Former astronaut encourages scientific exploration and persistance

Former astronaut Leland Melvin kicked off the Randolph College Science Festival with a lecture about his journey to becoming an astronaut. He advised students in the audience to explore science by experiencing it and never giving up.

Melvin explained how he gained experience in science while growing up in Lynchburg with parents who were teachers. Science was more than just book learning, he said. He learned about problem solving, creating, and experimenting through experiences such as helping his dad convert a bread delivery truck into an RV, building his own skateboard, and playing with a chemistry set.

“Science isn’t just about reading in a book,” he said. “Science is about making things.”

Melvin explained that he first learned about persistence during a high school football game when he dropped a touchdown pass, but the coach called the same play again. On the second try, he caught the pass, winning the game for Lynchburg’s Heritage High School and helping win him a college scholarship. He said the same kind of persistence is needed in science.

“If we had quit after the first five launches that failed, we never would have gone to the moon,” he said. He asked whether any students in the audience had ever failed a test, and he encouraged them to continue learning and trying to succeed. “You have to just keep moving,” he said.

After his talk, he answered questions from the audience and signed autographs and posed for photos with fans.

For photos from Melvin’s talk, check out the Science Festival 2014 Facebook album. Also, read this article in the News & Advance for more details about his talk.

Spring semester 2014 sustainability speaker series

Throughout the spring 2014 semester, Randolph College will host speakers addressing topics on sustainability, ranging from environmentally conscious parenting to launching a career in sustainability.

Six speakers, including two of the College’s alumnae, will participate in the new sustainability speaker series.

“We hear from so many students who have an interest in sustainability, and we thought this would be an opportunity to let them know about it from all different angles,” said Sarah Lawson, a Randolph professor of environmental studies and physics.

The series kicks off on Monday, January 27, with Keye Chatterjee, the director for renewable energy and footprint outreach at the World Wildlife Fund. Chatterjee recently published the book The Zero Footprint Baby: How to Save the Planet While Raising a Healthy Baby.

Lawson said that Chatterjee, a friend she met in graduate school, wrote the book after becoming a mother and exploring sustainable parenting herself. “It’s about making good decisions as a parent,” Lawson said. “Saving the planet is a great gift you can give to your children.”

Other events in the series include:

Sustainability @ Randolph

Learn more about Randolph College's commitment to sustainability.

Randolph switches to renewable energy
It's Not Easy Being Green
Saving Space
Green Thumb

February 17: Green Architecture
John Quale, a professor at the University of Virginia, will discuss the university’s ecoMOD / eco REMOD project, which works on developing economically-friendly and affordable modular homes.

February 24: Sustainable Communities
Kent White, director of community development for the City of Lynchburg, will discuss city planning and sustainability.

March 17: Corporate Sustainability
Megan Arnold ’06, process engineer and operations sustainability lead for Jacobs Engineering, will discuss how her employer embraces environmentally friendly practices.

March 31: Moving Sustainability from the Trash Room to the Corner Office
Megan Bloomer ’06 will share her experiences as director of sustainability for DaVita, Inc., as well as explain what practices are truly sustainable, contrasted with steps some companies take to appear more sustainable than they really are.

April 21: Careers in Sustainability
Corey Barnes, a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting, will discuss career options for those who specialize in sustainability and environmental studies. He is the son of Rick Barnes, a Randolph psychology and environmental studies professor, and Tina Barnes, Randolph’s coordinator of disability services and the Learning Strategies Program.

Each event in the series will take place at 7 p.m. in Nichols Theatre on the third floor of the Randolph College Student Center.

Lawson said the topics will highlight ways that sustainability leads to a better life. “The biggest thing I hope people get out of this is an understanding of the way their activities impact the planet, and other people,” she said. “It’s really about the livelihood and well-being of people.

“People, planet, and profit all work together,” she added. “Hopefully, people will see the way in which their choices and their lifestyle will play into a more sustainable future.”

Pearl S. Buck centennial graduation anniversary celebration begins with Anchee Min lecture

Speaking at Randolph College allowed Anchee Min to answer some long-held questions about Pearl S. Buck, one of her literary inspirations who graduated in the Class of 1914.

“I said yes to this invitation because I was very curious about this College,” said Min. “I wanted to know what kind of school had prepared and shaped Pearl Buck’s mind at the critical thinking level and also at the global level.”

Anchee Min signs books after her lecture at Randolph College.

