To: The Bates Community
From: Christy Tisdale, director of health services, and Tedd Goundie, dean of students
Date: Nov. 9, 2009

Dear Members of the Bates Community,

As of Nov. 6, there have been 281 students diagnosed with ILI this semester and, following the CDC guidelines, presumed to have had H1N1. There are only three students who are currently ill with ILI, each of whom is recuperating at home. Our protocol for treating students with H1N1 remains unchanged. Only students with multiple roommates will be placed in isolation houses, all others will be asked to self isolate in the residence halls or return home. After a hiatus of a couple of weeks, students have resumed their work in the local community in schools and other agencies.

Contrary to our most recent report to the community, we no longer expect to receive more H1N1 vaccine in the near future. There is a national shortage that is greater than was anticipated. We have a very limited supply of the injectable H1N1 vaccine left and that will only be used for students with chronic illnesses who have not received the vaccine to date. Those students should come to the Health Center and review their medical data by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009. If the student meets our criteria, an H1N1 vaccine will be administered. Any remaining vaccine will then be returned to our distribution center.

Since fall recess we have seen an average of less than one new case reported per day, and barring any significant changes in this pattern, we expect this to be our last update concerning H1N1. Once again we thank all students, parents, staff and faculty who helped us through this difficult period.

With our wishes for good health for all,

Christy Tisdale
Director of Health Services

Tedd Goundie
Dean of Students

Maine-based Bates alums professionally involved in food and nutrition spoke at Bates in March. From left, Kirsten Walter '00, director of the St. Mary's Nutrition Center; Maine farmers Steve Hoad '72 of Windsor and Nicolas Lindholm '86 of Penobscot; and Borealis Breads founder Jim Amaral '80.

Inspired by the 2008 opening of its new dining Commons and a $2.5 million gift from an anonymous donor supporting organic, natural and farm-fresh food, Bates College devoted the 2008-09 academic year to reflecting on issues, from environmental impacts to food justice, around what and how we choose to eat. (more...)

Carrie Billy, president and chief executive officer of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, discusses her work at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, Bates College, 70 Campus Ave.

Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, this event is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-8376. A dinner with Billy precedes the event at 5:15 p.m.; seating is limited and by RSVP only. For more information, contact this E-mail.

(more...)

Hannah Porst '11 of Madison, Wis., took part in a display of stenciled globes in New Commons marking the International Day of Climate Action. Photograph by Peter Senzamici '10.

As climate activists worldwide take part in an International Day of Climate Action on Saturday, Oct. 24, Kennedy Park in downtown Lewiston will be the focus of local efforts supporting the cause.

Organized by the 350.org campaign, young people, environmentalists, faith groups and others around the globe plan all manner of activities to enlist public support for effective measures against climate change caused by human activity. So far, more than 1,400 actions in more than 100 countries are planned. (more...)

To: The Bates and Lewiston-Auburn Communities
From: The Harward Center for Community Partnerships
Date: Oct. 15, 2009

In the wake of the appearance of H1N1 flu cases at Bates, some community partners have expressed understandable concern about Bates students doing community work in the Lewiston-Auburn community.  The College has responded proactively to illness on campus, isolating students who show symptoms of flu-like illness and actively educating students, faculty, and staff about the need for vigilant hygiene and self-monitoring.  We at the Harward Center continue to come to work every day with confidence.

Harward Center staff have already reached out to our most active partnership sites to address their concerns.  Our partners work with many constituencies, and our students perform many kinds of work.  Some partners, including the Lewiston and Auburn public schools, have decided to temporarily cease having Bates students work on site.  Others have decided to maintain student work, while asking students to remain vigilant about their health and hygiene.  We are committed to being guided by our partners’ concerns, and we are eager to work with partners to help them make the decision that seems right to them.

Meanwhile we ask all Bates students, faculty, and staff doing work in community settings to be vigilant in using best hygienic practices and to err on the side of caution if they show any signs of illness or have been exposed to illness.  Please be especially careful if the community work involves children, the elderly, or other vulnerable populations.

Huffington Post blogger Liz Neumark P'13, sharing her splendid experience in Maine during Parents & Family Weekend, gives kudos to Bates for its state-of-the-art New Commons, self-operated Dining Services and community-minded approach to food service. Neumark praises Director Christine Schwartz for working with small-scale, first-time immigrant Somali farmers in the Lewiston-Auburn area, "encouraging them to grow produce she can buy for the school." Neumark came away "honestly...impressed" that a "small college thinking globally and acting neighborly [can] make a small difference.... In the long journey that lies ahead to social and food justice, this is a brilliant and powerful small step." Neumark is CEO of Great Performances, one of the country's largest independent catering firms. (View story.)

Matching Orange, a new high-energy folk band from the Boston area.

Matching Orange, a new high-energy folk band from the Boston area, makes its first performance at the monthly Bates College contradance at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave. (more...)

Syracuse University president Nancy Cantor, writing in The Presidency, the magazine of the American Council on Education, urges U.S. colleges and universities to "leverage our diverse and unique institutional identities as place-based institutions." She notes that "institutions large and small have joined with partners in their own communities to place the arts and humanities at the center of urban revitalization, as we are doing in Syracuse. From Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, to the University at Buffalo, to the University of Southern California, higher education institutions are pooling their cultural and intellectual gravity to draw people back to downtowns."

A Sun Journal story reports on the new gymnasium floor installed at the Boys & Girls Club of Auburn-Lewiston, paid for from the proceeds from a contest won by Catherine Elliott '12 of Edina, Minn. She collected 4,679 used yogurt lids to win a $50,000 grant from Kaboom! and yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm. At Bates, Elliott posted fliers and placed collection boxes around campus, and Dining Services workers pitched in, collecting lids that came back to the dish room on trays. (View story)