Luxesto Winter 2001

E Through a bequest of the remainder of Although he has never felt the desire to G E his estate, William Weber ’39 will pro - get into politics himself, Mr. Weber has a L vide Kalamazoo College an endowed keen interest in the American political L William Weber professorship – the Weber Professorship system. He believes in the engagement of O Williamin Social Science. Wecitibzens in theepolitical pror cess. Politics, C he says, "deeply influences nearly all O After graduating from Kalamazoo aspects of our lives and fortunes, public and O College with a degree in physics, Weber private." Z A LuxEsto worked as a research physicist for Winter 2001 Distillation Products, Inc. (a division of He dedicated his gift to scholarship and M Eastman Kodak Company) in Rochester, teaching that will A New York. In the late 1960s he worked L A for two years as a volunteer in Cameroon, K Africa, supervising maintenance and con - "examine the political process struction at a Presbyterian secondary F boarding school. In 1969 he returned to and its effects, and broadly and O the Seattl e-Tacoma area of Washington E and joined the local chapter of the publicly disseminate, in College N I National Audubon Society. He also sup - Z ported several other environmental and and in public press and/or aca - A civic organizations. In 1980 he became a G member of Tacoma demic papers, the findings A Mountain Rescue. M so as to encourage the improve - E During his varied career, Weber has H ment of that process, returned to Kalamazoo College on T numerous occasions. He often attends, to the benefit of our citizens, among other events, the Weber Lectureship in Social Science, which he the nation, and the world." “INSIDE ME established in 1987. IT RAINS, IT Office of College Communication 1200 Academy Street RAINS...” Kalamazoo Michigan 49006-3295 Our endowment enables the farther journey KODIAK/KALAMAZOO A biologist digging into human history, David Evans explores the long-deserted barracks of a R coastal gun battery on Kodiak Island. Since his "David Evans is back." return to Kalamazoo, David has investigated whether the elephant signifies the 404th Bomb Squadron, a group of huge World War II B-24 Kalamazoo College and Kodiak Islanders planes coated with desert tan camouflage paint could have shared that expression at the Reunited Alums Share for service in North Africa.The planes ended up in the Aleutian Islands. Some say through sim - antipodes of each of the past two summers. Dream to Help a Country ple reassignment; others contend the squadron O was bound all along for the Aleutians, a very secret theatre of operations, and the desert tan Early summer finds the Kalamazoo College Martin Acosta '97 and John Scribner '98 share a Kalamazoo College paint was a deception to mask the real desti - biology professor back at Kodiak Island, friendship and a love of bicycling. Those shared traits, combined with nation. In either case, the desert tan paint began to oxidize in the Alaskan climate to a where he serves as a volunteer naturalist, John's serendipitous Peace Corps posting, may transform a country. shade of pink, and the enormous aircraft historian, and writer at Fort Abercrombie became known as pink elephants. State Historical Park. At the end of Alaska's Martin and John first met in 1996, during a summer quarter at Kalamazoo D short summer, David returns to Kalamazoo College. They became good friends and shared several classes and bicycling College, head full of memories and new trips together. In 1997, Martin graduated and returned to his native Ecuador . ideas, heart sparked with a new passion for After his 1998 graduation, John joined the Peace Corps. A year later, he primary historical research, and pockets was posted to Ecuador, where he serves as a volunteer in a village in the stuffed with photos and copies of the col - rainforest called Palora. umn he writes for the local Kodiak newspa - A John and Martin witness the painful lack of opportunities for young per. Indeed, "David Evans is back." Ecuadorians who often believe that the only hope for their futures depends upon working (legally or illegally) in the United States or Europe. In 1999, And this editor of LuxEsto is a big fan. At 10 percent of Ecuador's population emigrated. Entire villages in the first, I'm amused a former English major southern part of the country are bereft of men. In many places, including like me so looks forward to reading Palora, grandparents or aunts raise the children whose parents work U the work of one of the College's biology abroad. An underground industry has grown to meet the demand of professors. But David's far-ranging Ecuadorians who can find no future in their homeland. "Coyotes," the curiosity, his gift for observation and smugglers in this underground