greylocknews

Nandi Plunkett's CD collection debuts -- sample cut offered as MP3

We've been asking neighbor Nandi Plunkett, a Mount Greylock Regional High School junior, for several months when her CD collection of original songs would be available and two weeks ago the word finally came back from her mother, Amber: "It's ready." So we asked, could we have permission to take one complete song from the CD, rip it as an MP3, and put it on this blog so everyone could hear Nandi's work? "Sure," came the answer.  You can also hear 10 or 15 seconds of all 13 songs at Nandi's website. Meantime, The Berkshire Eagle has written a profile of Nandi, who goes by the performance name, "Ananda Rose, singer/songwriter". There was also a story in the North Adams Transcript about her Jan. 28 launch party. There are 13 songs on the CD and you can order a copy via the Ananda Rose website of Carmen Productions, Leesburg, VA, 1-800-593-1331, or email -- or from Toonerville Trolley records in Williamstown.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN TO: Moon Rising (3:27)

AUDIO: Are bloggers the pamphleteers of this century?

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- In colonial America, most printers were also publishers. They would produce broadsheets or pamphlets, and these became the way news traveled throughout the colonies. They were opinionated and local -- and often challenged authority. And it wasn't hard to publish.

DOWNLOAD MP3 audio of talk (15MB; 30 mins):
http://newshare.typepad.com/mediagiraffe/files/pamphleteers-sims-01-26-05-mcla.mp3

Today, America's political "bloggers" are similarly opinionated and local -- or topically specific. And they are beginning to have a profound impact on politcs and public policy, just as the pamphleteers of the 1700s and early 1800s.

What lessons can today's bloggers learn from their pamphleteer brethren? Two scholars will discuss this question at 7 p.m., on Thurs., Jan. 26, in Bowman 101, at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, Mass.

-- Tyler Resch, librarian at The Bennington Museum, former editor of The Bennington Banner, prolific author of Berkshire and Bennington county historical papers, and an expert on the imprisonment of 18th-century Vermont
pamphleteer Anthony Haswell for violation of the Sedition Act.

-- Norm Sims, professor of journalism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an expert on "literary journalism" who has studied the pamphleteer style of writing for courses and papers.

The session is part of the course: "The Future of Journalism," offered at MCLA this semester in part with support from the Hardman Foundation. Requests to attend the session should be directed to MCLA Visiting Lecturer Bill Densmore at wdensmor@mcla.edu, or 413-458-8001 in Williamstown.

Williams College announces early-decision stats; blog discusses affirmative action

Williams College has made public its annual tabulation of early-decision offers and acceptances, and the numbers are fodder for an exchange on an unofficial alumni "blog" about SAT scores and affirmative action.

The college release is at: http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases.php?id=1104

It says acceptance letters went out Dec. 14 to 221 of the 554 applicants to the Class of 2010 under the college's early decision program. Applications for early decision increased by 5 percent over last year. Williams said its early decision program has been in place since 1964. The accepted students for the Class of 2010 represent 41 percent of the projected class size of 538.

"Once again the admissions committee was extremely impressed with the strength of the applicant pool and its diversity," Director Richard Nesbitt said. "The newly admitted students come from 39 states and 13 foreign countries. One hundred men and 121 women were accepted. African Americans comprise 8 percent of the admitted students, Asian Americans 8 percent, and Latinos 5 percent. International students account for 5 percent of the early admit group."

And here's the blog discussion of affirmative action: http://www.ephblog.com/archives/002452.html

Vassar taps Williams provost Catherine Hill as 10th president

Williams College is losing a top administrator. The Vassar College trustees today selected Catherine B. Hill, provost and CFO of Williams, as its 10th president. Hill, 51, will replace Frances Fergusson, who is scheduled to concude 20 years as Vassar president at the end of June. The Associated Press account says Hill chaired the Economics Department from 1997 to 1999 at Williams, where she joined the faculty in 1985 after working for the World Bank and the Congressional Budget Office. She holds a bachelor's degree from Williams, bachelor's and master's degrees from Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale. In a letter to the college community, Williams president Mortin Schapiro said he will consult with the Steering Committee about a successor. The AP said her Her work as an economist has focused on higher education affordability and access, as well as economic development and reform in Africa. On her last sabbatical in the mid-'90s, she worked at Zambia's Ministry of Finance. The AP said Hill said she plans to support Vassar's commitments to socio-economic and racial diversity and providing access to students who couldn't afford it. She said other hallmarks of the school are creativity and innovation, which she'll work to continue in both academics and extracurricular areas. Hill and her husband, Kent Kildahl, head of the Upper School at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, have three children.  Read EphBlog's post.

Fox seeks initial approval for seven-lot subdivision

Charles Fox will be seeking approval (1st meeting is tonight) for his seven-lot development plans for his Foxwood Lane subdivision, which he plans for 60 acres off Bee Hill Road along the route 2 & 7 corridor. Town Hall, Planning Board mtg, starts 7:30 p.m. tonight, open to public.

-- Submitted by Erin Keiser-Clark