Sequel (Winter '12) by Paul Smith's College

Sequel PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE THE COLLEGE OF THE ADIRONDACKS WINTER 2012

ROAD warriorS

Admissions reps hit the highway to build a class

BIKING ’ROUND THE WORLD REBUILDING AFTER IRENE

[ table of contents ] Paul Smith’s College

Winter 2012

On the cover: Ed Neuburger on his way to meet a student at Bishop Maginn High School in Albany, N.Y. PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL BUCKOWSKI

[ DEPARTMENTS ] To Our Readers

Faculty & Staff Notes

Shore Lines

Evergreens

Q&A

How To

Spaces

Our Adirondacks

Alumni Life

Class Notes

Parting Shot

Write to Sequel: PSC Alumni Office P.O. Box 265 Paul Smiths, NY 12970-0265 Fax: (518) 327-6267 E-mail: alumni@paulsmiths.edu

CONNECT WITH US:

Sequel | Winter 2012

10 6 Shore lines Tagging trees ... Dillon Park in the spotlight ... iPads and Kindles at the library ... and more. 10 For the birds The kestrel’s habitat was shrinking. But Mark Manske and several Paul Smith's students reversed that. 14 Creative license Carol Marie (Cervelloni ’81) Vossler traded in a career in the woods for the art studio. 20 One mean Irene Paul Smith’s students put on workgloves and help the region recover from Tropical Storm Irene.

7 21 Round trip Janice Koch ’77 and her partner go for a nice bike ride – all the way around the world.

Sequel PAUL SMITH’s COLLEGE THE COLLEGE OF THE ADIRONDACKS winter 2012

President John W. Mills, Ph.D. Managing Editor Kenneth Aaron Director of Communications and Marketing kaaron@paulsmiths.edu WRITER Bob Bennett Communications Coordinator COLLEGE Advancement Staff F. Raymond Agnew Vice President for College Advancement Renee Burslem Major Gifts and Planned Giving Officer Mary L. McLean Director of Advancement Services Heather Tuttle Alumni Relations Coordinator Jeffrey S. Walton Major Gifts and Planned Giving Officer Andrea Wilcox Assistant to the Vice President

21 26

Contributors Nancie Battaglia Paul Buckowski Kelli Catana Pat Hendrick

Kathleen Keck Janice Koch ’77 Doug Mielke Greg Nesbit

DESIGN Maria M. Stoodley Printing Service Press Connecticut / Scott Smith ’77 Wethersfield, Conn. Trustees of Paul Smith’s College E. Philip Saunders, Chairman Paul F. Ciminelli, Treasurer Caroline D. Lussi ’60, Secretary John A. Paganelli Stuart H. Angert Lee Quaintance Paul E. Avery Thomas Rosol ’74 Paul M. Cantwell Jr. James L. Sonneborn Robert Chur Nora Sullivan Thad Collum Patricia Keane Dowden Daniel D. Tessoni Elizabeth Thorndike Anthony L. Johnson Katharine H. Welling Pieter V.C. Litchfield Edward J. McAree

Trustees Emeriti Donald O. John W. Herold ’65 Benjamin ’56 M. Curtiss Ralph Blum ’54 Hopkins ’48 Richard C. Cattani ‘64 Frank M. Hutchins John T. Dillon ’58 Sheila Hutt William B. Hale Charles L. Ritchie Jr. Calista L. Harder Joan H. Weill

26 Road warrior Ever wonder how we build a class of students? Hit the road with admissions rep Ed Neuburger to find out.

35 We want you The Distinguished Alumni Task Force has given back – and they'd like your support, too.

Honorary Trustee Stirling Tomkins Jr.

Published by the Office of College Advancement.

Sequel | Winter 2012

[ to our readers ]

Getting around I’ve

always wanted to do a travel issue – not because I’d get to visit lots of glamorous places on the college’s dime, mind you, but because of the eye-opening experience it would be for you, dear reader. I’ll have to get to work on that. In the meantime, though, this issue is a good warmup. We’ll start close to home as we hit the road with Ed Neuburger, one of our admissions counselors, to explore just how we build our incoming classes. Our fall enrollment, 1,063 students, reached its highest level since the Olympics rolled through Lake Placid. But those students didn’t get here by accident: It took a lot of work by counselors such as Ed, whom we followed on his loop of college fairs and high school visits in Albany and the Southern Tier. (Make a note of the byline on the article: Bob Bennett joined our communications staff this fall. Bob, a talented writer and former Plattsburgh Press-Republican reporter, also did a cool piece about Luke Myers ’05 in this issue.)

Want to go farther than Oneonta? Well, how about Nepal? Vietnam? Tahiti? Those are just a few of the places where Janice Koch ’77 and her partner, Doug Mielke, take us on a round-the-world bicycle tour they finished last year. My legs got tired just listening to them talk about their journey. But we can all enjoy Doug's great photos without breaking a sweat. Janice is living proof: Graduate from Paul Smith’s, go far. You already know that: Where, after all, would you be without Paul Smith’s College? That’s the question a group of our brightest alums ask in a letter on page 35. As our Distinguished Alumni Task Force, they’re taking the lead in seeking your support for this institution. As proud as we are of our growth, it doesn’t come without challenges – and we’re not going to be able to surmount them without your help.

Kenneth Aaron Director of Communications & Marketing

The Paul Smith's College Fund Our annual fund has a new name, but its mission is the same: To provide the scholarships, faculty support and equipment that make an education here so special. The Paul Smith’s College Fund affects all of us, every day. Please donate today at www.paulsmiths.edu/give.

knockout

Sequel | Winter 2012

[ FACULTY & STAFF NOTES] Commercial, Applied and Liberal Arts Andrew Andermatt, associate professor, recently defended his doctoral dissertation, “A Toxic Discourse: Contaminated Hometown Communities in Selected U. S. Ecocatastrophe Prose 1970-2005,” at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Andermatt joined the School of Commercial, Applied, and Liberal Arts this semester.

The American Culinary Federation has designated Kevin McCarthy a Certified Executive Chef (CEC) and designated Deborah Misik a Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC). Rebecca Romeo joined the School of Commercial, Applied and Liberal Arts faculty as an instructor in the English department after 10 years in banking and 15 in elementary education. Romeo lives in Vermontville with her husband, Patrick, and their children and pets.

Natural Resource Management and Ecology Timothy Chick, adjunct,

lectured about “A Practitioner’s Guide to Allelopathy” at the Minnesota Shade Tree Short Course in March.

Jorie Favreau, associate

professor, brought students to Hawaii in November for the national meeting of The Wildlife Society. Students went bird watching in a cloud forest, saw endangered species that may go extinct in our lifetimes, visited Volcanoes National Park, hiked through a crater, saw the red glow of the lava at night, competed in a quiz bowl, participated in a professionalstudent mixer and attended talks.

Nancie Battaglia

TOP: Virginia McAleese, director of the Academic Success Center.

Eric Holmlund, professor,

presented at the International Conference of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences in June 2011 in Burlington, Vt. His presentation, “Narratives of Place, Class and Conflict in the Adirondack Park,” summarized the process and findings of his dissertation. David Patrick, assistant professor, attended the 2011 Africa Section of the Society for Conservation Biology in Arusha, Tanzania, where he presented “The Road Less Travelled: Applying Knowledge of Amphibian and Reptile Road Ecology to Help in Pro-Actively Designing Transportation Networks in the Developing World.” Following the conference, he traveled to Tanzania’s East Usambara Mountains to continue a collaborative research project with conserving endemic chameleons.

LEFT: Chef Kevin McCarthy inspecting the crop in the college's greenhouse.

Student Success: Modeling High Risk Students for Early Intervention” at the Rapid Insight Users Conference in New Hampshire.

GREG NESBIT

Additionally, Patrick and Elizabeth Harper, lecturer, co-conducted a research project funded by the Northeastern States Research Consortium this summer focusing on the mink frog, a coldadapted amphibian species likely vulnerable to climate change. They also co-wrote a paper titled “Abundance and Roosting Ecology of Chameleons in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, and the Potential Effects of Harvesting,” which was accepted by the Journal of Herpetological Conservation and Biology.

Other faculty and staff Loralyn Taylor, registrar and

Courtesy jorie favreau

Paul Smith's College students in Hawaii for the national meeting of The Wildlife Society.

director of institutional research, presented a webinar, “Institutional Effectiveness through IR Efficiency,” to more than 50 institutional research professionals throughout the country in June. Additionally in June, Taylor presented “Comprehensive

Taylor and Phil Taylor, dean of the School of Commercial, Applied and Liberal Arts, presented a workshop, “Ideas, Change and Student Success – How to Navigate a Process for Real Change on your Campus,” at the National Symposium for Student Retention in Charleston, S.C., in November. Also at the symposium, Taylor and Virginia McAleese, director of the Academic Success Center, presented a paper, “Successful Initiation of a Campus-wide, Comprehensive Student Support Program.” They also presented two poster presentations: Taylor’s was titled “Modeling High Risk Students for Early Intervention,” and McAleese’s was called “Coordinating Student Success: Managing Information across Multiple Departments.” Jim Tucker, athletic director, was

selected as the technical delegate for the 2013 World Winter Special Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the sport of snowshoeing.

