So, I sat down and with the help of the DVS committee, I wrote a letter to him, asking him to come to campus and give a lecture based on his book The Physics of Superheroes. He e-mailed me back during our winter break, asking me if the opportunity was still available. We arranged for him to come visit and give a lecture on March 16.

Thinking that the opportunity was too good to pass up, I asked Professor Kakalios if he would be willing to give an extra lecture on his research (yes, he is an actual physicist too!) for the physics department the day before his superheroes lecture. To which he agreed.

The day that Professor Kakalios finally got to campus I was really worried. I am very nervous about meeting new people. As I was walking to my last class of the day, I happened upon Professor Kakalios standing in Howard Hall. I nervously headed over to him and introduced myself. We shared a few pleasantries and I went on to my class. While I then believed that he was a kind man, I was worried that no one would come to the lecture, or worse, that it would go over poorly.

Before his superhero lecture, the Pamplin Society put a small dinner on for the society and members of the physics department. At the dinner, I listened to Kakalios tell stories about the comic book store he used to visit across from his elementary school. I was totally enamored with him. He even wore a tie portraying my favourite super heroes, the Fantastic Four.

The lecture started and the audience was met with many great comic references that contain actual physics concepts.  My personal favourite from the lecture was how Kitty Pryde’s superpower can be related to electron tunneling. Quantum mechanics tells us that there is a certain probability that an electron under proper circumstances can pass through a “solid” barrier without disturbing the barrier or itself. This probability is found through the use of Schrödinger’s Equation. So, Kitty Pryde’s mutant power can be viewed as the power to alter her quantum wave function,  making the probability of her being able to “tunnel” through the wall 100%, and therefore passing through the wall.

I think that it is obvious that I am not the only one who enjoyed the lecture. Throughout the lecture, I could hear my professors and peers laughing at Kakalios’s various jokes.

Overall, I thought that the lecture went well. And more than just going well, I learned a lot about how putting on a lecture on campus goes. I have learned a lot about what we should do differently next year and what we should keep the same.

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For any non-Pio readers, the LC Center for Career and Community Engagement (3CE) organizes two Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips each year, one to San Francisco and one to New Mexico. I had been aware of these opportunities last year, but didn’t think much of them until earlier this semester, when people started talking about spring break and I realized that I didn’t know what I was going to do. I’d been giving a lot of thought lately to my career, which, though it still lacks specifics, will definitely involve Native American reservations and improved conditions for tribes, and when I saw a flier advertising an opportunity to visit the Navajo and Zuni nations, it instantly became clear that here was a chance to spend spring break doing community service, learning more about what I was getting myself into in terms of a career, and spending time with a bunch of really, really cool people. Problem solved.

An application and a few trip meetings later, I found myself touching down in the ruggedly gorgeous (and freezing!) environs of the New Mexico high desert. If you have never been to the Southwest, I highly recommend it. Although the main point of the ASB New Mexico trip was to visit local schools, work with members of Teach for America, and learn about the education system, we also had time to soak up some super sweet scenery. Had I been gifted with artistic talent, I would hardly have put down my brush. Our most noteworthy stops were in Canyon de Chelly and El Morro National Monument. Yes, we were in two states on the day that we visited Canyon de Chelly, for anyone who knows U.S. geography. I could wax sentimentally for several pages, but I think I’ll let you all have the visual experience instead:

Scenic viewpoint at Canyon de Chelly

Spider Rock is a sacred Navajo monument in Canyon de Chelly

The desert is deceptively flat...

Like I said, flat...

Okay, photographs kind of suck at reproducing colors. Basically, the sky was HUGE and blue enough to bring tears to your eyes, the desert was flat and filled with all the subtle gradations of green and brown and gray and yellow and purple that you could imagine, and the cliffs were like reddish-orange monoliths reaching right up to spear the heart of the sun. To be fair, there was also a great deal of dirt and dust and wind, and you’ll want to keep sunscreen and moisturizer handy, but no place is perfect, right? Sadly, we had time only to do a driving loop through Canyon de Chelly and did not get to hike down to the Anasazi cliff houses. All the same, the fact that we had such a spectacular experience without the added bonus of hiking should give a sense of how glorious this place is. Have I sold you on it yet?

El Morro was just as beautiful as Canyon de Chelly, though in a silvery-white, granite-y kind of way as opposed to the warm, bright colors of the canyon. For anyone who has been to Yosemite high country, El Morro is comparable in some ways. We actually got to go on two hikes at El Morro, and one took us up high over a bunch of rocky outcroppings and cliffs. Our second hike was along the so-called Inscription Trail, named for the carved initials of various historical figures on the cliff sides along the way. (Register Cliff, anyone?) I saw names of Spanish explorers, military officials, railroad companies, and even a petroglyph or two from the ancient tribes that once lived in the area, all of which, as a history major, I found particularly exciting!

