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HOME PAGE features a series of brief articles on recent happenings at Colorado College. This issue includes stories on the Collegium Musicum's Chinese tour, a giant fin whale with a CC connection, biology majors study abroad, women's soccer season preview, and the resealing of the Century Chest.

In June, Collegium Musicum performed 12 concerts in seven Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hong Kong in the Peoples Republic of China, and Taipei, T'aichung and Kaohsiung on the island of Taiwan. To promote cultural exchange and goodwill, CC's singers and instrumentalists shared the stage with Chinese singing groups from the host universities.

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Ocean Giant Has CC Ties

A huge, 56-foot-long, 2,825-pound skeleton of a giant fin whale hangs in the central atrium of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. How did it end up in Colorado, hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean? Bill Fischer, professor emeritus of geology, has a whale of a story to tell.

In 1900, Colorado mining mogul W. S. Stratton bought the skeleton in Coronado Beach, Calif. Six train cars were required to transport the huge skeleton to Colorado, where it was installed in the brand new Colorado College museum in Colorado Springs (now Gates Common Room in Palmer Hall). It remained there for over 70 years.

When the museum closed its campus doors in 1977, President Lew Worner gave Fischer and Dr. Geroge Fagin, the college librarian, the task of disposing of the whale. They contacted the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which acquired the skeleton and reassembled it in the southwest wing, where it stayed until early 2001. It recently was moved to the central atrium.

Since the skeleton was purchased in California, it was assumed that it was from one of the Pacific populations of fin whales. However, Dr. Rob Roy Ramey, curator of zoology at DMNS, and several colleagues recently uncovered evidence that the skeleton may actually be from a North Atlantic fin whale. Dr. Ramey and his colleagues analyzed DNA that was extracted from the skeleton's baleen, and compared it with the DNA of fin whales from other groups throughout the world. By analyzing the X and Y sex-determining chromosomes, the team also learned that the skeleton was from a male fin whale.

Reprinted with permission from the April issue of Members Monthly, published for members of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. For more information, visit www.dmns.org.

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Asian Universities to Host Biology Majors

By BARB FERRILL

Nearly 55 percent of CC students study abroad. But biology students (the most popular major) have few international study opportunities, mainly because of their major's strict sequence of required courses. That's about to change, though, thanks to a generous grant from the Vermont-based Freeman Foundation.

Starting next spring, biology majors can learn about a different culture while continuing their science study. Classes in genetics and cell biology will take place at Tzu Chi University in Taiwan. Fudan University in Shanghai, China, will host students as they delve into their research projects.

A three-year pilot program, it is the brainchild of Asianist Tim Cheek and geneticist Ralph Bertrand, two CC professors who wanted to find a way for science students to continue their rigorous course of study while still being able to participate in the type of international studies programs more often offered to students in the humanities and social sciences.

This experience will no doubt have a lasting influence on each student's academic and career choices. Colorado College biology students will be on the forefront of developing international connections in the sciences, they say.

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Taste of Success Creates Yearning for Higher Achievement

By DAVE MOROSS
sports information director
While 2000 brought its share of success to the women's soccer team (13-7), Greg Ryan and the Tigers are aiming higher in 2001. "The hard work we've all put in is paying off in a vastly improved team," says Ryan, now in his third campaign as CC's head coach. "I definitely believed we would win at least 13 games in 2000, and my expectations were met. However, we were only a few goals away from beating some highly ranked opponents, which would have given us a chance to participate in the NCAA tournament."

So close. When you realize that CC's quest for a post-season bid was cut short by two or three losses to other playoff contenders, it's easy to share Ryan's enthusiasm for the possibilities in store.

The Tigers have set extremely challenging goals for 2001, with every intention of earning their first NCAA berth since reaching the national semifinals in 1991.

A 10-day trip to Europe in mid-August, featuring five matches against teams from Denmark and The Netherlands, will help prepare CC for quality opponents it is scheduled to face early in the season, foes such as William & Mary, Wisconsin, and Harvard. Although the Tigers will be hard-pressed to match last year's 8-0 start, the return of eight starters and addition of six blue-chip recruits bodes well as they enter the new campaign.

Leading the list of veterans are senior tri-captains Sophie Hines, Ashley Magnuson and Jayme O'Bryan. Returning up front as top offensive threats are sophomore Jessica Reyes and Brittany Kernan, and juniors Rebecca Carroll, Ashley Magnuson, and Cortney Kitchen.

Logging considerable playing time off the bench a year ago and poised to contribute more offensively in 2001 are senior Molly Shea, junior Andrea Johnson and sophomore Maggie Mangan. An impressive group of recruits includes Ashley Hooverson, Rachel Lassman, and Noriann Readdy, as well as outstanding midfielders Christie Ginanni and Kelly Sweitzer.

Defensively, Ryan expects freshman keeper Meghann Loseke to battle junior Kristin Masunaga and sophomore Caitlin Carlson for the starting role in net. All four starters in the back -- O'Bryan, Hines, Kernan, and sophomore Lia Martinez -- return from outstanding years in 2000.

"Our players have developed a lot of confidence and we now expect to win when we step on the field," Ryan says.

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Chest Sealed Tight for Residents of Next Century
The Colorado Springs Century Chest was reasealed April 20 in Colorado College’s Tutt Library.
Louisa Creed, great granddaughter of city founder William Jackson Palmer, submitted a letter and photographs. 1964 CC alumnus Bill Hybl, chairman and CEO of the El Pomar Foundation and former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, donated a set of president's medals from Sydney’s Olympics. Items from the Pikes Peak Jazz and Swing Society, the Humane Society, local newspaper publishers, Hewlett Packard, a Buddhist church, numerous local organizations, as well as letters from CC students and professors, will fill the current chest, which will be reopened Dec. 31, 2100.
CC President Kathryn Mohrman and Mary Jane Rust, local author, producer and photographer, spoke at the April event.
On Jan. 1, 2001, 300 history buffs gathered in Tutt Library for the opening of the Colorado Springs Cen tury Chest. The steel-riveted chest contained more than 150 envelopes and packages filled with hundreds of individual letters, pamphlets, clippings, advertising buttons, fabric samples, sketches, and photographs. Digital images of the chest contents can be viewed online.

Judith Reid Finley '58 has edited a book on the time capsule. Published by Colorado College Studies, The Century Chest Letters of 1901: A Colorado Springs Legacy is available through the CC bookstore at 1-800-854-3930 (click here to go to the Bookstore online).

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