Sequel | Winter 2012

[ shore lines]

KENNETH AARON

Arbor ardor

PHOTOS by Nancie Battaglia

ever let it be said that Randall Swanson isn’t seeing the forest for the trees. Each of ‘em. Swanson, an associate professor of forestry, inventoried all the trees on the landscaped portions of campus over the summer. There are 300 in all. He tagged each with an aluminum disk and compiled the results on an Excel spreadsheet. “This inventory allows us to have an accurate listing of campus trees for purposes of study and research,” he says. “Faculty can use this inventory for teaching and research purposes, students will be given access so they can study required trees outside of dendrology classes, and staff and guests with an interest in trees will now have a listing for identification purposes.” The records can also help keep track of insect and disease outbreaks by species. The database includes every tree’s scientific name, diameter, condition and location. Some entries also include general comments and a GPS location. The disks are labeled with numbers, rather than the names of the trees, so students taking quizzes on tree types won’t find the answers affixed to the trunks. – kenneth aaron

Sweet summer song

fiddler performs at the Mountain Arts Gathering, a music camp led by Kary Johnson and Prof. Curt Stager. The 2012 session runs from July 22-28 (info at www. mountainartsgathering.com). Also returning this summer: the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. Contact the conference services office at (518) 327-6430 to book your event!

Kenneth aaron

Sequel | Winter 2012

Guests at International Paper John Dillon Park find a fully accessible wilderness experience, whether on land or water.

Dillon Park: All welcome

nternational Paper John Dillon Park is one of the college’s most beautiful assets – but many local residents drive by it without a thought. This fall, though, Paul Smith’s worked with the community to change that. In September, Paul Smith’s held an open house at Dillon with the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce. In October, residents of Saranac Village at Will Rogers, a retirement community, toured the 200-acre park located on Route 30 between Long Lake and Tupper Lake. More than 250 guests turned up for the first-ever "Walk in the Woods” in September. They enjoyed food prepared and served by the college’s own culinary and hospitality students as well as food and drink from Tupper Lake businesses including P-2's Irish Pub, The Cellar Restaurant, The Park Restaurant and The Marketplace. "I have received several comments from guests about the hidden gem that is John Dillon Park," says Douglas Wright, the president of the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce. "The park presented itself as the

quintessential Adirondack scene that so many hope to enjoy, whether they are five or 500 miles away. And Paul Smith's has done a wonderful job to ensure that any and all are welcome to enjoy this gift." Dillon's wheelchair-friendly trails, lean-tos and outhouses were designed to provide people with limited mobility a fully accessible wilderness experience. Prof. Karen Boldis and her recreation program planning class proved that when they hosted a handful of residents, led by Will Rogers employee Jenn Grissy, in October. Boldis' students led the tour of the trails and campsites. "This place is just beautiful," said Jerry Cheney, a Will Rogers resident. "And it's designed wonderfully because a lot of the people here couldn't experience this anywhere else." While the park was built to facilitate the elderly and people with disabilities, it is open to all. Dillon is closed for the season but will reopen in the spring. – Bob Bennett

EPA backs eco efforts

Back to the farm

hen Paul Smith’s Hotel was thriving, a nearby garden provided food for the guests. Now, that same field is being farmed again and providing crops for the student-run St. Regis Café. Here, senior Sarah Vella holds a portion of the fall harvest. More than 50 volunteers helped harvest the crops, which included potatoes, squash and more. "It made sense," says Vella, who managed the garden, named for longtime prof Gould Hoyt, last summer. "It completes the full circle that space has made.” – BB

aul Smith’s efforts to safeguard the environment were backed by a pair of grants awarded this year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The grants, worth more than KENNETH AARON $550,000, will help the college stave off invasive EPA Regional species on Adirondack waterways and participate in Administrator a project aimed at monitoring the effects of climate Judith Enck change on wetlands in the Adirondacks. presents a grant The college’s Watershed Stewardship Program, on campus last summer. which is part of the Adirondack Watershed Institute, received a $333,000 grant to continue operating a boat-inspection program at launches in the western Adirondacks. That program expanded significantly last summer, and stewards will begin checking boats in the Oswegatchie River, Raquette River and Black River watersheds for stowaway invasive species later this year. The other grant, for $227,000, was awarded to an Adirondack Park Agency program to establish a program to monitor and analyze climate change in wetlands throughout the park. As a partner in the grant, the Center for Adirondack Biodiversity at Paul Smith’s will identify indicators that link changes in wetlands to subsequent changes in the terrestrial ecosystem, as well as develop training for citizenscientists who volunteer to participate in the monitoring. – kA

KENNETH AARON

A year later, the VIC thrives

2010, the VIC was facing an uncertain future: State budget cuts threatened to close the community gem. Then Paul Smith’s stepped in last January to take over the reins of the interpretive center. What a difference a year makes. More than half of the student population used the building in 2011. Cross-country runners hit its trails, culinary arts students search the property for mushrooms and forestry students cut trails and practice techniques there. "In the past year, we have met our goals of engaging the students, faculty and staff at the VIC, not to mention the local community,” says Brian McDonnell, the site’s director. “We have increased programming and recreational use and strengthened our ties with the area art scene.” Several exhibits have graced the center’s walls, and Peter Ostroushko, the former music director of NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion," performed. Lectures on topics including climate change and astronomy have also kept a steady flow of visitors to the VIC. A series of trail runs kept athletes coming to the center through the fall. And nature programs for children and adults, including backyard bird feeding and the Little Bobcats program, ensured continued

community access – a big reason Paul Smith’s intervened when the state was on the way out. Additionally, the VIC’s trails have been significantly upgraded. The amount of terrain available for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing has practically doubled, and new grooming equipment is making conditions better than ever when snow falls. But the VIC needs to generate revenue so as not to rely on tuition dollars to support it. That's why a modest fee has been established for winter trail use. And the visitors’ building itself has been rented to host meetings, events and special

occasions. “We are interested in bringing more entrepreneurial activity to the center and creating more opportunities to generate revenue to sustain the center," McDonnell says. For more information, please call the VIC at (518) 327-6241 or email Sarah Keyes at skeyes@paulsmiths.edu. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday. Spring hours TBA. (Trails are open year-round.)

– BB

nancie battaglia

Check these out

[ shore lines]

You

Rms w/vus T

hat’s no tree farm – they’re the trees planted on the slope beneath Overlook Hall, the college’s newest residence hall. The 93-bed building, designed to LEED standards, has a view of Lower St. Regis Lake. It opened in August, when 1,063 students enrolled for fall classes.

had a good run, Gutenberg. It took nearly 600 years, but the printed page is getting some stiff competition from e-books and tablets – and the Joan Weill Adirondack Library is ready. This fall, the library bought several Kindles and iPads to lend to the campus community. “We envision ourselves as a center for technology and learning, and we wanted to have the latest tech that students could experiment with,” says Mara Thacker, the college’s public services librarian. Borrowers can take the Kindles for two weeks, the same amount of time for which books are lent; the iPads are signed out for three days. Electronics aren’t going to take the place of the thousands of books owned by the library anytime soon. But they’ve already proven their value. In the Kindle’s case, patrons who seek books not owned by the library can often get a copy electronically. In the past, librarians would try to borrow those books from another library – a process that can take

weeks, and cost both time and postage. Thacker says she had just worked with a student who wanted to do a paper on barefoot running, a topic the campus library had just one book on. But there were two available on Amazon, the online bookseller that produces the Kindle. “It would have been more expensive to buy a paper copy of the book, and it would have taken a lot more time to put it in his hands,” Thacker says. Where the Kindles are meant to take the place of books, the iPads are meant to add another dimension to the library’s holdings. They’ve been a hit: The library started the academic year with two iPads, but they were checked out so often that another two were added. Each of the devices has been loaded with a selection of apps that cover a variety of topics, including forestry, culinary arts, news – and, oh yeah, Angry Birds, too. “We want people to experience what’s new and cool,” says Thacker, explaining why the hit game got a place on the tablet. – KA

KENNETH AARON

Academic update

ame education – less fragmentation. That was the goal when Paul Smith's restructured its academic administration this year. In December, the college announced plans to narrow its main academic divisions from three to two. Majors that focus on the sciences and natural resources will become part of the School of Natural Resource Management and Ecology, which will be led by Dean Jeffrey T. Walton; programs that focus on business and social science, including hospitality and culinary arts, will join the School of Commercial, Applied and Liberal Arts, which will be under Dean Phillip Taylor. Richard Nelson, provost of Paul Smith’s College, says the switch should be invisible to students – programs, courses and advisors will not change. If anything, assigning faculty to fewer divisions should increase collaboration among them, he says. “Most students and graduates identify first with their academic programs, and not their divisions or schools,” he says. “The deans and I intend to work closely with faculty and other stakeholders on enhancing the visibility of each of our academic programs, because that’s what brings students here and keeps alumni engaged.” – KA

Sequel | Winter 2012

KENNETH AARON

FALL sports roundup This fall was one of the best ever for Bobcat athletics, with men’s and women’s teams excelling in several sports. Highlights included: Men’s and women’s cross country – The men's and women's cross-country teams capped successful seasons with fourth-place finishes at the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship. Individually, Kyle Dash and Ana Hull earned All American status with their fifth-place finishes. They are the first Paul Smith's College All Americans since Susan Jones took the honor in 2005. Paul Smith's hosted this year’s nationals, which were held at the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid. About 300 runners from more than 20 colleges converged to battle

cold, snow and hail on a nasty November day. Paul Smith’s will also host the race in 2012. The teams also did well in Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) competition, with the men’s team winning the conference championship and the women placing second. Jessie Hussman and Ashley Rokjer were named to the women’s All-Conference roster, while Dash, Matt Piper, Eric Kowalik and Alex Kelchner earned that honor on the men’s side.