Min, a novelist and memoirist, visited Randolph this week to begin a celebration of Buck’s centennial graduation anniversary. Tuesday afternoon, she attended a combined session of two writing classes and talked about the process of writing, her life in China, and her respect for Buck. She shared her story during a public lecture.

As a child, Min spent her summers not far from the region of China where Buck grew up. She first heard of Buck, though, when she was in middle school, and students were assigned to write essays denouncing Buck and her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Good Earth, which teachers and communist leaders claimed was insulting to Chinese peasants.

Decades later, Min was given a copy of The Good Earth while on a book tour in the United States. Reading the novel she had once denounced was an awakening experience. “I have never read any authors who portrayed our peasants with such love, affection, and compassion,” she said. She decided right then she would someday write a book about Buck.

Min told the audience at Randolph how she set out to learn more about Buck, visiting Buck’s home and interviewing many people who knew her. She wrote Pearl of China, a novel that portrays Buck as the friend of a young Chinese girl. Central to the book is her depiction of Buck as a loving and compassionate person. “Pearl Buck never lost her love and her faith in China,” Min said.

CNN journalist Josh Levs meets with Randolph students

“Journalism can now take place anywhere, any time, and even when others try to prevent it,”
CNN reporter Josh Levs recently told Randolph College students. But as modern technology allows almost anyone to become a journalist, the world actually has a greater need for professional journalists, he said.

Levs explained that professional journalists can bring fact checking, analysis, and ethical understanding to help people understand what is happening in the world.

Levs stressed that the important stories of our time are not the ones that dominate headlines, such as conflicts and political moves. “The story of our time is what is going on in science and technology,” said Levs. New technologies allow people to communicate with people around the world, including parts of the world that once were unreachable. One cell phone video posted online can be seen by millions of viewers and encourage people to take action.

Although many people can become the source of information, professional reporters can help consumers make sense about what they are seeing and hearing. “Journalists need to be the reality check,” said Levs. “Explanations are essential.”

Journalists also need to find ethical answers to questions about privacy. In a world where it is possible to capture people on film without their knowledge, journalists must decide what will be conveyed to audiences and what is an invasion of privacy. “You have to fight for what is right in this era of unlimited information,” he said.

Levs, who has earned nicknames such as “Truth Seeker in Chief” and “Mr. Reality” in his reporting career, came to Randolph as a guest of the communication studies department, which offers a multimedia journalism minor.

Randolph hosts CNN reporter for "The New Era of Journalism"

Josh Levs has earned nicknames such as “Truth Seeker in Chief,” “Mr. Reality,” and “Senior Everything Correspondent” thanks to his undying work ethic and his innovative approach to journalism. On Thursday, he will talk with Randolph students about how to approach journalism today.

Levs will present “The New Era of Journalism” at 7 p.m. Thursday in Nichols Theatre in the Randolph College Student Center. He will address the challenges of reporting in the multimedia journalism age, when news can be written, shared, and commented on by anyone on a blog or on social media websites. Levs is well known for his own savvy use of social media to collect and share news.

 

“Josh’s talk will be particularly interesting to students because he is keenly aware of the changes in journalism with the rise of new media,” said Jennifer Gauthier, a communication studies professor. “I want students to really think about how they can help create positive change in the world through new media forms. Josh has done just that. He will be an excellent role model for ethical engagement in the world using new media technologies.”

 

In his years of working for National Public Radio and CNN, Levs has collected many high honors in journalism, including five Peabody Awards and two Edward R. Murrow Awards. A scholarship in his name is awarded at Yale, his alma mater.

 

The event is free and open to the public.

Speaker describes how to prevent academic cheating

The best way to prevent academic cheating has nothing to do with ensuring students do not use their cell phones during tests or cleverly detecting plagiarism in a paper, Eric Anderman said at Randolph College Tuesday. Instead, cheating is best prevented when students value learning more than they value grades.

Randolph College's student judiciary committee met with Eric Anderman for
dinner and a discussion about promoting academic honesty and integrity.

“Statistically, the student in the classroom where they’re just focused on the grade is much more likely to cheat,” said Anderman, one of the country’s foremost scholars on the subject of why people cheat. “If the take-home message is learning, you’re not going to have a lot of cheating in your class.”

Anderman spoke at Randolph to share insight gained from his years of research about cheating. Academic dishonesty is extremely common, he said, with 86 percent of high school students admitting to cheating at least once. That is a low estimate, Anderman said.

