Chemistry professor speaks at regional conference

Bill Mattson, a Randolph College chemistry professor, will present a speech about creative problem solving for a regional chemistry teachers’ conference this week, drawing on ideas he and his students have explored in chemistry classes and research at Randolph.

Bill Mattson talks with Emily Rist ’14 about a modified high-heeled
shoe she invented for one of his classes. Inventing solutions is one
form of creative problem solving he plans to speak about Friday.

The Middle Atlantic Association of Liberal Arts Chemistry Teachers (MAALACT) will begin its annual meeting on Friday, Sept. 28. Mattson will be the plenary speaker that night. His speech is titled “Creative Problem Solving in Chemical Research,” with its main focus being on the creativity he challenges his students to use when they approach problems.

Creative problem solving is featured prominently in Mattson’s courses at Randolph College. For example, his seminar course for first-year students challenges students to solve a problem that bothers them. They start with a “bug list” that names problems that irritate them. “From such a list they often get an idea for an invention—a requirement for the course,” Mattson said.

In his chemistry courses, he challenges students to think about applications that chemistry has outside of the laboratory. “One of the ways one gets ideas is to observe a property that can be applied to something useful,” he said. Mattson’s speech will include an example of this creative process from a class where he placed a marshmallow in a vacuum. In the airless environment, the marshmallow expanded for some time, only to reverse and collapse. Mattson and his students then brainstormed applications for that observation.

They concluded that using a vacuum chamber could help produce polystyrene—a plastic used in products such as egg cartons and disposable cutlery—while using less of a polluting chemical, or to shell peanuts more quickly.

Although his audience this weekend is a group of chemistry teachers who would have interest in the specific chemical applications, Mattson said his speech will mostly emphasize the importance of creative problem solving. “It can certainly apply to people and groups who aren’t chemists,” he said.

No limits: Math, chess, reading, and acting are among new professor's loves

Rob Fisette majored in math in college, but he also spent a great deal of time studying English literature and working on theatre productions. He doesn’t believe in limiting himself—or others—to one discipline.

“My opinion of a liberal arts education is that smart people are smart people everywhere,” said Fisette, who is teaching mathematics at Randolph College this semester.  “They should be able to understand all the numeric aspects of life as well as all the artistic ones.”

“One of the main problems that students have in approaching math is this impression that they have things that they’re good at and things that they’re not good at,” he said. “They classify math in the category of things they aren’t good at because they’ve never had a good experience there.” Fisette hopes to change that for his students.

Fisette, a native of Rhode Island, attended a liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. While he had chosen to major in math, he also declared a major in English to help him keep up his love for reading. (His favorite author is Hubert Selby Jr.)

He began acting on stage when a college friend was producing “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He enjoyed the experience, so he continued participating in theatre. During his senior year, he directed a performance of “Sweeny Todd.”

He said there are many connections between the fields in which he studied and participated. “A lot of the skills that you develop in math really help in studying literature and analyzing problems in any field,” he said.

For example, mathematics teaches the importance of breaking a problem into smaller component parts. “Rather than be overwhelmed by it, just break it down into small parts that are more manageable,” Fisette said. “This is applicable whether you’re analyzing a short story, or you have some role for a play that you're trying to figure out.”

After college, Fisette worked in a mailroom in Chicago. While there, he picked up chess as a hobby to keep his brain active and entertained. After a couple of years, he realized that he was missing school and mathematics, so he prepared for graduate school and attended the University of Oregon.  He wrote his dissertation about algebraic curves.

Fisette is teaching at Randolph this semester while mathematics professor Yesem Kurt is on sabbatical.

When he isn’t teaching, Fisette’s main hobby is chess, and he also enjoys cribbage, racquetball, reading, and biking.

Student Center Renovation Update: September 20, 2012

Progress continues on Randolph's $6 million Student Center renovation. Check out the latest photo slideshow here: http://web.randolphcollege.edu/studentcenter/slideshow/sept20/index.html. For coverage and photos of the entire project, please see www.randolphcollege.edu/studentcenter.

Windows are being installed this week on the outside of the vestibule.

The view from the new cardio center.

The top floor of the new cardio center.

A view of the main floor of the Student Center.

Students get experience with natural history collection

Our students this semester are getting more opportunities to work hands-on with the Randolph College collection of natural history and zoological artifacts. It is an opportunity to study birds and other animals—including some rare species—up close for scientific or artistic purposes.

Last year, Emily Smith ’12 worked to catalogue the collection, uncovering the history of the artifacts in the collection and determining the correct scientific classification for each. (For more on her work with the collection, see this article in Randolph magazine.)

Several students are working to photograph
the collection to help create the online catalog.

This opened the door to several other opportunities for students to study the collection, and help it grow, too.