El Morro

Ruins at El Morro

A bit like Yosemite, yeah?

But enough with the aesthetics. On a more serious note, we also visited three schools, an elementary school in the New Mexico town of Gallup, and high schools on the Navajo and Zuni reservations. We met with Teach for America teachers at all three schools, and spent each day in various classrooms, talking with students about their culture, helping to conduct activities, and answering questions about college. Our two international students, Bonnie from China and Yuka from Japan, were especially popular with all the students, for reasons that the rest of us still can’t quite figure out. Apart from the presence of Teach for America members, Bonnie and Yuka’s popularity, and the sheer magnitude of difference between the education system in that part of New Mexico and what I have personally experienced in California and Oregon, the three schools could not have been more different. Several elementary schoolers told me about older siblings who had married or had kids earlier than might be thought typical, yet the kids themselves, in spite of coming from very different socioeconomic backgrounds than what I grew up with, did not seem any more aware of such things than I had been at that age. By contrast, the high school students I talked to had a much greater awareness of their socioeconomic status, the state of their education system, and their future prospects both on and off the reservation. Just as a brief rundown: alcoholism, school dropouts, gang activity, and suicide rates all tend to be much higher on reservations than in the rest of the United States, and families on reservations often live without reliable running water, electricity, and adequate housing. At Tse Yi Gai, a Navajo high school located in the lowest-performing district in New Mexico, the students, while friendly, were also rather reserved, particularly when compared to the students of Zuni High School, which we visited the next day. We learned from locals that the Navajo culture tends to involve far less talking than both the Zuni culture and what they referred to as the “dominant” American culture.

Classroom at Rocky View Elementary

Lauren and me being kids again during recess at Rocky View

Aaron and Lauren being celebrities at Rocky View

Math scores from state testing at Tse Yi Gai

That said, I did have several very enjoyable conversations with Navajo students, though the topics under discussion tended to center on schoolwork, family life, and hobbies. One male student I talked with said that the family goat had actually eaten his homework (apparently it is a commonly referenced excuse). In Zuni, the students talked about all of these topics, but also offered much more detail on the cultural aspect of their lives. I met two male students who were dancers, and talked to several female students who had prepared special bread for Zuni ceremonies and who informed me that in the Zuni culture, with the exception of the harvest dance, women are limited to cooking and cleaning for men in terms of their involvement in ceremonies and festivals. I also met a Zuni student during my first cafeteria experience (we ate with the students, and my high school did not have a cafeteria!) who will be studying acting and directing at the San Francisco Academy of Art next year, which I think reassured all of us trip members that, contrary to much of what we had been hearing, students could and did overcome personal difficulties to leave the reservation in pursuit of their dreams.

On that inspiring note, I think I will conclude this longest-blog-in-the-history-of-Pamplin-blogs. For those of you who bore with me until the end, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences almost as much as I enjoyed having them. If you are an LC student interested in learning about education, Native Americans, the Southwest, or all three, sign up for the ASB New Mexico trip next year! At the very least, you will take a hundred pictures and make a fantastic bunch of close friends. I now have two adopted brothers and seven adopted sisters, and I love them all.

View of beautiful sky from Tse Yi Gai parking lot

Watching expert frybread makers. Freshly made frybread rocks!

My lovely adopted family, minus trip leader Maddie.

Note all photos courtesy of trip leader Nick.

So long for now!

- Nikki (’12)

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The distinction between what a person is trying to achieve and what they are actually doing is important in situations ranging from sexual harassment litigation to free speech on college campuses. It should be a good conversation. And, of course, there will be snacks.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Boy, was I wrong.

All of the panel members agreed that what benefited them most was not the languages they could speak in particular, but the fact that they had learned how to really communicate. They said that instead of technical skills, current employers are looking for communication, critical thinking, and writing skills–something that Lewis & Clark students, especially Foreign Langages and Literatures majors, have plenty of. It was just amazing to see what varied careers these alumni had found. I never understood the breadth of work one can find with what always seemed to me to be such a specific, technical skill.

