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Applications break 2,300 mark--Applications for first-year admission topped 2,300 this month for the first time since 1982, representing the third largest applicant pool and the largest one-year increase in applications in the College's history! A total of 2,300 applications for the class of 2001 represents a 274-person increase, or 13.5 percent increase, over last year's figures.

Latin American partnership--The Latin American Studies Program at Mount Holyoke has recently established a five-year cooperative degree program with the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. Currently, Smith, Brown, and Dartmouth are the only other institutions participating in the program. MHC Latin American studies majors can now earn a master's degree at Georgetown in one calendar year by participating in one of Georgetown's summer programs (in Chile or Mexico) after the junior or senior year. Those two summer courses, plus two 300-level courses taken at Mount Holyoke, will be counted toward both the undergraduate and master's degree programs, allowing students to finish all requirements by the end of the summer following full-time enrollment in the master's program at Georgetown.

For students particularly interested in the strengths of Georgetown's Latin American program and the unique opportunities offered by its Washington, D.C., location, the cooperative degree program offers an ideal combination of academic preparation and accelerated progress toward the master's degree. For more information, contact Latin American Studies Program chair Lowell Gudmundson at x2207 or send email to lgudmund.

Up close and personnel--According to the human resources department, the following people were recently hired: Tennyson N. Harwood, Kendall sports complex; Isabelle Wolfman, head resident, residential life; Arthur Hoffman, dining services; and Mary Glackin, computer support and instructional technology, LITS. The following people have left MHC: Denise Almodovar, equestrian center; Donna R. Foley, development office; and Donna J. Cyr, dining services.

On the road--In a dash across the country's academic centers, Brad Leithauser will travel to Minneapolis, Madison, Milwaukee, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Champaign-Urbana, San Francisco, and Seattle as part of a twelve-city promotional book tour. Leithauser, who is on leave this year in Paris and is Emily Dickinson lecturer in the English department, will be promoting his new novel The Friends of Freeland, which was recently published by Knopf. A Time magazine reviewer called the book, about political antics in a fictional island somewhere between Iceland and Greenland, "amiable and decidedly quirky."

Writing about the new China trade--Junior Analisa Balares came away from her January Term internship at the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in New York City with more than some nifty job experience. Balares has written a sizable essay on "China's Accession to the World Trade Organization" in JETRO's bimonthly newsletter, Inside/Outside Japan. The publication is widely circulated in the Japanese business community in New York. Among those quoted in Balares's piece is Professor Vincent Ferraro, chair of the MHC international relations program. The newsletter also printed a lengthy interview conducted by Balares, a mathematics and economics double major, with two China policy experts.

"Grow where you're planted" department--To help maintain the trees already growing on campus and raise funds to purchase new ones, the botanic gardens staff is starting an "adopt-a-tree" program. Donors can have their names (or those of a friend or relative) inscribed on a particular tree's label, along with the plant's family, genus, species, and common name and its country of origin. Adoption fees are $50 for current students and $100 for others. To make a "parentless" tree happy, contact the buildings and grounds office at x2012.

No horsing around--Equestrian instructor R. Lani Sattler recently won two championships and a reserve championship with her Morgan horse named "G's Excellent Venture," and received a peer award. She received the championship and reserve championship honors in February from the New England Morgan Horse Association circuit competition. (Sattler and her Morgan are shown above.) Sattler took three top places in various open carriage events, collecting points during six New England shows. The peer award, called the People's Choice Award, is given yearly on a national basis by peer competitors through Horse World magazine. Sattler and her Morgan were recognized for their performance in the national champion single carriage event. A resident of Holyoke, Sattler has been with the MHC equestrian center for three years and has spent the last six years working at the therapeutic equestrian center in Holyoke. Sattler and G's Excellent Venture are also the subject of a feature article, written by Melissa Jones '99, published this month by The Morgan Horse magazine.

What's new with you?--Send news for "New & Notable" to Emily Weir, Office of Communications, or email eweir@mtholyoke.edu.