Bobcats’ home field in Gabriels. Mark Buckley, in his second season as coach, lost several players from the 2010 team. While the ruggers’ offensive output suffered – they scored 93 points this season compared to 188 the year before – the team offset that with a much stronger defense. Heading into next year, graduation will force the loss of their two captains, Tom Knuth and Christian Hunter (also the team’s leading scorer). A strong core of underclassmen remain, though.

Rugby – The good news: The rugby team finished 2011 with a 4-2 record, identical to its 2010 record. The bad news: It also closed the year with the same result, a loss in the Division III semifinals in October. The team, seeded second, fell 12-10 to No. 3-seed SUNYBrockport in a match held on the

Men’s and women’s soccer – The men’s soccer team made it all the way to the YSCC championship this fall, narrowly missing a trip to the USCAA national tournament. They fell to Southern Maine Community College in a scoreless double-overtime nail-biter that ended only after two rounds of penalty kicks. They went undefeated at home, finishing the year with a 10-2-3 record that included eight shutouts – good enough to win the YSCC’s Western Division. Senior Captain Jeffrey Langschwager was named YSCC tournament defensive MVP. The team will enter the 2012 season ranked 10th nationally. The women’s team posted their highest win total in at least a decade, ending their season at LEFT: Paul Smith’s cross country runners during a meet this fall.

Bobcats Chris Evans (center) and Jeff Schmidt (right) battle for the ball against a player from NHTI.

8-10-0 and ranking 13th in the USCAA’s season-ending poll. They placed second in the YSCC western division and advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament. With an impressive 15 goals, senior captain Joelle Guisti was named YSCC Player of the Year. Additionally, after returning as head coach this season, Dan Burke ’97 was named Coach of the Year. – KA, BB photos by pat hendrick

¡Hola, República Dominicana!

January, a group of students and faculty in the recreation, adventure travel and ecotourism program headed to the Caribbean as part of an exchange program developed last summer. Under the agreement, Paul Smith’s will collaborate with Escuela de Media Ambeinte y Recursos Naturales (EMARN) – the School of the Environment and Natural Resources – to help the Dominican Republic sharpen its forestry education and establish itself as an ecotourism destination. After the contingent from the Eco-Adventure Practicum visited this winter, students and faculty from the Dominican Republic will travel to the Adirondacks in June, where they will take a Forest Ecology class. Brett McLeod, a professor in the college’s School of Natural Resource Management and Ecology, led the college’s efforts on signing the agreement. He’ll return to the Caribbean in January with a class taught by Assistant Prof. Joe Dadey. EMARN officials said Paul Smith’s experience with sustainable forestry

Kenneth Aaron

Representatives from Paul Smith’s and EMARN sign an agreement last summer establishing a partnership between the institutions.

in the Adirondacks, a park where people both live and work, is also of value to the Dominican Republic. Patricia Abreu, the nation’s vice minister of international cooperation for the Ministry of the Environment, said EMARN wants to replicate the expertise of Paul Smith’s faculty on its own campus. “We want to develop teachers with expertise in natural resources, ecotourism and sustainable forestry, and Paul Smith’s has that experience,” Abreu said. – KA Sequel | Winter 2012

[ EVERGREENS]

BIRDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S EYE mark manske is building the kestrel population, one nest at a time.

Mark Manske prepares to band a kestrel chick he's taken from a nest box hung on a utility pole in northern New York.

Sequel | Winter 2012

By kenneth aaron

ay you’re a small bird. An American kestrel, to be exact, living in the North Country. You may be stressed out: Your habitat is shrinking, you’re finding fewer places to put nests and the population of your main predator, the Cooper’s hawk, is growing. Don’t worry. Mark Manske has got you covered. For the past 10 years, Manske, who teaches a course on raptors at Paul Smith’s, has been tending to an empire of nest boxes he has hung across a 187,000-acre expanse running from the northern edge of the Adirondacks nearly to the Canadian border. Using a corps of volunteers that have included several Paul Smith’s students, Manske has put tracking bands on more than 1,000 kestrels since 2002; he finished last season with 1,023 birds in the books. Manske says he got the idea to put the boxes up when he saw a kestrel nest on a fencepost. That’s a lot lower than they typically like to hang out because it makes them vulnerable to predators. So far, his boxes appear to have made a big difference in the number of kestrels in the region: He counted nearly 300 of the species in his study area last year, up from just 51 when he first counted in 2002. “They’re a very cool bird,” he says, explaining why he wants to see the kestrel thrive. They eat bugs, vermin and songbirds that are not native to the region, so as the kestrel thrives, the ecosystem stays balanced. But most of all, you get a sense that Manske really likes raptors. “I tell the

kids who work with me, there’s raptors, and there’s prey,” he says. He inspires devoted followers. One former student, Lisa (Hansen ’08) Schofield, spent a day in the field with Manske this summer – along with her husband, Matt Schofield ’09, and their daughter, Helen – and helped him band the 1,000th kestrel. “Mark has been an incredible influence in my life,” says Lisa, who continues to band kestrels and is talking with the Audubon Society chapter in Syracuse to embark on a sister project. If she didn’t choose to stay home with her daughter, she says, she’d still be working with raptors. “I got the most professional experience with Mark. My summer working under him prepared me to work with raptors and the people that come with the territory. I also learned how to interact positively with the public and to educate them on what we were doing.” Manske’s busy season with the kestrels runs from the end of June, when chicks are hatching, until early August. I’m out with Manske on the last day of the season, as he and Paul Smith’s senior Darrell Van Nederynen are checking a handful of boxes they haven’t yet managed to get to. In all, there are 150 boxes, breadbox-sized pine shelters that are hung on telephone poles throughout a 20-by-25 mile patch that roughly corresponds to the borders of the Brasher Falls School District, where Manske teaches full-time. “We were going to do 500 boxes,” he says, “and then reality kicked in.” Manske makes his rounds in a welltraveled Ford Escape. His cup holders are filled with AA batteries, the interior is scuffed with dirt, and various devices and notebooks containing observations of kestrels are on the dash. Come to think of it, his car kind of looks like a nest. An extension ladder is lashed to the roof. Manske goes through his records to see which boxes are still unchecked, Courtesy Mark Manske

Photos by kenneth aaron

ABOVE: A student holds a male kestrel chick. BELOW: Eggs in one of Manske's nest boxes.

guides the SUV to each and pulls the ladder off the roof and to the telephone pole to look inside. Near a cornfield bursting with a nearripe crop, Manske scales the ladder and looks inside the box. He finds one downy chick inside. He takes it out and descends the ladder, while the chick’s mother flies overhead, squawking. Back at the car, Van Nederynen opens a tackle box, pulls out a band and affixes it to the bird’s leg before it’s returned to the nest. The whole operation takes about 5 minutes. A decade into the project, Manske says the bands are starting to yield good information, such as where the birds are going to in the offseason (as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, so far) and where they migrate when they return north (to the east of the Adirondacks, it appears). One chick reappeared 5½ years after it was first banded, the oldest re-captured chick to date. Manske says people tell him that they are struck by how many kestrels they see in his study area – and how few they see outside its borders. Which makes him, to a certain extent, responsible for the population boom. “It’s a pretty cool feeling,” he says. S Sequel | Winter 2012

[ EVERGREENS]

BUG

luke myers ’05 pu By bob bennett

ew York is crawling with new species of bugs. Thousands of them. But you’d never know it – almost no scientists are bothering to take the time to tell one insect abdomen from another, meaning all those species remain undiscovered.

Photos by Kelli Catana

Luke Myers ’05 in his lab. Myers has discovered at least four new species of insects, including Perlesta mihucorum, right, which he named after Associate Prof. Janet Mihuc and her husband, Tim.

