MESSAGES FROM THE FACULTY
The first cluster flies are starting to emerge here in Lathrop and I just spotted a geology major sitting in the sun on the steps leading to the quad; sure signs that spring is not too far off. I am beginning to look forward to it. Lighting the wood stove, skiing and aprs skiing are some of the finer things in life, but now that the snow is gone it would be nice to leave the coat and boots behind and stop scraping the windshield.
This semester I have been teaching Hydrology and Surficial Geology while Bruce is away with the Wales study group. I taught this course for the first time two years ago when Bruce was dean and I must say it's easier the second time around. My version of the course includes less colorful trivia than Bruce's, but hopefully the students are learning the geology anyway. During the fall semester I was busy with Mineralogy, Sedimentology and Physical labs. As usual the X-ray machine "took up smoking" for about a month this fall; one piece or another seemed to burn up every other week or so. (This was very exciting and lots of fun.) I also have been involved with a program that is working to develop "hands on" learning in the science programs at Hamilton Central School. In particular I was helping the Kindergarten teachers design learning activities and I got a chance to have some fun with the kids, playing with and learning about magnets.
Probably one of my best experiences over the past year was spending about two weeks in Alaska with my good friend Sally Rothwell ('84). Viewing the glaciers from the plane was amazing, especially after teaching about them and seeing them in texts for so long. Certainly another highlight occurred during a sea kayak trip on the coast of the Kenai Peninsula; we spent the last hour of the summer solstice watching the sunset over Redoubt volcano. (The sun dipped below the horizon ~ 11:30 PM.) Over the two weeks, Sally and I managed to see quite a bit by road tripping, backpacking and day hiking both north and south of Anchorage. I must confess we did spend some of the time visiting a few of the local bars too, including Chilkoot Charlie's, Humpy's and the Salty Dawg. All were fine establishments.