, D.C. 20037). • November, the Board voted to amend first chair of the new Management Chair; Susan Ferron (SF77); William -by Barbara Goyette "WHY SHOULD THAT APPLE ALWAYS DESCEND PERPENDICULARLY TO THE GROUND?" avingrecentlymourned the loss of the Liberty Tree, St. John's hopes to the shade of some apple trees. AB they sat chatting, Newton told Stukeleythat soon acquire a new tree that is rich in history, grown from an apple "he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation ae:scE~naleafrom a tree on Isaac Newton's estate in England. Newton was came into his mind. It was occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contem­ inspired to formulate his theory of universal gravitation bywatching an apple plative mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the from one of his trees fall to the ground. A gift from the 1999 graduating class, ground, thought he to himself. Why should it not go sideways or upwards, but the apple is being cultivated at Historic London constantly to the earth's centre." Town and Gardens, a restored 18th century tav­ John Conduitt recorded a similar story ern with a period garden and orchard in about Isaac Newton. ""Whilst he was musing in a Edgewater, about five miles south of Annapolis. garden it came into his thought that the power A seedling should be ready for planting on the of gravity (which brought an apple from the tree Annapolis campus in about two years. to the ground) was not limited to a certain dis­ The idea for the apple tree actually came tance from the earth but that this power must before the demise of the Liberty Tree, accord- extend much farther than was usually thought to Kelly O'Malley (A99), senior class gift co­ Why not as high as the moon said he to himself leader along with Sarah Dawson Hood (A99). & if so that must influence her motion & per­ "Isn't it ironic?" she says. "We had no clue. haps retain her in her orbit." There were jokes that there would be twu his­ The apple tree is said to have died toric trees. Now, I guess there will be only in but grafts were taken before it died. An one." apple from a tree descended from the miginal The class came up with the idea for the gift one on the estate was for the college, after reading about the Newton apple tree in :E and the curator Manor. the Farmers Almanac. Miss searched ~ The is Flower of Kent, a very old on the web until she came up with a source fm variety of cooking apple. the apple tree: the National Trust in England, The arrived enclosed in a recycled toy who agreed to provide an apple from Woolsthorpe Manor, Newton's estate. box. Since the nearby historic site of London Miss O'Malley said the students were considering other gift ideas such as a Town had experience cultivating apples for its own orchard, the college new scoreboard for the gym. "That failed miserably," she said. When Jonathan asked the site's director, Greg Stiverson, whether they could cultivate the Pezold (A99) stood up during a class meeting and suggested the apple, everyone seedling. London Town horticulturist Mollie Ridout agreed. The apple was sur­ loved the idea immediately. The apple itself was free, and the cost of postage was prisingly large for an old variety, according to Ms. Ridout. When she cut the only 15 British pounds, so the students used the remaining class gift money to apple open, she discovered it held only two seeds. In order to maximize their make a donation to Newton's former estate, and to set up a fund for the college's chances for producing seedlings, she sprayed them with a fungicide and then music library. placed each one in a separate sand-filled ziplock bag in a separate refrigerator Newton's early work on gravitation was done in 1665 and 1666 when he was where they will spend the winter, in an environment that mimics the natural con­ 22 or 23 years old. He was staying at his mother's house in Woolsthorpe, where ditions of cold stratification. In March, she will put the seeds in potting soil and he had gone to avoid the plague. It was there that he saw the apple drop. Seve1·al transfer them to a greenhouse on a heat mat. Ms. Ridout says she has had a 953 reliable accounts describe such an event, although there is no indication that the success rate in germinating apple seeds.