Sequel | Winter 2012

Almost nobody, that is, except Luke Myers ’05. He’s made it his passion. He’s discovered at least four different species since 2005, when he started cataloging insects as a part of his master’s thesis at Colorado State University. For Myers, it’s all about the thrill of the hunt. “When I am out collecting and looking for these insects, it is almost like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially for rare and undescribed groups,” Myers says. “I get great satisfaction in looking at some of these organisms under the microscope. To think I am one of the few people who gets to look at and find these organisms for the first time gives me a great deal of satisfaction.” He developed his taste for chasing insects while a student at Paul Smith’s, studying with Associate Prof. Janet Mihuc and completing his senior capstone project with her husband, Tim – so it’s fitting that he named a stonefly he discovered, Perlesta mihucorum, after the pair. “I wouldn’t have gotten into grad school without the experience they provided,” Myers says. “They were very good student mentors and instructors, so that’s why I named the new discovery after them, to provide a tribute.” After completing his associate degree in fish and wildlife technology and bachelor’s degree in natural resource

hunter

uts new species in the books management, Myers went to Colorado State. There he studied under Boris C. Kondratieff, a stonefly taxonomist and curator of the C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Biodiversity, a research collection where more than 7 million insect specimens are housed. Kondratieff took an interest in Myers’ work, backing several of his research trips east and helping him secure a $30,000 grant from the New York State Museum and and additional $100,000 grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to inventory rare aquatic species in the upper and middle Hudson Valley, the Catskills, the Tug Hill Plateau and Adirondack Park. Myers was after mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, which have been relatively undocumented in New York. “These three groups are excellent indicators of water quality,” says Myers, explaining they can live only in relatively clean water. “Some of the species in these groups are extremely rare and understudied. In some instances, these species have not been seen for hundreds of years and are only known from material that was collected when the species were originally described.” Collecting the species hasn’t changed much in the meantime. To snare adult insects, Myers swept nets along trees and other vegetation near streams. Sometimes he’d whack tree branches to knock insects onto white fabric squares called beat sheets. It’s tedious work that gets more difficult as temperatures rise, because the insects often move higher into the trees to find mates. The adults are also more prone to fly when it gets warm. “Once they are in the air, they are usually nearly impossible to catch again,” Myers says.“They are not strong fliers, but they do have an uncanny knack for hiding in the vegetation.” After collecting enough specimens for the

day, Myers would try to identify his take by studying their reproductive organs and other anatomical features. If he couldn’t find a similar example in the published literature, he considered whether he might have a new species on his hands. “Once we had discovered that there was something unique at the location, we would have to return to the site the following year for more material and to visit additional sites on different but nearby rivers,” Myers says. “We often don’t know what we have until we get back to the laboratory or the hotel room at night. So the process often takes a long time, sometimes several years.” Myers discovered Perlesta mihucorum in 2008, for example, but didn’t have enough material to write a formal description. In 2011, he finally found enough specimens to complete and publish the description in Illiesia, the International Journal of Stonefly Research. Janet Mihuc says she noticed Myers’ passion for working with aquatic insects early on. It was that passion, coupled with his determination, positive attitude and curiosity, that led to his new discoveries, she adds. And Mihuc was flattered to have her name immortalized in the scientific register. “I was surprised and honored. It just came out of the blue.” S

Luke Myers, seen in the field (above), may spend years collecting specimens before he can identify a new species. He often returns to the same area multiple times to collect data.

Sequel | Winter 2012

new

leaf Carol Marie Vossler ’81 in the gallery of BluSeed Studios, which she opened in 2002. Two of her paintings are visible on the left.

carol marie (cervelloni '81) vossler Age: 52 Now living in: Saranac Lake, N.Y. Hometown: Rochester, N.Y. Family: husband, David Vossler ’74; sons Jeffery, 29, and Thomas, 22; daughter Kelli, 26. Education: Paul Smith’s College, A.A.S., forest tech; SUNY-Plattsburgh, B.A., studio arts, 1990; Syracuse University, M.F.A., 1995. Hobbies: Snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking, kayaking. What I read: I skim through the art magazines, to keep up to date. Time magazine. The New York Times. All the liberal stuff. Books or Kindle? Books. Dream act at BluSeed: John Prine! Roseanne Cash would be awesome. Tom Waits, too. That would be a fun concert. 14

Sequel | Summer 2011

[Q & A]

INTERVIEW By Kenneth Aaron | Director of Communications & Marketing

fter graduating with a forestry degree, Carol Marie (Cervelloni '81) Vossler headed to the woods. Typical. Then she found art, went to art school, got a studio in New York City, and turned an abandoned Saranac Lake warehouse into BluSeed Studios, which features a gallery, studios and stage. Not typical. She talks with us about her journey from the woods to art. You went from forestry to owning a gallery. How’d that happen? It was similar to how a forest grows. Or how a tree is released from the canopy. Once you’re exposed to a new type of light, you move toward it and you grow. I was actually logging with my husband for six years. After our daughter, my second child, was born, I went to a play group and met a friend there who made pottery. And she turned me on to learning how to do that. I knew I wanted to take it further and I went back to school for art. That seems a pretty big leap. A lot of people say, well, forestry and the woods don’t have anything to do with art, but they really do. It’s the dynamics of the forest and the dynamics of art: There’s color, texture, sound, smell. All that goes into the art-making process. When you survey a piece of property or when you’re cruising timber you look for signs. And it’s the same thing that happens in the artmaking process. It’s how you make choices. There’s a lot of correlation. There’s a lot of science in art. There’s a lot of research. Something might look abstract and weird, but in most cases the artist has studied something to make that abstract form. I am always reading and researching. What else from your Paul Smith’s education feeds your art? This idea for BluSeed just comes from a broader desire of mine to expand diversity. And diversity again goes back to one of my very first forestry classes – the professor said the forest is one of the most diverse spaces you could ever enter. And the diversity of

the forest is what makes it strong. Our mission is about diversity of aesthetic, and connecting to community. I know there’s a connection there, and I love walking in the woods and knowing what I’m looking at. I wouldn’t trade my education for anything. Ever see a conflict between your tree-hugging present and your treecutting past? I’m not against logging. I’m all for proper forest management. I don’t like corporate raping of the land and taking without giving back. My work isn’t that political. I am really concerned about changes that are happening here – climate change. Is it good or bad? It all depends on what species you belong to and what business you’re in. I love going out in the woods and knowing I’m not going to get tick-infested and now ticks are coming here. The maple trees are going to die and the ash trees are going to die and the brookies are disappearing. And that turns up in my work. Are you an artist who happens to run a gallery, or a gallery owner who happens to be an artist? I am an artist who happens to be running a business. Ask my accountants! But I surround myself by people who are more left-brain than myself. Do you earn a living through your art? No. I could if I pushed harder and networked better. As a college art instructor, how do you talk to your students about finding work in the field? A lot of young students come in and

say, ‘I want to study art but I’m afraid I can’t get a job.’ To me, that’s one of the best things about being in a teaching position, when I can tell them about all the opportunities that are available to a creative person. And how businesses love people who think outside of a box. It’s not just about making art in a studio. Ever wish you could cruise timber again? I would love to! I’ve forgotten some of the formulas, but I know that I could pick it up pretty quick. I love to cruise timber – Set up sample plots, draw a map, it’s an art installation. Come on back. We’ve got the land. OK. I will. That’d be fantastic. I’d love to go to my old silviculture plot. It’s on Jones Pond Road. We’ll do a sample plot and make some kind of found object natural totem that represents – I have no idea. We’ll figure it out. Maybe just make a cool map. Would your classmates be surprised this is what you wound up doing? I don’t think so. When I was in logging class my last semester, there were too many students for the logging job. I remember tending the fire and whittling walking sticks for Christmas presents, because I didn’t have any money. I was the camp cook, I cooked soup and kept the fire going, which don’t seem like what a feminist should do. But I knew I could make those Christmas presents. S

» For more information, check out www.bluseedstudios.org.

Portrait: kenneth aaron

Sequel | Winter 2012

[ HOW TO] > You don’t need much to start:

A drill and 5/16” or 7/16” bit, a bucket and lid, and a stile (or tap). You’ll also need a container in which to store the sap, a pan for boiling, and a heat source, such as a grill. Sap starts flowing in late February and early March, depending on where you live; you may need to tap your trees by late January to be ready.

[1]

One sappy story F

orget boxing. Maple sugaring is the sweet science around here. And even though there may be a blanket of snow on the ground now (or not, based on this winter so far), spring’s coming – why not make your own syrup? Learn how with Hans Michielen ’73, the manager of our sugarbush, and Daniel Natusch. (Any questions? Drop Michielen a line at hmichielen@paulsmiths.edu.) – Text & PHOTOS by KENNETH AARON

[3]

. Drill a hole for the spile. Angle the hole slightly upward, to help the sap drain. You don't need to go too far – wrap tape around the bit at the 2-inch mark to know when to stop drilling.

[2] . You’ll also need a maple tree – preferably a sugar maple, but red, silver or black will do. Branches on maples grow opposite each other; you could also look for grey or brown bark marked with deep grooves. Or just go online.

[4] . Insert the spile into the hole and seat with a hammer.

Go easy – if you drive it too tightly and split the tree, the hole is useless.

Sequel | Winter 2012

[5]

> Hang the bucket on the hook, and place the lid on top of the bucket. The biggest maples – greater than 27 inches around – can handle four taps. Otherwise, a 10-inch tree takes one tap, a 17-inch tree takes two, and a 24-inch tree takes three.

[6] . Sap flows on warm days and sub-freezing nights. Expect about 10

gallons of sap per tap, per season; you may get two to three gallons a day during a heavy run. Empty buckets as needed. Bacteria grow in sap; depending on the air temperature, it can keep for several days. You can boil sap in a large pan on an ordinary propane grill. You’ll need a lot of sap: 10 gallons makes a quart of syrup. (Don’t boil it indoors, either. Boiling sap generates a lot of steam, and more than one homeowner has stripped the wallpaper off their walls while playing Mrs. Butterworth.)

[7] . Keep sap levels low, but pay attention: The lower it is, the faster it

boils, and if your pan scorches the syrup won't taste good. After half the sap evaporates, add more slowly. Maintain a rolling boil. You’ll know the sap is almost syrup when it comes off your spoon in a sheet (seen here at the sugarbush’s big evaporator); when it starts sheeting immediately, not after a short delay, you're done. It takes a long time for the sap to boil down, but once it does, it turns to syrup quickly. Don’t let the syrup boil over. Foaming can be controlled with butter, evaporated milk or a little bit of canola oil.