Smith helped start a group of students who met occasionally this spring to help prepare new specimens, which had been in freezer storage for years, so they could be added to the collection. The work will continue with several meetings this semester, said Doug Shedd, the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Biology.

This summer, Smith and Shedd won a $1,250 grant from the Virginia Academy of Science to purchase photography equipment and create an online catalog of the collection. Several students have started working to take pictures of each specimen in the collection. Once the catalog is online, Randolph students—as well as researchers at other institutions—could make better use of the information Smith documented.

Smith and Shedd also have started a group that gathers every other week to draw items from the collection. The first meeting was two weeks ago, and the drawing group will meet again on Friday, Sept. 21, to draw again. The group meets in Martin 309 at 2 p.m., and all are welcome to attend.

See More Photos
For more photos of the natural history collection projects, view this photo album on the Randolph College Facebook page.

How to succeed in graduate school: Psychology professor co-authors chapter

If you want to know how to succeed in graduate school for psychology, Holly Tatum has advice for you.

Tatum, a psychology professor at Randolph College, recently co-wrote a chapter for Your Graduate Training in Psychology: Effective Strategies for Success, published by SAGE Publications this year.

Her chapter, “Setting Your Path: Begin With Your Dissertation in Mind,” provides advice that could help students save time by maintaining focus. “Sometimes in graduate school you get distracted by all the little things,” Tatum said. “It may be several years before you write your dissertation, but your activities should be framed by that ultimate goal.”

She wrote the chapter with Daniel Corts of Augustana College. They drew on some of their own experiences and lessons learned in graduate school at the University of Tennessee. “It was a good chapter to write because I made a lot of the mistakes that we wrote about,” Tatum said.

Thinking about the long-term goal of a dissertation can help beginning graduate students select an advisor, choose courses, and develop research skills that will be necessary for the dissertation, according to the chapter.

Tatum said the opportunity to reflect on her experiences helps her prepare her students for graduate school, and the final book is a good resource, too.

Psychology is one of the most popular majors at Randolph, where professors are well known for helping students prepare for graduate school through a rigorous curriculum and intense research programs. Among all undergraduate institutions, Randolph ranks among the top 14 percent for the number of graduates who go on to receive a Ph.D.

Student Center Renovation Update: September 14, 2012

Big changes are taking place inside Randolph's $6 million Student Center renovation project. Check out the latest photos of the progress here:

http://web.randolphcollege.edu/studentcenter/slideshow/sept14/index.html.

Go to www.randolphcollege.edu/studentcenter for comprehensive coverage of the renovation.

A view of the main floor of the Student Center.

A portion of the chalkboard wall used by the Sundial staff can be seen in this photo of the second floor.

A view from the mezzanine level of the cardio center.

Pie Auction to raise money for MDA

Several Randolph community members are ready to take a pie in the face to help raise money to help people with muscular dystrophy.

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m., the College will hold a pie auction. People can bid money on the opportunity to throw a pie. A group of faculty, staff, and students have volunteered to be targets.

Dave Piercy, resident director for Main Hall, organized the event as part of a larger fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). “It was a no-brainer for me to get involved. They are an organization near to my heart, as one of my best friends has muscular dystrophy,” he said. “Anything I could do to help MDA seemed like a good use of my time and energy.”

Help Raise Bail

Even if you can’t make it to the pie auction, you can help raise money for those with muscular dystrophy by contributing online to fundraising efforts by Dave Piercy, resident director for Main Hall, and Chris Mitchell, equestrian coach.

Piercy recently received a phone call from a representative of the MDA who wanted to invite a former residence life staff member to participate in the MDA Lock-Up, in which people volunteer to be “arrested” and locked up for an hour to raise awareness and money. Piercy decided to take the place of the former staff member, and he will be locked up from 3 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 4.

Piercy set a goal to raise $2,400, enough to send three children with muscular dystrophy to a summer camp. He hopes to raise $300 of that with bids and donations in the pie auction on Tuesday.

Here is a list of those who have volunteered to be targets, in addition to Piercy:

• Terry Bodine—assistant dean of students and director of residence life
• Matha Thornton—dean of students
• Carl Girelli—dean of the College
• Paula Wallace—associate dean of the College
• Mace Archer—theatre professor
• Jackie Beard—lead switchboard operator
• Amanda Denny—director of student activities
• Christine Gnieski ’13
• Gage Stuntz ’13
• Sara Kasey ’14
• Cam Hall ’13

Those who bid for the chance to toss a pie at these volunteers get to throw a pie at them. However, any of the targets can earn the right to throw a pie at their high bidder by doubling the bid themselves.

Chris Mitchell, the College’s new equestrian coach, also is participating in the MDA Lock-Up on Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. His goal is to raise $2,700. He said the fundraiser seemed like a great opportunity to help the community and the MDA.

Online contributions are also available for Piercy’s and Michell’s fundraisers.