101 Things To Do Before You Graduate Living In History ... - Alumni

Faith and Fact
Gazing at the constellations in the
springtime sky, you might pick out
Orion and his faithful dog on the trail
of a vicious bear. But the lights blinking
down on you are more than what
— or when — they seem.
After spending the day with students
in Core 106A: Galileo, Church,
and Scientific Endeavor, Father George
Coyne spoke to a crowd in Love Auditorium
in April. In a lecture titled
“The Dance of the Fertile Universe:
Chance and Destiny Embrace,” the
Jesuit astrophysicist, University of
Arizona professor, and former Vatican
Observatory director pointed out that
nearly 1,300 light years separate us
from the Orion nebula. So the light we
saw during Coyne’s campus visit was
produced on a spring evening when
Chinese chemists were inventing
gunpowder (ca. 710 A.D.).
Coyne mentioned how atoms
swirl around one another, combining,
splitting, spawning new and heavier
elements, and interacting through
both necessity and chance while he
hinted at the ways in which galaxies
and humans came to be.
When two hydrogen molecules
meet an oxygen molecule, they must
form water. But must they meet?
Destiny and chance have produced
three generations of stars since the
beginning of time. Coyne argued that
the ferment generated enough carbon
and other elements to build our own
toenails, hair, arms, legs, and evermore
complicated brains. But there is
a giant leap from the building blocks
of life to life itself, and that is where
the scientific becomes philosophical.
Did God do it? “I don’t know,”
Coyne admitted. But if so, “God is a
nurturing parent with respect to the
universe.” He has created something
dynamic, then allowed it to assert its
own personality, for better or worse,
Coyne explained.
“I thought he made a lot of concrete
arguments using science, and he
made a distinction between what he
believes versus what he can prove,”
said astronomy major Michael Lam ’11
of Coyne’s lecture.
The lack of a single concrete answer
does not disturb Coyne. When
scholarship falls short, he has his faith.
Two retire from faculty
Two members of the faculty were
recognized at the awards convocation
during Commencement Weekend for
achieving emeritus status upon their
retirements.
Jerome Balmuth, Harry Emerson
Fosdick Professor of philosophy and
religion, joined the department in 1954
after graduate work in philosophy at
Cornell University. His research focused
on the philosophy of language
and on the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein.
As his citation read, “His efforts
in hiring and mentoring have had a
formative influence on his depart-
Jesuit astrophysicist George Coyne (left) speaks to students and visiting faculty in the
Galileo, Church, and Scientific Endeavor course. With him is Professor Jeffrey Bary.
Andrew Daddio
ment, and his work and wisdom have
helped make the university what it is
today. He has taught more than 9,000
students — nearly a third of Colgate’s
living alumni.
In his 56 years
at Colgate, Jerry
invited all of us,
colleagues and
students alike,
into a vigorous
and continuing
conversation
in which age,
gender, race,
sexual orientation — features that all
too often separate us — mattered not
at all. Doing so, he has shown us that
the life of the mind is not a solitary
one, but a communal search for truth.
His retirement leaves a lacuna that
Colgate cannot hope to fill, but attending
to his contributions will continue
to remind us of the best that we have
to offer our students and each other.”
Carl Peterson, associate professor
and head of special collections and
university archivist, began work in
the University Libraries’ acquisitions
department in
1980. He moved
to special collections
and
archives in
1988 and was
promoted to
head that unit
in early 1994. He
holds bachelor’s
degrees in English and biology from
the University of Alabama, an MFA
from Cornell, and an MLS from the
University at Albany. His citation recognized
his many accomplishments,
which included “cataloging and conserving
rare books and manuscripts,
implementing archival best practices,
widening the scope of library exhibits,
and acquiring the Weiner collection
of George Bernard Shaw material.
He pioneered Special Collections as a
research and teaching tool for classes,
increasing the number of classes
taught, and establishing close departmental
ties with other Colgate units.
Carl was also instrumental in moving
our precious collections during and
after the construction of Case Library
and Geyer Center for Information
Technology. He has been an invaluable
member of the library staff and is well
known and respected as an expert on
Colgate history and traditions.”
Live and learn
In May, students on the spring 2010
Geneva Study Group got a rare peek behind
the scenes of an international media
organization when they visited Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) headquarters
in Prague, Czech Republic.
The 17 students spent a day devoted to
“hands-on” journalism, including a master
class on the challenges of covering
democracy and human rights issues with
Russia Services Senior Correspondent
Irina Lagunina, and a discussion with Akbar
Ayazi, who oversees programming in
Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq.
“I learned a lot about Russia, and it was
nice to learn about current events there
and new developments that you wouldn’t
see in a textbook,” wrote one student in his
visit evaluation.
The visit was part of an extensive set of
field trips in western and Central Europe,
including to the Auschwitz extermination
camp, meant to complete the coursework
for International Institutions, the class
taught by group leader Barry Shain, associate
professor of political science.
The course explores the nature of international
institutions, the underlying
assumptions of those working in and supportive
of them, and their role in shaping
relations between states and other international
entities. Students also examine the
continuing repercussions of the Holocaust
and communism in Central Europe.
Shain said he chose the day at RFE/RL
because “it gives students a sense of
how news not only is a reflection of world
events, but is, in a way, created.”
Kathryn Esteves ’11 said she especially
enjoyed sitting in on an editorial meeting
because “it illustrated the steps taken to
develop story ideas.” Mary Beth Spencer
’11 found the meeting “very informative
and cool — it was nice to see the organization
at work.”
News and views for the Colgate community
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