? Filter the syrup with a coffee filter, while it is still hot. Wear a rubber glove to prevent burns. Store in an airtight Mason jar. Make pancakes.

[8] Sequel | Winter 2012

[ SPACES] 1

CAMPUS ARMORY

Sequel | Winter 2012

Buxton Annex AT

some colleges, the thought of hundreds of firearms on campus would cause a collective swoon. At Paul Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called hunting season. As many as half of the students on campus hunt or fish; if they want to have their bows, guns and ammo at the ready, they have to store them here, inside the armory.

1 This rifle is one of 200 firearms and 60-odd bows stored every fall. The armory, open since 2005, costs $5,000 to $7,000 a year to insure. For purposes of that policy, the armory is considered a rod and gun club, and students are its members. 2 Jesse Warner, president of the college’s Fish & Game Club, with a 20-gauge side-by-side shotgun. Students can keep two firearms and one bow in the armory; you may have kept those in your room once, but that could result in expulsion now. 3

The armory is behind two locked doors in a windowless room. When students want to claim their gear, they must call Campus Safety; to return them, an officer must escort them to the armory.

4 Assistant Prof. Russ DeFonce is adviser to the Fish & Game Club. “Hunting and fishing at Paul Smith’s is far more than just camo and pickup

trucks,” he says. “It’s a proud testament to Paul and Lydia and a commitment to a cultural ethic and environmental stewardship that are rooted in the very beginnings of humankind itself.”

5 Hunting is hardly a male-dominated activity on campus, says Briana Sheptor, a junior from Lancaster, N.H. “A lot more women on campus hunt and fish than most realize,” she says. “One reason I chose Paul Smith’s was because I could continue hunting and fishing here, an opportunity most don’t get in college.” 6

Paul Smith’s isn’t the only college to maintain

an armory, but it’s uncommon. Among the regulations: Firearms must be stored in lockable hard cases with trigger or action locks. This camouflage aluminum case runs several hundred dollars.

7 Ammunition, inside these lockboxes, is stored apart from firearms. Sequel | Winter 2012

[ OUR ADIRONDACKS ]

Getting over Irene If

you happened to drive through the center of Keene, N.Y., for the first time in mid-October, it would have been hard to grasp how terrible it looked just seven weeks earlier. That’s when Tropical Storm Irene tore through the Adirondacks, dumping upwards of 10 inches of rain throughout the High Peaks. It resulted in a massive deluge that smashed into homes and businesses in communities such as Keene, Keene Valley and Ausable Forks and closed Route 73, the main route to campus from the Northway, for two weeks. But hundreds of volunteers, including several from Paul Smith’s College, helped the area go from recovery to renewal with dizzying speed. “Many hands make light work,” says sophomore Jacob Pearson, lugging debris to a pickup truck headed to the Keene landfill. “Even with five or six people, it makes a difference.” He was among a half-dozen students and staffers from the college’s TRIO Student Support Services program who helped with cleanup efforts. After getting up early one Sunday and making the 40-mile drive to Keene, they met with 20

Sequel | Winter 2012

two organizers who doled out marching orders: One group would shovel silt piled against the town’s landmark library, while another would comb the shores of the Ausable River for debris. It became clear early on that this was no typical weekend cleanup. “There’s pieces of people’s houses, decks, outbuildings, barns,” says Ron Konowitz, a firefighter with the Keene Valley Volunteer Fire Department who has helped organize volunteers. The Keene fire station was among the casualties, as the rear of it was swept away when waters rose. That disaster yielded a trophy, of sorts: Senior De Anna Wasiewski and first-year student Jonathan Spaeth found an intact, though very muddy, firefighter’s coat from the firehouse in a tangle of debris on the banks of the Ausable. Wasiewski says she’s glad to be able to lend a hand. “If I ever need the help, hopefully somebody will come out and help me, too,” says Wasiewski, who is majoring in culinary arts and service management. Others from campus have also helped. Prof. Cathy Fuller’s Facilities Management class lugged chainsaws out soon after the disaster and helped clear downed trees; that timber ultimately became firewood for affected families. Another student,

PHOTOS BY KENNETH AARON

A group of Paul Smith’s students (left) hold a firefighter’s coat they recovered from the Ausable River. ABOVE: Other scenes from Irene.

Kaela Saenz, organized her own cleanup a day before the TRIO crew arrived. Joe Pete Wilson, the Town of Keene’s volunteer coordinator, figures the students are among at least 200 people who have contributed to the cleanup so far. They’ve managed to turn Keene from the scene of a natural disaster to a place where it’s tough to tell that something big happened. “Ron (Konowitz) has had people stop and just get out of their cars and say, ‘We’ve got two hours,’” Wilson says. “It’s hard work. No machine can do this. There’s no magic bullet.” TRIO staffer Kate Glenn says that while the students made a difference in Keene, Keene also had an impact on the students. “The message that got through was how the community pulled together,” says Glenn, “and accomplished something bigger than themselves.” The TRIO crew wants to go back, and there’s still plenty of work left to do. Many families still haven’t been able to return to their houses. Wilson says Keene is grateful for all the help. “You think you’re just here for the day,” Wilson says. “But it makes such a difference.” – KENNETH AARON

[ FEATURE]

Round trip

Greece / Nov. 2009

Janice Koch ’77 and her partner bicycle around the world By Kenneth Aaron | Director of Communications & Marketing

touching a little bit of their retirement fund. Koch was dead-set against doing that, but selves,” Mielke says. “If we had gotten down to the last penny, it would still be worth it.”

Tahiti / Dec. 2007

we either run out of time and money, or we run out of time and patience.” There were trying days: The heat in India was so oppressive that they quit riding and took a train. In Nepal, after staying in a $3-a-night hotel that Mielke recalls as “overpriced”, they found themselves in a tooth-and-nail screaming match to stay at an abandoned, overgrown resort. “I lost it. That poor guard,” Koch says. “By the way, everybody in the world knows what the F-word means,” Mielke quipped. But those days were rare. They saw amazing things and met cool people and kept cycling, not finishing until this summer in South America, flying home to Maryland just once during their adventure. So: Will they go back for more? Mielke nods his head yes. But Koch shakes her head no. “I won’t say it’s over,” she says. “I can’t say that yet.”

for $65,000 – draining their savings, and

“we did change the rules a little bit on our-

Photos By doug mielke

hen I met Janice Koch ’77 and her partner, Doug Mielke, in Lake Placid this summer, I was expecting them to have bigger thighs. The kind that can crack walnuts. After all, these two had just spent the past two years riding around the globe. That's twentythree countries. More than 23,000 miles. On a bicycle. If that doesn’t make you look like Lance Armstrong, what will? Don’t get me wrong – they’re plenty fit. But they look…normal. And that’s their message: You, too, can saddle up and head around the world. “It’s so easy. We are bike evangelists now,” says Mielke, who worked in information technology with Koch until they cashed out their savings and embarked on a two-wheeled journey across deserts, through jungles, over mountains and by the sea. They biked through paradise (Tahiti) and saw staggering poverty (Cambodia). When they started, they weren’t planning to go as far as they did on bike. Koch had never even been on a cycling tour until 2005, when she and Mielke rode with a group through flat Estonia. At the outset, she says, their attitude was: “It’s over when it’s over –

Mielke and Koch made it around the world

Their three-year journey started with two weeks in Tahiti – beautiful, yes, but a place so expensive that a case of local beer cost $60. “We thought we’d be gone for six months before our money ran out, at those prices,” Koch says. Tahiti wound up costing double anyplace else they visited. (Scenery, though, is free; this shot was taken at a resort in Moorea.) Sequel | Winter 2012

Vietnam / Sept.Nov. 2008 This temple is the home of the Cao Dai religion, a belief established in 1926. Like most of the places they traveled, Koch and Mielke went through Vietnam without a firm itinerary. “A lot of it was just planned on the fly,” Koch says. “We tried to see things we’ll never go back to again. How often am I ever going to get to Vietnam again?”

India / April-May 2009

One of the first things they did in every city was figure out how to play by the local traffic rules (if any) – a task often done while sitting at a roadside bar and drinking a bottle of beer. 22

Sequel | Winter 2012

< Nepal / Feb.Apr. 2009 On the road to Annapurna. Dhaulagiri, at 26,795 feet the world’s seventh-highest peak, is on the left. Getting to these places doesn’t take a fancy rig: Other than customizing Mielke’s bike to accommodate his height, neither of their bikes cost more than $250. “We purposely did not go for high-dollar, carbon-fiber bikes,” Koch says. “The lighter the bike, the heavier the lock you have to carry.”

Janice Koch

Nepal / Feb.-Apr. 2009

The evening commute near Chitwan National Park. “This was almost like a rush hour,” Mielke says. “It was the end of the day, and people were headed back home.” Much of their route, like this, was far off the beaten path. “We loved hitting the tourist towns,” Koch says. Mielke agrees. “Anybody who says a town is too touristy hasn’t spent a lot of time in towns that aren’t,” he says.

Sequel | Winter 2012

Turkey / Aug.-Sept. 2009

The towers behind Koch were created by volcanic eruptions; the caves within, once used by Christians to hide from persecutors, are now residences. Turkey was “a great surprise. We expected nothing from Turkey,” Mielke says. They wound up there mostly because Ukraine was a disappointment and they hopped a cargo boat to Istanbul. “It was difficult to leave,” he says.