This was especially great for me to hear, because I have lots of friends who are so nervous about what they’ll do after graduation. My roommate, for example, loves history to death, but she’s kind of freaked out by the fact that her major seems to be leading her to a choice between academics, museum curation, and food service. I think everyone needs to hear the news: that no matter what your major, you are well-equipped to do zillions of different and interesting jobs. It’s not what you know–it’s HOW you can know, HOW you can interact with your environment, and, of course, how much confidence you have in yourself.

I hope that those reading are cheered by this fact… I know I was! I don’t feel quite so limited in my future now. After going to this event and speaking with one alumnus, I was compelled to look around for internships in some of the large corporations in Delaware (small state, but apparently we’ve got some great tax breaks that make lots of companies want to call it home). I applied for one with AstraZeneca–a posting called “Alliance Development & Stakeholder Relations.” I’m definitely not the typical candidate, but I feel confident in who I am and what I am capable of, and perhaps I’ll be able to explore this (absolutely foreign) field this summer. It’s a bit of a shot in the dark, but I’m sure that nothing can come out of it but good experiences!

The moral of the story? Talk to people! I wouldn’t know any of this had I not gone to this event, listened to these people’s stories, and asked them questions. And don’t assume. Keep your mind open to the huge breadth of everything that this world has, and don’t assume you’re going to get shoved into a major-specific corner somewhere. All of us at this school have an amazing future ahead of us, so don’t sell yourself short.

<3 Diane

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Hello!

Hello readers of the internets! Whomever you may be, my name is Warren, and it is a pleasure for you to meet me. I am thrilled to be embarking upon my first web log ever, and I hope that you will stay with me until the end. I have put off this moment for some time because, unlike my fellow fellows, I do not spend my Thursday nights saving the children of Haiti, or advance the frontiers of human knowledge about butterflies on the weekend. I wanted to have something worth blogging about.

Then Nikki (the experienced blogger and author of such inspiring pieces as “The Story of a Pamplin Newbie: A Semester in Retrospect”) came up with a brilliant suggestion. “Why don’t you blog about the International Fair, Warren?” “That is a wonderful idea Nikki!” I replied, “I will get right on that!” Then midterms happened and French Play happened, and somehow blogging did not happen. So now, two weeks after the fact, I am sitting down to write about the glorious Lewis & Clark tradition that is the International Fair!

So smart!

The International Fair is put on every March at Lewis & Clark, coinciding with Parents’ Weekend, to celebrate the rich array of cultural backgrounds of LC students and to trick parents into thinking that this is what the school is like all the time. Lewis & Clark prides itself on the emphasis it places on international studies and global awareness, and the overwhelming majority of students here spend either a semester or a year abroad. We also have a large population of international students on campus, as over 50 countries are represented. At the Fair, we had food and performances from all corners of the globe.

I had the pleasure of performing in a preview of this year’s French Play. Every spring, the French Department puts on a play, but this is the first year that we’ve also done a preview at the International Fair. The actors are all French students who are at the 300 level or higher, and the director is the French teaching assistant (my roommate, the very charming and very French Lilian Lahieyte). This year’s play is Ubu Roi, written in 1896 by Alfred Jarry and considered the first absurdist play. I would like to invite you all to come see it, but unfortunately it closed last night (my fault, for two week delay in posting blog).

Ubu Roi

Anyway, Ubu Roi went very well, and we had great audiences. It’s interesting performing for people who don’t all speak French – after each joke, about half the audience laughs, then you can hear them whispering to the people next to them, then the other half laughs a little less loudly. Doing a play in another language is also a fun way to practice that language in a non-academic environment. The French Club on campus is very active, and offers students many opportunities to use French. I live in the French Apartments at LC with 11 other French Majors/ French people, and it has helped me immensely to use French in my everyday life.

I also performed at the International Fair with my a capella group, Section Line Drive (representing America). A Capella is popular and growing on campus, and there are four different groups on campus now. There is still time to invite you all to our end of year concert/ CD release party, which will be on the last day of classes (May 1st?).

Section Line Drive. Don't we look nice?

There were many other wonderful dances, songs, and musical performances at the International Fair, and instead of trying to describe them all, I think I will just upload a bunch of pictures. Also, I should mention that the Fair was organized and run this year by the Pamplin Society’s own Shelley Zhao. Actually, now that I think of it, she would have been a much more appropriate and well-informed person to write this blog. Oh well. Here are the pictures:

The brains behind the operation.

Well, that’s it I think. I hope this blog was everything you ever hoped and dreamed it might be. If not, feel free to leave a comment about how I might better meet your needs as a reader of blogs. I think I’m scheduled to do another one of these sometime next year. Talk to you then! Bye!

