the family Connection A Newsletter for Bates Parents and Families Spring 2001 One year, Reese arranged for a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka Creating a Home Away to visit during orientation. The group that evening included students from Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and India, so it from Home wasn't long before an enlightening discussion of Buddhism arose. “I was learning things left and right about Buddhism and all its variances in different countries around the world,” Reese said. Reese works hard to bring people together — especially when they first arrive in Maine. Reese not only helps students feel at home at Bates, he also encourages them to connect with Maine. As part of this year’s International Festival, Reese organized a lunch where interna- tional students could meet and talk with Bates people from Phyllis Graber Jensen Students say seeing James Reese’s friendly face is a great way to start Maine — students, faculty, and staff. “It’s a unique opportunity their Bates experience. for interaction and exchange for two groups important to the ames Reese, associate dean of students, says international campus,” Reese said. J students arrive knowing two things about Maine: snow and lobster. They quickly discover a third — that Reese is an Ngan Vu Trang Dinh ’02 of Vietnam said she’ll never forget the indispensable friend, mentor, and guide to Bates and Maine. time she got a flat tire one hot summer day when moving into summer housing. Reese, passing by on his way to a meeting, “I don’t think there are enough words to describe what he does for us,” Maria Joachim ’01 of Cyprus, said. “He’s like an older continued on p.7 brother, one of my best friends.” Reese, enjoying his 24th year at the College, advises international students on everything from orienting themselves Inside Connection to Maine to visas and tax forms. Often the first Bates person they meet face to face, Reese contacts incoming students before Bates by the Numbers 3 they arrive, sometimes even picking them up at the airport. Spotlight on Seniors 4 This year, 91 international students from 50 countries attend Bates, equaling 5.4 percent of the campus enrollment. For SAT Decision Endures 6 Reese, personally getting to know these students is extremely rewarding. “When I arrived at Bates years ago, everyone told Blooming News 6 me I would have the best job at the College because of the international students. They were right,” Reese said. Joachim Dennis J.Stein A Player with Heart 8 said Reese works hard to bring people together — especially Gala 2001 when they first arrive in Maine. Spring Greetings Students and Internships: By Carole Mathieson P’01 A Winning Combination Co-Chair, 2001 Bates Parents & Family Association and Fund Lucy Lu ’01, a biochemistry On June 4, the Class of 2001 becomes the 135th class to major, spent the past two graduate from Bates. Among those in caps and gowns will summers researching new cancer be my son, Andrew Iappini, and I will watch with pride as vaccines at Memorial Sloan- he accepts his diploma and begins a new chapter of his Kettering Cancer Center in New life. While my experience with the College is unique, we York City, one of the nation’s top are all connected to the Bates community and share in its cancer hospitals. successes and milestones. Some of you have students who are ready to bid farewell to Bates life and take on the Lu found it fulfilling to be world. Others of you are watching as your child finishes involved in research that could high school and prepares to enter Bates. To all of you in cure cancer. Yet, making rounds the midst of these exciting milestones — congratulations! with doctors and interacting with Phyllis Graber Jensen Lucy Lu ’01 patients — some terminally ill — Thank You! perhaps made the bigger impact on what she hopes to accom- Through the efforts of the volunteers on the Parents Fund plish in life. Committee, the 2001 Fund has raised nearly $489,000 to date. We are well on our way to meeting our goal of “I want to work more with people,” Lu said. “I want to bring $550,000 from 1,400 Bates families. As co-chair of the together my lab work with clinic work to be able to treat cancer in the best possible way.” 2001 Parents Fund, I have seen tremendous generosity and am thrilled with the commitment from Bates parents, fami- lies, and friends. Thank you to the 1,000-plus families that have already made their gift to the Fund. Our gifts help “Internships are a great way Bates provide all students and faculty with the best pro- for students to connect with grams, facilities, events, and research opportunities. I have personally seen the impact these funds have had on the real world.” Andrews's senior thesis