essays, Body English, in which she explores the connection between physical labor in the material world and the life and limitations of language. . . . Jon Weiss, professor of French and director of off campus studies and academic affairs, will begin research on a critical biography of the French novelist Irene Nemirovsky . . . . Professor of Psychology Diane Winn will continue her research on "Tales Told by the Uncon scious M ind: Jung's Active Imagination as a Framework for Shamanic Journeys, Past Life Regressions and Other Trance Narratives." . . . Laurie Osborne, recently tenured assoc iate professor of English, is the editor of Twelfe Night or What you Will, one in a new series of books being published by Prentice Hall that raises questions about the authen ticity of contemporary versions of Shakespeare's texts . . . . Larissa Taylor, assistant professor of history, was awarded a fellowship for an NEH summer seminar in Paris to study Gothic
architecture in the I le-de France . . . . James Webb, associate professor of history, participated in a six-week NEH Summer I nstitute, "Rethinking Europe, Re thinking World H istory, 1 500- 1 7 5 0" at the University of California at Santa Cruz . . . . Associate Professor of Music Eva Linfield chaired a panel for the Society for 1 7 th Century Music at Centre College in Kentucky . . . . JoyLynn Wing, associate professor of performing arts and of English, chaired a panel for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in San Francisco. She also directed a production of David Mamet's American Buffalo, which was chosen as a semi-finalist in the American College Theatre Festival competition in February . . . . Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, John D. MacArthur Associate Professor of Soc iology and of . Afr can-American Studies, has been elected v ice president-elect of the Eastern Sociological Society.
P U N D IT S & P L A U D IT S Take a Bow Intrigued by the idea that one could study sail ing in the dead of winter in inland Maine, Sailing magazine devoted a full page of its J une issue to an article about the J an Plan course Sailing Sc ience and Technology 1 29 offered by Profes sor of Administrative Science Leonard Reich. The article described how students in the class learned the science of sailboat dynamics and the history of sail ing and boat construction methods and even designed their own sai lboats. Reich, whose texts for the course included The An and Science of Sails by Colby alumnus Tom Whidden '70, and students Andy Smith '98 ( N ew Canaan, Conn. ) , Karen Goodrich '96 (Yarmouth, Maine ) and Takashi Watanabe '95 (Tokyo, J apan ) were featured in photographs accompanying the article. Reich told Sailing that the sport of sa iling and sailboat design provided rich illustrations of how applied science works, which was a goal of the course. Jan Plan itself merited a sidebar in the magazine. The article described the history of the J anuary Program-pio neered by Colby in 1 96 1 -and listed other courses offered in 1 99 5 , such as William R . Kenan Jr. Professor of Government Sandy Maisel's N at ional Pastime: Baseball in American Soc iety. The full text of the sailing article is available on Colby's World W ide Web page at http://www.colby.edu.
Second in Command A recent study shows that The Journal of Contemporary China, edited by Associate Professor of Government Su isheng Zhao, is the second most powerful influence on Americans' attitudes toward China. The study, conducted by a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut at Hartford, listed Zhao's journal behind ex-CBS newscaster Connie Chung and ahead of The P1ivate Life of Chairman Mao, a new book written by Mao Zedong's physician. The Journal of Contempo rary China, founded in 1 992, publishes articles on prominent mainland Chinese issues. Topics have included the pol itical debate about Tibet, economic reform, Communism, the sale of F- 1 6 fighter jets to Taiwan and Chinese intellectuals. I t is the only English language journal in North America that provides information about contemporary Chinese affairs.
Ghost In the Machine A survey co-authored by Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Batya Friedman and Lynette Millett '94 revealed that some people who design computer systems feel no moral responsbility for the problems caused by system crashes. The survey, whose results were paraphrased in Washington Technology , asked 29 male undergraduate computer sc ience students whether programmers or their computers should be blamed for system crashes that wreak havoc. More than one fifth of the respondents said i t was the computers' fault. In fact, 8 3 percent maintained that computers "dec ide" how to perform and are partially responsible for their own problems. However, one respondent held that such a claim is ridiculous, saying: " . . . that would be l ike me blaming the car for running over a dog. You can't blame an inanimate object." The study m ay help shed l ight on a developing legal d i le m ma about who should be held accountable when valuable compu ter- based informa t ion is damaged by system malfunct ions.
Careful Criteria Vice President for Development Randy Helm was quoted i n a n art icle i n The Chronicle of Higher Education abo u t efforts by institut ions to rec ruit wealthy trustees . "Trusteeship is too important to put blinders on and only look at philanthropic ability," Helm told the newspaper. He explained that Colby's philosophy i n selec t ing trustees used a "three W's" rule of thumb. The College seeks trustees who can provide at least two of the three W's: wealth, work and wisdom, Helm says. "The quickest route for d isaster is to make wealth the sole criterion," he said. The Chronicle of Higher Education is a leading publication aimed at faculty and admi n istrators.
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