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Issue: April 2014

CC’s Marijuana Policy Unchanged

 Colorado College has a long-standing policy against drug use on campus and within the college community, and that policy has not changed with Colorado’s adoption of Amendment 64. CC is dedicated to providing the finest liberal arts education in the country; to achieve this mission, the college seeks to foster a healthy learning environment and believes marijuana use conflicts with this mission. It’s important to note that Amendment 64 removes the criminal penalties attendant to possession of marijuana for Colorado citizens over the age of 21; the majority of the CC student population is not of age under the new state law. Additionally, the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act…

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Issue: April 2014

Hecox Honored for Conservation Work

 Walt Hecox ’64, professor of economics in the Environmental Program at Colorado College and director of the Colorado College State of the Rockies Project, received the 2013 Stuart P. Dodge Award for lifetime achievement in conservation from the Palmer Land Trust. In announcing the award, the Palmer Land Trust noted that “Hecox’s long career culminated in the State of the Rockies Project, which for the past decade has stood as a capstone to his commitment to environmental and policy issues. His career has benefited not only the academic community but also our larger environmental community.” The organization also noted that, in his more than 40 years of teaching at Colorado…

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Issue: April 2014

Giuffre Discusses Creativity at TEDxMileHigh

 Kathy Giuffre, associate professor of sociology, presented her work at the “TEDxMileHigh: Women | Values + Instincts” event at Denver’s Newman Center on Nov. 16.  The event featured some of Colorado’s most innovative, brilliant, and passionate women — women who are pushing the boundaries and making huge impacts in science, sociology, artistry, health, and education. Giuffre, billed as a “creative maven” on the TEDxMileHigh website, discussed “Generous Women: Creativity and Social Networks.” The presentation was based on her research on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands of the South Pacific, where she spent a sabbatical year studying the artists. Giuffre also took a CC sociology class to Rarotonga…

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Char Cadown ’16, Erica Jamieson ’17, and Jarod Rutledge ’17 as they fasted for the Philippines in December. The daylong event in Bemis Hall was intended to draw attention to the typhoon devastation in the Philippines and global climate change.
Issue: April 2014

Students Lead Support for Philippines

 Char Cadown ’16, Erica Jamieson ’17, and Jarod Rutledge ’17 hosted a daylong fast Dec. 3 in Bemis Hall inspired by Yeb Saño, delegate for the Philippines at the COP 19 Climate Talks in Warsaw, Poland, in late November. Reflecting on the devastation Typhoon Haiyan wrought on Nov. 8, he said, “In solidarity with my…

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Issue: April 2014

Sleep Research Wakes Up the World

 A study by Psychology Professor Kristi Erdal and Christina Draganich ’12 is making people sit up and take notice. Students who were told they got a good night’s sleep — even if they didn’t — performed better on tests measuring their attention and memory skills than those who thought they slept poorly, according to Draganich’s research. A paper about the study, “Placebo Sleep Affects Cognitive Functioning,” was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. The study was based on two experiments with 164 students that Draganich did for her senior thesis in neuroscience. The study has been picked up widely by media, including The Independent in…

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Issue: April 2014

‘Wordless’ Wows Sold-out Crowd

 Art Spiegelman, noted artist, historian, and theorist of comics, and saxophonist great Phillip Johnston performed “Wordless!” as the keynote event at the 13th annual Cornerstone Arts Week in January. The performance combining slides, lecture, and music was highlighted by Spiegelman’s discussion about the earliest graphic novels and their influence on him. As President Jill Tiefenthaler…

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Issue: April 2014

From the President

 Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends of Colorado College, It’s no secret that the Block Plan works. Our signature program offers a powerful learning approach that delivers what many students are looking for today: intensive explorations across and between academic disciplines; meaningful experiential learning opportunities; and close student-faculty interaction. When Colorado College recently received an $800,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support our strategic plan, it was mostly on the basis that we encourage more innovation in the Block Plan — and learn more about this teaching model so we can enhance it and share it with others. Over the years we’ve seen broad interest from other institutions on how…

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Issue: April 2014

On the Bookshelf

 Remaking College: Innovation and the Liberal Arts College co-authored by Jill Tiefenthaler, Colorado College President This collection of essays by college presidents and other leaders in higher education asks a fundamental question: In light of rapid environmental changes and increasing calls for higher education to make access to college more affordable and to do more to prepare students for specific careers, what is the role of the American residential liberal arts college? President Tiefenthaler’s chapter, titled “Economics and Affordability,” co-authored with the president of Vassar College and the treasurer/vice president for finance at Swarthmore College, looks at the economic and financial data of higher education in the United States and…

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