Students engage in cheating by sending text messages to notify friends of test content, making copies of tests using a smartphone, plagiarizing published articles, buying term papers, and even hiring others to take college readiness tests for them, he said. Meanwhile, some teachers have been caught cheating to garner higher standardized test scores for their schools.

Although students in some demographics are more likely to cheat than others, cheating crosses cultural, ethnic, economic, and religious lines. “Whether you do it and whether you think it’s right or wrong are not the same thing,” he said. “There are people who think cheating is wrong, who still do it.”

Anderman shared quotes from high school students who have been interviewed by him and his graduate students at The Ohio State University. Asked about their motivations for cheating, all cited extrinsic motivations: qualifying for a scholarship, getting admitted to a good college that would lead to high-paying jobs, and garnering grades that would please the students’ parents.

He said one way to decrease cheating is to focus more on intrinsic values such as mastery of a topic or the desire to learn more about it, and focus less on testing and grades. Students are less likely to cheat when they are given the opportunity to re-do assignments until they master the material, he said.

Another way to reduce cheating is to create a culture that discourages cheating. Honor codes help create that atmosphere, he said. “The evidence is pretty positive that they do work,” he said.

Anderman learned about Randolph’s honor code while touring the campus on Tuesday and while having dinner with Randolph College’s student judiciary committee, which administers the honor code.  He praised Randolph’s honor code for how involved students are in it and how important it was to each student he met. “Honor codes communicate core values to students about the institutions, but in some institutions, people are not aware of them,” he said.

Maya Angelou inspires at Randolph College

Maya Angelou encouraged more than 1,000 listeners at Randolph College to discover poetry and see how “it has kept us alive.”

Angelou, a famous poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, spent about an hour Tuesday night telling stories from her life and reciting poems that are meaningful to her. The audience laughed and cried as she shared stories of humor, despair, and hope.

“You need to know the poetry. You need to have it in your hands,” she said. “The poetry you read has been written for you—each of you.”

John E. Klein, president of Randolph College, gives Maya Angelou a copy of a book about the garden
of Anne Spencer, a well-known African American poet who lived not far from the College.

The College hosted Angelou Tuesday, January 29, so Randolph students and others from the community could learn from the experiences and wisdom she would share. Smith Memorial Hall was packed with Randolph students, faculty, and staff; students from area schools, and the greater Lynchburg community as well as visitors from outside of Lynchburg.

Angelou encouraged them to go to a library and find a book of poetry, particularly poetry by African Americans. She specifically recommended Paul Laurence Dunbar, and she recited his poem “Sympathy,” from whose lines she drew the titles for several books, including I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

She told the humorous story behind her lighthearted poem “The Health Food Diner,” and she talked of her love for the works of William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. The audience cheered with delight and laughter as she demonstrated how Poe’s “The Raven” should be recited like a rap lyric.

Angelou reflected on the privilege of being able to give hope and knowledge to others through her writing. “When you know, you can teach. When you get, you can give,” Angelou said. “I used to think I’m a writer who can teach; I've found I’m a teacher who can write.”

Randolph students were delighted to see and hear Angelou. Cameron Hall ’13 was impressed with the friendliness and graciousness Angelou exhibited. “My favorite part was the general feeling that Maya Angelou was as happy and excited to see us as we were to see her,” he said.

Grace Gardiner ’15 enjoyed hearing Angelou recite poetry. “To hear her able to recall powerful words and images from memory, as well as boom out these words and images in a voice so deep and thoughtful as her own, was a true treat,” she said.

Katie West-Hazlewood ’13 appreciated how Angelou tailored her comments towards College students and other young members of the audience. “She recognized that we are going through struggles, but assured us that others have, too; therefore we would be able to get through it as well,” she said. “We are at such a transitional point in our lives and hearing that was very inspiring.”

Local author, acclaimed historical preservationist to speak about Anne Spencer

One advantage of being located in Lynchburg is our proximity to many important historical sites, which means we also have connections to many local history makers—such as Anne Spencer, the well-known Harlem Renaissance poet who made her home just a few miles from the Randolph College campus.

Lessons Learned from a Poet's Garden

Featuring Jane Baber White

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 15
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Alice Ashley Jack Room, Smith Memorial Hall

On Wednesday, Randolph College will highlight its connections with Spencer by hosting Jane Baber White for a discussion of Lessons Learned from a Poet’s Garden, her recent book that details the process of bringing Spencer’s home and garden back to life as a museum. That 28-year restoration has attracted attention and praise from around the world.