Egypt / Nov.-Dec. 2009

“Those handlebars,” Mielke says. “I stared at those things for so many hours. If there’s such a thing as an afterimage, I have it.” It’s a memory that will have to last: Both Mielke and Koch had their bikes stolen in South America. “I’ve got other bikes and they’re fine to ride. But I miss that one,” he says. Here, he and Koch are in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Sequel | Winter 2012

China / May-Sept. 2008

Cambodia / Nov. 2008

Mielke (who is 6’5”) and Koch were followed by constant

Cambodia was a place of surprises. It’s crushingly poor and

stares in China; here, a group in western China gawks

still living with the memory of Pol Pot’s murderous regime, not

at Mielke. In some of the places they cycled, they say,

to mention landmines scattered throughout the country that still

some residents had little previous contact with Westerners.

explode on a regular basis. But the people are warm and witty

“This picture is one of a very large collection of these that

and Mielke and Koch loved Cambodia above just about

we have,” says Mielke. “We faced that every time we

everywhere else they went. These huts, on Tonle Sap Lake,

stopped somewhere.”

were often clustered into tight hamlets.

The End They gave up their jobs to ride around the world. Now that they’re back home in the Baltimore area, though, they’re looking for work. Koch is a business analyst specializing in Oracle Financials and Mielke is a computer systems engineer specializing in UNIX. Look them up at www.toorguide.com for contact info (or to look at more pics from their adventure). Sequel | Winter 2012

[ cover story ]

Sequel | Winter 2012

On the

road Want to build a banner class? buckle up and hit the highway. By BOB BENNETT photos By PAUL BUCKOWSKI

The

last time Ed Neuburger attended a college fair at Albany High School, fire drills ruined the entire event. He’s been through bomb scares, and he once drove miles and miles through a snowstorm only to find out all the schools on his list that day were closed.

Admissions Counselor Ed Neuburger in his college-issued Jeep, the Albany skyline behind him. Neuburger spends up to 120 days a year on the road.

Such is the life of a college admissions counselor. Neuburger spends up to 120 days a year bouncing from town to town, from high school to vocational center. He lives out of hotels and his college-issued Jeep. While on the road, he’s up at 5 a.m. every day, has no downtime and never knows when he’ll be able to eat next. Rough as it may seem, this is how most colleges go about building their incoming classes each year. For all the viewbooks sent in the mail, for all of the time spent building a presence on Facebook, the surest way to get students to enroll is to hit the road and meet them in person. This fall, enrollment at Paul Smith’s College grew to 1,063 students. New students accounted for 38 percent of that total – and of those new students, the majority made their first contact with the college through one of our 10 admissions officers on the road.

Sequel | Winter 2012

“B

uilding a class requires a lot of personal attention,” says Eric Felver, Paul Smith’s vice president of enrollment management. “Each of our counselors cover a certain physical area where they try to recruit students.” At Albany High, which is part of Neuburger’s jurisdiction, admissions counselors from about a dozen schools showed up to a college fair one October morning to jockey for students. Neuburger has his routine down to a science. He chooses a table directly to the right of the entrance. (Business psychology says people look to the right when they enter a room, he explains.) “You don’t want to set up next to your biggest competitors, either,” Neuburger says. “Or the military.” He points to the U.S. Army’s table across the room. Neuburger says it’s not unusual for their recruiters to show up with videos of explosions or bomb-disabling robots that can unscrew a soda cap on command. “How can I compete with that?” he ponders. Neuburger unveils the contents of his suitcase: Two different throws emblazoned with the college’s leaning-pine logo, a folding display covered with facts about the school and photos of the campus. There are stacks of brochures cut in the shape of a chef’s hat and a muddy boot. He’s also ready with the cards on which students will print their names and contact information. They're the most important things he’s carrying. This is where the admissions office gets most of its prospective students, and this is Neuburger’s main goal. The more cards he gets, the more successful his visit is. “The college needs to keep its numbers up because it can’t continue to improve its facilities and essential programs without

Sequel | Winter 2012

that growth,” says Felver. “When enrollment is low, future classes suffer.” Shortly after the counselors set up, the students flock into the room. Ricardo Gonzalez stops when one of the chef’s hats catches his eye. He’s interested in the school’s culinary program, but he also loves the outdoors. He’s camped in the Adirondacks before and calls it a beautiful area. Another chef’s hat catches the eye of Massata Dieng. He fills out a card. It’s 11:45 a.m., and Neuburger has two. Teniyah Petersen stops to ask about Paul Smith’s business management program. She fills out a card but tells Neuburger that she’s not really interested in a school in the middle of the woods. Neuburger makes a note of that. As much as the college’s admissions counselors want to boost enrollment, they’re also looking for students who are a good fit for Paul Smith's College. They want them to be happy here because retention – administrator-speak for keeping students enrolled once they arrive – is as important as getting them here in the first place. “I want them to have a good experience to talk about when they graduate,” Neuburger says. “The last thing we want is for them to be unhappy here and discourage others from attending, too.” So when other students approach his table asking about the biology program, Neuburger asks them what they hope to do with the major. Many prospective students are interested in pursuing careers in medicine, but he tells them that the focus at Paul Smith’s is on green technology. If they come asking about nursing, he sends them to Plattsburgh State’s table. By 1 p.m., Neuburger has managed to get 10 cards. A good half-day’s work. Next

stop: Oneonta, an 80-mile trek across the state. But even after he gets to his hotel, his day isn’t done. Neuburger will answer and send emails to interested students, fill out paperwork and enter information from the inquiry cards into a travel report for Felver. Eventually the cards themselves make it back to the support staff on campus. They play a big part, as well. These employees are entering the emails, home addresses and phone numbers into a database, but they also do some of their own recruiting. They search for the names of high school students who took ACTs and SATs and for those who have expressed interest by phone or on the college’s website. Every student who enrolls makes contact with a counselor at one point before they start classes. For most of the students, it’s their first point of contact. And then the yearlong courtship begins. Ideally, Neuburger or one of his coworkers will meet up with a student at a college fair during his or her junior year and then again the following year. All the while, the admissions office is keeping in touch through mail, email or phone. Work-study students make phone calls for four hours every night. Thousands of brochures are sent. “It takes hundreds of hours to go through the process and ultimately make a decision,” Felver says. “To build a class of around 400 really does take at least a year.” But one of the surest ways to hook students is to get them to come to the campus for a visit. “It’s a beautiful place, and it’s pretty friendly and welcoming here,” Neuburger says.

Most of Neuburger's time is spent at college fairs. But he also meets with individuals interested in Paul Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. At day's end, he does paperwork and answers email from his hotel room.

Sequel | Winter 2012

Neuburger heads out for another long day on the road, which usually begins around 5 a.m.

“People are responsive to that.” Once students enroll, they’re ready to attend orientation, which is their introduction to faculty and their new home. The whole process can take up to a year, but that’s just for the easiest students, Felver says. First-generation college students, for example, can take a lot more time to court. Getting them to enroll can be a challenge because that often means educating the students and their families about what it means to be a college student. “We have to show them that they can afford it,” Felver says. “We have to show them that this is an investment in themselves that doesn’t lose value over time. It’s an important role that we play.” At his next college fair in Oneonta, Neuburger was passing along the same message. This time, he and the other counselors set up shop in the BOCES gymnasium. Neuburger also gave two presentations to the conservation students there. During both presentations, he asked the students to fill out cards. Then he delivered a PowerPoint presentation and told them what courses were available, how much it would cost and what it could do for their future. When Neuburger returned to the gym to continue tabling, another counselor from Johnson & Wales University told him about an open house for the parents of prospective students in Queensbury that night.

Sequel | Winter 2012

She didn’t have to do that; she could have kept it all to herself. But even though the counselors are continually competing with each other, they’re also really close. In fact, Neuburger and his fellow counselors from Johnson and Wales and the Culinary Institute of America – Paul Smith’s biggest competitors in the culinary field – all gravitate toward each other. When they arrive at a new event, they usually greet each other warmly and chat. When the college fairs are slow, they huddle together and catch up. The counselors act more like best friends than competitors. That’s partially because they share the same hardships. For example, now all three will have to attend the unexpected parent open house in Queensbury, which means they’ll have to spend an additional eight hours on the road. But they take the drive anyway because it’s a chance to meet with the parents of the students who had already made visits to their prospective campuses. “It gave me a chance to firm up the relationship with the parents,” Neuburger said later. “It was

definitely worthwhile because it allowed me to address any questions or doubts they had.” Although the road can be rough, Neuburger says the hardship pays off in the end. He feels good when he sees what college does for students, and he builds real relationships with them and their families. Although faculty members generally take over from the day students start classes, some students and parents are slow to relinquish their relationship with the admissions counselor. Neuburger still gets calls from parents who want to know where their child can find a good mechanic in the area. The students remember and acknowledge him, and he enjoys seeing them grow. “I hear their problems and their innermost thoughts,” Neuburger says. “To do this job, you have to be passionate about helping people. Personally, it gives me the warm and fuzzies.” S

[ alumni life]

[

2012

Alumni Events

]

Calendar Florida, Baltimore, D.C. — we’re hitting the road and we want to see you! Keep an eye on your mailbox for more info or drop us a line if you want to attend any of these events.

kathleen keck

. Alumni Reunion

Bob’s Tree Farm Pancake Breakfast Saturday, March 24

August

Hagaman, N.Y.

