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'Coro' in Costa Rica

While touring in Costa Rica for two weeks, Coro Mount Holyoke--composed of members of the Glee Club, Concert Choir, and three alumnae--enjoyed unexpectedly mixing with two top government officials. The group was asked to dine at the U.S. Ambassador's residence following a scheduled concert January 19 at his home. On January 15, the group performed for a highly placed official in the Costa Rican government who attended the Coro concert at the Monteverde International Music Festival, according to Coro codirector Catharine Melhorn.

Coro gave six concerts while in Costa Rica. Following a performance at Our Lady of the Angels Basilica in Cartago, Coro Mount Holyoke was asked by the priest to perform a national Costa Rican drinking song, stating that the congregation consisted of "Catholics, not Puritans." Singing it allowed everyone to join in, giving the group a unique opportunity to connect with the Costa Rican people, said Melhorn. On their way north from Costa Rica, the group stopped in West Palm Beach, Florida, to sing at the Norton Museum in conjunction with the exhibition Angels from the Vatican.

Coro Mount Holyoke sang under the direction of Melhorn, Hammond-Douglass Professor of Music and director of the Glee Club and Chamber Singers; and Christopher Aspaas, lecturer in music and director of the Concert Choir.

Kudos at convocation

The following is a list of awards announced during second-semester convocation January 27. Sarah Williston Prize winners from the class of 1999: Tetyana Vsevolodivna Obukhanych, first; Jaya Balasubramaniam, second; Li Ying Sun, third; Ingrid Clara Dennert, fourth; Vasudha Paramasivan, fourth. Sarah Williston Prize winners from the class of 2000: Parveena Pakkiasamy, first; Josipa Roksa, first; Ashley Noelle Biser, second; Jennifer Lynn Christie, third; Dessislava Romanova Issaeva, third; and Hannah Elizabeth Weisman, third. Jennifer Horton '99 won the Maurice L. Rabbino Award. The Helen Warren Smith Award was given to Markeisha J. Miner '99. Lakishia Nadine Smith '99 received The Frances H. Williams Award. Kerry O'Brien '99 and Jennifer Mullins FP were given The Mount Holyoke College Community Service Award. The Karen Snyder Sullivan Award was won by Gail E. Ballantyne '00. The following students received the student leadership award: Izmeen Nusrat Ali '99, Courtney A. Craig '99, Radley Emes '00, Elissa R. Haskins '99, Shabnam Koirala '99, Sarah C. Lachance '99, and Sheena L. Panoor '00. Xiania G. Foster '99, Rachel M. Kerestes '99, Meriem C. Pages '99, and Penny Trieu '99 received honorable mention for the student leadership award. Congratulations to all.

How M & Cs can help the hungry

Even little gestures can mean a lot, as the Community Service Volunteer Program has set out to prove with its February 15 fast. That evening, M & Cs won't be served anywhere on campus, and the money saved by Dining Services will be donated to Oxfam America. Co-organizer Kerry O'Brien '99 says the group expects to donate around $520 to Oxfam, a nonprofit international agency that funds disaster relief and long-term development projects throughout the world. According to Oxfam materials, a donation of that size could, for example, provide start-up funds for public housing residents in the U.S. to operate farmers' markets.

Instead of snacking at M & Cs, students will be invited to watch one of several short videos about Oxfam programs to increase campus awareness of hunger issues. Cultivating Opportunity tells how communities in vastly different parts of the world demonstrate surprising similarities in what works in fighting poverty. Community stresses connections between women's rights and addressing the root causes of poverty and hunger. Shelter describes the successful efforts of people in Bangladesh to protect themselves against cyclones.

In past years, O'Brien noted, individual students have volunteered to forgo dinner for a day. To increase participation and funds raised, O'Brien, Jen Horton '99, Dilrukshi Fonseka '00, and Catholic chaplain Anita Magovern organized the M & Cs event instead of a one-meal fast. Last fall, hall committees in each residence hall agreed to participate in the new project.

Passing the torch

Among the internship sponsors during January Term was Massachusetts Senate assistant majority leader Linda J. Melconian '70. "It has truly been an incredible experience," said Melissa D'Alelio '01, who worked in the senator's Boston office. The politics and English double major aspires to join the Peace Corps and eventually attend law school, so being in the thick of things politically was good training. D'Alelio spoke with constituents, researched issues of concern to them, drafted press releases and speeches, and observed the organization of the state legislative branch. "It has been really great to be here ... especially to witness the increasing prominence of women in government," she said. "Both the senator and recently elected Cheryl Rivera are active in paving the way for young women like me."

Melconian says she supports the internship program mainly because she began her own political career as an intern for Congressman Edward P. Boland. "It is important that students discover, firsthand, the process and organization of government. Study and experience, when paired, produce bright, talented, and informed young adults," Melconian said.

Speaking at a summer conference in January

Tom Wartenberg, professor of philosophy and chair of the film studies program, was one of eight invited guests at the Second Whangaiti Summer Conference sponsored by the Whangaiti Philosophy Charitable Trust in New Zealand. Wartenberg gave a paper on "Work and Masculinity in Penny Serenade (1941)." The conference took place January 2 - 8, and included speakers from the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany.

Grants granted

Lynn Morgan, professor of anthropology, was awarded a $30,000 NEH Fellowship for College Teachers for her project titled "Making the Modern Fetal Body: The Specimen-Collecting Phase of Human Embryology, 1910 - 1950."

What's new with you?

Send news for "New & Notable" to Emily Weir, Office of Communications, or email eweir@mtholyoke.edu