The restoration process also unearthed many remarkable connections between Spencer and R-MWC. For example, Randolph College’s campus is surrounded by a red brick wall, which replaced a wrought iron gate—and that gate is now found in Spencer’s garden. White will discuss those connections and other lessons learned in the restoration process.

White is a lifelong resident of Lynchburg and has a passion for gardens and historic sites. She has led a number of restoration projects and received local, regional, and national recognition for her work at the Old City Cemetery, where she was director for 27 years.

Astronomy and literature meet in English professor's upcoming talk

On a clear, cold night in 1847, a shy young Quakeress named Maria Mitchell peaked through a telescope on the bank of Nantucket, Massachusetts. When she discovered a comet that night, she made scientific history—and also sparked an international controversy.

“Her sex, science, and celebrity combined to make a powerful statement, a statement that made its way into the American cultural expression of her time,” writes Heidi Kunz, an English professor at Randolph College.

On Thursday, Kunz will give a talk about the way contemporary literature reacted to the discovery of Miss Mitchell’s Comet.

She will present “Miss Mitchell’s Comet and the Nineteenth Century American Novel” at 4 p.m. Feb. 16 in the Alice Ashley Jack Room in Smith Memorial Hall. The presentation is part of the Works in Progress Series sponsored by the Randolph College Chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the Office of the Dean of the College.

While Kunz teaches courses in American literature and 18th century British literature, she also enjoys literary exploration of science, such as Mitchell’s scientific accomplishment that rocked common perceptions of gender roles in her time (and set her on course to be America’s first female professional astronomer). She also researches and writes extensively about F. Scott Fitzgerald, and was recently appointed to the editorial board of The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review.

Karl Rove talks political strategy at Randolph College

“The issue in this election is going to be who has the most credible plan for getting the economy going,” Karl Rove, Republican political strategist, told a Randolph College audience on Thursday. “It’s going to be one heck of a general election to watch because it is very much up for grabs.”

Rove, who served as senior adviser to President George W. Bush, visited Randolph College for a day and spent time talking with local media, students, faculty, staff, and community members. He analyzed the Republican Primary race and discussed factors that will affect the general election. He taught students about the reasoning behind political strategy and made a few predictions, too.

Here are some topics he addressed:

Virginia’s importance in the general election:

“I don't see how the republican candidate is going to get 270 Electoral College votes without bringing Virginia back into the republican column,” Rove said. The state has usually cast its electoral votes for Republican presidential candidates, but President Obama won the state in 2008.

Rove said Virginia will become a battleground in the general election, meaning Randolph College students could witness some heavy campaigning. He named Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell as one wise vice president pick for the eventual Republican nominee.

Vice Presidential Picks

Rove listed several Republican leaders who he thinks would be good vice presidential running mates for any of the Republican presidential hopefuls, including Marco Rubio, Mitch Daniels, and McDonnell.

Rove then explained the George W. Bush’s selection of Dick Cheyney as his running mate. Rove tried to talk him out of it, he said.

At Bush’s request, Rove recited a long list of problems that would arise from choosing Cheyney, including public scrutiny about Cheyney’s health and criticism that Bush was leaning on his father’s reputation and administration.

Bush called him the next day with his response: “You’re right, every one of them is a problem,” Bush said. “Now go solve them.”

Religion in Politics:

“We are a nation that is very religious, compared to other nations in the world,” Rove said. “I think Americans generally want a person of faith, who believes in a greater being.”

However, Rove believes it is offensive to pick apart the details of a candidate’s religious beliefs. Particularly, he said media coverage Mitt Romney’s race for the nomination has focused too much on dissecting the details of Romney’s Mormon theology, he said.

“I think it has no place in American politics,” he said.

Tax rates:

Rove defended the capital gains tax rate of 15 percent because capital gains paid to investors have already been taxed at the corporate tax rate. The lower tax rates encourage saving and investing to create jobs, he said. He also pointed out that the Bush tax cuts, which have been extended during President Obama’s administration, lowered tax rates for all income earners, not just the wealthy.

People who create new products and services deserve to keep the fruits of their labors, he said. He specifically mentioned Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for their technological innovations. “The country’s better because they did that. Because they had the courage and the dream to go do it, they deserve their reward. That’s what the essence of the American system is about,” Rove said.