work. In addition, I know how the Crew Team has benefited from gifts made to the Bates A native of China, Lu moved with her family to South Orange, Parents Fund. Every gift, large or small, helps to make a N.J., when she was 13. She returned to China as part of a significant difference for our students. Bates semester abroad program, an experience that solidified her conviction to help people. She returned to America deter- Please Join Me mined not to take her opportunities for granted. Volunteering for the Parents & Family Association gives me the opportunity to stay connected in Andrew’s life at Lu’s opportunities, in turn, have been made possible by finan- Bates. Some parents mistakenly assume there is little room cial support from Bates and the alumni community. The person to continue to be involved in their son or daughter’s in charge of her first internship was Bates alumnus Howard college experience. Be assured, there is a role for you! I Scher ’72, who has long sponsored internships and welcomed invite and encourage you to invest some of your free time Bates students into his labs. Chief of the Genitourinary volunteering for the Parents & Family Association. I hope Oncology Service at Sloan-Kettering, Dr. Scher is considered you will consider working for the Bates Parents Fund or one of the nation’s leading cancer researchers. the Welcome Committee, or volunteering to work with Admissions and the Office of Career Services programs. The College’s Ladd Internship Program has also funded her The work is engaging and the results are rewarding. To work. “Internships are a great way for students to connect with the real world,” Lu said. The Ladd Internship Program, begun find out more, please call 207-786-6336, or e-mail in 1978, is made possible through the George and Helen Ladd [email protected]. Charitable Corporation. The program was begun by George E. Ladd Jr., a Bates benefactor interested in exposing liberal arts students to the working world. During her work at Sloan-Kettering, Lu recalls translating for a Chinese-speaking couple, the husband facing terminal cancer, and realizing how important the interpersonal side of medicine can be. Lu hopes to do more research work after graduation and although medical school is an option for her, she feels 2 drawn to work in international public health. Professorships Honor Two Faculty Members Bates by the Numbers: Professor of Russian Jane Costlow and Professor of Music Short Term Countdown James Parakilas are the latest Bates faculty members to enjoy one of the highest faculty honors: appointment to an endowed 868 miles to be pedaled during Short Term by professorship. students and faculty as they retrace, on mountain bikes, one of the great pilgrimage Costlow is the inaugural Christian A. Johnson Professor of routes in the Middle Ages, from Pau, France, Interdisciplinary Studies, while Parakilas is the first James L. to the tomb of St. James in Santiago, Spain. Moody, Jr. Family Professor of Performing Arts. The Short Term adventure is led by French professor Dick Williamson and Spanish Costlow, the author of two books professor Francisca López on Russian literature, was recently awarded a Phillips Faculty 380 feet above sea level of Mount David, the Fellowship from Bates funding her highest point on campus studies in Russia. There, her aca- demic work has looked at the sig- 254 red maple trees on campus, the most of nificance of the forest in Russian any species culture, as a source of legend, as an economic resource, and as an 152 student capacity of Smith Hall, the largest historic place of refuge and resistance. residence on campus Phyllis Graber Jensen Jane Costlow Costlow’s published work includes 94 highest recorded temperature in May an acclaimed translation of The Tragic Menagerie, a recently rediscovered piece of Russian liter- 23 lowest recorded temperature in May ature. The translation was praised by both The New York Times and the New Yorker and garnered a best-translation 67 minutes of daylight added during Short Term prize from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages. 57 students pursuing honors in the Class of 2001, as of February The Johnson professorship was made possible by a $1.2- million grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor 10 Receptions around the country in April, Foundation of New York City. sponsored by Bates for admitted Bates students and their parents to meet current Parakilas, appointed to the Moody students, parents, and College representatives Family Professorship, recently co- wrote and edited Piano Roles: 9 Short Term units that offer significant off- Three Hundred Years of Life with campus or abroad travel the Piano, published by Yale University Press.