Bob’s Trees, Hagaman, N.Y.

Alumni Clambake Sunday, Aug. 26

September

Scholarship Brunch Saturday, Sept. 22 Paul Smith’s College campus

pat hendrick

February . Winter Carnival Reception

Saturday, Feb. 11, Noon-4 p.m. March

Florida Alumni Receptions Saturday, March 3 Fort Lauderdale

Monday, March 5 Orlando

Tuesday, March 6

Baltimore Alumni Reception Tuesday, March 27 Spring Career Fair Thursday, March 29

October

Fall Career Fair Thursday, Oct. 25

Paul Smith’s College campus

April

Brian W. Smith Alumni Memorial Basketball Game Saturday, Oct. 27

Sugar Bush Breakfast Saturday, April 21 Paul Smith’s College Sugarbush May

67th Commencement Saturday, May 5

Paul Smith’s College campus November

NYC: Copacabana Reception Sunday, Nov. 11

Tampa

June

Contact Us » For additional information, please contact: Office of Alumni Relations Phone: (518) 327-6253 Email: alumni@paulsmiths.edu

Washington, D.C., Alumni Reception Wednesday, June 20 July

Reunion Weekend 2012 Friday-Sunday, July 6 - 8 Paul Smith’s College campus

. Sugar Bush

Kathleen keck

Sequel | Winter 2012

[ alumni life / CLASS NOTES ] LETTER FROM THE ALUMNI RELATIONS COORDINATOR

reetings from the Alumni Office! I'm Heather Tuttle, and I’m so happy to be the college’s new alumni relations coordinator. While I may be new to this position, I’m no stranger to Paul Smith’s: I'm a 1999 graduate, and have worked on campus for more than 8 years. (My connection doesn’t end there, either. My husband, Chris, graduated

in 2000.) I’m working closely with the College Advancement team to continue many of the great events we do here every year. We’re also going to hit the road and come to you. In 2012, we’ll be in Florida, California, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, to name a few places. If you live in those areas, keep an eye out for an

invitation to one of those alumni receptions, or drop me a line if you’d like to come! If we won’t be in your neighborhood, I hope you’ll consider coming to Reunion 2012 from July 6-8 or any of our other great events. Check our web page often for updates (www.paulsmiths.edu/alumni), or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook. com/pscalumni). And even if you can’t make it, I’d love to hear from you.

50s

and the "Piners" enjoyed their continued camaraderie at their 26th annual mini-fall reunion in Sturbridge, Mass. They are looking forward to seeing

Beverley W. VanHee writes that her husband, Herbert W. VanHee ’58, passed

other classmates at their 50th

away in 2004. Beverly taught at Paul Smith's College from 1957 to 1962 as a member of the hotel management division.

Dr. Jacqueline D. St. John ’54 writes that she has 1,500 books in her woman's history collection – according to St. John, the largest in the Midwest. At this time, a librarian is cataloging the collection to be donated to a university

Heather Tuttle ’99 Alumni Relations Coordinator

Del Walker ’62

Judith Dearborn, widow of Richard A. Dearborn ’50, recalled "many fond memories of the old days" at Paul Smith's College. Judith writes that they lived on campus in the Loomis House; she gave birth to their youngest child in Saranac Lake the year Richard graduated.

Natalie (Bombard ’51) Leduc was featured in the September/October 2011 issue of Skiing Heritage magazine for her collection of more than 500 volumes of winter sports research. "I don't know another woman in the ski world who has contributed as much as she has to its history," one of Leduc’s friends told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Leduc currently lives in Saranac Lake, N.Y.

Have an idea or some news to share? Send me email at htuttle@paulsmiths.edu or call (518) 327-6253. Or just stop by when you’re in this neck of the woods. I look forward to joining you in celebrating everything Smittie!

reunion in 2012, and invite everyone to join them.

library, woman's archive, or historical society. Kenneth A. Anderson ’56 would like to hear from classmates from the Class of 1956. Please contact him at 8922 West Lake Road, Hammondsport, N.Y., 14840. Lynn D. Day Sr. ’57 says to watch for the 55-year reunion of the Class of 1957 in 2012. Thomas J. Dayton Sr. ’57 writes that his son, Thomas J. Dayton Jr. ’95, owns and

operates a small, full-line vending service company in Tennessee.

C. Paul Glenn ’57 is still enjoying retirement after 27 years of teaching. He is now living in Florida.

After retiring from his family catering business, William (Bill) Stewart Sr. ’57 is still active in his local fire department and historical society. This past July marked his 60th year with his fire department’s fife and drum corps, and he is still fire inspector in the Village of Mt. Kisco. Charles G. Engel ’58 is collecting antiques and decoys while working on bird carving and backyard wildlife gardening.

We want to hear from you! Email class notes to alumni@paulsmiths.edu, send to PSC Alumni Office, P.O. Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970, or fax to (518) 327-6267. (Pics welcome!) 32

Sequel | Winter 2012

Trail markers

Charles English ’59 is still living in Tafts-

ville, Vt. He spends his winters in Stuart, Fla.

MARRIAGES

60s

Michelle M. Clark ’09 to Matt Skobrak

on Oct. 22, 2011.

Loretta R. "Ginger" (Ryan ’62) Bevard

BIRTHS

is happy and healthy, living on the eastern shore of Maryland. She is loving every day and says that she is truly blessed.

To Lynn Stinziano ’88 and Ash Idris, twins, Dominick Amir and Willow Hope Rhiannon, on May 28, 2011.

Richard D. Glidden ’65 retired from State

Farm Insurance Claims at the end of 2007 after almost 39 years. He is traveling extensively and will remain in Canton, N.Y.

conflicts stopped him and his buddies from

Roy Heberger ’65 retired in 2000 and

gather in August for a mini-reunion in

Ed Zyniecki ’71 writes that schedule getting to their 40th reunion, but they did

is spending his free time building wooden boats, biking, running rivers in his dory, and fishing, among other things.

Montana. Front row, L-R: Paul VonGuerard

Ray Masters ’67 is a ski and snowboard

instructor at Red Lodge Mountain in Montana. He coauthored a history of skiing last December titled "Skiing Red Lodge from Dead Man's Curve to Grizzly Peak." Steve H. Price ’68 is enjoying three

grandchildren and retirement. He spends his free time playing piano, hiking, and backpacking. His house in Liverpool, N.Y., is a "work in progress." Gene A. Goundrey ’69 says he is

"always fighting urban sprawl," and mentions that the recent economic downturn is helping his efforts. Leonard Flath, assistant dean of students

and faculty from 1967-79 as well as a psychology professor, sent an article he found in the Troy Record mentioning a former student, Brian F. Howard ’69. Howard was named interim superintendent of the Enlarged City School District of Troy (N.Y.) in June. Flath, who is retired and living in Lansingburgh, N.Y., would like to hear from anyone who remembers some of the good times – especially from Lambert House residents.

70s

Ken Nephew ’70 retired in 2004 and is

now a substitute teacher in Malone, N.Y. He spends the summers at his camp on the St. Lawrence River in Canada, and some of the winter in Florida.

Stephen Casey ’74 remarried in April 2010 and continues to own and operate Casey Tree Specialists in Rhode Island with his 25-year-old son, James.

’71, Neil Smith ’71, Tim True ’71; back row, L-R: Zyniecki, Bill Sikorski ’71.

To Erin (Greene ’05) and Eric Geib ’05, son, Caleb Francis Geib, on Oct. 18, 2011.

To Becky (Stradley ’99) and Joe Romano, son, Vincent James Romano, on Aug. 21, 2011. To Jennifer and Antonius D. Rivera ’00, son, Alexander Daniel Rivera, on April 9, 2011.

John B. Shuart ’74 says hello to all his

old friends from Dorm VII, PSC FD, and the Forestry Club. He currently is the regional forester for the New Jersey Forest Service, and supervisor for the Northern Region Division of Parks and Forestry.

Daniel J. Bielawa ’78 was recently hired

by Rettew, an Engineering News-Record top 500 design firm. He currently resides in Lancaster, Pa., and serves as vice president of the Harrisburg chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors. He is also a member of the Landis Valley Museum Associates Board of Directors, and an affiliate member of the commercial and industrial real estate council of the Lancaster County Association of Realtors.

After 30 years of logging, Justin Kennick ’78 has taken another path, working at a

living history museum in south central Massachusetts, celebrating 18 years of marriage with his wife, Marge. Kristopher B. Chew ’79 left this world on April 1, 2011. His wife, Marilyn Cerniglia Chew, writes that Kristopher sent special goodbyes to BigZ, Thayer, Pete & Tara, Schwartzy, Clark, etc. ... his PSC buddies. He never forgot you.

To Trisha Wickwire and John D. McLean ’02, son, Elliot Verplanck McLean, on Nov. 2, 2011. To Holly (Mansur ’05) and Joel Chiodo ’03, twins, Marie Elizabeth and Audrey Lee, on June 20, 2011. To Christine (Watkins ’06) and Brian Kurta ’07, daughter, Jordyn Shae Kurta, on Oct. 21, 2011.