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August brought with it a battery of new skills— PCR, DNA extraction, gel electrophoresis, insect pinning, record keeping. I began amplifying my first gene, and collecting the sequences that would be necessary to construct a family tree of Speyeria. This step, like all of the others, took longer than originally estimated. Knocking on wood, I completed the molecular part of the first gene last week!

The most fascinating part of my thesis by far is all of the people I have met as part of the work. Starting with Dave McCorkle and Paul Hammond, two of the foremost experts on Speyeria in the US, I have skimmed the surface of the art of taxonomy. I met Robert Pyle, the author of the guidebook I used in the field at a conference in November. I have been corresponding with butterfly scientists in Florida and Finland. Without the ready feedback and advice of these people, I would not have been able to get this project off the ground.

March brings the firm deadline for the end of molecular work. I will be done with PCR, and hopefully the 2nd gene. I foresee a week of sequence assembly, a week of alignment, and if all goes smoothly, an honors thesis turned in on time.

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I truly believe that this is one of the most important functions that the society performs and its both a privilege and a responsibility to be part of the Teacher of the Year committee. We’ve spent a lot of time revising our protocol for selecting the winner and we think that we have nearly perfected the selection process. Yet, without Lewis & Clark’s student’s letters, it will all be for naught! So please, if you’re reading this, and have had a teacher who has made an incredible impact on your education, send in a letter. Recognize your favorite professor! They like it when you do, I promise.

For the criteria that submissions will be graded on, check out this site: http://www.pamplinfellows.org/toty/criteria/

I’m really excited to read everyone’s letters. Well that’s my plug for Teacher of the Year submissions. Hope everyone has been having a great semester so far, Spring is just around the corner! I’m stoked.

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So this isn’t exactly academic, but it’s certainly relevant to the general affairs of LC. Last night was Spring Fling, a low-key all-student dance. Of course not everyone in the entire school showed up, but the people who were there contributed to an atmosphere of beat-filled awesome fun.

These last few weeks could easily be labeled “hell weeks” for many students; for example, I had four midterms in three days. That being said, dancing always puts me in a good mood. It’s also fun to play dress-up (as is appropriate for a biannual event such as this). For me, that meant wearing a printed dress, nice[r] shoes, and taking 1/2 million photos before we even left for the venue. For one of my friends, that meant painting his face like a clown and wearing tons of leather and a leopard-printed shirt. As can be expected, there were a mix of fashion choices at the dance: the dressed-up, the casual, and the crazy.

Forgetting the attendees for a moment, the venue itself was pretty sweet. The bus dropped us off next to an old warehouse on the other side of the river, recently renovated as a rent-able open space to cater to whatever you need. I’m sure that in the daytime that space would hardly resemble a dance floor, but I can attest that it actually felt like a club. Between the colored lights shining upwards from the glossy concrete floor and the respectable selection of delicious snacks, the event was very well-planned. And of course my music tastes are not necessarily in line with what the DJ thinks is appropriate, but I was not in any way dissatisfied with the song selection. Most importantly on this subject was his choice to play “Sandstorm”, a club classic that never gets old.

All in all, it’s easy to mark this off as the highlight of my weekend, and it was well worth the $10 entry. Thank-you very much to the students and administrators that helped put the event on!

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Learn more about the criteria here.

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Lately, I have been becoming familiar with streets in neighborhoods I’ve never walked, navigating regions of a country I’ve never known. In the weeks following the earthquake in Haiti, an organization called Ushahidi has been collecting, translating, evaluating, and mapping thousand of SMS text messages from those in need. Needing volunteers to map messages twenty-four house a day in wake of the crisis, the students of Lewis & Clark college were asked fill a gap not covered by those on the East coast or in Geneva. On the night pictured in this photo, over forty students from the Undergraduate, Graduate, and Law Schools were packed into the Pamplin room to be trained in message mapping. Over the course of the week, many more came to be trained, including some faculty members.

While the training room was full of long faces, dampened by the tragedy, it was also an inspiring scene. The overwhelming student response to the crisis was one of the largest gatherings of the institution-wide community that I have ever been a part of. This project, I think, is perfect for students. We have time to share, technological savvy, and a desire to share our compassion. I am continually amazed by the wonders of technology. Between our Skype chat, cinematically titled the “Portland Situation Room,” online mapping resources, and Google Earth, we were able to be part of a chain which facilitates meaningful aid in Haiti. Maybe someday I will walk the streets whose satellite images I have surveyed. In the meantime, I and many other faithful volunteers will continue tracing them from our own homes, hoping to support Haitians in rebuilding theirs.

Maddie Cole

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