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Bower Receives Prestigious Award

Colorado College Chemistry Professor Nate Bower received the 2014 Colorado American Chemical Society Section Award for his outstanding contributions to chemistry. The award honors Bower’s lifetime achievements and acknowledges his research in numerous areas, including the development of analytical methods for fields such as archaeology, art conservation, environmental chemistry, forensic science, and numismatics. Most recently, Bower has been doing chemical analyses of the forgotten individuals in the Colorado Mental Health Institute cemetery in Pueblo, Colo., after they were unearthed by a backhoe in 1992. Bower discussed this research at the awards ceremony, noting that similar isotopic analyses have been used to follow the migrations of animals and to illuminate the…

Issue: December 2014

Community Kitchen Undergoes Changes

Safety concerns and reduced, inconsistent student involvement prompted Colorado College President Jill Tiefenthaler to ask Associate Dean Mike Siddoway, who oversees the college’s Collaborative for Community Engagement, to study the CC Community Kitchen and assess its operations. Siddoway, who has volunteered in soup kitchens in Colorado Springs and other cities for more than 40 years, noted that the kitchen’s operations were out of step with best practices, which include an educational orientation for guests and volunteers, an educational programming component, guest screening for safety issues, and a code of conduct. Although most CC Community Kitchen guests were respectful of the campus community and CC property, there had been recent incidents…

Issue: December 2014

Letters to the Editor

Thanks for the Memories I so enjoyed a resurgence of pleasant CC memories as I noted your remembrance of Dr. Glenn Gray and the mention of Dr. Penland’s participation in the herbarium. I spent many pleasant hours sorting and collating Dr. Penland’s plant collection, particularly his Penstemon penlandii. I had come to CC interested in a journalism career, though there were no majors in that subject then, but got happily sidetracked into a botany major and a lasting friendship with Dr. Penland instead. Barbara Coyne ’56 I just received my copy of the Bulletin and am discouraged that there is such a paucity of information from the classes of the…

Issue: December 2014

Peak Profile: Joseph E. Mattys ’67

Joe E. Mattys ’67 has seen Colorado College from both sides: as a student hungry for the Next Big Question and a teacher eager to pose it. “My first teaching job after my M.A. and a stint in the Army was back at CC,” says Joe, who taught theater from 1972 to 1977. “It was…

Issue: December 2014

Peak Profile: Marty Kemmer-Contreras ’85

Marty Kemmer-Contreras ’85 believes education is a social justice issue. So much so, this combined political science and history major has spent the last decade trying to level the playing field in early childhood education. As director of community relations for Colorado Springs’ Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD), the local grantee for Head Start, Marty champions CPCD’s mission within the community and beyond. When sequestration hit Head Start hard last year, eliminating $530,000 from the budget, she worked on the “Fill a Seat” campaign, during which CPCD sold child-sized chairs from shuttered preschool classrooms, hand-painted by Head Start children, to help raise money. The program was wildly successful and…

Issue: December 2014

Peak Profile: Iain Hyde ’06

On June 22, 2012, Iain Hyde ’06 was offered a new job. A mitigation specialist with Colorado’s Office of Emergency Management for almost three years, he was promoted to the state’s interim recovery manager position. On June 23, the Waldo Canyon Fire hit just a few miles from Colorado College — evacuating more than 30,000…

Issue: December 2014

In Memoriam

George L. Merkert Jr. George L. Merkert Jr., the team doctor for CC’s sports teams for more than 30 years, died July 12, 2014, at age 89. “Dr. Merkert was a most competent and caring physician, who had an uncanny ability to install confidence and trust in his patients,” said Horst Richardson, CC men’s soccer coach. George never graduated from high school and was not-so-secretly proud he hadn’t. His college entrance scores were substantial enough and the need for doctors during World War II was great enough, that he qualified for the Navy V-12 college training program and left for college before the end of his senior year of high…

Issue: December 2014

Milestones

Weddings and Celebrations 1992 Randy Benzel and Kathy Duran were married June 21, 2014, at Mueller State Park near Divide, Colo. Randy is an independent data warehouse development consultant, and they live in Castle Rock, Colo. 2001 Hadiya Strasberg married Kevin Horne June 7, 2014, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Hadiya is an architectural designer and contractor and Kevin is an architect. They live in Boston. 2003 Adam Cornelius and Anne Kagi ’04 were married July 26, 2014, in Anacortes, Wash. 2006 Jessica Malisow married Peter Leisz on Sept. 14, 2014, in Vail, Colo. 2007 Michael Meyer and Rachel Shaffer ’08 were married Sept. 1, 2013, in Albuquerque, N.M. They reside in Washington,…

Issue: December 2014

A Message from Your Alumni Board

Dear Fellow Alumni, The Colorado College Alumni Association Board (AAB) asks your help in identifying outstanding prospective AAB members. AAB membership is a wonderful opportunity to become more engaged with and to give back to the college. It offers opportunities to help support and nurture CC’s outstanding students. We are seeking candidates who are committed to the college and have demonstrated leadership and recognition in their communities and/or professions. For AAB, as for all of CC’s constituencies, it is vitally important to reflect the college’s and the wider world’s rich diversity. We are soliciting nominations from alumni at large, and we also encourage interested individuals to nominate themselves. For an individual…

Issue: December 2014

CC’s Premier Summer Learning Experience

With the rigor and adventure inherent in the CC Block Plan and our awe-inspiring location in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado College is poised to make summer academic programs the destination for a new generation of learners. Colorado College has a long tradition of extending learning opportunities for students during the Summer Session, taking advantage of…