News Digest
August 21, 2006

News Digest is your weekly collection of news releases and Web feature stories. For more resources on campus events and programs, check these Web sites:

Master Calendar of Events
St. Lawrence News and Features
St. Lawrence In the News
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Campus News Keep your eyes on the progress of construction through the Johnson Hall of Science photo album, updated August 19, and visit the many related news stories on our Web site about the sciences. St. Lawrence received a challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation last fall to help fund science facilities construction. In order to meet the challenge, the University must raise just over $4.1 million in new gifts and pledges for the project by April 1, 2007. The University broke ground in May 2005 for the $36.9 million, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable design for biology, chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience and psychology.

Trustee Emeritus Richard F. Brush has pledged $3.4 million to St. Lawrence University, with $400,000 going towards arts facilities improvements now under way on campus and $3 million for future renovation of arts facilities. Arts facilities at St. Lawrence, in the Noble Center, have undergone two phases of renovation in recent years. The $3 million gift from Brush is for Phase Three, and beyond, and will launch fund-raising efforts for those projects, still to be planned. Read more

A St. Lawrence University environmental studies professor is the co-investigator of a research project to help define and guide sustainable outdoor recreation and tourism on Northern Forest mountain summits. Christopher Monz received a grant of $85,260 from the Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC) and the University of Vermont (UVM). Read more

US News and World Report released its annual college ranking on Saturday. The entire Liberal Arts category includes 215 colleges, with three categories: Top Colleges, Third Tier and Fourth Tier. St. Lawrence is ranked #57 in the Top Liberal Arts Colleges, of which there are 104. Last year, we were ranked # 61. We also are cited in three other lists: Liberal Arts Colleges with the Highest Graduation Rates, Liberal Arts Colleges with the Highest Proportion of Classes under 20 Students, and colleges with Most International Students. As a reminder, this set of rankings does not illustrate the effects of St. Lawrence's decision to make standardized tests optional in the admissions process, a decision that very well could influence the 2007 rankings.

The federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education—the so-called “Spellings Commission” convened by Margaret Spellings, our current US Secretary of Education—has just released its report. President Daniel F. Sullivan has written three essays in response to the Commission's report, on the topics of the appropriate higher education for the 21st century, on science and mathematics education, and on access to and affordability of higher education. Read More

Many members of the Class of 2010 will arrive Friday, August 24, for pre-orientation trips to the Adirondacks, and all new students will be on campus Monday, August 28, for Orientation itself. Matriculation will take place Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Creasy Commencement Commons or Leithead Field House in case of poor weather. The New Student Guide also is on-line for easy reference. Read More

Laurentians in the News - The Dover-Sherborn Press (VT) featured a story on August 17 about the experiences of Sherborn native G. Bowen Borgeson '07 during his Summerterm in Kenya, studying conservation techniques in national parks.

- The August 9 issue of Education Week included a story on the value of summer employment for students, according to admissions professionals; Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Terry Cowdrey was among those quoted in the article.

- On August 3, the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle ran a story on families saying goodbye when it's time for a child to head off to college. Among those quoted were Jamie Perconti '10 and his mom, Kathy. For more Laurentians in the News

New on the Web Coming the week of August 28! The homepage of the St. Lawrence Web site, and selected second-level pages, will have a refreshed design! We've taken the best features from our new, Summer 2005, Web restructuring, listened to feedback over the year, developed new ideas, and have been working on a refreshed look that you'll see in August. Watch for our new look!!

News Digest Archive
News Digest is a weekly compilation of the news releases and Web feature stories created in the past week. It is released, generally, every Monday.