human trade, charge as much as $10,000 language, and his passion for knowledge for the one-way trip from the Ecuadorian coast to a port in the Western outside his discipline combine to make an U.S., Mexico, or Europe. To raise such a sum, families often must risk extraordinary gift. everything, including their farms and their children's education. C The combination of teachers like David and The solution to this exodus is opportunities at home, and Martin and the program at Kalamazoo College bestow John plan to establish The Palora Foundation, a non-profit organization upon students this very gift: a spirit of to promote rural development through tourism and sustainable, ecological curiosity and the joy of knowing something projects in small villages. Local Ecuadorians, with the help of Peace E simply for the sake of knowing it. By the Corps volunteers, would develop and run the projects. The economic end of summer, this editor is happy that opportunities from these projects would allow villagers to find hopeful futures in their homeland. "David Evans is back." Martin and John hope to develop a network of fundraisers for the Palora This issue of LuxEsto includes portions of Foundation in the United States. Through a partnership with BikEcuador, two of David's Summer 2000 Kodiak the pair will organize an eight-day bicycling tour through the highland columns, his first after his return to Kodiak and rainforests of the country. The tour will be free to Palora Foundation ("Naturalist travels back to Kodiak") and, fundraisers who successfully reach predetermined fundraising goals. one of this editor's favorites, a piece on The tour would wind through the small villages where Palora Foundation what David terms the "island cycle" of rang - grants will support local projects. The fundraisers will interact with the ing and return. The latter shows the writer local people, sharing and learning their unique and different cultures. at his best, connecting biology, history, and John Scribner (lower photo) and Martin Acosta on the shore human nature. But that column may be "None of this is a reality yet," said Martin. "At this point, we need financial of the Rio Pastaza in Palora, Ecuador. John and Martin plan to organize a bike tour that would visit this site. about David himself, ranging out and and moral support." Martin and John encourage any alumni who may be returning, between two island homes. And interested in the Palora Foundation to contact them at if Kodiak and Kalamazoo seem like similar habitat, it's because David's curiosity shapes [email protected] or visit the web site at them so. Maybe that's what makes him such http://palora.4t.com. a good teacher even for students who have never taken his classes. Sunset from the porch of the volunteer's cabin, where David spends his summers on Kodiak Island. David's first assignment, a nature hike with a group of first-graders. true of Alutiiq hunters paddling their Young barnacles are released in the water baidarkas to far shores, and performing some as free-swimming larvae bearing little impressive navigation feats to find their way resemblance to the adults. Theoretically, back home. they have access to any part of the world's oceans visited by wave or current. But Today's fishing fleet preserves that tradition, after a few weeks of this free existence, they and the tendency even seems to extend to settle among adult barnacles by cementing much of Kodiak's non-fishing population. themselves head down with an adhesive At some time (usually starting during they secrete. (The nature of that cement is adolescent years) there is often a strong desire being studied for its potential in dental to get away from the Island. Usually a period reconstruction!) of extensive travel far from Kodiak follows, with an eventual return here to a more What makes them settle, after their FROM "Naturalist travels back to settled adult existence. wandering sojourn, on rocks with other Kodiak" I ended the school year at my barnacles? How do they know when to Michigan college with the ritualized formality When I lead tidepool walks at Fort settle down after they've experienced the of academic processions and commencement Abercrombie, I continue to be impressed watery world out there, and how do they exercises, and the following day found myself with the hundreds of different kinds of know they're back? back with the Sitka spruce rainforest, the organisms that make the shores of the Island wildflower meadow and the expansive vistas their home. And all of them, sponges, sea Apparently the process has something to of Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park. anemones, and periwinkles alike, show this do with being able to chemically detect the island pattern.

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