DEATHS John P. Tolbert ’48 on Sept. 13, 2011,

in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Adrian B. Grill ’48 on July 29, 2010,

in Hunter, N.Y.

Phyllis H. Holloway ’49 on Dec. 26,

2010, in Richmond, Va.

George Chamberlain ’49 on Sept. 10,

2011, in Candia, N.H.

Robert H. Kaiser ’50 on April 2, 2008,

in Somers, N.Y.

Andrew L. Rhubottom ’50 on Oct. 3,

2010, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

J. Vincent Jowett ’51 on Sept. 28,

2011, in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Harold V. Clark ’52 on Nov. 9, 2011,

80s

in Colonie, N.Y.

H. Neal Schaefer ’52 on April 21,

Guy B. Taylor ’83 is currently working

as a fisheries technician for Clear Springs Foods in Buhl, Idaho, one of the largest fish hatcheries in the world. Guy says, "Idaho's potatoes are fantastic, but that's no comparison to the fishing and hunting!"

2011, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Bernard F. Hoye ’54 on July 13, 2011,

in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Hugh G. Pangman ’54 on May 3,

2011, in Ariz.

Sequel | Winter 2012

[ CLASS NOTES ]

90s

Mark Doherty ’99 owns Aqua Vita Farms in Sherrill, N.Y., where Scott Fonte ’99 is director

David E. Osterhout ’90 was diagnosed with

of aquaculture. The indoor farm

multiple sclerosis and has been recognized by the MS Society for being among the top 50 fund raisers for their annual campaign. David has received this recognition for three years now.

raises seafood and grows produce by combining aquaculture and hydroponics in an integrated, soilless system. Waste from the farm’s tilapia and blue gill

Kieran F. Dollard ’93 has been made master

are used to create plant food,

sergeant in the U.S. Army, and currently is in Afghanistan supervising teams of bomb disposal technicians.

which helps grow seven types of lettuce and four salad greens. Their business was featured in the Syracuse Post-Standard this

Martha L. (Amann ’96) Jenkins is working

with disabled children in Millbrook, N.Y., and living happily with her two guinea pigs, Roskow and Buddy.

Abbie Croft ’96 and ’00 married Andrew

O'Grady on June 24, 2011. Abbie is the migrant education specialist for the Research Foundation of SUNY, working out of the SUNY Potsdam campus; her spouse works in construction. She would like to send her congratulations to Amy Miller ’96 and Mike Martin ’98, who just welcomed their fifth baby.

Eleanor C. Bower ’96 really enjoyed the

Summer 2011 Sequel. She is the chair of the Mammoth Cave Sierra Club Group in Green, Ky., partnering with Lost River Cave on a variety of projects. Eleanor is also planting trees with the Lions Club.

fall; read the story at http:// bit.ly/rBVWTW.

00s

Jonathan D. Aubin ’01 writes that his

wife, Heidi, died on Sept. 2, 2011, following a 14-year bout with a rare form of cancer. She was 39. Jonathan writes: "My wife was a beautiful, smart, caring woman. My son, Jonathan, and I miss her more and more as the days go on." Her obituary can be read here: http://bit.ly/uwpGt2. A memorial fund in Heidi's memory, "Little Jonathan's Fund," has been established for their 4-year-old son; contributions can be sent to the fund c/o Meredith Village Savings Bank, P.O. Box 929, Center Harbor, NH 03326.

shore of Maryland growing vegetables and raising grass fed beef, lamb, pork and eggs. Jonathan A. Waldron ’02 gave a shout-out to the class of 2001 all the way from Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was back in the U.S. in the summer and says to look him up. Eric Geib ’05 works for the N.H. Fish & Game Department as program assistant at the Owl Brook Hunter Education Center in Holderness, N.H. Brian Kurta ’07 is a park ranger in Kanab, Utah. He and his wife, Christine (Watkins ’06) Kurta, welcomed a daughter in October

Fletcher Parker ’01 is farming on the Eastern

(see Trail Markers, p.33) -- the first grandchild for Kevin Watkins ’79 and Carol (Scalise ’79) Watkins.

Stephen W. Smith ’64 on Dec. 17, 2003,

in Tiverton, R.I.

Timothy D. Sullivan ’64 on June 22, 2011,

in Underhill, Vt.

Robert J. Casey ’64 on Aug. 7, 2011,

in Norwell, Mass.

Lewis P. Thomas ’65 on March 29, 2011,

2007, in Tucson, Ariz.

Joseph F. Kilbury ’65 on June 4, 2011,

in Charlton, N.Y.

Frank T. Wyglendowski ’71 on Aug. 20,

2010, in Dolgeville, N.Y.

Trail markers DEATHS John F. Adie ’55 on Aug. 30, 2011,

in Neptune, N.J.

Richard W. Marks ’55 on Oct. 19, 2006,

in Phoenix, Ariz.

William C. Collier ’57 on May 26, 2010,

in Leesburg, Fla.

John C. Dolyak ’57 on May 27, 2011,

in Seymour, Conn.

Harold E. Ostrom ’61 on May 29, 2011,

in Dolgeville, N.Y.

Daniel M. Frye ’62 on July 12, 2011,

in Syracuse, N.Y.

John Northrop ’63 on May 20, 2011,

in Geneva, N.Y.

Robert W. Setterlund ’64 on Sept. 20,

2010, in Orange County, Calif.

Sequel | Winter 2012

in Trumansburg, N.Y.

in Saranac Lake, N.Y.

in Enterprise, Ore. in Yellville, Ark.

in Arkport, N.Y.

2009, in Montana.

Larry K. Wizeman ’72 on Nov. 19, 2010,

in Cherry Hills, N.J.

Scott C. Sommer ’77 on May 17, 2011, Michael W. Smith ’78 on May 24, 2011, Andrew S. Zwiebach ’78 on Nov. 21, Kristopher B. Chew ’79 on April 1, 2011, Douglas J. Voorhees ’81 on May 22, James C. Leonard ’81 on Oct. 26, 2011,

in Truckee, Calif.

David A. Watts ’88 on June 13, 2011,

Daniel B. Croes ’74 on March 12, 2008,

in Saranac Lake, N.Y.

Michael G. Nedeau ’76 on June 23, 2011,

in Lyncourt, N.Y.

in Texas.

James P. Dano ’89 on Sept. 3, 2011,

p. (518) 327-6315 f. (518) 327-626 7

Dear Friends, Where would you be without Paul

Smith’s College?

We’ve all traveled various paths sinc e graduating. Some of us have mad e careers in restaurants, others in hotels and resorts, others in forestry and natural resource management. What we all have in common is that our time at Paul Smith’s shaped us in ways we could barely imagine when we were there. That’s why we feel so strongly abo ut reaching out to you. We know that Paul Smith’s has the power to change lives. But we nee d to act now to ensure that the people and the place that is Paul Smi th’s College remain as vital as ever . To be sure, Paul Smith’s is on a rem arkable trajectory. Enrollment is so strong that a new residence hall was opened this fall. Still, the rest of campus has many challenges ahead. That growing student body is taxing our classrooms, labs and equ ipment; investments in each are nee ded to continue producing graduates with the skills and knowled ge to succeed after college. Getting those students to college in the first place, regardless of need, has long been our aim. That goal is in jeopardy, though. We must buil d our scholarship fund to keep new students — our lifeblood — coming to our alma mater. For these reasons, and because our Paul Smith’s education brought such value to our lives, all of us signing this letter choose to give bac k. But last year, just 7 percent of our alumni contributed to Paul Smith’s. Let’s make that number grow! Your gift of $5, $250, $500 — wha tever you can afford — will have an imm ediate impact. Give online at www.paulsmiths.edu/give, send a check to PO Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970, or call and talk to the folks at the college at (518) 327-607 9. Please join us! None of us got whe re we are today by ourselves. For 60 years, a Paul Smith’s education has opened doors. Help us hold that door open for the next generation. Sincerely, Ralph Blum ’54 Richard Cattani ’64 John Dillon ’58 Walter Ganzi ’63 Jon Luther ’67 John Rebstock ’58

OFFICE OF COLLEGE ADVANCEME

NT | P.O. Box 265 | Paul Smiths, New York | 12970-0265 | paulsmit hs.edu

Sequel | Winter 2012

Sequel Magazine P.O. Box 265, Paul Smiths, NY 12970-0265 Change Service Requested

[ PARTING SHOT ]

Slippery

slope

you’ve got a little time to kill, well, you’ll need a lot more than that to go through Natalie (Bombard ’51) Leduc’s collection of ski memorabilia. Leduc, whose 500-book library was featured in Skiing Heritage magazine this fall, still has a few items from her day as a member of Paul Smith’s alpine ski team: These sterling silver skis, for example, were given to the winner of the annual Winter Carnival meet. And that photo of Leduc’s Lake Placid-made, 215-centimeter wooden skis was taken on Jenkins Mountain, which once had a college-run rope tow (since abandoned, but the remains are still there). “The big thing about Jenkins was you had to cross a brook with your skis on,” says Leduc, a founder of the International Skiing History Association. “Those were such early days. I broke my leg at the top of Jenkins at one race and I had to walk down. There were no such things as ski patrols then – we were such early skiers.”

» Do you have a Paul Smith’s-related photo, artifact or other item with a story behind it? Share! Drop a line to kaaron@paulsmiths.edu.

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